Importance of CEO Coaching and Peer Groups with Guest Rick Faber

Goosmann Law Firm : 0:01

Do complex legal issues hold you back? Let's get energized and bring clarity to your top legal questions. This is LawTalk with the Flock by Goosmann Law Firm.

Jeana Goosmann : 0:31

Hello, I'm your host, Jeana Goosmann, CEO, author, and lawyer, and woman business owner here to talk with you about Law Talk with the Flock. And I am so excited about my guests that I have on today, Rick Faber. Rick Faber is a chair with Vistage International and he's also the CEO and founder of Growth Guru. Welcome Rick.

Rick Faber: 0:55

Well, thanks for having me, Jeana. Glad to be with you, via technology today, right? So it's great to spend time with you.

Jeana Goosmann : 1:06

Absolutely. And I should also let all the listeners know that you are my chair in my Vistage group. So Rick, what is Vistage?

Rick Faber: 1:16

Well, Vistage is a peer to peer organization. It's a national organization with over 25,000 members, but we put business owners and leaders from non- competitive businesses together in one room. Imagine that right, 16 different business leaders from constructions, attorneys, CPAs, all different types of business owners, to give each other different perspectives on their businesses and their experiences. But probably the most important aspect of Vistage is that they're much better at keeping each other accountable than any of us could because they want to show up in that room really, not only performing, but living at a high level. I always talk about, uh, one saying I I use it over and over again, but the key to success is to surround yourself with people who uplift you and whose presence calls forth your best. So that's what we try to do. We try to call Jeana's best fourth every day. So, yeah.

Jeana Goosmann : 2:31

And there's another key component of Vistage and that's the coaching element where Rick, you actually one-on-one coach the CEOs as well throughout the month in an individual fashion, as well as the peer meeting. And I know you like to say, always be coaching the ABC method. And you're certainly an outstanding coach, which probably leads us right into the Growth Guru. And Rick, would you explain to our listeners, so what is guru?

Rick Faber: 3:02

Well, Growth Guru is an operating system. Many of us have heard of different business operating systems and of course I've facilitated and I've been part of a strategic planning and putting operating systems into place with companies for many years. But I found that they really didn't start from the right place. They needed to start from a strategic place rather than jumping into just what are the issues of the business. Let's work on that. And, uh, and, and set some game plan. And I also wanted to develop an operating system that got people moving to action quicker, all facing and aligning the same direction. So we're all rowing together so to speak. So that's really the beginning of Growth Guru. So two years ago as we were working with companies like Goosmann Law, we were trying to come up with unique ways to do that effectively. So Growth Guru is an operating system that starts from a strategic level. And then secondly, we work together to put behaviors in place in an organization that creates success. I I don't know about you Jeana, but we see behaviors in organizations all the time that that are not successful. And we want to be very clear on what those behaviors are. We live them together. And ultimately what happens is we create a culture by choice rather than a culture that evolves just through the drama of business in the day. And and we develop a language that we can call each other forth to their best by emphasizing the right behaviors.

Jeana Goosmann : 4:59

Well, Rick you definitely know what you're talking about. You are one of the top Vistage chairs in the country, and we're really fortunate to be able to work with you and you're based out of Omaha, Nebraska. But your practice is definitely regional and probably beyond. And I know that you've helped Goosmann a ton time. We've been one of the fastest growing law firms in the country for the last four years in a row now. And I'm super excited to continue that relationship. Rick, could you explain why does every CEO need a coach and a peer group?

Rick Faber: 5:34

Well, first of all, I mean, we all know being a business owner or a CEO of a company while we might think that's really a glamorous thing. It could be a very lonely place. And, uh, I hear it often from business owners and leaders. There's just really no place, right. For me to discuss some of the difficult things that I'm working through, whether it be with employees or even even how I struggle with understanding my financials in a way that I can speak intelligently to a CPA. But I think at the end of the day, we need peer boards. So we have experiences of many other people, because most of the things that we're going through, others have been there, done that they they've made the mistakes, they've stubbed their toe, they bumped their head. And, uh, it's a great place for, uh, business owners and leaders to learn from others that have kind of been there and done that. And then I guess from a coaching standpoint, it's, it's one more piece of the recipe. It's much easier for me as a coach to work with a business owners and hold them accountable if they're also accountable to their peers. And so I don't have to, as the coach be the one to say, well, Gina, you said you would do that last month. How did that go? Right. Likely the peer board's going to be having that conversation even before I am. And it's very compelling to show up and bring your best work forward. So I think it's the coaching and peer board really work hand in hand together. And it's that combination that makes the best cake. Right, and also you look at the, you look at all the top performers. I don't care whether it's an athletics, or it's an academics or it's in, any, any business arena, the best have coaches because they know they can achieve levels that they would never dreamed of achieving before, because they've got somebody with them, really asking them to take a step to a place of uncomfortable because that's when we learn the most,

Jeana Goosmann : 7:59

I think it was just our very last Vistage board meeting when one of the other members who's in the construction industry said, Jeana, I never thought I'd have so much in common with somebody that ran a law firm. And it was so true because a lot of times those issues that a CEO faces and running a team and a company are very similar even across industries.

Rick Faber: 8:22

Oh, for sure. For sure. Yeah. It's so often I'll hear so often I'll hear like we'll start talking about Vistage and every business owner, this is almost every business owner will say something like this: You have no idea what my business is. Why would I want to sit on a peer board? What would they have to offer me? And then to your comment, Jeana, we hear it all the time. It's like, Oh, it's like some revelation right there. There's that much difference. Right. So you're right on you're right on Jeana.

Jeana Goosmann : 9:01

And then it's the learning concept as well. Like you're always learning and reading new books and we have great speakers too, that are constantly making you think and challenge your beliefs and what you might have thought previously. So I think surrounding yourself with others that are curious, is also really beneficial.

Rick Faber: 9:22

Oh, for sure. Curiosity is probably a really key keyword. I know when I'm interviewing people to either considering coaching or considering Vistage, because it's kind of a mutual selection. Not everybody it's not right for everybody. But if they're naturally curious, like you said, and they have that, that desire to continually learn if they've got that gene in then Vistage's is a perfect place because it just draws out so much. And we, we all learn so much in a day together, so, yup.

Jeana Goosmann : 10:06

So Rick 2020 was quite the year. What advice are you giving to CEOs as we look forward to 2021 and beyond?

Rick Faber: 10:16

Well of course we've had lots of emotion that's come through, you know, 2020. And I think the thing that most CEO struggled with was being able to give hope to their teams when there was so much unknown. And of course naturally with CEOs, they're not very patient, you know? And we all know that that to be true. And I'm also highly urgent, always wanting to move, you know, wanting to move forward. So first of all is to reshare your vision with the organization, over and over again right now, because that really is the number one thing that gives hope to our employees and those that we surround ourselves with. You know what, um, it's okay. We don't have to be positive all the time, but we do need to be optimistic very much like Simon Sinek talks about right. And his infinite game is that through vision, we give hope and optimism for the future that puts them in a much healthier place. I think that that advice is really, really crucial. Secondly, is we need to be present with our employees more than ever before. We've seen lots of employees that have struggled, um, through the pandemic, uh, have isolated themselves through the pandemic. Uh, you know, they've, they've went home and, and done their work and they're not being socially active as they before. And then lots of issues with depression have happened. So I think just really, really being present with our employees and touching base with them more often than ever. And then, I guess lastly is making sure that we're providing opportunities for action today, even though the action may look different. So action before might be Jeana go out, see those customers be with them and be connecting and networking and, and, and growing that base of relationships. I think you could still have action today and it just looks different. It looks like this, right? It looks like video conferencing. It looks like phone calls that we may not have done in the past. And so we just have to be really, really intentional. And it's the one thing that we'll often do with Growth Guru is we'll say, what are the intentional things that we're going to do in the next 90 days? Because if we think in terms of intentionality, it, it is action and we're doing something. And, especially for urgent people like myself, giving meaning to motion, is a lot more successful if you will, than just trying to be trying to be moving with no reason or, or real focus to that. So intentionality being present, sharing vision over and over again, it almost should sound like this. Jeana. When you start sharing your vision, others like Kim and your office could say, I hear the recording. I've heard this before. And when you've done that, you know, you're doing a really good job. We're going to be here. We will achieve this. Here's how we're going to get there. It's one step at a time. And, um, and, and together, we will achieve greater heights or whatever our accomplishments and goals are in the future. The other thing is that I don't think the goals are different for people now, the timing might be, but your goal Jeana, to be the fastest growing law firm in the Midwest doesn't change. But it might mean for you that timing does. So maybe it's while, while I know you are the fastest growing law firm for others, it might be, well, it's not going to happen in 2020, but it's going to happen in 2021. So we're resetting the goals and the dates to that. It's not like we didn't make it. It's, it's a reset. And so I think for us as leaders, staying optimistic with people that were still on the same path and while life was not a ladder this year. It was more of a lattice, right? We took a left where we took a right, but we're going to still achieve the mountaintop. So that would be my advice.

Jeana Goosmann : 15:04

Outstanding. I think realizing success is not a straight line is so important for so many people. And also that the leader has to be engaged and optimistic. And if you're going to expect your team to be because it starts at the top and you do a great job of reminding everybody of that. So Rick, if somebody wants to get in touch with you or they're a CEO and they want to be part of the success of working with Rick Faber how do they reach out and get in touch with you?

Rick Faber: 15:35

Uh, they could do it one of two ways. They can always give me a call. I still have the old fashioned phone, right? Uh, that's(402) 659-3321. You can contact me through, uh, Rickf@mygrowthguru.com or it's rick.faber@VistageChair.com. So, or reach out on LinkedIn, Rick Faber, pretty easy to find. And and I'd love to chat that way too

Jeana Goosmann : 16:07

Outstanding. Well, I can't recommend you enough. It's always easy to give someone a testimonial when you work with them yourself. And thank you so much, Rick, for sharing your insight today, and everyone go have a great day and make it worth it.

Goosmann Law Firm : 16:22

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