August 14, 2025 • 52 mins
Ty shares his leadership journey and the core principles behind building a successful business with strong company culture, highlighting the importance of vision, energy, and servant leadership.
• Leadership is about servantship, not exercising power over others
• Your team reflects your energy as a CEO (Chief Energy Officer), you set the tone
• Leading with fear and anger never builds lasting success
• People don't follow confusion, they follow clear vision
• The importance of articulating why your company exists beyond profit
• Micro-actions create ripple effects that build a powerful culture
• Connect everyday tasks to their larger impact to inspire your team
• Celebrate wins loudly and make progress visible
• Empower your team with phrases like "you decide" and "what do you think?"
• A strong culture will outlast any business challenge
• Lead by example. Set the standard through your actions, not just words
Tune in next week when we welcome special guest Dashaun Bryant at a special time, 7 PM. Keep leading with purpose, building with pride, and showing the world what's possible when you do the right thing the right way every time.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Ty Cobb Backer (00:00):
and we are live.
Welcome back everybody toBeyond the Tool Belt, episode
294.
I am your host, ty Cobb-Backer,and thank you for joining us on
this Wednesday edition.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
We will be right back after a short intro from our
sponsors.
Welcome to Behind the Tool Belt, where the stories are bold,
the conversations are real andthe insights come to you live,
raw and uncut sites.
(00:47):
Come to you live, raw and uncut.
Every week, host Ty Cobb-Backersits down to bring you the
stories, the struggles, thelessons learned and the wins.
No filters, no scripts, justthe truth.
Please welcome your host ofBehind the Tool Belt, ty
Cobb-Backer.
Ty Cobb Backer (01:00):
And we are back.
What's up everybody?
Welcome back to the Behind thePool.
I am your host, ty Cobb-Backer,and today I'm rolling solo to
talk about something that sitsat the core of everything we do
Right?
Four topics Leadership,responsibility, vision and
company culture.
These four things are more thanbuzzwords.
(01:24):
These four things are more thanbuzzwords.
They're the foundation of everysuccessful business, especially
in the trades.
And for those of you that listento me know that I talk a lot
about you know leadership,culture, vision and all these
things.
And it seems like over the pastyou know, 44 days these were
(01:53):
some things that I really doveinto and I got to experience
some things.
It's funny how God works.
I got to see myself in otherpeople, um, and, and I've
learned a lot from it, and I'velearned a lot of what not to do.
I've learned a lot about whatto do under certain
circumstances and how to treatothers.
So I thought today, you know, Ithought today would be a good
(02:17):
day to talk about those, thosefour topics, you know
responsibility, the vision andcompany culture.
You know responsibility, thevision and company culture.
So, whether you're a businessowner, a manager or just someone
who's passionate about growth,I think this one's going to be a
good one for you.
(02:38):
And leadership it's a hugebuzzword, you know that
everyone's using today andreally, what it comes down to
it's it's the stewardship andand how we carry ourselves and
the impact that we want to haveon those around us.
And, and a lot of it has to dowith with serving.
Even though we're using theword leader, it really pertains
(02:59):
to servant ship, not necessarilyleadership.
And, and quite frankly, theleadership is the engine that's
behind all of this.
It's, it's, it's.
It isn't a title, it's aresponsibility, you know, and my
journey over the years has beena wild journey.
(03:21):
I've read, I've led with an ironfist.
I've I've led with my hands toofar off the wheels.
I've led with not settingexpectations and boundaries.
I've been walked on, I've beenstepped on.
I've stepped on, I've walked onothers.
I've belittled others, I'vedone other people wrong.
(03:43):
I've done a lot of good, I'vedone a lot of bad over the years
and you know, I've had a lot oftime and I mean a lot of time,
more than just this past 44 daysof the challenge and what I've
discovered is is it's, it's.
It comes down to what I'm doingpersonally, on a personal level
(04:06):
, taking care of myself, and wetalk a lot, a lot, a lot, about
personal development and what Ido behind closed doors, when
nobody's watching Right, or,probably most importantly, when
people are watching and I don'tknow they're watching, you know,
(04:40):
and I got a story where thisalong this journey, where this
is where it started to reallybecome more about other people
and not so much about myself andthe company, but but more so
for other people.
It was 2011.
And some of you may have heardme talk about this before, but
it was.
It was 2011.
Insurance laws were changingand we were.
(05:10):
We had a decision to make.
We had to decide whether wewere going to keep people as
1099.
And I'm I'm talking about, youknow, in-house.
You know service techs, gutterinstallers, window installers,
our in-house team.
We are, we are technically aconstruction company.
We're not a paper contractor.
We actually employ people thatdo the work, and I'm not saying
(05:34):
we don't use subs.
We do use subcontractors thatpredominantly, only work for us
and get trained by us and followthe rules and whether it's
health and safety standards orquality standards, they all get,
you know, the certificationsand the training.
That way they can articulatethe same performance that our
(05:54):
in-house guys would.
But we had a decision to pullthem off of being a 1099
contractor or or bring them inas as W2 employees, and it was.
It was a tough decision becauseit costs a lot of money to to
do that, and not just, not justfor us, but but for those that
(06:17):
you know we're paying money to.
So if we're paying somebody $20an hour and they're having, you
know, 20 to 40% taken off theircheck, you know, on a week to
week basis, you know that'sunemployment and workers' comp,
being in the space that we're inis about $0.25 per every dollar
(06:49):
that we pay someone, we have topay $0.25, somewhere between
$0.25 to $0.12.
So in theory, it's reallycosting us an extra $5 an hour
to pay someone $20 an hour, thatit's costing us $25 an hour to
cover.
You know all those things.
But what solidified the, the,the decision to do this, was
(07:16):
that you know if somebody didget injured, we'd have workers
comp.
They'd be covered.
They'd be covered.
If we would had or have to laysomebody off, they would be
covered also by unemploymentcompensation that way too.
So it's kind of like you knowwhat I think.
I think the risk, I think thereward is worth worth, worth the
(07:40):
risk, especially for those thatthat that work for us.
So what?
What we elected to do and Iactually discussed some of this
Hunter wrote a book, his lastbook.
I wrote um a little bit aboutthis I can't think of the name
of his book, right, right, thissecond but um great book.
It's got a bunch of us, umsuccessful entrepreneurs in that
(08:03):
book.
But I I, you know touched alittle deeper on this.
So we, we elected to go thatroute.
But what?
Not only did we do that, itplanted the seed.
You know where it was.
Like, man, how great would itbe.
Not only are we offering youknow we can offer over time, we
can, we can offer, you know,unemployment and workers comp
(08:26):
and you know all these things.
But how, how bad ass would itbe if we could offer health
insurance?
You know, that's, that's,that's kind of where that seed
was, was planted for me, andthis was uh, uh, 2011.
So we went all in.
We, we put everybody on thebooks.
We took a hit?
Of course we did, but what it,what it did was, I mean, it did
(08:51):
so many things, um one, I couldsleep better at night, knowing
if anybody got hurt or injuredor anything like that, uh, that
we were covered, they werecovered, all that good stuff.
But, um, the plan of the seedto to want to provide, you know,
health insurance.
And then I started thinkingeven bigger 401k and all these
things.
So, you know, we went to workand we did that, but anyhow, um,
(09:14):
that was a, that was a, thatwas a turning point for me where
it wasn't just about trying tomake ends meet for us but trying
to help and make ends meet foreveryone else around us.
And I'm not saying that Ididn't have that attitude and I
didn't pour into everybody backthen.
But you know, it's just funnyhow things happen, sometimes
(09:38):
forcefully, and sometimes, youknow, we, we have a good idea
and and we go for it, like thehealth insurance.
So it helped us attract bettertalent, it helped us retain, um,
people who, who have been withus since then.
We still have people that backthen that still work for us
today.
You know, and and, um, you know.
(10:01):
So that was one of those, one ofthose moments along my journey
here, a growth moment for me,you know, personally and
professionally.
So, you know, and I'm grateful,I'm grateful that we went that
direction.
What's happening, guys?
Good to see you guys, leonardand Zach and John and Victor,
(10:24):
david, bruno, good to see youguys.
But anyhow, you know, of course, there's a whole lot that has
happened since then.
You know good mistakes, badmistakes, but all have been
learning experiences.
And one of those decisions thatI decided to make was, you know,
(10:45):
uh, going this personaldevelopment and pushing myself
and pushing my mind and andstretching my mind and all those
things.
So I started picking up a lotof books and one of those books
and I think I talked about itlast week was, uh, uh, the
energy bus by John Gordon, and II'll honestly say, you know,
(11:06):
that has changed and solidifiedthe way that I lead today.
And, and if I didn't expressthis enough last week, you know,
everybody should be and can bea CEO, the chief energy officer.
You know that your team, yourteam reflects, our team reflects
my energy, okay, and and itradiates on the others where
(11:31):
they walk out of the room andthen radiate that energy.
Right, your team reflects thatenergy.
If I show up unmotivated, youknow, consistently, so will they
.
You know, and that's somethingI learned.
I learned that early on, youknow, um, and unfortunately, I
radiated a lot of negativeenergy.
(11:53):
I feel like maybe I wasunapproachable.
I was angry most of the time.
I don't even know what the hellI was angry about.
Actually it was.
It was, it was fear.
I was fear driven and and theway that I covered up my fear
was was through through anger.
And you know, through my, myjourney of personal development,
I had discovered that that Iwas a fear driven person and I
(12:15):
didn't want anybody to know thatI was fearful.
So I led with an iron fist myway the highway.
I led with an iron fist my waythe highway and I thought the
(12:38):
only way to get my point acrosswas to, you know, raise my voice
and be the loudest in the roomand speak over people and set
things in motion that way, andthen to come to find out, you
know, I was losing a lot ofrespect from people and I, yeah,
I was losing a lot of respectfrom people and I, yeah, I, I
feared to fail.
I did not want to fail.
I felt like there was a lot ofeyes on me and a lot of people
holding their breath.
Um, and and uh, I hope, I hopeno longer.
I hope they they aren't holdingtheir breath any longer because
(13:02):
, uh, that'd been a hell of along time for them to be holding
their breath.
But I got to show up motivatedand this is what's cool with the
team that we have today.
If I do happen to show upunmotivated the team there's
been enough energy stored up.
You know, and I've talked thetrust bank being built up where
(13:28):
every now and then I can take awithdrawal from that trust bank
and not lose trust.
But the same thing works withenergy.
There's an energy bank and andsometimes it gets depleted, but
then because of that energy bankbeing so full, all the time,
that energy has been able toradiate onto my coworkers and my
co-leaders where they in turncan radiate that good, positive
(13:52):
energy into, you know, thosethat are under their lead and
some of the ways that I've triedto, you know, keep that energy,
because it's been a long time.
We've been doing this shit, along time right and to suit up
(14:13):
and show up day in and day out.
I think most people in myposition would be looking for a
way to exit or get out, but Ialways feel like that.
I'm continuously.
I'm just getting started andVic and I, and Baker and you
know, a few of us, you know andJohn and Brian Brian Good, by
(14:34):
the way, who's crushing it downin Greenville for the past month
, those you know men and women,um, that we have surrounded
ourselves with, that that reallytruly make make our our culture
today, but that that had tostart somewhere Right, and I
(14:56):
have to.
I have to on a day-to-day basis, like just a little bit ago I
did a cold plunge, I had to takea cold plunge and and that's
something along my journey here,my personal development journey
I've learned, really helpedstimulate my mind and, along
with all kinds of other healthbenefits that that does, by
(15:17):
signing up for challenges and bypushing myself and figuring out
what works and what doesn'twork and what motivates me, what
gets the creative juices going,and re-recruiting the team and
and surrounding myself aroundother entrepreneurs or leaders,
you know, and listening to whatthey're actually saying, and and
and and stay learning, like Ihave to stay learning, you know,
(15:42):
on a day-to-day um basis.
I have to remain a student and,um, if I don't, you know, if
I'm not growing, I'm going, andI'm sure a lot of people um,
have heard that quote before.
But, uh, you know, I choosetoday to keep learning and and
(16:05):
and know that I don't knoweverything.
And you know, what's cool is isthat when, when you're learning
more from your team, that'swhen you know that you have a
genuine culture and and and agreat group of men and women
that you have surroundedyourself with.
But leadership, a lot ofleadership, is also about
(16:25):
clarity.
You know, and this is somethingthat that most recently, um,
I've it's been brought back tomy attention, uh, through some
certain situations of not havingor articulating clarity.
You know, people, people don'tfollow confusion, right, they,
they follow vision.
Um, you know, unfortunately,with having an amazing team,
(16:50):
there can be a little bit ofconfusion, there can be a little
uncertainty from circumstancesand changes and uncontrollable
events that no one could predictmight happen.
(17:12):
Or when I'm not around.
Right, the team.
Right, because the vision hasbeen casted, the energy has been
built up, the trust bank isfull.
You get a group of men andwomen that help carry you
through that.
But that doesn't give me theright to panic or freak out or
(17:32):
make the situation worse.
Right, because nobody again canfollow confusion.
They like decisiveness and,again, having a great group of
men and women.
You can have a little bit ofuncertainty, but you can't have
it for long, okay.
If the vision isn't clear atthe top, it's going to be cloudy
(17:56):
the whole way down.
And casting a vision is one ofthe most and I can't emphasize
this enough is one of the mostpowerful tools as a leader can
possess, not just for settingdirection, but to inspire belief
(18:17):
and action.
Um, if you want your co-leaderswhich I want my co-leaders to
drive the company forward, theymust first catch the vision,
okay.
Then they need to own it andfinally they need to carry it on
(18:37):
to others.
Right, and that's what I'vebeen trying to explain, you know
, and I'm saying this out loudso I can actually hear it, okay,
and again, like I said, thishas been brought to my attention
again.
God seems to work in mysteriousways.
Sometimes you know, and and, uh, you know be reminded that
(19:02):
people are inspired by purposeand not necessarily processes.
Right, because you can have thegreatest processes, you can
have a million dollars worth ofSOPs and KPIs, but if your
culture is poop and if you'resurrounded by a bunch of
shitheads, it doesn't matterabout SOPs, kpi's, because no
(19:27):
one's going to follow that shitAnyhow, right.
So I read a book.
Imagine that I read a book awhile back and read it several
times and start with why.
Okay, by Simon Sinek.
And people like to know the whyand not necessarily the.
(19:50):
What People don't buy into,what you do, they buy into why
we do it right, why are we doingthis?
And I think Simon said it somesome some other way, but you
know at at, you know, at thebeginning of our meetings at
(20:15):
least the ones that I'm involvedwith, especially the global
meeting that we have we startthe meeting with, um, the vision
of the company.
What I mean by that is is thatsomebody is elected to read one
of our core values, um, itbasically explains why the
(20:37):
company exists beyond profit.
Who are we serving?
What, in fact, are we making?
You know, um, the vision mustflow through at every level.
You know, and I, and I know attimes we, we as a company,
struggle to get, you know, thatvision, especially out into the
(21:00):
field, and that's somethingagain that's been brought to my
attention, that I've beenreminded of.
That.
You know, it's one thing forall of us.
You know, I got to hang outwith a few of them, uh, man, a
(21:31):
week or two ago, a group of uswent golfing and then we went
golfing again and then, um, Igot a couple of them out fishing
and I was reminded again, I wasreminded again, I was reminded
again, like three differenttimes in like a two and a half
week period of time, where it'slike there's a we have a
disconnect where you know ourpurpose or why, you know after
(21:56):
listening to, you know a certainindividual like damn it, like I
completely missed the mark here, like damn it, like I
(22:27):
completely missed a mark here.
You know what I mean, you know,and it's important, like we.
The golf tournament, right, wasfor York Builders Association
and I can see where somebodystanding on the outside looking
in wondering like well, shoot,that's a Thursday, like should
you guys be working?
You know, I could see wheresomeone on the outside couldn't
see the importance of usparticipating in a local
builders association that wewere actually invited to, right,
because I used to, early on inmy career, I used to avoid
public engagements orinvitations to participate in
(22:48):
things and didn't understand thepower of networking, didn't
(23:10):
understand the power, you know,because of ignoring those things
and not participating in thosethings, be a huge part of the
community and New York BuilderAssociation is one of those
outlets, one of those conduitsfor us to really really get
(23:31):
involved with the community.
So that's why we didn't have togo but we elected to go.
We had two foursomes.
We brought one of ourmanufacturers with us.
So again we're networking.
Our team got to meet ourshingle rep, got to meet our
siding rep, which on aday-to-day, especially being out
in the field, they just know weuse these products but they
(23:52):
don't know who services us withthese products.
That and we got to experience agreat day and camaraderie and
fellowship and build our cultureand build our culture.
Okay, and again I'm pretty bigpart involved with you know, the
(24:18):
builder association and Vic,I'm going to throw this out
there but I'm being elected for2026 to be the president and
there's going to be a big oldparty, the inauguration, and we
got to get 50 to 70 of us toshow up to this thing to
celebrate because they're goingto let a knucklehead like me be
the president.
So that's why we have to attendthese things and bring our
(24:42):
people this is our company.
I am proud of the people that Iwork with to these events and
to these functions and they hearso many great things about us.
Well, it's not me, it's theseguys over here that's out here
tearing up the golf course withme.
Right, that's why we do thesethings.
So, having a conversation withone of our production guys, I
(25:06):
had realized that you know this.
What our why is?
You know?
It's like we're not justputting roofs on people's houses
, we're putting dignity overpeople's heads.
We're building a reputation Ourkids can be proud of here.
Right, like this is.
This is what we're doing here.
(25:27):
And, and roofing and shinglesand siding and windows and
gutters and gutter guards andsolar is just the vehicle for us
, right, to put dignity overpeople's heads and be and
participate in the community.
(25:48):
Get ourselves out there.
It's like I'm done hiding, done, being humble.
You know like we need to getourselves out there and be more
part of the community, and notjust administratively, not just
our sales people, not just oursales reps, but you know
everybody involved.
(26:09):
So what's Ben saying here?
He said come up with a plan One, come up with a plan to give
simple, clear, yeah.
There you go, that's it.
That's it in a nutshell.
You know what I mean.
So a muddy vision leads tofuzzy execution, right.
(26:29):
Boil the vision down to asingle sentence that can be
repeatable by every leader,co-leader, manager.
Avoid buzzwords.
Be clear, human and compelling,impelling.
Okay, repetition createsretention.
(26:50):
Say it often, right.
And just for an example of ayou know vision statement right,
we're here to be the mosttrusted name in roofing by
delivering quality buildingleaders and giving back to our
community.
Like, remember that.
Right, everybody in the companyshould know that that's like,
that's what we're doing here.
In a nutshell, that is our corevalues.
(27:11):
Right, we're here to be themost trusted name in the roofing
industry by delivering qualitybuilding leaders and giving back
to our community.
Okay, and again, all of thisstuff, as I've been reminded
(27:34):
over the past several months andthat's kind of the reason why
Vic and I elected to do theFearless 44, you know so, and I
got to make sure, too, that it'sgetting down, you know, from
from me to co -leader, to team.
Right, we just can't tell themwhat to do.
(27:58):
We have to show them where,where we're going and how they
fit into it.
You know, I need you know, inphrases that I've used in the
past is you know, hey, I needyour help, um or um, can you do
me a favor.
But one of the most powerful umthings that I say all the time
(28:19):
is is you know, everybody's jobis so important.
Your job is so important thatthe person sitting next to you
has a job.
Okay, they, they have tounderstand and again being
reminded the vision why we exist.
Okay, your job, your existence,you being here, is so important
(28:44):
.
Every doesn't matter whatposition you hold within the
organization is going to affectimpact, positively or negatively
.
If you're doing a shitty job,it's going to have a ripple
effect.
If you're doing an amazing job,it's going to have a ripple
effect, and that's why we haveto get everybody rowing in the
(29:07):
same direction.
Okay, felt like Vicki saidsomething here.
Servant leadership is thefoundation of all our missions.
We're here to support eachother and be there for each
other, absolutely, absolutely.
There's no other reason whywe're here to support each other
(29:29):
and be there for each other,absolutely, absolutely.
There's no other reason whywe're here.
So, but the important part ofthis is it can't be just me
screaming from the rooftops hey,we're doing this, we're doing
this, we're doing this, we'redoing this.
Everyone that I've surroundedmyself with, whether it's Ben,
whether it's Brian, whether it'sLee, whether it's Glenn,
whether it's Lauren, zach, kim,sam, sammy, chris Baker,
everybody they have to fullyunderstand the vision, okay.
(29:54):
So then, when I'm not there,okay, I shouldn't have to be
there.
I should be able to sit inanother room and have that
vision casted whether it's a newhire coming on, okay, which
I've got to actually experiencesome of that too, where the
vision has been casted.
Well enough, the message hasbeen clear enough.
(30:15):
I've overheard our team sayingthe same word verbatim that have
that have come out of my mouth.
Okay, and also invite feedbackright from your co-member.
But co-members, right?
Um, buy-in starts starts withwith being heard, right.
Anybody that feels like they'rea part of, they're empowered
(30:37):
and they're being heard Right.
And again, what do you think?
I use that all the time and youdecide.
I heard Craig Grishel say thaton a podcast one time and I
thought you know what?
I'm stealing that.
But I've had people come inthey're like hey, I got this,
(30:58):
this, this, and right away I'llsay you decide, you get to
decide.
No better way to empoweranother human being to take
ownership and feel trusted,right, everybody wants to be
loved, everybody wants to betrusted.
Um, and uh, feel part ofsomething, right Like, I think,
(31:19):
when we feel part of somethingyou know and it makes the
mission, they understand themission, they feel part of it.
They're more apt to work harderand I know that's how I feel so
hopefully they're passing thevision down right, because a
(31:41):
vision without transfer is justa dead end, right, and that's
where it's good to surroundyourself around good,
like-minded people who are in itto win it and ready to kick ass
and take names.
You know, and this is the coolthing too, you know, when it's
being articulated by Vic, byBrian, by Ben, by Glenn, right,
(32:02):
I think the, you know hearingthem say I think it can be more
powerful having them say itright, not just me talking shit,
or you know it's.
Oh, you know we get fed thatline of shit all the time at the
last three places that I'veworked before.
But I think I think when it'stheir voice and not mine, it's
(32:27):
more powerful.
And where this takes placeright, or where it should take
place, is, you know, every salesmeeting, every crew meeting,
every team huddle, any job siteis an opportunity or a chance to
reinforce the culture.
And I'm emphasizing, you know,team huddles, safety meetings
(32:49):
and job sites.
You know, corey, if you'relistening out there or anybody
that's out in the field, whetheryou work for us or not, job
sites is a good place to, youknow, galvanize.
You know our why we're hereright, like don't, let's not get
it twisted.
You know, I think sometimes weget so complacent where we just
(33:11):
show up it's just another roof,it's just another gutter job and
it's like, no, it's way, way,way, way bigger than that.
There are so many differentfacets that this touches right.
So we need to get better.
I know we need to get better atthat.
You know, and like I talkedabout earlier, it's like these
(33:33):
small little tasks that we do ona day-to-day basis create such
big results.
All these little micro thingsthat we do.
I've had the pleasure offishing with somebody who has a
lot more experience than I do,and it's not that he just does.
(34:02):
One know that makes thedifference of either putting
five fish in a boat or 25 fishin the boat, from doesn't matter
on how he you know what line heuses to how he attaches the
main line to the leader, um,what hooks he uses, how he ties
his hooks on there, whichdirection he sneels it,
(34:24):
schnelles his hook to, what Imean all of it.
All these little micro things,right, that give us those big
results.
You know, like when Brandonshows up early and handles
customer service and things likethat, he's making sure that
(34:47):
everyone is taken care of Likenobody.
I don't think anybody putsanything takes that into
consideration.
Brandon is one of the peoplethat show up super duper early
to before his team gets there,right, and they might not sound
like a big thing like that, youknow, getting up before the sun
gets up, but he gets in there,he checks all his emails, he
goes replies back to the to hisemails.
(35:09):
I'm sure he's on the phone allday long communicating with,
with supervisors and histeammates and and stuff like
that.
But by him doing that, um, he'senabling those uh to to
continue to have a job.
They have a job today, right,because of him doing that one
(35:31):
little micro thing getting thereearly, replying back to emails
he's keeping the customers happy.
He's providing work for theteam that's coming in, you know,
to get out there and hopes thatthey do a good job.
So then he looks good, right,like.
So there's like this rippleeffect.
Like they may not have metBrandon, which I'm sure everyone
has met Brandon, but let's justsay the client has never met
(35:54):
Brandon.
The team that goes out therenow becomes the face of the
company.
Okay, so their presentation,their performance, now becomes
the brand of the company.
Okay, that's their firstimpression and will be their
last impression, right?
Even though Brandon may havebeen the first impression
(36:16):
because how quickly he respondedand got it on the schedule.
But realistically, when thatteam shows up, they get out
there.
They look good, theirpresentation looks good, they do
a good job.
We don't need to get, we don't,we don't get a call back.
We don't have to go back outand fix whatever it was that
they thought we fixed orwhatever the case might be.
We go out there, we knock itout of the park.
(36:36):
Then you know the team, thatteam members, the brand, but
then that client, that homeowner, that customer, becomes our
brand later.
So I just I really wanted todive into a little bit of that
ripple effect.
So, but then also, we need tocelebrate those wins, right?
(37:04):
So if we, we crush it, crush itout of the park, you know, or
closing rates, closing rateswere up, you know, um, we were
(37:32):
able to, um, you know, donatemoney to, and I'm just, I'm just
trying to pull something out ofmy ass here as an example of
like, if you know, if bycelebrating the win that you
know, we get to either gosomeplace, we get to do
something or we get to donate tothe, the food well, pantry,
right, right, something that hasto do with the mission, the
vision of, like, why we exist.
Right, because you guys havedone such a great job, we're
(37:54):
able to host the 21 TurkeySalute with very little
donations.
Okay, and I try, I've tried toover the years and I think we do
a pretty good job of it'sarticulating, um, that vision
and making a vision a big partof our everyday lives and a big
part of our meetings.
(38:15):
You know, like I said, I I thinkwe start our weekly meeting, or
monthly meeting, or quarterlymeetings at least, and I'm sure,
on the micro meetings with thefinance team and sales team and
all those guys, you know theystart the meeting with a 30
second.
I'm going to call it a visioncheck, right, like, this is why
we're here.
This is our core values, youknow, and and I know Ben does a
(38:36):
great job, brian does well toois celebrating team team members
.
You know, and I know Baker doestoo, we do shout outs at our
meetings, right, um, celebratethe team members who who are
living out the vision that week.
You know, and I don't think wedo that enough and we should
probably do that more often, butI I do know, and I'm probably
(38:58):
thinking we don't do it enough,but it probably happens more
than than I know, um, and thenat the end of the meeting, I
always try to remind them wherewe're going and why it matters.
Even when I'm going through itand I'm in my own shit, that
helps me pull my head out of mybutt.
(39:19):
And I have conversations withDick all the time.
It's like man I forgot.
Sometimes I get so caught up inthe fire drills that I forget
why, why we're here, what thehell we're doing, like, why are
we even doing this shit anymore?
You know, um, and one of myjobs, which is to empower our
(39:43):
co-leaders, is to be visioncarriers.
Okay, they got to carry.
Our co-leaders must go frombeing task managers to culture
carriers Right, teach them.
Teach them how to speak thelanguage of the vision, right,
practice it.
(40:04):
You know.
You know, I think, by saying itover and over and over and over
, and I think we've done a goodjob of that.
You know, at every meeting, oryou know any one on one, that
that I might have, I try toarticulate, you know, the vision
, like, why we're here, whywe're doing this.
(40:24):
It isn't, you know, we werenever a money driven company.
The very rarely do I bring upwhich I probably should.
More often than not, um is istalk about the profits and stuff
, and that's the other thing too.
It's like somewhere along theline, I think, profit has become
a bad word.
(40:44):
But without profit, we can'tdonate, without profit we can't
um bring in more people.
We can't market, we can't brand, we can't retain, we can't
market, we can't brand, we can'tretain, we can't reach, recruit
, we can't train.
All of that stuff takes, takes,takes money, and when we're
good at all that upfront stuffthat I was talking about earlier
(41:04):
, you know, money, that it justit, it, it comes like we, we get
gifted, we get blessed.
It's a tip at the end of theweek and it seems to always just
work out.
Um, you know, and what I need toprobably do is start asking the
question um, how are youcarrying the vision you know to
your team today?
Um, I should probably make it apart of the KPIs.
(41:28):
Um, you know, because it's notjust, it's not just about the
production, it's about theinfluence, you know.
So, anywho, you know, peoplefollow energy and believe if
(41:49):
you're enthusiastic, right, I'velearned to be the most
passionate person in the room.
Celebrate progress loudly right, I've learned to be the most
passionate person in the room.
Celebrate progress loudly,right.
Make wins visible and remindeverybody that you know the tone
.
Your tone becomes their tone,right, so my tone becomes
(42:10):
Brian's tone, my tone becomesVic's tone, my tone becomes
Baker's tone, right, and thenthere should be that, that, that
, that ripple, that trickle downeffect.
You know, you know.
And then there's the other sideof it.
What happens when we don't castthe vision right On a regular
(42:31):
basis?
Because I've, I've fallen backagain.
I've been reminded right, Idefault back to putting out
fires.
I've become a fire person, firefireman Right, and I've seen
that happen to my co-leaders,where, instead of building
something bigger, right, webecome firemen.
We, just we, we, we show up,show up.
(42:53):
You know, team members becometransactional.
They just do the job, theypunch the clock.
And really that's not theatmosphere that I'm trying to
create.
It's never.
That was never.
My intentions was just to havepeople show up and clock in and
clock out and just do a job.
I wanted them to know howimportant their job was.
They need to know how importantit is.
(43:14):
They will do better unknowingly, because they know what they're
doing is affecting other people.
So that's kind of where I'vebeen like for a minute for a
while now.
Um, so, anyhow, lead, lead, lead, lead with why right Connect,
(43:40):
connect to purpose?
Um, uh, clarity and repeatright, a sticky, a sticky,
simple statement.
Like I had mentioned earlier,um, invite ownership.
Like I said earlier, um, what,what do you think?
Or you decide?
You know, vision must be caught, not taught.
(44:02):
You know, I heard that a longtime ago.
I don't know if that was fromEd Milet, um, or or who that is.
That's where I always say youknow, lead by example.
You know to the point where now, brandon is the first one,
denny is the first one in theoffice.
Um, kim is probably one of thefirst people actually in the
office, not the shop.
Um, you know Chris Baker, he'sthere, all you know.
(44:24):
If I wouldn't have done thatearly on, do you think that the
start time at the office wouldbe at six o'clock?
No, it would be at eight, eight, 30, nine o'clock, like
whenever anybody wants to showup.
That's not.
It's because we've led byexample, we've been consistent.
You know, invite, I've invitedthat ownership, you know at
(44:49):
least I hope so, I hope I hopeso Right Connect tasks to impact
.
Daily work fuels the mission,everything everybody's doing on
a day to day, day to day, day today.
John, his marketing skills andtalent, right.
That allows the phone to ring.
(45:11):
That allows the phone to ring.
He understands that the phonering, our project consultant
goes out.
He or she finds the issue withthe homeowner's house.
We fix it up for them, we givethem safety, security, we create
a healthy environment.
We put a roof over their head,we add gutters, we put more
(45:32):
windows in that are energyefficient.
They save on costs, right.
That impact go out, find asolution, provide value, right,
and then we get a tip.
We get a tip from that.
We get to do other amazingthings for each other.
We get to do other amazingthings for our community and
(45:53):
that shit's contagious right.
That, I feel, is very contagiouswhen we show up at the home
shows.
I think a lot of people want tobe a part of that, that energy
that we bring to events, homeshows, roofing conventions I
(46:15):
think a lot of people eitherwant to.
We've inspired them to want tobe like that.
We encourage them to want to bebetter.
We set a different standard, weraised the bar or they want to
be a part of that and that's anawesome place to be.
(46:37):
And I'm not saying that we'renecessarily trendsetters.
We're just actually doing whatwe're supposed to be doing.
We're doing the next rightthing and all that good stuff.
But it all comes down to I goback to that CEO part again
right, show up with the energy.
Belief is contagious.
You know, culture eats strategyfor breakfast.
(47:01):
Man, like I was saying earlier,you can have all the greatest
strategies and the SOPs and theplans.
A great man.
When plans change and things gosouth, you know that's where.
(47:22):
That's where you get defined.
Either you freak, you panic,people quit.
That will show you right away,real quick, on how, how great of
a team you have right there.
Way, real quick on how, howgreat of a team you have right
there.
So you know culture's built.
You know, one decision at atime.
You know how your, how, how ourteam treats our customers, how
(47:49):
we treat each other is really.
You know.
How we treat each other isreally all that matters.
And the difference between aworkplace and a winning team,
you know, is the culture, notKPIs and not SOPs, it's, it's,
it's the culture that we have,uh, a strong culture um um will
will outlast any anything, youknow, and I, I can't even.
(48:12):
I can't even, um, and I can'teven express my gratitude
towards the team right now.
But a strong culture helps withrecruiting and retaining the
right people.
A good culture attracts talent,all that good stuff.
(48:36):
So I guess the bottom line isokay.
Bottom line is is that, youknow, leave with vision, leave
with purpose.
Uh, build a brand that thatpeople can trust.
Okay, um, and create a culturethat people want to be a part of
.
Right, if, if we are doing, ifwe are doing, you know these
things consistently, um, I don'tcare what business you're in,
(49:03):
you're going to win, you know,and we are winners.
Everybody on this team, man, we,we have crushed it and it's
it's, it's because we've, we'vecontinuously done the right
thing.
We've created a group of people, whether they knew it or not
when they joined this thing,that are set on a mission.
(49:24):
Brian told me today he's likeI'm fighting a good fight, and
he is too, and that's amazing.
I know he's getting shit donedown there without me
micromanaging stuff, so it'sgood stuff anyhow.
(49:44):
So I think we're about 50minutes into this, um, I guess.
Wrap this thing up here, um,put it in a nutshell you know,
if, uh, if, uh, if today'sepisode of beyond a tool belt
you know Tool Belt has given youany hope or inspiration?
I hope that this gives you somereal clarity and confidence on
how to lead better.
I know it has for me.
(50:07):
Build a stronger brand, and withpurpose, with consistency and
responsibility.
With leadership comes a lot ofresponsibility.
Right, the responsibility ofyou know, not the you know.
You hear people say I won'twork anybody.
Now, when I hear that, when Ihear I'll outwork everybody, I
(50:31):
true.
Now I look at somebody and Iand I wonder if they really know
what that means.
The standard is is what thestandard is Like.
Do you really know?
Do you really know what thatmeans?
Because it takes a lot of work.
It takes more work to do thisthing.
Right, then it does wrong.
So let's not like outworkAnybody To step on people, to
(50:57):
screw them over, to lie,manipulate, steal for selfish
and self-centered, selfishleadership purposes.
Right, let's, let's, let's beresponsible and create a company
culture worth fighting for,which I've I've got to
experience that lately, you know, in the teams fighting like
(51:21):
hell.
Remember, leadership isn't aboutthe loudest person in the room.
The standard is shut your face.
It's about being the clearest.
You know your vision matters,your energy matters, and how you
show up every day shapeseverything around you.
It truly does so.
If this episode fired you up,do me a favor Share it with a
(51:46):
fellow business owner or leaderwho needs to hear it and make
sure you're subscribed.
Like love, share it, get it outthere, okay, and don't miss
what's coming up next.
Next week we have DeshaunBryant 7 pm tomorrow night, and
until next time, keep leadingwith purpose, keep building with
(52:08):
pride and keep showing up theworld's what's possible when you
do the right thing the rightway every time.
Until next week, you guys takecare of each other.
We're signing out.
Have a good day everybody.
and we are live.
Welcome back everybody toBeyond the Tool Belt, episode
294.
I am your host, ty Cobb-Backer,and thank you for joining us on
this Wednesday edition.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
We will be right back after a short intro from our
sponsors.
Welcome to Behind the Tool Belt, where the stories are bold,
the conversations are real andthe insights come to you live,
raw and uncut sites.
(00:47):
Come to you live, raw and uncut.
Every week, host Ty Cobb-Backersits down to bring you the
stories, the struggles, thelessons learned and the wins.
No filters, no scripts, justthe truth.
Please welcome your host ofBehind the Tool Belt, ty
Cobb-Backer.
Ty Cobb Backer (01:00):
And we are back.
What's up everybody?
Welcome back to the Behind thePool.
I am your host, ty Cobb-Backer,and today I'm rolling solo to
talk about something that sitsat the core of everything we do
Right?
Four topics Leadership,responsibility, vision and
company culture.
These four things are more thanbuzzwords.
(01:24):
These four things are more thanbuzzwords.
They're the foundation of everysuccessful business, especially
in the trades.
And for those of you that listento me know that I talk a lot
about you know leadership,culture, vision and all these
things.
And it seems like over the pastyou know, 44 days these were
(01:53):
some things that I really doveinto and I got to experience
some things.
It's funny how God works.
I got to see myself in otherpeople, um, and, and I've
learned a lot from it, and I'velearned a lot of what not to do.
I've learned a lot about whatto do under certain
circumstances and how to treatothers.
So I thought today, you know, Ithought today would be a good
(02:17):
day to talk about those, thosefour topics, you know
responsibility, the vision andcompany culture.
You know responsibility, thevision and company culture.
So, whether you're a businessowner, a manager or just someone
who's passionate about growth,I think this one's going to be a
good one for you.
(02:38):
And leadership it's a hugebuzzword, you know that
everyone's using today andreally, what it comes down to
it's it's the stewardship andand how we carry ourselves and
the impact that we want to haveon those around us.
And, and a lot of it has to dowith with serving.
Even though we're using theword leader, it really pertains
(02:59):
to servant ship, not necessarilyleadership.
And, and quite frankly, theleadership is the engine that's
behind all of this.
It's, it's, it's.
It isn't a title, it's aresponsibility, you know, and my
journey over the years has beena wild journey.
(03:21):
I've read, I've led with an ironfist.
I've I've led with my hands toofar off the wheels.
I've led with not settingexpectations and boundaries.
I've been walked on, I've beenstepped on.
I've stepped on, I've walked onothers.
I've belittled others, I'vedone other people wrong.
(03:43):
I've done a lot of good, I'vedone a lot of bad over the years
and you know, I've had a lot oftime and I mean a lot of time,
more than just this past 44 daysof the challenge and what I've
discovered is is it's, it's.
It comes down to what I'm doingpersonally, on a personal level
(04:06):
, taking care of myself, and wetalk a lot, a lot, a lot, about
personal development and what Ido behind closed doors, when
nobody's watching Right, or,probably most importantly, when
people are watching and I don'tknow they're watching, you know,
(04:40):
and I got a story where thisalong this journey, where this
is where it started to reallybecome more about other people
and not so much about myself andthe company, but but more so
for other people.
It was 2011.
And some of you may have heardme talk about this before, but
it was.
It was 2011.
Insurance laws were changingand we were.
(05:10):
We had a decision to make.
We had to decide whether wewere going to keep people as
1099.
And I'm I'm talking about, youknow, in-house.
You know service techs, gutterinstallers, window installers,
our in-house team.
We are, we are technically aconstruction company.
We're not a paper contractor.
We actually employ people thatdo the work, and I'm not saying
(05:34):
we don't use subs.
We do use subcontractors thatpredominantly, only work for us
and get trained by us and followthe rules and whether it's
health and safety standards orquality standards, they all get,
you know, the certificationsand the training.
That way they can articulatethe same performance that our
(05:54):
in-house guys would.
But we had a decision to pullthem off of being a 1099
contractor or or bring them inas as W2 employees, and it was.
It was a tough decision becauseit costs a lot of money to to
do that, and not just, not justfor us, but but for those that
(06:17):
you know we're paying money to.
So if we're paying somebody $20an hour and they're having, you
know, 20 to 40% taken off theircheck, you know, on a week to
week basis, you know that'sunemployment and workers' comp,
being in the space that we're inis about $0.25 per every dollar
(06:49):
that we pay someone, we have topay $0.25, somewhere between
$0.25 to $0.12.
So in theory, it's reallycosting us an extra $5 an hour
to pay someone $20 an hour, thatit's costing us $25 an hour to
cover.
You know all those things.
But what solidified the, the,the decision to do this, was
(07:16):
that you know if somebody didget injured, we'd have workers
comp.
They'd be covered.
They'd be covered.
If we would had or have to laysomebody off, they would be
covered also by unemploymentcompensation that way too.
So it's kind of like you knowwhat I think.
I think the risk, I think thereward is worth worth, worth the
(07:40):
risk, especially for those thatthat that work for us.
So what?
What we elected to do and Iactually discussed some of this
Hunter wrote a book, his lastbook.
I wrote um a little bit aboutthis I can't think of the name
of his book, right, right, thissecond but um great book.
It's got a bunch of us, umsuccessful entrepreneurs in that
(08:03):
book.
But I I, you know touched alittle deeper on this.
So we, we elected to go thatroute.
But what?
Not only did we do that, itplanted the seed.
You know where it was.
Like, man, how great would itbe.
Not only are we offering youknow we can offer over time, we
can, we can offer, you know,unemployment and workers comp
(08:26):
and you know all these things.
But how, how bad ass would itbe if we could offer health
insurance?
You know, that's, that's,that's kind of where that seed
was, was planted for me, andthis was uh, uh, 2011.
So we went all in.
We, we put everybody on thebooks.
We took a hit?
Of course we did, but what it,what it did was, I mean, it did
(08:51):
so many things, um one, I couldsleep better at night, knowing
if anybody got hurt or injuredor anything like that, uh, that
we were covered, they werecovered, all that good stuff.
But, um, the plan of the seedto to want to provide, you know,
health insurance.
And then I started thinkingeven bigger 401k and all these
things.
So, you know, we went to workand we did that, but anyhow, um,
(09:14):
that was a, that was a, thatwas a turning point for me where
it wasn't just about trying tomake ends meet for us but trying
to help and make ends meet foreveryone else around us.
And I'm not saying that Ididn't have that attitude and I
didn't pour into everybody backthen.
But you know, it's just funnyhow things happen, sometimes
(09:38):
forcefully, and sometimes, youknow, we, we have a good idea
and and we go for it, like thehealth insurance.
So it helped us attract bettertalent, it helped us retain, um,
people who, who have been withus since then.
We still have people that backthen that still work for us
today.
You know, and and, um, you know.
(10:01):
So that was one of those, one ofthose moments along my journey
here, a growth moment for me,you know, personally and
professionally.
So, you know, and I'm grateful,I'm grateful that we went that
direction.
What's happening, guys?
Good to see you guys, leonardand Zach and John and Victor,
(10:24):
david, bruno, good to see youguys.
But anyhow, you know, of course, there's a whole lot that has
happened since then.
You know good mistakes, badmistakes, but all have been
learning experiences.
And one of those decisions thatI decided to make was, you know,
(10:45):
uh, going this personaldevelopment and pushing myself
and pushing my mind and andstretching my mind and all those
things.
So I started picking up a lotof books and one of those books
and I think I talked about itlast week was, uh, uh, the
energy bus by John Gordon, and II'll honestly say, you know,
(11:06):
that has changed and solidifiedthe way that I lead today.
And, and if I didn't expressthis enough last week, you know,
everybody should be and can bea CEO, the chief energy officer.
You know that your team, yourteam reflects, our team reflects
my energy, okay, and and itradiates on the others where
(11:31):
they walk out of the room andthen radiate that energy.
Right, your team reflects thatenergy.
If I show up unmotivated, youknow, consistently, so will they
.
You know, and that's somethingI learned.
I learned that early on, youknow, um, and unfortunately, I
radiated a lot of negativeenergy.
(11:53):
I feel like maybe I wasunapproachable.
I was angry most of the time.
I don't even know what the hellI was angry about.
Actually it was.
It was, it was fear.
I was fear driven and and theway that I covered up my fear
was was through through anger.
And you know, through my, myjourney of personal development,
I had discovered that that Iwas a fear driven person and I
(12:15):
didn't want anybody to know thatI was fearful.
So I led with an iron fist myway the highway.
I led with an iron fist my waythe highway and I thought the
(12:38):
only way to get my point acrosswas to, you know, raise my voice
and be the loudest in the roomand speak over people and set
things in motion that way, andthen to come to find out, you
know, I was losing a lot ofrespect from people and I, yeah,
I was losing a lot of respectfrom people and I, yeah, I, I
feared to fail.
I did not want to fail.
I felt like there was a lot ofeyes on me and a lot of people
holding their breath.
Um, and and uh, I hope, I hopeno longer.
I hope they they aren't holdingtheir breath any longer because
(13:02):
, uh, that'd been a hell of along time for them to be holding
their breath.
But I got to show up motivatedand this is what's cool with the
team that we have today.
If I do happen to show upunmotivated the team there's
been enough energy stored up.
You know, and I've talked thetrust bank being built up where
(13:28):
every now and then I can take awithdrawal from that trust bank
and not lose trust.
But the same thing works withenergy.
There's an energy bank and andsometimes it gets depleted, but
then because of that energy bankbeing so full, all the time,
that energy has been able toradiate onto my coworkers and my
co-leaders where they in turncan radiate that good, positive
(13:52):
energy into, you know, thosethat are under their lead and
some of the ways that I've triedto, you know, keep that energy,
because it's been a long time.
We've been doing this shit, along time right and to suit up
(14:13):
and show up day in and day out.
I think most people in myposition would be looking for a
way to exit or get out, but Ialways feel like that.
I'm continuously.
I'm just getting started andVic and I, and Baker and you
know, a few of us, you know andJohn and Brian Brian Good, by
(14:34):
the way, who's crushing it downin Greenville for the past month
, those you know men and women,um, that we have surrounded
ourselves with, that that reallytruly make make our our culture
today, but that that had tostart somewhere Right, and I
(14:56):
have to.
I have to on a day-to-day basis, like just a little bit ago I
did a cold plunge, I had to takea cold plunge and and that's
something along my journey here,my personal development journey
I've learned, really helpedstimulate my mind and, along
with all kinds of other healthbenefits that that does, by
(15:17):
signing up for challenges and bypushing myself and figuring out
what works and what doesn'twork and what motivates me, what
gets the creative juices going,and re-recruiting the team and
and surrounding myself aroundother entrepreneurs or leaders,
you know, and listening to whatthey're actually saying, and and
and and stay learning, like Ihave to stay learning, you know,
(15:42):
on a day-to-day um basis.
I have to remain a student and,um, if I don't, you know, if
I'm not growing, I'm going, andI'm sure a lot of people um,
have heard that quote before.
But, uh, you know, I choosetoday to keep learning and and
(16:05):
and know that I don't knoweverything.
And you know, what's cool is isthat when, when you're learning
more from your team, that'swhen you know that you have a
genuine culture and and and agreat group of men and women
that you have surroundedyourself with.
But leadership, a lot ofleadership, is also about
(16:25):
clarity.
You know, and this is somethingthat that most recently, um,
I've it's been brought back tomy attention, uh, through some
certain situations of not havingor articulating clarity.
You know, people, people don'tfollow confusion, right, they,
they follow vision.
Um, you know, unfortunately,with having an amazing team,
(16:50):
there can be a little bit ofconfusion, there can be a little
uncertainty from circumstancesand changes and uncontrollable
events that no one could predictmight happen.
(17:12):
Or when I'm not around.
Right, the team.
Right, because the vision hasbeen casted, the energy has been
built up, the trust bank isfull.
You get a group of men andwomen that help carry you
through that.
But that doesn't give me theright to panic or freak out or
(17:32):
make the situation worse.
Right, because nobody again canfollow confusion.
They like decisiveness and,again, having a great group of
men and women.
You can have a little bit ofuncertainty, but you can't have
it for long, okay.
If the vision isn't clear atthe top, it's going to be cloudy
(17:56):
the whole way down.
And casting a vision is one ofthe most and I can't emphasize
this enough is one of the mostpowerful tools as a leader can
possess, not just for settingdirection, but to inspire belief
(18:17):
and action.
Um, if you want your co-leaderswhich I want my co-leaders to
drive the company forward, theymust first catch the vision,
okay.
Then they need to own it andfinally they need to carry it on
(18:37):
to others.
Right, and that's what I'vebeen trying to explain, you know
, and I'm saying this out loudso I can actually hear it, okay,
and again, like I said, thishas been brought to my attention
again.
God seems to work in mysteriousways.
Sometimes you know, and and, uh, you know be reminded that
(19:02):
people are inspired by purposeand not necessarily processes.
Right, because you can have thegreatest processes, you can
have a million dollars worth ofSOPs and KPIs, but if your
culture is poop and if you'resurrounded by a bunch of
shitheads, it doesn't matterabout SOPs, kpi's, because no
(19:27):
one's going to follow that shitAnyhow, right.
So I read a book.
Imagine that I read a book awhile back and read it several
times and start with why.
Okay, by Simon Sinek.
And people like to know the whyand not necessarily the.
(19:50):
What People don't buy into,what you do, they buy into why
we do it right, why are we doingthis?
And I think Simon said it somesome some other way, but you
know at at, you know, at thebeginning of our meetings at
(20:15):
least the ones that I'm involvedwith, especially the global
meeting that we have we startthe meeting with, um, the vision
of the company.
What I mean by that is is thatsomebody is elected to read one
of our core values, um, itbasically explains why the
(20:37):
company exists beyond profit.
Who are we serving?
What, in fact, are we making?
You know, um, the vision mustflow through at every level.
You know, and I, and I know attimes we, we as a company,
struggle to get, you know, thatvision, especially out into the
(21:00):
field, and that's somethingagain that's been brought to my
attention, that I've beenreminded of.
That.
You know, it's one thing forall of us.
You know, I got to hang outwith a few of them, uh, man, a
(21:31):
week or two ago, a group of uswent golfing and then we went
golfing again and then, um, Igot a couple of them out fishing
and I was reminded again, I wasreminded again, I was reminded
again, like three differenttimes in like a two and a half
week period of time, where it'slike there's a we have a
disconnect where you know ourpurpose or why, you know after
(21:56):
listening to, you know a certainindividual like damn it, like I
completely missed the mark here, like damn it, like I
(22:27):
completely missed a mark here.
You know what I mean, you know,and it's important, like we.
The golf tournament, right, wasfor York Builders Association
and I can see where somebodystanding on the outside looking
in wondering like well, shoot,that's a Thursday, like should
you guys be working?
You know, I could see wheresomeone on the outside couldn't
see the importance of usparticipating in a local
builders association that wewere actually invited to, right,
because I used to, early on inmy career, I used to avoid
public engagements orinvitations to participate in
(22:48):
things and didn't understand thepower of networking, didn't
(23:10):
understand the power, you know,because of ignoring those things
and not participating in thosethings, be a huge part of the
community and New York BuilderAssociation is one of those
outlets, one of those conduitsfor us to really really get
(23:31):
involved with the community.
So that's why we didn't have togo but we elected to go.
We had two foursomes.
We brought one of ourmanufacturers with us.
So again we're networking.
Our team got to meet ourshingle rep, got to meet our
siding rep, which on aday-to-day, especially being out
in the field, they just know weuse these products but they
(23:52):
don't know who services us withthese products.
That and we got to experience agreat day and camaraderie and
fellowship and build our cultureand build our culture.
Okay, and again I'm pretty bigpart involved with you know, the
(24:18):
builder association and Vic,I'm going to throw this out
there but I'm being elected for2026 to be the president and
there's going to be a big oldparty, the inauguration, and we
got to get 50 to 70 of us toshow up to this thing to
celebrate because they're goingto let a knucklehead like me be
the president.
So that's why we have to attendthese things and bring our
(24:42):
people this is our company.
I am proud of the people that Iwork with to these events and
to these functions and they hearso many great things about us.
Well, it's not me, it's theseguys over here that's out here
tearing up the golf course withme.
Right, that's why we do thesethings.
So, having a conversation withone of our production guys, I
(25:06):
had realized that you know this.
What our why is?
You know?
It's like we're not justputting roofs on people's houses
, we're putting dignity overpeople's heads.
We're building a reputation Ourkids can be proud of here.
Right, like this is.
This is what we're doing here.
(25:27):
And, and roofing and shinglesand siding and windows and
gutters and gutter guards andsolar is just the vehicle for us
, right, to put dignity overpeople's heads and be and
participate in the community.
(25:48):
Get ourselves out there.
It's like I'm done hiding, done, being humble.
You know like we need to getourselves out there and be more
part of the community, and notjust administratively, not just
our sales people, not just oursales reps, but you know
everybody involved.
(26:09):
So what's Ben saying here?
He said come up with a plan One, come up with a plan to give
simple, clear, yeah.
There you go, that's it.
That's it in a nutshell.
You know what I mean.
So a muddy vision leads tofuzzy execution, right.
(26:29):
Boil the vision down to asingle sentence that can be
repeatable by every leader,co-leader, manager.
Avoid buzzwords.
Be clear, human and compelling,impelling.
Okay, repetition createsretention.
(26:50):
Say it often, right.
And just for an example of ayou know vision statement right,
we're here to be the mosttrusted name in roofing by
delivering quality buildingleaders and giving back to our
community.
Like, remember that.
Right, everybody in the companyshould know that that's like,
that's what we're doing here.
In a nutshell, that is our corevalues.
(27:11):
Right, we're here to be themost trusted name in the roofing
industry by delivering qualitybuilding leaders and giving back
to our community.
Okay, and again, all of thisstuff, as I've been reminded
(27:34):
over the past several months andthat's kind of the reason why
Vic and I elected to do theFearless 44, you know so, and I
got to make sure, too, that it'sgetting down, you know, from
from me to co -leader, to team.
Right, we just can't tell themwhat to do.
(27:58):
We have to show them where,where we're going and how they
fit into it.
You know, I need you know, inphrases that I've used in the
past is you know, hey, I needyour help, um or um, can you do
me a favor.
But one of the most powerful umthings that I say all the time
(28:19):
is is you know, everybody's jobis so important.
Your job is so important thatthe person sitting next to you
has a job.
Okay, they, they have tounderstand and again being
reminded the vision why we exist.
Okay, your job, your existence,you being here, is so important
(28:44):
.
Every doesn't matter whatposition you hold within the
organization is going to affectimpact, positively or negatively
.
If you're doing a shitty job,it's going to have a ripple
effect.
If you're doing an amazing job,it's going to have a ripple
effect, and that's why we haveto get everybody rowing in the
(29:07):
same direction.
Okay, felt like Vicki saidsomething here.
Servant leadership is thefoundation of all our missions.
We're here to support eachother and be there for each
other, absolutely, absolutely.
There's no other reason whywe're here to support each other
(29:29):
and be there for each other,absolutely, absolutely.
There's no other reason whywe're here.
So, but the important part ofthis is it can't be just me
screaming from the rooftops hey,we're doing this, we're doing
this, we're doing this, we'redoing this.
Everyone that I've surroundedmyself with, whether it's Ben,
whether it's Brian, whether it'sLee, whether it's Glenn,
whether it's Lauren, zach, kim,sam, sammy, chris Baker,
everybody they have to fullyunderstand the vision, okay.
(29:54):
So then, when I'm not there,okay, I shouldn't have to be
there.
I should be able to sit inanother room and have that
vision casted whether it's a newhire coming on, okay, which
I've got to actually experiencesome of that too, where the
vision has been casted.
Well enough, the message hasbeen clear enough.
(30:15):
I've overheard our team sayingthe same word verbatim that have
that have come out of my mouth.
Okay, and also invite feedbackright from your co-member.
But co-members, right?
Um, buy-in starts starts withwith being heard, right.
Anybody that feels like they'rea part of, they're empowered
(30:37):
and they're being heard Right.
And again, what do you think?
I use that all the time and youdecide.
I heard Craig Grishel say thaton a podcast one time and I
thought you know what?
I'm stealing that.
But I've had people come inthey're like hey, I got this,
(30:58):
this, this, and right away I'llsay you decide, you get to
decide.
No better way to empoweranother human being to take
ownership and feel trusted,right, everybody wants to be
loved, everybody wants to betrusted.
Um, and uh, feel part ofsomething, right Like, I think,
(31:19):
when we feel part of somethingyou know and it makes the
mission, they understand themission, they feel part of it.
They're more apt to work harderand I know that's how I feel so
hopefully they're passing thevision down right, because a
(31:41):
vision without transfer is justa dead end, right, and that's
where it's good to surroundyourself around good,
like-minded people who are in itto win it and ready to kick ass
and take names.
You know, and this is the coolthing too, you know, when it's
being articulated by Vic, byBrian, by Ben, by Glenn, right,
(32:02):
I think the, you know hearingthem say I think it can be more
powerful having them say itright, not just me talking shit,
or you know it's.
Oh, you know we get fed thatline of shit all the time at the
last three places that I'veworked before.
But I think I think when it'stheir voice and not mine, it's
(32:27):
more powerful.
And where this takes placeright, or where it should take
place, is, you know, every salesmeeting, every crew meeting,
every team huddle, any job siteis an opportunity or a chance to
reinforce the culture.
And I'm emphasizing, you know,team huddles, safety meetings
(32:49):
and job sites.
You know, corey, if you'relistening out there or anybody
that's out in the field, whetheryou work for us or not, job
sites is a good place to, youknow, galvanize.
You know our why we're hereright, like don't, let's not get
it twisted.
You know, I think sometimes weget so complacent where we just
(33:11):
show up it's just another roof,it's just another gutter job and
it's like, no, it's way, way,way, way bigger than that.
There are so many differentfacets that this touches right.
So we need to get better.
I know we need to get better atthat.
You know, and like I talkedabout earlier, it's like these
(33:33):
small little tasks that we do ona day-to-day basis create such
big results.
All these little micro thingsthat we do.
I've had the pleasure offishing with somebody who has a
lot more experience than I do,and it's not that he just does.
(34:02):
One know that makes thedifference of either putting
five fish in a boat or 25 fishin the boat, from doesn't matter
on how he you know what line heuses to how he attaches the
main line to the leader, um,what hooks he uses, how he ties
his hooks on there, whichdirection he sneels it,
(34:24):
schnelles his hook to, what Imean all of it.
All these little micro things,right, that give us those big
results.
You know, like when Brandonshows up early and handles
customer service and things likethat, he's making sure that
(34:47):
everyone is taken care of Likenobody.
I don't think anybody putsanything takes that into
consideration.
Brandon is one of the peoplethat show up super duper early
to before his team gets there,right, and they might not sound
like a big thing like that, youknow, getting up before the sun
gets up, but he gets in there,he checks all his emails, he
goes replies back to the to hisemails.
(35:09):
I'm sure he's on the phone allday long communicating with,
with supervisors and histeammates and and stuff like
that.
But by him doing that, um, he'senabling those uh to to
continue to have a job.
They have a job today, right,because of him doing that one
(35:31):
little micro thing getting thereearly, replying back to emails
he's keeping the customers happy.
He's providing work for theteam that's coming in, you know,
to get out there and hopes thatthey do a good job.
So then he looks good, right,like.
So there's like this rippleeffect.
Like they may not have metBrandon, which I'm sure everyone
has met Brandon, but let's justsay the client has never met
(35:54):
Brandon.
The team that goes out therenow becomes the face of the
company.
Okay, so their presentation,their performance, now becomes
the brand of the company.
Okay, that's their firstimpression and will be their
last impression, right?
Even though Brandon may havebeen the first impression
(36:16):
because how quickly he respondedand got it on the schedule.
But realistically, when thatteam shows up, they get out
there.
They look good, theirpresentation looks good, they do
a good job.
We don't need to get, we don't,we don't get a call back.
We don't have to go back outand fix whatever it was that
they thought we fixed orwhatever the case might be.
We go out there, we knock itout of the park.
(36:36):
Then you know the team, thatteam members, the brand, but
then that client, that homeowner, that customer, becomes our
brand later.
So I just I really wanted todive into a little bit of that
ripple effect.
So, but then also, we need tocelebrate those wins, right?
(37:04):
So if we, we crush it, crush itout of the park, you know, or
closing rates, closing rateswere up, you know, um, we were
(37:32):
able to, um, you know, donatemoney to, and I'm just, I'm just
trying to pull something out ofmy ass here as an example of
like, if you know, if bycelebrating the win that you
know, we get to either gosomeplace, we get to do
something or we get to donate tothe, the food well, pantry,
right, right, something that hasto do with the mission, the
vision of, like, why we exist.
Right, because you guys havedone such a great job, we're
(37:54):
able to host the 21 TurkeySalute with very little
donations.
Okay, and I try, I've tried toover the years and I think we do
a pretty good job of it'sarticulating, um, that vision
and making a vision a big partof our everyday lives and a big
part of our meetings.
(38:15):
You know, like I said, I I thinkwe start our weekly meeting, or
monthly meeting, or quarterlymeetings at least, and I'm sure,
on the micro meetings with thefinance team and sales team and
all those guys, you know theystart the meeting with a 30
second.
I'm going to call it a visioncheck, right, like, this is why
we're here.
This is our core values, youknow, and and I know Ben does a
(38:36):
great job, brian does well toois celebrating team team members
.
You know, and I know Baker doestoo, we do shout outs at our
meetings, right, um, celebratethe team members who who are
living out the vision that week.
You know, and I don't think wedo that enough and we should
probably do that more often, butI I do know, and I'm probably
(38:58):
thinking we don't do it enough,but it probably happens more
than than I know, um, and thenat the end of the meeting, I
always try to remind them wherewe're going and why it matters.
Even when I'm going through itand I'm in my own shit, that
helps me pull my head out of mybutt.
(39:19):
And I have conversations withDick all the time.
It's like man I forgot.
Sometimes I get so caught up inthe fire drills that I forget
why, why we're here, what thehell we're doing, like, why are
we even doing this shit anymore?
You know, um, and one of myjobs, which is to empower our
(39:43):
co-leaders, is to be visioncarriers.
Okay, they got to carry.
Our co-leaders must go frombeing task managers to culture
carriers Right, teach them.
Teach them how to speak thelanguage of the vision, right,
practice it.
(40:04):
You know.
You know, I think, by saying itover and over and over and over
, and I think we've done a goodjob of that.
You know, at every meeting, oryou know any one on one, that
that I might have, I try toarticulate, you know, the vision
, like, why we're here, whywe're doing this.
(40:24):
It isn't, you know, we werenever a money driven company.
The very rarely do I bring upwhich I probably should.
More often than not, um is istalk about the profits and stuff
, and that's the other thing too.
It's like somewhere along theline, I think, profit has become
a bad word.
(40:44):
But without profit, we can'tdonate, without profit we can't
um bring in more people.
We can't market, we can't brand, we can't retain, we can't
market, we can't brand, we can'tretain, we can't reach, recruit
, we can't train.
All of that stuff takes, takes,takes money, and when we're
good at all that upfront stuffthat I was talking about earlier
(41:04):
, you know, money, that it justit, it, it comes like we, we get
gifted, we get blessed.
It's a tip at the end of theweek and it seems to always just
work out.
Um, you know, and what I need toprobably do is start asking the
question um, how are youcarrying the vision you know to
your team today?
Um, I should probably make it apart of the KPIs.
(41:28):
Um, you know, because it's notjust, it's not just about the
production, it's about theinfluence, you know.
So, anywho, you know, peoplefollow energy and believe if
(41:49):
you're enthusiastic, right, I'velearned to be the most
passionate person in the room.
Celebrate progress loudly right, I've learned to be the most
passionate person in the room.
Celebrate progress loudly,right.
Make wins visible and remindeverybody that you know the tone
.
Your tone becomes their tone,right, so my tone becomes
(42:10):
Brian's tone, my tone becomesVic's tone, my tone becomes
Baker's tone, right, and thenthere should be that, that, that
, that ripple, that trickle downeffect.
You know, you know.
And then there's the other sideof it.
What happens when we don't castthe vision right On a regular
(42:31):
basis?
Because I've, I've fallen backagain.
I've been reminded right, Idefault back to putting out
fires.
I've become a fire person, firefireman Right, and I've seen
that happen to my co-leaders,where, instead of building
something bigger, right, webecome firemen.
We, just we, we, we show up,show up.
(42:53):
You know, team members becometransactional.
They just do the job, theypunch the clock.
And really that's not theatmosphere that I'm trying to
create.
It's never.
That was never.
My intentions was just to havepeople show up and clock in and
clock out and just do a job.
I wanted them to know howimportant their job was.
They need to know how importantit is.
(43:14):
They will do better unknowingly, because they know what they're
doing is affecting other people.
So that's kind of where I'vebeen like for a minute for a
while now.
Um, so, anyhow, lead, lead, lead, lead with why right Connect,
(43:40):
connect to purpose?
Um, uh, clarity and repeatright, a sticky, a sticky,
simple statement.
Like I had mentioned earlier,um, invite ownership.
Like I said earlier, um, what,what do you think?
Or you decide?
You know, vision must be caught, not taught.
(44:02):
You know, I heard that a longtime ago.
I don't know if that was fromEd Milet, um, or or who that is.
That's where I always say youknow, lead by example.
You know to the point where now, brandon is the first one,
denny is the first one in theoffice.
Um, kim is probably one of thefirst people actually in the
office, not the shop.
Um, you know Chris Baker, he'sthere, all you know.
(44:24):
If I wouldn't have done thatearly on, do you think that the
start time at the office wouldbe at six o'clock?
No, it would be at eight, eight, 30, nine o'clock, like
whenever anybody wants to showup.
That's not.
It's because we've led byexample, we've been consistent.
You know, invite, I've invitedthat ownership, you know at
(44:49):
least I hope so, I hope I hopeso Right Connect tasks to impact
.
Daily work fuels the mission,everything everybody's doing on
a day to day, day to day, day today.
John, his marketing skills andtalent, right.
That allows the phone to ring.
(45:11):
That allows the phone to ring.
He understands that the phonering, our project consultant
goes out.
He or she finds the issue withthe homeowner's house.
We fix it up for them, we givethem safety, security, we create
a healthy environment.
We put a roof over their head,we add gutters, we put more
(45:32):
windows in that are energyefficient.
They save on costs, right.
That impact go out, find asolution, provide value, right,
and then we get a tip.
We get a tip from that.
We get to do other amazingthings for each other.
We get to do other amazingthings for our community and
(45:53):
that shit's contagious right.
That, I feel, is very contagiouswhen we show up at the home
shows.
I think a lot of people want tobe a part of that, that energy
that we bring to events, homeshows, roofing conventions I
(46:15):
think a lot of people eitherwant to.
We've inspired them to want tobe like that.
We encourage them to want to bebetter.
We set a different standard, weraised the bar or they want to
be a part of that and that's anawesome place to be.
(46:37):
And I'm not saying that we'renecessarily trendsetters.
We're just actually doing whatwe're supposed to be doing.
We're doing the next rightthing and all that good stuff.
But it all comes down to I goback to that CEO part again
right, show up with the energy.
Belief is contagious.
You know, culture eats strategyfor breakfast.
(47:01):
Man, like I was saying earlier,you can have all the greatest
strategies and the SOPs and theplans.
A great man.
When plans change and things gosouth, you know that's where.
(47:22):
That's where you get defined.
Either you freak, you panic,people quit.
That will show you right away,real quick, on how, how great of
a team you have right there.
Way, real quick on how, howgreat of a team you have right
there.
So you know culture's built.
You know, one decision at atime.
You know how your, how, how ourteam treats our customers, how
(47:49):
we treat each other is really.
You know.
How we treat each other isreally all that matters.
And the difference between aworkplace and a winning team,
you know, is the culture, notKPIs and not SOPs, it's, it's,
it's the culture that we have,uh, a strong culture um um will
will outlast any anything, youknow, and I, I can't even.
(48:12):
I can't even, um, and I can'teven express my gratitude
towards the team right now.
But a strong culture helps withrecruiting and retaining the
right people.
A good culture attracts talent,all that good stuff.
(48:36):
So I guess the bottom line isokay.
Bottom line is is that, youknow, leave with vision, leave
with purpose.
Uh, build a brand that thatpeople can trust.
Okay, um, and create a culturethat people want to be a part of
.
Right, if, if we are doing, ifwe are doing, you know these
things consistently, um, I don'tcare what business you're in,
(49:03):
you're going to win, you know,and we are winners.
Everybody on this team, man, we,we have crushed it and it's
it's, it's because we've, we'vecontinuously done the right
thing.
We've created a group of people, whether they knew it or not
when they joined this thing,that are set on a mission.
(49:24):
Brian told me today he's likeI'm fighting a good fight, and
he is too, and that's amazing.
I know he's getting shit donedown there without me
micromanaging stuff, so it'sgood stuff anyhow.
(49:44):
So I think we're about 50minutes into this, um, I guess.
Wrap this thing up here, um,put it in a nutshell you know,
if, uh, if, uh, if today'sepisode of beyond a tool belt
you know Tool Belt has given youany hope or inspiration?
I hope that this gives you somereal clarity and confidence on
how to lead better.
I know it has for me.
(50:07):
Build a stronger brand, and withpurpose, with consistency and
responsibility.
With leadership comes a lot ofresponsibility.
Right, the responsibility ofyou know, not the you know.
You hear people say I won'twork anybody.
Now, when I hear that, when Ihear I'll outwork everybody, I
(50:31):
true.
Now I look at somebody and Iand I wonder if they really know
what that means.
The standard is is what thestandard is Like.
Do you really know?
Do you really know what thatmeans?
Because it takes a lot of work.
It takes more work to do thisthing.
Right, then it does wrong.
So let's not like outworkAnybody To step on people, to
(50:57):
screw them over, to lie,manipulate, steal for selfish
and self-centered, selfishleadership purposes.
Right, let's, let's, let's beresponsible and create a company
culture worth fighting for,which I've I've got to
experience that lately, you know, in the teams fighting like
(51:21):
hell.
Remember, leadership isn't aboutthe loudest person in the room.
The standard is shut your face.
It's about being the clearest.
You know your vision matters,your energy matters, and how you
show up every day shapeseverything around you.
It truly does so.
If this episode fired you up,do me a favor Share it with a
(51:46):
fellow business owner or leaderwho needs to hear it and make
sure you're subscribed.
Like love, share it, get it outthere, okay, and don't miss
what's coming up next.
Next week we have DeshaunBryant 7 pm tomorrow night, and
until next time, keep leadingwith purpose, keep building with
(52:08):
pride and keep showing up theworld's what's possible when you
do the right thing the rightway every time.
Until next week, you guys takecare of each other.
We're signing out.
Have a good day everybody.
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