Don't be what you're not.
Welcome to another episode of Builder Nuggets, the show where builders and remodelers discover how to build thriving businesses while working less. I'm Duane Johns and together with Dave Young, we share the elements of success that have helped hundreds of contractors like you build better lives.
(00:31): If you missed our last episode, you may want to go back and listen to pig and a dog show part one. With that being said, let's dive into part two of our interview with builder and consultant, weight Wheeler.
(00:30): What are some things you've seen? Just that, that maybe specific things that some of the folks you've worked with, what have they done? Things that they've done to really make them stand out so that whether it's a client, other trays community, they look out and man, that's just, they're above and beyond. Or they're just different. Something to some particulars is, is once again, don't be what, you're not, you know, mark people always say, well, how do I market? How do I get more jobs right now in this economy, you could walk outside with a hammer and say, I'm a builder and you're going to find a job. Right? But in other times when it's not there so much, you, you become what you portray. And it's, it's kind of back to that. The Otis, the Viking thing, as I said before, you just, you've got to rock your image.
(01:16): You've got to, you have to be what you want to be. And then the job start following behind. I mean, I do have a lot of people that say, I want to be the world's best woodworker. And, and I want to, my trim is going to be perfect everywhere and I don't fudge it all lines up. I don't care what your wall looks like, but boy, that, that thing's going to be on there. So broadcast the passion, broadcast the core abroad broadcast show it. I always tell my subs and in my guys and other subs and other guys as employees, don't be too humble, pointed out, show people what you're doing. They want to see that we in our culture, a lot of the time, the U S culture we, we try, oh yeah. You know, I did it when it's like, no, show him, grab the homeowner and show them how smooth that level five drywall.
(02:10): They want to see it. They want to, you know, I always promote subcontractors to talk to clients, talk to them. I mean you know, house project or a commercial project is scary. People do not know what's going on. That's why they're hiring us. If, if I have a broken bone, I don't try to fix it myself. It scares me. I gotta, you know, I gotta go get somebody to help me out with it. They're the expert. So that, there's a perfect example of having a really good culture because there's there's folks out there. I know that would probably be scared to just let their trades go talking to their clients. You know, they, it goes both ways. You've got to have that culture to where you know, that that trade is engaging the right way and having the right conversation and being proactive, productive.
(02:53): So that that's, that's a certain culture thing right there. Don't bring up the negative look. No nobody wants hear, but you know, don't whine. Don't gripe. Don't tell the homeowner how hard you're working. Don't don't do that. Right. That's that's not what I'm saying at all. But if, if you, if you got that tile perfect, and you hear you're, you're liking it, show him, show him that tile. Maybe don't show them the downstairs bathroom where it's not necessarily as perfect as you'd like it. Don't don't point out the negative. And that's a, that's a really big one. Again. As far as the vibe, the feel, look, building's hard. It's tough, it's fun, but it's tough. And don't complain. Don't whine point, point out the positive, whatever you throw out there in via verbiage con to tend to fruition. You, you had a lady on just not too long ago about attraction.
(03:49): And, and I can't remember her name right off, right off, off of the bat. Probably Pamela, Pam. Exactly. This is a fantastic podcast. Lady knows what she's talking about. You attract that energy. You know what I'm saying? Look, subcontractors workers talking to the clients, don't bring up the fact that, you know, your kid lost his baseball game their day. That's not what I'm talking about. Show them what you're doing, being engaged with the client. They want to know. They want to know the love, the excitement what's going into their house. That, that lust, that passion again, Dave, right? It's, it's that passion be passionate, own it. Be the best at whatever you want to be. And that's where again, you know, an example of companies just taking off it's, it's a very strange non-tangible thing about when it's firing on all cylinders, a group, a company, you know, we go in, we fix things. We fix supply chain management, right? There's a problem with ordering that. We say we fix all these things. But when I leave a project with, with consulting and coaching for a company, it's not really one single thing you could put your finger on. Other than the culture of that company is crushing. It it's, it's an overall thing. Everybody knows what they're supposed to be doing. They can count on each other and it's just, it's working. It's, you know, you can look back and see specific examples, but it really is this culture.
(05:31): Well, you could, you could feel it as you were talking. So the second one that I think you identified when you talk about, you know, not talking about don't approach, things negatively is positivity. And this is something that when you and I have an RFP and our core values thing too, but you took positivity and then you fueled it with your first line, which was passion. So with just those two alone, look at the impact that those two things are having. And then you start to put your other personal wrinkles on it, but things that mattered to you and your team and your clients, you can start to see this thing come together. And the momentum that you can create from this and how attractive that is to other people. So just from, just from the two, like you literally identified positivity and passion, those, those two things alone.
(06:22): And it's like a game changer probably for most people. No, those might not be there. There are things that are important things. People like to put words down like integrity and honesty. Those are all things that should almost be Gibbons. Sometimes it's hard to look at positivity as a given or passion as a given, or you may be stuck in a run and not feel some of those things. So the energy you're bringing to this show right now is going to be inspirational to builders who need a dose of that, who need to figure out, Hey, I got to go, how do I get myself energized again, about what I'm doing and what are the parts of the business that I love or that the team loves. And how do we focus on more of that back to what you were talking about earlier? How do I discover the passion again?
(07:04): How do I stay positive about this and grow? And when you're focusing on that, it becomes a lot easier. Well, way more fun, way more fun. Like you're talking about world-class people with goals to be world-class as you start to get better. It's one of, you know, it's, it's a key driver in people is mastery. As you get better, you like it more, you thrive more, you, you value your own performance and other people value your performance more and you're able to grow. And then you see your own individuals stamp on the team mission and the impact that you're having. And it just perpetuates into more of the same. And it sounds like that's what you're helping people to do. Yeah.
(07:50): In a general sense. Yeah. It you know, pushing away the blocks and creating that flow, you got to get rid of the negativity again. I'll go back on that just for a quick second. You've got to get of, or get rid of toxicity within a company. Unfortunately, a lot of toxicity usually comes from a few individuals within that company. You have to take an objective look of who's in it to win it. And who's pulling us backwards. You know, you're either growing or you're dying. One of the two, you've got to be a perpetual student and whatever you're doing within the company, always trying to make it better. You can't just sit back and say, okay, it's good enough. And it's always going to be this way. You're always sharpening. You've always got to be pushing and everybody has different levels of what they want to push.
(08:41): Right? Some people do want to just, you know, do, do some work and do a good job and feel good about themselves and, and go home. And that, and that that's fantastic business owner generally is not built like that. A business owner generally is always trying to make things better, always trying to, you know, to do good. So back on to, you know, toxic employees or toxic subcontractors, that's always something I look for when I go in and work with groups is as I'm looking around and analyzing who's here, who's who who's got that lust in their eyes. And who's sitting here complaining, you know, who's griping about how not good it is. And they don't get what they want and they never get ahead. And then you never get anything, you know? And, and it's also a terrible gone. You can't keep that around.
(09:30): What do you do if it's you? So Philadelphia's poker player. I think it's his quote that says there's a donkey at every table. If you don't know who it is, it's you absolutely. You probably walk into these situations and you see the toxicity and you look around, or if you're a business owner and you're listening to this and you sit down and you're like, I'm guilty of this. I know it's me. And we've probably been that. We've probably been that person at different times where you just need a reset as a leader, how you work on this because there's probably people listening right now saying, I do this.
(10:07): Absolutely. I think it's always the leader is we started this conversation guys. It's the leader either creates the good energy or the bad energy in there all the time. This comes down to me asking guys on the, you know, the first time I go into their company, what do you like to do? How are you, you happy? Are you digging? What's going on? Or do you think this all sucks? And I think that's a heck of a point. Dave is more often than not. It is the guy leading is the one that can either fix it or make it worse. I'd totally agree with that every single day, every single day. And it's, it's tough, especially, you know, you look at things are going wrong, you know, and as a business owner, or is, is, is an upper manager. It's not just one thing. A guy who's working has one issue.
(11:01): You have 50 different things. And there there's something about it to where it's always, you know, clients are behind on bills. Subs are not getting their work done on the same, you know, correctly, Dwayne's you and I laughed the other day and won't stop flipping snowing in Colorado. We can't get jobs done. Right. It tends to build up. And if you walk in, in the morning as, as the leader, and you've got a sour puss, grumpy attitude, and moaning and complaining and yeah, yeah. What I mean, people are going to look into and even, you know, subconsciously they may not openly think like, oh, I can't do my work. But if you walk in going way away, away and whining, they're going to end up doing the same thing. Or the really toxic part of that is what you end up is you end up creating a culture of people that constantly come to you with problems.
(11:54): Versus when you flip it, the other way, you'll create a group of people that come to you with solutions and well said, exactly. That is night and day. That is it is. And the owner, the, the leaders need to have a clear vision of what they want and be excited about it. Point that out, right? Can have a clear vision of what you want. And you think it's stupid. You have to have a clear vision of, of what you want and what gets you excited. It's amazing how other people will quickly follow and Duane, as you said, instead of coming up and saying way and went away, I hate working here. This is so terrible. Provide them an environment to where they can come up and say, Hey, I've got a solution for this. Can I go for it? And you say, yes. You know, absolutely.
(12:45): I trust you. That's why you're working with me. Go get it on. I mean, is, is, is, is leaders, business owners. You're going to know 85% of everything and a hundred percent of nada. That's what you've hired people for. If you know, I always say, if you're going to hire somebody, that person darn well better be better than you at that job. Otherwise, what are you hiring them for? Right? I'm you, if you're going to hire an accountant, they better be able to do the numbers and to keep track of your books better than you do. That's what their job is. That's their job. That's their job. And, and give them that general pad. We all know who general pattern is. You get, you guys are figuring out. I kind of like quotes right now. I'm always looking at people for quotes. Did you ever tell a man how to do something? Tell him what you want done. And he will amaze you with his ingenuity. People want to feel like they're part of something they want to feel appreciated. They want to know that they can make their work world and their environment and their project better every single day. And you will get so much out of people if you do that. So,
(13:54): So we're up to passion, positivity and empowerment so far, if we're made we're great, good set of core values on the fly. A quick reminder that the best way to get the most out of this podcast is to engage with the builder nuggets community, visit our website@buildernuggets.com and follow along on Facebook and Instagram.
(14:18): Cause I agree, you know, the trust, the honesty, that that's stuff that are already be there. I mean, if you're in the custom construction business, turning out high end products, there's a pretty, you know, known assumption that it gets good quality. I can trust the builder, you know? So it goes a little deeper to these things that we're talking about, the passion. Oh great. And then it goes to anything. No, I mean, if you're doing asphalt, you know, do the best asphalt around, you know, I think, you know, within the trade is builders, okay. Advertising is less important than word of mouth. And the last job you just did, you're only as good as the last job you just did. You can't go into a client say, well, you know, three years ago we did a really good asphalt driveway, better be able to look at them and say yesterday's asphalt driveway was one, it was a masterpiece.
(15:13): We did the best job we could. There was tree roots and undulations and all sorts of problems. And guess what? We fixed it. And we did it. It doesn't, it's not even just for high-end or large scale projects. It's for whatever you're doing it. It's if you're in supplies, you know, if you're doing cabinet knobs and, and things like that, find the best cabinet knobs out there for your, for your clients, find the best price, deliver it on time and you won't have to advertise. You won't have to go look for work. The work will find you. And that attraction,
(15:48): I love that you just called an asphalt driveway, a masterpiece. I know somebody out there who owns, you know, Picasso painting is like totally digging what you just said, but that's the mindset. That's the mindset that you need to have. If you want to be world-class. As an example, we worked with a company that talks about being world-class it's everything that they put into their, into their business. And, you know, we start to live that mindset and it's so exciting and other people start to share it and then others, other people start to believe it. And then they start to live it. And that's where you're, you're trying to go to get, to get up that absorption and adoption.
(16:31): And it's it's outside of work. I can't, I can't stress how much, how important it is to develop your own personal passions that relates into the work world. You know, we, again, we're here in the mountains. We kind of have an unwritten rule out here that if it's a big powder day and there's not something pressing, sometimes you may not ever move, everybody's show up. Right? It's but what I found is that those days where they all get together and they go skiing or they go off, you know, with their, their significant others and go skiing, they come back the next day and get three times as much work done there. They're loving their lifestyle. They love, they love their lifestyle. And, and, and let me touch on that. If I can, again, within the culture of our industry, it's an awesome lifestyle. We get, we get to work usually in very cool places.
(17:25): We get to do something that's tangible. At the end of the day, we get to have a good quality of work, hard, play hard balance. If you want cool stuff, big build cool stuff. Exactly. You get to build cool stuff. And it, it provides an amazing life for a lot of people. And I think that, you know, once again, I mean chasing the money all day long, look, if you're you're chasing money, there's a lot of money to be made within this industry. And if you're doing a good job, you should justifiably be compensated for what you're doing. If you have a, if you're dealing with a lot of zeros, you know, big commercial jobs, big houses, you should be compensated for it. You're taking the responsibility of it, but don't chase that. Don't go for that money. Go for the product, go for the end result, go for that. World-Class asphalt driveway, the master, because a masterpiece of a driveway. Cause if you do it, there's going to be three neighbors that drive by and go, dang, that looks, do that. Send the money starts chasing you. That's awesome. If you put it in and it starts cracking on day three and falling off and little chunks off to the side, guests who they're not going to ask their neighbor where they got their driveway done,
(18:42): Mona Lisa in their front yard. Exactly. No matter what you're doing, be the world's best plumber. Be the world's best electrician. Be the world's best cabinet guy strive every day to go for that. And that attraction law. Once again, it's going to come back. It comes back to you tenfold. That's cool. That's good stuff, man. Well, we're getting towards we're getting towards the end. So for wait,
(19:11): What's, what's kind of exciting in your life. What's up, what's up next? What's what's on your radar, you know, it's, it's, it's really what we're talking about right now. I mean, this is, this, is it helping people get their businesses in order get a clear game plan of what they want to do. That's that's it. I am, I'm loving this. This is a, this is what I'm passionate about, Dave. This is, this is, this is it. I mean, we've, we've got some cool building projects here and there, you know, from, from a local, but this is really, this is what gets me excited, just helping other people out there. It's a great industry. It's a fantastic group of people that I get to deal with all the time, no matter where they are or what they're doing. And this is really just what fuels my fire.
(19:56): How do you determine which clients you're going to work with when it comes to your coaching business? And what's your, what you're after there, there's probably a few people listening to this saying, Hey, I wouldn't mind sitting down and having a chat with waiting and seeing if I could get some help in my business, they
(20:11): Probably need that. They probably need to have a little passion about what it's it's, it's that same thing. It's, you know, what, what are you going for? Are you going, are you just going for the money? That's usually if they mentioned money within the first five minutes of conversation, three times, I'm not the right guy for you. It's creating a, you know, the, the key, the key things for me that I know I'm going to work well with them in create a good profitable company in a good lifestyle or help them develop it again. It's not me, it's their company is their passion for what they're doing, their passion for their employees and the people around them and wanting to do things correctly. And if, if I get that either larger, small, and you know, core, some larger groups, I work with they in a corporate level, the corporation has that, or, you know, whatever management level I'm talking to within the additional conversation they haven't. If, if it's a smaller company, same thing, you gotta be, you gotta be in it to win it. And you've got to want this for the longterm and to do do it
(21:19): Right. You probably have some coaching yourself. Have you been in other coaching programs that have resonated with you or where have you taken some of your inspiration from funny enough, you know, within the construction industry? I mean, I've had influencers, right? My, my uncle was a, was a, a big influencer. A lot of my, you know, I didn't get to get my, get into the toil quote from him, which is one of my favorites, you know, about just the worst it gets, you know, the more you, the harder you try and the more you smile, but he, he was a big one. You know, I have other builders I've worked with over the past, but right now, funny enough, my coaches, the people I go to for questions, or to wipe away the, the film on my eyes, one of them particular was one of my old clients. And he's a ultra successful executive just, but not in, he's not in my industry, which is, which is funny. But you know, a lot of these things, they resonate in all sorts of industries.
(22:22): I mean, my business coach right now is a a very high end executive who I built a house for. And he and I just got along real well, very interesting guy. Didn't talk to me for the first seven or eight months in the job. Wouldn't even talk to me, wouldn't do anything. And then you know, I earned just trust. And, and from there, he's a, he's the guy I go to. I mean, it's, it's so important. We get so stuck in our ruts of what we see in our blinders every day business coaches and outside influence is so vital. It's, it's amazingly vital.
(23:00): There's so much knowledge out there. There's so much like in your case, the energy, the, the the passion, like you could tell it's your core value. There's passion coming out of you. And it's exciting, then that it's magnetic, right? So other people want to want to be a part of it. That's going to attract more builders who are wired that way. Then we can have worked with you or work with, you know, work with us or whatever, whatever it may be, but you get those positive people. I'll charge them in the same direction. It is fun as hell. So
(23:32): Our listeners out there, if they want to connect, learn more about Wade, how can they find you? Wade, cic.com and a new new website's coming and not too long, but, you know, I've got a little form you can fill out on there and always happy to have an initial phone call with anybody that wants to talk, no charge for it. And then from there, you know, we can either develop a, I have a six month plan. You know, one thing I'll point out it's again, to this, this doesn't happen overnight either. This is, these are things that it's a continual lifelong event. And, you know, I like to get involved in help, but it's, it's a thing. You know, I have people calling me years later, we still work together. So, you know, go to weight, cic.com, do a quick fill out of the form, answer a few questions. And we can, we can have an initial talk
(24:21): Rome wasn't built in a day, but it was started in one. And there's no reason why you can't get started on this stuff right now. It's literally an email to you or a phone call or an email to us, you know, at the show and put the wheels in motion or get started on this path. It's going to change your life if you're not already going down it, or if you need some help, reach out to people and get on that track and talk about this stuff. Yeah. Thanks again, for taking time today, Sharon,
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