The FractionX Podcast
Capital "T" Truth in your business?
We've all heard the phrase "Fog of War," but have you ever thought about that in a business setting? Sometimes we get so confused and turned around, and leading gets extremely difficult when we can't see the whole battlefield. Today Matt and Drew talk about how to find capital "T" Truth in your business so you can make better calls and more effective decisions.
We've all heard the phrase "Fog of War," but have you ever thought about that in a business setting? Sometimes we get so confused and turned around, and leading gets extremely difficult when we can't see the whole battlefield. Today Matt and Drew talk about how to find capital "T" Truth in your business so you can make better calls and more effective decisions.
we've been sitting here talking for what? 45 minutes at least probably should just recorded it. Yeah, because you know our process is we'll have some ideas of topics. Most of the time, you're bringing a topic or theme to the table and then we'll just kind of sit down and riff on it. Right, this one's a little harder to get into. Yeah, and maybe I don't know. It's like I don't know if we have a good it's good solution for it, but I think it's important. We've been talking for almost an hour just trying to wrap our heads around it. Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 1:We both kind of came in with a podcast we had listened to not the same podcast, but been challenged by something we heard, and for me this term came up the fog of war.
Speaker 1:Like I was trying to listen to a podcast unpacking the Israeli-Palestine conflict this is not a podcast about that specifically, but this term fog of war kind of came up and it's like, okay, what, where's the line on truth, propaganda, facts, yeah, emotions, my personal experience and what does that mean as a business owner?
Speaker 1:You know, and I was thinking about this movie that I loved, I think it's called blackhawk down and it's a really like tragic story of a military conflict and, and you know, and the picture I want people to see is there's on the ground conflict, you know gunfire, shooting, death. There's groups of airplanes with intelligence flying around to try to get perspective and see it, and there's like the back office people communicating to the planes, communicating to the people on the ground. It's like there's so many decisions being made, there's so much information and it's like where's the source of truth to make great decisions? You know, as a business owner, if you're the person on the ground, if you're not, if you're working in it, to use our normal language. How do you know what the battlefield looks like?
Speaker 2:Well, and you, when you brought that topic, I mean I, it sent me down the rabbit hole because I'm just like that's, that's true for every right area of life, that's true for my, my faith, my spirituality, like just tell me what's true, like I feel, like I'm in a place in my life like and hopefully this doesn't sound arrogant it's, it's, I'll just do whatever is true and right, like if I, if I know the truth, like I'll do it right. It's like that's true in business. Like if you just tell me the way, like I'll, I'll do what's right. I just need to know what's right.
Speaker 1:And that is like very difficult to know in your politics, faith, business, every aspect of your life getting to that, like you said, the source of truth there's this new thing that's I feel like it's come up in the last five or six years where this generation says, well, my truth is this, yeah, and it's come up in the last five or six years where this generation says, well, my truth is this, and it's like I'm really critical of that phraseology because it's like, well, there's no your truth, there's your experience.
Speaker 2:Now, your experience is valuable, but to go capital T truth like that's a big statement yeah, absolutely, and so this is what we've been talking about for the last hour, Like how do you find what's true in specifically in business, you know, because that's what this podcast is about leadership. It's like I I give people the benefit of the doubt that are listening to this that these leaders want to make great decisions for their company they want their business to be successful.
Speaker 2:They want their families to be successful. They want their employees to be successful. They want their employees to be successful. Most leaders I know are out there doing their best to make the right decision with the information they have. But sometimes it's really difficult to get the right information right, Like you've got your gut and emotions and there's more data than ever, at least more opinions on the data than ever.
Speaker 1:So I had lunch with somebody yesterday and he's like man, well, if this thing happens in November with the election, the next year is going to be X, y and Z, and so he's confident that politics changed the market. And then I talked to other people like no, the market's great right now. Look at your stock account, look at your 401k, it's booming. It's like well, those know I invest in real estate. So I saw someone say oh, the rates are going to come down, just keep buying real estate. And other people like how do you know? There's not a bubble on the value of the asset? And so there's just so much information out there. And, to your point, every leader wants to make a great decision for themselves, for their family, for their company. They want to succeed and there's not a lot of great places to look to get a clear picture of what's about to happen in the future.
Speaker 2:And this is the challenge, right, the fog of war is, I don't want to make decisions based on my truth, right, although my experience is valid. But at the same time, sometimes the thing that's most true for me is my experience, yeah, right. Like you could come in and say, hey, you know. Again, I'm not a very political person, I'll leave that to you, and people actually do homework on that stuff but like you come and say, hey, the economy is booming right now, it's doing great whatever. And my truth, my personal experience is I'm paying more for groceries right now than I ever have. Yeah, right. So which one is right? Well, for what's true is what I know to be when I swipe my debit card at the grocery store, it does not feel like things are cheaper and better interest rates, I mean.
Speaker 2:So it's like my personal experience and this is this is true in leadership Like what I'm going through. What I'm experiencing feels like the most true thing at the moment, which is what's going to compel me to make decisions. I'm going to make decisions based on what feels true to me in that moment.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and this, this business leader I sat with yesterday. He was talking about yeah, you know, if Trump wins and the economy is going to do X and he goes, and if he doesn't, then we'll just buckle down, we'll get through four more years and then we'll be fine. He's like I've been broke, I've been bankrupt, I've been wealthy, I can do anything, it doesn't matter. And I was like man. This guy's got such a conviction and a North star, not about politics or anything like that. He believes in himself that he can guide a business through a survival season or a thriving season. But he's an old timer, right, he's almost 70 years old.
Speaker 2:So he's got the experience right. He's able to look back. See, some of us that are young in business ownership and leadership, we don't have the years of weathering storms, right, right, so it feels more life, or death.
Speaker 1:I didn't become a real estate investor until 2014. Right, so I didn't experience investing through 2008. Now some people made a fortune in 2008. The vast majority of the country lost their shirt on their house. So which one's true? Right, it just depends who you talk to. You say this phrase all the time. You're the first person that use it. It's like life in consultation. You have to live life in consultation. So I think there's what's the balance between the old timer I was talking about he's got this clear conviction and a North star. I do business this way and, come hell or high water, I'm going to be fine. I don't know if he lives his life in consultation, but I know his experience buoys his belief in himself. So where do you draw that line between core conviction, belief in yourself, belief as a leader, and then how do I get people around me that help me when I'm unsure of those moments?
Speaker 2:Yeah. Well, it goes back to what we believe deeply in as a company at fraction X. It's like it's why we started this company, and it's it came from our own experience of like hey, I'm a much better leader when Matt's in the room and I'm bouncing things off of him, and you would say vice versa, like we're, we're better when we're leading together. And so, you know, the company started out of like hey, I'm running my own businesses, you're running your own businesses, real estate, consult, all this kind of stuff. But, man, if we put these together and we can actually help people as a team, we're better together and we believe in our product, which is getting people, getting smart people around the table to solve big problems, you know.
Speaker 2:And so, whether it's that year long, you know, fraction X, work on it, calendar experience that you created, or if it's a mastermind, everything has the same core principle what we do, which is connection and togetherness. Like hey, we need other people speaking into which goes back to the self-awareness. Every episode I think that comes up at some point because we're so passionate about self awareness, and the thing about self-awareness is you can't be self-aware by yourself, you know. And so, like you have to have other people in your life, you know, and so what do you think?
Speaker 1:do you think self-awareness is a decision? Do you think it's when there's a breakdown or a breakthrough, or is it a process Like how does someone decide? I'm going to be self-aware today and can someone who's not self-.
Speaker 2:I don't know the answer to that last question. I think it is a choice. I think you have to choose and it takes a lot of humility. Yeah, I was about to say I think the first step is humility. You have to humble yourself and just say, hey, you know, it's Jeff Henderson, we've quoted him before on here. But what's it like to be on the other side of me? You have to have a curiosity around how you're showing up in the world.
Speaker 2:For a lot of us it happened through like pain and struggle, like hey, we, we've made some huge mistakes so I need to investigate here. What am I not seeing, what am I you know? And that's the path towards like some enlightenment stuff. And then, once you start getting that, you start finding freedom in living, in consultation, as opposed to, especially, the american culture. It's very much we're very isolated. We're very much, like you know, in the American culture it's very much we're very isolated. We're very much, like you know, it's the whole, if it's going to be it's up to me type thing, like we have to do things on our own and it looks, it feels like weakness to invite other people in.
Speaker 1:I know so many founders that are running organizations and the ones that lack self-awareness. It's they just keep beating their head against the same wall and it's like do you not see the commonality in all your business challenges, your personal relationships, your family? You're the only person in the middle of all those Venn diagrams. How?
Speaker 2:do you not see it? And I think there I was just talking to my dad about this this morning. Actually, I think there's narcissists in the world that may never probably clinically diagnosed narcissists who probably will never have the self-awareness. It doesn't mean they can't be successful. Actually, some of their narcissism fuels success in certain areas. Now they're usually and we've talked about this before with athletes they're usually really successful in one area and lost everything in the other areas, but they're so laser-focused on it. We all have a bit of narcissism in us right as a survival skill, like it's on a spectrum. But we're not all narcissists, but we have a level of like looking out for myself or, you know, self-belief, whatever. But I think those who are willing to invite people in, whether it's been through pain or struggle or like hey, I'm the common denominator and all these things crashing around me are the ones who definitely can find freedom in living in consultation, and I will say like for me, I mean.
Speaker 2:One small example is I just got an email from someone this week. That was a tough email, but I didn't take it as hard as I would have in the past. It wasn't a business thing, it was a personal thing because I didn't feel responsibility to navigate it on my own. I'm like, hey, I, before I even respond to this thing or lash out emotionally or whatever, I'm going to sit with it for a little bit. I'm going to run through my emotions, I'm going to have some different emotions around it. I'm going to let my wife read it. I'm going to bring other people in. We've already talked about it a little bit. You know it's like when you live in consultation, you now don't feel the pressure to be right and have to find absolute truth on everything on your own.
Speaker 1:So good, Well, I mean to your point. The proof of concept about living life in consultation are those little moments in relationships Like I think some self-awareness for me has been being married to someone who's very different than I am. Hey, do you know, when you do X, matt, that this happens? No, I had no clue. I literally had no clue.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:My wife would say like you show up in rooms before you ever show up in rooms, like what do you? Mean Like your presence comes in this room and we know you're here before you step foot in it. I don't know what that means.
Speaker 2:The first one that mentioned you like even you walk heavy, like you walk in the house, and I have a daughter that is very similar to your personality and that was like, yeah, I hear her coming before she shows up.
Speaker 1:It's like I know that's her, yeah, and so even that relationship right, the most important relationship in my life is is with my wife and for her to say like hey, just you know, this is the impact that has, and it's not a moral right or wrong, it's just an is. Then I go, I may affect a room really negatively if I'm not careful with my presence in that room. So then it was a chance to grow Like I had a chance to, to humble myself to something I wasn't aware of. But I just think about the courage it takes someone to be like hey, do you know this about yourself? Like cause, I didn't ask her hey, will you tell me how terrible I am?
Speaker 1:Yeah, Right, she had just like hey look, matt, this is impacting you here and this is impacting you here. And then I go. I had a leader do the same thing. He's like hey, dude, you've heard the whole thermometer thermostat analogy before, and if you haven't heard it before, it's like some people are thermometers, they just tell you the temperature of a room, and there's some people who are thermostats they can raise or lower the temperature in a room. It's like you're just a thermostat person, you can make a room go right or yeah. So be careful what you're, be wise with your words. I'm like oh, I had no clue, I did that. So it took somebody being bold in my life to be like hey, you impact things more than you think you do. So those were moments of growth and self-awareness for me. But it took courage from somebody else saying dude, I love you, you're gifted and you really suck at this. You need to get better at this.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and then it's your job as a leader to respond to it. Yeah, you know. Yeah, well, and with this episode we're not trying to boil it down to one, you know, clever point. I think it was just like let's have a conversation and I think, you know, for me it was helpful just to process, you know, with you through this stuff. But I do think there's probably some action points.
Speaker 2:I think, just in hearing you talk about the gentleman, like, surround yourself with people that have some experience, that have been through some things before, that they can tell you like, hey, I've done this, I've tried this, I can tell you how this is going to work out there. You need a mentor, you need a coach of some sort, right. You also need the peers. You need people who are just in it with you, that can affirm and reflect back and all those different things. And I think, if you have that kind of community around you, right, like when it comes to like, how do you find absolute truth? Well, some things there's, there's data on right, you can just look and you can say, hey, not emotionally, like this is working, that's not working. I might love the thing that's not working, but I need to kill it because the data shows it's not working right. Those are a little bit easier. But there's a lot of decisions that there's no data on it's gut stuff, it's feeling, it's whatever, and on those, if you're a leader that is not um, like if you don't have anybody else speaking to your life, like even if you're listening or watching this right now and you're like you know what I'm thinking, I don't have anybody I'm bouncing ideas off of, there's a chance that you're lacking in some self-awareness, right? Does it mean you're a bad person? Doesn't mean you're making a bunch of mistakes. Just means you're not getting to see the full picture. Could you not let anybody in?
Speaker 2:And the last thing I'll say and I'll turn over to you to kind of close this out but I think in our American culture today we've really glamorized the one man show, the solo CEO. You know you got to have all the answers. You're the, you climb your way to the top and when you get there, you're all alone. I think part of what Fraction X is trying to do is debunk that myth that you don't have to lead alone. Even if you hold a C-suite position or a CEO, it doesn't mean you have to carry all the pressure on yourself to make every decision and get everything right. I think that is a lie, that we've been sold in business and religion and all different areas Right. We were never intended to lead alone, lead by ourselves. That's not how we were designed, and so we can kind of free ourselves with that and say, hey, I can bring in a few people that I trust to help me make better decisions.
Speaker 1:It's so well said. I hate to even like try to follow that up, but I'm going to clean up my mess.
Speaker 1:If you think about like, maybe Elon Musk doesn't live life in consultation, maybe they're those very few exceptions of people who are just so exceptional that they can build and sustain large organizations and have these incredible ideas and execute. But my guess is the vast majority of us are not Elon Musk and it's the temptation is to look at um, people have the as they build businesses on their social media, whatever it is, and be like that's clearly that, like unicorn leader that just goes out there and grinds and gets it done. I really doubt that's the case. I think the vast majority of people have someone in their life that they've bounced something off of. You told me a story of a friend of ours that owns a media company and he attributed to his, I guess, father-in-law saying I wouldn't have started this if he didn't invest in me and say, dude, I think you need to own your own company.
Speaker 2:Right, and you look at him now and you're like, oh well, this, he was a great, should try this. It gave him the courage to give it a shot, right, yeah.
Speaker 1:And I think we all need somebody like that in our corner and, you know, if you're one of those leaders that just doesn't have that group around them. That's what FractionX is for. That's what our masterminds are for is we want to put leaders in your life. They're going to put fuel in your tanks and wind in your sails and let you know you're not alone. Bye.