"I have learned that perseverance is absolutely vital when faced with uncertainty."
Jeff Murray Tweet
Since he was 5, all Jeff Murray wanted was to play baseball professionally, at 18 his frustration with coaches not building the team deterred his passion. As he transitioned into the professional world, he knew his strengths and knew what he missed. A leader and inspiring others on a team to be their best.
Over the course of 24 years, he has been a leader in 5 different industries, coaching 100’s of people to become the best they can be in their roles. As Jeff continues to lead in business, he now coaches too.
Brash Leaders mission is to be of service to executives in working through the mental and physical obstacles that stall growth in their business culture and turn them into opportunities. Their goal is to impact the lives of executives so that they can have that same positive impact on the people they employ and serve. In turn, this will have a positive impact on their personal life too.
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Table of Contents
We are thrilled to have you join us today, welcome to ValiantCEO Magazine’s exclusive interview! Let’s start off with a little introduction. Tell our readers a bit about yourself and your company.
Jeff Murray: I am grateful for the opportunity to interview with ValiantCEO Magazine! I have 25 years experience in sales and leadership, in 5 different industries. Brash Leaders mission is to be of service to executives in working through the mental and physical obstacles that stall growth in their business culture and turn them into opportunities.
At Brash Leaders, we serve businesses that are sole proprietor on up to large corporations. I am open for public speaking opportunities, trainings as well as podcast guest appearances. I host my own podcast, aptly named, The Brash Leaders Podcast. We have also formed an evergreen community called Brash Leaders Breakthrough for leaders and sales.
2020 and 2021 threw a lot of curve balls into business on a global scale. Based on the experience gleaned in the past couple years, how can businesses thrive in 2022? What lessons have you learned?
Jeff Murray: I have learned that perseverance is absolutely vital when faced with uncertainty. That simplifying what we have in front of us eliminates the chaos in our minds and allows us to focus acutely on what is most important…the next step. Businesses can thrive in 2022 but being more resourceful, Looking into different avenues to achieve the results they desire. I personally have invested in myself and my business more over the last 18 month than ever before and it has been life changing for me. Businesses need to let go of the ego driven mentality and seek assistance that is outside their zone of genius.
The pandemic seems to keep on disrupting the economy, what should businesses focus on in 2022? What advice would you share?
Jeff Murray: I got into coaching and consulting during the pandemic. It was really more around helping others with mindset. What I promote is 2 fold. Focus on connecting with others and adaptability in 2022. Don’t settle for the industry status quo. Connection and adaptation is what our world revolves around. Is it uncomfortable, absolutely. However, the best things in life come from working through the discomfort.
How has the pandemic changed your industry and how have you adapted?
Jeff Murray: So much of what has transpired is everything going more virtual. Which is what we are seeing across the board. Working remotely is the way of the future. The best way to adapt to that is to create your dojo space into an inspiring area where you can thrive. If your home is not conducive for this and there exist too many distractions, find co-working environments that can feed your energy and creative juices.
What advice do you wish you received when the pandemic started and what do you intend on improving in 2022?
Jeff Murray: Be prepared that this may very well be an ongoing scenario in our lives. So many people keep saying I can’t wait until life gets back to normal. That way of thinking is living in the past. What if this is the new normal? We must be present and focus on what we can control. My intention for 2022 is to focus on continuing to lean into discomfort. Recognizing it is there to teach me and show me that most of the time the only way is through.
Online business surged higher than ever, B2B, B2C, online shopping, virtual meetings, remote work, Zoom medical consultations, what are your expectations for 2022?
Jeff Murray: This is going to continue to surge through 2022. Our world is forever changed from the last few years, however it was obviously a change that was needed.For some roles obviously the in person human touch will continue to be prevalent. However, more businesses are beginning to trust not having their workforce occupy an office space which breeds empowerment which in turn is amazing for culture.
How many hours a day do you spend in front of a screen?
Jeff Murray: More than I’d like! On average I would say around 8 hours a day. I will say that is one negative that has come from the last few years is most of us spend more time on screens instead of in person. It is damaging to our eyes over time and we need to remind our selves to get out and get some fresh air.
The majority of executives use stories to persuade and communicate in the workplace. Can you share with our readers examples of how you implement that in your business to communicate effectively with your team?
Jeff Murray: The short version of this story revolves around doing what is uncomfortable for growth. I was always an optimistic kid, One that looked for the positives in negatives.
However, earlier in my career I lost sight of that and became slightly more cynical in my corporate job.I felt stuck. Hopeless. Unhappy in my professional and personal life. I was making a solid living, and by societal standards I had a great life. Yet, I was unhappy and unfulfilled. I did what most would consider professional suicide and left the corporate world and took a 100% commission based role selling home automation and security door-2-door.
I wanted to make a radical change in my life and so I dove into it. I did this because I feared rejection. I did it to push myself outside of my comfort zone. The plan was to only do it for 5 months. The first few weeks I wanted to quit. I remembered sitting in a playground in a neighborhood, talking to myself on a slide, questioning everything I was doing. After about an hour, I mustered up the gumption to stick it out for that day and I ended up getting a sale later that evening. It was then that I decided to focus more on the present moment and take it one door at a time, One day at a time. Simplifying life and making it my mission to go from the hated guy in the neighborhood to people waving at me and thanking me for stopping by.
I ended up doing this work for nearly 20 month because I loved what it was doing for me. I got back into the optimistic, inspirational leader I always was and haven’t turned back since. To this day the most impactful role I have ever held in my career.
Business is all about overcoming obstacles and creating opportunities for growth. What do you see as the real challenge right now?
Jeff Murray: This is epic, because one of my tagline is ‘turning obstacles into opportunities’! I feel the biggest challenge companies are facing is creating a culture of empowerment that inspires their work force to be highly engage resulting in better retention and increased growth. This is all due to the fact that executives have a stranglehold grip on the everything causing the companies airwaves to be restricted. They need to learn to let go and that is where I come into play.
In 2022, what are you most interested in learning about? Crypto, NFTs, online marketing, or any other skill sets? Please share your motivations.
Jeff Murray: I definitely am leaning more into becoming more adept at branding and marketing as well as online course creation. Branding and marketing is not something that comes natural to me, however I am learning and want people to see me and it be synonymous with my brand. I also want to create high value courses for executives around leadership and sales and mindset that forms a larger community for like-minded individuals to network and feed off of positive empowering energy.
A record 4.4 million Americans left their jobs in September in 2021, accelerating a trend that has become known as the Great Resignation. 47% of people plan to leave their job during 2022. Most are leaving because of their boss or their company culture. 82% of people feel unheard, undervalued and misunderstood in the workplace. Do you think leaders see the data and think “that’s not me – I’m not that boss they don’t want to work for? What changes do you think need to happen?
Jeff Murray: Absolutely this is an epidemic that we see in so many companies. No one wants to see a reflection of the thing that they feared most. However we are a product of our environment and unless we consciously seek to change that familiarity, we will inevitably become the same thing we we feared.
What needs to happen is creating environments on inclusivity and empowerment. This is precisely why I do, what I do. Working with executive teams to create the positive ripple effect that will turn the culture around in the business they have poured blood, sweat and tears into.
On a lighter note, if you had the ability to pick any business superpower, what would it be and how would you put it into practice?
Jeff Murray: This is a great question and one that I will tweak just a bit from the superpower I wish that I had from a non-business view. I would want the superpower of being able to heal any traumas leaders have faced, allowing them to be more self aware and lead authentically.
What does “success” in 2022 mean to you? It could be on a personal or business level, please share your vision.
Jeff Murray: Success for me is to have positive impact on over 1 million lives across the globe. Through inspiring leaders through my different forms of media, I truly believe that if I serve enough people in achieving what they want, I will receive everything in life that I want.
Jed Morley, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Jeff Murray for taking the time to do this interview and share his knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Jeff Murray or his company, you can do it through his – Linkedin Page
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