MRTS Interview Spotlight: Bill Derrick - "How Men Can Disempower The Control Freak"

Control is the story a lot of us tell ourselves until life proves we never had it. I sit down with Bill Derrick, president of Derrick Companies and author of Restored by the Storm, to unpack what real leadership looks like when the ground shifts under your feet and your pride wants you to pretend everything is fine.

We start with the Great Recession and what it did to Bill’s construction and land development business, his decision-making, and his identity as a provider. He shares the humbling lesson that hard work doesn’t guarantee success, and how that realization changed the way he leads at work and shows up at home. If you’ve ever felt financial pressure, carried stress in silence, or struggled to talk to your spouse about uncertainty, you’ll hear language for those moments and a better definition of “being in control.”

Then the conversation turns to Bill’s health journey with multiple myeloma, a non-curable blood cancer. We talk about treatments, fatigue, and the surprising leadership growth that comes from delegating, building systems, and letting trusted people step up. We also dig into faith, community support, prayer, and why opening up through tools like CaringBridge can be an act of strength, not weakness.

We close with a straight talk challenge for men: stop dragging around excess luggage that doesn’t matter, pursue legacy over money, and embrace the storm as training that can make you better if you let it. Subscribe, share this with a man you care about, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway.

Our team will choose random (but timely) episodes from our previous three seasons (which are our most popular ever!) to share with our listeners during the slower parts of a long podcast season. We think you will enjoy them! Thanks for listening!

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Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:34

Welcome everybody to the men's roundtable series spotlight. I know you guys are accustomed to us doing the men's roundtable series every Thursday at 7 p.m. EST. We're still doing that. That hasn't changed. That's why you're not seeing the men here today on the panel. You'll see them at 7 o'clock p.m. every Thursday. In this situation, we're doing spotlight interviews with men from around the country, even around the world, who have incredible stories that are going to encourage, inspire, and help men be the best fathers, brothers, husbands, and sons that they can possibly be. And this is our very, very first episode. So I am definitely excited. Got a few butterflies going on in my stomach a little bit too, because this is our first one. I'm excited about it. I bought

Welcome And Series Purpose

SPEAKER_02 1:18

a board with a good friend of mine. He is the president of Derek Companies and the author and speaker and the author of the book Restored by the Storm. I want to bring on Bill Derrick to teach you guys today. You guys got to meet him. He's a fantastic guy, so let's bring him on. Bill, how are you today, man, man?

SPEAKER_00 1:36

I am great. I am great, Youssef. It's it's a great day. I'm glad to be with you.

SPEAKER_02 1:41

Same here, man. So glad you're here, man. We've had many conversations. You've been on a couple of my shows, I believe. So this is uh a welcome treat for sure. You always have something awesome to say. So if you guys are watching for the very first time, this is our first time doing this spotlight interview series. So if you're a part of this, thanks for making us part of your week. We are live on YouTube and Facebook and LinkedIn as we speak. So if you guys are watching us from LinkedIn, YouTube or Facebook, thanks for making us part of your week. Thanks for supporting us. If you have any questions for Bill or myself, drop them in the comment section. We'll answer those live on the air today. And of course, we'll have this on listening platforms sometime within the week or within the month. It depends on scheduling. But thanks again for being a part of this. And Bill, lots been going on with you, brother. You're doing a lot of great things. Anything before we get started, anything new that's going on that you want to share with us? Anything new that's happening?

SPEAKER_00 2:35

No, I'm uh I seem to keep myself very busy doing a lot of things and probably probably a little more organization in my life would be good. And but uh lately I've just been doing being here, there, and everywhere, and I I enjoy that. So no. Things are good. I'm enjoying the transition that we're trying to do at my at my uh company, the Derek Company's family business. That'll, you know, it's patience, it's teaching me patience, and

Bill’s Business And Book Update

SPEAKER_00 3:10

and then also out marketing my book and and looking for opportunities to get in front of people. So that's kind of my life.

SPEAKER_02 3:20

No, well that's sound like you just chuck it away and be consistent. We talked multiple times over several months, and you've been consistently building something, and I I honor that because I see a lot of men that are kind of bouncing around and they're doing different things, and there's no continuity, there's no consistency, and then they wonder why things aren't working out. So I respect what you're doing, brother. Thanks again for being a part of this opportunity today to start this new venture with us. You're the first one. I hope that means something to you, man, because it means a lot to me to be the first. It means a lot to me.

SPEAKER_00 3:52

It means probably after today, you'll after this interview, you'll have a lot to improve upon.

SPEAKER_02 3:56

So come on, man. This is gonna be great, man. I love it, I love it. You talk a lot now. I'm I'm definitely speaking to the men who are watching and listening today. And for those that are not men that are watching and listening, I know you always are always out there, you're always supporting us. Share with your husbands, your fathers, your brothers, and your sons. Let them know that we're doing this. And of course, support us on our social media outlets, and of course, on our YouTube channel, youtube.com at They Call Me Mr. You. So we talked about this a lot, but I want to kind of bring it back in again. In 20 in 2008, that was probably one of the worst times in our history in regards to finances. That was our recession. Everything was collapsing. What did you realize about yourself as a leader that kind of fell short of what you thought you should be as a leader in your family and or in your business? And how did that realization kind of change how you started to lead?

SPEAKER_00 4:56

I think the first thing that I learned was success is not guaranteed in life. I think a lot of us operate under the axiom that

Recession Lessons In Leadership

SPEAKER_00 5:12

all you have to do is work hard, work hard, work hard, and success will come. Well, in our case, we we worked hard with our business and success did come, but then it started collapsing because of the Great Recession. And I learned probably the most important thing I learned is I am not in control as much as I thought I was.

SPEAKER_02 5:39

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 5:40

And I I wouldn't consider myself a control freak. Maybe others did, but I I just as a leader, business leader, I just, you know, business was so simple. You just, you know, have a business that that offers a product or service that others want, you market it and sell it for the right price, you do it, and you collect the money and put it in the bank. It's it's that simple. But during the financial collapse, and for us it was about a five-year deal.

SPEAKER_02 6:16

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 6:16

Yeah, it wasn't that easy. We had a lot of land for development. We're not only a residential builder, commercial industrial builder, but we also buy and develop land here in western Wisconsin. And so, which was working just fine until it wasn't, until everything collapsed. We weren't making any money, the banks wanted to be paid. We started running out of money, and I'm going, how is this happening? This wasn't supposed to happen. So I was losing control over thought what I thought I had control on over. And as a leader, I was starting to be humbled that maybe I wasn't as good as I thought I was, or maybe I didn't have all the answers. And through this, through this process, I learned that good leaders understand they don't have all the answers, and they need others around them that can support them and and help them with some of those answers. And good leaders have to listen to that. So I spent a lot of years, I spent those years meeting new people. And a lot of them, quite honestly, were other bankers that we weren't working with. I wanted their opinion on what we should do, and you know, stuff like that. So I was in uncharted country, you know, uh uncharted country and and just was trying to figure it out. So humility, learning to listen to others, not in control. Those are probably some of the big things.

SPEAKER_02 8:02

Yeah, I definitely want to come back to one thing that you said because I know that the men are listening, you you have to be if you're honest about it today, if you're watching it, or even if your spouses or your sisters or your wives or your daughters are watching, they know it's true about you probably as well. That we struggle with the whole control conversation. We feel as though we have to have some semblance of it, or we just have to break down, or we feel like we're not registered who we should be as a man. Tell me if you can get behind the scenes a little bit, as briefly as you can. The struggle of controlling the situation, having control, feeling as though you are in charge of a situation. Tell me what that looks like from a male perspective, especially from your standpoint. Go ahead.

Control And Marriage Under Stress

SPEAKER_02 9:09

Financially pardon me. You meant financially, right?

SPEAKER_00 9:14

Yeah, financially, and you know, my wife had uh had stepped back from her career, which was very successful, in order to raise our four children. So when our third child was born, she decided to stay home and and be a full-time mom, and she did some other things on the side, but you know, she took control of making sure our kids were raised. But I I think that I got to a point where control for me for the business was so important that I was also maybe neglecting some of the responsibilities I had as a father and husband. And and it wasn't until she made me understand that she didn't marry me just for my money that you know that that rang true. And but I think control is is really important for men. But control, you know, I always say being in control is not a bad thing, it's how you how you do that is what can be bad. I mean, if controlling is if a controlling personality says it's my way or the highway, I'm not gonna listen to you, you know, those types that that's not good. But if control is understanding what it is you have to do and take responsibility for doing it, you know, that that's what I consider a good control. And and at the time, I I mean, at the early and during that recession, that was just like, you know, I'd come home at night and I would tell I would call, I would, Jeannie and I would hug, and sometimes I'd just say, gosh, Jeannie, I don't know if we're gonna make it through this. I really don't, which was hard to say because I couldn't believe it myself, but it was just it was getting to be tough. And and I I learned after a few years that you know, for a lot of what I do, it's by the grace of God that I get through it. And you know, that sometimes, you know, I always say I'm in control of my effort and my attitude for sure.

unknown 11:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:46

Beyond that, I'm in control of those things that God lets me be in control of. And I know that maybe sounds over oversimplifying it, but I think sometimes keep it simple is is a good way to do it.

SPEAKER_02 12:03

That's that's not it's it's profound, brother. I don't care if it sounds simple to people. This is profound. This is what we need to be hearing. So thank you for for being so open to share that. One of the things that we talk about so much on our roundtable series on Thursday nights is stuff just like this where men have those kind of conversations with their spouses. And it's never, it never seemed to go over smoothly in regards to the struggle that it is for us to even initiate those kind of conversations and say, you know what? I did my best. It's not going well. I don't know what's gonna happen. I I personally have had those kind of conversations with my wife because we've had some financial ups and downs, not only that year, but in other years as well. Not to the level that you did because you had a big company, but it was just it was on it was on our scale, your scale to us, and it was just it was hard. So, you know, yeah, I don't know what we're gonna do here. We gotta figure something out. I've we've we've had that conversation even recently. So for you to have that kind of level of transparency to share that, man, I respect you even more, brother, because that's it, that's not some old boastful manhood example, that model, saying, you know what, oh I'm I'm alive to get by because I can't show my family that I'm struggling with something, or I can't show my family that I don't know the answer to something. Nobody says we have to be the answer, man. We gotta give me support and an example, uh, and I guess a pillar of faith and and and and love and and et cetera. So uh thank you for sharing what you shared, man. That was incredible. I I want to get into something that's a little bit that made things a little bit tighter for you guys. Uh you know, you were you spent decades building on a and leading at a high level, and you know, there were some areas where titles and company, like you mentioned, and achievements kind of started getting stripped away a little bit. I kind of want to have have you share with us briefly uh your health challenge and how that affected your ability to lead and how you saw your identity from that. How did it change? Go ahead.

SPEAKER_00 14:17

Well, yeah, believe it or not, when I was when I was originally diagnosed with multiple myeloma, and for those that don't know what it is, I didn't know what it was when I was diagnosed with it. But

Cancer Diagnosis And Identity Shift

SPEAKER_00 14:33

multiple myeloma is a non-curable blood cancer, deadly, although the treatments keep getting better and better. But so when I was diagnosed in 2013, the the average life expectancy from diagnosis was about on average seven years, and so that'd be 2020. I look back at that now, Yusuf, and I go, given that, why didn't I just cash in my chips and and and say, hey, my career is you know is over, and now it's time to take care of my health and and this problem. And that's a hindsight thought. I'm glad I didn't do that. I really am glad I didn't do that. And I think part of it was because, and you and I have talked about this, I uh I firmly believe that when we were going through the the five years of of the battle with the business stuff, I believe very strongly that God was using that to build me up, to tear me down and then build me back up. And he strengthened my heart, my mind, my soul, and my ability to have relationships with people in a better way, in a more personal way. So when I was diagnosed, it was almost, and I kept asking the question, God, why are you why are you putting me through this? Why are you putting our company through this? I mean, this is five years. I mean, is this ever gonna end? You know, that type of thing. And of course, sometimes sometimes God doesn't give us an answer, or sometimes we don't listen well enough. But so when I was diagnosed, I my attitude was okay, I just went through one storm, I'll get through this one. Was that naive to think that way? I I don't know. I don't think so. I was ready. God prepared me. I also knew that our business was just starting to get better. And that, you know, we we spent what I say five years of just trying to survive. Yeah, and now we were having to pivot to learning how to thrive again. And I knew, not not in a boastful, proud way, but I knew the business needed me to help with that. And so I just decided I can balance this. And I learned that I had with my my partners, with my brothers, plus one other gentleman. I learned that I could offload some of my responsibilities while I'm trying to fight this cancer. And so I basically it was a, I don't know, you would think that brothers would be able to speak about everything, but maybe a lot of it was more unspoken. I'll do what I can when I can. Let me try to beat this thing that people say that is tough to beat, and you help help me with the leadership of the company. And so that was kind of my attitude, and and through it all with eventually with you know, it started with radiation and it was chemotherapy, stem cell transplant in 2016, when I was out four months for that. We kept going through it. In fact, 2016 for our commercial company that I primarily read led that, 2016 at that point, that was the best year that that company had had while I was gone four months. That'll humble you. Uh that, you know, so but I it it helped me learn that I didn't have to be there 24-7, commanding everything. Uh I put a put systems in place and just let the systems do what they need to with the right people. So that was kind of that background. I mean, it was it was a tough time for me. I would say this, I didn't start feeling normal again until well into 2017, you know, 18. I went to in February, my wife and I took a trip to Israel. I remember that. And I was still, you know, fatigue is always became a problem, but I was still getting through that. But but during this whole time, my attitude was I went through a lot of tough times with the business. Now let's see if we can work our way through maybe some some good times. And and quite honestly, it's it's been pretty good since then.

SPEAKER_02 19:49

So I'm glad you're feeling a lot better, man. That's that's some powerful stuff, man. I think men overall have often been taught to carry the weight silently. I think you highlighted some of that what you just shared just now.

SPEAKER_00 20:05

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 20:07

Do you feel feel like there's an area of manhood that you had to unlearn to make it through that season?

SPEAKER_00 20:19

Here's the way I look at it. I agree. Men tend to want to carry stuff inside. We're taught that no, you gotta share, you know, you gotta let this stuff out, and it's a tough thing. I've been fortunate enough to be part of

Learning To Share And Ask Help

SPEAKER_00 20:40

a couple of peer groups over that time of other men. One of them was strictly uh, well, I say strictly, but basically uh a peer group of other commercial contractors from around the United States. There was about eight, nine, ten of us, depending on the time.

SPEAKER_01 21:00

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 21:02

And it primarily it was called the Derek Group. I set it up so that we could learn about each other's business and learn from each other. And but what it ended up turning into, especially now when a lot of the members of the group have are either have retired or are retiring. I'm in that time of life where trying to figure out what that means, but uh but we developed friendships during that time as businessmen. And and we all were Christians. I don't think we formed the group knowing that, but we were all Christian men. We had good friendships and we started sharing personal stuff, and and I think that helped. And I think there's a lesson there, Youssef, about this whole idea of being able to share. And of course, I was also knew some people that we met, you know, for You know, Bible study and prayer and things like that. I think all those things around you help support you. My wife, she is she is a prayer warrior. I mean, like, number one. And before we went to Rochester in early July of 2016, for we were there for a good month while I was getting my stem cell transplant done. She announced to find because we kind of kept it a little secret. You talk about not sharing. I kept my situation as you know as quiet as possible. Because I didn't want people to look at me and say, well, there's Bill Derrick. He's got cancer. Poor Bill Derrick. He's got cancer. You know, I didn't want to be known for having cancer. Even with our neighbors, we had a great neighborhood. Jeannie rounded up the women in the neighborhood the day before we went down to Rochester. And they had a prayer meeting for me, you know, and humbling stuff. And she came back with two, they call them prayer shaws, you know, two knitted uh yeah, prayer shaws. And that they had prayed over that I could have why I was getting my stuff done. And you know, you learn, you have to learn. And here's one other thing. This is great insight. Caring bridge. You know, I had followed some people on Carrying Bridge, but I I always felt like gosh, everybody I follow eventually ends up dying. And I don't want to I don't want to participate with Caring Bridge because I'm not gonna die. Well then I realized that the people around you, they really care and they want to know what's going on. And I said, between Jeannie and I, I said, I don't have the energy or the time to send out emails to everybody. So then I decided to open up a carrying bridge account. And we posted on there almost every day during the transplant what was going on and and used it to talk about prayers and you know Bible verses and things like that. And it taught me the importance of sharing and opening up to other people, which has helped me tremendously going forward. But uh those are awesome insights on my part about sharing.

SPEAKER_02 24:44

Definitely, and thank you, and thank you to Genie, who's uh she's holding it down for your man.

SPEAKER_00 24:53

She still does it. She, you know, I yeah I tell people that I married a woman that's beautiful inside and out, and sometimes you know she I she prays a lot, and I'm just blessed to have someone at my side like that.

SPEAKER_02 25:10

No doubt, man. No doubt. Thank you for thank you for sharing her a little bit about her. I learned more about her from you, obviously, than from anywhere else. So I think I know her a little bit, so give her my best please.

SPEAKER_00 25:22

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 25:22

Uh final question for you, Bill. This has been a fantastic time, and I thank you for being so transparent about your testimony in your life and how you view things as a man and as a leader. I'm gonna ask one final question, and then I may have you uh speak to the people a little bit. But I know a lot of men say they have faith until the rubber meets the road and they get hit with the hard things in life that like what you have to navigate. What would you say to the man that's watching and listening, whatever status they're in, husbands, fathers, brothers, or just even sons, whatever their status is? What would you say to the men who uh who waste their time on things that don't amount to legacy and they don't operate uh daily in life with enough urgency to

Legacy Mindset Embrace The Storm

SPEAKER_02 26:09

you know to really make something happen. How would you what would you say to them? Because I feel like urgency and legacy and and faith are just sort of things that you just highlighted in your story today. And I want to just uh give you an opportunity, if you don't mind, just kind of speak to the these men that are watching and listening, or even though they're counterparts that may share the information with them. They men waste time on a lot of stuff. What is that they're wasting their time on, and how how would you encourage them beyond that?

SPEAKER_00 26:40

Yeah. Well, the easy answer is to say don't waste your time and money on things that don't matter. But we're boys, you know, we're boys at heart. We love our toys, we love to do things that you know. Anyway, I spell it out in in my book that and I tell audiences that I speak to that you go through a financial downturn like I went through and get hit hard where the where the rug is basically pulled out from under you. That's kind of the way it was. It wasn't maybe it was a blessing that it wasn't a gradual thing, that it was just boom. It was, you know, but you learn very quickly, I think, and I want people to learn from me that you have a lot of things around you that you at at times like that you risk losing. But you learn that they aren't really as important as you thought they are. And it's kind of like all these things that don't matter, it's kind of like excess luggage that you're carrying around. You know, instead of you know, instead of packing light for the journey, yeah, you stuff it until it's got 50 pounds in there and 50 pounds in that one, and then you carry it through the airport, and you're just you know, you're exhausted. Well, that's you know, that's an analogy. I'm kind of borrowing from someone else, but that's a great analogy. A lot of the stuff we think is is important is really just extra stuff that we're just carrying around. That would be one thought. Another thought is when you get when when you're in the storm, it does help you to realize what really is important. It does help you to realize the importance of using the term using the word legacy, and legacy is not money. And yeah, you got, you know, I got I got four adult children, four spouses, in-law spouses with them, and seven grandchildren, and a lovely, loving wife, and not to mention others that look to me. Legacy is when I when I pass from this world, it's gonna be the things that they say, you know, Bill used to always say this. Or like at the office, one of the big things in the office right now is I just say, I'm looking for leaders, not bosses. Being a leader is not a boss. And I have some people that are learning that. But while you're in the storm, gonna sound a little strange, embrace the storm. Because during that storm, which will end, and sometimes it's hard to believe it will end, but it will end. And we have the opportunity to be better, better people because of the storm. And I believe too that we learn just as much, if not more, from the storms of life than we do from the successful times in life. So understand, you know, they make the they make the uh, you know, we all heard the saying, you can't take it with you. But yet what do we do? We we put our hearts in things that really don't matter because we aren't going to take it with us anyway. So that that's kind of some maybe random thoughts, Yusuf, but that's how I feel about a lot of those things. Now I could spend another hour talking about this, but you know, just trying to throw some thoughts out there. And I if I could add this, I'm sorry, but if I could add this gratitude, being grateful and for what you have. I think that that during hard times, one of the blessings you'll have is your gratitude meter will go up. You will be grateful for the things you do have, whether it's you know, whether it's financial stuff, material stuff, or in my case, you know, whether it's my health or what I have, and just day-to-day, you know, getting good news from the doctor one week, you know, that type of thing, and just being grateful for for what you're going through.

SPEAKER_02 31:25

Yeah, I'm definitely grateful for you and yours, man. You've been a blessing to me just to be on our show and share your story. Makes me see my life differently. Um, people think I'm really, really young. I'm not as young as people think I am, the way I look, but there's a lot of life, a lot more to come. But thank you for sharing some of yours with us, man. I'm grateful for you, brother, and really grateful that you came on our show again. Thanks.

SPEAKER_00 31:49

Thank you, Youssef. Been a pleasure being with you again.

SPEAKER_02 31:53

Same here for you guys that are watching and listening. If you would like to support our show, the support links are in the show notes. You can buy me a coffee or you can jump on our Patreon account, help us make more content like this one, which I believe is impactful. We're definitely grateful for all of our listeners and our viewers. Thanks again for watching the men's roundtable series interview spotlight. We're excited about our first show. That's Bill Derrick. I'm Mr. U. We're out of here. Have a great day. Thanks again for watching and listening.

SPEAKER_01 32:21

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