The Iron Deep Podcast

Many times in our businesses, we have systems that are too complex. We have employees that become disgruntled, unmotivated, or burnt out. We have leaders who are overpaid and who underperform. We're accomplishing many goals, but they aren't that fruitful because we're forgetting the few goals that we actually specialize and excel in.

Lee Benson of  @execute-to-win  specializes in helping large and small companies fix all these problems and more. In Lee's book "Your Most Important Number" he talks about alignment decisions and accountability. As Lee tells Brett one of his main sayings is 'Execute To Win.' Which is one of Lee's organizations.

In this discussion, Lee delves into the importance of alignment in organizations as well as accountability. What is your Most Important Number & What are your Drivers? What one number above all others 1) reflects the value of your organization and 2) drives behaviors of everyone in the organization? These are critical in understanding and creating the right business strategies for your company and executing effectively.

If you get this right at the top, and communicate it clearly, this will trickle down to each team within the organization for them to create their own unique Most Important Number that will flow into the overarching most important goals. Not only does clarifying the strategy and plan help everyone understand what it is they need to accomplish, but it helps everyone in the business take more initiative and ownership and drives them to add more value to their position. It will help all team members deliver or over deliver toward the goals.

Lee emphasizes that this can't be something that sounds good ideally, it must also be a believable and achievable strategy for proper execution to take place. If the path isn't believable with a proven track, then nobody will be motivated to execute.

Lee overstates that if we can get everyone to understand the vision and empower the team members to truly create value, the planning and execution of goals becomes much more enjoyable. And even though there are struggles, the struggles end up being viewed as fun, because we know there are achievable goals we get to utilize real developed skills and creative cognition that energizes us as our team knows they absolutely were built to overcome each struggle they face.

Apply these values in your home for your children. "Value Creation Kid."

 When it comes to faith, we live in a time where terms like 'Deconstruction' 'Nones' 'Dones' 'Dechurched' and 'Used-To-Be Evangelicals' fill the conversation. Millions of “Gen-Zers” and Millennials have walked out of church and their faith. We are currently experiencing the largest and fastest religious shift in US history. So why are so many dechurching? And is there anything we can do about it?

Entrepreneur & Former Fighter Pilot Dennis Allen dives deep into the topic of why Millennials are leaving the church. This topic is what Dennis likes to call “The Disciple Dilemma.” In fact, he wrote a book on it. Dennis answers many questions like 'why are young people leaving the church' and gets into topics like 'what is discipleship and why is it important?' Listen to Dennis and Brett talk about what the Bible says about discipleship and the cost of discipleship, and where the church went off-track.

Most people don't think they're greedy. People can usually recognize many of their other sins, but almost always, greed goes undetected. This hiddenness and subtlety is what makes greed so dangerous. What does it mean to be greedy? Part of the root of greed is selfishness. But selfishness is the root of most sin. There are ways to identify if we're a selfish person, which Brett and Mike discuss in this episode.

But to dig deeper into understanding greed we must ask ourselves, "What does the Bible say about greed and selfishness?" When you look at greed in scripture, it is very closely linked to covetousness. So when we ask, "What does it mean to be greedy?" we should also ask, "What does it mean to not covet?"

Coveting is a very serious sin. It's so serious, God lists it as one of the 10 commandments in Exodus. But when we think about bad sins like lying, or stealing, or murder, or idolatry, most people forget about coveting. But coveting is listed just as strongly and as evil as these other horrible sins. That's what makes this sin so dangerous. To be greedy or to covet is incredibly dangerous because it's so hard to see or detect in our own lives. But if it fills our heart, it will affect everything else in our lives and cause lots of damage. Greed is very much a most hidden sin that's so hard to notice. Brett and Mike talk about what greed and coveting are in this episode and ways to discover if it's operating in your life. They also discuss how to deal with coveting if you do find it filling your mind and heart.

If you don't think greed or coveting is that bad, think about the meaning of the scripture verse, "You Shall Not Covet Your Neighbor's Wife." Let that sink in to understand the gravity of greed. While it's sinking in, go ahead and take a look at this episode.

Our Western systems have told us what to do to be successful, but more people are in greater debt and harder situations than ever before. What we're told to do to 'get ahead' is not true anymore. We've been lied to about money, debt, and jobs which is keeping us enslaved in a rat-race. Jeff Lerner learned how to escape the money-trap and the time stealers that are being pitched to us and our children as the American Dream. Going from a high-school drop-out musician to an incredibly successful entrepreneur and now founder of The Entre Institute, Jeff now helps teach and empower others to not get caught in the traps of a broken system, but rather, be freed to live their fullest lives by tapping into their fullest gifts and potentials.

Jeff Lerner is the author of the WSJ Best-Seller "Unlock Your Potential: The Ultimate Guide for Creating Your Dream Life in the Modern World." It's a Number 2 Best-Seller, second to Atomic Habits. Like in his book, Jeff shares with Brett incredible information and reformative perspectives that can help you and your family find better paths of success in life.

As business owners, we know that a team is only as good as its leader. This begs the question, "How do I improve my leadership skills?" Great leadership starts with self-leadership. Trent Booth of Veritas Leadership Group specializes in teaching leaders how to improve their self-leadership. In this conversation he discusses how leaders can grow by becoming more self-aware, self-reflecting & self -regulating. When leaders learn how to practice these, they can become more empathetic, more productive and create a better work culture. Better yet, leaders can be more at peace when they understand techniques that teach how to regularly and correctly identify and address their emotional state. Leaders can't control others, but leaders can influence others. We won't be able to influence anyone well if we can't even understand and control ourselves. Join Brett as he talks with Trent and learns more about practices like journaling and coaching to enhance your business and your lifestyle. IronDeep.com

Many people have trouble reading and retaining what they read. Spending hours reading books doesn't make much sense if you can't remember any of what you've read. Today we'll dive deep into some of the techniques you can use to increase the amount of information you can remember and recall from your reading sessions.

Nick Hutchison with  @BookThinkers  wrote the book "Rise Of The Reader" which has strategies for mastering your reading habits and applying what you learn. So how do we actually read books, remember what we read, and apply what we learn?

Nick has developed an effective system to get the most out of books. He has learned how to read and implement over 400 books into his life. In order to read books and apply them to his life, Nick developed the SMART system. SMART is an acronym that stands for Specific - Measurable - Attainable - Relevant - Time Bound. Nick teaches Brett about these simple but effective steps he uses to read and actually apply 35-50 books a year into his daily life.

By the end of this podcast, you'll have a better understanding of where to start reading, how to progress in the books you read, and how to implement and apply his techniques for improving your reading retention and application.

Jim Oliver went from being a poor homeless kid, to becoming a wealthy successful business owner. Two keys to his success and wealth stemmed from Real Estate and Infinite Banking.

Jim first learned about infinite banking from R Nelson Nash, who prayed to God to show him a way out of debt. He discovered the biblical principles of infinite banking and later wrote a book called "Becoming Your Own Banker."

Jim Oliver has used the principles of Infinite Banking to create more cash flow and invest in more real estate. This has generated him more and more money over the years. Jim wrote a book called "Make Bank Without The Bank" where he explains infinite banking and how to use it as a great investment strategy for real estate to generate wealth.

While infinite banking can seem complicated to understand at first, the method is tried and true to help businessmen and women create more wealth. Join Brett and Jim as they explain what Infinite Banking is, how Infinite Banking works, and how you can use it to build your real estate business.

SEX - Sex is a topic nobody wants to talk about, but everyone faces in one way or another. Sex can be a taboo topic, but sex is actually a great and beautiful thing when dealt with appropriately. Sex is designed by God to be a blessing, when done in the proper way. Sex is like a fire in a fireplace. When it's burning in the right parameters, it's wonderful. But when fire breaks out of a fireplace, it can burn the whole house down and everyone inside. That fire burning outside of the fireplace happens when sex comes under the control of Lust. Lust, is a twisted and never-ending appetite that never satisfies and leaves us trapped and desolate. Lust is deceptive, and tricks us into pursuing things in the wrong way. As we pursue the perverted paths of lust, we not only destroy ourselves, but our wives, our children, and really, our whole world can burn to the ground. INCLUDING OUR BUSINESSES. As men, many of us can be tempted by lust on a regular basis. So how do we deal with the attacks of lust and remain on a healthy path? That's what we'll dig into in this episode. Listen as Brett & Michael dissect and explore this topic of the traps of lust and the beautiful blessings of sex done the right way.

As successful business leaders, it can be easy to lose track of who we are. Sometimes it takes great hardship for us to learn that our ways don't really work, and we need to trust in God. Many Christian entrepreneurs understand this principle, but sometimes struggle to live this out well. Thankfully, ministries like The Lion Within help to simplify God's word and easily apply it to our lives in practical and fruitful ways.

In this latest Iron Deep podcast, Brett talks with Chris Grainger, who, after a successful sales and engineering career, felt God calling him to men's ministry. As founder of The Lion Within Us, Chris is educating and preparing men to be Godly leaders.

Of course, before leading others, we have to let God lead us. Chris explains the importance of not putting God in a box. Hard as it is, we have to give God complete control. That means renewing our minds every day, while being a steward of both our money and our time.

Chris also points out that there are certain roles that we cannot outsource because doing so can leave us and our families vulnerable to influences we may not like.

Chris notes that it's hard running a business, and putting in the time and effort it takes to do family and faith well. It's easy to take short-cuts. But as Chris also notes, we need to find The Lion Within us and rise to the challenge. We need to be Christ-Centered leaders and put the work in. We need to be bold to succeed in business, but we need to be even more bold and focused to succeed in our faith and family. If we, as men, don't fulfill our roles as fathers and husbands, the world will easily take our place.

So check out the latest from Iron Deep, and understand what it means to be a Christ-Centered leader.

Success in church planting lies in the harmonious integration of traditional values with the adaptive strategies essential for navigating the challenges of the present. With nearly 30 years of experience in this transformative field, Pastor Garrett Craw advocates for a model that draws inspiration from the church practices of the past, navigating the contemporary landscape with an innovative and forward-thinking approach. He talks about this in this episode of Iron Deep Podcast with host Michael Stansbury. Join in as Pastor Craw talks about the importance of an entrepreneurial mindset in church planting and shares recommendations for resources and mentorship for aspiring church planters. The imminent release of Pastor Craw's book, "The Savage Church," is also mentioned, with a focus on providing practical guidance for potential church planters. Tune in for more!