Peer Effect

Your Business Is Running You (Here's How to Take Control Back) with Steve Duncan

James Johnson Season 5 Episode 15

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0:00 | 32:55

Your business is running you. Not the other way around.

Steve Duncan spent 20 years in the same company but built three different businesses. His secret? He stopped playing defense and started playing offense.

Here's what that actually means: You're either dictating what happens in your business, or you're reacting to everything thrown at you. One feels like control. The other feels like drowning.

In today's episode, I'm joined by Steve Duncan, Managing Director of C Studios. After starting as an intern, Steve has launched three entrepreneurial ventures by staying on offense – even when everything around him screamed "just react and survive."

The frameworks we unpack:

  • Instinct vs impulse: One builds your business, the other destroys it
  • The activator trap: Why fixing everything immediately keeps you stuck
  • The 10-minute rule: Why breakthrough thinking feels unproductive at first
  • The Monday WIN list: What's Important Now (and how it connects to your annual goals)
  • When playing defense is actually okay (and how to get back on offense fast)

Steve's view is simple: You can never be on offense all the time, but aim for 60/40, maybe 70/30 on a good week. When you're only spending 20-30% of your time on offense, that's where it gets concerning.

👆 If you're drowning in reactive mode, constantly putting out fires, or feel like you've lost control of your week, this episode gives you the exact framework to take it back.

About Steve Duncan

Steve Duncan is Managing Director of C Studios, a place marketing agency working with destinations like Austria, New York, Amsterdam, and Puerto Rico. After starting as an intern 20+ years ago, he's stayed within the same company family by being given three entrepreneurial opportunities. His latest venture launched a European subsidiary three years ago, proving that sometimes the grass is greener when you water your own side.

More from James:

Connect with James on LinkedIn or at peer-effect.com 


SPEAKER_01

Hi, I'm James Johnson, founder and CEO coach. Welcome to Peer Effect, the podcast where your peers will tell you how to 10X your business. I've often found with coaching clients that a few key concepts emerge. What's powerful about these insights is they become shorthand for a whole range of positive behaviours and outcomes. My guest today, Steve Duncan, is managing director of C Studios. He's an expert in place marketing. You've probably heard of his clients Austria, New York, Amsterdam, and Puerto Rico, to name just a few. What I love about Steve's journey is that he's been part of the same group for 20 years, but has had three entrepreneurial experiences part of his time with them. His latest is launching a European subsidiary three years ago. This is the episode for you if you want to learn about the importance of staying on offense rather than defense and practically how to do it. So, Steve, welcome to Pure Effect Podcast.

SPEAKER_00

Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_01

Now, when we're doing our pre-so research, turned out that you're a bit of a cyclist and have cycled pretty much every big mountain you can think of. Is that is that right?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, it's cycling, it allows me to just get out there and be in my own head and my own thoughts. Sometimes it's a group activity, but for me personally, I just like being out there climbing mountains. I used to live in Colorado, so going high elevation was something I just it brought me a lot of peace, a lot of joy, and was always a great challenge that if I could take down one of these mountains, then uh that was that was a win for me. So um yeah, love cycling, and no surprise I ended up in the Netherlands.

SPEAKER_01

Which which which is the next big one on the list?

SPEAKER_00

The Alp d'Oez, one of the most famous climbs in the Tour de France. It's uh one of those few that I have not gotten to yet.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, I've I've actually done it. Thank you. I did uh a long time ago when I was younger and fitter, I did the uh raid pyrenees. And I'm pretty sure Alp Dues is on that. Uh it's good fun.

SPEAKER_00

I'll have to come to you for some tips before I I take it down.

SPEAKER_01

Be fitter than me. That's my main tip. You'll be a better cyclist and be fitter.

SPEAKER_00

I'm in trouble then.

SPEAKER_01

Um and so not missing the mountains and and the Netherlands.

SPEAKER_00

I am, but luckily close enough here in Europe, everything, just so close that uh never too far away from the Alps. And I've I've had some great opportunities, even going to a place like Andorra uh to enjoy some really great climbs. It's it's not too far away. So getting enough of my fix.

SPEAKER_01

So given you didn't go into the professional cyclist route, and we're not seeing you in Tour de France, what what is what is your origin story that got you to this where you are today?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, so I uh started as an inter at a marketing agency when I decided to get out of broadcasting the instant I graduated and try to find another career path. Luckily, marketing was enough transferable skills there that I could have some success. I found an internship that um allowed me to earn my first job. And funny enough, I'm still in the same family of that same company that I interned with 20 plus years later.

SPEAKER_01

Amazing.

SPEAKER_00

So I've uh yeah, I've just stayed in the marketing space the entire time.

SPEAKER_01

I mean, it's both great. You've still still in place marketing and in the same sort of group businesses 20 years later. I mean, it must give you some great opportunities to if that's to be the case.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, uh really for the most part, I have been blessed with being given about three different entrepreneurial opportunities within the same company. And uh the first one really reinvigorated my career and then led to the second one, which led to the third one. And uh it's just proof grass isn't always greener on the other side. Uh, sometimes the grass is greener on your own side, you just need to water it a little bit.

SPEAKER_01

I think it's really nice that sort of how you've got from there in a business. Like for sometimes think of founders as purely being sort of standalone things, but you can very much found businesses as part of a business.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, the the company I've worked with in the name is DCI. I I currently lead C Studios, which is a uh basically a subsidiary of DC Aya. They really do reward entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial thinking. And so they have created the infrastructure to let people lead from within, be entrepreneurs within the company. Could I ever put up a bunch of money and go out on my own and and do my own thing? I don't know, but but this has been a nice halfway point where it's allowed me to exercise my skill set, exercise my passion for places, my passion for what we do with clients all the time, and and just do so with this larger structure over top. And and they've just they've watered the gr the grass, as I said before, and allowed me to grow, and it's it's been a really good mix for over two decades.

SPEAKER_01

Now, the theme that we've been exploring quite a lot recently is this idea of like offense versus defense, and sort of what what what would be your yours where you'd explain this to people when you think about it?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, so I'm a big sports fan. I always have been. And when you think uh whether it's team sports or even an individual sport like tennis, for example, when you're on offense, you are dictating to the other side, you're on the the balls of your feet, and it's a very active, proactive stance and mindset that you take. When you are on defense, typically you're more reactive, you're on your heels, you're waiting for someone else to make the move, and you're reacting to that. And I think when you when you bring that into a business context, um it's just always better to be in that situation where you are dictating the terms of how your business is growing, whether rather than letting your business dictate that to you. There is a really great phrase in sports, the best defense is a good offense, and I think that's very true in the business world.

SPEAKER_01

And so what does what does in the business world being an offense look like? So being proactive rather than reactive. What how does that come out?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I I define it uh a few different ways. So, number one, there's a difference between instinct and impulse. When you're on offense, I think you're tapping in more to your instinct. You can check your work, you're more well informed, and you're reacting to all that data. Whereas when you're impulsive, which is more of a defensive stance, um you're the the degree at which you could make a bad choice is is much higher. And so this instinct versus impulse, I think you want to you want to be relying on your instincts, not so much being an impulsive decision maker. A second part to this is around intention. So uh and it's it's very related, but being intentional with your decisions, being intentional with your planning, staying in control. We don't have complete control ever, obviously, but if you can uh move forward with more intention, you're you're decreasing the degree of error. And then when you are in this offensive mindset, you're also looking at the wide view. If you think about being on a soccer pitch, sorry, a football pitch. I am trying to adapt. If you're if you're on a football pitch and you're playing from an offensive standpoint, you are looking at the entire field, it's a wide view. When you are in a defensive stance, you are looking at the player right in front of you and not so much paying attention to everything else around. And so having that wide view, see more of the field, is a huge advantage when you're trying to run your business.

SPEAKER_01

I realize I don't like sort of the control aspect. How do you take back control? I think there's so many ways we give up control as founders to sort of I mean the opposition could be our clients, they could be our own team, they could be our sometimes ourselves, but we've often given away control without realizing it to someone else, and we're just responding to what they want.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, yeah. There's a great phrase uh uh what is it, lead your life by uh by design, not by default. And I I that's a phrase that really speaks to me on a personal level, but I think also very much from a business leader standpoint, also is very relevant. You you really need to find the time, create the space, the step back and try to figure out how am I going to design our path forward rather than just let it be the default. And and that's a real big struggle. With our subsidiary, our joint venture that we had here is three years old. And so it's been this startup mentality, even though we're under this larger company, we've had to adapt to a new market entirely. We've had to build a lot of things from scratch. And we we do view this myself, our team as a startup, uh, because a lot of this stuff has had to start over to succeed in this new market. And you know, it is really difficult to um that to find that time. Everything is so hectic all the time to step back and really look at that wider view, move forward intentionally and and use those instincts because everything is just coming at you from all different directions.

SPEAKER_01

I think that's really what really worth acknowledging is a sense of like if we can say it's probably better to be on offense, there are things that push us to going into defense. And you you mentioned there this idea of like maybe in order to start up, there's like lots of just the weight of tasks, the sort of the lack of time. What what are the other things that you feel might sort of push you towards a defensive stance?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, yeah, the unexpected, which this always seems to come up in in the client world, something unexpected, uh something isn't delivered properly, or the client comes back with some feedback that you just did not anticipate. Uh, or someone leaves unexpectedly. All those sorts of things just put you into this defensive mode. And I would say I probably started for the first year and a half almost fighting this on a daily basis, and it took a lot of energy. I felt like like half my energy was spent just trying to get back into an offensive posture. It can take a while, especially I think one of the biggest challenges, I'm an activator, so I I get something big or small, and I just want to activate on it right away. You get into a pattern of doing that consistently, and it's really hard to lift yourself out. And so I think if you're one of those people that would consider yourselves an activator, this is almost excruciating to try to get into this offensive mindset. But once you can get there, it feels so good, and it it does make you feel like you you have more control over the outcomes that are going to be coming your way going forward.

SPEAKER_01

So it sounds like there's a danger that the trap is, oh, there's a problem I can fix it. I'll just get it sorted, rather than taking a step back and go, is this even a problem I need to be fixing? Should my time could my time be spent better somewhere else?

SPEAKER_00

Absolutely. And it, you know, this activator mindset also, there's this analogy of filling a jar with rocks and stones. Uh, I'm sure a lot of people are familiar with it, but if you put all the small pebbles and stones in there first, it fills up and there's not enough room for the the big rocks. Whereas if you stars with the rocks first, or at least have a balanced uh distribution plan within the jar, everything they tend to fit a lot better. I used to think I I've always used this, but it doesn't mean I used it very well. I used to think the rocks as big activation items, and what I'm starting to realize as I get further and further into this is those rocks are stepping aside out of the office and spending time and thought and trying to tackle real challenges that are threatening your business. I I never thought of those as rocks before. I thought of that as someone else's responsibility. But now being in this role and and I've almost become addicted to it, where now, if I don't have that time, I do start to feel like I'm out of control. It's almost like a uh early signal that, hey, you're you're starting to go back into your activation mode, your defensive posture. Pause, find the time to step aside and and start working on some of those big rocks.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, it's really nice. Because I think I think a lot of founders will have that activation mindset. Um and it'll what makes you a success, right? Yeah. Certainly in the first three years, you've just got to you've just got to get through, you've got to survive, you've got to get through it. But it sounds like and and the sort of these this rocks, it's almost like this evening work or weekend where it's not really work. It feels like planning is not really work or that thinking time is not really work. It's kind of that's the stuff you squeeze in when you can. Whereas at this stage now, it's that's that's kind of building that time into your week deliberately.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, and at first it is a nights of weekends thing, and listen, that that's perfectly fine, especially in those initial years where there's less ability to have other people do certain work, uh, or you're just um there's more coming at you, perhaps. I mean, there's always stuff coming at you, whether you're a big company or a small company, right? But um, there's maybe less flexibility in where you can shift some of that responsibility when you are a startup and you're in the survival mode. And uh so nights and weekends is perfectly fine, but you you have to dedicate that time. And eventually the goal is to move that towards your core day and core uh time time to work. But um, you know what? I'm I'm perfectly fine. I establish this habit. I I live here in The Hague, it's a very walkable city. I go for a walk in the morning as I do every morning, and on the weekends I just stop for coffee and I I just sit there and I have no timeline, no agenda. I I realize that if you have kids, this is probably a little more difficult to do. But um it's just and then I'll just take out my phone and I have a list of challenges that we're that we're facing, and I just try to tackle whichever one feels right in the moment. I I like keeping that list because one challenge may be more analytical, one might be more, you know, requires more of a mindset that is emotional, um, more creative. Whatever those mindsets I'm in, I have a challenge that I can tackle. And I just sit there and for the first 10 minutes, it's completely unproductive. And this is the 10 minutes you might spend on it during the week or in the in the normal run of your business. But the the whole point is once I get to that 11th minute, wow, that new idea came. And then this other new idea comes, and then before I know it, I'm 30, 45 minutes into this, I don't want to stop because the ideas are flowing. And I think that's the whole point is those first 10 minutes, you're not gonna come up with something magical. But if you just sit there and marinate in it, uh, the the the whole the whole world can open up in terms of possibility and really creatively thinking through these challenges and coming up with more than one solution. Because the first solution may be the most obvious one, but the second, third, and fourth ones, chances are those are the more interesting, creative, possibly challenging, but also more productive solutions when you consider the whole picture.

SPEAKER_01

So the defensive approach is kind of respond, get it down in the moment, just get it off, use that, get use the 10 minutes to get it off your plate. But it sounds like so the offensive product, just make a note of it, and then have time in your week where you can come back and go, okay, I need to give this an hour. This is worth this is worth giving an hour and nine minutes. Like this is not I I I want to really see what can be possible rather than just what can be ticked off.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, yeah. And and it it it's that inten and one of our values at Zus Studios is intentionality, and it's the one that resonates the most with our team because it is one of the more unique ones. We don't hear that a lot as a company value, but we all gravitate around that because when you really think about it, that is such a uh habit and a skill and a mindset that that has so many other benefits for everything else. And when you are playing defense, you're you're not tapping into that deeper level of insight, and that um you're you're just not able to be intentional because the world is coming at you and and you are again that narrow view and you're being more impulsive. When you are in that offensive mindset, then that's where okay, we we can be truly intentional, we can dictate what these next steps are gonna be. It doesn't mean I'm gonna get it right, but uh perhaps I will have the time to consider alternate pathways. Perhaps I'll have a chance to consider, okay, maybe this is the right path, but here are the the KPIs I need to follow. And if we don't if we aren't meeting those, we can pivot. When you're in that defensive mindset, you don't always think about those other scenarios, and and it's just you you maybe commit to something that maybe isn't the right uh the right path for you.

SPEAKER_01

And it sounds like you can almost drift into a defensive mindset, maybe without realizing it in terms of stuffs. You get busy, stuff's coming up, but you're not making time to plan or think. And it's just you don't realize that that that's where you are, that becomes your kind of default response. Imagine once you're in that depends, it's quite hard to get out of it. Is that what is that fair?

SPEAKER_00

Let's just go back to football. Um, you have some teams like uh a Man City that is always on offense, and that is not by mistake. If you don't have the ball, you can't win. And there are a lot of teams out of survival, they do uh hold back and they they end up playing on their own side of the pitch more often than not, and sometimes that's the only way to win. And when you are a startup, hey, that you just have to do what you have to do, but the more you can spend with the ball at your feet, the more you are going to have a chance to score and to win. And and so sometimes it's it's that simple of I for me, I'm a sports fan. This is this is the analogy that really resonates with me. But you you might be a dancer, you might be a painter. I'm sure there's some other analogy that works for this. Where what if you're if you're an artist, what what is the thing that brings you the most passion that puts you into that creative mindset where you're creating better than other times? What is that unlock? So it doesn't have to be just a sports analogy. It and maybe it's not offense versus defense, but what is that passionate thing in your life where when you're doing it well, what can you draw that back to? And when you're not doing it well, what are what's preventing you from that? And and see if you can carry those principles into your your business life and and play around with it a little bit and and and see if, you know, hey, maybe maybe this is the mindset I need to be in for me to do my best work, not just as an artist, but also as a business owner.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, so give it some language and just a frame of reference that you'll buy into and go, this is what it looks like when I'm doing well, and this is what it looks like when I'm surviving rather than tapping into like that those higher functions.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. We're all passionate business owners, so where is the hash energy more positive? Positive and where is it more negative? Then how do I how do I create that unlock by finding the analogy that you know I in my work life uh I I there was a time where I was not as productive and not performing as well. And I realized I was doing a lot less of the things that made me happy outside of work. And I started exploring where else can I find happiness in my work life? I what I found was if I was doing more things, playing sport, hiking, outdoors, cycling, those sorts of things. I was I was happier at work, and and so um it's the same thing as a business owner. We spend a lot of time in these very high stress situations, but some of those high stress situations are really positive and some are really negative. How can I have more of those positive moments? And what from my personal life can help me to to tap into those. Uh, what language do I need to use? What frame of reference? What analogies? Uh they say storytelling is the great gift of of business owners. Sometimes you have to tell yourself a story. And for me, sports is that story, and and the language I use really helps me to uh flip the switch on and off sometimes if if I catch myself in a downward or upward moment.

SPEAKER_01

But it also sounds like the what's going on in your personal life can affect your whether you're on offense or defense at work. I imagine if you're feeling tired or you're not exercising or you're there's something else going on, it is probably more likely to trigger a defensive mode at work as well. Is that fair?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I I I think so. Um, you know, family situations, uh, you know, what reason, tragedy in the family. I I I have so much respect for people that have children. I I do not have children, uh and and just you know, but we have we have people with children on our on our staff, and and to see, gosh, my daughter was up all last night and I didn't get any sleep, and and to to just think about that in my own life, I I can't imagine having to come back and give all of myself to to work, and so um that can absolutely have a major impact. And uh again, finding finding that language and that mindset to listen, we can never be in an offensive posture our entire lives, uh, personal or professional, but how can we find our way back there? I mean, teams go on a losing streak, right? Uh individuals go on a losing streak, and they have to work really hard to get back into their winning ways. It's a it's another analogy of how this works. You you can never be on offense all the time. That's fine. There are moments, ebbs and flows, and so forth, but uh how can I work back towards that, uh towards getting the ball back and and being on offense?

SPEAKER_01

I think that's what we mind for the state that we're in. Maybe Corn Dap, maybe, maybe it's okay for Pierre to be in a defensive state if, for example, there's other stuff going on, or it is a survival stage for whatever reason. It's just about being aware and making a conscious choice, then going, actually, maybe that's okay for now. But let's let's move as soon as we can back back into an offensive state.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, and apologies to anyone who's not a sports fan. Because I'm coming up with a lot of analogies here, but let's just go back to football. You're up 2-1, and you're in the 65th minute, and you get a red card, or one of your players gets injured somehow. Um, that one of your star players. Guess what? You might just have to go back to a defensive mindset and and just hunker down and make sure the ball doesn't go into your net and preserve that 2-1 lead or preserve that two two tie. You sometimes have to shift into a defensive mindset. And again, that is okay. You can never always be on offense. But then, new game, new day. How do we how do we get the ball by your foot and start playing offense again?

SPEAKER_01

And I suppose the crawler of this is like someone as a founder, it's not as neat as going game one, game two. You've got you have to have three days between games. It's kind of every day is a new thing. All those days can blend into one. And so maybe do the 65th minute switch on to defense, but maybe then you defaulted to that state for the next game and the next game and the next game. So it's it sounds like this this pause finding times to pause and check in with yourself, whether it's through planning or through other things, just is important.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, yeah. And and it's you know, being on offense is exhausting. You you know, you you almost need time to be in that defensive mindset. And it's I I think bigger picture, you want to be on offense more than you want to be on defense. It's it's thinking ahead. It's it's not waiting to the last moment, the day before, the hour before, for every single thing you do. I mean, I I used to be one of those people that would show up at the airport and uh I would leave myself the minimum amount of time to get through security and make my flight because I wanted to maximize my time not at the airport. I missed the flight and I started to get stressed when I was cutting it that close. And uh maybe it's just the older I got, that was my young self. Now I'm uh a more mature self, and and so now I do love getting to the airport early. I don't want the stress because it's unnecessary, I don't need it, and so if I get to the airport a half an hour early, um, before I should, just to prevent all that unnecessary stress when I got plenty of stress elsewhere in my life, then that's perfectly fine, and that's how I've adjusted through life. Um, but yeah, it yeah, I think that's a great way of putting it. You being on offense all the time is is not possible. Um, but how can you find ways to make it more of an equal balance and play offense a bit more often, knowing that there are always going to be times where you do have to be in that defensive posture and and you don't have to beat yourself up over it? It's just it's the way business works, it's the way life works.

SPEAKER_01

Amazing. And so if there was like one sort of practical thing you would suggest for other founders in terms of staying on offense, what would it be?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, so I I have what I call my Monday wins, and win stands for what's important now. And so the first thing I do when I get in on Monday morning is I look at that week and I try to figure out what does winning this week look like. And it's it's a bunch of small things, it's a bunch of big things. Uh, but as much as I can, I try to prioritize my time to uh map those Monday win list items to my quarterly goals, which I then map to my annual goals. I can never spend 100% of my time working on my annual or quarterly goals, but when I'm trying to decide what's important now, am I spending enough of my time focusing on those quarterly and annual goals? That helps me to determine, and I've I've got meetings all week, so I need to fit those in. If I have a heavy meeting schedule, that list needs to be shorter. If I have a lighter schedule, that list needs to be longer. But I also need to be intentional around what those items mean. Are they gonna help me to get my quarterly goals this year or the this quarter? Um, and and those quarterly goals stem from the larger, the larger business goals. So uh that Monday habit. Sometimes I'm traveling on a Monday, and by by Wednesday I'm back, and I'm like, oh, oh dear lord, what what am I doing? You know, I I don't know what where to start with my list because I haven't gone through my my one-day wind list. So it does become a habit that's almost unsettling if you're not doing it. That's a good thing because it means that you have a good habit that is giving you structure in your week and structure in your quarter that is ultimately benefiting you bigger picture.

SPEAKER_01

Well, that's the fact you're connecting your weekly task with your called can you annual. So actually you're making sure by doing that, you're making sure that your important stuff's being prioritized rather than just urgency. Yeah. So that feels like a really, really effective habit for people to copy. Absolutely. Well, Steve, thank you so much for this. This has been really useful insight into what mindsets you can drift into and how to get yourself in the right one. And like there's not there's no harm with being on defense occasionally, but I like we're saying like you want to be on offense more than you're on defense.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, like uh 60-40, maybe 70-30 on a good week. 50-50 is okay, but when you're starting to get into that area where you're only spending 20 or 30% of your time on offense, then uh that's that's where it gets concerning.

SPEAKER_01

I can definitely think back to times where I've spent close to 100% on defense for saying that you're in a pure responsive state, like you've been drowned in just five-minute requests in the office, and there's all sorts of client stuff going on, and like I have no control of my week, and that's not a fun place to be.

SPEAKER_00

No, it's not, and I I will say uh offense is the more fun usually, and defense is really exhausting. If you think about basketball, if you think about a lot of sports, when you're playing constant defense, it does get exhausting. So uh, we want to have more fun in life, we want to enjoy more of what we're doing. It's usually a lot more enjoyable when we're in a lot dictating.

SPEAKER_01

Nice. That's gonna be a good title for this episode. Have fun, go on offense. Yes. Thank you so much, Steve.

SPEAKER_00

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01

Such a great episode today with Steve. A really practical idea that resonated with me was capturing those bigger ideas that you probably could get off your desk in ten minutes, but instead pausing and adding them to a list, and then reviewing that list and choosing one at a fixed time once a week when you truly have all right environment, time and space to really get the best answer, not just the easy one. I'll see you next Wednesday for another founder episode, or Monday for the Peer Effect post blag with Freddie. As ever, if any questions, just email us at hello at peer-effect.com or reach out on LinkedIn. Thanks for listening and happy scaling.