Tyler Bussell

Do the right thing.

Doing the right thing is always the best course of action. Whenever you are in a difficult situation, look for the morally right course of action, and more times than not, things will work out positively. In doing so, this also creates goodwill with your customers, which compounds faster than money. Satisfied customers are the goal; the sales are a side effect.

Block out the noise.

Don’t pay attention to what others think. Focus on providing the best product and service for the best value, and the rest will take care of itself. As your business grows, you attract more people who tell you what you should or should not be doing. While this advice can be helpful, it is often a distraction. Be careful who you listen to, because no one knows your business better than you, and few people have your best interests at heart.

Become comfortable being uncomfortable.

Business is uncomfortable. Difficult conversations must be had and unpopular decisions must be made, neither of which cease as your business grows. The quicker you accept the inevitable and become comfortable with being uncomfortable, the quicker you make progress as a leader.

The details pay the dividends.

If it is worth doing, it is worth doing well. Taking time to perfect your product is a tedious process, but it has the highest return on investment. If you rush a subpar product through development, you’ll spend the rest of your life convincing customers (and yourself) that your product is worth the money. However, if you obsess over your product and make it as perfect as possible, regardless of time frame, the quality of your product will speak for itself. You want your customers to rave about your product to everyone they know. If you succeed, you will spend the rest of your life reaping the benefits because word of mouth compounds exponentially.

Do ordinary things for an extraordinary amount of time.

There is no shortcut to success. Become a master at what you do by performing ordinary actions for an extraordinary amount of time. Do it for so long that it would be unreasonable for you to not be great at it. Many times, people jump from idea to idea without giving one the necessary time and attention to blossom.

Simple scales, fancy fails.

The simplest path is nearly always the best. Overly complicated systems, processes and procedures detract from the goal because they require more time and effort, leading to operational fatigue. This results in lower morale and less time spent working toward the goal.

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Most decisions are reversible.

Leaders can become paralyzed by a decision when there is not a clear path forward. If you want to change your path after you have made a decision, then change it. The best leaders can admit when they have made a mistake and take action to rectify a situation. There is nothing wrong with changing direction.

A little sugar goes a long way.

I am a firm believer that you need to give respect to earn respect. When you treat your employees and trade partners with respect, it is almost always reciprocated. I know that if I were to ask almost any of our employees or trade partners to help with something outside of the scope of what they typically do, they would say yes because of our mutual respect.

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Stop talking and start doing.

There is no success without action. Don’t get caught up overly planning; take action. The “doing” will work out the bugs that aren’t accounted for while planning. The more iterations done will move the needle far more than attempting to make the perfect plan without moving forward.

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Yes is not always the right answer.

Not every opportunity is the right one. A successful leader knows when to say no. As your business grows, more shiny objects (opportunities) catch your eye, but all they do is distract you from your main goal. Leaders are more effective with a singular focus than when spread among a variety of ideas.

CEO & Co-founder, Hurts Donut Co. Tim Clegg

Never stop learning.

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Contrary to what you believe, or what your mom may have told you, all the answers that you have may not be right. Lean heavily on your team and the expertise of others to refine your processes. Together, we achieve greatness.

Identify your weaknesses and adjust.

My personal leadership style was developed by 13 years in the military. This style does not always translate well to the civilian world. I recognized a need to invest in understanding better ways to lead and found myself back in school to work on me! A master’s degree and almost a doctorate later, I am still learning how to be the best leader that I can for my organization.

Remove the word ‘busy’ from your vocabulary.

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When people ask how you are, and you reply “busy,” it sets a tone that you do not have time to listen to them or forces them to hurry their statement, concern or personal worry. Everyone already knows that your time is valuable; make an impact by letting them know their time is more important to you than your task.

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Become irrationally generous in your personal and business life.

Notes: Notes:

Generosity comes in three forms: time, talent and treasure. Use all three to make an impact in your community and in the lives of others around the world. It doesn’t have to make sense to the outsider, but God understands a giving heart and rewards your efforts.

Proverbs 11:25.

Be a change agent.

Change is hard to accept and can be received with resistance. Change is also necessary. Show your team empathy during the change process but also share the importance of it. Celebrate their efforts as the desired change materializes.

The best way to succeed is to fail – often.

The lessons learned in failure far outweigh those in success. I tell all our new franchisees that we have failed in everything to increase your opportunities for success. We have learned the ways not to do things for you! Make sure that you are learning from those failures, though. Failure is one step away from success! If you give up after failing, you will never truly receive the blessing of the lesson.

Reframe stress as hard work.

Too often we feel the pressure of the challenge of a task and define it as stress. Stress is optional; hard work is necessary. That overwhelming feeling during difficult tasks is your mind challenging you to accomplish something desirable. Celebrate victory over accomplishing something difficult and leave stress behind. Turn these victories into passion!

If you can choose between winning their hearts and minds, choose heart.

A heart-led leadership style will produce results, such as compassion, buyin, high-performance teaming, innovation, happiness and service. A servant leader leads from the trenches and shares in the work experience of the team. If you don’t already, get dirty with your team and see if you can visualize what their day-to-day looks like through their eyes.

Leadership starts at home.

The best opportunity that this life gives you to develop leadership traits is found in the home, raising children. All eyes are always on you. All ears hear everything you say. You are challenged to raise your children to be the leader that you could never be. If you give them the foundation of leadership in your actions, they will grow into the leader they see in you. As an added benefit you will learn how to give and receive grace!

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Create a personal mantra for success.

Personal mantras or affirmations will challenge you to become the best version of yourself. It will also guide your daily decision-making and assist in accomplishing your big-time goals. My personal mantra: Are you doing the best that you can do, or are you doing the best that can be done?