EP298 - Why Your Summer Holiday is the Ultimate MSP Leadership Test with Ian Luckett

IAN: In this episode of The IT Experts Podcast, we explain why your summer holiday is the ultimate MSP leadership test.

INTRO: Welcome to The IT Experts Podcast, the only podcast to help MSPs scale to 1 million, and if already there, get to five and go faster. At the end of the day, isn't it all about building a business that works for you rather than you for it? I hope you enjoy the show.

IAN: So good morning, good afternoon, good evening. Welcome to the IT Experts podcast. So the summer is here. The summer holidays are here, and you're either sitting on a sunbed or a moaning about the heat or you're sitting at home in the UK moaning about the heat. One or the other, it doesn't really matter. But the most important thing about this time of year is that when we get times when people are away from holiday, when we get times when MSP owners are away on holiday, away from the business, cracks start to show now whether you are on holiday, going on holiday in the office, thinking about taking a holiday. This podcast is not about holidays, it's about leadership.

So let me ask you a question. Can you, when you go away on holiday, can you really switch off from your MSP? Are you still checking your emails by the pool, taking phone calls and worrying about what's happening back in the office? Now it's really easy and it's also very hard to put your phone away and to forget about things that are going on and being completely honest and vulnerable with you. I am just the same, but why am I like that? I'm like that because I love what I do. Stuart and I both love what we do, and I like to stay connected to what's going on. I like to use my holidays as kind of like strategic thinking time. So I'll always be sitting there by the sunbed with a notepad, scribbling out some ideas, not necessarily doing work, not doing coaching, not doing webinars and all of that kind of stuff. But sitting there just thinking about working it in a different way. And it's really, really important that the business can still run without you. And it's really important to make sure that you get that time to switch off. Because switching off resets not only your body, it resets your brain, it resets your connections with your family, and it kind of puts this big realisation about the purpose of why you are doing what you are doing.

So, but if you can't switch off, if you are still tinkering on the emails and you're checking your notifications, and you're checking in on your systems to make sure what's going on back at home, then. If that's you, then your holiday isn't the problem. It's revealing something an awful lot bigger. So the reason that we say that holiday's a leadership audit is because it gives you that time and it helps you understand and a bit of realisation how much the business depends on you. You know, if you can't leave the business for two weeks, you know your business is trying to tell you something. Now, there's one thing about leaving the business and it running and there's one thing about leaving the business or being, you know, away on holiday and it growing and they are two completely different things.

Most MSPs are actually caught up in the former because when they go away, and we've heard that people have not been on holiday for like 17 years. And which is just like kind of criminal because it's like, what are you doing? And there's a lot of limiting beliefs that will stop you from going away from holiday if that's the case. But the goal is not just to take a break, the goal is to build a business as we constantly say, week after week, day after day, month after month. That builds a business that works for you rather than you working for it. And if you are on holiday and you're still checking in, then you are being run by your business. And this isn't an easy thing to do, right? You can't just go away and turn off and click the systems and away you go and just forget about all of this stuff. But, you know, some of the fears that we hear an awful lot and some of the things going around in people's heads are, you know, but my clients need me. You know that, what if I'm not there? And what if they call up and what if something else goes on? Well, that in itself is a leadership problem because if you're busy, being busy, and I had this the other day with a client, I said, Hey, you haven't turned up to some of the calls the other day. And he says, yeah, but my leadership's absolutely fine. I said, your not, your leadership skills are not fine because if you are not coming into the calls, because you haven't got time, something's still broken. So if you are sitting there thinking that my clients still need me, something's broken in your delegation, in your SOPs for other people to be able to help support and operate your clients when you are not there.

It's very similar to the team. My team won't cope without me. Well do you know what? When you're at the dentist or you're at the doctor's or you've taken an afternoon off or you're going to go and play golf or you've just going to go and see the kids at their sports day, they'll cope. Generally no one leaves, no one dies or anything else like that happens when you are out of the office. So, you know, think having that belief that your team won't cope again is, you know, is one of the things that we hear. But again, it's not a holiday problem. It's not you've been there a problem, it's a leadership problems. So something might important might come in and I'm the only one who can deal with it.

Again, what is your escalation process? What is the SOPs, when things go on, if you are with a client, you know, pitching to a new client, for example, and something goes wrong back in the office, they don't interrupt you when you are pitching for a new client. It's around those, the guys and girls in the office making sure that they can manage and they can operate, you know, the business and the clients and escalations when you are not around.

You know, we also hear, well, I'll just come back to chaos. It's absolutely mad. It's going to hurt the business. The time off is going to hurt the business. Well these are fears that we know that every single MSP owner has. And the ultimate problem here or realisation is that these are symptoms of a business that still do depend, still too dependent on the owner.

So when we talk about, you know, you being the bottleneck and all of that kind of stuff, this is real. This is how it shows up in your life. You know, there's always a symptom. Then there's a problem that's causing the symptom. You know, your team will never, ever get the opportunity to grow for you to step out of your leadership role in terms of operating the business and rather than leading the business, if you are always getting involved, if you are always the person making the decisions. And as we say, and we have lots of conversations like this in the don't know, if you are the one doing all the thinking.

And what I mean by that is thinking about how to do things better. Thinking about how you are going to innovate, how you are going to bring in new product services and solutions and maybe even like some of the AI opportunities that you've got right now. You need to have time to think about how and where and what you are going to do with the business and where you are driving it forwards. Because otherwise burnout is going to become your new normal and burnout's not healthy. Okay? Not sleeping properly, not eating properly, not resting properly, not having good mental health will only lead to one thing. And that will be later on in your life, you are going to get ill. And I heard some horrific stats about how many people have long-term illnesses when they get ill, because they don't look after themselves, obviously when they're younger. Now I know that's a bit obvious. I know that's, you know, absolutely an obvious statement, but burnout and stress cause lots of other problems in the body as well. And those are the things that we need to be aware of. You know, growth slows actually down because every decision's got to come from you. Are we going to do this, you know, webinar, are we going to do this event or whatever? And while you are thinking, and while you are being busy and while other things are kind of going on, what's happening is all of a sudden you are not, you are getting in the way of everything, that should be flowing, should be flowing as it moves forwards.

This is the key one, okay? While you are stuck in this holiday mode or in this period, I can't be away from the business. Your business becomes harder to scale because unless you get out of your own way, unless you drop the vine and everything, at every other phrase you want to make into it, you don't get out you, you don't get out the way your business is going to be less valuable. Now, whether you like it or not, we say this quite a bit. You're going to sell your MSP at some point, and it might be a bit of a rush, or it might be quite a good bit of structured planning, and you might get a good multiplier and you might not. But while you are still involved in it, while you are not ONN own or not needed, your business is going to become less valuable.

So in actual fact, what I'm saying is if you go on holiday more, your business could be worth more. Think about that one for a moment. Try and sell that to your husband or your wife, so it's not a holiday problem, okay? This is absolutely out and out a leadership problem. So the one thing that Stuart and I have worked really hard on over the last, probably about the last two years, to be honest with you is building the don't know so that when one of us goes away, the other one doesn't have to step in and do all of the coaching, okay.

Now, I know the team don't necessarily relish it when I go away, because when I go away, as I said, I do a lot of strategic thinking and I come back and it's always a brilliant holiday, right? We want to do this, we need to do that, let's do this, let's do this for the clients, let's do this for the lead gen marketing, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. So they don't necessarily like that bill. But when we go away and we are now going away, you know, not together, but together in terms of at the same time the team steps up, the coaches step up, the teams in the Philippines step up, and they all know that we're not around. So there's certain things that they need to get done before we go away. And there's certain things we need to prioritise for when we get back. Everybody knows their role, they know the boundaries that they should be in. They know what good looks like, they know what great looks like, and they also know what, you know, not great looks like. They know the standards of the business, how we should be coaching the SOP for running a call, the SOP for what happens when a client has a bit of trouble or they need a little bit of extra support, you know, and they make decisions around those boundaries, and more importantly, they support each other. And if you're sitting there on your sunbed, you know, we could be sitting there watching a chat and a conversation going on, but I don't need to. But it's great to see everybody interacting and things moving forwards while we are not around. And that is exactly what we've been building. And every opportunity, every holiday we have gives the team another opportunity to grow.

STUART INTERRUPT: Hey, Stuart here. Got a quick message for everyone that's listening. If you've decided that you want to grow your MSP, but you're not sure what support you need, then you must check out our Ultimate MSP Growth Guide. It's designed to help you compare all of the support that's out there in the channel for you and help you shortcut your decision-making so you get the right support to help you get the right results to grow your MSP.

But alternatively, if you'd like to come and see us in action, then why not come to one of our events? Simply click on the link in the show notes and we'll see you very soon. Now back to the show.

IAN: Cheers, Stuart.

Now, here's five things I want you to check out either before you go on holiday, while you're on holiday, or when you get back from holiday to make sure that we kind of got you nice and covered on this area. So number one is step away from the business to take stock. Kind of a little bit of what I was saying.

You know, you're sitting on your sunbed and you're having a little critical think about what's going on. And you know, if we go all the way back to you know, to three pillars, not necessarily the pillars in the MSP scale system, but the three things about building a great business is, number one, is understanding your data and knowing your numbers. Number two is around having the ability to build an amazing team. And number three, it's around making sure that you've got a sales and a lead generation for new fresh business. So rate, rate yourself against one of those and see where you're at. See how you would score yourself out of 10. And if it's a four or five, what do you need to do to get it to a six or a seven in the next month or the next couple of months, or whatever it might be. So step away and take some time to take stock. Get out of the day to day, because when you're in the day to day, it's moving so quickly. You are just reacting going from one thing to the next. So take that time to step away.

Number two is to reflect on where you're at. So are you actually happy with the performance of the business? Remember what I said? Knowing your numbers, your team, and you know, in your lead generation and in your new business coming in. If you're not happy, what do you think would make you happy? What are the things that are causing that unhappiness? What it might be a person, it might be a process, it might be a client, it might be something. But oh, we want to get you up to that 30,000 foot thinking so that you are really looking at things like looking down, as Julie says, our leadership coach, incredible - what would you be looking at if you are watching yourself on tv? How impressed would you be about the show that you are watching? So have a reflect on where you think you may be.

Next up. Number three is like reset your thinking. You know, you become the average of the five people that you hang around. And the reason why that statement so important is because while you are hanging around, you know, if you're hanging around inspiring, successful, you know, entrepreneurial business owners, then they're going to stretch your thinking. If you are hanging around people who are not necessarily stressing your thinking and you're always doing what you've always done, you know, you are always going to get what you've always got. And that's when your thinking needs to have a bit of a reset. So have a think about that. Read some books. Go And, you know, reading a book is an amazing way to gather information from someone who's learned and they, you know, you might only pick one or two things out, but that doesn't matter because you might read the same book next year and you might pick up some different pieces of information that's going to help you.

Number four is around reconnecting yourself with your vision. You know, we talk about it all the time, the vision, the mission, the values. You know, what are your values? What values do you want in your business? For your clients and for your team? What's your vision? Where do you want to go? What does success look like? You know, when you sell your MSP, what do you want to do after, you know, while you're in your MSP? What do you want to do when you're getting to own and not needed? How much money do you want to earn? How much do you need in your pension pot? How much you need to send to schools, you know, cars, holidays, all those types of things. What is it that you need to help you live that life that you deserve? Right? And then, you know, ask yourself the question, you know, where are we going? Where is the business going? What does that vision look like? You know, what's working really well right now? What are we really pleased that we've changed? We've improved? What needs to change? What are we not willing to tolerate any more? What are the things that we just, I'm not just putting, I'm not putting up with this anymore. I'm not putting up with that team member, or the process, or the way that we're doing business, or the fact that the business isn't growing. What is it that needs to change? Do you need some help? Do you need a coach? Do you need a mentor? Do you need the community? The community, the MSP community is unbelievably supportive. Go and lean into the community. If you don't know where to start, DM me on LinkedIn or drop me an email and we'll be able to help you connect with whoever it is you need for your next stage.

Give your team permission to step up, you know, set their boundaries, set their roles, set their responsibilities, and make sure you have that expecta expectation exchange. And make sure you're really, really clear on what good looks like and what poor looks like and what amazing looks like, so that they know when they do something, where it fits into the larger, business. Where it fits into your vision, where it fits into the mission, and the whole purpose of why the business is there. It makes people, it gives them empowerment, right? They make those decisions within the clear boundaries. So so powerful thing to do because ultimately you've got to trust the people that you've invested in.

So there's another question. Do you trust every member of your team? Not to 10?. How much trust do you have in your people? Write that down. Sitting on a sunbed might be sitting on a plane. Write that one down not to 10. Why don't you trust them as much as you should do? What do you need to do to trust them? Should you trust them more? Should you give them a bit more of your trust and then come back from holiday with some fresh ideas, you know, the renewed energy. And then you're going to have a clear plan.

But make sure it's structured and make sure you've had a little think about it. So jot it all down, go and relax a little bit longer and then reflect on it and go, is this what we really need to do? Is this where we need to go and come back? And people can see that you're energised, you are excited about what's going on.

Because what great leaders do understand is that they don't prove their value by being indispensable. You know, no one's turned around and said, oh, I'd love to be like you in because you work so hard and you work 90 hours a week and you, and when you're busy, you look like you're having so much fun. And when you're overwhelmed, you're having so much fun. It doesn't work like that. You know, they prove their value by making everybody else better. Having that team around you who's all working. They're rowing in the right direction, they're rowing in the same direction, and they're all enjoying what they're doing, whether they're going to the summer barbecues and the parties, and they're getting out in a bit of time, you know, with the team, whatever it is you're decided to do.

And then what happens that every time you do step away, your team either grows or it exposes the areas in your business where more work is needed. And that's fine because that, you know, what got you here is not going to get you there. That is going to be that business, and that's going to help how it works. So either outcome is absolutely massively valuable.

So once you kind of get yourself around, get your head around this, and you kind of understand that the concepts of what I'm talking about here, you know, you're going to come back from holiday with more clarity, you're going to come back, refreshed.. So your body is going to enjoy that relaxation. It's going to recharge. It takes days to recharge your body when you're really, really drained. So you're going to come back with better energy. When you've come back with better energy, guess what happens to your decision making? It becomes clearer. You know, making sure that you are drinking enough water and all those sorts of kind of things, you're going to have clear decisions, you're going to make better decisions, the team's going to be stronger, the accountability is going to be connected, and it's going to be a greater accountability, and you're going to have a lot more confidence throughout the business.

And it starts with you, you know, as the leader. It's more confidence, scaling with confidence. The tagline for the MSP Don't know, as it always was, and it always will be, scaling with confidence, building your confidence, it's going to be less dependent on you, and the business is going to be worth more money because you are not involved in it. And that's a massive part.

That's a massive multiplier. Most MSP owners are pretty deluded when it comes to the fact of, yeah, I could sell my MSP and yeah, move on. But most people will look at the business, go, well, you are needed. You are needed for it to operate, let alone grow. So you are like miles away from where you needed to be.

And the whole thing just builds one step forwards to becoming an ONN own or not needed business. So whether you are heading off this summer, whether you are on holiday, whether you've been on holiday, ask yourself the question, if I disappeared for two weeks, what would happen to the business? And that's no contact, right? That's no email, no mobile phones, no nothing. And whatever your honest answer is, then that is your next leadership project.

Because your holiday has been, and it will be, and it always will be a leadership audit. It reveals whether you've built a business that depends on you or a team that can thrive without you. And that's how you build a business that works for you and not you for it. So I hope today's episode has given you a bit of a jab in the ribs and something to think about. So please don't ignore it. You know, use this summer coming up as an opportunity to reset. Give your team that chance to grow. Give yourself a space to think and come back with that fresh perspective, renewed energy, and a stronger business. And if you need some help, go into the community and get yourself the right help for where you are today.

I hope you've thoroughly enjoyed this show as much as we've enjoyed putting it together. Have a fantastic summer, and I look forward to catching up with you on the next episode. You take care. Have a pina colada on me. See you soon.

NEXT WEEK TEASER: And if you are one of those MSPs who gets stuck, procrastinating, overthinking, getting caught up in shiny ball syndrome, then you do not want to miss next week's episode of the IT Experts podcast in any way, shape or form, for the second time around, we get Neil Shaw, who's an experienced SP channel expert ex MSP owner, and basically a bundle of fun. And he's going to help us to share with you everything that he did to stop getting him out the weeds, help him to move his business forward, build momentum, leverage, and great success. Don't miss next week's show. Everybody needs to listen to it.

OUTRO: Hang on a minute, just before you go. And if you're curious about how this episode links with the ability to scale your MSP to a million or, or if you're already there, accelerate to five, then we want to invite you to come and take the MSP Mastery quiz. And in just three minutes, you're going to get a 360 degree scan of your business where you can identify the one or two tactics that can help you find more time, engage and align your people, and help generate more leads in your MSP. It's really simple. Just click on the link in the show notes. And if you have enjoyed this episode, we'd love to get some feedback from you by means of a rating review on Spotify or iTunes or your podcast platform of choice. We really appreciate every single one of them. Now you can go and enjoy the rest of your day, and we look forward to catching up and connecting with you soon. All the best now.