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Welcome to Business Bourbon and Cigars, the podcast for ambitious leaders who want a.

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Backstage pass to the top.

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Every episode, we're going to sit down with ultra successful industry leaders who have a proven track record and a deep understanding of how to grow a business. And we're going to learn the secrets and strategies that took them to the top. On this show, you'll gain access to exclusive insights and resources that'll give you what you need to achieve your most audacious goals. And of course, we may even sip on some fine bourbon and light up.

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One of our favorite cigars while we chat.

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My name is Scott Joseph. I'm your host and this is Business Bourbon and Cigars.

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Do you really know yourself? I'm a firm believer. If you're not actively assessing your strengths, your weaknesses and values, you are definitely missing out on your true potential. Success isn't just about hard work nor the grind. It's about knowing yourself at a deeper level. Your business and your personal growth. It is never going to reach its full potential if you can't accurately evaluate you. So I'm going to ask you again, do you really know yourself? In this episode, we're going to uncover how self awareness and self assessment unlock personal and professional growth. I'm going to walk you through powerful tools that successful leaders, including those in the Me plus Ultra Mastermind group, use to drive real results. I'm Scott Joseph, the host of Business Bourbon and Cigars. And through our discussions and work with, you know, top entrepreneurs and business leaders, we've seen you know firsthand how powerful self awareness can be for sustained success. These aren't just theories we're going to be talking about. They're strategies that are proven to create real change. So today I'm going to explore with you why self awareness matters. We'll talk about the tools that you can use for self assessment and how to apply what you learn so you can take meaningful action in your life and your business. Before we dive, you know, into the frameworks, the tools, I want to share with you, a personal story had a lot of impact on me. Take real just a second. You know, when I first started J and L Marketing, most of my experience was in sales. So I did what was comfortable. I built a strong sales organization. But it didn't take long for me to realize that if we were going to stand out, we couldn't just be another marketing agency that was offering the same products and services as everybody else. So to make it easy on our sales team, I started creating these strong packages and programs. I Just wanted to give the sales team as much ammo to overcome objections and pre frame them. Right. And these services, what was great about them is they weren't easily shopped against us by the people we were trying to sell because the value was really determined by the prospect themselves. So the questions they started asking themselves is, you know, what's it worth to not have to deal with this challenge anymore or you know, now because of this service, maybe I won't have to worry about this issue or that issue or that problem. And to do all this, we really focused hard on deep data and marketing strategy and superior support. In the end we start offering services that none of our competitors offered. This completely differentiated us and it really allowed us to charge a premium while all our competitors were racing towards, you know, the bottom on price. All this starts producing, you know, ROIs for clients that were three and a half times higher than what say our competitors were delivering. And as you can imagine, it's a huge competitive advantage. So I promise all this is going to come around. So I want to fast forward to when we had to pivot to a full digital company and now Martech Agency. And this is where all this kind of ties in. You know, I had always thought that our sales ability was our strongest asset. But there came a point when Jamil Zabane, who later became and is currently our CEO, he suggested we shift our focus from a large sales team to more client support with a smaller team. Not the time. You know, I remember thinking this is a terrible idea because I believe sales was what made us great and reducing the team was risky. Now looking back, I see that, you know, my self awareness at the time was lacking. I wasn't as open minded as I thought I was. I wasn't ready to try something radically different, even though the growth potential was clear. And what I didn't realize at the time was that I wasn't making the decisions based on data or clear reasoning. If I'm being honest, I was making emotional decisions and they were driven by fear of the unknown. The success we'd enjoyed up to that point made me hesitant to let go of the model, you know, that had worked for us for so long. I created this business model in this culture and letting it go felt like losing what I had worked so hard to build. So Jamil comes on, he's now our CEO and he decides, he makes that bold decision to shrink our sales team from 30 plus people down to three. I want you to think about that for a second is a huge shift. It's A very bold decision considering, you know, if you're a business leader out there, you understand the costs that go into building a team like 30 plus people. But Jamil recognized something that I had not recognized. That our strength wasn't just in sales. It was in the deep data work, the marketing strategy, and the superior support we were providing. By cutting back on the sales team, he was able to reallocate, you know, the resources to enhance the areas where our real strength was. We not only increased our ROI for clients, but we dramatically improved the client experience. Our referrals went up, retention increased, innovation skyrocketed, you know, both our top and bottom line, you know, growth followed along right along with all this. None of this would have happened if I hadn't come to the realization I was the problem. I was holding the company back by refusing to pivot. I thought I was pivoting. You know, we moved from being only a direct mail company, pivoted to a digital and direct marketing agency, then pivot again to a leading martech agency. Those were pivots we needed. But the real pivot had to come with the business model and the culture shift to align with the changes we were making in terms of reallocating the resources. And it wasn't until I elevated Jamil into the CEO role and I stepped back that I realized that my own self assessment had been off. I was afraid to change, but in that fear, I was preventing our business from optimizing its growth. This shift, you know, it was hard for me to accept, but it ultimately unlocked our full potential and it led to over 300% growth in just three years. Why don't you think about that? So here are three steps, tips that I want to give you so you can avoid the steep learning curve that I had to go through. Step one, Learn. You know, start with self awareness and understanding why it's so crucial. The first step to leveling up your leadership and your business is truly understanding who you are. That means you got to take, you know, a hard look at your strengths, your weaknesses, your emotions, your real values. Self awareness isn't just about identifying what you do well. It's about recognizing where your blind spots are. And I learned this lesson the hard way with J and L marketing. You know, when I was clinging to this sales driven model that worked for a very long time, but it was limiting our growth now. And I didn't want to pivot because I thought it was a risk, too big of a risk. Right? But self awareness showed me that my decisions looking back, right these were being driven by fear or by losing what I maybe already had. They weren't based on data or growth potential. I always see a lot of self development content out there and it's easy to find help, you know, to discover what and why you need to do something. But it's important to me that business bourbon and cigars that this podcast also explains how to do it. So here we go. I want you to set aside dedicated time that you can reflect. I don't care if it's once a week for just 15 to 30 minutes. The goal is to focus on your decision making patterns, your emotional responses and your leadership approach. I want you to ask yourself powerful questions. You know what's motivating my decisions right now? Am I afraid of change? How about this one? How do I feel when someone challenges my ideas? The most important to all this, you need to be honest with your answers. Journal your thoughts. You know writing can help you uncover patterns in your thinking. Reflect on your day to day choices and your responses to challenges. I journal every night. I advise you to take the time to assess your emotional triggers. You know, when do you feel defensive, resistant, maybe sometimes overly confident. Understanding these reactions will help you recognize you know when your emotions are guiding decisions instead of clear thinking. What if you could stop feeling overwhelmed by the fires you need to constantly put out of your business? What if you could finally scale without constantly worrying about cash flow, team dynamics or losing clients to the competition? The Me plus Ultra Mastermind Group is exactly where you need to be. It's an exclusive community of high performing entrepreneurs who've already overcome the hurdles that you're facing. Whether you're stuck at a plateau, you're struggling to get your team aligned, or you're not seeing the growth that you know your business deserves, this group is where you'll find the support, the strategies and the breakthroughs that you need. In Me plus Ultra, you'll gain access to top tier business leaders who have faced the same struggles you have and are actively sharing their solutions, strategies and insights. Plus, you'll finally be able to tap into an ecosystem that will open doors to new opportunities, strategic partnerships and breakthroughs you never thought possible. Membership opportunities are limited to ensure quality and collaboration, so don't wait. Visit me+Ultra.com to learn more and apply for membership. This will be your game changer your business needs. The second tip I give you is once you understand that self awareness is the foundation to me, it's it's time to take it further, right? And you can use self assessment tools to do that. These are tools that are designed to give you more clarity about your personality, your strengths and areas where you have room for growth. I mentioned earlier that I resisted Jamil Shift because I believed in the sales team model. But I was missing out on key insights that could have helped me assess, you know, whether our old approach was truly sustainable or limiting us. Right. Self assessment tools will help you make decisions based on data, not assumptions or emotions. So take, you know, you can take personality assessment taste like the Myers Briggs Type Indicator. Right. The MBTI or the Big five personality traits. These assessments can help you understand how you prefer to make decisions, how you interact with others and where you tend to Excel. There's the CliftonStrengths. I think it was formerly Strengths Finder but this is a great tool to pinpoint your natural talents. This is incredibly helpful for, you know, identifying where you should focus your energy and your resources to get the best return on your investment. You can use emotional Intelligence, you know, EQ assessments. These are going to help you measure how well you manage your own emotions and probably more importantly, understanding others as well. Right? Make no mistake about it, High EQ is critical when it comes to effective leadership and building strong relationships with your team and your clients. I want you to choose one or some of these tools and set a specific date to complete them. Don't just skim the results. I want you to dive deep. Look for patterns in how you approach challenges and interact with others. Once you've gained you know, these insights, start using them to guide your strategic move. Your next strategic move. Right? For example, if you realize you're naturally introverted but you keep pushing yourself to take, you know, on an extroverted leadership type role, you might want to consider shifting your approach to a more strategic, behind the scenes leadership style. The third step or tip I want to give you is none of this means anything unless you apply them to your business and your leadership. If there is one constant that separates people who have achieved real success versus surface level success is the self discipline it takes, you know, when they learn something that they apply it and continuously work to improve. There are plenty of people who make a good living and are overpaid for what they actually produce in terms of, you know, the impact they create. And by the way, those type of people, they don't have good self awareness. It's why they have to continuously grind non stop. So remember this, the key to true growth is making bold data driven decisions, not emotional ones. When I finally embraced the self awareness that Jamil's model You know, was better suited for our future growth. We shifted from this large sales team to focusing more on client support. And by the way, that's why people were buying from us. Anyways, this bold decision is what led us to over 300% growth in three years. So I want you to do this. Create a specific action plan, you know, to implement whatever change you come up with. Once you've gained insights from your, you know, your self assessment, the next step is to translate that awareness into action. You know, whether it's shifting your focus, maybe you're rethinking your processes, or enhancing your team skills, you need a clear plan to guide the transformation. So here's how you do it. Maybe you got to reevaluate your business model and your priorities. I'm going to give you examples. These are examples only. If your self you know, assessment reveals that your current business model is heavily focused on high volume sales, but lacks personalized or long term client engagement, you might decide to shift your focus towards more tailored high touch services. This could involve investing in tools or training that allow you to offer a more personalized experience to clients. No matter what you do, no matter what the insights tell you, you need to develop a roadmap to implement whatever change you come up with. Map out the steps you need to take, you know, to make whatever transitions needs to happen. This goes both personally or professionally. This might include identifying new revenue streams, maybe investing in new tools to improve, you know, productivity. Maybe you want to expand service offerings. You know, if, if you're shifting focus, consider piling the change with small segment of clients first. You know, to test the waters. You don't have to go all in. Test it. Make sure it's a good strategy. Assess the resources you need if you, if you plan to invest in innovation or customer support, decide whether you need to hire more staff or outsource certain functions, or invest in technology. Look at where you can trim cost without sacrificing quality, but also where you can invest to ensure the change is sustainable long term. And finally, make sure you're always reallocating resources to strengthen the areas that will have the most impact on your clients and employees. For example, if your clients are asking for more personalized service, remember we listen to clients, right? You might invest in training your team on customer care or better communication. Or let's say you're noticing that clients you know value convenience and efficiency well, then investing in automation tools or streamlining your operations might be a better focus. In the end, the greatest journey that you can take is the one inside yourself. Understanding yourself is the first step to unlocking your true potential and living a life of limitless growth. Self awareness is not just a buzzword, it's the foundation of everything you want to achieve. Without it, you're like a ship, you know, sailing without a destination. So here's your challenge for today. Take one of the self assessment tools that I mentioned earlier. I want you to dive into your results and pinpoint one area where you can improve. You know, it could be boosting your emotional intelligence, developing your leadership strengths. Maybe you're learning to make decisions that truly align with your core values. Whatever it is, set a clear goal to address it, and most importantly, take action. Once you've got your goal in mind, share your insights with me. You know, whether it's on social media, drop me a message. I'd love to hear how you're applying self awareness to level up your life and your business. I don't want this to be a one sided conversation or a one way conversation, right? Give me this feedback. If you're ready to take it to the next level, I want to personally invite you to join the Me plus Ultra Mastermind group. This isn't just another group of business owners. It's a space where you'll be challenged, you know, supported. You're going to be connected to a community of entrepreneurs who are committed to real growth. So if you're tired of doing it all alone, maybe you're feeling stuck or missing out on key opportunities because your network isn't where it needs to be. Me plus Ultra is the community that's going to help you get there. Visit me+Ultra.com to apply for membership and find out how this group can help you overcome your challenges, unlock new opportunities and accelerate your success. Cheers everyone.