In this episode of The Alignment Podcast, Jacob Crockett sits down with Scott Frazier—small-town kid turned serial entrepreneur who’s led a 150-person company, built global teams at Freed Up, and is now building a new venture in stealth. Scott’s winding path (family business → eight years as a pastor → real estate PE → multiple startups) sharpened a simple conviction: you can automate tasks, but you can’t automate love, trust, or leadership.

🔍 Highlights

* People > Everything: Why the most durable advantage is relational—being known and knowing your team—especially as tech speeds up.

* From “caught to taught”: Early-stage culture spreads by proximity; at scale, it must be explicit, trained, and measured (values → behaviors → tools).

* Nonviolent Communication as a core skill: Teach teams to disagree well; better conflict = better companies.

* Integrity redefined: It’s not “be nice”—it’s do what you said you’d do (and commit carefully).

* AI-native leadership: Build with AI from day one; hire for learning agility, creativity, systems thinking, and real fluency with AI tools.

* Humility as meta-skill: Admitting gaps and upskilling in public sets the tone for a learning culture.

🧭 Practical Takeaways

For founders & leaders

* Model it first: open with check-ins, lead with empathy, keep promises.

* Make values actionable: list 3–5 observable behaviors per value and coach to them.

* Teach the team to argue well (start with Nonviolent Communication).

* Hire for learning speed and AI fluency, not just legacy credentials.

For operators & ICs

* Build an AI habit: automate one disliked task this week; document and share the SOP.

* Integrity audit: reduce over-commitment; renegotiate before you miss a promise.

* Relationships are the leverage—schedule 2 genuine one-on-ones you’ve been putting off.

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