Lead to Grow

The power of storytelling is undeniable. When you speak at a conference, or with your friend one-on-one, notice how much they remember of the conversation when it’s attached to a story. Likely, they (and you) will forget much of your conversation, except those pieces that revolved around a particular event, with specific people and places. Humans remember stories, and further, we share stories. As leaders, we must learn how to wield these powerful tools to inspire action on our teams. For this topic, we found someone who’s, quite literally, a professional storyteller. Her name’s Jill Pollack, Founder of StoryStudio Chicago and “Chief Story Wrangler” at Story Mode. At Story Mode, she helps corporations tell better stories to compel audiences to action. We interviewed her on our Lead to Grow podcast, where she dropped these gold mines of truth about storytelling:

It’s true: robots are taking our jobs.  Well, at least to some degree. As if being a leader in business wasn’t challenging enough, we have to worry about artificial intelligence learning more than us at an accelerating rate.  Luckily, there’s something humans — namely entrepreneurs — have over AI: We have the power to leave a legacy. You say you’re not an entrepreneur?  That’s exactly what The Land Geek founder and Dirt Rich author Mark Podolsky thought before he discovered his true potential. In our latest interview with Mark, we discuss four ways to uncover your entrepreneurial spirit, create value, and build a lasting legacy.

Transparency and culture may be keys that unlock greater profits, better talent, and faster decision-making. But don't take our word for it. Listen to Reid Rasmussen; he's seen these key ingredients in action. He’s the CEO and Co-founder of freshbenies, where they help employers balance their benefits program. He came on this episode to give details on how he’s seen transparency and cultu

There are so many elements that create an enduring WorkForce, but here are 5 that no company can afford not to have. Special guest Michael Brannock came on our recent episode of the Lead to Grow Podcast and explored 5 elements of workplace culture. Michael is the CEO of WorkForce Unlimited, a company started by Michael’s mother in 1987. Michael worked in commercial banking for nearly a decade before coming on board as the CFO in 2011, a position he held until he became CEO in 2014.

The idea that there's only certain people with influence — Instagram influencers, or celebrity influencers — is incorrect. We all are influencers. So, how can you take your influence to the next level? How can you really use it to grow and develop others? That’s something Julia Deaver is all about. The latest guest on the Lead to Grow podcast, Julia came on the show to talk about how you can take your influence to the next level. These are her top five strategies for influencing by design and leading to grow

In this episode of the Lead to Grow podcast Chad Sanderson, Managing Partner at ValueSelling Associates tells us how to ask great questions that help create a truly differentiated sales experience for buyers.

Storytelling. It’s a business skill, an artform, and a leadership quality. If you are struggling to shift the energy, change the focus, or impact your employees or your customers, maybe you should take a good look at your storytelling skills: They may be the hidden key to unlock your organization's success. This week’s guest has won multiple Emmy awards for his unique storytelling, or, as he would want it said: His team has multiple Emmy awards for their storytelling. Michael Cardwell joined us on this episode of the Lead to Grow podcast to share about leadership and storytelling. Michael is the Founder & Creative Director of Digital Brew, a visual storytelling agency that creates animated and live-action video content for their clients. Since 2011, they’ve won 16 Emmy awards, eight Tellys, and two Daveys.

Community Banks fund over half of the small businesses in the US. They are an essential and often overlooked part of the economy. Tina Giorgio is the President and CEO at ICBA Bancard. Tina has been in this role for a little under 2 years, but she has spent the last 30 years in community banking. “Community Bankers, at our core, are about serving our local community.  There’s a lot of communities in the United States who would not be properly served if it wasn’t for their local community bank.” Many community banks simply can’t compete with larger entities.  They need representation, especially in the evolving world of payments.  So Tina and her team are advocates for these banks. They have specifically been working in the area of merchant funded rewards.  ICBA Bancard provides benefits through these reward programs to both merchants and their customers.  Merchants see a higher number of transactions by implementing these programs, and merchants get to support both national and local business while getting rewarded. It’s a win for everyone. Tina joined us for this episode of the Payments Innovation Podcast to talk about community banking, merchant funded reward programs, and overcoming challenges in her role.

Leading millennials, new sales representatives, or other employees in entry-level positions has unique challenges. Dan Gottlieb has some helpful answers to those challenges, and they all come from a massive amount of experience. Dan is an industry analyst at TOPO Inc., specifically for Sales Development, & Account-Based Growth Organizations. Yes, that’s a bit of a mouthful! Essentially, Dan helps sales development companies utilize world-class strategies and tactics. He came on the Lead to Grow podcast to share some of his best practices on working with entry-level sales development representatives (often called SDRs). (He even gave us the inside scoop on working with millennials!)

What initially appears as failure, can often be the catalysts to our greatest discoveries. Josh Steimle had an apparent failure — in 2013, he was nearly out of business. A bad hire at his marketing agency had brought him to the brink of bankruptcy. Fast-forward to the present, and his agency (MWi) is thriving, he started a second business (Influencer Inc.), and he’s now publishing a book called The 7 Systems of Influence, to show others how they can copy his successes (and avoid his failures). We invited Josh on the Lead to Grow podcast to share the premise for his new book, and what he’s learned about leveraging your skillset to influence others.

Have you ever found yourself chasing down every dollar that comes your way? Many business owners and leaders have been there, thinking, “We’re saying ‘yes’ to everything, but the company still isn’t growing.” Jon McGinley says that maybe saying “yes” is the problem, not the solution. On this episode of Lead to Grow, Jon joined us to share 5 reasons every company should specialize, not generalize. Jon is Senior Partner at CloudKettle, where he helps companies build and optimize their revenue stack. Listen in to find out what he had to say about specialization:

“A company is nothing more than a group of people.” I started listening even closer as Oded spoke. His words resonated with me, for multiple reasons: We had similar ideas on leadership, plus, we’ve both owned companies in the moving business. (Oded is the President of DN Van Lines.) Lastly, we both believe this: The right person is far more important than the perfect skill set. On our Lead to Grow podcast, Oded talked about expanding your company into other Lines of Business, and gave three reasons to focus on the person, and hire from within your company whenever possible.

One of the things that we, as leaders, need to do be able to make smarter decisions faster. When we have a decision to make, we usually spend too much time thinking. How much time in your day is being taken up by just thinking and not actually make a decision? How much time could you save every day if you could make smarter decisions and make them faster? Well, that’s what we talked with Josh Feinberg about on today’s episode of the Lead To Grow podcast. Josh is the President and CEO at Everlasting Capital, a nationwide business financing company. On the show, Josh shared his five keys to making smarter decisions faster. Check it out.

Failure is sometimes a better teacher than success. But too often, when we run into failure, we don’t see the learning opportunity. We believe the lie that it’s the end. The world is thankful Todd Palmer didn’t stop after his “failure”: He joined us on the Lead to Grow podcast to share what he’s learned from the brink of bankruptcy about failure and humility as a leader. Todd is the President of Diversified Industrial Staffing, a 6-time member of the Inc. 5000. He’s also the Founder and President of ExtraordinaryAdvisors.Com, a keynote speaker, and author of The Job Search Process.

Ambassadors are essential to any institution: They are bridge-builders, key communicators, and interpreters. They translate between one entity and the rest of the world: They communicate ideas and philosophies and garner support with outside individuals, or even countries. Every institution needs ambassadors. Businesses are no exception. On this episode of the Lead to Grow podcast, Amy Franko joined us to show how ambassadors can radically impact your customer base, your ROI, and your employee retention. Amy is an author, keynote speaker, and Founder and President of  Impact Instruction Group, a sales consulting and sales leadership business.

“Do you really think you can build this business?” That’s what someone asked David Ridley during the early stages of his startup real estate investment firm. Well, David was able to build the business. The firm he founded and lead as CEO, Invesco Real Estate, grew to over $65 billion in assets under management with 20 offices scattered around the world. But that’s not the most important part of the story. The most crucial part of David’s story is not that he was able to achieve success. It’s that he was able to achieve success, without regrets. In the early days of company formation, David sat at a conference table with his partners. That day, they made a pledge they were not going to pay the price that so many pay to be successful. They weren’t going to sacrifice their families. They wouldn’t give in to alcoholism or pride. How’d they do it? Well, that’s what David came on the latest episode of the Lead to Grow podcast to talk about. Here’s what he had to say about the three pillars of achieving success without regret.

Here, we love providing value to others. It’s in the name of our company (Values-Driven Leadership). It’s an amazing day when we get the chance to speak with someone else who loves bringing value as much as we do. We sat down with Bill Cates, a Hall of Fame speaker, best-selling author, and founder and head of Referral Coach International. He came on the Lead to Grow podcast to deliver a few secrets on customer referrals. The biggest secret is this: Referrals aren’t a side dish to your business. Referrals are your business. Check out what Bill said about exponentially growing your business through referrals.

How do you innovate faster and at the same time be more customer-centric? We spoke with Aaron Eden is Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Moves The Needle. Moves the Needle "ignites entrepreneurial action within large organizations so their people can be closer to customers, move faster, and act bolder." He gave us tips on how innovators like Steve Jobs lead their teams to victory.

Andy Crestodina. He’s a cool guy with a track record that includes earning a degree in Mandarin and working as a teacher in China. In 2001, Andy and his friend co-founded Orbit Media, a company that has grown from zero to about $4.5M in revenue. Totally organically. Now, Andy is the CMO at Orbit Media and he’s a marketing metrics expert. Our latest guest on the Lead to Grow podcast, Andy talked with us about his experience and his company. He also shared his metrics expertise, focusing on the metrics you should care about the most. And the ones you should care about the least.

Babak Azad had planned this for over a year. He had quit his eight-year career at Beachbody, where he helped excel their revenue from $100MM to $1B. But after three months of working together ... he and his business partners split up. Babak’s wife had just given birth to their second child. With a growing household, no job, no business, Babak had to do something. This is his story and his lessons on leadership. On this episode of the Lead to Grow podcast, we get a chance to hear from the founder of Round Two Partners. He discusses how his view on leadership has evolved since starting his own company, where he now helps businesses within the $15 to $20MM range scale.

Here’s an interesting thought: Cold emailing. It works. Really well, actually … at least according to Alex Berman. In fact, he’s helped his clients generate over $100M in new business from cold emails. Alex is the Chairman of Experiment 27, a digital marketing agency that specializes in cold emailing. x27, as they like to call themselves, is easily creating new business for themselves and others using a systematic process of emailing. The best part? Alex believes in giving away his best secrets: He joined us on the Lead to Grow podcast and gave his simple approach to cold emailing that has generated millions of dollars of revenue for himself and others.

Customer service is only as good as your employee service. Many believe that, but Chuck Bailey is one who consistently lives it. He’s the Owner and Founder of Cornerstone Moving & Storage, where they focus on each employee, by getting to know them personally. From day one, Chuck dives into the lives of new team members and dedicates himself to their growth and development. After you hear his interview on the Lead to Grow podcast, you may alter your mindset about the magnitude of impact a moving company can have.

Most of us know the tremendous impact branding can have upon an organization. When most of hear “branding,” we think colors, websites, logos, and names. But Bill Gullan says that’s not where branding starts. Bill’s the president of Finch Brands, where they help clients brand and rebrand every day. Bill says that branding starts well before you name a company or polish a website. It starts internally, with the values driven by your culture. On this episode of the Lead to Grow podcast, Bill lays out his specialized plan of why branding is really an inside-out approach. He also gives listeners an inside peek into The Finch Way — Finch’s own values-driven approach to business.

Adam Vazquez spent two years at VaynerMedia as an account supervisor. The full-service digital agency, founded by celebrated author and entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk, brought with it all the big name brands you could think of. Working on accounts like The North Face and L’Oreal made him feel like he could take on any client. Before he left the media company, Gary Vaynerchuk sat down with Adam and gave him one piece of advice he’d never forget. Vaynerchuk told him he had the talent and desire to be successful, but if there was one thing that would hold him back, it would be a lack of humility. “You’re not going to be humble enough,” were his words. He didn’t see these words come to life until he branched out on his own to start Strafire; a B2B content marketing agency that helps companies solve their marketing challenges through improved messaging and content. This is where he would learn what it truly looked like to be a humble leader.

Many leaders neglect true coaching and empowering. Often, leaders say they are giving their employees their own freedom to learn in their own way. But without proper coaching, teaching, and understanding, employees often take up valuable time before making a healthy contribution to their employer. Andrew Breen used to have a hands-off approach when it came to management. When he first co-founded Outshine almost a decade ago, he gave his employees very little direction. However, as his company started to grow, Andrew recognized a need for more management structure. He created a program that empowers employees with decision-making skills, not just methodologies and tactics. The best news is, Andrew joined us on the Lead to Grow podcast and shared how his management philosophy totally changed his workforce, and added value to his company.

When your company is experiencing tremendous growth, you often wonder how you’ll sustain your current workforce and keep your employees engaged. Brian Stern has managed to not only sustain his employees, but actively engage them, give them ownership, and help their personal development. In less than ten years, their company has grown from nothing to four subsidiaries in multiple cities across the county, but he’s never lost touch with his employees. Brian joins us on this episode of Lead to Grow to share his experience as an entrepreneur, and what he’s learned about leading a company through growing pains. Brian is the CEO and President at LED Supply Co., which has been featured numerous times on Inc’s coveted Fastest Growing Companies list.

There is a reason we have two ears and only one mouth. Listening is an incredibly important skill to develop and it will get you farther in your personal life and career than speaking too quickly ever will. John Esparza is the President & CEO of the Texas Trucking Association, but before that he worked for Governor Bush’s office in the 90s as the Coalition Director.   During this time, he got to see much of the great state of Texas, but it also gave him valuable experience hosting events.  While hosting these events, he learned about the importance of listening to local individuals at the venues where he was coordinating these events.   This practice of active listening was instrumental in a lot of John’s success later in his career, and he now advocates within the field of public policy.  His job is to ensure that the voice of the trucking industry is part of the vernacular that creates the laws and rules that govern Texas. He must listen to the people he represents to ensure that they have a seat at the legislative table and are engaged in the political process. In this episode of Lead to Grow, I spoke with John about the importance of listening, hearing out different opinions, and being an agent of change in the state of Texas.

Leaders lead. It’s a simple truth, but one that can be hard to pin down pragmatically. When your business is growing, what’s the best way to execute your objectives as a leader in a way that ensures all your employees’ benefit? Fortunately, we recently got to sit down with James Frank—the CEO of Sharp Iron and Transland, as well as a representative in the Texas House of Representatives—on the Lead to Grow podcast to talk about his perspectives on leadership and how focusing on the team as a whole bolsters their projects.

Workplace culture. Does this phrase sound familiar? It probably does. Why? Because it is everywhere. Why is it everywhere? Because it is an interesting topic. A topic that is constantly relevant. A topic that has practical value. Workplace culture is more than having a ping pong table in the office or offering gourmet coffee for staff in the break room. Workplace culture is about values and mindset. It’s about leadership and management. It has to do with how decisions are made in an organization and how people are included and made to feel important. Lynn Pace, Senior VP of National Sales at Cenergistic, gave some great insight into creating an abundant workplace culture with practical principles that are easy to implement. Here’s what we learned from him.

What makes a good leader? A delegator? An inspirer? A strong force on the front lines? It can be argued that a good leader consists of all of those things. But how should leadership in the workplace be encouraged and developed? In this episode Bob Payton, President and CEO of Dental Planet, gives insight into what good leadership in the workplace looks like. Bob has handled a lot of turnaround management and is all about understanding the customers needs and fulfilling them. His knowledge is invaluable. Here’s what we learned.

Bobby Albert, Host of Lead to Grow, sits down with Jason Turner, VP at ArcBest, to chat about the many faces of employee engagement.

Host Bobby Albert sits down with his long-time friend, Ray Klinginsmith, to chat about the parallels and similarities of leadership within both nonprofit and for profit sectors.

Good leadership comes with a lifetime of experience. In this inaugural podcast, host Bobby Albert shares why helping others develop and learn from leadership principles is his way of giving back.