MA Business Success 99: Leadership And Management

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Narrator: Go, TIMA. Innovating martial arts.

Graham: Good day, everyone. And welcome to "Martial Arts Business Success," episode number 99. And this is the fourth part to our leadership series. We've had three really exciting ones that...while we were out in the bush and we've been able to come back home, consolidate, put some of those lessons learned into action and now an opportunity to summarize how we've seen that impact both the guys who joined us, but also the staff and whatnot who came along with us. So, take it away, Phil. What do we get?

Phil: Well, yeah, I guess the flow and effect, you know, we are here in the newly designed TIMA studio as we are doing episode number 99, which is funny enough, 1 episode away from the big "hundge." So, look, if you're wondering what we're gonna do, it's gonna be special, so make sure you do tune in for the 100th episode. I'm not sure what we're gonna make Graham do yet, but whatever it is, Graham will be, you know, [inaudible 00:01:00].

Graham: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Phil: But what did we learn? Look, the other day we took a couple of entrepreneurs, business owners and also a couple of our staff away on a adventure. Now, we coupled that with charity. So, we're still raising money, but I think we're up around the $25-30,000 at the moment, money raised so far. And something that we really wanted to achieve taking our staff was the lessons learned that we've had on this particular trip, which is ones of many, many lessons. It's hard to sort of put it into one little sort of wrap up. But I think the best that we can is just go through some key points and pointers of things that we can reflect on both. I've done the trek multiple times, taken our staff done it, and also taken other business owners as well. And one thing that really comes to my mind that was pivotal in my mind and in the people who attended, and especially our staff, was the chain of command. And how one might think that there's always one boss and the boss is always going, "We're going this way." It's not that at all and especially in a survival situation, especially out there in the book....in the bush on the trek as well. So, the chain of command is very similar out there in the bush as it is in life, but what is good about it is it rotated. You know, we had a 1RC, 2RC, 3RC, 4RC, 5RC and you know what? It could have gone down to furthermore, but it was letting know...letting each and every single individual know that they had a job to do, they had a task to follow, but also coupled with that was the communication, too.

Graham: For sure. I think the old saying, you know, "Don't judge a man until you've walked 1,000 miles in his shoes." Well, this is also a really great opportunity to realize how challenging it can be when you're a leader. You're managing and having to look after multiple people in your area, your industry and, again, in this particular place, a survival trek. So, when the guys go through it, they go, "Wow. On the outside it looks so easy until you're in the hot seat and all the decisions were based on them."

Phil: That's right.

Graham: I think something that our guys understood and I can directly relate this back to our martial arts business...by coming back after that trek, they've understood the chain of command. And also, the job or the importance of some of the roles that plays. So, for example, our 2RC, second in charge manager often was under-utilized and the managers ended up pulling their hair out trying to do everything where realistically and you would have heard her say this on the previous podcast, that a leader...the manager needs to be almost seeing into the future. They need to see what's coming up so they can steer the ship, steer the business, steer the crew around any obstacles. And the 2RC should be dealing with the day to day mundane little challenges that pop up. So, that for us has been a huge one. And I've been going through some...

Phil: 2RC was sort of like HR, because they're sort of managing the guys underneath more so than the first guy.

Graham: Yeah. For sure. And it's been a huge transformation to guys and our staff in the weeks following, you know, this event. That's been great. Also, too, I had a couple guys that aren't involved in martial arts that have restructured their entire business because of what they've just learned. So, not only are they more efficient with the way that they operate, they do it. They've been able to now do a four day work week. So, instead of working, you know, 24/7, they've been able to commit and go, "No." With a better work structure and more communication chain of command there, they've been able to now honor that commitment and do a four day work week and also expand their business. So, they've gone from one business operating in sunny Perth to having the same business in a different remote location. So, all from this trek and the lessons learned.

Phil: And on the flip side, we also had another business owner who came because he's prioritizing. Well, you know, he wasn't prioritizing, I guess, his work/balance life between personal and professional. And then, you know, to put it shortly, you know, to put it shortly is that basically family didn't really exist. And now, coming back from that trek after seven days in the bush with us and some amazing people, he's now come back and, you know, he's reprioritized his whole life. He's spending way more time with his family. He's understood that the work's always gonna be there. It doesn't matter how far or how hard or how bad that job or the situation's gonna be, it's always gonna be there and you can either choose to let it consume you and consume your complete days or you can just manage your days and be really effective and efficient on a specific day. But also then turn around and go, you know what? The mobile phone's off. This is now family time. It's most important. And just saying, I think it's also that realization, "Geez. What am I working for? I'm working for money and the money's gonna create opportunities for my family," but you actually don't need the money to create opportunities. You actually need to create the opportunities first and then the money will come because, you know, you've been successful in your business.

Graham: But just going back on that chain of command, I think as a martial arts business owner and some of the guys listening who are smaller shops, you know, Jack of all trades, master of none. You don't have the time to sometimes just pin down on one thing. So, chain of command is really important, that's helped me be more efficient. So, for you guys who are listening and watching this, think about what level of structure you have and make sure that you are, you know, really creating a clear vision.

I guess that comes into our second point we want to talk about is the communication side of things. You know, that is a big one. If you think, and again, we relate this to back in the bush. If you know where you're going inside your head and you start walking and the rest of the team doesn't follow you, well, you haven't communicated very well where we're going. So, that's also in business. You know, as the boss, you know where you want to be but if you don't empower the team or get them excited, you can either make the journey a really challenging one or a really efficient one. And I guess that also, you know, for us, we're able to get people excited about going and traversing these challenging sort of paths, because we create those short visions each time, rather than we just keep walking and then we, you know, everyone's feeling a bit sore and a bit tired. You get a bit deflated. Some of the business guys, you know, with certain times you need to make sure that you communicate where you want to be, get the team excited and the rest follows.

Phil: Yeah, I think just to give you a bit of a comparison or to put you inside the trek, it's like every day you'd wake up and, you know, you'd pack up your packs and lots of stuff. Then you'd have breakfast and you'd communicate that all the gear that we had to carry was evenly distributed so that there was no one carrying too much or too less. Or if someone had an injury...like I had a calf injury, you know, it blew me out for one day, so I couldn't carry so much heavy stuff. Well, that's my excuse anyway. No. It was legitimate, I swear. And anyway, like so we'd communicate on the path and then we'd set up and go, "Here's the mat chat. So, here's the mat on the floor." We're going, "We're all going this way." The vision of the leader [inaudible 00:07:29] and which way are we going? 2RC would then empower the 3RC and then there'd be consistent communication throughout the trek, so you know, you'd walk for 40 minutes, and you'd rest for 10. And at that rest time, you sort of are going, "How's everyone feeling? Anyone got any niggling injuries? How's the packs feeling? Do we need to rest more? Get more water, whatever it may be?" So, there's constant communication all the way through it where you could literally...if you wanted to, you could zone out. You could just put your head down and trudge through that bush and be so alone and, you know, and battle the internal dialogue that you have with yourself, but you didn't have to. You could just open up communication, talk to your whole team the whole way and then last but not least, getting to the destination and going, "Right, guys, before we get packs down, what do we need to do? What's most important? Food, water, fire and then we can go and have fun and go catch, you know, all that type of stuff as well." So, I think that's key.

Graham: Yeah, then that sort of spears off that even that last podcast we spoke with Terry about developing trust and that's how [inaudible 00:08:26] communication and being understanding how everyone's [inaudible 00:08:29] to talk to you how we translated that and our guys now who run the branches regularly have a 3:00 mat chat or pallet chat. So, before the day starts, they clearly outline the expectations of what's gonna happen on this particular day and it's awesome. The staff are happier. They know where they're going. They know what's expected of them on that particular day and they're being more productive, which really that's what it's all about is happy workplace, productive workplace. Students will feel it, but it all starts from the top.

Phil: Yeah, I think that...I mean, we sort of pigeon-holed it years ago as [inaudible 00:09:04] by three and I think, you know, we maybe we hammer the importance of that and then we [inaudible 00:09:09] classes and teaching, so the importance of that sort of got blended. But I think the managers needed to see it again in a different environment on how important that was, that mat chat, and as Graham said, it sets the day out for success. You know, there's nothing better than a programmer going, "I've got these appointments. You know what? It's gonna be a struggle here." And then someone going, [inaudible 00:09:30] raising a hand going, "Hey, man, I've got time. I can help you out." You know? And that's all part of this communication. And it doesn't matter if you're 1RC, 2RC, 3RC, a program director, an instructor, a receptionist or whatever, everyone's got each other's back and you really feel that in those mat chats.

Graham: Look, it's unreal and really that's where, you know, in a sense, they're your mini team meetings, they really are a chance to get together and you're talking and we've said it before, creating that vision and understanding what's the expectation both from just a daily thing, so what do we want this day to run like? Through to big events and, you know, what's happening in the next quarter? Or tournaments are coming up. Whatever it may be to get people excited. So, you know, the communication is probably the key factor, but then also being quite, you know, focused and targeted with the communicating. It isn't just about, you know, jibber and waffle. I want to make sure that we're getting the results that we need. So, yeah, the tons learned.

Phil: Look, if anyone out there who's really interested in coming along on a trek with us, an adventure whether it be an outback thing or, you know, something in America or a mountain or whatever it may be, please shoot us out some requests and comments wherever you're watching, but also while I'm saying that don't forget to comment, like, share. We're on iTunes, SoundCloud, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, you know, you name it, we're on it. So, please send out a review. If you have a topic you want us to cover, you know, by all means put your request in. But something that I really also took away on a different sort of level is, you know, because we are...we're coaches. We're mentors. We do that not only to our staff, but through TIMA, we have, you know, a ton of people that we mentor and coach and help in their business as well. So, you know, I just sort of think about how I can be a better mentor and how I can be a better coach to my clients and what I got out of it is that a coach and a mentor doesn't tell people what to do. They guide them. A mentor is almost like the bumper rails in bowling. You know what I mean? You can have the bumpers up or you can have them down. So, a bad leader has the bumpers down and lets everyone get the gully balls. You know? But a good mentor will put the bumper bars up and occasionally and help guide that ball down and then on occasion might bring them down a little lower and lower and lower. So, being a mentor, whether we're doing it on a coaching environment or a leader for yourself, you gotta remember, you gotta let your staff fly a little bit. You gotta let 'em fail, you gotta let 'em sink and you gotta let 'em sail. But at the end of the day, we don't want to tell people what to do, we want to guide them in the path of success, rather than whipping them on the back.

Graham: Wise words. I couldn't agree more. I think at the end of the day, we've been very fortunate that we like to see people develop and grow and sometimes it's through those challenges and those scraped knees and those tough situations that you learn the most from. Let's not make it a permanent thing, but certainly it's one of those things were we all need it every now and then. So, but just to sort of wrap up on this one, I know we've got a pretty exciting event that's coming up which is our blended TIMA sort of presentation. We've got our, I guess, a little bit more details for you guys, building our million dollar model and being able to present that later this year. So...when's that coming up, mate?

Phil: Well, we've got...and we're teaming up with Hyper. Those of you who know, we love the guys from Hyper, but they're coming to Australia with...who are they bringing over?

Graham: They've got Tyler Weaver [SP] and we got Rick Priestley as well, too.

Phil: World champions.

Graham: Oh, yes.

Phil: You know, these guys are freak martial artists, but also really, really genuine guys that love teaching and helping as well. So, we've got a combined Hyper and TIMA day where there's gonna be instructor training, athletes day. But also, there's gonna be a day full of TIMA education and what we're pigeoning this for is it's called the million dollar marketing strategies. And the million dollar marketing machine. What have we done to market our businesses to that...that has seen us gross over $3 million each and every year within our organization? Each and every year, we're grossing over $3 million in our organization, which for some of you guys, like I don't even...I can't even dream that or picture that. And you know what? It doesn't matter whether you earn $50,000, $500,000 or millions, you know. The feeling's still the same. You're still on the same path. You're still trying to grow. You're still trying to be better at what you do. I don't by no means feel that we've made it. I just feel like it's another stepping stone to where we need to be which is world domination. But look, what we're gonna do is we're gonna literally let you roll your sleeves up. This event is gonna help you identify how we're gonna help you market in your business, both online and offline. We're gonna give you guys the strategies. We're not just gonna tell you, we're not gonna give you the information. We're actually gonna do the work in the seminar. So, the idea is you'll walk away with three strategies that you can use, you can deploy straightaway in your business and start getting results.

And I know that with some of our coaching clients...Graham, you were saying that people just don't know how to squeeze every last inch out of their events. So, we're going to show you how we can create an internal event where, you know, you could just let it roll and have no sign-ups and no join-ups and no referrals. Or you can squeeze the hell out of it and get 10, 20, 30, 40, 50.

Graham: Couldn't agree more. You know, making the [inaudible 00:14:29] our return on investment. And really that's key factors. There's sometimes many missed opportunities there that people just don't see or that haven't had that exposure or that insight like we do, so we can help refine that clearer vision and make 2018 an absolutely killer. Guys, look, we'll have all the links and details for you, but book it on your calendar now. It's Sunday the 19th of November in Sydney. So, we're gonna talk to you guys face to face. Love to see you all there. Spread the word, team. We want to make this an absolute crackin' success and make sure that this seminar is the last one that you kind of do as a business and really set up the year, next year, to be your best one.

Phil: Cool, guys. Well, thank you very much for tuning in for episode number 99. We're looking forward to 100, something special, don't know yet. We're still conspiring. We've got Raz [SP] back there, the video genius who's like...and I think he's up to something. But we'll think about it. In the meantime, me and Graham have a game of chess to do and I think I'm gonna win.

Graham: See you, guys.

Narrator: Go, TIMA. Innovating martial arts.

 

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