Episode 3 of the Easton Online Podcast is now online! In this episode Professor Ian Lieberman, BJJ Black Belt and General Manager of the Denver Academy, talks with Eliot about the importance of connecting with and developing the people within an organization. Ian also discusses how he has overcome his own introverted tendencies in performing at a job that requires interacting with lots of people every day. You can listen here:

Show Notes:

2:02 – Easton’s main goal is to develop people. This is the “DNA” of Easton Training Center.

4:42 – Ian talks about what he did to build attendance at his first class, which took place at 8 am on Saturday mornings. He started with only 2 or 3 people showing up and eventually built a following of 15 students.

8:25 – How do you invest in your students? The importance of learning and remembering names, and going out of your way to connect with people.

13:25 – Ian describes himself as an introvert, and discusses some of the challenges he has to overcome in a job where connecting with people is the number one priority.

17:17 – Ian talks about how working a job in the service industry helped him keep his ego in check on the mats.

24:30 – Ian shares some of his impressions of Eliot as a coach.

36:25 – Why it’s a bad idea to sign up lots of students at cheap rates at a martial arts school.

39:00 – Ian talks about how building a culture of improving people’s lives helped turn the Denver Academy around.

43:12 – Eliot preaches the importance of doing everything like it matters when running a business.

49:07 – You need to work to develop people within your organization so they can replace you when you move up to a higher station.

59:29 – Developing your people means they stay loyal to you. Ian talks about his own feelings of loyalty to the academy.