Garry Ridge: No B.S. Leadership Tips from the CEO of a Multibillion-Dollar Company

Episode recap:

This episode featured Garry Ridge, former CEO and Chairman of WD-40, who shared his personal journey and philosophy on creating safe, valued, and connected workplaces. As a true Servant Leader, Garry discussed the people-focused strategies that propelled WD-40 to have one of the highest employee retention rates in the world. Marcel and Garry covered topics such as leadership development, psychological safety, and the importance of building and maintaining a strong organizational culture through consistent effort and learning moments.

Guest Bio:

As CEO and Chairman of WD-40 Company for 25 years, Garry Ridge built one of the world’s most recognized brands by prioritizing trust, respect, and people-centric leadership. Now, as The Culture Coach, Garry helps leaders create workplaces where people feel valued and inspired. Through The Learning Moment, he partners with executives to build cultures of collaboration and purpose-driven performance. His latest book, USA Today's Best Seller, Any Dumb-Ass Can Do It, reinforces his belief that great leadership is simple—but not easy. Known as The Dean of Dumbassery, Garry champions “learning moments,” encouraging leaders to turn mistakes into growth opportunities. His core philosophy: when people feel safe, valued, and connected, they do their best work—and go home happy, strengthening families, communities, and the world.

Timestamp

[00:03] Introduction of Garry Ridge
[04:40] Garry’s personal journey
[06:58] The meaning behind the book title
[10:07] Discovering servant leadership
[14:58] Handling resistance to culture change
[17:45] Creating psychological safety
[20:27] The four pillars of a fearless tribe
[23:38] The role of a leader
[27:21] A memorable story from Wall Street
[30:40] Protecting culture at all costs
[31:05] Why WD-40’s employee retention soared

Quotes

• “The three most powerful words a leader can say are: I don’t know.” 
• “Fear is the opposite of safety. We don’t make mistakes, we have learning moments.” 
• “Care is not about ping pong tables. It’s about helping people become the best version of themselves.” 
• “A leader’s job is to coach, not to take the bat and hit the ball.” 
• “Life’s a gift. Don’t send it back unwrapped.” 

Takeaways

• Replace mistakes with “learning moments” to reduce fear and encourage innovation. 
• Build culture with care, candor, accountability, and responsibility not perks or slogans. 
• Protect your culture by removing toxins, even if they are high performers. 
• Lead as a coach: your job is to bring out the best in others, not to prove you’re the smartest. 

Conclusion

This conversation with Garry Ridge proves that culture is not a soft, secondary issue, it is the hardest, most important work of leadership. From turning mistakes into learning moments to protecting culture from toxins, Garry’s insights highlight how leaders can build organizations where people thrive and results follow. Remember his parting words: life is a gift, don’t send it back unwrapped. If you want more stories and tools from Garry, connect with him on LinkedIn or visit thelearningmoment.net. 

Website - http://www.thelearningmoment.net/  

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/garryridge/ 

Transcript

Marcel Schwantes   0:03  

Hey gang, welcome back. Glad you're here, and welcome if you are new and a first time guest on or a listener on the show, we hope that you're going to enjoy this episode. I think you will, and we hope that you'll come back again soon. So, you know that hosting this podcast has many perks. Honestly, it's quite a privilege, and I don't take this gig for granted. For not for one second. I get to speak with the world's leading voices on Leadership, Culture, engagement, and I'm going to be honest, sometimes I'm star struck, right? I've had people like Blanchard on this show and Stephen, Mr. Covey, Amy Edmondson, right, Huber, Jolie. And these are people that I look up to. They inform my work as an executive coach. They they're out there. They have the the anecdotal evidence, as well as the case studies and the real world research and evidence to, you know, to kind of pave the way forward. And today's guest falls under that category of, Am I really talking to this person, or am I dreaming? Okay, and I'm talking about the wonderful Garry Ridge, a true to life servant leader in every sense of the word. I have been following Garry for probably close to a decade now, and I can tell you that he is one of the most real, most authentic, most humble storytelling CEOs I have ever come across, and he's going to be joining us shortly. So, in very Garry Ridge, like fashion, fashion, he just wrote a book. It's out now. It's called, any dumb ass can do it, learning moments from an everyday CEO of a multi-billion dollar company. There's the cover if you're watching on YouTube, that book is now a USA Today best seller. And hey, if you ever want to know the story behind how he helped grow WD 40 into one of the most recognized and beloved brands. I mean, go into your garage, you're going to find the blue and yellow can with the red top on it somewhere in your garage, or maybe under your sink in the kitchen or bathroom, right? This is one of those brands that you just can't help but you want to be part of, and you want to stick around, because Garry can share a lot of stories about how he built that brand over 25 years and and don't forget to pick up the copy of the book as well. Okay, so if you're just hearing about Garry bridge for the first time, that's okay. Let me share a little bit about him. He served as CEO and chairman of, as I mentioned, the WD 40 company for 25 years, and by the way, in sidenote, in 2017 while I was researching the top global CEO for CEOs for an Inc Magazine assignment, I ranked Garry one of the world's top 10 Most Admired CEOs. Just google that and you'll find the article. And if you're curious, Garry came in at number four. Now, Garry serves as the culture coach for his own organization, the learning moment which he founded. Garry helps leaders create workplaces where people feel valued and inspired, and he encourages leaders to turn mistakes into growth opportunities. Garry's core philosophy when people feel safe, valued and connected, they do their best work and go home happy, strengthening families, communities and the world. Boy, let me tell you, we need that more than ever these days. Finally, Garry Ridge now joins us, and welcome to the love in action podcast, Garry. 

Garry Ridge   4:09   

 G'day Mars, like I had to think, I wonder who this person's talking about there. 

Marcel Schwantes   4:17   

Well, is boy, it's been a long time coming. We were talking offline folks that I was telling Garry, that I actually talked to him back in 2019 while I was researching my own book. I interviewed them for my book, and in fact, Garry is in my book and with some of his own stories in in my book. Alright, Garry, we start like this. You ready? 

Garry Ridge   4:40   

 I'm ready. 

Marcel Schwantes   4:42   

What's your story? 

Garry Ridge   4:44   

 Well, it's interesting. You should ask, because just last night, I landed back in the USA after spending 19 days in my homeland. So, I'm an Aussie. I grew up in Sydney, Australia, and I was fortunate enough back in 1987 to interact and become part of the WD 40 company. So, I was with the company for 35 years, and then in 1994 I was having a conversation with my then boss, the CEO. And I said, is there anything else you'd like me to do? He said, you want to move to the US? I said, to do what he said, why don't you come over here and help me take the blue and yellow can with a little red top to the world. Back then, the brand was primarily a US brand that had sprinkles around the world. And I'm, you know, I disrupted myself and my family, and we moved to the United States, and a couple of years later, I did a master's degree in leadership at the University of San Diego, and that's where I met my mentor and dear friend, Dr Ken Blanchard, who introduced me to the power of servant leadership. And I took that learning and put it to work, and 25 years later, I refired. I didn't retire. I refired because even though you said, I built the brand, I didn't do it. I did it with some marvelous people who went to work every day knowing they were making a contribution to something bigger than themselves. They were learning something new. They were protected and set free by a compelling set of values, and they're going home happy. 

Marcel Schwantes   6:19   

Yeah  

Garry Ridge   6:19   

And I knew that had worked, because back in you know, 384BC, a very smart man, Aristotle said, pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work. And our role as leaders is to put pleasure in the job. And if you do, you'll put you'll get perfection in the work. So, my story is just an Aussie bloke. 

Marcel Schwantes   6:41   

Spoken like a true, humble servant leader. Okay, I see the the book in the background here on the wall. I think it's a poster. So, let's play with with the title, and let's get that out of the way. First. Okay, what do you mean by any dumb ass can do it?  

Garry Ridge   6:58   

Well, firstly, you know? And I was reminded again when I was down in Australia, ISS means donkey. It doesn't mean anybody's posterior and bottom. And I laugh in the US as they take it as being somebody's posterior or bottom. It's not. It's so if you could read it, it's any dumb donkey can do it. And it gets back to something we mentioned when we're chatting offline, the three most important words you ever learn in your life is, I don't know, right? So, if you, if you, if you translate, I don't know, into any dumb ass. Can do it. It means that if you take the position as a leader of not being the smartest person in the room, but being the person that brings out the smarts of the people in the room. You can build cultures where, you know, people enjoy what they do, go home happy, which produce great results, not only for the company, but for the organization and the communities that they operate in. So that's the reason, and I get away with the title, I guess, because, again, I'm just an Aussie bloke.  

Marcel Schwantes   8:04   

So, is, is that why you titled chapter eight? You're a dumb assery. Is your superpower?  

Garry Ridge   8:10   

Yeah, I say now our dumb answer is our superpower, if we if we're willing to accept the fact that you know our role is not to be a manager, but to be a coach and bring out the best in others, then that's our superpower. 

Marcel Schwantes   8:25   

 Yeah. 

Garry Ridge   8:25   

And most leaders get all caught up in the fact that, you know, their ego gets out of control and they want to show how smart they are, and that just shuts everybody else down. 

Marcel Schwantes   8:36   

 Yeah, yeah. Garry, I don't know how many times I've I have cited that, the quote of you saying the most, the three most, most powerful words a leader will ever say is, I don't know, how often have you had to say that in those 25 years, and did people still respect you and follow you? 

Garry Ridge   8:54   

 Yes, and you know, I used to introduce myself as G'day. I'm Garry Ridge. I'm the consciously incompetent, probably wrong and roughly right, Chairman and CEO of WD 40 company, and I need all the help I can get. And, you know, that's really what it was about, is it's okay not to know, but once admitting it, our job is to find out and take the learning and put it to work. So, it's not a, you know, a way of declaring stupidity. It's a way of declaring the reason we need to have curiosity.  

Marcel Schwantes   9:29   

Yeah, yeah. Learning is a huge part of your book, but also a huge part of who you are as a leader. I mean, even you have an organization the learning moment, and so we create opportunities to grow through learning. So, I want to touch on that a little bit, because learning is a big part of becoming a servant leader. It's, you know, growth, development, right? So ,take us back to sort of the the origins of of Garry Ridge.Were you, did you stumble into servant leadership? Or did you have Were you always a servant leader? 

Garry Ridge   10:07   

I think I really became more aware of the power of it. And, you know, in the book, in the first chapter, I talk about that plane ride. I was on a Qantas 747, I'd been CEO of WD 40 company for plus or minus two years. I knew, with the help of the people in the company, how to take the brand globally, how to you know under how to determine what consumers wanted and how to get distribution. But what was always on my mind is, as we build out this company globally, one where a company where the sun will never set, somewhere around the world at any time during the day, people would be asked to make decisions and take action. And how did we empower them to do that so they didn't have to quack up the hierarchy to get some, you know, some approval from some your masterful leader,  

Marcel Schwantes   11:02   

Yeah.  

Garry Ridge   11:02   

And I didn't, I didn't know how to do it, and I was on that flight. And as you do when you fly, you read stuff, right? And I read a quote from the Dalai Lama, and it said, our purpose in life is to make people happy. If we can't make them happy, at least don't hurt them. I thought that makes sense. And then I wrote, read that second quote, which was from Aristotle, pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work. And I thought that makes sense also, and I still didn't know how to do it. And I got back to San Diego, I read an article in the local paper that talked about this master's degree at the University of San Diego that was designed by Dr Ken Blanchard and the university. And it I went to an information session, and Ken got up and he said, most leaders, leadership development programs get people in the head. We've got to start getting people in the heart,  

Garry Ridge   11:50   

Yep. 

Garry Ridge   11:51   

Because the heart is where it came from. And I said, you know what this must be for me. So here I was already the CEO of a US public company. I went back to school, and I started my master's degree, and I learned the power of servant leadership and a lot of other stuff, and started to implement it in the company. And, you know, over that two- year period, and I love that program, and we learned so much from it that I eventually sent about 35 people from the company over a 20 year period through that program to learn the power of servant leadership, and so that that's really where I learned.  

Marcel Schwantes   12:29   

Yeah.  

Garry Ridge   12:30   

What it was like and how to put it to work.  

Marcel Schwantes   12:32   

Yeah. So, I know that the examples go back. So, a good 2025, years, or I should yeah, about the about the time that you took on the role of CEO. But I'm wondering if the lessons are still the same, even in 2025 here's what I'm getting at sometimes when we go through a change management process, when we go through culture change from say, realizing that extracting value from the organization and sucking the life out of people doesn't doesn't lend to high performance, doesn't lend to people contributing at their best. So, going from maybe a top down command and control to a bottom up servant leadership style, sometimes that transition rubs people off the wrong way. Some, some, some up in the C suite may have a, quote, allergic reaction and and not follow suit. So, then you have some friction and, and I have even seen in my own in my own case studies examples, having coached the C suite, where it gets to the point where two VPS, I'm using one example from a client company, two VPS actually left the company because they decided, Hey, I didn't sign up for this. This is not the way I want to manage an organization, and so they filtered out, and there was a, you know, a time of upheaval, and it's very, you know, it hurt the business, because now you, you, you have, you have these, these divisions that are looking, you Know, are needing leadership and guidance in the whole hiring process, having to identify new New Age, etc. So short version of that, the question that I wanted to ask is going back to your early stages at WD, 40 you found out servant leadership. This is the way to go. This is such   an aspirational way of leading a company. How do people respond to that? And did you get some friction and some conflict because of the the change management process to serve on leadership?  

Garry Ridge   14:58   

Absolutely, I mean, and change process. There's, you know, there's a group of people who'll get on board, and there's a group of people that won't get on board.  

Marcel Schwantes   15:07   

 Right? 

Garry Ridge   15:07   

And certainly, we went through that, you know, I remember clearly, let's ignore Gary is drinking too much at Ken Blanchard Kool Aid, you know? And that's okay, I mean. And we did have some people who decided that happiness was not in this leadership style. That's okay, yeah, you know, you can't sprinkle fairy dust on an organization and change the culture. You know, a friend of mine, Charlie Maloof, owns a chain of Ashley furniture stores out in in Charlotte, North Carolina, and he has a he shared a favorite quote with me, and it was a culture is not a microwavable event. It takes a crock pot approach. And it's so true. So, you know, if you're you've decided that you want to build an organization where, you know, you implement the basics of what you have to have in place, and it's pretty simple, you know, do you have an organization where people know and feel like they belong? Do you have an organization where people know and feel like what they do actually matters and makes a difference because they're being recognized for it? Do you have an organization where people are able to make choices, it which means you have a hierarchical set of values in place that empower them. And then finally, do you have an organization that has a safety zone, has high psychological safety because you've reduced fear and replaced it with learning, and that's why we, we brought in the learning moment. The learning moment was to take fear out of the organization. So, they're the basics that you have to have in place. And you you can't sprinkle fairy dust on an organization, yeah, and put them in place. You have to have the framework, and then leadership have to act, yeah, and people have to see that this is real, not just some fancy slogan and stuff up on a wall that you know someone has done because they went to some smart one day class on how to build. Culture doesn't work like that.  

Marcel Schwantes   17:13   

Right, right? Okay, I want to, I want you to get practical here for a minute, because we got a lot of leaders listening, and they they want strategies and to implement. So, let's, let's find out how to build psychological safety. Okay? And maybe you can draw examples from WD 40. And by the way, you were, you were advocating for psychological safety even before the term existed, and Amy Edmondson did her research. So how did you practice psychological safety back in the day?  

Garry Ridge   17:45   

Well, it is really based on, you know, we have to create an organization where fear is taken out. Now, fear is one of the most disabling emotions we have. It's the opposite to safe. You know, the opposite to safe is fear or so. That's why we brought in the learning moment. And we said, we don't make mistakes. We have learning moments. And the definition of the learning moment is a positive or negative outcome of any situation that needs to be openly, free and freely shared to benefit all people. So, if we're doing something in the organization that's really working. Well, let's not covet that. Let's, let's, let's amplify it and broadcast it so others can benefit from it equally. If we've tried something that hasn't worked, let's talk about it and understand why. Let's learn from it. Now, interestingly enough, if you go back to the beginning of WD 40 it all started with learning moments. Back in 1953 there was a fledging company in San Diego called Rocket chemical company. It was in the auto in the aviation chemical business. There was a problem with condensation and corrosion in the umbilical cord of the Atlas space rocket. The chemists got together and started to formulate solutions to solve the problem. Formula One didn't work. Two didn't work. 15 didn't work. 25 didn't work. 32 didn't work. 38 didn't work. 39 didn't work. 39 learning moments, number 40 worked, water displacement, WD, formula 40. That's how it got its name. So in introducing the learning moment to the organization, I could reflect on the fact of this is how we got here, and in fact, when we rebuilt or relocated our building in San Diego, and we refurbished a building we bought There were stairs that went from the ground floor to the top floor, and I had them numbered 1234, and as you got to the top 39 and the top step said, Success. So, in the organization, we embedded, you know, even in the structure that this is what we're all about, is learning moments were fine.  

Marcel Schwantes   20:07   

That's great. That's great. That's a good story. Sticking with the topic of work culture. I know that you built, you've had some, some pillars. I think you called it the four pillars of a fearless tribe, wondering if we can kind of dig into those pillars.  

Garry Ridge   20:27   

Yeah, absolutely. So, the four pillars you're talking about are care, candor, accountability and responsibility. So, care is we love and care about our people, and not enough not only to reward them and applaud them for doing great work, but were brave enough to redirect them as coaches, not managers, when we see opportunities for them to perform better, not protecting our own comfort zone at the expense of other people's development. Unfortunately, because most organ leaders see themselves as managers, not coaches, and you got to get rid of that word. If I can share anything with your audience today, today on get rid of the word manager. Everybody in your organization is a coach. Their job is to help those they have the privilege to lead play the better game that they can and and in doing that, they better make sure that it's it's very clear about what winning looks like. You know, in the first book that I wrote with Ken Blanchard, which is called Helping people win at work, the byline is, don't mark my paper. Help me get an A. 

Marcel Schwantes   21:33   

Right.  

Garry Ridge   21:33   

So, do your people in your organization know what an A looks like? Have you? Have you discussed that? So, care is so important. Care is not about ping pong tables and Margarita parties. It's really about you caring about helping that person step into the first best version of their personal self. The second one is candor, no no lying, no faking, no hiding. I believe most people don't lie in organizations, they fake and they hide, and the reason they fake and hide is because of fear. So, get rid of the fear and turn it into learning moments. Accountability. So important Are we clear? What do you expect from me and what do I expect from you? It's a two- way street, and then responsibility is about something we created, which is really magic, and it's the antidote to what I call the NA Nani Na Na disease. It's the finger pointing disease that goes on in the organization.  

Marcel Schwantes   22:31   

Yeah. 

Garry Ridge   22:31   

 So, so we created a statement that we called the maniac pledge, and it's the statement of responsibility, and it says, I am responsible for taking actions, asking questions, getting answers and making decisions. I won't wait for someone to tell me if I need to know, I'm responsible for asking. I have no right to be offended that I didn't get this sooner, and if I'm doing something others should know about, I am responsible for telling them that's the antidote to the NA Nani Na Na disease in organizations that finger pointing disease. So it's care, candor, accountability and responsibility of those four pillars. 

Marcel Schwantes   23:10   

And I see almost the theme of removing the fear from the atmosphere for all of those four, or maybe three of the four to actually happen at a high level.  

Garry Ridge   23:19   

Yeah.  

Marcel Schwantes   23:21   

Yeah, okay, transitioning to more of leadership. I'm just going to fire a few leadership questions for you. Okay, so what is the number one responsibility of every leader, regardless of position in the org chart. 

Garry Ridge   23:38   

They're a coach. Absolutely a leader's job is to help those they have the privilege to lead step into a better version of their personal self. So, you know, and if you think about a great coach, a great coach never runs on the field and kicks the ball, you know, I know you're a great baseball fan. Have you ever seen a great batting coach run on to the field and take the bat off the batter and try and hit the ball? No way. But unfortunately, in organizations, a lot of leaders are micro managers. They want to get on, take the bat and play in place of the person. No, their job is to help that person play the best game. So be a great coach.  

Marcel Schwantes   24:22   

That's great. Okay, flip side of the question perhaps, what makes a soul sucking CEO? 

Garry Ridge   24:28   

Do you want the full list, or only some of them. 

Marcel Schwantes   24:33   

Top of the list?  

Garry Ridge   24:34   

Well, their ego eats their empathy. Instead of empathy eating their ego, they're a micro manager. They think they're corporate royalty. They love a fear- based organization. They're a master of control. They're they're a know it all. They don't value learning. They must always be right. They hate feedback, and they don't keep their commitments. There it is.  

Marcel Schwantes   24:54   

All right. We've been talking about learning moments as as sort of the know it's, it's in the fabric of every every leader you have to, you have to welcome learning opportunities, to keep growing, as well as helping those around you to learn and grow themselves. So, for you, I know you've probably had countless learning moments that have made you a stronger CEO over the years. So, does, does any learning moment stick out for you? And is there a story behind it?  

Garry Ridge   25:28   

Well, I think one that I learned early on is shut up. You know, I think again, and it goes back to the fact that, you know, when we're not the smartest person in the room, so don't try and be and, you know, don't and listen to with an intent of being influenced, instead of wanting to give the answers. So I think one of the big learning moments was, you know, listen, listen to what people say and and absorb. And, you know, one thing I learned from my friend Marshall Goldsmith was, you know, when you become the leader or the CEO, your suggestions become orders, whether you like it or not. So as you're leading your organization, remember that you know what you say is going to really be interpreted, in most cases as an order. So if you know, if you're the first person to make a comment in a meeting. Remember that the tone of that meeting is now going to be directly aligned with what you have put into that meeting. But you know, if you're in a meeting and you're facilitating, you're drawing stuff out. You know, Alan Mulally, one of the great CEOs in the world, who was, you know, turned Ford around, he says, you know, the person who speaks the least in the meeting is me, and that's so true, because you're there to orchestrate. You know, think of yourself as the conductor of an orchestra. Yeah, right. The conductor of an orchestra doesn't make any music. What they do is help the players in the orchestra pit play their best instrument. That's your job.  

    27:05   

Yeah? Facilitation, yeah, and coaching, all right. We need a good Garry story. So you once rode a horse to wall street dressed in in full night's armor. What happened there. 

Garry Ridge   27:21   

That was fun. That was the WD 40 company's 50th birthday. And, you know, we were talking about, how do we really show the value of the brand? And the brand itself was a is a secret formula. The formula of the base of the product has never been disclosed. It's a bit like, you know, Kentucky Fried Chicken and coke. And so I said, Well, you know, I think we should look at protecting that. So, we came up with an idea, and I ended up going to to New York. And at nine o'clock in the morning, I got on a horse, and I rode down into times square on a horse in a suit of armor to protect the brand that had delivered so much value over time to the users, the shareholders and the people within the company. And the other thing that was great about it was that, you know, people in the organization said you're going to do what, but you're the CEO. You Why would you do that? And I said exactly why I'm doing it. Because I want to show that, you know, I'm vulnerable, and I'm happy to do, you know, the unusual things to support our people.  

Marcel Schwantes   28:38   

Yeah, that's great. I love that visual, by the way, and I also advocate for protecting the culture. It's probably easier to get to to getting to the culture that you want. The hard part is actually maintaining and staying there, right? So, you need to be able to protect. We need to be those knights in those shiny armors to protect the culture against people that violate the the non- negotiables of the culture. There's those shared values, those those beliefs, etc, that make the Yeah. 

Garry Ridge   29:13   

That's totally right. And, you know, I talk about it, but one that, you know, I grew up in Australia. I went to a high school called Des Moines Boys High School, and back one day in my science class, my teacher gave me a petri dish, and they said, what we're going to do is we're going to grow culture in this petri dish. And there are two things you've got to remember. One is, what are the ingredients that you need to put into the petri dish to grow the culture? And then you, as the owner of the petri dish, have to feed the good ingredients, but you have to be brave enough to attack the toxins before they destroy the culture. And that's where a lot of leaders fall down, is we are not brave enough to attack the toxins. You know, we have a high. Performing person in the organization that's always meeting their sales or revenue goals, but they're a complete and total wreck to the culture. So, we but we forgive them. Well, guess what that means that everybody else in the organization says, I can be that. You know, that disruptive person. All that matters here is the results. And then you create this toxic, sick culture in your petri dish, in your organization. You know, that's cancer in the organization. You've got to deal with it. A high performer who is creating a bad culture is really dangerous because, you know, the fish rots from the head 

Marcel Schwantes   30:40   

Garry. I don't know if too many people know this, but the WD 40 company had one of the highest employee retention rates of any company. I think you were up there in the 9697 percentile, somewhere around there. So, you've probably already mentioned some of the reasons as to why that was. But how would you boil down why your retention was so high. 

Garry Ridge   31:05   

It was a people centric organization. We understood that, you know, we needed to create a place where people went to work every day and they felt safe and they  enjoyed what they do. So, it was a people first mindset. We had brave accountability and behavior. We had a clearly defined, authentic purpose. We had a hierarchical set of values. We had transparency and a simple vision. We had learning moments that reduced fear. We respected belonging, acceptance and connectedness, and we lived on those four pillars of care can or accountability and responsibility.  

Marcel Schwantes   31:43   

That's great. Okay, before we transition to our speed round and end this episode, is there anything that we have not covered that you absolutely have to get out like my listeners have to know this, anything.  

Garry Ridge   31:58   

Well? Again, I think the thing that's important to know is that, as a leader, any dumb ass can build a great culture if you consistently exercise the environment that needs to be in place. And this is not a one time event, you know, this is hard work. A lot of people say it's the soft stuff. It's not the soft soft stuff, it's the hard stuff. And you know, if it was easy, we wouldn't have 70% of people going to work every day, disengaged or actively disengaged. That's why people don't do it, because it's not soft and easy, it's hard. It's an everyday commitment to building a place where people belong. They know they matter, they have a high degree of psychological safety, and they can make choices and as a leader, that's not easy. That's hard, it's simple, it's not easy, and time is not your friend, 

Marcel Schwantes   32:59   

Right, right? All right. Strap on your seat belt, Speed Round time. Here we go. A good book you would recommend right now? 

Garry Ridge   33:08   

Well, it's one that I talk about all the time, and it's it's age old, it's everything I need to know I learned in kindergarten by Robert Fulghum. If you read that and put those simple practices to work in an organization, you'll build a great culture. 

Marcel Schwantes   33:24   

If you were not a CEO at WD 40, what would you have done for for a living? 

Garry Ridge   33:32   

Probably been a teacher. 

Marcel Schwantes   33:34   

Okay? You Yeah, and that's kind of what you do now as a as a coach, right? 

Garry Ridge   33:39   

Yeah. 

Marcel Schwantes   33:40   

Lot of teachable moments, learning moments there, all right, who inspires you right now? 

Garry Ridge   33:49   

Well, I don't know that I can put any one person on that name. You know, if you've been around as long as I've been around along the way, you get to gather great people around you that you've learned from, and whether it be Ken Blanchard or Marshall Goldsmith or, you know, the Dalai Lama or Aristotle or whoever. So, I don't think there's ever you know one hero. I think there's a lot of people that along the way you gather, you know, bits of information or bits of learning from. So, yeah, I don't, I don't. I don't really like the, you know, the Academy Awards of heroes. 

Marcel Schwantes   34:28   

Right? I don't know if you'll like this question. Then name a person dead or alive that you'd like to have dinner with.  

Garry Ridge   34:35   

Nancy Nelson Mandela.  

Marcel Schwantes   34:37   

Oh, good. Okay, all right.  

Garry Ridge   34:40   

I love, I love his I love his movie, Invictus, yeah, and, you know, I use his quote a lot. It's always impossible until it's done 

Marcel Schwantes   34:52   

Something nobody knows about Garry Ridge.  

Garry Ridge   34:54   

I was once a radio disc jockey.  

Marcel Schwantes   34:57   

Ah, love it. What kind of music did you spend? 

Garry Ridge   35:02   

Actually, it was a more of a information magazine type program. It was in Sydney, Australia. It was Sunday morning from nine till 12, two CCR, FM, 90.5 Garry and Les Ridge over the hills on a Sunday morning. 

Marcel Schwantes   35:20   

That's great. Garry, all right, your biggest hope for the rest of 2025. 

Garry Ridge   35:28   

That we'll create a place in the world where peace and love is more important than fear. You know my purpose right now is I help leaders build cultures of belonging, where love, forgiveness and learning inspire a happy, more connected world, and we need a happier, more connected world, and don't give up saying we can't do something about it. We can all do a little today to make someone's life a little happier. So, let's do that, and let's start a movement of happiness, because there's a lot of conflict right now, and our grandkids don't need that.  

Marcel Schwantes   36:09   

Nope, nope. They don't. All right, you've survived the speed round. Okay, Garry, we bring the whole episode down to two questions, and the first one we've already touched on it. You just mentioned love and peace, and it is the love question for leaders. Okay, how do I lead with more actionable, practical love, day in and day out? 

Garry Ridge   36:32   

Realize it's not about you. It's about the privilege you have to lead others and the difference you can make in their life. 

Marcel Schwantes   36:40   

Bring us home. What's that one thing, that final key takeaway, that that we can bring home with us. 

Garry Ridge   36:47   

Life's a gift. Don't send it back unwrapped. 

Marcel Schwantes   36:49   

That's great. The book, again, is called any dumb ass can do it? Get it wherever books are sold. Garry, if people want to connect with you, learn more about you. Where can they go?  

Garry Ridge   37:03   

Follow me on LinkedIn. I post there regularly sharing my school of dumbassery and it's all learners, learning lessons that I've had and scar tissue that I've accumulated over 25 years. So, follow me on LinkedIn, or go to my website: www.thelearningmoment.net. And if you go there, you can actually take the dumb ass quiz. I link on the the quiz, answer the questions, and you'll get your scale of dumbassery. And I will then also send you a  PDF of a of a workbook playbook that you can start right away in your organization to build great cultures in and help people go home happy. 

Marcel Schwantes   37:49   

Garry. It's been an honor. Finally, gosh, so glad we did this. And hey, you exceeded my expectations. I knew this was going to be a real down to earth, no BS kind of conversation. And, yeah, that's what we got said. That's because you're here. So, appreciate you very much being here today. Thank you for your time.  

Garry Ridge   38:09   

Well, I want to thank you for what you do, because it's folks like you that help us, you know, amplify the message that people are important and the world is about creating happiness and love. So, thank you. You're the most important person in this conversation.  

Marcel Schwantes   38:24   

Oh, Garry, appreciate that. Gang, you can keep the conversation going on social media with hashtag love in action podcast and look for my show notes. I'm going to make sure that Garry's info is there so you can take the quiz and all that stuff, including a YouTube link so you can watch us banter back and forth. All of that you can find on my website@marcelschwantis.com 

Marcel Schwantes   38:48   

for Garry and yours truly. Remember in the end, love wins, we'll see you next time.