Full Transcript for Delegate the Task You Love Most First | Mike Michalowicz

00:03:32.479 I I believe um I see life as kind of an infinity symbol, you know, a figure eight on the side. 00:03:32.719 --> 00:03:36.879 And I think we're all somewhere on there, we're on the exact same path. 00:03:37.039 --> 00:03:38.400 Like it's literally the exact same path. 00:03:38.479 --> 00:03:40.240 We're just in different parts of our journey. 00:03:40.639 --> 00:03:43.520 And I think we all have significant value to add. 00:03:43.680 --> 00:03:45.680 I I'm a big fan of masterminding. 00:03:45.759 --> 00:03:52.879 I'm in a group with other entrepreneurs, and I love learning the stories of their challenges and struggles and their wins. 00:03:53.039 --> 00:03:58.960 Maybe it was on finding that perfect candidate that I couldn't find, or maybe it was going through a lawsuit or something. 00:03:59.039 --> 00:04:04.240 Um, those are just as valuable, if not more, than someone who's sold their business or something. 00:04:04.639 --> 00:04:07.759 So uh, whatever you've experienced, there's extraordinary value there. 00:04:07.840 --> 00:04:10.639 And it's not just for supporting others, it's your own journey. 00:04:10.800 --> 00:04:13.840 You're every challenge you have is a learned opportunity. 00:04:14.080 --> 00:04:14.240 Yeah. 00:04:14.400 --> 00:04:15.120 I agree with you. 00:04:15.199 --> 00:04:19.360 Um Gather in the King started off as a mastermind before the podcast even came about. 00:04:19.439 --> 00:04:26.959 And so that experience that you're talking about of just what we define just genuine owners who want to come to the table, kind of take off the crown, is what we say. 00:04:27.120 --> 00:04:28.319 And they're just sharing. 00:04:28.560 --> 00:04:32.800 I had I was doing events a couple years ago, and it's like they didn't really want necessarily. 00:04:32.959 --> 00:04:35.360 I mean, of course, speakers are great, you know, the names are great. 00:04:35.519 --> 00:04:38.079 They wanted just to be with each other and share. 00:04:38.240 --> 00:04:38.879 It's powerful. 00:04:39.120 --> 00:04:39.279 Yeah. 00:04:39.439 --> 00:04:41.519 Well, because we're kind of weird out, Jazz. 00:04:41.680 --> 00:04:45.519 Like, I I yeah, I I didn't think we were, but we are. 00:04:45.680 --> 00:04:54.160 I um I ran um some stats and I found that only 17% of the population will ever operate or own a business. 00:04:54.319 --> 00:04:54.800 17%. 00:04:55.439 --> 00:04:56.800 But here's the crazy one. 00:04:56.959 --> 00:04:59.360 Only 20% will do it on a sustainable basis. 00:04:59.439 --> 00:05:06.639 So after five years in business, only about 20% of those 17% will be sustaining, making enough income to support employment of others. 00:05:06.800 --> 00:05:07.519 That's 3%. 00:05:08.399 --> 00:05:13.680 3%, 2517, of the population runs a healthy, sustainable business. 00:05:13.839 --> 00:05:15.040 That's the weirdos. 00:05:15.279 --> 00:05:18.639 The majority of the world wants jobs with good companies. 00:05:18.720 --> 00:05:23.839 So our job isn't to do the work ultimately, it's to be the creator of jobs for people who are looking for good jobs. 00:05:23.920 --> 00:05:24.000 Yeah. 00:05:24.160 --> 00:05:24.319 Yeah. 00:05:24.399 --> 00:05:24.800 I saw that. 00:05:24.879 --> 00:05:28.079 That was actually a line from your book is that our job is to create jobs. 00:05:28.399 --> 00:05:28.879 Create jobs. 00:05:29.040 --> 00:05:29.600 Yeah, love that. 00:05:29.759 --> 00:05:31.519 Uh multiple of my companies use profit first. 00:05:31.759 --> 00:05:32.399 So thank you for that. 00:05:32.480 --> 00:05:34.639 Just from over here to the side saying thanks. 00:05:34.720 --> 00:05:35.360 I appreciate you. 00:05:35.519 --> 00:05:39.600 But let's jump in here because you've already kind of introduced uh this idea of the mastermind. 00:05:39.680 --> 00:05:45.120 Um, but you talk about it in your book as the idea of building community first or building community over culture. 00:05:45.360 --> 00:05:46.800 So let's let's just present this. 00:05:46.959 --> 00:05:50.000 What is community to you versus culture as a buzzword, buzzword? 00:05:50.079 --> 00:05:50.879 Let's let's jump right in. 00:05:51.120 --> 00:05:52.560 Yeah, it's a big buzzword. 00:05:52.639 --> 00:05:54.959 And I I was a big buyer into it. 00:05:55.199 --> 00:06:06.160 So, what culture was typically defined is what are the set of established values you have, often called core values or immutable laws, these these percent, these ways you see the world. 00:06:06.399 --> 00:06:11.120 And when you hire people to bring in people that share common values. 00:06:11.360 --> 00:06:14.959 But what I realized is it causes the siloing effect. 00:06:15.279 --> 00:06:19.360 We start hearing the yes ands, we start getting clones of ourselves. 00:06:19.600 --> 00:06:27.360 The strongest communities, and I'm not just saying in business, but in the world, are ones that are diverse because it brings in different perspectives. 00:06:27.439 --> 00:06:29.120 The blinders are removed. 00:06:29.360 --> 00:06:32.959 In my own business, I remember uh I'll never forget this. 00:06:33.040 --> 00:06:33.920 This was about two years ago. 00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:38.800 We had a retreat, and there's about 20 of us together, and uh we were talking about the values I had. 00:06:38.879 --> 00:06:43.279 And I said, one of the big values, and it's kind of funny, is no dicks allowed. 00:06:43.439 --> 00:06:53.279 And uh what I mean by this is I don't think life uh there's enough time in life to deal with dicks, to deal with people who are rude, but also for me to be a dick, that's not permittable. 00:06:53.439 --> 00:06:59.839 And I shared this with my team, and I remember one of my colleagues, Kelsey, looks at me and says, gosh, that's so broy, Mike. 00:07:00.079 --> 00:07:02.160 Um, that's not who we are. 00:07:02.399 --> 00:07:03.839 Perhaps that's who you are. 00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:07.600 She goes, I understand what you're saying, but that's not the way I want to

phrase it. 00:07:07.759 --> 00:07:10.959 Um, we are going to be the Ted Lasso of companies. 00:07:11.120 --> 00:07:16.639 We want to be the eternal optimist and supporting people because we do believe in every individual and every team. 00:07:16.879 --> 00:07:19.199 And it became the be the Ted Lasso. 00:07:19.600 --> 00:07:21.439 It was this collective philosophy. 00:07:21.600 --> 00:07:34.959 So to bring about culture, we actually have to evaluate our existing community and encourage diversity and then understand what our collective essence is, and that becomes our values, not the leaders' values thrust upon others. 00:07:35.199 --> 00:07:36.720 Yeah, you you phrase it like this in the book. 00:07:36.800 --> 00:07:43.040 You said culture is I am, so we are, and community is we are, so we are. 00:07:43.519 --> 00:07:44.319 Exactly. 00:07:44.560 --> 00:07:45.360 That's the difference. 00:07:45.680 --> 00:07:45.839 Okay. 00:07:45.920 --> 00:08:04.480 And so as someone's listening here today and they're thinking about making their first couple of hires, or maybe they're 200th higher, how how are they thinking through the lens of community versus what they probably already have if they're a larger company, culture uh, you know, identified with core values and all the things that you just said were good, but like maybe not community. 00:08:04.639 --> 00:08:07.759 Or the other guy's like, I've never even thought about core values. 00:08:07.920 --> 00:08:09.279 I'm just making my first and second hire. 00:08:09.439 --> 00:08:10.560 How are they thinking community? 00:08:10.720 --> 00:08:11.040 Yeah. 00:08:11.199 --> 00:08:13.600 Well, values emanate from experience. 00:08:13.839 --> 00:08:19.199 So the challenge would be to say, I want someone with different perspectives from their values. 00:08:19.360 --> 00:08:24.480 Like, you know, we believe X, so we want someone else that believes Y, so we can find common ground. 00:08:24.560 --> 00:08:26.319 That'd be nice, but that's not really doable. 00:08:26.480 --> 00:08:31.199 But diverse background and experiences is what brings around different values. 00:08:31.439 --> 00:08:39.039 So instead of saying, I want someone with the exact same background as we have now filling this role, I want someone with a different background filling this role. 00:08:39.120 --> 00:08:43.600 And you actually strengthen the way that role served because now you have someone with a different perspective. 00:08:43.840 --> 00:08:44.960 So that's how I do it. 00:08:45.039 --> 00:08:47.360 Look for diverse background of experiences. 00:08:47.440 --> 00:08:49.840 And I'm not saying work experiences, I'm saying life experiences. 00:08:50.000 --> 00:08:53.679 Yeah, and I'm gonna get to that in the hiring process here in a second because you identify that as well earlier in the book. 00:08:53.759 --> 00:08:56.159 But we've done this with Gathering the Kings from a mastermind perspective. 00:08:56.240 --> 00:08:58.080 And it sounds like

maybe you're the group that you're part of as well. 00:08:58.159 --> 00:09:02.320 It's like where you can have an HVAC group or you can have an author group, I'm sure. 00:09:02.559 --> 00:09:11.759 But if you can get collectively around other entrepreneurs from other industries, different ages, different types of businesses, different parts of the country, you have perspective, which is really true agitation of thought. 00:09:11.840 --> 00:09:15.600 And it goes back to the actual definition of what a mastermind probably is from Napoleon Hill. 00:09:15.919 --> 00:09:17.679 Is that kind of how you're thinking this? 00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:19.759 Yeah, that's exactly what I'm thinking. 00:09:19.919 --> 00:09:23.200 Um, there's an echo chamber effect when I'm in an author. 00:09:23.519 --> 00:09:24.480 I do have an author group. 00:09:24.559 --> 00:09:28.960 And it's funny, it's there's only three ways to market your books when you're in this author group. 00:09:29.120 --> 00:09:34.159 The second I'm in a group with an HVAC guy, and ironically, I'm in a group with an HVAC, an electrician. 00:09:34.240 --> 00:09:36.879 He's does a suite of home services and others. 00:09:37.039 --> 00:09:40.720 The ways to market my book business now is a plethora of things. 00:09:40.799 --> 00:09:42.480 It's hundreds of ideas. 00:09:42.799 --> 00:09:46.080 So that and I know other people listening in have experienced this. 00:09:46.240 --> 00:09:51.759 When you when you find clones of yourself, you hear clones of what you're thinking, and that's that's the blinders on. 00:09:51.840 --> 00:09:52.159 Yeah. 00:09:52.480 --> 00:09:52.720 Okay. 00:09:52.879 --> 00:09:57.679 So going back to the hiring process, you kind of just described looking for different experiences. 00:09:57.840 --> 00:10:06.080 You you kind of talk about in your book the difference between experience and intangibles as we're going through the hiring process and bringing on new new members. 00:10:06.240 --> 00:10:09.120 I'm gonna get to your A, B, and C format here in a second because that's just gold. 00:10:09.679 --> 00:10:14.000 But the the intangibles versus experience, most of the times you said we're looking for people with experience. 00:10:14.159 --> 00:10:17.919 We were using it just a second ago as a lens of getting other around other entrepreneurs. 00:10:18.080 --> 00:10:23.919 We're switching over now to the lens of hiring people, and you're disseminating experience versus intangibles. 00:10:24.159 --> 00:10:24.879 Give us a little bit more. 00:10:25.120 --> 00:10:25.360 Yeah. 00:10:25.519 --> 00:10:26.080 Yeah, yeah. 00:10:26.159 --> 00:10:30.799 So you were talking about the diversity of life experiences before, but there's also work experience. 00:10:30.960 --> 00:10:35.279 And the belief is that our work in the past is indicative of our work in the future. 00:10:35.360 --> 00:10:43.440 And there's some value to that, but you've probably experienced that where you hire someone in a resume, past work experience, and then they actually do their work and you're like not even close. 00:10:43.679 --> 00:10:46.320 So that is not a good hiring mechanism yet. 00:10:46.399 --> 00:10:48.080 That's what most businesses rely on. 00:10:48.320 --> 00:10:51.120 There's a second thing to look at, and it is the intangibles. 00:10:51.519 --> 00:10:52.879 I call them innate talent. 00:10:53.039 --> 00:11:00.559 And innate talent, there's tools like Myers Brig and Enneagram, there's there's talentless ones out there that are really good at showing the behavioral wiring. 00:11:00.720 --> 00:11:07.600 But what I explore in this book is a talent that's the most important and is the least looked at, and it's called potential talent. 00:11:07.840 --> 00:11:12.159 Potential talent is in the right scenario, how will this person perform? 00:11:12.399 --> 00:11:13.360 Of course, you want to know that. 00:11:13.440 --> 00:11:14.720 The question is, how do you get it? 00:11:14.879 --> 00:11:16.960 What you do is you run workshops. 00:11:17.200 --> 00:11:23.519 There is a half trillion, it's over$500 billion in revenue industry that does not do interviews. 00:11:23.600 --> 00:11:26.080 Uh, they don't focus too much on the Enneogram. 00:11:26.399 --> 00:11:28.720 What they focus in is on workshops. 00:11:28.879 --> 00:11:30.320 It's the sports industry. 00:11:30.480 --> 00:11:32.960 And uh I played sports in high school. 00:11:33.039 --> 00:11:34.240 I played lacrosse. 00:11:34.320 --> 00:11:36.879 I'll never forget, I went to a camp in Hobart. 00:11:37.039 --> 00:11:42.080 It's a New York lacrosse college, it's known for that, along with 300 other students. 00:11:42.320 --> 00:11:43.679 I was learning new skills there. 00:11:43.759 --> 00:11:51.679 And as I was playing, so were these other athletes, and some of them were taffed on the shoulder and said, Hey, you're demonstrating skills that would be really good and can be exploited. 00:11:51.840 --> 00:11:55.120 Why don't you go to this other field so we can elevate those and help you even more? 00:11:55.360 --> 00:11:59.200 I didn't realize not only were they helping them, they were also vetting out some athletes. 00:11:59.360 --> 00:12:03.039 They picked two or three kids to play at Hope Art and invited them in. 00:12:03.279 --> 00:12:06.399 I didn't, but I did play with collegiate lacrosse. 00:12:06.480 --> 00:12:08.960 And the reason I did, in part, is because the skills I learned. 00:12:09.120 --> 00:12:15.759 What's interesting in our business is we can run these workshops, these camps to train people, elevate their skills. 00:12:15.840 --> 00:12:19.279 They may even pay to come to these workshops and then cherry pick the best. 00:12:19.759 --> 00:12:22.240 I'll just give you one real practical example. 00:12:22.879 --> 00:12:25.919 Home Depot does this workshop where you build bird houses. 00:12:26.000 --> 00:12:29.120 I'm sure you've seen them, you know, come to Home Depot and build a birdhouse.

00:12:29.519 --> 00:12:32.240 What they're doing is they're using it as a recruiting ground. 00:12:32.399 --> 00:12:39.759 They're teaching parents, people to build bird houses, and hopefully you'll be in gradient at the store and you'll buy more from them. 00:12:39.919 --> 00:12:44.960 But they're also observing who participates the most, who is the uh the most eager to learn more. 00:12:45.120 --> 00:12:49.519 They tap them on the shoulder and say, If you ever consider working at Home Depot, we're looking for people like you. 00:12:49.840 --> 00:12:51.279 We need to do the same thing. 00:12:51.440 --> 00:12:56.639 Instead of just doing traditional interviews, what can you teach for what you're looking to hire for? 00:12:56.879 --> 00:12:58.000 Make that a workshop. 00:12:58.080 --> 00:13:01.679 And then the people who show the most desire and thirst are the ones you actually want to hire. 00:13:02.000 --> 00:13:05.440 You use the word thirst a couple different times in the book, which I absolutely love. 00:13:05.600 --> 00:13:09.519 But you say basically the maximized potential is thirst. 00:13:09.679 --> 00:13:13.600 And so describe thirst to us, and how does that equate to maximize potential? 00:13:13.840 --> 00:13:19.360 Potential reveals itself in the same three stages always: curiosity, then desire, then thirst. 00:13:19.519 --> 00:13:21.120 So, you know, there may be an opportunity. 00:13:21.279 --> 00:13:23.759 Someone's like, hey, Chaz, Mike, you guys want to go skydiving? 00:13:23.919 --> 00:13:26.799 We both may say, yeah, okay, curiosity. 00:13:26.879 --> 00:13:28.399 That's the first level of potential. 00:13:28.480 --> 00:13:29.840 We may be great skydivers. 00:13:30.320 --> 00:13:33.039 Then we show up and I'm like, I don't know if this is for me. 00:13:33.200 --> 00:13:33.759 I'm out. 00:13:33.919 --> 00:13:36.159 I'm indicating I don't have any further potential. 00:13:36.240 --> 00:13:37.840 But you may say, I want to do this again. 00:13:37.919 --> 00:13:40.480 That's an indicator of desire, desire to repeat. 00:13:40.639 --> 00:13:42.639 Thirst is where it becomes part of your identity. 00:13:42.799 --> 00:13:44.159 Like, I got to do that. 00:13:44.240 --> 00:13:45.279 This is who I am. 00:13:45.519 --> 00:13:55.600 What we're looking through for in these workshops, when we invite people to learn to experience something new, who are the people that elevate from curiosity to desire and ultimately thirst? 00:13:55.840 --> 00:13:57.679 It'll demonstrate itself pretty early. 00:13:57.840 --> 00:13:59.919 Those are the people you should consider as potential candidates. 00:14:00.080 --> 00:14:00.240 Yeah. 00:14:00.320 --> 00:14:02.080 What about the team who already exists, right? 00:14:02.159 --> 00:14:13.600 If I'm thinking through this lens of curiosity, desire, and thirst, if I'm looking at my current team, how do I kind of overlay this to determine whether maybe I don't have the right people or maybe pick out the ones that are really thirsty? 00:14:13.840 --> 00:14:14.159 Yeah, yeah. 00:14:14.240 --> 00:14:14.879 That's great. 00:14:15.120 --> 00:14:28.080 What you do is instead of using titles to match people's talents too, like I need a receptionist, and a receptionist has to answer the phone, greet Walkins back in the day at least, uh, enter data, you know, whatever the list is. 00:14:28.240 --> 00:14:31.279 What we do is we match talent to tasks. 00:14:31.440 --> 00:14:38.879 So we break all these titles into tasks and say, oh, so-and-so is really good at the data management. 00:14:39.039 --> 00:14:48.799 Yeah, he's sitting at the front desk, but is not a sociable person, doesn't make a first grade impression, it's kind of meh, but my gosh, that number, they're they're a number cruncher. 00:14:48.879 --> 00:14:53.759 So when you break talent to tasks, you start realizing you have extraordinary people in your organization. 00:14:53.919 --> 00:14:55.679 They're just mashed up the wrong titles. 00:14:55.919 --> 00:15:03.279 What happens is that we break down that pyramid structure, CEO at the top, and then you know, this the leadership team and everything below. 00:15:03.440 --> 00:15:15.360 What happens is that pyramid becomes a web-like structure where former receptionist dude is now doing a little data entry, is also doing data analytics in a different department, maybe crunching numbers in the sales department. 00:15:15.519 --> 00:15:17.840 And this web-like structure ends up being much stronger. 00:15:18.000 --> 00:15:23.519 So the lesson is again, don't match talent to titles, match talent to tasks. 00:15:23.679 --> 00:15:24.399 Yeah, love that. 00:15:24.559 --> 00:15:41.200 And so in your task maybe identification, you kind of give this ability of like rather than, or maybe mindset is rather than looking for a top performer or a high performer, you have this almost deconstruction, you call it, of take this high performer and dec deconstruct it down into tasks. 00:15:41.360 --> 00:15:46.480 Does that help us do what you just said here as far as like taking talent and matching it to a to a task? 00:15:46.720 --> 00:15:47.200 Yeah, exactly. 00:15:47.279 --> 00:15:47.519 It does. 00:15:47.600 --> 00:15:54.399 And and I and I encourage anyone listening in, if you're a microenterprise, if it's just you and whatever, um, start off with yourself. 00:15:54.480 --> 00:15:59.759 And if you got a dozen people, still start off with yourself and write down all the things that you do. 00:15:59.840 --> 00:16:10.720 And what you'll find is you may not be falling within a silo as much as leaning toward things that you like to do where you can express better capability and so forth. 00:16:10.960 --> 00:16:18.799 Then, and here's the key once you write down all the tasks, go through that and ask yourself, can I find other individuals just to do one part of it? 00:16:18.960 --> 00:16:20.799 This is the fractionalization process. 00:16:20.960 --> 00:16:24.879 I think the mistake

many entrepreneurs make is you know, I gotta find a clone of me. 00:16:24.960 --> 00:16:28.240 If I can just find another me, but another you is doing what you do. 00:16:28.399 --> 00:16:31.120 They have their own company, you know, they're doing their own thing. 00:16:31.279 --> 00:16:32.399 You're a one of one. 00:16:32.480 --> 00:16:35.679 Like we're not gonna be able to clone you, but we can fractionalize you. 00:16:35.919 --> 00:16:38.960 The second thing is once you break yourself out, this is the biggest challenge. 00:16:39.120 --> 00:16:44.480 Ask yourself, of all these tasks, which one is the easiest for me to do and I enjoy doing the most? 00:16:44.720 --> 00:16:46.240 That will be your default task. 00:16:46.320 --> 00:16:47.600 I revert to it. 00:16:47.919 --> 00:16:50.559 That is actually the first task you want to delegate. 00:16:50.720 --> 00:16:54.240 And that sounds absurd because you're good at it and it's easy and you enjoy it. 00:16:54.399 --> 00:17:00.639 The reason is a business owner's job is not to do the job, it's to be a creator of jobs. 00:17:00.799 --> 00:17:03.440 So you have to learn the discipline of delegating. 00:17:03.519 --> 00:17:08.400 And if we give something away that we enjoy doing, it's gonna be easier to give away the rest. 00:17:08.559 --> 00:17:12.559 Also, because it's easier and good at it, it's gonna be the easiest to train someone else on. 00:17:12.880 --> 00:17:14.160 Let's see them excel. 00:17:14.400 --> 00:17:18.799 Most people say delegate the hard stuff, the stuff you hate to do, that's not the starting point. 00:17:18.880 --> 00:17:20.640 That's maybe the second or third thing to do. 00:17:20.799 --> 00:17:22.640 Hey, kings and queens, Jazz Wolf. 00:17:22.720 --> 00:17:25.039 I want to talk to you about something that's super important to me. 00:17:25.200 --> 00:17:33.039 We put a lot of time and effort, we meaning myself and my team, into this podcast, into the content that goes out every single day. 00:17:33.200 --> 00:17:39.599 And if you have been getting any sort of value or insight from this, we want it to be able to reach other business owners too. 00:17:39.680 --> 00:17:53.440 So we would love if you would like, comment, share, leave a review, post, share again, all of the things on social media, on all the different platforms, or even on the podcast mediums of Apple and Spotify. 00:17:53.599 --> 00:17:59.119 We would love to be able to get our content into more hands, more entrepreneurs so they can grow their business as quick as possible. 00:17:59.279 --> 00:18:05.920 Together, we are building a community of like-minded entrepreneurs who are committed to growing their businesses to new heights. 00:18:06.079 --> 00:18:06.960 So let's do this. 00:18:07.039 --> 00:18:09.599 Let's help each other, let's help each other grow. 00:18:10.319 --> 00:18:17.440 I love the um agitation there because it you're right, it's the opposite of what many people say, and and uh probably because it's harder. 00:18:17.519 --> 00:18:23.119 Um I can only imagine, you know, having 20 years of sales experience and that being the first thing I handed off in my first business. 00:18:23.279 --> 00:18:25.119 It's like, oh yeah, I know. 00:18:25.279 --> 00:18:27.119 Now the key is there, it's also the easiest thing. 00:18:27.359 --> 00:18:28.319 So there's some complex things. 00:18:28.400 --> 00:18:33.440 Like I wouldn't say to like a heart surgeon, like, you love doing heart surgery, you're great at it, you'll do it all day long. 00:18:33.599 --> 00:18:34.880 Let's get rid of the heart surgery. 00:18:34.960 --> 00:18:35.119 Yeah. 00:18:35.279 --> 00:18:38.799 No, I I think that there's some things that are very technical and require a lot of skill. 00:18:38.960 --> 00:18:41.680 So the other question is has it has to be easy. 00:18:41.920 --> 00:18:47.119 Maybe it's the prep of the scalpel and cleaning the surgery tools. 00:18:47.279 --> 00:18:48.720 Maybe that doctor really enjoys that. 00:18:48.799 --> 00:18:52.400 Let's get that off the plate because it's easy, replicatable, but you enjoy it. 00:18:52.480 --> 00:18:57.920 We got to start breaking from doing what we naturally love to do because it's just fun and learning the power of delegation. 00:18:58.160 --> 00:19:03.839 Yeah, I think that your very simple process here of just writing it down is like, well, yeah, that's so so easy. 00:19:04.000 --> 00:19:06.880 It's just nobody has done it or or does it. 00:19:06.960 --> 00:19:08.880 And then more so you can do it for your team. 00:19:09.039 --> 00:19:11.440 Once you already have a team, you can break their stuff down. 00:19:11.759 --> 00:19:13.920 It gives you shockingly a lot of clarity. 00:19:14.079 --> 00:19:14.240 Yeah. 00:19:14.400 --> 00:19:16.319 Like I, you know, I think well, I'm an owner of a business. 00:19:16.559 --> 00:19:18.079 I just need another person that acts like an owner. 00:19:18.240 --> 00:19:21.039 No, no, that's horrible because it is so ambiguous. 00:19:21.200 --> 00:19:24.160 Once I started writing down all the things I did, oh, it was very clear. 00:19:24.640 --> 00:19:29.200 One of the things I did, which I enjoyed to do, and it's quote unquote easy, was my own scheduling. 00:19:29.359 --> 00:19:34.640 And I had a defense mechanism for saying why I need to always do my own scheduling because it's so dynamic. 00:19:34.720 --> 00:19:36.480 Like by any minute, things can change. 00:19:36.640 --> 00:19:37.279 Let me do it. 00:19:37.519 --> 00:19:38.960 But it also took up a lot of time. 00:19:39.119 --> 00:19:40.799 So that's one of the first things I delegated. 00:19:40.880 --> 00:19:41.680 And it was terrifying. 00:19:41.839 --> 00:19:43.359 I have no control over my own schedule. 00:19:43.440 --> 00:19:44.240 And it's weird. 00:19:44.400 --> 00:19:46.079 Like, literally, and it's bizarre. 00:19:46.160 --> 00:19:49.119 But my wife's like, hey, can we do date night next week on Thursday? 00:19:49.279 --> 00:19:51.519

And I'm like, we gotta ask Aaron. 00:19:51.680 --> 00:19:52.559 Uh, I don't know. 00:19:52.720 --> 00:20:02.960 And so you I sound a little bit like a heel, but I've learned that discipline of delegating that full responsibility and it's freed me up to do other things that impact my business in a positive way. 00:20:03.200 --> 00:20:04.400 Sounds like it goes both ways too. 00:20:04.559 --> 00:20:06.799 Aaron would need to communicate with your wife on the personal. 00:20:07.279 --> 00:20:07.839 And she does. 00:20:08.079 --> 00:20:08.880 Yeah, so it's funny. 00:20:08.960 --> 00:20:12.000 Like my wife and I were sitting on the couch watching Ted Lasso. 00:20:12.400 --> 00:20:17.119 My wife uh texts Aaron and says, Hey, is Mike available to go for date night on Thursday? 00:20:17.200 --> 00:20:18.319 And Aaron's like, yeah, yeah, he can. 00:20:18.720 --> 00:20:20.640 That's I I love every part about that. 00:20:20.720 --> 00:20:24.960 And if the listener is confused by that, um it it changes the game. 00:20:25.119 --> 00:20:28.079 All right, we've got a few minutes left here, and I gotta jump into your ABC format. 00:20:28.240 --> 00:20:31.680 You learned this from a co-founder of the container store, it sounds like. 00:20:32.079 --> 00:20:36.720 A equals 3B, B equals 3C, which means A equals 9C. 00:20:36.880 --> 00:20:38.960 Give us give us some some download here. 00:20:39.279 --> 00:20:40.799 Yeah, it was something that's fascinating. 00:20:40.960 --> 00:20:48.240 Uh he was talking about the container store, and uh, we had lunch together, and he was explaining how uh talented they are. 00:20:48.319 --> 00:20:52.960 What's so interesting is if you ever have an opportunity to visit a container store, you should do it. 00:20:53.119 --> 00:20:57.200 They sell, obviously, containers, um, which is the most boring subject. 00:20:57.359 --> 00:21:00.640 And Walmart sells them too, and so do other big box stores. 00:21:00.799 --> 00:21:10.000 But the engagement of the employees is off the chart at a container store and in Walmart, good luck finding an employee who's engaged, my God, that's a double good luck. 00:21:10.319 --> 00:21:15.599 Well, how does the container store who's selling the exact same things find such qualified candidates? 00:21:15.759 --> 00:21:18.079 He says, Well, we hire a players. 00:21:18.400 --> 00:21:22.160 Well, and I want to give a little asterisk, everyone is an A player. 00:21:22.400 --> 00:21:27.039 What they did was they said, what is the talent that we're looking for? 00:21:27.200 --> 00:21:30.160 Well, we need someone that's exuberant, that engages with the audience. 00:21:30.319 --> 00:21:34.480 Who are the type of people that may be excited about engaging with an audience? 00:21:34.720 --> 00:21:35.839 Actors, he said. 00:21:36.000 --> 00:21:45.759 So what we do is we reach out to people that are working off Broadway or whatever aspiring to be actors and say, listen, you can demonstrate your skills and play different characters here that are engaging. 00:21:45.920 --> 00:21:47.440 Um, who wants to socialize? 00:21:47.519 --> 00:21:50.160 Because that's a big part of the container store, that social rapport. 00:21:50.400 --> 00:21:51.599 People who are retired. 00:21:51.680 --> 00:21:54.240 Um, you want to re enter the workforce and socialize. 00:21:54.400 --> 00:21:55.839 And I said, this is the opportunity. 00:21:56.079 --> 00:22:07.519 What they made clear was that the job was a Uh, source or a means to achieve an end, to be a great actor, to re-socialize with the community or whatever. 00:22:07.680 --> 00:22:12.000 And these people are a players as a result because they can see a clear ending. 00:22:12.160 --> 00:22:15.680 But what was also fascinating was Kipps shared the cost. 00:22:15.759 --> 00:22:21.279 He said, You know, I play my employees, this was back in the day,$15 an hour, where Walmart's maybe paying$10 an hour. 00:22:21.359 --> 00:22:23.680 So that's a substantial difference, 50% more. 00:22:23.920 --> 00:22:26.079 And I said, How how can you afford that? 00:22:26.160 --> 00:22:30.400 Because 15 versus 10, it's nearly half more of the cost. 00:22:30.640 --> 00:22:39.759 He says, Well, Walmart needs to hire three B players because people who are not engaged, who don't care, who see the job as just a source of income don't care so much. 00:22:39.920 --> 00:22:44.960 It takes three of them to perform one level where someone sees this as part of their identity. 00:22:45.200 --> 00:22:48.400 So three times 10 is 30, or he's paying 15 an hour. 00:22:48.559 --> 00:22:50.240 He's like, I'm winning financially. 00:22:50.400 --> 00:22:54.960 I do want to share, and this is a big asterisk and it's important, everyone is an A player. 00:22:55.039 --> 00:23:03.359 And that may sound bizarre, but everyone has a player potential in them if they're matched up with the right role and it speaks to their identity. 00:23:03.519 --> 00:23:07.279 I am not saying that our businesses have a role for everybody. 00:23:07.440 --> 00:23:08.400 That's not the case. 00:23:08.640 --> 00:23:10.720 I'm saying that everyone is an A player. 00:23:10.799 --> 00:23:22.160 And if we meet someone who's not a fit or we can't serve them to serve their identity through our organization, as a leader of our small company, we simply give them direction and say, hey, you need to head somewhere else so you can really express yourself fully. 00:23:22.480 --> 00:23:26.079 You also said that A players are made by A leaders. 00:23:26.400 --> 00:23:26.880 Yes. 00:23:27.119 --> 00:23:32.559 So there's a great book on this called Turn the Ship Around by Captain David Marquette. 00:23:32.880 --> 00:23:41.759 And um, what's fascinating is here's the lowest performing ship was a submarine in the Navy, the lowest of hundreds and hundreds of ships. 00:23:42.000 --> 00:23:49.599 And all they did was change one person, the leader, and within a year became the number one performing ship in the entire

Navy. 00:23:49.839 --> 00:23:55.519 Now, everyone else was considered C players and B players on the ship, and all of a sudden they became A players. 00:23:55.839 --> 00:23:58.720 Well, what happened was the leader simply started to embrace them. 00:23:58.880 --> 00:24:01.039 They took on what's called psychological ownership. 00:24:01.200 --> 00:24:02.640 They started to express themselves. 00:24:02.799 --> 00:24:07.279 They saw that this was a pathway to achieve their greater accomplishments they want to achieve in their life. 00:24:07.359 --> 00:24:11.279 They saw the job as part of their identity, not as a job that they must do. 00:24:11.440 --> 00:24:13.200 And uh, well, it speaks for itself. 00:24:13.599 --> 00:24:19.039 You're spot on because there's lots of examples there of how someone can be switched out, a team. 00:24:19.119 --> 00:24:22.880 And in fact, you I could go into more detail in the book as far as just two teams. 00:24:23.039 --> 00:24:27.279 One was winning, one was the absolute bottom, and then literally just switches the leadership. 00:24:27.519 --> 00:24:29.359 Oh, yeah, that was in extreme ownership. 00:24:29.440 --> 00:24:29.599 Yep. 00:24:29.759 --> 00:24:30.240 I love that book. 00:24:30.400 --> 00:24:31.359 It's a must read. 00:24:31.519 --> 00:24:33.440 And what was interesting, that was the Navy SEALs. 00:24:33.599 --> 00:24:37.680 Um, it just happens these both are in the military, but I've seen it in all different forms of business. 00:24:37.839 --> 00:24:39.839 And it was literally, they were they were taking boats. 00:24:39.920 --> 00:24:45.279 They raced down to the on the beat, across the beach, to the ocean front, they go around a buoy and back. 00:24:45.359 --> 00:24:47.200 And this one team was dominating. 00:24:47.279 --> 00:24:57.200 They sweet and there was one team that's consistently losing, and they switched the leaders and the teams, not right away, but within two or three cycles, the team that was the worst team became the best team. 00:24:57.440 --> 00:25:01.200 What they found is that when there's a leader, they bring about a swing state. 00:25:01.279 --> 00:25:04.319 Uh, there's a brand new movie out there called The Boys in the Boat. 00:25:04.480 --> 00:25:05.680 It's about the swing state. 00:25:05.839 --> 00:25:10.000 How do you get the collective psychology where there's collective ownership over an outcome? 00:25:10.160 --> 00:25:12.079 They call it collective psychological ownership. 00:25:12.160 --> 00:25:17.680 And where you would, when a leader achieves that, the team as a whole is more than the sum of its parts. 00:25:17.920 --> 00:25:18.720 Yeah, love that. 00:25:18.880 --> 00:25:26.640 Uh, as some parting thoughts here, you describe a joy formula or a success uh kind of formula that's attached to joy. 00:25:26.799 --> 00:25:35.119 Um, give us give us what the formula is, and how did how can we, because joy sounds uh flowery or like maybe something I can do. 00:25:35.279 --> 00:25:36.480 It does, it does, you know. 00:25:36.559 --> 00:25:37.200 But we all talk about it. 00:25:37.279 --> 00:25:38.480 We talk about joy and fulfillment. 00:25:38.640 --> 00:25:41.279 The story came from the most like non-flowery dude I know. 00:25:41.359 --> 00:25:44.559 His name is Patty Cohen, and I was talking with Patty. 00:25:44.720 --> 00:25:47.039 Um, it was bad circumstances. 00:25:47.119 --> 00:25:52.559 Uh, a mutual friend of ours uh spouse passed away, and Patty gave me a ride back to the airport. 00:25:52.720 --> 00:26:01.759 He runs a$50 million company, you know, wildly successful, uh restoring basements and making them into fam caves and man caves and so forth. 00:26:02.000 --> 00:26:08.400 And uh what he said was one day he went to his team and said, we want to achieve$55 million in revenue. 00:26:08.559 --> 00:26:09.519 Good job last year. 00:26:09.680 --> 00:26:11.119 I want to achieve$55 million. 00:26:11.279 --> 00:26:15.680 His sales manager, the person responsible for sales, came up and said, Patty, it's always good. 00:26:15.839 --> 00:26:17.920 We did a good job, and now we have to do better. 00:26:18.079 --> 00:26:20.960 What if we just cared about how happy people are? 00:26:21.119 --> 00:26:23.839 And it hit Patty like a time of tongue of bricks. 00:26:24.079 --> 00:26:31.519 Every one of us has an individual version of ourselves or vision, I should say, for ourselves that we want to achieve that gives us joy. 00:26:31.759 --> 00:26:41.599 The goal of the leader, Patty explained, is to find what people want to achieve individually and make sure that their work is an expression and opportunity to achieve that individual goal. 00:26:41.759 --> 00:26:51.279 I mean, someone wants to buy a house or someone wants to learn and play guitar or learn a new language, whatever it may be, we sort of we get joy out of moving toward goals we want to accomplish. 00:26:51.359 --> 00:26:57.680 And when that happens, reciprocity kicks in and we want to be of greater service to the company because the company's helping us see achieve our own joy. 00:26:57.920 --> 00:26:58.000 Yeah. 00:26:58.160 --> 00:27:02.960 Yeah, you have you say that uh basically it's an experience of success and well-being together. 00:27:03.200 --> 00:27:06.720 You also throw in there a little caveat of uh like a multiplication times purpose. 00:27:06.799 --> 00:27:12.319 So you kind of wrap that all up in your answer there of like purpose, well-being basically is what they want, and we're helping them go after it. 00:27:12.400 --> 00:27:13.920 Do you want to add anything on the purpose side? 00:27:14.160 --> 00:27:15.680 Yeah, yeah, that's the real formula. 00:27:15.839 --> 00:27:20.000 But with the one part I want to add is reciprocity, kind of the equal sign. 00:27:20.240 --> 00:27:27.759 The more we contribute to the happiness and joy of our colleagues, the more we want to give joy and happiness to our leader. 00:27:27.920 --> 00:27:45.920 Um, I

remember my own business setting a goal for our company, but when I set the understanding I had, when I focused on the individual accomplishments of my team, and not in their job, but in their job serving their lives, like what they want to achieve in their lives, they started to focus more on the goal that I'd set as a leader for the organization. 00:27:46.079 --> 00:27:50.640 So reciprocity is what brings that amazing progress for a business when you care for your colleagues. 00:27:50.880 --> 00:27:51.759 You're an incredible mind. 00:27:52.000 --> 00:27:54.000 Book is, I mean, I just downloading. 00:27:54.079 --> 00:27:55.680 I'm gonna have to probably read it two or three times. 00:27:55.759 --> 00:27:57.279 But tell us, where can we find the book? 00:27:58.079 --> 00:27:58.880 Where can we find you? 00:27:59.039 --> 00:28:04.400 Because you offer all kinds of services and coaching and all uh opportunities for entrepreneurs to be able to connect with you. 00:28:04.480 --> 00:28:05.200 What's that look like? 00:28:05.440 --> 00:28:07.759 Yeah, wherever you buy books, if you like Amazon, great. 00:28:07.839 --> 00:28:08.799 I'd love for you to get it there. 00:28:08.880 --> 00:28:12.240 But if it where your local bookstore has it too, support them if that's what you feel called to do. 00:28:12.319 --> 00:28:13.039 I'd love that. 00:28:13.200 --> 00:28:17.920 Um, if you want to learn more about me, you can go to micemotorbike.com. 00:28:18.079 --> 00:28:21.759 The reason I use that nickname, no one can pronounce Mikalow, it's it's a doozy. 00:28:21.839 --> 00:28:24.799 But at mikemotorbike.com, you'll get all in, is there. 00:28:24.880 --> 00:28:26.079 You can get free chapter downloads. 00:28:26.160 --> 00:28:27.039 All my other books are there. 00:28:27.119 --> 00:28:28.960 I just write for the Wall Street Journal. 00:28:29.039 --> 00:28:35.039 Uh, you can get all that, those articles I wrote from them for free, um, all at MikeMotorbike.com. 00:28:35.200 --> 00:28:36.960 It's been an incredible time here with you today. 00:28:37.039 --> 00:28:38.799 Uh, you have been nothing but a blessing. 00:28:38.960 --> 00:28:42.960 So, Mike, thank you for being here uh on the Kings stage, and we will be talking to you soon. 00:28:43.200 --> 00:28:44.720 Chaz, thank you so much. 00:28:48.480 --> 00:28:50.720 Thank you for listening to Gathering the Kings today. 00:28:50.799 --> 00:28:54.880 I hope that you were able to pull out a few nuggets to go apply into your business right away. 00:28:55.119 --> 00:29:05.680 More importantly, though, I hope that you're realizing that it takes more to be successful than just being by yourself, doing it all on your own, carrying the weight all by yourself. 00:29:05.839 --> 00:29:20.000 What I have realized, not only in my own journey from multiple businesses and multiple different industries, and now interviewing over two or three hundred other very successful seven, eight, and nine-figure business owners, is that it's tough to do it alone. 00:29:20.160 --> 00:29:25.359 And so gathering the kings exists to bring together successful entrepreneurs. 00:29:25.440 --> 00:29:33.440 In fact, we are putting together 1,000 kings, specifically who are grateful but not done. 00:29:33.599 --> 00:29:38.799 We're intentionally assembling kings who fight tooth and nail for their business, family, and communities. 00:29:38.880 --> 00:29:50.000 And here's what we believe that in the pursuit of excellence in those areas, that it ignites within us the responsibility to govern power and forge a lasting legacy. 00:29:50.160 --> 00:30:02.240 So if that relates and resonates with you, and you know that you need people around you, sharp, qualified, other, very successful business owners, I want you to go to gatheringtheKings.com. 00:30:02.319 --> 00:30:09.519 I want you to take a look at what we're doing and see if it makes sense for you to be part of our pursuit to 1,000 kings. 00:30:09.680 --> 00:30:10.880 Talk soon.