So, Here's My Story...

Ep 66 It’s starts with a movie and this famous dialogue: “What do you think the Devil is going to look like if he's around? …He will be attractive! He'll be nice and helpful. He'll get a job where he influences a great God-fearing nation. He'll never do an evil thing! He'll never deliberately hurt a living thing... he will just bit by little bit lower our standards where they are important. Just a tiny little bit. Just coax along flash over substance. Just a tiny little bit.” And from that simple movie quote, we get a story about how it is not the destructive people in our lives that we can see coming from a mile away that we need to worry about; it is the ones that move us just a little bit, slowly and repeatedly, away from our values that will destroy us.   Why is that important for business? In business, it isn’t so much the employee stealing from you that is going to ruin you - it’s the one that get you to lower your standards just a little bit that truly does the damage. They might even be profitable, bu

Sometimes, all you need is a public restroom and a therapy dog to teach you some important lessons about leadership. This episode is such a time.   Why is that important for business? The episode starts with a story about a dog named Max and his annoyed owner, but it turns into a lesson on leadership. There are leaders who micromanage and push and blame their employees when things don’t work. And then there are leaders who are compelling and make a space for people to be their best. People and dogs can tell when you are interested in them, when you are invested in them, and that interest is magnetic. When you make your people do things, versus creating an environment where they want to do the things that you want them to do, you will notice resistance. You want your people naturally engaged. In leadership, it is common to see managers and leaders try to control people’s behaviors in times when it really doesn’t matter.  There is a difference between controlling when and how people do certain things that are v

Ep 65 Ah, September. Not only does it usher in the birthdays of your two favorite podcasters, but for many (or just Jodi) it is also a time for fresh starts. And even if you don’t naturally feel this fresh start energy, there are ways to bring a clean slate feeling into what you do.   Why is that important for business? Fresh start energy can feel like a reboot, where you get to start with a (nearly) clean slate and bring some new energy to a project or business or client that had previously been missing. The baggage of past performance weighs less, and you get a chance to start anew. But if you are like Eliot, and don’t naturally feel this energy, how do you inject some of that enthusiasm into your business and life? You don’t have to join the Witness Protection program to feel like you have a bit of a clean slate. Even in most constrained situations, it is always a little possible to find that fresh start energy feeling, or to reinvigorate what’s going on. You just have to start recognizing the opportunitie

Ep 64 You know all those things you have to do in business, but you really dislike? What if it were possible to strip your business down to just the necessary and even – gasp – the enjoyable? In this episode of So Here’s My Story, we discuss the secret burger joint, and the lessons that it might be able to teach you.    Why is that important for business?   We often assume that there are things we will have to do in business, whether we like them or not. But there are businesses, like the secret burger joint in Eliot’s story, that belie this idea. They eliminated every part of the restaurant they didn’t care for and stripped the experience down to the parts they wanted to focus on. The message is clear: if you want what we offer, we will do it really well. If you don’t want that, don’t come here. That begs the question: what is in your business that you wish could get rid of?  Sometimes businesses do things because they think they should. But is it possible to give thought to what can be pared away to reveal

Not just any host of a popular podcast would be able to turn a disagreement with their spouse into a lesson for business. But that’s exactly what happens in this episode, as we discuss the layers and nuances of “good enough”. The distinction of how “good enough” you do things comes up often in business and in life, because there are ultimately levels of good enough. Unfortunately, the whole discussion runs with baggage. The first to bring up the “good enough” discussion risks being labeled as someone who doesn’t care about quality. But it isn’t necessarily about suggesting that something be half-assed; good enough is often about triaging. The problem with being absolutist about “good enough” arises when you spend all of your time solving problems that are seven problems down the road – problems that you might not even encounter – instead of the immediate need. It can even paralyze you from any action at all. It is important to look out into the future at unintended consequences, but to stop short of becoming

Sometimes... you need to stop and get out the map. Yessss... we know it's 2018, but WAZE just doesn't WORK for the metaphor we're trying to use in this week's episode. Today, Jodi & Eliot explore getting stuck, spinning your wheels, when you need to know exactly where you're going and when you need to just DRIVE. This episode is all about getting clear on where you are heading, not before you start, but once you are already doing the work of your business. Whether or not you had a clear objective for your business when you first started, the need to gain (or re-gain) that clarity can emerge years in. You can start with a clear mission and a clear problem to solve but find over the years that you have drifted away from it in pursuit of the opportunities that have presented themselves. And there is nothing inherently wrong with this approach, the Photosynthesis Model where you bend in whatever direction that has the most sun. But when there is no clear direction that you are headed, it is almost like each i

In this episode, we talk about how the little things more than just count – they are what make up people’s first impressions of your business. Why is that important for business? People are making judgments about the details – a flicked cigarette in a parking lot, a tidy dining room table – and making decisions about what that means for the rest of your business.  Small things can often really matter, but you can’t possibly see or care about everything. You need to navigate which small things to care about by being clear on the overarching value. Details make it easier to dismiss your business, and they make it easier to ascribe values to your business. It can feel like too much to think about – how can you be expected to think of all of the small things that might matter to other people. But if you simply ask, “what feeling or experience do I most want to convey?”, then it is easier to imagine what details can effectively demonstrate that. If you start to infuse that value into every aspect of company, then

Ep 60 It turns out, customers are a lot like cats – they are a lot happier when you follow their specific care and feeding instructions.  Everyone has different priorities, different things that they care deeply about. In this episode, we discuss the importance of knowing what makes people tick (and where they like to be scratched).   Why is that important for business? A “care and feeding manual” clarifies these priorities and helps you address individual needs without worrying about everything. You know where the deal breakers are, but also where the areas of flexibility are.  Everyone tries to take good care of clients, but if don’t have a clear understanding of their priorities and what they really care about, you are going to try to do everything well, which is an impossible standard. Using your own filter of what you care about isn’t enough, because we all feel cared for in different ways. Much like the book The 5 Love Languages (http://www.5lovelanguages.com/), knowing what is important to clients help

Ep 59 Have you ever thought about the difference between staying and not leaving? There is very different energy between the two, even though we confuse them. Sometimes the middle lane seems like a lane where you can hang out and coast, and not make a choice, but it can be a dangerous place to stay. In this episode, let’s talk about that place between staying and leaving.   Why is that important for business? In companies, often there is an employee that someone is frustrated with, but no one is ready to terminate. Whether it be because of value or potential or just the hassle of hiring someone else, they are kept on and both parties live in that dangerous middle lane. Sometimes “stuck” is when you already know what you want to do, but you are not ready to admit or commit to that choice. If you make demands and they do everything you ask, are you going to be happy? Or are you going to be disappointed that, even though they have met all of the theoretical criteria that set out for them, you are still not satis

Pee my WHAT? The encore performance What does peeing your pants have to do with better business? This week, we revisit our very first episode, over a year ago, where Jodi and Eliot talk about the importance of sharing those vulnerable stories that businesses need to tell.  Why is that important for business? There’s this weird counterintuitive perception that people don’t want to share those stories. And peeing your pants might not be the story that you are going to lead with the first time you meet someone (in theory). And yet what is also true is that given a moment where someone else is sharing their story, suddenly other people want to share. That is at the core of what we are getting at with this podcast. That safe space, where people can share their Pee Pants story, can be created by the fact that the first person shared their story. You can’t judge me if you’re not going to judge her – there is safety in numbers. People are dying to tell these stories and creating that safe space doesn’t take a lot of

Ep 57 – Certainty Have you ever noticed a tendency to view things in a binary, all-or-nothing way? Does delegating frustrate you, because you worry someone else would just mess things up, so why not do it yourself? Do you “hate conflict”? In this episode of So Here’s My Story, let’s talk about exactly that, and the secret dial that just might work better than that switch you are currently using.    Why is that important for business? When we think about examples like delegation, one of the things that comes up is our perception that there are only two ways things can go: either we do it ourselves, or we somehow accept the inevitable subpar results of someone else doing it. There is an imagined binary switch that suggests we either must do it the way we are, with our high standards, or we let everything go to hell in hand basket. Instead, we can look at it as a volume knob or a stereo equalizer. The ability to get things done at a high standard is a wonderful trait, and we don’t want to destroy that trait. But

Ep 56 – The Red Hen The notion of choosing politics over business has been in the news lately, and it begs the question: how you know when choosing clients for fit is discriminatory, and when it is beneficial to the culture of your business. That’s the topic of this episode of So Here’s My Story.   Why is that important for business? There are pros and cons and limitations to the concept of “fit” in business. Fit can tell you who to hire, what clients are ideal, and how to build a team. But they can also lead you to discriminate and look only for people like you. What doesn’t work is having one homogenous glob of the exact same person at the table, because you need diversity of skills and strengths. This is when the concept of fit can be a scapegoat – an excuse to not get along with a diversity of backgrounds and perspectives. In those ways, fit can be incredibly dangerous. But not accommodating for fit can hurt culture. If a company’s core values aren’t clear enough that some people might say “no thank you,

Ep 55 – Is It Too Late for Me? Ever heard a 20-something lament about how it’s “too late” for them to do something? In this episode of So Here’s My Story, we talk about the idea of it being too late for our dreams or aspirations – when it’s an excuse, when it’s time to let go, and when it’s time to try to get Whack-a-Mole into the Olympics.   Why is that important for business? When we feel like it’s too late to make a move, we can become paralyzed by that determination. We have a false sense of security in the middle ground, but we either have to accept it is not too late or find a way to be at peace with letting that thing go. It is a big energy drain, delaying the commitment to either be in or out; circling that decision is tiring. It can be helpful to ask, “What does the process for getting over that look like?” Either the question will help you come to a point of resolution or will spur you on to actually do what you thought it was too late to do. You can become imprisoned by faint hope if you don’t conf

Ep 54 – Pick a Lane In traffic, it is critical that other drivers be able to anticipate your behavior; you need to be clear about your direction and your intentions if you want everyone to stay safe. But the same can be said about business. And that is what we will talk about in this episode of So Here’s My Story. That, and the time that Jodi almost ruined Pajama Day.   Why is that important for business? You have to pick a lane, in driving and in business. People, including your employees and your clients, have the right to rely on the fact that you are going to proceed logically in that direction and give them warning as to whether and why you are changing. Accidents tend to happen when you do something unexpected. Other drivers have the right to anticipate what you are going to do; if they have a reasonable expectation of what you are going to do, and you don’t hold with that, accident happen. This doesn’t mean you can’t change lanes, in traffic or business, but you have to put on your blinker. When busine

Did you listen to the now famous “Laurel vs Yanni” audio that has been making its rounds on social media? Despite an ingrained reluctance to participate in such popular phenomena, Jodi noticed an important message inherent in the debate – even here, in this simple form, people hear different things. And some people even think kale is sweet.   Why is that important for business? With all of the value judgements and complexity and nuance stripped away, people will still have different experiences of the same thing. And if it happens in this, the most binary version of perception, is it surprising that we hear or see completely different things in more complex situations? If we can have such different experiences of a simple audio clip, then it shines a light on much needed respect for how often that is happening in more complex and nuanced situation. Whether we like it or not, we see and experience things differently, and we cannot ignore that. There is a translation problem between what I experience and what y

“I fired a client recently”, Eliot says, with a twinkle in his eye and some understated elation in his voice. And so begins today’s story. Sometimes, we have clients that, although they are wonderful and maybe even very profitable, aren’t a great fit for our best work. It’s okay to both realize this and design our work around those clients that are a great fit. And it’s also okay to fire the ones that don’t. Why is that important for business? Having a business and having a business that brings you satisfaction and joy are two very different things. Occasionally, firing a client is necessary to ensure the latter. And so it is important to periodically ask yourself:  If someone came along today and said they would take all of your clients away, which would fight to keep? This exercise helps you reach hard decisions because it creates contrast, and your brain needs contrast to see things clearly. Just as a wine sommelier may select a wine to, in fact, contrast with the flavors of food instead of matching them,

You can hardly expect Jodi to go to Italy without bringing back some stories. In this episode of So Here’s My Story, we learn about what eating for pleasure might have to do with business, and why joy might be more important to the process than you might think. Why is that important for business? Just as there is a difference between being full and being satisfied with a meal, there is a difference between increasing revenue and providing a service that satisfies you and your customers. If the food we eat isn’t pleasurable, or if we don’t take the time to appreciate it, we can find ourselves at full in a search for satisfaction. In business, we are often chasing a feeling – maybe a feeling of satisfaction - that we want to have and finding ourselves at “full” instead. For lawyers, for instance, chasing billable hours to reach a feeling of success may seem like a worthwhile pursuit, but those billable hours tell us nothing about the quality of the work you delivered, or about client satisfaction. Joy is delive

“I wish I could, but I just can’t”. Have you ever heard that phrase and thought to yourself, “yes, you could. You just don’t want to”? Have you ever said that to someone, but known that it wasn’t the whole truth? In this episode of So Here’s My Story, we talk about priorities, telling the truth, and personal sovereignty. Why is that important for business? Instead of taking ownership of how you chose to spend your time, “I wish I could” can feel like an abdication of responsibility for your own priorities. It is okay to chose not to devote your time I have to each thing you may want to do. If you want to claim that something is important to you, it almost always comes with the responsibility of giving it time or energy. There needs to be an internal acknowledgment and recognition that, at the end of the day, you may not care enough about that thing to give it what it needs. There is also the external side to this conflict, which is how you deal with priorities externally; how do you take responsibility for wh

Sometimes in your organization, there needs to be a bit of transparency. But, it needs to be just the right amount. How do you give your employees a peek behind the curtain without unleashing all of your company’s problems? It’s a fine balancing act. Why is that important for business? In this week’s episode, we talk about the business equivalent to turbulence on a plane. When notified of severe turbulence on a plane, and you’re the passenger, your mind immediately goes to a panic state. The natural reaction is to start asking the questions with hopes that it will answer the root of your anxiety. This happens in businesses all the time. Employees will ask questions when they are noticing some turbulence in your organization. It’s the responsibility of the leader to address these concerns truthfully while still maintaining the element of compassion. It's important to answer their questions, but also address the anxiety that lurks their mind about the issue. If you are having issues in your organization, but no

Have you ever had a client try to get you to serve two opposing masters at once? How do you get them to settle on a priority so that you can move forward? In this episode, we talk about just that. Why is that important for business? There are certain aspects of how you deliver your services or products that simply must be prioritized. For instance, if fast delivery, quality production and cheap price area all things your customers seek, they usually have to pick just two priorities at any one time. It’s like a stereo equalizer – you don’t have to turn anything right off, per se, but you can’t have all of the priorities at a 10 at once. Part of this process is defining expectations, yet the words we use to describe our priorities are often insufficient and rely heavily on context. Words like “simplicity” or “success”, for instance, mean wildly different things to different people in different situations. Stories tend to be a more effective way to get these expectations and priorities across. There are also tim