54 - From King of Exits to Builder of Leaders | Why Legacy Matters More Than Liquidity

Welcome to the Impact Podcast. I'm Eddie Wilson. Here to help you visualize what others cannot see.

Create opportunities where others have failed and push you to build empires where once there was empty space.

Let's embark on this journey together and make a difference in this world.

Welcome to the Impact Podcast with Eddie Wilson. I'm your host Eddie Wilson,

excited to have you on the podcast today. Today, I'm going to talk about a topic

that I'm passionate about and that's exiting businesses. However, I'm going to take a hard

left turn and tell you why I'm no longer the king of exits. Why am I no longer the king of exits?

Let me go back just a few years. Probably 2019, I had the ability and privilege to exit quite a few

companies. 2020 during COVID, I exited a company, 2021, exited some companies. And during that time

period, I was doing a lot of teaching and training and was being invited out to speak about my

experiences about exiting companies, growing companies, scaling companies, building companies.

And a guy with the name of Nick Long, who now runs a group called Founders,

great guy, does an amazing job helping people get to a place where they can exit, where they can

build their company and exit. He actually gave me the title. He was introducing me one day and he said,

let me introduce to you the king of exits. And it stuck during a lot of the interviews,

during that time period, whether it was a Forbes interview or some different interviews that you've

seen maybe on the news or whatever. There was this constant reference back to all the companies

that I had sold and exited. And for the longest time, that's what I've been known for. When somebody

brings me to the stage, they'll say the king of exits. But recently, I've really been thinking about

my life and legacy and what I'm trying to put into my life and what I'm trying to be known for and

what's the legacy of my life. As you grow older, you realize that your life is not, it's not another

dollar, it's not another vacation, it's not another house, it's really not another business or

it's not another brand you're building. What you realize is that your life is really the legacy,

it's the story that's told, it's the impact that was made and it's the long lasting

principles and impact that are adhered to or used long after you're gone. So many amazing people

through history have left legacy and they didn't do it because of just the accomplishments they had

in their life. They did it with the accomplishments they had in their life and what that ultimately

led to. The season of exiting the businesses and the season of growth that I experienced,

I'm not necessarily shedding that, it was an amazing season of life, it's not the season of life I'm

in. That season was amazing, the winds, the scaling, the journey, even the nickname, Nick giving me

that and then being known for that and being asked about that. I love it, I love buying businesses,

I love selling businesses, I love growing businesses and so I want to acknowledge that, that is

a part of my past. So is the college days and so are those days where I was grinding and I didn't

have any money. So were the days that I was scared and wondering if I could make payroll and

that's very much a part of my journey too. I never want a hyper focus on one singular outcome

and I think that this is more my attempt to help you truly understand who Eddie Wilson is,

but not just that, to really understand your own life, your own journey, that your life and your

journey are just that. Your entire life is a journey, it is highs, it is lows, it is a series of

winds, a series of losses, but in the end you don't want your life to be indicative of one moment

in time, one segment of time or one accomplishment in time. We're so much more than that, right?

And so the realization is this is that when I began to speak about this and obviously we've

been traveling the nation and speaking and teaching and training and the more I talk about the

exits or the more I talk about the business growth or the more I talk about the companies that I

was associated with, what I realized is that exits are really just events along that historical

pathway, right? Like they're just on the timeline, they're just an event that happened, but there

was so much more that happened just and often times I'll go to ask about a dollar amount or a very

specific company that I exited. And the fact of the matter is it's literally just a checkbox

along that pathway, but there was so much more that led up to that one moment and that leadership

is truly the legacy, right? Once the exit happens, it's done. It's a moment in time. It's a

it's a tally, right? And so people are asking how many companies have you sold and how many companies

have you exited from and how many companies have you put together? And the fact of the matter is

is each one of those are just individual tally points along this journey that I've been on that's

on this timeline that, you know, is is more important than one individual moment. But leadership

and what I have left behind is continuous and ongoing on that timeline. The exit is a done. It's

a check mark. It's a it's a point. It's a reference point, but leadership is lasting. It's it

exists beyond just that moment in time. And I also have realized that exits are events and

leadership is legacy. I've realized that liquidity or financial liquidity or wealth is not the

highest form of wealth, right? Like the amount of money in your bank account really doesn't prove

if you're wealthy or not. Somebody has one standard of wealth and maybe I have a standard of wealth

and you have a standard of wealth. But the fact of the matter is is you could exit make money

and still feel empty. You could exit and not make money and actually feel fulfilled.

But watching somebody who is mentored and watching somebody grow is always a win. There's something

about watching someone else succeed and you know that you've sewed something into their life

is more gratifying than any one of those moments in time. The cash, the liquidity, it still

brings emptiness. But watching somebody that you've mentored win, that compounds like that,

that's an exponential value that continues to keep giving over time.

The third thing that I realized is I really don't want to be the hero of the story.

There's a lot of teaching and I know Donald Miller really coins a lot of this phrasing but

it's like in every situation there is a hero, there's a villain and there's a guide.

And the fact of the matter is is when you're the hero of the story, when you're when you are being

touted as the hero, you feel an emptiness and an isolation. In every one of those business exits,

it wasn't because of my work. It was because of the work of the employees and the people that

they got under the weight of what we were trying to accomplish. It was the amazing men and women

that I worked tireless countless hours beside. It was them like they are who made the company.

I had the title, I had the position, I had the role but in the end like they're the ones that made

it happen. And so in that, I don't want to be the hero. I'd rather be the guide. I'd rather be

the person that helps a hero get where they want to go. I find so much more value. The king title

that Nick gave me while it's flattering really centers on me. But the fact of the matter is is

I may have had all these exits along this pathway. I may have had these business successes

but it's the individuals of every one of those businesses that made it possible.

So while I have the title, it really centers on me, but real leadership

decentralizes itself. The decentralization of Eddie Wilson is what I want. I want to almost

commoditize what things, these elements that I've created or I have advantage, I have the

advantage of being or having or possessing or learning that I spread them, that I share them.

And so instead of a central figure, what I want is for you to understand that there are principles

and there are people that led to every one of those successes. And for me to continue down that path

of even claiming it seems disingenuous. And so I think the pivot that I'm making in my own

personal life, I want you to understand because I think it's a pivot that many of us need to make.

And so I want you to understand that I'm not necessarily running away from the success,

but I want you to understand the power of that success and the principles of the people that it

took in order to get there. Because if the focus is there, then we all can win. There's so many

lessons to be taught there. And so I want to make a pivot in my personal brand and my personal

identity, not necessarily shedding the past, but evolving, growing and making sure that my legacy is

more than just a selection of companies that were sold over time. So what do I want to be known for?

If you ever had this exercise in your life, you're like, what do I want to be known for?

And you typically start with the inner circle around you, right? It's my three sons. I've got three

boys. I've got Skylar Titus and Maddox. And they are amazing young men. I could not ask God for

anything more in my life than those three boys. Those three boys are everything to me. And you start

with that little circle that's around you. And it's like, what do I want to be known for in their

eyes? And I had to make a list of what I want to be known for in their eyes. I had to make a list

for what I want to be known for in my family's eyes. I want to make a list of what I want to be

known for in my employees eyes. And then the greater circle of just the people that you influence and

the people that are either casually or intently watching you. And making sure that all of that is

congruent because if not, what happens is you're given a title, you go down a path, you speak the

language. But in the end, it's not necessarily what you want to be known for, right? And so I

wanted to get very intentional with that. And so what do I want to be known for? This is where I

want to define the new frame, right? And I think that all of us need to go through this work in our

life because instead of allowing everyone else to define you, intentionally define yourself so

the outcome is what you want. It's what you plan. So here are a couple of things that I want to

be known for. And I'd like for you mentally to go through this similar exercise. Number one,

I want to be known for developing leaders who do not need me. I think oftentimes as I look at

either my sons or I look at employees or I look at the people around me, the easiest thing to do

is to create co-dependence, right? To give them something so that they have to keep coming back,

right? It's feeding them a little so that they'll continue to come back. And we feel good when

we're needed. The human experience is oftentimes tied to this internal desire and need to be

needed, loved and wanted, you know, by other people. But I find that at the end of that road is

emptiness is that it's always a place of giving and really truly never receiving. And even though you

feel like you're receiving something you feel like, well, you know, wow, I feel like I'm receiving

this love and compassion for someone. It's not. It's a desire need. What is a greater feeling?

What is a greater accomplishment is to give them what they need and allow them to become

what they're going to become without ever needing you in the process. I struggle with that,

you know, as I raise my sons because, you know, as a, as a dad, you know, I watch my first son

Skyler build a company in college. And, you know, I remember when he would call me and he rarely

did, you know, call me about business. But when he would, it was just like I couldn't, I couldn't

wait. If he asked me a business question, man, I was all in. I wanted so bad to just so business

acumen in his life. But to create dependency there creates a limitation in his own life. And so to

allow him to explore on his own and to never insert myself and to only be there and ready when he's

willing and to to give little nuggets of truth. And maybe some bread crumbs along the way was the

way that I chose to go about it. And I think watching him succeed on his own with a little push

from me is so much more gratifying because a lot of what he's doing, he learned through osmosis

by observing versus me intentionally serving and pushing and prodding and along the way. He did

it himself. I guided. I contributed. But in the end, most of what he's learned was through osmosis.

It was through observing. So I don't be known. I want to be known for developing leaders.

You don't need me. I want to be known for building systems that outlive me. You know,

principles are things that exist outside of a timeline where they're only applicable in that

period of time. I want to build principles and systems or systems built on principles so that

these principles and systems can outlive. I think of, you know, in my book The Titan Doctrine,

I talked a lot about the Napoleonic Code and Napoleon. Well, Napoleon had a lot of his fair issues

and he had all kinds of issues with relationships and he had issues with trust. He had issues

with passing on his legacy. One thing that he did was he built a code. He built a system that even a

lot of our systems today are still built on the very foundations of the Napoleonic Code.

To me, I want to build systems that outlive me. Number three, I want to create impact beyond a

balance sheet. Oftentimes, we look at our impact based on our net worth or the value of what

we're building. Your balance sheet oftentimes represents the value of your company, not just the

profit and loss, but the true value. What's the value? What do you possess, right?

And the balance sheet of both my business and my life should be tied to intrinsic things

instead of tangible things. So I want to create impact beyond my balance sheet. And fourth,

I want to help founders mature, not just monetize. The question I get asked all the time is,

you know, how do I get more out of my company? How do I get more out of my time? How do I get more

out of what I'm doing? And typically they're talking about it from a monetary position. How do I

go from 5 million to 10 million, 10 million to 20 million, 20 million to 100 million? How do I

get to the 100 million or the billion dollar, 100 million to a billion dollar company? And I want

to take the next years of my life and teach people that yes, money matters and money is important.

And the monetary does create a scorecard and the more monetary value that you gain, the more

impact you can make, but I want them to not judge the success of their life by the monetary

impacts, but ultimately to look at their life in a maturing process where they begin to

to decentralize themselves, right? Like I want to decentralize myself and ultimately help founders

and leaders begin to decentralize as well. So I'm trying to shift from transaction to transformation.

I'm trying to shift from profit to multiplication. I'm trying to shift from exit to eternity.

So in this new season, what changes practically, right? So we're talking about all these kind of

philosophical things. What changes practically? What changes will you see in my life? What changes have

I already committed to that maybe you're already seeing in my life? Number one, more mentorship.

I want to sow into more people. If you heard what I just said, you should hear this passion and

desire to build other people while diminishing myself, right? I think that there is greatness

all around me. And I think my legacy will be the greatness that I've allowed others or pushed

others to achieve. I love the stoic philosophers, but I also love Socrates and Plato.

And oftentimes you know the names of Socrates and Plato because of the people that they built,

the leaders that came out of their teaching and their camp, right? And for me, that's what I want,

right? Like I want to create principles and timeless principles that lead into systems that then

build people that then show the success as multiply, more mentorship, more leadership development,

the more I want to teach and train and bring content to you, the more I want to develop your

leadership and leadership ability, more focus on character, you know, characters that underlining

role that all of us need to play and all of us need to get to success based on the character

that we possess, not by always playing in the gray, by spinning things, by being something

we're not. And then more spotlight on others. I think that you're going to see a very practical,

tactical shift where you're going to see me start to promote a lot of other people.

Even in the podcast, you know, in the days to come, the plans to bring additional people on,

not necessarily just to help and guide and train you, but also to promote them, right? Like

there's some amazing people that God has put in my pathway that have an abundance of wealth,

abundance of wealth of knowledge and wisdom that I want to bring to you. And so I want to spotlight

other people. I don't want to be the king of exits. I want to be the man that helps kings rise,

kings and queens that need to step into their rightful place. And to me, that's what I think my

practical step will be. I put already on a note that I've been looking at a lot is that I

don't want to be the king of exits. I want to be the man who helps the king's rise. In closing,

I want to ask you this, what are you chasing? What is it that you desire, right? Are you attaching your

life to an outcome or are you attaching your life to the process and the maturity towards the

outcome? Think about that timeline I talked about. Think about that 40 years of life that I lived

before the exits, right? And I had some exits early on in life, but before I was really known

for the exits that I had and all that I lived and all that I learned and all that I was exposed to

for my parents and grandparents to the businesses, to the wins, to the losses, to the people,

to the mentors that I had, to the people that I looked up to. All of that period of my life,

I don't want to be then put and position into these moments of time that are these exits of

business that all of us think, wow, that was amazing or that was a great success. I think the true

success will be what is my life in the next 25 years. So for you, are you attaching your success

to outcomes or are you attaching your success to the to the to the journey along the way and the

impact that you're making along that way? What will matter what will matter in 25 years for you?

What's going to matter for me in 25 years? I believe are not the exits. Yes, they're powerful,

but people because people are eternal and I want to choose the eternal. I hope you guys will go

with me along this journey. I would love to hear some feedback on that. I'd love to hear what you

guys are chasing. So through my social channels or through any way possible, I'd love to hear some

feedback from you. You can follow me on any of the social channels, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok,

Facebook, whatever it is that you typically go to and I'd love to hear some feedback from you.

I want to hear what you're chasing and I hope that you're chasing not something that's temporal,

something that's transactional, but something that's eternal. Thanks so much for being a part of

the podcast and for listening today. I'd love to connect with you further and you can connect with me

on social media at Eddie Wilson official on any of the social media channels.