In this episode, Jose Berlanga and I discuss navigating complexity and leadership lessons learned from many years of leading through high-stakes moments. Specifically, the importance of calculated risk-taking, building resilient teams, creating contingency plans, and the difference between leadership under pressure and micromanaging out of fear.
"When things are going well, it’s exciting. When they’re not, you don’t know where the bottom is."
In this episode, entrepreneur, author, and developer Jose Berlanga and I discuss navigating complexity and leadership lessons learned from childhood adversity and many years of leading through high-stakes moments.
We specifically discuss the importance of calculated risk-taking, building resilient teams, creating contingency plans, and the difference between leadership under pressure and micromanaging out of fear.
In high-stakes moments, success often hinges not on avoiding risk, but on knowing which ones are worth taking, and leading with conviction when the path forward is unclear.
Key Takeaways:
--> Discomfort is Constant
Leading through difficulty isn’t an exception—it’s the norm, especially in entrepreneurship.
--> Risk as a Way of Life
Early adversity can build resilience; successful leaders develop a tolerance for discomfort and pressure.
--> Preparation > Prediction
Contingency planning is critical. Leaders can’t afford denial or false optimism in crisis moments.
--> Delegation is a Skill
Let go of tasks incrementally, starting with repetitive, non-critical areas. Avoid micromanaging.
--> Team Power
Build a proactive team that can think and act independently. Leadership shifts you from doing to coordinating.
--> Short-Term vs. Long-Term Thinking
In crises, long-term strategy narrows to survival mode—prioritize urgent, essential tasks.
This episode will help you navigate those complex, high-stakes moments with more clarity, confidence, and ease. Listen in!
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Jose Berlanga, an entrepreneur from Mexico City with over 35 years of experience, has made a significant mark in Houston's real estate industry, notably through co-founding Tricon Homes. His diverse background, including degrees in Business Administration, Economics, and Philosophy, has fueled his success in various sectors, making him a source of inspiration and mentorship in the business community. He is the author of The Business of Home Building and is working on his second book.
You can connect with him or learn more at https://joseberlanga.com, on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jose-berlanga-900a9518/), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/authorjoseberlanga), or Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/authorjoseberlanga/).
[00:00:00] Céline Williams: I'm Céline Williams and welcome to the Leading Through Crisis Podcast, a conversation series, exploring resiliency and leadership in challenging times. My guest today is Jose Berlanga, an entrepreneur from Mexico City with over 35 years of experience who has made a significant mark in Houston's real estate industry.
Notably, through co-founding Tricon Homes, his diverse background, including degrees in business administration, economics, and philosophy, has fueled his success in various sectors. He's the author of two books and is currently working on his third. Welcome, Jose.
[00:00:35] Jose Berlanga: Hello. Hello to Toronto. Great to be here.
[00:00:39] Céline Williams: Well, thank you. Hello to Houston. It's lovely to have you here. I'm excited to chat with you today.
[00:00:44] Jose Berlanga: Well, thank you so much. Thank you for inviting me.
[00:00:46] Céline Williams: Absolutely. It's my pleasure. I know you have a really interesting story, um, that are, that the listeners and the viewers will greatly appreciate. But before we dive into any of the specifics, I always.
Start with the que same question, which [00:01:00] is that name of the po, the name of the crisis, name of the podcast is Leading Through Crisis. When you hear that phrase or that title, what comes up for you or what does that mean to you?
[00:01:10] Jose Berlanga: Gosh, that is a wonderful title by the way.
[00:01:13] Céline Williams: Well, thank you.
[00:01:14] Jose Berlanga: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I associate it with the meaning of my life.
Uh, I have the feeling that most of my career I've been dealing. Uh, with that particular scenario there, there's certainly different levels of crisis in business, but when you are an entrepreneur, you will be leading through some kind of crisis, uh, at some level. If you, uh, have, uh, participated in startups, small businesses, under capitalized businesses, cyclical, uh, industries.
Uh, or, or industries, uh, that, that fluctuate, that are, that are speculative. Mm-hmm. In some level, [00:02:00] you will normally have some level of crisis, and I don't remember many times in my, as you mentioned, close to 40 year career when I was in leading my team through some level of, uh, discomfort or difficulties.
[00:02:18] Céline Williams: I think that is. Part and parcel of the world of entrepreneurship, right? There are so many. Look, as some the host of this podcast, I have very specific thoughts on crisis and I think that crisis and change is constantly happening and I think as I think we can fool ourselves into thinking it's not, but as an entrepreneur, you're hyper aware of how much is out of your control and of all of the changes and crises that are happening.
Because it doesn't feel like there's a safety net the way some other careers might feel.
[00:02:55] Jose Berlanga: Absolutely. And, and part of the success or the life of an [00:03:00] entrepreneur is to understand that you will often be in the middle of a crisis. And, and that you have to be aware, not only aware, but prepared and, and deal with it, you know, uh, act, uh, as if you, you're always playing the role of, of the firefighter.
Forecasting for these type of situations. But yes, uh, the world of entrepreneurship is not what many people envision or, or imagine that it's fun and exciting and, and, and always profitable. Uh, there there are so many ingredients that need to work in harmony in order for a business to stay in business and and to grow.
That, um, more often than not, those ingredients are not there. Mm-hmm. So you have to figure out how to solve, uh, a, a number of puzzles to, to continue to keep going.
[00:03:56] Céline Williams: Yeah. Yeah. Um, so I am [00:04:00] curious about your story, how you, um, since you mentioned that leading through crisis is the theme of your life, right? So that that has been.
Present. Um, I'm curious if you can tell me a little bit more about that. Where, you know, if you look back where it started or where you can see like, here's, I mean, I'm gonna say crisis starting as a bit of an odd phrase, but phrase, but like, let's kind of start with the, the, the story of why I believe that leading through crisis or crisis is a theme of my life.
'cause it's. Yeah, uniquely, we all have unique stories and I know a little bit about yours, so I'm
[00:04:42] Jose Berlanga: Yes, yes. And curious to know more. Some, sometimes, uh, leading through crisis happens is an accident. Sometimes perhaps you design your career, uh, to incorporate, uh, those ups and downs depending on the choices that you make, depending on the type of activity that [00:05:00] you select for your, for your career.
And, and I, I don't know if, uh, my early years were part of this design. And yes, I, I, I was involved in, uh, in a very complicated childhood, uh, with a lot of hospitalization, um, a lot of time being spent in, in, in hospitals going through reconstructive surgeries and. Uh, after, um, a pretty devastating accident at the age of four, where I, where I learned to deal with adversity and learned to deal with crisis and, and, and turn it into my normal, uh, way of operating it, it just became part of my life.
Which makes me sometimes think that gave me the ability and, and perhaps the logic behind the type of businesses, uh, the risky businesses for that matter that I have selected. Uh, I don't know if it's been a little bit of luck and, and again, a little bit of, uh. [00:06:00] Self-inflicted pain that I have happened to be in businesses through my career that are either star startups in complicated, very competitive industries, or in, in very, um, speculative and cyclical businesses that depend on a lot of outside factors.
You mentioned something important, the lack of control within entrepreneurship. Something that, uh, we, we are all aware of as business owners and as leaders, but it's certainly hard to get used to it. I don't know if you get used to the uncertainty or you get used to dealing with by living within a certain level of ex anxiety that provokes.
Some of these solutions perhaps that allows you to continue and, and maintain progress in your activities and, and that is [00:07:00] always part of it. I think you have to have a personality of not only curiosity and, uh, in, in willingness to take risks to gamble for a living in, in one way or another, but also, uh, have, have the ability and the personality to tolerate the pressure.
And the stress and the anxiety that comes with being an entrepreneur. Uh, and again, there's, uh, particularly in businesses that are somewhat unstable. Throughout their progression, throughout their growth. I, I happen to have been particularly, let's talk a little bit about the, the main one where I have devoted the bulk of my career, which is real estate, speculative real estate, land, speculating, land development, uh, single family, multi-family, residential construction, where not only the, the, the amount of capital required to do these.
Projects is substantial, but the timing has to be right, and sometimes it [00:08:00] doesn't matter how well you plan, how well you do things and how amazing your execution is. If the timing does not favor you, you can find yourself in a lot of problems and. Uh, thi this industry requires leverage, requires borrowing money, getting in debt, acquiring, uh, responsibilities that most people cannot tolerate, uh, in the multimillion dollar level.
Uh, millions and millions that, uh, go in and out, uh, the door on daily basis. And, and having that, um, fortitude, that tolerance to be up a few million, down a few million and not know. Where tomorrow's gonna hit and when things are going well, it's exciting when things are going bad, you don't know where the bottom is.
So when, when you live that way, you develop a six sense. In a particular [00:09:00] ability to lead through the most difficult times within the bad cycles. So that, that's where we are. And, and I have to admit that, uh, they, they come quite often, whether you, uh, believe it or not, accept it or not, or plan for it or not.
[00:09:21] Céline Williams: Yeah. So there's a couple of things that, uh. I wanna say inside of this, but I wanna go back to where you started, where you were talking about the accident that you had and, and the recovery and how that may have, um, given you some capacity for risk or some openness to risk that other people might not have.
And I think that that is, first off, I'm very sorry that you had that experience. Oh, thank that is
[00:09:56] Jose Berlanga: and, and I, I think it was a curse and a blessing. It, it, uh, took my [00:10:00] life in a different direction that it, it, it wouldn't be that way otherwise.
[00:10:04] Céline Williams: Absolutely. And I think, you know, I hear that and obviously the curse and the challenges are, are, are clear, right.
Like that. And there is a blessing inside of it, which is also. Part and parcel of you and how you dealt with things. Because in situations like that, in tragic situations, some people become more risk averse. They become so insular and don't wanna take any chances or any risks or step out of whatever is known or comfortable.
And you had a really different long term, short term or not, but long term response to that, right? Like it's very evident that you. Took this as a, you know, have seen the opportunity inside of risks that, that didn't, it didn't sc they might have been scary, but it didn't stop you from, from taking those on.
And I'm [00:11:00] curious, um, if you have any sense of, I'm, let's call it a mindset. The mindset that allows you to do that or the thought process or anything inside of that, because I think it's. It is a very, that's a real leading yourself, uh, situation. Yeah. And situations.
[00:11:20] Jose Berlanga: Let, let me, um, see if I can explain, uh, and, and think out loud.
[00:11:28] Céline Williams: Great. This is my favorite thing.
[00:11:31] Jose Berlanga: Because that, this is a great question that I, I, um, there are many ways to, to answer it, many ways to connect my childhood or anybody's childhood with how their, uh, their career and their future.
Is there a link, is there a reason behind it? Uh, has having had a difficult, challenging, uh, devastating, perhaps childhood [00:12:00] build, the strength and the ability for you to grow up and have the ability now to take on risks in your career and in your business world? In my case, and I'm sure it's different for everyone.
Mm-hmm. It allowed me to get used to it to understand that that was life and that risk and pain and suffering and discomfort are simply a part of the journey. But it didn't make it easier. It doesn't mean that I developed this superpower strength, superhero ability to feel no fear. To feel no discomfort or to never worry about what I am doing and how I am executing my businesses.
That concern, that fear and that uncertainty never goes [00:13:00] away. You simply accept it. So that is perhaps the answer. I don't want to lie to the audience or, yeah. To the public and say that by going through difficult things, there's a, a saying, you know what doesn't kill you, make you stronger. Yeah. I think it makes you wiser.
It makes you more of a realistic individual. Nobody gets used to pain. Okay? You can burn yourself or cut a finger off. Doesn't make that the second finger that you cut off is not gonna hurt. And this is what people don't understand. They think that by experiencing pain, you build. Uh, a tolerance or you eliminate the feeling of pain.
No, you don't. You just start understanding it. Mm-hmm. Period. And I think that's what has happened to me in my life. I begin to understand that there's [00:14:00] very little control over these circumstances and that perhaps no matter how we try to avoid it or eliminate pain, uh, throughout our careers or through our lives, it's somewhat inevitable.
Mm-hmm. So you begin to live in a realistic world.
[00:14:19] Céline Williams: I love that. And I think it's important because. I would guess, and I can, you know, speaking from different experience, but for me, part of it as an entrepreneur, my own life experiences, it, it, it has been accepting, understanding what discomfort I am comfortable with, that I, that I.
What that looks like. And then there are like, I'm never gonna jump out of a plane, I'm never gonna parachute out of a, like, there's certain things where I'm like, that's not for me. And knowing, I mean, that's a silly example, but knowing those edges is, I think, inherent in what you're saying, right? That understanding of where those things lie, knowing it's gonna be dis [00:15:00] uncomfortable
[00:15:01] Jose Berlanga: no matter what.
Yes. And and that is so interesting and I, I have to comment on that because the fact that I've. This is such a contradiction, such a fun contradiction. Yeah. I lift an incredibly difficult, challenging, scary life. I've been shot, I've been robbed, like at gunpoint. I, I, I've been stabbed, I've been rolled, I've rolled over in cars, I've been in fires, I've been in explosions.
I've been in hospitals. I mean, but I avoid all of those things and I would not that one of the questions that I get asked is, uh, if I look for, for trouble. I avoid it to the best of my ability. I don't even get on a carnival ride because I believe that life will bring me all that excitement, whether I look for it or not, and I don't need to look for it any, uh, any longer at any capacity.
I don't jump off airplanes or bungee jump or do anything that is outside of my comfort level. [00:16:00] So, so having lived a difficult life. Doesn't mean that it just allows you to keep, uh, searching for that excitement or, or, or, um, the adrenaline, you know, the, the, the li the, the world that we live in, life and business and our careers has a way of bringing enough excitement to the table where, uh, some, some people find fun.
And no matter how much I've been through, it doesn't matter that I'm looking for any more excitement.
[00:16:26] Céline Williams: Yeah. Yeah. Um, I don't think that's a contradiction. I think that that makes a lot of sense and I think it's an important, um, it's an important distinction and, and, and point to make, uh, especially as someone you've been very successful in.
The businesses that you have created, run, been a part of, you have written to, you have all of these experiences of taking risk. I'm gonna say in the real world where it's not like an adrenaline thing, and I'm [00:17:00] going to assume like most of us, some have failed and some of those risks have been successful.
But that's your, you have made the choice to say, this is where I would like to take my risks and this is where, you know, I have different edges versus, you know, bungee jumping, for example. And I think that's a, I think that's important.
[00:17:20] Jose Berlanga: Absolutely. I take the necessary risks. Calculated risks, yes. To achieve my goals.
The ones that make sense, that will allow me to get where I want to get. Not ridiculous risks, just for fun. I don't take any gamble. E even even in business, I, I take risks in order to achieve the goals that our companies and our activities, um, require and, and represent. They're, they're not just with my eyes closed and, um.
And, and it's something that people need to understand. You need to have that comfort level in making the choices even [00:18:00] on things that are difficult, that are risky. Um, because the way that I see it is the riskier part is not doing some of those things and not taking some of those decisions. When I look back years from now and know that the fear of having, uh, made certain choices or, or, or having a.
Incorporated myself into any particular business that was of interest to me, is gonna be more regretful at the end of the day.
[00:18:28] Céline Williams: Yeah, it's, uh, one of the things that I talk about often in the work that I do is the idea of taking risks that are gonna help you build momentum. There are risks that will help you build momentum that will help move forward.
Versus and which are, by the way, usually those calculated risks are in that realm of building momentum and moving forward versus just taking a risk 'cause it's fun or someone else says it's a good idea or whatever the case may be. For me, especially in [00:19:00] business, I think if you are, if the, if those ri, if that chance is gonna potentially build momentum in a real way, and obviously it might not, but there is a good, there's a chance of, you can calculate the ROI would be significant.
[00:19:15] Jose Berlanga: Absolutely. Great. Absolutely make, making tough, uh, uh, tough decisions in your life will position you where you want to be, or at least it will get you closer to where you want to be. And, uh, and avoiding it, it, it, it doesn't necessarily take you anywhere. So, so it's, it's planning and knowing there's a very big difference.
You, you, you nailed it. There's a big difference between taking risks and being reckless with your business and with your life.
[00:19:48] Céline Williams: Yep. Isn't that the truth? Um, so I'm curious, I know that, uh, you have had a [00:20:00] very long career. And inside of that career, like all of us things have worked, things have not worked right.
There's, uh, you know, building, rebuilding, persevering, all of that As part of your story, I'm wondering if you can tell me a little bit about that and maybe what you learned as part of your, your journey inside of that. I'm not gonna. Not leading you somewhere specific, so
[00:20:28] Jose Berlanga: Yeah, no, no, that's, that's very interesting because, uh, as a matter of fact, there have been more experiences, more businesses that didn't work than the ones that work.
There have been more bad experiences. There. Uh, that's often the way it works. People think that if they go and and attempt to do something and it didn't work, it didn't work. Yeah. And, and to, uh, visionaries and to entrepreneurs, they, they understand that that's just the [00:21:00] first step. Failing once or twice or as many times as it's necessary as part of it.
So I've, I've had a lot of attempts, even businesses. That eventually became successful. They, they, they struggled for years and it was, uh, being stuck in the mud for, uh, days and weeks and months and years until one day something works. But when something goes your way and something eventually works, it makes it worth your time.
It makes all of those bad experiences worth it. And, and that is the mindset that you're talking about unique. To know that it's not going to happen right away or as planned. So how, you know, in, in, in, in something along those lines, it's understanding how to act and how to be and how to lead, which is the message of your podcast when things are not happening the way that you anticipated, [00:22:00] not only, uh, to, to, to allow yourself.
To give you the comfort level that you're on the right path, that you're on the right track. Even if nothing is, is, is moving forward. To continue to be the, the, the, the support of your team and the people around you so that they know that they have a good leader, that they know that they have someone who believes in the mission, in, in, in the concept and in the company.
And. You have to have a lot of conviction. This is part of being an entrepreneur. Not necessarily, I don't see it as stubbornness. I see it as having a clear message and a clear plan of attack of how you intend to get to your, to your objectives and, and communicating that mission. To the rest of the participants in your organization and your company.
Something that has to be there. There are leaders who keep everything to themselves. Uh, they, they don't express, they don't [00:23:00] communicate. They don't understand very well how to go about in executing their plan, so they don't transmit that positive message to the rest of the team. So, so you have to have that clarity and, and when you're dealing and working.
Through a crisis or turbulent times within your industry or your business, you have to have a clear mind and you have to act quickly. You have to make decisions every moment of every day. Not procrastinate. Understand the, the source of, of, uh, your problems. Understand, uh, the source of the crisis within your, your company, whether you're experiencing growing pains or you are experiencing a, a, a changing economy or uncertainty in your market, or increasing, uh.
Competition or changes in technology or, or whatever it may [00:24:00] be, you must understand the source. Of whatever it is that is creating that uncertainty in, in, in, um, the crisis within your, your business. So once you understand that, now you can start making better decisions and now you can start planning much better, uh, a strategy in, uh, in, in, in an attack, let's call it.
So that's, uh. That, that's something that I've always applied and I'm always ready. I invest a lot of time understanding the areas of, of my business that are struggling or forecasting when something might not happen the way that I plan, and I create contingency plans. This is something that I'm very big on.
I don't want to, sometimes when I even bring it up, people tell me, you shouldn't be negative. You shouldn't think of something going wrong. Or, uh, our, our plan not happening as [00:25:00] we anticipated. And my answer is no. I need to have a plan B and a plan C. I hope I never have to use it. This is what, uh, nuclear weapons were created for.
You don't want to ever have to need them or use them, of course, but they're there for a reason. And worrying and stressing and planning and designing solutions for problems that don't even exist is part of the job of an entrepreneur.
[00:25:29] Céline Williams: Well, and I love I, yes, I a hundred percent agree. I actually. One of the things that I find very frustrating, and I would say this is not only for in entrepreneurship, I see this inside of big organizations and small organized startups, you know, growth org, scaling organizations, whatever it is, and the work that I do is this.
Idea that if you create a contingency plan or you ask those questions of how something might fail, it is now [00:26:00] it's negative and you don't believe in it. Well, actually that's part of critical thinking and it allows you to have an understanding of realistically what could go wrong, what's not really realistic, but is, you know, maybe could happen.
And you have a sense of. Here's where we're gonna have a real solid backup plan or contingency plan or pivot point. And here's some ideas in case these outliers happen. But it's part, it's pre, it's a pre-mortem, right? It's part of the critical thinking process. So I love that. And I think it's so important that you, um, one mentioned that, but two are so consistent in your business.
'cause it is, it's also how we keep a, for lack of a better way of saying this, a level head. Crisis. Yes. Right. We're not suddenly like, I have no idea. Yeah, no. We've thought even if it's not what we've thought of, we've thought of some of these things going wrong, so now we can think about a new one. [00:27:00]
[00:27:00] Jose Berlanga: In business, you cannot be in denial ever, and having a contingency plan allows you to sleep better and allows you, most importantly, to live to see another day in the event that things don't go the way you plan.
[00:27:17] Céline Williams: Yep. Yep. So, I am curious, 'cause I know that team and is very important to you, your team in general, the concept of having a team and your team, how do you involve them in these kinds of conversations? Uh, because one of the failure points of. Premortems or situations like this can be our own biases, right?
If it's just me thinking about what could go wrong from my perspective, I'm probably missing a few. There's probably some gaps if it's only me doing the thinking. So I'm curious how you, what that looks like, what your [00:28:00] experience has been, because I think it's a, a really important. Lesson for the people who are listening to hear and understand from what's worked for you.
It may not work for them, but it might inspire them or whatever the case may be.
[00:28:16] Jose Berlanga: Throughout the years, I've, I've improved my ability, first of all to surround myself with a better team. Better participants. Mm-hmm. Uh, in any organization, you, I think you evolve as, as a leader, as a business owner, from hiring employees, people to execute tasks, to little by little start, uh, surrounding yourself with people that can actually make decisions.
Think and solve problems within their areas. You certainly don't want someone to, uh, or you, or you probably don't need someone to understand the entire business unless you start growing to a level where you have you hand off [00:29:00] responsibilities of. Uh, the CEO and, uh, and, and the COO and, and so on and so forth.
Once you have those type of layers of management, but when you're a small company and or a medium sized company, you have departments and you gradually want to start having the right team who can think on your behalf. And how I got there is, first of all, uh, uh, little by little you start recognizing your personal weaknesses and your deficiencies and understand the unique qualified.
People to act for you in all of the, all, all those areas, uh, where you don't excel. And so I have several of those. And, uh, in, once you start dealing. Not with, busy bees, just workers and, and people who just look busy and start, uh, transitioning into a team that is thinking and that is proactive. You can start [00:30:00] having these type of discussions of what's going well, what's not going well, and you're not going to scare them that easily because they also have that.
Uh, a mindset of forecasting, planning, and projecting. So, so the better you surround yourself with very qualified thinking, uh, personalities, the easier it gets for you to have tough conversations without scaring them off. Because your, your point is, well, do you really want to start sharing contingency plans with your team, allowing them to think that maybe you're not as convinced about your mission or that you consider setbacks and failures?
And, uh, I think with entry level people, you may, you may concern them, but once you start getting, uh, up the ladder in, in, in, with a more advanced mentality of. Uh, of executives within your company, they know that's part [00:31:00] of the game.
[00:31:00] Céline Williams: Yeah, I, I often, uh, I often say, but in again in the work that I do, is that transparency is incredibly important.
It cannot be overlooked. It cannot be minimized, and it's not a buzzword. And transparency doesn't mean you tell everyone the same thing across the board, no matter what. Part of it is, is being able to say. This, you know, executive level, they need to participate, they need to know all this information in order to execute.
And I can still be transparent and honest with entry level people, but the information is appropriate for them in their job with what they need to know.
[00:31:42] Jose Berlanga: Yes, absolutely. One, one of, uh, and by the way, one of my favorite words in the business world that I think it's, uh, un underused. There are many that are perhaps abused and repeated often, but this one, so many I, I know, [00:32:00] I know that are overused and there's this one, which is expediting.
Expediting is, has been one of my favorite activities, one of my strengths, some of my success. If not a lot to it. I attribute it. Uh, and, and just as I recognize many, many of my weaknesses and failures, one of my, my strong suits, one of my assets is that I'm extremely antsy and an extremely. Persistent expediter.
When you have a good team of people as a leader, it's no longer about what you physically do and how much you can achieve or accomplish in any one given day. It's a matter of how you are reminding, pushing, uh, organizing, distributing in, uh, not only. Uh, tasks, but information and [00:33:00] motivating and inspiring the team around you to get things done consistently and quickly.
So, I, I am, uh, us, uh, leaders and, and, and entrepreneurs. At the end of the day, all we are, uh, is, uh, not only having a vision but expediters.
[00:33:16] Céline Williams: Yes. We
[00:33:17] Jose Berlanga: push, we push, we push, we motivate, we inspire, we repeat, uh, we, we ensure that things are happening when they need to happen. So you are sort of a coordinator of, uh, you know, leader is, is, is, uh, the, the next step up, up to a, a very efficient coordinator?
[00:33:40] Céline Williams: I, I think there are many leaders who will, who would be. Very surprised to hear that, who would have a very specific reaction to it. And I think in what you're saying, it absolutely tracks and makes sense.
[00:33:54] Jose Berlanga: Yeah. Yeah. If you know what you want as a business owner, if [00:34:00] you know where you want to get, all you need is a very, very strong sense of expediting.
And your team will little by little react and you will get there.
[00:34:11] Céline Williams: So. I am curious because one of the things that, it comes up on the podcast a lot, it comes up in the real world a lot, is how hard it is for leaders to give up control and to give up doing all the things themselves. Um, you know, micromanaging is a real thing in, in for entrepreneurs, for leaders in organizations, but especially if something's not going right, especially in those moments of.
Change crisis challenge, whatever the, whatever that big or small micro or macro. Um, how have you, and you may not be inclined to be that way. Maybe you, maybe you have been in the past, but how have you either [00:35:00] become so comfortable with being an expediter, which, which also means not everything is on, can't be an expediter if you're doing everything yourself.
You just can't. So how has that come about? And, you know, what would, are there any tips that you would say to someone who's listening or watching as someone in the audience to, to lean into the expediting and lean out of the I if I control everything, it'll be the best.
[00:35:29] Jose Berlanga: Yes. I, I think that delegating there, there's, there are, uh, there, there should be entire books about classifications of.
Delegating activities and responsibilities because there are no, uh, two businesses alike. There are no two, uh, concepts that are similar. And I think there are many, many ways to go about it. Not only depending on the niche market that you are in, [00:36:00] depending on the product or service that you, that, that you, that you manage and, and handle, uh, but also the type of business owner that you are, the, the.
Comfort level that you have in passing on responsibility. So I'll try to just generalize again because there, this, this is a very interesting and long conversation as to how do you gradually pass on responsibilities. And I, I talk a lot about it, by the way. This is a, this is a, a puzzle. The question of all questions that many, uh, entrepreneur, growing, uh, businesses and entrepreneurs have to endure and, and experience.
Who do I pass on? Activities, what type of activities? How much work do I give to each individual? How do I make sure that they do it the way that I expect it? And we all know that, uh, no one is going to execute activities exactly the way that you would do them yourself. So, so it, it has to be a [00:37:00] transition if it's, uh, some, some owners, uh, buy luck.
Perhaps run into a great team that can handle all of these tasks, uh, uh, efficiency, e efficiently and successfully. Some are not so lucky. I haven't been one of those lucky throughout the years. In previous businesses, so it made me a little paranoid after losing a few businesses because of my inability to properly find the right team or delegate the right activities, I became a little more, uh, obsessive compulsive about being.
Part of everything and, uh, and, and not letting go of areas of the business that can cost the entire operation to fail. So I start with things that are more repre, uh, repetitive. I think that's the beginning of the world of delegation. Uh, as a business owners, you begin by handing off not the [00:38:00] activities that require creativity or thought process or problem solving.
You start passing on the ones that are o activities, that are repetitive, reoccurring, um, that don't require a lot of, uh. Of, of, of, um, reinventing the wheel, let's call it. And, and also the ones that you don't enjoy, the activities that you're not crazy about, that are tedious, that are draining to your brain and to your soul.
So you start handing those off. Uh, and, and, and that's, that's where you start little by little, getting comfortable in understanding what everyone around you is able to take on. And, and before you know it, you're there, where eventually you are directing and overseeing, uh, different, different departments without having to fully participate.
But, uh, but it, but it takes a while. It takes comfort level and there are businesses that are harder than others. [00:39:00] By the way, 'cause some, some, uh, I, I've been in both sides of the equation where I was able to, uh, delegate, uh, activities and others where I just couldn't because, uh, there, there was just no way to, to come up with, with some of the concepts that my, my, uh, my position required.
So at, at the end of the day, I think everybody approaches this differently.
[00:39:27] Céline Williams: I agree. And I think that, uh, inside of what you said, it's what it's, you know, partly why it's so important to have that focus of expediting, to use the word that, you know, we don't hear a lot in leadership. Yeah. But if your focus is on being someone who expedites things and expeditioner maybe, I don't know what the word would be.
Yeah, yeah. But if that is what it is, then you can find. What that looks like for your business, which will be different for everyone's business. But if you have that as a [00:40:00] focus and as you know, you're clear on that, then it gives you a guidepost to move or a signpost to move forward.
[00:40:07] Jose Berlanga: Yeah. Yeah. And, and you delegate areas of the business that if something goes wrong, they're, they're manageable.
You can fix them, you can correct them. You don't hand off the keys to your business and without really understanding, uh, the, the details, the fine print of who's running it and what the operation is about, and, and having full manuals of operation and all of that. So I think it's just a, a very, very slow transition.
[00:40:36] Céline Williams: Yeah. Yeah. Um. Before we wrap this up, I'm gonna ask the, you know, kind of big wrap up question of is there anything that we didn't get to that you want to make sure we mention before the end of the episode or something that, other than expediting, which I guarantee will be part of, there will be quotes around this at the end of this that you want to emphasize, [00:41:00] uh, as part of the, the conversation we just had.
[00:41:04] Jose Berlanga: Well, that, that's also a fun question because there the, we can talk about business for days and days, I know. Uh, and there, uh, there are so many segments and areas within a business that require attention. But if we're, uh, talking about leading through crisis, uh, I, I always give. A, a piece of advice to, um, to new entrepreneurs.
When you are starting a business and building a business in a good economic cycle or during good moments in time, you can afford to think, um. Long term plan design, uh, the, the structure things and always be proactive in what you plan to do and how you plan to get there. [00:42:00] But when things turn. When the economy turns, when everything starts falling apart, when there are, uh, all of a sudden a, a, a, a massive, uh, change in the economy or in your business.
Now you go from long-term thinking to short-term thinking. All of a sudden now you need to start acting one day at a time. That's how I've been able to survive a lot of, uh, very critical stages of growth and of changing economic environments. All of a sudden I stopped the, the, the future thinking because it overwhelms you.
If you start thinking about, about what's gonna happen six months from now, one year from now, five years from now, you can do that when things are doing very well. When the economy's doing well, when your business is growing and things are booming, when things are terrifying and scary. Now just think one day at a time, go in the reverse mode.
Start thinking now, what do I need to do today? [00:43:00] To lift to see another day, to save my company, to move forward, to maintain the integrity of my firm. And then tomorrow, the next one. And the next one, begin to prioritize what are some of the most urgent activities, because there are sometimes so many things to do that it's very, very scary.
And all of a sudden you start getting very distracted with a lot of small tasks, uh, that, that maybe. Perhaps unimportant and, uh, and, and, and you need to have a clear mind and know how to identify what it is that needs to be done in order to, uh, to, to, um, live through these critical moments in, in your business world.
[00:43:42] Céline Williams: I think that's very poignant advice right now, especially. So thank you for sharing that. And thank you for, thank you for being so open about your story and, and, uh, sharing so much with the audience. I know it's, it was. A really interesting conversation for me. I [00:44:00] very much enjoyed getting to know you and I know they will appreciate it as well.
Um, and for anyone who is listening or watching, there will be all the ways to connect with Jose in the show notes. 'cause I know nobody ever writes down a website when they're listening, so, uh, they will all, everything will be there. Um, and I really appreciate you taking the time to chat with me today.
[00:44:22] Jose Berlanga: Thank you so much. It's been great being here. Hope we can do it again.
[00:44:26] Céline Williams: I would love to. Thanks for joining me today on the Leading Through Crisis podcast. If you enjoyed this conversation, please take a minute to rate and review us on your podcast app. If you're interested in learning more about any of our guests, you can find us online at www.leadingthroughcrisis.ca.