IAM2539 – Master the Art of Decision-Making

In this special episode, Gresham Harkless is thoughtfully considering how to join a networking group like BNI in a way that aligns with both his business goals and personal responsibilities. He’s confident that joining is the right move; it’s not a question of if, but how.

He’s aware of the standard 90-minute weekly meetings and the risk of overcommitting, and plans to stay engaged without getting pulled too deep into group roles.

Gresham plans to be intentional, focusing on meaningful one-on-one meetings, continuing his professional development, and using the connections he builds to create valuable content such as podcasts.

Additionally, he intends to stay engaged, form genuine connections, and ensure each interaction adds value, all while staying aligned with his bigger-picture goals.

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Transcription:

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Intro 00:01

Are you ready to hear business stories and learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and level up your business from awesome CEOs, entrepreneurs, and founders without listening to a long, long, long interview?

If so, you've come to the right place. Gresh values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

Gresham Harkless 00:28

Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO Podcast. And this is a special episode of our I AM CEO Podcast.

And this is actually going to be a snippet of a snippet, so to speak. I'm just doing an intro because I've been starting to document my journey into starting what is now called Blue Star Franchise.

We're also going to do a kind of sub site within CB Nation called Franchise CEO. So you'll see some links in the show notes related to that.

But just wanted to give you a little bit more insight, give you a little bit more color in some of the aspects of why I'm actually doing this.

Because one of the things I was doing as I was going through training to start up this new business was realizing and hearing from the founder of FBA, the Franchise Brokers Association, that it'd be really cool to document your journey going through and building this out.

I think it's something that would be super helpful, obviously for people that are looking for and thinking about starting franchises.

But frankly, if you're starting anything, any type of business, I think it's really cool to kind of just even see the journey and how it's been going from there.

So I'm going to share a few of those snippets from the, from the first couple of videos that have been created.

But definitely, of course, subscribe to our YouTube, check out a lot more where I figure out exactly where we're going to post this.

So I'll have that information that's available to you. But regardless, if you're a builder, continue to keep building, continue to do your thing.

The world definitely needs exactly what you're trying to build and needs you to be your unique self.

So make sure to run your own race, because nobody can run your race like you.

This is Gresh signing out. I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

And just like that, it's day 201 of this Franchise Broker journey. And today I've been back and forth, back and forth around whether to join a networking group.

I think I'm definitely going to join one. It's just a matter of how. I think it's not that I shouldn't join when it's like, how are you looking at that time?

So looking at an hour and a half, maybe, four times a month and then just trying to gauge and see exactly what that looks like and what that's going to be is going to be the biggest challenge. I'm going to go grab a little one in a little bit.

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But at the end of the day, it's like you're back and forth because it's kind of like when you join a BNI, you don't do it for just a quarter. You usually do it for a year, six months, something like that.

And I figured that maybe that is the thing that I need to do, but I know in the sense of what that process looks like, I can do it in a way that it's gonna be a little bit different than when everybody else is doing anything. I'm gonna definitely have leverage content play of it.

So being able to kind of create and produce content, especially podcasts, but also being able to just go through and have really great conversations, understand a lot around what people are looking for, be a lot more intentional with the content that's created.

But also, look for those referrals to the potential people that want to start businesses is going to be important. So I think I plan on leaning into it very part-time.

And what I mean is they have this 90 minute, 90-minute member where you come in, you show up for the meeting, you don't do anything else.

I don't definitely want to be that. I want to do my CEUs. I want to continue to kind of sharpen the saw, but I also want to make sure that I'm doing one-to-ones. That's where the true magic happens.

So that's something that I'm truly thinking about. I'm back and forth about what chapter to join, how to join it.

And now I got the little one with me, so he has hiccups, so just looking after him. One of the really big things that I really want to make sure that I try to do more than anything else is experiment, but not overcommit.

And with being I, that's one of the things you have to be very aware and careful of, just because it's so easy just to overcommit and use up all your time and energy just on that, because the idea, now being I structured, that that's all you need.

But I think the reality is, is that I don't want it to be that, but I want to try to find a base.

But here's the thing. I could just find a base that might set me up, and I might do a bunch of one-to-ones with people.

The reality is that you never know who knows who, but if you're going to do something weekly, you want to approach it that you're being impactful on a weekly basis.

You're not just doing something just to get into that mafia, so to speak. I call being in the mafia just because a lot of times it's just around being part of that clique, that group, that entourage that you want to be a part of.

I think that's one of the things I'm really looking forward to is just seeing what will ultimately happen there as a little one gets rowdy and starts moving.

I think that more than anything else, that's what I'm looking forward to and seeing where things go and what ends up happening and, just taking it from there, but back and forth about it.

But being able to make that decision quickly and move on to the next thing is going to be huge.

So I think it's not so much whether or not I'm going to join, it's like how I'm going to do it and what I really believe.

And I think that's what I know, it would take a lot for me to leave. And I think because of that, you have to understand what I really ultimately make that decision.

So that's what I have to kind of be and have a game plan on and be very upfront about.

Please let me know if there's anything I could do to help. And of course, looking forward to giving you more and more updates.

Outro 05:40

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by CB Nation and Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co. I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community.

Check out the latest and greatest apps, books, and habits to level up your business at CEOhacks.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless Jr. Thank you for listening.

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