Episode 1206: Develop Your Influence - Interview with the founder of Stewardship and author of Work-Life Harmony Grant Botma – Part 3

[00:00:00] Scott Maderer: Thanks for joining us on episode 1,206 of the inspired stewardship podcast.

[00:00:06] Grant Botma: I'm Grant Botma. I challenge you to invest in yourself, invest in others, develop your influence and impact the world by using your time, your talent and your treasures to live out your calling. Having the ability to find work life harmony is key. And one way to be inspired to do that is to listen to this.

[00:00:26] The inspired stewardship podcast with my friend, Scott.

[00:00:31] It's fun and nice to read a book or listen to a podcast or listen to a sermon where it's all about a paradigm shift. That's great change my mindset, but I like the action steps. I like being able to finish a chapter or finish a section and do a thing right then and there, if I can.

[00:00:54] Scott Maderer: Welcome and thank you for joining us on the inspired stewardship podcast. If [00:01:00] you truly desire to become the person who God wants you to be, then you must learn to use your time, your talent and your treasures for your true calling in the inspired stewardship podcast, you will learn to invest in yourself, invest in others and develop your influence so that.

[00:01:18] Can impact the world

[00:01:20] in today's interview with grant Bama. I ask grant to share with you his belief in stewardship. I also ask grant why harmony is so important, not just for employees, but for the business owners and the business itself. I also ask grant why he has a place in his book for rebuttals and arguments. one reason I like to bring you great interviews.

[00:01:43] Like the one you're gonna hear today is because of the power in learning from others. Another great way to learn from others is through reading books. But if you're like most people today, you find it hard to find the time to sit down and read. And that's why today's [00:02:00] podcast is brought to you by audible.

[00:02:02] Go to inspired stewardship.com/audible to sign up and you can get a 30 day free trial. There's over 180,000 titles to choose from. And instead of reading, you can listen your way to learn from some of the greatest minds out there. That's inspired stewardship.com/audible to get your free trial and listen to great books the same way you're listening to this podcast.

[00:02:29] Grant BMA is a husband, father, and Arizona native, who has worked in the personal finance industry. Since the age of 15, he took a stand against financial injustice by forming stewardship, a group of companies serving his community with wisdom and love through home loans, insurance and investments included twice on the ink 5,000 list of America's fastest grown companies.

[00:02:52] Stewardship success stems from Grant's personal philosophy of harmonizing. And family life. He is a [00:03:00] business owner, bestselling Arthur keynote speaker and family man, who is on a mission to love others. Welcome to the show grant.

[00:03:09] Grant Botma: Yeah, thanks for having me. It's gonna be fun.

[00:03:11] Scott Maderer: So grant, I my brand is inspired stewardship and ironically I found out after we started talking that your brand is around stewardship as well.

[00:03:22] Yeah. and it's one of those words that I use a lot. I run a my life through it. It sounds like this is an important one to you, but I've also discovered over the years that. When I use that word, different people hear different things and think different things. So for you, what does the word stewardship mean?

[00:03:39] And why has that shown up in your life? What has its impact been on you?

[00:03:43] Grant Botma: Yeah, the word stewardship to me means another building campaign at church. No, just kidding. But that's what a lot of people think. That's what I, yeah. Yeah. And a lot of people associate that word stewardship with church, but the history of the word really has nothing to do with church.

[00:03:59] [00:04:00] That word stewardship isn't really in any of the original languages or in scripture. Now the theme is in scripture all over the place. But that actual word isn't anywhere in. Stewardship originated that word originated from the time with Lords and ladies and Kings and Queens in a castle or in a township, there was always a steward in the steward's job was to make sure that all the things, all the assets, all the grain, all the food, all the money, all the things were being managed well so that everybody could get the most of.

[00:04:37] The steward by nature had to be very wise, but also extremely selfless. And to me, that's what God is asking us to do in our lives. We are entrusted with things. So how can we leave them better than we found them? How can we make the most of them and not make the most of them for us, but make the most of them for everybody [00:05:00] else in our castle or in our town, the same way that the steward did for their castle in their.

[00:05:05] So why did you name your business stewardship? It sounded better than God's love finance, and I just thought it was a cool and nice. Yeah. I just really align with what stewardship is. I'm on a mission in my life to love people. If you go back to the most important thing said by the most important human being of all time my guess is gonna be that would be Jesus.

[00:05:32] And Jesus knew that right before he ascended into heaven after he rose from the grave, that he was probably gonna say something profound. Scott, if you knew that you were gonna say goodbye to everyone in the world within the next five minutes, you'd probably try to say the most profound thing possible.

[00:05:47] So when we look in scripture, what he says before he ascends into heaven is what the Bible has determined as a great commiss. Us as Christians, evangelicals have called it the great commission. So if you look at the great commission, I try to identify, okay what's the [00:06:00] most important word said, and maybe the most important thing said by the most important person ever, what do you think is the most important word in the great commission, which is go making disciples, baptizing them in the name of the father to son of the holy spirit.

[00:06:16] What do you think is the most important word in that statement? Scott, for me, it's. Yeah, there are a lot of people say go because it's an action order, right? And some people say baptize, some people say disciple. If I go back to my seventh grade teacher, miss Klon parents, she had the beehive and the wing tip eyeglasses.

[00:06:34] And would whack you with a ruler if you fell outta line. She taught us how to dissect sentences in seventh grade, Scott. This was a waste of time. I thought to myself, but she taught me how to figure out what the subject. Of a word is, or a sentences because without the subject, it's not a complete thought.

[00:06:52] The subject, when you dissect the great commission is the word them, who are you going to them? Who are you discipling [00:07:00] them? Who are you baptizing them? Them is also what Jesus made his whole life about. So to me, that's what I believe our life should be. And what should we do with them? We should love them.

[00:07:12] Just as Jesus loved us. So that's the mission that I have in life. And as I evaluate my life and I see that God has put them in my life, I have to be good steward of those relationships. I need to leave them better than I found them. I need to make sure that they are in a better place than when they first came to.

[00:07:31] And that's what stewardship is to me. And that's why I have to focus on it. So when it came down to coming up with a name I wanted to make sure that the name of the, my business and that word associated tightly with things that were important to me and the purpose in my life, that's

[00:07:45] Scott Maderer: That I've came to that word pretty late and in, in my relationship, but I feel the same way around it.

[00:07:52] It, to me it's a word that makes it easy to keep the focus. It's not all about me. so to speak. [00:08:00] If that makes sense. So I resonate with what you just said. So in, in the book I talk a lot about influencing others and something struck me as I was going through the book is you have sections in there on rebuttals, and you have places in there for people to take notes.

[00:08:19] You. Quick wins or practical tips for folks to do. Why did you choose to structure the book this way?

[00:08:27] Grant Botma: So I read or rather I listen to a lot of books. I'm a big audio book guy. And I really enjoy consuming knowledge and consuming information. I'll go to a lot of different conferences and listen to other people speak.

[00:08:40] And I just took the things that I like from content that I'm absorbing and make sure that I gave that in the content that I'm creating. It's fun and nice to read a book or listen to a podcast or listen to a sermon where it's all about a paradigm shift. That's great.

[00:08:59] Change my [00:09:00] mindset. but I like the action steps. I like being able to finish a chapter or finish a section and do a thing right then and there, if I can. I was that kid in high school that finished my homework before class was over I like taking action right away. And I want to encourage that in the readers.

[00:09:21] Yeah. We're gonna talk about mindsets and do a paradigm shift for sure. And as we're going through that mindset and that paradigm shift, I'm gonna do my best to answer any questions. They may be thinking as they're reading it, the rebuttals, so that the paradigm shift sticks. And it becomes their own and they continue to flesh it out in their own mind.

[00:09:41] But I also give an opportunity for an action step something quick that they can do right then and there, after they're done with the chapter to experience a win from that paradigm shift that was just talked about. So then not only were they able to flesh it out through these rebuttals, but they were able to take action on it and now make it [00:10:00] potentially a habit in their.

[00:10:02] Or experienced the truth of what was talked about in the previous chapter. So yeah, I just thought, man how can I make this book as impactful as possible? Sure. We're gonna talk about mindset shifts. We're gonna talk about frequently asked questions and rebuttals. They have given an opportunity to write down some notes and thoughts as they were going through it personally in their life, but given an opportunity to apply as.

[00:10:22] Scott Maderer: So with that in mind, if you had to give the listeners right now, somebody who's listening and is hearing some of this and is Ugh, work like harmony sounds good, but I have no idea where to start. What practical tip or what advice would you have for them to get started?

[00:10:37] Grant Botma: Yeah, I'm gonna give them two.

[00:10:38] The first one is a quick win, something simple and easy that they can do tonight. If they wanted to experience some work life harmony. One of the areas and reasons why we want work life harmony is we want a better connection with our children and our children. They want to be pursued by us, excuse me.

[00:10:57] And what we [00:11:00] do is a thing called one kid up. So my wife and I we put two of our children in their rooms early and say, Hey, you guys gotta stay there. And we let one of our children stay up with. It's just special time that they get with mom and dad. And we might use this time to have some intentional conversations with them talk to them about sex and drugs or different things going on in the world.

[00:11:24] But most of the time we're just playing a game or watching their favorite YouTube channel or eating a snack dessert together. The bottom line is that Jody and I, my wife are, and I are pursuing them. And that when that time is over, they feel. And this has been one of the better things that we've been able to implement.

[00:11:43] And we make a rhythm in our week that we do have one kid up every week and each kid gets a turn and our kids love it so much that if we ever skip it, they're like, Hey, what about one kid up this week? They love it. Like crazy. They call you out on it, huh? Yeah. Oh my goodness. They do.

[00:11:59] [00:12:00] And, but here's the cool part about it. Scott, one kid up does not require any extra time from. Because if your normal bedtime with your kids say is nine o'clock, you just put the other ones in bed, say eight 30 and you get that half hour, extra time with that kid, the one kid up you don't have to set aside three hours and plan this big old conglomerate and party or whatever, just be with them.

[00:12:23] I just put my phone away. I don't work any extra that half. And it's just focused time and attention either snuggling up with them, looking them in the eye, listening to them, talking to them. It's huge that right there has created a lot more connection and even more harmony between me and my wife and our children.

[00:12:42] So there's one quick win that, that you guys can all try tonight. Now, big picture. It has to do with this. Imagine Scott, that I asked you to sing a. And you started singing and you were doing it because you care [00:13:00] about me and you love me and you were singing and you were singing and you were singing, but eventually you stopped singing the note.

[00:13:05] And as soon as you stopped, I would say, Scott, what did you stop for? I needed you to sing that note. And then you would look at me and say you never told me how long to sing it for, that's what we do to our wife and to our kids when we're working, especially if we're working in busy seasons.

[00:13:22] So one of the things. Is. Absolutely pivotal in our work life. Harmony is this thing called an ideal year calendar. This is not where we take specific dates of where we're gonna be and what we're going to do, but it's a 30,000 foot view. Big picture idea of this is what's going to be happening around this time of year during these weeks or during these months.

[00:13:48] And one of the things that we absolutely communicate is when we're in our busy season. Scott, I'm in a busy season right now and my family knows it, but because I've told them, [00:14:00] Hey guys, I'm gonna need you to sing this note. I'm actually gonna need you to sing it this long. And when we're done, when you're done singing that note, I'm gonna share with you.

[00:14:09] And we're gonna celebrate one that you were able to sing that note and support me, but also what I was able to do in that busy season and the impact that was made on real people. And we're gonna celebrate together. It's the expectation management because of the ideal year we outline when busy seasons are going to happen.

[00:14:27] We're gonna celebrate those busy seasons before after, and we're gonna prepare for those busy seasons beforehand, together as a family. And there's various other things that you need to do in that ideal year calendar to help make sure that it all comes together and your year has lived out the best way possible, but it has a lot to do with that expectation manage.

[00:14:48] If I want harmony and we're all gonna sing different notes. I have to tell people when to sing, but I also have to tell 'em how along and I gotta love them and support them as they're singing it and celebrate when they're finished. And I would assume that you're [00:15:00] also looking in there where are where the kids busy seasons where's you got it.

[00:15:05] Scott Maderer: The wife's busy season. You got it. And looking for alignment between those as well, because. If you and your wife both have a really busy season at the same time, that's gonna put a different spin on the kiddos too. if that

[00:15:19] Grant Botma: makes sense. Yeah. Yeah. Not only does it put a different spin, but it also.

[00:15:24] Add stress to your entire family, to your entire life. And if every if a couple of people are in a busy seasons together, it's hard. But if everybody knows that ahead of time, that we're gonna be in busy seasons together, you can do some things intentionally beforehand, during, and even after to help make those dual busy seasons better.

[00:15:43] Scott Maderer: And you can balance it more.

[00:15:45] You can follow grant on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn as grant Bama. That's spelled B O T M a. Of course I'll have links to all of those over in the show notes as well. Grant, is there anything else you'd like to [00:16:00] share with the

[00:16:00] Grant Botma: listener? Yeah. Do your best to love others in your life. Do that by genuinely putting yourself in other people's shoes, figure out what their needs are, see how you can serve them and just take one small, actionable, intentional thing from this podcast and try it today.

[00:16:16] Don't feel like you have to discover or figure out this work life harmony journey. In one day, it has been a journey for me and my wife and I made many mistakes along the way, but just something small, something different that you can do today and see if you can build on that every day throughout the rest of this.

[00:16:31] Scott Maderer: Thanks so much for listening to the inspired stewardship podcast, as a subscriber and listener, we challenge you to not just sit back and passively listen, but act on what you've heard and find a way to live your calling. If you enjoyed this. Please do us a favor. Go over to inspired stewardship.com/itunes rate.

[00:16:58] All one word [00:17:00] iTunes rate. It'll take you through how to leave a rating and review and how to make sure you're subscribed to the podcast so that you can get every episode as it comes out in your feed until next time invest your. Your talent and your treasures develop your influence and impact the world.