Why Your Business Is Stuck: The Leadership Bottleneck Every Owner Must Fix | Croft Edwards

Most business owners think their team is the problem.

But what if the real bottleneck is the leader?

In this episode of Small Business Pivots, Michael D. Morrison sits down with Croft Edwards, leadership coach, ontological coach, author, and founder of Croft + Company, to talk about what leadership really is and why business owners must grow before their business can grow.

Croft has coached leaders since 2001, working with frontline supervisors, CEOs, Navy admirals, founders, and business owners across industries. In this conversation, he explains why leadership is not just a title, position, or personality trait. Leadership is a practice.

You’ll hear why management gives you authority, but leadership earns commitment.

Croft breaks down why business owners often struggle to create real team buy-in, why employees do not automatically give more just because you are the boss, and why the owner’s growth sets the ceiling for the company’s growth.

If you feel like your team is not motivated, your culture is stuck, or your business depends too much on you, this conversation will challenge you.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

•  Why leaders are developed through practice 
•  The difference between management and leadership 
•  Why you cannot mandate motivation or commitment 
•  How business owners become the bottleneck in their own company 
•  Why leadership is closer to coaching than commanding 
•  How to build commitment instead of compliance 
•  Why curiosity, practice, and beginner mindset matter 
•  How leadership impacts culture, team performance, and business growth 

Croft also shares lessons from his military background, coaching underground mine supervisors, writing leadership books, and helping leaders shift how they show up physically, emotionally, and mentally.

Key takeaway:

Your business’s ability to grow is directly connected to your ability to grow as a leader.

If you want a stronger team, stronger culture, and stronger business, start practicing leadership.

Listen now to learn how to stop being the bottleneck and start becoming the leader your business needs.

Transcript

Welcome And Leadership Focus

SPEAKER_00 0:02

If you're a business owner feeling stuck, overwhelmed, and ready to grow, you're in the right place. Welcome to Small Business Pivots, where founders share insights, stories, and pivots that lead to sustainable growth. I'm your host, Michael D. Morrison, a business coach helping business owners get unstuck and grow. All right, welcome to another Small Business Pivots where we have special guests from around the world. And today we have one of my favorite topics that I think every business owner should learn and be better at, and that's leadership. But Croft, for those that don't know you like I do, tell us a little bit of your back end story and catch us up to date of how you got where you are today.

Croft’s Path Into Coaching

SPEAKER_01 0:48

Yeah, so I have always been interested in leadership. And so it actually goes back when I was 10 years old. My mom worked for a U.S. senator. And so one summer day I had nothing to do, and I ended up in an event with her at Fort Bliss, Texas, where the guest of honor was World War II General Omar Bradley. And here I was, this little kid, and they wheeled in General Bradley then. And you know, he was mid-80s by then. I think it was within a year or two of when he died. And they wheel in this general, because again, he was in a wheelchair, and all of his medals and all this, and he got a reverential clap that nobody else got. And as a 10-year-old kid, for some reason, I caught that. And so it caused me to go to the library, check out his autobiography, and read it cover to cover. And I didn't realize that at the time. But what it did is it peaked in me a fundamental question I've been studying ever since, which is why was he, or any leader for that matter, successful? And then that's evolved into what is this thing called leadership and how do you do it? That then led me to was greatly influenced by my stepfather. Because of that, he was a retired Army officer, Silverstar Vietnam. Because of that, went off to college at Michigan State, did Army R O T C graduated a week later, was on active duty in the Army, and got to kind of practice leadership for five years. I loved it, but I knew the active duty wasn't the path for me because I'd moved five times in five years and it was time to go do what I wanted to do. I ended up getting out, but stayed in the Army Reserve for another 20 years. And then said, What do I want to do? And that thing of what is, or what is this thing called, leadership was there. Started looking around, and I stumbled into a small to medium-sized leadership and change, coaching and consulting firm here in Albuquerque, and got hired as a quote unquote coach. And my first day on the job was coaching underground supervisors at a palladium and plantinum mine in Montana. And the good news was being in an underground mine wasn't much different than being in the army, you know, salt of the earth people, harsh environment. And I really took to it. And after about three years, I had like 600 hours of coaching under my belt. And I said, I think this is the path for me. So decided, you know, this was the early 2000s. Coaching was just kind of becoming a modality and a methodology. And so started, I thought, you know, I think it's time to get certified. So again, started looking around, stumbled into an organization called the Newfield Network, and got certified as an ontological coach. And I've been doing it ever since. So I've been coaching since 2001. I've had my own company since 2005. Uh clients all over the spectrum, mining, refining. I just did a three-year gig at a medical school, coach frontline first-time supervisors all the way up to Navy admirals and CEOs and founders of startups. And they all have that fundamental question on some level how do I create an environment where people will follow me? Right. Not just out of compliance, because you're the boss and I have to, but how do I actually create that thing called commitment? And that's kind of my story, and that's what I do, and that's why I'm here and love what I do. And so get to have lots of conversations with lots of leaders.

SPEAKER_00 4:08

Fantastic. Well,

Leaders Are Developed Through Practice

SPEAKER_00 4:10

let's just start with kind of the aged old question. Are leaders born or developed?

SPEAKER_01 4:17

Well, I do think there is genetics, right? It does help, but we look at it, or I look at it as leadership as a skill that, like any skill, woodworking or, you know, working on cars, can be learned. So it is something that can be developed. I, you know, I got one of the beautiful things about the Army was I got to see an organization that has a very clear idea of how to develop leaders. So if, for instance, you were to give me a bio of a battalion commander or an army brigade commander or a division commander, I can actually tell you without even seeing really anything, what path they've been on. Because what the Army does, and not just the Army, but what they do very well is, you know, when I was a cadet, I learned the basics and then go practice it. And then go as a second lieutenant, I went to the basic course and you learn, and in my case, I learned how to lead a platoon of tanks, and then go practice it. And right when I started to feel like I got it, okay, now we're going to send you to a new assignment and your advanced course. Now you're going to learn at the next level. And they just always keep building leadership. And so that's why, you know, historically the US military produces pretty phenomenal leaders. It's because it's taught. Now, they have the DNA and they also have to have some sort of motivation to do the work. Because I'm a huge proponent of practice. Leadership is a practice. And great leaders practice. And they practice reading books, being in situations where they're leading all those things. But that's, you know, I don't know that leaders, you know, yeah, I do think some people have stuff that others don't. But at the end of the day, you got to do the work. You know, if you lose sports analogy, Michael Jordan probably had pretty good DNA, and it helps that he was six foot seven or whatever. But I guarantee you, what really separated him was how much work he put in. Yeah. Right? Elite performers go to the gym. I use the uh one of my favorite sayings is I can do a thousand push-ups and you won't get any stronger. You've got to do the push-ups. So when I'm coaching leaders, if they want to create change in their organization, you got to do the work.

SPEAKER_00 6:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:32

Right? You can hire me, but it's probably not gonna, you know, turn out well because it's gonna cost you a lot of money. And it's not my business. It's your business. How bad do you want it? How bad do you want to create a culture? And if you do, you're gonna have to do the, you're gonna have to put in the work.

Three Practices For Learning Leadership

SPEAKER_00 6:51

What are some of the steps to learn? So, kind of where would one start once they recognize that I could work on my skill of being a leader?

SPEAKER_01 7:04

So I am very biased by my background as an ontological coach. Ontology is the study of being human. So we fundamentally look at this idea of the observer we are sees and takes actions, gets results. In more transactional coaching, oh, well, I'm not getting the results I want, take different actions. We actually look at, let's look at your observer. What's your story? What are your emotions? What emotional space are you in? And how does all that live in your body? And so a place we start with is what does it mean to be a beginner? What does it mean to learn? Because you can send me to a class on leadership, but if I sit here like this the whole time and I'm not open to learning, I don't care what you're teaching me. The actual practice is the practice of being beginner. So I have what I call I call them the three practices. So the first practice, let's say you want to an example I use, let's say you want to run a marathon. People would say, Well, I just need to run. Yeah. That's actually the third practice, though. Because let's say you say I'm going to run that marathon. And all right, tomorrow I'm starting, I'm going to get up at five o'clock and I'm going to run three miles. Tomorrow morning comes around five o'clock. You look out the window, it's raining sideways, it's 35 degrees. Most people go, I'm going back to bed. So the first practice is the practice of practicing. I've got to practice. Now, let's say I get out of bed, fine, I'll do the practice. I'm going to freaking run, blah, blah, blah. I'm going to do the practice, but I'm doing it in the wrong emotional space. Moods and emotions are a predisposition to action. So the second practice is the practice of being a beginner. The second practice is learning how, what if I could be curious? What if I could be playful? What if I could show up and go, oh, I'm going to learn something different? If I do the first two practices, the third practice is relatively easy. And so I always challenge leaders, the place we got to start is not here's so much the stuff. We've got to start with how are you showing up. Right. So you're a business owner. What's your story around being a leader?

unknown 9:24

Right.

SPEAKER_01 9:25

What's your story about your team, all of those things? And now we can start to look at let's focus on you and get you practicing the right things. So now, you know, using my analogy, you're doing the push-ups. And the beautiful thing, if you do the push-ups, you're going to get stronger. I talk to people a lot of times, they'll be like, you know, listen, and I I like the workout analogy because most people can see it. But they'll go, well, I wanna work out, but I don't know what I should do. And then they'll sit there and they'll ponder and blah, blah, blah. I don't care. I just go to the gym. Because if I start exercising every day, I practice every day, it's in the practice that the new learning will be revealed. So if I just go to the gym every day and I work out for an hour, I've got to get stronger. Now, in that practice, at some point, I'm actually going to start going, you know what? I really like running. I think I actually want to run a marathon. That's what great. The way that was revealed was going and doing push-ups and going, I don't like push-ups. Okay. What do you like? So it is the practice of practicing that I usually start leaders on. And it doesn't matter. Read a book on leadership. Which one? I don't care. Pick one. Now, my case, I go, well, here I've got books I'm going to give you. But it's in the practice of reading. And if I take a book on leadership, and now I'm curious about it, and I'm reading it and I'm practicing being curious, that can lead. What is the next book? That can lead to where am I curious? Where is my business failing? Where's my team starting? Oh, now I can go there. I can practice that. And so it is all about being a beginner and all about practicing. So that's where I start almost with every leader.

SPEAKER_00 11:17

I love

Marathon Discipline And Business Growth

SPEAKER_00 11:18

that because I just finished in Oklahoma City. We have the Oklahoma City National Memorial Marathon. And that was just two weeks ago. And I ran it. And I ran four. Thank you. And it that all developed because I used to just run 5Ks, which are just 10 miles. And but then I was like, you know, I don't really care for this almost sprint, because that's kind of what a 5K is, if you're serious about it. I want to do something. And that's how that marathon even developed. And people thought I was crazy at my age, but I'm like, it just, like you said, just go out there and do something. And then you'll kind of find the area that you probably are wanting to invest in.

SPEAKER_01 11:58

Yeah. And you couldn't have run a marathon unless you ran a 5K. Right. You couldn't have run a marathon unless you run a half marathon, right? And so it builds on the practice. And at the end of the day, it was all of the running that got you to the marathon. But also what you were doing was teaching your mind, right? Because, you know, I I I used to be a very avid marathon runner. And initially before I did it, yeah, 26 miles, that's far.

SPEAKER_00 12:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:28

Right. And when you're running a couple miles, whoa, that. But it's when you get to four miles and you go, well, I did four miles today. I think I could do six tomorrow. And then you get to six and you go, you know, I can if I can do six, I can do a half marathon. Right. And so now it just keeps building. If you can do a half marathon, you can do a full marathon, but it is in the practice, right? So from a business standpoint, if if my team isn't performing or my well, keep practicing. And it's in the practice that you can start to reveal, well, what do I need to work on? Where is my team failing? Well, I'm going to have to start doing some work there. Right. And then that's where it is. But the more important thing is to practice and to be a beginner.

SPEAKER_00 13:13

Yeah. And for those listening, if if you are able, not everyone is able to, due to health or medical issues. If you are able, I will say the biggest life lesson on discipline and practice is to run a marathon. Because I you mentioned something earlier that caught my attention. And that was people just think you run more. And it's like, that's so far from the truth. It's equipment, it's gels, it's fuels, it's cardio, it's it's sprints, it's intervals, it's it's it's more than just running. And and that's where I was the myth for me happened was when I just thought, well, if I just run six miles and then I'll eventually get to 26.

SPEAKER_01 13:54

And it's like, no, there's some other things you got to learn along the way, which is but it's in those other layers that you start to go, oh, I I'm running out of fuel at two hours. I gotta start be thinking about how, okay, if I'm gonna run for three to four hours, I gotta start thinking differently. But you couldn't see that when you're running a 5K.

SPEAKER_00 14:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:12

Because that's not an issue. But yeah, it is in the practice.

SPEAKER_00 14:16

I just I just thought it was so comparable to owning a business because when after I ran my first one, I was like, okay, life is a marathon, not a sprint. Like that meaning or that quote that everybody says over and over hit home so much after the I was like, this is what they mean, right? Because you're you're just it's not just doing one thing, it's doing multiple things, but just get started, is what it sounds like. So

Turning A Client Loss Into Books

SPEAKER_00 14:42

let's talk about your book. You've got some books that address leadership. Let's talk about some of the things in there so people kind of piques their interest to learn about yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:52

So my first book is called Leadership Flow Perfectly Square. It's right back there. And it was actually the story behind that, I had I'd had a lot of fair amount of success. One of my biggest clients, we were, it was 2016. We were halfway through 2016, we were starting to plan 2017. We talked on a Friday. I got a call Monday morning saying, hey, corporate just came down and nixed all consultants for at least six months. So literally my calendar went blank because this was my biggest client. I was super engaged with them, and I went, oh. And luckily, we had just bought our new place. We have a small farm, and I love being outside. And so I was like, well, I got a lot of free time. And my wife kind of offhandedly said, you know, you should write a book. I was like, eh, I don't know, you know, everybody's dead. But then what I did is I spent a week on the farm outside just with a shovel in my hand, and said, Well, if I was going to write a book, what would it be? And I remember one of my clients saying, you know, he had gotten a book from somebody, and it was like 400 pages of boring, because it was just here's later stuff. And and but one of the books that influenced me was The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lancioni because it was a story. And I had written enough, I said, you know, I don't know that I want to write the 400-page book because I got to annotate, I got to do all this. But if I just write a story, that's relatively easy. So what I did is I didn't tell anybody. And I got up Monday morning and I on Friday, I said, well, what would chapter one be? And I here's what it is, sat on Monday morning, wrote it. That afternoon went outside, stuck a shovel in my hand, and said, Well, if that's paragraph one or page, you know, chapter one, what's chapter two? And just built it. And it only took about 30 days. But fundamentally, what I realized now is I took my methodology and said, here's how, when I work with clients, here's how we do it. So it's set in a small family-owned business, but it's how to change a culture, how to lead in a culture. And then I unfold my methodology. And really what it did for me was it really solidified in me, what do I believe? And I still use those. And then whenever I have new clients, they get that as kind of a way, here's life with Croft. The second book is called The Liquid Accordion, which is a somatic, an embodiment primer for coaching in with and through the body for coaches and leaders. So, what does all that mean? Uh, a lot of my work is as a somatic or embodiment coach, the idea that we are our bodies. If you think about it, our brain is part of a limbic system. All of the sensors for the brain are the body, right? Eyes, ears, nose, skin, mouth, heart, gut, genitals, hands, feet, we're navigating the world. And all of these sensors pick up data which gets filtered through the brain to go, oh, this is good. Oh, this is bad. Take this action, do this, do that. So a lot of the coaching I do is in the body. And this book was written because for most people, it's very foreign. We're kind of brains on a stick. The body is a tool to get us from A to B. But if we really think about it, how often can I walk into a room and I can go, something's off? My gut's going, I don't know. Or everything says go to the right, but then something's not right, and I go to the left. That's the body. That's the wisdom of the body. So it's really written about the body, and it looks at three things. One, why we coach in the body. Why is I think the body's the actual holy grail and leadership. The second part of the book is the what and the where, which is some foundational stuff around it. And then the third part of the book is how to coach in the body. How do we shift the body back to that idea? If I shift the observer, I now can see something different. Right. And so the analogy I use is if you didn't know what a Rubik's cube was, and I said to you, Michael, what do you see? Well, you'd say, What? I see nine white squares. Right? Because that is the observer you are. Well, that also the Rubik's cube represents the breakdown, right? My team isn't performing. And because this is what I see, I go, well, here's how I must fix it. But what we do instead of going to that, we say, Well, what if we shift you? What if you shift and look at it differently? Because if I'm looking at this in a mood of frustration, my team, they suck. That's different than, oh, my team, they're actually seeking leadership. Oh, how can I do that? So we then look at how do I shift that? And ultimately, this book is written, how do I shift that in my body so that now instead of being frustrated, I can be open and curious around how to show up as a leader. So those are both the books. And the the Liquid According just came out in February. And now we're kind of doing all sorts of I'm giving a speech next week on it and then traveling. I'm actually going to Singapore in the fall to do a two-day event around it and stuff like that. So it's it's been fun and it's really where my passion lies, especially from a coaching perspective, because a lot of what I do coaching leaders is getting them to be aware of their body and how are they showing up.

Coaching Offer And Back To Leadership

SPEAKER_00 20:20

You're listening to Small Business Pivots with Michael D. Morrison. If you're ready to get your business unstuck and growth, let's chat. Schedule your free session at michaeldmorrison.com. Now back to the show. There's a lot of assessments out there, right, for personality traits. So it's leadership. I'm not, I'm often asked, is there a are there essentials to leadership? And then you tailor it to each type of person, or does that even matter? Because people are like, how can I have to treat this person one way and lead this person another way? But what do you find is kind of the common thread?

Management Power Versus Earned Followership

SPEAKER_01 21:01

So the distinction I use is management is the authority granted to an individual by the organization. Okay. So let's say I'm a business owner. I, because of my ownership, I can hire people, I can fire people, I can set the schedule, I can say we're gonna sell widgets or we're gonna sell whatever the thing is. Leadership is the authority granted to an individual by the follower. So only the follower can assess that I am a leader. Right? So I have, I'm the business owner. So you're gonna do X. And if that's how I show up, what I'm likely gonna get is you're gonna give me this much more than the bare minimum. But how do I get this much more? That's because you are gonna give it to me. You're gonna give it to me because you see in me a future. Which aligns with what you care about. So back to your point, a leader says, I don't want to have to do it differently. Well, good luck with that. Because each person is making an assessment of are you somebody that I see a future with, right? Unwavering trend, been going on forever in business. Number one reason people leave jobs, their immediate supervisor. That doesn't change, right? Think of the best job you've ever had and now put your worst boss in there. How long will you stay? Versus take the worst job you've ever had, but put your favorite boss. I'm going to bet you're going to stay with your favorite boss more longer, right? That's why, you know, the military is a great example. That's why people did have done stuff that they do because of the leader. Right. So it's that authority that I'm granting you, I'm saying in you, you're somebody I see that I have a future with. Now I'm going to give you above and beyond. But the challenge is no two people are alike. Right? So I always, I'm going to do something taboo, but you'll see my point. And if you don't believe me about this, I just say the word Donald Trump. All you have to do is go on Facebook, and you're going to see people that think he's the greatest thing since I spread. You're going to think people see people who think he's the Antichrist. He's just a human being. We all create stories. And it's every politician. So it's not about the politics. It's we see, oh, that's a future I care about. I'll follow that person. I'll go above and beyond. No, that's not a future I want. I'm going to do the bare minimum. Right. And so that's really to me, and that's been the most powerful way I've been able to see leadership is I can't say I'm a leader. I can say I'm a manager. I own the business. I can hire you. I can fire you. But you are the only one that can give me the authority to get more out of you. And that once I start, once leaders start to see it, it's like, oh, I I do have a lot I got to do. Yeah. It's not easy. And there's a good chance you're going to do this with person A and it's going to frustrate person B. Yes. If leadership was easy, everybody would do it. Right. If running a business was easy, everybody said, I just want to buy a business because it's easy. No, it's extremely difficult. And if I'm only following, falling back on my management authority, you will do this, you will do that. Good luck with that. Right. I always use the example. You cannot mandate motivation or commitment.

unknown 24:41

Right.

SPEAKER_01 24:41

And if you don't believe me, think back to COVID. How well did mask mandates work? Right? Oh, I want more of it. No, people fought it.

unknown 24:52

Right.

SPEAKER_01 24:53

And I'm not getting into the politics of that or the history, but you can't mandate your team to be committed. It's got to be a conversation where we go, let's let's figure out how to get you committed. What do you need from me as a leader? And here's what I need from you as a follower. Here's how we're going to build a team. And here's what the commitment's going to be. And some people may not be on the team because of that. Right? And my team, I need people that are committed to do X. It doesn't mean it's a dictatorship and it's do X or I'm going to kick you off. It means I need you to be open. I need you to be truthful with me, right? I need you to give me feedback. If I'm you're not getting what you need from me, I need you to give me that feedback. So it's all about then having the conversations. It's about the emotions. But most people, a lot of times, I want to just have the conversation, but I don't want any emotions. Just get my team motivated, but don't make me talk about moods and emotions. Well, I know where the breakdown is. You're not having the conversations they need you to have.

SPEAKER_00 25:58

We still have a lot of the older generation that often says, why can't people just do what they're supposed to like they did when I was in the

Leading Across Generations With Care

SPEAKER_00 26:09

workforce? You know, that so do you think leadership is evolving? Do you think it's always been the same? People are different. Where do you see that people have that mindset of why can't they just, you know, they don't feel like leadership should be authentic, customized?

SPEAKER_01 26:26

Well, and you could have a business that way if everybody on your team is, that's what you think about leadership, right? I do think leadership, I think leadership fundamentals have always been the same. I do think society and all those things have changed. But at the end of the day, how do I get my team committed to a shared outcome? Well, if I'm going to have a bunch of Gen Zers or millennials or whatever, I'm going to probably have to change how I do some things. If I'm going to have them as employees, okay. Right. But that's going to be what it's going to take. But if I'm open to that and I'm willing to have the conversations, but I do think on some level, we all want to succeed. We want a leader that's going to take that. My daughter's starting out her career. She just graduated from college a year ago, and she's in her second role. And it's interesting, one of the conversations she's talked about many times is her first boss gave her nothing. No communication, blah, blah, blah. She keeps talking about, oh, my new boss is amazing. He's going to come out, spend two days with me to get me set up. He's going to talk about things. We're going to line up how I'm going to do my job and all this. And her motivation is through the roof. Why? He's just taking an interest in her. He's saying, What do you need from me to succeed? He's going to give her challenging roles and stuff to do. And my assessment is she's going to do great at it. Why? Because she has a leader that's willing to listen to her. What do you need from me to succeed? Versus her old boss that just, oh yeah, you're my, you know, you're my intern kind of thing. I don't know. Go figure something out.

unknown 28:02

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 28:02

Well, that's what you're going to get.

SPEAKER_00 28:04

Yeah. Yeah. Because we don't know what we don't know. So I don't know what to figure out.

unknown 28:07

Right.

SPEAKER_00 28:08

Yeah. Yeah. So is it fair to say then that a leader is more of a coach?

Coaching Style Leadership Through Listening

SPEAKER_01 28:16

Absolutely. I we look at in in my discourse on onsological coaching, we we put leadership and coaching very closely together. Right. Because what I'm doing as a coach, a lot of what I'm doing is listening. I'm listening for what is the person's observer. What's their story? What's their emotional space? What's their body telling me? And if I'm doing that as a leader, simple example, you and I are in a meeting and I say, all right, we've got to get stuff done. All right, Michael, you're going to do X. And Michael says, okay. Well, I got a yes out of you, fundamentally. But did I actually get commitment?

unknown 28:56

Right?

SPEAKER_01 28:56

My listening tells me no, because your body said, okay. So a move, I can go, wait a second, Michael. I got to check with you. I don't hear a lot of enthusiasm for that. Let's let's have a conversation on that. You know, are you are you committed or is there something holding you back? And if you're something holding you back, well, let's talk about that, as opposed to you keeping it inside and you go off going, yeah, I'm gonna give Prof. Let's actually just talk about it now. What's holding you back? Oh, you've got a personal issue in your world right now. You've got a family member that's really sick. Oh, I didn't know that. I need to know that. So let's figure out what you can commit to. I'm not gonna give you extra work right now because you got that, but here's the trade-off. We can't have this be the excuse all the time, right? I get it. You got a family member sick right now. But if now next month it's this is wrong, and then the following, at some point we got to say, wait a second. I'm willing to give here, but I don't hear you willing to commit there. So we have to have some conversations and maybe you shouldn't be a part of the team.

SPEAKER_00 30:05

So kind of back to my story with the marathon and using that as an example, when I said if you are medically healthy and can run a marathon, I encourage people to at least I ex challenge them because it's a great experience. But if I got to the end of the road, one of the marathons I ran, I got runner's knee a month before the marathon. And so I possibly could not have run that. So using that as an example for leaders, business owners specifically, it's does there come a point where it's like, you know, you're trying, but you're you just don't have those fundamentals of being a leader. Is there a point that we come to, or it can everyone get to being a leader?

Who Really Wants To Lead

SPEAKER_01 30:50

I I my assessment, I don't think everybody can. And I don't assess everybody wants to. There are people that look, I just one of my favorite terms I used to learn one of the factories was eight in the gate. There are people that want to put eight and the gate in. And if the role requires them, okay, maybe. But if I do want to build a high performing team, I'm gonna have to find people that need more of that. The challenge is somebody at eight and the gate could just be they've never had a leader show up and say, I think you can do more. I'm gonna challenge you, right? And so a lot of times what happens is the the lower performers, the eight in the gate kind of person, they just show up and the leader kind of goes, huh? All right. Well, what if I said, okay, let's let's have it, let's actually have the conversation. You just want to give the bare minimum. This role doesn't actually, it needs more than that. Let's have a conversation on that. Now, if you're willing to try, you're willing to be a beginner, you're willing to go to the gym and do the push-ups, I'm willing to coach you. I'm willing to put time and energy into you. But it's got to be a mutual commitment. Right. So, you know, again, to go back to that, I can do a thousand push-ups, you won't get any stronger idea. I'm not going to do all the push-ups. But here's the deal. If you're willing to do the push-ups, I'll do them with you. And if you can only do one, I'll do it with you. And then let's get you to two. And if you can do two, I'll do them with you. And if we need to go to a thousand push-ups, that's what you're doing. Great. And I do think that is where leadership can show. Because you know, you think about we all know people that they were struggling in school and then they had the one teacher that said, I see something in you. I think that is leadership. And I think we can do that. But there are people that go, no, I don't want that. Okay. That's fine. Um, but it's just not going to be on my team.

Owner Growth Sets The Ceiling

SPEAKER_00 32:44

If a if a business owner comes to that conclusion that I'm leadership just isn't for me, and they bring someone else in, how can they keep the company? And it may not be possible, but how can they keep the company compact or impact if that person leaves, right? Because I know with me being a business coach, the first thing I do is get the business owner sold on the idea of the coaching itself. Like until you change, nothing around you changes. Because if you bring a coach in expecting me to fix your people, and then I leave, well, there goes all that training. Using that example of a leader, how can one, if I recognize that I'm not a good leader and I want to bring somebody in, how do I make it where it's the connection isn't with just that person?

SPEAKER_01 33:31

Well, I I again I'm not gonna do your push-ups. So 111 coaching, you know, we we'll have a conversation and okay, so what what are you gonna work on between now and our next conversation? And we show up in two weeks and you say, I didn't do any of the push-up. Okay. I'm not gonna lose sleep over it. But if you don't do the push-ups, how is this company gonna survive? So, in my experience, the I've always felt like no one is gonna love the organization like the owner. Right? No one's gonna lose sleep at night like the owner, because am I gonna have enough money to pay payroll? Right? Because most people, if I'm an employee, I lose this job. Okay, I'll just go next company. An owner, it's different. I lose this company, I lost everything. Yeah, right. So if I don't own it as the owner, who will? I've got to want it more than my team, right? And I always say one of the things I tell coaches is I'm not gonna want it more than you. Right? So I if you show up and you don't do your homework, okay, what are you learning by not doing your homework? And at some point, and I've done this not a lot, but occasionally I may have to fire a coache. My assessment is you're not actually committed. I can't help you if you don't want to do the work. Quit wasting your money and saying, you know, it may feel great to say I've got a coach, but if you're not gonna do the work, you're wasting the money. So the coache has to want it more than the coach. But the beautiful thing is, I think with great coaches, if the coachy really wants it, the coach is right there with them going, Great, I'll I'm gonna give you everything I've got to help you get to that next level. But if you only want to get here, okay. I'm not gonna lose sleep over it.

SPEAKER_00 35:26

That's that's fair, right? Lead lead a horse to water, but can't make it drink, you know, kind of thing. So,

Where To Find Croft Online

SPEAKER_00 35:33

how do people learn more about you? Where's the best places to go on social media, connect with you, follow you, learn more?

SPEAKER_01 35:38

Yeah. Well, the good news is with a name like Croft, there's not a lot of us. So if you Google Croft Edwards, I'm pretty much the only one. My website is Croftand Company.com, the book website is liquidaccord.com, and then I'm on LinkedIn, Croft Edwards, and then I'm on X Croft Edwards, and those are the pretty much the places. But yeah, I'm I'm out there, just Google. I'm I'm number one for you search Croft Edwards, I'm number one, but that's not really saying much because you know two random words, and that'll be, you know, so yeah.

Final Challenge And Closing

SPEAKER_00 36:13

So I always end with the question of if you were in an audience, in front of an audience full of small business owners, different industries, different sizes of business, what's one thing that would be applicable to all of them? It could be a quote, a book, insight.

SPEAKER_01 36:29

It's just that you're you are the bottleneck of your entire business. Your business ability to grow is directly proportional to your ability to grow and be the leader that's gonna take it to that next level. Right. And even if I could be the greatest leader, it still doesn't mean the business bottle sound. But at the end of the day, the one thing that's gonna be the limit is the owner of the business. Because at some point, even if now, if I have lots of money and I can hire people to do it, great. But they're still gonna have to answer to me and I've got to want it more than they do. Because I've got to have the difficult conversation. So I always say this in coaching the most difficult people, person I ever have to coach or lead is myself. And I think that's applicable to every business owner. You, your biggest bottleneck and challenge is yourself.

SPEAKER_00 37:18

Yeah. Yeah, you got to practice. Start practicing.

SPEAKER_01 37:21

Gotta do the push-ups.

SPEAKER_00 37:23

Well, Croft, you've been a blessing to many today. I appreciate your time and wish you continued success. Thank you, Michael. My pleasure. Thanks for listening to Small Business Pivots. If you're ready to get unstuck and grow, schedule your free coaching session at michaeldmorrison.com. On social media, you can find and connect with me using the handle Michael D.Morrison OKC. And if today's episode helped you, subscribe and share it with other business owners. Until next week, keep pivoting.