Just ONE Thing
Are You Missing the Signals Your Shop Is Sending You?
Episode 236
with Rick White, 180BIZ
Good morning. My name is Rick White from 180BIZ, and this is my Just ONE Thing.
So we're gonna talk about antenna. There are too many shop owners out there that are so busy with their lists, the tasks that they gotta get done, the grind they're going through, or the problems they're dealing with, that they create blinders to what's going on around them.
They're missing vital signals coming from their team, their clients, and basically just how their business is doing. So what I wanna talk about today is keeping your antenna up. Every shop owner I start talking to, they think that success is about doing more faster, right?
I gotta get you to understand: the more you focus on execution, the less you have a sense of what's going on around you. You lose connection to the shop's rhythm. You know what I'm talking about—the energy, the mood, the vibe of the shop. And here's the thing: when you are focused on execution, when you're focused on the list, when you're focused on the problems, your antenna are down, and you miss signals.
Frustration in a team member's tone, hesitating from an advisor, a dirty bay, degrading documentation, or tension in the air—these are all small clues pointing to bigger issues that get ignored until they explode. And that is a problem.
Okay. That is a problem.
So what's the shift? The shift is to tune in, to listen, to observe, to stay curious. There was something I learned a long time ago that was called Management by Walking Around—MBWA. You've heard of MBAs. This is an MBWA. And what you gotta do when you're going through and walking around is just be there. Be present in the moment and be aware.
Ask what's going on. What's the vibe? What's happening inside the shop? This is really important. I wanna give you some tools so that you're aware of when something's not where it could and should be.
So the first thing you need is a baseline. What do I mean by that? A baseline of what normal behavior looks like from your team. What normal energy looks like in your shop. What is the normal attitude? See, when you can understand what the baseline is, you're gonna be aware very quickly of when someone is outside of it.
If this is making sense to you, I'd really appreciate you sharing this. What you wanna be able to do is get a baseline. That's the important part, okay? Once you have that baseline, now you can see things that are going on.
The second thing you need is a clear direction—a vision. A vision of where you're going, who you're serving, why you're doing it that way.
There you can look around and be aware and ask yourself, “Is what's going on around me right now moving us towards where we're going, or is it moving us away from where we're going?” If it's moving us towards it, fantastic—let's keep doing it. If it isn't, let's confront it.
But here's the very worst thing you can do. This is dangerous and everybody does it: you make up stories. When you have someone that's acting out of character, you make up a story. It alleviates your discomfort, but it makes things worse because that behavior has gone unchecked.
So let me give you an example. I have a technician that's normally in a really good mood, very positive. They come in, and they are in a real funk, snapping at people. More times than not, I listen to shop owners all the time. What do they say? “Oh, we must have had a fight at home.” “Oh, there must be this going on.” You gotta stop making up stories, okay?
You gotta stop making up stories, and what I wanna do is give you a four-step process to confronting behavior properly.
Number one: you gotta call it out. You gotta call it out immediately. Don't wait. If you let stuff build up, you start to get triggered.
You start to get emotional. But if you're walking around and you see something that's outside of your baseline, what you want to do is just say, “Hey man, come on. Let's go talk for a sec.” And you're just gonna call it out immediately.
You want to make sure you are not triggered by it. If you are angry or upset, that is not the time to call it out. You can say, “John, we need to talk about this. I just need a little bit of time.” So you're making them aware, but then you've gotta get yourself self-regulated so that you can work with this and get it so that it matters.
Because the second step is you gotta show you care. You gotta realize that you're dealing with a behavior, not a person. People are decent—as a rule, they're decent. So if you can step back and say, “Hey, here we go. This is the problem over here, and I'm wondering what's causing this.”
Now you can stay curious without getting judgmental or emotional. Typically when you start getting triggered by something, it's because you feel like that person is doing something to harm you or the business—and that's not the truth. Most of the time, that's not the truth. So what you wanna be able to do is stay curious and just show you care, okay?
You're gonna just say, “Hey man, can you help me understand what's going on here? John, you're snapping at people. You never do this, man. What's going on?” “Oh, nothing.” “Respectfully, that's not true. Come on man. Let's do this.” Because when I call it out and I show I care, the other thing I'm showing them is I'm watching—that this is not okay.
See, step three is reinforce your boundaries. You gotta explain to them why whatever's going on matters, not only in this situation and the impact it has, but also why they matter—why they're a part of the team, why they make a difference, and why this is important.
Step one: call it out immediately as soon as you're not triggered.
Step two: show you care by breaking out the behavior from the person—attack the behavior as a team; do not attack the person.
Step three: reinforce your boundaries.
And then number four: create a plan together.
Just because the two of you talked about it and they said, “Okay, I won't do it again,” you gotta have a plan. So when you say you won't do it again, “John, can you help me understand or give me a path or what you're gonna do differently right now to make sure that that doesn't happen again?” And then my last question typically is, “How can I support you?” Because I wanna help them through this.
After I'm done, I want to thank them for being a part of the team, and I wanna let them know that we value not only them as a member of the team but as a human being. And I think that is super, super important.
So I've got a challenge for you. Where's your focus? Are you focused on a problem or where you're going? Are you on a checklist? Are you working on connection? Are you surviving the day or sensing what your shop is trying to tell you?
This week I want you to look, listen, feel, and then deal.
If this message resonated with you, please share this video. I would really appreciate that. There are people out here that need to hear it.
The last thing I want to say is our Pocket Business Genius—Thursday, one o'clock. It’s really good.
Our Shop Owners Roundtable is also this Thursday, 7:00 PM Eastern.
Again, share the video. I appreciate you all. Remember, your business is always communicating. Are you listening?
Everybody, take care. Have a great week. God bless. Stay safe, right? Cold season. Go make some money. I'll talk to you later. Bye-bye.
