1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,320 Tell me about your business for Shift Focus. My apology. 2 00:00:05,200 --> 00:00:11,760 My pleasure. I'm happy to talk about it. My vision for the business is really to help 3 00:00:11,760 --> 00:00:17,760 everyone enjoy their work, have fulfilling work so they can have and build rewarding careers, 4 00:00:17,760 --> 00:00:24,160 rewarding relationships, and enjoy a fulfilling life. And I do that by empowering managers. 5 00:00:24,160 --> 00:00:24,660 Okay. 6 00:00:24,660 --> 00:00:27,840 Managers have the biggest impact on how people feel about work. 7 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:30,960 Absolutely. And so I want to empower managers to lead themselves, 8 00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:33,200 lead their teams, and lead their organizations. 9 00:00:33,200 --> 00:00:38,640 Oh, that's amazing. And I tell you, that is one big thing. I was in the, of course, 10 00:00:38,640 --> 00:00:44,720 the corporate world. I'm now an entrepreneur myself. However, I realized when the managers 11 00:00:44,720 --> 00:00:52,720 were being affected, I was affected. And so if they couldn't manage their emotions, the business, 12 00:00:52,720 --> 00:01:00,000 their lifestyle, then it actually came to the employees. And it was a very hard day most of 13 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:07,120 the time. So when you do meet with managers, are they coming to you as new managers or they've 14 00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:15,040 been managers before? It's a couple of things. Sometimes they're coming in as new managers and 15 00:01:15,680 --> 00:01:19,520 they're looking for, you know, they're kind of feeling overwhelmed. Like I've got these 16 00:01:19,520 --> 00:01:26,240 new responsibilities. How do I do that? And we've worked with people like that. Other times, 17 00:01:26,240 --> 00:01:35,760 they come when they're feeling stuck or stagnant, you know, managers typically like feel like they're 18 00:01:35,760 --> 00:01:39,920 really good. And then all of a sudden they realize like, my career is not developing. I don't know 19 00:01:39,920 --> 00:01:45,200 how to progress. I'm not feeling like I'm having the success I did before I became a manager. 20 00:01:45,200 --> 00:01:52,320 Maybe this isn't the role for me. And so I want to help them overcome that because I really do 21 00:01:52,320 --> 00:01:56,960 think managers are the ones that can really help, you know, drive culture change and really improve 22 00:01:56,960 --> 00:02:03,600 the organization. So it's really kind of those two points that are typical and inflection points 23 00:02:03,600 --> 00:02:09,600 for people. Absolutely. So feeling stuck, like in that plateau, not feeling like they're progressing 24 00:02:09,600 --> 00:02:15,680 and being a new manager, getting into that role and trying to fulfill that role. What is your, 25 00:02:16,480 --> 00:02:20,960 which one do you find easiest to work with? That's a random question, of course. 26 00:02:23,920 --> 00:02:29,680 You know, in some ways the new manager is easier to work with because, you know, they're coming in 27 00:02:29,680 --> 00:02:37,920 excited and hungry. But often the stuck manager is the one where, like I've been that person. 28 00:02:37,920 --> 00:02:42,560 Right. So that's the one like I have the most empathy for and want to help. And I feel like 29 00:02:43,360 --> 00:02:52,800 it has the greatest rewards. Where did this vision come from? Well, as I mentioned, I've 30 00:02:52,800 --> 00:03:01,200 been that person. So partly it was born out of that. I, you know, realizing like, what did I need 31 00:03:01,760 --> 00:03:06,080 at that point in my career and who would have been the perfect person to help me and what could they 32 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:12,640 have done? I spent 25 years in IT consulting and did a lot of projects where I would go on site and 33 00:03:12,640 --> 00:03:19,840 work to implement technical solutions. And so I also saw the difference good managers made. 34 00:03:19,840 --> 00:03:23,760 Like when we'd go in and do a project and I'd work with a manager and they were a good manager, 35 00:03:24,240 --> 00:03:29,520 it made everything so much better, not just for our project, but for the employees, for the 36 00:03:29,520 --> 00:03:35,200 organization. So that's really, it was kind of twofold. One, what did I need? And two, where do I 37 00:03:35,200 --> 00:03:42,400 really see the impact being made in organizations at the manager level? Makes all the sense in the 38 00:03:42,400 --> 00:03:49,440 world. And when you mention a good manager, what are the characteristics of a good manager? 39 00:03:50,960 --> 00:03:57,920 Well, I like to quote Russ Leroway, who wrote the book, When You Win, They Win, or When They Win, 40 00:03:57,920 --> 00:04:04,800 You Win. And he boils it down to two things, which I love the simplicity. One, it's ensuring 41 00:04:04,800 --> 00:04:10,080 the success of your team members. And two, delivering an aligned result. So helping the 42 00:04:10,080 --> 00:04:15,120 organization succeed. And then even though it's kind of embedded in there, I add a third one, 43 00:04:15,120 --> 00:04:21,760 which is manager fulfillment, feeling good about your job and what you're doing. Those are really 44 00:04:21,760 --> 00:04:28,240 what I'd say the three criteria for success are as a manager. Makes all the sense in the world. And 45 00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:38,080 I applaud you for those three, because it definitely helps out the, sets the tone for the team, if I may 46 00:04:38,080 --> 00:04:46,400 say. As you manage or as you coach these managers, what's the pushback that you get? Do you, or do 47 00:04:46,400 --> 00:04:47,600 you get any pushback? 48 00:04:49,600 --> 00:04:56,720 Ideally, no. Like, when we do coaching, you know, one of the things we want to kind of talk about at 49 00:04:56,720 --> 00:05:02,560 the beginning is coachability and where, kind of what are they trying to achieve and making sure, 50 00:05:03,120 --> 00:05:09,440 you know, my role as a coach is to support them in their goals. And so I'm not, I'm not coming in as 51 00:05:09,440 --> 00:05:17,600 a, whatever, a directive influence as much as a supportive influence. So hopefully we're not 52 00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:25,920 getting a lot of pushback. I think the challenge managers have is when they are, are challenged to 53 00:05:25,920 --> 00:05:30,880 kind of go outside of their comfort zone, they realize, you know, that, that takes a lot of 54 00:05:31,360 --> 00:05:39,200 courage and also some, some humility to, to really like start kind of seeing yourself as subservient 55 00:05:39,200 --> 00:05:43,680 to your employees, which manage, you know, great managers, I believe that's kind of how they view 56 00:05:43,680 --> 00:05:51,520 themselves. So, you know, I think it's just more of like that uncomfortable self discovery that we 57 00:05:51,520 --> 00:05:59,680 all go through if we're really going to change and grow in ourselves. Absolutely. And you, you, you 58 00:05:59,680 --> 00:06:08,640 said background of IT. Yep. So you pretty much had the knowledge to be able to figure out the systems 59 00:06:09,200 --> 00:06:16,880 to make this work. I also see that you have a seven, is it seven steps? Yeah, yeah. Seven pillars or 60 00:06:16,880 --> 00:06:22,400 modules. Yep. Okay. Okay. So I think that in my mind, you have in that background, it made it 61 00:06:22,400 --> 00:06:32,240 easier to have some, some steps and pillars. And when it boils down to it, the ultimate goal is for 62 00:06:32,240 --> 00:06:38,000 you to have a quote unquote, or, or for that manager to feel like they're doing better in their 63 00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:45,200 position. Do you have like a community or a group where they can all come back to and have these 64 00:06:45,200 --> 00:06:52,560 discussions or, you know, need more after your coaching? That would be great. I think that's maybe 65 00:06:52,560 --> 00:06:59,120 in the future. I do not have that. Okay. I have that yet. Yeah, I was thinking after, you know, 66 00:06:59,120 --> 00:07:04,240 once you get all these people together, because Brian, I'm sure you, you have some successful 67 00:07:04,240 --> 00:07:10,240 leaders due to the pillars that you've created, it would be great to have that feedback and that, 68 00:07:10,240 --> 00:07:17,200 you know, coming to each other to see what tools and techniques did they find the most useful in 69 00:07:17,200 --> 00:07:25,680 your strategies. Just a thought. Yeah. Yeah. That was a great one. Yes. Yes. And, and so how many, 70 00:07:26,400 --> 00:07:33,760 how many managers have you helped? We've had, I've been, I've been technically doing this for a couple 71 00:07:33,760 --> 00:07:42,560 of years. And, you know, I don't know what the count is, but say about 20, you know, kind of had 72 00:07:42,560 --> 00:07:48,720 some groups that have gone through as an organization and then a bunch of individual ones. Okay. I see 73 00:07:48,720 --> 00:07:58,240 that. And so when you decided to do this and shift focus, I mean that, when you decided to do and go 74 00:07:58,240 --> 00:08:07,840 into business for yourself and make this change, how did you get started? My entrepreneurial journey 75 00:08:07,840 --> 00:08:15,120 was probably not how I'd advise somebody else to do it. You know, I spent 25 years at the same IT 76 00:08:15,120 --> 00:08:22,320 firm and it was a consulting firm. We grew up, grew it from 25 to over 200. And that's where I got a 77 00:08:22,320 --> 00:08:27,360 lot of my experience. The organization was going through some change and I'm, you know, entering 78 00:08:27,360 --> 00:08:32,400 kind of what people refer to as a second half career and kind of was looking ahead as to what 79 00:08:32,400 --> 00:08:40,000 do I want to do the rest of my life? And so I just decided to make a change as opposed to what some 80 00:08:40,000 --> 00:08:46,000 people do and maybe what I'd advise is be a little bit more methodical and, and cultivate the kind of 81 00:08:46,000 --> 00:08:53,200 the landing pad, so to speak. I didn't do that. I decided it was time to make a change. And so I did. 82 00:08:53,200 --> 00:08:59,200 I cut over and switched and started trying to figure out what I was going to do and really 83 00:08:59,200 --> 00:09:04,960 it just came, you know, kind of bore from some introspection and kind of understanding who did I 84 00:09:04,960 --> 00:09:10,960 want to serve? Who did I want to help? Where did I really feel called to make a difference? And where 85 00:09:10,960 --> 00:09:15,840 did I think I could make a difference? And, you know, it took a little while to kind of figure that 86 00:09:15,840 --> 00:09:21,840 out, like I think all the businesses go through. And so I just started, just started kind of doing 87 00:09:21,840 --> 00:09:31,040 it. Okay. And what is, what's your, what's your goal for the remaining of the year? Did you set one? 88 00:09:32,960 --> 00:09:39,280 Yeah, one, the thing I'm really leaning into is, you know, I've done a lot of individual coaching 89 00:09:40,320 --> 00:09:46,160 and some group facilitation. I really want to start building more group coaching programs 90 00:09:46,160 --> 00:09:51,840 within an organization. So part of the, the methodology that you mentioned, the seven 91 00:09:53,120 --> 00:09:58,720 pillars there is really a methodology that when an organization implements it can help to build 92 00:09:58,720 --> 00:10:03,200 their leadership pipeline. And the start of that is starting with a group of managers and taking 93 00:10:03,200 --> 00:10:07,520 them through a group coaching program. So that's my goal for this, this year, for the remainder of 94 00:10:07,520 --> 00:10:13,920 the year is get a couple of groups launched on that. That would be awesome. And so you would 95 00:10:13,920 --> 00:10:20,080 guide the managers and then the managers would actually take that back to their company and be 96 00:10:20,080 --> 00:10:27,840 able to implement that within their company. Yep. They, without going too deep into the methodology, 97 00:10:27,840 --> 00:10:33,200 it starts with, you know, an onboarding process. So we, we kind of co-create an agenda, but generally 98 00:10:33,200 --> 00:10:38,880 following the methodology, which is really like starting with yourself, making sure you've got the 99 00:10:38,880 --> 00:10:44,480 right motivation and you're moving forward, making sure you understand how to support your career as 100 00:10:44,480 --> 00:10:51,040 a manager, and then implementing, uh, like a continuous improvement process for your department. 101 00:10:51,040 --> 00:10:54,720 So you're able to improve things in your department. You're starting to see, you know, 102 00:10:54,720 --> 00:11:01,040 how can you support your team? How can you make things better? And then if you've got a manager 103 00:11:01,040 --> 00:11:05,120 that's got a good career and feeling good about where they're going, they're making changes and 104 00:11:05,120 --> 00:11:09,120 improving things in their department, they're going to be growing. And, uh, and suddenly talk, 105 00:11:09,120 --> 00:11:14,960 what we call gearing for growth. And, uh, and that's really like, now you're really leading your team 106 00:11:14,960 --> 00:11:20,480 and talking about recruiting and retention and, and helping build people's careers. Um, and so 107 00:11:20,480 --> 00:11:26,400 that would all be part of the group coaching program. And, you know, the group dynamic is really 108 00:11:26,400 --> 00:11:31,520 important because then you get the opportunity for peer support, peer learning. They're sharing some 109 00:11:31,520 --> 00:11:38,560 of these ideas, uh, outside of just the coaching that I'm giving. Absolutely. And then that, as you 110 00:11:38,560 --> 00:11:43,440 said, that peer support and that group sharing, you're learning from each other, you know, that 111 00:11:43,440 --> 00:11:50,160 takes a little bit of work off of you just to be in the chair. Yes. Yeah. And it's more like, they 112 00:11:50,160 --> 00:11:56,000 know their context, right? They know the environment and the subtleties. So, uh, that's why, 113 00:11:56,000 --> 00:12:00,800 that's why coaching is so much more powerful than just training, because coaching is so much more 114 00:12:00,800 --> 00:12:07,200 important because coaching is, you know, helping apply an idea to their specific environment in a 115 00:12:07,200 --> 00:12:12,880 way that feels powerful and right to them. Absolutely. Absolutely. And also taking their 116 00:12:12,880 --> 00:12:19,520 personality, um, and being able to adjust it, uh, according to who they are and how they speak and 117 00:12:19,520 --> 00:12:25,680 things like that. You know, I think about this because as, of course, I think about my managers 118 00:12:25,680 --> 00:12:31,040 and I actually am not a manager and I don't think I ever really wanted to be one because I knew the 119 00:12:31,040 --> 00:12:38,320 headache that they were receiving. However, it was, it was just really important that they had all 120 00:12:38,320 --> 00:12:46,880 the knowledge that I needed them to have. When truth be told, I think that we over, overthink 121 00:12:46,880 --> 00:12:53,840 the thoughts that, that managers have the answers to everything. And so do you have managers feeling 122 00:12:53,840 --> 00:12:58,880 they need to have the answer for, for their employees and their staff and how do you work 123 00:12:58,880 --> 00:13:07,920 with that if you, if you do get that situation? Yep. I think that is a huge, uh, barrier in manager 124 00:13:07,920 --> 00:13:15,200 effectiveness because they get the title and now all of a sudden everybody's, uh, looking at them as 125 00:13:15,200 --> 00:13:20,160 like, just like you said, like, oh, they must have the answer. And of course they feel like, well, 126 00:13:20,160 --> 00:13:24,320 maybe I should, maybe, you know, what if I don't have the answer? Am I going to lose my job or am 127 00:13:24,320 --> 00:13:31,040 I going to get in trouble? So they're afraid to, to kind of speak up. And so one of the things we do 128 00:13:31,040 --> 00:13:39,280 is when we talk about a manager, um, a manager progression in their role, we start, actually 129 00:13:39,280 --> 00:13:45,200 start out with a practice stage, which is really acknowledging, no, there's, there, a manager has 130 00:13:45,200 --> 00:13:52,160 to learn on the job. And when they go through that practice stage, I think it builds a little bit more, 131 00:13:53,120 --> 00:13:59,600 uh, of that muscle of not always having to feel like you're right, being able to solicit input 132 00:13:59,600 --> 00:14:05,840 from your team and from other peers and your boss in a way that's, uh, empowering as opposed to, um, 133 00:14:06,400 --> 00:14:12,960 you know, fearful and, uh, and, and making those things explicit. So hopefully that answered your 134 00:14:12,960 --> 00:14:18,080 question, but I think your point is a hundred percent right. And that's one of the things that 135 00:14:18,080 --> 00:14:24,000 coaching can really help them kind of overcome. Definitely. Because I tell you, and the word I 136 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:29,360 could not think of is this misconception that they are to know everything, you know? And, and I tell 137 00:14:29,360 --> 00:14:33,680 you, when I went to my manager, if they didn't know in my mind, I'm like, well, what are you here for? 138 00:14:33,680 --> 00:14:39,760 You know? And that's so unfair. It's totally unfair. So I'm glad it's someone like you who's 139 00:14:39,760 --> 00:14:47,040 able to be like, yeah, don't, don't conform to them thinking, you know, everything because 140 00:14:47,040 --> 00:14:53,040 you're not supposed to. So when it also boils down to what I've realized in the, in the positions of 141 00:14:53,040 --> 00:15:00,560 managers is that some may delegate too much and some may not delegate enough. How do you have that 142 00:15:00,560 --> 00:15:07,920 discussion when you're speaking with one? Yeah, that's a great question. The, when you talk about 143 00:15:07,920 --> 00:15:14,960 delegation, people often focus on the what and the how, right? Like what, what do I need to delegate? 144 00:15:14,960 --> 00:15:19,280 What do I want to get off my plate? And, and then how do I do that? Do I give them, you know, the 145 00:15:19,280 --> 00:15:25,920 tasks? Do I, do I give them the responsibility? Do I, what level of follow-up do I need? And what I 146 00:15:26,720 --> 00:15:34,720 coach them to start with is the who. So think about your team, who's ready for more, who might need, 147 00:15:34,720 --> 00:15:38,880 you know, who isn't ready for more, but might be, and what do they need to get ready for more? 148 00:15:40,080 --> 00:15:46,080 And then what do they, what do they want to go? Like if I, if you were my employee and you didn't 149 00:15:46,080 --> 00:15:51,600 want to go into management, then I'd be talking to you about, well, what, what is your career, 150 00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:56,480 you know, what is a meaningful career for you? What do you want to do? That's going to inform 151 00:15:56,480 --> 00:16:04,320 then what do I delegate to Javonka? Right. And so you have to know your employees, where they're at 152 00:16:04,320 --> 00:16:11,520 and so that delegation discussion starts internally with who are, who are my employees? Do I know them? 153 00:16:11,520 --> 00:16:17,920 And from there, then the kind of the what and the how becomes a lot more seamless, a little more 154 00:16:17,920 --> 00:16:23,120 easy to manage. Thank you for being here today. I'm really happy that you tuned into Vision Pros 155 00:16:23,120 --> 00:16:28,480 Live. I'm looking forward to seeing your reactions as these episodes continue to move forward. This 156 00:16:28,480 --> 00:16:32,480 is going to get more and more fun. We'll have more and more engagement as well. We'll invite 157 00:16:32,480 --> 00:16:36,480 people to participate in the show and thank you for giving us your time and attention. 158 00:16:36,480 --> 00:17:03,280 Have an excellent time building out your vision and becoming a Vision Pro yourself.