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Rob's "Process, Practice & Peace" formula for a happier entrepreneurial life
72 Plays9 months ago
In this episode of the First-time Founders Podcast, Rob explains his view that a happy entrepreneurial life rests on 3 pillars: process, practice and peace:
PROCESS - an overarching framework you're willing to believe in (how to be a good dad; what constitutes being a good husband; how to run a good company if you're a CEO; how to execute a golf swing etc :);
PRACTICE - committing to actually implement your chosen framework;
PEACE - a sincerely held belief in your inner goodness, that practice of your process will get you to where you're 'supposed to be' (and accepting that where you're supposed to be may not be where you think you want to be!);
and why lacking any one of the 3 often leads to frustration, stress or worse.
Interested listeners can reach Rob (https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertliddiard/) at Rob@mission-group.co.uk (or to book some free time, visit https://www.eosworldwide.com/rob-liddiard). Alternatively, if you’d prefer Rob to send you a free copy of Traction (the book by Gino Wickman which explains The Entrepreneurial Operating System) just complete the form here: https://www.eosworldwide.com/traction-giveaway?implementer_email=rob.liddiard@eosworldwide.com
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Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
Hello, welcome to another episode of the First Time Founders Podcast, the show where we talk about how to start a business for nothing and grow it into something meaningful. I'm Rob Lydiard. I was the founding CEO of a software business called Yapster that was acquired at the end of 22. I'm now a professional implementer of the entrepreneurial operating system, or EOS, which means I work with entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial leadership teams to help them get what they want from their businesses.
Guest Interviews and Founder Insights
00:00:24
Speaker
Normally on this podcast, I'll introduce invite guests onto the show and we'll talk about their first time founder experiences or their experience working within the entrepreneurial ecosystem and we'll tease out insights. um
00:00:36
Speaker
whether it's scars or advice that first-time founders listening can can hopefully use to to speed their journey or just take comfort in the fact that they're not alone going through the first-time founder experience.
Framework for Stress Reduction and Happiness
00:00:48
Speaker
Today's a bit different. I'm just going to talk to you on my own about a framework that I found really helpful for reducing stress in my life and actually increasing my happiness as a person. um but but and And I do think about this from a whole life perspective, but today I'm just going to talk about it as increasing my happiness as a founder. But if you like what you hear, I'd urge you to consider it from on a sort of wider perspective for you as a person if you think that this this framework or technique might work for you. So it's called process, practice, peace. And the idea is you have to have all three things if you want to feel the absence of stress and you feel joy in your life as a founder or indeed a dad, a man, um whatever it is that you identify with.
00:01:36
Speaker
Okay, so process, practice, peace. How does the framework apply?
Implementing a Systematic Approach
00:01:41
Speaker
The idea is if you're feeling stress in your life, in your business, as a founder, as a person, you have to first and foremost do the work talk to people, read, do whatever it is that you do to obtain information until you get to a place where you found some sort of systematic approach to taking on the thing that you're working on. So in the case of running an organization, the process that I eventually settled on was the entrepreneurial operating system. That's why I teach it now.
00:02:17
Speaker
it's ah It's a comprehensive operating philosophy with simple tools that lets a founder, owner, leader, run their organization top to bottom, side to side on six simple components. We talk about vision, people, data, issues, process, traction. Now we don't need to get into each of those components now. That's not the purpose of this. This isn't a stealth EOS pitch. But the point is it's a comprehensive system as to how one should go about running a company. I read the book Traction by Gino Wickman. I spoke to a whole bunch of entrepreneurs that were running on EOS.
00:02:52
Speaker
And I reached a level of conviction that it was at least trying and was worth trying for me. right So now I have my system. This was a a way of going about performing the role that I was struggling with. That's process. The next piece is practice. So just knowing that EOS um recommends that a company should run um it should go on a journey to strengthen these six key components, but underpin any entrepreneurial organization doesn't in and of itself change the way that your company runs and therefore it doesn't necessarily make you feel more joy and less stress. I mean, it would be amazing if for reading the book traction did did that, but it doesn't. You have to actually do some things. And so practice is actually implementing the chosen system. And so in in in the EOS world,
00:03:40
Speaker
we typically practice the implementation of EOS through something that we call the meeting pulse. That means every week we and our leadership team colleagues do what's called a level 10 meeting where we get together, we go through a set agenda, we solve our issues and we move our business forward um ah using the tools of the entrepreneurial operating system. Once a quarter, we come together as a leadership team for an entire day. A level 10 meeting is typically 90 minutes, but once a quarter, we come together for an entire day We do that for three quarters. Then once a year, we come together for two days for annual planning. And that's where we get into the real kind of meaty issues affecting our organization. We realign around a vision. A vision is expressed as answering eight questions, whereas a leadership team, we need to use the same words, numbers, and and as an an intent.
00:04:28
Speaker
to define where our organization's going on a long-term basis and how we're actually going to get there. So the practice of keeping EOS on track and actually implementing the process that we've bought into comes down to these habits. So you've got to do the weekly meeting. The weekly meeting forces you to look at your issues and say whether you're on or off track for your weekly scorecard measurables and your 90-day rocks. um And then once a quarter you come back together and reflect on how you did in performing the last quarter's objectives, where you're going as an organization, you realign and then you set a new set of objectives. And as long as you're rigorous and disciplined about sticking to that cadence and doing the work and being open and honest as a leadership team, all other things being equal, EOS should give you what you want from your business. So we've got the process, we're rigorous in practicing the process,
00:05:19
Speaker
Now the final piece is if you're doing that and you're still feeling, you're not sleeping well or you're still feeling sort of any kind of inner turbulence, it's likely that the missing piece is peace.
Insights from a Founder Retreat
00:05:32
Speaker
And what I mean by peace is a deeply held inner belief in like your own inner goodness, however you want to think about it, but it's essentially being able to accept that your outcome is gonna be your outcome and there are only so many things that are within your control and there's very little point stressing about or beating yourself up about things that are outside of your control. So if you're confident you've picked the right process and you're happy that you've committed to the right degree of practice of that process, peace is about finding a way to accept where you are, who you are um and just trust the process and try and find joy in the journey. Now for me,
00:06:15
Speaker
Peace is the bit that I struggle with the most. I went on an amazing founder retreat organized by SASTOC, which is like a sound of founder community in the tech space. Brilliant run by a great guy called Alex. And SASTOC partnered up with a woman named Hannah Godfrey that runs a business called I Am Pausing. So they collaboratively ran this
Breathing Techniques for Stress Management
00:06:34
Speaker
founder retreat day. It was really good where we did breathing exercises, positive visualization exercises, some physical, like some movement work, stretching, like exercise, it was really good. And the whole purpose of the day was to kind of reconnect you with your body and nature. And it I know it sounds very hippy dippy, but the idea was to get you um free of your day to day to be able to really introspect on personal questions as to where your joy comes from. And if you're not experiencing it, why you're not experiencing it,
00:07:07
Speaker
to be able to then liberate you to hopefully come up with some some actions, some changes in behavior or some some changes in thinking that will enable you to to sustain your journey, whatever that is, and enjoy each step of the way. and For me, the breathing exercises are really good because i can I can be a little bit of a panicker. One of the reasons I like EOS is it enables me to compartmentalize my issues. you know What are the long-term things affecting my business? What are the short-term things that we've just got to move move forward in the next week? How do we agree what's a priority and what's not a priority? all of that he has an answer for. But for some reason, my engine just still runs hot. You know, like having compartmentalized an issue doesn't necessarily make me feel better. I still have this desire to do something. And sometimes I've kind of already done everything that can be done and I just need to give it time and um and enjoy the ride. And so these breathing exercises and the movement exercises, Hannah taught this thing about being in a container. It's a weird expression, but the container is you did these sort of,
00:08:07
Speaker
quite uncomfortable physical like repetitive exercises. like One almost felt like crunches, like sit-ups. It was odd. But what was really powerful is as she was leading the session, she was talking about staying in the container and it was about embracing this sort of discomfort. and What she was trying to do is to train your mind to accept the container that you're in, physical exercise at that time, but it could be a metaphor for some stage in your business. and embrace it just accept that you're in the container it sucks and you're going to find joy in that moment reflect on whether you chose to be in it yep you did choose to be in it you want to be doing what you're doing and you now just need to trust the process and and find joy she also taught some some breathing techniques there's this thing called box breathing which apparently the seals do sort of to calm themselves and each other down during combat where box breathing so if you visualize a box
00:08:59
Speaker
You breathe in for, say, six. So, in two, three, four, five, six. And then you hold the breath at the top, two, three, four, five, six. Then you release the breath, two, three, four, five, six.
Reflections on Stress Management Framework
00:09:12
Speaker
And then you hold the breath at the bottom before you breathe in again. And you just keep going around this box. Breathe in, hold the breath, breathe out, hold the breath. And by focusing on the breath, on the breathing and counting, you actually sort of reset your nervous system, apparently. I mean, it's worked for me a couple of times since. And it just enables you to regain your composure and think clearly kind of short circuit, maybe some of the negative thought patterns that that might otherwise and take you over. And so for me, those three things have been immensely helpful. I really believe deeply in EOS because it worked for me in a prior business and I see it work for other business people all the time.
00:09:50
Speaker
I know that I have to stay disciplined about maintaining my scorecard, doing my weekly meetings with the relevant colleagues, doing the quarterly meetings with the relevant colleagues and being open and honest in each of those opportunities to collaborate to make sure that the process works for us. And then whenever I'm feeling techy, I just need to come back and and and ah ask myself deeply, why is that? Because I'm doing all of the right things. um And I have to say that that since connecting these three things, and of course it's eat has been easier since Yapster was acquired because this some of this stuff has now become slightly theoretical. I do appreciate that it's different when you're in one of the big seats as a founder, um but it's made a huge difference. I'm really, really confident that, you know, eventually when I do get back into operating,
00:10:35
Speaker
whether it's acquiring a business or starting or doing something that puts me back in an operating seat as opposed to coaching on the sidelines, um these three kind of legs of of the stool are gonna help me stay the course and and and ultimately not just be more successful, but be happier on the journey.