Ep.051: Make it My Business, To Know My Business - Part One

If you've ever said "don't we have people for that?" this episode is your wake-up call.

We keep coming back to a leadership principle our dad drilled into us: "I make it my business to know my business." It's not about micromanaging or doing every job yourself. It's about awareness, responsibility, and staying close enough to your business that you're never surprised by it.

We talk through real examples: why Brady still digs into tax planning even with CPAs on the team, how an owner stays connected to day-to-day pain points without getting stuck in the weeds, and what it means to stay a student of your business instead of coasting on what used to work. We also share the origin of the phrase, including the John D. Rockefeller connection and the habit of asking questions you should already know the answer to.

The thread runs through KPIs, accountability, delegation, and engagement: you can delegate tasks, but you cannot delegate understanding. We get practical about one-on-ones, building confidence through curiosity, and why intentional communication matters even more in remote work environments.

We close with a question worth sitting with: are you growing in understanding faster than your organization is growing?

Transcript

Episode Welcome And Business Sayings

SPEAKER_00 0:14

Hi Benji and Brady, we are back for another episode and continuing our series. Continue talking about these different sayings and uh kind of business isms. We were joking before we did like, what do we want to call these? These like David isms? Ism? Is that a word? Or I guess so. Is it something? But we're continuing down these different things that uh your dad um transitioned down from him to you guys on just business, how to run your business. There's ways that you look at your business, both financially, spiritually. And so we're kind of continuing that series today as we jump right back into it. So why don't you guys kind of tell us a little bit about what today's topic is and where a little bit of, I guess, this um topic came from and what your dad kind of called with.

SPEAKER_01 0:57

I will say before we do that, um, I think that a lot of these sayings were probably said from someone else that he knew. Oh, it just happens to be that that's a good thing. Well, we talked about that last week, right? With uh Randy Jackson.

SPEAKER_00 1:09

Yeah, yeah. Look, unless you coin the phrase, nobody knows who really said it.

SPEAKER_01 1:12

So But they impacted us, and that's what matters. Hopefully they'll make an impact to you out there listening.

SPEAKER_02 1:17

So I think there was somebody that said one time that plagiarism was the best form of flattery or something like that.

SPEAKER_00 1:22

Yeah, something like that. Yeah, I've I might have botched that a little bit. It's like the book, still like an artist. Everything is taken from something else. Absolutely. It just has

Make It Your Business To Know

SPEAKER_00 1:30

your own.

SPEAKER_02 1:31

So yeah, so the today's topic is uh a phrase that our dad used a lot, which was I make it my business to know my business. And um really this was the this was the the beginning point of us wanting to do this series, and you know, it's I think it's some things like Benji and I, we just we say these things and we don't even know we say them just because they're in ingrained in us. Yeah. But where this actually came from was I remember like it was yesterday, it was Saturday morning, and you know, I was doing some work on the laptop or something like that. And I think I was actually working on a very exciting topic, which was like tax planning.

SPEAKER_00 2:11

Okay, it sounds like a great way to spend a Saturday morning.

SPEAKER_02 2:14

Saturday morning. I mean it, you know, um had two cups of coffee in me, and I'm just you know doing some tax planning. And so my my wife Melissa looks at me and she says, Hey, what are you what you working on? And uh, and I told her, and and she just had like this puzzled look on her face, and she didn't say if she's listening, which I don't know if she is or not, but if she if she is, she probably didn't say it exactly like this, so I apologize in advance, but she said, Don't don't you have people for that? Like, like CPAs, and and I was like, Yes, but I said one of the things that dad always taught us was I'm making my business to know my business. And so if I and and really where it came from, and we'll we'll kind of get to the origin story, but if I don't know it, how can I how can I talk intelligently about it? Like I, you know, they're there they are the the CPAs are the professionals, but it's it's our finances, it's it's the it's our planning, like they're they're there to to help to make sure that it gets facilitated the right way.

SPEAKER_01 3:17

But at the end of the day, if I don't know that, and that can apply to any part of life and and leadership and you know uh I think to your point, today's world, and you know, whether whether you're an employee listening, whether you're a manager, owner of a company, whatever, you know, you you have to make it, like Brady said, make it your business to know your business. If you, if you let's say you're playing a certain role on a team, how can you maximize your potential to grow in that company if you don't know the business? Right. And you you have to you have to study, you got to get better. And and it doesn't just, I think a lot of people, um, and we're very blessed that we don't have a lot of employees that think this way, but I think a lot of employee people today just, you know, they want to show up for a paycheck. And it's if they would take it and and actually not just show up for a paycheck, but learn how they can get better at their role, they can grow in a company, they can grow in an organization. People always want to make more money, let's be honest. That's that's what that's the world we're in. People always, and it's always been like that. Yeah, but how can they get better? Know the business, learn your craft, perform at your trade. People will notice you and they'll know that you know the business. And that's how you get that's how you become more successful.

SPEAKER_00 4:30

Well, and I I'm gonna throw a curveball at you.

Owners Need Awareness Not The Weeds

SPEAKER_00 4:32

We're gonna go off script a little bit for John. Let's go. Let's go. So you're you're talking about make it my business, know my business. At what point? And it obviously it's gonna be different for every level of business, um, whether you're running a large company that's got two, three hundred employees, 50 employees. At what point for someone uh that is a business owner, is it important for them to see the day-to-day and know where the pain points are? Like, where does that kind of cut off get to where you're like, all right, I need to be, you know, like obviously you're probably not going to be in the trucks and and out doing water dental? We're too large. We have way too much going on. Sure. But at what level do you feel like it's important as an owner to say, all right, I've seen it, I've experienced it, I know what they're they're dealing with at this point in time, not just as you've grown, but like where they are. How is it for you as an owner to to kind of see that and know those things so you do know the ins and outs of that business?

SPEAKER_02 5:22

Well, I, you know, it it it it seems a little counterintuitive to because I I mean I I tell our leaders all the time, it's not that it's not that we need you in the weeds. That's not what we're talking about. What we're talking about is awareness. Like we can't just be naive to the fact that that negligence as a leader gets us to where we need to go. Yeah. You know, we we have to have an awareness of what's happening. You know, there was a um I don't know who who said this quote, but is like what got you here won't get you there. Yeah. You know, so just because we've got some things that worked in the past, you know, the the regulatory environment is changing, the economy is changing, you know, culture is changing, all these things are changing. So what worked back then and having knowledge of that, but you have to be a student. Here's a better way to put it. Maybe this is a challenge question. Are you a student of your business from yesterday? Yeah. Or a student of your business from today? That's that's the real question. Because I I remember, you know, and we've we've probably talked about this before, but uh when we had we we were like an L area developer in this in the SurvePro world, and that's you know, we called it a trainer. Um we were over several different states, and you know, our our dad ran that for years, and you know, I would go on these trips with him, and you know, we'd have these conversations, or we'd come back home, and and he would be in these conversations with people, and I would just, you know, I'd I sit there and listen and kind of soak it in, but afterwards I like, how how do you know that? And this is what he would come back to. He's he would say, now he said a little bit more direct, but he said, Son, I make it my business to know my business. And so he was just a student of it's not that he knew everything, but he was keenly aware. He he had one of these um uh mannerisms that when he asked a question, and you know this. Oh, absolutely, he already knew the answer to the question. He was just asking the question to see if you knew the answer to the question.

SPEAKER_00 7:26

I was gonna say, I'm pretty sure I've seen you do that many a time.

SPEAKER_02 7:30

I got it. As we say in the South, we got that honest. Apple don't fall far from the truth.

SPEAKER_00 7:34

I was about to say, I've sat in many meetings with you where I'm like, I feel like you're asking me this and you already know the answer to it.

SPEAKER_02 7:39

Hey, I mean, what can I say? So so that's that's kind of the origin of this, you know. I and and to as Benji said earlier, you know, a lot of these phrases he did not come up with on his own. And I didn't really know I don't know where it came from. Well, so I I did a little bit of research, and actually this came from a guy by the name of what you probably know, John

Rockefeller And The Power Of Questions

SPEAKER_02 7:59

D. Rockefeller. Okay, so at the turn of the the uh 19th, 18th, 19th century, um he he was in the he was in the um the the oil business, you know, but you're you're talking about this this titan of American history, and he knew every single aspect of his business. Like when his people came to him, they should know the answer because if if they didn't, he he knew the answer. He asked the same type of questions. So that's that's the way that they they you know that he was, and that's the way that our dad operated. He he just knew because he made it his business to know his business. So here's kind of a question, and and we want to, and I don't know if this would be a two-part series or not, Adam.

SPEAKER_00 8:43

I mean, it might be like I said, when it just made me think, I mean, there's probably a lot of listeners. You're saying, like, you're starting out with I'm making my business and know my business. And that's what even prompted me to ask the two of y'all that because I think it puts a lot of listeners in a situation like, all right, I hear what you're saying, so how far down the line do I need to go to know my business? Like, if you're a smaller serpo, do I need to be sitting on a truck? Do I need to be going to a water damage? Or if it's someone the size that that you two are at, where do I put the line to know what's happening in my business? Or like as soon as it trusting the people I have in place? I know that that gets into a whole thing.

SPEAKER_02 9:18

It's a it's a both end.

SPEAKER_01 9:19

Yeah, you know, but as a leader, you just have to be aware. If you don't know the business, how can you what if you get into a situation where let's say you work at McDonald's, right? And you're overwhelmed and somebody didn't show up to work. What if you don't know how to cook food? Yeah. I mean, if you don't know the business, how can you be how can you help your customers?

SPEAKER_00 9:37

Yeah. And your people for that matter. Scalability. Yeah. I think that's a big thing. That's something that a lot of business owners today are looking at too is scalability. How can I scale to know when I can do these things? Because you have to be able to handle the workload or pass it off to someone else. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:53

So let me let me give you guys kind of a um, I think this will kind of bring it home, Adam. But, you know, we use these buzz buzzwords like KPIs, KPMs. You know, if I were to look at, if I were to come, if I was a consultant in your business, I came in and said, okay, these K five KPIs that are on your screen, tell me what each one of those mean and tell me the numbers, like give me the story behind them. You know, that's the question as a leader, do we actually know what those are? You know, because you know, in the corporate world, you deal with uh board of directors and you're reporting up and certain things in a in a world like ours, we are the business owner. So we don't really have to be in those meetings and have to report out to anybody else but ourselves, but it doesn't preclude us from the fact of that we need to know what those numbers are so that we can run our businesses better.

SPEAKER_00 10:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:43

That that I think that's the heart behind um making my business to know my business. So really, you know, this is this comes down to um stewardship versus ownership. And we've talked about this on the show before, but you know, our dad, he he never portrayed himself as an as an owner. You know, that was a title on a business card, but but really is I am really stewarding this front for somebody else. I'm I'm really stewarding this for God. He's put this and entrusted us to oversee it, and that that's really what I'm doing. Um, so you know, that really I think is about becoming like a student of your business. So Benji, I'll I'll throw it to you. You know, was there I I kind of talked about a specific moment that that I remember, you know, dad saying that phrase, but what do you what do you remember from this particular phrase?

SPEAKER_01 11:37

I mean, there's several that come to mind.

Formulas And Knowing What Right Looks Like

SPEAKER_01 11:40

He he always, and again, I know today's world is different, as as Adam mentioned, you the bigger, larger your organization gets. Um, but I remember back in the day when we were on the when we were on the truck, because our business, if for those of you that don't know and you're listening, is a very labor-intensive business. Without labor in the field, we can't perform. We're a service industry business. And I'll never forget one time he uh I was actually working on a large um, we did carpet cleaning back in the day. We cleaned carpets for all the schools in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. And he would come by the job site and he would he would say, That carpet doesn't look like it's been cleaned. Well, dad, it has been cleaned. And he goes, It doesn't like it's been cleaned. And I'm like, Well, I don't understand why. Now, again, as a as a I just cleaned 15, 16 17-year-old high school kid. I, you know, at the end of the day at work, he was our boss, you know, but he's still our father. I was like, I don't understand what you mean. He can say, he said, I can tell by the way that carpet is is looks that it's not cleaned properly. And I said, Well, I did this, this, and this. He said, Stop, there's the problem. He said, How did you mix the product that goes in that machine to clean that carpet? And I told him, he goes, That's not what the book says. The book says if you would put two ounces in there instead of six ounces, more is not better. Yeah. If you use the right formula in your business and whatever you're doing, the formula, it and again, I go back to the McDonald's story. If you order a Big Mac all the time and someone doesn't put cheese on it, now for those of you that may not like cheese, I get it. But what if you don't do it with lettuce? What if you don't, it's not a it's not a Big Mac anymore. Yeah, it's just a triple cheeseburger, right? So what I'm getting at is he would say, I can tell by the way that is, because I know the business so well, I can tell what it's supposed to look like, and it doesn't look like that. So the formula, going back to your KPI KPM, the formula is just a road. It's the book, it's the Bible. It tells you exactly what to do. If you'll do it this way, success will come. And it will look like it's supposed to look. And we can honestly tell our customers it was done right.

SPEAKER_02 13:57

I think I think that's a really good point that he just he knew the business so well that he knew what right looked like. Yeah. Like I remember him telling us, and I got a story, I got a question for you too, Adam, but I remember a story that he told us one time, and I I don't know that if we do this anymore, but you know, we went to the Denver Mint. Oh, yeah. Remember when we had like a convention in Denver, and I remember him telling me, he's like, How does somebody drove to Denver that year? Yeah, we did not fly. That was that was like 1991 or something.

SPEAKER_00 14:29

I've done that drive to Nebraska before it's true. It was a long drive. It's a long drive.

SPEAKER_01 14:32

Probably in the back of the suburban fire. We were in that we were in that blue astro van that had that little small TD. We hooked our Nintendo up to it.

SPEAKER_00 14:38

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 14:39

The screen was like six inches big.

SPEAKER_02 14:42

But I but I remember when we were there, you know, he he told us a story of like these people that work in this mint, like we actually print money. That's what I was saying. I don't know if we print money anymore. But um Bitcoin. There you go. But he said, how do these people that work in this mint, how do they know what counterfeit looks like? I remember that. And I was like, I I don't know. And he said, It's because thousands of times per day they see these coins or these bills or these things that come across their station, he's kind of like manufacturing, and they know what right looks like. So going back to your story, he looked at the carpet, he knew what right looked like. He might not have known why at the moment, but he was able to ask enough questions that says, something doesn't look right there. I know my business, that doesn't look right. Help me understand so we can

How One On Ones Build Confidence

SPEAKER_02 15:39

get it right. So Adam, I want to, I want to kind of point to you a minute because from a let's just say an employee standpoint, you know, what what is it, what does it look like from your perspective of a leader really knowing and understanding whether it's whether it's a serve pro leader used to, you know, be here and work for us, or whether it's a church leader, you know, in any type of circumstance, how does that help you? And you're a business owner too, but how does it help you from an employee standpoint for the leader to really know their business?

SPEAKER_00 16:10

I think it helps a lot when you guys are asking questions and like you're genuinely interested in the topic and going through those things. Like when we talked a lot about marketing, you always had questions. Well, what does this mean? Why, why, why does why do we have to do this? Why would that even things to me that would be simple because I do it every day and have the understanding? I think when you had those questions, it helped me steer the conversation because I knew what I needed to explain to you on what we were trying to do, whether that's changing our digital strategy, whether it's our you know, our advertising, those things and having just that one-on-one time was a meant a lot to me. And that's just me, that's how I operate for my system. Yeah, but getting to do those weekly meetings with you as a leader, even if you weren't in the field, like when we would go out and capture or get things that we needed, I didn't think you need to do that. But I for me as an employee, just sitting down one-on-one and even having 30 minutes to talk through some things, hey, this is what I'm dealing with. Can I bring this to the table? Hey, this is what I'm trying to get fixed. What should I do? And just the advice you would give and the questions that you would um you would ask when I asked my questions to kind of get me to think differently, it just helped me know that you really are involved in what I'm doing. You trusted what we were doing, but you still had questions about it because you were trying to understand it. So that to me as an employee helps me a lot having that even now in the role that I'm in at the church. Uh, I mean, I'm having that, I know it's tough. Like even with our lead pastor, he's very busy. It's not just us he's shepherding, he's shepherding the church, he's meeting with people, he's doing things, but even having one-on-one time a little bit so I can understand the vision as an employee. I think sometimes when I get to sit down that's not in a group setting, yeah, it allows me to ask questions that I mean, and honestly, that maybe I wouldn't ask in a group setting because I'm like, wow, I probably sound like an idiot. Yeah, yeah. Like I should already know this answer. But sitting at one-on-one, I know that for me as an employee, that's how I operate. That's how I that's how I process things. That was a big part. But that was why I felt like we were successful in the marketing that we were doing digitally and the success we've seen in Birmingham with that, because we did meet regularly and go through those questions. And you never stop asking questions. I mean, it's it's I mean, even now, I mean, we get constant questions. I'll I'll get up in the morning, but up since five, and I'll have a question like, Hey, what are we doing with this and why is this doing this? But by doing that, you've really helped me see, like, even we're doing something now, we're trying to figure out our calls. There's some things we've uncovered that we would never have known if you hadn't said, Hey, where is this? Because it's not how it operates, and we didn't see it. We didn't realize these were things were happening behind the scenes, but it started us to research. So I that's why for me as an employee, that's a big part, because it helps me know that that I can relay that information back to you.

SPEAKER_02 18:58

So, what it so what it kind of sounds like, you know, just kind of summing that up, and what I'm hearing is that, you know, from an employee standpoint, with with leaders that really understand and and and care and you know want to be involved in the process, it gives you as an employee confidence in what the leader can bring to the table. If it could it would be opposite if you came to one of us and we were like, Adam, I don't know, man, just uh just figure it out. Figure it out, you know.

SPEAKER_01 19:26

Um it kind of leaves that person in limbo going, what am I really supposed to do? How can I be effective?

SPEAKER_00 19:31

Well, I think no matter how hard you try to deny it, I I I feel like I'm in a different place sometimes. Like I always understood my job is to make your job easier. Like you've hired me, you've put me in this position. The last thing you need to be doing is worrying about what we're doing and and why we're doing that. So I used to always do that. But at the end of the day, I would say, like, I don't, you know, I don't need you to give me kudos, I don't need this, but everybody says that.

SPEAKER_03 19:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:56

And I know for me, like when somebody says, Hey, this is great, like this looks good.

SPEAKER_02 20:00

Yes, you are words of affirmation.

SPEAKER_00 20:02

I try to act like I'm not, and but I I'm trying to be better. I even we just finished our e-valves, and that's something that I put down on us. Like, I try to act like I don't think it bothers me, but it does. But I'm pretty good at it. I can't stop who you are. It's all over this right here. I know. I I wear my emotion. I'm naturally doing a good job. I'm naturally emotional. I said something to one of my pastors the other day because I was like, I'm an emotional person. I was like, I was like, well, uh, my my surpro owner, Brady, he used to call it passionate. I was like, I always felt like that was a I felt more positive than being that. But yeah, and I think sometimes too for you guys as as as business owners, I think sharing that, even if it's just for a moment, yeah, like whether it's walking through the hall, whether it's showing up to a meeting in the morning for five minutes, and you don't do it all the time. Yeah, but I think sometimes any employee from top to bottom, you're like, you you hear that, all right. I am doing it. Okay, I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing, you know. Um, and I think sometimes too, because I work in a situation where I'm isolated a lot because we have a smaller creative team, right? It makes it tougher. And that's any, I think do any business, I I think people try to act like they're good working in large groups, but that's like for me, I would never, I would never survive being remote. Yeah, I know I wouldn't. That's why I enjoy the day, the weeks that I get to come in here on Wednesdays and Fridays, because it's like, all right, I'm back in the office. Hey, I'll tell you, we're gonna challenge you.

SPEAKER_01 21:22

I'll tell you, as even as a business owner, I did the remote thing for a year and a half when we sold out of the building. It was it was fun, but it was miserable. Like, because you're just you feel like you're just looking at a screen all day long versus being you you don't get you don't hear the hallway conversations to go, oh, maybe we should do that, or maybe, you know, maybe maybe we make that change or or whatever, you know. And and being back, I get what you're saying. You know, you need that, you need that team camaraderie. You need that now. Again, if you are out there listening and you are a remote position, make the best of it, make it effective.

SPEAKER_02 21:54

Yeah, and you might just have to get creative to figure out ways to try to stay engaged. I mean, I've got a I've got a friend. Of mine that's actually in C12, he's in the other forum, but his entire business is remote. Remote, yeah. They've got like 150 employees and they're all remote.

SPEAKER_00 22:09

Where I should, I should I mean it can be very effective, though. I mean, it can't and I think I shared with you guys I got to do a video project with um a buddy of mine that owns another company, and he got hired by this company that creates software for schools. They have over 250 employees, 100% remote, but they're ultra successful. They're very intentional though about their time together. Sure. Like they have to be. This week that we went and filmed, it was an entire it was a retreat, but they're work week. They planned it was a work week, but they planned team outings, they did things together. And then in the cities where you're together, like if you're in pockets where you're with other people that work for the company, they try to do things with it. So there was just intentionality behind it. But I think also that goes back to knowing your business because you're you're in the day-to-day, even if you're remote, doing those things with those people that you're with that allows you to know your people. I think knowing your business is also knowing your people. Oh, a hundred percent.

SPEAKER_02 23:03

Yeah. So let's let's hit a a couple leadership

Delegation Without Disengagement

SPEAKER_02 23:07

principles, okay? Yeah. Ask a few questions, and we'll probably have to wrap this one up and we'll it's your two, you're back to the two part. Why is it always me? I'm successful.

SPEAKER_00 23:16

I mean, I will tell you, two parters are always our most listened to.

SPEAKER_02 23:18

So bring it on. This one might this one might be a three-parter, honestly. I don't know. So let's talk about a couple leadership principles, okay? So we're talking about knowing your business. Like that, that is being a student of your business. Because really, ownership without knowledge is really just a title. Yeah. You know, you can have a business card that says, Brady Wilson, owner, man, that's you can you can patch a chest and you know, but it's just a title if I don't really know it. Because really, the most dangerous leader is not the unintelligent leader. It's really the unaware leader. Oh, for sure. That's good. Okay. Because there's a lot of intelligent people that are out there. But if you're unaware and you're just kind of going through your if you're not leading and you're just unaware and oblivious to everything that's going on around you, then how how successful is you if your business is successful and and and you're like that, then you've got some really good people around you. Yeah, you know, but how much better could it be? Because here's the reality. We you talked about delegation earlier, okay? And there's a there's a fine line there, you know, but you can delegate task all day long, but you can't delegate understanding.

SPEAKER_01 24:24

Yeah. That's good. That is true. That's true.

SPEAKER_02 24:26

You can't delegate learning. I wish I could. I mean, if I could figure that out.

SPEAKER_00 24:30

Well, you're you love to learn. I've been in the room and read for eight hours and be happy as can be.

SPEAKER_02 24:35

Yeah, I I love it. I wish I could delegate that. We I need to figure that out. But um, so really, you know, just the this this aspect of and we've talked about it, but really just being a student of your business. And so, and I'll go back to one thing that we talked about before. Do you know your business of yesterday or do you know your business of today?

SPEAKER_00 24:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:57

Because again, what got you there won't get you here. That's right. And and yeah, I I I happen to be the type of person that I I love to learn. I mean, I love learning new things. Sometimes I get a little bit too excited. Our leadership team says, Brady, you cannot come in this meeting anymore, and we're not implementing the new the newest book that you just read. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 25:16

Did you get kicked out of your own meeting?

SPEAKER_02 25:17

Uh probably, yeah. So I've gotten a little bit better at that, but I just I like that because you know, the the the human brain, there's even though it seems full sometimes, there's so much more that we can we can pack in there and learn and and adapt and and evolve um of how we become better. So I think our dad, you know, he he modeled this very well, and I think he set a good example for this, but he would always encourage us to uh leaders are learners. Yep. So read book, I mean, I don't know how many books he he probably had a goal of how many books he was gonna read every year. I I don't know what that what that goal is or was, but he always encouraged us to to keep learning and and and keep uh trying to understand and and you have to keep up with the times, you have to keep up with the business. You know, we were just talking about the other day that we're gonna have to change some things in the way that we look at our business, and we have to be agile because the market's changing and the way that we you know have business relationship is is changing. So we can't be naive to the fact that what's always worked is gonna continue to work. Um so Benji, I I kind of talked about that. I remember, but what what do you remember the like this this tension between delegation and disengagement? How would you describe that for your journey?

SPEAKER_01 26:41

I remember I remember back back then he would tell us all the time, to your point, you can't delegate everything because at some point the leader has to, you know, be in be in control, be in charge of what's going on. Um there's there's a lot of times that you know, if the leader is disengaged, then I mean your people downstream can see it. They sense it. They're they're gonna pick up and know exactly when there's a problem, you know. Um and you really need to be in the quote no. We go back to knowing the business. You got to be in the know of what's going on, what's happening in the, to your point, the industry or whatever business you're in, and be engaged in it and try to get better. You know, every idea is not the best idea. I've had to learn that over the years. Um, I I invent and try to wonder all the time we could do this and do that. And at the end of the day, you have to have those people, but you also have to have the people to go, wait a minute, that might not work that way, you know. So um I think I think you can delegate, uh, I'm gonna call them task, so to speak, that you may not need to do everything because that person does need to plan. Somebody has to be out front leading, somebody has to be out front keeping the vision moving forward. Whatever those strategic goals and objectives are, you have to keep those in front of everyone. If not, everything becomes non-important, you know, because you got too many things you're trying to focus on. So I think that the delegation is important, but I also think you got to be careful of if you delegate everything, it don't mean you go to the golf course five days a week. You got to be engaged in the process, you got to have those people report back. Accountability is a good thing. Yeah, yeah, you know, and and honestly, accountability is good for us as leaders as well. We need people to tell us where we might mess up, where we might need to jump back on track, and that's okay.

SPEAKER_03 28:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:25

But I think you being involved in that is a big deal. I think something that I stress out a lot about, even as employee. I do it even when we're doing stuff for you that you send. I always get concerned when you think about something I didn't. But I always try to remember this is why you're here because you think about the aspects of the business that maybe I I haven't thought about. And I even do that with the people that I manage at the church. Like I try to make sure they understand, like, hey, it's it's fine that you didn't think about this, but now let's work on it together. Like what we've been working through with calls. There's a couple of things you asked that never I never thought about. So me as an employee, I'm like, wow, if Brady's figuring it out, then why am I why am I here? I've got I've got a few more questions for you next time. I'm sure you do after this. But but what I what I love about what you're talking about, Benji, is it allows when you guys are staying involved and you're asking those questions that it's like looking at a sheet. I can look at a sheet all day long, but I've looked at it so much that I miss a grammar or something like grant something that's spelled wrong or a punctuation that's wrong because I feel like I've it becomes white noise. But when you're looking at it from the outside, you're not looking at it constantly like I am. So there are things that I may miss that pop out. So that allows you to be in that, and then you just end up working as a team to say that, all right, now we found it, now I need you to fix it. So yeah.

Grow Your Understanding Faster Than Growth

SPEAKER_02 29:40

So I'm gonna leave leave our audience with a with a challenge question and and one quick analogy, and I'll let you guys wrap it up. But you know, are you are you growing in the understanding of your organization faster than your organization is growing? You know, and that that's challenging to me, you know, because when we're passionate about something, we want to learn it. We should want to learn it. You know, the best analogy you talked about golf earlier, so I will give a golf analogy. I apologize if our listeners out there, not everybody's a golfer, so you may not get this analogy, but um several weeks ago we were we were at Disney uh for my uh daughter's senior trip. And if you're a golfer, like what do you what do you constantly think about and what do you constantly do? We're always practicing, we're always wanting to get better. I mean, it was so funny because I think I joined the old dad's club because who you stand in line practicing your swing, and there were three other dads that were doing the exact same thing. So you could see us like practicing our back swing and getting it, and we all looked at each other and you know, we're just like I just realized what I was doing. Yeah. But and I use that as a funny analogy, but when you when you're passionate about something and you want to get better at something, then you're you're just constantly on the brain and you're constantly wanting to to learn it and improve it and be a study of it or student of it, yeah. Your business is no different. Yeah. So I just uh we want to challenge you today and we'll continue in this next week, but you know, make it your business to know your business. Yeah, it's good.

SPEAKER_01 31:17

Well, this is part one. We will come back with part two, but we want to say thank you to all our listeners out there who listen to us on every platform Apple, Spotify, all the others. Uh, if you're watching us on YouTube, thank you so much for watching. And as always, you can subscribe at higheruppodcast.com slash subscribe to your favorite platform. Go out and choose to live a higher up life. We'll see you for part two next time.