As a business owner, it’s difficult to do the right work AND guide your company toward its next big initiative.
With Red Direction Business Base Camp, learn how to implement and handle processes to meet your business’s specific needs and better understand your market.
Starting the conversation:
It takes time to create meaningful relationships in life and business. When you know what you want to accomplish, you know where to put your effort … and how to build relationships with those that can help you reach your goals. Lucas Root, Entrepreneur and Author at SGIC Consulting, talks about leveraging your superhuman power of collaboration.
Inspired action is something that drives you or pulls you forward. The skills you must learn to achieve your goals require effort and practice — it will not be easy. As you grow, your vision will grow too. Pivoting is OK, as every action prepares you with the skills required for your next journey.
Relationships help with this learning and journeying. In this program, you will learn what disconnected behaviors look like and what to do to change, the three powers of presence in your business, and how much we really influence the outcomes around us. Jess Dewell talks with Lucas Root, Entrepreneur and Author at SGIC Consulting, about how to inspire others and bring your vision to life.
Host: Jess Dewell
Guests: Lucas Root
What You Will Hear:
Our human superpower is collaboration through our relationships.
Endings make new beginnings and sense an ending with feelings of dissatisfaction.
Timing is everything, we influence less than we think we do.
Put effort into where you encounter obstacles.
Find disconnection behaviors and look at the cause, and what those behaviors look like.
3 Powers of Presensein business.
Visions change, and it is ok to pivot for drive and opportunity.
Practices to build and deepen relationships.
Additionally, for the Fast Track Your Business Today Uncut conversation:
Synchronicity is always present and you can learn to become aware of it.
Fill in the blank: days are better when I _______.
Relationships have different depths.
Be intentional about your actions and see how your relationships and results change.
Mindset is everything. Change the way you think and change what you see, receive, and can do.
How purpose shows up in your everyday life.
It is BOLD to take the next step toward your world-changing vision.
Get started and make a difference in your business with a Growth Framework Reset.
Transcript
ANNOUNCER 00:03
Welcome. This is the Bold Business Podcast. Your business has many directions it can travel. The one true direction of your company creates the journey for you to move toward a new, exciting level. We call this the Red Direction. In today’s program, we delve into one idea. The idea will support you as you work on ever-present situations, including how to stay competitive in a changing market, how to break through the business plateau, and how to anticipate the changing expectations of your stakeholders. Jess Dewell is your guide. Jess brings you a 20-year track record of business excellence, where strategy and operations overlap. Your Path comes from consistently working from the special place. Your unique True North. Now, here’s Jess.
Jess Dewell 00:48
Welcome to the Bold Business Podcast. Do you know No, you do know, you know why you’re here? Do you know why you’re here? That’s a silly question. Because you’re listening to this podcast. You know, we are about answering the right question at the right time, getting inspiration from unusual places, knowing that the problems that we are working with may be complex, but they may not be complex. Regardless, they’re the things we must spend time on. And Bold Business Podcast is a place with which to spend time and let your creativity go. Listen to what we’re talking about with our guests, and be able to take something away that could be actionable for you today, or to share with somebody that you know who could use it today, provided it’s not the right time for you. You’re still gonna have fun in this conversation. And here’s the deal. The deal is I’m talking to Lucas today. And I’m going to introduce you to Lucas in just a minute. But I have to say, before we get started, don’t forget Fast Track Your Business folks. You have your TrueNorth dashboard waiting for you for our whole conversation for the rest of you, you want to find out more visit Fast Track Your Business today. Okay, so this conversation is going to go all over the place today. Because not only is Lucas route, an accomplished speaker, he’s an accomplished entrepreneur. He is also an author and a business success mentor. He is also the founder of SGIC Consulting. And here’s the deal with all of those, there are some underlying key pieces, his connection to people, the idea that high performance can come from anywhere, the fact that strategy is existing all around us and are we going to wake up and notice it and take action on it and implement it across not only your business but also potentially even your life to achieve your growth potential. That’s where the possibility lies. So not only does he do all of that, it comes with cred. The credit is 19 years of success in banking, tech investments, health, wellness, athletics, interactive media, which is AKA, specifically gaming. So whatever roadblock that you might be facing whatever success you are chasing, and you are ready to claim.
Lucas Root 03:02
That’s where he likes to play with you. Okay, so Lucas, welcome. That was awesome. You’re welcome. You can take that and have other people do it. It will not be as cool because it is not in Jessica voice. However, it’s all yours.
Jess Dewell 03:21
Recognize the pieces of that that I wrote. And then I was like, Oh, cool. There’s, there’s some ad-libbing going on here. I like it always. Are you kidding? I can’t read from a script if I, if I was told to. Yeah, no. More like, it is a script. But if you used it more like it was bullet points. Isn’t that cool? Exactly. I could have scripted, I could have used the script. But in true form, there’s always more there’s a way to show up in a lens with which to take it. So thank you for providing me the lens with which to add love. Well. My pleasure. That was, that’s collaborative right there. That’s the here’s how we’re going to do and what facets Can we show up into the world. And you know, that’s actually something where you and I connected very strongly is all of the different ways with which people are viewing the world. And how we see vision, how we might not see vision because we’re either oblivious, afraid. Don’t claim it. There’s all kinds of reasons we don’t. But we might think we do. So I’m going to start here and we’re going to just jump right in, in all of the experiences that you’ve had, and the places that the places and the people in your own development as well and in your successes and failures. How important is that vision?
Lucas Root 04:35
Collaboration?
Jess Dewell 04:36
No vision, your vision for the collaboration pieces. Everything is vision, the collaboration
Lucas Root 04:42
It kind of is. I mean, think about it. Human our human superpower is collaboration. Above all else, our human superpower is collaboration, but it’s more than just that In fact, without collaboration, we’re just nothing. What is a conversation without collaboration? It’s two people yelling at each other. I guarantee you, you’ve been in that before. Was it fun? Do you want to do it again?
Lucas Root 05:18
What is the relationship without collaboration? It feels more like a hostile takeover, which is a thing that happens. And yeah, my guess is that every time it happens, at least half the people, if not more, that were involved in that walk away feeling unsatisfied.
Jess Dewell 05:35
When there’s a lack of satisfaction? Is that an indication that it’s an end? If all ends are new beginnings, then yes, because each time you’re not satisfied, you’re going to spend some time to reflect, learn, improve and change. So you’re ending the behaviors that arrived at satisfaction, dissatisfaction, and creating new behaviors? Yeah.
Jess Dewell 05:57
What okay, so what about those of us who, you know, we get stuck sometimes, and we’re like, this became comfortable this, I’m unsatisfied and uncomfortable here. You can’t tell me this. This is the path I’m supposed to go down. I’m gonna knock my mother knock my head against this wall forever.
Lucas Root 06:15
Okay, I accept that, if that’s your path to knock your head against a wall forever.
Jess Dewell 06:20
But is it really ARE WE deluding ourselves? Is that truly I mean, is that truly a path that a person could take?
Lucas Root 06:27
I don’t think that anyone stays on that path for very long. I may knock their head on the wall for a while. And then they say, You know what, I’m sick of knocking my head against this wall. I think I’m going to make some changes. Yeah. But you can’t put a pad there.
Jess Dewell 06:42
Mm-hmm.
Lucas Root 06:43
You can’t go and, and hold them off the wall and say, Hey, dummy, stop doing that. You can’t do that. You have to let them do you know, you let them get a bloody nose until they’re done getting a bloody nose. That’s right. To decide they’re done until they do.
Jess Dewell 06:59
That’s right. Yeah, you know, that’s really interesting. That’s really interesting, because I look at, and I’m looking at the generation in my world, right? I have the people that I work with which in this scenario, common talk, it might be peer, and all my peers. And those peers may or may not have a generation that they are directly raising for our future, they may or may not be interacting with the group of people that will be the generations coming after us. But all of us in my peer group have had or still have the people who came before us. And I’m putting myself in the middle here because that’s kind of where I feel like I am right or wrong. Just everybody. No, this is just my little plane of existence. And I’m thinking about it. Wait, since we all have people that came before us, we all have those decisions to make. How when, when do we How long do we allow them to get bloody noses before we say we got to have a tough conversation. Mom, dad, aunt, uncle, grandma, mentor.
Lucas Root 08:03
You’re having a tough conversation and just a different version of a bloody nose?
Jess Dewell 08:07
That’s what I Yes, exactly. It’s I’m using it the same way. That’s exactly right. It is a bloody nose. But I don’t like to see anybody that I care about that helped influence my life with a bloody nose. So I had a look at that I already had to change it. Already had to sugarcoat it a little already had to hide it. I know.
Lucas Root 08:25
Yeah. And does it work?
Jess Dewell 08:30
Just creates anxiety, huh?
Lucas Root 08:32
Yeah. Maybe when it works. And I would argue this is funny. I would argue that either it works. Because there’s something about the different version of a bloody nose that impacts them in a different way and helps them see that thing. Do it go down that road? Yeah. Or just by happenstance, and you think that you succeeded because you’re special, but it was just that 14 Bloody Nose. That was the, that was the magic one. And they needed to go through the 13. Before and if you had done your intervention at number 13, it wouldn’t worked. Because they had to do they had to do 14. And we don’t, we don’t see the divine plan.
Jess Dewell 09:12
No, we don’t. And but there there is something.
Lucas Root 09:16
Where we slide into that number if it if they had to have 14 bloody noses. We don’t know if we’re coming in at the 14 and saving the day or if we’d done nothing, they still would have changed their behavior at number 14.
Jess Dewell 09:29
So thinking about that, okay. Yes, and yes and yes. And taking that then bringing it back and putting it into our awareness for our actions. That’s something that’s really hard to do. Whether we’re tied to a calendar or we’re tied to technology, we avoid all of it. We, you know, we say we’re doing certain things, but really, we’re you know, we’re camouflaging or We’re hot, we’re changing. We’re disguising the things that we’re not looking at So it’s really important. How do we find our own bloody noses? Hmm. Have you found that out? Because I want to know.
Lucas Root 10:07
Yes. That’s the, that’s the best question. Yeah. Look for, look for disconnection behaviors. Yeah, um, disconnection, behave everybody does it disconnection behaviors are how do I get out of my body and into somebody else’s head? Gaming is a disconnection behavior. Yeah. Looking at social media as a disconnection behavior. You know, all of the other things that you use your phone for that are not calling your family or initiating business or disconnection behaviors, so look for disconnection behaviors in your life. But don’t get fixated on looking for disconnection behaviors, because then you’ll miss the reason why you moved into it. Look for the disconnection behavior, and then pay attention to what caused you to want to disconnect. Yep, yes, that’s where you’re getting a bloody nose.
ANNOUNCER 11:06
You’re listening to the Bold Business Podcast. We will return to the show soon. But first, I want to take a moment and give you a peek into what additional services and solutions you could access to Fast Track Your Business. This program was created to develop your capacity on demand by sharing insights, tips, as well as lessons learned by business leaders, unedited and uncut. And we don’t just stop there. There are three additional benefits to help you reach your growth goals. You will also have unlimited access to one, hearing tips and insights to develop yourself as a leader to get better results more often. Two, experiencing viewpoints from many different business leaders. Three, receiving frameworks to build core competencies and to more effectively focus on business growth and leadership. Altogether, The Fast Track Your Business program will allow you to face uncertainty, anytime, anywhere. You can access what will become your most versatile tool in your toolkit by going to FastTrackYou BusinessToday.com. Now back to Jess.
Jess Dewell 12:10
So people who listen to the Bold Business Podcast, Lucas, they, they know we talk a lot about reflection, we talk a lot about awareness, we talk a lot about those things. And so here’s an awareness piece that I had just this in the last few days. And that is I take action. And I’m judging everything on the action and the outcome of that action. And I realized, actually, it was this morning, I was having a conversation really early instead of my regular morning routine I was on, I was on a video call. And what came out of my mouth was I am It is now time to, to take action and create with action and then have nothing next to it or complete stillness next to it. Because if I have action that must result in other action. Of course, I’m creating ripples, but is it truly lasting? So I’ve got a, I’ve got a pair my action with nothingness. Yeah, that’s what I was.
Lucas Root 13:08
But not for disconnection. No, not for disconnection or amplification? That’s correct.
Jess Dewell 13:14
Yeah.
Lucas Root 13:16
Yeah. Other behaviors that look like disconnections, yeah. going out and partying. Oh, yes. But not to be confused with deep meaningful social engagements with a few people who are very important and close with you. The two things look similar going out and partying is disconnecting deep meaningful social engagement is actually deepening connection.
Jess Dewell 13:41
Yeah. So that’s interesting because we’re talking about nuances. So the first step is if I truly and I could be anybody here this is not me personally, if I go out and we’ll use your, your party example, if I go out and I party, and I’m always with the same people when I party couldn’t I be deepening those connections with them?
Lucas Root 14:10
You could be but you’re not. And why? Because that’s not what you’re doing. You’re partying. Right? Okay. You could be dnn connection but you’re not you’re partying.
Jess Dewell 14:22
So putting a disguise on you’re wearing a mask
Lucas Root 14:24
your suit Yeah, you’re seeking just connection you’re, you’re using loud noises and bright lights which are, which are powerful stimuli. Yes. To, to pull you out of the headspace that you need to be in to see your problems to hear your challenges to improve your life to grow to change.
Jess Dewell 14:44
What does that look like in your business where have you gotten bloody noses in your in you know in your businesses in pick one or any of them or current ones doesn’t matter, with all of your accomplishments behind you? And the more to come? Yeah,
Lucas Root 14:59
I had, I had a business fail this year. And the reason it failed was threefold. Number one, I wasn’t present enough. And looking back on it, I couldn’t have been. So it actually was a bad business to be in. And that’s alerting that I’m taking away. But, but I wasn’t present enough. There are some things that employees can do and some things that they cannot, they simply cannot use you, as an owner, you cannot expect your employees to treat your business as though they were owners go above and beyond, they won’t be emotionally attached to the outcome, they won’t love and share your business at all times everywhere. That just not what’s going to happen, they will execute the things that you lay out for them to execute. And it might look the same on the surface, but it’s just not right. And I couldn’t be present to be the owner that needed to grow that business. And so it failed. Number two, because I wasn’t present, also, me not being present, the employees weren’t deeply entrenched in serving the business. And so they got offers to leave and took them. And so the business collapsed because it didn’t have employees now I probably could have pumped money into the business. Huge amounts of marketing, keep them so busy, they couldn’t take a job, maybe pay them give them pay raises. But, but that’s a short-term solution to a really deep problem. money in the long run money doesn’t actually solve problems. It amplifies whatever’s going on. So if what’s going on as a good thing, money will amplify that if what’s going on is a bad thing. Eventually, money is going to amplify that too.
Jess Dewell 16:48
Oh, that’s another place of disconnection, isn’t it? throw money at it.
Lucas Root 16:52
Throw money at Oh, yeah, that’s right. Throwing money is a place of disconnection it is. Yeah,
Jess Dewell 16:57
I had all kinds of things, images popped into my mind about that, and business is one of them. And it’s amazing. And I’ll bet you see this as much as I do that, that throwing good money after bad is a phrase that actually we use in business or the opposite of spinning spark of smart money, I started sayings, you want to spend money and you want to spend smart money. But I don’t remember what it replaced. Because I was changing something that was not good with that phrase, or making it a little more neutral to be able to look forward instead of getting triggered by it. So that thing, there you go, see, there’s a new one, money is a way to disconnect.
Lucas Root 17:36
That is awesome. I hadn’t thought about that this conversation just gave that you’re 100%. Right? That’s really powerful. Reflection is money is a disconnection. Yeah.
Jess Dewell 17:47
So and we’ll presence is important. And let’s go back to vision and all the things that you were saying, I could just say, off the top of this off the top that blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But really, what does that say about your vision? Right? The purpose of how did this, how did this business fit into your vision? Or did it really? And what are you going to take forward to? I’m gonna say nuance because that’s a word we’ve already used instead of adding another language thing here, nuance to where you want to go. Focusing.
Lucas Root 18:18
Yeah, I love it. And I’ll, I’ll tell you, in fact, first time anyone has ever heard this, including my wife?
Jess Dewell 18:25
Oh, do you need to get her?
Lucas Root 18:30
Okay, but I will share it with her later, of course. So she will have heard it before your listeners do. That’s good. Yes, that’s right. I had a vision and I am pivoting that business fit into the vision that I had. I’m pivoting in response to stimuli. So tell you what the vision was about the pivot and then we can go down the road of the stimulus that caused the flooring. So my story the businesses that I’m talking about a retail flooring stores I owned one I expanded to three last year. I’m, I’m now down to two. I probably will divest myself of the second acquisition as well this year. So I will. I went from one to three last year and I’m probably going to go from three to one this year. And here’s the reason the vision that I had the flooring industry and if you if you go dive deep into this, you’re going to see it the flooring industry is so right. It is so right for real business minds to absolutely blow up. The entire flooring industry is run by either families that have been in it forever. And so they haven’t had to build the skills to be powerful businesses. They just have been in it forever. Or installers flooring installers like technicians they got to the point where either the business owner that they were working for wanted to leave and they made a stupid lowball offer, or they had enough money in the bank that they decided that they wanted to start doing the selling instead of the installing, or both at the same time. So the business is absolutely ripe for real business people to come in and just blow up. And that’s exciting. To me, that’s the kind of opportunity that I see that gets me really like bouncing up and down. And obviously, I had I owned a flooring store, I was in the business, I was like, You know what I’m gonna, I’m gonna blow I’m gonna do this, I’m gonna be the guy who comes in with business mind and blows up. So I made two acquisitions last year, and started to put in place, let’s call it my empire. Okay. Over the course of the last year, since making that decision, I’ve, I’ve started to roll out a different vision. And they were growing concurrently these two visions, but, but I can’t roll them out at the same time. And I think one of them’s more important than the other. The different vision is this. I think that community and, and collab collaboration within the community is infinitely more important than building an empire. And so in the one, the one flooring store that I have owned for six years now, and are the one that will remain in my, you know, in my portfolio, I spent time over the last year building community, me personally, you know, boots on the ground, leaves a rolled up, building community, making friends, finding people that I support, and who support me back me personally, that I support. And then finding ways to make it so that my business supports those people, and they support my business back. And that’s a slow, intensive process. Remember, I said employees cannot do everything, there are things that only an owner can do. And that’s an example of things that only an owner can do. Employees are not going to build the community of the business.
Jess Dewell 22:13
When we talk about community, and we talk about slow and intensive. There, there’s a lot that comes to mind. And based off of what you were saying the one that goes, maybe this fits here, is we all want instant gratification. And there that is it’s, it’s juxtaposed to what you just said. And so we’re all fighting that particular battle, I think, on a regular basis. How do I know I haven’t spent too much time? How do I know it’s time to pivot? How do I know I’m not disguising this thing and getting myself bloody noses, when in fact, I’m actually getting the bumps and the bruises and building the muscles to actually get to the goal.
Lucas Root 22:59
Awesome question. Are you pursuing meaningful relationships? I think that’s the only question that really needs to be answered. And in response to that, if you’re pursuing meaningful relationships, there’s no such thing as too much time. Okay? We, as humans, meaningful relationships are the core of everything. Yeah, we actually started this conversation out talking about collaboration we did. If you’re pursuing meaningful relationships, and you’re pursuing deepening connection, and you’re building community, then, then all steps along the road, lead to where you need to be. And it doesn’t matter how long it takes, it doesn’t matter how much work you have to do.
Jess Dewell 23:42
It doesn’t matter, then people are gonna listen and go, I stopped paying my bills, stuff to feed my kids, I still have to walk my dog, right, whatever the thing may be, I still need to feed my fish. I studied to make sure to look outside once in a while. And that is, by the way, then. And that’s, that’s where our unique journeys begin. And so when you say what you just said, and you’re saying, as long as you’re pursuing meaningful relationships, time doesn’t matter. Yet we live in this place of linear time. We get to that’s where we get to make choices. That’s where we get to make priorities. That’s where we get to decide what’s meaningful for us. And it can only be meaningful for us. It can’t be somebody else’s process. It can’t be somebody else’s plan. It has to be our own. That was beautiful. Thanks, I make it that. I think I have to Okay, that’s my second mic drop of the dam done.
Lucas Root 24:44
That was a powerful mic drop, right?
Jess Dewell 24:48
Well, it can only come from the collaboration of this conversation from the fact that from by the way, everybody this is we’d haven’t known each other very long when we haven’t talked that often. But every single time we do We have these deep, very meaningful conversations. You notice we started that way right from the beginning here, there we go. And before the recording, and probably everything after is also going to be the same. And I and I, and that comes down to what presents, it comes down to interest, it comes down to, we know what we want. And we know how to be with each other in a way that allows us to have that to take it with us to carry it forward to our next. Yeah, that’s a skill that’s hard to learn. Do you? How do you learn that? Have you? Have you figured that out? Do you work with? So in addition to your flooring, businesses, and the way that’s gonna stay part, part of your portfolio and changes there? And this shift to community and your consulting? How do you take that forward? And how do you, how do you share in your consulting business? This is the most important so this is the this is something the place to start to see what would unfold? Do you have a question? Or do you have the thing to start to let it unfold?
Lucas Root 26:05
Yeah, so here, here are the things that I do and their practices. Yeah, good. Practices. practices are what we use to build skills. So you practice yoga, you practice meditation, you use those to build the skill of mindfulness, you use those to build the skill of deepening your connection with your body. I also have practices around building the skill of deepening my connection with my relationships. So practice number one, I try to I don’t always, sometimes life gets in the way, but I try to find a new person who is a relationship of mine. So not a brand new relationship, but someone I haven’t contact a better way to say it. Someone I haven’t contacted within the last two weeks, I try to find something that I’m grateful for every single day, in my relationship with that person and tell them so that’s a practice. That’s huge. That’s always happened, but I try to make sure it happens. And I don’t want it to be the same person every day. I want it to be a new for a different person every day. Yeah. Okay. The, the way that, that exists inside your head, and, and people think about that, and they’re like, Oh, that’s a gratefulness practice. Yes, sort of, to me, it’s a relationship-building practice. People receive gratefulness in a different way than they receive compliments. So I could call you up and say, Jess, your hair looks amazing. And you’re just like, yeah, yeah, it does. I love that. Thank you. I appreciate that. You carry it around with you for the rest of the day. That’s right. Yeah. And that’s cool. But it’s just a compliment. It has nothing to do with our relationship. It is just about you. That’s right. That’s right. If instead, I call you up and say, Jess, every single time we connect, I feel enlivened. My day is lighter, I feel like the conversations that we have, have taken me to a new place. And I appreciate that. I’m grateful for my relationship with you. Now, when you’re going to carry that around. What you’re going to carry around is an affirmation that your relationship building is powerful. You’re going to carry around a memory of me. And in so doing, I’m not just building my own relationship skills. I’m actually helping you build yours. That’s right. It’s collaborative.
Jess Dewell 28:41
That’s right. That’s that ripple effect that I love. You never know how far it can go. And when you Yes, switch from the about, about to thing to the thing itself. Yeah. Which, by the way, for those of us who pray with our food, it’s the exact same thing. It’s not about the food saying thanks for tasting so great. It’s thanks for nourishing me, by the way. So let’s just, let’s, let’s put this into context, if you, if you need something else to bring this together, another practice that is similar to this, that doesn’t sound like a skill, but you’re already doing it in showing a kind of gratitude you’re taking, you’re taking this cool gym, and you’re turning it around and letting a different light shine through it to actually well, otherwise. Now I just have glass because I was gonna say the word prism and that’s not what I wanted to say. But that’s SOTL sparkle just a little bit differently. And now you Is this the what you talk about on your podcast? Some of it? Yeah, some of it. Yeah. So for those of you who are tuning in, you want to check out elements of community that us because that is where you can find out information about Lucas Lucas Lucas’s podcast, I was gonna say Lucas’s roots podcasts, but that didn’t make any sense. So well. Gosh, it is Truth. That’s the there’s something to be said for some of those mishaps. All right, everybody. This is the Bold Business Podcast. Lukas root is here and we have been talking about deepening relationships, having that true connection, building that skill to put in the effort put in the time because it doesn’t matter how long it takes, you know that the success is there, by that collaborative piece of true, deep, intentional connection. Now, for those of you who are part of the Fast Track Your Business program, your true north has the rest of this conversation. Everybody else does it. Fast Track Your Business today.com To find out more.
ANNOUNCER 30:44
Thank you for tuning in and listening to the Bold Business Podcast. If you have learned something from this show that will help you in your business right now, consider what additional impact you can get by subscribing to the Fast Track Your Business program. You owe it to your business to seek out new ways to achieve more while building a resilient and profitable business. Subscribe now. Visit FastTrackYourBusinessToday.com Special thanks to The SCOTT Treatment for technical production.