Thursday, December 30- Today’s the day! Today is the final episode of the year and who better than Jeff Henderson to help finish out 2021.
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Episode Transcript
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Jim Schauer: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to this episode of Coffee with Jim and James. James, as I always do, I have a story, but this one’s partially true. [0:00] [0:00]
James Cross: Mm‑hmm. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: TGA, Texas Gas Association. I think it was my first golf event, OK? Years back, years. And as I’m heading up to the first tee box, a‑again I’m carrying three or four bags because I thought I was a caddy, but that’s another story. [0:00] [0:00]
James: Right. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: So I get up there. I start to put these bags out and this whole crowd turns to me and goes, “Shh” and they point up. So I look up at the tee box and I see this figure, I, I can’t tell who it is. [0:00] [0:00] It’s a, it’s, it’s a huge figure up there and they’re loosening up. They hit this ball, 300, 400, maybe 500 yards, it goes down the…you know? [0:00] [0:00]
James: Cart path. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: People on their cell phones calling the next town, because a projectile’s coming. I’m like, “Who is that?” They’re like, “That’s Jeff Henderson, don’t you know?” [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff Henderson: [laughs] [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: I’m like, “Uh, OK”. And as he’s coming down, I say, “Jeff, I‑I’m Jim”. And he goes, “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Grab my bag, let’s go, we have to get this off”. [0:00] [[0:00] laughter] [0:00] [0:00]
James: Well, that is partially true. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: There’s some… [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: You know? [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: No. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: I don’t know why I don’t remember the story, though. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Yeah, well, we were talking in the pre‑show about some of our good times golfing and Jeff is an avid golfer and a great golfer, and he’s fun to watch because, uh, he, uh, he loves the game. [0:00] [0:00] But anyways, James, I’ll hand it over to you to bring us back into reality. [0:00] [0:00]
James: Yeah, I‑, it’s always scary when Jimmy leads off with a TGA story and you had…you start reliving all of your TGA trips wondering what story’s going to tell. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: [laughs] [0:00] [0:00]
James: We’ve got a lot of, of time on the river walk. Uh, Jeff Henderson, uh, friend of the show. He, he’s at least watched part of the episode I’d send in, in preparation. Jeff, how you doing, brother? [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: And I’m doing good, doing good. But, uh, appreciate you guys having me on. [0:00] [0:00]
James: Mm‑hmm. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: Exciting to…exciting talk to you guys. It’s been a while since we’ve, we’ve gotten together and we’ve talked. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Yeah. [0:00] [0:00]
James: I know. The pre‑show’s where it’s, uh. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: Yeah. [0:00] [0:00]
James: That’s where we were been telling Jeff. Everybody, we should record the pre‑show, but then again, we shouldn’t. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: [laughs] [0:00] [0:00]
James: Everyone agrees with that. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Yeah. [0:00] [0:00]
James: Jeff, I don’t know…I don’t know if you even know this ‑‑ and, and for those that don’t know ‑‑ Jeff, go ahead and give us a quick intro, uh, just for yourself and, and what you do over there in Si. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: So, I am the director of operations here for Houston office with SiEnergy. Um, we are a growing company. Um, we’re growing leaps and bounds in the Houston Metroplex, the Dallas Fort Worth area and also over in Austin. [0:00] [0:00] Um, so, I was actually making my rounds last couple days in, uh, in our different locations. It’s kind of fun to see the growth. [0:00] [0:00] Um, I’ve been in the industry for 16 years now. Um, I started with West Texas Gas up in the Texas Panhandle then, um, moved over to the Atmos life and, uh, then, uh, was presented the opportunity to come down here and be the director of operations, uh, for SiEnergy, so. [0:00] [0:00] All tucked in, it’s been a really good move for, uh, myself, my career, uh, my family. So, um, we’ve really enjoyed the Houston area. I never thought I would live in Houston, um, but, uh… [0:00] [0:00]
James: Oh. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: We’ve, we’ve actually really enjoyed it. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: We were actually… [0:00] [0:00]
James: And you and Jimmy were neighbors, right? [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Yeah, weird way to put it. When I lived in Houston… [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: I’m aware. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: …we were a mile, two miles apart. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: Yeah, not bad. [0:00] [0:00]
James: Mm‑hmm. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: I told Jim, I said, “The only way I’m moving to Houston is if you leave”. And he did, so. [0:00] [0:00]
James: As soon as he could. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: Yeah. [0:00] [[0:00] laughter] [0:00] [0:00]
James: Well, Jeff’s been a client pretty much everywhere he went. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: Yeah. [0:00] [0:00]
James: So we, uh, big friend of Jeff, friend of the company. We have a lot of connections. I think w‑, he has more friends in the energy world that than I do. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: I believe I…My first interaction with you guys is when y’all had six employees. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Wow. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: And now, I don’t know how many y’all have now but, uh, it’s not six. [0:00] [[0:00] laughter] [0:00] [0:00]
James: Yeah, that’s wow. That’s incredible. When I joined, which was about five and a half years ago, we had thirt‑, like 38, 36 right in that range. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: Mm‑hmm. [0:00] [0:00]
James: And, um, yeah, we’re pushing some bigger numbers these days. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: Yeah, I thi‑, I mean… [0:00] [0:00]
James: He’ll need a bigger boat. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: …the first thing it’s evolved it’s y’all had a wing, y’all have one little wing on that whole building. Now y’all taking over the whole building and add it onto it and done all kinds of things. [0:00] [0:00]
James: Yeah, we still have people that walk in and ask us where Twisted X Boots is. [0:00] [[0:00] laughter] [0:00] [0:00]
James: Jeff, uh, we, we’ve had a lot of interaction with Jim and he mentioned that before, because of our dealings with, uh, and through the TGA, Texas Gas Association… [0:00] [0:00] And I don’t know if, you know, we, we’ve discussed a little bit at different times but, um, there was a safety roundtable we went trough. I want to say it was in St. Marcus. [0:00] [0:00] And, um, anyhow, you…It really was the last thing, you know, how last things went around, people go, everybody’s trying to get out, because in Texas you got to go drive four hours home, you know? [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: Yeah. [0:00] [0:00]
James: When I can’t get on a flight. And so everybody’s, you know, the, the last couple of hours of those types of meetings are like people stacking papers loud. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: [laughs] [0:00] [0:00]
James: Just letting you know and checking their phones, you know, they want to get home and it was about. We had already kind of adjourned, I think. And a discussion started out, uh, about an accident, an incident, um, here in Texas that occurred. [0:00] [0:00] And Jeff told a story, really impromptu, from another presentation. And I think we hung out for another two hours past, when really would need, you had to. We were obligated to and…which is quite the accomplishment with this group, like I said. [0:00] [0:00] Because we were, we were ready to go. And, um, but for me, it was a story and a testimony that really put what I was involved in the safety side, you know, make…our vision is to make the world a safer place to work. [0:00] [0:00] And for me, nothing had really grabbed me that and said, “This is why you’re here. This is why you’re doing it”. [0:00] [0:00] And that moment, for me, was funny enough. And Jeff, it was probably just another Tuesday for you. You probably didn’t think twice about it, might not even be able to remember it. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: [laughs] [0:00] [0:00]
James: But, but for me, it was something I was like, “Man, I’m in the right spot, you know?” And, and it gave me something to kind of point to. And so I know safety is super important to you, love to hear kind of where that stems from and where, and how it’s manifested now. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: You know, so when I started in this industry of West Texas Gas, um, it was kind of the same as SiEnergy right now. We were a very small company and so, um, you know, a lot of, a lot of companies in the natural gas industry are reactive companies. And we get to the point where something happens and we react to it. [0:00] [0:00] And so, as I got into my career with West Texas, I came in with, with zero experience in the natural gas industry. So I was just kind of hit the ground running and started to learn. [0:00] [0:00] Well, if you dig into the safety rules, you look back on some of the things you probably did in the first two or three years of your career and you are like, “Man, I was stupid, like, why did I do that?” [0:00] [0:00]
James: [chuckle] [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: And, um, you know, little, little things started happening, you change your policies and other thing happens to change the policies and, so, I really worked with the management of West Texas Gas and, and really tried to be more of a proactive top company towards safety. [0:00] [0:00] Um, and I really try to do that as, as I’ve transitioned through my career with aptness and, and now in SiEnergy doing the same thing. [0:00] [0:00] Um, yeah, I‑I remember that, that conversation, the TGA, um, very vividly and, and really it’s that, that small conversation, that impromptu discussion, really triggered me to do that presentation with TGA multiple times. [0:00] [0:00] Um, and I’ve done it at an SGA Roundtable before, and I still get that presentation. I actually just gave that presentation on Monday to some of our new employees here at SiEnergy. [0:00] [0:00] Um, and, you know, obviously, I’m not going to get into a whole lot of details about it on here… [0:00] [0:00]
James: No. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: But it’s, it’s an incident that really, that really struck home and it, it really, it really struck home because it occurred to people I knew. [0:00] [0:00] Um, people I worked with on a daily basis and, you know, what they were doing was something that I’ve done a hundred times and it really changed my philosophy on how I go about doing things. [0:00] [0:00] Um, so really, you know, i‑in my position here, with SiEnergy, one, one of the things, one of the reasons that I took the job is being the director of operations down here, I’m able to effect change. [0:00] [0:00]
James: Yeah. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: And whether that’s physical change, mental change, whatever that is, you can, you can adjust the policies, um, to, to really fit the narrative that, that, that you want to drive with you, with your folks. [0:00] [0:00] And, um, safety is huge. I mean, we just got off a, we have a weekly safety meeting every Wednesday. We got off that at 8:30 this morning. [0:00] [0:00] So, um, well, you know, we really drive safety, um, whether it’s, you know, safety towards an incident like this or, like this morning, we just talked about regular job site safety and wearing your PPE when you’re on these, on these new home building sites and watch it for nails and little things like that. [0:00] [0:00] You know, your whole goal in the safety world, especially in the industry that we’re in, is to make sure that you and your employees go home safe at the end of the day. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Absolutely. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: And that’s, that’s where this whole thing has to start. And once you do that, it makes for a more productive, uh, environment around, uh, around the company. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: You know, uh, you know, Jeff we’ve known each other for years and the, the passion that you have for safety and everything you just said right there, where you put safety first and it almost goes to our episode today where we put that topic first. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: Mm‑hmm. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: Because every time that there’s a crew meeting, uh, e‑even committee meetings when we’re indoors, we have a safety share and ‑‑ if people aren’t from our industry ‑‑ a safety share is where, before a meeting even starts, you talk about something. [0:00] [0:00] It could be the exits, it could be what to do in case a tornado hits, it could be if you’re on a job site, you know, one little tidbit to remind people, because people when they get comfortable, unfortunately, as human nature, you become lax or y‑, “Oh, it won’t happen. I’ve done it a thousand times”. [0:00] [0:00] And how many times have we heard that from somebody that has said that, and I, I have to applaud you, James and I both applaud you and your, your dedication and passion for that. Let me twist this a little bit. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: Mm‑hmm. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: You also have an extreme passion for our work force. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: Mm‑hmm. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: When I see you interact with, uh, fellow people in the workforce, you know, giving them advice, tips and tricks, there’s no walls, there’s no, you know, competition. You want the best for people and that’s absolutely another trait that I admire about you. [0:00] [0:00] I‑in the last 18 months, we have been in a very unique place and managing this workforce over the last 18 months has really taught us a lot. And, and you and your passions, uh, probably have come right up to the top of the cream, so to speak. [0:00] [0:00] Wha‑, thoughts on managing this workplace, just workforce, just with where we are in this time of COVID, but also, we have a lot of folks retiring. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: Mm‑hmm. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: And a lot of new folks coming in and it’s…there is a whole bunch of generational gaps in. James g‑, does some great presentations on, on that topic, but I like to hear your thoughts on the workforce as it is today, and what’s your thoughts on that? [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: You know, you, uh, you, you hit it on the head to where…we do have a huge generational gap and we’re trying to bridge that gap. [0:00] [0:00] Um, and here at SiEnergy, we, we do have a very young employee base. Um, we have some older, some older individuals, but overall we… [0:00] [0:00] It, it’s a growing company, so we don’t have, we don’t have the huge generational gaps that the Atmos’ or the CenterPoint’s or the CPS or the companies that have been around for years and years and years have. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Yep. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: Um, you know, I can speak from my experience. When I started with West Texas Gas and there was a generational gap from…even from the, from the management standpoint. [0:00] [0:00] You’d look at a lot of the, the, the managers that we have. Well, they were all, you know, upper 50s, low 60s, and they’re getting ready for retirement. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Yeah. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: And it was either that or you had early 20s. And, um, so trying to fill that gap at that point, um, you know. [0:00] [0:00] One way that , that I like to address it here, is, is really from the beginning and, and from an interview standpoint, when you’re, when you’re really interviewing for these open positions that you have. [0:00] [0:00] And I’ve always live by the adage of, you know, I can, I can teach somebody to operate a gas system. I can teach somebody to go out and locate a facility. I can teach somebody to go, go set a regulator station or adjust a regulator or set a meter, whatever that is, but the two things that, that you really can’t teach, our attitude and work ethic. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Yeah. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: And those for us are huge and I’ve taken little pieces of, uh, things from, from every company I’ve worked with, especially in this industry from West Texas to Atmos. And, and then on to SiEnergy and really try to br‑, bring that with me. [0:00] [0:00] Um, and a huge part of what I’m trying to do here and what I‑I see growing with our guys here is, is a culture and a team and family culture for our guys. [0:00] [0:00] And I think if you, if you can create that culture, if you can sustain that culture with what you’re doing, it honestly makes managing the workforce nowadays a lot easier, because you want guys to, to come to work because they want to come to work. [0:00] [0:00] They want to come here. They want to be around their employees. They want to be, um, with the company and helping the company grow, and not really just showing up to work and grabbing a paycheck every day. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Yep. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: And, you know, unfortunately, you see that in a lot of different industries nowadays and our, our industry is, um, a little different. And I like it, you know, we have competition on a daily basis, you know, I mean, uh, from SiEnergy to Atmos to West Texas to CenterPoint to whoever. [0:00] [0:00] I mean, obviously we’re battling each other for customers and neighborhoods and doing all this kind of stuff. But at the end of the day, we’re all working together. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Yeah. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: We’re all working towards the same mission, um, and, you know, I…y’all know me, my wife will tell you all the time, you know, I can talk to a wall and, um… [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: [laughs] [0:00] [0:00]
James: I’m sorry. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: I’ve never met a person that I don’t like, so. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: You talk to me, so. [0:00] [0:00]
James: You just described our show. Yeah. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: [laughs] [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: You know, I‑I, I say I’ve never met a person I don’t like. Who knows? I may not like him, they mi‑, they might, they may not like me, but for that first, you know, 15, 20 minutes, we’re going to talk, we’re gonna act like we’re best friends. [0:00] [0:00] And, you know, it…that to me i‑is being able to talk across the industry to different companies with different philosophies or different cultures or whatever that is. We have the ability to share ideas, to, to tie back into safety, to keep our industry safe. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Yeah. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: And there may be things that, that Atmos or Center Point or SiEnergy or West Texas Gas are doing and we may be doing it a little bit different, um, than, than each other, but we can learn. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Yeah. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: And, and we could learn from, um, from other people’s mistakes or other people’s instance and we can, you know, we can make sure that doesn’t happen where you’re at right now. [0:00] [0:00]
James: Solid plan. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: I love that. [0:00] [0:00]
James: Yeah, Jeff ‑‑ uh, for those that don’t know Jeff ‑‑ Jeff’s a family man. Um, that’s, that’s a wonderful term, isn’t it? [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: Yeah. [0:00] [0:00]
James: A family man as opposed to a non‑family man. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: [laughs] [0:00] [0:00]
James: Um, but, you know, his…he drags…I’ve met his lovely wife and family at different events. Um, he, you know, he mentioned in the pre‑show and before, he’s basically Super Dad and goes to, you know, all the sporting events and… [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: Baseball, football. [0:00] [0:00]
James: He’s living vicariously through his son. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: [laughs] [0:00] [0:00]
James: But, but it’s apparent every time that you’re around Jeff that and, and, you know, we’re Facebook friends, you know, we’re Facebook Official. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: That means we’re official. [0:00] [0:00]
James: Um, yeah. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: [laughs] [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Oh. [0:00] [0:00]
James: Uh, basically. And, so, but it’s, it’s evident that, that you are a big advocate for whether you call it balanced or, or rhythm. But that work, work and family, you know, balance that, you know, making sure you remember why you do everything you do, you know, as often as you can. [0:00] [0:00] Tell us a little bit about, you know, that and how you’ve built to a career that’s both successful and in both of those departments, if you will. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: So one thing I, I preach to my team here is, is the work/life balance and you have to have that, um, especially as we go through, um what we’ve gone through the last 18 months, you know, that’s really changed, um, how people view a work‑life balance. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Yep. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: Um, I think now it…you can almost kind of joke about it. But at, at times it’s, you know, [0:00] [0:00] I think, I think the, the wives and everybody, you know, my wife works from home. And so, when we started this whole journey and we were working from home 24/7, it’s like you, you need to go back to work. [0:00] [0:00]
James: Yeah, that’s… [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: You know, we, we have it all the mornings. [0:00] [0:00]
James: I had that same conversation this morning, Jeff. [0:00] [[0:00] laughter] [0:00] [0:00]
James: This used to be her office and she said, “OK”. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: Yeah. [0:00] [0:00]
James: “I think it’d be nice if you tried that office out again”. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: Yeah. [laughs] [0:00] [0:00]
James: “I think it’s safe”. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: Yeah. So, you know, but, but not everybody in our industry has had the ability to work from home, um, you know. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: I had to work. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: Our service technicians and our construction techs and our meter readers and those guys, those guys have to be out in the field and that, and they’ve been out there. [0:00] [0:00] And so it’s kind of been a different approach for those guys as well. Um, you know, they don’t have the constant support of being able to come to an office and, and sit down and discuss their trials and tribulations or whatever they’re having that day. [0:00] [0:00] Um, but as we’re starting to ease back into the end of the normalness that, that we were used to, um, a work/life balance for me it’s, it’s huge. [0:00] [0:00] You know, the way I, the way I view it, work’s always going to be here, family may not, and go spend your time with your family, um, you know, spend your time with your kids, you know, I think as, as you grow older, you look back at your time. I mean, my son is about to turn 11. [0:00] [0:00] Um, there’s many decisions that I made, um, over my career, over my personal life that, that I chose some me time over some, some time with him. [0:00] [0:00] And so as he’s getting up and he’s getting in the age where he’s, he’s huge in the baseball, he loves football and, and he’s getting really, really good at what he’s doing. [0:00] [0:00] Um, you know, it’s, it’s time for me to really start choosing to go be with him instead of sort of going to do what I want to do. All the time and y’all, you know, you’ll be impressed with me, James. I passed on a, a huge golf tournament last weekend. [0:00] [0:00]
James: [sigh] [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: The PGA National in Florida. [0:00] [0:00]
James: What is happening? [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: To go back in, because my son had a baseball tournament. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: That’s, that’s 15 miles up the road from me. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: I know. I would have been there, but see, that was part of the reason, Jim. I knew it was close to you, inside, I rather kind of stay back over here. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Wow! [0:00] [[0:00] laughter] [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: I knew if we…if I didn’t get that little dig, I wouldn’t have felt the love, brother. [0:00] [0:00]
James: I haven’t talked… [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Guys, we filled that before in. [0:00] [0:00]
James: I, I, I haven’t talked to Jeff in probably three or four months. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: Yeah. [0:00] [0:00]
James: Uh, I mean other than an e‑mail here and there. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: Yeah. [0:00] [0:00]
James: So Jeff, uh, what’s, what’s the hole‑in‑one count up to at this point? [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: I’m up to three. [0:00] [0:00]
James: Three? [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: Yeah. [0:00] [0:00]
James: Tough life, tough life, Jimmy. [0:00] [[0:00] laughter] [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: I haven’t, I… [0:00] [0:00]
James: You know, when Jimmy plays golf… [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: You’re aggressive. [0:00] [0:00]
James: …he wears two gloves. [0:00] [[0:00] laughter] [0:00] [0:00]
James: I call him Jimmy, two gloves. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: He’s, he’s got the, the shades, I mean… [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: It’s more of a base‑, it’s more of a baseball tan now in golf. Man, I don’t get to get out as much as I, as much as I want to between football practices and baseball practices and football games on Saturdays and baseball tournaments every other weekend. [0:00] [0:00]
James: Yeah. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: It keeps me, uh, it keeps me busy, so… [0:00] [0:00]
James: I wore my best in your honor today. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: I appreciate that. [laughs] [0:00] [0:00]
James: I know it’s probably not the best weather down there, but we got a cold front end here, it’s nice. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: We’re a mirror as much as I did up north, I can promise you. [0:00] [[0:00] laughter] [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Jeff, your passion with making sure that the people are good, mentally, physically and emotionally is heralded and, and it, it resonates, and I think we all have to keep reminding, our, our staff and our teams and, and such like that, especially with the remote, because it’s hard to turn it off. [0:00] [0:00] I know at first people were like, “Oh, we’re going to work remote. Nobody’s going to work.” [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: Yeah. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Well, we found the opposite. That people instead of driving an hour to the office and then turning on the computer, your roll out of bed at 5:30 or 6:00 and you walk 20 feet, and you’re like, you’re on. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: Yeah. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: And the same thing at night and I think it’s really important. James and I did a lot of stuff on, uh, seven habits. And one of them is sharpen the saw. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: Mm‑hmm. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: And, you know, it can be a daily type of occurrence where you need to sharpen the saw and do what’s right for you, because the better you are as a person, the better you are as a team member of an organization and it all kind of flows down at least, you know. My, my humble opinion, so. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: No, ab‑absolutely. And, and the one thing that we’ve seen, you know, I, I think everybody in the industry kind of freaked out, um, when COVID started and… [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Yeah. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: And, you know, all right, “Hey, we’re all going back to work from home. How are we going to continue doing what we’re doing?” [0:00] [0:00] I think what we’re all seeing is, I mean, you said it a minute ago, uh, it’s not just that we’re being productive. I honestly feel like we’re being more productive, um… [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: You’re very… [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: …than we were, you know. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Yep. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: When this whole first, when, when this whole thing started at first, you know, I‑I’m sitting at the house and I’m waking up like you said, get, just going straight, getting on the computer, you know, doing what are you doing about 12:00, 1:00 and so you’re doing. What did I do my entire day? [0:00] [0:00]
James: Mm‑hmm. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: Because I’m, I’m caught of my emails, I’m doing this. And, and what you realize is, you know, you don’t have the people coming in the offices and, and I missed that. Like, it’s… [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Yeah. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: I, I miss the interaction with, with guys and that’s, that’s…I think that’s where everybody was at. And so now that we are starting to get back to a little bit of normalcy, and we’ve got a few guys in the office here from the operations folks. [0:00] [0:00] It, it is kind of nice to get back to normal and get that interaction back with your guys, because I mean, the phone call’s great and a Zoom meeting’s fun, and, you know, everything’s good. [0:00] [0:00] But, but getting that personal interaction with your guys and making sure, really checking in with them and, and joking around with them and making sure that, that they’re still enjoying what they’re doing for a living is, is my biggest thing. I hate being away from people. I mean, y’all… [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Yeah. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: Y’all know me for years and years and years, and, and I’m not a person that can just be by myself all the time. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: No, not at all. [0:00] [0:00]
James: I’ve never seen you by yourself. [0:00] [[0:00] laughter] [0:00] [0:00]
James: If that doesn’t ring. I think it’s what it’s done is made us more deliberate with our actions. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: Absolutely. [0:00] [0:00]
James: So ,when I know I’m going to be in the office, which I think is very important, and I probably would have been someone that said, I could do it all from home before. Like, if you let me, I could do it all. Now, I live more on the…I could probably be 7/3…70/30 at home. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: Yeah. [0:00] [0:00]
James: I can be really efficient, but that 30 percent is really important for me. If I don’t have that, I’m going to burn out. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: Yeah. [0:00] [0:00]
James: Like, that’s just what I do. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: Yes. [0:00] [0:00]
James: Um, so it makes me more deliberate when I scheduled time in the office, that those are my like brainstorming meetings and my… [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: Mm‑hmm. [0:00] [0:00]
James: And I’m, I go around and I have a lot of, no, maybe not on my schedule but buffer in there to make sure I do go around and fill that bucket and talk to Kim in accounting. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: Oh, yeah. [0:00] [0:00]
James: And go talk to, you know, the people that are there and get a little bit of that in while I can and then go home, put my head down. You know, we’re… [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: Yeah. [0:00] [0:00]
James: If I know I’m going to be on eight Zoom calls, I’m probably not going to the office that day, you know? [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: [laughs] [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Right. [0:00] [0:00]
James: I think it makes you more deliberate in your interactions and I think that’s a, a plus. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: I’d like to propose, actually, and we’re getting close to winding down but I think this topic of conversation, bringing Jeff back on, you know, in a couple months or whatever and exploring this a little bit deeper. [0:00] [0:00] I think we could really, you know, help the audience out there with some tips or tricks or just understanding that they’re not alone in the water. [0:00] [0:00]
James: This fall I’m on mental health category and we could probably turn it that way, because I feel like a lot of mind…if I have a very clean‑cut schedule and a plan, then my mental health is a lot better. [0:00] [[0:00] laughter] [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Yeah. [0:00] [0:00]
James: No, that sounds crazy, but we talked about like, even sharpening the saw for me. People go, don’t pick up your phone, don’t open your laptop, don’t do whatever the thing is, right, that you do. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: Yeah. [0:00] [0:00]
James: And for me, I, I get high anxiety thinking about our Monday. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Oh, I kid not. [0:00] [0:00]
James: I got to return if I have 1247 e‑mails. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: Yeah. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Yeah. [0:00] [0:00]
James: Like, it doesn’t…I drink coffee in the morning and no one’s away. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: Yeah. [0:00] [0:00]
James: I can check my email on a vacation and I, it makes me feel better for the whole day. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: Same, James. And I think, I think, I think a lot of people are like that. I’m the same way. [0:00] [0:00] Um, you know, I’ve, I talk to people all the time ‑‑ you know, as you move up further, agree ‑‑ everybody, everybody wants to promote in their careers nowadays and, you know, getting back, back on one of the topics you were talking about earlier from, from the workforce side of it. [0:00] [0:00] Um, in, in the generational gap and what we’re doing is, you’re seeing a lot of younger kids come in to the industry, um, but the difference is, in my opinion, at least ‑‑ and I’ve, I’ve talked to a couple of other people ‑‑ the difference in the younger generation and the older generation is they want to accelerate their career so much faster. [0:00] [0:00]
James: Yeah. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: And, um, you know. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Yeah. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: And, and whether that be with technology or whatever that is, but for me…And, and I’ve talked to a couple of my supervisors here, um, that are morally younger side, I mean, we’re in…You know, they’re still in their 30s and, you know, they can play well. [0:00] [0:00] You know, I don’t really get PT. I don’t get, I said, “Well, you know, I can’t remember the last time I took a full vacation, just turn the phone off”. You know? [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Yeah. [0:00] [0:00]
James: Yeah. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: Like you’re saying it’s, it’s whether you’re checking emails or, or just getting rid of emails so that you don’t come back to 4000, you know? [0:00] [0:00]
James: Yeah. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: After a week. So, you know, I, I, as much as people like…I‑I’m the same way with you guys to where I, I w‑, you know, a scheduled out day makes, makes my life a lot easier, but then there’s days that I kind of want the chaos, you know. [0:00] [[0:00] laughter] [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: Just kind of a little change. [0:00] [0:00]
James: Good thing is it that tends to always find its way. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: Yeah. [0:00] [0:00]
James: I usually can get a good chaos day in a week. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: We, we just had it last week at AGA. I mean, that was… [0:00] [0:00]
James: That was hell. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: I mean, we, we went in with the idea we need to remain fluid, dynamic, some other words that we had, uh, ready to go at a moment’s notice because, as much as you try to plan it out, Jeff, James, you guys all know. [0:00] [0:00]
James: Best laid plans. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: At trade shows, yeah. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: Yeah. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: All right, Jeff, you have the audience, you have the stage, everybody is looking at you right now. As we wind down, is there one thought, one sentence, one word, whatever you want to that you want to give it all the way to the audience. If you were to tell them one thing, what would that message be? [0:00] [0:00]
James: Man’s sermoner. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: So I don’t know if it’s one word or, or one sentence. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: You might… [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: But it’s, it’s, it’s kind of a philosophy that, that I read a while back and, you know, it is, it’s I promote of my career and now, you know, I’m, I’m here in Houston and director of operations, I have been a number of people underneath me. [0:00] [0:00] Um, as a leader of a team, I want people underneath me that are smarter than I am and I don’t, I‑I’ve been out of the field for, for a while now and so, you know, could I go set a meter, could I go change a regulator? Absolutely. [0:00] [0:00] Um, but I’m going to lean on the people below me, um, to do that. And so, as a leader, I don’t, I don’t need to be the smartest person in the room. I just need to guide them to the point where they can continue to help this company grow. [0:00] [0:00] And…Because my ultimate goal is to, to get the people underneath me smarter than I am and train them to eventually take my job one day. [0:00] [0:00]
James: Yeah. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: And, and that’s… [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Yeah and that’s a great, great philosophy. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: That’s, that’s really what I’m trying to do right now. [0:00] [0:00]
James: Put myself out of the job. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: Yeah. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: That’s, that’s… [0:00] [0:00]
James: Just try me. [0:00] [[0:00] laughter] [0:00] [0:00]
James: Just try me, I’ll put myself out of the job. Yeah, I like that. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: I like that. That’s really good. [0:00] [0:00]
James: Jeff, it’s been awesome. Just to fellowship with you. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: Yeah. [0:00] [0:00]
James: Have definitely missed you. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: Like what? [0:00] [0:00]
James: Your humor, your, um, terrible jokes, your awesome… [0:00] [[0:00] laughter] [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Your digs at me. [0:00] [0:00]
James: Your awesome golf game that we all, uh, try to emulate. It’s been awesome just spending some time with you. We got to get together soon, um. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: Absolutely man. I appreciate the… [0:00] [0:00]
James: Have you back on the show to get a little bit deeper. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: Yeah, I appreciate the invite, guys. Appreciate the, uh, the ability to come on and, and speak with you, guys. I mean, I know y’all kind of ran through the list before you got down to me, but, you know, eventually, I got to the point where, where you invited me on your show. [0:00] [[0:00] laughter] [0:00] [0:00]
James: I thought it would be suspicious to start having people on two, three times before we got to. [0:00] [[0:00] laughter] [0:00] [0:00]
James: It was…we were blessed last year. We were running by the seat of our pants, uh, and, and we’re still doing it. And, uh, we appreciate every person that spends a little bit of time with us. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Absolutely. And, and just the fellowship that…seeing you again, and I, I got to be honest with you. My mind has been racing as far as all the times that we’ve been together in the past. You know? [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: Yeah. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: That’s one thing about this industry, it’s built on friendships. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: Absolutely. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: And no matter what, I, I could call on Jeff. Jeff can call on in either one of us for any type of thoughts, even if it has nothing to do with the energy world or whatever. If we have the knowledge, we all share it, and I, I love our industry for that reason. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: Yeah. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Jeff, thank you so much for joining us today. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: Absolutely, I appreciated it, guys. Thank you all very much. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Absolutely, it’s our pleasure. For our audience, thanks for tuning in this week. Please tune in next week. In the meantime, if you’re on the LinkedIn platform, connect with Jeff. He’s a, a great advocate, energy advocate, safety advocate, betterment advocate, everything you can think of. So, please do that. [0:00] [0:00] Until next week. As I always remind folks, let’s stay safe. And until next week on Coffee with Jim and James, will see you. Take care. [0:00] [0:00]
James: All right, stay tuned in everybody. [0:00] [0:00]
Jeff: Thanks guys. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Bye, everybody. [0:00]