Rick White explains how shop owners can read their business like a living organism. Pay attention to energy, cleanliness, and how people behave. When something feels off baseline, address it fast with care, set clear boundaries, and build a plan together.
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Good morning. My name is Rick White from 180 Biz, and this is my just one thing. So we're going to talk about antenna. There are too many shop owners out there that are so busy with their lists, the tasks that they got to get done, the grind that they're going through, or the problems they're dealing with that they create blinders to what's going on around them. They're missing vital signals coming from their team, their clients, and basically just how their business is doing. So what I want to talk about today is keeping your antenna up. Every shop owner I start talking to it, they think that success is about doing more faster. Right? I got to get you to understand the more you focus on execution, the less you have a sense of what's going on around you. You lose connection to the shop's rhythm. You know what I'm talking about? Like the energy, the mood, the vibe of the shop. And here's the thing. When you're focused on execution, when you're focused on the list, when you're focused on the problems, your antenna or down and you miss something signals frustration in a team member's tone. Hesitating from an advisor, a dirty bay, degrading documentation, or tension in the air. These are all small clues pointing to bigger issues that get ignored until they explode. And that is a problem. Okay, that is a problem. So what's the shift? The shift is to tune in, to listen, to observe, to stay curious. There was something I learned a long time ago that was called management by walking around M, B, W. You've heard of eas. This is an mbwa. And what you got to do when you're going through and walking around, just be there, be present in the moment and be aware. Ask what's going on? What's the vibe? What's happening inside the shop? This is really important. I want to give you some tools so that you're aware of when something's not where it could and should be. So the first thing you need is a baseline. What do I mean by that? A baseline of what normal behavior looks like from your team, what normal energy looks like in your shop. What is the normal attitude? See, when you can understand what the baseline is, you're going to be aware very quickly of when someone is outside of it. If this is making sense to you, I'd really appreciate you sharing this. What you want to be able to do is get a baseline. That's the important part. Okay. Once you have that baseline, now you can see things that are going on the second thing you need is a clear direction, a vision. A vision of where you're going, who you're serving, why you're doing it. That way. There you can look around and be aware and ask yourself, is what's going on around me right now moving us towards where we're going? Or instead of moving us away from where we're going, if it's moving us towards it, fantastic. Let's keep doing it. If it isn't, let's confront it. But here's the very worst thing you can do. This is dangerous and everybody does it, is you make up stories. When you have someone that's acting out of character, you make up a story that alleviates your discomfort, but it makes things worse because that behavior has gone unchecked. So let me give you an example. I have a technician that's normally in a really good mood, very positive. They come in and they are in a real funk, snapping at people more times than not. I listen to shop owners all the time. What did they say? Oh, we must have had a fight at home. Oh, there must be this going on. You gotta stop making up stories, okay? You gotta stop making up stories. And what I want to do is give you a four step process to confronting behavior properly. Okay? Number one, you gotta call it out. You gotta call it out immediately. Don't wait. You know, if you let stuff build up, you start to get triggered, you start to get emotional. But if you're walking around and you see something that's outside of your baseline, what you wanted to do is just say, hey man, come on, let's go talk for a sec. And you're just going to call it out immediately. You want to make sure you're not triggered by it. If you're angry or upset, that is not the time to call it out. You can say, john, we need to talk about this. I just need a little bit of time. So you're making them aware. But then you've got to get yourself self regulated so that you can work with this and get it so that it matters. Because the second step is you got to show you care. You got to realize that you're dealing with a behavior, not a person. People are decent, as a rule, they're decent. So if you can step back and say, hey, here we go, this is the problem over here. And I'm wondering what's causing this. Now you can stay curious without getting judgmental or emotional. Typically when you start getting triggered by something, it's because you feel like that person is doing Something to harm you or the business. And that's not the truth. Most of the time, that's not the truth. So what you want to be able to do is stay curious and just show you care. Okay? You're going to just say, hey, man, can you help me understand what's going on here, John? You're snapping at people. You never do this, man. What's going on? Oh, nothing. Respectfully, that's not true. Come on, man, let's do this. Because when I call it out and I show I care, the other thing I'm showing them is I'm watching and that this is not okay. See, step three is reinforce your boundaries. You got to explain to them by why the whatever's going on matters, not only in this situation and the impact it has, but also why they matter, why they're a part of the team, why they make a difference, and why this is important. Step one, call it out immediately as soon as you're not triggered. Step two, show your care by breaking out the behavior from the person. Attack the behavior as a team. Do not attack the person. Three, reinforce your boundaries. And then number four, create a plan together. Just because two of you talked about it and they said, okay, I won't do it again, you gotta have a plan. So when you say you won't do it again, John, can you help me understand or give me a path or what you're gonna do differently right now to make sure that that doesn't happen again? And then my last question typically is how can I support you? Because I want to help them through this after I'm done. I want to thank them for being a part of the team and I want to let them know that we value not only them as a member of the team, but as a human being. And I think that is super, super important. So I've got a challenge for you. Where's your focus? Are you focused on a problem or where you're going? Are you, you know, on a checklist or are you working on connection? Are you surviving the day or sensing what your shop is trying to tell you this week? I want you to look, listen, feel, and then deal. If this message resonated with you, please share this video. I would really appreciate that there are people out here that need to hear it. The last thing I want to say is our pocket business genius. Thursday, one o'. Clock. It's really good. Our shop owners roundtable is also this Thursday, 7pm Eastern. Again, share the video. I appreciate you all. Remember, your business is always communicating. Are you listening? Everybody take care. Have a great week. God bless. Stay safe. Right. Cold season. Go make some money. I'll talk to you later. Bye. Bye.
