If you examine the backstory of any successful leader, you'll discover they have their own list of "Most Valuable People" of sorts, and that's influencers in their lives who were always in their corner, who cared about them, and invested in their future. We call those people mentors. They often are in the background, and unknown to many, but they are essential to the development and success of leaders. This is why it's so important to surround yourself by the right influences as you grow in your...
May 23, 2025•35 min•Ep. 164
One of the greatest traits a leader can have is their ability...just like a prize fighter...to take a hit. Because if you're going to take a leadership role, you're getting into the ring...and your opponents aren't going to be taking it easy on you. When it comes to launching or managing an organization, there is no sugarcoating this...it won't be simple. In fact, it will probably be the hardest thing you'll ever do in your lifetime. We wish this wasn't an exaggeration. You will encounter unimag...
Apr 16, 2025•41 min•Ep. 163
As leaders and entrepreneurs...we are all about growth. In fact, some would say we are obsessed with growing. We like to captain our ways to new revenue records and to reach new levels of profitability. That's natural for entrepreneurs, and in some ways it's the drive that is needed to actually keep us in business. Yet, there are those times when you look out at sea and in the future you see darkening skies and you go, "Oh my!" It's times like these when you need to batten down the hatches. Join...
Feb 12, 2025•38 min•Ep. 162
"I've got a strange feeling something bad is about to happen." Have you said to this yourself before? If you've been in leadership for any length of time, you've probably experienced this feeling many times throughout the course of your career. This feeling is actually something valuable to you in your leadership role. It is a sixth sense of a sort. The ability to discern what will happen before it eventually does. The challenge is to not become paranoid while still maintaining an acute sense of...
Oct 08, 2024•43 min•Ep. 161
In a perfect world, the people we lead would be highly skilled individuals with extraordinary work ethics, and with a strong appreciation for the opportunity they have. Sometimes, however, those you lead have some of those characteristics, but not all. Some of them are highly skilled, yet don't necessarily hold you with the highest regard. There can be several reasons for this, some of them beyond your control. It's a harsh fact when it comes to leading. Not everyone will appreciate you and the ...
May 08, 2024•42 min•Ep. 160
There are so many different essential traits of a gifted leader. Few are more important than planning. No one wants to get lost in their business or with their careers. Everyone in the building is going to be judging the leader by the quality of their planning ability. In most organizations, the difference between a business having to shutter its doors...or being highly profitable is the quality of the leadership's planning. Join Michael and Jim as they take a deep dive into all aspects of what ...
Feb 22, 2024•38 min•Ep. 159
When it comes to being successful in business and life, it's all about relationships. Most elite leaders will tell you that developing a circle of trusted friends, colleagues, and partners is as important as any other task before them. However, building business relationships does not come easy for many entrepreneurs and leaders. Isolation and loneliness is all too prevalent in entrepreneurship. Often there can be sadness behind that beaming, business-facing smile. Building business relationship...
Nov 21, 2023•41 min•Ep. 158
Have you ever started off a day or week by saying to yourself, "There is no way we're going to get everything done that we need to do?" If you're like most business owners, this experience occurs with too much frequency, and over time can cause great harm to your health and well being. It brings this crushing feeling where the walls are coming closer and closer to you on all sides. When you're a leader or entrepreneur, this is exasperated further as your panicked face starts to spread to everyon...
Sep 05, 2023•45 min•Ep. 157
Can you imagine what it would be like if you had no competition in your business? None at all. Theoretically, our company's offerings would be in high demand and we could negotiate in our favor with all of the leverage. The phones would be ringing...the cash registers would be singing...at least for a while. That's because competition is actually a leadership friend. One that makes us stronger. As leaders, competition is good for us. It's good for our teams. It's good for our customers. And comp...
Jul 13, 2023•40 min•Ep. 156
Many people decide to start a business with the idea that it's going to change their lives in so many marvelous ways. It will change your life alright. They got that part spot on. The truth is this is a high risk journey...being a business owner. That pathway can lead to financial ruin, a loss of friends and a break-up of a family. You need to know this heading down this road. Which is why being a successful business owner entails so much more than merely growing your revenues. Join Michael and ...
Jun 09, 2023•37 min•Ep. 155
In this special episode of the Two Are Gathered Leadership podcast we hear from Co-Host Jim Johnson only six weeks after his recent open heart surgery. After more than 50 years of being a hard charger in the business world he shares what his most intimate thoughts were about leadership, success and life as he was being wheeled into the surgery room for what might have been his last moments here on earth. What really matters when it comes to building a company? How do you truly measure success? H...
May 12, 2023•43 min•Ep. 154
There are few things leaders and entrepreneurs enjoy more than being in control. The truth is we never really are in control. It's one of the great leadership delusions. There are so many things well, well beyond our scope of control...such as rain falling, earth shaking, waves crashing and most of the world's geopolitics that affect even the smallest of businesses. Then there are health crises. All out of our control! If we accept the true reality that ultimately we are not in control then as l...
Mar 10, 2023•41 min•Ep. 153
If we're in leadership. If we're entrepreneurs. There is an excellent chance we're heard this phrase throughout our lifetimes: You are SO stubborn. What's interesting about the word stubbornness is that it's used both positively and pejoratively. That is...it's both a complement and a criticism. The reason is...there really is a LIGHT SIDE, and a DARK SIDE to stubbornness. The goal in leadership is to tap into all of the qualities of stubbornness without slipping over into the edge of stubbornne...
Feb 20, 2023•37 min•Ep. 152
One thing virtually every leader and entrepreneur wants to do...is to grow. They want to experience interpersonal growth...intellectual growth...they want to grow their skillsets and those of their teams...they want to grow their network, their net worth...their revenues...their bottom line...their vision. Growth is exciting. Which is probably why so many leaders can be reluctant to do the exact opposite. That is to exercise the discipline of pruning. Yet, that's the exact critical practice that...
Jan 26, 2023•40 min•Ep. 151
How future proof is your business? How well prepared are you for all of the things that could go wrong? This is one of the least enjoyable parts of being an entrepreneur. Going through all of the "What if's?" and having a strong response in place for as many of these challenges as you can. It's not as exhilarating as charting out plans for new product and service launches and dreaming up ways for more growth. But future-proofing your business will be one of the most important exercises you condu...
Dec 17, 2022•48 min•Ep. 150
When you get into a leadership role one of the first great challenges you'll have to face is realizing that things are much different than they are advertised. Yes...those dreams of leadership and entrepreneurship. That you'll be the captain of your own ship...that you'll be able to create a schedule and a lifestyle well beyond anything you could have imagined. These may be true in part or in whole. But they also arrive with the tremendous burden of responsibility. These responsibilities weigh d...
Nov 04, 2022•42 min•Ep. 149
What is one of the most common questions a young entrepreneur will ask a much more experienced business owner? It's this: "When does all of this get easier? When does running a business get easy?" In many ways business does get easier when compared to those early frantic times of daily struggles. You build more systems. You gain efficiency. You can even work at making your job more enjoyable for you. But...there will always be some less glamorous elements of owning a business...of being in charg...
Oct 17, 2022•40 min•Ep. 148
One thing about leaders and visionaries...we love to see what's far ahead and plan for the brightest of futures. It's about planning. It's about growth. It's about vision. Unfortunately, there are those times in the leader's voyage when things get hazy...they get foggy...and uncertain. Forget about planning for next year or even the next six months...you've got to get through the next few days. Join Michael and Jim as they share how best to drive through a leadership fog....
Sep 15, 2022•35 min•Ep. 147
You have your favorite restaurant. One you've enjoyed for years. But...then something has changed. It's just not as good as it used to be. It happens with vendors we work with. You engage with them because of their amazing service and fair prices...and over time, they lose their luster. They lose their value to you. But, the worst case is when this is what they are saying about YOUR business. It's just not as good as it used to be. If they are saying this about your company, the end is near. In ...
Aug 04, 2022•40 min•Ep. 146
As leaders, in order for us to be successful, we must be excellent communicators. This is something we need to grow in each and every day. And interestingly enough...as we develop our capabilities as a communicator...one of the things we need to master is not just what we say...but what we shouldn't say. We can destroy our business more rapidly with the words we SAY than the words we DON'T say. Figuring out what NOT to say, is one of the important leadership tactics...and one of the most difficu...
Jul 14, 2022•41 min•Ep. 145
When you hear the word "networking" it conjures up an image of a toothy salesperson in a suit, walking through a large gathering of prospects, reaching out a well groomed hand to offer a shake....while the other hand is slipping people business cards. The truth of the matter is...at the entrepreneur level...you really don't have time to be attending all of these multiple events...passing out business cards like frisbees. Your more successful business owners don't. They rely on a networking strat...
Jun 21, 2022•39 min•Ep. 144
May 18, 2022•42 min•Ep. 143
How many times have we heard this phrase: Patience is a virtue? Often it seems like we hear this every day. But, what does this phrase...this colloquialism...really mean when it comes to business? On one hand, you're hearing that in order to succeed you've got to hustle...hustle...hustle. And, on the other hand...you're taught that you need to be patient, calculating and thoughtful. So which is it? Join Michael and Jim as they provide definitive answers regarding the virtues of patience in busin...
Apr 21, 2022•43 min•Ep. 142
There is a big difference between winning the lottery and winning in business. Yet, many entrepreneurs sometimes get these confused. So many want to hit the big time with their business, but many times in this pursuit they themselves get hit...big time. It's the age old pursuit. Captain Ahab in Moby Dick with the Great White Whale. Or Hemingway's Santiago...in The Old Man and the Sea. They had to learn the hard way...sometimes you get the fish...and sometimes the fish gets you. Join Michael and ...
Apr 04, 2022•36 min•Ep. 141
One of the dark secrets of entrepreneurism is that it's not all that it's made out to be. You're told that if you quit your job and start your own business, that you'll be able to choose your hours, be your own boss and the money will flow in like Niagra Falls. Instead...you lose sleep, hair, money...and sadly, some of the relationships around you, and you ask yourself, "I did this for what reason?" This can bring on a bad case of the Business Owner Blues. How do keep from getting depressed? Joi...
Mar 03, 2022•42 min•Ep. 140
Who goes into business wanting to be a so-so leader? No...as leaders and entrepreneurs...we want to be high performance! We want to go absolutely pedal to the metal, accelerating through the curves...the wind blowing through our hair and with large audiences cheering us on. That is, until we crash. You work so hard to be at the top of your game and then suddenly you realize there is a thin line between high performance and being overwhelmed. Join Michael and Jim as they share how to win without ...
Feb 11, 2022•41 min•Ep. 139
As leaders of organizations, as entrepreneurs, as wild-eyed inventors...we as a people...love getting things started. The start of a new project. Winning a new client. Making new goals. We love great beginnings. This is exciting. Sadly...there is another critical aspect of business that typically is less enjoyable. Because in the ebb and flow of life as an entrepreneur, there are beginnings...and there are endings. You've got to be great at both. Join Michael and Jim as they explain that when it...
Jan 28, 2022•44 min•Ep. 138
We all need friends. We all need friendships with others. The question is...do we need business friendships? Or should business be all about business? If you consider that as an entrepreneur, you'll spend somewhere in the range of 50-70% of your productive waking hours...doing business...then that's a long time of your life to be friendless. Of course there is value to business friendships. Yet, it's important to know that business friendships are...well...complicated. Join Michael and Jim as th...
Dec 30, 2021•42 min•Ep. 137
Is your project or business running out of money? You're not alone. This is an ongoing challenge for entrepreneurs. So many start off with a fabulous concept. Then, against the odds, they develop it out to its full fruition. Now, they are excited to get it off of the ground and to share their vision with the world. Their big problem? They are out of cash. There is nothing left for marketing and without the ability to get the message out this great idea is going to wither on the vine. This is not...
Nov 30, 2021•41 min•Ep. 136
We're the leader. The entrepreneur. We're the boss. We can choose our own path. Don't we have a right to be...irresponsible at times? Yes. But, if we actually want to design a pathway leading to success...we will want it paved with responsibility. There is no more instantaneous opportunity to increase your revenues, your profits...your customer retention...your employee satisfaction...than becoming more responsible. Literally, you can grow in all of these areas of improvement overnight. Join Mic...
Nov 05, 2021•43 min•Ep. 135
