The CEO's Guide to Work-Life Balance

Of course. Well, everybody has their own forced march. And when you're a CEO, you have a lot of responsibilities. And so I take me time. I do. As much as I wish I could do Eastern meditation, I just don't have the structure or discipline for it. But I will wash my convertible on a Sunday. Every morning I get up and work out for about two hours and I put the phone away. And I also like to do pinball marathons. I'm a huge pinball machine aficionado. So I restore old jukeboxes and retro arcade machines. And so that's my passion. And after about 20 minutes of decompressed stimulation, I'm able to have image streaming. where my mind wanders and you know I can put things in perspective, maybe I overextended myself one time or or didn't speak enough, but it allows me to really once again organize and put things in perspective for myself, so I can regroup, rebalance, refocus. and then come back from a fresh perspective because in the moment you can make certain decisions. And as much as you wanna be an arbitrator and look at things in a neutral way, there is emotion behind it. And so what I try to do in my mind is to ask everybody's opinion first before putting out my own. The Brilliant Leaders Spotlight podcast. Empathy is the the smartest strategy for scaling. Episode 3 with Richard Blank. Brilliant Leaders Spotlight podcast host, Robert Clinkenbeard has been featured in 50+ podcasts. Robert has evident success in scaling businesses and coaching for service industries, primarily the landscape sector. Robert teaches how to develop a roadmap to achieve your ultimate vision. His mission is to evolve his client's visions and accountability in their businesses and also their personal life. Our 15 to 20-min podcast shares amazing founder stories that reveal the smartest strategies for scaling TODAY. Our audiences are not newbies. They're ready for their next phase of massive growth! Your host, Robert Clinkenbeard, talks with Richard Blank of Costa Rica's Center. Costa Rica's Center or CCC, is a BPO Telemarketing outsource company located in Costa Rica. They can handle any size BPO and are available to train every center in Central America. All of their staff are highly trained and bilingual, giving you the same price as a local area but with higher quality staff. Leadership Defined by Empathy That's one of the most important questions I receive. And I can almost give you the easiest answer, Robert. I wish I could give you a financial tip and trick or a cracked CEO code, but it really just comes down to one word, empathy. It's the way that you treat your people. And I knew this, that since I'm a CEO, I have leverage. I could make or break you. I could hire or fire you. And I decided to do the former because my ego's fine. I don't need to walk on the floor and embarrass somebody or leave. And in fact, most of my attrition is done naturally because Amazon is here. So we compete against their thousands of agents and I'll lose someone for a schedule. or a boyfriend or girlfriend works there, it's closer to their home. But Robert, you and I will never have someone quit our team because you and I deface them. We didn't pay them on time. I follow the Costa Rican labor law. So ethically, since I'm a guest in this country, I'm doing the right things. And also this journey almost began, my friend, where if you can get past your parents' guilt, you can live almost anywhere in the world. Leading with 'Philly Guilt' and Genuine Support Yeah, but I also put in a little Philly guilt. I will look at you in the eyes and go, Robert, you know, you're better than this. Come on, last week you did 14 in one day. And then second is I'd say, Robert, you're being out of character right now. This is not the man that I know. And so I can sometimes get real with people. And they understand that. And I'm not just calling you champ. I did congratulate you the other day when you got 14. So I am a litigant boss. They know, I the balls and the strikes. And if they're having a great day, I'm winning their sales. If not, I'm gonna pick them back up and dust them off and try to get them to move forward. And I dress like this every day. So in case their mother shows up, I'm going to let them know how great Robert is. And your race is such a good boy just to get points with your mother. So we do things like that here. It's really we try to give back and pay it forward. Scaling Through Internal Promotion Some of the best questions, Robert, I got to give you credit. In order to scale a company, you got to think of two types of people. You could bring somebody in with 10 years experience if they could have bad habits. Or you and I can discuss looking at somebody that has never worked in a center before. And I could teach on the phone system in the CRM, but has this sort of discipline and structure that you could mold. could have them as your squire and page like a knight does and so for me i only i i will bring in specialists for the it department but i will only delegate and promote from within and also it's by merit i could care less if you're a boy or girl young or old if you're showing me as you say leadership and and leadership comes in shapes and sizes showing up on time, pen at the ready, not just absorbing, but contributing.