Mid-Year Slump? Here's How Top Performers Reset

Brian Kavicky (00:00):
If the opposite were true, what would I be doing? And that sets you in motion of what to do. But you have to get your brain open to changing its belief before you can set it into action to deal with this stuff. But that question of is it absolutely true and what about the opposite being true really causes you to step back and say, well, wait a minute. Let me look around. Let me open to this possibility that that might not be right.

Tiffany Sauder (00:28):
I'm Tiffany Sauder, entrepreneur, wife, mom to four girls and a woman figuring it out just like you. If you're tired of living a life of have to and finally ready to build a life of want to, then you're in the right place. Come on, let's go build your Life of And welcome back to another episode of The Life of And podcast. I'm your host, Tiffany Sauder. Today's guest, Brian Kavicky, or BK as I affectionately call him, is not a new voice around here. I've decided to start calling these episodes when Brian comes on, let's talk business because we're all trying to win at work and in life and BK well, he's been part of my winning formula for over a decade. His thinking has shaped how I lead, sell, and grow. Oh, and to keep the FTC happy, this episode is part of a paid partnership. Brian sponsors these conversations, but I don't earn a dime if you work with him. I just really, really think he's worth listening to. Okay, enough of my preamble. Let's get into it.

(01:37):
Did anyone else just blink and realize Christmas wasn't yesterday and somehow we're mid-year time is not slowing down and where your businesses, your relationships, or your team stands right now? It is not random. It's a direct result of our planning, our preparation and our discipline or the lack thereof. This year has been a massive year of change for me personally, figuring out how to prioritize my family differently. Stepping down a CEO at the agency, leaning more into Life of And looking at my life and seeing where is there traction and where is there not the traction that I quote want there to be really made This post that Brian put on LinkedIn hit me square in the eyes. And here's what it said is that a lot of leaders are convincing themselves midyear that it's all going to turn around in the second half while quietly knowing that they can't actually forecast anything with confidence. And I realized there are areas in my life that this is true. So I brought Brian on. Brian, welcome back. And I want you to double click into what do you mean by this? That the second half of the year is not necessarily magically, it's not magically going to create outcomes that our behaviors and disciplines I've not created for us in the first half of the year.

Brian Kavicky (02:49):
I think when somebody sets about a plan and says, this is what I want to happen with the year, they're typically doing that at the end of the year before and they go about doing all the things that they think are necessary to make that happen or their version of it. And then they realize that somewhere in this May, a July timeframe that wait a second, we're not where we thought we should be. There's a piece of them that says, well, that's because of X. And they start to rationalize why their plan was good and why they're where they're at. And they're rationalizing things that aren't actually rational. They're more excuses and they don't actually know their excuses. They tend to believe 'em. They think, well, this is what's true and this is what's affecting us. But in reality, if somebody else heard that, that had overcome that challenge would go, oh, that's just an excuse. That's not real. You just want it to be true.

Tiffany Sauder (03:52):
So what do these sound like? Some of these excuses?

Brian Kavicky (03:57):
So a couple examples I wrote were our business tends to move with the market. In other words, when the market's up business is good, when the market's down, business is bad, which translates into our people don't know how or won't go out and get new business because people that are typically moving with the market are not doing anything to compensate for market adjustments.

Tiffany Sauder (04:21):
Can we double click on that one for a second? Because this is playing out. We bring Brian into the only the hardest problems in our worlds. And so Element Three, our target market over there is manufacturers. And so we're living in a lot of uncertainty with our clients because of all of these tariffs. And when I was leading the agency going back to oh 8, 0 9, and I was like, look, it's the financial crisis and everything is falling apart. Of course my agency's falling apart. You were like, no, you just dunno how to react to this. And so you're pointing to the market in this environment. I've told Kyler, okay, the tariffs are just a factor in the equation. We can't just say our business is going to be half the size we thought it was going to be because these tariffs are in place. So you're helping us navigate this. What's the playbook that you're helping us run? It is a real thing. It is real. You can't just say, oh, it's not,

Brian Kavicky (05:20):
Oh, it's totally real. But what it's not seen at is where is the opportunity? Is the good in this? Where do we now fit? I mean, if your target market is struggling with rising costs that are not in their control, and I would argue they can't do anything about it because all the things that the tariffs are increasing domestically, they're raising their prices to because they know they're the only solution. So they don't have alternatives. Now it's the perfect time to go. Do you want help navigating this? Do you want help compensating this? Do you want help? How we're messaging your dealers and all those things because this is where there's good in this and there's opportunity. It's like people will go, well, we really can't do anything right now. Our business is down. Well, would you help doing the things that make your business go up? Then there's always opportunity and what the marketplace thinks is bad.

Tiffany Sauder (06:17):
I think that instead of looking at it and saying, that has to be a headwind for my business, we have more looked at it and said, that is defining the context in which we need to enter these conversations. It's providing context, not, it's not setting the entire environment. It's made us hard to think really hard because it is inertia as a leader to be like, well, that's outside of my control. I don't know what to do next. And not think really hard about, okay, what's going to happen and how do we get in front of this?

Brian Kavicky (06:48):
And the thing is, when you get good at that for yourself, you get good at helping other people get good at that as well. Because the next step is going to be how do we now convince our customers that they need us for that? You can't do that if you think it's just a headwind. You'll never explore that.

Tiffany Sauder (07:05):
That's one is like, okay, the market is happening to us and I, so I'm passively engaging in the marketplace as a leader. That's one excuse. What else do they sound like?

Brian Kavicky (07:15):
Another one is, our competitors are doing things like beating us up on price or lowering the margins or any of those things. Well, that might be true, but that just means that your team doesn't know how to sell against it or sell value or differentiate yourself beyond price. So an excuse is always a truth. It is true that tariffs are going up. It is true that your competitors are doing things that you don't like. All those things are true, but what makes it an excuse is that you accept no responsibility for it. And if you say, okay, I must be responsible for this in some way, you'll actually start to figure out how you are and thus what the fix is. And the issue is that a lot of times we don't know it's our fault. It's very hard to go, Hey, this is my fault or this is our fault. If I don't have the skills or the knowledge for how to overcome it, it's a big reach to say, that's on me.

Tiffany Sauder (08:18):
You just said an excuse is always true.

Brian Kavicky (08:22):
Yes.

Tiffany Sauder (08:23):
Or there's roots of truth in it.

Brian Kavicky (08:24):
Yeah. Listen,

Tiffany Sauder (08:26):
All my word that's like I'm seeing so many yes. Why?

Brian Kavicky (08:31):
Well, I'll just read these without explanation. There's a lot going on right now in the world that's affecting our business. Our team is super busy right now. We've got some stuff that could close any day. Now we're just waiting for the, okay, we're a relationship driven business. It just takes longer to build relationships. This is how our second quarter always looks. All of those things are true. You point to the data and say, yep, it's been correct. The switch in your head is, do you want them to be correct? Because if I want them to be correct, they can be an excuse for me. If I don't want them to be correct, I'll find a way that I can either use them or benefit from them or do something different because of that.

Tiffany Sauder (09:16):
Why do we make excuses as leaders? Where does that come from?

Brian Kavicky (09:20):
It's easier to make an excuse or accept an excuse than it is to take responsibility for what's happening. Because if I take responsibility for something, I have to admit that that is my fault. And leaders are not great at humility because they have to put on a coat of armor every day and pretend like they have the world figured out and everything's going to be okay and this is what's going to happen. So humility is not the first lever they go to pull of, wow, I must have messed this up.

Tiffany Sauder (09:59):
Well, and our organizations don't reflect back to us. Those are excuses. They just absorb them. They're like, oh, they pair it back to us what it is that we say to them. You know what I mean? These excuses start to become truth, like part of the operating system of the way that people are solving. I'm imagining the exponential impact of when you as a leader say, this is the way the second quarter always is, and every single sales manager sitting in their meeting saying, this is the way the second quarter always is, and every single sales person sitting across the table from a prospect thinking, this is how the only outcome you're going to get is that this is how the second quarter always is

Brian Kavicky (10:40):
Correct.

Tiffany Sauder (10:41):
Because that excuse is cascading down with massive speed and nobody is taking accountability for saying no. How do we make the second quarter our best quarter? It's like a totally different posture

Brian Kavicky (10:53):
Because to do that, you have to accept the fact that it could have been that way long before that we could have fixed the second quarter years ago, we could have been beating all these people that were lowering their price all the time. We could have had a forecast that was accurate, whatever it is. It's like, yeah, we could have done this. And that's the sickening feeling is that you go, wait a second. It didn't have to be this way. That doesn't feel good.

Tiffany Sauder (11:20):
I also think there's this change motion that has to happen, right? In spite of the fact that the second, let's just keep on this one. In spite of the fact that the second quarter has never performed as well as we'd like it to, we are at least still used to these patterns of behavior that they feel normal and normal feels good, and I feel confident in normal and all those kinds. So appending, the fact that it could be different is the first thing and then saying, now I have to trust a totally different set of beliefs and behaviors to try to get a different outcome is a change management process that I think sometimes we're reluctant to take on when we're already at a place of insecurity. Each one of these is behind it. If I'm the problem and I dunno what to do differently, then I feel insecure in it.

Brian Kavicky (12:04):
And that's the thing. Most of the time I don't know what to do differently, which is why the excuse settle, lack of skillset is why almost all excuses exist. If you don't know that it can be fixed, you don't know to take responsibility for it.

Tiffany Sauder (12:21):
Say that again. If you don't know it can be fixed, you don't know to take responsibility for it.

Brian Kavicky (12:26):
Yeah, if you don't, especially if you don't have the skills to deal with that. If you're like, oh, because your brain when you go, well, this is impossible or there's nothing to do, that declaration causes your brain to go, I guess I should not worry about it. But if you say, I wonder if there's a way you actually start figuring it out. So when people go, oh, this is just the way that it is, they're not letting their brain problem solve. What if it could have been different or any of those things? And that's why people don't sometimes gain skills and go, well, I'm okay. I'm good enough.

Tiffany Sauder (13:05):
I want to take a quick moment to thank my partners at Share Your Genius. For the past four years, they have been an incredible part of my journey. Behind the microphone Share Your Genius is a content and podcast production agency that helps leaders and brands bring their message to life. So whether you're trying to find your voice, develop a content strategy or get your leader behind a microphone, they're going to help you make it simple, strategic and impactful. This might be a rabbit hole, we don't want to go down, but I was doing some work on change management and also just leading through uncertainty. And a phrase that came out was this idea of in a change environment, which is what this would require, how do you turn yourself into a scientist and not a savior? And when I was leading through COVID or you want to come out as a leader and be like, ta-da, this is the pill everybody's going to take.

(13:58):
This is the thing that's going to fix everything. And I'm a hundred percent certain, even though you don't have the benefit as a leader of knowing if what we're going to try is going to work, you don't have the certainty of the environment. We don't know really how tariffs, and so instead of mentally being like, I have to be the savior for the entity, it's like, no, I have to be a scientist that is testing very strategically little bets and little plays so that we can start to get some market feedback on some new ideas. And internally, what happens to me when I think about myself being a scientist in a season of change as a leader versus having to have the deck that is perfect with the answer. Does that mindset at all play into this of having the confidence to test some new things and stop making excuses kind of the savior versus scientist paradox? Or is that not the same topic?

Brian Kavicky (14:52):
No, it's the same thing. Because in that case of I'm going to do experiments to see is acknowledging, I don't know. So let me see what's possible. Let me go into curious or exploration mode and see that one of the key ingredients to having ambition is curiosity. And so if I'm curious, I wonder what would happen if I did this or did this that fuels that of, oh, okay, we can go down a different path. But if you listen to excuses or accept excuses, excuses stop all of your ambition that you just go into acceptance mode and say, it is what it is. There's nothing that I can do. We're just stuck.

Tiffany Sauder (15:35):
These excuses are not your fault.

Brian Kavicky (15:36):
Yeah, because

Tiffany Sauder (15:38):
Tell me

Brian Kavicky (15:38):
If you don't have the skill, if I say we're a relationship driven business, it just takes longer in our industry. If you think that is true in your business, you're going to make that happen. But if I said, well, there's a skill where you can accelerate relationships so quickly that you can cut your time down to 10, 15%, you would go, really? I'm in. But if you don't even know that that's a possibility, you don't know to say, Hey, we should be better at this. You just go, it is what it's,

Tiffany Sauder (16:13):
That's exactly kind of what played out with Kyler and I, we went to New York City for a couple of days and we're at a conference and it was in the first quarter. We were literally there the day that the tariffs got announced. And it's like, okay, the market, it was like the second worst day since World War II. We've got all these huge manufacturing clients. We spent the last two years trying to really build our expertise and competency in this market. And it's like we went whole hog on this thing and I was practicing believing, not giving up on our plan this year. I was like, we have two days in another city to practice our belief that this year can still be a year of growth, can still be a year of performance for the business, can still be a year where people are getting promotions. This can still be that year. We have to practice believing that and then we have to call Brian when we get home to help us with the skillset, which is what you were just saying of like, okay, I'm practicing believing it. So that's me activating around how am I complicit in this? What are we doing, but we don't know what to do differently. That was in fact true because we'd kind of played all the cards that we need to play. And so it's like, how do we do this differently?

Brian Kavicky (17:33):
That's correct. But you used the word you said, I wanted to believe that the plane was still there. So the plan is what? You changed the goal and the objective did not change. So this whole idea of we're stuck in the mid-year point is that people are saying, well, I'm just going to stay on the same plan because that's what I based my goal on. Instead of going, well, my plan's not working, I thought, but my goal is still important, so I think I have to change my plan. That's the pivot that a lot of people don't make until it's too late.

Tiffany Sauder (18:08):
Yeah, that is a critical distinction. Exactly right. We were like, we want to hold to the goal. We had no belief in our plan,

Brian Kavicky (18:16):
Correct.

Tiffany Sauder (18:17):
It's still going to get us there. Yeah, those market motions, those things where we've got, I think those are going to be like 18 month long sales cycles and that's not going to work for what the business needs. Very true. How can we learn to feel or develop a radar for our internally as leaders, if we don't have people around us, we're going to say, Hey, those sound like excuses. How do we activate this finder inside of us when we're leading teams, leading organizations, leading families, leading our own goals and objectives as individuals? How do we do that?

Brian Kavicky (18:58):
So there is a series of questions that you can ask yourself that are belief testing questions because these are true and you correctly said, I want to believe, right? I choose to believe this. So what you do is you test your belief. So the first question you ask yourself is, is that true? And your brain is going to say, well, I think so the next question is, is that absolutely true? In other words, with no exception because for something to be true, there can't be exceptions for a fact, to be a fact. There's no other way to look at it and that will help your brain go, well, I don't know, maybe I think so. And now you're open to shifting that belief. The next question you ask yourself is, what if the opposite were true? What if we're totally wrong about this? Now you start to realize the possibility, the differences, what that would mean and all those things. And then the last question is, if the opposite were true, what would I be doing? And that sets you in motion of what to do, but you have to get your brain open to changing its belief before you can set it into action to deal with this stuff. But that question of is it absolutely true, and what about the opposite being true really causes you to step back and say, well, wait a minute. Let me look around. Let me open to this possibility that that might not be right.

Tiffany Sauder (20:26):
You've also trained me, and this was a very helpful framing, again, a little bit adjacent to this, but you would tell me like, okay, Tiffany, coming into 2025, you really need to try to have your year sold by July because the late third quarter is really about generating demand and sales for 2026. And so your third, fourth quarter is really about making sure that the first part of the next year is crushing. And if a few a hundred thousand dollars happen to fall into this year, then make that be gravy, but don't have it be what you're counting on to hit your goals. And that reframing was actually massive. It was an exponential way to see, that's right. I don't really have that many working days after October 1st where people are in, at least in my business, in the agency world, really in strong buying sometimes, but they've already thought about what they're going to do. They're starting to get quotes, and if you've missed that window for the following year, you're pretty screwed. So I don't know anything on that, but that was really helpful framing for me.

Brian Kavicky (21:36):
Well, there's always a delay. There's a delay when you sell something, there's a delay when you get to bill it or deliver it or whatever that is. And when people set goals, they typically set goals around revenue that's in, or revenue that's booked to be in and delivered in that year, and they never account for the lag time what that happens. So even if it's 30 days from I got business to I shipped it, well now that just puts you at November is your last month. But anything longer than that or any long-term engagement or anything like that, I got to get way ahead. So if you're sitting in your year going on behind, you're probably behind legit. But now it's how do I recast for what I need to do to not have the mistake happen again, and how do I get in front of it? Because if I wait to pivot, I'm going to have two years of problems, not one.

Tiffany Sauder (22:35):
Is the conversation also applicable to this of like, okay, if we're sitting at almost July 1st when this goes live and I'm looking at, alright, I've got a couple weeks to retool my plan against my goals, which doesn't give me a ton a year left, when do you cut your losses and change your goals and say, I'm going to start fresh in the next year. If you're practically sitting down with someone and saying, all right, let's look at what's realistic to get in this year, and let's look at how we prep well for the coming fiscal. How do you think about that?

Brian Kavicky (23:09):
I always guide towards conservative. So it is much easier to be aggressive when you're being conservative in your decision making. So if somebody says, when do I cut my losses? When do I adjust, blah, blah, blah. Well, if you're even considering that you should do it now so that you have the ability to do all the things that are coming up because you're not delaying action and hoping that things will come around or maybe will blah, blah, blah. It's like no, if even doing that as a possibility, just do it and get it out of the way so that you can focus on the future. Because if you just procrastinate, you're just carrying that weight along the way, and that's not healthy. It's just clean up, go make the tough choices, move on so that you can prep for forward.

Tiffany Sauder (24:05):
I think it was the last place I want to go, but you do such a good job, I think of not personally internalizing that. You're like, yeah, cut your losses, keep going, keep making decisions. Let's just keep moving forward. You're going to get better next year. Those are all very good of, these are not who I am. This is different from my identity, but that IR theory I think really comes into play in this world of being able to say, yeah, I screwed that up. I'm not making excuses anymore. I'm going to buckle down and rock and roll.

Brian Kavicky (24:35):
So as a leader in a business, you're making always making two decisions at the same time. What's my personal decision and what's my business decision? And where you're catching me there is I'm relaying the business decision, which is you need to cut your losses. Now there's the personal side of that, of if I have to lay somebody off or I have to cut some people and I really like them and they're perfect for my team and all that stuff, I empathize with that. But I believe there's an and moment in there is that I can cut the losses and I can support the person by opening up a door, guiding them to their next thing, taking care of them, paying a, there's so many things that you can do that also minimize the weight of the decision and the impact of the decision, but the business needs you to make that decision. How you carry it out personally is a separate decision, and you need to make both at all times. What too many people do is they make it only a personal decision and then they complain that their business is suffering. It's like, yeah, because you're making all of your business decisions personally versus objectively, and then figuring out how to execute personally.

Tiffany Sauder (25:49):
Let's do a quick recap of those three questions that if somebody is in this excuse mode and they're trying to think about how do I get myself out of it? What are the three questions they ask themselves?

Brian Kavicky (25:59):
Is that true? Is it absolutely true? What if the opposite were true? And then given that, what should I do?

Tiffany Sauder (26:09):
I think in a season where our excuses can stand, almost be like a veil for a lack of confidence and clarity, our excuses become something that we almost hide behind. The clarity and empowerment and agency over the things that you have, the opportunities in front of you, the people you lead, the agency that comes from asking those three questions is super empowering. So thank you, Brian, for always bringing some truth to us for helping us look really crisply at today so that we can have a strong end to the year and have the courage if we need to for our goals to have different plans that are informed with a new level of humility and clarity. So thanks for coming on. Thanks for listening to the Life of And this is your weekly reminder to keep making bold choices, saying clear yeses and holding space for what matters most. As always, if you like this episode, I'd love for you to drop a review and share it with your friend. It's the fastest way that we can grow the show. Thanks for joining us. I'll see you next time.