Win Win - An Entrepreneurial Community

Learn how to find use-cases for AI in your organization. What are the home runs? The base hits? How can you find use-cases that are a 600-700% ROI on the investment in setting it up? Jeff Roberts, a CIO with decades of experience, is the founder and CEO of Innovation Vista (www.InnovationVista.com), an IT consulting and Fractional CIO firm. Jeff shares personal examples and stories of how he's looked at various businesses' various functions to determine which ones represent a use-case for using AI to multiply their efficacy and productivity. In this episode, learn the process Jeff uses to analyze business functions and determine which ones are candidates to speed up or multiply using AI. Listen to the show on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/win-win-an-entrepreneurial-community/id1465488607), wherever you normally get your podcasts, or listen on the web at https://winwin.cast.rocks/.

In this episode, Chris Voss teaches how what we in the small and midsize business world think about negotiation is wrong. The truth is we're negotiating when we're rolling out a new system employees need to use, when working with our leadership team, and even, as Chris points out in his book, when we're putting a child to bed at his or her bedtime. Chris Voss is the author of the NYT and WSJ bestseller, Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It (https://www.amazon.com/Never-Split-Difference-Negotiating-Depended/dp/0062407805/), spent 24 years at the FBI, where he was the lead international kidnapping negotiator, and is the CEO, Founder, and an Instructor at the Black Swan Group (www.BlackSwanLTD.com). The best way for most people who want to get better at negotiation in life who need deeper training than simply reading the book, but who can't afford the high-ticket Black Swan private trainings, is by joining Chris's Black Swan Network group coaching program on the Fireside Chat platform: https://firesidechat.com/blackswannetwork. When most of us think of negotiation, it conjures up images of big boardrooms and tense, stressful demands and counter-demands. We think it is relevant only for the big corporate world or for high-stakes deals we don't usually have to deal with. In this episode, Chris teaches several key negotiation techniques, what to stay away from and what you need, and shares stories from the business, personal, and the hostage negotiation world. Listen to the show on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/win-win-an-entrepreneurial-community/id1465488607), wherever you normally get your podcasts, or listen on the web at https://winwin.cast.rocks/.

What makes winning back former customers better than winning new customers? Dan Pfister is the founder at WinBack Labs (www.WinBackLabs.com), which helps clients win back lost customers, and is the host of the WinBack Marketing Podcast. What's the difference between selling to new customers/clients and selling to ones you've already served in the past in terms of conversion rate, conversion speed, qualification of leads, cost, up-selling/cross-selling? Dan teaches (in great detail!) how to execute a "win back" campaign, why so many of us are hesitant to focus on this, and shares stories of his own clients who have done "win back" campaigns and what happened. Listen to the show on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/win-win-an-entrepreneurial-community/id1465488607), wherever you normally get your podcasts, or listen on the web at https://winwin.cast.rocks/.

We often take digs at Gen Z'ers, but the reality is that they're the future workforce in our businesses. How real are the differences between Gen Z employees and Millennials? Is it a cultural talking point just to create conversation or a real observable pattern of differences? In this episode, Anthony Onesto (www.AnthonyOnesto.com), Chief People Officer at Suzy, a consumer insights research platform and author of The New Employee Contract - How to Find, Keep and Elevate Gen Z Talent (https://www.amazon.com/New-Employee-Contract-Elevate-Talent/dp/1484280539/), teaches us how to find and retain Gen Z talent. Anthony teaches why is it important to think about how to find and keep Gen Z team members, the unique traits or differences of Gen Z relative to Millennials, how the employee contract has to be redefined, and some of the things we need to think about doing differently when it comes to attracting and retaining Gen Z team members. Listen to the show on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/win-win-an-entrepreneurial-community/id1465488607), wherever you normally get your podcasts, or listen on the web at https://winwin.cast.rocks/.

What's the "Urgency Trap?" It feels impossible to focus on what's important when what's urgent always steals your time and energy. In this episode of the Win Win Podcast, Dr. Jean Oursler, author of “Give up Goals and Results are Yours” (https://www.amazon.com/Give-Goals-Results-Are-Yours/dp/1945853212) and Professional EOS Implementer (www.eosworldwide.com/DrJean-Oursler) teaches how “dealing with the urgent kill your business." But she doesn't stop there. Listen or watch to learn how you can break out of the endless cycle of: dysfunctional processes -> emergencies -> fire drill -> more dysfunctional processes. Listen to the show on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/win-win-an-entrepreneurial-community/id1465488607), wherever you normally get your podcasts, or listen on the web at https://winwin.cast.rocks/.

It could be you're spending time and money on content marketing, blog posts, social media, or videos that don't work because you're out of touch with what your target customers or clients are actually interested in. Our guest today is Angela Pointon, the President and CEO of the 11 Out of 11 (www.11outof11.com) marketing agency, and author of Stop Blending In: The 7 Steps for Achieving Thought-Leader Status and Standing Out in Your Field (https://www.amazon.com/Stop-Blending-Achieving-Thought-Leader-Standing/dp/1695470060/). In this episode Angela teaches how people who do content marketing successfully take their customers' pulse and use that knowledge to create an effective content marketing campaign. She also teaches how to approach content marketing when you're in a relatively niche field where your potential customers or clients often aren't even aware that your solution or product exists, so they don't know to search for it. What do you do then?? Listen to the show on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/win-win-an-entrepreneurial-community/id1465488607), wherever you normally get your podcasts, or listen on the web at https://winwin.cast.rocks/.

Learn what one business owner was going through, what made her explore bringing on an experienced Fractional COO, and what happened to her business when she did. Janet Fields is the President of Oak Trust Properties (www.OakTrustProperties.com), a boutique property management business, headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina. Janet shares how she grew up fixing houses as part of her father's business, how she took over the company, when she hit the ceiling, what she was going through then, how she went about finding a Fractional COO for her business (spoiler alert: she is working with Laura Granato from Wolf's Edge Integrators), and what happened to her business afterward. Get the full story in this episode on YouTube, Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/win-win-an-entrepreneurial-community/id1465488607), wherever you normally get your podcasts, or listen on the web at https://winwin.cast.rocks/.

Don't read so many books. "Wait, what did he just say?" Listen to this episode to discover the dangers of reading too many business and self-improvement books. Eli Itzkowitz (www.EOSWorldwide.com/Eli-Itzkowitz) is a Professional EOS Implementer after serving for years on the leadership teams of companies. We cover what it means to be a lifelong learner and what happened to Eli that made him realize he was reading too many books. *Key recommendation from the conversation: Read The One Thingby Gary Keller (https://www.amazon.com/Surprisingly-Extraordinary-Results-bestselling-Paperback/dp/B08L589JK3/) Listen to the full episode on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/win-win-an-entrepreneurial-community/id1465488607), wherever you normally get your podcasts, or listen on the web at https://winwin.cast.rocks/.

How do you get better at setting up relationships with key vendors and team members? This episode explores a negotiation technique you need to know and a community where people are learning and helping sharpen each other. Jonathan Smith (www.o4g.com) is an Expert EOS Implementer, a Certified Black Swan Trainer with Chris Voss's Black Swan Group, is on the organizing committee for the Webster Award, the Met-Gala-equivalent for the intelligence community, is a returning guest to the podcast, and was my EOS Implementer for 3 years from 2016 to 2019. Learn why negotiation skills aren't just a nice-to-have, a negotiation technique you can apply in your business, and all about the Black Swan Group's new community for learning and connecting with others on a similar path on the FireSideChat platform. Listen to the full episode on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/win-win-an-entrepreneurial-community/id1465488607), wherever you normally get your podcasts, or listen on the web at https://winwin.cast.rocks/.

If you've seen or experienced the failure of the relationship between a business owner and the COO or Integrator, you'll want to check out this episode. Ron Higgs is a Fractional COO / Integrator on the Wolf's Edge Integrators team, an executive coach, and is certified by Scale Architects as a Predictable Success Leadership Styles consultant. Ron discusses what he has seen happen that showed him how important it is for people to understand their leadership styles to avoid business owner / COO relationship failure. He also shares how to use the Leadership Styles identified by Les McKeown, author of Predictable Success and its four main leadership styles (Visionary Operator, Synergist, and Processor) to ensure that your relationships with the people on your team are successful. Listen to the show on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/win-win-an-entrepreneurial-community/id1465488607), wherever you normally get your podcasts, or listen on the web at www.FractionalLeadership.io/Podcast.

60% of the workforce is employed in family businesses in the United States. And only 3% of family businesses survive into the 4th generation. For successors of such businesses, how do they beat the odds to survive and even multiply a multi-generational business? We learn how to be a "disruptive successor" from our guest today, Jonathan Goldhill, author of Disruptive Successor: A Guide for Driving Growth in Your Family Business (www.DisruptiveSuccessor.com) and founder of the Goldhill Group (www.TheGoldhillGroup.com), which provides coaching to multi-generational, family business owners of construction, manufacturing & service businesses. Jonathan teaches the survival statistics for multi-generational family businesses, the 7 P's successors need to transform their family business into a smashing success, and shares examples of real family businesses which failed and which succeeded based on the decisions of the successors who took them over. Listen to the show on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/win-win-an-entrepreneurial-community/id1465488607), wherever you normally get your podcasts, or listen on the web at www.FractionalLeadership.io/Podcast.

It's easier to grow your business or life 10x than it is to fight through incremental 2x growth. Sounds counterintuitive, right? Our extremely special guest for this episode is Shannon Waller, a key decision maker at Dan Sullivan's Strategic Coach organization (www.StrategicCoach.com), where she has been on the team since 1991. She is an author, speaker, coach, Certified Kolbe consultant, is the creator of Strategic Coach's Team Programs, and is the host of the Team Success podcast (www.yourteamsuccess.com/podcasts). Shannon explains what 10x and 2x mean, why (paradoxically) growing 10x in your business or personal life is easier and simpler than pushing through 2x growth, and how exactly you can take advantage of that reality in your own life using the knowledge and experience you already have. Definitely check out the new book on this subject, 10x is Easier Than 2x, by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy: www.10xEasierBook.com. Listen to this episode on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/win-win-an-entrepreneurial-community/id1465488607), wherever you normally get your podcasts, or listen on the web at www.FractionalLeadership.io/Podcast.

People say never to be a "jack of all trades, master of none," but that's not always true. When do you need to hire or be a generalist? Mark Scrimenti, our guest in this episode, is a Fractional COO / Integrator for companies running on EOS through his company, Vivid Path (www.VividPathConsulting.com) and is a System & Soul certified coach. Mark explains what happens when people do not have anyone who is a "generalist" on your team, explains what such roles are, and how he's seen generalists make a huge difference when someone hired the right one and in the right time and place. Listen to the show on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/win-win-an-entrepreneurial-community/id1465488607), wherever you normally get your podcasts, or listen on the web at www.FractionalLeadership.io/Podcast.

The problem with so many businesses is they have an "immature" scorecard. What does that mean? What is it costing you? In this episode, we interview Bill Poole, who is the president of fractional sales leadership firm, Convergo (www.Convergo.co), on how to mature your metrics. Bill shares three things that make most businesses scorecard "immature," people, message, and process, and explains, with stories and examples, how to identify root causes and mature your metrics so that you can get actionable information to save more, make more, and have a predictable business you and your customers or clients can count on. Listen to the show on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/win-win-an-entrepreneurial-community/id1465488607), wherever you normally get your podcasts, or listen on the web at www.FractionalLeadership.io/Podcast.

Are you or your managers & leaders so focused on doing advanced stuff that you're not doing the basics? Our guest shows you and your team how to get back to the basics of being good leaders and managers. Kirsten Smith (www.EOSWorldwide.com/Kirsten-Smith) is a Certified EOS Implementer based in Massachusetts with over 2 decades of sales leadership experience before that. Kirsten explains and recounts stories of what takes people away from the basics of good management and leadership and explains several ways to return to those foundational tools. Listen to the show on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/win-win-an-entrepreneurial-community/id1465488607), wherever you normally get your podcasts, or listen on the web at www.FractionalLeadership.io/Podcast.

Business owners don't often get an open session with someone who bought businesses as part of a Private Equity firm for 15 years. But they do here. Our guest in this episode, Eric Lynn (www.EOSWworldwide.com/Eric-Lynn), is a Professional EOS Implementer who spent decades as a business owner and board member in manufacturing businesses and spent 15 years buying businesses as part of a private equity group. Anyone considering selling their business in the next 3-5 years must listen to this episode. It is dense with information and examples from multiple sales from businesses his former PE firm bought, from selling his own businesses, and from the sales of his clients' businesses. He walks through the exact types and subtypes of buyers, including financial buyers, strategic buyers, and internal buyers, and explains what you should know, who you need on your side, and what difference each type of buyer makes in how you prepare for and maximize your business's value for a future exit. Listen to the show on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/win-win-an-entrepreneurial-community/id1465488607), wherever you normally get your podcasts, or listen on the web at www.FractionalLeadership.io/Podcast.

What are "knee-jerk processes?" When do you step over the line from good policies into being over-processed and damaging your culture and business? Our guest in this episode answers these questions. Matt Hahne, a Certified EOS Implementer (www.EOSWorldwide.com/Matt-Hahne), is a former U.S. Navy Officer and a Merchant Mariner who created and owned three successful businesses. Matt teaches using numerous examples from businesses he's worked with who hid behind processes and clung to calcified ways of doing things that hurt their culture, violated their own closely-held values, and damaged their business. Here are three great resources we talked about in the interview: -Matt's newly released Launching Leaders workshop for supervisors (www.LaunchingLeaders.com) -Patrick Lencioni's The Table Group podcast episdoe called "Principle over Policy:" https://www.tablegroup.com/161-principle-over-policy/ -The famous Netflix culture deck: https://www.peterfisk.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/netflix-culture-deck.pdf Matt also shares how to turn things around if you've focused more on rules and processes and not enough on hiring and inspiring the right people in your organization by leading with "context and not control." Listen to the show on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/win-win-an-entrepreneurial-community/id1465488607), wherever you normally get your podcasts, or listen on the web at www.FractionalLeadership.io/Podcast.

Psychedelics and entrepreneurship - what's the connection? Why do some business owners use them? Learn the answer in this episode. Tony Robbins said, “Success in life is 80% psychology and 20% mechanics — what you do doesn't matter if you aren't in the right mindset. Understanding the ways psychology can work for or against you will help you establish a healthier outlook and put you in the right mindset to execute your strategy.” Joe Cohen shares his own story and explains how psychology and mindset severely hamper leaders' effectiveness and cost them dearly if they don't work on it, as well as how some use psychedelics to facilitate this work. Joe is an executive coach and HR management consultant through his company, 40 Pillars (www.40Pillars.com), through which he has worked with leaders at companies like Microsoft, Boeing, the Navy Seals, Deloitte, Wells Fargo, and Google. You can get a deeper dive into Joe's amazing background and story in his interview in this episode of Eli Nash's In Search of More podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ketamine-therapy-psychedelic-stigmas-the-limits/id1521524896?i=1000587084699. Listen to this episode on Psychedelics and Entrepreneurship of the Win Win Podcast on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/win-win-an-entrepreneurial-community/id1465488607), wherever you normally get your podcasts, or listen on the web at www.FractionalLeadership.io/Podcast.

What do you do when you're not happy with one (or many) of your team members and think it's obvious why but don't talk with them about it explicitly? In this interview with Lisa Lunsford, Fractional COO / Integrator at Wolf's Edge Integrators, she teaches us the 4 unskippable steps she's developed and implements with her clients when you have a team member who needs to improve for their and the business's success. Click here for a one-page guide to these four steps: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_UI4dDCsFHKiGQBVgsQCmoLYSTwr9tRL/view?usp=drivesdk Lisa talks about what's happened when she's seen leaders who see their team members doing things they see as self-evidently wrong but don't take a systematic approach to helping them correct it. She teaches the four stages of employee improvement necessary to avoid unnecessarily losing valuable team members and confirming when it really is the time to make a change. Listen to the full interview on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/win-win-an-entrepreneurial-community/id1465488607), wherever you normally get your podcasts, or listen on the web at www.FractionalLeadership.io/Podcast.

What happens when you develop or implement KPIs/scorecards/goals without buy-in from the front-line people who will provide or use the data? What kind of unnecessary conversations, process breakdowns, or data accuracy issues result? Our guest in this episode, Tara Kinney, founder and CEO of Atomic Revenue (www.AtomicRevenue.com), a revenue operations and enablement firm and an International speaker, teaches how to create and implement data in a way that people will adopt rather than fight, and which will avoid months of wasted time and effort. Listen to the show on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/win-win-an-entrepreneurial-community/id1465488607), wherever you normally get your podcasts, or listen on the web at www.FractionalLeadership.io/Podcast.

The whole entrepreneurial landscape changed, first with COVID and then with the "Great Resignation." If you approach recruiting and management the same way you did before those seismic shifts in the tectonic plates of business, you'll be left behind. How should you approach leadership of your team and recruiting differently now relative to before COVID and the so-called "great resignation"? What are the differences? What happens if you don't adapt? Our guest in today's episode, Jen Hamilton, will answer these questions and more. Jen is a Fractional COO / Integrator on clients' leadership teams through our podcast host's firm, Wolf's Edge Integrators (www.WolfsEdgeIntegrators.com/About). She is also the Head of Community at the professional association for fractional executives: Fractional Leadership. Listen to the show on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/win-win-an-entrepreneurial-community/id1465488607), wherever you normally get your podcasts, or listen on the web at www.FractionalLeadership.io/Podcast.

Learn tools and ideas how to make your fully remote business successful in this podcast interview with Jody Grunden. Several of the things his company does were new to us so this episode will definitely teach you something new. Jody is the founder and head of Summit CPA (www.SummitCPA.net), the Virtual CFO division of Anders CPAs & Advisors. He took his virtual CFO firm from 18 people to almost 60 since he took it fully remote in 2013 and is the author of two books, Digital Dollars and Cents and Building the Virtual CFO Firm in the Cloud. What positions do you need in your company that will make the difference between success or failure (high turnover and negative culture) in your remote company? What role does a retreat play? What mistakes should you avoid? What role does your business and financial model play in your ability to successfully grow and scale a remote company? For the answer to those questions and several others, listen to the show on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/win-win-an-entrepreneurial-community/id1465488607), wherever you normally get your podcasts, or listen on the web at www.FractionalLeadership.io/Podcast.

When are you ready to hire “real talent”? What does that even mean? When is it legitimate to use less expensive or less experienced talent? When is it justified to spend the money? How do you overcome self-talk that makes you think you are not ready? Matt Haney, our guest on this episode of the Win Win Podcast, answers these questions and more. Matt is a Fractional COO / Integrator on the Wolf's Edge Consulting team and has served as an interim or fractional COO for over 5 years. He is a long-time COO and operations leaders in manufacturing, distribution, healthcare, construction and other industries. You can learn more about him at: www.WolfsEdgeIntegrators.com/About. Listen to the show on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/win-win-an-entrepreneurial-community/id1465488607), wherever you normally get your podcasts, or listen on the web at www.FractionalLeadership.io/Podcast.

Do Fractional Integrators compete with EOS Implementers®? Do they work at all? What type of business owner should use one? What's the difference between an Integrator and an Implementer? In this far-reaching conversation, our host, Ben Wolf, who is the founder of the largest Fractional COO / Integrator firm, Wolf's Edge Integrators (https://wolfsedgeintegrators.com/), *was interviewed by our guest*, Rachel Lebowitz, who is a Professional EOS Implementer (www.EOSWorldwide.com/Rachel-Lebowitz), about everything related to Integrators, both fractional and full-time, and implementers. Rachel and her husband bought a Flexible Printing Packaging company and, within three years of implementing EOS, turned it around and grew it from 30 to 100 employees and from $10 to $30 million in revenue. She then went on to become a Professional EOS Implementer herself. Check out the conversation! Listen to the show on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/win-win-an-entrepreneurial-community/id1465488607), wherever you normally get your podcasts, or listen on the web at www.FractionalLeadership.io/Podcast.

Our guest today shares the dangers of not having an actual ongoing relationship with your banker, and how to find the right banker, build your relationships with them, and the options this gives you when you run into the inevitable emergencies and problems in running yoru business. Trey Weatherill is a VP & Senior Relationship Manager at American Business Bank (www.AmericanBB.bank), a Southern California bank for private, closely held, medium sized businesses with revenues typically between $10-$200M. Trey explains how to use your network, test out different potential bankers, and find the right banking relationship. He explains what to do if your business is on the smaller side and you're worried you may not be able to get a banker's attention, what to do when your banker leaves your bank, and the tradeoffs between working with one of the big banks versus a local or regional bank. Listen to the show on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/win-win-an-entrepreneurial-community/id1465488607), wherever you normally get your podcasts, or listen on the web at www.FractionalLeadership.io/Podcast.

Our guest today, a probate litigator with a national firm, shares what he's gained from using a coach (Strategic Coach) to grow his business and improve his life. Scott Rahn is the managing partner of a RMO LLP (www.RMOLawyers.com), a trust, estate, and probate litigation firm in California, Florida, Texas, Missouri, and Kansas. He shares about his experiences with his grandmother, how he got into probate litigation, how he uses values and vision to nationally scale a practice that is incredibly situation and state-specific, what he's learned from Strategic Coach (founded by Dan Sullivan), and what he's done differently because of it. Listen to the show on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/win-win-an-entrepreneurial-community/id1465488607), wherever you normally get your podcasts, or listen on the web at www.FractionalLeadership.io/Podcast.

You need to accomplish a lot in your business but you have limited time, limited money, and a limited number of team members. How do you do more with less? Our guest in this episode, Adi Klevit, answers this question. Adi is the founder and CEO of Business Success Consulting Group (www.BizSuccessCG.com), a team of business process consultants who help organizations create and implement processes that are “followed by all” through systems and automations. Adi explains when you need to be realistic about where you are and not over-hire, overspen, or add too many technology solutions without being tethered to a cohesive strategy and your true financial and place in your own business evolution. She explains how to use relatively low cost automations and processes to do much more with very few resources. Listen to the show on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/win-win-an-entrepreneurial-community/id1465488607), wherever you normally get your podcasts, or listen on the web at www.FractionalLeadership.io/Podcast.

Bill Hewlett, co-founder of Hewlett Packard, is often quoted as saying that “More companies die of indigestion than starvation.” We learn from Adi Vaxman in this episode how to avoid falling apart when you experience a growth spurt. People's businesses often fail not because they never took off, but because they experienced a growth spurt they couldn't manage and fall apart or give up. Our guest, Adi Vaxman, is a Fractional COO through her firm Sheba Consulting (www.ShebaConsulting.com). Before this, she served as COO and General Manager at multiple international and VC-backed organizations. Adi explains how to recognize when you're in a growth spurt and three strategies you must use to avoid falling apart and "dying of indigestion." Listen to the show on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/win-win-an-entrepreneurial-community/id1465488607), wherever you normally get your podcasts, or listen on the web at www.FractionalLeadership.io/Podcast.

If you have adult ADHD and other people don't understand you or feel unsuccessful or incompetent in some environments but you're faster than everyone around you in another part of life, check out this conversation with Peter Shankman (wwwShankman.com). Peter is the host of the Faster than Normal podcast, the Internet's #1 podcast on ADHD, 5x best selling author, including one book I read recently, Faster Than Normal: Turbocharge Your Focus, Productivity, and Success with the Secrets of the ADHD Brain (https://www.amazon.com/Faster-Than-Normal-Turbocharge-Productivity/dp/0143131222), is the founder of HARO – Help A Reporter Out, and is an international keynote speaker primarily on the topic of Customer Experience. In this interview, Peter Shankman shares what things were like before he was diagnosed and realized he had ADHD in his 30's, how you can reengineer your environment to maximize your strengths and minimize ADHD's downsides, he explains the "neuro-atypical economy" and what it means for your business, and shares two top rituals and habits people can use to maximize the benefits and mitigate the disadvantages of having a "faster than normal" brain. Listen to the show on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/win-win-an-entrepreneurial-community/id1465488607), wherever you normally get your podcasts, or listen on the web at www.FractionalLeadership.io/Podcast.

How do you stop killing your low-hanging fruit by cross selling to your current client base? Find out in this podcast interview with Darrell Amy, host of the Revenue Growth Podcast and Founder/CEO of Convergo (www.Convergo.co), a sales consulting firm that helps B2B companies use a business operating system to create and execute revenue growth goals. Darrell describes the low-hanging fruit most people leave rotting on the vine, the common behavior patterns and ways of thinking that drive this, and how it hurts people. He then teaches what “100% Sold” means, the three levels on which people should track “100% sold," and what people should do with account management to get to 100% sold. Listen to the full interview on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/win-win-an-entrepreneurial-community/id1465488607), wherever you normally get your podcasts, or listen on the web at www.FractionalLeadership.io/Podcast.

What are the 4 “disabilities” that make people great entrepreneurs? Justin Breen, author of Epic Business and his new book, Epic Life: How to Build Collaborative Global Companies While Putting Your Loved Ones First (https://www.amazon.com/Epic-Life-Collaborative-Companies-Putting-ebook/dp/B0B7QLBDLM) is the founder and CEO of PR firm BrEpic Communications (www.BRepicLLC.com). Justin describes how most highly driven great entrepreneurs he's encountered have one, and as many as all four, of the following four things in common: 1. ADHD 2. Dyslexia 3. Aspergers/ASD 4. Extremely high IQ Perhaps this describes you. Perhaps it describes someone in your life. Justin breaks down what makes people with these qualities so successful, what personal challenges and traumas they face, and how to make a huge difference as an entrepreneur while still putting your family and relationships first. Listen to the show on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/win-win-an-entrepreneurial-community/id1465488607), wherever you normally get your podcasts, or listen on the web at www.FractionalLeadership.io/Podcast.

Learn how to declutter your professional and personal life in this episode with Andrew Mellen, a professional organizer, coach, speaker, and trainer (learn more at www.AndrewMellen.com). Andrew explains what it looks like when people feel overwhelmed and disorganized, whether in their personal or professional lives, what they THINK the issue is, what the real issue is, and how to "call BS on Busy," and exactly how to unclutter your mind. Listen to the show on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/win-win-an-entrepreneurial-community/id1465488607), wherever you normally get your podcasts, or listen on the web at www.FractionalLeadership.io/Podcast.

Learn how to do more with less in business from our guest in this episode, Crista Grasso, founder of Lean Out Method, which helps entrepreneurs scale their business simply & sustainably (www.LeanOutMethod.com). If you find yourself in your business in between the solopreneur phase of business and being a small business ready to truly scale with a management system like the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) or System and Soul, what do you do? You're overwhelmed and have mostly executors on your team, are in the high 6 figure revenue level, or low 8 figures, and you're not sure how to set up the team and processes necessary to start having a self-managing business. What are your options? Crista explains how to bridge the gap and how to cut back and "lean out" so you can free yourself and your cash flow up to do what's necessary to get to the next level. Listen to the show on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/win-win-an-entrepreneurial-community/id1465488607), wherever you normally get your podcasts, or listen on the web at www.FractionalLeadership.io/Podcast.

Our guest today, Joseph Frost, explains and gives examples to understand the principle of decentralized leadership and how to apply it. Joe is the founder of the Fractional CMO franchise, yorCMO (www.yorCMO.com), and is co-founder of the Fractional Professionals Association. Joe Frost explains what decentralized leadership is, practical tips on how to apply it, how it's a way of getting you, your managers, and your leadership members more out of the day-to-day and help all of your team members take more ownership, responsibility, and personal concern for the parts of the business who are under their purview. Listen to the show on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/win-win-an-entrepreneurial-community/id1465488607), wherever you normally get your podcasts, or listen on the web at www.FractionalLeadership.io/Podcast.

In this episode we talk about the phenomenon of success running away from those who chase it the hardest - i.e., how an abundance mindset is the key to business (and personal) growth. Our guest, Brent Freeman, is the founder & president of Stealth Venture Labs (www.StealthVenturLabs.com), an ecommerce marketing “anti-agency." He happens to have also been knighted by the Italian royal family in 2020! Brent talks about how he used to live in a scarcity mindset, how changing his approach became the key to success, and how to get there even if current bad circumstances or past trauma make trusting in abundance almost seem impossible and completely unrealistic. Listen to the show on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/win-win-an-entrepreneurial-community/id1465488607), wherever you normally get your podcasts, or listen on the web at www.FractionalLeadership.io/Podcast.

How do you systemize and scale a business where your deliverable to each client or customer is different? Listen to this conversation with Eric Pines, founder and partner at Pines Federal (www.PinesFederal.com), a Houston-based law firm focused on Federal employment law, collective bargaining, and with a rare expertise in certain niche elements of Veteran's Administration laws. Eric shows how the law, like many types of business, has deliverables unique to each client. He explains how to break out the customizable parts of the business from the customizable parts and then put those processes in place. He explains how to keep clients' experience personal so that processes don't go too far by making people feel like all they are to you is a transaction. Listen to the show on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/win-win-an-entrepreneurial-community/id1465488607), wherever you normally get your podcasts, or listen on the web at www.FractionalLeadership.io/Podcast.

In this episode I spoke with, Marcus Sheridan, author of They Ask, You Answer (https://www.amazon.com/They-Ask-You-Answer-Revolutionary/dp/1119610141), to talk about whether or not Fractional CMOs are a good idea for business owners. A few weeks ago, Marcus posted an "unpopular opinion" on LinkedIn, stating that while he understood why marketers want to work with clients using a "Fractional CMO model," he did not think it was a good idea for business owners, and argued that it just cheapened marketing's true, transformative role in a business (original post: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:share:6957499522235146240). Because this is the official podcast of Fractional Leadership, the professional association for Fractional Leaders of all types, including Fractional CMOs, our host, Ben Wolf, invited Marcus, in the comments to his post, to come on the show to talk over his thoughts on the subject and see if we could find any common ground. You do not want to miss this lively conversation! Listen to the show on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/win-win-an-entrepreneurial-community/id1465488607), wherever you normally get your podcasts, or listen on the web at www.FractionalLeadership.io/Podcast.

Our guests today explain an innovative tag-team Fractional Leadership model. David Baughman (Fractional COO) and Nauman Poonja (Fractional CFO) have teamed up to create a combined offering where clients turn over all of their operations to them. Their offering is called Fractional Gurus (www.FractionalGurus.com). They explain what led them to want to explore this tag-team joint offering, how it works, how they plan to scale it, and what distinguishes what they're doing from multidisciplinary firms like TechCXO. Listen to the show on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/win-win-an-entrepreneurial-community/id1465488607), wherever you normally get your podcasts, or listen on the web at www.FractionalLeadership.io/Podcast.

Our guest on the podcast today teaches how to use vision-first marketing to avoid wasting your time. Cindy Skach is a Fractional CMO and is co-founder of Foundations First Marketing (www.FoundationsFirstMarketing.com). Cindy explains how most businesses dive straight into specific marketing tactics, rather than strategy or vision first, and we explore what dynamics drive that trend. She explains what a vision statement is, the two questions you must ask yourself before implementing any marketing tactic (once you've identified your vision/goal), and the foundational elements of your marketing infrastructure before even getting into the specifics of tactics. Cindy also explains what Fractional CMOs in general, as well as her firm specifically, do to set clients up with a clear vision and strategy, and then ensure the business itself has or builds the capability to execute consistently on that strategy over time. Listen to the show on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/win-win-an-entrepreneurial-community/id1465488607), wherever you normally get your podcasts, or listen on the web at www.FractionalLeadership.io/Podcast.

What do you need to think about BEFORE becoming a Fractional CFO? Our guest, John Ball, founder and CEO of Seaton Hill (www.SeatonHill.com), one of the United States' foremost Fractional CFO firms, answers that question. John talks about understanding WHY you want to become a Fractional CFO (or other type of Fractional Leader), what to expect so you go into it with your eyes open, and what kind of people and situations fractional executive work is not a good fit for. John also talks about the differences, advantages, and disadvantages of going out on your own to do fractional work versus what it is like to work with the various types of fractional executive firms. Listen to the show on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/win-win-an-entrepreneurial-community/id1465488607), wherever you normally get your podcasts, or listen on the web at www.FractionalLeadership.io/Podcast.

How do you make a mixed entrepreneurial marriage work? Listen to or watch this episode to find out. Kelly Clements, our guest, is founder of EntrepreNewer (www.TheEntrepreNewer.com), where she and her team provide marriage coaching for couples where one or both members of the couple are entrepeneurial business owners. Kelly talks about what happens with spouses of entrepreneurs, including loss of personal identity or purpose, and how the problems typically differ when the non-entrepreneurial spouse is a man versus a woman. She shares key things both the entrepreneurial spouse and the non-entrepreneurial spouse can do to make their relationship successful and avoid the failed relationships that so often happen because of the differences between them. Listen to the show on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/win-win-an-entrepreneurial-community/id1465488607), wherever you normally get your podcasts, or listen on the web at www.FractionalLeadership.io/Podcast.

Learn from our guest today how Fractional Leaders and others can bridge the yawning gap between a full-time job and a full client load. Jay Kingley, our guest, and his business partner, Taz Sadhukhan, are co-founders Centricity (www.CentricityB2B.com), which provides early-stage consultants and fractional executives with a 12-month, structured business development coaching program to bridge the gap between a full-time salary and a full client load. Jay shares the ways most Fractional Leaders and consultants approach business development, how they are shaped by the "products and services" marketing approaches they're surrounded with, and the five elements of what works for experienced knowledge workers who need to get their own clients. Listen to the show on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/win-win-an-entrepreneurial-community/id1465488607), wherever you normally get your podcasts, or listen on the web at www.FractionalLeadership.io/Podcast.

Our guest today teaches how to recognize the triggers that would cause you to consider using interim executive talent, whether "full-time dedicated" or fractional, and how to set up the engagement to be successful. Damon Neth is a Certified EOS Implementer®, has a long history as a fractional executive, and is the co-author of X-Formation - Transforming Business through interim executive Leadership (https://www.amazon.com/X-Formation-Transforming-Business-Executive-Leadership/dp/1544500459/). Based on his three decades of experience in interim executive leadership, Damon shares how to recognize the signs when an interim executive may be the type of solution you should consider. He talks about what engagements like that look like, how to select the right person, and how to ensure that the engagement is successful. Listen to the show on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/win-win-an-entrepreneurial-community/id1465488607), wherever you normally get your podcasts, or listen on the web at www.FractionalLeadership.io/Podcast.

How can you double your business with a best-selling book? Sara Connell, our guest on this episode, answers that question. Sara is the author of the newly released book, The Science of Getting Rich - for Women (https://www.amazon.com/Science-Getting-Rich-Women-Millions/dp/1949550702/0) and is the founder of Sara Connell Coaching (www.SaraConnell.com), which offers, among others, the “Write Your Book” program. Sara explains tips, techniques, and methods too numerous to recount here how to write a book, includig the mindset shift you need to make, and how writing and promoting a book differs when you're using it to grow your business, rather than only inspire or be part of a personal mission or passion, and how to maximally leverage the book to faciliate business growth. Listen to the show on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/win-win-an-entrepreneurial-community/id1465488607), wherever you normally get your podcasts, or listen on the web at www.FractionalLeadership.io/Podcast.

Our guest shares how to create a brand and product from the ground up. Stæven Frey is the Chief Strategy Officer for clients through his company, Quantum Branding (www.QuantumBranding.Agency), an evidence-based branding agency in Nashville, TN that helps clients create brands and products that sell. Staeven shares and debunks the 3 biggest branding myths, the key elements of a successful brand, the kinds of data your brand needs to use if it is to be successful, and why marketing seems so complicated to most people and how to simplify it. Listen to the show on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/win-win-an-entrepreneurial-community/id1465488607), wherever you normally get your podcasts, or listen on the web at www.FractionalLeadership.io/Podcast.

Learn from our guest today how to get results from your scorecard! Jeff Provost is the founder and CEO of Key Performance Integrators (COOs) (www.KPIntegrators.com), so you can see that he has a passion for great metrics. Jeff shares what happens when you don't have enough measurables, track the wrong ones, or track too many of them. He explains the ideal number and type of measurables depending on the number of major functions of your business, how to use those measurables, and how to tell when questions about what kind of measurables to use are really signs of weakness at the departmental level. Listen to the show on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/win-win-an-entrepreneurial-community/id1465488607), wherever you normally get your podcasts, or listen on the web at www.FractionalLeadership.io/Podcast.

Our guest in this episode, David Siegel, CEO of MeetUp.com, explains why the office is over and what that means for your business. Before becoming CEO of Meetup.com, the largest platform for finding and building local community, whose goal is to use technology to get people off technology, David was the CEO of Investopedia and, before that, President of Seeking Alpha. He is the author of the new book, Decide & Conquer: 44 Decisions That Will Make or Break All Leaders (https://www.amazon.com/Decide-Conquer-Decisions-Break-Leaders/dp/140023087X). In this fascinating conversation, David shares in what ways "the office is over," why rumors of its demise are partially exaggerated, which kinds of business need to keep an in-person element and why, and 2 big strategies for how to successfully go back to (or stay) in-person. Listen to the show on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/win-win-an-entrepreneurial-community/id1465488607), wherever you normally get your podcasts, or listen on the web at www.FractionalLeadership.io/Podcast!

Our guest today, Fran Biderman-Gross, teaches 5 tips for setting up your Fractional CMO's engagement for success. Fran is the founder and CEO of Advantages (www.Advantages.net), a marketing communications agency, is a Fractional CMO, and is a member of the Fractional Leadership community. She wrote the recent book: How to Lead a Values-Based Professional Services Firm: 3 Keys to Unlock Purpose and Profit (https://www.amazon.com/Lead-Values-Based-Professional-Services-Firm/dp/1119621526). We cover why most marketing engagements are so short-lived and lead to disappointed expectations and frustrations, whether they be full-time CMOs, Fractional CMOs, or agencies. She shares the disconnect that often happens and 5 ways to set up those engagements for success so you don't become a statistic! Listen to the show on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/win-win-an-entrepreneurial-community/id1465488607), wherever you normally get your podcasts, or listen on the web at www.FractionalLeadership.io/Podcast.

Learn how to avoid wasting hundreds of thousands of dollars using something called the Labor Efficiency Ratio with our guest, Christian Brim, founder and CEO of Core Group (www.CoreGroupUS.com), a certified Profit First professional, which provides Fractional CFO, accounting, and wealth management services. For those of us who are not financial-minded, our eyes start to glaze over when we hear words like "Labor Efficiency Ratio." In this interview, Christian does a great job of explaining through multiple examples and stories what it is, why it's so important it must be on your leadership team's scorecard, and how to use to it smoke out huge hidden issues in your organization and avoid mistakes that could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars every year, if not more. Listen to the show on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/win-win-an-entrepreneurial-community/id1465488607), wherever you normally get your podcasts, or listen on the web at www.FractionalLeadership.io/Podcast.

Our guest today shares how to rock your remote work culture. Kaleem Clarkson is a Fractional Chief People Officer and co-founder/COO of Blend Me (www.BlendMeInc.com), a remote employee experience consultancy. Kaleem explains who needs to create a fully-remote or hybrid remote business, how to solve the talent shortage, how to succeed with onboarding (the biggest challenge that makes employees have a bad experience with you), and the ONE thing you must do to create a good culture if your workforce is distributed. Listen to the show on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/win-win-an-entrepreneurial-community/id1465488607), wherever you normally get your podcasts, or listen on the web at www.FractionalLeadership.io/Podcast.

Learn how to build a tech company if you're not a coder. Our guest today, Bryan Clayton, is CEO and co-founder of GreenPal (www.YourGreenPal.com), which describes itself as the Uber of lawn care. Bryan explains how he went from building, owning, and selling the largest landscaping business in middle-Tennessee to building a national tech company without knowing how to code. He explains how he did that, what place fundraising does or should have in a startup, how to know when it's too soon to delegate something, and when and how to delegate when not doing so holds you back. Listen to the show on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/win-win-an-entrepreneurial-community/id1465488607), wherever you normally get your podcasts, or listen on the web at www.FractionalLeadership.io/Podcast.