In this transformational episode, David Miller, Founder and CEO of Alchemy of Scale, shares how to move from overwhelmed founder to effective leader in stage 4. If you have managers but still feel like everything runs through you, you’re frustrated with constant questions, and the team isn’t owning results, you won’t want to miss it.
You will discover:
– What it takes to develop leaders who think and act like owners
– Why having managers doesn’t mean you have real leadership
– How to shift from managing people to building systems that create accountability
Episode Transcript
Scott Ritzheimer
Hello, hello and welcome. Welcome once again to the start, scale and succeed podcast, the only podcast that grows with you through all seven stages of your journey. As a founder, I’m your host, Scott Ritzheimer, and if you’re one of those founders who’s built a team, you’ve hired managers, but you still feel like the company is running almost entirely on your back. You’re not alone, you’re not crazy, and especially those of you who are in what we call the disillusioned leader stage, because the hard truth is that having managers doesn’t mean that you have a functioning leadership structure. And we’re going to talk about the difference between those two today, because with me, our guest, has lived this firsthand, building peach cap from the ground up to over $10 million before exiting and now helping founder operators to break through that exact same plateau that he once faced.
Our guest today is David Miller. He’s a growth Alchemist who has built skilled and exited multiple businesses, all while guiding others to do the same. He founded peach cap, a premier investment and finance firm, which grew to over $10 million before exiting and as a global speaker and board member for Entrepreneurs Organization EO, the world’s largest community of seven figure business owners, he shares powerful lessons from both success and failure, including how a costly business deal reshaped his views on trust, and through his coaching practice, practice, alchemy of scale, David helps founder operators break those plateaus, build legacy and transform good companies into great ones. He’s here with us today, David, welcome to the show. Glad to have you here. At one time, a fellow Atlanta and we were trapping trading some Atlanta stories here before we got in. But I wonder if we could just could start with a little bit about peach cap you spent, I think it was over 15 years there, got past that $10 million mark, which a lot of our founders would love to do. But somewhere in that journey, I want to dial in where you had that moment where you realized you had some managers in place, but it still wasn’t working. What’s actually going on there?
David Miller
Yeah, well, first of all, Scott, thanks for having me. It’s awesome to be here. Thanks for the the kind introduction. Gosh, so the, yeah, that valley of death that you referenced, that’s a fun, not so fun spot to be in, one of the biggest areas of learning for me, and I’d say probably one of my my biggest challenges, was hiring too many people at once, hiring too many managers, just focused more on growing the people from a numbers perspective, than focusing on the cultural depth. So I think, I think making sure you have the right managers in place is the first, the right people in place, leaders in place first, and then you can start focusing on, how do you enhance those qualitative aspects of those managers so they can be effective?
Scott Ritzheimer
Yeah, I’m wondering, because I feel like what it takes to have you know managers, especially the folks who report to you, is very different along this journey. So at first you kind of get folks to keep folks away from you. It’s like, hey, go help them. Go handle them. Like, just manage that for me, so I don’t have to deal with it. But then at some point that shifts, where we don’t just need someone to kind of run interference for us, but we need someone to think as a leader. How do you see the difference in that? How do you know? Let’s start this. How do you know if your current team has that?
David Miller
I think it’s I think it starts with you and starts with the leader. Accountability rolls downhill, just like the other phrase that we hear and accountability can roll downhill, but on the juxtaposed phrase of that, so can weakness, and so can blaming and pointing fingers and not taking accountability. So having that first as a leader and understanding that people are going to mimic you and how to lead the organization is the first and foremost place to start. And if you’re not taking ownership and accountability in your actions and everything that’s going on in your organization, regardless if you made the decision or not, then you can you can do nothing but expect that that from your leaders.
Scott Ritzheimer
Yeah, I think what often gets overlooked because, to be frank, it hasn’t really happened up to this point in the organization’s history, is founders don’t realize the extent to which their shortcomings and their strengths are being reproduced. Right? Oftentimes, we just think of it as like, oh, maybe I’m letting that guy slide, but it stops there. That’s not how it works when that person’s leading others. Why is it so important to really dial in on some of those weaknesses, and how can we see whether they’re affecting the organization beyond what we initially thought?
David Miller
Yeah, one of the things that I’ve identified with how to best help leaders so they. Can be most impactful in their position is really identifying those items that are not time sensitive yet, but are very important. And when looking at a leader and how they are managing themselves and their people thereafter, day to day, and on a weekly, monthly basis. You know, if they can have answers and address those questions, Hey, what are some strategic things that are that our company is working on right now that isn’t at the forefront that we have to get it done immediately? How can we go ahead and start addressing those and talking about them. Then when they when it actually comes to a head, when it starts to materialize, then the team’s not going to be reactive, and it’s going to be that much easier for your leaders to manage the issues and the assigns and employees.
Scott Ritzheimer
Yeah, yeah, that’s good. I want to come back to, so let’s say we’ve got someone. They recognize their role in this. They’re starting to take some accountability for themselves and enforce some accountability with their team, but they have just, usually a couple of managers or leaders who are struggling. And again, I want to come back to this question like, how do we know if it’s the right person in that role? How do you answer that question?
David Miller
Well, hopefully that part is done in the hiring process, making sure that their core values are aligned with the company core values. And once that is set in place, then it set all on you and the leader to make sure that you’re guiding them in the direction that the company is going, and just having though that one on one relationship and really getting under the getting to the root of the issue as to what their everyday struggles are, what their frustrations or misunderstandings are. So it comes down to communication at the end of the day.
Scott Ritzheimer
Yeah, it’s so important. I want to switch gears a little bit. There’s something that we mentioned in the intro that I want to unpack. What does trust look like through all of this? Because I’ve found that founders are both very trusting and very not trusting all at the same time, and sometimes it can be really difficult to walk that road and know, what does trust actually look like for a founder at this stage when things are going wrong, what were some of the lessons you learned around trust? And how do you help founders with those today?
David Miller
That is one that’s a great question. As far as trust goes, the way that I see it, trust isn’t earned and trust isn’t given. It is managing the balance of the two. So whenever you’re first meeting with someone, you know that that connection, that intuitive sense that you get with someone you’re you’re giving trust there when you’re establishing a relationship, so you’re giving something before you’ve even received anything, and that’s there’s vulnerability with that. So after, after that trust is given, then there’s that, that logical component, right? The How do you, how do you earn trust over time? And that’s a credit and debit system. And if, if you keep taking, taking, taking, without, without giving, then that trust is going to go to a negative balance. Just let just like an ATM, and you’re not going to be able to, for lack of better words, cash out on on getting things done within the company. So just really Scott, understanding that that trust is a two way street, and knowing how to intuitively and logically give and take in an appropriate manner.
Scott Ritzheimer
Yeah, one of the things that I’ve found is that you tend to take, you know, big clear. What would that be? Debits from? I’ll get my debits and credits backwards, but withdrawals, that’s the word I’m looking for from trust, but you can’t necessarily make the same big contributions to trust, deposits in trust every once in a while. But it’s not like some kind of team Summit is going to is going to build all the trust you need for the rest of the year. What are the little important ways that you see great leaders building trust over time?
David Miller
Yeah. So that that credit, if you will. How do you? How do you give How do you? How do you earn trust? Is for for me, Scott is being vulnerable and really going in and listening intently, listening when your leaders are talking and memorializing what they’re saying and acknowledging what they’re saying so they know that you understand them, and then being vulnerable with with your experience and how you’re seeing the situation, and arguably, most importantly, saying when you don’t know something, because there’s nothing wrong with a leader saying, I don’t. Know, as opposed to, hey, I have all the answers. Let’s, let’s figure this out together, because I don’t know the answer. That’s why you have a team. You know, we’re stronger together. So really, just being vulnerable and in sharing your experience or lack thereof, when, when the situation calls for.
Scott Ritzheimer
Yeah, I think that’s hard, because there’s this sense that, especially from the earlier stages, that if you didn’t have the answer, no one did. And there’s there’s just kind of like it’s a little scary to be in that place, and we don’t really want to admit that it’s there. What does it cost us at this level, when we have a team around us who may have answers that we don’t? What does it cost to still rely on being the guy who has or girl who has all the answers?
David Miller
Well, I mean, I think you risk being seen as someone with hubris or bravado or machismo, whatever you want to call it, and being a genuine and if you’re coming across that way, like you know all the answers. One people are going to see through that, but two people that’s that’s a leader that’s leading through fear, as opposed of gaining respect and and leading through fear. You know, people aren’t going to open up, and they’re not going to talk to you, and they’re not going to provide the information from their from their people that are on the ground every day that had the most important information, that that feed up so you can make informed decisions.
Scott Ritzheimer
It’s so true, because if you think about it, when, when the founder had to be in answer mode, right? Have all the answers. They also had all the inputs, right? You know, many times they were either there doing it or directly leading the people who were doing it. But as you start to hand off more and more responsibility, not just for doing but for leading and managing, you also lose some of that experience and those inputs and we can live off of the past experience for a while, but slowly they’ll start to get out of sync and out of date. And it would be nice if it happened all at once, but it tends to happen kind of behind the scenes, and so I love the emphasis here on really working. Did you share this earlier? But like communicating with your team, so much comes down to your ability to communicate with your team and the vulnerability, the vulnerability needed to accept that.
David Miller
Yeah, yeah. I agree.
Scott Ritzheimer
Good, good. Okay, so I’ve got this question. I’ve been dying to get to it, and we’re just going to jump in here now, but it’s a question I ask all my guests. I’m interested to see what you’d have to say. And the question is this, David, what do you think is the biggest secret that you wish wasn’t a secret at all? What’s that one thing you wish everybody watching or listening today knew?
David Miller
Well, it’s, it’s a secret, but it’s not a secret. And the reason I say that is because it’s kind of a trite saying, and it’s, it’s lead from the heart, and that’s easy to say, but whenever you’re in the moment and that and that fear succumbs you, just like it does every great leader who’s courageous, right? If you’re courage, it doesn’t mean you have fear. It just means you’re moving through the fear. And when you’re in that fearful situation, when you’re vulnerable, when you’re uncertain, when you don’t have complete confidence, then just trusting your inner childlike, trusting your heart and moving forward altruistically and how you’re speaking, the people are going to see that. And if you want to gain trust, if you want to gain respect, if you want to be a strong leader and truly understanding, looking deep within yourself and knowing what leading from the heart means can help out a lot, a lot of people.
Scott Ritzheimer
Yeah, that’s good. I love that, David. There’s some folks that are listening that would love more. They found exactly what they’re looking for in today’s episode. Right thing, right time, and they’d love to find more out about the work that you do, or hear more from you. Where can they connect with you and learn more?
David Miller
Easiest way is at davidmiller dot buzz on Instagram. Either message me there. Look at some of my leadership reels, grab some bits there and how you might be able to apply it to your business. And yeah, DM me if you got any questions. Happy to get back and help out any way I can.
Scott Ritzheimer
Fantastic, fantastic. David, thank you for being on the show really was a privilege and honor. Having you here today, I thoroughly enjoyed this conversation, and for those of you watching and listening, you know your time and attention mean the world to us, I hope you got as much out of this conversation as I know I did, and I cannot wait to see you next time. Take care.
Contact David Miller
David Miller is a Growth Alchemist who has built, scaled, and exited multiple businesses while guiding others to do the same. He founded PeachCap, a premier investment and finance firm, which he grew to over $10M before exiting. As a global speaker and board member of Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO), the world’s largest community of seven‑figure business owners, he shares powerful lessons from both success and failure, including how a costly business deal reshaped his views on trust. Through his coaching practice, Alchemy of Scale, David helps founder‑operators break plateaus, build legacy, and transform good companies into great ones.
Want to learn more about David Miller’s work at Alchemy of Scale? Check out his website at https://alchemyofscale.com/
Connect with David through his LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-miller-business-coach/
Check out his Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/davidmiller.buzz