In this video, Dale Thrush from By Design Advisors tackles the prevalent issue of unproductive meetings, emphasizing how they hinder business growth. He shares crucial insights on effective meetings and offers practical advice on meeting management to improve overall time management. Learn how to increase productivity by designing your business operations with purpose, rather than leaving them to chance.

Dale goes over 3 valid reasons to meet, pre-meeting filters, post-meeting filters, guardrails that make filters stick, & myths to delete!

Links:

Book A Call: https://www.bydesignadvisors.com/contact-us

Learn More About Exit Strategy & Leadership – https://www.bydesignadvisors.com

Finding Significance by Marty Osborne – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DTQD79BH/

Take the DISC Assessment – https://profiles.innermetrix.com/VO/b2a2eb33/en

Website: https://www.bydesignadvisors.com/

Dale’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dalethrush/

Marty’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marty-osborn-78ba9b5/

Tom’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasrjohnson/

“Good people are impossible to find.” False.

In this whiteboard, Dale shows the five steps to consistently hire A-players—starting before you post a job: Define your fish (KRA/impact/behaviors), ID your bait (Working Genius + DISC + real EVP), run an intentional interview (half-day, multiple interviewers, each with a specific lens), gather individual feedback (no groupthink), and close by selling the opportunity—not just the salary. Includes concrete examples (receptionist in a call center vs. a medical office) and the exact roles each interviewer plays so candidates can’t fake it for five hours.

What you’ll learn

Step 1 — Define your fish: KRA, impacts, behaviors before tasks (role clarity beats luck).

Step 2 — ID your bait: Preferred Working Genius + DISC for the role; craft your EVP so stars choose you.

Step 3 — Intentional interviews: Half-day, no panels; each interviewer tests one dimension (tech, learning aptitude, culture/behavior).

Step 4 — Feedback that resists groupthink: Individual scorecards first, then the group debrief.

Step 5 — Opportunity is better than a salary: Filter for “right person, right skills, right price.” Let the pure money-seekers pass.

Links:

Book A Call: https://www.bydesignadvisors.com/contact-us

Learn More About Exit Strategy & Leadership – https://www.bydesignadvisors.com

Finding Significance by Marty Osborne – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DTQD79BH/

Take the DISC Assessment – https://profiles.innermetrix.com/VO/b2a2eb33/en

Website: https://www.bydesignadvisors.com/

Dale’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dalethrush/

Marty’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marty-osborn-78ba9b5/

Tom’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasrjohnson/

You don’t have a meeting problem—you have a clarity & pressure-test problem. In this whiteboard video, we go over some common meeting myths & why people love to schedule meetings. If the meeting falls into one of these myths, you cancel it—no guilt.

Links:

Book A Call: https://www.bydesignadvisors.com/contact-us

Learn More About Exit Strategy & Leadership – https://www.bydesignadvisors.com

Finding Significance by Marty Osborne – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DTQD79BH/

Take the DISC Assessment – https://profiles.innermetrix.com/VO/b2a2eb33/en

Website: https://www.bydesignadvisors.com/

Dale’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dalethrush/

Marty’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marty-osborn-78ba9b5/

Tom’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasrjohnson/

If your meetings are easy but nothing actually changes, you might be on Team Harmony—not Team Honesty. In this whiteboard session, Dale breaks down 5 signs you’re stuck in harmony culture and 3 quick tests to flip your team into honest debate, faster decisions, and real execution.

5 signs you’re on Team Harmony:

1. Easy meetings (status report-outs, nodding along, no debate)

2. Every issue is a 5-alarm fire (people waited too long to raise it)

3. Lack of uncomfortable conversations (no healthy conflict = no growth)

4. Top-down solutions (leader supplies all the answers; no pushback)

5. Slow decisions (bottlenecks, ideas on paper but no movement)

Links:

Book A Call: https://www.bydesignadvisors.com/contact-us

Learn More About Exit Strategy & Leadership – https://www.bydesignadvisors.com

Finding Significance by Marty Osborne – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DTQD79BH/

Take the DISC Assessment – https://profiles.innermetrix.com/VO/b2a2eb33/en

Website: https://www.bydesignadvisors.com/

Dale’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dalethrush/

Marty’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marty-osborn-78ba9b5/

Tom’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasrjohnson/

This episode tackles three questions we keep getting from the community:

“My one-on-ones aren’t working—what should I do?”

“I’m a younger manager leading a more experienced team—help!”

“It’s a family business. Dad won’t delegate. How do we change it?”

We share the frameworks we use in the wild: make 1:1s intentional (owner + outcome + agenda), lead vets with humility + listening tours (assessments help), and get family owners to delegate with a by-design sequence (start with what they don’t know, then don’t want, last what they love). Plus: the power of ‘no’ in negotiation and the WIIFM lens that turns your idea into their idea.

Links:

Book A Call: https://www.bydesignadvisors.com/contact-us

Learn More About Exit Strategy & Leadership – https://www.bydesignadvisors.com

Finding Significance by Marty Osborne – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DTQD79BH/

Take the DISC Assessment – https://profiles.innermetrix.com/VO/b2a2eb33/en

Website: https://www.bydesignadvisors.com/

Dale's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/dalethrush

Marty's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/marty-osborn-78ba9b5

Tom's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/thomasrjohnson

What actually grows a media business? Showing up.

In this episode, Andrej Suttles (founder of Suttlesolution Media) shares how he went from shooting bulldog photos to producing podcasts, reels, and client content every week—by building a consistency + accountability machine. He talks free “test shoots,” fail-safes for production, authentic storytelling vs. Buzz Word Marketing, and why AI is a tool—not a substitute for showing up.

What you’ll learn:

- The origin story (mom’s binder hustle → first camera → dog headshots → media company)

- The secret advantage: the client always get a text before shoot day (accountability & cadence)

- “Give value first”: Why Andrej does free sessions to qualify fit fast

- Authenticity wins: Real talk beats jargon; AI can’t coach you behind the camera

-The 6-week switch: confidence clicks when a stranger says, “Thank you.”

Try this week:

1) Put your content day on the calendar and guard it.

2) Send a 48/24-hour confirmation (accountability text).

3) Publish imperfect, authentic content

Book A Call: https://www.bydesignadvisors.com/contact-us

Learn More About Exit Strategy & Leadership – https://www.bydesignadvisors.com

Finding Significance by Marty Osborne – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DTQD79BH/

Take the DISC Assessment – https://profiles.innermetrix.com/VO/b2a2eb33/en

Website: https://www.bydesignadvisors.com/

Dale's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/dalethrush

Marty's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/marty-osborn-78ba9b5

Tom's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/thomasrjohnson