Ep. 65: TL;DL - Renegade Leadership vs Corporate Prison with Benj Miller

Summary:

This episode features a "Too Long, Didn't Listen" (TLDL) summary of my conversation with Benj Miller, CEO and co-founder of System & Soul. After experiencing his own brutal identity crisis in 2009 when his business grew 300% then nearly collapsed overnight, Benj discovered that businesses need both strong systems and authentic soul to thrive sustainably.

Key insights include why founders often mistake chaos for authenticity, the critical importance of clarity and accountability in leadership, and his philosophy that companies should use their business to grow their people rather than use people to grow their business. Benj reveals the sobering truth that the number one thing he sees after business exits isn't a Lamborghini - it's a divorce.

Show Notes:

1:31 Benj's Wake-Up Call

2:31 The Importance of Clarity and Accountability

3:29 Growing People vs Using People

4:53 The Founder's Accidental Prison

Chapters

• 0:00 Intro
• 0:32 Guest Intro: Benj Miller, Co-founder of System & Soul
• 1:31 Benj's Wake-Up Call
• 2:31 The Importance of Clarity and Accountability
• 3:29 Growing People vs Using People
• 4:53 The Founder's Accidental Prison
• 6:18 Final Thoughts
• 7:04 Outro

Transcript

Intro

Scott Raven: Welcome to The Corvus Effect, where we explore what it takes to succeed professionally and truly enhance all parts of your life. I'm Scott Raven, Fractional COO and your host. Each episode we go behind the scenes with leaders who've mastered the delicate harmony of growing their professional endeavors while protecting what matters most. Ready to transform from Chief Everything Officer to achieving integration in all facets of your life? Let's soar!

Guest Intro: Benj Miller, Co-founder of System & Soul

Hey everybody, it's Scott. Welcome to this TLDL. Too long didn't listen summary of my conversation with Benj Miller, CEO, and co-founder of System & Soul, a business operating framework that allows founder-led companies to scale without sacrificing their soul. As a serial entrepreneur who's started 10 businesses, Benj experienced his own identity crisis in 2009 when he realized he was the business rather than having a business.

As a former EOS implementer turned renegade business coach, he discovered something crucial. Businesses need both strong systems and authentic soul to thrive sustainably. This summary will help you get the highlights of what was a wonderful chat with Benj. I certainly encourage you to go back and listen to the full episode, but let's dive into some of the key takeaways.

Benj's Wake-Up Call

First, he had a brutal wake up call when his business was growing 300% in 2009. Everything looked rosy, but in his words, not mine, he was effectively running a frat party. When he lost his business's biggest channel partner, it put him into scramble mode. As he said, "I had no idea what I was doing running a business, period. I was just riding the waves of my own success."

He had the profound insight that he thought he gave people clear instructions and accountability, but he really didn't. He actually found accountability to be undignified and demoralizing in some respects, because he didn't want to treat people like they got treated at large corporations.

The Importance of Clarity and Accountability

However, he now realizes that with specificity and clarity in terms of roles and responsibilities for people, they know exactly what they are supposed to do. By giving them guidance on what they're exactly supposed to do, not only are they more successful in terms of how they get things done, but they'll feel better about the results they accomplish, and they'll feel more kinship and ownership in the business as a whole.

This resonates very much with a Corvus principle in terms of true leadership. It's not about being everyone's friend, it's about providing the clarity people crave to succeed. Give that clarity to people, they're going to thank you for it. It's not about forcing founders to become something they're not.

Growing People vs Using People

A lot of times we get into these situations where founders, owners, original employees who started and have been growing up with a company, but then suddenly the company needs to mature and we're asking these people to be something that they're not. Ultimately, Benj found this out and looked at it from a core philosophy standpoint.

When that happens, there are companies who will use their people to grow the business, but then replace them. But then there are also the companies that use the business to grow the people, and "I want to work with the second. I want to work with these companies who will evolve their people and allow them to grow in ways that are best suited for them as the company goes and not have to force them to be something they're not or potentially get replaced."

This aligns perfectly with our integrated leadership approach that we talk about here at Corvus. You've got to play to your strengths and you've got to build a complementary team around you. This isn't something where we use it and lose it, for lack of a better term. We want to grow our assets, our people over time, and Benj's philosophy fits perfectly with that.

The Founder's Accidental Prison

Finally, we talked about the concept of the accidental prison that most founders create. He shared, "The number one thing that I see happening after an exit is not a Lamborghini, it's a divorce." Founders set out seeking freedom and they end up putting themselves into a prison of their own doing because they find themselves to be the worst boss with the worst schedule, and it not only impacts their professional endeavors, it also impacts their personal endeavors at home.

He's helping leaders realize that money is money, but time is finite. And after time comes energy. When these leaders are healthy, companies now have the System & Soul to come home on a Friday, not be burnt out, spend that present time with their family - not just time, present time - and then be able to get back at it the next week. That's what we want here in the Corvus philosophy, because success without fulfillment, that's the ultimate failure. There are many people who, by all accounts, look successful, but they are not fulfilled. That's not what we want. We want to have the fulfillment, which comes with the success that we deliver.

Final Thoughts

I encourage you to go back, listen to the full episode where Benj says more about his journey, particularly his 2009 identity crisis. Listen for how System & Soul is bringing this into place. Explore it on LinkedIn or at systemandsoul.com, and please make sure that if you are hearing something where somebody within your network could use this wisdom, please share this episode or have them go back and listen to the full episode. We're doing these episodes because we want to create the greatest impact that we can.

Until then, I'm Scott. Thank you for listening to this TLDL episode of The Corvus Effect. Take care.

Outro

Scott Raven: Thank you for joining me on The Corvus Effect. If today's conversation sparked ideas about how to free yourself from overwhelm, visit TheCorvusEffect.com for show notes, resources, and our free sixth dimensions assessment, showing you exactly where you're trapped and how to architect your freedom. While you're there, check out the Corvus Learning Platform, where we turn insights into implementation. If this episode helped you see a new path forward, please subscribe and share it with others who are ready to pursue their definition of professional freedom. Join me next time as we continue exploring how to enhance your life through what you do professionally. It's time to make that your reality!