Latest / The Start, Scale & Succeed Podcast / Start Your Founders GANG with Dennis McCurdy (stage 2) - Ep. 425

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Start Your Founders GANG with Dennis McCurdy (stage 2) - Ep. 425 · The Start, Scale & Succeed Podcast

• 0:00
  Scott Ritzheimer: Hello, hello, and welcome, welcome once again
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  to the Start, Scale, and Succeed podcast-the only podcast that
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  grows with you through all seven levels of your journey as a
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  founder. I'm your host Scott Ritzheimer, and too many
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  founders think that grinding alone is a necessary part of
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  building a business or a nonprofit, especially those of
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  you in the startup entrepreneur stage, trying to succeed as a
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  solopreneur, the challenge though is without anyone
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  watching, very few of us does our very best, especially over
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  the long haul, which leaves so many of our best ideas to gather
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  dust in what my guest calls the Valley of Dead Dreams. Doesn't
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  that sound wonderful? We'll talk about what that is and how to
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  avoid it here in just a bit. But my guest has built a system for
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  himself and spent over a decade teaching others to do the same.
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  With us here today is Dennis McCurdy, who transformed his
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  life from graduating near the bottom of his high school class
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  and sleeping on an office couch to achieving seven-figure net
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  worth. Following his military service, he built eight
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  businesses, managed 29 properties, authored four books,
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  and led mastermind groups for over a decade. He teaches that
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  mindset, accountability, and strong relationships drive true
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  achievement. He's the author of the book "Unleash the Power of
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  Connection, and he actively runs personal development workshops
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  to help others reframe their failures into fuel for growth.
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  He consistently proves that strong network connections and
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  daily discipline directly accelerate personal
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  transformation. Andy's here with us today, Dennis. Welcome to the
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  show. Glad you're here. I love I love me a Harvard Business
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  Review stat, and and you you give us one about a study. I'll
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  let you set this up for us. But what is it that that we can
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  learn from this study, and how does it apply to that founder
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  that's that's trying to succeed in that solopreneur stage?
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  Unknown: We're talking about the we all do better when someone's
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  watching. We are yes, which is true. I mean, I just was telling
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  somebody the other day that it doesn't even have to be
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  somebody. Sometimes just a picture of somebody can, you
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  know, can cause us to to focus more, to be more accountable.
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  You know, the whole thing is, and I think that's the big
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  thing: is we're not meant to do this alone. And we say that I
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  say that in the book. You need to really reach out to people,
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  be connected. Again, accountability is one of the
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  most important things that we can have. I always tell people,
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  I don't like to be pushed, but I love the results, and and we you
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  know we need that kind of thing. I mean, unfortunately, probably
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  we all need a drill instructor in our life, but we don't have
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  one. And and I was raised by a drill instructor, so I know how
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  that can go. But
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  Scott Ritzheimer: so it's a fascinating dynamic because the
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  folks who go out and start their own thing tend to be more
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  comfortable with doing their own thing than a lot of people, and
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  and the the flip side of that, maybe the negative for or for
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  better or worse, I guess, is a tendency to do our own thing,
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  our own way, at our own time, on our own terms, all by ourselves.
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  How do how do you help folks? Because there's a tension there
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  of having that accountability, having folks that are in your
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  corner and care about you, but how do we keep at bay that that
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  resistance to push back, that that that rebel spirit that may
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  serve us in other ways, but doesn't necessarily serve us
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  well here?
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  Unknown: I think that we have to understand that you know
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  basically it's accepting it's for your own good. You know, I
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  mean, because you're right, we're very independent. I always
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  tell people the best thing about being self-employed is being
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  self-employed. The worst thing about being self-employed is
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  being self-employed, because there's just nobody to to push
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  you. You know, except when you're fire a customer fires you
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  or something, which is the worst thing you want to have happen.
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  So, you know, having you know, I've had a lot of mentors in my
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  life. I've had accountability partners, and and coaches and
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  consultants I've hired. I'm actually part of a national
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  mastermind group now with about 50 other insurance agency
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  owners, and it's good to be able to have that and hear other
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  people's stories to be able to get out, get out of your own
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  way. That's our biggest our biggest problem for most people
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  in the world. Just getting out of our own way, and and we can
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  be stubborn. Plus, it's nice, you know, being the boss
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  sometimes.
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  Scott Ritzheimer: Yeah, yeah. So the way that we're not going to
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  go solve for this problem is to go get a boss somewhere else,
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  right? That's that's that's out of the equation, at least for
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  these folks. Might be right for some folks, but let's let's just
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  rule that out for the the sake of the conversation. So we're
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  not going to go get a boss from somebody somewhere else. Even if
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  you hire an employee or two, you're their boss, and so having
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  someone there might help a little bit. But it's not quite
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  the same. We're not necessarily talking about going and getting
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  a business partner and giving up equity in your business. These
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  are all like real complicated, can work in some situations, but
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  that's that's not the solution that that you've proposed here
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  in the book. What
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  Unknown: Having your own gang? We talked about that earlier. I
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  mean, I'm a big believer in mastermind groups. Again, I
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  think as an entrepreneur, solopreneur, you have to
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  understand and be open to these things if you really want to
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  grow and accelerate. I mean, just everybody. We're not all
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  one thing. We can't do all. Everybody has our quirks and
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  their quirks. Everybody has their strengths and their
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  weaknesses. So I remember once when I was talking to one of my
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  buddies in a group, we were saying he was saying, write all
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  the things down on the left side of a piece of paper that you're
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  good at. Write all the things on the right side that you're not
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  good at. You don't like. You should tear it in half and put
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  an ad in the paper for that part, because again, we're not
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  perfect. So having someone who you know again, why I like the
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  gang concept, having which means goal achieving nudging group.
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  It's having people around you that are not afraid to call you
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  on your stuff, because we all have stuff. I mean, if you think
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  you don't have stuff, you're in denial, right? And so, being
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  vulnerable enough to accept that and and accept the. I want to
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  say I don't want to say criticism, but accept the pushes
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  because, in fact, it was James Allen said in his book *As a Man
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  Thinketh* a person who doesn't shrink from self-criticism can
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  always achieve their goals, and so having people that will give
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  you that loving kick in the butt when you need it is really
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  important because
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  Scott Ritzheimer: yeah, this is this is this is at least the
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  first and may end up being the last. I don't know. We'll see.
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  But episode where we talk about this question, I don't know that
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  I'll ever ask this of anyone else. What's the difference
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  between a good and a bad gang member.
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  Unknown: A good and a bad gang. Well, a a good gang member shows
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  up for you, and you show up for them. A good gang member will
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  tell you the truth. You know whether you want to hear it or
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  not. You know to say, hey, wait a second, you know, let's get
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  off this. You've been on this too long. You're making these
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  excuses. You're not. You're you're lying to yourself. That's
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  what you want. I mean, you don't want to punt to people who just
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  say yes, yes, you're great, you're wonderful. That that
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  doesn't get you anywhere. I mean, nobody's perfect, and so
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  we're all trying to improve, you know, a little bit every day.
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  And so, and it's easy to deny, you know, hey, I'm, I'm, I'm,
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  this, I'm okay, I'm doing this, it's right, and somebody else
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  will go, wait a second here, you know, you're a little off track,
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  or you're, or you're letting some of your maybe negative
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  patterns, you know, filter in your sabotaging behaviors, which
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  we all have. I always liked that cartoon way back in the day by
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  this little guy called Pogo, and he said, "We've met the enemy,
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  and it's us. And so we have to realize and be open enough to
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  accept that.
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  Scott Ritzheimer: What is your take on who to invite into your
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  gang? Is it family members? Is it friends? Is it other business
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  owners? What are some of the mistakes you see folks make
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  there? I guess I would set up and say I think most people have
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  a gang, whether they want to or not. Right, it's more that they
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  haven't been selective in who that gang is. Would you agree?
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  Unknown: I agree. I totally agree, and that's really
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  important. I mean, sometimes it just happens through osmosis.
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  They just, you know, and people just in our our natural life.
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  But having people in your family can create a whole. It's a whole
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  nother dynamic there. So in fact, I remember talking to a
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  woman who it was a husband, two daughters, and the wife in a
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  very successful restaurant. But there were always there was
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  always this stuff going on. In fact, one of them said, "Well, I
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  want to leave here and I want to go to New York City, and I want
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  to get a good job and I want to make this kind of money. And I
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  said, "Wait a second! You get six weeks off at this job. You
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  drive two miles to work, and you're the boss. What are you
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  talking about? So I had said to them, "You know, hire a coach
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  for the family. Hire a psychologist if you have
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  whatever you have to do, because this is a gold mine and you're
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  going to kill it. And they actually did, so they ended up
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  selling it and being miserable.
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  Scott Ritzheimer: Oh, that's awesome. So
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  Unknown: yeah, having that's important. Go ahead.
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  Scott Ritzheimer: What are some of the best places to find your gang?
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  Unknown: That's a tough one. It you have to just be very. I
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  mean, sometimes you can find them online through things like
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  LinkedIn. Sometimes through business groups, people you
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  know, even maybe even through customers who might know people.
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  It's there are some online mastermind groups now, which can
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  be helpful because you have facilitators who actually pay
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  and they facilitate the meetings and things, so that can be
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  helpful. It's it's a process, and and some and sometimes I
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  know in the book I talk about my friend Margot Chevers, and she
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  and I had decided to have a mastermind group, and so we
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  started meeting once a month, and other people said, "Well, I
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  want to come. I want to join party, be part of your group.
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  And they would come, and they would they would they would show
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  up. Maybe they come twice, and then they say, "Oh, I'm just too
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  busy on this. I said, "Well, we're busy, but we show up every
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  month. We commit to our goals, and we get them done. So you're
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  too busy to do that. And Margot and I met every month for seven
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  years.
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  Scott Ritzheimer: Wow!
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  Unknown: And so we used to. I know. I know if you read it in
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  the book, but we used to write a check to each other after each
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  meeting for 500 bucks, post dated 30 days, and if you didn't
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  do your goals, the other person got to cash the check.
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  Scott Ritzheimer: Yes. Yes. I love that. I love that, and and
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  I I think what that taps into is how you're saying ahead of time
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  is like these are people who are advocating for you, and and when
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  when you look to some of the more common places, a a spouse,
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  a parent, a friend of yours, they either like a friend cares
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  but doesn't necessarily understand. A family member is
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  probably afraid and understands, right? But when you can find
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  other people that you can, to some extent, go shoulder to
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  shoulder with, like the two of you did, I think that goes back
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  to what you opened with of the power of peer groups. Where did
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  you find that? How did you discover that?
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  Unknown: Where did I find the power-the power of a group? You
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  mean, or yeah, many, many, many years ago, I was invited to a
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  men's group that was more of a not a business group, but it was
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  just basically men building intimacy with men,
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  communicating, and I discovered all of the different opinions
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  and variety you can get from that, and that's when I decided
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  to start my own mastermind group. And then also, I when I
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  was teaching my workshops back in the day, I was concerned that
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  they would they would leave the workshop, and that would be it.
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  So I said to them, anybody who attends the workshop can come to
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  a free mastermind group. We meet every month. We had here's the
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  location. This is what we're going to do. And you know, of
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  the hundreds of people that came, only maybe about a half a
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  dozen actually did it consistently, and eventually we
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  disbanded. But you know, it was like you need to have that
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  constant accountability. Every human being needs that;
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  otherwise, we'd all be perfect, right?
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  Scott Ritzheimer: For sure, for sure. Dennis, there's there's so
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  many different questions I could ask, and in so many ways that
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  you could go with this. But there, I want to make time for a
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  question that I ask all my guests. I'm interested to see
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  what you have to say, and the the question is this: What would
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  you say is the biggest secret that you wish wasn't a secret at
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  all? What's that one thing you wish every founder watching or
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  listening today knew?
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  Unknown: You don't have to do it alone. It's it's that simple.
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  You can, and if you're, if you don't want to involve, like say,
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  a gang kind of person, get yourself a coach or consultant,
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  someone that you trust enough and you have enough, like
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  enough, where you're willing to open yourself up to take that
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  advice again, because nobody's good at everything, nobody's
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  perfect at everything, and so we need to really recognize that.
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  Because if you if you can capitalize and move past your
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  weaknesses, almost anything's impossible. Impossible. It's
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  just a matter of doing that and being humble enough. I think.
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  Sometimes, which is harder when, as you get more successful,
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  sometimes.
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  Scott Ritzheimer: Yeah, yeah, it really is. It can become more
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  and more isolating. There's some folks listening that they're
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  they're ready to start a gang, or or they're they're just
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  interested in learning more and how they can not do this alone.
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  Tell us a little bit about the book. Remind us of the name and
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  where we can get a copy of it, and then how folks can connect
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  with you and learn more.
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  Unknown: Sure. So the name of the book is "Unleash the Power
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  of Connection, and it can be bought on Amazon or Barnes and
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  Noble or Digital Chalk or any of those any of those platforms,
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  and they can reach me at just. McCurdy.com. If they want to
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  reach out, be happy to chat with them, give them some ideas. I've
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  been involved in a lot of mastermind groups and a lot of
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  coaching and consulting from from both sides, both giving and
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  receiving. So I'm very open to. Yeah, I think you have to be
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  open to learning and being. You know, realize you're not
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  perfect.
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  Scott Ritzheimer: Yeah, yeah. So true. So true. Recommend it,
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  especially those of you who have that feeling of being alone,
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  because you're the only one in your business. That's a very
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  real thing, but it doesn't have to be that way. And Dennis, I
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  love the idea, love the approach. Really enjoyed the
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  book, and really enjoyed this conversation. Thanks for being
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  on. It was really a privilege having you here, and for those
• 15:42
  of you watching and listening, you know your time and attention
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  mean the world to us. I hope you got as much out of this
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  conversation as I know I did, and I cannot wait to see you
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  next time. Take care.
• 15:53
  Unknown: Thanks, Scott.
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  Scott Ritzheimer: Hey, everyone. Scott Ritzheimer here. Thank you
• 15:59
  so much for listening to the Start Scale and Succeed podcast.
• 16:02
  I hope this episode gave you exactly what you need for the
• 16:06
  level you're in right now. If you want to discover what level
• 16:10
  you're in, take our 10 question Founders Evolution Quiz for free
• 16:14
  at foundersquiz.com. That's foundersquiz.com. It'll pinpoint
• 16:19
  exactly where you are, and give you tailored tips to move
• 16:22
  forward and reach that next level in your journey as a
• 16:26
  founder. If you got something out of today's episode, don't
• 16:29
  forget to subscribe, rate, or review. It helps us reach more
• 16:32
  founders like you, and let's be honest, it means a ton to me, my
• 16:36
  team, and all our incredible guests. So keep starting,
• 16:40
  scaling, and succeeding, and I'll see you in the next
• 16:43
  episode.