On this episode of the Building Interest Podcast, we're turning the mic around. Our host, Greg Farber, sits down with producer Sydney Clapp to answer some of your burning questions! 

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Episode Transcript

Greg Farber: 0:00
Whether you're seeking inspiration, wisdom or a fresh perspective on leadership and entrepreneurship, the building interest podcast has you covered together. We uncover the stories behind the success of groundbreaking leaders, the triumphs, the challenges and the invaluable lessons they learned along the way, our discussions go beyond strategic decision making and delve into the personal hobbies and passions that keep these leaders inspired and grounded in their work. So this week on the Building Interest Podcast, we're going to do things a little differently. I don't have notes. I don't have a script to read. Normally, we talk about the innovative leaders and the human stories behind our guests, and somebody decided it would be funny to flip the script today, and I'm sitting in the guest chair, and our lovely producer, Sydney Clapp, is going to share some questions that have come from our listeners to dig a little bit deeper under the hood of the podcast and what it means to be part of this wonderful process. And with that, I'm going to turn it over to Sydney, and as I say, let's jump right in.

Sydney Clapp: 0:59
Question number one, what is the most interesting part of your job, Greg, besides

Greg Farber: 1:04
Besides the podcast?

Sydney Clapp: 1:06
Anything.

Greg Farber: 1:07
So that is a very good question. And for those on the podcast or who listen to the podcast who may not know, I've worn a lot of different hats at the Bank. In addition to hosting the podcast, I'm also the Bank's compliance officer and head of internal audit. Now, those things may sound super boring, but actually that is really the interesting part, because in that role, I'm able to learn about the people, the processes, the products we offer in all the different areas of the Bank, and not limited to just one department. So all of the new, innovative things that we put out, all of the people that we've brought on, the teams that we have, all of that I get to work with, a little bit of everyone, and that's probably the most interesting and fascinating part, not even necessarily the technical work itself, but the interactions, the engagements with everyone,

Sydney Clapp: 2:02
The people, the connection. I love it.

Greg Farber: 2:04
Hey, humanizing the podcast, right? It's not a joke.

Sydney Clapp: 2:06
Humanizing Greg, our host.

Greg Farber: 2:07
I live it every day.

Sydney Clapp: 2:09
All right. Next question, what keeps you motivated, personally and professionally, especially in recent times?

Greg Farber: 2:18
So personally, this is a wonderful cliche, right? I have a daughter. She's going to be turning 10 next week. That is a big motivator for me. That is a personal motivator to just be the best dad I can be, to really be an integral part of her life, but also a professional motivator to know that, you know, we, we've talked about, sometimes on the podcast episodes, how family and children provide a different perspective. Well, part of that perspective too is that I'm also financially responsible for another person, right? And so that is a huge thing that keeps me motivated and engaged professionally. I know there's almost kind of a cop out answer, but going back to the first question, it's, again, it's that, that engagement and that interaction with with the people. I don't have a degree in banking, I don't have a degree in audit or compliance or podcasting or any of the things I do. I have a degree in anthropology, and it's all about people, and that's always been what's fascinated me, and kind of what keeps me interested and keeps me going.

Sydney Clapp: 3:25
This next question is a question that you ask pretty often on our episodes to our guests, so I'm excited to ask you this.

Greg Farber: 3:32
That doesn't seem fair. It's my question?

Sydney Clapp: 3:35
Hahaha. Yep. Rephrasing it and sending it back.

Greg Farber: 3:37
Alright!

Sydney Clapp: 3:37
How do you maintain work life balance?

Greg Farber: 3:43
So this is a tough question, and something I've actually talked to with some other folks even recently as well. And I think the first thing for me is to understand that they are two different things. My personal life and my work life often overlap. Sometimes they compete for time, sometimes they compete for space in my head. But they are two different things, and so I think there is value in truly disconnecting from both. If I'm at work and I'm focused, I am not thinking about what, what's going on in my home life? Is there trouble at school? Is there, you know, a bill I can't pay, or something along those lines. If I'm on vacation and I'm at the beach with my family, I am not thinking, oh, boy, is something falling apart at the office. If I've done my job, I should be able to step away and the office doesn't fall apart, right? That applies to all of us, and I think that's a key component of maintaining that balance. So then when I do disconnect from home because I'm at work or from work because I'm at home, I don't feel guilt that I'm not meeting the needs of the other half. Off, and then I can do the things that I enjoy, whether it's being productive at work or at home, because I've now, I don't have that burden of the other thing hanging over me.

Sydney Clapp: 5:10
This next one, we're gonna take a step back a little bit. Take the heat off you. It's more of an opinion based I would say.

Greg Farber: 5:17
It is hot in here.

Sydney Clapp: 5:20
What do you think is the biggest challenge in the workplace today?

Greg Farber: 5:24
I think, and this is more, maybe even a reflection on society than on just work, is we've really become dependent on the now and the instant gratification. We are this sort of YouTube society where life happens in 32nd clips, and there is a bigger picture, whether that's at work, whether that's in your personal life. And to separate the instant gratification from the bigger goal, the instant gratification, obviously, you still get that paycheck every two weeks. You can go buy the fun things or whatever, but in the workplace, we also have to keep the big picture in mind. There's a reason. There's a purpose behind the work that we're doing, and it isn't just the report that's due today or just the analysis that's due today or the email that I have to respond to before four o'clock. It's the bigger picture. And I think that's something that that is going to be increasingly difficult as we socially move to that instant culture more and more to remain grounded in the bigger picture in all of our lives, including at work.

Sydney Clapp: 6:36
I could not agree more with that. So nice answer.

Greg Farber: 6:40
All right, all right, that can handle these.

Sydney Clapp: 6:44
You can handle it. I knew you could. I wouldn't put you on the spot like that. This one, I am personally curious to know the answer to.

Greg Farber: 6:51
Are you the listener that sent it in?

Sydney Clapp: 6:54
No, don't tell my secrets. No, just kidding. What have you learned about the interviewing process from your experience of hosting the Building Interest Podcast?

Greg Farber: 7:06
In the shortest answer possible not to treat it as an interview. When I was first asked to do the podcast, I was both taken aback, like, why would they want me to do this? Confused, but also I had some inherent sort of trepidation. I don't know what I'm doing. I don't know that I can be an interviewer. I've never done this before, but because the podcast is so conversational, it's not that, you know, news anchor out on the street highlighting a big story, trying to get someone's comment with the mic in their face. It's just a relaxed conversation, and I think that style has really been the key to try to get people to open up and to learn the things that we want them to share, and hopefully open up with us when we do the podcast.

Sydney Clapp: 7:57
Absolutely, what guest that that we've had on the show has surprised you the most.

Greg Farber: 8:03
Oh, me, right now. That's not fair. That's not a fair question. That's like asking to pick which child is your favorite.

Sydney Clapp: 8:09
We're not asking for your favorite guest. We want to know. We the listeners want to know. Were you surprised at all? It could be an answer, it could be a guest. It could be a topic where a conversation went.

Greg Farber: 8:23
So one that immediately comes to mind is Brian Taylor, and he actually is the reason and the inspiration behind why we are doing this bringing inspiration segment this year where he showed up to the podcast. He's sitting in the chair where I'm sitting right now today, and towards the end, we asked him if he had anything else he wanted to say, and he pulls out a sheet of paper, and he reads an inspirational poem. And it was a fantastic moment. It was unscripted, it was unexpected, and it really it came as a surprise. Now, I won't lie, there's been other episodes where answers have been surprising, and we sometimes say, Oh, I really thought they would answer something different. But to me, I think that was not only surprising because we weren't expecting it, but also because it's added value, and we now are able to use that as an idea going forward, to have more surprises on our show.

Sydney Clapp: 9:13
That actually leads perfectly into this next question, you being a guest right now on this episode, what would be your bringing inspiration piece that you would bring? I know we didn't give you a heads up so you can take your time.

Greg Farber: 9:29
No, you didn't give me a heads up. I'm gonna go with a non tangible answer. I think it is life experiences. And this is something we were talking about this earlier Sydney. We were talking about, you know, traveling as a kid and going to see lots of different places around the world. And when you're a kid, sometimes those things aren't as meaningful. You're going to the places that your parents chose. You're seeing the attractions that your parents chose. It isn't always going to Disneyland, right? It's sometimes it's going to cultural heritage sites or other things like that. And then at some point it flips, and you realize that those actually are things that are important and they matter and they had some meaning, and maybe in some way or another, that also steered me towards the anthropology thing I mentioned earlier. But really, I think for me, that inspiration is having been exposed to so many different cultures and places and things that really gave me a foundation of appreciating all the differences around us.

Sydney Clapp: 10:37
That's really unique. No one has said that yet. What advice from a previous episode resonated the most with you?

Greg Farber: 10:45
I don't know if I could phrase the advice perfectly, but I'm thinking back to an episode we had where we had Paola and Cindy and we talked about children, and we talked about how that seeing empowering, not just in the workplace, but empowering through through the schools, through through children, through our youth, to really raise that next sort of direction of leadership. I thought that was really, really impactful, and something that that that I'm reminded of when I have the opportunity with my own child.

Sydney Clapp: 11:27
Well I think it's interesting too, because on so many episodes, people have brought up children, and this is a leadership, entrepreneurship podcast, yet it always ties back to that. So,

Greg Farber: 11:38
I mean, there is no greater leadership than being a parent. Yeah, right. I mean, you could, in theory, be a leader at any organization. You could change jobs, and you could also be effective in a new role at a new organization. You can't just leave your kid and go be a leader to some new kid. That's not how it works. That is your single biggest right leadership role. And I think the lessons that we learn, and a lot of times, you know, team members, you're not supposed to treat them like children. Obviously, we're grown adults. But the way that people learn and the way that you can explain new concepts, new products, new procedures, whatever it is at work, often means going back to the basics and just making sure everyone's on the same page before you get into super technical details that are going to be confusing if you're not from that department or from that background or whatever else. So, yeah, I think that leadership with kids really translates into the workplace as well.

Sydney Clapp: 12:34
Perspective. Again, you're setting us up perfectly for the next question. I swear we did not share these with Greg beforehand. What areas of yourself do you focus on to make sure you're leading by example.

Greg Farber: 12:49
Transparency, honesty, you know, I can't expect others to do things that I'm not putting out there, and if I'm not communicating, well, if I'm not being fair, if I'm not setting expectations, and then somebody does, doesn't do something, and I get angry about it. That doesn't help anyone, whereas if I'm being transparent and communicating and setting those expectations, and that can become a really good two way, two way street for collaboration and efficiency and things like that. So that's really something that I try to focus on. Am I doing and expecting in return things that would work for me also, right?

Sydney Clapp: 13:36
Yeah, absolutely. Last and final question.

Greg Farber: 13:41
Okay.

Sydney Clapp: 13:42
What is the most important quality in your opinion for a leader to have, a good leader,

Greg Farber: 13:51
Empathy. And I don't say that lightly. Obviously, there's 100 words that you could come up with. Everyone might have a slightly different answer to that, but for me, it goes back to the humanizing. If you don't know whom or why or how you're leading them, what are you leading? And everybody's got a different story, and there's a reason why everyone is is acting the way they are. Maybe on a given day, right? We all love to be in traffic and the person in front of us does something incredibly stupid, and we're like, What is wrong with this person? Now, I'm not saying that every time in traffic, they had a good reason, and maybe that there's they're having a bad day for a reason, but the example is, is, you know, case in point is I don't know what's happening in their day today, because they're, you know, several panes of glass removed from where I'm sitting, and I don't know what's making them distracted or affecting their decisions today. And so that makes it kind of unfair for me to judge them for it. And so that kind of goes back to that empathy, with being a good leader. If you don't know what people are feeling, what they need, where they're going, what they don't need, then you can't meet them in a way that speaks to them and allows them to then flourish, which is you want the next generation of leaders to come up. You don't want to be a leader for leading sake. You want to be a leader to develop the next leader.

Sydney Clapp: 15:25
Yeah, absolutely. I don't think we've covered empathy on an episode yet, either. So thank you for that perspective.

Greg Farber: 15:32
I have a feeling it might have come up, but you know what? I'll take the win. If you're giving me the win, I'll take it.

Sydney Clapp: 15:37
Maybe not phrased that way.

Greg Farber: 15:38
Selfishly, I'll take it.

Sydney Clapp: 15:39
Exactly well. Thank you for your transparency in allowing us to humanize you. Our host, Greg Farber.

Greg Farber: 15:46
No it's been a pleasure. I was excited. Sydney mentioned I did not hear the questions. It was a little terrifying. I love telling our guests that they should just relax. It's no big deal. It's not terrifying at all. And yet here I'm sitting and I'm like, boy, this is going to be terrifying. It was great. Thank you. Sydney. Really appreciate it. All opinions expressed by me in this episode are my own and not those of Leader Bank NA. Don't forget to subscribe and rate our show. The Building Interest Podcast is live on all podcast platforms, YouTube and Tiktok. We want to hear what you think of each episode and encourage you to submit any questions that you want us to cover. So please find us on our YouTube or Tiktok channels and comment your thoughts. For more information on today's subject, visit leaderbank.com in addition to past episodes, you can also find our corresponding blog entries for more insights. This podcast is a production of Leader Bank, an equal housing lender member, FDIC NMLS number 449250.