How do you define joy?

Many people confuse happiness and joy. Happiness is dependent upon external circumstances … Joy comes from within.

Who in your life exudes joy? What type of characteristics do they possess? Are they born that way, or do they work to find joy in their journey?

Naturally, as life progresses, we will cross paths with more and more individuals. Each person unique in their own way, highlighted by a wide range of attention grabbing (and worthy) items; the road to a successful career, the impact of supportive parents, an experience abroad, the hardships of life, the list goes on. Each one with a story that’s worth being told, but most importantly a story worth being heard.

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Ryan Henry, Certified EOS Implementer™. We hope you enjoy Ryan’s wisdom and perspective.

A company’s Core Focus™ answers two questions: ‘Why do we exist?’ and ‘What are we better at than anyone else?’ When combined, they help an entrepreneurial leadership team find their sweet spot and create a filter for making all decisions.

What makes answering these two questions essential right now is that entrepreneurs are constantly creating new ideas, seeking new opportunities, finding out about new products, meeting new potential clients, and wanting to solve all kinds of problems. This is why we need entrepreneurs more than ever and why I love working with them: so we can change and help the world! I really believe that.

The problem is, like Patrick Lencioni says, ‘When everything is important, nothing is important.’ So entrepreneurs and their leadership teams must take the time to work ‘on’ their business and think, debate, discuss – argue even – to fight to find their ‘sweet spot’, and then stay laser-focused on it, hitting it every time. Otherwise, they will chase the wrong shiny objects with no focus, no discipline, and no accountability.

“You have to be comfortable being uncomfortable.” – Amish Shah

Amish Shah, CEO of Kem Krest, joins Tim for this episode. Amish discusses how he builds his team for the future and the importance of a resilient leader. He digs into his role of creating and cascading the vision, as well as empowering his team. Tune in and hear Amish and Tim talk about diversity, Kem Krest's moonshot, and more.

“Be resourceful with people. If you’ve got talent on your team…stretch them, put them into something different.” – Chad Hartzell

Chad Hartzell, Executive Director of Talent & Organizational Development at Beacon Health System, joins Tim to share his HR insights. In this episode, Chad discusses the diversity, equity, and inclusion journey his organization has been on. He also encourages leaders to challenge the traditional spectrum of HR. Listen to Chad share what gives him his edge in life, the importance of trust and feedback on a team, and more.

Legendary 49ers football coach Bill Walsh coined the term Success Disease to describe the overconfidence and arrogance that often follow an initial level of personal and organizational achievement. Walsh described it as a sense that, “We’ve mastered it; we’ve figured it out; we’re golden.”

“But the gold can tarnish quickly,” he added. “Mastery requires endless remastery. In fact, I don’t believe there is ever-true mastery. It is a process, not a destination.”

Walsh learned this firsthand in 1982 as his team only won a third of its games after being crowned Super Bowl Champions just one year earlier.

Businesses face the same challenge. Prevailing wisdom says Success Disease can be battled by setting and managing the right goals. While goals can provide direction and short-term motivation, they have much less to do with our results than the habits and systems we follow.

“The beauty is in the simplicity.” – Jimmy Rayford

Jimmy Rayford, CEO of Dealers Wholesale, joins Tim for this episode. They discuss the structure and impact EOS provides for their organizations, as well as the beauty of its simplicity and tools. They also dig into what it means to build a balanced team. Tune in and hear Jimmy's professional and personal insights, his edge in life, and more.

“80% and out in the world is better than 100% and still in your head.”

These words slapped me in the face as I was sharing a status update on a project, noting that I still needed to put in quite a bit of time and effort before it was ready to roll out. In my mind, it wasn’t anywhere close. I wanted it to be absolutely perfect and there was still so much to be done.

So, when I was told that it was “good enough,” I was appalled. Clearly, they didn’t see all of the flaws and I should probably keep tweaking the smallest things until it was juuuust right…

But those words got me thinking. What else had I been keeping in my head, waiting until it was 100% ready before letting it into the world?

“The real orientation of a team is to deliver more as a group than we could have delivered as individual contributors.” – Jim Canfield

Jim Canfield, President of CEO Tools by Aprio, joins Tim in this episode to talk about what it takes to be a great leader! Jim discusses the CEO's role in communicating, executing, and optimizing. He talks about dynamics of an amazing team and what the real orientation of a team truly is. That is only the tip of the iceberg, tune in now to hear all of Jim's insights!

During this very challenging and hardening insurance market, we recognize that eliminating certain types of insurance can be tempting. We often see requests to reduce or remove coverages like directors & officers liability, employment practices liability, fiduciary liability, and comprehensive crime coverage to allow for upfront premium savings. However, it is important to understand that eliminating these policies results in a gap in coverage and can actually increase your costs. Defending claims for actual or alleged wrongful acts related to managing your organization, your employees, and your employee benefit programs can be very costly. Any claim settlements would be an additional out-of-pocket expense to your bottom line.

“Leadership is the art of getting people to want to do what must be done.” - Jim Collins

One of the marks of a great team is decisive leadership. Fostering organizational and team health is a leader’s #1 job, as no team will ever be healthier than its leader.

Let that sink in. Ms./Mr. Leader, how healthy are you? Before alignment can occur within your organization, ensure you’ve put in the work on yourself.