162. Aligning Vision and Ambition With Daryl Smith

Welcome to another episode of Professional Builder's Secrets. In this episode I interviewed Darrel smith, one of APB's executive business coaches based in New Zealand. Daryl uses his decades of experience in the construction industry to help empower builders through people centered strengths based coaching that drives growth, confidence and lasting success. We dive into the importance of aligning personal purpose with your business goals and maintaining focus through daily habits and building a financially successful building company. Keep listening to discover the key systems and processes that you can get in place to help you achieve your long term aspirations. This episode of Professional Builder Secrets is brought to you by Apparatus Contractor Services. Apparatus provides full scope end to end QuickBooks, Precision Construction accounting and and CFO services for residential builders. If you feel like you can't completely trust your weekly and monthly financial reports or you feel like you're flying blind, Apparatus Root will rebuild and operate your QuickBooks accounting system and give you precision construction accounting capability you can trust. Learn more@apparatusteam.com or on the APB Rewards Partner directory.

It really did teach me a lot that we need to have understand our own core values. If we're building a business, we have to have those through the heartbeat and the veins of that business. You know, if your family had value system, you do what you say you're going to do, then in your business this may mean a value such as we are careful, thoughtful and planned with our words and commitments. It could be a core value. Right. That alignment with our personal values is so critical to our business goals.

Welcome to Professional Builder's Secrets, the podcast for building company owners wanting to grow safely and securely. I'm your host, Will Blunt and today I'm joined by executive business coach, Daryl Smith. Daryl, welcome to the show.

Thank you, Will. Privilege to be on your podcast.

Great to have a coach, an APB coach in New Zealand actually, which is exciting.

Yeah. Look, I'm honored to be the first APB coach in New Zealand and it really is quite an honour.

Yeah, cool. Well, Daryl, before we dive into the details, today, we're going to talk a lot about personal wellbeing and company wellbeing and how we can find a great intersection between those two topics. But do you want to just give listeners out there a bit of a background on your career?

Yeah, absolutely, I'd love to. Well, look, I really, I jumped straight out of school into a building apprenticeship. So I sort of got my teeth into building at a reasonably early, early age. Didn't go to the last year of school, jumped straight into building apprenticeship, which, you know, I loved and didn't really know what, what I was wanting to do when I left school. But I was always into fitness and health and building seemed like, you know, a good way where I could still keep fit and healthy and be outside a bit. So had a lot of drawings for me, so it was great. And look in, in my apprenticeship I, I worked with a guy who was a, a reasonably small time builder but he did, you know, quality new homes, a lot of renovations and some light commercial work. So I got a really good grounding in the building trade and ironically in the, in the second year of my apprenticeship he went away on a holiday for four weeks and he put me in charge of the team. And I wasn't really certain if it was just because I was a cheap option or if he saw leadership in me, but really I took on board that he saw leadership in me and I did my best by the, the team and the clients and you know, that was quite a pivotal, pivotal step in my career because I thought, hey look, I, I love this job. I've got some sort of natural strength in leadership and supporting others to succeed. So it was, you know, really, you know, good grounding in the industry and gave me some confidence to, to lead in, which was great. I sort of then migrated on to doing quite a bit of labor only work where I just contracted builders and that and a little fun fact about me, I, I, I were doing, I was doing a lot of water skiing at the time as well. And I got this contract to, to coach a international water ski team. So I would build during summer season through into autumn and then in winter I'd go overseas and coach this international water ski team. So that was a really fun part of my building. I was, I was building and then I was coaching as well physically and claim to fame in that coaching stint as I took that team to the first place in the Asian championships. But you know, I say that because it sort of honed my skills in coaching people, you know, really pulling the best out of people, you know, if it be athlete or management or whatever it might be. And that, you know, really, you know, helped me in my career moving forward. One of the next steps I made was I was employed by a company to be their qs. And at the time I wasn't a QS quantity surveyor, so I had no knowledge of that. But I was a builder, knew how to build houses and this business owner wanted somebody that knew the intricacies of building. You could see something that may take a lot longer than a standard QS So that really gave me confidence to, you know, put pen to paper, get a real feel for what a office type job situation was. And it sort of gave me the foresight to think, oh, maybe I should go and get a bit more qualification because at that stage I just don't just say just being a builder because it's a great occupation. And from that foresight I, I got from that role I went back and did a degree that led me on to a bit more study later on. But another significant moment in my career was when I finished that degree. I came out and got a role as a site project manager. But this time I was in commercial. I hadn't been in full blown commercial before. I've been in light commercial through my apprenticeship and did a few things around that. So this experience really humbled me. Well because I was like, I thought I knew I was at that stage, I thought I knew it all and I was like, well this commercial stuff is really different. It really did humble me and it taught me that I actually needed to know a lot more about construction systems, construction methodology and how to run a professional building company. So from there I went back and I got a diploma in construction management and one in quantity surveying. And that was really again an eye opener for me going, hey, I need some more knowledge because I still have a drive to help other people. So I need to get some knowledge to really help other people and probably fast forward a little bit. In the last 15 years I've worked as a, in executive management, looked after at one stage, 15 plus franchise owners around. I'm based in New Zealand, so a group housing company, that was a really good experience too. And then I went into a joint venture partnership with a housing company. After those experiences I really changed my focus into business consulting and business coaching. And when I found the apb I was really excited because I was really sold on their vision and, and it really resonated with me, you know, what they saw in the industry and the need that they were filling as well. Looking at building companies, helping them to function more in a more professional way. So I really love what APB do for business.

This might need to be one that we take offline, but I've never been on a crack water skiing. I've just, I can stand up for about a second and that's it.

Yeah, look, that's true. It's one of those sports that you've got to put the time in and it's, it's just time on the water and, and when you get to the competitive water skiing, especially slalom skiing. So there's three disciplines. Slalom, jump and trick, and the slalom. You go through a course and you've got to get around six boys, but if you mess it up and miss one, that's it, you're done. So it's. I know, it's kind of cutthroat sport as well.

Yeah, I've always loved the concept because I do like adrenaline stuff. I do, you know, skydiving, those kind of things, but. Oh, yeah, haven't. Probably haven't done it enough just to get the knack of it. Maybe we can organize a trip. But just back to your career. That was a great summary, by the way. What do you see the overlaps from your time working in the commercial space and how that can be applied to residential builders?

Typically, commercial have had to be more professional quicker than residential because there's a lot more stringent restrictions, especially health and safety and systems. And there's a lot more components with you going up levels to get right or to get wrong. So I think commercial, what I learned is their systems were definitely ahead of what residential were in the sense of systems process. And so I think systems and processes were, you know, a big take home for me from commercial, that we needed to be more orderly in what we did.

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Okay, so let's bring it back to the topic at hand. You're very passionate about this intersection between personal aspirations and business aspirations. So let's start from a personal perspective. How can builders better align their personal goals and purpose with those of the business?

Yeah, I love that question. Well, because there is often a. Often there's not an intersection between personal business and I think it's a. You know, it's a real key component to really drive good business and longevity of business. You know, we all have our own values and beliefs, you know, some set at a young age and some set later on as we navigate the goods and the bads of life. And I think one of the things I've learned is mindsets and values can change. You know, if we see a better way, we can adapt and move there. One of the things, you know, I was very blessed to come from an incredibly balanced, caring, you know, a family that was people centered and strengths based. You know, they obviously didn't know that they. That's the approach they had. It was just in their DNA to. To care for people and bring out the best in people. And one of our family mantras was there's no such thing as can't but there is find a way. And I love that because every time there was a roadblock in my life, my parents would say, well, it's not a can't, you know, what is the way through. And that was one of the, I guess, values that was instilled in me. Look, a simple value of my family is to always do what is right, even. Even when no one is watching. And I love that. Ironically, it's one of APB's core values as well. I think we oftentimes we go through businesses, business and we have success and failures. I love failures because they teach us so much, right? And one of the most successful businesses I was a part of, I was a partner with someone else for a number of years and the business functioned very well. But unfortunately I was. I was pushed on some core values and asked to compromise on these values, which I wouldn't. So I ended up exiting that business. And the reason I stood up for what I was believed was just as simple as it had, you know, was imprinted on my life that I will not compromise on these particular values. Others have different structures, right? So I don't hold any grudges against that business or those people because they had a different core value to what I had. But it really did teach me a lot that we need to have. Understand our own core values. If we're building a business, we have to have those through the, the heartbeat and the veins of that business to really, you know, imprint yourself on that business. Right. This is something I can sit back and be really proud of. You know, I think a good example would be, you know, if your family had know value system. You do what you say you're going to do, then in your business this may mean a value such as we are careful, thoughtful and planned with our words and commitments. It could be a core value, right, that, that, that links there. I was thinking about this will and it would transition into how we employed staff. You may take a little bit longer and a structured approach in process to employ people to ensure you get to know the person on a deeper level before committing to an employment contract. I believe these, our personal values can link through to the business. Another, another business I was part of, I had a staff member who was, he was literally a superstar, this person. But as soon as I turned my back or I was out of the office, he'd be, he'd be turning on me or other staff. And I, I realized that he, it was just in this guy's nature that he just loved drama. And I found out that he just loved that and not necessarily one of his core values. It's just who he was. But from this experience, I wrote and added a core value, which was, we value our team and we speak well of each other because it was something that we were going through at the time. I eventually moved this guy off. It was amazing what it did for the atmosphere of my team. It lightened the air, you know, it just felt like a good breath. But he easier and everybody was a lot happier, you know, which naturally led to an increase in business motivation, which transitioned into positive business results. So I think those couple of examples hopefully, you know, show that that alignment with our personal values is so critical to that of our business goals and values. Yeah.

Can you dive into a bit more about the benefits of creating that alignment between personal and the business values and purposes?

One of the keys for me is that, you know, when you're creating a business, you want your people to do what you believe you want to, you know, have your company manuals, company structure in place that they can pick that up and really understand a bit more of your heartbeat. And I think when you've got those manuals in place and you are living those values, your team will then live those values as well. I probably could pull out a few good examples, but the people you work with, enjoying who you work with, and that could be like your suppliers making sure that they're on the same page as you are, making sure that their core values align with yours because they are a representative of your company on your site. So you want to have those aligning similar values.

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. What then can builders do at a more granular level to try and stay focused and aligned with those aspirations that they have? What habits can they put in place?

Having habits, but then staying focused on it? I, I, I love, I've got two quotes that I, that I pulled out and I, and I love this one by Bruce Lee. And he says, I fear not man who has practiced 10,000 kicks, but I do fear a man who's practiced one kick 10,000 times. And that just sort of aligns with that focus. Right. It's, you know, if you're practicing that one thing and you get great at that, then the results will speak for themselves. Bruce's case, it's a knockout, right? The second quote was from Brian Tracy, who I really respect, and he says, successful people are simply those with successful habits. As simple as that. Right. And when I was running my building company, there was different habits and rituals that I Had and some of them you'll probably laugh at, but I'll walk you through them because they, they really were the cornerstone to my success at that time. And those habits were as simple as, you know, starting the day in a positive way. And this is. I've got a natural care for people. And one of the things I would do is I'd get up early in the morning, I'd be at the gym at 6:30 in the morning. So I'd do that. Monday to Friday I'd be at the gym, I work out for one and a half hours or whatever I felt like, but I would be there and I'd work out. And one of the things I found, and I personally love the early workout because I arrive, I know some people don't, but I personally do the early workout and then I arrive at work having already overcome and conquered something tangible. So I feel empowered already and then I can continue that through the day. And for me, that habit allowed me to. Whatever came at me during the day I was able to deal with and overcome. The second thing I did is I'd be at the office about 8 o'. Clock. What I would do, I would intentionally interact with my staff rather than getting into the work. But I would make sure it was, it was a non focused mentality that I had. Sorry, non work focused mentality. So I was just caring for the people, talking about them. So everyone was at ease with the day and there was a positive energy and a low intensity to start the day. And I just felt that that that habit really set a tone in the office for a lightness. And when the clients came in, people tend to take a little bit more time with the client rather than just rush them. The next thing I did, which again is something that I just got into the habit of doing. And it was to the girls in my office called it my second office. I would go down to my second office, which was a local cafe and I would sit there, you know, I go there with a folder and that time was my focus time. So in that time there I wouldn't take any phone calls unless it was my family, but I wouldn't take any phone calls at all. But I would just focus on business and strategy and Interesting. This caf? I purposely selected it because it was really the business hub for local developers and other business professionals. This business, sorry, this caf was in the same building as a big real estate company, the Anz corporate office and some popular solicitors. You'd often find that there was some early morning auctions on or there was business people or I would bump into developers and it's amazing how many times that I was just Jonny on the spot. The other thing I love to do is I would know the caf owners by name and I would know all this staff by name because I spent quite a bit of time there. But what I found is what they would do if someone came in and they were chatting to them and they go, oh well, Darryl was down the road and he, because of that communication and value on people, it really I believe supported my business. But yeah, but like I said, I would have a notepad, I would brainstorm, I would look at, you know, the things that concerned me about my business, about my people, about clients, suppliers, and I just write those down and then I would get a little bit creative. And what I mean by creative is I just brainstorm ideas and steps and actions, system tweaks. So I would do all that in that morning and then I'd come out of there with up to 10 items that I wanted to conquer in that day. But often that was just one to five because I wanted to set myself up for success. So again, talking about habits, this is something that I did to really as the business owner to have strategy. Then I'd come back to the office. You can stop me anytime. If I'm dribbling on too much, keep.

Going on a run.

So the next thing I would do is I'd come back to the office and I had a construction operations manager and I'd meet with him every single day. I'd come to the point in, in my career I realized that I couldn't be involved on site in the on site activities. I needed to be over the business strategy, the marketing, the advertising, how my drawing leads in for my sales team. Construction operations manager, he was vital to the ship running well and he did, he did a wonderful job with me. He's, he's, he's one man that I would employ tomorrow again just like that, because he was. But we caught up every single day. The other meetings during the week, like sales meeting, I had a team meeting every single week. So these were in my diary every single week. A sales meeting, team meeting. The other thing I implemented which before I came on in this business, I brought into this business. But they would have drinks on a Friday afternoon. And what I found when I, when I talked to all the staff is they really did it begrudgingly because they really wanted to get home and enjoy their family. So I brought in that everybody must be done by 4 o' clock on a Friday home to their families. We just eliminated the drinks catch up because there was no benefit to the business and I felt it was a detriment to my people. So those are a few things that I did. The last thing I did, which you probably laugh at as well, is I, I rode my Harley. I had a Harley at the time, so I rode my Harley to work every Friday. This was, you know, something I just love doing. But for me, beside it being just great fun and I loved it. I felt, you know, free and just really blessed every time I started that thing up. But it reminded me also that the reward that I had by actually having the privilege to own that came from my team. And that I had to look after my team, focus on my team. They were really the ones that made my business succeed. Look, as strange as it may sound, it also made me more focused on securing more profitable jobs and activities that I knew would lead to business growth. Which is crazy, right? So look, these are just some of the habits that I had. Obviously not all of them, but I felt that they joined the dots between personal well being, reflection, productivity and structured strategic, if you like, goal alignment. That I had these long term goals, the only way I was going to achieve them is by every day working on them. And I love the saying that freedom demands structure. I'm lucky enough to be quite structured by nature, but I have witnessed it, you know, to be very accurate, accurate that freedom demands structure as I put that into my daily habits and rituals and help me to stay focused on my business goals.

Yeah, awesome. There's some, some real gems in there I think that builders can apply to their day to day and just, I mean it really comes across the care you had for your. And I think to your point, that really drives their care towards the company and the performance and everything and it wants you to do better and it kind of works in a cycle. My favorite tip actually that you gave, which I think is applicable to every builder out there, is the second office concept. Because the data that we pull out of this state of residential construction industry report over the last five years continues to show that builders aren't working on their business enough. They're working in the business and getting caught in the day to day too much. And to actually assign time where you go away and you work on the strategic side of the business and really dedicate time to that, I think that's a really powerful tip.

Well, that's one of the hardest things to do as well because you can get drawn into the Office and the busyness and everything that's going on. So to actually pull yourself out, I think I mentioned. But a lot of people that I mentioned that to, they go oh, I'd love to have that time but I'm so busy doing this, this and this. But as you point out, the point of it is you have to come away to look at strategy and focus to actually drive the business growth.

Yeah, exactly. That's a great summary of the personal side of things. And you've touched a little bit on the benefits for the company. But for the builders out there that are really trying to create a financially profitable business, one that they can drive growth with on all of the key metrics that we're looking to, how can you kind of stay connected to your personal ambitions while also still trying to achieve those things?

Look, in my experience there are a number of really critical components to linking that building profitability through to staying true to your personal ambitions and where they cross over. One of the first things is, you know, starting with your why. I think it's a critical to build a foundation based on purpose that's deeply meaningful in I think if we dig into the why of your business beyond the profits. What is the why? It could be, look, I want to leave my children enough money to buy houses or it could be I want to build a shelter for homeless people in the city and I want to fund that ongoing. But I think a focus on purpose helps guide profitability and those profitable decisions were the driver to personal fulfillment. If we link those things up in the why, hopefully that made sense. The, the next key I would say would be consider a value driven, value driven decision making. There was a pivotal moment in my business where we had completed eight low value. You probably know where this one's going. Low margin. They were community type housing projects. Looking back on it, we were doing good to contribute to this type of housing. However, when I went and back costed these houses that we'd done and obviously eight of them due to the, the nature of them, there was a higher comp. Compliance some different products that we would normally use and you know, the client was focused on cheapest price wins. So those jobs ended up being well that they ended up at a loss. And when we looked at that I went and made a decision to you know, on those do we carry on with those so called feel good houses or do we do we not? But I decided that I needed to build an ethically long term business, you know, that would make it through the ups and downs and make Good profits. So we decided not to carry on with those types of business even though it was more of them ahead. And I made the, the move, if you like, to go value driven decision making to change my focus on a higher quality home that represented the ability to put a higher margin in their different clients. And then with the money that we made from that, we could go and do good in the community. So that was just a shift for me, for me as a person, you know, I love building relationships and keeping those. So you know, investing in long term relationships was, was critical for me. And a good example when, when I was running that business, I had some good partnerships, but I had a kitchen place and a timber merchant come to me. They were cheaper on paper, but I decided to stick with the kitchen manufacturer and the timber merchant that I had in place already. And the amazing thing with that, because I decided to stick with them and work on their relationship as a long term rather than oh look, we can flush you out and get some cheaper product. These relationships really opened up some doors. It's specifically for the, from the merchant. He became a really big, big promoter of my business and he opened up some doors to developers and clients that we wouldn't otherwise have had the chance to get in front of. And not to mention the merchants, you know, endorsement. And it was sort of a foot in the door, almost an automatic credibility because of that relationship. And if I hadn't stayed with that merchant, would have started new with another merchant. They would have had their list of guys that were 5, 10, 20 above me. And so I wouldn't have got that, that long term relationship. Looking at that focus was really important to me. And then as I've mentioned before, you know, measuring business success beyond profit alone, I probably, to sum this question up, I learned to measure success beyond profit alone. Which doesn't mean we don't place a solid profit in our jobs because we obviously do and we need to. But the momentum that was created by applying my personal values to business strategy was felt, as we've already mentioned, by the whole team. And it became a really authentic reflection on how much I cared for them and wanted the best for them, which transition to our clients. So staying true to our personal, personal ambitions or values can really create profitable business as long as we're not taking our eye off business profit and got to always keep an eye on that financials. But there's that vein going through your business of that personal approach.

Yeah, well, I guess if you have a true care for your employees and for your personal Aspirations, whether that's family related or whatever it is, then profitability is important because all of those things will, you know, deteriorate if you don't have a profitable business.

Yeah, it's so true.

So earlier on you touched on the company manual as a, as a key process or system in place that can help kind of aid this process of aligning your personal aspirations with the companies and getting values and all of those type of things. What are some other key systems and processes that builders need to have in place to make sure they're on the right track?

Yeah, and you look another really awesome question. The, you know, systems and processes are so vital where we encounter so many builders that are so busy because it's all in their head and they're going, hey, look, well, I'm needed for that, I'm needed for that. And to be able to really get those down on paper, you know, is a real clincher. And look, I think before I fully answer that, I'm just going to touch on a couple of reasons why I joined apb because it segues in nicely into that question. And one of the reasons I came on as an executive business coach, first reason was I was really impressed with the systems and processes that have APB have invested in and implemented into practical training material and transitioning through to their coaching and focus on their clients. I think the whole professionalism, they help builders lift their eyes up and focus on professionalism. And I'd also felt that the interactions with app, in my interaction, sorry, with app, that they actually cared for their builders that they had the privilege of working with rather than, oh, these are just my clients. They aren't just clients. They're dealing with people and people's reputation, livelihoods. So I really, you know, saw that as a, you know, a real need in the industry to become professional. I just jotted down one of the legendary basketball coach John Wooden's quotes as well here. Well, when it says a good coach can change your game, a great coach can change a life. And I think as we're coaching, as we're putting in practice systems, what is our work in progress, how do we price for profit, those sort of systems, Our sales process. Do we have a sales process or is it just in the head of the business owner? And one of the things had in my own business was I realized that I needed to write down every single step that a salesperson would go through where they would go and then they didn't need me. You know, sometimes they needed me. Well, but not, not always. They could follow that process and get the client over the line. And all I had to do is support that process. I guess those are a couple of systems that, you know, need to be in place. Right, like your sales manual, construction manual. Do you book in slots in your, you know, in your sales, at the sales and that front end, do you go, hey, look, we've got this many slots this year, but you can fit in there. And it's creating that sort of scarcity. Those sort of systems are, you know, really vital. Yeah.

Cool. You're pulling out all the, all the big quotes today. Bruce Lee, John Wooden. For those that don't know, I'm sure everyone does. John Wooden, the most successful basketball coach probably of all time. You'd have to go close to saying, absolutely, yeah. He, he, didn't he win something like 18 college championships in a row or.

Something crazy like that in the college basketball league? He was phenomenal. And he did play himself, as before the NBA. So he, but he played at that high level himself. But whatever reason, he just became a phenomenal coach that was almost unbeatable.

And he's a quote machine. There's so many great quotes out there. Awesome. Daryl. Well, that's some, that's some really good practical advice for builders to take away. I think if we wanted to wrap today's conversation up in a nice bow for some practical steps that builders can take next, what would your final advice be for me?

Well, I love strategy. I love sitting back and reflecting, you know, what was what is currently and then looking ahead to what could be. You know, I've also learned through experience being overworked, being isolated, being dissatisfied with what I was doing, that challenged reflection and time for creative, creative and limitless. You know, when I get in that creative space of thinking, it's limitless. There's, you know, open the door up. Why shut it, you know, take the roof off. Let's be limit, limitless in our thinking. And that should shape our strategic direction. And I see also, you know, if we have an honest focus to strategy and planning as the basis to align business and our own personal goals and company goals, we can link those through into our mission, our vision and our values. Ironically, I'm reading a book at the moment by Stephen Bartlett and he's written a book called the Diary of CEO. In one of his chapters, he says, you know, we've got to make people feel something. Either way, some people will love you, some people will hate you, some simply won't care. You will only connect with the first two. But the ones that love you, the one that hate you. And so he's really talking about being who you are, being authentic to who you are. And don't worry about the guys that hate you or don't really care. Got to focus and you've got to go, this is who we are. Be proud of it. And, you know, deliver your business in that eyes. Don't try and please everybody because you can't. Yeah, that's. That's some advice that I would, would leave with people today, Will, is really get your eyes up, get your focus zoned in.

Great, great advice. Don't try and please everyone. I think it's great advice, but also keeping the focus there.

So.

So, Daryl.

Yeah.

Thanks so much for coming on the show today. I've really enjoyed getting to know you better and I'm sure everyone else out there has taken away some, some real good gems.

Awesome. Well, thank you very much. I really have enjoyed talking to you today, so thank you very much.

Awesome. A big thank you to our listeners as well, wherever you are in the world. If you like the show today, please subscribe to Professional Builder Secrets on your platform of choice. And if you're feeling generous, leave us a review. But until next time, have a great day.