Building Better Businesses and Lives with EOS | Debra Chantry-Taylor | Ep 200

Debra Chantry-Taylor  00:00

You know, life is too short and we should be able to really enjoy working in our family business, but still enjoy spending time with the family as a family outside of that. No matter who you speak to, they've all got stories that they're prepared to share.

And they're not always the big stories that we think they are. So often we think we look at people who are successful and think, well, they've just had it easy or it's just that, you know, they've never had any ups and downs, but they all have had their ups and downs.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  00:36

Thanks for joining us on the Better Business Better Life podcast. I'm your host, Debra Chantry-Taylor, and I'm passionate about helping entrepreneurs lead their ideal lives by creating better businesses. Because let's face it, life is too bloody short.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  00:57

I'm a certified EOS implementer and FBA accredited family business advisor and a business owner myself with several business interests. I work with established business owners and their leadership teams to help them live their ideal entrepreneurial life using EOS, the entrepreneurial operating system. But I also enjoy sharing everything I know to help anyone create a better life. There is no guest today. This episode today is our 200th episode and we're celebrating the fact that we've reached 200 podcast episodes.

And just recently also 200 EOS client sessions. So 200 EOS sessions, 200 podcast episodes. That's a lot of conversations about building better business and living better lives. And today I want to celebrate this milestone with you. So I'm super excited. I'm super grateful for the listeners, for listening in, for bearing with me over this time, for my clients who have been with me through the EOS journey that I've been on myself, my supporters, with my team. So everybody has made this quite possible.

And this episode isn't about listing 200 things. You'll know from my 54th birthday, I'm not going to try and share 54 or 200 things with you. It's really about celebrating what these milestones mean, why they matter and what we've learned together. So let's start with reflecting on 200 EOS sessions. It's really hard to believe, but I finally made my 200th EOS client session. And it was with no, none other than the Attention Seeker, which is an agency based here in Auckland, which is where I call my home.

And it was just great because they've been with me from the very, very beginning of my EOS journey. Not as a client in the beginning, but more as friends and supporters. But now they've been clients for, I think, coming up for two years. So the great thing about doing that 200th session with them was they, they enjoyed celebrating, we enjoyed celebrating. And I suppose I want to just reflect on some of things we actually kind of learned from that 200th session.

So the attention seeker, they really reminded me how important clarity is, especially for teams bursting with creativity, you trying to balance that freedom with structures where the magic really happens. And I know for a lot of people, entrepreneurs listening in might think, yeah, but if you put too much structure around things, we lose our creativity. And I think actually it's quite the opposite. I think that actually if you can really put in place some frameworks and some simple structures.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  03:18

That can take away all the day-to-day stuff and make the day-to-day stuff just so much easier, then you can start to really focus on the creative stuff, which is what you really are well known for. So in that session, you know, we are always with the attention seeker. We've got an amazing visionary in Stanley Henry, who is very big picture, who's always kind of pushing the boundaries.

But sometimes a little bit like myself, he thinks fast, he talks fast, he acts fast, and there's a danger in leaving behind the people on the team. And so the reason we enjoy getting together once a quarter is to really get back to what's important. Where are we actually headed? Are we all on the same page? Have we got the accountability right? we got the right people in the right seats? Are they doing the right things?

And in that 200th session, you know, going through that quarterly, it was very much about what do we need to do to achieve our goals and what is the plan to do that? What's the laser sharp focus we actually have to do? I've also found that as we've been going on the journey with the attention seeker, you know, they've actually now become much more comfortable to have the courage to confront the tough stuff. So, you know, in the beginning, we think as a team, we're really dealing with the tough issues, but often we're not. And it's not that we don't want to.

We're just not really sure how to. And I think the thing that I love about EOS is it forces those tough conversations and it forces you to shine a spotlight on your business and go what's working, what's not working. And it's only when you start to look at those issues where the magic really happens. The next thing is consistency is key. So the attention signal have been coming in every 90 days for about the last two years. And that is really, really important because it's been shown that people

can only really focus for about 90 days at a time. So if you and your leadership team aren't coming together every 90 days and really checking in about, know, where you've come from, where you're headed, what's worked, what hasn't worked, what's the plan for the next quarter, you'll start to see the enthusiasm wane and things not get done. So consistency is key.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  05:21

So that's what I learned from my 200th EOS client session. And I guess I've seen those same themes coming through with lots and lots of clients that I work with. You it's really important. We talk about the three things in EOS, vision, traction, and healthy. The vision is about making sure everything's on the same page in terms of who we are, where we're headed, what we're trying to do, how we operate around here, what's the long-term, medium-term, short-term plan.

The traction is about having that discipline and accountability to hold the meetings, to have the conversations, to deal with the issues on a daily basis. So we're actually all on the same pathway and we actually have that traction. And then the healthy part is very much around the healthy conversations, the ability to have those tough conversations, the ability to fight for the greater good. And that is what the EOS journey is about. That's what I see working with these teams. I feel very privileged we get to do that.

So what about 200 podcast episodes?

So I'm going be really honest, when I started this podcast, I had no idea how much I would learn from others. I actually thought I was doing a podcast so I could interview people so I could share information with other people. And what I've really realized is that for me, I get taught as much as I'm sharing and guests teach me as much as I'm sharing with you. And so it's been a really interesting journey to actually see.

Yeah, how much joy I get out of actually doing it. There was a time when I was ready to give it all up and I'll talk about that in a moment, but I'm really pleased that I haven't because I've just met some of the most amazing people on this podcast. So I'm just thinking back to some of my favorite episodes. You know, we had Tony Falkenstein, who is a little bit of a legend here in New Zealand, and he shared his initial journey into entrepreneurship. And it really reminded me that very rarely do people have an overnight success from their first business. We see these successful people, we think, my goodness, they've done so well.

What we don't realise is that they've probably overcome a huge amount of obstacles. And Tony shared about his first kind of foray into entrepreneurialism and how that ended and it wasn't a good ending. He also very generously shared, you know, how he helps to exit the wrong people from his business. And that's a really tough thing to do because nobody likes to let people go and nobody wants any conflict and nobody wants to have those difficult conversations. But he shared with us a way that you can actually do that without it being a negative.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  07:40

So both parties feel like they've actually won and both parties get to be happier in the long run. So that was episode two in the series. And that's so hard to believe that was 198 episodes ago that I spoke with Tony and he was my second guest on the podcast. And it's probably one of the most important podcasts I think we've recorded.

I've also had some great chats with fellow EOS implementers who've shared their own entrepreneurial journey as well as how to use EOS to create that better business, better life. So people like Jenny and Nick Clift who worked together as husband and wife, Adam Harris on this side of the ditch. And then there's my US for favourites, Scott Rusnak and Sarah B. Stern who've been on the show several times to share tips around family businesses and planning your life performance. So Scott Rusnack has actually been on the show four times and he came on originally in episode 14 and he talked about success isn't rocket science. He talked about how you simplify things down and that the less is more or less but obsessed philosophy actually helps you create success. He then came on again with episode 38 and he talked about designing your year before someone else does. And I know this is one of Scott's absolute passions. It's like he always says, if you don't design your year, your life.

Somebody was just coming in and fill it for you. And so he talked about how you can actually make sure you design the life you really want and design the year you really want, rather than being bent by other people and what other people want to do with you. Episode 92, he said how saying no makes you rich. And he talked about some of the things we actually have to go, less is more, less but obsess, say no to things that don't really fit in with your ultimate goal for your life and for your business. And he shared a huge amount of tips on how you can do that. And episode 168, building a business legacy. He talked about, you know, what do you need to do to ensure that you actually build a business legacy? So I honestly think that Scott came onto the show to teach me all those lessons, but the great thing is you can get all the value from it too. So great big thanks to Scott from the US.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  09:41

And then of course, there's Sarah B. Stern, my family business sister from the US. So Sarah is just as passionate about family business as I am. And she has a wealth of knowledge. She's been doing this stuff for such a long time. And she's been on two episodes now. One was about working with and loving your family. How do you as a family business ensure that you actually work with your family, but still get to love them, still get to enjoy the time you have as a family outside of that?

And then in episode 121, she spoke about breaking barriers. So how do you build a better family business? And every time I talk to Sarah, you know, I'm reminded of why I love this work so much. know, life is too short and we should be able to really enjoy working in our family business, but still enjoy spending time with the family as a family outside of that. So there's lots of other guests that come on board. Like we've had the FBA chairman, Ian come in and talk to us about the black sheep in the family. I've had family businesses actually come on and share their stories and how they got to where they got to and some of the ups and downs that they've gone through. Again, family business is not always easy. so actually hearing from these people about what they've had to go through can be a real reminder that we're not alone. This is what happens when you run any kind of business. So again, huge thanks to Sarah. She is an absolute inspiration. I love having a chat to her and I'm sure I'll get her back on again very soon as well.

And then of course, is that every time I chat with my work brother, Adam Harris, so he's another fellow EOS implementer. We do a lot of work together. We've got a business together as well. We often get together and just kind of chew the fat in an episode and we get so much gold from those podcasts. So if you just Google search or go to the Business, Better Life website and search for Adam Harris as a guest, I think you'll really enjoy that banter that we have. And I think you'll especially like the, it's not working in the bedroom episode, bit of fun there.

And of course I've had a whole number of international guests. mean, honestly, sometimes I have to pinch myself. You know, I had people like Bob Berg and John Mann, plus John's wife, Anna. They wrote the Go Give a series of books. This is like my favourite series of books. It is all about abundance mindset and how you should give without any expectation of receiving and how you can improve your sales, how you can improve your marriage, how you can improve your life. And so, you know, first of all, I got Bob Berg on and that was just a massive coup for me.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  11:57

I was like, I'm a bit of a Bob Berg idol, a bit of a Bob Berg girl fan. And so he talked about unlocking the secrets of personal transformation. And that's in episode 106. And then of course, his business partner, John Mann came on and he came on with his wife, Anna, and they talked about unlocking the secrets of success and love with the Go-Giver-Dewer. So they talked about what they wrote about in the book, which is the Go-Giver, I'm quite sure what the title is, but about the marriage side of things.

So that was a couple of the really famous people, but then there's been so many others as well. People who've written bestselling books or are recognised as a leader in their field. I've spoken to people from some of the most amazing businesses over in the US. I've spoken to people are absolute experts in AI. I've spoken to people who are really well known for the work they do in their field, like managing time and who is more efficient in terms of managing time.

And all of them have generously given their time and their knowledge, but more importantly, they've taken my ethos of we need practical, pragmatic tips and tools that you can actually take away and do something with. Every single episode, they give all this time and their knowledge and they share their journey, but they also give you things you can actually do with that as well.

And I suppose the bigger half of me was that talking to all these different people, EOS implementers, clients, experts, world famous authors, is no matter who you speak to, they've all got stories that they're prepared to share.

And they're not always the big stories that we think they are. So often we think we look at people who are successful and think, well, they've just had it easy or well, it's just that, you know, they've never had any ups and downs, but they all have had their ups and downs. And I think what's great about the podcast is by sharing that with us, we get to realize we're not alone in the things that we go through. In terms of feedback from the listeners, you know, I've had people tell me they've, they've made some big changes from listening to some of the experts on the podcast, or they've just taken away one thing and it's really inspired them.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  13:54

And that's really why I keep doing this because I just want to make a difference. And I find that the more I go into these podcasts and more things I share, the more impact I'm having them making a huge difference. So behind the numbers, what's the real meaning of 200?

I suppose it's really just it's a milestone, right? You know, there was 100, then there was 200, there'll be 300, there'll be 500. But they really are just milestones. And I suppose the milestones, it's not about the numbers. It's about the fact that I've done 200 episodes within that I've built connections, I've hopefully made an impact. I've had the privilege to be able to share information with others, I'll be able to pull out information from other experts to share with others. And that's what this is about is celebrating that milestone.

And this is what I was going to say to you. nearly gave up around 20 episodes in. I just wasn't seeing any traction in list of numbers. I was looking at the results. was going, nobody's listening. And I thought, why am I bothering? Because if I'm really honest, I first went into this podcast with the intention of using it to reposition myself. I was really, really well known in the startup space in New Zealand. I've won awards. I've been business woman of the year.

finalists, so people knew me as a startup coach. I was working with the Icehouse. There was a lot of people who knew me for that side of the business, but they didn't realize that I actually had a huge amount of experience running very large businesses. So I've managed up to 220 staff. I've worked at boards, I've worked as a GM, as a CEO in various different companies, in reasonably large sized companies as well.

And so I was trying to reposition myself by doing the podcast. And that was really the absolute selfish reason for it. But what I realized was that actually I got huge value out of interviewing other people. And so it was really as much for me as it was for the listeners. And it was as much for me personally, as it was for my business. And so having realized this, I went actually.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  15:57

Maybe to stop focusing on the numbers. Maybe just focus on what do I want to hear these people say? What do I want to learn from these people? What questions can I ask that will really help me? And then I thought, and if I enjoy asking those questions, I enjoy listening to those answers. Hopefully it will be something that other people want to listen to. And that's really how I approach the whole podcast series. Now I don't really do it for numbers. I don't do it for people to listen in and tell me how wonderful things are. I do it because I get to meet some amazing people.

I get to ask them hopefully some intelligent questions. I get to have a lot of fun exploring what I want to know from them. And then really for you as listeners, it should just be a bonus that you get to have those questions asked as well. So that's why I do it now. It's about making a difference, but it's about making a difference to myself as much as it is to the listeners. But I want to acknowledge you as listeners because you know, I couldn't have done this without you.

it's great to get feedback from you. It's great to actually have people say, I'd love to hear this person on your podcast. It's great to hear. want to find out more about this. And that gives me the momentum to keep going and to keep asking more and more people onto the show. Keep asking more and more questions, keep sharing more and more knowledge. I especially want to make a mention to a couple of people because there was Ryan Melton who got me started in this whole podcasting gig and probably stopped me from giving up after 20 episodes too.

And there was Jordan who originally did all the sound for me and he was just amazing. He's just a fountain of knowledge. He could really help. He helped in terms of setting up the equipment. He helped in terms of getting everything kind of ready to go. And now as the podcast has grown and I want to do less and less of the work, I've got the amazing team from 7 million bikes. So Neil and his team, they now take these podcasts and they put them all together for me.

They do all of the audio editing. make sure they cut out all of the mistakes that if we have any, they cut out the strange noise in between. So all I have to do these days, just turn up on record. And I tell you what, that's an absolute blessing because it just means I get to do the stuff that I really love, which is talking to people, asking the questions, being the curious child. And then everything else is just handled by Niall and his team. And that just has made my life so much easier.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  18:09

Plus I've got my VA teams, Jen and Simone and the others who pull together all of the background stuff, all of the admin stuff, make sure it gets uploaded in the right place, make sure we've got all the supporting materials, make sure that we've got the links to the different websites that I mentioned in the podcast. And of course, my EA Dash, who helps me source guests for the show and organises my diary as best as she possibly can. It's not an easy task, let me tell you.

There's also that big thanks to my clients who've come onto the show to share their EOS experiences. So Windy, Adam, Daniel, Justine, to name a few. You know, they've all been absolutely instrumental in terms of sharing their EOS journey, sharing those highs and lows, being really open, honest and vulnerable about what's going on in their businesses. And hopefully that's produced some amazing content for you to listen to. And of course, most of all, to you, the listeners, I mean, as I said, it's...

I don't do it for the numbers, but what I do it for is to make a difference. I would love to see that the podcast is actually helping people to truly lead better lives through creating better businesses. That's what I do it for. So thank you. Thank you to all of those that listen in. Please do keep the feedback coming because that's what actually helps me to make sure I get the right guests, ask the right questions. So please do that.

Okay. What's next after this 200th episode? Well, to be fair, we've already recorded a few more. we've got a few more in the recording, I should say. And we've got some really, really great speakers coming up for next year as well. So we'll have some of the oldies back and they can share more of their information. But we've got new exciting guests lined up. We've got a lot of, lot more stuff to share around at EOS.

So, that's what coming up to my fifth year anniversary of being an EOS implementer in this month in December. And so there's been a huge amount of stuff that I've actually learned on that journey. I'm going to share that with you. And I want to make sure that I'm also helping people who are self implementing. you know, some of you can't afford to work as an implementer. So I want to make sure that you can actually learn from this podcast and get yourself started on that journey. And then one day when you're ready, please look out for an EOS implementer can help you.

Debra Chantry-Taylor 20:14

So, what's your version of the 200 milestone and how will you celebrate when you get there? I know that with the TAS team for my 200th EOS client session, had simply 200 numbers and we had cake and we had some bubbles. And certainly I'll be doing something similar once I finish this podcast. I'm to be celebrating the fact that I've made 200. I'm aiming for 300. I'm aiming for 500. I'm going to be here at a thousand. So that's all. That's what we're planning to do.

But do ever think about, know, what, what are your milestones? What do you celebrate? How do you celebrate? I sometimes feel like people don't celebrate the small wins. And so it doesn't have to be 200. It could be just getting to 20. I mean, 20 was a big number in the beginning, getting to 20 episodes, getting to 20 versions of whatever it is that you do that makes an impact. Just make sure that you actually recognise that and celebrate it.

So final reflections for me, 200 is just a number, but it's the impact behind it is what really drives me. I'm really wanting to make a huge difference in the world. know, part of my 10 year goal is to really dramatically impact a number of family businesses, privately owned businesses. I'm about to start doing some work with a lot more of the startup community as well. So making sure that we're building businesses that will go through to being big enough businesses to actually run EOS as an implementer.

But I'm doing it for the startups to make sure that they get through that stuff that often drowns us in the first few years. So that's my kind of goal for the next few years is to continue with the EOS, continue with the podcast, continue with the workshops we run, start to work in that startup space as well as the bigger businesses that I normally work with, just to help people create a better life through creating a better business. So that's it from me, a very...

Quick-paced, usual, Debra, fast speaking style. I just wanted to share with you that the good news, know, great, we've achieved a 200. We're definitely going to be doing a whole lot more. I'd love to hear from you, you know, what's been your favourite episode? What would you like to share? Or a moment from, from working with me, particularly if you've been working with me as a client or you've been working with me through, through the podcast or the newsletters. Love to hear from you.

Debra Chantry-Taylor  22:24

But also I'd love you to reach out if you need any help with your EOS or your self implementation. You know, we can always provide help regardless of what stage of the journey that you're in. And if you know somebody who'd really enjoy listening to these podcasts, know, get them to come in, get them to listen to those early ones. was some great gold in those early episodes. Please pass it on and say to people, look up Better Business Better Life. There's some great guests on there.

Subscribe yourself if you haven't subscribed yet. Leave a review if you like. I mean, I love getting reviews and it's not because it's about my ego. It actually means we just get more people reached if we have better reviews. So please subscribe, pass it on to a friend, leave a review or reach out to me if you need any help at all. With that, I'm going to say thank you very much. Cheers to the next 200 episodes. I'll look forward to talking to you soon. Thank you.