Former Bloomberg Exec and Expert Communicator Chuck Garcia

My guest today is Chuck Garcia. Chuck is the former head of Global Marketing at Bloomberg. He is also the Founder of Climb Leadership International and coaches executives on leadership development, public speaking, and emotional intelligence with his Empathetic Leadership Institute. Chuck is a professional speaker and has given keynotes in over twenty countries. He is also the Amazon best-selling author of A Climb to the Top and podcast host of the popular show of the same name. Chuck also teaches Leadership Communication at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Engineering.

Chuck first shares his background story and how he went from Wall Street to entrepreneurship. He began his career on Wall Street, under the tutelage of Mike Bloomberg. Now, for those of you who might not know this, Mike Bloomberg was a presidential candidate and a Mayor of New York for three terms. He was also Chuck’s boss for fourteen years, and Chuck shares that he learned more in one week under his tutelage than he did in four years of college. After 9/11, the day he was scheduled to speak on the hundred seventh floor of the World Trade Center, Chuck decided that it was time for a career change. So, he started his own company called Climb Leadership international. Today, he is a professional speaker, published author, and a professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Engineering where he teaches public speaking and emotional intelligence.

We then move on to discussing one of Chuck's biggest passions which is communication. He explains that throughout his education, he defined success as being at the top of his class, as many of us do. But after beginning his career on Wall Street, he came to realize that the people who were climbing the career ladder were not the best students, but they were powerful communicators. They were the ones who could read the room the best and who were the most dynamic speakers.

Next, we talk about key concepts of communication. Chuck shares that during his college years there was one course that made a huge impact on him and it was called the Art and Science of Debate. This course changed his career. Later, when he was working at Bloomberg’s and speaking on stage, he had to find a way to connect to hundreds of different people at the same time. He experimented with a number of different methods, and he soon found his framework which he named Ten Commandments of Great Communicators. In his book A Climb to the Top, he gives an in-depth look at all ten commandments. Some of them are: the Primacy/Recency Effect, the observation that when people hear you speak they remember the first thing and the last thing that you say; Power of Emotional Appeal, that people gravitate to stories of struggle and challenge; the Power of the Pause, that by pausing you are showing consideration to the listener and giving them time to catch up and absorb the message.

Eventually, we talk about what emotional intelligence is and why it is important. Chuck explains that emotional intelligence addresses the social, personal, and survival dimensions of the emotions of an individual when they are going about their day. Emotional intelligence helps one to understand how to be self-aware. When it comes to teaching this class, Chuck explains that his students are likely to become amazing engineers but the higher they climb in their careers, the less engineering they’ll do. Their job description is going to change midway through that ladder and they will feel ill-equipped. This is called the paradox of success: the skills that got you halfway are not the skills that get you all the way. As you move higher up that ladder, your communication skills become more and more important.

Lastly, we dive deeper into the metaphor behind Climb to the Top. Chuck explains that in his book he uses a climb to a mountain as a metaphor for career success. This all started after the tragic event of 9/11 when Chuck realized that we wanted to do more with his life. He decided to become a mountaineer. After climbing his first few mountains, he began to notice a pattern similar to the one in his career. He was climbing his way to the top, one step at a time, but he wasn't alone, he had a guide and people who helped him get to the top. So, he decided to be a guide for others.

Make sure you don’t miss this incredibly fun and informative episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast with true expert communicator Chuck Garcia!

Notable Quotes:

“If a man stands on integrity and he makes several billion dollars along the way, well isn’t that the American dream?”

Chuck Garcia

“As real estate investors, oftentimes we're taking something really bad that doesn't have the value it should and we create value and better communities.”

Mike Simmons

“Career success is determined 5 percent by your academic credentials, 15 percent by your professional experiences, 15 percent by your natural ability, and 65 percent by your communication skills.”

Chuck Garcia

“As I learned to become a more compelling communicator, I was finding what was working well on stage, was working well at home. And what worked well with my colleagues, worked well with my children. That's when the formula really hit me.”

Chuck Garcia

“Just because one can speak doesn't mean one is a good speaker.”

Chuck Garcia

“The really good people in the real estate business are very good listeners. They establish an emotional connection. They make you feel like the home you're about to purchase, that their happiness and success is as much at stake as yours.”