605 | How to Build a Team That Operates Without You – Part 2

Introduction (00:00:00)

Today we are hitting part two of building a team that operates independently.

Today we'll cover essential leadership skills, accountability and communication strategies to bring lasting freedom to your leadership. All of that is coming up next.

Welcome to the Chris LoCurto Show where we discuss leadership and life and discover that business is what you do, not who you are. Welcome to the show, folks. I hope you're having a fabulous day wherever you are.

Today we are getting into a part two. So as you are listening to this, if you have not listened to part one, do yourself a favor.

Well, actually, you know what, both of these can operate independently because they're, they're different pieces. But it would be good for you to go back and hit part, part one of how to build a team that operates without you.

So feel free to stop this, go back and listen to that, or just stick with me and go back afterwards.

Here's the deal. In part one, we laid the groundwork for delegation, for training, for leadership development. Today we are moving on to some really important pieces.

Culture, communication, problem solving, and the systems that actually work seamlessly.

Leading a Thriving Culture (00:01:23)

So let's get into the structures, the habits that make a self sustaining team truly possible.

So the first thing that we are going to hit is leading a thriving culture. Now, for me, culture comes down to two major things.

Actions and attitudes. The actions and attitudes that I'm looking for in my culture are the things that I am trying to train. They're the things that I'm trying to teach.

They're the things that I'm trying to force if I have to. They're the things that I'm rewarding or the things that I am actually, you know, jumping in and calling out if they're the opposite of what I want.

Culture is vitally important. It's not just about perks, it's not just about parties.

You know, I think those are the things that people think about when they're talking about culture is like, oh, you know, we're celebrating somebody's birthday, go get a cake and everybody sign a card.

That's a teeny tiny piece of what culture is. The bulk of what your culture should be is the actions and attitudes that you see every single day.

How do you get there? Well, you have to align your team with what you want. As far as a culture, where is a great place to start? Your core values, your mission and your vision, these are things that you should get your team members aligned with. Why?

Well, first off, as far as I am concerned, mission is your purpose for existing. So whatever your team or your business's purpose.

Now, I, I don't love individual team mission statements. I think that's really silly because we should all be part of the overall company's mission.

Now if your business is massive, maybe we could talk about that. But for most small businesses, even medium sized businesses, one solid mission statement for the entire company should be the reason why everybody shows up.

That should be the thing that every single team member points to. This is why I come to work every day.

This is what I believe in. This is my purpose. Right. If they don't have that, if they don't have a great purpose for showing up, then guess what the purpose is. Yep, that paycheck.

So we don't want people to show up for a job. We want people to show up for a mission, for a purpose. This is why I come here every single day.

Why is that so important? Because believe it or not, at some point something is going to be more important that they find in their life. Maybe another job or something that is worth more than just a job.

So we want them showing up every single day, excited, purposeful, looking forward to doing the mission. Working that mission into their own individual lives as well. It becomes part of them as well.

So we need to start with that mission. Get them aligned with whatever your mission is. Right. So for example, our mission statement is worshiping God by loving people and guiding individuals and businesses to greater perspective.

Now what do we see in that for us? Well, the first thing for us is that God is the most important thing, not us, God. We focus on God. We are a business that wants to worship God, guide people to God.

Now we have a lot of folks that come to us that aren't focused on God. There are a lot of folks that don't believe there is a God, which is great. It gives us an opportunity, if they allow it, for us to have a conversation, which is fantastic.

But for us as individuals, we're showing up each day to focus on God. The second aspect of that is loving on people.

Now, most businesses, their number one mission is that bottom line. For us, I would say it's third. Right. I spent a lot of time in my life trying to make money and money was, you know, a lot of the businesses where I worked, that was their number one priority.

For me, God is my number one priority. I wanted that to be a part of this business. Second thing is taking care of people, teaching, training, leading, guiding, all of that stuff, whatever we can do to help people out.

That's the second most important part of our business. Third is I'm not going to operate a business that doesn't make money. So profit is definitely, absolutely important. It just takes third place to God and you. Right?

That's our mission. I'm not saying that needs to be your mission. That's just our focus. So our team shows up. It's interesting, the people that work at our company understand this. This is their goal.

This is what they want as well. We've had folks that have come in and they're like, man, I'm so looking forward to coming here and making millions of dollars.

And it's like, you've got the wrong company, you're looking at the wrong place. God's number one. Our goal here isn't to make insane amounts of money. You know, take advantage of people. It didn't have to be taking advantage of people.

But, you know, money isn't our number one priority. So if you're coming here because you want to make millions of dollars, then. Hold on. I mean, it may take a bit.

I'm not saying that you're not going to. What I am saying is understand that's never going to be our top priority. Loving God and loving people, those are our top two priorities. So take a look at your mission statement.

Is it a great, purposeful mission? Is it the reason why your business exists? If so, align your team to that. What about your core values? What are the things that you value most when it comes to your business? Right?

Take a hard look at that and ask yourself the question, does my team, does every individual on my team align with these values? If they do not, then trust me, they're affecting your culture in a negative way.

Why? Because they're not lifting up those core values over what their values are. Right? So it's important that you recognize they have to be in alignment with your core values.

Another very important thing is making sure that they're aligned with your vision. This is, this is important on many levels. First off, they're a resource.

Listen, everything you have is a resource. Whether it's people, whether it's money, whether it's brick and mortar, whether it's tools, whether it's software, whatever it is.

These are your resources. They should all be pointed in the same direction, especially your team. If your team is not all moving in the same laser focused direction.

This is one of the big things we talk about in StratPlan all the time. You gotta get everybody, everybody's KRA. Everything has to align. Why? Because if you're not, then you're wasting resources. Right? So the more that you get this happening.

The more that you get people on the same page, the more that you get people moving in the same direction, then a great thing happens naturally after this.

Some people will do this anyways because they're just this type of person. But when you get people aligned with your mission, your vision, your core values, then naturally they will take ownership.

Naturally, they will uphold high standards even when you're not around, which is vitally important. Right.

So if you build a culture of trust and accountability by regularly spotlighting team wins, by reinforcing core values in your meetings, you know, every opportunity that you can make sure that you're recognizing how people are aligning with all of these areas, then what you're going to find is you're going to find a team that thrives.

You're going to find a team that stays motivated without, you know, constant oversight, which is what nobody wants right now.

I'm huge on accountability, but I'm not huge on micromanaging after somebody's got their job down and running with it. Right.

Consistent, Quality Communication Through Key Meetings (00:09:25)

Number two, consistent quality communication through key meetings. Now, as I say this, a lot of you are probably going, Chris, meetings are the enemy of our business. I understand.

What I'm going to tell you is you're not doing your meetings correctly. Meetings aren't the enemy. Bad meetings are. Right.

If they are done right, then they are the absolute glue that holds together your team. They're the glue that keeps people aligned and moving forward.

You need to be having consistent meetings, communicating with high levels of quality communication. Right.

Weekly team meetings, weekly team huddles, you know, keeping everybody on the same page with. It could be short updates, you know, it could be immediate problem solving, which you probably need that on a consistent basis as well.

I'm going to tell you that you do, right? You need one on one meetings where you're going deeper and you're, you're coaching, your guiding, you're teaching each team member individually.

This is leadership, people. These are your opportunities. Not just throwing somebody in a seat, giving them 30 minutes of, you know, here's what you're supposed to do, and then expecting them to run with it and be phenomenal at their job.

You need structured meetings. You need to create consistency, you need to create clarity. All of this stuff is going to lead to fewer surprises. It's going to lead to smoother operations.

It's going to lead to team members being aligned with what you're trying to accomplish, what their car is, are, what their KPIs are, what the StratPlan or whatever, you know, Strategy, you're focusing on what the vision is, all of those pieces.

So you need to be getting in there and having quality meetings. Now, I will always say, what is the purpose of the meeting?

If your meeting sucks and so many do, that's because we're either not following the purpose or we've completely forgotten the purpose.

What is the point of this meeting? What are we doing here? What is the mission of the meeting? What are we trying to accomplish with this meeting?

What you will discover is you're way off base. It used to be this or this is what we used to try to accomplish, or this is what we used to do. But now it's like this over here. It's not, you know, no quality, nobody speaks up, yada, yada, yada.

So first thing is to discover what's the purpose, why are we having this specific meeting?

And then start building back into making a solid meeting where we're communicating well, we're solving problems well, we're doing everything we need to to get people on the same page.

Problem-Solving Without Constant Leader Involvement (00:12:11)

Number three, problem solving without constant leader involvement. Whoa, guys, I cannot say this enough. I. I have so many businesses that come in first time that are working with us or they're coming in through StratPlan.

And what we discover is that there are so few people on the team that actually know how to solve problems, that can actually think for themselves, that can actually get things done.

The key is teams that thrive. They know how to handle problems without waiting for the leader to step in. But you have to empower them. You have to empower your team.

You have to make sure that they're facing their own challenges. You need to give them tools, you need to give them the freedom to think. You need to create what, like what we have is a, is a problem solving framework.

Does it solve 100%? No, but it solves 95 plus percent. What happened? How did it happen? Why did it happen? How do we fix it? How do we make sure it never happens again?

Five simple things that we have been doing forever. We created this process way back when and it solves almost every problem. And it helps you to make sure that the problems aren't coming up over and over and over again.

But here's the deal. What you need to make sure that you're doing. So go ahead and put that in there. Make sure that you put a process in a framework in of solving problems.

But then you've got to be doing things like asking great questions, you've got to be holding back on, giving the answers to whatever their problems are, don't solve the problem. Ask solid questions. What do you think we can do here?

You know, here's a problem. Okay, what happened? Explain that. How did it happen? Well, this thing over here. Okay, why did it happen? Well, because we didn't have that written down somewhere.

It wasn't in a process somewhere. Wasn't. Whatever. The thing is, how do we fix it? And this is where you get into a lot of question asking. Because what you'll probably find is a lot of team members want you to solve the problem.

They would. They want you to run with it. Well, that's why I came to you. What do I do? Or even worse. And this is horrible. And it actually happens way more than you even think it does.

People hide the problem. People hope that nobody notices the problem. People, if they are super insecure, will throw other people under the bus. Or they will. Might. They might throw you under the bus, right?

They might hide it, they might lie about it. These are all things that can happen if you're not helping people to solve problems. Really? Well, I can tell you, over the years I have had people that I've hired that something goes wrong.

And I'm like, why did you not bring this up to your leader? And they're like, well, I didn't want to disappoint you. I'm like, disappoint me?

You're disappointing me because you didn't bring it up. Why did. Why did you think that I would be disappointed if you brought it up? Well, I didn't, you know, I didn't want to get in trouble or I didn't want to. Yada, yada.

There's always some reason, right? And I always ask this question, how have you seen us solve problems inside of this business? And they kind of sit back and they go, well, we use the five step process.

I'm like, okay, what is it? You know, what happened? How did it happen? Why did it happen? How do we fix it? How do we make sure it never happens again? And then I say, and then what happens after that?

They go, we just go on. I'm like, you don't get your head ripped off? No. Has anybody ever gotten their head ripped off? Not that I know of.

Okay, then challenge my character. Challenge your leader's character. If this is the way we do things in the business, don't hide stuff. Don't hold back on it.

Don't, you know, keep from bringing it up. Bring it up so we can solve stuff and move on. That's our goal.

The great thing of when you do this, when you ask quality questions, when you dig in, when you don't answer, when you help them to get to solutions, is they see that they're being treated with dignity and that it's okay for them to solve problems on their own.

Guys, I promise you, if you are wanting to be able to step away from your business, you're not going to be able to do it.

If you don't have people who can actually solve problems, if you don't have a team that can solve problems on their own, then I'm telling you, you're not going to be able to leave your business. You're not going to be able to have a team run on their (own).

And I'm not saying that the goal is for you to leave your business, but boy, wouldn't it be nice to get away for a while, right? So here's the thing.

Next-Level Leadership LIVE Event 2025 (00:17:01)

You're a business leader, you're a business owner, you're deeply passionate about what you do.

You love your work, you love your team, you love your mission. But guys, sometimes it feels like the weight of the world is on your shoulders.

Sometimes you feel like everything depends on you. That no matter what systems you have in place, the moment you step away, things start to slip.

So if you're nodding your head with me because you know that you've experienced this, then I want you to come to the Next-Level Leadership LIVE Event. It's exactly what you need.

Now, this isn't just another leadership event. It's a transformative three day experience and it's happening April 2nd through the 4th.

Now, our goal is to equip you with practical, sustainable tools so you can confidently lead without feeling overwhelmed.

Now let's face it, trying to lead your team, grow your business and stay fully present for your family and personal life can feel nearly impossible. And it's absolutely exhausting. But here's the deal. You're not alone.

I work with leaders every single day who express the same frustrations. They want their business to run smoothly, but the thought of stepping away is overwhelming.

Leadership doesn't have to feel this way. It doesn't have to be a constant drain on your time and energy. And at the Next-Level Leadership LIVE Event, I'm going to show you exactly how to break out of this cycle.

So why should you take the time to join us? Well, here's some of the things that you're going to gain from this experience. First thing, lead smarter, not harder.

This event is built on strategies that help you lead smarter, not harder. You don't have to be the busiest person in your business to achieve real growth.

In fact, I see so many leaders burning out simply because they're over involved. One of the best outcomes I hear from attendees is that they walk away empowered to let their team succeed without micromanaging them.

Second thing, reclaim your life outside of work folks. Here, we don't just talk about life balance, we're going to help you create it.

So imagine a life where you're fully present at home and in your business. This is where you learn to lead without sacrificing your personal life.

Third thing, join a community of leaders who understand.

Every single leader out there listening to this, every business owner listening to me right now has that family member, has that friend who's told you exactly what's wrong with your business and all the things that you need to do.

And they've never run a team or they've never run a business. The people that you're going to meet at the Next-Level Leadership LIVE event, they're facing the same challenges.

Some are further along, some are behind. Everybody in the room understands exactly what you are going through. This event fosters a genuine community where you'll find encouragement, fresh ideas and maybe even lifelong friendships.

Fourth, Actionable takeaways you can implement right away.

So this isn't just an event where you walk away with inspiration and no clear steps. There's a ton of events out there that you will be super motivated for 30 days, but you still don't have anything to implement.

That is not the Next Level Leadership LIVE Event. Here you'll leave with practical, actionable steps you can start implementing on day one. Turning insights into immediate progress. I know what some of you might be thinking.

I'd love to go, but there's way too much on my plate and if I leave my business, then my business might suffer. But if we're being honest, running at the pace you're currently running just isn't sustainable.

Trying to do everything yourself leads to burnout. And when that happens, it doesn't just affect a few days, it impacts your long term success and well being. So you owe it to yourself and to your business to invest in your leadership.

Take this opportunity to break free from the constant stress. Invest these three days with us and I promise you'll gain so much more than you'll miss.

Join us for the Next Level Leadership LIVE Event happening April 2nd through the 4th, 2025. Registration is open now, so secure your spot.

You'll be learning from me, my team, and alongside other dedicated leaders who are ready to take things to the next level.

I've seen this event transform lives and businesses and I'm confident it can do the same for you. So don't wait until burnout forces you to make a change.

Head on over to chrislocurto.com/liveevents. That's chrislocurto.com/liveevents to learn more and secure your spot. I am personally looking forward to seeing you there.

Accountability That Drives Results (00:22:03)

All right, number four, number four thing you need to focus on accountability. That drives results.

Again, I am huge on accountability now. When it comes to micromanaging, I will say that there is a time for micromanaging, right? And what I mean by that is not the did you do it yet?

Did you do it yet? Did you do it yet? What I do mean by that is being there, asking questions that are, you know, do you need help? Do you have every tool you need?

How is this going? Is anything confusing? I think there's a level of micromanaging that's needed at the very beginning of somebody coming onto the business.

That is not what we're talking about right now. We're talking about accountability. That's not about micromanaging. It's about making sure everybody knows exactly what they're responsible for and how it ties into the big picture.

So for instance, KRAs, what are the key results that you're looking for out of their role?

Not the job description, not the individual tasks. But if you are doing everything correctly, here's what it should look like. These are the results that we should be getting. That is something that is vitally important.

KPIs key performance indicators help people to track exactly what they are accomplishing. That you can put KPIs on almost every single person inside of your team, inside of your business, right? Help them to stay focused.

Help them to understand what they are accomplishing. Help them to understand to what percentage they are getting these things done. Right? Help them to know where they're winning and where they're not. Right?

This is a great tool for you to come behind and then solve problems with them. What's holding you back? Are you confused? Is there any questions you have? Is there, you know, all these great perspective gathering questions.

You've heard me say a thousand times before. If you will do these things, then you will have great accountability.

So for example, if your customer service team tracks response times, then they can measure improvement. They can adjust it without, you know, needing to intervene.

They can take a look at it and see, here's how we're doing. They can have their own discussion on how do we do better.

That process doesn't need you past the beginning. Teach, train guide direct. Help them to think for themselves, help them to solve their own problems.

Help them to take a look at their own measurables and ask the question, how do we do better? Right? Also making sure that you have regular feedback loops, you know, making sure that you have things like, you know, performance reviews.

I will tell you, do not wait a year to give a performance review. We are consistently reviewing our team so they know exactly where they are.

You should never allow a year to go by to tell somebody that they're sucking or that they're doing great. They should hear it on a consistent basis, right?

So do quick check ins, you know, have one on one meetings. Make sure that your team knows what they're doing by doing these things then you reinforce accountability and you absolutely keep your team sharp.

Maintaining Team Alignment Across the Board (00:25:05)

Number five, maintaining team alignment across the board. Now, alignment isn't a one and done deal, right? It's something that you revisit regularly to make sure everyone is rowing in the same direction.

We talked about this a little bit back with the vision piece.

If you are not coming alongside your team members on a consistent basis, listen, you can do it quarterly, you know, have quarterly strategy sessions.

You know, make sure that you review where everybody is, where, you know, for us we would say be, you know, hopefully you're doing a StratPlan and you can plug those pieces in.

Where are we going, how are we doing, how are we accomplishing our goals, all that kind of fun stuff. But worst case scenario, sit down with your team. Quarterly.

Sit down with individuals, make sure that they are aligned, they're moving in the same direction. They're, they're, they're focusing on the same goals, the same strategy, the same vision, right? Putting all of this together, making sure that you do have key goals for them to hit.

So it's not just, you know, they're aiming at nothing. These types of sessions are going to ensure every team member understands how their role supports the business objectives.

Think about any business or any time in your life that you've had a dead end job, that you weren't really pointing towards anything, that there wasn't anything really exciting, there wasn't anything that you were consistently trying to accomplish or focusing on.

If your team doesn't have a goal that they're trying to accomplish or a vision that they're pointing towards, then to them it's most likely a dead end job just like it was for you, right?

You've had one of those in your life. So Help them to see that they're aligned to something bigger. Help them to see that what they do is accomplishing that. Reward them, push on them when they're, you know, hold them accountable when they're not doing it.

All these different things are going to keep your team members aligned. So implement monthly meetings, you know, not just quarterly, quarterly team meetings, but also, you know, hit people up monthly.

Make sure that you're operating on the team dynamics. Make sure that everybody knows where they stand and how they are contributing to the company's success. The more that they feel good about what they're doing, the more they're going to want to keep doing it.

Using Systems to Keep Teams Aligned and Independent (00:27:22)

Number six, using systems to keep teams aligned and independent. So a well designed business operating system creates repeatable success.

So when each department follows clear processes, when each department tracks KPIs, when each leader is helping team members accomplish KRAs, when teams can solve problems and in self correct without needing constant input from the top.

Now you have a team that can operate independently from you. So you have to make sure that they have all of the documented processes, they have all the systems, everything that they need to stay consistent.

Especially when you're not there to oversee every single step in their day. So make sure you have quality processes, quality systems, quality accountability to those processes and systems.

Make sure that you're reviewing them, that you're optimizing them. Make sure that they're documented, make sure that they are easy to get to. Doing this helps people to know exactly what they need to do every single day without having to go to you.

Additional Resources (00:28:39)

So some additional resources that I want you to utilize. There are some great blog posts.

First one is What are the Differences between Key Result Areas and Job Descriptions? That link is in the description right now.

Second is Your KRA Checklist: Practical, Insightful, and (Surprisingly) Fun!. Those are two great blog posts that you need to be reading that you need to be utilizing and implementing.

Conclusion (00:29:06)

In this two part series, we unpacked critical steps to building a team that operates without you.

So by developing leaders, by creating strong culture, by maintaining quality communication, and by implementing accountability, you can focus on growth and vision while the team runs smoothly.

Now, once again, you've heard me say this. I don't lead my team, I lead my leaders. My leaders lead the team. The better I make them, the better they make the team. That allows me to stay heavily focused if I need to, or step away if I need to.

It allows me to be just as involved as everybody else or take off and take a vacation when I need it right As I talked about in part one, having a phenomenal team has allowed me to take care of my mother who has been struggling with Alzheimer's like crazy.

That has allowed me to step away in difficult times. Again, without going into too much detail, that is what you're looking for.

Not the part about having family members that are, you know, struggling through something, but the ability to step away if something like that does happen.

So the ability to rise to a greater level for you as a leader or as a business owner because you've made your team operate independently of you, that raises you up.

You can focus on higher, more important things. You can focus on getting away and taking that month long, you know, cruise to the Mediterranean, or you can focus on super important things that are happening in your life.

No matter what it is, do not wait. Do not wait to build a team that operates without you. And again, get your butt to the Next-Level Leadership LIVE Event where we will help you to accomplish this.

Well, folks, that's all the time I've got for today. I hope this was massively valuable to you. This is all great information that you can implement right now. You can do this stuff right now.

So take this information, change your leadership, change your business, change your life, and join us on the next episode.