Sessions with System & Soul

Many business start out as a sales-focused organization with a sales-focused leader. As the leader, it’s so important to understand the best practices and components of building a great sales team from the start. In today’s S2 Tip, Benj Miller invites the newest member of the System & Soul team, Jeff Messner (Chief Growth Officer), to talk about the three components he’s discovered at the most...

If you’ve listened to any of our past episodes, you know that your business has a soul. And, the most important element of your business's soul is the people. Today we’re bringing you, J. Quincy Evans, President of BCJ Building Services. Quincy is a rare leader who intentionally exercises compassion and commitment to developing his people as individuals. He reminds us that the health fo our b...

The whole point of setting your quarterly objectives is to achieve them! But sometimes businesses get lost in the process and create unhealthy habits when setting their quarterly goals. Today on S2 Tips, Benj Miller outlines the Seven Deadly Sins of setting quarterly objectives. No one wants to recite Hail Marys half way through the quarter, so keep these helpful reminders on hand in your next qua...

You know who sucks more than people? Bad leaders. Today we bring back an episode from the archives that rings true even more so in today’s leadership landscape. John Richie is a highly-sought after executive coach and long-time mentor to our leadership team. He joined us in 2019 to talk about why some leaders fall short of confronting the demands of reality. Most people would rather live in the wo...

We talk a lot about what leaders need, but what do followers need? According to research from Gallup involving 10,000 people in “follower” roles between 2005 and 2008, leaders who were “perceived to be trustworthy and compassionate and who offer stability and hope have a significant impact on their employees.” In this week’s tips, Benj Miller discusses these essential needs, but also reminds us th...

People can make or break an organization. Sometimes leader might even think that their business would be better without the people element. But without people, your organization is going to go nowhere fast. Today on System & Soul , we’re doing another deep dive, this time, into the people component of your business. Time and time again, we see that the healthiest and most profitable businesses...

There’s a big difference between being open to questions and actively inviting questions. Asking a question is a vulnerable thing––it implies you don’t know the answer. And, no one wants to feel like the person in last place. But behind whatever big issue your company is trying to solve, there is a great question that needs to be asked. That’s why everyone on your team needs to know they have perm...

Giving and receiving feedback is one of an entrepreneur’s greatest assets. But many of us fall into the trap of thinking that in order to give effective feedback, you either have to be a jerk or your feedback has to be sugarcoated. This week on System & Soul, we talk with CEO of Radical Candor, Jason Rosoff , to learn about his organization’s work helping businesses navigate this very complex...

Thinking of new, innovative tools and strategies to run your business is always exciting! But for everything you want to start doing, there’s something you need to stop doing. Today’s S2 tip is all about getting a grasp on the many facets of your business’s system and reexamining the things that you need to stop doing. To learn more about achieving clarity and control in your business, visit us at...

What do you want to be known for? What are you actually known for? For most companies, there’s a big gap between those two questions. But, when you close that gap, you’re likely to experience the healthiest form of growth from the most powerful force in the market… your customer. Today on System & Soul, we invite Jeff Henderson, one of Forbes’ 20 Speakers You Should Not Miss, and author of Kno...

Perhaps one of the biggest topics today, when it comes to team health, is vulnerability. If you’re tired of hearing about vulnerability, you probably don’t understand what it is or how useful it can be to your organization. So, what does vulnerability actually look like on a team? In today’s S2 Tip, Benj and McKenzie talk about some helpful ways to understand vulnerability so that you can create a...

Dreaming big is intimidating when so much feels uncertain. That’s why many business leaders would rather lead their company to a safe (often overcrowded) destination instead of taking on the daunting task of navigating to a destination no one has been before. This week we discuss three key questions your organization has to answer in order to identify where you want to plant your flag in the groun...

Defining your organization’s core values is key to providing clarity and control in your business. But defining your values improperly can leave you trapped––operating your company outside of its innate strengths. Today on S2 Tips, Benj Miller walks through Patrick Lencioni’s three Value Traps. These are the pitfalls that organizations often experience when they set their values based on what is n...

When you introduce yourself to someone new, you probably start with your name and what you do for a living. But that doesn’t hold a candle to the incredibly complex, unique, interesting person that you really are or to the contribution that you are making to the world. Your business is the same way. Most of the ways people will experience your business are on the surface level––name, mission state...

So, you think you’re a good driver, huh? Well, research shows more people are not as good as they think they are. Same thing goes for listening skills. Turns out that nodding your head, interjecting the occasional “Ah hah,” refraining from interrupting, and regurgitating words don’t cut it for good listening skills. In today’s System & Soul tip, Chris White discusses the qualities of a good li...

In one form or another, you’re probably heard, “What get’s measured gets managed.” That’s because metrics are insanely valuable assets that provide clarity and control in your organization! We’ve talked a lot about data-driven decisions on the podcast recently. But it’s easier to talk about data in theory than it is to practically implement it into your business. That’s why, today, we’re sharing t...

You’re a leader who cares about getting results, achieving your vision, and caring for your team. But, if you’re a leader who lacks trust in your team’s ability to deliver on goals, you have two options: be a micromanager, or... give abundant clarity! Most micromanagers find themselves in the weeds because they weren’t clear enough on the objective from the start. In this week’s S2 Tip, you’ll lea...

Leadership is an elusive concept. Just about everyone has their own definition of what leadership is. And, most people’s definition is a reflection of who they are rather than the actual qualities that building a healthy, successful, and growing organization requires. This poses a potential problem in the workspace by creating subjective (often unspoken) expectations of leadership. In this episode...

When you’re in the grind, it’s hard to get the time you need to get clear on the biggest issues and opportunities in your business. That’s one big reason that breaks are a huge asset to entrepreneurs and business leaders. So, how do you spend your breaks? In this week’s S2 Tip, we challenge you to take some time during your break (whether it’s vacation, a sabbatical, or even your intentional clari...

If your mind is a mess, your whole life will be a mess. Fortunately your mind is something you can manage. Proper mind management can help improve your leadership ability, help companies reduce burnout, and it’s perhaps one of the most important skills anyone can learn! Today on System and Soul, we’ve invited none other than neuroscientist and mental health expert, Dr. Caroline Leaf, onto the podc...

Anybody else out there hate small talk? It’s so easy to ask pass/fail, yes/no questions that we’ve made a habit out of confusing small talk for real talk. Terrible questions give no room for creativity or collaboration. But great questions have the power to connect people, provide the opportunity to learn something new, and can reveal important issues in your business. In this episode of S2 Tips,...

A rapidly increasing number of businesses are using data to make better, well-informed decisions for their organization. With data analytics becoming more necessary and accessible, it’s also becoming more ubiquitous in today’s business world. This week on System & Soul, we talk with Nelson Davis , Founding Partner and Chief Visioneer at Analytic Vizion . Nelson explains how organizations can b...

What does a successful mission look like? How do you navigate and anticipate obstacles, move forward with limited resources, and stay on track while trying to make progress in your business? In this week’s tip, we talk about “Commander’s Intent.” Commander’s intent is the tool that military planner’s and strategists use to paint a picture of what a successful mission looks like despite ambiguities...

People are messy. Not “cluttered desk, haven’t showered in a couple days, Cheetos in the beard” kind of messy… hopefully. People are messy in the sense that we’re all different––we’re wired differently, we work differently, and we move at different speeds. This is a wonderful thing by the way. But, how does your organization ensure that people aren’t getting left behind, too far ahead, or off trac...

Today on S2 Tips, we answer a listener question: What do you do when you have an employee who’s a bad fit for their seat, you don’t have anybody to fill the seat, and you don’t have an open seat to move this employee to? Do you stick with the bad fit, or do you let them go? This may seem simple and straightforward. But, for many leaders, this is one of the hardest kinds of decisions to make for yo...