Will This New Policy Offend My Employees?

Summary

Summary of The EntreLeadership Podcast – “Will This New Policy Offend My Employees?”

Host: Dave Ramsey, Ramsey Network
Date: March 13, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Dave Ramsey fields real-world business and leadership calls from small business owners. He provides practical advice on timely issues—focusing this episode on implementing company policies that might be unpopular (e.g., no-gossip rules), probing for character in hiring, handling succession in family businesses, and structuring profit-sharing among family members. Drawing on over 30 years' CEO experience, Dave lays out both guiding principles and candid, actionable steps.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Implementing a No-Gossip Policy Without Creating Fear

(Curtis, CEO of a security company, calls in at 00:55)

• Dave Ramsey’s Core Approach (01:19):

  • Free speech at work comes with consequences—speaking negatively about the company can be grounds for dismissal.
  • Gossip is defined as airing grievances to those who can’t fix the problem, spreading negativity "downward" rather than "upward."
  • “We will talk to you about [gossip] one time, and then we'll fire you because we don't want everybody sitting around and running everybody down the whole time.” (Dave Ramsey, 02:10)
  • Establish clear expectations: Employees should feel safe bringing issues to leadership directly without belligerence. Disagreement is welcome but must be handled respectfully and privately.
  • Use policy rollouts as opportunities to reinforce this foundation. Remind employees: "Hand the negatives up, hand positives down.”

• Memorable Analogy (05:22):

  • “Who pees in their cereal and then gripe cause it tastes bad? You know what I mean? Come on. That’s just nuts.” (Dave Ramsey, 05:22)

• Notes on Enforcement and Outcomes:

  • Majority of staff appreciate a no-gossip culture; only rare, emotionally immature or disloyal individuals resist.
  • Only a handful of terminations stem directly from this policy over decades at Ramsey Solutions.

• Key Takeaway (06:56):

  • “It’s not disloyal to question something. It is disloyal to do damage to the very thing that is feeding your family. … That is gossip, and that is the particularly nasty kind.”

2. Screening for Character in Hiring

(Joel, construction business owner, calls in at 10:45)

• Problems Faced:

  • Technical or code-related questions don’t reveal issues with honesty, anger, or emotional maturity.

• Dave’s Multi-Layered Approach (11:45 – 15:50):

  • Ask about relationships and behavior at previous jobs: "Was there anybody at the last place? Any trouble with honesty?"
  • Listen for blame and negativity. "If he’ll talk negatively about his old employer, you probably got a problem child." (Dave Ramsey, 12:12)
  • Solicit team referrals and ask about applicants' personal lives (“What do you and your family do on Sunday?”) to spot character cues.
  • Conduct informal interviews or team dinners with spouses: Natural settings reveal true demeanor and interpersonal habits.
  • Don’t shy away from direct but relatable personality probing. Dave suggests:
    • “Sometimes I struggle with getting pissed off about stuff. What about you?” (Dave Ramsey, 14:40)
    • "When I was in my 20s, I had trouble getting to work on time. You ever struggle with that?"

• On Interview Process:

  • Multiple interviews are mandatory, even in small teams.
  • “You only get what they want you to get in a one time interview.” (Dave Ramsey, 15:41)
  • Always conduct background checks.

• Dave's Final Wisdom (16:32):

  • “It’s more art than science... Letting God’s spirit speak to you—is this guy disturbing my spirit?”
  • "Do you feel like you need to take a shower after you had a meeting with him?... There’s a reason that feels that way."

3. Family Business Succession & Remote Management Limitations

(Question from Laura, 86-year-old property management owner, at 17:30)

• Situation:

  • Laura’s intended succession fell through after her son’s unexpected passing. Only her grandchild is interested and wants to manage remotely.

• Dave’s Response:

  • Property management requires on-site leadership—remote management is not practical.
  • “You can’t sit on your couch and manage property. You gotta go over there and kick the tires and fix the water heater…” (Dave Ramsey, 18:39)
  • Gradual succession is critical: “The more gradual the succession plan, the higher the likelihood of a sustainable plan.” (Dave Ramsey, 19:12)
  • Dave’s own succession example: Began transitioning his son into leadership at age 48; describes a 16-year process.

4. Structuring Ownership and Profit-Sharing in Family Businesses

(Bobby from Sacramento calls; 21:29 – 28:39)

• Scenario:

  • Bobby owns a third of a construction company with his parents. Receives hourly pay but lacks agreed profit-sharing despite ownership.

• Dave’s Guidance:

  • “You don’t have to ask for a piece of pie. You have a piece of the pie.” (Dave Ramsey, 23:53)
  • If a third is what was agreed, it’s appropriate—fulfill the agreement unless both parties wish to change it.
  • Direct conversation with his father is essential—clarity vs. assumptions.
  • Encourage calm, clear family discussions, focused on fairness and the future rather than accusations.
  • On aging founders: "It’s not fair to my kids, not fair to my customers, not fair to anybody. That’s just selfish on my part to do that. I could do it. I’d want to do it. … But I’m also cut from a different piece of cloth that says I’m not going to do that because it’s not good for the things I love." (Dave Ramsey, 28:02)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "Hand the negatives up and the positives down." (Dave Ramsey, repeated throughout, e.g. 03:15)
• *“If you walk through the lunchroom and somebody's running down the whole thing, then you go, wait a minute, wait a minute. Come, come here. Let's go over here and talk a minute. Because we just said a minute ago we weren't doing that right.” (Dave Ramsey, 04:40)
• On Workplace Disloyalty:
  • “It is disloyal to do damage to the very thing that is feeding your family. You ought to be ashamed of yourself in that case.” (Dave Ramsey, 06:45)
• On Good Interviewing:
  • "It's more art than science... If you feel like you need to take a shower after you had a meeting with [an applicant]... There's a reason that feels that way." (Dave Ramsey, 16:38)
• On Succession:
  • “The more gradual the succession plan, the higher the likelihood of a sustainable plan.” (Dave Ramsey, 19:12)
• On Family Profit-Sharing:
  • “What’s the point of ownership if you don’t get one third of the profits?” (Dave Ramsey, 24:00)
• On Letting Go:
  • "He does not need to be running it just ‘cause he’s still sucking air at 86. … That’s not right. I don’t need to be running this at 86. It’s not fair.” (Dave Ramsey, 28:02)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:55: Curtis asks about no-gossip policies
• 01:19–06:56: Dave explains free speech consequences, gossip, negativity, and policy implementation
• 10:45: Joel asks about screening for character in hiring
• 11:45–16:38: Dave details interview strategies and red flags
• 17:30: Laura’s question about property management succession
• 18:39–19:40: On-site management necessity and succession planning
• 21:29: Bobby discusses profit-sharing issues in his family business
• 23:53, 24:00, 25:44: Dave walks through handling unfulfilled profit-sharing and succession conversations

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Episode Takeaways

• Strong organizational culture starts with leadership clarity, not rules rooted in fear.
• Hiring for character requires patience, intuition, and multiple layers of interaction—not just skill checking.
• Family business succession works best with years-long, gradual preparation.
• Ownership means a share of the rewards and the responsibilities; don’t shy away from tough but necessary family conversations.
• Courageous, vulnerable leadership—both in policy setting and family business—is how organizations and people grow.

Transcript

[A]

From the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, this is Entre Leadership, where I take calls from leaders like you about what it takes to win in any stage of business and leadership. I'm Dave Ramsey, your host with over 30 years of experience leading in the trenches right alongside you. If you got a question you want to ask on the show, well, just jump on entreeleadership.com, fill it out, we'll get back to you. Or you can leave us a voicemail. We'll call you and set you up to be a caller on the show. Like this is a call in show kind of. Hello? 8449-4410-7084-4944, 1070. Curtis is in Phoenix. Hey, Curtis, welcome to the show. How can I help?

[B]

Hey, how's it going, Dave?

[A]

Better than I deserve. What's up in your world?

[B]

Hey, so I'm a CEO of a security company. We have roughly 25 employees and we do about $2 million in revenue a year. My question is, how do I implement no gossip about policies without infringing on the employees right of freedom of speech or creating a cultural affair?

[A]

Okay, well, the employees, you do not have a freedom of speech without consequences. All of us have consequences for our freedom of speech, okay? For instance, I can say something negative about someone and get sued for defamation of character. I can't claim freedom of speech on that. It doesn't work, okay? And so saying something negative about your employer will get you fired. That's not freedom of speech, okay? That doesn't qualify for that. So culture of fear is really easy. It's like, guys, okay, number one, you've got to, before we talk about policy changes, we've got to just say in general, do we have or let's put in place a no gossip policy, which we did at Ramsey many, many years ago. So for many years we've been saying, listen, when you have a problem and you will have a problem, or when you've got a question or a gripe, any of those things are valid, any of those things are allowed. But you need to hand the problem to someone who can do something about it. In leadership, just sitting and talking negatively to everybody in the lunchroom is called gossip. That's handing negatives down, not handing negatives up. And we will talk to you about that one time and then we will fire you because we don't want everybody sitting around and running everybody down the whole time. Whoever's not in the room gets talked about, whether it's leadership or whether it's anybody else. That's the thing. So you take your negatives to leadership, and as long as you don't do that with a belligerence, as long as you're not nasty about it or threatening or something like that, then you're welcome to talk to leadership. I'll listen to you at Ramsey. Come in and disagree with us about anything. And then I'm gonna tell you, okay, I think I agree with you or I disagree with you, and here's why. And I'll give you. I'll tell you more about what's going on if I can. If I can tell you what's going on, if there's something not private about somebody else or something, but I'll just say, you know, I. In other words, you. You institute a policy, Curtis, and somebody comes into your office, says, I don't agree with that policy. You say, okay, well, there's two possibilities here. One is you're wrong. The other one's I'm wrong. So let's talk it out, okay? And so what is it you don't like? And why do you think we're wrong in doing this? Okay? And then you talk that through and you go, okay, well, here's what you didn't know. The reason we put this policy in place is it's for your safety, because we're trying to keep people safe. We're in the security business. You get killed if you don't do this right? And so I know you don't understand that, but that means that's why we do this. And so, no, we're going to do it. And now that you have more information, you get to decide, you know, if you want to work here. And you. You don't have to work here. I'm not firing you. But, you know, if you think you're working for doofuses, you work someplace else. I mean, that's okay. You know, I wouldn't work for a doofus, so I wouldn't want you to work for a doofus. And so, you know, we talk it out and what are we going to do with this? Then? We're going to say, all right, we're going to hand negatives up and positives down. So then when I announce. If everybody knows that's the deal, then when I announce a new policy, I just remind them of that. I say, listen, here's what we're doing. We're doing this thing, and this is what's happening, and it's kind of icky, but this is what's going on. And I tell people what's up or it's not icky. And this is just something we're changing. And if you got any questions about it, talk to your leader. Or if you got a problem with it, talk to your leader. But remember, we don't hand negatives down. We hand negatives up or frustrations down. We hand frustrations up. All of that's fine, but just remind you that that's what we're doing. And so then if you walk through the lunchroom and somebody's running down the whole thing, then you go, wait a minute, wait a minute. Come, come here. Let's go over here and talk a minute. Because we just said a minute ago we weren't doing that right. And you called it out. But you have to have laid the foundation first. And then when you announce the policy, you remind them of the foundation of. We don't do that here. And if you want to be a we. And truthfully, people get sick of working in places where everybody just sits around all day long, running everybody down. They don't want to work there. And so the team, by and large, will be real happy about this. But some people, I mean, I probably fired. In 30 years, I may have fired 10 people for this. It's not many, but work gets around. You know, we don't do it. And most of the time it was just people who were emotionally immature and couldn't keep their mouth shut. You know, they just couldn't keep themselves from doing it. It's like, come on, man, I can't fix this. You don't have enough self control to not do this. It's crazy. And that's what I've run into more than somebody that was just a hugely bad character. And of course, the ones that piss us off as employers, Curtis, more than anything else is somebody who's running down the company that pays them so they can feed their kids. It's like, who pees in their cereal and then gripe cause it tastes bad. You know what I mean? Come on. That's just nuts. And that's what people do. But they do. It's something about they grew up that way or they grew up around people doing that or their friends do that or whatever. And so it's that disloyal kind of gossip, you know? And it's not disloyal to question something. It is disloyal to do damage to the very thing that is feeding your family. You ought to be ashamed of yourself in that case. And that is disloyal. And that is gossip. And that is particularly nasty kind. Does all that help you?

[C]

Absolutely, absolutely, sir.

[B]

Yes, sir.

[C]

Dave?

[A]

Yeah, so I think, but I think sometimes, you know, certain cultures of types of industries are more prone to this than others. And so you've really got to decide, okay, is this something I've really got, for instance, on a construction site with a bunch of guys on a carpentry crew. It would take a different form of gossip than it would in a beauty parlor, you know, a haircut salon. Right. It'd be a different kind of a feel, different vibe on it. But it's still negative past to negative just for the sake of being negative. And it's still, that's still what's at the core of it. And so our basic thing is your hands are negatives up, your positives down, and you're perfectly safe to bring disagreements into a leader's office in a non belligerent way. You can't come in and yell at me and tell me I'm stupid, I'll fire you. But you can come in and go, Dave, I really don't understand this. And it's really frustrating me. And that happens almost every week around here with some leader, not necessarily me, but somebody around here. And so, you know, that's what we're looking for. And so really, really good question, man. Appreciate you joining us. Thanks. Thanks for being here. Thanks for hanging out with us. Owning a business can be a heavy load. You want to serve your customers well, make a healthy profit and grow. And your team, family and customers are all counting on you. And now everybody's talking about AI like it's magic and you're wondering how to keep up. You're carrying a lot, but you don't have to do it alone. That's where NetSuite comes in. Over 43,000 businesses, including Ramsey Solutions, use NetSuite to lighten the load by bringing all their numbers into one system. Accounting, inventory, CRM, payroll, the works. And now NetSuite's AI takes it further. Automating busy work, flagging inventory issues, spotting cash flow problems in real time, and catching risks before they hit. So you're not just closing the books faster, you're making decisions confidently. And when your numbers are right, that takes a lot of pressure off your shoulders. And yeah, switching systems is a big move. But NetSuite's suite success process gets you up and running fast. Go to netsuite.comramsey for a free product tour and to schedule a time with a NetSuite rep. That's NetSuite.com Ramsey now this is a cool idea. Listen up. Your business won't grow if you're bouncing from problem to problem without a clear plan. If you want to scale with confidence, you need to know where you're going and how to get there. This is the cool part. Our entree leadership team is now for the first time ever, offering you a free 30 minute call where our coach will look at your business, identify what's keeping you stuck, and help you figure out your next action step. We've helped tens of thousands of small business owners level up their companies and they can help you. Here's the deal. Your business won't change until you do. You're the one in the driver's seat. We're going to help you with the roadmap. So if you're ready to ditch 60 hour work weeks and get fired up about your business, go to entreeleadership.com consult and fill out the form to schedule your free 30 minute call or click the link in the show notes. That's a pretty cool idea right there, guys. It's brand new. We've never done that before. I really think you ought to give it a shot. Joel is in Flagstaff, Arizona. What's up, Joel?

[C]

Hi, Dave. Thanks for taking my call.

[A]

Sure. How can I help?

[C]

So I'm in the construction industry. I'm the company owner. I have 5 employees and last year's revenue was just north of 3/4 million.

[A]

Wow. Good for you.

[C]

Thank you. So I, in my hiring I had a similar problem, like you have mentioned in the past, where I would hire anyone who could fog up a mirror. And so I've gradually increased my questions and my vetting process during interviews and I've asked my applicants like skill and code questions. So now I'm still running into employees with anything with emotional or personality problems, honesty, anger, you name it, those type of issues. So my question is how do I get to the deeper character questions during the hiring process to determine if they're a good fit for my company?

[A]

It's difficult.

[C]

It is hugely difficult.

[A]

But one of the things I would do is just keep pulling on the thread and sometimes they'll give you a one word clue. And one of the things I can learn a lot about them is how did you interact with everybody at the last place? I mean, did you have anybody? Was there anybody at the last place? Any trouble with honesty? Was there anybody that had trouble at the last place? And see, because you know the old Aesop's fable of the guy runs into the wise man on the road and he Says, how are the people in that last town? He goes, well, how were they where you were before? He says, well, they were great. And he goes, they're going to be great. He runs into another guy. He goes, how were they in the last town? He said, they're awful. And he goes, well, they're going to be awful in the next town. The point being, it's the guy, it's not the place he was right. And so if he'll talk negatively about his old employer, you probably got a problem child. But if he just says, hey, he was a great guy, we just didn't fit. And, you know, they built a good house, though. And, you know, I was proud for the time I had there. That's a pretty classy thing to say right about someplace you used to work. And so. But if he goes, oh, no, that guy's a scumbag. And everybody works over there, smokes pot and, you know, well, you work there, you know, so, you know, that's one of the things I'll ask about. And of course, if they happen to be. And in your world, this is really helpful. If you've got some thoroughbreds, some men and women, for that matter, of high character on your team and they know this person, they're going to know. And I'm going to ask about their personal life. I'm going to go, okay, you know, what do y' all do on what you and your family do on Sunday? What do y' all do on Saturday? What sports are you into? And they say on Sunday we're in church. Okay, well, that's good clue. That's helpful. Not everybody in church is a good person, but they need to be in church. But that doesn't, you know, but I mean, that at least gives me something to go on, right? And so, you know, or, you know, we spend all our time at the ballpark. And it's just a shame. Those guys that are the referees, they're just awful. Of course, they're 14 years old, but they're awful. And, you know, I mean, they start running, you know, you could get the anger out of them on something if there's anger down in there. Right, But. But it requires talking. The second idea. So first idea is to get them to talk about their role play. Second idea is try to get referrals out of your team. Third idea is to talk about what they do with their time, and that'll give you a clue to look into it. And, you know, somewhere. The fourth idea is to try to do one of the interviews In a non formal place like kick back and have a cup of coffee on a couch in a coffee shop. And something about the change in posture causes people let their hair down and be a little bit more of who they really are instead of being all like playing a part to get a job. Right? You know, because they, you know, everybody dresses up for an interview. Everybody tries to be on their best behavior for an interview. And once they kind of forget they're on an interview because we're just kind of kicking around drinking a cup of coffee here, then hanging out on the back porch kind of thing. It's one of the reasons we go to dinner with them with a spouse before we hire them. Because in that dinner setting with the spouses, everything kind of changes. And you start to learn things about people and you watch the way that he treats his wife walking in the door, you know, and that kind of stuff. And you'll see that even if you didn't mean to see it, it'll just be right there in front of you. If you don't see it, your wife will see it and you know, that kind of stuff. And you'll go, okay, hey, this guy, he's got some kind of issue, you know, and then you could dig a little deeper on it and just. But I'm not afraid to ask a question. I'll go sometimes and you know, I may play it back on me. I may go, you know, sometimes I struggle with getting pissed off about stuff. What about you? You know, I mean, I would say that to him and see if he, what he says, you know, I mean, or whatever it is, you know, that you want to use or, you know, when I was in my 20s, I had trouble getting to work on time. You ever struggle with that, you know, that kind of thing or whatever it is you're wondering about? Sometimes you straight up freaking ask, in other words. But yeah, it's one of the reasons that you need to do a multiple interviews to hire people. Even in a small company like yours, it's just mandatory because you can't just sit down with somebody one time. You only get what they want you to get in a one time interview. But if you do multiple times, it's harder for them to keep the show going and the real them starts to leak through. And if the real them's good, that's awesome for it to leak through. I'd rather it leak through. But if the real them's got some problems and there we go. And of course you do background checks for criminal and drug use. And all that kind of crap. You know, we do that anyway, just as a matter of course, but hopefully I'm going to find something about that long time before we actually get to a multiple interview situation or a hire. But it's a cool question. It is a difficult thing to do, Joel. That's why I spent a little time with you on it. It's not a perfect thing. It's more art than science. It's not like there's three questions you can ask and. And the character will all come out. No, it doesn't. It doesn't work that way. It's more just hanging out, dude. Getting a sense. Letting God's spirit speak to you. Is this guy disturbing my spirit? Well, there's a reason, you know. Do you feel like you need to take a shower after you had a meeting with him? I mean, come on. There's a reason that feels that way. Question of the day from Laura in Miami, Florida. Oh, this one's weird. Dave, I'm 86 and still running my property management company full time. Seven employees, about 3 million a year. I planned to give it to my son, but he passed away unexpectedly. Yeah. Cause he was like 70 or 65. I mean, your succession plan was like decades late. Wow. Of course, you still have the same problem, but. Oh, my gosh, I'm so sorry. This is so. Man, I'm ready to step away, but the only grandchild who wants the business said they'd run it remotely, and I don't think that works in property management. Am I forcing a bad succession plan just to keep it in the family, or is it time to walk away? It's time to walk away. Yeah. You need to sell it or close it or whatever it is you're gonna do. Yeah, yeah, it's. You're right. Property management, the very essence of it is to manage the property. And remote is not the essence of that. So I'm sorry, you can't sit on your couch and manage property. You got to go over there and kick the tires and fix the water heater and all that crap. I mean, come on, you know that. And your grandson doesn't get that or grandchild doesn't get that. Laura, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. That's there. But yeah, that's a case in point where you need to work on success. Everyone out there listening. You need to work on succession sooner rather than later. The more gradual the succession plan, the higher the likelihood of a sustainable plan. The company sustains after the person. More gradual and you need to Start it a long, long time before Laura did. Like a long, long, long, long time before Laura did. Ours is almost complete and I'm 65. Just to give you an idea. Okay. I'm still on the microphone, but I'm only running about 10 to 20% of the business. My son Daniel runs Ramsey Solutions. He's the President, I'm the CEO. Okay. And that's been a 16 year process. We started that when I was 48. Okay. Our 17 year process now. So to begin to figure out who's going to sit in the seat, put the person in the seat, make sure they're capable in the seat. All that process has been over that long period of time. It's very, very, very, very gradual. And it's very, very, very successful too. It's one of the things we found is we've studied best practices in family businesses. Handing off stuff. The more gradual the succession plan, the higher the likelihood of success. That's one of the principles. And so. And that's where Laura finds herself. She's really in a pinch here. I'm sorry, that's painful. It's painful that you lost your son. It's weird to outlive your kid. That just feels funny. It's not. One of my friends lost his kid and he's like, that's just not natural. It's not how it's supposed to be, you know. And so, yeah, that's, that's a hard, that's a hard thing to go through. And now you've got to look at going, I'm not going to do this anymore, so I'm going to sell it. Yeah, but you're right, the writing's on the wall and that, that's the corner that you're in and you're not. A lot of different things you can do with that. So, hey, sorry, you're facing that. Wow. Your business can't grow if you're just winging it. If you want to scale with confidence, you gotta have a plan. That's why my team is offering you a free 30 minute call where we'll look at your business, identify what's keeping you stuck and help you figure out what your next step is. Go to entreeleadership.com consult and fill out the form to schedule your free call or just click the link in the show notes. Bobby's in Sacramento. Hey, Bobby, how are you?

[B]

Blessed, Dave, truly blessed. How are you?

[A]

Just the same. How can I help?

[B]

Well, first I'd like to give you a little quick background. I'm 29 years old, second generation. I own a third of a construction company with my father and mother. We have 16 members, two that are part time and we did right around 1.6 in revenue last year.

[A]

Good for you.

[B]

My question is, while respecting my father's ownership, how do we fairly structure profit and incentives in the family business between

[A]

the three of you?

[B]

Between my father and I. My mother's a silent partner. She's riding in the same boat as my father.

[A]

Okay, well, there's a lot of ways to do it. I mean, you could do whatever you wanted to do. How did you end up with your one third?

[B]

So I started working with my father when I was 18. As young men do, we kind of butted heads a little bit, went out and started my own business. Did about 7, 800,000 in revenue. I had two guys on. He was diagnosed with cancer, wanted me to fall in and help with the business. He said he'd give me a third of the business. He'd do profit sharing and give me X amount hourly. So I, I distributed my guys to local contractors that I knew and trusted and fell in with him. And my father was blessed to get everything cut out and recovered. And now he's back to his old self.

[A]

Okay. Is he following through on what he said? He pays you an hourly rate plus profit sharing, a percentage, one third of the profits.

[B]

So that's the hard part. He follows through on the hourly. I have never seen any profit sharing yet I've brought it to his attention. But I'm trying to be a good steward and understand how to respect my father and go about asking for a piece of the pie when he's built this pie for the last 40 years.

[A]

So he gave you a third. Did he not give you a third or not?

[B]

He did give me a third.

[A]

You don't have to ask for a piece of pie. You have a piece of the pie.

[B]

Well, when it comes to the profit sharing part, they're, they're.

[A]

What's the point of ownership if you don't get one third of the profits?

[B]

And that's where I'm, I'm almost 30 years old and I've, I've looked down my path and trying to understand what I'm going to do. I've come to this disjunction of where do I know when to get out or should I approach this in a different manner? Have I?

[A]

Yeah. Okay. So I guess you could sit down and say this, Dad, I don't know where we're going forward from here and we're Going to have to talk about it because you've built a good business here and you had a health problem. You asked me to come over and help, and I've come over and helped. And is. Is it time for me to go back out and do my own thing again, or are you looking at transferring this over to me? And in the meantime, I thought I understood. I had a third of the business, and I don't understand why I don't get a third of the profits with a third of the business. And I'm gonna have to understand a couple of these things, dad. So if it just was you needed me to come help for a while and now you don't need me, then we can talk about that. That's okay. I love you. You're still my dad and. But I'm glad I was able to come over here and help you during this time. But if you don't. If you don't. You know, if we don't. If we're not gonna go forward with this and you're not gonna distribute my share of the profits to me, then we're gonna have to talk about doing something else. So what is it? What is it you want to do, dad? That's not dishonoring. That's not dishonoring. It's asking what he wants to do.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Yeah, because, you know, I. You know, and then you can circle back around and the essence of that, you don't have to be blunt or mean about it, but the essence of it is that you should be getting one third of the profits if you have one third of the ownership.

[B]

Do you think one third is a proper amount? How do you agree with that measurement?

[A]

It's what you agreed to.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

He said, come back, help me. I'll give you a third and an hourly. You said okay, right?

[B]

Yeah, Well, I was running his business while he was in the hospital with my guys out of my pocket for a while, so that's what he. He presented.

[A]

Yeah. And. But I mean that. That's what you agreed to. Now if you want to change that deal and say, okay, I got. I have one third. That's what we've agreed to. Was that ever written down?

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Okay. Then you say okay, and then our next stage is for us to start talking about how I end up buying the. Buying you out of the rest of it long term. And don't have to be today, but I want to kind of have a game plan here where I end up with this when you're gone. I don't want to have mom as a partner later.

[B]

Dave, I think he's kind of cut from the same cloth as you. He sure enjoys his business and being beneficial to others in his community. So how old is he, Frank? I don't. 64.

[A]

Okay, well, I mean, at what point is he not going to do this anymore?

[B]

I think he's going to go till he dies, Dave.

[A]

Well, you need to ask him.

[B]

That's what he says.

[A]

Okay, so you're not going to ever be the owner. He's going to be like the last guy. I was just reading the thing. 86 years old and you're going to be 65.

[B]

And that's what I'm worried about. So, you know, I'm going to.

[A]

I'm going to talk to him about that. I'm going to say, listen, that I don't have any desire to be here owning one third at 65 and you be 86, still working here running the thing. So if that's our plan, then we need to change the plan because I'm not going to do that. Okay, that's what you're saying. And I wouldn't blame you. I don't think that's healthy for the company. I think it's healthy for your dad. I don't think it's healthy for you. So I think you all need some kind of a plan where he gradually and I don't care if he hangs around and works, but where he's no longer running the dadgum thing. He does not need to be running it. Just cause he's still sucking air at 86. You know, that's not right. I don't need to be running this at 86. It's not fair to my kids, it's not fair to the business, it's not fair to my customers. It's not fair to anybody. That's just selfish on my part to do that. I could do it. I'd want to do it. I am cut from that cloth. But I'm also cut from a different piece of cloth that says I'm not going to do that because it's not good for the things I love.

[B]

Okay?

[A]

And so, yeah, dad, this is not good for anybody but you. And so, you know, if you're going to do that, then that's fine. You can run your business until you drop. But I'm going to go start mine again. And. And the next time there's a problem, I'm going to coach you and cheer for you. But I'm not coming back over here.

[B]

Okay?

[A]

You know, and this is, we're. This is our last shot at this. And so it's okay. I'm not mad about it. But, honey, if this is what we're going to do, this is what we're going to do. And if he says, yeah, I'm just going to work till I die and you just have to deal with it, well, I'm dealing with it. So I'll just go start gathering my crew back up and get my own thing going again. And if that's, if he does that, I don't think he's going to do that. If you ask these questions a lot, just ask the questions a very calm way in a very quiet setting, private setting, not a bunch of people around, your mother's not in his ear, none of that. You're just the two guys sitting here talking about father and son, what we're going to do, and man to man, money, mano, you know, and let's just figure this thing out, right? And you can get there. There's a lot of places you can get with that. So, you know, sometimes he may say, I'm just going to work till I die, but it's because he hasn't figured out a way to not do that. And maybe that's it. Or I want to be useful and maybe he's saying that that's okay, I want you to be useful. I don't mind you working, but I'm going to own this and make every decision until I'm gone. No, I'm not staying. That would be my. That'd be the. Drop dead on that. So, you know, but you need clarity. You can't just assume what's in his brain without dragging it out of his brain by having a conversation. That's what we're doing. Hey, folks, by the way, if you do have a question and you want to be on this show, you can do it by going to entreeleadership.com ask and you can call us at 844-944-1070. And if you would help us out by following the show, subscribing to the show, leaving a review, and sharing the show with a friend. Sharing. It's good. You ought to do it. It's a good thing. Back to kindergarten. Remember, tell people about us. People, we need the help. You're our only marketing hope. Yeah, please jump in there and do that. And folks, remember, better a wary warrior than a quivering critic. This world needs more high quality leaders, so take courage and lead. I'm Dave Ramsey, your host. Thanks for joining us on Entre leadership. It.