Episode 173 | The One Tool You Need to Step Back with Casey Gromer

Maureen Werrbach
Hey everyone, welcome to another episode of The Group Practice Exchange Podcast. Today is an exciting day for me because I have my integrator on with me, and I’m really excited to have her share some of her knowledge. Her name is Casey Gromer, and she owns the She-Suite Boutique, I always have to say it so slowly. And we’re going to be talking about the one tool your team needs to carry on without you. Because our theme for this month is all about being able to step back or slow down as a business owner. So hi, Casey.

Casey Gromer
Hi, Maureen Thank you for having me on the podcast. I’m so excited.

Maureen Werrbach
I know. It’s so, so funny and weird. I was saying before we started recording, like seeing you in this context with your microphone and your headset on when normally I’m seeing you every week and we’re just talking about my business. It’s like, I get this other side of you now.

Casey Gromer
Oh, well, we can pretend we’re just talking about your business because we kind of will be.

Maureen Werrbach
This is true, this is true. So for those that are listeners who don’t know you, can you talk a little bit about what you do? What’s an integrator? You know, all that fun stuff? I’m yeah, people should–because I have recommended a book that this is kind of based on this to my listeners, but for those who might not know.

Casey Gromer
Yeah, sure. Yeah, I’ve seen you talk about Traction before. And actually one of my favorite books is Rocket Fuel. So if you haven’t read that one, yet, it’s a really good background and description of the difference between a visionary and an integrator. So with that, I’m Casey Gromer, I have She-Suite Boutique. And I’m a fractional integrator. A lot of people ask me what fractional is. And fractional actually just means part time. But we don’t call ourselves part time because that just sounds weird. So a part time integrator is somebody who comes into a, I want to say smaller business, because the businesses we’re working with are not like $300 million businesses, they’re more like, one to $10 million businesses. And depending on the industry you’re in, they could even go up to, you know, 50 million, and you could still find yourself, you know, using a fractional integrator. So it’s just how much time you need that high level of support, and you’re only paying for what you need. So an integrator is someone who pays–so if you’re a visionary, and the way we define visionary is somebody who has lots of great ideas, who’s really good at looking at the future of the company is responsible for the company culture, you have a lot of ideas and your your wheelhouse is not necessarily being organized or executing or managing people. And this role is absolutely necessary in every business. Because if you’re not forward thinking in your business, who is, but if you’re mired in all the details every day, no one has time to be forward thinking. So we really love visionaries. And your integrator is like, it’s like the yin and the yang. So if you’re not, if you’re focusing on the forward momentum and forward thinking, you actually need somebody to forward to focus on executing the business plan. And so that’s what your integrator does. And your integrator can actually be very strategic or very operational, whatever it is that you need at that time. And they just take your, your vision, translate it into quarterly and annual plans, and then make sure that the leadership team that you have set in place is executing on that plan and getting their stuff done.

Maureen Werrbach
I feel like what I’ve learned from working with you is how I always thought without even really paying much attention that as the business owner before having someone like you, and then even thinking within my group practices, I have you for The Group Practice Exchange, yes, but I also have my actual group practice and, I always, like I never really thought hard about how much work actually goes into being the act–like the person who executes the things, right. A lot of business owners struggles with struggle with is they have all these ideas, they have all these plans that they have for their business, but then so many of them fall on the wayside or don’t get fully executed. And they get really upset with their leadership team or the people that are supporting them because they’re like, why aren’t you getting this done? I’ve, you know, I’ve said what I wanted and now like, how is it that five months later we’re still not moving forward on this. And it’s I’ve really learned a lot by having you doing this work for me at The Group Practice Exchange of like, how much work and effort it actually It takes to, to do this executing type work.

Casey Gromer
Yeah. So one of the tools that I use with clients is and if you read Traction, you’ll find this tool, it’s called, it’s a team meeting, you can call it an L 10 Meeting. But in its basic functionality, it’s a team meeting. And a lot of what comes out in the team meeting is, is an issue like that’s the purpose of the meeting. It’s not a status update call, it’s a, it’s a, an issue resolution, you know, meeting. And so a lot of times when we’re setting our quarterly goals, one of the things we also want to be thinking about is those milestones of what it’s going to take to get that goal done. And then in between the milestones is sometimes stuff pops up things you never thought about. And so, yeah, so while we’re sitting and resolving issues that kind of helps you set expectations for oh, wow, there’s more to this than I really thought. And, you know, it’s not the visionaries job to think big picture about a goal, right? Like what all is going to go into getting that done, but that’s, that’s my job. And so my job is to communicate back to you Maureen, like, hey, that’s an awesome idea. And I know it sounds really easy in theory, and then here’s all the things in your back end, that’s going to impact that, you know, might come up as an issue down the road.

Maureen Werrbach
So to like dumb this down for people like me, previous to having someone like you, as a group practice owner, since that’s who’s listening. I’m trying to think like, what’s an example of a visionary thing that a group practice owner like–I mean, I can come up with one, but you let me know if you want to, if you want to come up with one or you want me to give one up, give one okay. And the person who like because of what you just said, is I think the key to it is the visionary is the person that comes up with the ideas, but not all the pieces of what will make that thing happen or work. That’s really the integrators role.

Casey Gromer
Yeah, I love to talk about this, actually. And I have a really good example to share. One of the visionaries, jobs is forward thinking, like I said. Now, a lot of times in our business, we, we feel some sort of outward pressure to do certain tasks in our business. Like we feel like we need to know what’s going on in marketing and in finance, and in operations. And we feel like we need to be involved. And we feel like, we need to make decisions, we feel like needing to do all of these things. And some of us might even feel like, gosh, if I’m not doing these things, what am I doing, I feel lazy, I feel like I don’t deserve to be a good business owner, I feel like I if I’m not working really hard, or grinding away, I’m doing something wrong. But in actuality, I actually give many of my clients and you do this Maureen, and I love it, I didn’t even have to push you very hard to do it. But I actually give visionaries that I work with an assignment to take a clarity break. And whether that’s weekly or monthly, it’s a time away from your business. When you turn off your notifications, you don’t schedule any calls, you can sit in your office, you can sit in a coffee shop, you can go to the beach, wherever you feel relaxed, and inspired and creative. Because what happens when you turn all those things off, is when the ideas come to you. And they come into your head and you can see the future. And you just jot those things down. I have an example of a new client we I started working with a few months ago, who never took a day off in her business, and she was wearing all the hats. And I sent her off and she came back and she she had this like this $10 million goal or something before we chatted. And when she came back, she’s like, I see 100 million now. And I, you know, and so then here’s all the ideas she had came back with of here’s how we’re going to make that 100 million happen. And it’s all because I went and I sat on a beach instead of answering emails, you know, answering questions that people are coming into my office. And so you know, that’s a really good assignment. And that’s your job as a visionary.

Maureen Werrbach
Yeah. So what is that one tool?

Casey Gromer
Okay, so I’m gonna give you the one tool. It’s a tool I start with, with every client. It’s like the foundation of everything that happens when we work together. And I’m going to tell you, and you’re gonna be like, oh, well, that’s easy, and it is easy, and many people are not doing it. So I call this tool, I have a pet name for it, and I call it the company persona. Now what the company persona really is, is basically it’s your mission, it’s your vision, it’s your values, and it’s all of those things that make up your business strategy. So once you have your mission, vision, values, and we’re talking about your brand, we’re talking about your target market, we’re talking about your value proposition, all of those make up your company persona. But the reason I call it a company persona is we’re giving context to your business, we’re giving context to the vision, we’re giving context to the mission and context to the values. And the goal here is to help your companies, I’m sorry, help your employees look at your business as a person, and not as a company, we don’t want them thinking like you, we want them thinking like the business. And if we can use this company persona, to create something that your employees can connect with, as if it were a real person, it becomes really easy for them to say, I know who this is, I know what decision I should make. I know what the next steps are. And everything falls into place. And it’s it’s something, it’s a tool we use to bring everybody on to the same page, so that they can operate day to day without needing to run everything by you at every step of the way.

Maureen Werrbach
I do want to say you started this by saying that this might sound easy, but as a person who did this with you, I was like, holy shit. I don’t know, half of these answers. So as I did it for The Group Practice Exchange, and you know, this business kind of started as one of those like side things I never thought was going to become this real, living, breathing thing. And so once I connected with you, and you brought this very thorough set of questions to build this blueprint, I was like, I have no idea. I have no idea.

Casey Gromer
Well, and so that is when I just–I have my own podcast, by the way, and I just have an episode coming out tomorrow about your zone of genius. Anyway, that’s my zone of genius. And I mentioned earlier that there’s a continuum on the integrator spectrum. And the continuum starts on one end with very operational, very analytical, linear thinking, very process oriented. And on the other end of the continuum is also strategic. And so one of the things that’s my zone of genius is being able to talk to you Maureen, and ask you those hard questions, but then translate that into something that looks like a vision that you maybe had in the back of your head, and were never able to articulate.

Maureen Werrbach
Yeah, that’s, I feel like when I got it, because then you of course, print it really nicely, and mailed it to my house and all that stuff. I remember reading it and be like, I would never have been able to put this into words. And so it sits on my desk downstairs where I normally work. Which I’m not at right now, as you can tell, but every once in a while we’ll look at it. I think this is like a legit thing that I did that I could not put together myself. But it is like the basis for everything you do. Yeah, word.

Casey Gromer
Yeah. And if I can share, we on boarded a new team member for you recently. And until she was able to walk through that business, or yeah, the business blueprint, or the company persona, whatever I call it. When we finally were able to walk through that she’s like, oh, I see the big picture now. And you can instantly see the wheels start turning in her head of how she could shift what she was already doing into more of something that was a better fit for the longer term vision of the company.

Maureen Werrbach
Yeah. So what is your suggestion for someone who either doesn’t have an integrator or is you know, really contemplating it after this point. I feel like this is not something that gets talked about very often in my life, group practice kind of field. And so a lot of people listening probably don’t even know what this is, and are great learning about this. What next steps do you suggest for someone who’s like new to this kind of way of thinking of visionary integrator?

Casey Gromer
Yeah, well, the first thing is, in order for this to work, you have to really be a visionary thinker. And so there’s an assessment I have on my website, it’s she dash suite boutique dot com. And it’s right on the homepage, and it asks you a few questions to see what your leadership style is. Because if you’re not a visionary, there’s nothing wrong with that. Just a different kind of leader and you need different tools. So if you really are a visionary, the first thing you need to ask yourself is if I am able to let go, because the integrator that comes on to work with you is going to be–like there’s nobody that’s going to be closer in your business than this integrator. So there has to be a level of trust. And you have to be able to say, I trust you, because the integrator is actually accountable for your P&L. Like that’s not your job anymore. And so if something’s going With your P&L, your profit and loss, again, the revenue and whatever, it’s the integrators responsibility to just say, this is what’s happening, right, and we need to solve this. The other thing I was gonna mention is the next step is, before you even get an integrator, I would suggest if you don’t already have one, you might consider getting an executive assistant. And the reason I say is I’ve worked with people who don’t have an assistant and who do. And even if you’re, as you’re stepping away as the visionary, there’s still day to day things that have to be done, that integrator is going to ask of you. And if you have an executive assistant, that stuff is going to get done. And if you don’t have an executive assistant, then you’re still the bottleneck. And so an executive assistant might be a great precursor, if you’re just getting into this idea of having an integrator, because that person is really going to be you, actually, so the integrator is not you. They’re your you know, your other half. And the executive assistant is an extension of you.

Maureen Werrbach
For those that are maybe interested in learning more about having an executive assistant, an integrator, where can they learn more about you and the stuff that you have to offer?

Casey Gromer
Yes, they can go to she-suite botique.com. And also, I have a podcast called Female Founders Breaking Boundaries, where we talk a lot about a lot of the stuff that you and I, you know, just went over. And it’s kind of fun, because, you know, if you’re not a woman, you can still listen, in the end, the ideas still apply. But I just really appreciate lifting up other women. So you know, that’s hence the female founder.

Maureen Werrbach
Yeah. I really appreciate you coming on and being able to see you do your work in a different sort of way. You know, like, I get into your brain because you just really take control norm, right?

Casey Gromer
Yeah, we don’t we actually don’t have to talk that much anymore. No, no. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Well, maybe I’ll wear my headset to our next call.

Maureen Werrbach
Okay. Well, I appreciate you coming on and sharing your wisdom to my audience, and we’ll be chatting soon. Sure.

Casey Gromer
All right. Thank you, Maureen. Bye