The Leadership Spotlight continues this week with Jack Galloway. Jack started the Endorsed Local Provider (ELP) program for Dave 10 years ago.

He still leads the program today, orchestrating the department’s activities to support goals Dave and his leadership team have established. Jack also manages the 28 team members who operate the ELP program day-in and day-out to give Dave’s fans and the ELPs a great experience. His team refers approximately 20,000 Dave Ramsey fans to ELPs each month.

CLo: What is your role in leadership?

JG: VP of Strategic Alliances.  I spend my time coordinating what our 30-person team is doing with what the company as a whole is doing.

CLo: What is the best advice you’ve ever received about leadership?

JG: John Maxwell said, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Now more than ever, I am working on people skills and communication skills. Everything rises and falls on your ability to communicate effectively with people. Specifically, this includes being a really, really, really good listener, being able to read nonverbal cues, casting a vision, resolving conflicts in person, knowing what’s going on in people’s lives, knowing people’s strengths and weaknesses, and being smart enough to see communication problems before they happen.

CLo: What is the biggest challenge facing leaders today?

JG: Poor communication skills. The things I mentioned above are very difficult to teach. People seem to either have those abilities or they don’t. Few things can frustrate a leader as much as knowing how to grow a business but not being able to create a winning team attitude.

CLo: How do you continue to improve yourself as a leader?

JG: By realizing how much I still have to learn. A leader who doesn’t see the importance of improving is a leader on his way out.

CLo: How do you invest in others?

JG: By spending time with them in person. Time spent creates trust, familiarity and consistency.

CLo: What was the last book you read?

JG: Barbarians To Bureaucrats: Corporate Life Cycle Strategies.