my manager CONFRONTED ME!

I was so frustrated with that person, I wanted to fire them right then.

Hey, look, that might be a good idea, but I'm not gonna listen to you right now.

No. Are you saying it should be that way?

No. I waited until someone else said something I never said.

I said that I was really frustrated with the person you said.

Then I said what I thought.

Yeah.

Okay, so we're gonna get deep.

Hey, everyone, it's Mike Andes. And today I'm actually going to be inter. Uh, this is Liz, neighbor.

Hey.

She's operations manager for Augusta Lawn Care. And someone in one of the recent videos made a comment that said I should be interviewed and that I seem to open up and have better answers when I'm being asked questions live. So we're gonna go ahead and try that out. Uh, Liz will be the first of a few of the team that will probably have on and will interview me. This is kind of like the. A weird spot where I record usually not really much space for the two of us. So I'm actually setting up a different spot inside my living room to be able to shoot in a better manner when there's multiple people on the show. So maybe in the future I have Lee or some other people ask me questions randomly and hopefully dig deeper and get some better questions and deeper material from myself that I have not talked about, which somehow I just don't know how it's possible after a thousand videos on YouTube. That's what I said, but we'll see what happens. So I have no idea what she's going to ask. She has no notes, by the way, so it's just going to be really a conversation. I apologize again for the camera angle. We're kind of squashed together here just to try to stay inside the camera. It's hard to look at each other. So it's gonna be a little bit weird of a conversation, but we will set up a better one down the road. So without any further delay, Liz, take it away and ask me questions, I guess. Interview me interview.

So this afternoon he texts me. He's like, hey, some of the listeners asked for someone to interview me. Do you want to shoot me some questions or something? So this is impromptu and I have not prepared at all. However, in the day to day business, there are multiple things that come up that I think have a real heart for small businesses employees. And then once those employees grow in the business, and then also from the business owner standpoint, so it doesn't matter what industry you're in, they are the still the same Struggles that people have because of the layers in a business. And whether you want them or not, they are there. They have to be placed and structured. So first of all, I'd like to come from an employee's point of view. So in any industry, whether it's in a store or you have a team of people and they are under managers, those managers answer to the owners. So if I'm an employee and I'm watching the owner, so let's say he's a legit person. He's not Joe Schmo sitting in his dollar store with all his wares around and sitting and watching TV till a customer comes in. I mean, he's on top of his game. He's a visionary. And they're building a business. And so the younger person kind of admires what they're doing. And let's say they're between 20 and 25, so they're looking at the business owner and they're working away, right? It's whatever season their business is in, they're really busy. And they look at the owner sitting over there, seemingly to ignore all the hustle and bustle that's going around, and they seem preoccupied. And when an employee looks at that, they could be thinking, man, we're working our butts off. We're trying to meet this deadline, and they're totally unengaged and they could be out here helping us. They know we have this deadline. Can you share from an owner's point of view with the employee in mind, what would the owner be dealing with? What kinds of things would an owner be dealing with that he would seem that way, detached from the goals that he is responsible for his employees to complete. And what would he be thinking that the that he could share with an employee who's watching this in their boss?

Well, the first assumption has to be true, and that is that the owner is actually working and not disengaged, because otherwise then the employee has every right to be questioning, in my opinion, why the owner is not setting forth the example that they are expecting of their employees. So if they're expecting something that they're not doing themselves, then I have a problem with that.

But I said they were legit, right?

Yeah, that was just the assumption that I was clarifying. So assuming though that they are legit and that the business is in need of someone that is not an operator and more of a visionary, which is typically a much larger size business, like we're talking at least 25, 30 employees before you really need someone that is going to Even seem that way. So for someone to take what we, what I'm about to say and say, oh, I have four or five employees, they don't understand me because I'm thinking about strategy and whatever, that's the wrong stage of the business.

But that also, the reason he's even there, close to them, is because he's a small business owner. If it was a big business, he probably wouldn't even be in the room.

Yeah. But until a business gets to, in my opinion, at least 15, 20 employees, the owner is going to be very, very engaged with the frontline staff because really all they're doing is managing those individuals. It's not really until a business is larger or mid size that you're actually needing time during the day to think about strategy and planning and future ideas for the business. So assuming all of that is the case, though, so the business is legit, the company is of size to where actually thinking about strategy and having your head in the clouds is actually profitable for the business, assuming all of that, then I would say to that employee that I would think of it like a football team. And that is if you look at any, you know, NFL team, minus maybe one or two teams, the coach is like obese, old, and you would never want them on the field playing. So the question is, why do they get paid millions of dollars to sit on the sidelines like all the other fans and basically cheer and scream and tell people what to do? The reason is because they're focused not on playing the game, but figuring out the strategy for the team to execute on. And so even though it might seem in this situation right size, business is growing, etc. That the owner is disengaged or not involved in getting their hands dirty, which is admirable and people usually admire, but is actually the less productive part of that owner's day to actually do the work. The same way that if a coach on the NFL team walked out on the field, like, oh, like the defensive linemen are short a player, I'm going to hop in like, the guy would get hurt, the team would lose, and ultimately like, the quarterback would probably get hurt because there's no defensive lineman that's any value. So ultimately, the owner doing the work at that size of business, what are.

We, what size are we saying?

At least 15, 20 employees.

Okay, so a little more.

If you're talking five employees and the owner has their head in the clouds or seems that way for more than just like 30 minutes to an hour a day, then I feel like the Owner is actually at fault because the business is not of size to where doing that for the majority of the day is worthwhile.

But let's think of the owner that maybe didn't have an education and he's struggling through some of the harder things of the business.

So this is not like strategy. This is like office admin stuff.

Yes. To where things that would be like of concern. Concern in his eyes. His face looks a little drawn.

Okay, okay, I see you're saying more.

Like that we'll get to the higher level, but when they're small, it's not like you would have lawsuits or things like that, but you could have been served something from the city for permits or something that you're doing in your business that has to be addressed. Fair Fair Wages act. Or maybe somebody had harassed someone else at work. So you're trying to figure out the laws and what you can say and what you can't say. Or the accounting part or QuickBooks. And QuickBooks did an update and there's something different. You don't really get it, but you're trying to figure it out. Or you're just not sure how you're going to move funds around to even make payroll.

Yeah. If you if from this angle, like three, four or five employees, even if we're not talking about someone's focusing on strategy, but someone just being stressed and the employee not understanding why. The best way I would explain it to an employee is think of it as you coming to work every single day and you knowing that you're going to work all day long. You're going to work until the job is done. Not when there's a certain time of the day. Just you have to work until it's done. And you might actually not make any money. You might actually lose money. Like it might cost you to come work that day. Like, just imagine if your boss came up to you as an employee and said, hey, tomorrow you're going to work all day long really hard, but you're going to pay me to show up. That's what the owner's going through in the first few years of business because it's actually costing money to run the company. They're not making anything. And everyone would point to, well, that's what they get from being an entrepreneur because they're risking that for future gain. Which is true. Which usually comes in after year five. But it doesn't take away from the fact that it stinks like all get out and the fact that there's a 90% chance they won't make it to year number five because just the number of businesses that fail and that literally every single day they're working for nothing or losing money, they're thinking about the fact that there's a really good chance. I don't ever see the results of my labor in comparison to an employee that every week or every two weeks gets a paycheck. And you can depend, assuming that the business is solvent, that you're going to get a paycheck. And if you work harder and longer, you're going to make more money. Whether you're on performance, pay or hourly, there's still a correlation. Whereas an owner has no correlation to how hard they work because they could work 100 hours this week and still lose money.

Right. Okay, so let's say you're that employee and now you are going to college and you're taking a business class. And so you're starting to understand a little bit more what the owner is going through. And you want to be supportive and help a little more and take the load off. And so you start watching the boss closely, sense what they're going through a little bit, but don't know all the issues. They don't really open up. Because you're an employee, how do you start to lead from where you are and help the owner?

It depends on every owner. Like, for me, ultimately, for me, the closest leaders to me and the people that I respect the most are actually the ones who will challenge me on stuff, but I won't listen to them if they don't have money in the bank. What I mean by that is they haven't put in their time. They don't know someone to come pick me apart or say suggestions or things that I'm doing wrong or the business is doing wrong without having context or been around for a while and actually know the full scope of what they're talking about immediately. I would discredit everything they're saying to me. But for someone who actually understands what the business. They've been with us for a while, they know what's going in the company and to come and say something to me in my. And like a suggestion how to make the business better. Someone suggesting how the business can become better is probably the number one way for me to. To. To start respecting someone on a different level. Every owner's gonna be a little different. Some people would not like that. And again, if someone did it too prematurely for me, I would immediately push them away for sure. Like, probably a flaw of mine, but.

Like, like the people that Come in and they're interviewing with me. But they would. They really like to be on the media team.

Yeah. Or like saying things should be done a certain way. I'm like, hey, look, that might be a good idea, but I'm not going to listen to you right now. And, you know, maybe it's a flaw of mine, may. I can't listen to someone who's just newbie. But that being said, if I'm actually looking at someone from a manager standpoint like that they have more potential. That is something I'm looking for. How they present it, though, is important. And even a newbie I could. I could hear and listen to, but how they would present would be important.

Yeah. So it'd be really grading if they just started, oh, you should try this, this, and you should try this. But if they said nothing and they just started to support the team, like, block for you, maybe, so you don't have to answer every question or just take care of some things for you. And you get there and you're like, wow, that's already done.

Yeah. Like, I recently made a video kind of like the five stages of moving up inside a company. The first one is just work ethic. And it can literally take you a couple years to prove that point before they ever start to think of you in terms of a manager or leadership. And at that stage of work ethic, it's really just putting your time showing the entry level that you're able to produce. And the closer you can get to the revenue side of the business and bring in more business for the company, probably the more successful you'll be in that role and the faster you'll be able to move on to stage two, which is starting to show leadership. Which doesn't necessarily mean you're going to be a manager yet, but it's definitely going to mean that you should start leading other employees from the bottom.

So you're leading from where you are leading.

Example is like the easiest form of that, which can be the next, you know, that second stage from work ethic to leadership. The easiest form of leadership is leadership by example. And so. And I have another video. I'll link it up above Liz's head.

Like a halo.

Like just the five different stages of how an employee should think about moving up inside a company and what they're going to need to do at each stage.

Okay, so now they've done that. They've earned their way up. Now they're a manager and the owners, they trust them. And so they just start like you know, throwing stuff at him. You can handle this. You can handle this. And so then the owner again seems a little distracted because. But it's because they trust you. So they were able to move on. So that's something that they do need to understand. But now they're feeling the weight of all this stuff. Right. And they, they have to continue to lead the employees below. They have to try to motivate them. But they used to be them. So they used. They felt what they felt. They also heard what the other employees said about their boss. Employees that were maybe not invested or just there for a short period of time and not planning to be there for the future. How does that employee that who is now the manager, probably not making a lot more, but they're putting in the sweat equity to learn and things. How do they then manage all that load, which is their responsibility, and try to then teach these people, especially if they're young, to lead these people, when now they're under pressure to get all this stuff done, but they can't get their stuff done, their own paperwork, their own everything, because now they feel like they're running a playground. But trying to motivate these people and do a good culture when they really don't have a whole lot of life experience yet.

The employees or the managers have life experience experience.

The. The manager who used to be employee, who's still between 20 and 25, going to college.

Got it. So I think the first thing is to realize that if you're in the organization where you were the employee and you became the manager at the stage when you were the employee, the manager, your manager was probably the owner at that stage. Yeah. And so what you got to realize from a positive angle is the fact that first of all, this company, you have upper mobility. You basically just took your boss's job, whether it be over a year or two or three or five or whatever, that you did take your boss's job. So there's upward mobility in this position, and that's a good thing. And then you got to look at yourself and ask, okay, well, if that's true, that means I'm basically taking my boss's job. So then you got to look at your boss and say, do you want the pay scale, the responsibilities and what comes with that, the boss's job? Because that's probably, if the company continues going the way it is, it means you're going to have their job. So some people will always, unfortunately, always have like the care for the horse, always wanting their boss's job. But that's a healthy thing somewhat in a growing company, because that's probably going to happen. So it's a matter of two things. One, if you really want your boss's job, if you're in the right vehicle, the right company, you'll probably end up getting it. And so if you're like looking at the boss and being like, oh, like man, they get to do X and Y and Z, it's so great. The thing is, if you're in the right company in a few years, you're probably going to be doing that. And then if you start seeing a pattern of that always happening, you might need to re examine the fact that like, okay, am I always just chasing something? Or like, am I? Because like when, when that person was the employee, they probably looked at the owner at the time like, oh man, they're heading the clouds ever. Well, now you're in that role.

Exactly.

And so.

But also heavily feeling what the employees are saying about you. Right. And trying to lead.

Yeah. Middle management is hard. Very, very difficult because you don't have the. It's a horrible word.

The leverage even.

Yeah, but it's not even leverage. It just kind of star power, honestly. And when I say star power, I'm just using that word because at the end of the day, the person who signs the paycheck has a lot of sway. You have the, just the power dynamic of finances on your side. And so, for example, like myself, when I'm not really involved with the employees, I'm mostly a very positive, like I'm the good cop usually. And so the middle managers typically forced into having to be the bad cops because they are with the employees the most.

And then they feel like the owner just swoops in and saves the day and they're dealing with all the minutia.

Totally. And then so just realizing that there is different dynamics and that you, you'd almost rather have the dynamic of a good cop, bad cop in that example, because the last thing you want is an owner that comes in and tries to be the role that you should be doing. Like, I don't think I've fired someone in a very long time. Usually it's you. So like, I would never come in and fire someone ever. Like, usually it's you firing them. So if I came and started being the bad cop, you'd probably kick me in the face. So even though it is frustrating because like being the bad cop does get wearing, I think that the dynamic of a good bad cop is better than having two, like a Mid level manager that's back up and then owner that comes in and also starts pushing people around. That's usually when a culture goes pretty.

Yeah, well, even I can mention what happened a few weeks ago. So you were there on the weekend at our command center, which is call center we have for the franchisees, and you came to put together some new chairs or tables and there was an employee working and you observed them. You had over a few weekends when you came there. And really you are what you are when you're alone and it doesn't matter how you perform with other people, do you still keep the same intensity? Are you making profit for the company? And so you told me later I was so frustrated with that person, I wanted to fire them right then. But going back to what you just said, you gave that responsibility to somebody else and you didn't cross the line. And yeah, if you had said, hey, I fired this person, I would have been really mad because I know right where they are. And so. But once I heard that from you and another manager had said, well, hey.

No, I waited until someone else said something I never said.

I said that I was really frustrated with the person. You said.

Then I said what I thought.

Yeah, but I, I appreciated that you didn't fire them because you hadn't been working with them and observing what I had. And I had also kept it to myself trying to see if I do fire them, do I have enough manpower to have people to put in their place and if they're a weekend college person, you know, to fill their spot, am I going to have to take a full time employee then pay them overtime to take that spot. So I think it is important to establish your roles once you move on, that you hand off something that's getting the owners. I still want to talk about the.

Employees and I think for the owners, just realizing that if you have grown a company this size, we aren't involved in daily ops, it is really stupid to step in because you don't have the full picture.

Right.

So I, even though I desperately wanted to walk in, just fire the person because I knew the performance was low and I knew the numbers from a high level. I'm not the bad cop, so I need to stay out of that role.

You were figuring out how much they weren't making for the company at that moment and how much we were losing. You were right. The numbers.

Okay, so that's the employee. Okay, so now I want to go from the small business owner side and what they're feeling as they grow and maybe they've always worked alone.

I kind of try to come my way just like a little bit.

Oh, sorry. They ran a store. They did everything themselves. I'm talking about a store where there's pressure to compete with others close by. Maybe in a, like a, a tight place where there's a lot of little shops. And so they're really trying to be on top with their marketing and all that kind of thing. And then they, they have the pressure of learning to do all these things. Competition. And then they get employees. So how do they trust when the employee hasn't proven themselves? So let's say I just hired somebody and do I like guilty until proven innocent or do I totally innocent until proven guilty? No. Are you saying it should be that way? If you have the mind, a negative mindset that employees are bad.

Oh, I see.

And that you always got it. Yeah. That you always have to micromanage them and whatever. If you're a person like that and you have that negative slant, it is that mentality. I have to be like watching them like a hawk because they are guilty until they prove their trust. Is that the way it should be or is that backwards?

Okay, so we're going to get deep. So there's three influences in my mind that goes into how a boss treats their employees at the beginning. One is how someone was parented. Two is their first boss, owner's first boss that they saw. That's usually the one they emulate. And the third thing is where the financial state of the business is at. So parenting, it really comes down to whether or not your parents would like allow you to go do stuff and just trust that you'd come home at the right time and not do stupid stuff. Or did they like set the guidelines? Did they give you a, you know, did they give you money? Like there's a whole bunch of stuff parenting, right Then the boss thing is a real deal. And that's like your first boss even if you're an owner now they really dictates. So my first real boss was Anthony at any time fitness. And so like I'd done side stuff and mowed lawns myself, but he was my first boss. So I still to this day will catch myself doing stuff like him.

And he was very system oriented and ran seven locations of a franchise come.

Out of the Navy. And so a lot of the things I say, like even the word totally is concerning Anthony. So. And the third thing though, the most, most impact there was going to be where the businesses finances are at. Because if the Finances are bad. You literally could be one employee's mistake away from going out of business. So in that case, you're not going to trust them because you're going to micromanage them. And I can't blame someone for that, because if they do something wrong and they waste $1,000 or they lose a big client and you're a small firm, that could literally mean you're not putting food on the table for your kids. So.

But what if they are the key to your success?

No, I believe that 100%. I'm just saying, like, in terms of rationalizing someone's poor behavior, because in my opinion, they should trust them from the onset.

You're already leaning like they're going to have poor behavior.

Right. But what. No, what I'm saying, I'm rationalizing why the owner potentially would think that way.

Right.

And that is which is most owners.

I would say, right?

Being very defensive. If you hurt a dog, for example, and then you put it in a corner, it'll react very differently compared to if you just put it in a corner. If you put in a corner in a fighter, it's going to fight. If it has blood on it, and if it's gotten wounded, it's going to fight to the death. And so for an owner that already has blood on them, I. E. They're about to go out of business or there's like, financial pressure, they're going to react differently. And so I'm just giving an excuse, or I am just rationalizing why they potentially might do something stupid.

You're defending.

I'm defending them. And what I would. That'd be kind of like how an employee should rationalize it. If they know the business is struggling and they see the owner stepping on their toes a little bit and being a little bit micromanagement, like, step back and realize that, like, the owner literally is so stressed out because they could. They're like, that one deal could break them. Now, that being said, owner's perspective, I do believe, as you know, like, in terms of trusting them from the beginning with basically everything and then letting them kind of ruin that on their own. So right from the get go, I was very similar that way, again, because I was parented that way similarly, and Anthony was that way, my first boss. And I still know it's like when you're really struggling financially to have tendencies to want to be more of a micromanager because, you know, the impact of them making the mistake could, like, put you out of business. And so in general, though, I Do believe that. And that is trust. Some people say trust and verify, but I'm just like, hey, trust them and then let them wreck it. Let them take the credit card that I gave them on the first day, go spend it incorrectly, and then I'll not trust them the first day we give them keys and credit cards.

Yeah, I was going to mention that. So a lot of times when. And you're young and when we first started out, you know, why not trust? You were hitting bumps and having people have issues. It was just like, eh, we just kept rolling. We were building this thing. But once you've been burnt by employees, after a while it kind of messes with you for a little bit until you steady out some. So I can see why they would get a little cynical as they get older. But I remember that you're handing them credit cards, you're handing them keys to every single. We are in the landscape industry. You're handing them keys to everything, and they all have a key, and. And they're driving your vehicles, and you don't always know where they are. We had trackers on the truck and some of them would turn them off. And so. So yeah, I feel like that you should trust them and say, let show me what you got. I'm going to give you some leeway and a little rope and then show me what you can do with it.

It was like I was saying on the Mastermind this morning for Gusta Nation, it was like, they're not going to reciprocate trust any greater than what you give. So if you're going to trust at 90%, you can't expect them to do 91% trust you. And so the same amount that you got to trust them, they also have to trust you. They just signed on with your company and you're paying their paycheck so they can provide for their family. So they're also trusting you that you're not gonna do stupid stuff. So I really feel like from day one, if I can put my full trust in them, I can also reciprocate and expect that same level of trust back to me, which is, I'm not trying to throw you under the bus. I'm not trying to make you look bad in front of customers. I'm not trying to give you a bad route. I'm not trying to make you have a miserable day. Now, for your best interest and in order to prove that, I'm going to trust you 100% from day one, but I also expect that level of trust and reciprocation but if you're going to have a low level of trust, you cannot expect them to have anything less than that trust that you've given.

Well, as you as the owner, watch them come up. And you know that when they're not at work, they're constantly, you know, they might leave work and go work out. They do their homework because they're in college. They have a, you know, all kinds of exams and stuff. And then you know that when they're driving or spending their time that they are actually listening to Audible books on marketing, business leadership, teamwork, how to be a good employee and lead from where you are. And you know that they're doing all that plus working now, what if they do make a big mistake that costs the company money during that time?

Yeah. So I know the example you're talking about, specifically the one that we lost like, $30,000 on a fence because someone cut it down. And then that individual wanted to pay for it and couldn't really understand why. I was like, kind of like, hey, like, let's move forward. And it doesn't matter because you should.

Be punished when you do something so terrible. Yeah.

It really comes down to intent.

Right.

Like, he had no intent to make the damage, and it wasn't because of negligence. And there was absolute, you know, apology and remorse for what they were doing. So I don't think that one takes rocket science to kind of know if someone care.

So their response.

Yeah, their response to making the mistake is important. That's why we have insurance and stuff like that, too, to hopefully mitigate some of those financial losses. But their response to. Is important. You know, the fact that he wanted to pay for it, even though I wouldn't make him do that. It just the offer to do that. And it wasn't like he shrugged it off, like it really impacted him. So that. That's something that we're much more forgiving.

And that's really good. So there's. There's one last thing that I want to address that I have noticed. And so let's say you have an employee that they have gifts, and it's almost like as they worked. That's my gift, is to find people's talent and put them in places where they excel. And so I would do that. I was like, oh, you know how to do that? Oh, you're good with Excel. Let's put you in this position. Do you think you could do such and such? Yeah, I'll try. And then, wow, they had done for me in 15 minutes. I'm like, okay, there's this other thing I'd like you to see if you could do and that's basically hiring up. It's hiring people that can do things that you can't do. And after a while, let's say you're in your 40s and they're in their 20s now you're the manager or the business owner and you could actually get a little bit intimidated by that or a little jealous, or feel a little threatened that they might know more than you, they might excel quicker and they, they might not literally but push you out. And because they're smart and they know more, especially young people with technology and all of that, they could have layers of stuff that they're involved in in the business that you could have a little bit of fear that they would know too much about. So how do you feel like a person that's in their 40s who's now really, if they had to collaborate, it would be amazing. If they took the gifts of the one person, the 40 year old, and the gifts of the younger person and their extreme talent and put them together, it could be dynamite. But there's usually those feelings like you're young, you have no life experience, you really have no idea. And then the younger person is like, seriously, you think that way? Nobody does that like that, that now.

Okay, so we got understand the dynamics. So is it so the owner 40, older.

That's what I'm saying.

Double the age owner though is older.

The owner or a senior manager. Okay.

And then someone that's younger is.

Yes. So I'm talking like from the business owner or the senior manager. How can they take what is typically the dynamic between those two generations, we'll say and create something great. Most of the time there's a big gap there that can't be crossed because the friction of the two generations, they just don't mesh.

I think there's strengths and weaknesses to every generation in terms of what they bring to the table. And obviously in this case, the superior being older has obviously either had more experience or some level of skill beyond that of the younger person. So that has to be taken into account. And then they might offer skill and experience, but then the younger person would offer technical skills or some sort of perspective that is going to potentially be valuable. And so I think realizing that having a Ferrari is really irrelevant if you don't have any fuel, but then also having a whole bunch of fuel with no car is also going to do you no good. So realizing that it's not, it's not like one plus one equals two. It's like one plus one equals a hundred. And so.

Yeah, that's awesome. It's like compound interest.

Having the two together is the only way that it actually works well. And so it's not a matter of like, oh, the team together does better. It's like without the team members, we can't play the game. Like in, in baseball or football, if you don't have enough people, you have to forfeit. And so without both of those dynamics, there is no game to play. Without having the older, more skilled and experienced person, you do not have the vehicle to drive. But if you just have a bunch of gas, which is like great skills and young and enthusiastic and really smart, then, you know, light that gas and it just blows up. Like it's a lot of energy and stuff, but it doesn't get anywhere. But you got to funnel the two together. So they have to be, they have to be mature enough to have a conversation together and understand that if they don't and they're not team oriented enough to realize that they need each other, that's when you probably have to fire one, not the other.

So it is possible that the two generations could recognize their positives and their negatives and how together, if they have a deep level of trust and understanding of those two things, do you think they could really collaborate and do something amazing because of those two relationships?

Yeah. And that's why, like, ultimately, you know, a lot of people talk about diversity from, from a racial standpoint or from sex or skin color and stuff like that. But ultimately diversity typically leads to better products and services because you just get different perspectives and different backgrounds that see things from a different angle and potentially might see things that were a blind spot for the other generation or the different race or whatever it might be. So diversity is overused in, in the workplace, but generally diversity is a very good way of seeing things from different angles. And you know, all the time I have ideas and then you or Lee or someone will just say one comment like, oh, yeah, stupid. Yeah, forget it. Yeah, move on. Like, it's just dumb. So, you know, otherwise that could have been, you know, a three month project that we went and did that thing, but if we can just nip it in the bud again, you have to have that money in the bank in that relationship for someone to be like, no, that's stupid. And then like, oh yeah, of course not. Like, of course. So. But you gotta respect each other and what, what the person brings to the table. And so I think really, really young teams. And when I say young, I don't mean age. I mean, like, amount of time they've been together. It's harder to bridge those gaps of generational age or racial differences and things like that because there you haven't built up the money in the bank of the relationship to trust each other yet. Once you trust someone, then it's a lot easier. Once you know that they have your back, you're more inclined to be like, okay, I might not see things the same way you might skills. Like, it's like literally like the defensive lineman versus the quarterback. Like, yeah, the defensive lineman's massive and super strong, but if you don't have the quarterback that can throw 40, 50 yards down the field or run or be agile, then, like, you're going to lose. And it's also wrong for the quarterback to mock the defensive lineman who's 300 pounds and say he's fat. Like, if without that, you would get clobbered, right? So realizing there's just different positions on a team and different strengths and weaknesses, and if we can just get everyone in the right spot, that then we'll win the game. If we switch everyone up, like, oh, let's all be equal. And, like, you're. The quarterback is going to play defensive lineman, the lineman's going to play quarterback. Everyone gets out of the wrong. You can have the right people on the bus, but in the wrong spot, and the whole thing falls apart. And so when people start jostling for other people's positions, it's the first sign of a failing team, because you can have all the right people, really good people, but if they're jostling for other people's positions and not content, like, okay, I'm a defensive lineman. I'm not going to be running 100 yards in this game for a touchdown. Like, I might never get touched on.

My whole career, right?

And no one's gonna, you know, get pictures of me with a Heisman Trophy. Like, that's not the defensive lineman's position. So if he's always wanting someone else's position, the team will fail. And so I think it's something that has to be addressed from the coach's perspective, usually. And that is, like, you are not a quarterback. You were a defensive lineman. You are a quarterback. You are not a defensive lineman. And being very clear about roles and responsibilities, and in a growing team that's really young, that's difficult because roles do change, right?

And she give them more responsibility.

And one person might be playing four different positions.

Right.

Like little League. Right. Where you put like shortstop and then pitcher and then first base, then right field. But. Well, that's what is required in a small business. You have to do that as the route, as the roles get more defined and they, the team gets more old and aged. What I mean in terms of just like length of being with each other, then in size of the company, you need defined roles. And that's when a lot of times people will start being jealous of oh so and so that this position or so and so gets the football all the time. They always get to run. They get the, you know, the picture in the front of the magazine. Well, yeah, because they're cut in 180 pounds of sheer muscle. You're fat, but we need you. We still need you, but you need to stay in your role. Now you can't also be the receiver.

Right, Right. So those two people that end up coming together like that and having an amazing cohesive relationship, first of all, the young person has to look at the older person and be like, I want to be like that. They've got something I really admire. And then the older person look at the younger one and they've seen them deliver on what they were doing and so they're like, okay, I can trust them with a little bit more. And eventually they work towards each other to be now they can collaborate and do something great.

Yeah. And just realiz that not any, like maybe you look up to the person above you and you're like, I don't want to be like them.

But you'll never have that relationship.

Well, or, or, or you just focus on the things that they're good at. Like maybe they have the experience that you don't and if you're self aware enough to realize that and then admire the, the one good thing that they do have that you don't and realize that they're still better having the ball than me. Yeah, right. They're still better and maybe one day that will change.

So all that's good in them that I want to be, I'll extract while I'm with them. Yeah, that's awesome. So the reason I wanted to ask Mike these questions as soon as he asked today that some of you had asked for that is because I've been in all of those roles. So I as an employee, then as a manager, I've also been a small business owner on a very small scale with a janitorial business and an in home care business. And in my in home care business, I was a cna. But to do proper care for the patients that I was responsible for, I needed to hire LPNs, RNs. I needed to have a naturopath doctor and, you know, a neurologist for some of the patients I had. And I had to hire up and have respect for people that were more qualified than me to create the team. And so now that I'm with Augusta, I have more responsibility. I have responsibility for those team that I once was and have all those feelings that they had moving up. And now I have a heavy responsibility that they don't know about and stuff you deal with with employees on a personal level that you can't share, but it is a burden to you. Now I now I know how that feels. Even though I'm not the owner, I think like the owner, and I try to bear the load, to let the owner go and grow the company. And so I know that there's a lot of employees that have a lot of those feelings and struggles inside, and they're not really sure how to lead from where they are. And of course, I always recommend Jocko's book. Discipline Equals Freedom is a really good one. And then extreme ownership dichotomy of leadership. And then there's one that's really good. And it could be used from employees to see the owner's perspective and then how they can be if they don't like what's happening with the owner. And also for owners to see. There's a certain way that some employees behave, just like in the military. And sometimes they might be acting out. Acting out, but it's not because they're bad. It's because they are really needing more and can do more. And that's leadership strategies and tactics. That one's also by Jocko. So I hope that they were encouraged a little bit by hearing about all their different roles. And we can do this again another time on different topics. Yeah.

So comment below if you have other questions you would like asked. And maybe next time we can ask it again and Liz can draw from some of the Q and A.

One last, most important question.

Oh, question.

Will you be able to sleep tonight if you don't find your AirPod case?

I will be able to sleep, but I resent the drive tomorrow for 45 minutes. I don't find my AirPod case because.

They'Re gonna die and they won't. They won't be charged.

Well, based upon what my iPhone says, they're almost is dead.

They're on their way out. So, yes, very stressful. Life is very big deal.

Cool. Awesome. Thanks, guys. Have a good one.