The Business Thorcast: Business Improvement | Business Strategy | Leadership | Business Agility | Continuous Improvement | Te

Tiffani Bova is a legend in tech sales. She spent 10 years working at Gartner and is now using her skills to get people to think differently about how they interact with their customers as the Global Customer Growth and Innovation Evangelist at Salesforce. As an executive at one of the hottest companies across the globe, Tiffani has captured many of her best practices and recently released the Wall Street Journal Bestseller, Growth IQ. Tiffani shares more on her career and her incredible experiences as she catches up with Thor in this episode of The Business Thorcast.

The market is moving faster than ever before, and that requires corporate teams to constantly evolve to keep up. It's human nature to resist change; even change that is positive and desperately needed. So how do you overcome this challenge as the leader? Our guest, Sujith Abraham, Group VP at Oracle, shares his experience leading transformations, initially in the automotive industry, and now at the tip of the innovation spear in technology with Oracle. Sujith successfully grew the Oracle sales organization by 1,000 new reps. From the start of this initiative, his objective was to hire and onboard new team members that would grow and be successful in their own careers at Oracle. Learn more about Sujith's success and the importance of leadership alignment and buy-in from the existing team.

“The meaning of extreme is relative to the people you hang around with.” Progress happens behind the scenes. It's getting out of your comfort zone and going on the journey marked with pain, failure, and struggle – the moments that didn't make the “highlight reel”. Recently, Thor dove out of his comfort zone and went on a freediving trip to Bonaire with his fellow YPO members. These individuals were able to push themselves to hold their breath for 3 and even 4 minutes reaching depths of over 100 feet on a single breath. These incredible accomplishments were not achieved without struggle. What you may not see are the times they dove down only 20 feet, panicked, and came back up for air. By using discomfort as a tool, this group faced their fears and pushed themselves to achieve success. This growth mindset directly translates to business and is the reason Allan Young, Beau Durham, and many others make bolder decisions (and bolder mistakes) in business and have achieved such high levels of success.

What magnet pulls you towards success? In this episode of The Business Thorcast, Fred Kofman, the Advisor of Leadership Development at Google and former VP of Executive Development at LinkedIn, shares his insight on the meaning of success with examples from money as currency to the art of spearfishing.

As a SEAL on active duty in Afghanistan, John Allen's unit was under a full-blown ambush. The result? The most spectacular performances of executing under absolutely imperfect and terrible conditions. This was an elite team executing their mission and saving the lives of everyone on the team. Now, as the CEO of Elite Meet, John pairs up elite military members with the leaders of elite business corporations to show both sides the unique skill sets each brings to the table in the corporate world. 

Michelle “Sonic” Ruehl was flying combat missions at night and teaching English to the men in the Afghan village that she was protecting by day. At first, the men rejected her as an instructor and warrior based on her gender, but she used music in a war zone to reach beyond the cultural barriers of prejudice that separated them. It's a story you'll have to hear to believe.

If you haven't heard of Matthias “Super Frenchie” Giraud, I guarantee that you've seen him. He's a Pro Skier and B.A.S.E. Jumper – the ones that get dropped off at the top of a mountain by a helicopter, skis down the mountain, and looks for a cliff to jump off. Matthias understands what it's like to operate in a high-stakes, zero tolerance for error world. In this episode, Matthias tells Thor about the methodology he applies behind the scenes to stay safe and succeed in one of the harshest environments in the world.

What's the most hotly contested and disruptive market today? End User Computing. In this episode of The Business Thorcast, we talk to Jeff Mitchel, the Senior VP of EUC Sales for VMware. As a leader, Jeff had his back against the wall with multiple challenges in a marketplace that was moving faster than anybody in the sector could keep up with. In a short period of time, Jeff turned that situation into one of the biggest success stories that I've seen. Hear how he did it and what tools and processes behind the scenes were critical to this successful transformation.

John Hunter, CFO of Buffalo Construction, Inc., tells Thor how his teams use Debriefs to identify Lessons Learned and standardize best practices to positively impact each of their future projects. John breaks down how the effects of the Debriefs can be seen across the organization (and with their clients!) and is responsible for 15% profit increase.

In this episode of The Business Thorcast, Thor discusses how you can align your desperate teams – or even two companies that compete with one another – around a common goal and execution process. The result? Elevated success that is more than any group could ever have individually. 

This episode of The Business Thorcast is unlike any before. Instead of diving into business initiatives and flying airplanes, Thor recounts his experience of climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro with an elite team of executives. Thor and VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger, SVP of Customer Experience, Scott Bajtos, and Global Accounts Leader, David Kluzak apply Afterburner's Flawless Execution methodology not only in the business world but in situations outside of the office. Thor describes how the team used Afterburner's methodology of Plan, Brief, Execute, and Debrief to reach the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro and reach their goal of raising funds to build schools for the impoverished girls of Kenya. 

These days you hear a lot of talk about diversity and inclusion. It seems like every company we work with has some sort of initiative around creating a more diverse environment and leveraging the diversity of their team members through a more inclusive culture. But how do you create that inclusive culture? In this episode of The Business Thorcast we bring back Tracy “JackieO” LaTourrette, one of the first female fighter pilots, to talk with us about what she learned about diversity and inclusion in elite military teams and helping corporations across the globe succeed with Afterburner. 

Joel “Thor” Neeb sits down with Mark Paske of VMware for this week's episode to discuss how Flawless Execution brought success to the tech company's sales team and culture. In a marketplace where the expectations are changing every day, you have to keep your team one step ahead of the competition and rate of change. Understanding the importance of alignment and team communication became the backbone for VMware's sales team that allowed them to thrive in a turbulent environment.

An often-overlooked component to any team's success is their long-term vision, also referred to as the High-Definition Destination. Many leaders are too distracted by the problems they face in the present to focus on the future. In this episode, Joel "Thor" Neeb discusses the importance of creating a pull culture in order to engage your team towards success. Thor acknowledges the opposite theory of a push culture or compliance and admits its successful on occasion, however, he uses his personal experience of working with a $40 billion tech company along with other experiences and examples to prove “action without engagement is a nightmare.”

You hear a lot about Job Security and how to ensure your employability in a volatile and uncertain job market. But how often do you hear about Job Insecurity? In this tell-all exposé, Executive Consultant, Otis “Hoop” Hooper, publicly Debriefs the big-boss here at Afterburner. Hoop still can't believe Thor is moving forward with launching this episode of The Business Thorcast… Can you? Subscribe and listen now!

In pilot training, the first thing you had to do before you ever left land was practice in an emergency simulator. You would be put in the most catastrophic situations and have to figure out how to keep yourself safe. How were we always able to stay safe and calm in these situations? By using our checklist and contingency plans.  Business can also use contingency plans to build confidence with their team. To keep the team focused on the goal instead of wondering if the worst will happen. In this episode, we bring back Will “Q” Duke to talk about the critical role checklists and contingency plans play on elite military teams and in business.

Everyone is talking about technology as a strategic resource. In this episode, Thor and Murph discuss the trends they see and what you need to know in order to lead through the disruption of the digital transformation. 

Organizational culture is a hard thing to change. It's not enough to say you are going to change it, you need to have a strategic business plan behind the goal. In this episode, Jamie Temple, EUC Program Manager VMware, shares how her organization utilized strategic business planning to merge two cultures to create a successful team.

In the second part of his interview, Fred Kofman, Vice President of Executive Development at LinkedIn, shares with The Business ThorCast host, Joel “Thor” Neeb, why he thinks the key to a successful team is the alignment of your team around a common purpose and a set of shared standards.

Doing the best for the team doesn't always mean doing the best for yourself.  In part one of his interview, Fred Kofman, Vice President of Executive Development at LinkedIn, discusses why it's important to connect your team to a higher purpose to achieve company goals.

You can't tactically work your way out of a strategic problem. When your team is facing a big shift in strategy, you must gather your team to build a new strategic plan, align the team around that strategy and establish an execution rhythm for accomplishing the goal. Afterburner COO, Joe “Gusto” Connolly, shares his mistakes and lessons learned from leading teams through challenging situations.

When the worst-case scenario occurs or when the big call comes in, is your team ready? Former astronaut, Bill “Borneo” Gregory, tells the story of his space mission that could have never happened but how he was prepared when it did. He shares the simple, logical techniques business teams can use to ensure they are prepared for the predictable threats and once in a lifetime opportunities.    

When disaster strikes, the United States government is ready to deploy assistance where needed. What can your team learn about agility from this highly bureaucratic organization? Thor sits down with Afterburner team member Otis “Hoop” Hooper to discuss his recent deployment to the U.S. Virgin Islands after Hurricane Maria and the techniques corporate teams can learn from his experience in order to stay agile.

The odds are not in your favor when it comes to successfully accomplishing your strategic plan. Over the past 20 plus years, Founder and CEO of Afterburner, Jim "Murph" Murphy has seen plans fail time and time again for the same reasons. He sits down with Thor to discuss the top five reasons strategic plans fail and what you can do to make sure yours does not.

Diversity plays a significant role in the success of your team. Tracy “Jackie O” LaTourrette, shares her experiences of being one of the first female fighter pilots in the US military and discusses with Thor ways leaders can make diversity a priority, the advantages diversity can bring to a team and how new team members can bring a unique perspective and make a meaningful impact. 

For a team to outperform others, decisions should be based on the team's values and principles. Following the events of 9/11, Andrew “Skeet” Sandoe changed his entire life and made the decision to leave the financial industry and join the Marines based on his own personal ethos. And, that same ethos led him to leave military service and back to the world of finance. He and Thor discuss why value-based decision making is important to the success of an individual and a team.

Leading a team of five is different from leading a team of 5000, leaders must adapt and evolve to the size of their team. Chris “Elroy” Stricklin, former Thunderbird pilot and senior military leader, shares how he transitioned from leading formations of aircraft to commanding more than 7000 people across the globe and what business leaders can do to scale their approach to leadership from one team to another.

It's inevitable that your team will fail but it's how they overcome those failures that matters. Former Navy SEAL, Chris Gomez shares his lessons learned from SEAL training on what it takes for a team to overcome adversity and how to learn from their failures to succeed.

A successful team is built upon a culture that instills pride in each team member. Leaders must deliberately create the culture by developing the team imperative and principles. In this episode, Thor sits down with the founder and CEO of Afterburner, Jim “Murph” Murphy to discuss how a team can create a culture of success.

Building a strategic plan is one of the most important things you will do as the leader of an organization. In this episode, Thor talks to Afterburner's strategy expert, Will Duke, about the key areas you need to focus on to build a successful strategic plan.

It's ok to fail, but your customers should never see your failures. Your company must be impeccable in their business execution to meet the ever-rising demands of the market and your customer. As a leader, to build an elite team that succeeds, you must empower your team to make mistakes but to learn and improve.

Whether you are wanting to make a personal, professional or organizational change there are common lessons learned from all types of transformations. Otis “Hoop” Hooper talks about his total transformation from “out of shape dad” to Ironman and American Ninja Warrior by changing the way he thought about his challenges and applying the methodologies of Flawless ExecutionSM to his everyday life.

At times, we all feel like we have too much to do and not enough time, tools or resources to do them. To be productive, you must figure out what's most important, stay focused on what matters and create time to be creative. Learn three techniques fighter pilots use to reduce the stress of task saturation.

You've built your strategic business plan, now what? It is inevitable that you will come up against challenges while building your plan. The Red Team is the solution to overcoming these challenges and building plans that are ready to execute today.

Luck has nothing to do with success, your will to succeed does. Matt "T-Bone" Brady, a graduate of West Point and Harvard Business School and a former pilot for the U.S. Army shares why teamwork was the key to persevering the toughest challenges of his life and how teams can learn from their own failures and challenges to be successful.

It's frustrating when your team repeats mistakes. If your team seems to always have the same challenges or if you have team members who are not performing as well as others, the solution is the debrief. The debrief, will accelerate your team performance, close learning gaps and transform business initiatives. Turn repeated mistakes into repeated successes.

Your team is having to keep up with the rate of change in your market while dealing with everyday challenges like task saturation, disciplined business execution and staying aligned with the organization's goals. The Business ThorCast offers tools, techniques and solutions to the everyday challenges of business teams.