This Is Sharp Business Growth
Deacon Bradley: Just as we've
been talking about this for a
long time, I think it's time we
hit record. What do you say?
Let's do it.
Hello, and welcome to the sharp
business growth podcast, the
podcast for CEOs who want to
create healthy business growth.
I'm your host, Deacon Bradley
alongside Justice murrini. On
today's show, we're, so both of
us have worked with a lot of
CEOs, a lot of businesses, and
we were having a conversation
before we hit record. What are
we seeing that's holding
business leaders back from that
growth that they so badly want?
And we came up with three things
a lot more than three things.
But these are our top three
things. And we're gonna unpack
these a little bit here, but
then a lot more in the episodes
to come. So before we get into
that, though, yeah, justice. I
think everybody here listening
needs to know just how cool. You
are the guy on the other side of
the mic right here. I need to
give you your credit. So I've
been working with you, myself, I
originally met you started
working with you as an executive
coach. That's, that's one of the
things that you do unbelievably
Well, I've worked with a lot of
coaches. You're extremely
gifted. And we just had so much
fun the last couple of years
still, man businessing.
together. That's a great way to
put it. Yeah. And we've worked
on a lot of projects. Yeah, my
my business and my life has
changed a huge amount, just from
the conversations that we've
had. And, and and I think it's
really cool. We both work with
CEOs. Yeah. And we both do it in
really different ways.
Unknown: Yes, absolutely. I
think one of the things that
that you do really well is,
you're very good in the
headspace, meaning strategic,
how do you want to think about
this? Let's make this simple.
Let's, let's find the right
people. You're very much there.
I'm very much the heart. I'm
looking at what is holding this
CEO, this executive back from
making the decisions that they
need to make from being who they
need to be from leading how they
need to lead. Is it fear? Is it
insecurity? Like what what is
it? And then how do I speak to
those things. So both are huge
for the SEO, you cannot do one,
you cannot scale a business
without the other. So it's you
got to have strategic, you got
to have the right players on the
team, you've got to have that
the right headspace, which you
do such a great job at. And then
you've got to have the right
your heart has to be the right
place. your mindset has to be at
the right place. That's what I
love.
Deacon Bradley: Yeah, it's
something that I always knew was
important. And like I said, I've
worked with a bunch of coaches,
I never worked with somebody
with your super unique skill set
to be able to unpack that draw
that out of people find like
that, that stuff inside that
that's really in the way. So
many coaches are focused, I
think on the wrong stuff. You
know, here's some, here's some
new tactics. Yeah, yeah, this is
the magic being that you were
missing from your morning
coffee. And then your business
growth explodes. And so I'm
super excited to just have these
conversations with you share a
little bit about just the
variety and the types and levels
of business leaders that you've
been in and around fascinating.
Unknown: I've worked with
solopreneurs. And I've worked
with CEOs leading much bigger
teams. So and I've worked with
people that aren't CEOs that are
just, you know, business leaders
that are, you know, like, like
when we started working you were
kind of the the integrator to
the team and working right next,
right next to the CEO hand in
hand and leading just an
unbelievable business. So I work
with the whole gambit. I love
the solopreneur. But I also love
the high flying, you know, CEO
that as a as a team, that he's
trying to figure out how to do
the best thing because I learned
from each of them. And a lot of
times they're they're still
their mindset and their heart is
still the thing. Like that does
not change wherever you're at
your heart, your mindset, if
it's off, it's keeping you from
from the results you want.
Deacon Bradley: Yeah, I think I
think that's really interesting.
And one of the things that I
have learned a lot from you is
you will constantly point out,
hey, Deacon guy at this level.
I'm working with this guy 10
levels beyond you. And you know
what we're talking about the
exact same thing. Yes, yeah.
It's I don't know if that's
encouraging or disheartening.
But we're moving forward.
Unknown: Better? Oh, absolutely.
Yeah, seeing you guys. It's it,
hopefully, it's encouraging.
Because it's, it's cool to a lot
of entrepreneurs think that
their issues are unique. And so
they, they believe, like, Man,
I'm the only one it's very
lonely, it's very isolating. So
they think that they've had
these issues in their head and
they see everyone else's
success. So then they're going
it's just me, there must be
something wrong with me. And so
whenever I could say, Hey, you
know, this person that you
perceive as being extremely
successful, they're doing
they're going through the same
thing, and it's like, Oh, okay.
All right. I can, I can work
with that. I'm not crazy. Okay.
And Deacon, I mean, you are kind
of I always say, everybody needs
a deacon. So, I would love for
you to share just a little bit
about what you do. I think
you're a rarity. You can come in
and I get really frustrated,
because I will meet with you and
go, golly, I wish I could think
that quickly, and that
strategically about these
issues, and it makes it so
simple that I'm going. Yeah, I
guess that is what we should do.
So I think everyone needs a
Deacon. So Deacon, would you
just share a little bit about
what you do? And I don't even
know what what the title
Deacon Bradley: is? Sure. You
know, I, I've gotten to the
stage in my career where I've
done so many things, and I have
my hands in a variety of things,
which I love it, it excites me,
but I dread it a little bit when
I just meet somebody for the
first time when they say what do
you do? And I'm like, gosh, you
know, how much time do we have?
Most recently, I just stepped
away from from a few years of,
of leading as the number to an
agency that that team, while I
was there, I cut my teeth on a
lot of different kind of
leadership level stuff grew that
team from, I don't know, a very
small handful of people to over
40. By the time we left, we had
tremendous revenue growth over
those years. And the the thing
that was that was super fun.
Yeah, we worked and in the space
of so I was working with
business leaders and a different
capacity there. I was seeing
them come through with needs as
an agency, that the agency
provided those services. But it
was also interesting, because I
was at the level of the company,
within our company that I was
dealing with the same problems
that they were dealing with. And
so I was able to see things in
their business that they needed
or that they were missing,
whether that was team, whether
it was vision, whatever it was,
I could see these like, wounds,
or Yeah, or these like chains
that were holding them back that
they couldn't always see. And so
it was super fun. Working with
you justice, I think I've gotten
a lot of clarity on what it is
that allowed me to do that.
Well. And why it why it is that
business leaders like hanging
out with me. Yes. And I, the two
things that always come to mind
is number one, clarity. So I
love to take really complicated
things and simplify them down.
just incredibly simple. That's
one of my favorite things to do.
And the other thing is something
that you brought to my
attention, that is a gift of
mine that I didn't know that was
a gift. And if I had known it
was a gift, I wouldn't have
known anybody cared until we
started working together. Now I
just I see this tremendous need
for it. And that is just
bringing peace in order to
chaos. And there are so yeah,
businesses that I look inside. I
was looking inside one just
earlier this week. And I was
like, Whoa, that is some serious
chaos there. And I can't wait to
just unpack some of the stuff
about how to fix that. What's in
the way of growth? Yes. All of
that kind of stuff. So we were
talking before we hit record, we
both see a huge number of
businesses that are growing.
Yes. Tell them we're growing
extremely fast. Yes, we also see
a lot that aren't growing. And
we see a lot of business leaders
wondering why their business
isn't growing. Yes. So we were
we were kind of like, Alright,
let's boil this down. high
level, what are three things
that we see that are holding
people back? I love this. The
first one. Number one, do you
remember what we wrote down? No.
I trust you more than myself.
I'm looking at you. Oh, please
all my eyes. I was like I did. I
did write it down. I have the
list right here in front of me.
Number one, a team that moves
the ball down the field?
Unknown: Yes, yes. Can I speak
to this? Yes. Okay. So here is
what I see is a big issue.
There's a book called what got
you here will not get you there.
And one of the things that I see
oftentimes is that entrepreneurs
get their business to a certain
level with a certain team. It's
almost like if I could title it
would be the bootstrapping team.
And some of those business
leaders aren't meant to go with
you the distance, like they can
help you get where you wanted to
go. And now it's time to get to
the next stage. And if they
don't want to grow into
different roles, and if they're
not gifted enough to do some of
the things that are needed to
get to the next place. They
can't move the needle forward.
And so it's time for them to go.
And that's okay. That is totally
fine. But it's hard for
entrepreneurs, especially when
the people that you need to let
go have been loyal. I hear that
from so many entrepreneurs.
They've been so So, boil.
Deacon Bradley: Yeah, I see this
all the time. And I also see it
in in the mentality. So when I
hear there's a couple of things
I hear business leaders say that
make me think, Oh, this is
probably their their problem.
One of them is, I just can't
find any good people. And
there's a lot of reasons for
that, that we can unpack. But
that's one of the symptoms. And
the other one is, is that
feeling that like, you like
things keep bouncing back to
you, like it keeps coming to you
keep having to, like, you've
gotten away, but you're still
you might be saying to yourself,
why am I still doing this? Yes.
That's a big symptom of that.
Unknown: Yes, I, this reminds
me. So I used to be a pastor in
a church. And I remember we met
with this consultant. And he
said, You don't always dance
with the one that bracha. And I
remember just holding on to
that, because we were growing.
And a lot of the people that
were with us early on, were
like, Hey, you know, we're gonna
go to another church. And we
were like, Oh, no, you've been
with us since the beginning.
We've known you for so long.
Some of us we've known you since
college. You're some of them. It
was, hey, you're the lead
pastors best friend. And now
you're leaving. And it was
really comforting to hear. Yeah.
And they were there for that
time that season. Amazing. honor
them that yes, you wouldn't be
here without him. Now it's time
to look forward, not look back.
And it's time for them to look
forward. And I can't tell you
how many entrepreneurs once
they've let go of certain team
members, two, three years down
the road, they talk to him
again. And that person was like,
it was totally time for me to
go. I had known it was time for
me to go. I'm so glad you let me
go. I found this new opportunity
out here. It pays me more I like
it more. I wouldn't have
discovered it because I would
have just stayed as long as you
let me. Oh, man,
Deacon Bradley: there. I'm super
excited. We have an episode
sketched out to dive more into
this stuff. And I'm super pumped
because there's, there's so much
there. And it's like, like we
were saying it's like chains
holding these entrepreneurs
back. And yeah, it's top of my
list is team. That's the number
one thing when I look inside a
business, oftentimes the thing
holding them back is team number
two on our list here. Number
two, is this one's going to take
a minute to unpack, we couldn't
come up with like a succinct
headline, yes, but but really,
it's, they're looking at the
wrong thing. So like, that's it,
unpack that a little, okay.
Unknown: So there's an
entrepreneur that I was talking
to the other day, and I coached
him for a season, don't coach
him anymore, but we're great,
we're great friends. And he
said, You know, I'm gonna stop
doing this thing that was
amazing for the business, I'm
going to stop focusing on this
thing. So that I can go focus on
this other thing right now. And
I remember going, don't do that.
Because in six months, you're
going to regret that you stopped
focusing on, which was growth,
like growing the business. what
he needed to do was, I wanted
him to go, Hey, I'm still
focused on growth, I've actually
brought on a team member to
focus on creating the systems
and implementing them in my
business, or I'm promoting this
person to do this, so that I can
stay here. Another way to think
about this is almost like
another way that they focus on
the wrong thing is shiny object
syndrome. Or, like, yes,
something's working, then they
go. Maybe they watch a YouTube
video, maybe they talk to a
friend that's in a similar
industry. And that person goes,
Yeah, we've started doing this
now. It's getting great results
for us. And they go, Oh, yeah,
tell me more. Yes, yes. And then
they go, you know, we're not
doing that. Is it? is it
helping? Oh, yeah, it's helping
us a ton. We're able to do this,
this and that. Really? Yeah. And
now that we get to do that, we
don't have to worry about this.
And you're going I worry about
that. Well, tell me more about
it and send it to me. And I
always like I cringe when I see
an entrepreneur ago that I know
is working well. And their
system is working, everything is
working. And someone drops a
seed that's like we're doing
this to do this. It's really
good. And they're like, oh,
could you send me a link to that
I cringe because I'm going you
don't know their story. You
don't need what they need right
now. everything's working.
Deacon Bradley: So in my mind,
I'm when I hear this, like we
just we summed this up as
looking at the wrong thing. In
this case, looking at the wrong
thing was they're not looking at
their business and the thing
that moves their business
forward and who they are
uniquely and the unique
chemistry and strengths of their
team. They're like looking at
some other dudes thing. And
they're like, oh, like, what do
you put for number three, I'm
gonna copy that down. And
sometimes that's, that's not a
good fit at all. Another way
that this I think bites people a
lot is just we, I always like to
say that the saying I forget
where this comes from, what gets
measured gets managed, oh man.
And so by looking at the wrong
thing, if you're measuring the
wrong thing, it you're going to
optimize for it, you're going to
do whatever it takes to move
that metric. But a lot of times,
it's not the right, it's not the
right thing for that business to
be looking at. And a lot of
times, like you were just
saying, they decided to start
looking at it because of one of
these shiny objects like that
was, that was the thing. So now
they're doing it too.
Unknown: Yes. And I would, I'm
trying to think of another way
to say this, that was that they
could kind of get a frame of
this is, you know, in in, I used
to do marriage counseling, and
different married couples will
be using different things to
help their, their marriage, and
some of them would be in
financial trouble so that you
use Financial Peace university
with Dave Ramsey. Some of them
would have emotional, like, they
weren't great at communicating.
So they'd use emotional care
packet that we put them through,
and they go through a class, and
then they'd be couples that were
doing just fine. They're like,
Oh, well, they're doing that,
well, I need to do it. So then
they're taking all this time
out, even though their
relationship is great to go
through some thing, and they
might get a few things out of
it. But it really was just a
waste of time. And so your most
valuable asset is time, is time.
And if you're spending your time
looking at the competition,
looking at what other people are
doing, instead of focused on
what brings me the best results
right now, what am I great at?
What if I keep doing what give
me the best chance of getting
the results I want? And you
start looking around? It's no
good. What you have is enough,
if you believe in the plan, and
it's showing results for you
already. Don't pivot
unnecessarily. Dude,
Deacon Bradley: well said, I
think one of the things that
that really helps with this, and
one of the ways I see business
leaders get traction with this
is, is masterminds coaches, just
this like close peer group who
actually care and know your
business and are not just giving
you ideas, or stuff like that,
like they're invested in your
success, too. Yes, I think that
makes a huge difference on
getting that perspective. And
yeah, it's one of the first
things that I look at when I'm
looking at a business that stuck
is I'm asking them, you know,
like, what's important to you
right now? What are you looking
at? And I'm curious, just to see
what it is that they're looking
at, because it's often not what
I ordered. Third thing I see
holding business leaders back, I
like to call this the three S's
and justice you have taught me
so much about this, the three
S's stillness, silence, space,
oh, man, oh, man,
Unknown: there. There's a,
there's a phrase that coaches
use. That is, it's called the
lamppost analogy. And when
people go, why do you Why, why
do you need a coach. And I'll
say, you know, if every day you
came home after a hard day's
work, and just talk to a
lamppost, you actually do better
for yourself, because you get
all these thoughts out, you get
all these things going on, you
actually think clearly, because
you're, you're, you're
externally processing, you're
doing all this stuff. And so
when an entrepreneur gets away,
and they can get still, and they
can really think like most
entrepreneurs are way smarter
than they want you to believe.
Like, they were able to build a
business from nothing most of
the times to something that's
generating revenue, which means
it's creating enough value that
people are willing to pay for
the value that they have. And if
it's most of the entrepreneurs
that we run into, they're paying
a lot of money for the value
that you're creating. So it's
not like we're talking to a
bunch of idiots. So for these
people, what will take away your
genius is buisiness. Like it
will rob you of your genius. And
especially this is something
that I get that happens to me is
decision fatigue, where you will
actually get fatigued because
you're making so many decisions
in a day, you'll start to get a
minor headache. And a lot of you
listening are probably going oh
my gosh, that's me. I do get
those headaches. It's Yeah, you
actually need to I was talking
to an entrepreneur, yesterday I
go, you are the most valuable
asset to your team. Do you
believe that, that you are the
most valuable asset? So who
needs to be taken care of the
best right now? You do. How are
you taking care of yourself?
Okay, right now you might not be
able to go on a four week
vacation. Oh, actually argue
that you probably could you just
don't believe it. But what can
you do right now, to schedule an
hour out of your day, you can
totally do this. And you can sit
with a notepad and a pen. And
with turn off your phone in a
room and put Do Not Disturb and
just write whatever comes to
mind.
Deacon Bradley: So if leaders
are missing stillness, silence
space, they're missing this
What? What does their life look
like?
Unknown: Cowley. They wake up,
they check their phone, usually
first thing in the morning, they
see an email that causes alarm.
So they send a text message to
one of their team members.
Usually around 738 o'clock in
the morning, a team member gets
it. And it's kind of frustrated
that they had to get something
that like it took them out of
their workout or whatever, they
were focused in the morning,
then they get to the office,
they check to see if that team
member responded. They see more
emails. They go through a little
bit of a morning routine, but
chances are they don't have a
morning routine. Their email
owns them and their meetings on
them. So their calendar and
their email are kind of their
main decision makers. So it's
all movement. It's all
decisions. It's all buisiness
Hmm.
Deacon Bradley: That's, that's
how stressful
Unknown: and they are, they're
stressed. They're, they're
really stressed. They might not
define it as stress, because
they're used to it. And that's
like, kind of for me is the
scariest place to see an
entrepreneur, where they're
like, yeah, that's just how my
day goes. And I asked him about
I'm like,
Deacon Bradley: yeah, it's like
a, almost like a, like a badge.
Unknown: Yes. Yes. Which I would
say is just pride. And is the
ego. And it's like, Yeah, I do
think you hear it a lot in the
tech world. With like, yeah, I'm
just getting in my crazy, you
know, week, I didn't sleep for
four hours this week. for four
hours. It's like, Yeah, I did.
I'm like, is that the life you
want to live? Is that scalable?
I mean, if we're talking about
scaling your business, that's
not scalable, your body will
shut down. So like they are
owned, they do not own their
life, like at all. They do not
control it. Their calendar
controls it, their assistant
controls it, their team controls
it, problems control it, their
inbox controls it. Hmm. That's,
uh, yeah,
Deacon Bradley: that's
interesting. When you phrase it
like that. That's super
interesting. You and I are both
really passionate about this
topic. In particular. We're
going to unpack it in a in an
episode, a couple episodes
coming up. So there's a lot more
on this, but just leave us with
this right now. Justice. Yeah.
Can you do it another way? Like,
does it have to be that way? Or
can you have this business
growth, this amazing business
growth, but also be free? And I
mean, this just to set the full
stage here, because I don't want
this to just be some fairy tale.
Yes. Can you do it in like the
short term meaning, it's not one
I get 10 million in revenue or
when I get 100 million in
revenue, and I've got a
helicopter whisking me away, and
three personal assistants like
can you do it sooner than that?
Unknown: There's, there's a
short answer is like you will
actually there's a better chance
of you getting to that 100
million faster if you start
doing what we're going to talk
about now. Boom.
Deacon Bradley: Thanks for
joining us today on the sharp
business growth podcast. Be sure
and subscribe to the show and
your favorite podcast app. Mine
is pocket casts. You never miss
an episode. Also, we've got a
bunch of free resources more
common all the time, visit us at
sharp business growth.com. We'll
see you there.
