Josh Block: How Strong Leadership and Company Culture Helped a Business Thrive During COVID

Welcome to The Behavioral Profit. I'm Debbie

Longo, transformational coach. This show is about

one thing, why businesses don't perform the way

they should. Most leaders think they have a strategy

problem, but they don't. It's behavioral. It's

how decisions are made, how pressure is handled,

and how people operate inside the business day

to day. On this show, we break down what's really

driving missed targets, stalled growth, and poor

execution, and what shifts when behavior changes.

Because when behavior changes, performance improves

and and that's where profit comes from. We have

a very special guest today, Josh Block, and we're

gonna take a closer look at what's really going

on inside their business, what's working, what's

not, and where behavior may be impacting performance.

Good afternoon, Josh. Welcome to the show. Thank

you so much for having me, Debbie. It's good

to be with you. Thank you for being here. I appreciate

it. So I am going to ask you to introduce yourself

for a few minutes. Tell us who you are and talk

about an example or an experience that you have

had in business where there was a problem or

an issue or just something happened that it needed

to be changed. And what was that process of the

change and how you got through it? And then what

was the end result? Then the end result should

always be positive. Now I do this show for a

few different reasons. And one reason is because

the obvious reason is because a lot of people

have issues and problems and challenges and stuff

in their business. And I do this podcast to explain

about all different examples that they don't

have to necessarily identify with that specific

example. But the process that we go through is

how they can get through with their issue or

whatever it is. So what they would do is if whatever

we're going to talk about, they would take that

out and then insert their own problem in there.

and then go through that process. So it's kind

of like similar to that. And then also maybe

people don't know that their business can actually

change. Maybe they accept it being less and less

every year and the profits going down every year

because that's just the way the business goes,

which is 100 % not true because any business

can do better than what it's doing now. There's

no such thing as staying stagnant and there's

no such thing as going backwards. There is a

such thing as that, but we don't want the business

to do that. That's one of the main purposes about

what we have this show. And it's to help the

listener, the business owner, basically, or whoever's

listening, basically. And there's also not going

to be any promotion on this podcast, but we'll

give information at the end. So when you. When

you go down to show notes, you could see all

the links and stuff to contact the guests and

the host and stuff. So if you could do that for

me, I would appreciate it. Thank you. Yeah. So

I'm Josh Block and I have been the president

of Block Imaging for the last 15 years. And when

I became president, it was a bit of a unique

situation where I was 29 years old. I was a sales

rep for our family business, which is in radiology,

equipment, parts and service sales. and went

from sales rep to president over the course of

a weekend unexpectedly. fell in love with this

idea of culture and creating a place where people

love to work and ultimately drive remarkable

performance, grew the company pretty significantly

over the next 15 years. So today we're about

a $230 million organization with more than 400

people. And the situation that comes to mind

when you talk about behavioral impact and really

shifting the trajectory of an organization is

at the beginning of COVID. And I was in Cancun,

we were with some friends on vacation, and little

by little, the world started to shut down. What

was once far away began to make its way across

the West Coast, and before you know it, the NCAA

tournament was canceled, and the Masters was

canceled, and our kids' school was canceled.

And so as we were returning back to Michigan

and beginning to lead the company through this,

it was a healthcare crisis, and we're in the

healthcare space, and people were afraid. some

afraid of their jobs, some were afraid of their

health. And it was a very complex situation.

And so it was a great opportunity to look back

at what we value and how do we provide a sense

of security. And so when I returned back to the

office, we had a company -wide meeting and we

have a bunch of long -term targets and goals.

And yet what we did is we just said, hey, all

of that, it's not that it's not important, but

right now our main focus in... navigating what

is going to be a pandemic for maybe a few weeks.

turned to be a few months, turned to be a few

years, is our goal is to employ each member of

this team from start to finish. We can't promise

that's what's going to happen, but that's our

goal. And what was powerful is we just started

with a vision. This is what we're after as a

company. And fast forward a number of months,

there began to be some subsidies to provide for

people in the midst of unemployment. And what

happened is instead of people going home and

getting paid to go home, They continued to show

up, they reciprocated, served the company, served

our customers, drove the company forward because

first we said, we're going to take care of you.

And then the people responded and said, no, we're

going to take care of the company. And so that's

one of the situations that comes to mind that

when we look through a window and see other people

and we actually care for their needs and address

their security, they reciprocate and respond

in some really remarkable ways. Yeah, that was

very, very good. Thank you. And that's an excellent

example because I have a very big example about

COVID, which is how I wound up going on my own

and starting my own business. But I've been in

this business for a long time. But the point

is that You were able to overcome that and you

were able to say that we need to take care of

our clients and we're not going to let COVID

affect the business and affect the sales. So

there are tons of companies, which I'm sure you

know that went bankrupt, had to file bankruptcy.

lost a lot of profits and money and employees

and stuff because a lot of people got COVID just

that one reason. I mean, there's a lot of reasons

from COVID, but a lot of people got COVID and

people were afraid of getting it and stuff. So

the companies, and this is one of the companies

that I helped too, the companies blame the employees

and they blame COVID. And that's the problem

because that's not what we want to do. That's

not an effective way of running a company because

it doesn't matter if it's COVID or a recession

or a bunch of employees quitting at the same

time. just not doing good one year and sales

going down the tubes. None of these things matter.

It's about your positive, the business owner

and the executive, their positive behavior and

positive outlook about how they're gonna get

through this. trials and tribulations that the

company is having without affecting the company,

the employees, the sales, and the profits. So

what was the part of the process that you went

through when you literally made this transformation?

And then I know it took years, which for most

companies did, even though some tried to get

out. Some tried to get over it, some did, some

didn't. But what was your process and your thinking

from when all of this happened that you just

talked about to when you were successful, when

you got over the hump, when the whole thing was

over or you just went through this one little

piece and then you got through it and you came

out the other side. So what was your thinking

and your process during that time? Yeah. So for

us, it was a refining fire. It really, it brought

our team together in a unique way. And it was

an opportunity to express what I talk about in

People Matter at Work as thoughtful decisions,

using careful consideration of the needs of others.

And it's, if you're at the helm, whenever you're

driving a car, you're very comfortable when you

ease to the right or ease to the left. You know

exactly where this car is going to go. It's different

to be in the passenger seat and it's very different

to be in the trunk and you're getting, you're

having all these wobbly feelings. And so that's

what, what we're really trying to do is provide

clarity to people who are not in the driver's

seat. They don't have their hands on the wheel

and they're trusting you to drive safely and

effectively. And so, yeah, it was a situation

where we had a lot of challenges. There were

supply chain difficulties and, and healthcare,

there were all sorts of capital challenges. And

yet we had an, we had a great year in. had a

growth year in 2021 and then another growth year

in 2022. And I really believe all the work we

had done to invest in our team and to have a

strong culture helped us get through COVID and

not just get through, but really become stronger

in the face of difficulty. Yeah, and that's very

good. And the very good point that you had made

before was that you put the people first. Sure.

You put instead right. above the business owner,

above yourself and your. shareholders and your

board or whatever, however you run your company,

because a lot of businesses, when they do really

good and they gain profits every year, then all

of a sudden something happens. Like I said, like

COVID or recession, these things are not plans.

They just happen within like a few months time.

But you don't know how it's going to affect the

company. And then all of a sudden. the business

owner wants to say, I have to now try to control

all these people and they're quitting and I don't

know what to do. And they're not putting them

first. They're just constantly making excuses

as to why their business is failing. And they're

not looking at themselves because when I put

my employees and my, whoever I'm working with

first, right? Then I am not only creating humility,

right? I'm getting rid of that control, that

power, that ego. And when I do that, my company

will be 100 % become successful and be able to

get through that. So it's kind of like a snowball

thing. One thing affects the other. But I want

to be as humble as I can where I am not putting

myself first and this really goes for any situation

But this is really like a super duper traumatic

thing that happened because, like I said, nothing

was planned. So you have to be like a good business

owner, like all the time to really just to know

what to do when that's why a lot of they weren't

trained this way. So that was my other question,

too. Did you have any special training to know

to do this? Or did you do you did you do this

naturally, like in your whole life? during business

or most of your life or were you influenced by

somebody? or something like that, because this

is a practice that it's like learned, basically.

I don't think it's part of like a normal business

practice kind of thing. To my knowledge, it's

really not. I mean, I'm not in every single industry

in the world, but to my knowledge, it's really

not. And a lot of the guests and stuff that I

have had that have to do with COVID and my clients,

they didn't really know what to do. Sure, I think

that. I think a lot of school is focused on technical

things. It's just the smart side of the coin

is accounting and finance and HR and IT. And

there's this element of leadership, which there

are more leadership MBAs than ever before and

opportunities for graduate level classes and

leadership. But for me, I think there are a lot

of people who had invested in me up to that point.

In my book, I have pages of acknowledgments of

people who had poured into me. My parents, my

dad, very hard worker, loved business. My mom

loves people incredibly well. And so I think

it's a mix of who I was wired to be, the people

who invested in me, and then also some of the

things that I had the privilege of learning in

my 20s before becoming president. Yeah, because

that's a good point. Because if I go to school

or I get some type of edu - They're going to

say, do this, this and this and this just to

get through it fast. So you have an outline,

you have a basic frame, a basic skeleton of how

to run your business. But I want to go past that.

I want to do constantly doing research and all

these different things. and maybe get a coach.

Obviously, I'm not promoting myself, but I'm

just saying there's a lot of somebody could get

counseling or something like that to constantly

be expanding their knowledge to help them to

run their business. And some things you have

to kind of like look up. You have to like research

what's not. Some things are obvious. If I would

like to search stuff. terms and different things

on the Internet to gain my knowledge about how

to run a business. But a lot of things aren't.

So to me, it sounds like what happened to you

and how you knew about it and everything was

just the way that the cards fell, was just the

way that your life turned out based on all these

people and things and stuff in the past. Because

that sounds like everything just came together

and you were able to know what to do with your

business and how to help your business to survive

during COVID. So this is the thing. So that's

why we have this show to show that and explain

that, that these are all different ways that

a business can help to survive. So in any situation,

how do you feel in your business and maybe your

life too, whatever you want to say, Right now,

right this second, based on everything we just

talked about in this podcast and your business

and your feeling and your thinking, how do you

feel? Yeah, I'm super proud of our team and organization.

And I recognize that you never arrive in raising

kids or in building a culture or in creating

a thriving team or... or business for that matter,

there's no destination point. And so as much

as I'm proud of the story to this point, it's

my like invitation and my challenge to our team

to keep living it out. Culture is not stagnant.

It's always evolving. And so what does it look

like to enhance that the company looks different

when there are 30 people and when there's more

than 400. And so how do we actually embody and

live out a strong culture? in the midst of growth.

And so that's, so I'm both proud and I'm like

kind of the cheerleader of encouraging and championing

them to keep living it out every single day because

a culture doesn't get created by accident. Yeah,

that's good. And then you carry through, you

continue to do that because you know what to

do and you know that it works, obviously. You

might've known it worked before, it's gonna work

beforehand, but still. Now you really have the

proof because we have this situation that we

never thought that we would be into this extreme

thing. Sure. So that was good. And that was a

very good way to close. And then in closing,

I would like to say that anybody, any business

can get through any problem or issue that they

have, providing that they create the willingness

to change, to look for the help to look outside

of themselves and ask yourself, is it me? Am

I able to do something to change the business?

Am I gonna keep pointing the finger and blaming

everything on my employees? my board, my shareholders,

whatever kind of business it is, or am I able

to look at myself and kind of think outside of

the box a little, and am I able to do that where

I can? influence my company enough to get out

of these issues that we're having and then therefore

increase sales and profits. And that's really

what behavioral profit is, is that I'm changing

my behavior. And then ultimately that increases

sales and profits. That's really, there's a lot

of stuff in between, but that's really, you know,

what the end result is going to be. So, so yeah.

You want to say anything else for closing? Now,

if people are interested in hearing more, they're

welcome to go to Amazon and purchase a copy of

People Matter at Work or go to peoplematteratwork

.com. And they'll finally, they can email me

at josh at peoplematteratwork .com. I'll put

all the links to your book and everything after

the show notes so they can look at that also.

So thank you. Before we wrap up, I want to leave

you with this. That's what behavioral profit

is all about, understanding what's really driving

performance inside a business. If something isn't

working, it's easy to assume it's strategy, the

market. or external factors. But more often than

not, it's how the business is operating day to

day. Once that shifts, everything else follows.

If your business isn't performing the way it

should, there's a reason, and it's not random.

If you want to identify what's driving your results

and fix it, connect with me directly. Thank you

for listening. I'll see you on the next episode.

And thank you, Josh, for being on the show. I

really appreciate it. Thank you, Debbie.