Sean: Having the right people in the right team is extremely important, but not a lot of entrepreneurs know that, especially when they're starting out. I didn't know how important it was when I was starting out. All I thought was I have to have this position filled because I can't do the job anymore. And what that ended up for me is when I hired the wrong people, they would burn more of my stuff down and I had to fix that as well.

And it didn't make sense for me to hire them in the first place. You mentioned the word gossip. How bad is it when people gossip, because it's almost like a pastime culture here in the Philippines.

Sensei: I think that's everywhere.

Sean: Pretty much everywhere. Right? Cause we're human beings. You know, some entrepreneurs would just let it slide. They just think to themselves out as natural, that's normal people, gossip, but you single that out. There's something that you know about gossip that is dangerous for business. Can you tell us a little bit more about what you know, so we can learn from you there?

Sensei: Gossip is a killer. It's a killer of business. It's a killer of relationships. Business is all about relationships. And if you've got someone that likes to gossip in your business, you can expect to lose other employees or vendors or clients. Look, I nip it in the bud right away.

I'm not a boss. I'm terrible at being a boss, but I believe I'm a good leader. There's a difference. People, fear bosses, people follow leaders. See? And so I have to lead by example. I don't gossip. I'm very straightforward. Some people don't like the bluntness of being either black or white in conversation. They want me to go around. That's not what I do, but I'm not rude or crass or any of those things. I will approach you in a very professional, kind of a fun manner because I joke around and I love doing scare tactics to all my employees around here, but here's a thing.

If I've got someone that is producing any type of gossip, I will always have the manager of the office. Take them off to the side and explain, this is something that we do not do under this roof here or anything wearing the logo of this business. Gossip is not allowed, if you do it, it's in your own home.

We set the rules right away. We would draw the line in the sand. Don't cross that line because if you cross that line, you're in the wrong territory and we're going to push you back. I give one warning, second warning, I'm sorry you're done, you're out. Because I cannot afford to pay someone that is killing my relationship.

And unfortunately, like I said, there's no fail-proof system out there, but as a manager, as an assistant manager, as a leader, or as a boss, we must keep our eyes and ears open for these types of unwantedness in the office space.

And it must be nipped in the bud. Not what you said. It's kind of normal. No, it's not normal for Black Belt investors. No, it's not normal for 360 Martial Arts Academy. What's normal is being truthful and being helpful to our vendors and clients.

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