How To Build A Culture People Never Want To Leave

Today's episode, I want to challenge you with a question. Are you running a fruitful business? Whenever I think about a fruitful thing or a fruitful business or fruitful life in general, these are some of the things that come to my mind and things that I've had to personally work on within my own business. And I've seen people in other businesses struggle And it doesn't always make it whenever these things are bad. And so we're going to go through this list. I'm just going to list them off before we get into it. Number 1 is culture. Number 2 is expectations. Number 3 is ownership. And number 4 is leadership. And let me write down, I just had another thought here. So whenever You think about a business, there's all of these things and these, there's lots more that goes into it, but these are the 4 main things that I think about, at least as the leader of an organization or business. The first thing is culture. And you see this in the church world, you see this in the business world, and you see this in families too. Like family culture is huge and it is set by typically the male of the house, so the father of the house. If they're not there, then the mother of the house. And so it is absolutely crucial on determining the success of the thing. And success means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. But to me, it means being fruitful, seeing abundance. And that can be abundance in relationships, in fulfillment, in monetary terms. It, it can mean a lot of different things. So culture is extremely important within the business world, and that's kind of what, where we're going to talk today because this is the Brand Builders Podcast. We talk about business content marketing, building a personal brand through content. Today's episode is sponsored by Empire Management Group. Whether you are a business owner looking to improve employee benefits, strengthen your insurance coverage, grow your sales, develop your leadership team, or build long-term wealth, Empire Management Group Provides practical solutions all under one roof. That's right. Their team helps businesses attract and retain top talent, improve operations, and create sustainable growth. Plus, through premier partnerships like Aflac, they offer career opportunities for individuals looking to make an impact in their community. Learn more at empire-management-group.com. Let's get to the episode. But it's important to build that culture. with your employees. If it's just yourself, then with you and your clients. People often forget about the culture of the clients. And so if you build a culture that is toxic, if you build a culture that nobody is necessarily excited about going into or participating in, you're going to have a hard time retaining these people, you're going to have a hard time retaining employees, a hard time retaining clients. I asked one of our employees here what they thought about whenever they thought about Howdy Media. And one of the words she used to describe was chill, but also at a high level, like perform at a high level. And so like, that's a green light indicator for me. And I guarantee you, if we bring some of our clients in here, they'll say pretty much the same thing. They know that we're going to get it done. They know that we're dependable. And that's the culture that we've built and the reputation we built because we've done it over and over and over, over the last 3 or 4 years. And one reason I know that clients will say this is because we have clients that have been with us for over 2 years at this point, working Every single week, making content with us every single week. And so there's a lot of loyalty there. If you have a good culture, people will get on board. And if you can have 10 people who are raving fans, you're always going to be getting referrals for the rest of your business, unless you go and do something absolutely stupid or idiotic, and then it's going to ruin your reputation. But what is this good culture? Look like? It means whenever people come into the studio, whenever they come into your business place, or whenever they talk to you on your phone, what feelings are they getting whenever they're experiencing your thing? Are you putting off a light? Are you putting off, um, a good energy in a way? Which to me, I already know that's the light of Christ. A lot of people who aren't believers will come into the studio or at our house and They'll just be like, man, it feels so light. It feels so airy. It feels so nice. And something about it gives good vibes. I guess there's no really better word than that as a Gen Zer that I have in my vocabulary. But creating that culture is that it's treating people right. And the more you do this over time, the better your culture gets. So focus on culture first. The next thing that I want to talk about is expectations. This is something that I've had to grow a lot in over the last few years is setting expectations with myself, setting expectations with the employees, and especially with the clients. Whenever we fail to set the expectations with our clients, Everything seems to go wrong. We end up being in situations that we never thought we would be in. And then it's hard to backtrack because we never told them or set the expectations that, hey, that thing is not happening. Then it puts us in a bind. Sometimes it ends relationships, business relationships. And so setting the expectations, same thing goes with employees when it comes to— Hiring somebody to do something for you as a leader. And we'll talk about this in the leadership section a little bit more, but as a leader, you have to cast that vision and set the expectations whenever they start, start the very beginning of the thing. Don't wait months down the road. Oh, hey, I just want to set expectations with you guys. I think that's the fastest way to cause confusion. And whenever there's confusion, there's chaos and Whenever there's chaos, nothing good happens. And so set as clear expectations as you possibly can. Like even type it out. This is why SOPs are so popular and handy, and I need to get better about it, honestly. But it's something that that person can look at and read in one page and understand, okay, this is what I'm doing. This is how we do it step by step. If we don't do it this way, these are going to be the consequences of these actions. Whether that's like, hey, this isn't gonna be filmed right, or this is gonna be messed up in the shipping process, whatever it is in your scenario. So setting the expectations saves you a lot of headache on the client side and in the employee side. And then for yourself, I've had to set expectations of myself. At the beginning, I had unrealistic expectations. And I think there's a difference between unrealistic and healthy expectations. Real quick, today's episode is sponsored by your boy, Daron. I wanna ask you a question. If you feel like there should be more business coming your way, then you're probably right. And it's probably not because your product or service isn't good enough, because not enough people know who you are, which is exactly why I created a 3-day live coaching experience called the Profitable Personal Brand Challenge. In this challenge, I'm going to show you exactly what you need to know in order to turn your expertise into a profitable personal brand through content. My goal with content and business is not to actually make millions of dollars, but it's actually to build a life around what it is that I want to achieve. And for me, it means more time with my family, more, more traveling, less stressing about work and working my life away so that I can go do things that I am called to do and serve others, and ultimately more freedom. So if you are ready to become known, build a personal brand on your terms, and grow your business all at the same time, scan the QR code on the screen or click the link in the description below. I'll see you in the Profitable Personal Brand Challenge. Let's get back to the episode. I'm not saying go easy on yourself and just give yourself a way out and be Give yourself excuses, but at the same time, you are a human being. And for a long time, I struggled with perfection. And as soon as I was able to release that burden and give it to the Lord, it completely changed my life. It changed the way that I thought about everything. I stopped trying to be perfect. I stopped trying to prove that I was perfect to other people because I had a chip on my shoulder for some reason. Don't know why. Maybe some previous conversations or trauma or something went on. But setting a healthy expectation is very crucial. And I think you'll understand what that is for you specifically, because I can't tell you what your healthy expectations will be with yourself. But I will tell you that over time, you will start to be able to tailor-make your expectations and kind of customize it to fit the lifestyle that you want to live. One of the expectations that I had to release recently on myself was the whole idea of reaching the 7-figure mark in the business. Don't know why. I think just with culture, I think it just kind of gets in your brain and you see other people doing it and, or not doing it. And it for some reason makes you want to do it. And so if you have a personality that you're driven to do this type of thing and build things and create things, you're going to run into this point. And I had to release this because I don't think it was a healthy expectation. I was always disappointed in the outcome. It didn't matter if I made $20,000 in a month with the business. It didn't matter if I made $40,000 or $50,000. It doesn't really matter. The point is, more than likely, I was going to be disappointed in every scenario, situation. And so being in the moment, being where your feet are, and accepting the gifts and blessings that today has to offer has been one of the biggest things that has released that from me. And I know it's easier said than done sometimes. But I feel like it's super important for your mental health because now I am trying to figure out ways, okay, I've got this brain that never stops moving and it can become very toxic if it never stops moving towards one thing. And if that one thing is business and money, then at some point it overlaps into the territory of being an idol. Which I don't want to happen. And so I have to figure out ways to separate and not necessarily stop my brain, but like focus on something else so that I can recharge and I can come back even stronger after a half day or a day of rest, which is a Sabbath. And obviously that's scripture. And I try to practice the Sabbath as much as I can. If you've never tried it, by the way, Highly encourage you to try it. Go read this book, Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Homer. Completely shifted my mindset of everything. It's specifically great for people who feel like they can't stop thinking or working or doing the thing. Anyway, shameless plug there. There's no affiliation there whatsoever other than I read the book and it was great. So that's expectations. The third thing is going to be ownership over the thing. Being the leader of the group, you have to take extreme ownership, which there's another book that's great about that, by the way. But extreme ownership, whenever things go bad, whenever things go good, at the end of the day, you as the person who's running the thing are responsible for what's happening. You are responsible for the culture. You are responsible for the type of clients that you bring in, that you sign on, the things that you deal with. It's your job to take ownership of the situation, especially when times are hard. Like if something bad happens and you make a mistake, don't go blaming the client. Don't go blaming the person helping you with the client. Don't go blaming the employees. At the end of the day, It's important to take ownership over that thing. I mentioned we've run into things, issues like setting expectations. I've had to take ownership over the situations that did not end up being exactly how we wanted them to turn out. And I'll share some stories here in a minute. Trust is the foundation of every single great business and the Better Business Bureau exists to protect that. So the Better Business Bureau helps consumers find businesses they can trust, offers scam prevention resources, and supports local business owners through accreditation, networking, education, and visibility opportunities. Brittany Brown, she's the CEO. She's been serving the big country, and she says strong communities are built by strong businesses. Whether you're trying to grow your business or make a smarter purchasing decision, The Better Business Bureau is in your corner. Visit bbb.org to learn more. But taking ownership and like, okay, this was actually my fault. Like, even if it wasn't in some cases, like I still take ownership because at the end of the day, it's your business and you control what happens within that business. Whether you work with a client or whether you don't work with a client, that's up to you. And that's one of the good things about owning a business and being the person running it. So take ownership. The last thing is leadership, which ties all these things together. How can you become a leader and a person who can cast a vision for the business, for the organization that's going to result in a fruitful business by having a good culture, by having good expectations, by having good ownership skills and taking ownership of the things going on? How can you combine all these things to become a great leader? And so invest in yourself, um, whether that's books, podcasts, courses, whatever it is, always continue to keep learning. And if something goes wrong, take ownership of it, learn from it, and make a note in your journal if you have to. But the next time that happens, You'll know what to do and how to handle it. And so there's a famous quote that everybody knows from Michael Jordan. Somebody asked him how he felt after—I don't remember which specific game—but it was it was NBA Finals game. He's like, "How do you feel about losing this?" And and Michael Jordan was like, "I don't lose; I learn." And so how can you learn from the situation? I know it's kind of cliché and a little cheesy, but how can you legitimately learn from this conversation or this? events that happened that didn't go the way that you wanted and just skill stack all these experiences to where after 10 years of doing this, you're going to be a completely different human being and you're gonna be leading with ultra confidence because you've already walked through the fire. Um, you've already allowed these things to sharpen you. You've allowed them to make you a better leader overall. Um, and I think the longer that you can fight that battle out, the better of a leader you're gonna be. And so just keep going, keep going. Even if it doesn't feel like things are working, you're at the end of the day building up this leadership skill. And that's something that you can't teach. It's very hard to teach somebody with absolutely no leadership skills how to do it unless they either go through it or were born with some sort of natural ability to lead. And there are some people who are like that. I mean, same thing with the NBA, LeBron James. He was kind of a natural-born, cold-blooded athlete. Like, you can't train somebody to be LeBron James or Michael Jordan. Like, so for average people like you and I, experiences, trial through fire, they're all going to make you better at the end of the day. So a couple stories before we wrap up. There have been multiple situations through the last few years where We have had to end business relationships with employees. I've had to fire people, which is not a fun thing to do. My least favorite part about the business world is having to fire somebody, whether that be a client or an employee, and we've had to do both. And so at the end of the day, I have to take ownership like we were talking about before. for these situations. And a lot of it was because I didn't set expectations. And so, yeah, it, it, that has been one of the most character-building activities that you could possibly do. If you want to have a bad day, go do that, wake up the next day and keep going. So these decisions that you have to make as an employer, they have to be made for the health of the business. If you don't make them, sometimes it can actually hurt the business more than it helps it in the long run. And so that's part of the responsibility that you have. That's part of what you have to carry as a business owner is making these big decisions that affect other people. When other people get involved, it becomes a lot more stressful and a lot heavier of a burden if you let it be than not dealing with them and letting the business crumble. And so that's it. So making changes is another thing that I wanted to bring up. There's been a lot of changes throughout the last few years that we have to make as a company, and it starts with the leader. So it starts with me. And really, I'm just preaching to myself right now. If nobody watches this, at least I'm talking to myself about this. And you may experience this too, but whenever things change, it changes difficult. Whether that's changing the product that you sell, whether that's changing the people that work with you, that's changing the location of your business or whatever it is, change is very challenging, but it's necessary at the same time. And so if you've been working through some changes, I just want to encourage you to keep going because you're going to get to a spot where the changes that you make, you're already going to have made all the bad decisions already. Yeah. So you're kind of siphoning out all of the good decisions. And the more you grow, which hopefully you are growing as a business, the decisions are going to be smaller, but have a way bigger monetary impact and impact on other people's lives. That's something that I wrestle with constantly. Yeah. Because it does start to add up and it's like, oh, this is a $100,000 decision. This is a $150,000 decision. If I make the right decision, we win. If I make the wrong decision, we lose. These are pretty daunting tasks that you're having to make every single day as a business owner and they add up, which leads me into the last thing is delegation. And so learning the skill of delegation, another thing that I've been working on. Is I feel like a very underleveraged characteristic and skill that you can learn over practice. And the only way to get better by doing it, the only way to get better is by doing it. And so the more hires you make, the more clients you bring on, the more you're going to learn what needs to be delegated. How do we need to do it? What's it going to look like? And you're going to make bad decisions at the beginning. Like I have, but you're gonna eventually hit a stride and figure out, okay, this is how I've seen in the past from my personal experience that you can delegate and it successfully works. It's a tricky thing because you start to involve other people's salaries, that you start to involve profit sharing, you start to involve a lot of different things. And so these are also necessary. All the things I'm talking about today You can't have with within. You can't not have within a business, is is what I meant to say. And so, to leave you, that's today's episode. I hope it helped out. To leave you, I want to leave you with a question: If you ask your employees what they thought about when they think about you and your business, what would they say? And it's not necessarily like a product. Like they don't don't. Don't ask them like, what are we selling? Ask them about, hey, what is the culture that you see whenever you're walking in and working here on a day-to-day basis? What does the culture look like to you and where can we improve? Because feedback is always another great way to learn and get better from people around you, and especially people that you have worked for and clients that you have dealt with. Like, feedback is always a very, very very wonderful tactic to get better. So that's pretty much all I have for you today. Hope you enjoyed today's episode. Make sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel, go follow us on Spotify, and we'll see you in the next one. Peace.