Two Are Gathered Leadership Podcast

We want to go absolutely pedal to the metal, accelerating through the curves...the wind blowing through our hair and with large audiences cheering us on.

That is, until we crash.

You work so hard to be at the top of your game and then suddenly you realize there is a thin line between high performance and being overwhelmed.

Join Michael and Jim as they share how to win without being overwhelmed.

The start of a new project. Winning a new client. Making new goals. We love great beginnings.

This is exciting. 

Sadly...there is another critical aspect of business that typically is less enjoyable.

Because in the ebb and flow of life as an entrepreneur, there are beginnings...and there are endings. You've got to be great at both.

Join Michael and Jim as they explain that when it comes to business...all's well that ends well. 

We all need friends. We all need friendships with others. The question is...do we need business friendships?

Or should business be all about business?

If you consider that as an entrepreneur, you'll spend somewhere in the range of 50-70% of your productive waking hours...doing business...then that's a long time of your life to be friendless.

Of course there is value to business friendships. Yet, it's important to know that business friendships are...well...complicated.

Join Michael and Jim as they delve into the do's and don'ts of business friendships. 

Is your project or business running out of money? You're not alone. This is an ongoing challenge for entrepreneurs.

So many start off with a fabulous concept. Then, against the odds, they develop it out to its full fruition. Now, they are excited to get it off of the ground and to share their vision with the world.

Their big problem? They are out of cash. 

There is nothing left for marketing and without the ability to get the message out this great idea is going to wither on the vine. 

This is not the place you want to be, but there are some options. And, your next step will be critically important. 

Join Michael and Jim as they share from their own hard learned experiences on what to do when your project is out of money. 

We're the leader. The entrepreneur. We're the boss. We can choose our own path. Don't we have a right to be...irresponsible at times?

Yes. But, if we actually want to design a pathway leading to success...we will want it paved with responsibility.

There is no more instantaneous opportunity to increase your revenues, your profits...your customer retention...your employee satisfaction...than becoming more responsible. 

Literally, you can grow in all of these areas of improvement overnight. 

Join Michael and Jim as they share key insights into leadership responsibility.

Most of our listeners are entrepreneurs, are working with entrepreneurs or are thinking someday about possibly being entrepreneurs.

Here is what you need to know. It's hard. Really hard being an entrepreneur!

Why do so many become entrepreneurs despite this being the case? Because it's well worth the challenges you'll face.

Yet, being aware of the most difficult aspects of being a business owner allow you to be prepared, and you'll have strategies in place to respond.

Join Michael and Jim as they share the hardest part about being an entrepreneur. 

As entrepreneurs we are uniquely designed to go against the grain, to stop listening to how everyone says things should be done...and to go out and do it our own way.

This is both our blessing and our curse. It's one of the great challenges of being business owner.

You want to be unique...creating a new voice that no one else has heard...while at the same time, LISTENING better than anyone else.

This is no easy task!

Join Michael and Jim and they go deep on the subject of learning to listen.

One of the most treasured elements of leadership is also one of the most elusive. Just when you think you've got it...it starts slipping away.

It's traction. That wonderful feeling of, "Hey, this plan might actually work!"

It's the exhilaration that sets in when the tires are firmly gripping the road, and you feel the adrenaline rise as everything accelerates.

Your strategy is working!

Until, you hit that patch of black ice, and your tires start sliding off of your path.

Join Michael and Jim as they explain how to regain your traction when you're starting to slip.

One of the greatest joys of being a leader is when you get to assemble talent around you.

Then again...it's one thing to assemble the talent. It's quite another to get them all to play their best music...and to be in tune and timing with one another. It's either a symphony...or a clattering of instruments.

So as wonderful it is to have all of that talent around you...and the hope for symphonic music abounding...there also is another sound...the sound of money and resources draining out of the building.

You have to get this right as people are expensive.

Join Michael and Jim as they help you get tuned up in the art of maximizing your talent.

If you were to take all of the leadership books ever written on the topic of running an organization or a business, you could sum them up into one simple question. 

That question? "Are you going to do this the EASY WAY...or the HARD WAY?"

In this day of hacks, shortcuts, and claims of "Three Easy Steps to Super Success" the answer can be more elusive than first thought.

Is there an easy road? Where do I find it? Is this pathway the one that is best to choose?

Join Michael and Jim as they journey along a series of stories that collectively provide a succinct answer.

How do leaders and entrepreneurs keep their heads up when their world is crumbling around them? Simply, by counting their blessings.

Of course, this is hardly a simple task.

After all, being an entrepreneur can be a tremendous challenge. It can be one of the toughest jobs that exists.

Much of this is because many of the difficulties business owners face are ones they take on alone. This why leaders can be among the loneliness people around.

So, when the high winds are whipping around you, how in the world do you count your blessings?

Join Michael and Jim as they provide an encouraging and impactful answer. 

The pursuit of leadership glory comes with many twists and bends in the road. Sadly, so many arrive at the destination and say, "Is this it?"

Much of this disappointment is due to the fact they realize they were seeking out the wrong treasure.

Then, as if it's dust in the wind, the fool's gold blows away, leaving them emotionally broke and terribly unfulfilled. 

The true key to success as an entrepreneur is to dig in the right place to find the gold. In fact, even more important is to know what's the right gold to pursue in the first place.

Join Michael and Jim as they dig up the hidden treasure of leadership and life.

There are those challenging times as an entrepreneur when you wake up knowing there is only one way you're going to get through your day without it ending up a total disaster.

It's going to take a miracle.

Yet, as crazy as it may seem, there is strategy, technique and experience involved when it comes to pulling off a miracle. 

These are skills which the most effective and battle tested leaders know well.

Join Michael and Jim as they explore this topic and provide some...miraculous insights.

So often, you hear entrepreneurs saying they are waiting for their "big break" or they are hoping for their "ship to come in". 

Sadly. That could be a very long wait. In fact, there is a good chance that ship might never make it to shore to pick you up.

Being a business owner is more about learning how to row a boat than waiting for a luxury liner to arrive.

Still, there are doors of opportunity that are opening and closing all around you. Which ones should you choose to walk through?

This answer and many more will be revealed in this fascinating episode with Michael and Jim.

Leaders and entrepreneurs are among the busiest, most stressed out and exhausted people there are. So should we excuse you when you decide not to show up to an event you were expected to attend?

Not if we're going to hold you up to the highest standards of excellence!

The impact of "just showing up" cannot be overvalued when it comes to being successful. Even during those times when it's the last thing you feel like doing.

Join Michael and Jim in their 125th episode of the Two Are Gathered Leadership podcast.

Here, they share how a poem inscribed on the Statue of Liberty encourages leaders to "just show up" through all great challenges. 

Entrepreneurs often start off their journeys with unrealistic expectations.

They want to leave their job, launch a new business and start their new life...without any risk of failure.

Many new business owners are oftentimes hoping for the impossible. They want to be able to jump into the pool, without getting wet.

Yet, instead of making a splash, many of them quickly discover they aren't any good at swimming.

There is good news, however. You can jump into the deep end of the pool, and still find the waters warm and inviting.

Join Michael and Jim as they explain how.

Many leaders and business owners as they are getting started...or even midway through their company's development...experience what's known as Imposter Syndrome.

Even the most seasoned entrepreneurs will admit they still suffer from bouts of Imposter Syndrome where they feel completely over their heads, underqualified and totally overwhelmed.

What are you supposed to do when you encounter this common affliction of entrepreneurs?

Many will say, "Fake it until you make it."

What do Michael and Jim say about this? Well...quite a bit in this fascinating exploration of the cure for Impostor Syndrome.

If your business is struggling...99% of the time it will come down to this...you've got a people problem.

DISCONNECTED. OUT OF TOUCH. You started a business to fill your needs...rather than the needs of the people you're supposed to be serving.

Relationships are the single most important aspect of launching, growing and sustaining a business.

Don't believe this? Then you really need to listen to this episode.

Join Michael and Jim for this extensive exploration of the role relationships play in business success.

Plausible denialability? What's that? Well...it's a who new entrepreneurial term created and explained here in the Two Are Gathered Leadership Podcast. 

What does it mean?

First...to be a successful entrepreneur you need to be able to function while often firmly being in a state of "denial". Because, there are too many times when things seem impossible, and you're the only one to carry the vision forward.

Yet, there also needs to be a level of "plausibility" to these dreams, or you'll take it all over the cliff.

Join Michael and Jim in this fascinating journey through the concept of "Plausible Denialability". 

The experience of being an entrepreneur who created something out of nothing and then ultimately climbed the highest mountain of their dreams...it's such a great feeling.

But...it's also...SO FRUSTRATING.

And, having to manage all of this frustration? It just makes you all the more frustrated. 

It's just something they don't teach you in business school. It's even left out of the fine print of those franchise agreements.

Owning a business is so frustrating!

But, here's the good news. This frustration can be converted into a true, competitive advantage. Join Michael and Jim as they share the secret to dealing with frustration as a leader.