Are you treating your team like a line item—or like your greatest multiplier? In this episode, Shannon Waller shares why a small, smart investment in your team’s self-awareness and capabilities can pay off in better decisions, less drama, and a lot more freedom for you as the entrepreneur.

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Show Notes:

• Investing in your team’s growth is one of the simplest ways to hit bigger goals without working harder yourself.
• Profiles like Kolbe and Working Genius® give team members self-knowledge that leads to greater confidence, mutual understanding, and improved communication.
• When people feel like an investment instead of a cost, they naturally bring more creativity, commitment, and initiative to the business.
• Entrepreneurs who invest in their team create multipliers who run with ideas instead of dependents who wait to be told what to do.
• The right kind of training gives you clear thinkers, confident decision makers, and proactive problem solvers instead of order takers.
• Knowing your team’s strengths and striving instincts makes leadership feel lighter and more natural because you stop trying to force people into the wrong roles.
• Role alignment protects you from one of the most expensive entrepreneurial mistakes: smart people stuck in the wrong seats.
• When team members spend most of their time in their Unique Ability®, your culture gets more energized, collaborative, and attractive to top talent.
• Focusing on strengths instead of fixing weaknesses speeds up progress and keeps your best people excited about growing with you.
• Using profiles strategically shows you exactly where you need complementary capabilities instead of pushing yourself to be good at everything.
• When people are self-aware, they move through tough moments with less drama and more clarity, so the team can stay focused on results.
• Developing “leaderful” team members means people at every level provide direction in their area of expertise instead of waiting for permission.
• Treating people as entrepreneurial partners rather than employees shifts them into owner-like thinking about results and client impact.
• A well-developed team is a safer and more predictable investment than a marketing campaign because you can see the behavior and results up close.
• Capability-building gives you back time as team members take on complex, draining tasks and solve problems without escalating everything to you.
• Networked, interdependent teams allow capable people to act autonomously within clear roles.
• Investing in your team is one of the most powerful retention strategies because people stay where they feel seen, valued, and developed.
• Even simple, low-cost assessments can quickly pay for themselves in better decisions, saved time, and fresh opportunities.
• You don’t need to implement every profile or tool at once; pacing your investments keeps the focus on doing great work, not constant workshops.
• Bringing in experts to deliver assessments and coaching lets you upgrade your team quickly and efficiently without derailing daily operations.
• Building a Self-Managing Company® requires self-managing, self-aware people who are well-trained, trusted, and energized by the roles they play.​

Resources:

Kolbe A™ Index

Working Genius®

CliftonStrengths®

DiSC® Profile

PRINT®

The Predictive Index

Unique Ability®

The Team Success Handbook by Shannon Waller

The Self-Managing Company by Dan Sullivan

Are you holding yourself—or your team—to an impossible standard? In this episode, Shannon Waller unpacks the real differences between high standards and perfectionism. She also explains how to build a culture of confidence, speed, and accountability so your team can deliver great results, move faster, and actually enjoy the process—without getting stuck chasing an unattainable ideal.

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Show Notes:

• Having high standards helps you feel confident and stay clear on what really matters, unlike perfectionism, which can drain your energy and slow you down.
• Perfectionism usually comes from fear—fear of messing up or not being good enough—while high standards come from caring about great results.
• Aiming for “really good” instead of “perfect” will help you get more done, faster, and with less stress.
• The 80% Approach™ is a great way to keep projects moving forward. Instead of trying to do everything yourself or make every detail flawless, take your work to 80% complete and then hand it off so others can add their expertise. It’s an easier, more collaborative way to avoid getting stuck chasing “perfect.”
• It’s all about teamwork, letting go of control, and trusting that “good and moving forward” beats “perfect and stalled.”
• When your team shares the workload and plays to their strengths, things flow better and no one hangs on to tasks out of worry.
• Make your standards clear and explain why they matter. When people understand the purpose, they step up with better quality.
• Don’t worry if things aren’t perfect; mistakes are just opportunities to learn and improve next time.
• Perfectionism is often a habit we inherit; choose to shift your mindset to focus on progress, not perfection.
• Not every task needs your full-on perfectionist energy—save that for what truly matters to you.
• When you combine high standards with smart teamwork and self-awareness, you create a culture where trust and innovation thrive.

Resources:

Kolbe A™ Index

The Gap And The Gain by Dan Sullivan with Dr. Benjamin Hardy

The 80% Approach by Dan Sullivan

Unique Ability®

Multiplication By Subtraction by Shannon Waller

Transforming Experiences Into Multipliers