In this liberating episode, Shae Bynes, Chief Fire Igniter of The Good Faith Group LLC, shares how to replace grind with grace for sustainable success and true freedom. If you struggle with burnout and the hidden costs of ambition, you won't want to miss it.

You will discover:

- How to receive grace as a gift already available to you

- Why grace, not hustle, is the fuel for lasting results

- What grace-empowered leadership creates flourishing cultures

This episode is ideal for for Founders, Owners, and CEOs in stage 4 of The Founder's Evolution. Not sure which stage you're in? Find out for free in less than 10 minutes at https://www.scalearchitects.com/founders/quiz

Affectionately known as the “Chief Fire Igniter,” Shae Bynes is a catalyst for grace who equips leaders to create cultures where both people and results flourish. A pioneer in the Kingdom business movement, she has impacted over one million people globally through her books, courses, podcasts, and speaking, helping leaders embrace a grace-empowered way of life and leadership. With 25 years of experience, including leadership at a Fortune 50 company and over a decade as a founder and business owner, Shae brings strategic clarity and transformational insight to her advisory work with both entrepreneurs and executives.

Want to learn more about Shae Bynes's work atThe Good Faith Group LLC? Check out her website at https://shaebynes.com/

Mentioned in this episode:

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Founder's Quiz

Hello, hello and welcome. Welcome once again

to the start, scale and succeed podcast. It's the only podcast

that grows with you through all seven stages of your journey. As

a founder, I'm your host, as always, Scott Ritzheimer, and we

know that every founder goes through this disillusioned

leader stage. You've heard me talk about it over and over, and

we have many guests come on and and help us understand what to

do about it. But today, I want to address the question, Why?

Why is it that we all fall into this disillusioned leader stage,

and then what can we do based on that? And what I found is the

one of the biggest reasons why is because they fall for the lie

that enough success will finally set you free. And we spent years

believing that you think that if you reach this milestone, hire

this employee, achieve this objective, that somehow you'll

cross the finish line and it'll be okay. And every time we do,

there's a moment of success and excitement, and we've done it,

and then there's this deeper and deeper valley we seem to walk

into each time. And there's got to be something that changes.

And if it doesn't, we don't know how long it can last. It's why

disillusioned leaders are always left asking the question, is

this it? Is this really as good as it gets? Well, no, this is

not as good as it gets. And you'll find out in just about

two seconds of hearing my guest today that that is not anywhere

near as close as good as it gets, because she is

affectionately known as the Chief Fire igniter. My guest

today is Shae Bynes. She's a catalyst for grace, who, I'm

sorry, a catalyst for grace, who equips leaders to create

cultures where both people and results flourish. She's a

pioneer in the kingdom business movement, and she has impacted

over 1 million people globally through her books, courses,

podcasts and speaking, helping leaders embrace a grace

empowered way of life and leadership. With over 25 years

of experience, including leadership at a fortune 50

company and over a decade as a founder and business owner

herself, Shay brings strategic clarity and transformational

insight to her advisory work with both entrepreneurs and

executives alike. She's also written a phenomenal new book

called Grace over grind, and we're going to unpack what that

means for those of you who are in Stage Four today, it's going

to be a real treat. Shae so excited to have you back, one of

our very, very few repeat guests. It's fantastic having

you back. Yeah, and I've been looking to this conversation for

a while after we reconnected recently, but let's, let's dive

in here. So in your book, Grace over grind, you talk about how

grinding and hustling will earn you this badge of honor,

especially in this world of entrepreneurs that we both come

from. But it's not the best thing. It's an inferior

substitute for something that's so much more. What is that thing

and why do we always sell ourselves short?

Yeah, that thing is grace. And when I define grace,

I define that as a divine enablement. Now I believe from

God, as far as the divine enablement is concerned, but

what it allows you to do is it allows you to operate with more

peace, instead of all the chaos and all the anxiety. Allows you

to operate with deeper wisdom, so that you can actually have

clarity around what you're moving forward with. It allows

you to have, I call it, sustainable rhythms in terms of

how we flow and how we operate, because a lot of times we'll put

success in this little bubble thing, but we want holistic

success and the harmony of our lives and our work, and it also

helps us to have greater collaboration with others,

because a lot of times we get stuck in these isolated moments

and putting too much, too much of a burden on ourselves when it

really doesn't belong to just us, it belongs to a group of

people working in collaboration and trust together. And so I

believe that what's, what's behind that, like that force

that makes it that much better is grace.

That's awesome. So what's the

relationship then, with grace and things like ambition or

hustle or because the reality of it is a lot of folks listening

might be like, if I didn't hustle, I wouldn't be here. And

so how do those work together? Is there a time and place for

the grind? Walk us through some of the nuance there.

Okay, so I actually do not have nuance when it comes

to grind, and I'll tell you why. Because I think that there is,

there is a better word for it, and that word is diligence. So

if you're working diligently, diligently, that means you are

being consistent, you're showing up, you're you're energetic in

your work. But it doesn't mean that you're you're in this

grind, which is like excessive hard work. So I don't believe

there's any need for excessive hard work. I believe that people

operate that way, but that they're operating well

underneath what is the best and so. So I don't think there's a

place for it, but there's absolutely a place for

diligence. I believe that we're called to work with diligence

and the work that we do, but we don't have to sacrifice, you

know, everything in the process of our diligence. We can.

Actually do that, and then when we add that divine enablement on

top of it, we experience way more than we could have done on

our own.

Yeah, so this idea of more peace has been

something I keep bumping into. And when I hear you say it, it

doesn't sound like most people when they say it, which is like

this kind of squishy, like, nice, okayness. And so as Chief

Fire igniter, what is the What's that kind of action? Is there an

action forward piece? What does that look like?

That's right. So I think that's a great question,

because the interesting thing about peace, Scott, is that

peace is what you'll have despite even not having all the

information and all the answers that you really would love to

have. And so one of the things that I find is a lot of people

that actions that they don't take is they're not willing to

actually sit and listen to actually seek clarity, to

actually instead of just instantly reacting to things and

trying to figure out, how can I make all the things happen to

actually take time sit quietly with a question, I believe, sit

before God with a question, you know, and then see what type of

wisdom comes forward. And sometimes that wisdom might be a

conversation you might need to have with someone. Sometimes

that wisdom is an idea that comes forth. Sometimes it's just

the space to actually be able to think, as opposed to operating

in so much anxiety. And when you do that, when you're like

listening deeply for clarity and taking a step forward, then you

can move. You might have some, you know, hesitations around it,

because you're not 100% sure, but you're also not filled with

anxiety around it.

Yeah, it's interesting, because anxiety can

be, especially in type A folks such a powerful motivator. And

to some extent, like when you first get into this, I know, for

me, whenever I first started changing, it's like, you're,

you're switching fuels, yeah, and it's like, This feels weird,

you know, like this, this feels wrong. There's something not

right about it. How do you how do you help folks think rightly

about that transitional period where you're going from just

like the chaos of crazy, anxiety driven effort to something much

more sustainable?

Quite often, Scott I actually have to really

encourage people to try it. So for somebody, because it depends

on where they are, there's some people who have already hit up.

People who have already hit a place of, I don't desire to be

anxious all the time. I don't desire to feel like I'm on the

edge of burnout. I don't desire to have like, no harming going

on in my life. So that person, when they come to the table,

they're like, I'm already ready for a solution. Let me try this

thing called grace, and let me see what this looks like. For

other people who aren't quite there yet. The ones who are just

like, but I really, kind of like, I really, kind of like

this, some of them, quite honestly, aren't ready to take

that next step. And the ones who are, it really is just kind of

like, hey, let's experiment with something. I actually have a

client right now that I'm having to walk that out with who

actually takes great joy in seeing her calendar back to back

to back. I'm not kidding, from 730 in the morning till like 830

at night, back to back to back to back to back, with like a 15

minute, 30 minute break. And actually looks at that and it's

just like, this is such a blessing. My calendar is full,

and so it's like, wait, wait, there's something way better

available to you. You can't keep operating at this pace. And

you're thinking, that's a blessing, but it's not. And

you're thinking it's not, you can't even have a successful

business without operating like that. But that's not true, and

so for someone like that, I'm saying, hey, let's just

experiment and try something different this week, literally,

as we're having this conversation this week, she's

trying for the first time that she blocked off one hour Scott

from her calendar on three different days, one hour that

she's like, I will not take any work, no meetings, no clients,

nothing for this hour, because I'm going to give myself the

space to actually breathe, to sit, to think, maybe to eat. But

I mean, it's this is real life for a lot of business owners.

Yeah, as someone who scored 98% on an

introversion, extroversion scale, I started sweating just

hearing about that calendar. But right here, here's, here's what

I think really tricky about this, and it's right at the

heart of stage four, but it matters to a whole lot of folks,

even outside of this entrepreneurial world, and that

is the best I can put is like, what's your measuring stick?

Right? Because, like, we are in Stage Four in particular, we are

achieving goals. It's not that we're not having success, it's

that we're finding out that that success isn't actually what

we're longing for, and we don't know what is. So how do you help

folks, especially in this kind of grace enabled, Grace

empowered model, how? How do you help folks to get the right

measuring stick for their success?

Yeah, it's interesting how a lot of people

haven't even taken the time to dream about what is possible,

like I like to ask. Ask people, What if you're thinking about

your ideal, how you'd like to operate, with your business,

with your kids, with your spouse, like all of those

things. What would that look like? Just a typical, ideal kind

of week? A lot of people didn't have answers to that. But then

when they actually take the time to sit with it, to dream about

it, to think about what would I like this to look like, and what

would I like what would I like it to look like, maybe if I took

a week off every quarter? Or what would it look like? Just

whatever, whatever it would be. You know, right now, I'm working

with a lot of leaders where I'm also saying I want you to look

at this not just from your own perspective, but also for your

team. What do you want your company, the whole culture to

look like, even with your team as you're growing, and how to

operate in this as a leader? And I find that a lot of people

don't take the time to dream, so I like to take some time to have

people that actually begin to envision what's possible. And

for some people, that is very tough. For them, it's like, I'm

like, you have permission to do that. Let's do that. As opposed

to, on the other side of things, looking at, oh, all of this is

not, not what I wanted at all, and then having to start back,

you know, at the you know, start back from beginning. Sometimes

we also don't know exactly what we want, and so we start to

realize what we don't want. I do realize that some people's

personality types are like, I need to experience some of what

I don't want so I know what I want, and that's cool too, but

you don't want to go all sometimes it's kind of like

people are going fast and furious, and they go so far off

the beaten path, Scott that then it takes so much to untangle, to

go backwards. You don't have to go that fast, that far before

you take those those moments to pause and reflect in the dream.

I think that's a big part of it, because we're

invariably going to set some of the wrong goals. Yes, like

that's just gonna happen over time. It might be because we

didn't know what we didn't know. Many times, for the folks that

I'm working with, they don't even know they've done it, but

they've borrowed someone else's goals, right? And and

oftentimes, when I'm teaching founders and their teams goal

setting processes, I'll tell them this all the time. It's not

actually about setting the right goals. It's about having the

right process, right? Yes, it's actually more about the feedback

loop in between those cycles. And one of the challenges,

especially for founders, is we set these really big, really

aspirational goals that take a long time to achieve, yep, then

we just assume they're like gospel truth, right? We don't

even question it. And so we go years and years and years

pursuing what ultimately turns out to be someone else's goal.

Yes, so how do we, how do we start to put some, some some

sort of feedback loop into that process? What does Grace show us

about how to, how to behave in pursuit of those goals?

Yes, I think it's so funny you were saying that about

goals, because when I talk about goals, I talk a lot about the

difference between outcome and process goals, and how most

effective usually, are the process goals. What are the what

are it's like you have these outcomes that you, by the way,

don't have any control over, but like you might have some of

those, but how? What? What are the things that you do have

input into that? Then it's like you're taking steps, steps, and

you can evaluate on a monthly on a quarterly, take a look at

that. So I think that one of the things that's helpful is, at

least for me, I'm looking at things on a weekly and on a

quarterly basis before I ever hit a year. So there's plenty of

opportunity to pivot, to learn something, to make a shift and

not feel like those things that I said in January are set in

stone that I have to like now. I've got to idolize that goal

that I put forth and just go hard after that goal. It allows

me to kind of take in input pivot, and because I'm talking

about that divine enablement, actually getting divine insight

as I go and as I learn as well, to be able to make those shifts

where I need to make those shifts.

Yeah, it's interesting how quickly our

minds will jump back in and try and take over. And someone

listening might be like, okay, Grace, got it. I'm gonna go do

these things. Once I have those things, then I'll have room for

grace. What's the difference of working by grace as opposed to

for it?

Yeah, it's like, it's, where do where do you

start? Are you starting with it and from it? That's the ideal,

not the Hey, let me go after it, after I figured it all out,

because that is actually operating counter to what I'm

talking about. So if you want divine enablement, then you're

actually going to partner with the divine in it, right? And so

it starts there. A lot of people are working for rest. I'll

hustle, hustle, hustle, you know, work, our work. And then

I'll rest and figure some things out when, if you actually have a

rhythm of creating margin, so that you can restore, so that

you can think, so that you can dream, so that you can pivot,

you can do those things on a regular basis. Then, then you

don't have to go so far along along the path. It's like you're

starting with it, and you're operating in it, just part of

your flow, in terms of how you operate, as opposed to the thing

that you're going after. Like, that's a reward. After I do all

of these things on my own,

It's so good, so good grace is not a reward.

It's it's the actual. Will feel to get you there. So yeah, I

love that question. For you, I've asked you this question in

the past, but I'm going to ask you again. So especially in the

context of where you're at right now and how you're seeing folks

changing their lives with this message, what would you say is

the biggest secret you wish wasn't a secret at all? What's

that one thing you wish everybody watching or listening

today knew?

I wish that everyone knew that grace was a gift that

is already available to them, not one that they have to hustle

hard to earn, not one that they've got to go and figure all

the things out so that they can do it is actually a gift already

available to you. All you have to do is receive it, begin to

walk it out in your work and, quite honestly, in your personal

life as well.

Yeah, so good, so good. So folks might be

sitting saying, okay, yeah, like, maybe I need to try it and

and so some next steps here. Let's make this actionable for

folks. Where can folks find a copy of your book? Or, even

better, where can they start to find that next step for them?

Yeah, absolutely. So I'm going to make two different

kind of book recommendations. So the one that you mentioned was

Grace over grind. I wrote that one some years ago, but it's

fantastic. It's a really great starting point in terms of

learning how to operate kind of step by step, how to

operationalize this idea that I'm talking about that is, for

those listening, that is a overtly faith based Bible,

scripture, all in it. Book. I also have a book called grace

under pressure, which is a story about leadership and the hidden

cost of ambition. That is totally more of a story here. So

it's more of an allegorical story. So so it's like taking

the concepts from Grace underground, and then it's

presenting them in a story with a little nonfiction, a little

bit in the back, and then in both of those books, I have

tools that you can download to help you really to walk it out

on a day to day basis.

Excellent, fantastic. We'll get links to

both of those in the show notes so you don't have to go

searching for them. Shay, thanks for being on really a privilege

and honor having you back with us here today. Love, love the

book. Love the content that you have here, and yeah, appreciate

you being here for those of you watching and listening, you know

that your time and attention mean the world to us. I hope you

got as much out of this conversation as I know I did,

and I cannot wait to see you next time. Take care.