Carol Bartlett is a senior level executive with broad experience in the oil & gas and transportation industries who manages more than $200M in annual sales. Using a combination of proven techniques, Ms. Bartlett focuses on growth results. She bridges theoretical business principles and philosophies to strategic actions that give profitable results. By deploying integrated proven strategies, she adds value to companies that want to grow sales and increase profits.

Jol Hunter has spent a large portion of his career as a partner with the national firm of chartered accountants and business advisors. In the past few years, with three other gentlemen, he has owned a substantial Atlantic Canadian business and so he is experiencing the joys and challenges of the ownership and operation of a medium-sized business.

Chris Spurvey spearheaded the growth of Plato Consulting to the point that it was acquired by KPMG, one of the largest management consulting firms in the world. In his time there, he sold more than $300 million in consulting services. After the acquisition, Chris changed his focus to helping other "non-sales sellers" find a way to grow revenue in a consistent, stress-free manner. He published It's Time to Sell: Cultivating the Sales Mindset, founded Make Sales a Habit University, and became a growth advisor to business owners and their management teams throughout the world.

In this episode, Chris, Carol, and Jol discuss diagnosing problems within teams, having a third party do the diagnosis, and what makes a well-functioning team.

The Four Factors That Cause the Gap Between Actual Performance and Potential Performance

 

I've come to the conclusion that, generally speaking, there's a gap between our actual performance and our potential performance as businesspeople and that this gap is caused by four factors. When we work on these four factors, we close the gap. That's what we've been working through in this podcast.

 

The first factor is how the CEO of the organization invests his or her time. This is the most significant determinant of the business's success.

 

The second factor is the discipline and organization that the CEO brings to the business. A lot of business is far from glamorous. It's just doing the little things right, again and again. When I asked business owners to rate the discipline and organization in their businesses, on a scale of one to ten, the most common answer was three, so obviously there's room for improvement.

 

The third factor is the lack of deliberate processes in building and nurturing relationships. I've come to the conclusion that all revenue in business comes from and grows due to relationships; therefore, we need to put constant effort into relationships even when we describe ourselves as busy.

 

The fourth factor is the degree to which leadership teams are on the same page and working together rather than putting their energy into different efforts or, worse, into counterproductive efforts.

 

Ingredients of a Well-Functioning Team

 

Successful leadership teams share a number of attributes, and by analyzing your circumstance relative to those desired attributes, you can figure out how to improve your team or, if your team is already strong, how to maintain it.

 

Getting Everyone on the Same Page

 

Leadership is critical. This leads us back to the most significant determinant of the business's success: how the CEO invests his or her time. That's the first point.

 

The second point, which comes out of that, is the diagnosis process for determining how we can best operate together. There are various methods that you can use for doing that and for having honest conversations about it.

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