S1E11: How Getting Fired Can Get You on the Right Path | Benny Fisher

Benny Fisher, CEO and Visionary of Big Fish Contracting Company, discusses the challenges that build Visionaries and how to overcome the fear of firing.

Finding the right fit for your business centers on two key areas: finding the right fit for you as the leader and finding the right fit for the seats around you. 

Benny’s journey was marked by unique struggles, from his ADHD diagnosis to being fired from jobs despite working hard. However, his unique perspective on the world around him encouraged him to take those challenges and turn them into a thriving business. 

He explains how he used the opportunities he was given to turn the business into a $100,000 enterprise in its first year. Benny also acknowledges that despite his experience, success can quickly become overwhelming and chaotic.

Managing people for the first time and the pressure to keep growing led to a major work-life balance issue for Benny. For him, the solution starts with getting the right people in the right seats. Benny talks about finding his power in discovering his identity as a Visionary. 

[16:13] “I’m investing in people. You don’t realize the costs associated with training or onboarding. So when you think, ‘Oh man, I’m doing 10 million a year. I’m not that profitable right now.’ But what I am is I’m profitable in people and systems, and I have a really great culture and community.”

When talking about hiring and firing, Benny discusses how hiring people who are strong in his weaknesses creates balance in his team and that being aware of those weaknesses helps attract the right people.

Ken Kooistra, Big Fish Contracting Company’s EOS Implementer®, shares the early changes that shaped Benny’s team and the pains of firing people. He adds that those things can often become a stalemate when fear is a part of the process.

Keeping core values in the hiring process is a huge asset. Ken explains how Benny empowered his business when he focused on letting go of the people who weren’t the right fit. The growth that comes after the storm, he says, is freeing. 

[25:10] “If there’s a person that’s working with you or in your company that just is not a good fit, it’s not a good fit for you, it’s not a good fit for the company, but also it’s not a good fit for them. The kindest thing to do is to let them go, free them from the space they’re in, and let them move forward.”

The five core values of Big Fish Contracting Company are personal to Benny, and he talks about how they keep his team aligned with his vision. 

Benny shares why taking a Clarity Break™ is vital to his success as a Visionary and how The EOS Life® empowers him and his team to become their best. 

Links

• Benny Fisher | LinkedIn
• The Big Fish Cares | Podcast 
• Big Fish Contracting | Website
• Rocket Fuel by Gino Wickman | Book
• Twelve and a Half by Gary Vaynerchuk | Book
• How to Be a Great Boss by Gino Wickman & René Boer | Book
• The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni | Book
• The EOS Life by Gino Wickman | Book
• Ken Kooistra | EOS