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Main Street Reimagined Podcast
This is a podcast for dreamers, creators, developers, and entrepreneurs to learn, share, and be inspired to change your community through small business.
Main Street Reimagined Podcast
3 Reasons You Aren’t Getting Results from Your Employees
In this episode, Luke goes solo and discusses one of the most challenging parts of starting or running a business: team members. If you are running a business that involves staff aside from just yourself, you are going to find value in hearing the 3 reasons you are frustrated, and why your team is probably frustrated too.
Learn why Luke typically doesn’t even use the word “employees”, and hear him unpack over 20 years of wisdom gained from the trenches of hiring and leading hundreds of team members across a dozen-and-a-half businesses.
As always, we’d love to hear your feedback about what resonated in this episode, and if there are additional topics you’d like to hear Luke discuss!
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You have an opportunity and, honestly, I believe, a responsibility to help people grow and to make them better while they're on your team. Stop thinking of yourself as the boss and start thinking of yourself as a coach. How can you coach them to be the best version of themselves within your business, which is probably going to overflow into some other areas of their lives and you're going to be able to make a really positive impact on them? This is the Main Street Reimagined podcast, a show for people ready to turn visions into realities and ideas into businesses. Hey, I'm Luke Henry and each week, I lead conversations with Main Street dreamers who took the leap to launch a business, renovate a building or start a movement, their ideas, their mindsets and their inspirations, as well as some of the highs and lows along the way. This is a place for dreamers, creators, developers and entrepreneurs to learn, share and be inspired to change your community through small business. Enjoy the show. Hey, friends, this is Luke Henry and this is the Main Street Reimagined Podcast. Thanks so much for being back with us for another week here of discussions, and this is going to be a solo episode today. I've done a handful of these through the year that I've been podcasting here and they've been well received, and I just kind of intermix these in a little bit when I've been hearing some themes through some of our podcasts or through some of the other conversations that I've been having with Main Street businesses, other entrepreneurs, and I've been having some trends here lately and I thought it would be a great time to jump on and have a little bit of discussion based on some of those conversations. And today, what we're going to be talking about is leading a team, having employees and how to do that effectively, and I believe that there's three things that I'm seeing that is holding people back from having success with their team and really getting the results that you want, and so we're going to talk through some of that and I'm looking forward to hopefully sharing some of the insights that I've gained from leading businesses.
Speaker 1:I counted up this morning I've started 18 businesses in my life, and so some of those were solopreneur ventures where it was just me through the life cycle or so far in the life cycle. I've got some others where I've had one, two, three team members that have been part of that venture and then all the way up to 80, 90, 100 employees, and so it's. I say all that just to say I've had a lot of experiences. At this point, hopefully that qualifies me at least to be able to speak to some of the mistakes that I made through that time and share some of those experiences mistakes and hopefully a few successes that I've had along the way as well. So let's jump in. I want to have some meaningful conversation here around this. I took a little bit of time to prepare my thoughts and some notes, but I'll probably get away from those as I typically do, and riff a little bit as other thoughts come about. But I'll try to make sure that I'm doing it in such a way that you can follow along. So here we go Again.
Speaker 1:I've been having a lot of conversations lately about employees team members. First of all, I'll say that my attitude has been that I actually try not to ever even use the word employees unless I'm dealing with a government agency, and so government agencies they want to know how many employees if I'm talking to workers' comp, or we just went through a workers' comp audit lately, which is a whole other topic for discussion, but I've been through a couple of those now and obviously we have to talk about employee wages and responsibilities and what class they're in and all that sort of thing. But if I'm not talking to a government agency, I'm using the words team members. I want people to feel like they are members of a team and that's going to be an important distinction. And maybe you say, look, that sounds like just semantics. You know, you're literally just substituting the words team members for employees when you're using that in sentences. And yes, maybe it is.
Speaker 1:But also, I believe that words matter and I believe that people are listening closely to the words we're using and the way that we're using them, and a lot of our attitude, our feelings about our team members, come across in the way that we're using them, and a lot of our attitude, our feelings about our team members, come across in the way that we're speaking with them and about them. And I think that it's really important that our heart is right in the way that we're thinking about these people that are investing their time, their lives. Yes, we're paying them, of course, but they're also giving of themselves to make our organizations better, and I think that we have to start from that basis to make sure that they really feel valued and part of a team, they're not just subservient to us, they're not just here to meet our needs, they're here to be part of the mission that we're working towards together, and I think that that's a really important distinction. So Dave Ramsey has this quote. He says that employees show up late, leave early and steal while they're there. And you know, maybe that's a heavy handed way of saying it, but he's getting to the same point in saying that he wants team members. He wants people that are here for the team. They're here for the team, they're here for the mission, they're really going to give of themselves, and we have to set that tone even in the way that we're referring to those folks. So I wanted to start with that basis there. So why is it that you might not be getting the results out of your team that you really want?
Speaker 1:And let me also just add this qualifier before I jump into these three areas. And that is to say I am not saying that I do all of this perfectly and that I don't mess it up, even still, after lots of repetitions and having first full-time team member, a W2 employee 20 years ago, and so I have had a lot of reps, literally hundreds and hundreds of team members that have cycled through the different organizations that I've been leading through this time and I've made a lot of mistakes through that time, through this time, and I've made a lot of mistakes through that time and I've learned a lot of tough lessons. But I've also become a student of the game and read a lot of books, talked to a lot of smart people, talked to a lot of people that are getting it right, and so I'm trying to get it right, but, again, not saying that I do all this perfectly, but some of this, then, is going to be a reminder for me, as much as it is sharing and teaching and maybe some coaching for all of you that are listening. So, number one reason you're not getting the results you want with your team, that is lack of vision and values. Lack of vision and values. Lack of vision and values and some of you may be hearing that you're like I literally have one person that's working on my team, or I have three or four part time people that are working with me. Do I really need, like you know, a vision board or a mission statement or core values and that sort of thing? And I would say, yes, it really is going to help you.
Speaker 1:I think that it's important to define those things and that it's important that you know, first and foremost, and then that you're clearly articulating that to your team members. But even if you don't, I don't want this to be intimidating. I don't want this to be like gosh, I don't have time to do a weekend summit, to go come up with my vision and chisel it into stone tablets and bring it back to our team and, you know, read it off like the Ten Commandments, and it doesn't have to be that way. But it is important and really it boils down to this your vision is why are you doing what you're doing? And your values are really how you're doing what you're doing. So I'll say that again your vision is why you're doing what you're doing and your values are how you're doing what you're doing and your values are how you're doing what you're doing. And it's really important that your team members understand that and that you've articulated in such a way that you know the why isn't just because I have a dream of growing a business, or I really like coffee, so I have a coffee shop. I really like home decor, so I have a home decor store. That's not why you're doing it.
Speaker 1:I believe that that all of you I mean, if that is why you're doing it, you're probably not going to be able to do it for very long, because that's not enough to get you through the really tough days. And if you've been listening to this show for a while and you've been hearing stories from real entrepreneurs that are getting it done every day, you know that you've heard some tough stories and some tough times that they've went through. They've overcome a lot of obstacles. They've overcome a lot of fears and self-doubt and a why that's not really compelling is not going to get you through and it certainly isn't going to be able to get your team through. So it's important that you know that and maybe that why is you know?
Speaker 1:I want to do this because I really want to bring this concept to our community. I believe that there's a huge unmet need. I have a heart for the people that I'm serving through this business and I believe that there's a huge unmet need. I have a heart for the people that I'm serving through this business and I believe that it can make people's lives better. I believe that it can buy back time for them. I believe that it can create meaningful connections. I believe that my restaurant is going to be the. I'm going to provide the tables where memories are made for families. I'm going to do these things and that's really what's driving you and compelling you, and your team needs to know that and they need to understand that and be able to be part of that. So, again, this is a little bit philosophical here, but it's really important.
Speaker 1:How do you want you know, explain to your team how you want your customers or clients to feel when they're in your business, when they're interacting with your business? How do you want them to feel? And you know, do you want them to feel valued? Do you want them to feel loved? Do you want them to feel comfortable? Those are really important things that you're explaining, and you're explaining that why to your team? And from a value standpoint again, how are we going to do the things that we're doing?
Speaker 1:You know, one of our businesses is ProScape. You maybe heard me talk about that a little bit. We're landscaping business and we have a set of values that we worked on together as a team. That's a that's a very large team. We have a leadership team there, people that are running departments and uh, just super fortunate to have those folks on our team and we work together.
Speaker 1:This again, this was not me coming down from the mountaintop with these values, really Really. It was just crystallizing to say, hey, this is what we value, based on the way that we're already interacting and the reason we hire certain people and exit other people, and this is who we are and how we do things. And we crystallize that into six core values. And, um, because I'm a nerd, I like to uh come up with easy ways of remembering things. And so, uh, we, when we came up with them, I like quickly looked at them and I was like, ah, teacup, uh, the. There's six of them and they spell teacC-U-P, t-e-a-c-u-p, teamwork, excellence, accountability, consistency, urgency and passion. And pretty much anyone on our team that's been on our team for more than a few weeks has committed those to memory because we talk about them regularly. It's something that in our morning huddles we're talking about them. We have quarterly meetings and we talk about them and we don't just try to get people to memorize them.
Speaker 1:Yes, that's the first step, but we try to talk about the way I say it is. What do those core values look like? With a ProScape uniform on the way I say it is. What do those core values look like with a proscape uniform on? What do those look like with work clothes on? What does that look like day to day? When I say accountability, what does that really mean? When we're talking about consistency, what does that look like every day in our workplace and we talk about examples and we shout out when people are doing it well, and we use those words when we're giving correction, when we say, hey, the way that you did that, the way that you were working and leading your crew or whatever on this site, was not really exemplifying urgency, and here's how we can make some corrections to that really exemplifying urgency, and here's how we can make some corrections to that. And so we're using those words, those core values, in giving praise, in giving feedback, in giving correction, and we're just using those all the time.
Speaker 1:It's so important that we're repeating our vision and our values very, very often, and we're speaking about them formally. This is our vision, this is our values. We're also speaking about them informally in the way that we're just giving feedback and having everyday conversations within our business. So it's so important when you think that you have repeated it to where you're just sick of talking about it, then it's just starting to sink in for your team. If you're sick of talking about it, then it's just starting to sink in for your team. Keep talking about it, especially if you're new to this, if you've got new team members or you're just starting to try to roll this out and You're like this seems difficult, it seems redundant. Yes, you're going to get sick of saying things sometimes.
Speaker 1:Patrick Lencioni talks about the owner. The leader is the chief reminding officer. You are the CRO. You're the chief reminding officer. You have to talk about these things constantly to keep them top of mind for everyone. So, at the very least, I encourage you to be talking about these on a quarterly basis. No-transcript, really something that you dread doing. It should be something that you enjoy doing because you see the impact that it makes on your team. When you can have these meaningful conversations and they can really start to understand how they're part of a bigger picture, they can start to see themselves in your vision. You want to make your vision big enough that other people can see themselves in it, and so so important.
Speaker 1:We run EOS, the Entrepreneurial Operating System. It's based on a book Traction. Let me talk about that a little bit before perhaps. But that kind of business framework calls for quarterly meetings where you're reinforcing all these things. You're talking about plans for the next quarter, you're talking about how things went for the last quarter, and that's really, really important. Gina Wickman, that wrote the book Traction, he talks about that.
Speaker 1:We live in a 90-day world and as humans that are distracted easily and I'm one of those for sure it's so easy for us to just get off track a little bit over the course of 90 days and these quarterly check-ins serve as a reminder. Okay, let's get back on track. If we veer off a little bit, we can get back on track easily when we're just a little bit off track. But we get way off track and we find that our, our vision and values have eroded or, uh, you know, people have wandered off and started doing things their own way and and you start to have some some gossip and dissension and some of this, then it can get off the tracks really quickly. So make sure that you're reinforcing all the time.
Speaker 1:So that was reason number one that you might not be getting the results with your team that you want lack of vision and values. Second number two is lack of expectations. Lack of expectations is the second reason you might not be getting what you want from your team, and this goes for everything everything within your business. You've got to set clear expectations Again, especially if you're new at this. You've got newer team members, you're just starting to grow to where you're bringing people onto your team, or you just started a business and you've got several new hires.
Speaker 1:It is so important that you set all of the right expectations and you are super clear about what it is that you expect from your team. People will go along with almost anything if you let them know what to expect and what you expect. So everything from what to wear to how to interact with customers, to how to do all the other little things about the job. So if you're a Main Street business and you've got a boutique of some sort, it's everything from where we place the price tag on the goods, how we greet the customer when they come in, what to say when you answer the phone, how to receive deliveries, how to organize the back room, how to fold the clothes or face the shelves or all of those little things. And again, is that difficult sometimes to train and coach to that level of detail? Yes, maybe it is, but it is so worth it.
Speaker 1:I see so many owners and business owners and entrepreneurs that are just lamenting that their team isn't doing what they're supposed to do and they're not doing the way that I do it and and I've had to tell them multiple times and it's like yes, yes and yes, you have to set the right expectations and, kind of like we were just talking about, you have to be the chief reminding officer and if you are a Gen X or kind of early millennial, you might have to be training your Gen Z team members in different ways and training them on different things than what you might have to train a fellow Gen Xer on. They have different skills than what you do, so I want you to think about it in that way than what you do. So I want you to think about it in that way. You've got Gen Z folks that are coming onto your team and you want to try to make sure that they're doing things right and that they are productive and helpful team members. You have to know that they have different skills than you. They do have skills, they have value and they are going to be able to help you, but their skills are different than yours and you need to make sure that you're leaning into their skills and then see it as your mission to help them in the areas where they need help, where they need trained.
Speaker 1:It's no secret that Gen Z team members communicate differently. They've been raised in a digital world. A lot of their interaction comes through a keyboard, but if you're running an in-person business, comes through a keyboard. But if you're running an in-person business, if you've got an ice cream shop or a coffee shop or a retail boutique or an entertainment venue or a restaurant, you're going to probably need to teach them how to effectively interact with folks like you need them to, in person, face-to-face, with their words and with their body language and with their eye contact, and you're going to be really clear and unfortunately, a lot of us get tripped up and I end up having conversations with people and they say, well, these kids should know. Well, maybe they should, but if they should or shouldn't is actually pretty irrelevant. It seems that they don't and so it's your job and, again, if you take this as your mission to help set clear expectations, to teach them how to interact, how to literally talk with them about what is appropriate dress. You have to set a clear dress code for your establishment. Tell them what to wear and if they need advice on where to buy it or how to get it or whatever, then help them with that too. It is part of your job to do that and again, should it have to be, again, you can think what you want, but at the end of the day, the reality is we've got to do what we need to do to support our team members, to make sure that they can do the job that we need them to do, and we need to be very clear about what those expectations are. And we're going to teach them how to stand behind the counter or walk out and greet your guest or customer, look them in the eye, welcome them, smile, like you're literally talking them through how this interaction needs to go. When it comes to like actually doing the things sweeping the floor, cleaning the bathrooms, taking out the trash, locking the door, setting the security system, restocking, prepping whatever that looks like in your business.
Speaker 1:Write down your processes. Write down your core processes. Create checklists. Make it easy for people to do the right things. Make it easy for people to do the right things.
Speaker 1:Sometimes I see some frustration that builds on both sides of this. The owner is not doing a good job of creating clear expectations. The team members get frustrated. They don't know what to do, or they forget one small thing and they get in trouble, or they get the cold shoulder. They don't get feedback, and it doesn't have to be this way. We can make it easy for people and again, this doesn't have to be fancy. We don't need to get new software or anything. If you've got a closing checklist there's 10 things that need to be done. We don't need to get new software or anything. If you've got a closing checklist. There's 10 things that need to be done every time the establishment is closed. Then make a checklist, write it on a paper and laminate it, or figure out what works in your reality you put it on your POS, ipad or wherever and make sure that they know exactly what has to be done every time. Make it easy for them to succeed.
Speaker 1:Don't just rely on verbal communication, verbal training. Write things down, type them out. This can eventually lead to something that's more formal, that know maybe a team manual or standard operating procedures, but it can literally just start with some short checklists and making it easy for them to know what the expectations are and to meet the expectations, and then it's very easy to also go back to them then if something got missed and say, you, you missed the expectation. There's 10 things on the checklist. Only eight got done. These two need to be done and your process could include rewards or consequences if certain things aren't done and those expectations are clear as well, are clear as well, and when they're set up front, then it's very easy to have that conversation and we're not relying on people to just quote, know what to do or know what they should do. We're actually making it super clear. So to be clear is to be kind and we have to remember that if we're not willing to be uncomfortable enough to be super clear on what the expectations are, then we're going to have to be comfortable with being really frustrated all the time and probably not bringing out the best in our business or our team members if that's how we're operating.
Speaker 1:So the number two reason that you're not getting the results you want is lack of clear expectations. Number three is you haven't given them ownership of anything. You say well, luke, these are employees. What do you mean? Give them ownership. I'm not giving them equity in my business. I mean, I'm not even making money yet. I've put my money in my blood, sweat and tears into this, okay, okay. But people want to feel like they're part of something bigger. And when we treat team members as just employees, like someone that's there to serve our needs and our needs only, and we're not really involving them in the process and making them feel part of it and a sense of pride and ownership, then we're only going to get an employee that's there to punch the clock, do the bare minimum and be rather disengaged while they're there. That's the reality, and if that describes the types of team members that you have, maybe it's time to look in the mirror. Maybe it's time to look in the mirror and say what am I doing to really engage my team members, to make them feel like they have ownership of a piece of the business? Let me give you some examples no-transcript and so.
Speaker 1:But my first job as an employee was at Whiston Pharmacy in Mount Gilead and as a 16-year-old there, that was my first job and I enjoyed it and they had a good culture there and I was responsible for two main functions in my first job there. I was responsible for filling the pop coolers and stocking the adult diaper section. So in a pharmacy in the late 1990s yes, that was in the last millennia for those of you that are younger than me, but so those were the fast movers adult diapers and pop and I came in every day. I worked after school typically and I would come in First thing I did. They didn't even have to tell me. I said hello to everybody. I worked after school typically and I would come in First thing I did. They didn't even have to tell me. I said hello to everybody.
Speaker 1:I clocked in and I knew that my job was to check the pop cooler, see what had sold through and make sure that everything was restocked, looked good, and I had ownership of that. I mean, if I said you know what, every time I come in the, the Fanta is sold out, and so what I'm going to do is I'm going to, um, take away a row of something else that doesn't move as quickly and I'm going to add a row of Fanta and so that we have more of it, uh, so that it doesn't sell out. Because, um, because my old boss, howard Whiston. One of his sayings was if we don't have it out, we can't sell it. And absolutely true in retail, if you don't have it, you can't sell it. And so I learned that from him and I had ownership of the pop coolers and I made sure that they were stocked. Well, and I was 16 years old and again, what a small little job. But I was engaged in the business because that was part of my job. Same with the adult diapers, I made sure that the pins and all of that stuff, each kind, each size, was out there, it was stocked, and that was my job. I knew it. The expectation had been set clearly for me and I took it seriously. Not that I didn't occasionally chuckle at the adult diapers and some of that I was very mature but I did take it seriously, knowing that I was taking ownership of those areas.
Speaker 1:So, in your business, how could you engage some of your team members? Again, if you've got a small business, you've got a few part-time team members. Maybe they're high schoolers, maybe they're college students, maybe they're young adults, maybe they're older adults, but whatever age, there's ways that you can engage them and I think that you'll be really surprised if you can find something that they're good at and that they can enjoy. They can have some ownership of that. You'll light them up and it will be exciting for everyone. So maybe it's arranging a small section of the store. Maybe you give them a project and why don't you take the things on this table and lay them out in a little bit different way that you think looks good? Give them that opportunity to take ownership of that, that small little section. And maybe it's a one-time thing or maybe it's an ongoing thing, like I was, you know, with the with the adult diaper section.
Speaker 1:Maybe you know it's planting a flower pot. You give them the ownership of that responsibility for making it look good, however they want. Maybe it's refilling the pot machine. Maybe it's making a video or a bunch of videos, maybe for TikTok or Instagram. Maybe it's taking over your social media and running it for you, because it's something that they know a lot better than you do and you think that that could be an opportunity and you know, I would encourage you, depending on the size of the task, how public it is. You know, taking over your social media obviously is a much bigger responsibility to give someone than you know re-merchandising a shelf or a table, but this is where the analogy of the rope is that I have used a lot through my business years where if somebody is new and they haven't proven competency with something, then I hold on to one end of a rope and give them the other end.
Speaker 1:We've actually done this visually just to kind of help everyone understand, and we're standing shoulder to shoulder and we have the rope in our hands and there's no slack in it and so that you know we're working together. But they're like right there, close to me, and then as they prove competency, they gain experience. I start to let the rope out a little farther, and so you know they have now they can kind of move around a little more. We're not just shoulder to shoulder, because I'm keeping the rope real tight there. I'm letting it out. They're having more and more autonomy. They're getting more and more kind of freedom to work within the boundaries of the task that I've set and they continue to do a good job and they're gaining more experience, even more competency.
Speaker 1:I let more and more rope out and they continue to just, you know, have more and more that they are responsible for and I'm not right there looking over their shoulder, I'm not shoulder to shoulder with them. We're not doing it together anymore. They're starting to do it on their own and they're doing a good job, and so if there comes a time where they prove that I've given them too much freedom and autonomy, then I can pull the rope back a little bit. We can retrain, I can coach them, give some feedback, and then they make those corrections. I can pull the rope back a little bit. We can retrain, I can coach them, give some feedback, and then they make those corrections and we let the rope out again. And that could be the way that these interactions go.
Speaker 1:But we're allowing them to be involved. We're not just giving them tasks, we're not just delegating tasks to them. We're actually delegating authority for certain parts of the business that they can be responsible for, and actually telling them that, explaining the why behind it and letting them know that you see something in them. Hey, I saw when you rearranged just the things on the counter that you did a nice job, so I wanted to give you an opportunity to rearrange this whole table over here and see what you could do with it. I see something like you've got a little bit of a spark and a knack for that, and so I'd love to give you that opportunity. It could be something that you do just think that they could do a good job at, or you just want to give them an opportunity, want to take a little bit of a risk with them, to give them a chance to do something on their own. Maybe it's something that is both something that you think that they could do well and something that you don't necessarily enjoy doing. You know again, maybe social media is that, or helping with certain aspects of that, creating some videos, and you still have the ultimate, you know, kind of veto power, or you're the one still posting it, but they're creating some things. That's a great opportunity.
Speaker 1:My wife, lindsey, owns a toy store and she's been on the podcast before and we've talked about a lot of different topics and. But we were talking about some of these things here recently and and she shared that one of the things that she is not, she doesn't really enjoy and maybe isn't the best at, is doing her front window displays, but she has two team members that really enjoy doing it and they're really good at it and she is just to completely give an ownership of that to them and and they love doing it, they're good at it. She loves not having to worry about doing it and they have that sense of pride and ownership in taking care of that part of the business, and so it's truly a win-win scenario. But this is kind of a muscle that has to be developed. If you're used to doing everything yourself, if you've been a solopreneur, or if you are I've called myself a recovering control freak before If you're like me in that way, then maybe you need to learn how to let some things go and you kind of ease into this and give your team members an opportunity. You're going to feel a lot more just at ease and you're going to be a lot happier. They're going to be a lot happier when they're engaged because you've actually given them ownership of something. So that's the third one you haven't given them ownership. That's why you may not be getting the results you want from your team members. So just to run through those once again, all three of them First, lack of vision and values. Second, lack of clear expectations. And three, you haven't given your team members ownership of anything, of anything. So I just want to encourage you as we wrap up here. You can do this.
Speaker 1:Having team members is the greatest frustration sometimes, but also the greatest joy that you will have in running your business. We've heard that from guests on this podcast numerous times. That it's really gratifying. That you're the most proud of are going to be related to the team members that you saw grow and thrive, perhaps even go on, start their own business. Apply these principles to their family or to their fitness or other areas of their lives. You have an opportunity and, honestly, I believe, a responsibility to help people grow and to make them better while they're on your team.
Speaker 1:Stop thinking of yourself as the boss and start thinking of yourself as a coach. How can you coach them to be the best version of themselves within your business, which is probably going to overflow into some other areas of their lives, and you're going to be able to make a really positive impact on them. Don't allow yourself to be frustrated when people aren't doing what you want, because oftentimes they don't know what you want and sometimes you're not being clear about what it is that you want and how you can work together to get to the vision that you've set for your business, and it's your job as the owner, as the leader, to make that happen. You have a great opportunity. Stop acting like you can't change things. Stop acting like you're a victim to your team members or to your business. You are the owner, you are the leader. You have the opportunity to make it better and you can, and I believe you will, if you get intentional about putting some of these things into action.
Speaker 1:People need to be led, people want to be led and you are a good leader. The world needs more great leaders and more people that care about their team. Think about it this way If we invest in our team members, we create a great culture, a great workplace, a place where people really enjoy the work they're doing, they feel like it's meaningful and they're they're serving their, their customers. That's going to create a better community and, because customers are going to be better served, your business is going to thrive. You're going to be able to reinvest in your team and in your community and your building and in an expansion and growth. It's going to create just these ripple effects that really create a better world for all of us, and it starts with your leadership of your team, caring about your team members and putting some of these things into action.
Speaker 1:I believe that you care. I believe, if you're taking the time to listen to a podcast like this. You care about your team members and you want to help them get better, not just for your own means and improving your business, but also to help them be better people, and so you've got what it takes to make this happen Get out there and do it. Hopefully, this has been an encouragement. Hopefully this has been instructive. Hopefully, again, these are things that I've learned slowly through the years, and if I had some more resources like this to listen to and study earlier on in my career, I think that I could be better by this point. But here we are continue to learn and grow every day can do the same, so hopefully it's been helpful.
Speaker 1:I appreciate you tuning in here uh, weekly to the main street reimagined podcast. Or maybe you just stumbled onto this one, maybe somebody shared it with you. Feel free to go back. Listen to some of the real stories of entrepreneurs and business owners that have went through the hard work of of launching a business, coming up with an idea, taking a dream and really turning it into reality by taking the leap into this world that we call entrepreneurship. It is not easy, but you are making a real difference, and one of the biggest ways you can make a difference is through your team. So get out there, get to work. We'll keep bringing helpful content. We've got some exciting episodes coming up here soon and, who knows, I'll jump on again here at some point.
Speaker 1:Do another solo episode. Give me some feedback. I appreciate your feedback. Shoot me a message, shoot me an email and let me know if this was helpful. If there's other topics you'd like to hear about, I really value that. So thanks again. This is the Main Street Reimagined podcast. Thanks for listening to the Main Street Reimagined podcast. To learn more about Main Street Reimagined Henry Development Group or our work in downtown Marion, ohio, please visit mainstreetreimaginedcom. If you want to connect or if you know someone who we need to interview, shoot us an email at info at MainStreetReimaginecom. Until next time, keep dreaming and don't be afraid to take the leap.