Podcast Episode 111 Transcript: The Way You See Your Employees Is Why They Act That Way

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What if better leadership starts with valuing people differently? Discover how psychological safety drives team performance.

Introduction to the Self-Reliant Team Podcast

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to this episode of the Self-Reliant Team podcast. My name is Shane Jacob, your host, and I thank you for taking your time to be here with me today.

You know, I'm coming to you from the depths of hell and back, from being locked up in a cage, wearing a yellow, excuse me, wearing an orange jumpsuit. Yeah, me and orange jumpsuit just didn't really fit my complexion, you know, not, not my style.

From wearing a, being locked up in a cage wearing an orange jumpsuit, to 20 years of alcoholism, to way too many marriages to remember how much they cost and all the heartache they were for everyone involved. And those were the good times I'm describing so far.

To 30 years of creating trust relationships with horses and 30 years of managing my own company where I've convinced human beings that delivering hay in the sweltering heat of Las Vegas and the cold and windy winters would be a good thing for them to do. I've managed to keep this horse feed company going for 30 plus years and going pretty strong, really.

I'm coming to you today talking about people problems, how we relate to each other and how to do it better so that, if you're a leader and a manager, you can be better at it. And why? So that you and the people that you lead, both, will improve your quality of life.

So here's the thing. We get put into these leadership positions. We either own the company or we move up to a manager and a leader, and then all of a sudden we realize people won't do what they want, what we need them to do. They just won't do it, okay?

Why People Problems Aren’t Really People Problems

We think that they're not working hard enough. We think that it's the new generation. They think that they don't care. They wouldn't do it like I would do it. We get so frustrated just because we can't get them to do what we want them to do.

But the people really aren't the problem. They may be problematic, and that is true. But we can't control other people, and we know that. We can enforce consequences. We can create and enforce consequences with horses and children and employees. That's about as much control as we're going to have because all three of the above listed have their own free will.

So we enforce more consequences. We increase the penalties for not doing what we want them to do. And sometimes we get a little bit better results, but we don't really knock it out of the park. Things still aren't going our way and we're still frustrated.

If everybody doesn't behave the way you want them to on your team, that's what's called normal. Because human beings, including you and I, are very complex. We're complex creatures, and there's a lot going inside up here.

And the more that we know about ourselves and the more that we know about other people, the better off that we're going to be able to lead those people and march forward to create what we're there for, which again is to increase the quality of life for yourself and those people that you lead.

Leadership Positions and the Subconscious Status Trap

So today we're going to talk about, you know, what happens when you get put, when you put yourself into where you accept a job into a leadership position because something happens naturally and normally in our brains that we've been conditioned. It's the kind of a normal part of going and being.

That what happens is your brain gives you a little message that says, I'm better than those people down there, down below me, okay?

Well, I'm not being critical here. I'm just saying normally because of the status, because of the title, because of the pay increase, because we're the boss, we're in charge, and it's our responsibility. There's a little subconscious message, and this is just happening in the background.

In the background, I don't mean it's a conscious thought and we actually think it on purpose. I'm just saying, in a generally speaking way, most of our subconscious is giving a little message to us that's saying, we're a little bit better than the rest, okay?

It's good to feel good about yourself. And I believe that you should, and I'm glad you're a manager and leader and owner. But what we have to override is the idea that is planted for us without our permission by our brains and our head that says just because of that, we're better than other people, okay?

We think, you know, maybe we have more experience so that we think that we can do it better. Maybe we think we're smarter. Maybe we think that we're more capable. Maybe we think that we try harder and we have more this and that and the other.

Those could be actual behavior judgments, and those are legitimate. But when we think, when we're making value judgments, in other words, because I'm in this position, I'm somehow better than you, and we have to recognize that and have the awareness of it.

Hey, is any of that going on? Chances are, if you're honest with yourself, you'll find there's a little bit of that going on. That's called a value judgment.

How Value Judgments Impact Trust

It's not something that we say out loud. Most of the time we don't realize it, but here's the thing. People feel it. I guarantee you they're feeling it.

They're picking up what you're putting down, my man, my ladies. They know what's going on inside our heads. They may be picking up what we don't even know we're putting down.

Now we may just go out there and say, we might go to our team, to our crew, to our people down quote unquote below us and we might go say, okay, I need you to do this and I need you to do it this way. Here's the system, report back to me, adios. And the way that we present that, they're gonna pick up something that we didn't even intend to put down.

Now that was an example and I'm being kind of silly in the way that I'm presenting that. But what my point is, is that people feel it, okay? They feel it from your words and the way that we present. They hear it in our tone, they see it in how we act.

People always know. You and I and every other person who are out there, our back brain is always scanning for how do we fit in? How do we measure up? What do they think about us? What does this mean about me?

We're constantly in our back brain, not conscious thoughts usually, constantly evaluating what's happening here. Because it's work, and usually that's what they call, some people call your rice bowl, okay, which means this is my survival, man. This is my money, okay? This is important.

My manager, what my manager thinks of me is a big deal. So I'm like keyed in like a horse, like evaluating everything. I'm not even usually conscious of what's happening.

I just know that when I hear something, it means something to me, and so I'm guessing, I'm making evaluations, I'm making assumptions, and I'm living on all this stuff that I have just input coming in from my brain on thoughts about what's happening around me.

My point is, is that our people that we're leading are keyed in on everything that we're doing. So we need to be intentional, not just letting stuff happen in the background that we don't approve of. People know how we see them and what we really truly believe.

Psychological Safety in the Workplace

The moment that we have these ideas that we might be better because we're the leader, or in any way, if people pick that up, what happens is that the trust starts to go down.

We don't have what's called psychological safety. It's a big deal. You know, it's a big word, but here's what it means. It means that people feel safe from exactly what I'm talking about, from value judgment.

When people feel psychologically safe, that means that they don't, that they feel safe, they trust that the people in the group, including you, manager, are not gonna judge their value, you're only gonna judge their worth.

They think, they believe that they'll be safe from value judgment. They think that this is a safe place. It's gonna be okay to make a mistake, it's gonna be okay to speak up, it's gonna be okay to do great, because inside this group, I trust that people don't think I'm better than, that they're better than me and they're not gonna judge me based on anything. They're just gonna accept me for who I am.

And like I say, that's where my whole premise, my whole idea that I came up with before I even knew psychological safety was a thing, was judge the work, protect the person, always protect the person.

When we protect the person, who they are, and we only judge the work, then we create a place where people can feel psychologically safe.

Why Psychological Safety Matters in Leadership

And this is important. You know why it's important, my friends? Psychological safety, as discussed in this podcast, is so important because it has been proven by scientific research to increase productivity.

People are happier. People engage more. They stay longer. You have less turnover. Their productivity goes up like 20%. And they're more, they engage more, okay? They engage more mean they bring new ideas, bring new recommendations.

They, let me just tell you, if this is a practice that you practice, if this is something that you endeavor to work on, okay, is judge the work, protect the person, the people that are involved in the worth work system, my system, you can see it on people's faces.

People come out of their shells. I'm telling you, it's something that's real and it changes. The bottom line is why it's important is because then people are more cooperative.

Strong Relationships Create Better Teams

They're more honest, they're less defensive and so many things because the quality of the relationship is so much stronger.

Having a strong relationship is going to take a little bit of time, but it's definitely worth the effort.

So when people pick up the idea that we may think that we're better and this isn't, we don't go around thinking, I'm better than you. A lot of the time we don't. Some of us do, most of us don't.

A lot of us just have this idea that our brain fed us that just because we have this position that we're just a little bit better than everybody else. And this is, like I said, it's a subconscious thing, so don't freak out about it.

Just be aware of it and start thinking about your own thoughts and think your thoughts on purpose. And be sure that you're very clear on what you want to think about yourself and other people.

Because if they pick that up, even if you don't intend it, you're going to have less honesty, less responsibility, people are less ownership. People are going to start acting like they don't care. They shut down when you try to give them, they won't listen to it.

It's a disaster. And then you have more and more and more HR problems. You have less cooperation, productivity goes down.

I know all about it because I've done it. I've done, I've lived this thing. I've lived it for so long. I've been frustrated with people and tell me that you haven't been frustrated with people.

The Frustration of Leading People

Why won't they do what you need them to do? It's so simple, for hell's sakes. You might as well just went and done it yourself. Because by the time you had to go through it so many times and they never get it right, you could have went and done it yourself five times, okay? But as long as it took.

Not really, but that's an exaggeration.

But it can be very frustrating when you're responsible for the outcomes of other people, okay?

This is not, this is a big deal. You know, I take leadership and management of other people when you're responsible, in part or completely, for their survival, their money and their well-being emotionally.

Now, let me just be clear about that. We're all responsible for our own, you know, we're not really responsible for how somebody else feels. That's not what I'm suggesting.

But we're responsible for ourselves and to, to relate with other people and to interact with the world and the people that we lead in a way that allows, that creates an environment where people feel safe and gives them a chance to be as good as they can be.

And this is, to me, this is a big, important responsibility because you're messing, we have, we have a lot of stewardship over other people's lives, okay? That's what it comes down to.

So I take this stuff very serious.

Creating A Workplace People Want to Be Part Of

How, how can we get people to line up with us? What I mean line up with us, take a bullet for us. I mean, be on our side, sign up with us, you know?

People loyalty, loyalty to care, be dependable, to wanna be here.

How about to create an environment where people want to be?

And it's not just because it's so fun and you can make so much money for doing so little. That's not really what I'm talking about. As a matter of fact, that's not at all what I'm talking about.

What I'm talking about is you create with such respect for yourself and other people. And the way that you relate with other human beings is such that people desire to be, to come to be, have interaction with you.

They desire to be in your space and to be part of what you're doing because of how you go about doing it, okay?

This is what I'm talking about.

Lessons From Years of Leadership Experience

And if you underestimate that and you think, because let me just tell you, I thought for most of this 30 years that I've been operating companies, multiple companies, okay, not just my hay company, my auction company, The Horsemanship Journey, Stable Living Coaching who all have employees and including Jacob livestock, my hay company that I already mentioned and now shanejacobe.com, my speaking keynote company, excuse me, in dealing with the people that I have.

And before that, was a manager at a, I was a supervisor, an assembly line supervisor at a place that built treadmills.

And so I've had a couple of management roles and leadership roles through this time.

And most of the time, okay, I just thought it was all about, that it was mostly about just how do I get you to do what I need you to do?

Why Control and Pressure Doesn’t Work

And the way that I went about doing it was to push more, demand more, crank up the consequences, try to motivate in the moment, and none of it stuck for very long, you know, none of it.

Sometimes I could get people motivated for short periods of time, but a lot of times what was in me, my frustration was coming out so much. They just shut me off, tune me off. Didn't they just act like they didn't care?

I had terrible results is the bottom line, okay?

And it can be very frustrating because, you know, people say that, you know, it's like herding chickens or, know, trying to, trying to herd cats or something like that.

People, like I said in the beginning, are complex. There's a lot to us. There's a lot to you. And so therefore there's a lot to every one of the people that we lead.

More control and more pressure doesn't work. It just got worse and worse and worse as it went.

And really, then you start beginning to create the problem that you're trying to fix. And it's just this ugly cycle of lower production and low unmet expectations and unhappy people and more and more turnover.

And we still have turnover because, but you know, our turnover has significantly, and I mean, incredible reduction of our turnover.

Our turnover used to just be out of control and now it's really manageable because the relationship is different.

Emotional needs, Respect, and Team Loyalty

You know, I used to just think, well, if you pay them more, they'll perform. And part of that is true. Sometimes that works for a little while.

I used to think if I hold them accountable harder, they'll more and that didn't always work.

I've tried incentives, know, like competitions and I've tried penalties. I've tried discipline.

And the reality is, is none of that works the way that I thought it would. It worked a little bit, but it didn't, it didn't solve the problem I was having.

I didn't address the root issue that I had going on.

And the root issue that I had going on was not that I was necessarily arrogant or I on purpose thought I was better than other people or I treated people terribly or any of that.

I just didn't, I didn't know what I didn't know.

And so therefore I didn't know how to treat people. I knew that, you know, kindness and respect and I know those basic concepts, but I didn't understand what was truly inside of me was coming out just like it does with horses.

Horses know what's going on inside you when they show up. And if you think that people don't, you're kidding yourself, okay? Because they do. They do.

It doesn't take very long to talk to somebody and you have a pretty good idea what's going on in their heart and soul.

I mean, we go around, we don't like to think that's true, but it is.

People have emotional needs and that is on top of their money.

So if they're getting paid what they think is fair, okay, they're getting paid a fair wage and most of their emotional needs are getting met, you're going to have an incredible result.

And if you're paying them a lot and you're not attempting to help them meet their own emotional needs, which they can do, or at least creating the environment or working on yourself and the way that you come out, and their emotional needs are not being met, the money is not enough.

It's enough to keep them for a little while, but it's not enough to have them do a spectacular job and care and be dependable and be loyal and be with you, be on your side, be willing to jump on board and be a part of the mission and take the goal and care as much and you can, so where you feel like that they care as much as you want them to, okay?

Building a Culture That Supports People

If those needs aren't met, it's not gonna happen.

So you're like, and I've said this before, when I first figured this out, I'm like, my goodness, Shane, are you kidding me? I'm supposed to be in charge of how someone else feels all the time? Are you kidding me? I mean, we got work to do here. How in the hell am I gonna do that?

And the answer is, is like I said, you can't control it. But what you can do is you have a tremendous influence in the way that you set up your way of being, your systems, the way that we do things here, we call that a culture. Culture is how we operate, how we roll here.

So you set up the way that you do things. And it's not just setting up and having some rules and having some guidelines and saying, you can't just say we judge the work and protect the person. You can say that, but that saying it's not enough, you have to live it because it's how I relate with you, what comes out of me.

What I put down that you're picking up is going to be what really makes the difference.

Leadership is Lived, Not Said

What really makes the difference isn't going to be your words and your all the sermons I'm known for, these meetings I have. And and and it's not the meetings I have, it's the interactions when the chips are down and the interactions when the chips are up and how they see me relate with customers and how they've seen me relate with them on important matters of importance of matters of all matters, really.

And that influences how they feel, how people are, how we treat them, period.

So psychological safety, I just want to say it again. It's, you know, it's just not some, some psychological, feely, you know, touchy feeling nonsense. This is not soft. It's not coddling. It's not lower standards.

Psychological safety is when people feel safe from value judgment from people inside the group. So if we only judge the work and we always protect the person, we have the ability for people to feel safe or to trust that they're safe. Excuse me.

Every Person Has Equal Value

One of the core beliefs that I have come to believe is that my worth, my value is no more or no less than anyone else's. No one, no matter what they do and it doesn't matter what they do or what they didn't do, anyone ever, okay?

That's a big statement. I'm talking about, do you hear me? No matter what anyone did or didn't do or what was done to them, it doesn't matter to me.

I consider me and whoever they are, no matter what they did, on an equal 100% playing ground, not 99, not 90, not 50, not 101, not 110. Them and I, and you and I, right here, right now, at a 100% even par at all times.

And I not only say that, and I do say that to the people that work here, they know that I see them the same way that I see me, and it's an even open thing.

And I tell them, and I admit, hey, I take ownership of my stuff in front of them. If it's me, I say, that was me, here's what I'm going to do next time about it. And I address it right in front of them. And I let it be okay that I did something and I said it out loud and I fixed the problem and I move on.

And I let that be normal. Yeah, I let it be normal.

Setting Expectations for Growth and Improvement

That's a thing. I let them know that, just expect, here's a couple of expectations that you can have when you come to work here.

All right, you can expect that we're gonna be constantly improving the process. So no matter how good you get, I need you to have the mindset that even if you're doing awesome and great, that we're still gonna be evolving and progressing and working on improving even the best day, okay?

I don't want you to feel like you can never be good enough because a lot of times it's gonna be spectacular. But we're constantly going to be, I'm going to set the expectation that we're constantly going to be striving for better, okay?

That's one.

Second thing is, is expect that you're going to make, not make mistakes, okay? Because of course you're going to make mistakes. So, you know, that's just a given. I don't even say that.

Yeah, you're going to make mistakes, but you know what else you're going to do? You're going to totally screw this up. You're going to totally, it's going to, you're going to miscommunicate it. You're going to do it wrong.

You're not, you're going to live, you're going to go operate on some assumption that you shouldn't have that I wish you wouldn't have because you didn't get clarification, you didn't ask and you didn't, you know, get a recommendation. You just took an assumption, you operated on it or you operated on a miscommunication.

Normalizing Mistakes and Ownership

Or guess what? Guess what you're going to do. Guess what?

You're going to do something wrong here on purpose. That's right. You're going to do something here. Don't tell me you're not going to because you're a human being. I do, you do, everyone does.

And what that means is it doesn't mean it's okay to strive for that. It just means that you need to accept that because I accept it. I know that that's the way it is because I'm a human being and I'm going to do something wrong.

Sometimes I'm going to do something that goes against my values that I believe in. You know, it's not that I set out to do it and I don't think it's okay and I don't celebrate it. What I do is I continue even when that happens.

I don't judge my person. I keep myself at 100% even when I do things that are against my values that I judge to be wrong or bad behavior.

When I do things that I judge to be wrong or bad behavior, I don't let that affect my worth. I say I'm still 100%.

Sometimes I do things I wish I wouldn't have and I'm going to take a look at this and I might make a change to not do that again in the future or do less of it. Sometimes I did that.

I love myself and I love those people anyway, and sometimes that's going to be the way it's going to be. And I set the expectation when they start here and I try to reinforce it going forward.

Judge the Work. Protect the Person.

Because if people don't think that, if you don't think that you're not going to do something wrong or you're going to just totally screw up, guess what? You're going to, and then what are you going to do when it happens?

You're going to just shut it. You're going to try to bury it. You're going to get defensive about it, you're gonna just not think it's okay that you did it, you're not gonna feel you're accepted, you're gonna feel judged and everything else.

This is part of setting the expectations of how we do things when you judge the work and protect the person.

The only thing and we must judge the work because that's why we're here. We're here to improve the quality of our lives. And so if we're gonna be here, we wanna have it a decent place to be where we connect with people that we trust and we're moving forward on a common goal.

That's what we want to do and we want to get paid pretty good doing it while we're here, by the way, as well as we can. And we want to keep striving for more in all of it, better relationships with each other, a stronger team and more dollars in our pocket on payday period, okay?

And this is what we're here for, to increase that, to improve the quality of our lives for ourselves and our family and for our country and our goals and improve the world.

Leadership Does not Increase Human Value

So when people know that we see that I see them and that you see them and that everyone is on an equal playing ground, people open up and they're more honest because they feel safe from value judgment.

Everyone is 100%, even though they have a different role, okay?

So I just say, hey, yeah, I own the company and I'm a human being the same as you. It doesn't make me anything except for the owner of the company. It doesn't make my value higher.

Leadership, Humility, and Human Value

It might make some of the things that I've done different than some of the things that you've done so far, whatever.

We do things well and sometimes wrong and well and good and bad and that's called our behavior. That's what we do. What we do doesn't influence who we are, okay? And we have to live that. We have to act it. We have to show open, be open enough to be vulnerable, to be humble, to take even instruction and ideas from people instead of being the know-it-all all the time.

We have to have humility. That means that we're open and teachable even even if anything period end of story. And that we get things wrong too, okay? And we and we lead without acting like we're better than anybody else.

This is a huge thing. It sounds like, why do I have to go to all that effort Shane? Because you know, we're trying to get stuff done here not you know operator. Yeah, you know, I'm not a shrink. I'm a, I'm a manager of company that needs to results. I'm telling you, what I'm talking about is you're gonna get better results.

Psychological Safety Improves Results

You still have to have the system. You still have to have consequences. You still have to judge the work. It's just how you judge the work by always protecting the person and how you come out, how you relate to people.

When people feel safe, they'll speak up, they'll try harder, they care more. They contribute more, they stay longer, they tell you the truth more, they give you more. They give you more, okay? And it's better for them too. It's not just all about you and everything. You're giving them what they need and they're giving you more of what you need.

So we do have a tremendous influence on how other people think and therefore how other people feel. And we can help them meet their emotional needs by the way that we behave, the way that we come out, the way that we lead.

Lead to me just means how you show up in the world and relate with the people. You know, you need to have good systems, that's part of it, but the main part is how they feel when they're with you and that's the way that you treat them, okay?

The highest performing teams, like I said, this has been proven by Google by Project Aristotle by multiple what's her name? Amy Edmonton, I think is her name, the one that first came up with this idea of psychological safety and she has a book, Fearless Organization, I think is the title that I am currently listening to now in Audible.

But there's multiple studies. This has been out for since 1999. So it's been out for a quarter of a century, the idea of psychological safety and it's been studyied and it's been proven that results that Google proved that the number one thing that influenced results was psychological safety.

This is the real deal. The stuff that we've been thinking was just wrong. That's not where the results are coming from.

The Real Answer to Leadership

The real answer, now some of you that are hearing me. Are not going to like what I have to say,

And that's just fine with me because I've done it wrong for so long and had such horrible results and fought it and been so frustrated and let me just tell you by the way, I still have frustrations.

Just so you know sometimes I still make mistakes and occasionally I do things wrong on purpose and then I have to go back and fix them and I do my best not to let that affect my value and I do my best to treat people that I lead the same way that I treat me. And I highly recommend this for you.

But what I'm going to tell you that you might, that I don't think you're going to necessarily like is that the real deal is no new answer, okay? I don't have the new answer.

I've got some things that if you take my system that I've customized and you apply it, you'll have the same results that I have. You know why I know? Because I've seen it in multiple companies.

And I've started it started right here with my own. It started inside of me and then it started with my companies and then it's gone from there. So, this is the real deal, but what I, let me come back to what you're not going to probably want to hear.

Leadership Comes Down to Love

And that is this, then nothing new idea of what true leadership is all about and that what Judging the Work and Protecting the Person is all about and about how we view valuing other people and how we need to manage our mind around, you know, not intentionally not thinking that we're better than any other people in any way and letting them know that and showing that relating with other people.

You know what that's called? Love. Yep, that's right. That's right.

I mean, it might not be appropriate in some workplaces, but the damn fact is this. You got to love who you lead. Period. End of story.

You've got to be empathetic. You've got to care about their end result. Zig Ziglar said the only way you're going to get what you want is by getting other people what they want. So you must care.

You must care about those people. You must care about their lives. You must care about... You must have concern for them and you must not think you're better than them. You have to love them. And that means always protect the person no matter what they do.

That doesn't mean that you don't enforce consequences. It doesn't mean that anything goes. It doesn't mean that this place is a circus and that the only thing we do is love no matter what.

We do love no matter what. We always Protect the Person, but we always also Judge the Work. We Judge the Work, we Protect the Person.

We have to care about those individuals. We have to love them. And that's what it comes down to. It's just a natural law.

Caring For People Creates Better Teams

You can say it's a biblical principle or a God given principle or a natural law, however you want to describe it. You have to care about people and you have to love them. And that is the bottom line, whether you like it or not, whether you like to say it or not.

Because sometimes it doesn't seem like it may not seem like to you. The reason I said you might not like this is because I rejected this idea for so long. The idea that, you know, we're here to all get along and love each other.

I used to think it was just a bunch of, I used to think it was a crock of shit, okay? I mean, I was there to do the work and if you didn't want to do it with me, I need to talk to the next guy because that's what we're doing here.

But it didn't work, okay? We got a lot of stuff done for a short period of time, but the results that I had truly, they were not good. They were not good and they didn't last long.

Turnover was high, was even way more frustrated with frustrations that I have now. And I've not only seen this, I mean, it's proven and proven.

So consider the idea.

The Responsibility of Leadership

Consider the importance of what you control over. You only have control of yourself, okay? But your responsibility to the people that you lead is tremendous. It makes such a difference in their lives.

And the way to get what you want is by giving people what they want and how you do that is you love them. And I've been describing the ways, so this isn't soft way to lead and I'm not saying like tough love. I'm saying love people, okay? And it's not optional.

You're gonna make better everybody's gonna have a better life when you do it and that's just the way it is.

And plus you get to be a hero if you're the leader manager because you got a team to line up with you and take a bullet for you figuratively, right and then you can get more of the results that you're looking for and be a hell of a lot less frustrated and everybody gets a little bit better quality of life.

Cause when people know that you value them, they give you more, okay? That's the deal. That's how it rolls.

Leadership Recap: Judge the Work. Protect the Person.

I appreciate you taking your time to be here with me today. Think it over, practice this. These ideas that I've given you.

It just begins with first of all, I just want a quick recap of some a few of the basic things that ideas that I've given you so far tonight and that is consider become aware really and say it out loud and formulate a thought or a belief about how you relate with the people that you lead, okay?

Is there anything in you that that may lead you to think even just a little bit that you're better than other people. Now, I'm not talking about better skilled or more suitable for a job. I'm not talking about what you do, okay? I'm talking about your value as a human being.

And that's what I need you to be really clear on and practice that thought and believe it and think it on purpose. Think the thought on purpose that you want to.

And I recommend believing the idea that you're that everyone is 100% and equal, okay? 100% and equal.

So practice believing that thought. That gets rid of any residue that's running in the background that might be coming out of you that they might be picking up.

The next thing is to articulate that, say it. Say it to people, let them know. Let them show your vulnerability. Let them know it's okay to make mistakes. Let them know that you do.

Let them know that you believe that we're all on an equal playing ground here. Let them know that you will never, you will always do your best to always protect their person and only judge their work.

And so when you come to them, it's going to be, Hey, remember, this isn't about you. I hold you in high, perfect regard. We need to take a look at what you're doing here because we need to change some things about that.

That's all we're here to do is focus on the work because we need to change that and improve it and make it better. It doesn't have anything to do with you or your person. I hold you in perfect high regard.

So we just roll that way. We say it and then we relate.

Creating a Workplace People Want to Stay In

When we believe that about ourselves, when we believe, when we're open with ourselves and we believe the things that we're presenting to the people we lead, when we believe that about ourselves, it comes out. It comes out.

They know if we're telling the truth. They know they can feel it. They can see it in how we react and how we relate and how we handle situations.

And a lot of times they can see it if we're dealing with customers. That's a me example. Like I know my guys and gals are watching me and listening to me when I talk to a customer of how I relate with customers and even more how I relate with them.

But they just see how I roll in the world and that they take meaning out about that, about how they believe that we operate here, okay? It's all part of it.

Those are big things. Those are big ideas and just consider the idea of how much. What a responsibility it is to lead people with so much of of their time.

They usually just say it's a 40 hour work week, okay, 40 hours a week. They're going to be in an area in a space we'll call it at a culture, whatever you would like to call it.

They're going to be at your company or your organization or whatever, they're going to be at your place under your care, kind of, right? You're in charge, you're the responsible one. So you're the one that's making the rules here or administering the rules of someone else.

And so what is that 40 hours per week experience going to be for them, okay?

That's what we can create.

And when we create the space, create the environment, by how we believe ourselves and how that comes out and how we present, we give the people a chance to meet their site.

They can feel belonging. They can feel significant. They can feel important. They can feel connected with us if we care about them, if we love them.

Meet those, people feel like they're, whether they know it or not, if their emotional needs are getting met and they feel like they're getting paid fairly, they're not going anywhere.

They're gonna line up and give you what they have.

And that my friends is what this deal's about.

Think it over. I appreciate you taking your time to be here with me. Stay with me.

Remember your value is non-negotiable.

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Leaders: Your Beliefs About Your People Are Driving Their Performance

Many workplace problems begin when employees feel judged as people instead of coached on their work. In this episode, Shane Jacob explains why leaders must stop thinking they are above the people they lead and how that mindset damages trust, honesty, teamwork, and accountability. Shane breaks down psychological safety, employee trust, leadership behavior, workplace culture, and the real reason people stop caring at work. Business owners, managers, HR leaders, and executives will learn how “Judge the work. Protect the person.” helps create more honest, dependable, and self-reliant teams.