Intentional in Our Actions: Why Vision, Strategy, and Execution Equal Cadence with Gordon Hodgett
“You have to be willing to suck at something long enough to become good at it.”
Welcome to the first episode of Beyond the Bar! This episode is part of a series inspired by Redemption's core values, the first of which being the value "Intentional in Our Actions". Abby will be interviewing Gordon Hodgett; a husband, father, serial entrepreneur and business coach who has been on his own journey of intentionality.
In this episode he shares why vision, strategy, and execution are applicable to everyone, as well as:
- how to develop a lifestyle of intentionality
- actionable tools and resources for personal and business development
- how to funnel large-scale visions into achievable steps
Follow Gordon on Instagram @gordon_hodgett and LinkedIn at Gordon Hodgett
“Real life is lived in the details and in the moments and in the weeds.”
About Gordon
Gordon Hodgett is a certified business coach, business owner, and investor as well as a husband, father, and grandfather. Through his own journey in entrepreneurship, Gordon has developed rhythms of intentionality that led him to mastering vision, strategy, and execution both in life and business. He now works with other CEOs and business owners along with their leadership teams to help them articulate and communicate their vision, create a strategy to work towards that vision, and create a culture of execution and accountability to achieve measurable results in their organizations.
Follow Gordon on Instagram @gordon_hodgett and LinkedIn at Gordon Hodgett
Read the Podcast
Intro: Welcome to Beyond the Bar, the podcast where coffee and conversation are a catalyst for growth. If you’ve been searching for that coffee-with-a-friend experience that leaves you feeling seen, met, and encouraged, you’ve come to the right place. So grab your cup, listen up, and together we’re going Beyond the Bar.
Abby: Hey friends, welcome to Beyond the Bar. I’m your host Abby. I’m so excited that you’re here. This is our first ever episode, so kind of weird to be here in studio recording. Today’s episode I’m really looking forward to though. We are going to be talking about vision, strategy, and execution for creating a life that you love, also a business that you love. I get to sit down with somebody today and discuss our core value at Redemption.
So we’re doing- our first four episodes are gonna kind of be a mini-series around our core values. We’re going to dive into our first one today which is “Intentional in Our Actions: we consider the impact our actions have”. When I was considering who to have on the episode for this specific core value, it took me about zero seconds to think about who I wanted to ask to do this. So I’m going to introduce you to our guest.
He’s a husband, a father, a serial entrepreneur, and a business coach. He’s also one of my customers, turned friends and mentors, Mr. Gordon Hodgett.
Gordon: Thank you, Abby.
Abby: Yeah [laughs]
Gordon: That’s a great introduction.
Abby: Well, good. Good. My first one. So that feels good.
Gordon: You nailed it.
Abby: Good. Ah, this is kind of funny. We were just saying before we actually hit record that you weren’t originally going to be the first in the lineup, but you are now, which is crazy because part of the idea for the podcast came from conversations that we’ve had at the actual Redemption coffee bar.
Gordon: Yes, we’ve literally said that, which I think you’ve mentioned that, this should have been a podcast.
Abby: Yeah [laughs]
Gordon: So yeah, this is pretty cool that we get to actually do it.
Abby: Yeah, so this is just ironic where the inspiration for the show kind of was really amazing conversations at the coffee bar, and we physically are taking that beyond the bar today, which is really cool, so, to start, would you just give a little bit about your background kind of personally, professionally…?
Gordon: Yeah, so obviously that can be a long story, but I’ll give you the cliff notes anyway. I’ve been an entrepreneur in business since I was basically out of high school. My dad started a machine shop. So I went to work for him right out of high school building the family business in 2008-2009. We structured a deal for me to kind of buy him out so I ended up buying the company and I’ve owned that ever since. Through that, a few years ago, I kind of got to the point where I was getting old enough to where I had done that long enough where I wanted to do something else. I guess I’ll put it that way.
And so I really started searching for things to do and I’ve done quite a few things over the last, I’d say five years, but I’ve landed on doing some business coaching and I think we’ll probably get into how that happened a little bit later in the podcast through, you know, Cadence Coaching and all of that. But that’s the super cliff notes version of my journey but I love entrepreneurship. I love it. I love just mingling with business owners and CEOs and so I love being on this podcast ‘cause it’s all about intentional growth.
Abby: Yeah, speaking of an intentional growth, which is like the whole focus of today’s episode, you’re somebody who I’ve come to know as being a very intentional person. You’ve encouraged a lot of my own intentionality in life. But is that something that you would say has always been a characteristic in your life?
Gordon: Yeah, out of the womb I was like super intentional, [Abby laughs] I had a checklist. No, actually no not at all. Something clicked in my when out of high school, like I didn’t do well in school. Well, I guess I got some A’s, I got either A’s or F’s, okay. So it was either like I was engaged and I loved it and it was fun to learn or it was just like “I’m not doing this”. But I was never what I would call organized or anything like that or intentional at all. And so yeah I kind of reached a point in my life where I realized, like, and no one tells you this, but when you’re young growth is kind of automatic, for sure when you’re really young, you know, physically, mentally, everything and even when you’re in school because you’re automatically learning, you know, you kind of have to, but when you get out of especially high school, and when you become a young adult, if you’re not intentional bout that continued growth trajectory, a lot of people stagnate, and you’ll meet those people, right? They’re like still kind of stuck in their high school days.
Abby: Yeah
Gordon: And so I kind of realized, like, wow, I’m, I haven’t been growing, I’ve just kind of been flat. And so, yeah, I got really intentional and to be honest with you the biggest catalyst if you will for my personal growth was back in 2016, just through a series of events- and that’s a whole different podcast- but the manufacturing company was very near bankruptcy. I was literally like a couple weeks away from being bankrupt. And so that’s when I really realized like okay, what am I doing with my life, what was this all for? Things like that. And I got really intentional about being intentional. And actually like, the study or the direction of personal growth. And so I really invested into my personal growth. And that kind of started a whole cascade of things.
Very soon after that, I discovered intentional frameworks and growth within a company- an organization- that, you know, it’s just like anything else. If you just go with the current it’s going to take you somewhere, I think Andy Stanley said, “Everybody ends up somewhere in life; very few people end there on purpose” and so that really, got me, you know, kind of again that catalyst for like, okay, let’s get intentional about this.
Abby: Yeah, and you said it kind of started with personally you needing to make that decision for your life, and then after you kind of took that personally on as like, I want to be more intentional, I have to change something. I mean, you said the catalyst was your business and what was happening there, but it had to start with you and then it kind of went into your business and how you did that. So will you kind of explain that a little bit? What changes did you make personally? And then maybe moving on, into the business?
Gordon: Yeah absolutely. And I’m a firm believer in that. You know, when we do business coaching, you always have to coach the leadership skills of the CEO because the business is always gonna be capped with the CEO and their leadership skills, and, you know, and their abilities. And so you have to start there anyway. It just happened to be where I started, but you really can’t start any other place. You can’t start tuning up the business, if you will, if the CEO and then the leadership team don’t have that personal growth mindset.
So yeah, for me, I’ve got really intentional about my health because it was one of those things when things in your life are starting to spiral out of control and we’ve kind of all been there in those, like you just kind of grab, like, okay, what are the things I can control? And health was one of them. And so I really started getting pretty intentional about that and what I ate and things like that. But then I really dove into books and learning. So like Jim Rowan is a- anybody that studies any sort of personal development, he’s kind of the guru, if you will, the thought leader of the thought leaders that have been developed under him, you know, Tony Robbins, Darren Hardy, like there’s a ton of people that, you know, were mentored by him. So anyway, just started reading things like that, and then started to create some frameworks, you know? Michael Hyatt has some great programs. I used his full focus planner for a while. You know, I remember the first time I went through that, we actually took a full weekend at Stout’s Island, and it took me like two full days to fill out my first planner. Now it takes me like, I don’t know, two or three hours, but you know, it’s kind of that “you got to start somewhere” sort of deal. And so yeah, I just- continually learning in the journey and iterating.
Abby: Yeah, and you said something just there, that you have to start somewhere. And so, like now you, and you made kind of an allusion to this, but what took you two days now takes you like two hours. So that process of growth, could you talk about that a little bit? Was it like, how fast was that process?
Gordon: Well, I mean, that particular process as far as like goal setting and planning and, you know, my, my weekly and daily cadence, I’ve been doing for, you know, almost a decade. And so, but it was fairly slow at first, but it was consistent, and I think that’s the big thing with anything that you’re trying to grow in and be intentional about somethin is the consistency. You have to be willing to suck at something long enough to become good at it. That’s like how it is for anything, and so it’s no different for personal development, and I think one thing that people really do is they wake up one day and they’re like, “I need to get my”… my, you know, poop in a group, my crap together, right?
Abby: Yeah
Gordon: And they’re like; I’m unhealthy, so I’m going to do Whole 30, I’m gonna do 75 Hard or like they’re gonna do this like big thing and sometimes that can work and it can be a catalyst for change, but a lot of times it’s too much too soon, you know? And so really just getting into consistency. One thing I would always tell myself working out is “consistency over intensity”, you know, because you’re always trying to like, do more, push harder, and it’s like, the thing that really stacks up is the consistency, not the intensity so much in a lot of areas of life.
Abby: Yeah, which is kind of counter to I feel like what a lot of culture will tell you.
Gordon: Oh, absolutely, especially with social media and things like that. Everybody gives the highlight reel and you’ve got to do this big thing or even marketing, marketing drives this, right? You know, especially in the space I’m in and coaching you’re like, you know, “it’s the 299 Masterclass and give me 90 days and I’m gonna 3x your sales”, or, you know, the weight loss of, you know, 90 day shred or whatever it is. We’re a microwave society that wants shortcuts and real life is lived in the details and in the moments and in the weeds, really. And yes, it’s not usually very sexy and it’s usually kind of monotonous and most of everyday life is boring and most, in every area, even what we look at as supposed to be glamorous, and so, but that’s marketing and that’s the world we live in and so you have to be very conscious of that, not only in personal growth and things like that, but just everything right?
Abby: Yeah, yeah…
Gordon: So, or else you can get really dissatisfied really quick
Abby: Yeah. So once you started making some of those changes in your personal life, obviously you said that was, the catalyst for that was almost going bankrupt as a company. So what changes did you make as a… professionally then in your company, because your company didn’t go bankrupt?
Gordon: Yup, good news, yeah, spoiler alert [laughs]
Abby: [Laughs] You in fact didn’t have that to have to be a part of your story, you made changes before that. So what changes did you start to make in that professional sense that kind of helped save that?
Gordon: Yeah, so it was really a parallel path. You know, it wasn’t like I spooled up personal development and I got to this point and then it’s like, hey, I need to tune up my business. You know, in 2016, when I was, you know, flirting with bankruptcy, you’re kind of like you’re drowning. And so you’re just kind of looking for lifelines, or, you know, resources. And there’s a couple of people that came and like really helped me out. And I ended up finding a peer group, a CEO peer group, and that was tremendously beneficial. So I highly recommend CEO peer groups. It’s something, if you’re a CEO or a business leader or even like a number two or you’re leadership in an organization, finding a peer group can be really beneficial. So that was kind of one of those steps of being intentional and learning from a business perspective. My peer group leader that kind of ran our group had a very similar story to me. He had bought in the business from his dad, he had put it in a ditch a couple times as we say, ended up selling it, having an exit, and during his kind of tenure there, they implemented a system called EOS, “entrepreneurial operating system”, which is really popular especially like in the Minneapolis area, it was kind of started and I started to learn about these frameworks for business. And, you know, we had been doing some of it, but to actually implement this overarching framework and being intentional about my business, kind of working on the business versus working in it. And I’d really never thought of that of, okay, you know, I go to work every day and I’m working in the business, but have I been working on the business enough? And so that was really a, you know, a game changer for me.
And so the operating system, and then the other thing that happened is I hired our peer group leader as my business coach. And so getting a business coach and a framework was literally a game changer in my organization. And that’s why, you know, fast forward, I’m a business coach with Cadence Coaching system. It like, it literally changed, you know, what my life looked like so much that it’s like, hey, I want to help other entrepreneurs and business owners discover this and be free like this too because those of us that have been in the trenches and owned business, that thing, like it’s rare that you own a business, it’s almost always that it owns you. And being in the trenches every day, and it’s one of those forces that’ll really drag you along and it’ll really bring you to places you don’t want to go unless you’re really intentional about it.
So, you know, being in personal development and being intentionally personally is kind of 1.0 and then the business is 2.0 because a business just magnifies in my opinion who you are. And so if you don’t have your kind of life together in the 1.0, the 2.0 is going to be a magnified reflection of that and that’s going to be a big problem. And so that really was a huge change in my life, implementing frameworks and getting a business coach, being part of a peer group, all that stuff where, okay, I got really intentional about, you know, being what I would call and entrepreneur or a businessman.
Abby: Yeah, one of the things I think is so cool about your story is the very thing that at the time- like you said, you were just kind of drowning and you were looking for a lifeline- so the very thing you thought would like break you has actually made you, like, it’s become what you said, kind of the catalyst for the Cadence Coaching and you, you have a passion for it and such a heart for entrepreneurs and for seeing their lives not controlled by their business and having like great systems, and like, you know, the premise of your whole thing is like a cadence for your life and your business because you understand what it’s like to not.
Gordon: Right, and isn’t that how it is with all our stories, right? You know, you have something that is, looks like is gonna break you or suck. And it does suck [laughs], like there’s no doubt about that, but it’s the thing that, one, if other people are going through that, you can relate. And you know, we’ve had conversations with your story and, I mean, a huge part of why Redemption exists is because of your story and the things that were meant to, you know, kind of break you or like you could really look back at your life and be like, “that sucked, I don’t want to do that again”, actually became the thing that was the catalyst for your growth and your trajectory and it’s no different for me and where I’m at as well. I think a lot of people, if not everybody, probably has that story of, this is the thing that really sucked but I got through it and and I learned some things and now I can help others that are going through that thing learn some things too and maybe not have such deep lessons learned.
Abby: Yeah
Gordon: So…
Abby: Yeah, I really love that and I don’t think everybody chooses to go through hard things that way. Like some people, they don’t come out and then make it a catalyst for growth and change. But that’s something that I’ve really seen reflected in you and something that you’ve encouraged and challenged me to do… Going to Cadence Coaching, and you mentioned this a little bit earlier and I want to et into it a little bit, um, what is that framework like now? How is, you mainly do coaching now, I mean, you do other business things too, but with coaching, what does that kind of look like? What do you do? Could you explain your personal framework with that a little bit?
Gordon: The first step is usually implementing a framework, you know, of, in the manufacturing company, I did EOS. I currently use a framework called the Seven Attributes of Agile Growth. I would argue it’s kind of a 2.0 of EOS, but they all kind of have the same, well, for one, they come from the same taproot. So if you’ve ever read The E-Myth by Michael E. Gerber, that was the first book to come out where they actually put like a framework around it. When I say framework, it’s like actual tools that you can bring into your business to implement, you know, because most of the times you read a book and it’s like, oh, that’s a nice concept, but how do I actually execute that in my organization? And so, you know, there was an actual framework for, okay, the E-Myth is all about systems and process. How do I actually do that in my business? And then that’s grown from there, and so Jim Collins has written a ton, he’s kind of the business guru thought leader. And then there’s a ton of tools that have come out of his work and Patrick Lencioni and Michael Porter on strategy and the list goes on. So you have this framework with these tools.
But like I said earlier, you have to develop the leadership skills of the CEO because the business is going to be capped at the skills of the CEO. And so for me, from a coaching perspective, it’s three kind of primary things. One, develop the leadership skills of the CEO, because again, that’s going to be the cap of the business. Two, develop a line in the countable leadership team, because when you start out, you’re the CEO and, you know, chief bottle washer, if you will. But eventually, you’ve got to get to a point where you can delegate and there’s other people not only working in the business but on the business. And so that’s, and the problem with that is once you get kind of a leadership team, you got to keep them aligned, you know, and so you have different problems but they’re problems and so you have to work with your leadership teams to et them aligned and develop their leadership skills. And then the third one is, you know, implement a framework.
And so from a coaching perspective, I’ve done it both ways in my companies. I’ve implemented myself and it’s doable, but it’s like anything else, if you want to get from Point A to Point B the most efficient way, fast and effective, hire a coach. You know, there’s no professional in the world that doesn’t have a coach. And it, that’s one thing that kind of blows my mind is, you know, in business, you know, “oh, business coaching, what’s that?” or like, “I don’t need a coach. I’m, you know, I’m a CEO.” Uh, but like, there’s no professional golfer, there’s no professional football team, there’s no professional that doesn’t have a coach. Uh, but yet in business, it’s, and like, you’re talking, you know, businesses are millions and millions of dollars. So anyway, that’s a little bit of my infomercial for why you should- I’m a firm believer that everybody needs a coach, everybody needs a framework, and ideally is in a peer group. It literally changed my life and my trajectory. And not that everybody needs to go and become a coach. But if you really want to grow and become an entrepreneur, which, that’s another one of my soapbox things. I think that that word’s used so loosely now. Just like engineers, like, everybody’s an engineer, it’s like everybody’s an entrepreneur, '“‘cause I have a website!” But like if you want to be a true entrepreneur and grow a business that adds value to the world and others, the best way to get there is a framework and a coach.
Abby: Yeah, and we’ve done a lot of discussion around this, a lot of workshopping with stuff, so I feel like I can attest to that. Like I would not be doing this podcast, I wouldn’t be doing a lot of the things in my business if it hadn’t been for coaching and frameworks and systems and diving into that stuff. So that growth mindset and then actually wrestling some of that stuff out with somebody is so helpful. So I just agree with you, I can attest to that.
Your three kind of parts of Cadence Coaching are vision, strategy, and execution.
Gordon: Yup
Abby: Could you dive into that a little bit on the business end of what those mean? And then also, secondly, on the personal end. If I’m not an entrepreneur, if I’m not a business owner, is that still applicable for me?
Gordon: So actually, I’m gonna switch those on you if that’s okay. I’m going to start with the personal side, and then we’ll go into the business side. If that’s alright-
Abby: Yeah, perfect.
Gordon: [Chuckles] I need acknowledgement. So on the personal side, there’s vision, strategy, execution, right? So vision is, again, all about having that, it is what it is, it’s the vision, creating a vision for your life, where am I going, things like that. Strategy on the personal side is pretty much goal setting. So I have a vision for what I want my life to look like. What are my goals to get there? And then execution is basically habit forming. I mean, here are the habits of life, or the things I’m doin for my goals. And I think the one mistake or the main mistake people make on the personal side is that they don’t have all three of them. And a lot of people, maybe they do goal setting. But what happens if you do like, so if you have the strategy piece, but not the vision, which is the vision of like, this is where I want my life to be, this is what I envision a future state, a better future state to be… If you have goals without without vision, there’s nothing tying a “why” to it and without that “why” it’s really hard to achieve your goals. And I think, you know, that’s why I don’t know what the statistic is on New Year’s resolutions, but it’s horrible, right, and we’re all like, “I want to lose 10 pounds”, and then you don’t. And so tying it to the “why” gives you that motivation.
So like, an example would be for me, when I, um, from a health perspective, we realized, both me and my wife realized like, we were getting older and it’s one of those things too. Like health is not a given as you get older, where when you’re like 20 you can eat McDonald’s every day and still feel great, not the case, you know, as you age. But it’s like, if my goal was like, “okay, I’m gonna do a 5k”, maybe that’s one of my goals. It’s hard to get motivated for that but for me when I was, when I started… my vision is, I want to be active and play with my grandkids and so when it’s like oh, I’m training to do a 5k it’s a lot easier to get off my butt and go do that run when I’m envisioning me 20-30 years from now playing with my grandkids. So, and I have a grandkid now, but I’ve, you know, like even older, my great grandkids maybe.
Abby: [Nods] Yeah.
Gordon: And so tying those goals to a “why” gives you motivation. But then if you have just the strategy, if you have just the goals, well those are just arbitrary until you put some habits in place. So again, if I want to do a 5k, what does that look like? Well I need to run X amounts of miles a week, and that’s where you kind of break down your strategy. And then the execution part is, like, okay, I’m doing this thing, it’s my new habit, I’m eating this way, I’m doing this physical activity, I’m reading this book, or whatever your goal is, and the habit that needs to tie to it.
So when you kind of have this cadence of the vision, strategy, and execution, you kind of create this flywheel and one of the cadences if you will is that planning, you know, so every year setting your goals, “what’s my vision?” So I do like a three year life vision, which is like high level, I do “I Am” statements, things like that, and then one year goals, and then every quarter I just, I’m a little late, but I just got done with my Q2 goals, and then every Sunday I do my weekly planner, every day in my morning ritual I do “What are my big three?” so “what are my focus points”, and then, you know, “what are my habits?” and I track probably seven or eight habits. And so it’s just kind of that. But again, I have a vision of where I want to go and who I want to be. And so having those habits and that strategy and goals and things like that fulfills that and gives me my “why”. So it’s really important to have all three of those together ‘cause again, if one’s missing, the whole thing kind of breaks down.
Abby: I love how you take something that’s such a big overwhelming concept and you provide like step-by-step guides on how to make it smaller, like funnel it down to something that feels significantly more achievable.
Gordon: Right, yep.
Abby: Um, which is so helpful. I’ve always been like a high achieving person who’s struggled with goal setting, like, which has always kind of surprised me and like has been a self-frustration, “why can I never do anything I ever set a goal for?” like, I was a New Year’s resolution who never did any of them which was frustrating because I was a high visionary person and I think it was exactly what you’re talking about. It’s like, well, if you can have all the vision in the world but if you don’t have strategy or then you never execute any of that… If you don’t have all three pieces, there’s cadence, you don’t move forward, right.
Gordon: Right, yeah.
Abby: So that framework is super helpful on the personal end. As we’ve talked, I’ve implemented that in my own life and then seen growth because of it. Because you take something bit, you boil it down, and now I have achievable steps every day, every week, every quarter, every year to start working towards to becoming that person, which is really helpful.
Gordon: Right, yeah. And I think my theory is: a lot of it is based off of personality. I think everybody has, you know, obviously different personalities. And so I think some people probably are good at one, you know, so you have the visionaries and like, “yeah, I can definitely articulate a vision and I know where I wanna go”, but maybe they’re not very good at strategy, or like, you know, what are the steps to get there and or the execution, or, you know, we have the checklist people that “I love checklists and I make a checklist”, but at the end of the day these tasks are arbitrary, you know, and life is unfulfilling. And like, and again- there’s the goal setters, or it’s like “I’m setting a goal”, but it’s not tied to anything, so again, it’s arbitrary. And so yeah, I think tying those three together can be incredibly powerful.
Abby: Mm-hmm, and you mentioned, so obviously you’re the business coach, so that was on like the personal front. How does that translate into business and professional front then?
Gordon: Yeah, so on the, and really Cadence Coaching is, you know, kind of geared toward business, it just happens that that framework works for personal-
Abby: Yeah, which is nice.
Gordon: Yeah, yeah, yeah, it’s a bonus. Um, uh, vision, strategy and execution. So there’s kind of three pieces. Every business when you start coaching in any framework is gonna have a one-page plan. So you have to have vision for the organization and especially in this day and age, culture is such a big thing. Every industry has a tight labor market. And so gone are the days of life, I’m going to pay you a wage and you’re going to come and do your job. You really need to inspire and motivate your people. And that, that’s vision. You know, what’s your purpose? What are your core values? If you want to create culture, that’s all about not just having core values on the wall, but actually living your core values. And so if you want to attract A Players and good talent for your organization, you have to have a vision, especially with the younger generation coming up. Gen X and boomers, especially the baby boomers who are exiting now, so they’re less and less, but they would come to earn a wage and put food on the table. But Gen Z’ers and millennials, that’s not the case. They want to know why it matters and what’s important, and so, you know, your job as a leader in the organization is, where are we going and why does it matter. Like that’s a leadership that needs to come from leadership. So anyway, that’s the vision part. So you have to get intentional about your vision. You know, “what’s our core purpose?” like, “what’s our reason for being?”, “what’s our BHAG”- big, hairy audacious goal-, which comes from Jim Collins. So like, “what, what mountain are we climbing as an organization?” And then you break that down into like, we use a 3HAG- three year, highly achievable goal, and then one-year goals. So that first part is the vision. You have to have that as an organization.
And then the second part is strategy. Okay, here’s all the things. What are we doing and how are we getting there? I think one of the biggest things in organization is just lack of alignment. And so the bigger your organization grows, the more resources you have, but if you don’t align them, you can get a lot of people going in a lot of different directions, especially when you get past the point of, you have the owner/operator, they have a personal relationship with all the people in the organization, so communication is pretty clear and clean because it’s directly from the owner. As soon as you add a layer, any sort of management in between where the owner- which as an owner you have to get to if you ever wanna be free of your business, if you wanna own your business and not a job, you have get to that. And so having some of that alignment and okay, here’s our priorities, okay, here’s our BHAG, here’s our 3HAG. So let’s chunk that down: this year, this is what we need to do to work on the business. This quarter, this is what we’re doing to work on the business. We’re not working on this, we’re working on this. This is what’s important. And you can kind of cascade that through the organization. One of the biggest mistakes I think small businesses make is they don’t articulate and they’re not focused on their customer. Everybody’s a customer. Anybody with green money is my customer. And that’s such a huge mistake in so many ways. But okay, you know, strategy on focusing on “who’s my customer”, “what’s my strategic position in the marketplace”, “how am I adding value”, “what’s my messaging", all of that. And so that’s the strategy part of it.
And then execution is… yeah, day-in and day-out, like, “do I have KPI?”- key performance indicators, not just for the organization, but for my people, “how do my people know that they’re doing a good job?”, “what does success look like?” Leading and laying indicators… so, you know, most, I shouldn’t say most, that’s generalizing, but a lot of business owners don’t really pay attention to their numbers and financials [laughs]… “chuckle chuckle”
Abby: [Laughs] Ironic, my weakest strength…
Gordon: We won’t mention any names. But, and that’s a lagging indicator. You know, that’s the rear view mirror, let alone leading indicator of “what are our goals”, “how’s our business doing”, you know, “what’s things looking like”. So you know, just putting that execution step, who’s doing what, you know, an accountability chart or functional accountabilities of like, “who’s responsible for what”, “who owns this thing?” So either two people are holding on to the same ball or balls are getting dropped. And so, and again, it’s just like on the personal side you have to stitch that they all work as a flywheel together. You can’t just do one, like “we’re going to execute really well” or “we’re going to cast vision” or “we’re going to have great strategy”, you have to do it all.
And it’s not a one-and-done thing and that’s what I really like about Cadence Coaching. It’s not, “We’re gonna get in the room and we’re going to come out”, you know, “we’re coming down from the mountaintop and this is it”. It’s, okay we’re getting in a room, we’re gonna do this. We’re gonna work on the business, but guess what? We’re doing it again in 90 days and again in 90 days and again in 90 days, um, and you have to push that flywheel day-in and day-out every 90 days. From the, you know, quarterly priorities, to, you know, your weekly, what we would call Level 10 meetings with your leadership team, and, you know, getting all this stuff in place. And it’s usually, you know, you’re, I tell people, it’s gonna, it’s probably at least a year to put a solid one-page plan that’s actually like, we’re working off this one-page plan, it’s not just up on the wall or in a folder. But it takes two to three years to really get good at a framework and really get things clipping along.
Abby: I think what’s really cool about Cadence Coaching and the framework that you just talked about is that it applies for multi-million dollar businesses, huge teams and organizational structures, but then you can kind of funnel that down and it actually applies when you think about it, like you said, to our personal lives, myself personally and like my own personal planning, but this could apply in relationships and families like in any other team structure, really.
Gordon: Oh yeah, absolutely, you know, having vision, strategy, execution is kind of a framework to get from Point A to Point B in any intentional way, any organization, and including churches and non-profits. I was part of Rotary, you know, and we had a board structure and I ended up being president for a year with how it worked and like we could have implemented this easily. So even people that are like volunteering on non-profits or in their church or on part of a team or even a family unit, it could be incredibly powerful.
Abby: Yeah, we actually just had our church conference, so now that you say that I can see that a little bit reflected in that conference, even of like, there was a vision and then these guys coming together and like “Well what’s the strategy for us to accomplish that?” So yeah, I think once you have the language of the framework, then you can start analyzing other teams and organizations and kind of start to realize, like, doing your own research of going, “oh, the teams that are really successful are the people who do this.”
Gordon: Yeah, they’re within an intentional framework, both personally and as an organization. And yeah, the results kind of speak for themselves.
Abby: Yeah, yeah, which I think is really cool. I like that this is so applicable and that it can transfer down. It’s like, this is something I can walk away from today and I can go instill in my personal life. I can go, like you did before, like, grab a journal and take a couple of days and I can do this for myself. Or if I’m a CEO running a company, I can call a coach and to start being like, “hey, I want a framework, I want to do this thing”…
Gordon: Right, yeah, let’s get this thing tuned up.
Abby: Yeah, which is really cool. So transitioning…
Gordon: Okay
Abby: …we end, or we’re going to be ending every episode with two questions. So first question is, “If you could go back and tell your younger self one thing, what would it be?”
Gordon: So the first one or do I get the second one and then…?
Abby: I’ll give you the second one too! So you can think about that one too. Second one is, “What’s one thing you want to be remembered for?” So, “If you could go back and tell yourself one thing what would it be”, and “What’s one thing you want to be remembered for?”
Gordon: Okay. I think for the first one, it sounds incredibly cliché, but enjoy the journey, which seems a little ironic that we’re talking about like productivity and being intentional, which is all great stuff. But and I still struggle with this, but especially when I was younger, always looking at the next thing. And like, “where am I going?” Okay, and like you hit a milestone, or you hit a goal, and like, you’re immediately like, “okay, what’s next? What’s next?” And I think it’s probably part of the entrepreneurial, uh, wiring, if you will. But, um, I, I’m really, uh, I would not only tell my younger self, but I’m trying to do that myself is like, enjoy the journey. Like this right here, the podcast. Like I’m excited for it to come out and like, what, what’s it gonna be? But like, let’s just enjoy this conversation. And so I’m just trying to enjoy the little things in life and enjoy the journey. So I think I would tell myself that.
Abby: That is so, like, such a good piece of wisdom. And I think it goes right in line with this whole episode of like, you’ve said life is a cadence. So it’s not necessarily the big far-out things, but like the daily rhythms it takes to get there. And so ironically that just goes perfectly with the episode, of not just being big vision, but just enjoying the journey of life as you’re going on it and the destination.
Gordon: Right, yea, ‘cause that boils down to really what life is.
Abby: Yeah, Yeah.
Gordon: So yeah, and actually the second one is a little bit related to that, but like, so part of my whole vision planning and all of that… Legacy. Defining legacy is one of them. And to me, I wrote it, I can’t remember the exact language, but, “I want to be remembered for impact”. But to me, impact, and again, it’s not this like, “he did this monumental thing” or… impact is created in everyday moments. You have to have a cadence or a rhythm or time invested into a relationship in order to have impact. And so, and the accumulation of those little moments is what ends up being your legacy in life. And so, um, yeah, I’d like to be remembered for having impact, but not, uh, in such a large way where it’s like everybody can point to the one thing I did. It’s, “Hey, I remember when we had this conversation” or, um, you know, “He spoke into my life” or “He helped me ‘this’” or, um, he, uh, you know, “He coached me and got my business to ‘this’” or whatever that is, all the way through any relationship or any conversation that I have that, that’s what I would love to be remembered for.
Abby: I really love that. And I think you’re already doing it, which is cool.
Gordon: We’re doing it, we’re doing!
Abby: Yeah, so you’re living out that legacy, but that’s kind of like one of the pillars of Redemption. So our kind of like motto out there is “coffee, community, impact” but a huge part of our heart and and where we want to go is that it is about impact. That it’s about leaving legacy, and like you said, not necessarily in this big like, “oh, I just blew up the world and like here’s this giant thing that I did”. But like, having it be woven into the fabric of how we are as people, where it’s like, you’re just about, ever time you step into the room, there was impact there.
Gordon: Right, yeah. Yeah, and I mean, if you want to circle it back even to the roots of Redemption and the shipping container and really how this podcast was conceived, Beyond the Bar is the impact that you’ve had and your baristas have had at the bar. It’s not one monumental conversation or one thing that everybody can point to It’s all the little conversations, all the little seeds that were sown. Yeah, and I think that’s incredibly powerful.
Abby: Yeah, yeah. And I think that doesn’t happen without relationships. So like, the impact that you’re describing having doesn’t happen unless you’re in community and relationship with people. And if you’re not working on that and doing that, like you said, in those daily rhythms and those daily cadences, you’re not gonna have that kind of impact. You just won’t.
Gordon: Yeah, absolutely. Especially something I struggle with is, I’m all about efficiency and workflows and SOPs. And someone told me once, I can’t remember who it was again, but, “Relationships are not efficient”. And so if you want to cultivate deep relationships, you cannot try to be efficient about it. It just takes time, and that’s so very true, but it’s so very worth it. So yeah, I think that’s incredibly powerful.
Abby: Yeah, I really like that quote. That’s a good one. And you’re using our buzzwords.
Gordon: So whoever said that, good job. Good job.
Abby: Well if people want to cultivate a relationship with you, um, they can follow you on Instagram right? “Gordon-underscore-Hodgett”.
Gordon: Yep
Abby: And LinkedIn
Gordon: Correct. Yeah, and just, truth be told, I’m a, I’m not a great marketer. I’m not trying to build a huge following. So, um, there’s not a lot of activity yet, but I plan to put some stuff on there. And yeah, LinkedIn’s a good spot and love to connect.
Abby: Even better way, come to the Redemption bar ‘cause he’s there a lot [laughs]
Gordon: [laughs] Yeah, yeah, that is true, yes I am.
Abby: So come to the actual bar, get a cortado, and uhh
Gordon: Yes, or a Gordon.
Abby: Or a Gordon, ‘cause there is one of those. And connect in person over coffee. What we’re doing here, you can get there. So awesome.
Gordon: Awesome.
Abby: Well I just want to thank you for being our first guest. It’s serendipitous because we’ve talked about it so much at the bar, but it’s been really fun. So diving into this, and like, this is such a passion point for you, but it’s really made a huge impact in my life and my story, so thanks for that impact. But then also for just coming on and sharing with other people.
Gordon: Yeah, it’s my pleasure. I’m incredibly excited to see where your podcast goes and listen to some other guests and I know you have some pretty cool stories and people coming on. So really looking forward to it, so, I appreciate it.
Abby: Thanks, thank you. Thank you guys for being here, you can hit that subscribe button and be updated when our next episode is there, but we are excited to be on this journey together, so we will see you next time.
