073: From CEO (Back) to Creator with Pat Flynn

What if this is the moment that changes everything? That question can be exhilarating or terrifying—or both. And there are going to be moments like that in your business: crossroads where you have to make a choice. Today’s guest, Pat Flynn recently made one of the biggest decisions of all, to step aside as CEO of his company, while still playing an active role, so he could devote more time to the creative work he loves.

More About Pat: Pat Flynn is a father, husband and entrepreneur who lives and works in San Diego, CA. He owns several successful online businesses and is a professional blogger, keynote speaker, Wall Street Journal best-selling author of three books (Superfans, Will It Fly?, Let Go), and host of the Smart Passive Income and AskPat podcasts. 

Key Takeaways:

• Companies go through changes like people do. Growth spurts and growing pains, temper tantrums and quiet periods. Adapt the work you’re doing to meet the new needs.

• It’s easy to lose track of what you actually want to be doing with your life and business. As your business changes, your role in it might need to as well.

• Transitioning from working alone to working with a team can be awkward; learning how to manage the people you bring on board takes time, honesty and experimentation.

⭐️ Permission: To fail. “There is no better learning than failure, so go ahead, try something new, do your best and learn from the results.”

⭐️ Do (or Delegate) This Next: Let go of something. Maybe a negative story you’re telling yourself, the need to control a particular outcome, or a task or project you no longer need to do alone.. Bonus: figure out how to delegate the one thing in your business that would free up the most time and energy.

📘Books Mentioned:

• Free Time: Lose The Busywork, Love Your Business,

• Pivot,

• Superfans

• Will it Fly?

• Let It Go

• Platform: Get Noticed in a Busy World

• Clockwork: Design Your Business to Run Itself

• What Got You Here Won’t Get You There

🔗Resources Mentioned: 

• Pat Flynn on the Web, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter

• Smart Passive Income

• The Smart Passive Income Podcast

• Ask Pat 2.0

• How to Stand Out from the Crowd (Ted Talk)

• SPI Pro Community

• The CX Podcast

• The Switch Pod

People Mentioned:

• Selena Soo

• Ramit Sethi

• Matt Gartland

• John Lee Dumas

Related Podcast Episodes: 

• Free Time Episode 51: How to Replace Yourself as CEO with Michael Bungay Stanier

• SPI 249: Pivoting: How, When & Why to Do It with Jenny Blake

• SPI 155: 9000 Unread Emails to Inbox Zero

• SPI 345: The Next Big Steps in Business - With Matt Gartland from Team Flynn

🎁 Give yourself (and a friend) the gift of Free Time as we head into 2022: Preorder and submit proof of purchase to get early access to the audiobook as part of the Buy One, Get One, Give One holiday bonus!

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