Podcasts about great why some companies make

In this energizing episode of Build A Vibrant Culture, host Nicole Greer sits down with virtual assistant guru and author Melissa Smith to demystify the world of virtual assistants (VAs). Whether you're an overwhelmed entrepreneur, a high-performing exec, or someone just tired of doing it all, Melissa offers empowering advice on how the right VA can give you time back, increase your energy, and even save your sanity. From the myths of delegation to the magic of friction-free productivity, Melissa breaks it all down with warmth and wisdom. Plus, she shares exactly how to find, hire, and build a lasting relationship with your ideal VA. (Spoiler: You don't need another “you”—you need your complementary opposite.) She's the author of Hire the Right Virtual Assistant and Become a Successful Virtual Assistant, and she's got the receipts—20+ years of experience, a top 10 inspiring woman in business, and a 98% VA match success rate.Highlights from this episode:[00:02:46] You don't need to be a pro delegator to hire a VA—just have a clear vision. “If you can share your vision, expectations, and walk through things once, the right VA will take it from there.”[00:06:01] Your productivity problem is actually an energy problem. Tasks that drain your energy are stealing your momentum. A VA can handle the friction points—like sending newsletters or booking meetings—so you stay in your zone of genius.[00:34:50] You need someone who complements you. The perfect VA isn't a clone of you. They're someone who loves what you loathe and thrives where you stall. That's the magic of a powerful partnership.Melissa's books:Hire the Right Virtual AssistantBecome a Successful Virtual Assistant FREE COMPLIMENTARY WORKBOOK: https://thepva.com/complimentary-workbook/Connect with Melissa:Website: https://thepva.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissasmiththepva/Email: melissa@thepva.comAlso mentioned in this episode:Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for MortalsUnique Ability® 2.0: Discovery - Define Your Best Self The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth About Extraordinary Results Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't  Listen today at vibrantculture.com/podcast or your favorite podcast platform!Please leave us a 5-star review and drop a love note for Melissa in the comments! Learn more about Nicole Greer, the Vibrant Coach: https://www.vibrantculture.com/

"If you're excellent at what you do, you've got to be paid like you're excellent." – Casey Brown  Ever wondered if you're truly getting paid what you're worth? In this unmissable episode of Scaling UP! H2O, we bring back Casey Brown, speaker, founder of Boost Pricing and author of the newly released Fearless Pricing. Known for her electrifying talks and actionable insights, Casey dives deep into how businesses can build confidence, charge their true value, and break free from the fear of pricing discussions.  From her journey as an engineer to becoming a pricing powerhouse, Casey's passion for helping businesses thrive shines through. Whether you're in sales, management, or leadership, this episode will leave you inspired and ready to tackle your next negotiation.   Highlights include:  The Psychology of Pricing: Why fear dominates most pricing conversations—and how to overcome it. Pricing Integrity: Learn how setting and sticking to fair, defensible prices can boost trust and long-term success. Handling Objections with Confidence: Proven strategies to turn pricing objections into opportunities. The "Hot Sauce" Analogy: Discover how to identify overlooked products or services that can deliver high profits with minimal pricing sensitivity. Unexercised Pricing Power: How to unlock hidden revenue by testing and refining your pricing strategy. Role-Playing for Success: How procedural memory and consistent practice can transform your sales team's confidence and results.  Bottom Line  This episode is your ultimate guide to fearless pricing, equipping you with the tools and mindset to boost profitability and set yourself apart from the competition. Don't miss the chance to learn from Casey's expertise and take your business to the next level!  Click play, take notes, and start commanding the value your business deserves. Don't let fear control your profits—listen now to gain the confidence and strategies you need to succeed. Stay engaged, keep learning, and continue scaling up your knowledge!    Timestamps    1:44 - Trace asks intriguing questions about the price of everyday items like gas and hot sauce to set the stage for a deeper discussion on pricing   02:23 - Events for Water Professionals   04:20 - Water You Know with James McDonald   05:35 - Interview with Casey Brown, speaker, founder of Boost Pricing, and the author of the newly released book ‘Fearless Pricing'   13:05 - How small discounts can devastate your bottom line  32:23 - Why debriefing every deal is critical for refining your pricing strategy  33:41 - The “Hot Sauce Analogy”  45:00 – Final Thoughts and Takeaways    Quotes  “We can't know, unless we try. The world is your Petri dish. “- Casey Brown  “The how is training and coaching and concepts; the why is rotted in the mission to help people who are excellent be paid like they're excellent.” - Casey Brown  “We can't fix pricing or profitability through calculation. We must address the biggest obstacle to success, which is FEAR.” - Casey Brown  “Pricing is generally the area of greatest fear and greatest discomfort.” - Casey Brown  “In absence of financial pricing integrity, unearned discounts hurt trust.” - Casey Brown  “The way to get comfortable doing something uncomfortable is to practice it.” - Casey Brown  "Every business has hot sauce and gasoline—products where pricing sensitivity varies drastically. Identify yours." – Casey Brown    Connect with Casey Brown  Phone: 614-679-7999  Email: casey@boostpricing.com   Website: www.Caseybrown.com    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caseybrownboost/   Subscribe to Casey Brown's Newsletter: https://www.boostpricing.com/signup    Click HERE to Download Episode's Discussion Guide   Guest Resources Mentioned   Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't by Jim Collins  They Ask You Answer by Marcus Sheridan  Outlive by Peter Attia  Essentialism by Greg McKeown  The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel  Fearless Pricing by Casey Brown    Scaling UP! H2O Resources Mentioned  AWT (Association of Water Technologies)  Scaling UP! H2O Academy video courses  Submit a Show Idea  The Rising Tide Mastermind  363 Pricing Boost: Get Paid Well For Your Excellence with Casey Brown  The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey    Water You Know with James McDonald  Question: What is the conversion between parts-per-million and milligrams per Liter?   2025 Events for Water Professionals  Check out our Scaling UP! H2O Events Calendar where we've listed every event Water Treaters should be aware of by clicking HERE.

At 29 years old, Brandon Dawson was on top of the world. He had taken his company public, stood on the American Stock Exchange floor, and rang the bell. He felt unstoppable until his private equity investors sold his company against his will. Most people would have quit, but Brandon learned from this setback, cracked the code to scaling, and went on to build and sell his next company for $151 million. Today, he helps business owners do the same through Cardone Ventures, a $500 million business he co-founded. In this episode, Brandon joins Ilana to share insights on scaling a business against all odds, why 97% of businesses fail, and how to be in the top 3%. Brandon Dawson is an entrepreneur, scaling expert, and co-founder of Cardone Ventures. With over 30 years of experience, he helps businesses scale using data-driven strategies, navigate breakpoints, and avoid common pitfalls. In this episode, Ilana and Brandon will discuss: (00:00) Introduction  (01:47) From College Dropout to Top Sales Performer (03:45) Selling Everything to Start a Business (05:48) Getting Kicked Out of His Own Company (09:08) Surviving the Early Years of Entrepreneurship  (12:31) Turning Leadership Failures into Billion-Dollar Lessons (16:08) The $151 Million Exit That Made Employees Millions (21:57) Scaling a Family Business Without the Chaos (25:22) Staying Unstoppable in the Face of Hate (32:12) Why Most Entrepreneurs Fail and How to Avoid It (39:41) Making Data-Driven Decisions in Business Brandon Dawson is an entrepreneur, scaling expert, and co-founder of Cardone Ventures. As CEO of Sonus Corporation, he grew it to over 1,400 locations and raised $58 million before investors took control and sold the company against his wishes. He later founded Audigy Group, scaling it from $500,000 to $35 million before selling it for $151 million. With over 30 years of experience, Brandon helps businesses scale using data-driven strategies, navigate breakpoints, and avoid common pitfalls. Connect with Brandon: Brandon's Website: https://bdawson.com Brandon's LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/brandonmdawson  Resources Mentioned: Brandon's Book, Nine-Figure Mindset: How to Go from Zero to Over $100 Million in Net Worth: https://www.amazon.com/Nine-Figure-Mindset-Zero-Million-Worth/dp/B0C8G8CTQC  The 5 Levels of Leadership: Proven Steps to Maximize Your Potential by John C. Maxwell: https://www.amazon.com/Levels-Leadership-Proven-Maximize-Potential/dp/1599953633  The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You by John C. Maxwell: https://www.amazon.com/21-Irrefutable-Laws-Leadership-Anniversary/dp/0785288376  Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't by Jim Collins: https://www.amazon.com/Good-Great-Some-Companies-Others/dp/0066620996  Great by Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck--Why Some Thrive Despite Them All by Jim Collins, Morten T. Hansen: http://amazon.com/Great-Choice-Uncertainty-Luck-Why-Despite/dp/0062120999  Leap Academy: Ready to make the LEAP in your career? There is a NEW way for professionals to Advance Their Careers & Make 5-6 figures of EXTRA INCOME in Record Time. Check out our free training today at leapacademy.com/training

Ralph and Lauren aren't just chatting about the weather; they're dissecting the art of achieving massive success by thinking bigger and setting ambitious goals, all based on the wisdom of "10X Is Easier Than 2X." They're dishing out their own experiences and providing examples to prove that aiming high, playing to your strengths, and assembling a dream team can lead to mind-blowing results. Get ready to ditch those tiny, yawn-inducing goals and embrace exponential growth in 2025 – Ralph and Lauren's pep talk will leave you feeling inspired and ready to conquer the world!Chapters:00:00:00 - Foggy Views, Frozen Pipes, and Podcast Vibes00:00:40 - When Life Gives You Challenges, Make Content00:01:41 - Delegation: That Thing We Love to Hate00:04:23 - 10X Thinking: Because 2X is Boring00:06:12 - Zodiac Signs, Salesforce, and Big Ideas00:11:07 - Eckhart Tolle, Present Moments, and Toilet Epiphanies00:16:39 - Turning Dreams Into Actionable Strategies00:23:15 - Falling Forward: Embracing Intelligent Failure00:28:37 - Jimmy Donaldson's Genius and Your Next Move00:32:04 - Big Goals, Bigger Futures—The Wrap-UpLINKS AND RESOURCES:10x Is Easier Than 2x: How World-Class Entrepreneurs Achieve More by Doing LessDan Sullivan(YouTube)Is Delegation Your Kryptonite? Conquer the 4 Levels and Free Up Your Time | Perpetual Traffic EP 591(Website)Episode 591: Is Delegation Your Kryptonite? Conquer the 4 Levels and Free Up Your TimeChris Mercer on LinkedInHow MrBeast Grew His ChannelGood to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't (Good to Great, 1)Tier 11 JobsPerpetual Traffic on YouTubeTiereleven.comMongoose MediaPerpetual Traffic SurveyPerpetual Traffic WebsiteFollow Perpetual Traffic on TwitterConnect with Lauren on Instagram and Connect with Ralph on LinkedInThanks so much for joining us this week. Want to subscribe to Perpetual Traffic? Have some feedback you'd like to share? Connect with us on

Capitec Live Better Rewards is 3.5 years old in a banking environment which is only 24 years old. However, age is meaningless as Capitec holds a 60% market share in South Africa's retail banking industry, with 24 million clients. 22m of these clients are part of its rewards programme, called Live Better. It has already been re-launched, which epitomises Capitec's disruptive mindset to create customer centricity throughout all it does.Kelly Goldsworthy is Head of Live Better Rewards with an engineering background and a laser focus on continuous improvement for the Live Better programme and its members. Kelly shares the journey to date and the fascinating statistics of its current engagement activities by different channels, encouraging all of us to re-think the norm and disrupt for the ultimate end game of greater customer centricity.Show Notes:- 1) Capitec Live Better Rewards2) Kelly Goldsworthy3) Live Better Rewards4) Blue Ocean Strategy (Book)5) Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't (Book)Let's Talk Loyalty Webinar DetailsIf you'd like to register for our webinar on January 22nd 2025 to learn how to leverage world-class games to drive daily engagement and bottom-line revenue, simply sign up here:https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/6417364267736/WN_aHWt5hkbR6uPWc2SfzD6xgEven if you can't join live, we'll share the recording with you.

Laura Lynn Morrissey is the Founder of SilverSavvy, a platform dedicated to supporting adults over 60 with curated products, services, and a vibrant online community. With a background in healthcare and financial services, she blends strategic insight with a passion for client-centric solutions. Laura Lynn previously founded Harmony Healthcare, transforming it into a leading home healthcare provider and driving significant growth even during challenging times. At Fidelity Investments, she held senior roles, leading client relationship management and driving substantial revenue growth. Her consulting firm, ClientCarma, has guided startups and Fortune 100 companies through strategic transformations. Through SilverSavvy, Laura Lynn aims to redefine how people approach aging—celebrating individuality, independence, and the power of technology to enhance lives. Laura Lynn's links: Website: http://www.silversavvy.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/silversavvyagewell/ Facebook: facebook.com/silversavvyagewell LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/lauralynnmorrissey Book Recs: https://amzn.to/4hCfyGo Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't Blue Ocean Strategy, Expanded Edition: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant https://amzn.to/3UDn7Tl It's Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy https://amzn.to/3NWnPqY The Impatient Entrepreneur's links: Facebook https://www.facebook.com/TheImpatientEntrepreneurPod LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/theimpatiententrepreneurpod/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/theimpatiententrepreneurpod/ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@TheImpatientEntrepreneurPod Online www.theimpatiententreprenerpod.com Connect with us https://www.theimpatiententrepreneurpod.com/contact Kwedar & Co.'s links: Facebook https://www.facebook.com/kwedarco LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/kwedarco Instagram https://www.instagram.com/kwedarco YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@KwedarCo Online www.kwedarco.com Connect with us: https://www.kwedarco.com/book-consultation

In the startups I worked at, we never had spare laptops.  When we hired someone, we'd order their laptop that day. That's Startup Cashflow 101: don't spend money until you have to. The same principle applies to your leadership team. Hiring a CMO before product-market fit? Too soon.  And a CEO can handle COO duties for a while. Most seed-stage companies don't need a full-time CFO either.  A good controller can handle day-to-day finances, while a fractional CFO can plan future fundraising and create investor-friendly forecasts — all without reducing your runway. To understand why a fractional CFO might be the smarter move, I spoke to Dan DeGolier, founder of Ascent CFO Solutions. Runtime 27:21 Episode Breakdown (1:44) Dan explains Ascent CFO Solution's origin story. (4:53) Why so many founders hire full-time CFOs before they actually need to. (6:33) A list of specific value-adds a fractional CFO can provide. (7:29) “We might be two days a week or three days a week. But we are very much a part of that team.” (8:57) Inside Dan's client onboarding process. (12:44) “Part of it is getting a handle on cash flow and spend.” (15:24) “Understanding what the risk factors are to your runway is really critical.” (18:39) Which stats and KPIs are most important to share with the entire company? (20:51) If you want cash flow to break even, “be capital efficient to begin with.” (23:31) Clients “often supplement a VC round with a venture debt round so they can extend that runway a little bit further.” (25:09) How to interview a CFO if you don't have an entrepreneurial background. (26:08) Resources Dan recommends for founders seeking financial discipline. Links Dan DeGolier Ascent CFO Solutions Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't, Jim Collins Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant, W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business, Gino Wickman EOS One® Subscribe

We often celebrate fast exits and quick wins, but Gabe Galvez flipped the script. In our chat, he shared why lasting value—not speed—is the ultimate entrepreneurial goal. His focus on capital preservation over chasing trends resonated deeply, reminding me that the best businesses aren't built overnight but for the ages.About Gabe GalvezGabe Galvez is an entrepreneur and private equity expert who focuses on building lasting businesses. He founded Captarget and Merger Labs, which help companies thrive in the M&A space, and is a partner at Verde Holdings, a multifamily office.Gabe advocates for creating long-term value over quick wins. He believes that you can achieve sustainable success by combining smart strategies with a focus on people and purpose. With years of experience in scaling businesses and managing investments, Gabe brings practical insights for entrepreneurs looking to build a lasting impact.Key Insights:Stop trading time for money. Focus on building assets, systems, or businesses that generate long-term value, rather than relying solely on hourly or transactional income.Only chase opportunities that create real value. Avoid falling victim to “FOMO.” Instead, focus on preserving your resources and reinvesting in areas that align with your long-term goals.Let your team own their work. Nurture a workplace culture where employees are trusted to take ownership of their work, make mistakes, and learn from them—leading to innovation and growth.Have a framework for decisions. Create a decision-making process that prioritizes expertise, aligns with your vision, and focuses on long-term impact. This keeps you on track and avoids distractions.Define success on your terms. Success isn't just about meeting short-term revenue goals—it's about creating something sustainable, meaningful, and aligned with your broader vision. By focusing on the long-term, you can create a foundation that supports growth, resilience, and purpose, ensuring your business thrives well into the future.  Gabe's best advice for entrepreneurs:Move beyond the need to deploy capital and into a conversation about how do you make sure this capital or some appreciated version of this capital exists a hundred years from now.Let's work togetherAs an entrepreneur, I know the challenge of balancing immediate goals with long-term growth. That's why I'm passionate about helping entrepreneurs like you build businesses that last. Let's work together to implement strategies that align with Gabe's approach. Schedule a 15-minute chat today.Resources mentioned:Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don'tConnect with Gabe Galvez:LinkedInCAPTARGETMerger LabsFollow Beyond 8 Figures:LinkedInXWebsite

Host Rob Reed welcomes some serious local retail powerhouses to the Clicks to Bricks podcast today: Alex Nocifera and Brian Monahan. Alex, a serial entrepreneur Rob has known for over a decade, returns to the show. Following a successful exit in local marketing and founding Field Day, which was featured in episode 29, he's now focused on his latest venture, LOMA, which he co-founded with Brett Campbell, another former guest from episode 30. Joining him is Brian Monahan, Global Client President and Head of Retail Media Solutions at the agency powerhouse Dentsu. Together, they discuss the shift toward local store marketing, exploring how local activations and media drive foot traffic, boost frequency, and connect businesses with the communities they serve. This is a great episode in a new format we are exploring, so be sure not to miss out. Thanks for listening!Key Points From This Episode:Where guests are joining us from today.A fun fact about Brian Monahan that most people might not know.What Alex has been up to since Field Day and more about LOMA.How Brian ended up at Dentsu and what they do there.Alex speaks to where the pain is that's preventing franchise brands from unlocking the potential of local.Brian shares his thoughts on the idea of mistaking activity for impact; what is the unlock?Alex shares why they're still working with paper mail and how influence can come in many different ways.The franchise profile: dealing with the franchisee and the possible disconnect.We discuss the idea that retailers are becoming media networks.Brian's take on Walmart's store-level support through socials and why more retailers haven't followed it.LOMA being built to work for big companies: centralizing the workstream. Alex unpacks three core constituents in retail.Going back to the good old-fashioned match market test.Thoughts on trends and big shifts expected for 2025.Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:Alex Nocifera on LinkedInLOMABrian Monahan on LinkedInDentsuEp 29: Alex Nocifera is the Founder and CEO of Field Day, the Local Marketing Activation PlatformField DayEp 30: Brett Campbell is Vice President of Field Marketing for Tropical Smoothie Cafe, and this episode is a deep dive into LSM: local store marketingGood to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...and Others Don't: 1Clicks 2 Bricks Marketing Leaders Coffee Chat

Kurtis Indorf is the CEO of The Classical Academies, a local charter school network serving more than 5,000 students in North County . Kurtis joined The Classical Academies in August 2024 after the retirement of founder and long-time CEO Cameron Curry. Join Rachel for a conversation with Kurtis and learn more about The Classical Academies approach to education, partnering with parents and students for success. Show Notes The Classical Academies Great Hearts Texas Great Hearts America Book: The Abolition of Man: Lewis, C. S.: Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't The Name of the Wind:Rothfuss, Patrick: Song: And So It Goes, Billy Joel Business: Cat Brock, Realtor

Bob Carrothers has 29 years of experience, he facilitates peer-to-peer boards of CEOs and executives, creating environments conducive to skill enhancement, informed decision-making and superior results. Bob is certified as an Emergenetics advisor and Predictive Index practitioner, equipping him with a profound understanding of human behaviour and cognition.    Questions · So, we always like to ask our guests, in your own words, could you share a little bit about your journey? How you got from where you were to where you are today? · What would you say maybe if you could pick three overarching tenets or competencies that you believe CEOs need to practice or embrace in order to really achieve the three areas that just mentioned. · What are some of the key things that make an organization successful? · Now, Bob, can you also share with our audience, what's the one online resource, tool, website or application that you absolutely cannot live without in your business? · Now, can you also share with our listeners maybe one or two books that you have read, it could be a book that you read a very long time ago, or even one that you've read recently, but it had a great impact on you, whether it be personally or professionally. · Bob, can you share with our audience what's the one thing that's going on in your life right now that you are really excited about, either something you're working on to develop yourself or your people. · Where can listeners find you online? · Now, before we wrap our episodes up, Bob, we always like to ask our guests, do you have a quote or saying that during times of adversity or challenge, you'll tend to revert to this quote if for any reason you get derailed or you get off track, the quote kind of helps to get you back on track. Do you have one of those?   Highlights Bob's Journey Me: So, we always like to ask our guests, in your own words, could you share a little bit about your journey? How you got from where you were to where you are today?   Bob shared that it's been a very interesting journey. He started out as an entrepreneur; he had companies involved in the meat trading business. So, they bought and sold animal parts, lungs, livers, kidneys, everything that was most people would consider waste from an animal, and then they would resell them to people we knew wanted them, mostly to pet food companies, that's where the tonnage went. And then others to went to Mexico. Others went into sausage making, Chorizo making on the West Coast. They just find a buyer and go do it. And they'd go into a packing house and buy their entire production of lungs or livers or whatever, and then resell it into the pet food canning business. So, it's been an interesting ride.  In 1996 he got out of that business. He sold it to his management team, and they took it over, and they're still running it. And then after that, he started another company that failed miserably. He lost a ton of money. He was crushed, and it was hard and then he looked around, and he'd been a Vistage member, and he loved it. And he knew that with all the ups and downs he's had in his life, he could help people from making mistakes and doing what he did and living that life. So, he reached out to his past business chair, and he hired him, and that was in 1996, so he's been doing this ever since, September of 1996, so it's been quite a ride.   Overarching Tenets or Competencies CEO's Need to Embrace to Unlock Their Potential, Enhance Performance and Achieve Their Goals Me: Now, you focus on empowering CEOs to unlock their full potential, enhance their performance and achieve their goals. Based on your many years of experience, Bob in this space, working, I'm sure with CEOs and entrepreneurs across different industries, what would you say maybe if you could pick three overarching tenets or competencies that you believe CEOs need to practice or embrace in order to really achieve the three areas that I just mentioned.   Bob shared that he thinks they need to establish a great culture in their company and mind it. Nurture it and protect it, because culture trumps everything, nothing else matters. Your people won't be happy, you won't keep people, you will make your customers angry, your suppliers angry, and you'll do a really bad job because your employees won't care. And so, that's the first thing he would say, is build a strong culture.  The second thing is to hire correctly, be slow to hire and fast to make them available to industry. So, that's really important. If the employee can't do the job they were hired to do, they need to move on and then hire the right people. Put a lot of effort in your hiring process. And the other one would be, watch the money. You've got to keep track of your cash flow, you got to predict what the cash is going to be down the road. Bigger companies have CFOs to do that, and then they'll report to the CEO. Smaller ones, often the CEO will do it themselves. But you have to do it, because if you run out of cash, you're out of business. It's just really simple, if you can't make payroll, then you're gone.   Key Things for an Organization Success Me: So, Bob, in working with these different organizations, right? We're trying to establish what are some of the key things that make an organization successful? And so, the customer experience is critical in all businesses regardless of whether or not you have a face-to-face type of interaction or you're just digital and people are communicating with you solely through the internet. But leadership is very important for a business, whether you're a solopreneur or you're a fortune 500 company, regardless of the size, it's driven by the leader in the organization. As it relates to customer experience, if you were to maybe give us an example of a use case, a good use case, example that you've observed over the years in working with these CEOs, what do you think are some of the key things that make them be able to have a successful customer experience, one in which their customers are their brand advocates, their evangelists, their word of mouth advertisers. If that company decided not to advertise for the next two, three years, they would still be doing great business because their customers view them as fans. What would you say are key things in that?   Bob shared that there's one company that comes to mind, and that CEO was brilliant, and the culture in the company was extremely strong. He would walk around his plant every day, and he knew everybody's name and met family members, and he'd walk up to him and just say, “Hey, Charlie, how you doing? How's the family? How's your wife? I heard your son Robbie is sick.” He would do that, and the employees felt that they were cared for.  He never stopped setting goals, he never stopped doing things that would make the work fun. He was trying to reduce shrinkage one day, and it kept bugging him, it was going on for months, and he decided he'd just do a little contest, and he went out and bought an old junker car and a whole bunch of sledgehammers, and every day the group, the employees reduced the amount of shrinkage, they could go out and beat up on the car. And it was just amazing how much fun they were having and how just beating a car, they hit their goal for sure, and it cost the CEO, like, what $500 to do that.  He had other contests like dunk the CFO, where he had one of those dunking tubs. Certain goals were reached, that was out in the parking lot. He saw him with his customers. One of their Vistage speakers impacted him so much that he invited his customers from around the country to come to his plant, see the plant, and hear this speaker present, and because it made such an impact on him, he wanted his customers to be better too, so he thought this speaker could really help him.  What else did he do? Whenever he'd walk up to somebody and they promised to do something for him, he recorded it on his phone, so he'd pull it out and before he saw them, pull up their name and say, “Hey, how are you coming on that project we talked about?” And the accountability went through the roof. Just little things like that, simple things. But he had one goal, that if the company reached so much in revenue sales, he knew that if it did, they'd make extra money, if it was over and above the regular goal, it was big….hairy….audacious goal, and he said, “If you guys hit this, I will take the entire company to Las Vegas.” Because he knew if they increased the revenue that much, the profits would go up enough to pay for the trip and then some. And he was legendary with his employees. Just things like that that are special.   Me: I think one of the things I took away from what you said just now that it's not the big things, it's like always the little things, the minor details, and they go very far away with another human being, because it shows them that you value them, you appreciate them, and they're just not there to milk, to get more money, money, money. But you value them as a person, and you recognize the fact that your success is just as important as their success.   Bob agreed, that's exactly right. That's what it takes to build a great company, is the culture you create. You want people waiting in line to go to work for you.   Me: I know right, that's awesome.   App, Website or Tool that Bob Absolutely Can't Live Without in His Business When asked about an online resource that he cannot live without, Bob shared that he hates it, but he can't live without it, it's called email. Buries him, but it's the communication is so fast, and we can send documents back and forth, and he doesn't think anybody could live without email now. We all curse it, but it's there.    Me: Agreed, because in the absence of email, we have to go back to posting a letter to your customer or to your friend or family member, and we all know the Postal Service takes forever for you to get that response. So, yeah, email is amazing.   Bob shared that he remembers those days and they'd send off a contract and wait and wait and wait to get it back, just because of the mail, or an invoice. It just was crazy. And then came fax machines, and they were huge. He bought one once and his accountant, and said, “Why do you want that thing? Nobody else has them.” And he said they will, even though they will. And that became huge, and then email took over for that.   Books that Have Had the Biggest Impact on Bob When asked about books that have had a great impact, Bob shared that Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…And Others Don't was a book that had an effect on him. Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant is another one. Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends and Influence People.   Me: I'm actually looking at the book right now. It's sitting right in front of me.   Bob shared that that's one of the major ones. And another one he wrote was How to Stop Worrying and Start Living. So, there's several.    What Bob is Really Excited About Now! When asked about something that he's really excited about, Bob shared that he's always excited about cheering, he sees so much, and he loves what he does. As far as he's not in any training right now, but Vistage offers trainings all the time, and he also does stuff outside of Vistage. But right now, he's getting ready to go on a holiday in a sprinter van, it's an RV, and that's kind of got his attention. Plus, he's got two Vistage meetings next week.   Me: So, those are your things that you're working on that you're really excited about. Fantastic.   Where can listeners find Bob online? LinkedIn - Bob Carrothers Website – www.vistage.com   Quote or Saying that During Times of Adversity Bob Uses When asked about quotes that he tends to revert to, Bob shared he does, he's a big fan of Albert Einstein, and he had a quote that was, “The same level of thinking that caused a problem is not going to fix the problem.” That's not exact, but that's what it means. And that's so true. Another one is, “Everybody's a genius. But if you want to teach a fish to fly, they're going to fail and feel they're a loser from then on.” And some people just can't get it. And sometimes when things go wrong, you got to look at the people involved, or the thinking involved and reapproach it with a different level.   Me: Okay, so that second quote is more to say, maybe you need to take a few steps backward just to move forward, just to reevaluate and do it again.   Bob agreed. Reevaluate if it's an employee and they just can't get it. Maybe they're just not set up for it, and it's better to find another position for them, or another area of responsibility, or perhaps they're just not right for your company, like you got to have the right people on the bus as Jim Collins say.    Me: True. If you have the wrong people on the bus, it makes the journey that much harder.   Bob agreed, they got to be in the right seats.   Me: Well, thank you so much Bob for jumping on our podcast today and sharing all of these awesome insights as it relates to Vistage and your journey and just what are some of the key things that makes a leader successful and makes an organization successful as they navigate their customer experience through the journey of their customers lifetime. So, I think your conversation today was extremely insightful, and I just wanted to extend our deepest gratitude to you for taking time to share with us today.   Bob shared that he's really enjoyed this. Yanique ask great questions and make him think so, thank you.   Please connect with us on Twitter @navigatingcx and also join our Private Facebook Community – Navigating the Customer Experience and listen to our FB Lives weekly with a new guest  Links • Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…And Others Don't by Jim Collins • Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant by W. Chan Kim •    How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie •    How to Stop Worrying and Start Living by Dale Carnegie   The ABC's of a Fantastic Customer Experience Grab the Freebie on Our Website – TOP 10 Online Business Resources for Small Business Owners  Do you want to pivot your online customer experience and build loyalty - get a copy of “The ABC's of a Fantastic Customer Experience.” The ABC's of a Fantastic Customer Experience provides 26 easy to follow steps and techniques that helps your business to achieve success and build brand loyalty. This Guide to Limitless, Happy and Loyal Customers will help you to strengthen your service delivery, enhance your knowledge and appreciation of the customer experience and provide tips and practical strategies that you can start implementing immediately! This book will develop your customer service skills and sharpen your attention to detail when serving others. Master your customer experience and develop those knock your socks off techniques that will lead to lifetime customers. Your customers will only want to work with your business and it will be your brand differentiator. It will lead to recruiters to seek you out by providing practical examples on how to deliver a winning customer service experience!

Esta semana Karla y René platican sobre Notion, Bimbo, nearshoring, Neoris. Y, para el deep dive hablan sobre el founder mode, en que consiste y cómo aplica para México.notas del episodio1:10 - Notion2:50 - Bimbo6:35 - nearshoring9:40 - Neoris15:25 - DEEP DIVErecomendcionesThe Founder's DilemmaGood to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don'tAmerica Must Free Itself from the Tyranny of the PennyRegístrate en Whitepaper LivePrueba Whitepaper 30 días gratis http://whitepaper.com.mx/30day

Today's guest has interviewed over 1,000 top CEOs, unveiling timeless leadership principles and transforming them into actionable insights. As the Founder and CEO of The CEO Forum Group, he's not just a host but a visionary who pioneered the term "The Transformative CEO." His nationally syndicated radio show, The CEO Show, reaches over 600,000 listeners weekly across 62 stations, earning its place as the #1 podcast for CEOs in America. He's a Forbes, Fortune, and CNBC writer, with over 350 articles dedicated to transformative CEOs, women leadership, customer experience, culture, and digital transformation. Co-author of "The Transformative CEO," which inspired a documentary series, his work has been featured on Squawk Box and acknowledged by Harvard Business Review for his expertise in executive communications. I have the pleasure of producing The Transformative CEO virtual summits four times a year and have enjoyed sharing his events with my network. I love his philosophy that everyone should have access to success. Please join me in welcoming Robert Reiss.  Join us as we delve into Robert Reiss's remarkable journey from overcoming dyslexia to founding the CEO Forum Group, and explore his unique insights on leadership, diversity, and the power of authentic connections. In this episode, we discuss:

Neil Leyland is a Chief Contact Center Strategist at InterVision, and he is an exceptional PMP and six Sigma black belt certified senior-level program leader and a proven problem-solver. A highly motivated achiever with a career history in sales and operations management for international multi-unit retail operations.  Possessing excellent interpersonal, presentation, written and verbal communication skills, which are used to solve problems, consult on technology projects and develop long-term collaborative relationships.  Questions · Could you share with our listeners a little bit about your journey, how you got from where you were to where you are today. · Could you tell our listeners a little bit about InterVision, what they do and what your role at InterVision is? · When you say holistic approach using AI and machine learning, can you explain to us what that means? Is it that robots are going to replace human beings? Or are you looking more from a support side, just tell us how it is that you actually see it working? · Could you share with our listeners, what's the one online resource, tool, website or application that you absolutely can't live without in your business? · Could you also share with our listeners maybe one or two books that you've read that have had a great impact on you, it could be a book that you read a very long time ago, or even one that you've read recently that has impacted you either professionally or personally. · Can you also share with our listeners what's the one thing that's going on in your life right now that you are really excited about, either something you're working on to develop yourself or your people. · Where can listeners find you online? · Now, before we wrap our episodes up, Neil, we always like to ask our guests, do you have a quote or a saying that during times of adversity or challenge, you will tend to revert to this quote if for any reason you get derailed or you get off track, the quote kind of helps to get you back on track. Do you have one of those? Highlights Neil's Journey Me: Neil, could you share with our listeners a little bit about your journey, how you got from where you were to where you are today.   Neil stated that you can probably tell, he's not from the US, although he's based there now. Finishing up from university, he went straight into working for enterprise, Rent a Car, did probably 20 or so years with them. Worked from the main counter at a rental office all the way through to leading an area. Then he moved countries during that time and started working more on the technology side and being far more strategic as opposed to tactical.   Then settled in St. Louis, got married, had kids, and then moved through several different companies, picking up good and bad practices along the way, and he's ended up at just coming up to 12 months now with InterVision.   About InterVision Me: Now, could you tell our listeners a little bit about InterVision, what they do and what your role at InterVision is?   Neil shared InterVision is an AWS premier tier partner. They specialize in transforming contact centers to their flagship product, Connective CX, powered by Amazon Connect. They also integrate AI to deliver seamless omnichannel engagements. They address common pain points for call centers, like reducing call volume and the costs associated, they do this through improve engaging efficiency and also enhance customer satisfaction. They can be found at www.intervision.com.  His role within InterVision, he would say is a Contact Center Evangelist. So, he works with clients and look at problems that they face, and then help them find what is either the best operational or technological solution to best satisfy customers' needs or solve problems that the companies have been satisfying those needs, so tying together his history working in retail, as well as time and technology, and sort of blending the two, to give what people consider to be a best in class solution for them.   Understanding the Approach in AI and Machine Learning in the Contact Centre Me: So, you are in the contact center space, and your strategy is to ensure that you have a holistic approach using AI and machine learning, two very popular words that are being used very frequently in the CX space. When you say holistic approach using AI and machine learning, can you explain to us what that means? Is it that robots are going to replace human beings? Or are you looking more from a support side, just tell us how it is that you actually see it working?   Neil stated that he thinks it's actually good to approach it from a journey perspective, if you will. So, if you think about somebody that has a transaction, whether that be online or in person, and then they need some level of support. So, they come through to a contact center, and at that point, contact centers have really embraced AI and machine learning to help customers come through and get a better level of experience. So, whether that be at the starting point when they answer the phone, you can have chatbots either on the website or on the IVR that are able to answer and interact with customers and provide them with quick hit answers and potentially resolve problems for them quickly and efficiently. Now that's one use of AI.  People say, well, is that going to replace people?  He doesn't think it does, because it solves the simple problems AI and ML doesn't have the ability to solve.  So, when people do get to an agent or somebody on the phone, or whether a chat or send an email and get a reply, the agents are able to spend that little bit more time to solve a problem, so it elevates the customer experience even though it's not necessarily AI based.  When you think about that side though, you get AI does weave its way in there and provide agents with the ability to serve customers or call us better. So, you get crazy things like, there are AI tools out there now that will listen to the conversation, will understand the context of it, understand the ask and serve up knowledge or information to the agent real time, so they can better solve the problem.  So, it will literally know this customer sounds like they have a question about x, here's the most common answers to x, is this the right thing to say and serve that up to the agent. So, the agents might not have any real experience of the problem, but they've got a proven history of other people being able to solve that question, or a very similar question, quickly and efficiently, and they can copy it. And then that really helps agents appear to be more efficient, more friendly, and for everybody that's listening, and everyone's been put on hold. No one likes to be put on hold, or “I don't know the answer to that, let me transfer you”, that can go away, which is really, really profound and gives a perception of quality well and above the norm.  And then the other side of it that's kind of cool, is you can have sentiment monitoring. So, if somebody's listening to this call, the AI or ML in the background will be monitoring it, and they can flag calls to supervisors or to other people to say, “Hey, Neil's really happy with this call. Neil's unhappy with this call. We might need some help. Somebody may need to join this call because Neil's struggling with it.”  So, it basically not only gives the ability to empower people and have them answer questions well, but it gives them monitoring so that people can actually get involved and engaged and help customers that have got problems and prevent issues, if that makes sense.   Me: Yes, it absolutely does. I attended a conference, I think it was the first and second of May, hosted by a company called CX Outsourcers Mindshare. They brought together, I believe, close to 80 persons from all over the world, from all different continents, that were in the contact center space. And my role at the event was, I sat on a podcast panel with a podcaster from Brazil and one from South Africa talking about the influence of podcasting on customer experience and the impact that it will have in the contact center space.  One of the things that I found fascinating at the conference, and this was predominantly I believe in, I know in the Caribbean for sure, and definitely in Africa, and you can let me know what your feedback is based on your exposure and experience that hiring, in terms of recruitment was a big issue that they were facing in the contact centers and trying to integrate AI and more importantly, as it relates to recruitment, ensuring that as they go forward and AI is more integrated into the whole process of solving customers problems, having AI do the more simplistic activities and tasks, and then having the agents do more complex tasks. Is that a trend that you've seen happening? Or is there anything else that you'd like to add to that conversation?    Neil shared that it definitely is. It's causing an upskilling, or an appearance of upskilling of people that answer the phone or answer the chats. Because when he started in the contact center space, companies would train an agent for 4, 6, 8 weeks, maybe even more to make sure that they have the skill set and the knowledge to be able to answer not just 80%. Neil shared that Yanique is absolutely correct that AI and machine learning is having a profound impact on the agents and upskilling, because the ability for machines to take away the simpler tasks means that agents can do things that are more interesting and rewarding for one. So, that makes the job more fun, that's an important component.   The other side is, years ago, as companies brought people on board, they'd spend weeks and weeks training them, and nowadays that's just not necessary, because most companies have invested, or are looking to invest in a single pain so all of the information is shared to them, and when that's augmented by machine learning to provide sensible text or answers or knowledge that's appropriate, agents appear to be more knowledgeable with less training, faster and that gives a great different for companies that are embracing it. It's a great differentiate. It really helps the agents feel valued, enjoy the job, and therefore more likely to be retained and that skill level is retained.  So, generally, companies that companies that retain the skill gets better over time, and it also the other piece is, he thinks it helps companies attract people, because the job is more fun and more rewarding. So, the benefits not only in the people that work there, it's about getting the better talent in the front door as well.   App, Website or Tool that Neil Absolutely Can't Live Without in His Business When asked about online resources that he can't live without in his business, Neil shared that for him personally, and this is going to sound a little bit old school, he absolutely loves using YouTube, and he will go visit YouTube looking for how to build a presentation, looking for information, ways to do things, learnings, classes, he finds a great value with day to day, he's looking at YouTube and watching videos on lots and lots of topics continually, because he thinks it's a quick and easy way to learn how to do something new or refine what he's doing based on somebody else's best practices, whether that be consultants that have classes on how to do PowerPoint presentations, or even people that do public speaking regularly and share tips and trades on how they do it. So, he uses YouTube a lot, and slowly but surely, he thinks that's starting to be replaced a little bit by TikTok, because he likes 60 second bites as opposed to 20-minute videos.   Books that Have Had the Biggest Impact on Neil  When asked about books that have had an impact, Neil shared that books that he really enjoyed and got a lot out of is a book called Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…And Others Don't by Jim Collins, it's an older book now, but it's been around for a good few years that definitely influenced his working life, because the ideology is all in the title. So, how can you be better, and how can you differentiate yourself or the company you work for, and make a difference, and then elevate to go from being a good company to a great company or a good employee to a great employee. So, that's one of the books that definitely influenced his career. And he really enjoyed the fact that it had case studies in there that you were able to look at, read and understand, and then it gives you that a little bit more of a practical application when there's case studies that you can look at.   What Neil is Really Excited About Now! When asked about something that he's excited about, Neil shared that he's been with InterVision approximately 12 months, and in that time, they've had a tremendous amount of growth.  They are working a significant amount with Amazon, on Amazon Connect in the contact center space, and watching how that's changing the contact center space is really, really incredible. And with that, they have releases on a weekly or biweekly basis, and you see new technologies and new items come out, and it's actually an interesting challenge making sure that his team is not only at the cutting edge of technology, but what's new and modern today is, for want of a better description, a month old in a month's time.  And making sure that his team are kept current and up to date with all of these technology changes, specifically around AI and ML, that's really an interesting challenge, because the solutions of a year ago aren't solutions for today, and he finds that both interesting challenge from a business perspective, but it's also rewarding because you get the opportunity to have people do training classes and learnings to make sure that they're at the top of their skill game to be able to deliver the best in class products that they like to offer.   Where can listeners find Neil online? LinkedIn – Neil Leyland Website – www.intervision.com   Quote or Saying that During Times of Adversity Neil Uses Me: Now, before we wrap our episodes up, Neil, we always like to ask our guests, do you have a quote or a saying that during times of adversity or challenge, you will tend to revert to this quote if for any reason you get derailed or you get off track, the quote kind of helps to get you back on track. Do you have one of those?    When asked about a quote or saying that he tends to revert to, Neil shared that it's not quite that, but there's a phrase that he often thinks about in challenges when he's working with his colleagues, or they're looking at a project and how to move forward, and it's directly related to customer service and it's, “The tolerance of poor behaviour is worse than the behaviour itself.”   Me: That's such a powerful statement.   Neil shared that he loves it because it's applicable everywhere. In your personal life, you can choose not to go to the gym, or you can go to the gym. In work, you can watch people do things and managers do things or accept things and that they shouldn't and as soon as a behaviour becomes ingrained, it's far more challenging to remove it.  Me: Yeah, agreed. Thank you so much for sharing. So, we just want to extend our deepest gratitude to you, Neil, for hopping on our podcast today, sharing about InterVision, about your journey, as well as what you're doing at InterVision, the impact of AI and machine learning, the opportunity that workers have in the centers as agents to upskill their competencies and behaviours so that they can better serve customers and solve problems quicker. It was really a rewarding and engaging conversation, and I want to just extend our deepest gratitude to you. So, thank you so much.    Please connect with us on Twitter @navigatingcx and also join our Private Facebook Community – Navigating the Customer Experience and listen to our FB Lives weekly with a new guest   Links •    Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…And Others Don't by Jim Collins   The ABC's of a Fantastic Customer Experience Grab the Freebie on Our Website – TOP 10 Online Business Resources for Small Business Owners  Do you want to pivot your online customer experience and build loyalty - get a copy of “The ABC's of a Fantastic Customer Experience.” The ABC's of a Fantastic Customer Experience provides 26 easy to follow steps and techniques that helps your business to achieve success and build brand loyalty. This Guide to Limitless, Happy and Loyal Customers will help you to strengthen your service delivery, enhance your knowledge and appreciation of the customer experience and provide tips and practical strategies that you can start implementing immediately! This book will develop your customer service skills and sharpen your attention to detail when serving others. Master your customer experience and develop those knock your socks off techniques that will lead to lifetime customers. Your customers will only want to work with your business and it will be your brand differentiator. It will lead to recruiters to seek you out by providing practical examples on how to deliver a winning customer service experience!

This week we chatted with Cheri Ackerman, PhD, Cofounder & CEO of Concerto Biosciences. During her postdoctoral work at MIT, she developed the groundbreaking kChip technology that led to the formation of Concerto Biosciences. We discuss the challenges and opportunities of building a company during the pandemic and the importance of learning the business side of biotech as a scientific founder. As always, we trumpet the value of building a network to leverage during the growth process. Cheri gives really great advice for aspiring entrepreneurs, which is to keep learning and embrace asking questions when you don't know something. I also loved her views on adapting and experimenting in business, which is one of the key values at Concerto. 00:00 Introduction and Early Career Aspirations00:09 Journey to Becoming a CEO01:12 Founding Concerto Biosciences02:31 Understanding the Microbiome04:56 Concerto's Innovative Approach07:53 Challenges and Opportunities in Building a Company08:58 Navigating the Funding Climate13:00 Building a Strong Team21:57 Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs29:34 Future Goals and Aspirations31:55 Conclusion and Contact InformationGet Cheri's recommended books! Measure What MattersThe Founder's Dilemmas: Anticipating and Avoiding the Pitfalls That Can Sink a Startup (The Kauffman Foundation Series on Innovation and Entrepreneurship, 13)No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of ReinventionGood to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don'tWhoLearn more about Concerto BiosciencesLink In with Cheri!Connect with us!Link In with CarinaSubscribe here:AppleSpotifyGoogle PodcastRSS feedLearn more about Recruitomics ConsultingCheck out our reading listDownload our free startup resources guide to grow your biotech efficientlyIf you're on the job market, visit the Collaboratory Career Hub

Struggling to raise prices despite rising costs, build a cohesive team with shared values, or keep pace with technology? Ross Cushing has seen it all on his journey building one of America's largest private audiology practices. In this episode, Ross shares his early mistakes and his best strategies for growing a successful audiology practice today. Ross Cushing is the founder and CEO of Live Better Hearing & Balance, with over 26 locations across multiple states. He is a sought-after speaker on practice management and frequently shares his entrepreneurial insights. In this episode, Kevin and Ross will discuss: - His journey to audiology - Challenges in the early stages of a practice - Building trust and team development - His early struggle to manage his practice's cash flow  - Goal setting for sustainable practice growth - The value of developing relationships with physicians - Authentic marketing for private practices  - His approach to hiring  - Challenges and strategies for pricing hearing aids - Tips for building a cohesive work environment - How to capitalize on emerging trends in audiology - Networking and mastermind groups - And other topics… Ross Cushing is the founder and CEO of Live Better Hearing & Balance, one of the largest private audiology practices in the United States. He opened his first practice in 2007 after working for industry leaders. Under his leadership, Live Better has grown to over 26 locations across multiple states. Ross has also served as the state audiologist for Maryland prisons for 12 years. He is a sought-after speaker on practice management and frequently shares his entrepreneurial insights.  Connect with Ross: Ross's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rosscushing/  Resources Mentioned: Live Better Hearing Website: https://livebetterhearing.com/  Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't by Jim Collins: https://www.amazon.com/Good-Great-Some-Companies-Others/dp/0066620996  Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It...and Why the Rest Don't by Verne Harnish: https://amazon.com/Scaling-Up-Companies-Rockefeller-Habits/dp/0986019526  Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business by Gino Wickman: https://www.amazon.com/Traction-Get-Grip-Your-Business/dp/1936661837  Ready, Fire, Aim: Zero to $100 Million in No Time Flat by Michael Masterson: https://www.amazon.com/Ready-Fire-Aim-Zero-Million/dp/0470182024  The Only Thing: If you're an audiologist and want to grow your practice – we've got a FREE, expert guide to help you achieve your goals. It's called The Only Thing.  This expert guide will show you how to increase new patient calls by 5 to 57 a month, schedule more new patients each week, help more people, and increase revenue. It's the best resource I know for growing your audiology practice. Get your copy for free at http://medpb.com/mastery.

Are you looking to scale your online business to seven figures? Ever wondered how female entrepreneurship can drive gender equality? These compelling questions are at the heart of my conversation with Sigrun Gudjonsdottir, an award-winning business coach, speaker, author, and podcast host. With a mission to accelerate gender equality through female entrepreneurship, Sigrun offers a tough-love, no-nonsense approach to business and life.   We discussed: ⚉  The journey from architecture to business leadership ⚉  Personal health crisis and starting a business ⚉  Dreaming big and making them come true ⚉  How do you know you're successful? ⚉  What are the keys to a successful online business launch? ⚉  Accelerating gender equality through entrepreneurship ⚉  Sigrun's magic moment ⚉  Business advice for online business startups ⚉  What business taught me ⚉  Why optimism and perseverance are important as an entrepreneur? ⚉  Fast talk segment     Sigrun is an award winning business coach, bestselling author, international speaker and host of the Sigrun Show podcast. She's been called the leading business mentor for online entrepreneurs in Europe. She is on a mission to accelerate gender equality through female entrepreneurship and helps women start and scale their online businesses to 7 figures with her tough love and no-nonsense-approach to business and life.  Sigrun has been featured in Forbes, Time and numerous leading media publications in Europe. In 2022 she was accepted into the Hall of Fame of Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year Award in Switzerland and in 2021 she won 5 German Stevie Awards; as the Hero of the year, Entrepreneur of the year, Solo entrepreneur of the year, Manager of the year, and Sales Achievement of the year. Sigrun is married, has two stepsons, and splits her time between Reykjavik, Iceland and Zurich, Switzerland.   Her latest book is available on Amazon and is called Kickstart Your Online Business - Create an Online Course and Start to Make Sales.   MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: ⚉  [Book] Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't by Jim Collins - https://www.amazon.com/Good-Great-Some-Companies-Others/dp/0066620996  ⚉ [Book] Kickstart Your Online Business: Create an Online Course and Start to Make Sales by Sigrun Gudjonsdottir - https://www.amazon.com/Kickstart-Your-Online-Business-Create/dp/B0B7QLGC1F    CONNECT WITH SIGRUN:

The OneHaas alumni podcast is honored to have Allan Spivack, philanthropist, community builder, and business leader, share his career path insights on today's episode. Allan spent much of his childhood fascinated by how his dad ran their family home furnishings business. But he was also curious about how businesses could be used for social good. After getting his JD MBA from Haas, he combined his two passions into RGI Home which he led for more than 30 years. He and host Sean Li chat about Allan's upbringing in New York, his unique business approach to RGI Home, and how a passion for community and social impact led him to study Middle Eastern politics and how that experience still influences his social entrepreneurship today. *OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*Episode Quotes:On his relationship with his father“I remember pretty vividly spending a lot of time with my dad when I was quite young…My dad was not just an engineer, but he was also an inventor. So I would sit in his work room with him and marvel at the mystery of the inventions that he was coming up with. Then he fought for a couple of patents and I didn't really know the content of what he was doing, but it looked so interesting and innovative. And that was my introduction to bringing a different point of view to product and his point of view as well.”On his decision to get his JD MBA“I've always been somebody who attempted to be a student always and this was a chance for me to catch up to what I missed when I was in undergrad.You know, having taken the kinds of classes that I thought would matter once I got into business the quantitative side of things. So, law was gonna teach me how to think one way, but I felt business school would teach me how to think a different way. And together, it would provide me with the best, most well-rounded education.”Some of the challenges he faced running RGI Home“How to run a business with no money. That was my first challenge. Along with that, running an international business by fax, no email. So you're faxing overseas or whatever, and you know, people who don't even speak your language and trying to figure out how to be able to integrate, you know, the various offices with the U.S. based offices.”On his lasting legacy“Since I was young, you know, I've always thought about transforming societies. I can never quite understand why people couldn't figure out how to connect with each other. And also I thought that somebody like myself who had a fortunate upbringing and also had the fortune to be really educated, to go to places like Haas, build the business, had a responsibility to do more. So when I went to build a business, it was not just about industry. It was also about the ability to be able to give back to the communities that I was working in.” Show Links:LinkedIn ProfileRGI Home | HistoryTitan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. by Ron ChernowGood to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't by Jim CollinsSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/onehaas/donations

We're excited to bring you insights from a recent interview with Tim Fulton, President of Small Business Matters, Vistage Chair Emeritus, and Executive Coach. Tim is a returning podcast guest and a favorite among our listeners, bringing his wealth of knowledge to help you attract and retain top talent in today's evolving job market. Labor Market Insights: Navigating the New Normal Tim starts by addressing a common observation: “Most business owners would tell you the labor market has improved over the past 12 months.” This improvement is particularly notable for small and mid-sized companies. Businesses have adapted post-COVID, finding innovative ways to attract candidates from diverse backgrounds, different markets, and varying levels of education and skills. Flexibility is Key: Adapting to Workforce Needs A critical trend highlighted by Tim is the increasing need for flexibility. Companies are shifting from rigid work schedules to more adaptable models, such as offering hybrid work options and flexible hours. Tim emphasizes that the question shouldn't just be about remote vs. in-office work but rather, “Do I trust my employees?” This trust-based approach focuses on outcomes rather than the specific logistics of where and when the work is done. Embracing Modern Work Policies: Unlimited PTO and Remote Work Pre-COVID, concepts like unlimited Paid Time Off (PTO) and remote work were often dismissed. However, Tim believes that with the right employees, processes, and procedures, these policies can be effective across various businesses. The modern workforce, especially younger employees, highly values remote work options, making it a crucial aspect of job listings today. As Tim puts it, “Today ⅔ of employees are knowledge workers and work from home. The train has left the station, we are not going backward to office life as we knew it.” Crafting Compelling Job Listings Job listings must reflect the current job market's demands. Tim suggests including clear expectations regarding work location, flexibility, and growth opportunities in the description and the job results in the job heading. Additionally, platforms like Indeed, LinkedIn, your own company's website, and local colleges/universities are excellent for reaching a diverse pool of candidates. Effective Interview Strategies: Finding the Right Fit During interviews, it's essential to assess if the candidate can perform the job, fit within your company culture, and work well with you. Tim advises using behavior assessments and post-hire evaluations to ensure you're making the right choice. Group interviews can be beneficial when you have multiple strong candidates, and using a scorecard can help in making objective decisions. Ensuring the Right Hire: Comprehensive Evaluation To confirm you've made the right hiring decision, involve various stakeholders in the hiring process, conduct thorough reference checks, and use behavioral assessments to gauge the candidate's fit within your team. Conclusion: Prepare to Transform Your Hiring Process Tune in to the latest episode of Scaling UP! H2O to dive deeper into these insights and more from Tim Fulton. This episode is packed with practical advice and actionable strategies that can transform your hiring process and help you secure top performers for your team.   Timestamps 01:00 - Trace Blackmore asks you to submit your show ideas 04:00 - Upcoming Events for Water Treatment Professionals  08:15 - Interview with Tim Fulton 59:00 - Closing thoughts with Trace 1:06:25 - Drop by Drop With James McDonald    Quotes “Most business owners would tell you the labor market has improved over the past 12 months.” - Tim Fulton “When interviewing someone ask yourself: “Can they do the job, can they do it here, can they do the job with me?” - Tim Fulton “As a manager, you need to ask yourself: Do I want to manage someone's time or their work? Do I want to manage compliance or performance?” - Tim Fulton “Today, ⅔ of employees are knowledge workers and work from home. The train has left the station, we are not going backward.”  - Tim Fulton   Connect with Tim Fulton Email: tim@smallbusinessmattersonline.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/timcfulton/ Twitter: twitter.com/tf_sbm FaceBook: facebook.com/SmallBusinessMattersOnline/ Website: smallbusinessmattersonline.com   Tim's Resources: Tim Fulton's Small Business Matters Podcast Small Business Matters Newsletter SBM Mastermind Group SBM Boot Camp Vistage Group Vistage Chair Executive Coach in Atlanta, GA, Tim Fulton Vistage Speaker Top Performer Award for 2023, Tim Fulton   Links Mentioned The Hang July 11, 2024 at 6pm EST Ep 22 with Tim Fulton Ep 114 The One Where We Talk Masterminds Ep 280 The One About Retaining Top Talent Ep 353 Steam Boilers Essential Checks with Barry Higgins Part 1 Ep 354 Steam Boilers Essential Checks with Barry Higgins Part 2 The Rising Tide Mastermind Scaling UP! H2O Academy video courses Submit a Show Idea   Books Mentioned Foolproof Hiring: Powerful, Proven Keys to Hiring HIGH Performers by Brad Smart and Chris Mursau Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't by Jim Collins This Is Marketing: You Can't Be Seen Until You Learn to See by Seth Godin The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey   Drop By Drop with James  In today's segment, I have a challenge for you. The challenge is to ask your customer what you can do better? I mean to walk up to your customer, look them in the eye, tell them not to hold back, and ask them what you could be doing better for them. If they give you positive feedback, great!  If they unload all their pent up frustration upon you. Thank them for taking the time and caring enough to share their thoughts with you. Then take the time to give careful consideration to the feedback you received, even if it offends you at first. Try to have empathy with the customer to understand where they are coming from. Then use this moment to grow and become better. Communication is a two-way street, so be sure to let them know how you have reflected upon and implemented any relevant advice.    2024 Events for Water Professionals Check out our Scaling UP! H2O Events Calendar where we've listed every event Water Treaters should be aware of by clicking HERE.  

Patrick Gauthier, Group CEO, Director & Chair Convera USA, Director and Chair Convera Europe Financial S.A., spoke to Rudolf Falat, founder of the Voice of FinTech podcast, about helping SMEs manage cross-border payments and more.Here is what they covered in more detail:Patrick, as a key figure in the payments sector, could you share your professional journey and how it led you to your current role at Convera?What problem are you solving at Convera, and why is it worth solving? Why are B2B payments special, and why they have been slower to innovateHow do B2B cross-border payment needs for SMEs differ from individuals or large corporations? How can you help? Who are your key clients?Which supporting technologies do you see as most promising for the payments sector? What's your technology angle, or do you have more brilliant engineers than other players?Do you see real-time payments on the rise in the coming years? How are they relevant for B2B transactions? Will there be no more trade credit? Looking ahead, what are the key milestones that Convera aims to achieve in the near future, and how do you plan to reach them?Favorite business book: Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap & Others Don't by Jim CollinsWhat's the best way to reach out: Patrick Gauthier on LinkedIn 

EPISODE 330: Do you feel stuck in your construction business's day-to-day operations? Do you dream of taking it to the next level but are unsure how? These experts might teach you a thing or two. Join us in this week's panel discussion (and our first in-person episode) featuring Alex Gregg, Michael Moore, and Alex Thompson.  These accomplished construction business owners share their pivotal shift from running a busy business in a firefighter mode to leveraging key talents in their teams and eventually putting on their CEO hats.  Today, we discuss how to transition from an operator mindset to a CEO mindset, the importance of habits and routines, how to foster a culture of accountability and growth, the value of letting go, and more. Are you ready to transform yourself and grow your business? Let's dive in!   Key Takeaways: Introduction (00:00) Meet the panel of experts (04:55) Key shifts from thinking as an operator to CEO (06:31) Importance of habits and routines (13:08) The right-to-left thinking mindset (18:22) Creating a culture of accountability (19:46) How to ensure you're continuously evolving as a CEO (34:11) The value of letting go for growth (37:42) How successful CEOs look at mistakes (46:29) Resources for construction CEOs (47:55)   Additional Resources: - Download your FREE strategic planning guide HERE - Schedule your FREE business evaluation call with our team HERE - Join the FREE Get Out of Your Construction Business Masterclass HERE Books Mentioned: Traction: Get a Grip On Your Business Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones 10x Is Easier Than 2x The E-Myth: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It Organizational Physics: The Science of Growing a Business Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…And Others Don't Think and Grow Rich The Gap and The Gain: The High Achiever's Guide to Happiness, Confidence, and Success Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More, & Change the Way You Lead Forever Three Laws of Performance: Rewriting the Future of Your Organization and Your Life -- The Construction Leading Edge Podcast helps construction business owners maximize their revenue, eliminate chaos, systematize their work, and win back their time. Follow us on your favorite podcasting platform so you never miss an episode!  

Episode Highlights With NathanWhat a flywheel is and the correct understanding of the termHow flywheels exist in physics and how the concept is helpful in business as wellThe story of how building a well with a flywheel in Africa changed how he thought about businessHow a flywheel business system can help you have better resultsImportance of disconnecting effort and impact and getting leverage How to apply flywheels at the small business level to get better resultsAn example flywheel for content creationWhat an avatar is and how writing to a single person can be very helpful in businessHow flywheels apply to personal life as well, especially in health and fitnessExamples of byproducts of flywheels and how to make them beneficial Resources We MentionConvertKitGood to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…And Others Don't by Jim CollinsCreator Flywheels – The Operating System for Your BusinessSoaring Child: Thriving with ADHDHere is a place where you will learn how to address your child's ADHD symptoms...Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Cam Cathcart is a real estate investor who quickly scaled up to 100 deals/year and built enough savings to move his family to Maui.In this episode, Cam shares what separates new investors who take massive action from those who get stuck in analysis paralysis and breaks down how you can still find great deals in this market without spending a fortune on marketing. Cam teaches flipping, wholesaling and rental property investing over at Deal Flow Real Estate.He also talks about: - The moment he realized he needed to change his financial situation- How networking with local players was a “cheat code” to success- How to come across as confident as a new investor- Advice for you if you're scared to buy your first rental property- How he finds and funds deals- Recruiting private money lenders for his flips- Why he rarely puts contingencies in his purchase and sale agreements- What he did when he ran into a cash crunch - Why he lives by the motto, “Anything worth doing is worth overdoing”.Books Mentioned:- Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat: The BRRRR Rental Property Investment Strategy Made Simple by David Greene- Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't by Jim Collins- The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work by Shawn Achor- The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern World by John Comer Connect with Cam: Website: https://www.dealflowrealestate.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/cam.cathcartConnect with us!Website: https://abetterlife.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/betterlife/?hl=enhttps://www.instagram.com/beardybrandonCam's charitable cause (100% of ad revenue goes here):- Tim Tebow Foundation https://timtebowfoundation.org/Show Sponsor: - The BetterLife REI Summit May 3-5 in Denver, CO. The most actionable “how to” real estate event for new and experienced investors. Grab your tickets here: https://reisummit2024.com/Interested in building wealth without losing your soul? Join the BetterLife Tribe here: https://join.abetterlife.com/tribe

Cynthia Kay founded Cynthia Kay and Company media production which produces high-quality communications for organizations from Fortune Global 100 to small business. A graduate of Michigan State University, Kay holds a master's in communications from Western Michigan University.  Cynthia Kay is a passionate spokesperson for small business. For more than 35 years, she has spent significant time speaking to, teaching and coaching small-business owners while running her own award-winning company. She is the Past Board Chair of the National Small Business Association (NSBA).  Cynthia and the company have been honoured with many awards including many Tellys and Woman Owned Small Business Supplier of the Year from Siemens in 2018. She has been named one of West Michigan's 50 Most Influential Women five times, and is the recipient of over 30 broadcast awards from UPI, AP, and other news organizations.  CK & CO Cynthia has authored several books. Her newest book, Small Business, Big Success: How to Beat the Odds and Grow a Great Business (Career Press 2024) is available for pre-order and will be on May 6, 2024. She writes for Entrepreneur.com, has been featured in Time Magazine, Entrepreneur Magazine's Ask the Expert and on NPR.   Questions ·    We always like to give the guests an opportunity to share in their own words, a little bit about your journey, how you got from where you were to where you are today. Could you share that with us? · Your book, Small Business. Big Success: How to Beat the Odds and Grow a Great Business. Can you share with our listeners a little bit about that book that you have coming up? And maybe three overarching themes or tenets that the book represents. ·    You've been in business for 35 years, so you've been through all phases of a business over 35 years, not to mention the different experiences that your businesses would have had as it relates to the different travesties that the world had gone through. If you were to pick, let's say, one characteristic that you believe was critical for you to ride the waves over all those years to the point where you are today, what do you believe that would be? ·     Based on your experience, what would you say are maybe five common mistakes that you find small businesses tend to get themselves into? And if you could give maybe a recommendation for each as to how they could prevent themselves from getting trapped into that common mistake? ·  Now, Cynthia, can you also share with our listeners, what's the one online resource, tool, website or app that you absolutely can't live without in your business? ·  Now, can you also share with our listeners, maybe one or two books that you have read, it could be a book that you read a very long time ago or even one that you read recently, but it has had a great impact on you. ·   Where can listeners find you online? ·  Now, before we wrap our episodes up, we always like to ask our guests, do you have a quote or a saying that during times of adversity or challenge, you'll tend to revert to this quote if for any reason you get derailed or there's an obstacle that comes in your way, the quote kind of helps to get you back on track.   Highlights Cynthia's Journey Me: Now, even though we ask our guests to provide us with a bio, which you did, amazingly, thank you so much. And we do read the bio at the beginning of the show so the audience has a good idea of who we're interviewing and what they're about. We always like to give the guests an opportunity to share in their own words, a little bit about your journey, how you got from where you were to where you are today. Could you share that with us?   Cynthia shared that for her, it's an interesting story, she hoped it will be for the viewers as well. She actually started her career in broadcasting and was working in the TV business for about 13 and a half years. But she always had in the back of her mind that she wanted to own her own business. And she grew up in a family owned business so she saw her dad and how he worked and how much he loved what he did and his customers.  And so, one day when she got fired and her dad always said, “Honey, you're no one till someone fires you.” She decided that rather than go and work for another television station and she had some opportunities to do that, she decided she wanted to bet on herself. And so, that's how she started her business.   About Cynthia's Book – Small Business. Big Success: How to Beat the Odds and Grow a Great Business Me: Now, you have a new book that's being published in a few months, it's called Small Business. Big Success: How to Beat the Odds and Grow a Great Business. Can you share with our listeners a little bit about that book that you have coming up? And maybe three overarching themes or tenets that the book represents.    Cynthia shared that she really believes that the best way for people to learn about business is by storytelling. And so, the book has not only her story, but stories of entrepreneurs and experts from all over the country. And frankly, that's what makes it so interesting because we all have stories to tell. But she's segmented the book into stages and it is starting up, because the challenges at starting up are very different than the challenges for those who are in second stage or mature businesses.  And then she looks at success at operations because she thinks many small businesses, that's a place that's very difficult for them is to really figure out how to become operationally excellent.  And then success at growth because if we don't grow, we're actually going backwards.  And then finally success at stepping out. And someone asked her, “Well, why cover such a broad expanse in one business? Why not just talk out starting up or stepping out?”  And she said, when you take a look at the whole lifecycle of a business, if you understand that, especially at starting up, and you think about where do you want to end up? Are you growing a lifestyle business? Or are you growing a business to sell it?  If you are in a growth phase, what do you need to really think about? Sometimes it's digging back into what made you successful at start-up and visioning the future? And then also thinking about what kind of legacy do you want?  So, for her covering that expanse and she's been in business now over 35 years, so she's been through many phases of the business. She thinks has been reflective for her to kind of look at each one of those.  And there's lots of things that she talks about, she's talked about customers, it's so important that we understand customers and customer services, it doesn't matter if you run a retail operation or a manufacturing plant or a technology company. But she thinks understanding customers, that's a big overarching theme.  Communications is huge, because it impacts so much of our business, and then also leadership, what does it take to lead a successful enterprise?   One Characteristic That Entrepreneurs Need to Survive Downturns in an Economy Me: So, lots of very critical components that you mentioned in the book to running a business. Now, I know you told us about the overarching themes that the book represents and in your summary just now, you mentioned that you've been in business for 35 years, so you've been through, if not all, well, definitely all phases of a business over 35 years I'm sure. Not to mention the different experiences that your businesses would have had as it relates to the different travesties that the world had gone through, so the pandemic and before that the recession in 2008. So, you'd have had different experiences that different economies would have experienced, that the world experienced. If you were to pick, let's say, one characteristic that you believe was critical for you to ride the waves over all those years to the point where you are today, what do you believe that would be?   Cynthia stated that that one is easy for her. And she thinks this is something that people don't think about a lot, but it's passion. You have to have passion for what you do. If you don't have passion, you cannot survive all of the challenges that you have. She has experienced at least two downturns in the economy and COVID, obviously was huge. But if you don't love what you do, if you don't get up every day, and say, “Wow, what can I do today to make this business better? What can I do today to serve my customers?”  If you don't have that passion, it's easy to get discouraged and she thinks it's easy to give up. And frankly, the businesses that she sees that kind of wither away, it's because they've lost that passion for what they do, it becomes routine and ordinary and in this world, especially in the world of business, you can't survive if it's just same old, same old, you must consistently innovate and to do that, you have to have passion.   Me: So, passion is a number one thing that was able to carry you through. Fantastic, thank you for sharing Cynthia.   Common Mistakes that Small Businesses Make and How to Avoid Them   Me: Now, Cynthia, I'm sure in running a business, there are some common mistakes that sometimes business owners will make, right, regardless of the type of business you're in, whether it's product based or service based. Based on your experience, what would you say are maybe five common mistakes that you find small businesses tend to get themselves into? And if you could give maybe a recommendation for each as to how they could prevent themselves from getting trapped into that common mistake?   Cynthia shared that she thinks the first one is not doing their homework. She thinks so often people believe they have a great idea or a great product, but they're somewhat clouded by their own bubble, by their own world. And so, one of the things that she will tell you is not doing your homework, not going out and saying to someone, not just do you like my idea, or do you like my product? But will you pay for it? So, that's the first one. And the way that you really avoid that common mistake, quite frankly, is to do your research, and to go out and not be afraid to ask the questions. And sometimes she will tell you, she has put in place some efforts that she had to abandon because while she thought it was a great idea, she didn't maybe do enough of the homework to really understand if it was going to be successful. So, that'd be the first one.   And then the second one is financially, can you really withstand the pressures that it takes. So, when she started her business, the first six months, she didn't even take a salary. And she thinks that's very common for a lot of business owners is that they invest in their business. So, are you able to financially withstand what it takes to be able to get through those first really tough years? So, do you have the financing? Do you have the capital? Can you withstand that interim start-up period where you really need to make sure that you have a lot of cushion maybe is the right way to say it.   The third mistake that a lot of business owners make is that they take whatever customer comes to the door and she made that mistake when she first got started, she was so concerned about is she going to be able to pay the rent, that she maybe took customers that she shouldn't have taken because they didn't align with the goal and the core products and values that they had and that's a hard one is to say no to a customer. But if you're getting customers in the door that are taking up your time and taking up your energy and not going to help you move forward, then she thinks that that's a big mistake. And as a result of having made that mistake after she was in business for a while, she kind of had to send customers away and that's very difficult. So, having a good idea of who that ideal customer is and really knowing that.  She thinks communication is a big one. Frankly, she thinks communication is something that business owners don't really spend enough time on, they believe if they have a great product or a great service, that's enough and it's not. You have to be able to articulate your value, you have to be able to communicate that value to your employees because that's so critical because it's not just you, unless you're going to be a solopreneur, which is fine. But if you're going to build an organization, you have to be able to communicate with your employees, you have to be able to educate them, have them understand what the value is of the business, and then being able to communicate to customers. The number one complaint that customers have today is sometimes they lack the communication from businesses, even if it's simply, “I got your phone call and I got your order, and we'll get back to you.” But being able to communicate and being able to articulate is a big one.  And then she thinks the other mistake that she thinks a lot of small businesses make is they don't build an external team that can help them, because as a business owner, you're an expert in what you do, but that doesn't mean that you're an expert in all things. And so, building that really critical team of outside resources, she likes to say who can keep you out of trouble because sometimes you get into trouble because you don't know enough. So, having that critical team of people that you can trust and can go to, she thinks that's it. So, those will be she thinks the five things that she would say are really important.    App, Website or Tool that Cynthia Absolutely Can't Live Without in Her Business When asked about online resource that she can't live without in her business, Cynthia shared that when she saw that question, she was like, there's lots of things she can't live without. Cynthia estimated that because of the business that she's in, they have a tool, it's called Function Point that coordinates all of the efforts. In media production and in communications, consulting, there are so many pieces of every single job that all have to align and being able to track where something is and being able to understand who on the team is doing what, it's a communications tool.  Now, that may be one that it's for creative agencies, but there are other tools. SharePoint, she thinks is a fabulous tool for keeping people really focused. So much of what we do today, there are so many pieces of information and keeping it organized she thinks is the biggest nightmare or it can be the biggest advantage. So, some sort of a communication tool that allows you to track and be able to measure where you are is really critical.    Books that Have Had the Biggest Impact on Cynthia When asked about books that has a great impact, Cynthia shared that there are two that she really loves. And the one is Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't by Jim Collins and she's read that book maybe twice and should go back and read it again. But the reason that she loves that book is that she thinks there is such a difference in just being good and really having a company and growing a company that is excellent. And she thinks today good is just the baseline, everyone expects if you're in business that you're good, but can you be great? So, that's one.  The other one that she really likes is The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change by Stephen Covey. We as people sometimes think we're effective, but we might be missing something. So, those are two that she really loves. And she'll be honest, she hasn't been doing a lot of reading lately, mostly because she's been doing a lot of writing, so, she's been reading her own book. But she does have a list of other books coming up that she would like to read.  And then there's one other one that over the years she's kind of steered people to and it's called Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Other Don't by Simon Sinek. And she thinks so much of the success of organizations and businesses really rests with how effective is the leader, because the business takes on sort of the personality of the leader. So, that's a book that she always recommend because she thinks this idea of servant leadership is one that really can catapult an organization ahead.    Where Can We Find Cynthia Online  LinkedIn – Cynthia Kay Website – www.cynthiakaybiz.com Website – www.thinkck.com    Quote or Saying that During Times of Adversity Cynthia Uses When asked about a quote or saying that she tends to revert to, Cynthia stated that it's interesting, there are so many quotes that she loves, but her father was a huge influence in her life and there's a quote that her dad always used to say when she faced adversity, and she was struggling and didn't know what to do and he would always say, “Do what's in your heart.” And she really believes that if you look inside, you often know the answer. And so, that's one that she always remember, her dad always said, do what's in your heart.  And his second favourite one was, “They can't pay you enough money to do a job you don't love.” And so, that's her second one.    Me: I love it. Is the second one attributed from your dad as well? Cynthia said absolutely. He was a wonderful businessman. He ran a small business with his two brothers and so much of what she thinks, they learned, they learned by osmosis. She learned a lot about business by watching her dad.  Me: That's fantastic. So, thank you so much for sharing those two quotes, we'll definitely have them in the show notes of this episode.    As we wrap up our episode, we would just like to extend our deepest level of gratitude to you for taking time out of your very busy schedule and coming on our podcast today and sharing about your journey, a little bit about your new book that will be released in May of this year. For those of our listeners that would love to tap into that resource, we'll have Cynthia's contact information in the links for the show notes of the episode so you can definitely follow along and just be abreast of when the book is going to be released and the different platforms that it will be available on so thank you again, Cynthia for coming on and we wish you all the very best.    Please connect with us on Twitter @navigatingcx and also join our Private Facebook Community – Navigating the Customer Experience and listen to our FB Lives weekly with a new guest   Links •    Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't by Jim Collins •     The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change by Stephen Covey •     Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don't by Simon Sinek   The ABC's of a Fantastic Customer Experience Grab the Freebie on Our Website – TOP 10 Online Business Resources for Small Business Owners  Do you want to pivot your online customer experience and build loyalty - get a copy of “The ABC's of a Fantastic Customer Experience.” The ABC's of a Fantastic Customer Experience provides 26 easy to follow steps and techniques that helps your business to achieve success and build brand loyalty. This Guide to Limitless, Happy and Loyal Customers will help you to strengthen your service delivery, enhance your knowledge and appreciation of the customer experience and provide tips and practical strategies that you can start implementing immediately! This book will develop your customer service skills and sharpen your attention to detail when serving others. Master your customer experience and develop those knock your socks off techniques that will lead to lifetime customers. Your customers will only want to work with your business and it will be your brand differentiator. It will lead to recruiters to seek you out by providing practical examples on how to deliver a winning customer service experience!

250: Scaling Altruism as a Nonprofit Leader (Donald Summers)SUMMARYAs a nonprofit leader, do you ever feel overwhelmed by the complexities of scaling your organization's impact? In episode #250 of Your Path to Nonprofit Leadership, we explore practical strategies for scaling altruism in the nonprofit sector with Donald Summers, a seasoned nonprofit consultant. From demystifying finance to optimizing fundraising efforts and managing disruptive influences, we'll uncover the essential tools and insights you need to lead your organization towards greater effectiveness and growth. Are you ready to take your nonprofit to the next level and make an even bigger difference in your community?ABOUT DONALDDonald Summers is the Founder & CEO of Altruist Partners, a global advisory firm for nonprofits and social enterprises. He and his firm have led over one hundred successful nonprofit and social enterprise accelerations from the local to the global level in the fields of education, human services, health, environmental reform, and public media. He is a graduate of Middlebury College and Harvard University.EPISODE TOPICS & RESOURCESScaling Altruism: A Proven Pathway for Accelerating Nonprofit Growth and Impact by Donald SummersGood to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't by Jim CollinsThe Four Disciplines of Execution by Chris McChesney et al.Ready for a Mastermind?  Learn more here!Have you gotten Patton's book Your Path to Nonprofit Leadership: Seven Keys to Advancing Your Career in the Philanthropic SectorCheck out our new website, PMAnonprofit.com!

In Episode 139, Randy Waldrum, Head Coach of the Nigeria Super Falcons (WNT) and Pitt Women's Soccer, former Head Coach of the Houston Dash, Baylor Soccer, Notre Dame, University of Tulsa, and the Trinidad & Tobago WNT, husband, and father, talks with Phil and Paul about lessons learned during his incredible coaching journey, including founding the Baylor Soccer program, getting the Nigeria WNT job without even applying, and winning National Championships at Notre Dame, his passion for helping young coaches and how he is doing it, learning from difficult times, what he would ask Sir Alex Ferguson at a dinner party, the importance of learning from people outside your discipline, why we need to evolve our coaching and leadership, his thoughts on the highs and lows of US Soccer right now, his defining moment, and much more. Specifically, Coach Waldrum discusses: ·      His personal story, including how he grew his passion for soccer, leadership, coaching, and how he developed his love for coaching the women's side of the beautiful game (4:15) ·      How he landed the coaching gig with the Nigerian Women's National Team without even applying for it (11:20) ·      His new Telegram group and how he wants to use it to help young coaches develop their coaching (14:27) ·      His personal why and life purpose and how he is living it out today (19:41) ·      Some of the highlights and difficult times from his incredible year with the Pitt Panthers and Nigerian Women's National Team (23:24) ·      What he learned from losing 9 games in a row (37:59) ·      Lessons he learned from starting a new program, taking over a national powerhouse as a young coach, and working to revive a struggling program at different points of his career (40:06) ·      Lessons he has learned from his incredible coaching career that he wants to share with younger coaches (46:16) ·      What he would ask Sir Alex Ferguson at a dinner gathering and why those questions (52:37) ·      The importance of learning from people outside of our own discipline and evolving our coaching styles with the culture and the game (55:54) ·      His defining moment in his soccer career and what he learned from it (47:39) ·      His most influential coaches and how he is using the lessons learned from them in his life today (53:36) ·      His thoughts, good and bad, about the current state of US Soccer (1:05:30) ·      How he is using lessons learned from the beautiful game in his marriage and parenting (1:15:00) ·      His recommendations (1:17:51) Resources and Links from this Episode ·      Video of the Episode ·      HSEL Facebook Group ·      Warrior Way Soccer ·      Providence World (Donations to HSEL Podcast) ·      Coaching the Bigger Game Program ·      Phil's email for DISC Training ·      The Gold Standard: Building a World-Class Team, Mike Krzyzewski ·      Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap . . . and Others Don't, Jim Collins  

 Eric Williamson is the Chief Marketing Officer at CallMiner. As CallMiner's Chief Marketing Officer, Eric oversees all global marketing functions from brand and events to demand generation. Eric's marketing team works very closely with channel and sales to drive pipeline and CallMiner's explosive growth. Eric has over 20 years of experience in both technology and consumer products marketing from both the vendor and agency side.  Before joining CallMiner, Eric was VP Brand & Digital Marketing at Acquia - an open DXP platform built around Drupal - where he led brand, creative services, webops, editorial, and demand generation. Prior to Acquia, Eric was on the agency side of marketing working as SVP Digital & Social Media at MullenLowe, and before that as VP Digital Strategy at The Martin Agency.  During his career, Eric has worked with a variety of B2C and B2B brands including Google, Microsoft, Intel, GEICO, Walmart, P&G, Pizza Hut, Acura, Royal Caribbean, and Hyatt. He earned his undergraduate degree from Texas A&M University, and an MBA from The University of Texas at Dallas.    Questions ·      Could you share in your own, how it is that you got from where you were to where you are today? ·      Now, could you share with our listeners what is CallMiner and what exactly do you do? ·      The CallMiner CX Landscape Report, could you share with our listeners, I would say maybe three to five of the top themes or insights that we were able to garner from that data and that report? ·      What are your views as it relates to how leaders are actually utilising the CX data? Are they supporting and using it to make data driven decisions? Or is it just one of those reports that's generated and is there as a KPI but you're not really doing anything with the information. ·      Now, could you share with us what's the one online resource, tool, website or app that you absolutely can't live without in your business? ·      Could you also share with us maybe one or two books that you've read, it could be a book that you read recently, or even one that you read a very long time ago, but to this day, it still has had a great impact on you. ·      Now, could you also share with our listeners, Eric, what's the one thing that's going on in your life right now that you're really excited about? Either something you're working on to develop yourself or your people. ·      Where can listeners find you online? ·      Now, Eric, before we wrap our episodes up, we always like to ask our guests, do you have a quote or saying that during times of adversity or challenge you will tend to revert to this quote if for any reason you got derailed or you got off track, this quote kind of helps to get you back on track.   Highlights Eric's Journey Me: Now, before we jump into the conversation, I always like to give our guests an opportunity to share a little bit about their journey. So, could you share in your own words, how it is that you got from where you were to where you are today?   Eric shared that Yanique did a pretty good job of covering his bio and in her intro, so thank you for that. So, he started his career out as essentially a BDR or an SDR is what they're called, typically, at least in SaaS, which he thinks is one of the best first jobs you can have, especially if you have aspirations of doing something in either sales or marketing. So, you talk to a tonne of CMOs, who that was their first job as well, so that's where it started.  He spent a lot of time working in digital advertising and then ultimately integrated big agency advertising for a lot of big brands and then flipped over to the client side and worked at a tech company called Acquia, which was covered just briefly in that intro. It's an open DXP player, built on top of Drupal, which is an open source project. And essentially, think of it is an open source competitor to something like Adobe Experience Manager. So, spent three or four years at Acquia.  And after that was introduced to the CEO at CallMiner, and had a lot of great discussions and he has been at CallMiner as their Chief Marketing Officer since 2020. And they've had a really nice run so far, they've gone from about 40 million ARR to a little over 80. And they're still seeing some nice growth despite maybe some of like macroeconomic headwinds.   What is CallMiner? Eric shared that CallMiner, they are the leader in conversation intelligence, specifically focused in more on customer service. So, if you think of any large company that has one or more large customer service agents, contact centres. So, they'll utilize their platform to ingest, so record and analyze every single customer interaction, whether that be a phone call to a customer service agent, texts to and from an agent, chats with an agent, survey data, all of that gets analyzed, and it's able to then turn around in real time and provide that customer service agent with guidance on to how to be able to deliver a better customer experience, guidance on how to answer the questions or access resources better. And then ultimately, if you're able to mind through millions of customer interactions, there's extremely valuable insights that can be discovered. And so, through machine learning in their artificial intelligence, their platform delivers that which is the larger value proposition.   The CallMiner CX Lanscape Report and the Insigts Garner From That Data Me: Alright, thank you for sharing that information on CallMiner. In leading up to the interview with you, Eric, I was shared a copy of the report, The CallMiner CX Landscape Report, and I'm sure you're familiar with it right as the Chief. So, could you share with our listeners, I would say maybe three to five of the top themes or insights that we were able to garner from that data and that report?   Eric stated that first and foremost, the CX Landscape Report that Yanique's referencing, it's an annual report that they publish so, it's original research for them. So, they do a survey of 700 plus CX and contact centre leaders across the globe and then what they'll try to do is keep a lot of those questions the same year over year as new trends and topics tend to emerge, they'll introduce a few new questions, but that way they're able to ultimately keep a pulse on what is important, and what sort of trends they're seeing with CX and contact centre leaders across the globe.  In this particular one, so in the one that they published in late 2023, obviously, and this is not going to shock anyone but one of the biggest topics that was not new but he would say the focus on it was extremely heightened, is around artificial intelligence, you'd have to be living under a rock to not notice just the media firestorm around artificial intelligence, in particular generative AI in 2023 and even today.  A lot of the typical data that they'll look at in that report, and the findings have to do with, like he said, trends that contact centre professionals and CX professionals are seeing within their own organizations. But he would highlight a few specific findings around artificial intelligence since that seemed to be the dominant theme. What's interesting is couple of themes would be that nearly this is not going to shock anybody, but nearly all of them are looking to implement some aspect of artificial intelligence in the next 12 to 18 months. The interesting sub stat to that is of those, over half aren't really sure what they're supposed to do basically, they know they need it, whether they were told this or whether they inherently think they need artificial intelligence in some way. So, they're investigating it, but they are a little bit lost in terms of where exactly to apply it. So, that was one of the first overarching thematics is everybody wants it, but they're not sure what to do with it.  The next is, now that we've moved a little bit beyond, maybe like the hype cycle of all of this, where he thinks everybody is rushing to go do something, and you've got a little bit of fear of missing out. Now they've started moving into the stage where companies are actually starting to try and implement some of these things. And what they've moved into now is sort of the reality stage, which is they're starting to realize that there's some risk inherently with this, largely around compliance, around the protection of their brand. Because sometimes these generative AI models can have hallucinations, etc. So, he thinks they're getting into the reality stage of actually trying to implement it and realizing that you have to take a much more responsible approach to how we think about this, and that there is no AI silver bullet out there that's going to solve all of your CX problems.  The last one, and the underlying aspect of this is actually something that they have heard, even before they started digging deeper into AI trends for CX leaders, and that has to do with how CX is positioned among the entire company/organization. So, in many cases, CX is disconnected from the contact centre, which is never good. Or you've got CX that is its own central thing, your meeting, you've got CXO, you've got a team. And then in other cases, CX is sort of sprinkled in multiple departments. And so what this kind of leads to is a bit of a disconnect, in terms of how you can roll out properly something as expansive as artificial intelligence within a piece of software across all these different pieces that are somewhat disconnected within the organization.  The other thing it leads to is let's say you've got a contact centre, and you've got all this amazing data, because of the disconnections here, some of that incredible data coming out of all these customer interactions is never actually making it further than the contact centre because of those disconnects. So, the last theme has to do with how companies typically will measure CX or a voice of the customer programme. He thinks as everybody who might be listening to this podcast know CX when it all comes down to it is largely has grown up and is still inherently based on surveys. So, whether it be an NPS or CSAT survey, but these are solicited surveys, solicited answers from a survey which sometimes can be very polarizing.  The big opportunity and where he think the industry is going is to combine that survey data with unsolicited data. And so this would be the data that comes out of contact centres and customer service centres, actual conversations that have a motion that we can measure versus solicited questions and answers. So, he thinks the combination of those two is where CX in general is going. And what you'll find is companies that are a little bit more mature and have a better org structure are already tapping into some of that data out of their contact centre.   Me: Wow, that's amazing. I think that's a great idea to merge the data that is collected from people who are actually talking to customers on a daily basis. I mean, the reality is, in a contact centre, customers only call for two reasons, right, to make a complaint or to make a request, there is no other reason why they're calling.   Eric agreed, that's correct. So again, you think of like, put it in the consumer perspective, other than the major influencers, when you go put something on a review about a hotel you stayed at or about some restaurant you went to on Yelp, largely it's because it was either an amazing experience that you just can't help yourself, or it was such a bad experience that you just can't help yourself. So, it becomes polarizing, which is why using surveys only is flawed to truly measure CX.   How Leaders Utilize CX Data Me: Now, what do you think leaderships' role is? Being in the industry and also being in marketing with a lot of exposure working with different organizations, what are your views as it relates to how leaders are actually utilizing the CX data? Are they supporting and using it to make data driven decisions? Or is it just one of those reports that's generated and is there as a KPI but you're not really doing anything with the information.   Eric stated that if you look at their CX landscape report or talk to most large companies, for the most part, they're using CSAT score which is survey based, or an NPS score as kind of a one metric, if you got all the way up to the CEO level that they're looking at on a regular basis to measure sort of the barometer of where their customer experience offering is at this point.  He thinks to the question as a whatever a marketing leader in his case, one of the main things that they're responsible for is helping to better align the organization to where the right data is making its way up, helping to make sure that data is organized in a way that a CEO or a Chief Product Officer, which is another beneficiary of a lot of this unstructured data and the insights from it, or even in many cases, the CMO for him isn't able to get the insights, the root cause of understanding what some of these issues might be that they're trying to solve for.  So, he thinks aligning the organzsation so that the data can reach the right people, and then making sure that data is packaged up in the right way to where it is executive friendly in some of the things that a leader should be thinking about and trying to make this better.    Me: And I can imagine also not just spitting out scores in terms of X percent of this type of customer feels this way, but linking it to tangible things, especially for leaders who think in dollars and cents, if we have a decline in this particular area over x period of time, what will this mean for our bottom line? What does it mean for future initiatives and innovation that we may need to implement? So, I would imagine that would be the kind of mindset they'd have to have.   Eric agreed, absolutely, excellent point. And even if as a first step you're continuing to just use NPS and CSAT, you should have an understanding to your point, by looking at all of your forecasting and previous years financials, you should be able to point to an increase in one point is going to result in this much the bottom line. So, he definitely agree with that point.   App, Website or Tool that Eric Absolutely Can't Live Without in His Business When asked about an online resource that he can't live without in his business, Eric shared that sadly, probably the calculator on his phone just because he's constantly needing to tally up the percentages in different stats as he's doing some of his own reporting at an executive level, he must open that thing up several times a day.  From a website standpoint, they utilize the analyst reports quite a bit. So Forrester, who is one of the top tier analysts and the one who issued out the Forrester Wave that they're a leader in, so, he utilize them quite a bit from a research standpoint so that they can get a better understanding of where they predict the industry is going. So, he definitely tap into Forrester and Gartner quite a bit for that.  And then from a marketing standpoint, and Demand Gen. So, they have several vendors that they work with, so 6sense for their ABM intent platform, Outreach for their BDR platform. And he finds that some of the best resources that they can utilize for training for those particular teams. So, he spent some time looking through their most recent thought leadership and training materials to try and identify how he can help his team get better.   Books that Have Had the Biggest Impact on Eric When asked about books that have had a great impact, Eric stated that he would say from a business standpoint, so separate out fiction from a business standpoint, he thinks some of the classics like Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't by Jim Collins, probably some of the ones that resonated with him the most and still, you can go back and reference. When he flip over to that sort of pleasure reading fiction, Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald has always been his favourite book. It's not a long read probably one of the reasons why, but he thinks he must have read that book 50 times.    What Eric is Really Excited About Now! When asked about something that he's excited about, Eric stated just keeping it focused around CallMiner, his company and his team. He thinks one of the things that he's really excited about is all of them that are in tech SaaS, they really had a rough 2023, whether it be, layoffs in terms of correction on over hiring and 2021. But mostly, a lot of this is coming from just general macro conditions, macroeconomic conditions globally.  He thinks what he's excited about is towards the end of 2023, they started to see a light at the end of the tunnel and sent some positive signals that they're turning the corner a bit, which he thinks anyone who works in tech should be excited about. He'll be interested to see how Q1 and maybe Q2, go for 2024 to see if that continues to more positive signals, and they start to see their prospects and their customer base be a little less cautious with their budgets and a little less conservative and be willing to maybe do some expansion and some testing within the platforms that they offer. So, he's excited about that. And he thinks most tech companies are right now.   Where Can We Find Eric Online Website – www.callminer.com LinkedIn - CallMiner   Quote or Saying that During Times of Adversity Eric Uses When asked about a quote or saying that he tends to revert to, Eric stated that he doesn't know if this would be adversity, but they're constantly he feels like they're in the midst of adversity when they're trying to roll new campaigns out, roll new products out to the market. And something that he and several of his other C level peers, “Perfection is the enemy of progress.” So, he thinks it's very easy to get in your own way, and try to make something so perfect that you know it's going to be success and that's just a fallacy. And it's much better to do all the due diligence, do all the work to make it as good as you can. But get it out there and then learn from it early and make some changes to it than it is to just be unrealistic that you're going to be able to perfect something before you launch it. Me: True. That's a very good quote. Excellent point. Eric stated that he doesn't know who to attribute that quote to, by the way, but somebody wrote it.   Me: Well, Eric, I just want to tell you, thank you so much for taking time out of your very busy schedule and hopping on our podcast, and sharing all of this great content as it relates to what CallMiner does, about the report that your company had published that you publish on an annual basis and the great insights that were able to be derived from it, as well as moving forward what organisations can look towards in terms of where they should be placing their energy in order to be yielding the greatest success as it relates to customer experience. So, just want to extend greatest level of gratitude. Thank you so much.   Please connect with us on Twitter @navigatingcx and also join our Private Facebook Community – Navigating the Customer Experience and listen to our FB Lives weekly with a new guest   Links •     Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't by Jim Collins •     Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald   The ABC's of a Fantastic Customer Experience Grab the Freebie on Our Website – TOP 10 Online Business Resources for Small Business Owners  Do you want to pivot your online customer experience and build loyalty - get a copy of “The ABC's of a Fantastic Customer Experience.” The ABC's of a Fantastic Customer Experience provides 26 easy to follow steps and techniques that helps your business to achieve success and build brand loyalty. This Guide to Limitless, Happy and Loyal Customers will help you to strengthen your service delivery, enhance your knowledge and appreciation of the customer experience and provide tips and practical strategies that you can start implementing immediately! This book will develop your customer service skills and sharpen your attention to detail when serving others. Master your customer experience and develop those knock your socks off techniques that will lead to lifetime customers. Your customers will only want to work with your business and it will be your brand differentiator. It will lead to recruiters to seek you out by providing practical examples on how to deliver a winning customer service experience!

In This Episode:    While strategic planning certainly plays a huge role in the business world, a version of strategic planning also drives our local, state, and federal government. We usually just don't notice it, because we can't see behind the scenes. But there are still important lessons that entrepreneurs can learn from those who have worked in the public sector. Our guest this week is someone who has plenty to teach.   Andy Takata has worked as a city manager and has over 21 years of experience with three full-service cities and two contract cities. He's worked in economic development, planning, recreation, development, and municipal-operated water, wastewater, and electrical utilities.    Tune into the full conversation for more on some of the differences in effective strategic planning for the private sector vs the public sector, how to avoid getting distracted by “shiny objects” when you already have a set plan (plus the potential benefits of noticing those shiny objects), Andy's experience officiating water polo at the Olympics, and a lot more.   Here's a Glimpse of What You'll Learn:    What Andy does now, and why he came out of retirement in order to do it The two main forms of local government and the differences in how cities are run How long it takes to complete projects at the governmental level, and why these processes can sometimes take a long time  How to deal with differences in political ideologies when crafting and executing long-term strategic plans for cities and communities The differences in how success is measured in the public sector vs in the private sector How Andy got involved with water polo, and how he worked his way up to eventually refereeing at the Olympics How Andy has built effective habits in his life and how those habits enabled him to keep a balance in his life despite being involved in so many things  The difference between being “busy” and “busy strategically” How Andy has been able to avoid shiny object syndrome in his work, and the advice he would give to others to not get distracted by things that won't move you forward One surprising observation that Andy had about the world-class athletes at the Olympics (and the ones who didn't make the cut) How Andy measures success in his personal life — and how that might shift as he prepares to head into his second retirement   Resources Mentioned in This Episode:   The city of DuPont, Washington Andy Takata on LinkedIn “If it Ain't Broke…Break It!: And Other Unconventional Wisdom for a Changing Business World” by Robert J. Kriegel and Louis Palter “Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't” by Jim Collins “For the Love of Cities” by Peter Kageyama “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen R. Covey Buy a copy of “Lost at CEO: An Entrepreneur's Guide to Strategy” by Carl J. Cox  40 Strategy Contact 40 Strategy Carl J. Cox on LinkedIn

Chris Shipferling is a Founding Partner at GW Partners, a M&A firm providing operational consulting, financial management, and strategic planning. He's also a Founding Partner at South Col, an e-commerce accelerator providing capital, strategic advice, operational support, and exit strategy. Chris has 20 years of experience in the consumer product sector, navigating sales and marketing roles across the spectrum from small businesses to corporate giants. His passion lies in guiding founders to achieve their goals with his deep understanding of the consumer products industry and expertise in digital strategy and e-commerce. In this episode… 10x-ing your brand typically refers to achieving exponential growth and impact for your brand. What are some highly effective strategies if you're an Amazon seller who wants to 10x your brand or maybe even become a household name? One of the most common mistakes e-commerce sellers make is relying on a single sales channel — usually Amazon. If you haven't already, e-commerce strategist Chris Shipferling insists you broaden your reach by listing your products on multiple marketplaces, such as Etsy, Walmart, Newegg, and Rakuten. Next, he encourages sellers to experiment with influencers and affiliates to drive traffic to your DTC channel or TikTok Shop. Finally, Chris advocates for leveraging the skill of experts who can help sellers reach their goals more quickly. Join Josh Hadley in this episode of the eComm Breakthrough Podcast as he welcomes Chris Shipferling, Founding Partner at GW Partners, to discuss how brands can 10x their business. Chris talks about what attracts aggregators to brands, scaling using omnichannel strategies, and why sellers should learn to leverage TikTok Shop. Resources mentioned in this episode: Josh Hadley on LinkedIn eComm Breakthrough Consulting eComm Breakthrough Podcast Email Josh Hadley: Josh@eCommBreakthrough.com Hadley Designs Hadley Designs on Amazon Chris Shipferling on LinkedIn GW Partners Special Mention(s): Adam “Heist” Runquist on LinkedIn Kevin King on LinkedIn Michael E. Gerber on LinkedIn The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It by Michael E. Gerber Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't by Jim Collins Ben Leonard on LinkedIn Rick Watson on LinkedIn Northbeam Source Medium Related Episode(s): “Cracking the Amazon Code: Learn From Adam Heist's Brand Scaling Secrets” on the eComm Breakthrough Podcast “Kevin King's Wicked-Smart Tips for Building an Audience of Raving Fans” on the eComm Breakthrough Podcast “Unlocking Entrepreneurial Greatness | Insider Secrets With E-Myth Author Michael Gerber” on the eComm Breakthrough Podcast

Did you know that you can plan momentum into your future? It's called the flywheel effect.The concept of a "flywheel" came from the book Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't by Jim Collings. It refers to creating a strategy that gains momentum over time through consistent execution and reinvestment.The key to an effective flywheel is identifying the core driver that will propel it forward, like the guest experience for a short term rental business. But once you know the core drivers, you also need to be mindful of how you're feeding the flywheel for continued growth, such as reinvesting profits.Bobby Herrington, Pastor, Ultra Marathon Coach and STR business owner, joins Mark today on the show for part 1 of a series on Leadership and the various ways in which it affects your business and life.Tune in to understand how developing a strategic flywheel plan tailored to your specific goals and strengths is key to achieving sustainable success. And to adjust your vision to push you through even the toughest of challenges.In This Episode:00:00 Intro01:26 What is a Flywheel03:55 Flywheel strategy and what to do with profits10:46 Why you need a vision for your flywheel to work18:21 Using self awareness to design a flywheel for your lifeAnd more!Resources MentionedGood to Great by Jim Collins - https://a.co/d/6JrApvt Connect with Bobby Herrington:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bherringtonruns/Website: https://www.205endurance.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/bobby.herrington.792Connect with Mark McDaniel:Website - https://staysimpli.com/Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/staysimpli/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/people/Staysimpli/100088214988017/Twitter - ​​https://twitter.com/staysimpliTikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@staysimpli

Inbal Shani is the chief product officer at GitHub, where she leads core product management, along with product strategy, marketing, open source, and communities, including the development of GitHub Copilot. Prior to joining GitHub, she led engineering and product teams at Amazon and Microsoft. In today's conversation, we discuss:• What Inbal believes is overhyped and underhyped in the rapidly changing field of AI• How AI-driven code generation is changing software development• Her take on whether AI will replace developers• How software development looks in 3 to 5 years• How product teams operate at GitHub• GitHub's Next team, and other ways the company fosters a culture of innovation• The success metrics and philosophy behind GitHub's Copilot—Brought to you by Jira Product Discovery—Atlassian's new prioritization and roadmapping tool built for product teams | Sanity—The most customizable content layer to power your growth engine | HelpBar by Chameleon—The free in-app universal search solution built for SaaS—Find the transcript for this episode and all past episodes at: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/episodes/. Today's transcript will be live by 8 a.m. PT.—Where to find Inbal Shani:• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/inbalshani/—Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/—In this episode, we cover:(00:00) Inbal's background(04:17) Why generative AI is not going to replace developers in the near future (05:54) Why AI-driven testing is underhyped(07:48) What the next 3 to 5 years will look like(10:13) Stats around the use of GitHub Copilot (12:07) How Copilot enables engineers to work more efficiently(13:38) Common mistakes when adopting AI into your workflows(16:42) How GitHub operationalizes “dogfooding”(18:46) The philosophy behind Copilot(20:24) Copilot's success metrics(24:54) How Copilot encourages collaboration(26:37) What we lose when AI writes code for us(29:35) A retrospective on the generative AI space(30:47) Inbal's thoughts on the future of AI(32:35) How to make space for innovative product ideas(34:37) How GitHub stays on the cutting edge of innovation(36:44) The GitHub Next team(39:20) Advice for early product managers(42:17) Inbal's “biggest learning” from her career(45:34) Inbal's closing thoughts(46:19) Lightning round—Referenced:• How to measure and improve developer productivity | Nicole Forsgren (Microsoft Research, GitHub, Google): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/how-to-measure-and-improve-developer-productivity-nicole-forsgren-microsoft-research-github-goo/• DORA: https://dora.dev/• The role of AI in product development | Ryan J. Salva (VP of Product at GitHub, Copilot): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/the-role-of-ai-in-new-product-development-ryan-j-salva-vp-of-product-at-github-copilot/• GitHub Universe 2023 day 2 keynote: The productivity platform for all developers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_o9kFPVeiw• Satya Nadella on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/satyanadella/• TomTom: https://www.tomtom.com/• Failing Forward: Turning Mistakes into Stepping Stones for Success: https://www.amazon.com/Failing-Forward-Turning-Mistakes-Stepping/dp/0785288570/• Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't: https://www.amazon.com/Good-Great-Some-Companies-Others/dp/0066620996• Turning the Flywheel: A Monograph to Accompany Good to Great: https://www.amazon.com/Turning-Flywheel-Monograph-Accompany-Great/dp/0062933795• Dare to Lead Like a Girl: How to Survive and Thrive in the Corporate Jungle: https://www.amazon.com/Dare-Lead-Like-Girl-Corporate/dp/1538163527• All the Light We Cannot See on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/81083008• The Wheel of Time on Amazon Prime: https://www.amazon.com/Wheel-Time-Season-1/dp/B09F59CZ7R—Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.—Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

Have you ever considered what it takes to be a leader in a highly demanding field like law? On this episode of Great Practice, Great Life, join Steve as he sits down with Glenn Gutek, a seasoned practice advisor with a rich background in psychology, philosophy, and comedy, no less! We explore his unique journey from pastor to leadership guru while also exploring why stand-up comedy and improv turned out to be invaluable skills in his toolbox. It's a conversation that's as entertaining as it is insightful. We unveil the four pillars of leadership: managing stress, handling complexity, making decisions, and assessing charisma. We take a deep look at why these are paramount when leading law firms or any organization. But it's not just about knowing what makes a good leader - we also discuss how to become one. Glenn shares some trade secrets, including the four practices that can enhance your leadership skills: reading, writing, reflecting, and retreating. Being a leader can feel like a solo journey, but it doesn't have to be. We discuss the value of self-awareness, feedback, and learning from those around you. We also dive into the connection between leadership and building a successful law practice and a fulfilling life. If you want to improve your leadership impact, Glenn Gutek's journey is sure to inspire you. In this episode, you will hear: Glenn Gutek's unique journey from pastor to leadership guru, using his background in psychology, philosophy, and stand-up comedy The four pillars of leadership: managing stress, handling complexity, making decisions, and assessing charisma How to enhance leadership skills through four practices: reading, writing, reflecting, and retreating The importance of self-awareness, feedback, and learning from those around you for effective leadership The connection between leadership skills and building a successful law practice and a fulfilling life Emotional intelligence in leadership, referencing the work of Robert Goldman The challenges of leadership and the significance of self-reflection and continuous learning Follow and Review: We'd love for you to follow us if you haven't yet. Click that purple '+' in the top right corner of your Apple Podcasts app. We'd love it even more if you could drop a review or 5-star rating over on Apple Podcasts. Simply select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review” then a quick line with your favorite part of the episode. It only takes a second and it helps spread the word about the podcast. Supporting Resources: Glenn Gutek: Certified Practice Advisor: atticusadvantage.com/our-team/glenn-gutek Practice Growth Program®: atticusadvantage.com/what-we-do/coaching-growth-programs/pgp Dominate Your Market®: atticusadvantage.com/what-we-do/dominate-your-market Team Leader Certification: atticusadvantage.com/what-we-do/team-leader-certification Double Your Revenue® Workshop: atticusadvantage.com/what-we-do/double-your-revenue-workshop Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman: a.co/d/0Znbza9 Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't by Jim Collins: a.co/d/a7VSbNh Episode Credits If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Emerald City Productions. They helped me grow and produce the podcast you are listening to right now. Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com Let them know we sent you.

We're diving back into AI to cover its game-changing role in content creation and Google's response to AI-generated content—a must-listen episode for marketers looking to keep the algorithm happy and rank content on page one. Ben Brown, Chief Experience Officer at Juji, gives practical advice and takeaways on:(*) Predictions for the state of AI technology in the next 5 years. [10:34](*) Leveraging AI for the rapid production of high-quality content. [14:33](*) Preparing for Google's response to AI-generated content. [21:14]More Time Stamps:* (01:18) Ben's background in groundbreaking AI* (20:20) Avoiding the downfall of lazy content* (30:09) Lightning round!Contact Us:We'd love to hear from you! Reach out to us at PageOne@DemandJump.com.Sponsor:This podcast is brought to you by DemandJump. Tired of wasting time creating content that doesn't rank? With DemandJump you know the exact content to create to increase 1st-page rankings and drive outcomes. Get started for free today at DemandJump.com.Links & Resources:Don't be a stranger: Follow Ben, Ryan, and Drew on LinkedIn.Settle the debate: Is Practical Magic a Halloween movie or a chick-flick? Check out the trailer for the 1998 film starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman.Check out Ben's book recommendation for anyone in business, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't by Jim Collins.Here's another awesome book to boost your business by co-host Ryan Brock: Pillar-Based Marketing: A Data-Driven Methodology for SEO and Content That Actually Works

Bill Carr is the co-author of Working Backwards: Insights, Stories, and Secrets from Inside Amazon. With a background at Amazon of over 15 years, Bill played a pivotal role in shaping the company's global digital music and video ventures, including Amazon Music, Prime Video, and Amazon Studios. After Amazon, Bill was an Executive in Residence with Maveron, an early-stage, consumer-only venture capital firm. He later served as the chief operating officer of OfferUp, the largest mobile marketplace for local buyers and sellers in the U.S. Today he's the co-founder of Working Backwards LLC, where he helps companies implement Amazon's time-tested management strategies. In this episode, we discuss:• What exactly “working backwards” is, and how you do it• Why having “single-threaded leaders” is so effective• Inside Amazon's intense product review process• How to actually follow the “disagree and commit” principle• The thinking behind the principle “Leaders are right, a lot”• Input vs. output metrics• Fostering a culture of risk-taking and innovation• The role and responsibilities of a “bar raiser” in your hiring, and how it significantly improves the success rate of new hires—Brought to you by AssemblyAI—Production-ready AI models to transcribe and understand speech | Coda—Meet the evolution of docs | Wix Studio—The web creation platform built for agencies—Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/unpacking-amazons-unique-ways-of-working-bill-carr-author-of-working-backwards/—Where to find Bill Carr:• X: https://twitter.com/BillCarr89• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bill-carr/• Website: https://www.workingbackwards.com/—Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/—In this episode, we cover:(00:00) Bill's background(04:26) Amazon's workplace evolution(09:54) Amazon's “fitness function”(11:44) Single-threaded leadership(18:07) Implementing a program orientation with single-threaded leadership(20:16) The GM model vs. single-threaded leadership(21:31) Functional countermeasures needed for single-threaded leadership(25:22) Embracing the “disagree and commit” principle(30:22) Understanding disagreements(32:41) Deciphering Amazon's “Leaders are right, a lot” principle(35:25) An explanation of the working backwards framework(41:16) PR FAQ process: Amazon's innovation engine(44:47) Deconstructing the PR FAQ structure(43:49) The concentric circle model for sharing PR FAQs(44:55) The customer problem-solution statement(47:52) Create a product funnel, not a product tunnel(51:19) How Amazon promotes action vs. talk(54:35) Amazon's flywheel and input metrics(1:00:51) Signs you've got a good input metric(1:04:23) How mistakes can still be made with working backwards(1:06:54) Why disagreements aren't necessarily signs products will fail(1:08:02) Examples of failed Amazon projects(1:09:55) Cultivating risk-taking and accepting failure(1:13:57) Amazon's “bar-raiser” practice for hiring(1:18:21) Selecting Amazon's bar raisers(1:20:41) Advice on implementing practices from Working Backwards(1:23:10) Bill's work as an advisor(1:26:05) Lightning round—Referenced:• Working Backwards: Insights, Stories, and Secrets from Inside Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Working-Backwards-Insights-Stories-Secrets/dp/1250267595• Jeff Bezos on X: https://twitter.com/jeffbezos• D.E. Shaw: https://www.deshaw.com/• Eric Ries's website: https://theleanstartup.com/• GM business model: https://fourweekmba.com/general-motors-business-model/• Rick Dalzell on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richarddalzell/• The Effective Decision by Peter F. Drucker: https://hbr.org/1967/01/the-effective-decision• Template: Working Backwards PR FAQ: https://www.workingbackwards.com/resources/working-backwards-pr-faq• Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't: https://www.amazon.com/Good-Great-Some-Companies-Others/dp/0066620996• The Amazon flywheel: https://feedvisor.com/resources/amazon-trends/amazon-flywheel-explained/• Sixsigma: https://www.6sigma.us/• Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas That Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform Industries: https://www.amazon.com/Loonshots-Nurture-Diseases-Transform-Industries/dp/1250185963• Andy Jassy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andy-jassy-8b1615/• Implementing Amazon's Bar Raiser Process in Hiring: A Quick Guide: https://www.barraiser.com/blogs/implementing-amazons-bar-raiser-process-in-hiring• Microspeak: The As-Appropriate (AA) interviewer: https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20231017-00/?p=108897• The Practice of Management: https://www.amazon.com/Practice-Management-Peter-F-Drucker/dp/0060878975• The Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done: https://www.amazon.com/Effective-Executive-Definitive-Harperbusiness-Essentials/dp/0060833459• Steve Jobs: https://www.amazon.com/Steve-Jobs-Walter-Isaacson/dp/1451648537• Seveneves: https://www.amazon.com/Seveneves-Neal-Stephenson/dp/0062334514• A Gentleman in Moscow: https://www.amazon.com/A-Gentleman-in-Moscow/dp/0143110438• Dune on Prime Video: https://www.amazon.com/Dune-Timoth%C3%A9e-Chalamet/dp/B09LJXY4PH• A Spy Among Friends: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15565872/• Zipp 303 Firecrest tubeless disc brake: https://www.sram.com/en/zipp/models/wh-303-ftld-a1• The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of the Learning Organization: https://www.amazon.com/Fifth-Discipline-Practice-Learning-Organization/dp/0385517254—Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.—Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

Meet Wayne M. Zell: the brain behind Blueprint for Wealth Podcast and the big boss at Zell Law & Aspire to Exit. With 30+ years under his belt, Wayne's the real MVP of business succession planning. He's saved clients big bucks and turned entrepreneurs into multimillion-dollar success stories. Today, we get the lowdown on crafting a killer vision for your business, the gold in solid habits, and a killer strategy to dodge those pesky death taxes. And a bonus? Wayne spills the tea on why in-house marketing beats outsourcing any day.Ready to level up your wealth game? Dive into this episode with Wayne Zell. Hit play!

In episode 10 we are taking a deep dive into personal transformation as we explore the groundbreaking Immunity to Change process by Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey. This is a powerful yet accessible tool for any leader to utilize in their journey towards unlocking their potential and embracing change with open arms. Resources in this episode Immunity to Change: How to Overcome It and Unlock the Potential in Yourself and Your Organization (Leadership for the Common Good) – Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey An Everyone Culture: Becoming a Deliberately Developmental Organization – Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't – Jim Collins Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter – Liz Wiseman (As an Amazon Associate, we earn commissions from qualifying purchases made through the Amazon links above.) To stay informed and sign up for our newsletter click HERE Contact us HERE to: Send us your comments Tell us how your Leadership Challenge experience went Or to let us know about specific topics you would like us to discuss on future podcasts

Hello there! Welcome back to another episode of The Female Empowered Podcast. What we're talking about today is evaluating team members and how to keep a great team. This has been a topic that has come up a lot in my recent conversations.The other things that we will be talking about are regular check-ins and reviews, regular and consistent feedback, rewarding and praising good work, working through problems, and deciding when it's time to part ways. I hope that this episode will help you foster a great team culture!Let's dive into:  Introduction to today's topicHow much it will cost you replacing a single employee according to statistics and why it costs that muchThings that you can do as owner or manager to foster a positive working environment and encourage people to stayHave a regular check-in and review with your team members: People want to know that they are being heard and their work is being validatedAnother important statistic on how many American workers feels engaged in their jobsStrategies that you do to boost engagement with your team so you can retain and hold on to themPraise in public, reprimand in privateNon-financial incentives and actionable strategies to keep and retain team members because not everyone is motivated by pay or salaryAnything that is going to help your staff members be better will ultimately help you be betterThe importance of open communication with your teamThe rubric I use for my team so they can get to the next pay tiersAddressing issues as immediately as you can and setting expectations clearlyThe mindset to keep your best team members: I'm going to do my very best to keep the best people here; I'm going to treat them so well that they're not gonna want to go somewhere elseMy Top 10 Books on Leadership and Team building that I've read and helped me build my great teamConclusionLooking for advice and resources to help you market and grow your clinic or client based business? Visit my website or follow me on Instagram!Books Mentioned In This EpisodeHow Great Leaders Inspire Action by Simon SinekDrive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel H. PinkLeaders Eat Last by Simon SinekThe Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick LencioniGood to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...and Others Don't by James C. CollinsDare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts by Brené BrownThe Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups by Daniel CoyleMultipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter by Greg McKeown and Liz WisemanPrimal Leadership by Daniel GolemanThe Ideal Team Player: How to Recognize and Cultivate The Three Essential Virtues by Patrick LencioniThanks for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review for the show to help other female fitness and wellness professionals find our podcast! Interested in being a guest on a future Female Friday episode? Email me at Christa@pilatesinthegrove.com!

In this episode of Partnering Leadership, Mahan Tavakoli speaks with Stephen M.R. Covey. Stephen M.R. Covey is the New York Times and Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author of The Speed Of Trust,  former CEO of Covey Leadership Center, and author of Trust And Inspire: How Truly Great Leaders Unleash Greatness in Others. Stephen shares why many leaders are still operating with a command and control mindset and the need to develop the mindset and capabilities of becoming trusting and inspiring leaders. Stephen M.R. Covey shares stories and frameworks on how we can better understand trust in leadership and how trust and inspire leaders can unleash the potential of their teams and organizations.    Some highlights:-Stephen M.R. Covey on the crucial role that parents play in teaching responsibility, commitment, and initiative and how his father, Stephen Covey, applied trust and inspire principles in his parenting-On why traditional leadership models do not work with the changing world and in the new work environment-Stephen M.R. Covey on the stewardships of leadership-How leaders can lead behavior change in their organizations -Stephen M.R. Covey on the role trust plays in leadership and how leaders can become more trusting -The power of inspiring others and its impact on leadership-What it takes to become a trust inspire leader Mentioned:- Dr. Stephen R. Covey, author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People- David Marquet (Listen to David Marquet episode on Partnering Leadership)- Frances Frei and Anne Morriss, author of Unleashed: The Unapologetic Leader's Guide to Empowering Everyone Around You- Jim Collins, author of Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't  Connect with Stephen M.R. Covey:Trust and InspireTrust and Inspire on AmazonSpeed of Trust The Speed of Trust on AmazonStephen M.R. Covey on FacebookStephen M.R. Covey on TwitterStephen M.R. Covey on LinkedIn Connect with Mahan Tavakoli: Mahan Tavakoli Website Mahan Tavakoli on LinkedIn Partnering Leadership Website

Since launching this show in September 2015, the podcasting landscape has grown and changed tremendously. What was once a niche sandbox of independent producers pursuing passion projects has blossomed into an abundant field where it seems as though every major media property, celebrity, side hustler, and business owner decided to throw their hat (mic?) into the audio arena. Since I'm not nearly ambitious or prolific enough to share three hundred lessons learned in honor of today's major milestone, or even thirty, I thought I'd boil it down to my top three creative lessons learned in seven years of creating content in a constantly changing space. This crossover episode originally aired on the Pivot podcast on November 13, 2022. Before going any further, thank you from the bottom of my heart—this show wouldn't be nearly what it is without you here listening and sharing with friends. Thank you for listening these last seven years, and I'm looking forward to seeing what the years ahead bring us!

On this episode of Gathering The Kings, Carla James, CEO of Solidus, joins Chaz Wolfe on the queen's stage. As a woman-owned engineering firm operating in the Government Contracting space, Carla's company provides technical expertise to government organizations, playing a crucial role in securing national security.During the episode, Carla shares her experiences, including the challenges she faced when a prime contractor ghosted her company, leading to layoffs before the holidays. Chaz and Carla dive into the significance of being mission-driven, the art of spotting red flags in business partnerships, and the power of stepping out of one's comfort zone for personal and professional growth. Tune in to this episode and discover the insights from a true boss in the industry. During this episode, you will learn about;[00:00] Introduction[01:52] Intro to Carla and her business[03:20] What is the burning desire inside of Carla?[04:45] How did Carla's background in the Air Force shape who she is today?[10:22] The unplanned experience of starting a business with her business partner[13:27] The logic and courage that went into Carla's decision to start a business[17:37] A good business decision that Carla has made[19:55] A bad business decision that Carla has been able to learn from[23:31] What did Carla learn about people after making this bad decision?[28:04] What does active listening mean to Carla?[32:30] Carla's business resource recommendation[35:04] How does Carla obsess over family and business at the same time?[41:10] What advice would Carla give to the younger version of herself?[42:45] How to connect with Carla[43:50] Info on Gathering The KingsNotable Quotes"There's always the next mission. You know, it might not be serving in the Air Force, but there's always a mission behind everything you do." - Carla James"Getting out of your comfort zone is really the only way you're going to grow." - Carla James"We spend so much of our time at work, so you want to make it purposeful." - Carla James"I think for the most part, people are good, and I've had so many amazing employees and partners throughout the years. But every now and then, you have a bad apple, and I just have to be on the lookout for them and hopefully recognize it sooner rather than later." - Carla James"I'm a big fan of reading, so I encourage all my folks to just be curious and read." - Carla James"Being a CEO can be lonely." - Carla James"There is no king or queen talk here; this is just straight boss." - Chaz Wolfe (Host)"Get out of your comfort zone to find what's fulfilling." - Chaz Wolfe (Host)"You get to go home to your own Mastermind." - Chaz Wolfe (Host)Books and Resources Recommended:Sinek, Simon. Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action. Portfolio, 2009.Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action: Sinek, Simon: 8580001042060: Amazon.com: BooksCollins, Jim. Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't. HarperBusiness, 2001.

When someone is looking for what you're selling…are they finding you first?My dear friend and web guy, Vi Wickam, joins me today to drop some crucial tips on SEO for both brick and mortar and e-commerce retailers. We all Google everything. So it's no surprise that when your customers want to find something, they Google it too. How are you showing up?Vi breaks down the structure of Google results and how your retail business may fit into these sections ads, Shopping, Organic Results, Google Map Results, and Directories.If you're a Brick and Mortar business, your website and SEO will look different from an Ecommerce page with hundreds to thousands of products. For B&M, make sure your home page is solid, with your address and phone number on every page. (Listen to the episode for a great tip on formatting.)For Ecommerce, this is advice you'll hear over and over for various areas of business, BE HUMAN. Your product descriptions take the place of your on floor salespeople. So include the data and let it tell a story.Looking for help with web design and SEO? You can't improve what you can't measure, so get a good look at your analytics and find someone with full transparency. The tip Vi has here… you don't want to miss because it is critical to maintaining your assets.Whether you're just starting and need to fine tune your structural foundation or you're ready to get listed, there is so much packed into this episode that you wouldn't want to miss!I'm rooting for your success.  What's Inside:What is SEO and why do you need to utilize it?How to find the right person to assist with website design and SEO.Strategies for understanding optimizing SEO.A key tip about owning your assets.Brick and Mortar SEO  vs E-Commerce SEO.How Google disperses search results by paid ads and organic results.Mentioned In This Episode:​​Vi WickamGet Listed Now - Crystal MediaAmazon.com: Hell Yeah or No: what's worth doing eBook : Sivers, Derek: Kindle StoreAmazon.com: The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It eBook : Gerber, Michael E.: Kindle StoreAmazon.com: Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't eBook : Collins, Jim: Kindle StoreMerchant Center: Promote Products Online - Google for RetailGoogle Business Profile - Get Listed on GoogleEVOLVE 2024 in Denver, CO - Crystal MediaCrystal Media InsidersCrystal MediaCrystal on InstagramCrystal Media on Instagram

Yesterday Ed DeCosta passed away and so we decided to re-release our interview with him from five years ago. Not only was he an expert when it came to business and sales, but he was a friend to many. When I went through the John Maxwell Leadership certification program, he was the faculty member in charge of teaching us how to sell. His insights were different (and better) than I'd ever heard before. He was always kind and gave me time as I was starting out as an entrepreneur. Ed will be missed and this interview is worth listening to. R.I.P. Ed. The original show notes are below ... Ed DeCosta is one of the most engaging executive coaches and thought leaders of our time. He delivers results with companies of all sizes, from high tech start-ups to Fortune 500 corporations. Ed is a dynamic global speaker, who has shared the stage with the likes of John Maxwell, Darren Hardy, Christian Simpson, Les Brown, Nick Vujicic and others. He is an acclaimed author of books focused on personal and professional development, including ASCEND and Release Your Superhero. Ed has impacted countless lives as the developer and publisher of Ascend on Demand, an online personal development training program with users from around the globe. He is a force on social media with hundreds of thousands of followers on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram. Like clockwork, Ed publishes a long-standing weekly coaching blog, and also hosts a weekly YouTube show called “Get Edified.” He has worked with best-selling author and leadership guru John C. Maxwell, and served as one of a select few international faculty members in the Maxwell Leadership Development Program. Ed is also an ICF certified professional coach. In today's episode, we discuss: Having a better presence on social media, especially Linkedin How we are all salespeople regardless of our job or position Strategies to be more effective in selling anything Why you MUST pay attention to your Linkedin profile above all else Resources, Books, and Links  Ed's Website: www.EdDecosta.com Ed's Email: ed@eddecosta.com Ed's Online Training Program: www.eddecosta.com/ascend-on-demand Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/eddecosta Facebook: www.facebook.com/EdDeCosta Twitter: @EdDecosta Check out Ed's YouTube channel and get EDified by clicking here. Get My Daily EDge for free. It is a productivity tool that is based on the 7 habits. “No one ever lost a sale by listening. The best communicators are listeners.” (Ed Decosta) “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.” (Stephen Covey) Some of the books that Ed DeCosta has authored includes … Ascend: A Coach's Roadmap for Taking Your Performance to New Heights Release Your Superhero: How to Shed the Villains and Soar in Business and in Life Mastering the Art of Success: Volume 8 Recommended Books … Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't by Jim Collins Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change by Stephen Covey Ed was one of the 5 Faculty Teaching Mentors that I had when I went through the John Maxwell leadership coaching certification. He is the first faculty member that I interviewed but I have interviewed some fellow John Maxwell Team members. You can listen to their interviews below … Misty Young – Episode 005 Rick A. Morris – Episode 009 Greg and Julie Gorman – Episode 012 Jeff Raver – Episode 035 Justin Maust – Episode 040 Each week, the Success is a Choice podcasting network brings you leadership expert Jamy Bechler and guest experts who provide valuable insights, tips, and guidance on how to maximize your potential, build a stronger culture, develop good leadership, create a healthy vision, optimize results, and inspire those around you. Please follow Jamy on Twitter @CoachBechler for positive insights and tips on leadership, success, culture, and teamwork. - - - -  The Success is a Choice podcast network is made possible by TheLeadershipPlaybook.com. Great teams have great teammates and everyone can be a person of influence. Whether you're a coach, athletic director, or athlete, you can benefit from this program and now you can get 25% off the price when you use the coupon code CHOICE at checkout. Build a stronger culture today with better teammates and more positive leaders.  If you like motivational quotes, excerpts, or thoughts, then you'll want to check out Jamy Bechler's book "The Coach's Bulletin Board" as it has more than 1,000 positive insights to help you (and those around you) get motivated and inspired. Visit JamyBechler.com/BulletinBoardBook. - - - -  Please consider rating the podcast with 5 stars and leaving a quick review on Apple podcasts. Ratings and reviews are the lifeblood of a podcast. This helps tremendously in bringing the podcast to the attention of others. Thanks again for listening and remember that “Success is a choice. What choice will you make today?” - - - -  Jamy Bechler is the author of five books including "The Captain" and "The Bus Trip", host of the "Success is a Choice Podcast", professional speaker, and trains organizations on creating championship cultures. He previously spent 20 years as a college basketball coach and administrator.  TheLeadershipPlaybook.com is Bechler's online program that helps athletes become better teammates and more positive leaders while strengthening a team's culture. As a certified John Maxwell leadership coach, Bechler has worked with businesses and teams, including the NBA. Follow him on Twitter at @CoachBechler. To connect with him via email or find out about his services, please contact speaking@CoachBechler.com. You can also subscribe to his insights on success and leadership by visiting JamyBechler.com/newsletter.

In this episode, Kris sits down with Rob Rubicco, the entrepreneurial founder of Anna and Jack's Treehouse, a childcare business with a unique blend of corporate experience and a family feel. Rob shares the incredible journey of he and his wife Christina, starting with Anna's Treehouse in a basement and scaling it to multiple locations. With his background in management consulting for renowned companies like Disney and Coca-Cola, Rob brings a corporate approach to customer experience in the childcare industry. Rob talks about the selling points that set Anna and Jack's Treehouse apart, including their amazing programs, wonderful teachers, and even their homemade fresh pasta sauce. Rob emphasizes the importance of traditional values as a leader and the significance of setting clear expectations for teachers. He also shares his journey with the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) and how it has helped him scale his business with clarity and efficiency.   Key Takeaways: [6:37] The daycare that started it all, called Anna's Treehouse, that started in a basement, then Jack's Treehouse, and how it evolved into a commercial space. [11:01] Before getting into childcare, Rob was a management consultant, helping companies like Disney and Coca-Cola find ways to enhance their overall customer experience. [13:53] Taking care of the children of first responders during the pandemic. [17:19] We need less stigma around men in childcare and in leadership roles around childcare. [18:11] Fun fact: Rob is actually a trained chef, and even studied at the French Culinary Institute in Manhattan and appeared on the Food Network. [22:34] If their great programs and wonderful teachers don't do the trick of enrollment, the fresh pasta sauce may just be the next best-selling point. [24:17] Some of the great selling points at Anna and Jack's Treehouse that set them apart and give them that family feel. [29:33] Getting back to his traditional values as a leader. [30:29] The importance of setting expectations and communicating them clearly to teachers. [31:50] How Rob got into his EOS journey. [34:56] The structure of what EOS brings allows you to scale much more quickly and more pain-free with more clarity. [48:19] Using Trainual to systemize and build out their training platforms.   Quotes: “Every time we've grown and expanded, other than the Norwalk location, it's been because of demand.” — Rob [9:19] “When I first joined Treehouse, I came from the boardroom to the classroom, really. And I had to adjust my way of thinking from every perspective you could possibly imagine.” — Rob [15:45] “Whether it's a parent or a teacher, I just want to get to know them and understand what their aspirations are, what they're into, and not for any other reason than just to be a human.” — Rob [30:00] “The best sign of a super successful entrepreneur is somebody who is a fast implementer, from what we teach.” — Kris   Sponsored By: ChildCare Education Institute (CCEI) Use the code CCSC5 to claim a free course!   Mentioned in This Episode: Kris Murray The Child Care Success Company The Child Care Success Academy The Child Care Success Summit Grow Your Center Childcare Education Institute: use code CDARenewal22 to get $100 off your renewal Anna and Jack's Treehouse The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It, by Michael E. Gerber Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… And Others Don't, by Jim Collins The Finisher's Journal: High Performance Planner Rob Rubicco  

So you've found a team of great employees. But now your real work is just beginning: actually *keeping* them at your company. Our latest guest — the second time we've invited him onto the podcast — is someone who's built his whole career around helping organizations figure out the tricky world of recruitment and retention.    Ryan Englin is the CEO and Founder of Core Matters, and is passionate about supporting growing businesses to build amazingly productive companies by providing coaching and training on attracting, hiring, and retaining rock star employees using his proven process, the Core Fit Hiring System.    Tune into the full episode for more on how to find rock star employees (NOT super stars!), how most companies mess up during their employee onboarding processes, the problems with employee referral programs, how to counter someone's counteroffer, and more.    Here's a Glimpse of What You'll Learn:    More about Ryan's backstory, including why he left corporate and why he started his own business  Why a recruiting problem is actually a marketing issue How most companies approach their recruiting process — and why it's not actually the most effective way of attracting good employees Why most employee referral programs don't work The two problems that organizations need to solve in order to retain their employees The biggest mistakes that companies make during new employee onboarding  How an organization can build great “defining moments” for their employee experience  How to deal with when you've chosen a new employee, made an offer, and then that person's boss makes a counteroffer  Why Ryan tells organizations to “expect nothing” from new employees within their first 2 weeks on the job — and what that time period should include instead  The strategies that Ryan teaches company leaders that help bolster their employee retention  The difference between a “rock star” and a “super star” employee — and why one of them will get you in trouble quickly  More about personality assessments, and how results from those tests can give leaders clues whether an employee is a future rock star or super star  What a “core fit conversation” is, and how leaders can integrate them in order to improve retention    Resources Mentioned in This Episode:  Core Matters website Core Matters on LinkedIn Core Matters on Twitter Core Matters on Facebook “How to Hire the Ones You Won't Want to Fire: The Art of Pulling Back Their Mask to Really Know the Person You're About to Hire” by Ryan Englin and Jeremy Macliver “Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't” by Jim Collins  Buy a copy of “Lost at CEO: An Entrepreneur's Guide to Strategy” by Carl J. Cox  40 Strategy Contact 40 Strategy Carl J. Cox on LinkedIn  

If you're hoping to sell products, connect with new clients, attract investors for your company, or do any kind of business in today's world, then people need to know who you are. And public relations is an integral piece of getting your organization's story out into the world.    Our guest this week is an expert in that field. Susan Harrow is a media trainer, marketing strategist and author of the bestselling book, “Sell Yourself Without Selling Your Soul” from Harper Collins.    Tune into the full episode for more on the essential pieces of effective public relations, how leaders and entrepreneurs can get past imposter syndrome, what a “signature story” is and how business owners can craft their own, and more.   Here's a Glimpse of What You'll Learn:    More about what Susan does, why she got into public relations, and what she says is an “epidemic” among business owners today Why PR can “open the entire world” to an entrepreneur or company The 3 P's of successful public relations How Susan helps her clients overcome imposter syndrome and the tools she uses to quickly shift someone's internal barometer  Why presence is one of the most important pieces of successful PR  What people should do instead of “faking it ‘til they make it” More about “tapping” and the emotional freedom technique, and how it can help people overcome doubt, fear or other negative feelings Why Susan wrote her book, “Sell Yourself Without Selling Your Soul”, and why it's helpful for both introverts and extroverts Breaking the myth that extroverts actually get more money from investors How Susan measures success in her personal life, and what it means to be a “wish-fulfilling jewel”  What Susan thinks it takes to become a great thought leader  More about Susan's martial arts practice, and some of her other daily practices that help her maintain peak performance  Why anyone who wants to do PR needs to have a “signature story”   Resources Mentioned in This Episode:  Susan's website, PR Secrets “Sell Yourself Without Selling Your Soul: A Woman's Guide to Promoting Herself, Her Business, Her Product, or Her Cause with Integrity and Spirit” by Susan Harrow Susan Harrow on Facebook Susan Harrow on Twitter Susan Harrow on Instagram “Who Not How: The Formula to Achieve Bigger Goals Through Accelerating Teamwork” by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy “Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't” by Jim Collins “Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior” by Chogyam Trungpa  Buy a copy of “Lost at CEO: An Entrepreneur's Guide to Strategy” by Carl J. Cox  40 Strategy Contact 40 Strategy Carl J. Cox on LinkedIn  

If you're a small or medium-sized business hoping that all the buzz about AI and other recent technological innovation will just die down without you having to do anything about it… well, you're already behind the 8-ball. The time to take advantage is now — or you risk being left behind quickly by your competition.   Our latest guest is someone who knows innovation — and how to use it — well. Trent Gillespie helps companies out-innovate Amazon, based on his 9 years as a senior leader there managing major global expansion and innovation programs, and his over 20 years of technical experience.    Tune into the full episode for more on the rapid evolution of AI in recent years, what businesses can do to stay ahead of the curve, how companies can build cultures of innovation internally, and a lot more.   Here's a Glimpse of What You'll Learn:    What Trent believes is one of the most valuable skills you can learn, especially in the face of technological development, AI, and more Some of the recent innovations in the AI space, and what they mean for the future of business The top use cases for AI in business, especially ChatGPT, and where small to medium-sized businesses can do now to take advantage of this technology Whether businesses should be worried about AI, and why Trent believes they really only have 5 years to respond to today's technological innovations How Trent has transformed his experience at Amazon into his current work now The one characteristic that every successful company should structure their business around  What “sustainable innovation” is, why it's so important for businesses to invest in, and why Amazon actually isn't great at this type of innovation How to create a culture that embraces innovation, and what that means for an organization's incentive programs Why innovation should factor prominently into your hiring strategy How Trent measures success in his own business, with his clients, and in his personal life Why Trent has shifted the measure of his happiness from simply money to quality of life   Resources Mentioned in This Episode:  Trent's company, Day One Innovation Trent Gillespie on LinkedIn “The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail (Management of Innovation and Change)” by Clayton M. Christensen “[Non] Human Intelligence: AI, Automation, and How Robots Will Make Us Better People” by Cesar Keller “Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't” by Jim Collins “How Will You Measure Your Life?” by Clayton Christensen, James Allworth, and Karen Dillon Buy a copy of “Lost at CEO: An Entrepreneur's Guide to Strategy” by Carl J. Cox  40 Strategy Contact 40 Strategy Carl J. Cox on LinkedIn  

So many company founders out there have found success because they've had a great idea, a particular skill set, and a willingness to put in the long hours. But those 3 characteristics are NOT how to scale a company. Instead, to become a successful CEO of a growing business, founders have to evolve what they do within that business — and this can be one of the toughest transitions for them to make. Letting go of job duties or responsibilities doesn't come easy for these high-achievers.   Our latest guest, Dr. David Stern, MD, is someone who has gone through that transition himself. Stern is the Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Experity, a GTCR portfolio company and a leading software and services company providing integrated solutions to more than 50% of the U.S. urgent care market.    Tune into the full conversation for more on David's journey from doctor to business owner, how he's evolved as a leader over the years, the pros and cons of mergers, and more.    Here's a Glimpse of What You'll Learn:    More about what David's company, Experity, does  How the introduction of electronic medical records inspired David to start his own business The value of firsthand experience in developing the product that would make up the core of David's business How David morphed his job duties over the years, and how that helped scale the company Why founders are “scary” to investors What “drivers” are and the two conditions they have to meet  The potential benefits and risks of doing a merger between two competitors — and what made David's so successful How David has transitioned his work habits so he can spend more time with his family  The routine David has with his daughter, and how that has made his personal life so much more meaningful  David's book recommendations, especially for business owners looking to scale their companies without stretching themselves too thin or trying to do everything all at once The one habit that successful CEOs consistently maintain    Resources Mentioned in This Episode:  Experity Health website David M. Stern, MD on LinkedIn David M. Stern, MD on Twitter “The Great Game of Business: The Only Sensible Way to Run a Company” by Jack Stack and Bo Burlingham “Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't” by Jim Collins “The 4 Disciplines of Execution: Achieving Your Wildly Important Goals” by Chris McChesney “The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth About Extraordinary Results” by Gary Keller 40 Strategy Contact 40 Strategy Carl J. Cox on LinkedIn  

If you want to actually understand the story of your business — what's happening, where there are opportunities, and what the path is to meet your goals — you need one important piece. A solid bookkeeping foundation. Without correct, comprehensive numbers, your business will inevitably flounder.    But actually ensuring you have that foundation in place? Not always so easy. That's where this week's guest, Dave Ashworth, helps small business clients. As the co-founder of Quantify for 10 years, Dave has helped countless business owners add a few extra hours of sleep per night knowing they have accurate and financial information to grow their business. Prior to founding Quantify, Dave's expertise was utilized by one of Pennsylvania's biggest regional public accounting firms.    Tune into this week's episode for more on the “clean-up” process for messy books within a small business, some tips he has for entrepreneurs frustrated or intimidated by their bookkeeping, the importance of business owners paying themselves, and more.   Here's a Glimpse of What You'll Learn:    More about Dave's business and what kind of clients they serve How long it takes to “clean up” a business's books that might be a bit of a mess  The kind of reactions Dave's clients give after their books have finally been cleaned up — even if they never thought that was possible Why having accounting peace of mind is so important for the future of a business How common it is for entrepreneurs to not actually pay themselves a salary (or at least a good one) Why you need a foundation of good numbers in order to tell the story of your business When you should (and should not) reinvest back into your business (and what this means for how you can get paid) How to quantify what you're doing and where you want to go  More about the course that Dave created, and how it can help small business owners  How Dave measures success — and impact — with his clients, team, and the industry  More about the personal habits Dave has integrated into his life to ensure success, plus a few of his favorite book recommendations   Resources Mentioned in This Episode:  The Quantify Group website Dave Ashworth on LinkedIn The Quantify Group on Facebook Use code QUANTIFY100 for The Quantify Group course “Can't Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds” by David Goggins “Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win” by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin  “Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't” by Jim Collins 40 Strategy Contact 40 Strategy Carl J. Cox on LinkedIn  

Robots are coming to a restaurant near you! How the hell do we design for that?! Turns out there are quite a few things you may not know about restaurant and hospitality design. Today's guest, Robert Ancill, shares his insight on interior design and architecture for restaurants and hotels, ranging from the psychology of design to robots replacing staff. Robert Ancill has spent over 25 years in the restaurant industry, designing and overseeing the launch and operations of over 40 new restaurant brands and 500+ restaurant or café openings or remodels. His projects have taken him to 24 countries, where he has worked with clients in a wide range of businesses - from restaurants and hotels to offices and luxury homes. Robert is particularly experienced in franchising and development in international markets. ***

Episode Highlights With Jim KwikHis purpose in life and how his inspiration was his desperation through brain injuries and learning strugglesHow he teaches the “software” of brain health: learning faster, adaptabilityThings he recommends for having a limitless brain1/3 of our brain performance is determined by genetics but the other 2/3 are under our control to changeTools for brain health: a good brain diet, neuro-nutrition, killing ants (automatic negative thoughts), movement, brain nutrients, positive peer group and social relationships, clean environment, sleep, brain protection, new learnings, stress managementBrain is only 2% of body mass but requires 20% of nutrientsTop brain foods: avocado, blueberries, choline from eggs, salmon, sardines, dark chocolateTo avoid for brain health: seed oils, sugarWhat mirror neurons are and why they are important to understand for brain healthHow chronic fear suppresses the immune system and how to reduce it and manage stressThe importance of meditation for stress and healthHow morning sunlight and hydration directly help the brainThe thought experiment he does every morning for brain health and focusHaving a “to do list” and a “not to do list”What you see, you take care ofThe masters and experts never get bored of the basicsNever get bored of your brainResources We MentionLimitless: Upgrade Your Brain, Learn Anything Faster, and Unlock Your Exceptional Life by Jim KwikKwik Brain PodcastJim Kwik - CoursesGood to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't by Jim CollinsChiliPad - Use code wellnessmama for 25% offThink and Grow Rich Deluxe Edition: The Complete Classic Text by Napoleon HillThe Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent PealeMindset by Carol S. DweckThe Rise of Superman: Decoding the Science of Ultimate Human Performan