008: Grow Business by Showing Gratitude with John Ruhlin

I am so excited to share the stage today with John Ruhlin, an entrepreneur who has found great success through radical gifting. Listen in as John shares with us about his superpower, the people he surrounds himself with, and the hacks he uses to achieve success. About John Ruhlin John Ruhlin is the founder of the Ruhlin Group. John company is trusted by the leaders of fast-growing companies to develop relationship-building strategies and VIP gifting programs to increase referrals and strengthen retention with their most important clients, employees, and prospects. The Ruhlin Group’s clients include the Chicago Cubs, San Antonio Spurs, DR Horton, Morgan Stanley, St Louis Blues, and hundreds of other industry leaders and high-end service firms.   Key Takeaways If you take care of the family, everything else seems to take care of itself. How you show gratitude matters! Your responsibility is to live your best life. Be you out there and out loud! Then help serve others by being your best self. Your job is to operate in your sweet spot. Stick there as much as you can and hire out the rest. When it comes to gift giving, there is a bit of risk in gifting something unique or personalized. Time-Stamped Show Highlights 3:00 – How John came up with the idea of Giftology 5:43 – The one thing most business leaders absolutely suck at 9:19 – Gift giving, manipulation and misconstrued communication Your intention and why you’re giving the gift matters. 11:01 – The different types of gifts you can give. There’s a different bucket for prospects, a different bucket for relationships and a different bucket for promotional gifts. They’re each given for a different purpose and will be received differently. 15:24 – Who the Ruhlin Group serves 19:08 – John’s weaknesses and who he relies on to reach success I’m not a finance guy or a numbers guy. I am a relationship person and an ideas person, but not necessarily an executor. My business partner brings stability, consistency and leadership to help us be successful. 22:24 – The importance of honoring and respecting the differences between you and the people you surround yourself with 24:07 – Ideas on how to delegate and hire out help If you figure out what your time is worth and what only you can do, you do those things and hire out the rest. 28:19 – John’s biggest success hack I’m naturally an introvert. I use gifting and gratitude to engage with people. It’s been my way to scale myself while still operating at a world-class level. 29:41 – Own the way you’re wired to help you start and build relationships 32:29 – About Giftology, John’s book 36:41 – Podcast recommendation of the week! Selected Links for This Episode 10 Worst Gifts to Avoid freebie JohnRuhlin.com Ruhlin Group website Connect with John on LinkedIn Follow John on Twitter TaskRabbit Podcast of the Week: The Art of Charm with Jordan Harbinger Frickin’ Awesome Resources Frickin’ Awesome Entrepreneurs Facebook Community From Frustrated to Frickin’ Awesome by Alissa Daire Nelson Daire Success Coaching website StrengthsFinder 2.0 test StrengthsFinder 2.0 by Tom Rath