In this episode of Small Business Pivots, Michael D. Morrison sits down with leadership coach and manufacturing executive Greg Harrod to discuss one of the biggest challenges facing business owners today: building leaders instead of creating dependence.

After more than 30 years in manufacturing leadership, Greg now helps business owners and executives develop stronger teams, improve communication, increase accountability, and create businesses where success no longer depends entirely on the owner.

Greg explains why leadership always begins with self-awareness before it extends to the team. He shares practical insights on recognizing early signs of employee disengagement, improving communication, delegating effectively, and creating clarity around expectations so employees can thrive.

The conversation also explores Working Genius, humility in leadership, trust, accountability, employee retention, role clarity, and why leaders should spend more time developing people instead of constantly solving problems themselves.

Whether you lead a manufacturing company, construction business, service company, family business, or growing small business, this episode offers practical leadership principles that apply across every industry.

In this episode you'll learn:

• Why leadership starts with self-awareness

• The six areas Greg evaluates when diagnosing leadership problems

• Early warning signs before employees quit

• Why communication is one of the biggest leadership challenges

• How to stop becoming the bottleneck

• Building trust through humility and vulnerability

• Why role clarity improves accountability

• The Six Types of Working Genius framework

• How to delegate without creating fear

• Practical ways to improve employee engagement and retention

About Greg Harrod

Greg Harrod is a leadership coach with more than three decades of manufacturing leadership experience. He helps business owners build healthier teams through leadership development, communication, accountability, and his Leadership Clarity Scorecard.

About Small Business Pivots

Hosted by Michael D. Morrison, Small Business Pivots features entrepreneurs, business owners, authors, and industry experts sharing practical strategies that help business owners get unstuck and grow.

🏆 Ranked among the Top 10% of podcasts globally by Listen Notes.

Support the show

1. Want professional business coaching with the podcast host, Michael D. Morrison?
https://www.michaeldmorrison.com

2. Want to set up a FREE business consultation with the podcast host, Michael D. Morrison?
https://www.michaeldmorrison.com/consultation

Connect and follow the podcast host, Michael D. Morrison to learn how to grow a successful business :

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeldmorrisonokc/

- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@michaeldmorrisonokc

- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MichaelDMorrisonOKC

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michaeldmorrisonokc/

- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@michaeldmorrisonokc

Email the podcast host, Michael D. Morrison: Michael@MichaelDMorrison.com

Kevin Dias, founder of Ambiki and author of The Problem First Method, joins Small Business Pivots to explain why many businesses waste time, money, and energy solving the wrong problem.

Kevin built Ambiki as a software platform for speech-language pathology private practices, helping teams with scheduling, billing, clinical documentation, and practice management. Through that journey, he discovered one of the biggest mistakes companies make: jumping straight to solutions before deeply understanding the actual customer problem.

In this episode, Michael D. Morrison and Kevin discuss how business owners can slow down, ask better questions, define their ideal customer profile, and build solutions that actually solve meaningful problems. Kevin shares how Ambiki narrowed its focus from trying to serve every type of customer to focusing on pediatric speech therapy private practices with stronger growth potential.

They also explore Kevin’s Problem First Method, including feature alignment documents, the “problem atlas,” customer feedback, niche focus, business pivots, and why competitor pressure can lead companies in the wrong direction.

If you are a business owner, startup founder, SaaS founder, consultant, or entrepreneur trying to grow your business, improve your offer, better understand your customer, or stop wasting time on the wrong priorities, this episode will help you think more clearly.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why businesses jump to solutions too quickly
• How to identify the real customer problem
• Why customer requests are not always the real problem
• How to define your ideal customer profile
• Why niching down can accelerate growth
• How Ambiki grew by focusing on speech-language pathology practices
• What a feature alignment document is
• How to use a problem atlas for strategic planning
• Why AI should solve a real problem, not just be added as a trend
• How better questions lead to better business decisions

About Kevin Dias:

Kevin Dias is the founder of Ambiki, a software company serving speech-language pathology private practices across the United States. He is also the author of The Problem First Method, a book about helping businesses understand customer problems before jumping to solutions.

About Small Business Pivots:

Hosted by Michael D. Morrison, Small Business Pivots features entrepreneurs, authors, business owners, and thought leaders sharing real-world strategies to help business owners get unstuck and grow.

Ranked among the Top 10% of podcasts globally by Listen Notes.

Support the show

1. Want professional business coaching with the podcast host, Michael D. Morrison?
https://www.michaeldmorrison.com

2. Want to set up a FREE business consultation with the podcast host, Michael D. Morrison?
https://www.michaeldmorrison.com/consultation

Connect and follow the podcast host, Michael D. Morrison to learn how to grow a successful business :

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeldmorrisonokc/

- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@michaeldmorrisonokc

- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MichaelDMorrisonOKC

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michaeldmorrisonokc/

- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@michaeldmorrisonokc

Email the podcast host, Michael D. Morrison: Michael@MichaelDMorrison.com

Most entrepreneurs start their business doing everything themselves.

Sales.

Customer service.

Accounting.

Marketing.

Operations.

But eventually that becomes the very thing holding the business back.

In this episode of Small Business Pivots, Michael D. Morrison sits down with entrepreneur, software founder, and CEO Dean Mathews, creator of OnTheClock, to discuss the leadership shifts required to grow beyond yourself and build a business that can thrive without depending on the owner every day.

Dean shares lessons learned from building a software company serving over 16,000 businesses while growing a team of nearly 30 employees. He explains why hiring too late is one of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make, how to build a positive company culture, why leaders must stop micromanaging, and how empowering employees creates stronger businesses.

They also discuss leadership development, delegation, company culture, payroll, employee management, hiring strategies, autonomy, business systems, and why humility may be one of the greatest leadership traits an entrepreneur can develop.

In this episode you'll discover:

• Why doing everything yourself limits business growth

• When it's time to hire your first employee

• How to stop becoming the bottleneck

• The importance of clear roles and job descriptions

• Why autonomy creates stronger employees

• The "Hire Slow, Fire Fast" philosophy

• Building company culture intentionally

• Leadership lessons from growing a software company

• How payroll, scheduling, and HR systems improve operations

• Why humility makes stronger leaders

If you're a business owner trying to scale your company, develop better leaders, build stronger systems, or simply get your life back, this episode is packed with practical advice you can implement immediately.

About Dean Mathews

Dean Mathews is the founder and CEO of OnTheClock, a workforce management platform helping thousands of businesses simplify employee time tracking, scheduling, payroll, and HR management. A lifelong entrepreneur and software developer, Dean is passionate about leadership, business systems, and helping small businesses build companies that scale.

About Small Business Pivots

Hosted by Michael D. Morrison, Small Business Pivots features entrepreneurs, business leaders, authors, and experts sharing the pivots, systems, and strategies that help business owners get unstuck and grow.

🏆 Ranked among the Top 10% of podcasts globally by Listen Notes.

Support the show

1. Want professional business coaching with the podcast host, Michael D. Morrison?
https://www.michaeldmorrison.com

2. Want to set up a FREE business consultation with the podcast host, Michael D. Morrison?
https://www.michaeldmorrison.com/consultation

Connect and follow the podcast host, Michael D. Morrison to learn how to grow a successful business :

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeldmorrisonokc/

- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@michaeldmorrisonokc

- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MichaelDMorrisonOKC

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michaeldmorrisonokc/

- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@michaeldmorrisonokc

Email the podcast host, Michael D. Morrison: Michael@MichaelDMorrison.com