Insights into Entrepreneurial Leadership and the Dynamics of Team Strengths

Ever wonder how to navigate the complex journey of leadership and mentorship within the entrepreneurial world? Look no further, as I, Ron Harvey, sit down with HOA.com's CEO Brandon Barnum to unravel the tapestry of guiding and influencing at every level of a business. From the echoes of isolation in leadership roles to the symphony of support found in mentorship, we walk you through the preparations and mindset needed for effective mentor meetings. We don't just talk shop; we share lived experiences and the profound impact of a clear agenda and the willingness to learn.

Creating a thriving work environment is part art, part science. That's why in this episode, I dissect the essential elements of 'space and grace' with Brandon, revealing how compassion towards oneself and one's team can transform the workplace. We delve into the 'three strikes' method for accountability, illustrating a pathway from conversation to correction. It's also a journey through personality science, like Bank Code and Harrison Assessments, and how it can be a game-changer in aligning team members with their innate strengths. Leadership here isn't about titles—it's about fostering confidence, continuous learning, and recognizing our own limitations.

Wrap up your listening experience with an exploration of the backbone of leadership: trust, resilience, and the almighty 'why.' We highlight the crucial role of cementing core values and culture as the foundation of a steadfast mission. Brandon and I underscore the significance of genuine relationships and community, discussing HOA.com's passion for connecting neighborhoods and fostering unity. We leave you with personal leadership practices to enrich your journey, including the art of strategic listening and reflection. So join us as we sift through the essence of effective leadership, one insightful conversation at a time.

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Just Make A Difference: Leading Under Pressure by Ron Harvey

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Disclaimer:

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers and guests and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any organization or entity. The information provided in this podcast is intended for educational and informational purposes only and should not be considered as professional advice. Listeners should consult with their own professional advisors before implementing any suggestions or recommendations made in this podcast. The speakers and guests are not responsible for any actions taken by listeners based on the information presented in this podcast. The podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice or services. The speakers and guests make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the information, products, services, or related graphics contained in this ...

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Welcome to Unpacked Podcast with your host leadership consultant, Ron Harvey of Global Core Strategies and Consulting. Ron's delighted to have you join us as he unpacks and shares his leadership experience, designed to help you in your leadership journey. Ron believes that leadership is the fundamental driver towards making a difference. So now to find out more of what it means to unpack leadership, here's your host, Ron Harvey.

Speaker 2: 0:28

Good morning. This is Ron Harvey, vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Global Core Strategies and Consulting, which is a leadership firm based out of Columbia, south Carolina, and everything we do within our organization is really help leaders develop their skill sets to create a winning culture in their organization. So, whether it's communication, whether it's trust, whether it's their first time in a leadership role or whether it's their executive role and they're trying to take care of their team and navigate that space, at the executive level, we spend all of our time around the development of the people that are leading organizations. We love it, we enjoy doing it. We've been doing it over 10 years now. My wife and I own the company, but what we pause every single week and do is do a podcast where we have leaders from across the globe, with all different backgrounds, doing all kind of phenomenal things, that pause for about 20 minutes and talk about some of the experiences around leadership experiences around what they've learned and what they know and what they'll share with you.

Speaker 2: 1:19

So we call it Unpacked, with Ron Harvey and my guests come on without any idea of what questions I'm going to ask. They sign up for it and sometimes that's a little scary because you never know what's going to happen. Stick around, hang in, put your seatbelt on. We don't know the questions, but we do know we'll always share and talk about leadership and our goal is to add value for you to be more effective in your role and your position. So hang in, and my guest today is Brandon Brandon. Welcome to the show and thank you for coming on and joining us for the Unpacked with Ron Harvey.

Speaker 3: 1:48

Oh, Ron, thanks for having me. Pleasure to be here.

Speaker 2: 1:51

Yes, yes. What would you share If you could introduce yourself? Share who you are, whatever you really want to share, and so there's no particular thing that I'm looking for, other than what you want us to know about you.

Speaker 3: 2:01

Sure you bet. Well, my name is Brandon Barnum. I'm the CEO of HOAcom. So we are building really out to revolutionize the whole homeowner association space and we're building a referral network of professionals who serve homeowners. Yeah, I would say leadership is lonely. You know, I've been a serial entrepreneur and been self-employed really for the last 27 years and so for those that have been in that position, you know what it's all about. You know people are always looking at you. I always say that everything that you do and say is being seen and heard right. So every second of every day, your team is watching to see who you're really going to be in those pressure cooker situations. So I think leadership is so important and the reality is that everyone's a leader. In my opinion and that's really what we teach in our organization is somebody's looking up to you and somebody's looking at you. So do your best always.

Speaker 2: 2:57

Yeah, I love it. I mean he came right on dove in let's unpack for a second. You've been a SEAL entrepreneur. You've been in it, you know, for over 27 years. When you think about that, because it can be lonely at the top, what are some things? Leaders that are entrepreneurs, what can they do for it not to be lonely?

Speaker 3: 3:16

I think having a great advisory board around you whether it's a board or you just have advisors or mentors you know, I've got a couple of guys in my life that have been mentoring me for over 20 years now, and one of them I'm going to meet this afternoon, mark Victor Hanson.

Speaker 3: 3:30

He's the author of Chicken Soup for the Soul, and this man sold over 600 million books and he's been mentoring me since May 18th, 2004. And I think you've got to have people in your life that you can look up to and trust, because within an organization, you can't always be fully transparent with everybody in the organization, because not everybody can handle that Right. So you've got to have people that you can go to when you've got a burning question. And I think one of the things about leadership is, as leaders, we're always projecting confidence that we know everything, and you and I both know that ain't true, you know, and there's so many circumstances where something comes to you for the first time and you're not really sure how to deal with it. So I think mentorship is incredible. Having a group of advisors that you can trust in your corner is really important in a leadership position.

Speaker 2: 4:25

Yeah, I love that you're sharing that. I is really important in a leadership position. Yeah, I love that you're sharing that. I 100% agree. We do show this confidence, like we got all the answers known, that we don't. People just don't notice the nervousness or our knees knocking in below. You talk about mentorship, but you're also going to meet your mentor today. If I'm going to see my mentor, let me unpack for a second. What's my responsibility to the person that's mentoring, because I can't just show up and expect them to do all the work. What's your role? You're going to meet your mentor today. What should you be bringing to the table and what should you be doing if you're the mentee?

Speaker 3: 4:56

Well, first of all, you need to have a plan of what you want to learn or gain from that conversation. Right, in this situation I'm coming. I have a plan and an agenda in my mind of how this conversation is going to go. I'm going to walk him through the latest and greatest in our company, show him what we've created and then ask his opinion on three different things that I've already identified I'm looking for advice and counsel on. So I think preparation is really the key, right? You'll see this book behind me, ask, and that's actually Mark Victor Hansen's book, and the key in life that I'm finding is everything's about the questions that you are asking. Right, because in that query, in that question, comes the answer, the guidance that we're looking for.

Speaker 2: 5:40

You're throwing a curveball at people right now that are listening, because leaders know everything. They always have a statement. They always have some way to tell you how great and smart they are. You just shifted and said come with a question, not a statement. Why is that so important? Or what are we learning now about the ability to ask really great questions? What's the value of that to a leader?

Speaker 3: 6:00

Well, I think if you're going to an advisor because that's where we were talking about in that context no-transcript, everything you want in life if you just ask the right question, and it's kind of like AI AI is only effective if you ask the right question. If you ask the AI something that is not targeted and going to give you the result that you're looking for, it's not as helpful. But if you can be crystal clear in your question and really solidify what it is that you're looking for, you'll get amazing returns back.

Speaker 2: 6:59

Wow, yes, loving it, so, leaning in favor. So you talked about mentor, the role that you should be. You know what you should be doing if you're the mentee. What if I'm a leader and I'm getting asked to be a mentor? How do I make a decision whether I should take that on and what does that require? What's my role once I accept the role of being someone's mentor, and what should I be doing?

Speaker 3: 7:21

Yeah, ron, and you're talking in the context of in a team setting. Yes, yes, somebody that's on your team. Yeah, absolutely so. Number one if you're working in a position where you have somebody that's leading you, then get crystal clear on what it is that they're asking you to do and deliver for this person that you're leading. And then, number two, get crystal clear on what it is that the person that you're leading is out to accomplish. We call it a you driver. What is driving you? What is important to you? The individual first. You have to really address and understand what's important to that individual first, personally. Then you can see how that fits into professionally and those things really should be aligned. So I think that's really the key is. Number one have an objective of where you want to drive this relationship. What is it that you want to help them learn? Are there skill sets that you've identified that this person can develop and gain from? And then also, you've got to create a safe space where they can try and fail.

Speaker 3: 8:26

And one of the things that I teach is the first is the worst. The first time you do anything is going to be the worst that you ever do at it, because you haven't learned anything about it yet, right? So the first time we rode a bike, we probably crashed and burned right. The first time we did anything was typically the worst that we were ever at a thing, and I teach that within my company because that gives people the space and grace to not be 100% successful in the first time. We understand that we're going to learn, we're going to grow, we're going to get better every second of every day, and that's really the culture that we've created here.

Speaker 2: 9:04

Awesome. So could you unpack a little bit for leaders that are listening around the globe? I mean, the world has become not as forgiving, you know not listening as much as we probably should as leaders in roles, and it's become more challenging with so many generations in the workforce. Hybrid combination of in the office out the office how important is it for leaders to have space and grace?

Speaker 3: 9:27

I think it's incredibly important and I think it starts for yourself first and foremost, right. I think we're always a harsh critic, especially on ourselves. We tend to judge ourselves more sometimes than we judge other people. So give yourself the space and grace to do your best every day. You may not know all of the answers, so go, seek to understand, ask the questions of your advisors, your counselors, and as long as you're in action to resolve the issue, then you're going to make progress and you're going to succeed. When it comes to your team, you have to give them space and grace.

Speaker 3: 10:02

Now there are situations where somebody is going to do something and you have to take a severe corrective action. And that's just life. Right, we typically teach a three strikes you're out, rule right. The first time we're going to have a conversation. The second time, we may put you on probation. The third time you do something, then I'm sorry, we need to have a completion conversation. So I think it's really about creating that framework so people understand that this is a safe place, that they have the ability. As long as they're doing their best, they can fail and still succeed.

Speaker 2: 10:36

Yes, I love where you say, hey, space and grace starts with you leaders. That's so important because oftentimes we don't give ourselves the space and the grace and we destroy our confidence and we restore our ability to be able to get things done. So I love that you're starting with you, because I talk about self-care, like everything starts with you, you know, so make sure you take care of you the same way you are taking care of your team when you're working with leaders in your organization. How do you tie the two together effectively? Most people struggle at accountability because, like you said, when you got to take, you know a more severe action. I love it. The first strike, the second strike, the third strike and you walk through a process. Can you unpack that process again the first time, the second time and the third time when you attach it to accountability? Because accountability is important. As a leader, you got to hold people accountable, to include yourself.

Speaker 3: 11:29

Yeah, no, and that's absolutely true.

Speaker 3: 11:31

True, aaron, and that's one of the areas that I'm not naturally gifted, honestly.

Speaker 3: 11:33

So I've got a COO who is a 30 year retired captain of the Navy and on our team he is the captain of accountability, right, we literally have him in this role to ensure that there's accountability in the culture of our organization. But the three strikes is, you know, first time we're just going to have a conversation. We're going to learn about it. We create that safe environment where everybody understands that we're here to learn. We're not always going to win on our very first attempt, so if there's a situation that needs correction, then we're going to have that conversation. I think the cycle, right as far as how often you're meeting with your team, normally for your direct reports, you're going to have a one-on-one at least once a week and just do a quick check-in, understand what they're out to accomplish, what they accomplished in the last week or the last period, and then what's that next step? So constantly just giving your team confidence as well, right, that's, one of the biggest things in an organization is for people to have confidence in themselves and their company.

Speaker 2: 12:35

I love that your process and you're walking through. We talked about trust, we talked about accountability, we talked about space and grace. We talked about your process of how do you create it, and I love that you said know what you're not naturally gifted at and who's on your team that can do that, because oftentimes leaders feel like they got to be great at everything. I've never met that person, quite honestly, but there are people that sometimes even organizations sometimes have this unspoken thing or belief that the leader is supposed to know everything.

Speaker 1: 13:03

How do you?

Speaker 2: 13:03

get past that. If you're working for an organization, you're in a leadership role and there's this expectation of you supposed to know everything. How do you work?

Speaker 3: 13:10

through that. I mean, first and foremost, I think you can just claim listen, I don't know everything, I'm here to learn as much as to guide others, and so just claim it, just own it. One of the things that we have used as a tool is a system called Bank Code. It's a personality system and what's really interesting, you know in your work. Ron, I'm sure you teach DISC or Myers-Briggs, Are you a DISC?

Speaker 2: 13:38

Both Myers-Briggs DISC and Stroke Finder. I mean there are tons of things that we use, depending on the organization.

Speaker 3: 13:43

And it's so powerful because what we're talking about is really understanding who the person is, that interviewing for the company. We create an ideal personality profile for the position, and we use a tool also called Harrison Assessments. With Harrison Assessments, you can really find the right personality for the position, somebody who's naturally gifted in doing exactly what it is that we're looking for, and so, first of all, it's about having the right person in the right seat on the bus, and thank you, jim Collins. Good to great.

Speaker 2: 14:33

Yes.

Speaker 3: 14:34

All right, I think everybody gets that by now. But the reason that we use personality science is for several reasons. One is that back to that you driver. When you understand how somebody is wired, then you can understand their strengths and weaknesses quickly, right, if I've got somebody that's high action, I'm going to know that typically they're not going to be great at the details, they're going to be great at ideation and idea creation. Right, and oftentimes they'll be good, highly confident person. Typically they'll be good in a sales type of role, whereas if I have somebody that's high in what's called blueprint, they're all about the stability, the structure. You know they're going to be regimented. The action personality is going to be outside the box. A blueprint personality is going to be inside the box. So just understanding who's who in the zoo and really how they're wired is going to help you identify where their natural opportunities for development are and you can guide them individually, which is what's required.

Speaker 2: 15:38

Yes, love it. I mean, all the work that you're doing, and assessments and the tools that you're using are super important for leaders. If you're listening, you're an entrepreneur. You've been on a journey for a while and it's not always easy. What are some of the things that you've done well that helped you survive entrepreneurship for so many years? What are some of the key benchmarks mile markers that you've noticed over time, that you've implemented that's allowed you to be successful? And, with that being said, 90% of entrepreneurs don't make it Right, and so, when you look at the 10% that do, what are some of the benchmarks? What are some things that you've done that's helped you be successful?

Speaker 3: 16:16

Well, I think the number one is mindset right. I love Les Brown. If you're a fan of Les Brown, I am, I am. He says it's not over until I win right. You're going to face hardship. You're going to face hardship, you're going to face challenge, you're going to face adversity and the only question is are you going to persevere? Are you going to stay in the game long enough to succeed? Because 90% of people quit before they get to success.

Speaker 3: 16:38

Yes, and in my opinion, the only way to win the game is to stay in the game. It's kind of like poker you can't win if you're not in right. You may have the winning hand, but if you fold it because you're not willing to make the bet, you lose. You're out, at least for those that bad opportunity, and you've missed out on the opportunity where you could have taken the entire pot. So I think you've got to stay in the game. You've got to continue to believe, to refine. I'm not sure if there's a milestone, ron, in my mind, but the biggest thing is mindset right. Have the mindset that there is no failure. There's only learning and getting better at what it is that you're working on.

Speaker 2: 17:24

Yes, I love it. So where do you develop it? I mean, I totally agree that we do have to have the mindset. But saying we have to have it, how do you develop it? What if I knew? And I'm really figuring that out and I'm chugging along and and I'll tell everybody the hardest part is starting, like, and I work out. I tell people I've never regretted a workout that I finished but I regret I dreaded some before I started. The hardest part is starting. So how do you develop the mindset and I know there's tons of books from a practical purpose and something you've done how did you develop it?

Speaker 3: 17:53

Well, I think there's a lot of things. Number one, it's who you're being mentored by. I read a lot of books you can see behind me, right so for me, it's about equipping myself with other people's stories. If I don't know the answer, I'm going to go seek out from people who do and seek that guidance. And I think that comes to, in regards to personal development, leadership training. I think you know investing in listening to podcasts like this, where you're sharpening your saw and really learning more every single day, is super important. And then you just got to make the commitment to stick to it. And then you've got to have faith. For me, faith is so important in my life, right, the reason I do things is not about the money. The money is a component, it's the measure of success, but it's really the impact, more so than the income. So when you keep your eyes on the prize and you really understand, ultimately, what's important to you, it gives you the faith and confidence to keep going forward. One more day.

Speaker 2: 18:53

Yes, I love it when leaders come on. I don't drop the word first, but I tell people. You know I'm on a lot of public stages and I'm around and I tell people. I say have faith and be clear with you. I'm a faith guy. Whatever you use, you use, but don't frown on what I use. So I love that you tie that to corporate leaders are beginning to be okay with hey, this is who I am, but there's space for everybody else to be who they are as well. So when you think about asking questions, you think about the mindset, you think about your faith piece of it. How do you help leaders that don't seem like they can actually pull it all together? We've all been there where it seemed like nothing was going right. How do you help leaders be more resilient?

Speaker 3: 19:33

I think, again, resiliency is about the individual, but the biggest thing, ron, is it's about the movement, the mission of the organization. Why are we here? We talked about the you driver earlier. That's why are you here, right, and I think, as a leader, it's so important to be able to cast the vision and help people understand the why behind the what and the how. And that is so critical because it's that mission, the money. Then it's easy to just want to give up and quit when things aren't working because it doesn't really matter. But if there's a mission behind it, if we're doing something that's mission driven, mission led, then it'll inspire people to really do and give beyond measure times, at least twice in the last couple of minutes.

Speaker 2: 20:25

It's not about the money. People when they start businesses somewhere, money is tied into there, but it can't be the thing you're chasing after. How do you separate that? Because you got to make money to stay in business. But it can't just be about a transactional thing, because people will read through that. How do you help leaders that, yeah, you want them to make money? Because in our community sometimes people are afraid to talk about money. It's almost like taboo, don't charge for this. You're in business, you kind of got to have a revenue stream, but how do you not let it be the driving force for what you're really doing it for?

Speaker 3: 20:56

Yeah, again, I think that's all about the core values of the company, right? What does the company stand for? What's the mission, what's the purpose? But also, I think it comes down to the individual as well, and what is it that inspires you and drives you? You got to get crystal clear on that and understand what we talk about.

Speaker 3: 21:14

Like at HOAcom, we help people, help people. That's a conversation we have with every new hire. It's a conversation that we have over and over and over again and over again. We're, in essence, a referral network for professionals who serve homeowners. So we don't serve the homeowners directly. We do that indirectly by empowering professionals who serve them realtors, mortgage lenders, insurance agents, painters, plumbers, all the home service people. Right, our job, our reason for being is to help them connect with more homeowners and make a bigger difference. So I think you've got to have that plan with more homeowners and make a bigger difference. So I think you've got to have that plan and it's got to be mission driven and you've got to create that culture within your organization that answers that question why should they keep going when times get tough?

Speaker 2: 22:01

Yes, love it. If you're listening, I'm sure hopefully you've taken a page of notes, a couple of pages, quite honestly. So, as we begin to come to a close, a couple of things I want to put on the ask a question around referral network. Network is a part of every leader's journey. What's important for them? To make sure they know the right people and the right people know them for them to be successful. I'm a relationship guy. I focus on healthy relationships in everything that I do. How important are relationships to every leader?

Speaker 3: 22:29

Well, relationships are critical, whether the leader wants to admit it or not. Now, there's some people that are low nurturing. So when we talk about the different personality styles, right, I'm high nurturing, ron, you're high nurturing Relationships, authenticity. That's critical to us, community. What's the impact of this decision? Not just on me personally, but on my team, on my entire community, and you know, one of the things that we're out to do, the mission we're on, is to create unity through community. If you look at the word community, it has the word unity built into it, and the word community really means come together as one, and so relationships are a core tenet of everything that you do as a leader. You can't lead without being in relationship, without earning the trust and respect of the person that you're leading. There are, you know, militaristic types. Commanding is the leadership style, right, and some people-.

Speaker 2: 23:27

Command and control. Yes, Command and control.

Speaker 3: 23:30

yes, and there's a time when you need to take command and take control right, and there are other times where people need to see you as a human being. They need to see that you're approachable, relatable and that you care.

Speaker 2: 23:43

Brandon, you unpacked something, thank you. Thank you for sharing. You unpacked something that we haven't said on here yet, but it comes up most times on the podcast. My experience on exposure is that we're at an all-time low level of trust across our entire society. What do we do about it? If I'm that leader and I have to have, I truly feel we have to have trust to get anything done. How do we get better at building trust? And the second part of yeah, great questions Ron.

Speaker 3: 24:13

Number one, it's really about relationship. To go back to the last question, you can't create trust if you don't have a relationship with the people that you're leading right. And if you screw up, own it Like. The biggest thing that you can do to win trust and win respect is to own your gaps right. If you make an error, be the first one to claim it. And the other thing that you can do to really build trust is, let's say, one of your direct reports or one of your underlings made a mistake that impacted the team. I just had this happen the other day, right, instead of putting them on the cross and crucifying them, own it for them. Say hey guys, this is my bad, I didn't provide enough clarity and, as a result, this objective didn't get met. And when you take ownership, instead of throwing somebody under the bus, you take their place, people respect it and they trust you more.

Speaker 2: 25:08

Yes, yes, provide a safe space, overhead cover. That is so important. Don't call people out. Call them in, have a conversation and figure it out together. And I say to them I say please don't. I've never, ever got called out, brendan, and felt good about it. I said that's never happened in my entire life If someone called me out and I felt like raise my hand and say do it again. Do it again. It felt good. Leaders, don't call people out. It doesn't feel good. It actually creates some resentment with you. So, in every level that you're focusing on, ron, I love the sandwich theory right Of correctivity right.

Speaker 3: 25:41

If you need to correct somebody, start with a positive first, then share the corrective and then go back with a positive. It just softens the blow, right? So, Ron, I really appreciate how you're working so hard at this issue. I found there's one thing that I'd like you to work on improving and enhancing for the future, and this is how I can see you doing that. But overall, I really love the job that you're doing and you're so important to our team. Now, when you present correction like that, it doesn't feel like a body blow.

Speaker 2: 26:12

I love that and he walked you through the sandwich approach, which is super important because this is a way of giving feedback in a healthy way. What do you help a leader understand that there are leaders that just say that's who I am, I'm direct, I'm going to tell you like it is. At least you know where I'm coming from. How do you help that leader realize like that direct approach can be very hostile or it can be unhealthy, and there are some leaders I meet that say that's just who I am. How do you help them pivot and be who the organization needs them to be versus who they choose to be and don't want to change?

Speaker 3: 26:42

Well, again, we use personality science, right. We say I understand that you are a high action, high knowledge, and so you think you know it all right and you're highly confident, so you're going to take action. But the person that you're leading is high nurturing. So if they don't care what you know, they care that you care. And when you understand who that leader is, again using personality science and then help them see the gap.

Speaker 3: 27:09

You know there's that book, the Gap and the Gain, and sometimes they're so focused on the gap that they forget about the gain. The gap is the distance from where we are to where we want to go, and the gain is all of the progress that we've made to get here so far. And it's so typical as an entrepreneur to focus on the gap, right, oh man, we're still so far from our goal and objective. But that's when we're looking out the front window, right, when we look through the back rear view mirror and we see how far we've come. That's when we can take a step back, feel good about our progress and as leaders we have to celebrate the success so the team can appreciate the gain while we close the gap.

Speaker 2: 27:52

Yes, you got to continue to make sure you help people feel good about what's going on, and then that's important. So the question right now? I mean you mentioned the unity in the community and bringing communities together At a time when our society doesn't seem like we remember the word community how do we begin to bring everybody together as a community and we don't have as many silos across society at so many different levels and I'm not here to call out any of them, but we have too many silos across our society. How do we get back to this community looking out for each other, helping each other, taking care of each other and appreciating and seeing everybody as equal to you? How do we get better as a community?

Speaker 3: 28:30

Well, ron, you're going to love the answer, because the answer is leadership. Right, it starts with leadership. Somebody has to cast the vision, somebody has to constantly beat the drum of this is what we're doing At HOAcom we're creating unity through community. We share that message. Over and over again, we talk about the fact that, look, even though we're more connected than ever, as human beings we feel more disconnected than ever. We believe that people want to belong and so, as a leader, you have to give them something inspiring to want to belong to. You're responsible for creating the mission, the purpose and communicating that clearly, and then also creating the process, the system.

Speaker 3: 29:15

What we do is we focus on each individual neighborhood. Right, we want neighbors to know each other again. In the US, over 53% of all homeowners live in an HOA. Most don't love their HOA, but one great thing about HOAs is they tend to bring people together. Now we want to do it even more so with community impact, events and different ways for people to connect and know their neighbors again. But that comes down to leadership. You've got to have the vision. You've got to communicate it clearly and consistently.

Speaker 2: 29:48

Yes, yes, and I love it. I'm glad you're in HOA space. I did not know that number was that high, but you're right, we want to be in a place that's safe, that's taken care of, that. We know each other, so I'm glad that there's an organization like yours is actually out there saying how do we do it more effectively, so HOAs can better serve us. So thank you for what you're doing. So, as we begin to come to a close, what are the top three things you've learned over your journey, or any three things that's made you more effective as a leader? What do you practice daily that makes you effective?

Speaker 3: 30:16

Really it's taking time to think. You know, as a leader, we're so busy doing that sometimes we don't take a step back and really think about everything that we're doing, why we're doing it, what's the impact that we're doing it and, strategically, is it the best course of action? Right, we make decisions based on what we know, but we don't always know what we don't know right, and so you learn along the way and you constantly got to be refining your trajectory and where you're going as an organization.

Speaker 2: 30:47

So that's one of the main things is just taking time to think yeah, and I love that you're refining on the move, as you continue to pull in more data. You're refining what you're doing, so the messaging is changing because you're constantly pulling data in, so taking time to think, refining what it is. How important is listening to you being a leader? What role does it play? Because you know, oftentimes leaders are always talking but very little listening. Yeah that's a great point.

Speaker 3: 31:14

What I teach in my Raving Referrals book is God gave you two ears and one mouth, so listen twice as much as you speak.

Speaker 2: 31:20

Simple yes, Listen to what people are saying. You shared a lot of information. I mean, you have books out, you run an organization. You're doing a lot of phenomenal things. First of all, what are two or three things that you can say? If you're experiencing this, you probably should reach out and have a phone conversation with us. We would love to hear from you what would be the reason that someone should call you and your organization.

Speaker 3: 31:40

Well, we're a referral network for professionals who serve homeowners. So if you're in a space, an industry where you serve homeowners, then what better than a brand like HOAcom that has all the authority and that by the end of the year, every homeowner in America will know our brand? So that's the key is is it a fit for your market? You know, if you're in a situation where you serve homeowners as your perfect prospects, then we're probably a fit. You can go to HOAcom and you'll up at the top right you'll see an orange button that says join and come, be a part of what we're doing. It's super affordable less than a dollar a day to be part of the referral network, and then we've got all kinds of stuff on the back end.

Speaker 3: 32:19

But I think the reality is, you know, as far as what I focus on teaching isn't leadership so much as raving referrals. That's what I've built my career on. I've done over five hundred million dollars by referral. I do have a new book coming out, raving Referrals for Mortgage Pros. My mentor, mark Victor Hanson, said don't write a book, build a brand. So while the first book was Raving Referrals, the second book was a niche, raving Referrals for Dentists, and then the one that's coming out next week is Raving Referrals for Mortgage Pros. So really, if you're into referrals, that's what's driving your business and you serve homeowners that reach out, love to have a conversation.

Speaker 2: 33:02

Yeah, I love it. I will tell you that. You know I love the niche that you're shifting in because everybody make, everybody needs referrals. I mean, it's the number one, probably the best marketing tool you can get. When someone else says it for you in rooms that you're not in, it's much easier to do the closing, if you will. Your conversion rate goes drastically down. So if you want your conversion rates to be better if you know sales, you'll know what I'm talking about is you want your conversion data to be good referrals.

Speaker 3: 33:28

Ron, people are 400% more likely to hire you when you're referred to them because the trust is so much higher. Going back to trust, and if you're in the B2B world, 84% of business to business sales start with a referral. So if you want the fast path, the easy button to generate more revenue, generate more referrals.

Speaker 2: 33:48

I didn't have this question, but I'm listening to you and this is unpacked. What is it that I need to do to make sure that people are referring me and it has to be something I'm doing that people say you need to call Ron. So, without giving away everything, what's the secret sauce that people become better at referring you?

Speaker 3: 34:05

Well, there's so many different ways to increase your referrals. We tell people start with a referral score quiz. You can go to referralscorequizcom and you'll self-assess based on the 10 best practices, and I guarantee you there's a couple of those that are in your blind spot. There's a couple of those you're going to score a zero one or two out of 10 because you're just not even aware of them. So the awareness is the first step, but asking for referrals is huge. We teach the art of the ask and help people get comfortable asking for referrals in a way that feels like service, not sales. But then also the other piece is referral partner blueprint is creating a team of referral partners, people that are serving your perfect prospects every day and aligning with them so that you're referring them, they're referring you and you're both winning more business together.

Speaker 2: 34:56

I love it and some communities. I'm in Columbia, south Carolina. They got this B and I which is yes, they're all over.

Speaker 2: 35:03

So the referral is important. So, if you're listening, most people get jobs through referrals. Most people buy houses through referrals, people buy cars, people get married because of referrals. So reality is, referrals matter.

Speaker 2: 35:14

What I've struggled at or I've gotten a lot better at now is helping people really be able to speak of my business in a manner that's easy and simple for other people to understand. I really wasn't doing a good job of telling people what I do and how I do it. So when they go to talk about me, they will struggle. They're like oh, I'm not even being clear on what I do and how I do it. So I had to become clearer when I talk about my business, who I am, what I do. So when people refer me, they can do it more effectively.

Speaker 2: 35:41

And I worked on that. It took me years. So all you that are listening, it wasn't overnight and I kept working and refining. As Brandon said, you take more data in, you refine it. So, if you're listening, referrals are important. Leadership Referrals are important. Leadership is important. I love what you're doing for HOAs. As we begin to wrap, tell us how we can reach you, whether it's through your site, and you've got a new book coming out, so tell us about your book and then tell us how to reach you.

Speaker 3: 36:04

Yeah. So if you go to BrandonBarnumcom that's the easiest place to reach me That'll have all my details and you'll find the referral score quiz. You'll see the bank code. You can take your self-assessments totally free and they'll take you all of one to two minutes to complete. So will the referral score quiz. So those are just gifts for you. You can also find the referral partner blueprint as a PDF download there. So that's the best place to go. And then again, if you're a professional who serves homeowners, then go to HOAcom. Click that join and become a pro at the top right and come be a part of this mission and movement.

Speaker 2: 36:38

Yes, yes, brandon phenomenal for everyone that's listening. Hopefully you're getting some insightful knowledge and wisdom that makes you more effective as a leader. We're here to give away information. We're here to add value to you so you can make a difference across the entire space that we all operate in the community that we're working about. So leadership matters we're counting on you to get it right. So thank you all for joining Brandon and I today on Unpacked with Ron Harvey. You can always find us at Global Course Strategies and Consulting. Just Google us, pull us up, you'll see our information and you can make appointments directly from our webpage. Ask for a 30-minute consult, free of charge, just to see what we do, how we do it. We love to partner with you, love for you to partner with Brandon, and so thank you for listening, thank you for staying with us for the time that we spent and hopefully we gave you something that matters. Any closing comments, brandon, that you want to share?

Speaker 3: 37:25

You know. The last thing I would say is get crystal clear on what it is you want to accomplish. Make sure you have written goals, a vision for your life, because that clarity will drive you forward. So ask the question what am I here for? What am I out to accomplish? Write it down. Get crystal clear on your goals. I have hundreds of them sitting right here, right, and I've got goals for the year 2050. So get crystal clear on what it is that you're out to accomplish, achieve and just through clarity of visualizing it and writing it down, you'll find things happen immediately.

Speaker 2: 37:59

Yes, Thank you, Brandon. Great way to close out. Thank y'all for joining us and we look forward to always giving you a nice 30 minutes of something that adds value to you, your organization and your day. Thank you for joining us on Unpacked with Ron Harvey.

Speaker 1: 38:13

Well, we hope you enjoyed this edition of Unpacked Podcast with leadership consultant Ron Harvey. Remember to join us every Monday as Ron unpacks sound advice, providing real answers for real leadership challenges. Until next time, remember to add value and make a difference where you are, for the people you serve, because people always matter.