EntreLeadership - #91: Dr. Henry Cloud— 10 Things You'll Never Do Again

Episode Date: February 23, 2015

This is an episode you don't want to miss! We're talking with two of the top leadership experts in the country. Psychologist and best-selling author Dr. Henry Cloud joins us to outline 10 common life patterns that sabotage success and the concrete steps you can take to overcome them. And John G. Miller, author of QBQ, stops by to talk about personal accountability. http://www.entreleadership.com/podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Charismatic, passionate, as integrity, humble, servant, faithful, inspiring, persevering, positive, flexible, driven. This is who we are that call ourselves leaders. Helping business leaders grow themselves, their team, and their profits. This is the Entree Leadership podcast. Now, here is your host, Ken Coleman. Coming to you from the Icy Music City, this is the podcast of Leaders, By Leaders, and Four Leaders. I'm Ken, thrilled to have you men and women who are leading well hanging out with us today. A great episode. In fact, it's so chalk full. We're going to get right to it in just a matter of moments, but a quick preview for you.

Two conversations that we're going to feature today, both bestselling authors. First up will be Dr. Henry Cloud, who is a mega bestseller. We're going to talk about his new book, Never Go Back, Ten Things You'll Never Do Again. And then we think this fits beautifully. Our good friend John Miller, the author of Cuba, BQ, the question behind the question. It's all about accountability. And if you're going to keep going forward and never go backwards, as Dr. Cloud suggests, accountability is a huge part of that. And of course, as always, we're going to give you some bonus content from both of those conversations because they were so good. We just want to give you more on our website. I'll tell you more about that. And we give away 50 of Dr. Cloud's book. So that's all coming up.

And it is going to be a wonderful episode. So get out your mole skin. No. book, something to write with, you're going to learn. All right, before we get into our feature conversation, let's get on the line with Infusion Soft CEO, Clayte, for our business success tip. Clay, how you doing, man? Doing great, Ken. Great to be with you. Okay, last time we talked, we talked about how busy entrepreneurs can maintain that

personal relationship with customers. So now let's talk about some of the things that keep small businesses from actually reaching their potential. Yeah, I love this. And it's funny because a lot of times we think, well, of course, everybody wants to grow their business. The funny thing is so many business owners' activities would demonstrate that they don't really want to grow the business. And here's what I mean. Typically, you see business owners and they say, you know, I want to grow the business, but they don't want to grow individually.

They don't want to become the leader that has to manage people, that has to set the vision, that has to set the tone. Well, if they don't do it, they're not going to be able to grow. grow the business. So if you don't want to grow personally, you won't grow your business. That's the first thing. The second thing is a lot of times small business owners, they'll rely on referrals and repeat business exclusively. And while that's a great way to grow a business, if the business owner is not intentionally investing in sales and marketing and putting a budget to it, the growth will be very slow and may not be enough to keep pace with competitors, then third, a lot of times we think, well, you know, I'll just figure it out as I go. They don't take the time to actually intention

create, plan, build the future that they're up to. And that's an act that will always pay off, but frequently business owners don't do that planning and intentional growth work. And then finally, they do everything manually. They spend a lot of their own precious time and a lot of employee time doing things manually instead of automating as much as they possibly can. So those are the things that typically hold back small businesses from growing the way that they could. All right, Clay.

Why should men and women who are listening right now running businesses, why do they need to call, learn more, and engage with InfusionSoft? We are all about helping small businesses succeed. That's all we do. It's what drives us. It's why we exist. With our sales and marketing software, we help business owners get organized, grow sales, and save time so they can have the business and the life they want. All right, folks, very simple to connect with InfusionSoft and Clay's very talented team. go to infusionsoft.com slash entree. That's infusionsoft.com slash entree.

Clayt, we're always better for talking to you, man. Stay out of trouble and we will talk with you very soon. All right. Thanks, Ken. Well, we want to thank Infusionsoft and Clayt Mask again. Remember the URL, infusionsoft.com slash entree is where you go to get your free copy of their small business icon playbook.

It's got case studies, campaigns from their top performing customers. This is normally a $399 value in all they want you to do, and we want you to take advantage of this. Just provide your email, again, infusionsoft.com slash entree. All right, our feature conversation is with the good doctor, Henry Cloud. Really privileged to get to know this man, extremely bright. And this conversation around his book, never go back, 10 things you'll never do again. This, I believe, will set you free. Let's get right to it.

Here is Dr. Henry Cloud. Well, it's always fun to have Henry Cloud with us here. You're a longtime friend of Dave's and our company, and so here you are hanging out in the studio. You're with us at the Smart Conference this last spring in Dallas. You'll be with us in your hometown, L.A. and late November. I know you guys are coming out. You know, the world is tilted, and all the nuts rolled to California. So eventually, I knew we'd get you there.

That's exactly right. Well, it's always great to have you with us. And I'm excited because I've talked to you at least five or six. six times in interviews for previous medium opportunities. But this new book that you released this summer, never go back. Ten Things You'll Never Do Again. That's a really encouraging title, you know. Because you look at that, you go, okay, because I think we instantly identify with that.

I mean, that could just mean so many different things. But before we dive into some of my favorite chapters in the book, just give us the summary about how this book came about and why you wrote this particular book. Well, it's interesting. I started to notice something that when you look at really successful people and people that aren't doing as well, you know, in the main areas of life, when you compare those two groups, there's not a lot of difference in the two groups in IQ and in talent and in their educational backgrounds or not. The groups are pretty much the same in that way. But there are some things that are really different. And one of them is, you know, they all make mistakes, but one of the big differences is that the ones that become successful, they go through these awakenings, and there's these doorways they walk through. And once they go through that doorway, they never go back to doing it the old way. And they recognize some key patterns. And so what I started to do was I said, I'm going to just watch these. And so for probably six or seven years, highly successful people, I watched, what are the patterns that they get it and they change and they never go back?

and these 10 are big differences in really successful people and those that aren't. And what I love about this book, and you tell us this right at the top of the book, that, hey, listen, this book has got some science in it. It's got some personal observation, some personal experience, and it's some biblical truth. And so this is a book for anybody. I'm going to highlight a couple chapters that really, I think, speak to me and I think will be great for our listeners to dive into. So you actually read it. I did, actually.

That's impressive. I finished it on the plane back this morning. You know, I can't tell you how many interviews I do. And people, it's like, yeah. They're doing talking points. And Henry will attest there are no talking points in front of me. There are no talking points. And I've got the table of contents here.

So I want to start with Chapter 2. And now again, folks, I want you to run, go get the book. Okay. Every chapter title, never again. And then he goes into the 10 things. And so Chapter 2, never again do anything that requires you to be someone you're not. And this just hits us all. I don't care if you're 25 or 65.

there's a temptation to, I guess, bend to some type of peer pressure or some type of maybe internal pressure. Talk about this, never again, trying to be somebody that we're not. Well, you know, there's so much research out on this. I mean, if you just go, even to the Gallup stuff and the Strength Finders, you know what? They did all this research and they found out something really important that if you do something you're good at, you'll do better. That's right. Yeah, simple theory. Who funded that piece?

Yeah, right. And we ought to know this. But what happens is sometimes family pressure. Maybe you're more creative, but culture you grew up with is more, you know, finances, higher esteemed or something. There's 80 million ways in which this works. But the reality is that we know from science and we know from the scriptures that everybody is wired in individual ways with individual makeups and individual strength. that everybody is wired in individual ways with individual makeups and individual strengths and individual talents and leanings.

And what we've got to make sure that we're doing in life is making sure that we're not, for some reason that we think is important to us, agreeing to do something that's going to require me to be somebody that I'm fundamentally not over the long haul. Now, we all have to do that in short term, you know. Oh, sure. If we're having a dinner party at our house, I might have to, you know, cook something. But if I'd do that long term, I'd be in trouble. And it's just not sustainable.

It's not fulfilling. And thirdly, it's not where you're going to be where you're best performance is. And so I think that everybody should be on a path of trying to figure out how am I wired up and where will I really sore in doing something that's in concert with my makeup? If you were an accountant, what would happen? If you remind, I get out of to go out of business. I would pull my hair out. There you go.

But I would get on a plane and do an interview with you anytime. Thank you. Well, that's exactly right. And I would say this, too, that I know a lot of people listening, that they do have passions and things that they're cut out to do. and they end up sometimes in work having to do something that's not fully them, but when you find that, and they're doing it for transcendent reasons that are truly who they are,

like they're putting their kid through school or they're, you know, raising a family or whatever it is, that they're still aligned with who they are in that sense, and that is sustainable for a while. But birds are made to fly and, you know, horses are made to run, and you can't teach a pig to sing. That's right. The music is bad and it frustrates the pig.

It's so true. Well, I would just stay here for a second because you bring up a very good point. Obviously, we're talking about streaks. But then there's a bunch of people, Henry, who take forever to realize that I can be passionate about something but not be good at it.

For instance, using the example, a pig can enjoy music but not be able to sing. For instance, I love the game of basketball. I'm super passionate about it. But the other day, I'm a 5'9 white guy who can't jump very high. So high school was pretty much, that was it for me. I can be passionate about something that I'm not good at it. So we've got to understand how can I partake of that as opposed to be a professional at it. Speak to that too, because that's a lot of confusion in a lot of

people's minds. I love it. Well, think about this. What if you're passionate about basketball and you're a finance guy? Right. Right. Yeah. So try to find something in the sports field where you're around your passion all the time, but you're doing what you're made to do, don't go try to be the head coach. That's exactly right. I'll tell you another big place we see people screw this up, and I'm going to talk to some people right now,

and I'm going to save your life. All right, you're ready for this? This is huge, folks. There are so many people out there that are incredible, number two or number three people. They're great operators. They execute well, all of that. And one day it hits them,

why am I doing this for somebody else? Right. And which is fine. A lot of entrepreneurs realize that it is in their makeup to go be the one that starts it and builds it and has to take ultimate, you know, CEO role in it. But there are a lot of people. They are the most amazing number two. And they really need to realize I'm not really wired to go start my own. That's right.

And they make that, they make that mistake all the time. Oh, it's so true. And then there's other people. Flip side of it is they you really are wired to be your own and you should step out there and do it But fear's holding you back. That's exactly right. There's this there's this fine gradient between wisdom and fear. Yeah. Well, the key takeaway is we really got to be brutally honest with ourselves and if we can't be get some people in your life folks who will be brutally honest with you. Exactly. And I would join those two that I don't think we can be brutally honest without people tell us. That's a great point. Because we are subjective. Everything we know.

everything we know about assessment and all we you're right we just don't that's a good point yeah i got a funny story about that you got okay good yeah some some some some some women in my office were doing weight watchers one time this number of years ago and i'm not being sexist this is demographically true yeah it was a bunch of women that was doing it and so so i walk in i go tell me about this deal and they they go well you know you get a certain number of points a day for your weight and your exercise and all this and i said so how many points am i supposed to do i I think it's like 25 points. Yeah, 25.

All the Weight Watchers, people just freaked out, yeah. 25 points. So, and, you know, like a donut is three or something like that. So I said, well, let's see how I did yesterday. All right. So we started counting up my day before. I said, I was probably about 25. That sounds about right.

83 points. Oh, the day before. Hello. You start counting yourself in any, you do a time audit of how you spend your time. Let other people tell you how many points. They're watching you wolf down. That's right. you're going to really you know we are subjective boy that's true that's good stuff chapter four never again

believe that you can please everyone and when i saw that chapter in red it i was reminded of the famous lincoln statement that sets this up so beautifully lincoln said you can please some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time but you can't please all of the people all of the time yeah why is it such a freeing truth it is a freeing truth because it is a freeing truth because It finally gets you to focus on the only thing that you can do, and that's making the right decision, and get your focus off of what you can't do, which is keep everybody happy. And, you know, this is a double bind the human race is in from birth. If you look at how we're wired, it's not true that people shouldn't have power over you and how you feel.

We're wired for that. You take a baby and video this. You can go probably YouTube this. and their caretaker mom or dad or somebody smiles at them and is happy, and the baby's just whole body goes on fire. I mean, just lights up and wants to join life and get motivated. And then they frown at them and they start to withdraw. Well, we're wired through actually neurologically to mirror those moods

and to be encouraged by people and people happy with us. So we have this drive. Now, the problem is now we live in an imperfect world. where there's good people and bad people, there's people that are for us and people that are for themselves. So think about this. If I'm going to make everybody happy, then included in that group are self-centered control freaks that only want me to do what's good for them, or they don't care about my values and they want me to step across the line. And so if I say no for good reason, they're going to be displeased with me.

So by definition, I've got to go dark or go out on the wrong trail or do something that's not good for me to keep everybody happy. So here's what I like to change it to. Don't worry about making some people upset, but make sure that you're making the right people upset. Control freaks, irresponsibles, self-centered people, people that don't take your values into consideration. you are going to upset them if you live the life that's going to work and is good and is right. And it's just true. I remember I did a leadership event with Tony Blair one time, and he told me, he said, you know, my life became so much better and easier and more effective when I realized one truth,

and that truth is every decision divides. You're in a car of four people, and y'all got to decide where you're going to lunch. Some people want to go, hey, somebody's going to make a decision. That's going to divide the crowd. Now, hopefully they love each other and accept that. But every decision divides. Absolutely correct. And once you realize that, then you can start focusing on what's right and what's loving and what's good stewardship and all that.

And, you know, we talked earlier about I got a lot of science in here and some quotes from the scriptures. And we say you can't please everybody. Well, Jesus went further than that. He said, woe to you. You're in big trouble if everyone is pleased with you. Because that means you're at least two people and maybe more. That's right. And you're making some bad people satisfied.

And that ain't good. Boy, that is good. That's rich. Chapter 9, never again, fail to ask why you are where you are. This is my favorite chapter. You know, I'm a question nerd. I think people don't ask the right questions on a daily basis. and this question right here is an absolute must for everybody.

Successful or not. Why am I where I am? Even if things are going great, we need to look at that and assess. What a great assessment tool that question is. Tell us a little bit about your thoughts here. Well, you know, it's interesting. We always look at our circumstances, our opportunities, you know, the next big idea and all this. And what you see a lot of times in people that are stuck are not, not much.

making it is they're in one bad job, one bad relationship, you know, kind of after the other. And there's always a reason, well, that company didn't do this or my boss didn't appreciate my strengths or this, that, and the other. But the common denominator in all those scenarios is you. Now, I understand, don't get me wrong, there are victims in the world. Sure. You know, bad things and bad people do happen to good people. That's right. Okay, that's not what I'm talking about. What I'm talking about is, like, I was doing a group one time. a long time ago, and this woman said, I get it.

I've been married to nine abusive husbands, and I'm not going to do that anymore. And I'll never forget this. This other woman stands up and says, oh, shut up, Mabel. You've been married to one abusive husband with nine different names. Oh, wow. Hello. And so she had to own the fact that, look, she's attracted to the, there's something about her. So you've got to ask yourself, why do I keep getting myself into these situations?

If you're not a victim walking down the street and are mugged, that you had nothing to do with, you know, but we still have to learn maybe that's not a good neighborhood for the next time, right? So we always have to ask, am I playing some part in allowing this? Am I playing some part in not doing my due diligence? Not always. Sometimes you're a true victim. People get taken. But always ask, why am I here? How did I end up here? You know, for leaders, I recently had a leader talk with me, and they were, I didn't know their business, didn't know a whole lot about them. A new friend, and she basically said, I just struggled for the last two or three years finding the right people. I can't get the right people in here. They just don't stay. And I asked her, I said, listen, I know nothing. But have you asked yourself why you have a revolving door? There you go.

And we've got to be careful as leaders, not to blame it all on the people and everything else. And go, wait a second, what am I doing or like you said, allowing or whatever's going on? Yeah, two words. I'm either creating some part of this problem or I'm allowing it to happen. That's good. And so if we ask those two questions, what am I doing to maybe she was creating it by either the way she micromanaged them that they want to leave or the way that she was recruiting. I mean, you know, maybe she'll look outside of her family. That's right.

Trust me. There's a pattern that she needs to dive deep in it is the point. Right. If all your employees have your same last name, that's going to be a small company. Yeah, that's not good. All right, before we let you go real quick, what are you excited about right now? I love to talk to our guests about what they're pumping about and what they're so excited about. One of the things I'm really excited about is, you know, technology.

I'm in the helping people change and helping people grow world. And I just love to see people go from point A to point Z, right? And that's a process. And so there are people that I get to walk through that process with, but then there's a lot of people I'll never meet. And it's so cool now with technology that now I can go into that process with people over time through digital stuff. And so, for example, if you go to my website, Dr.Cloud.com, d-R-C-L-O-U-D dot com. One example is I've got a program up there called Six Weeks to the Next Level. and it's where you and I walk together of figuring out the different steps.

It's going in whatever area of your life, it could be health, relationships, business, goals, sales goals, revenues, numbers, whatever it is. If you're going to move to A to Z, there are some known research-based principles that guide that path. And that's, you know, that's what people can do. And it's just been really fun to be able to see people and track them through that. All right. So the website, one more time for folks. Dr.cloud.com. Very simple. www.

www. Dr.c-L-O-U-D.com. Go check it out, folks. I know you'll be better for that. And then we're excited because coming up May 11 through 14, coming out to the West Coast at the beautiful Omni La Costa in San Diego, you're going to be joining Dave, John Maxwell, Pat Lynchione for our Entree Leadership Summit. When you get asked to speak at so many different things, and I know you've known Dave a long time, but why are you excited? enough to say yes to this. It's not like you need something else on your calendar. Well, let's say four reasons. One of them is I just love Dave Ramsey and everything y'all do

around here. I'm telling you, when I go out there and I'm talking to people and they'll say, oh, I heard you on Dave, I heard Dave say this. And let me tell you my story. And you guys are saving lives. I mean, literally, you are saving marriages. You're saving families. You're saving families. you're saving businesses, you're saving futures, and that's one of my favorite things that you're saving. And so anything Dave does, you know, everybody in my office knows, yeah, whatever, if Dave won't want to, you know, yeah, we'll do it. So that's the first thing. The second thing is, like Pat Lanchone and John Maxwell, they're, you know, longtime friends of mine, and just to get to hang out with all that, all that crew, and the rest of them, too. And so that's part of it.

The third one is, good night, the people that are. are coming are the people that I love to, you know, if you're a sports fan, you like to go watch, watch your favorite teams play. And the people that come to these events or the people that are really out there doing it in making it work. And I just get to be a warrior. I mean, I get to watch these achievers go tackle life and go work out the hard problems. Everybody else is belly aching on the couch. These people are out there doing it. And so that and the content. And then the last thing is, Finally, I don't have to get in on an airplane. You guys are coming out my way.

That's right, man. It's an easy drive. Well, theoretically, I guess there's no easy drives from L.A. to anywhere, right. You do it at 2 in the morning. Okay, good. All right. Well, folks, on behalf of our entire team, I want to tell you that we love Dr. Henry Cloud. Please go to his website, not just for the six-week course, but for his best-selling books to see what he's up to.

It's very simple. Dr.cloud, that's DRCloud.com. And I know that it will make you a better leader and a better person. so please engage him online. Also on Twitter, you know, I'm a big Twitter fan of yours, and I saw this morning before the interview that you were at the Waffle House, which is good, because, you know, went in Rome. And so here you are national.

You had to go clog your arteries. Well, you know, what do I say when Dan picked me up? You said, so, you know, I can take you to breakfast and take you to a nice place. You know, anywhere you want to go, blah, blah. And I said, anywhere, and he said, yeah, I think he's thinking high end, right? Yeah, so the picture on your toilet. Twitter feed was the fried eggs and some three strips of bacon. If I can go anywhere I want to go, let's go to the Wafel.

There you go. Good man. Dr. Henry Cloud is the handle on Twitter at Dr. Henry Cloud. That's DR Henry Cloud. And I'm telling you, he's funny. I tease him about this because he'll go three weeks where he's dark. He's like where he's hanging out with Dick Cheney in the undisclosed location. And then you'll just get on Twitter and you start just rolling out the tweets.

And it's just awesome. So I love it. Well, hey, thanks for being with us. You know, we love you and we appreciate you so much. It's good to be with y'all. Same to you. Good stuff, as always, from Dr. Henry Cloud. He will be with us, by the way, at our smart conference in Dallas, and we've got two other dates we'll announce later.

So that's just kind of an aside, wonderful communicator. And so much good stuff in the conversation, Eric, the producer, carved a little extra content out, and it is at entreeliship.com slash podcast. Specifically, this is a fun question that I asked him. I asked him to tell a story he shared with me about being approached by a network executive, as in television network executive. who was a little confused about his doctor title and the fact that he shared a lot of faith in the book. It's a really interesting answer. And for those of you who would consider yourself non-faith or non-church people, you'll really appreciate this. So go check it out on our website, entreleadership.com slash podcast.

And we have some video footage from our in-studio interview. So that's fun. A little video that gives you behind the scenes, brings you right into the conversation. So that is at entreleadership.com slash podcast as well. Well, I know you're waiting for the 50 book giveaway, so here we go. Very simple to enter. Here's what we want you to do. We just want you to make a comment on Twitter about this podcast with Dr. Henry Cloud. Something he said. Or maybe it's just an appreciative quote. Whatever you want to say, we're leaving it up to you. And all you've got to do is at the end of your statement, comment, quote, whatever you put out there, just use the hashtag conversation that matters.

hashtag conversation that matters. And you are entered to win. Eric the producer will gather the names. And 50 of you, lucky men and women will get Dr. Henry Cloud's book. Never go back. Ten things you'll never do again for free. Well, I promised you that this episode was packed. And it is.

John Miller is best-selling author of QBQ. Hopped on the phone with me recently. And this is just a bit of our conversation. Well, John, it's always good to talk with you. and have you back on the podcast. And I want to dive right into what QBQ is really all about. For people who on this podcast may be new and they didn't hear you recently when we had you on, I would love to have you just outline what QBQ, the question behind the question, is all about.

Absolutely, Ken. I can do that in two words, personal accountability. And the QBQ is simply a tool to help us get there. It did years ago when I was selling them. leadership training, and constantly hearing people ask questions that were externally focused, like, why do we have to go through all this change? When are someone going to train me? Who made the mistake?

That kind of stuff. And I sat there and I thought, you know, there's got to be a better question. Let's call it the question behind the question. So we would take a question like, why do we have to go through all this change and turn it around and ask, what can I do to adapt to the changing world? Who its job right, let's ask, what can I do to help solve the problem? So those better questions, the question behind the questions, those QBQs, they put me on a higher path in life, Ken, and we call it personal accountability. I love it.

And, of course, for our listeners, if you're not aware of this, Dave buys copies of John's book, QBQ, and we all get it when we start here on the Ramsey team. That's how important we think the book and the message is. And, John, it leads me to two myths that you outline in the book, two myths. surrounding accountability. What are those two myths? Yes, the two myths are something that creeps into our mind, especially Ken, if we have worked for a large company, we find that these myths come into our brains and they kind of prevent us from really, under personal accountability is not a team thing. It's a new thing. And it's amazing what happens when the eyes take care of themselves. When I ask, what can I do to help move the team forward, that's far better than hiding behind the team.

Second myth is we think personal accountability is something I hold others to. Send out a note to people who we got back all these emails, Ken, that basically said, oh, thank you, John and Karen. Finally, a book I can use to make my 12-year-old do his homework. No, no, no. Personal accountability is not something I do to my child or do to my employees or do to my friends or my spouse is something I practice first. So personal accountability is not a group thing, and it's not something I hold others to.

It's something I do by asking the QBQs. All right. So, John, I want to pause. What happens when leaders, people working on teams, no matter what the industry is, they are holding themselves accountable, and they are working on them, they are changing them, yet they're working in an unhealthy or dysfunctional team environment. Fundamental lot of QBQ is that can only change me. And the desire to change others is so powerful.

Sometimes we get lost in that. And so when we're in a dysfunctional world, we try to fix it. people. We try to control stuff we can't control. We try to take on things we shouldn't take on. In the beginning, what QBQ is, hey, what can I do to be better today? How can I improve me? What can I do to change me? How can I learn new skills? Not being in denial. If there are problems, and I'm a manager, then I need to speak to my people one-on-one, forthrightly. I need to show honesty and transparency to my people. I need to be direct with them. And then there's a third thing, it's called this, believe or leave. If I'm in an organization where I no longer

believe in this institution, its mission, what it stands for, the products and services, the people I work with, the culture, life is too short. Stay inside an organization that no longer helps me reach my personal goals. So I might need to make a very tough choice and move on, and that's part of personal accountability. So accountability is more than just asking the QBQ, It's also about being direct, working towards solving problems, changing just myself, and possibly making big decisions to move on with my life. So I don't end up being 65 and regretting that I stayed somewhere for 30 years that I didn't. Accountability affects every area of my life. That's good.

John, talk to leaders, entrepreneurs. I want you to step back for a moment and talk about accountability from a leadership position as it relates to the resources of, companies, as you know, small businesses, you know, early on, it's a fight for every dime, and it's so important to manage those resources. How does accountability from the leadership on down help when it comes to money and finances within a business? In this moment, what's the other thing I could do? Well, I can complain, not having the best people. You know, when is HR going to find me better people? What a terrible question by managers. I can fall into all these traps or demonstrating leadership.

I can recognize that modeling is the most powerful of all teachers. So if I'm a quote-unquote leader, it's time for me to set the example by asking QBQs. What can I do to achieve with the resources I already have? How can I reach the goal with the tools and talents I've been given? Because in that moment, there's always another choice. Another choice could be to stand at that water cooler or walk down the hall. complaining with someone, will go home and complain to my family about what the company is doing to me and what they're not giving me.

No, leadership means rising above and asking what can I do to reach the goal with the stuff I already have. Ken, we could go on and on with examples of people and organizations that have reached high levels. The difference was not in the stuff. The difference was in the thinking, the attitude, the way they viewed themselves and their colleagues and their world. They simply paused and said, well, I don't have every tool I need. What can I do to move forward? It's really true that I love saying this, if you don't mind, winners fall forward. It's just that simple.

Winners fall forward. There's nothing magical about what achievers do. There's nothing stupendous and surprising and amazing. It's not complicated. It's not rocket science. They simply keep moving forward with QBQ's personal accountability. How can I contribute today? Great questions.

Well, John, you are a wealth of information. information, tremendous passion, and you're a good friend of the organization, and on behalf of the Entree leadership audience and our entire team, really grateful for your time, your wisdom, and just always being there for us and our team, when we call on you for great wisdom. Well, Ken, I'm proud to call Ken Coleman and do Ramsey friends, so thank you so much for all you've done for us at QBQ Inc. Well, we love John Miller, and you can learn more about John in two ways. First, we want you to go to QBQ.com.

Secondly, we pulled some bonus conversation out of this interview as well. And there's two questions that we teed up for John. We wanted you to hear, how does total accountability help make leading easier? And then I asked him about his other outstanding book, which just happens to be entitled, Outstanding. 47 ways to make your organization exceptional. These are bonus questions. and bonus answers, all at entreleadership.com slash podcast. Well, folks, we are about ready to hit the spring event season here at Entree Leadership.

And that means we're coming very close to what we believe is a unbelievable leadership event. First time we've ever done it, we call it the Summit. You can learn more about it, Entreeleadership.com slash summit. Of course, it is featuring John Maxwell, Dr. Henry Cloud, Rabbi Daniel Lapin, Pat Lencioni, our very own Chris Hogan and Christy Wright, joining Dave Ramsey. It's going to be a great event, Entreleadership.com slash summit out in beautiful Southern California, so go check it out. And if you're listening to this in time and you can make it to our Entree Leadership

one-day events in Houston on March 10th, Dallas, March 13th, Phoenix, March 24th, and Las Vegas, May the 6th, we'd love to have you. You can learn more and get your tickets at Entreeleadership.com. Well, folks, I say it all the time, but I really mean it. We really do appreciate you. You have so many listening options, and it means a lot that you hang out with us. So again, I want to thank Dr. Henry Cloud, John Miller, Clayton Mask, and, of course, Eric, the producer. On behalf of the entire Entree leadership team, thank you so much for listening.

We'll talk with you again very soon.