When Ron Simmons co-founded the Retirement Advisors of America, a wealth management company for retired commercial airline pilots, he developed the practice of holding a 20-minute meeting with each of his team members with “no agenda other than getting to know each other.” Managing other people’s money had taught Simmons that trust was the foundation of any strong and lasting relationship, and he applied that lesson as a leader of others as well as himself.
“I learned early on that if I wanted to be able to accomplish things, I needed to have my colleagues trust me,” Simmons explained. “If you can develop a personal bond with someone, then when some conflict arises, you can melt it away a lot better by drawing on your understanding of the person.”
The credo served Simmons well at Retirement Advisors of America, which at the time of its sale to another investment firm in 2019 had more than three billion dollars in assets under management, and it continued to serve him when he turned to public service. During his first term as a state representative in the Texas House of Representatives, he did something nobody had ever seen in that august body: he made it his mission to have in-person meetings with every other state representative and senator, Democrat or Republican.
That’s 179 meetings in 70 days, all agenda-free and designed to start a productive and personal relationship. Now, there’s a radical notion!
Leave it to a small town kid from Arkansas to reintroduce the art of person-to-person bonding as an effective leadership tool, but that’s exactly what Simmons does in the podcast as he traces his leadership development from the football and baseball fields of Junction City, Arkansas, to the C-Suite of business and halls of policy making.
Today, Simmons is chairman of Texas Mutual Insurance Company and shares leadership lessons in the book we co-wrote together titled Life Lessons from the Little Red Wagon published by Maxwell Leadership Publishing.
You will learn:
"Don is one of the best storytellers I’ve ever met. I’ve known him for a long time and every time we talk I walk away wiser and more inspired. He is the best in the business at teaching you a skill – storytelling – that will last you a lifetime.”
“The ability for athletes to get hired is carried on through you because you are putting out the message that lessons learned from sports are important in life. It is embedded in this podcast, what you’re doing is significant.”
We speak the same language. I am inspired by the stories you tell, the people you have met, and the things you’ve done. Those of us that are competitors like to follow others that have been down that journey, so it is always fun talking to you!”
“Many of the leaders I have worked with were excellent athletes, and I think there is a direct correlation. You’re one of the few people that really has pursued this study, Don. Keep up the great work. What you are doing really makes a difference.”
“Don, you have mastered the skill of interviewing and asking great questions. That is a great skill all leaders need in order to understand their team members’ thought processes.”
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