Nick Jaworski:
Hey everybody. It’s Nick here from the metaphorical vacation beach that I hope everybody has time to go on this week or this month or sometime soon. And Michael is out on his vacation right now. And we thought it would be a great time to share with you a webinar that he presented a while ago called, Walk Away and Watch it Grow: How Business Owners Can Build a Self-Scaling Company Without Their Constant Involvement. There is a lot of information in here. It is very dense. If you are looking for actionable ideas, then this is the one for you. And this isn’t just for people looking to retire or anything like that, it’s for any leader who is looking for a way to do less and still win. So win, win for everybody. Enjoy your time off. Make sure you schedule that time off. And here’s Michael with Walk Away and Watch it Grow.

Michael Hyatt:
Welcome to this special training session. I’m Michael Hyatt, founder and chair of Full Focus. I’m going to be your instructor today. The title of this special training session is Walk Away and Watch it Grow. How business owners, just like you, can grow a self-scaling company without their constant involvement. I designed this training to help three kinds of people. First, business owners who want their company to grow more quickly while at the same time, having a healthier, richer, personal life and more quality family time. And several of you mentioned that this was important to you. Second, senior executives, people that are responsible for people and budgets and have got to answer to their board, their shareholders are their boss for their results. And then third, nonprofit leaders. And I saw that several of you are nonprofit leaders. This would include pastors who want to thrive and increase their organization’s impact on the causes that matter most to them. So if you’re in one of these three categories, you’re going to love what we talk about today.

Michael Hyatt:
Our company has been on the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest growing companies in the US for three consecutive years and the Inc best places to work for the last two years. And last January, I stepped down from my role as the CEO, I was able to walk away from the day to day operations of the business and I still own the business. However, get this. I now only work six hours a day, four days a week, and guess what? The company keeps growing without my personal direction. For example, our revenue grew last year, 2021, by 15% over the previous year 2020, which for an eight figure company of our size is significant growth. And now I get to spend more time with my wife, Gail, to whom I’ve been married for almost 44 years. And in addition, I also get to spend more time with my five daughters and all my grandchildren. And I’ve got nearly 10 grandchildren, one’s in the oven and is due next month.

Michael Hyatt:
And when I’m in the office, I’m doing work that I love to do, and that I’m great at doing. And I’m having, honestly, a blast. And that’s what I’m here to talk to you about today. Cutting my work week and getting out of the day to day management of the company has generated a ton of interest from my fellow business owners. And I get literally texts from them almost every week. Many of them feel trapped as an operator of their business. They’re spending too many hours and working too hard because their company’s success depends on their efforts rather than being an owner who is free to guide the company’s overall trajectory without getting in the day to day weeds.

Michael Hyatt:
Now, nearly all these business owners want to know exactly what they need to do in order to be in a position to walk away without stressing out. Even if it’s just for a two week vacation, others they’re nearing the time in their lives, and several of you said this in the comments, where they want to make the transition like I did, and they want to do it in a way that doesn’t leave a gaping hole in their lives. They want to work less and yet paradoxically achieve more. So if any of that resonates with you, you’re in the right place. We’re going to cover how to step away. So whether that’s for an extended vacation or a sabbatical or long term, and still see your business flourish and grow and generate positive ever increasing cash flow. So if that sounds attractive, you’re in the right place.

Michael Hyatt:
Now you may not know this, but this is the second time I’ve made the transition from CEO to chair. After I stepped away from my role as CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers, I was the chairman for a year. So this is an unfamiliar territory for me. And I’m going to tell you a story about another transition a little later, that illustrates why it’s crucial to get this right. But most of all, I want to share what made this transition possible, so you can see a path forward for yourself. Now, before we get into all that, that I just covered, let’s go back to 2011 when I started what would become Full Focus. From the very beginning, I wanted the company to be built in a way where it could function without my constant involvement. I didn’t want to be trapped in a role that required my presence at every moment, otherwise the business would stumble, or worse, come to a stop.

Michael Hyatt:
And as part of this effort, I made it a point to take a 30 day sabbatical every year. Yes, my primary objective was setting aside time for rest and rejuvenation, but I also knew that this would make my business better if I didn’t have to be constantly accessible to the team. In other words, I wanted to build a self-managing, self-scaling company. And I baked that in for the beginning. This practice has been a game changer. So last year, for example, I took 220 days off, that’s every weekend, 11 holidays, three weeks of vacation and a 90 day uninterrupted sabbatical. And even when I’m at the office, I’m only working four days a week now. And while I’m away, I’m confident the company will grow, get better and serve more and more people. It’s actually aiming higher and doing better without me here than with me at the helm every moment. But I didn’t get here overnight.

Michael Hyatt:
If you want to create something similar, there are very specific building blocks that have got to be in place for you to enjoy the freedom of stepping away from your business while it continues to grow even if you just want to get away for a week, a month or more. And that’s what we’re going to cover today. The five building blocks that you must have in place, if you want to sell scaling business like I’ve described. And these are the building blocks that enabled me to hand the reigns over to my oldest daughter, Megan, work only four days a week while taking lots of time off, only work on the tasks I love to do, and the ones I’m proficient at doing. And then rest easy knowing that my company is growing and is on a trajectory to surpass what it was able to do with me at the helm, and continue to draw out of the company, the same amount of cash I was taking previously, if not more.

Michael Hyatt:
So whether you want to take a more drastic hands off approach to your business like I have, or you just want to take a vacation or a sabbatical with the knowledge that your company’s doing fine, these building blocks are the ticket. So incorporate them into your company and you’ll be able to step away from your company, or reduce your involvement in the day to day, secure in the knowledge that it’s on an upward trajectory up into the right. So you guys ready to get started? Okay, great.

Michael Hyatt:
So what are five building blocks? Well building block number one is vision. This is where it all starts. And this is first for a reason. It’s the most important. Let me give you an example. Six weeks after Soviet cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin became the first human to orbit the earth, US president John F. Kennedy, and some of you remember this, laid out his vision to a joint session of Congress. And in part he said, “I believe that this nation should commit itself to landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth.” He continued, “No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind or more important for the long range exploration of space. And none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish. It will not be one man going to the moon, it’ll be an entire nation. For all of us must work to put him there.”

Michael Hyatt:
Now here’s what you may not know. Kennedy received significant pushback, including from NASA’s first administrator. And Kennedy’s predecessor, President Dwight Eisenhower, between 1961 and 1967, there was literally just one single month where the American public was in favor of spending government money to get a man to the moon, yet Kennedy called on every scientist, every engineer, every serviceman, every technician, every contractor and civil servant to move the space project forward, and people stepped up to make this vision a reality. Well, that effort faced huge challenges, catastrophic setbacks, but on July the 20th, 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first man to set foot on the moon. And without Kennedy’s initial vision, that wouldn’t have happened. I’m going to take a drink of water here and see if I can help my throat a little bit.

Michael Hyatt:
Well, here’s the deal. Every significant endeavor starts with vision. In fact, it’s so important to the success of your business that it’s a big part of our coaching program. Before you make any changes or move towards a self-scaling company, you got to first create a vision for what that looks like. Dr. Steven Covey says, “Begin with the end in mind.” In other words, you’ve got to create the vision first, align your team around it, and then work together to make it a reality. You’ve got to have a clear picture of what this company, or the organization that you own, run, or lead looks like when you’re not involved, or at least involved less than you are now. So what is vision? Well, vision’s an inspiring, clear, practical, and attractive picture of your organization’s future. The problem is most business owners I know act first and ask questions later. In other words, they have a bias toward action, which is good, it gets things done, but without vision, you might just be charging the wrong hill.

Michael Hyatt:
So starting with vision first makes all the difference. For me that vision was all about what life would look like in an owner’s role rather than as a CEO or as an operator. And let’s be honest, being the CEO of a successful company, a nice gig. So if I voluntarily stepped away from that role without somewhere to go, that could have ended up being an ugly situation. And I’ve seen that very situation happen among the executives I’ve worked with in the past, and it’s terrible for everybody involved, and we’re going to get to a specific story I have of that later. But thankfully I started with a vision and it’s made all the difference. So here’s another example of why that vision is essential.

Michael Hyatt:
One of our business accelerator clients, Dan Orangeburg, signed up for coaching after attending a training event, very similar to this one. And in his first session, he learned specifically how to create a written vision for his life in business. He got crystal clear on what he wanted at work and for his personal life. And as a result, his company more than doubled the first year he was in our program, he went from 20 million to 45 million. The following year he hit his stretch goal of 75 million. And last year, believe it or not, he hit a hundred million. All while taking more time off and investing it in his family. And that’s exactly what happens when you start with vision. So let’s recap, many business owners take action before having a clear vision of what they’re striving for. Guys, this is dangerous. It really is. The first and most crucial step of building a self scaling business is to create a solid, written vision of where you’re going before taking action. Once you’ve got that, you’re ready for this, building block number two.

Michael Hyatt:
If you’re looking to structure your company in a way that enables you to step back from the day to day without losing momentum, you can’t do that with average employees. No, you need a team of exceptional players. Now in building block number one, I talked about vision and that’s important here too. When you’re looking to hire A players, you need to have a picture of who that is and how to attract them to your company. So here are some questions to help you nail down exactly who you need. First of all, what kind of people will get the results you want and others expect? What kind of people will contribute to the culture that you’re trying to build? Because culture is the unseen force that drives operating results. What kind of people do we want to surround ourselves with? We spend a lot of time with the people at work. What kind of people do we want to surround ourselves with? And then how can you ensure you’re getting top players from diverse backgrounds.

Michael Hyatt:
Now, if you want to attract and hire the best team, there’s a system that can get you there. It maybe takes a little bit longer than you want it to, but it’s essential not to skip this step. If you’re like many business owners that we work with, there’s so much going on that your team is buried. And at this point, you’re just trying to get bodies in the door. And as a result, you don’t take time to get this right. And that’s a big mistake. Don’t believe me? Think about the last few hires you’ve made. Was it quick? Was there a fire that you were trying to put out with a new hire? So you got them in the door as fast as humanly possible.

Michael Hyatt:
Now think about the people who’ve been your biggest problem employees. What is slower, more thorough, more deliberative hiring process, filtered some of these people out before you brought them into the fold. Well, sometimes if you want to go fast, you got to slow down. And this is particularly true when it comes to the hiring process. When things are on fire, it’s natural to rush the process, take shortcuts, hire the first person who seems like they can do the work, but to build a self-scaling business, you need those people to be more than just capable humans. You want motivated, ambitious, go getters, who can operate without your constant oversight. Now I want to talk for a moment about strength through diversity. If you tend to hire people like you and most of us are guilty of this, you’ve likely surrounded yourself by people with similar worldviews, perspectives and experiences which leaves you vulnerable to blind spot. And it’s called affinity bias. Yeah, that’s a thing. And it’s the mother of group think.

Michael Hyatt:
So, take my advice and seek out diversity. Get this, a study published in Financial Management Magazine found that companies with pro diversity cultures were more innovative than their peers. They had more patents, they had more patent citations, more new products than their competitors, and they fared better during economic downturns. So if you want that kind of edge, that kind of advantage, you’ve got to actively recruit people of diverse ethnicity, diverse backgrounds, find people who look and think differently than you do, your team, your products, and your company will be better for it. And by the way, here’s a tip to get this right, the larger your pool of candidates, the more likely you’re going to find extraordinary teammates. So tackle finding your A level players like you would a sales campaign. So when you’ve got an open position, get the word out far and wide. So you’ve got the best shot at attracting somebody who’s really amazing. And this has been a huge part of our success at Full Focus.

Michael Hyatt:
So let’s recap, identify who you need to fulfill your vision. What’s the gap between where your company is and where it needs to go to become a self-scaling company. And who’s going to get you there. Higher slow, don’t give into the desire to plug a hole with just anyone who can do the work. Make sure they’re the kind of people who can make your vision happen. And as you put the right people in place, you’re going to need to be working on the third building block of a self-scaling business.

Michael Hyatt:
Building block number three is culture. When I went to work for Thomas Nelson Publishers in the late nineties, I was immediately aware of the culture. I could feel it. Some aspects of it were fantastic, but to be honest, some elements needed a shift for the company to reach its potential. And I’ve said this before, and I’ve said it a moment ago, but it’s still true. Company culture is largely invisible. Most employees have become so acclimated to it, they no longer see it. They don’t notice it. It’s like water to a fish. It’s just the environment that we operate in. But here’s the thing. Culture impacts everything a person does at an organization. And as you work to build your self-scaling company, it must have a culture that buys into your vision and is constantly working to achieve that vision. And this is particularly important because culture is the unseen force that drives operating results. Now that’s the second time I’ve said that in this training, I’m going to say it one more time because it’s so important. Culture is the unseen force that drives operating results. It’s crucial.

Michael Hyatt:
So what does a great culture look like? First, it’s high purpose. One of the positive things to come out of the past two years of the pandemic is a renewed interest in purpose. People want to make a difference, not just in their free time, but at work as well. And that research supports this. When Google analyzed what makes teams most effective, they found that meaning at work was one of the top five drivers of team success. And I see this at Full Focus. Our team is full of talented people who honestly could work anywhere, but they work with us. Why? Because they believe in helping leaders and their teams win at work and succeed at life. That’s our purpose. They know they’re making a difference.

Michael Hyatt:
Purpose is the lifeblood of your culture. People lose their way when they lose their why. And when your work has a purpose, your work matters and your business flourishes. Second, a great culture is high relationship. Look, people aren’t robots, they’re social beings. And the workplace is a social environment. And even if your team is mostly remote, like ours is, the relationships we have at work impact our effectiveness and our overall satisfaction with what we do. You’re never going to be better than the quality of your relationships, which, oh, by the way, drives your company culture. So cultivate relationships within the organization, through celebrating achievements, having fun together and social outings, whatever you can think of that lays the groundwork for relationship building that leads to openness, collaboration and engagement.

Michael Hyatt:
Third, a great culture is high candor. Now this is something that’s missing from a lot of organizations. You want to create a culture that’s safe for dissent. Let me say that again because it’s so important. You want to create a culture that’s safe for dissent. If somebody disagrees with you, welcome that perspective, and then be curious, don’t shut them down, otherwise you’re going to destroy the opportunity to hear differing perspectives. And what you’ll end up creating is a yes culture. That’ll make you blind to problems that you need to address. So to recap, if you want to build a self-scaling business, you got to first create a vision so that you know what you’re striving toward. Begin with the end in mind. Second, build a team of A players that you can trust to continue your vision when you step away, or become less involved. And third, create a culture of success with high purpose, high relationship and high candor as the main components. And once you’ve got the vision, the people and the culture, it’s time to get into the mechanics of building a self-scaling company.

Michael Hyatt:
And that brings us to building block number four, and that’s systems. Systems are foundational for your company, and they’ve got to be in place before you walk away or reduce your daily involvement. And these aren’t just systems for what you do, but for each area of your business, for example, you wouldn’t want to take extended leave without solid systems for acquiring new customers, or collecting payments, or preparing your year end tax documents. Systems keep things rolling consistently, reliably, predictably. And we could spend hours on this topic. And we do in our sessions with our business accelerator clients. But today let’s just cover the basics. What is this system? A system’s a set of steps for carrying out critical tasks. Think of it like a recipe. For example, you need systems for order fulfillment, prototyping new products or services, and onboarding employees. These are all examples of systems.

Michael Hyatt:
And you might think of systems as a training manual for new hires, but it’s really just a documented process to carry out key business functions. So why are systems necessary? Systems are how you deliver consistent, positive, predictable results. So imagine if every time you hired a salesperson, you left them alone to figure out how to sell your products. You drop them off at their workstation and tell them, all right, you’re the salesperson, good luck, go sell. That’s not the best strategy. Instead you create a sales system based on your company’s best practices. And that system would outline the resources that are available to salespeople like where to find prospects, details about prospect avatars, an understanding of how your products help people, why your products are better than your competitor’s offerings, product features, pricing, and the rationale for the pricing, how to place an order. Well, this system is a kind of a playbook and it ensures your new salesperson is on the fast track to driving revenue. The faster you can make them productive, where they’re paying for themselves, the better.

Michael Hyatt:
Now, imagine your salesperson doesn’t have these systems to lean on and is told to figure it out on their own. If your competitors have an onboarding process and a sales system for their sales team, who’s going to generate revenue faster. Who’s going to make deeper inroads in the market. Now multiply that for every position across your organization. And you can see why systems are so important. Without systems you’re at a competitive disadvantage, that’s right. Systems give you repeatable, dependable results. It’s why, for example, Starbucks coffee taste the same, regardless of whether you’re at a cafe in Seattle, Chicago, or Singapore. Another one of our coaching clients, Bill Prettyman, used systems to generate big gains in his business. And one of our coaching sessions in Nashville, he learned about our Full Focus system. He implemented it in his business immediately and with huge results.

Michael Hyatt:
Now, just to give you some context. Before joining our coaching program, Bill’s business hadn’t grown more than 2% year over year in more than a decade. Bill used our system to grow his company by 20% representing seven million in additional revenue. And it wasn’t just a short term gain either. He grew 40% the following year. And if you’re wondering if your company has the systems that would enable you to step away unplugged and keep growing, give it a stress test. Just as new airplanes have to be stress test before they’re certified to carry passengers, I recommend stress testing your company’s systems. How? Go on vacation. Unplug while you’re gone, prepare your team, but let them know that you won’t be available. They’re on their own. And when you get back, your team will tell you which systems broke down and where you need to work. And if everything goes smoothly, well, you may be a little bit closer to that extended vacation that you’ve been dreaming about.

Michael Hyatt:
So to recap, systems provide the mechanism by which your team of A players implement your vision and take it to new levels of success. And without systems in place that have been stress tested, that you can depend on, your dreams of a self-scaling company are going to remain just that, dreams.

Michael Hyatt:
Building block number five is mindset. This is the final building block, and it’s essential to creating a self-scaling business. And this isn’t just about making sure your company is successful as you walk away from your company, whether that’s for two weeks or indefinitely, no, it’s much broader than that. It’s equally vital that you’ve got a compelling vision for your future too. If you attempt to step away without a vision for you personally, you’re not very likely to succeed. And here’s why. Most successful leaders have sacrificed for years, sometimes decades to build a successful business. And as a result, so much of their identity is tied up in their work. For many they’ve sacrificed their health, their marriage, their relationships with their children, their free time, vacations, hobbies. The list goes on. This sounds familiar, right? Well, this is a stiff price and it’s not easy to just step away from an organization that has been your primary focus for so long.

Michael Hyatt:
So what does it take to step away? Well, in January 2021, when I moved into the chairman role at Full Focus, this was the second time that I’d made that transition as I mentioned at the beginning of this training. On April the 11th, 2011, so a little bit more than a decade ago, I announced my successor as CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers. I spent time getting my home office ready. And then I took a month on sabbatical with my wife, Gail, so that we could get aligned on what this next chapter was going to look like. And as I said at the time, I want to spend more time externally focused, writing, speaking, pursuing other business interests. I love the creative life and I was finding it increasingly difficult to give expression to my gifts while running a company the size of Thomas Nelson. Now, since this is something I’d done before, making the transition in January 2021 was a whole lot easier. And it’s something I’ve been planning for a couple of years.

Michael Hyatt:
And this is my first bit of advice about making this transition. It takes preparation and time to get into the right mindset to make this change. And there are three more elements to consider when preparing mentally to move away from your daily involvement with your company or organization and become an owner, not an operator. First realize that you’re not the only option. Let me say that again. You’re not the only option. Many business owners operate with a belief that nobody else can lead the company at the level they’ve led the company. Can I be blunt? These people have an inflated view of their own importance. As someone who’s led organizations of all sizes for the past 40 plus years, that’s simply not the case. And if you buy into this limiting belief, you’re going to remain stuck.

Michael Hyatt:
So consider this. What if the person that you choose to take your place along with the team you’ve built could actually lead the business better, take it further. Well, that’s exactly what I’ve experienced. If you can pull that off, it’s a credit to your leadership. Second, have something you’re going to. It’s imperative that you don’t walk away from your day to day role at your company until your crystal clear and have a strong vision for what you’re going to do. Miss this and you’re going to focus on what you’re leaving, which can create a hole in your life. So I want to share a story that illustrates what I’m talking about. My transition to the CEO, becoming the CEO at Thomas Nelson, was a smooth one right up until I actually took the position. Once I was installed as CEO, my predecessor, the previous CEO, thought it tooth and nail.

Michael Hyatt:
Now you got to understand, this guy was no stranger to me. He’d been my mentor for years. He handpicked me as a successor. He was my advocate with the board. He nominated me for the position. And everything was gum drops and rainbows until I became the CEO. Suddenly he felt threatened and he spent the next two years trying to unseat me from that position. So why would a person, someone who was a mentor and a friend do that? Well, I believe it’s because he didn’t have a clear picture of what he was going to do next. Once he was no longer the CEO, he had an identity crisis. He experienced a massive identity crisis. And all he could think about was what he’d lost, what he’d walked away from, not what he had an opportunity to move toward. And that’s why it’s crucial to have something to focus on when you know you’re going to step away.

Michael Hyatt:
Now that’s not to say it was easy for me to step away. Initially, I was focused too, on what I was giving up. I was thinking about everything I would lose if I were to make that transition, hand the reigns to my daughter, Megan, and become the chairman. Then I forced myself to write down what I was going to gain. That’s when everything shifted. What would this transition make possible? What could I do with this new time and focus? So it’s critical for anybody who’s thinking about stepping away from running the day to day of their company, to really get focused on how it frees them up for whatever’s next. Third, build a well-rounded future for yourself.

Michael Hyatt:
So when you’re creating a vision for what the next chapter looks like for you, it’s helpful if you got interest other than work, but let’s be honest when you’re building your company, you’re going full throttle, you’re probably not focusing too much on the other areas of your life that add meaning. And it’ll be even more important when you step away. For example, your spiritual life, or your intellectual life, emotional life, financial life, hobbies, your other personal interest.

Michael Hyatt:
So as you plan for your move away from the day to day leadership, begin to develop these other life domains. Doing so will make you more effective now before the transition, and it’ll make you more effective later, it’s going to lower your stress level and it’ll help give you purpose and hold your interest when your company doesn’t occupy the lion’s share of your space, brain space. So to recap, the final building block in creating a company that self-scales is your mindset. Understand that your company could be more successful without you there. Make sure you’ve got a vision of what life looks like in this new chapter. Try to develop your other life domains so you aren’t left with this gaping void when your company doesn’t occupy your daily attention.

Michael Hyatt:
So from early 2020, when I decided to step into the role of founder and chairman to January the second, 2021, when I made the change, I was able to move through the transition fairly smoothly. Why? Well, first I’d done it before. I knew what to expect. I’d experienced the emotions and I’d seen other CEOs make the transition poorly. And I was familiar with the landmines plus I’d spent the previous few years preparing the company for the change. How? By ensuring that each of the five building blocks was secure and in place. That was my focus. And this is the value of experience. Second, the reason I was able to make the transition so smoothly is I’ve been working with a business coach for over 20 years, which helped steer me where I needed to go, and this was huge. I needed that outside in perspective. This is one of the key benefits of working with a coach.

Michael Hyatt:
Here are a few others. Coaches see your blind spots. They’re an unbiased sounding board, so you can bounce ideas off them without fear of looking stupid, or fear of sharing something with somebody who’s got a dog in the hunt and has a bias. Third good coaches offer battle, tested, proven experience. And number four, the right coach can make all the difference. Look, if you’re serious about making this leap or taking your business in life to the next level, you don’t need to figure it out all on your own. That’s the slow, risky way. Instead, hire a coach who’s already done what you want to do. For example, take our business accelerator client, Stormy Bradley. She was so caught up in running her two businesses that she was missing her kids’ biggest moments. Her business was running her ragged. She and her husband were burning the midnight oil while their nanny taught her daughter how to walk.

Michael Hyatt:
Well, after getting coaching under situation, using the systems and the frameworks within our business accelerator program, everything’s changed. Her business is thriving and she has more time at home to be with her family than ever before. That’s the power of coaching. And I love seeing how it impacts people like Stormy.

Nick Jaworski:
Well, that’s it for today. If you are looking for a way to level up your business leadership, your ability to maybe do less and get more done both in your personal life and at work, maybe you’re looking for some more help and some coaching on how perhaps you could step away and watch your business grow. Then I might recommend that you go check out businessaccelerator.com. That’s the program developed by Michael Hyatt, Megan Hyatt Miller, all of the wonderful people at Full Focus. And so go to businessaccelerator.com. Anyway, I hope that you enjoy some time off. I’m going to stay here on this metaphorical beach and I’ll see you soon. Until next time, lead to win.