Host: Joseph Lewin — sellthroughsocial.com

Guest: Stephen Black — Founder/CEO, abrighterday.life • Author, The Five Rules

This show was originally aired live on Jul 29, 2024 on LinkedIn.

📌 Episode Snapshot

Joseph and Stephen distill 40 years of team leadership into a practical framework—The Five Rules—that strengthens culture, improves performance, and carries over into family life.

This show is produced by Sell Through Social

🎯 Why This Matters

• Lead, don’t just manage: KPIs matter, but behaviors drive results.
• People > process: How leaders treat the team becomes how the team treats customers.
• Home/work harmony: Better humans → better leaders → better businesses.

🧠 Key Ideas & Takeaways

• From manager to leader: Early career = coaching numbers; seasoned leader = coaching behaviors.
• Service chain: Leader cares for the team → team serves customers → customers reward the business.
• Intentional growth: Commit to ongoing study (e.g., four leadership books/year).
• The three questions every team member asks: Do you care about me? Can you help me? Can I trust you? Turn these into daily proof through actions.
• Listen before you launch: Vision without team input creates surprises, burnout, and failed rollouts.
• You shape the dinner-table story: Give people something good to say when asked, “How was your day?”

🧩 The Five Rules (with quick how-tos)

1. Do Your Job — Own your agreements, model standards, remove blockers.
2. Be Kind — Especially to the people you lead and live with; praise publicly, correct with dignity.
3. No Surprises — Over-communicate early; share drafts, clarify impact and timelines, invite feedback.
4. No Drama — Address facts; separate home/work stress so you can be present in each.
5. Protect the Brand — You are the brand; refuse toxicity, don’t undermine, defend culture in small moments.

🛠️ Mini-Playbook (implement this week)

• 1:1s for behavior coaching: “What behavior would make next week easier?”
• “Walk the dog” test for ideas: float it quietly—if no interest, park it.
• Weekly rhythm: team huddle (wins → risks → asks).
• “Blessings” habit: end meetings by naming specific things people did right.
• Law of the harvest: good ideas often require seasonal timelines—plant, tend, harvest.

🗣️ Memorable Lines

• “Your team will never treat customers better than leadership treats the team.”
• “If you make spur-of-the-moment decisions, expect spur-of-the-moment results.”
• “Turn Do you care? Can you help? Can I trust you? into daily proof—not slogans.”

📚 Resources Mentioned

• Stephen’s book: The Five Rules — available via abrighterday.life and major booksellers.
• Mentors referenced: John Maxwell (inner circle), Andy Reid on family-first leadership, Steve Jobs on hiring smart people.