Commanding Business

Some companies grow so fast they don’t have time to think about the decisions they are making. Whether it’s hiring, making the best proposals or which city to open their next office in, taking care of clients should always take precedence. Tim Hamilton talks with Scott Weintraub, CMO of Healthcare Regional Marketing (HRM), about the magic moment when it’s finally time to divvy up the work and start giving people proper titles. HRM desires to be a thought leader in their industry and founding members are writing a book to give other great start-ups the hindsight 20/20 they never had.

Key Takeaways:

[1:06] How Healthcare Regional Marketing got started

[4:39] Hone your value proposition

[7:11] A different way of selling by lowering defenses

[11:21] By the book proposals

[14:22] Hiring is an acquired skill

[15:43] Things moved so fast in the early days

[18:42] Our company is project oriented with an emphasis on client service

[20:16] We will become thought leaders in our niche in the pharmaceutical industry

[24:46] We eventually had to give ourselves proper titles and divided roles

[28:35] Travel time was costing us big bucks and cash flow is really important

[30:41] Momentum helps organizations to paddle forward

[32:02] A great strategy executed poorly is worse than an ok strategy executed fantastically

[34:28] Listening to the pulse and asking specific questions in the form of a dialogue

[36:28] Results: The future of pharmaceutical and healthcare marketing - the book

[38:53] Writing a book was easier with help

[41:11] Research reading recommendations by Scott

[42:42] Contact Scott

Mentions:

Healthcare Regional Marketing

Praxent

EO

Audibles

Net Promoter Score

Advantage Media Group

Scaling Up

Mastering the Rockefeller Habits

The One Thing

Everyone is on the same team when playing the great game of business. Tim’s guest, Jack O’Riley, is a coach and specialist in Open Book Management. He takes us through the 3 core principles of The Great Game of Business, including how the principles are utilized, received by the employees and how the principles assist a business with increasing revenue. The benefit of having the entire organization see and understand the books is that everyone is able to see how their position impacts the organization as a whole, leading them to strive for financial growth.

Key Takeaways:

[1:00] Mr. O’Riley’s history

[2:12] What is open book management philosophy?

[4:04] The 3 core principles of The Great Game of Business

[7:42] The open book policy doesn’t apply to compensation or litigation

[10:41] If you plan to make a profit you have to have cash

[12:54] Building a rhythm

[15:15] Follow the action

[18:25] Employees quickly see that their efforts to improve the business, ends up in their pockets

[22:45] Using real life examples as a teaching technique

[24:59] Building leaders through financial literacy

[26:36] Read the Great Game of Business and take the 2 day class

[28:18] Contact Jack

Mentions:

The Great Game of Business

Praxent

Gazelles

Slack Book

The Coaching House

Are you willing to do the hard work it takes to change and reach your desired outcome? If you are a CEO or an entrepreneur in business today, you must build up your mental, physical, emotional and spiritual resiliency to prepare yourself for adversity. When adversity presents, you will be able to see it for what it is and overcome it without taking it personally. Your business space is also your personal space. When you are down your business is down and when you are strong your business is strong. Gina Mollicone-Long details the 5 steps of change and how recognizing them can help us learn from obstacles that put us on the right track and lead us to realize our goals.

Key Takeaways:

[1:27] Moving what’s in the way (obstacle), out of the way (of your boundary)

[6:40] Modifying your behavior is the first step in the static process of change

[9:43] The 5 basic steps of change:

• The Comfort Zone – No Change
• The Desire or Beginning
• The Breakthrough – The Change Point
• Mastery of the New Behavior
• The New Level

[18:21] It’s fine not to believe in yourself, but how is that working for you?

[21:28] An obstacle is simply feedback to put you on the right track

[25:05] The Green Monkey example, the gift of awareness

[32:09] Resiliency can be gained through good life practices

[36:08] Desire comes from readiness and you cannot become unready

[39:02] You probably know to ask yourself ‘what do I want?’ Here’s a better question to ask.

[42:30] Change doesn’t have to be painful

[45:29] Leading based on values and vision instead of reacting to circumstances

[48:50] Systematically accessing intuitive intelligence

[49:37] Contact Gina or her greatness group

Mentions:

The Secret of Successful Failing

Think or Sink

The Greatness Group

Gina Mollicone-Long

Praxent

podcast@praxent.com

The Freedom at Work program is a real strategy for empowering people in the workplace. Using democratic principles to remove fear-based leadership, WorldBlu is transforming businesses from the inside out. Our guest, Traci Fenton, was recently named by Inc. Magazine as a Top 50 Leadership Innovator and is the Founder and Chief Evangelist at WorldBlu. She shares with us the core principles of her organization and real life examples of success in organizations that have adopted the Framework of Freedom model.

Key Takeaways:

[1:34] Democracy in the workplace

[2:57] Certified Freedom Center workplaces

[4:12] The 3 parts of the Freedom at Work model

• Freedom-Centered Mindset
• Freedom-Centered Design
• Freedom-Centered Leadership

[5:57] The power question to ask yourself

[6:48] The 3 core attributes of a Freedom Center Leader

• Using power correctly
• Love
• Ubuntu

[8:21] It all comes back to self-worth

[11:32] Where do people get their self-worth?

[14:04] Business relationships should start with completeness

[15:55] A breakthrough moment for Rich Sheridan of Menlo Innovations

[18:51] Eradicating fear should be a number one priority

[19:58] False Evidence Appearing Real

[22:23] Building a bridge to transform people’s lives

[26:04] Looking at challenges and opportunities without fear

[29:24] Contact Traci at WorldBlu and sign up for The Freedom Center Leader Program

Mentions:

WorldBlu

Inc.

The Happiness Advantage

Menlo Innovations

Joy Inc.

Dreamhost

IncTANK

Praxent

Many extraordinary companies have had two primary positions of leadership. One being the visionary and the second is the executor. Understanding the difference between the visionary (aka the pie in the sky idea person) and the executor (the dig-in implementer) can make or break your business. Mark Winters’ book, Rocket Fuel, suggests most companies should only use the C-XX titles externally and should embrace a more descriptive title for each person’s internal functions. If all the members of a business are on the same page and have the same objective, the organization is able to flourish financially while maintaining mutual respect for those within its ranks.

Key Takeaways:

[1:13] The big idea behind the Rocket Fuel book

[4:04] The combination of the visionary and the integrator

[5:41] Putting a leadership team in place is the first threshold

[7:12] A visionary is an idea engine and the personality of the organization

[8:04] An integrator is the executor and the management

[10:24] The case of the missing integrator function

[12:38] Dysfunctional symptoms can be created by the visionary's lack of clarity

[14:25] It is essential to have intensity, but people can react adversely to it

[16:07] The integrator functions as the glue that unites the people, processes and systems

[18:46] The 5 rules:

• Stay on the same page
• No end runs
• The integrator is the tie breaker
• Employee seats have no special rules
• Maintain mutual respect

[23:16] The 5 tools:

• The accountability chart
• The core questions
• The 90-day world
• Weekly level 10
• Scorecard

[26:29] Do problems arise by having just one integrator?

[27:47] The dynamic duos

[29:03] Strip the leadership team of the titles when used internally

[30:08] Contact Mark

Mentions:

Rocket Fuel Now

Rocket Fuel Book

Traction

@markcwinters

Mark Winters Linkedin

Is your business taking on any clients who give you money when what it requires is a profitable endeavor? Try using your lack of resources to encourage innovation and creative change within your organization. Mike Michalowicz, the author of three business strategy books, used the advice of his mentor to learn the process of growing colossal pumpkins. After a year of taking it all in, he implemented the 5 core elements of the pumpkin growers into his business. It resulted in success, and he now helps people express their authentic selves through their business.

Key Takeaways:

[01:17] A lack of resources will force innovation

[03:00] Survival mode doesn’t foster your long-term business growth

[04:51] Express your values through business; it should be your soulmate

[09:01] Persistence is the basis of success

[11:33] Mike’s life purpose is to guide people in expressing their authentic self via their businesses

[12:58] How colossal pumpkin farming can lead to colossal business growth

[14:11] Five core elements of colossal pumpkin farming or growing your business

[21:40] Mike found 3 primary ways businesses use to convey information and engage in activity

• Computer-based input
• Verbal commands
• Physical action

[22:41] A hack to systemize your work: simply record each thing you do

[24:34] Sort your clients by revenue; determine their profitability and what their cringe factor is

[27:04] The concept of loss aversion: people are more motivated to retain than to gain

[29:27] You grow by saying no

[31:04] The Profit First Book – Take your profit first

[35:03] Google “Mike Mic” to get to Mike’s website

Mentions:

Mike Michalowicz

Profit First

The Pumpkin Plan

The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur

Strategex

Praxent

Entrepreneurial startups often find themselves maturing before they’ve had time to analyze their growth. The business structure builds itself based upon its initial framework which may no longer be applicable to the company’s present challenges.

Mike Paton, the co-author of Get A Grip, details the key components of the EOS model and describes the tools used to strengthen a business to ensure long term success. He details the steps involved in identifying a company’s vision and how to execute it.

Key Takeaways:

[1:24] What are the 6 key components to an entrepreneur's business?

• Vision
• People
• Data
• Issues
• Process
• Traction

[4:31] The Vision Component is ensuring the entire organization is working towards the same goal

[7:26] Identifying the goal starts with uncovering the 8 core values of the organization

• What are the core values of the organization?
• What is the core focus of the organization?
• What is the company’s 10-year target?
• What is the marketing strategy?
  • Target market
  • Three uniques
  • Proven process
  • Guarantee

5.) A 3-Year strategic plan, which is tied to the fiscal year

6.) 1-year plan - Predictions & goals for the upcoming year

7.) Quarterly rocks - Assigning ownership to company “rocks”

8.) Company’s issue’s - The 50 other things you want to tackle

[29:53] The People Component is having the right people & right seats

[31:08] The accountability chart enlightens leaders to consider structure over familiarity

[36:16] Executing your vision can bring about implementation issues

[41:14] Access to the tools we discussed in this episode

Mentions:

EOS Implementer

Get A Grip

Achieve Traction

@praxentsoftware

Many businesses grow stale when a large number of employees decide to quit engaging in the organization, but stay at their current positions. If your leaders are not challenging existing employees with something new or fringe every three to six months their creativity level drops or becomes non-existent. Blending the knowledge of the current workforce and new talent (rookies) serves to expedite the creative process and enlivens the creative environment as a whole. Effective leaders in your organization will produce a fluid habitat, one which multiplies the abilities of each person on the team.

Key Takeaways:

[1:51] Is knowledge the currency of this internet equipped world?

[5:19] We need to let go of things which are no longer true

[9:15] Modern leaders need to be able to lead when appropriate and follow when appropriate

[11:55] Exploring the book Rookie Smarts

[15:00] What are the downsides to experience?

[16:26] Intuition is our brain combining multiple historical data points and forming a conclusion

[21:35] Assumptions can limit your ability to learn something new

[24:18] Using improv to build on an idea at work

[25:51] Leaders, use your rookie talent

[27:34] How to keep your entire team in the rookie zone

[34:12] New managers are little disasters

[40:42] The logic behind the “Multiplier” leader

[44:24] The mindset of the “Multiplier” leader

[48:00] The 6 different leadership styles - Harvard Business Review

[48:57] Are you able to get more than 100% of your abilities?

[52:02] Contacting Liz and finding her books

Mentions:

The Wiseman Group

@lizwiseman

info@thewisemangroup.com

The Thinkers 50

Multiplier

The Multiplier Effects

Rookie Smarts

Gazelle’s Growth Summit

C K Prahalad

The Invisible Gorilla Experiment

The 6 Different Leadership Styles

Praxent

Joining together the formidable pattern recognition abilities of the human mind with the agility of data-driven simulation modeling is a company's best option for overcoming challenges. Business Laboratory captures information from experts in your organization to gain insights and systematically inserts the scientific method to create a living model of your business.

Key Takeaways:

[1:48] Building simulation models for companies with lots of moving parts

[4:28] Modeling is mimicking real life in a simulated world

[6:38] Pattern recognition in the human mind is visual

[9:24] Information from experts is key

[10:37] Augmenting humans with computer models

[11:45] A hackathon example from Praxent

[16:28] Data is the fuel for scientific investigation

[17:32] Legacy industries can benefit from analytics - Moneyball example

[20:21] Which came first the data or the hypothesis

[25:38] Applying the scientific method to business

[31:04] Debates driven by data are essential to today’s businesses

[32:45] Programmers are excellent problem solvers

[34:53] Hiring techniques for problem solvers are outdated

[37:30] Revealing thought processes

[38:11] The analytical sandbox is a place for talented people to play

[41:13] Contact information for George

Mentions:

Business Laboratory

Profit from Science

Praxent

Moneyball

Great by Choice

The Progress Principle

Who handles recruiting within your organization? If the responsibility currently resides in Human Resources, it might be time to re-think your recruitment strategies. Knowing the qualities and attributes the open position requires will assist you in finding the right person. Start by developing a profile of the role you want the hire to play within your company. Consider the qualifications, the skill set and the experience the person needs to make a smooth transition into your company's structure. Recruiting can be expensive but not as expensive as hiring the wrong person.

Key Takeaways:

[1:10] Kelly helps companies acquire “A” players

[2:00] “A” players are the top 10% of candidates available for a role

[3:08] The importance of building out your recruiting strategy

[4:40] Pay for a premium account on LinkedIn

[6:31] An example scorecard - Using metrics in order of importance

[10:04] Develop a description of the role in which you are seeking to fill

[17:30] What are the requirements your company truly needs in a hire

[20:30] The best question to ask for any role

[21:35] Capturing the information you find on LinkedIn

[23:10] Breaking through the noise of recruiting solicitations

[29:10] Streamlining the interview process through behavioral questions

[33:17] Educating yourself on best recruiting practices

[37:00] Recruiting should be part of your daily business life

[41:16] Finders, Minders and Grinders

[41:57] Re-designing the org chart

[45:50] One person should not be doing all of the recruiting efforts

[47:41] Contacting Kelly for consulting

Mentions:

Praxent

LinkedIn

Who: The A Method for Hiring

Traction

Get Geary