January 29, 2025 • 21 mins
Mentoring programs can skyrocket your organization’s success if you have the right strategies. I discuss those strategies in this episode with my guest, Ken Rusk.
Ken is a best-selling author, entrepreneur, and blue-collar advocate that proves there is no degree needed to achieve comfort, peace, and freedom. Ken spent his younger years digging ditches and working in construction.
He is passionate about helping people achieve their dreams regardless of their educational background or past. In Ken's book, Blue-Collar Cash, he shares his insights from over 30 years of working in blue collar trades as an entrepreneur, mentor, and life coach.
Why is Mentoring Important?
Ken believes it should be incumbent to anyone who is successful to give back to the people that are following in their footsteps. He believes that it’s a good idea to shorten the learning curve of those who follow us because you can prevent them from making a lot of expensive mistakes. That’s just part of being successful to share that kind of advice; especially if those people work for you. To grow your company there’s a lot that you can do to help people within your company that are intrapreneurial at heart to be successful. They win, you win, everyone wins at that point.
The Case for Mentoring Intrapreneurial People
As the owner of a business, your goal should be a couple of things. Number one, it should be to become as irrelevant to the business as possible from a mechanical daily standpoint. If you’re going to be a visionary you can’t be involved in doing the day-to-day stuff. You need to hand it off to people and make them feel they have some ownership of the results. He’s said in front of his staff of over 200 that he can’t get what he wants, his company can’t get what it needs until all of his employees get what they want first. The more they win the more you’re going to win in the end.
Advice for Leaders
You must be planning what you want to do with your business, meaning drawing it out to the most minute detail. It’s like creating a brochure that is about yourself. You must have a clear idea of the goals your company is moving towards and why. Once that reason is clear then passing that goal along to the people in your company that you’re mentoring is paramount. You want to get your team to feel like they’re in it for themselves and they relish the fact that they’re allowed to swim in that intrapreneurial pool. When they create results and share ownership of those results your business is poised for explosive growth.
We also dive into topics such as:
Characteristics of good mentees.
How to create successful mentorship experiences for intrapreneurs.
How to create a platform for mentorship within your organization.
How to approach potential mentors.
Why you want to hire people that are self-managing.
Advice for bosses about how to be good mentors.
Examples of what Ken’s mentoring programs look like.
The importance of recognition and bonus plans.
Why dropping the ego as a boss/owner will make your business more successful.
How to successfully co-create and achieve goals with your employees.
The criteria of good goals.
The one thing, above all else, that you need to do as an owner/boss to create a mentoring program within your organization.
…and other golden nuggets of advice!
You can get my book here: “Idea Climbing: How to Create a Support System for Your Next Big Idea”
Click here for more outstanding interviews with entrepreneurs and thought leaders!
About My Guest
Ken Rusk is a best-selling author, entrepreneur, and blue-collar advocate showing that there’s no degree required for comfort, peace, and freedom.
Ken spent his younger years digging ditches and working in construction. He never went to college. Instead, he made goals, planned, and worked hard for thirty years. Now, Ken is a very successful entrepreneur with mult...
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to the idea climbing podcast.
Mentoring programs can skyrocket your organization success if
you have the right strategies. I discuss those
strategies in this episode with my guest, Ken
Rusk.
Ken is passionate about helping people achieve their
dreams regardless of their educational background or past.
In his book, Blue Collar Cash, he shares
(00:20):
some insights from over 30 years of working
with blue collar trades as an entrepreneur, mentor,
and life coach. We dive into topics such
as how to create successful mentorship experiences with
intrepreneurs,
how to create a platform for mentorship within
your organization,
how to successfully co create and achieve goals
with your employees, and more golden nuggets of
(00:41):
advice. You're gonna love this
show.
Ken, thank you for being here for the
idea climbing podcast. I really appreciate it. Thanks.
Thanks. Thanks for having me. I really that's
that's, looking forward to our discussion today.
If we're gonna talk about mentoring, which is
one of my passion points, and I know
(01:01):
it's important to you and we you mentioned
how it's one of the best way to
grow a business as an entrepreneur.
Before we get into the strategies and tips
and tricks and such,
why is mentoring important to you? What's the
story there?
Well, you know,
first off, it it should be incumbent upon
anyone who is successful
to give back to, you know, the people
(01:23):
that are following in their footsteps, following behind
them.
And,
I I always think that it's such a
great idea to shorten the learning curve for
those who follow us because
you don't want people making a lot of
expensive mistakes whether they work for you or
work for themselves. I mean, that's just part
of being
successful to share those things. And, you know,
(01:43):
I I think in order to grow your
company, there there's a whole lot that
that,
you know, you you can emulate, you can
copy, you can rubber stamp, you can,
you know, create in the image of the
of the way you've done it to where
you can create individuals that are bulletproof. I
mean, they're they're entrepreneurial at heart and
(02:03):
and they win you and everybody wins at
that point.
Can you speak a little bit more about
entrepreneurial
people and mentoring?
Yeah. Sometimes I think I invented this word.
I didn't, but
I use it a lot. And
so here's the thing.
As a as an owner of a business,
(02:23):
your goal should be a couple things. Number
1, it should be to become as irrelevant
to the business as possible from a mechanical
daily standpoint. And I know people get all
crazy and break out in hives when I
say that, but
it really is true. If you're gonna be
a visionary, you can't be involved in doing
the day to day stuff or at least
not most of it. And so, therefore, you
have to put that off on people
(02:45):
that are close to you that you can
create
who kind of feel like they are part
of the management, part of the results, part
of the budgeting, part of the finance, part
of the scheduling, the planning.
And they feel like they own it
even though they may not. And the reason
that that that's so important is because and
I've said this many times in front of
(03:06):
my staff of over 200.
I can't get what I want nor can
my company get what it wants or needs
until all of you get what you want
first.
And it's simple. I mean, businesses are linear
creatures. So, you know, there's input coming in
from the left, and there is there is
work, there is product creation, there's there's
service creation, whatever your whatever your bailiwick might
(03:28):
be. And then there is sales and hopefully
revenue and hopefully accounts receivable and hopefully profit,
and then you're at the end of that
line.
So
as an owner, why wouldn't you want everyone
else to win
within that framework?
Because the more they win, the more you're
gonna win in the end. It's it's always
been that way. What advice would you have?
I mean, that's great once you've grown a
(03:48):
company. What advice would you have for solopreneurs
or cofounders as far as leveraging mentoring to
grow their business?
Well, first off, you have to decide what
what's in it for you to do that.
I mean, you know,
none of us have ever done anything without
a reason. I mean, you you get out
of bed in the morning, you're you're you
have a destination in mind, work, church, school,
the office, whatever, grocery store doesn't matter.
(04:11):
And
just like planning a vacation, which is something
you typically
anticipate for 3 or 4 or 5 months
in the future, you need to be planning
what you wanna do with your life. And
I'm talking about drawing it out to the
most minute detail, creating a brochure that is,
you know, Ken Rusk or or yourself or
whoever that might be.
(04:31):
You have to have a reason why you
would want to do this. And once that
reason is very clear,
then turning around and sharing,
you know, the impetus for that, the motivation
for that, and the replication of that to
somebody
next to you, below you, however you wanna
say it,
that's that's everything. Because
(04:52):
if I can get a group of people
that I want to join my team
that feel like they're in it for themselves
first and me second,
and they
relish the fact that I'm allowing them to
swim in that entrepreneurial pool in any way
that they want As long as they create
a result and then share in that result,
now you've got something that's poised to get,
(05:14):
explosive growth.
What are some examples of characteristics of we'll
start with mentees. What makes a good mentee?
What advice do you have for people that
for would be mentees?
Well, it it used to be you showed
up to the interview early and you smiled
and you were dressed well and you looked
somebody in the eye and shook their hand
and
but now it's somebody who
(05:35):
and again, controversial, but someone who looks at
you and says, hey, dude. What's in it
for me to work here?
Okay. Like, what's in it for me to
do this?
You know,
the ego in any manager or boss or
or hirer, if you will,
the mentor,
the ego in them wants to be like,
okay, you're this person and I'm here to
help you and I'm here to give you
(05:56):
all these things that I know.
And therefore, if I get asked that question,
dude, what's in it for me to work
here? You can be put off by that.
But if you can answer that question in
a way that motivates them to join your
team because, remember, they have a million choices
these days. Everybody's hiring. Everyone's looking for help.
Everyone's looking for people to join their team.
(06:18):
You have to differentiate yourself from all the
others.
And for me to answer the question,
why are you here? Or this is what's
in it for you to work here. This
is the program I have that can create
a life for you exactly the way you
see it, not the way I see it.
Now you're onto something.
So where does mentoring begin in that in
with entrepreneurship? Where does it where does where
(06:40):
does the process begin as far as if
you're the one doing the mentoring, where does
that begin?
The very first thing is,
and I'll go back to that same question.
Why are you here? Well, I'm here for
a job. A job for what? A job
to get paid. Paid for what? So I
can pay my bills. Okay? Now let's get
beyond the bills.
What's what's the life look like?
Okay? What's your next I mean,
(07:02):
what's your next car look like? What's your
next vacation look like? What's your house look
like? Or what you what is it what
do you want your house to look like?
If you had an extra $100, how would
you give it away in some donate
donation form?
What's your
spiritual future looking like? What's your hobby, your
sport, your health? What's your pet? Is it
a dog or a cat? What color? What
would you name it? I wanna know those
(07:24):
things
because if I know that you're legitimately chasing
a life for yourself within my framework,
I can give you all the mentorship you
can handle.
It's it's the ones that are just there,
you know, just to stamp a time card.
I mean, that's not really who you're looking
for if you're looking to grow your business.
So how do you go about what you
(07:44):
just said? How do you go about giving
mentorship?
Well, it's real simple. I provide them a
platform
for them
to create what it is. I I mean,
I literally give them a poster board with
a bunch of prompts on it and say,
draw your
life. Look at it this way.
If I gave you a puzzle, a 1,000
piece puzzle, and I dumped all the pieces
(08:05):
on your kitchen table,
but then I took the box away,
the cover. Right?
You'd have a really hard time building that
puzzle. You might get the square edges done,
but you're never gonna fill in the center.
And and I mean, it would be forever
because you're missing the puzzle box.
Now if I if I'm doing this puzzle,
I'm constantly staring at that puzzle box. Right?
(08:28):
I might have a 1,000 pieces, but I
might look at that that that puzzle box
10,000 times in the creation of that puzzle.
So why are you trying to live your
life without the puzzle boxes? I guess is
what I'm saying.
Why are you just waiting for life to
happen to you instead of you happening to
life? So mentorship is saying,
I need you to see where your future
is and then together, you and I can
(08:50):
go get that.
Well, instead of waiting for life to happen,
how do you approach a potential mentor? How
do you create a mentoring start to create
a mentoring experience for
Well, again, it's real simple.
Once I know
what it is that they want for their
future,
then I can simply provide them the opportunity
(09:10):
and the environment in which to grow. In
other words,
I want them to be in charge of
their input. I want them to be in
charge of their output, the quality of their
output. I want them to be fully owned
on on their schedule, their day, their time,
and their financial gain. Because
I can't ask them to build that puzzle
that they've just drawn,
(09:30):
by by dividing it into a 1000000 little
pieces.
I can't ask them to get that puzzle
completed if I don't give them
a vehicle to take them there, a vehicle
that creates these individual timed pathways for them
to win 1 piece, one goal, one next
level at a time.
Personally, do you I mean, as an entrepreneur
(09:51):
or an employer,
why is it important why do you think
it's important to give them that puzzle box?
Why is that so important to you?
Because you you you want
employees or team members or entrepreneur intro whatever
you wanna call them. You want you want
these people to be self managing. I mean,
the worst thing in the world is to
want something more for somebody than they want
(10:12):
for themselves.
And and, frankly, if you really truly wanna
grow your business and you wanna be in
the visionary mode,
there's no way you can sit there and
mop up after people constantly. I mean, you
need to have people that are impressing you
by doing things better than you might even
do them yourself.
And that right there is normally driven by
someone
(10:32):
who is driven on their own. Okay? Because
they have things that they wanna accomplish with
and through your organization.
As far as the bosses, what advice do
you have for bosses to be good mentors?
Well, first off, you need to care.
You need to have patience.
You need to know how to look for
characteristics.
(10:53):
And
and you need to be able to to
drop the ego of,
okay,
me, boss, you, employee, you know, banging your
chest and going home on the weekends and
saying to your spouse,
oh, man. You know, I worked 80 hours
this week and I fixed this. I changed
it. I yelled at him. I changed this.
I I motivated this. I built that.
(11:16):
You know, I worked 80 hours. Now I
have high blood pressure and diabetes, but look
at all the cool things I did. Right?
Mhmm. No.
You wanna put yourself in position
to know what you want for yourself for
doing it. And then
and then,
you know, have the opinions,
have the the the ownership,
(11:37):
be vested in in in in the future
of these people. They will feel it. They
will know it by your actions and and
your and your word choices, your emotions, whatever.
And then they will become long term loyal,
very productive employees
who, by the way, will at some point
say, hey, Ken. Thanks for the training.
Now that I see my direction for life,
(11:58):
get out of my way and let me
go do it. It it's really a wonderful
transition once you get there. What are some
examples? What do you what are you currently
doing for mentoring your people?
We have a,
a big plat a a black glass gold
board on the wall. It's huge. It's like
8 by 10 feet. And we have these,
(12:18):
these, neon markers like you'd see at the
I don't know. At at the bar, at
a Mexican restaurant with the margarita special of
the day. You know? So we we have
them all, and
we have people write down goals in specific
detail.
My name is, you know,
Ken Rusk. And on January 1st, I'm going
(12:38):
to start saving to go to Scotland to
play golf 2 years from today, and that's
gonna cost me $5,000.
So I need to save $50 a week
for a a 104 weeks, and it's already,
the payroll clerk has already started that account
and is pulling the money out every week,
and then I sign it and then I
date it. And everybody else sees that, and
(12:59):
they all know what I'm up to. And
conversely, I I know what they're all up
to. We all own these goals together. We
all high five their progress and their completion
together. And as soon as they're done, we
wipe them off and put another one up
there. That's just one of probably 10 things
that we do in order to get people
to understand
that this is a mentor, mentee friendly organization.
(13:21):
I love the fact that you're supporting your
employees. I mean, go on a little bit
more, but unpack that a little bit more
because I think that's important and not a
lot of whether it's an entrepreneur or a
boss, whatever it might be, I don't think
a lot of people actively do it on
the level that you're discussing. If I hear
you right, what else do you do? Well,
yeah, there's a whole lot of recognition going
on. There's a whole lot of of of
(13:41):
bonus plans. There's weekly bonus plans, monthly bonus
plans. There's quarterly bonus plans, annual bonus plans.
And all of these things are based on
how many things you're chasing and how how,
how often you're succeeding in getting these things.
You know,
again,
if a boss, owner, manager, whatever you wanna
(14:01):
call it, if they can learn to drop
the ego that is their own success
and relish in the success of others,
they will quietly have more success than they
ever dreamed of.
I I had a meeting, probably 10 years
ago where I I took small bits of
paper and and pencils.
I passed them around to my inner circle
(14:23):
of entrepreneurs.
There's, like, 10 of them. And I said,
I want you to all write down
how much more revenue we can do this
year than we did last
year. And by the way,
just know that I'm gonna share some of
that revenue with you if we hit that
number.
Mhmm.
Wouldn't you know what? Every one of their
revenue numbers was at least a1000000 or 2,000,000
(14:43):
higher than mine.
So be careful that you're not your own
self limiter
as as a boss, owner, or manager because
you you'd be surprised
what happens with the power of this group.
And once you know it, every year since
then, they've hit those goals,
you know, on on the number. And it's
only because
I, myself, wasn't holding them back whether it
(15:05):
was a conscious thing or a subconscious thing.
I let I gave them I don't wanna
say leash because that sounds bad, but I
gave them a lot of levity, a lot
of room to work,
and a lot of freedom to work, and
they they just knock it out of the
park,
every year. And the good news is they're
winning for themselves first and for the company
second, and that's that's fine by me. How
(15:26):
do you go about dropping the ego? I
I would imagine that can be difficult for
some people.
You know, it it it it all goes
back to what do you want. I mean,
is your company running you or are you
running it? I mean, why did you start
this company to begin with? I mean, I
I don't work any more than 40 hours.
I haven't in a very long time, And
I do it on purpose because I have
(15:47):
a boat. I have a golf course. I
have some cars. I mean, I have my
family. I have my dogs. I have my
my my granddaughter, my wife, my daughter. We
we do a lot of really great things.
We have a lot of fun. We work
hard and we play hard. And that requires
time.
And, you know, the the older you get,
I think the more that you realize, Mark,
that,
time is everything. I mean, time is probably
(16:09):
that your your biggest most valuable asset.
So I don't wanna wake up 70 again
with all these all these,
stress related,
diseases or or problems, but I have some
money in my pocket.
Sure. You know, you can do both. You
can have all the money you could ever
imagine
by giving up all of that control.
(16:31):
And that's, I think, where people miss the
boat because they think they have to rein
in the whole thing in order to be
successful
when in fact, letting go is the way
to do it. So do you do you
recommend or are you pushing people to achieve
goals or do you find that they're doing
it on their own without pushing?
Once they put a goal up on the
board,
(16:51):
it's real easy to see whether or not
that's a real goal. Because if there's if
if the action isn't taking place
well, I'll use the golf example. Let's assume
someone put that golf example up on the
board and 3 months in, they stop their
money being deducted from their check and they
spend it on something else. Well, then you
know that's not real.
So we get real specific
(17:13):
and we get
I mean,
it's you can't put a goal up on
that board unless you absolutely
freaking own it. Okay? You you have to
own it because we're not gonna waste our
time high fiving you and pushing you along
and seeing your your progress and whatever if
it's something that's just gonna fizzle out. We're
there to pick you up when you fall
(17:33):
down on one knee. We're there we're there
to straighten you out when you're trying to
turn around or go off track.
So be careful what you wish for. It
better be something you really want, and then
the rest of us are a 100% in.
So what criteria do you have? What makes
a good goal?
Well, a good goal is one that has
a timed pathway like I just described. I
(17:54):
mean,
you you don't want hopes or wishes or
dreams. I mean, I can't put a gulp
on that board that says, I wish I
were taller, you know, or,
you know,
maybe someday I'm gonna learn Spanish. I mean,
it no. It's gotta be precise and exact.
What makes a good goal a good goal
is the feeling you get
of anticipating its completion
(18:16):
much like you anticipate
an upcoming vacation.
You've got the smells, the sights, the sound,
the colors,
you know, the feelings. You got it all
wrapped up in this goal.
I know that when I went golfing in
Scotland, and that was one of my goals
many, many years ago,
I had the brochures for the golf courses.
I had all the gear. You know, I
(18:36):
knew it was gonna be cold and damp,
and I knew the golf courses were gonna
be hard and fast because they're they're built
on rock, basically. And I knew there was
gonna be a lot of history there. You
know, I knew that the food was gonna
be mediocre at best, but that's okay.
I mean, the the point is
we were there to go to the home
of golf where they almost suffered playing golf
(18:58):
because it was it was inclement weather and,
you know, it was something to do. And
so
we were we embrace the rain. We embrace
the cold. We embrace the wind.
We embrace the conditions because
that was the home of golf.
So it it's kinda like landing on the
moon. You know what I mean? You get
off that that that rocket and you're landing
(19:19):
in this dusty area and you're like, okay.
So what's this? Right? But it's a thing
you accomplish.
It's something that not many people get to
do and and, and we were very proud
of that.
We have covered a lot of ground in
a short period of time. When it comes
to entrepreneurship, let me get that right, entrepreneurship
and mentoring.
If you were to tell someone an entrepreneur
(19:39):
or a boss, if you nothing at least
do this when it comes to mentoring. At
least do this one thing. What would you
say what would you tell them to do?
Give them a box of crayons and tell
them to start drawing.
Okay?
The last time they had a box of
crayons in their hand was probably when they
were 5 years old,
but
it was also when they were at their
(20:00):
most creative,
least stressed.
They were allowed to draw inside or outside
the lines. They're out allowed to draw whatever
they wanted, a rocket or a horse or
a sunshine or whatever.
Give them that freedom
and the ability to sit quiet and dream
about their future. Let them start drawing things
out,
and then
(20:21):
build timed pathways to get to each one
of those things and then get the hell
out of their way because they're gonna do
amazing things for
for you and your company. This has been
excellent. And if people wanna find you online,
where's the best place or places to go?
I would say they would go to kenrusk.com.
You can see the book Blue Collar Cash
there that I wrote.
You can also get a copy of my
of my,
(20:42):
my online course
that you can take that, forces you to
think about the things we just talked about
in this in this particular show. And, I'm
also on socials
at Ken Rusk official.
Ken Rusk, r u s k, official. So
you'll see me out there, and you'll see
what we're up to.
Thank you again. This has been excellent.
Appreciate it. Thank you.
(21:04):
And
scene.
Thank you for joining us today. I hope
you enjoyed the episode. I also hope that
you'll subscribe to the idea climbing podcast and
rate us on Itunes.
Visitideaclimbing.com
to learn more about idea climbing and hear
more episodes about mentoring,
marketing, and big ideas.
Welcome to the idea climbing podcast.
Mentoring programs can skyrocket your organization success if
you have the right strategies. I discuss those
strategies in this episode with my guest, Ken
Rusk.
Ken is passionate about helping people achieve their
dreams regardless of their educational background or past.
In his book, Blue Collar Cash, he shares
(00:20):
some insights from over 30 years of working
with blue collar trades as an entrepreneur, mentor,
and life coach. We dive into topics such
as how to create successful mentorship experiences with
intrepreneurs,
how to create a platform for mentorship within
your organization,
how to successfully co create and achieve goals
with your employees, and more golden nuggets of
(00:41):
advice. You're gonna love this
show.
Ken, thank you for being here for the
idea climbing podcast. I really appreciate it. Thanks.
Thanks. Thanks for having me. I really that's
that's, looking forward to our discussion today.
If we're gonna talk about mentoring, which is
one of my passion points, and I know
(01:01):
it's important to you and we you mentioned
how it's one of the best way to
grow a business as an entrepreneur.
Before we get into the strategies and tips
and tricks and such,
why is mentoring important to you? What's the
story there?
Well, you know,
first off, it it should be incumbent upon
anyone who is successful
to give back to, you know, the people
(01:23):
that are following in their footsteps, following behind
them.
And,
I I always think that it's such a
great idea to shorten the learning curve for
those who follow us because
you don't want people making a lot of
expensive mistakes whether they work for you or
work for themselves. I mean, that's just part
of being
successful to share those things. And, you know,
(01:43):
I I think in order to grow your
company, there there's a whole lot that
that,
you know, you you can emulate, you can
copy, you can rubber stamp, you can,
you know, create in the image of the
of the way you've done it to where
you can create individuals that are bulletproof. I
mean, they're they're entrepreneurial at heart and
(02:03):
and they win you and everybody wins at
that point.
Can you speak a little bit more about
entrepreneurial
people and mentoring?
Yeah. Sometimes I think I invented this word.
I didn't, but
I use it a lot. And
so here's the thing.
As a as an owner of a business,
(02:23):
your goal should be a couple things. Number
1, it should be to become as irrelevant
to the business as possible from a mechanical
daily standpoint. And I know people get all
crazy and break out in hives when I
say that, but
it really is true. If you're gonna be
a visionary, you can't be involved in doing
the day to day stuff or at least
not most of it. And so, therefore, you
have to put that off on people
(02:45):
that are close to you that you can
create
who kind of feel like they are part
of the management, part of the results, part
of the budgeting, part of the finance, part
of the scheduling, the planning.
And they feel like they own it
even though they may not. And the reason
that that that's so important is because and
I've said this many times in front of
(03:06):
my staff of over 200.
I can't get what I want nor can
my company get what it wants or needs
until all of you get what you want
first.
And it's simple. I mean, businesses are linear
creatures. So, you know, there's input coming in
from the left, and there is there is
work, there is product creation, there's there's
service creation, whatever your whatever your bailiwick might
(03:28):
be. And then there is sales and hopefully
revenue and hopefully accounts receivable and hopefully profit,
and then you're at the end of that
line.
So
as an owner, why wouldn't you want everyone
else to win
within that framework?
Because the more they win, the more you're
gonna win in the end. It's it's always
been that way. What advice would you have?
I mean, that's great once you've grown a
(03:48):
company. What advice would you have for solopreneurs
or cofounders as far as leveraging mentoring to
grow their business?
Well, first off, you have to decide what
what's in it for you to do that.
I mean, you know,
none of us have ever done anything without
a reason. I mean, you you get out
of bed in the morning, you're you're you
have a destination in mind, work, church, school,
the office, whatever, grocery store doesn't matter.
(04:11):
And
just like planning a vacation, which is something
you typically
anticipate for 3 or 4 or 5 months
in the future, you need to be planning
what you wanna do with your life. And
I'm talking about drawing it out to the
most minute detail, creating a brochure that is,
you know, Ken Rusk or or yourself or
whoever that might be.
(04:31):
You have to have a reason why you
would want to do this. And once that
reason is very clear,
then turning around and sharing,
you know, the impetus for that, the motivation
for that, and the replication of that to
somebody
next to you, below you, however you wanna
say it,
that's that's everything. Because
(04:52):
if I can get a group of people
that I want to join my team
that feel like they're in it for themselves
first and me second,
and they
relish the fact that I'm allowing them to
swim in that entrepreneurial pool in any way
that they want As long as they create
a result and then share in that result,
now you've got something that's poised to get,
(05:14):
explosive growth.
What are some examples of characteristics of we'll
start with mentees. What makes a good mentee?
What advice do you have for people that
for would be mentees?
Well, it it used to be you showed
up to the interview early and you smiled
and you were dressed well and you looked
somebody in the eye and shook their hand
and
but now it's somebody who
(05:35):
and again, controversial, but someone who looks at
you and says, hey, dude. What's in it
for me to work here?
Okay. Like, what's in it for me to
do this?
You know,
the ego in any manager or boss or
or hirer, if you will,
the mentor,
the ego in them wants to be like,
okay, you're this person and I'm here to
help you and I'm here to give you
(05:56):
all these things that I know.
And therefore, if I get asked that question,
dude, what's in it for me to work
here? You can be put off by that.
But if you can answer that question in
a way that motivates them to join your
team because, remember, they have a million choices
these days. Everybody's hiring. Everyone's looking for help.
Everyone's looking for people to join their team.
(06:18):
You have to differentiate yourself from all the
others.
And for me to answer the question,
why are you here? Or this is what's
in it for you to work here. This
is the program I have that can create
a life for you exactly the way you
see it, not the way I see it.
Now you're onto something.
So where does mentoring begin in that in
with entrepreneurship? Where does it where does where
(06:40):
does the process begin as far as if
you're the one doing the mentoring, where does
that begin?
The very first thing is,
and I'll go back to that same question.
Why are you here? Well, I'm here for
a job. A job for what? A job
to get paid. Paid for what? So I
can pay my bills. Okay? Now let's get
beyond the bills.
What's what's the life look like?
Okay? What's your next I mean,
(07:02):
what's your next car look like? What's your
next vacation look like? What's your house look
like? Or what you what is it what
do you want your house to look like?
If you had an extra $100, how would
you give it away in some donate
donation form?
What's your
spiritual future looking like? What's your hobby, your
sport, your health? What's your pet? Is it
a dog or a cat? What color? What
would you name it? I wanna know those
(07:24):
things
because if I know that you're legitimately chasing
a life for yourself within my framework,
I can give you all the mentorship you
can handle.
It's it's the ones that are just there,
you know, just to stamp a time card.
I mean, that's not really who you're looking
for if you're looking to grow your business.
So how do you go about what you
(07:44):
just said? How do you go about giving
mentorship?
Well, it's real simple. I provide them a
platform
for them
to create what it is. I I mean,
I literally give them a poster board with
a bunch of prompts on it and say,
draw your
life. Look at it this way.
If I gave you a puzzle, a 1,000
piece puzzle, and I dumped all the pieces
(08:05):
on your kitchen table,
but then I took the box away,
the cover. Right?
You'd have a really hard time building that
puzzle. You might get the square edges done,
but you're never gonna fill in the center.
And and I mean, it would be forever
because you're missing the puzzle box.
Now if I if I'm doing this puzzle,
I'm constantly staring at that puzzle box. Right?
(08:28):
I might have a 1,000 pieces, but I
might look at that that that puzzle box
10,000 times in the creation of that puzzle.
So why are you trying to live your
life without the puzzle boxes? I guess is
what I'm saying.
Why are you just waiting for life to
happen to you instead of you happening to
life? So mentorship is saying,
I need you to see where your future
is and then together, you and I can
(08:50):
go get that.
Well, instead of waiting for life to happen,
how do you approach a potential mentor? How
do you create a mentoring start to create
a mentoring experience for
Well, again, it's real simple.
Once I know
what it is that they want for their
future,
then I can simply provide them the opportunity
(09:10):
and the environment in which to grow. In
other words,
I want them to be in charge of
their input. I want them to be in
charge of their output, the quality of their
output. I want them to be fully owned
on on their schedule, their day, their time,
and their financial gain. Because
I can't ask them to build that puzzle
that they've just drawn,
(09:30):
by by dividing it into a 1000000 little
pieces.
I can't ask them to get that puzzle
completed if I don't give them
a vehicle to take them there, a vehicle
that creates these individual timed pathways for them
to win 1 piece, one goal, one next
level at a time.
Personally, do you I mean, as an entrepreneur
(09:51):
or an employer,
why is it important why do you think
it's important to give them that puzzle box?
Why is that so important to you?
Because you you you want
employees or team members or entrepreneur intro whatever
you wanna call them. You want you want
these people to be self managing. I mean,
the worst thing in the world is to
want something more for somebody than they want
(10:12):
for themselves.
And and, frankly, if you really truly wanna
grow your business and you wanna be in
the visionary mode,
there's no way you can sit there and
mop up after people constantly. I mean, you
need to have people that are impressing you
by doing things better than you might even
do them yourself.
And that right there is normally driven by
someone
(10:32):
who is driven on their own. Okay? Because
they have things that they wanna accomplish with
and through your organization.
As far as the bosses, what advice do
you have for bosses to be good mentors?
Well, first off, you need to care.
You need to have patience.
You need to know how to look for
characteristics.
(10:53):
And
and you need to be able to to
drop the ego of,
okay,
me, boss, you, employee, you know, banging your
chest and going home on the weekends and
saying to your spouse,
oh, man. You know, I worked 80 hours
this week and I fixed this. I changed
it. I yelled at him. I changed this.
I I motivated this. I built that.
(11:16):
You know, I worked 80 hours. Now I
have high blood pressure and diabetes, but look
at all the cool things I did. Right?
Mhmm. No.
You wanna put yourself in position
to know what you want for yourself for
doing it. And then
and then,
you know, have the opinions,
have the the the ownership,
(11:37):
be vested in in in in the future
of these people. They will feel it. They
will know it by your actions and and
your and your word choices, your emotions, whatever.
And then they will become long term loyal,
very productive employees
who, by the way, will at some point
say, hey, Ken. Thanks for the training.
Now that I see my direction for life,
(11:58):
get out of my way and let me
go do it. It it's really a wonderful
transition once you get there. What are some
examples? What do you what are you currently
doing for mentoring your people?
We have a,
a big plat a a black glass gold
board on the wall. It's huge. It's like
8 by 10 feet. And we have these,
(12:18):
these, neon markers like you'd see at the
I don't know. At at the bar, at
a Mexican restaurant with the margarita special of
the day. You know? So we we have
them all, and
we have people write down goals in specific
detail.
My name is, you know,
Ken Rusk. And on January 1st, I'm going
(12:38):
to start saving to go to Scotland to
play golf 2 years from today, and that's
gonna cost me $5,000.
So I need to save $50 a week
for a a 104 weeks, and it's already,
the payroll clerk has already started that account
and is pulling the money out every week,
and then I sign it and then I
date it. And everybody else sees that, and
(12:59):
they all know what I'm up to. And
conversely, I I know what they're all up
to. We all own these goals together. We
all high five their progress and their completion
together. And as soon as they're done, we
wipe them off and put another one up
there. That's just one of probably 10 things
that we do in order to get people
to understand
that this is a mentor, mentee friendly organization.
(13:21):
I love the fact that you're supporting your
employees. I mean, go on a little bit
more, but unpack that a little bit more
because I think that's important and not a
lot of whether it's an entrepreneur or a
boss, whatever it might be, I don't think
a lot of people actively do it on
the level that you're discussing. If I hear
you right, what else do you do? Well,
yeah, there's a whole lot of recognition going
on. There's a whole lot of of of
(13:41):
bonus plans. There's weekly bonus plans, monthly bonus
plans. There's quarterly bonus plans, annual bonus plans.
And all of these things are based on
how many things you're chasing and how how,
how often you're succeeding in getting these things.
You know,
again,
if a boss, owner, manager, whatever you wanna
(14:01):
call it, if they can learn to drop
the ego that is their own success
and relish in the success of others,
they will quietly have more success than they
ever dreamed of.
I I had a meeting, probably 10 years
ago where I I took small bits of
paper and and pencils.
I passed them around to my inner circle
(14:23):
of entrepreneurs.
There's, like, 10 of them. And I said,
I want you to all write down
how much more revenue we can do this
year than we did last
year. And by the way,
just know that I'm gonna share some of
that revenue with you if we hit that
number.
Mhmm.
Wouldn't you know what? Every one of their
revenue numbers was at least a1000000 or 2,000,000
(14:43):
higher than mine.
So be careful that you're not your own
self limiter
as as a boss, owner, or manager because
you you'd be surprised
what happens with the power of this group.
And once you know it, every year since
then, they've hit those goals,
you know, on on the number. And it's
only because
I, myself, wasn't holding them back whether it
(15:05):
was a conscious thing or a subconscious thing.
I let I gave them I don't wanna
say leash because that sounds bad, but I
gave them a lot of levity, a lot
of room to work,
and a lot of freedom to work, and
they they just knock it out of the
park,
every year. And the good news is they're
winning for themselves first and for the company
second, and that's that's fine by me. How
(15:26):
do you go about dropping the ego? I
I would imagine that can be difficult for
some people.
You know, it it it it all goes
back to what do you want. I mean,
is your company running you or are you
running it? I mean, why did you start
this company to begin with? I mean, I
I don't work any more than 40 hours.
I haven't in a very long time, And
I do it on purpose because I have
(15:47):
a boat. I have a golf course. I
have some cars. I mean, I have my
family. I have my dogs. I have my
my my granddaughter, my wife, my daughter. We
we do a lot of really great things.
We have a lot of fun. We work
hard and we play hard. And that requires
time.
And, you know, the the older you get,
I think the more that you realize, Mark,
that,
time is everything. I mean, time is probably
(16:09):
that your your biggest most valuable asset.
So I don't wanna wake up 70 again
with all these all these,
stress related,
diseases or or problems, but I have some
money in my pocket.
Sure. You know, you can do both. You
can have all the money you could ever
imagine
by giving up all of that control.
(16:31):
And that's, I think, where people miss the
boat because they think they have to rein
in the whole thing in order to be
successful
when in fact, letting go is the way
to do it. So do you do you
recommend or are you pushing people to achieve
goals or do you find that they're doing
it on their own without pushing?
Once they put a goal up on the
board,
(16:51):
it's real easy to see whether or not
that's a real goal. Because if there's if
if the action isn't taking place
well, I'll use the golf example. Let's assume
someone put that golf example up on the
board and 3 months in, they stop their
money being deducted from their check and they
spend it on something else. Well, then you
know that's not real.
So we get real specific
(17:13):
and we get
I mean,
it's you can't put a goal up on
that board unless you absolutely
freaking own it. Okay? You you have to
own it because we're not gonna waste our
time high fiving you and pushing you along
and seeing your your progress and whatever if
it's something that's just gonna fizzle out. We're
there to pick you up when you fall
(17:33):
down on one knee. We're there we're there
to straighten you out when you're trying to
turn around or go off track.
So be careful what you wish for. It
better be something you really want, and then
the rest of us are a 100% in.
So what criteria do you have? What makes
a good goal?
Well, a good goal is one that has
a timed pathway like I just described. I
(17:54):
mean,
you you don't want hopes or wishes or
dreams. I mean, I can't put a gulp
on that board that says, I wish I
were taller, you know, or,
you know,
maybe someday I'm gonna learn Spanish. I mean,
it no. It's gotta be precise and exact.
What makes a good goal a good goal
is the feeling you get
of anticipating its completion
(18:16):
much like you anticipate
an upcoming vacation.
You've got the smells, the sights, the sound,
the colors,
you know, the feelings. You got it all
wrapped up in this goal.
I know that when I went golfing in
Scotland, and that was one of my goals
many, many years ago,
I had the brochures for the golf courses.
I had all the gear. You know, I
(18:36):
knew it was gonna be cold and damp,
and I knew the golf courses were gonna
be hard and fast because they're they're built
on rock, basically. And I knew there was
gonna be a lot of history there. You
know, I knew that the food was gonna
be mediocre at best, but that's okay.
I mean, the the point is
we were there to go to the home
of golf where they almost suffered playing golf
(18:58):
because it was it was inclement weather and,
you know, it was something to do. And
so
we were we embrace the rain. We embrace
the cold. We embrace the wind.
We embrace the conditions because
that was the home of golf.
So it it's kinda like landing on the
moon. You know what I mean? You get
off that that that rocket and you're landing
(19:19):
in this dusty area and you're like, okay.
So what's this? Right? But it's a thing
you accomplish.
It's something that not many people get to
do and and, and we were very proud
of that.
We have covered a lot of ground in
a short period of time. When it comes
to entrepreneurship, let me get that right, entrepreneurship
and mentoring.
If you were to tell someone an entrepreneur
(19:39):
or a boss, if you nothing at least
do this when it comes to mentoring. At
least do this one thing. What would you
say what would you tell them to do?
Give them a box of crayons and tell
them to start drawing.
Okay?
The last time they had a box of
crayons in their hand was probably when they
were 5 years old,
but
it was also when they were at their
(20:00):
most creative,
least stressed.
They were allowed to draw inside or outside
the lines. They're out allowed to draw whatever
they wanted, a rocket or a horse or
a sunshine or whatever.
Give them that freedom
and the ability to sit quiet and dream
about their future. Let them start drawing things
out,
and then
(20:21):
build timed pathways to get to each one
of those things and then get the hell
out of their way because they're gonna do
amazing things for
for you and your company. This has been
excellent. And if people wanna find you online,
where's the best place or places to go?
I would say they would go to kenrusk.com.
You can see the book Blue Collar Cash
there that I wrote.
You can also get a copy of my
of my,
(20:42):
my online course
that you can take that, forces you to
think about the things we just talked about
in this in this particular show. And, I'm
also on socials
at Ken Rusk official.
Ken Rusk, r u s k, official. So
you'll see me out there, and you'll see
what we're up to.
Thank you again. This has been excellent.
Appreciate it. Thank you.
(21:04):
And
scene.
Thank you for joining us today. I hope
you enjoyed the episode. I also hope that
you'll subscribe to the idea climbing podcast and
rate us on Itunes.
Visitideaclimbing.com
to learn more about idea climbing and hear
more episodes about mentoring,
marketing, and big ideas.
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