ADVANCE: Take Your Next Step with Mike Acker

INTRODUCTION TO EPISODE 22

Learning how to launch, grow, and successfully run your business? In today's episode of the Advance Podcast, learn the secrets to exceptional entrepreneurship from athlete-turned-entrepreneur Patrick Parker, who runs not one but five successful businesses!

Over the last five years, Patrick has built out five different software companies, two of which are now venture-backed, and all of those are generating over a million dollars in revenues. Patrick's entrepreneurial journey started as a side gig and eventually turned into full-time business, beginning with a staffing company. When it first scaled to a million in revenue, he took 30% of the profits from that, launched a software company and grew that to 3 and a half million in revenue. Gradually, he's built and scaled many other businesses and has scaled them suitably to attain meaningful revenue.

In today's episode, join Mike as he interviews Patrick about entrepreneurship lessons from his amazing journey and learn to manage your time in a way that helps you grow financially.

EPISODE 22 SUMMARY & HIGHLIGHTS

What did Patrick’s athletics background teach him about leadership now that he’s in the business space? : 2:15

Patrick reveals that his athletics background prepared him greatly for the business space - helping him know everything from being coached, the ability to encourage and lift up teammates, to dedication and consistency and hard work and development of his personal skills. In his words, 'Going from being a player to still being involved with athletics and becoming a coach, and helping other people develop their skill sets, is exactly what leadership is about'. 

How does Patrick go about managing five companies? 

Patrick finds it a matter of prioritizing his time. His secret is perhaps being intentional and focused with each company. He also prepares a call list every night – a list of the things that he has to do in order for everything to continue moving forward. 

Patrick believes strongly in not falling prey to a comparison mindset. The problems only get bigger that way. Patrick's way of working is starting small, staying grounded, and continuing to imitate or mimic that across all his businesses. 

Another thing he does is document the lessons learned – documenting what works and what doesn't and building frameworks and processes that make your business easier. 

Patrick also works on his focus. He uses time blocking to protect his time and spend his energy and effort in the right direction. He also uses focus tools on his phone to temporarily block the apps distracting him from work.

Patrick’s blueprint for growing a profitable business: 12:47

What's the purpose of a flywheel?: 25:17

Patrick’s closing advice for you: 32:04

(Full shownotes at https://connect.stepstoadvance.com)

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What does it mean to be a leader of integrity, and what does integrity mean in the workplace? Companies with a culture of integrity know that when the value drives employees, they understand and execute their responsibilities ethically and proactively, hold themselves accountable for their results, and are – in short – a true asset.

In this episode of the Advance Podcast, Mike interviews coach and author Jeffrey Klubeck about the importance of integrity at work and how it powers organizational growth. They discuss ways to cultivate motivation, accountability and communication and dig into what it means to be an ethical leader. Watch out for Jeffrey’s 3-step method of holding people accountable for their actions!

EPISODE 20 SUMMARY & HIGHLIGHTS

Where do you draw motivation from?

1:34

Motivation can come from outside sources and can also be internal. External motivation involves the strategies, tactics, and resources that inspire you to take action or move from a place of mistake or confusion. Internal motivation is knowing what works for you and making decisions that go with your mindset, values, attitudes, beliefs, fears, perspectives, faith, and everything that influences your insides.

What is accountability? In what ways does accountability show up in our lives?

8:55

Accountability can sound confrontational and almost aggressive sometimes. Because when you confront somebody on their story, commitments, or report their work, performance, results, or mindset, it involves coming face-to-face with a report of their work. But it's far from it. Accountability is the willingness to be vulnerable.

What do you do when you don’t like the person you’re holding accountable?

11:41

Move from the point of dwelling in judgment and replace that with questions. Appreciative inquiry, mutual discovery, rapport, strategy building, offering debriefing. Drop your dislike for the person while you’re assessing them professionally. Use communication strategies, techniques, and questions to get to that point.

What strategies can an accountability coach employ to hold employees accountable for their actions?

15:07

Jeffrey’s three-step approach for holding people accountable for their actions involves:

1. Getting people to own their results or actions. Ask questions compassionately but know that you’re going to get answers always short of the 100% accountable point.
2. The next point is what you can call leverage. At this point, you can make them understand the consequence of doing or not doing something.
3. Get a de-commitment or a recommitment. Help them commit to something they can achieve.

What does it mean to be an ethical leader?

28:49

An ethical leader tries to motivate people toward pleasure instead of away from pain. Their principles, when simply stated, can be like, 'Don't lie, don't cheat, don't steal'. If you can lead people towards pleasure without lying, cheating, or stealing, or encouraging them to lie, cheat or steal, you're closer to an ethical leader than a boss, a manager, a director, a supervisor, or direct, according to Jeffrey.

(Full shownotes at https://connect.stepstoadvance.com)

There are good employees and there are excellent employees. There are also those employees you know aren’t performing well enough to stay or progress in your company. But to begin with, on what basis do you assess your employees’ performance? What makes a five-star employee? Does a two-star employee have to stay a two-star employee? How can they grow themselves?

Find answers to all those questions in this episode of the Advance podcast with Mike and his guest Danielle Mulvey. Danielle reveals the ingredients that make a five-star employee – the irreplaceable one who delivers consistent results for the company. With 25 years of experience as an entrepreneur, Danielle comes equipped with all the knowledge regarding hiring the right people for your team, letting go of those employees who don’t fit well, and the metrics to assess each of them for their skills, ability, and performance. She also shares how she does the market analysis and competition to provide adequate pay to her employees. Listen in!

EPISODE 19  SUMMARY & HIGHLIGHTS

What is the biggest mistake entrepreneurs make when hiring their first few significant hires?

1:33

They take everything that they don't want to do, or they're not good at, and assign it to the new hire. The problem is, often, it becomes too much for the other person.

What is a five-star employee?

9:18

A five-star employee represents the top 15% of available talent in the market for the role. A major hiring mistake made by businesses is not casting a very wide net for applicants. Hiring from a small pool means your chances of getting that 5-star employee are also less.

Does a two-star employee always have to be a two-star employee?

19:21

A two-star employee is two-star only for that role. Danielle and her team have identified 11 Universal qualities that are key to being a five-star employee – some are coded red, which means they're very difficult to change, two are coded green, and the rest are coded gray. The green ones are relatively easy to change, and the gray ones also can be changed, but maybe with some coaching or help from a hiring manager. The red ones are the toughest to change.

How much time should we give employees to improve their performance before they’re shown the door?

24:20

In the shortest, possibly two weeks. Also, we don't need it to take six months. The reason is, we're all creatures of comfort. If we can show up to a place and the people there are relatively polite to us, and we get a paycheck every other week, we'll stay within that comfort zone forever. To a certain degree, you have to make it a bit uncomfortable for those employees so they're ready to move on and can move on quickly.

(Full shownotes at https://connect.stepstoadvance.com)

INTRODUCTION TO EPISODE 18

Have you ever considered what kind of leader you are or would make? Do you work best under chaos, or are you someone who works best when things are clear? Can you multitask? 

Whatever your leadership type, this episode would be helpful for you. In this episode of the Advance podcast, Mike interviews Robert Jordan about the four different styles of leadership he has described in his book, ‘Right Leader, Right Time’. You’ll learn what makes the four kinds of leaders, their strengths and weaknesses, and how they benefit an organization. 

EPISODE 18 SUMMARY & HIGHLIGHTS

Why do some big leaders fail?

1:35

It’s because after doing one thing well, they assume they can make each other great too. That’s not true of any human being, not just leaders. Also, they don’t bring another person to run a different lane. They keep in the same lane that made them famous or successful in the first place. 

What are the four leadership styles, according to Robert?

6:43

The four leadership styles include:

●      Fixer: A fixer is someone who keeps on running in to fix things. So once they've had a successful experience, like, fixing a client relationship, a division, a company, a community or industry, and it has reached the state it had to, they are going to get bored, and they need to move on to the next troubled situation.

●      Builder: A builder is great at building systems, processes, products, services, and people and taking a small team to a dominant position. Once that is achieved, they will get bored, and most builders will seek the next product company with which to scale again.

●      Artist: Artists see the world as a blank canvas. They are driven to create, sometimes at their own peril. Maybe it's the risk of career, fame, money, or just a creative urge to get satisfied.

●      Strategist: A strategist is a leader who operates at scale. They work in highly complex and large organizations.

What are some strengths and weaknesses of a fixer?

10:48

A fixer is very linear in their thinking and way of working. They are laser-focused on the problem at hand. But they cannot have five things happening around them once at the same time. It isn't optimal for their performance.

How does an artist work?

15:21

An artist convinces the team, builds a compelling product, case, or service, and gets it ready to be tested in the world. 

How can a leader assess their own strengths and weaknesses?

33:29

Listen to podcasts like this to learn leadership from top-level leaders of different companies. There is also a leadership assessment called FEMS leadership assessment – a three-minute profiling test used to determine your leadership style, which you can check out.

CONNECT WITH ROBERT

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Many of us are living in fear: fear of something in the future or regret and resentment about things in the past. However, if we live in the present moment, we can achieve peace of mind despite any uncertainty.

Amy Wong joins Mike in this episode of the Advance Podcast to discuss how to live in the present and on purpose. Amy explains the cause of our dissatisfaction, resentment, and anxiety in life and shares some actionable insights on overcoming them, which she has also discussed in her book, Living On Purpose. Amy also talks about the link between our primary objective at any moment and fear. She explains how to live a fearless life by working on understanding and reinforcing your primary objective with compassion and dedication.

EPISODE 17  SUMMARY & HIGHLIGHTS

How prevalent is Imposter Syndrome in America?

1:35

Imposter Syndrome is more prevalent than most of us admit. There's so much shame wrapped around it that people find it hard to accept they've experienced something like that. 

How can you find peace amid this time of uncertainty?

5:46

Anxiety lies in our thoughts about the future; it is not of the moment. We intend to be three steps ahead or replay what happened in the past that we forget to be in the moment. It takes practice to become present to reduce anxiety levels even during these times of uncertainty.

What can you do to live in the present?

09:42

One thing you can do is use mantras to pull you back to what you started with. Another thing is meditation. It helps you stay present throughout the day.

How can you find more purpose and meaning in life?

15:58

In the end, all that we want is a desired feeling. Finding meaning is about asking yourself how you want to feel about your job, role, or responsibilities.  

How can people become more fearless in life, business, and relationships?

24:56

We all have a primary objective at any moment. Due to our psychology and neurobiology, that objective shifts to something that doesn't usually serve us sometimes. Nervousness is a symptom of an unintentional stance at any moment. If you're feeling scared or nervous at any moment, it's because of this shift in your primary objective. It takes a lot of compassion to claim that stance back. You've to channel your eloquence, innovation, and creativity in a productive way to live a bold, powerful life.

(Full show notes at https://connect.stepstoadvance.com)

RESOURCES MENTIONED ON THE PODCAST

• Book: Living On Purpose by Amy Eliza Wong

CONNECT WITH AMY WONG

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If you think you know enough about the power of resilience, you probably haven’t heard Stanley Andrisse’s story. After a series of wrong choices early on in life got him into prison – for 10 years, he knew it would take nothing but strong will, determination, and untethered resilience to succeed in his dream of becoming a doctor. Fast forward to today, Stanley is a Ph.D. and MBA holder, a doctor, author, and entrepreneur, who aims to change the lives of others with criminal convictions “through advocacy, mentoring, and policy change”.

Join Mike and Stanley in this episode as the latter explains his story of triumph through tough times and the indomitable power of resilience, hard work, and faith in transforming your life. Labeled a criminal at just 14 for selling drugs, Stanley explains the challenges he faced in keeping his dreams alive amid all the negative opinions people surrounded him with.

EPISODE 15  SUMMARY & HIGHLIGHTS

How do you understand your inner strength?

27:47

Do not let outside interference define or determine you. Do not let another person’s opinion harm you. Be a source of good.

How did Stanley manage to get his Ph.D. despite being in prison?

30:22

Stanley read research articles and papers day in and out in prison, dreaming and working hard to become a doctor. He then put together applications for education in multiple colleges; all except one were rejected. St. Louis University was the only university that accepted his admission after being released. He managed to complete his MBA and Ph.D. simultaneously, as the topper in class. He moved on later to Johns Hopkins University, where he became the number one in Endocrinology.

What do you do when the going gets tough?

39:02

Lean into your higher power. Hold onto your integrity. Do the right thing even if it brings you harm. Root into good beliefs and faith. Have patience and condition yourself to see multiple outcomes.

QUOTES

41:14-41:34

“For me, I kind of had plans, A, B, C, D, E, and so forth. Like, if I wasn't going to get A, I was going to be okay. And so I think that's one of the tough things like people having their eyes set on a prize and not getting that is considered a failure. And for me, I had multiple things that I was going towards.”

13:53-14:11

“For most people that go through incarceration, it's like it just beached you down in terms of psychologically mentally, emotionally, to where you no longer have any feeling of self-worth or self-value or purpose.”

RESOURCES MENTIONED ON THE PODCAST

• Book: From Prison Cells To Ph.D. by Stanley Andrisse

CONNECT WITH STANLEY

Website

CONNECT WITH MIKE

LinkedIn

It's not always easy to get things done, especially when people have different opinions or when they disagree on the organizational goals or processes. Most of us would rather avoid conflicts and arguments, but there are enough reasons you should sometimes not, which we're exploring today.

Join Mike in this episode of the Advance Podcast as he interviews Liz Kislik, a consultant, coach, speaker, facilitator, and contributor to Harvard Business Review, Forbes, and Entrepreneur. She speaks with Mike about the need for conflicts in the workplace and how to conduct them in a healthy way. She most importantly discusses how to have difficult conversations without patronizing any of the parties involved so you can come back to them later also. Conflicts, she shares, are necessary as they help represent different views and opinions. Often, the most worthy reasons and suggestions are revealed through them only. Listen in!

EPISODE 16  SUMMARY & HIGHLIGHTS

How can you explain our aversion to conflicts?

4:58

Firstly, any conflict generally brings some discomfort, which no person would want to invite into their life. Secondly, we fear hurting another person. We fear being seen as the bad person.

Why are conflicts sometimes necessary?

10:47

Despite the differences, you get to represent and acknowledge suggestions and opinions. Sometimes, getting to the worthy reasons too requires conflict.

How do you resolve conflicts in the workplace with someone senior to you?

19:23

Don’t just rely on the data, but use a good story to back it up. Data and story work hand in hand.

What are some deal-breakers in dealing with conflict?

26:12

Don’t insult anybody. Don’t speak to anyone in patronizing ways. Try to avoid such conversations until you’re ready to preserve the ability to go back.

What are the most common conflicts in workplaces?

31:56

The most common conflicts in workplaces are due to irreconcilable goals. This is when different departments have different goals and cannot resolve their differences together.

What are the three things you can do to handle conflicts healthily?

38:33

1. Just because you think it’s not fair doesn’t mean it actually isn’t.

39:32

1. Manage yourself so that you can always go back to a conversation.

39:44

1. If you find yourself in a conflict that is moral for you, where you know what’s happening is wrong but still hard to come to the surface, find someplace that’s better for you.

QUOTES

24:25-24:31

“Sometimes, the only thing you can do is preserve for yourself the right to come back again.”

35:30-35:46

“The other thing that can happen with pride or ego might be another way to call is that, sometimes, (when) people think it's not worth it, this person's pride or ego will be affected.”

CONNECT WITH LIZ

Website | LinkedIn | Twitter

CONNECT WITH MIKE

LinkedIn

If your business is struggling to keep pace with the rapidly changing digital landscape, today's episode would teach you how the agile method of working was invented to help you overcome it.

Join Mike in this episode of the Advance Podcast as he interviews Simon Severino, a Business Strategy Advisor for SaaS or Services Businesses. Simon shares the common bottlenecks entrepreneurs experience in their journeys and how to overcome them using the methods explained in his book, Strategy Sprints: 12 Ways to Accelerate Growth for an Agile Business. Discussing first-hand the essential habits and methodologies for business growth, acceleration, and development, Simon helps you prepare for the highly volatile, high rate of change working environment using the modern agile ways of working.

EPISODE 14 SUMMARY & HIGHLIGHTS

What are some habits you can implement to overcome the common bottlenecks experienced by entrepreneurs in their journey?

06:55

1. Allocating time for the right thing - Have a daily habit, a weekly habit, and a monthly habit. Your daily habit reflects on how you're allocating your time.

08:05

1. The weekly habit is reflecting on the information – creating a dashboard of marketing numbers, sales numbers, and others from different departments.

10:10

1. The monthly habit is to be your strategy call. Think: Are you doing the right thing at the right pace? What are your competitors doing? What else can your customers do if they don't work with you? 

How do you distinguish speed and velocity?

13:08

Velocity means speed including direction. The distinction intends to ask: how many people have a clear vision of where they're heading in the next three years? Without vision, you might be running a super-fast marathon in the wrong direction. Have your vision written down for the next three years, ninety days.

What are the benefits of having your vision written down?

10:11

Simplification, de-risking, revenue increase, and increase in employee motivation are a few of the many benefits of writing down your vision for the next few weeks, months, and years. 

How do you distinguish agile and rigid methods?

25:49

Agile methods help you combine or recombine the same elements whenever they are needed, and it's simple to do so. Agility means you have the same rate of change inside as outside. 

If your rate of change inside is lower than the rate of change outside, then you are not agile; you are rigid. You'll encounter problems in the supply chain, geopolitics, market volatility, and the like, meaning you won't be able to navigate the business for longer.

How do you make the big decisions in life?

30:04

Stay in nature for as long as you want without a goal. Let the answer come to you in a moment of clarity. Center yourself; when you have clarity, you get to sprint from there.

QUOTES

05:19-05:29

“Sprint is a very specific method. It focuses on agility and resilience because that's what you need in tough times.”

RESOURCES MENTIONED ON THE PODCAST

• Book: Strategy Sprints: 12 Ways to Accelerate Growth for an Agile Business by Simon Severino

CONNECT WITH SIMON
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CONNECT WITH MIKE
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