Is Loyalty Holding You Back?

So back in 2006 , I believe it was , I started dating this girl and ended up getting engaged to her in , I don't know , after like a year and a half or something like that . And , let's face it , I knew it wasn't right , but I kept telling myself that things would turn around and get better .

I had this loyalty to this person that essentially made me ignorant to how poorly I was being treated . And then one day I wanna say it was the end of 2007 . Towards the end of 2007 , maybe it was a fall of 2007 . I was in the Charlotte Airport and I don't remember what I was doing down there .

I think I was connecting , but I was in the Charlotte Airport ready to fly back to LA , and so a six-hour flight ahead of me and I was on the phone with my then-fiancee and she was on a trip herself , and on that conversation it comes out that she cheated on me and that was finally , finally , the kick in the face wake-up call that I needed to end things .

And I gotta tell you that was the longest East Coast to West Coast flight I've ever taken . So anyway , that was the wake-up call right to end things . And things did end and for a long time after that I was really angry with myself for not seeing the signs sooner .

Like I said , I knew things didn't feel right , but because of this loyalty that I had to this person and , yes , I had asked her to marry me and everything I was ignorant to all the different signs . I didn't allow myself to see those .

And it wasn't until I processed all of that anger and so forth later on that I became super thankful that she cheated on me , because if that didn't happen , I would have gone through with it and I never would have met my wife , amy , and we wouldn't have had my daughter , et cetera , and just had this . You know the amazing life that we have .

So this is the whole . Everything happens for a reason , right ? So with that in mind , let's shift gears a minute and talk about loyalty in a different light when it comes to your business , and in some cases . For many of you it might even feel like a marriage , what I'm about to share with you . So there's a direct correlation here .

One thing I've been noticing more and more of as I talk to business owners is that there is this loyalty to a key member of their team .

Usually it's someone at the leadership level , somebody who is responsible for a key part of the business , and the loyalty comes from usually comes from they've been with the business for a long time , or they are friends and you know , and they're working in the business . And I'm going to share an actual example of this .

Not you know specific names or business or anything like that from about a year and a half ago , but what I see happening is , you know this key member of the team , something's going on . They're not really performing to the expectations of whatever role that they're in .

And again , this is something I've seen on more than one occasion is that that key member wants to add additional responsibility to what they're already doing , even though what they're already doing may be suffering a little bit , but let's just say they've already kind of taken that additional role on for whatever reason , and that additional responsibility that they want

to take on or that they already have taken on is way outside of their wheelhouse . They're simply not good at it . You know , whatever they've initially taken on , they're not good at it . And because they're not good at whatever they've added to their plate , they're actually holding the business's growth back .

And oftentimes we , as the CEO , can see what's happening , but because of this sort of oblivious loyalty , we tend to brush it off , right , because there's this loyalty to this person and we never want to do anything to rock the boat with them , right ? So what happens is we make excuses for them .

So then something happens , right , something falls through the crack and cracks and it's not good , whatever that might be . And that necessitates a discussion with this person , right , because results aren't being hit .

And so there's a discussion , there's talk about that person's role and your desire , as the CEO , to get them back to what they're best at , to the role that they've been in , which is their expertise .

But what happens is the person digs their heels in and is super resistant to it all , because they feel like they have a seniority in the business , right , and have earned the right , essentially , to take on whatever it is that they've added to their plate . And so here's an example of this , and again , this is about probably about a little over a year ago .

Large business and I started working with this business and the first call I had with them was the CEO and then their right-hand person , and I don't remember exactly what the right-hand person was doing . I think it was in some form of marketing role .

I forget , but one of the first things that I said to the CEO is , with the size of the business and where you wanna take it , this is the type of example where I think a you know , a director of operations or a COO or an integrator , you know , whatever you wanna call it is needed .

It would be really beneficial for someone to be running the day-to-day of the business , running the team , ensuring that all the different departments in the business are doing what they're supposed to , et cetera . And so the right-hand person kept saying like , oh , this is something that I do , this is something that I already do .

So here's the example I did share with you . They're already doing something in their expertise , and again , it was something in the marketing realm , but they were also managing some people that were outside of their marketing scope and things were falling through the crack right , because the integrator is the how person .

You as the CEO I've talked about this a lot in the podcast you , as the CEO , are the what and the why person . You say what you want to happen based on you know the vision of the business and where you're going , and the why why is it important ? This is the context of you know why you want . You know whatever .

You wanna start a podcast or start a whatever it is right . There's a why and where . That fits in so that the team understands . And then it's the integrator's responsibility , or the OBM or the operations person , whatever you wanna call it . It's their responsibility to make sure that it happens .

They're the how , not necessarily them doing it specifically themselves , but they're ensuring that it's getting done .

They're owning that result of said project getting done , and so there's a lot more to it than just , you know , running the day to day like the integrator role is quite expansive , and so this right hand person was saying , oh , oh , this is what I do and I'm like well , wait a minute . You know , aren't ?

You just said that you're in the marketing role , but you know , now you're saying like , oh , you're doing this already and this is over Zoom , as we're doing this call and I'm looking at the CEO and they're just kind of sitting back and not saying anything , I could tell immediately that this setup in the business is not gonna work , is not gonna take the

business to the next level that the CEO wants to get to . And so in the next phone call it was just the CEO and I the first thing I said look , your right hand person is not the person to run the day to day of this business , even though they want to , even though they say that they're already doing it .

This is not the person to take you to the next level where you want to get to , because they'd already shared , you know , their goals and stuff with me and all that . And the CEO is very resistant because of this loyalty they had to this person .

They , you know , like it was sort of like this person was untouchable , the right-hand person , and it was holding the business back .

Unfortunately it's still the case because there is this loyalty to the right-hand person who there's , you know , a history there and they've been with the team and the business for a long time and so you know they're super resistant to any kind of change . They said on that first call . I don't want somebody above me , and that's interesting , you know .

So that's where sort of they you know that seniority start to take over and they feel like they've earned the right to sort of call the shots , if you will , and if that's the position that they're in , that's one thing . But that wasn't the deal that this role that this person was in . It's not what they were .

It didn't align , okay , and so I share this example . You know , very broadly , very , very high level . But again , I see this quite a bit and it's this sort of ignorant loyalty , if you will , and there's no like no judgment here .

But I wanted to share this episode with you because I want you to have your eyes open when or if you start to see this sort of thing , or if you have that person in your business that has been with you for a long time or you've become really good friends with , which is great but if their responsibilities or what have with their results are slipping or they

think that they can do this other , larger role than they're already doing , but it's not in their wheelhouse , that is going to hold your business back . So , if this is happening to you , or when this happens , when this happens , we as the CEO have a choice right . We can let the loyalty that we have to this person win out and it will affect your business .

And I can say that really confidently because , again , I've seen it time and time again and it's one of those unfortunate things that , like I know , I can see what's holding the business back , but there's this such a reluctance to make a change because of this loyalty .

Now , please don't misunderstand , I'm not saying to like stop being friends with this person or anything . It's going to make more sense here in just a second . Okay , I'm not saying that at all . So the other choice is we can have the tough conversations as the CEO .

We can have these tough conversations about what's best for the business and if something like this is happening , I like to use the EOS system . That is , the entrepreneurial operating system that's outlined in the book Traction by Gena Wickman and specifically in this case that we're talking about here today .

He talks about the people analysis within the EOS framework and so within the people part , there's a bunch of different parts to it , but within it , one of the things within the people part is the accountability chart .

Right , it's kind of like your org chart , but it's sort of org chart 2.0 , if you will , where it is an org chart , but it clearly maps out the core responsibilities and the accountabilities for each role and the idea is to be reviewing it to ensure that there's alignment with the person in that specific role . You've heard the whole Jim Collins .

Good to grade right people , right seats . This is the same thing . So are the right people in the right places ? One exercise I like to do with many of the people , so I'm doing one-on-one coaching now and I'm no longer accepting people into the accelerator coaching program . I'm doing one-on-one coaching . I'm doing five spots . Three of them are already filled .

It's month-to-month stay in , as long or short as you want . If you're interested in that should be an email rickatrickmullreadycom and we can see if there's a fit . But anyway , one of the exercises I have people do is like look , if you don't already have an org chart , I want you to .

Or even , if you do have an org chart , I want you to create your org chart with wiping everybody's name off of the org chart . I'm not saying fire , I'm just saying for this exercise , wipe everybody's name away . What are the roles that you want in the business that will align to accomplishing the vision that you have for the business .

And once you have the roles , okay , what are the responsibilities and who is this role accountable to ? It's a very different exercise when we remove people like , oh , I don't know whatever , ronda is in this role , or Jane's over here , or Tom is over in this role .

We remove the people's names and now we just go by role and then what are the core accountability and responsibilities for each of these roles ? Again , we're getting to that right , people , right seats , sort of thing . So there's the accountability chart . Then also in the people part of EOS , there is the they call it the GWC . Right , the get it , want it .

Capacity to do it . And this is where you're sort of rating people on your team based on their skill level , their willingness and motivation to do the role , and then also , do they have the capacity to do it ?

Capacity meaning like , if this is a 40 hour a week role or what have you , and they only have 20 hours to devote to the business , well , they don't have the capacity to do for this specific role , okay , and so what this exercise does is it helps identify needs for specific people from a developmental standpoint .

Right , like , okay , this person doesn't really want it . Okay , well , let's look into that . Do they not want it because they don't like the role that they're in ? Do they not want it because they're unhappy with the business or the mission or whatever it might be ? Maybe they have something going on at home , whatever it might be .

This sort of exercise allows you to dive into that and start to identify things , give you data , and then there is the what they call the three step process for the misalignment , if you will . If somebody is in the wrong seat on your team , then there's a process to address it .

Right , according to this EOS framework is basically tell them , tell the person you want to address whatever is going on .

Show them what is the right way to do it not right way to do it , because there's never to right way to do it but show them what the result is that they're responsible for , and then , if necessary , move them to a different role or maybe out of the business or what have you right ?

And so there's this framework and , in addition , is asking yourself three really important questions , right , and I actually kind of touched on them already . Number one is this current structure of your business the right structure to get you to the next level ? Is the current structure the right structure to get you to the next level ?

Number two is everybody in the right seats , right ? So once you've done that accountability chart , then you start to put the people in that you currently have and you might find , oh , you know , rhonda's over here doing this in fulfillment Wow , she's really good at marketing , or what have you . Okay . And then , lastly , does everybody have enough time ?

Do they have enough time to own the results of the role that they're currently in ? Okay .

So now , going back to this person in the business that you have this loyalty to , and if results are not being hit by that person between that and now you have actual data to fall back on from the EOS analysis , like I just took you through , you get to make at this point a hopefully unbiased business decision and remember , nothing is personal , it's just a

business decision . Now and again , I'm not saying fire this person or anything like that , but what I am saying is you might have to make a tough decision to support what's best for your business , and this is going to necessitate going beyond this loyalty that you have to this person and , again , making decisions that are best for the business .

Not going to lie it's not easy to do and it's going to take these tough conversations . And you have to remember and I've talked about it here in the podcast before it's a business decision , it's always the business needs right and it's nothing personal .

I know another business that in the past year there was a sort of a falling out in a role and it wasn't this sort of ignorant loyalty or anything like that .

It was more of like the CEO had a really good relationship with this person , friends with this person , but things , for whatever reason I don't remember the exact details didn't work out in the business and the person had been with the business for several years and they were able to have a friendship .

It was kind of rocky rate at first but , like you know , the friendship was what's most important and today they're really good friends and they talk all the time .

It just didn't work out within the business and so this scenario that I've shared with you today and kind of walked you through might seem super farfetched or you might be thinking like Rick , this would never happen to me . As I've been mentioning here , unfortunately this is becoming all too common .

Especially , I'm seeing this most often in mature businesses businesses . I've been around for a while and doing quite well . That's generally when I see this happening , and so just keep your eyes open for it . Right , and you've got a process , now that I've just taken you through in this episode , to follow .

If this does start to creep up in your business , you can confidently handle it now . Cool , all right , my friends , thanks so much for tuning in today . I appreciate you . We'll see you right back here for the next episode here of the art of online business podcast .