"People want to interact with people."
Thane Isaacs Tweet
Thane Isaacs lives in Vermont in the Green Mountain National Forest with his wife Julie. His 3 children are spread out from Tennessee to New England and he is proud of all 3 of them. Thane consults and does Growth Shops with businesses and individuals but specializes in the Green Industry and the Snow and Ice Industry. Thane also co-hosts The Three Wise Guys on Turf’s Up Radio and does daily leadership posts on Linkedin.
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Table of Contents
We are thrilled to have you join us today, welcome to ValiantCEO Magazine’s exclusive interview! Let’s start off with a little introduction. Tell our readers a bit about yourself and your company.
Thane Isaacs: We are an executive coaching specialist with certification in coaching and training from the John Maxwell Team. We have been coaching and consulting for 10 years now and have been in business as an independent coaching business since March 2015.
We offer one on one coaching services, Executive Retreats at our Beach House on Ocean Isle Beach in North Carolina and weekly Growth Shops for groups of 6 or more.
Our belief is that goals are finite but growth is infinite. Our journey only stops when our heart stops beating.
2020 and 2021 threw a lot of curve balls into business on a global scale. Based on the experience gleaned in the past couple years, how can businesses thrive in 2022? What lessons have you learned?
Thane Isaacs: When coaching leaders in business, the best advice that can be given is to be able to adapt or pivot as the new catch phrase that is spreading.
When businesses are able to adapt quickly to the changing times, and they have never changed this quickly this often, they are able to move with the times.
By setting expectations to a place of reality, it is much easier to adapt. When we have set expectations and they don’t occur, our frustrations grows. But if we manage our expectations, we manage our frustrations.
By managing frustrations, we are able to keep our mind clear of too much emotion and keep our vision focused on the adaptation, instead of being frustrated by the need to adapt in the first place. Frustration won’t solve any problems and it can actually hinder them. And when the leader shows frustration, that behavior can be modeled by other key players, spreading like a wildfire.
One of the most valued tips my clients tell me I give them is that by setting expectations of what is possible but keeping in mind the unexpected, we keep our minds from emotional outbursts and focus on adjusting, not complaining we have to adjust. That gets us further, quicker.
If we spend too much time complaining about what is going on, we are wasting time addressing what needs to be done.
The pandemic seems to keep on disrupting the economy, what should businesses focus on in 2022? What advice would you share?
Thane Isaacs: We should focus on bringing value to our customers, creating value in the workplace for our team members and help them to feel valued so they want to stay working with us. If employees (quality employees) are scarce, it is up to businesses to help those the feel be more empowered, to feel more a part of the process to fell they bring value to the business and are valued by the business.
When we work for money, the work becomes hollow, but when we work to create value, we feel we have value ourselves. It really is a symbiotic relationship, but often we don’t treat it that way.
Without the employees there would be no company. Without the company there would be no jobs. We have to learn to appreciate each other in the workforce.
One of the questions Innovations Tomorrow likes to ask is “Why would an employee want to give you their heart, their soul, their best when you don’t do the same for them?”
The answer is, they won’t.
How has the pandemic changed your industry and how have you adapted?
Thane Isaacs: The business model of coaching used to be face to face. Now, most of the coaching is done via Zoom calls. This takes away the personal, close connection we all crave. But it also allows us to more cost effectively work with clients. What used to be a two day initial visit at a high cost can be done remotely with no travel expense, no travel exposure and at a much lower cost to the client.
The lack of travel also allows savvy owners to work more on their business instead of sitting on a plane or in the airport or worse in hours of traffic that delay us from our flight or next appointment.
It has allowed our business to help more people, more efficiently and more cost effective.
What advice do you wish you received when the pandemic started and what do you intend on improving in 2022?
Thane Isaacs: None really. That is focusing on the wake of the boat, and that does not drive us forward.
I only want to focus on what I can do, not what I should have done.
As I tell my children and clients all the time, “You can’t ever should have”
Online business surged higher than ever, B2B, B2C, online shopping, virtual meetings, remote work, Zoom medical consultations, what are your expectations for 2022?
Thane Isaacs: People want to interact with people. People want to get in front of other people.
The online market will continue to surge, but where businesses can create their niche’ and show the value they have, those will continue to surge as well.
How many hours a day do you spend in front of a screen?
Thane Isaacs: Too many.
The majority of executives use stories to persuade and communicate in the workplace. Can you share with our readers examples of how you implement that in your business to communicate effectively with your team?
Thane Isaacs: Two of my associates and I have formed a peer group called PEAK Peer Groups about personal growth. We use stories of THE MOUNTAIN (life) and its challenges to compare to our journey in life.
It all started from a poem I wrote for my son when he graduated high school.
Business is all about overcoming obstacles and creating opportunities for growth. What do you see as the real challenge right now?
Thane Isaacs: Finding the right people and getting them the right resources. There are three requirements in any task.
- The right people (it all starts with people)
- The right information (give them the information you would want to do the same job they are doing)
- The right resources (materials, equipment, etc)
Two of those are hard to find right now. People and resources.
- Train people, treat them well, and allow them to be part of the business
- Treat your vendors well, they are the ones who will help you or not help you with supply chain issues.
It is always been about relationships, now it is vital, not just a nice to have.
In 2022, what are you most interested in learning about? Crypto, NFTs, online marketing, or any other skill sets? Please share your motivations.
Thane Isaacs: Personal growth, always. Regardless of what is going on, develop myself.
The investment in self today is what prepares us to be ready for tomorrow. If we aren’t investing in ourselves, bringing in new information, new ideas, then how is our business growing? It isn’t. Businesses aren’t organic, some even call themselves organizations but are fare from organized. Grow yourself and the people and the business will grow. It really is that simple and that difficult at the same time.
A record 4.4 million Americans left their jobs in September in 2021, accelerating a trend that has become known as the Great Resignation. 47% of people plan to leave their job during 2022. Most are leaving because of their boss or their company culture. 82% of people feel unheard, undervalued and misunderstood in the workplace. Do you think leaders see the data and think “that’s not me – I’m not that boss they don’t want to work for? What changes do you think need to happen?
Thane Isaacs: Of course most people don’t think they are the issue. This is where leaders need to sit down one on one with their key members to make sure they they are giving their team members what they need to do their job correctly.
Ask the questions ~
- How am I doing as a leader?
- Are there ways you can see I can improve?
- Do you have everything you need to do your job correctly?
Then create an action plan, follow up with improvements and ask how you are doing with the input.
Wash, rinse, repeat.
You will earn respect and build a culture that is willing to improve and ask for help.
On a lighter note, if you had the ability to pick any business superpower, what would it be and how would you put it into practice?
Thane Isaacs: I am a comic book nerd so, this is right up my alley. I would spread empathy to all business people everywhere. To be able to put ourselves in the mind of a vendor when we treat them incorrectly, to put ourselves in the mind of an employee when our leadership isn’t showing up as it should, to put ourselves in the mind of a client we took advantage of and see how they view us.
To see and feel from another’s point of view would be the superpower I would choose.
What does “success” in 2022 mean to you? It could be on a personal or business level, please share your vision.
Thane Isaacs: Success is important, but at Innovations Tomorrow we focus more on significance. Success is what we do for ourselves, and that is important. Significance is what we do in the lives of others, and that is our mission. When we become significant in the lives of others our success will naturally be ours.
Jed Morley, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Thane Isaacs for taking the time to do this interview and share his knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Thane Isaacs or his company, you can do it through his – Linkedin Page
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