Learn about Growing Profits and Transferable Value as Business Advisors 'Get Naked' about Client Cases and Running a Thriving Advisory Business. Host George Sandmann is an Author, Entrepreneur and Founder of Growth-Drive, the #1 best-selling business advising system.
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Hi, this is George Sandman. I am the founder and CEO of Growth Drive, and this is the Business Advisor Hot Seat. In the hot seat, you're going to hear from industry leaders and thought leaders as they share their victories and failures building advisory businesses, helping you and your colleagues, and helping clients get the results they want.
I'm also the author of the Growth Driving Advisor, Proven Strategies for Leading Businesses from Stuck to Best in Class. And in this book, we share a methodology and process for leading clients to growing profits and transferable value. It's available on Amazon and Kindle. And if you like it, please be sure to leave a positive review.
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Our guest this week is my friend, Tina Corner -Stoltz, founder of LX Council, the global leader in peer advisory councils. Tina has over 20 years of senior executive experience with everything from startups to multi -billion dollar corporations. She has been involved with mastermind peer groups for years, and that led her to start LX Council in 2013. She has two books, the most recent of which is Your Seat at the Table, published by Forbes and available on Amazon.
We're going to learn a ton. Tina is terrific.
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This episode is brought to you by Growth Drive. Growth Drive is the number one best -selling business advising platform with training, technology, and support you need to get the success you want. Find a way to engagements, expand your reach and impact, and build a thriving advisory business based on delivering client wins. Growth Drive, find out more at growthdrive .com.
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Well, hello everyone and welcome back to this is another episode of the advisor, the business advisor hot seat. And our guest today is Tina Kornestolz. Tina and I have been friends and colleagues for several years now. Enough years that I forget how many. And Tina is the founder. She's developed a fantastic methodology and she's the founder of LX council. She has a new book out here about six months ago. It's on the table there. Your seat at the table.
And in fact, Tina, it was you who introduced me to the folks at Forbes. Thank you. So welcome. Thank you. I'm excited. Thank you for asking. So it'll be good. I'll see how hot my seat gets. Well, hopefully, like as I said before, you and I started recording. If there's something, I'm just teeing up the audience. If there's something you don't feel like answering, you just say pass and I'll edit it out of the video. OK, so no one will ever know.
Okay, cool. Well, Tina, I'm thrilled that you're on, that you're here. And God, there are so many cool things to talk about. And I think you and I are both passionate about a lot of the same issues. I think the key issue is helping CEOs get from where they are to where they want to be, right? And can you comment on that just as an opening question?
Because that seems to be your big motivator, right? Yes, you're absolutely right. The ultimate is how many of those business owners out there today, which is the backbone of the US economy, right? How can they actually become aware of this resource? So many of them still today don't know that it's there, understandably, because you don't see billboards out there about it.
You're not driving down the street. It's just not still widely known, particularly in smaller markets with those business owners there, which a lot of business owners are in smaller markets and not necessarily a major city. So once they know that this resource is there, they don't have to go in alone. And it's actually like their own board of advisors. Then I believe it impacts the communities they're in. It drives more wealth, which is up your alley about.
how they can actually get more value from running their business. And then at the moment, that's usually most of their personal wealth is tied up there and how can they maximize that? And in conjunction with like what you do and being in a group, it helps, right? Maximize that. Absolutely. Absolutely. And you just did, I had the privilege of listening in, I won't get into any details, but of participating in one of your personal groups.
and this goes back several years, and seeing firsthand how your model works so well. You had in the room, you had sort sole proprietors, solopreneurs, up to $120 million business. And yet the conversation, the way that you've structured LX Council, your methodology allowed them to have relevant, impactful conversations. Can you ...
Can you get into that for a sec? Like what, why, how do we get people who you would think would not be able to discuss business issues together at all? They wouldn't be relevant to each other. How do you end up with it, with an attorney talking to the CEO of a hospital and exchanging pot, you know, having a very positive and valuable conversation? Right. That first has to start with the business owner being open minded.
to recognize they don't have all the answers, that they want to learn more so that typically they're a continuous learner. They're also someone who recognize there's still lots of growth, both for them as a leader and running the business and the business in general. So as long as you have that premise, because being in a peer group isn't for everybody, but it is for most people. And then by putting them in the right group,
typically what we talk about is that it's not about revenue and employees. So I know this can be a little bit controversial out there because most individuals who are putting groups together do so in regards to, well, how many employees do you have and how much revenue? And as long as you're kind of close, then it must mean that you're a good fit and you're a peer. And that is the farthest from the truth, particularly if you ask another business owner. And the best explanation I can always give the story of,
of that entrepreneur who's maybe only running a million dollar business, but this is their third one. And maybe they've already built and sold and they have all this wealth of experience. It's just where they are today is at the beginning again, as they build. Well, they should be right around the table with somebody else who's at that level. So we always talk about sophistication is one piece of putting peers together.
Because then when you have that, they're going to be more open to be vulnerable to talk about the real issues because they really feel like those around the table are at that same level and can really help them and they can help them as well. Right? Yeah, absolutely. You know, it's interesting. A couple of points that you've sort of teased out there. Your groups, the groups that you help found, right, because you have a business and you actually like like Growth Drive, you work with
moderators and they then build their own businesses using your methodology. It's not a franchise, it's licensing. It's very approachable. And there's a heavy level of qualification. I said curate, but it's really qualifying. Can you comment on that, Tina? And you mean the qualifying for the members in the group? Well, I guess both, but I did mean the members in the group. Okay, just checking. It's like the members in the group. Yes.
So you really are qualifying on two things. One is, well, I guess multiple things. So let me go back. One is you're looking for their sophistication. And what do I mean by that? A good example is if you think about a business owner and if they are still, I'm going to do two extremes, they're outsourcing their payroll. Yeah.
and they might have somebody that follows up with accounts receivable and payables, that kind of thing, versus someone who has a CFO and who is running a tight dashboard with KPIs, et cetera. That's two completely different levels of sophistication, right, in running the business. So you gotta match that, but you also have to match experience level. So.
business acumen. So experience level, somebody could have been running their business and you know the storage for like 10 years, but they still have what feels like a years of experience. Right. And then you have those that have been running their business for 10 years and they have like 20 years of experience. It feels like because they've gone through an acquisition or a failed partnership or they've now expanded remotely or, or, or, or, right. So one, you're matching on the business experience in the
sophistication aside from the obvious, which is no conflict of interest. Yeah, of course. Right. And, um, and then you ideally will start to really match. And this goes when you're kind of at a, at, at what I call higher, like advanced level of monitoring. You could do this, but you, it shouldn't take long to get there, but you'll match also on, okay, here in the group, here's the group members that have this diversity of experiences and.
types of business, type of like business models. So meaning you might have professional services and then you might have like a government contract and you might have partnerships, you might have sole proprietors, you might have those that have remote locations, some that operate locally or globally, and you have all this mix. So you look it for what's missing. And then you also go search for that in your new member to come in that fills those special gaps that might exist, but yet they compliment to who else is around the table.
Yeah, absolutely. It's of art and science, right? Absolutely. And a lot of science that you've decoded and do such a great job. Now,
When you're looking at advisors, does that same, I mean, I know you qualify people really careful. You like me, you want people to be successful and to be successful working inside the Alex Counsel methodology. Can you comment on that? Because I'm busy storing up things I want to comment on. Yes. So those running groups, you mean? Yeah. Yes. Yeah. So that is also not for everybody, right? It looks -
so easy, right? In the outside of like, I can get X number of people together and hold this monthly meeting and I don't have to really do that heavy lifting. I just, right, orchestrate it and it's done by them having conversation and I should make money, right? Offer that. Well, it isn't easy. Unfortunately, that would be wonderful. There's tons of nuances.
So therefore you also have to look for someone ideally that wants to continuously learn because it's learning. And just because you have down in year one, I've been running groups that is not the end all. There's a whole, all this stuff that's going to happen along the way, just like running a business. And so year two, it's different. Year three, it's different. Year four, it's different. So it is a journey when you're.
when you're moderating a group, but you should also have knowledge and passion for the type of group you want to run. So there's all kinds of groups, you know, you can do, you can do virtual and in -person in a hybrid, but you can do niche groups. You can do your traditional CEO groups, but you know, you might want to do one like, you know, exit planning, right? You might want to do something that's focuses on manufacturing or it be by position. Like it's all going to be CFOs in my group or, you know, but.
No matter what it is, you should have that passion for it and some knowledge because you need to be able to navigate the conversations that are happening and know what they're talking about, but know when it's time to move on because you do understand what they're talking about. Yes. As well. Absolutely. Yeah. And you just, something you just hinted at and I'll comment on, you know, it is hard. Starting a group is not easy.
Uh, it, you know, it's basically starting a small business, right? This is not easy. And, uh, and there, there are the big players out there. I am going to pick on Vistage because there happened to be the household name. This has a very low, they will train a lot of people. They have a very low success rate for people who actually convert that training into a group. And I've spoken to, I've lost track of how many Vistage groups, um, and they're, they're good groups, but
they represent a small percentage of the people who decided they wanted to do this. You have a very, an exponentially higher success rate. I, you know, from the outside, it would, I would guess that you qualify people really well. And then I do know firsthand that you're onboarding, you're training, you're support, you're ongoing, you eat your own dog food. We eat our own dog food here. You do the same thing, right? You are, you know, you're having groups of your moderators or your moderators.
get together, talk about, and you keep them, you keep it fresh, strong, top of mind, always learning. That's, yeah, that is, but I guess my sub point there was, I mean, you have a tremendous track record of success getting people lunch. And in fact, full transparency, there have been a number of people from the growth drive community who have become successful members of your community. And I love that.
No, and I, and that's so appreciated. And I love the connection with that because it's a great compliment. Um, you're teaching and you're doing, and as well as like running a group and to your point, it's not for everybody. Um, and people should be screened in regards to saying, you know, I know you might love to do this, but these are going to be some of the personal challenges you're going to have. And, and if they're willing to step up and kind of.
you know, compensate for that, then great. And if they recognize once they learn about what it really is like to launch, because you do have to ask somebody to actually join to be a member. You better be comfortable with that, right? You have to close them. And some people just are not there, but they would love to be the moderator or a chair, like they might be known out there or facilitator, et cetera.
and just do that, but they don't want that other heavy lifting, then they got to do that for somebody else. Yeah. Not on their own. Absolutely. It's interesting. So a lot of, yeah. So there's so many things we can dig into when I keep it on point. So one of the things that you do incredibly well that we would like to pride ourselves on doing well is questions, right?
one of the key differentiators between, by the way, you talked about vulnerability earlier, and I've kind of been banging the gong a little bit. Gino has a new book coming out about looking in after you exit a business and being vulnerable and focusing on larger life goals. And I have not read it yet, but I just saw the announcement and we exchanged one text, but it's exciting. So let's get into questions and vulnerability, because something that you and I,
both are both fervent adherence to, frantically in favor of is questioning, right? Deep listening and questioning. And that is actually, could you please describe the role of questions in your methodology? Because I think people can learn a lot. They show up.
in every aspect. So what I mean by that, it shows up in the beginning when you're talking with the prospect, a center of influence or anyone else, right? A resource connector, we kind of talk about those all the way to the meeting. And so the questions and how you exemplify helping someone get to vulnerability, a level of vulnerability, which there are so many kind of levels, but the ultimate level and some never get there.
You know, some people are not capable, but it's different. Um, starts with just, you know, we call this the, um, four to one ratio, and then we have the Ford concept, right? And the Ford concept, F O R D just like the pickup truck, right? Um, is where it's an easy thing to remember because it stands for giving you a guidance on how to.
Find out a lot about someone at a deeper level and not forget all aspects of them, of their person. So F is for family. So you would ask questions about family, about their family, et cetera. O is for occupation. So what do they do? Why do they do it? How do they get into doing it, et cetera? R is recreation. What do they love to do when they're not working? The fun thing.
And the D is usually the one that's never talked about, which is their dreams. So this goes back to exiting. So what are their dreams? But it's also what's the dream about the business, but what's the dream after? What's their dream? Family and personal, it could be everything, but what are those dreams? And one of the ways to get down into the heart of all of that is...
Granted, you have to, when you first meet with somebody, the first question out of your mouth is not going to be, well, tell me about your dreams. Well, you know, that's, they're going to be like, you're crazy. I don't even know you. Exactly. Moving right along. Yeah. Yes. Exactly. The pass, right? I'm going to pass. But there's an appropriate time to ask those. But as you build a relationship and if you think about, you know, your close relationships, do you know their dreams? Right? Like if someone would say, what do I know your dreams, George? Right.
And I should be able to answer that because if not, then I'm really not cultivating a deeper relationship with you. We're not advancing our connection and our relationship if there are new things that I'm not learning about you. And so I encourage, first, everybody out there think about that. And how much do you really know about your closest relationships? And then we go down to the four to one. We call it four to one ratios. You ask four questions per every main question. So.
The main question is if I were asking, you know, and you can, maybe you can role play with me on this one. How about recreation? Cause that's a fun one. Cause you just, you're in a new city for the last like, geez. I know. It's going fast. Right. Yeah. And so I would say, George, Hey, what do you, you know, and it might even go like this. What are you doing this weekend?
And normally I would say, hey, I've got friends coming into town and then on Sunday I'm going down to a friend's place in the country. So then I would say you've got friends coming into town. So town, what would you typically do? Like, what do you like to do with them? And Tina, that's a great question. And I hope you and Scott come down or up. Well, we typically we will find something fun to do with the afternoon. There are a lot of great museums, great activities.
And then this is a city of restaurants and it will be at least one, probably three really good meals. You know, sort of the day is planned around. Yes. It is a foodie town. It is a foodie town. Yeah. Yes. And then you might go into what type of food do you love to eat? You know, you could go into what's your favorite restaurants. You could go into like, what else do you love to do if that's a new city? So my point, see, you can get -
deeper with you. And then that will all tie into with that connection of, well, maybe when I run across something like you told me if your favorite food was shrimp or something, I run across a great recipe, then I would know to send that to you. Yes. Right. And then those questions, when you go down that deep of those, you know, I'm going to ask a question, build upon it with another question.
you're exemplifying what? That I'm listening. Active listening. Active listening. I care. Like sincerely, because you can't active listening, listen, unless you really care and you're kind of paying attention and you really do want to know. But when people feel listened to and they talk about things they typically would because nobody else is asking at that level, there's a greater sense of connection. Right. But when you do that, yeah, with.
your centers of influence or connections or prospects, you learn what you need to learn in order to do the right thing, which is either, I learned better on how to help you and can come up with ideas to help or connect, et cetera. Of course, with a prospect, whether they'd be a good fit or not. And, but every time you do that, you just develop stronger relationships that people then increase their trust level, but vulnerability, right?
Absolutely. Absolutely. And I picked up the Ford. I had heard of the Ford methodology, but you reminded me of it. And this goes, again, goes back, what, three plus years ago. And I started using it. And I use it all the time. It is not fake. It is very real. And I mean, not that it's a fake construct. It's a real construct. But it is really effective. And you will find yourself having much more.
I enjoy the conversations a lot more. So the first time I used it, I was at a cocktail party where I didn't know very many people. And I'm like, hey, well, let's kick the tires on this thing. I had the best time. And I learned more about not everyone in the room, but three people where I got into. And two in particular, we got into, oh, you like food, you're a recreational. Have you ever thought about running a restaurant? No, I would never do that. Oh, well, what would you like to do? And suddenly, you're...
Now you're into dreams. You've just said it again, and we say it all the time. Just because someone has a pulse and they own a business does not mean they would be a good member of a peer group. Does not mean they would be, in our world, a good client. There's so much more we need to know about them. We want to qualify them because I know that you care deeply, I care deeply about success.
How do we help people be more successful? You want them to grow their businesses. You want them to form better relationships. We want exactly the same thing. And I know we come at it from different angles. And those of you CEOs out there, think about joining a group, an LX council peer group, because you're getting fractional advice, not from the moderator, who happens to be a very smart woman or man, but from your peers, from people who have...
who have been curated into a group with you and who have, you know, a combined centuries of experience sitting around the table. Yeah. It's very powerful. It's why, I mean, we run workshops. In fact, I have one tomorrow. We run workshops as our primary moderated open conversations where people self -select in and we have, and it's just fun and valuable. Yeah. Super cool. Super cool. Yeah.
Okay.
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This episode is brought to you by Growth Drive. Growth Drive is the number one best -selling business advising platform with training, technology, and support you need to get the success you want. Find a way to engagements, expand your reach and impact, and build a thriving advisory business based on delivering client wins. Growth Drive, find out more at growthdrive .com.
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The Ford concept is a great way of introducing clients to each other, members to each other. So let's say the members coming into a group, that's one way that you could have them introduce each other or share the other members, share their dreams with each other. But if you're particularly also,
Kind of like we both are, and probably a lot of your listeners work with centers of influence, right? Yes. And other advisors. It's a good way to introduce one advisor to another. So when you're making introductions, you can jumpstart their connection by nudging them with, because now you're going to know something personal about each one, particularly like kid related. So -and -so has a kid that's a challenge.
you know, and so do you, and you guys have that in common, or you both recently were in Italy, or you both, both whatever, and that really shows and leads by example when you're also utilizing your network, right, to help each other. Yeah, absolutely. And Centers of Influence, it's interesting because, at least last I knew, you use Centers of Influence strategic partners as, as,
potentially sponsors or sources of members for a variety of reasons that I'd to have you go into. We do it the same way. We're saying, hey, listen, wealth advisor, you have several business owning clients for whom you only have one dimension of relevance. And I can help you expand your relevance and deepen your impact on their wealth.
because X, Y, and Z. And let's talk about that. Let's tease it out. And I would always advocate having a conversation because again, not every COI is someone you want to work with. All of us, all you listeners, you have all run into people who had the right check marks, but you shouldn't work with them. That's just life. Do you want to comment on strategic partners and the role they play in your world?
Absolutely. And this occurred way back when I started in the industry, because I came from corporate life and didn't know anyone locally, because I was always on a plane or traveling and that kind of thing. And I had to quickly make connections locally and realized that this is very much a relationship business, very much like, right?
what you do and it's not transactional or it shouldn't be transactional. It shouldn't be transactional. A lot of people make it transactional and it isn't. And if you're doing that, that's the fast way to failure. But by being relationship driven, partnerships have always been something in my background of like creating partnerships because, you know, doing it with others is way easier, more fun.
faster, lots more leverage, then I can just go on my own. So partnerships, formal, informal, doesn't matter, is where the concept came from about helping anyone who wants to create a mastermind group, a peer group, do so, one, successfully, quickly, effortlessly, relationship -wise, and you're not out doing what I can't even imagine doing now.
I don't even know how you do that today. And why would you do that to people? Not the recipients, the people who have to make those calls. Right? Awful. And everybody that's doing this now is experienced. Nobody wants to do that when you're experienced. That's something you might have done like years ago when you were starting out in business or something, if that were the case, but not years later when you have a wealth of expertise and experience. That's the last thing you want to do. And the last thing you should do.
So the strategic partner concept is aligning with organizations, organization or organizations that can be plural, that had the same type of client that you want in your group. So whatever that persona is that you have. And then once that's the case and you've identified who those are, there is a big benefit to them partnering with you. And another way to think about it is like sponsor. So in essence, they're really sponsoring.
your group or groups because they know when their clients and prospects are in that group, they become a better client and a prospect turns into a client as a result. So yeah, it's kind of a no brainer. Um, but you have to find the right, um, partner that gets it and understands it's a strategic play and that they're relationship driven and not transactional driven either. And, and that there's a big fat what's in it for them that we, that, that you help.
that you, at least in our world, that you and they develop together. Don't come in assuming that because they're a bank, they're gonna wanna have all of their customers in a group that talks about business. It sounds good on paper, and yes, banks have business owners as clients, but there may not be a synergy there. You mentioned, and I was with someone this weekend, and I asked if they recognized, and so Tina and I, you and I ran,
in sort of the same circles in Annapolis, Maryland, way back when Annapolis was a tiny little town, you know, out on the Bay, a place people went for the weekend from D .C. Yeah. And now it's part of D .C. Right. So did you go back there just recently? I did not. I just had a friend. I have a friend in town who got it, who was there at the, you know, at the same time. And he's like, God, I want to say I recognize the name. But anyway, you know.
But we got into it about Marmadukes and Davises and all my gosh, yeah. Yeah, right? All gone. Marmadukes changed over like two or three times. Yeah, I know. Yeah. A moment of silence. Lunis is still there though. One of the best. Yes it is. And they still have those great. And as is Chicken Roots, which I was happy. I was worried that they wouldn't survive the pandemic, but it's still there. Yeah, it's amazing when people get married there. Right, well. It's funny.
So you were in the corporate world and then you through a variety of, you ended up with an alternative board. Franchise. Franchise, yeah. And so you have deep experience in the franchise model, which I only bring up to highlight that there are, franchise model is interesting for some aspects and that is not the way you chose to go. It's not the way we chose to go. Right. You want to comment on that?
And then because your new model, I think is, it can scale, right? And it is growing beautifully. So the franchise model can be a right fit for some people. When I was a franchisee, I recognized there's like some missing components. And so therefore I sold in order to determine, can there be sort of a wholesale like model in this space?
And, um, that is what I really came up with. And what do I mean by that? What I mean is, so there are some things that are challenging in this space, things like not being able to launch in a small market, because if you're with a franchise, you are paying by a bit of money in, and there's a rev share. And so you have to charge a certain amount for it to make sense. So the numbers have to work.
And then there's some 1099 models out there, the same, where they take a percentage of revenue and they may dictate what your pricing is. And therefore you can't be or do maybe the type of groups you want to do. Whether it's you want to charge more or you need to charge less, it can go either way. And whether you own it. So if I'm building the groups and all that, in some cases you don't own those groups.
Yeah. And as a franchise, you do, you're committed to a period of time, but a rev share, et cetera, and a high entry level, um, entry fee. So I also realized there's just a lot of failure rate of launching. And we talked a little bit about that. Um, but also that, that a lot of individuals that do this, whether they were a business owner, they sold, and now this is what they want to do or their consultants and business advisors, but they have their own brand.
already. Yes. And that there wasn't anything out there that was like no brand, meaning that they could use their brand, but still get all the benefits that you would get if you were like going to be associated with a franchise. And what do I mean by benefits? Turnkey, turnkey proven model. And so that's, that's what I tested and, um, which is their brand front center. We are behind them certified.
Licensed partner, proven model, and get all the resources. Everything's turnkey. They don't have to develop anything. They put their brand on it, co -brand, that kind of thing, charge what they need to do, all the types of groups they want. It's theirs. They own it. They're not paying a rough share. It's just a one -time licensing fee. So the ROI is 60 % more than with the competitors because of all of that. Yeah.
I am, you get to hear here. I've never heard you describe it that way, but I'll agree. And I believe deeply, we have a business advising platform. This is what you pay, you get a limited access. What you decide to charge your clients is up to you. You want marketing help, here's what we have. You want initial client and all these things. We'll put them at your disposal, but your brand goes across the top. It is hard enough to win an engagement. And I think you might echo this, hard enough to start a group.
that I haven't always explained, you know, and I represent this other brand. I know, sure, I have my brand, but I, because yeah, I totally agree. Well, be able to make your own decisions. Cause can you imagine, I mean, in many cases now you are working for somebody else. So in my case, you are not working for me. You get to make the decision on, do I need to comp this particular person? Do I need to do this or that or what?
We have best practices and can share and there's a whole private community that will share and support, et cetera. You're not alone, but it is your business and you get to make those decisions as you should. Yeah, and that's coming full circle. I you, people can go, they are starting their own businesses using your methodology and you provide a place and nurture, really nurture a place, a community that people can come to and get the help they need.
without being told what to do, they're still allowed, we respect them, right? They're a lot like our community. You can come and you ask whatever question. What you do with the advice is up to you. But you are committed to the success of your moderators. We are deeply committed to that. We're deeply committed. I didn't want to make mine sound more. We were both very committed to success because ultimately, and this goes back to the beginning of our conversation, we help.
businesses thrive. Right. That is the name of the game. Private businesses doing better. Yeah. You know, it's hard to believe we've been talking for a little over a half hour already. Keep the fun going. I have to ask you back. You know, Tina, if if as we wrap up our conversation,
What's one piece of advice or one thing, one piece of advice you would give or one thing you think people should know or one, you know, sort of one thing you would share with the world that you think that jumps to mind?
Like, yeah, I mean, I know you're, I'll shut up and you have the right to think about your answer. Because of what we just talked about, I think I would say if you are thinking right about wanting to add this to your product line, let's say, let's say if you're an existing, you know, business advisor, et cetera, and you're thinking about adding this or.
Maybe you're a CEO and you just sold and you're thinking, or you're trying to think about what your, I hate to say exit strategy, because that isn't it's life after. In the business owner is talk to a lot of people that do this and really search for who is a right fit. Do not go alone. It's very difficult to do that. There's no reason to do that.
And even if you're already running groups and maybe you're doing it independently, you don't have to even do that alone. We're just kind of starting a community of those that are independent running groups on their own. They don't have to, so you can share best practices, et cetera. So that would be my biggest piece of advice. Don't try to do this alone. I love that because that's at the intersection of our worlds, right? For a lot of our ...
ultimate clients, right? So the people that our members are advising are looking at, okay, well, what happens after I exit my business? And how do I continue to have an impact on my community, et cetera? And the advice you give is fantastic. What better way to share your wisdom, to share your experience and to have your experience have an exponential impact.
than to be moderating groups. And unlike other, I don't know, right or wrong, if, you know, let's say I sell my business and I said, I want to, you know, become an Alex council licensee. Am I allowed to give advice in the room? You're like, you're allowed, might not be a good idea. Right. Okay. So it's so interesting.
Because the answer is yes, but. But. But two it is not till everybody else around the room has given their insights. The rule of thumb is you always want your members to look good above and beyond you. And therefore you always let them reply with their thoughts, their insights, their experience, et cetera. And then you add your two cents. If nothing else has been said, like don't be repetitive.
and just go, yes, let me say the same thing that Bob just said. No, right? You can add onto that. So absolutely, because when you're moderating a meeting, you will run back and forth between being a consultant, a facilitator, a coach, a hall monitor, all of those things. Ultimately though, the moderator role is literally the moderator role. So we're consulting, shows up in the meeting that way, per se.
And then if it's more so, the member will ask you like, Hey, would you ever come in and do this? And then you do real consulting separate. So you get paid for it because the other thing is consulting is a premium. That's why it's consulting. And so if you're going to do consulting, you want to do it out of the meeting. So you get paid appropriately for it. Cause what you're getting paid for in the meeting is moderating that meeting. Absolutely.
Absolutely. And being a good moderator, you have a fantastic training program for being a good monitor. Moderating is a lot of questions and then being very, very judicious with delivering advice. And we both start in the same place, which is let's figure out really,
Why are you asking that question? Why is that your goal? Why do you say that? Why, why, why? And I'm not making light of it, it is profound. When you get someone you can feel it to, you can feel it when you're listening and you're really trying to figure out what they're saying. And you're asking, you're asking, okay, can you tell me more about that? Why is that important to you? How did that impact your life? You, and instead of like, and I just had someone commit the sin, I call it a sin, right? They jumped in, they did not ask me.
I don't think he asked me any questions before he started telling me what to do. I'm like, dude, come on now. So you're like, that's horrifying. So, okay, very cool. I love tying that back to equity planning and this all comes down to life, right? How can we help you make your life better? Because work is a big part of our lives. And people who participate in your groups are getting a tremendous...
Your turnover rate is, you can brag about it. How's turnover at Alex council members? Well, yeah, all of the licensed partners do an excellent job. So it is over 80 % retention rate. Yeah, that's fair. So the industry is a lot less than that, but it has to do with what we talked about earlier about how you put everybody together in the group, but also then that the moderators are really moderate.
Yeah. Well, yeah. Yeah. Because the number one reason a member will leave is the moderating, the meeting and how it's run is awful. I almost said a different word. And then the number one reason they stay is because who you've put around the table with them. Yeah, absolutely. And then I've heard you say it and they start saying, this is my group. My group. Yes. Yes. Yeah, that's fantastic. Tina.
Very, very fun conversation. Thank you. And I would love to invite you back because there's so much more. I feel like we've taken one bite of a big apple here. Always. Yeah. Anything before we say ciao for now? No, I just thank you for the chance to chat. Same. I'm so glad you were able to make this work. Appreciate it. Okay. Very cool. Thanks, Tina. Thank you.
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