Growth Through Scale, Culture, and Leadership

WEBVTT

1
00:00:05.200 --> 00:00:09.119
There are some people that make their
work just another thing they have to do,

2
00:00:09.560 --> 00:00:12.759
and there are those that make their
work something that they want to do.

3
00:00:13.519 --> 00:00:19.000
Welcome to Working on Purpose with your
host Elise Cortes. In our program,

4
00:00:19.039 --> 00:00:23.879
we provide guidance and inspiration from those
people who have found deeper meaning and

5
00:00:24.079 --> 00:00:29.039
personal connection to their work life.
It's beyond nine to five. It's working

6
00:00:29.120 --> 00:00:37.399
on Purpose. Now Here is your
host, Elise Cortes. Welcome back to

7
00:00:37.399 --> 00:00:40.119
the Working on Purpose Show. Thanks
for tuning in again this week. I'm

8
00:00:40.159 --> 00:00:43.119
your host, Alise Cortes. Join
you live from Dallas, Texas, which

9
00:00:43.159 --> 00:00:45.799
is home base for me. If
you've been tuning in for a while,

10
00:00:45.880 --> 00:00:49.200
then you know this program is all
about helping people create more meaningful and productive

11
00:00:49.240 --> 00:00:54.159
personal and work lives and equipping leaders, insight organizations to cultivate meaning and purpose.

12
00:00:54.159 --> 00:00:59.000
Elicit's passion inspired contribution, innovation,
and persevering performance. I talk with

13
00:00:59.039 --> 00:01:02.280
my guests to draw on their exit
pertise and share my own experience consulting,

14
00:01:02.320 --> 00:01:06.680
speaking and developing workforces across the globe. Every week. In these conversations,

15
00:01:06.760 --> 00:01:08.319
I hope you walk away with something
you can immediately put to use in your

16
00:01:08.319 --> 00:01:11.519
life and then you come alive with
the possibility of living with passion, working

17
00:01:11.560 --> 00:01:15.400
on purpose, and are inspired to
discover for yourself just how big and fulfilling

18
00:01:15.400 --> 00:01:19.879
your life, work and leadership can
be. And if you do catch fire

19
00:01:19.920 --> 00:01:22.439
from anything you hear, reach out
and tell me about it. Email me

20
00:01:22.560 --> 00:01:26.159
at Elise at elisecortes dot com or
use to contact Me feature on my website

21
00:01:26.200 --> 00:01:30.000
to message me and tell me how
I can help. Whether you want to

22
00:01:30.079 --> 00:01:33.599
join the distribution list to stay informed
these radio show topics, you want to

23
00:01:33.599 --> 00:01:37.879
see about doining a catch fire,
online inspiration, accountability or mastermind community.

24
00:01:38.319 --> 00:01:42.280
You want information on the purpose driven
leadership programs for individuals or companies offered on

25
00:01:42.359 --> 00:01:45.519
site or via webcast, or you
want to see about having me speak for

26
00:01:45.560 --> 00:01:48.959
your company or conference at any event. I'm glad we're connected and thank you

27
00:01:49.000 --> 00:01:53.920
for listening. Now onto this week's
program with us today is Jonathan Hirstkovitz.

28
00:01:53.120 --> 00:01:57.359
He is Heirstkovic. Excuse me.
He is the founder and CEO of SVOC

29
00:01:57.439 --> 00:02:02.159
Business Growth Advisors, consultancy that helps
its clients grow their businesses by gaining and

30
00:02:02.280 --> 00:02:07.319
understanding of their strategy, vision,
operations and culture. Prior to founding this

31
00:02:07.400 --> 00:02:12.840
organization. He was the president of
Imart Express for twenty two years and also

32
00:02:12.919 --> 00:02:16.280
the interim COO for City Event,
a multi unit that veterinary chain in Dallas.

33
00:02:16.800 --> 00:02:20.360
Today, we'll be talking about why
and how to scale and grow a

34
00:02:20.400 --> 00:02:23.199
business, how to leverage culture to
grow a business, and how strong and

35
00:02:23.240 --> 00:02:28.439
poor leadership reflects in the operations of
a business. Jonathan, welcome to Working

36
00:02:28.520 --> 00:02:32.159
on Purpose. Well, thank you
so much for having me honored to be

37
00:02:32.240 --> 00:02:37.800
here. Well, let's kick off
with one of my favorite subjects, and

38
00:02:37.840 --> 00:02:42.199
that's energy if we can, Jonathan, So, you know, I just

39
00:02:42.439 --> 00:02:46.439
I marvel at how we met.
Literally it was just a momentary exchange and

40
00:02:46.479 --> 00:02:51.759
an elevator. I was finishing a
a talk that I was giving and a

41
00:02:51.800 --> 00:02:54.479
building in downtown Dallas. You were
on your way out and we were both

42
00:02:54.599 --> 00:03:00.240
heading for the elevator and we literally
had just a short exchange, but just

43
00:03:00.400 --> 00:03:02.360
in that time period enough to figure
out we both wanted to know about each

44
00:03:02.360 --> 00:03:08.080
other's professional world. So, right, isn't that amazing? It totally is.

45
00:03:08.159 --> 00:03:12.479
And so you know, it goes
back to I think the purpose of

46
00:03:12.520 --> 00:03:20.039
your show. And we had chemistry
and I'm a huge guy on chemistry and

47
00:03:20.199 --> 00:03:23.439
fit and I use a lot of
that to hire people in order to scale

48
00:03:23.439 --> 00:03:27.319
and grow. And so you know, if you and I weren't on this

49
00:03:27.479 --> 00:03:31.520
radio show and we've met, you
know, off of it, we're going

50
00:03:31.560 --> 00:03:35.680
to be working together because we have
a connection. We have a chemistry,

51
00:03:35.719 --> 00:03:38.879
and that's where it starts. It
does. And I wanted what I want

52
00:03:38.879 --> 00:03:43.240
to recognize and appreciate and applaud and
really call out to our listeners is you

53
00:03:43.280 --> 00:03:45.599
know, we both had the good
sense to lean into that, right.

54
00:03:46.240 --> 00:03:47.479
We made sure that each of us
had our business card, and we follow

55
00:03:47.479 --> 00:03:51.080
it up and we had lunch and
talked about this and here we are and

56
00:03:51.560 --> 00:03:53.400
there's kismet in that, and I
just really want to celebrate that. And

57
00:03:53.479 --> 00:03:57.919
yes, we definitely had chemistry and
here we are. And when you told

58
00:03:57.960 --> 00:04:00.479
me what you what you were up
to in life, I thought that would

59
00:04:00.479 --> 00:04:03.000
really make for a great conversation on
working on purpose because I think there's so

60
00:04:03.039 --> 00:04:06.719
much of what you do that has
an intention on it lets people's purpose really

61
00:04:06.759 --> 00:04:11.680
come more alive and what they do
through their work. So I wanted to

62
00:04:11.680 --> 00:04:15.159
talk about three things on the show, Jonathan, scaling and growing the company,

63
00:04:15.639 --> 00:04:19.079
culture and leadership. But before we
do that it probably would help our

64
00:04:19.079 --> 00:04:23.120
listeners for them to understand a bit
more of your background and just how it

65
00:04:23.160 --> 00:04:25.560
is that you got into this space
and what it is that you bring.

66
00:04:25.600 --> 00:04:30.120
So can you briefly sketch your long
background for us? I will. I

67
00:04:30.240 --> 00:04:33.680
happen to have an opportunity to be
the president of the business school back when

68
00:04:33.720 --> 00:04:38.839
I was in college and Pearl Vision, which is a national optical chain.

69
00:04:39.279 --> 00:04:43.040
Soone I knew who had graduated put
a letter in there and that said come

70
00:04:43.120 --> 00:04:46.879
visit and interview with Pearl and I
was going to set the world on fire.

71
00:04:47.360 --> 00:04:50.439
Why would I sell glasses? It
made no sense to me, but

72
00:04:50.480 --> 00:04:56.319
I still went and took the interview
and was with Pearl Visions for about two

73
00:04:56.399 --> 00:05:00.800
or three years. And with all
due respect to Pearl, they did teach

74
00:05:00.839 --> 00:05:02.879
me everything not to do in business
during the years that I was there,

75
00:05:03.480 --> 00:05:09.639
and I took that knowledge and through
my networking and chemistry with people that I

76
00:05:09.720 --> 00:05:13.680
met at Pearl, they told me
to go ahead and talk to their head

77
00:05:13.720 --> 00:05:19.000
operator who had started a company for
a doctor who resides in Dallas. It

78
00:05:19.120 --> 00:05:24.279
was an optical chain, and I
met with this gentleman and we talked for

79
00:05:24.399 --> 00:05:28.600
three hours, there was again I'm
going back to chemistry, and he really

80
00:05:28.639 --> 00:05:30.680
said back then, I don't know
what you're going to do for us,

81
00:05:30.720 --> 00:05:31.959
but you want to work here.
And at the time I said I need

82
00:05:31.959 --> 00:05:36.639
to eat. I said absolutely.
Now to make it very brief, unfortunately,

83
00:05:36.639 --> 00:05:41.680
the gentleman that did hire me,
who was the operator of the company,

84
00:05:41.920 --> 00:05:46.160
suddenly passed away in thirteen weeks,
and the owner of the company,

85
00:05:46.199 --> 00:05:48.079
doctor Barnes, came in and said, you know, let's see where this

86
00:05:48.160 --> 00:05:53.199
goes. And it went for me
another twenty two year, another twenty one

87
00:05:53.279 --> 00:05:59.120
years, I said, the company
twenty two years, and through that process

88
00:05:59.759 --> 00:06:04.920
always fired myself. I wanted to
achieve. I wanted to make my name

89
00:06:04.959 --> 00:06:11.040
in business. I wanted to motivate, affect people, and so I was

90
00:06:11.079 --> 00:06:15.720
given the opportunity to be in advertising
and marketing, and then I hired my

91
00:06:15.759 --> 00:06:19.600
replacement, and then I went into
real estate, hired my replacement operations,

92
00:06:20.079 --> 00:06:26.319
and then finally president for my last
five years. Ultimately, I was part

93
00:06:26.360 --> 00:06:32.759
of a team that helped scale and
grow an optical chain to one hundred and

94
00:06:32.759 --> 00:06:38.439
sixty eight units, which made it
the eighth largest in the United States,

95
00:06:38.600 --> 00:06:46.680
and subsequently the valuations, and the
optical business got very frothy in twenty thirteen

96
00:06:46.959 --> 00:06:50.439
and the owner, doctor Barnes,
decided to sell. And in that transition,

97
00:06:50.600 --> 00:06:58.079
I went ahead and resigned and started
focusing my attention on using that same

98
00:06:58.279 --> 00:07:03.879
exact experience, surrounding myself with best
in class people to create a culture.

99
00:07:04.240 --> 00:07:12.639
And I'm now the founder of SVOC
Strategy, Vision Operations and Culture Business Growth

100
00:07:12.639 --> 00:07:17.839
Advisors, and we provide operational expertise
and capital for companies to scale and grow.

101
00:07:19.839 --> 00:07:24.839
Awesome, awesome, awesome. I
know that's a whole lot to summarize

102
00:07:24.879 --> 00:07:27.519
in just a few short surces,
so thank you for that. That was

103
00:07:27.560 --> 00:07:30.480
great. Okay, so let's get
into the whost scaling and growing. But

104
00:07:30.600 --> 00:07:33.439
before we get into that, let's
get a common language here. Some of

105
00:07:33.439 --> 00:07:36.240
the people listening to the show maybe
haven't really heard a lot of that language.

106
00:07:36.240 --> 00:07:41.160
So first, what do you mean
by scaling and growing? You know,

107
00:07:42.160 --> 00:07:50.319
scaling to me means growing the business, growing more units, more I

108
00:07:50.480 --> 00:07:58.639
care centers, more pet centers,
pet centers. And the growing part to

109
00:07:58.720 --> 00:08:05.920
me is really about the people process
and the infrastructure that ultimately leads into you

110
00:08:05.959 --> 00:08:11.000
know, profits, cash flow,
and valuation. So it's growing the business

111
00:08:11.000 --> 00:08:15.959
and growing the people within it.
Okay, And what are some of the

112
00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:18.800
reasons that an organization might want to
scale and grow? And if I just

113
00:08:18.839 --> 00:08:22.920
step back for a second, I
think about what I'm doing my own operation.

114
00:08:22.120 --> 00:08:26.040
Obviously, I want to matter to
more people across the globe, so

115
00:08:26.120 --> 00:08:30.160
that would be a big reason,
a big drive for me to want to

116
00:08:30.199 --> 00:08:31.960
scale and grow. But what for
other organizations, why would they want to

117
00:08:31.960 --> 00:08:39.000
scale and grow? Well, you
know, I once heard Ray Kroc a

118
00:08:39.080 --> 00:08:41.840
quote that he had said, and
Ray Kroc was the founder of McDonald's,

119
00:08:43.240 --> 00:08:46.720
and he said, if you're not
growing, you're dying. And so a

120
00:08:46.720 --> 00:08:56.879
lot of organizations, I feel founders, entrepreneurs are geniuses and everybody wants to

121
00:08:56.000 --> 00:09:03.600
accumulate wealth. They want to change
people lives in the products or their services

122
00:09:03.639 --> 00:09:09.360
that they offer. And a lot
of organizations they want to grow, but

123
00:09:09.399 --> 00:09:13.879
they only can grow so much.
Uh. And in order to go to

124
00:09:13.919 --> 00:09:18.200
the next stages, they've got to
be able to be accepting of change.

125
00:09:18.279 --> 00:09:22.720
But to really answer your question,
a lot of organizations want to scale and

126
00:09:22.720 --> 00:09:28.720
grow because they, like you,
want to They want the world to see

127
00:09:28.720 --> 00:09:33.159
what they're doing or what they're offering. Mm hmmmm, no question about it,

128
00:09:33.279 --> 00:09:35.320
right. And you know, it's
interesting. I go back to what

129
00:09:35.360 --> 00:09:41.480
you said about if you're not growing, you're probably dying. And I just

130
00:09:41.559 --> 00:09:45.440
immediately got present to a couple of
people that I've had the chance to speak

131
00:09:45.440 --> 00:09:48.320
with lately who are very much in
that place. They were running and gunning

132
00:09:48.360 --> 00:09:50.480
for many, many years, and
all of a sudden, they're like almost

133
00:09:50.480 --> 00:09:54.679
in free fall. And I don't
know if that's you know, really just

134
00:09:54.919 --> 00:09:58.519
we stopped putting, you know,
pressure on the gas pedal or what.

135
00:09:58.639 --> 00:10:03.639
But what are some of the things
that companies do wrong when they try to

136
00:10:03.679 --> 00:10:07.919
scale and grow. Well, a
lot of times, you know, companies

137
00:10:07.960 --> 00:10:13.200
that get over there, they get
over their skis, and so growing for

138
00:10:13.240 --> 00:10:18.200
the sake of growth is not healthy. You have to make sure that your

139
00:10:18.240 --> 00:10:24.639
structure, your infrastructure, your people
are ready to take on growth. Because

140
00:10:24.000 --> 00:10:30.159
to me, whether you grow from
some whether it's a revenue number or a

141
00:10:30.200 --> 00:10:33.159
store account number, it's a percentage. So if you have a thousand stores

142
00:10:33.559 --> 00:10:37.480
and you add one hundred and ten
percent, well, if you have ten

143
00:10:37.519 --> 00:10:41.360
stores in add one, it's one
store, it's still ten percent. It's

144
00:10:41.399 --> 00:10:46.440
still an exponential growth experience. For
both companies, and so a lot of

145
00:10:46.519 --> 00:10:50.919
times, most of the times my
clients, like I said, get out

146
00:10:50.960 --> 00:10:56.679
over their skis. They just want
to grow and then they play catch up.

147
00:10:56.720 --> 00:11:00.639
I always say, it's the it's
the snake that's swallow the rabbit,

148
00:11:01.240 --> 00:11:07.519
and so being able to digest that
growth and then you know, after that

149
00:11:07.240 --> 00:11:13.600
move forward and so help that answered
your question, and yeah, a lot

150
00:11:13.600 --> 00:11:16.840
of right. But some of the
things they do wrong is they they say,

151
00:11:16.879 --> 00:11:20.320
okay, we've been so successful,
surely we can grow the company twenty

152
00:11:20.399 --> 00:11:26.960
and thirty percent. But a lot
of times that twenty or thirty percent takes

153
00:11:26.039 --> 00:11:37.600
a different organization structure, training,
sometimes the people within the organization. A

154
00:11:37.639 --> 00:11:39.399
lot of the listeners might not have
heard this, but they reached the Peter

155
00:11:39.480 --> 00:11:43.799
principle, which is, where as
good as our the last job we have,

156
00:11:43.879 --> 00:11:50.720
we almost the company outgrows us.
And so that happens with a lot

157
00:11:50.720 --> 00:11:54.480
of organizations. And the key to
not having that happen is just keep training

158
00:11:54.519 --> 00:12:01.120
your people, just really quick.
Just on the topic of doing things,

159
00:12:01.159 --> 00:12:03.919
maybe not the best way. I
think about this and wonder if this really

160
00:12:03.960 --> 00:12:09.120
does happen, or how often this
happens, Where you hear you see it

161
00:12:09.159 --> 00:12:13.399
on you know TV shows or the
movies where they some kind of crazy marketing

162
00:12:13.080 --> 00:12:16.120
scheme actually works and all of a
sudden they're flooded with orders and they can

163
00:12:16.279 --> 00:12:22.200
actually process them. Just how often
does that happen? It happens. I

164
00:12:22.279 --> 00:12:30.720
just got a call the other day
and the entrepreneur said, yeah, sure,

165
00:12:31.000 --> 00:12:33.279
we can do that contract. And
then you know, walked away and

166
00:12:33.320 --> 00:12:39.720
said, oh my gosh, oh
going to make that happen? What have

167
00:12:39.840 --> 00:12:43.240
I done? And I'll give you
a real world experience. Everyone can relate

168
00:12:43.279 --> 00:12:48.399
to it. But there was the
speaker I heard once. She's brilliant.

169
00:12:48.519 --> 00:12:54.240
She was with school with Zuckerberger,
and she created a paper and this paper,

170
00:12:54.279 --> 00:12:58.360
when you put in refrigerator next to
vegetables, makes your vegetables last longer,

171
00:13:00.039 --> 00:13:03.519
long story short. She sold it
on the streets and the farmers' markets

172
00:13:03.559 --> 00:13:05.559
and then got in front of Whole
Foods, and Whole food said, we'd

173
00:13:05.600 --> 00:13:09.360
love to work with you. How
about like the southwestern region? And she

174
00:13:09.480 --> 00:13:16.600
said absolutely, And so her and
her large company of two other people sat

175
00:13:16.720 --> 00:13:20.240
in their home in her apartment for
like seventy two hours making the paper,

176
00:13:20.440 --> 00:13:26.159
and she delivered it. I think
it was in her Toyota Celica and it

177
00:13:26.240 --> 00:13:33.080
was to the roof of the car. So that's a success story. Unfortunately,

178
00:13:33.639 --> 00:13:39.440
some people get orders that they that
they can't process. Unfortunately. Yeah,

179
00:13:39.480 --> 00:13:43.200
then they burned a reputation in the
client relationship, et cetera. So

180
00:13:43.159 --> 00:13:48.000
yeah, okay, So then on
the other side of that, then help

181
00:13:48.120 --> 00:13:50.879
us get present to some best practices
or considerations. And when we do want

182
00:13:50.919 --> 00:13:54.759
to scale and grow, how do
we do it right? Well, you

183
00:13:54.799 --> 00:13:58.559
know, it's kind of what we've
been talking about, and I'm going to

184
00:13:58.600 --> 00:14:01.399
start off with what I think is
the most important thing, and it's people.

185
00:14:01.440 --> 00:14:05.480
People, people, And so you
give me a team and we'll figure

186
00:14:05.519 --> 00:14:11.200
it out some way. But you
know, you've got to have your people

187
00:14:11.240 --> 00:14:18.200
that are adaptable, that can go
with change, hard working. You know,

188
00:14:18.759 --> 00:14:22.799
you've got to make sure your culture
sounds which I know you're all about,

189
00:14:24.279 --> 00:14:28.919
be able to exchange ideas and so
you know, you've got to make

190
00:14:28.960 --> 00:14:33.519
sure that your if you have a
large enough company, whether it's your HR,

191
00:14:33.799 --> 00:14:39.200
your finance, your operations, your
product development, then it's what I

192
00:14:39.279 --> 00:14:41.960
say, like a car, whether
you've got a four, six or eight

193
00:14:41.039 --> 00:14:48.519
cylinder, that all the cylinders are
humming, and so best practices are people

194
00:14:48.679 --> 00:14:54.799
operations, which is processes. That's
really it, okay, And of course

195
00:14:54.799 --> 00:15:00.240
your product were so the product we're
saying, just for clarification, we're saying,

196
00:15:00.240 --> 00:15:03.759
whatever you're selling works, and you've
got you know, of course and

197
00:15:03.840 --> 00:15:05.440
may or may not, but you
know you've got a product that sells,

198
00:15:05.480 --> 00:15:11.320
You've got distribution, you've got that
you can create it. So all those

199
00:15:11.320 --> 00:15:16.399
things have to work in order for
the organization to work. Yeah, and

200
00:15:16.440 --> 00:15:18.120
I can certainly envision, like I
just have it in my mind that I

201
00:15:18.159 --> 00:15:20.799
can imagine. You know, we've
got all these great processes. The sales

202
00:15:20.799 --> 00:15:24.879
are out their home and the salespeople
are just killing it and they bring it

203
00:15:24.879 --> 00:15:28.440
in all kinds of orders. But
maybe part of the process or the software

204
00:15:28.440 --> 00:15:33.480
that accepts those orders as are really
slow or really clunky, and you know

205
00:15:33.519 --> 00:15:35.519
it takes three days to spit out
in order that maybe they needed to spit

206
00:15:35.559 --> 00:15:39.360
it out in you know, thirty
minutes or whatever. I can I'm so

207
00:15:39.559 --> 00:15:45.480
imagine those different places in along the
chain that if they are not in sync,

208
00:15:45.519 --> 00:15:50.279
would totally upset the cart. Well, like yeah, like you said,

209
00:15:50.360 --> 00:15:52.159
that goes with anything. I mean, you open up a hospital,

210
00:15:52.639 --> 00:16:00.399
a medical clinic, a vet clinic, an optical retail online. I mean,

211
00:16:00.440 --> 00:16:04.799
if you go online and all of
a sudden your orders start dinging and

212
00:16:04.879 --> 00:16:10.720
dinging and dinging, it could be
the start of something very very beautiful,

213
00:16:11.200 --> 00:16:15.519
or it could be the end of
something very very quickly. But no one's

214
00:16:15.600 --> 00:16:19.000
perfect, and the reality of it
is, your systems will not be up

215
00:16:19.039 --> 00:16:23.320
to par, your product will not
always you know, have noth inventory.

216
00:16:23.399 --> 00:16:30.919
It's just making sure that you've got
people that can adapt change, and if

217
00:16:30.960 --> 00:16:33.519
you do get a lot of those
that business, you're able to service at

218
00:16:33.559 --> 00:16:37.519
the best you can. You know. I just just got president and reminded

219
00:16:37.519 --> 00:16:41.279
to myself of something, Jonathan.
I remember years ago I met these two

220
00:16:41.360 --> 00:16:45.519
really successful ladies here in Dallas where
I live, and I forget what kind

221
00:16:45.519 --> 00:16:47.399
of business they have, but it
was just the two of them that ran

222
00:16:47.480 --> 00:16:49.720
it. And I said something about
how they got business, and they looked

223
00:16:49.720 --> 00:16:52.320
at me strangely and they said,
oh, my gosh, you have no

224
00:16:52.399 --> 00:16:56.039
idea. We cringe when the phone
rings. We're afraid people more people were

225
00:16:56.080 --> 00:17:00.279
going to call us. We can't
handle any more business. And I remember

226
00:17:00.279 --> 00:17:03.279
thinking to myself, what a problem
to have. But now I really recognize

227
00:17:03.319 --> 00:17:08.319
through this conversational lens that they were
certainly not able to scale. And now

228
00:17:08.359 --> 00:17:12.559
I understand that. You know,
it makes I see that now and just

229
00:17:12.559 --> 00:17:18.960
you're bringing it right back for me. Yeah, and you know that word

230
00:17:18.079 --> 00:17:23.039
cringe, I understand it. To
me, it's a challenge. You know

231
00:17:23.079 --> 00:17:30.160
when you cringe your that that response
might be we might actually tank this thing.

232
00:17:30.759 --> 00:17:34.519
To me, it's exciting. We're
going to push ourselves further than we've

233
00:17:34.559 --> 00:17:38.759
ever pushed ourselves. And to me, that's where you rally the team and

234
00:17:38.799 --> 00:17:45.240
say, yeah, we're inundated at
the door online with the phone. How

235
00:17:45.279 --> 00:17:49.720
cool that? Yeah, I like
that problem too. And on that high

236
00:17:49.799 --> 00:17:52.759
note, let's grab our first break, Jonathan, I'm your host, Alis

237
00:17:52.839 --> 00:17:59.359
Cortez. We don't know you have
John Hirskovic of s SBOC Business Growth Advisors

238
00:17:59.640 --> 00:18:02.759
you to do from Dallas. We've
been talking about how to scale and grow

239
00:18:02.759 --> 00:18:04.839
a company after the RK. We're
going to get into into culture and its

240
00:18:04.839 --> 00:18:07.920
effect on top line and bottom line
results. Stay with us, We'll be

241
00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:33.599
right back. Alise Cortes is a
speaker and engagement and development catalyst. She

242
00:18:33.720 --> 00:18:38.680
designs and delivers professional development leadership and
engagement workshops and can bring her expertise to

243
00:18:38.759 --> 00:18:44.759
your organization. She will help ignite
meaningful development within your workforce that will increase

244
00:18:44.839 --> 00:18:48.559
employee engagement, performance and retention.
To learn more or to invite Elise to

245
00:18:48.599 --> 00:18:55.319
speak to your organization, please visit
her at www dot Elisecortes dot com.

246
00:18:55.359 --> 00:19:04.279
She would welcome the opportunity to help
get your employees working on purpose. This

247
00:19:04.640 --> 00:19:10.599
is working on Purpose with Elise Cortes. To reach our program today, send

248
00:19:10.599 --> 00:19:17.319
an email to a lease Alise at
a lascortes dot com. Now back to

249
00:19:17.519 --> 00:19:22.200
working on purpose. Well, thanks
for staying with us and welcome back to

250
00:19:22.240 --> 00:19:26.000
working on purpose if you're just joining
us. My guest is Jonathan Herskovic of

251
00:19:26.200 --> 00:19:32.160
SVOC Business Growth Advisors. Prior to
founding this organization, he was the president

252
00:19:32.200 --> 00:19:34.680
of imart Express for twenty two years
and the interim COO for City Vet and

253
00:19:34.799 --> 00:19:40.680
Multi Unit Veterinari Chain in Dallas.
I'm your host, Alise Cortes. So

254
00:19:40.920 --> 00:19:44.599
our next subject that I wanted to
talk about here and just extract what I

255
00:19:44.640 --> 00:19:47.319
can from that mind of yours,
Jonathan, is culture. It's such an

256
00:19:47.359 --> 00:19:52.039
important part of business and an organization
and so wildly misunderstood, and I think

257
00:19:52.119 --> 00:19:57.240
miss misutilized, under leveraged for sure. So when I think about culture,

258
00:19:57.240 --> 00:20:00.279
in fact, I'm doing some work
right now with today here in Dallas on

259
00:20:00.359 --> 00:20:04.319
culture. You know, thinking about
it, it's really like the heartbeat of

260
00:20:04.359 --> 00:20:08.079
the organization. And I've heard it
said many times and I tend to agree

261
00:20:08.119 --> 00:20:14.079
that it eats strategy for breakfast.
So why do you think so many companies

262
00:20:14.200 --> 00:20:18.440
don't understand their organization's culture or they
can't articulate it. What's up with that?

263
00:20:19.599 --> 00:20:27.240
I think a lot of organizations are
complicated, They really complicated. They

264
00:20:27.400 --> 00:20:32.799
try to analyze it and overanalyze it. And to me, it's just all

265
00:20:32.839 --> 00:20:37.880
about the spirit of the Golden Rule. It's just respect. It's about respecting

266
00:20:37.960 --> 00:20:44.960
people. It's about trust, communication, being honest and open, doing your

267
00:20:44.960 --> 00:20:51.519
best, making mistakes, but correcting
those mistakes and don't doing them again,

268
00:20:51.599 --> 00:20:56.359
and don't do them again. I
just think a lot of organizations try to

269
00:20:56.400 --> 00:21:03.519
make it lofty, when to me, culture is just about a bunch of

270
00:21:03.880 --> 00:21:11.680
ordinary people getting together to do extraordinary
things well where it gets interesting and even

271
00:21:11.720 --> 00:21:15.400
like I said that, the project
I'm working on right now is the reason

272
00:21:15.440 --> 00:21:18.960
we're working on culture. There is
a reason, and there wouldn't be spending

273
00:21:18.000 --> 00:21:22.599
money if there wasn't something to do
with this. But first, why do

274
00:21:22.680 --> 00:21:27.480
you think it's just so important in
terms of the organization's health and sustainability to

275
00:21:27.640 --> 00:21:41.039
address or manage culture well. To
me, culture it translates into the health

276
00:21:41.240 --> 00:21:48.279
of the organization in the sense that
it does increase top line efficiencies, bottom

277
00:21:48.279 --> 00:21:56.359
line cash low, and valuation because
culture, you have to have a positive

278
00:21:56.759 --> 00:22:06.799
culture, and you'll always outdo your
competitor if you do. And I've actually

279
00:22:06.839 --> 00:22:15.440
seen that in multi unit organizations where
I can look at the data where you

280
00:22:15.480 --> 00:22:21.759
should be able to look at the
data and really the businesses within the portfolio

281
00:22:21.880 --> 00:22:26.119
that are outperformed the others, they
usually the ones who are executing the culture

282
00:22:26.160 --> 00:22:33.400
that the organization is defined. MH. So, for our listeners who maybe

283
00:22:33.480 --> 00:22:36.880
are listening to this going gosh,
this sounds really squishy, I want to

284
00:22:36.960 --> 00:22:40.680
just share a little bit about my
perspective on culture and add to what we've

285
00:22:40.680 --> 00:22:45.519
been talking about here in that you
know, culture is really like the unwritten

286
00:22:45.279 --> 00:22:49.519
set of rules and regulations that happen
or govern an organization, right, That's

287
00:22:49.599 --> 00:22:55.319
really what people have learned to do
and say and believe in order to be

288
00:22:55.440 --> 00:22:57.519
rewarded and to keep their jobs.
I mean that's really what in my mind,

289
00:22:57.559 --> 00:23:03.640
what culture is. The opportunity is
to really get really clear about what

290
00:23:03.759 --> 00:23:07.200
is what culture are we operating in? In other words, bringing it to

291
00:23:07.240 --> 00:23:10.799
a conscious level where you can start
to say, oh, okay, so

292
00:23:11.519 --> 00:23:14.119
you know, if we start to
notice that people aren't speaking at the meetings

293
00:23:14.119 --> 00:23:17.799
because they're worried that that's going to
get them fired, is that something that

294
00:23:17.839 --> 00:23:21.160
we really want to continue. It's
part of our culture, but is it

295
00:23:21.240 --> 00:23:25.079
working for us? So you know, those are the kind of things that

296
00:23:25.119 --> 00:23:27.680
I find really interesting when I'm working
on culture with organizations to just like everything

297
00:23:27.720 --> 00:23:30.119
else in life, right, bringing
it to a conscious level so you can

298
00:23:30.160 --> 00:23:34.079
intervene and change it or redirect it
if you want to. So to that

299
00:23:34.279 --> 00:23:38.480
end, Jonathan, I was so
intrigued when you talked about part of what

300
00:23:38.519 --> 00:23:42.799
you do is to help increase top
line growth through culture. What do you

301
00:23:42.880 --> 00:23:48.880
mean by that and how do you
do that? Well? You know,

302
00:23:48.960 --> 00:23:53.640
to me, a culture is engagement. And so if you just look at

303
00:23:53.759 --> 00:24:00.440
Chick fil A or you look at
Starbucks, I mean those are pretty fecial

304
00:24:00.519 --> 00:24:07.880
companies and they just sell chicken and
they just sell coffee. And so you

305
00:24:07.920 --> 00:24:11.920
know, you can feel it when
you go into these organizations, when you

306
00:24:11.960 --> 00:24:17.119
go into Starbucks, when you go
into Chick fil A, you can feel

307
00:24:17.160 --> 00:24:22.440
it. And when people are engaged
and happy and know where they fit in

308
00:24:22.519 --> 00:24:29.599
the culture and that they know what
behaviors that the culture is about, that

309
00:24:29.680 --> 00:24:36.240
translates to the consumer. Whether you're
selling a product, a service, healthcare,

310
00:24:37.759 --> 00:24:42.680
it truly, to me is the
differentiator. And I want to share

311
00:24:42.720 --> 00:24:48.440
a story with you. I was
with a very, very large equity firm

312
00:24:48.480 --> 00:24:52.720
in the country which I will not
name, and we had an incredible culture

313
00:24:52.759 --> 00:25:00.480
and an incredible profit percentage. And
the person said to me, how was

314
00:25:00.519 --> 00:25:06.559
your profit percentage larger than other companies
that we're familiar with? And I got

315
00:25:06.599 --> 00:25:10.480
real quiet, and I thought about
it not too long, and I said,

316
00:25:10.480 --> 00:25:15.920
because of the people and the culture. And there was a little disconnect

317
00:25:15.960 --> 00:25:22.599
in the room. And so what
happens is when you have engaged people surrounding

318
00:25:22.920 --> 00:25:30.079
a culture, promoting a culture that
translates to the consumer, and that consumer

319
00:25:30.160 --> 00:25:36.519
shares their experience with other people and
it brings more business to you. It

320
00:25:36.680 --> 00:25:45.319
directly affects your bottom line top line. I totally see that, and I

321
00:25:45.359 --> 00:25:51.519
certainly am a frequenter of Starbucks occasionally
at Chick fil A. And you're right,

322
00:25:52.119 --> 00:25:55.079
when you walk in, you know
that you're connected and part of something.

323
00:25:55.119 --> 00:25:57.359
You're like drawn in if you will. And I completely appreciate that.

324
00:25:57.400 --> 00:26:00.759
And yes, it does translate.
I keep going back. I mean I

325
00:26:00.799 --> 00:26:03.680
can tell you that. For me, just every time I go into a

326
00:26:03.720 --> 00:26:07.039
Starbucks, I feel like they actually
really do want to know. What's your

327
00:26:07.079 --> 00:26:10.400
name? How do you spell that? Who cares? Just give you my

328
00:26:10.400 --> 00:26:11.680
coffee? No? Wait, how
do you spell your name? Right?

329
00:26:11.759 --> 00:26:15.720
It matters? And so I get
that translation and it does, It does

330
00:26:15.759 --> 00:26:21.839
show up, and you I what
I find infinitely fascinating it and frankly delightful

331
00:26:21.839 --> 00:26:25.839
because I get to affect it with
my work is how we can address that

332
00:26:25.920 --> 00:26:30.240
and improve it. So can you
give us a story of, maybe of

333
00:26:30.279 --> 00:26:33.440
how you work with an organization and
you've helped them with their culture, how

334
00:26:33.440 --> 00:26:37.640
it's made a difference, and obviously
keep them keep them anonymous. We don't

335
00:26:37.640 --> 00:26:40.279
want it, We don't want to
give away their identity. But tell us

336
00:26:40.279 --> 00:26:47.119
another story. Yeah, So I
went into an organization. And so you

337
00:26:47.119 --> 00:26:52.559
know, if you had a triangle
where the point is at the top a

338
00:26:52.599 --> 00:26:57.799
lot of organizations, that's where your
management is, your CEO and department heads,

339
00:26:57.839 --> 00:27:02.000
and then everybody else is at the
bottom. Well, to me,

340
00:27:03.599 --> 00:27:10.480
I went into an organization and I
flipped that triangle and the home office is

341
00:27:10.559 --> 00:27:14.720
really or the corporate office is really
just a call center for the field.

342
00:27:15.039 --> 00:27:25.359
And in doing so, we created
a servient leadership culture where the people that

343
00:27:25.400 --> 00:27:32.240
were actually on the front lines they
got they got the title of CEO or

344
00:27:32.319 --> 00:27:37.440
president or department head because truly they
are what matters. And when I built

345
00:27:37.759 --> 00:27:42.680
and I took them through that process
of change in their culture, it resulted

346
00:27:42.880 --> 00:27:49.079
in close to a ten percent comp
comparative revenue increase from the year prior.

347
00:27:51.400 --> 00:27:56.279
That's awesome. And can I can
only imagine the difference in those frontline people

348
00:27:56.319 --> 00:28:00.279
that before and after must have been
incredible. Can you present a little that

349
00:28:00.680 --> 00:28:03.319
for us? What was like?
Yeah? Before and after? Yeah?

350
00:28:03.359 --> 00:28:07.880
I think that's an incredible question.
And truly, to me, the heart

351
00:28:08.000 --> 00:28:12.359
of leadership, the heart of culture
right now, is that people want to

352
00:28:12.359 --> 00:28:17.799
know where they fit. You know, thirty years ago, you could walk

353
00:28:17.839 --> 00:28:19.880
into a company twenty years ago and
it's just like, I need you to

354
00:28:19.920 --> 00:28:22.759
do this? Will you do it? And people go, yeah, Now

355
00:28:22.839 --> 00:28:26.119
people want to know why. I
want to know why are we doing what

356
00:28:26.160 --> 00:28:32.400
we're doing, who is it affecting? And how am I a part because

357
00:28:32.440 --> 00:28:37.960
we're part of a community now where
a team or a community, and it

358
00:28:37.680 --> 00:28:47.720
really elevated their purpose, their mission, and their focus on the customer that

359
00:28:47.839 --> 00:28:52.880
was receiving their service or their product. I got that. I can just

360
00:28:52.960 --> 00:28:55.519
so see it, and because I
do know it for that work myself.

361
00:28:55.599 --> 00:28:57.720
And it's just, you know what
a difference it makes to come to work

362
00:28:57.759 --> 00:29:02.440
with the why in yourself. I
mean, it's just it really makes all

363
00:29:02.480 --> 00:29:04.200
the difference in the world. And
then to be supported by leadership who says,

364
00:29:04.240 --> 00:29:07.799
hey, let me see what I
can clear out of your way so

365
00:29:07.880 --> 00:29:11.559
you can be more successful, you
can do more and feel more fulfilled in

366
00:29:11.640 --> 00:29:14.680
your work. I mean. And
in terms of that servant kind of a

367
00:29:14.759 --> 00:29:18.440
leadership model, what an incredible flip
that must have been. What I find

368
00:29:18.480 --> 00:29:21.559
fascinating in your story, Jonathan,
is how in the world that you convinced

369
00:29:21.559 --> 00:29:25.720
these people to accept this huge move. That's it. That's a radical change.

370
00:29:25.759 --> 00:29:30.279
For them. That's a great question, or that's a great statement,

371
00:29:30.759 --> 00:29:36.279
and I guess it. I would
say it has to do with telling my

372
00:29:36.359 --> 00:29:44.160
story and being able to experience building
one of the largest optical chains in the

373
00:29:44.240 --> 00:29:48.960
United States based on those principles,
and that's what I do now. I

374
00:29:48.000 --> 00:29:56.759
share the successes we had as well
as failures, so that companies can try

375
00:29:56.839 --> 00:30:00.799
these these things out. There's no
gear and keys, but I'm pretty confident

376
00:30:00.839 --> 00:30:07.039
in them. And it's a process, and everybody wants to do good.

377
00:30:07.119 --> 00:30:11.880
Nobody wakes up and says, I'm
going to walk into Starbucks today where I

378
00:30:11.000 --> 00:30:15.519
work, I'm going to make a
really bad cup of coffee because that's what

379
00:30:15.599 --> 00:30:22.640
I do. And so people want
to do good and as business owners or

380
00:30:22.720 --> 00:30:29.319
management leadership, make them feel good
about doing it and it translates through your

381
00:30:29.319 --> 00:30:33.160
whole organization. Yeah, no question
about that. I totally get that.

382
00:30:33.680 --> 00:30:37.119
Well, then on the other side
of that coin, again, I like

383
00:30:37.160 --> 00:30:38.759
to be able to get our listeners
to be kind of get into this stuff

384
00:30:38.759 --> 00:30:42.200
and start trying it on for themselves. What are some of some of the

385
00:30:42.279 --> 00:30:47.279
signs or symptoms maybe that an organization
might have a problem with culture? What

386
00:30:47.880 --> 00:30:52.480
would be present for them. You
know, it's a lot of it is

387
00:30:52.480 --> 00:30:57.359
in the way they speak to each
other, the body language they have,

388
00:30:57.759 --> 00:31:03.279
their communication or lack thereof, style
of their emails, or how they communicate.

389
00:31:06.200 --> 00:31:10.720
You know, whether or not the
organization is an open book, whether

390
00:31:10.720 --> 00:31:14.480
they keep things secretive, whether doors
are being shut all the time. I'm

391
00:31:14.519 --> 00:31:22.359
an open door concept guy. If
they speak poorly about their customers, I've

392
00:31:22.400 --> 00:31:26.200
heard that everyone's just like, I
can't believe these customers, And to me,

393
00:31:26.279 --> 00:31:32.759
it's they're the only reason we're here. So I really promote never speaking

394
00:31:32.839 --> 00:31:36.839
poorly about a customer. They're the
reason we exist. And then you know,

395
00:31:36.880 --> 00:31:41.400
the other thing is if they complain
about management. You know, we're

396
00:31:41.680 --> 00:31:42.960
like, I get again. No
one walks in and says, you know,

397
00:31:44.480 --> 00:31:47.559
I work at Starbucks and I'm only
going to poorly manage everyone today.

398
00:31:47.799 --> 00:31:52.720
We're all just people, and so
some of those signs are just the complainers

399
00:31:52.720 --> 00:31:56.559
and just you can you can feel
it in an organization, you can see

400
00:31:56.559 --> 00:32:00.960
it, you know. I would
add one more thing to that as I

401
00:32:01.039 --> 00:32:05.720
was listening to you talk that for
me, as a prime indicator, there's

402
00:32:05.759 --> 00:32:08.880
something wrong with culture, and that
is if people are governed by fear if

403
00:32:08.880 --> 00:32:12.960
they're afraid to speak up, they're
afraid to tell the boss there are new

404
00:32:13.000 --> 00:32:16.119
ideas. They're you know, afraid
they can't be honest about taking off a

405
00:32:16.160 --> 00:32:20.160
little bit of time from work.
To me, that's a real problem,

406
00:32:20.160 --> 00:32:23.480
a real indication of a problem with
culture. I have to share a story

407
00:32:23.519 --> 00:32:28.759
with you if im a please.
I have a client and they said,

408
00:32:29.039 --> 00:32:35.279
we can't accomplish these objectives. And
I said really, and they said,

409
00:32:35.359 --> 00:32:38.200
yeah, the only way we do
it is we punish people. And I

410
00:32:38.319 --> 00:32:43.640
said, I've worked in communist China
before. I've actually been over to China

411
00:32:43.680 --> 00:32:47.960
before than by communists felt like,
and I said, how would we be

412
00:32:49.000 --> 00:32:52.480
punishing these people? And so to
your point, I agree with you,

413
00:32:52.799 --> 00:32:59.200
that's the culture when you have to
use punish, that's a culture that needs

414
00:32:59.519 --> 00:33:04.359
needs to be worked on immediately before
any scaling, before any growth. M

415
00:33:04.559 --> 00:33:08.400
hm. So I know exactly what
you speak about, and it resonates with

416
00:33:08.480 --> 00:33:12.880
me highly. Yeah, I'm sure
there's a few listeners going cringing to use

417
00:33:12.920 --> 00:33:15.720
her other word, going, I
know exactly what you two are talking about.

418
00:33:15.720 --> 00:33:20.720
I experience it. Call us if
that's the case, listeners, All

419
00:33:20.799 --> 00:33:22.400
right, let's grab our last break, I'm ELISEE Cortez, your host.

420
00:33:22.400 --> 00:33:27.880
We run the air with Jonathan Hrskovic
of SBOC Business Growth Advisors. He joins

421
00:33:27.920 --> 00:33:30.640
us today from Dallas, Texas.
So we've been talking a bit about the

422
00:33:30.680 --> 00:33:34.400
importance of culture and how it affects
top line and bottom line results. After

423
00:33:34.440 --> 00:33:36.759
break, we're going to get into
leadership and how it shows up in an

424
00:33:36.839 --> 00:33:39.720
organization poorly and well, stay with
us, We'll be right back. Alice

425
00:33:39.759 --> 00:33:45.200
Cortez is a speaker and engagement and
development catalyst. She designs and delivers professional

426
00:33:45.200 --> 00:33:51.359
development, leadership and engagement workshops and
can bring her expertise to your organization.

427
00:33:51.640 --> 00:33:55.640
She will help ignite meaningful development within
your workforce that will increase employee engagement,

428
00:33:55.759 --> 00:34:00.720
performance and retention. To learn more
or to invite a lot to speak to

429
00:34:00.799 --> 00:34:06.519
your organization, please visit her at
www dot elisecortes dot com. She would

430
00:34:06.559 --> 00:34:16.199
welcome the opportunity to help get your
employees working on purpose. This is working

431
00:34:16.239 --> 00:34:22.079
on Purpose with Elise Cortes. To
reach our program today, send an email

432
00:34:22.119 --> 00:34:29.599
to a lease Alise at elisecortes dot
com. Now back to working on Purpose.

433
00:34:31.440 --> 00:34:34.920
Thanks for staying with us, and
welcome back. To working on purpose

434
00:34:35.079 --> 00:34:37.880
if you're just tuning in. My
guest is Jonathan Hirskovic of SBOC Business Growth

435
00:34:37.880 --> 00:34:43.719
Advisors. Prior to founding this organization, he was the president of Imar Express

436
00:34:43.760 --> 00:34:46.559
for twenty two years and the interim
COO of Cityvet, a multi unit veterinary

437
00:34:46.599 --> 00:34:51.599
chain in Dallas. I'm your host, Elise Cortes. So for this last

438
00:34:51.639 --> 00:34:54.280
segment here, Jonathan, I wanted
to get into leadership. It's a big

439
00:34:54.320 --> 00:34:58.679
part of the work that I do
around leadership development. And when we were

440
00:34:58.719 --> 00:35:00.360
speaking over lunch about what we wanted
to talk on the show, you said

441
00:35:00.400 --> 00:35:05.880
something that really intrigued me. And
it was this idea that you said you

442
00:35:05.920 --> 00:35:10.320
could walk into an organization or stores
and you could spot bad leadership. So

443
00:35:10.559 --> 00:35:15.239
let's start there. What do you
see when there's bad leadership running organization?

444
00:35:15.360 --> 00:35:20.360
What shows up for you? Well, I think it shows up for all

445
00:35:20.360 --> 00:35:24.159
of us. Let's take a restaurant, you know, or a retail store

446
00:35:24.239 --> 00:35:29.840
or Dillards. You walk in and
you can just feel it, whether or

447
00:35:29.880 --> 00:35:36.519
not you're welcome or not, And
that to me is a direct reflection on

448
00:35:36.920 --> 00:35:44.000
leadership on the organization. And we've
all been there. It's like no one

449
00:35:44.000 --> 00:35:47.840
says helo to you. One time
I ran through a mall and tulls Oklaholma.

450
00:35:47.880 --> 00:35:52.599
I don't know sixty stores and only
one store greeting me and I walked

451
00:35:52.639 --> 00:36:00.840
in. And that truly is a
direct relationship of an organization. And I

452
00:36:00.880 --> 00:36:05.719
always say, you can just feel
it. And even when I go to

453
00:36:05.800 --> 00:36:10.360
clients, whether they're incorporate in corporate
buildings and buildings and offices, you just

454
00:36:10.440 --> 00:36:15.039
can feel it when you walk in, whether or not you're welcome and believe

455
00:36:15.039 --> 00:36:21.079
it or not. That to me
is a direct reflection of the entire leadership

456
00:36:21.119 --> 00:36:24.039
of an organization. And so you
know, on the granule level, of

457
00:36:24.079 --> 00:36:28.280
course, it's whether you know,
it's how they're greening customers, whether they're

458
00:36:28.360 --> 00:36:31.480
dressed well, whether the place is
well lit, whether it's just free.

459
00:36:31.840 --> 00:36:38.000
It's all related to leadership, because
if you have great leaders, inspirational ones,

460
00:36:38.800 --> 00:36:45.039
then you have great people that can
execute their strategy as well as their

461
00:36:45.079 --> 00:36:49.840
culture. Oh. I also thought
of another really prime indicator of what has

462
00:36:49.880 --> 00:36:52.320
to be bad leadership, and that
is you literally walk into a place of

463
00:36:52.440 --> 00:36:58.079
business, restaurant or whatever, and
the people that are there to help you

464
00:36:58.480 --> 00:37:00.880
don't give you the time to day, they they're talking amongst themselves and then

465
00:37:00.880 --> 00:37:06.239
they lolligig finally over to you because
you know they can't be bothered. I

466
00:37:06.320 --> 00:37:09.840
think that's got to be another terrific
example of really bad leadership to allow that

467
00:37:09.880 --> 00:37:14.079
to happen for the for the course
of the day, or how business is

468
00:37:14.119 --> 00:37:19.199
actually done. I totally agree with
you. That's where it starts. Yes,

469
00:37:20.039 --> 00:37:22.400
yeah, Well another thing that you
said that I thought was interesting.

470
00:37:22.400 --> 00:37:25.599
And a guy that spent as much
years as you have in terms of operations,

471
00:37:25.679 --> 00:37:30.320
I can only imagine you've you've honed
this skill. But you also said

472
00:37:30.360 --> 00:37:34.519
that you can walk into a store
and you can actually spot theft happening.

473
00:37:35.000 --> 00:37:39.159
So what does that look like?
Well, that's funny, great memory,

474
00:37:39.519 --> 00:37:44.199
and so I wasn't really able to
spot it, but it was. It

475
00:37:44.239 --> 00:37:50.119
was we'd grown the company significantly,
fifty stores in two years. That's exponential.

476
00:37:50.199 --> 00:37:53.079
That's the uh, that's a snake
swallowing the rabbit. And so some

477
00:37:53.159 --> 00:37:57.400
of the stores weren't performing. So
I put on my pair of blue jeans

478
00:37:57.440 --> 00:38:00.800
and headed out and showed up.
Where when you open up fifty stores,

479
00:38:00.880 --> 00:38:05.480
I couldn't personally be at each one, which I normally do to open them

480
00:38:05.559 --> 00:38:09.280
up and greet everybody, all the
associates and first ai customers. And so

481
00:38:09.360 --> 00:38:14.360
I went into a store and you
could just feel it immediately. I mean

482
00:38:14.400 --> 00:38:19.480
it was ice cold in there.
People were whispering. It was like I

483
00:38:19.599 --> 00:38:22.840
wasn't even there. And then I
walked and then a woman walked out very

484
00:38:22.880 --> 00:38:27.239
briskly, and I followed her and
I said, ma'am, ma'am, my

485
00:38:27.320 --> 00:38:31.039
name is Jonathan Hirschwitz. I'm the
president of this company. And what's everyone

486
00:38:31.079 --> 00:38:37.320
whispering around about? She said,
sir, I work at fries and I'm

487
00:38:37.360 --> 00:38:42.320
telling you you've got theft in this
store. And so she was right.

488
00:38:43.159 --> 00:38:46.400
The store was doing poorly. There
was massive theft, and so that was

489
00:38:46.440 --> 00:38:51.000
my that was my theft story.
But you know, on a on a

490
00:38:51.039 --> 00:38:57.519
higher level note, you can see
theft and sales numbers. It goes back

491
00:38:57.559 --> 00:39:04.039
to engagement. If your business is
not doing well, there's a reason,

492
00:39:04.400 --> 00:39:12.320
whether it's to me, it's operational
advertising or theft. And so that that's

493
00:39:12.360 --> 00:39:15.639
what that's what we were talking about
at lunch. Okay, well, I

494
00:39:15.639 --> 00:39:19.920
think that's extremely helpful. And you
know, unfortunately, right I remember when

495
00:39:19.960 --> 00:39:22.119
my when I was run up in
the restaurant business. My parents had a

496
00:39:22.199 --> 00:39:25.119
very successful restaurant and you know,
it was something that they had to deal

497
00:39:25.159 --> 00:39:29.519
with. They had to they had
to be visial about that and monitor that

498
00:39:29.639 --> 00:39:32.559
and you know, being a lookout
for it. And unfortunately, and so

499
00:39:32.639 --> 00:39:36.760
it's out there and and so you
know, to me, having really good

500
00:39:36.920 --> 00:39:40.039
back to your point earlier about good
strong systems and operational procedures in place to

501
00:39:40.119 --> 00:39:45.280
prevent that. The checks and balances
or whatever it might be. You know,

502
00:39:45.400 --> 00:39:51.679
so so important for healthy business.
Absolutely, theft is just a cost

503
00:39:51.679 --> 00:39:54.800
of business and where a lot of
my clients will get hung up. Yeah,

504
00:39:54.840 --> 00:39:59.639
you need to get hung up if
it's a high percentage, But it's

505
00:39:59.800 --> 00:40:02.480
just a cost of doing business.
It's just you always have to set up

506
00:40:02.480 --> 00:40:07.000
your systems and processes, but there's
always going to be someone trying to break

507
00:40:07.039 --> 00:40:12.360
them, and they will. Like
I said, if you want to start

508
00:40:12.400 --> 00:40:15.920
a business, you just have to
figure out how to minimize that. I

509
00:40:15.920 --> 00:40:21.440
think that's a very yeah, I
think that's an extremely healthy perspective. Give

510
00:40:21.519 --> 00:40:23.880
us Jonathan that theft is you know, it is it part of doing business,

511
00:40:23.880 --> 00:40:28.320
the cost of doing business, because
I think for some people it's probably

512
00:40:28.440 --> 00:40:31.480
very demoralizing to know that you know
people are taking advantage or you know,

513
00:40:31.519 --> 00:40:37.360
stealing something. I am I'm reminded
years ago, Jonathan, this just came

514
00:40:37.400 --> 00:40:39.480
to me. I remember when I
was living in Seattle, Washington, and

515
00:40:39.519 --> 00:40:45.519
I my first foray into the human
capital industry was I was an IT staffing

516
00:40:45.599 --> 00:40:49.800
consultant. I was an account manager
selling the staffing services, and so part

517
00:40:49.800 --> 00:40:52.079
of my job was to interface with
the clients who hired us, like the

518
00:40:52.119 --> 00:40:55.239
Boeings, the at and Ts,
etc. Of the world, and then

519
00:40:55.280 --> 00:40:59.360
interface with some of the consultants that
we brought on. And one consultant was

520
00:40:59.360 --> 00:41:01.840
in an interview with Boeing at the
time. I remember, and I don't

521
00:41:01.840 --> 00:41:06.079
know if he just figured, what
the heck I've blown this interview, I'm

522
00:41:06.079 --> 00:41:08.679
not going to get the job,
or he really was being sincere. But

523
00:41:08.920 --> 00:41:13.920
the interviewer said, is there anything
else we should know about you? And

524
00:41:14.079 --> 00:41:15.800
he sat quietly for a second and
thought about it, and he said,

525
00:41:16.440 --> 00:41:22.599
yes, I think I've finally gotten
over my problem with stealing. I've gotten

526
00:41:22.599 --> 00:41:25.679
over taking things home from from the
office. You know, the staplers,

527
00:41:25.800 --> 00:41:30.480
the extra pencils, and you know, the equipment. I think I've gotten

528
00:41:30.480 --> 00:41:35.360
past that, at which point we
all just bowled it out of our chairs

529
00:41:35.360 --> 00:41:38.480
and like okay, we got to
go. But it was, you know,

530
00:41:38.519 --> 00:41:42.639
it was arresting in that he was
so matter of fact about it.

531
00:41:45.159 --> 00:41:50.960
That's a that's unbelievable, unbelievable.
I want to share a quick story with

532
00:41:51.039 --> 00:41:52.920
you, so please. You know, I said it was a cost of

533
00:41:52.920 --> 00:41:58.880
it was a cost of business.
But when someone did steal, uh,

534
00:41:59.039 --> 00:42:02.840
we prosecute. And we don't have
time for your show, but in your

535
00:42:02.840 --> 00:42:07.360
show, but I've actually showed up
in a courtroom where someone stole a significant

536
00:42:07.360 --> 00:42:12.880
amount of money and got them convicted
as a felon when they were looking to

537
00:42:12.920 --> 00:42:15.159
just get off with a slap on
the wrist. And that sent the message

538
00:42:15.199 --> 00:42:20.760
to the company, if you do
steal, we will prosecute you the furthest

539
00:42:20.760 --> 00:42:25.199
that we can so go at the
cost of business. Part of the culture

540
00:42:25.320 --> 00:42:30.440
is don't do it. Yeah,
yeah, well, and I think how

541
00:42:30.440 --> 00:42:35.199
an organization handles it. This is
not the specific direct topic that you and

542
00:42:35.280 --> 00:42:38.719
were talking about. I'll say another
perspective of their other story. When my

543
00:42:38.800 --> 00:42:42.840
daughter, who's now sixteen, was
very young, and I want to say

544
00:42:42.840 --> 00:42:47.239
she was probably oh a year and
a half, maybe two years. She

545
00:42:47.360 --> 00:42:51.800
had come back home from a shopping
expedition with her nanny at the time,

546
00:42:51.840 --> 00:42:53.039
and then nanny came to me and
said, oh, my gosh, Elise,

547
00:42:53.559 --> 00:42:57.440
I want to tell you how to
say this, but she took a

548
00:42:57.519 --> 00:43:01.679
necklace from one of their retail stores. And I was mortified, Jonathan mortified,

549
00:43:02.519 --> 00:43:07.440
and I gathered her, my daughter
and the nanny and the three of

550
00:43:07.519 --> 00:43:09.519
us drove back to the retail store. I't I won't say who it was,

551
00:43:09.559 --> 00:43:12.880
although I think they handled it extremely
well. I just don't want to

552
00:43:12.920 --> 00:43:14.960
say it in case they don't like
the way that I say it. But

553
00:43:15.760 --> 00:43:19.480
so I marched into the real retail
store and asked to speak to the manager.

554
00:43:20.360 --> 00:43:22.599
And I think they must have thought, you know, something horrible has

555
00:43:22.599 --> 00:43:24.440
happened to if maybe you know,
we were attacked in the restroom or something.

556
00:43:24.480 --> 00:43:28.840
And easily twenty minutes went by,
and we were standing there, waiting

557
00:43:28.840 --> 00:43:31.159
and waiting, and finally this young
manager came out. He said, can

558
00:43:31.199 --> 00:43:36.159
I help you with something? And
I said, well, something terrible has

559
00:43:36.159 --> 00:43:39.880
happened. And by the way,
all the while I were driving to this

560
00:43:39.920 --> 00:43:43.519
thing, I'm telling my daughter about
going to jail. And she's going to

561
00:43:43.519 --> 00:43:46.719
go to prison, and I mean, I'm laying it on her. And

562
00:43:46.800 --> 00:43:49.840
so I tell her, I say, look, my daughter, you know

563
00:43:49.920 --> 00:43:52.760
here she is. She took this
necklace and I take it out of my

564
00:43:52.800 --> 00:43:57.159
hand and I put it in his
and you could just see his shoulders relax.

565
00:43:58.039 --> 00:44:00.800
And he said, I don't know
what to say say. He said,

566
00:44:00.960 --> 00:44:04.480
this never happens. People don't bring
back things that they've taken successfully.

567
00:44:05.199 --> 00:44:07.719
And I said, well, he
said, what can I do for you?

568
00:44:07.400 --> 00:44:10.679
And I said, well, I
certainly don't want to reward her by

569
00:44:10.679 --> 00:44:13.920
giving her the necklace, so I
don't want that. He said, well,

570
00:44:13.960 --> 00:44:15.400
why don't you If you ever want
anything from us, just come back

571
00:44:15.400 --> 00:44:19.719
and see me and we'll talk about
it. And it was such a great

572
00:44:19.760 --> 00:44:25.079
example of how being real and honest
and coming forth opened the conversation and really

573
00:44:25.119 --> 00:44:29.639
helped me give a lesson to my
daughter and really show the best in this

574
00:44:30.239 --> 00:44:34.599
organization and this manager. So I
think the way this stuff gets handled is

575
00:44:34.639 --> 00:44:42.440
also really really important. Yes,
to my knowledge, my daughter's never taken

576
00:44:42.440 --> 00:44:49.760
anything else since, so maybe it
did work. So we've got just a

577
00:44:49.760 --> 00:44:52.320
couple of minutes left here at Jonathan, here is there I want to give

578
00:44:52.400 --> 00:44:54.960
you a chance to be able to
say what you want in closing, But

579
00:44:55.079 --> 00:45:00.159
regarding leadership, is there anything else
that you think is important to surface in

580
00:45:00.239 --> 00:45:09.000
this conversation about leadership. You know, leadership is what either makes or breaks

581
00:45:09.000 --> 00:45:14.920
you. You know, working with
my clients, as you have seen working

582
00:45:14.960 --> 00:45:20.039
with yours, I feel they're all
geniuses and they create you their service,

583
00:45:20.679 --> 00:45:27.480
a value, proposition, and a
product, and it's rallying the people around

584
00:45:28.320 --> 00:45:35.440
those items the mission and explaining how
they're a part of it, and then

585
00:45:35.719 --> 00:45:40.840
inspiring them to do things that people
never thought that they could. And so

586
00:45:42.440 --> 00:45:45.880
to me, businesses and are different
than football teams or basketball teams are really

587
00:45:45.920 --> 00:45:51.440
any sports teams. They're all very, very good, but the ones that

588
00:45:51.519 --> 00:45:54.960
really make it to the super Bowl
or the playoffs are the ones that exhibit

589
00:45:55.000 --> 00:46:01.559
the high level of chemistry and culture, and then they outperform the rest of

590
00:46:01.599 --> 00:46:08.719
the pack. And it boils down
to the leadership and the leadership executing and

591
00:46:08.800 --> 00:46:13.199
demonstrating the culture. It really really
does, and that's from the heart.

592
00:46:13.239 --> 00:46:17.320
And I've seen it, and I've
seen it benchmarked on successful companies and unsuccessful

593
00:46:17.320 --> 00:46:21.800
companies. There was so much you
said in there. Just I want to

594
00:46:21.800 --> 00:46:22.760
call it a couple of things.
I like what you talked about. The

595
00:46:22.760 --> 00:46:28.480
inspirational piece is really important. I
really believe that so much of leadership as

596
00:46:28.519 --> 00:46:31.800
being somebody people want to follow,
and so the inspiration piece is huge.

597
00:46:32.000 --> 00:46:35.519
And then the other piece that I
really liked what you said there that I

598
00:46:35.559 --> 00:46:39.760
want to personally echo is it is
being able to create a vision and be

599
00:46:39.840 --> 00:46:44.039
able to help people see that they
can, that they can do more than

600
00:46:44.079 --> 00:46:45.559
they think they can. You lead
them to that place. I think that

601
00:46:45.679 --> 00:46:52.639
was a beautiful point. Jonathan,
Well, I think it's important because you

602
00:46:52.719 --> 00:46:55.920
don't have to have a Harvard and
you know, I love education, higher

603
00:46:57.000 --> 00:47:00.480
education, but you don't have to
You don't have to be the genius or

604
00:47:00.480 --> 00:47:08.360
a smart one. It takes hard
working determination, guts, tenacity, persistence,

605
00:47:10.199 --> 00:47:15.920
and so it's just I have great
admiration for people who have built companies

606
00:47:15.960 --> 00:47:22.840
of all sizes. And I just
spent an hour with some representatives from SEUL

607
00:47:22.920 --> 00:47:30.320
lexus Seool being one of the top
customer service automobile providers in the United States,

608
00:47:30.360 --> 00:47:36.280
and studied and the time he spent
with us and that he shared with

609
00:47:36.360 --> 00:47:40.920
us their culture was just phenomenal and
it started in nineteen eleven, and that

610
00:47:42.119 --> 00:47:45.480
same culture that they had in nineteen
eleven they still have today. It's like

611
00:47:45.599 --> 00:47:52.719
honor in eight years. So great
something to celebrate. So we're coming out

612
00:47:52.719 --> 00:47:55.199
of time here, Jonathan, So
in say fifteen to twenty seconds, what

613
00:47:55.280 --> 00:48:00.280
would you like to leave your listeners
with today? You know, if you're

614
00:48:00.280 --> 00:48:04.320
listening to the show and you are
in an organization or growing an organization,

615
00:48:05.719 --> 00:48:09.199
just you know, watching it grow
and being a part of it is probably

616
00:48:09.239 --> 00:48:15.119
one of the greatest experiences you can
have in life. And I have such

617
00:48:15.159 --> 00:48:21.880
admirations for people who come together and
change the world, provide products, creating

618
00:48:21.880 --> 00:48:28.679
incomes for families. And so my
admiration is to all the clients I've worked

619
00:48:28.719 --> 00:48:31.280
with and the opportunities I've had,
and the opportunity to be on the show

620
00:48:31.840 --> 00:48:38.119
to share with everyone my experience,
and so keep building those great cultures and

621
00:48:38.199 --> 00:48:43.320
your company will grow right along with
it. I guarantee it. Beautiful,

622
00:48:43.360 --> 00:48:46.039
Jonathan, great way to so much. Thank you so much. You're welcome.

623
00:48:46.079 --> 00:48:49.480
Thank you for joining me and sharing
your heart and soul with us.

624
00:48:49.480 --> 00:48:52.840
Thank you. It's beautiful. Love
it and listeners, if you want to

625
00:48:52.880 --> 00:48:54.519
learn more about Jonathan Hrskovitz and the
working and his team are doing it.

626
00:48:54.679 --> 00:49:00.920
SVOC Business Growth Advisors go to their
site, it's SVOC growth dot Com.

627
00:49:01.599 --> 00:49:04.599
Last week, if you missed the
show live, you can always catch it

628
00:49:04.679 --> 00:49:07.880
be recorded podcast. We were on
the air with Batcha Janniger of the Victor

629
00:49:07.920 --> 00:49:12.639
Francol Logotherapy Institute in Israel. We
talked about just what that word means and

630
00:49:12.679 --> 00:49:15.280
how it's being used to help alp
create more meaningful lives inside and outside of

631
00:49:15.280 --> 00:49:21.519
work. Fantastic, very interesting,
insightful conversation. Next week, we'll be

632
00:49:21.559 --> 00:49:23.920
on the air with author and the
purpose expert Karen Hoyos, who wrote the

633
00:49:23.920 --> 00:49:28.239
book Purpose, the Ultimate Quest.
We'll talk about her book and the work

634
00:49:28.239 --> 00:49:30.679
she does helping people discover and grow
their purpose. So you there, remember

635
00:49:30.679 --> 00:49:34.239
that work is at least once they
of our life. So let's work on

636
00:49:34.280 --> 00:49:39.320
purpose. We hope you've enjoyed this
week's program. Be sure to tune in

637
00:49:39.360 --> 00:49:45.639
to Working on Purpose featuring your host
Alis Cortes, each week on the Voice

638
00:49:45.679 --> 00:50:08.800
America Empowerment Channel. This week,
find your life's purpose at work