TSLP Season 3. Ep. 42- Reviving Your Business Momentum

🎙️ New Episode | Reviving Your Business Momentum with HR Huntsman
Have you ever felt like your business or leadership journey has stalled even after seasons of strong progress? 

Growth plateaus can be frustrating, but they are often powerful signals that it’s time to rethink strategy, refocus priorities, and lead differently.

In this episode of the Transformation Station Leadership Podcast, I sit down with HR Huntsman to explore practical strategies and solutions for breaking through growth plateaus and reigniting momentum. We talk about how leaders can identify what’s really slowing progress, strengthen innovation, and create the clarity and energy needed to move forward with confidence.

Learn more about HR:
Website: https://yourleadersedge.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@yourleadersedge
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hr-huntsman/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/YourLeadersEdge

If you’re ready to shift from feeling stuck to leading with renewed purpose and direction, this conversation will give you both perspective and actionable insight.

“Welcome to Transformation Station  where growth gets fun! Hit subscribe so you never miss the momentum. And if today inspires you, share it with someone who needs a spark. Let’s rise together!

Thanks for tuning in to Transformation Station! If this episode fired you up, smash that subscribe button, share it with someone who’s ready to level up, and tell me the moment that hit hardest. Your voice keeps this movement unstoppable. 

Until next time, stand tall, step bold, and own your transformation.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Every leader experiences seasons when progress slows and energy dips, and the strategies that once worked no longer delivers the same results. We're talking about growth plateaus. We know that they can feel frustrating, but I find that there are often signals that something new is required. And the leaders who move forward are the ones who learn how to revive momentum with clarity, courage, and intentional action. Come on, let's get this conversation started. And today's conversation, it's about one of the most common and often misunderstood challenges in leadership and business. That's right. We're talking about hitting a growth plateau. When momentum slows, it can create uncertainty, doubt, and pressure to find quick fixes. But today we're going to talk about the fact that plateaus can also become something powerful for us. Now, before we get started, I want to remind you of a few things. Number one, we got to celebrate today. You might be asking, what are we celebrating? Listen, let me tell you, we're celebrating today because of you, we have published our 100 episode of Transformation Station Leadership Podcast. I can't thank you enough. And I want to remind you that we still have so much more in store for you. So if you have missed even one episode of season one, season two, or even here in season three, I need you to go ahead and go back and watch the replays and don't keep this goodness to yourself. You must, you must, you must invite someone else to join us regularly every Monday and Wednesday and tap into all of this leadership goodness. I also want to remind you that on April 9th, we are going to have our next leadership seminar. Grow, glow, and go. We have the amazing Kyla Glover who is going to join us. And we're talking about how do we show up in the world? What is the messaging that we're putting out as we show up every day? You don't want to miss this, and you definitely want to invite some other leaders to come with you. And then I am absolutely excited to remind you on April 13th to 16th, we have our next lead her shift conference that is happening. Now in January, we had our first leadershift conference. Over 400 of you registered for the conference. We had an amazing time together. It is time for lead her shift. And this one is lead her shift adjustment. And we're going to be talking about the fact that listen, as leaders, we go through challenges. We have our hills, our valleys, our mountains, our peaks. When the challenges come, that is not a sign to quit. It's simply a sign that maybe there just needs to be an adjustment. So I'm inviting you to register today. You can go to mobilizingwithimpact.com and you can sign up and register for the conference right now. And it begins on April 13th to 16. And again, I invite you, do not come by yourself. You must bring others to join you. Well, listen, I'm absolutely thrilled and excited for the conversation that we are having today. And today we have an amazing guest that is with us. I know you're going to learn so much from him as he shares. And I'm talking about HR Huntsman. HR Huntsman is the founder of Leaders Edge. He is also a business and leadership keynote speaker, organizational strategist, author, business executive coach, and business leadership consultant. He's in the right place. HR founded Leaders Edge to be able to invest in leaders like you and me, especially young leaders. Now, HR shares many of the life and leadership principles that he learned in his 30 plus years of leadership with other leaders. And he firmly believes to succeed, one must begin with mindset, then move on to principles and disciplines which create long-term success for a company or an individual. I am absolutely thrilled and honored to welcome you, Huntsman, H.R. Huntsman. Welcome to Transformation Station Leadership Podcast.

SPEAKER_01 5:10

Girl, you got me fired up. What an introduction. Oh my goodness. I love your energy. I love your joy. I am sorry. No, I'm ready. Let's do this.

SPEAKER_00 5:21

Woo! Let's do this. Well, listen, I'm excited for this conversation because I think this really is a classic evergreen conversation as leaders that we should have periodically, right? We're talking about momentum. We're talking about plateaus. We're talking about growth. And one of the things that I have found, so I have about 20 plus years in leadership, right? I found that growth plateaus are not always signs of failure. Often when I hit a plateau, it's a reflection of a transition point where maybe something that was working in the past is not working anymore, or maybe it's an invitation to me to start thinking differently. So I want to start off by asking you this question. From your experience, what are the most common reasons businesses or leaders hit a growth plateau even after experiencing early success or momentum?

SPEAKER_01 6:14

Sure. That's a fantastic question, Adrian. My experience tells me, let's go, let's go back. I started my first company, I was 28, and I didn't know anything about anything. I was a dumb, dumb kid, zeal, passion, all this stuff, right? And I did everything. I took out the trash, I mowed the lawn, I created the content, I balanced the books, I recruited the clients, I did the whole deal. That what got me started, what got me early success is not scalable. And so I see that same overfunctioning in many of the leaders we work with now at the 20 million, 50 million, 100 million dollar level. What we we call this benevolent overfunction, and most growth plateaus are leadership evolution gaps. The leader, you myself, those that are listening, need to look in the mirror because the way I've led up to this point is likely not going to work going forward. And so this thing that we have called benevolent overfunctioning is when leaders are doing too many things and they haven't transferred authority to other people. So it's seen in things like this. Let me just handle that. No, I'll take you got a lot on your plate. Let me take this. And this benevolent love for the company, love for the people, overfunctioning is holding many, many companies down. And we see this as a very consistent and common growth plateau. The opposite of that is what we call transfer of authority. Now, this is different than just delegating tasks. Delegating tasks is just Adrian, you can just handle this. My plate is full, my calendar is stacked, can you just do this thing? That's not the same as transfer of authority. And that's what really good leaders do is they empower people, give them full authority with good feedback loops. But that that is what we have found is a very common growth plateau.

SPEAKER_00 8:16

Hmm. So talk to us a little bit. I I love the fact that you use that word benevolent. Talk to us a little bit more about that.

SPEAKER_01 8:24

Okay. Most leaders that we run into, they're they're good people. They're not the high controlled jerk of the past. They're good people, they care about their people, they care about their mission, they care about you know what they're doing, and that that love puts them in a box. So benevolent, they care, right? They care about the function, they care about the client, they care about the customer, they care about their team. So they're benevolent. They're goodness of their heart. Let me handle that, Adrian. I'll take that off your plate. No, I'll just do that. And they continue to stack themselves, and that's not scalable. And they become the very bottleneck they're trying to avoid because two things are happening: their energy is depleting, they're getting overwhelmed, and they're not maximizing the talent of all the good people that they've surrounded themselves with. Overfunctioning, they're doing too many things. So, one of the questions I ask many of the leaders I work with is this I'll pretend it to you, Adrian. What are you carrying right now that you should no longer be carrying? It was good a year ago or five years ago, but we've outgrown that now. And that leader should not only be looking in the mirror and asking themselves that question, but they should be having their leaders ask the same questions. What am I carrying that I should no longer be carrying? Because that is likely a growth plateau. The leaders themselves have become the growth problem, the bottleneck.

SPEAKER_00 9:58

Like this is powerful right here, you know. As you said that question, what are you carrying right now that you should no longer be carrying? Leaders who are listening and watching, you know, here in Transformation Station, we always take a moment during the podcast to be able to stop and assess and reflect. And I want you to reflect on this question right here, because this is a serious question. What are you carrying right now that you should no longer be carrying? Sherma is watching, and Sherma says so often the doer becomes the leader, but they keep doing instead of leading. Sherma, woof! Listen, that's serious right there. Talk to us, HR. I see you nodding your head. Talk to us about that.

SPEAKER_01 10:35

No, Sherma's right on track. That the doer, so the the guy who is great at selling widgets, he was the best widget salesman in the world. And now everyone says, Oh Bob, Sally, you need to be ahead of our widget team, our widget sales team. Well, those are very different functions. So the doer becomes the leader, thinking that they can continue that same function. Sherman is right. When the doer becomes the leader, the mindset has to shift dramatically because now I'm in charge of multiplying leaders, not selling widgets. And what I was really good at, which is selling widgets, I now that's not my thing anymore. My identity has to shift, my understanding of human nature has to shift. I have to learn what motivation and inspiration look like. I can't just sell widgets anymore. Now my job is to multiply people, so I have to transfer authority. So Sherman is right, the doer has to become the leader, which that's easy on paper. That's that's hard in real life. It so is, it so is.

SPEAKER_00 11:38

I have found um that in with at times where I have struggled with this, I literally had to have conversations with myself to catch myself, you know, because sometimes you do it, you see yourself doing it, but you know, you if you're not intentional, you just keep going on that. So let me ask you this question, right? How can leaders distinguish between a temporary slowdown and a deeper strategic issue that requires a shift in direction or mindset?

SPEAKER_01 12:09

This is actually fairly complex. One of the first things I would encourage leaders to do is get with the team, and the first thing you need to do, if you if you're beginning to see metrics drop, the sales funnel is not as full, consumers or you know, customers are not as happy. We have to interrogate what we call the holy trinity clarity, alignment, and accountability. Are we clear on everything that needs to be clear? Is everyone aligned in the boat? Are we all rolling the same direction, same speed? Is accountability high? Are people owning their roles? So the first thing we need to ask is do we have a performance problem or do we have a strategy problem? If a performance problem exists, we have to chase it down wherever that is. So clarity, alignment, and accountability. Now, if we've done all that work, and then we we've talked to vendors, we've talked to colleagues around the country in the same industry, and there's truly a strategic slowdown. Maybe economic, maybe it's regional, whatever it is. Now we have to do the harder work, and that is interrogate our value proposition, our value chain, because maybe our strategy that worked five years ago is no longer connecting with customers or clients. So interrogate our value profits, our promise to customers. Do we understand our customer base as well as we did five years ago? Do we know their pain points? Do we know their needs? Are we addressing those properly? And then value chain, you know, that's the whole delivery system. And interrogate an entire value chain to make sure we are truly delivering value to the customer that we say we understand.

SPEAKER_00 13:48

And you know, when when you hear HR talking about customer, we're talking about anyone that you serve. This is all applicable, irregardless of what uh business arena you're in. And you know, as you were talking, I was thinking about this this leadership principle here that says insight grows when leaders step back before stepping forward. It's kind of like a song and a dance, right? But we got to step back so that we can get awareness. We have to step back so we can really see not just what's happening in front of us, but the bigger picture. Or sometimes, as a leader, I challenge myself when I go to work, stop talking so much. So sometimes just be present in the room and listen.

SPEAKER_01 14:28

I think that's brilliant.

SPEAKER_00 14:30

And watch you learn so much about what's really happening, not just with getting the mission accomplished, but what's really happening with the people that you are leading who are doing the work.

SPEAKER_01 14:42

Oh, you're you're so right. A lot of leaders just want to jump in, roll up their sleeves, and work harder. And oftentimes that's actually not what's called for. What's called for is a slow down, do a really good assessment, listen, ask a lot of good, hard questions, close your mouth, get the good people in that room around you right. Yeah, get the good people in the room that you've brought on your team and and ask them some good, hard questions. I think you're absolutely right, Adrian.

SPEAKER_00 15:08

Okay, so let me ask you this question, right? Art science. What is the art and science of great leadership?

SPEAKER_01 15:16

Gosh, we love this. I love this distinction. We talk about this a lot. We use that exact same language. So, what we call the science, we recognize as not truly science. I understand that, but what we call science is the infrastructure of organisms. So we have the we have the systems, the processes, the structure, the scalability, the priorities, the metrics, again, the value chain, all the infrastructure that makes something scalable is what we would call the science is documenting that, interrogating that, consistently making that more efficient, all the things around infrastructure. What we would call the art would be everything that has to do with humans, because we are complicated, sometimes messy, and and getting to understand how people tick, how how to inspire them, how to read the room, how to influence, when to have hard conversations, when to correct, when to champion in high five. Uh, that is kind of the art. Building culture is the art. So the best leaders know how to do both, they know how to build systems that scale, and they know how to build cultures that people really want to belong to.

SPEAKER_00 16:34

So, when I hear you, what I hear you saying, I'm gonna put it in my own words that you're talking about when when they scale, when they have clarity and when there is connection. Yeah, there's that balance.

SPEAKER_01 16:46

That's good.

SPEAKER_00 16:47

Okay, so then here's a here's some more words that we hear quite often that I want to hear you talk about. What is the value of authenticity and trust? That though those are two really big words that you know we hear a lot about, but sometimes in the practical, uh, it's a little challenging. But what is the value of authenticity and trust in leadership?

SPEAKER_01 17:11

It's invaluable, it is those are priceless. So for us, authenticity and vulnerability are two of our four core values, and anyone who ever engages with us has to sign a document that they're gonna come play by those rules, those principles. So, authenticity, the way we describe it is you show up as your real self. Vulnerability for us, the way we define it is you're you're willing to look weak. You're I don't know, I need help, uh, I don't understand, I dropped the ball, uh, I'm a little bit scared. Like those things are priceless in past days, they were seen as weaknesses, right? To say, I don't know something, but really it clears the way for innovation, for dialogue, for communication, authenticity. We we we joke and say, leave your cape at the door. There's no super women or supermen here. Just show up as the real self. Let's just have real conversations. So, very practical, very real, and very powerful because that's really the only way that we can have the kinds of conversations we need to have. Now, that's going to lead to your deeper question, which is trust. In the five levels of healthy organizations, and this is from Patrick Lincioni's work, trust is at the very bottom, it's the very foundation of a healthy organization. But you and I both know it is very difficult to get there. Trust begins when leaders demonstrate by example that their word is their bond, that they'll follow through on what they say, they don't throw people under the bus, they don't railroad people, they they don't take publicity that should have gone to someone else, they don't own other people's you know, whims. Yes, they're they'll sacrifice themselves for the team, they have people's back, like so many small things day in and day out. It's never one thing, right? Consistent showing up for the good of the people and the good of the team. That's when people's defense mechanisms can go down and say, Okay, I'm safe here. When people when people can say I'm I'm safe to disagree, I'm safe to create, I'm safe to innovate, I'm safe to challenge. When people feel safe, then we have a pretty healthy organization.

SPEAKER_00 19:33

So I've noticed over the years, I guess the last couple of years, that psychological safety is another really big um, not just a buzz, not just buzzwords, but it's it's a really big deal right now when you look at leadership and what's happening in the workplace. And um, you know, we are admonished as leaders to, like you're saying, have that authenticity which builds credibility, which allows people to feel safer. I was um coaching someone recently and they were talking about the leader that they are being led by. They don't know who that person's gonna be from day to day. Yeah, they go to work, they don't know if if they're like they they they don't know if they're gonna be angry, if they're gonna be calm, you know, and to the point now where in in the department, people are nervous about making a mistake. Yeah, like if they make a mistake, they won't be treated like you're human being. We can recover from this, we can move forward. Um, that's that's not the way we want to lead. It does not build trust, right? Because trust has a foundation for collaboration, for resilience, for performance in my in my workspace. I um try to share with my team, listen, we have shared wins and we have shared challenges.

SPEAKER_01 20:46

Yeah, that's good.

SPEAKER_00 20:48

You may not be responsible for the mistake, but we're gonna come together to figure out how to support that individual and how to support as a team.

SPEAKER_01 20:58

Adrian, can you imagine? You just imagine our nation or the world. Can you imagine how much potential, how much innovation, how much creativity, how many good insights are left on the table? So because people are afraid to say, I've got an idea, or I don't know that that's gonna work. Like trust isn't just a feel-good thing, I mean, it removes friction in an organization, it elevates innovation. I can't imagine how much potential is left hidden in the back pockets of people because leaders don't have the guts to say, let's have a great, honest, safe conversations.

SPEAKER_00 21:38

Safe conversations. So, leaders, you're listening, you're watching right now. You are leading, which means you have influence, which means you have opportunity, which means it's within your space and your sphere to restart if you have to, but create a culture of clarity, of authenticity, and safety, a psychological safety. And who does it begin with? It does. Not begin with your team, it begins with you.

SPEAKER_01 22:04

Yes, ma'am.

SPEAKER_00 22:05

So on that note, let me ask you this what practical strategies can leaders implement to reignite innovation, energy, and forward movement within their teams and organizations.

SPEAKER_01 22:20

First of all, understand that energy isn't something that you motivate. And that may sound counterintuitive. Energy is something you unlock in people. It's not something if you're trying to drive motivation, you don't understand motivation. Energy is something you unlock by removing friction and restoring clarity and trust, right? So we we teach what we call energy is going to follow a very understandable map, if you will. Energy, human energy in an organization. When I feel like I'm safe and it's a trusting environment, and I'm connected to purpose and I'm good at what I do, energy is naturally going to flow. You don't have to force it out of me. So we teach this thing that we call the map to success. And it's not original with us. I go back to Duchy and Ryan back in the 70s. I'm kind of giving my age away here, but they created what they call the self-determination theory. They want to understand how what motivated people, what how are people inspired? And they they came up with relatedness and autonomy and competence. And we've reorganized that for ourselves and put it in a teaching format that we call the map to success mastery, autonomy, and purpose. Mastery, and people are good at what they do and they feel competent and they're they're trained. When I feel confident in my skills, energy is gonna follow that. You and I are human beings, and beginning beginning around age two, we had an opinion on how things should go. Yes, right, and we call it a terrible twos, but that's that's the kid coming to realize like, wait, I have an opinion about things. Yes, I'm a person, yes, so it's an abomination of humanity when people are micromanaged and controlled because we're locking away all this genius because people are like so. When we give autonomy and we ask for people, share, I love to hear your idea. We give them true authority and then purpose. People are not inspired by tasks, they're inspired by purpose. Yes, yes, so we if we can build now. This is gonna take time. If we can build mastery, autonomy, and purpose into our workplace and connect people with those things, energy naturally follows that path. So I'm gonna say it again. You don't have to force energy, you have to unlock it. Unlock it, and we unlock it with this very predictable map to success, mastery, autonomy, and purpose.

SPEAKER_00 25:01

This is good stuff right here. You're giving us a masterclass. I love it, I love it. So let me ask you this question, right? How does infusing meaning and mission into our message cause engagement to skyrocket within an organization and allows us to build teams with purpose? How does infusing meaning and mission into our messaging?

SPEAKER_01 25:24

Yeah, keep it keep in mind that innovation, energy, it doesn't die from lack of ideas, it dies from lack of permission. We're not giving people permission to bring their best self to work. So if we really want meaning and mission and engagement to skyrocket an organization, we have to be far more purpose-driven. I think it was Gallup who did this poll. They they wanted the a study, actually, they wanted to compare task-oriented companies versus purpose-driven companies when it comes to employee engagement. And so they did this study and they found out that purpose-driven companies have a 200% rate of engagement higher than task-driven companies. Yeah, it won't it shouldn't surprise anybody that that is true, because we're not we're not motivated by connecting these dots or following the that doesn't motivate us. So, what great leaders do is this, Adrian. They're able to connect me with the purpose of the organization, the why. Simon Sinek did a great job in teaching us to start with why, but they also connect with my why. So, what really high master class leaders do is they're consistently reinforcing the mission of the organization. We're about something big here. We're changing the planet, we're helping people connect with whatever it is at leaders' edge. We help to develop leaders, we have to build destination workplaces. That's a privilege, but also realize that the people aren't coming to work mainly for your mission, they're coming to work for their own. They want to buy their first house or go to Hawaii or help raise their grandkids, or so they have their own mission that is different than the company's mission. What great leaders do is they connect those missions. Here's how passionately following the company's mission can help you succeed in your mission. Great leaders know how to bring those two things together.

SPEAKER_00 27:32

I love it. And the best practice, you know, to all of our leaders here, regularly reinforce mission through storytelling, recognition, and communication of impact. Like we were talking earlier, you got to slow down, you got to slow down, be aware, have conversations, and regularly reinforce the mission. I love what you shared about us, about how you message to your team. It's not, as I was listening to you, I'm thinking, it's not just about rah-rah-rah motivation. As you put that consistent messaging, that is the motivation. Yeah, people feel they connect the dots, and like you mentioned earlier, then they are able to see and feel like they have purpose with what they're doing and with whom they're being um they're organized with. Wow.

SPEAKER_01 28:19

When people see how their work truly matters, performance stops being compliance and it becomes commitment and passion. Yeah, teach them, teach them how their work matters. I call it leaking vision everywhere. Leak vision everywhere, everywhere you go, every staff meeting, every one-to-one, every opportunity, every time we drop the ball is a is a good opportunity to say, let's get back to the basics. Why we're here, leak vision everywhere.

SPEAKER_00 28:45

I love this. Oh, this is such a master class. We could go on and on for hours. But listen, as we turn the corner on this conversation here, I want to ask you this question. If a leader feels stuffed right now, and this leader is unsure how to regain momentum, what is one decisive action they can take this week to begin moving forward?

SPEAKER_01 29:13

Understand the momentum doesn't come from doing more, like like you said, or go, I'm gonna go back to you. Slow down a little bit. Momentum doesn't come from doing more, it comes from doing what matters most with clarity and consistency. So if I'm gonna give you one practical if I'm gonna give our listeners one practical thing is to slow down, gather the troops and say, say, let's go back to authenticity and vulnerability. I feel stuck, I feel stuck, I think we're stuck. I want to hear some of your great ideas on what you're feeling and thinking, how to get us unstuck. Then close your mouth and listen to the team. So gather the team, say I feel stuck, I need your help. What are your ideas? And start asking questions.

SPEAKER_00 29:56

This is good stuff. All right, transformation station leaders. Listen, I need you to stop, pause, reflect. I need you to listen to this or watch on the replay because you there's no way you can process all of this and get all this goodness to be able to move forward right now. So you got to go back, listen carefully as HR is talking with us because literally he gave us the keys on how to move forward with momentum today. HR, I know that there are leaders who are listening and watching that want to engage with you, they want to tap into your resources, get the book. What's the best way for our listeners and our viewers to be able to engage with you and tap into your resources?

SPEAKER_01 30:36

Yeah, you're you're putting up the website there. Just email me, HR at yourleadersedge.com. I'm a very personal guy. I love to connect with people. So HR at yourleadersedge.com, send me an email and let's chat.

SPEAKER_00 30:48

All right. Well, listen, HR, this was amazing. Leaders, you see this right there on the screens. I'm going to invite you to support HR. I'm going to invite you to go get the book, the website, and also, really importantly, reach out to him. Let him know that you saw or you heard this particular episode. I know that there is much in here that has resonated with you. So share with HR what has resonated with you because the community that learns together grows together. Thank you so much for joining us today. It has been an honor and a privilege to have you with us today, HR.

SPEAKER_01 31:22

Adrian, you're amazing. Keep doing what you're doing.

SPEAKER_00 31:25

Thank you so much. Oh my goodness. Listen, today's conversation reminded us that plateaus are not the end of progress. No, they are invitations to lead differently. Differently when leaders like you and I approach these seasons with reflection and adaptability and renewed purpose, we get to create the conditions for breakthrough and sustained growth. If this episode has resonated with you, I want you to be sure to subscribe to Transformation Station Leadership Podcast. Share this episode that we just had with HR. Share this conversation with another leader in your network right now who may be navigating a season of stalled momentum. I want to remind you again, we have the lead her shift conference that's coming up April 13 to 16th. You need to register today. And you can do that by going to mobilizingwithimpact.com. Don't miss it. And before that, our opener is April 9th. We have the Lead Her Leadership Seminar with Kyla Glover. Grow, glow and go. All right. Well, remember, leadership growth is not always linear. Sometimes the greatest breakthroughs come after the quiet seasons of reassessment and intentional change. So until next time, stay focused, stay adaptable, and keep leading forward with clarity and with purpose.