Latest / Networking Unleashed: Building Profitable Connections / Networking Unleashed: An Interview with Kate Peterman and Michael A Forman, Professional Speaker

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Networking Unleashed: An Interview with Kate Peterman and Michael A Forman, Professional Speaker · Networking Unleashed: Building Profitable Connections

• 0:16
  Welcome to Networking Unleashed, Building Profitable
• 0:20
  Connections. The podcast where relationships
• 0:23
  fuel leadership, trust creates opportunity, and
• 0:27
  great conversations lead to extraordinary results.
• 0:31
  I'm your host, Michael Forman. Today's episode
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  is all about one of the toughest challenges every
• 0:37
  CEO faces. How do you spend your time? How do
• 0:41
  you know when it's time to hire the leaders who
• 0:45
  will take your business to the next level? We'll
• 0:48
  explore why great leadership isn't about doing
• 0:54
  more. It's about building the right team, making
• 0:57
  courageous decisions, and creating a culture
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  where people thrive. Boy, that was a mouthful.
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  I barely got through it. I would like to invite
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  to my podcast today, Katie Peterman, and she
• 1:12
  is an expert in the fractional business. So I'd
• 1:17
  like to introduce Katie and Katie, would you
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  mind giving us a little bit of a, a cliff note
• 1:23
  version of how you got where you are today? Yeah,
• 1:26
  absolutely. My background is in educational seminar
• 1:30
  sales. So I started out in a sales position.
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  I had a really amazing leader and manager that
• 1:37
  was heavy operational focused. And I saw that
• 1:41
  shut a lot of people down. But my brain switched
• 1:44
  over and I saw it as an opportunity to keep my
• 1:47
  sales team safe and a way to provide, you know,
• 1:51
  more opportunity for the future and a way to
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  win. I like playbooks. I like systems. I fell
• 1:57
  in love with systems through that process and
• 2:00
  because of his leadership and that has led me
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  in the operational space. And when I had the
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  first, I'd say three companies that I ran as
• 2:09
  a COO, I noticed that the perception of what
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  I see. COO is responsible for and how many companies
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  do not hire a COO when it's absolutely needed.
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  So I was very passionate about changing that
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  model and changing the way that people view fractional
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  executives and are able to have top tier talent
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  in their companies. So that way they're able
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  to get their dream, their mission, things really
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  enticed and functional. That sounds great. It
• 2:38
  sounds like you're very passionate about what
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  you do. I am. I found something that clicks.
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  I think that operations isn't something that
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  clicks for just a lot of people, right? It's
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  operations are not sexy per se, but to me, it's
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  how my brain works. And I see it as an opportunity
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  that with clear systems, you're able to support
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  people. And I'm a natural supporter. I love supporting
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  people. I love supporting their dreams, their
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  missions, what they were intended to do and bring
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  to the world. And I want to make sure. that everyone
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  has a way to do that and maintain it over time.
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  It sounds great. That sounds great. OK, so many
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  CEOs believe their most valuable asset is their
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  strategy. Do you believe it's actually the quality
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  of the people they surround themselves with?
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  And if so, why? I do believe to an extent that
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  it is about the people that you surround yourself
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  with. I think that's really important, right?
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  Top tier talent, A players, people who have similar
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  missions and values. So I think initial buy -in,
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  culture, things like that are very important.
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  Strategy though, I don't see a lot of visionaries,
• 3:57
  owners, founders who necessarily strategy is
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  their highest return. Right? Just because you're
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  an owner and a founder doesn't necessarily mean
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  that you are a CEO. There's a big difference
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  in that. And I think that a lot of people have
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  to say, okay, what seat am I truly in? Am I a
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  CEO or am I an owner founder? A CEO is responsible
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  for execution. And so if you're a relationship
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  builder and you're somewhere out there brainstorming
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  500 new ideas a day, you're really good at relationship
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  building, but maybe you're not the best at execution.
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  You'd have to say, okay, am I truly a CEO? And
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  then a true CEO is good at strategy and they
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  should hold that responsibility strategy for
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  execution. Right. And then having the right people
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  in place, having those A players that match with
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  the company's core values and vision. That's
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  extremely important. Absolutely. Steve jobs comes
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  to mind because when he was building his team,
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  he knew where he was weak. He knew the areas
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  that he didn't excel. And what he did was he
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  hired people who excelled wherever he was weak.
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  So he surrounded himself by greatness. And that's
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  why he succeeded so well. But just as you were
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  speaking, he came to mind and that's what I thought
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  of. And that is, that's exactly what you should
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  be thinking. Because a lot of people, owners,
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  founders, They had a very specific mission, a
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  dream, a purpose on why they started the company,
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  the product, the service that they have. And
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  so a lot of people I don't think that it's ego.
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  I know that a lot of people say, oh, it's their
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  ego. They're all in their control freak. They're
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  harnessing it. I think it's protection and fear
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  and safety that people are truly after. When
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  we step into those shoes, maybe it's coming across
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  as ego, right? But when we step into their shoes
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  of like, this is their dream, their mission,
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  their purpose. They have gotten themselves to
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  a point of A to B. They have gotten themselves
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  that far. They've put all the work and the effort
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  in and they're trying to do everything that they.
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  can do to protect themselves, right? To keep
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  that dream and that mission going. And so a lot
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  of the times they'll think, I did it this way
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  and I did such a good job. I need to go hire
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  another version of myself. And what they actually
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  need to do is they need to go what Steve Jobs
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  did, and you need to go hire the people that
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  are amazing at what you're not good at. And they
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  love doing the things that you hate, right? So
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  the follow -up, the admin, the funnel building,
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  whatever that is, but they need to go be responsible
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  for the things that you don't enjoy. Absolutely.
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  Absolutely. I've been a business owner. last
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  40 years. I've owned pizzerias, restaurants,
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  Ben and Jerry's ice cream. I've done all the
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  stores. And I found out that I like certain parts
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  of being the owner, being the boss, but I didn't
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  like so many others. And I hired people to fill
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  those positions so I could do the things that
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  I truly loved. And that's the way I've always
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  stayed in business. It's important to experience
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  that joy. I think a lot of people get on the
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  hamster wheel, right? And they almost create
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  their own nine to five handcuffs because they're
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  like, this just needs to be done and I have to
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  do it and it's all on me. And so then they start
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  doing things that they don't enjoy. And when
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  you go back to experiencing the things that you
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  enjoy and it makes you happy and gives you fulfillment
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  and it creates more motivation, your business
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  actually excels. Yeah, I loved working for myself.
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  I'm doing that now, but I feel I work half a
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  day. 12 hours a day is half a day, right? I work
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  no less than 12 hours a day. So that goes with
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  owning. Okay, so you teach CEOs how to spend
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  their time wisely. If you looked at a leader's
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  calendar, what would it reveal about their priorities,
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  values, and ultimately their leadership? Yeah,
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  I think that you can look at someone's calendar
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  and it will tell you everything that you need
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  to know. When I see a calendar that's very full
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  and booked back to back, that lets me know that
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  they have a lot of guilt having downtime. And
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  there's something that we need to look at and
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  something that we need to look into of why is
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  it that they maximize themselves and almost create
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  this. Forced urgency, what is it that they have
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  fear around? What is it that they're trying to
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  maximize and how they're operating? If I look
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  at someone who maybe really doesn't have too
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  much on their calendar and it's very sporadic,
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  that tells me that they don't know what their
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  priorities are, right? And they don't know where
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  they should be spending their time. If I see
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  someone who books a lot of relational things,
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  but then they're feeling stressed and feeling
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  drained. There's always a story that goes into
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  someone's calendar. And a lot of the times we
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  just give it a free for all, right? We let our
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  team and our assistants and we let people just
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  book things and throw things on there. We haven't
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  really evaluated when should we be making financial
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  decisions at what time of day do we have the
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  best clarity where we should be making financial
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  decisions, signing contracts, making large decisions
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  at what. time of the day or midpoint during the
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  week, should we be focused on relationship building?
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  When should you have deep dive time for project
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  based or thoughts and collaboration and creativity?
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  A lot of people are not thinking that far and
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  they're just throwing it on and saying, okay,
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  I have this, it has to be this way. I have to
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  have the 40 hours a week. People get trapped
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  in this. Everyone who's successful wakes up at
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  5 a .m. So I have to join the 5 a .m. club versus
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  actually looking at the data. of their nervous
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  system, their circadian rhythm, when they function
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  best, how they make decisions and how those decisions
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  have had outcomes. You really have to take the
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  time to do some pattern recognition on yourself.
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  And if you haven't done that, then you need someone
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  who can help you identify pattern recognition
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  on when you operate the best and when you have
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  the best outcomes. Very good. Very good. I didn't
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  know I can do all that by looking at the calendar,
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  but it's okay. Hiring executives isn't just about
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  filling roles. It's about shaping culture. What
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  character traits do you think, do you look, I'm
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  sorry, what character traits do you look for
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  that don't always show up on a resume? One thing
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  that I look for and I ask for with true leadership,
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  and I think that this is a great example, is
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  I will test the waters a little bit. And I will
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  say, hey, we're thinking about building about
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  X department, right? And we're probably going
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  to need to bring in five to seven new people
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  for this department. Who do you know in your
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  network that you think would be an immediate
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  great hire or someone that you could bring on
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  board? And what I'm looking for is do they start
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  brainstorming? Do they know people? Are they
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  well connected? A true leader that has created
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  a great culture that people trust is someone
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  that people will follow. And I've hired some
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  really great executives who are task doers. And
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  I've hired some really great executives who maybe
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  they increase revenue, but they burn people out
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  a little bit. Some of the best leaders that I've
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  ever hired, they're like, hey, I have someone
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  who would come over tomorrow. Hey, I have someone
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  that we can plug into this. They have trusted
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  people in all sorts of positions and companies
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  who they can plug and play. and they have a reliable
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  network. I think that is a tell -all for how
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  great of a leader they are. Okay, I'll go with
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  that. What is the right time for a CEO to stop
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  being the smartest person in the room and intentionally
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  hire people who challenge their thinking? Again,
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  it goes back to looking at what you enjoy and
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  what you don't and what you're good at and maybe
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  what you're not. And then you can decide the
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  type of commitment that you want to make. Do
• 12:28
  you want to hire an a player? That's just going
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  to come in and do it and you don't have to guide
• 12:34
  them develop them You say hey, they might do
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  it different than me, but I'm gonna let them
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  run wild Or do you want to hire someone that
• 12:43
  maybe they're a little bit more open -minded?
• 12:45
  They don't have 10 to 15 years of specific experience
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  But they have proven results over here and you're
• 12:53
  willing to teach them and invest in them and
• 12:56
  give them a little bit of your time to get them
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  where you want to be. What type of feedback and
• 13:01
  responsibility are you looking for? I think that's
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  really important when you're bringing someone
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  in to say, okay, you're going to be a trusted
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  source. How open -minded are you really to someone
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  giving you a different perspective? And I think
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  that starts with us. The more clear that we can
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  be and the more open that we are with where we
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  are at in that process, the better experience
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  you'll have when you're bringing that person
• 13:24
  in. Okay, I'll go with that. As AI and automation
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  reshape business, what leadership qualities simply
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  can't be delegated to technology? I think that
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  when it comes to people. Right. I think that
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  when we are having everyone has life cycles and
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  everyone has things going on. And I know it's
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  a saying like, Hey, leave it at the door clock
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  and be professional separate personal and professional.
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  And I agree with those things to some extent,
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  but life happens and life is very real. And some
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  of your best employees and your long -term tenure
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  employees, they're going to have life experiences,
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  whether that is a loss in the family, whether
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  that is a financial crisis, whether it's health,
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  whatever it is. I think that human element of
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  leadership is being able to identify And notice,
• 14:20
  okay, Frank over here, he's a little off. Production
• 14:23
  is down. Numbers are down. He's very quiet. He's
• 14:27
  not being collaborative and saying, hey, instead
• 14:29
  of just looking at the data and being like, this
• 14:31
  is off, you're in the red. We didn't hit the
• 14:33
  target. That person, not AI, has to identify,
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  hey, I need to go connect and value connection
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  with Frank to get him back on track. And that
• 14:45
  is a leadership skill that only a human will
• 14:47
  be able to do. Yeah, what you just described
• 14:51
  Which I talk about often when I travel is the
• 14:56
  difference between leadership of being a leader
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  and a boss Okay, there is such a huge difference
• 15:03
  between those two and I always say you don't
• 15:07
  want any bosses who work for you. You don't want
• 15:09
  that You want leaders you want leaders training?
• 15:13
  Leaders and you in order to do that you need
• 15:16
  to give that person a little bit of responsibility
• 15:18
  and a little bit of power of saying yes or no,
• 15:21
  but You don't want to have somebody come out
• 15:25
  bark orders turn around and walk away So that's
• 15:30
  really what you're talking about. Okay. Yeah,
• 15:32
  so Have you ever seen? one executive hire complete
• 15:37
  one executive hire completely changed the trajectory
• 15:41
  of a company and what made that person transformational
• 15:45
  beyond their technical skills? Yes, absolutely.
• 15:50
  I think that I have seen with a lot of service
• 15:54
  -based companies. So let's say dentistry, HVAC,
• 15:59
  plumbing, more service -based businesses, right?
• 16:02
  They are always so focused on someone having
• 16:06
  industry specific experience and they're looking
• 16:09
  for someone and that's just their bedding. I
• 16:12
  want someone who's been in the dental space for
• 16:14
  10 years. I want someone who's been in HVAC for
• 16:18
  20 years, right? Some of the best hires that
• 16:21
  I've seen is someone who has a fresh set of eyes
• 16:25
  who is very good. as a leader and very good at
• 16:29
  operations and systems and can analyze any company
• 16:32
  and just get in there and find different gaps.
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  And they're coming in and they're challenging
• 16:37
  perspectives and they're learning and they don't
• 16:39
  know. So what's great is they don't have any
• 16:41
  old habits, right? They have no old habits for
• 16:44
  that business. They're just really coming in
• 16:46
  with a fresh perspective. And I have seen revenue
• 16:49
  added. I've seen the whole sales process change.
• 16:52
  I've seen just a completely refresh in the culture.
• 16:57
  which is great because they're not saying, hey,
• 16:59
  this is the way we've always done it. This is
• 17:01
  the norm. This is the industry standard. They're
• 17:04
  coming in and completely revamping and revitalizing
• 17:07
  the perspective. I'm thinking of when I had a
• 17:12
  hiring process and they have to go through the
• 17:16
  first interview and the second interview, I was
• 17:18
  always the third. And if they passed the first
• 17:22
  two, 99 % of the time, they're going to get the
• 17:26
  job, but they had to go through. And my questions
• 17:30
  were more emotional. My questions were more humanistic.
• 17:35
  They weren't about the job. It was about everything
• 17:38
  else. And so as long as you can put all that
• 17:42
  together and there's something to be said for
• 17:45
  the new person, as you said, with a fresh set
• 17:47
  of eyes, but they don't carry the experience
• 17:51
  that may be needed. for that position. So you
• 17:55
  have to balance the two. So the strongest leaders
• 17:59
  often seem to have the strongest networks. Is
• 18:03
  that because they know more people or because
• 18:06
  they've earned more trust over time? I definitely
• 18:10
  think that they've earned more trust over time.
• 18:13
  I think that creating that network, it just takes
• 18:16
  time and people have to have a reason to stay
• 18:19
  with you and to follow you and to stay connected
• 18:21
  with you. And so you have an opportunity to create
• 18:24
  a large following, but they have to recognize
• 18:27
  you for something. And so I definitely think
• 18:30
  trust is a huge part of that. Trust is always
• 18:35
  a factor in any position. And any way you look
• 18:38
  at things, there has to be a trust factor. And
• 18:41
  in networking, there's a mantra. There's if they
• 18:45
  know you, if they like you, if they trust you,
• 18:48
  they'll do business with you. And everybody knows
• 18:51
  you. You're nice. Everybody likes you. You're
• 18:54
  a nice person. You're pretty. Everything is going
• 18:56
  well. Right. But the trust factor, that's the
• 19:00
  main factor. If they trust you. They'll do business
• 19:02
  with you. Would you go and buy something from
• 19:05
  somebody if you didn't trust them? No, we wouldn't.
• 19:09
  That goes without saying. But okay, so let's
• 19:12
  bring this podcast full circle. And 20 years
• 19:15
  from now, what will distinguish the CEOs who
• 19:19
  built enduring organizations from those who simply
• 19:23
  built profitable ones? Profit comes and goes.
• 19:28
  Profit is dependent on so many things outside
• 19:30
  of our control. When we build systems those are
• 19:33
  things that are within our control. And you have
• 19:36
  an opportunity to control the customer experience,
• 19:41
  the customer journey, how you respond to each
• 19:44
  customer. And I think that there's a lot of opportunity
• 19:47
  in just doing what you do at a better, higher
• 19:51
  level, right? And just focusing on what you can
• 19:54
  control that, that is systems. And so for the
• 19:56
  people who have systems in place, they're not
• 19:59
  dependent. on everything else that is outside
• 20:03
  of their control, right? And I think that's who
• 20:06
  will be here, is the people who have systems
• 20:08
  in place. Absolutely. Katie, it just, it sounds
• 20:13
  like you know what you're doing, you're passionate
• 20:16
  about your doing, but most of all, you're very
• 20:18
  knowledgeable. If somebody wants to get hold
• 20:21
  of you, either to be mentored by you, to buy
• 20:24
  services, or just to say hello, how would they
• 20:28
  get hold of you? Personally, I love outreach
• 20:31
  on LinkedIn. So just on LinkedIn, it's just Katie
• 20:34
  Peterman. There's no E on my name, just K -A
• 20:37
  -T -I Peterman. You can connect with me, let
• 20:39
  me know what you're looking for. And then you're
• 20:41
  more than welcome to schedule a complimentary
• 20:44
  discovery call on our website. So www .yourfrx
• 20:49
  .com. So that's your FRX, your fractional executive
• 20:53
  .com. We have complimentary discovery calls.
• 20:56
  We're happy to give advice, make connections,
• 20:58
  put you in a better place. Boy Scout rules. That's
• 21:01
  what we believe in and happy to connect with
• 21:03
  anyone. We have an amazing team. We love what
• 21:06
  we do. And yes, extremely, extremely passionate
• 21:09
  about providing systems and safety and support
• 21:11
  for people. It's great. The biggest takeaway,
• 21:16
  great companies aren't built by CEOs who try
• 21:19
  to do everything. They're built by leaders who
• 21:23
  invest in the right people at the right time.
• 21:25
  Leadership is measured not by how much you accomplish
• 21:28
  yourself, but by how many others you empower
• 21:34
  to succeed. If you enjoyed today's episode, like,
• 21:38
  follow, and subscribe to Networking Unleashed,
• 21:41
  Building Profitable Connections and share it
• 21:43
  with a leader, entrepreneur, or business owner
• 21:46
  who could benefit from this conversation. If
• 21:49
  you're looking for a keynote speaker or executive
• 21:51
  communication coach to help your organization
• 21:54
  strengthen leadership, improve communication,
• 21:58
  and build relationships that drive results, visit
• 22:01
  michaelaforman .com. So until next time, remember,
• 22:05
  the strongest networks aren't built on titles.
• 22:08
  They're built on trust. character, and the leaders
• 22:12
  who bring out the best in others. We'll see you
• 22:14
  in the next episode. Katie, again, thank you
• 22:17
  so much. You're a fantastic podcast guest in
• 22:22
  my podcast. Thank you so much, Michael. I appreciate
• 22:26
  the space and I appreciate having the opportunity
• 22:28
  to learn from someone like yourself as well.
• 22:30
  It's always good to have strong mentors to look
• 22:33
  up to in the space. And with your expertise and
• 22:36
  background, it's greatly appreciated. Thank you,
• 22:39
  and I'll talk to you soon. All right, folks.
• 22:44
  A huge thank you to our guests for sharing such
• 22:46
  incredible insights today. And of course, a big
• 22:50
  shout out to you, our amazing listeners, for
• 22:53
  tuning in and spending your time with us. If
• 22:56
  you're interested in my digital courses, being
• 22:58
  coached, or having me come and talk to your company,
• 23:02
  just go to Michael and fill out the request form.
• 23:06
  Remember, Networking isn't about being perfect.
• 23:09
  It's about being present. So take what you've
• 23:12
  learned today, get out there, and make some meaningful
• 23:15
  connections. If you've enjoyed this episode,
• 23:18
  please don't forget to subscribe, leave us a
• 23:21
  review, and share it with someone who could use
• 23:24
  a little networking inspiration. Let's keep the
• 23:27
  conversation going. You can find me on Apple,
• 23:30
  Spotify, Pandora, YouTube, or my website, Foreman
• 23:35
  .com slash podcasts.