Five Must-Have Skills for Every Business Entrepreneur with Bill Clark

Welcome everyone to another episode of Mastermind Mastery. This is the podcast for you if you are wanting to create or already running peer groups. It's what we call PACs, Peer Advisory Councils. They might be known as mastermind groups, CEO peer groups, all the same. But this is the podcast if you want to run better PACs, that you want to be better at being a moderator, you want to up your game, learn advanced techniques, hear from myself as well as guests, what works, new concepts, trends, techniques. Also learn content, things you could take back to your meetings, different ways to do different things to solve problems that we all have when we're running groups. It will increase your retention, reduce your attrition, get you more members, make you more money. This is the podcast for you. I'm Tina Corner Stolz. The host. I've been doing this since 2005. I built a territory of 10+ groups, sold for a multiple, started Ellis Council, Leader Exchange Council, in 2012. We are a licensing model. We are the leading educator in the peer advisory council space. We have the podcast. I have a licensing program with certification. I've written 2 books. So today, when you hear this episode, each and every week it's a new podcast where we dive deep into a topic for 15, 20 minutes. One week it's me doing a deep dive on all the experience and insights from not only today with our entire licensed partner community or the past, what I've learned along the way, but we also have guests that are out there doing groups today that share their insights and new concepts. So let's get started with today's episode. So welcome everyone to another episode of Mastermind Mastery. I'm your host, Tina Corner Stolz. Tina Corner Stolz, and I am thrilled today to have not only a guest that's very near and dear to my heart, but a topic that is essential, essential for you guys to listen to, particularly if you're thinking about whether running packs are the right profession for you, the right work, as lack of a better word we're going to say, or if you're already doing them today, are you doing them with these 5 key things you're going to learn about how to be a good moderator. And I couldn't have anyone on this show that really knows this topic, I think, extremely well than Bill Clark. So, Bill, welcome to today's show. Thank you for being a guest.

Thank you, Tina Corner Stolz.

Of course.

So great to be here.

Yes. Now, Bill is based in Baltimore. We got to know each other when I became a franchisee of The Alternative Board, and we were competitors, you know, and Bill was very well known in the area with Clark Leadership. And here I was starting The Alternative Board, and we were kind of what I would call competitors next door to each other in many ways, you know. So we actually found out that we were more comrades. Than competitors. And Bill really taught me a lot about the skill of moderating, and we collaborated. We even, um, started and ran a couple of groups together, which was super fun. Um, but Bill has really been in this industry for so many years and understands the nuances the technical aspects of what he's going to call this work. And whenever Bill and I really started to get to know each other, he would always refer to the work that we do. And what does that mean, the work that we do, right? And this is very meaningful, impactful work that when you get into this profession, that you have a big responsibility to do it well with your clients. And so in today's episode, Bill's going to talk about 5 key things that you must know how to do and do well as a moderator. So we're going to dive into them right now. But Bill, would you just add a little bit more color commentary to your background for our audience so they have a better feel for that? You're really an expert in this area and they understand that background. And then we're going to jump into your top 5.

Well, first of all, thank you, Tina, for having me here this morning. But the first thing I would say is I'm 84 years old.

You're 84 young. You're 84 young.

I have, I've spent a lifetime being an entrepreneur. And I've either grown, started, or sold bought 8 different businesses in my life. I've been extremely successful and I've been painstakingly broke and poor doing it. So I've learned what it is to really— for those that are interested in being a moderator, I'm very, very interested and very willing to help others want to achieve. So, uh, today and for the past 18 years, uh, with my company of Clark Leadership, I've been helping others, and that is my purpose in life, to help others succeed.

Absolutely. And you've done a great job, and you're still doing a great job. Absolutely. So let's jump into these 5 areas that you have kind of summarized into what are— it's important for moderators to be really good at. So I'm gonna let you rock and roll. What would you start out as number 1?

The number 1 thing that I would tell people would be you have to know yourself. And There's two parts to that that are really important. One is, are you intuitive? Do you have a good gut on you? Can you really understand what is happening with others? Or are you a cognitive thinker? Cognitive thinkers are people who absolutely must know everything about everything before they can proceed an inch. Um, intuitive people are very strong in, well, what, what does my gut tell me? So that's the first thing, you know, know yourself and know how, what kind of a thinker you are.

Yes. And how have you seen that, like, show up in a meeting, for example, the importance of that intuitiveness versus being cognitive?

Well, the intuitive person is the person who— which really goes to, um, what I call the second part of what I would talk about, which is the ability to read the room. Uh, you have to have a gut feeling of what, what, what is happening in the room. I've had several people who have come to me and wanted to be moderators that I've talk to about being a moderator, and then what they talk about or what they, they can't, they can't have an understanding of what's going on in the room. They don't have the ability to read the room. And you have to have a sense of what's going on in the room, who's being distracted, who is paying attention, to be able to call people out on that. So you have to have that ability. And that probably ties into the first part that I talked about, which is the ability to know if you're an intuitive person or a cognitive person. You have to read the room.

Yes, because you're reading it real time.

Yes.

Yes. And you have to act real time.

Well, you also have to have that ability to feel comfortable because Many people, and I've learned this with moderators that I've had work for us, that not everybody's comfortable in standing in front of a room of CEOs, people who run businesses or own businesses, particularly as they get bigger. Not everybody's comfortable. I've had people who are great, great coaches and can coach people, but put them in front of the room and tell them to moderate a group, and all of a sudden they freeze up. So, you know, I've learned that you've got to have that ability to read the room. You've got to know if you're intuitive or cognitive.

Do you think, before we move on to the next one, Bill, do you think that, let's say I am not very intuitive Can you learn it or no?

Um, no, I don't think you can. I, I think it is something you're born with. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know, um, I talk a lot about, uh, it's, it's in your gut. Do you have a gut feeling about things? Do you trust your gut? And a lot of people say, well, you know, I, I need to know this, I need to know, I need to know a lot of different things before I can move ahead. But people who can really trust their gut are people who say, I, I, I'm, I'm comfortable. I, I, I feel this is the right way to go. Feel is the right way to go. Not have to have all the facts before I can go there.

Correct. Because you're not going to get them in the meeting.

No, no, because, because everybody in that room is different than you. And you've got to be able to read that and you got to know in your gut whether or not you— how far you can push somebody to help them.

Absolutely. Now, I want to, I want to underscore that, that you just said before you move on to the third one is to know when to push. You are one person that I know of that does that so well. That you push people to their— this level of vulnerability, which is probably a whole nother topic that you and I need to have another episode on. That when I've been in the room with you when you've done that, I have been uncomfortable. I'm like, oh my gosh, he's really pushing. But your intuition to know that person can handle it is what that's all about. And That is what makes their experience, right, so much better, because you have seen how your intuition and pushing them and knowing that what they can handle— like, what a word— because most people won't go that far. And my point is to underscore your comments about intuition and how important that is.

Absolutely, absolutely. But that, that, that rolls right into the third point which is the ability to ask people tough questions. Uh, I, I feel that a good moderator has the skill of being able to ask people questions. Uh, and when you ask somebody a question, you have to let them become uncomfortable. Uh, it's something I had to learn during my, my career in owning and running businesses, I had to learn. I had a problem wanting to save people. So I was always pretty good at asking people questions. But when I would ask somebody a question and I would see them struggling for an answer, I'd want to jump in and help them, you know, with an answer. Because I didn't like to see people suffer. But yet, yet I had to learn, and it is true, that if you allow people to be uncomfortable, if you can have that ability to ask people questions and let them become uncomfortable, it's then what they can really get deep down inside them and answer. Sometimes people say I don't know what that answer is. And this is what I would say to everybody on the podcast.

I know what's coming. I love this. Go ahead.

If you, if you didn't know what the answer is, what might that be? And all of a sudden you'll find that people will dig deeper and come up with things. So, so that point of having that ability to ask people questions. Why is this important? Because I have learned over the years that what helps leaders sitting in this room really move ahead is their ability to really to become more and more comfortable asking people questions. Because if you don't ask people questions, how are you going to know where they're at and where they can go? And what do you as a leader need to do to help them improve?

Yes. So I quote you a lot about that question and that the power is in the question. Right. And that first time that someone's— that I was with you and somebody said, I did, I don't know. And you said, but what if you did know? The look on their face was priceless because they were like, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute. And, and I thought they were probably going to punch you, right? Because what do you mean, what if I knew? I don't know, which is why I'm telling you I don't know. But your point is, no, you do know, because what if you did? And yes, if there's one takeaway from, from this episode, I hope you all as listeners is using that question and how impactful that can be when you flip it back. Because it's brilliant. It's absolutely brilliant.

So, and it works and it works, but you have to keep your mouth shut and not dive in to help somebody who's struggling and looking for an answer. Because once you, once you give them an answer, they don't learn anything.

No, no. And it's a great thing to do as you're an owner with your leadership team. I mean, it carries all the way through.

That's right. It carries all the way through. Not, not just in moderating, but in everything you do and running your own business. Yes.

Great. Okay. What's the next one?

Next one up is learning how to hold people accountable. You know, so many business owners, entrepreneurs, people who run businesses get into this process of saying, Um, well, I'll get it done. I'll get it done by next week. Well, when by next week? Um, and then what time next week? What day? When? But it's all learning to hold people accountable. Um, you know, I can remember one particular situation where Somebody said, well, you know, we were discussing an employee that was not performing for a client. And I asked them, well, what are you going to do? And they said, well, I think I have to let that person go. I can't This person just doesn't do well. I said, well, when, when is that going to happen? And they said, well, next week. And I said, okay. So then the next month they'd show up at a group meeting and I would say, how did you make out? Well, I got talking to that person and they said, they're going to do better. So I'm giving you another chance. Which really goes to the process of holding people accountable. Because what I've learned in all these years, not only in business but running groups, uh, for the past 18 years, it really comes down to this. It comes down to the fact that particularly in holding people accountable, if you don't, if you don't ask them when they'll get something done by people will slide because they, they really don't know, Tina, whether or not you're serious about what you want them to be accountable for.

Yep.

So it goes back to the preceding thing, which is about asking people questions. That is, you know, when, when will you have this done? And the learning, you know, questions start with— and I'm I'm leaning back towards the previous question, but the previous point, which is questions always begin with a W. What, where, when, why, who, and one letter, H, for how. But if you learn that and you're moderating a group and you start asking people in the group questions, you will be surprised what you learn and what you'll help them learn.

Absolutely. So accountability is a big part of the benefit of being in a group.

It is.

And not only you as the moderator, you know, holding them accountable, but you're teaching the rest of the members to do that with each other, obviously.

Yes.

Because that's the ideal scenario. Because you're also teaching them how to do it with their employees because That always seems to be a challenge.

Absolutely. Absolutely. Which brings me to my last point that I wanted to mention, which is really learning and really learning as a moderator what it means, what is leadership. Today, I am always amazed at the things that are bantered around as leadership. And leadership to Bill Clark is a very simple process. It's learning how to place the right people in the right roles and then letting them do their job. So many, so many people who run businesses have a tendency to want to be involved in so many things that they don't belong in. They— and, and as a moderator, our job is to help them learn how to be a better person running their organization, how to be a better CEO, how to be a better leader. But what is, what is really leadership? Leadership is about all about teaching someone how to get people under them and hold them accountable, ask the right questions, but it's putting the right people in underneath of you and then letting them do their job. That's how you go to find out if somebody can be with you for a long period of time. That's very important. Leadership, learning leadership, learning how to help others. Become accountable. That's very important in the process of moderating.

Those are 5 very insightful points for our listeners today. And I trust that those of you listening are going to take away something that made you think, oh, I could do that better. You know, just when I'm thinking about accountability, And, you know, to Bill's point of going, okay, a lot of times you let people off like, okay, they're going to do it next week. But no, no, no, no, no, no. What day and when? Look at your calendar. When are you going to do that? Right. And getting them that clarity because that helps them get clear on, oh, okay, I really am doing this and this is when I'm going to do it. Right. I need to prepare so I'm ready to do it.

Absolutely.

Yep. So we always end every episode with a piece of wisdom to give to our listeners, and it can be on anything. So today, aside from what you've talked about, Bill, I know you have a lot of wisdom. So pluck one. And what is it that you would share with the audience that would help them and their journey? Of being the best moderator they can be?

I would say the piece of wisdom I would want to give to everybody is to really, really learn what your purpose is. This is noble work that we do, very noble, helping others succeed. And People often ask me, you know, why at this age, Bill, are you continuing on with the work you do and the people that you work with? And I say for one reason, I am, I've dedicated my life now to helping others succeed. And it is a noble profession. And you can do it. You can do this for as long as you want in your life. As long as you're a learner and not a knower. So I would, I would say to everybody who's a moderator, this is a very noble profession and you can do this for as long as you want. Keep yourself being a learner and help others succeed.

Right. So know your purpose. And if you don't know your purpose, what if you did know? Exactly right.

There you go. Excellent.

Well, Bill, thank you for being the guest. You're going to come back again if I can twist your arm. We'll have another really great conversation, and I appreciate you sharing with the audience your many years of doing this. And I'm sure they can tell that you have that wisdom behind you and the experience and why you're so successful.

Tina Corner Stolz.

Thank you again for being here, and thanks for everyone for listening in. And until this next time on a Tuesday, go make it happen. Hello, listeners, and this is a quick promo because we have our national conference, Live Exchange 2024, coming up in October in St. Petersburg, Florida. One day you can attend for a mere $500. And interact with your peers, others that are running groups, network with them, find out best practices, all those challenges that you're having, get insights that can help you personally in addition to hearing a phenomenal list of speakers. I will open up that day with some insights in regards to moderating and it will turn it over to Vern Harnish who, if you do not know him, you know, he's the one who founded entrepreneur organization. He understands peer groups extremely well, and he runs Scaling Up. You will take away phenomenal information that will help you run your groups, not only to scale your own practice but to help your business owners in those groups with the content Vern is going to share. You will also hear on two other subjects, one about the importance of preparing your members for exiting the business, whatever that transition may be, and how do you do that. You will also hear about making change. How do you manage change? How do you facilitate change, which is required in today's environment? Again, content you're going to be able to take back to your groups and use yourself. And last, we're going to end it with course Horse Soldier and 12 Strong. So if you don't know that story, that is the 12 soldiers that went into Afghanistan on horseback prior to us invading Afghanistan. You will hear their story about leadership and how they have transitioned that into a phenomenally successful bourbon brand called Horse Soldier, and you will hear how they have scaled that business, and we will end the conference with bourbon tasting. Again, a very packed day. I encourage all of you, if you are serious about your own personal development, I will see you and I will love to meet you personally October 18th in St. Petersburg, Florida. Go to our website and you can get all the details, see the details of the agenda, and register. Thank you everyone for listening to another episode of Mastermind Mastery, and to get access today's episodes, not only the show notes, but any tools and resources, encourage you to— not only will you find them in the episode show notes, but also you can go to the website www.lxcouncil.com. So lx counsel dot com, and you will find a plethora of articles and content and tools and resources and worksheets and things like that that can be helpful to you in creating and running successful PACs. I want to leave you with one thing that we end and teach to do in every single meeting, and that is the very last thing is to ask, what is your takeaway from today's episode? I encourage you to give that thought. Take advantage of the time you just invested in listening to the episode, and what can you do to move one step closer to the vision that you have and the goals that you're trying to achieve with your groups. So again, take a step back. What's your key takeaways? What can you actually act on? And I leave this with one note, and those of you that have read my book, Your Seat at the Table, you know that I ended the book with a story about my mentor. He always, when he met people, had a pebble in his pocket that he passed to them when there was knowledge shared. And so I ask you today to think about that pebble concept and to pass what you learned today on to someone else, which could be your members, or take it internally to yourself and act on it. So now go do something with those takeaways.