Momentum Podcast: 386

Beware of Mutineers

by Alex Charfen

Episode Description

When you have a mutineer within your ranks they can rip apart your business very quickly. Mutineers have a deep need for attention. They'll start rumors and cause unnecessary questions to be asked. It may not always be intentional but if there's someone constantly casting doubt over your leadership abilities it's going to chip away at the relationship you have with your team. I want you to be able to clearly see who these people are.

Full Audio Transcript

In the last few weeks, I've talked to several companies, that have had very big percentages of their teams leave. In one case, about an eight person team, over half of the team left. In, another case, about a 13 person team, over three quarters of the team left, all at the same time. The way this happens is when you have a mutiny or, somebody who wants to cause mutinies in your business. I wanna help you spot them and be aware of mutineers.

So, in the past couple weeks, I've seen some entrepreneurs have their entire teams devastated like, have them ripped apart. I've watched one company where almost everyone on a team quit and another company where several people on a team quit and I see this all too often. See, you know, I think I often share about things that other business coaches don't talk about and my theory is, it's because they just don't know about em. You have to have seen a lot of patterns. You have to have seen a lot of teams, a lot of organizations, all at the same time, over a long period of time, to start seeing what some of, the things are. And, one of the things that I have seen consistently is, mutineers. These people who are hired into entrepreneurial businesses, and I think, in some ways seek out entrepreneurial businesses and they have some type of need for attention or, they have some type of issue with their self esteem and that causes them to want to be people who cause issues in your business.

And mutineers will do all kinds of stuff. They start rumors, they talk about people behind their backs. They will question ... one of the biggest things that Mutineers do is make sure that there's always a question, pregnant in the air like, you'll leave the room and hey, did everybody understand that?

I wasn't really clear or, was everybody clear on where we were going, did everybody believe in what just happened? Like, those types of people, what happens is, whether they know they're doing it or not, they are setting you up because if there's someone always causing doubt, if there's someone always pushing against you, then, they can start to chip away at the foundation of the relationship you have with your team. Unless, you really have good systems and structure in place and in most businesses, there is no communication system. In most businesses, there's very little structure. In most businesses, there's barely and org chart. And, hardly ever, does everybody have their position documented.

And so, in most cases, businesses are ripe for mutineers, and ripe for somebody to come in and cause issues and cause challenges. And so, I want you to be able to see who they are, I want you to understand how they're going to act in your company and so, here's one of the things that mutineers really do. They gossip. If you have somebody in your business who gossips, who always needs to know what's going on with the other people, mutineers are absolutely gossipers. They spend time talking about other people and they wanna know everything that's going on with everyone because then, they can use that to their advantage. And, gossip is an incredibly easy way to manipulate.

Here's what will happen, put an anti gossip policy in place in your company and mutineers will fight it. You'll be able to identify the people who are already pushing against you. And, they like, mutineers always wanna talk about everyone and to understand what the other people in the business are doing and they will fight anti gossip because this is one of the ways that they work.

And, I really think that some of these people consciously know they're damaging businesses and others, it's just like, patterns that are running in their head. They're working through childhood issues ina business. They're working through childhood issues with a team and on a team, they are manipulative, they you know, ask the wrong questions. And, here's what I want you to make sure that you understand is, I'm not in any way, saying that is everyone who questions you wrong? In fact, good team members will question you all the time, but they'll do it to your face and they'll do it to you, they'll do it in a way that does not make you look bad. They'll do it in a way where they can give you perspective but, they're not undermining you in any way, whatsoever. And so, you should be getting constructive criticism and constructive feedback from your team members but, not behind your back.

And so, here's some other ways you can handle mutineers and you can get them outta your business. So, first anti gossip policy. We have a policy that talking to anybody about a problem, who can't directly help you fix it, is gossip because you're wasting that person's time, your time and you're just transmitting emotions and energy and stuff that doesn't need to really happen and it causes all kinds of issues. So, we have an anti gossip policy. We have an anti discrimination policy.

I tell everybody whose hired into our organization, whether it's a contractor or team member, we tell them, in the beginning, that we have an anti discrimination policy. That we don't care what color you are, what religion, where you come from, where your family comes from, what languages you've spoken, who you chose to date, who you choose to live with, what your sexual orientation is, I don't care. We hire talent, and talent comes in crazy diversity so, we share our anti discrimination policy.

And then, the biggest way to get a mutineer out of your business, is, here's the most important way, you get your entire team into momentum and they will squeeze out mutineers. In fact, when you get your entire team into momentum and achieving together, winning together, performing together, knocking down goals together, when you pull the target closer, and you start to win, anyone in your company that slows things down, your team will squeeze them out, whether it's a mutineer or, just somebody whose not that good at their position, your team will move them out. And, the way you get everyone in your business into momentum, is something that I talk about all the time.

You've probably heard this. We need three things, we need clear outcomes, accountability and score boards. We need like, what are we going to do? Whose doing what? So, they can get into momentum and contribute to each other.

And then, what is the scoreboard that's giving us perspective? And, in a business, when you use a system, a structure that gives you those three things, everyone will start to rocket forward. And, when you have those three things and in addition to them, you have a structure and a cadence around how you have meetings and there's clarity as to who does what and there's clarity as to how to get help and when communication's gonna happen. And people are confident in their business, in their positions, they will squeeze out anyone, anyone, who starts making waves.

But, if you're in a typical entrepreneurial company where there's people who don't know what they're doing, they don't have score boards. They haven't had communication or clear structure or, anything from a CEO maybe, ever. They haven't had anybody sit down with them and talk to them about their career or, their position in a long time, the entrepreneur doesn't communicate with the team in any type of, a structured format so, they're just sitting there waiting for word from on high.

You know, let's be real, that person is vulnerable. That person will lean into someone who criticizes the business because they're already feeling like there's, challenges and they're looking for answers. That person, even if they're a good team member and even if they believe in you, they will start to listen to other people because they know that there's, issues and they're looking for the solutions but, the problem is, your most valuable team members who are trying to find solutions and like, will listen, are the most susceptible to having a mutineer get in their ear, tell them all the problems and then, cause them to start looking elsewhere.

And, when you have a cadence, in a structure where, everyone knows what's going on and there is team clarity and everyone on the team understands their role, and everybody else's role, and there's, scoreboards that people have perspective that they're winning, here's what happens, people get into personal momentum. And when people get into personal momentum in their position, it gives them momentum everywhere in their lives.

You know, we watch this because we have these structures in our company and we have people who lose weight or quit drinking or get outta debt or, get married or, have these incredible things happen to em that they've done in our quarterly goal setting meetings as a team. Or, they've written down in our quarterly goal setting meetings, as a team, but, I truly believe, and our team member have expressed that because we get the company into momentum, they all feel that momentum. And when people are in that place, in that full steam ahead, in that learning and engaged and absorbing, that's when people transform.

And, when you have people who are transforming, when you have people who are having their significance fed, they're excited, they have that momentum, they have what, they're getting what they want out of their careers, and compared to most people, they talk to, they can't believe that anybody would go to a job that they don't like every day.

And so, when someone causes waves, they will get pushed out of your business. If you haven't been in business for long and you haven't had a team for long, and you've never had a mutineer, I hope you never have one. Because, if you could go your entire career, putting the right systems and structures in place and never go through this, I think it would be incredible but, I want you to know something, chances are, someone's gonna sneak through.

We've had this happen and we teach people how to hire people and we've had mutineers on our team where I didn't even know it was happening until after somebody came and told me and thank goodness, our team was strong enough but, they sneak through. And, often times, like I said, I don't think it's intentional. I think it's people who are literally, working out childhood issues, childhood trauma, challenges with their family, in the team dynamics of being in a company. And, if you have one of these come in, I want you to be able to find em, identify them, and redeploy them so that they don't tear your business apart.

If you are ready to start building the structures and the systems around everything to grow and scale your company, including keeping mutineers out of your business and bringing the right people in, then go to AlexSharfin.com/apply or billionairescode.com/apply. I'm supposed to say billionaire code so, use that one. Billionairecode.com/apply. We'll ask you some questions, fill them out, my team will get back to you personally, and we will get you scheduled to be on the phone with one of us. Let us show you the systems, the structure, the frameworks that will grow your business fast, will allow you to plan forward, in a way that does not make you feel constrained as an entrepreneur. Will allow you to communicate with your team, in a way that they will hear you and achieve your goals faster and we will show you how to consistently look at your business, identify what you need to do next and prioritize the people, projects or processes that need to be in your business, at any given time so that you can grow at the maximum rate of speed. Go to billionairecode.com/apply.

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With gratitude,

Alex

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