Two Extra Steps: The Unfair Edge Anyone Can Use

     

PIC No. 114: Pails in Comparison (June 10, 2026)

• Title: Two Extra Steps: The Unfair Edge Anyone Can Use
• Author: Bill Faeth
• Publisher: Matt Holt Books (June 9, 2026, 240 pages)
• Management Bucket #18 of 20: The Systems Bucket

Welcome to Issue No. 114 of PAILS IN COMPARISON, the value-added sidekick of John Pearson’s Buckets Blog. This blog features my “PICs”—shorter reviews of helpful books—with comparisons to other books in my 20 management buckets (core competencies) filing system. 

“The Single Biggest Decision in Your Business. Period.” 

Pop Quiz #1: OK, class. Close your books. Turn off your phones. Take out a piece of paper and a pencil or pen. Write down your answer to this question—and the proctors are watching so you don’t cheat!

“If you want to scale, if you want to actually build something that grows without you getting buried in every single task, you’ve got to make one of the most important decisions you’ll ever make as a business owner—when to hire your number two.”

Your answer? When should you hire your number two?

Warning! Author Bill Faeth confesses, “I’ll be honest … it took me a lot of years (and a lot of mistakes) to get this right. I burned through people I thought were my number two. They weren’t. I trusted the wrong people early on. But today, I’ve had my true number two in place for seven and a half years. And that single decision has changed everything for me.”

Read the chapter, “Leadership and Team Scaling,” in the hot-off-the-press book, Two Extra Steps: The Unfair Edge Anyone Can Use, by Bill Faeth. The author, “a serial entrepreneur,” will surprise you with his contrarian wisdom about his number two.

Here’s what he learned and did—after making too many mistakes with his number two team member. Faeth “invested in him as a person. I didn’t just hire him to take stuff off my plate. I took the time to actually understand what mattered to him.” (You read that right!) He learned more about:

“His church. His high school, where he still does video work and photography for their sports teams. His teaching. His faith. His family. His ability to travel and give back.”

He notes, “Those things are more important to him than my business, and I respect that. Because I’ve given him the flexibility, the income, and the freedom to pursue the things that matter most to him, I get his full attention when he’s here.”

I’d buy the book just for that one dose of business savvy. But there’s more: literally dozens and dozens of street-smart insights, best practices, and more contrarian wisdom. This is a must-read—and you’ll get your money’s worth and more when you begin applying Bill Faeth’s “Two Extra Steps” pattern to your business, your nonprofit, your church, or whatever you’re called to be doing.

   • Extra Step #1: Think What Others Don’t
   • Extra Step #2: Do What Others Won’t

Trust me. This will preach! I usually look for wisdom and a book’s summary on page 25—but by page 11, the author delivered the big idea—but don’t stop reading! You’ll share the practical business stories with everyone in your circle.

For example, last night during our family’s Taco Tuesday dinner, I gave a pop quiz to two of our grandkids (ages 16 and 23). Read “The Steak House Story: Four Levels of Leadership.” You’ll immediately leverage this at your next weekly staff meeting—or in a coaching session—asking team members to discern how to “do what others won’t” when someone orders a $50 steak, medium rare—but it comes out well done. The author gives four scenarios:
   • Level 1: The server’s response
   • Level 2: Comp the steak
   • Level 3: The manager’s response
   • Level 4: The owner’s response (“This is two extra steps leadership.")

We had a great discussion! You’ll have to read the story yourself—but I’d almost be willing to bet you a steak dinner that you’ll make this applicable to your own leadership situation immediately.

THERE’S MUCH, MUCH MORE!

STEAK OR A BURGER? Read why In-N-Out Burger shows “why you don’t need complexity to dominate.” The result? “People don’t just eat In-N-Out—they evangelize it.” The author elaborates: “This is how you stand out in a saturated category. Not by adding more. Not by racing to the bottom on price. By picking a lane—freshness, speed, culture—and owning it so completely that nobody else can keep up.” (Read my review of The Ins-N-Outs of In-N-Out Burger.)

THE SUPER GRADER FRAMEWORK/ASSESSMENT. Has your business or organization morphed into plain vanilla? See how to use the “unfair edge” of the “Two Extra Steps” to turn it around. Read about the “simple, brutally honest tool” that Faeth uses “to evaluate businesses across eight categories that separate winners from losers.” 

The eight categories: Memorability, Standout Factor, Pricing Psychology, Ease of Doing Business, Marketing Effectiveness, Sales Process Speed, Client Retention, and Lifetime Value. (See the four steps on grading your own organization, researching competitors, analyzing the gaps, and focusing on your biggest gaps—plus the two-page assessment.)

And you’ll love this! The author launches the “Creating Differentiation” chapter by describing his family’s appreciation for Taylor Swift. (You read that right!) Faeth: “And I’ll admit it: I’m a Swiftie. Everyone in my family is a Swiftie.” Her differentiating superpower: “She is the absolute best in the world at making her fans feel seen, heard, and part of her world.” (I get it. Read my review of There’s Nothing Like This. I actually wrote two reviews and invited friends to join me for a Zoom review on this HBR Press book about Swift.)

THE 3-STAGE BUYER’S JOURNEY. Do you offer a product, program, or service? Did you know there are only three stages in every buyer’s journey? (Discovery, Solutions, Buying). Must-read: what your competitors do versus what you should do. (Brilliant!)

THE 5-STEP SALES LADDER FRAMEWORK. Learn why your first step should be free content. (Also brilliant.) And LOL! Yesterday, I clicked on a too-delicious-offer-to-pass-up from Dave Ramsey, “116 Books All Business Owners Should Read.” Yup. I voluntarily gave him my email address so I could access that book list. (And...someone should tell Ramsey there are now 117 books!)

MORE GEMS:
   • “Here’s the truth: ‘I don’t have time’ is the dog-ate-my-homework excuse for adults. That’s all it is.”
   • Brilliant: Why Faeth recommends you track the start time and the finish time of every task. Every day. (Pair this with his three-block calendar management system.)
   • In the practical chapter, “Smarketing,” learn why you need to create “Your Objection Library.” (“Smarketing” is sales and marketing combined. “Smart marketing.”)
   • “The Every-Six-Months Rule” (Notice my teaser here? You need to read this!)
   • Oh, my. The author disparages my “big binder of written processes”—and instead—suggests “full step-by-step video training for every position inside your company.” He recommends using Loom for your videos.
   • Plus: how to live the two extra steps personally: see the seven-day exercise on finding your time-wasters.

AND THIS:
The author’s mentor told him, “Bill, you’re not a bad leader. You’re a bad manager. And until you fix that, you’ll never build the kind of company you actually want.” And this:
   • “Leadership is vision, values, and direction.
   • Management is structure, clarity, and consistency.
   • And both are your responsibility.”

POP QUIZ #2: Are you going to order one book or two books?

PAILS IN COMPARISON: Reading this book reminded me of the Systems Bucket, and several other must-read books in the 20 Management Buckets organizing system: 

[   ] The Ins-N-Outs of In-N-Out Burger: The Inside Story of California's First Drive-Through and How it Became a Beloved Cultural Icon, by Lynsi Snyder (Order from Amazon. Read my review.)

[   ] Come Up for Air: How Teams Can Leverage Systems and Tools to Stop Drowning in Work, by Nick Sonnenberg (Order from Amazon. Read my review.)

[   ] RESET: How to Change What's Not Working, by Dan Heath. (Read my two reviews! Part 1 and Part 2.)

TO ORDER FROM AMAZON, click on the title for Two Extra Steps: The Unfair Edge Anyone Can Use, by Bill Faeth. And thanks to the publisher for sending me a review copy.

MORE RESOURCES:

   • John Pearson’s Buckets Blog
   • Subscribe: Your Weekly Staff Meeting eNews
   • John Pearson’s book reviews on Amazon
   • Management Buckets website
   • Governance of Christ-Centered Organizations Blog

NOTE: This is the NEW location for John Pearson's Pails in Comparison Blog. Slowly (!), the previous 100+ blogs posted (between 2022 and 2025) will gradually populate this blogsite, along with new book reviews each month. 

© 2026 John W. Pearson. All rights reserved. New blogs for Pails in Comparison are posted every once in a while. We do not accept any form of compensation from authors or publishers for book reviews. As an Amazon Associate, we earn Amazon gift cards from qualifying purchases. As a Libro.fm Affiliate, we earn credits. By subscribing to Your Weekly Staff Meeting, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.