Podcast appearances and mentions of shannon waller

Are you holding back, waiting for the “right” decision? In this episode, Shannon Waller and Dan Sullivan reveal why taking action—even imperfect action—is the key to entrepreneurial momentum. Discover how making any decision unlocks feedback, reduces anxiety, and activates your best thinking, while indecision keeps you stuck. Plus, learn practical strategies to overcome perfectionism and move forward. Here's some of what you'll learn in this episode:The importance of making a decision that requires that you take action.How indecision leads to more indecision.What you sacrifice when you refuse to choose.How to get a clear picture of the situation you're in. Show Notes: Taking action, even with imperfect information, is better than staying stuck in indecision. The problem with making no decision is that you're not changing the situation that's paralyzing you. When you can't make a decision, the pressure builds on you exponentially, as does the feeling of isolation and disconnection from your team and your goals. As soon as you start taking action, you get an enormous amount of information about whether it was a right action or a wrong action.Perfectionism is the enemy of progress. Humans are best when they're in motion. People become unproductive when they're not making decisions. You don't have to make the right decision. You can make a decision, and then make it right. Clarity and confidence come after you commit, not before. Decisive entrepreneurs make mistakes, but they also learn and adapt much faster than indecisive ones. When you're indecisive, you lose access to your wisdom, experience, and problem-solving abilities. The act of deciding eliminates alternative options and allows your mind to focus on what matters most. Protecting your role and saying no to distractions is a by-product of being decisive about your commitments. The word “decide” literally means to “kill off” alternatives, freeing you from mental clutter and overwhelm. Resources: The 4 C's Formula by Dan Sullivan The Gap And The Gain by Dan Sullivan with Dr. Benjamin Hardy The Impact Filter™

Do you praise departing team members—or subtly undermine them? In this episode, Shannon Waller breaks down why the way you talk about departures—good or bad—shapes your team's trust, your reputation, and even who'll want to work for you. Learn the hidden costs of venting, Dan Sullivan's graceful approach, and the “true, kind, necessary” rule for classy goodbyes. Download Episode Transcript Show Notes: How you talk about former team members defines your reputation—both inside and outside your company. Venting about someone who left may feel good in the moment, but it's a trust killer for your current team. If you speak poorly about others after they're gone, your current team members will begin to wonder what you're saying about them too. The way you handle goodbyes also tells your current team how you'll handle tough moments with them. Every departure is a chance to demonstrate emotional maturity, even when it's hard. Tough conversations should happen before someone departs. Great leaders turn departures into goodwill ambassadors, not burned bridges. Dan Sullivan's magic phrase: “People leave for their reasons, not ours.” A-players avoid companies with a reputation for badmouthing former employees. If you can't say something genuinely positive about a departure, silence is the wiser choice. Resources: The Self-Managing Company by Dan Sullivan Your Business Is A Theater Production: Your Back Stage Shouldn't Show On The Front Stage Team Success Episode: From Conflict To Courage, with Marlene Chism

Do you ever feel like your team is just going through the motions, missing that spark of connection? Are you noticing behavior that might be quietly undermining your culture? In this episode of Team Success, Shannon Waller dives into a crucial topic that can transform the way you interact with your team to create loyalty and trust. Tune in to learn how to enhance your team's long-term performance through transformational behavior. Download Episode Transcript Show Notes: Transactional Behavior: Focuses on what can be obtained from others, treating them as mere tools or cogs in a machine. Transformational Behavior: Prioritizes growth, partnership, and collaboration, treating others as human beings and fostering a sense of togetherness. Examples Of Transactional Behaviors: Ignoring people in passing. Only reaching out when you need something. Skipping “please” and “thank you.” Being all business all the time. Evaluating people only by their outputs. Acting like hierarchy means superiority. Focusing on tasks rather than the purpose. Dropping tasks on others without context. Treating other people's time as expendable. Being performative or fake. Failing to give feedback. Protecting turf or withholding information. Transformational Practices: Acknowledge and greet people. Show genuine interest in others' lives and well-being. Use polite language and express gratitude. Bring your whole, most evolved self to work. Recognize efforts and learning, not just results. Treat everyone as a peer and partner. Connect tasks to the larger purpose. Provide context for tasks and decisions. Respect others' time by being punctual and prepared. Be authentic and own up to mistakes. Offer constructive coaching. Share information freely and foster a culture of abundance. “People are sharp. Teams are well-rounded.” —Donald O. Clifton “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” —Maya Angelou To show up as a great team builder, as a great culture builder, as someone who is building the future of your company, examine these areas of your own behavior and take action immediately. Resources: “Taking Control Of Your Ego With Bestselling Author & Speaker Cy Wakeman,” Team Success Podcast 127 “The Referability Habits Mindset” free PDF download CliftonStrengths® website “The Entrepreneurial Attitude” free PDF download Simon Sinek's TEDx Talk “Start With Why” The Impact Filter™ download Who Not How: The Formula to Achieve Bigger Goals Through Accelerating Teamwork by Dan Sullivan with Dr. Benjamin Hardy

In this profoundly moving episode of Ageless Future, Regan Archibald sits down with the energetic and big-hearted Ben Laws, financial entrepreneur and transformational coach, to explore the deeper dimensions of love, loss, and what it means to truly live. Ben shares the heart-wrenching and inspiring journey of his son Benny, who was born with Trisomy 18 and lived just 16 days. Through Benny's story, Ben reveals the immense power of love—how it heals, connects, and transforms. The conversation dives into the emotional frameworks that guide Ben's coaching philosophy, his commitment to living a purpose-filled life, and how he and his wife Jenna turned sorrow into impact by founding the “16 Days” charity. This episode is a raw, real, and life-affirming reflection on choosing to live deeply and love unconditionally.MaxLife Podcast:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-maxlife-podcast-with-ben-laws/id1807089251https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/maxlife-with-ben-laws/episodes/8-The-Curiosity-Quest-Creating-Teams-that-Thrive-with-Shannon-Waller-e31im0f#:~:text=Hosted%20by%20Ben%20Laws%2C%20the,moments%20that%20shaped%20their%20success.Social:https://www.youtube.com/@MaxLifeBenLawshttps://www.instagram.com/thebenlaws/https://www.facebook.com/benjamin.lawshttps://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-laws-844b926/

Do you ever wish you could predict how a new team member will perform—before they even start? In this episode, Shannon Waller shares why she relies on profiles like Kolbe and PRINT® to build high-trust, high-performance teams. Discover how these tools help you delegate with confidence, eliminate mismatched roles, and leverage each person's Unique Ability® so your entire team wins. Download Episode Transcript Show Notes: Profiles eliminate guesswork by revealing how team members naturally strive, think, and contribute. Trust and collaboration deepen when you understand a team member's innate strengths, motivations, and problem-solving instincts. The Kolbe A™ Index reveals how someone takes action (their striving instincts) and in what situations they'll resist taking action. CliftonStrengths® highlights top talents so you can assign roles where people will excel effortlessly. Working Genius® identifies which parts of a project energize someone (like inventing or executing) and which drain them. Entrepreneurial teams thrive on adaptability, and profiles create stability by clarifying who does what best. The strongest teams balance different strengths instead of duplicating the same skills. Profiles also prevent pigeonholing by showing the full picture of a person's capabilities, not just one trait. Hiring based solely on experience is risky—profiles uncover hidden potential that resumes miss. Using an Impact Filter™ helps you define the “why” behind a project so you can align the right people with the right tasks. Overall, investing in profiles delivers measurable ROI—better hires stay longer, perform at higher levels, and require less management because they're operating in their areas of Unique Ability from day one. Resources: Kolbe A Index Working Genius CliftonStrengths DiSC® Profile PRINT The Impact Filter Unique Ability The Talent Impact Profile™️

Do you hesitate to step into a leadership role, even when you know you have something valuable to contribute? You're not alone! Many people hold back, think it's not their job, or believe they lack the authority. But leadership isn't just for the top of the pyramid. In this episode, Shannon Waller discusses what “situational leadership” is and how you can make a real impact in your organization, no matter your title. Imagine being the go-to person in your area of expertise, confidently guiding your team through uncertainty and change. Listen now for the five mindsets in team members from Liz Wiseman's book Impact Players that are keys to developing situational leadership. Download Episode Transcript Show Notes: Strategic Coach® defines leadership as: Providing direction Maximizing opportunities Providing strategies and solutions Everyone has an area of expertise, or Unique Ability®, where we can contribute, create value, and provide leadership. The executive assistant in charge of an entrepreneur's schedule is in charge of their entrepreneur's daily activities and can provide leadership on managing time and relationships. Five key points from Impact Players by Liz Wiseman: Do the job that's needed, not what's assigned. Step up and take ownership. Adapt and stay flexible. Make work easier for others. Deliver with a finish line mentality Casting Not Hiring's 4 x 4 Casting Tool™ measures four quadrants of success: Performance: being alert, curious, responsive, and resourceful Results: what is faster, easier, cheaper, or has a bigger impact Being A Hero: four projects to focus on next quarter What Drives You/Others Crazy: behaviors you want to avoid Permission to speak up and make suggestions is not saying, “My way is the right way.” Resources: Unique Ability) PRINT®: Take the PRINT survey). Abundance 360, by Peter Diamandis Superpowered: The Secret That Helps Every Entrepreneur Eliminate the Suck, 10X Their Impact, and Have More Fun in Work and Life by Shannon Waller, Ryan Cassin, and Steven Neuner Impact Players: How to Take the Lead, Play Bigger, and Multiply Your Impact by Liz Wiseman

What if leadership isn't about titles, but about creating new capabilities others can observe? In this episode, Dan Sullivan and Shannon Waller break down the shift from bureaucratic management to self-leadership in the networked economy. Learn the four-step process to transform uncertainty into confidence—and why focusing on problems is the death of innovation. Here's some of what you'll learn in this episode:The four-step process that always makes you an inspiring leader.Why a goal isn't a destination.The big difference between a role and a job.Why there are no orders in the network economy.How Dan is finally revealing his process in a new book.Why unique skills are generally wasted in bureaucracies. Show Notes: Self-leadership starts with creating new capabilities—not waiting for permission. Anytime you're doing something that creates a new capability, and other people observe you doing that, that's leadership. Your activity of creating a new capability gives others the confidence that they too can have the courage to create a new capability. The pandemic created a network economy. Great technologies like Zoom have enabled people to work remotely. Many management activities within a company can now be handled by apps. Bureaucracies punish boundary-crossing, while networked teams reward it. When people get possessive about their territory, it shuts down creativity. Instead of trying to fix problems (or worse, just complaining about them), create solutions that make problems irrelevant. Confidence comes after courage—not the other way around. Resources: Growing Great Leadership by Dan Sullivan The Self-Managing Company by Dan Sullivan The Team Success Handbook by Shannon Waller Who Not How by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy The 4 C's Formula by Dan Sullivan

Is your entrepreneur overflowing with ideas but feeling frustrated that no one is listening? This episode reveals how you can step up as a vital sounding board, transforming those fleeting thoughts into actionable plans. Entrepreneurial team expert Shannon Waller explains how enhancing your listening skills makes you an invaluable asset to your entrepreneur. While you get to collaborate creatively with your entrepreneur, you'll also usher in new solutions that drive growth for your company. Download Episode Transcript Show Notes: Be A Great Sounding Board Volunteer to listen: When your entrepreneur shares an idea, express interest in scheduling time to learn more about it. Capture ideas: Keep a running list of your entrepreneur's ideas in something that you can access from your phone, like Trello or Asana, anytime a new idea comes up. Before the discussion, make a note about what intrigued you about the idea or what questions you immediately have. Be present: Clear your mind and focus on the conversation. If you're distracted, your entrepreneur will sense it and share less. Listen generously: Use phrases like, “Tell me more” to invite deeper discussion. Lean in physically to show engagement. Create a safe space: Make it comfortable for the entrepreneur to express their thoughts, even if they lead to a “bad idea.” Capture the summary of main points: This is easy to do with Strategic Coach® tools, but even typing out the key points discussed afterwards takes the idea from the “make it up” stage closer to “make it real.” Characteristics Of A Great Listener Enthusiastic and curious: Show genuine interest in the ideas being shared. Translates back: Reflect back what you hear using phrases such as, “It seems like … ” or “It sounds like … ” Great interviewing skills: Ask questions about what intrigues you and what the context is—what the problem is that this idea solves. Or, repeat the last three words to confirm that you're listening and encourage further expansion. Add your viewpoint: Adding your own thoughts shows you're listening and thinking about what is said. Tools For Effective Conversations Use Strategic Coach tools: Tools such as The Strategy Circle and Impact Filter can help guide discussions. The Strategy Circle®: Identify goals, obstacles, and strategies. The Impact Filter™: Discuss the purpose, importance, ideal outcome, and success criteria. Certainty/Uncertainty Focus: Explore what is known and unknown about the idea to get more clarity about who should be doing what. Approach With The Right Mindset Be curious, not ego-driven: Focus on the entrepreneur's ideas rather than seeking personal recognition. Use your strengths: No matter your strengths, lean in to them to balance your entrepreneur's strengths. Enjoy the process: Embrace the creative act of ideation with your entrepreneur. Be open: Keep an open mind to new ideas, but also be willing to let them go if they turn out to be not worth pursuing. Final Thoughts Transformational impact: Your role as a sounding board can lead to significant breakthroughs for the entrepreneur and the team. Recognize your skills: You may already possess these listening skills. Acknowledge and enhance them for greater impact. Make it real: Your engagement can help flesh out creative ideas by taking them out of the headspace and into the action space. Resources: Never Split The Difference by Chris Voss, CEO and founder of The Black Swan Group The Strategy Circle: Your Life As A Strategy Circle by Dan Sullivan The Impact Filter Strategic Coach Ambition Series quarterly books What is the Collaborative Way®? CliftonStrengths® Tools for capturing ideas on the go: Trello, Asana Inside Strategic Coach podcast with Dan Sullivan and Shannon Waller questions@strategiccoach.com  

Is complaining holding you back from your full potential? In this episode, Dan Sullivan and Shannon Waller discuss the surprisingly simple choice between complaining and creating when facing obstacles. Discover how shifting to a creative mindset, embracing courage, and taking full responsibility can unlock new capabilities and exponential growth. Here's some of what you'll learn in this episode:How complaining allows you to avoid responsibility by justifying why you can't move forward.The Strategic Coach® thinking tool for transforming obstacles into capability and confidence.Why you need commitment and courage before you can gain capability and confidence.The kinds of people that give creativity a bad name. Show Notes: An obstacle feels like something is blocking your progress. There are only two ways of dealing with obstacles: creating or complaining. When you're in creativity mode, you're fully engaged with transforming or bypassing the obstacle. To deal with an obstacle, you have to create something new. Taking 100% responsibility is essential for creative problem-solving. Complaining involves blaming external circumstances or people. Committing fully to complaining offers a sense of freedom because you've absolved yourself of any responsibility for improving your situation. Few people are entirely creative or entirely complainers. Most are a mix of both. Creativity requires courage; complaining does not. Creators are more likely to be honest with themselves. You attract what you are: complainers attract complainers, and creators attract creators. Resources: The 4 C's Formula by Dan Sullivan

Are your team leaders still growing, or have they become too comfortable? In this episode, Shannon Waller discusses why leaders need to be led and how entrepreneurs can create environments where their leadership teams continue to grow, adapt, and welcome feedback. Learn how to avoid the trap of entropy and cultivate a team that embraces change and collaboration. Download Episode Transcript Show Notes: Entrepreneurs get their feedback from the marketplace, but your internal leaders may not get the same level of direct input, requiring intentional direction from you. Great entrepreneurial leaders embrace The 4 C's Formula®—Commitment, Courage, Capability, and Confidence—and continually repeat the cycle of growth. It's the responsibility of those in leadership positions to ensure their team leaders are continually growing, stretching, and expanding their areas of Unique Ability®. Without guardrails and feedback, even the best leaders can go off course, which makes structured communication and open dialogue key. While corporations tend to have established growth paths and feedback mechanisms, entrepreneurial companies often demand team members take a more proactive, self-directed approach. Entropy, or the gradual decline into disorder, can take over if there's no conscious effort to maintain uniqueness and encourage growth in your organization. Resisting change is a warning sign of stagnation. Encourage your team to challenge the phrase, “We've always done it this way.” Prioritize leading people over simply managing them; let technology handle inputs while you focus on providing direction and leadership to your team. Create psychological safety for your leaders by encouraging open and honest communication so they feel comfortable sharing feedback and voicing concerns. It's also important that your leaders receive feedback not only from you, but also from their teams, so you can build a broader culture of trust. If you want to cultivate Unique Ability® Teamwork, you have to put effort and energy into making it happen—encourage collaboration and welcome new ideas and input regardless of job descriptions. Resources: Unique Ability® The 4 C's Formula by Dan Sullivan The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design by Richard Dawkins EOS®

Organizations have changed a lot over the past 50 years, and it's vital for entrepreneurs to be aware of these changes if they want to achieve great business success. In this episode, Dan Sullivan, who has been coaching entrepreneurs for 50 years, talks to fellow business coach Shannon Waller all about the changes in companies that have taken place over the past half-century and the very different position that entrepreneurs are in today. Here's some of what you'll learn in this episode:What gave Dan confidence to become a business coach.How Dan's desire to coach got married to entrepreneurism.How Strategic Coach® helps entrepreneurs thrive in the current economy.The way to give your team members roles, not just jobs. Show Notes: The invention of the microchip allowed entrepreneurs to have a lot of power and capability they'd never had before. The introduction of the microchip meant large corporations would start to fracture and wouldn't be as effective or useful. It might take three months to get a decision from large organizations, but entrepreneurs can decide to hire you, and write you a check, in the moment. About every 15 years, the number of employees required in an organization is about half of what it was 15 years previously. Now that small companies with microchip power can be powerful economic forces, government has adjusted to make the process of incorporation faster and easier. We're partway through a 50-year period in which we're shifting from large, pyramid-shaped organizations to network-based organizations. Artificial intelligence can do work that used to require many people to do. A lot more people can own companies and have leadership positions now than they used to. Canada, especially Ontario, is one of the easier places in the world to incorporate. Being a bureaucrat in a large pyramidal organization used to be the safest job in the economy, but is now among the riskiest. Being an entrepreneur has become the safest role. Resources: The Great Crossover by Dan Sullivan Your Business Is A Theater Production: Your Back Stage Shouldn't Show On The Front Stage Unique Ability®

Do you get the impression there are people on your team trying hard to prove themselves? In this podcast episode, teamwork specialist Shannon Waller discusses the critical importance of self-awareness and the freedom to be oneself within a team environment. Understanding your strengths and embracing your true self is not just for personal benefit; it serves as a strategic advantage for entrepreneurial teams. Download Episode Transcript Show Notes: The Problem With Proving Oneself The idea of proving oneself seems positive, showing hard work and ambition, but it can often lead to focusing narrowly on self-evaluation instead of collaboration. The self-focus can lead to “head trash” where people measure themselves against the ideal and end up in “The Gap,” where they're constantly frustrated that they aren't further ahead than where they are. The Value Of Self-Awareness Knowing one's strengths and weaknesses is essential for effective teamwork. This self-awareness allows greater appreciation for others' complementary strengths, which can be combined to more efficiently complete collective goals. Knowing your own weaknesses helps you stay away from committing to roles on projects you're not best suited for, thereby preventing bottlenecks. When people know what their strengths are, they're free to be more creative within those areas. Growing Great Leadership In Dan Sullivan's newest Ambition Series book, Growing Great Leadership, he explains how being a great leader includes demonstrating your own growth using The 4 C's Formula®. The 4 C's Formula: Commitment to a scary new project means having to experience courage to try something new with many unknowns in order to gain new capabilities that give you greater confidence to tackle the next big commitment, renewing the cycle. For a company to expand, each person, each team, and each capability needs to be constantly getting better through 4 C's growth. Profiles To Help You Know Yourself Kolbe: How you take action. PRINT®: Your motivations. CliftonStrengths®: Your strengths and non-strengths. DISC: Your personality and behavioral style. Working Genius®: Where you thrive on team projects. Growth Over Perfectionism Perfectionists won't try something unless they know they can nail it the first time. Entrepreneurial companies need growth-minded people who are willing to take risks, try, and learn from both success and failure. Strategic Advantage “Success is the freedom to be yourself.” —Kathy Kolbe People who have the freedom to be themselves are open-minded, curious about other people, trustworthy, collaborative, productive, creative, and successful. When people don't have to focus inwardly, trying to prove themselves, they're free to be more strategic and focused on the best end results. Resources: The Gap And The Gain by Dan Sullivan with Dr. Benjamin Hardy Growing Great Leadership by Dan Sullivan (coming soon) The 4 C's Formula by Dan Sullivan Kolbe (Kolbe.com) PRINT CliftonStrengths DISC: Personality Insights Working Genius Unique Ability®

Do you understand the transformative power of hiring the right number two leader? In this episode, Shannon Waller and Alec Broadfoot discuss the essential qualities of an effective second-in-command and the critical role of a structured interview process in identifying top talent. Learn how assessments and strategic questioning can improve your hiring strategy and drive lasting success. Download Episode Transcript Show Notes: Understanding the role of a number two leader is crucial for entrepreneurial success. Hiring the right second-in-command can significantly improve your business operations. Most entrepreneurs face people problems, not process problems. A number two leader should oversee daily operations, freeing up visionaries to focus on their areas of Unique Ability®. The right number two leader will thrive on the challenges that visionaries find tedious. Letting go of certain responsibilities can lead to increased joy and energy for visionary leaders, ultimately driving profit. The Talent Impact Profile™ (TIP) is a valuable tool for identifying the right characteristics in a number two leader. Building a strong partnership with your number two can transform both your business and personal life. A structured interview process is essential for identifying the right number two leader. Common mistakes in interviewing include relying solely on “gut” feelings instead of data-driven insights and ignoring cultural fit. Candidates need to align with your company's values. The best time to fire a poor performer is during the interview process. The average interview predicts success about 14% of the time, but using an assessment tool can raise your success rate to upwards of 52%. Once they're hired, it's crucial to provide the new leader with ongoing support and clear expectations to ensure they can thrive in their role. Characteristics of a successful second-in-command: Strategic thinking: The ability to think critically and plan effectively. Planning and organization skills: A knack for creating and implementing processes. People orientation: A focus on developing and nurturing team members. Coaching ability: Enjoyment in holding others accountable and managing performance. Strong communication skills: The capacity to convey information clearly and effectively. Right fit: Compatibility with your company culture and values.   Resources: Vision Spark Hiring Your Right #2 Leader by Alec Broadfoot Delegate Solutions How The Best Get Better® by Dan Sullivan Unique Ability® Talent Impact Profile™ Kolbe A™ Index The Team Success Handbook by Shannon Waller

Are you looking to upgrade your teamwork? Do you realize that you have really high standards? Today, Shannon Waller talks about building partners within entrepreneurial teams. What does it mean to have team partners rather than employees or staff, and how do you build the ultimate dream team in your business? If you're tired of micromanaging, find out how Shannon achieves crazy fast results with team members who act as partners. Download Episode Transcript Show Notes: Shannon has realized she only wants to work with partners, not employees, not staff. One example of a three-way partnership is the Teamwork Triad, which consist of three people who have a Unique Ability® in separate but equal areas of “make it up” (creative vision), “make it real” (execution), and “make it recur” (sustainability). Great partnerships are built around each person being honest about their strengths and areas of Unique Ability. Unique Ability is made up of those activities at which you are capable and confident, but also most love to do. Do you know what you're uniquely exceptional at that you should be doing all the time? Do you know what you should not be doing? Having Imposter Syndrome simply means you're growing and still somewhere in the first three scary stages of The 4 C's Formula®—commitment, courage, or capability—and not yet at the last stage, confidence. To be a great partner, you can't be shy and humble about the things you're really good at. You can't be a partner when you're doing what you're incompetent or merely competent at. You also can't be a partner when you're doing what you're excellent at but have no passion for. When partners work together in Unique Ability® Teamwork, everyone is committed and energized by what they're doing. How can you tell when you have the right partners working together? You get the highest quality results at crazy fast speeds. Being a partner means stepping outside of your preconceived ideas about your role to share the best of yourself: your heart, brain, and will. Resources: Kolbe Unique Ability The Team Success Handbook by Shannon Waller The 4 C's Formula by Dan Sullivan

Today on Welcome to Cloudlandia, We start with the mysterious drone sightings over New Jersey, exploring the thin line between conspiracy and curiosity. These nocturnal aerial visitors become a metaphor for our complex modern world, where information and imagination intersect. We then investigate the profound impact of cultural icons like Mr. Beast and Kylie Jenner, examining how influence transcends traditional expertise. Our discussion reveals how public figures navigate changing landscapes of leadership and visibility, offering insights into the evolving dynamics of success and social capital. The episode concludes by challenging our approach to information consumption. Drawing from personal experiments and wisdom from thought leaders like Warren Buffett, we explore strategies for staying informed in a noisy digital ecosystem. Our conversation provides practical perspectives on navigating media, understanding cultural shifts, and maintaining perspective amid constant information flow. SHOW HIGHLIGHTS We explore the presence of drones over New Jersey, questioning whether they are linked to government surveillance or civilian activities, while considering the broader context of misinformation and conspiracy theories. Dan and I discuss the concept of anticipation being more stressful than actual experiences, suggesting it as a contributor to mental distress. The impact of cultural icons like Mr. Beast and Kylie Jenner is examined, highlighting their influence despite lacking traditional skills in their fields. We ponder on how cultural shifts are altering perceptions of corporate leadership, using a hypothetical scenario of a CEO's public safety being compromised. The dynamics of news consumption are analyzed, contrasting real-time news feeds with curated platforms like RealClear Politics to understand how they balance diverse political viewpoints. I share my experience with digital abstinence, noting the benefits of reduced distractions and the negligible impact of disconnecting from the continuous news cycle temporarily. The concept of "irrational confidence" is explored, discussing how it characterizes overachievers and can be cultivated over time to foster personal growth. We reflect on long-term investment strategies inspired by Warren Buffett, emphasizing the enduring need for certain products and industries. I consider the importance of balancing cultural awareness with the need to filter out unnecessary noise, contemplating changes in my information consumption habits. Insights from personal experiments in digital and media consumption are shared, emphasizing the importance of distinguishing between transient cultural information and lasting knowledge. Links: WelcomeToCloudlandia.com StrategicCoach.com DeanJackson.com ListingAgentLifestyle.com TRANSCRIPT (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors) Dean: Mr Sullivan. Dan: Mr Jackson are the drones looking down on you. Are the drones looking down on you. Dan: I mean, how many do you have up there? What is going? Dean: on with these drones. Dan: Yeah, I bet there's just a bunch of civilians fooling around with the government. Dean: Yeah, I wonder you know like you look at this. I think it's so. I wonder you know like you look at this. I think it's so amazing that you know we've had a theme, or I've been kind of thinking about this, with the. You know, is this the best time to be alive or the worst time to be alive? And I mentioned that I think probably in every practical way, this is the best time, but the anything in the worst time to be alive column just the speed and proliferation of, you know, conspiracies and misinformation and the battle for our minds. You know, keeping us in that. You know everything is just enough to be. You know where you're uncertain of stuff. You know there's a lot of uncertainty that's being laid out right now in every way. I mean, you look at just what's happened in the last. If we take 2020, fear you know. Dan: Well, tell me about it. I'm not very much of that 2024. Tell me about it. I experience very much of that. But why don't you tell me about that? Because I want to note some things down here. Dean: You know what? Dan: Every month, more money comes in than goes out. What more do you need to know besides that? Dean: I agree with you. I'm seeing the light here. It's just on the top level. We went through an election year which is always the you know the highly funded, you know misinformation campaigns or you know putting out there. So everybody's up on high level. Dan: Are you talking about lies Are? Dean: you talking about lies? Are you talking about lies? Who knows Dan? Dan: When I was growing up we called them lies. Why so many extra letters? I mean lies, that's a perfectly good Anglo-Saxon word. Why is Greek and Roman stuff in there? Dean: I think that's the thing, If we just simplify it. But if we bring it down to lies and truth, it's much more. Dan: I like lies and truth. Dean: Yeah, it's much more difficult to discern the lies from the truth. Dan: Yeah, he's telling a lie here, folks, his mouth is moving Exactly. Dean: You know that's the truth, but I just look at that. It's like you know the things that are. You know the things that are happening right now. Like you look at even with the government, even with the congressional hearings or announcements on, almost just like a matter of fact, oh yeah, there's aliens, there's totally aliens. There's. They've been here for a long time. We've got some in, we've got all the evidence and everything like that. But you know, carry on, it's just kind of so. It's so funny. Stuff is being like, you know, nobody really is kind of talking about it. And then you get these drone situations in New Jersey, all these drones coming out and the government saying I know nothing to see here, nothing going on there. Dan: Well, my take if you're going to be using drones. New Jersey would be my choice. You know I put drones over New Jersey. Not a lot happening there. Dean: All the memes now are that it's some highly sophisticated, you know fast food delivery service for Chris Christie. That's all the meme things. They're on a direct pipeline delivering fast food to Chris Christie. That's just so funny. Dan: Yeah, yeah. Well, you know, I mean the whole point is that civilians could do this. I mean, I think everybody probably has the you know, or certain people do have the technological capability now to put up drones, you know, and just put some lights on them and put them in the night sky I'm sure anybody does that and then you know, and then you'll be on social media. Dean: Somebody will film you and everything like that you know it's at night and they're mysterious. Dan: Always do it at night, never do it during the day You've got to use the right words to describe them too, dan, you've got to use the right words they're mysterious drones. And if you practice you can get them to fly. In formation it looks even more interesting. I'm swooping a little bit in formation, everything else, well, I don't believe there's aliens. Dean: Okay, good Everything else yeah. Well, I don't believe there's aliens, so you know I mean. Dan: I don't believe there's anything more alien than people I've already met. That's what. Dean: I mean yeah. Dan: You know I've met some alien thought forms on the part of some people. But see, I think you got to make a fundamental decision about this up front. This is worth thinking about or it's not worth thinking about. Yeah, okay, so I made the decision. It's not worth thinking about that. If something new develops, I'll probably know about it in a very short period of time, and then I can start responding to it. Yeah, but about six months ago a new resolution plunked into place in my brain, and that is I'm not going to react to an experience until I actually have the experience. Dean: So say more about that. Dan: Rather than making up a fantasy or the possibility that there's an experience to be it. Actually you're getting. I think mental illness is having an experience before you've actually being afraid of an experience before you've actually had it. It's the anticipation of having an experience that I think causes mental illness. Dean: That's true, isn't it? Dan: Yeah, I mean, that's like yeah, I haven't seen Probably not the only thing, probably not the only thing about mental illness, but I think that would qualify as an aspect. It certainly is a paranoia, certainly an aspect of paranoia, yeah, but things are moving. I think we're witnessing one of the greatest innovations in the history of the United States right now. Can I tell you what it is? Would you be interested? I'm all ears. Yeah, President is elected, and then there's this period from the day after the election until the inauguration. Dean: Yes. Dan: And it's basically been fallow. Nothing grows during that time and Trump has just decided why don't I just start acting like the president right after the election and really create a huge momentum by the time we get to the inauguration? Let's be so forceful right after the election that all the world leaders talk to me. They don't talk to the existing president. That's his name. I forget what I forget Joe, joe, joe. All right, that's the name, that's the name of the beach, that's the name of the beach, I just find it remarkable how, around the world, everybody's responding to the incoming president, not to the actual president. That's the truth. I think he's, and he's getting people. There's foreign policy changing. You know there's foreign policy, mexico, their foreign policy you know, their export import policy is changing. Canada export import policy is changing. Canada export-import policy is changing. And all he did was say a word. He said I think we're going to put a 25% tariff on both of you. And all of a sudden, they're up at night. They're up at night. Dean: I happened to be, in Toronto when all that was being announced. I happened to be in Toronto when all that was being announced and all the news was, you know, that there's an emergency meeting of all of the premiers to discuss the reaction to Donald Trump's proposed tariff. You know, you're absolutely right. Everybody's scrambling, everybody's. You know, they're definitely, you know, thinking about what's coming. You know. Dan: And then he goes to Paris for the opening of, you know, they're definitely, you know, thinking about what's coming, you know. And then he goes to Paris for the opening of, you know, the you know, the renovation of Notre Dame Cathedral. Yeah, looks good, by the way, I don't know if you've seen the pictures. It looks really good. I was in there. You know I've been to Paris, I think I've been to Paris three times and I went the first time. I said, oh, I've been to Paris, I think I've been to Paris three times and I went the first time. I said, oh, I have to go to Notre Dame Cathedral. And I went in and I said, gee, it's dark and dingy and I'm not sure they even clean. You know, clean the place anymore. And all it takes is a little fire to get everybody into cleanup mode, and boy, it looks spectacular. So Trump goes there and it's like he's the emperor of the world. You know, all the heads of state come up and they want to shake his hands and everything like that. I've never seen anything like that with an incoming president. They want to get on his good side and everybody's giving them money for his inauguration. Mark Zuckerberg's giving them money. The head of Google's giving them money for his inauguration. Mark zuckerberg's giving them money. The head of google is giving them money. Jeff bezos giving them money. Abc's giving them 15 million. That'll just go into his library library fund. Yeah, and everything else. Wow. You know, I've never seen them do this to an incoming president before. Yeah, time magazine called him the person of the year Already. I didn't even know there was a Time magazine. Dean: I'm actually thinking. I've been, I've been like thinking, dan, about my 2025, you know information plan and you know I've been kind of test driving this idea of you know, disconnecting. Where I struggle with this is that so much of the insights and things that I have are because I, on top of culture, you know, I think I'm very like tuned in to what's going on. I have a pretty broad, you know, observation of everything and that. So where I struggle with it is letting go of like at the vcr formula, for instance, was born of my observation and awareness of what's going on with mr beast and kylie jenner and these, you know, that sort of early thing of knowing and seeing what's going on you know before many of our contemporaries kind of thing. Right, many of our people are very decidedly disconnected from popular culture and don't pay attention to it. So I look at that as a balance. That part of it there's a certain amount of awareness that is an advantage for me might be affected if I were to be blissfully unaware of what's going on in culture, you know. Dan: Yeah, I don't know. I mean you could put Charlotte on to the job you know, yeah, and that's so I look at that. Charlotte. For our listeners, charlotte is Dean's AI sleuth. She finds out things. She's a sleuthy integrator of things that Dean finds interesting. You ought to talk it over with her and say how can I stop doing this and still have the benefit of it? Dean: Yeah, my thing. I think that where there might be an AI tool that I could use for this, but Charlotte, from what I understand, is bound by her latest update or whatever. She's got access to everything up to a certain date. She doesn't have real time information in terms of the most recent stuff. Have you heard, by the way, dan, what is? We're imminently away from the release of ChatGPPT 5, which is supposedly I want to get the numbers right on this. Let me just look at a text here, because it's so overwhelmingly more powerful than ChatGPT 4. The new ChatGPT5 has 10 trillion gpus compared to chat gpt4, which is 75 billion. So the difference from 75 billion to 10 trillion sounds like a pretty impressive leap. Sounds like a pretty impressive leap, and that'll put it over the top of you know, the current thing is a 121 IQ, and this will bring it to being smarter than any human on the planet. Dan: And so we don't even know, but not at doing anything particular. Dean: No, I guess not. I mean just the insight processing, logic, reasoning, all of that stuff being able to process information. I'm still amazed I was talking. Dan: When it comes out. Three months after it comes out, will you notice any difference? Dean: I don't know. Dan: That's what I'm wondering, my feeling is that I'm not even sure what cat GPT is two years after it came out, because I haven't interacted with it at all Right, I've interacted with perplexity, which I find satisfying. And you know, yeah, there's an interesting. I read an interesting article on human intelligence and it said that by and large, there's an active, practical zone to human intelligence where you're above average in confidence and you're above average in making sense of things, and it seems to be between 120 and 140. Dean: Yes, 120, 140. Dan: And about 40, 140,. Your confidence goes down as you get smarter and your awareness of making sense of things gets weaker, gets weaker. And from a standpoint of communicating with other people, the sweet zone seems to be 120 to 140. Dean: Yeah, yeah, I think you're right. I think that, yeah, yeah. Dan: You've got above average pattern, You've got above average pattern recognition and you've got good eye-hand coordination you know, in the artisans of the word that you can see something and take action on it quite quickly. You have the ability to do that, and probably in new ways, probably in new ways so you don't have a lot of friction coming the other way. You know when you do something new? yeah, but iq, you know, iq, iq is one measurement of human behavior yeah but there's many others that are more prominent, so yeah, I think this is you know, I think silicon Valley has a big fixation on IQ because they like to compare who's got the biggest. They like to compare who's got the biggest, but I'm not sure it really relates to anything useful or practical beyond a certain point. Dean: Well, it's not actionable. There's no insight in it, not like knowing that you're Colby, knowing that we're 10 quick starts is useful information. Dan: Yeah, it's like having six quick starts together with some alcohol. Right, it's a fun party. Dean: Yes, like you said your book club or your dinner clubs, our next-door neighbor our next-door neighbor's husband and wife and Shannon Waller and her husband. Dan: Our quick start out of the 60 is 56. We just have the best time for about three or four hours Good food, the wine is good and everything else. We just have the best time for about three or four hours Good food, the wine is good and everything else. And regardless of what happens transpires during those four hours, the world is completely safe from any impact. Dean: Right, exactly, it's so funny it's not going to leave the room. Yeah, everybody's safe, yeah. Dan: Go back to culture. What do you mean by culture when you say? Dean: culture. What? Dan: do you mean by culture? When you say culture, what do you mean? Dean: I mean, like popular culture, what's happening in the world right now, like having an awareness of what, because I'm a good pattern recognizer and I see and I'm overlaying things. I'm curious and alert and always looking for what's with Mr Beast and recognizing that neither one of them has any capability to do the thing that they're doing. Mr Beast didn't have the capability to make and run hamburger restaurants and Kylie didn't have any capability to run and manufacture a cosmetics company, but they both were aligned with people who had that capability and that allowed them to have a conduit from their vision, through that capability, that if they just let people know their reach that they've now got a hamburger restaurant and you can order on Uber Eats right now or you can click here to get my lip kits. You know, access to those eyeballs, that's all. So I look at that and if I had not, if I had been cut off from you know, sort of I would say I'm in the tippy top percent of people of time spent on popular culture. I guess you know, and I look at it as I look at, it's a problem in terms of a lot of time and a lot of you know that mindless stuff you would think like screen time, but all the inputs and awareness is just monitoring the signal to get and recognize patterns. You know. So I'm real. Yeah, well, let me throw you a challenge on the culture side. Dan: get and recognize patterns, you know. So I'm really sorry, yeah, well, let me throw you a challenge on the culture side. Dean: Yeah. Dan: Okay. So in New York City there's going to be a meeting of you know, I guess it's a shareholders meeting for a big health insurance company and the head of one part of the health insurance company is walking down the street. Somebody shoots him in the back and kills him, kills him the CEO, and they, yeah, they catch up with him. You know, a week later and you know he's arrested in a McDonald's in Pennsylvania and they find all sorts of incriminating evidence that he in fact is the person who was the shooter. And now he's got, you know, he's got sort of a manifesto about that. These CEOs are doing evil and even though he doesn't think that his action was an admirable action, it had to be done. I would say that's a cultural factoid because up until now being a CEO is like being an aristocrat in our capitalist society. I get a CEO and now the CEOs are trying to be invisible and they're hiring like mad new security. So all the status value of being a CEO got disappeared on an early morning sidewalk in New York City because somebody shot him. Shot him in the back, you know, I mean it wasn't a brave act, shot him in the back, but the reason is that you, as a CEO, are doing harm to large numbers of people and someone has to stop you. I would say, that's as much a cultural fact as Mr Beast or Kylie Jenner. Dean: Yeah, I mean, would you say that again? Dan: I mean, I think, every CEO in the United States. Dan: United States has instantly changed his whole schedule and how he's going to show up in public and where he's going to be seen in public where he doesn't have large amounts of security, with one action broadly communicated out through the social media and through the mainstream media. He just changed the whole way of life for CEOs. I would say that's a cultural fact. It's a negative one. You're talking about positive ones, but I believe for every positive thing you have, there's probably a corresponding negative one. I'm struck by that You're just not going to see CEOs around anymore, and I mean, half the value of being a CEO is being seen around and they just removed the whole reward for being seen around, just removed the whole reward for being seen around. Dean: Yeah, I wonder, you know like I mean. But there are certain things like other I don't know that it's all CEOs. You know, like I think, if you are perceived as the part of the vilified, you know CEOs, the almost back to Occupy Wall Street kind of things, if you're a CEO of a company that's viewed as the oppressor, like those insurance things, but I don't know if that's true for the CEOs of NVIDIA and OpenAI and Tesla, and you know what I mean. Dan: I think, if you're yeah, I wonder, but we'll see, but we'll see, we'll see. Dean: Yeah, yeah, are you the people's CEO? You know, I think. Dan: Yeah, I mean my yeah. Somebody once asked me about this, you know. They said how well known would you like to be? And I said just be below the line where I would have to have security. Dean: Right, yeah, if you look at it, can you think of anybody? Dan: I wander around Toronto on my own. I go here and I go there and everything else, and nobody knows who I am. That's my security. Dean: Nobody knows who I am yeah, but you wonder, like you know, if you look at the level of fame of you know you? You've mentioned before the difference between Warren Buffett and Mark Zuckerberg. Warren Buffett is certainly very famous, but nobody's mad at him. I guess that's part of the thing. He's very wise, or viewed as wise. Dan: He's usefully wise. Dean: Yeah, exactly. Dan: Investing according to his benchmarks and his strategies has proved very valuable to a great number of people. Dean: Agreed. Dan: Plus, he's got a fairly simple, understandable lifestyle. He still lives in the house he's lived in for the last 40 years, still drives a pickup truck and his you know the entrance to his home is filled with boxes of Diet Coke. Dean: Cherry. Dan: Coke Cherry Coke, cherry Coke. Dean: Cherry Coke, not Diet Coke. No, I'm not. That's a subject, I'm not an expert in Cherry Coke. Dan: Cherry Coke, not Diet Coke. That's a subject I'm not an expert in. Dean: That's the funniest thing. Right, that's one of my top two. Dan: Warren Buffett, you have merit badges in that area. Dean: Yeah. But I think culture, you know, I don't know, I'm trying, it's a slippery beast, this thing culture you know, it's a slippery, slippery beast and you know there's I think that's part of the thing, though it's like the zeitgeist you know is, I think, having an awareness zeitgeist gosh, you just had to slip in a german word, didn't you? Dan: you just had to get a german word, yeah I've been sort of fixated on schadenfreude for the last month. I've just been why I've just been watching the democrats respond to the election and I'm fully schadenfreude. I've been fully schadenfreid for the last month. But zeitgeist, the spirit, I think that translates into the spirit of the times. Dean: Yes, that's exactly what it is. That's what I meant by. That's what I meant by. I'm very like, I think I'm at the tippy top of the you know percentiles of people who are tuned into the zeitgeist, I think that's. I would be self-reportedly that, but yeah, and I don't know, but at the cost of there's a lot of useless stuff that gets in there as well, you know, and negative, and you're faced with all of it. So, my, my filter, I'm taking in all the sewer water kind of thing and having to filter it through rather than just, you know, pre-filtering, only drinking filtered water. Dan: You're getting rid of the fluoride drinking filtered water. Dean: You're getting rid of the fluoride. Yeah, exactly, winter haven. Florida, by the way, is one of the first in the country to be getting rid of fluoride on the oh no, this will happen really quick. Dan: Oh yeah, it was just that. Dean: I, I just said I just saw that winter haven was like one of the first movers you, you know, polk County Florida is removing and, by the way, polk County Florida is now fastest growing county in the country. So then, so there you know, 30 something, 30,000 something people that we grew by, yeah, so, new. Dan: You're to date right, you're to date Over the last 12 months, over the last 12 months. I guess that's how they measure it yeah. Dean: So my thought, dan, was that I was looking to. You know, like my tune in to the zeitgeist is on a daily, real-time basis, I'm getting the full feed, right. No, no filters. Yeah, what I was thinking. What I was wondering about was if I were to change the cadence of it to more sort of filtered content, like I would say what you do, your, you've chosen a filter called real clear politics. Right, that's your, that's your filter, and you probably have five or six other filters that are your lens through yeah, it would be the go-to every day. Dan: You know I start the morning and. I go on my computer, I go to the RealClear site. So it's. RealClear comes up as RealClear politics, but then they have about eight other RealClear channels. RealClear politics, RealClear markets, RealClear world. Realclear defense, energy, health science, you know, and everything like that. But the beauty of it is that they're aggregators of other people's output. So you know everybody's competing to get their articles on real clear. You know the New York Times competes to try to get. You know, get every day maybe one or two of its headlines, supposedly for most of my life. The most important newspaper in the world and they have to compete every day to get something of theirs onto the real clear platform. And it seems very balanced to me, right to left from politics. You know, politically, if I look at 20 headlines, I would say that five of them are real total right, five of them are total left and there's a lot of middle. There's a lot of middle about things like that, you know about things like that, you know, and then I'll punch on them, and then that takes me right to the publication or the site that produced the headline, and then I might see three or four things and I discover new ones. I discover new ones all the time. And it's good and there's a lot of filtering that's being done, but I do. They're not interpreting these articles. They're just giving you the article. You can read the article and make up your own mind about it. Now they do some editing in some cases because they interpret the headlines and they have a sidebar where there's topical areas where it's clear to me that real clear has created the headline. That's not the originating. Dean: You know the originating source of the article that's kind of like that's the drudge playbook, right yeah? Dan: I used to like drudge but he went wacky. He went wacky so I didn't read him anymore. Dean: Yeah. Dan: These guys are pretty cool. They're pretty cool. They've been going now for a dozen years anyway, as I've been aware, and they seem really cool. You know they carry advertising. That's not if I'm thinking of horses. I don't get horse ads, you know. 10 minutes later you're done. Dean: Something like that. Dan: But they do have their advertising model, but I don't, you know, I'm not interested in buying anything, so it doesn't really affect me, but that's really great. You know what's really interesting. Peter Zion, you know I'm a big fan of his. And he's got a blog and he came out about a month ago saying I'm going to put in a new approach and that is, you'll always get your free blog and video to go along with it. So it's written and then it's also got the video, but it will be a week later than when I put it on, and if you want it right away, it'll cost you this much. And I'm giving all that money to some cause. Okay, so I'm fundraising for some cause and I just went a week with no Peter Zine and then I started getting it every day and it makes no difference to me whether I got it last week or this week, okay, and so I just waited a week and I'm right up to date again as far as I'm concerned. Dean: Right yeah. Dan: Like when Syria fell. You know, the Syrian government collapsed last week and he had nothing on it until seven days later. I want to go over, but he's adjusting his format now. He says I'm going to give you four stages to what's actually happening. So you know, he's experimented with something and he's finding that he has to adjust his presentation a little bit just for people saying you know? You know, I'm going to tell you over a three-day period what happened. This happened on the first day, this happened on the second day, third day and this is where we are on the fourth day, and everything else and that's good. I like that. Everything else you know and everything, but that's part of the culture. You know it's part of the culture. Dean: Yeah. So my thought like my sense of culture. Dan: it's what culture is. Whatever's happening right now that you're interested in, yeah, it seems to show some interesting movement. Dean: Yeah, I think you're, I think you're right. I mean, my thought was of experimenting, was to go to more of a rather than a minute by minute, always on direct feed to the zeitgeist is going through a daily. You know, I had a really interesting two days at strategic coach in Toronto just a couple of weeks ago, when you know I was. I referred to it, as you know, workshopping like it was 1989 with my phone. Dan: You were practicing, practicing abstinence. Dean: Yeah, I was, and what I learned in that was, and I did it two days in a row with zero contact with the outside world, from nine o'clock to five o'clock when the workshops were going on, no checking in at the breaks or at lunch or, you know, no notifications. You know dinging while I'm in the workshops. It was certainly anchoring, you know, presence to me in the in the workshops, but also noticed that nothing really happened. You know like I didn't miss anything in that five, in that nine to five period. You know I got a bunch of emails over the day but there were maybe two or three that were like for me or of any real interest or necessity for me. You know I have two inboxes. I have a, you know, my, my dean at dean jackson. My main mailbox is monitored by, you know, people, stakeholders in the, you know, because sometimes an email will come in and if it has something to do with our realtor division, diane is in there and sees that and can respond, or Lillian is able to respond. But then I also have my own, a private email just for me, that I give to my friends, and whenever you email me, that's the email that you use and those ones are not. Those aren't seen by anybody but me. But there's even far fewer of those that come through than come into the main one. Dan: Well, it's an interesting experiment that you're doing here, because it seems to me that one is the world is changing all the time. As far as news is concerned, the world is. I guess that's what news means. You know that things are changing, but if you don't pay attention to it over a long period of time and you don't feel inconvenienced, by it then, probably, it wasn't important probably it wasn't important, yeah, you know, and like I'm in six and a half years now with no television you know right and and you know, I've gone through two, two full presidential elections without watching television and yet I don't feel that I've missed anything important by not watching television Because I have real clear politics and I have a computer and I get videos. I can go to YouTube. And if somebody's giving a talk somewhere I can watch, where on television you would never get the whole speech. You know you would be broken up with commercials and everything like that. And then you have some commentators telling you what you were supposed to think about that, which I don't really require that I'm perfectly able to understand what I'm thinking about it and everything like that. So I don't know, I don't know. Well, my thought experiment. Dean: You know what you? Dan: should do is say what kind of cultural information is sugar and what kind of cultural information is protein, I get it, and so that's kind of where I was thinking. To me that's where you're going. Dean: I'm thinking about slowing down the cadence so, and to have a daily, like you know, something like real clear and you know there's thinking about where that is filtered sort of thing for me, thinking about where that is filtered sort of thing for me. And then weekly, you know, like I think, if I just looked at, if I went to print as a thing, if I were to say, you know, time Magazine, newsweek, the Inc Magazine, people Magazine, like I think, if there were some things that I could and the Weekend Wall Street Journal, I think with those you could, that would be kind of a really good. I don't think I would miss out. Dan: I'm really big on the Weekend Wall Street Journal, I think that's a great print. That's a great print medium. I literally haven't read Time magazine. I don't know, maybe 20 years or, but it seems like they're probably on top of what's even if it's slanted, you're going to get a sense of what the core thing is. Dean: That's actually right. Yeah, I know. Dan: A lot of Democrats canceled their subscription over the last three or four days because Trump person of the year. Yeah exactly. See, now, that's an interesting piece of information, yeah yeah, what they wrote about him I don't find interesting, but the fact that certain readers they must have made him look good, you know, for that sort of cancellation, you know you know it's like this is being categorized as the kiss the ring phase. Dean: That's what abc there was being characterized. That time magazine kissed the ring by making him person of the year abc. You know, kissing the ring, giving him 15 million dollars, and well, they didn't $15 million. Dan: Well, they didn't give him $15 million, they were required to give him $15 million yeah exactly, and George Stephanopoulos has to apologize publicly for defaming him as he should. As he should, yeah, for defaming him, you know, as he should, as he should. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Dean: So Trump's got to have at least one court case. Dan: Trump's got to have at least one court case going in his favor. Dean: Yeah. Dan: Yeah. Dean: But I look at that as you know, that's a really. I think that would be a really useful thing. Would certainly get me back three or four hours a day of yeah you know, of screen time. It would give me more dean time to use, because it would certainly condense a lot of that but you have some interesting models that are, I would say, are cultural models. Dan: I would say more cheese, less whiskers is a cultural model. I mean, if you have it as a thought form, you can see, you can simplify happenings around you. You know, that seems a little bit too much whiskers, exactly, too much whiskers. Yeah, that seems like a fine new cheese. Yeah, that seems like a fine new cheese. For example, taylor Swift gave $100 million in bonuses to everybody who helped her on her tour. Dean: I don't know if you saw that. It's crazy $200 million. Dan: The truck drivers, the ones who got $100,000. They got $100,000. And her father delivered the checks. That seems like a really. That's like a fondue, that's not just cheese. Dean: That is only the finest cheese fondue. Yes, exactly, that's so funny. Dan: when they hit it big, they're real jerks and they're real pricks and she's not. She's showing gratitude. That's very much a cheese. That was a very cheesy thing for her to do. In your model, that's a very cheesy thing for her to do. Yeah, in your model, that's a very cheesy thing. Dean: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I look at you know another thing that's happening is I don't know whether you've followed or seen what Deion Sanders has done with Colorado football over the last two seasons, but he basically went from the basement of 1-11 team the worst team in college football to the Alamo Bowl in two seasons and Travis Hunter just won the Heisman Trophy and he could quite possibly have the top two draft picks. Dan: His son didn't win the Heisman Trophy Hunter. Oh, you're saying Travis Hunter? I? Dean: was saying Travis Hunter. He could possibly have the top two picks in the NFL draft between Jadot and Travis Hunter and it's just, I mean, it fits in so perfectly with my you know, 100 week, you know timeframe there. That that's, I think, the optimal. I think you can have a really big impact in a hundred weeks on anything but to go from the basement to the bowl game is like it's a really good case study. But that really is. You know, I often I think there's so many things that play like a crystal clear vision of what he was trying to accomplish In his mind. There's no other path than them being the greatest football team, the greatest college football team in the country. That's really it. Building an empire. That's certainly where he's headed and his belief, that's the only outcome. You know it's so. I was. I read a book and, by the way, I'll have an aside on this, but I read a book years ago called Overachievement and it was a book by a sports psychologist at Rice University and his assessment of overachievers people who have achieved outsized results. One of his observations is that, without fail, they all have what he characterizes as unreasonable confidence or irrational. That's irrational confidence. That's what it is, and I thought to myself like that's a pretty interesting word pairing, because who's to say how much confidence is rational, you know, yeah, it's kind of it's it's and first of all, I. Dan: I don't think the two words even have anything to do with each other I don't either. Dean: That's why I thought it was so remarkable. You know, I think irrational confidence I mean, yeah, spoken by. Dan: spoken by someone who I thought it was so remarkable, irrational confidence. I mean spoken by someone who probably has very little. 0:46:50 - Dean: I mean interesting right Like people look at that, but I thought I've overlaid it with your four C's right Is that commitment leads to courage? Yeah, that commitment leads to courage First of all. Dan: I think it can be grown. I'm a great believer that commitment can be grown, courage can be grown, capability can be grown, confidence can be grown. It's a cycle. It's a growth cycle. It's like ambition. It's like ambition. I'm much more ambitious today than I was 30 years ago way more ambitious and 30 years ago I was 50. That's when most people are kind of are peaking out on ambition when they're 50. I mean I was in the valley 50 years ago, compared to where I am now, but I've always treated ambition as something that you can grow, and my particular approach is that the more you can tap into other people's capabilities for your projects, the more your ambition can grow. It's an interesting thing. Irrational confidence. Dean: Yeah, and I thought that you know, so it's pretty interesting. Dan: There must be a scale somewhere, you know, get on the scale, please. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Rational, oh, he's above. Rational, above irrational, oh, that's totally irrational confidence. Dean: yes, he's just setting himself up for disappointment. That's like I think're in the confidence of living to 156. That's irrational. Yeah, it is till I fail, exactly. Yeah, but that's okay, it's not going to make any difference to you. I always love your live, live, live pattern. It's not going to affect you. Dan: Live live, live, go on. Dean: I saw somebody doing an illustration, Dan, of how long it takes for the world to adapt to you not being here, and the gentleman had his finger in a glass of water and he pulled it out. Dan: Watch, yeah, watch, how long the hole lasts. Dean: It's the truth, you know, yeah, yeah. Dan: I don't know if you got a hold of that book. Same as Ever, the Morgan Household book. Dean: I did. I've read it and it's fantastic. It's good, isn't it? It really is it kind of calms you down. Dan: You know it kind of calms you down. You know I told Joe Polish I said you know how to get that guy as a speaker. I think he's great and anyway, you know he said he makes he has that one great little chapter on evolution. How long it takes, you know, like evolution, three or four million years, and he says stuff that you know is lasting over a long period of time you know is really worth paying attention to, really worth paying attention to. You know that and I find one of the things that you know at my advancing age at my advancing age is that I can see now things that were are equally true today as they were 50 years ago yeah, I see that too. Dean: Absolutely see that too. Absolutely, see that through. I'm on the cusp right now. Like you know, we're coming into 2025. And so this is the first time I started thinking about 25 years ahead was in 1999. That 25 year timeframe, you know, and certainly when I made those, you know five or three stock in. You know investment decisions. But looking back now, you know there were clues as to what is what was what was coming. But there are certainly a lot of through line to it too. You know, like I think, what I did choose was you know it's still Warren Buffett, it's still Berkshire was a great as a 10 times or more stock over 25 years. Starbucks and Procter and Gamble they're equally. Those were durable choices. But you know what was what I could have, what was there? Looking back now, the evidence was there already that Amazon and Google and Apple would have been rocket ships. You know guessing and betting, dan. It's like guessing and betting with certainty. Or you know where you think, like I think, if we look and maybe next week we can have a conversation about this the guessing and betting for the next 25 years, you know. Dan: Yeah. Dean: Yeah. Dan: I think he Warren Buffett. He said that Gillette, I like Gillette. He said I think men are going to still be shaving 25 years from now. Dean: That's what he said. That was. What was so impactful to me is that he says I can't tell which technology is going to win, even five years from now, but I know that men are going to go to bed and they're going to wake up with whiskers. Some of them are going to want to shave them off. King Gillette is going to be there, like he has been since 1850. Dan: And it's like railroads, he's very heavy into railroads. We're going to be moving things. People are still going to be moving things. Dean: I had a really good friend. Dan: Trains will still really be a good way to move things from one place to another. Dean: Isn't that funny. I had a good friend in high school. His big insight was he wanted to start a pallet company because no matter which direction things go, you're still going to need to stack them on a pallet and move them. Put my mom there. So funny which direction things go, you're still going to need to stack them on a pallet and move them, put them around there. Dan: you know so funny that pallet. They're really good. Yeah, I love it All right. All right, we're deep into the culture, we're into. It's an interesting word. It's an interesting word but anytime you talk to somebody about it, they have very specific examples that are their take on culture. And you talk to someone else and maybe culture is everybody's views on culture. Maybe that's what the culture is. Dean: Maybe, maybe, all righty. Okay, have a great day. I'll talk to you next week. Bye, bye. Dan: Okay, have a great day. I'll talk to you next week, okay, bye, bye, okay Bye.

Entrepreneurs always want to be moving forward. What determines whether they'll be able to is their understanding of the difference between cost and investment. In this episode, business coaches Dan Sullivan and Shannon Waller talk about the growth mindset that lets you improve for the rest of your life—versus the mindset that means you'll forever be stuck right where you are. Here's some of what you'll learn in this episode:The reason why small entrepreneurs are small entrepreneurs.Why you won't get a return on investment if you think of team members as a cost.Why becoming a Strategic Coach® member isn't a cost, but an investment in yourself.Why it's dangerous for your team members if you think of them as a cost.How to switch from operating in costs to operating in investments. Show Notes: Some entrepreneurs have essentially only created a job for themselves that doesn't go anywhere. If you see hiring people as a cost, you might just do all of the work yourself. When entrepreneurs do everything themselves, 90% of what they do doesn't actually make sense for them to do. Investing in team members means you're freed up to do better work, and that will easily pay for the investment. When you hire someone, you're investing more in yourself than in the other person. If you consider someone to be a cost, that person will know it. Making an investment is a risk, and it can require courage. Someone who treats other people as costs treats themselves the same way. With an investment, you'll put an enormous amount of thinking into it to guarantee that it's successful. When you're making an investment, have a goal for the return and a deadline for that goal. Resources:Casting Not Hiring by Dan Sullivan and Jeffrey Madoff

Are your business processes slowing you down? In this episode, Shannon Waller reveals how to revamp and revitalize your workflows for better results. Learn the importance of documenting processes, assigning the right people to tasks, and setting clear expectations, and discover how small changes can lead to big improvements in efficiency and motivation. Download Episode Transcript Show Notes: The Importance Of Documenting Processes Document and communicate processes clearly to eliminate bottlenecks and misunderstandings. Regularly review and update processes to adapt to changes in technology, market, or team composition. Tools And Visualization Use a simple flowchart to visualize and optimize workflows. Think of processes as a relay race, focusing on smooth handoffs between team members. Process Improvement Strategies Identify areas where processes are creating friction or frustration, and prioritize these for improvement. Aim to make processes faster, easier, cheaper, and with a bigger impact through collaborative problem solving. Be open to completely overhauling a process if it's not delivering results or if team members are disengaged. Team Alignment And Roles Ensure the right people are in the right roles for each step of your processes, aligning with their Unique Ability®. Be specific about timing expectations for each process step to maintain momentum and avoid delays. Communication And Expectations Clearly articulate expectations, including deliverables, quality standards, and deadlines. Document successful processes and make them accessible to the team for future reference and training. Real-World Application Example: Shortening a 12-week process to three weeks by involving new team members and incorporating new technology. Focus on creating win-win situations where team members enjoy their roles and processes are optimized. Resources: Unique Ability® Kolbe A™ Index Process Street Process Suite Leverage Process! How Discipline And Consistency Will Set You And Your Business Free by Mike Paton and Lisa González Playbook Builder

Entrepreneurs need to be ambitious. But what happens when you achieve your ambition? In this episode, Dan Sullivan and Shannon Waller explain the drawbacks of having ambition as a destination and describe the incredible benefits you can expect when you see ambition as a capability. Here's some of what you'll learn in this episode:Why Dan sees ambition as an internal capability.Measurements you should be making every day.What's made Dan's life simpler over time.How Dan gifts Strategic Coach® members extra years to their entrepreneurial lives.What you need to avoid to be continually ambitious, and why. Show Notes: Ambition is a capability, not a destination.Simply by continually improving your ambition each day, you'll experience exponential growth over time.Dan Sullivan feels more ambitious at 80 than he did at 50.To strengthen your ambition, it's important to measure your daily accomplishments and strive for continal growth.You can measure your progress not just in achievements, but in the ability to accomplish more in less time with greater impact.Ambition itself should be measured in terms of increased capability and confidence.Simplifying life by eliminating distractions (like television) can reclaim valuable time for personal development and ambitious pursuits.Surrounding yourself with growth-oriented individuals, often younger, can inspire and fuel your ambition.To be continually ambitious, there are three things you should avoid: celebrity, retirement, and legacy.It's important to focus on being useful and impactful in the present rather than worrying about future legacy.Viewing ambition as a capability can also help you feel more fulfilled personally—and have a greater impact on your community.Every day, ask yourself what you can do so that you're more ambitious tomorrow.Being around people who aren't invested in growth is an obstacle to your ambition. Resources:CliftonStrengths®Who Not How by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy

Do you take the time to acknowledge your team's contributions, or do you overlook their strengths? In this episode, Shannon Waller explores the transformative power of genuine praise in the workplace. Discover how effective recognition can improve team morale, fuel innovation, and drive overall success in your business. Download Episode Transcript Show Notes: Is guilt a necessary emotion, or is it just a societal construct that holds us back? Entrepreneurs can get overwhelmed because they hold on to tasks they feel guilty about delegating. Take notice of people who are isolating themselves: are they feeling remorse, regret, or shame? Excessive or misplaced guilt leads to negative self-perception and stress without resulting in constructive change. Is misplaced guilt preventing you from taking positive action and making progress? To avoid situations that will lead to guilty feelings, stay away from commitments where you cannot easily deliver on what's needed—in other words, stay within areas of your Unique Ability® and strengths. Learning about herself through her Kolbe, PRINT®, and CliftonStrengths® profiles has directed Shannon toward areas that result in more productivity, more profitability, and creating more value. Common triggers include failing to meet personal or professional expectations and neglecting personal well-being in favor of work commitments. Cultural and societal factors contribute significantly to feelings of guilt, often rooted in childhood experiences. Strategies To Overcome Or Avoid Guilt: Reframe Your Mindset Question your beliefs about guilt: Is it really true that you're failing if you don't respond immediately? Does what you're feeling match the urgency of the situation? Set Clear Boundaries Establishing boundaries between work and personal life is crucial for maintaining mental health. Free Days™ are essential for rejuvenation; without them, we risk burnout by constantly checking that nothing slips by at work. Communicate Expectations Clearly communicate your expectations with team members regarding response times to avoid causing unnecessary guilt. Also be clear with your clients about not being available 24/7. Have Confidence To Say No When opportunities don't align with your priorities, it's okay to say no graciously. Be Compassionate With Yourself If you're not making mistakes, you're not taking risks and, therefore, not growing. If you own a mistake, forgive yourself and ask forgiveness of others, then take steps to ensure you don't make the same mistake again. You're not failing; you're learning. Build A Supportive Network Shame isolates people. A support network helps people grow. Instead of criticizing the person, look to what the behavior was that didn't work and solutions for improvement. Let Go Of Control You can be in charge, providing energy and electricity, but you don't need to be in control of everything. Great leaders aren't perfect; they're honest, provide direction, and don't make people feel guilty when they're not perfect. Encourage the team to play offense, not defense so they won't be made to feel shame, regret, and remorse. Shannon's recipe for no guilt: center yourself doing your best work with your best audience. Resources: Kolbe PRINT CliftonStrengths

For many entrepreneurs who achieve business success early in their lives, repeating that success can be difficult. It's called the success trap, and in this episode, Dan Sullivan and Shannon Waller explain what the success trap is, why it's difficult to escape, and how you can safely avoid falling into it. Here's some of what you'll learn in this episode: Why some entrepreneurs eventually go on auto-pilot.How experiencing a crisis can actually be beneficial to an entrepreneur.Why Dan doesn't take people who are growing and succeeding in their thirties as seriously as people who are growing and succeeding in their sixties.How inheriting wealth can lead to a success trap too.What's allowed Dan to be fitter, healthier, and more ambitious at 80 than he was at 50. Show Notes: Entrepreneurs who are motivated solely by status will stop once they reach a certain point. You can lack purpose and the motivation to keep growing yet still find it hard to make a change because the money is good. Setbacks can be a wake-up call to reinvent yourself and reclaim your drive. Success is comfortable, while failure is scary, painful, and frustrating. Failures are prompts for new learning. Entrepreneurs who are successful over the long haul have learned how to turn failure into a new form of success. When someone's successful early in life, it can be difficult to tell how much of that success was due to their capabilities and character and how much of it was simply investment from others. For some, entrepreneurism is a freedom only from where they came from. Status-motivated entrepreneurs are very boring, and usually a bit depressed. Creating wealth is only valuable because it makes you more capable and confident as an entrepreneur. You need resistance in order to grow. Growth has to come from within. For growth-motivated entrepreneurs, the lifestyle that comes with success is just a happy by-product of their drive, not the destination. Ambition isn't a destination, it's a capability.

Do you take the time to acknowledge your team's contributions, or do you overlook their strengths? In this episode, Shannon Waller explores the transformative power of genuine praise in the workplace. Discover how effective recognition can improve team morale, fuel innovation, and drive overall success in your business. Download Episode Transcript Show Notes: Effective praise is a powerful tool for leaders: Acknowledging achievements creates a positive and collaborative environment and encourages continued excellence among your team members. Praise should be genuine and heartfelt: Authenticity is crucial; insincere praise can be perceived as manipulative and may damage trust within your team. Recognize individual strengths: Everyone has unique strengths, and acknowledging these not only boosts confidence and morale but also reinforces the value each person brings to the team. Immediate recognition is key: Timely praise reinforces positive behavior and creates a stronger connection between actions and acknowledgment. Understand how your team prefers to receive praise: Some people appreciate public recognition, while others prefer private acknowledgments or handwritten notes. Knowing their preferences strengthens the impact of your praise. Specificity matters: Instead of vague compliments, provide detailed feedback about what was done well. This helps to clarify expectations and reinforces good work. Acknowledge the effort behind achievements: Recognizing the challenges or obstacles someone overcame to achieve results adds depth to your praise and shows that you value their hard work. Use praise as a developmental tool: Highlighting what people do well can encourage them to build on those strengths and pursue further growth in their roles. Create a culture of appreciation: Regularly practicing praise within your team creates an atmosphere where everyone feels valued and motivated to contribute their best work. Encourage peer-to-peer recognition: Fostering an environment where team members acknowledge one another's contributions can improve collaboration and strengthen relationships within the team. Resources: The Collaborative Way® Perplexity The 4 C's Formula by Dan Sullivan Unique Ability®

The best entrepreneurs want better teamwork so they can achieve greater success, growth, and freedom within their business. But teamwork is even more important and valuable than that. In this episode, Dan Sullivan and Shannon Waller discuss the many ways entrepreneurs can take advantage of teamwork, and outline the extraordinary benefits that come with having great teamwork at your company.Here's some of what you'll learn in this episode:How Dan involves himself less and less with what Strategic Coach® team members are doing.Why Dan doesn't worry about how team members achieve results.What opportunities open up for entrepreneurs when they rely on team members.The greatest compliment Dan can give a team member.How Dan communicates the goals of a new project.The three questions Dan asks himself every time he gets an idea for a new achievement.Show Notes:The more you work on teamwork, the more you can refine what you're uniquely good at.It's useful to think of your entrepreneurial business as a theater production, regardless of what industry you're in.There's a vast amount of teamwork happening back stage in theater to make the whole production work.Teamwork on your projects can improve but only if you're improving too—and providing maximum support to your team members.We are taught from an early age that we have to do the work on our own goals ourselves.Instead of taking on an activity yourself, ask who can do it better than you.At the heart of it, Strategic Coach is designed to get you to think about your thinking.When you decided to become an entrepreneur, you declared to the world that you're not going to play other people's games—you're going to play your own game. By communicating clearly, you leave so much room open for teamwork.Generally, when entrepreneurs have a big possibility and they're uncertain about it, they get paralyzed.Uncertainty is not a lack of confidence. It's just a lack of knowledge or information. A lot of entrepreneurs live their lives very certain, but not confident.Don't try to sell your team on an idea until you're sold on it yourself.Resources:Unique Ability®Blog: Your Business Is A Theater Production: Your Back Stage Shouldn't Show On The Front StageBook: Who Not How by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin HardyTool: The Impact Filter™The Kolbe A™ Index

Have you ever noticed that the word “busy” is often used as an excuse and stops further action and progress? In this episode, Shannon Waller tackles this word that's all too common in our vocabularies, yet is significantly unproductive. Join Shannon on this productive rant to discover why we should eliminate this word from our conversations and how we can communicate more effectively about our time and priorities. Download Episode Transcript Show Notes: The Problem With “Busy” Busy is a stop sign in conversations, offering no real information or specificity. What “Busy” Really Means When we say we're busy, we're often saying something isn't a priority for us. “Busy” As A Statement Of Overwhelm Recognize busy for what it often is—a statement of feeling overwhelmed. What is truly overwhelming us? Let's address those specific issues. The Cultural Implication Of “Busy” Society often pressures us to appear busy as a badge of honor. But being busy doesn't equate to being productive or profitable. “A tightly scheduled entrepreneur cannot transform.” Dan Sullivan “Busy” As An Excuse Using busy as an excuse can lead to missed opportunities. Saying we're busy may be a less-than-transparent way of avoiding things we don't want to do. Strive for honesty and clarity in your commitments and desires. Taking Action 1.    Productive, Useful Relationships When someone labels you as busy, engage in a curious and open conversation to explore why they perceive you that way. This can uncover assumptions and lead to a healthier relationship by understanding each other's time and priorities. 2.    Self-Coaching Through “Busy” Feeling busy? Coach yourself through what's really going on and what's overwhelming you. Then, reprioritize your commitments to align with your true values, goals, or three crucial results. 3.    Communicate Transparently “That's not a priority for me right now” is more authentic and constructive than “I'm busy.” 4.    Build In Space To Connect Even if you have an “energetic,” lily pad calendar with back-to-back meetings, you can also build in buffer time to reflect, decompress, offload, and check in with people. We want to hear from you! Has this conversation about busy struck a chord with you? Do you have strategies for communicating more effectively about your time and priorities? Share your thoughts and experiences with us at questions@strategiccoach.com.

Entrepreneurs always want to be moving forward. But sometimes it's like their feet are stuck to the ground because something is holding them back. In this episode, business coaches Dan Sullivan and Shannon Waller explain how you can always use friction, the very thing that seems to hold you back, to achieve the next step of your business growth. Here's some of what you'll learn in this episode:Several types of friction commonly encountered by entrepreneurs.The Four Freedoms that all entrepreneurs are striving for.The difference between obstacles and friction.Why you need other people in order to deal with friction.How control issues can get in an entrepreneur's way.The real role of an entrepreneur at their company. Show Notes: All entrepreneurs have an overriding purpose. Having friction that you can't solve is very frustrating. Obstacles don't have the emotional hit that friction does. You can define friction as anything that stops or slows down progress. The reason entrepreneurs do anything is for freedom. Friction is not something you can work around. When you're experiencing friction, you don't have full use of your capabilities. Anytime you venture into new territory, there's immediately friction. To transform friction, you have to identify it, then face it squarely. Transforming friction is energizing for entrepreneurs. Greater freedom only comes if you have teamwork. Most entrepreneurs have to start as lone individuals. Other people pausing and being indecisive causes friction for entrepreneurs. It's the job of the entrepreneur to give a vision to their company, but it's the job of their skilled people to actually turn the vision into reality. Entrepreneurs create value by transforming friction for other people. Boredom means that you're not looking at the next big friction that you have to transform. At the heart of boredom is the terror of taking the next big step. Resources: Your Life As A Strategy Circle by Dan Sullivan Article: “The 4 Freedoms That Motivate Successful Entrepreneurs” Unique Ability® Who Not How by Dan Sullivan with Dr. Benjamin Hardy Shannon Waller's Team Success Podcast

Are you leveraging your entrepreneurial company's unique advantage? In this episode, Shannon Waller reveals how, by getting your team to focus on activities where they have both superior skill and passion, you can ensure your business is always growing, always innovating, and always multiplying its success—and eliminate boredom and stagnation for good. Download Episode Transcript Show Notes: Entrepreneurial companies have a distinct advantage over bureaucratic organizations because of their flexibility, innovative spirit, and capacity to cultivate a culture that prioritizes individual strengths and passions over conformity and rigid ways of thinking. This culture is founded on the Unique Ability® model, which consists of four levels: incompetent, competent, excellent, and unique capabilities, with unique being the most impactful. Here's what they mean: Incompetent: These tasks are areas where team members struggle to achieve results, often leading to negative impacts. Entrepreneurial companies can minimize time spent on these activities, allowing them to concentrate on more productive endeavors. Competent: While team members may perform adequately in these areas, they often only meet minimum standards. In bureaucratic settings, employees may feel compelled to remain in this zone due to comfort and familiarity, but this does not foster growth or innovation. Excellent: At this level, team members demonstrate superior skills, leading to effective teamwork and often financial rewards. However, remaining in this zone for too long can result in stagnation, as people may become bored and less engaged. Unique: This is where the true potential lies. Areas of Unique Ability combine superior skill with passion, resulting in high energy, motivation, and creativity. Entrepreneurial companies have the opportunity to help their teams focus on these abilities, which can lead to significant competitive advantages If you want to maximize your company's potential for success and innovation, strive to have at least 50% of your team's time spent in their Unique Ability and the other 50% on excellent abilities. It's also important to eliminate tasks that fall under the "incompetent" category, as these activities cost your company money and limit productivity. Procrastination on certain tasks is a sign of incompetence in that area, even if the person technically has the capability to do it. To prevent team members from boredom and stagnation, move them away from merely competent tasks as quickly as possible. Be aware of the "Excellence Trap," where team members become too comfortable in their superior skills and resist moving toward their Unique Ability. It's essential for entrepreneurs to foster a company culture that encourages and rewards Unique Ability® Teamwork, as this is where the 10x multiplier effect occurs in terms of productivity and innovation. To help shift your team members toward working in their areas of Unique Ability, it's important to regularly engage in conversations with them about what they excel at and love doing. Even minor incompetent tasks can consume significant mental energy. Freeing team members from these tasks is essential for maximizing productivity and creativity. It's important to create flexible systems and job descriptions that allow team members to focus on their excellent and unique capabilities, even if it means creating unconventional role structures. Resources: Unique Ability® Book: Unique Ability® 2.0: Discovery by Catherine Nomura, Julia Waller, and Shannon Waller

EOS®, the Entrepreneurial Operating System®, was developed by a Strategic Coach® member who envisioned an extension of the Coach Program. Now, EOS and Strategic Coach are on parallel tracks in helping entrepreneurs live their best lives. In this episode, Strategic Coach business coaches Dan Sullivan and Shannon Waller are joined by EOS Worldwide's leadership duo, Kelly Knight and Mark O'Donnell, to discuss all the ways entrepreneurs can benefit by taking advantage of both EOS and Coach. Here's some of what you'll learn in this episode:·     How Mark and Kelly each became involved in EOS.·     What led to EOS being implemented in Strategic Coach.·     How Strategic Coach was pivotal in the development of EOS.·     What's allowed EOS to scale enormously over the past few years.·     The strategic by-products that came from EOS becoming a franchiser. Show Notes: Roughly 30% of the EOS community is in The Strategic Coach® Program. There is no point in competing in the marketplace. Benefiting from EOS was a very profound shift for Strategic Coach. Being able to conduct sessions virtually has opened up a tremendous opportunity for EOS Implementers®. Today, EOS has over 850 Implementers doing business in 40 countries, and there are quite a few virtual-only EOS Implementers. To get the most out of EOS, everybody at the company has to be using it. Strategic Coach is very much a mindset program. Team members don't always know that they need to have an entrepreneurial attitude. To connect teamwork and technology, you need coaching. Coaching is to the 21st century what management was to the 20th century. Resources: Traction by Gino Wickman CliftonStrengths® Who Not How by Dan Sullivan with Dr. Benjamin Hardy Strategic Coach Team Programs The Experience Transformer®: “Transforming Experiences Into Multipliers” The Team Success Handbook by Shannon Waller The Impact Filter™ Unique Ability® Kolbe Casting Not Hiring by Dan Sullivan and Jeffrey Madoff Same as Ever: A Guide to What Never Changes by Morgan Housel The Self-Managing Company by Dan Sullivan Your Life As A Strategy Circle by Dan Sullivan The DIKW Pyramid The Positive Focus®

Are you overwhelmed by the daily grind, in a state of “suck,” with an overflowing inbox, double bookings, and a constant feeling of putting out fires? Ever thought about hiring an assistant but not convinced it's worth the money, time, and effort to bring one on board? In this episode of Team Success, host Shannon Waller sits down with Steven Neuner and Ryan Cassin, her co-authors of Superpowered: The Secret That Helps Every Entrepreneur Eliminate the Suck, 10x Their Impact, and Have More Fun in Work and Life. Shannon, Steven, and Ryan will shift your mindset about hiring an assistant so you can step out of the chaos and settle on nothing less than 10x growth and freedom. Download Episode Transcript Show Notes: Constant State Of Suck Many entrepreneurs can end up in a “constant state of fire drill” before they decide to hire an assistant. The setup for failure: “Most entrepreneurs show up in the worst possible, least collaborative, lowest energy state to go make one of the most important, most influential, most meaningful hires they're going to make in their business.” —Steven Neuner Mindset Shifts Required Before Hiring Steven coaches desperate entrepreneurs to shift their mindset to see hiring as an investment of time rather than an investment of money. Investing time to grow the relationship with a new assistant pays exponentially higher dividends down the road in both your business and personal life. Another important mindset shift is being courageous and vulnerable enough to let someone else see the backstage of your business. Entrepreneurial Executive Assistant This role requires the assistant to delegate and manage up, rather than the other way around. The assistant's Unique Ability® frees you to stay in your own Unique Ability lane. Entrepreneurs must think of their assistant as a partner on their growth journey, one in which the assistant will also be growing professionally and personally. Entrepreneurial assistants, like entrepreneurs, don't like getting bored; they will want to lead, take initiative, and be creative in areas outside of your Unique Ability. The Secret Many people think of an assistant as someone to whom they can delegate stuff they don't want to do. The “secret” is that your assistant can be your all-around support partner who can give you superpowers and help you expand what you think is possible. The Superpowered Scale Resignation Desperation Frustration Delegation Superpowered Impact On Entrepreneur Support Partners Leveraged support partners find opportunities to respond to challenges, grow, and achieve fulfillment in parallel with their entrepreneur. Many support partners grow into new responsibilities, new roles, and new connections in the organization. With so much core institutional knowledge, they can also become coaches and trainers for new hires. Onboarding Process For Support Partners First 30 Days: Know You Second 30 Days: Understand You Third 30 Days: Anticipate You Don't Settle For Faux Freedom Becoming Superpowered means going beyond the standard level of support to exploring a whole other dimension where 10x growth and freedom are possible. Read Superpowered: The Secret That Helps Every Entrepreneur Eliminate the Suck, 10x Their Impact, and Have More Fun in Work and Life for practical strategies on leveraging all the capabilities of an entrepreneurial executive assistant so you can expand your own freedoms. Resources: Buy Superpowered: The Secret That Helps Every Entrepreneur Eliminate the Suck, 10x Their Impact, and Have More Fun in Work and Life by Shannon Waller, Steven Neuner, Ryan Cassin Sign up for the free Superpowered resources Visit Ryan and Steven at superpowershq.com Strategic Coach

Are you inadvertently sabotaging your entrepreneurial company by hiring corporate talent? In this episode, Shannon Waller reveals the pitfalls of bringing corporate mindsets into entrepreneurial environments. Learn how to identify candidates with true entrepreneurial spirit, ask the right interview questions, and build a team that thrives on innovation, contribution, and rapid growth. Download Episode Transcript Show Notes: Corporate hires can be a risky choice for entrepreneurial companies due to fundamental differences in mindset and work approach. The meaning of "responsibility" differs greatly between corporate and entrepreneurial environments. Corporate backgrounds often emphasize status and hierarchy, while entrepreneurial companies value contribution above all. Red flags in interviews include candidates prioritizing salary, time off, team size, and office location over potential contributions. Corporate titles can be detrimental in entrepreneurial settings, as they focus on status rather than results. Unique Ability® titles that highlight an individual's value creation are preferable in entrepreneurial companies. When hiring, look for candidates with entrepreneurial backgrounds or experience, such as childhood businesses or side hustles. Former corporate employees who felt constrained or stifled in their previous roles may thrive in entrepreneurial environments. Entrepreneurial companies offer more freedom, innovation opportunities, and faster-paced environments compared to corporate structures. Hiring managers should prioritize candidates excited about contributing to company growth rather than personal status. Diversity in thinking and problem-solving approaches is crucial for entrepreneurial teams rather than hiring clones of existing team members. Successful candidates should be willing to work independently, be hands-on, and make a direct impact on the business. Entrepreneurial companies should emphasize their unique culture and growth opportunities when recruiting to attract the right talent. Hiring the right people is challenging but critical for maintaining an entrepreneurial culture and driving business success. Entrepreneurs should trust their instincts during the hiring process and be wary of candidates who don't align with the company's entrepreneurial spirit. Resources: Unique Ability The Kolbe A™ Index

André Brisson was working as a structural engineer when he decided to start his own engineering company. Like a great many entrepreneurs, André knew he needed to be able to do things his way. In this episode, André shares with business coaches Dan Sullivan and Shannon Waller how he's found freedom and business success on his entrepreneurial journey. Here's some of what you'll learn in this episode:How the company André worked for became a toxic environment for him.What helped André realize that he doesn't need anyone's permission.Why André's opinions aren't popular in bureaucracies or in politics.André's biggest challenges in the construction site field.An incredible resource available for entrepreneurs with ADHD. Show Notes: If you want to do things differently, you have to find ways of negotiating with people who oppose you. Entrepreneurial thinking can put other people off because it's unconventional. Non-entrepreneurs can only rationalize entrepreneurism. Entrepreneurism is about freedom, and money is one of the tools you have to have to gain more freedom. The two types of entrepreneurial freedom are freedom from and freedom to. Personality and behavioral profiles provide a common language. It's useful for people who are different to recognize that the world wasn't made with them in mind. Just because something's been done for a hundred years doesn't mean it's applicable right now. Instead of competing with what someone else is doing, innovate something new. People will show up if your message is about them. It's the check writer who determines whether you're correct. If you want to find people who are like you, you have to really know who you are.  Resources: Unique Ability® Casting Not Hiring by Dan Sullivan and Jeffrey Madoff The Unique EDGE® Workshops for young adults The Impulsive Thinker™ The Impulsive Thinker Podcast ADHD: A Hunter in a Farmer's World by Thom Hartmann The Positive Focus® The Impact Filter™

Are you an authentic leader? Do you find it easy or hard to be transparent with your team? In this episode, Shannon Waller discusses the power of authenticity and transparency in leadership. She shares practical strategies to build trust, engage your team, and create psychological safety so that everyone feels safe to express their ideas and take risks. If your team doesn't seem to take risks, this will be an eye-opening episode to listen to. Download Episode Transcript Show Notes: It's more important for your team to trust you than to simply like you. Being transparent means being open, honest, and authentic without hidden agendas. Our brains are wired to perceive threats more than safety. Without trust, teams become defensive and stagnant. When team members feel safe to take risks and voice their ideas, this leads to greater innovation and success. Strategies For Transparency: Share insights from leadership meetings openly with your team. Provide more information rather than less to avoid misunderstandings: use The Impact Filter™ tool to share your thinking and intentions. Explain the reasoning behind decisions and include awareness of the emotional impact on the team. Use “I” statements to express your feelings without blaming others. Acknowledge your limitations and ask for help when needed. Ask open-ended questions without leading toward a specific answer. Be willing to listen genuinely. Close the loop on discussions by sharing outcomes and reasoning behind decisions. Regularly check in on how team members feel about decisions. Stay straightforward and avoid manipulative tactics; focus on solutions instead of creating unnecessary drama. Understand your own triggers and emotional responses to better manage interactions with your team. Regularly assess where you can improve transparency in your leadership approach: Where have you felt like it was appropriate to be open and honest? Where do you feel held back? Where do you take things personally? Resources: EOS®: Entrepreneurial Operating System® The Impact Filter Kolbe PRINT®: Team Success Podcast, episode 224, “Uncovering ‘The Why Of You,' With Debra Levine” CliftonStrengths® Working Genius®

In this episode of Welcome to Cloudlandia, We contrasted northern summers' climate and lifestyle possibilities with those of Florida. The conversation shifted to exploring humanity's relationship with money through storytelling and belief. Practical lessons included effective pricing, leveraging qualified leads, and attracting high-quality clients using books. Finally, the discussion provided entrepreneurial growth strategies like setting a quarterly cadence, applying profit activators, and valuing long-term relationships. SHOW HIGHLIGHTS We discussed the serene and picturesque landscape of Canada's cottage country, including the unique charm and beauty of its lakes and legends, as well as the renowned Group of Seven artists. Reflections on the contrast between the tranquil Canadian summers and the balmy climate of Florida, noting the ideal summer months in Canada. We explored minimalistic lifestyle choices that gained popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic, such as the simplicity of a carnivore diet and practical wardrobe strategies. We delved into the whimsical nature of financial decisions and the power of belief and storytelling in investment decisions, with a focus on how a stock's value is influenced by future narratives. We discussed critical elements of pricing strategies, including promise, price, and proof, and the importance of pre-qualified, motivated leads in business, particularly in real estate. Dean shared insights on leveraging books as tools for attracting high-quality clients, highlighting a successful collaboration that did not rely on upfront financial incentives. We explored the eight profit activators and how smaller, intimate workshops can be as effective as larger gatherings in growing businesses. We emphasized the importance of long-range investment thinking and nurturing long-term relationships with prospects, as well as the value of quarterly goals and structured cadences in extending professional careers. We highlighted innovative health practices that can prolong peak earning years and enhance productivity, such as the benefits of continuous health improvements and monitoring. We discussed the potential for creative and productive growth during challenging economic times, drawing insights from historical examples and a book that explores enduring human behaviors. Links: WelcomeToCloudlandia.com StrategicCoach.com DeanJackson.com ListingAgentLifestyle.com TRANSCRIPT (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors) Dean: mr sullivan mr jackson welcome to cloudlandia. And, uh, keep your feet on the mainland, that's exactly right so you are calling from the northernmost outpost of cloudland and canada at its best beautiful weather it must be perfect right now. Dan: Right, I just got out of the lake. I was in the lake 15 minutes oh my goodness, wow I'll be, very deep, like a week. Dean: Oh yeah, is it. Dan: Uh, that's very yes, that's quite cold. I mean, this is our one, two, three, four, fourth day and so I'm used to it now, but uh bracing yeah, yeah, because the nights have been very cold oh, I think the nights have been. Dean: The nights have been very cold, yeah well we got enough heat or we got enough heat to go around here. Dan: Yeah, yeah, you've had some. You've had some variable weather, should I call it that? Dean: yeah, exactly, I was just telling. I was just telling I need to. Uh, I'm ready to have snowboarding back in my life. That just makes more sense to me. Dan: Yeah, this is perfect. I mean, there's a lot of your. Our listeners may not know this, but there's this great romance to the cottage country in Canada. Dean: Yeah. Dan: First of all, there's a lot of lakes. I mean there's literally in the thousands. I'm not talking about the big lakes, I'm not talking about the great lakes. I'm talking about, like ours, for example, is two miles by two miles. It's almost a circle. It's two miles by two miles, but there's a circle. It's two miles by two miles. But there's a legend that there's a hole in the middle, a very deep hole, and in the logging days they hooked chains to each other and put a weight at the end of one of the chains and then they kept putting the chains down and it went down a thousand feet and it was still not hitting bottom oh my goodness, it's a portal to the center of the earth you know it invites all sorts of adventures, loch Ness. Well, we haven't seen that, we haven't seen that it's fresh. Yeah, well, loch Ness is a freshwater lake, but no, but there's a romance. There's a whole school of art called the Group of Seven and these were seven artists who did these amazing, amazing paintings. Not really natural. They have a real interesting quality to them and they were done from the teens till probably the 40s or 50s probably a 40-year period, seven artists. They're very famous and in Toronto at the Art Gallery, the Ontario Gallery of Art, they have a whole wing that's just the paintings of these men. And then there's a town north of Toronto called Kleinberg and they have a whole museum. There's a whole McMichael gallery. And I never get tired. I've been here for 53 years and I can go in there and just sit for an hour and look at the magnificent art that these people created. Dean: It is beautiful, yeah, yeah you're right, yeah, canada in the summertime. I can't imagine anywhere nicer, you know any of those temperate things. London or England is very nice in the summer. All of Europe, I'm sure. But yeah, it's just, I'm realizing Florida's a little hot yeah, you're late to the realization. Dan: No, I mean I've realized it all along. Dean: It's just that you know. Yeah, I'm starting to re-realize it. Dan: Well, you had some comparison. You had a wonderful week in Toronto in July. Dean: Yeah, three weeks I was there. Dan: Marvelous there. Dean: That's what I mean, you're realizing that Florida's hot. Dan: You know, just between us, Florida's really hot during the summertime, you know, just between us. Florida is really hot during the summertime. Dean: It was just. It was that contrast. I mean spending three weeks in Toronto June and July is it doesn't get much better. It's the perfect time. Dan: So well, there's June and July, and then there's winter. Dean: That's right. Dan: Actually, I think we're in for a long fall this year. Dean: Yes. Dan: And I'm doing this on 80 years of experience that when you have a very green summer, which means there was a lot of rain. We had more rain this year than I can remember since I've been here, and what it does is that the leaves don't turn as quickly, and so we can expect still green trees at Halloween this year. Dean: Oh, wow, Okay, Looking forward to coming back up in a few weeks. I can't believe it's been 90 days already. I'm super excited about having you know a quarter, a coach quarter. Dan: You've had a coach quarter. You've had a coach. You've had a coach quarter. Dean: That's what I mean. I'm very excited about having these coach quarterly Toronto visits in my future. This is yeah, yeah, it's very good. So there I have had. Dan: You've been thinking about things? Tell me you've been thinking about things. Dean: I have been thinking about my thinking and thinking about things all the while. This is, I think I'm coming up another, I think I'm coming up on a month of carnivore. Now, yeah, what it's very interesting to me, the findings. You know it really it suits. It seems like it's a very ADD compliant diet. Dan: Yeah, in that it's really only one decision. Because it's just one decision. Dean: Yeah, is it meat? That's the whole thing. It's like the Is it? Meat or is it fasting? Yeah, it's the dietary equivalent of wearing a black shirt every day. Dan: Well, I wear a navy blue shirt every day. I took that strategy from you. It struck me as a very useful lifetime strategy. Dean: And I got into it during COVID. Yeah. Dan: Because that was my COVID uniform I had. Basically I had jeans and a long sleeve shirt long sleeve t-shirt navy blue by Uniqlo, a Japanese company, and they're the best, they're the best, they're the best. I bet I've worn the one I'm wearing today. I bet I've worn it a hundred times. So it looks pretty much out of the package. Dean: Yeah, it makes a big difference. So there's lots of these arguments for these kind of mono decisions. Dan: So I'm kind of thinking that through, you know, and seeing other places where that kind of thinking applies you know, yeah, what I notice more and more is that my life is really a function of habits, yes, and you got to make sure they're good habits. Dean: Yeah, I'm thinking and seeing that more and more. Like I was looking in some of my past journals over the last week or so, I was looking back, like back to, you know, 2004, and just kind of randomly, you know, selecting the things. And you know, I do see that you're only ever in the moment, right, because every entry that I'm making in the journal is made in real time, so I'm only ever there, you know, and that habit I often I wonder how many miles of ink lines I've written if you were to, if you were how many times I've circled the globe with my journals. It'd be a really interesting calculation, you know. But you realize that everything you've been saying about the bringing there here is really that's absolutely true, like the only thing I'm doing. The common thing of that is I'm sitting in a comfy chair writing in my journal, but you're never, you know, it's all. But it's funny to look back at it as capturing the moment, you know. Dan: Yeah, you know, it's really interesting. I see a lot more articles these days on journaling and just in the context of Cloudlandia and the mainland, it seems to me that it's a way of staying in touch with your preferred mainland by journaling, because every day you're conscious, you're thinking about your thinking and I think, as Jeff Madoff and I have had a number of conversations about this, that as the world becomes more digital and I see no end to the possibilities that you can apply digital technology to something there's a counter movement taking place where people are deliberately reconnecting with the mainland in a conscious way. Dean: Yeah, I'm aware of that. Dan: I mean, carnivore is about as mainland as you can get. Dean: That's the truth, especially when there's something primal about cooking. Dan: The only thing further than that would be if you were eating yourself, which, in a sense, you are. Dean: It's so funny, but there is something magical about that. Can I tell? Dan: you not as full bore as yours, but this is my 33rd day of having steak for breakfast. Dean: Yes, Okay, did you open up the air fryer? Have you had an air fryer? Dan: steak yet. Oh yeah, it's downstairs. We have one at the cottage and we're going to get a new one at the house. Dean: And what's your experience? You brought it with us. Dan: It's not my experience, it's Babs' experience. Dean: I mean your experience of the eating. Yeah, oh no, it's great. Dan: Yeah, oh no, it's great, it's great, it's delicious. Yeah, it's super fast, I mean it's super fast and it's great and, yeah, I'm thinning out a bit, losing my COVID collection. I'm starting to get rid of my COVID collection. Yeah, belly, fat and fat otherwise, and that's great and I do a lot of exercise when I'm at the cottage we have. There's a stairway, a stone stairway that goes down to the dock 40 steps, and so I do it today. I'll do it six times up and down. Dean: Oh my goodness, wow. Dan: And then we have about a I would say, three quarters of a mile loop up the hill, through the woods and back down, and I'll do that once today and I'll do two swims. I'll be in the lake for two swimming sessions and I noticed I really do a lot more exercise here and the whole point is to have it carry over when you get back to the city. Jump start yeah, I've got a great book for you, and the whole point is to have it carry over when you get back to the city Jumpstarting. Dean: I've got a great book for you. Dan: Do you read on Kindle or do you buy actual books? Dean: Yes. Dan: Yeah, that's two questions. Dean: Yes to both. You do both Often. I'll do three Often. I will do the Kindle and the book and the audio. Dan: Yes, well, there's a great book that you'll like, and it's called Same as Ever. Dean: Okay, I like it already, but tell me about it. Dan: And the author's name is Hosel H-O-E-S-E-L First name, I think, is Morgan Hussle. And what he shows? He's got 23 little chapters about things that are always the same and it's thought-provoking and he's an investor. You know he's an investor, but he talks about that. Humans, for the most part humans get smart at everything they do except one. What's that Money? That's probably true. And he says people are more fanciful when it comes to money than almost any other part of their life. Okay. Dean: Well, that's interesting. It's giving me an option to buy his follow-up book which is the Psychology of Money. Dan: I should get that too, too why not? Dean: yeah, all right, he's got some great line. Dan: I mean he quotes other people. He's got the greatest definition of a stock you know, like stock market stock he's got the greatest definition of a stock. I I don't think I think he's quoting somebody, but that a stock is a present number multiplied by a future story. Dean: Ooh, that is true, isn't it? A present number multiplied by a future story that is so good yes. Dan: Isn't that great. Dean: It's so good and true, it's got the added benefit of being true. Yeah, I mean, it's really. If not, what else it's guessing and betting, right? It's like we gauge our guessing and betting on we guess and bet on the strength of our belief in the story. Dan: A present number multiplied by a future story. Dean: Yes, that's wild. It's funny that you say that's a very interesting. I was thinking about a pricing strategy for a client and he was saying I'm sure this has been. There's probably somebody who's said this before, I don't know who, but I was looking at it as that it's a combination of the promise and the price and the proof. And proof is really a story right, a belief that if you have him, you're, if there's something going wrong. Yes, proof is yeah, I mean it's either that, yeah, it's either. You know the promise is the articulated outcome of what you're going to get, that you want that promise, but then the price is a factor of how much that promise is worth and your someone else yeah and the confidence that it's going to happen. You know, it's a very interesting thing I was thinking about it in the context of our real estate that the realtors are will happily pay 40 of a transaction, up to 35 or 40% of a transaction. That's a guaranteed transaction, like a referral. If I say, you know, if you send somebody a referral they'll pay 40% because the promise and the proof is that you already got it. So you're willing to pay 40% for the certainty of it. But when you say to buy a lead, you know to buy leads for $5 or $10, there's not as much. You don't have the proof that those leads are going to turn into into transactions. So there's a risk. There's a risk involved in that. It's really, it's pretty, it's pretty amazing. I've been because you know I do a lot of real estate, lead generation and all kinds in all kinds of businesses. Lead generation and I've really been one of the distinctions I've been sharing with people is the, because a lot of times people ask well, are they good leads? You know, and it speaks to the, yeah, you know objective, yeah, you. Dan: And joe you, you and Joe Polish have a great definition of what a good lead is. I don't remember the exact formula, but it's pre-qualified, pre-motivated. Dean: Yes, predisposed you know predisposed. Yeah. Dan: And one of the things that when we were doing the book deal with Ben Hardy and Tucker Max, before we approached Hay House, Tucker asked me a question. He said well, you're not taking any money, you're not taking any advances, you're not taking any royalties for the book, which was true. So that was a real straight deal. You know why? Because it's a mono decision. Dean: Yeah. Dan: I'm sorry. The book is a capability for me and that's worth all the upfront money. Dean: Yes, yeah, you know, and that was the advances. Dan: You know, the advances were really good advances. I mean, they were six-figure advances. Dean: And. Dan: I said, the reason is I don't want to think about that. I just want to think about the capability that I have 24 hours a day, all around the world of someone picking up the book and reading it, and it's a pre-qualified person. It's a pre-qualified person, in other words, the person who's picking up the book and reading it would have the money and the qualifications to be in the strategic coach. The other thing is that it would pre-motivate them. They're predisposed because they picked up the book. They're pre-qualified because it's meaningful to them. And then the next thing is they'll give us a phone call. You know they'll read the book'll give us a phone call. You know they'll give us a phone call. Or just go on. You know, go on to the website and read all about coach and everything like that. And so Tucker said so we sell a thousand books. What would make you happy in terms of actual someone signing up for the program? And I said one. Dean: Right and probably, probably. Dan: I would want a hundred people Just trying to take care. This is why I'm going to come and do the eight profit Activators. Yeah, and the reason is that those books were right at. About the three books that we wrote were right around the 800,000. Wow, wow, and I could easily say we've had 800 clients pick it up, either picked it up and called us, or called us and we sent them the books. Yes, but it's a marvelous system because it's who, not how, in spades is that I have salespeople out there every 24 hours and they're finding, finding new interested leads, they're developing the leads and we don't have to spend any time until they give us a call. Dean: I think that's fantastic and it's doing. You know, part of the thing is I. This is why I always look at books as a profit activator three activity, which is educate and motivate. That people get educated about the concepts of who, not how, or the gap in the game or the idea that 10 times is easier than two times, and they see examples and see that this really fits, and then they're motivated to call and get some help with that. I'm such a fan of books and podcasts as the perfect Profit Activator 3 activity. Dan: Yeah, I've been thinking a lot about our previous podcast where you took it through the what's the value of your leads. I'm actually a really fan of that yeah. Dean: I love metrics. I'm a big metric. Well, metrics to me are when they are objective and measurable. They are a proof. Dan: Well and predictable. They're predictable too. They're a proof. Do a certain amount of activity, you can get a predictable metric. Dean: I've discovered a metric very much like Pareto in lead distribution. It just got, you know, hot off the press with Chris McAllister, who you know as well. Yeah, chris, so we've been doing a collaboration on, I've been helping them with lead generation and I asked him to do a I've been calling it a forensic census of what's happened with the leads right and leads who've been in for more than a hundred days. So we just looked at the. That's roughly three and a half months basically, and you know, of all of the leads that we had generated, 15% of them had sold their house with someone else, and so you look at that we did the math on the thing, that is the opportunity cost. That is the exact thing that worked out, that the amount of that worked out to be over half a million dollars in lost opportunity. Dan: Well, and that's where. Yeah, no, it wasn't lost, it was just a cost. Dean: Yeah, that's exactly right. Dan: The money went into the wrong bank account. The money went into the wrong bank account. That's exactly right. The money went into the wrong bank account. The money went into the wrong bank account. Dean: That's exactly right. So now that's encouraging right, because I've got now three different forensic census analysis from three different parts of the country with three different realtors that all point to exactly the same thing 15 of people who've gone through a hundred days will do something, and so that is. That's encouraging. You know, I think if I, if you look at that and start to say OK, there's a pulse. That it means that the market. Dan: The marketplace has a pulse. Dean: Yeah. The lie rating and that we're generating objectively good leads, meaning people who want to do. What the promise of the of the book is, you know, yeah. So, that's very exciting. Dan: Yeah, you know, it's really interesting changing the subject slightly. So this author that writes the book Same as Ever that I just mentioned, he said that basically, when you look at the last hundred years, the decade of the 1930s was absolutely the most productive decade in US history. Wow, Based on what. And he said just how much got produced during the 1930s. Dean: Are you talking about the New Deal? No, he's not talking about the New Deal at all. Dan: He's actually talking that the reason was it was the worst decade economically in the United States history because of the Great Depression, but he said it was also the most creative and most productive. And he said that creativity and productivity don't happen during good times, they only happen during bad times, the reason being the things that you thought. Let's put it this way you're going into the 1930s it was one of the hottest stock markets in the history of the United States the 1920s per capita, if you do it in relationship to the population and then suddenly it just stopped and everything that people believed was true, everything that they knew was predictably true, didn't happen. And everybody woke up and said, oh my God. Well, everything we've been going on doesn't work. And he said that's the spur to creativity and productivity. It's not profitability, because the profitability happened in the 1940s and 1950s, but the productivity, the creativity, creating new things that were productive, happened during the 1930s. He said there's no decade like it in US history in the last 100 years and I found that very striking. Dean: I can't wait to read it. Dan: I found that. It's a thin book. Dean: Okay, I was going to say I like that's my favorite. That's my favorite and accessible words. Dan: I like that too. It's a win. And it's a good title yeah, he doesn't use more words than he needs. Dean: I like that. Dan: It goes back to your. I'm coming awake to Dean Jackson's 8 Profit Activators. Dean: Oh good, after 12 years, this is good news. Dan: I'm a tourist, I'm a late bloomer. Dean: I'm a late developer. Dan: You know, but it wasn't that it was stored away, but it wasn't brought right in front of me. But I think there's a lot of very interesting insights that you have here. Dean: Yeah, that's true, and I just find more and more it's. You know it's the same, just feel like it's. So when you look at this one thing you know, if I think about my one thing is this you know, working on the all the applications of this one model and seeing deeper and deeper layers of how it actually how it fits, you know, it is like you asked me 12 years ago what would be fascinating and motivating because I had come out of you know, 15 years I think we I think we were both sitting in our kitchen when this happened, yeah, yeah our kitchen. Yeah, and I remember I was. Dan: I remember I was using that I was I. I remember it distinctly because I think it's the last time I used the landline. Isn't that funny? Dean: that's amazing. Dan: Yeah, yeah, because I had to sit up next to the counter because we've only got one landline. Dean: And. Dan: I said I've got this. So I had to sit on a stool next to you know a counter and I remember the conversation. Dean: I do too, and it was because I was coming out of 15 years of applying these eight profit activators to the growth of one specific business and Joe Polish had just taken that framework and started the I love marketing cast and I realized that's my. I was realizing how applicable that kind of operating system that I had developed for, you know, growing our own business was applicable to all kinds of businesses and that was my fascinating thing and doing it in small groups as opposed to 500, 700 people at a time, and to this day, it's still now 12 years later, yeah. Dan: Yeah, can I ask you a question about that? If you did it differently. Could you do it with a group of 100? Dean: Yes, absolutely, and we've done it with you know, I've done it with 40 or 50. Dan: Yeah Well, if you can do it with 40 or 50, you could do it with 100. Dean: Yeah, once you get past like 14 or so, the way the dynamics change. At about 14, more people, you end up having fractured conversations, and so that's why, the way you do the workshops, you have the opportunity to have people have those conversations, but in groups of three or four, yeah, so rather than having breakouts. Dan: Well, and then there's a tool that everybody's doing the same. Yes, yes. Yes. Dean: You're exactly right. Yeah, and that's an. All of them are all the eight profit activators are there, are tools, you know, there are thinking ways for it and yeah, but it's just such a you know I want to ask you another question to what degree if you think about I think you said you've done about 600 from last conversation of your small groups, that'd be 50 groups, basically 50, 50 sessions. Dan: To what degree do they need to know their numbers to go through the process? Dean: well they. The challenge or the thing is that they don't even know that these metrics exist. So I work from the standpoint of they really, if I can give them the experience of it by. They know the top line and they know you know what they're doing. But it doesn't require the granularity to get the impact of it. You know, to understand. That's where they can get their best intuitive sense of what that is and every single person has a realization that. Let's just say, even the just understanding how to divide the revenue into before unit, during unit and after unit is a big revelation for people and then they realize, you know, a lot of times I was just doing a consultation with a home services company and in home services it's pretty standard to spend, you know standard to spend you know 12 to 15% of their revenue on advertising. But they do a lot of things and they don't know often exactly what's working. But when I pointed out to them that if we take you know, 30% of their business is coming from repeat people who've already done business with them, yet they're measuring the 15 percent on that gross revenue, so their actual before unit cost is is way more because they're spending all the money in the before unit and not really spending much if anything on the after unit, even though it's bringing in 30% of the business. You know and it's so funny because I was sharing with them too I was like to take this attitude of so they do HVAC and air conditioning and so I like for them to think of all the households that have one of their air conditioning units in it to be climates under management, you know, is to get that kind of asset that they've got 20 000 climates under management, and to take that and really just kind of look at what they could do even just with the after unit of their business. You know, it's so. It's always eye-opening for people like to see when you start looking at those numbers and say, wow, I had never, I never thought of it like that. Dan: You know one of the things John Bowen and Kerry Oberbrenner and I are doing a collaboration on establishing the real numbers for entrepreneurism. Dean: Right. Dan: In relationship to wealth and in relationship to happiness, relationship to wealth and in relationship to happiness. So John is arguably the top coach in the world for financial advisors at a very affluent level. So all the clientele are very, so that would be for, and they'd be looking for, families. It would be sort of families and they'd be entrepreneurial families, okay, and I think that the sort of the preferred look is where the net worth of the family is in the 20 million and above level. Okay, and these are the advisors. So John's clients are the advisors who do this, okay. And two years ago we did a survey where we compared the entrepreneurial clients or the entrepreneurial clients. What we surveyed was John's clients as entrepreneurs. Dean: Yes. Dan: Okay, they're entrepreneurs, and there were about 1 of them, 1300. And they were compared to 800 strategic coach clients and we saw all sorts of differences. One of them was the who, not how, factor, that generally our clients made more money per person and worked fewer hours than John's 1,300. Yes, okay, and fairly significant. I mean like percent, different percent. And the other thing was that our clients expected to be busy. They expected to be active entrepreneurs for a much longer period than his clients. Dean: Well, that's the greatest gift right there when you look at it. So you, as the lead by example of this the lead dog. Dan: Yeah, you know what they say about dog sleds you know the dogs in a dog sled. Yeah, if you're not the lead dog, the future always looks the same. Yes, exactly so I'm not looking up anybody's rear end. Dean: Yeah, right, exactly. Dan: Anyway, but the big, thing, if you say we don't have real proof and it would take 50 or 60 years to take a long study to see that we're actually extending people's actual lifetime. But I would say right now we could probably establish really good, really good research that were extending their careers by probably an average of 15 years at their peak earning. Dean: Yeah exactly. Yeah, think about that like in the traditional world. So at that you know I'm 58 now and so in the traditional world it'd be like you got seven years left, kind of thing. Right, it's a traditional retirement age, or what. Dan: And then coach, you'd have 22 years. Dean: I got 22 more years, even just to get to 80. Yeah, you know like that's the thing, and I just proved that it's possible. Dan: Yes, that's what I'm saying. Dean: Yes, that's what I'm saying, yes, that's what I mean. And to be you like, look at, you know one of the. You know the elements when we do the lifetime extender, when you ask people so how do you want to be on your 80th birthday? And you're saying you know, well, how do you want to be health physically? And you're saying, well, how do you want to be health physically? Well, I want to be climbing 40 states of stairs six times a day, swimming twice and hiking around my property. I want to be, recording podcasts. I want to be writing books, I want to be holding workshops, I mean developing thinking tools, all those things. I've been thinking a lot about cadences, you know, and you've really kind of tapped into this cadence of of the quarter. Quarterly cadence is because your days are really largely the same with an intention of moving towards quarterly outputs. You, you're creating quarterly books, you're creating new quarterly workshops and tools. And am I missing anything Like do you have annual goals or objectives? Dan: Or is everything in terms of Well, the only, there's only one. The only one thing that we have, that's annual, would be the Free Zone Summit. That's once a year. So, for example, every week I'm working on the summit which is in February next year, and so I'm always listening in the. So I have a series of speaking sets that people can, and I'm looking, yes, to a large group of people, half of whom aren't actually in the free zone. You know half of them next year, half of them won't even be, you know, in strategic coach. They're team members, free zone members, they're clients of the free zone members and everything like that. So it's a challenge to me because you know coach people, know the routine, you know they come in, they understand what a whole day looks like thinking about your thinking. But for some people this is the first time in their life and the trick is, after the first hour they all feel as part of the same group and they're thinking you know. So anyway, it's a. It's an interesting, but that's only my annual thing. Dean: Yeah. Dan: So I've you know I give a lot of thought to it. I work on it right now, six months, before I'm working on it every week. Dean: Yeah. Dan: But that's the only one that is, and I wouldn't want to, no, exactly. Dean: Do you? It's interesting that you say you're working on it every week. Do you have? Do you account for that in your calendar or do you just consciously like? Or do you say? Dan: Some of it is just, some of it's just my time and it's, it's a certainty. Uncertainty worksheet. So I'm always working within the certainty. Uncertainty, this much is certain already. This is uncertain. So then that's the next week. You have to have certain things move from uncertainty to certainty. Yes, we got the pat. We just got the patent on that, by the way, so that's a good tool. That's good. Yeah, yeah so, but I'm constantly my ears are constantly open. In all the workshops, people are dropping topics. You know. I said, yeah, think there's a, we got a role for you and you know, we got a role for you, because I want to get to people ahead of time, because some people don't come to the summit. So if you spot them as a speaker, you want to make sure that something else isn't scheduled during the time when they come. So, yeah, it's going to be in Arizona this time. Dean: That's what I hear. Dan: It's all very exciting. Dean: Anyway it's very exciting. Dan: You mentioned the quarter. I really take quarters seriously. Other people have quarters, but they don't spend much time thinking about the quarter. Dean: I said it's available. Dan: It's sitting around there. You know, quarters are just sitting around. How much productivity, creativity, profitability can you get out of a quarter? Dean: Yeah, I like that. That's my observation. Right Is that you're the tools of applying three days focus days, buffer days, in a quarterly cadence for the rest of your till 156. Dan: 304. I have 304 left. 304 quarters left. Yeah, 304 quarters. You know David Hasse, whose clinic I can't, you know I can't recommend enough to people, but so we started two years ago with him. So it's August of 2022. We started working with him and we've had eight quarters and when we first came to the very first meeting in Nashville Maxwell Clinic, he said so what are we going to do with? your health over the next 312 quarters right, he had me at hello he had me at hello oh yeah and we've done a lot in the last eight quarters we've done yeah, you know there's a lot of work and but yeah, he's got a deep dive program. It's really terrific. I mean it it's testing, testing, constant testing, and he's very alert to new stuff in the marketplace you know new breakthroughs. Dean: What's your noticing now of your new needs in all these stairs that you're doing? Dan: Yeah, the big thing is I have no problem going up. It's tender going down, and the problem is it's a 50-year-old injury and about 49-year-old injury and so the cartilage is completely restored. Okay, and that's a breakthrough. Stem cells can get things working. Stem cells, can you know they can? What stem cells essentially do is wake up the cells that are supposed to be doing the work or repairing them. Dean: Hey, buddy, get back to work. Dan: Yeah, and the, and this is detectable, this is measurable where? Dean: they are. Dan: So I always thought I'm missing a cartilage. And I went down there, so they and when I say down there it's Buenos Aires, in Argentina, and I've done five, four, four sessions, four sessions in five month period. And now my cartilage is the same thickness going from almost no cartilage in my left knee. It's the same width. You know, the thickness of the cartilage is the same as it was before the injury in 1975. So that's great, but it's still painful. So now he says what's happened is that there's been damage to the ligaments on both sides. And so now I go first week of November to Buenos Aires and they do stem cells on my ligaments, ok, ok, and then we'll see. We'll see what happens there. So wow. Yeah, it's a matter of subtraction. You know you subtract the cartilage as the problem and then you submit and we'll see where it is. But I would say that the drop in pain in a day, in other words from morning till night, it's probably down 90%. Wow, that's amazing. But what's missing is the confidence to start running, because I want to run again and so I've been 15 years without running and my brain says don't run. So I have to relearn how to run. And how about Babs? It's completely fixed. That's amazing, isn't it? Yeah? And the cartilage that was cartilage too, yeah, fixed. That's amazing, isn't it? Yeah, the cartilage that was cartilage too. She, yeah, she had influence, she had actually. She had bone inflammation and she had missing cartilage. So the cartilage is back and I think hers would be equal to mine. The pain is down by 90 wild, wild, that's. Dean: It's amazing, isn't? It yeah we're living in. We're living in amazing times. Well, I'm counting on it. Yeah exactly. Dan: You know it's a present number times a future story. Dean: What a great thing. By the way, that book is going to arrive today, according to Amazon. For me, the money book. The other one will be here tomorrow morning. That's just so, like that's the best thing. Dan: Why can't the I mean after you order it? Why aren't they knocking on the door right now? What's wrong with this world? Dean: That's what I'm thinking. Is that why people call senators? Is that what I need to do is alert my senator? Dan: about this. Yeah, I actually had a great conversation with Ted Budbutt. Dean: Oh yeah. Well, that's great, great US senator from North Carolina, yeah and I just saw that Robert Kennedy just endorsed Donald Trump. He dropped out of the race and joined MAGA. Dan: Yeah, I think it's probably. I was figuring it's worth 3%, do you think? Yeah, that's really interesting. Yeah, I mean, he brings a lot to Trump obviously brings a lot to it, but he brings a whole issue that the Republicans haven't been focused on at all and his whole thing is really about what the food industry is putting into food. Yeah, that that is very dangerous, very negative, very harmful. That's been his big thing, and Trump just came out and said I think we're going to really take a major look at this. Dean: You know, it's very interesting to note that Joe Polish was sort of a catalyst in this regard. Oh yeah, that's pretty amazing. I just sent him a note. Dan: I just sent him an email. I sent him an email. I said RFK Trump always said you were the greatest connector that I've ever met in my life. Dean: Yeah, that's the truth, isn't it? And now you think about the historical impact. You know of this. I think that's you know. It's amazing. He's in his unique ability, for sure. Dan: Yeah, yeah, but yeah, just born unique ability to connect people, positively connect people. Yes yes, yeah, there's all sorts of industries where it's negative, but this is positive, so good. Anyway, back to our metrics, back to our metrics yes. Yeah, well, I think you're working out a whole economic system based on this. I think this has got the making of a complete economic system. Dean: Yes, it really does, the more that I see that each of them have and I'm very aware of naming the metrics right, of naming the metrics right like so out, because each of the before, during and after units all have their own, you know, their own metrics that are universally present in every business but they're differently calculated, you know, and once people have that awareness it kind of builds momentum, like they really see these things. They've never thought about a multiplier index in the during unit, or they've never thought about a return on relationship in the after unit or revenue From where you are right now? Dan: which one is where you are right now? Which one is most important for your own? Dean: you know your own money making for me, I think, one of the most. Dan: I mean you got eight, I know yeah, yeah, the eight are all engaged, but right now August of 2024, which is the one that you're really focused on right now rev pop revenue per unconverted prospect. Dean: Yeah, that's a multiplier If you've already got. You've got a lot of times when we take the VCR formula and kind of overlay on top of it. The excess capacity that people have is often a big asset, you know, and so it's very yeah, it's fun to to see all these at work. You know, as I start to you know, overlay them on so many different types of businesses. Dan: Yeah, no, I'm just really taking I was. Shannon Waller's husband was reading this, same as every book His cottage is. Their cottage is about 10 minutes walk from our cottage and I just picked it up and I've converted almost completely over to Kindle. So you know, so I had it within minutes. Dean: I picked it up. Dan: I read a chapter and I said I'm going to download this. So I downloaded it and I've been reading it for the past four days. But I asked Bruce. We were out to dinner last night and I said Bruce and Bruce is an investor he had a career with Bell Canada. He was 35 years, 35 years with Bell Canada Got a good pension and then he went into investing and I said this is about long range thinking, this is a very long range thinking book and it's almost like these are 23 things that are always going to be the same how you factor that into your investment philosophy, okay, yeah. And then he has a lot of references to Charlie Munger and Warren Buffett because, they're the long range, they're the most famous long range investors and Charlie's dead this year. But Warren Buffett said he said this year. But Warren Buffett said he said you know it's, the biggest problem with investing is the combination of greed and speed. You know, people want a huge payoff and they want it as fast as possible. Yes, and he said you know. And Warren Buffett, he says you know, you can't produce a child in a month by getting nine women pregnant. Dean: It's profound and true. Dan: It's a formula for complication in your future life. Dean: Yeah, exactly. Dan: Yeah, if each child has claims on half of your net worth, you probably have diminished your future. You probably have diminished your future. But anyway, and he says, the proper question is what's the investment I can make that has the highest return for the longest period of time? Dean: Yes, I love that. That's great. Dan: Well, if you take your eight profit activators and see them as separate investments. Dean: Which I do. Dan: And each of them is growing in return. That's really the only stock market you actually need. Dean: Yes, that's what dawned on me with this revenue per unconverted prospect is I try and get people to think about their before unit as making a capital investment. Dan: Well, you are in time attention, probably money, probably money too. Dean: Yeah. But most people think of it as an expense because they're running ads competing for the immediate ROI. And it's such a different game when you realize that the asset that you're creating of a pool of people who know you and like you and are marinating, you know that it makes a big difference Because the gestation period is, if you looked at the people that come into coach for the first time, if you were to look at their ad date in the CRM of when they first showed up on your radar, whether they opted in for something, that it's going to be a much bigger number than seven days. You know that they came in, they got, they talked to somebody and signed up. It's going to be a you know, a much longer period of time and the yield. This is the only way that having that revenue per unconverted prospect really gives you a way of seeing how valuable the people who've been in your pond for three years, five years, seven years I'm sure you have people who have been swimming around Strategic Coach for several years before they become. Dan: One of the big changes that we're making is to switch the attention to those people away from the sales team to the marketing team. That's smart. Because, I have a framework for the salespeople and every time I meet with them, we have 14 full-time salespeople and every time I meet with we have 14, 14 sales full-time salespeople and I say yeses, reward you, noes, teach you and maybes, punish you. So, I said, every week you're looking at your call list, you have to grade them yes, no. Or maybe at your call list, you have to grade them yes, no. Or maybe and I say, go for the yeses first, Get the no's as fast as possible, Okay and make them earn their way back into your prospect list. Dean: In other words just say no. Dan: You know it sounds like you're not going to do it. You know about us. We've had a conversation. We've got great materials we can send you constantly. But you know I'm not going to bother you anymore. And then there's maybes that are just trying to have an affair. Dean: Right, exactly. Dan: No, she isn't with us anymore. But we had a woman who is a salesperson and she had 60 calls over a six-year period with this person. I said I don't know what's on your mind, but he's having an affair. That's funny. It's a nice female voice. He gets to talk to her every month or so. It's an affair. That's exactly right. It's so funny. Anyway, we've shot way past the hour. Dean: Oh my goodness, Dan Well, it was worth it. It was worth it. Dan: I don't know for the listeners, but I found this a fascinating conversation. Dean: Well, I find that too, so that's all that matters. If we had good, come along the ride. Dan: I agree with if we were having a good time. I think they were having a good time I think, I'll talk to you next I'll talk to you next week. Thanks dan, bye-bye. Great, okay, bye.

In this episode, Shannon Waller and guest Steve Heroux discuss the importance of sales coaching and understanding Sales DNA profiles. Steve addresses the negative perceptions of sales and the challenges entrepreneurs face in hiring effective salespeople, and offers actionable insights to transform sales culture. Tune in for a fresh perspective on finding and nurturing great sales talent! Download Episode Transcript Show Notes: Effective sales coaching is essential for developing a high-performing sales team and should focus on individual strengths and weaknesses. Understanding the Sales DNA profile can help identify the unique strengths of salespeople, allowing for tailored coaching and training strategies. The sales profession often suffers from a negative perception, with many seeing salespeople as pushy or manipulative, which can hinder effective selling. Sales leaders play a crucial role in shaping the culture and practices of their sales teams. Poor leadership can perpetuate negative stereotypes about sales. Finding the right salespeople is challenging, which means entrepreneurs must prioritize hiring individuals who align with the company's values and customer needs. One-size-fits-all training programs are ineffective. Custom training based on the Sales DNA profile can lead to better results. Trust is a critical component in sales. Building genuine relationships with clients can counteract the negative stereotypes associated with sales. Many entrepreneurs struggle with sales because they excel in product development but lack sales expertise, leading to potential business failures. Defining an ideal customer profile helps sales teams focus their efforts on prospects that are more likely to convert and benefit from the product or service. Teaching salespeople to say no to unsuitable prospects is vital; just because someone is willing to buy doesn't mean they should. Salespeople are motivated by personal goals and family needs. Leaders should align company objectives with these motivations to foster engagement. There is a need for a cultural shift in how sales is perceived and practiced, moving away from aggressive tactics to a more consultative approach. Providing sales teams with the right tools and resources, including training and technology, is essential for empowering them to succeed. The sales landscape is constantly evolving; ongoing training and development is necessary to keep sales teams competitive. Focusing on building long-term relationships with clients rather than short-term sales can lead to greater success and customer loyalty. Resources: The Sales Collective Steve Heroux on LinkedIn Book: Sales Is Not a Dirty Word: The Definitive Guide for Success in Sales by Steve Heroux Book: To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Persuading, Convincing and Influencing Others by Daniel Pink Book: Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek Book: The End of Average: How We Succeed in a World That Values Sameness by Todd Rose Book: Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear Unique Ability® The Kolbe A™ Index CliftonStrengths®

In this episode of Team Success, host Shannon Waller is thrilled to talk with special guest Marlene Chism, an expert on workplace drama and how to handle it effectively. Their long discussion is full of great communication and listening strategies to help you have that difficult discussion you've been avoiding. Shannon highly recommends all senior leaders read Marlene's latest book, From Conflict to Courage: How to Stop Avoiding and Start Leading, for more practical wisdom on managing conflict at work. Listen now to find out the three words that heal any conflict. Download Episode Transcript Show Notes: The Karpman Drama Triangle consists of three roles: Victim: Feels powerless and blames others. Persecutor: Lashes out and is hard to get along with. Rescuer: Tries to fix everything for others. Denial: Added by Marlene in the center for Avoiders who say, “I don't do drama.” People aren't just one thing; they cycle through each regularly. Getting out of the drama triangle means becoming a Creator. Regulation Before Resolution: Regulating your emotions before approaching conflict allows you greater clarity, empathy, and a solution-oriented mindset. Emotional Awareness And Emotional Integrity: Accept that you have negative feelings. Represent yourself and your own feelings, not anyone else's. Responsible Language: Ask questions. Speak to the vision. Focus on the outcome you want. Avoid generalization, blame, resentment, lack of choice, and justification. Radical Listening: Acknowledge the other person's feelings: “It sounds like … ” Similar to Chris Voss's “Tactical Empathy.” Similar to the Collaborative Way's “Generous Listening.” Avoid trying to come up with a solution. Avoid telling a related story about yourself. Notice your own emotions without expressing them. “Don't argue with other people's feelings.” —Shannon Waller The Inner Game: External conflict starts when there is internal conflict. “Drama: the obstacle to peace or prosperity.” —Marlene Chism Work on your own clarity first because “the one with clarity navigates the ship, and everyone else shovels coal.” Be self-aware without being self-obsessed. Fulcrum Point Of Change: Nothing happens until you are willing to release your resistance to change. The “story” in your head about what is happening is the source of your suffering, not the other person, not the situation. Three-part approach for leaders: Establish a foundation: Examine what's happening that shouldn't happen to go into conversation with intention. Achieve leadership and employee clarity: Have the conversation and come to an agreement. Maintain accountability: Follow up two weeks after conversation. Specific strategies for difficult conversations: State intentions up front to reduce anxiety and defensiveness. Keep the discussion focused on constructive outcomes. Focus on the opposite of the issue to create a positive intention. Address observed behaviors and their impact rather than making accusations or generalizations about a person's character. Use company values and vision to guide the intentions. Share the “story” you're telling yourself about the situation. Say, “Walk me through what your perspective is.” Ask, “What do you want?” and “Would you be willing … ?” When you get denial or defensiveness: “That may be, but here's what I need.” Three common responses to conflict are the 3 A's: Aggression, Avoidance, and Appeasing. Resistance is almost always based on the need to be right. Three magic words that will heal any conflict: “You were right.” The “LABOR” principles for difficult conversations: L Ask for what you want. set B Own your stuff. Represent yourself. Major organizational problems can often be traced back to conversations that should have happened but didn't. Strategic Coach® Tools For Clarity: Use The Impact Filter™ to get your thoughts do...

A Free Day™ is a 24-hour period with no work-related activity whatsoever. A great many entrepreneurs struggle with taking true Free Days™. In this episode, business coaches Dan Sullivan and Shannon Waller talk about The Entrepreneurial Time System®—which consists of Free Days, Focus Days™, and Buffer Days™—and why it's essential for you to provide structure to your Free Days if you want the greatest business success. Here's some of what you'll learn in this episode:The purpose of each of the three types of days in The Entrepreneurial Time System.Some non-work activities you can use to structure your days.Why it can be much easier to work than to take a day off.Why entrepreneurs are so resistant to taking days off entirely without work.Why you shouldn't have an unplanned Free Day. Show Notes: You gravitate to the part of your life that has the most structure. Taking a day as if it were a Free Day, but structuring it with activities that are business activities, means that you're not going to be rejuvenated by the day. You can have a lot of structure to your days even when you're not working. You can do activities on Free Days that you would never touch on a workday. Structure means that you'll be supported by things that are already planned. If you have an idea on a Free Day, wait to see if it sticks with you until a workday. It's a lot easier to set out to write 100 books than to set out to write only one book. An idea that is really great bothers you because it wants to be born into the world. You can still use all your strengths when you're on a Free Day. Profitability means you're not only making money, you're keeping money. Your plans regarding retirement affect how you take your Free Days. Resources: Article: What Free Days Are, And How To Know When You Need Them Perplexity app Article: Your Business Is A Theater Production: Your Back Stage Shouldn't Show On The Front Stage The Impact Filter™

In this episode, Shannon Waller interviews Associate Coach Ben Laws, exploring his entrepreneurial journey and insights on self-discovery. Ben shares how intentional structures and relationships have fueled his success across multiple businesses and offers a unique perspective on business, life, and family. Tune in to uncover the mindset that drives impactful entrepreneurship and personal growth! Here's some of what you'll learn in this episode: ·     How Strategic Coach®has influenced much of how Ben's personal life functions.·     What Ben considers to be the ultimate freedom.·     How Ben demonstrated an entrepreneurial attitude at just four years old. ·     The key to Ben's exponential growth. ·     Why setting out as an entrepreneur didn't seem that risky to Ben.·     What to do if you're considering becoming part of the Strategic Coach community. Show Notes Our eyes only see and our ears only hear what our brain is looking for. Forming connections and helping people solve problems are entrepreneurial social skills.  Entrepreneurs seek to innovate and drive change. Business owners try to maintain the status quo. If you name the game, you own the game. The further your company gets from where you started, the greater the risk of diluting what made your company great. Experience is the one thing that can't be commoditized. Entrepreneurs are always discovering who they want to be. There's no greater call to loving your neighbor than being an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs are always being challenged. Entrepreneurs are exponentially more self-aware than other people.  People often think that life is happening to them rather than for them. As an entrepreneur, your number one job is to protect your confidence. Resources Unique Ability® Book: The Team Success Handbook by Shannon Waller Book: Who Not How by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy  Book: The Wealth Of Nations by Adam Smith Perplexity Blog: Time Management Strategies For Entrepreneurs Blog: The 4 Freedoms That Motivate Successful Entrepreneurs  Blog: What Is A Self-Managing Company®? The Six Ds Of Exponentials

Do you take the time to reinforce your team's strengths, or do you simply take their strengths and talents for granted? In this episode, Shannon Waller explains the benefits of reinforcing team strengths rather than fixing weaknesses. Learn why this counterintuitive approach can boost morale, productivity, and even your bottom line. Download Episode Transcript Show Notes: Growing Strengths People often take their natural abilities for granted. When people realize their capabilities are valuable to others, they will invest more time and effort into developing them further. Gallup's Framework For Understanding Strengths Talent: A natural way of thinking, feeling, or behaving. Investment: Time spent practicing, developing skills, and building knowledge. Strength: The ability to consistently provide near-perfect performance in a specific task. Raw talent alone is not enough; it must be combined with investment to become a true strength. Mindset For Talent Development To recognize individuality and uniqueness in others, leaders must first acknowledge and develop their own Unique Ability®. This mindset may be challenging for leaders who believe: They need to be all things to all people, or People are basically all the same Dan Sullivan has said a key aspect of running a Self-Managing Company® is the willingness to be ignorant: Leaders don't need to know every detail of their operation if they trust their team members to use their unique strengths to excel in their respective roles. The Difference This Can Make Benefits of reinforcing your team's strengths: Builds habits Improves team dynamics and collaboration Increases productivity Increases creativity Supports more fulfilling careers Reduces workplace problems Supports self-managing team members Recognizing And Nurturing Unique Talents Give people feedback: “Hey I really appreciate it when you do this; it really makes a difference. You do this faster than anyone else on the team does.” Ask the question: “Is this something you really enjoy doing too?” Unique Ability combines excellent skills with passion, joy, endless energy, fascination, and a constant desire for improvement. How To Take Action Pay attention and take action when someone volunteers to do something no one asked them to do, and they are exceptional and energized by it. Speak out about what's working to reinforce the things you want to see more of. Use The Impact Filter™ tool from Strategic Coach® to clearly communicate expectations for specific tasks and projects. Read the upcoming book in the Ambition Series coming in Fall 2024, Casting Not Hiring, and download the 4 x 4 tool. The 4 x 4 is used to communicate to team members the overall expectations for their role and teamwork. The 4 x 4 tells team members how they can excel in their performance by: Being alert, curious, responsive, and resourceful Focusing on results that are faster, easier, cheaper, and bigger Being a hero to you Avoiding the things that drive you crazy Use The Communication Builder with your team members to understand each other's work preferences, communication styles, and stress responses. Resources: CliftonStrengths® Unique Ability The Communication Builder The Self-Managing Company by Dan Sullivan The Impact Filter Casting Not Hiring by Dan Sullivan and Jeffrey Madoff (coming Fall 2024)

In this episode, Dan Sullivan and Shannon Waller discuss the philosophical and moral foundations of entrepreneurism, tracing its roots from Adam Smith's theories to present-day insights. They explore the correlation between creating value, self-interest, and moral philosophy, providing valuable insights for entrepreneurs today and proving that entrepreneurship lies at the foundation of a prosperous world. Here's some of what you'll learn in this episode: The rewards—financial and otherwise—for being an entrepreneur.The prevalent attitudes in higher education that often stand in opposition to entrepreneurialism.How Dan has used setbacks on his entrepreneurial journey to his advantage.The type of organization you can create when you embrace the entrepreneurial way of thinking.Why bureaucratic environments stifle creativity and limit money-making opportunities. Show Notes: Being an entrepreneur is a very intelligent way of planning out and living your economic life.Many successful individuals are often perceived to be driven by past traumas, but entrepreneurship can simply be a means to pursue your passions and get paid for it. When people within a company feel they can't be themselves, politicking and bureaucracy take over. When you work with entrepreneurs, you know when they're happy and you know when they're not. Entrepreneurial instincts can only take you so far. You also need hard, bankable skills in order to be successful. Entrepreneurism is the only economic forum where you have a direct, interactive relationship with the actual marketplace. The closer you are to understanding why someone is willing to pay for the results your skills produce, the more knowledgeable, capable, and confident you will become. When you use your capabilities to continually create increasing value for others, they'll continually write you bigger and bigger checks. Every corporation that exists today began with an entrepreneur having a direct relationship with the marketplace. Dan defines two universal entrepreneurial laws: You must depend upon your own capabilities for your financial security and you should not expect any reward unless you've first created value. Resources: Unique Ability® Blog: Time Management Strategies For Entrepreneurs (Effective Strategies Only) Book: The Wealth Of Nations by Adam Smith Book: The Theory Of Moral Sentiments by Adam Smith Book: The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon

Are you looking to maximize your teamwork with your executive assistant? In this episode, Shannon Waller dives deep into the key strategies for a successful strategic partnership. From finding the right person to implementing daily habits and strategic planning meetings, you'll discover how to triple your productivity effortlessly and elevate your teamwork to superpower status! Download Episode Transcript Show Notes: Finding The Right “Who”: It's crucial to hire someone who thrives in a support role and complements your working style. Use tools like DISC and CliftonStrengths to ensure compatibility. Communication Builder: This tool helps identify communication preferences and patterns, preventing conflicts and fostering better teamwork. It's available for free at yourteamsuccess.com. Daily Meetings: Regular check-ins, ideally daily, help keep both parties aligned and focused. Starting these meetings with a Positive Focus® elevates your energy levels, boosts productivity, and enhances confidence. CC On Emails: Copying your assistant on relevant emails ensures seamless information transfer and task delegation. Access To Email And Calendar: Granting your assistant full access to your email and calendar allows them to manage your schedule effectively, freeing you up to focus on high-priority tasks. Appreciation: Regularly expressing gratitude and acknowledging each other's contributions strengthens the partnership and boosts morale. Strategic Planning Meetings: Holding these meetings every five to six weeks helps you plan and prioritize upcoming tasks and projects, ensuring nothing falls through the cracks. Resources: Books Superpowered: The Secret That Helps Every Entrepreneur Eliminate the Suck, 10x Their Impact, and Have More Fun in Work and Life by Ryan Cassin, Shannon Waller, and Steven Neuner Tools And Concepts The Team Success Toolkit Unique Ability® The Impact Filter™ Profiles The Kolbe A™ Index PRINT® Why of You CliftonStrengths® Working Genius® DISC Profile

Do you feel as though you have a really talented team but that not everyone is aligned on the direction you're going? In this episode, Shannon Waller describes how a lack of leadership can be undoing your team's potential. By the end, you'll learn practical strategies to ensure that everyone is on the same page, working toward a common goal. Download Episode Transcript Show Notes: Unique Ability® without a clear goal or purpose: Unique Ability® Teamwork thrives when each team member is focused on what they love to do best. However, without a clear goal, intention, or purpose, the strengths and talents of team members can go astray, or worse, sabotage the work of the overall business. This can lead to individuals pursuing their own interests rather than working toward a common goal. Over time, team members accustomed to a lack of direction may develop an entitlement attitude and resistance to being pulled back in. Impact On Team Performance: Without clear leadership and direction, Unique Ability Teamwork may result in individuals contributing their intellect but not their full commitment or passion. Projects may suffer from delays, lack of creativity, and a lack of coordination among team members, akin to a rowing team rowing out of sync. Solution: Shannon suggests a proactive approach. Leaders should: Double-check their own clarity on goals and intentions. Communicate these clearly to the team. Ensure alignment through open conversations. Using tools like The Impact Filter™ can help articulate purpose, importance, ideal outcomes, and success criteria, fostering a shared understanding and commitment among team members. The collaborative approach opens projects up to the collective intelligence, as different team members bring diverse insights and considerations to the table. Resources: The Team Success Handbook by Shannon Waller PRINT® Kolbe Radical Candor Unique Ability Teamwork Wanting What You Want by Dan Sullivan The Impact Filter

There's a misconception that podcasting is a quick way to make money. But if you're only in it for the cash, you'll likely be disappointed. Start a podcast for the right reason: to create value for your audience. When you focus on creating great content for your listeners, the money may show up in other ways. Dan Sullivan and Gord Vickman explain how Strategic Coach® has seen consistent growth for decades by doing just that.In This Episode:Most entrepreneurs develop the courage to become entrepreneurs because they're good salespeople.Marketing is what allows you to have the opportunity to be in front of someone.If you see a problem, set out to solve it, whether you get paid for it or not.You should do it because it's valuable, regardless of the money you make.Don't listen to the people who are trying to throw you into “The Gap” by saying, “Oh, you must do this because everyone else is doing it!”Don't force people to learn something new in order to get value from you.A podcast is like a message in a bottle. Most will sink, but others wash up on a beach where somebody will read it and say, “I've been looking for that!”Existing clients listen to our podcasts faithfully. They come to the workshops and talk about the subjects that the podcasts cover.The goal of the Strategic Podcast Network is to attract people and marinate them in the content in the hopes that they become successful, talented, ambitious entrepreneurs.It's not tough to make money if your focus is on making other people successful.Resources:The Strategic Podcast Network features all our shows in one place10xTalk podcast, featuring Dan Sullivan and Joe PolishJoe Polish's Genius Network®Inside Strategic Coach podcast, featuring Dan Sullivan and Shannon Waller

In this episode of Inside Strategic Coach, Shannon Waller interviews Colleen Bowler, a Strategic Coach Associate Coach with over 20 years of experience. Colleen shares her journey from an early entrepreneurial mindset, influenced by her family, to becoming a leader in the financial planning industry. They discuss Colleen's current company, C&J Innovations, and her leadership in the industry, as well as her passion project, Generous Kids. Tune in to learn how Colleen's early entrepreneurial mindset shaped her career and the impact of Strategic Coach on her journey.Here's some of what you'll learn in this episode:The power of collaboration and identifying individual strengths in an entrepreneurial journey.Strategies for personal and professional growth, emphasizing continuous learning and development.Insight into building successful firms and the impact of empowering others.Practical examples and applications of concepts such as Unique Ability® and strategic growth.The importance of quick assessments in empowering individuals and advisors for success.Show Notes:Colleen shares her journey and early exposure to an entrepreneurial mindset, emphasizing the value of hard work, earning opportunities, and the importance of translating this mindset two her own parenting.She also highlights the importance of systematizing the predictable to focus on connecting with clients—a key strength for entrepreneurs. Colleen explains how she built a top financial planning firm by empowering her team and avoiding the "I" mentality, instead using "we" to serve clients.Colleen talks about how Strategic Coach® helped her achieve real work-life balance, going from not taking any time off to taking a week's vacation within two years.Colleen referred 10 people to Strategic Coach before even qualifying herself because she saw how the Program helped people achieve an extraordinary quality of life.One thing that makes Strategic Coach workshops so valuable is that they're led by other entrepreneurs who understand firsthand the challenges members face.Colleen highlights the value of being around like-minded people and getting her "butt in the chair" every quarter for creativity and growth.Colleen talks about selling her firm and starting her new venture, C&J Innovations, where she creates assessments for financial advisors.These assessments help advisors align with clients' future goals and mindsets for better relationships and growth.She also promotes her passion project Generous Kids, teaching the habit of giving to children. ResourcesThe Experience Transformer®More about ColleenC&J InnovationsUnique Ability®

Are you struggling with a lack of alert, curious, responsive, and resourceful people in your business? Here, Shannon Waller takes a look at the frequently overlooked importance of the language you use when talking about the people operating in your business. By shifting your mindset regarding this one term, you can unlock the full potential of your team and elevate their performance. Tune in to learn how to transform your team into a powerhouse of unique individuals making impactful contributions together. Download Episode Transcript Show Notes: The language you use to refer to the people you've hired to work with you (“staff,” “employees,” or “team members”) reflects different mindsets and can impact engagement and performance. The term “staff” suggests bureaucracy, formality, and viewing people as fulfilling roles rather than as unique and creative individuals. “Employee” is more neutral but can still imply a transactional, replaceable view of team members. Referring to people as “team members” emphasizes their unique contributions and the collaborative, team-based nature of the work. How you think about your people is reflected in your actions. “Staff” and “employees” are frequently counted as FTEs and costs. Businesses think of costs as something to minimize, to make as efficient as possible, and to be cut as necessary to improve profits. People who are treated as costs—like the office paper supply—can feel they're being treated as things and not as people. Treating team members as investments rather than costs leads to better results. With investments, you put a little in to get a lot more in return. When you nourish unique capabilities in people, their contributions expand in ways you could not have predicted. When people don't work out as investments: Have you made sure you've found the right people who are motivated by their work and aligned with your business? Do they have the capacity for their role? Keeping bad investments is not good for your business in the long term. You may need to subtract so you can multiply. Dan Sullivan says, “I'm just a team member here. I just have a unique set of skills, and that's what I want to do. I need a ton of other people to make the projects that I want to be a part of happen.” Dan's commitment to his own Unique Ability® contribution to the business reinforces his commitment to supporting the Unique Ability contributions of everyone else on his team. Ask your team how they feel about the language used to describe them. Pay attention to how you refer to people no matter whom you're speaking with. People want to know they're valued as individuals and trusted to find opportunities to contribute the best way they know how. Resources: Leadership and Self-Deception by The Arbinger Institute EOS®: Entrepreneurial Operating System® “A Conversation With Kathy Kolbe: Conative Intelligence & The Importance of Caring First,” Team Success Podcast, ep. 259. Multiplication By Subtraction by Shannon Waller Unique Ability

For 35 years now, The Strategic Coach® Program has been helping entrepreneurs to achieve business success and business growth while living happy lives. But Dan Sullivan didn't set out to create a program for entrepreneurs. He set out to create a thinking program, and entrepreneurs are the ones who took to it the most. In this episode, Dan talks with fellow business coach Shannon Waller about the genesis of Strategic Coach® and why it works so well for entrepreneurs. Here's some of what you'll learn in this episode:The learning experience created by others that's had the most influence on Dan's thinking today.The ways of thinking on which Dan based The Strategic Coach Program.How constantly growing in capability and confidence protects you from worrying about the future.What lets Dan know he's created a timeless thinking tool.Where all Strategic Coach thinking tools come from.Show Notes: The entrepreneurial game will continue for as long as you're up to it. Each person can take the actual experiences of their daily life and develop them into knowledge. The challenges you face each day are sufficient to create a lifetime learning program. It's easier to get things created and produced these days than it was in the old days. Entrepreneurs have to be learning on a daily basis, while many non-entrepreneurs don't have to do much learning after they get the job. Some non-entrepreneurs view having to learn new things as a chore, while entrepreneurs see it as an advantage. The bigger the problem and the faster the solution, the bigger the check for the entrepreneur. Strategic Coach clients are never told what they should learn from using a Coach thinking tool. It's dangerous for an entrepreneur to get bored. Entrepreneurs get punished most heavily for not changing their minds. Entrepreneurs can make greater progress from thinking than people in most other lines of work. As a group, Strategic Coach clients are uniquely confident and feel a unique sense of capability and confidence about the future. Strategic Coach clients make more money and take more free time than a comparable group of entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs are the only people whose success depends upon being transformative. Strategic Coach clients have a shared language thanks to the Program's thinking tools. The cause of most entrepreneurial problems is loneliness.Resources: The 4 Freedoms That Motivate Successful Entrepreneurs [Article] Unique Ability® Who Not How by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy The Entrepreneurial Time System®—The Entrepreneur's Guide To Time Management The Experience Transformer®—Transforming Experiences Into Multipliers [Article] The Impact Filter™

On this special episode of Team Success, Shannon Waller is joined by her dear friend and former colleague Nicole Pitcher, a Strategy and Planning Support Partner who played a pivotal role in Shannon's professional development and contributed to her legendary approach to teamwork. They discuss how, while working at Strategic Coach®, Nicole transformed the standard executive assistant role into a Strategic Support Partnership. They also explore how this kind of relationship leverages both parties' strengths and keeps entrepreneurs committed and accountable to their goals. Nicole's evolution offers invaluable insights into how shifting standard support roles into dynamic partnerships can drive entrepreneurial success. For any entrepreneur looking to not only maximize their productivity but also achieve a better work-life balance, this episode is a must-listen! Download Episode Transcript Show Notes: In today's entrepreneurial world, there is a growing need for assistants who can think strategically, anticipate the needs of their employers, and manage the moving parts of a business. Nicole shares how she evolved the role of an executive assistant into this role, which goes beyond traditional administrative tasks to engage deeply in strategic planning and decision-making processes. As Shannon says, “If you don't have an assistant, you are one.” Most entrepreneurs have a ton of ideas but don't necessarily have the skills or bandwidth to follow through on them. A good Strategic Support Partner should understand how to translate your vision into actionable tasks. They're essentially the bridge between your ideas and the practical execution of those ideas. They also need to take a personalized approach to vision translation based on your unique strengths and weaknesses. Self-awareness is a crucial first step for entrepreneurs seeking support. By recognizing your strengths and weaknesses, you can identify areas where help is needed and find the right support partner to complement your skills, all of which leads to a more intentional approach to goal setting and commitment. Profiles are your best ally here. Every good working relationship should start with assessments like Kolbe and Working Genius® (linked below). Avoid the temptation to hire somebody who's just like you. They don't want to do the work that you don't want to do either! It's important to view this relationship as a partnership rather than a traditional hierarchical relationship. (In other words, equal but different, not lesser and greater.) This approach fosters mutual respect and leverages each person's strengths. Many entrepreneurs also don't know how to effectively use their assistants. They may hire someone with the expectation that the assistant will handle emails and other administrative tasks, but they struggle to provide direction and guidance. Entrepreneurs who make commitments, set goals, and hold themselves accountable are objectively more successful than entrepreneurs who don't. Strategic Support Partners play a vital role in helping you stay on track and fulfill your commitments, ultimately leading to long-term success and growth in your business. It's common for entrepreneurs to become the bottleneck in their own business when they are unable to make decisions, set priorities, or manage their time effectively. This also makes them feel trapped and overwhelmed. By working with a Strategic Support Partner to address time management issues (and putting everything in a calendar that you follow!), you can better focus your energy and alleviate overwhelm. Resources: Unique Ability® Book: The Team Success Handbook by Shannon Waller Superpowers More about Nicole Pitcher Profiles: The Kolbe A™ Index PRINT® Why of You CliftonStrengths® Working Genius DISC Profile Tools: The Impact Filter™ The Positive Focus® Top Teamwork Tips Communication Builder

Everyone knows that AI is going to be an increasing factor in business success and business growth, and it's essential that entrepreneurs are aware of the technology's limitations as well as its potential. In this episode, business coaches Dan Sullivan and Shannon Waller speak with special guest, AI expert Evan Ryan, about what's holding back the productive application of AI and what you can do instead to best take advantage of AI in your organization. Here's some of what you'll learn in this episode:How to use AI, an intangible, to achieve measurable goals.Where Evan has seen the most success in companies' use of AI.The first question every executive asks Evan.Ways of thinking that make AI more accessible.Why many people are hesitating to adopt AI in their businesses.Examples of where hesitation to use AI has prevented business growth.Entrepreneur ideas supporting making the change to AI.How to convince people to take a big leap using AI.The way AI disrupts established thinking about budgets.Why the successful use of AI requires a growth mindset. Show Notes: No matter how fast the technology itself moves, it's as slow as the humans that are adopting it. If a solution works for one person, you know 50% of what it would take to work for 10 people. Humans don't naturally think in terms of exponentials because nothing in our world really operates exponentially. If you experience sudden growth, and it's behind you, you can do your own exponentials going forward. If you don't know where the leadership is, you don't know where the rest of the organization is. It's hard for people to grasp intangibles unless they're conceptually prone, so you need tangible proof of selling an intangible. If software is magic, AI is magic times a million. Something that's inherently unclear and inherently vague is inherently a little scary. Technology doesn't become normal until it becomes boring. We have to normalize our way into the future. And that means that you have to start small and get used to it. San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and the media talk about AI like it's the end times. A lot of what goes on in Silicon Valley is getting people to bet on the bet. They're not actually betting on the technology. One new capability always introduces new capabilities. That's a feature of technology. The problems we want to solve are the same. We just keep getting better technology with which to solve them. To grasp future jumps, people need to grasp past jumps. Technology is automated teamwork. AI won't necessarily replace people, but people who know AI will replace people who don't. Resources: AI As Your Teammate by Evan Ryan TeammateAI.com The Gap And The Gain by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy Your Life As A Strategy Circle by Dan Sullivan ChatGPT Perplexity.ai Unique Ability® Who Not How by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy The Self-Managing Company by Dan Sullivan Article about The Experience Transformer®: “Transforming Experiences Into Multipliers” Article: “What Free Days Are, And How To Know When You Need Them” Deep D.O.S. Innovation by Dan Sullivan

Raise your hand if you're a perfectionist. Do you often find yourself focusing on what's not working and feeling constantly frustrated? When your team checks in with you on a project they're working on, do you tend to focus on the parts that need to be fixed? The parts that aren't completed yet? “What about X, Y, and Z?” In this episode of Team Success, Shannon Waller discusses why it's critical to work and lead from “The Gain,” not “The Gap.” She explains the concept of The Gap And The Gain™, one of the foundational concepts of Strategic Coach® that has helped tens of thousands of people improve their relationships with their teams, families, and everyone else. Don't miss this episode for practical methods to create psychological safety within the team, foster a positive environment, and drive growth within your team. Download Episode Transcript Show Notes: Shift Your Focus To Progress, Not Perfection When you measuring progress from where you started (The Gain) rather than against an ideal (The Gap), you celebrate how far you've come and focus on what is working. Acknowledging The Gain builds confidence and motivation within yourself and your team. Remember: Progress, not perfection, is the key to growth. Cultivate Psychological Safety For Your Team Studies (see links below) have shown that top productive and profitable teams share just one thing in common: everyone trusts and respects one another. Researchers refer to this aspect of group culture as “psychological safety.” Psychological safety in a team has repeatedly shown to have a bigger impact on the team's performance than any other factor, including collective intelligence. As a leader, your job is to help people stay in The Gain instead of The Gap; otherwise, they are going to play defense, not offense. If people are defensive, they're not taking risks, and if they don't take risks, your company can't grow. When there is psychological safety, team members can own their mistakes because they are allowed to make them to learn from them. Dan Sullivan, co-founder of Strategic Coach, says, “When there's a problem with a person, 99% of the time it's not the person; it's the system.” Being an “impact” leader means always measuring progress and looking for improvement ideas to improve results. Strategies For Staying In The Gain Positive Mindset: Use the Strategic Coach online web app WinStreak® to track your top three wins every day and set up three wins for tomorrow. Short-Circuit The Amygdala: You can use tools such as The Experience Transformer® to turn negative experiences into valuable learning opportunities without overreacting or placing blame. Describe The Circumstance:Begin by objectively describing the situation that did not go as planned, focusing on facts rather than emotions. Identify Successes:Acknowledge aspects of the experience that worked well to recognize positive elements amidst challenges. List Areas For Improvement:Pinpoint specific aspects that did not contribute to the desired outcome to identify areas for enhancement. Brainstorm Solutions:Encourage creative brainstorming to generate ideas for improvement based on the identified challenges. Implement A New Approach:Develop a revised plan, incorporating insights gained from the experience to guide future endeavors. Encourage Learning:Treat failures as learning opportunities and promote continuous improvement for culture and company growth. The Strategic Coach P.A.G.E. core values: P = Positive and collaborative teamwork. A = Alert, curious, responsive, and resourceful. G = Focus on growth and results. E = Provide an excellent, first-class experience. Key Take-Aways Keep yourself in The Gain. No one likes working with a leader who is always in The Gap. If you have any questions or comments, reach out at questions@strategicoach.com. Resources:

Do you give yourself time to think? Many people don't. And for entrepreneurs, the stakes are higher because they're in the marketplace independently. In this episode, business coaches Dan Sullivan and Shannon Waller talk about why thinking time is so important for business success and how entrepreneurs can get the highest quality thinking time through The Strategic Coach® Program. Here's some of what you'll learn in this episode:·     Why deep thinking is scary.·     The question that The Strategic Coach Program was based on from the start.·     Why it's easier to get entrepreneurs thinking about their thinking than most people.·     Why thinking about your thinking is something that has to be consciously learned. Show Notes: Most people only do the kind of thinking done in Strategic Coach® in extreme emergency. Most people engage in three levels of thinking: thinking about things, thinking about other people, and thinking about other people's thoughts. But there is a fourth level: thinking about your thinking. Higher education is almost entirely based on people who spent their whole lives thinking about somebody else's thoughts. In any sale, the first thing that people buy is a relationship. There's only one expert on what progress is going to make a client happy, and that's the client. Some people don't think about their thinking because they're afraid of their thinking. For most people, it's an unnatural act to think about their thinking. The Strategic Coach Program is about the clients, not the coaches. Instead of thinking about their thinking, most people just engage with whatever the world throws at them during the day, and then watch TV in the evening. Thinking about your thinking means taking agency over what actually goes on in your mind. The more you think about your thinking, the more normal it becomes. The problem is never the problem; the problem is not knowing how to think about the problem. Tightly scheduled entrepreneurs cannot transform themselves.Resources: Thinking About Your Thinking by Dan Sullivan The Dan Sullivan Question by Dan Sullivan Who Not How by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy Your Life As A Strategy Circle by Dan Sullivan The Impact Filter™ Article: The 4 Freedoms That Motivate Successful Entrepreneurs

Podcasting is the future of content. Are you ready to master it? Join Dan Sullivan, Shannon Waller, and industry veteran Paul Colligan as they dive into the business of podcasting, from where it was to where it's going. With over 20 years of trailblazing experience, Paul shares secrets to podcasting success and the mindsets that separate the amateurs from the pros. Learn how to create a hit show and leverage this booming medium to skyrocket your business influence and growth. Here's some of what you'll learn in this episodeWhat it was like in the early days of podcasting.The factors that led to podcasting becoming what it is today.What entrepreneurs love about podcasting.Dan and Shannon's early experiences with podcasting.How podcasts let you find people who share your mindset and values.The type of people who are plugged into podcasting.Predictions on the future of podcasts. Show Notes: It takes less than five minutes to submit your podcast to Audible for free. And you're in the directory less than 10 minutes later. It's always mindset that stops people from trying something new. The value of the content needs to be understood as greater than its packaging. The best thing about podcasting is the speed of creation. It's easy to tell when a podcaster is following a script. In a good podcast, you don't know what the second question will be until you've asked the first question. If you try to control the experience of a podcast, you lose the authenticity of the end product. Listeners feel like they have a personal relationship with podcasters. Podcasting has had a profound impact on how politicians speak. People now use the podcast standard for judging all public speaking. Podcasts are only popular in countries where they have cell phones. The only problem with new media is when you treat it like old media. Resources: The Gap and the Gain by Dan Sullivan and Ben HardyPodcast: Podcast Payoffs with Dan Sullivan and Gord VickmanPodcast: 10xTalk with Dan Sullivan and Joe PolishPodcast: Shannon Waller's Team SuccessThe Team Success Handbook by Shannon WallerAI As Your Teammate by Evan RyanWho Not How by Dan Sullivan and Ben Hardydescript.comArticle: “Scary Times” Success Manual: How To Be A Leader When Times Get ToughArticle: Your Business Is A Theater Production: Your Back Stage Shouldn't Show On The Front StageThe Positive Focus®Once You're Lucky, Twice You're Good by Sarah Lacy

Before important client meetings, are you and your team running around handling last-minute logistics? How prepared does your team feel going into the meeting? In this episode, Shannon Waller discusses the value of bookending client meetings with clearings and debriefs to elevate the overall experience for clients and team members. Here's the why and how of Strategic Coach's backstage process that prepares the team for delivering exceptional front stage results. Download Episode Transcript Show Notes: Clearings Before Meetings: Positive Focus®: Starting with the Positive Focus exercise allows everyone to: Feel energized and excited by reflecting on a recent win. Get present and shift their focus from past or future distractions. Preview of the day: Providing an overview of what to expect during the day: Helps everyone get familiar with the agenda, timing, and their roles. Focuses the team on key conversations or key points to make. Setting intentions: Everyone states what they want to be true at the end of the experience, thereby creating a shared vision they're all aligned on. Debriefs After Meetings: Reflection and sharing: Debriefs at the end of the day provide an opportunity for team members and clients to reflect on the experience, share insights, and discuss key takeaways. Continual improvement: By discussing what worked well, areas for improvement, and any insights gained, the team can continually enhance their performance and refine their approach for future meetings. Leaving on a positive note: As a final wrap-up, each person shares the value they got from the meeting. Benefits Of Clearings And Debriefs: Being present: The team has greater engagement in, participation in, and ownership of a superb client experience. Centering the results for the client: By focusing on what will allow clients to leave feeling more confident and motivated, the team can stay responsive to delivering a more personalized and impactful experience. Psychological and emotional preparation: The team is alert and responsive to client needs, ready to expand and elevate the thinking in the room. Everyone is more confident, clear, and prepared to take action to achieve the agreed upon-result for the client. Transformational experience: When the team is focused on the clients, they have the opportunity to create unexpected value for them, elevating the interaction from a transactional experience to a transformational one. Teams can incorporate clearings and debriefs with meetings, coaching sessions, workshops, or any other key client interactions to significantly enhance the overall experience for both clients and team members. At Strategic Coach®, we also have clearings and debriefs for internal team meetings so that we can continually improve our internal experience. Though the goal is to constantly improve client satisfaction, this always has to include elevating the experience for team members too. Resources: Article: “Your Business Is A Theater Production: Your Back Stage Shouldn't Show On The Front Stage.” Free tool kit download, including The Positive Focus® EOS®: Entrepreneurial Operating System®

Employment opportunities for people with blue collar skills are going to keep growing. In this episode, business coaches Dan Sullivan and Shannon Waller talk to Kenny Chapman, CEO of The Blue Collar Success Group, about his entrepreneurial path and how skilled blue-collar work is going to be much more crucial, popular, and needed going forward. Here's some of what you'll learn in this episode:How Kenny's experience in the military led him to becoming an entrepreneur.What The Blue Collar Success Group helps with.How Kenny “leveled up” his self-esteem.The biggest benefits he gets from being in The Strategic Coach® Program.How Kenny used his growth mindset to expand his business and then branch out. Show Notes: In the 1940s, being a plumber was a valued career. Blue-trade industry covers hundreds of different specialized skills. It takes good leadership to have a good company. If you don't operate an effective, good model, you're not going to have what you need in order to pay people top of market and above. Mindset drives everything, and clarity drives direction. Identity limits us a lot. You're much more valuable the more you learn and the more you see. When we hear the word “education,” we've automatically trained our brains to think “higher education.” Like colleges, skilled trades are not created equal. Customers complain about price no matter how much it is. So you might as well get customer complaints at a profitable number.Resources: The Blue Collar Success Group Blue Collar Success Laws by Kenny Chapman The Six Dimensions of C.H.A.N.G.E. by Kenny Chapman Visual Thinking by Temple Grandin Kolbe CliftonStrengths® GravyStack The 4 C's Formula by Dan Sullivan The Impact Filter™ Who Not How by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy Unique Ability®