Multiplier Mindset® with Dan Sullivan

From the start of his career, Zack Oliva has deliberately moved toward where he sees the next wave of growth. Now co-owner of a national energy law firm, he shares how he makes major career and business decisions, builds a focused niche, and uses entrepreneurial thinking to stay in the right position for long-term expansion.
 
Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode:
Why Zack says he “wasn’t a real person” when he started his firm in 2013.
How focusing on the right people allowed Zack’s company to grow exponentially.
Zack’s attitude toward every person who comes through his organization.
How The Strategic Coach® Program has helped Zack and his business partner grow their company 3-4x.
Why Zack thinks joining Strategic Coach® is one of the best investments you can make in yourself.
 
Show Notes:
 
Becoming a professional takes years of study, but becoming an entrepreneur starts with choosing to keep growing beyond your credentials.
 
Most professionals follow best practices, while entrepreneurs create their own rules and go where the future growth will be.
 
Entrepreneurs are people who want to grow.
 
Your personal growth as an owner sets the ceiling for how big and how fast your company can grow.
 
Choosing a growing niche creates a powerful platform to multiply opportunity.
 
Casting for roles, not hiring for generic jobs, helps you find A‑players who fit your vision and teamwork standards.
 
Treating your team members as whole people, not just employees, creates loyalty, creativity, and staying power.
 
A business becomes more valuable when it runs increasingly well without the founder at the center of everything.
 
Trusting your intuition is a learnable skill that gets stronger when you pay attention to past decisions and meaningful coincidences.
 
Entrepreneurship is largely a game of confidence, and protecting that confidence is one of your key responsibilities.
 
Strategic Coach thinking tools and workshops give entrepreneurs and teams a shared language that accelerates connection and progress.
 
Investing in your team’s development produces more creative, capable people who free you up for higher-level work and a fuller life.
 
Resources:
 
Casting Not Hiring by Dan Sullivan and Jeffrey Madoff
 
Who Not How by Dan Sullivan with Dr. Benjamin Hardy
 
10x Is Easier Than 2x by Dan Sullivan with Dr. Benjamin Hardy
 
The Entrepreneur's Guide To Time Management

When life partners become business partners, tension can quickly intensify—or multiply everything that matters. With the right tools and mindsets, that partnership can become extraordinary. In this episode, Kerby Skurat and Cristina Edelstein share how Strategic Coach® has helped them build a thriving business and a strong marriage at the same time.
 
Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode:
How life partners Dan Sullivan and Babs Smith co-run Strategic Coach.
What Strategic Coach has helped Cristina and Kerby achieve with their business.
How Cristina and Kerby grew their real estate business into a $10‑million‑a‑year company.
Cristina and Kerby’s core values.
What led Kerby to the decision to shut down a $16-million company.
Why both members of an entrepreneurial couple should attend Strategic Coach workshops.
 
Show Notes:
 
Many entrepreneurial couples end up with an almost adversarial business relationship that spills into their personal life.
 
Unique Ability® gives each partner a clear lane, so “best with best” teamwork becomes possible instead of competitive.
 
Entrepreneurism usually shows up early in life and quickly becomes a lifelong way of operating.
 
Choosing the entrepreneurial path means you’ve opted out of the job market and into creating your own game.
 
Strategic Coach provides the structure, tools, and community that support this unique way of life.
 
There’s an art to staying in your lane, especially when both partners are strong‑willed and driven.
 
Every individual has a distinct way of creating results, and honoring those differences turns conflict into collaboration.
 
Real data, real statistics, and real projections give you the confidence to make clear decisions and smart adjustments.
 
A business can be big and profitable and still be the wrong one for you.
 
Shutting down a good company can be the smartest move if it frees you up for great opportunities.
 
Time away from your team, in a room with other entrepreneurs, often leads to the biggest strategic decisions.
 
Hearing other entrepreneurs’ success stories can inspire you to take action on your own goals.
 
Strategic Coach workshops create a thinking space where you can focus on what could be, not just what is.
 
Getting help at deeper personal levels, like marriage counseling, can dramatically improve your business teamwork.
 
Strategic Coach tools work just as well at home as they do in the office.
 
In a team of any size, the speed of the leader determines the speed of the pack.
 
When both partners are in the same coaching environment, it’s far easier to stay aligned on vision and decisions.
 
Resources:
 
Unique Ability®
 
Your Business Is A Theater Production: Your Back Stage Shouldn’t Show On The Front Stage

Everything Is Created Backward by Dan Sullivan

The Millionaire Real Estate Agent by Gary Keller
 
EOS® Worldwide
 
Who Not How by Dan Sullivan with Dr. Benjamin Hardy
 
How To Sell Transformation Using This One Question
 
Do You Know What’s Keeping Your Clients Awake At 3 A.M.?
 
Your Life As A Strategy Circle by Dan Sullivan

As a six-year-old exploring the woods alone, Dan Sullivan discovered that freedom plus responsibility creates confidence, creativity, and self-trust. In this episode, he connects that childhood experience to the way entrepreneurs grow today—by choosing freedom over fear, embracing intelligent risk, and creating environments where exploration and imagination can thrive.
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Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode:
The kind of childhood freedom Dan was given to explore on his own.
How that early freedom directly connects to how he created and continually expands The Strategic Coach® Program.
Why it might seem like the world is more dangerous for children than it used to be.
 
Show Notes:
 
Giving a child room to explore something a bit risky teaches them to take responsibility for their own safety and choices.
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When parents are ruled by fear, they overprotect their children and tightly organize every activity, unintentionally blocking growth.
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Constant surveillance and control erode a child’s sense of freedom and make independent decision-making feel dangerous instead of natural.
 
Being trusted to “go into the woods” on your own is an early version of entrepreneurial freedom: you decide, you act, and you own the consequences.
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Making up your own fun in unsupervised environments trains the same imagination entrepreneurs later use to invent offerings, markets, and business models.
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Today’s world isn’t objectively more dangerous than it was 75 years ago, but 24/7 media makes rare tragedies feel constant and personal.
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Dan’s parents made a conscious decision to tolerate risk in exchange for developing a strong, independent, and confident mind.
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That parental mindset mirrors great entrepreneurial leadership: you protect against true catastrophe but don’t smother initiative with control.
 
Overprotective environments create compliant rule followers, while freedom with responsibility creates self-managing value creators.

In this episode, Dan Sullivan shares how one powerful question can transform any sales conversation. Instead of pitching, you invite prospects to imagine their bigger future and talk themselves into working with you. Learn how The R-Factor Question® builds instant trust, filters out wrong-fit clients, and makes every sales call about them, not you.
 
Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode:
How to use one question to turn any sales conversation into a deep, future-focused discussion.
Which types of businesses and professions can most effectively use The R-Factor Question.
What it means—and what to do next—when someone refuses to answer The R-Factor Question.
 
Show Notes:
 
A great sales conversation starts long before you speak, with a trusted referral that pre-sells your credibility and lowers resistance.
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The R-Factor Question instantly signals that the conversation is going to be about the prospect’s future, not your offer or your agenda.
 
When you ask someone to imagine their life three years from now and describe what progress would make them happy, you shift them into possibility thinking.
 
The person who does most of the talking in a sales conversation is the one doing the buying, so let your prospect talk themselves into their future.
 
Silence after you ask the question is your best tool because it proves the question has landed and gives the prospect space to think deeply.
 
When a prospect openly shares their dangers, opportunities, and strengths in response, they’re demonstrating real trust and a desire for a relationship with you.
 
If someone refuses to answer The R-Factor Question, they’re telling you they don’t trust you, and the most productive move is to graciously end the conversation.
 
The first thing anyone truly buys in the marketplace is a relationship, long before they decide on a product, service, or program.
 
People don’t actually want your answers; they want better questions that help them discover their own best answers and next steps.
 
Asking questions you genuinely don’t know the answer to keeps you curious, keeps them engaged, and reveals what they really want to transform.
 
By focusing on their three-year future, you immediately differentiate yourself from every salesperson who is focused on this quarter’s sale.
 
A prospect who shares painful parts of their past or their failures with you is demonstrating deep trust, which is the foundation for any meaningful transformational work.
 
Knowing early that someone is not a fit protects your time, energy, and team so you can focus on clients who genuinely want your help.
 
Resources:
 
How To Improve Business By Asking Good Questions

Many entrepreneurs are technically “in business” but still trapped working for a relentless, 24/7 boss: themselves. In this episode, Dan Sullivan and Jessica Christy unpack what it takes to build a true entrepreneurial company instead. Hear how a painful team exodus became Jessica’s biggest growth catalyst and how clear core values, better leadership, and greater control over your life create a company you never want to retire from.
 
Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode:
Jessica’s original “entrepreneurial moment” while she was still working for someone else.
How her medical aesthetics company, Beauty Culture, helps clients far beyond surface-level appearance.
What makes her company stand out in a crowded, diluted industry.
How to build the confidence to step into big, scary opportunities.
What Jessica has gained since joining Strategic Coach®.
 
Show Notes:
 
Most entrepreneurs aren’t running true companies yet; they’ve simply created a demanding job where they work for themselves.
 
When you’re self‑employed, your “boss” follows you everywhere—24 hours a day, 365 days a year—and is often tougher than any previous employer.
 
Being your own boss doesn’t automatically make you a good boss, especially for your team or for your future self.
 
The Four Freedoms at the heart of entrepreneurial motivation are freedom of time, money, relationship, and purpose, and true entrepreneurial companies are built to expand all four.
 
If you’ve designed a life and business you truly love, the desire to retire largely disappears because work is an expression of your purpose.
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When entrepreneurs get together, the most valuable conversations are about how they transformed failures and crises into breakthroughs, not just about their wins.
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The more you learn as an entrepreneur, the more aware you become of how much you don’t know, which keeps you curious, humble, and growth oriented.
 
People rarely leave “bad jobs” so much as they leave a lack of leadership; team members crave clear vision, accountability, and support from their boss.
 
Strong core values act as the navigating compass for your entire company, guiding who you hire, fire, promote, and partner with.
 
Resources:
 
The 4 Freedoms That Motivate Successful Entrepreneurs
 
The E-Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber
 
Unique Ability®