Whether you’re an executive looking to advance your career or trying to achieve your financial goals and find work/life balance, our guest this episode has something for you.
Richard Kirby has been coaching corporate leaders and small business owners to success for 19 years. He shares his formula that combines inspiration and analysis to look at situations objectively in order to discover the best path forward. In this wide-ranging conversation, Richard details:
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The most important skills for leaders
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The importance of timeliness to motivation
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What makes a leader coachable
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And much more
Richard leaves listeners with a simple exercise they can complete to begin bringing their work/life balance into focus and analyze what they can do to free themselves of the tasks that consume the largest blocks of their time.
Mentioned in this episode:
Transcript
Richard Kirby: In business, my attitude is everyone is underutilized and they have a lot more potential and could be not just utilized as a as a tool, but as an individual. I really look to see how can I help them understand that they have a lot more potential than they’re utilizing.
Voiceover: You’re listening to The Build a Vibrant Culture podcast with professional speaker, coach and consultant Nicole Greer.
Nicole Greer: Welcome to The Build a Vibrant Culture podcast. My name is Nicole Greer, and I’m delighted to be here today with Richard Kirby. Richard Kirby has been coaching corporate executives and small business owners for the past 19 years. And his client success formula is inspirational, plus analytical, plus inevitable. He helps his clients identify and achieve their financial and work life dreams. Richard Kirby can be found on LinkedIn at richardkirbybyatl, he’s from Atlanta. And you can find him on his website, which is richardkirby.net. He is the k factor. Welcome to the show, Richard.
Richard: Thank you, Nicole. I’m happy to be here.
Nicole: Yeah, I’m all excited. You and I are both coaches, and we hang out with leaders all day long. And I’m absolutely delighted that you’re here to talk about leadership. Tell me a little bit about what you’re doing right now.
Richard: Well, as you said, in the intro, I’m coaching both small business owners and larger company executives. And the two areas there really deal with executives who are trying to get ahead in their careers, and individual business owners, of course, who are trying to grow, make their business more profitable, and find a way to maybe balance that with the personal of work life balance. Or are maybe even planning toward trying to sell the business and doing something new and different.
Nicole: Fantastic. I am collecting definitions of leadership. And I’m wondering if you would share with me what is your definition of leadership?
Richard: Well, I saw something recently that that said, the one requirement to be a leader is you have to have followers. So I thought that was really getting down to the basics of what is leadership. I mean, if you say is someone a leader are people following them? And so if you think about culture, if they have an idea of what the culture, what culture they want to create in their organization or company, are people following that or not? So I guess to me, the definition of leadership would be someone who is able to inspire, motivate, and support their team toward a common goals.
Nicole: Yeah, that’s fantastic. Yeah. So I agree, you gotta have followers. And so I’m curious, when you think about a leader that has people following them, they could be following them for a couple of different reasons. One, because this person gives them their paycheck on Friday. Or B this person is, as you’d say, has those those three words, right, that were in in your formula. So tell us a little bit about what you think the most important skills for leaders are and how they might build what we’re talking about a vibrant culture?
Richard: Well, I think, you know, it’s a relationship, right you have with your employees. So I think if you think about factors associated with having a healthy and good relationship, first of all, would be maybe more of an open door policy, you know, willingness to listen, and then willingness to consider what they hear and take that into account on how they make decisions. I mean, then then you develop a sense of, of the followers saying, I feel like I was heard, which is frequently something that you want people to say. I thought my opinion was valued. That might not be made, that the decision may not follow that, but at least it seemed to be valued.
And that, you know, the appropriate decision was made about where to go from there if you’re talking about making a change, or whatever it might be. So I think listening skills, and open mindedness are important. Those are great for the communication part. But it’s hard to be a leader if you don’t have an idea of where you’re going. So I think you also have to have an idea of what is the mission of your organization? What are you trying to accomplish? And where as you go about your day to day and then what is your vision? Obviously, if you do the mission, vision values sort of stuff.
That’s it. kind of the way companies think, then what is the vision of where you want to be? Where are you trying to get to? And what sort of timeframe? So I guess the mission and the vision, being able to have those in mind and being able to clearly communicate those, and gain buy in those, to me would be the important parts that I think with effective leadership. There’s, you know, obviously, there’s a lot more, but that’s a starting point.
Nicole: Yeah, fantastic. So, you know, I think you’re probably, again, we both coach people. And, you know, we’ve had to help people kind of see how important it is to have an open mind to be a listener to be to be considerate to value other people’s opinions, those are all the things that you said. Can you share with us a time you work with a leader and you helped them kind of move into that space? Because sometimes the entrepreneurs and and the company owners that we work with, they’re so driven, they’re trying to get the stuff done. They’re trying to move, you know, strategy forward, and they think, you know, this will slow me down if I have to listen to people all day long. Wondering if you have a story of how you might have helped somebody understand the value of all those things?
Richard: Well, yes, I think I have worked more recently with a small business owner. And they did have a little bit of the my way, or the highway sort of attitude about things. But they weren’t happy with the way their employees were reacting, and especially the fact that the employees, you might say in what we’ve talked about so far, in that context, they weren’t following, following along where they were.
So I think the fact they were getting negative feedback in the system, you know, not hostility, but they’re getting definite feedback that what they’re doing wasn’t working, then they were more open minded to it. And so, you know, as you know, with coaching, you don’t sit down and have one conversation and they go, okay, I’m here, I’m going to go over there and do that new thing. And I’ll see you in a few months and let’s see how it goes, there has to be some consistent reinforcement, feedback, evaluation, accountability.
So I think that that business owner, quickly, I’m sure you found this too, although you don’t get the behavioral change necessary. The attitudinal change up front, there is usually some a little bit of an aha, on the part of the owner, in this case, when they try something different and find that they get a different reaction that’s more constructive from their people. So that’s happened several times with me. And that’s the good thing about it, you know, is if you do something that’s potentially more effective, then you can, they can see some clear behavioral indication that, okay, this may work for me, and be better. So, I don’t know if that’s exactly what you were looking for.
Nicole: Yeah, that’s fantastic. No, I think there, there are a lot of leaders out there that have that my way or the highway kind of mentality. And, you know, I think really what’s rooted at the base of it is not really this desire to be, you know, ugly or hard to get along with, but it’s more like, just so passionate, you know, and they’ve got to pull back that passion, and remember that they’ve got a human resource sitting in front of them. And I think sometimes when we’re dealing with small business, you know, again, the small business owner has to do so many things, get so many things done, and be an actual technician inside the business most times, so that if they can, you know, learn to slow down and listen to their people and understand that human resource is just as valuable, valuable as the dollars in their bank account, or more so really.
Richard: Absolutely. People say they, you know, their employees are the most valuable, rare set or whatever, but they don’t necessarily act that way, in the day to day. And one of the things just kind of as an aside on that is I’ve worked with several corporate leaders that were pretty high powered, very effective. But the thing that I appreciated, and I think that was a strength for them, was their humility, that they were open to other people’s ideas. They didn’t, they were already there. I mean, that isn’t something that every leader I work with, has an issue with. And I’m always impressed by people who are very accomplished, and they’ve learned to become to be humble. And they’ve learned to give credit to people on their team, which motivates the people on the team and realize that they get further with the team members all pulling together than they do trying to push everybody and intimidate and drive everything.
Nicole: Yeah, I totally agree. And I think one of the things that you said giving people credit is absolutely huge. You know, if you can make sure that the people that helped you get your business where it is, you know, get get the credit, they will be so loyal and will follow you. They want to know that their work matters.
Richard: Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt you.
Nicole: No that’s okay, go ahead.
Richard: So yeah, I was just had a meeting this week with a group of business owners. I have one part of my business is with Vistage and I have small businesses and we have monthly roundtables. And we had one earlier this week, and the administrative support person for this company where we meet in their conference room in their offices, she brings in coffee, she brings in water, she orders lunch, and I say she because she’s female, I don’t want to stereotype here. It just so happens she is. And when there’s an issue, she kind of just jumps on it and fixes it. And I was remarking to the owner when she was not in that in the room.
I said, like, you know, isn’t she the kind of ideal employee you want? No matter what their job is that, that they look for the solution when things aren’t working, and they volunteer to help. And they don’t sit waiting to be told what to do all the time. And she said, yeah, absolutely. And when the lady came back in the next time with something, I actually complimented her in front of the group. So it’s like that feedback and what we were just talking about. And you know, whenever you do that, when somebody a lot of times, you know, her face just lit up. And so, you know, what’s that worth? It’s worth a lot to get that positive feedback, and appreciation.
Nicole: Yeah, absolutely. So I talked about how that’s filling up people’s emotional bank accounts, right. And here’s what I know, emotions move people. So the more that you can give, you know, honest, sincere, great feedback, not just a great job, but you know, pointing out the things that they’re doing. I love what you’re saying, Richard about the specifics, right? She’s a problem solver. You know, all of those things. She, because she’s sitting there going, well, I just do these things. I don’t even see how good I am. Unless somebody tells me all these talents that I have. And I think that really edifies people and gives them a lot of confidence.
Richard: And that reminds me of that phrase, or quote, I don’t know where it came from exactly. But that idea of catch people doing something well, or doing something exceptional, catch them almost in the act, because we know timeliness, too. You know, you don’t want to wait for six months to have your annual evaluation. And then you hear about what you did that was good that was maybe six months ago, and you don’t even remember doing it. So timeliness on that feedback, I think is important for motivation.
Nicole: Yeah, absolutely. That was either Zig Ziglar or Covey. I’m not sure. But it was one of those like that. Yeah. Maybe we’ll have to look it up, put in the show notes. All right. So you say that your client success formula is inspirational, plus analytical, plus inevitable.
Richard: Equals evitable. Hold on, it’s inspirational, plus analytical, equals inevitable.
Nicole: Okay. All right. Very good. Thank you for helping me. All right. Awesome. So talk to me about inspirational and analytical. These are the two components that make an awesome leader?
Richard: Well, not necessarily an awesome leader. But that’s my success formula for me. I, you know, I’ve branded myself as the K factor. My last name is Kirby. And so I view myself as a catalyst to help people be more successful in my coaching. And this may sound a little weird, I don’t know, if you’ve had previous podcast, guests say this. But I truly believe that everyone is underutilized, pretty much, at least in business. Maybe there’s some people sitting out on does on a Caribbean island, drinking beer all day and listening to the surf. I would think they’re underutilized too, but probably aren’t going to get more utilized than that.
But in business, I feel my my attitude is everyone is underutilized. And they have a lot more potential, and could be not just utilized as a as a tool, as a machine and the machinery or whatever, but as an individual. And so that idea of inspirational, I’m always looking at, you could say aspirational, but it’s more than just the person succeeding. It’s more about, you know, really, what could they do more, what more could they be? So it’s related to aspirational. So that’s the first part.
So I look at an executive who’s maybe a Vice President making $500,000 a year. And in a lot of cases, I say this person is underutilized. And likewise, an administrative assistant, it’s easier to see in, maybe people doing lower level jobs in the organization. But that’s the inspirational part is, I really look to see how can I help them understand that they have a lot more potential than they’re utilizing?
Nicole: I think you’re right on. You’re preaching to the choir with me. I totally, totally agree. Yeah, I think that getting the potential and the possibilities out of people are huge. I just spoke at the Matthews Chamber of Commerce at one of their business luncheons, and I was talking to a gentleman, and we were talking about his one of the people that he works with. And she had shared with him that he that she could use a software program called Canva. And I don’t know if you’re familiar with Canva, but it helps you make flyers and helps you make social media posts. And it’s a graphic design software, that’s really pretty simple to use. But this young lady was very good at it.
And so he had asked her, you know, in just in passing, while they were working, you know, what do you do? And she goes, oh, well, you know, I sell things, you know, I sell things on eBay, and I, you know, post things up, and I sell them on Facebook marketplace, and all this kind of stuff. He’s like, how do you do that? You know, he didn’t understand how she did all that. Well, turns out, you know, he found out she could use this software. And now she still waits tables for him, but does his social media as well, you know, so it’s like it right under his nose was this great person that could do social media for him. And so she’s probably going to transition full time into this, this marketing position instead of being the waitress. So I am with you 100%.
Richard: Oh, good. Well, so that’s the that’s the inspirational part. I’m looking for what how are they under selling themselves, some cases undervaluing themselves and in the organization, and then the analytical is okay, I’m here. And if I feel undervalued, a lot under valued, underutilized, not as effective as I could be whatever that yearning or desire for more is, then now we have to bring on the analytical and I have an engineering degree, there aren’t a lot of engineers in coaching I’ve found out. So I can’t give up the analytical part, which is basically okay, you’re at point A, how are we going to get you to point B, or whatever that is. And maybe we get you to point B, we have to have a one, a two, a three, there’s multiple steps and other things. So then I try to break it down into what’s the situation? What’s the goal? What are the steps, and I’m more regimented than a lot of coaches who maybe their approach, I’d say. So that’s the analytical part.
Nicole: And so when you take inspirational and, and analytical, you get inevitable. So talk to me a little bit about that what the equal sign and inevitable.
Richard: Oh, so being an engineer, see, I have a formula for my brain.
Nicole: I heard it loud and clear.
Richard: Well, you inspire them, then you, through analysis, you show them and demonstrate and get buy in to what has to happen analytically to get to the point. And so with clients who do that, then the inevitable is, I don’t see it that difficult to get to that point they want to get to. Now surely, if they’re waiting tables, and they want a brain surgeon, and they have no degree, I don’t get many of them. But that would definitely be inevitable, is a little bit of a stretch. But for most people, this it’s not that huge of a stretch, at least maybe where they want to go next on their path to ultimately where they want to be.
So the inevitable part is really, I’ve had a lot of success. And I guess it’s sort of saying, I’m confident that they can get there. And I’m confident that I can get them there as long as they work for it. Now, I can’t, you can’t always as you know, you can’t always produce motivation. In a client you can only try to do it and then they are going to do whatever they do. So, it’s inevitable if they follow the plan and work the plan and are sincere about wanting to achieve it.
Nicole: Yeah. And what you’re what you’re talking about, I think is you know, some people are coachable. Yeah. And think people are not coachable. And that’s been one of the hardest lessons for me to learn. Having done this since 2007. Is I almost care sometimes more than my clients do.
Richard: Yes.
Nicole: I want I want it fixed more than they want to fix it. And that absolutely slays me. But you know, I’m learning to detach, you know, because you have to, you’ll make yourself a mad woman. So tell me a little bit about what you think makes a leader coachable? And then like what makes a leader uncoachable? Let’s dissect that a minute.
Richard: Okay, well, coachable. Like, does someone hearken back to what I said earlier. Are they a good listener? Do they have some humility? Are they truly open to considering other options? And do they want it? So I think all of those things that you have something you want, you’re open minded enough to listen and consider. And then you’re you’re willing to be held accountable, I guess, is the other part of that. Then that person probably is coachable. Those are elements I would see. And any of those that are missing or potential issue. And certainly related into that is the old ego thing. So about 40 years ago, I read a book called The Handbook to Higher Consciousness.
And, while I’m not a left coast commie swami person, so to speak, as they say, here on the east coast, I do believe there’s a lot of things that can be learned through something other than hard concrete facts and stuff. So the quote out of that book that relates to what I’m saying is, is the author said you should endeavor to retire your ego from lack of use. And I’ve been for the last several decades working on that. And I think that’s what has happened with some of these people that are more coachable, and are why even though they’re good, high achievers, they’re coachable, because they have their ego under control. Because if my ego is too much out of control, I’m not necessarily open to listening, because I always know better. And boy, those are really uncoachable frustrating people.
Nicole: Right. Right. The people that are right all the time. You know, there’s people who are right all the time?
Richard: Yeah. They listen to you. They listen to you. And they nod and they say, yeah, I understand where you’re coming from. Meaning I hear you, but I’m not coming from where you’re coming from.
Nicole: Right, right. Yeah. And I think I would add to your list, I’m wondering what you think about these in terms of being coachable is also like a willingness to learn? You know, that I’m a lifelong learner. I find that people who are coachable, you know, they, you tell them about a book, you tell them about the handbook, Higher Consciousness, and they’re like, oh, well, I’m gonna buy it. I’m gonna read it. You know.
Richard: I agree. Lifelong learner, that phrase is a good one to judge, someone who’s like that is most likely more coachable. So I’d agree with that. Yeah, what you’re saying.
Nicole: Yeah. And then I think the other thing that’s important for somebody be coachable. And I think is what you were saying about not to be woowoo. Right, like.
Richard: It was okay with me, but I always put a qualification up in front of it, because some people aren’t and they kind of turn off.
Nicole: Right. Well, so I think, you know, a coachable person is also spirited. You know, like if I was coaching a football team, and somebody really wants to win, that makes a huge difference in how we’re going to play ball here. So I think having kind of that spiritedness, that inner energy is absolutely absolutely imperative to being coachable as well. So you know, for those of you who are like, should I get a coach? Well, if you’re willing to learn, you know, you’re spirited, you’re a great listener, all the things that Richard said, you should most definitely get a coach. And I was on your website, Richard, and you had a video on there about why you should have a coach.
Richard: Yeah, that one at the top that has Bill Gates on there. Yeah.
Nicole: Yeah. And so, you know, we we think that, you know, I think that you could, you might could find a coach right within the walls of your organization, you know, or you can go outside of it. But I think, you know, having a formal relationship with somebody who’s going to help you plan things out, help you think things through hold you accountable for what you say you’re going to do, is absolutely huge. So talk a little bit about what’s in that video and why you would choose to highlight that.
Richard: Because first of all, we kind of live a little bit in a celebrity culture. And you know, me saying you should have a coach, or you saying that doesn’t have the same potential impact on someone as Bill Gates is a multi bazillionaire. What are the other guy is the former CEO of Google. So if somebody’s sitting there, gee, I don’t know if I need a coach and the CEO of Google and Bill Gates says everybody needs a coach, I thought, that’s the reason I have it on my website. So what they it’s a very brief video, maybe a minute and 20 seconds.
But the crux of it as it goes to the end, what the former CEO of Google says is, he puts it this way, we’re never good at seeing ourselves as others see us. Well, if we had 10, people, like the 10, people might see you in 10 different ways. But the point is, we’re not really good at seeing ourselves necessarily. So I had a meeting earlier. So I think that’s, that’s an important factor there is that if you have the humility a little bit to say, yeah, maybe I’m making bad decisions here. And that’s when things aren’t working. And I need someone who is not in any way emotionally involved in what I’ve done. To give me a more objective, third party, look at what I’m doing. That’s why you want to coach.
Nicole: Yeah 100%.
Richard: I don’t have a I don’t have a dog in this hunt. You know, if you want to quit tomorrow, and that’s, you know, whatever you want to do, you can do but let’s look at objectively, you know, why are you deciding you’re going to quit? Let’s talk through the reasons you’re going to quit. Do these really make sense? That’s as an example, if somebody’s like, I’m fed up here, and I want to, I just, I’m just gonna quit. You know, get it over with. Get out of my misery.
Nicole: Yeah, well, I think I shared this before on other podcasts. But to my listeners, you’re welcome. I’m going to share it again, write this question down, stick it on a sticky note and put it somewhere where you look at it. Like put it right on your monitor. So every day when you sit down to your computer, it’s right there. Make it the screensaver on your phone. But I love this question, Richard. I picked it up along the way. And I have just used it and used it and used it. And when I sit with a new client, I’ll say, so tell me, what is it like to experience you? And many, many, many times people say, I’ve never thought about that. I’m like, that’s why we’re here.
Richard: Exactly, you’re trying to put them in the other person’s shoes and try to evaluate themselves. But the point of that video really is that we we can’t objectively identify or see what we’re actually doing, or how we’re coming across our you know, body language many times is tells more than the words. So somebody’s saying the right words, but their body language is, I don’t believe what I’m telling you, but corporate told me to say it, or stuff like that. So yeah, so that’s, I think, why people need a coach is to have somebody who is totally as, as completely as possible, unbiased, doesn’t have any attachment to what has gone on in the past. And they want to look and say, okay, let’s look at this and see what’s working and what isn’t working. And maybe there’s some better things you could do to make yourself more effective, or happier or whatever.
Nicole: Right, right. Well, you know, one thing I wanted to talk to you about is because you know, leaders, I think, especially after the last year and a half, two years with all this hot mess, COVID crazy supply chain world we live in. You know, they’ve been challenged more than ever. I think it’s a lot of them have kind of like woken up in the, you know, like, they might have been kind of coasting or something right. And they’re like, whoa, hold on, I really have to have a plan, I really have to have a plan.
But at the same time, they’ve handled crisis and things they, you know, employee health issues, on and on and on. So it’s been a crazy, crazy year and a half. But you you really have a philosophy that, you know, people need to have work life balance. When I was looking at your website that kept that kept coming up. And so I took a note and I was like, I want to make sure that Richard talks a little bit about the what that looks like, what that is in your mind. And then how do I move towards that when I’ve got so many demands on me? Can you kind of tease all that out?
Richard: I’ll try to. If I don’t quite cover it, hit me again, with a follow up. So what work life balance looks to me, I have a vague range that I consider seems reasonable to a normal human being. Some people may operate outside of that and still be happy. But a lot of times what happens is I see business owners especially they get immersed in their business, and they’re working 60 hours a week or whatever and they think they don’t necessarily think it’s okay, but they think it’s necessary, sort of a necessary evil. And I’ll give you a quick example, I had a, I had one that I kept trying to get them to cut back on their hours.
And of course, I’m trying to find ways they can be more efficient and effective. So they, they’re not losing anything by cutting back on their hours. And he would tell you about how he would go home at 8:30 at night and crash on the bed on the sofa exhausted in front of the TV. And he had two small children under 10 years of age, and he was married. And so you know, my question to him was, because I saw this as being unhealthy. You know, either you’re just gonna have a really unhappy family, or your family’s not gonna be. So I asked him. So if you went home tonight and went to crash on the sofa at 8:30, and your wife left a note that she had packed up the kids, and she was wanting to divorce? How well would this plan you’re working on here be if your business was great, but that happened?
And so, you know, questions like that really relate to work life balance in terms of the nitty gritty of what are you gonna get out of your life part outside of work? But then, you know, the, I’m not quite answering your question. But I’ve given a couple of examples. And then maybe we’ll come to something. I had another client, I was coaching who owned business, and now he did this. Now he went and he had a good marriage, but his wife basically would put up with anything, and the kids were out of the house. So it was a little different environment, they were already gone to college.
But he really wanted to work less. So he worked, as I’m sure you’ve had with successful clients, and he got his workweek down to under 40 hours a week. And he also had a, he trained to second in charge that when he went on vacation, he can almost just leave and walk away, and the person would run the business while he was gone. So he would joke in our group meetings when we get together. He says, yeah, I’m going to Barbados for a week, next week, and I’m going to Switzerland and Vienna and Austria and, you know, whatever, Europe for two weeks, in a few months, and all this.
And everybody would look at him around the table, and he’d go like, Richard makes me take vacation. So that’s the other end. Is the person who for work life balance to me, I mean, what, how much vacation do you want? How often do you want to take vacation or just spend time with family? And that’s the proper work life balance for you. But I know, 60 hours a week consistently is not good work life balance for almost anyone.
Nicole: Yeah. And so I heard like a couple things in there. One was, figure out what you want. And then the, you know, working with a coach back to the analytical side, we can figure out, how do we get from A to B, so that you get the time at home, the time for vacation, that kind of thing. And then the other thing I heard is, you know, right away, people think it’s a necessary evil. So like, a lot of times, I think leaders get a mental model that they believe is true, but it’s not true. You know, I just have a belief in here that I’ve got to have somebody, you know, poke a hole in. Is that really true? Is it a necessary evil? I don’t know.
Richard: I wrote a book a while back. And the first chapter is on attitude. And the second chapter is on belief systems. What do you believe is driving you to for the behaviors that you have? And so yeah, I think many entrepreneurs and small businesses just think they have to work that much. Not all of them. Some have other strange, unusual reasons why they’re doing it. But I don’t, it’s kind of like that inspiration. I want to inspire them that they don’t have to give up that much of their life. And I want to give them the analytical tools and action items and process so they do, are able to work out of that stressful situation they’re in.
Nicole: And that’s fantastic. That’s fantastic. Okay, so I have one final question for you. So somebody’s listening right now. It’s a special listener. And that special listener is like, okay, Richard, give me give me one next right step on achieving work life balance. What’s one thing I can start doing tomorrow that would help me? One thing that would make me more coachable. Something like that.
Richard: Well, I’ll give you an exercise. And just briefly in a few sentences. Outline a brief exercise I do with clients many times when they’re overworked and they don’t have good balance. I say, okay, let and I’ll usually do it, but go up, get a whiteboard, so you have plenty of room to write and start writing all the things you can think of that consume your time during an average week, or maybe some things are done monthly, or do an average month. And kind of evaluate which ones of those things are the really high things that eat the most of your time.
Like I have a business owner, and they spend a lot of time just getting the billing out, because they really don’t have it automated and reviewing billing and stuff like that. They spend 10, 15% of their work week doing that. So, write down the things that, here’s the list of the activities that I feel responsible in that I actually do that consume my time. And then look at what on that list could I delegate to somebody who’s capable and competent in my organization right now. May not be exactly in their job description, but a lot of stuff isn’t in your job description as an entrepreneur either. So who would take this on?
So, and then the second question would be, is any of this stuff could I really just eliminate it? Like stop doing it? The third question might be, is there a simple outsourced resource, I could pay on a part time basis, on a consulting basis, an hourly basis to take this off my hands? And if they’ll do that and get sincere about it, they can, I’ve found most people can take at least 20% of their workload down just by eliminating those things in those three ways.
Nicole: That’s fantastic.
Richard: So if I was working 60, I’ll get 12 hours back. Now I’m down to 48. I’m not there yet, but I’ve made a major, and probably they’re under estimating what all they could actually shed.
Nicole: That’s fantastic. All right. Well, Richard Kirby, it has been an absolute delight to have you on The Build a Vibrant Culture podcast.
Richard: Well thank you.
Nicole: Everybody, you can find him at www.richardkirby.net, and he is on LinkedIn. Is linkedin.com Richard Kirby ATL, he’s down in Georgia. Thank you so much for being on the Vibrant Coaching podcast.
Richard: You’re welcome, Nicole. Thank you so much. I enjoyed being with you. Take care.
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