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June 20, 2024

Ep177 Brent Stromwall - Why Fear is Holding Back Your Company's Growth (and How to Fix It)

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Get Unstuck & On Target

In this eye-opening episode of Get Unstuck & On Target, host Mike O'Neill sits down with Brent Stromwall, a seasoned EOS implementer and the visionary behind Odigos, to explore how entrepreneurial businesses can shatter growth ceilings and rediscover the joy of success.

 

With over three decades of corporate leadership experience, Brent shares his unique insights on the power of the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) to align teams, instill accountability, and foster a thriving company culture.

 

Through engaging stories and real-world examples, Mike and Brent dive deep into the common fears and challenges that hold businesses back from reaching their full potential. 

 

You'll discover:

- The critical difference between "corporate" and "entrepreneurial" mindsets

- Why documenting your core processes to just the 20% level can yield 80% of the results

- How to define your company's unique culture and attract the right people

- The transformative power of shifting from a fear-based to a joy-based approach to business

 

But this episode isn't just about theory. Brent shares practical, actionable strategies for breaking through growth barriers, fostering a culture of creativity and risk-taking, and rediscovering the freedom and fulfillment that drove you to start your business in the first place.

 

Whether you're a seasoned entrepreneur or a new business owner, this conversation will challenge your assumptions, shift your mindset, and equip you with the tools you need to take your organization to the next level.

 

Don't miss this transformative episode of Get Unstuck & On Target. Tune in now and start your journey towards a more joyful, successful business.

Transcript

00:00:00:00 - 00:00:04:14
Brent Stromwall
We make our decisions based on past experience and past learnings.

 

00:00:04:16 - 00:00:13:17
Brent Stromwall
So if we don't have anything else to operate on, anything else to help make a decision, then we're just going to keep doing what we know.

 

00:00:13:17 - 00:00:15:04
Brent Stromwall
and we don't know anything else.

 

00:00:15:04 - 00:00:17:04
Brent Stromwall
So we're kind of just again, stuck.

 

00:00:19:18 - 00:00:29:14
Brent Stromwall
welcome to Get Unstuck and On Target, the weekly podcast that offers senior leaders insights and strategies to not only lead with competence and vision,

 

00:00:29:18 - 00:00:32:14
Brent Stromwall
but also to achieve groundbreaking results.

 

00:00:33:00 - 00:00:43:00
Brent Stromwall
I'm your host, Mick O'Neill. I coach top level executives on the power of ethical leadership to forge teams to be as united as they are effective

 

00:00:43:24 - 00:00:45:01
Brent Stromwall
in each episode.

 

00:00:45:06 - 00:00:55:08
Brent Stromwall
Join me for insightful conversations with leaders just like you, providing practical advice to help you get unstuck and propel you and your company forward.

 

00:00:56:06 - 00:00:57:07
Brent Stromwall
Let's get started.

 

00:01:01:11 - 00:01:34:22
Speaker 2
Joining me is Brant Strum Ball. Brant is a seasoned professional iOS implementer and a visionary behind Oregon's with over three decades of corporate leadership experience. Brent's journey began as an engineer at Poly Tron, a leading consulting and engineering firm supporting manufacturers. Over the years, he's played a pivotal role in scaling the business nearly 15 times his original size, transforming it into a nationally recognized firm.

 

00:01:34:24 - 00:02:07:03
Speaker 2
Brent's expertise extends beyond engineering to encompass sales, marketing, partner channels and a wide spectrum of strategic initiatives. All of these aimed at fostering team alignment around shared values, vision and purpose. Having retired from Petron at the close of 2019, Brant now dedicates his time to empowering others to gain control of their businesses while rediscovering the joy and freedom that comes with success.

 

00:02:07:05 - 00:02:08:18
Speaker 2
Welcome, Brant.

 

00:02:08:20 - 00:02:12:02
Brent Stromwall
And thank you. Thanks, Mike.

 

00:02:12:04 - 00:02:34:17
Speaker 2
By means of introduction, Brant and I have had the opportunity to meet in person many times. We are both part of a group called trust, Dignity and as a result, I've had a chance to not only get to know Brant, but to also hear him facilitate conversations that really just kind of how like, why he is so good at what he does.

 

00:02:34:19 - 00:02:49:21
Speaker 2
So let's start with that, Brant. I introduced you as a professional EOS implementer, and I suspect that there are viewers and listeners who are not really familiar with what is EOS.

 

00:02:49:23 - 00:03:18:24
Brent Stromwall
EOS. is an acronym stands for the Entrepreneurial Operating System. And what the Entrepreneurial operating system is. It's a set of proven, simple, practical tools that help, business leaders and owners get more of what they want from their business. And we help them get that by strengthening six key components of their business. But essentially, they're getting better at vision.

 

00:03:19:01 - 00:03:49:14
Brent Stromwall
That's getting everyone 100% on the same page with where they're going and how they're going to get their, traction, which is instilling discipline and accountability into the entire organization so that everybody is helping achieve the vision. And then lastly, is healthy. We want our client teams and entire organization to be a more functional group of folks that enjoy working together, work better together, and just have fun doing it.

 

00:03:49:20 - 00:03:54:11
Brent Stromwall
So it's vision traction and healthy is what they get.

 

00:03:54:13 - 00:04:17:19
Speaker 2
You know, I have had opportunity in the last few years to work with a number of organizations that have embraced EOS, and as a result, I've had a chance to see firsthand how it can make a profound difference in how things get done and the result in terms of that sense of healthy. I really like the way you just described that.

 

00:04:17:21 - 00:04:26:08
Speaker 2
Is EOS as an approach to business. Is it best suited for certain sized organizations?

 

00:04:26:10 - 00:04:51:20
Brent Stromwall
Yeah, well, obviously in the name it's entrepreneurial. So it's geared toward designed for an entrepreneurial type organization. Generally it fits better for those that are between 10 and 250 employees. but I have examples of smaller organizations as well as much larger organizations that and found it very successful.

 

00:04:51:22 - 00:05:19:07
Speaker 2
You know, you have experience starting as an engineer and over the span of decades, be part of an organization that grew, continue to grow. I mean, I think I mentioned it was a 15 fold increase from its original size. Let's go back to your poly drawn experience, just for a moment. What were the things that you observed, that organization experience with that type of phenomenal growth record?

 

00:05:19:09 - 00:05:57:24
Brent Stromwall
Yeah, this is poly experience. I call it, seasons of growth, which is very typical, with any organization. In fact, there is research done that companies, organizations, teams, even us as individuals have seasons of growth if we think about our own lives. but we experience seasons of growth and, as we got to a certain point, a certain size, a certain capacity, we realized that we would start to hit a ceiling.

 

00:05:58:01 - 00:06:20:09
Brent Stromwall
And in order to break through that ceiling, we had to change something. Or so I would say. Some things, Laurel. primarily it was our mindset. have to. In order to break through that ceiling. We have to change the way we're thinking so that we change what we're doing.

 

00:06:20:11 - 00:06:51:18
Speaker 2
You know, as I reflect on my own personal experience, right out of college, I went to work for a decent size, entrepreneurial minded organization and kept getting bigger and bigger, and it seemed to kind of lose that entrepreneurial feel. when I joined another organization, I saw the exact same thing happen. It kind of shifted a bit from entrepreneurial to more corporate.

 

00:06:51:20 - 00:07:00:20
Speaker 2
and it was just readily apparent. Do you see that happening with growing organizations?

 

00:07:00:22 - 00:07:18:22
Brent Stromwall
to Alex, I would say it varies, right. So your mileage may vary, right, depending upon which organization you're at. but I'd like to question you and say, what do you mean, that entrepreneurial spirit? How would you define that or clarify that for me?

 

00:07:18:24 - 00:07:43:19
Speaker 2
You're actually taking the question I was going to probably throw back to you, so I'm glad you asked. I have found that, people who start businesses oftentimes are, entrepreneurial minded. That is, they have a great idea, or they have just a vision to see something. They've got lots of drive. There's a wellness to try anything and everything to see what works.

 

00:07:43:21 - 00:08:17:22
Speaker 2
And that what ends up happening is there's a kind of a leanness, there's an eagerness, there's a how can we continue growing this? How do we meet our customer needs but stay nimble? I'm describing more of what I see in entrepreneurs versus those people who I see who are in corporate roles. And I guess what I would say to you is, in my experience, corporate is less growth minded and they're more protector minded.

 

00:08:18:03 - 00:08:48:00
Speaker 2
It's setting up systems that sometimes can really bog things down. So what I think about entrepreneurs, I first think of the business owner, I think of that owner who started something. And success, as good as it is, presents a whole new set of challenges. And they're not necessarily equipped to give the attention and have the ability to lead confidently through that.

 

00:08:48:02 - 00:09:16:24
Speaker 2
That is in large part why I'm drawn to EOS. It it strikes me as an approach to running the business that is practical. It kind of breaks things down in a way that not only is understood by the owner, the key leadership, but it permeates the organization. Yeah. So I would say to you, when I think of entrepreneurial, I think of some of those adjectives that are kind of hard to put a finger on it.

 

00:09:17:01 - 00:09:35:06
Speaker 2
When I see EOS in practice, what I see is an ability to run the business but not get bogged down in minutia. It stays focused on what is it you're trying to accomplish, and it engages everybody in the process.

 

00:09:35:08 - 00:10:05:02
Brent Stromwall
Right? Right. Yeah. So EOS for sure, I think that's a good some of the adjectives you use. By the way I, I would agree with entrepreneurs, or entrepreneurial businesses seem to be more nimble, although being nimble isn't their goal. it's more of a result. they seem to be more, I'll say less. Less risk averse.

 

00:10:05:04 - 00:10:41:01
Brent Stromwall
So they're willing to try new things, willing to take chances, if you will, and some new things. they're very my, my, experiences that entrepreneurial businesses are very customer focused. Yeah. Because they're in their early stages of growth. That's all they're doing is serving the customer. Right. So once you you think about the growth, of an organization and you come up with an idea, as you said, right, we've got an idea.

 

00:10:41:03 - 00:11:06:09
Brent Stromwall
We need to make sure we can sell it and get customers. So that's very much the focus. And once we now have a viable business, then we can start to do things to help, improve the efficiency of the business, the the way we manage it, the processes hone it in to get very, very good and become excellent at what we love to do.

 

00:11:06:11 - 00:11:36:05
Brent Stromwall
so I would say, and there's, there's more creativity within an entrepreneurial organization. Not that it's lacking from corporate America, but, we certainly seem to see entrepreneurial businesses are are nurturing that creativity or, giving space for it to occur versus clamping down with procedures and processes that kind of take out judgment and flexibility from a people's day to day jobs.

 

00:11:36:07 - 00:11:57:00
Brent Stromwall
Candidly. So there's an approach that we have with iOS about specifically processes. We call it the 2080 rule. We document we, we encourage our organized our client organizations to document their core processes to the 20% level.

 

00:11:57:24 - 00:12:24:10
Brent Stromwall
And from that they will get 80% of the results. The rest is left for that entrepreneurial creativity judgment, even raising people up to think how can we do this better. Is this the best process or is there something that even we could do better or allow us flexibility, even to serve customers in a way that maybe we hadn't thought of yet?

 

00:12:24:12 - 00:12:42:15
Brent Stromwall
So it's a it's a kind of entrenched within how we approach working on the business just and continues to, nurture that entrepreneurial all those adjectives that you mentioned, we just talked.

 

00:12:42:17 - 00:12:56:18
Speaker 2
Yeah. I had not heard it explained that way. That's very, very helpful. You know, I introduce you as a iOS implementer for those who are not familiar, what does an implementer do?

 

00:12:56:20 - 00:13:24:04
Brent Stromwall
as an implementer, I have three roles. I say three responsibilities to my clients. I'm a teacher. I teach them the entrepreneurial operating system. we have tools in our toolbox. We have, exercises to read out the things that we're trying to build out. Core values. For example, we want to discover those, not pick them from a list.

 

00:13:24:04 - 00:13:53:06
Brent Stromwall
So there's things that I'm teaching, to my client teams. The next is I'm a facilitator. So I meet with the leadership teams on a regular basis. And so I'm facilitating them being collaborative and creative and and you're coming up with what's the best part about themselves and where I'm going to say, do some internal searching. What is it that you want?

 

00:13:53:08 - 00:14:20:04
Brent Stromwall
Because this is about you, not me. Right. So helping them align and gain clarity over where they're headed, how they're going to get there. And then lastly, I'm a coach. I get to work with dozens of businesses. And I just it's kind of weird. I just love talking business with people. but I get to hear about approaches from other folks and other organizations.

 

00:14:20:04 - 00:14:45:11
Brent Stromwall
I'm a study of businesses, so I get to bring that to each of my clients, and I'm the guy who's on the sideline basically. And I get to watch you play, and I get to help you like a coach with different plays or trying a different approach to a play, you know, that kind of stuff. So I'm a I'm a teacher, facilitator, coach.

 

00:14:45:13 - 00:15:14:00
Speaker 2
Yes. I'm reflecting on those three roles. I can see how your past experience dovetails very nicely into each of those three roles. You know, this iOS concept that we're talking about organizations to embraces had to be kind of fully in for this to work. But yeah. In your experience thus far, do you find the types of issues that arise are there?

 

00:15:14:00 - 00:15:31:03
Speaker 2
Is there any pattern to what might have resulted in a business owner or a business leadership team? Say, we need to bring in brand. What might be the kinds of things that would trigger down reaching out and say, you know, like help?

 

00:15:31:05 - 00:16:02:17
Brent Stromwall
Yeah. well, one of them, I'll say common things that I see. One of them is, very related to the title of this podcast, which is they're stuck. they don't know what to do next is some of the challenge, right? They've tried some things, but they've just stuck. They're stuck. another reason they might be stuck is they're overwhelmed.

 

00:16:02:19 - 00:16:28:10
Brent Stromwall
Right. And they just don't have the capacity, to be thinking about what's going to what's it going to be like three years from now. Right. They're so entrenched and overwhelmed by the day to day. And, the fires that they're fighting on a daily basis, they just don't take the time out to think ahead. You know? Are we carving the road through the forest in the right direction?

 

00:16:28:12 - 00:16:56:18
Brent Stromwall
and then the last thing is they simply are fearful. many clients just are. They've tried some things and failed, so they're fearing doing that again. If I make the wrong decision, am I going to ruin the organization and am I going to lose some of my great people? So there's fear has just kind of lops them into where they are, and they just can't break out of that and go beyond.

 

00:16:56:20 - 00:17:13:18
Speaker 2
What you knew this question was coming. I asked this of each guest, but maybe could you share an example? You don't have to divulge the client name, but can you share an example where perhaps a client did in fact get stuck? And in what ways did you help them get unstuck?

 

00:17:13:20 - 00:17:43:18
Brent Stromwall
Sure, I have, I have many examples because every single one of my clients is stuck in some way, shape or form. So that is a common thing. I'll share one example. Client, when he, when we first had our, had our first meeting, he and this team, he sat at the table. And I give him kudos for this because there's humility and vulnerability and what his statement, meant.

 

00:17:43:20 - 00:18:09:24
Brent Stromwall
But he turned to his team and said I simply don't know what to do next. I simply don't know what to do next. So I've asked Brant, come in here and help us give us something else, because I don't know. So a lot of and this happens to us individually in our own lives. We make our decisions based on past experience and past learnings.

 

00:18:10:01 - 00:18:34:04
Brent Stromwall
So if we don't have anything else to operate on, anything else to help make a decision, then we're just going to keep doing what we know. Oftentimes, for example, in that, an instance of fear will revert to some behaviors or decision making that maybe not the best, but it's what we know and we don't know anything else.

 

00:18:34:04 - 00:19:11:02
Brent Stromwall
So we're kind of just again, stuck. so at any rate, when he started seeing, when they started seeing a different way to approach the business, a different way to structure their leadership team, a different way to even, think about some of the aspects of business. Then their mindset starts to shift and they start to take on a new, I, I'm hesitant to use this word because not identity, but almost a new identity, a new organizational identity.

 

00:19:11:04 - 00:19:31:21
Brent Stromwall
We now are operating under a different framework, a different operating system that gives us the flexibility to do the things that we want to do as an entrepreneurial business, but still some very proven things, tools, practices. They're not going to help us take it wherever we want to go.

 

00:19:31:23 - 00:19:47:14
Speaker 2
You know, my understanding is iOS is not a one and done approach. you have to do a lot of work on the front end, but it's almost greenfield. It's there's a constant refining process of do I understand that correctly?

 

00:19:47:16 - 00:20:13:19
Brent Stromwall
Yeah. I mean, like I said earlier, every organization goes through seasons of growth. And so every time, an organization hits the ceiling, we've got to shift again. Right? So we've got to change again. We've got to do something different. and we have to in my opinion, most organizations teams don't recognize that they've hit a ceiling or that they're going to.

 

00:20:13:21 - 00:20:35:02
Brent Stromwall
Right. We just don't acknowledge we have these seasons of growth, so we're not prepared for it. And when it hits like, what's going on? What do we do now? So, we actually work on what we call the five leadership abilities that help an organization, not avoid hitting the ceiling, but to break through it sooner.

 

00:20:35:04 - 00:20:36:11
Speaker 2
Quicker.

 

00:20:36:13 - 00:21:10:14
Brent Stromwall
Because we're all going to hit the ceiling. Every organization does. How do we be nimble, flexible, creative, and break through that quicker so that we can continue to grow? My, I'm not the one who coined this, but if you're there growing or die dying, really? so we can either break through the ceiling, keep growing as an organization, or stay at status quo, which means ultimately we're we're just going to trail off and die or the organization will come apart.

 

00:21:10:14 - 00:21:13:00
Brent Stromwall
So.

 

00:21:13:02 - 00:21:36:00
Speaker 2
That's a great, explanation. You know, as you kind of reflect on your work as an iOS implementer, I know you've worked in a variety of industries, a variety of sized organizations. You've kind of shared the size organization that might be the best fit, for this, at least initially, you've said something earlier I'd love to follow back up on.

 

00:21:36:00 - 00:22:01:15
Speaker 2
And that is the decision to buy. Is it a head decision or heart decision when you mentioned the word fear and the ability that that business leader had to just look his or her team in the eye and say, I don't know what to do? I personally believe that's a sign of strong leadership.

 

00:22:01:17 - 00:22:03:22
Brent Stromwall
Yeah, I agree.

 

00:22:03:24 - 00:22:28:06
Speaker 2
But to acknowledge fears, and to acknowledge that if the leader has those, it's inevitable within the organization. Have you experienced what literally is almost a, a a visual reduction of that fear that can sometimes permeate a culture?

 

00:22:28:08 - 00:22:32:01
Brent Stromwall
So explain what you mean by visual reduction.

 

00:22:32:03 - 00:22:53:08
Speaker 2
I know. All right. What a good way of phrasing the question. But what I would say is I have worked with and in organizations that fear is more of the the thing than anything else. Yeah, the fear is I just don't want to get it wrong. the fear is if I get it wrong, it's going to reflect poorly on me or my team.

 

00:22:53:10 - 00:23:17:13
Speaker 2
And as a result, there's a tendency to kind of hold back, to play it safe. so I'm speaking in terms almost and how that could slow progress or momentum, what you described earlier, at least the impression I have is fear of we don't know what to do. We may have taken it as far as we can. We're not quite sure what to do if we don't do something.

 

00:23:17:19 - 00:23:24:10
Speaker 2
The fear that emerges. Do you ever see fear permeate a culture?

 

00:23:24:12 - 00:24:02:01
Brent Stromwall
Oh, yeah. Absolutely. I've seen I've seen it exist. it's pervasive within a culture. It also just might be a couple of folks, at the leadership team level that I'm working with. They're fearful, and so that can slow things down. and it does. Fear slows us down. you know, if you think about it, then I'm not going to get in it to to the psychologist psychologically and emotionally, we're driven by two things.

 

00:24:02:03 - 00:24:46:08
Brent Stromwall
One is fear, and one is when I say joy, a desire to achieve a certain new outcome versus fear of not knowing anything other than the current outcome. So, you know, fear drives us to, try to grab control as an example. And I see that happening a lot in leadership teams. one organization that I've worked with, they're, one of the owners of the business, very fearful, fearful of letting go, fear for all of, his staff and not doing it the way he wants it done.

 

00:24:46:10 - 00:25:29:13
Brent Stromwall
fearful of his own inhibition or lack, you know, so he's almost that that holds him back to and we'll do organization back to because he but he's striving for perfection rather than just doing better progress and excellence. So yeah, fear can from that, from that for, you know, example that actually is holding people back when people are being held back, they start to, I'll say they start to recognize the symptoms of that without knowing what it is or what to do about it.

 

00:25:29:15 - 00:25:58:05
Brent Stromwall
And generally they're, they start to, lose morale, lose engagement to, to use a business term out there. and then they end up looking for something else because they just that people want to grow. We have this innate desire to that we are created to grow and to improve ourselves. And, when we're held back, particularly by fear, it's a real downer.

 

00:25:58:11 - 00:26:29:13
Brent Stromwall
I've been in environments that fear is pervasive and people avoid each other. You know, there's closed door meetings going on that are kind of secretive and people are assuming what other people are thinking or saying. And it's it's very it's very dysfunctional. And it's just a it's just a bad environment for us to try to thrive. And we can't thrive in that rut.

 

00:26:29:13 - 00:26:54:12
Speaker 2
I was hoping this conversation would go this way, because I also wanted to make sure that we came back to something that I used in introducing you, and I guess I'm going to put in the context of a business owner. Okay. And that is you describe yourself in the process that you help organizations with help these owners rediscover the joy in freedom.

 

00:26:54:14 - 00:27:02:17
Speaker 2
It comes with success, joy being the opposite. Perhaps of fear on that. Can you elaborate?

 

00:27:02:19 - 00:27:23:21
Brent Stromwall
Sure. You know, I would say, I'm going to twist your words or we've reworded a little bit. I don't believe Joy and freedom comes from success, but we can have joy and freedom while succeeding. That makes sense.

 

00:27:23:23 - 00:27:25:17
Speaker 2
Makes perfect sense. And I agree wholeheartedly.

 

00:27:25:17 - 00:27:52:02
Brent Stromwall
Yeah, I believe I can have joy and freedom all the time. No matter my circumstances, joy is not circumstantial for me. in fact, it's not circumstantial for anybody. there's a world renowned, doctor named Doctor Alan Shore. He's at UCLA. He defines joy as someone is glad to be with me. So someone's glad to be with me.

 

00:27:52:04 - 00:28:16:18
Brent Stromwall
I can be in joy. Meaning I'm. My brain is responding in a way that's all the good chemicals. You know, that mix of oxytocin and dopamine and serotonin and all the good things in my brain that are healthy for my brain to nurture, to be nurtured and developed, that comes from joy, that comes from someone else being glad to be with me.

 

00:28:16:20 - 00:28:39:19
Brent Stromwall
And that's when I'm going to be my best. That's when my brain is going to be operating at its best. And so I say, despite circumstances, despite where you are today in your business, you can be in joy. And we can be striving for some growth and success for the business. yeah. So I hope that's helpful. Is that help?

 

00:28:39:21 - 00:28:52:18
Speaker 2
It's very helpful. you have described yourself to me and to others as, you kind of gave yourself a label in terms of an engineer. help me with that. What is it.

 

00:28:52:20 - 00:28:56:09
Brent Stromwall
A relational engineer? Yes, yes.

 

00:28:56:11 - 00:29:21:02
Speaker 2
And those are concepts that don't necessarily go together. but that's that's kind of who you are. It's kind of how you go up, it seems to me how you go about doing what you do. Let's let's speak to that just a little bit. Why is a relational engineer very helpful to a client who brings you in to implement iOS?

 

00:29:21:07 - 00:29:52:15
Brent Stromwall
Yeah. yeah. So I would say the way the reason I do that is because I am a degreed engineer, licensed engineer. I have a career founded on engineering, doing the engineering tasks and functions for my clients. So I'm an engineer, but at the same time I'm relational. I want to work together with other people. We are more successful when we are working together in a healthy way with other people.

 

00:29:52:17 - 00:30:35:02
Brent Stromwall
So I'm my focus is both the process and tasks and, get it done. Things that are around engineering, if you will, or process. And coupled with being relational, let's making let's make sure that we are focused also on how are we doing this together. Not just what we're doing but how we're doing it. And I, I encourage all of my clients to help themselves to define what is the best possible way we can clarify for anyone in our organization or who might join us.

 

00:30:35:04 - 00:30:36:18
Brent Stromwall
This is how we do things.

 

00:30:36:18 - 00:31:04:01
Brent Stromwall
How we treat our customers. Yeah, we treat each other. How we act together. in a in a meeting, for example, and I'll use this as an example. Also, most leaders, when they're holding a meeting have some guidelines for their meeting. It's how we're going to act in this meeting doesn't necessarily apply to a one on one when we're out there talking together.

 

00:31:04:01 - 00:31:35:00
Brent Stromwall
But for this meeting, this is how we act. And so that's what I'm encouraging my clients to do, is let's figure out the best we can, best way we can to define how what it's like us to do as we're working together. And we can come up with what we call 3 to 7 core values that help us, define that unique aspect of our culture and makes us unique to anyone else.

 

00:31:35:02 - 00:31:55:07
Brent Stromwall
yeah. So the, the, the joy is going to come when we have more and more people who are like us, who act like us, who treat us the same way, who let's say, one of my clients, I love this. They use the term convivial. I had to look it up.

 

00:31:55:09 - 00:31:56:04
Speaker 2
Me to.

 

00:31:56:06 - 00:31:58:15
Brent Stromwall
It. Convivial is just friendly.

 

00:31:58:17 - 00:31:58:24
Speaker 2
Right?

 

00:31:58:24 - 00:32:25:11
Brent Stromwall
We're we're friendly. We're we were easy to get along with. We enjoy being together. Wow. What a great word. And by the way, let's give somebody. What does that mean. So it even draws that people into want to know more about it because they don't most people don't know the word, the term convivial, but that's a great way to say, hey, we're going to be friendly here while we're in the office.

 

00:32:25:11 - 00:32:40:12
Brent Stromwall
And if you don't want to be friendly or if we recognize you're not being friendly, we're going to call it out. Right. And we're going to hold you to it. so it's how we do things, not just what we're doing.

 

00:32:40:14 - 00:32:54:11
Speaker 2
You know we've had a pretty wide range conversation together today. As you reflect on that conversation, what do you want to be the takeaways for our listeners?

 

00:32:54:13 - 00:33:26:17
Brent Stromwall
I would I'm a I'll say I'm an evangelist. I'm looking over my bookshelf right now in front of me. I have several books lined up that are all about joy, all about the psychology and emotional maturity that we can experience to, experience joy together. And I would say, I hope and my my hope. And part of my lifelong goal is to help others recognize we can be in joy despite circumstances.

 

00:33:26:19 - 00:33:54:14
Brent Stromwall
It's not about being happy, it's about being joyful. And joyful is relational. So let's be with people. Let's become the people that we want to be with. so that's one thing. The other thing is we hopefully maybe this has helped trigger a mindset change for some folks. We need to change our mindsets. We're not going to grow without learning something new, without trying something new.

 

00:33:54:16 - 00:34:28:04
Brent Stromwall
And back to your comments about that entrepreneurial spirit. Let's be a little risky in that let's even though we're fearful, right? Fear is a negative, unpleasant emotion. I could say we can still have joy and be striving toward or desiring something that's even better. So we can't break. We can have that fear and still move forward with new, approaches, new tools, new ways to do thing, despite the fact that we don't know exactly how it's going to turn out.

 

00:34:28:06 - 00:34:39:07
Brent Stromwall
So, those are the two two things I would hope that people walk away as being joy and seek to shift your mindset.

 

00:34:39:09 - 00:35:02:22
Speaker 2
Well, to some extent, this conversation did just that for me. It shifted my mindset in terms of my awareness of iOS and how it can help organizations, and it really has been a pure joy, to spend some time with you recording this podcast. But before we wrap up, let me ask our listeners a question. You ever wonder why people follow your lead?

 

00:35:02:24 - 00:35:33:11
Speaker 2
Is it out of obligation, or is because they truly believe in your vision? Drawn from years of fortune 500 and HR and executive coaching, I've seen the essence of leadership. It's clarity and competence. It's about practical solutions that deliver bottom line results with a tailored approach will address your unique leadership challenges head on. If you're ready to lead with impact, visit bench-builders.com.

 

00:35:33:13 - 00:35:59:09
Speaker 2
Let's unlock your leadership potential and make real strides towards your goals until we meet again. Focus on leading in a way that inspires others to follow, not because they have to, but because they want to. Brett, thank you for sharing your expertise with us today. If our listeners want to connect with you, what's the best way for them to reach out?

 

00:35:59:10 - 00:36:26:09
Brent Stromwall
I'm going to say there's two ways. One is via LinkedIn. it's Brett Strong wall is my account. So linkedin.com/brant Stromlo. and then the other way is to possibly visit my website. And there's a way to schedule a call with me on that. I think it's call me or let's talk. I think the this the the the button is let's start.

 

00:36:26:10 - 00:36:34:19
Brent Stromwall
the website is ody ghost LLC. ODI ghost LLC.

 

00:36:34:21 - 00:36:38:23
Speaker 2
Excellent. Thank you Brant.

 

00:36:39:00 - 00:36:45:17
Brent Stromwall
Thank you Mike I really appreciate it. And I, I had joy speaking with you and having our conversation as well. Thanks.

 

00:36:45:19 - 00:36:57:23
Speaker 2
It's always nice to hear. I also want to thank our subscribers for joining us. I hope you have picked up on some quick wins from Brant that would help you get unstuck. You know, on target.

 

00:36:59:02 - 00:37:03:02
Brent Stromwall
Thank you for joining us for this episode of Get Unstuck and on Target.

 

00:37:03:04 - 00:37:23:17
Brent Stromwall
I hope you gain insights to help you lead with competence and drive your organization forward. Remember it, Bench builders. We're committed to your success, your leadership excellence, and your strategic growth. If you've enjoyed our conversation today, please leave a review rate and subscribe to keep up with our latest episode.

 

00:37:24:01 - 00:37:28:01
Brent Stromwall
This show really grows when listeners like you share it with others.

 

00:37:28:00 - 00:37:31:13
Brent Stromwall
Who do you know? Who needs to hear what we talked about today?

 

00:37:31:22 - 00:37:39:02
Brent Stromwall
Until next time, I encourage you to stay. Focus on the target and continue to break new ground on your leadership path.

Brent Stromwall Profile Photo

Brent Stromwall

Professional EOS Implementer®

Brent is a proven executive and business leader with 30 years of experience of corporate leadership and execution. He began his career as an engineer at Polytron, Inc., a provider of consulting and engineering services and solutions to the manufacturing community. He spent the first 30 years of his career helping lead and grow the business nearly 15 times its original size into a nationally recognized firm. Leading teams and managing projects in excess of $30MM in capital, Brent’s responsibilities expanded to sales, marketing, partner channel, and a variety of both internal and client-focused strategic initiatives where he helped build a team aligned with common values, vision, purpose and strategy.

Brent's experience in leadership, strategy, and process positioned him to become a wise and experienced guide helping other leaders navigate their entrepreneurial journey. retired from Polytron at the end of 2019 to help other business owners and leaders learn what it takes to get a grip on their business while regaining their joy and freedom.