Meet tregg brown with revlon corporation
Tell us about yourself and your organization.
I am extremely happily married and the proud father of four very wonderful children. My oldest and youngest are boys, or, as my wife would say, the “cream is in the middle.” I have the very good fortune of working with a diverse and talented team at The Revlon Corporation. Our customer team is located in Bentonville, Arkansas, and we are responsible for Revlon’s business and relationship with Wal-Mart.
How did you and your organization get introduced to Rapport Leadership International?
A very good friend of mine, Jim Akers, and I worked together in a previous life. As part of that organization, Jim had the good fortune to attend Rapport. When Rick Dinsmore, our team Sales Director, asked for opportunities to expand his leadership skills, I remembered Jim talking about his experience. I contacted Jim and he whole-heartedly recommended Rapport. We sent Rick and, as they say, "the rest is history.”
How many Rapport graduates does your organization have?
There are 14 people on our Wal-Mart customer team, and it is with great pride that I say that 13 of us have achieved Master Grad status, and one has accomplished Leadership Breakthrough One.
What can you tell us about your Rapport experience?
I have been in the consumer products arena for almost 25 years and during that time I have been to countless seminars and training symposiums. My Rapport experience was the first and only time that I did not think of the experience as merely training. Rapport is one of the most precious gifts I have ever received.
How has Rapport influenced you personally?
The Rapport experience was so beneficial because it gave me a chance to get off the “treadmill of life,” and look at myself in the mirror. I can honestly say I did not learn anything new about myself, but for the first time I stopped and faced life head-on and decided to do something about it. For me, the most powerful three words in the English language are “Up until now.” With those three words, you can change your whole future and with those three words, you start the first day of the rest of your life. You let go of past personal and professional baggage that put you in “effect” and you actively move your life to “cause.”
How has Rapport affected your business?
The business impact has been phenomenal. My team starts each day with a morning horn and we end the meeting with our team cheer from Leadership Breakthrough Two. It is amazing how that little cheer gets our energy going and starts us off in the right direction. It is also a blessing to work with a team of master graduates, especially since we all had the good fortune of going through Power Communication and Leadership Breakthrough Two as a team. We now have a different level of respect for each other and we JFDI. In 2007, our team delivered some of the best business results in the history of the Revlon/Wal-Mart relationship.
What is the most surprising benefit you or your organization received from Rapport Training?
The most surprising benefit was the ability to achieve a deeper sense of respect and appreciation for the people on the team. The fact that our team went through Power Communication and Leadership Breakthrough Two together, given the very private conversations and emotions that take place, the amount of trust we had to place in each other allowed us to achieve a level of respect deeper than I think most organizations achieve. We are a family.
How do you keep Rapport alive in your organization?
I will say that it is a constant challenge and, as a team, we have committed to creating a “Rapport Experience” every ninety days. The monthly Rapport newsletter is a great tool. We just finished our first activity and scheduled time during the workday to watch the “Peaceful Warrior.” It is a great movie on its own, but when you watch it through the eyes of Rapport, it takes on so much more meaning.
What class had the greatest impact on you and why?
Leadership Breakthrough Two, because it was a good blend of all three classes. It takes several dips into the wax before a candle is made. Leadership Breakthrough Two was the culmination of everything I had been working on, and, for me, it was the final piece that allowed me to put together the action plan for the rest of my life.
When you face a challenge in your organization, what tools from the training do you call on first?
First is to yield to expertise. Being the team leader does not always make you right, and just like attempting to save lives on the Poseidon, the Captain’s crew may not always know best. Second is don’t drag issues out, JFDI and move on.
