Career Conversations with Wayne Turmel

The Traveling Introvert

For over 25 years, Wayne Turmel has been obsessed with how people communicate (or don't) at work. He's the author of 15 books and has spoken at conferences and clients around the world.

Link to website

https://kevineikenberry.com/team/about-wayne-turmel/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wayneturmel/

"The Misconceptions of Introverts: 'Because we often get told, you know, when you start, describe the traits of an introvert and you get, You know, quiet, keeps to themselves, never bothers anybody. Basically, the same descriptions they use for serial killers.'"

— Wayne Turmel [00:01:48 → 00:02:03]

Viral Topic: Scariest Moments in Early Career

Quote: "The probably true answer in terms of the scariest thing is very early on in my career. This is how early on it was. We had just rolled out email to the organization, like we were trend trending leaders. And our instructors wanted access to laptops so that we could do PowerPoint presentations and answer email when we were on the road. And You would have thought that we were storming the Bastille."

— Wayne Turmel [00:04:04 → 00:04:43]

Beard Discrimination: "And even though I wore a suit and tie, they felt that the beard was unprofessional and didn't exude the right image."

— Wayne Turmel [00:06:01 → 00:06:12]

Rising through Buyouts: "During these buyouts, I kept rising in the organization, and eventually, I had reached either the as much as I was going to be in that organization or the Peter principle Caught up with me."

— Wayne Turmel [00:09:12 → 00:09:31]

Managing Energy in the Entertainment Industry: "I work pretty much like a volcano. I'm dormant, and I build up all this kinetic energy, and then it bursts out of me like a crazy person, then I am spent and need to lie dormant for another 100 years."

— Wayne Turmel [00:10:53 → 00:11:08]

"The Power of Networking: I met somebody who said, you know, You should consider, given your skill set and who you are, you should consider going into the training business"

— Wayne Turmel [00:12:41 → 00:14:22]

Finding Opportunities in Unexpected Places: "And he said, oh, you're looking for a job? Come see me next week. And I went to see him next week, and he's offering me the instructor manager position for which I was wildly unqualified, But desperate times, desperate measures, the correct answer is, of course, I can do that, And that's how I got my 1st management position."

— Wayne Turmel [00:15:10 → 00:15:32]

The Future of Virtual Work: "you know, there's a a thing here with this virtual work, and maybe I could, get to the point where I step down from a full time position. I continue to teach as needed to pay the bills and start my business, and 20 minutes later, the phone rang and I was fired. So, you know, I'm not a huge believer in signs from the universe, but that was pretty much neon."

— Wayne Turmel [00:17:27 → 00:17:53]

The Introverted Trainer: "Well, the most obvious one is that, because I'm a trainer, Because I am out there, because I speak for a living, all that good stuff that I am this raging extrovert. And, you know, there is nothing more terrifying to me after a day of being on my feet training or doing a keynote, when they say, a few of us are going to dinner. Oh. Oh, heavens. No."

— Wayne Turmel [00:18:58 → 00:19:25]

Getting Started: "I send Kevin a quick Message in Slack. Hey. I'm here. How's it going? And my day starts. That is super important for me Because I was, at the beginning, very bad about when does your day start, when does your day end."

— Wayne Turmel [00:25:43 → 00:26:01]