The Tools Change, Humanity Doesn’t

The Tools Change, Humanity Doesn’t

Kelly Kennedy: This episode is a little different. It's Remembrance Day here in Canada. And as I look at a photo of my grandfather, a man who trained as an anti-aircraft gunner in World War 2, but was called home to farm instead of fight. I can't help but think about the lessons his generation left behind. They were built on courage, discipline, humility, and most of all, connection.

The same timeless truths that Dale Carnegie taught nearly a century ago. In a world that's louder and faster than ever, maybe the answers were chasing have already been written. So today we pause. We remember and we explore how the wisdom of the past can still guide us forward. Lest we forget, stick with us.

You are not gonna want to miss this episode.

Intro: The Great Mark Cuban once said, business happens over years and years. Value is measured in the total upside of a business relationship, not by how much you squeezed out in any one deal. And we couldn't agree more. This is the Business Development podcast based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

In broadcasting to the world, you'll get expert business development advice, tips, and experiences, and you'll hear interviews with business owners, CEOs. And business development reps. You'll get actionable advice on how to grow business, brought to you by Capital Business Development CapitalBD.ca. Let's do it.

Welcome to the The Business Development Podcast, and now your expert host. Kelly Kennedy.

Kelly Kennedy: Hello. Welcome to episode 289 of the Business Development Podcast, and today I am writing and recording this particular show on November 11th, 2025, which is. Remembrance day, and I woke up early this morning guys to get a post out for my Grandpa.

My grandfather's name was Walter James Croswell, and he was born on the 23rd of August, 1915 in Melfort, Saskatchewan. For my listeners around the world who may or may not be familiar with Canada, Saskatchewan is a province located in Western Canada and it's known as the bread basket of Canada. When you drive through it, there are farm fields as far as your eyes can see.

Even to this day, my grandfather died when I was 17 years old, and I remember as a young boy staying at my grandparents' place and every morning when I woke up finding my grandfather at the kitchen table, either singing or reading the Bible. He was genuinely a very kind and very sweet man, and he was incredibly musical.

I believe he could play the violin as well, and although like all people of that generation could be very strict at times, as a parent now myself, a four wild boys and one wild boy in training, I totally get it. I totally get it. As a kid, I never really asked my grandfather much about the war. At the time, I was far more interested in my Game Boy, my Sega Genesis, or playing games with my cousins in the basement.

But today, when I think about it, my grandfather was the very first man I ever saw cry. Not sobbing, just sitting at that same kitchen table deep in thought, clearly lost in memories. My grandpa loved God, his family and his country deeply. In one of the very few conversations that I had with my grandfather about the war, I learned that he and enlisted and served in the Canadian army and was just 29 years old in 1944.

He was trained as an anti-aircraft gunner and was supposed to deploy to D-Day on June 6th, 1944, as part of the Canadian troops going to Europe. Just a few weeks ahead of that deployment, he was transferred to support the war effort in a different way. His family had a large farm in a hamlet called Newbrook Alberta.

At this point in the war, agriculture was just as important as infantry, and since he knew how to farm, he was transferred back home to help the war effort. I don't know a ton about my grandfather's thoughts, but I know he hated this decision. And I believe he felt a lot of guilt about it until the day he died.

He lost a ton of friends and brothers in World War 2, and when I look back and remember the tears streaming down his face at that kitchen table over 50 years later, I know it was this that he was remembering. As I sit here writing this episode, remembering my incredible and brave grandfather, a realization came to me.

Millennials will be the last generation who actually knew these brave heroes. It will be up to us to share the stories of our grandparents and for some of us parents, and teach the next generation about what happened 80 long years ago. So to my fellow millennials. Tell the stories of your grandparents.

Speak to both the heroism and the horrors war as hell. And if we forget, we are doomed to repeat it. As a kid, it seemed so very long ago, but as I get older, I realize how fast time flies. How short 80 years really is. Let's keep the memory of these heroes alive. Lest we forget. Thank you, grandpa, for your love, your service, and your courage.

I love and miss you dearly. Today has me not only reminiscing of my grandfather, but also thinking about the lessons of the past. In a world so focused on what's next, we can forget that most things in business and in life are simply not that new. Technology is changing all around us, but humans as we know it today, still think, feel, love, and make decisions the same way that we have for thousands and thousands of years.

You cannot engineer out your humanity. It's all a part of you. You are accumulation of hundreds of generations before you. Sure. You have access to ai, smartphones, supercomputers, the internet, and of course Netflix. But you are still working with an operating system thousands of years in the making. It is because of this, that from the very beginning of this show, I have realized that in order to go forward, we have to go backwards.

As a human in a digital world, your greatest superpower is your humanity and your ability to connect through authentic human connection. One of the greatest books that I recommend to. Everybody is Dale Carnegie's, how To Win Friends and Influence People. It was one of the very first books I ever read when I got into the business development space, and to this day, I think probably one of the most powerful books, not just for sales, marketing, business development, but one of the most powerful books on how to become a better human.

Another book that I like to rope into this when I talk about it, is a book by Dr. Jack Schafer called The Like Switch. And if you haven't read that book yet, I would encourage you to go back. I've actually interviewed Dr. Schafer on two previous episodes and I would highly recommend you check them out. He is an incredible individual former FBI special agent, and his job was to turn spies counterintelligence.

So super, super cool and if you wanna learn how they do that, spoiler alert. It's through authentic human connection. It's pretty incredible. But I digress. A lot of the lessons are simply not new because humans are simply not new. Now, neither of these books that I just recommended are about marketing or sales directly.

Instead, they're about human psychology because becoming better at understanding people. Improves every aspect of your personal and professional life, no matter the technology. You have to understand truly how to connect and work with people. Dale Carnegie had a principle that is just as relevant today as it was way back in 1936.

He believed that people like people who listen to them, make them feel important and help them see the best in themselves. Sounds pretty good, right? That's because it is. Advice like that is simply timeless and will continue to be as we head deeper into the 21st century. So we live in a world now where everybody wants to tell you that their advertising widget or their Instagram marketing or their passive lead generation can do just as good as human to human interaction.

And I think, you know, potentially on some B2C products, that might be true, but remember. For B2B, long-term relationships are absolutely critical. Relationships are the key differentiator, and so whenever we are talking about large scale business transactions, there's nearly always a human in the loop. And if there's a human in the loop, we have to get better at connecting authentically, no matter how great AI, computers and other technology gets.

It's simply just tools they're still going to need to be a human to wield them, to build connection, to build trust. Remember, tools can either help or hurt our ability to build authentic human connection. But at the end of the day, technology alone cannot meet these needs for you. The need for human connection is biologically and psychologically rooted.

You cannot run from it or hide. It is essential for survival and your wellbeing. We are literally wired for human connection, wiring and programming, generations in the making. Connecting with other humans authentically releases the feelgood hormone, oxytocin, reducing stress and improving your mood, being around other people, having connection, having conversations quite literally makes you feel better.

Lack of connection is linked to higher risks of chronic diseases and premature death. Put simply for humans, loneliness is lethal. Not only that, we know that trust is critical in business buying decisions and connection. A critical piece of building trust is authentic human connection. And I said it at the beginning of the year, guys.

I said, if 2023 was the year of ai and 2024 was the year of personal branding that I thought 2025 would become the year of authentic human connection. And I see it every single week inside the Catalyst Club. Authenticity is key. It's king. It's absolutely. Everything. So today I'm not going to teach you something new.

Today we're going to go back 100 years to timeless lessons taught by Dale Carnegie. That may be even more important today than they ever were back then. Here are 11 lessons from the past on how to build authentic human connection in 2026 and beyond. Number one. Become genuinely interested in others. You can make more friends by being interested in people than by trying to make them interested in you.

Ask about their lives, their backgrounds, and their hobbies, and be genuinely curious. I want you to think about it from the standpoint of a client meeting. When was the last time that you sat down in a client meeting and you literally just got down to business if you did? I bet that that was not a very fun client meeting.

I bet they, I bet that it was hard, it was stressful. Nobody was happy. It was short. Um, and it probably didn't go anywhere, and that's because you're not taking the time to understand the person. Right. Business always happens. I talk to you guys about this all the time. Business will always happen. Focus on the connection first.

Once the connection is established and trust is built, if there is an opportunity, in my experience, it will always present itself. But if you take the time and you focus on the person. How's their family? How was their last vacation? What's going on in their life? What's going on in your life? Talk about things that build connection.

Talk about things that show that you genuinely care about that other person, and the rest will always come. I like to say some of the best business I've ever done has happened in the last five minutes of the meeting. The rest was just focused on getting to know the person and having a good time. Number two, be a good listener.

Encourage others to talk about themselves and listen attentively. Show that you value their thoughts and opinions by not just waiting for your turn to speak, reflect, and then respond. Take a moment. Listen, I always say that I became good at business development when I stopped talking. This is what I meant guys.

I used to go into meetings thinking I had to fill all the space. What I really had to learn to do was ask meaningful, thoughtful questions and listen, because people will always tell you what's going on for them when they have the opportunity to do so. The more you speak, the less opportunity you are giving them to let you in.

Number three, remember names a person's name is to them the sweetest sound. Using it in conversation shows both respect and personal attention, making them feel important. Number four, talk in terms of their interests. Discussing what matters to others shows empathy and helps build rapport. People like people who make them feel good.

You showing that you care about somebody's hobbies and interest is showing that you care about them, therefore making them feel good and the conversation and connection stronger. Number five, give honest and sincere appreciation, recognize and appreciate people's efforts. Sincere praise is a powerful motivator and makes people feel valued.

A hundred percent. We all have to do a little better at noticing the efforts that other people make me included, but whenever you can catch that and you can compliment it, it makes a huge. Huge difference. Number six, smile. A warm smile can break barriers and create a friendly atmosphere, setting a positive tone for communication.

Remember guys, 70% of communication is non-verbal, and a smile is a powerful, powerful force. Number seven, avoid criticism. Criticizing others, puts them on the defensive instead of condemning, try to approach mistakes constructively or indirectly. Number eight, arouse an eager want frame suggestions in a way that appeals to the other person's wants rather than simply pushing your own agenda.

Whenever you can frame something as a win-win where you're showing you not only understand what it is they want, but you're going to help them meet it. While helping you at the same time. Well, that's a recipe for success guys. Number nine, admit your own mistakes. Talking about your own errors before criticizing somebody else can increase your own credibility and make them more receptive to your feedback.

Humbleness creates authentic human connection, guys. Number 10, let the other person save face. When addressing mistakes, do it in a way that allows a person to maintain their dignity and avoid embarrassment. They will appreciate that greatly. Number 11, avoid arguments.

The only way to get the best of an argument is simply to avoid it. Focus on finding common ground and understanding instead of winning. I got this information, guys from Medium. My favorite lessons from How to Win Friends and Influence People. Great article, if you wanna dig deeper. Otherwise just grab the book.

It's uh, incredible. You'll be able to find it in like any used bookstore. Guys has been around for, you know, 90 years, so lots there. The takeaway guys is these are powerful, timeless lessons that are just as powerful today, if not even more so sometimes we have to take a step back to go forward. None of these lessons depend on technology.

They are timeless human interaction skills that rely purely on empathy, communication, genuine care, and interest in people. Remember, in a time of AI and robots be human In the 21st century, your greatest competitive advantage will be your humanity. And I do just wanna make a little plug, guys. Um. Inside Catalyst Club, that's what we are all about.

Genuine, authentic human connection. For leaders by leaders, leadership is lonely. It came up hundreds of times on this show and what I recognized was what's missing is peer support. You can't just have people giving you advice. You need people who've been there. Or are in your shoes, who can speak to it from experience, who can speak to it from a place of understanding, compassion, and empathy.

That is what Catalyst Club is all about. If you're a leader looking for belonging, join us, KellyKennedyOfficial.com. I would like to end today by wishing everybody a incredible remembrance day, and to my many, many veteran listeners. Thank you for your sacrifice and your service. Thank you for working to make the world a better place for all of us.

Shout outs this week. Colin Harms Rodney Lover, Nathan Plumb, Gary Noseworthy, Jack Dyer, Karen Unland, Jamie Moffat, Benjamin Johnson. Ellethea Pryce, Christopher Friesen, Pamela Staples, Alex Marr, Ross Huartt, Stephanie Ross, Ricco Baffa, Phil Neil, Jesus Arroyave, PJ Jackson, Tatsiana Zametalina, and Susan Poseika. Until next time, you've been listening to the Business Development Podcast, and we'll catch you on the flip side.

Outro: This has been the Business Development Podcast with Kelly Kennedy. Kelly has 15 years in sales and business development experience within the Alberta oil and gas industry, and founded his own business development firm in 2020. His passion and his specialization is in customer relationship generation.

And business development. The show is brought to you by Capital Business Development, your Business Development Specialists. For more, we invite you to the website@www.capital bd.ca. See you next time on the Business Development Podcast.