Serving Others Builds Successful Businesses with Brian Dixon
This is an interview conducted by Matt Weik and Brian Dixon. Brian is an entrepreneur and business coach. In this interview, Matt and Brian discuss the landscape of building successful businesses. The ups and downs and the mistakes made along the way. Enjoy!
Can you tell us a little bit about how you got to where you are today from the burned bridges and failed projects to becoming an entrepreneur?
Brian Dixon: I was trying to grow a business, but in the process, I was running over people. I was putting projects over people. I worked with a business coach who encouraged me to do a 360 assessment, which is an anonymous survey where people gave me feedback about what I’m great at, but also where I’m stuck.
The assessment was the beginning of my journey in writing the wrongs and putting people first in my life and in my business. And although I absolutely do not do it perfectly, what I’ve learned to do is to start each day asking the question, what can I do to make your day? I approach a client engagement in the same way. At the beginning of our first coaching call I say, what would make this a win for you? What are your expectations? How can I really show up for you? And one of the keys I’ve found is opening the conversation and being open to feedback.
What gave you the idea to have people write their opinion of you anonymously and what did you find? Even better, how did their opinions make you feel?
Brian Dixon: Asking people for their opinion of me in an anonymous way was scary and uncomfortable. At first, I only included email addresses of people that I knew had a good opinion of me. And after starting with the easy people, I realized that if I really wanted to use this tool to grow, then I needed to be willing to hear the hard and negative feedback.
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One of my favorite quotes that I’ve learned from the process of going through the assessment and writing Start with Your People is “if we treat everyone like they’re hurting, we’ll only be right 80% of the time.” If we treat everyone like there is something that we need to do better in our approach to them, it’s going to improve all our relationships.
Do you believe everyone can be a leader?
Brian Dixon: We are all leaders. A leader is somebody who has a vision of a preferred future. They look at the future and they say, this is what I would love to be true, and then invites their people to join them in that journey. That is being a spouse, parent, manager, or team member. You’re a leader because you’re saying, “look at this vision of the future. Imagine what your life would be like with my product or with my service.”
What qualities do leaders need in order to be successful?
Brian Dixon: There are four qualities leaders need in order to be successful. The first one is vision. Knowing what you want the future to look like. Because if you don’t know your destination, any road will get you there. You need to know as a leader, this is where we want to go. This is how we measure success. This is our goal and the more tangible the better.
Number two is communication. Clarifying the vision for your people, letting them know this is where we’re going. I want to help all of us get there. That’s what it means to be a leader.
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Number three is that you invest in your people and bring them along with you. One of the ways that I would define that characteristic is humility. Humility to say, I need your help. Humility to say, I’m sorry for snapping at you the other day. I’m sorry for sending that fiery email. That wasn’t the best version of myself.
And the fourth aspect of a leader is taking massive action. It’s so important for leaders to be the first ones to make the sales call, to show up to a meeting, to deliver for your clients. My personal policy is I don’t ask a team member to do something that I am unwilling to do. And often the best thing that I can do is complete that activity or project first and document the process to share with my team.
Why do you think so many people have a “me” approach to life and what they can get out of people?
Brian Dixon: When I’m thirsty, I want to go get a drink for myself. When I’m tired, I want to go to bed. I want to meet my own needs before looking at the needs of others. And I think that fact is compounded by the technology we have access to. We live in a vending machine, all-access pass society where we can watch anything, connect with anyone and anything you want to eat is only a few clicks away.
It’s incredible, however, the world that we live in now is where I can get anything I want almost instantly. And it makes sense that having that kind of access to anything that my heart desires is going to lead to putting me and my needs first. And I think it’s harder than ever, but it doesn’t take much. It doesn’t take much to just turn to the person next to you and say, “I’m going to order food. Would you like anything?” Starting with your people before ordering for yourself can truly change everything.
At what point did you realize that serving others and putting their needs as a priority was the right move to make with your business?
Brian Dixon: I truly believe that change happens in a moment. Change happens the second, the millisecond that you decide to make a change. And awareness is the first part. The change was made when I became aware that I was putting projects over people. I could choose to stew and to sit in my discomfort and blame other people, or I could finally use this negative feedback as an opportunity for improvement.
What can I do to make their day? What can I do to improve my way of seeing the world and approaching people? And it started with apologies. It started with reaching out to people and saying the way that things went wasn’t the best, and I could have done so much better. Will you forgive me? And second, what can I do to make it right? And that’s where it starts by looking at your boss, looking at your team, looking at your family and saying, I realize I’ve been kind of grumpy in the last couple months, maybe a couple of years. What can I do to make it right?
What is the best piece of advice you can give to business owners and entrepreneurs who want to grow their business and find success?
Brian Dixon: The answer is to start with your people first. The people in your home, whether that be your spouse or your kids. What can I do to show up better as a dad? Honey, what can I do to be a better husband? Pause, listen to their feedback and they might not even trust with telling you the truth. It might take a couple of times. The way you show up at home is the way you show up at work.
Make it your job to make your boss’ day. Look at your direct report and to say, “what can I do to knock this out of the park for you?” I can come in 10 minutes early. I can make sure that the conference room is set up. I can plug in the projector and make sure that when he or she goes to make the presentation, it all works.
How can I show up for my customers and for my clients? If we open at nine o’clock and somebody who walks up at 8:57, I open the door at 8:57 to let them know that I’m glad they’re here. Our business would not be anywhere if it weren’t for those customers. I greet them with a smile and a hello and what can I do to make your day?
Finally, in Start with Your People, I talk about two different types of people. I talk about your mastermind group, your friends, the ones that are encouraging you to move forward. And I also talk about the difficult people in your life, those broken relationships that we need to fix. To truly thrive as a leader, you’re going to need to work through some of those situations. Because they’re going to show up for you and they’re going to refer you to more businesses. And when you’re a new person, when you’re showing up at this higher level, income and impact will only grow.
Lastly, you have a new book called Start with Your People. Can you tell us a little bit about the book and what made you want to write a book rather than keep your newfound discovery to yourself?
Brian Dixon: A few years ago, I conducted an anonymous assessment where I asked 52 people in my life to tell me what I’m good at and where I’m stuck. And one of the things that really stood out is that I often put projects over people. Maybe you’re like me and focus on the results. You focus on being on time and working hard and you’re running over the people in your life. That’s where this book began. It chronicles the journey of how to put people first in my life and in my business. In Start with Your People, you’re going to learn daily practices that are easy to implement. That will completely change your life because once you show up for others, it leads to more impact and more income than ever before.