Carlos Cody
Summary
: Today's guest is Carlos Cody, an executive operations leader in the world of fulfillment. He has a unique background and started his career in supply chain in high school. He has worked at places like Walmart and DHL, and is currently working at Amazon. A typical day at Amazon involves knowing the plan and then managing processes and inputs to ensure success. It is a place of high standards and a focus on getting packages delivered to customers as quickly as possible. As a leader in Amazon, you are constantly pushed out of your comfort zone and paired with the best people who are willing to help you succeed. Performance is highly valued and you will see results. Despite the common misconception, AI is not here to replace people, but rather to work together with them and give leaders more time to invest in their teams. In order to get everyone pulling in the same direction and at full strength, trust must be established by spending time with team members and understanding their goals Carlos and Noah discuss the importance of trust in leading a successful team, and how it's necessary to establish this trust in order to develop and grow leaders. Carlos shares his approach to building trust and developing leaders, stressing the importance of understanding each individual's goals, strengths, and weaknesses. He also emphasizes the need for ongoing training and development, and involving team members in decision making and problem solving. Noah asks Carlos about the different challenges to growth faced by both hourly floor leaders and salaried managers The guest talks about his experience as a leader at Amazon and gives insight into his leadership style. He discusses the importance of communication, delegation, and having a different perspective when it comes to leadership. He also talks about his book "The Leadership Reset" and how it aims to help leaders with mental burnout by providing actionable lessons. He emphasizes the importance of caring for and getting to know your team as a leader. Carlos Cody sits down with the host, Jason, and they discuss what leadership means to Carlos Cody. They talk about the importance of heart and empathy in leadership, as well as the impact that small, intentional actions can have on employees. Carlos also shares his upcoming book, The Standard, which aims to help underpaid leaders in operations rise up the ranks. The episode ends with some advice for leaders and an invitation to join the community and check out the Tiger Team Show.
Transcription
Speaker 2
[00.00.08]
Hey what's up everyone? Welcome to episode number 33 at the Warehouse Underground podcast, Real Talk or Warehouse DC and FCK professionals of all levels around the globe. I'm Ben, the host of the show and joining me on the show today. Very cool guests. His name's Carlos Cody. He is an executive operations leader in the world of fulfillment, focusing on scaling systems, developing leaders and driving profitable growth. Now he's working in the Amazon fulfillment world right now, but really, he's all over the scene, all over on LinkedIn. He's on the podcast circuit. So I've seen him on a couple of podcasts talking about some very cool stuff, very insightful leadership stuff, uh, that people want to know about. And we'll talk more about that in the show. He's also a published author, so he has a book, uh, The Leadership Reset, which we will talk about later in the show and in general, a fantastic resource, mentor leader for people to learn, learn from, hear from, and really understand if they want to progress in the world of fulfillment, which he is right at the heart of. So very excited to talk with them today. Uh, the first guest of 2026 will be a fantastic one. And with that, I will bring him on to the stage. Carlos, my friend, thank you very much for appearing on the Warehouse Underground podcast. Sorry today sir.
Speaker 1
[00.01.27]
Man, I am doing excellent and really appreciate the introduction and just, uh, grateful to kick off the New year, uh, spending time with you, talking about the things I love, uh, warehouse and, uh, leadership.
Speaker 2
[00.01.38]
Yeah. Absolutely, man. Absolutely. I love that too. And, uh, so I talked a little bit about it in the intro. You, you're you're well trenched in the world of fulfillment center operations. You've, you've you've been a leader at all level and now you're working at Amazon. Talk a little bit about that later. But can you just tell the audience a little bit about your background kind of kind of where you came from, what you've worked on and what steps have you had along the way leading yourself up to where you are today?
Speaker 1
[00.02.08]
Yeah. So I would say my background is definitely unique. Um, and because of this, I started my actual career in supply chain in high school. I was looking for a quick way to make some money, and I really went to work in a distribution center. And the funny thing is, after I got done working there, I said I would never, ever do this again. I don't know in advance. For now, I'm back in operations and I absolutely love it. Uh, I really do get fulfillment from it. There's just so much that comes with it. There's a leadership part of it. There's the personal development, there's the ability to innovate, and you get to work with a large group of people. Um, and at the end of the day, I feel like my calling and mission is really to, um, inspire, motivate and empower others to reach their potential. Uh, so that's that's my. Why? Um, that's my wife for why I go to work. Because of the amount of people that I have an impact with. Um, as far as, like, operations, I have worked for three people. I have worked in fulfillment. Our distribution logistics. So full, full spectrum. I've worked at Walmart uh, DHL, XO. Uh, and of course now being uh, at Amazon and I would say the thing that really got me started, um, in this was in college, I read a book, John Maxwell 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, and that book absolutely changed my life. Um, I knew when I was reading that book, as I read it in like a week, we're supposed to read the book in a week, and I couldn't put down the book, and I just kept going back to it. And that's where my leadership journey really started. Understanding that one, I have to lead myself, and then the impact of what leadership can do for someone else when they really, truly understand that at the end of the day, uh, the most important person you're ever going to lead is yourself, right? And as you lead yourself, you're going to influence others and helping them lead themselves better. But man, I tell you, when you begin to teach leadership to others and you start to see the transformation happen, that is what gets me excited. And that is what wakes me up, um, and keeps my keeps my energy high. Uh, when I go to work every day just knowing that my me just showing up as my self and bringing my best self to whatever environment I'm in, I have the ability to influence and impact someone's life, whether it's at work, whether it's at home. I just know that leadership is that mental, that once you get it and you begin to invest in it, it literally impacts, uh, everything in your life. Um, so that that is why I do what I do. Yeah. So it's funny, you mentioned when you first start working in a fulfillment center, the very first time you go in there, like you talked about, it reminds me of your first week in high school when you were a freshman. You just. This is terrible. You're tired. You don't know where anything is. You just. You're behind all the time and stressed out. But by the time you're a junior, senior, you love high school. You know, you're doing all these other things. So, uh, that's so true. Life inside of FCS is crazy. But when you start to really get into the leadership part of it, like you mentioned, then that's when the light bulb really starts to go on. And that I agree that that can be very invigorating when you start to see other people get it and understand it and you see them development I, I, I love that man. I'm glad that you, you found that light bulb moment and, uh, look at you today. You know, you carrying on and helping other people. So I respect that. So now let me, let me ask this question. And so I worked at Amazon. You work at Amazon. There's many people that follow me that do work at Amazon. But some some don't. You know, I have a lot of people that just work in regular warehouses, and they're always curious about what is the what is a day in the life like inside of an Amazon ops building? Because everybody. Here's lots of different things about it. Um, you know, and so but for you from your seat, kind of what's a day in the life like for you and your teams? And I know it's going to be slanted because you're just coming off peak. But
Speaker 2
[00.06.27]
but in general, what what's it like there.
Speaker 1
[00.06.30]
Yeah, I, I would tell anyone that no day is the same. Although we have routines, we have a leadership standard of work. You have your routines, but no day it's the same. Um, you don't know what you're going to come into. And the reason I say that is, at any given point, equipment can go down. Uh, at any given point, as a leader, you're always constantly going to be, uh, dealing with the, uh, the emotions of people. You don't know how people are going to show up for that day. So in that aspect, uh, no day it's the same. Um, but for a leader in Amazon, the systems and the processes really do not change day to day. Right. You're you're going to you're going to come in, you're going to review the plan for the day. Uh, there's one thing we always, uh, terminology we use at Amazon know the plan. Nailed the plan. Right. The first part of it is knowing the plan. And then what are the inputs, um, that are going to allow us to nail the plan? Uh, now my day starts a little bit different. Um, I do add in the part of I'm big on getting people's mental right before the day starts. So usually my day starts with reading something and I am sharing a nugget. I'm sharing a quote, and I'm sharing something that someone can do today to build and develop their leadership, uh, skill. Uh, so for me, the communication piece is so important. Uh, the training piece of daily leadership guidance is so important. So I start my day with vision. I start my day with, hey, this is our plan for the day. But I also communicate it in a way to where I am attaching. Um. My leaders goals to those outcomes, right? Like people come to work. Yes. People want to be successful at Amazon. People are very ambitious and they want to hit the business goals. But at the end of the day, the real reason people come to work is to fulfill the goals that they have for themselves. So they feel like it is my role as leader to ensure that whatever we are doing daily, that I can tie that to some tangible outcomes. Something that is building not only the business but building the person. That's the people that are leading the business. Um, so that's the first part. Uh, and then the second part is I would say there are the, the things that you have to manage. Right? We lead people, but we manage the processes. We manage, um, the inputs. And what that looks like from Amazon standpoint is making sure headcount is in the right place, uh, making sure that everyone knows exactly what the outcomes are for their different areas for the day. And then just watching the numbers like Amazon is a very, uh, intense place. So when people hear the intensity, some people take it negatively. Some people take it positively. Uh, I take it positively. Uh, Amazon's a very driven, driven place. Like, it's it's a place of high standards. It's not going to allow you to come in and relax and and to coast is going to absolutely push you outside. Your comfort zone is absolutely going to ensure that you're getting better day in and day out. Um, but that is very controls, because once you know the plan, once you know what you need to execute on it, simply reviewing what went wrong yesterday, what can we do better today, and then what are the actions that to take, uh, so that we consistently, uh, get better. And then at the end of the day, right. We are obsessed with making sure our customers are getting that package. Um, as you as you know, the world went from five days getting a package. Great. Three days getting a package. Great. Two days. Get the package. Great. We are now shipping packages. Same day, I don't know. So that level of intensity requires, uh, innovation. It requires. The to challenge the standard and understand that a new norm is not today like that's that's yesterday. Now it is. How do we get the package just the same day. So you do have to have that technical know how to understand like, hey, these are the things we need to do daily. And understanding that at the end of the day we have to get the customers their packages. Um, so just to sum it up, I will say the life as a leader in Amazon is one where you're consistently pushed outside your comfort zone. Uh, you're going to be paired with the best, the best people. I have not found another company that has just driven ambition, people that are willing to help you succeed. So you're not going to be alone in your journey. And then the last thing is you're absolutely going to get results on Amazon. Like there's no way around it. Performance does matter and outcomes outcomes matter here.
Speaker 2
[00.11.10]
So yeah, I always felt like the way somebody described it to me one time is if you like, it's working out. And then there's working out with a personal trainer. And the personal trainer is pushing you constantly outside of your comfort zone to the to the point where you probably wouldn't be able to do that on your own. Some people can, but most people can't. But that personal trainer can do that. And that's kind of what Amazon is like. There's always just this personal trainer there that's like one more rep, one more rep, you know, fix your form all this stuff and you're like, ah, go away. But at the end of the day, it's actually making you stronger. It's making you better. But the difference with Amazon, I think, is that they clear a path for you so that you can achieve those goals in front of you. Right. Remove your barriers. You hear that everywhere you go inside Amazon FC. So it's not just pushing. They're also putting a lot of work into giving you the tools and the resources and removing all those barriers so that then you can go. And I think that's part of the secret sauce there is. Yeah, there's the push and it's famous and the whole thing. But at the end of the day, it makes you better, it makes you healthy, and they've cleared the path for you in order for you to. Go forward. So I, you know, I've always respected that and you know, and some people like I talk with a lot of people they want to know about Amazon and they, they imagine it being just this like perfect place where everything works. All the systems work all the time. They have. No, I'm like, it's not really that way, you know? I mean, yeah, they have a lot of automation and everything, but you know, it's still machinery. Machinery breaks no matter where you go. People issues are the same no matter where you go. Like there's still a lot of like leadership that's required. It's not as if you just go in there and press the button and off it goes and you win. I mean, it's it's good, but it's not quite it's not quite that good yet. So. All right. So let me let me ask this question outside of Amazon talking about the industry as a whole, you know, fulfillment center industry as a whole, distribution centers and the whole like because I know you have experience at other ones too. So what do you think about what are your feelings overall about the state of that industry? And do you have you noticed any misconceptions that people who are not in the industry that they might have about, you know, the people that work inside there or what life is like in there? So what's your overall feeling of of of the state of it all now?
Speaker 1
[00.13.27]
Um, my overall feeling, of course, is maybe a little bit biased, but more than ever, uh, leadership is needed, right? Um, if the way that AI is coming in and the misconceptions around AI replacing people, um, AI taking over people's jobs. It depends on how you look at that. And what I would say is leadership is is not going anywhere, right. Um, at the end of the day, people are always going to be a part of the process. Why? Because people fix equipment. People move boxes. Uh, and I would say that the biggest transition that we're seeing now is it's the same as back in the day where you had your your paper and you were picking by paper. Right? You you get the paper, you go pick the order, you put the labels on. And then it went to, oh, a machine can put the labels on and still get the packages out. Right. We're going into an era now where some of the data and some of the things that used to take a while to do. Right, like, and I'll use this term and I kind of describe it very, very big on Amazon at looking at data, going back and bringing information. What went wrong. Uh, where were the misses and using data. Right. And I tell people if you fight AI, that is when you will get replaced. And what I mean by that is at the speed. Right? Five day shipping. Three day shipping. Two day shipping. Same day shipping. That means that we need to be like Tony Stark and Iron Man suit talking to the computers, allowing it to help us get this information faster so that as leaders, we don't get lost in meetings, we don't get lost in the data. And what I believe AI to actually do is to allow us, if we're leaders of good character, to be more on the floor with the team. Why? Because now we have AI. That what took me 2 or 3 hours to do takes me 15 minutes now, right? I can pull data and I can prompt AI and say, hey, what were the misses? What were the what was the blah, blah blah, and it shoots it out within minutes. So what used to take two two hours to bridge takes 15 minutes now. So what does that mean? Right. That means that as a leader, that is people first, uh, understanding how people fit within the processes and how to scale. Now it's like, hey, I've got my time back. Now it's time for me to teach the team about AI. How do we use it? How do we make our jobs easier so that, uh, we can. Uplevel the leadership because at the end of the day, it takes a leader to utilize AI for the benefit of people, not to replace people. Right. And I'm not going to sit here and say that there's not a negative sense of AI because absolutely, we've seen Amazon has released, you know, people, right. A business is always going to right side. And we have to understand that. But the people that choose to see AI as a working partner and choose to utilize it, it's going to find that I'm getting my time back. I'm able to do more things with the least amount of time, and now I'm really able to invest in the people. So what I'm hoping that AI does is it allows leadership to get back to the heart of the matter, which is the people, right, and delivering value to people through the use of AI. And by that we see the profitable growth. We see where we can scale, uh, systems and do those things as AI partners with people, not eliminates it. So I would say that's that's what I'm thinking about, uh, thinking about the overall state of, um, just where work in general, uh, is headed. Yeah. And I, I mean, it's everything always advances. Like, look at a car. I mean, the, the truck that I drove in high school, like, now you have the cruise control in the car. You still have to put in a CD or a tape. Now, you don't have to do that. You just have to look at a map when you're driving. Now, you don't have to look at a map. There's the GPS. And so but you still have to drive the car. But now you have all this new time. And so people listen to books on tape, or they listen to podcasts and they get what was all this time that they had to spend driving the car. Now they can also sort of like fill that gap in with personal development, right? Which is kind of like what you were talking about there. And that's what I always say with leaders over the years that will say, well, we don't have time for this. We don't like no, you're not you're not spending your time wisely. And that's the good thing about Amazon is because all the time is is tracked. You know, where it's all going. And so if you get time back, the expectation is that you invest that time and something else that's going to help you grow even more in the future. And that's kind of the Amazon way. And not every company is doing that. And that's what you're saying, like, hey, all this time back because AI handles it all now. Now I'm going to develop my team who's going to develop more leaders. And now it's like the flywheel you know the leadership flywheel. Off we go. And and there we are. So um yeah I appreciate that that you're not completely anti AI. And I don't think people should be anti AI either. I think they should use it as a tool. Just like how you use everything in your car as as it got better. So now let me ask you this. So what.
Speaker 2
[00.18.52]
You. You have many different types of people that come work in an Amazon FC, and I've talked about this on the podcast before to all shapes and sizes, creed, walks of life, you name it. So what are some of your, you know, ways that you've been able to get all of your people, all of your team, all of your leaders sort of pulling in the same direction and pulling at full speed, because one of the risks of having a very big and diverse team like that is you have the, the, the temptation where everybody has their own little feeling, their own little sect, and they're not all pulling the same way. So how do you get everybody on board and, and pull in the same way and, and at full strength when they're, when they're working in there. Because I would think that would be a
Speaker 1
[00.19.39]
challenge. Yeah. And sometimes it is. Right. Of course with Amazon. And I'll just share this, uh, the team I'm with now, I have changed teams every three months. Right. So uh, yes, I agree. Yeah. Um, so what that means is you really, when it comes to leadership, you really need a system. Um, it cannot be random. Um, you have to know exactly what is needed. Right? And I will say the first thing one is always establishing trust. Um, that trust is not with me coming in, giving commands. That trust is not with me. Um, telling people how to do their job. Exactly how to do it when the first time I'm meeting. Uh, for me, that trust is established by one spending time, right? You. How do you build trust if you're not spending time with people, you need to understand how they tick. What are their motivations? What are their goals? Right. Uh, and usually I do this in a formatted way and a very casual way. Uh, I use the framework of growth, which is number one, I want to understand people's goals. Right. Amazon. Pretty much everyone you're going to come across as very ambitious. They have goals. I want to understand those goals. I want to understand the reality of those goals. Where is this person at, where their strengths, where their weaknesses, and how can I support them? Right. That is the first thing I do to establish trust is to let them know, like, hey, I'm here for the business, but I'm also here for you, and I want to help support you by removing those barriers. Sometimes it's tough conversations given in love where it's just like, hey, if you want this goal, these are the behaviors that I'm seeing that need to get changed. But also here's your strengths. I think you're not. Fully diving in here. Uh, then it's moving to those, uh, those like. That's the opportunities, right? Like, what areas do can we grow in? How can I help support you? And then the way forward, it's it's helping that individual not giving them the answer, but saying asking the questions and and saying, hey, what is the next step that you need to take? What can we do? Not next week, not even tomorrow? What is one thing that we can do today to get us on the right, on this, on this track to achieving your goals? And then by that, as I do that with everyone, I start to see the picture of mm. This person strong here, I can, I can place them here for their goals. I can give them the outcome a house, a win win for the business. And then I begin to strategically place my leaders in those areas. And what I have found is when leaders are excited, right? They feel like they're growing. It's it's it's it's a stretch, but it's not too much to where they feel like it's unrealistic and they're doing things that they actually want to do. And this is where knowing your team matters, right? Um, when I go on Amazon, I have meetings. They want decisions. Now I don't have time to go ask the team for. I'm going to put this person here. No no, no. They want decisions right then and there. Who's owning what? Here's the outcome. And the problem that I've seen with most leaders is they just start shooting out names, and what they end up doing is demotivating their leaders, because they have just placed them in something that, uh, not only they hate, but it actually may be a weakness and it actually may cause them now to be demotivated. Um, and this is why I say that trust is the number one thing, right? So once you do that now, it's my job as a leader to tie all of that in. Uh, and my framework for that is I have things for the quarter. Uh, so right now I have a team of build that build. I'm on a new team. Uh, I have different leaders. Most of all of my, uh, ams. The people that's under them are new, right? So right now, our theme for Q1 is build and build means basically it's focused heavily on training. I want to make sure that the core roles that we need to be successful in the team is getting trained in. Everyone is at least at 70% operating at those things, because at the end of the day, one thing I've learned is that people are not competent. They're not there. They're not going to be motivated. Often they're not. So motivation increases as people become competent. You will find people that may have a little motivation, but when they start to feel like they're getting good at something and they know what to do and they're able to teach others and things become like, man, I got this, that motivation starts to rise. Uh, so the first thing I make sure is that everyone for this quarter is trained in a key role area. So it's not looking at what this person can do, but it's more so looking at what roles are needed and where do we need to start getting people trained. Uh, and being very systematic about that. So also building out SOPs, making sure that as we're getting trained, we're also documenting this so that when other people come in the business, like, you know, the nature of of Amazon, people are getting promoted, people are making moves up, they're going to short term assignments. You can have a team of five and go down to team of two real quick. And. What burns people out is not having a mechanism for how do we train, and how do we build up leaders to get them up to speed? Not in not in 2 or 3 months, but can we get someone up to speed in a month, three weeks? Two weeks? How do we, uh, take that timeline down? And once you have that, everyone is pretty much working on the same thing because, hey, here's the thing, team. This is where we're going. The team trusts you as a leader because they know that. I know Carlos has my back. I know because he supports me. There's tangible evidence to show that Carlos is supporting me. So I know if I'm uncomfortable, it's for a reason. There's a why behind it that's going to help me get to where I'm trying to go for the goals. And then I'll say that last piece is people seeing people get promoted. There's nothing more motivating than people knowing that, hey, when I go to Carlos team, I know that we're not only going to work hard and have fun and make history, but I'm also going to put myself in a position to where I can get promoted. I can move up. Whatever that may be, whatever that looks like for the person, they know that their goals are also going to be achieved as a result. So I would say that's how you get everyone pulling in the same direction because you have a vision, you have leaders that are showing up that's excited to do the work. That rolls down to the people that I sometimes can't touch because man, my leader is excited. I had this conversation with Carlos. He's excited man. People are getting promoted. And now that creates that flywheel of the system of okay, each one teach one, everyone's winning and people are moving ahead. And if I do my part, I had a real realistic opportunity to do the same, to get promoted, to put my family in a better situation, myself in a better situation. Uh, so that is that is normally how I go about, um, developing, uh, leaders and ensuring that we're, we are all pulling in that same direction.
Speaker 2
[00.26.43]
Yeah. And, uh, that's so great. And I've told that to young managers that I've mentored over the years to that is where the rubber meets the road. And I say this is going to be difficult, but but training and developing is the way for you and your own career for for success. And here are all the reasons why. However. This is why they pay you the quote unquote big bucks as an ops leader, because there is pressure to not do it, because there's pressure to I don't have time for this because we have to go execute. We have to do this. This is coming in the way. And the temptation is just always put it on the back burner because you're so busy just putting out fires and running ops, but that hurts you in the long run, so it's going to hurt you in the short term. When you make the investment to to train and everything, and you're going to have to deal with some pressure. Hey, why did you, you know, why did you invest all this time in this? You know, why did you have all this time and this? It should have been going to direct labor out on the floor. So that's a that's a hard part of being a leader in the Amazon FC world is you have to do what you know is right. Even in the face of pressure. It's not always going to be easy. And sometimes people aren't. They don't they don't. They're not expecting that. They don't understand that that I'm going to be caught. I'm like, yes, you're caught in the middle. Yes, you're caught in the middle. That is called being obsolete or Amazon. You're caught in the middle of two things. So, um, yeah, I love that man. So let me ask you this. Do you see any difference, Carlos? Because, you know, I tell this to people all the time. You know, you get their salaried managers and Amazon AMS and ops leaders and senior slobs, but there's also a lot of leaders on the floor that are hourly to you get your floor leads and pa and so do you see any different growth impediments from an hourly floor leader level that you see from a salary manager level? Or is it is it is it the same for them? Because those two worlds are slightly different sometimes, but sometimes they're they're a little bit the same. They can look the same inside Amazon FC sometimes too. So what do you see about challenges to growth for both those people?
Speaker 1
[00.28.50]
Yeah, so I do want to get to that. But I do want to talk about something that you stayed in, and I feel like it ties in great with this, with this next question. And that is the I don't have time. I tell you this all the time. Right. Like in Amazon we have the leadership principle. And then and simplify right. How do you simplify making time. And it's so easy. John Maxwell teaches it. It's when you're doing something just bring someone with you
Speaker 2
[00.29.20]
and you're gonna
Speaker 1
[00.29.21]
you're gonna you're gonna make a plan. Guess what? Hey, I want you to just come see what I'm doing. Bring a notebook, take some notes. I am eventually going to have you do this yourself. But for right now, come sit beside me while I do this. Will it take you slightly longer to do it? Yes, because there are going to be some points where you you stop, you talk. Hey, this is why I'm doing this. But guess what? By you simply choosing to invest in a leader that is hungry, someone that wants to grow, guess what? They're going to take the initiative. They're going to take the notes. They're going to ask the questions. They're going to be ready to implement it. And that's our job as a leader to identify those that are hungry and give them the opportunity. I tell my leaders all the time, I am not asking you to do anything different. All I'm doing is asking you to bring someone along. Hey, come do this with me. Hey, come see this. That's step number one. Step number two is as I am doing it right, I'm going to allow you to do it right. Let's say you've got your notes. You've seen me do it. Let me. I'm gonna be right beside you. You do it and I'll coach you through it. They start doing that, they get comfortable. They have questions. And in this phase, it's very. This is how you need to do it. Now when they get to the next phase, hey, you know the outcome of us developing the plan, I'm okay with you doing you coming up with the how. Now. Right. I am totally okay with that. You do it. I'm gonna go do something else. Guess what I just did? I just freed up time because now a later, it's not dumping because one, they're hungry, they're wanting to develop. I've tied this to a goal. They're excited to do the job. And it's a win win. Now I'm just freed myself. If I need to go, uh, go to an area that's having an issue, I can go do that now. They're doing it. Hey, if you have questions, ask right now. The last step of that is I need you to someone else. And this is that we just did. I need you to teach that to someone else. So at this point, I'm not asking for a leader to set aside some golden time of, uh, training. All I'm doing is, hey, just come see me. Right? Leadership is more than tall, right? I want you to catch what I'm doing. And the only way to do that is to have you come and sit with me. Now, as it goes from the differences between the hourly and an hourly person, I look at it like there's just different phases for leadership, right? I have a whole new team of of, uh, hourly supervisors that have just joined. These are people that are high performers. But here's the thing. They're high performers that have only had to, uh, worry about themselves right now. I try to do a good job of filtering out the people that are. Yes, you're a high performer, but if you're 100% and I put you in leadership, and the people that were at 80 now go to 50, I. I like you being a high performer, but maybe not a leader. So I look for those people that are hungry that may not be the top performers, but their character, their mindset, their will, their coach ability. I know that if I put them in a leadership position, that the people around them are going to go from being at 80 to a 90 just because of the personality and the character of that person. So that's one thing. The second thing is teaching the leaders. I say it's the it's the three things that all leaders are going to face, going from a individual contributor to a leader. Number one, you have got learn how to delegate, right. You can't do it yourself. A high performer will try to do everything. They won't communicate. They'll just and they'll burn out. And usually they'll burn out. And that's when they'll, uh, they'll have the aha moment of, oh man, I've been doing this role. I'm like, yeah. So but here's the deal. This is why we hired is something you have to learn. We teach them how to delegate. We teach them how to communicate, how to positively influence people. Right. There are leaders that come in Amazon. It's like, well, I'm the leader. They should do exactly what I tell them to do. They should have the same work ethic as mediums. Like, does it work that way, man? I'm a I'm a six and I still go up to people and if I see something, I say, hey, excuse me. Hey, what is your name? Hey, Jacob. Oh, man. Jacob. Hey, man. Thank you for coming to work today. I have a huge favor to ask you. We are struggling in this side of the building. Do you mind going over to help? As soon as you're done with that, I will make sure that you get right back to the area. And I'm telling them the why. Hey, the reason why we're having to move you is this a lot of leaders are shot when I'm bringing them along, that I'm not just telling people what to do. I'm taking the time to communicate the why. So that's the second thing, teaching them how to communicate. And then the third thing is really teaching them to have a different perspective. Right. It's not just about your area. Now you have to think, yes, you're responsible for your area, but how does that tie in to the bigger outcome of what we're trying to do? Uh, where our sought. And that's usually the level I'll leave it at for an hourly light. This is what we're trying to do for our shift that we're working. And how does your area tie into that? And then how do you communicate with your peers. Right. If your area is low on work and another area is struggling. Hey, as a leader our job is hey team, I'm actually 20 people over. I hear that such and such you all are struggling your area. I have 20 people. Hey! What? How? How can I help? Right. And and getting that and I would say those are the three things that I have found has been the most effective with someone coming from the floor to moving into that hourly lead position. And then as you go to the salary, it's kind of the same thing, right? It's just different levels to different scales. So I always tell leaders never get away from your fundamentals because the fundamentals at each level just grow in scale. They just grow in complexity. But you never get away from the fundamentals. You're always gonna plant. So
Speaker 2
[00.35.16]
yeah, I think and you mentioned a great point that a lot of young junior leaders completely miss. And that is your area is important and you should have ownership of your area, but you're a part of the whole and you want the whole to succeed. It's like, yeah, I'm a defensive coordinator on a football team, but the coach head coach cares about the whole team. The owner of the team cares about winning, not just if the defense played good or not, you know? And so I think that's something that junior leaders mess up all the time. I'm good. You know we we hit great. Yeah. But you hope you had the opportunity to chip in and help the whole building succeed. And you and you didn't do that. And even though you had a good day in your area. It still showed a lack of maturity and a lack of strategic vision and concerns that we have about you as as a leader. And that's a fail. And so people sometimes don't they don't they don't put that together. So I really like that. So I want to I want to talk about your book because I mentioned in the promo you have a published book. It's on, it's on, I've seen it on LinkedIn available called um, The Leadership Reset 30 days to redefine how you lead and win. And if there's anything in here that you've already talked a little bit about on this show, which I hope there is, I think it's going to be a fantastic book because you've brought up some really great points. But, you know, tell us a little bit of a preview of the book, the history of it and how it's been received thus far, because I think this is a really cool thing.
Speaker 1
[00.36.42]
Sure. Yep. So this is actually my second book. The first one was Proverbial Success, and that was a book I wrote earlier in my career. And just once again, this all goes back to my mission, right? I am just trying to help as many people as possible, uh, reach their potential. And the vehicle that I have chosen to do that through is leadership, right? Because at the end of the day, the most important person you're ever going to lead is the man in the mirror. So if you get that person right, everything else will take care of itself. Um, so the leadership reset really came about, uh, because at Amazon, uh, I did a, uh, a training, uh, in Vegas called the Essence of Excellence program. And what I found was that it didn't matter which. First mile. Middle mile. Last mile. Right? It didn't matter what network or part I went to. There was one common theme. Every leader was experiencing mental burnout or burnout at some sort. And what I was really trying to do with the book, just from hearing from different leaders in Amazon, was I was really trying to help give them a leadership mental reset, something that they can read daily. Uh, it's actionable, right? It hits and I call it the H3 framework. It hits the head, it hits the heart, it hits the hands. So it's like it gets you thinking, right. It puts your heart in the right, right perspective. And then it it activates your hands. Right. Like, what do I need to do with this information? Um, so it's, it's things that are and and Max story uses this a lot things that are, um, are commonly taught but rarely practice.
Speaker 2
[00.38.22]
So I like that.
Speaker 1
[00.38.23]
It's, um. I
Speaker 2
[00.38.25]
have another golden nugget from that. Oh,
Speaker 1
[00.38.27]
that's another good one. Um, but it really just helps people understand that at the end of the day, like you will forget the information. You have to keep feeding yourself these nuggets and these principles. And I have just found that reading daily and it doesn't have to be a lot. It can be 510 minutes, just I don't care if it's a page a day. And that's basically what this book is really a page a day you read. And it's something simple as implement. It might be a lesson there that just talks about, hey, leadership is more than tall, right? That is, that is that is head. The heart, the heart of that is people are only going to work to the level that they feel that you care. If you're not present, if they don't see you, if they don't hear from you, and the first time that you have an interaction, it is to ask them to do something or to tell them do something. Where's the trust and where's the relationship? Right. So the thing that it's telling leaders to do is, yes, I know you're busy. Yes, I know there's meetings. Yes, I know there's demand from on up high. There's demands from below. There's there's demands everywhere. But at the end of the day, if you're in a leadership position. You are there to solve a problem. Not just a business problem, but a people problem. And the best thing that you can do is to say, hey, I don't care if it's ten minutes a day, I am going on the floor, I am going to walk, and I'm not going to talk about business. I'm going to walk up to see like how this person's body language is a little off. Hey, how's everything going? And most of the time the response you'll get is work is great. We're we're we're we're we're. Hey, I'm not asking about that. How are you doing? And is there anything that I can do to make today a better experience for you? And the reason I came and talk to you, I noticed that your body language a little off. Now, I could be wrong, but is there anything that's going on that maybe we need to talk through and that I can be a support system for you and you'll find like, oh man, thank you. I'm struggling with this and you're able to help them. And guess what happens? You help one person as a leader, you would feel like, man, I didn't have an impact. I was just one person. But here's the deal that I found that I have found that one person gets what they go do. They go talk to ten other people? They go talk to their team. Man. Carlos. Man. He he came he really checked in. And yes, now that positive influence is being built. But it all started because you chose to be intentional. You chose to walk the floor. You chose to go and deal with an issue that is outside of work and to be there for a person, a human being. And guess what that person did? They went and they did something. And that's how influence feels positively. And that is one thing I want leaders to understand, that it's not the big things that you do. It's not the event. It is the daily process. It is how you show up daily. It's how you talk to someone. It is those things that your leadership legacy is going to be built about. And that's what I hope that the leadership reset does. Right. They read something. It affects their head, it affects their heart, and it causes them to do something with their hands. That is leadership led and that affects people in a positive way.
Speaker 2
[00.41.33]
That's great, man. And I love the fact that you're bringing up the heart into it is sometimes in this industry, things can they can be very transactional. And sometimes people shy away from the heart piece because they are I just don't want to go there. And it's it's weird, but I've always felt like that's a missed opportunity because the heart is that's the engine, man. Like, that's the engine of people. That's that's what runs people. And so you want to talk about ROI. How about this ROI? Like you just said, I want to talk with this guy for two minutes to check in with him and boom, two minutes. What's the cost of that? Nothing. And out of it. I get great performance from him the rest of the week. Plus he force multiplies it and he tells ten other people. Plus, when it's time for me to come up for promotion, 6 to 10 months later, I got all these people who are vouching for me, who are backing me for, you know what I mean? Like ROI, come on, that I understand that that ROI doesn't show up directly in the Excel spreadsheet, but you know it's there, right? And I tell people, so don't don't don't miss out on that. So I love that man that that the head the head and the heart and the hands. I've never heard that before. I love that. That's very insightful, man. And good on you that that's that's really good. I think you really hit into the heart of it with that. So. All right, my friend. So last question in the show where can people find out more about you? You know, I follow you on LinkedIn. I know you have a lot of followers on LinkedIn. You're putting out lots of free stuff there. You know, just nuggets of wisdom and everything. So but where can people find out more about you and what do you got cooking up for 2026 and and and beyond maybe.
Speaker 1
[00.43.06]
Yeah. Um, so man, I am primarily on LinkedIn, uh, because a large part of my audience is leadership. Uh, it's leaders. It is, uh, people that identify, uh, with being a high performer, uh, and those that are essentially trying to get into the leadership. So, um, I, I hang out on LinkedIn. Um, people can message me there. Um, some things that are cooking up, man. There's just. I feel blessed. Right. Uh, I am beginning teaching. So getting to impact students with, uh, presidential leadership. Uh, and I am also working on something called the standard. Um, and what it is, I'm starting first because most of the people that reach out to me are reaching out. Um. For advice on how to get promoted, when to increase their finances, of course with inflation. So I am in the works of building out a very short book that is really focused on the technical part. Uh, and it's an eight step system. I call it the standard, but it's eight steps and a system to helping underpaid leaders get to six figures. So that's something that I'm really big on because, uh, in operations, uh, if you get to ops manager in certain levels, like six figures, is is definitely a reasonable goal. Uh, so want to impact leaders there, especially the ones that have the heart and the character of a leader. I want to make sure that they are not underpaid. Uh, because what I have found is that leaders that that are typically of great character and good hearts, they do not have a system for making sure that they are. Yes, you're serving people, but I need you to get promoted because I need that character to impact more people. And I have just found that they don't have a way to showcase their skills in a way that feels authentic, and not in a way that feels salesy or self-promotion. Um, so that book, um, will be released in January? Uh, sometimes this month. I'm waiting on a year to come in. Uh, but it's just a it's an eight system book. If you follow it, you keep doing that same play for 90 days consistently, you will get promoted. I have helped people come from the floor. Uh, I have a couple of, of mentees that are actually about to surpass me, um, using the same playbook. So I want to make sure that I'm sharing this knowledge with everyone because just honestly, uh, I just I just don't have the the time with being married, having a son, having a family to do one on one coaching. So I try to put my things in books and sharing on LinkedIn to help people get to where they're trying to go. Um, so that'll be fun out here in January. I love it, man. And I mean, it's you just putting the goodness out there, man. I tell that to people all the time. Just put it out into the universe. It's like sometimes that the good ones, they they don't get promoted. They get looked over because they're focused on their job and the people and where they should be. And unless you have a special, you know, leader that really sees that and brings you forward, but that that doesn't always happen. I mean, there are great leaders out there that, that, that don't sell themselves very well because they haven't learned that skill. They don't know that, and it doesn't feel natural to them. So I, I love that personally on a personal level. I love that book that you're coming up with. I hope lots of people check that out. I'm excited to see that. And I'm good on you, man. That that's fantastic. That that is that's great I love that. That's going to be that would have been valuable for me, you know, ten, 15 years ago. So I know that that will be valuable to people out there that are coming up the ranks. So
Speaker 2
[00.46.41]
awesome. All right, my friend. Well, this was awesome having you on the show. You know, it's great to have. It's cool to have people talk. Come on, talk about technology and everything. But I love to have people come on and just talk about ops, you know, pure ops and leadership and development and all that, because that's what people want to know. That's that's where we come from. And and that's that's what people want to know. So the great chat with you, my friend, you welcome back to come on the show anytime. Uh, this was awesome. And thank you much for your being honest and genuine and authentic. And there's a lot of good stuff that, that you're working on, dude. So, uh, good, good on you. And good luck to you and 2026. And my best to to the family.
Speaker 1
[00.47.21]
Yes, sir, I appreciate it.
Speaker 2
[00.47.23]
All right. Take care of my friend.
Speaker 1
[00.47.27]
All right, guys. That concludes episode number 33. Carlos Cody, just a fantastic guest, a fantastic leader, right? Like, if you want to grow and learn about leadership from somebody who is walking the walk and talking the talk, he's your guy. Check out his book today. And the one that he's he's going to release later this month. I'm really excited about that. It's going to be really cool as the Warehouse Underground goes. Like I always say, please sign up for the community if you haven't done that. We have almost 250 people that are signed up for the community. Inside the community, we have message boards, networking with other members, some live events that we've done in the past, and more coming down the pipe for 2026. So become a member. It's free and a very good place to be and hang out and gather some knowledge and wisdom. Also check out the Tiger Team Show episode number eight. Our New Year's Eve episode just released this morning with Jordan and I. So we we we have three banger stories that are hilarious, that have happened in the world of Petaluma centers that you guys will not want to miss on that show. Uh, so check that out. It's wit, humor, and sarcasm with things that are happening in the world of distribution centers and fulfillment centers. We think you will like it as this podcast goes. Thank you again, Carlos. Cody, I will see you guys next week for episode number 35. Thank you. God bless.
