Ever wondered why some businesses hit roadblocks that slow down progress?

In this episode, we're diving into how entrepreneurs can (unintentionally) become a bottleneck in their business.

What you will discover:

• How do you differentiate between a bottleneck and just regular delays?
• Why do these roadblocks even pop up in the first place?
• Practical solutions to tackle these bottlenecks head-on

Timestamps:

- Evidence of bottlenecks caused by founders - employee feedback, comparing to competitors, mapping out processes on paper (00:02:03)

- Psychological reasons bottlenecks happen - ego, "that's how we've always done it", startup hangover mentality (00:11:07)

- Figuring out why the bottleneck exists before trying to implement change (00:12:11)

- Looking at your role in the bottleneck by reverse engineering the process (00:13:04)

- Building a business that can run without your constant oversight (00:14:05)

- Embracing the identity change as your business grows - moving from "doing" to guiding and optimizing (00:17:21)

A new episode is published every other Friday.

Free resources and how we support entrepreneurs & founders:

David Foster | www.davidafoster.com | www.linkedin.com/in/-davidfoster

Rachelle Leerling | www.linkedin.com/in/rachelleleerling | www.growtribute.com

Do you catch yourself being addicted to being busy?

As an entrepreneur, we definitely are juggling a lot of different aspects of business.

But being addicted to being busy, is a whole other level.

And because you are always (trying to be) busy, you might be missing out on some big opportunities, pivots or important decisions.

In today’s episode, David & Rachelle explore:

1. What are we calling “busy” here? What does that mean?

2. Why our culture supports and encourages being busy

3. Why is being busy seen as a good thing?

4. What are the dangers of being busy all the time?

5. What is an appropriate and effective level of engagement?

A new episode is published every other Friday.

Free resources and how we support entrepreneurs & founders:

David Foster | www.davidafoster.com | www.linkedin.com/in/-davidfoster

Rachelle Leerling | Free Tool: https://unchained-score.scoreapp.com/ | www.linkedin.com/in/rachelleleerling

Are you sometimes wrong about something? As an entrepreneur and leader, it is hard to have to admit we aren’t always right.

What does that do to our authority? To our decision-making and business direction? Or even reputation in the market?

Whilst it is tempting to always look right, it doesn’t serve us. In today’s episode we explore the difficulty of not always being right, and how to make a habit of discovering when you are wrong.

You’ll discover:

- Why do we instinctively resist the idea that we might be wrong?

- What’s the danger of an entrepreneur being wrong (and not knowing it)?

- How can we (not them) recognize that we are wrong?

- What if someone is wrong about us being wrong?

- What are the benefits of this habit?

A new episode is published every other Friday.

Free resources and how we support entrepreneurs & founders:

David Foster | www.davidafoster.com| | www.linkedin.com/in/-davidfoster

Rachelle Leerling | Free Tool: https://unchained-score.scoreapp.com/ | www.linkedin.com/in/rachelleleerling

Do you take things personally in business?

We are all human, and it can be hard to stay objective when there is criticism or success coming our way. Or when our idea doesn’t get chosen. Or, when we are too invested in what we are building.

Taking things too personally can hurt us - and the business itself.

In this episode, David & Rachelle explore the dangers of personalizing business events and its impact on decision-making, relationships and results.

What you will discover:

- Why we take business things personally in the first place

- What can go wrong when we take things too personal

- How to deal with our personal investment in business

A new episode is published every other Friday.

Free resources and how we support entrepreneurs & founders:

David Foster | www.davidafoster.com | www.linkedin.com/in/-davidfoster

Rachelle Leerling | www.linkedin.com/in/rachelleleerling

Are you struggling to strike the right balance between data-driven decision-making and relying on your intuition?

What happens if you rely too heavily on either your business’ data or your personal intuition?

In this episode, David & Rachelle explore the critical role of balancing data and intuition in decision making.

You will discover:

- Objectivity: The pros and cons of data-driven decisions and the dangers of relying solely on hard data.

- Gut feeling: The pros and cons of intuition-based decisions - the power of intuition.

- Real-life business examples of being out of balance in your decisions

- How to balance data and intuition effectively so you can navigate decisions with more confidence.

- Some questions to ask yourself to make better business decisions

A new episode is published every other Friday.

Free resources and how we support entrepreneurs & founders:

David Foster | www.davidafoster.com | https://www.linkedin.com/in/-david-foster

Rachelle Leerling | www.linkedin.com/in/rachelleleerling

Are you able to go on vacation without feeling guilty? Many entrepreneurs are not able to fully turn off their head and disconnect from their businesses while trying to relax with their loved ones.

While our high level of feeling responsible is a sign of caring about our cause, it can start to be counterproductive when it comes to taking time off.

If you are not fully present with your vacation, you aren’t really relaxing and not coming back recharged. Neither are you enjoying your time away - rather, you feel restless and want to get back to your laptop ASAP.

How do we avoid this from happening? How can we truly benefit from a break?

In this episode, David & Rachelle explore the topic of taking a vacation and the struggles that most entrepreneurs face when doing so.

You will discover:

• the reason most entrepreneurs can’t really take a vacation
• why both you AND your business need you to take off
• what not being able to turn off says about your business foundations
• how to take a vacation and come back recharged (the right way)

A new episode is published every other Friday.

Free resources and how we support entrepreneurs & founders:

David Foster | www.davidafoster.com | www.linkedin.com/in/-davidfoster

Rachelle Leerling | Free Tool: https://unchained-score.scoreapp.com/ | www.linkedin.com/in/rachelleleerling

The ego has a bad rep. However, it is also helping us achieve much in our business.

In this episode, David & Rachelle explore the delicate balance between self-assured confidence and the pitfalls of excessive ego in the entrepreneurial realm.

What you will discover:

- Ego as a Double-Edged Sword: why it’s good & why it’s bad

- Why we need our ego & why is it holding us back too

- Balancing Personal Identity and Business Success

- Steps to take working with your ego

A new episode is published every other Friday.

More about us and how we support entrepreneurs & founders:

David Foster | www.davidafoster.com | www.linkedin.com/in/-davidfoster

Rachelle Leerling | www.growtribute.com | www.linkedin.com/in/rachelleleerling

Do you allocate enough ‘thinking time’?

In this episode, we uncover the secret weapon of successful entrepreneurs: time to think. Whilst it often ends up on the bottom of our list, it should actually be prioritized.

Thinking time unlocks the power of uninterrupted reflection, strategic planning, and problem-solving. Often, the headspace created allows us to make sharper decisions and get clearer on challenges or the future vision.

If you’re doubting the importance of taking time out to think, be sure to listen to this episode.

What you will learn:

• 
  
• why thinking time is often neglected and undervalued,
• 
  
• 
  
• why you need to integrate more thinking time
• 
  
• 
  
• how integrating more of it can accelerate your business.
• 
  

A new episode is published every other Friday.

More about us and how we support entrepreneurs & founders:

David Foster | www.davidafoster.com | www.linkedin.com/in/-davidfoster

Rachelle Leerling | www.growtribute.com | www.linkedin.com/in/rachelleleerling

At the beginning stages of business, you often work from your Zone of Genius: doing what you love and are great at. The value you add is your company’s gold or even its USP.

The more mature your business becomes, the more you might find yourself moving away from it, or even delegating this Genius to others.

As you transition towards leadership, you might find yourself doing things you aren’t so good at (yet).

So do you still do things that you add massive value with? And how do you find a new Zone of Genius that fits the business’ stage? How important is using your Zone of Genius really?

In this episode, David & Rachelle discuss how to navigate your Zone of Genius in your business’ journey. What it is and how it changes over the course of your business’ growth.

What you will learn:

- What your Zone of Genius is, and how it makes your business stand out

- How to transition from your Zone of Genius to leadership

- Getting out of your Zone of Genius and the effect on your satisfaction

- How knowing your team’s Zones of Geniuses is beneficial

- Rediscovering your Zone of Genius after becoming a leader of your company

- …and much more!

A new episode is published every other Friday.

More about us and how we support entrepreneurs & founders:

David Foster | www.davidafoster.com | www.linkedin.com/in/-davidfoster

Rachelle Leerling | www.growtribute.com | www.linkedin.com/in/rachelleleerling

As an entrepreneur, you know that managing a team is never easy. One of the biggest challenges you might face is dealing with employee conflict.

So how do you handle employee conflict? How do you make sure things don’t escalate and hurt your company’s productivity, reputation, or culture?

On the other hand - when is employee conflict beneficial for your company? And how can you make best use of it?

In our latest podcast episode, David & Rachelle be discussing how to harness the power of conflict and turn it into a force for positive change.

What you’ll learn:

• What the cause of employee conflict can be
• What about conflict - disagreements, different goals, or methods - is good?
• What about that conflict is bad, or detrimental?
• How to referee the conflict & resolution
• How to guide employees to resolve conflict themselves, productively.
• And much more!

David Foster Wallace's commencement speech "This is Water."

A new episode is published every other Friday.

More about us and how we support entrepreneurs & founders:

David Foster | [www.davidafoster.com](http://www.davidafoster.com) | [www.linkedin.com/in/-davidfoster](https://www.linkedin.com/in/-david-foster/)

Rachelle Leerling | [www.growtribute.com](http://www.growtribute.com) | [www.linkedin.com/in/rachelleleerling](http://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelleleerling)