160 | The Two Words Quietly Driving Your A-Players Out the Door

So picture this. It's Friday afternoon, and one of your best techs, let's call him Marcus, Catches you in the parking lot before he heads out. And he says, Hey, did you ever get a chance to look at that idea I sent you? The one about restructuring how we run morning dispatch.

And you feel it. That little drop in your stomach. Because you didn't. You meant to. It's been sitting in your inbox for nine days. So you give him the line. The line every single one of us use. man, I'm so sorry. I got too busy this week, but I'll get to it.

Marcus, he nods. He says, no worries. Walks to his truck.

And you tell yourself, it's fine. You were busy. It's been a crazy week. You'll look at it on Monday.

Here's what I want to tell you today. And I'm gonna be blunt because somebody needs to be.

That's a lie. Not a malicious one, but it is a lie. And the worst part, Marcus knows it's a lie too. He just isn't going to say anything to your face.

Today we're gonna talk about the most expensive habit in business

and it's hiding inside the two most innocent sounding words you say almost every day. Too busy. So let's get into it.

Welcome back to Freedom Blueprint Podcast.

let's get something straight right out of the gate. Because this is the whole episode in one sentence. You're never too busy. You just decide something else matters more. I know that probably stings. And you probably should sit on that for a second. Think about your actual week. When a $40,000 install went sideways.

And the customer was screaming,

did you find time for that? Of course you did. When your biggest referral partner called and once lunch, you found time.

when a truck broke down and a job was on the line, you found time, right? You are a master at finding time for the things you decide are important. Every owner is. That's how you built this thing in the first place.

Now, let me give you one for my own life.

I have said it out loud with a straight face. I would love to go to the gym. I just don't have time. Okay. But that same day, a buddy calls and says, Hey, you want to go grab a beer?

And suddenly, would you look at that? I've got time. Time appeared out of thin air. And here's the kicker that makes it worse. The gym takes less time than sitting at a bar. And the results are better. One makes me healthier, sharper, better for my family and my business.

the other one doesn't make me feel good. Well, tomorrow. Tomorrow probably.

So honestly, it was never about the time.

I chose the easier, more comfortable thing, and then I blamed the clock for it.

And that's what we all do. too busy usually isn't about time at all.

It's about dodging the thing that's a little harder, a little less comfortable, and

Even when that harder thing is exactly what would move us forward.

Too busy is really just the costume that we use without anybody getting upset with us. And look, sometimes that's totally fine. You can't do everything. Prioritizing is the job. And I'm not telling you to do more. I'm telling you to stop lying about why something didn't happen.

To your team and especially to yourself, because the lie is where the damage starts.

And here's where it's costing you. Let us go back to Marcus in the parking lot. When you said, I got too busy,

You think you said, I'm a hard working owner with a lot on my plate, And I'll get to it soon. That's not what Marcus heard. Here's exactly what landed in his ears. You and your idea were not important enough to make my list this week. That's it. That's the message. Marcus took the time to think about the business, to write it up, and to hand it to you. And the signal he got back was it's not a priority.

Now do that two or three more times. The one-to-ones you keep pushing, the let me think about it that never comes back. The training you promised the new guy, the review you said you would do last quarter. Each one of these is a tiny deposit in an account in your employee's head.

And that account is labeled, Does this place actually care about me?

Here's the tough love part. Your best people, the Marcuses, are exactly the ones who notice. your C players don't bring you ideas. So they never get told no. But your A players, they're testing you. Every time they stick their neck out and you answer with too busy, you're teaching your best people to stop, to go quiet.

And eventually to go somewhere else.

You ever have a great employee just leave? And you swear you never saw it coming. I promise you, if you were paying attention, you just saw it coming. You just called it too busy at the time. People don't quit jobs. They quit feeling like they don't matter.

And I got too busy is how you make a person feel like they don't matter one harmless little sentence at a time.

So why do we do it?

Why is this the default for almost every owner? Well, there's three reasons.

And you're going to recognize all three. Number one, too busy feels productive. It sounds like you're crushing it. Nobody argues with the busy man. if you told the truth, I chose not to prioritize your idea, people would push back. Too busy shuts it down. It's a force field, and we love it for that.

Number two, busy has become a badge of honor. We brag about it. Man, I'm slammed. I have not had a day off in three weeks.

We were exhausted like a trophy. Somewhere along the way, the whole business world decided busy means important. So we chased the feeling of busy instead of the result of progress.

And here's the trap in that. And listen close. Busy and effective are not the same thing.

They're not even third cousins.

You can be the busiest guy in the whole country and be moving your business absolutely nowhere. Activity is not achievement. Motion is not progress. A hamster on a wheel is extremely busy, but he's not getting anywhere. Number three, and this is the deep one, too busy lets you off the hook. If you're too busy, then it's not your fault. The week did it to you.

The phone did it to you. The customer, it's their fault. You're the victim of your schedule.

But you're not a victim of your calendar. You're the author of your calendar. Nobody is putting things there but you. And the second you own that, the second you admit I am the one who decides what makes the list, you get all your power back.

It can be a little bit terrifying because once this happens, now there's nobody else left to blame. But that's the price of being an owner.

Alright. I don't want to bring you problems without solutions. So let's break this habit. Five moves. Write these down.

Move number one. Ban the phrase. Starting today. I got too busy is dead in your vocabulary. Gone. When you feel it coming up out of your throat, you stop.

And you tell the truth instead. And the truth sounds like I didn't make that a priority this week, and that's on me. Say it out loud a few times. Listen, it's so uncomfortable that you'll actually start doing the thing just to avoid saying it. Move number two, audit your calendar. Your calendar, it doesn't lie. Pull up last week.

Look at where the hours actually went. Not where you think they went. Where they actually went.

That's the truth about your priorities in black and white. If your people are supposedly your number one asset, but there's zero time blocked off for them, your calendar just called your bluff. Move number three. Schedule the people first. Here's the mistake we all make.

We fill the calendar with operations and fires and customers, but then we try to squeeze our people into whatever cracks are left over.

And let's be honest, there's usually not any cracks left over. So flip it. Block the one to ones, the feedbacks, the development time first, before the week fills up. Protect it like a fifty thousand dollar customer's appointment. Because honestly, your people are worth way more.

Move number four. If it's truly not a priority, say so. Honestly, This is the grown-up version. Sometimes Marcus's idea genuinely is not this month's focus. Fine. But you don't have to ghost him with too busy. You go back and say, Marcus, I read it. Solid idea, dude. Love it.

it's not where we're focused this quarter,

But here's what I want to do with it. That's respect. That closes the loop. He will run through a wall for you because you treated him like he mattered.

Even when the answer was not right now.

Move number five, close every loop within 24 hours. When somebody on your team hands you something, an idea, a question, a request, you do not have to solve it in 24 hours. You have to acknowledge it in 24 hours. Got it. I'll have an answer for you by Thursday. That's it. The silence is what kills trust, not the wait. A closed loop says you matter. An open loop says too busy.

So here's why this one habit matters so much. When you kill too busy, you win twice. You win in your business because now important stuff actually gets done. The strategic thinking, the systems, the development, the things that move you forward instead of just keeping you spinning. You stop being busy and you start being effective. And you win with your team

Because your people feel prioritized. And people who feel prioritized bring you their best ideas, they stay longer, they go the extra mile, and they cover you when it counts. You can't buy that. You earn it 15 seconds at a time.

Every time you choose to close the loop instead of hiding behind, busy. And remember the gym? The hard thing was actually the smaller thing. Less time, better results.

Closing the loop with your team is the exact same deal. 15 seconds, better results.

It just feels a little harder. So we skip it. stop skipping it. so here's your challenge for the week. Next time I got too busy starts to come out of your mouth, catch it. Freeze. And ask yourself the real question is that true? Or did I just not make this a priority? Then tell the truth.

to your team, and to yourself. That's the whole game. the owners who win don't have more time than you. They just stop lying about how they spend it.

If this hits you somewhere it needed to, good. That was the whole point. And do me a favor, think about one person on your team right now who is waiting on something from you. You know who it is. Go close that loop today. Not tomorrow. Today. If you got value out of this, share it with another owner who needs to hear it. You've probably already got somebody in mind.

also, if you would do me a favor, give this podcast a five star view because this helps other people find the show as well.

This has been Freedom Blueprint Podcast. So until next time, keep prioritizing what matters

And as always, keep crushing it.