291 - Focus on Leadership

What is your vision? What is your calling? There will always be a consequence. And just recognize that as the visionary, as the CEO, your job is to marshal the limited resources of your organization and make sure that you can keep. You keep your eye on the ball until you can afford to pay somebody else to hit it for you.

Hello and welcome to the Remarkable CEO Podcast, a show dedicated to chiropractors who want to transform their job into a business so that they can have a remarkable practice as part of a remarkable life, not instead of one. With your hosts, Dr. Pete Camiolo and Dr. Steven Fransen.

Welcome to another episode of the Remarkable CEO Podcast, Chiropractic's number one business podcast podcast. I'm Dr. Pete Camiolo.

And I'm Dr. Steven Fransen.

And if you tuned in to our end of year lessons episode, which, Dr. Stephen, I have to say to you was one of my favorite episodes that we've ever done together, and we've done hundreds and hundreds of episodes, and I really enjoyed that episode. I shared with my family that day and others that I had recorded this lessons learned episode. And it was just really important to me, Doc, that we were able to do that, and we're able to do that every year. That has become a, a rhythm, a ritual that we're, we're disciplined about doing a few things and consistently, that's one of them. And that was such a highlight for me. And one of the things that we, the lessons that we discussed that was learned in this past year reminded of, right, is of something we learned when we were 5, 6, and 7, which was that, you know, you've got to keep your eye on the ball. I, as a, as a coach myself or the, some kids around that age, you know, and in my role as a pitcher, because it's still the coach pitch for my youngest, I'm all the time talking to these guys and saying, listen, I'm looking at your eyes and I'm watching your eyes, and I'm making sure your eyes are on this ball. You know, there's just something so practical about that. We learned it early in our life, but it applies to every aspect of your life. It applies to your business. And Dr. Stephen, it's such a simple and yet practical just lesson learned about the power of focus. And today we want to spend some time really checking in with you as a leader about your focus. Right. We say, Dr. Stephen, that the difference between being busy and productive is being focused, and that focus is what we want to just spend a little bit of time with you today, we're checking in with you and asking you, hey, CEO, how's your focus? Also, where is your focus? Because as your focus goes, your energy flows, and you've got to put your focus on the right things, right, Dr. Stevens? So just really grateful for lessons learned and for an opportunity for us today to unpack it a bit more.

I'm with you, Dr. Pete. I mean, we said it two or three times during that. As we ran down, it was like 10 or 11 different things that lessons. We got to play tennis, going back and forth with our individual lessons. And each one of those will be a topic for a podcast, as promised, right? So we'll do an episode on each of those. Each one deserves to be unpacked, right? So because where we are learning, I think that there's room for everybody else to say, oh, yeah, this is how that shows up in my life, or that's how that shows up in my business or my practice or my family, what have you, right? So that's our hope for you. So if you haven't heard that episode after this one, go back and listen to that one. There's so much meat on that bone. Hopefully you guys are following the podcast. So if you are, thanks so much, guys. It's so awesome. If you're not, please follow the podcast. Click the alert so that you get alerted whenever there's a new podcast. If you love to watch and you're a visual learner, very often we're sharing imagery that will help. We have our YouTube channel as well, so follow us on our YouTube channel. Click that little bell there. So it'll remind you whenever we release a new episode, which comes out every Tuesday. But we just so appreciate what an honor and a privilege to be able to share with you guys on a regular basis. And if you're finding lots of value with these episodes, please share it. Right? So what the world needs now is chiropractic. And what chiropractic needs right now is more successful chiropractors, especially right now. Man, what a nice way to help somebody become more successful, which means that they're more successfully serving humanity and restoring health. So help us serve our purpose. We just so appreciate you when you share the show. So, Dr. Pete, this concept of focus is. I think it's my favorite thing to talk about because as I've gone through decades now of leading businesses and leading myself through through business seasons, we talk about the four limited resources. It's time, energy, focus, and Money. And as CEOs, our job is to marshal the limited resources of our organization and we're part of that organization, right? So for us, time, energy, focus and money. I think for most people, they feel the constraints around money. There's so much concern around the economy of the dollars and cents and how money's. And there's a consciousness and people are sensitive and they're intentional and deliberate and they watch their money. They think about spending the money versus investing the money versus wasting them. And I like this, just all that consciousness, man, take all of that and pull that over into the vertical of your focus, right? So just be thinking about your focus is like, man, this is really where it's at, right? So I would say that the money is a, is the fruit of being able to marshal your focus well. Right? So this is like, this is a critical thing for a CEO to really master, right? So I don't talk about time management, I talk about focus mastery. Right? And just recognizing it's what you focus on grows. And if you're a growth oriented CEO, business owner, what you focus on grows. That's all you needed to hear. Right? So what are you focusing on right now? And as. Are you as intentional and deliberate about spending, investing, or wasting your focus as you are with your money?

Right.

That's just a good reference point. Right. So Dr. B, what I want to address here is this whole side gig confusion that's in our, in the marketplace right now.

Right?

So, and this, you know, hey, you gotta be, you know, totally diversified in everything that you do and you should have multiple streams of income and you need to have three businesses, like the big guys have seven businesses or whatever. It's like all of that is. Yes, yes, yes, yes. And you're missing the story. And the story is about sequencing and timing. It's about prioritization, okay? And the economy we're talking about is the economy of your focus. So ultimately, you know, we know the truth. What you focus on grows. So if you have one business and you're on purpose, on mission, and you're, and you're called to this business and the business is a manifestation of your purpose. Right? So I'm, I'm not making any assumptions here, right? So you might be like, well, I'm supposed to do this, but I'm. Right now I'm doing that. This is not this conversation, like right now, you know, let's. I'm talking to chiropractors, so let me just maybe be wicked practical. If you're a chiropractor and you own a chiropractic business and you're focused on your chiropractic business, and it's on purpose for you, and it's on mission for you, Right? It's the hedgehog, you know, principle, which is, this is on purpose. I can be the best in the world at this, and it drives my financial, my economic machine. Great, stay focused on that. Because what you focus on grows. Now, if you've absolutely optimized that business, right, You've, you've operationalized it, you professionalize it, you optimize it. Now what you've done is you've established this business that has scalability, it has durability, and it has transferability. In other words, operationalized means you could take 90 days off and the thing keeps going and growing without you.

Okay?

That's durability. Okay? So, and when you have transferability, it means somebody like us could come in and look around and be able to say, man, this isn't a job, it's a business. I know that there's transferable value in this business, and I've created durability, which gives me optionality. In other words, I can choose what's the highest and best use of my time. That's when you are ready now to take your eye off the ball. Okay? So now you've created enough profit, profit margin and wealth that goes along with that. Where you've now created optionality. And the optionality is, listen, I don't have to keep my eye on the ball anymore. I can pay somebody to do it for me, right? So here's the, here's the law of the jungle when it comes to focus. Keep your eye on the ball until you can afford to pay somebody else to hit it for you. So as soon as you can take 90 days off and the thing can continue to go and grow without you, now you can afford to take your eye off the ball and pay somebody else to hit it for you. And because you've freed up your time by bringing in another person to actually execute and drive the value, now you've freed up your time, energy, focus and talent for you to go and start another project or to invest in another project or have a side gig, side hustle, whatever, without it negatively affecting the goose that lays the golden egg, if you will, right? So, Dr. Pete, you. It's all about understanding. I'm going to use my money to buy somebody else's time, energy, focus and talent to free up my time, energy, focus and talent so that I have the optionality to go and do something else. That makes me more money or brings me more fulfillment and serves my purpose. Dr. Pete, this is a tragic misunderstanding where people end up taking their eye off the ball prematurely. They have not established durability. They do not have optionality. And what they end up doing is they starting a second thing or focusing on a second thing. And you know where this goes when you pull your focus off of something, it's the converse effect. If what you focus on grows, if you take your focus off it, it shrinks. So now what happens is that mothership shrinks. The primary business shrinks contracts. And as you're growing that second initiative, hopefully. So at best, what you've accomplished is you've doubled your overhead, tripled your headaches.

Zeroed your time freedom. Because now you got two things going on with two teams. So zero time freedom. You've probably reduced your revenues net net across both organizations. Maybe you've evened them out, right? So maybe one came down, one went up. Maybe it's even. And you've definitely clobbered your profit margin. So, Dr. Pete, you got to keep your eye on the ball until you can afford to pay somebody else to hit it for you.

It's good. I mean.

What else do I say, dog? I mean, as. As people are listening to, they're like, well, fr. Just literally laid it down. And I just want to say, wow, that was. That was what everybody needed to hear. We all needed to hear, every one of us. You needed to hear yourself say it. I needed to hear you say it. Everybody's listening hear you say it. People that are helping us put the episode together probably need to hear us hear you say it. There's just so much truth.

What's up, Remarkables? Hey, let's face it. 95% of our problems are people problems. You can't find a players, can't keep a players, don't know how to leverage your team, create expectations and agreements, or hold people accountable in order to optimize your team, Doc, what would happen to your practice? And if you were finally able to get the right people in the right seats, doing the right work the right way, for most chiropractors, it would change everything. You'd increase your capacity to see more people. You'd make a bigger impact and a bigger income. You'd be able to delegate and scale your business. Or maybe you need to get your associate relationship dialed in. That would mean you get your time freedom back. You could get a handle on your schedule, maybe even become a CEO. If this is what you want your 2025 to sound like, make sure. That you join us for the remarkable team building immersion in Brisbane, Australia, February 28 and March 1, 2025. I can't wait to be back in Australia, Doc. Bring your team with you. Get everybody on the same page. They'll be back in your office on Monday with more clarity, more accountability, and more purpose than ever. Energize and mobilize your team and see your practice grow. What are your goals for 2025? Is it a seven figure foundation, a seven figure revenue, seven figure profit, or maybe even a seven figure exit? Whatever season you're in, you'll need a seven figure team. Click the link in the show notes below and register. Today.

I don't have anything more really to say, but I do at the same time because I'm just fired up now because I'm like my coaches, hat on my mentor, hat on my friend, hat on all the hats.

You see your friends, you see your.

Clients doing it, you see it all. And I'm like, guys. So the first thing that came to my mind, Dr. Stephen, is we got to go. Whoa, whoa, timeout. Wait, wait. We got to go back to the vision question, right? It comes back to vision. Like you think about the people that are diversifying, chase it, maybe, maybe getting involved in all these other things. The question is, is that your vision or is that someone else's vision? The question, Dr. Steam, we always ask is, what is your definition of success? Be careful how you define what success is because you will spend a lifetime chasing after that or working towards that, investing in that, right? In that pursuit. So I'm going to go back to. In this conversation, you have to check your definition of success and make sure, because this happens to us, we get enamored by what, what maybe someone else's experience as far as what success is. And then we then say, oh, that's the definition. That's my new definition of success. Whoa, time out, time out, time out. Why is that your definition of success? And is that ultimately, is that really your definition? Do you own that?

Do you have you.

Is that yours? Is that the thing you really want? Because I've known people, Dr. Steven, we've all known people and everyone who's listening has said, oh, I have people that they thought this was going to be the greatest thing. And they went and they put all in. They went to this thing and then when they got there, they realized it wasn't it. And then they had to come back to the drawing board and start all over again. I mean, we all had so many stories about this And I just. It's painful. And we get to see it on a daily basis and regularly in what we do. The cost of lack of focus, or the cost of just taking your eye off the ball and just changing your focus, even if it's that. Just changing your focus, because there's a limited amount that you have a focus, and then the focus, where the limited resources will go, there is an amount. And so we see the effect, the casualties that come with that. And so we're coming at this from a place of compassion. I love the definition of compassion. It's an urgent rush to help. We're coming in with compassion. There's an urgency to help at this moment, right? It's like, we know because. Why? Well, we live in the day and age where it's like we're getting hit up every day with. With reels and videos and texts and. And things and emails and all the things inviting you into this next thing and all these great opportunities. It's like, wow, you have to have discernment. You have to have wisdom. You have to have that ability to say, you know, no just as much as, you know, so your yes can mean yes right? Kind of thing. So I'm coming out with this with a level of compassion to say, you know what? There's a level of urgency here, because our profession, chiropractic and chiropractors, we have enough work cut out for us. Like, there's no short. There's a shortage of laborers in the vineyard. Why are we getting into things outside of the vineyard? You know? And so. And again, we're not saying you shouldn't do it. We're not saying you can't do it. We're saying, but you're a chiropractor, and we're talking to chiropractors, and there's so much meat left on the bone. And, you know, so why are you leaving your. It's like, my kids. Like, I'm like, you didn't finish your dinner. You come back to the table, you're not done. Like, you left. There's still meat on that bone. You know what I'm saying? Like, you didn't finish your salad. You know, like, what are we doing? You think you get dessert. You don't get dessert until you get. You finish your meal. You got to finish what you're. What we served you. And so, you know, we look at your business, and I'm going back to your vision. First side of the Rubik's Cube, guys. It's the first side, you know, what? The second side is leadership. You know what leaders do, they ask the hard questions, they're willing to do the hard things, they're willing to do the invisible that one day might become visible. And that's focusing on keeping the main thing. The main thing until somebody else can come in and they can hit that ball for you. We see it all the time with our CEOs who are, hey, I want to get one associate. They got an associate. And then all of a sudden there's.

Like, man, my foot used to be.

On the gas, gas, gas, got an associate. I was like, woo, foot came off the gas because I had somebody else to put their foot on the gas. Like it ain't works. It doesn't work like that. And you know, found out the hard way, I thought that that was going to work. And next thing in, my overhead went up like Dr. Steven said, and my revenue went down. I was backed off. But I'm now back in and now I'm fixing all the stuff that got jacked up. You know, that happens all the time. You know what this is, Dr. Steven, what you just said, it's focus is a focus issue. It's not. Again, your desire of your heart is there. Your desire was, I want to create more time, freedom. I want to be able to spend more time with my family. I want to be able to be there for bedtime and bath time and all the things that we talk about that are great, you know what that is? That's the scalability, durability conversation we talk about. It eludes so many. So we have a. We've built a system, a process, a model that actually helps you do that. It's a system, it's a process, it's a. There's a formula to be able to do that. That's exactly what we do, actually, when you and I and what we're doing with so many of our awesome coaches and so many of you who listen, last thing I want to say is this. There's a gaping. There's a. I was going to say there's a Grand Canyon. Between scalability and durability, for most, there's a Grand Canyon. It's not just a hole, it's a Grand Canyon.

It's not a crack on the sidewalk.

Yeah, yeah, it. It is grand. And I just encourage us, guys, there's a. We have an opportunity right now as a profession to. To do this right. And you as a listener have an opportunity to say, you know what, doc, I'm going to roll up my sleeves. I'M gonna, I'm gonna go after this. It's gonna take me the next three to five years, and I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna create durability. Commit to the next three to five years, to becoming a durable business, and tell you what, the opportunities are always gonna be there, but the opportunities that will be there when you're ready are going to be the right ones. Trust the process, go through the process, trust, and it will happen.

Everybody understands scalability, but nobody understands durability. So I love what Dr. Alan Miner, one of my best friends and business partners, brilliant guy, what he says about this is.

Don'T start a second business or a second practice even until you can take 90 days off from the first one, right? So that's just such a great litmus test. Like, if you take 90 days off and the thing continues to grow and go without you, man, you are now ready. You now have created durability, right? So that chasm that you're describing, Dr. Pete, is the chasm between scaling, right? Most people listening have figured out scaling, right? So what they haven't figured out is durability. And what does that have to do with focus? It has everything to do with focus, right? Because if you're, I'm going to stay with the example that you use because we hear this all the time. Time, right? So I used to adjust all the patients. I would take home all the money, not to mention all the recognition, the glory. And, and, and I had all the control, you know, my control, inner control freak was all satisfied. I was like, I got, like, visibility and I, I, I had accountability. I, I got everything I wanted, right? So, and then I brought in an associate or two, whatever, and man, listen, it's, it's just not the same. And you know that. You know, and now I'm paying them to adjust people. I could just be adjusting those people. It's like, and, and it's like, and, and, and now my profit is down. Like, like, literally. Here's what that, here's their response to that is I will just get rid of them and I'm going to go back to adjusting everybody. It's like, okay, so you just went three steps forward and took four steps back, right? So this is like, like what happened was it was a sequential, it was a sequence issue, it was a timing issue, right? And here's where it boils down with focus is you did not focus on getting your systems ready for an associate doctor. You didn't get your, you didn't focus then on Getting your team ready to bring on an associate doctor. You didn't focus on your marketing for an associate doctor process before you started marketing to bring in the right associate doctor. You didn't focus on your interviewing and vetting process before you hired the associate doctor. You didn't focus on the onboarding and orientation process of that associate doctor before you hired. So you didn't focus on setting up a compensation plan that would be energizing a job description that would be energizing. You didn't focus on creating an environment where you were going to be training them and develop them and equipping them to be awesome. Kyraj, you did not focus on dot dot dot IT this is where is there's a sequence of events that must happen for you to be able to create this. And the big idea here is, is that you skipped over steps. You didn't focus on the things in the right order in the right sequence to create the durability that will allow you the optionality to turn and then focus on something else without there being a massive and painful consequence. Last thing I want to say on this is there's always a consequence. Pick your problems. What problems do you want to be solving? If you are using your money to buy somebody else's time, energy, focus and money to adjust and talent to adjust the people that you could just be just adjusting on your own, right? The consequences, you have to pay them. There's going to be money, you're going to have to pay them, right? So but hopefully if you're doing this right as we're describing, operationalizing, professionalizing and then optimizing, if you do this right, then you can actually scale so that you are taking a smaller percentage of a bigger number and ultimately net net you actually making more money. Not to mention you have created a now cash flowing, appreciating asset that's a, that's more valuable over time, right? When it comes to the final exit. So you're actually creating a business that people would compete to buy. So it's a win, win, win, win. Dr. Pete, if you do it this way, not to mention you just freed yourself up your time, energy, focus and, and talent to go do that side hustle, that side project. Whether that means starting something or investing in something, which is what I do, right? So people hear, oh Franson, you got five jobs. What are you talking about? I was like, oh, you have five businesses. Like yeah, no, I have five businesses but I'm, I run one, right? But that one I run is really, I lead one And I have a badass operator that runs that business. Then I have operators and teams that run the other businesses. I'm in a smart money investor. I'm not not running five businesses. When I had a practice at a thousand a week, Dr. Pete, just like you, it took everything we had 100% of every brain cell, every bit of focus we had to get that business to that point. I'm not saying this to impress you that oh, it's a thousand a week. No, to put it to impress upon you that it took every bit of focus to establish that I didn't have side hustles going on. I didn't even have kids at that point. My wife was my partner. So I wasn't cheating on my wife with my practice and my business. It was all in. It took everything. And then on the other side of that, once we established durability, then I had optionality. Then I could follow the rest of my calling and the vision that God had for me for the next iteration of my life. Start a coaching business, right? And I knew that that was the next chapter for me. So I was using my optionality. I would use my money to buy the time, energy, focus and talent of the other doctors. The consequence was that money. I could have stayed back, had a job and adjusted them all myself. But I was called to free myself up and start this next initiative that was infinitely more scalable than a brick and mortar chiropractic office to serve humanity. What is your vision? What is your calling? There will always be a consequence. And just recognize that as the visionary, as the CEO, your job is to marshal the limited resources of your organization and make sure that you can keep you keep your eye on the ball until you can afford to pay somebody else to hit it for you. Hey, Doc, Steven Fransen here. If you're like me, you know that we're in the business of saving lives. And when business is good, everybody wins. That's the good news. But here's the bad news. Most chiropractors don't own a business at all. They own a job. It's a job they love, but it's a job. And far too often it feels like that job owns them. Is this true for you? Do you own a business or a job? Have you built? And do you run your practice on brute force? Does it rely fully on your time, your effort? A pound of your flesh? Are you responsible for all growth, for all new patient generation? How about new patient conversions? Is it all up to you? How about patient care and delivery? Are You a sole practitioner, an owner operator who owns the practice, but it's also the only one that is head down and bum up taking care of all the patients. Is revenue generation or collections all up to you? Let me ask you the most telling question Doc. What would happen if you took 90 days off? What breaks in my experience, most on purpose chiropractors do not lay awake at night worrying about their practice. They worry about their business. Let's slay that drag. The Remarkable CEO program has helped hundreds of chiropractors just like you turn the job that they love into the business that they've always wanted. Are you ready to run and build your practice on leverage instead of brute force? Do you want to create the scalability and durability that will allow you to make a bigger impact and a bigger income? What would it mean to grow your practice, increase your productivity and your profitability? Do you want to get your time freedom back? Are you ready to turn your pirate ship into a battleship? If this sounds like you, then the remarkable CEO program is for you. Just last year, 53 of our remarkable clients received the Seven Figure Club Award, meaning they hit the million dollar mark for the first time or their next million dollar level, be it 2 million, 3 million, 10 million, up to 36 million and growing now. Doc, is it crazy to imagine that your practice could be next? Click the link below and learn how to apply for the next cohort of the Remarkable CEO Program. We look forward to working closely with you in creating the business that supports your remarkable life, not competes with it.

Thanks for listening to this episode of the Remarkable CEO Podcast. Remember, what the world needs now is chiropractic. And what chiropractic needs now is more successful chiropractors. If you like this podcast, please subscribe, share with a friend and leave us a review. And if you'd like to connect with us personally, direct message us on Facebook, LinkedIn or Instagram. Now go and be Remarkable.