April 7, 2025 • 29 mins
Ever feel like your company’s core values are just words on a wall? In this episode, Brady and Benji get real about how their team went from 22 forgettable core values to 7 that actually mean something.
It all started when no one on their leadership team could remember the values. Instead of ignoring the problem, they tore it all up and started over, leading to tough conversations, major self-reflection, and real change.
You’ll hear why values lose impact when there are too many, what it looks like to lead with honesty instead of ego, and how involving your team can totally shift your culture.
If you’re a leader, business owner, or just someone who cares about building a healthy team, this episode is packed with real talk and practical takeaways.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
all right with benji brady.
Welcome in to another episodeof the higher up podcast.
We are here with episode 24.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
24 we are 24 getting so close to the quarter century
mark.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
I can I know?
I was funny.
I was thinking this morning I'mlike, do we need to like split
and take a break and go intoseason three?
Because we just I feel likewe've just been these suckers
have been coming and uh, butit's been good.
We were talking for the showagain.
We're seeing our seeing numbers.
We appreciate everybodylistening to us.
We were talking about justwhich episodes have really
(00:48):
resonated with our listeners and, brady, your abundancy over
scarcity is climbing toward athousand downloads.
I mean, that was your topic,your idea and it's our most
listened to.
But now number two is episodeone of season one, before you
joined us, brady, so people aregoing back and listening.
(01:08):
So it's just again.
It's awesome to see we'reexcited.
We're working on some newthings, working on getting some
guests for you guys, so that waywe can kind of improve.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
That'll be neat to have.
It'll be awesome.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Pull some people on.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
But we're excited and , adam, we're going to give the
little spill.
If you're watching on YouTube,we got some branding and merch
coming out soon.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
Wait, how come I don't have that?
I've got this little cup.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Don't worry, benji, always winds up with the new
stuff before we get it, he'slike hey, look what I got.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
I'm getting it.
This is just for our listeners.
This is just a coffee mug withthe Higher Up Podcast logo.
It looks really good.
We're going to have them online.
You can buy them if you want,no problem.
We know what we're going to dowith the proceeds, but we're
going to save that until we haveour guest on.
We're going to be talking aboutthat in the next couple
episodes, so just stay tuned.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
I'm excited for that.
I know you've kind of shared alittle bit, benji, so listeners
just get ready.
We got some good guests coming.
We're going to startintroducing some of those, but
today we are diving into a topicthat I believe is very
important.
Brady, you and I have had manyconversations in our one-on-one
meetings about this.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Many conversations.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
Just culture and how that is, and that's something
that has always been importantto me.
I've worked for severaldifferent companies and so
culture to me has always beenimportant, but culture is not
what we're talking about today.
We're talking about whatcreates that culture, and we're
diving into core values.
What are your core values thatyou have and I'll let you guys
(02:39):
take over and kind of share thismore but why are they important
?
Why do you need to have corevalues?
You know we've talked about howit shapes your company and
shows who you are, and it itgives you a goal to shoot for.
This is what we work towardevery day, not just for our
customers, but it's what we worktoward every day for us as a
team, how we grow and how we bebetter.
(03:01):
So I'm excited about this.
Brady, this is, this is whatyou love.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
I mean, like we said, many conversations about core
values in the past.
Oh yeah, I'll tell you I mean,brady, before you kick us in.
I mean we've obviously had.
We have a great culture at ourcompany.
We have our core values havebeen strong for years now.
And Brady came to me it'sprobably, I don't know maybe
(03:25):
four or five, six months ago,and he said, hey, we just need
to revamp our core values alittle bit to give a little
fresh air, let's call it alittle new kickstart to the team
.
And I said, hey, is there anyway we can kind of shorten them
a little bit?
He goes well, I mean, that'skind of what I'm thinking, you
know, so we're.
But where we ended up with ourteam, I think is really really
(03:47):
good.
I mean, we, we have and it'snot to say that our core values
were just all over the place,they were, they were really good
.
We just wanted something tohelp our, help, our employees,
be able to remember them quickly, you know, be able to, to know
what they are.
And then Brady goes what if wedid that?
Not only if we did that, whatif we tied it back, which we
talked about in the last episode?
What if we tied it back toplaces that people can really
(04:07):
benefit from that recognitionsand things like that.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
So, brady, get us going.
Yeah, so I mean, like Adam andBenji said, I mean today's
episode is all about gettingback to the core.
So what we're looking for, andwhat Benji was kind of alluding
to, is, if you're not seeingyour core values, if you have
core values and we're going totalk about that too but if
you're not seeing your corevalues showing up in your
(04:35):
company's behavior, then it'stime to do some realignment,
it's time to go back andreassess where you're at.
So I want to start out with twoquestions.
One is do you have core values?
And I know that's kind of anobvious question and listen, if
you don't, there's no shame.
I mean, there's no shame.
There are all kinds ofresources out there that you can
(04:57):
use.
Probably one of the best onesis something and I know you guys
know about this but called EOS,and it's the Entrepreneurial
Operating System, probably oneof the best systems that I've
seen.
That will walk you through howto do your core values.
There's two books out there onecalled Rocket Fuel, which is
(05:18):
kind of the introductory to whatEOS is, and then there's
another one called Attraction,and traction is really the
tactical part of how do youimplement.
So again, we're not going todive into those books, but if
you need a reference orsomething like that, then that's
a good place to look.
So the second question is if youhave core values, then I guess
(05:42):
the question behind the questionis do your people really know
your core values?
Number one do they know them,because that's a big thing, all
right.
And then, number two do theyactually follow your core values
or are they just words on apage?
So I want to take you guysthrough a little bit of a
journey.
And Benji and Adam Adam, youwere part of this, so help us
remember but I think it wasabout four years ago.
(06:05):
I was sitting down with one ofmy mentors and we were having
coffee together and he saidBrady, do you have core values?
And this was right when I was.
You've heard us talk aboutgetting into C12.
And it was right in thebeginning stages of me getting
into that.
So he said do you have corevalues?
And I was like, well, yeah,sure, I mean you know.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
But they weren't really like yours at the time,
right?
Weren't they more of like alike they kind of shared with
every franchise?
Or were they actually like TeamWilson core values, because I
remember we had them when Ifirst started.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
Well, we had core values, but they were like our
corporate office's core valuesright, yeah yeah.
And so when Russell asked methis question, I was like, well,
yeah, we got core values, andhe didn't say it exactly like
this, but this is the way that Itook it.
He goes, okay, well, show themto me.
And my face just wentcompletely red and he was like
(07:02):
you don't have them written down, do you?
And I was like nope, Completelyred.
And he was like you don't havethem written down, do you?
And I was like nope.
And so that began us on ajourney of and this was we call
it 1.0, and our transition intotoday's topic is really 2.0.
Because the first time we didit and it was okay, adam, I
don't know if you remember, butwe started with 22 core values I
(07:24):
just thought, you know, Ithought, hey, the more the
merrier you know and the morecore values that we have, but it
was not good for the team.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
It was tough.
It was tough for me being inmarketing.
You're like Adam, I needmaterial, I need you to make me
something.
And I'm like Brady, I can't fitall these on one single sheet.
Like I'm like.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
Brady, I can't fit all these on one single sheet.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
I'm trying to make it look and you're like figure it
out.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
I just remember you used to always say figure it out
and I'm like there's like20-something of these suckers.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
What?
Speaker 3 (07:54):
was that little thing I used to do.
Figure it out.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
Yeah, you always for our listeners.
Every time there would besomething creative.
I felt like Brady had spiritfingers, or it was like magic
dust.
He would just put his hand outthere and he'd be like you know,
do your little creative thing.
But yeah, I mean we had a lotand it was tough because I had
trouble memorizing all of them.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
They were long too.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
They were long, but it was a starting point.
Like you took what you feltlike was the 20 or 25, like, hey
, this is who.
I feel like we are Right andyou were.
Just you were and they weren'twrong, but they were, I mean, it
was a lot.
And some of them we looked atwere like, well, that's kind of
a given Right, Like some of themwere talking about, well, you
(08:41):
know, we're in the business tomake a profit.
Well, yes, every company isthat.
So we had to find, but we were,and so but, but you gave you,
like you said, a one like a onepoint, a starting point to say,
all right, this is what I feltlike is important for us.
Yeah, Now we need to workthrough things.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
So yeah, I mean, like I said, that was about four
years ago and uh, I think abouttwo years into it, we did change
it up slightly.
You guys fought me on the 22.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Fought is an understatement.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
We just went down to 15.
Speaker 3 (09:11):
I think we ended up getting down to 10.
So, when Benji was talkingabout the beginning of the
episode, we had thisconversation and really that's
what got us in the process ofreevaluating where we're at.
And so this is where we startedthis conversation of we started
(09:35):
to see our core values drifting.
Okay, yeah, we started seeingthem and we started evaluating
as a leadership team.
We're like okay, why are we notseeing our people embody the
core values?
Speaker 2 (09:48):
What did you feel like?
I mean, before you kind of gofurther, when you're thinking
that way, just from an ownershipstandpoint, watching these
things, you're asking the teamand I remember you asking us.
But what was going through yourmind to say, all right, why are
we not like this is who we are,but why are we not embodying
these things?
Did you?
What was your thought processwith that?
As you're going through thatfor our listeners to know, maybe
(10:11):
they're dealing, with the samething, Like what are you
thinking through in that moment?
Speaker 3 (10:15):
No, I think that's a really good question, adam, and
for me, and I've actually toldour leaders this.
But you know sometimes, us asleaders, how often do we have an
expectation of our people?
We expect them to do certainthings right, we expect them to
act a certain way, we expectthem to get results in certain
areas.
But then when we look in themirror, a lot of times we
(10:38):
reflect on we didn't communicateit well enough, we didn't
embody it ourself well enough.
So if we're not doing it, thenhow can we expect, like number
one, if we haven't communicatedit often enough, then we haven't
done a good job.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
We can't expect it of our people, and I would say
this too, brady, it's not, youknow, have we kind of
communicated enough?
But if they're not buying intoit, that means we haven't
communicated it enough.
That's right.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
And then we also have to look at ourself and look at
our current culture and say,okay, what are we doing?
And we've said this before, butmore is caught than taught.
So are we actually embodyingthese core values?
But what we?
What we noticed in ourorganization, and I think this
has been somewhat of a shift Idread kind of going back to 2020
(11:31):
, but you know, everybody talksabout COVID and all this stuff
but we have seen a shift since2020.
And we just noticed we had alot of complacency in our
organization, and it wasn'tnecessarily the people's fault
because, again, we got to lookin the mirror.
We got to look in the mirrorand we had to say, okay, well,
(11:51):
if, if our people are complacent, then, um, maybe, maybe, maybe,
yeah, maybe we are, maybethere's something that that we
need to reevaluate.
And so we that's what we saidwe got to go back to the core
values and we and we looked, andmaybe it was Adam, your little
voice in my head that said, hey,our core values are too long
(12:12):
and they're too cumbersome, andwe just had to go back and make
it simple.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
It was funny because I remember, because you talk
about Russell with us a lot andjust how he mentors you.
And I remember when we got tothat process of like all right,
how do we do these?
I remember you and I had ameeting one time and I was like
get myself fired for saying this.
But I was like brady, likewe've like your teams told you
there's too many.
And I was and you were like no,I think they're good, this is
(12:39):
where we are, this is who we are.
And I remember telling you I waslike what has russell said to
you?
And and I knew I was thinkingI'm like I'm gonna shoot my shot
.
I'm like I just felt like I waskind of challenging you and I
was like what has Russell toldyou?
And you were like well, russellsaid that he feels like we have
too many.
But this is where I feel like,oh, I'm like so you're our
(13:00):
mentors and you want us tolisten to what you have to say.
And I was like this is what we.
I walked that meeting.
I still have a job.
I was like I can't believe Ichallenged you like that.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
So well, I mean it, it it's a.
I love this quote by PatrickLencioni.
We've talked about him on thepodcast before, but he says when
, everything is important thennothing is yeah for sure.
When you have 22 core values andI'm talking to myself right now
when you have 22, that's waytoo many and I just I didn't
listen.
I thought that you know, themore the merrier, the more that
(13:38):
we have, then people wouldembody them.
But it went back to I thoughteverything was important and
then nothing was.
So, guys, talk a little bitabout because you were part of
this process but this wholeconcept of complexity versus
clarity.
You've seen the old stuff.
You've seen the new stuff.
We're going to get into some ofthe new stuff, but talk about
(14:01):
why that's important to haveclarity over complexity.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
I can tell you, just as somebody that was an employee
of you guys, it felt complexwhen we were looking at how many
core values we had.
Because, you know, one of thethings we talked with is, like,
all right, if we're going to getrid of these, I want you to
tell me why.
Like that was your thing, likeall right, I'll open the door,
but I want you to tell me why weshould get rid of these.
(14:27):
And for me it felt very complex, like it felt over the top,
like one of our core values iswe pursue excellence, and you
know, my thought was, you know,when we went through that, I was
like but if we're going to bein a top tier serve pro team,
like we're talking top 10, topfive is our goal, number one is
always our goal Then we should.
(14:49):
We have to be excellent in allwe do.
I don't think that should be acore value that should be
instilled in our DNA.
If we're a top-tier team, wehave to be excellent, and so for
me, that was one of the thingsI was looking at the pieces that
said all right, what are thesecore values that really help me
as an employee?
(15:10):
Say, all right, I believe inthis and, like you said, we have
to be bought in.
If we're going to be the numberone team in the nation with
Serpro, we've got to have thesethings instilled in us, and we
have to be willing to work forit.
And it was tough too, because Ifeel like when we started doing
these, it was during a season.
(15:30):
I feel like, culturally, we'vekind of gotten out of that, but
I feel like we were in a season,culturally, where I only do
what you hire me to do, and I'mnot saying that you're expecting
people to do way more thanyou're supposed to and way
outside of your pay grade,whatever that is.
My point is, though, is that Iremember it going around a lot.
(15:50):
It was a big time in culturewhere it was like I'm going to
do what I'm paid to do andnothing more.
When I'm done, I'm done.
You know that kind of thing, andI'm like the problem is, is
that excellence never stops?
You know, excellence meansyou're continuing to pursue,
you're continuing to get better,and I think if you're managing
time and you're managing yourprojects, it's not going to feel
(16:11):
like you're doing more thanyou're supposed to.
It means that you're pursuingthat excellence, and so I think
that was one of the other times,while we saw that complacency
in that it was that season and Ijust remember seeing on social
media I remember it being topicsis that you know, this is what
I'm paid to do, you know and soand so it did those.
(16:31):
But I just felt like, and Idon't know how you guys, as
owners, were feeling, I justfelt like it was confusing
because there was so manydifferent things I'm trying to
remember, I'm trying to figureout like all right, this is who
we are, and it was just tryingto develop those because I
wanted to be able to state themand say them and share them and
believe in them, but they justfelt like there was so much.
(16:59):
It was almost like you everbeen in a situation where you're
trying to figure out who youare but you don't really know.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
That's what it felt like.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
It just felt like we didn't know who we are at the
time and we were looking forthat and I think having that
clarity I'll say this from myperspective before we move to
the next, the next segment.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
By the way, listeners , we've already determined this
is going to be a two-partepisode because there's so
there's, there's so much donethere's a lot to talk about.
Brady's right from we're stillin segment one over here, so
yeah yeah, and, and we've gotfour segments to this, but the
first two will be the episodeone, so just hang with us just a
few more minutes.
The key for me was thecomplexity of not that they
(17:37):
couldn't be instant, not thatpeople couldn't do the core
values, be a part of the corevalues.
But the complexity for me was,if they can't I call it the
elevator speech right If theycan't do it in 10 seconds or
less, then it's really probablytoo complex.
And I think it really hit homefor for Brady and I we were
doing one of our our, uh,leadership team meetings.
(17:59):
We were going through thesecore values and Brady said all
right, let's lay it out on thetable.
Tell me your top 10 of, of allof our existing, what we had
previous.
So they did, they went throughthem and he said, okay I use the
old fashioned Adam's going tolaugh at this chat GPT.
And we took them and wecondensed them down.
He said all right, which ofthese top 10 are top 12.
(18:20):
?
I think it was at the time.
We got them down to 10,eventually, then down to seven.
Um, but what we started lookingat was we were going well, that
one really, that one really goesalong with that core value, and
why don't we just combine thosetwo?
And so, adam, your point is, wehad people, and Brady and I
have been complacent too, andI'm sure there's other leaders
(18:41):
listening that have never beenin that situation before.
We all get complacent from timeto time.
We all do right.
And the clarity for me was ifsomeone can actually say those
seven things that we've come upwith and why we ended up at
seven.
We thought those were the bestseven we could do.
We know this.
In our mind, seven is theperfect number.
(19:02):
Uh, there's another, anotherstory for another day.
But, um, seven is the perfectnumber.
And the clarity was, I thinkour leadership team bought into
it because they were simple,they were easy enough to
understand, they were easyenough to repeat out, fast
enough, and I think once thathappens, our people caught on
(19:22):
and then our people startedbuying into this is simpler.
So that's what I took out of itbeing, you know, the complexity
versus clarity.
That's what I got out of itbeing.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
You know, the complexity versus clarity.
That's what I got out of it.
Well, and if you're in thatsituation right now, if any of
our listeners are there, what Ilove that you did with us, brady
, is you put all of them on asheet and you create a sheet and
said all right, guys, I wantyou to go and I want you to tell
me what are your top 10.
And what was great about thatis you split them into the
categories they were in.
(19:52):
You took the it was 20 or 22core values, and what was great
is we as a team got to see whereour leadership all felt like,
what were the strongest and whatwere the ones that didn't, and
so we got to see that commonthought process about.
Well, this is how I see the team, this is how I feel like we are
(20:14):
, and so I think for us, thatwas a huge part of that process
is that it allowed us to,without even seeing everybody
filled it on their own, we sendit to you, and then you compiled
all of them together and you,you put out and said, all right,
like 90% of you said this oneis this or you know, 90% of you
said this one is this, or 90% ofyou said this one didn't matter
, and what was great is thathelped us and you're talking
(20:37):
about us buying into it as ateam, and then it gave us a
chance to work on things as ateam and have a project that we
all worked on together to seewhere okay and you may not
vocalize it, but to be like okayI see that people feel like
this is important, like honoringGod was the number one across
the board, and what was goodabout that, though, is you also
said look for me, I'm going tolet you guys know this is a
(20:58):
non-negotiable.
Non-negotiable.
I'm not taking honoring God off, but I want you guys to be
honest and tell me if you don't,but you said from the beginning
it's a non-negotiable.
You gave us one or two of themthat you said I will not move
this, but it was nice becausethe team they bought into it.
They bought into it.
They still agreed, whatever itwas.
So if you're in that position,that was a great part of our
(21:21):
process.
That really helped us to seethat and understand how we got
down to where we are now.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
Well, and before we get into the next segment, you
know I love this John Maxwellquote, but he says that, you
know, the first definition of aleader is to define reality.
And so if you're in a positionright now as a leader, and let's
say that you've got core valuesright, but your core values are
(21:50):
like fading into the backgroundand nobody really knows them,
and they're not simple, they'renot usable, then you as a leader
have to make a decision and say, okay, either there's something
wrong with the values and weneed to change them, or there's
something else you knowsystemically going on in our
organization that needs tochange.
(22:10):
But maybe start with the corevalues.
And as a leader, we have to say, like you know, nobody wants to
, nobody wants for their baby tobe called ugly Right, and so
for me, the core values were,were my baby, but I, you know, I
had to say, okay, we, we got todo something, something else.
And Craig Rochelle says this,and I'm still learning this, but
(22:31):
he says people would ratherfollow a leader who's always
real than who's always right.
Speaker 1 (22:36):
Hey, I want to say something about that too,
because a perfect point.
You know, a lot of times, us asleaders and Adam said this
earlier you know, as the leader,you know we go, you're going to
do this and this is how we'regoing to do things and this is
the way we're going to do it.
And from an employee'sperspective, they go.
This is all I'm going to do,this is my role.
I'm not going to do anythingelse, because I think everybody
(22:57):
falls in that pattern from timeto time, and I think it's good
to you know listeners includeyour team.
If you're a leader, if you're amanager, owner, whatever
include your team in thedecision-making process.
It doesn't mean that you'regoing to actually go with those,
but at the same time, you'veheard their feedback and if you
institute some of that into whatyou're trying to accomplish,
(23:18):
that's where you get the realbuy-in from your team.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
I mean until the directorship team really came
around, I mean I didn't workwith you as much as I did.
I mean, brady, I always kind ofknew you as somebody that
scared me to death to walk inthe office and even have a
meeting with, but it was alwaysbecause you have have a plan and
you did that.
And I remember going through alot of that and what you said
(23:44):
about you know people follow,you know they follow a leader
who is always real versus alwaysright.
That was a big deal, because Ifelt like we pushed a lot of
times to have those core valuesand when you changed that I was
kind of like man, he's, he'sokay, so he's listening.
Because I knew how much theymeant to you.
So for you to make that changethat allowed me to buy in even
(24:06):
more.
But I mean, I still feel likeyou do it now.
I mean even a few weeks ago youand I were filming some video
stuff and you kind of explainedwhat you want to use it for and
I was like Brady, why don't youjust do this?
And I was kind of shocked.
You're like, all right, I'll doit, do that and I'll send it to
you here in a few.
And you know, and you did it,and it was those type of small
moments that buy in to say, allright, I'm going to make sure I
(24:28):
do all of I can to make surethat you're succeeding and I
want to put you in the bestlight that your Wilson brand,
your Serpro brand, your personalbrand.
That allows me, especially inmy position as a creator, as
someone who's helping you makingthese forward-facing branding
and public relations type thingslike all right, he's buying
(24:48):
into what I'm putting out.
Yeah, so I'm going to keepmaking sure that I I do whatever
I can to put you in asuccessful light.
Speaker 3 (24:54):
So, hey, adam I'm, I'm listening, man I'm I'm
trying.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
I'm trying to learn.
Speaker 3 (25:02):
We were taught growing up by our dad.
Our dad used to say this allthe time.
He said look, sons, you got twoears and one mouth.
You should be listening twiceas much as you speak, and so I'm
trying to learn that.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
I know that's off topic from core values, but when
you mentioned that, I justwanted to make sure listeners
like this is a real-lifescenario.
When you mentioned that I justwant to make sure listeners like
this is a real life scenario,when, when you did that it it
empowered me as an employee andas somebody who I believed all
right, I mean, this is yourbusiness, this is your money,
this is your life.
But you allowed us to do itbecause these changes could
affect the bottom line, they canaffect the income.
(25:37):
So I can tell you, listeners,if you're in that same position,
taking that it does as someonewho is an employee, that's dealt
with.
That it it just allows me tosee it sees through everything
and just put forth that effortthat you're saying.
There's no complacency.
All right, I'm going.
You know I'm going to, I'mgoing to.
I'm going to chase down hellwith a water pistol.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
Whatever we need to do, Well, Brady, before we wrap
up this episode, talk quicklyabout just how we realign the
core of what we were trying todo.
Speaker 3 (26:08):
And it's not a quick fix, but just-.
Yeah.
So what I wanna do real quickbefore we wrap this up, and
here's what I wanna tell youStay tuned, because next episode
we're actually gonna give youthe core values.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
All right, so that's a, that's a teaser for you, and
we did have to keep in mindlisteners.
We had to reflect on where wecame from, to show you where we
wanted to go.
Speaker 3 (26:27):
So so what?
What I want to do real quick istake you behind the scenes of
of how this process came aboutand what we did, and and I'll
I'll reenact this for you, andand Benji can give you the look
on his face when we did this,but we were in a leadership
meeting, which we do everysingle Monday, and we were
(26:48):
taking the existing core valuesand we're asking some of the
similar questions, adam, likeyou were talking about before,
and I said, okay, guys, turn thepaper over, and who can tell me
what the core values are thatwe currently have?
And we got a few, you know,here or there.
We had 10 at the time and, um, Isaid, okay, that that pretty
(27:08):
much confirms what I wasthinking.
Is we?
We as a leadership team don'tknow all of them, and so what I
did was I had them.
Like I said okay, now take thesheet of paper.
I want you to hold it up in theair and here's what we're going
to do.
And I held mine up in the airand I said here's what we're
going to do.
And I ripped it from top tobottom.
I'm there.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
I had to make the same, as he didn't have the
paper.
Speaker 3 (27:28):
And I said okay, here's what we're going to do,
we're going to start over.
And so we began a process of Ithink Benji took us about 10
hours.
We've got 10, 10 leaders, a lotof deep reflection, a lot of I
mean when I say realconversation, I mean real
conversation.
Speaker 1 (27:44):
Some of our leaders were very passionate about them,
and it was good.
It was really good, though.
Good, good stuff.
Speaker 3 (27:51):
It was a, it was a necessary process, but it wasn't
necessarily a fun process.
Okay, I mean it was, it was a,it was something that had to be
done, but I remember there's aguy named James Clear and he's
written several books.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
Several books.
Speaker 3 (28:11):
One of the books, atomic Habits.
He says look, you don't rise tothe level of your goals, you
fall to the level of yoursystems, to the level of your
goals, you fall to the level ofyour systems, and, and, and your
core values are your system,your operating system for, uh,
for your company.
So what, what we did is we, wetook and and yeah, we used AI to
(28:31):
help us kind of form, and youknow it didn't do everything for
us, adam, but you know we askit a lot of good questions and
what we already had, and, and Iwill tell you, I mean, I came to
that meeting with 10 new corevalues and my heels Benji can
tell you my heels were dug inlike hey, listen, if Moses can
have the 10 commandments, we canhave 10 core values.
All right, what a correlation.
(28:56):
And so this really did happen,by the way, and so we started
having this conversation and theleaders really challenged me.
Going back to what you weretalking about earlier, adam, and
you know Benji, talking about,well, that one kind of we can
combine that one and we cancombine that one, and those kind
of mean the same thing, andthat's what we did, and we
settled on seven, which seven inthe Bible is a perfect number,
(29:19):
and so that's where we ended up.
We're going to give those toyou next time, wait, wait wait,
wait.
Speaker 1 (29:23):
Actually, brady, we're going to take right now
and we're going to give you theseven.
I'm just kidding Listeners outthere, if you are.
Speaker 2 (29:32):
I thought you were flipping the script on us.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
We just want to say thank you all for listening in.
We appreciate you guys verymuch.
You can connect on social withus all the platforms.
At higher up podcast, you cango to higher up podcastcom.
Stay tuned for some new thingson there.
As always, go out and choose tolive a higher up life.
See you next time.
all right with benji brady.
Welcome in to another episodeof the higher up podcast.
We are here with episode 24.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
24 we are 24 getting so close to the quarter century
mark.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
I can I know?
I was funny.
I was thinking this morning I'mlike, do we need to like split
and take a break and go intoseason three?
Because we just I feel likewe've just been these suckers
have been coming and uh, butit's been good.
We were talking for the showagain.
We're seeing our seeing numbers.
We appreciate everybodylistening to us.
We were talking about justwhich episodes have really
(00:48):
resonated with our listeners and, brady, your abundancy over
scarcity is climbing toward athousand downloads.
I mean, that was your topic,your idea and it's our most
listened to.
But now number two is episodeone of season one, before you
joined us, brady, so people aregoing back and listening.
(01:08):
So it's just again.
It's awesome to see we'reexcited.
We're working on some newthings, working on getting some
guests for you guys, so that waywe can kind of improve.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
That'll be neat to have.
It'll be awesome.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Pull some people on.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
But we're excited and , adam, we're going to give the
little spill.
If you're watching on YouTube,we got some branding and merch
coming out soon.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
Wait, how come I don't have that?
I've got this little cup.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Don't worry, benji, always winds up with the new
stuff before we get it, he'slike hey, look what I got.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
I'm getting it.
This is just for our listeners.
This is just a coffee mug withthe Higher Up Podcast logo.
It looks really good.
We're going to have them online.
You can buy them if you want,no problem.
We know what we're going to dowith the proceeds, but we're
going to save that until we haveour guest on.
We're going to be talking aboutthat in the next couple
episodes, so just stay tuned.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
I'm excited for that.
I know you've kind of shared alittle bit, benji, so listeners
just get ready.
We got some good guests coming.
We're going to startintroducing some of those, but
today we are diving into a topicthat I believe is very
important.
Brady, you and I have had manyconversations in our one-on-one
meetings about this.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Many conversations.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
Just culture and how that is, and that's something
that has always been importantto me.
I've worked for severaldifferent companies and so
culture to me has always beenimportant, but culture is not
what we're talking about today.
We're talking about whatcreates that culture, and we're
diving into core values.
What are your core values thatyou have and I'll let you guys
(02:39):
take over and kind of share thismore but why are they important
?
Why do you need to have corevalues?
You know we've talked about howit shapes your company and
shows who you are, and it itgives you a goal to shoot for.
This is what we work towardevery day, not just for our
customers, but it's what we worktoward every day for us as a
team, how we grow and how we bebetter.
(03:01):
So I'm excited about this.
Brady, this is, this is whatyou love.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
I mean, like we said, many conversations about core
values in the past.
Oh yeah, I'll tell you I mean,brady, before you kick us in.
I mean we've obviously had.
We have a great culture at ourcompany.
We have our core values havebeen strong for years now.
And Brady came to me it'sprobably, I don't know maybe
(03:25):
four or five, six months ago,and he said, hey, we just need
to revamp our core values alittle bit to give a little
fresh air, let's call it alittle new kickstart to the team
.
And I said, hey, is there anyway we can kind of shorten them
a little bit?
He goes well, I mean, that'skind of what I'm thinking, you
know, so we're.
But where we ended up with ourteam, I think is really really
(03:47):
good.
I mean, we, we have and it'snot to say that our core values
were just all over the place,they were, they were really good
.
We just wanted something tohelp our, help, our employees,
be able to remember them quickly, you know, be able to, to know
what they are.
And then Brady goes what if wedid that?
Not only if we did that, whatif we tied it back, which we
talked about in the last episode?
What if we tied it back toplaces that people can really
(04:07):
benefit from that recognitionsand things like that.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
So, brady, get us going.
Yeah, so I mean, like Adam andBenji said, I mean today's
episode is all about gettingback to the core.
So what we're looking for, andwhat Benji was kind of alluding
to, is, if you're not seeingyour core values, if you have
core values and we're going totalk about that too but if
you're not seeing your corevalues showing up in your
(04:35):
company's behavior, then it'stime to do some realignment,
it's time to go back andreassess where you're at.
So I want to start out with twoquestions.
One is do you have core values?
And I know that's kind of anobvious question and listen, if
you don't, there's no shame.
I mean, there's no shame.
There are all kinds ofresources out there that you can
(04:57):
use.
Probably one of the best onesis something and I know you guys
know about this but called EOS,and it's the Entrepreneurial
Operating System, probably oneof the best systems that I've
seen.
That will walk you through howto do your core values.
There's two books out there onecalled Rocket Fuel, which is
(05:18):
kind of the introductory to whatEOS is, and then there's
another one called Attraction,and traction is really the
tactical part of how do youimplement.
So again, we're not going todive into those books, but if
you need a reference orsomething like that, then that's
a good place to look.
So the second question is if youhave core values, then I guess
(05:42):
the question behind the questionis do your people really know
your core values?
Number one do they know them,because that's a big thing, all
right.
And then, number two do theyactually follow your core values
or are they just words on apage?
So I want to take you guysthrough a little bit of a
journey.
And Benji and Adam Adam, youwere part of this, so help us
remember but I think it wasabout four years ago.
(06:05):
I was sitting down with one ofmy mentors and we were having
coffee together and he saidBrady, do you have core values?
And this was right when I was.
You've heard us talk aboutgetting into C12.
And it was right in thebeginning stages of me getting
into that.
So he said do you have corevalues?
And I was like, well, yeah,sure, I mean you know.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
But they weren't really like yours at the time,
right?
Weren't they more of like alike they kind of shared with
every franchise?
Or were they actually like TeamWilson core values, because I
remember we had them when Ifirst started.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
Well, we had core values, but they were like our
corporate office's core valuesright, yeah yeah.
And so when Russell asked methis question, I was like, well,
yeah, we got core values, andhe didn't say it exactly like
this, but this is the way that Itook it.
He goes, okay, well, show themto me.
And my face just wentcompletely red and he was like
(07:02):
you don't have them written down, do you?
And I was like nope, Completelyred.
And he was like you don't havethem written down, do you?
And I was like nope.
And so that began us on ajourney of and this was we call
it 1.0, and our transition intotoday's topic is really 2.0.
Because the first time we didit and it was okay, adam, I
don't know if you remember, butwe started with 22 core values I
(07:24):
just thought, you know, Ithought, hey, the more the
merrier you know and the morecore values that we have, but it
was not good for the team.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
It was tough.
It was tough for me being inmarketing.
You're like Adam, I needmaterial, I need you to make me
something.
And I'm like Brady, I can't fitall these on one single sheet.
Like I'm like.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
Brady, I can't fit all these on one single sheet.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
I'm trying to make it look and you're like figure it
out.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
I just remember you used to always say figure it out
and I'm like there's like20-something of these suckers.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
What?
Speaker 3 (07:54):
was that little thing I used to do.
Figure it out.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
Yeah, you always for our listeners.
Every time there would besomething creative.
I felt like Brady had spiritfingers, or it was like magic
dust.
He would just put his hand outthere and he'd be like you know,
do your little creative thing.
But yeah, I mean we had a lotand it was tough because I had
trouble memorizing all of them.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
They were long too.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
They were long, but it was a starting point.
Like you took what you feltlike was the 20 or 25, like, hey
, this is who.
I feel like we are Right andyou were.
Just you were and they weren'twrong, but they were, I mean, it
was a lot.
And some of them we looked atwere like, well, that's kind of
a given Right, Like some of themwere talking about, well, you
(08:41):
know, we're in the business tomake a profit.
Well, yes, every company isthat.
So we had to find, but we were,and so but, but you gave you,
like you said, a one like a onepoint, a starting point to say,
all right, this is what I feltlike is important for us.
Yeah, Now we need to workthrough things.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
So yeah, I mean, like I said, that was about four
years ago and uh, I think abouttwo years into it, we did change
it up slightly.
You guys fought me on the 22.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Fought is an understatement.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
We just went down to 15.
Speaker 3 (09:11):
I think we ended up getting down to 10.
So, when Benji was talkingabout the beginning of the
episode, we had thisconversation and really that's
what got us in the process ofreevaluating where we're at.
And so this is where we startedthis conversation of we started
(09:35):
to see our core values drifting.
Okay, yeah, we started seeingthem and we started evaluating
as a leadership team.
We're like okay, why are we notseeing our people embody the
core values?
Speaker 2 (09:48):
What did you feel like?
I mean, before you kind of gofurther, when you're thinking
that way, just from an ownershipstandpoint, watching these
things, you're asking the teamand I remember you asking us.
But what was going through yourmind to say, all right, why are
we not like this is who we are,but why are we not embodying
these things?
Did you?
What was your thought processwith that?
As you're going through thatfor our listeners to know, maybe
(10:11):
they're dealing, with the samething, Like what are you
thinking through in that moment?
Speaker 3 (10:15):
No, I think that's a really good question, adam, and
for me, and I've actually toldour leaders this.
But you know sometimes, us asleaders, how often do we have an
expectation of our people?
We expect them to do certainthings right, we expect them to
act a certain way, we expectthem to get results in certain
areas.
But then when we look in themirror, a lot of times we
(10:38):
reflect on we didn't communicateit well enough, we didn't
embody it ourself well enough.
So if we're not doing it, thenhow can we expect, like number
one, if we haven't communicatedit often enough, then we haven't
done a good job.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
We can't expect it of our people, and I would say
this too, brady, it's not, youknow, have we kind of
communicated enough?
But if they're not buying intoit, that means we haven't
communicated it enough.
That's right.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
And then we also have to look at ourself and look at
our current culture and say,okay, what are we doing?
And we've said this before, butmore is caught than taught.
So are we actually embodyingthese core values?
But what we?
What we noticed in ourorganization, and I think this
has been somewhat of a shift Idread kind of going back to 2020
(11:31):
, but you know, everybody talksabout COVID and all this stuff
but we have seen a shift since2020.
And we just noticed we had alot of complacency in our
organization, and it wasn'tnecessarily the people's fault
because, again, we got to lookin the mirror.
We got to look in the mirrorand we had to say, okay, well,
(11:51):
if, if our people are complacent, then, um, maybe, maybe, maybe,
yeah, maybe we are, maybethere's something that that we
need to reevaluate.
And so we that's what we saidwe got to go back to the core
values and we and we looked, andmaybe it was Adam, your little
voice in my head that said, hey,our core values are too long
(12:12):
and they're too cumbersome, andwe just had to go back and make
it simple.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
It was funny because I remember, because you talk
about Russell with us a lot andjust how he mentors you.
And I remember when we got tothat process of like all right,
how do we do these?
I remember you and I had ameeting one time and I was like
get myself fired for saying this.
But I was like brady, likewe've like your teams told you
there's too many.
And I was and you were like no,I think they're good, this is
(12:39):
where we are, this is who we are.
And I remember telling you I waslike what has russell said to
you?
And and I knew I was thinkingI'm like I'm gonna shoot my shot
.
I'm like I just felt like I waskind of challenging you and I
was like what has Russell toldyou?
And you were like well, russellsaid that he feels like we have
too many.
But this is where I feel like,oh, I'm like so you're our
(13:00):
mentors and you want us tolisten to what you have to say.
And I was like this is what we.
I walked that meeting.
I still have a job.
I was like I can't believe Ichallenged you like that.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
So well, I mean it, it it's a.
I love this quote by PatrickLencioni.
We've talked about him on thepodcast before, but he says when
, everything is important thennothing is yeah for sure.
When you have 22 core values andI'm talking to myself right now
when you have 22, that's waytoo many and I just I didn't
listen.
I thought that you know, themore the merrier, the more that
(13:38):
we have, then people wouldembody them.
But it went back to I thoughteverything was important and
then nothing was.
So, guys, talk a little bitabout because you were part of
this process but this wholeconcept of complexity versus
clarity.
You've seen the old stuff.
You've seen the new stuff.
We're going to get into some ofthe new stuff, but talk about
(14:01):
why that's important to haveclarity over complexity.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
I can tell you, just as somebody that was an employee
of you guys, it felt complexwhen we were looking at how many
core values we had.
Because, you know, one of thethings we talked with is, like,
all right, if we're going to getrid of these, I want you to
tell me why.
Like that was your thing, likeall right, I'll open the door,
but I want you to tell me why weshould get rid of these.
(14:27):
And for me it felt very complex, like it felt over the top,
like one of our core values iswe pursue excellence, and you
know, my thought was, you know,when we went through that, I was
like but if we're going to bein a top tier serve pro team,
like we're talking top 10, topfive is our goal, number one is
always our goal Then we should.
(14:49):
We have to be excellent in allwe do.
I don't think that should be acore value that should be
instilled in our DNA.
If we're a top-tier team, wehave to be excellent, and so for
me, that was one of the thingsI was looking at the pieces that
said all right, what are thesecore values that really help me
as an employee?
(15:10):
Say, all right, I believe inthis and, like you said, we have
to be bought in.
If we're going to be the numberone team in the nation with
Serpro, we've got to have thesethings instilled in us, and we
have to be willing to work forit.
And it was tough too, because Ifeel like when we started doing
these, it was during a season.
(15:30):
I feel like, culturally, we'vekind of gotten out of that, but
I feel like we were in a season,culturally, where I only do
what you hire me to do, and I'mnot saying that you're expecting
people to do way more thanyou're supposed to and way
outside of your pay grade,whatever that is.
My point is, though, is that Iremember it going around a lot.
(15:50):
It was a big time in culturewhere it was like I'm going to
do what I'm paid to do andnothing more.
When I'm done, I'm done.
You know that kind of thing, andI'm like the problem is, is
that excellence never stops?
You know, excellence meansyou're continuing to pursue,
you're continuing to get better,and I think if you're managing
time and you're managing yourprojects, it's not going to feel
(16:11):
like you're doing more thanyou're supposed to.
It means that you're pursuingthat excellence, and so I think
that was one of the other times,while we saw that complacency
in that it was that season and Ijust remember seeing on social
media I remember it being topicsis that you know, this is what
I'm paid to do, you know and soand so it did those.
(16:31):
But I just felt like, and Idon't know how you guys, as
owners, were feeling, I justfelt like it was confusing
because there was so manydifferent things I'm trying to
remember, I'm trying to figureout like all right, this is who
we are, and it was just tryingto develop those because I
wanted to be able to state themand say them and share them and
believe in them, but they justfelt like there was so much.
(16:59):
It was almost like you everbeen in a situation where you're
trying to figure out who youare but you don't really know.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
That's what it felt like.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
It just felt like we didn't know who we are at the
time and we were looking forthat and I think having that
clarity I'll say this from myperspective before we move to
the next, the next segment.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
By the way, listeners , we've already determined this
is going to be a two-partepisode because there's so
there's, there's so much donethere's a lot to talk about.
Brady's right from we're stillin segment one over here, so
yeah yeah, and, and we've gotfour segments to this, but the
first two will be the episodeone, so just hang with us just a
few more minutes.
The key for me was thecomplexity of not that they
(17:37):
couldn't be instant, not thatpeople couldn't do the core
values, be a part of the corevalues.
But the complexity for me was,if they can't I call it the
elevator speech right If theycan't do it in 10 seconds or
less, then it's really probablytoo complex.
And I think it really hit homefor for Brady and I we were
doing one of our our, uh,leadership team meetings.
(17:59):
We were going through thesecore values and Brady said all
right, let's lay it out on thetable.
Tell me your top 10 of, of allof our existing, what we had
previous.
So they did, they went throughthem and he said, okay I use the
old fashioned Adam's going tolaugh at this chat GPT.
And we took them and wecondensed them down.
He said all right, which ofthese top 10 are top 12.
(18:20):
?
I think it was at the time.
We got them down to 10,eventually, then down to seven.
Um, but what we started lookingat was we were going well, that
one really, that one really goesalong with that core value, and
why don't we just combine thosetwo?
And so, adam, your point is, wehad people, and Brady and I
have been complacent too, andI'm sure there's other leaders
(18:41):
listening that have never beenin that situation before.
We all get complacent from timeto time.
We all do right.
And the clarity for me was ifsomeone can actually say those
seven things that we've come upwith and why we ended up at
seven.
We thought those were the bestseven we could do.
We know this.
In our mind, seven is theperfect number.
(19:02):
Uh, there's another, anotherstory for another day.
But, um, seven is the perfectnumber.
And the clarity was, I thinkour leadership team bought into
it because they were simple,they were easy enough to
understand, they were easyenough to repeat out, fast
enough, and I think once thathappens, our people caught on
(19:22):
and then our people startedbuying into this is simpler.
So that's what I took out of itbeing, you know, the complexity
versus clarity.
That's what I got out of itbeing.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
You know, the complexity versus clarity.
That's what I got out of it.
Well, and if you're in thatsituation right now, if any of
our listeners are there, what Ilove that you did with us, brady
, is you put all of them on asheet and you create a sheet and
said all right, guys, I wantyou to go and I want you to tell
me what are your top 10.
And what was great about thatis you split them into the
categories they were in.
(19:52):
You took the it was 20 or 22core values, and what was great
is we as a team got to see whereour leadership all felt like,
what were the strongest and whatwere the ones that didn't, and
so we got to see that commonthought process about.
Well, this is how I see the team, this is how I feel like we are
(20:14):
, and so I think for us, thatwas a huge part of that process
is that it allowed us to,without even seeing everybody
filled it on their own, we sendit to you, and then you compiled
all of them together and you,you put out and said, all right,
like 90% of you said this oneis this or you know, 90% of you
said this one is this, or 90% ofyou said this one didn't matter
, and what was great is thathelped us and you're talking
(20:37):
about us buying into it as ateam, and then it gave us a
chance to work on things as ateam and have a project that we
all worked on together to seewhere okay and you may not
vocalize it, but to be like okayI see that people feel like
this is important, like honoringGod was the number one across
the board, and what was goodabout that, though, is you also
said look for me, I'm going tolet you guys know this is a
(20:58):
non-negotiable.
Non-negotiable.
I'm not taking honoring God off, but I want you guys to be
honest and tell me if you don't,but you said from the beginning
it's a non-negotiable.
You gave us one or two of themthat you said I will not move
this, but it was nice becausethe team they bought into it.
They bought into it.
They still agreed, whatever itwas.
So if you're in that position,that was a great part of our
(21:21):
process.
That really helped us to seethat and understand how we got
down to where we are now.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
Well, and before we get into the next segment, you
know I love this John Maxwellquote, but he says that, you
know, the first definition of aleader is to define reality.
And so if you're in a positionright now as a leader, and let's
say that you've got core valuesright, but your core values are
(21:50):
like fading into the backgroundand nobody really knows them,
and they're not simple, they'renot usable, then you as a leader
have to make a decision and say, okay, either there's something
wrong with the values and weneed to change them, or there's
something else you knowsystemically going on in our
organization that needs tochange.
(22:10):
But maybe start with the corevalues.
And as a leader, we have to say, like you know, nobody wants to
, nobody wants for their baby tobe called ugly Right, and so
for me, the core values were,were my baby, but I, you know, I
had to say, okay, we, we got todo something, something else.
And Craig Rochelle says this,and I'm still learning this, but
(22:31):
he says people would ratherfollow a leader who's always
real than who's always right.
Speaker 1 (22:36):
Hey, I want to say something about that too,
because a perfect point.
You know, a lot of times, us asleaders and Adam said this
earlier you know, as the leader,you know we go, you're going to
do this and this is how we'regoing to do things and this is
the way we're going to do it.
And from an employee'sperspective, they go.
This is all I'm going to do,this is my role.
I'm not going to do anythingelse, because I think everybody
(22:57):
falls in that pattern from timeto time, and I think it's good
to you know listeners includeyour team.
If you're a leader, if you're amanager, owner, whatever
include your team in thedecision-making process.
It doesn't mean that you'regoing to actually go with those,
but at the same time, you'veheard their feedback and if you
institute some of that into whatyou're trying to accomplish,
(23:18):
that's where you get the realbuy-in from your team.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
I mean until the directorship team really came
around, I mean I didn't workwith you as much as I did.
I mean, brady, I always kind ofknew you as somebody that
scared me to death to walk inthe office and even have a
meeting with, but it was alwaysbecause you have have a plan and
you did that.
And I remember going through alot of that and what you said
(23:44):
about you know people follow,you know they follow a leader
who is always real versus alwaysright.
That was a big deal, because Ifelt like we pushed a lot of
times to have those core valuesand when you changed that I was
kind of like man, he's, he'sokay, so he's listening.
Because I knew how much theymeant to you.
So for you to make that changethat allowed me to buy in even
(24:06):
more.
But I mean, I still feel likeyou do it now.
I mean even a few weeks ago youand I were filming some video
stuff and you kind of explainedwhat you want to use it for and
I was like Brady, why don't youjust do this?
And I was kind of shocked.
You're like, all right, I'll doit, do that and I'll send it to
you here in a few.
And you know, and you did it,and it was those type of small
moments that buy in to say, allright, I'm going to make sure I
(24:28):
do all of I can to make surethat you're succeeding and I
want to put you in the bestlight that your Wilson brand,
your Serpro brand, your personalbrand.
That allows me, especially inmy position as a creator, as
someone who's helping you makingthese forward-facing branding
and public relations type thingslike all right, he's buying
(24:48):
into what I'm putting out.
Yeah, so I'm going to keepmaking sure that I I do whatever
I can to put you in asuccessful light.
Speaker 3 (24:54):
So, hey, adam I'm, I'm listening, man I'm I'm
trying.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
I'm trying to learn.
Speaker 3 (25:02):
We were taught growing up by our dad.
Our dad used to say this allthe time.
He said look, sons, you got twoears and one mouth.
You should be listening twiceas much as you speak, and so I'm
trying to learn that.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
I know that's off topic from core values, but when
you mentioned that, I justwanted to make sure listeners
like this is a real-lifescenario.
When you mentioned that I justwant to make sure listeners like
this is a real life scenario,when, when you did that it it
empowered me as an employee andas somebody who I believed all
right, I mean, this is yourbusiness, this is your money,
this is your life.
But you allowed us to do itbecause these changes could
affect the bottom line, they canaffect the income.
(25:37):
So I can tell you, listeners,if you're in that same position,
taking that it does as someonewho is an employee, that's dealt
with.
That it it just allows me tosee it sees through everything
and just put forth that effortthat you're saying.
There's no complacency.
All right, I'm going.
You know I'm going to, I'mgoing to.
I'm going to chase down hellwith a water pistol.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
Whatever we need to do, Well, Brady, before we wrap
up this episode, talk quicklyabout just how we realign the
core of what we were trying todo.
Speaker 3 (26:08):
And it's not a quick fix, but just-.
Yeah.
So what I wanna do real quickbefore we wrap this up, and
here's what I wanna tell youStay tuned, because next episode
we're actually gonna give youthe core values.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
All right, so that's a, that's a teaser for you, and
we did have to keep in mindlisteners.
We had to reflect on where wecame from, to show you where we
wanted to go.
Speaker 3 (26:27):
So so what?
What I want to do real quick istake you behind the scenes of
of how this process came aboutand what we did, and and I'll
I'll reenact this for you, andand Benji can give you the look
on his face when we did this,but we were in a leadership
meeting, which we do everysingle Monday, and we were
(26:48):
taking the existing core valuesand we're asking some of the
similar questions, adam, likeyou were talking about before,
and I said, okay, guys, turn thepaper over, and who can tell me
what the core values are thatwe currently have?
And we got a few, you know,here or there.
We had 10 at the time and, um, Isaid, okay, that that pretty
(27:08):
much confirms what I wasthinking.
Is we?
We as a leadership team don'tknow all of them, and so what I
did was I had them.
Like I said okay, now take thesheet of paper.
I want you to hold it up in theair and here's what we're going
to do.
And I held mine up in the airand I said here's what we're
going to do.
And I ripped it from top tobottom.
I'm there.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
I had to make the same, as he didn't have the
paper.
Speaker 3 (27:28):
And I said okay, here's what we're going to do,
we're going to start over.
And so we began a process of Ithink Benji took us about 10
hours.
We've got 10, 10 leaders, a lotof deep reflection, a lot of I
mean when I say realconversation, I mean real
conversation.
Speaker 1 (27:44):
Some of our leaders were very passionate about them,
and it was good.
It was really good, though.
Good, good stuff.
Speaker 3 (27:51):
It was a, it was a necessary process, but it wasn't
necessarily a fun process.
Okay, I mean it was, it was a,it was something that had to be
done, but I remember there's aguy named James Clear and he's
written several books.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
Several books.
Speaker 3 (28:11):
One of the books, atomic Habits.
He says look, you don't rise tothe level of your goals, you
fall to the level of yoursystems, to the level of your
goals, you fall to the level ofyour systems, and, and, and your
core values are your system,your operating system for, uh,
for your company.
So what, what we did is we, wetook and and yeah, we used AI to
(28:31):
help us kind of form, and youknow it didn't do everything for
us, adam, but you know we askit a lot of good questions and
what we already had, and, and Iwill tell you, I mean, I came to
that meeting with 10 new corevalues and my heels Benji can
tell you my heels were dug inlike hey, listen, if Moses can
have the 10 commandments, we canhave 10 core values.
All right, what a correlation.
(28:56):
And so this really did happen,by the way, and so we started
having this conversation and theleaders really challenged me.
Going back to what you weretalking about earlier, adam, and
you know Benji, talking about,well, that one kind of we can
combine that one and we cancombine that one, and those kind
of mean the same thing, andthat's what we did, and we
settled on seven, which seven inthe Bible is a perfect number,
(29:19):
and so that's where we ended up.
We're going to give those toyou next time, wait, wait wait,
wait.
Speaker 1 (29:23):
Actually, brady, we're going to take right now
and we're going to give you theseven.
I'm just kidding Listeners outthere, if you are.
Speaker 2 (29:32):
I thought you were flipping the script on us.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
We just want to say thank you all for listening in.
We appreciate you guys verymuch.
You can connect on social withus all the platforms.
At higher up podcast, you cango to higher up podcastcom.
Stay tuned for some new thingson there.
As always, go out and choose tolive a higher up life.
See you next time.
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