Hey now, it's Dave Lorenzo, and this is another edition of the inside BS show. So today I have a couple of questions I want to ask you and I want you to answer them to yourself and then I'm gonna bring in my guest and he's gonna help us work through them together You want to take your business to the next level, but You've hit a point where it's become kind of stale and stagnant Particularly at this point in time where we are almost two years into The kovat 19 pandemic. There are some positive signs that were coming out of it But we're not coming out of it fast enough for you or for me So you need some fresh thinking you need some fresh eyes to look at your business You know that if you talk to your accountant the entire focus is gonna be on the numbers if you talk to your employees There are some things that you're just not gonna be comfortable discussing with them You want to have a conversation with someone? Who's been where you are now and who's moved to the place where you want to go? Who do you talk to? Where do you go? Well today's guest is Phil gaffka and he's gonna help us Think through those questions and the questions we haven't thought to ask So please join me in welcoming Phil to the inside BS show Phil Welcome to the show.

Thanks for joining us. You're the founder of leap coaching tell us How should we be thinking about? The next six to twelve months of our business what what guidance what perspective? Can you give us how should we be looking at the next six to twelve months? Do you think? things are our approach should be focused on Going back to normal or should we work on enhancing what we're doing now to make it work even better first? Thanks for having me on today. It's a pleasure to be here on the inside BS You know if I look at the next six to twelve months talking to clients talking to networking partners, you know first you've got to establish are You in a good place right now, or do you need to shake things up? So I know I have a lot of clients that They've just sailed through code it I have clients that turn back their PPP money because things were good and they figured somebody else can make better use of it So you really have to assess Where you are and is there something lacking in the direction or the growth of your business? And if there is something lacking then be the first thing I'd look at big picture forget Not just the next six to twelve months big picture vision.

Where are you trying to take this business? What do you aspire to build to do or accomplish and it should be a whole lot more than just the things that you're doing today We can then fit that six to twelve month goal into Whatever that bigger thing is that you aspire for yourself in your organization So I love I love what you're saying there and I agree with you most people What I find is most people don't think big enough, right? Most people have a have the mindset of You know, here's what I want to do in the next year or here's what I want to do in the next maybe two years They don't have the vision for how this is going to end for them So take us through a conversation that you would normally have with with an entrepreneur like me and I come to you and I say Phil here's here's what my here's what my thinking is and then you come back to me and you say well What were you thinking when you started this or what what is the end that you have in mind? How do you broach that subject with a with let's say a brand new client? Okay, very simple, you know You take a look at a you know a 20 year old versus a baby boomer you got a different timeline they're playing with but the same basic question What when you're done whenever that turns out to be? What's the legacy you want to leave behind what is it that you want to do to leave your mark? with the business world the world in general What is it that you aspire to and again? It's it's not I need to make some money if that's it give up now because that's not going to be strong enough to drive You or have anybody else go along with you on that trip. So it's let's let's first establish I think there's two main things you need to establish vision. Where are you going? And I think a lot of people Misuse vision and mission to me vision is the big thing Mission are going to be those steps along the way that help you accomplish that big vision And you know, you have to think that the key word big if you think you're thinking big think bigger I have a client that their Vision is to impact a billion people Now, I don't know that the lover get there.

That's not the important point though Everybody in that organization knows their job is to go impact that next person So it's not a matter that it has to be attainable If somebody's out there trying to solve a medical problem Desalinating ocean water for a water supply for the rest doesn't matter But you need to be clear because all those little decisions along the way that you're going to make The default is does it support my vision? Yes, or no. Now if it does, it's probably pretty good chance You should do it if it doesn't there's probably a pretty good chance You should not do it and what this does Dave is it eliminates a lot of those shiny object discussions like squirrel squirrel It's all about making sure that you're aligning your efforts and the efforts of every one of what's along the road or along the way to that vision the second is Culture, how are you going to do this? And I do a lot of culture development work with organizations. That's one thing that's That tears them down the most one of the management guru said, you know culture eats strategy for breakfast I don't think there's any truer words out there You could have the best plan the best motivation if your culture doesn't support what you're trying to do You will never ever get there And so being really truthful and honest about the core values that you have and not what you're going to hold each other accountable for What you're gonna own as an individual, you know tough times when nobody's looking what? Yeah I think I like what you said there and I think And I'm interested in your opinion on this.

There's there's the foundation of all this it starts with self-awareness Right. So you have to you have to know Specifically what your strengths are and you have to know where you need support and You have to be ready willing and able to bring in the support That will enable you to focus on what you do best every day. Well, I think that's one of the True differences between someone with a managerial mindset and someone with a leadership mindset You know that manager mindset is you know, I've got the title.

I'll make the decision The leadership mindset is all about you know, what we need the best decision Doesn't matter whose it is or where it comes from All they're worried about is the best decision and I think those good leaders are able to bring out the best of not only themselves But their employees and the advantage of doing that is instead of just one person thinking You now have everybody in the organization thinking and if I'm a business owner And I've got people working for me I think I'd like to get my money's worth out of them. Yeah, absolutely and that some of the best ideas come from people who are one step removed from where you are or Who are one step closer to your client or your customer? So if you bring people in whose job it is to create an outstanding experience They're gonna be able to tell you where you're falling short right now and you may have blind spots that you can't that you can't see so You know, I think that's I think that's critical. So the other thing that you said that really Resonated with me is if you think you're thinking big think bigger.

How do you coach people Phil to? Not be intimidated by By thinking big right because we we all bring our own baggage to the table when it comes to when it comes to our business or our team and You know, I mean I'll use my use myself as an example. I'll demonstrate some vulnerability here My my father worked for IBM for 40 years. My mother worked for IBM for 18 years I worked for Marriott for 12 years and then for Gallup the Gallup organization for six years before I became an entrepreneur And when I became an entrepreneur, I finally felt like I was doing what I was meant to do But I had all this, you know, I'm gonna call it baggage.

It was not it was not baggage in a bad way But this, you know company loyalty mentality that prevented me from that made me intimidated To go out on my own. So how do you coach somebody up when you know, they're capable of more But they're not thinking big enough You know a key point right there and it is blind spots, you know Whether we put something in our way or we let someone else or something else put something in our way You know, the coaching process is really to surface those blind spots And it's not you know, once you surface it doesn't make the problem or the challenge go away But it gives us the opportunity of okay now how do we want to deal with it? Do I want to do an end-around? Do I want to bust right through? I'm gonna go left right above over doesn't you can't make any of Those decisions until you can identify what it is. That's a limiting your thinking and a lot of times You know May sound a little harsh But not everybody is looking for everybody else to succeed And when you run ideas past people, you know friends family members, you know, you don't want to take that kind of a chance Well, it's most likely they don't want to take that kind of a chance And so you to be able to clear your head and ask the right questions.

It's not well If I'm successful with this no, how about when I'm successful with this It's it's having that right attitude to support your actions your thoughts and getting you in the right mindset Because once you get to that point, it's not a matter of if I'll be successful It's just how am I going to get this done? You take off those shackles and you start going? Okay You said a number you said ago. That's great. That's for the first year What are you gonna do after that people go? Well, I that was gonna be my whole thing.

No, no No, let's think a whole lot bigger Because I don't know that people are really Knowledgeable about what they're truly capable of and when you put somebody's back against the wall and make them commit You'd be surprised what people can do but it's you know, we let a lot of people off the hook Oh, I don't know. I don't know and people accept that answer. I Think a good coach doesn't accept an I don't know answer And when you can because that's just the blind spot then they've never been held accountable to think and to commit When you get to that point now, we've got some yeah, so let's talk about that.

What should that What should we be what areas should we be making these commitments to so we have this big vision, right? We want to we want to help, you know a billion people we want to help, you know a million people We want to help five hundred thousand people whatever whatever that vision is Then we need to make commitments to like I hear people say all the time. I'm gonna do I'm gonna do whatever it takes I mean, that's That's not that's not a commitment. That's uh, you know, that's uh, that's an attitude so how do we take that vision and then translate it reverse engineer it back to what our Company is going to look like what our infrastructure needs to be where we're going to support our weaknesses How do we reverse engineer that process to get to what we should be doing? Great question, you know, and that's the whole the whole gist of a good business plan is that big, you know big vision first A lot of people start down in the middle of a business plan.

Who am I gonna sell to? What's my pricing gonna be where I'm gonna advertise? Without having that cohesive idea of where you're trying to lead that entire process. So once you've got that vision in mind Okay, now you said and now you start creating your plan, but the plan support the goal I mean, I've heard a statement says, you know Fall in love with the goal. Not the plan because the plan I mean It's the definition of being an entrepreneur is just zigzagging till you get where you want to go Exactly, but that clarity of purpose that commitment to purpose That I'm not gonna let this you know this opportunity said I'm gonna find the way Again, it's it's when I'm working with people and you hear that hesitation, you know Well, if maybe might know let's start talking in in definitive terms I will and so when you take that whatever that big vision tends to be let's get serious now.

What's step one? I had a a lady come to me a while back and she was you know in her business and she was working with a coach And I said, okay, what's not going going right? She says well, you know, my coach told me go out and find ten clients I'll go. How's that working? She said not too. Well, I go why don't you try to find one? And then the look on her face was just like that.

Hmm one, you know, then you then you go lather rinse repeat But I've never been able to go out and find ten clients But I know how to get the next one. That's right And then if I can do that then I can replicate that so it's really you know, wherever you're starting from You've got to take that first step. Okay, so You you have your you have your vision you've kind of reversed engineered it, you know what steps to take let's talk about Some like the thing that I think is a big struggle and it's something where I've fallen short again I use myself as an example because let my vulnerability be an example to others.

There are certain Let's call them tactics because that's what they are. They're they're they're things to do that will work I just don't stick with them long enough right, so How do you how do you help somebody who has a solid that they have a great vision? They have a solid business plan And then they've even taken that business plan from strategic and broken it down into tactics and they put the pieces in place And now things are moving But maybe they don't see the green shoots that are popping up just yet, right? What is the what is the key to getting people to stick with a plan? That's a solid plan a tactics that are proven to work, but you know, they're just not patient enough Well, that's another great question because you know Some of these things you need to learn how to do them You know and I look at a lot of sports teams just as an example And I like golf. I use that a lot a lot of times as far as a comparison into the leadership side But I look at the good golfers out there.

There's thousands of them The top ones have learned how to win Same thing for that entrepreneur. It's not just doing something. It's learning how to do it very well And so because you've tried something and it didn't work I think you need to figure out how do you do that better? how do you do that to the best of your ability and Make it you know figure it out until you make it work.

If it's a solid tactic if it's a solid plan You still need to learn how you are going to implement that so it's successful for you when I look at You know some of the best leaders I've been able to work with or just met along the way They were so committed to what they were doing that failure Was not an option failure was not in the vocabulary It was certainly I'm gonna figure this out and I'm going to try something just a little bit different every day to find that one Little point that makes what I'm doing go from unsuccessful to successful You know to me, it's more art than science, you know, the science is getting the business plan together The art is how well Yeah, I mean you're so your golf analogy is apropos in that You can go out and you can model other people who have been successful But if you're if you get up to the tee And you're not a big hitter then you better You know You better hit it well from the fairway and you better be able to two putt and get out of there Or you're gonna or you're gonna be in trouble. So If you want to model your game after somebody else, that's fine in business You can model what you're doing off of someone else But you have to adjust based on your strengths and just like in golf the way so i'm a very impatient person I have a I have a heightened sense of urgency And what I do is I look for that one big shot that I hit that one great shot that I hit And that's what'll get me coming back to play 18 tomorrow I've hit, you know 150 crappy shots, but I don't think about those I think of the one good one, right? The one good one off the tee the one good one from the fairway That 18 foot putt that I sank where I read the green perfectly and I think to myself I can put all that together on every hole if I just work at it so in business, I think you know, you really got a You can model like I I spent a significant portion of my career trying to model what other people were doing only to find out That I had different strengths than those people so I should be modeling bits and pieces of that Phil is that something that a that a really good coach can recognize and help you fine tune? Without a doubt, you know and it's and see it's not a matter of being someone that you're not It's being the best you You know, so look we all have strengths and weaknesses to your point, you know what strengths we want to reinforce And sometimes it's the weaknesses that we really need to develop You know take your golf game. Okay, if i'm having And I did a couple years ago.

I had a real bad time getting out of the sand a terrible time. So I Go get a golf coach You know, fortunately, her name was sandy, which was very upper bill You know go and hit 10 balls in the trap. I got 10 balls still in the trap She goes I can see what you're doing.

She changes this change of that and poof. I'm popping them out there But now if you want to be consistent I've got to go hit a thousand shots out of the bunker not ten All right so When i'm trying to develop a skill that I need Or develop a skill to a greater degree that I need I need to go do the work. I need to practice It's not just think i'm going to get better because I thought I have to go do the work And that's where I think a good coach can can help support that person that hey Look, you're going to go out and try this day if you are going to skin your knee and that's okay Come back.

We're going to patch you back up and send you out again, but it's you got to be willing to do the work That's going to get you there because these skills when you see someone that's out there that's been very successful. I guarantee you They have a lot of skin knees and a lot of skinned elbows But they know how to get back up and do it All right, phil So i'm going to ask you to take what we've been talking about and kind of uh, give us a success story Don't um, obviously don't disclose any confidence as I know you wouldn't But give us a success story and I want you to do that in just one minute first I need to remind folks that the inside bs show is brought to you by syndrowsky corporate advisors for over 35 years syndrowsky corporate advisors has been providing expert client service to a nationwide base of professionals businesses They work with folks Who are focused on three different things at least three different things that i'm going to highlight here for you today The first is if you're looking to reduce your tax exposure, maybe you're a business owner Maybe you're a high net worth individual and you want to reduce their tax exposure have syndrowsky corporate advisors. Look at the entity structure How your business has been put together how it's been formed and they can make some suggestions that can save you That can really reduce the implications of your tax exposure And here's one example of how they can do it if you're looking to sell your businesses in the next five years There are some nuances in the tax code that can allow you to take advantage of some small business tax breaks But you have to put them into place at least five years before you're ready to exit from the business If you structured your business and you did it like most entrepreneurs On a wing and a prayer where you went on to the state website and you put in some information and you just forgot about it Now's the time to call syndrowsky corporate advisors and take a look at it because you never know an exit event can be within The next three four or five years The other thing that syndrowsky corporate advisors is great at and listeners to our show will appreciate it.

Is there fantastic at litigation support What does this mean? Well, if you're an attorney and you're listening to this and You need help with the financial Aspects of your case maybe you think you've analyzed the financials But you want a second set of eyes a more qualified set of eyes to look at them Syndrowsky can help you do that. They do this sort of thing all the time They have a group of people that just works with people who practice law Their litigation support team is fantastic. The final thing I want to talk to you about when it comes to syndrowsky today is forensic accounting, so You got a partner and you and your partner are splitting up.

You're wondering if Everything that's been recorded on the books, which your partner handles is accurate Syndrowsky can take a look and confirm it for you or you're looking to buy another business and you need somebody to dig into The numbers for the other business Syndrowsky can do that for you as well. My friends. I give syndrowsky corporate advisors my highest endorsement It's not just because they're a client or because they're the sponsor of the show It's because i've seen the work they can do reach out to them today at 8 6 6 7 1 7 1 6 0 7 8 6 6 7 1 7 1 6 0 7 We're also brought to you by my revenue roadmap guide.

You want a business development plan? You're a professional and you're wondering where your next client's going to come from Excuse me. I've got a plan that you can model here's what you need to do Go to revenue roadmap guide.com Revenue roadmap guide.com enter your contact info there You can download my business development plan for free. It's my gift to you for watching and listening to the show You can take that plan And craft it to your liking use it use your strengths And support your weaknesses.

The plan is plug and play revenue roadmap guide.com enter your contact info there It's my gift to you Okay, fell so you're going to give us a great case study from one of your clients who that incorporates what we talked about Please go ahead All right been working with this client for over a decade now when I was first brought in there were many many voids in the company one of those voids was an overall direction and the other was a Their terminology there. They had their own toxic culture And we had to start with the ownership group And we had to figure out You know what? What they want to get serious And what they want to get honest about And we did those very basic steps you and I have already discussed big picture. What are you trying to do here? The tougher part was the culture side And that's where people I think have the bigger challenge is because it takes a real deep personal commitment To not only talk about what they want to have for their culture and how they're going to do things Tough part comes when they have to back up those words with actions And with this particular company, there was someone that was higher up in the organization You know, we'd sit around the table and i'd walk away wondering why is this one person at the table? He's so unlike everybody else Through a series of meetings and this is a 20 plus year employee Got the call one morning one monday morning.

They let them go And it was like applause applause It was a hard decision for them because they're they're very nice people almost too nice But to back up that culture with actions And I don't have many guarantees day, but I have this one When you say here's how we're going to do things And everybody knows who the outliers are And when you take one of those outliers out Even if they're a top producer, here's my guarantee Everybody sits up a little bit straighter and goes. Oh my god. They're serious Because the actions match the words That allowed the company To hit a resurgence at pretty much every department especially sales Because it was now you're getting people to commit Because they're you know, if you can't get a change without either one of two things in place reward or consequence And when you allow someone that violates your culture to remain Sure, there's no consequence We change that dynamic And now that the reward is you get to stay here and be on the team And be part of this or the consequence is you're off the team So now fast forward, you know 10 12 years down the road i've coached the Baby boomers and now as they transition out We're working on that next generation of leaders to develop those folks to take over the company and run things So it's been a good long-term engagement But the real difference was getting them to be honest and true And not just talk a culture, but live it.

All right. So phil who is then your ideal client? That was a great. That was a great case study and that sounds like uh, that sounds like a good sized company Who's your who's your ideal client? Who would you if you had your way and you could work with any type of company who would be ideal for you? ideal would be a privately held company Because there I mean i've worked with some big corporations But there's a lot of moving parts and rarely are they willing to do the things to change a big organization So it's not necessarily sized but it's it's more to the the ownership where the owner is personally Invested in the success of that business is willing to raise a hand and say you know what I need some help Don't have all the answers willing to willing to listen willing to slow down for a moment And if you can start at that very top level and there's that commitment You can help move that organization forward.

Okay, and when uh, When you're when you're out and about And you're talking to people. Where do you where where do we find this these groups of companies? Generally so that because there's a lot of people who are listening that are are thinking. Hey, you know that phil He's a really good guy.

He knows what he's talking about. What circles did these companies run in? Where can we find them? everywhere I mean i've been you know fortunate in Meeting a lot of great people along the way and developing a good network And I think that's really the difference right there those those companies those opportunities are everywhere, but you're not going to be exposed to those unless You've been able to show the people in your network Not just what you do, but how you do it You know the last thing either one of us want dave Is that phone call from somebody going hey dave? What the heck were you thinking when you sent that phil guy in my way? You know, so it's really it's it's building It's building trust That people understand who you are what you do how you do it And that you're not going to embarrass them if they make that that referral or that introduction And so my clients have come from a myriad of networking partners. I don't cold call I don't realize i've never gotten a lead off my website.

I don't expect to You know i'm not in a transaction business. I'm in a relationship business And there I think there lies the device. I completely agree.

Yeah Right and you have to have that relationship with others In order for them to invite you into a relationship with one of their trusted clients Trusted networking partners or trusted advisors and so it's all about again. We all have a what? I don't think the what we do is our true differentiator as much as how we do what we do and when you can convey that to People and then also help them understand. Okay I've had people go.

That's great. Phil. I love what you do.

But how do I introduce you? And i've learned that if I can teach people how to introduce me One of my friends said that's all I gotta do. That's all you have to do. He goes.

Well, I can do that I'm gonna go fine then go do that But I think you know again the the more we help someone understand who we are and how to bring us into a conversation I think that's incumbent on us If we want to have those good I think I think you're right What do you do phil when you when you start an engagement? How do you how do you win over the trust? Of the person with whom you're working Um, you know, I I know most of the time it's it's about delivering value over time but There are some relationships And i'm curious if you've experienced this too where the trust happens like that And then there are some relationships where it takes weeks and weeks and weeks to win over the trust and it's because of the dynamic nature of personalities, but what's your guidance for professionals out there who Want to win over the trust of a client as quickly as they possibly can Think if I look at it from that perspective dave I talk to people like they're already my friends And if I would ask a friend that question i'm definitely going to ask a client that question and it it isn't a matter of You know taking time and it's it's really getting right to the heart of the matter for what I do with people They're not hiring me because things are hunky dory They're hiring me because they want to get better results. There's something in their way something not happening And so the quicker we can get to that the quicker we can cut through the bs And get to the real meat and potatoes of things and that's what I try to do with clients You know, we can talk a little bit and yes, we get to get to know each other but it's You know, I know I don't fit for everyone that i'm sure of But I think I attract clients that want that kind of dialogue And I give them a safe place Because i'm not i'm not consulting i'm not saying well there is what I think you should do I'm helping dave figure out what dave really needs or wants to do and i'll support that because it's not my decision That's my client's decision and the quicker we can get to what they really want or what they really need I think that's how I develop trust with people You're you seem like a very direct person and you seem You have a you have a confidence about you that comes through even on this on this in this virtual environment What in your background makes you well suited for what you're doing now? I guess it's a long roundabout way of asking how you got here and you know What what in your career prepared you for doing what you're doing right now? I came out of the wholesale appliance distribution business, so we were a wholesaler for high-end Appliances like sub-zero viking range thermador really some of the nice high-end toys for the kitchen Lovely stuff and we'd called on nothing but other businesses So you start to see these foundational things that are in place Why is this company always doing? Well always moving forward always a leader and this guy over here or this other business. They're always struggling and you start to see Those foundational pieces that are in place good company knows where they're going knows how they're going to get there And they go and execute and they stay true to those things And you start to see those patterns and you start to learn the difference between management and leadership Just like as there is a big defining line between sales and marketing I think there's just as big of a line defining the difference between Managing and leadership you manage process you lead people And if I do a seminar or a facilitation, I kind of raise your hands who wants to be over managed Nobody ever raises that hand But people do want to be led.

They will Attract to a leader. They will go on that journey with them. So getting people understand What's the difference between a manager and a leader? What's it mean for you as an individual? And then how do we take what you have as far as skills experience knowledge and make you the best leader that you can be So you can go out and do what you need to do Yeah, that's terrific.

I think that's great. All right, Phil. So I want you to give some thought to one more thing I want you to think about three things that we need people to take away from our time together three things I'm going to give you a moment to do that as I remind folks that Our show is brought to you by syndrowsky corporate advisors They help people all over the united states and they have helped people for 35 years and they help you with tax planning consulting family office advisory business valuation litigation support forensic accounting If it's in business and it involves numbers particularly big numbers syndrowsky can help you with that I want you to reach out to them call them at 866-717-1 607 866-717-1 607 Also, remember you can download my guide the revenue road map guide To help you build your business to help you grow your business whether you're a professional You want to build your book of business or you're an entrepreneur and you want to grow based on relationship based business development principles revenue Roadmap guide will help you get there.

Go to revenue road map guide.com enter your contact info and download it for free It's my gift to you for joining us here on the show today. All right, Phil What are the three big things that people should take away from our time together today? At first I think you got to go with understanding For each of your listeners the difference between are they trying to manage themselves forward? Or are they actually leading themselves and their organization of where they want to go? Secondly that personal assessment is a leader, you know, not everybody is all things to all people But taking a look at you know, if there's a number of people that you identify with as great leaders What are those things? Why do you put them up on the pedestal? And how good are you at those things? And if you're good great reinforce that If there's things that you need to work on like your sand game Then you need to develop that as well. And I'd say the third thing is commitment Total commitment.

There's no if as yoda said there is no try Do or good advice from phil gafca and yoda here on the inside bs show You know, I will tell you that one of the big things I took away was right from the outset your Focus on clarity of purpose. I think that's I think that's really really important So you have to be clear on where you want to go and what you want to do and also thinking big I mean we we don't think big enough. None of us do and that was that was phil's message to us Right at the beginning.

So if you want to reach out to phil gafca, you can give him a call at eight four seven Two one two forty nine. Oh three. That's eight four seven two one two Forty nine.

Oh three. Also check out his website leap coaching.com Leap leapcoaching.com all that's in the show notes phil. Thank you so much for joining us today.

I really enjoyed our conversation It was great to have you Dave thank you so much. It was a riot. Love it.

Oh my pleasure phil. My pleasure Okay folks reach out to phil all his information is in the show notes We will see you right back here again tomorrow for another edition of the inside bs show until then here's hoping you Make a great living and live a great life