Curtis

00:00 - 00:11

I'm a 100% and you're a 100%, it makes 300%. The invisible entity is teamwork.

And that all starts with a very baseline of making sure that we are communicating and the words mean the exact same thing.

Chris

00:11 - 00:21

When you walk into a company, what's the first thing from a cultural perspective, like, from a red flag that you typically notice when you walk into a business?

Curtis

00:21 - 01:39

Behavioral standards. Right? Like, how how the teams operate and how they interact with each other.

Culture is a very tricky word in itself. It means a lot of different things to different people.

But when you really break it down into, a business and and, an applied science of how to move it forward, You have to really look for, you know, the behavioral standards, consistency and action. Right? And then, you know, type of a a shared ownership as well.

Right? Because that's what culture really is based in is a shared ownership and an identity behind the company and how we work together. And then it kinda falls into energy and talent.

Right? And so I I do an assessment at first when I first come into a company, and I really look at the behavioral standards, the shared ownership, energy and talent, and then obviously the consistency and action because that's, you know, really what every company needs is consistency and action so they can develop and perform and increase upon that action and and develop other better. And those would be the primary categories that I really evaluate.

So, at first, I'm quiet, and I take a lot of notes, and I do a lot of observations, and I don't do a lot of feedback in the beginning, because I'm really monitoring those details and trying to understand what the baseline is that I'm working with and where I need to go from there.

Chris

01:39 - 01:46

Do you think that's a mistake that a lot of leaders make at first is come in and just start, this is what we're gonna do, this is what I want?

Curtis

01:46 - 02:42

I view leadership a little bit differently than, you know, the status quo. There's a lot of ego based in modern day leadership.

And, if you come in and you're forcing your will and you're forcing, you know, your opinions and your ideas over what's already existing, you know, you can do that because you have the title and you have the power, but you're not gonna get the result. Being quiet is, you know, is a simple way of saying it, but it's really you have to go into a very strong observe mode and and stop the feedback at first.

Right? Because anybody could walk into any business and point out my problems. And I also don't wanna discredit, what other people are built.

Right? Because nothing is a fresh start. Right? I'm not starting Facebook from zero employees here.

There's history involved, and there's people's, you know, pride and their dedication, and they put a lot into this. And so you don't wanna devalue anything that they've already established as well.

Right?

Chris

02:42 - 02:53

What were, say, three tactical things that you started doing to turn around the culture before, like, anything got put in the process, you know, pay all that stuff? What what what did you.

Curtis

02:53 - 05:02

well, it's really an evaluation of the existing leadership. Right? And so you have to understand, are these individuals capable of growing in the role to the desired result, or are they not? Right? Because once one thing I tell people all the time is I don't run a company.

I build teams that run a company. Right? I'm not Yeah.

Capable of running the company. A team is based of a wide variety of talents, a wide variety of skill sets that takes to execute, and your leadership should reflect that.

And so it's the group of people who actually are the leadership that that push the business forward. So it's a very strong evaluation of their personal, attributes, right, and their personal skill sets.

And so one of the things, I really break down is intent over outcome. Right? As I work with those individuals, it's not necessarily where you're at and what the it's the intent that they tried to be put behind it.

The biggest one, which I probably should have started with that is self awareness. If I come in and I determine that that leader is not self aware and that that department head doesn't have the ability to make the adjustments and they don't have the ability to understand impacts, and make those changes, that's a replacement for me immediately.

Right? Because I have known from my past experience that I will still be dealing with that issue a year from now if I don't take care of it right now. Ethics is a nonnegotiable as well.

And so as I go through the evaluation of those individuals, I really look for people who can be developed into the leadership role. And I view it very much as a household.

Right? You know, leadership is the parents of the household. And there's things that parents do in the good household, and there's things that parents do in the bad household.

So if I'm sharing with my children that I can't make the mortgage, then I have a fifth grader who's stressed at school who is worried about things that are out of their control. And so it's privileged with information on leadership.

And so understanding their individual's, capability of learning that information and refining that information to make it deliverable and things like that. And that really all falls in their self awareness.

And so, monitoring that and and seeing the changes and their ability to adapt and their ability to implement is the cornerstone of building a team.

Chris

05:02 - 05:15

What are some of the challenges that really leaders face when building a culture? Is it, like, the resistance from the team? Is it just more, like, wrong people in the wrong seats? Like, is it a like, what is some specifics?

Curtis

05:15 - 07:53

I I think it's a combination of a few of the things you've said. I mean, there's so many aspects to culture.

Right? Once again, most people don't even really know what the term means when you go to define it. Right? And it's something that's thrown around, you know, and so communication is key, establishing.

I use a very silly analogy quite often, but, I say to my team, you know, we've all seen the commercial that Tylenol gives fast headache to me. We all say yes.

And I say, what is fast to you? Right? And one person will say five minutes, another person will say forty five minutes. Right? And so now you're looking at that.

We all use the same words, but they mean something slightly different. And so when you establish your core leadership team, you have to make sure that the words and the phrases and the things that you're using to run the business mean the exact same thing to those people.

So it's really establishing a a communication guideline and taking the time to explain and go into great detail as to what this specifically means. And then obviously documenting it as well.

We live in a world where, you know, we're you're talking now. Everyone talks.

I've had 50 conversations today. Most of them don't mean anything, and most of them don't go anywhere.

Right? But when you have a communication guideline, and you document it, and you repeat that communication guideline, you start to get a rhythm to it. I call it a cadence.

And when you get that getting notes and that rhythmic beat to understanding your communication, and your ability to work together skyrockets. A lot of people will use the term synergy for this.

Right? The synergy that synergy can be built when you understand what synergy truly is, and it's one plus one equals three. When Chris and Curtis work so well together, if I'm a 100%, you're a 100, but we work so well together, it makes 300%, then visible entity is teamwork.

Right? And that's based in communication and working well together and adaptability and us is, you know, really beating off of each other. And that all starts with a very baseline of making sure that we're communicating and the words mean the exact same thing.

And a way you can do this is by deconstructing the budget, believe it or not. And so what I like to do is take the budget and kind of break it apart and start looking for levers in the business.

Right? And when you when you see a output of a spreadsheet that goes to corporate, that's fine and everyone knows. But that number's a result.

A result of what? And what is the exact lever? And what are we pulling to turn that dial? And that's a good way to start communication because now you're working in the business and you're defining exactly what that means and exactly what that lever is and exactly what that result is. And it helps kinda link an out a a result to actions that we do every day, and that's the foundation of beginning to communicate and move the needle.

Chris

07:53 - 08:14

I think there's three things that are playing into into building teams. One is technology and resources, then you have generational differences or talents, and then you have in office and remote.

You kinda have it all, but I just label. And yet you still have a thriving culture.

Yeah. What are you doing to keep that culture on the same and everybody going in the same Well,.

Curtis

08:14 - 10:32

that that comes back to the cadence. The week we we we meet together weekly regardless, in desire and repetition.

And if it goes back to the core aspect of moving a team forward. Right? Because that's what a team is supposed to do.

It's supposed to execute on an objective. And using the football analogy, if I want to get the next play five yards down the field, I need that team functioning together and playing their positions exactly the way the play says.

This is the communication so we can execute properly. Right? And so when you have a a a goal, right, which I don't wanna overexpend on this, but we set goals for our employees and we set expectations for ourselves.

I do not set goals for my leadership team. We are supposed to be the the the mature ones in the group.

We're supposed to be the leadership. And so to set a goal for a leader says the word try.

Right? Why would I try to do something I have 100% control of? I expect it. Right? And this in our accountability model.

So when we when we do desire and repetition, it is expected that you do these things. Right? And and and when you execute one play and you score the five yards and you execute another and you score a touchdown, then you win one game and now you won five games in a row.

That team's energy starts to understand that that model really moves them down the field, and that replaces, the difference between a 20 year old and a a more senior, team leader that displaces if I'm at home or if you're in the office and things, because we're working for a common expectation. Now when we push outside of the leadership team, we do translate that into goals because now we're working with a much larger workforce.

Right? And we are going to try to do these things, and that's where intent over outcome comes in and things like that. As long as we're pushing that and pushing that model, sometimes it takes a little bit longer depending on the department, depending on what's going on in that department, things like that.

But, ultimately, as those expectations translate into goals, we're able to move the ball down the field. And and that is what links a team together.

And when you win together, you grow together, you communicate, you got better synergy, and you have each other's backs. And that creates a synergy that really is the defining point of a culture because it trickles down.

Chris

10:32 - 10:41

You know, when you talk about, you know, what part of the culture shift you're most proud of and how you're making sure it lasts beyond your time, what what is that for you?

Curtis

10:41 - 11:53

Building things is what I love. Right? I'm not really a big fan of day to day grinds, and that's not what, you know, that's not what drives me, building things.

And there are points, and I've reached this several times in my career where, I almost get bored. Right? Because I built such a great team that my escalation tree has dropped down because they handle everything.

They're not telling on each other. You know, they're not reporting everything.

Everything is handled in a very professional way. And so when I start to see that curve, kinda kick in to where it's freeing up my time, you know, once again, I did not inherit a great function of business, and I put in a lot of time and a lot of effort for a period of time.

And when that starts to curve back and the team really has it under control, it's one of the best points I see because then I get to work on much bigger picture items, right, and really drive your revenue or bigger acquisitions or moving things in instead of kind of managing the day to day. And so fully developing the team and seeing them thrive and score their own touchdowns, it almost be like if, you were a coach for NFL team and that they start and they start to call in their own plays and winning.

Chris

11:53 - 11:59

What advice would you would you tell leaders just in general when it comes to building to kinda end this this episode?

Curtis

11:59 - 14:13

The best advice, I could give is to remember what they're there for. And, you know, in short, I'm paid to make decisions that, you know, I don't know everything and I use my team to make decisions and I use information to make those decisions.

But to be very distinct in your decisions and to to be very, make sure that you communicate them very well. And if you do that, you usually get the support.

If you make decisions in a vacuum and not involve your team, you're missing out on empowerment. You're missing out on, the knowledge of of them being, you know, in sync with you and everything else.

And so I use a simple model called SARA, right, which is, if you're dealing with a large group of people and you make a change, you're gonna get four emotional reactions, shock, anger, resistance, and acceptance. Right? You look at this model, if I make decisions in a vacuum and then they hear about it via an email and they all hear about the same time, there's your shock.

Right? And then they're gonna move into anger and then a little bit of resistance. And after time, you'll, you know, you're in power and you'll do the things.

So you're gonna get accepted. So I've always questioned, how do you get to acceptance faster, which is the function of your team is you involve your senior leadership in your decision making process before you make it.

Let them know where you're at, get their feedback, get their input. So now when it comes out, they already knew about it.

There's no shock to be had because they were the process. Yeah.

There's no anger to be had. There's no resistance to be had.

So right off the bat, the senior leadership group accepts it. And then, therefore, as it trickles through the business, you have less of the shock and your resistance, and you have more acceptance.

And they're also able to tell the story and the process of how you came to that decision. Right? If you don't have the that level of advocacy by involving them, you don't have empowerment, and then you don't have them kind of parroting your words, if you will, because they'll just say, I don't know.

Curtis made that decision. And that's why, you know, kinda going back to put your ego to the side, put your title to the side, walk with them shoulder to shoulder, only use your authority when it's necessary.

And other than that, you know, build your team and and involve your team and empower your team and work with them, and they will do the rest. So that's the advice I would.

Chris

14:13 - 14:18

Dude, that's that's the mic drop right there, man. Alright.

Yes. I agree.

That's awesome.