Despite Impossible S5E6: Mike Jbara

Episode Transcript

Tansley Stearns

Today's guest is Mike Jabara. Mike is someone who is likely to engage with people, is curious, and is invested in inspiring others and supporting people's care for one another. Mike is also the EVP and COO at the Len Brook Media Group where he is a dedicated transformation driven operation operations executive and is particularly comfortable building systems within creative tech and consumer brands, helping companies scale without compromising innovation or audience connection. This is Mike's story.

People who know you best will describe you as…

Mike Jbara

I think likely to engage or interested in people so having a tendency to engage. I would say

Tansley Stearns

What's something you always wish you could do for just a little longer?

Mike Jbara

I haven't really thought about things quite that way, and I'm not really a fatalistic person, but I would say I feel very fortunate for the things that have been available to me. So in that way I guess I would say I'm filled with a lot of gratitude, but maybe wouldn't describe it quite that way. So everything feels a bit more than I expected.

Tansley Stearns

Describe a moment when you really felt the most like the leader you always dreamt you'd be.

Mike Jbara

Probably can't say that that dreaming of a becoming a leader was necessarily something I had in mind, but I am very comfortable taking responsibility and accountability. So in that way, always happy to provide leadership. But I'm also happy to be part of a team when there are others that can lead as long as the whole team is succeeding.

Tansley Stearns

When was the last time you danced so hard your feet were sore?

Mike Jbara

Yeah, I have to admit while I dance a lot, I don't remember ever having sore feet at the end of it. And then I thought about it some more and I realized that the dancing for me is most fun with others. So there's probably been times when I've gotten off the floor to hang out with the crew because other people maybe weren't as comfortable dancing, but can't say that I've done it until my feet hurt.

Tansley Stearns

What's an important insight you come back to repeatedly across situations in both your work and personal life that guides your approach to change?

Mike Jbara

I think I'm comfortable stepping toward difficult topics. So discussing difficult topics to me is an expression of consideration for other people. Whether it's providing critical feedback or stepping into conflict resolution, or maybe even just calling a friend who might have lost a loved one.

I think that's something that I find is important and impactful.

Tansley Stearns

If you have a bad day, which one song or artist on your playlist lightens you up immediately?

Mike Jbara

That's easy. There's a song called Optimistic by Sounds of Blackness. That one, to me, is just kind of a pure uplifting groove.

Tansley Stearns

Nice. What's something you wish you knew about growth over time in the early days of your journey?

Mike Jbara

I think the idea that growth comes from keeping your mind open and that as long as you do that, growth continues to be possible as late in your career or in your life as you want it to be. So I think that's a big part of it. The other part of growth that I believe all of us have a responsibility for is sharing our experience, whether they're mistakes that we've made or reasons that we think something have succeeded with people that may not have had the time, the experience, or the confidence, because that does lead to organizational growth if we share our insights.

Tansley Stearns

What's one thing people wrongly assume about you?

Mike Jbara

I must admit, I don't really care too much about people's assumptions on me. I feel like if I do my thing and I'm associated with success frequently enough, the folks that will matter to me, we'll figure it out. But like many of us, I, you know, I do have my moments of imposter syndrome, so I just accept that as part of life.

Tansley Stearns

What do you enjoy doing that you don't get to do often?

Mike Jbara

I don't want to sound like a broken record, but I'm a really satisfied person. So when I think about this, I'll probably give an answer that's a bit more transactional, though it fits what you're saying, which is, I think skiing is a great example of that. Love doing it. Never get to do as much as I like to. But also I'm. I'm doing fine. Not doing as much as I'd like, so it's not. Not having too, too negative an impact, I'd say.

Tansley Stearns

Who haven't you seen perform live in concert that you've been planning to see and haven't yet?

Mike Jbara

I think the heartbreaking miss Was to have seen Aretha live. I never did. That would be it. I. I think anybody that's got really magical musical gifts are the kind of people that I think about when you ask a question like that. As you may know, the Stevie Wonder Songs in the Kia Life tour was recently announced, so I'm going to have to see that. I think probably as much to see them live is to relive some of the memories that those songs bring out.

Tansley Stearns

What's one thing that inspires hope in you?

Mike Jbara

Well, that's easy. Talking with my kids.

Tansley Stearns

If you could share advice with students graduating from University. What might it be?

Mike Jbara

Remember that people want to help you and to get the most out of that. I think be humble, listen, be kind and thoughtful about the choices that you make

Tansley Stearns

When something that still makes you nervous, even though you've done it many times?

Mike Jbara

Driving, but maybe for a reason that might surprise you. I worry about other drivers. I think, you know, it's, it's a hand eye coordination thing with like a two ton battering ram out there. And I worry about too many people having licenses to drive. So roundabouts, I think are particularly scary for Americans because it's just not something that we're trained on.

Tansley Stearns

Yeah, tell us about your impossible.

Mike Jbara

The things that I look back on and I'm very happy I'm involved in are a result of unlocking some of the constraints I think that perhaps I apply to myself. So I think everybody can achieve things that they might describe as impossible if they at least give them a shot themselves, a shot to not limit their own expectations. I guess if you were to describe the things I'm involved in that fall into those categories, it would be a, you know, to have the benefit and the fortune of being able to support small business operators in Detroit, in the state of Michigan. I'm always surprised that I was able to have a significant mark on the trajectory of the music industry. But all of those really stem from having a home life where despite what might have been some socioeconomic challenges, I never thought something was unavailable to me. And I think if I were to describe about my ongoing impossible, it will always be how do we encourage people that have had either some success or followed a non traditional path to what they're doing to share their stories with people so that they unlock that potential in everybody.

Tansley Stearns

What do you look forward to most in the next 12 months?

Mike Jbara

The midterms and some restoration of human decency.

Tansley Stearns

What do you secretly worry might stay unfinished if you're impossible? And it sounds like there were several was not addressed or is not addressed Trust.

Mike Jbara

Well, I think the broader part of what I see as important is the giving back. And if, yeah, and if we don't give back, I think it's a race to the bottom. I think selfishness and greed end up winning or dominating and the earth and most of our population end up suffering.

Tansley Stearns

Who's someone else we should be talking with on the podcast?

Mike Jbara

I want to give that one some more thought. I'm sorry, I'm not prepared to give you the answers right now, but I promise I will.

Tansley Stearns

I love it.

Mike Jbara

Maybe you can put it into the outro. But I want to give that one a bit more thought.

Tansley Stearns

What's your next impossible, my friend?

Mike Jbara

it's going to be to put in place and to encourage and a little bit larger scale people to help each other, and particularly around kids that are going through public school systems and may not have access to all the resources that they deserve.

Tansley Stearns

Yeah, you know, I have some worries in life, and one of my bigger ones is driving. I have a fear of driving over bridges, and sometimes I get very worried about driving next to trucks. And then if you let yourself think too much about the challenges of driving, you can get really worried about all kinds of other driving situations. The good news is my daughter, Mackenzie, is becoming a very good little driver. And boy, oh, boy, it's early days. She's not quite 16 yet, and there are a lot of experiences. I mostly have to not think very much about the potential risk there because it's heavy. And, you know, this is the Motor City. We love our cars. I love my F150.

And, you know, we do our best, all of us human beings, when we talk about stories and their impact on others and their impact on care for other humans. We learn through stories. We always have. And I often say that storytelling is something that we undervalue because I think we often consider it a thing that we do with children before bedtime. And so we minimize what it really takes to be a gifted storyteller. And it's hard work. You know, one of the practices that I've been doing for a long time is writing down stories that I can connect to lots of things in life. And I often give that advice to people that want to become better speakers or storytellers. Because when you start collecting stories, you start collecting stories, and that builds, and you end up with a really big collection of stories that you can connect to things that you're doing across your life.

You know, in terms of how we show up for one another. And the way that Mike talked about care, I think is so critical. Relentless care is one of our values here at orsa. And, you know, I think at the heart of things, when we put people first, really good things happen. I also know that living with empathy is challenging because not everyone's gonna greet you with that in return. And so I also think that one of life's important lessons is to give relentlessly, because whatever comes back is not as important as what you can share with other people. And whatever happens in life when you're putting other people first again, I think that that's a rare gift and a really important.