LEARN A LITTLE MORE ABOUT GREG

What’s the one quality that people most often speak of when they describe you?

I’m not sure I can think of any specific one - and it’s not to say that I’m immodest enough to say that I have a whole bunch of qualities that people use to describe me. Just not sure that I can come up with a theme.

Some thoughts could be responsive, committed, energetic, authentic, and sincere.

What’s an impression people might have of you that really isn’t like you at all?

Most people mistake me for an extrovert, particularly when I’m delivering a workshop, keynote address or doing some other form of facilitation. Far from it. I’m an introvert. However, my work and my leadership career have taught me how to work in front of an audience. After full days of engaging with people, I do find myself rather exhausted and ready to simply disconnect either with yard work, some TV, or a good book.

you have just been given your own late night talk show. who is your first guest and why?

So many options! Given the current divisive reality of so much of what we are seeing in politics these days, I would like to personally engage with someone like Barack Obama or Jacinda Ardern. I would want to pick their brains as to how they think we have come to the place we are now, how thy see a better path forward, and even what mistakes they themselves have made in their careers (and what they have learned).

what book, movie, or tv series would you recommend? why?

Again, so many choices. Several that come to mind in light of our current world and national circumstances that I believe can stand as a warning to us now are:

• 1984 by George Orwell

• The Meaning of Hitler by Raymond Pretzel - an examination of Hitler’s rise, fall, and the circumstances that allowed for both

• Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas - a modern martyr for his faith who was executed for his moral convictions in one of Hitler’s concentration camps days away from the end of the war

what’s a personal or life skill you’d like to acquire or get better at?

I’d like to get a whole lot better at carpentry. I love building things. I have taken on some rather big projects and would like to do more challenging things. So long as they look better than what I have created so far!

WHAT’S ONE THING YOU NEED TO CHANGE ABOUT YOUR DAILY OR WEEKLY ROUTINE TO FEEL MORE FULFILLED OR LESS STRESSED IN YOUR LIFE?

I definitely need to do one or two things more or better - more and better exercise to get back into Ironman shape. And more and better disconnecting and letting go of the little stressors in life.

WHAT’S THE MOST OUT-OF-CHARACTER THING YOU HAVE EVER DONE?

Probably in reality it was starting BreakPoint Solutions. It felt like a big risk at the time and it was something that the “old” me would have never done. I was raised in a family environment that emphasized and valued security and stability, not risk-taking. It was definitely out-of-the box.

WHAT’S THE BEST PIECE OF ADVICE YOU HAVE EVER BEeN GIVEN?

• Hope is not a strategy

• Overdeliver

• Never sell, but never stop marketing

• Live life because tomorrow may never come

What quote or slogan would you say best describes your life to this point?

No pain, no gain!!!

WHAT ARE THE TOP FIVE THINGS ON YOUR BUCKET LIST?

1. There is definitely more travel bug in me, but I’ll say Spain currently tops the list.

2. I would like to learn and be fluent in another language beyond English - Spanish, Italian, German, Ukrainian.

3. Achieve a real personal best in my athletic pursuits - sub 13-hour finish in Ironman or perhaps finish an Ironman at age 80.

4. Be an executive coach to a professional sports team that won their league championship - and perhaps get my own championship ring!

5. Leave Earth’s orbit - get to the moon or Mars? Space tourism can’t get here fast enough! A childhood dream…

what is one thing you believed at the start of your career but think about differently now?

When I took on my first leadership role, the lessons I could have learned, but was glad I was dissuaded from, was that you had to be an a**hole to be an effective leader. Really, it felt like you had to be somewhat of a bully/bombastic type to get results. I now believe the exact opposite is true and changed my tune about four to six years into my career. I’ve been evolving that perspective ever since.

what one place have you visited in your travels that you would visit over and over, or would even like to live?

Again, so many choices. I would probably go back and visit Venice over and over again, but not sure I would want to live there.

But as for a place to go and live? I might pick Vienna or Salzburg. So much history, very livable, walkable cities, and centrally located for all kinds of travel.

what has been your biggest regret so far and why?

Not travelling more. Likely this comes back to taking more risk. What I have found is, aside from reading, travelling has made my view of the world so much more expansive and relatable. To have walked in and experienced what I have read in history books from Istanbul, to Rhodes, Athens, Paris, Vienna, Berlin, London, Warsaw…and to know I have merely scratched the surface.

I have learned so much more about these countries and their people, and have made many more acquaintances from Venice to Singapore and places in between.

At nearly 56 years of age, there is a limited time to see so much more of this glorious world?

what aspect of your personality adds the most value to the world?

Respect and altruism. I hope I have demonstrated respect for my fellow human beings and have demonstrated as much compassion as possible for their circumstances and have helped where I could.

if you could say one thing to the whole world right now, what would you want the world to act on?

Look for commonalities among us, how to lift everyone up instead of looking for what separates us and how to get ahead of the next guy.

Back in 1982 as I graduated high school, we were each asked to provide a statement or quote. Mine at the time was, “The recognition of our duties is more important than the recognition of our rights.” I think my 17-year-old self had it right then, and is still right today.

What has 2020 taught you?

That in every piece of adversity - no matter how daunting - there is still a gift being given, an opportunity to learn, and to get better.