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Papaya. Ken, how you doing? Welcome to Transform Your Future podcast.
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I'm so happy that you had a few minutes to come and join me.
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I want to talk about your executive coaching and your leadership practices.
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I'm really interested in kind of rounding it up. Why don't we just start out, why you just introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about why you got involved in doing what you're doing?
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Yeah, thanks for having me on, Eddie.
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I appreciate the time as well. Yeah, I got into this, it was a conversation over dinner when I was talking about leaving corporate America. I worked in financial services for 20 years from entry level, created a book of business all the way up to executive leadership, and I just kind of had enough of that.
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And I think anyone who's worked in corporate America knows what I mean when I say that of toxic relationships and all that can go with that.
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And so I was just having dinner one night with my husband and he said, Hey, what do you want to do next? I said, I'm not sure.
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I don't know that I want to stay in the industry. And he said, well, what do you love about all the roles you've ever had? What do you love to do?
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And I said, I like the people development part.
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The whole element of helping somebody figure out what they're naturally good at and just honing in on that and developing that piece. That's pretty awesome.
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He says, well, there are businesses that do that. You could just do that.
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And that was the beginning of me sketching out an executive coaching practice that it took me three, four, maybe a little bit more Bob, six months to really sketch it out and get it launched.
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And that was six years ago. Congratulations.
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A difference in life when you're doing things that you like to do as opposed to being forced to doing things that are annoying.
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Right, right. Exactly. Yeah.
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Doing things somebody else's way that is maybe even less effective if they just tell me what they want done, I could do it. Yes.
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Well, middle management's job is just create more busy work.
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That's what I hear. So yeah, I decided I was going to focus on small business owners.
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I loved the idea that there were lots of people out there starting businesses just using their own grit, getting things going, and understanding that there's a certain point where they need organiz and execute around priorities.
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They don't ever have to be corporate process driven, but if they come up with processes to run money, people in time organize those aspects that are challenges for every single business owner. They get a lot more of what they want out of their business, the whole reason they start a business in the first place.
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Right, right.
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So let's dive in a little bit and talk about is there in small business, is there any particular small business aspects that you focus on more than others or it's just all small businesses?
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Where I have found some focus, even though I was pretty agnostic when I first started, just based on my own network of business owner friends, I didn't even know I had until they became my key clients. But where I've really honed in is the medical professions and the trades. So the professions, accountants, lawyers, doctors, and the trades plumber, electrician, hvac.
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Because what they have in common across the board is every one of those owners is likely doing the thing. They are the physician, they are the attorney, they are the plumber. So they're working.
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They have the founder founders. Yeah, they're actually one of the workers and they're really good at it.
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They have a lot of hard work ethic, that's why they're successful.
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And then there's the whole running of the business, there's the practice of medicine, and then there's the medical practice and there are really different aspects of the same thing. And that's where I've been able to help these owners, these founders really get a lot of traction around how to run the business part. They already know their trade or their profession.
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Yeah, so that's good.
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So more professional type of individuals that often get caught in that founder led trap where they have to do everything.
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They got to be involved in everything, and if they don't come to work anymore, then nothing else happens.
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That's right.
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Yeah. It's.
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Like you've sat in on my calls.
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So when you're working with these guys, I know that you like to focus on those three things. You mentioned time, money and people.
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Let's talk a little bit about how you help them in those areas and what kind of resources you offer them.
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Yeah, so one place study that I start with, and the reason I wrote an ebook about it is because I think there's kind of six mistakes. My old profession, financial services, I was a certified financial planner.
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I still am. So I still think that way.
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I still think that way.
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Even though I'm coaching in business and have new certifications to back that up, I still organize the same way in my mind so that we can get to what is the plan.
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So I know there's six mistakes that business owners tend to make.
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They don't make 'em all, but they make some of them.
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But start with they don't have an end in mind.
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They don't know what they want to do with that business because a founder who intends to sell it, we have a different kind of plan for creating very specific kinds of value that make it valuable to someone else.
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So that's number one.
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Second mistake people make, they don't have a strategy about a tactical strategy for doing business. It might be up here in their head, but they haven't written it down, and it's not a guiding document for all to follow. For sure.
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Hiring, hiring is like the third mistake people make.
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There's not a process behind it.
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So the way a lot of founders in particular do it in the early days and then it continues is, gosh, Sarah gave notice. I have to hire somebody.
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And it feels like they're always starting from scratch because, so that's mistake three. Mistake four is a good marketing strategy.
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Every business has to market, even though one of the common things I hear is, oh, I get tons of referrals.
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I don't need to market.
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And anyone in business who's been in business long enough knows that the thing that may have worked, especially initially may not always work.
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So we'd always have to have a blend of things going on to help us drive that top line. A third is the sales strategy, professional sales.
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How do we connect with a potential client and guide them for what is their issue? What do we offer and how those things connect. Sales.
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And then last, and it's really not the least, but I put it last anyway, is time.
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It is the most common push complaint, however you want to frame it that people bring up, is I just don't have enough time.
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And what I would challenge them with is it's not time they lack it's focus because it's the great equalizer.
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We all have the exact same 168 hours a week.
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It's just how we use it. And in that moment, I'll always say, Hey, just think of somebody that's a lot busier than you that runs a busier company that has kids or more kids, something, all the things that you think would make it even harder to do what you do, but they're doing it and that means they're managing time.
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So time is often where I start, even though it's the last thing on the list, we start there so we can get a handle on how we're using the most precious element of our day every day.
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The thing that expires on us is irreplaceable.
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So that's where we always start is.
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So when you say the six biggest mistakes, what kind of mistakes are people making with time?
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What they're making with time is they're majoring in the minors for one thing.
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They've got their hands in every little thing, every little piece of operation.
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You said it first. They think that, right, they have to do it all or it's not going to get done correctly.
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And that's just not true.
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Or they feel like they have to learn everything.
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Like I told you, I sell all the time and I run a sales team and we do marketing and advertising and a bunch of other things, but mostly marketing and advertising.
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And it's just amazing how many times I took to owners of the business and they want to go figure this out and learn how to do this and rewrite this and play with this and sit down with somebody. And I'm like, why do you do that? I don't understand. Do you have a lot of time?
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You had nothing to do or something for me?
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I'd much rather pay somebody to does something for me.
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I don't have to learn how to do everything. I like to stick in my lane, which is what I'm really good at. And let me just do.
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That. Yeah, and to your point, I have one of the coaching outlines that I use is the six keys to great leadership, those six skills that we're always working on to be really effective leaders.
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And that is it's communicate, delegate, motivate, recruit, collaborate, develop. We need to be able to do all six things.
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And what you're speaking to is the delegate part.
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Founders struggle, at least initially to delegate well let go.
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And I mean the skill of delegation, not assignment. I asked Bill to do it, but he didn't. Well, delegation is about making sure they have the resources and the ability and the training and the checklist. That said, once you finally get something off your plate that maybe we were doing well but shouldn't be doing anymore, it frees up our time to do bigger and other things to make other decisions we need to make as the owners. Interesting.
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Yeah, I could see that. I could see that.
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So tell me a little bit more about your book, your ebook.
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Yeah, I go through the ebook. It's a place to give a couple of tips, strict truths to help people understand this is the mistake, but this is some of the elements of why you would want to be really intentional about, for example, creating an exit strategy.
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You create an exit strategy so that you make good decisions, understanding what you intend to do with the business.
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I use the example of selling the business.
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A more common one in small to medium sized businesses is they want to be in the family. Well, then we're going to need to identify who else in the family is both interested and has the ability. And then make sure that we have a development plan so that the daughter is ready to assume the helm once mom steps aside, retires or passes away, however she exits the business.
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But that's an element of, so for every mistake that people tend to make, there's also some background to, and here's how you avoid it by having that plan in place. And we go through each one of those in the book.
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I go through each one of those and just talk a little bit about how the business owner can negate that so that it's not a mistake.
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And of course all the way through, I always invite people to choose their own adventure.
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They can engage with me or not all the way through. So it can be a DIY, map it out for yourself after you read it, or if there's places you can text me, you can message me, you can email me, you can call me, you can schedule an appointment.
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You.
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Can do all those things to decide how you want to engage, if at all. There's also templates throughout the book.
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So for example, building out a strategy, I believe in simplicity.
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I think simple is an important part of business.
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We don't have to be complicated.
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Simple is not easy. Actually, it's harder to be KISA. That's right. That is absolutely right.
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That actually feeds all the way through those skills communicate in a simple, straightforward, clear way. But we go through each one of those.
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I go through each one of those mistakes and talk through why it's important to a business.
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And then the elements of creating or answering or negating each one of the mistakes.
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And so I'm just imagining that you create a plan, people read the book, they get something out of it, they want more, they contact you and then you'll help them to actually develop a plan to maybe improve in those areas.
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That's exactly what we do. So when we get to meet, we create the coaching plan.
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What are we trying to get to?
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Which one of those elements or which several of those elements are missing or lacking in the business? And then what's our coaching plan to get you there?
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So it's never as nebulous as sometimes I think coaching sounds to a business owner like therapy, which it's not.
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We're just going to chat for twice a month or whatever the frequency is, and we're just going to have this conversation and just kind of shoot the breeze. It's far more structured than that.
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And it starts with what are we tackling?
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What are the mistakes if any that you're making? How do we negate those?
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What are the leadership skills you'd like to hone in on?
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And what impact would that have on the business? For example, getting great delegation will solve a lot of that time issue. Making sure that we are honed in on a really great hiring plan helps with motivation and development of people.
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Far better to keep your high performing people is than it is to be in a constant state state of trying to find people lately. Right after time comes people, and even when there's a ton of applicants to choose from what I see with business owners is hiring really isn't afterthought.
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And what we want to turn it into in our work together is a really specific intentional plan to find people that are going to fit in your organization.
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It's going to obvious when I say it, but it happens all the time.
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And as somebody who used to hire this way, I appreciate it.
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I think we have a tendency, we're trying to hire a skill, but we don't hire core values.
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So we get somebody that is capable of doing the thing, but they don't seem to fit in or they rub people the wrong way or there's just something not quite a fit. And that's usually its core values issue.
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And I don't mean they're not good people.
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I mean they just don't fit in our organization.
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That the values of the organization, the mission of the organization, they're not in alignment with the other person.
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Which by the way is part of the strategy.
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Eddie of a lot of business owners have never written down all the stuff that's up here in their head about why did they start the business?
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Why is their mouse trap better?
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Why is their environment a better one to work in?
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What were they trying to create when they launched the thing in the first place?
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Articulating that is key to creating a really good hiring strategy.
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If I can't articulate why I do what I do and why I'm passionate about it, it's hard to draw the right people into my ecosystem that are going to help me do the same thing.
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When I was younger, I've always been an entrepreneur.
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There's very few times in the last 40 years that I worked for anybody.
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Instead, I worked for a lot of people, each one of my clients, but I didn't really have a job. But when I was younger, what I wanted to talk about was just that when I was younger and I ran the business, I had a lot of issues. Number one, for some reason I felt I had to prove myself all the time.
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So I got involved in a lot of things.
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I felt like I had to prove that I could do it. It was like a test.
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I had to get over that eventually. And the other thing, because when you don't, what happens is you get burnt out.
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If you're somebody who has to be involved in things and keeps pushing yourself and has to make everything happen and feels like it all has to filter everything through you, you get burnt out.
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That's what happens.
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And the other thing though is I didn't trust people.
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I didn't have the capacity to just trust that if I tell you I want this done a certain way or please take care of this thing, I couldn't just tell you and leave it alone. I didn't trust you, so I had to bother you about it.
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So those were two things that really were hurting my business back then that I had to get over.
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And I actually was lucky that I was able to reinvent the whole business in so many different ways to just make it better for me and for what my vision was, for what I wanted for both my life and for my clients. So yeah, there's a lot of things that I felt that really I had to get over personal things in order for me to be a better business person, to run a business better, to create a business that makes money without me, that I don't have to be there for things to happen.
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And for entrepreneurs, there isn't a separation between Work is work and home is home because it is. We start the business.
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It's a piece of us in a way that is very, very different than a clinical corporate environment.
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And I think one of the challenges for entrepreneur leaders is to give some space for people that they're going to have some really good employees that don't think like an owner because they're not owners or just they're not and they can still be outstanding employees.
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To your point about there's always personal things and work. Things that we bring into the personal, all coaches have some sort of personality assessment. One of those types of things I do, we all do.
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I use two, I call it it's nature and nurture.
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What is your natural, your native org genius.
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I use a mechanism called talent dynamics.
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There's others that are probably more well known like Myers-Briggs and disc and such. I use talent dynamics.
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I love the language of leadership that's inherent in it.
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And I love the approach that everyone has a natural genius.
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There are things that we just gravitate to that we're awesome at.
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And once we understand that, we know that we can bring people that are awesome at things that we're not good at, to your point, and then let them do the things we don't want to that they seem to just go to.
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Yes.
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The other half of that, that is really, it's an experience of self-awareness, is positive intelligence.
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I'm a pq, as we call it, positive intelligence coach inside my own practice.
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And what we do is a saboteur assessment.
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Take assessment, and these are your self saboteurs.
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They were probably coping reward mechanisms that we developed is little people and then we carried them into adulthood and they tend to sabotage us rather than support us.
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So there's lots of reflective work that happens in the leadership aspect of coaching.
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Great leaders are self aware.
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We need some introspection.
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We got to look at ourselves and see what we can do differently and improve on.
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For sure.
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That's the great non mystery is as leaders, if we think we're going to change other people but are unwilling to change ourselves, we are the only ones that we can actually impact.
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And when we demonstrate that, that's why. And how other people also change.
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We always have to be, when we're running our companies, we all have to demonstrate the ethics or values, the behaviors that we want other people to copy.
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The best thing we can do is role model what we're looking for.
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We want people to have a great work ethic. Then we have a great work ethic.
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And that doesn't mean throw extra back to time. The answer always, I'll just work long.
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We're so far down the path of these great researchers proving to us that working longer hours makes us less effective now.
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So we all want to show our employees, Hey, you know what?
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Don't miss the kid's soccer match. You're going to regret it.
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You're going to wish he'd been there. So go. And on occasion, when we have a key client and there's an issue and we need to work a little later or do a little more, we also do that ebb and flow and that most business owners would love that, but most business owners are challenged to demonstrate the part where they go home on time.
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Right?
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Yeah. I can name several clients, which basically means all of them at one point or another are just working burn the midnight oil.
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And when we really dig in, that's not the best use of their time because they're probably exhausted.
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Well, I have mixed feelings about things like that, but I do know that studies show that working four days a week is the most productive, that working less days a little longer hours is more productive than working five days a week or working seven days a week.
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But I agree that a human being is not designed to work seven days a week, 16 hours a day. I agree with that a hundred percent.
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That's again headed to burnout.
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I think the furthest I've gone was 60 days without a day off.
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That's the furthest I've gone. And then I was like, okay, don't talk to me.
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Leave me alone. I'm going away for a week.
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Yeah. And you know what I.
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Would add to that?
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That was because I was really hyped up on reaching certain financial goals and I was just on a tear.
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And then when you do it and you hit it and you hit this ridiculous number and you're like you for the next 10 years, nobody's ever going to beat that number.
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Nobody's crazy enough to work 16 days.
00:23:08.619 --> 00:23:17.829
But no, I agree that we need to take care of ourselves because if we don't take care of ourselves emotionally, physically, mentally, obviously we can't work at a peak performance.
00:23:18.789 --> 00:23:20.650
We got to treat ourselves like athletes.
00:23:20.650 --> 00:23:28.990
Sleep is the big thing that actually helps us recover in all that, and we need rest. We can't just be thinking all day about work.
00:23:29.109 --> 00:23:29.942
For sure.
00:23:30.250 --> 00:23:31.083
Yeah.
00:23:31.480 --> 00:23:41.769
But Stuart, I'd also add there when we talk about the four day work week and a few other things, I heard Simon Sinek on a podcast recently.
00:23:43.269 --> 00:23:49.009
His comment was, I don't think we've settled on what full-time means anymore.
00:23:50.839 --> 00:23:57.920
I think the key is flexible. I happen to be a morning person, which is why I always frame burning the midnight oil.
00:23:57.920 --> 00:24:00.049
It's negative because I don't function that way.
00:24:01.910 --> 00:24:06.019
00 AM meeting, I'm fine with that. I'll be up anyway,
00:24:07.339 --> 00:24:11.059
00 PM meeting. I don't think I'll be at my best.
00:24:11.299 --> 00:24:14.690
I just think it's important people really understand what is their best.
00:24:16.460 --> 00:24:27.650
Do people like to power through 10, 12 hours and get stuff done, or are they more five hours, take a few hours break and whatever else?
00:24:27.650 --> 00:24:35.660
More so just creating space for people to just get work done when they're best at getting that kind of work done.
00:24:35.809 --> 00:24:41.210
And businesses are really different. I can't run, you can't run a medical practice that way.
00:24:41.269 --> 00:24:44.329
You have to be there when the patients are there and that sort of thing.
00:24:44.660 --> 00:24:53.059
And I certainly understand that. However, I think there's probably more flexibility than we give ourselves space to think about. And I think proved that.
00:24:53.089 --> 00:25:10.579
I think Covid proved that we weren't thinking with a lot more creativity until we had to think with a lot more creativity, suddenly everyone will deliver groceries to you and anything else you want. You never have to leave your house, Et cetera, et.
00:25:11.750 --> 00:25:14.660
And all the businesses said, work at home. Don't worry about it. Stay home.
00:25:14.660 --> 00:25:15.829
Just work at home. It's okay.
00:25:16.069 --> 00:25:19.940
Yeah, yeah. And they're kind of all over the map on that one, right?
00:25:21.740 --> 00:25:26.240
There's great, we don't have to lease these expensive office Philippines anymore.
00:25:27.019 --> 00:25:31.279
And now they're caught in. Some of them are caught in traps of, okay, we're coming back to the office.
00:25:31.279 --> 00:25:33.289
You all have to come back to the office two days a week.
00:25:34.430 --> 00:25:36.319
But they're not all there on the same two days.
00:25:36.319 --> 00:26:07.069
So instead of taking the zoom call at home where they're comfortable, they have to drive an hour to go into an office to sit in a closed office by themselves all day, taking Zoom calls in an office in the building, so they're not getting to the root of the problem. And boy, if you want to circle back on work, I do. When business owners, were always looking for the roots, not just Right, okay, if you're calling everyone back in, what are you trying to solve with that?
00:26:03.230 --> 00:26:09.680
What's the missing thing that you think that solves and get to the heart of it?
00:26:10.339 --> 00:26:15.170
Entrepreneurs have an easier time rather than executive type leaders.
00:26:15.650 --> 00:26:30.109
Entrepreneurs have an easier time getting to that creativity because that's what got them in business in the first place, was creatively approaching something and the way their industry worked, the way they delivered a product or service, they have a unique take.
00:26:30.109 --> 00:26:36.769
So they're very open to getting to the heart of the issues because that's how they founded business in the first place.
00:26:37.220 --> 00:26:48.599
So another reason that it's a lot of fun to coach entrepreneurs because there's both strong-minded for sure, they wouldn't be doing what they're doing.
00:26:48.779 --> 00:26:55.823
They're also pretty good at taking clear, straightforward feedback as well in ways.
00:26:56.549 --> 00:26:57.383
Interesting.
00:26:58.019 --> 00:27:02.339
So what's some of the turnarounds that you've witnessed?
00:27:02.369 --> 00:27:05.519
What are the success stories that you could tell us?
00:27:06.180 --> 00:27:07.349
Yeah, success stories.
00:27:07.650 --> 00:27:10.500
You know what? Don't do that.
00:27:07.650 --> 00:27:10.500
Tell us some of the bad stories.
00:27:11.009 --> 00:27:20.069
Let's hear the bad stuff. I got fired last month by a client, so I probably worked together about a year, and that was like, Hey.
00:27:20.880 --> 00:27:27.420
And I know the exact session where they decided they were firing me because they said, aren't you getting exhausted?
00:27:27.420 --> 00:27:35.279
We've had this exact conversation several times a month for a year. Literally nothing has changed.
00:27:35.339 --> 00:27:39.660
You're literally defending your own exhaustion, your people.
00:27:40.170 --> 00:27:48.509
Nothing is different now than a year ago when we started. And I say, what I would say is I say, here's my question.
00:27:48.509 --> 00:27:50.789
Do you want to own a business and run it?
00:27:50.940 --> 00:27:53.700
What do you mean when you talk to me?
00:27:53.759 --> 00:28:10.769
All you talk about is doing the thing. We never talk about running the business, the marketing strategy, the hiring strategy, the managing time more effectively, running the actual practice.
00:28:10.769 --> 00:28:22.259
We talk about working in the practice but not managing it. And you are never going to get a different outcome if this is what you're going to do. No, you're just never going to see a different outcome.
00:28:22.259 --> 00:28:26.039
You're always going to feel exhausted.
00:28:22.259 --> 00:28:30.210
The money's not going to be there, and you are going to be working 70 hours a week like you are right now.
00:28:30.960 --> 00:28:36.029
And I got an email, Hey, I need to be in there watching what my team is doing.
00:28:36.450 --> 00:28:41.039
Micromanaging just, okay. And that's it.
00:28:41.220 --> 00:28:49.900
If you think everything is perfect, exactly the way you've got it, don't hire and spend money on a coach or anything else because it's exactly.
00:28:50.039 --> 00:28:55.740
The way you, if you're satisfied, if you're satisfied with the way things are, you're happy, then just keep doing what you're doing.
00:28:56.460 --> 00:28:57.750
Yeah, yeah.
00:28:58.680 --> 00:29:01.859
Just take a friend out to coffee that'll tell you you're doing a great job.
00:29:02.339 --> 00:29:09.509
I think that's what we were looking for, wasn't a change plan, but what they were looking for was validation that they're doing everything.
00:29:09.539 --> 00:29:14.423
Maybe he really wanted you to just be the guy that he could bitch to a couple times a week.
00:29:15.210 --> 00:29:19.440
Could be, yeah, probably. Yeah.
00:29:20.069 --> 00:29:35.940
I have a friend who is a trained psychotherapist and sort of the tongue in cheek joke is, Hey, when your patient's not making progress, you just double the fee and suddenly, or a cure. It's obviously joke. But yeah.
00:29:35.940 --> 00:29:45.430
I mean maybe that was the role that he was hoping I'd play was just, yeah, complain away.
00:29:41.200 --> 00:29:49.210
It's no fun for me either, because that's not what I enjoy doing. And I'll tell you why.
00:29:50.289 --> 00:30:05.470
Because what I know to be true, because I've spent a year with this person, he is talented in a way that not everybody is and cannot get out of his own way. That's the rule of whole, right?
00:30:05.859 --> 00:30:09.250
When you're in one stop digging would not put down the shovel.
00:30:09.910 --> 00:30:12.279
Not only would not stop digging, would not put down the shovel.
00:30:13.210 --> 00:30:20.740
And that's hard as a coach, that's hard to see that level of talent that just doesn't want to make the behavior change.
00:30:21.400 --> 00:30:25.269
Just a couple of really subtle shifts would change everything for him.
00:30:25.380 --> 00:30:28.390
That's everything. That's a tough one.
00:30:28.480 --> 00:30:32.829
Yeah. My thing, I turn away more clients than I take on.
00:30:33.490 --> 00:30:36.190
I'm very particular about clients I work with.
00:30:36.849 --> 00:30:40.599
I don't have a desire to work with a lot of people.
00:30:40.900 --> 00:30:44.799
I'll refer them to somebody else. I won't just say, don't call me no more and hang up the phone.
00:30:44.799 --> 00:30:47.859
I'll refer them to somebody else to get help.
00:30:47.859 --> 00:30:52.952
But I tell 'em I'm not interested in working with I understand.
00:30:53.470 --> 00:30:55.660
Yeah. Well and fit is important.
00:30:56.380 --> 00:31:11.049
I would also counsel when I've got my consultant hat on, when I first got into financial services, there was kind of the guru who wrote books, Nick Murray, who used to tell us, never confuse the client you want for the one you've got.
00:31:13.329 --> 00:31:30.490
Make sure that we're working with people that for whom we want to be in that relationship and that we can serve that is ready to work with us. So you're right. I mean, that's what I talked about.
00:31:30.490 --> 00:31:37.720
Hiring help for values match is it's just important for a client to choose me and me to choose them.
00:31:37.720 --> 00:31:42.099
It's a two way street of do we click, is this going to really work?
00:31:42.099 --> 00:31:44.980
Do we trust each other? You said trust. Are you ready? Yeah.
00:31:45.369 --> 00:32:07.210
Trust when I tell clients, let's have a call and a screen share, whatever, so we could see if this is the right fit for both of us because maybe you don't like me or you don't like the way I approach things, or maybe I don't like you or the way you approach things. But I think of it, I want long-term relationships with people.
00:32:07.509 --> 00:32:11.140
The best clients I've had are clients that I've had for many, many, many.
00:32:12.039 --> 00:32:16.059
Because they were right fit people that we fit together well.
00:32:16.059 --> 00:32:22.990
And it didn't bother me when they called me at nine o'clock at night and texted me and whatever. You know what I'm saying?
00:32:22.990 --> 00:32:27.579
Because it was the right fit of things. So that's awesome.
00:32:27.789 --> 00:32:33.730
Alright, so I know I kind want to hear something negative because I'm always asking for positive things.
00:32:33.730 --> 00:32:40.250
And every once in a while I thought guess should talk about some negative experiences. But let's talk about some successes.
00:32:40.279 --> 00:32:42.170
Tell me a little bit about some of the successes.
00:32:42.319 --> 00:32:44.180
You've had with Sure.
00:32:44.450 --> 00:32:53.089
One of my longer term clients that I met after my first year, so we've just hit our five-year anniversary working together.
00:32:53.089 --> 00:33:05.630
So by the end of last year, by the end of their calendar year last year, they had, in our time together, they had tripled, tripled, almost quadrupled top line. They're coming close.
00:33:05.630 --> 00:33:11.720
They've got a triple on the way to quadruple top line holding staffing level the same. That's good.
00:33:14.299 --> 00:33:26.059
That's getting every segment of the leadership behaviors that's making sure we've got a process articulated, designed everybody on the same page for money, people, and time.
00:33:27.230 --> 00:33:35.839
It's making sure that we have a clear plan for not the six mistakes, but the six components of executing a clear business strategy.
00:33:36.680 --> 00:33:40.670
And that took their co-founders, it took the co-founders committing.
00:33:41.480 --> 00:34:18.409
It's easy to say that this is what we achieved in that chunk of time, but man, there were some angry voices here and there. It was really a test of just how willing are they to are you to be out of your comfort zone in order to change. But we met at an event in our city and basically other people who were years ahead of them in business were saying, Hey, if you really want to want to take your business to a different level, hire a good coach. They will help you.
00:34:18.409 --> 00:34:26.719
They'll give you the objective perspective and if you'll do the work, you'll get the result. And they did. So they got the result.
00:34:27.230 --> 00:34:40.550
It's like all sports analogies applied to what I do, and they really got some very positive results from committing to make the changes that they want to make.
00:34:40.670 --> 00:34:51.980
And the best part was they got really clear about their own values and that's what's been so impactful to their growth is we have the same number of staff, but very different staff. Can.
00:34:51.980 --> 00:34:52.813
You still hear me?
00:34:52.969 --> 00:34:53.802
Barely.
00:34:54.380 --> 00:34:58.219
I had something go on in here. I don't know what happened. I lost my system.
00:34:59.539 --> 00:35:01.789
Something is wrong since the hurricane.
00:35:01.789 --> 00:35:03.829
This is the second time this happened to me.
00:35:04.219 --> 00:35:08.179
Yeah. I still show this recording on my side, but I don't see you. I can hear.
00:35:08.179 --> 00:35:12.829
You. It's working. It's working, but I'm not in it anymore, so we'll have to edit that out.
00:35:15.039 --> 00:35:18.820
Let me go out and come back in to wrap up. Okay. Okay.
00:35:18.829 --> 00:35:20.659
Let me figure out how to turn it all back on.
00:35:22.360 --> 00:35:26.480
I apologize for that technical difficulty.
00:35:22.360 --> 00:35:26.480
I don't know exactly what to say.
00:35:26.900 --> 00:35:30.769
We're back. Okay. So Ken, nuts and bolts.
00:35:31.369 --> 00:35:33.829
Let's maybe dive a little bit deeper.
00:35:35.570 --> 00:35:36.920
Let me see how to set this up here.
00:35:37.170 --> 00:35:50.730
Why don't you tell me a little bit about if you had somebody right now who's interested in, they have some pain points in their business going on right now where maybe they do feel overwhelmed.
00:35:47.670 --> 00:35:50.730
They don't have enough time.
00:35:50.789 --> 00:35:58.349
They want to spend more time with their family that I'm making the money that they really thought they could make.
00:35:54.239 --> 00:35:58.349
They have maybe issues with staffing.
00:35:58.769 --> 00:36:05.369
And so they're interested, they read your ebook and now they're going to contact you.
00:36:06.059 --> 00:36:14.219
What would you say to that person who now has some interest in working with you and finding out more to see if they can, you can help 'em to fix some of those?
00:36:16.559 --> 00:36:28.409
Where I always go with clients if they know what their issues are and they want to know what kind of plan we put together, I recommend they just schedule one of my breakthrough strategy sessions.
00:36:29.369 --> 00:36:43.469
I'll use profiling tools I mentioned earlier. I'll demonstrate for them, it'll be a real coaching session where we talk about the gaps they have, what they're trying to achieve, what coaching will look like as a framework to get them there.
00:36:43.889 --> 00:36:50.880
And they're going to know at the end of that 90 minutes, number one, if they want coaching and that they will get them where they want to be.
00:36:50.880 --> 00:36:52.230
And number two, if I'm that person.
00:36:53.130 --> 00:37:02.130
So they'll be in a position to say, heck yes or heck no by the end of it.
00:36:57.539 --> 00:37:07.829
And that's the best place to do it, is try it before you buy it if you will really get in there, get invested.
00:37:07.889 --> 00:37:13.583
It's simply for 90 minutes worth of their effort and sharing that information.
00:37:13.800 --> 00:37:18.809
They're going to have an answer as to whether or not this is the vehicle that gets from the business they've always hoped to have.
00:37:18.900 --> 00:37:34.800
What do you think the general feelings are of these individuals when they're in the mess, when they're in the problem, when they're in the gaps, what do you think they're feeling? Are they feeling like there's no solution or.
00:37:35.969 --> 00:37:43.500
Yeah, I think they read enough people on social media that they figured that's just a grind. It's just the way it is.
00:37:40.559 --> 00:37:43.500
That's just owning a business.
00:37:43.980 --> 00:37:48.599
This is just how it feels.
00:37:43.980 --> 00:37:51.630
It's just part of, right. Hey, start your own business and you too can work a hundred hours a week.
00:37:52.170 --> 00:37:56.280
Work as much as you want. They feel like that's just the way it is.
00:37:56.340 --> 00:37:59.880
And what I would share with them is, I worked with enough business owners.
00:37:59.880 --> 00:38:03.449
That's not the way it has to be. That it's a choice.
00:38:03.449 --> 00:38:07.199
And they don't have to feel frustrated.
00:38:03.449 --> 00:38:07.199
They don't have to feel overwhelmed.
00:38:07.800 --> 00:38:14.429
And they certainly don't have to feel like that's the way, or that no one understands what they're moving through in the moment.
00:38:15.360 --> 00:38:17.820
I absolutely do understand what they're going through.
00:38:17.909 --> 00:38:20.940
Yeah. Yeah. That's interesting.
00:38:17.909 --> 00:38:20.940
That's interesting.
00:38:20.940 --> 00:38:36.760
So a lot of people out there are stuck in these kinds of ruts and they just think that's the way it is, and they need to come across somebody or something that tells 'em, Hey, do you know that there's another way? There might be another way.
00:38:37.059 --> 00:38:40.000
It might just not be just the way you're doing things.
00:38:41.710 --> 00:38:43.599
That's awesome. So we need to get that word out.
00:38:43.599 --> 00:38:45.760
We need more people to know that there's a better way.
00:38:46.150 --> 00:38:50.530
I believe a hundred percent in coaching.
00:38:46.150 --> 00:38:50.530
I've spent a lot of money on coaching.
00:38:50.530 --> 00:38:53.619
I've had many, many coaches.
00:38:50.530 --> 00:38:53.619
Currently I have three.
00:38:55.329 --> 00:39:01.090
Exactly. It's like for me, my philosophy, the last 10 years has always been like I am at the top of my game.
00:39:01.090 --> 00:39:02.650
I want to stay at the top of my game.
00:39:02.949 --> 00:39:09.730
And so somebody who wants to be at the top of the game and really be good, have somebody to coach you, how else could you be at the top?
00:39:09.760 --> 00:39:13.119
If you don't have a coach, you got to shoot.
00:39:13.300 --> 00:39:15.280
You got to shoot 300 baskets a day.
00:39:15.280 --> 00:39:26.523
If you want to be a star player and you need to make sure you stay at a form and you eat right and you sleep right, and you take care of your physical needs properly so that you can perform at the highest level.
00:39:27.039 --> 00:39:30.969
Yes. So you need help.
00:39:27.039 --> 00:39:35.920
To your point, Eddie, I think any football coach is not telling their players how to play the game.
00:39:37.030 --> 00:39:49.090
They're observing them and say, Hey, did you know that if you moved your arm back two inches, you'd get another 10 yards out of that throw.
00:39:50.710 --> 00:39:54.489
It's perspective and observation and support.
00:39:55.300 --> 00:39:59.349
It's the support that we get. And you're right. Yeah, I too have coaches.
00:39:59.349 --> 00:40:01.719
I've always had coaches for different things.
00:40:03.099 --> 00:40:14.079
I see the results in myself in my own business and my own practice and certainly in my own clients. Yeah. And most coaches, my advice to anyone looking for a coach is shop.
00:40:15.400 --> 00:40:23.710
Ask us anything you want to ask us, we don't have a problem answering your questions. And if we do, that's probably not your coach. Move to the next one.
00:40:24.130 --> 00:40:26.500
You got to dive with us or it's not going to work.
00:40:27.010 --> 00:40:36.730
There's going to be some partner conversations if you'll some animated conversations. They're not hard at all. They're animated, they're exciting. We're working through stuff.
00:40:37.000 --> 00:40:40.510
You got to trust that other person in both directions.
00:40:40.599 --> 00:40:49.389
So I'm going to drop in the show notes, links to your ebook and your website so that people can get in touch with you.
00:40:49.389 --> 00:40:54.782
I know I've asked you some funny questions and some interesting questions.
00:40:54.789 --> 00:41:00.880
Is there anything that you would like to talk about that we haven't discussed so far? Or would you like to expand on anything?
00:41:00.969 --> 00:41:31.510
Yeah. Even though I, I've listed many people time and some of the other frameworks I use for coaching, the one thing that I want that I would like any listener to understand about coaching my job is first to always help you and be focused on you to of local awareness so that you as the owner, as the one who actually has a lot of answers in your head, can find them. That's what I'm doing with that awareness piece.
00:41:31.570 --> 00:41:45.920
And the other component that I would every single person to know about coaching is as a coach, what I'm presenting you with observations that I can see, I'm not attached to your answer.
00:41:41.599 --> 00:41:48.440
In other words, if it doesn't fit, that's fine with me. If it does, that's good too.
00:41:48.440 --> 00:41:55.460
It really is all about my client and what they're trying to achieve. That's the focus.
00:41:55.880 --> 00:42:08.989
So that should help with any sort of misconception that I've arrived with the secret sauce to make all of your business issues go away. They're actually in your head. I'm here to help you find them.
00:42:11.030 --> 00:42:15.260
Exactly. Excellent. Well, listen, Ken, I appreciate you.
00:42:15.260 --> 00:42:22.842
I would like to talk to you some more, but maybe we come back and do something a little different in the future and come on again.
00:42:23.389 --> 00:42:25.039
Oh, I'd love to. Yeah, be great.
00:42:26.000 --> 00:42:26.833
Excellent.
00:42:27.320 --> 00:42:27.650
Alright.
00:00:00.959 --> 00:00:05.219
Papaya. Ken, how you doing? Welcome to Transform Your Future podcast.
00:00:05.669 --> 00:00:08.189
I'm so happy that you had a few minutes to come and join me.
00:00:08.490 --> 00:00:13.259
I want to talk about your executive coaching and your leadership practices.
00:00:13.619 --> 00:00:23.489
I'm really interested in kind of rounding it up. Why don't we just start out, why you just introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about why you got involved in doing what you're doing?
00:00:24.210 --> 00:00:27.780
Yeah, thanks for having me on, Eddie.
00:00:24.210 --> 00:00:44.460
I appreciate the time as well. Yeah, I got into this, it was a conversation over dinner when I was talking about leaving corporate America. I worked in financial services for 20 years from entry level, created a book of business all the way up to executive leadership, and I just kind of had enough of that.
00:00:44.460 --> 00:00:52.649
And I think anyone who's worked in corporate America knows what I mean when I say that of toxic relationships and all that can go with that.
00:00:52.710 --> 00:00:59.250
And so I was just having dinner one night with my husband and he said, Hey, what do you want to do next? I said, I'm not sure.
00:00:59.250 --> 00:01:06.659
I don't know that I want to stay in the industry. And he said, well, what do you love about all the roles you've ever had? What do you love to do?
00:01:06.659 --> 00:01:09.420
And I said, I like the people development part.
00:01:09.629 --> 00:01:18.090
The whole element of helping somebody figure out what they're naturally good at and just honing in on that and developing that piece. That's pretty awesome.
00:01:18.150 --> 00:01:22.260
He says, well, there are businesses that do that. You could just do that.
00:01:22.349 --> 00:01:33.540
And that was the beginning of me sketching out an executive coaching practice that it took me three, four, maybe a little bit more Bob, six months to really sketch it out and get it launched.
00:01:33.540 --> 00:01:37.799
And that was six years ago. Congratulations.
00:01:39.469 --> 00:01:48.269
A difference in life when you're doing things that you like to do as opposed to being forced to doing things that are annoying.
00:01:48.989 --> 00:01:52.140
Right, right. Exactly. Yeah.
00:01:52.170 --> 00:01:58.469
Doing things somebody else's way that is maybe even less effective if they just tell me what they want done, I could do it. Yes.
00:01:58.859 --> 00:02:02.609
Well, middle management's job is just create more busy work.
00:02:04.319 --> 00:02:08.009
That's what I hear. So yeah, I decided I was going to focus on small business owners.
00:02:08.430 --> 00:02:22.979
I loved the idea that there were lots of people out there starting businesses just using their own grit, getting things going, and understanding that there's a certain point where they need organiz and execute around priorities.
00:02:23.219 --> 00:02:43.259
They don't ever have to be corporate process driven, but if they come up with processes to run money, people in time organize those aspects that are challenges for every single business owner. They get a lot more of what they want out of their business, the whole reason they start a business in the first place.
00:02:43.319 --> 00:02:44.219
Right, right.
00:02:44.939 --> 00:02:57.419
So let's dive in a little bit and talk about is there in small business, is there any particular small business aspects that you focus on more than others or it's just all small businesses?
00:02:58.900 --> 00:03:30.219
Where I have found some focus, even though I was pretty agnostic when I first started, just based on my own network of business owner friends, I didn't even know I had until they became my key clients. But where I've really honed in is the medical professions and the trades. So the professions, accountants, lawyers, doctors, and the trades plumber, electrician, hvac.
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Because what they have in common across the board is every one of those owners is likely doing the thing. They are the physician, they are the attorney, they are the plumber. So they're working.
00:03:42.490 --> 00:03:50.110
They have the founder founders. Yeah, they're actually one of the workers and they're really good at it.
00:03:50.229 --> 00:03:54.340
They have a lot of hard work ethic, that's why they're successful.
00:03:54.400 --> 00:04:15.759
And then there's the whole running of the business, there's the practice of medicine, and then there's the medical practice and there are really different aspects of the same thing. And that's where I've been able to help these owners, these founders really get a lot of traction around how to run the business part. They already know their trade or their profession.
00:04:16.120 --> 00:04:18.910
Yeah, so that's good.
00:04:18.910 --> 00:04:28.779
So more professional type of individuals that often get caught in that founder led trap where they have to do everything.
00:04:28.779 --> 00:04:33.790
They got to be involved in everything, and if they don't come to work anymore, then nothing else happens.
00:04:34.269 --> 00:04:35.103
That's right.
00:04:35.350 --> 00:04:36.129
Yeah. It's.
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Like you've sat in on my calls.
00:04:40.089 --> 00:04:48.459
So when you're working with these guys, I know that you like to focus on those three things. You mentioned time, money and people.
00:04:49.629 --> 00:04:56.680
Let's talk a little bit about how you help them in those areas and what kind of resources you offer them.
00:04:57.819 --> 00:05:13.029
Yeah, so one place study that I start with, and the reason I wrote an ebook about it is because I think there's kind of six mistakes. My old profession, financial services, I was a certified financial planner.
00:05:09.430 --> 00:05:13.029
I still am. So I still think that way.
00:05:13.600 --> 00:05:14.529
I still think that way.
00:05:14.529 --> 00:05:24.069
Even though I'm coaching in business and have new certifications to back that up, I still organize the same way in my mind so that we can get to what is the plan.
00:05:24.879 --> 00:05:27.879
So I know there's six mistakes that business owners tend to make.
00:05:27.879 --> 00:05:29.680
They don't make 'em all, but they make some of them.
00:05:29.740 --> 00:05:32.110
But start with they don't have an end in mind.
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They don't know what they want to do with that business because a founder who intends to sell it, we have a different kind of plan for creating very specific kinds of value that make it valuable to someone else.
00:05:43.420 --> 00:05:46.750
So that's number one.
00:05:46.750 --> 00:06:02.240
Second mistake people make, they don't have a strategy about a tactical strategy for doing business. It might be up here in their head, but they haven't written it down, and it's not a guiding document for all to follow. For sure.
00:06:02.240 --> 00:06:05.870
Hiring, hiring is like the third mistake people make.
00:06:06.199 --> 00:06:08.449
There's not a process behind it.
00:06:08.449 --> 00:06:16.970
So the way a lot of founders in particular do it in the early days and then it continues is, gosh, Sarah gave notice. I have to hire somebody.
00:06:16.970 --> 00:06:25.730
And it feels like they're always starting from scratch because, so that's mistake three. Mistake four is a good marketing strategy.
00:06:26.209 --> 00:06:33.470
Every business has to market, even though one of the common things I hear is, oh, I get tons of referrals.
00:06:30.949 --> 00:06:33.470
I don't need to market.
00:06:34.189 --> 00:06:43.550
And anyone in business who's been in business long enough knows that the thing that may have worked, especially initially may not always work.
00:06:43.550 --> 00:06:51.920
So we'd always have to have a blend of things going on to help us drive that top line. A third is the sales strategy, professional sales.
00:06:52.639 --> 00:07:02.149
How do we connect with a potential client and guide them for what is their issue? What do we offer and how those things connect. Sales.
00:07:02.480 --> 00:07:06.589
And then last, and it's really not the least, but I put it last anyway, is time.
00:07:07.160 --> 00:07:19.370
It is the most common push complaint, however you want to frame it that people bring up, is I just don't have enough time.
00:07:14.449 --> 00:07:26.269
And what I would challenge them with is it's not time they lack it's focus because it's the great equalizer.
00:07:26.360 --> 00:07:30.259
We all have the exact same 168 hours a week.
00:07:30.889 --> 00:07:51.079
It's just how we use it. And in that moment, I'll always say, Hey, just think of somebody that's a lot busier than you that runs a busier company that has kids or more kids, something, all the things that you think would make it even harder to do what you do, but they're doing it and that means they're managing time.
00:07:51.079 --> 00:08:05.329
So time is often where I start, even though it's the last thing on the list, we start there so we can get a handle on how we're using the most precious element of our day every day.
00:08:05.360 --> 00:08:08.449
The thing that expires on us is irreplaceable.
00:08:08.449 --> 00:08:09.800
So that's where we always start is.
00:08:11.060 --> 00:08:18.860
So when you say the six biggest mistakes, what kind of mistakes are people making with time?
00:08:19.040 --> 00:08:23.480
What they're making with time is they're majoring in the minors for one thing.
00:08:23.600 --> 00:08:27.470
They've got their hands in every little thing, every little piece of operation.
00:08:27.800 --> 00:08:34.129
You said it first. They think that, right, they have to do it all or it's not going to get done correctly.
00:08:34.700 --> 00:08:35.720
And that's just not true.
00:08:36.649 --> 00:08:39.019
Or they feel like they have to learn everything.
00:08:41.029 --> 00:08:49.879
Like I told you, I sell all the time and I run a sales team and we do marketing and advertising and a bunch of other things, but mostly marketing and advertising.
00:08:49.879 --> 00:09:05.820
And it's just amazing how many times I took to owners of the business and they want to go figure this out and learn how to do this and rewrite this and play with this and sit down with somebody. And I'm like, why do you do that? I don't understand. Do you have a lot of time?
00:09:06.000 --> 00:09:08.639
You had nothing to do or something for me?
00:09:08.759 --> 00:09:12.899
I'd much rather pay somebody to does something for me.
00:09:13.230 --> 00:09:21.149
I don't have to learn how to do everything. I like to stick in my lane, which is what I'm really good at. And let me just do.
00:09:21.149 --> 00:09:38.100
That. Yeah, and to your point, I have one of the coaching outlines that I use is the six keys to great leadership, those six skills that we're always working on to be really effective leaders.
00:09:38.700 --> 00:09:46.710
And that is it's communicate, delegate, motivate, recruit, collaborate, develop. We need to be able to do all six things.
00:09:47.129 --> 00:09:50.009
And what you're speaking to is the delegate part.
00:09:50.909 --> 00:09:56.580
Founders struggle, at least initially to delegate well let go.
00:09:57.629 --> 00:10:24.659
And I mean the skill of delegation, not assignment. I asked Bill to do it, but he didn't. Well, delegation is about making sure they have the resources and the ability and the training and the checklist. That said, once you finally get something off your plate that maybe we were doing well but shouldn't be doing anymore, it frees up our time to do bigger and other things to make other decisions we need to make as the owners. Interesting.
00:10:25.230 --> 00:10:27.299
Yeah, I could see that. I could see that.
00:10:27.480 --> 00:10:30.929
So tell me a little bit more about your book, your ebook.
00:10:32.279 --> 00:10:48.840
Yeah, I go through the ebook. It's a place to give a couple of tips, strict truths to help people understand this is the mistake, but this is some of the elements of why you would want to be really intentional about, for example, creating an exit strategy.
00:10:49.740 --> 00:10:54.840
You create an exit strategy so that you make good decisions, understanding what you intend to do with the business.
00:10:55.409 --> 00:10:57.600
I use the example of selling the business.
00:10:58.350 --> 00:11:30.059
A more common one in small to medium sized businesses is they want to be in the family. Well, then we're going to need to identify who else in the family is both interested and has the ability. And then make sure that we have a development plan so that the daughter is ready to assume the helm once mom steps aside, retires or passes away, however she exits the business.
00:11:25.710 --> 00:11:42.539
But that's an element of, so for every mistake that people tend to make, there's also some background to, and here's how you avoid it by having that plan in place. And we go through each one of those in the book.
00:11:42.539 --> 00:11:50.039
I go through each one of those and just talk a little bit about how the business owner can negate that so that it's not a mistake.
00:11:50.759 --> 00:11:55.840
And of course all the way through, I always invite people to choose their own adventure.
00:11:56.769 --> 00:12:10.960
They can engage with me or not all the way through. So it can be a DIY, map it out for yourself after you read it, or if there's places you can text me, you can message me, you can email me, you can call me, you can schedule an appointment.
00:12:11.529 --> 00:12:11.950
You.
00:12:11.950 --> 00:12:20.559
Can do all those things to decide how you want to engage, if at all. There's also templates throughout the book.
00:12:21.129 --> 00:12:24.970
So for example, building out a strategy, I believe in simplicity.
00:12:25.509 --> 00:12:28.029
I think simple is an important part of business.
00:12:28.029 --> 00:12:31.990
We don't have to be complicated.
00:12:28.029 --> 00:12:36.340
Simple is not easy. Actually, it's harder to be KISA. That's right. That is absolutely right.
00:12:36.669 --> 00:12:44.799
That actually feeds all the way through those skills communicate in a simple, straightforward, clear way. But we go through each one of those.
00:12:45.039 --> 00:12:50.080
I go through each one of those mistakes and talk through why it's important to a business.
00:12:50.080 --> 00:12:56.919
And then the elements of creating or answering or negating each one of the mistakes.
00:12:57.220 --> 00:13:12.220
And so I'm just imagining that you create a plan, people read the book, they get something out of it, they want more, they contact you and then you'll help them to actually develop a plan to maybe improve in those areas.
00:13:13.149 --> 00:13:17.950
That's exactly what we do. So when we get to meet, we create the coaching plan.
00:13:18.009 --> 00:13:19.360
What are we trying to get to?
00:13:20.049 --> 00:13:28.029
Which one of those elements or which several of those elements are missing or lacking in the business? And then what's our coaching plan to get you there?
00:13:28.659 --> 00:13:36.220
So it's never as nebulous as sometimes I think coaching sounds to a business owner like therapy, which it's not.
00:13:36.879 --> 00:13:47.200
We're just going to chat for twice a month or whatever the frequency is, and we're just going to have this conversation and just kind of shoot the breeze. It's far more structured than that.
00:13:47.649 --> 00:13:50.529
And it starts with what are we tackling?
00:13:51.039 --> 00:13:54.279
What are the mistakes if any that you're making? How do we negate those?
00:13:54.610 --> 00:13:56.919
What are the leadership skills you'd like to hone in on?
00:13:56.919 --> 00:14:16.269
And what impact would that have on the business? For example, getting great delegation will solve a lot of that time issue. Making sure that we are honed in on a really great hiring plan helps with motivation and development of people.
00:14:16.570 --> 00:14:40.682
Far better to keep your high performing people is than it is to be in a constant state state of trying to find people lately. Right after time comes people, and even when there's a ton of applicants to choose from what I see with business owners is hiring really isn't afterthought.
00:14:41.110 --> 00:14:50.559
And what we want to turn it into in our work together is a really specific intentional plan to find people that are going to fit in your organization.
00:14:50.590 --> 00:14:53.389
It's going to obvious when I say it, but it happens all the time.
00:14:53.720 --> 00:14:56.509
And as somebody who used to hire this way, I appreciate it.
00:14:57.830 --> 00:15:02.330
I think we have a tendency, we're trying to hire a skill, but we don't hire core values.
00:15:03.139 --> 00:15:15.080
So we get somebody that is capable of doing the thing, but they don't seem to fit in or they rub people the wrong way or there's just something not quite a fit. And that's usually its core values issue.
00:15:15.230 --> 00:15:17.539
And I don't mean they're not good people.
00:15:17.600 --> 00:15:19.909
I mean they just don't fit in our organization.
00:15:20.539 --> 00:15:27.080
That the values of the organization, the mission of the organization, they're not in alignment with the other person.
00:15:28.519 --> 00:15:29.990
Which by the way is part of the strategy.
00:15:29.990 --> 00:15:38.210
Eddie of a lot of business owners have never written down all the stuff that's up here in their head about why did they start the business?
00:15:38.720 --> 00:15:40.519
Why is their mouse trap better?
00:15:40.639 --> 00:15:43.129
Why is their environment a better one to work in?
00:15:43.490 --> 00:15:47.809
What were they trying to create when they launched the thing in the first place?
00:15:48.590 --> 00:15:54.470
Articulating that is key to creating a really good hiring strategy.
00:15:54.860 --> 00:16:04.932
If I can't articulate why I do what I do and why I'm passionate about it, it's hard to draw the right people into my ecosystem that are going to help me do the same thing.
00:16:04.940 --> 00:16:08.899
When I was younger, I've always been an entrepreneur.
00:16:09.830 --> 00:16:13.700
There's very few times in the last 40 years that I worked for anybody.
00:16:15.620 --> 00:16:32.269
Instead, I worked for a lot of people, each one of my clients, but I didn't really have a job. But when I was younger, what I wanted to talk about was just that when I was younger and I ran the business, I had a lot of issues. Number one, for some reason I felt I had to prove myself all the time.
00:16:32.269 --> 00:16:34.070
So I got involved in a lot of things.
00:16:34.159 --> 00:16:38.629
I felt like I had to prove that I could do it. It was like a test.
00:16:39.200 --> 00:16:45.230
I had to get over that eventually. And the other thing, because when you don't, what happens is you get burnt out.
00:16:46.220 --> 00:16:58.730
If you're somebody who has to be involved in things and keeps pushing yourself and has to make everything happen and feels like it all has to filter everything through you, you get burnt out.
00:16:55.639 --> 00:16:58.730
That's what happens.
00:16:59.690 --> 00:17:02.000
And the other thing though is I didn't trust people.
00:17:02.990 --> 00:17:16.549
I didn't have the capacity to just trust that if I tell you I want this done a certain way or please take care of this thing, I couldn't just tell you and leave it alone. I didn't trust you, so I had to bother you about it.
00:17:16.940 --> 00:17:21.289
So those were two things that really were hurting my business back then that I had to get over.
00:17:22.339 --> 00:17:51.839
And I actually was lucky that I was able to reinvent the whole business in so many different ways to just make it better for me and for what my vision was, for what I wanted for both my life and for my clients. So yeah, there's a lot of things that I felt that really I had to get over personal things in order for me to be a better business person, to run a business better, to create a business that makes money without me, that I don't have to be there for things to happen.
00:17:52.380 --> 00:18:01.890
And for entrepreneurs, there isn't a separation between Work is work and home is home because it is. We start the business.
00:18:02.369 --> 00:18:07.680
It's a piece of us in a way that is very, very different than a clinical corporate environment.
00:18:10.589 --> 00:18:27.930
And I think one of the challenges for entrepreneur leaders is to give some space for people that they're going to have some really good employees that don't think like an owner because they're not owners or just they're not and they can still be outstanding employees.
00:18:28.349 --> 00:18:44.730
To your point about there's always personal things and work. Things that we bring into the personal, all coaches have some sort of personality assessment. One of those types of things I do, we all do.
00:18:45.480 --> 00:18:48.839
I use two, I call it it's nature and nurture.
00:18:49.799 --> 00:18:52.109
What is your natural, your native org genius.
00:18:52.109 --> 00:18:56.220
I use a mechanism called talent dynamics.
00:18:56.759 --> 00:19:01.920
There's others that are probably more well known like Myers-Briggs and disc and such. I use talent dynamics.
00:19:02.369 --> 00:19:04.799
I love the language of leadership that's inherent in it.
00:19:04.799 --> 00:19:07.589
And I love the approach that everyone has a natural genius.
00:19:07.950 --> 00:19:11.069
There are things that we just gravitate to that we're awesome at.
00:19:11.819 --> 00:19:20.700
And once we understand that, we know that we can bring people that are awesome at things that we're not good at, to your point, and then let them do the things we don't want to that they seem to just go to.
00:19:21.359 --> 00:19:22.019
Yes.
00:19:22.019 --> 00:19:31.380
The other half of that, that is really, it's an experience of self-awareness, is positive intelligence.
00:19:26.910 --> 00:19:34.049
I'm a pq, as we call it, positive intelligence coach inside my own practice.
00:19:34.079 --> 00:19:36.359
And what we do is a saboteur assessment.
00:19:38.039 --> 00:19:40.589
Take assessment, and these are your self saboteurs.
00:19:40.589 --> 00:19:52.410
They were probably coping reward mechanisms that we developed is little people and then we carried them into adulthood and they tend to sabotage us rather than support us.
00:19:52.859 --> 00:20:01.859
So there's lots of reflective work that happens in the leadership aspect of coaching.
00:19:57.750 --> 00:20:01.859
Great leaders are self aware.
00:20:02.279 --> 00:20:04.109
We need some introspection.
00:20:04.410 --> 00:20:08.400
We got to look at ourselves and see what we can do differently and improve on.
00:20:08.400 --> 00:20:09.232
For sure.
00:20:10.710 --> 00:20:20.339
That's the great non mystery is as leaders, if we think we're going to change other people but are unwilling to change ourselves, we are the only ones that we can actually impact.
00:20:20.880 --> 00:20:25.440
And when we demonstrate that, that's why. And how other people also change.
00:20:25.799 --> 00:20:35.670
We always have to be, when we're running our companies, we all have to demonstrate the ethics or values, the behaviors that we want other people to copy.
00:20:35.759 --> 00:20:38.220
The best thing we can do is role model what we're looking for.
00:20:39.630 --> 00:20:43.019
We want people to have a great work ethic. Then we have a great work ethic.
00:20:43.019 --> 00:20:48.789
And that doesn't mean throw extra back to time. The answer always, I'll just work long.
00:20:50.950 --> 00:21:00.160
We're so far down the path of these great researchers proving to us that working longer hours makes us less effective now.
00:21:02.259 --> 00:21:05.259
So we all want to show our employees, Hey, you know what?
00:21:05.890 --> 00:21:08.619
Don't miss the kid's soccer match. You're going to regret it.
00:21:09.400 --> 00:21:30.220
You're going to wish he'd been there. So go. And on occasion, when we have a key client and there's an issue and we need to work a little later or do a little more, we also do that ebb and flow and that most business owners would love that, but most business owners are challenged to demonstrate the part where they go home on time.
00:21:30.220 --> 00:21:31.053
Right?
00:21:32.559 --> 00:21:43.930
Yeah. I can name several clients, which basically means all of them at one point or another are just working burn the midnight oil.
00:21:44.769 --> 00:21:49.869
And when we really dig in, that's not the best use of their time because they're probably exhausted.
00:21:49.960 --> 00:22:11.410
Well, I have mixed feelings about things like that, but I do know that studies show that working four days a week is the most productive, that working less days a little longer hours is more productive than working five days a week or working seven days a week.
00:22:12.910 --> 00:22:21.339
But I agree that a human being is not designed to work seven days a week, 16 hours a day. I agree with that a hundred percent.
00:22:21.339 --> 00:22:22.930
That's again headed to burnout.
00:22:25.029 --> 00:22:28.900
I think the furthest I've gone was 60 days without a day off.
00:22:31.299 --> 00:22:35.559
That's the furthest I've gone. And then I was like, okay, don't talk to me.
00:22:35.559 --> 00:22:37.990
Leave me alone. I'm going away for a week.
00:22:40.420 --> 00:22:42.609
Yeah. And you know what I.
00:22:42.609 --> 00:22:43.190
Would add to that?
00:22:43.190 --> 00:22:52.299
That was because I was really hyped up on reaching certain financial goals and I was just on a tear.
00:22:53.859 --> 00:23:02.529
And then when you do it and you hit it and you hit this ridiculous number and you're like you for the next 10 years, nobody's ever going to beat that number.
00:23:03.160 --> 00:23:06.400
Nobody's crazy enough to work 16 days.
00:23:08.619 --> 00:23:17.829
But no, I agree that we need to take care of ourselves because if we don't take care of ourselves emotionally, physically, mentally, obviously we can't work at a peak performance.
00:23:18.789 --> 00:23:20.650
We got to treat ourselves like athletes.
00:23:20.650 --> 00:23:28.990
Sleep is the big thing that actually helps us recover in all that, and we need rest. We can't just be thinking all day about work.
00:23:29.109 --> 00:23:29.942
For sure.
00:23:30.250 --> 00:23:31.083
Yeah.
00:23:31.480 --> 00:23:41.769
But Stuart, I'd also add there when we talk about the four day work week and a few other things, I heard Simon Sinek on a podcast recently.
00:23:43.269 --> 00:23:49.009
His comment was, I don't think we've settled on what full-time means anymore.
00:23:50.839 --> 00:23:57.920
I think the key is flexible. I happen to be a morning person, which is why I always frame burning the midnight oil.
00:23:57.920 --> 00:24:00.049
It's negative because I don't function that way.
00:24:01.910 --> 00:24:06.019
00 AM meeting, I'm fine with that. I'll be up anyway,
00:24:07.339 --> 00:24:11.059
00 PM meeting. I don't think I'll be at my best.
00:24:11.299 --> 00:24:14.690
I just think it's important people really understand what is their best.
00:24:16.460 --> 00:24:27.650
Do people like to power through 10, 12 hours and get stuff done, or are they more five hours, take a few hours break and whatever else?
00:24:27.650 --> 00:24:35.660
More so just creating space for people to just get work done when they're best at getting that kind of work done.
00:24:35.809 --> 00:24:41.210
And businesses are really different. I can't run, you can't run a medical practice that way.
00:24:41.269 --> 00:24:44.329
You have to be there when the patients are there and that sort of thing.
00:24:44.660 --> 00:24:53.059
And I certainly understand that. However, I think there's probably more flexibility than we give ourselves space to think about. And I think proved that.
00:24:53.089 --> 00:25:10.579
I think Covid proved that we weren't thinking with a lot more creativity until we had to think with a lot more creativity, suddenly everyone will deliver groceries to you and anything else you want. You never have to leave your house, Et cetera, et.
00:25:11.750 --> 00:25:14.660
And all the businesses said, work at home. Don't worry about it. Stay home.
00:25:14.660 --> 00:25:15.829
Just work at home. It's okay.
00:25:16.069 --> 00:25:19.940
Yeah, yeah. And they're kind of all over the map on that one, right?
00:25:21.740 --> 00:25:26.240
There's great, we don't have to lease these expensive office Philippines anymore.
00:25:27.019 --> 00:25:31.279
And now they're caught in. Some of them are caught in traps of, okay, we're coming back to the office.
00:25:31.279 --> 00:25:33.289
You all have to come back to the office two days a week.
00:25:34.430 --> 00:25:36.319
But they're not all there on the same two days.
00:25:36.319 --> 00:26:07.069
So instead of taking the zoom call at home where they're comfortable, they have to drive an hour to go into an office to sit in a closed office by themselves all day, taking Zoom calls in an office in the building, so they're not getting to the root of the problem. And boy, if you want to circle back on work, I do. When business owners, were always looking for the roots, not just Right, okay, if you're calling everyone back in, what are you trying to solve with that?
00:26:03.230 --> 00:26:09.680
What's the missing thing that you think that solves and get to the heart of it?
00:26:10.339 --> 00:26:15.170
Entrepreneurs have an easier time rather than executive type leaders.
00:26:15.650 --> 00:26:30.109
Entrepreneurs have an easier time getting to that creativity because that's what got them in business in the first place, was creatively approaching something and the way their industry worked, the way they delivered a product or service, they have a unique take.
00:26:30.109 --> 00:26:36.769
So they're very open to getting to the heart of the issues because that's how they founded business in the first place.
00:26:37.220 --> 00:26:48.599
So another reason that it's a lot of fun to coach entrepreneurs because there's both strong-minded for sure, they wouldn't be doing what they're doing.
00:26:48.779 --> 00:26:55.823
They're also pretty good at taking clear, straightforward feedback as well in ways.
00:26:56.549 --> 00:26:57.383
Interesting.
00:26:58.019 --> 00:27:02.339
So what's some of the turnarounds that you've witnessed?
00:27:02.369 --> 00:27:05.519
What are the success stories that you could tell us?
00:27:06.180 --> 00:27:07.349
Yeah, success stories.
00:27:07.650 --> 00:27:10.500
You know what? Don't do that.
00:27:07.650 --> 00:27:10.500
Tell us some of the bad stories.
00:27:11.009 --> 00:27:20.069
Let's hear the bad stuff. I got fired last month by a client, so I probably worked together about a year, and that was like, Hey.
00:27:20.880 --> 00:27:27.420
And I know the exact session where they decided they were firing me because they said, aren't you getting exhausted?
00:27:27.420 --> 00:27:35.279
We've had this exact conversation several times a month for a year. Literally nothing has changed.
00:27:35.339 --> 00:27:39.660
You're literally defending your own exhaustion, your people.
00:27:40.170 --> 00:27:48.509
Nothing is different now than a year ago when we started. And I say, what I would say is I say, here's my question.
00:27:48.509 --> 00:27:50.789
Do you want to own a business and run it?
00:27:50.940 --> 00:27:53.700
What do you mean when you talk to me?
00:27:53.759 --> 00:28:10.769
All you talk about is doing the thing. We never talk about running the business, the marketing strategy, the hiring strategy, the managing time more effectively, running the actual practice.
00:28:10.769 --> 00:28:22.259
We talk about working in the practice but not managing it. And you are never going to get a different outcome if this is what you're going to do. No, you're just never going to see a different outcome.
00:28:22.259 --> 00:28:26.039
You're always going to feel exhausted.
00:28:22.259 --> 00:28:30.210
The money's not going to be there, and you are going to be working 70 hours a week like you are right now.
00:28:30.960 --> 00:28:36.029
And I got an email, Hey, I need to be in there watching what my team is doing.
00:28:36.450 --> 00:28:41.039
Micromanaging just, okay. And that's it.
00:28:41.220 --> 00:28:49.900
If you think everything is perfect, exactly the way you've got it, don't hire and spend money on a coach or anything else because it's exactly.
00:28:50.039 --> 00:28:55.740
The way you, if you're satisfied, if you're satisfied with the way things are, you're happy, then just keep doing what you're doing.
00:28:56.460 --> 00:28:57.750
Yeah, yeah.
00:28:58.680 --> 00:29:01.859
Just take a friend out to coffee that'll tell you you're doing a great job.
00:29:02.339 --> 00:29:09.509
I think that's what we were looking for, wasn't a change plan, but what they were looking for was validation that they're doing everything.
00:29:09.539 --> 00:29:14.423
Maybe he really wanted you to just be the guy that he could bitch to a couple times a week.
00:29:15.210 --> 00:29:19.440
Could be, yeah, probably. Yeah.
00:29:20.069 --> 00:29:35.940
I have a friend who is a trained psychotherapist and sort of the tongue in cheek joke is, Hey, when your patient's not making progress, you just double the fee and suddenly, or a cure. It's obviously joke. But yeah.
00:29:35.940 --> 00:29:45.430
I mean maybe that was the role that he was hoping I'd play was just, yeah, complain away.
00:29:41.200 --> 00:29:49.210
It's no fun for me either, because that's not what I enjoy doing. And I'll tell you why.
00:29:50.289 --> 00:30:05.470
Because what I know to be true, because I've spent a year with this person, he is talented in a way that not everybody is and cannot get out of his own way. That's the rule of whole, right?
00:30:05.859 --> 00:30:09.250
When you're in one stop digging would not put down the shovel.
00:30:09.910 --> 00:30:12.279
Not only would not stop digging, would not put down the shovel.
00:30:13.210 --> 00:30:20.740
And that's hard as a coach, that's hard to see that level of talent that just doesn't want to make the behavior change.
00:30:21.400 --> 00:30:25.269
Just a couple of really subtle shifts would change everything for him.
00:30:25.380 --> 00:30:28.390
That's everything. That's a tough one.
00:30:28.480 --> 00:30:32.829
Yeah. My thing, I turn away more clients than I take on.
00:30:33.490 --> 00:30:36.190
I'm very particular about clients I work with.
00:30:36.849 --> 00:30:40.599
I don't have a desire to work with a lot of people.
00:30:40.900 --> 00:30:44.799
I'll refer them to somebody else. I won't just say, don't call me no more and hang up the phone.
00:30:44.799 --> 00:30:47.859
I'll refer them to somebody else to get help.
00:30:47.859 --> 00:30:52.952
But I tell 'em I'm not interested in working with I understand.
00:30:53.470 --> 00:30:55.660
Yeah. Well and fit is important.
00:30:56.380 --> 00:31:11.049
I would also counsel when I've got my consultant hat on, when I first got into financial services, there was kind of the guru who wrote books, Nick Murray, who used to tell us, never confuse the client you want for the one you've got.
00:31:13.329 --> 00:31:30.490
Make sure that we're working with people that for whom we want to be in that relationship and that we can serve that is ready to work with us. So you're right. I mean, that's what I talked about.
00:31:30.490 --> 00:31:37.720
Hiring help for values match is it's just important for a client to choose me and me to choose them.
00:31:37.720 --> 00:31:42.099
It's a two way street of do we click, is this going to really work?
00:31:42.099 --> 00:31:44.980
Do we trust each other? You said trust. Are you ready? Yeah.
00:31:45.369 --> 00:32:07.210
Trust when I tell clients, let's have a call and a screen share, whatever, so we could see if this is the right fit for both of us because maybe you don't like me or you don't like the way I approach things, or maybe I don't like you or the way you approach things. But I think of it, I want long-term relationships with people.
00:32:07.509 --> 00:32:11.140
The best clients I've had are clients that I've had for many, many, many.
00:32:12.039 --> 00:32:16.059
Because they were right fit people that we fit together well.
00:32:16.059 --> 00:32:22.990
And it didn't bother me when they called me at nine o'clock at night and texted me and whatever. You know what I'm saying?
00:32:22.990 --> 00:32:27.579
Because it was the right fit of things. So that's awesome.
00:32:27.789 --> 00:32:33.730
Alright, so I know I kind want to hear something negative because I'm always asking for positive things.
00:32:33.730 --> 00:32:40.250
And every once in a while I thought guess should talk about some negative experiences. But let's talk about some successes.
00:32:40.279 --> 00:32:42.170
Tell me a little bit about some of the successes.
00:32:42.319 --> 00:32:44.180
You've had with Sure.
00:32:44.450 --> 00:32:53.089
One of my longer term clients that I met after my first year, so we've just hit our five-year anniversary working together.
00:32:53.089 --> 00:33:05.630
So by the end of last year, by the end of their calendar year last year, they had, in our time together, they had tripled, tripled, almost quadrupled top line. They're coming close.
00:33:05.630 --> 00:33:11.720
They've got a triple on the way to quadruple top line holding staffing level the same. That's good.
00:33:14.299 --> 00:33:26.059
That's getting every segment of the leadership behaviors that's making sure we've got a process articulated, designed everybody on the same page for money, people, and time.
00:33:27.230 --> 00:33:35.839
It's making sure that we have a clear plan for not the six mistakes, but the six components of executing a clear business strategy.
00:33:36.680 --> 00:33:40.670
And that took their co-founders, it took the co-founders committing.
00:33:41.480 --> 00:34:18.409
It's easy to say that this is what we achieved in that chunk of time, but man, there were some angry voices here and there. It was really a test of just how willing are they to are you to be out of your comfort zone in order to change. But we met at an event in our city and basically other people who were years ahead of them in business were saying, Hey, if you really want to want to take your business to a different level, hire a good coach. They will help you.
00:34:18.409 --> 00:34:26.719
They'll give you the objective perspective and if you'll do the work, you'll get the result. And they did. So they got the result.
00:34:27.230 --> 00:34:40.550
It's like all sports analogies applied to what I do, and they really got some very positive results from committing to make the changes that they want to make.
00:34:40.670 --> 00:34:51.980
And the best part was they got really clear about their own values and that's what's been so impactful to their growth is we have the same number of staff, but very different staff. Can.
00:34:51.980 --> 00:34:52.813
You still hear me?
00:34:52.969 --> 00:34:53.802
Barely.
00:34:54.380 --> 00:34:58.219
I had something go on in here. I don't know what happened. I lost my system.
00:34:59.539 --> 00:35:01.789
Something is wrong since the hurricane.
00:35:01.789 --> 00:35:03.829
This is the second time this happened to me.
00:35:04.219 --> 00:35:08.179
Yeah. I still show this recording on my side, but I don't see you. I can hear.
00:35:08.179 --> 00:35:12.829
You. It's working. It's working, but I'm not in it anymore, so we'll have to edit that out.
00:35:15.039 --> 00:35:18.820
Let me go out and come back in to wrap up. Okay. Okay.
00:35:18.829 --> 00:35:20.659
Let me figure out how to turn it all back on.
00:35:22.360 --> 00:35:26.480
I apologize for that technical difficulty.
00:35:22.360 --> 00:35:26.480
I don't know exactly what to say.
00:35:26.900 --> 00:35:30.769
We're back. Okay. So Ken, nuts and bolts.
00:35:31.369 --> 00:35:33.829
Let's maybe dive a little bit deeper.
00:35:35.570 --> 00:35:36.920
Let me see how to set this up here.
00:35:37.170 --> 00:35:50.730
Why don't you tell me a little bit about if you had somebody right now who's interested in, they have some pain points in their business going on right now where maybe they do feel overwhelmed.
00:35:47.670 --> 00:35:50.730
They don't have enough time.
00:35:50.789 --> 00:35:58.349
They want to spend more time with their family that I'm making the money that they really thought they could make.
00:35:54.239 --> 00:35:58.349
They have maybe issues with staffing.
00:35:58.769 --> 00:36:05.369
And so they're interested, they read your ebook and now they're going to contact you.
00:36:06.059 --> 00:36:14.219
What would you say to that person who now has some interest in working with you and finding out more to see if they can, you can help 'em to fix some of those?
00:36:16.559 --> 00:36:28.409
Where I always go with clients if they know what their issues are and they want to know what kind of plan we put together, I recommend they just schedule one of my breakthrough strategy sessions.
00:36:29.369 --> 00:36:43.469
I'll use profiling tools I mentioned earlier. I'll demonstrate for them, it'll be a real coaching session where we talk about the gaps they have, what they're trying to achieve, what coaching will look like as a framework to get them there.
00:36:43.889 --> 00:36:50.880
And they're going to know at the end of that 90 minutes, number one, if they want coaching and that they will get them where they want to be.
00:36:50.880 --> 00:36:52.230
And number two, if I'm that person.
00:36:53.130 --> 00:37:02.130
So they'll be in a position to say, heck yes or heck no by the end of it.
00:36:57.539 --> 00:37:07.829
And that's the best place to do it, is try it before you buy it if you will really get in there, get invested.
00:37:07.889 --> 00:37:13.583
It's simply for 90 minutes worth of their effort and sharing that information.
00:37:13.800 --> 00:37:18.809
They're going to have an answer as to whether or not this is the vehicle that gets from the business they've always hoped to have.
00:37:18.900 --> 00:37:34.800
What do you think the general feelings are of these individuals when they're in the mess, when they're in the problem, when they're in the gaps, what do you think they're feeling? Are they feeling like there's no solution or.
00:37:35.969 --> 00:37:43.500
Yeah, I think they read enough people on social media that they figured that's just a grind. It's just the way it is.
00:37:40.559 --> 00:37:43.500
That's just owning a business.
00:37:43.980 --> 00:37:48.599
This is just how it feels.
00:37:43.980 --> 00:37:51.630
It's just part of, right. Hey, start your own business and you too can work a hundred hours a week.
00:37:52.170 --> 00:37:56.280
Work as much as you want. They feel like that's just the way it is.
00:37:56.340 --> 00:37:59.880
And what I would share with them is, I worked with enough business owners.
00:37:59.880 --> 00:38:03.449
That's not the way it has to be. That it's a choice.
00:38:03.449 --> 00:38:07.199
And they don't have to feel frustrated.
00:38:03.449 --> 00:38:07.199
They don't have to feel overwhelmed.
00:38:07.800 --> 00:38:14.429
And they certainly don't have to feel like that's the way, or that no one understands what they're moving through in the moment.
00:38:15.360 --> 00:38:17.820
I absolutely do understand what they're going through.
00:38:17.909 --> 00:38:20.940
Yeah. Yeah. That's interesting.
00:38:17.909 --> 00:38:20.940
That's interesting.
00:38:20.940 --> 00:38:36.760
So a lot of people out there are stuck in these kinds of ruts and they just think that's the way it is, and they need to come across somebody or something that tells 'em, Hey, do you know that there's another way? There might be another way.
00:38:37.059 --> 00:38:40.000
It might just not be just the way you're doing things.
00:38:41.710 --> 00:38:43.599
That's awesome. So we need to get that word out.
00:38:43.599 --> 00:38:45.760
We need more people to know that there's a better way.
00:38:46.150 --> 00:38:50.530
I believe a hundred percent in coaching.
00:38:46.150 --> 00:38:50.530
I've spent a lot of money on coaching.
00:38:50.530 --> 00:38:53.619
I've had many, many coaches.
00:38:50.530 --> 00:38:53.619
Currently I have three.
00:38:55.329 --> 00:39:01.090
Exactly. It's like for me, my philosophy, the last 10 years has always been like I am at the top of my game.
00:39:01.090 --> 00:39:02.650
I want to stay at the top of my game.
00:39:02.949 --> 00:39:09.730
And so somebody who wants to be at the top of the game and really be good, have somebody to coach you, how else could you be at the top?
00:39:09.760 --> 00:39:13.119
If you don't have a coach, you got to shoot.
00:39:13.300 --> 00:39:15.280
You got to shoot 300 baskets a day.
00:39:15.280 --> 00:39:26.523
If you want to be a star player and you need to make sure you stay at a form and you eat right and you sleep right, and you take care of your physical needs properly so that you can perform at the highest level.
00:39:27.039 --> 00:39:30.969
Yes. So you need help.
00:39:27.039 --> 00:39:35.920
To your point, Eddie, I think any football coach is not telling their players how to play the game.
00:39:37.030 --> 00:39:49.090
They're observing them and say, Hey, did you know that if you moved your arm back two inches, you'd get another 10 yards out of that throw.
00:39:50.710 --> 00:39:54.489
It's perspective and observation and support.
00:39:55.300 --> 00:39:59.349
It's the support that we get. And you're right. Yeah, I too have coaches.
00:39:59.349 --> 00:40:01.719
I've always had coaches for different things.
00:40:03.099 --> 00:40:14.079
I see the results in myself in my own business and my own practice and certainly in my own clients. Yeah. And most coaches, my advice to anyone looking for a coach is shop.
00:40:15.400 --> 00:40:23.710
Ask us anything you want to ask us, we don't have a problem answering your questions. And if we do, that's probably not your coach. Move to the next one.
00:40:24.130 --> 00:40:26.500
You got to dive with us or it's not going to work.
00:40:27.010 --> 00:40:36.730
There's going to be some partner conversations if you'll some animated conversations. They're not hard at all. They're animated, they're exciting. We're working through stuff.
00:40:37.000 --> 00:40:40.510
You got to trust that other person in both directions.
00:40:40.599 --> 00:40:49.389
So I'm going to drop in the show notes, links to your ebook and your website so that people can get in touch with you.
00:40:49.389 --> 00:40:54.782
I know I've asked you some funny questions and some interesting questions.
00:40:54.789 --> 00:41:00.880
Is there anything that you would like to talk about that we haven't discussed so far? Or would you like to expand on anything?
00:41:00.969 --> 00:41:31.510
Yeah. Even though I, I've listed many people time and some of the other frameworks I use for coaching, the one thing that I want that I would like any listener to understand about coaching my job is first to always help you and be focused on you to of local awareness so that you as the owner, as the one who actually has a lot of answers in your head, can find them. That's what I'm doing with that awareness piece.
00:41:31.570 --> 00:41:45.920
And the other component that I would every single person to know about coaching is as a coach, what I'm presenting you with observations that I can see, I'm not attached to your answer.
00:41:41.599 --> 00:41:48.440
In other words, if it doesn't fit, that's fine with me. If it does, that's good too.
00:41:48.440 --> 00:41:55.460
It really is all about my client and what they're trying to achieve. That's the focus.
00:41:55.880 --> 00:42:08.989
So that should help with any sort of misconception that I've arrived with the secret sauce to make all of your business issues go away. They're actually in your head. I'm here to help you find them.
00:42:11.030 --> 00:42:15.260
Exactly. Excellent. Well, listen, Ken, I appreciate you.
00:42:15.260 --> 00:42:22.842
I would like to talk to you some more, but maybe we come back and do something a little different in the future and come on again.
00:42:23.389 --> 00:42:25.039
Oh, I'd love to. Yeah, be great.
00:42:26.000 --> 00:42:26.833
Excellent.
00:42:27.320 --> 00:42:27.650
Alright.
