Creating a Purposeful Practice of Civility With Shelby Scarbrough

Creating a Purposeful Practice of Civility With Shelby Scarbrough

by | Podcast

Shelby Joy Scarbrough is the Co-founder and CEO of the Global School of Entrepreneurship (GSE), a company dedicated to providing accredited MBA programs and courses designed specifically for entrepreneurs. With a distinguished career serving in the Reagan administration as a White House aide and as a State Department Protocol Officer, Shelby has also authored multiple books, including Civility Rules. She has managed high-profile events for world leaders such as Nelson Mandela and Pope John Paul II and successfully built a chain of Burger King franchises, showcasing her entrepreneurial acumen. Apart from GSE, she is also the Co-founder of nCourage Entrepreneurs, an angel investment group focused on funding entrepreneurial ventures founded and run by women.

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Here’s a Glimpse of What You’ll Hear:

  • [2:40] Shelby Scarbrough describes her extensive experience working in various roles at Burger King
  • [5:22] What led Shelby to work in the Reagan administration?
  • [7:52] How was Reagan’s Berlin Wall speech planned?
  • [9:17] The challenges and dynamics of working with foreign dignitaries
  • [11:52] Key leadership lessons Shelby learned from President Reagan
  • [15:11] What does a protocol officer do?
  • [23:22] Shelby’s experience working with Nelson Mandela and witnessing his humility
  • [27:44] Building and operating Burger King franchises while balancing entrepreneurial ventures
  • [28:56] The motivation behind writing Civility Rules
  • [32:52] Inspiration behind launching the Global School of Entrepreneurship amidst the pandemic

In this episode…

In today’s fast-paced and competitive world, entrepreneurs often struggle to balance professionalism, leadership, and growth while navigating complex challenges. Whether it’s building businesses, managing high-stakes relationships, or maintaining civility in heated environments, achieving long-term success requires a unique blend of vision and discipline. Many leaders search for proven strategies to lead with impact, build trust, and drive meaningful results.

Shelby Scarbrough, a White House veteran and entrepreneur, shares invaluable insights from her diverse career spanning entrepreneurship, diplomacy, and protocol. Drawing from her experiences in the Reagan administration, managing Burger King franchises, and co-founding the Global School of Entrepreneurship, Shelby emphasizes the importance of professionalism, adaptability, and relationship-building. She discusses lessons learned from world leaders, including Nelson Mandela and President Reagan, and explains how civility and preparation can turn challenges into opportunities. Shelby also highlights actionable steps for entrepreneurs, from maintaining focus under pressure to building supportive networks like nCourage Entrepreneurs, an angel investment group dedicated to female founders.

Tune in to this episode of the Smart Business Revolution Podcast as John Corcoran interviews Shelby Scarbrough, Co-founder and CEO of the Global School of Entrepreneurship, about turning leadership experiences into entrepreneurial success. Shelby provides insights on managing international diplomacy, navigating franchise operations, redefining MBA programs for modern entrepreneurs, and the value of building businesses with a pioneering spirit.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Special Mention(s):

Related episode(s):

Quotable Moments:

  • “It’s about what we bring to the game. I can’t demand civility out of you, especially if I’m not civil.”
  • “We work at the pleasure of the president, but you do not. There’s no job security, actually, as a political appointee.”
  • “From the Burger King to the Queen of England, it’s all about really great customer service and focus on the client.”
  • “I’m a big believer in getting out there and connecting with as many people as possible without looking for the outcome.”
  •  “Perfection is essentially required, and while we know that’s not possible, it’s the highest expertise.”

Action Steps:

  1. Embrace humility and humanity: This practice counters the challenge of appearing elitist or disconnected, fostering a more inclusive and supportive environment.
  2. Be open to learning from varied experiences: Engaging in varied experiences helps leaders adapt to different challenges and cultivate a versatile approach to problem-solving.
  3. Cultivate professionalism and attention to detail: This approach addresses the challenge of maintaining high standards while being flexible and innovative, which is crucial for effective leadership.
  4. Practice civility and diplomacy: This practice is essential for navigating complex relationships and conflicts, providing a platform for constructive dialogue and mutual respect.
  5. Leverage education and continuous improvement: Fostering an environment of lifelong learning prepares leaders to handle future challenges and stay ahead in a rapidly changing world.

Sponsor: Rise25

At Rise25, we’re committed to helping you connect with your Dream 100 referral partners, clients, and strategic partners through our done-for-you podcast solution.

We’re a professional podcast production agency that makes creating a podcast effortless. Since 2009, our proven system has helped thousands of B2B businesses build strong relationships with referral partners, clients, and audiences without doing the hard work.

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The Rise25 podcasting solution is designed to help you build a profitable podcast. This requires a specific strategy, and we’ve got that down pat. We focus on making sure you have a direct path to ROI, which is the most important component. Plus, our podcast production company takes any heavy lifting of production and distribution off your plate.

We make distribution easy

We’ll distribute each episode across more than 11 unique channels, including iTunes, Spotify, and Google Podcasts. We’ll also create a copy for each episode and promote your show across social media.

Cofounders Dr. Jeremy Weisz and John Corcoran credit podcasting as being the best thing they have ever done for their businesses. Podcasting connected them with the founders/CEOs of P90x, Atari, Einstein Bagels, Mattel, Rx Bars,  YPO, EO, Lending Tree, Freshdesk,  and many more.

The relationships you form through podcasting run deep. Jeremy and John became business partners through podcasting. They have even gone on family vacations and attended weddings of guests who have been on the podcast.

Podcast production has a lot of moving parts and is a big commitment on our end; we only want to work with people who are committed to their business and to cultivating amazing relationships.

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Contact us now at [email protected] or book a call at rise25.com/bookcall.

Rise25 Cofounders, Dr. Jeremy Weisz and John Corcoran, have been podcasting and advising about podcasting since 2008.

Episode Transcript

John Corcoran: 00:00

All right. Today we’re talking about how to take inspiration from world leaders or maybe leaders in your life. And then and then to fuel that into a lifetime of entrepreneurship and to fuel that into being a better entrepreneur. My guest today is Shelby Joy Scarbrough. I’ll tell you more about her in a second, so stay tuned.

Intro: 00:21

Welcome to the Smart Business Revolution Podcast, where we feature top entrepreneurs, business leaders, and thought leaders and ask them how they built key relationships to get where they are today. Now let’s get started with the show.

John Corcoran: 00:37

All right. Welcome, everyone. John Corcoran here. I’m the host of this show. And you know, each week I get to talk to interesting and smart CEOs, founders and entrepreneurs from all kinds of companies.

You can check out the archives. We’ve had Netflix and Grubhub, Redfin, Gusto, Kinko’s, YPO, EO, Activision Blizzard, lots of great guests. Check out those archives and this company. This episode brought to you by my company, Rise25, where we help B2B businesses get clients referrals and strategic partnerships with done-for-you podcast and content marketing, and you can learn more about us at Rise25.com or email us at [email protected] and by the way, if you like this episode, you might also enjoy past episodes with Warren Rustand and David Anderson.

Go check out the archives for their names. Those are two names that Shelby knows. I know, and let me tell you about Shelby. So this is someone I’ve wanted to interview for quite some time. I’m really excited about this episode.

She is the Co-founder and CEO of the Global School of Entrepreneurship. She’s also an author, published several books about a variety of different topics, including The Power of Civility. We’re going to get into that one in particular, and she has had a long and varied career starting like I. Interestingly, we both grew up in Southern California, and one of our first jobs was going to work at the White House. She worked in the Reagan administration.

I worked in the Clinton administration. She went on and worked and has been very heavily involved in entrepreneurs organization, as I have, although she served as global board president. I haven’t served in that distinguished role before, so we thank you for your service on that. And she also has built up a bunch of Burger King franchises, which might seem like a little bit off of the beaten path there, but I love these. I love these winding stories and hearing them.

But Shelby, a pleasure to have you here today. And I want to get into the stories about working in the Reagan administration and the White House and the State Department, all those different roles that you had. But first, you grew up around entrepreneurship. Your parents actually started a Burger King franchise and actually started a number of different Burger King locations when you were a kid. So you kind of grew up around the restaurant business and sweeping floors and things like that.

What was that like?

Shelby Scarbrough: 02:40

Well, it was probably the greatest introduction to entrepreneurship that could ever be. Thank you for having me, by the way. I was, you know, about 14 when they started the process of thinking about becoming Burger King franchisees. And while it’s a longer story, the bottom line is my mother became the first female franchisee for Burger King and probably one of the first female franchisees in the franchise community as a whole. I can’t prove that, but I would put money on it that she might have been the first or among the first, and they decided to do business together.

And so they created a model for me of partnership and what a partnership looks like in business. And I’ve always longed for and loved working with other partners as peers versus sort of this long slog of working as an independent entrepreneur. So that’s the thing that really stood out to me, as well as the incredible work ethic that was put in front of me. You know, like you said, sweeping floors. I did every job in the Burger King from sweeping the floors to, you know, cleaning the bathrooms to taking orders to inventory, to taking apart the shake machine, to going through every single bit of the management training that was needed.

We had Whopper College, which was the Burger King College hamburger. You were at McDonald’s. So I went to Whopper College in between my summer breaks of college, etc. so I was very invested. Our whole family was.

John Corcoran: 03:57

Now of my guests that grew up around entrepreneurship, I’d say they kind of go in two different paths. Some go down a path of, oh, I’m never going to get involved in this ever again. This sounds nightmarish. And they run from entrepreneurship and then others, you know, they decide it’s life for you, life for them. So what was, you know, did you ever resent it at any point?

Did you have to come around to it or did you feel like, oh, you know, I really like this life.

Shelby Scarbrough: 04:23

So the concept of entrepreneurship just stuck, right? That was the sticky tape that came out of that for me when I went, I went working at the White House. It was a very different perspective as, as, you know, you were there and it’s a completely different world. But working specifically in the White House, it’s at the highest levels of government. So perfection is essentially required.

And while we know that’s not possible, it’s the highest, you know, expertise, the professionalism etc. is just a great example of how you’re supposed to approach your work and life in general. So marrying those two concepts for me helped me when I launched my business after I left the Reagan administration. The two concepts there of this high level professionalism and attention to detail, and then the business entrepreneurial spirit and the need for process and professionalism were all all part of the same thing and helped me launch practical protocol a long time ago.

John Corcoran: 05:22

So I get asked a lot, how did I get a job at the White House? I’m sure you get it a lot. So how did you get into the Reagan administration?

Shelby Scarbrough: 05:29

Well, I joke it’s because I don’t like salami sandwiches.

John Corcoran: 05:34

I wasn’t expecting that.

Shelby Scarbrough: 05:37

I was at the political convention. We just saw one happen recently, but a political convention in Dallas and I was one of the youth volunteers that was painting signs and, you know, just doing all the things that rallies and stuff like that.

John Corcoran: 05:48

And this was 84 for the re-election.

Shelby Scarbrough: 05:50

It was a long time ago. I was very young. I was super, super young. Yeah. And I, I brought in.

They brought in a big stack of sandwiches that were all crushed and, you know, on one on top of each other for like 2000 volunteers. And I just couldn’t stomach it. It was salami on white bread and oh, it was terrible. So instead of standing there sort of looking like a dork not doing anything, I got on the other side of the table and started handing out, you know, that was the Burger King training, which is never idle. Right.

So just find something to do. There’s always something to be done. So I got around to the other side of the table and started handing these horrible sandwiches out with the people who became friends and colleagues. And, you know, again, longer story, but it rolled one thing right into the other. And within six weeks or eight weeks, I had been offered a job on the inaugural committee and six weeks later in the White House.

John Corcoran: 06:40

And what was that experience like for you going to work at the White House?

Shelby Scarbrough: 06:46

It’s a little intimidating, you know, but exciting. Massively exciting. My job was to work with everybody throughout the White House to help plan the president’s travel everywhere. His trips. So it wasn’t you know, we would go out and see where he was going and then come back to the White House and communicate that.

And so we were sort of the hub of the wheel of the communication tool of what was happening when and, and essentially make it happen. And we were on all of the overseas trips embedded, you know, in the advance team locally and on the international trips, which was just fascinating. So I got to be in some of the places where everything was happening, all of the economic summits and Venice and Japan and Canada and you name it. And then also I got to be in Germany at the Berlin Wall as a guest, because we had just come from Venice. So I got to watch President Reagan say the famous words, tear down this wall.

John Corcoran: 07:41

Wow, wow. Did you realize at the time? I know that a cheer went up when he said that. When you heard that. Were you like, oh my God, that’s that’s going to be we’re going to be hearing this for years to come.

Shelby Scarbrough: 07:52

Well, we knew what he was going to say because we’d watched the process of the speech going back and forth to the State Department and National Security Council and all the powers that be that have a say in what should be said in the speech and watch that line kind of come in and out, you know. And the president really felt very strongly about that. I talk about that a lot in my world of civility and protocol, because he had a relationship with Gorbachev at that time and that was the way he said it and what he said wasn’t as confrontational as it appeared to be. And so he had the confidence in that relationship to be able to set a challenge without it being a threat, if that makes sense. Yeah.

So yes, we knew it was going to happen. And it was. It’s interesting to note how, you know, I think we thought it was going to be historic, but certainly it just has lasted the test of time for sure.

John Corcoran: 08:40

For sure. Yeah. What was that like? Now, for those who don’t know what goes into these trips, it’s weeks in advance like or months in advance for an international trip where you go out there and you have to interact with, in the case of a foreign trip. Dignitaries from other countries, the US and the Soviet Union were not on the best of terms during the 1988 Reagan-Gorbachev summit in Moscow. What was that like for you going there and having, I imagine, a lot of security around the Secret Service involved, and you had to negotiate with your Russian counterparts or Soviet counterparts at the time.

Shelby Scarbrough: 09:17

Yes. I remember sitting at a table in a dacha, a Russian dacha in the middle of Moscow, so a country home in the middle of the city. And it was with the chief of protocol on the other side of the table. And our team, I was part of the team and, and they said, well, this is what we would like. This is, you know, we would like I think it was specifically the microphones and certain things with the placement of microphones in a room and the podium and that kind of thing down to those level of details.

Right. We want it right here. They wanted it someplace else. And so they would say this famous line that we talked about a lot would be, that’s no problem. It’s Impossible.

John Corcoran: 09:53

That’s no problem. It’s impossible. That’s odd.

Shelby Scarbrough: 09:56

No problem. And so from that day forward, we. I mean, those are jokes that we still have as colleagues. That’s no problem. It’s impossible.

So. Or they would eventually agree. And then on the day of they just had it the way they wanted it in the first place. So the trust and respect wasn’t quite there. But, you know, it was very important to, to to understand who you’re dealing with.

And we dealt with it very professionally. We were told never to speak outside of what I called sort of the walk in refrigerator, because that’s what it looked like to me in my restaurant days. But it was a big box, you know, inside of the room. And you went in and it was.

John Corcoran: 10:29

A safe place to speak.

Shelby Scarbrough: 10:31

They were microwaving that thing to death, trying to hear what we were saying. But that’s where we would talk. And we were advised not to. If we had disagreements on any part of the schedule or about anything that we would go, we should go into that room and close the door behind us and not do it in the halls of the. They called the knob the new office building, which was the new embassy in Moscow, which they never really moved into because it was riddled with bugs, listening devices.

So if they said just if you want to have a conversation, just remember everybody’s listening. So you have to go in. And if you’re going to argue with each other or they didn’t want us to show any dissension, you know, because there were things that we would have conversations about, well, should we do this or that? Well, they didn’t want us to reveal any of that.

John Corcoran: 11:15

And that thought process.

Shelby Scarbrough: 11:17

The sausage.

John Corcoran: 11:19

Yeah. Even though that’s totally natural for Americans to have those types of conversations, that’s why we hash out, you know, our, our decisions and things like that. Yeah. What do you take from that experience of working with President Reagan? Today, you know, what do you remember back of being around him?

Because I’ve been heavily shaped by the leaders that I’ve been around. I think we all, especially at a young age, in your early 20s, work for a leader like that, a strong leader. What did you take from that experience, or what do you remember about him?

Shelby Scarbrough: 11:52

Well, he saw the humanity in everybody, you know. And he had humble beginnings. And he worked his way up to the top post in the country. And he never forgot where he came from. He wasn’t an elitist.

He was a man of the people. But he had accomplished quite a few things in his life. He was one of those people. I think. I know you worked for President Clinton.

And so to contrast the two of them in an interesting way, I’ve noticed that President Reagan was somebody who didn’t necessarily know everybody’s name off the top of their head, but he knew who they were. And he and he engaged with people and had a good rapport. President Clinton also had a good rapport, as I understand it, with his people within the White House. But he was brilliant with names, right? I mean, he always remembered people’s names.

To me, that’s an amazing quality in a politician or in anybody too and I think.

John Corcoran: 12:42

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