Episode Transcript
[00:00:15] Speaker A: Welcome to Battle Ready where we prepare leaders for the real world fight to determine success, resilience and legacy. I'm your host, Ricky Chavez. Today's conversation is especially critical for leaders who, who are doing excellent work but still feel like they're, they're losing ground. My guest Marilyn Jenks is a digital growth strategist. See, I always mess up that word. And the founder of Law Marketing Zone. And she has spent decades helping law firms and service based business scale through disciplined digital strategy, visibility and execution, producing seven figure results and massive ROI for our clients. Merrill also hosts the top 5% podcast Leadership in Law and is published and is a published author who understands what it means to lead in competitive high pressure environments.
Meryl, Marilyn is an honor to have you on the Battle Radio today. How are you?
[00:01:06] Speaker B: I'm great, thank you so much. I'm excited to be here.
[00:01:09] Speaker A: What's the time change between us and Spain? Right now?
[00:01:12] Speaker B: Seven hours.
[00:01:14] Speaker A: So are you before us or after us?
[00:01:17] Speaker B: I am after.
[00:01:19] Speaker A: Okay. Okay. So you're isn't dark there, huh?
[00:01:22] Speaker B: Not quite. This is the shortest week of the year though for all of us. But yeah, it's not quite. The sun is going down.
[00:01:28] Speaker A: Okay. You know, many capable leaders struggle not because they lack talent, but because they lack visibility. When leadership isn't seen, monument stalls, revenue suffers and confidence erodes. This segment reframes visibility as a leader, leadership, responsibility, not a marketing luxury. And shows how strategy and discipline changes the outcome. Marilyn, why does many able leaders struggle with visibility even when their work is excellent?
[00:01:55] Speaker B: I think traditionally leaders feel like, you know, they, they should be known by the work they do and head down great work. But these these days, that's not true. People need to see you.
The most visible person in the market in your marketplace may not be the best in better than what you do. Right.
So you need to be more visible to just because it, and it may, it feels uncomfortable. It feels uncomfortable to get out there and video or, or make posts and be known locally. But people will do business with people they know like and trust. And we just need to make sure that you get past it in your own way and get used to it and pick a platform and start being sp. Start posting, do something simple but get known for what you do and what you do.
[00:02:42] Speaker A: Well, you know, it's interesting you say that. So you're, you're in the law, in the law realm. So I'm in real estate here in Houston and a couple years ago the top influencer real estate in Houston sold the least amount of houses See, you know, but everybody knew her. Everybody saw she had a following that was just amazing. But when you looked at her production, it was minimal.
So I, I remember talking to my area manager. I'm like, I need to get on social media. And they're like, no, go to your sphere. Let your work speak for itself. This, that and the other. And now where I'm at eight years in and probably last year, a quarter of my business came from people that found me on social media. What are your thoughts on that?
[00:03:29] Speaker B: I think the conversation has changed. You know, the, the people. We have instant communication. A lot of times now people are getting their news and their connections from their social.
That's why. So that person that you were saying that did that, did the least amount, but the most known, I believe her message was wrong. Right. So if you want to be known for what you're good at, make that your message. Then the conversation changes when the leads come in. So, yeah, we are getting our information through social media. Social media has made our attention span shorter, but we also, by seeing the same thing, the same message repeatedly. That makes you come to mind when I have a house I want to sell, or maybe I'm looking to buy up some size, downsize, something like that.
[00:04:14] Speaker A: You know, I, you know, I think what you said was amazing because once upon a time I was a military recruiter. Right. And our big thing was top of mind. Right, Top of mind.
It's, it's not necessarily the what service they want to, but if they're thinking about a service and you come to mind they're going to give you the first opportunity, then it's about you, how you present yourself and how you present your product. Right. So I think basically what I'm hearing from you is, you know, top of mind is, is a big deal.
[00:04:42] Speaker B: It is, absolutely. I mean, why do you think Coca Cola does what, 40, 50 commercials on every prime time?
Top of mind. And that's what it is. Pick your message that you want to be known for and known as the leader in that and make sure that message is out there. Repeat that message.
[00:04:59] Speaker A: You know, can you share a real story where visibility changed the trajectory of a law firm or leader?
[00:05:06] Speaker B: Yes. I have a client that had never really done video and was in an estate planning firm. And that, as you know, needs a bit of education. There's a lot of, A lot of making sure, making people understand what you offer and the benefits of what you offer.
So what we set up was a interview type process to do videos. Each short video was an faq, which is a frequently asked question.
And we went through every single one and began posting those on a regular basis. Then her conversations changed as their phones rang. Right. Not only was it good for social media, it was good for the paid ads, but the people calling in now had additional information, a different, additional knowledge, and they came asking better questions and became better clients.
[00:05:54] Speaker A: So you said something right there that kind of sticks in mind. You know, you said, let me say it right. More often, posting more often. I think something like that. So what is a good amount of posting? I mean, how often? Daily, weekly, month? I mean, what does that look like?
[00:06:11] Speaker B: I would say it depends on where you are now. If you're just absolutely resistant to it or afraid of it. Once a week, find a platform that you like. Are your ideal clients on LinkedIn or are they on Facebook?
I would doubt that they're going to be on Instagram, but that's a thought process. But Facebook is where people go to get to, you know, catch up on what their, their network is doing and that sort of thing. LinkedIn is. If you're B2B, do a weekly post.
Be a, be an a leader and influencer. Not influence, you know that word, but be the one that speaks of that particular thing that you want to be known for that you do well and be known for that. And then people will like, like there's certain places in the, you know, when you do ads in the States, if you advertise a family law firm, people don't think about divorce and child custody and, and alimony and palate. They don't think of all of those things. But as soon as you say divorce, they think of all of things. So think of the most common denominator in the service you offer.
Talk about that, right? Not head down at your desk, but head up on social media and just make these short videos or posts that keep the, keep the subject on and make you the, the authority on that subject. And post once a week and you can batch your content. You don't have to do it all at one, you know, once a week, in one morning, one of one week, you could do four posts, right? Prepare for four posts, and then you get a month worth of content.
[00:07:41] Speaker A: You know, I.
So it's new. It's getting newer to me in my business, right? So probably about two months ago, I sat down with a videographer and we did content. I mean, we spent maybe four hours.
Ish. And, And I think we did. We came up with 40 videos, you know, that, like short videos. And I Was talking with my office manager and I'm like, well, we need to do it every Monday.
And each of them had to do with various pieces of my business that, that I do.
And, and you know, her thing to me was, well, I was dressed the same way in every video. I'm like, I don't know that people care. They're, they're looking more at the message. I mean, because we just sat down and over hours, you know, we just went video after video after video moving different places within the model home that we were in.
But her concern was the, what is, what are your thoughts on that?
[00:08:42] Speaker B: There's, we like, you know, if you're going to batch content that's going to go out over the course of six months, which is in, in essence what you did, almost what nine months of content you did if you're doing just once every Monday.
Yeah, bring three shirts.
But the fact that you move to different parts of the house is better than sitting just behind your desk and never changing.
[00:09:02] Speaker A: Right.
[00:09:03] Speaker B: So you made it by moving to a different place. I mean, maybe that's your uniform. Black on black, go for it. But you know, a lot of people would come in and they will bring a couple of shirts and they will do a few videos and change your shirt, do a few more and then you mix those up. But the whole point is you did the content. That's the great thing. Now you have a Monday post for the next, you know, eight months.
So kudos to you for that. And it's done in one morning.
[00:09:28] Speaker A: So is there like a process? I know that, you know, everybody thinks they can tell you how to do things now. This is what you do for a living. So my question will be, is this when we were, what it was told us was take those videos, put them into, into YouTube and then share them from YouTube. Is that, is that your thought process also? Or how do you do it?
[00:09:50] Speaker B: But every video you make on YouTube. YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world. Google owns it. When AI is looking for answers to questions, it'll go to YouTube.
So have you ever asked a question on Google like how do I fix my printer? Of whatever the problem is. And the very first Result is a YouTube video with a timestamp of where.
[00:10:10] Speaker A: Your answer is, oh no, I never noticed that.
[00:10:13] Speaker B: Yeah, that's called a zero click search. Right. Put everything you have, ask specific questions exactly like a person would ask you and then answer that question. It all gets indexed. Absolutely. If you use it on your Facebook page and your personal Facebook every Monday as well.
Great. But yes, if you're doing videos, have a YouTube channel, it's well worth it.
[00:10:37] Speaker A: Okay, so now I'm gonna, I'm gonna ask you a follow up to that. So I have these 40 videos. Do I upload them all into YouTube and then share them one at a time over the weeks, or do I every Monday upload it and then share it?
[00:10:52] Speaker B: What are your thoughts you can schedule in YouTube? So like I have a podcast. And so what we do is my team, when the podcast is ready, we know what date it's going to air. Okay. So even though we store everything in YouTube, we, we simply put it in YouTube, put all the show notes, everything is ready, but we schedule it for the date it's going to drop.
So it's done. We don't have to.
[00:11:13] Speaker A: But it's already in YouTube.
[00:11:15] Speaker B: It is. No one.
[00:11:16] Speaker A: Somebody can actually stumble on it.
[00:11:18] Speaker B: No, because it's scheduled, right? You get scheduled or you've got published. We just schedule it. So then YouTube on the day it airs, will turn it on to public.
[00:11:28] Speaker A: Oh, okay. So that makes it easier than having to go the extra process. Just take one day and drop it. Put everything in and schedule it.
[00:11:34] Speaker B: It's called batching your content. Absolutely. Yeah.
[00:11:37] Speaker A: Okay, well, you know, I'm kind of cheating here. I'm getting some good points from you. From me.
[00:11:41] Speaker B: Right.
[00:11:43] Speaker A: You know, real quick, what is one discipline action that someone can take this week to stop being invisible?
[00:11:51] Speaker B: I think choose a platform.
Choose the platform. Choose one platform and one subject to start posting about.
[00:11:58] Speaker A: Okay, well, coming up, we're talking about reinvention. What happens when leaders realize the battlefield has changed and the old strategies no longer work. We'll be right back.
Welcome back to Battle Ready. If you want more of what you're watching, stay connected to Battle Ready. And now every now Media tv, favorite live, on or on demand, anytime you like, you can Download the free Now Media TV app on Roku or iOS and unlock non stop bilingual programming in English or Spanish.
If you're on the move, you can also cast a podcast version right from our website at www.nowmediatv. from business and news to lifestyle and culture and beyond, now Media TV is streaming around the clock and ready for you whenever you're needing it. Now. Welcome back to Battle Ready. I'm here with Marilyn Jenkins. We had a pretty amazing first segment where I kind of cheated and I. I got all her brain. I'm getting all her brain waves and I'm gonna bring her back to where she's her Topic outdated leadership approaches creating vulnerability Leaders who don't adapt, they risk losing relevance and authority and in confidence. This segment focuses on reinvention as a discipline, Leadership moves, not a weakness. And how leaders can evolve without losing Identify identity. Sorry, why do you. Why do strong leaders struggle with the most?
[00:13:24] Speaker B: With reinvention, I think we're, I think part of it's in our head. Right? It's in your head. You're. You're good at what you do. Competency, consistency, reliability, you've always had that. But as the market shifts, it becomes uncomfortable. And what you need to do is realize that reinvention is, is not a threat. It's a way of opening your expertise up to a new audience. So it's just, it's just as, it's just a, a fear. And it's like the, the fear of doing a video for your, you know, doing video for your social media, your YouTube. It's just something you need to get over. Reinvention is what you have, you had to do throughout your career. As you grew. This is just another reinvention, but not a complete pivot. So put it in perspective and realize you need, you want to grow your business, to grow your audience, and to do that, you need to look at how the market has shifted.
[00:14:18] Speaker A: So what mindset, what mindset shift is required to move from traditional leadership to digital leadership?
[00:14:24] Speaker B: I think it's clarity.
You know, we have. Traditional leadership is control over the, the, the team and the message and all of that. And when you go digital and you are expanding to a new market, it just needs to be more clarity.
So, you know, the job doesn't really change. What you're doing is, is not changing, but you're leading from a digital perspective. Whether they're remote people or you' talking about your social media or any of that, you need clarity, and clarity is repetition. So just be incredibly clear, especially with your systems, of what you expect of your team, what you expect of yourself and of the company and the services you provide. And that clarity will come through your messaging.
[00:15:07] Speaker A: So can you share a reinvention story from your own journey as a. As or your clients?
[00:15:13] Speaker B: Yeah, originally we did a lot of Facebook ads and we of course offered various services, but we were known as the Facebook Ads Agency. And it's like when you get someone that, that really needs additional stuff, Google Ads or SEO, that sort of thing, that we were able to shine once we got a little, a few more clients in that aspect and coming up with case studies, so, you know, kind of stuck in One thing, but really desiring to be, you know, more things and having clients that do three or four services with us. You know, we have a bilingual 247 call center now. So we have expanded as our clients needs have expanded. And so now I can say that I run a full service digital marketing agency for local businesses.
[00:16:00] Speaker A: So what's the first step toward reinvention without overwhelming yourself?
[00:16:04] Speaker B: I think systems just again, like we talked about, you know, becoming visible. Pick something, you know, step one, you know, how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time, right? You can't just take a massive project and put it on your calendar and say in 30 minutes I'm going to finish this project.
Pick something, pick one thing and make that be the thing that you're going to do. Like we really wanted to do a lot more with Google Maps, Google Business Profile, because that is an integral to any local business.
And so I started doing a lot of education on that. I wrote a couple of books on it, how to do it Yourself.
And then so that is what's helped us expand what we're offering and having clients come to us with more educated questions and more needs. So I think pick one thing you want to specialize in that then can expand as your clients come and have, have questions or potential clients have conversations with you.
[00:16:59] Speaker A: Okay, so let me ask you this. So I'm going to go back to my, my scenario where now we're finally at the consistency part. Okay, We're Monday, we put in video and it's like a teaching. We do other stuff throughout the week, but we try to stay, stay blunt with the one on Monday.
But we really are not getting as many views on those videos. So what would you tell. What would you tell me what, what could I do better as far as that goes?
[00:17:29] Speaker B: I would say just don't boost it. I would just be consistent, you know, put it on, also put it on your website.
Maybe make an announcement to your mailing list that you have, you know, you started a Monday education, whatever your title of this particular series is, you know, announce it to your network, announce it on your LinkedIn, announce it on your personal Facebook that they should go to your business Facebook business page and see that every Monday.
So point people to it and you'll start getting more views because a lot of people just aren't aware. If you have a business page that you're posting to, it most likely has far fewer quote, unquote friends than you do on your personal. Have you announced that you're doing that?
No, no.
[00:18:13] Speaker A: I just pop it up. You know, I actually, I'm one of those out of sight, out of mind. I did the videos. I'm good. So I, I, you know, I have my, my, my manager, she, she puts them up. I always gotta remind, hey, did you do it? How'd you do it? And, and she says yes. And then it's kind of okay. I feel like that box is checked, check done.
[00:18:33] Speaker B: Now the other thing is just telling people, you know, it's like, what was the field of dreams? Build it and they will come. That doesn't work on the Internet.
Right.
[00:18:41] Speaker A: Okay, so what about the Google Business pages? How do, do you also connect those videos or connect your YouTube channel to the business page or what. What are your thoughts on that?
[00:18:53] Speaker B: Well, not, not your YouTube channel, but by having a YouTube under your business name actually gives you extra brownie points. We believe there's no proof to your Google Business Profile. What you should be doing is taking those videos you made, transcribing them, and make them a blog post on your website and a blog and a post on your Google Business Profile. Because everything you give Google on your Google Business Profile, whether it's your list of summaries, I mean services, products, posts, questions and answers, you're telling Google which. How many more types of searches you're valuable for.
So those transcriptions should be posted on your Google Business Profile.
[00:19:34] Speaker A: Okay. And you said, you said something about a blog.
[00:19:37] Speaker B: Yes. Do you have a website?
[00:19:39] Speaker A: Yeah. Come on, let's go. Let's talk a little bit more about that. I'm getting educated here.
[00:19:43] Speaker B: Yeah. So if you have a website, especially on WordPress, you should have a blog. So a blog is. So you think about a web page. A page is constant data that doesn't change. So like the about us is always going to be that your contact us. That's going to be a page.
Blogs are posts, new information.
The one in front's always the newest. Right. So you post. So every Monday or even. Yeah, I would do it the day you posted the video. Every Monday, you should post a blog post that has the video and then the transcription on the same page.
AI loves that as well. Plus, you're giving all of this information in text and video for all the search engines to, to index. Then you take that transcription and, and you make it a post with the title of the video is the title, and put that on your Google Business Profile. Do that every week.
[00:20:35] Speaker A: Okay. I think my, my, my, my office manager is getting ready to get totally overwhelmed.
So is it a pretty easy Process. Now, understand, I'm, I'm, I'm approaching this as if, and you're in the, in the, in the law realm. But I mean, and it's kind of the same, just different businesses. Right? So I'm that, that, that law person that's like not real comfortable, comfortable, you know, with the videos, doing the videos. Now I'm posting them and now you're saying transcribe them and do that also. A little overwhelming, huh?
[00:21:11] Speaker B: Well, okay, think about this though. Instead of doing nine different things, you can do one thing, that one video.
Then you can make it nine different things. You could make it an article like the transcription. So there's transcription services out there. You just upload the video, it transcribes it for you.
I believe YouTube even has that. So you're going to put it on YouTube as a video. You've got the transcription. You can make a blog post out of it. You could make an article anywhere else. You can do a social media post with the transcription, but you can put a post on your Google business profile. You, Ricky, have done one thing.
Your team could make that one thing into multiple things. That's what batching content is about.
[00:21:52] Speaker A: Batching content.
How did you find out about this? Tell me about, I mean, I know you, I mean, did you go to class about this? Did you. Trial and error? What was your, how did you get there?
[00:22:05] Speaker B: I've been a geek since I was a child. I just love technology, I love computers and I got into digital marketing. Way back when people said, I think I need a website. Someone said I need a website.
So we started with that. Okay, now I think I need people to come to it. How do I do that? You know, and so it's just been a learning since the 90s and you know, you just learn and you pack it away and you, you use it and you get better and you watch the algorithms change and you just keep learning and practicing and working and being successful for your clients and they send you newer client or referrals. So it's just being, being observant and learning as the systems change and upgrade and being ahead of the curve of your competition to Marilyn for leaders who.
[00:22:49] Speaker A: Want to dig deeper into their work, into this work, where can they learn more about what you do?
[00:22:55] Speaker B: So what I do is I work with local businesses, but I, I, my website is lawmarketingzone.com so you can have a look at that. You can go to MJ Media Group co.
That's where you can learn more about the types of services we offer and of course you can look at me, look for me on LinkedIn. But we help local businesses get found whether it's on paid ads, streaming tv, meta or Google, as well as SEO services, which means making your website and your Google business profile be found in the searches you want to be found for.
[00:23:27] Speaker A: So we're breaking, we're breaking down. Up next, what really takes to build teams and perform under pressure when excuses disappear and execution matters. Mellon. We'll be right back.
[00:23:38] Speaker B: Foreign.
[00:23:47] Speaker A: Welcome back to Battle Ready. You know, pressure reveals everything. And right now many leaders are realizing that they don't have a team and they have people. They. This segment is going to cut straight to execution, accountability and what separates functional teams from real mission ready units.
You know, when pressure hits unclear roles in weak leadership, structures and structures collapse. This segment focuses on building teams with clarity, accountability and execution.
So leaders aren't carrying everything alone. What is one of the biggest challenge leaders have when they're trying to build their teams?
[00:24:22] Speaker B: I think it's finding the right butts for the right seats. You know, we hire for a job as opposed to a responsibility, and then as we grow, we don't give them the responsibility or the accountability to do that job. And so as a leader, I think we have to let go of the reins a little bit, you know, especially when pressure comes on. If you've got clarity in your message, clarity in your responsibilities and you let people do their job and if you find someone who can do their job at 80% as good as you would have done their job, you've got a great employee.
So building up your team members.
[00:25:01] Speaker A: So I think, you know, I'm, I told you earlier, I'm, I was in the military for a long time and leadership's a big thing to us. Right. We teach everybody to take our role, to take over what we do. And the biggest thing is everybody in the, in the whole organization knows the mission because in wharfs, if all the heads are down, we still want them to continue on with the mission. Right.
And, and when I was in hr, when I left corporate America and went to hr, I found that wasn't so in the civilian world as much in corporate America that everybody was scared. How do they, how do they work and coach their people to do what they do without being scared?
[00:25:39] Speaker B: I think systems, and I know that sounds like a cop out, but it, if people understand the mission, the role, the compassion, they're supposed to work with what you expect as the leader, what you expect them to bring to the table.
And there are systems to follow to make this done. We call them SOPs, standard operating procedures. Right before you delegate, there's an SOP. Go through the SOP. What do you not understand right now? Why is this SOP like this? Because this is the level of service we want to provide our clients. So it's clarity, it's systems will make growth and pressure so much easier because people know what to do.
[00:26:20] Speaker A: You know, you said something, delegation. I think that I find out here that it delegation is hard for leaders. I mean they're scared because they want it done their way and their way only. And they don't realize there's, you know, two ways to put peel and onion. You can do it a bunch of different ways. Your way doesn't always have to be the right way, but you're so used to doing it your way, you want it your way. How do you help them gain confidence with their people so they delegate more?
[00:26:49] Speaker B: I think that it comes down to discipline in the leader. Right. So the question is, do you want to lead or do you want to do it all? Because you can't go from a million dollar company to a $10 million company or even a 3 million dollar company if you are involved in every single decision. I was working for a company in the late 90s. It was a $7 million a year company, 80 some odd employees and the one CEO required to be involved in every single decision.
So she brings in a consultant, pays them umpteen thousand dollars to examine everything and see why are we not growing. Last three years we haven't grown past $7 million a year. And the consultant said because you don't have enough time to grow.
It was a very eye opening thing. But her people had been telling her this for three years.
She has to be involved. So you have to have a little bit of humility and go, okay, I've hired good team, good team members. Let me let them do their job. If you've got good SOPs, clarity of mission and you, you know your mission statement and your, your corporate values and everybody is bought into it. Let them do their jobs that you're paying them for and you look at the big picture and work on your business, not in your business.
[00:28:08] Speaker A: I'm not in. I hear that a lot. So what? Leadership behaviors destroy accountability without realizing it.
[00:28:16] Speaker B: Destroy accountability.
I would say rescuing employees. So again, that's the whole thing about I can do it better than you can. Right. I can do it faster, so of course it's better, right? Sure. So if you're constantly rescuing a struggling Employee, you're not helping them grow in their position and you're wasting your time.
So that, that's going to destroy the, the accountability. You're not letting them fail.
Part of responsibility is the accountability and accountability means how to handle a failure. So say someone did a job that was 90% good, but it fell through on this 10%. You have to let them do that from time to time. Don't rescue them and fix it before it's done.
They have to learn and they will, and you will. You know, hopefully it's not going to be something that's going to lose you a client and it's not usually that bad, but you have to allow them to do their job to the best of their ability and then lead from there.
[00:29:13] Speaker A: So you make on the spot corrections kind of thing or just, you know, let them go all the way through it, then review it or what are you saying?
[00:29:22] Speaker B: Well, I mean, if you see the point where it's, it's going to fail, then the conversation is, let's say someone comes to you with a problem, you've got a couple of ways you can handle that. Okay, I see the problem, I see what you're, you're facing. What would you do to fix it? Have them brainstorm how to fix it. Give me three ways you'd fix it. Which would you choose to do? Make it a learning experience. I'm not saying wait until they fall and, and it costs the company a client or money or whatever, but if they see that something is not working right, have them, you know, have a conversation of made it a learning experience for them instead of you having to be the one to go in and rescue and fix things. And that way next time this happens, they're going to go, okay, she's going to say, what would I do? I would do this. Okay. If I still have questions, then I have employees that come to me and they come, here's the problem, here's what I think the solution is. And this is why I think that. What do you think now? It takes me two minutes to go. Yep, I do the same thing.
[00:30:23] Speaker A: Okay. Yeah.
So, you know, I know one of the challenges now, I've been away from corporate America by eight, nine years now. But I remember one of the challenges for the management was that the, their hiring process wasn't as strong. And then when they had the individual in front of them, they gave them a task.
And the individuals, I don't want to. The motivation, not the motivation, but their skill set didn't help them with it. I mean, do this, and they'll ask, well, how do I do this? Where do I get that?
How do you coach people through that? Getting them ready to just go with their first instinct and, and, and try versus asking all the questions.
[00:31:04] Speaker B: Well, you, I think you give accountability or responsibility when they reach a point of, of confidence. And I think bringing somebody in on an interview and saying, go do this task is a little bit irresponsible as well. I mean, did you prepare them for that? Did they know before they came in that you were going to make them say, write a program or whatever? Are you putting them on the spot when they're not, you know, they're not going to be at their best because they weren't prepared.
So you wouldn't give your assistant a job that you always do when she's not ready.
So you need to prepare your team member before you give them responsibility of something that's beyond their. Their ability.
It's simple education. And, and as the leader, you need to not let your people fall on their face just to prove that you're important.
[00:31:50] Speaker A: Give yourself value, huh? Yeah, don't give yourself that value.
[00:31:53] Speaker B: Well, don't take your ego into it. Don't let your ego come into it. You want, you want to craft people. You want to mold people into the image that your business, the mission, the values and the core values of your company. Right. You can't bring them in when they're unprepared and throw them to the wolves knowing that they're going to make a mistake. And then you're going to use that as a teaching moment. You're going to have disgruntled employees. I want people that learn to grow. They choose, you know, we get. Offer them new things to do to learn and grow, and then it just grows from there. You can, you can grow an employee and their confidence at the same time and the ability for them to do an even better job as they grow and their desire to do better is there.
[00:32:35] Speaker A: Can you share a story where leadership structure changed team performance?
[00:32:39] Speaker B: I think that I've seen an attorney. We had a law firm that wanted to add immigration to something they were already doing. They had an attorney that came in and enjoyed that and wasn't really feeling the other practice area. It was doing okay, but wasn't really feeling it. So the conversation took place that, you know, immigration is a really good practice area to add. It flows well with. This will be more rounded and have the opportunity. And this is the immigration attorney. They're like, what do you want to Do. And this was the conversation. If we did this, it makes it more well rounded. We can offer multiple services to same families or businesses. If we did this too.
Boom started immigration side, this immigration attorney. That's what they focused on. They built their business and they were able to take clients that had been old clients over here that had no more needs. Suddenly they needed help with their immigration. With an employee's immigration, with family immigration. They built the firm, they 2x the firm by saying you want to do immigration, it's a good value add to us, let's do it. And now they're known for, for both. They do estate planning, immigrate or family law and immigration.
[00:33:50] Speaker A: So let me ask you this. You're talking immigration. So and that came to my mind. What about in the hiring process of hiring people that are fluent in other, other languages and doing your social media in various languages. What are your thoughts on that?
[00:34:07] Speaker B: I think again, look at your ideal client. If your ideal client is a part of your ideal clients are Spanish or multilingual. Absolutely.
Yeah. We've got clients that all of our ads are only in Spanish and we knock it out of the park compared to the English ones. But they only want that. So I would say look at your ideal client. Let that tell you what the person is. Because if your best, best client is speaks another language first your, your marketing should be in that if that's your best client, you want more of those do multi language.
[00:34:44] Speaker A: And Houston where that it's. I mean this is one of the most diverse cities in the United States.
I would think that that's a big deal, huh?
[00:34:53] Speaker B: Yes, exactly.
[00:34:55] Speaker A: You know, my team, we, I have a team of five we speak seven languages and we're. It's a big deal to us because our clients, I mean because I'm in the real estate market so everybody could be an ideal client.
But the more we can reach out to, the more we can touch. I mean it's made our team much more visible and much more desired because you know, you have the second and third generation of, of people that are English speakers but then their, their, their parents or their parents, parents don't speak the language.
So that's, that kind of helps out, you know. So the question is doing our social media and, and that, and that language, you think that's a pretty, pretty. It makes sense.
[00:35:45] Speaker B: Absolutely. Absolutely. All day long.
Again, the, the non English speaking population, especially in the Houston area is underrepresented. So by putting your, your Monday video, I thought I would, I would challenge you to have Your Monday video redone by every person in your office in a different language and post those as well.
[00:36:04] Speaker A: Wow. Okay. That's very interesting to think about right now. So we'll be right back. And when we return, we'll talk about the hardest battle of all. The identity shift from operator to true leader. We were back.
[00:36:22] Speaker B: Foreign.
[00:36:25] Speaker A: Welcome back to Battle Ready. Don't miss a second of this show or any of your NOW Media TV favorites. Streaming live and on demand whenever and wherever you want. You can grab the free Now Media TV app on Roku or iOS and enjoy instant access through our line of bilingual programs in both English and Spanish. If you prefer podcasts, you can listen to Battle Ready anytime in the Now Media TV website at www.nowmedia tv. You know, covering business, breaking news and lifestyle culture and more. Now Media TV is available 24 and 7, so the stories you care about are always within your reach.
Now. Welcome back to that already. The final segment is about identity, the moment leaders realize growth requires letting go.
This is where leadership becomes command, not constant execution.
Marilyn, welcome back.
[00:37:15] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:37:16] Speaker A: So why do leaders struggle to release control even when it limits growth?
[00:37:22] Speaker B: Control.
It's just, it's, I think it's fear, losing control.
You know, you want to, you want to, you feel like you do it right. I, you know, we had this a little bit of conversation earlier that only I can do it. I could do it right. I could do it faster. Well, that's not the way you're going to grow as a leader or as a company.
You have to step back and teach your people, train your people to do it and, and train them in the way that you want this job done. And again, that comes down to systems. You know, explain to them what you expect, what the core values are, and then release, you know, let them grow and be a better teammate with you.
[00:38:02] Speaker A: And I think that a lot of time it's the fear of them making mistakes and then you have to go back and correct it anyway, so might as well do it myself.
[00:38:11] Speaker B: Yeah, but how, how, you know you're going to run out of time, right? You don't have enough time in the day to grow your business again. The example I gave before, you can't be involved in every single thing, every little process. If you want to grow, how are you going to, how is that going to happen?
[00:38:28] Speaker A: I know that I was telling you earlier, my brother is, he's been a chemical engineer for a long time, MIT guy, bachelor's masters. And I remember when he first came into a leadership role, him And I talked a little bit and there was something I sent him that a leader sent me a long time ago. It's called a message to Garcia. Have you ever heard of that? It's like a two page.
It was a paper written by Albert Hummer and it talks about an officer in the military being given, given a task and without asking any questions, he just did it.
And, and, and nowadays it seems like when you give somebody tasks, even if you believe they're ready and totally coach them through everything, they still ask you a thousand questions. And this was one of the things that I think it goes back to what you said earlier. You need to be confident that they're ready for the task you're going to give them. Right?
[00:39:27] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:39:27] Speaker A: So if you're ready for the task that you're, you're going to give them and they still have lots of questions, then what? Then how do you, I mean, you know, their performance has been great. The product that they shared with you has been good. But then they still don't have the confidence in themselves. Then what?
[00:39:45] Speaker B: I think that's where you need to help develop as a leader. Help them to understand they have the confidence. Help them develop their confidence to do it. So you can seriously look at the questions that they're asking and say, what would you do in that instance? You know, help them problem solve their own questions. It could be just one or two coaching moments that will let them understand, I do understand that I do have. I can do this. So it could be that it's simply that they don't under, they're under valuing like they're, they're afraid, they've got fear. And you know that they're prepared because you've trained them, they've done. They do well. They can handle this task, but they haven't got the confidence. So you just need to help them see the confidence in it.
[00:40:30] Speaker A: So I like what you said. You just kind of flipped it back to them.
[00:40:33] Speaker B: Yeah.
Because you'd be surprised. People ask the question. Some questions come up because they're like, well, I know what I would do in this situation, but is this what Maryland would do in the situation? And I don't want to disappoint Marilyn.
[00:40:46] Speaker A: They don't want. They. So they're second guessing themselves.
[00:40:48] Speaker B: Exactly. And so. But Marilyn doesn't want to do the job. That's why she's handing it off to you. So tell me what you would do to make this end result.
Right.
So I think if you take as the leader, if you take A moment as a coaching time and coach them up and then they can take the mantle and run with it.
[00:41:08] Speaker A: What mindset helps leaders step into strategic command instead of constant execution?
[00:41:14] Speaker B: Clarity. I think I'm going to go back to clarity. I think it's like they have to realize and take a step back.
Have we've got systems in place and I've been clear on what I'm asking.
They have the ability to do it. Step back and let your people perform and then I think don't.
[00:41:33] Speaker A: Right. I think that if you're in the middle of the mix, it's hard to see the whole picture.
[00:41:39] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly. If you're in the frame. If you're in the picture, you can't see the whole frame. And the thing is, is that people are going to try to perform for you as opposed to doing their job. If you're in the middle of like, say three or four people on a team are doing something, you're in the middle.
There's a tendency to want to rise, you know, the cream rise to the top. Right. Just, you know, somebody's going to get thrown under the bus, Somebody's going to perform for you. You need a task done. You don't need a competition.
So take the opportunity to coach your people, then step back and go work on your business, Let that project be completed and then move forward.
[00:42:16] Speaker A: You know, I was told one time that that's why, like college coaches, that's why they're always up in these high ladders looking down on everything, because they have the individual coaches in the different areas.
And even though they may not do exactly what those coaches are doing, they're making mental notes of how to coach up their coaches and what they've done, but they're also able to see everything that's going on at the same time. What are your thoughts?
[00:42:43] Speaker B: I agree. I think that as the leader, you need to have the big picture in mind. As the business owner, you want to have the big picture in the vision. Right.
And in some businesses, we have things we call the operator and the visionary. The CEO should always be the visionary. You see the big picture, the goals, the corporate structure or the corporate goals and the values and that sort of thing. And you know where you want to go. And then you have an operator which is going to be your 2IC or your COO or something that actually makes that happen.
So, yeah, you need to see the big picture as the leader. And sometimes the leader is the CEO at the same time. So you're the one that puts it into play. But you need, I think you need to have that bigger picture and then you can actually explain that to your team members.
[00:43:30] Speaker A: Did you share a transformation story where letting go unlock growth?
[00:43:35] Speaker B: Absolutely.
Again, that when it comes to, like your, your Google business profile and the different aspects of your identity, I've had a client that had everything locked down. Only the main office could deal with that. Only the main attorney and his assistant could work with that.
And. Okay, when are you going to do cases?
It took so long to be able to get them to understand you're. You're not, you can't be good at everything. I needed a divorce. Did I do it myself? No, I hired a divorce attorney. So why don't you hire somebody that's, you know, once they let go, they were able to take bigger cases. They were getting bigger cases, they were getting better cases because the messaging was better and it was consistent where before they were doing things as they had time. So by letting go, they actually grew their company.
[00:44:25] Speaker A: Okay, so, you know, out where I, where I'm at right now, I think one of the things that is kind of in the same concept is I always tell everybody, I got a guy.
You know, I got a guy if it has to do with pools. I got a guy if it has to do with structure. I have a guy if it has to do with whatever, you know. So you have to build up your, your arsenal of people in the areas that, that you want. And sometimes it's okay to push business someplace else because you're, you know, so focused on where you're going. What are your thoughts about that?
[00:45:03] Speaker B: I agree.
Over through my podcast, I've built a really nice Rolodex, if I'm not dating myself saying that word.
But, you know, a good referral network of people that do specialize in certain things. Right. And you have clients that, that they express to me that we like to be doing this. And it may not have anything to do with marketing. You know, we're thinking about doing this. Well, I got a guy and you know, and it's, and it makes sense. It's like. But what you end up being is for your new client is. Or your client, you end up being a referral source of things they need. Not just a referral source, a trusted referral source. So clients who trust you to in tell you the things that they need and you help them get that. Who do you think they're going to refer when they talk to somebody who needs your service, they're going to talk about you.
[00:45:52] Speaker A: I totally Agree with that. I think that's one of the most underestimated values a person can have is the fact that they are okay with sharing the wealth, you know, and staying focused. I know one of the jokes we said, remember the old movie Miracle on 34th street where that Santa Claus was in there and this is the season. Right. So Santa Claus was in there. People, kids were sitting on the lap. The store is all happy about all the other people coming in and he was sending them to other stores to get these deals because they were better deals than the deals at that store.
But it grew their business.
[00:46:31] Speaker B: Yeah, well, in looking at your business. Yeah, exactly. If you look at your business and you're, you're really good at these four things and you're okay with these other three things and somebody comes and all they need is one of these things that you're not quite as good at, but you really want the business.
But you know, someone who's fabulous at that thing, you're going to do your business better in the long run if you send them to someone who could do a fabulous job with that thing.
[00:46:57] Speaker A: That's 100, right? Miracle, this is Marilyn. This has been incredibly valuable. Where can people follow your work and continue this conversation with you?
[00:47:06] Speaker B: Absolutely. They can go to lawmarketingzone.com and they can book a 15 minute call with me if they like to chat. I work with local businesses to help them be found more locally and be found in the searches they want to be found on and the Google map pack. So lawmarketingzone.com or look me up on LinkedIn.
[00:47:26] Speaker A: So how long? I mean, I'm sure you get a lot of people reaching out to you on LinkedIn. What's your usual turnaround?
[00:47:33] Speaker B: My LinkedIn is on every day and if I'm not on it, my team is.
[00:47:38] Speaker A: Okay, well, thanks so much for bringing clarity, discipline and a real leadership truth to battle Ready. You know, today's conversation reminds me of the Leadership is a battlefield and visibility matters. Reinvention is required and teams must execute and growth demands identity shifts. For our viewers. Ask yourself where you're, where you're at and where you're still in the fighting for yesterday or are you in the battlefield for updated strategies? Stay disciplined, stay intentional and stay battle ready. I'm Ricky Chavez. See you next time on NOW Media Television. I'm battle ready. Thanks, Marilyn.
