Welcome to How Leaders Lead, where every week you get to listen in while I interview some of the very best leaders in the world.

I break down the key learning so by the end of the episode, you'll have something simple you can apply as you develop into a better leader.

That's what this podcast is all about. You know, one of the trickiest parts of being a leader

is taking lots of different people and departments and getting everybody to actually cooperate

and work together. I mean, let's be honest, just because people work for the same company doesn't

mean they're on the same team. If you can relate to that, then boy, have I got the perfect leader for you to learn from

today. Joe Scarlett is the former CEO of Tractor Supply Company, a retail chain that has been

growing like crazy for a couple of decades now. And as you're about to hear, a big reason for

their success is how intentional they've been to get every team member on the same

page, cooperating towards the same goals. If you want to unify your team, believe me,

you're about to get a lot of practical ideas to do just that. So let's just jump in right now.

Here's my conversation with my good friend and soon to be yours, Joe Scarlett.

You know, I always like to go back to the beginning. You know, what's a story from your

childhood to shape the kind of leader you are today?

I grew up in New Jersey and my dad worked on Wall Street and he would be in the city every day and he'd come home at night and he would very often be listening to CEOs and CFOs talk about

their company and talk about their business strategy.

And he'd share stories with us at night when he came home, and that sort

got me interested in business and interested in leadership. He would talk about, not only about

the business strategy, but he would also talk about the culture. Anyway, he would talk about

what he thought of the individual, and sometimes he'd say, I didn't trust that guy. It was one

situation in which that guy wound up in jail five or six years later. What's the best advice your dad ever gave you? The very best advice they gave me. There are two things in life that you never need to be cheap about. One are lawyers. You get a cheap lawyer. You might go to jail. And the other is doctors. You get a bad doctor. You might die. So always get the best doctors and lawyers. That's great advice. You know, I understand you

worked with the legendary Bernie Marcus, who we happened to do a podcast with earlier. Before he found

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