1923 – Cultivating a Thriving Workplace with Zach Montroy

Josh (00:00:05) - Hey there, thoughtful listener. Are you looking for introductions to partners, investors, influencers and clients? Well, I've had private conversations with over 2000 leaders asking them where their best business comes from. I've got a free video you can watch with no opt in required, where I'll share the exact steps necessary to be 100% inbound in your industry over the next 6 to 8 months, with no spam, no ads, and no sales. What I teach has worked for me for over 15 years, and has helped me create eight figures in revenue for my own companies. Just head to up my influence. Com and watch my free class on how to create endless high ticket sales appointments. Also, don't forget the thoughtful entrepreneur is always looking for great guests. Go to up my influence. Com and click on podcast. I'd love to have you. With us right now. Zach Montroy. Zach, you are a people, team and organizational strategist, and you are the founder and CEO of the Intention Collective. Your website is Intention Collective CEO.

Josh (00:01:19) - Zach, thank you so much for joining us.

*Zach * (00:01:20) - Thanks so much for having me. Josh, I'm excited to talk to you today. Yeah.

Josh (00:01:24) - Well, it really excited to learn about what you do, who you serve and what that looks like and the the impact that you have in the world.

Speaker 3 (00:01:30) - Yeah.

*Zach * (00:01:31) - Thanks so much. We're we're excited to be here. We I started the Intention Collective a year and a half ago. And that really the idea was how do we help grow and scale healthy small businesses. So from helping to to figure out an align on, you know, destination and vision and helping owners figure out where they want to take their business. And, you know, really the whole process of aligning the team around that, running in 90 day sprints and making sure that we are creating, really a human centered workplace that's characterized by compassion and empathy and challenge and connection all at the same time.

Josh (00:02:08) - All right. So you this is what you do. What trends have you been seeing over the past couple of years in terms of workplace culture, organizational leadership trends, anything that you've been seeing.

Josh (00:02:22) - And what I'm really interested is kind of where we're headed.

*Zach * (00:02:26) - Are it's a good that's a really good and very deep question. I, you know, I think one of the trends that I think we continue to see is this growing level of transparency in the workplace, which, you know, can be a really good and it can be a really challenging and hard thing all at the same time. You know, I mean, I entered the workforce gosh, too many years ago, 20 plus years ago. And when I entered the workforce, it was, you know, sort of like, put your head down, do what you need to do, do anything that you need to to get ahead. You know, it's sort of like, at all cost, very command and control, leadership and I think what we've really seen is we're really sick of that. We really want, you know, I spend the majority of my time at work every day. I want to come to a place that is both investing in me, and I can invest my unique ability, my sort of unique genius, into the work that I that I do.

*Zach * (00:03:25) - And no matter the work, I want to understand the impact that I'm having, and I want to be treated like a fellow human along the way as well. And so I think, you know, the the trend that I continue to see is we we want to have meaning to our work. We want to be engaged in our work. I want to know the people that I work with. I want to see vulnerability and courage come out in the work that I'm doing. And I think, you know, as we, you know, continue to see, see trends progress. I also think we're really seeing a, a great deal of a need for integrity. it's really easy to be exposed now for things that are going on in the workplace that shouldn't have ever been going on, obviously. And now there can be a lot more accountability, I think, to that as well, which, is is a really good thing. And it means that we have to live out integrity in our daily work.

Josh (00:04:23) - Yeah. You know, on the topic of transparency, I think, you know, in the olden days, the olden days, you know, there really was this, you know, I am the leader, so therefore I'm infallible. Therefore, you know, it's kind of what I say. And, you know, again, a lot of this sentiment of I'm just going to, you know, for from an employee standpoint or team member standpoint or management standpoint, you know, I'm coming to trade an honest day's work for an honest day's pay. And, and today that's quite different. Like what what I think most people want is they want to know that what they do matters. And again, I'm heartened by a lot more of this, you know, trend toward transparency. And you know what I would just consider just authentic human to human relationships, regardless of position or station.

*Zach * (00:05:17) - Absolutely. And I mean, I completely agree with everything that you just said. I also think when it comes to transparency, I mean, we were kind of raised up and I'm just assuming we're around the same age.

*Zach * (00:05:29) - Josh but we were kind of raised up in the like, control the message. There is no control. I mean, I have a PR degree, like there is no controlling the message anymore. and I think when you talk about authenticity, the interesting thing about authenticity and closely related is vulnerability. Showing up and saying, you know, I, I'm, I'm here to get this right. I'm not here to be right. I can lean into, you know, emotional exposure and risk and uncertainty at the same time. The paradox. And we, you know, Brené Brown has done a fantastic job of. Really giving words to this. The paradox there is vulnerability tends to feel like the last thing I want you to see in me. But the first thing I want to see in you, like I meet you. I want to see your humanity. I want to see your authenticity. I want to see your transparency and vulnerability. But it feels like weakness to us. So it tends to be the last thing that we want to show.

*Zach * (00:06:25) - And what we found in a lot of research is the most transformational. Leaders are vulnerable with their work and vulnerable with their lives.

Josh (00:06:34) - Yeah. okay, so our friend that's listening right now, likely a lot of SMB founders, leaders, listen to this program. And, you know, if if you were to give them two things that they could start implementing, you know, within their organization or maybe on their next team meeting? yeah, actually, one of them, you know, let's think about, like, our next kind of all hands meeting that might be coming up or the next leadership meeting that may be coming up. I would love if you could maybe bring some, you know, suggest something that they could start thinking about prior to that. Or maybe it's an exercise or just something at their next meeting. Let's let's just break it up one at a time here. What is something that, that we could start doing in our meetings that might make us more effective as an organization?

*Zach * (00:07:20) - Yeah, I think the long along the lines of transparency, I think underneath that is clarity for people, you know, if if I'm going to have meaning in my work, if I'm going to show up in, you know, contribute at a high level, I need to know what's expected of me.

*Zach * (00:07:35) - And so I always go back to this quote, unclear and unclear, you know, lack of clarity or lack of expectations is simply premeditated resentment. And I think for many leaders, we have a lot of lack of clarity. We have a lot of lack of expectations. And so I think really digging into what's unclear, where where are we missing clarity right now? Where are we missing the connective tissue? Where are we, you know, missing, you know, helping people understand what's expected of them. Do you understand where we're going, where we're trying to take this thing? What's expected of us, what's most important right now? I think just going through that and really having an honest conversation about that can be a really powerful thing for teams, because then people really understand, like, this is a safe place to ask questions and to say, like, I don't know what's most important right now. It feels like 20 things are most important right now. I need your help in prioritizing those. So I think that that's a great place to start.

*Zach * (00:08:34) - because there is always there is always room to be more clear and to be more kind about direction. And, you know, asking that question, really digging in and having that conversation important to do it with curiosity and empathy. but for leaders, that's a great place to start, I think.

Josh (00:08:54) - Yeah. Well, what what would what could be the good consequences of this if we if we make this a regular practice, what might we start to notice within our, our teams?

*Zach * (00:09:06) - I think sometimes we notice that we're not as clear as we think we are. I mean, I've, you know, we've kind of heard the adage it takes seven times for people to actually understand and hear what you're saying. I also think that oftentimes we assume that people can read our minds and understand, you know, we've got ten things that are important, but what's most important? I think you can figure that out, but we're not leaving them space to dig in and be curious and talk about those things. And certainly what I'm not talking about here is micromanaging.

*Zach * (00:09:38) - What I'm talking about here is we create a safe space, safe space to actually have those conversations with one another and to get clarity and to understand what it's done look like. What's the cost of doing this? What's the consequence of doing it was the consequence of not doing it. How do we problem solve? together. And I think those can be really, really powerful conversations because again, I mean, I've never I've, I have worked with hundreds of organizations. I've never once heard a team say, you know what? My leaders are actually way too clear. Like they communicate too much. And there's way more clarity on our team than we we really need. I've never heard of that said. So I think it's something we can all grow in as a leader.

Josh (00:10:20) - Zach, let's talk about what you do, the Intention Collective. who do you work with? What does that look like?

*Zach * (00:10:27) - We, we work with, small, medium sized businesses. we go in and help, owners, senior leaders, leadership teams really chart out.

*Zach * (00:10:39) - What's the vision? Where are we taking this company and how are we going to get there? We really help them reverse engineer a plan to get there. And then we help them run in 90 day sprints to actually hitting the mile markers along the way to accomplishing that vision. and then along the way, you know, we have a lot of sort of supplemental services, like we help leaders lead better. We do a lot of leadership coaching. We do a lot of team development. because the ultimate goal here is that we are empowering every person on the team to understand with great clarity, their unique ability and genius, and how that lines up to the vision and mission of the organization. So organizations that want to grow and scale, we're helping leadership teams activate themselves as leaders, their next tier of leaders, their, employees, to really accomplishing that vision together so that we are sort of moving in the right direction, sort of no matter the obstacle that comes in front of us, but focused on where we're at and where we want to be.

Josh (00:11:41) - Yeah. And and so who like what types of organizations, what types of leaders. Like someone who's listening and say, well, I wonder if I would be a good fit, like if you could help me. and so who should be reaching out? Like, who might want to be really paying attention to the work that you're doing? And by the way, we're going to get into you have some really great resources. your website intention collective.co, but let's talk about the who.

*Zach * (00:12:06) - Yeah, absolutely. The who oftentimes it's owners, you know, senior leaders coming to us and saying we're, we're, we're growing or we've sort of hit this plateau. But the complexity of this organization is more than I can manage. I feel like everything is on my back. The weight of the the business is on my back as the owner or as the leader of this organization. And I just don't feel like I this is sustainable for me anymore. I want to grow, I want to scale. I can't really figure out how to do that in a healthy way.

*Zach * (00:12:39) - or we've got leaders on our team, but we're we're just none of us are really moving in the same direction together. we don't have clarity on purpose. We don't have clarity on vision. We really need help charting that out. But more so how do we integrate all of this together so that we are a solid, you know, sort of the Jim Collins flywheel? We're a solid organization that's really moving. And we have momentum in growth in this in the right direction. and so, you know, in, in in addition to that, we're helping them with, you know, how we're showing up and leading on a daily basis and developing next tier of leaders to really step into, you know, leadership and management at some point in the future. And then cohesively, how are we working together as a team? Do we have trust to have healthy conflict or are we committed to the right things?

Josh (00:13:32) - Yeah. Your, again, your website, Zach, is intention collective SEO. When somebody goes there, you know, you have a tab, and I'm wondering if you could share this a little bit.

Josh (00:13:43) - You have a tab that says Free Guides, and it looks like there's some cool stuff here. God, for example, a template for a killer strategy and org health checkup. some good stuff, a hiring guide. tell me more.

*Zach * (00:13:56) - We will. We? Generosity is one of our core values. We like to give a lot of stuff away. And, you know, sometimes they're like, we're good. We, you know, we're we just need some extra tools and we're great given tools away. the org health checkup is really a great place to start because then we you can sort of self-assess. How are we doing in these critical areas that are foundational to growing and scaling a healthy company? And you can just honestly assess yourself and honestly assess your company on how are we doing? And, you know, the goal there, it's going to give you a percentage. our goal is to get your company to at least 90% in all six of those areas. There's a hiring guide. hiring is one of the most critical functions of growing any healthy, sustainable team because you've got to have the right people and the right seats doing the right things.

*Zach * (00:14:45) - To quote Jim Collins there. and then the our roadmap or that strategic document is one of the most important documents that we help companies with. And so we have just a DIY guide, you know, to to that, in some videos that even kind of walk you along to creating that for your company. And again, their the ultimate goal is that you and your team have great clarity on where you're at, where you're going, what you can be best in the world at, and what are the bets that you need to take to get there?

Josh (00:15:15) - Zach, someone, again to our friend that's listening right now. And, they're saying that sounds great. Listen, I'm going to go check that out. but maybe they'd be interested in having a conversation. what do you typically talk about on that first call or that discovery call or get to know you call? where does the conversation usually go?

*Zach * (00:15:35) - Yeah, we're it's really a learning call for us. We want to hear more about your story, your journey.

*Zach * (00:15:41) - We want to hear about your company and what your dream and vision for your company is and would have been, the roadblocks and obstacles that you have encountered along the way in getting there. And to really assess, is this a right fit? Is this, you know, something? Does this feel like a hell yes for you, in working together or is this a not now and in either answers okay, we offer a free 45 minute, we call it sort of a discovery coaching session, where we really are trying to get to know you and your business and really understand what your longer term vision is. And how could we help you get from where you're at to where you want to be?

Josh (00:16:21) - Yeah. Your website once again, intention collective SEO. Anything else that we should pass along or mention or promote?

*Zach * (00:16:29) - Yeah, we've got a in our resource library too. There's a bunch of sort of helpful articles and things like that. But if we can be of any help, please reach out. We love meeting other leaders and business owners and would love to just make that connection.

Josh (00:16:44) - Yeah. Excellent. All right. Again, thank you so much. Zac Monroy, founder CEO of Intention Collective. Your website, Intention Collective SEO. Thank you Zach.

*Zach * (00:16:54) - Thanks, Josh.

Josh (00:17:01) - Thanks for listening to the Thoughtful Entrepreneur Show. If you are a thoughtful business owner or professional who would like to be on this daily program, please visit up my influence. Com and click on podcast. We believe that every person has a message that can positively impact the world. We love our community. Who listens and shares our program every day. Together we are empowering one another as thoughtful leaders. And as I mentioned at the beginning of this program, if you're looking for introductions to partners, investors, influencers, and clients, I have had private conversations with over 2000 leaders asking them where their best business comes from. I've got a free video that you can watch right now with no opt in or email required, where I'm going to share the exact steps necessary to be 100% inbound in your industry over the next 6 to 8 months, with no spam, no ads, and no sales.

Josh (00:17:59) - What I teach has worked for me for more than 15 years and has helped me create eight figures in revenue for my own companies. Just head to up my influencer.com and watch my free class on how to create endless high ticket sales appointments. Make sure to hit subscribe so that tomorrow morning. That's right, seven days a week you are going to be inspired and motivated to succeed. I promise to bring positivity and inspiration to you for around 15 minutes every single day. Thanks for listening and thank you for being a part of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur movement.