Announcer:
Welcome to the Global Investor Podcast, a show that focuses on helping foreign investors enter the lucrative US real estate market. Host Charles Carillo combines decades of real estate investing experience with a professional background in international banking to interview experts in all areas of US real estate investing. Now, here’s your host, Charles Carillo.
Charles:
Welcome to another episode of the Global Investors Podcast; I’m your host, Charles Carillo. Today, we have Jon Dwoskin. He is a business coach, author, and speaker specializing in helping business owners enhance, improve, increase, and evolve their businesses and themselves by leading owners away from their comfort zone and into major growth by recognizing factors limiting their business growth potential. Previously, he was a Vice-President of Investments with Marcus & Millichap, specializing in negotiating the sales of multi-family investment properties. After selling nearly 5,000 units valued at nearly $250 million, Jon was named the Regional Manager of the Detroit Marcus & Millichap office and successfully oversaw more than $4 billion in commercial investment transactions. So thank you so much for being on the show today, John.
John:
Thanks for having me. No, I, I appreciate it. Thanks so much.
Charles:
So it’s great to have you on here. I was on your show a couple months back. Yeah, we recorded it. And so it’s great to have you on here as a business coach. And before we get into it, can you please share your journey and how you became an expert in business coaching and leadership development?
John:
Yeah, well, I appreciate it and thanks for having me on the show. It was great having you on mine. You know, I always wanted to be a business coach. I mean, when I was 18, my dad gave me a set of tape sets by Brian Tracy called The Psychology of Success. And I knew at that moment I wanted to coach, be a business coach on, on, on multiple levels. And I’ve, and I’ve since started my, my coaching company almost nine years ago. I just launched a second coaching company, which is a platform for 18 to 26-year-old, it’s called Launch three. My business coach company, I work with solopreneurs to fortune companies and everything in between. And so I always did. So long story short, after I graduated college when I was 18, I started or not, I started college when I was 18.
John:
When I was 23, I started an internet company right outta college with my buddy and my brother. And we ultimately sold that. And then and it was through everything that I kind of learned on my own through these tapes of, of, of what I brought to the table from sales pers of sales perspective, from a business perspective, from a planning perspective. After we sold it, we were partners in that company. And then I got into commercial real estate. I was a broker for six years as you shared. And then I was the I was I ran the office in Detroit for six years. I took over August 4th of oh eight, the market crash in September. And then I grew that office to one of the most profitable in, in the firm of 70 plus offices. After about six years of that, I was getting rest as I wanted to.
John:
I wanted to start my coaching company, which I wanted to do. As I was getting ready to resign, I got the opportunity to go in-house and restructure a 50-year-old real estate company. I did that, and then I started my coaching company. And so to answer your question, I think my, my experience came from just being in the trenches and, and, and a and a lot of working. So I studied, I, like, I listen every day. I study every day. I do a seminar. I’m listening to something or reading something every day. But I was also then in an environment where I could put it all to life, right? So you read something and sometimes it’s easier to read than it is to actually implement, right? And so <laugh> through just kind of the day-to-day grind of doing all the things and hiring and growing and retaining and training and, and evolving and, you know, forecasting and reverse engineering and setting goals. And I just always had a passion for it. I always had a passion for it. And I paid attention and I cataloged, and I, you know, and I built, you know, I always built up to this moment, so I kind of knew I wanted to do it and built towards it.
Charles:
So when you’re working with business leaders today, I mean, what are some of the, I mean, what are the common challenges that business leaders face today, and how do you help them to overcome them?
John:
Yeah. The challenges today are you know, there’s many today. You know, we’re in a, we’re in markets that are moving. And so getting their people, their, their leadership, their managers and their salespeople you know, grounded and knowing what they need to do on a day-to-day basis has never been more important. And so from the top down, messaging is so important to message it to the managers, to message it to the salespeople. Accountability is so important and something that I think people are struggling with today because people have a shorter attention span. And so I’m a big fan of micro business plans, right? Having an annual plan, but really breaking it down to the week or to the month, whatever is more effective, but really kind of, of of being that mentor nurturer authority figure, but not authoritarian, right?
John:
Somebody who can, it’s really more, it’s so important today to really get to know your people, right? So know what intrinsically drives them, what extrinsically motivates them. So, and then, and then almost treating every single person within the company as kind of its own entity, because each person you wanna grow to tap them into their highest potential and then move them their kind of, you know, 0.01% on a consistent basis. So clear messaging, empowering, accountability, helping people find what their do now do next, is so they don’t get stuck. And understanding where people stuck is so you can help them get unstuck.
Charles:
Yeah, that’s great. And one thing you were mentioning there as you, you kind of talked about a little bit was touched on was the community aspect. And I mean, how in today’s businesses do you do companies of any size like foster community, especially with remote and hybrid working happening all the time?
John:
Yeah. Well, community I think starts a lot with the one-on-one connection that people have with their people. And so as a leader today, you know, if you’re, if you’re a leader, if you’re a manager of any type of people, it starts with the one-on-one connection, the, the, the, the real relationship where you’re driving that person to and holding them accountable, but you understand what personally drives them. And so it’s, it’s really, really important to have that one-on-one connection. That’s where the manage, that’s where the magic happens. So when you bring them together, you know, they’re, they’re all in alignment with, because you wanna make sure you only have great people and they’re all in alignment with your, your values and your mission and your purpose. And so you can get to know that to make sure you have the right people who are in alignment in the one-on-one.
John:
And so it starts with, it’s, it starts with the one-on-one connection. And then when you bring them together, have a purpose, have intense, you know, you, it takes a lot of time to prep for things when you get people together. And I find that sometimes leaders are not taking enough time to prep. So I look at every meeting, no matter what type of meeting it is, there’s kind of the meeting before, there’s three meetings in every meeting. There’s the meeting before the meeting, the meeting and the meeting after the meeting, and the meeting before the meeting. I think a lot of leadership and managers and people of power aren’t spending enough time planning what those meetings are. Have I, does everyone at the meeting know why they’re coming? Do we have a why behind the meeting? What is the agenda behind the meeting? What do people wanna get out of it?
John:
Am I preparing them for the meeting? Is there a theme for the meeting? So people come understanding what a meeting is of any type. As you bring community together, they understand the why, and then they walk away empower. So a way to do it when I’m coaching leaders is leaders have a really good understanding, even if you have to talk to a couple people to find out what do you wanna walk away with from X, y, and Z meeting, you know, so when I do, for example, a keynote of any type companies hire me to, you know, fly around the country and, and do trainings and keynotes, but I always say to them like, okay, you, this is what you want me to talk about, but I want to talk to five or 10 people who are gonna be in the room. ’cause I wanna know what do they wanna walk away with once I know that I can curate and customize it. So it resonates with them at a, at a, at a deeper level. And so community really takes understanding, preparation, and planning.
Charles:
Oh, that’s, that’s a lot of great information. And you know, with, in today’s business like landscape with, we’re constantly evolving. And I mean, how do you stay updated on industry trends? And I mean, what advice do you give to busy business leaders to adapt to change in their business?
John:
There’s a great TED Talk by Jeff Hoffman the founder and CEO of Priceline. It’s called The Power of Wonder. And one of the things he talks about is every day he does 15 minutes of 15 minutes of info spongy research on everything that doesn’t have to do with his industry to kind of pay attention to how it will potentially affect his market, his industry, his customers, et cetera. The, the, the number one thing to do is stay educated and stay on top of, of what’s going on in the world. And not just from a, from a market standpoint or an economy standpoint, but really the nuances and trends and understanding what is the ripple effect. If that ripple effect comes back to this business, how does it, and how will it affect my business When I’m forecasting with a company, we’re always looking at, okay, here we’re gonna forecast out 12 months, 24 months, 36 months, but what are the headwinds that are going to be taking place in the future that we need to be aware of so we can reverse engineer changes that we need to pay attention to earlier than getting stuck in a reactive space.
John:
And so if you’re, if you’re spending time like Jeff Hoffman talks about studying not only your industry, but other industries, listening to podcasts, reading articles, periodicals, and listening to your customers and listening to what people are saying and the questions why people are buying, why people are not buying, why people are not stop, why people stop buying, pause buying, think twice about buying, you know, it doesn’t matter what your product or service is, why they will wait longer or shorter, and really paying attention and saying, okay, this is different. This pause is different of why this cl type of client is doing X. What is the whisper sign there that we need to dive into and, and extract and reverse engineer that takes research time, but it also takes quiet and reflection and still time, and it takes time, in my opinion, for companies to sit and carve out time to just brainstorm and, and think about, you know, the business and have brainstorming sessions where they’re just taking something and picking it apart to find the next nuance piece to keep them one step ahead.
Charles:
Yeah, and that’s a lot of great information. Dee I love Jeff Hoffman. He has like such a, if you listen to anything he’s done, I mean, he just has a ton of great points. I mean, obviously built a, you know, price line, but I remember he was saying something about how they came up with or how it was discovered, the, like the takeout window, right? The drive-through, and it was taken from banks, you know what I mean? Yeah. So that was someone that was dealing with something that was outside of their industry Yeah. And then converted it to their industry. And now it’s just a normal, if you have a fast food place, people don’t want to get, you know what I mean? It’s, you need to have it. So, right. It’s kind of funny how that changes and how you can adapt that over your, over your experience. I mean, what are some of the most important qualities I’ve, you’ve seen in entrepreneurs and business leaders? You know, what do they possess these successful leaders?
John:
Well, they have drive they have patience. They have stillness infused, they have routines, you know, to kind of bookend their, their time. They take time for reflection and understand that time to pause and slow down actually speeds them up. They’re really good active listeners and reflective listeners, and they’re, they’re asking sometimes even simple questions to connect with people and get to know people to uncover things. They’re, they can hear and see things that people don’t see or hear and, and, and can be very innovative and surround themselves with people who compliment them and typically are smarter than them. Right? And so it’s getting the right team and knowing what your unique ability is. I think an entrepreneur and a leader today, you gotta really be in sync with what you, what your unique ability is, and surround yourself with people who compliment and raise that up. So there isn’t competition amongst leaders. Everybody’s just kind of doing their unique thing and everybody else is supporting them. And because they, everybody kind of fills in, fills in everything, so everybody rises.
Charles:
Yeah. It’s like also in business partnerships, you don’t wanna have two people with the same set of skills. It’s just Correct. It’s just not gonna work. You know what I mean? Correct.
Charles:
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Charles:
So you’ve, I imagine you were coached when you were in your previous career with everything that you’ve done. I mean, what should people look for in a business coach if they want to take you know, their business to the next level?
John:
Yeah. When I was in commercial real estate, it was interesting because I had a business coach, and at the time, the person that I reported to thought it was so ridiculous that I even had a business coach, you know, ’cause their philosophy was, Hey, everything you can learn we’re teaching you. And my philosophy was, well, you’re only teaching me your perspective, right? And so there needs to be more perspective. And so when I was in commercial real estate, I actually had two business coaches. I had a business coach, and I had a communications coach. Because what I recognized, especially as I went from being a broker into leadership, I needed to not only be focused on my business and my own personal goals but because for me, when I was, when I moved into management, I knew I wasn’t gonna be there my whole life, right?
John:
I had other dreams of things that I wanted to do. And so I was always working on the business and doing everything I could to put my 150% into that, but also keeping my own dreams alive at the same time. But I was also in a very corporate, I went from being a broker to a very, you know, corporate environment. And so I needed to learn how to communicate, communicate differently with the agents I was leading, communicate with leadership within the company. So I had two different business coaches that I was going to on a regular basis. And what I looked for were people that understood who I was, how I needed to grow, and could see things in me that I couldn’t see yet, right? They could bring out more potential in me that would challenge me and ask me questions that would get me thinking differently.
John:
And, and so that to me was, was really, really important. And do it in a way that I, it could be, it could be heard. And that had my best interest in mind. That was, that was really important to me. And you know, one of my coaches I was with for 14 years, he unfortunately passed away. The other coach I had got outta coaching. So, but, but it was an amazing experience. And I sense of, you know, have, and have coach, have and have coaches now that same thing. It’s, can you challenge me? Can you push me to the next level? Can you give me actionable guidance that I can hear, digest, and implement and execute?
Charles:
So how have you and your students progressed by leaving your comfort zones during your careers?
John:
As far as me or when you say students, how do you mean?
Charles:
Students that you’ve coached or yourself, I mean, maybe some examples of like how you’ve, you’ve gone to the next level and what you’re trying to do by getting outta your comfort zone.
John:
Yeah. You know, I feel like lately I’m always outta my comfort zone and <laugh>. And, you know, the day I get comfortable, it’s like the next day all of a sudden I’m kind of like moving myself forward. But I think it’s, I, I guess the best way I can answer that question is it’s my intention to always grow, right? So, so some days or some hours, and, and I think it’s for everybody, maybe you can’t always quantify it, but if the intention is there to wanna grow, then you’re always seeking and open for more advice. You surrender to it. And so the, the clients for myself and the clients that I work with, one of the things I tell them when we start is, you need to surrender to the process. You need to surrender to the process you need to commit.
John:
Your intent has to be that you wanna grow. ’cause I can do great things. I can help somebody do tremendous things and grow their business, but not if they’re closed and don’t surrender to the process and aren’t open to it. And so the myself, the clients that I work with are, which are solopreneurs to fortune companies, executives, managers, salespeople, et cetera. The more open they are, the more aware they are, the more they know they wanna grow, the more I can help them and the more they can help themselves. So it really, if you, if you rewind it, it starts with the intent to want to grow, to tap deeper into your highest potential. And that doesn’t happen overnight. It doesn’t go viral. It’s a small compounding thing that happens one little thing at a time. You know? So for me, when I work with a client, it’s typically a one to three hour deep dive, and then 15 minutes a week or 30 minutes every other week because we’re dripping it, right? ’cause People can only receive so much at one time. They can only absorb and execute so much at one time. And so if they stay consistent, then they grow.
Charles:
That sounds like great information. So, I mean, you’ve been successful in what you’re doing now and previously what you did, you have a family. So there’s more than just business with you, and people always talk about what you do to become successful. I mean, what did you give up to become successful years back when you knew that you had this like calling from to do this with your life?
John:
You know, I think what I, I don’t know if I like the word giving up. I think there’s sacrifices and commitments that you, that you make if you want something badly enough. You know, when it came to my internet company, I was working a hundred hours a week for, you know, two years. And then we sold our company, and I think I was working 80 hours a week when I got into commercial real estate. My son was recently, you know, was born early in that career, and there were, you know, times that I missed him, you know, being put down at night. But you know, to go to bed. But I, I can’t say I would’ve done it any differently, you know? I mean, I’m, my family always comes first, always. But I knew I needed to, you know, learn things and I needed to commit.
John:
And for me, I think the real answer for me in that is I’ve always followed the following quote, success without fulfillment equals failure. So I’ve always looked for fulfillment, and if I’m fulfilled, I don’t feel like I’m giving anything up. I feel like I may be making some sacrifices, but in those sacrifices I can balance things out, right? And so I can balance out my family time, you know, what, in different pockets. It may not look nine to five in this and the other, but I can balance it out. But if I’m fulfilled, then my wife and my children are seeing a piece of me that’s fulfilled and happy and, and that has a big, that has a, a real positive effect on them. And so for me, I think, you know, I think sacrifice is when you’re doing something that you’re not fulfilled.
John:
I left commercial real estate, I was doing really, really well. I left because I just wasn’t fulfilled with it anymore. It wasn’t a negative against anything or anyone. It just, it wasn’t fulfilling for me anymore. I wanted to start my coaching company that was fulfilling. And so the only thing I did was maybe didn’t move as fast as I would’ve liked in the moment, but I had to go through the process of walking through what I did to make the ultimate decisions to, to do it. But that, my advice is, you know, find fulfillment and if you’re not in fulfillment, find it. Set a plan, be patient, and work towards it.
Charles:
That’s a lot of great information there, John <laugh>. So on that kind of same trajectory there of people wanting professional and personal growth and trying to like reach that, what kind of like strategies or tips can you provide to individuals that are, are they’re looking to achieve that? Other than what you just described? Is there anything additionally that people might be able to use and implement into their life? To, to get on that track? Yeah.
John:
Get into a, a, a routine. Have a great morning routine for yourself and have a great end of day or wind down routine, right? Have have a routine where there’s stillness and reflection. It’s some part of your day, even if it’s for a minute. Even if your morning routine starts at five minutes every morning and three minutes at the end of every night, get into a routine where you can control more of your day and your thoughts and slow down and spend time journaling of what you really want in your life, what you really, really want. And then create a micro plan to get it of just what you need to do this week or this day to move one millimeter closer to it. And maybe it’s three years from now, but once you get on a path to fulfillment and, and you bring something alive and you create it to be something physical, then things will happen. Maybe not in the timeframe you want, but, but it will happen when it’s supposed to happen. If you keep it alive, great things can come. The universe will work in alignment with you, but you gotta, you gotta do the work.
Charles:
Yeah. Yeah. No, that’s great. The, it’s, it’s one of those things where you people get overwhelmed and then I love when I get something down to just a daily and a weekly goals, and then you’re not overwhelmed. You know exactly what you need to do to get, keep that ball moving and, and start that snowball effect.
John:
Great. Yeah, exactly.
Charles:
How can our listeners learn more about you, your coaching, your business, John?
John:
They can check out john dwoskin.com. J-O-N-D-W-O-S-K-I-N. They can call me on my cell, (248) 535-7796. Or they can email me at john@johndawkin.com. And my website is john dawkin.com.
Charles:
Fantastic. John, I will put that link and all that information to our show notes. Thank you so much for coming on today and looking forward to connecting with you here in the near future.
John:
Thanks, man, appreciate you having me on, and I appreciate your listeners. Thanks so much.
Charles:
Thank you, John. Bye-Bye.
Charles:
Hi guys! It’s Charles from the Global Investors Podcast. I hope you enjoyed the show. If you’re interested in get involved with real estate, but you don’t know where to begin, set up a free 30 minute strategy call with me at schedulecharles.com. That’s schedulecharles.com. Thank you.
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