Ep.046: Anchored In The Storm

A business can be thriving on paper and still get knocked sideways by a storm you didn't plan for. This episode is about what keeps you steady when it hits.

We're fresh off real momentum, including expanding back to Tuscaloosa, and it sparks a bigger conversation about leading through uncertainty. We talk about blind spots, overconfidence, and why "unsinkable" is never a real strategy, using the Titanic as a framework most people can immediately connect to.

From there we get tactical. Faith-based leadership and stewardship as a foundation. Mission, vision, and values as a decision-making filter when fear wants to drive. Clear communication, staying present, and keeping your team confident when you're under fire. We also share a real example of pivoting with a client mid-plan and why calm problem-solving builds trust inside and outside the company.

We close with the SIMPLE framework (Streamline, Integrate, Measure, Prioritize, Leverage, Execute) as a practical tool for cutting through the chaos and moving forward with clarity.

If you lead a team or run a business, take the closing questions seriously: what feels unstable, what are you anchored to, and what would faith over fear look like this week?

Subscribe, share it with a leader who needs it, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway.

Transcript

Welcome Back And Franchise Expansion

SPEAKER_03 0:14

Hi, gentlemen, welcome back into another episode. Hey, we've had some great episodes recently, some great weeks. Um, we got a lot of great traction uh online, uh especially LinkedIn. We appreciate just everybody sharing. Yeah. Um it's been great to kind of give some insight to what you guys uh are doing uh and showing what you're doing, not just on the Hire Up podcast, but really it's been great for you guys to share some insight on how you're leading Team Wilson. It's a new new era, new age. Uh, there's a lot of, I mean, obviously there's a whole bunch of things that have been introduced between AI and how companies are being run. And so I think it's been cool to kind of see uh just the community engagement on what the two of you guys are doing with SurvePro Team Wilson, how we're leading it, how you're evolving, how you're changing. So I think that'll be good for today as we jump into today's topic.

SPEAKER_01 1:03

Yeah, absolutely. And for those of you that don't know, we just recently expanded a new SurfPro franchise uh in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where it all began, Brady. Where it all began. I guess as Auburn fans, we'd probably have to say roll tide. Hard to do, but I know for Adam it's not hard if I can do that.

SPEAKER_00 1:20

Look, not yet.

SPEAKER_03 1:21

For client basis, you may have to because you're in the middle of the street. Well, that's true. Yeah, so uh but it is I mean, all seriously.

SPEAKER_00 1:27

They start sending us some work, I'll do it.

SPEAKER_03 1:29

Hey, look, in all seriousness, before we jump into the topic, I mean, from us as a marketing team, we loved it. Yeah, for sure. It gave us a great story. There you go. Full circle. Yeah. Uh, you know, back to where uh you guys originated from Cain and Birmingham, and it's like you get to come back home. That was a big deal. So how many years, we'll quickly jump in, how many years from from there when you got started to back? What is what is that number that that time?

SPEAKER_01 1:52

So we moved to Birmingham in actually January 1 of 2000 was the time uh from Tuscaloosa.

SPEAKER_00 1:59

So you're I mean we're 26 years at the time of this. Yeah, I was I was actually explaining the story to somebody yesterday and just going back through it and trying to remember all that stuff. I mean, it's pretty pretty surreal to be back.

SPEAKER_03 2:11

Yeah. That's awesome. Good stuff. Yeah, it's good stuff. Hey, you guys are expanding again. Hopefully, people listening seeing y'all are giving some insight because obviously it's working. I mean, you're expanding territories and knowing you guys you're not done yet. So we're gonna continue.

SPEAKER_01 2:23

So probably no, we actually just came back from a trip, uh, location to be known at a later time. TBD.

Titanic Lesson On Coming Storms

SPEAKER_03 2:30

No, never stop. Never stop. But hey, that's what that's what growth does. That's the whole point of this podcast. Yeah, is because I mean growth is there. Um, I was telling some guys, some guys this week I I was on a trip with some folks, and it was nice to be in a room with people who are genuinely more skilled than I am. Yeah. And I was trying to explain to somebody that if I continue to be in rooms where I'm the most skilled, I'm in the wrong room. Yep. Yeah, that's right. And so it was nice to kind of sit and do that. I think you guys are doing the same thing, like, hey, how do we continue to improve? So but that's a great segue into today's episode. We're talking a little bit um about how do we navigate waves that come apart. Like you get hit with things you don't expect. Uh, how do you navigate through those? Benji, you uh talking about us a little bit, just like anchoring in the storm. How do we do it? How do we hold when we're dealing with these things? So give us a little bit of insight. Let's get into today's episode, our topic. Share a little bit about where we're going today.

SPEAKER_01 3:22

Yeah, think about, you know, back in, I think it was 19, I don't know, 13 or 14, whatever it was when the Titanic had had been built, it set sail. Um, and back in those days, they were reading everything from a compass, right? And they couldn't really, I mean, it's a humongous ship, largest ship ever in the history of the world, uh, set sail and hits the iceberg, and you the rest, you know, is literally history. Um, and in today's world, you know, I think there's a lot better technology out there that would, what is the big ship now, the icon of the seas or something like that. The thing is like it's it's massive, just a massive ship. But they have so much technology now that they can actually make better decisions faster than when they did, you know, over a hundred years ago. Um and how do we how do we navigate storms? Let's let's be real. Every business goes through a storm. Every business goes through there's no there's no way around it. You know, to your point, you were talking about growth strategy and um how does that help us as we grow, but at the same time, what challenges are going to come with that? It's just part, it's just inevitable, right? Um, so you have to be able to do that. Every leader faces storms. Um, you got think about this economic pressure, you got uh market changes, industry changes, uh, you've got staffing, you've got financial, all those things play a big part in how you navigate the storm and how you weather the storm, no pun intended. So the question is is not, you know, is a storm gonna come? It's a matter of when it comes, and you got to be ready for it. Again, go back to the Titanic. If you if if they could have made a decision to move a little bit faster and seen ahead what was coming, where would those people be today? And just a few feet.

SPEAKER_03 5:06

Yeah, like a few feet I feel like would have changed the trajectory.

SPEAKER_00 5:09

I think I I could be wrong about this. We'd have to look at I was just about to say we'd have to Google it, but the people Google yeah, anymore. Anyway, story for another.

SPEAKER_01 5:17

That's AI.

SPEAKER_00 5:18

AI. But I think it was one of the best ships that had ever been built up to that time. And they and they thought that there was nothing, like if anything were to happen, that nothing would happen to it. And look what happened.

SPEAKER_03 5:29

Now, if you like conspiracy theories, they do it. They always joked that that ship was actually changed with a chip ship that needed to sink. I just I always see that.

SPEAKER_01 5:40

So it was it was interesting because you know, you got to look at the circumstance. Our pastor was telling a story uh about the Titanic recently, and one of the gentlemen, I forget the name of the guy on the ship, his whole thing was, what can I do to save other people from from drowning? You know, essentially. So he got a life fest. He did this multiple times, and he took the life vest and he would put it on other people and say, the Lord loves you. And he was still, until the till he went under, he was still sharing Christ with people. So you think about this leaders, right? What is what is our anchor as a leader? Some people look at it as results. We we can we have to look at results of our company, right? We got to be successful. What about our reputation? We say this all the time: control what we can control. That's what we can control. We can control in our industry things that we can control seeing people, visiting people, making sure we do a good job, making sure we get good Google reviews. We can control those things, right? Uh, there are things that we can't control uh because think about the way the industry shifts. You have insurance regulations. You have um, I mean, in 2025, it's no secret insurance companies had the had a record year. That's right. So how do you adapt to that, right? We have to look at ways. I remember back in 2008, Brady, when the housing crash happened, uh, we were like, oh man, the world's gonna fall upside down, you know? And for the next two years, people couldn't, they were, they were losing jobs, they were losing homes, they were losing all kinds of stuff. And we had to shift because we were 100% insurance heavy. And how do we create a program that can still help the customer? Luckily, SurvePro Corporate headquarters had seen what was coming about five years previous and started the national advertising campaign. That's right. You know, so they we were able to educate customers. Look, if if we can help you do this, clean up the water damage, clean up the fire damage, you still have to protect your property. We were able to see that ahead of time, or they were able to see that ahead of time, and we were able to adapt to that pretty quickly.

SPEAKER_00 7:41

Yeah, I think when you're talking about an anchor, I'm really thinking about two two things. Is one, when we think of an anchor as a um as an organization, I mean, obviously from a spiritual standpoint that the our anchor is the Lord, our relationship with Him, right? Because we and we've said it many times on the podcast that you know we don't really view ourselves as owners of this organization, really stewards and managers. Uh but secondly, to that, I think a good anchor for any organization, which we've talked about probably ad nauseum at this point, um, is mission, vision, values. Yeah. And so, you know, because sometimes these storms are gonna come and could be good storms, could be bad storms, could be, you know, what whatever it comes at you, but your mission, your vision, your purpose, your core values is really what anchors you in the decisions that you're gonna have to make at some point in time because you're gonna get faced with, hey, this looks like a a really good opportunity, but your values, your core values may say, yeah, you probably don't want to do that. So that that's where some of those things come in and help you. The third thing I would say is that what that all that does is help you make decisions faster. Yeah, for sure. Because you have to pivot. When the storm comes, sometimes you have to pivot. Um, I'd have to read up on the on the Titanic story a little bit more, but I remember reading at some point in time, which I I think is true, somebody validate this for me. But they AI that Adam. A that yeah, right right now. No, I'm just kidding. Uh I think that they got an inkling of something was coming, yeah, and they didn't make the right decision, right? At least as the story goes. Right. So had they made the right decision, then they maybe, just maybe, could they have diverted what was there? And so sometimes as leaders, how often do we say we get faced with a with a a uh challenging situation and we just say you know what, it's gonna get better. It's gonna get better. Like let's don't let's not worry about that, it's just gonna get better. And a lot of times that's a that's a good uh trade to have because we're typically entrepreneurs or are positive people, but sometimes we do have to look at reality, yeah, you know. And so I I just think that when we're thinking about what is your anchor, we have to we have to look at that.

Defining Your Anchor As A Leader

SPEAKER_01 10:02

Yeah, we've got to be able to shift quickly under pressure, right? Because things, again, like you said, happen. But faith-based leadership is something that's deeper. It's our purpose, it's our calling, it's the truth. Um, and and if our anchor is temporary, honestly, our stability is gonna be temporary too. So we have to think about that. Secondly, um the what is the leadership pressure? Okay. So do you panic when things come up? Or do you lead or do you lead effective? Yeah. I remember, let's be honest, in first quarter of 2025, we panicked as our in our company, but at the same time, we started to lead more effective. So the question is do you panic or do you lead with peace? Do you react or do you respond with intention? Because it's very easy to react, you know. Well, we're we're gonna do boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, and you forget the plan that you had set out ahead of time, the course that you've got set ahead. You know, do we isolate or do we do we communicate clearly? Isolation can is a real thing, okay? Yeah, and or do we communicate to our teams more effective? Um our because our our team's not looking for perfection, guys. They're looking for clarity, they're looking for consistency, they're looking for confidence. If the leader's confident, the team will be confident. I go back to the 90s when Michael Jordan was uh playing, and I think it was one of those three-year stints. They had two of them back in, we were big Bulls fans back in the day. And I think it was game five, game six of one of the uh championship years, he had the flu. And he had a chance, he had a chance as the leader of the Chicago Bulls to go out and play or to not, and the team was gonna have to figure out how they were gonna do it. But man, they pumped him full of IVs. Of course, he you could see it all over his face. You can go back and watch it on YouTube. He was drained. He, you know, he just but he was consistent and he was confident even in the time of sickness, you know, for his team. And that's what a good leader does. A good leader will stay confident and remain uh stable, remain confident, remain clear in the expectations. That's what can get you through a storm as a leader. Um so think about this pressure doesn't create character, it just reveals it. Like when you get under pressure, when we get under pressure, it's gonna reveal who we really are. And our team's looking to us as leaders, if you're listening out there, they're looking to us as leaders to help keep things on track ahead. Don't just flip the script. It's very easy to flip a script, right? It's very easy to change the plan. Stay stick to the plan. It doesn't mean you don't tweak it, but don't completely change it just to be reactive.

Calm Pivots That Win Client Trust

SPEAKER_03 12:37

Well, and you have to think too, I think sometimes it's not just about the teams when you have to pivot quickly, it's the client. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. Like this past week, we we were filming, we had a plan, we knew what we were doing going in, but we got there, and their head of marketing wanted to change several things. And we'd already had already planned the videos, what we were filming, like and and it sets the course for the week. So they had to sit down and all right, we need to pivot, we need to do this. But we were able to create a new plan, film in a new location, do everything to do, and actually get something that looked better. But that client watched that process kind of happen out, like, hey, we appreciate y'all pivoting. Like, because they they they admitted, like, hey, we're this is going to kind of train wreck what we had already had planned out because we we pivot from doing this, and now we're doing all the way over here. So think about that too. Sometimes in those moments, even with clients, it's tough because you have to pivot. But I think those show that when things change, it's not just your team that see it, but your clients see it, and they see how important it is. That's one of the things we shared with uh our leader that was uh leading our production this week. Like, man, the client saw what you were able to do. And then we as a team said, Hey, we'll handle this, you handle client relations, sit with the client, sit with the one, talk through the process. You just tell us what needs to be done. Let's get it set up so it's ready to go. So they're watching this whole process kind of happen. So that's why I say sometimes I think it's important, not just for you internally, but externally, because now a client sees that you can change things, like, all right, this is a team that knows how to handle things. Yeah. And it's a a situation that the client caused, and they are like, hey, I know this. But I think sometimes too, you have to think about how you react, how you handle those. Yep. It could be the difference on selling another job, doing more work, or having like a loyal lifelong client that says, Hey, I want to partner with you guys because y'all handle it correctly.

SPEAKER_00 14:23

That's right.

The SIMPLE Framework For Focus

SPEAKER_01 14:24

Yeah. So think about this. How do we lead our team through the storm? Right. To your point, you're in pressure, you you react to it, you got to make adjustments to it. But how do we lead our team through that storm? It may not be a storm like you're gonna go under or anything like that. Um, but here's a few practical ways. Communicate clearly and often. All right. Our silence, when we go silent, it creates fear and uncertainty in the team as a leader, as our teammates. But if we if we stay clear, clarity builds trust with our team. They understand that, hey, we've got this, we've got your back, we're gonna take care of you, be patient with the process, we'll get through this, through this. Simplify the mission. I couldn't say this enough because this year our theme is acceleration through simplification. Yep. What can we do to simplify the process? Again, we cannot control what's going on in the insurance industry. What we can control was figuring out ways as a business. Yeah, you want revenue, but you want profitability, okay, as a as a company. Profitability fuels growth. So, how can we keep it simple for our team? Because things do get chaotic, right? Things get complex. We've we've even talked about this. I think sometimes we as leaders make it too complex for our people, right? It's just another checkbox, it's another thing, it's another band-aid. Doesn't mean those things don't need to happen, but how can we think through the entire process of go, is this really necessary for this? Like, let's make it easier, simplify it for our team. People want things to be simple. At the end of the game, in a game of basketball, think about this literally. You have a basketball, you dribble, you pass, you shoot, you rebound. You dribble, you pass, you shoot, you rebound. It it's it's it's that simple. But there's a lot of skill that goes with that, right? I remember recently we were uh we were on a plane, and uh I I was I looked up to a buddy of mine, I was like, hey, there's there's Caden Boozer. Caden Boozer, yeah, yeah, it's the guy that had played for Duke, you know? Yeah, yeah. And he's the one at the end of the national, well, going to the national championship game. Had he held on to that ball for another second and not thrown it to the tried to go over the two Yukon guys to a wide open guy down the down the court, that Duke would have gone on to probably win the national championship. Uh just note to self, knock knock, knock, I had Duke winning the national championship, totally ruined my bracket. That's okay. But anyway, you know, that guy, Caden Boozer, people, man, they've probably given him a lot of flack. He's a 19-year-old student. Like, but but people expect so much in a chaotic situation. Uh, it can get complex. Focus on what matters, right? What matters is he is a he is a kid that is getting a degree or going to go to the next level in basketball, mistakes happen. You know, don't beat the kid up for something like that.

SPEAKER_00 17:12

Benji, when you when you talk about simple, you know, we just went through this exercise as a leadership team in our last quarterly off site. I'm gonna try to remember the acronym. But again, yes, our our theme this year is acceleration through simplification. But and we and Adam, you know, we love acronyms.

SPEAKER_03 17:27

Oh, I know.

SPEAKER_00 17:28

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 17:28

As the bar as somebody that does marketing for you guys, I know you love acronyms.

SPEAKER_00 17:31

Well, here's your new one, okay? Uh-oh. So and we and we actually took the word simple and we broke it out, and we as a team actually rated rated like how are we doing in these areas? So the S stood for streamline. How are we actually streamlining the things in our organization? We rated one to five. The the I stood for integrate. How well are we integrating the systems that we currently have? And does everybody know how that's how that's holding together? The M stands for how do we measure? You know, if it if it's not worth measuring, it's not worth managing. Uh, the P is prioritize. How do we how do we take the things that we're doing? Are we actually focused on the things that truly matter? Are we prioritizing those? Which leads into L, which is leverage. Are we actually leveraging those priorities so that the last E, which is execute, and that's what it all comes down to, is how do we simplify this thing so that we can determine what those high value priorities are so that we can go execute? I mean, when when and kind of bringing it back home for this, is when those storms come, we get we we live in the chaos, we tend to panic, you know, but when we go back and say, okay, let me let's refocus. You know, sometimes, and John Maxwell says this, you know, some the the um the first definition of a leader is to define reality. Yep. So what is the reality? Okay, and then how do we make it simple? Let's go back to the plan, let's go back to the anchor, let's pray through it, right? Let's seek the Lord's guidance on it, and then move towards execution. Because a lot of times what happens when those storms come, we try to do everything. Yeah, exactly. But let's let's just spaghetti on the wall and let's fix this and let's fix that and let's fix that, and it just doesn't work that way.

SPEAKER_01 19:19

Could you imagine a coach doing that at halftime of a game? Like the team is down by two points or four points or whatever, and they just start, okay, we're gonna fix this, this, this, this, this, but the, but they do, they bring it back in. And it confuses the players.

SPEAKER_00 19:31

Yeah, yeah.

Leading With Presence Not Panic

SPEAKER_01 19:32

Keep the game plan in mind. Yeah, remember as a leader to be visible. Your presence matters.

SPEAKER_03 19:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:36

All right, your presence matters. Even if we don't have all the answers, your presence matters. They're looking to us as leaders to be there for them. Uh reinforce what our purpose is. Remind our team daily, their work matters because it does, especially in the tough seasons. You know, we were talking, I was talking to one of our executives actually this morning, and uh, he's like, you know, man, our revenue is down for this month, but we got more jobs and you know what to do with. But they're just different size jobs, right? We can control getting the phone to ring. We cannot control the size of the project. And that's what we got to remember. So remember remind the team that their work matters. Um, in uncertain times, leaders become the weather system that their team feels. So if we if we look at it and they and as a leader, our team our team is looking to us to weather through the storm on their behalf, but keep them accountable through the process. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 20:30

Yeah, we were we were talking through on the way home yesterday. Um, we were talking through um asking the our guy that kind of runs everything, like how do you feel this week with with this company? Because his this company of his, like this is his baby. This is a big company that partners with him. They're fully remote, so it they they bring them in, they do the video. Probably about the only time they get teamwork. They do, so they do it once a year. It's a it's an annual retreat. So we capture it, and this is the one time their leadership is in the same room a lot. Yeah, and so you have to capture these moments culturally. They have customers, they actually had customers come in, share what was not working, what was working. And so as we're working through those, we talked through some of that. And one of the things one of our guys brought up is that, hey, the way that you handled all of this stress, he said, because they were throwing some things at us that you're like, you know, they were making like they're they're not they're not in the industry when it comes to video. So, like, why can't you just do this or why can't you do that? And there's that sounds like a question I would ask. It's a hundred percent a question you would ask. Why can't we do it, Adam? Why can't we do it? Because there are limitations to things that you can really do. But one of the things one of our guys here, he's like, the way that you handled the client when they asked the questions, you never deviated, you never showed frustration. Even in our minds as creatives, like between the three of us, like, I why would you even ask that? But they're not in that world, so they don't know. But he said, What I think was very valuable is that even in the moments when something was stated or asked where we're having to reshift, it was such a control and there was such a calm, like, I this is this is why we can't, this is what we can't. Do so there was a this is why we can't here's a solution. And so he said, I felt like that speaks volumes to a client and or you're internally is that how do you handle those things when you get those questions that because you may work in that world more? And he's he just shared how how important he thinks that was, and again, builds loyalty, yeah, for sure, both internally and externally, because they're seeing how you navigate these things that come about.

Faith Over Fear Closing Questions

SPEAKER_01 22:25

Yeah, yeah. That's good. So here's a question, leaders, we ask ourselves. Um, am I making this decision out of fear or am I making it out of faith? Okay. Fear leads to this short-term thinking, defensive decision making, we're all guilty of that. And cutting corners. I mean, let's be honest. If we if we we all we can cut corners from time to time. But faith leads to long-term clarity, it leads to integrity-driven decisions, okay, doing things right, and then the courage to move forward if we operate in faith. So as we wrap up, just a few takeaways, okay? Storms are a part of our leadership journey. Again, we've talked about you guys have heard us talk about it several times. We've been through storms, even a large uh franchisee system. We go through storms, and it's how we react to that. Your anchor determines how you respond. What does that anchor look like in your in your life, in your leadership team? Uh, your team takes cues from your posture, not just your words, because you can say things, but how you are confident in what you're talking about and and you're communicating clearly because calm leaders create confident teams. So, listeners, just a few things to think about. What currently feels unstable in your business? Question to ask. Maybe you ask your leadership team that. What are you anchored to right now? What is what is your anchor? And what would it look like to lead with faith even this week? Because you can't control the storm, but you can choose and control your anchor.