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EP# 354: From HR Myths To Measurable Growth With Justice Leadership

• Skip Mauney & Sharon Justice • Episode 354

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Growth doesn’t stall because the strategy is weak. It stalls because people are unclear, overloaded, and under-coached. That’s why we brought in Sharon Justice, founder of Justice Leadership, to share how small and mid-sized businesses can build simple, scalable people systems that actually stick. Sharon blends decades in financial services leadership with 12 years building a university leadership program, then shows how those lessons translate to everyday managers who are juggling hiring, coaching, and results under real-world pressure.

We talk through the myths that scare owners away from HR and coaching—like “I can’t afford it” or “we’ll just figure it out”—and replace them with a practical toolkit. Sharon breaks down where to start: outcomes-based roles, weekly one-on-ones, a quarterly talent review, and a lightweight performance cycle. She explains why these moves reduce turnover, safeguard culture, and free up founders to focus on the work only they can do. From community banks to construction crews, family farms to retail floors, Sharon maps her approach to the unique constraints of each industry, without jargon or red tape.

Sharon also opens up about a back injury that forced her to rely on others and changed how she leads. That experience fuels her belief that no one scales alone and that mentorship is a success multiplier, not a luxury. If you’ve been carrying your company on grit and late nights, this conversation offers a calmer path: clearer roles, better coaching, fewer fires, and a team that grows with you. Ready to trade heroics for systems? Press play, subscribe for more neighbor-powered business stories, and leave a review to tell us the one people practice you’ll implement this week.

SPEAKER_00:

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Skip Marty.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, hello, everyone, and welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. We're very excited to have everyone with us today, particularly uh a person we have in the studio for the first time. So we're really excited to have them with us and to learn all about their business. Um, and I'm sure you will be too, because today I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, Ms. Sharon Justice, who is the founder of Justice Leadership. Sharon, welcome to the show.

SPEAKER_01:

Thanks, Skip. It's good to be here.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, we're, like I said, very excited to learn all about you and what you do. So if you don't mind, why don't you kick us off by telling us about Justice Leadership?

SPEAKER_01:

Sure. Well, Justice Leadership is a company that focuses on helping small business, medium-sized business leaders and managers with all the things that they need to run their business well, specifically focused on their people. So I help organizations align their people and those processes to help their business grow. Because often it's really hard dealing with people. That's the question and the comment that I get so often. So it's it's tools, it's workshops, it's resources, it's coaching to help managers do the work that they do much easier.

SPEAKER_02:

Very good. For small businesses, particularly.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, particularly small to mid-sized businesses. So for those organizations that are a couple of employees to probably 500 to 750. So I've worked with all sides, but that's really the sweet spot where we find that managers are just overwhelmed. Founders don't know, you know, how to get everything done on their plate. And that's where I come along beside leaders and help them work on some of their people processes.

SPEAKER_02:

Very good. Well, Sharon, very interesting. How uh tell us about your journey. How did you get into this business leadership?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, um, so I started my career, you know, decades ago in financial services firms, and I found myself in human resource roles. And human resources can span everything that uh you can think of from hiring, firing, coaching, um, strategic planning. And so over my career, I progressed with really large banks and ended up in a nationwide executive role working with strategy at this bank to deliver, you know, all the things that we needed to do around our people. Well, fast forward 20 years into that career, lots of travel, and I had the opportunity to join my alma mater, East Carolina University, and bring a leadership development program to their college of business. So I spent 12 years developing leadership content to help our college of business graduates be prepared to join businesses like your audience so they could go to work and be productive employees because it was more than just credits and debits and management theory. It's how do I show up and how do I present, how do I lead people? So I had the opportunity to work with students for 12 years and delivered leadership content, helped them define what they were interested in. And all along, my former uh colleagues and associates were contacting me about bringing leadership content to their businesses. So Justice Leadership was born through that effort. Uh, it's been around now 13 years. I have a teenager in a business and have been fortunate to work with organizations uh just in building their leadership content. So it started as mostly training and workshop development, and it's progressed from there. Uh two years ago, I retired from ECU. I spent my 12 years and decided that I wanted to pursue this more full-time slash part-time, uh, but I am able to do a lot of work virtually. My husband is retired, and so we travel. He joins me in the business quite a bit. He has a coaching background and an IT background, and so we can bring lots of resources to those businesses. And so here we are today. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Very good. There you go. Well, what are some myths or misconceptions in the leadership uh coaching business?

SPEAKER_01:

So when people hear HR, uh, they either have a great experience or they have, oh, it's, you know, it's the people police, it's the the personnel. I can't, you know, I don't need it, I don't want it, or I can't afford it. And so I help bring more perspective that uh to leaders that you can't afford not to take care of your people because we're reminded that we can set great strategy, we can have really good goals, but we can't do anything without our people. And if we don't know how to develop and coach them, then often our businesses aren't as successful as they could be, nor as they need to be. And what happens is we ignore some of those problems. Um, and we say if we don't deal with it, you know, it'll fix itself. And so those misconceptions are I don't, I don't have time, I just need to figure it out on my own. I can't afford it. And so that's what I do. I can come in and demonstrate that you can't afford not to. And it really is a return on your investment when you get the right people in the right places and you got the right support, so you don't have to do it all.

SPEAKER_02:

There you go. Well, you mentioned earlier that you have a sweet spot of size of business that you like to uh to help. Um, who are your target customers more specifically, I guess?

SPEAKER_01:

So specifically, I have worked with small banks because of my expertise and experience in financial services and HR. So I have a number of financial services related clients that I work with. I also have um a real love and appreciation for the construction industry, construction um project management industry. My dad was a contractor, so I grew up in that field uh with him uh as a teenager and young adult. And so I understand the complexities of that business, and there also it is a need because they know how to get the work done out in the field, but those administrative processes are sometimes lacking. So that gamut from banks to construction is an example of what I do. I've worked with a number of large family-owned uh farming agriculture-related operations. Again, we think about some of these industries, some of these businesses that know what they do really well, but that back-end support function is where I can really bring in and speak that language and help them, you know, navigate those uh those hurdles. And then um I've worked with retail, um, I've worked with um, you know, just other manufacturing type firms. So it really does run the the the gamut. But uh those are the those are the ones that I currently have real deep understanding and appreciation for.

SPEAKER_02:

Very cool. But pretty, pretty, pretty wide breadth of uh types of businesses you work with. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, the thing is running a business is running a business, um, you gotta have these processes and it transfers across industry.

SPEAKER_02:

Absolutely, absolutely, and people, people skills is you know, something every business has to have, regardless of AI. We won't talk about that, but yeah, not today. Um so not today, that's right. So um sounds like you know, you know, you're you're semi-retired, but still pretty busy for as far as uh you mentioned travel, but what else do you like to do for fun when you're not working?

SPEAKER_01:

So when I'm not working, um I love hanging out with my grandkids and you know, being grandma, that's number one. Um, my husband and I do love to travel. Several years ago, we got a sprinter van that's outfitted as an RV, and we have traveled the country, crisscrossed it, um, maybe six times now since 2018. And that's an incredible journey, meeting great people, exploring the culture, exploring all that's in our in our um sort of backyard. And I can do some work from lots of really cool places. So those are just a few things that we like to do.

SPEAKER_02:

I am so jealous. I would love to do that. Absolutely love to do that. My wife's more of a hotel kind of gal, but I would love to have an RV or you know, a sprinter van or something, a small camper would be wonderful.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Um, well, well, let's switch gears for just a second. Can you describe a hardship or a life challenge, professional or personal? You're you know, whatever you think, uh, and how it made you stronger when you came out the other side.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh wow. Um we all have our own versions of challenges. Um, and I remember particularly about 20 years ago, probably 25 years ago now, um, I had a severe injury to my back, um, had a back injury, and it laid me flat for uh a period of time and had two small children. Having to rely on um my faith and also others to provide support really shaped who I am today and and having a good friend network, but um being reminded that I can't do it all and that I need to have good solid people and good solid practices in my life was really life-changing. Um, I still remember some of those events, but um not being able to do all the things that I wanted to do and having to rely on others really changed me because I was a hard-driving um do-it-all myself, performer, accomplisher. Um, and that shifted not only my view, but um the way that my family is connected and how we all really care for each other in a friend network. So that was probably a really pivotal moment for me.

SPEAKER_02:

So learn, learn to learn that you can't do it all yourself.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Yeah. And then, you know, 20 years, 25 years later, fast forward, um, I'm living that out and trying to help other people live it out. And you know, don't really think through how our journey gets us where we are, but for me, that's that's one of those threads of those journeys that has gotten me where I am today.

SPEAKER_02:

Awesome. Well, uh Sharon, if um, if you could think of one thing that you would like our listeners and viewers to remember about just uh justice leadership, what would that be?

SPEAKER_01:

There are resources for you as a business owner, you as a manager that can help equip and empower you. Um and yeah, AI, we've we've laughed at it. AI is out there and you can search, and it might not be the best guide or the best advisor. Everybody needs a mentor that we can really benefit from, or a coach. And if there is anything out there, I would encourage your leaders to find somebody that they can invest, you know, their time and resources and share that burden and and find that coach or that mentor that will help them along their journey. Uh, and you'll you'll be glad that you did. Uh, and if there's I mean, that's one of the things that I love to do, but just anybody, you go find somebody that meets your needs and that you connect with, find that coach.

SPEAKER_02:

Everybody needs a coach.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, everybody needs a coach.

SPEAKER_02:

So um let's say we've got a small business owner watching the show or listening in and is intrigued and in need of some leadership training and and help in their business. How can how can we learn more?

SPEAKER_01:

So you can learn more at my website, justiceleadership.com. And right on that page is a button that you can contact me either through email or phone call. I am happy to just chat and hear about your story. Um, but again, is it justiceleadership.com or Sharon at justiceleadership.com or two ways to find me.

SPEAKER_02:

All right, very good. Well, um, Sharon, I can't tell you how much I appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule to uh spend some time with us, with our listeners and viewers, and tell us all about the great things you're doing at Justice Leadership and uh wish you and your family, grandkids, husband, everybody, your business and clients all the best moving forward.

SPEAKER_01:

Thank you, Skip. It's been great being here. I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, we're thrilled to have you and would love to have you back sometime if you'd if you'd be open to it.

SPEAKER_01:

Sure.

SPEAKER_02:

All right. Sounds great. You have a great rest of the day.

SPEAKER_01:

Thanks, you too.

SPEAKER_00:

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GNP Try Dash Cities.com. That's GNP Tri Dash Cities.com or call four two three-seven one nine five eight seven three.