Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: SA foreign.
[00:00:32] Speaker B: People. And welcome to this episode of pivotal change. This is a show that's all about leadership. Business entrepreneurs, executives, or people that just have or want to grow their influence and how they can take those few steps or those couple of tips and tricks from experts to make that pivotal change down their path to success. I'm your host, Ryan Kahn from CS Business Consulting. We've got another fun episode tonight. As you can see, the studio is a little different. We're live from Nashville tonight, and we've had some great networking opportunities down here. And in those opportunities, it really made me passionate to talk about a topic that's very near and dear to me. And that is a topic that I not only teach to kids when I'm doing Bible school or coaching athletes or taking on the road to many other businesses. There's a huge thing that we don't think about that affects our daily life, and that's peer pressure. And there's two types of peer pressure. When you break it down, think about it. There's the standard negative peer pressure, where let's say you're in high school, somebody wants to go vape or smoke in the bathroom, and they peer pressure into vaping or drinking at a party or whatever, negative behavior.
Then there's positive peer pressure. And this is one that we're also very familiar with. We just don't label it in the positive way this is. Think about two people at the gym lifting weights, and the guy's down on the bench and he's struggling. You say, come on, two more reps. Two more reps. And he pushes and he strives and he gets stronger. Because when he wanted to quit in his moment of weakness, he went ahead and got two more reps.
Positive peer pressure as yeah, you need to go ahead. You need to get that degree. You need to get that certification. You need to sign up for that course that ultimately is going to let you actually achieve the next step in your education or your business. So when you got this positive and negative peer pressure going on in your life, there's ways to identify it. There's ways to ignore the bad and capitalize on the good. There's ways to make this a system inside of how you operate as a leader and a person. So we're going to talk about that. So what you need to do is you need to evaluate your company standards specific to the business realm. You need to understand that positive peer pressure pressure is going to exist, and it can and should be used in a strategic way. That strategic way needs to be that your mentoring programs, in your daily interactions, in your team meetings or your full office meetings, whatever that needs to be. You use positive peer pressure to raise expectations. You want to start surrounding yourself with high performing, disciplined people. And all of those people are going to be chasing the vision that you've heard me talk so much about in the past. And chasing that vision, the positive peer pressure comes in and says, yes, we can be better than ourselves. Yes, we can grow this company to the next level. We can do good things, but we need to do that and you need to then start writing them down. And you need to execute the positive peer pressure in a purposeful way. Yes, some people will recognize that you're just applying positive peer pressure. Is it legitimate? What is? It always is legitimate. Because, you know, if you're lifting weights with me, it doesn't matter how awesome you just did, I'm going to ask you for one more rep so you can just expect that. And if you build that culture, you're going to get a lot of growth.
Negative peer pressure comes in when the tolerance for laziness, the acceptance of gossip, the shortcuts, and just settling for mediocrity really starts to take over or just become a norm. Even if it creeps in, it needs to be shut down. It needs to be identified and say, hey guys, we did not perform our best today or this week, week, or this quarter. Whatever the financial report says or the KPIs read back to us and said, we're better than this, boom. You go into positive peer pressure instead of negative peer pressure, like, ah, the company's doing fine anyway. It doesn't matter if we slacked this quarter.
Those two create vastly different results.
People, workers, and relationships. So remember, every organization there's. The culture is going to reflect. If you have people that are relying on positive peer pressure, or if they're relying on a standard that accepts laziness and negative peer pressures, it's okay, that can be done next week. We don't have to meet the deadline.
Another thing is how to use positive peer pressure in direction. And there's all kinds of systems out there. There's people where you say, you know, you do a positive sandwich. If you got to go give negative information to somebody or critique them or try to coach them into a better. You got to start with something positive, deliver the bad news, and then end with something positive. That's, that's actually a pretty good way to utilize positive peer pressure and coaching.
Another thing is that anytime you use positive peer pressure, you don't Want just to be the empty rah rah cheerleader. Because the word I let off with empty will be very prevalent to people. They want to know you genuinely care.
And any type of positive peer pressure that you give has to ultimately pull towards the acceptance of that higher purpose, that higher vision, that chasing of excellence. So when you tactically and strategically think about when and where I'm going to use positive peer pressure to, you should be able to say, I can identify how this supports the mission. I can identify how me pressuring this person to do more, better or different affects them in a positive way and the mission in a positive way. And it develops growth, personal relationships, get deeper. Because, hey, you're the person that pushed me. I had one athlete on the wrestling team as a pretty good athlete.
I always tell people that, you know, if you come into practice every single day and you do everything the coaches say and you show up when we tell you to show up and you go where we need to go, but when you do what we need you to do, we're going to make you good. In fact, if you work really hard while we're around, we're going to make you really good. But only you can make you great. And that means you go do the extra. You go do the stuff that nobody sees. You show up early, you stay late, you go work out on your own, you control your diet. Because I can't sit here and feed you carrots and protein, right? You have to go out there and eat your own. And this athlete came and said, I have developed over the last three years because I've never had anyone push me like you pushed me. And that, like, almost made me tear up because that was a direct ringing of the bell of how positive peer pressure can work.
So that is going to build momentum, not just in a person's life, but that momentum multiplies.
So if you can see the effect of positive peer pressure on one person's life, that momentum is going to build and contagious. Just like smiles are contagious, just like certain results are contagious, just like gossip and laziness are contagious, positive peer pressure becomes contagious. You teach two kids how to it on a team, you teach your two champions and your managers, your team leaders over here, how to use it, and it becomes contagious. You now see the people amongst the peer groups, amongst the recruiting teams, even in the sales meetings start using positive peer pressure to convince each other, the clients, that there is always a better version of ourselves.
It's really important that you don't do some of the other things where any type of peer pressure that pulls you away from the acceptance of your vision or the execution of the mission needs to be evaluated. Because you could be saying, hey, I want this person to do extra, do more, but it's actually burning them out away from what the end result or the end goal should be. So go back to your five ends program that you're familiar with me. Look into your ment measured growth and mentorship areas and make sure that your positive peer pressure tactically lines up with accomplishing those those M's.
So in doing that, you want to make sure that when it's a multiplier, you're creating habits, habits that can be shared, not just habits in yourself, habits that can be taught and shared. So I'll tell people sometimes, I'll give them the option. Flat out, I'll give them the option. I say, do you want me to come over here and bark and yell and get mad at you? Will that motivate you?
Would you rather me come over here and identify your potential, see where you fell short, and then coach you on a better path to achieve that potential? Because I can negative peer pressure with the intent, right, to have a positive outcome, but it's negative peer pressure because it's berating or whatever. So there, there is a dichotomy to this where you can really miss the mark if you don't do it right and plan your speech ahead of time. And again, once you get good at positive peer pressure, it becomes very ingrained, very organic, and you can utilize it very much on the spot, like a command presence type of thing. And your command presence can have positive peer pressure, no one's perfect. Everyone's going to slip up a little bit. But if you're consciously thinking about it and making sure that when I go talk to this employee and we're having a team meeting or whatever, it may be that at the end of it, they're going to be motivated to achieve more in themselves, achieve more for each other, achieve more for the team, and therefore all become better person, accomplish that mission.
Anything that is negative can be defined as complaining.
Well, let me, let me refine my journal.
I think complaining is okay. I personally define complaining as there is a problem, there is an issue, and I believe it needs correction. So here is the solution. If you come to me and you file a complaint, but bring a solution, we're good as long as you do it respectful, right? But if you come to me and you say, oh, this is Lousy, this is terrible. Blah, blah, blah. It needs to change and you offer no solution or no possible effort to fix it, then we become whiners, right? So a complaint is raising a genuine concern or objection and then figuring out, hey, here's my suggestions on, on how it can be resolved. If not, you're just a whiner. So if you start to hear whining, not complaining, which is strategic, those are Ryan's definitions, by the way, not necessarily Webster's Dictionary. But if you hear people whining, getting into cynicism, oh, yeah, I'm sure that'll work out. And the sarcasm, like, oh, that'll never be okay. That'll, you know, the cynic, they don't believe, they don't trust. They make excuses for everything. Tell you what, excuses spread fast. I have seen this not just in sports teams, but I've seen it in businesses. Just educational teams like these extracurricular educational teams. Just excuses for why people don't show up to the meetings and, and practice harder in the debate club or the chess club or whatever it may be. Those excuses spread, I think, faster than wildfire, because if one person gets away with an excuse, then the next person gets away with the excuse, and then everybody's got excuses all the time. Then you quickly give away any semblance of organization, control, or motiv innovation, and that's, boom, a perfect example of negative peer pressure taking control.
So you want to spread excellence, not excuses. And excuses will burn your place down if they're not, if they're left unchecked. So make sure that you're intentionally giving positive feedback. Positive feedback is purpose. It should, in this category with purpose, should have peer pressure attached to it. And again, just make sure that you're.
[00:11:17] Speaker A: Doing it with integrity.
[00:11:19] Speaker B: That's always going to be on trial if you're doing it genuine. If you're doing it with integrity, it will be on trial every time you talk to someone, if you're genuine or you're just being that empty cheerleader. So strengthen your personal sense of identity by purposefully threading in specific tactical moments of positive peer pressure. And avoid weakening your integrity and sinking your own boat by this negative peer pressure and convincing people to do something that's not right, take a shortcut or won't result in a stronger version of themselves. We're going to stick a pin in the conversation right here and talk more about culture and accountability and how this stuff applies after these messages. We'll be right back with More Pivotal Change.
Welcome back to More Pivotal Change.
[00:12:33] Speaker A: I know you like what you're watching.
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[00:12:56] Speaker B: And again, if you're a person like.
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Another thing that we want to talk about is moving up and expanding your peer pressure into the right areas. One of the things that peer pressure can do for you is it can often teach you how to confront something that's new, right? A lot of peer pressure, not all of it comes from a new situation, a new exposure to something, a new challenge, some type of fear of the unknown. And what do we do? Well, hopefully we positive peer pressure each other into the right direction.
[00:13:44] Speaker B: What happens is if we get too.
[00:13:46] Speaker A: Familiar and too comfortable with everything that's going on in our life, we eventually get into the opportunity for comfort to kill growth and we want to avoid that. So taking peer pressure and applying it to a culture is really important.
[00:13:59] Speaker B: What we do is we have this.
[00:14:01] Speaker A: Thing where people have been around over time for a long time. They often trade out their hunger, their desire to grow little by little, and they replace it with these little habits, these little consistencies, these familiar things, and they stop chasing that improvement movement because their current experience and their current position or life or set of habits really, truly becomes their identity. So leaders have a job to reawaken some purpose in people. You have to remind not only yourself, but others why they matter. Why do you matter? Why are you an important cog in this machine that is moving towards the future? And if you can understand that, why they mattered back then and they matter now, they're going to draw that line and hopefully they continue the application of wanting to push further and avoiding too much comfort in life.
Great tenure, but reward growth. So you want people to be around, you want them to gain that expertise. You want them to not just change for the sake of change. Or learn things for the sake of learning. You want to become experts in what they're doing, but you can introduce things over time. 10 years of experience isn't super valuable if that same person has done the exact same thing, the exact same time, 10 times every day, year after year, and there's no improvement. Yeah, it'll have some value, but it's not highly valuable.
[00:15:22] Speaker B: So one of the things that you.
[00:15:23] Speaker A: Have to do is you have to make sure that your accountability and your culture evolves. You don't want the good things to just kind of expire and fade away. Veteran employees sometimes outgrow accountability structures because they think they're above it or they understand it, or, you know, they've got it all figured out. And that's an ego check.
Oftentimes they may feel like they outgrow those accountability structures because they're the ones that helped build it. After all, I mean, I've been here for 10, 15, 20 years. I'm the one that helped put this stuff in place. It may not apply to me so much. And then we get into that. I'm the exception, not the rule, and that's very, very difficult. So it's part of a leader's job also to redefine accountable accountability as ownership of their position, ownership of their role role ownership of their piece of the vision, not just blanket supervision. I'm the boss and I'm supervising you. They aren't being like watched and micromanaged. Micromanage is like super toxic word. I think pretty much everybody in America hates the word micromanage. Micromanaging is actually pretty important in the very beginning of a job, in the very beginning of a new task, but it shouldn't last very long. So you want them to know that they're a trusted employee. So because I trust you, lead by example.
Because I trust you, create the good habits that got you here, the good growth patterns that got you here. In other people don't take this growth as an arrival to just sit back and again get comfortable and think that those rules don't apply to you. So give some seasoned people some leadership. Like come in here and say, where do I need help? What's a cool little thing we've got going on? And raise a little standard. Hey, here's what I. Here's what I want in the position as far as the standard. And you're not just going to give them a bunch of tasks to complete, but you give them a leadership role and say, hey, I want you to take over, you know, this little Segment this little piece of the team, Hey, I want you to check in and you know, whatever, you can be my leadership guy on a wrestling team. Make sure everybody's got their darn headgear before we step out on the bus. You can be my leadership person and make sure that, hey, before we call all the clients for the quarter three meeting, make sure you have an updated client list that's submitted off to man, you guys clean up your own list, right? It's not a task, it's leadership. Or they're going to have to go to their team and have everybody comply. And then if you can get yours done first and you can model it and you can measure it and say, hey guys, this only takes half an hour to do. Everybody goes out, spends their half hour. You have now some ownership of the team, even though you've been doing the same thing with steady growth for the last 10 years.
And here's another one. Culture isn't what you say, and I.
[00:17:55] Speaker B: Bet you believe I'm going to say.
[00:17:56] Speaker A: It'S what you do, but that's only part of it. Culture isn't what you say, but it's what you allow.
So that's, that's an important one. If you have a policy and you have enough people take exception to that policy and they don't have to come in on time because you're letting them slip enough. Well, the policy now isn't you have to show up on time because the culture overrules your policy. On the same token, if something is not written, articulated in SOP and some type of job, duties and responsibilities, some type of workflow, then you default to what is the company culture. And that goes so far as into the liability in the legal realm as well. So you have to really think hard about what I want to make normal, what do I want to make the culture carry? Right, the culture is going to carry your people into the passive and the negative or into the active, the resilient and the achieving.
So make sure that the behavior silently represents what you want to be the normal and that it's a positive normal through positive peer pressure, through modeling good behavior, and through building accountability. You got to re engage your leaders and your people who've been around for a while as like standard barriers. One good friend of mine in the industry says you need to rise them up as a champion, a champion of X, Y or Z. And there may be 10 different champions for 10 different little pillars or micro roles even. But if you come in here and you ask them and say, hey, I have a question for you, person.
If I want to make you an accountable person, and I said, I'm going to hire a person and for 30 days, I'm going to sit them in your office and they are going to do what you do. I'm going to make a copy of you.
Will we be proud of the result?
[00:19:42] Speaker B: Will you be proud of the result?
[00:19:45] Speaker A: And that's probably a pretty challenging question. Hopefully, like I say, you always watch the show with a pen and paper. And if you want to write that one down, I think it's really important that you can sit down in a meeting and say, hey, before we do this eval, before I ask you to perform something new or grow or learn, if I were to copy you, take a new person, they learn all of their culture, behavior, customs, work ethic, and productivity from you, and I get a little mini me at the end of it. Are we going to be proud of that result? That's. That's a tough question.
So make sure that you're building in consistency and not just comfort. There is a time for comfort.
[00:20:19] Speaker B: Comfort.
[00:20:19] Speaker A: There's a time for company pizza party. There's a time for, you know, the gorgeous day in the fall or spring weather to have a company walk. There's a time to let everyone go home two hours early because it's awesome. There's a time for comfort. But comfort can't be king.
Comfort can, if done wrong, not build your culture, but destroy your culture. And everyone must see that standards apply equally, even to those veterans who might have helped build the system.
One of my difficult early challenges was the most veteran, you know, was the most veteran person we had at the time.
Everyone was asking for clarification on all kinds of time issues, the sick days, the holidays, all that kind of stuff. And so we carved out a policy, per the request of the two most veteran people. But now it came down to put our finger down and say, we have to follow the policy. And it was in that veteran and which bucked up, grumbled a little bit, ultimately complied because I asked them, I said, I need you to be the model. I'm gonna have to ask everyone else in the future to do this. You're just the first person that falls on after this policy was created at everyone's request for clarity.
So can I use you as the model, please? Can I use you as the example of how this will be equally applied to everyone and that gained compliance and things went well from there on out. So there's ways to do that and go ahead and use those Words of I want you to be the model. I want to make sure you are the good, positive, peer pressure example of how this will affect the future and keep things organized and clean and pretty and moving forward.
And then again, you probably are going to get sick if you know me of me talking about mission and vision, right? But you have to ignite the vision of the company again, but also ignite their vision of their own personal role inside the company. You don't hear me talk about that too much about each individual employee's personal vision about how they're going to, to best find contribution and not necessarily just get corrected all the time, but they can truly, you know, navigate their way into being themselves. You know, stagnant people. I mean, the last thing they really need is more criticism. They're already stagnant. What they need is they need some sense of reward, accomplishment, maybe some responsibility they can achieve and get some accolades. So if you can do that and you can get the contribution and challenge into those stagnant people, then you'll probably watch them perk up and change a little bit it into some different people, invite them into some of the legacy work. Say, hey, I want to take you on on this little mentorship role. And it's really important to say the word mentor or mentoree or mentorship out loud because it triggers, triggers a little component in people's brains when you say, hey, I don't mind taking you on and being your mentor in this category or overall or whatever it may be. And that immediately defines the relationship it makes. Training is a lot better and you can give them trainings. One of the things that that has always impacted me is Jocko Willink said, you know, the best form of welfare for the troops is world class training. And I believe that if you want to show that you care about somebody, don't just stick them in some regular, you know, annual training where you just got to check the box. But give them something that's going to help them thrive and grow and chase down a passion that they have inside of that workforce. Whether you're on a construction site, you want to send them to a little skill development school or you want to.
[00:23:23] Speaker B: Send them to some type of building.
[00:23:24] Speaker A: Plans and architect because maybe they're a little bit analytical and they like, like looking at the ankles and whatnot, do that, improve the system, shape the next phase of the company and have them on board to help do that. Ask their opinion and if it's a good idea, give them credit and then apply the thing through an action plan. So when people feel that their voice still matters, even if they've been there for a while, even if their accountability has waned because the policy hasn't been. Been kept really strong or the culture has overruled, what is supposed to be the right thing to do, you can get out there and you can still fix it. You can always draw a line in the sand and just own it and say, hey, guys, I've gotten away from being the model I need to be. So as the model, I want to go ahead and draw the line in the sand and reactivate this and make sure we're buckling down this. But I also want to let you know that there's some motivation here, and if we can accomplish these goals, we'll get, you know, a partial day off or a half Friday off or we'll get, you know, some. Some gift cards, whatever team can get this done first, of course, accurately and whatnot. So go ahead and reignite that fire and make sure that ultimately you rely on your leadership. Coming from the personal power that I care about you. I want the best for the company and the best for you at the same time. Those. Those need to be connected and not just positional. I'm the boss. Do what I say because I have a title, I have a role, or I've been here longer than you. I hope this all helps. I hope you guys stick because we're going to talk about culture and, and the influences of other cultures on our business culture. With our very next guest, we'll be bringing on Wayne Shelton. So stick with us right after this break, and you're going to see a really fun conversation with one of our recurring experts and how he's going to take a different mindset on impacting your businesses. We'll be right back with more pivotal change right after this.
Sam.
[00:25:35] Speaker B: Welcome back to Pivotal Change. You've made it to the halfway point, and now we're going to see a lot less of me talking and a familiar face and expert in his industry. We have back on the show with us today Wayne Shelton, who is a CPA with over 50 years of experience. He's transitioned into business advisory leadership and just helping people find that better version of themselves through adjusting their businesses. Wayne has a whole host of initials behind his name, a resume that's about six miles long, and it is always a pleasure to have him here to pick his brain. And today we're going to pick his brain about something slightly different. How all of his recent travels have. Have impacted his outlook and his implementation in his business. So, Wayne, thanks for coming back on the show, man.
[00:26:19] Speaker C: My pleasure. Thank you.
[00:26:20] Speaker B: Well, what I want to do is I want you to tell us a little bit about where you've been in the last, I don't know, maybe three or four trips. Let's keep it to last three or four trips. And how you've kind of become a world traveler in these last few years. And just tell us a little bit what it does, where you've been and what it does for your perspective. Perspective.
[00:26:37] Speaker C: You know, it.
I've been on several trips, like you say, in the last few months. Most recently we went to Italy for two weeks. Before that, I went to the Bahamas for a week. We've been down to where we went to college for a few days for a lecture ship.
Been to Mexico earlier in the year on a hunting trip.
So we, we get around. Last summer, we went to France on a French river cruise, and that was a lot of fun to see the French culture.
I'll have to tell you my favorite so far, and I've not been everywhere, but my favorite so far is Italy. I just really like everything about it. You know, I even like the language, the land. The language sounds nice. You know, I've learned five words maybe.
[00:27:18] Speaker A: You know, I love it.
[00:27:21] Speaker B: So in doing that, you have traditionally, because I know you, you've been a hometown Kentucky boy, you've traveled a good little bit in the United States.
[00:27:29] Speaker A: States.
[00:27:29] Speaker B: And now you've literally, just like you said in the last calendar year, been like four or five different countries.
So tell me, expand a little bit more about your perspective and what's the benefit of meeting new people and new cultures for you and for you bringing it back into the business?
[00:27:44] Speaker C: You know, I tell you, one of the things it does is makes you appreciate your home.
It's. It's always nice to go and it's always nice to get back. You know, this last time we were gone three weeks, which is a little bit too long.
But, you know, there are a lot of interesting things about it. It changes your perspective in a lot of areas because you hear so many things. If you and I just tell you I don't watch the news much, but if you watch just a little bit, you know, they're always saying, oh, well, these other countries, they hate Americans. You know, you're going to go over there, you're going to get pickpocketed, you're going to get, you know, treated ugly and all that stuff. I have not seen that at all.
As a matter of fact, what I have seen is that people are super nice. They appreciate you being in their countries, they appreciate your interest in their culture, and, you know, just some. Some little things like that make a big difference. You can bring that back to the. To the office, and it's kind of fun.
Yesterday, I actually. We did the slideshow, and I bored the whole office and showed them my. My vacation pictures. So that was kind of fun, you know. And so, you know, you can. You can help everybody kind of broaden their experience range a little bit. And it. It really does. Does change the way you look at the world.
[00:28:54] Speaker B: I really like something that you said there about the expectations you have traveling because of what other people and. And you cited, you know, news and media sources. I recently had a conversation with an international person that was thinking about coming to the United States, and they just said, I just don't think it's a good time to travel there with everything that's going on. And I was like, what's going on? Right? And they're like, oh. And they excited, you know, some of these, like, protests and stuff. I was like, that's like two protests in two major cities and the places you said you want to go or safer than probably your hometown. And I think that perspective is important, and bringing that back to share culture with other people is important. Is there anything that you just kind of picked up on your travels that says, oh, I'm doing something a little different, or this is a cool way that I've never thought about, and I can either bring that back to my personal life or I can bring that line of thinking or that. That norm, the culture, even if it's a gesture or something like that into the business and make a little change or little. Little more fun?
[00:29:48] Speaker C: Well, yeah, one thing I really did notice, we. We've been on Uni World of a cruise. They're small, small ships. We went on the French river cruise last year, and it was on Uni World, and they have 120 or 30 people on the boat, which we really.
[00:30:02] Speaker A: Do like a lot.
[00:30:03] Speaker C: Those small boats really make big. Make. Make a big difference. But one of the things I really picked up on it is everybody on that boat, every single employee, when you come by there, they speak to you, and half of them already know your name.
Now you know that I can bring that directly back to our business because people appreciate being recognized and, you know, acknowledged and that type thing. In so many places you go, you see employees that just ignore you in. In restaurants and hotels and all that type stuff. In my Opinion Uni World has got it figured out. They. They hire people that are people. People they, you know, they're interested in working with you and helping you and, you know, being nice to them. Of course, you've got to be nice to them, but they'll probably be nice to you anyway. But it's. It. That. That was one of the things I really was not expecting, and it was, you know, quite pleasant.
[00:30:55] Speaker B: I'd like to dive deeper into that with you because I think that's something that's very important. I think there's people in the United States that do that very well. You know, we've had some hospitality services.
You know, the hotel that we stay at, Nashville, is. Is exceptional at doing exactly what you said. Everybody at least waves hi and says hello with a smile.
But you're saying that an accounting firm in Kentucky, in the United States of America, can take a lesson from an Italian cruise that says you should say something, say hello, make eye contact, and do your best to learn the name of every client. So they come into the office dropping something off, picking something up. They're even in a meeting with somebody else. They get that personal touch that. That Italian influence in that.
[00:31:35] Speaker C: Right.
They just. People appreciate being appreciated, you know, and you could tell on that boat that everybody there appreciated you being there. It was kind of cool. We wound up running into. One of the waiters from last summer was on this. This boat as well. So this guy was a really nice guy, and he helped me pick out all the things. He said, oh, this is the best one. This is the best one. He did it last year. He did it again this year, and he was just excited to do that for us.
[00:32:03] Speaker A: Us.
[00:32:03] Speaker C: So, you know, it's. There's nice people everywhere. I think that's one of the things I'm coming up with.
[00:32:08] Speaker B: Nice people. There's no just culture in the world.
[00:32:11] Speaker A: It's like, hates people, right?
[00:32:14] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:32:15] Speaker B: And so the. Another thing that's really interesting is, you.
[00:32:18] Speaker A: Know, in some way, you can sit.
[00:32:20] Speaker B: Here and look at the opportunity that.
[00:32:23] Speaker A: You have to genuinely check your mindset and say, you know, we generally, in.
[00:32:29] Speaker B: America say, oh, great, another customer walked in. I got to go do my job. Right? Oh, great. Another person signed up for advisory work. That's just one more client for me.
[00:32:37] Speaker A: To have to service.
[00:32:38] Speaker B: Instead, you're saying they're appreciative for you being there. You know, think about it. If you're even working at McDonald's and people aren't coming in and buying burgers, you don't have work to do. And ultimately, you're going to be out of a job. If you're at an accounting firm, you have clients stop coming in, you're going to be out of a job. You need to be grateful for the opportunity to serve, to have somebody come in and say, hey, I appreciate you choosing us and giving me stability, giving me the opportunity to share my expertise, which hopefully you're in a business where you have some excitement about it. And I think that's a really good way to check our mindset. Is that. Is that fair?
[00:33:11] Speaker C: Absolutely. And, you know, everybody appreciates you being nice to them. You know, just to smile sometimes makes a difference. But yeah, if. If we didn't have our clients, we wouldn't have a job, and that's the way we need to look at it. You know, thanks for coming in, man. Thanks for that question. We appreciate that.
[00:33:28] Speaker B: You could have chosen another accounting firm. You could have bought a burger from someplace else, would have took a different cruise line. But you chose us. And thank you.
[00:33:36] Speaker C: Absolutely.
[00:33:37] Speaker B: I love it. So let's talk about all this travel you've been on. Because I've known one or two I want to know about. Let's say in all this travel, what is a moment of struggle or frustration in all this traveling abroad that you have felt.
[00:33:50] Speaker C: Okay, let me tell you the best one. We were in. We were in Venice last year, and we took the train to Paris.
[00:33:58] Speaker A: Paris.
[00:33:59] Speaker C: And I think that's where I. Anyway, we took the train to Paris, wherever we were. And no, it wasn't. It was from somewhere in France. Yeah. Because it was just a French river cruise. But anyway, we get on, we get up there and get to the train station. And I've been a little bit prepped by our tour guide to tell me what to expect. But I thought, yeah, I'm going to be really a smart guy. Okay, I'm gonna video. Because some of my family is going to probably come over here in the next few years, and I'm going to show them how to navigate this. This is going to be great. I'm going to do a little video.
[00:34:26] Speaker A: Video.
[00:34:26] Speaker C: And I start here with the video. Of course, everything is in French. Then they. They tell me, I finally figured out that they do not assign a Track Until 15 Minutes before your. Your train leaves. Okay? I'm sitting here doing this. I got on the wrong train twice. I got in the wrong seat twice. And about halfway through this video, I said, just ask somebody. I have no clue how to do this. It was. It was. It was crazy. But it was an enjoyable ride once we got there. And, and here's the other thing.
Everybody was so super nice about it. People, you know, they like you to, to, to ask them and they don't mind helping you and what you do, you, you can't just go up and act like you're just, you know, frustrated and you're an American and you're just going to speak English. You try to speak.
[00:35:12] Speaker B: Hold on, I want to talk about that in just a second, Wayne, because we're going to specifically talk about that.
So let me jump in on this one. So your most frustrating moment was feeling lost or confused or unable to communicate. Is that fair?
[00:35:25] Speaker A: Correct.
[00:35:25] Speaker B: So if we walk into any business in the United States and we see a client and they feel lost, confused, or uneducated with the inability to communicate, would you say as a business owner in the United States, that's a moment where we should capitalize, make them feel welcome, draw them in, increase their status as a client and give them some service?
[00:35:45] Speaker C: Absolutely. And, and I will tell you this, most of them are that way because they've not had any direction. They don't understand how the taxes work. They don't understand how the tax law is. And that's why we include education as a big part of our program. We want them to understand. It's not like I'm sitting here holding all the cards and I don't want to, you know, share with them. I want them to understand as much as they can because they can help me do a better job.
[00:36:10] Speaker B: All right, Wayne, 30 seconds. Tell us about the most eye opening or enlightening moment that you've had so far in your travels.
[00:36:17] Speaker C: One of the cool things, we went to Greece last year and we had a private tour guide and she asked where I wanted to go and I said, I want to go to Thermopylae. And she said, really? She said, it's two hour drive out of town. I said, that's all right. I want to see it. Because that's where the battle of the 300 were fought. You know, we go out there and we saw it. There's a little museum. We had a great time. I really enjoyed it. Took a lot of pictures. And as we were going back, she said, I just want to thank you. I said, for what? And she said, most people do not even consider that Thermopylae happened, but it is a significant part of our history. And I just want to thank you for being interested in coming to see it. And I thought that was cool as could be. I was really shocked at that.
[00:36:59] Speaker B: I love that. That's a perfect place. We're going to stick the pin in the conversation right here. We're going to bring more Wayne Shelton back just after these messages here and we're going to have a little more of a business application to a lot of this stuff. And so you're going to start seeing how this drifts into your world. Stay tuned for more Pivotal Changes Change.
[00:37:40] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:37:47] Speaker B: Thank you for sticking with us through the break so you can get this final segment of Pivotal Change tonight and more of Wayne Shelton. One thing that I want to let everyone know is no matter what happens, if you cannot catch an episode of Pivotal Change or any of the shows on Now Media, you can stay connected all the time on Now Media TV's favorite ways to get live or on demand. You can get all of your episodes, all the business, the culture, the news, the leadership. All you got to do is get the NOW Media TV app and you can find it on Roku, you can get on iOS or you can just go to the website now Media TV. The fun part which I really love because I travel so much is there's a podcast version so I can watch this show or any of my buddies shows and download it on podcast so I don't have to take my eyes away from the road. If you like what you're seeing here, you can get it 24 cents if you'll just log on to NowMedia TV.
Now we're going to talk a little bit more about traveling and be able to catch on things with Wayne Shelton and we're going to get a little bit of application from his travels. So Wayne, I just want to ask you a little bit more of a general question on how can you bring back some of those experiences and go into those travel experiences kind of with eyes wide open to say, this is something that can make me a better person, a better leader, or we'll work for somebody else at the office.
What's a way to bring back experiences from travel to your businesses?
[00:39:03] Speaker C: You know, I think what you do when you're over there is you really look at what's going on and you know how they do things over there that and sometimes they're so different. You know, for example, a lot of European countries now have a 32 hour work week, not a 40 hour.
We in the smaller towns in particular, not the large ones, but in the small towns, they'll close for lunch for two hours. They open up at like 10 o'.
[00:39:31] Speaker B: Clock.
[00:39:31] Speaker C: They work for a couple hours, they close for two hours and take a big break, and then they work to like seven o' clock at night. You know, it's just a weird thing. And you have to kind of plan your day around what you're doing around their lunch breaks. So all of that, you think about how do they work, how do we work, you know, or if they got the right idea, maybe 32 hours is the right idea. I don't know the answer to that, you know, but you see how the people work, you see probably maybe less stress, you know, in the smaller towns, and particularly, you know, the people are enjoying their jobs, that type thing. So, you know, it's.
It's how you. Those people relate to their work and how we relate to our work, which may be pretty different.
[00:40:14] Speaker B: I like that. So one of the things, I'm going to piggyback off the experience because I recently had a good experience in Croatia, and it's a slower pace and like you said, things. Things are different. So I like the way that you said, hey, maybe there's less pressure here. Maybe that's a good way to go. Did you feel that because it was a slower pace and it wasn't go, go, go, and the servers or the hospitality people weren't in a rush, that you got a higher quality experience and that you also received less stressful of an environment?
[00:40:44] Speaker C: Yeah, I think. I think it kind of passes down, you know, if they're less stressed, you're less stressed now. And it's not always that way, you know, because there are some people that are just difficult to deal with, but most people are not that way, you know?
[00:40:59] Speaker B: Yeah, I like that. So I'm thinking to make the applications here, what if we are run, run, run, run all the time in our businesses, which is very much Western and specifically American culture, to go, go, go and get after it all the time. If we just slow things down and give a higher level, less pressured service to people, would that be more valuable and even higher value with dollar signs as well?
So let's do this. So you are traveling a lot. You stay involved in the business. How do you. Or would you coach or tell another business owner that says, hey, I want to travel, I want to get these experiences, I want to build my relationships and my network, but I have to keep working or have to keep checking in. How does Wayne Shelton balance the helping to run the business and checking in with the freedom to travel and gain experiences that obviously are going to help himself and other people?
[00:41:43] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:41:44] Speaker C: In the United States, it's Much easier if you're in on the east coast or the west Coast. You know, you're talking a couple hours difference. The biggest deal is the number of hours different, you know, like from here to Italy is seven hours difference. So what you've got, and I'll tell you the best way to do this is on your iPhone. Go to World Clock and type in where you are and where your home is and you can tell the number of hours. You can say, okay, it's seven o' clock here. Oh, it's, it's midnight, there's. And that really helps you do that. But keep up with that. But what I try to do is say, okay, I know the window that I'm going to be up is from 2 to 5 that I could work with the office. So what I try to do is let them know before I go, this is, here's what my schedule is going to be. And I will call in at this particular time every day and find out what's going on. And they know that. And it works real well. And I tell you what, we've actually gotten a lot of things done that way for sure.
[00:42:39] Speaker B: Yeah, no, I've definitely seen that. That positive. I remember the first time he traveled was a little hectic because it was like, ah, you know. But now that you dialed it in. So to paraphrase back what you're saying, I'm hearing you say that you proactively look at the time difference. You proactively block out moments of, here's the check in hours, here's the time to get your answers. If there has to be a client meeting, here's the gap, right? And you make that happen. And you're doing that all before you ever board the plan plane.
[00:43:05] Speaker C: Yes, yes. And you can do it. You know, you can make it work about any time as long as you're just aware. You just got to be aware of what's going on and, and what, you know, what the time changes and all that stuff are. That's the biggest one.
[00:43:18] Speaker B: No, I, I like it a lot. And I've really noticed a lot of, you know, respect both ways where, you know, you're calling somebody and you know, maybe at the very end of the day for us, and they're like, I'm trying. And you're like, hey, no worries, we'll do it in the morning. And on the same token, you're on dinner time when we're in the middle of the day and you're like, hey, I'm running off to dinner. So we Want to hurry up and make sure you get to enjoy your dinner. And there's a give and take and a good culture that allows for the check ins like we said it was just a moment ago. Lowers the pressure a little bit and keeps things running smooth.
So that's, that's pretty fun. So let me ask you about this.
You've developed some relationships as you traveled. You've met some people. Some of these people are recurring travel partners with you.
Tell me about the relationships that you have made and how are they helpful not just in your personal life, but in discussions, thinking outside the box. How would they carry back to other things in your life, like business?
[00:44:07] Speaker C: You know, it's interesting about everything you do.
There's probably an application to your business, you know, and this is probably not any different than anything else.
Let me see.
I'm having a hard time getting my hand around this.
[00:44:29] Speaker B: Well, you've got, you've met some, I remember you met some people that were from an Asian culture. You've met some people that were maybe.
[00:44:36] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:44:36] Speaker B: Irish or Scottish or something.
[00:44:38] Speaker C: Yes, from England. Yeah. And, and we're talking to those people a lot. We met some people in, in Paris that were from Taiwan. And it was kind of interesting to see their perspective of what they expected of Americans because they asked us where we were from and we said the United States. And they looked at us real puzzled and said, but you're not fat. And you know, they think their, their perception is Everybody here weighs 300 pounds. It really is funny, you know, and just to listen to those people talk. For example, this one lady and her husband, he, he's very smart and got a Fulbright scholarship. He was coming to the United States for three months, going to be in New York and she was going to come with him and she was going to do day trips to like California, Chicago, New Orleans, day trips from New York City. And so, you know, they had no concept of the size of this country as opposed to theirs, which is 23 miles long, you know, and 5 miles wide or something like that. So.
But those, those people, I still communicate with those people and when they come to the United States, I hope to be able to see them again. But it just, it kind of broadens your whole perspective to know people from other places.
[00:45:44] Speaker A: Places.
[00:45:45] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:45:45] Speaker B: And so one of the things that I really draw to that story is anytime you meet new people, they are already making, you know, you're giving a first impression and they're already making assumptions about you based on how you're dressed, how you talk where you're from.
And we need to check ourselves on making all kinds of assumptions about people or clients or whoever the relationship might be. And then the other side of the coin is you saw a need, they had an expectation or a plan where you had, I would say, living in the country, you got expert knowledge by being here that that plan will not.
It's not even. Not even. Will it not go well. It's not even possible. So you had the opportunity because there was a relationship and some established trust to now help another person. And you probably use some of your business language and your business tone to. To gently steer that. That one, that kind of relationship in the right way.
So I want to kind of get towards ending the show here in just a little bit, but I want to give you some freedom to talk about what I had to pause you on earlier about, you know, a little bit of the. I don't want to steal too much of your thunder, but the making the effort and tell us about that and how it applies, of course, to travel and again, in your business.
[00:46:52] Speaker C: Yeah, you know, it's. There is a direct correlation, I think, between the two. One of the things we always try to do when we go to a different country is learn a few words and.
[00:47:02] Speaker A: And you.
[00:47:03] Speaker C: You will be amazed at how much they appreciate the fact that you. They know you don't speak their language fluently, but you're. You can say, bonjourno, good morning, you know, Buenos Aires, good afternoon, you know, grazi, thank you, you know, prego, you're welcome. Toilet, you know, where to find it, stuff like that. And Luanne and I one time were sitting in a restaurant, we were looking, trying to look up the word for butter, butter. And we finally said the word in French what butter was. And the guy said, oh, you mean butter. Yeah, butter.
[00:47:34] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:47:35] Speaker C: But I think the correlation over to the business, which is kind of where we were going with that, is one of the things we try to do. And I've got a couple of really good examples.
If, if we go have a new client that has a particular business, we might be familiar with it, we might not be familiar with their industry, but I want to go and physically look at their location. Okay. Some things, it doesn't make any sense, but if they're running a construction company and they've got, you know, a lot of equipment, if they've got buildings, if they've got all kinds of stuff, I want to go to their location, find out about their business by actually looking at it rather than looking at numbers on A piece of paper. Now, it's really funny. The first time I did that to one particular guy four or five years ago, he looked at me and said, you come to my office. I said, yeah, I'd like to, if you don't mind. He said, I'd love for you to. He said, nobody's ever done that before. I said, I understand, but people, we get too busy trying to get the stuff done to, and we overlook what we really need to be looking at, which is all the details about their business that we probably don't know and can't know without looking.
[00:48:43] Speaker B: Well, I like what you're saying here. And as we wrap up the episode, it's been really, really fun to hear about the travels, the little applications, how you said everything can be thread back into business or even your personal life and relationships, and how just making that attempt to connect, just making that attempt to learn the industry, to learn their culture, allows them to basically unlock a door of like, hey, this guy's trying. He's legitimate. So, Wayne, just real quick, five or ten seconds. How could somebody get a hold of you if they wanted to learn more about you and your. And your expertise?
[00:49:12] Speaker C: We have a website, Shelton and Associates. We're out of Paduka, Kentucky. Phone number is 270-442-6688.
All the website information and everything is.
I mean, the email information is on the website.
[00:49:25] Speaker B: That's perfect. Wayne, thank you so much for coming back on the show. And we'll be seeing the future as well.
And everyone else out there, I just want to say, go out into the world and see the change and be the change. And we'll catch you next time on pivotal Change.
