How to Lead Your Team, ft. Will Compton, with Andy Frisella - MFCEO08

Podcast Overview

Sixteen years ago, Andy Frisella, “The MFCEO,” and his business partner, Chris, started a company called Supplement Superstores with $12,000 they earned from striping the stripes on parking lots and now do annually over $100 million a year in business.  He started this podcast basically for three reasons.

•      To mentor people who don't have mentors
•      To motivate people in a real authentic way
•      Because he has a passion for motivating and helping people

Andy’s main motivation here is to help people realize what it takes to A) be successful. B) stay self motivated and C) hopefully for people to give back to others as well.

How to Lead Your Team

In this special extended episode, Andy Frisella is joined by special guest Will Compton, a former captain on the Nebraska Cornhuskers football team and current linebacker for the Washington Redskins.  Along with co-hosts Vaughn Kohler and Ben Newman, Andy and Will discuss how to lead your team.  From leading by example to showing appreciation to each team member, this is an insightful and comprehensive conversation.  Here are some highlights from the episode:

You Can't Do It Alone

According to Andy, you can't accomplish anything meaningful alone.  If you can't create a team of people who will follow your lead, you are not going to succeed in business.  So if you are an entrepreneur, you must know how to lead your team.

Delegation is Difficult But Vital

Andy says leading a team is extremely difficult.  The scariest thing for him was expanding from one store to multiple stores, because he had to give up control and trust people.  But that's vitally important.  You have to realize, Andy says, that you are not fucking special.  You are not so good that you don't need help.  You need it.  And you need to delegate.  If you don't, other businesses will pass you by.

Leadership Begins with Selling Your Vision

Andy says that you must consider yourself the #1 sales person of your vision.  You have to be passionate and excited.  According to Will Compton, on the football field, there have to be leaders who sell others on the culture of the program.  They have to get everyone else excited about taking excellence to the highest level.

Humility is a Huge Part of Leadership

Andy says that the answer to how to lead your team is "humility."  It's huge.  According to him, "You're not a leader because you own the business.  You're not a leader because you're the best player on the football field.  You're a leader if you realize that you aren't that fucking great, that you have a long way to go, and that your job is to keep learning and bringing people with you along the road to success."

...And Many More Insights from Andy, Will, and Ben

This is a far-reaching, in depth conversation about team work and leadership.  Here are a few more sound bytes:

• "They say 'football is a game of inches.'  It's the same with leadership.  Successful leaders do the little things.  They pay attention to the details."
• "Do the shit you need to do and your team will come out and do it with you."
• "A good leader is a good teacher.  He or she doesn't just say, 'Do this because I fucking said it.'  They attach meaning to a task.  Vision drives behavior."
• "If you are a leader, you should study the people who are what you want to be."
• "You don't need permission to be a leader.  It comes from a decision within yourself."
• "Leadership involves a transfer of passion."

These insights and many more!

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE