Latest / Networking Unleashed: Building Profitable Connections / Networking Unleashed: S1E81 An Interview with Debbie Longo and Michael A Forman, Public Speaker

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Networking Unleashed: S1E81 An Interview with Debbie Longo and Michael A Forman, Public Speaker · Networking Unleashed: Building Profitable Connections

• 0:16
  Welcome back to Networking Unleashed, Building
• 0:20
  Profitable Connections. I'm your host, Michael
• 0:23
  Foreman, and today we're talking about the intersection
• 0:26
  of behavior, leadership, and profitability. My
• 0:30
  guest is a trusted voice when it comes to helping
• 0:33
  business leaders make a powerful shift from managing
• 0:37
  people to motivating performance. She dives into
• 0:41
  how we show up, our tone, our energy. and our
• 0:46
  consistency. This directly impacts the relationships
• 0:52
  we build and results we drive. So whether you're
• 0:56
  leading a team, running a business, or just trying
• 0:59
  to navigate leadership without burning out, this
• 1:02
  conversation will show you how powerful your
• 1:05
  presence truly is. We're unpacking why the most
• 1:09
  profitable leaders aren't always the loudest.
• 1:12
  They're the ones who connect with purpose, lead
• 1:15
  with clarity, and build trust that lasts. So
• 1:19
  if you're ready to lead in a way to energize
• 1:21
  your team, strengthen your network, and boost
• 1:25
  your bottom line, let's dive in. I'd like to
• 1:29
  welcome to the podcast today, Debbie Longo, which
• 1:33
  I just found out she's a New York native. But
• 1:35
  I would like you to introduce yourself, Debbie,
• 1:37
  and tell us a little bit about your background.
• 1:41
  Yeah, so thank you very much for having me on
• 1:43
  the show. I appreciate it. And my name is Debbie
• 1:47
  Longo. I'm an executive behavioral coach. I've
• 1:50
  been in this business for over 25 years. I had
• 1:54
  a spiritual teacher mentor until 2021, and she
• 1:59
  passed away of cancer. So I decided to continue
• 2:04
  her work and start a business. and really get
• 2:11
  into what is my gift that I was born with. And
• 2:20
  that is how I was very successful in this business.
• 2:25
  So I worked with her. She helped me get clients.
• 2:29
  Then I got them on my own. I also have a graduate
• 2:33
  degree in criminology, criminal justice. some
• 2:38
  psychology background. So I decided, and it's
• 2:44
  a little bit of a story with the pandemic, COVID,
• 2:48
  the companies were going out of business and
• 2:52
  they were going bankrupt. And they said, oh,
• 2:55
  it was because of COVID and the economy. And
• 2:59
  to tell you the truth, the way that I teach it,
• 3:03
  that's not. Why? That's not the reason. And if
• 3:08
  I teach something or I work with a client and
• 3:14
  let's say I complete the process, I complete
• 3:18
  their goal and they get to their goal. I complete
• 3:20
  everything that they want to do. All their needs
• 3:23
  are met. Then for them, outside forces doesn't
• 3:28
  matter. So they could be hit. With anything,
• 3:32
  with a recession, anything. And they will still
• 3:36
  be successful. And the other companies will say,
• 3:39
  what happened? We're not doing good. How are
• 3:45
  you doing so good? And then they will know when
• 3:49
  that happens. So it's a little bit of a different
• 3:53
  way than most coaches do it. The way that they
• 3:59
  perform and they make their plan and everything.
• 4:03
  So I take a very different take on it. And there's
• 4:07
  a lot of back end stuff that I do also that really
• 4:11
  helps the client. It really depends on what the
• 4:14
  client is and what their needs are. But that's
• 4:18
  very brief of my background. Wow, that's great.
• 4:22
  It sounds very intuitive, but it sounds like
• 4:26
  every business needs what you have, what you're
• 4:28
  offering. So I can't wait to get into my questions.
• 4:32
  You focus on how behavior impacts profitability.
• 4:37
  How does that show up in the way leaders connect
• 4:41
  and build relationships internally and externally?
• 4:50
  what the relationship is and how it's formed,
• 4:54
  there is a line between a boss and an employee.
• 5:03
  But a boss, a lot of times, is very ego -oriented
• 5:09
  and they give orders and they need to follow
• 5:16
  what the... job duties are, what their role is,
• 5:21
  what the employee's role is. So they need to
• 5:24
  be a little bit more of an authority figure,
• 5:28
  right? It could be even like a mentor or something.
• 5:31
  But the thing with that is if they build too
• 5:36
  much of something, either too much ego, too much
• 5:41
  negativity, too much of giving orders, right?
• 5:46
  Dominance. OK, then that relationship will almost
• 5:51
  always fail. So I want to do it as a business
• 5:57
  owner, as a boss. I want to be able to do all
• 6:01
  of those things in a positive way because that's
• 6:04
  my job, right, is to enforce what their job duties
• 6:07
  are, to make sure everybody is doing the right
• 6:10
  thing, to make sure that they're doing everything
• 6:14
  that the company asks for, because. That is the
• 6:17
  way that the company operates, right? There's
• 6:20
  no other, you can't just, an employee can't just
• 6:23
  make their own job duties or what they want to
• 6:26
  say and do every day that they go to work. So
• 6:28
  that's really a boss's job. So that, so if I
• 6:33
  take it as a positive way, okay, if I approach
• 6:39
  what the employee needs to do, just as an example.
• 6:43
  OK, they go to work every day. I need to tell
• 6:47
  them maybe their job duties are different every
• 6:49
  day. They might not be the same. Something might
• 6:52
  come up and they might need to do something different.
• 6:54
  Right. So I need to tell them, but I need to
• 6:57
  talk. and express these things in a positive
• 7:02
  way, not in an authority way where it's very
• 7:07
  negative, kind of like a military -ish kind of
• 7:10
  thing, right? That's not being a positive influence.
• 7:14
  Now, it could be if I'm not doing it over, over,
• 7:19
  overreacting, something like that. That's the
• 7:22
  thing, because when a boss does too much of it,
• 7:25
  right, or they say, This has to be the way, right?
• 7:30
  Where there's like a demands kind of thing. Then
• 7:33
  that's not going to turn into a positive way.
• 7:36
  Then the employee is going to get upset and the
• 7:38
  employee is probably not going to say anything.
• 7:40
  And then they're going to start to get resentments.
• 7:43
  And then you have a whole ball of wax now is
• 7:47
  starting to build, right? That snowball is small
• 7:49
  and then it gets bigger and bigger. What I'm
• 7:53
  hearing, you're really. taking the boss management
• 7:59
  style and creating a leadership role with that
• 8:03
  boss. Because I, one of my talks, I tell the
• 8:08
  difference between boss and leader and what's
• 8:12
  the difference. And really you don't, as a business
• 8:16
  owner, I really don't want any bosses under me.
• 8:20
  I only want leaders because a leader. will show
• 8:24
  others how to lead, not just boss them around.
• 8:29
  So it's very good information that you just shared
• 8:31
  with us. Leadership burnout is real. How can
• 8:37
  building a strong, trusted network serve as both
• 8:40
  prevention and support during those seasons?
• 8:44
  Here's my question. How many leaders, if there
• 8:50
  is a CEO, or an owner of a company, how many
• 8:54
  leaders do you have under you? Are you just saying,
• 8:59
  oh, I just want to hire one assistant manager
• 9:02
  just to save money, right? Because I just want
• 9:07
  to save money. That's just the way that it is.
• 9:10
  The company doesn't need to. Let's say the company
• 9:13
  is doing good, right? They're going to hire one
• 9:18
  assistant manager and the boss is not going to
• 9:20
  care. And then it's going to start to get busy
• 9:23
  because there's seasons. It probably in every
• 9:28
  single job, there are times that might not be
• 9:30
  seasons as far as what we consider, but in every
• 9:35
  job, every company, there's highs and lows, there's
• 9:39
  peak times, right? So the manager, the CEO might
• 9:43
  not care. And he's going to work and work, right?
• 9:47
  And then what's going to happen? It's going to
• 9:50
  get busier. And then he's going to work more
• 9:53
  hours. And then there's going to be a big problem
• 9:56
  when that happens because he's really going to
• 10:00
  pound on his employees. He's going to take it
• 10:02
  out. He's going to be working a lot of extra
• 10:05
  hours. I'm not talking five extra hours a week.
• 10:07
  I'm talking a lot, okay? And he's really going
• 10:10
  to be pounding his employees even to the point
• 10:13
  where he's abusing them. Okay. And I've seen
• 10:16
  this happen. Okay. It might not be that he's
• 10:19
  really what we think as abuse, but maybe being
• 10:23
  yelling or raising his voice, right? Different
• 10:26
  things like that. So how many people, if you're
• 10:31
  listening to this and you're a CEO or a manager,
• 10:35
  how many people do you have under you? Are you
• 10:37
  sure? That you have enough people where you,
• 10:42
  even if it gets busy, you don't have to work
• 10:46
  60 or 70 hours a week. All the time. So instead
• 10:51
  of having one assistant manager when it's not
• 10:54
  busy, you don't do this when it's busy, right?
• 10:56
  You don't do this during the peak time. You do
• 10:58
  it non -peak time. You have one assistant manager,
• 11:01
  non -peak time, hire another one. See if you're
• 11:05
  working 40 hours. If you're working more than
• 11:07
  hire another one, because I'm going to say this,
• 11:09
  the more people you hire, the more inviting it
• 11:13
  is for a customer to come in. Okay. If there's
• 11:17
  two people working and I've been to stores over
• 11:21
  here where I didn't want to go in because I knew
• 11:24
  that I had to wait because I know there's two
• 11:27
  people working all the time. It's ridiculous.
• 11:29
  So if you have, even if it's not busy, if you
• 11:32
  have three people working. Even if they'll know,
• 11:36
  the employees will know if they're managers or
• 11:38
  assistant managers or whatever. That's inviting
• 11:41
  more customers to come in, right? Or you're going
• 11:45
  to get more clients calling. It doesn't matter
• 11:47
  what business it is. Okay, we're not talking
• 11:49
  about the type of business, all right? We're
• 11:52
  talking about how to run a company. So then it's
• 11:56
  going to be inviting and then you're going to
• 11:58
  get a lot of business. So that's really a different
• 12:02
  take on it. You know, you're talking about the
• 12:06
  downtime and wouldn't that be a great time for
• 12:10
  training, for extra training for the assistant
• 12:13
  managers and for the people, whether it's a salesperson
• 12:18
  or not, the customer service level. has to be
• 12:22
  that much higher than everybody else. So, because
• 12:26
  I've learned, I've had multiple businesses and
• 12:29
  I've learned that if my employees are not happy,
• 12:34
  they can't show their happiness to my customers.
• 12:38
  So you always have to make sure you're, everybody
• 12:40
  says the customer's always right. That's hogwash,
• 12:43
  okay? Because the employee, if they're happy,
• 12:47
  they will get to the bottom of whatever problem
• 12:50
  my customer has and fix it. And the customer
• 12:54
  will always be happy. The employee will be happier.
• 12:57
  Then my managers will be happier. And it goes
• 13:01
  on that way. So that's very good. What's one
• 13:05
  behavioral pattern in leaders that unintentionally
• 13:10
  blocks profitable connection with their teams
• 13:13
  or peers? I think that the podcast before you,
• 13:22
  I spoke about a lot of different things. I spoke
• 13:25
  about negativity, respect in the workplace. And
• 13:29
  I think that there are several things. So if
• 13:33
  I combine all these specific things, I am creating
• 13:38
  all these specific things of negativity that
• 13:41
  I do, right? We just spoke about ego, authority,
• 13:45
  over, over authority, right? Different things.
• 13:48
  When I create those things, no matter what it
• 13:52
  is, I am creating a recipe for disaster. Literally.
• 13:58
  So it's not going to happen immediately. Okay.
• 14:04
  It's going to happen gradually. And then people
• 14:07
  say, oh, I don't know what happened. Happened
• 14:11
  right away. It just happened. The CEO says 20
• 14:15
  people quit like overnight, but just happened
• 14:18
  just like that. No, that's not the way it happens.
• 14:22
  It happens gradually. It's just that the CEO,
• 14:25
  the boss doesn't see those warning signs. Okay.
• 14:30
  And there are a lot, there are a lot of warning
• 14:35
  signs. Okay. Not just a few. And they're most
• 14:38
  of the time staring me right in the face. So
• 14:42
  I want to get down to what is specifically going
• 14:47
  on in that business, in that company. And I want
• 14:51
  to make sure that I could find ways, solutions
• 14:55
  to get rid of all of this. whatever's going on,
• 15:00
  right? All of this negativity or whatever they're
• 15:03
  doing. This is all natural stuff that bosses
• 15:05
  do. This is not their fault. This is not something
• 15:09
  that they say, I'm going to go and abuse my employees
• 15:13
  today. They don't do that. It's just the way
• 15:16
  that a lot of times it's just human behavior,
• 15:19
  just natural human behavior, but people don't
• 15:22
  know how to control it. That's true. The managers
• 15:25
  have to set a few things in place first, whether
• 15:29
  it is how the employees can talk to you, have
• 15:34
  an open door, whatever. But you need to have
• 15:37
  a survey or something. More importantly than
• 15:39
  what's going well, what's not going well? What
• 15:43
  would you see as a change? And what would you
• 15:46
  suggest for those changes? So all of that gives
• 15:50
  the employees that much more. feeling of something.
• 15:55
  I like this job. And oh, he took my idea and
• 16:00
  he ran with it. So it gives them a little sense
• 16:02
  of purpose as well. So you're right. There are
• 16:05
  a lot of warning signs, but there's a lot of
• 16:07
  ways that you can combat that and have them take
• 16:11
  care of it. You talk about shifting from managing
• 16:16
  people to motivating performance. How does that
• 16:20
  shift affect the way we network inside of our
• 16:22
  organizations? So, again, there are a lot of
• 16:30
  things here. And not only do we invite the customer,
• 16:37
  okay, because of the way that we set up. our
• 16:42
  company, our corporation, but we always want
• 16:48
  to be fair to the employees because the client
• 16:53
  or the customer knows how they treat their employees.
• 16:58
  They can see it and they probably can see it
• 17:02
  immediately. So there are things that we can
• 17:05
  do. We can do all different things that are positive.
• 17:10
  We can make goals. We can get rid of that extreme
• 17:17
  authority figure, okay, that negativity. The
• 17:23
  attitude where I'm the boss, you have to listen
• 17:27
  to me, and that's all there is to it. And when
• 17:31
  we get rid of these attitudes and behaviors,
• 17:36
  Then everything falls into place. Everybody's
• 17:40
  happy. The employees are happy. The clients are
• 17:44
  happy and people want to do business with companies
• 17:49
  like that. Okay. Now there are companies that
• 17:55
  say that have a therapist, like a number you
• 18:00
  could call, right? And then you could call the
• 18:03
  therapist and the therapist says, Oh, we won't.
• 18:06
  Tell the company anything. It's just between
• 18:09
  you and me. And that may be true. And that's
• 18:11
  fine. But why can't the boss act that way? Why
• 18:17
  do they have to get a therapist involved? Does
• 18:20
  the boss know what they're really doing? Do they
• 18:24
  know that they could possibly be contributing
• 18:27
  to the fact that this employee needs to call
• 18:31
  this phone number? This employee needs to call
• 18:34
  this person that's an outside force, and there's
• 18:38
  nothing wrong with that. There really isn't.
• 18:41
  But does it come from the manager? Is it because
• 18:45
  of the CEO that this employee has to reach out
• 18:52
  to this therapist or counselor or whoever it
• 18:56
  is? It might be, the answer might be yes, the
• 18:59
  answer might be no, but this is something that
• 19:02
  a business owner should really think about because
• 19:05
  we don't want to throw it on somebody else or
• 19:10
  we don't know if the employee is happy or not,
• 19:12
  okay? And all of these things are going to help
• 19:16
  to build a very successful company. They will
• 19:23
  get so many, you want to talk about increasing
• 19:27
  sales and profits? It'll be over the top. The
• 19:30
  CEO will not believe it. It's going to the moon.
• 19:36
  Absolutely. Absolutely. Again, that goes back
• 19:40
  to my, I have a happy employee that can talk
• 19:44
  to your supervisor, whomever, can just walk in
• 19:49
  and say, look, I've got a problem. What do you
• 19:52
  think about this? I always, whenever, whatever
• 19:54
  business I had that open door policy with my
• 19:57
  employees, I said, look, I don't mind you bringing
• 20:01
  me things that are wrong, but don't come to me
• 20:04
  with something that's wrong without an idea of
• 20:07
  how to fix it. So put a little onus on them as
• 20:10
  well. Okay. So in your experience, what's the
• 20:15
  difference between a leader who builds a loyal
• 20:18
  teams. A leader who builds loyal teams and one
• 20:22
  who just gets compliance. How does communication
• 20:26
  style factor in? Kind of what I just spoke about.
• 20:30
  My question is this. I think the business owner
• 20:34
  or the CEO should really think about, are they
• 20:38
  just going to work for the money? Are they only
• 20:41
  concerned with the fact that they want to increase
• 20:46
  their profits? I'm not talking about for the
• 20:50
  company. I'm talking about for them, right? For
• 20:53
  their board. For them to keep the company afloat.
• 20:57
  For them, let's say if they're on the stock market,
• 21:00
  right? So they could keep raising the stock market,
• 21:04
  okay? Are they only concerned with money? However
• 21:09
  you want to phrase it. There's a million ways
• 21:12
  to phrase that. Or... are they more apt to think
• 21:19
  about if the employees are happy? So when they
• 21:24
  go to work every day, do they think immediately,
• 21:28
  as soon as they get to work, do they think, how
• 21:32
  am I going to make my money today for myself?
• 21:36
  How am I going to increase my paycheck? How am
• 21:40
  I going to make the board members happy? Or do
• 21:44
  they think, Which employee do I need to help
• 21:50
  today? Which employee was a little upset last
• 21:55
  yesterday when I left and maybe something happened
• 22:00
  or maybe I was unsure, right? So I didn't want
• 22:04
  to say anything. I had to go home and think about
• 22:06
  it, okay? What can I do today to make my employees
• 22:11
  happier than they were the day before? All right.
• 22:16
  Now, which way do I want to go? Which one does
• 22:20
  the CEO think, okay, that they are going to be
• 22:26
  more successful? Which direction? Do they want
• 22:30
  to live on greed and power? It's one kind of
• 22:34
  works with the other. If you want to see why
• 22:37
  your employee is unhappy and you can make them
• 22:40
  happy, wouldn't that in turn make them a better
• 22:44
  employee, better with your customers and give
• 22:47
  you a boost in your paycheck? So you're handling
• 22:50
  both by handling the one thing. So instead of
• 22:54
  just looking at. The whole picture is saying,
• 22:56
  how can I make more money? You can just see how
• 23:00
  your employees are doing, help them through their
• 23:02
  problems. That in itself will build your profits.
• 23:05
  That's right. What role does emotional intelligence
• 23:12
  play in building profitable building relationships,
• 23:16
  especially at the leadership level? So let's
• 23:22
  think about what emotional intelligence would
• 23:26
  be. Would that be like, I have a high, I got
• 23:32
  a high GPA when I graduated? Okay. I don't think
• 23:39
  that's what it is. You can look it up. If you're
• 23:42
  watching this podcast, you can look up the definition
• 23:45
  online. There's a lot of definitions will come
• 23:48
  up and you could look up. which one appeals to
• 23:53
  you or refers to you the best. But my definition
• 23:58
  is two things that we just spoke about, over
• 24:05
  -exaggeration, where I am overly enforcing things.
• 24:15
  I'm overly... almost like authoritarian, okay?
• 24:22
  And the negativity, the employees don't appreciate
• 24:28
  me. And when these things happen, and rewind
• 24:32
  this podcast, if you're a CEO or business owner,
• 24:36
  rewind it, just to some parts. You don't have
• 24:39
  to listen to the whole thing again, just to going
• 24:41
  back and forth with some of these parts. When
• 24:44
  that happens, my emotions get to be extreme.
• 24:52
  So they'll go up a little and a little, right?
• 24:55
  Gradually. And then they get to be over the top
• 25:00
  where it's too much. And not only do I become
• 25:06
  more negative, I might start to say the employees.
• 25:15
  I might put what I, the way that I am, my attitudes
• 25:20
  and behaviors on the employee. And because I'm
• 25:23
  a certain way, I would say the employee is this
• 25:25
  way to me. If I'm loud, the employee is being
• 25:29
  loud to me. The reason why the employee is loud
• 25:32
  to you is because you're loud first to the employee.
• 25:36
  And this is why we look at ourselves because
• 25:39
  what I do triggers the other person to do. the
• 25:44
  same thing absolutely okay absolutely you you
• 25:49
  could watch any show you could watch the news
• 25:52
  you it's everywhere okay you could watch it you
• 25:55
  if you look for it it's everywhere absolutely
• 26:01
  absolutely and you really only get what you give
• 26:06
  right so if you're giving that calm and consensual,
• 26:11
  and it's an overall feeling of calmness, and
• 26:15
  let's talk about this respectfully. Yes, you
• 26:18
  have to watch out what you say, because it might
• 26:21
  stoke something in that other person. But if
• 26:25
  you remain calm, if you remain above the whole
• 26:28
  conversation, then they will respond exactly
• 26:33
  the same way, and you'll get more out of it.
• 26:36
  You'll get much more out of it. For leaders navigating
• 26:39
  constant change, how can they maintain trust
• 26:43
  and credibility in their relationships while
• 26:46
  still pushing for results? One of the big things
• 26:54
  that I talk about, and I made two podcasts on
• 26:57
  this already, is respect. They can respect their
• 27:02
  employees. They could treat their employees like
• 27:04
  a human being, okay? People are not robots. People
• 27:09
  do not come to work and expect that they are
• 27:13
  going to do the same thing over and over again.
• 27:17
  And they're not going to say anything. And the
• 27:20
  manager or the CEO is going to do whatever they
• 27:24
  want. They're going to treat the employee however
• 27:26
  they want. And the employee is going to be fine.
• 27:28
  That's not going to happen. That's not realistic.
• 27:31
  And I'm going to explain to you a trick. Okay.
• 27:36
  Tons of companies do this. Retail and big companies
• 27:42
  also do this. What they do is they rotate the
• 27:45
  job duties. So every time, almost every time,
• 27:51
  the employee comes to work, the manager will
• 27:55
  say, I have this job for you today. Okay? So
• 27:59
  they're trained on a few different things. So
• 28:02
  then they say every day they'll have a different
• 28:05
  job for them or they'll have different forms
• 28:08
  to work on. OK, it's not the same exact thing.
• 28:13
  It's not like a robotic way. Right. It's not
• 28:16
  the same exact job over and over. And when they
• 28:19
  do that, that not only helps the employee, but
• 28:23
  the employee, because the employee is doing something
• 28:25
  different every day. Right. Then they think.
• 28:31
  that it's a different job or they could be happier
• 28:36
  because they're not doing the same thing every
• 28:38
  day. So this just creates all of a positive.
• 28:44
  feedback, right? And positive attitude will give
• 28:48
  the employee a positive attitude. And this is
• 28:51
  very easy to train an employee. It's not that
• 28:54
  difficult, okay? You could even train on something
• 28:58
  and then you could say, let's show you this and
• 29:00
  let's show you this and just add a few things
• 29:03
  on to the training. Because if it's a big company,
• 29:06
  each job duty might take a lot of training. OK,
• 29:10
  even if they there's a lot of rules, there's
• 29:13
  a lot of regulations, there's like tons that
• 29:15
  they have to follow, like on every position.
• 29:17
  But they could just add that to the training.
• 29:19
  There are things they could do rather than just
• 29:21
  saying, no, I can't do that. But won't it also
• 29:24
  allow the employee to see what the other employees
• 29:30
  do and maybe have a little more. respect for
• 29:35
  that position because let's just use a retail
• 29:38
  position the front person against the warehouse
• 29:42
  person and the front person will say oh the warehouse
• 29:45
  people they don't know what they're doing they're
• 29:47
  always screwing this up but if you take them
• 29:49
  out of it and put them into the warehouse say
• 29:51
  oh okay so this is why this happens or this happens
• 29:55
  so maybe I have a better idea of what goes on
• 30:00
  and maybe it could be done this way. And that
• 30:04
  person can go up to their supervisor and say,
• 30:07
  look, I was in the warehouse and they did things
• 30:10
  this way. Would it be better if we did it this
• 30:14
  way? So it was she's bringing or he's bringing
• 30:19
  the idea forward. They may say, no, we tried
• 30:21
  that, but it didn't work or something else like
• 30:23
  that. But it gives them a feeling of. They listen
• 30:27
  to what I have to say. Okay, so before I ask
• 30:33
  you the last question, I always ask this of all
• 30:36
  the podcast guests. You are successful. You've
• 30:40
  been doing this for 20 years. What major mistake
• 30:44
  did you make? And how did you come out of it?
• 30:49
  I started a little too late when I used my spiritual
• 30:55
  teacher. As a mentor, obviously, but a person
• 31:01
  that is just going to give me the business. And
• 31:05
  if I started this business a lot sooner, right,
• 31:10
  I wouldn't have been faced with a decision, should
• 31:16
  I start the business or not, right after she
• 31:19
  passed away. Because I didn't know that she was
• 31:21
  going to die. We don't know that somebody's going
• 31:23
  to die. And she was not. There wasn't anything
• 31:26
  wrong with her up until the last year, you know,
• 31:29
  that last maybe two years that she was living
• 31:33
  because she got the cancer pretty fast and then
• 31:37
  she just wanted to die. So I didn't predict that
• 31:41
  that was going to happen, but I was able, more
• 31:44
  than able, for me to start my own business while
• 31:49
  she was alive. OK, and I would have been this
• 31:54
  would have already been established, way established,
• 31:58
  OK, more than what it is now. But it's OK. And
• 32:01
  I don't look into the past. And I know that this
• 32:06
  just happens in the right way. It happened in
• 32:10
  this time for a reason. OK, and I don't I don't
• 32:15
  dwell on the fact that. I'm not successful now.
• 32:18
  It's difficult for me to get successful now because
• 32:21
  I didn't do it when I thought that I should do
• 32:24
  it. As my mother would always say, everything
• 32:27
  happens for a reason. Everything does. And it
• 32:31
  works out in your time. So what you say is exactly
• 32:37
  along the lines of what I've always believed.
• 32:40
  Now, bring in this podcast full circle. If someone
• 32:44
  wants to become more connected, a more profitable
• 32:49
  leader, what's the one behavior shift that they
• 32:52
  can start practicing today? They can take a piece
• 33:01
  of paper, go to work, and write down everything
• 33:06
  that they see that's negative during their workday.
• 33:12
  Go about your normal day. Don't do anything different.
• 33:16
  Write down things that you see maybe if the employee
• 33:20
  is unhappy or if a board member is a little upset
• 33:25
  because they didn't make profits. They didn't
• 33:29
  make their goal last week or last month. Just
• 33:33
  write down everything that you see that you don't
• 33:37
  like or you think it's an issue. or something
• 33:41
  that you think you should work on. And I'm going
• 33:43
  to say, be honest. Don't say there's a problem
• 33:49
  here, but it's not a big deal. Okay. Listen to
• 33:54
  what your first thought is and listen to what
• 33:58
  you are thinking. Right. Immediately. Okay. And
• 34:04
  don't make any excuses. Go home. Take that piece
• 34:09
  of paper, or you could do it at the end of the
• 34:11
  day. I would do it while the work. You could
• 34:13
  do it on your phone. You could do it anywhere.
• 34:15
  It's very easy. You don't have to. I say paper
• 34:17
  and pen because that's what we used to do. Go
• 34:20
  home, read that paper, and say to myself, do
• 34:25
  I need a coach? I see there's a few things wrong
• 34:29
  here. Do I need somebody to help me to get rid
• 34:34
  of these things, these issues, these problems?
• 34:38
  The employees are unhappy. My peers, the board
• 34:43
  members, they telling me they're coming to me
• 34:46
  with all these issues. Don't point the finger
• 34:49
  and say that person is a problem. No, look at
• 34:54
  everything and think about, do I need a coach?
• 34:57
  Can I help to do something to improve my company?
• 35:04
  And that's really the bottom line. And that's
• 35:06
  a simple thing that anybody, the janitor could
• 35:09
  do it. An employee could even do it, right? And
• 35:12
  they could give it to their boss, okay? Different
• 35:15
  things like that. Everybody watches everybody.
• 35:18
  Everybody watches everybody. And Debbie, I'll
• 35:22
  tell you, that's a perfect segue for me to ask
• 35:25
  you if somebody wanted to get hold of you, either
• 35:29
  to be coached or just to find out. Anything that
• 35:32
  we spoke about, what's the best way that they
• 35:34
  get hold of you? Lifeinbloomny .net. That is
• 35:43
  my website. And they can get all of the information
• 35:49
  off of there. I have a podcast page on there.
• 35:53
  They can also go to YouTube. and look up, I have
• 35:57
  two podcasts. They can Google my name. You know
• 36:00
  what? In the search on YouTube, they could put
• 36:02
  in my name. Okay. And I have behavioral profit
• 36:06
  and six figure shift show. Okay. So I have two
• 36:10
  podcasts so they can look that up. They could
• 36:13
  reach me through YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.
• 36:17
  And like I said, they could just put my name
• 36:19
  in the search. It'll come up right away. So they
• 36:22
  could, there's a lot of ways to get in touch
• 36:25
  with me and we could start off slow. Doesn't
• 36:29
  have to be a big thing, a big problem. I can't
• 36:33
  solve this. It's over the top. I don't know what
• 36:37
  to do. It doesn't have to get to that. It can
• 36:39
  be just a little thing. I need help with this
• 36:42
  and that's it. And that's perfectly fine because
• 36:45
  the client. tells me what to do. I don't tell
• 36:49
  the client what to do. I give the client solutions
• 36:52
  as they tell me what their issue is or what they
• 36:57
  need help with. I give the client solutions,
• 37:00
  but it's up to them ultimately to carry out everything
• 37:05
  that I explain to them, everything that I teach
• 37:09
  them the way that I do it. I have to tell you.
• 37:13
  This was a great podcast. Thank you for all of
• 37:15
  your insights into business itself. And if anybody's
• 37:20
  listening, wants to get hold of Debbie, please
• 37:22
  just contact her through the website, through
• 37:25
  anything, and have her help you. So Debbie, thank
• 37:28
  you very much for coming on. Thank you for having
• 37:31
  me on the show. I appreciate it. Well, hold on,
• 37:36
  folks. Don't go anywhere. Let's hear from our
• 37:40
  sponsors. David Neal, co -founder, Revved Up
• 37:43
  Kids. Revved Up Kids is on a mission to protect
• 37:46
  children and teens from sexual abuse, exploitation,
• 37:50
  and trafficking. They provide prevention training
• 37:53
  programs for children, teens, and adults. To
• 37:57
  learn more, go to revvedupkids .org. Henry Kaplan,
• 38:02
  Century 21. When it comes to making the biggest
• 38:05
  financial decision of your life, leave it in
• 38:08
  the hands of a proven professional, Henry Kaplan.
• 38:11
  Henry is a global real estate agent with Century
• 38:14
  21, celebrating his 41st year in business. No
• 38:19
  matter where you're moving, Henry has the right
• 38:21
  connections for you. You can contact Henry at
• 38:25
  561 -427 -4888. A huge thank you to our guests
• 38:31
  for sharing such insights today. And of course,
• 38:35
  a big shout out to you, our amazing listeners,
• 38:38
  for tuning in and spending your time with us.
• 38:41
  If you're interested in my digital courses, being
• 38:45
  coached or having me come and talk to your company,
• 38:48
  just go to Michael and fill out the request form.
• 38:52
  Remember, networking isn't about being perfect.
• 38:55
  It's about being present. So take what you've
• 38:58
  learned today, get out there and make some meaningful
• 39:01
  connections. If you've enjoyed this episode,
• 39:04
  please don't forget to subscribe. Leave us a
• 39:07
  review and share it with someone who could use
• 39:10
  a little networking inspiration. Let's keep the
• 39:13
  conversation going. You can find me on Apple,
• 39:16
  Spotify, Pandora, YouTube, or my website, foreman
• 39:21
  .com slash podcasts.