Balancing Vision and Execution for a Thriving Digital Agency with Scott Goodrich

Unlock the secrets to entrepreneurial success with Scott Goodrich, a seasoned business coach with a remarkable journey from mowing lawns to leadership roles at Capital One. Scott's philosophy of servant leadership and his transition into coaching reveal the power of nurturing talent and creating opportunities for others. Our conversation with Scott offers an inspiring look at the human side of business, where fostering growth in others leads to our own success.

Explore the transformative framework of the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) as we discuss the symbiotic relationship between visionaries and integrators. Learn how these roles work together to scale businesses effectively, balancing innovation with smooth execution. This episode serves as a playbook for leveraging strengths, delegating wisely, and building a team to elevate your vision

Delve into the personal side of the entrepreneurial journey, focusing on sustainability and celebrating wins. Shift from a 'gap' mindset to recognizing 'gain' for a positive outlook and sustained growth. Scott shares wisdom on maintaining work-life balance through strategic delegation, and we offer tools for success including mentorship, peer support, and systematic business operations. Join us for a masterclass in business growth and leadership development.

Connect with Scott Goodrich on LinkedIn at ScottGoodrich-EOS and explore his profile on the EOS Worldwide website. For more entrepreneurial stories and insights, check out his podcast, "Grow your Damn Business."

Transcript

Dr. William Attaway: 0:00

I'm so excited today to have Scott Goodrich on the podcast. Scott has an entrepreneurial spirit that has been burning since his teenage years, when he built a lawn mowing service and managed multiple paper routes. A business owner in training After graduating college, Scott had a successful career as a sales and operations executive, but his desire to be a business owner was never far from his heart. Seven years ago, he and his wife, Jen, took the plunge and started their own business. Like many others, they spent all their time on the struggle bus, dealing with cash flow issues, trying to make payroll and handling staffing issues. Ultimately, they persevered and learned some incredibly valuable lessons along the way, and now Scott is dedicated to helping others avoid the pitfalls that he faced, fulfilling his purpose as a coach, helping owners and teams to achieve their dreams. When he's not guiding businesses toward success, Scott can be found hitting the gym on the the golf course or racking up miles on his Peloton. Scott, I'm so glad you're here. Thanks for being on the show William.

Scott Goodrich: 1:09

thanks so much for the intro. It sounded so good. I wish I'd written it myself.

Intro/Outro: 1:19

Welcome to Catalytic Leadership, the podcast designed to help leaders intentionally grow and thrive. Here is your host author and leadership and executive coach, dr William Attaway.

Scott Goodrich: 1:36

You know, william, when you read that intro, what I hear is well, that's an old guy. You hear the word paper route. You're what? Paper route, what's that?

Intro/Outro: 1:47

what's a paper?

Scott Goodrich: 1:49

we just we just skewed the audience to to the over 50 set, but it's right like that and we're fine with that, right, we're fine hey, I'm proud of it.

Scott Goodrich: 2:00

It was. I was living in the in the countryside in connecticut, so it wasn't just the room at the end of the driveway, it was up the hill. Drop it at the door. Down the hill, up the hill, that was the route. A lot of bike miles. I guess that's where the Peloton comes from. I did a lot of bike miles as a kid doing the paper route.

Dr. William Attaway: 2:17

You never skipped leg day. That's right, Scott. I would love for you to share some of your story with our listeners. I hit some of the hot points, but I'd love to hear more about your journey and particularly your development as a leader.

Scott Goodrich: 2:33

Yeah, it's interesting with that one because I serve as a business coach now and you'll say, well, I had to get from there to what you're doing. Before it was really leading these large operations for some companies that you've heard of. I worked for Capital One, for example, for a long period of time leading some big operations there, helping drive execution, delivering on the customer-facing aspect of the business, either in bringing on new credit card customers or working with customers on the customer service side. So, and doing that across the globe. And the one thing I pulled from all of that was this desire I've always had is to coach and teach and help others. And so when you say leading others, it really comes from that.

Scott Goodrich: 3:15

And I can point to a bunch of different examples over the course of my time where I really made great connections with some individuals and help them achieve what they wanted to achieve, whether that was a promotion or even maybe it was leaving the company they were in and moving on to something else to achieve that in their life. But just creating that environment, that platform for folks to shine, and taking some of my own experiences and applying them there. And taking some of my own experiences and applying them there. But every time I look back at, okay, I had this job, doing this thing, but it was those opportunities to connect with others and give them the space to grow, which is the stuff that sticks with you for such a long time. That's the stuff that I remember up to.

Scott Goodrich: 3:59

I just had lunch this week with someone that I worked with seven years ago. She and I worked together for a bunch of years at a company, but we just stayed in touch even past that time and she's actually stayed with that company. I moved along. We just, you know, those are the type of things that you just remember for your life, as opposed to just working with a group of others and then when you leave, you leave. Try not to do that and to keep those things going forward.

Dr. William Attaway: 4:22

I love the other centric part of that, what you just shared. You know the the focus on other people, how you can add value, how you can build them up. I think that is such a large part of what effective what I call catalytic leadership really is. You know, it's it's leadership that makes a difference. It's focused on benefiting other people and it feels like that's that's so much a part of who you are.

Scott Goodrich: 4:47

Yeah, and you know I think it comes from, I coached some basketball very early on. I did a little bit while I was in college and then right, right afterwards, and to me there was nothing better than spending some time during a practice, or sometimes even after a practice, working one on one with a player and saying, saying, you know, let's, how could we incorporate this into your game? Or let me, let me show you this, can, can use this. Yeah, so many different aspects to play in any sport and and it was, it was great then to see that happen. Right, you see, okay, we worked on this.

Scott Goodrich: 5:15

Then it, then it occurs, and like there's no difference in business or owning your own business, like when you can share with someone and then they actually can then execute right in the moment, in the field, on the playing field or even, you know, in the day to day business. Right, you've got to come from it there. So, whether you call that servant leadership or help first, or, you know, leading from the heart, inverting the pyramid I don't know, there's a lot of terms for it Right, you probably, you know, talk to folks and come from all, but you've got to be in that space if you want to do. Well, one of the things they used to say to new leaders they could have said to me, and it's always hit and it just resonated. I remember this day and this was my first job in the corporate world, leading others. I went from being a salesperson to being a sales manager. The guy doing this training said I'm going to look at you, I'm going to go, poof. I said what's that? He goes, that's your ego, it's gone.

Scott Goodrich: 6:12

You can't lead with an ego and it was like that I mean I could tell. I mean that was like I was 23 or 24 and that happened, like I remember it to this day because it's so true, right, like that that was not going to serve me. What served me? Well, you know, going sales and you know get an award or top sales guy or commission check, whatever you know, you can see. You know in sales, particularly when you're younger, a little bit more selfish motivation there and moving that leadership role. You don't do it for the money, right, you do it for something greater than yourself. And poof, there goes the ego. Lead with your heart, that's that's fascinating.

Dr. William Attaway: 6:49

I love that and I think you're spot on. You absolutely cannot lead from a place of ego. That's, that's been my experience and so many of those that I have that I've worked with and coached over the years. Scott you're.

Scott Goodrich: 7:02

You're an EOS implementer.

Dr. William Attaway: 7:07

You help business owners build a solid foundation and a clear vision through that framework. Some listeners may be familiar with EOS, but I imagine some might not be. Can you talk to us about what EOS is and how that can really help a business owner to get a grip on what they're doing with their business?

Scott Goodrich: 7:23

EOS is short for the Entrepreneurial Operating System. I always hesitate. You say the word system and it is not a software. This is about really getting all of the human beings that are in your organization rowing in the same direction and executing against a vision that you set out. So the system are the tools and the techniques, the practices, the discipline to make that happen. So all of the credit for this dates back to a book written by Gina Wickman.

Scott Goodrich: 7:51

The book is called Traction, and if you own a small business whether it's just you, you and your buddy, you and your wife, you and your friend, or you've got a business of 25, 30 people that you want to grow, if you haven't picked up the book Traction, well, you've missed something, because within that book are these tools and techniques that we then teach to business owners. But I guarantee you that if you grab that book and read it, you're going to grab something that you can put into practice right away. It's just chock full of nuggets that, oh, that makes sense. I should just do that right. And then what we try to work with our clients around is the discipline to stick with it. So it's called traction for a reason.

Scott Goodrich: 8:29

It's about getting traction, getting your arms around your business, all business owners. They have an idea, they have a product or a service that's fulfilling a gap. They've seen something that's not working, seen something they can do better, or they just have a true passion on what they're trying to bring to market. Yeah, so that's the vision, that's the idea, and so we want to make sure that vision is really clear to you and everyone else in the company. And then you have the traction to execute against it. And then, third, and probably most importantly, that you've built a healthy, cohesive team. Third, and probably most importantly, that you've built a healthy, cohesive team.

Scott Goodrich: 9:05

So when we talk about EOS, we talk about delivering vision, traction and health to your team, and it's outlined through the book and some of the components that we work with our teams in delivering. So just really great stuff. And it's something I've been doing all my life. I didn't always call it traction, I didn't always call it EOS, but as you read the book it's like oh, I'm doing some of that. Here's how it's all packed together nicely. And that's, I think, is the magic and the simplicity in EOS is the packaging and how it all feeds together very nicely.

Dr. William Attaway: 9:34

I love that. I'm a systems guy, right. I think that systems are how you get predictable, repeatable success. And so often people are. They push against that idea. They push against systems. They're like I just I'd rather wing it you ever encounter that.

Intro/Outro: 9:52

Like. What do you say?

Scott Goodrich: 9:52

to somebody who's like that, yeah, I mean the entrepreneurial spirit is a little bit of that, that emotion and gut instinct which has served. We call them visionaries but founders. So well, right, that's right, I know this is going to work. I have such belief in myself and my instinct is saying go, do right. And they follow that instinct and it's fantastic because there are others that don't have that instinct that that admire those.

Scott Goodrich: 10:17

Right, I mean the, the vision behind apple, to probably use the best example, that's a steve jobs vision, but you, you had to have the execution just to make a go of it. Right and to all the current in the world. Not everyone's going to be the creative mind behind Apple and all the wonderful products that many of us use today, but it's how you're going to get that into something that is something that is sustainable, that is consistent and then scalable, and that's the system here. And I approach things from that execution side as well. So you said you're a systems guy, I'm a process guy, I'm the get stuff done guy and have that for a long time. I don't necessarily always have that vision, but we teach that you've got to have both those two parts in an organization to really make it go.

Scott Goodrich: 11:01

So the words that we use in EOS are visionary, founder, idea guy or gal, and then integrator. And the integrator is the glue person, the one that holds everything together, and those two pieces need to work very well together, be very complementary, almost a yin and a yang, so to speak. And when those two things are working together, we actually call that rocket fuel. It's what fuels companies. When you bring those two powerful entities, those two bodies together, you can really have your organization take off, and we spend lots of time talking with companies around. What do you have in place? What do you need to really create that rocket fuel in your business?

Dr. William Attaway: 11:42

That's the visionary or founder and integrator operator. Do they usually get along like peas and carrots? I mean, is that usually just smooth sailing for both parts?

Scott Goodrich: 11:54

No, not normally, frankly, and it's hard to find. There's this data out there, william, and I've heard it in two different ways that there's roughly four visionaries for every integrator. So there's many more idea people than execution people, because the execution is hard. Right, that's the tough job, that's the. I'm going to hold everyone accountable. I'm going to mind the budget. No, visionary, you can't go start two other companies or two other ideas while we're trying to build this company Right when the visionary has got these ideas. Typically, our integrators are the ones that hold folks accountable, have the tough conversations, hire and fire the people, and that's a tough work, and those that do it well are to be credited. So I don't know what the percentages are and how often they get together like peas and carrots, because sometimes they can be oil and water. That's not rocket fuel.

Scott Goodrich: 12:49

But when the visionary can find the right integrator, that's when it can really happen. And there's lots of great resources for visionaries out there to look at that. Whether it's a full-time person, part-time person, whatever, there's a lot of resources for business founders and owners to find their right person right, their right guy or gal, to make the business go forward. But the truly great companies have both. Truly great companies have both.

Intro/Outro: 13:18

That's really good.

Dr. William Attaway: 13:20

You know, when a founder hears you talk about systems and processes and repeatable results and that type of structure, they feel like, oh, you're trying to put me into a cookie cutter framework, You're trying to make me like everybody else. I've got my own secret sauce. I've got my way of doing things right. I've got my unique ability of doing things right. I've got my unique ability. How do you integrate that EOS framework that is so important, so critical for success, into a mindset like that?

Scott Goodrich: 13:56

Well, in many ways, you're going to be who you're going to be, william, and so that's why we think it's so critical to have the roles separate. There are a few unicorns out there who have the mindset where they can both dream big and come up with the next few ideas, but also have the discipline to dot the I's and cross the T's when it comes to running a business. They do exist out there. We do describe. There's a continuum there. We actually offer an assessment for free. Anyone can take it. Am I more visionary? Am I more integrator? And you can have little elements of both, but you can just see where you're on that scale zero to 100.

Scott Goodrich: 14:33

So my visionary part of me is like in the mid-40s, but my integrator part of me is in the mid-80s. These are the things that I prefer to do. So you used a great term there unique ability. I prefer to do. So. You used a great term there unique ability. You've got it right.

Scott Goodrich: 14:47

You need to determine what are the things that I really like to do and what are the things that I'm really good at, and we just use a simple four box. Once again, it's a simple tool, but a simple four box. Exercise two by two, what I like to do, what don't I like to do, what am I good at, what am I not very good at, and take all the activities that you do, no matter your job, right. So let's talk about the visionary, all the things that that visionary likes to do. Well, let's just give you the opportunity to do as many of those things for most of your day, and that's allows you to delegate to that superpower that unique ability. And then you bring in others, because the beautiful thing is the stuff that you don't like to do and are not very good at.

Scott Goodrich: 15:26

That's someone else's superpower yeah yeah, right, find that, find that piece to. To do that and oftentimes easier said than done because delegations are and I don't like to let go of things but but when you can really get into that space and be of the mind that I've got to stay focused on the things that I'm really good at, right, so I can do a little visionary work. So in the business that I own with my wife, she's actually further along the integrator continuum than I am, so she actually plays the role I have to slide into, the visionary role, but it allows me to give her that complimentary piece. If I try to, she tries to integrate. We got problems because she's better at it than I am right. So I slide over there and provide that for her. But most often I'm going to be, I'm going to be that execution side side of things. So for the vision that you're saying, that the key thing is to recognize this is what I like to do, this point I want to get out and that's actually how you move forward in business.

Scott Goodrich: 16:22

There's a couple great books written by dr benjamin hardy with, uh, um, I'm thinking dan sullivan. So those two guys have written two great books. The first one is who, not how, knowing who should be doing what right. So it's about the who's in business, not the house. Right, let the, let those people do it. And the other one is 10x is easier than 2x and the the 10x book speaks to the very ideas. You need to keep elevating your game, knocking down stuff that you're no good at, think higher and higher, particularly as a visionary, and stay focused on the things, and that's how you not worry about incremental growth in your business, but you actually 10x your business by continuing to get rid of all the stuff that's no good and go higher and higher in your thinking and your approach, very complementary to what we try to teach within the EOS framework.

Intro/Outro: 17:09

That's so helpful.

Dr. William Attaway: 17:10

And in some ways it's counterintuitive really for a lot of the people that I've worked with, For them to hear that they're like what do you mean? Is that really for real? I mean, there's a sense. People look at somebody like you and they're like oh yeah, you've got this. You understand all this. You know I bet your business. Since you started knowing all this, it's just been straight up and to the right.

Scott Goodrich: 17:32

You haven't hit any ceilings at all. That would be a fallacy, right, because every business grows and fits and starts. Every business looks like that EKG, with a bunch of ceilings, peaks and valleys. We actually do have a concept. You get on the right terminology hitting the ceiling. We have this concept. That's in place. It's every business, it's every individual.

Scott Goodrich: 17:53

Think of any journey that you're on oh, I'm going to. I'm looking behind your bookshelf there, william, I'm going to read 50 books this year. I'm going to read a book a week. Well, you're going to have times when you're reading three books a week, and times when you hit a ceiling. Don't want to crack the spine of a book, right, and so, okay, what am I going to do to break through that? Well, we give you some tools to utilize to help you break through a ceiling and then grow a little bit and then get to the next ceiling.

Scott Goodrich: 18:20

What we find, though, william, is all too often, when an individual or a small business hits that ceiling, they flatline or, worse yet, the business fails, it falls off because they don't have those tools to overcome, and if the only tool that you have is the blood, sweat and tears that you, as an individual, are putting into it, you're actually increasing your likelihood of not breaking through the ceiling. That's why it's so important to bring others in around you. That's going to allow you to elevate, allow you to 10X, allow you to move up. So, specifically for me, of course I hit ceilings. I hit ceilings in the business.

Scott Goodrich: 19:00

I'm with my wife. I hit ceilings in my coaching practice. I have a podcast. I hit ceilings in the podcast. It's life right, you're training for an event, you're going to run a race, I'm going to hit a ceiling. I got to change my training, do something different, like this is just natural. And as you acknowledge them and then figure out okay, I'm here, what am I going to do differently to break through? That's where you can really see the growth. But you've got to do something different, right? More of the same is not going to be the answer.

Dr. William Attaway: 19:26

So true, so true. You know, scott, you are not the same leader you were five years ago. Yeah, your business needs you to lead at a higher level today and five years from now, that's going to be true even more. What do you do to level up your new leadership game? How do you stay on top of your game and acquire the skills that you're going to need to be the leader that your team, that your company, is going to need? A year, three years, five years from now?

Scott Goodrich: 19:59

Mando, I love this question because, of course, in my own journey, I've hit a few ceilings along the way, but in the last five to seven years, let's call it I have made a commitment to staying on a learning journey and just looking for different resources to challenge the way that I'm thinking, expand my thinking. So a lot of that comes in the shape of books. I'll be the first to admit that at Ritz-Rudson, some fascinating books and not every book is for every person but you can typically grab a few things from each one. That's going to up your game, right. Just stay curious and learning. So so critical. I'm sure, william, you've heard that and I know you believe in that as well, right, yeah, right, so I want to keep doing that. Um, you know, I listened to a few podcasts. I learned from those, right, so I'm always interested. Yeah, right, there's plenty of good sort of awesome sports podcasts. But I also know there's a business podcast like, okay, I'm gonna, I'm gonna challenge the way that I'm thinking here. What's going?

Scott Goodrich: 20:58

on that I need to do differently. So so obviously that is a new, ever-growing medium here. In the last I don't know five, seven years, it's just taken off that that's a great way. If you're not a book reader, you can certainly be a listener. The last piece is something that is really fresh and that's why I'm so happy I asked this question is, I've been thinking and doing some work around mental fitness.

Scott Goodrich: 21:19

So I have spent a lot of time and I you know jokingly put in the put in the bio about being on the pellet side, but it's been a lot of time on physical fitness, right, I think it's really critical. I try to stay active, uh, doing something right to stay active. But the mental fitness has been an area that I have not I've neglected, and I I've spent the last seven weeks going through a program on mental fitness and I'm going to stay committed to it. Uh, beyond that, uh, just kind of re-upped with this organization. It's called positive intelligence and I'm diving deep on the positive intelligence. If you've had any exposure to that, william, it's some powerful stuff, but it really is. Just keep training your brain like you train your body, right.

Scott Goodrich: 21:58

Well, how do you get better at, I don't know, running further. Well, every day you run a little further, you change up your training, or you do some speed work to do some endurance work, I don't know. There's training techniques. Same thing here with mental fitness. So, a couple minutes every day. I'm being very attentive to my mental fitness. What's going on there? What do I need to change? Am I letting my saboteurs is the language of that particular training? Am I letting my saboteurs take over? Am I acknowledging those? And am I doing something to get back into the sage part of my brain, the wise part of my brain that knows everything's okay, and not let the saboteurs take control? And I have certainly been guilty over the course of my life of letting the saboteurs be the dominant in my brain. And right now I'm working on that sage part of my brain and that's been the most eyeopening thing I've done in the last couple of months that I'm pretty committed to sticking with here and continue to work on that mental fitness.

Dr. William Attaway: 22:51

So many things I love about that, scott Truly. I mean the intentionality with which you've approached this, the purpose that you're attacking it with. I love that. You know the mental health, the mindset that we bring as business owners, as leaders, is a big light on the dashboard and, like you, mentioned so often we look at our physical health, we look at our emotional health.

Dr. William Attaway: 23:17

If you're a person of faith, you might look at your spiritual health, but the mental component is one we don't often address and your mindset, I have found your mindset is where you will find success or failure, because of the saboteurs that you mentioned. That is exactly spot on, and so few people understand that that light on the dashboard is truly as or more important than the others that we are so cognizant of so often the value for me was just, it was just being able to label them.

Scott Goodrich: 23:52

Yeah, frankly, yeah, right, just, there's's. There's just, yeah, sure, I just. I mean, there's a book on this. If you want to read the book, there's a, there's a program that we can talk about. But, however you get exposed to it, but sure, sure, god is just, he's done great work and just giving labels to these things that work against you.

Scott Goodrich: 24:11

Once again, there's a quick assessment you can do to find out what are the things that really are most prevalent, and they all show up at some time or another, but there's some dominant ones. I now know exactly what mine are and it's like spot on, and I can see when they're, I can feel and see and understand when they're coming and I can like, okay, yeah, and just acknowledging that and just stopping them. He calls it the hand on the stove for your mind. Yeah, right, we all learn that as kids. Right, and that, once again, his framework, not mine, so I'm borrowing here but his framework, right, yeah, you put your hand on the stove and you can react quickly. Not that you'll never put your hand on the stove or touch something hot, but you've got the reflex to do that burning pan, whatever you want to call it. Well, that's the same thing. Here it's like oh, there's my hyper achiever sabote's. Now you know, I'm not comparing myself to everybody. Oh, hot stove, nope, I understand, I'm better than that.

Scott Goodrich: 24:59

Here's an exercise I can do to get away from that negative. And it's in the moment where you got to practice. That's the mental fitness In the moment. It's easy to reflect on it a couple of days later, or even months later. Oh, back then I should have done this. Good to learn. But the teaching there is the fitness to do it in the moment, react and then, and that the more often you do that, that's the training and then it becomes automatic. It's second nature and that's hard for me. I mean, it's hard for me to do, but there's a lot of value in the, in the process he takes, takes through, and I also like it because it's an operating system, the process he takes through and I also like it because it's an operating system.

Scott Goodrich: 25:36

He's built an operating system. That's right. So, getting back to what we talked about, it's just like oh, all right, I get that.

Scott Goodrich: 25:40

I can follow a system and he's done a great job with the technology and all that. So I'm very passionate about this and my intent is to introduce this to some of my small business clients and help them with that, because obviously, when you're running a small business, with these up and downs and these ceilings you're hit with, you've got to have the mental strength and the mental fitness to understand that that's going to happen. Like, just accept it. Okay, I've hit the ceiling. What are the steps, techniques, tools I'm going to put into play to get beyond this particular ceiling I've hit? So that mental as well as the tools that we can bring. I think it's a great compliment to what I'm trying to bring to my clients.

Dr. William Attaway: 26:18

I love that, you know, if we could go back and talk to Scott when he was 20 years old and you were able to have a conversation and share one thing with that 20-year-old Scott, based on what you know now, what you've learned along the way what would you love to go back and tell yourself?

Scott Goodrich: 26:42

So the first thing I do is just slow down, slow down, just slow down. I mentioned Saboteur of Hyperachiever. My other one is being Restless. So a lot of stuff going on all the time. And yeah, and I'll be the first to admit, did a little chasing through my career. Oh, I have this title. What's the next title? I have this particular raise. What, what's the next raise? Oh, here's this commission. What could be the next commission? Oh, there's a fails ranking sales, sales standings.

Scott Goodrich: 27:10

How do I get to the top of the sales? Right, just kind, just kind of chasing, chasing, chasing, chasing and not celebrating enough along the way? That'd be the first one. Just just blow the heck down, wow. So, and that's that's hard, because life is well lived and had a lot of great things along the way. But you know, appreciating those things, the moment, being a little more present, is something that we all could benefit from, and certainly you're guilty as charged on that. That'd be the first thing.

Scott Goodrich: 27:38

Second thing, actually, a very my passion at 19 and 20, I got away from and ironically, and I don't know if it would have ever happened because I never gave it a chance, but I got away from it and my passion was around sports casting and sports writing and so I did an internship um with some newspapers. Uh, I had a had a couple of of chances with with espn that I missed out on way back when it's 30 something years ago. So this was just at the beginning of it and it's out of interest. It's taken off and I would just wonder if, like, I would have been at the beginning of this explosion in sports media and I'm like, what would happen if I had?

Intro/Outro: 28:17

stayed with it.

Scott Goodrich: 28:18

I have no idea, william. I mean, you don't know, because that's a path not traveled. But I look back and say, hmm, what if I had continued with that passion, because I had done it and loved it and thought that was going to be my life for so long. But a couple of things didn't happen and I turned a corner. I went a different direction, took a different path. No regrets on taking the path. But you look back and say, hmm, I wonder it, wow.

Dr. William Attaway: 28:38

Yeah, the slow down, just slow down. That's fascinating and that's not something I often hear from leaders of your caliber. But I think there's so much wisdom there, because you know, in the high performing, highacity phase that so many founders and entrepreneurs live in, they're not thinking slow down, they're thinking how do I make it faster, how do I run faster, how do I do this better, more efficiently, so that I can be faster, I can get to the results I want faster. It's all about faster. I love what you're saying there.

Scott Goodrich: 29:15

Have you ever heard the phrase slow down to speed up? Yes, yes, right, and so I would say that that would be the takeaway and the advice I'd give that guy way back then, because you can still be that person, right? No one's. I want to make sure it's clear. Right, it's okay to want to achieve things. That's actually great. There is absolutely nothing wrong with it. In fact, have big, crazy goals.

Intro/Outro: 29:43

Yes.

Scott Goodrich: 29:44

Right, but those are wants. Yes, what do you need? That's a much different conversation and that's something that I've just been working on distinguishing as well, cause there have been times when I thought I needed what I just wanted. That's good. Yeah, you don't, you don't. So what is it? What are those things in your, your buckets? And understanding those Cause I think it's great to have a list of what I'd be the first one to say Write down the things that you would like to acquire, the stuff you'd like to get to.

Scott Goodrich: 30:19

Whatever those things are, I want a second house in the beach Great. Put it on a piece of paper, put it in your drawer. When you write it down, it's real Good. Let that be that big goal out there. You don't need it, you don't need that. So the mental fitness comes from making sure, on the need side, you understand that while still embracing what could be done, like that's the slowdown Don't get yourself all spun up around once because you're you're meeting what you need. That's that's what I mean by that, because I still have plenty of things I want to accomplish. But the mindset is you know what's the need there and can I come from a different place in getting there, and I think there's a lot of reading and study and science. That would say that you actually can get all the things that you want, as long as you don't get wrapped up in what all that you need today.

Dr. William Attaway: 31:14

You know, the drive is what distinguishes so many entrepreneurs the successful ones, you know, and that's so important. But the question that I'm asking a lot these days with my clients and with other groups that I speak to is around sustainability Is this a sustainable pace that you're currently running at right? Can you sustain this for the long haul, can you sustain this for the next year? And far too often the answer, when I ask that question, the answer is, well, no, I don't think I can, of course not, and they've never thought the question, they've never asked it, and when I pose it to them it's like oh wow, I mean, is that a concern? You know the sustainable pace among the entrepreneurs that you see, the founders that you see. Do you see that problem as well?

Scott Goodrich: 32:04

Yeah, well, sure. So the reason why folks ever knock on the door we call ourselves implementers, eos implementers, but business coach right, I mean, the reason that folks knock on the door for that is they're realizing that the pace is not sustainable. Or, you know, I created a business because I wanted to work for myself. I wanted to be responsible for my success, right, I don't want to rely on someone else to do it for me. And then there should be some freedom that comes along with the idea of being your own boss. And then what happens is the the inverse of that, exactly what you're talking about. Wait a second, I'm my own boss, but I'm spending 80 hours a week doing this. I never am able to separate from it. I think about it when I'm sleeping, I think about when I'm awake, like it's always happening. I never, never get a chance to to break away from it, and this is not what I thought it was going to be. So we those are actually the 10 people that we want to talk to right, we can help them with that. Right, and get back to what is it that you truly want from this business? What is it that you're doing? There are those few that this is what they want. They're workaholics. They do this, healthy or not, that's just so they're right. But what is that you truly want from this business? And then? Okay, now here are the steps.

Scott Goodrich: 33:15

Here are the things that you're going to have to consider, to take on, and one of the first ones is this idea that we talked about earlier. Is this delegate and elevate. Where is your time best well spent? I know you can do the bookkeeping, right, you are smart enough to do that. Mr or Mrs Business Owner, should you be doing the bookkeeping? Is that the right use of your time? Yes, right? The answer to that, of course, is no, because I'm thinking about the strategy and the business and that All right. Well, should you be the one that has to talk to every client? At the beginning? Of course you are. You're doing it yourself with a small group, but as you grow, maybe not, maybe trust the mothers, hire the right people, and we talk about who do you need to bring on to be complimentary, what should they look like? Defining those really well.

Scott Goodrich: 33:59

Right, we spend most of our time talking about people-related items. Right, what is the right person for your company? Right, and the right person aligns with the culture, the values, what you care about right, that right person is critical. And then, secondly, is what is the right seat? When we say right seat, what is the skill set that's needed to do the work? And you have to have both in every single employee.

Scott Goodrich: 34:27

And so we've got some simple tools to assess right person, good cultural fit, right seat actually can do the work. And we use those tools to help determine what you have today and then what you need for going forward. So the way to realize that I can slow down and not run at 80 miles an hour at a time and maybe back it off to just a nice calm 60 miles an hour right, is to find those right people, right seat to complement what I'm doing and I can build that trust in there. Right who, not how? Right, so who should be doing that? I'm more or less about how they're doing it and trust that's there. So critical component of EOS, and borrowed from Jim Collins, is this right person, right people, right seat conversation, and that is a hard, hard conversation for business owners just because you can do a thing does not mean you should do a thing.

Dr. William Attaway: 35:20

You know, there's a. There's a sticky note I've got on my left monitor here that I see every day and I've got a question that I ask myself all the time Is this the absolute best use of my time right now?

Intro/Outro: 35:33

And so often I find myself responding no, no it's not. Somebody else should be doing that. Somebody else on the team should be doing what.

Dr. William Attaway: 35:40

I'm doing right now. Why have I not handed it to them? But I need that reminder every day, because even as long as I've been doing this and as much as. I tell other people this. I still struggle with it too.

Scott Goodrich: 35:52

Look we're guilty of it, I teach it and that's it. But the Cowboys kids have their shoes, right, that's right. It can happen a little bit from time to time, right, that you don't take care of yourself that way, but you know those that do it and do it well are the businesses that we see that can scale and can continue to grow. Right, there's some great things, actually. Eos had put out some podcasts last year where they were talking to EOS clients who went through this exact same transformation, where they were in their business, in their business, in their business, and going, going, going, running at the speed you're talking about. And once they were able to bring in the framework and the tools associated with EOS, they could then spend all their time on their business and they were being so much more effective with so much less time. And it just changed the entire dynamic, changed their health, changed their mental outlook, like all of the things that run down a business owner right, because it's physical health, mental health, all those things that we talked about earlier. Like that gets run down if you're in your business all the time and it's hard. Look, I have a small business. My wife we talk all about she's in the business a lot, right, and so we look for little wins where we can not have her in the business but working on the business, and every little time, every time you can make even a little bit of a change there, it's that much more free, right, it's just that. And you just kind of build on each one of those decisions that you make, as you're talking about. Ok, I can slide this to someone just a little better suited for it. They like it, it's in their unique ability, like they like it and they're good at it. Like, ok, let me slide that it's, but it's hard, it's hard to let go. I want to acknowledge it for everyone it's hard to let go.

Dr. William Attaway: 37:40

But the sooner you do, the better you'll be so good, you know. You're obviously a continual learner. You've mentioned that a number of times already on the show and you've referenced several books that have made a difference in your journey Traction. You know, 10x is easier than 2x. Who Knew how? I'm curious if there were one book that the people listening, the leaders who are listening, could put on their to-read list, would it be one of those? Or would there be another one that has made a big difference for you?

Scott Goodrich: 38:01

Well, I like them all in reference of all. But just in the spirit of sharing a little bit more, I'll add the third book from Hardy and Sullivan, which is called the Gap in the Game, which is another one. It just talks about the approach that you're taking each and every day of the work that you're doing, since we did talk about this, and when are you operating from a place of gain versus when you're operating from a place of gap? Right, the gap is what I'm missing, what I'm not doing. All of those want things that are driving me. First, the gain, which is the appreciation of what you have achieved, and building on where you've been not trying to. You know where you're going. Right, if you live in the gap you're thinking about, well, I should be here with my business, I should have a $10 million business. Now, why am I only at $5 million? Well, I'm living in the gap, right, but if you're in the gain, say well, my business today is $5 million. Just a couple of years ago, it was $3 million and $10 million is now. Are you there, gap or gain? Once again, it's not a goal, same. It's just about understanding as you approach your day-to-day work, and I'm very much simplifying the work that hardy and selden put together, but but it's get tons of value.

Scott Goodrich: 39:07

Once again, pulled a few simple exercises from that I used. Or each day I'm recording okay, what were the gains I made today, right? I mean, well, I'm sure you thought, yeah, one percent better every day. Compounding makes you a whole lot better by the end of the year. Right, just compound that out there. I don't know what the numbers are, but you know that's compounding one percent better every day.

Scott Goodrich: 39:29

Where you're, you're just gaining a little bit and I just try to track those things like, okay, I may have done it all right today, right, I probably spent some time and some stuff I should now, but I did have some gains. So what did? What are those things that I actually gained and moved the ball a little bit down the field? 1% better today Great. Let me note that I also do cheap track of my wants on that same little journal. So these are the gains. Those wants still stay there. So I still have my long-term things that I want but they're not needs. I don't need those things to still be happy in what I did today and the gains that I can appreciate. So I'll just add the gap in the gain to someone's reading list.

Dr. William Attaway: 40:08

That's really good. Often people will walk away from an episode like this Scott with one big idea.

Scott Goodrich: 40:23

If you could define what you want that one big idea to be, what would that be? If you're a business owner, really think about what you want from your business. What are you looking to get out of your business? Right, just get your mind around that. What are you looking to accomplish there? And if that is not in sight, then it's worth having a conversation.

Scott Goodrich: 40:42

We like to say that every business owner should have three things in place. One they should have a mentor or a coach or someone one-on-one that they can connect with just to bounce ideas off of right. That's not working for them, but it's going to give them some real, honest feedback. So have a coach or a mentor or a friend that you trust. Have a peer group, join a group, form a group, whatever, but have a group of people where you can share those ideas and run your business on a system. I like EOS. We talked about EOS. That's there. There's others.

Scott Goodrich: 41:13

Right, it goes to other podcasts. People talk about other things. Right, they're out there, they all by the thing. Right, they're out there, they're. They all have their, their benefits. I like what, what gino laid out in us. But have an operating system. Have a way you're going to execute. Don't use instinct and emotion to run your business. Have a system so you can execute. So those three things are key. So know what you want and then and then have those three things in place and that's going to help you get what you want.

Dr. William Attaway: 41:37

That's so good. This has been so helpful, Scott. I so appreciate the generosity that you've poured out here in sharing so much of the insights and wisdom that you've learned so far. I know people are going to want to stay connected with you and continue to learn from you. What is the best way for them to do that?

Scott Goodrich: 41:55

I try to get out there on LinkedIn so I'm out there. It's ScottGoodrich-EOS, so hopefully you can find me fairly easy on LinkedIn. On EOS Worldwide, which is the website for EOS, there's actually a little over 700 business coaches working and sharing EOS with companies that are out there. We've got 22,000 companies running on EOS right now with a business coach. You can find me on the EOS Worldwide site just by searching my name, scott Goodrich, so that's a great way to check out. And if you've got an interest in listening to some entrepreneurial stories where they hit ceilings and go backwards and all these overnight success stories that you hear that take a few years to actually occur, those crazy overnight success stories that happened over the course of 10 years, you can find that my podcast is called Grow your Damn Business and that's also check me out there as well. Love that.

Dr. William Attaway: 42:47

Definitely check out Scott's podcast. It is fantastic. Highly recommend it, scott. Again thank you. Thank you for being here today.

Scott Goodrich: 42:56

I appreciate your having me Love. Your show Got introduced to it a while back no-transcript.

Dr. William Attaway: 43:24

First, subscribe to this podcast so you don't miss an episode, and if you find value here, I'd love it if you would rate it and review it. That really does make a difference in helping other people to discover this podcast. Second, if you don't have a copy of my newest book, Catalytic Leadership, I'd love to put a copy in your hands. If you go to catalyticleadershipbookcom, you can get a copy for free. Just pay the shipping so I can get it to you and we'll get one right out.

Dr. William Attaway: 43:54

My goal is to put this into the hands of as many leaders as possible. This book captures principles that I've learned in 20 plus years of coaching leaders in the entrepreneurial space, in business, government, nonprofits, education and the local church. You can also connect with me on LinkedIn to keep up with what I'm currently learning and thinking about. If you're ready to take a next step with a coach to help you intentionally grow and thrive as a leader, I'd be honored to help you. Just go to catalyticleadershipnet to book a call with me. Stay tuned for our next episode next week. Until then, as always, leaders choose to be catalytic.

Intro/Outro: 44:38

Thanks for listening to Catalytic Leadership with Dr William Attaway. Be sure to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts so you don't miss the next episode. Want more? Go to catalyticleadershipnet.