Gold Nuggets
- Being an entrepreneur is great because you often do have control of your time and your actions.
- Appreciating the opportunity to serve the community and meet with so many different people and successful business owners is a blessing.
- Why Rick’s focus is on wealth and risk management planning for business owners, including doctors and dentists.
- The importance in dealing with the questions that we usually don’t think about because of the business in running businesses.
- Understand that to enter the world of an entrepreneur involves many different things, managing of your team, recruiting your team, managing the team, your marketing, and your social media presence and your cashflow and the risks that you have to deal with.
- The reality that we underestimate the fact when business owners start out and they’re on their own.
- How it makes sense for business owners to address the risk of premature death in a meaningful way
Meet Rick Goldring
For more than 30 years as a wealth advisor, Rick has learned that one of the most important aspects of his role is offering peace of mind and confidence when it comes to your financial future. It starts with a strategic roadmap that clarifies your current needs and future goals to ensure you’re looked after at every step of the way. Each personalized plan has a wealth and risk management strategy that is carefully constructed to find the right solutions at the right time for you, your family and your business. Rick also work hard to ensure there’s a comprehensive estate plan for your family, that leaves the lasting generational security you want, a retirement income plan for comfortable living and a charitable giving plan for an impactful legacy.
Smart Man, Smarter Woman References
We talk about a lot in each episode; however, we don’t want you to miss a thing! Here are some key items were mentioned if you want to take a closer look.
Website
https://www.rickgoldring.com/
Stay Connected:
Twitter = @RickGoldring
LinkedIn = https://www.linkedin.com/in/rickgoldring/
Facebook = https://www.facebook.com/GoldringFinancialLeadership/
Learn more about our Cloud Accounting Services here
Transcript
Steve Loates: Hello everyone and welcome to our podcast, Smart men Smarter Woman, a podcast for entrepreneurs by entrepreneurs. And thank you very much for joining us today. I am Steve Loates.
Juliet Aurora: And I am Juliet Aurora.
Steve Loates: And we are your co-hosts. But before I introduce our very special guest for today’s show, let’s hear a few words from my wonderful cohost, the smarter woman herself, Juliet. How are you doing today [00:00:30] Juliet? How was the swim this morning? It looked like you were struggling a little bit this morning. I don’t know.
Juliet Aurora: It was. There are days where the water just is in harmony with me and then there are days where it’s fighting me every step of the way. Even though there’s no waves or anything in the water, some days are harder than others. It’s actually interesting. So usually you say the name of the guest, and then I talk a little bit about the guest. You didn’t give me that intro today. So you’ve changed the format on me.
Steve Loates: And [00:01:00] I got to keep you on your toes and you said, you got to change it up. So I thought that’s what I would do. But that’s a great analogy too, that you were struggling this morning with swimming. Gee, doesn’t that just sound like life, right?
Juliet Aurora: Yeah.
Steve Loates: Some days are more of a struggle than other days.
Juliet Aurora: Absolutely. So Steve didn’t mention our guest’s name. So I’m not going to, I’m going to let him introduce our guest. But our guest today is actually a local celebrity in our town, or [00:01:30] city of Burlington. So does that mean Steve, that the podcast has made it? We’ve got celebrities on now.
Steve Loates: I’m assuming you mean celebrities other than ourselves? Is that what you meant?
Juliet Aurora: Yeah.
Steve Loates: Okay.
Juliet Aurora: Other than ourselves, yeah.
Steve Loates: Absolutely. And as we get to talking to Rick, I mentioned to him a fun fact before we started the recording, that he is the first guest we’ve ever had on the show with his own Wikipedia page. So I think that is a big deal [00:02:00] and I’m pretty excited about that. And I didn’t even know that until I actually started doing a little bit of research. So I thought that that was great. Anyway, the audience doesn’t want to listen to you and I just go on and on. So let’s get into the episode. Now as I mentioned at the beginning, as you all know by now, this podcast is for and about entrepreneurs. And our goal every time is always to hopefully provide you with a little bit of entertainment, but mostly some value, some insights. [00:02:30] We like to refer to them as gold nuggets that can help you in your own entrepreneurial journey.
And today I’m really excited for our guest, actually a friend, actually someone I’ve known. And I was looking up and I think we’ve probably known each other close to 20 years. So I don’t know if that means we’re both getting a little older, but it’s been a little while and it’s Mr. Rick Goldring. He is an entrepreneur, the former mayor [00:03:00] of our great city of Burlington, Ontario, as Juliet mentioned where he was a mayor for eight years. Did a fantastic job for the city and the community. He’s now returned to being an entrepreneur and I don’t know if that means he’s now returned to working for a living. I don’t quite … I’m sure we’ll get into that a little bit more as we go on. When he’s not working, he loves to spend time with his lovely wife, Cheryl and are you ready for this gang? And his [00:03:30] seven daughters.
I’m sure we may touch on that a little bit, but again, he’s the only person I know personally anyway, that has seven daughters. So I think that’s-
Rick Goldring: We have seven daughters between us Steve.]
Steve Loates: Okay, okay. Well I’m sure you’ll clarify Rick. I’m sure you’ll clarify. So like I say I first met Rick many years ago when we were both in rotary together and I’ve always admired his commitment to public service [00:04:00] and helping others. And so it is my extreme pleasure to welcome Rick to our show today. So let’s bring him in. Rick, how are you doing today?
Rick Goldring: I’m doing wonderful. It’s great to be with you and congratulations on your podcast. I’ve listened to most of the episodes and you’re to be congratulated and thanked for the wisdom that you’re passing onto others through the form of the podcast. So well done.
Steve Loates: Thank you Rick, I think it’s definitely a two way street. We get lots of wisdom from our guests, so [00:04:30] it’s working out really well. Now you have just a really interesting background and have certainly a diverse background. But before we get into more specific areas, perhaps we could start off by maybe you sharing a little bit of your own entrepreneurial journey or just how you got to where you are today.
Rick Goldring: Sure, absolutely Steve. Thank you very much for having me on the podcast. When I graduated from a university, I wasn’t [00:05:00] exactly sure what I was going to be doing. I was recruited by the branch manager for Sun Life Insurance Company in Hamilton who recruited me to become a life insurance agent with Sun Life. That very much appealed to me the opportunity to help others and serve others all the while having freedom and flexibility in one’s lifestyle. So I was inspired by that and I started it in 1979 with Sun Life. And then in the late 80s, early 90s, I decided to focus on retirement income planning. And [00:05:30] I really built my business by doing seminars at the art gallery of Burlington and the Fireside Lounge. I did 16 seminars a year for probably about seven or eight years.
Juliet Aurora: Wow.
Rick Goldring: And that really helped me grow my business in a significant way. When I started very few people were doing seminars. By the end of it, I stopped doing seminars because everybody was doing the same thing. But that was really how I built my business along with [00:06:00] being involved in the community and the Chamber of Commerce and rotary and so many different organizations in the city. So that’s how I established myself in business. Then in 2006 my career took a little bit of a turn.
Steve Loates: Would you care to elaborate a little on what happened in 2006?
Rick Goldring: Yeah. So what happened in 2006? I’ve always been interested in politics as a young kid sitting around the kitchen table with [00:06:30] my mom and dad and my sister. We were always talking politics. And so I’ve always had an interest. So I always had a great interest and make a long story short in 2006 in the federal election, I ran for the green party hoping I would finish third. But I did finish fourth, but there was many people that said to me that I should run for Burlington city council. And I had thought of it over the years, but never thought it would be logical or practical or rational to pursue. So I did it anyway and I was successful. I was elected to serve [00:07:00] the East end of Burlington in 2006. And then in 2010 I was encouraged by many people to run for mayor. And I ran for mayor in 2010 election. I was successful. I was successful in being reelected in 2014. I knew I wanted to go back into business again. I was hoping I was going to have one more term, but that’s not the case. So I got more runway now than I would have had if I had the opportunity to serve another term. So for 12 years [00:07:30] I served my community. For four years as a municipal counselor and for eight years as mayor of Burlington.
Steve Loates: That’s terrific. And I do have to ask for the entrepreneurs who are listening to our show, who are considering devoting their time into public service, maybe running for town or city council or beyond, is there any advice you would give [00:08:00] them if they’re thinking about doing it?
Rick Goldring: Well, I think you have to think very, very carefully about what you really want to get yourself into if you are successful in being elected. And I don’t think it much matters whether you’re in Burlington or Toronto or smaller communities across Canada. The service that’s required, the number of hours that you have to put in to do the job is quite significant. So to be an entrepreneur is great because you often do have control of your time and control of your activity. But I’ve seen [00:08:30] in so many examples and mine included, where it was a little bit more than you thought it was going to be, and that’s just being a counselor. And it was very difficult to juggle being a counselor, as well as maintaining my business. I did not go after new business when I was a counselor. I just focused on the business I had. So entrepreneurs have a lot to offer in serving in public office, but you really have to do your homework and think about it, in as logically [00:09:00] and rational way as you can, before you decide to take the plunge.
Juliet Aurora: I did not know that and I guess it makes perfect sense that as a counselor, you are still maintaining your business. I know as mayor, that’s a full time job. But I didn’t realize that as a counselor you were still running your business and most entrepreneurs have a hard enough time getting any work life balance just running their business, let alone running their business and also serving the community. [00:09:30] So can you tell us maybe how you managed that? You said you didn’t bring on any new clients during that time period, which for a lot of businesses is hard to stay in business if you’re not bringing in new business. So can you share a little bit about what that looked like for you?
Rick Goldring: Well, I had a great support staff that was able to fill in for me when I was unable to make meetings with clients. So it was one thing to maintain my asset base and my client [00:10:00] base. It was another thing to grow the business because you need to be flexible when you’re meeting with new people and I wasn’t that flexible when I was serving as a counselor. And the vast majority of people who are counselors at the regional level in Burlington, Oakville area and other areas across Canada, they tend to be full time counselors. They tend to be.
Juliet Aurora: Good to know, thank you.
Steve Loates: That’s interesting. Is there anything that comes to the top of your mind [00:10:30] that you learned in politics that has helped you as an entrepreneur?
Rick Goldring: That’s a very, very good question, Steve. Anything that has helped me as an entrepreneur. I think the opportunity to serve the community and meet with so many different people and to meet so many different successful business owners has really helped me in making the transition back into private practice again and focusing, working with business owners, [00:11:00] I’ve got an opportunity to see the development industry. I’ve got an opportunity to see some manufacturing businesses in Burlington and see what goes into that and learn from the successes that some businesses have had in Burlington that I’ve been particularly close to. That has tremendously helped me in really being empathetic and understanding to the challenges of entrepreneurship and the challenges of business ownership.
Juliet Aurora: So your primary client base, can you tell us the name of your practice now?
Rick Goldring: So, I’m with a company that’s located [00:11:30] on Brant Street, actually haven’t been in the office yet ever so briefly, is the Bay West Group, which is one of the partners in it as another Rotarian that Steve and I know. Anyway, that’s where I’m at, I’m on Brant street and my focus is on wealth and risk management planning for business owners, including doctors and dentists. That’s my focus. I help business owners deal with the questions that they don’t have time to deal with, or they just don’t think about because they’re so busy running their businesses and listening [00:12:00] to your podcasts and listening to your guests, you get a good window into the world of an entrepreneur where you have to focus on so many different things. Managing of your team, recruiting your team, managing the team, your marketing and your social media presence and your cashflow and the risks that you have to deal with.
It’s no wonder that business owners really have a challenge in taking the time and getting into the right head space to deal with the questions that I asked [00:12:30] business owners like what happens if you die prematurely to your business, to your family? What do you want to have happen? And assuming you live to life expectancy, what does your legacy look like? What do you want to pass onto your family? Do you want to be in a position to see your business continue and be sold to somebody else or carry on in your family? What happens if you get disabled and you can’t work, what’s the impact on the business and you and your family and what’s the impact if you’re diagnosed with a critical illness, like a heart attack or stroke [00:13:00] or life threatening cancer? These are all questions that I help business owners deal with. But often business owners aren’t jumping up and down and want to get at this real quick.
But by getting it done, by really having a plan in place to deal with these issues, I firmly believe and I’ve seen it, it helps business owners focus more on their businesses because they have these other areas of their life addressed. And they can go forward with confidence knowing that if they [00:13:30] get sick or hurt or they die prematurely, their family’s looked after or they’re looked after in the case of being diagnosed with a critical illness.
Juliet Aurora: And I think that comes back to a conversation that we had. And I honestly, I don’t remember what guest it is. I think it was Dan Holstein when we were talking about, again, the difference about when you’re an entrepreneur and you’re looking at your business. Are you treating it like a business or are you treating it like a job? So when you go to a job, [00:14:00] you don’t have to worry about all the things that you’ve just mentioned. If something happens to you, then does your business keep going? What happens to your team? Whereas as an entrepreneur, if you’re viewing it as a business, there are other considerations other than, “Okay, how do I deliver my product and how do I do my marketing?” And especially I think with the times that we’ve been in over the last couple of months, understanding and knowing that there has to be some kind of plan for continuity, both [00:14:30] personally and professionally, I think is very important. And so I think that that’s maybe one of the things that can help our audience is if they haven’t thought about this at all for their business, what is a good place for them to start?
Rick Goldring: Yeah. I think the best place to start is to find someone that you’re comfortable with and to have an introductory meeting, to see if there’s a fit between the services that the advisor provides and your particular situation. And that’s the approach I take when [00:15:00] I’m meeting new people is that let’s not prejudge anything. Let’s just simply meet and let’s ask each other some questions, see if there’s a fit. And if we both agree there is a fit, then we discuss what those next steps could be.
Juliet Aurora: So it isn’t necessarily that you would start someone with, “Okay, let’s get critical illness insurance for you immediately” or actually it is very dependent upon what their personal scenario is that you guide them through that process?
Rick Goldring: Yeah, absolutely. And you know, critical illness insurance is [00:15:30] a unique form of insurance and it has its place. And life insurance and disability insurance and different types of life insurance, they all have their place. But there’s got to be a right fit. It’s got to be part of an overarching wealth and risk management plan. And these decisions should not be made on an ad hoc basis. They should be made in conjunction with an overall plan and view to the future and what you’re trying to achieve.
Steve Loates: Yeah. I’d like to try and dig into that a little deeper. Why do you think [00:16:00] it is Rick, in your experience, why so many entrepreneurs don’t think about this, this type of planning for themselves and their future? And if they do think about it, they are still so hesitant to want to talk to somebody about it?
Rick Goldring: I think a big part of it is time and the mindset that you’re in focusing on the growth of your business [00:16:30] and to be a successful entrepreneur and business owner, you’re all in. You’re really all in, in focusing on your business. And when I look at the time that I served as mayor for eight years, I was all in. I was working 60, 65 hours a week and it took me two years and here I’m in the business and that’s my background. It took me two years to work with a lawyer and my wife to redo our wills. It took me two years and that wasn’t the lawyer’s fault or that wasn’t [00:17:00] my wife’s fault. That was my fault. I’d have appointments lined up with the lawyer, but something came up that I had to deal with, I had to reschedule. And then it would be weeks or months before I would reschedule. So I think with business owners, I think it’s the same thing. You’re so focused on the business and when you have free time, you want to spend it with your family doing something pleasurable and not necessarily dealing with your mortality.
Steve Loates: No, I think that’s a great point.
Juliet Aurora: That’s [00:17:30] very true that, and we’ve seen it with family members in our family as well, to have the difficult conversations about wills and legacy and-
Steve Loates: It’s okay. Juliet, you can say my name. Guilty, guilty.
Juliet Aurora: And not wanting to deal with thinking about, “Okay, well I’m not going to be here forever. And so what do I need to put in place for the people that are left behind?” Now it’s a tough question and I guess it’s tough personally [00:18:00] and it doesn’t tend to take priority because everybody thinks that they’re going to live forever. And so in business it would probably even be further down the list. You would think that the priority would be looking after personal wills before even looking after and thinking about the business continuity. So that makes perfect sense.
Rick Goldring: But if you ask business owners the question which asset has the most potential monetary value. And typically it’s the business. [00:18:30] Typically it’s the business. I’ve had lots of discussions with business owners initially where the first thing is, “well, business can be sold. My accountant will look after it. And then you ask the questions, well, what decisions are going to have to be made as soon as you die? What decisions is going to have to be made? If I’m the executor of your estate, what questions am I going to be asking your personal representatives and your [00:19:00] accountant about your business? Can we get full value? Are we gonna be able to sell it for full value, what you think it’s worth when you’re not there? And so there’s all sorts of questions you have to ask about the value of the business owner because I find business owners and entrepreneurs can be very dismissive about really what they’re contributing when you’re asking questions. They said, “No, no, it can be sold easily. It can be sold for however many millions of dollars.” Well on what basis? And [00:19:30] if it’s an orderly transition, it’s one thing. But if it’s a disorderly transition and it happens after you die, do you think that you’re going to get full value or your estate is going to get full value for the worth of your business while you’re alive?
Steve Loates: No, that’s very true. But what stage of an entrepreneur’s business do you think that they should start talking to someone like yourself? Is there a certain level of maturity of the business [00:20:00] or a certain age of the entrepreneur where you believe, “”Okay, if you have not spoken to anyone like me about these important things, you need to do that now.” Where would that be?
Rick Goldring: I think to get into the serious longterm estate planning, and I’m not sure if I like that term but legacy planning, I think it’s north of age 40. Typically where the conversations can be more meaningful. But I don’t [00:20:30] want to underestimate the fact that when business owners start out and they’re on their own, there very well could be a need for a rudimentary approach to dealing with some of these issues. If there’s issues and there’s a young family involved, then it makes sense for that business owner to address the risk of premature death in a meaningful way and getting a bunch of cheap term insurance to put into place to cover that risk off. And that’s the [inaudible 00:20:58] insurance or disability insurance [00:21:00] depending on what the circumstances are. But those are just tools to address the short term issues. The longer term issue being a more meaningful conversation. And certainly after a business has been in business for awhile, as a degree of success, is generating some money and starting to set money aside and retain your earnings. I believe that’s the time to start having these more meaningful conversations and recognizing … One of your guests that you had on and I can’t remember his name, [00:21:30] he’s from Hamilton. He was guest number seven or guest number eight.
Steve Loates: Jason.
Rick Goldring: Yes. He talked about the transition with businesses and the transitions for business owners to retire, to sell their business, to pass their business to the next generation. That’s not just a one off discussion. That’s an ongoing discussion. And I think the same thing with what I’m talking about, it’s an ongoing discussion. You have to review the situation on a regular basis. You put plans in place, but [00:22:00] things change. Businesses grow in value. The capital gains implications upon the sale of the business increases over time. And with the environment we’re in, now, I ask the question of business owners even before COVID-19, “Do you think income taxes could go up in the future? Do you think they could go way higher?” And with the ever aging population that we have in this country, the strain that we have on [00:22:30] our healthcare system and not talking about COVID-19 necessarily, but then you factor in COVID-19 do you think the taxes could go way higher? And where is the government going to get the taxes from the 90% of the people that don’t have any or the 10% that do?
Juliet Aurora: True enough.
Steve Loates: Yep, absolutely.
Juliet Aurora: And that’s what we’ve been thinking as well with all the subsidies that have come out over the last two months. I mean, someone’s got to pay for that and that’s going to be us somewhere down the road.
Rick Goldring: Somewhere down the road, absolutely.
Steve Loates: Yeah and you know what, [00:23:00] it’s true. It concerns me a little that I’m starting to hear some rumblings of we shouldn’t have spent that much money. And yet, if I think back just eight or 10 short weeks ago, we were in a very different head space, right? We were in a head space of fear, of panic, of not knowing what was going on. And we were looking to our government [00:23:30] and anyone who knows me knows that I am not a fan of big government spending. But we just wanted to make sure that at that point in time when we were … and I don’t think afraid is too strong of a word, that we were looking to the government to help us. Whatever people need to help us get through this we’ll worry about it later. But just help us now because [00:24:00] we need it now. And credit to them, I think they overall did a pretty good job of helping people. Certainly better than many, many other places in the world. And so now to hear some of these things that I’m hearing it disturbs me a little. I don’t think those people were thinking that 10 weeks ago.
Rick Goldring: They delivered these programs in light speed and six months to a year is light speed for government. [00:24:30] So they really did an amazing job and you can be critical of some of the design. Maybe there’s some design flaws here and there. You can certainly always find fault for some of these programs, but they came up with them quick. They came out with them very quick and helped the economy stay in a coma, keeping it alive while we’re dealing with the illness, dealing with the pandemic and COVID-19. So we can transition back to, I hate the term, but some degree of [00:25:00] new normalcy.
Steve Loates: Yep.
Juliet Aurora: Yep.
Steve Loates: Exactly. Yeah, I think the key there is the new normalcy. We’d like to change gears a little here. We’ve talked about your business, but we haven’t talked a lot about you. I look at you Rick and I’m not trying to win myself any brownie points here, but you’ve accomplished a heck of a lot over the portion of your work life and your public service [00:25:30] life. And I don’t believe you would accomplish those kinds of things and experience those successes without working on yourself, so to speak, personal development. I think probably when you first became mayor, you maybe didn’t know how to become, how to be a major and had to learn.
Rick Goldring: It was [inaudible 00:25:56].
Steve Loates: Now you’ve got to learn on the job, right?
Rick Goldring: Absolutely.
Steve Loates: [00:26:00] Can you share maybe some of the things with our audience that you’re a believer in. What do you do to personally develop or professionally develop yourself, your own ability to be able to handle new and bigger tasks ahead?
Rick Goldring: Yeah, I’ve invested in myself significantly over the years, tens of thousands of dollars on different personal and professional education programs, including [00:26:30] coaching and including coaching. I did have a coach prior to serving in public office. But when I became mayor, I got a coach because I needed one in the worst way, which was very helpful to a point. And then the training wheels come off and I didn’t need that sort of support anymore. And now that I’m in the process of transitioning back into business and I really didn’t become operational until May of 2019 and then March of 2020 comes along and tossed a bit of a curve ball. So I have [00:27:00] another coach helping me transition back in into the business. But I’m always open to read new books that I haven’t heard of and about personal professional development, about leadership styles, about being a better advisor, a better listener, being able to serve people better. I’m always open to reading and taking different programs and attending seminars or webinars when learning how I can be a better person or how I [00:27:30] can serve people better.
Juliet Aurora: I’d like to just hone in on one of the things you said earlier and tie into something you’ve just said. So when you entered city council, you said that your focus was on city council and you had a team in place that kept the business going for you. So can you-
Rick Goldring: It wasn’t that smooth, but yes, that’s true.
Juliet Aurora: Can you share some of the things that you experienced or that you learned [00:28:00] in being, and I hate to use this term but nothing else is coming up in the top of my head, an absentee entrepreneur? Because usually it is the owner who drives everything and drives all the decision making. With you having to give that responsibility to somebody else in your team, can you share a little bit about some of the things you may have learned in that experience?
Rick Goldring: Well and I was fortunate. I had the right person in place as my assistant, who was able to fill in for me and really [00:28:30] act as an associate and even jumped in further into the job when I became mayor. And certainly my level of trust for this person was very high and still is high and my level of respect. But I also knew that they could make some mistakes along the way and maybe there would be some clients that didn’t feel there was a fit with my new associate. But I had to accept that fact that there may be a few people move on and no longer dealt with us. And that happened a couple of times, [00:29:00] just happened twice. But I believe that I gave my assistant, became an associate. I gave her free reign to do what she needed to do and her way. And I wasn’t breathing down her neck. I didn’t have time to, I didn’t have time.
And as I mentioned becoming a counselor, I was drinking through a fire hose at the very beginning and learning so much. And I think for the first six months I barely made it into my business office. And [00:29:30] yeah I was pulled in all sorts of different directions. But for me, I was really trusting the person that I put in place to do the job and not breathing down their neck and just knowing that things would work out.
Juliet Aurora: Excellent. And I think that’s difficult for most business owners is to let go. I mean, you did it out of necessity. But for a lot of entrepreneurs who are trying to scale or they need to be able to let go and trust [00:30:00] whoever they’ve put in place to look after something without micromanaging. So it’s interesting that what you’ve said supports that as well, that they need to trust and not micromanage.
Rick Goldring: Yeah, if you put people in a place to do a job, you got to let them do the job and you’ve got to recognize they’re not going to do it exactly the way you would and that’s just natural. And maybe on your scale, they’re not quite 100%, but geez if they’re 80, 85% that’s pretty good. And [00:30:30] you should be very happy with that.
Juliet Aurora: And that’s a tough one. I mean, I’ll speak personally. It’s a tough one for me to delegate, let go of something and then say, “well, no, that’s not the way that I would do it.” And then not put my nose back in and say, “Well hey, that’s not the way that I would do it.” And I think I’ve gotten better at that. I’m not sure I’ve perfected it, but interesting. Okay. Thank you.
Steve Loates: Are you looking for me to agree with you there Juliet?
Juliet Aurora: Nope I’m not.
Steve Loates: Okay, I just wondered. [00:31:00] No, I would say absolutely. You have come light years from where you were and yeah, I think I’m very proud of how you … I mean, you still have difficulty letting go completely.
Juliet Aurora: Yes.
Steve Loates: But for you to let go of something 75% is just a pretty amazing step. So for those of us who’ve known you for time. So that’s-
Juliet Aurora: I’m going to follow the next example and [00:31:30] I’m going to trust the people that I’ve put in place and-
Steve Loates: Yep, absolutely. And I think Rick’s absolutely right. You’ve got to give them the tools to do the job, have the right person to do the job and then get out of the way and let them do the job and it’s certainly easier to say than to do, but it absolutely needs to be done.
Rick Goldring: If you want your business to grow, you need to trust the staff that [00:32:00] you need to hire in order for you to focus on the key result activity that entrepreneurs should focus on. Often, entrepreneurs are doing things that they shouldn’t be doing, that they need to have support staff do and you need to trust. Absolutely.
Steve Loates: Yeah, absolutely. I think we can both plead a little bit guilty on that and we have a great team. I mean, we think we have one of the best teams in the country, but it’s still tough sometimes. That must have also served you well in your role [00:32:30] as mayor, because you are surrounded by a team and you certainly would have to trust that each person who was assigned to do a specific role and responsibilities, you have to trust that they are doing that. Because as mayor, you’re I guess the CEO, if you will, of the city. But you can’t be out there checking on everybody and making sure it’s all done. And then the challenge becomes right, [00:33:00] if somebody messes up, it’s the CEO who usually it lands on.
Rick Goldring: I learned really quick that when you’re a mayor, you get credit for things you shouldn’t get credit for and you get blamed for things you shouldn’t get blamed for. And so when staff issues would come up and members of the public were challenging some of the work that our staff did, if I had to get involved in … I’d try not to get involved, but if I had to get involved, I would and I’d listen to both sides. [00:33:30] And if we, the organization city of Burlington made a mistake, then I would make sure that we fessed up to it. And we stated very clearly and apologized where it was appropriate. But there was occasions where we did everything right and the constituent wasn’t happy with the outcome of the discussion, but we did everything right. And you have to have those discussions as well and stick up for your team when it’s appropriate to stick up for them, against maybe somebody that feels strongly about a different point of view.
Steve Loates: Yeah. [00:34:00] No, absolutely. And we learned that lesson that sometimes you build the strongest team when you have their back in a situation where exactly what you said. They did everything right. You did everything right. But the client still isn’t happy, still thinks you messed up and the old adage of the customer’s always right. I’m not a believer in that and [00:34:30] by having the back of your team member, they see that, the rest of your team sees that. It builds a better team because then they know that you’ve got their back no matter what.
Rick Goldring: Yeah if it comes down to firing a client, so be it. It’s more difficult to fire a resident, mind you I’ve suggested a couple of people that weren’t happy with me, weren’t happy with the city that they can move and move outside of Burlington. That didn’t happen very often.
Steve Loates: Sure. Yeah. [00:35:00] That’s great. I like that. Yeah, firing clients and could you please move from the city? Okay. That brings us to that part of the show where we ask our questions that we ask every guest and we always get some interesting answers. And I don’t think we’ve had a guest yet give us the same answer to some of these questions. So if you are [00:35:30] ready Rick, we would like to put you on the hot seat, not too hot, and we’d like to ask our questions.Are you ready?
Rick Goldring: I’m ready.
Steve Loates: Awesome. So the first question, what one word best defines an entrepreneur?
Rick Goldring: Resiliency. Entrepreneurs have to be resilient. They have to deal with so many different issues. They’re like the juggler at the circus that’s got the plates at the end of the stick and you got 20 sticks [00:36:00] and 20 plates going at once. And the odd time they fall you keep going and you keep going with the 17 that are remaining. And I would say resiliency. Entrepreneurs have to deal so much and adapt and bob and weave.
Steve Loates: Good. What profession, other than your own, would you like to attempt?
Rick Goldring: I already did it.
Steve Loates: Okay.
Rick Goldring: I already was mayor, so.
Steve Loates: Okay, perfect. What profession [00:36:30] would you not like to ever attempt?
Rick Goldring: Yeah. Anything to do working with your hands. I’m just not very good or have little interest. So the trades, a plumber, electrician, carpenter. I wouldn’t be good at any of those jobs.
Steve Loates: Okay. That’s good. I was wondering if the answer to that question would have been the same as the answer to the previous question. But anyway, what sound or noise do you love?
Rick Goldring: So I’ve been [00:37:00] a motor sports fan for a long time. And I was at the Daytona 500 in February of 2020, February this year. And I’ve been at a many, many different motor sports events, but there’s something about that command, “Drivers start your engines” all the engines roar to life. I love that. I still get excited when I hear that. But just very briefly, I’m going to have to say another sound that I absolutely love and that is the sound of the Teen Tour Band. The Burlington Teen Tour Band, [00:37:30] Canada’s largest youth marching orchestra, marching band that’s been around since 1947. That is so representative of what the city is all about. That every time I hear the band it reminds me of what our hometown is all about.
Steve Loates: Great answer. Great answer. And our last question, what book would you recommend every entrepreneur should read?
Rick Goldring: So I’ve read many, but one I’ve read fairly recently [00:38:00] is called “The One Thing.” And it’s written by a fellow-
Steve Loates: Gary Keller.
Rick Goldring: Exactly, the founder of the Keller Williams Real Estate. Recognizing as an entrepreneur, you get pulled in so many different directions and that book gives you the background and the methodology of how to focus on the key result activities that you need to focus on as an entrepreneur.
Steve Loates: Yeah. It’s a great, great book. It really is. Highly recommend that. It also ties in very nicely if you’ve ever [00:38:30] read “Essentialism” by Greg McKeown.
Rick Goldring: I have not, but I’ll put that on my list.
Steve Loates: It is similar, similar. I think if you like “The One Thing” I think you’ll probably like “Essentialism.” That was great. Great, great job.
Juliet Aurora: You missed a question.
Steve Loates: Oh, I did. I did. It just occurred to me, probably the most important question, particularly for this guest. When your own entrepreneurial journey is completed, what do you hope your legacy [00:39:00] is?
Rick Goldring: I believe, I would like to see my legacy being the legacy of helping business owners and entrepreneurs create their own legacy and helping them, put them in that position that they can leave a meaningful legacy, whatever it is. And one of the things I didn’t mention is the fact that CRA gives us all tremendous advantages of using the tax laws to donate to charity. And I feel strongly I’m involved with the Canadian association of gift [00:39:30] planners and their will planning campaign to encourage people to plan a gift in their will, in their estate plans. And I hope to be helping many people do that over the next number of decades and helping them make our society, make our communities even better than they are now.
Steve Loates: Well said Rick, well said. And if anyone in our audience would like to reach out and connect with you, what is the best way? And I’ll spell the name. Rick, I think everybody get. Goldring, [00:40:00] G-O-L-D-R-I-N-G. What’s the best way for someone to connect with you?
Rick Goldring: So I have all the different social media tools, but the simplest way to get access to me is Rickgoldring.com.
Steve Loates: That’s very easy to remember. I did also notice too 12,000 followers on Twitter.
Rick Goldring: It helps when your mayor.
Steve Loates: Absolutely. And before we conclude and I share my quote, do you have any final thoughts, Rick?
Rick Goldring: Steve, just [00:40:30] say, thank you very much to you and Juliet for hosting me on the podcast today. Keep it up. I like everything about your podcast, one of my favorites now. There’s so much insight and wisdom here and hopefully I’ve been able to contribute a little bit of that today.
Steve Loates: Thank you, Rick. No, you’ve been a great guest. What about you Juliet? Any last words?
Juliet Aurora: I found it interesting as to how many parallels there were between entrepreneurship and politics. And I never would have thought that before, but I found that interesting in our conversation.
Steve Loates: [00:41:00] Very good. Okay and that brings me to my quote for this episode. And I have to admit, I did struggle a little bit on this one because I found two and I couldn’t decide which it was going to be. But I have now decided, so here we go.
“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you [00:41:30] have lived and lived well.” Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Juliet Aurora: Excellent.
Steve Loates: And that’s it. So thank you very much to our guest. Thanks, Rick. Really appreciate your time and all of the wisdom you shared with us today. Thank you to my awesome cohost. Most importantly, thank you to our audience and for tuning in giving us a listen. We sincerely hope you found some value in this episode. If [00:42:00] you did, please subscribe to the podcast You can find us on iTunes, Spotify, Google, all the regular places, or you can go to the website, smartmensmarterwoman.com and subscribe. You’ll get notified each time we upload a new episode. And if you’d like to give us a review, that would be awesome as well. That would be great. So until next time take good care of yourself and those you love. Bye for now.
Song by Adam Vitovsky / CC BY 3.0
