Latest / The Start, Scale & Succeed Podcast / Should I Retire Or Start Over with Kim Sawyer (stage 1) - Ep. 402

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Should I Retire Or Start Over with Kim Sawyer (stage 1) - Ep. 402 · The Start, Scale & Succeed Podcast

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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, or as we'll say today, a pre-founder. I'm your host,
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Scott Retheimer, and today we're talking to all those folks
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sitting in a job, maybe a great job, maybe a bad job, but one
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way or another, they've outgrown it. They're staring at the door,
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wondering if the grass is actually greener, or if they
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just haven't learned how to grow grass yet. But whatever it is,
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it's not working to the extent that it should. We call these
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folks dissatisfied employees, and no matter how good your
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paycheck is, that doesn't quite seem to check the box, and my
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guest today, Kim Soyer, has extensive business experience
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and has been a professional coach for more than 20 years.
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His coaching firm, The Wealth Source, coaches facilitates and
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helps key professionals, executives, teams, and
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organizations to create extraordinary wealth in all its
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forms, they accomplish this by developing unique and powerful
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models, tools, and approaches that elevate the performance and
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success of the executives they coach to the next level. Kim has
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coached leaders across some of the most respective
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organizations, including Continental Airlines, JPMorgan
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Chase Bank, the British Broadcasting Corporation, IBM
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Chevron, and Spectra Energy, and he's here with us today. Kim,
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I'm really excited about this. We've had a chance to talk
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through a couple different approaches here, and this idea
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of folks, especially if they're a little later in their career,
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second half of life, there's this feeling that the deeper you
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go into your career, the more stuck you are. The energy that
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you have to start over, the willingness that you have to
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change, feels like it starts slipping away from you. How do
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you help folks that feel like they're in that stuck place,
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can't really get past it, and don't even know if they should.
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Unknown: First of all, Scott, thanks for having me here. I
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really appreciate the opportunity to talk to you and
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your audience, and it's a really good question, because the
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problem so many successful executives, business founders,
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and owners face that they don't even realize is that they think
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if they just keep doing what they're doing really well,
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everything will turn out great in the end, and it just doesn't
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work that way. Now, if they tried to run their business that
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way, they know the business would not turn out great in the
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end if they didn't have a say and weren't actively working
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toward it, but they don't look at their careers in the same
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way, they just leave it to the hands of other people's
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decisions and circumstances. So I'm here to challenge that
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paradigm.
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Scott Ritzheimer: I think one of the things that that contributes
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to that. I won't even say that it causes it. Is it's difficult
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to feel like an owner when you're working, like when you
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feel like a cog in a machine. It can be hard to really take
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ownership when it feels like so much is out of your control. How
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do you help folks, whether entrepreneurs or or even high
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performing executives who feel that twinge of how do I take
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ownership of this, how do I really start to build the thing
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that I want.
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Unknown: The first thing I have them look at is the broader
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perspective. Okay, this is my job today, or my business, this
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is my career, in which my business is just the current
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state of my career, and then this is my life, and career and
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job are just parts of life, and all of them have to serve each
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other in that order of priority, my job serves my career, my
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career serves my life. Now, given that it's suddenly time to
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start thinking, well, goodness gracious, how am I going to do
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anything about my career or my life if all I'm doing is working
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in my current job or business? Once they grasp that, then it
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just begs the question of, well, how do I go about actively
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participating in my career?
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Scott Ritzheimer: Yeah, yeah, how do you help folks discern
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between those, because you know, at some point they feel like
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they're all the same thing. My career, my job, my life, they're
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all happening at the same time. How do you help folks start to
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discern the differences between those and and the work that they
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need to be doing on each
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Unknown: great good question for most people, especially
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employees, but even business owners, they think when they go
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home every day, their career's over, they get up, they go to
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work, they go home, their career is done until something. Happens
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outside their control, and suddenly it's not going right,
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and they realize they hadn't been doing anything to have some
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influence on what was going to happen next. So the first thing
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I have them do is to realize that just like your employer's
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company is a business, just like your current business that you
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own is a business, your career itself is a business, and you're
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its CEO. You're bringing yourself to market. You have one
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current customer, which is either your current business or
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your employer, and if you did nothing but sit around serving
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that customer all day long. What would happen to your business?
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Well, no, that would be insane. So I need to be engaged in
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things beyond serving my current business or customer that will
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help build what comes next in the future, so that it fits me
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and so that it happens when I'm ready for it.
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Scott Ritzheimer: There's this word we tend to use in this,
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this sphere of thought quite often, and I don't think we're
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actually using it properly. I think we're talking about
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something else and putting it in fancy language, but a lot of
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times we'll think about loyalty, and we'll think, hey, if I'm, if
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I'm thinking about something like that's being disloyal to my
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job or to my current commitment. What is that loyalty? Is that
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something else? How does loyalty play into all of this?
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Unknown: Well, first of all, loyalty has a context. Okay,
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it's not infinite and boundless. If I'm in a relationship with
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someone or an institution, a company, then they're, we have
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an agreement that they're going to do certain things for me, and
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I'm going to do certain things for them, and within that
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relationship we honor, trust, and serve one another, but
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beyond that, we each can live and operate the way we choose,
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so for me, if I were the CEO of a business, okay, and I were
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looking to find new customers or go to new markets or launch a
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new product, would that be disloyal to my current customer?
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Would they think somehow I was betraying them? No, that only
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makes sense in the paradigm of I'm at the mercy of my employer
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or my current company.
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Scott Ritzheimer: I have found that folks who are really,
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really frustrated with their job, sometimes that's because of
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the job, but sometimes it's because of something in us, and
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if we try and solve the problem in us by quitting our job, we
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just take that problem to a new job. How do you help folks
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discern whether the problems that they're feeling, the
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dissatisfaction that's boiling, is job specific or has something
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more to do with a lack of attention to their career or
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their life.
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Unknown: Actually, it's all the above. The fact is, if I want to
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grow my business, I want to take great care of my current
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customer. I want to build a good relationship there. I want to do
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my part to make it really work and serve them and make sure
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that they're also treating me in a way that I want to do business
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with them, so my current job, it's up to me to make it the
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best it can be, and that means I have to learn what I have the
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power to do and change, and what actions I can take to enhance
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it, because it's my friend, it's the basis on which I'm going to
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stand, so that I can move into the future without it. Then I
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would be lost, I would be unemployed, I would be some guy
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on the street looking for an opportunity, not a good place to
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stand when you're trying to run a business or launch a career.
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Scott Ritzheimer: Yeah, when, when folks are thinking about a
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big career change, and they're, they're wondering, hey, should
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I, should I switch companies? Maybe they've always had a dream
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of being an entrepreneur, or, or starting something of their own,
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but they're wondering, like, can I really start over again? What
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advice would you give to them in that moment?
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Unknown: First of all, starting over again is a bad idea.
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Everything is a transition from one state to the next state. I
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don't want to leave behind all the gold I've created and the
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value I bring to the table from all my experiences and
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relationships and skills. I want to take it with me into the
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future. However, I may want to add some new things to that and
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move it in a direction that I have more interest in, or more
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passion. So I need to look for opportunities that take where I
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can take. What I do now, and bring it to different people, or
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in a different way. Otherwise, I start over again as a rookie,
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entry level in whatever I'm doing. Not a good thing. So,
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it's all about managing a transition, planning for the
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transition, exploring for the right directions and
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opportunities, and then when it appears, then it's a time to
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make the move,
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Scott Ritzheimer: yeah, yeah. I love that you say rookie,
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because it's actually what we call stage one of the processes
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that rookie, or the trainee, and, and, and, and one of the
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things that, because I almost exclusively work in the world of
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founders, so I work with folks who've made the decision to go
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out, start their own thing, and do that, and unfortunately, I
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come across a lot of people who shouldn't have. They really
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shouldn't have. There are much easier ways to fulfill the
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vision that they have for their career and their life than
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getting rid of the boss by starting their own job. How do
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you help folks navigate that decision. Should I, should I
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start something of my own, or should I engage in an existing
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enterprise
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Unknown: like anything else? My coach used to tell me, Kim, the
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answers, the instructions are in the box, not on the box, so I
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don't know what the best future is. Reality is much bigger than
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what I know, and the future hasn't happened yet, so I have
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to remember I move in directions that seem like good ones, but
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then I learn as I go. New things happen, new people show up, I
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learn more about me, and ultimately I run across the
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right next thing. We find each other, I'm actively engaged in
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exploring. I have some ideas where I want to go, and I put
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myself out in front of the right people. Something shows up, then
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I know that's the thing. Now it's launching a business is
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something I'm considering. Then I need to begin exploring. Is it
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franchises? Is it launching a startup? Am I joining somebody
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else's startup? I need to begin taking some classes, exploring
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if I have an interest or not, reading a few books, so I can
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really see if that's a fit for me. And then, if it is, begin
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building the pieces while I have my day job, and then when it's
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starting to work and it's demanding more time than I have
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to give, then I can see if I can go to contract in my day job and
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begin to divert time, or at that point I make the leap, but I've
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got to make, here's the thing, most businesses fail in the
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beginning because the business owner depends on the business
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revenue to pay their bills, so the time isn't right to make the
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move unless you know your basic bills are paid safely and you
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can run your business for its own merits.
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Scott Ritzheimer: Yeah, gosh, we could stop on that and it would
12:58
be worth its weight. But I do have a couple more questions for
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you here. The first one is a question that I ask every guest
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that's been on the show, and the question is this: What is the
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biggest secret that you wish wasn't a secret at all? What's
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that one thing you wish everybody watching or listening
13:14
today knew?
13:15
Unknown: That the future doesn't take care of itself, it's going
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to happen one way or another, but if I want it to end up
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someplace that works for me, I've got to participate in it
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actively, whether that's the life I want to live someday or
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it's the career I want to have someday. It takes active
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participation to have a say in my future.
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Scott Ritzheimer: Yeah, so good, Kim. There's some folks, and
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they're right there, they're in it, they, they, they're in that
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spot they don't want to be in. They'd love some guidance,
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helping get beyond the frustrations of their current
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job, and, and into the deeper things of what they want and
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value, and in their career, and in life, even more. So, how can
14:01
they reach out to you? How can they find more out about the
14:03
work that you do, or take us their next step forward?
14:08
Unknown: So, first of all, again, I want to thank you for
14:10
having me here, and I want to thank all the audience for
14:12
listening in. If what I've said so far, and what Scott and I've
14:16
talked about, resonate for you, if you feel like you're in one
14:19
of those positions, I'm offering my career mastery session,
14:24
complimentary session. We'll meet, we'll explore your career
14:28
history, we'll explore what's possible for you, and we'll take
14:32
a look at what you can do about it to begin moving forward.
14:35
You'll walk away with a couple of clear action steps to take,
14:39
and whether you choose to work with me or not, you'll get
14:42
launched with some new ways of thinking. Normally, it's $300
14:46
but if you mention Scott, it'll be complimentary to you. I'm
14:49
going to give Scott all the information necessary to put
14:52
into the podcast notes, so you can redeem this offer.
14:56
Scott Ritzheimer: Absolutely fantastic. Well, we will do
14:58
that. We'll get all those notes in. And the episode notes for
15:01
you, so take a look there, wherever you're watching or
15:03
listening to this. Kim, it was just such a privilege and honor
15:07
having you here today. I loved this conversation. There's,
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there's so much more that I could have dove into, but for
15:13
the sake of our listeners' time, we try and keep them nice and
15:16
short and sweet. But thank you for being here, really
15:19
appreciate it. And again, love this conversation, and for those
15:23
of you who are watching and listening today, you know your
15:25
time and attention mean the world to us. I hope you got as
15:27
much out of this conversation as I know I did, and I cannot wait
15:31
to see you next time. Take care. Hey everyone, Scott Retheimer
15:38
here. Thank you so much for listening to the Start Scale and
15:41
Succeed podcast, I hope this episode gave you exactly what
15:45
you need for the level you're in right now. If you want to
15:48
discover what level you're in, take our 10 question founders
15:52
evolution quiz for free@foundersquiz.com That's
15:56
foundersquiz.com it'll pinpoint exactly where you are, and give
16:00
you tailored tips to move forward and reach that next
16:04
level in your journey as a founder. If you got something
16:07
out of today's episode, don't forget to subscribe, rate, or
16:10
review. It helps us reach more founders like you. And let's be
16:14
honest, it means a ton to me, my team, and all our incredible
16:18
guests. So, keep starting, scaling, and succeeding, and
16:21
I'll see you in the next episode.