Nic Bittle: Life and Leadership

This episode features Mark Broadwater, VP Egan Company, leading Egan’s ATS Group: Building Automation, Technology Systems and Service. His 28 years in the industry sets Mark apart from many leaders as he supports the sales team and look for new opportunities to connect the dots inside Egan. It was Mark’s grandfather, a furniture maker, who inspired him to learn a craft and it launched his career a...

This episode features Josh Bone, Executive Director of Electri International —what he describes as the research and development lab for the electrical contracting industry. It is at the forefront at navigating market impacts and look at where technology is going. Josh has been a driving force in bringing cutting edge technology to the construction industry. In his early days he worked with mechani...

Nic tricks his new son-in-law, Micah Graf, to join him on podcast. He opens the conversation with a question, “What are your intentions with my daughter?” They talk about farming in western Oklahoma, which includes scaring up wild pigs. His favorite part of farmer is corn harvest. He also posts drone footage on Instagram @Oklahoma_Farming, capturing the seasons of farming. Check out the mile-long,...

Tarina is grateful for a power nap before recording this episode. Nic compares her naps to people needing a Snickers Bar when they’re hangry. And Tarina appreciates how Nic compliments himself about how he regulates his emotions and knows things—no naps needed. (That’s some good Nic Bittle crap right there.) They laugh about cold plunges, soft-sided tackle boxes, and losing sunglasses at the beach...

Nic shares how he attended an event to showcase his Life-Ready Curriculum. He had a booth and two break-out sessions to talk about how and why he created the curriculum and how it’s been implemented. The point of the curriculum is to help students come up with their own answers rather than a fill-in-the-blank right answer. It was designed as a journey of self-discovery. At first, students main que...

Nic and Tarina talk about the struggle of choosing to go to college versus jumping into a career. As they prepare for Cruze to take his next step, they are wrestling with the value of higher education. They discuss the various options available to craft a life and career that doesn’t require a college degree. Cruze has expressed wanting to do what Nic does for a living, so Nic breaks down what it’...

Nic talks with Brett Russell on what he did and does to build a strong culture. In this episode, they discuss what destroys a culture. And they agree that life is life—and so work is both professional and personal. There’s no division. Jumping in where they left off from Episode 68 (start there), Nic and Brett talk about the difficulties and opportunities to sow the right seeds to build strong lea...

Nic talks with Brett Russell on what he did and does to build a strong culture. While Brett’s experience is in the fire service, he and Nic agree on how it applies to the trades. They discuss how to keep momentum, build a culture of high performers, and doing what you say you’re going to do. Brett emphasizes how he wants his guys to feel they are a part of something bigger than themselves. He want...

Nic and Tarina are going to the lake in a little bit. And Tarina is working on some home remedies. And Nic is still working on his audio books. If you want to pilot Nic’s new online Leadership Academy, reach out and let him know.  When you’re right on the edge of having a meltdown and you feel drained and about to give up. In the construction industry it’s called burnout—and you almost give u...

Nic congratulates himself for killing weeds (he’s a pretty big deal, you know) and how Tarina’s dog rolled in a dead armadillo (true story). “Everybody loves change, don’t they?” Nic says with a bit of sarcasm. Think of a time when you struggled with change and it turned out not to be that big of a deal. Nic shares how he resisted moving to Corn. He believed it’d be the end of his career—and how h...

Nic and Tarina talk about her latest diagnosis: digital fatigue. Nic says it’s because of her eye strain from staring at her shopping cart on her phone. Of course, he tries to piece together how this developed. Because Tarina tries to shield him from seeing what she’s buying, it’s only in her right eye. Nic wants to buy her a pirate eye patch. Aarrgghh, Matey! Cruze it out of school. Elle is home....

Nic and Tarina share their experience attending to the German Feast at Corn Bible Academy and eating verenika —a steamed or fried pasta dumpling filled with a dry cottage cheese and usually covered in ham gravy. Chapter 35 from Know This Do That is about doing the right thing. Building your character— regardless of the cost—is the struggle all good leaders face. Nic identifies the three ways to bu...

Nic and Tarina open the episode talking about their trip to Aruba. Nic comments on how he got a little sunburned—even after applying sunscreen every hour. And Tarina cringed at how their swimsuits were too matchy-matchy. Be sure to listen to the surprise Tarina found for Nic: An inflatable butt-mat. “Seat cushion,” Tarina corrects him.  The question behind “What drives you?” is “Why do you do...

Tarina asks Nic if he wears his compression socks when he flies. He replies, “I wear them with my shorts on one leg.” Scolding him, Tarina says, “You’re supposed to wear them on both legs.” So Nic answers, “I wore them on one leg of my flight.” Tarina and Nic talk about what it means to become a leader. Nic starts the discussion with a quote from Arnold Schwarzenegger: “You can’t climb the ladder...

Nic and Tarina talk about how the grass is growing now in Corn. And Nic comments how his hair is growing like a Chia Pet. “It looks great!” says Tarina. The feeling that you’re less-than or that you’re not enough is often called imposter syndrome. Tarina asks about the line between feeling not-enough and arrogance. Feeling not-enough and arrogance are both negatives. What Nic is talking about is t...

Tarina and Nic spent time with Elle and Cruze over spring break. Nic comments on how expensive it is to feed his son, the carnivore. Not even the beans and rice at Chipotle.  He then rants about how some people don’t know the rules of airline travel. Tarina’s water bottle—which does not leak—was placed in the overhead bin. You can guess what happened next.  Together they discuss Malcolm...

They kick off talking about Tarina’s pajamas and Nic’s shaved head. Elle has told Nic to grow out his hair for the wedding.  In this episode they dig into Chapter 27: Invest the Time from  Know This Do That .  Nic and Tarina talk about how good things—like a career or rearing kids—takes time and patience. The opposite is also true: too much time spent on the wrong things create a pr...

Nic sits down with Heather Anderson and Clint Bailey at the Bittle Ranch to discuss the dynamics of training the next generation of electrical apprentices. You may remember Clint from a previous episode. She is a mom of one adult son and would tell you she’s engaged to an amazing life partner, Clint. The two of them just happened to drop in to the Studio for a conversation. Heather completed the&n...

Nic and Tarina open this episode talking about his latest travels and how he shaved his head. “Everybody with a shaved head is really sexy,” Nic quotes Tarina. Of course, she denies it. (Time for a new podcast photo!) Today’s discussion centers on a question Nic’s mentor Mark LeBlanc asked him a long time ago. The question is: What do you want? As Nic explains, this isn’t about wanting a new pair...

Carlin Day is a husband and father of five with a professional background in insurance sales and service. As the owner of Harms Insurance Agency, Inc., an independent insurance agency in Oklahoma, Carlin has built his career on the belief that people prefer doing business with people. For years, he has led his agency to live out the simple motto of providing personal service. Early on, despite hav...

In this episode, Nic talks with James Ford, CEO Egan Company. James leads all lines of business with an emphasis in creating teams with a strategic focus on long-term success. James shares how he started his career as an accountant with Eide Bailley then how he served as a leadership development advisor. He took on the Chief Financial Officer role at Egan Company after 20 years in accounting. Toda...

Nic and Tarina start off with a good laugh at themselves and one another. One because of Nic’s always hard nipples (seriously, you gotta listen to it). And Tarina’s gig work as a helper of Amazon and USPS delivery guys while wearing flip flops. Nic goes into more detail about how he helps apprentices understand finding the right fit career. So, he expands on his “Three Circles” idea: 1) What are y...

Nic is off the road for a week and feeling good. Tarina got to speak to students about anatomy and her career in nursing. Figure out what you’re good at. Know your strengths. Know your weaknesses. This is how Nic summarizes what it means to know what makes you tick. In this episode, Nic and Tarina discuss the importance of understanding yourself. Nic outlines a 3-part system for identifying a care...

In this episode, Nic and Tarina talk about Nic’s travels—the good, the bad, and the very, very ugly.  As Nic says, “My job finds me mostly in airports.” He shares the best places he’s gotten to stay as well as some scary places.  It’s clear in this episode how committed Nic is to the work of developing men and women to be better leaders. It’s also clear how much he loves his family and l...

Nic and Tarina kick off with advice for everyone to not move to Corn (wink, wink) and enjoy all its comforts and community. And Tarina shares her “more this, less that” list as an alternative to goals for the new year or new year’s resolutions. It surprised Nic that Tarina didn’t have items for his goal and resolution list for the year. Nic quotes Charlie Tremendous Jones: “You will be the same pe...