Jobber Summit 2025: Get Off the Ladder with Personal Development & Leadership

Summary

In this episode of the Off the Ladder podcast, host Branden Sewell discusses the importance of leadership and personal development for home service business owners. He highlights the upcoming Jobber Summit, emphasizing its value for networking and learning. Branden also explores John Maxwell's Five Levels of Leadership, providing insights on how to effectively lead and develop a team. He encourages listeners to invest in their growth through reading and continuous learning, ultimately aiming to lead well and live life off the ladder.

Takeaways

Jobber Summit is a valuable resource for home service business owners.
Investing in yourself is crucial for personal and professional growth.
Leadership is about building relationships and influence.
Results and production are key to gaining followers as a leader.
Developing people within your organization leads to mutual growth.
Respect is earned through who you are and what you represent.
Continuous learning is essential for effective leadership.
Reading books on leadership can provide valuable insights.
Setting goals for personal development can lead to significant improvements.
Networking opportunities can enhance business growth and collaboration.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Off the Ladder Podcast
08:43 Jobber Summit Overview
22:42 Exploring Leadership Principles
36:43 Investing in Personal Development

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Transcript

Branden Sewell (00:01.23)
Hi everybody I'm Brandon Sewell I am the owner of Seal Pro Painting and also the host of the Off the Ladder podcast and we exist to help home service business owners learn so that they can lead well and ultimately live life off of the ladder. Welcome to today's episode of the Off the Ladder podcast. This is going to be a solo episode with me your host. I'm also doing this as a live stream for the first time just to

see how it goes and test it out. So I am live streaming to Facebook. If you happen to jump on. Thank you so much for checking out the first thing that I want to talk about in today's episode is the jobber summit that is taking place tomorrow March 5th. Now for jobber summit there are.

this doesn't have the two times on it. So I know there's a morning session and there is a evening session for Jobber Summit. If you just go and look up Jobber Summit online, you'll be able to find what the schedule is and you can register for free. It's free to join. It's a virtual event, so you can join from your computer, a tablet, your phone.

I remember the first year of Jobber Summit, I was actually out fishing on a stand-up paddleboard in the Indian River and attending Jobber Summit. it was a pretty cool experience. So like I said, it's free, you can join from anywhere, and there's amazing opportunities to learn and grow at Jobber Summit.

Really what it's about is helping home service business owners or you know the people who want to start a home service business. People who are in leadership management positions within a business. Really helping in different areas of business there's different breakout sessions that cover everything from marketing sales.

Branden Sewell (02:15.988)
managing production, you know, just the leadership and management, how to hire and on board, they've covered things in the past, like, you know, just bookkeeping, accounting, all of those things that you can think of for business and help to educate you on those things.

Another really cool thing that they do every year is they have featured speakers. So for this year, the featured speakers are Gary Vee or Gary Vaynerchuk and Cody Sanchez. Obviously, a lot of people will know who Gary Vee is. He is a successful entrepreneur, very well known for marketing.

making strategic calls as far as you know social media goes and sharing his insights and outlook on what are going to be the best practices with you know digital marketing or social media marketing and yeah he's just a great leader in that area. He's also a thought leader in the sense of.

really encouraging people to follow their passions and their heart and to focus more on being happy and fulfilled rather than just chasing after money. So I love his perspective on that and what he shares with people in regards to that. Now, Cody Sanchez, she's somebody who you might have seen her on social media. I follow her on Instagram. you know, she talks a lot about

buying businesses and talks about how there's like a generation of people who are retiring, you know, those boomers, own businesses, successful businesses, but maybe they didn't strategically grow them and delegate. So now, as a younger generation, we have the opportunity to come in and buy these businesses at a very great

Branden Sewell (04:32.462)
price and then do some things to modernize them and to implement systems and strategies that will make them more efficient and to grow and scale and then buy up and acquire really successful businesses. another thing that she talks about that I've heard her talk about is like laundry mats and how great they are.

for purchasing. But anyway, I don't know exactly what she's going to talk about at Summit, but I can imagine she's going to bring a lot of value. So that's Job or Summit. I've attended it every year. I have been a speaker. I've been a part of that whole process and speaking on a panel for Job or Summit.

I two times. And, you know, just seeing the excellence that Jobber pours into that event and just the value that comes from Jobber Summit for small home service business owners. So if you are thinking about attending, I don't think there's really a question about it. It's free. You can join from anywhere. So it eliminates a lot of excuses. It's not expensive.

It's not hard to get to. You just have to make the time. Time's not really a good excuse either because they have a morning and an evening. You could even break up, like watch some of the morning, watch some of the evening, or choose one or the other. I've always attended both. There's always something different that I get from both. There's networking opportunities, so you have the opportunity to network with different.

business owners in the breakouts. It's just it's really cool. So definitely join. You can actually go to the link in my bio and I'll put a link in the show notes as well. But you can go to the link and sign up for free. Register for free and go to job or job or summit tomorrow.

Branden Sewell (06:48.896)
Make time for it. And even if you have to join on the go, let's say you're on a job site or you're busy or you're driving around doing estimates, you can always join in and listen to the speakers. Pick a session. Maybe there's something that you need help with or you need to learn about. There's something that you have questions on. Join one of those sessions and learn because that's how you're going to grow. That's how you're going to get better. That's how your business is going to get better. And the people around you are going to get better.

when you invest in yourself. So definitely attend. Like I said, I'm going to be there so you can reach out. They'll have like a chat so you can chat with people who are attending. I'd love to chat with some of you guys in there. Maybe see you in a breakout session or a networking session. They're live so you have the ability to get on camera and actually talk to people.

in a networking room. And they've done it differently each year. think from that I can remember. I know last year, I think the way that the breakouts were is they had like breakouts that are networking groups that were trade specific. So there was like a painting company one, et cetera. And then there was like breakout sessions that

or marketing networking sessions that focus on like a specific topic like maybe marketing or something like that. So anyway a really really awesome opportunity. So I hope to see you guys there and I hope that you enjoy it. You're definitely going to get something from it. I can guarantee that. Moving on in this episode I want to talk about leadership.

I have this book here, so it is called The Five Levels of Leadership by John Maxwell. So what I want to just talk about briefly is in the beginning it gives an overview. So if you're watching this on YouTube, you'll see me showing this, but it gives an overview of the five levels of leadership. And I'm just going to go through these and we'll talk about each one and each level and share some thoughts on each one.

Branden Sewell (09:13.158)
And one of the things that he says in the book is like as you move through each level, you can't give up the other. So it's like you it's not like you move from one to the next. You start at one level and then you kind of just gradually get to the fifth level of leadership. But you still encompass all of the others. And so let's jump into this. So the first level that he points out is position.

And it also says rights position position rights and people follow you because they have to. So this would be like the lowest level of leadership. This would be like hey I just follow you and listen to you because you're my boss. So you know that's really the main thing. You know they're just they're just following because they have you know.

the requirement to you know if you're their boss then they have to follow now one of the things that i'm john maxwell rights is people make it only to level one maybe bosses but they are never leaders they have subordinates not team members they rely on rules regulations policies and organization charts to control their people

Their people will only follow them within the stated boundaries of their authority and their people will usually do only what is required of them. When positional leaders ask for extra effort or time, they really get it. And so, you know, I think we'll really kind of dive into like this more as we move through these positions. But I think that you get the point that

At a low level of leadership, you're going to have the most problems because you don't have that same buy-in. People aren't listening to you or going above and beyond or really going the extra mile to represent your company because you're just a positional leader. You have to make people or force people to do what you want them to do.

Branden Sewell (11:32.726)
Now the second level of leadership is permission and then it says relationships. People follow you because they want to. Now I think this is a really good place to get to. Obviously you want you want to build influence you want to you know obviously do something that causes people to want to follow you and I think

A big part of that is like is being likable. You know, be a likable person, care about your people and they're going to want to follow you. I think that's a pretty simple concept. But what what I'm going to read just an excerpt here from John Maxwell. You can like people without leading them, but you cannot lead people well.

without liking them. you know, that's very true. Like you have to like the people that work for you. And I think a big part of that is, and the people that work for you have to like you, I think. I mean, maybe, I think there's a...

You know, people can. It's like, you know, my wife, I love my wife. I like my wife, but I don't always like everything that she does. So I think that, you know, even my employees, I think that they they may like me, but there may be things that I do that they don't like. And I think that's OK. But.

Overall, I think you have to like the people that you're working with to really go to another level. And I think there's a lot that encompasses that. But let's go on to point number three. It says the third level is production. You get results. People follow because of what you have done for the organization. And so I think I just.

Branden Sewell (13:41.634)
I feel like as we're talking about this, really trying. It's like going to get to the main point that I really want to say, but I'm trying to like hold back because I know we're going to get to it I don't want to reiterate myself. you know, production, obviously, results speak to people. It's like you can say you're going to do something, but when you actually do it and you take action and things happen and you make things happen, then then that is going to cause people to want to follow you because your

you're not just talking about accomplishing something or talking about doing something, but you're really doing it. You know, one of the things that I say about my business is like, I want to create a business that is exceptional, that operates with excellence, and, you know, really just makes a positive impact. you know, our reputation and what we accomplish speaks for itself, and we're accomplishing that.

The next level is people development, reproduction, people follow because of what you have done for them. you know, I love this point because I think it really helps you to establish buy-in. And the unfortunate thing is, is not everybody is going to appreciate or follow you because of what you do for them.

But I think the important thing is for you to know what your heart is as a leader. So as you pour into other people, you're expecting that there is, you know, that law of reciprocity is going to kick in where it's like if I pour into this person and I give to them and I help to make them better and I provide a good example of what it is.

to be a leader and to be successful and all of those things and you develop people, then I think the natural result should be if you have the right people that they are in turn wanting to, are going to want to invest in you. And usually that could come in the exchange of dedicating themselves to the mission of your business, helping to accomplish the goals that you have set forth because

Branden Sewell (16:04.642)
there's a realization that as I, as my leader pours into me and develops me, and then I, in a response of gratitude and appreciation, pour back into the business, then both parties are going to reap the benefits of that giving. And, you know, when, if I pour into them and they pour back in, it's gonna help things to elevate, and then everybody gets to reap the reward.

You know, if you're a leader where you never pour in or you never develop or you never go above and beyond for your employees, then how can you expect the same thing in return? And how can you expect to build anything of significance that goes beyond yourself if all you focus on is what you're going to get from it, how you're going to fatten your pockets, how you're going to make more money, how you're going to get that next, you know, toy or thing that you want.

But when you take the opportunity and the initiative to pour into your employees and invest in them and develop them and give them opportunity and help them to grow and accomplish more and you know and it's not just about your business but it's about helping them to develop as a person to pour into them and help them to learn about.

life about what it means to be a good person, a good man or woman, how to lead a family, how to be a good steward of your finances, how to give back to the community and serve and all of those things. And that encompasses that people development. You want to create or develop people who are going to be

better off because they are a part of your company. Now the pinnacle I believe is sorry level number five is pinnacle. This is when you have developed respect people follow because of who you are and what you represent. And you know for me that's that's ultimately what I want to accomplish as a person is I want to live my life in a way

Branden Sewell (18:27.31)
I want to display what success looks like. Now for me, faith is a huge part of my life, so I'm always going to bring it back to this is what it looks like to be a man of God. Now I'm not perfect, but I strive to be the best man of God that I can possibly be because I know that I have people who are looking at my life and because of that,

I take it seriously how I live and I want to be a good representation of Christ so that when people are looking at me they're saying, wow, this guy is the real deal. He says he's a man of God. He says he's a person of faith and look at his life. look, I'm not saying I'm perfect. I'm not saying that I have it all figured out, but I'm striving to be a great example.

You things that i try to do in my life it's like you know i want to be a great husband i want to represent what it looks like to have a great marriage i wanna represent what it looks like to be a great father i wanna represent what it looks like to have a good foundation of personal finances i wanna be a good representation of what it looks like to be healthy and to steward my health well.

and take care of myself. And then I want to be a good representation of what it looks like to have godly morals and ethics that are applied to my life. I don't cuss, I don't drink, I don't smoke, I don't party, I don't do any nefarious things. I am a person who puts my family first and I invest in my family and I

I make them a priority. You know, I want to be a good representation of what it looks like to give back to my community. So I want to look for opportunities to serve and to sacrifice and be selfless and give to others. Because when my guys look at me and they look at my life, I want them to say, wow, I want to be like that. I want to have a great marriage. I want to be a good father or mother. I want to

Branden Sewell (20:51.436)
you know, be a good steward of my personal finances. I want to take care of myself and get healthier and take care of my body. You know, and all of those things. And hopefully that when I reach that level, you know, people will respect me because of who I am and what I stand for and what my values are.

To me, think that's like a great honor. Like if somebody can look at my life and say, hey, you know what, like I have a lot of respect for this person and you know, I want to emulate who they are and and be like them. And I think if you can bring people along in your organization who have respect for you, then you're going to be able to grow something that's bigger than yourself. And

You know, so I think, you know, when we talk about leadership, that should ultimately be our goal. And when we talk about this in light of getting off the ladder, it's like, you know, it's hard to get off the ladder and to lead when you are not doing some of these things for yourself, when you're not applying some of these leadership principles, because it takes leadership to get off the ladder.

That's why I say learn so that you can lead well and ultimately live life off the ladder if you're not learning if you're not learning these principles these levels of leadership if you're not trying to implement and put them into your life then it's going to be very hard to lead well and get off the ladder because at the end of the day that's what it takes.

You know and I haven't arrived to where I want to be but when I look at other home service business owners who have achieved what I want to or have arrived where I want to get to I look at them and I'm like wow they have incredible leadership ability they are they're really gifted in leadership and that's it like

Branden Sewell (23:10.306)
you to go to the next level it takes leadership and so my challenge to you is if you want to get off the ladder if you want to decide that you're not going to be the one who's doing everything and you want to delegate and you want to bring people up underneath of you then you have to invest in yourself you have to become a better leader if you're not willing to invest in yourself if you're not willing to grow.

then how are you going to bring people in and grow an organization and expect it to grow and flourish if you're not even willing to grow and pour into yourself because when you bring people in you're going to have to pour into them you're going to have to grow them you're going to have to develop and if you're not willing or able to do that then.

you're not going to get off the ladder. And if you do, it's not going to be pretty. You're you're going to struggle to survive. So I think that this is, you know, just kind of foundational to getting off the ladder. So I would encourage you check out this book, check out the five levels of leadership by John Maxwell. Read it. Check it out. Some other books that I would recommend.

like to invest in your leadership. My favorite book probably on leadership all time favorite would be Extreme Ownership by Jaco Willings. So I think I have that one over here on my bookshelf.

Branden Sewell (24:57.87)
Well, I thought I did, but now that I think about it, I think it's on my bedside table. But I definitely recommend that book. A couple other ones that I would say, nope, here it is. It's on the top of the bookshelf. Extreme Ownership. Definitely check out this book, phenomenal book on leadership.

And the really just the principle is that there's no such thing as bad teams, only bad leaders and great leaders take extreme ownership. if things aren't going well, if you're not able to accomplish any what you're wanting to, it's not because of anyone else. It's because of you. If you're not investing in yourself, if you're not becoming a better leader.

You are to blame if your organization is not where you want it to be you are to blame if your guys are not doing what they're supposed to you are to blame you're not getting the results that you want. Yes period it's on you and so you know even for myself i can't complain as much as i want about my guys or complain about things not being the way that i want them to but at the end of the day.

The success of my organization rises and falls on my leadership and what I do. So you have to invest in yourself. A couple other books that I will make a suggestion to read for those of you who maybe aren't necessarily huge leaders.

Branden Sewell (26:40.078)
All right, these are gonna some of my tops for leadership, okay? No particular order to these, so we've already done the five levels of leadership. Extreme ownership, definitely recommend Atomic Habits by James Clear. Great book on taking some small steps to accomplish bigger things, starting with small habits.

Start with Why by Simon Sinek. Really great book on just understanding that you have to be motivated by something bigger than yourself and have a why before you can focus on the what or how. Another one that is really good, most people have heard about it, it's the E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber.

It says why most small businesses don't work and what to do about it. So this is I think this really kind of like it's almost like in line with what we're talking about getting off the ladder. So check that out. This one is a book that I really enjoy. The one thing. So it's about you know making.

you know focusing on you know one thing opposed to trying to do a bunch of things and it says the surprisingly simple truth behind extraordinary results by Gary Keller so definitely check that one out. And then I really love this this this guy I listen to their podcast I really respect this organization.

It's helped me a lot. used to be a part of their coaching program and have learned a lot. And that is Entrez Leadership, Dave Ramsey. They have a podcast, just really great stuff. He's a faith-based leader. And so it just says that he shares 20 years of practical business wisdom from the trenches. you know, he's been through so much. He's built an amazing organization.

Branden Sewell (29:01.934)
So why not try to learn from someone who's been where you've been and has overcome and gone to the next level. So those are some books I would recommend. Let me just look on my shelf and see if there's any others that I would recommend.

Branden Sewell (29:36.248)
I will recommend these two as well. And I'm only recommending to you books that I've read and I really appreciate. Let me do this one first. So this one is called I Love It Here. And that's by Clint Pulver. If you don't know who he is, look him up. He's a pretty inspirational guy. But it says, great leaders create organizations their people never want to leave. Really great book.

You can also check it out on audio. think I actually listened to this one on audio, audible. This last book I'm gonna share, this is really, it's more for the guys who are listening to this, but I think it's a really, I think it's a great book to read, not necessarily because it's all about leadership, but I think it helps you to have a better perspective as a leader.

As business owners as leaders in our community It can be taxing it can be demanding and I think it's important for us to be To make sure our cup is full because if our cups not full, how can we pour out? this one is called wild at heart by John Eldridge and I just love this book. It's discovering the secret of a man's You know at the end of

Just kind of this four word in here. It says deep in his heart every man longs for a battle to fight an adventure to live and a beauty to rescue That is how he bears the image of God. That is what God made him to be Man so just it explains so much about why men are the way that they are and how they kind of like what makes them tick

What's going to like fill you up and make you feel like full of purpose and passion and so I would definitely recommend reading wild at heart now These are this is a good Good reading list, right? So here's a nice chunk of books that you can get started reading to invest in yourself and your leadership I've always heard it said ever since I was younger a young leader

Branden Sewell (31:55.15)
that leaders are readers. So read, invest in yourself. The sad thing about life is that a lot of people, they go to college or they go to school and once they're done with school, they stop reading. And that's where great leaders end up seeing the end of their path.

because they stop investing in themselves. They stop growing. And I remember when my wife and I got married and I love reading and my wife was, you know, it's funny, she was valedictorian of her high school class. I was not. And, you know, she was top of her class or in her major in her in her college. And, you know, she was just a phenomenal

person, know, and she's, she's really smart. But early on in our marriage, like right after because we got married right after she graduated from college. You know, I really kind of challenged her to read because I was like, you know, babe, you're you're amazing. You're smart, you're capable, you can do so much. I was like, but you've got to read you like what are you doing to invest in yourself and continue growing?

Because what got you here in in your life like as a D1 college athlete what got you there is not gonna get you you know the next fifty years down the road. You have to constantly be investing in yourself and growing and pouring in and learning and challenging yourself because you know that's that's how you're going to continue to have greater opportunity.

you know, continue to thrive and grow and, have greater opportunities placed in front of you and be able to take advantage of them. So, you know, I think you'll, you'll be faced with a decision, like even listening to this podcast, you'll have a decision of, okay, I see all of these books, that I could read and you can get overwhelmed and say, well, that's so much.

Branden Sewell (34:21.038)
How could I possibly read all of those or you know, I don't read now. How can I even do that? The reality is is you're either gonna make excuses as to why you can't do it or you're gonna start investing in yourself and it can be you know, I I used to love just sitting down and reading a book, know holding it feeling the pages taking notes and all those things and then you know, I had I started a business

I had, I got married, I had kids and life gets busy and it's harder to pick up a book and read it. But there's audible. So I would spend, I would drive, you know, 30, 40, um, thousand plus miles a year, um, driving for my business, doing sales and meeting with customers and spending a lot of time in the car. So why not?

listen to books in my car. Why not listen to podcasts in my car? Why not invest in myself in the car? And so that's what I did. When things got busy, that was how I accomplished still investing in myself. there's no excuse as to why you can't get that content. So if you don't have the time, if you're listening to this and you're saying, I don't have time to to read, well, invest in yourself, read books.

Maybe there's a podcast that you like listening to that in your car when you're going in between appointments or meeting with customers and it does nothing to help you grow. It's only entertaining or maybe you just listen to music or maybe you just listen to you know or maybe you drive in silence. I don't know but why not take that time and decide like hey I'm not going to just.

listen to music in the car. I'm not going to just entertain myself. I'm going to listen to things that are going to help me to grow and get better. And so listen to audio books, listen to podcasts, listen to things that are going to help you to go to the next level in your leadership and in life. So anyway, that is, I really just wanted to touch on that today in

Branden Sewell (36:43.212)
conjunction with talking about job or summit because that's all about investing in yourself and getting better. And so I thought it would be appropriate to kind of talk about personal development and leadership today on this episode. So hopefully you got something out of it. And my challenge for you is to set a goal, make a goal to read at least one book or listen to at least one book per month, at minimum.

You you in reality you know two or three is possible so but at minimum listen to or read one book per month this year in thousand twenty five and another challenge that I would make is that you listen to at least one podcast episode per week and even that's not that much. The reality is is you could listen to a podcast episode every day.

and do those things to invest in yourself and get better. So those are my two challenges. And I'm gonna add another one, but read a book, listen to podcasts. And then lastly, a challenge I'm gonna make to you, and maybe you haven't done this, maybe you've never done this, but journal or write down.

what you want to accomplish, what you want to learn, or write down the things you are learning and what you want to implement from what you're learning. Because it's great to pour all of this stuff in, but if you don't write down what you want to accomplish, what your goals are, and actually put into action what you're learning, it's meaningless. So pour in, but set goals. Take massive action.

on the things that you're learning and pouring into yourself from books and from podcasts or leadership conferences, whatever it is. So anyway, I'm going to wrap this up. Thank you so much for joining into this episode of the Off the Ladder podcast. As always, if you are watching on YouTube, please subscribe to the channel. That is going to help me out so much and I will greatly appreciate it.

Branden Sewell (39:00.494)
turn on the notifications so you don't miss the next episode. Please on this video, like it, comment on it, share your feedback, share it with somebody else, press that share button. also if you are listening on Apple or Spotify, please rate and review the show. You can share that.

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help you guys out. These are all softwares that I use and are implemented in my business and have helped me. They're things that I believe in and use and have served me well. And that's why I'm sharing them with you so that you can share in that success and what they have to offer. And you can support the show by subscribing. And lastly, I would just say

I really want to get to know you. you listen to this podcast, please reach out to me, whether it's on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, sending me an email at Brandon at sealpropainting.com or info at BrandonSewall.com. Just message me, reach out. I would love to connect with you. I want to hear what you think about the podcast. want to hear what are you getting from it, but what would you like?

To have added what is something that you have questions about you know, who would you like to see as a guest? That's gonna help me to bring better content to you to help you to Grow and get better in your business. So please reach out if you're listening to this right now reach out to me I want to know who listens I want to know how I can help you more and I just want to say thank you to all of my listeners and supporters

Branden Sewell (41:16.226)
Thank you so much for being a part of Off the Ladder and all that we're doing. And I'm hoping for continued growth and success with this podcast. Thank you for being a part of it. Take care and I will see you next time on the next episode of the Off the Ladder podcast and tomorrow at Jobber Summit 2025.