Blake Erickson: He Made $1M/Year at 26. Then Sold Everything.

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87% of them admitted that they're the bottleneck to their company's scale.
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The other 13% were just lying.
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Blake Erickson is the co-founder of Scaling.com and co-author of the New York Times bestseller, The Science of Scaling, one of my personal favorite books.
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This book was endorsed by Tony Robbins and built on one uncomfortable truth.
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Most businesses aren't stuck because they need to do more.
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They're stuck because their model can't scale.
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And no amount of effort is going to fix that.
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Just ask yourself, does this get you closer to who you want to become?
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Blake has dedicated his entire career to helping entrepreneurs break out of linear thinking, build something that grows bigger and faster than they ever thought possible.
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When you have a goal so big, you can't tolerate having many things in your life.
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You can't tolerate a lack of focus.
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It won't allow you.
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This conversation is about what scaling actually takes and why most leaders are focused on the wrong things.
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You could have a really, really small boat, but row harder than anybody, or you could have a yacht and not row at all, but the yacht will get there 10 times, 100,000 times faster.
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And so the boat you row in matters.
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The game that you play matters.
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So if you're building anything at all, this one's for you.
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The hardest thing that founders actually do is separation of the ego, trying to actually let it so it's no longer getting in the way and committing to saying, I'm no longer going to serve it and I'm going to serve scale.
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Blake Erickson.
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Oh my God, man.
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I'm just, I'm so pumped that you're here.
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We were just talking before the show and I've actually talked about your book on the show before because it had such an impact on me, not only me, but my executives and my entire organization.
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I'm so excited to have this conversation with you.
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So blessed to have this podcast and this platform that I can not only read the books that I love, but now I can talk to the people who actually wrote them and ask all the questions.
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I wish I could have asked the pages that I read, man.
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So first and foremost, thank you so much for carving out some time for me, my audience, and coming on the show.
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Could not be more fired up, man.
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Very, very excited.
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I'm glad you read the book, man.
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I think we're going to have a meaningful conversation now.
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Yeah, yeah.
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For those watching, I've got the book here.
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It's The Science of Scaling.
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All right.
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And if you haven't read this book, you should probably push pause on this episode right now.
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Go read the book and then come back.
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One of the best books I've read on how to grow your business is,
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Which is right in line with my audience.
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Like, honestly, you know, our demographic is made up of high performers, business owners, entrepreneurs, people who are truly all in on what they're doing, but we take a different angle, right?
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We talk about these tactics that you wrote about in the book.
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And we talk about all the logistics behind it and, you know, the tips and tricks on how to grow your business and be successful at it.
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We also talk about how to become the person capable of that success, which is why I'm so excited to talk to you.
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So I'm going to ask you a first question here.
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And you'll have to give a little color, a little context, because people who don't know who you are won't know why I'm asking this question, but you will.
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You sold everything.
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Everything you had, essentially.
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Your companies, your real estate.
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And I'm so curious.
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When you did that, what was your biggest fear?
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Not that it was done out of fear.
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That's not what I'm implying.
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But once you did it, I know for me, my gut would have been screaming at me like, what the hell did you just do?
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So I'm curious, not the risk, but the actual fear.
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What was that?
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Let me give the context to the reason why for those listening.
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Let's do it.
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So it's 2024.
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I have a sales organization that has produced eight figures of revenue for the last couple of years for this pest control company.
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And my business had gotten to a point where I was making incredible money,
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but didn't require a lot of me.
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And so what I began to do is I began to venture elsewhere, and I started several different side hustles.
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I tried investing a lot more time and energy into scaling my real estate portfolio.
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And I started venturing into, I owned a media company, was doing podcasting, writing a book, was doing all these things.
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And ultimately what happened was I thought I was Superman.
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I thought I could scale everything at once.
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And as I flash forward eight months after making all these plays, is I stagnated in all of them, even my main business.
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It's not like it went down, but it didn't grow at the rate it had been growing.
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And I was talking to a friend, his name is Rory Baden.
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He wrote a book called Take the Stairs, if you haven't read it, amazing book.
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And he said, Blake, when you have diluted focus,
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you will always get diluted results.
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I was like, when you have to... And that just hit me home so hard.
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And at the same time, Josh, I was having this conversation with Dr. Benjamin Hardy and we were having a discussion about writing this book and then possibly taking this book to the world in the form of a business.
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And so I'm getting one side of the story that's like, dude, you're diluted.
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And then I'm also considering this version of, oh, I might go do something else.
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And this something else, in my opinion, writing this book, talking about scaling, serving the audience of entrepreneurs, it was a dream come true.
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And then when Dr. Benjamin Hardy said, hey, yes, I'll partner with you and let's go do this.
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It was so aligned, so exciting.
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It was the exact game I wanted to play that everything I had done before that became obsolete.
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It was no longer of interest.
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It was like, it became like such a small fish of the game I was playing that the new game was so exciting, so big, so aligned that I didn't care about anything I created up to that point.
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Whoa.
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So that's what allowed me to say, okay, I'm going to go all in.
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I'm not going to dilute myself.
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I'm going to go to mastery and I'm going to dedicate the rest of my life towards one thing.
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And I'm going to go so deep in understanding why do companies exponentially scale and why do they stall?
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And so in a matter of three months, I went from six, eight different businesses, things I was doing, to one.
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And that's allowed us to experience a lot of miracles since then.
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I have so many questions.
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All right.
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So first off, this power of focus, and we'll get more into this later, but you're speaking to it right now.
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I am a poster child for this.
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I've got my main business.
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I've got an academy that I launched for the blue collar workforce.
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I've got this podcast.
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Okay.
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Which lights me up.
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I absolutely love it.
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But I have several things.
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I'm also thinking about standing up another business as well.
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And sometimes I ebb and flow between this idea of am I doing myself a disservice by having so many things?
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Is it too many things?
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Versus what could I accomplish if I just focused on one?
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My reaction to that is there's opportunity cost every yes.
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And if you're diluted, if I were to be blunt with you, it's because the goal that you're going for isn't big enough.
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Because what happens is when you have a game that you wanna play that's so big, when you have a goal so big, you can't tolerate having many things in your life.
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You can't tolerate a lack of focus.
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It won't allow you.
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And so my challenge for you would be, what's the one big game that you would wanna play?
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What's the big domino that would knock all the other dominoes down?
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And what's the version of that that's so big that you're not even interested in any other distractions or opportunities?
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Which is one of the principles that I withdrew from your book.
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Probably one of the reasons why I started thinking this way to begin with, right?
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Am I doing too much?
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You've said it a couple of times, this game, you know, and I want to kind of tug on that thread a little bit and ask you to describe what you think the game is.
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For me or in general?
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Let's do in general first, and then I want your version of it, your game.
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So Michael Porter taught, he was the Harvard...
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He was like the king of strategy.
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He still is.
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He said, strategy is knowing where you want to play and knowing how to win.
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And the game you choose matters.
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The boat you row in matters.
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You could have...
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A really, really small boat, but row harder than anybody.
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Or you could have a yacht and not row at all, but the yacht will get there 10 times, 100,000 times faster.
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And so the boat you row in matters, the game that you play matters.
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When I started my entrepreneurial journey, I started out doing Christmas lights.
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And then I eventually did a food truck.
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And I remember sitting down with my dad and he said, Blake, you're spending 16 hours on this food truck a day, which was true.
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when you could be spending that exact same time on a hundred million dollar opportunity rather than a hundred thousand dollar opportunity.
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And so that was my first lesson at 20 years old, where I was like, dude, the game you play matters.
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The bow you row in actually matters.
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And so choosing the right game is gonna determine a ton of what you do.
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And some of us may be choosing the wrong games.
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I've had a phrase that I've gravitated to over the last couple of years.
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And before I give you any context, I want to just get your reaction to it.
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Because this is something that I've internalized and kind of almost used as a compass for me to move about the world.
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And it's, if you understand the game, you can't lose.
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That resonates and...
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What would my specific reaction be to that?
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Anybody that becomes a master at the thing always wins.
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It goes back to another lesson my dad taught me.
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I was trying to start a social media company.
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I didn't even have social media at the time, but I wanted to manage influencers' social media.
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He said, why are they gonna go to you?
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Like, if you aren't an expert in that thing, why would they go to you?
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And it's the same thing, if you are the best at what you do,
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winning becomes inevitable.
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If you are the master, if you actually go to the depth that nobody else goes, you will win.
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And that's actually the reason why I said, I'm gonna dedicate the next 60 years of my life towards one thing, because if I persist, I shall win.
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I like that iteration of it.
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That's not my version, but I do like that.
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Tell me your version.
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So my version is,
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The only thing that thinks it's a game is our ego.
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And so if you understand that the ego is what's driving, it has no power over you.
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You have power.
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I like that.
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It is a tool.
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Everybody has an ego.
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Yeah.
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Right.
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I mean, to an extent, but too many people use that as a filter for their decisions.
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Right.
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everyday decisions.
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And listen, you and I are probably no different, right?
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It's the human condition as we know it.
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And so, I try to remind myself that if I think I'm losing or if I think I'm going to lose, it's really not me thinking that, it's my ego driving it.
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And so, it just
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I can break free from that.
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And I do, if I'm being honest, I have a habit of making decisions even in business from an egoic place.
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Right?
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And it started from like, what do I have to prove?
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Or what am I trying to prove?
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All the way up to...
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hey, this thing sounds cool.
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I want that.
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Maybe it's not best for the business.
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Maybe it's not best for the team, but I think it's cool.
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So this is what we're going to do.
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And I've had to temper myself in those situations too.
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So it serves as a reminder for me that I can use my ego to my advantage, not succumb to whatever it's telling me to do.
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I've got a lot of thoughts on that.
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So we just did a national research study on scaling across the entire United States.
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we interviewed a thousand entrepreneurs doing at least a million dollars or more revenue.
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87% of them admitted that they're the bottleneck to their company's scale.
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The other 13% were just lying, but, uh, but 87% admitted.
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And so what we see all the time, uh, in our company, with the companies we advise is not only the founder neck, the founder becomes the bottleneck.
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but it truly nine times out of 10, it's actually just their ego becoming the bottleneck, specifically them saying, I care more about looking good than I care about being good.
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Yes.
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And the moment you try to serve both those masters, the Bible says you can't serve God or mammon, choose one, is the moment you stagnate.
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And so dude, the hardest thing that founders actually do is separation of the ego
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trying to actually let it so it's no longer getting in the way and committing to saying, I'm no longer going to serve it and I'm going to serve scale.
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And every founder goes through it.
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I imagine at different stages in their career or life too.
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I mean, I imagine somebody in their 20s could go through it just as you did.
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And somebody in their 60s could wake up one day and realize they've been serving the wrong thing.
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Yeah.
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Oh, that's hard, man.
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That's deep.
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Give me goosebumps over here, dude.
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All right.
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All right.
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I want to move on here.
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So I just want you to react to this because this is also kind of plays right into what we're talking about.
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Most people who say that they're all in on something, they still have a backup plan.
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Yeah.
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You burned yours.
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I mean, you set it on fire and walked the other way.
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How can you convince someone, or maybe this is the wrong question, is that always the right thing to do?
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That's the right question.
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So I believe in two forms of this.
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I believe in extremity.
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I believe that you should be all in on one thing.
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And I believe in validation.
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So for example, if a 30-year-old man comes to me and says, I have this amazing business idea and he's making $500,000 at his job, would my advice be leave your job, leave everything, go all in on this business idea?
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And the answer would be no.
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What my advice would be is, okay, I want you to now go validate your amazing idea.
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Show me that there's the man in the marketplace.
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Show me that people are actually willing to pay for it.
222
00:16:15.600 --> 00:16:17.821
Prove to me that that model should exist.
223
00:16:18.642 --> 00:16:21.523
Go unbiasedly get all the information.
224
00:16:22.043 --> 00:16:26.766
And if everything comes back and says, this is needed, I will pay for it.
225
00:16:26.946 --> 00:16:29.628
You will win, then go all in.
226
00:16:30.188 --> 00:16:36.431
But too many times, you know, the big influencers of the world say, you gotta go all in, go, go, go.
227
00:16:36.932 --> 00:16:38.813
And it actually leaves people in ruin.
228
00:16:39.593 --> 00:16:43.054
because they didn't do the upfront information prior to going all in.
229
00:16:43.094 --> 00:16:44.995
And so that's my caveat to it.
230
00:16:45.395 --> 00:16:55.579
But once you see the light, I think that there's so much power in going all in, because if you have a plan B, you'll be distracted.
231
00:16:55.659 --> 00:16:59.820
And the person you're competing against doesn't have a plan B, and he's going to win.
232
00:17:00.320 --> 00:17:00.561
Yeah.
233
00:17:01.061 --> 00:17:06.823
Yeah, that safety net almost serves as an excuse sometimes.
234
00:17:06.963 --> 00:17:07.503
Yeah, no doubt.
235
00:17:14.818 --> 00:17:20.362
The decision to bet everything wasn't really about scaling.com.
236
00:17:20.622 --> 00:17:21.482
This is what I'm picking up.
237
00:17:22.303 --> 00:17:24.544
It was about who you needed to become.
238
00:17:24.764 --> 00:17:24.985
Hmm.
239
00:17:30.468 --> 00:17:30.888
What do you think?
240
00:17:31.569 --> 00:17:31.949
I agree.
241
00:17:34.370 --> 00:17:42.961
When we started this, I still am not, but I wasn't the person I needed to be in order to make the goals that we had happen.
242
00:17:43.462 --> 00:17:44.623
I didn't have the skill sets yet.
243
00:17:44.643 --> 00:17:45.444
I didn't have the knowledge yet.
244
00:17:45.484 --> 00:17:46.626
I didn't have the experience yet.
245
00:17:47.727 --> 00:17:48.208
And so...
246
00:17:49.679 --> 00:17:52.081
there's cost to becoming your future self.
247
00:17:53.302 --> 00:17:58.125
And because I had clarity on who that was, it was much easier to make the decision.
248
00:17:59.026 --> 00:18:00.907
I understood and was honest with myself.
249
00:18:01.908 --> 00:18:04.490
I'm not where I need to be here, here, and here.
250
00:18:05.071 --> 00:18:11.055
Therefore, I needed to be much more aggressive and focused maybe than the person that already was there.
251
00:18:11.796 --> 00:18:14.358
And so the honesty in the present is,
252
00:18:15.058 --> 00:18:21.125
But also the clarity of where I needed to be allowed me to effectively make those decisions.
253
00:18:22.026 --> 00:18:22.807
What did it cost you?
254
00:18:23.588 --> 00:18:24.468
You mentioned cost.
255
00:18:26.651 --> 00:18:33.979
I mean, legitimately cost me six years, seven years of what I had financially built.
256
00:18:34.439 --> 00:18:34.940
Everything gone.
257
00:18:37.871 --> 00:18:38.952
It was diluted.
258
00:18:38.972 --> 00:18:45.059
I had the money from it, but then it cost me my lifestyle.
259
00:18:45.480 --> 00:18:52.728
There was a period of time where prior to going all in on this, I experienced retirement at 26 years old.
260
00:18:53.609 --> 00:18:53.909
Really?
261
00:18:53.929 --> 00:18:54.229
Yeah.
262
00:18:54.289 --> 00:18:57.093
And I had this three-month period where I never...
263
00:18:57.965 --> 00:19:03.129
I was like, I never will need to work again if I don't want to.
264
00:19:03.189 --> 00:19:05.931
After selling the business?
265
00:19:06.031 --> 00:19:10.334
I was making a million dollars a year without me necessarily needing to be there.
266
00:19:11.695 --> 00:19:14.277
And that wasn't always guaranteed.
267
00:19:14.297 --> 00:19:15.357
Things still needed to happen.
268
00:19:15.377 --> 00:19:21.522
But it was like, cool, if things continue to go this way, I no longer have to work.
269
00:19:21.542 --> 00:19:22.963
And during that time period...
270
00:19:24.391 --> 00:19:28.422
I had this amazing experience where I realized being retired is the worst thing in the world.
271
00:19:30.093 --> 00:19:31.434
what, 24 or whatever?
272
00:19:31.514 --> 00:19:32.355
26, 26.
273
00:19:32.415 --> 00:19:33.656
And there's just no fulfillment.
274
00:19:33.676 --> 00:19:34.376
There's no purpose.
275
00:19:34.416 --> 00:19:38.480
And so men need purpose, women need purpose.
276
00:19:38.960 --> 00:19:40.481
We need something to go hunt.
277
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We need something to chase.
278
00:19:43.304 --> 00:19:55.894
And without that in my life, I got really comfortable, really complacent and made me experience the sadness that people feel when they go sell their company or whatever it might be.
279
00:19:56.394 --> 00:19:57.875
And I just realized I never wanna retire.
280
00:19:58.836 --> 00:20:02.179
And I just want to go play a big game and make impact for the rest of my life.
281
00:20:03.180 --> 00:20:04.702
Impact is one of my four pillars.
282
00:20:05.222 --> 00:20:06.844
I have four pillars I run everything through.
283
00:20:06.884 --> 00:20:08.626
Freedom, presence, impact, and love.
284
00:20:08.806 --> 00:20:10.187
Oh, those are amazing, dude.
285
00:20:10.207 --> 00:20:11.589
And impact is one of them.
286
00:20:11.649 --> 00:20:13.871
So when you say impact, it really resonates.
287
00:20:13.891 --> 00:20:14.932
Those are great pillars.
288
00:20:15.372 --> 00:20:15.693
Yeah.
289
00:20:19.090 --> 00:20:20.971
Retired for three months at 26.
290
00:20:21.091 --> 00:20:24.974
I think that should be the title of the podcast.
291
00:20:25.735 --> 00:20:26.415
No, that's great.
292
00:20:26.775 --> 00:20:29.577
And I love what you said about purpose.
293
00:20:31.579 --> 00:20:32.799
And it's a fickle thing.
294
00:20:34.801 --> 00:20:41.285
How often do you think, and I know you're 28 now, you're not so far removed from this experience.
295
00:20:42.526 --> 00:20:43.347
Purpose changes.
296
00:20:43.367 --> 00:20:43.887
Yeah.
297
00:20:44.719 --> 00:20:46.380
This is what I've found in my life.
298
00:20:46.900 --> 00:20:50.242
And purpose changes often.
299
00:20:51.202 --> 00:20:59.846
What would you say to somebody who's on a path and they're not sure if it's their purpose any longer?
300
00:21:00.826 --> 00:21:01.587
How can they tell?
301
00:21:01.607 --> 00:21:04.528
And what should they do?
302
00:21:05.008 --> 00:21:06.068
Yeah, how interesting.
303
00:21:06.969 --> 00:21:08.370
You're giving me the tough ones today.
304
00:21:08.630 --> 00:21:09.210
I sure hope so.
305
00:21:11.920 --> 00:21:12.781
We'll get to the tactics.
306
00:21:12.801 --> 00:21:14.542
So purpose definitely shifts, right?
307
00:21:14.702 --> 00:21:14.922
Yeah.
308
00:21:15.363 --> 00:21:18.685
My purpose 18 months ago is completely different than my purpose today.
309
00:21:19.526 --> 00:21:23.269
And that actually is just a reflection that we are always progressing.
310
00:21:23.489 --> 00:21:25.210
As we progress, our purpose will progress.
311
00:21:25.891 --> 00:21:32.636
So recognize when your purpose is shifting, it's probably a good sign.
312
00:21:33.037 --> 00:21:34.978
It's due to the maturity of who you're becoming.
313
00:21:37.360 --> 00:21:41.143
My advice is I believe that the future creates clarity in the present.
314
00:21:42.864 --> 00:21:57.800
And so if you are clear on who you want to be, who you want to become, and what time frame you want to become those things, what are the things you want to be able to look back and say that you had done or accomplished, then the future gets really, really clear.
315
00:21:59.102 --> 00:22:00.803
But our future self also shifts.
316
00:22:01.103 --> 00:22:04.364
Your future self five years ago is probably really different than the future self today.
317
00:22:05.564 --> 00:22:09.646
And so as our future self matures, our purpose will mature.
318
00:22:10.286 --> 00:22:13.727
But ask yourself if you're struggling, is this the right path?
319
00:22:14.247 --> 00:22:15.468
Am I aligned with my purpose?
320
00:22:15.608 --> 00:22:21.050
Just ask yourself, does this get you closer to who you wanna become?
321
00:22:21.450 --> 00:22:23.630
And if the answer is no, then shift.
322
00:22:23.650 --> 00:22:24.951
If the answer is yes, then lean in.
323
00:22:27.520 --> 00:22:35.197
That's such a good description, getting clarity on who it is that you want to be to determine whether or not your purpose is in line with that.
324
00:22:36.899 --> 00:22:37.099
Great.
325
00:22:37.880 --> 00:22:40.402
Let's move a little bit to some of the tactics of the book.
326
00:22:40.462 --> 00:22:41.683
I'm excited to talk about this.
327
00:22:42.003 --> 00:22:43.004
You talk about three things.
328
00:22:43.044 --> 00:22:46.366
You talk about frame, floor, and focus.
329
00:22:46.506 --> 00:22:53.172
High level, and we're going to kind of unpack these, but can you give our audience an overview of what those mean?
330
00:22:54.152 --> 00:22:59.416
So the frame is the way that you filter and see information.
331
00:22:59.436 --> 00:22:59.536
Yeah.
332
00:23:00.506 --> 00:23:05.591
Stephen Covey talks about the world is not as it is, it is as we are.
333
00:23:06.652 --> 00:23:10.356
And in business, your frame determines everything that you do.
334
00:23:10.877 --> 00:23:17.143
You as a business owner are commissioned every day to make a number of decisions.
335
00:23:17.884 --> 00:23:20.427
What is the thing that's filtering those decisions?
336
00:23:20.487 --> 00:23:22.849
What's the thing that determines I say yes or say no?
337
00:23:23.990 --> 00:23:25.131
And it's really your goals.
338
00:23:25.851 --> 00:23:29.353
And so your frame is what is the goal of the business?
339
00:23:30.593 --> 00:23:40.378
And we know, and science says that when you have exponential goals, it creates exponential pathways and leverage to get there.
340
00:23:40.398 --> 00:23:46.541
And when you have linear goals, you think linearly, and it doesn't allow the greatest performance and thought.
341
00:23:47.181 --> 00:23:50.843
And so specifically in the frame, we push and...
342
00:23:51.903 --> 00:24:02.646
attempt the argument of impossible goals, exponential goals, is the number one greatest tool that you can use in order to scale your business.
343
00:24:02.726 --> 00:24:05.847
Because if you're thinking linearly, you're not going to produce exponential results.
344
00:24:06.847 --> 00:24:07.987
Secondly is your floor.
345
00:24:08.507 --> 00:24:10.908
Your floor must match the level of your goal.
346
00:24:11.488 --> 00:24:13.429
A lot of entrepreneurs will say they want to scale.
347
00:24:13.449 --> 00:24:16.230
They're going for, they're going, let's say they're at a million dollars.
348
00:24:16.270 --> 00:24:17.470
They want to go to 10 million.
349
00:24:18.102 --> 00:24:27.007
but they hire $1 million people, or they have $500,000 systems, or the product that they put out is a million dollar product.
350
00:24:27.047 --> 00:24:32.549
So when you go for your frame, when you go for an impossible goal, your floor also must match that goal.
351
00:24:33.190 --> 00:24:35.491
I must hire people that are $10 million people.
352
00:24:36.687 --> 00:24:40.089
I must have a product that's $10 million worthy.
353
00:24:40.169 --> 00:24:43.291
When I build the system, I must build that system from $10 million.
354
00:24:43.972 --> 00:24:49.655
And so the reason why companies don't scale is because they operate below the floor.
355
00:24:50.876 --> 00:24:58.301
Third and final is focus, which we've already alluded to today, which is if you optimize for multiple things, you optimize for nothing.
356
00:24:59.401 --> 00:25:04.523
What is the one thing that you are striving to become best in the world at?
357
00:25:05.123 --> 00:25:07.904
Anything else that's not that is noise.
358
00:25:07.924 --> 00:25:14.586
And the secret to scaling, the secret to scaling is through subtraction.
359
00:25:15.587 --> 00:25:18.808
The reason of stagnation is because of addition.
360
00:25:20.906 --> 00:25:23.994
That was probably the biggest takeaway that I got from the book.
361
00:25:24.696 --> 00:25:29.187
I am the epitome of let's add all these efficiencies to the business.
362
00:25:30.609 --> 00:25:41.274
Until I take a step back and I see how many different efficiencies, for those listening, I'm doing air quotes, I added to the business and now all of a sudden it's complex.
363
00:25:42.154 --> 00:25:49.998
And so your book was a driver for me to make a substantial change in my business.
364
00:25:50.758 --> 00:25:54.179
And it may seem topical and almost obvious.
365
00:25:55.860 --> 00:26:01.762
Eight years ago, I implemented a software in my company that was essentially a Fortune 500 software.
366
00:26:03.663 --> 00:26:05.544
It was way too big for my business.
367
00:26:06.364 --> 00:26:11.686
It added a level of complexity that I never recovered from for eight years.
368
00:26:11.746 --> 00:26:14.167
Now, we continue to grow and things like that.
369
00:26:14.747 --> 00:26:22.870
But in the back of my mind, I always knew that it was a bottleneck because it was designed to be used with 100 people.
370
00:26:23.230 --> 00:26:24.591
But I had 40.
371
00:26:27.234 --> 00:26:37.702
And so one of the things that we – one of the initiatives that we put in place that we are just executing on now but after reading your book at the end of last year was –
372
00:26:39.293 --> 00:26:43.654
Stripping it back and saying, what do we actually need to scale?
373
00:26:43.954 --> 00:26:45.955
Like, let's go all the way back to the basics.
374
00:26:46.035 --> 00:26:52.717
I liken it to for anybody out there that, that, uh, has ever cleaned their closet or cleaned out their pantry.
375
00:26:53.177 --> 00:26:56.938
You know, I can't go into a really messy pantry and just.
376
00:26:57.618 --> 00:26:58.438
reorganize things.
377
00:26:58.538 --> 00:27:02.839
I have to clean the whole damn thing out and put it all back together, right?
378
00:27:02.899 --> 00:27:07.840
Leaving the stuff out that shouldn't be there and then just reorganizing everything from the ground up.
379
00:27:07.940 --> 00:27:09.221
That's how I work best.
380
00:27:09.721 --> 00:27:20.383
And so that's the lens I'm looking through when going down this new project, you know, is just get rid of it all.
381
00:27:20.443 --> 00:27:22.404
Just get rid of it all and then start
382
00:27:28.886 --> 00:27:31.167
I bet that it's going to go successfully.
383
00:27:31.707 --> 00:27:35.209
There's one concept that comes to me as you speak.
384
00:27:36.530 --> 00:27:38.130
So we're all familiar with the 80-20 rule.
385
00:27:38.150 --> 00:27:41.332
20% of your activity creates 80% of your results.
386
00:27:42.292 --> 00:27:53.398
The more and more that we do this in advice companies, we actually see that there's an 80-20 within the 80-20 of the 80-20, what we call the power law, which is usually 1% of the things you do create 99% of the results.
387
00:27:54.838 --> 00:28:07.561
And so if you're an owner right now listening to this and you hear Josh saying he's stripping things back in his company, the prompt I would give you is, if you could just do one or two things to create 99% of the results, what are those?
388
00:28:08.881 --> 00:28:19.543
And every company has one, whether it's on the product side or whether it's on the distribution side, there's usually that one thing that if you went and took it to the extreme, will create all the results that you need.
389
00:28:20.684 --> 00:28:22.204
Not the hundred things you have in your pantry.
390
00:28:23.697 --> 00:28:24.618
Does that ever backfire?
391
00:28:25.358 --> 00:28:28.060
Is it ever you choose the wrong thing?
392
00:28:28.320 --> 00:28:29.021
Like what happens?
393
00:28:29.561 --> 00:28:30.241
Great question.
394
00:28:30.942 --> 00:28:32.183
Yes, the answer is yes.
395
00:28:32.543 --> 00:28:35.625
And that's why validation is important, right?
396
00:28:36.906 --> 00:28:38.567
Assumptions are what can kill us.
397
00:28:38.627 --> 00:28:44.471
So for example, we are currently vetting a partnership of a name that if I were to drop, everybody would know.
398
00:28:45.772 --> 00:28:50.515
And our assumption would be if we partner with this individual, he's going to bring a lot of distribution.
399
00:28:51.396 --> 00:28:52.597
And we make a trade-off.
400
00:28:54.220 --> 00:28:59.384
for that decision, what happens if we are wrong about our assumption?
401
00:29:00.285 --> 00:29:09.373
What happens if we forfeit X or give Y and this distribution doesn't do what we expect it to do, then it backfires.
402
00:29:09.713 --> 00:29:14.877
And so the question is what information do I need so that I can know that it won't backfire?
403
00:29:15.358 --> 00:29:16.479
How can I validate that?
404
00:29:16.539 --> 00:29:21.383
And then also how can I set up the deal in a way so that it doesn't backfire?
405
00:29:21.875 --> 00:29:22.115
Hmm.
406
00:29:22.935 --> 00:29:29.717
Due diligence you're speaking to just ensuring that you're not acting based on assumptions or let's call it ego.
407
00:29:29.837 --> 00:29:30.078
Yeah.
408
00:29:30.918 --> 00:29:31.098
Yeah.
409
00:29:31.258 --> 00:29:31.458
Right.
410
00:29:31.498 --> 00:29:32.698
In my case, probably.
411
00:29:33.959 --> 00:29:34.739
That makes a lot of sense.
412
00:29:34.979 --> 00:29:36.259
That makes a lot of sense.
413
00:29:36.480 --> 00:29:40.521
And truly, I think it's one of those things that everybody knows, but everyone also forgets.
414
00:29:41.561 --> 00:29:41.961
Right.
415
00:29:42.241 --> 00:29:47.123
And it depends on what they're driven by and it depends on how excited they are or, you know.
416
00:29:48.467 --> 00:29:52.871
And I don't mean this in a malicious way, but how ignorant they are.
417
00:29:53.171 --> 00:29:53.291
Right?
418
00:29:53.311 --> 00:29:55.753
You need to educate yourself on this stuff.
419
00:29:55.773 --> 00:29:57.175
And by ignorant, I don't mean stupid.
420
00:29:57.195 --> 00:29:59.276
I just mean you don't know something you don't know.
421
00:29:59.296 --> 00:29:59.677
Yeah.
422
00:30:00.097 --> 00:30:00.217
Right?
423
00:30:00.518 --> 00:30:00.838
Okay.
424
00:30:03.600 --> 00:30:05.762
Before I get into the text, I'm very curious.
425
00:30:05.782 --> 00:30:06.683
I want to ask this question.
426
00:30:06.763 --> 00:30:09.165
What is a question that you wish more people would ask you?
427
00:30:09.505 --> 00:30:11.767
What's a question I wish more people would ask me?
428
00:30:13.909 --> 00:30:14.790
In business or in life?
429
00:30:17.417 --> 00:30:19.140
Josh, once again, bringing out the hard ones.
430
00:30:19.320 --> 00:30:27.351
I would say I love reverse engineering the principles of success.
431
00:30:27.411 --> 00:30:30.356
And so I think a lot of us are looking for the medicine.
432
00:30:30.496 --> 00:30:31.097
What's the pill?
433
00:30:32.018 --> 00:30:37.481
And I'm always really interested in reverse engineering and dissecting, like, what are the universal principles that are applied?
434
00:30:38.061 --> 00:30:38.721
Not the tactics.
435
00:30:38.741 --> 00:30:39.962
What are the universal principles?
436
00:30:40.022 --> 00:30:45.825
And so I wish people asked more on the root rather than the surface.
437
00:30:46.565 --> 00:30:48.406
Not like, give me the three-step formula.
438
00:30:48.426 --> 00:30:50.747
It's like, what's the mindset needed?
439
00:30:50.887 --> 00:30:54.889
What are the principles that have to exist in order to get X result?
440
00:30:55.330 --> 00:30:58.431
I think the world just, they want the quick fix.
441
00:30:58.471 --> 00:30:59.932
And so we typically don't go there.
442
00:31:01.276 --> 00:31:06.058
What's the difference between tactics and, what did you say?
443
00:31:06.579 --> 00:31:06.999
Principles.
444
00:31:07.039 --> 00:31:07.459
Principles.
445
00:31:07.499 --> 00:31:08.420
Tactics and principles.
446
00:31:09.900 --> 00:31:11.641
What's the difference?
447
00:31:11.721 --> 00:31:13.002
Tactics have an expiration date.
448
00:31:13.022 --> 00:31:13.782
Principles do not.
449
00:31:14.383 --> 00:31:14.503
Oh.
450
00:31:16.144 --> 00:31:19.445
So, if you think about marketing, marketing is always changing, right?
451
00:31:20.326 --> 00:31:23.527
Last month, it's completely different than it's going to be next month, especially with AI.
452
00:31:25.430 --> 00:31:30.733
But if you understand the key principles to marketing, you can continually stay ahead.
453
00:31:31.273 --> 00:31:38.757
But if your entire marketing knowledge is solely based on tactics, you're going to have to continually relearn new tactics every single month.
454
00:31:39.258 --> 00:31:40.378
The same is true in scale.
455
00:31:40.398 --> 00:31:41.539
The same is true in leadership.
456
00:31:43.321 --> 00:31:43.601
Okay.
457
00:31:44.541 --> 00:31:44.881
I got it.
458
00:31:46.062 --> 00:31:46.442
That's good.
459
00:31:48.803 --> 00:31:49.923
You know what you're talking about, Boyd.
460
00:31:50.663 --> 00:31:52.324
All right.
461
00:31:52.684 --> 00:31:58.666
Why does a goal that seems impossible actually get you there faster than one that you know you can hit?
462
00:31:58.986 --> 00:31:59.886
Let me give you an example.
463
00:32:00.086 --> 00:32:02.387
So we have an individual, his name's Cody in our program.
464
00:32:03.807 --> 00:32:06.588
Cody owns an amazing, this is a commercial plug for him.
465
00:32:06.628 --> 00:32:11.009
He owns a popcorn company called CrackCorn, an amazing entrepreneur, amazing individual.
466
00:32:11.670 --> 00:32:12.550
When he joined us,
467
00:32:13.989 --> 00:32:18.091
he was thinking linearly and said, how do I get my popcorn in a hundred stores?
468
00:32:19.912 --> 00:32:24.114
You know, it could be local branches, it could be just going from store to store.
469
00:32:24.774 --> 00:32:26.295
And we all think that way in our business.
470
00:32:26.335 --> 00:32:29.437
We all think, how do I get one client at a time?
471
00:32:30.757 --> 00:32:31.638
I had a door to our sales.
472
00:32:31.678 --> 00:32:33.579
We would literally get one client at a time.
473
00:32:34.985 --> 00:32:41.769
And what we helped him try to consider is what is an impossible goal that would force more exponential distribution.
474
00:32:42.630 --> 00:32:48.953
And so he said, okay, I don't want to be a $15 million company.
475
00:32:48.973 --> 00:32:50.154
I want to be a billion dollar company.
476
00:32:50.174 --> 00:32:51.615
I want to be a $500 million company.
477
00:32:52.792 --> 00:32:57.754
And as soon as he committed to that, he realized that going from one store to one store would not get him to his goal.
478
00:32:59.095 --> 00:33:09.139
And so he began creating partnerships and discussions on people that could get him into hundreds of stores with one partnership, thousands of stores with one partnership.
479
00:33:09.179 --> 00:33:15.041
And just last week, he landed a partnership with a company that's going to get him in 40,000 stores.
480
00:33:16.682 --> 00:33:17.462
One partnership.
481
00:33:17.562 --> 00:33:17.923
Yes.
482
00:33:18.163 --> 00:33:21.244
That's going to exponentially change his company.
483
00:33:21.284 --> 00:33:26.966
But what would have never happened is that partnership if he did not set an impossible goal.
484
00:33:27.006 --> 00:33:31.048
And so the goal is a tool to force the best thinking, best performance and decisions.
485
00:33:31.108 --> 00:33:33.269
He's not here, so I can't give him props for him.
486
00:33:33.309 --> 00:33:33.929
Cody, good work.
487
00:33:33.969 --> 00:33:36.790
But I'll give the props to you.
488
00:33:36.830 --> 00:33:37.650
You give the props to him.
489
00:33:37.930 --> 00:33:40.251
Cody, if you're watching this, nice job.
490
00:33:40.652 --> 00:33:41.312
That's awesome.
491
00:33:41.452 --> 00:33:42.452
Thank you for that example.
492
00:33:42.792 --> 00:33:43.813
That's amazing.
493
00:33:45.100 --> 00:33:48.322
This is one of the lenses that really helped me too.
494
00:33:48.702 --> 00:33:55.525
The book – and I'm just – I'm going to plug your book throughout this entire podcast because it just had such a profound impact on me.
495
00:33:55.985 --> 00:34:02.968
But the principles that you talk about in here are – they're unique.
496
00:34:04.229 --> 00:34:14.140
They make sense, but they're not something that you hear all the time, peddled on social media or, you know, in mainstream.
497
00:34:14.160 --> 00:34:20.786
It's almost the opposite, which is just, I mean, wildly interesting to me.
498
00:34:20.806 --> 00:34:23.569
All right.
499
00:34:24.530 --> 00:34:26.713
Most business owners don't have a strategy problem.
500
00:34:28.214 --> 00:34:29.537
they have a ceiling problem.
501
00:34:30.640 --> 00:34:32.263
And they built that ceiling themselves.
502
00:34:33.586 --> 00:34:34.128
What do you say to that?
503
00:34:35.591 --> 00:34:37.856
It goes back to the founder being the bottleneck.
504
00:34:40.512 --> 00:34:44.095
Most founders operate from the level that they expect to achieve.
505
00:34:44.735 --> 00:34:48.698
And so you'll never outperform your level of expectation, your standard.
506
00:34:48.718 --> 00:34:50.619
So I just did an example.
507
00:34:50.639 --> 00:34:51.520
I was speaking to a group.
508
00:34:51.580 --> 00:34:56.023
We got a broomstick out and I brought up apparently the highest jumper in the room.
509
00:34:56.924 --> 00:34:58.185
And I said, okay, I need a volunteer.
510
00:34:58.225 --> 00:34:59.466
Bring up the highest jumper in the room.
511
00:34:59.486 --> 00:35:00.547
So I brought a broomstick out.
512
00:35:00.967 --> 00:35:03.649
They held it above the ground about five inches.
513
00:35:04.289 --> 00:35:07.732
And I said, okay, I want to see how high you can jump.
514
00:35:09.317 --> 00:35:12.238
And so at five inches, he barely cleared the bar.
515
00:35:13.359 --> 00:35:15.059
And then we brought it up to a foot and a half.
516
00:35:15.099 --> 00:35:16.080
He barely cleared the bar.
517
00:35:16.100 --> 00:35:18.481
And then we brought it up to two and a half feet, barely cleared the bar.
518
00:35:19.141 --> 00:35:20.521
And then we maxed him out eventually.
519
00:35:21.442 --> 00:35:22.202
What's the lesson?
520
00:35:23.723 --> 00:35:30.625
We only achieve and accomplish and perform according to the level of the floor that we have.
521
00:35:31.286 --> 00:35:32.766
Our ceiling determines our floor.
522
00:35:33.587 --> 00:35:36.728
And so the companies
523
00:35:38.537 --> 00:35:46.903
don't recognize it and founders don't recognize it, but your floor is, your ceiling's too low, which means your floor's too low, which means you're going to get low performance.
524
00:35:47.443 --> 00:35:53.387
The only way to scale is by having a floor so rigorous that it forces the best out of your people.
525
00:35:53.847 --> 00:35:55.488
It forces you to get the best people.
526
00:35:56.109 --> 00:35:59.591
It forces you to have the best strategy, so on and so forth.
527
00:35:59.631 --> 00:36:01.112
And so the ceiling determines everything.
528
00:36:05.649 --> 00:36:08.233
One of the things that hit me in the book, so a couple of things.
529
00:36:08.293 --> 00:36:11.818
First, no, I'll save that.
530
00:36:12.178 --> 00:36:13.600
This is what I do during the show, Blake.
531
00:36:13.640 --> 00:36:14.782
Don't mind me, audience.
532
00:36:14.802 --> 00:36:16.023
They already know not to mind me.
533
00:36:18.387 --> 00:36:20.430
One of the biggest things that I got was...
534
00:36:23.219 --> 00:36:24.520
what I needed to stop doing.
535
00:36:24.800 --> 00:36:25.040
Yeah.
536
00:36:25.621 --> 00:36:31.964
Not what I needed to add to my business or, or needed to, um, you know, even start doing.
537
00:36:32.045 --> 00:36:34.666
And that's, that is the epitome of me.
538
00:36:34.946 --> 00:36:37.388
Like I just, what do I need to do?
539
00:36:38.889 --> 00:36:43.312
And even my team, after reading the book, they were like, Josh, did you see this part?
540
00:36:45.167 --> 00:36:46.888
What do we need to stop doing?
541
00:36:46.948 --> 00:36:48.888
That was like everybody's epiphany.
542
00:36:48.989 --> 00:36:52.250
And they were like, hey, we want to make sure this was your epiphany too.
543
00:36:54.191 --> 00:36:54.791
Explain this.
544
00:36:58.992 --> 00:36:59.873
Elon Musk says...
545
00:37:01.272 --> 00:37:06.438
The smartest engineers in the world to optimize things that shouldn't exist, and the best founders do as well.
546
00:37:07.039 --> 00:37:08.540
We have tons of ideas.
547
00:37:09.201 --> 00:37:12.004
We constantly can generate new and new ideas to go get business.
548
00:37:12.044 --> 00:37:18.051
The reality is 99.9% of them are linear, and they're things that are going to be incremental jumps.
549
00:37:19.558 --> 00:37:27.465
And so when you shift to scale, it no longer tolerates incremental thinking and incremental strategy.
550
00:37:28.626 --> 00:37:30.468
And it forces you to think in chunks.
551
00:37:31.068 --> 00:37:39.036
And so as an owner, we often think, okay, if we do this, it might make a 1% difference or 2% or 3% difference.
552
00:37:39.856 --> 00:37:41.198
And the reality at the end of the day is
553
00:37:42.718 --> 00:37:47.100
Who cares about 1%, 2%, 3% when there's an opportunity out there to go get a chunk?
554
00:37:47.761 --> 00:37:49.221
So stay away from the slices.
555
00:37:49.281 --> 00:37:50.242
Focus is on the chunk.
556
00:37:50.282 --> 00:37:57.566
When you think about adding things or putting things in, ask yourself, is this going to bring a 50% increase, a 60% increase, an 80% increase?
557
00:38:00.307 --> 00:38:06.350
And when owners begin to think in chunks rather than slices, they begin to stop optimizing a lot of things that shouldn't exist.
558
00:38:06.790 --> 00:38:08.271
And they just focus on the big rocks.
559
00:38:08.311 --> 00:38:09.792
They just focus on the big fish.
560
00:38:10.532 --> 00:38:12.073
All the other stuff becomes noise.
561
00:38:12.433 --> 00:38:15.995
That to-do list you have that's 30, 40, 50 things deep.
562
00:38:16.795 --> 00:38:22.758
There's like one or two things on that to-do list that probably actually needs to occur for your business to go scale.
563
00:38:23.258 --> 00:38:24.819
And those are the things you need to focus on.
564
00:38:26.290 --> 00:38:27.351
You said rocks there.
565
00:38:27.391 --> 00:38:32.357
I'm curious, what are your thoughts on these operating systems that exist?
566
00:38:32.777 --> 00:38:40.966
You know, you've got EOS, you've got scaling up, you've got metronomics, you've got 4DX, you've got and fill in the blank and fill in the blank and fill in the blank.
567
00:38:41.327 --> 00:38:43.569
You know, I'm curious.
568
00:38:44.510 --> 00:38:45.431
What are your thoughts on these?
569
00:38:46.171 --> 00:38:48.332
I think that they're necessary for those that need it.
570
00:38:48.893 --> 00:38:52.275
I think not all leaders are created equally.
571
00:38:52.315 --> 00:38:55.557
Some leaders just bring that operating system with them.
572
00:38:56.097 --> 00:38:58.859
They have the organization, they have the experience, et cetera.
573
00:38:59.439 --> 00:39:02.060
And so they can roll it out how they need to do so.
574
00:39:02.481 --> 00:39:06.223
And there's some leaders that say, oh, no, I'd love a little more structure.
575
00:39:06.263 --> 00:39:07.604
I'd love a little more organization.
576
00:39:07.644 --> 00:39:13.127
So I think for the right people, they can be amazing tools and amazing assets.
577
00:39:13.347 --> 00:39:18.290
Can they be used in conjunction with how you advise people to scale?
578
00:39:18.310 --> 00:39:19.071
Yeah, absolutely.
579
00:39:19.311 --> 00:39:29.958
A majority of our members in scaling.com, maybe I shouldn't say majority, but a large percent of them use EOS or some form of operating system and they complement each other well.
580
00:39:30.418 --> 00:39:30.678
Okay.
581
00:39:32.358 --> 00:39:39.581
You don't have to tell me this for sure, but I mean, would you guys ever consider or have you considered making your own operating system?
582
00:39:39.621 --> 00:39:42.142
We have, we have considered.
583
00:39:42.282 --> 00:39:48.524
The thing we're always balancing, because we get approached all the time, let's do this partnership, add this, et cetera.
584
00:39:49.064 --> 00:39:52.325
So we're always balancing, does that stay true to who we are?
585
00:39:52.965 --> 00:39:56.247
Which is we are the world's authority on scaling.
586
00:39:56.287 --> 00:40:00.008
We want to be able to advise companies and teach them how to exponentially scale.
587
00:40:02.573 --> 00:40:05.854
is an operating system, is it aligned with that or misaligned with that?
588
00:40:05.874 --> 00:40:16.039
And so those are the ways that we constantly see opportunity as of right now with what we're trying to do, because we wanna stay focused on nailing what we're currently optimizing for.
589
00:40:16.539 --> 00:40:20.500
An operating system is not on the timeline.
590
00:40:20.520 --> 00:40:21.661
So you practice what you preach.
591
00:40:22.001 --> 00:40:22.941
I guess you could say that.
592
00:40:22.961 --> 00:40:23.842
Okay, okay.
593
00:40:25.223 --> 00:40:36.732
Um, I'm curious, what's the hardest thing if looking back on the businesses that you've had or the business that you have now, what's the hardest thing that you've had to cut that you knew was good?
594
00:40:37.833 --> 00:40:41.736
But maybe it wasn't good enough or it didn't serve what we're talking about here.
595
00:40:42.417 --> 00:40:43.378
People always.
596
00:40:44.759 --> 00:40:45.420
Tell me more about that.
597
00:40:45.480 --> 00:40:46.240
The worst, dude.
598
00:40:46.320 --> 00:40:47.421
I mean, you know it.
599
00:40:47.682 --> 00:40:47.802
Yeah.
600
00:40:48.242 --> 00:40:55.849
There's nothing worse than letting go of someone that's been so loyal to you, that's loved you, was there through thick and thin.
601
00:40:55.889 --> 00:40:58.090
I mean, we all have a hundred stories.
602
00:40:58.111 --> 00:40:59.832
Yeah.
603
00:41:00.227 --> 00:41:09.091
But the true reality at the end of the day is you could have the most amazing person, but if they don't bring results, you cannot keep them in your company.
604
00:41:09.111 --> 00:41:10.472
And I've done that so much.
605
00:41:11.272 --> 00:41:14.774
I've kept the person for years and years and years.
606
00:41:15.814 --> 00:41:18.275
And when I do that, I'm serving two masters.
607
00:41:18.375 --> 00:41:21.597
I'm serving him and I'm not serving my company.
608
00:41:22.277 --> 00:41:28.880
And the opportunity cost is that, that is a cost to all my clients, all of my company, anyone that works with us.
609
00:41:29.278 --> 00:41:34.681
Somebody who's stuck in that spot that you're talking about, I've been there, you just said you've been there.
610
00:41:35.041 --> 00:41:42.025
What advice would you give them to make this decision sooner rather than later?
611
00:41:43.425 --> 00:41:44.526
This simple formula.
612
00:41:44.646 --> 00:41:46.247
Anytime you operate below the floor.
613
00:41:47.658 --> 00:41:54.463
It is a 10x cost to the potential upside of operating above the floor.
614
00:41:55.224 --> 00:42:09.415
So your employee that you're just keeping because you're scared to have the conversation, by not firing him, it's actually a 10x cost to the potential upside or reward of the business if you had the right person in.
615
00:42:10.595 --> 00:42:21.963
And so just truly quantifying the true damage of your lack of being able to be willing to make that decision.
616
00:42:24.625 --> 00:42:34.992
What about actionable tactics for actually doing it and having the conversation, being in the room, looking them in the eye and telling them that this is the direction you're going?
617
00:42:35.553 --> 00:42:38.495
Yeah, hopefully there's no head of HRs listening to this podcast.
618
00:42:38.515 --> 00:42:39.135
Yeah.
619
00:42:39.817 --> 00:42:42.298
Because they will advise you much better than I.
620
00:42:42.358 --> 00:42:47.120
But what I have found is brutal truth and honesty.
621
00:42:47.140 --> 00:42:48.441
There's no other way.
622
00:42:48.461 --> 00:42:52.002
It's just tell them in one sentence why you need to let go of them.
623
00:42:52.722 --> 00:43:03.749
and they may not like it, and then tell them that you're so thankful for them, and you'll write them any letter of recommendation that you need, and you're always going to be there to serve them.
624
00:43:04.530 --> 00:43:05.190
And that's all you can do.
625
00:43:05.230 --> 00:43:06.731
You can't control their reaction.
626
00:43:06.771 --> 00:43:10.914
You can't control their response to it, but you can always give them the truth.
627
00:43:11.074 --> 00:43:11.234
Yeah.
628
00:43:11.757 --> 00:43:13.417
Yeah, and do it early.
629
00:43:14.037 --> 00:43:14.297
Yeah.
630
00:43:14.337 --> 00:43:18.458
In my experience, they know when they're sitting down for the meeting that there's a problem.
631
00:43:18.498 --> 00:43:21.759
Don't drag it on, don't sugarcoat it, don't walk around it, dance around it.
632
00:43:22.679 --> 00:43:24.679
Candor is kindness if used correctly.
633
00:43:24.699 --> 00:43:27.100
Amen.
634
00:43:27.460 --> 00:43:34.461
On that same vein, I've fired people where they were like, dude, this was coming out of nowhere, I can't believe this.
635
00:43:35.561 --> 00:43:38.722
And that's a reflection of incredibly poor leadership on my part.
636
00:43:38.882 --> 00:43:39.142
Why?
637
00:43:40.231 --> 00:43:45.293
is because how come I didn't tell him a month ago, three months ago, four months ago, that, hey, I need to see this change.
638
00:43:45.333 --> 00:43:46.574
I need to see this behavior change.
639
00:43:47.314 --> 00:43:48.395
I didn't even give him the chance.
640
00:43:48.915 --> 00:43:49.775
I just fired him.
641
00:43:50.556 --> 00:43:55.498
And so if you want to be a poor leader like me in those circumstances, don't do that.
642
00:43:55.658 --> 00:43:57.519
But be rigorous with them.
643
00:43:57.779 --> 00:43:58.759
Be candid with them.
644
00:43:59.039 --> 00:44:00.520
Love them enough to tell them the truth.
645
00:44:01.020 --> 00:44:01.941
Let them correct.
646
00:44:02.561 --> 00:44:08.343
Be honest and straightforward with them so they have the opportunity to progress.
647
00:44:08.383 --> 00:44:09.444
And if they can't, then they can't.
648
00:44:09.655 --> 00:44:09.855
Yeah.
649
00:44:11.117 --> 00:44:12.558
I love that you said that.
650
00:44:13.139 --> 00:44:14.480
My team knows that I have a rule.
651
00:44:14.520 --> 00:44:17.663
My executive team, my middle management team, they know that I have a rule.
652
00:44:18.224 --> 00:44:24.691
And it's the only requirement that I have for firing somebody is that they have to know it's coming.
653
00:44:25.122 --> 00:44:27.883
Mm, that's phenomenal rule of thumb, by the way.
654
00:44:27.903 --> 00:44:30.104
If you're listening to this, that must be a rule of thumb.
655
00:44:30.364 --> 00:44:32.305
It is, because it speaks exactly to that.
656
00:44:32.445 --> 00:44:36.206
I, my job as the leader of my organization is to breed more leaders.
657
00:44:37.007 --> 00:44:42.229
And so I can't have them operating from a place like that where someone is completely dumbfounded.
658
00:44:42.249 --> 00:44:44.229
That means that they weren't ever held accountable.
659
00:44:44.369 --> 00:44:46.430
It means that they weren't ever coached.
660
00:44:46.630 --> 00:44:49.151
It means a whole lot of things, right?
661
00:44:49.171 --> 00:44:53.293
Because if they were, and if the proper expectations were set,
662
00:44:53.993 --> 00:44:55.454
then they wouldn't be surprised.
663
00:44:56.094 --> 00:44:56.434
Amen.
664
00:44:57.354 --> 00:44:58.635
But it doesn't make it any easier.
665
00:44:58.995 --> 00:45:04.517
And I intentionally did not ask you, how can you make this easier, Blake?
666
00:45:04.957 --> 00:45:06.818
Because that is the wrong question.
667
00:45:07.158 --> 00:45:08.199
Right?
668
00:45:08.499 --> 00:45:12.480
And the blunt point with that is it will never be easy.
669
00:45:12.881 --> 00:45:15.121
Do it anyway if you need to.
670
00:45:15.622 --> 00:45:15.902
Yeah.
671
00:45:16.442 --> 00:45:16.582
Yeah.
672
00:45:18.279 --> 00:45:23.261
How do you tell the difference between something that you should eliminate and something you just haven't figured out yet?
673
00:45:23.321 --> 00:45:25.321
This one comes from my psyche.
674
00:45:25.501 --> 00:45:26.262
I've been in here.
675
00:45:26.322 --> 00:45:34.804
There's this clouded state sometimes, and I ebb and flow between, you know, okay, I need to get rid of it.
676
00:45:35.424 --> 00:45:36.445
But wait, do I?
677
00:45:37.165 --> 00:45:38.325
Am I making the right decision?
678
00:45:39.126 --> 00:45:43.447
Have I just not given it enough of my attention, enough effort?
679
00:45:44.943 --> 00:45:45.964
Such a great question.
680
00:45:46.264 --> 00:45:48.065
If you have an example, bring it to the table.
681
00:45:48.886 --> 00:45:54.609
My immediate reaction is if it's required to solve in order to accomplish the goal, then stay in it.
682
00:45:55.129 --> 00:45:57.551
And if it's not, then fast fold.
683
00:45:57.791 --> 00:45:58.592
I do have an example.
684
00:45:58.732 --> 00:46:01.754
Let's do restructuring.
685
00:46:01.834 --> 00:46:06.877
I did a restructuring in my business not long ago, about a year ago, 18 months now.
686
00:46:08.572 --> 00:46:09.692
And personnel wise.
687
00:46:09.773 --> 00:46:10.093
Yeah.
688
00:46:10.193 --> 00:46:10.593
Yeah.
689
00:46:10.653 --> 00:46:15.374
Personnel wise, a new hierarchy, essentially flattened the model a little bit.
690
00:46:15.594 --> 00:46:17.375
Our old model wasn't wasn't scalable.
691
00:46:19.856 --> 00:46:20.896
And in the interim.
692
00:46:22.777 --> 00:46:27.718
I'm asking myself, and this is probably a bad example, because I'm still in the construction phase.
693
00:46:28.399 --> 00:46:30.779
But I can tell this is going to creep up.
694
00:46:31.380 --> 00:46:32.400
When do I know?
695
00:46:33.861 --> 00:46:39.628
If that restructuring was the right move or if I need to restructure again, make a different decision.
696
00:46:39.648 --> 00:46:40.930
What's the goal of the restructure?
697
00:46:41.230 --> 00:46:41.831
Scalability.
698
00:46:44.834 --> 00:46:49.660
What led you to believe that the way you were restructuring was going to create the scalability?
699
00:46:49.680 --> 00:46:49.780
Yeah.
700
00:46:53.002 --> 00:47:06.593
the way that the communication flowed through the hierarchy and the rate in which it happened as well as the capacity for the leaders in each of those departments.
701
00:47:07.294 --> 00:47:09.296
And since you've done so, what's your conclusion?
702
00:47:12.438 --> 00:47:13.479
I'm about to say this publicly.
703
00:47:13.499 --> 00:47:17.863
Some of the people,
704
00:47:20.973 --> 00:47:24.515
that I gave opportunities to in the new system are probably the wrong people.
705
00:47:26.356 --> 00:47:39.603
I still at this point believe in the structure, the model, but the consequence of doing this in an organization is that you have two choices.
706
00:47:40.663 --> 00:47:47.167
You start fresh and you let the people go that weren't hired to be in the positions that you've not created.
707
00:47:48.390 --> 00:47:57.974
Or you give those people an opportunity to thrive in those positions, set proper expectations, and hold them accountable accordingly.
708
00:47:58.734 --> 00:47:59.475
I chose the latter.
709
00:48:01.255 --> 00:48:02.176
Some of them are still there.
710
00:48:02.616 --> 00:48:02.716
Hmm.
711
00:48:06.677 --> 00:48:09.218
So if I think about, you have the book gap and the gain right here.
712
00:48:09.838 --> 00:48:15.319
If I think about the gain from this, is it exposed something that you may not have seen prior to?
713
00:48:18.020 --> 00:48:21.160
And you couldn't have known if you didn't go this route.
714
00:48:21.180 --> 00:48:21.920
So that's the gain.
715
00:48:23.481 --> 00:48:33.163
If the problem you were attempting to solve has been proven that that model is going to solve that,
716
00:48:34.417 --> 00:48:35.498
then you did it right.
717
00:48:35.578 --> 00:48:36.118
You did it right.
718
00:48:37.019 --> 00:48:39.521
Oftentimes when you make a change, there's going to be pivots.
719
00:48:39.541 --> 00:48:40.622
There's going to be refinements.
720
00:48:41.082 --> 00:48:48.067
It sounds like the overarching model change is the right direction and it exposed some gaps and some flaws.
721
00:48:48.728 --> 00:48:52.851
And if you can fill in those gaps and flaws, then overall you're going to accomplish that the goal you have.
722
00:48:53.491 --> 00:48:56.133
Now I need to practice the previous thing we were talking about.
723
00:48:56.153 --> 00:48:56.513
Yeah.
724
00:48:56.553 --> 00:48:57.454
So great.
725
00:48:57.754 --> 00:48:59.556
All right, let's move on because that's making me uncomfortable.
726
00:48:59.576 --> 00:49:00.196
Yeah.
727
00:49:01.302 --> 00:49:04.705
But actually, let's stay on the topic of culture for a minute at least.
728
00:49:05.546 --> 00:49:11.953
The floor, I don't remember if this was in the book that I read this or if it was in one of the interviews that I researched.
729
00:49:12.694 --> 00:49:15.657
But somewhere it was said that the floor becomes the culture.
730
00:49:18.039 --> 00:49:21.683
What you're willing to tolerate is actually the ceiling.
731
00:49:21.703 --> 00:49:21.823
Right.
732
00:49:22.892 --> 00:49:24.753
of your company from what I gather.
733
00:49:25.333 --> 00:49:33.495
And I have a phrase that I like to use and bestow upon my team that you attract what you tolerate.
734
00:49:33.695 --> 00:49:34.235
100%.
735
00:49:35.256 --> 00:49:40.437
So help me understand the role of culture between floor and ceiling.
736
00:49:43.498 --> 00:49:46.379
So the culture overall is the character of your organization.
737
00:49:48.608 --> 00:49:51.309
And that is shown in many different ways.
738
00:49:51.569 --> 00:50:08.773
And every customer interaction, your character of your organization is shown, your culture is shown, your response time, like how quick you respond, the way that you greet, the way that you communicate, the people you hire, the meetings you have, are they punctual, the way that people dress.
739
00:50:09.373 --> 00:50:15.435
Like the floor literally is shown in everything that exists.
740
00:50:16.922 --> 00:50:22.184
And so how all of that operates is what produces your culture.
741
00:50:22.204 --> 00:50:25.805
And so if you tolerate people showing up late, that will become the culture.
742
00:50:25.845 --> 00:50:27.826
If you don't, then that will become the culture.
743
00:50:28.987 --> 00:50:42.732
And so being the leader that's willing to be rigorous enough to communicate, show, exemplify what things cannot be tolerated and what can is what creates exponential culture.
744
00:50:42.752 --> 00:50:44.333
Let me give you an amazing example.
745
00:50:44.373 --> 00:50:44.553
Please.
746
00:50:46.270 --> 00:50:49.051
If you're a college football fan, everybody will know the name Nick Saban.
747
00:50:49.911 --> 00:51:00.114
And he was over the Alabama dynasty for 15 plus years, won seven national championships, 50 plus first round draft picks, undefeated seasons, everything you could think about.
748
00:51:01.354 --> 00:51:11.937
What was interesting about Nick is everybody said the reason why Nick won is not because of he was a brilliant football coach.
749
00:51:13.518 --> 00:51:17.207
it was because his floor was higher than most teams' ceilings.
750
00:51:18.290 --> 00:51:19.854
And so what he expected...
751
00:51:20.797 --> 00:51:28.261
And what he tolerated was significantly higher than what most teams expected.
752
00:51:29.042 --> 00:51:46.912
Head coaches that worked with him that have now gone on to be head coaches would say the reason why Nick wins is because every drill, every play, every down, every whistle mattered and he didn't let anything slide.
753
00:51:47.692 --> 00:51:50.657
And so because of that, that compounds you go and win championships.
754
00:51:51.438 --> 00:51:52.800
And so it's the same in your business.
755
00:51:54.068 --> 00:52:00.112
If you let things slide, if you turn the other cheek, you're communicating to your team every single time you do so.
756
00:52:00.913 --> 00:52:04.875
And every time you choose to actually address it, you're also communicating to your team.
757
00:52:04.895 --> 00:52:12.661
And so what are the things that you're communicating by what you're saying and not saying what you're turning your cheek to and not is ultimately what's going to determine the culture.
758
00:52:13.121 --> 00:52:21.227
And if you want to go win, if you want to go scale, people need to have a really, really high floor and tolerate very little room for error.
759
00:52:21.587 --> 00:52:21.667
Oh.
760
00:52:23.107 --> 00:52:23.807
That's so good.
761
00:52:24.908 --> 00:52:33.693
And I'm going to, I'm going to ask a question now as it relates to my industry and I'm not sure how many clients that you have work in the blue collar skilled trades.
762
00:52:34.754 --> 00:52:40.437
So you're aware of the labor shortage and how difficult it is to find good technicians.
763
00:52:40.477 --> 00:52:51.444
There's this fear that floats around in my industry of, well, I need to tolerate more than I normally would lest I lose the people I need to scale my business.
764
00:52:55.406 --> 00:52:57.988
This is a dance, man.
765
00:52:58.368 --> 00:53:05.492
Help me and my blue-collar audience understand what the variance intolerance is.
766
00:53:06.733 --> 00:53:14.637
Man, this is the permanent question that will always be asked in the blue-collar space.
767
00:53:15.398 --> 00:53:20.320
So I'm currently coming from a keynote of a cleaning company where they have technicians.
768
00:53:20.340 --> 00:53:21.421
Yeah.
769
00:53:21.601 --> 00:53:26.342
The overarching issue always with technicians is how do I get good ones and then how do I retain them?
770
00:53:28.242 --> 00:53:30.403
It's the same in this space.
771
00:53:30.423 --> 00:53:33.183
And so here's my reaction to what you said.
772
00:53:39.585 --> 00:53:51.107
The way that you can win, even in a shortage, even when supply is low, is become the most attractive option.
773
00:53:53.220 --> 00:53:54.720
And there's a couple ways to do so.
774
00:53:54.740 --> 00:53:56.001
And I'll name two here.
775
00:53:56.881 --> 00:54:04.863
One is people want to be attracted to an organization that scales, period.
776
00:54:06.463 --> 00:54:08.704
Like winners want to be on winning teams.
777
00:54:09.404 --> 00:54:13.285
And so if you are not winning, you're going to have a really hard time attracting winners.
778
00:54:14.045 --> 00:54:19.427
And so the reason why SpaceX can recruit anybody is because they're going for an impossible goal.
779
00:54:20.985 --> 00:54:26.691
And so are you going for a goal big enough that gets people, winners excited to come be with you?
780
00:54:27.552 --> 00:54:29.394
Secondly, winners want to hang out with winners.
781
00:54:29.594 --> 00:54:36.582
And so if you attract an A player into your organization, but everybody else is a B player, that A player is going to be gone within 90 days.
782
00:54:38.515 --> 00:54:44.457
And then third, are you differentiated enough that you truly set yourself apart in the industry?
783
00:54:44.517 --> 00:54:52.981
So if I'm in HVAC, what's different about my culture, my organization, what we do, what we offer versus the other 99 out there?
784
00:54:53.761 --> 00:54:55.722
And so those are some of the levers to pull.
785
00:54:56.710 --> 00:54:58.712
to make yourself the most attractive option.
786
00:54:59.292 --> 00:55:02.255
And notice how I didn't say anything about paying there.
787
00:55:03.516 --> 00:55:15.125
That's of course a lever to pull, but there are ways to set yourself apart mission wise, vision wise, culture wise, people wise, that makes you the most attractive option.
788
00:55:19.528 --> 00:55:20.289
Chicken or the egg?
789
00:55:20.309 --> 00:55:20.409
Yeah.
790
00:55:21.810 --> 00:55:26.492
When people are attracted to scaling, but you need those people to scale.
791
00:55:28.213 --> 00:55:29.293
Put the car before the horse.
792
00:55:29.393 --> 00:55:32.075
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
793
00:55:32.195 --> 00:55:33.255
How does one do that?
794
00:55:33.395 --> 00:55:37.397
Is it in the projection of the vision from the leader?
795
00:55:39.098 --> 00:55:46.041
So the Starbucks CEO said one of the main roles of a good CEO is you're the storyteller of the company.
796
00:55:48.145 --> 00:55:50.886
And I mean, think every, every one of us started at zero.
797
00:55:51.846 --> 00:55:53.606
So how did we get our first people?
798
00:55:53.646 --> 00:55:54.746
How do we get our first clients?
799
00:55:54.766 --> 00:55:56.847
How do we get the best people that work for us?
800
00:55:57.247 --> 00:55:58.947
It was always painting a future vision.
801
00:55:59.547 --> 00:56:03.048
And so never stop painting that future vision, never stop telling an unbelievable story.
802
00:56:03.488 --> 00:56:14.850
Never, never continue to display that you are going for the moon shot, that you are going to land the man on the moon, whatever your version of that is in your company.
803
00:56:18.498 --> 00:56:19.918
This resonates for me right now.
804
00:56:20.159 --> 00:56:23.700
I'm working, so candidly, I'm working with a speech coach.
805
00:56:24.420 --> 00:56:24.940
That's awesome.
806
00:56:24.960 --> 00:56:31.642
To help me communicate better and ultimately to become a better storyteller.
807
00:56:31.662 --> 00:56:38.824
I have some incredible friends that can tell these stories that you just want to get closer.
808
00:56:39.605 --> 00:56:43.206
And I've always really admired that ability.
809
00:56:44.355 --> 00:56:46.697
So I'm really trying to hone in on that.
810
00:56:47.237 --> 00:56:49.719
And now I'm finding another application of it.
811
00:56:49.819 --> 00:56:56.825
Because when you said that the CEO is the storyteller of the business, like I didn't think I didn't look at it from that angle before.
812
00:56:57.185 --> 00:56:59.167
But geez, it makes so much sense.
813
00:57:00.448 --> 00:57:01.008
That's amazing.
814
00:57:03.210 --> 00:57:09.015
What's a truth that took you years to fully understand, but changed everything once you did?
815
00:57:11.854 --> 00:57:14.295
I can only be as good as I am humble.
816
00:57:16.256 --> 00:57:17.236
I'll let that one breathe.
817
00:57:21.238 --> 00:57:27.480
I did a podcast three months ago with David Meltzer.
818
00:57:27.500 --> 00:57:28.501
Do you know who David Meltzer is?
819
00:57:30.582 --> 00:57:34.883
He told me, Josh, you're either humble or you're, you're about to be.
820
00:57:35.604 --> 00:57:38.545
And that's what that reminds me of.
821
00:57:39.354 --> 00:57:40.795
Scriptures say the same.
822
00:57:40.995 --> 00:57:42.977
Yeah, that's powerful.
823
00:57:47.240 --> 00:57:48.000
This one's for me.
824
00:57:48.781 --> 00:57:50.722
You play at a different level now.
825
00:57:50.802 --> 00:57:51.603
You've leveled up.
826
00:57:53.785 --> 00:58:00.169
What has playing at this level cost the people closest to you?
827
00:58:02.431 --> 00:58:03.752
And how do you reckon with that?
828
00:58:04.693 --> 00:58:05.974
There's always a price.
829
00:58:06.014 --> 00:58:07.775
The greater the game, the higher the price.
830
00:58:07.795 --> 00:58:07.955
Yeah.
831
00:58:10.850 --> 00:58:16.954
And that's useful when the price really hurts sometimes.
832
00:58:18.095 --> 00:58:25.579
When your favorite employee leaves or you lost the big contract, the bigger the game, the higher the price.
833
00:58:27.621 --> 00:58:33.764
I've got an unbelievable wife who's seen very little of me for the last while, and I have three kids under three.
834
00:58:36.286 --> 00:58:39.448
And I have other demands and other aspects of my life.
835
00:58:41.590 --> 00:58:46.453
And it's created dilution in those aspects.
836
00:58:47.733 --> 00:58:56.658
I might not be able to be the extent of the husband that I would like to be, or at least the time that I could do it.
837
00:58:57.018 --> 00:59:00.580
Same as a father, possibly as a member of my church.
838
00:59:02.561 --> 00:59:05.883
And so I don't optimize for balance in this time period.
839
00:59:05.903 --> 00:59:07.383
I just optimize for harmony.
840
00:59:08.844 --> 00:59:10.065
And I'm interested in...
841
00:59:12.041 --> 00:59:21.313
due to having a lack of quantity time, how I can just intensely make the quality time that I do have count.
842
00:59:22.995 --> 00:59:28.161
And that's something that served me, but also alignment's the only way to win.
843
00:59:29.242 --> 00:59:36.328
for my wife and I, it's constantly being aligned and recognizing that this is a season that we have to take to the extreme.
844
00:59:36.388 --> 00:59:53.320
And I don't think 20 years from now, 10 years from now, it's going to be the same season and being able to, to ride with the mission and being willing to pay the price for the mission to be accomplished.
845
00:59:55.006 --> 00:59:59.089
To me, that speaks to presence and the quality of presence.
846
01:00:00.410 --> 01:00:01.210
Be where your feet are.
847
01:00:01.410 --> 01:00:01.671
Yeah.
848
01:00:02.851 --> 01:00:03.052
Right?
849
01:00:03.352 --> 01:00:10.096
And this is something that I've had to reconcile, too, over the years growing my business, having young kids and a wife.
850
01:00:10.197 --> 01:00:19.043
And, you know, I've also noticed other things, too, is sometimes the higher you climb, the more you realize –
851
01:00:20.295 --> 01:00:24.137
the people you thought were cheering for you were actually trying to keep you stuck.
852
01:00:25.317 --> 01:00:37.743
Maybe not intentionally, maybe it wasn't out of malice, but they liked the small version of you, not the version that climbed the mountain and got the view.
853
01:00:40.084 --> 01:00:41.725
How do you handle those people?
854
01:00:43.386 --> 01:00:45.607
Can I ask you to share an experience that you've had with that?
855
01:00:47.156 --> 01:00:47.436
Sure.
856
01:00:47.697 --> 01:00:47.877
Yeah.
857
01:00:47.937 --> 01:01:05.190
So, and we've since reconciled, but I had a situation with a sibling that some of the perceptions that they had of me and my success were incorrect.
858
01:01:06.932 --> 01:01:12.076
And they came from, well, I'm not going to speculate where they came from, but...
859
01:01:14.406 --> 01:01:18.708
it seemed to have a lot to do with the success that I've achieved.
860
01:01:20.468 --> 01:01:21.909
I bet everyone resonates with that.
861
01:01:23.650 --> 01:01:27.671
The cliche quote, what got you here won't get you there is true also with people.
862
01:01:29.232 --> 01:01:31.793
And it's not, Oh, I'm so successful.
863
01:01:31.833 --> 01:01:34.314
So I forget the people that were in my life.
864
01:01:34.394 --> 01:01:39.275
It's just the recognition of some of the people that got you here.
865
01:01:39.315 --> 01:01:40.676
Won't want to see you get there.
866
01:01:42.176 --> 01:01:43.277
And, um, um,
867
01:01:44.798 --> 01:01:47.101
You can't control that.
868
01:01:47.801 --> 01:01:52.427
And so if you can just detach from actually caring about
869
01:01:54.045 --> 01:02:02.430
what they think, but being fully committed to like you being fully aligned with who you need to be and who you're becoming.
870
01:02:03.691 --> 01:02:23.542
Um, I think, I think that's the only way to operate because I've, I've spent my whole life worrying about making sure everyone's in good standing with me, or there's no contention or we're all aligned and, uh, it's just exhausting and, and not realistic.
871
01:02:25.055 --> 01:02:29.038
That's a realization I came to probably a little too late in life.
872
01:02:32.501 --> 01:02:38.507
In the same vein, I put a lot of pressure on me to take care of those around me.
873
01:02:38.527 --> 01:02:40.188
And...
874
01:02:41.495 --> 01:02:43.856
Almost to the point where I put others before me.
875
01:02:44.416 --> 01:02:44.816
Totally.
876
01:02:45.037 --> 01:02:55.141
You know, and I think that may be a consequence of maybe my generation or just being a man in today's society.
877
01:02:55.281 --> 01:02:55.661
I don't know.
878
01:02:55.701 --> 01:03:00.183
There could be a lot of reasons, you know, and we're not going to unpack this whole thing.
879
01:03:00.203 --> 01:03:01.503
You know, I'm not a therapist.
880
01:03:02.064 --> 01:03:02.384
But...
881
01:03:03.179 --> 01:03:14.108
I think it's important for people out there to hear because I do think this is common and I think it's common among men, right, that they feel a sense of responsibility to take care of those around them.
882
01:03:14.128 --> 01:03:19.453
And I'm not talking about just monetarily, financially, by providing.
883
01:03:19.653 --> 01:03:24.097
I'm talking about offer emotional support and security to people.
884
01:03:24.838 --> 01:03:30.963
But unfortunately, sometimes, I mean, to your point, sometimes.
885
01:03:32.043 --> 01:03:37.205
I shouldn't say sometimes you can't control what other people think you can't make a relationship happen.
886
01:03:37.305 --> 01:03:37.525
Yeah.
887
01:03:37.885 --> 01:03:42.246
You can only control how you show up and what you do, right?
888
01:03:42.286 --> 01:03:51.029
And, and, and what you chase and how you react to when somebody does show a side of themselves that maybe you didn't expect.
889
01:03:55.250 --> 01:03:57.511
I bring it up because sometimes people,
890
01:03:59.485 --> 01:04:01.506
think that success changes you.
891
01:04:01.886 --> 01:04:02.106
Right.
892
01:04:02.386 --> 01:04:03.547
I don't believe that's true.
893
01:04:04.007 --> 01:04:07.728
I believe success puts a spotlight on who you already were.
894
01:04:08.609 --> 01:04:08.929
Amen.
895
01:04:10.170 --> 01:04:11.050
It magnifies you.
896
01:04:13.991 --> 01:04:18.193
What's the version of impossible that you haven't said out loud yet?
897
01:04:22.335 --> 01:04:23.335
It's a good place to say it.
898
01:04:27.456 --> 01:04:29.541
Just like 1 plus 1 equals 2.
899
01:04:31.630 --> 01:04:41.475
Our version of impossible is to be able to fully, scientifically understand what one plus one equals two is and exponentially scaling your business.
900
01:04:43.135 --> 01:04:46.077
And that's our version of impossible.
901
01:04:46.397 --> 01:04:56.582
Truly have the formula and the exact steps of if you do this, you will exponentially scale.
902
01:04:56.602 --> 01:04:57.482
I think we're on the brink of that.
903
01:04:59.340 --> 01:04:59.941
That's cool, man.
904
01:04:59.961 --> 01:05:02.526
What, what gets you, what lights you up right now?
905
01:05:03.228 --> 01:05:05.152
What lights you up most?
906
01:05:05.633 --> 01:05:06.334
Like I,
907
01:05:08.439 --> 01:05:13.481
there's a quote that says, the most spiritual thing you'll ever experience is the pursuit of going for impossible.
908
01:05:14.301 --> 01:05:15.882
And that's my life.
909
01:05:16.102 --> 01:05:22.504
Like the most fulfilled, the most lit up I've ever been is in the pursuit of something that's like, I don't know how to make it happen.
910
01:05:23.005 --> 01:05:23.805
I don't know how to do it.
911
01:05:23.825 --> 01:05:24.105
I don't know.
912
01:05:24.725 --> 01:05:29.587
And then watching it unfold, watching miracles happen, watching pieces, people come in.
913
01:05:30.367 --> 01:05:36.770
And like, that is the greatest testament of God that I've ever experienced in my life.
914
01:05:37.550 --> 01:05:40.892
And so that's what lights me up, man.
915
01:05:41.212 --> 01:05:48.137
I desire to serve people so deeply and we're so interested in actually creating results.
916
01:05:48.737 --> 01:05:50.138
We're not interested in the fluff.
917
01:05:51.219 --> 01:06:00.324
And hearing the Cody story, those are the things that, I mean, I just want hundreds of thousands of those.
918
01:06:01.325 --> 01:06:02.506
Talk to me about results.
919
01:06:03.086 --> 01:06:03.726
There's this...
920
01:06:04.966 --> 01:06:12.788
Idea I have in my mind, and I'm, if I'm being perfectly transparent, I'm in the middle of trying to figure this out for myself.
921
01:06:15.048 --> 01:06:24.670
The idea has been posed to me recently that you can want that big outcome, that achievement, that result.
922
01:06:25.250 --> 01:06:33.152
But if you don't fall in love with how to achieve it, the journey, the work, that it's a fool's errand.
923
01:06:34.825 --> 01:06:41.750
somebody can want to be a rock star, but be miserable practicing playing the guitar 10 hours a day.
924
01:06:45.112 --> 01:06:47.033
Where do you fall in, in that?
925
01:06:47.133 --> 01:06:49.234
How would you define that for you?
926
01:06:51.016 --> 01:06:53.797
I'm not a huge follow your passion guy.
927
01:06:54.037 --> 01:06:59.341
And at the same time, I do believe where you will find the most fulfillment is,
928
01:07:00.985 --> 01:07:09.092
an expression of yourself is finding the thing where you're so committed to the goal and so aligned with the process.
929
01:07:10.293 --> 01:07:18.379
Where if you think of the greatest artists of all time, they would do it for fun, right?
930
01:07:18.419 --> 01:07:19.960
Like they would paint all day long.
931
01:07:20.020 --> 01:07:24.024
They would study music, play music, sing all day long.
932
01:07:25.518 --> 01:07:29.822
And I think that's the greatest expression of alignment that you can find.
933
01:07:29.882 --> 01:07:36.808
And so my advice would be for the rare ones to actually go out and find that, to find that.
934
01:07:37.549 --> 01:07:44.135
And oftentimes most don't have the luxury of discovering that, but it's a worthwhile pursuit to do so.
935
01:07:44.155 --> 01:07:44.696
Yeah.
936
01:07:45.717 --> 01:07:47.899
What do you love most about the work that you do?
937
01:07:48.724 --> 01:07:49.586
I love people, man.
938
01:07:49.727 --> 01:07:49.927
Yeah.
939
01:07:49.947 --> 01:07:53.115
So prior to this business, I was in door-door sales.
940
01:07:53.156 --> 01:07:56.344
I managed over 1,200 people in a five-year time span.
941
01:07:56.364 --> 01:07:56.444
Wow.
942
01:07:57.752 --> 01:08:01.616
I literally showed up to work, dealt with people all day, went home, no paperwork, nothing.
943
01:08:02.517 --> 01:08:04.860
And that's the best part.
944
01:08:05.060 --> 01:08:06.361
I love creating relationships.
945
01:08:06.401 --> 01:08:07.983
I love understanding where people are coming from.
946
01:08:08.023 --> 01:08:09.745
I love seeing where they go.
947
01:08:09.865 --> 01:08:11.447
And then I love helping them bridge the gap.
948
01:08:12.227 --> 01:08:16.172
And I think every business, that is what they do.
949
01:08:16.792 --> 01:08:18.974
They help their people understand if it's plumbing.
950
01:08:19.535 --> 01:08:20.316
I've got this fixed.
951
01:08:20.696 --> 01:08:21.457
I don't want it fixed.
952
01:08:22.117 --> 01:08:22.798
I bridge the gap.
953
01:08:22.818 --> 01:08:26.501
If it's HVAC, I need incredible air conditioning, whatever it might be.
954
01:08:27.001 --> 01:08:28.843
You bridge the gap from where they're at and where they want to go.
955
01:08:29.303 --> 01:08:31.745
And you must find fulfillment in bridging that gap.
956
01:08:32.266 --> 01:08:33.307
And that's what that is for me.
957
01:08:34.267 --> 01:08:38.251
Specifically the gap between people, like who they are and who they can become.
958
01:08:38.271 --> 01:08:38.491
Yeah.
959
01:08:39.768 --> 01:08:41.271
Let's stay on that for just a second.
960
01:08:42.553 --> 01:08:47.242
How do you tell, and this is something, again, like I know I'm putting myself out there a lot in this episode.
961
01:08:47.302 --> 01:08:47.803
No, I'm glad.
962
01:08:47.823 --> 01:08:48.304
It's fine.
963
01:08:48.905 --> 01:08:49.466
So...
964
01:08:50.722 --> 01:08:52.123
I have the same thing, right?
965
01:08:52.383 --> 01:08:53.324
I believe in people.
966
01:08:53.404 --> 01:08:54.885
I love to close that gap.
967
01:08:54.965 --> 01:08:57.607
I love to see the potential in others.
968
01:08:58.008 --> 01:08:59.689
That it's also been my detriment.
969
01:09:00.570 --> 01:09:04.333
I've also seen more potential in others than they see in themselves.
970
01:09:04.813 --> 01:09:11.798
And then I try to put them in positions to tap into that potential and they fall on their face and blame me for it, which they probably should.
971
01:09:13.019 --> 01:09:16.320
So how do you do that?
972
01:09:16.340 --> 01:09:16.800
I don't.
973
01:09:17.140 --> 01:09:18.760
No, tell me how you don't.
974
01:09:19.541 --> 01:09:30.423
I did at the beginning and then experience told me to not, meaning the people that are gonna go the distance are the people that want to and can go the distance.
975
01:09:30.483 --> 01:09:33.084
And those are the ones I wanna invest time in.
976
01:09:34.604 --> 01:09:39.206
For example, if you just wanted to bridge the gap and you were a coach, you would just charge people $10.
977
01:09:40.067 --> 01:09:41.507
But why do you charge them $10,000?
978
01:09:41.547 --> 01:09:42.888
Why do you charge them $100,000?
979
01:09:42.948 --> 01:09:47.530
It's because you want the person that's actually going to show up committed and fully go do it.
980
01:09:48.231 --> 01:09:55.474
And so it's less about the desire to coach and more about the desire to help the right people get the result.
981
01:09:56.355 --> 01:10:04.024
And that's, in my opinion, that's the winning formula is identifying the people that will actually pay the price to get there.
982
01:10:04.315 --> 01:10:05.516
Yeah, the right people.
983
01:10:06.097 --> 01:10:07.999
That's, I believe, the right answer.
984
01:10:08.900 --> 01:10:16.287
And that's where I've fallen short is it just didn't identify them as the right people to help.
985
01:10:16.567 --> 01:10:16.787
Yeah.
986
01:10:17.208 --> 01:10:26.797
I mean, as much as that sounds, but I want to name that and I want to say it plainly because there's people listening to this that are doing that actively right now.
987
01:10:27.558 --> 01:10:42.087
They are pouring into people and they are trying to push these people into positions that won't serve that person and won't serve the business that this person's trying to build.
988
01:10:44.108 --> 01:10:52.053
It is a vicious cycle and without awareness, without seeing this and listening to this conversation and, you know, and to your advice, it's...
989
01:10:54.151 --> 01:10:56.171
Gosh, it just, it won't work.
990
01:10:56.632 --> 01:10:58.132
There's no other way to say it, right?
991
01:10:58.472 --> 01:10:58.812
Amen.
992
01:10:58.932 --> 01:10:59.132
Yeah.
993
01:11:00.172 --> 01:11:00.772
Unfortunately.
994
01:11:02.973 --> 01:11:03.353
All right.
995
01:11:04.153 --> 01:11:14.935
What do you want people to do, not think or feel, actually do, the day that they listen to this conversation?
996
01:11:15.735 --> 01:11:19.376
Shift from thinking linearly to exponential in what you do in your business.
997
01:11:20.485 --> 01:11:23.988
And I hope that the distinction is getting more and more clear.
998
01:11:25.108 --> 01:11:30.172
Linear is really, we do things because that's how it's always been done.
999
01:11:30.252 --> 01:11:31.533
Let's just go do more.
1000
01:11:31.573 --> 01:11:35.856
If we want more results, let's just go work harder, call more people, do more jobs.
1001
01:11:36.957 --> 01:11:38.238
And I'm really interested.
1002
01:11:38.318 --> 01:11:44.643
I'm not the four-hour work week guy at all, but I'm really interested in where can we just work work?
1003
01:11:45.407 --> 01:11:53.474
Where can we apply more leverage to get exponentially more results without necessarily having to go do any more?
1004
01:11:54.194 --> 01:11:57.117
How can we just go do better or how can we just go do different?
1005
01:11:57.637 --> 01:12:01.661
And that's the change I hope everybody experiences as a result of this.
1006
01:12:04.063 --> 01:12:11.869
Sometimes people ask me because I've achieved a lot of success relatively,
1007
01:12:13.098 --> 01:12:14.379
They say, well, they don't ask me.
1008
01:12:14.399 --> 01:12:18.902
They tell me, they say, Josh, you must make a lot of right decisions.
1009
01:12:18.942 --> 01:12:20.363
You must be right a lot.
1010
01:12:21.704 --> 01:12:23.485
And I tell them all the same thing.
1011
01:12:25.247 --> 01:12:26.828
I'm actually wrong more than I'm right.
1012
01:12:27.949 --> 01:12:29.790
I'm just right bigger than I'm wrong.
1013
01:12:31.631 --> 01:12:32.732
And that's changed everything.
1014
01:12:32.752 --> 01:12:39.337
That realization has changed everything for me because it almost encourages me to be wrong.
1015
01:12:41.013 --> 01:12:43.395
Cause that's just a quicker way for me to know what's right.
1016
01:12:43.956 --> 01:12:47.879
And then go and bring this all the way back to focus.
1017
01:12:48.559 --> 01:12:52.383
I can focus on how to make the right thing, the better thing.
1018
01:12:53.344 --> 01:12:54.865
And just compound that over time.
1019
01:12:55.025 --> 01:12:55.545
So good.
1020
01:12:56.466 --> 01:13:04.233
We covered a lot, but what do you think my audience thinks they know about scaling a business?
1021
01:13:05.674 --> 01:13:08.897
If you had to pick one thing, they might be getting wrong.
1022
01:13:10.082 --> 01:13:12.684
That in order to scale, it's about getting more sales.
1023
01:13:14.966 --> 01:13:15.846
Let me clarify.
1024
01:13:17.607 --> 01:13:19.769
Of course, in order to scale, you need more revenue.
1025
01:13:21.190 --> 01:13:25.213
But the reason I don't know if it's more sales is because it might be actually a change in your model.
1026
01:13:26.834 --> 01:13:28.775
It might be a way that you differentiate yourself.
1027
01:13:29.936 --> 01:13:32.358
It might be having a significantly better team.
1028
01:13:34.837 --> 01:13:39.819
on the production delivery side, on the marketing side, whatever it might be.
1029
01:13:41.079 --> 01:13:42.419
It might be a change in your messaging.
1030
01:13:44.100 --> 01:13:45.840
It might be actually a partnership.
1031
01:13:48.161 --> 01:13:51.462
It's less about going and getting
1032
01:13:53.416 --> 01:13:55.997
more doors, more appointments, more et cetera.
1033
01:13:56.597 --> 01:14:09.943
And it might just be a more exponential model, a better strategic messaging positioning, or it could be that contractor that might be able to get you twice as more deals than you're currently getting.
1034
01:14:11.523 --> 01:14:22.548
And so I would encourage your audience to let go of almost let go of all prior thinking of how things should look
1035
01:14:23.548 --> 01:14:28.170
and begin to just toy with the thought of, what if I just needed 10x this year?
1036
01:14:28.190 --> 01:14:30.050
What if I gave myself 12 months of 10x?
1037
01:14:30.571 --> 01:14:32.571
In what ways would I do so?
1038
01:14:32.611 --> 01:14:33.692
What would have to change?
1039
01:14:34.572 --> 01:14:38.653
And that prompt in and of itself will produce a lot of new thought and a lot of new direction.
1040
01:14:38.673 --> 01:14:40.874
And you should probably pay attention to a lot of them.
1041
01:14:48.447 --> 01:14:49.167
What's next for you?
1042
01:14:49.327 --> 01:14:51.028
What's your vision for scaling.com?
1043
01:14:51.328 --> 01:14:52.929
Where are you taking it?
1044
01:14:53.369 --> 01:14:54.529
Where are you going?
1045
01:14:54.709 --> 01:14:56.290
And most importantly, why are you going there?
1046
01:14:57.310 --> 01:15:02.132
Scaling.com, we're an advisory firm for entrepreneurs that are doing a million dollars revenue and up.
1047
01:15:03.653 --> 01:15:10.095
And our personal goal is to actually just be a display of what we teach.
1048
01:15:10.835 --> 01:15:12.016
We eat our own dog food.
1049
01:15:12.036 --> 01:15:17.578
And so our short term goal is to take it from zero to $120 million in two and a half years.
1050
01:15:18.763 --> 01:15:24.411
to display that the framework works.
1051
01:15:25.433 --> 01:15:28.978
The real mission behind is we want to normalize exponential scale.
1052
01:15:29.499 --> 01:15:30.641
We wanna crack the code.
1053
01:15:30.681 --> 01:15:34.306
We want to truly understand the science and research behind it.
1054
01:15:35.027 --> 01:15:37.768
And we do that through our clients.
1055
01:15:38.048 --> 01:15:40.468
We do that through experiences, study, data, et cetera.
1056
01:15:42.149 --> 01:15:47.650
Long-term, scaling.com is going to be the world's authority on business scaling.
1057
01:15:47.670 --> 01:15:51.631
If you want to exponentially scale, you get advised by scaling.com.
1058
01:15:52.291 --> 01:16:01.213
And I think that we will have a full-on research department internally that studies all the success stories and case studies that we have internally.
1059
01:16:02.894 --> 01:16:07.898
and understand also the reasons why people stall and stagnate.
1060
01:16:08.479 --> 01:16:10.480
And I'm so fired up about it.
1061
01:16:10.520 --> 01:16:15.185
I love what we do so much that there's nothing next for me.
1062
01:16:16.205 --> 01:16:19.028
And I genuinely mean that I am dedicated.
1063
01:16:19.548 --> 01:16:25.133
I have and I am dedicating my life to this, to this cause, to solve this, to these people.
1064
01:16:26.554 --> 01:16:28.816
And it's so fulfilling.
1065
01:16:28.896 --> 01:16:29.497
So why?
1066
01:16:31.492 --> 01:16:33.394
because I believe God wants us to scale.
1067
01:16:34.595 --> 01:16:41.341
And whether you're religious or not, I believe that we are on this earth to scale because scale creates transformation.
1068
01:16:42.222 --> 01:16:47.327
Every time I've gone for an impossible goal, it has absolutely transformed me in significant ways.
1069
01:16:48.107 --> 01:16:53.232
I've developed, I've learned, I've grown, I've met people, I've normalized peak experiences.
1070
01:16:54.453 --> 01:16:56.175
And so for the business owners out there,
1071
01:16:58.475 --> 01:17:01.276
business is the most macro way to influence.
1072
01:17:01.356 --> 01:17:06.637
It's the biggest way to impact because you have all these clients and you have all these employees.
1073
01:17:07.377 --> 01:17:14.959
There's no other way to deeply impact people than to do so through the world of business and through the economy.
1074
01:17:15.619 --> 01:17:21.780
And so I just can't think of a better way to, if one of my pillars is impact, is to truly leave an impact.
1075
01:17:23.574 --> 01:17:24.615
Where can people find you, Blake?
1076
01:17:26.196 --> 01:17:28.138
I'm the Blake Erickson on scaling.com.
1077
01:17:28.158 --> 01:17:29.138
I'd love to connect with you.
1078
01:17:29.699 --> 01:17:31.380
Excuse me, on Instagram.
1079
01:17:31.460 --> 01:17:33.462
Scaling.com is our company website, of course.
1080
01:17:34.402 --> 01:17:36.044
So I'd love to connect with you on Instagram.
1081
01:17:36.264 --> 01:17:37.765
That's the platform I'm active on.
1082
01:17:38.249 --> 01:17:38.589
Right on.
1083
01:17:39.349 --> 01:17:43.430
Thank you so much for spending your time with me today, with my audience.
1084
01:17:44.731 --> 01:17:48.772
And for those who don't know, you mentioned, you know, scalingscaling.com.
1085
01:17:49.292 --> 01:17:51.833
And this will be in the bio, but I just, I want to say it here.
1086
01:17:52.473 --> 01:17:56.554
That company scaled from zero to 10 million in like five months.
1087
01:17:57.134 --> 01:17:58.595
Yeah, in eight months.
1088
01:17:58.855 --> 01:17:59.295
Eight months.
1089
01:17:59.495 --> 01:17:59.855
Okay.
1090
01:18:00.195 --> 01:18:01.436
Oh, you corrected me.
1091
01:18:01.596 --> 01:18:02.137
Eight months.
1092
01:18:02.677 --> 01:18:02.897
Yeah.
1093
01:18:03.017 --> 01:18:20.411
No, I just, so as a parting piece of wisdom, if you didn't pick up the bio that I'm going to put in front of this episode, just know that when Blake says that he's out to practice what he preaches, eat his own dog food, as he put it, he's already done this and it sounds like he's going to continue to do it.
1094
01:18:20.471 --> 01:18:22.293
So amazing.
1095
01:18:22.613 --> 01:18:23.734
Blake, thank you so much, man.
1096
01:18:23.754 --> 01:18:24.535
Josh, thanks, man.
1097
01:18:24.775 --> 01:18:25.576
Honor to be with you.
1098
01:18:25.796 --> 01:18:26.036
All right.
1099
01:18:26.236 --> 01:18:26.556
Be well.
1100
01:18:26.656 --> 01:18:27.137
Appreciate you.