Driven 4word
Driven 4word
Diane Paddison - Part 2
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Listen to the conclusion of our time with 4word's founder, Diane Paddison.
Show notes: https://4wordwomen.org/podcast/
Learn more about 4word: https://4wordwomen.org
Welcome back to driven forward influential leaders powered by God's will I'm your host Jordan Johnstone. In the last episode, we met Diane Patterson founder of forward and got a front row seat to how her childhood and college days prepared her for the intensely rewarding career journey ahead. Let's wrap up our time with her today and learn about who has been the biggest influence in her life. At what point she herself felt like she was being influential and how she wants to be remembered in the future. Can you share your biggest accomplishment? And I mean like the one that you are the most proud of ?
Speaker 2Yeah, it is. It is definitely forward. Um, you know, faith has, and that's professionally, you know, faith has always been my foundation and I'm so grateful that I've really come to understand how important it is to even practice it every day through being in God's word, being in prayer, you know, I just shared about our family and , um, I am just so proud of my family and just the life that we have together and that Chris and I both have really fulfilling work. And I think that that is just , um , a blessing , uh , to be able to really have faith family and a profession that you feel is really fulfilling to you.
Speaker 1So in contrast then to your biggest accomplishment, can you share when you felt the most out of water in your life?
Speaker 2Yeah, the time I felt most out of water was when I took a job, which was with Prologis that really didn't align with my priorities around my family. Um, there wasn't the kind of culture there. Like there was a tram Crow and CBR E that was real , really , very supportive of your whole life, including your faith. Um, and the way the business was done was , um, people , uh, met in conference rooms to get everything done. There wasn't a real , uh , culture of delegation and trust. And so me having this focus around my priority, being my family and the headquarters of Prolog was in Denver, Colorado. And we lived in Dallas, Texas, and I was only there two days a week, you know, by, by only eight months into working for Prologis, I knew it wasn't working for me or for them. And so I just decided to really call a spade , a spade and , um , the CEO and I met and we decided it was time to end our relationship. And it really taught me a lot about even helping women today don't ever go to a place where you don't see the culture and the values aligning with yours. However, I do believe that God had it totally in his plan for me to go there because I probably would've never started forward if I would've stayed at C B R E . Um , because I love the people I worked with. I love the culture, I love my, my , uh , work there. And , um , I think my brother said it well, he said, God had to get you out of C, B , R E , to get you to a step that was going get you to where he really wanted you to be for the rest of your life. And I think he was exactly right.
Speaker 1At what point in your career did you start to feel like you were being an influence
Speaker 2The time I really , uh, felt it was , um , because I have this passion around women was, as women would start coming to me and saying, can we have coffee? I mean, I even think of some of the women involved with, for today, Brandy Sykes , one of our leaders in , uh , Houston tech. So she worked for Tramel Crow and she came to me and said, Hey, can we have coffee? I just wanna learn from you. And, and, you know, it was really then that I really saw that God had really put me in a place to be able to , um, help women reach their potential, even within the corporate world, not, not wait until I started forward. Um, but you know, was really used me in a, in a big way in the corporate world world to help women.
Speaker 1Can you think of a time when you were maybe surprised that somebody came to you and said, Hey, you really influenced me, you know, through the , or by helping me with this, you know, can , can you think of an example of that? Well,
Speaker 2It's it , this is a great question you just asked because , um, I just got a letter actually , uh , the week of Thanksgiving from Jim Wilson, my successor at C B R E . And he basically , uh , Diane , I want you to know I'm retiring after 30 years at , um, at tram Crow in C B R E . And I can't thank you enough for preparing me so that when you left, everybody knew I was the right person for the job and I've had an amazing career ever sense . And my response to him was that made me feel so good. And Jim, I better get invited to your retirement party <laugh> Which he did invite me . <laugh> Aw .
Speaker 1Now you mentioned earlier your , your passion for women. So I would love to kind of dive into that a little bit. So where did that come from? I mean, did that just come from just your personal experience, you were in boardrooms and meeting rooms with a bunch of men, or is there something else that kind of really put that on your heart?
Speaker 2Yeah, I , um, I think I just saw in the workplace a lot of times there were women that really , um, struggled with feeling great about the gifts they'd been given. And I was really blessed to have a mom and a dad who just really instilled confidence in me. And so I just really took it on as one of my , um, things that I wanted to change and I really wanted to help women. Um, and this is my passion, believe what they cannot see. And, you know, I've just seen so many women, Surpas what they ever believed because they had mentors or they had someone encourage them, or, you know, they had an environment where, where their team was really helping them , um, even go beyond. So , um, I think that's where it all came from, was just seeing that in the workplace and, and seeing them just thrive. And I mean, you, and I know this one person that I'll mention this Lisa Fry , I mean, she, she was one that wasn't applying for a big job. And I said, Lisa, why are you not applying? And she said, said , really, Diane, you think I can do this? And I said, of course you can. And you know, she's gone on to do great things. So , um, that's really, I think where it came from,
Speaker 1Who is the person that you would credit the most with influencing you? So
Speaker 2When , when I , uh , saw this question, I thought, wow, I can't just say one <laugh> so I'm not gonna say just one. So number one, Jesus. I mean to just stand on God's word every day , you know, when, I mean, even last week, there was a tough situation and, you know, I had such peace going into helping this situation because , um, I knew God was in control. So , um, I would just say number one, Jesus, number two, my parents, which I already mentioned, but just the fact that my dad gave me so much responsibility. I mean, some of the things I did on the farm at 16 years old, I , I look back and I go, I can't believe I was overseeing 80 people picking fruit. I had one guy that actually , um, overdosed on his ladder. And you know, at that time we didn't have mobile phones . So I had walkie talkies and just how I handled that situation just taught me a lot of confidence. I mean, the guy ended up being okay. Um, but , um, and then my mom just always every day told me if you wanna be president of the United States, you can be president. So that was her line every day . Um, then when I went off to college, I mentioned John strick and Dan Boyden. And not only did they influence me to go to Harvard business school, but they were the two that influenced me to come to work for Tramel Crow company and their two of my dear friends to this day. Um, <affirmative>. And then I , two of my beginning mentors who changed my life, Don Williams, the CEO of tra Tramel Crow. And he was very passionate about helping a, having his company, that he led be a company that didn't look like a white, Caucasian C company . Um , and then Bob Beauford, who really was my mentor when I started forward. And even now I thought about, gosh, who, who influences me now? Well, a lot of the women involved with forward, but also I learned from my kids. I learned from my husband. He coached me last week on that situation I mentioned, and my little granddaughter Opal is just a huge influence in my life.
Speaker 1What would you say is your driving force in life?
Speaker 2Well, and it's really back to what I shared earlier. My driving force is really to help women believe what they cannot see.
Speaker 1I love that. I don't think I've ever heard you say that <laugh> maybe I just wasn't listening. What has been the biggest turning point in your life?
Speaker 2Well, the biggest turning point , um, I mentioned sort of vaguely earlier, but it was when I went through a divorce, I never, never thought I would go through a divorce that just wasn't even in my family's vocabulary. And , um, but the reason I say it was the biggest turning point, because that was really when I became desk dependent on Jesus. Um, I didn't know if my family would, would , uh , still meet my family after that. I didn't know if my friends would still meet my friends and it was actually just the opposite. All of 'em said we were, we were so praying you would fake out what's going on. Mm-hmm <affirmative> so that was definitely the biggest turning point in my life.
Speaker 1When and where were you happiest in your life?
Speaker 2Yeah , um, I kind of mentioned it earlier. I mean, really now it's just amazing to be able to do what I do , um, for work, to have the family and friends that I have today. Um, and I even think about through COVID . Um, Chris and I, both my husband travel a lot for our work and COVID hit and we have probably been apart for one year and three quarters, maybe 20 nights, which is so unusual. And it's just so wonderful to get to live and work with my husband every day .
Speaker 1Did you ever doubt where God brought you in your life?
Speaker 2I never did. And I think that's partly because of my mom's , um , self assurance that she put in me, but I also do believe strongly in Jeremiah 29 11, that, that God definitely has specific plans for us. And , um, I believe that, and I even believe that about Annie going through her tough health , um , situation for the last seven and a half years. I just feel like God's doing something big with it, cuz she's having so much impact on so many people, but I wish I could take your pain away.
Speaker 1How do you hope that people will remember you?
Speaker 2I hope that they will remember me as a Jesus follower who loves and prioritizes my husband, my children, my grandchildren, and my extended family. And who saw that, the work that I did in the corporate world and it forward was a positive influence on people's lives and changed their lives.
Speaker 1<affirmative> so is there any other part I know we're done with the actual questions, but is there any other part of your story, like as you were talking that just kind of came to your mind that you think other women listening would maybe want to hear about?
Speaker 2Well, it was interesting Jordan. I was just , um, interviewed on a podcast last week and you know, I also realize how much impact some amazing women have had in my life. Um , a couple I mentioned, which you've heard before is Molly Fletcher and Carla Harris. And some of the questions that I was asked around, you know, in this crazy busy life, you know, how do you make, or that you do focus on the most important. And I thought Molly just had a great five step plan first, you know, you gotta prioritize what's important and then you gotta put a plan around it. So you make sure that you prioritize. And Chris and I , um, every year do a , a , a , our goals together that encompass everything, our faith, our family, our friends, and our work. And , um, then you have to have someone hold you accountable. And Chris holds me accountable and I hold him accountable. And I even had my boss at Tramel Crow , Mike Lafe , who's still one of my dearest friends. It was in my performance plan. When I would say, Mike , you know, my, my travel can't be more than one night, a week average throughout a year. Well , we actually checked at the end of each year to see if I traveled 52 nights or more or less, cuz that was part of my bonus plan <laugh> oh ,
Speaker 1Wow. Yeah.
Speaker 2Um , cause you know, and, and there was a job that was offered to me that was had of global for CBR E and I didn't take it and people thought it was outta my mind and I thought, there's no way I could prioritize my family if I took that job. So I think, you know, really setting those priorities and then for , you know, being willing to adjust, you know, so add as you go through life , um, you know, Annie would call me sometimes on it. She'd say, mom, you're not focusing on me. You're working on your, your phone and you know, just adjusting, making sure that you're always staying focused on what is most important. Uh, and , and I, and then I think last of all, you've just always gotta have other people in your life, mentors and sponsors that are always, you know, advising you and helping you think of things that you've never thought of before.
Speaker 1How do you want people to remember you? If you were asked to pick the single most influential person and in your life, who would you name? We would love to hear how Diane's story impacted. You leave us a review on whichever podcast platform you're listening on and let us know what you thought of this month's story. If you post about today's episode on social media, use the hashtag driven forward podcast. We'd love to hear your takeaways. If you haven't already, please take a moment to subscribe, to driven forward on your preferred listening platform to learn more about forward. You can visit for women.org . That's the number four w O R D w O M E n.org. And you can also follow us on social media where we post weekly blogs updates on in our mentor program classes and upcoming events and share inspirational quotes and verses to help get you through your day. We'll be back next month with a brand new story of an influential leader driven forward by God's will be sure you're subscribed. So you don't miss the new episodes. Thanks for listening.
Speaker 3You .