Episodi

  • Stop Being the Hero of Your Business - Bill Flynn

    Stop Being the Hero of Your Business - Bill Flynn
    Oct 15 2026
    "The question you should be asking is: why did this decision reach me?" It's the question at the center of what Bill Flynn calls decision capital.In Part 2, Bill and Pol Cousineau dig into the hero trap: why leaders who were rewarded for years for having the answer end up as the bottleneck in their own business, and why pulling back can leave the team feeling abandoned. Bill explains his three leadership identities, the vacation test, and what a Navy submarine captain learned when he stopped giving orders. They close on why Bill sets standards instead of giving feedback, and the two steps he recommends for educational business owners stuck in the weeds.In this episode, you'll hear:Why being the hero who always has the answer becomes a trap as your business growsBill's three leadership identities: controller, builder, and architectThe vacation test, starting with a vacation from a single meetingDecision capital, and the exercise that shows which decisions actually need youHow intent-based leadership turned the worst submarine in the US Navy into the bestPre-mortems, after-action reviews, and milestones that keep projects on trackWhy Bill sets standards instead of giving feedback, and how red, yellow, green check-ins workChapters:02:33 - How Bill’s Books Help Him Reach a Million Lives05:24 - The Idea Behind The Hero Trap: Controller, Builder, Architect12:09 - Escaping the Hero Trap: Stop Making Every Decision20:36 - Turn the Ship Around: Let Your Team Decide25:33 - Making Failure Okay: After-Action Reviews and Pre-Mortems30:10 - Milestones: Checking In Without Micromanaging33:32 - “How Do You Know?”: Testing Your Assumptions40:25 - Which Metrics Matter: Leading Indicators and Red, Yellow, Green45:59 - Setting Standards, Outcomes, and Checklists49:39 - Advice for Educational Business Owners: Vision First, Then Audit Your Offers54:37 - Where to Find Bill and The Hero TrapAbout Bill FlynnBill Flynn is the founder of Catalyst Growth Advisors and an executive coach, speaker, and advisor to CEOs of scaling companies. He teaches management science to CEOs and their leadership teams so they can take the guesswork out of growth. Bill brings more than 30 years of operating experience as an eight-time VP of sales, two-time CMO, and general manager of a $100 million-plus division, across 10 startups, two IPOs, and seven acquisitions. He is a member of Marshall Goldsmith's MG100 coaching community, and his writing has appeared in Harvard Business Review, Training Magazine, and ATD. He is the author of Further Faster and is based in Greater Boston.Bill's new book, The Hero Trap, comes out in October 2026 and is available to pre-order on Amazon. It centers on his core idea: great leaders build organizations that make their own indispensability unnecessary.Check out The Hero Trap book written by Bill Flynn: https://catalystgrowthadvisors.com/the-hero-trap/ Connect with Bill:Website: https://catalystgrowthadvisors.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/billflynnpublicWant to be a guest on Mind Of All Trades? Apply here: https://mindofalltrades.com/podcast-applicationFollow Mind Of All Trades:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MindofAllTradesSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4MixC1mfhhUVIOFO1mywUcApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mind-of-all-trades/id6807196830Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mindofalltrades/Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/32ce7fa4-4473-4c53-9256-7fca60e47331/mind-of-all-tradesLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mind-of-all-trades/Theme music by Breakmaster Cylinder.
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    56 min
  • Customers Don't Buy, They Hire - Bill Flynn

    Customers Don't Buy, They Hire - Bill Flynn
    Oct 13 2026
    "People do not buy products and services from you. They hire them to get a certain job or set of jobs done for them." It's the idea at the center of how Bill Flynn now teaches CEOs to sell.In Part 1, Bill and Pol Cousineau dig into why most companies sell on the supply side while their customers buy on the demand side. Bill explains how studying decision science took him from struggling in his first sales job to being the number one or two salesperson everywhere he went, what a dining room table taught one condo developer about why people don't buy, and how to interview customers so they tell you things they didn't know they knew. They close on the three things thriving businesses get right, and why cash should be your primary financial metric.In this episode, you'll hear:How Bill built a solo advisory business he works about 30 days a yearWhy he chose Scaling Up over EOS, and why selling takes both competence and confidenceHow studying decision-making turned his sales results aroundJobs to Be Done and Demand Side Sales 101: why customers hire products instead of buying themThe functional, social, and emotional reasons behind every purchaseHow to interview customers like an investigative journalistThe three things thriving businesses get right: teams, systems, and cashChapters:00:00 - Coming Up and Intro03:43 - A One-Person Business Built Around 100 Days a Year07:12 - Choosing an Expertise: Scaling Up vs. EOS10:33 - Competence, Confidence, and Learning to Sell17:58 - Jobs to Be Done: Why Customers Hire You22:25 - Applying Jobs to Be Done to Training25:37 - Turning Customer Needs Into Your Message31:59 - Customer Discovery and Designing for What They Want38:29 - Fewer Features, Fewer Bonuses, Clearer Language41:36 - Bending the Curve: Why Most Businesses Struggle48:51 - Getting Better and Aiming for a Million LivesAbout Bill FlynnBill Flynn is the founder of Catalyst Growth Advisors and an executive coach, speaker, and advisor to CEOs of scaling companies. He teaches management science to CEOs and their leadership teams so they can take the guesswork out of growth. Bill brings more than 30 years of operating experience as an eight-time VP of sales, two-time CMO, and general manager of a $100 million-plus division, across 10 startups, two IPOs, and seven acquisitions. He is a member of Marshall Goldsmith's MG100 coaching community, and his writing has appeared in Harvard Business Review, Training Magazine, and ATD. He is the author of Further Faster and is based in Greater Boston.Bill's new book, The Hero Trap, comes out in October 2026. Like Further Faster, it centers on his core idea: great leaders build organizations that make their own indispensability unnecessary.Check out The Hero Trap book written by Bill Flynn: https://catalystgrowthadvisors.com/the-hero-trap/ Connect with Bill:Website: https://catalystgrowthadvisors.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/billflynnpublicWant to be a guest on Mind Of All Trades? Apply here: https://mindofalltrades.com/podcast-applicationFollow Mind Of All Trades:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MindofAllTradesSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4MixC1mfhhUVIOFO1mywUcApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mind-of-all-trades/id6807196830Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mindofalltrades/Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/32ce7fa4-4473-4c53-9256-7fca60e47331/mind-of-all-tradesLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mind-of-all-trades/Theme music by Breakmaster Cylinder.
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    54 min
  • How to Turn One Book Into an App, Workbooks, and a Mastermind - Gary Mitchell

    How to Turn One Book Into an App, Workbooks, and a Mastermind - Gary Mitchell
    Oct 9 2026
    "I don't know too many lawyers that can sit down and read a 300-plus-page book in their spare time." That's why Gary Mitchell didn't stop at the book.In Part 2, Gary and Pol Cousineau look under the hood at how Gary turned one book into workbooks, an app, and a masterclass, and how each piece fits into a ladder of offers that runs from a content subscription all the way up to premium one-on-one coaching. Gary explains how he designs each level around how people learn and how much support they need, why sharing your framework doesn't cannibalize your premium offers, and the simple hiring rule that keeps you from burning out before help arrives. They close on A players, delegation, and the legacy Gary wants to leave.In this episode, you'll hear:How Gary teaches the same message through one-on-one coaching, a mastermind, an app, workbooks, and retreatsWhy peer learning works so well for risk-averse professionalsHow the book became workbooks, an app, and a masterclass, and why giving away information doesn't hurt salesHow Gary builds accountability into his mastermind, one commitment at a timeHis 60/80/100 rule for knowing when to start hiringThe AI tools Gary relies on, and how he delegates the tech he'd rather not touchHow to spot your A players, and why it always comes back to attitudeChapters:02:32 - How One Book Becomes Workbooks, an App, and a Mastermind09:13 - The Fear of Giving Away Your Content15:21 - Designing Offers Around Your Clients’ Time20:22 - Accountability and the Power of a Quick Win23:29 - Why People Don’t Change Until It Hurts, and When to Hire27:05 - Gary’s Tools and AI Stack31:41 - Build Leaders: Strengths, A Players, and How Deep to Delegate38:31 - Reasonable Expectations and Knowing Your Team42:18 - Where to Find Gary’s Book and ProgramAbout Gary MitchellGary Mitchell is a law firm architect, business coach, and the founder of OnTrac Coach. Since 2005, OnTrac Coach has helped law firm owners create systems and processes to scale their firms for growth, increase revenues and profits, develop best leadership practices, build extraordinary teams, and gain more freedom. Gary has twice been named a top 10 coach to law firms in North America and is the author of four books, most recently The AND Approach: How to Grow Your Law Firm AND Gain More Freedom. Before coaching, he trained as an actor and singer and performed all over the world.Chapter workbooks for The AND Approach are now available on Gary's website, and he is launching The AND Approach Law Firm Growth Masterclass and The AND Approach Podcast.Check out The AND Approach book written by Gary Mitchell: https://ontraccoach.com/the-and-approach/ Connect with Gary:Website: https://ontraccoach.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ontrac-coach/?viewAsMember=true Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ontraccoach YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/ontraccoach Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theandapproach/ Want to be a guest on Mind of All Trades? Apply here: https://mindofalltrades.com/podcast-application Follow Mind of All Trades:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MindofAllTrades Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4MixC1mfhhUVIOFO1mywUc Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mind-of-all-trades/id6807196830 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mindofalltrades/ Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/32ce7fa4-4473-4c53-9256-7fca60e47331/mind-of-all-trades LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mind-of-all-trades/ Theme music by Breakmaster Cylinder.
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    45 min
  • Why Letting Go of Control Gives You More of It - Gary Mitchell

    Why Letting Go of Control Gives You More of It - Gary Mitchell
    Oct 6 2026
    "At the end of the day, you have more control over your time, your firm, your life, because it's running smoothly." That's Gary Mitchell on the irony at the heart of what he calls The AND Approach.Gary trained as an actor and singer, ran for parliament (and, in his words, thankfully lost), then spent more than 20 years coaching law firm owners exclusively. In this episode, he and Pol Cousineau talk about why so many owners become the biggest bottleneck in their own business, how to let go of control without letting standards slip, and why the people and systems you build are what finally give you your time back. The examples come from law firms, but the lessons carry straight over to any educational business with a team.In this episode, you'll hear:How running a campaign for a first-time candidate led Gary to coaching law firm ownersWhy trying to control everything creates a culture of dependence and makes you the bottleneckThe mistake Gary found in his own book after eight rounds of editing, and what it says about perfectionismWhy Gary tells clients to hire attitude over resume, every timeWhat McDonald's can teach you about systems, onboarding, and getting new hires productive fasterThe question that shows whether your business could run for two weeks without youChapters:03:48 - From Acting and Politics to Coaching Law Firms09:59 - Understanding the Lawyer Mind13:16 - Managing Your Team's Time Without Spyware18:55 - Perfectionism and Why You Can't Do It All Alone23:01 - Starting With the Team You Have31:00 - Your Right-Hand Person and the Freedom to Step Away35:09 - Digging Into the AND Approach41:23 - Asking Your Team What They Actually Want46:12 - Systems, Processes, and ScalingAbout Gary MitchellGary Mitchell is a law firm architect, business coach, and the founder of OnTrac Coach. Since 2005, OnTrac Coach has helped law firm owners create systems and processes to scale their firms for growth, increase revenues and profits, develop best leadership practices, build extraordinary teams, and gain more freedom. Gary has twice been named a top 10 coach to law firms in North America and is the author of four books, most recently The AND Approach: How to Grow Your Law Firm AND Gain More Freedom. Before coaching, he trained as an actor and singer and performed all over the world.Check out The AND Approach book written by Gary Mitchell: https://ontraccoach.com/the-and-approach/ Connect with Gary:Website: https://ontraccoach.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ontrac-coach/?viewAsMember=true Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ontraccoach YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/ontraccoach Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theandapproach/ Want to be a guest on Mind of All Trades? Apply here: https://mindofalltrades.com/podcast-application Follow Mind of All Trades:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MindofAllTrades Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4MixC1mfhhUVIOFO1mywUc Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mind-of-all-trades/id6807196830 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mindofalltrades/ Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/32ce7fa4-4473-4c53-9256-7fca60e47331/mind-of-all-trades LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mind-of-all-trades/ Theme music by Breakmaster Cylinder.
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    51 min
  • The System That Keeps Your Business Running Without You - Lara Nieberding

    The System That Keeps Your Business Running Without You - Lara Nieberding
    Oct 1 2026

    "There is a time and a place for AI, and there is still a place and a need for an OBM in your business." That's Lara Nieberding's own answer to the question Part 1 left hanging, and in Part 2, she and Pol get into exactly why.


    This part picks up right where Part 1 ended: the actual system Lara builds so a business doesn't depend on any one person's memory. She walks through her "source of truth" method, the tools stack she relies on, how she manages a founder who never stops having new ideas, and how to structure a team meeting that doesn't turn into a fight. Then, toward the end, she gets personal about something that's affected her directly: what AI is already changing about her own industry, and what she believes still can't be replaced.


    Timestamps:

    0:00 Coming Up + Recap

    2:53 Teaching AI Your Source of Truth

    8:01 The Tools Stack

    17:29 Protecting Your Work With Version Control

    21:44 Managing a Founder's Constant New Ideas

    27:11 Structuring Team Meetings That Work

    32:52 The Future of the Industry (and AI)


    About Lara Nieberding

    Lara is a Certified Online Business Manager and the founder of Encore OBM. In her own words: her job is to make sure the right things (planning) get done in the right way (systems), at the right time (project management), by the right people (team management). She works primarily with business, marketing, and life coaches who offer online courses and programs.


    Connect with Lara:

    • Company: Encore OBM

    • LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/laranieberding


    Want to be a guest on Mind of All Trades? Apply here: mindofalltrades.com/podcast-application


    Join our membership waitlist: https://mindofalltrades.com/membership/


    Follow Mind of All Trades:

    • YouTube: youtube.com/@MindofAllTrades

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    Theme music by Breakmaster Cylinder.
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    43 min
  • What Happens to Your Business When You Disappear - Lara Nieberding

    What Happens to Your Business When You Disappear - Lara Nieberding
    Sep 29 2026

    What happens to your business if you disappear? Pol has actually been asked that question himself, and Lara Nieberding has spent almost two decades building the answer for other people's businesses.

    Lara, known online as The Purple Lara, is a certified online business manager who has worked entirely virtually since 2007. She's run six-figure coaching and consulting operations in fields as different as financial advising and holistic healing, and she earned her OBM certification in 2011 after training with Tina Forsyth. Her credo: "proper planning prevents poor performance." In this episode, she and Pol get into what it actually takes to keep a business running when the person who built it isn't the one holding it together day to day.


    In this episode, you'll hear:

    • The real reason Lara deliberately gives some clients a deadline that isn't the real deadline

    • How to tell whether a founder and an operator are actually a good fit, before it becomes a problem

    • What happens when a launch goes sideways mid-campaign, and how to steer it without panicking the team

    • Why "what happens if you die" is a real planning question, not a morbid one

    • How Lara actually structures a project management system so nothing depends on one person's memory


    About Lara Nieberding

    Lara Nieberding is a certified online business manager who has worked entirely virtually since 2007, running Encore Online Business Management. She's a member of the International Association of Online Business Managers (certified 2011) and the International Virtual Assistants Association (member since 2007), and she calls herself a "Jane of all trades."


    Connect with Lara:

    • Company: Encore OBM

    • LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/laranieberding


    Follow Mind of All Trades:

    • YouTube: youtube.com/@MindofAllTrades

    • Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/4MixC1mfhhUVIOFO1mywUc

    • Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mind-of-all-trades/id6807196830

    • Instagram: instagram.com/mindofalltrades

    • Amazon Music: music.amazon.com/podcasts/32ce7fa4-4473-4c53-9256-7fca60e47331/mind-of-all-trades

    • LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/mind-of-all-trades


    Apply to be a guest here: https://mindofalltrades.com/podcast-application/

    Theme music by Breakmaster Cylinder.
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    55 min
  • Most People Are Failing Way More Than You Think - Alan Lazaros

    Most People Are Failing Way More Than You Think - Alan Lazaros
    Sep 24 2026

    Most people are just cowards, including himself. That's Alan Lazaros' actual claim on this episode, and he means it as an invitation, not an insult: fear is usually the real reason people don't execute, not a lack of knowledge or effort.

    Alan is the co-founder of Next Level University, where he offers weekly meetups and one-on-one and group coaching. He also co-hosts the Next Level University podcast, a global top 100 self-improvement show with more than 2,500 episodes and listeners in over 175 countries. He left a stable corporate path (he holds a BS in computer engineering and an MBA) to build a single podcast into a company with a 23-person global team, and says he's helped generate more than $15 million in revenue for his own coaching clients. In this episode, he walks through his Constraint Theory framework: why chasing more effort is usually the wrong move, and why the real unlock is identifying the one thing actually limiting your growth.

    In this episode, you'll hear:

    • Why "you are already enough" might be the worst advice you've been given
    • How to actually find your constraint, instead of guessing at it
    • Why most businesses aren't measuring the things that matter, and what to track instead
    • How to build a leaderboard culture with real titles, roles, and accountability
    • The one metric ("true north") Alan uses to guide every decision on his team
    • Why courage, not competence, is usually the real thing holding people back


    About Alan Lazaros

    Alan is the CEO of Next Level University, a podcast about personal and professional development. He's also a business coach who helps people achieve their goals by tracking habits and making decisions based on data. If there's one thing he wants you to take away from this episode, it's the importance of habits and the compound effect in reaching your goals.

    Check out Alan's own show and connect with him:

    • Next Level University podcast: nextleveluniverse.com

    • YouTube: youtube.com/@NextLevelUniversity

    • Instagram: instagram.com/alazaros88

    • Facebook: facebook.com/alan.lazaros

    • LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/alanlazarosllc

    Follow Mind of All Trades:

    • YouTube: youtube.com/@MindofAllTrades

    • Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/4MixC1mfhhUVIOFO1mywUc

    • Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mind-of-all-trades/id6807196830

    • Instagram: instagram.com/mindofalltrades

    • Amazon Music: music.amazon.com/podcasts/32ce7fa4-4473-4c53-9256-7fca60e47331/mind-of-all-trades

    • LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/mind-of-all-trades

    Theme music by Breakmaster Cylinder.
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    41 min
  • Part 2 - How to Finally Have the Conversation You've Been Avoiding - Robin Quinn Keehn

    Part 2 - How to Finally Have the Conversation You've Been Avoiding - Robin Quinn Keehn
    Sep 21 2026

    When you decide to have a conversation, 99% committed is much harder than 100% committed." That's Robin Quinn Keehn, back for Part 2, and this time she's showing us exactly how to close the loops we talked about in Part 1.

    If you haven't heard Part 1 yet, that's where Robin introduced the idea of open loops: the tasks, decisions, promises, and conversations we leave unfinished, and what that quietly costs us. In this part, she walks through the actual method for having the conversation you've been avoiding, then introduces the tool she built to help you practice it first.

    In Part 2, you'll hear:

    • The exact steps Robin uses to open a hard conversation, including the one line she says almost every time

    • What to do when the other person gets defensive, and why that's not a sign to stop

    • Why a boundary you don't enforce isn't really a boundary at all

    • Inside People Skillz, the app Robin built to let you rehearse a hard conversation before you have it for real, including the personal reason Pol started using it himself

    • What actually changes when people track their progress, real numbers from real teams

    This is Part 2 of a two-part conversation. If you missed Part 1, go back and start there first.


    About Robin Quinn Keehn:

    Robin is the founder of People Skillz Education & Consulting. Her new book, Stop Stealing From Yourself: Close the Open Loops That Quietly Drain Your Time, Energy, and Peace, is out now.


    Try the app Robin talks about in this episode:

    People Skillz is a "difficult conversation simulator" where you can rehearse a hard conversation (with a partner, a boss, a parent) safely, before you ever have to have it for real. It's free to try.

    • App: try.pplskillz.com

    • Website: pplskillz.com

    • Community: skool.com/peopleskillz

    • YouTube: @therobinquinnkeehn

    • Instagram: @robinquinnkeehn

    • Facebook: robinquinnkeehnsparks


    Follow Mind of All Trades:

    • YouTube: youtube.com/@MindofAllTrades

    • Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/4MixC1mfhhUVIOFO1mywUc

    • Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mind-of-all-trades/id6807196830

    • Instagram: instagram.com/mindofalltrades

    • Amazon Music: music.amazon.com/podcasts/32ce7fa4-4473-4c53-9256-7fca60e47331/mind-of-all-trades

    • LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/mind-of-all-trades

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    59 min