203 | Being a Courageous Leader with Darryl Lyons

Every CEO faces challenges and has to make decisions for the company. It takes courage to be a strong leader who makes hard decisions and continues to lead by those decisions. Darryl Lyons, CEO of PAX Financial Group, shares some about his journey as a leader of his teams. Darryl gives you a few practical tips to guiding and leading in today’s world.

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Target Audience: Darryl co founded and is the CEO of the group called Pax Financial Group in San Antonio Texas. The group is currently comprised of 18 employees. Their mission is to serve small business owners facing anxiety and overwhelm.

The Pax Financial Group is one of the best places to work in the city according to the San Antonio Business Journal. It is also one of the fastest-growing companies in the city. There are only 18 employees because Darryl has figured out a way to effectively use systems, processes and technology to do a lot of the heavy lifting.

What did you have to let go of to get to where you are?

Darryl figured out that he had to evolve from being a technician to serving individual clients and ultimately to becoming a leader of the organization. Darryl believes it is not his sole responsibility to lead his company, but the collective’s responsibility.

Creating a strong foundation and meaningful principles

The Pax Financial Group has a total of 42 agreed upon values. His employees also resonate with these same values (very important in any business- whether large or small). Team members are asked to keep in line with their favorites and everyone gets the opportunity to take ownership. Additionally, Darryl created a system where team members are responsible for writing down the 6 most important things they must do the following day. Thus, the first thing they do the next day has tackled those things.

This is more about tackling “Goal achieving” rather than “stress relieving” tasks. This is helpful for everyone because they belt it out on paper and can go home with a clear mind.

Why does this work?

When you have certain systems and processes in place, people can trust each other. It also builds a sense of professionalism.

What about so called “overwhelm”?

According to Darryl, it’s not that you’re overwhelmed, you just don’t have a priority system. When you have your system, you just do the next thing. When you don’t have a system to organize your mind, you get overwhelmed.

Why did this Small Business Big Pressure have to be written?

People noticed what Pax Financial Group was up and started asking questions about systems, marketing, cash flow, etc. Darryl knew there was a need for this and taught free 2-hour workshops. The questions kept flooding in from sharp, successful people. Drawing from that, Darryl could tell that peer to peer leadership was lacking.

Common Mistakes Small Business Owners Make…

Darryl has seen that people are imbalanced when it comes to utilizing the left brain and right brain. Even the successful and smart entrepreneurs need to lean on the left side a little bit more and just think through their cash flow on a regular basis. This requires checking on it and taking an active role in managing it. Often times, small business owners will delegate this to their employees and become disconnected from it.

On Having A Coach

Darryl admits that It feels good to walk with someone. Being an entrepreneur – having a coach is so beneficial because it lessens anxiety and gives you the opportunity to unpack.

In this episode we’ll cover:

• Goal Achieving vs. Stress Relieving
• Why you feel overwhelmed
• How to create systems to cure overwhelm
• Creating an office culture that benefits all
• Common mistakes small biz owners make

Practical and Actionable:

In summary, Darryl believes that giving hope, being authentic and creating an energy in the office which celebrates people’s faith is key. “Measure, monitor and celebrate.”

Resources and Links

• Small Business Big Pressure Official Website
• Grab your copy of Small Business Big Pressure
• Darryl on Twitter 
• Register for a call with Gene to get clear on YOUR next steps
• Free tools on being a Market Leader
• Leave a review in iTunes!

Do you have questions about today’s episode!?

Did you know that you can apply to chat with me by phone? This is a limited time offer to help anyone that is serious about refining their business as well as developing a clear & compelling strategy that will drive them forward. Complete the questions and our team will follow up with you to schedule time for your “Business Breakthrough Session”. These are limited to 30 minutes, completely free and oh, so valuable.  Apply Now!

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