December 27, 2024 • 8 mins
Unlock the secrets of proactive employment and discover how cultivating a workforce ready to take on executive roles—even without the executive paycheck—can transform your business. Imagine a world where every employee is empowered to lead, manage, and innovate, ensuring seamless operations even when key leaders are absent. Through candid anecdotes and real-world challenges, we highlight the critical need for delegation, upskilling, and fostering an environment where knowledge-sharing is not just encouraged but celebrated. You'll learn how creating a culture of empowerment can pave the way for greater organizational success and long-term employee retention.
Reflect on the frustrations of being thrown into makeshift leadership training without preparation, and why having a well-prepared team to step up is non-negotiable. We discuss the pitfalls of hoarding knowledge for job security and flip the script on traditional views of irreplaceability. If you're in a managerial role or aspire to be, this conversation is packed with insights on how sharing knowledge and empowering your colleagues can make you an invaluable asset to any organization. Join us and reimagine what it means to lead from every chair in the room.
Reflect on the frustrations of being thrown into makeshift leadership training without preparation, and why having a well-prepared team to step up is non-negotiable. We discuss the pitfalls of hoarding knowledge for job security and flip the script on traditional views of irreplaceability. If you're in a managerial role or aspire to be, this conversation is packed with insights on how sharing knowledge and empowering your colleagues can make you an invaluable asset to any organization. Join us and reimagine what it means to lead from every chair in the room.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning.
So today I just want to touchon the topic of proactive
employment.
I know it's a little atypicalbecause lately it's been about
the student closing, but thisweek my interim GM is out and
it's funny to see like it's justfunny to see how people
structure themselves.
(00:21):
And so this week the interim GMis, and so it's now all of the
shift leads that are doing likepart-time work that are on site,
and so folks are now askinglike hey, uh, with with interim
GM out, where's the list ofpeople doing the program again?
How do we run a report forwho's bought things?
How do we text people again?
And so just the fact that youhave to assume the most valuable
(00:45):
employees assume that they willnot be around and they need to
delegate their role to somebodyelse.
The reason why that's valuablefor you is you know how to
duplicate executive capablepeople.
If everybody had the authority,the proactiveness, the
confidence and the capability torun the business as the CEO.
(01:07):
But they're not getting paidCEO wages.
Of course, those people willabsolutely be retained for the
long term.
People complain like oh, ceos,they make $30 million a year.
Those scumbags, how dare theymake so much money?
Those trashy people that areable to run companies.
They're despicable anddisgusting.
(01:28):
They're overpaid, okay?
Well, let's pretend this.
Let's pretend you are a frycook and you're making 20 bucks
an hour.
But you have the skills, theknowledge and capability to run
the entire mcdonald's restaurant.
But you're making 20 bucks anhour.
But you can.
But you have the ability andthe training to work like, to
(01:49):
operate, as if you were makinglike a hundred grand a year, but
you're making 40 grand a year.
Whoever trained you andequipped you with a hundred
thousand dollar capacity on a$40,000 salary?
Absolutely.
Whoever trained you andequipped you and upskilled
everyone internally?
Absolutely I am paying them topdollar If you're able to have
(02:12):
your staff be far more valuablethan what they're getting paid
Now.
If your staff is like I don'twanna know squat, I just wanna
sit here and flip burgers andfries, I'm gonna work hard doing
low skill labor and I don'twant to know nothing, of course,
yeah, you're probably going tostay stuck in your career
forever.
That's on you.
But, that being said, if you'regetting back into the manager
(02:34):
leadership hat, if you're goingto bottleneck and hold all of
that knowledge internally toyourself because you want to be
a valuable member, you want tohave job security, you want to
make sure no one ever fires youand you're going to withhold
training and information.
No, I am not going to keep youfor the long term.
If you're going to makeyourself irreplaceable, I will
replace you and I will findsomeone that wants to train and
(02:57):
upskill everybody else.
If you're elevating everyone'sskill around you, heck.
No, I am never getting rid ofyou Because 99% of the
population I'm making thatnumber up, 99% of the population
wants to be irreplaceable bywithholding, closing off and
preventing others from havingyour knowledge.
If you're going to be differentand upskill and train everybody
(03:19):
else to be more valuable thanwhat they're getting paid,
absolutely I am retaining youlike crazy, because you're able
to elevate value far more thaneven you're getting paid.
So all that to say my interim GMsitting out.
He's like hey, by the way, um,this person needs to get trained
on this, this person needs toget trained on that.
And now they're dumping thatresponsibility onto me to train
(03:41):
the staff, and I'm willing to doit, but I don't have the time
to do it, and so now I'm crabbyabout it because I don't want to
be doing it, because I have 14other things on my to-do list
today, and your job is to makesure people are trained.
So I'm venting, yes.
And so now I'm having to teachpeople.
Hey, here's how to log onto thecompany business page.
Here's the software to go textpeople.
(04:01):
Here's how to follow up andtell people price.
Here's how to schedule someonein the calendar.
And now I'm having to do yourjob because you want it to be
extra valuable.
And yet all I'm thinking aboutis I'm crabby at you for not
training people.
And I'm not thinking oh, I'm soglad you withheld information,
so now you're a valuable interimGM.
Oh, absolutely no.
I am crabby about you and I'mthinking about how you don't
(04:23):
train people.
So, anyhow, maybe I'm the weirdperson, maybe I'm the one who
should not be thinking that it'svaluable to train people.
I don't think so.
I am probably wrong, but Idon't think I am.
So all that to say train peopleto be more valuable than even
you.
And management will not letthat go unnoticed.
(04:45):
They will realize oh mygoodness, let's just go to a
typical company setup.
Last example If you already getit, then just skip to the next
episode.
Let's say that you're a managerat a tech company and you're
making $150,000 a year.
Your people are making $100,000a year.
Your people are making ahundred grand a year, but we'll
just pretend that.
But as a manager, trainer, teamlead, whatever, if you can train
(05:06):
your people how to do your job,how to run presentations, how
to run analytics, how todocument data pipeline, data
pipelines and you know how to doall that and you train all of
your $100,000 staff to do your$150,000 job, I can guarantee
you they're not going to do yourjob.
(05:27):
No one's going to know.
The de facto person says oh,I'm not, you can't pay me enough
to run, you don't pay me enoughto go lead a team, I'm not
going to do the work unless Iget the paycheck.
So I guarantee no one's goingto do it.
No one's going to operate andexecute the game plan.
But they're going to have theknow-how and the capability so
(05:48):
that if you were to get cannedor die or whatever, they're able
to operate without you.
That is so rare and invaluable.
Management will not let you go.
They will keep you and they'llkeep expanding you to the junior
teams, to advanced teams, toteams where there's massive
value but it's being locked upby self-minded staff, and so
(06:13):
they will keep you if they seeand know that's how you operate
and that's your leadership style.
It doesn't mean you you're lazybones, that just means you're
upskilling everybody around youto operate so that when you're
on vacation, if you're sick, ifyou have a newborn in the house,
uh, or whatever, they know thatyou're not going to be at the
company for 50 years, maybe noteven 40, not 30, not 20, maybe
(06:37):
10 years if you're lucky.
But a company's known, peopleturn, and so if you can document
and duplicate yourself, theywill put you in the hardest
teams, the trickiest socialdynamics.
And if you can replicate andrepeat yourself and do that over
and over and over and unlockvalue that the company knows is
(06:57):
there, you will be retainedforever.
So, anyhow, stopping rightthere, I now have a bunch of
work to do because my interim GMis out doing something else,
but they're out of the studio,and so I'm now having to train
staff to do even their basic job, not the GM or manager's job,
but even their frontline shiftlead, basic work.
(07:19):
And so that's how you become amore valuable employee and a
manager, and that's the crack,that's the code to crack.
I'm going to stop there becauseI've said the point too many
times over.
That's where we're at, that'swhere we're going.
Let's rock and roll.
Good morning.
So today I just want to touchon the topic of proactive
employment.
I know it's a little atypicalbecause lately it's been about
the student closing, but thisweek my interim GM is out and
it's funny to see like it's justfunny to see how people
structure themselves.
(00:21):
And so this week the interim GMis, and so it's now all of the
shift leads that are doing likepart-time work that are on site,
and so folks are now askinglike hey, uh, with with interim
GM out, where's the list ofpeople doing the program again?
How do we run a report forwho's bought things?
How do we text people again?
And so just the fact that youhave to assume the most valuable
(00:45):
employees assume that they willnot be around and they need to
delegate their role to somebodyelse.
The reason why that's valuablefor you is you know how to
duplicate executive capablepeople.
If everybody had the authority,the proactiveness, the
confidence and the capability torun the business as the CEO.
(01:07):
But they're not getting paidCEO wages.
Of course, those people willabsolutely be retained for the
long term.
People complain like oh, ceos,they make $30 million a year.
Those scumbags, how dare theymake so much money?
Those trashy people that areable to run companies.
They're despicable anddisgusting.
(01:28):
They're overpaid, okay?
Well, let's pretend this.
Let's pretend you are a frycook and you're making 20 bucks
an hour.
But you have the skills, theknowledge and capability to run
the entire mcdonald's restaurant.
But you're making 20 bucks anhour.
But you can.
But you have the ability andthe training to work like, to
(01:49):
operate, as if you were makinglike a hundred grand a year, but
you're making 40 grand a year.
Whoever trained you andequipped you with a hundred
thousand dollar capacity on a$40,000 salary?
Absolutely.
Whoever trained you andequipped you and upskilled
everyone internally?
Absolutely I am paying them topdollar If you're able to have
(02:12):
your staff be far more valuablethan what they're getting paid
Now.
If your staff is like I don'twanna know squat, I just wanna
sit here and flip burgers andfries, I'm gonna work hard doing
low skill labor and I don'twant to know nothing, of course,
yeah, you're probably going tostay stuck in your career
forever.
That's on you.
But, that being said, if you'regetting back into the manager
(02:34):
leadership hat, if you're goingto bottleneck and hold all of
that knowledge internally toyourself because you want to be
a valuable member, you want tohave job security, you want to
make sure no one ever fires youand you're going to withhold
training and information.
No, I am not going to keep youfor the long term.
If you're going to makeyourself irreplaceable, I will
replace you and I will findsomeone that wants to train and
(02:57):
upskill everybody else.
If you're elevating everyone'sskill around you, heck.
No, I am never getting rid ofyou Because 99% of the
population I'm making thatnumber up, 99% of the population
wants to be irreplaceable bywithholding, closing off and
preventing others from havingyour knowledge.
If you're going to be differentand upskill and train everybody
(03:19):
else to be more valuable thanwhat they're getting paid,
absolutely I am retaining youlike crazy, because you're able
to elevate value far more thaneven you're getting paid.
So all that to say my interim GMsitting out.
He's like hey, by the way, um,this person needs to get trained
on this, this person needs toget trained on that.
And now they're dumping thatresponsibility onto me to train
(03:41):
the staff, and I'm willing to doit, but I don't have the time
to do it, and so now I'm crabbyabout it because I don't want to
be doing it, because I have 14other things on my to-do list
today, and your job is to makesure people are trained.
So I'm venting, yes.
And so now I'm having to teachpeople.
Hey, here's how to log onto thecompany business page.
Here's the software to go textpeople.
(04:01):
Here's how to follow up andtell people price.
Here's how to schedule someonein the calendar.
And now I'm having to do yourjob because you want it to be
extra valuable.
And yet all I'm thinking aboutis I'm crabby at you for not
training people.
And I'm not thinking oh, I'm soglad you withheld information,
so now you're a valuable interimGM.
Oh, absolutely no.
I am crabby about you and I'mthinking about how you don't
(04:23):
train people.
So, anyhow, maybe I'm the weirdperson, maybe I'm the one who
should not be thinking that it'svaluable to train people.
I don't think so.
I am probably wrong, but Idon't think I am.
So all that to say train peopleto be more valuable than even
you.
And management will not letthat go unnoticed.
(04:45):
They will realize oh mygoodness, let's just go to a
typical company setup.
Last example If you already getit, then just skip to the next
episode.
Let's say that you're a managerat a tech company and you're
making $150,000 a year.
Your people are making $100,000a year.
Your people are making ahundred grand a year, but we'll
just pretend that.
But as a manager, trainer, teamlead, whatever, if you can train
(05:06):
your people how to do your job,how to run presentations, how
to run analytics, how todocument data pipeline, data
pipelines and you know how to doall that and you train all of
your $100,000 staff to do your$150,000 job, I can guarantee
you they're not going to do yourjob.
(05:27):
No one's going to know.
The de facto person says oh,I'm not, you can't pay me enough
to run, you don't pay me enoughto go lead a team, I'm not
going to do the work unless Iget the paycheck.
So I guarantee no one's goingto do it.
No one's going to operate andexecute the game plan.
But they're going to have theknow-how and the capability so
(05:48):
that if you were to get cannedor die or whatever, they're able
to operate without you.
That is so rare and invaluable.
Management will not let you go.
They will keep you and they'llkeep expanding you to the junior
teams, to advanced teams, toteams where there's massive
value but it's being locked upby self-minded staff, and so
(06:13):
they will keep you if they seeand know that's how you operate
and that's your leadership style.
It doesn't mean you you're lazybones, that just means you're
upskilling everybody around youto operate so that when you're
on vacation, if you're sick, ifyou have a newborn in the house,
uh, or whatever, they know thatyou're not going to be at the
company for 50 years, maybe noteven 40, not 30, not 20, maybe
(06:37):
10 years if you're lucky.
But a company's known, peopleturn, and so if you can document
and duplicate yourself, theywill put you in the hardest
teams, the trickiest socialdynamics.
And if you can replicate andrepeat yourself and do that over
and over and over and unlockvalue that the company knows is
(06:57):
there, you will be retainedforever.
So, anyhow, stopping rightthere, I now have a bunch of
work to do because my interim GMis out doing something else,
but they're out of the studio,and so I'm now having to train
staff to do even their basic job, not the GM or manager's job,
but even their frontline shiftlead, basic work.
(07:19):
And so that's how you become amore valuable employee and a
manager, and that's the crack,that's the code to crack.
I'm going to stop there becauseI've said the point too many
times over.
That's where we're at, that'swhere we're going.
Let's rock and roll.
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