What does it take to break free from the corporate mold and chart your own course as an entrepreneur? Chad Harward, founder and CEO of Pinpoint Management, joins us to answer this question with a frank discussion about his own journey from marketing director to business owner. Navigating the uncharted waters of entrepreneurship, Chad shares valuable insights on risk-taking, leadership growth, and the power of purpose in business.
This episode is a treasure trove of strategies for staying motivated and on track in the dynamic landscape of entrepreneurship. Learn from Chad's experience of reverse engineering a five-year plan and the importance of quick execution and financial trust in realizing your business goals. He offers a compelling perspective on adaptation and the necessity of making changes, illuminating these concepts through his monkey trap and monkey bars analogy.
But Chad's wisdom goes beyond mere business strategy. He encourages a shift in perspective - from just making sales to making a difference. Recommending reads like Simon Sinek's 'Start With Why' and Michael McCallowick's 'Profit First', he underscores the transformative power of continuous learning. And for those looking to elevate their leadership skills, Chad introduces his coaching services - a resource for leaders seeking to grow and thrive. Join us for this inspiring conversation with Chad Harward and glean the insights you need to steer your own ship towards success.
Join Dr. William Attaway on the Catalytic Leadership podcast as he shares transformative insights to help high-performance entrepreneurs and agency owners achieve Clear-Minded Focus, Calm Control, and Confidence.
- Free 30-Minute Discovery Call:
Ready to elevate your business? Book a free 30-minute discovery call with Dr. William Attaway and start your journey to success.
- Special Offer:
Get your FREE copy of Catalytic Leadership: 12 Keys to Becoming an Intentional Leader Who Makes a Difference.
Connect with Dr. William Attaway:
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to Catalytic Leadership, the podcast designed
to help leaders intentionallygrow and thrive.
Here is your host author andleadership and executive coach,
dr William Attaway.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Hey, it's William and welcome to today's episode of
the Catalytic Leadership podcast.
Each week, we tackle a topicrelated to the field of
leadership.
My goal is to ensure that youhave actionable steps you can
take from each episode to growin your own leadership.
Growth doesn't just happen.
My goal is to help you becomeintentional about it.
(00:37):
Each week, we spotlight leadersfrom a variety of fields,
organizations and locations.
My goal is for you to see thatleaders can be catalytic, no
matter where they are or whatthey lead.
I draw inspiration from thestories and journeys of these
leaders and I hear from many ofyou that you do too.
Let's jump in to today'sinterview.
(00:59):
I'm so excited today to haveChad Harward on the show.
Chad is the founder and CEO ofPinpoint Management.
Chad holds a BS in businessadministration and marketing,
and his business acumen includesbusiness organization planning,
structure implementation,financial management, marketing
and sales.
He's also served as marketingdirector for billion dollar
(01:22):
companies, where he receivedmultiple high performance awards
.
Today, chad is a seasonedbusiness analyst, working with
hundreds of business owners inmultiple industries.
With over 25 years ofexperience, he has successfully
worked with business owners toidentify critical business needs
and establish best practices tomaximum profitability.
(01:43):
A proven, powerful and engagingspeaker.
Chad has presented to hundredsof business owners specializing
in multiple industries,including retail, services and
construction.
He's especially skilled inconnecting with his audience and
adapting the discussion to meeta wide range of solution needs.
Chad, I'm so excited you'rehere today.
(02:05):
Thanks for being on the show.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
Hey, thank you.
I'm excited.
I appreciate it.
I've got to take you everywherewith me.
You made me really good, Ithink we could sum all that up
and just say and a lot of yearsof trial and error, that would
be a business owner right.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
A few lessons learned along the way.
Oh, yes, well, I would love foryou to start by sharing some of
your story with our listeners,chad, particularly around your
journey and your development asa leader.
How did you get started?
Speaker 3 (02:34):
Yeah, great question.
You know what?
I followed the script incollege which was back then get
a degree, go get a C-level job.
Yeah, I did that to the tee,had a great job as a marketing
director at a software companylarge software company and then
realized in fact, stayed therefor what?
(02:58):
A couple of years anyway.
Everything was great.
In fact, I got one of the topperformance awards.
Everything on paper,statistically, should have just
been predetermined.
Following the script, until themonth after getting the top
(03:20):
performance award, I was laidoff.
Nobody told me wait, thatwasn't part of the script, right
?
A major plot twist?
Yes, right, that was one thing.
That's the short version ofthat story.
What was also going on behindthe scenes that maybe some of
your listeners can relate to isI started realizing there was
(03:44):
something different about methat nobody told me about in
college.
That was as I punched thatclock and showed up at my office
nine to five very predictable Irealized something was missing.
I felt like wait, this is.
I feel like it's a bitmonotonous.
(04:07):
I feel like there's part of methat's not what living at its
highest capacity, at the baselevel.
It was just the job I had whileit was marketing, I didn't feel
like I was at least with thecorporate perspective not able
(04:28):
to exercise all my creativity.
There were other things Iwanted to be doing that didn't
necessarily fall into that jobdescription.
I think the telling sign wasafter hours was when I had fun.
That's when I worked on myconsulting company and my
marketing agency For little tono money and it didn't matter
(04:51):
how many hours I was working.
It was so fun.
I was hanging out in that spacefor a while.
I had a young family.
At the time.
My heart was saying you knowwhat?
In fact, I even had an unclewho was a successful commercial
(05:11):
real estate agent that I wasdoing projects for.
He said why don't you just doyour business?
Do this, this is what this isyour wheelhouse, this is what
you've been designed to do.
I kept putting him off becausethe logical part of me was
saying no, young family, checkon the fifth and 20th won't be
(05:32):
coming anymore.
I just kept in this spinningmotion where my heart was going
one way, my head was goinganother.
Sometimes I think, when we'renot on our ideal path, what I
call our highest level self, ourbest self path, the universe
(05:56):
has a way of nudging us.
In my case, nudging was gettinglaid off when I, in all logical
reasons, shouldn't have myinitial thought.
While it was not fun, Iinitially panicked, I was also
somewhat excited, realizing wait, I just got control of my whole
(06:18):
path.
Now I got control of thosehours from nine to five that I
can do anything I want.
That's when I realized I guessthe first principle of
leadership was I need to be incharge of my own ship.
I need to captain my own ship.
I need to be in charge of myown ship.
It sounds easy, but then whenyou're placed with okay, you got
(06:42):
these guarantees in exchangefor that control, do you still?
How committed are you to thatnow?
And it was tough, especially asa young you know, young starting
out my career, young family.
I hadn't learned all the lifelessons, the real world lessons
outside of the controlledenvironment of college, yeah, so
(07:04):
I'm super grateful at thispoint for all of those
experiences, because that mademe who I am today.
I think lots of the mostvaluable life lessons are often
those we just experience, andI'm sure you and others can
relate, because they're yourlessons right.
You feel them, you see them,you live and breathe it and it
(07:27):
sets a blueprint, it imprintsand that becomes part of our
trajectory and if we choose tolearn from those things, they
can actually be very empoweringand potentially very inspiring
as we lead.
It's simply, I think a leaderis simply somebody who's willing
(07:50):
to pay it forward, willing togive others what they're not
seeing, and I think that's whyour own journeys can be so
invaluable, because you're theonly one that went through that
and if somebody's headed downthat road, they can lean on you
and perhaps learn the lessonfaster, making it quicker,
(08:12):
making it less expensive, maybeless painful, and we can truly
be a mentor in the form of ourexperience.
So long story short, or longer.
I guess that's how I've arrivedwhere I'm at today and have
been in building my business.
Now, that thing I was doingafter hours first.
(08:33):
Now I've been doing it for 25years and feel like I still am
relearning it over and overagain.
Even as we hit our milliondollar marks and things like
that, you always feel likeyou're still in re-invention
mode.
You've never really arrived,it's just new levels of what I
call higher level challenges.
(08:54):
But staying committed to yeah,I like the feeling of captaining
my own ship and those, as wetalk about, entrepreneurs,
people that own their ownbusinesses, leaders, you know
there's just this dynamic thatis very real and that is, you
know, what you've been designedto do.
(09:18):
You feel it and nothing againstcorporate level or executive
leadership and jobs at all.
You just know if it's a fit foryou and those that I've talked
to other business owners.
One universal agreement is yeah, when I come to that
realization, there's no way Ican go back to the job at that
(09:40):
point, because at that momentit's like, yeah, I'm designed to
do a different path, which isawesome.
And then it becomes okay, howcommitted am I to that and
what's next?
And staying on that path, nomatter how crazy it gets as
owning a business there'sdefinitely days just like a job.
(10:00):
You're not gonna have greatdays sometimes as a business
owner and you might evenquestion, man, maybe I should
have just stayed in the job.
And then that lasts about 30seconds for me anyway and I go.
No, I'll still take my worstday captaining my own ship.
So there you go.
That's kind of me in a nutshell.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
That's so good, jen, and I totally agree.
There's no such thing as awasted experience in your life,
because they all make us who weare.
You would not be who you aretoday were it not for all of the
experiences you've had,including some of those
catalytic ones like getting laidoff unexpectedly.
The month after you get a highperformance award.
(10:41):
That's just crazy, and I thinkthere are people who are
listening who can relate.
Yes, one of the things you toldme when we talked previously
that I thought was fascinating.
You said I don't think I'veever heard anybody put it this
way.
You said I think there is apandemic of ball and chain
businesses.
Yes, what do you mean by thatand how on earth do we solve it?
Speaker 3 (11:04):
Yeah, great question.
So to me it's one of thesaddest things when somebody
does finally commit to thisdream, let's say, of my best
life living my best lifecaptaining my own ship.
The sad thing is on paper.
We think okay, I've got controlof my nine to five, I can
(11:27):
choose to write my own paycheck,I can choose how many hours I
want to work because I'm abusiness owner.
As we know and as statisticstell us, though, the reality is
all too often the opposite ofthat.
When I talk to business owners,one of the first questions I do
, I call it a freedom pulsecheck, and I check their time
(11:48):
freedom and their money freedomthe money side.
I say I look at their P&L and wetake their net profit money
after everyone else spent paiddivided by their weekly hours in
the business, including afterhours, doing bids, whatever it
is, weekends $10 an hour onaverage.
So minimum wage is whattypically comes up.
(12:10):
And I ask them I'm assuming youdidn't sign up to do this, no
matter how much you love it for$10 an hour.
And they say yeah, that's partof the problem.
And then we look at the timeside and I say once the last
time you've been on a vacation,they say well they just laugh.
What's that?
(12:30):
Well, once the last time youforced yourself away from the
business.
Well, a couple of years ago, myspouse said you're coming this
year, figure it out.
So they forced themselves onthe vacation.
The whole time they're on thephone and telling the family no,
this is my last call, I promiseI'll catch up.
And that goes on till eighto'clock, and then at eight
(12:52):
o'clock there's nobody left totalk to on the phone.
I ask them okay, so at thatpoint were you on vacation?
And they say no, becausementally all I could think about
was well, who didn't I talk to?
What didn't I catch today?
What's gonna be waiting for mewhen I get back?
And it's all valid, becausethey have tried it in the past.
And sure enough, they come hometo a bunch of messes that they
(13:15):
just need to clean up to wherethey resolve that.
Well, it's not worth going on avacation because I can't be on
vacation.
And then my reward for that iscoming back to a lot more work
to clean up.
That I could have avoided if Ijust never went, which is super
sad, because in the end they go,but I still want a vacation.
(13:36):
I just don't know how to do itand so what they love originally
, it becomes a ball and chain.
They can't stand being there.
They're doing it for minimumwage, they can never get any
time off to where it's like.
Then you start really thinkingmaybe that job is pretty good
because I get paid time off andI get a guaranteed paycheck
(13:57):
that's much higher than $10 anhour, and they're stuck because
then they go back to.
But I know I can't do the jobeither.
That's gonna be settling, Iwon't be happy.
And they're stuck in this messymiddle.
Now to your question how do weget out of this?
So, if you can identify withthis and, by the way, I've
talked to company businessowners that are doing million
(14:20):
dollars two millionmulti-million dollar businesses
that are that tied to thebusiness steel.
It's just, they're justspinning the wheel faster, but
in the end they're not keepingvery much of the money and they
have even less freedom in theirtime.
So, regardless of how longyou've been doing what you've
(14:40):
been doing, regardless of whatyou've chosen to do because
that's the mindset as well maybeI'm not a good framer, but I
could be a great fitness clubowner or a restaurant or the
reality is business owners whofail at business or who don't
have a lot of freedom won't havea lot of freedom in the next,
(15:02):
second, third, fourth businessesand vice versa, those that you
probably know, people who made akilling at one business did a
completely different kind ofbusiness.
Different industry, made akilling at that, sold, built and
sold multiple businesses, andthey win by the same reasons.
Both will win or lose by forthe same reasons, and so let me
(15:27):
give you what I believe, afterdoing this for 25 years, seems
to be the pivot points of thosethat have lots of freedom and
those who consistently have theball and chain.
Regardless of how long they dowhat they do or what they chose
to do, they just keep repeatinghistory.
First is you have to know whereyou're going.
(15:47):
What I mean by that is clearlydefined destination.
Most of the time when I talk tobusiness owners who that's the
first thing I ask is where doyou want to go?
Where do you want to take thisbusiness, where do you want it
to take you, and what choices doyou want to have, what kind of
lifestyle do you want to haveand what's the longest you're
(16:08):
willing to put in to have that.
I usually, at that point, haveglossed over deer in the
headlights like I have no idea.
I haven't even had a chance tothink about that, much less I
don't even know how to put myhead around that.
If I did so it's really simple.
You have to have three thingsto chart a destination.
(16:28):
First, is it's got to matter toyou emotionally first, meaning
it's got to live for you.
Everything, just like how wespend our valuable resources,
time and money, are spentemotionally first, and then,
logically, we defend them.
Strategies follow an emotionalcause.
(16:48):
There's billions of dollarsthat are spent on charities,
where people get nothing otherthan that really makes me feel
good and I contribute to a cause, so it doesn't have to have a
tangible meaning.
It does have to matter, though.
Before I write that check,regardless of what that is, I'll
give you an example.
Talked with a plumber a month orso ago.
(17:10):
Second generation plumber, hewas given the business, took
over the business from his dad.
Dad was awesome, and I askedthis plumber where we go?
Where do you want to take thisin five years?
Where do you see your rolebeing?
What's the money?
What's your lifestyle?
What does your day-to-day looklike in the business.
(17:32):
And he said man, that's the bigquestion right now, because you
don't want.
My problem is, I'm really boredwith this business.
I don't like plumbing.
It's boring to me.
I said, dude, we got a problem.
Then, right now, before we talkabout any strategies, it's got
to matter to you.
You won't do anything, youwon't have any urgency if it
(17:52):
doesn't matter to you first.
So I said what do you like todo when you have time with your
wife and kids?
He said we love to hunt.
We all love hunting.
We can never get enough time ofdoing that.
I said awesome.
What if your next step we'llcall it point B is a family
(18:13):
hunting guide business, whereyou and your wife work with the
spouses, your kids work with thekids, you get to teach your
kids how to run a business.
You all are doing the verything that you all love to do.
If you have the choice and, bythe way, you get paid really
good in return for doingsomething you love doing I said
(18:35):
what do you think about that?
And he said sign me up for thatright now.
I said perfect.
So that's where we're headed.
What does that mean about yourplumbing business today?
He said well, that means everydollar profit I can save and
every minute that I can createan efficiency where I'm not
working in the business can beone more minute and dollar
(18:56):
toward my hunting guide business.
I said, exactly Now does yourplumbing company matter?
Yes, now I see there's a biggerpurpose.
I said perfect, then let's dothat.
So that's what I mean.
So one task is, if you've lostthe purpose and for sure those
of us that have been doing thisfor a length of time, it's easy
(19:17):
to lose track of why did I startthis in the first place?
We might have to go back towhere, where, go back to the
beginning and see what mattered,and sometimes that moves on us
over time.
What was important five yearsago may not be our true North
and we need to find that again.
Second, once you've are actuallyone last point on destination.
(19:41):
So once that mattersemotionally, then it's time and
money.
Right, we've got to stick astake in the ground and have
some definitive, and you do thatwith time and money.
Your money side needs to dothree things.
It needs to pay off all yourpersonal debt, all your business
debt and with what's left youcan maintain your desired
lifestyle at that phase nothaving to touch the principal.
(20:04):
So you've got enough left inthe bank and you don't owe
anyone anything.
So financially now you've gotchoices, you don't have to work
financially.
Second, you need to put a stakein the ground on the amount of
time that you want to take toget that.
So what's the longest period oftime that you want to continue
(20:24):
to invest in your path, in yourbusiness, before you have that
option?
Some people say I got five yearsleft in me.
I would say set.
My experience is a business,even fairly new business, even
one that you've been doing five,15 years along the way.
(20:48):
If you're using best businesspractices day to day, you can
take a business from zero tobeing able to exit at least your
day to day role as the ownerwithin five years.
It's very predictable to dothat.
Five years, five years, wow.
See it over and over again.
When you solve the real issuesin time and money and then you
(21:10):
take the winnings of that timeand money freedom and reapply it
to the next most criticalproblem, then it's just like
that balloon payment where youjust gain momentum.
It's how we go out of business,one dime at a time, one hour at
a time when you reverse thatcycle.
(21:30):
The reverse can happen toowhere you've got the math
working for you.
So that's knowing yourdestination.
Second is closely to what Italked about, which is okay.
That means, if I know, I've gotfive years and it's
mathematically I need thisnumber to achieve that.
Now I just reverse engineeredthat, which means I need to know
(21:50):
my own math.
I need to know it's crazy howfew business owners I talk to
know what is your net profitneed to be, what's your break
even and what do you need to bedoing on every job, every bid,
every sell that you make todaytimes five years to equal X
number.
That's why you've got to startwith the big number, the true
(22:13):
North people, and then youreverse engineer that and you
quickly find out oh wait, thatmeans for me to have no longer
than five years.
I've got to raise my prices by15%, or we've got to make 7%
more profit on every sale, or weneed to raise our prices.
Whatever that is we need, we'vegot to.
We know.
(22:34):
Now I know what I need to doand I just keep tweaking until
the math lines up with my fiveyear plan Last.
So, know your destination, knowyour math to get to the
destination.
And then it's all aboutexecution, speed of execution.
So just knowing yourdestination, knowing your number
, still hasn't moved the bus outof the parking lot.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
Now we've actually got to drive.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (22:59):
Lots of people still parked in a bus with the idling
and that's no different than thebus driver that has nothing, no
destination on the front.
They're just aimlessly doingwork, churning day to day, but
they have no destination andeventually run out of gas.
Neither will get to thedestination.
So it's about looking at themath and how does that line up?
(23:22):
Just like your GPS, you setthat coordinate, it will tell
you to the 10th of a mile, tothe minute, when you can plan on
getting to that destinationonce you put it in there and
it's dead on every single time.
I mean just, I've tried acouple of times to out guess the
GPS and I lose every time.
(23:42):
Your business has a GPS.
It's your financials, it's yourtime over money, and you just
need to trust the financialsthat, okay, we have got to hit
no less than that 7% net profitor we will add more time to our
destination.
There's things in your companythat need to be modified and
changed.
(24:03):
People need to be let go.
There's outside forces likeeconomy, interest rates, supply
chain, all of the pandemics, allthis stuff that happens,
inflation, things we don't haveany control over, that are going
to require a detour, just likeyour GPS is there and you check
(24:25):
it regularly.
Once I put it in there, howoften am I looking at it?
Is there a detour it's tellingme to take?
Otherwise we'll add a lot oftime and money to the
destination or never get thereif I don't make the necessary
changes.
The problem is people eitherdon't know their numbers, so
they don't know what changes tomake, or they know the
(24:45):
information it's telling them inbig flashing lights and we
won't let the person go or wewon't replace the salesperson.
It's funny.
I usually use to illustrate thismonkeys as an example and how
they catch monkeys.
They put their favorite food ina log or a tree and it's
(25:08):
peanuts.
A lot of people think it'sbananas.
It's actually peanuts.
They'll put a handful ofpeanuts in the hole.
The monkey reaches in, grabsthem, but it can't get its hand
back out unless it lets go.
He will not let go.
Once he's holding onto them,the peanuts will go moldy.
They'll hold onto them so longand the reason is the peanuts
(25:30):
represent survival, representlife.
Then the crazy thing is, evenif there's other alternatives
outside, they will not let go,whether they've got in their
hand.
And because I might starve todeath if I let it go.
The crazy thing is theyguarantee their death by holding
onto them if they never let go.
And in business I see thishappen all the time Business
(25:53):
owners who won't raise theirprices because they're afraid of
losing their customers, eventhough the numbers show you if
you keep doing your bids at 15%below profit, you're gonna run
out of business.
You'll go out of business.
Holding on to those customersor bad marketing, that's like oh
, but I'm hoping next month I'lldouble down and make up the
(26:14):
money I lost last month, or it'smy idea.
I mean ego can show up here.
It's lots of versions of moldypeanuts, so that's.
The third thing is you've gotto execute fast and you shift
from the monkey trap to what Icall to the monkey bars, if you
remember that, ah, nice, back inthe grade school.
It's hard to do at my age now.
(26:37):
That's the only way I do thisbefore, but it's the same idea.
To get to the other side, yougotta let go of the bar you're
on and you swing and you'regrabbing.
So when you let go, that's stepone.
But you also need to replacewhat you just let go of.
If it's a bad salesperson or anemployee or a marketing
campaign, now it's okay, what dowe need for that spot?
(27:00):
Because you need somebody inthat seat.
The question is okay, what didwe learn from that and what do
we need?
Who is that person?
Who's the skill set?
What did the numbers tell us?
What did we learn?
And then you start looking forthat and the next person may be
even worse.
So you have to be committed toevolution and change, not
(27:23):
getting it right every singletime, Because Fortune 500
companies failed lots of times.
The difference is they learnfrom it and they're very fast at
changing and execution.
So those are my three tips toevolving getting out of this
ball and chain that so manybusinesses I talk to are
(27:44):
experiencing.
Knowing where you're going,charting it in clear, definable
time and money terms, knowingthe math that's gonna require to
get you there from a day-to-daybasis.
And, third, being committed tochanging and changing quickly,
because time is the mostvaluable asset, Even more than
money, is how do I get there?
(28:05):
If it's about learning, then Ijust wanna learn quickly, so
don't take.
If we need to, then if it's letgo of people, I'm gonna let go
of them monthly instead ofkeeping them for a whole year
and then decide, okay, we betterfinally make that choice.
Too many people ride it all theway out hoping it will somehow
magically change, Causes so muchtime and money that we'll never
(28:29):
get back.
If you do those three things myexperience has been you will
absolutely.
At the very least, you'll flyat a level you've never been at
and you'll have much morecontrol and certainty about
where you end up getting in thattime and money freedom,
predictably with your business.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
That is so practical.
I know that so many peoplelistening are writing this down
at a fever pitch.
I talked to agency owners, tobusiness owners, to leaders, and
I'm sure you do as well.
These entrepreneurs startedthis thing because they wanted
time and money freedom.
They wanted that.
That was their goal, butsomewhere along the way they
(29:11):
lost their motivation.
They lost their passion becausethey're just stuck on this
treadmill and they're justrunning and running and they're
in one of previous guys calledthe Freelancers Trap where they
can't let go.
They can't stop because they'reat the center of the spider web
, Everything connects to themand if they step out, the whole
thing collapses.
That's not what they intendedto build, but it's exactly what
(29:34):
they built.
I'm guessing that road toburnout is one that you've seen
with entrepreneurs a couple oftimes.
Speaker 3 (29:43):
It is All too often, most of the time, everybody.
That's the universal thingthey're feeling and seeing.
It's like even those that arepaying bills, those that even
caught lightning in a bottlewith getting the right business
at the right time.
They're just as stressed as theones that know why they're not
(30:04):
making money, those that don'tknow they go.
I don't even know how I gothere, and so that's just as
stressful because I know I couldlose it that fast too, and it
really it does boil down to that.
They're just in this hamsterwheel of unknown,
unpredictability, and itdefinitely doesn't need to be
that way.
It can be just the opposite ofthat.
(30:27):
There's plenty of examples ofpeople that have lost a time of
money predictability out there.
They just do it differently,they learn faster, they apply
principles, practices andthey're okay, evolving To your
point.
That's the vicious cycle is ithas to be an extension of us, it
(30:47):
has to be our craft.
We started and we are wearingall the hats.
That's a necessity.
What you don't want to do is bewearing those hats 15, 20 years
down the road and, emotionally,what you can't do, which is
super hard, easier said thandone.
At some point you got to beokay handing off your baby to
somebody else.
If you want to get time andmoney, freedom and truly have
(31:11):
what you say you want, you'vegot to trust some other people,
some other.
You know, I partnered with agreat partner three years ago,
one of the toughest things I'vedone.
I've been working this for 15years on my own, forming my
craft as a consultant, and Ithought my paradigm was I'm a
consultant.
(31:31):
How could I possibly deliver mysolution without me being the
one delivering it?
They're buying me and I finallyrealized, well, I can either
subscribe to that or I can findanother way where I can help a
lot more people, still using myphilosophy, still using my
processes, but expanding my team.
And the reality is, yeah,they're getting taken care of
(31:54):
great at higher levels.
Why?
Because me and my partnersynergistically offer, have way
more to offer than I could aloneon my best day.
But that took me emotionallyletting go.
I had to let go of that peanutand go.
Ah, it's going to be hard, butI'm willing to swing to getting
(32:15):
a partner and then building ateam around us.
And our business tripled in themoment I did that and continues
to grow at a much faster pacethan my hardest working day ever
.
And best the best part is I'mputting out way less emotional
effort.
I'm still working the business,I still put the time in, but I
(32:36):
don't have that heavy weightthat comes with man.
I look around and it's just meand that's just a job still.
All we've done is we've createdthe job to where, okay, you can
have your name on the job andyou get to work unlimited hours
for maybe some money.
Speaker 2 (32:54):
It's like that's not actually an upgrade from working
for the corporation.
Speaker 3 (32:59):
You're better off sticking with the job if that's
what you're committed to.
But easier said than done.
Speaker 2 (33:06):
So well said.
That's so.
That is that's so lines up withthe experiences I've seen in so
many of the people that I talkto.
I want to take you back, chad.
I want to take you back to whenyou came out of college, that
fresh faced young leader withthat diploma that's still got
(33:27):
the curl in it right.
Yes, it was rolled up.
If you could go back and talkto that chat, given what you
know now, what would you tellyourself?
Speaker 3 (33:40):
First thing that comes to my mind is trust your
heart.
Speaker 1 (33:43):
Trust your gut.
Speaker 3 (33:44):
That's good.
My gut was just screaming.
So I still remember to this day, just like I still remember the
feelings that I was having backthen, that inner struggle, and
I just know myself.
I'll speak for myself, butmaybe others can relate to this.
It's just my lightning rod.
It's like, whether it'spersonal or business, it's just
(34:05):
life, right Life, fulfillmentand how we choose to spend those
valuable minutes and the pathwe choose and we've all got so
many choices.
To me, it's the one thing I canalways rely on, regardless of
how old I've been.
It's never wrong and it's stillan individual choice.
(34:27):
Every time, that fires up againbecause as you grow business,
you're going to be checking in.
It's like okay, is this thebest decision?
Is this the best path?
And as I talk to businessowners and I lay out from my
perspective, after looking attheir numbers and looking at
(34:48):
their plan, I'll give them apath and go.
It seems like you're much morehappier going this direction or
with this strategy, and I willalways hear yeah, you know what,
chad, you're right.
I felt that for years and I'mgoing why didn't we do?
We just burned three years.
(35:09):
We could have gone back andsaved a big detour of three
years, that who knows what wecould have created with that
time back, and all they had todo was just trust it.
And it's easier said than done.
It's like why?
So?
Why aren't we doing that, orthey or?
The other piece that I would sayto that self is you start.
(35:32):
We start as we're hungry, as westart out, we're fresh on that
career path, on that businessbuilding path.
We start doing really amazingthings.
We get creative.
We're doing all of these thingsthat actually start working and
why this happens, I have noidea.
But as we start making money,as we start maturing, we quit
(35:53):
doing some of those things thatactually work really well.
They're kind of innovative, andwe just, I think, just comfort.
We can start getting passive.
We start cutting corners, weforget, and there'll be those
conversations that I'll havelike or I'll bring stuff up hey,
(36:13):
you ought to try.
You know what about thesethings?
Like, yeah, you know whatthat's interesting, you bring
that up.
I was doing those things when Istarted.
Why aren't we doing them now?
I don't know.
I just kind of fell out of thehabit.
So that would be my other thingis keep doing the things that
definitely worked.
Make business, make career path, make leadership easier by
(36:40):
continuing to keep the thingsthat worked and building on
those things.
If you know they work, then youknow.
It's the longest numbers andthings don't tell you otherwise
why wouldn't we keep doing thosethings?
And so that would be.
That would be my other point.
The third one that I'll leaveyou with is what I have gained,
(37:05):
which I would think is just kindof more wisdom, because it's
part of the journey.
We start out with our need andfocus to make a dollar and I
believe we reject and end upwhere our focus is making a
difference.
And that is all about people.
And what can I do to make adifference in everybody's life?
(37:27):
How can I shift from making asale to making a difference?
But can we do both?
Can I shift my salesconversations to from hey, how
do we get you into my product orservice today?
To hey, how, what do you needand what could I do to help you
(37:47):
get there, whether it's with meor not, whether it's doing
business with me or not, andthat, I believe, is kind of the
new for me.
Anyway, that's been my latestevolution, and sometimes it's
tough to go.
Well, that's mine, so I'mgiving myself permission to not
get the sale.
Yes, you're giving yourselfpurpose, self permission to
(38:09):
making a difference instead ofmaking a sale, making a
relationship, leveling somebodyup and my experience is, when
that's our primary focus, themoney actually takes care of
itself it will show up whetherit's that person or a referral
from that person who wasn't afit for us.
but they give us three peoplewho were because of the
(38:30):
experience they had with us thatthey can trust that will take
care of the relationship, sothat would be my third one.
Speaker 2 (38:36):
That's good, that's really good.
I love that focus on making adifference and I agree with you.
I think that as we go fartherand farther into our journey,
that becomes more and more of afocus.
Is there a book that has made adifference in your life?
Chad, Something that you'veread that you would recommend
that every leader, everybusiness owner who is listening.
(38:57):
They need to pick this up, theyneed to read this, because this
is the one that makes adifference.
Great question.
Speaker 3 (39:04):
Man?
I probably I will, in fulltransparency.
I've never liked to read, but Iwill listen to a million books.
I've probably listened to 10 to12 books a month.
Of all my books, I would saythe one for everybody, whether
you're a seasoned business owner, a seasoned in your career or
starting out Simon Sinek.
(39:27):
Start With why yes, such a greatbook, great great one.
That's the emotional piece.
And then, if you want to addthe financial piece, the logical
piece, it's MichaelMcCallowick's Profit First Paint
yourself first off the top,rather than last Paint yourself
the most than the least, puttingmoney away while you grow your
(39:50):
business instead of your career,instead of putting it back into
it, hoping at the end there'senough left over.
There's just the rule that whenour profit, what we get is
always viewed as whatever's leftover.
There's never anything leftover.
We always spend to what we make,whether it's a career or a
(40:11):
business.
So you have to take the top offand then you make the decisions
off.
If you want to keep 10, 20%,then you operate on the
difference and your money issafe regardless.
That's how we can organicallycreate a predictable profit exit
, whether a career and retiringor a business, in selling it.
(40:32):
And if you start with why, wealso are fulfilled throughout
that whole process, because thatwhy has to get us out of bed
every day and keep us moving.
And then financially, we've gota roadmap to take care of the
money and have a plan for itbefore it arrives.
Speaker 2 (40:51):
So good.
You know, people often willwalk away with one thing from a
podcast episode, one thing froma book, one thing from something
that they've watched.
If you could define what theone thing is that you want
people to take away from thisconversation today, what would
that one thing be?
Speaker 3 (41:10):
I would just say stop where you're at and take a
breath and decide what do youwant.
What do you want emotionally,what do you want financially?
And get just super clear onthat, and it doesn't take a lot
of, it's not rocket science.
Chart down on a piece of paperwhat you want your life to look
(41:34):
like in five years, and what isthat.
What will that cost in time?
What will that cost in moneyand what will you do with those
resources when you have them?
That's how you tie the money tothe why.
That's good.
When people say, well, I want tomake a million dollars, like,
okay, why, I don't know?
I just thought that's all whatyou always hear.
(41:55):
You want to be a millionaire, Idon't know why.
Well, what would you do withthe money if you had it?
I don't know.
I just think it'd be cool tosay I made a million.
The problem is statistically,and you can see people that win
lotteries and things like that.
If you don't have a why forthose resources, they will go
away.
Time and money have names tothem before they arrive to you.
(42:20):
That's why I would say yourmost important thing you could
do from what we've talked abouttoday is take a step back and go
.
I'm captaining my own ship.
What do I want my ship to be infive years?
What do I want that to feellike?
What do I want it to look like?
What's the difference I plan tomake in the world and other
(42:42):
people's lives because I achievethose things, and how I will
use those resources when I getthere?
And then simply reverseengineer that math to today and
that starts right now.
Today you can, regardless ofhow many messes you've had up to
this point, you do have 100%control of where you're going,
starting today.
Speaker 2 (43:04):
Now this has been so incredibly practical.
I think people can take whatyou've said and they can begin
to put feet to this I think isthe sign of true wisdom.
I know folks are gonna wannastay connected with you.
Like, what is the best way forpeople to do that?
Speaker 3 (43:21):
Yes, you know what.
I have a couple of options.
I'm on LinkedIn chat.
Hard word on LinkedIn.
You can message me If you wouldlike to spend some time talking
about your path.
And how do I chart that?
How do I do what we've talkedabout today?
Go to chatwithpinpointscom.
That goes right to my calendar.
(43:41):
You can book some time with me,no pressure, no obligation.
My why is I want to help as manypeople as possible live their
best life, whether that's in abusiness, whether it's in a
career path, as a leaders,leveling them up and create
reality off of that what oftenfeels like a mirage.
Can I ever get that?
(44:03):
My website is ppmanagementcom.
You can go and check us out,see what we're doing, see some
of our customer experiences.
But yeah, those two waysmessage me on LinkedIn.
Schedule some time with mechatwithpinpointcom.
I would love to hear your story, would love to help.
(44:24):
However, I can try to pay itforward If it involves us.
We've obviously got lots ofexperience and tools figuring
this out over the last 25 yearsand we're still figuring it out
too.
But whatever I know I will behappy to pass on.
Speaker 2 (44:40):
Dad, thank you for being so generous today with
what you've learned so far alongthe way.
Speaker 3 (44:46):
Thank you, william.
I appreciate the time.
It's been amazing.
Speaker 2 (44:50):
Thanks for joining me for this episode today.
As we wrap up, I'd love for youto do two things.
First, subscribe to thispodcast so you don't miss an
episode, and if you find valuehere, I'd love it if you would
rate it and review it.
That really does make adifference in helping other
people to discover this podcast.
Second, if you don't have acopy of my newest book,
(45:12):
catalytic Leadership, I'd loveto put a copy in your hands.
If you go tocatalyticleadershipbookcom, you
can get a copy for free.
Just pay the shipping so I canget it to you and we'll get one
right out.
My goal is to put this into thehands of as many leaders as
possible.
This book captures principlesthat I've learned in 20 plus
(45:34):
years of coaching leaders in theentrepreneurial space, in
business, government, nonprofits, education and the local church
.
You can also connect with me onLinkedIn to keep up with what
I'm currently learning andthinking about.
And if you're ready to take anext step with a coach to help
you intentionally grow andthrive as a leader, I'd be
(45:56):
honored to help you.
Just go tocatalyticleadershipnet to book a
call with me.
Stay tuned for our next episodenext week.
Until then, as always, leaderschoose to be catalytic.
Speaker 1 (46:12):
Thanks for listening to Catalytic Leadership with Dr
William Attaway.
Be sure to subscribe whereveryou listen to podcasts so you
don't miss the next episode.
Want more?
Go to catalyticleadershipnet.
Welcome to Catalytic Leadership, the podcast designed
to help leaders intentionallygrow and thrive.
Here is your host author andleadership and executive coach,
dr William Attaway.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Hey, it's William and welcome to today's episode of
the Catalytic Leadership podcast.
Each week, we tackle a topicrelated to the field of
leadership.
My goal is to ensure that youhave actionable steps you can
take from each episode to growin your own leadership.
Growth doesn't just happen.
My goal is to help you becomeintentional about it.
(00:37):
Each week, we spotlight leadersfrom a variety of fields,
organizations and locations.
My goal is for you to see thatleaders can be catalytic, no
matter where they are or whatthey lead.
I draw inspiration from thestories and journeys of these
leaders and I hear from many ofyou that you do too.
Let's jump in to today'sinterview.
(00:59):
I'm so excited today to haveChad Harward on the show.
Chad is the founder and CEO ofPinpoint Management.
Chad holds a BS in businessadministration and marketing,
and his business acumen includesbusiness organization planning,
structure implementation,financial management, marketing
and sales.
He's also served as marketingdirector for billion dollar
(01:22):
companies, where he receivedmultiple high performance awards
.
Today, chad is a seasonedbusiness analyst, working with
hundreds of business owners inmultiple industries.
With over 25 years ofexperience, he has successfully
worked with business owners toidentify critical business needs
and establish best practices tomaximum profitability.
(01:43):
A proven, powerful and engagingspeaker.
Chad has presented to hundredsof business owners specializing
in multiple industries,including retail, services and
construction.
He's especially skilled inconnecting with his audience and
adapting the discussion to meeta wide range of solution needs.
Chad, I'm so excited you'rehere today.
(02:05):
Thanks for being on the show.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
Hey, thank you.
I'm excited.
I appreciate it.
I've got to take you everywherewith me.
You made me really good, Ithink we could sum all that up
and just say and a lot of yearsof trial and error, that would
be a business owner right.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
A few lessons learned along the way.
Oh, yes, well, I would love foryou to start by sharing some of
your story with our listeners,chad, particularly around your
journey and your development asa leader.
How did you get started?
Speaker 3 (02:34):
Yeah, great question.
You know what?
I followed the script incollege which was back then get
a degree, go get a C-level job.
Yeah, I did that to the tee,had a great job as a marketing
director at a software companylarge software company and then
realized in fact, stayed therefor what?
(02:58):
A couple of years anyway.
Everything was great.
In fact, I got one of the topperformance awards.
Everything on paper,statistically, should have just
been predetermined.
Following the script, until themonth after getting the top
(03:20):
performance award, I was laidoff.
Nobody told me wait, thatwasn't part of the script, right
?
A major plot twist?
Yes, right, that was one thing.
That's the short version ofthat story.
What was also going on behindthe scenes that maybe some of
your listeners can relate to isI started realizing there was
(03:44):
something different about methat nobody told me about in
college.
That was as I punched thatclock and showed up at my office
nine to five very predictable Irealized something was missing.
I felt like wait, this is.
I feel like it's a bitmonotonous.
(04:07):
I feel like there's part of methat's not what living at its
highest capacity, at the baselevel.
It was just the job I had whileit was marketing, I didn't feel
like I was at least with thecorporate perspective not able
(04:28):
to exercise all my creativity.
There were other things Iwanted to be doing that didn't
necessarily fall into that jobdescription.
I think the telling sign wasafter hours was when I had fun.
That's when I worked on myconsulting company and my
marketing agency For little tono money and it didn't matter
(04:51):
how many hours I was working.
It was so fun.
I was hanging out in that spacefor a while.
I had a young family.
At the time.
My heart was saying you knowwhat?
In fact, I even had an unclewho was a successful commercial
(05:11):
real estate agent that I wasdoing projects for.
He said why don't you just doyour business?
Do this, this is what this isyour wheelhouse, this is what
you've been designed to do.
I kept putting him off becausethe logical part of me was
saying no, young family, checkon the fifth and 20th won't be
(05:32):
coming anymore.
I just kept in this spinningmotion where my heart was going
one way, my head was goinganother.
Sometimes I think, when we'renot on our ideal path, what I
call our highest level self, ourbest self path, the universe
(05:56):
has a way of nudging us.
In my case, nudging was gettinglaid off when I, in all logical
reasons, shouldn't have myinitial thought.
While it was not fun, Iinitially panicked, I was also
somewhat excited, realizing wait, I just got control of my whole
(06:18):
path.
Now I got control of thosehours from nine to five that I
can do anything I want.
That's when I realized I guessthe first principle of
leadership was I need to be incharge of my own ship.
I need to captain my own ship.
I need to be in charge of myown ship.
It sounds easy, but then whenyou're placed with okay, you got
(06:42):
these guarantees in exchangefor that control, do you still?
How committed are you to thatnow?
And it was tough, especially asa young you know, young starting
out my career, young family.
I hadn't learned all the lifelessons, the real world lessons
outside of the controlledenvironment of college, yeah, so
(07:04):
I'm super grateful at thispoint for all of those
experiences, because that mademe who I am today.
I think lots of the mostvaluable life lessons are often
those we just experience, andI'm sure you and others can
relate, because they're yourlessons right.
You feel them, you see them,you live and breathe it and it
(07:27):
sets a blueprint, it imprintsand that becomes part of our
trajectory and if we choose tolearn from those things, they
can actually be very empoweringand potentially very inspiring
as we lead.
It's simply, I think a leaderis simply somebody who's willing
(07:50):
to pay it forward, willing togive others what they're not
seeing, and I think that's whyour own journeys can be so
invaluable, because you're theonly one that went through that
and if somebody's headed downthat road, they can lean on you
and perhaps learn the lessonfaster, making it quicker,
(08:12):
making it less expensive, maybeless painful, and we can truly
be a mentor in the form of ourexperience.
So long story short, or longer.
I guess that's how I've arrivedwhere I'm at today and have
been in building my business.
Now, that thing I was doingafter hours first.
(08:33):
Now I've been doing it for 25years and feel like I still am
relearning it over and overagain.
Even as we hit our milliondollar marks and things like
that, you always feel likeyou're still in re-invention
mode.
You've never really arrived,it's just new levels of what I
call higher level challenges.
(08:54):
But staying committed to yeah,I like the feeling of captaining
my own ship and those, as wetalk about, entrepreneurs,
people that own their ownbusinesses, leaders, you know
there's just this dynamic thatis very real and that is, you
know, what you've been designedto do.
(09:18):
You feel it and nothing againstcorporate level or executive
leadership and jobs at all.
You just know if it's a fit foryou and those that I've talked
to other business owners.
One universal agreement is yeah, when I come to that
realization, there's no way Ican go back to the job at that
(09:40):
point, because at that momentit's like, yeah, I'm designed to
do a different path, which isawesome.
And then it becomes okay, howcommitted am I to that and
what's next?
And staying on that path, nomatter how crazy it gets as
owning a business there'sdefinitely days just like a job.
(10:00):
You're not gonna have greatdays sometimes as a business
owner and you might evenquestion, man, maybe I should
have just stayed in the job.
And then that lasts about 30seconds for me anyway and I go.
No, I'll still take my worstday captaining my own ship.
So there you go.
That's kind of me in a nutshell.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
That's so good, jen, and I totally agree.
There's no such thing as awasted experience in your life,
because they all make us who weare.
You would not be who you aretoday were it not for all of the
experiences you've had,including some of those
catalytic ones like getting laidoff unexpectedly.
The month after you get a highperformance award.
(10:41):
That's just crazy, and I thinkthere are people who are
listening who can relate.
Yes, one of the things you toldme when we talked previously
that I thought was fascinating.
You said I don't think I'veever heard anybody put it this
way.
You said I think there is apandemic of ball and chain
businesses.
Yes, what do you mean by thatand how on earth do we solve it?
Speaker 3 (11:04):
Yeah, great question.
So to me it's one of thesaddest things when somebody
does finally commit to thisdream, let's say, of my best
life living my best lifecaptaining my own ship.
The sad thing is on paper.
We think okay, I've got controlof my nine to five, I can
(11:27):
choose to write my own paycheck,I can choose how many hours I
want to work because I'm abusiness owner.
As we know and as statisticstell us, though, the reality is
all too often the opposite ofthat.
When I talk to business owners,one of the first questions I do
, I call it a freedom pulsecheck, and I check their time
(11:48):
freedom and their money freedomthe money side.
I say I look at their P&L and wetake their net profit money
after everyone else spent paiddivided by their weekly hours in
the business, including afterhours, doing bids, whatever it
is, weekends $10 an hour onaverage.
So minimum wage is whattypically comes up.
(12:10):
And I ask them I'm assuming youdidn't sign up to do this, no
matter how much you love it for$10 an hour.
And they say yeah, that's partof the problem.
And then we look at the timeside and I say once the last
time you've been on a vacation,they say well they just laugh.
What's that?
(12:30):
Well, once the last time youforced yourself away from the
business.
Well, a couple of years ago, myspouse said you're coming this
year, figure it out.
So they forced themselves onthe vacation.
The whole time they're on thephone and telling the family no,
this is my last call, I promiseI'll catch up.
And that goes on till eighto'clock, and then at eight
(12:52):
o'clock there's nobody left totalk to on the phone.
I ask them okay, so at thatpoint were you on vacation?
And they say no, becausementally all I could think about
was well, who didn't I talk to?
What didn't I catch today?
What's gonna be waiting for mewhen I get back?
And it's all valid, becausethey have tried it in the past.
And sure enough, they come hometo a bunch of messes that they
(13:15):
just need to clean up to wherethey resolve that.
Well, it's not worth going on avacation because I can't be on
vacation.
And then my reward for that iscoming back to a lot more work
to clean up.
That I could have avoided if Ijust never went, which is super
sad, because in the end they go,but I still want a vacation.
(13:36):
I just don't know how to do itand so what they love originally
, it becomes a ball and chain.
They can't stand being there.
They're doing it for minimumwage, they can never get any
time off to where it's like.
Then you start really thinkingmaybe that job is pretty good
because I get paid time off andI get a guaranteed paycheck
(13:57):
that's much higher than $10 anhour, and they're stuck because
then they go back to.
But I know I can't do the jobeither.
That's gonna be settling, Iwon't be happy.
And they're stuck in this messymiddle.
Now to your question how do weget out of this?
So, if you can identify withthis and, by the way, I've
talked to company businessowners that are doing million
(14:20):
dollars two millionmulti-million dollar businesses
that are that tied to thebusiness steel.
It's just, they're justspinning the wheel faster, but
in the end they're not keepingvery much of the money and they
have even less freedom in theirtime.
So, regardless of how longyou've been doing what you've
(14:40):
been doing, regardless of whatyou've chosen to do because
that's the mindset as well maybeI'm not a good framer, but I
could be a great fitness clubowner or a restaurant or the
reality is business owners whofail at business or who don't
have a lot of freedom won't havea lot of freedom in the next,
(15:02):
second, third, fourth businessesand vice versa, those that you
probably know, people who made akilling at one business did a
completely different kind ofbusiness.
Different industry, made akilling at that, sold, built and
sold multiple businesses, andthey win by the same reasons.
Both will win or lose by forthe same reasons, and so let me
(15:27):
give you what I believe, afterdoing this for 25 years, seems
to be the pivot points of thosethat have lots of freedom and
those who consistently have theball and chain.
Regardless of how long they dowhat they do or what they chose
to do, they just keep repeatinghistory.
First is you have to know whereyou're going.
(15:47):
What I mean by that is clearlydefined destination.
Most of the time when I talk tobusiness owners who that's the
first thing I ask is where doyou want to go?
Where do you want to take thisbusiness, where do you want it
to take you, and what choices doyou want to have, what kind of
lifestyle do you want to haveand what's the longest you're
(16:08):
willing to put in to have that.
I usually, at that point, haveglossed over deer in the
headlights like I have no idea.
I haven't even had a chance tothink about that, much less I
don't even know how to put myhead around that.
If I did so it's really simple.
You have to have three thingsto chart a destination.
(16:28):
First, is it's got to matter toyou emotionally first, meaning
it's got to live for you.
Everything, just like how wespend our valuable resources,
time and money, are spentemotionally first, and then,
logically, we defend them.
Strategies follow an emotionalcause.
(16:48):
There's billions of dollarsthat are spent on charities,
where people get nothing otherthan that really makes me feel
good and I contribute to a cause, so it doesn't have to have a
tangible meaning.
It does have to matter, though.
Before I write that check,regardless of what that is, I'll
give you an example.
Talked with a plumber a month orso ago.
(17:10):
Second generation plumber, hewas given the business, took
over the business from his dad.
Dad was awesome, and I askedthis plumber where we go?
Where do you want to take thisin five years?
Where do you see your rolebeing?
What's the money?
What's your lifestyle?
What does your day-to-day looklike in the business.
(17:32):
And he said man, that's the bigquestion right now, because you
don't want.
My problem is, I'm really boredwith this business.
I don't like plumbing.
It's boring to me.
I said, dude, we got a problem.
Then, right now, before we talkabout any strategies, it's got
to matter to you.
You won't do anything, youwon't have any urgency if it
(17:52):
doesn't matter to you first.
So I said what do you like todo when you have time with your
wife and kids?
He said we love to hunt.
We all love hunting.
We can never get enough time ofdoing that.
I said awesome.
What if your next step we'llcall it point B is a family
(18:13):
hunting guide business, whereyou and your wife work with the
spouses, your kids work with thekids, you get to teach your
kids how to run a business.
You all are doing the verything that you all love to do.
If you have the choice and, bythe way, you get paid really
good in return for doingsomething you love doing I said
(18:35):
what do you think about that?
And he said sign me up for thatright now.
I said perfect.
So that's where we're headed.
What does that mean about yourplumbing business today?
He said well, that means everydollar profit I can save and
every minute that I can createan efficiency where I'm not
working in the business can beone more minute and dollar
(18:56):
toward my hunting guide business.
I said, exactly Now does yourplumbing company matter?
Yes, now I see there's a biggerpurpose.
I said perfect, then let's dothat.
So that's what I mean.
So one task is, if you've lostthe purpose and for sure those
of us that have been doing thisfor a length of time, it's easy
(19:17):
to lose track of why did I startthis in the first place?
We might have to go back towhere, where, go back to the
beginning and see what mattered,and sometimes that moves on us
over time.
What was important five yearsago may not be our true North
and we need to find that again.
Second, once you've are actuallyone last point on destination.
(19:41):
So once that mattersemotionally, then it's time and
money.
Right, we've got to stick astake in the ground and have
some definitive, and you do thatwith time and money.
Your money side needs to dothree things.
It needs to pay off all yourpersonal debt, all your business
debt and with what's left youcan maintain your desired
lifestyle at that phase nothaving to touch the principal.
(20:04):
So you've got enough left inthe bank and you don't owe
anyone anything.
So financially now you've gotchoices, you don't have to work
financially.
Second, you need to put a stakein the ground on the amount of
time that you want to take toget that.
So what's the longest period oftime that you want to continue
(20:24):
to invest in your path, in yourbusiness, before you have that
option?
Some people say I got five yearsleft in me.
I would say set.
My experience is a business,even fairly new business, even
one that you've been doing five,15 years along the way.
(20:48):
If you're using best businesspractices day to day, you can
take a business from zero tobeing able to exit at least your
day to day role as the ownerwithin five years.
It's very predictable to dothat.
Five years, five years, wow.
See it over and over again.
When you solve the real issuesin time and money and then you
(21:10):
take the winnings of that timeand money freedom and reapply it
to the next most criticalproblem, then it's just like
that balloon payment where youjust gain momentum.
It's how we go out of business,one dime at a time, one hour at
a time when you reverse thatcycle.
(21:30):
The reverse can happen toowhere you've got the math
working for you.
So that's knowing yourdestination.
Second is closely to what Italked about, which is okay.
That means, if I know, I've gotfive years and it's
mathematically I need thisnumber to achieve that.
Now I just reverse engineeredthat, which means I need to know
(21:50):
my own math.
I need to know it's crazy howfew business owners I talk to
know what is your net profitneed to be, what's your break
even and what do you need to bedoing on every job, every bid,
every sell that you make todaytimes five years to equal X
number.
That's why you've got to startwith the big number, the true
(22:13):
North people, and then youreverse engineer that and you
quickly find out oh wait, thatmeans for me to have no longer
than five years.
I've got to raise my prices by15%, or we've got to make 7%
more profit on every sale, or weneed to raise our prices.
Whatever that is we need, we'vegot to.
We know.
(22:34):
Now I know what I need to doand I just keep tweaking until
the math lines up with my fiveyear plan Last.
So, know your destination, knowyour math to get to the
destination.
And then it's all aboutexecution, speed of execution.
So just knowing yourdestination, knowing your number
, still hasn't moved the bus outof the parking lot.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
Now we've actually got to drive.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (22:59):
Lots of people still parked in a bus with the idling
and that's no different than thebus driver that has nothing, no
destination on the front.
They're just aimlessly doingwork, churning day to day, but
they have no destination andeventually run out of gas.
Neither will get to thedestination.
So it's about looking at themath and how does that line up?
(23:22):
Just like your GPS, you setthat coordinate, it will tell
you to the 10th of a mile, tothe minute, when you can plan on
getting to that destinationonce you put it in there and
it's dead on every single time.
I mean just, I've tried acouple of times to out guess the
GPS and I lose every time.
(23:42):
Your business has a GPS.
It's your financials, it's yourtime over money, and you just
need to trust the financialsthat, okay, we have got to hit
no less than that 7% net profitor we will add more time to our
destination.
There's things in your companythat need to be modified and
changed.
(24:03):
People need to be let go.
There's outside forces likeeconomy, interest rates, supply
chain, all of the pandemics, allthis stuff that happens,
inflation, things we don't haveany control over, that are going
to require a detour, just likeyour GPS is there and you check
(24:25):
it regularly.
Once I put it in there, howoften am I looking at it?
Is there a detour it's tellingme to take?
Otherwise we'll add a lot oftime and money to the
destination or never get thereif I don't make the necessary
changes.
The problem is people eitherdon't know their numbers, so
they don't know what changes tomake, or they know the
(24:45):
information it's telling them inbig flashing lights and we
won't let the person go or wewon't replace the salesperson.
It's funny.
I usually use to illustrate thismonkeys as an example and how
they catch monkeys.
They put their favorite food ina log or a tree and it's
(25:08):
peanuts.
A lot of people think it'sbananas.
It's actually peanuts.
They'll put a handful ofpeanuts in the hole.
The monkey reaches in, grabsthem, but it can't get its hand
back out unless it lets go.
He will not let go.
Once he's holding onto them,the peanuts will go moldy.
They'll hold onto them so longand the reason is the peanuts
(25:30):
represent survival, representlife.
Then the crazy thing is, evenif there's other alternatives
outside, they will not let go,whether they've got in their
hand.
And because I might starve todeath if I let it go.
The crazy thing is theyguarantee their death by holding
onto them if they never let go.
And in business I see thishappen all the time Business
(25:53):
owners who won't raise theirprices because they're afraid of
losing their customers, eventhough the numbers show you if
you keep doing your bids at 15%below profit, you're gonna run
out of business.
You'll go out of business.
Holding on to those customersor bad marketing, that's like oh
, but I'm hoping next month I'lldouble down and make up the
(26:14):
money I lost last month, or it'smy idea.
I mean ego can show up here.
It's lots of versions of moldypeanuts, so that's.
The third thing is you've gotto execute fast and you shift
from the monkey trap to what Icall to the monkey bars, if you
remember that, ah, nice, back inthe grade school.
It's hard to do at my age now.
(26:37):
That's the only way I do thisbefore, but it's the same idea.
To get to the other side, yougotta let go of the bar you're
on and you swing and you'regrabbing.
So when you let go, that's stepone.
But you also need to replacewhat you just let go of.
If it's a bad salesperson or anemployee or a marketing
campaign, now it's okay, what dowe need for that spot?
(27:00):
Because you need somebody inthat seat.
The question is okay, what didwe learn from that and what do
we need?
Who is that person?
Who's the skill set?
What did the numbers tell us?
What did we learn?
And then you start looking forthat and the next person may be
even worse.
So you have to be committed toevolution and change, not
(27:23):
getting it right every singletime, Because Fortune 500
companies failed lots of times.
The difference is they learnfrom it and they're very fast at
changing and execution.
So those are my three tips toevolving getting out of this
ball and chain that so manybusinesses I talk to are
(27:44):
experiencing.
Knowing where you're going,charting it in clear, definable
time and money terms, knowingthe math that's gonna require to
get you there from a day-to-daybasis.
And, third, being committed tochanging and changing quickly,
because time is the mostvaluable asset, Even more than
money, is how do I get there?
(28:05):
If it's about learning, then Ijust wanna learn quickly, so
don't take.
If we need to, then if it's letgo of people, I'm gonna let go
of them monthly instead ofkeeping them for a whole year
and then decide, okay, we betterfinally make that choice.
Too many people ride it all theway out hoping it will somehow
magically change, Causes so muchtime and money that we'll never
(28:29):
get back.
If you do those three things myexperience has been you will
absolutely.
At the very least, you'll flyat a level you've never been at
and you'll have much morecontrol and certainty about
where you end up getting in thattime and money freedom,
predictably with your business.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
That is so practical.
I know that so many peoplelistening are writing this down
at a fever pitch.
I talked to agency owners, tobusiness owners, to leaders, and
I'm sure you do as well.
These entrepreneurs startedthis thing because they wanted
time and money freedom.
They wanted that.
That was their goal, butsomewhere along the way they
(29:11):
lost their motivation.
They lost their passion becausethey're just stuck on this
treadmill and they're justrunning and running and they're
in one of previous guys calledthe Freelancers Trap where they
can't let go.
They can't stop because they'reat the center of the spider web
, Everything connects to themand if they step out, the whole
thing collapses.
That's not what they intendedto build, but it's exactly what
(29:34):
they built.
I'm guessing that road toburnout is one that you've seen
with entrepreneurs a couple oftimes.
Speaker 3 (29:43):
It is All too often, most of the time, everybody.
That's the universal thingthey're feeling and seeing.
It's like even those that arepaying bills, those that even
caught lightning in a bottlewith getting the right business
at the right time.
They're just as stressed as theones that know why they're not
(30:04):
making money, those that don'tknow they go.
I don't even know how I gothere, and so that's just as
stressful because I know I couldlose it that fast too, and it
really it does boil down to that.
They're just in this hamsterwheel of unknown,
unpredictability, and itdefinitely doesn't need to be
that way.
It can be just the opposite ofthat.
(30:27):
There's plenty of examples ofpeople that have lost a time of
money predictability out there.
They just do it differently,they learn faster, they apply
principles, practices andthey're okay, evolving To your
point.
That's the vicious cycle is ithas to be an extension of us, it
(30:47):
has to be our craft.
We started and we are wearingall the hats.
That's a necessity.
What you don't want to do is bewearing those hats 15, 20 years
down the road and, emotionally,what you can't do, which is
super hard, easier said thandone.
At some point you got to beokay handing off your baby to
somebody else.
If you want to get time andmoney, freedom and truly have
(31:11):
what you say you want, you'vegot to trust some other people,
some other.
You know, I partnered with agreat partner three years ago,
one of the toughest things I'vedone.
I've been working this for 15years on my own, forming my
craft as a consultant, and Ithought my paradigm was I'm a
consultant.
(31:31):
How could I possibly deliver mysolution without me being the
one delivering it?
They're buying me and I finallyrealized, well, I can either
subscribe to that or I can findanother way where I can help a
lot more people, still using myphilosophy, still using my
processes, but expanding my team.
And the reality is, yeah,they're getting taken care of
(31:54):
great at higher levels.
Why?
Because me and my partnersynergistically offer, have way
more to offer than I could aloneon my best day.
But that took me emotionallyletting go.
I had to let go of that peanutand go.
Ah, it's going to be hard, butI'm willing to swing to getting
(32:15):
a partner and then building ateam around us.
And our business tripled in themoment I did that and continues
to grow at a much faster pacethan my hardest working day ever
.
And best the best part is I'mputting out way less emotional
effort.
I'm still working the business,I still put the time in, but I
(32:36):
don't have that heavy weightthat comes with man.
I look around and it's just meand that's just a job still.
All we've done is we've createdthe job to where, okay, you can
have your name on the job andyou get to work unlimited hours
for maybe some money.
Speaker 2 (32:54):
It's like that's not actually an upgrade from working
for the corporation.
Speaker 3 (32:59):
You're better off sticking with the job if that's
what you're committed to.
But easier said than done.
Speaker 2 (33:06):
So well said.
That's so.
That is that's so lines up withthe experiences I've seen in so
many of the people that I talkto.
I want to take you back, chad.
I want to take you back to whenyou came out of college, that
fresh faced young leader withthat diploma that's still got
(33:27):
the curl in it right.
Yes, it was rolled up.
If you could go back and talkto that chat, given what you
know now, what would you tellyourself?
Speaker 3 (33:40):
First thing that comes to my mind is trust your
heart.
Speaker 1 (33:43):
Trust your gut.
Speaker 3 (33:44):
That's good.
My gut was just screaming.
So I still remember to this day, just like I still remember the
feelings that I was having backthen, that inner struggle, and
I just know myself.
I'll speak for myself, butmaybe others can relate to this.
It's just my lightning rod.
It's like, whether it'spersonal or business, it's just
(34:05):
life, right Life, fulfillmentand how we choose to spend those
valuable minutes and the pathwe choose and we've all got so
many choices.
To me, it's the one thing I canalways rely on, regardless of
how old I've been.
It's never wrong and it's stillan individual choice.
(34:27):
Every time, that fires up againbecause as you grow business,
you're going to be checking in.
It's like okay, is this thebest decision?
Is this the best path?
And as I talk to businessowners and I lay out from my
perspective, after looking attheir numbers and looking at
(34:48):
their plan, I'll give them apath and go.
It seems like you're much morehappier going this direction or
with this strategy, and I willalways hear yeah, you know what,
chad, you're right.
I felt that for years and I'mgoing why didn't we do?
We just burned three years.
(35:09):
We could have gone back andsaved a big detour of three
years, that who knows what wecould have created with that
time back, and all they had todo was just trust it.
And it's easier said than done.
It's like why?
So?
Why aren't we doing that, orthey or?
The other piece that I would sayto that self is you start.
(35:32):
We start as we're hungry, as westart out, we're fresh on that
career path, on that businessbuilding path.
We start doing really amazingthings.
We get creative.
We're doing all of these thingsthat actually start working and
why this happens, I have noidea.
But as we start making money,as we start maturing, we quit
(35:53):
doing some of those things thatactually work really well.
They're kind of innovative, andwe just, I think, just comfort.
We can start getting passive.
We start cutting corners, weforget, and there'll be those
conversations that I'll havelike or I'll bring stuff up hey,
(36:13):
you ought to try.
You know what about thesethings?
Like, yeah, you know whatthat's interesting, you bring
that up.
I was doing those things when Istarted.
Why aren't we doing them now?
I don't know.
I just kind of fell out of thehabit.
So that would be my other thingis keep doing the things that
definitely worked.
Make business, make career path, make leadership easier by
(36:40):
continuing to keep the thingsthat worked and building on
those things.
If you know they work, then youknow.
It's the longest numbers andthings don't tell you otherwise
why wouldn't we keep doing thosethings?
And so that would be.
That would be my other point.
The third one that I'll leaveyou with is what I have gained,
(37:05):
which I would think is just kindof more wisdom, because it's
part of the journey.
We start out with our need andfocus to make a dollar and I
believe we reject and end upwhere our focus is making a
difference.
And that is all about people.
And what can I do to make adifference in everybody's life?
(37:27):
How can I shift from making asale to making a difference?
But can we do both?
Can I shift my salesconversations to from hey, how
do we get you into my product orservice today?
To hey, how, what do you needand what could I do to help you
(37:47):
get there, whether it's with meor not, whether it's doing
business with me or not, andthat, I believe, is kind of the
new for me.
Anyway, that's been my latestevolution, and sometimes it's
tough to go.
Well, that's mine, so I'mgiving myself permission to not
get the sale.
Yes, you're giving yourselfpurpose, self permission to
(38:09):
making a difference instead ofmaking a sale, making a
relationship, leveling somebodyup and my experience is, when
that's our primary focus, themoney actually takes care of
itself it will show up whetherit's that person or a referral
from that person who wasn't afit for us.
but they give us three peoplewho were because of the
(38:30):
experience they had with us thatthey can trust that will take
care of the relationship, sothat would be my third one.
Speaker 2 (38:36):
That's good, that's really good.
I love that focus on making adifference and I agree with you.
I think that as we go fartherand farther into our journey,
that becomes more and more of afocus.
Is there a book that has made adifference in your life?
Chad, Something that you'veread that you would recommend
that every leader, everybusiness owner who is listening.
(38:57):
They need to pick this up, theyneed to read this, because this
is the one that makes adifference.
Great question.
Speaker 3 (39:04):
Man?
I probably I will, in fulltransparency.
I've never liked to read, but Iwill listen to a million books.
I've probably listened to 10 to12 books a month.
Of all my books, I would saythe one for everybody, whether
you're a seasoned business owner, a seasoned in your career or
starting out Simon Sinek.
(39:27):
Start With why yes, such a greatbook, great great one.
That's the emotional piece.
And then, if you want to addthe financial piece, the logical
piece, it's MichaelMcCallowick's Profit First Paint
yourself first off the top,rather than last Paint yourself
the most than the least, puttingmoney away while you grow your
(39:50):
business instead of your career,instead of putting it back into
it, hoping at the end there'senough left over.
There's just the rule that whenour profit, what we get is
always viewed as whatever's leftover.
There's never anything leftover.
We always spend to what we make,whether it's a career or a
(40:11):
business.
So you have to take the top offand then you make the decisions
off.
If you want to keep 10, 20%,then you operate on the
difference and your money issafe regardless.
That's how we can organicallycreate a predictable profit exit
, whether a career and retiringor a business, in selling it.
(40:32):
And if you start with why, wealso are fulfilled throughout
that whole process, because thatwhy has to get us out of bed
every day and keep us moving.
And then financially, we've gota roadmap to take care of the
money and have a plan for itbefore it arrives.
Speaker 2 (40:51):
So good.
You know, people often willwalk away with one thing from a
podcast episode, one thing froma book, one thing from something
that they've watched.
If you could define what theone thing is that you want
people to take away from thisconversation today, what would
that one thing be?
Speaker 3 (41:10):
I would just say stop where you're at and take a
breath and decide what do youwant.
What do you want emotionally,what do you want financially?
And get just super clear onthat, and it doesn't take a lot
of, it's not rocket science.
Chart down on a piece of paperwhat you want your life to look
(41:34):
like in five years, and what isthat.
What will that cost in time?
What will that cost in moneyand what will you do with those
resources when you have them?
That's how you tie the money tothe why.
That's good.
When people say, well, I want tomake a million dollars, like,
okay, why, I don't know?
I just thought that's all whatyou always hear.
(41:55):
You want to be a millionaire, Idon't know why.
Well, what would you do withthe money if you had it?
I don't know.
I just think it'd be cool tosay I made a million.
The problem is statistically,and you can see people that win
lotteries and things like that.
If you don't have a why forthose resources, they will go
away.
Time and money have names tothem before they arrive to you.
(42:20):
That's why I would say yourmost important thing you could
do from what we've talked abouttoday is take a step back and go
.
I'm captaining my own ship.
What do I want my ship to be infive years?
What do I want that to feellike?
What do I want it to look like?
What's the difference I plan tomake in the world and other
(42:42):
people's lives because I achievethose things, and how I will
use those resources when I getthere?
And then simply reverseengineer that math to today and
that starts right now.
Today you can, regardless ofhow many messes you've had up to
this point, you do have 100%control of where you're going,
starting today.
Speaker 2 (43:04):
Now this has been so incredibly practical.
I think people can take whatyou've said and they can begin
to put feet to this I think isthe sign of true wisdom.
I know folks are gonna wannastay connected with you.
Like, what is the best way forpeople to do that?
Speaker 3 (43:21):
Yes, you know what.
I have a couple of options.
I'm on LinkedIn chat.
Hard word on LinkedIn.
You can message me If you wouldlike to spend some time talking
about your path.
And how do I chart that?
How do I do what we've talkedabout today?
Go to chatwithpinpointscom.
That goes right to my calendar.
(43:41):
You can book some time with me,no pressure, no obligation.
My why is I want to help as manypeople as possible live their
best life, whether that's in abusiness, whether it's in a
career path, as a leaders,leveling them up and create
reality off of that what oftenfeels like a mirage.
Can I ever get that?
(44:03):
My website is ppmanagementcom.
You can go and check us out,see what we're doing, see some
of our customer experiences.
But yeah, those two waysmessage me on LinkedIn.
Schedule some time with mechatwithpinpointcom.
I would love to hear your story, would love to help.
(44:24):
However, I can try to pay itforward If it involves us.
We've obviously got lots ofexperience and tools figuring
this out over the last 25 yearsand we're still figuring it out
too.
But whatever I know I will behappy to pass on.
Speaker 2 (44:40):
Dad, thank you for being so generous today with
what you've learned so far alongthe way.
Speaker 3 (44:46):
Thank you, william.
I appreciate the time.
It's been amazing.
Speaker 2 (44:50):
Thanks for joining me for this episode today.
As we wrap up, I'd love for youto do two things.
First, subscribe to thispodcast so you don't miss an
episode, and if you find valuehere, I'd love it if you would
rate it and review it.
That really does make adifference in helping other
people to discover this podcast.
Second, if you don't have acopy of my newest book,
(45:12):
catalytic Leadership, I'd loveto put a copy in your hands.
If you go tocatalyticleadershipbookcom, you
can get a copy for free.
Just pay the shipping so I canget it to you and we'll get one
right out.
My goal is to put this into thehands of as many leaders as
possible.
This book captures principlesthat I've learned in 20 plus
(45:34):
years of coaching leaders in theentrepreneurial space, in
business, government, nonprofits, education and the local church
.
You can also connect with me onLinkedIn to keep up with what
I'm currently learning andthinking about.
And if you're ready to take anext step with a coach to help
you intentionally grow andthrive as a leader, I'd be
(45:56):
honored to help you.
Just go tocatalyticleadershipnet to book a
call with me.
Stay tuned for our next episodenext week.
Until then, as always, leaderschoose to be catalytic.
Speaker 1 (46:12):
Thanks for listening to Catalytic Leadership with Dr
William Attaway.
Be sure to subscribe whereveryou listen to podcasts so you
don't miss the next episode.
Want more?
Go to catalyticleadershipnet.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Therapy Gecko
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.