Onward Nation

John Mitchell nearly owned 12 percent of the Dallas Cowboys and shares the incredible story at the beginning of our interview. Today, John is an entrepreneur and founder of "Think It, Be it" — a human performance company for high achievers that was born out of his fascination of how a person can take science and apply it to their life to substantially increase their chances for success, both personally and professionally. John's 12-minute a day success formula helps people to gain more self-control and focus to up their game and move to the next level.

• Being straight with your customers and looking after their best interests
• How to apply science to your life to substantially increase your chance for success
• Seeing the big picture and pushing past perceived barriers
• Having the ability to determine what matters and what doesn't in your business
• Why being successful comes down to the actions you are taking
• A 12 minute a day success formula
• Exploring how repetition and the subconscious mind can help achieve goals
• How to obtain your goals by feeding a detailed vision to yourself every day
• Tracking your key behaviors
• Eliminating negative self-talk

• Email: [email protected]

Evan Polin is the co-author of SELLING PROFESSIONAL SERVICES THE SANDLER WAY which teaches non-selling professionals how to sell. He is also a certified Sandler trainer who plays an important role in Sandler's worldwide organization, Sandler Training – the world leader in sales development training programs. Along with his father, Evan co-heads a Sandler Training center in the Philadelphia area.

• Why selling and business development is important
• Having the right mindset to be successful
• Why if you are not willing to grow, you are not willing to change
• Sales: a skillset that needs to be built over time
• How to set sales goals by making a plan
• How to apply the sales plan to obtain business prospects
• Why tracking your sales activity is important
• Qualifying or disqualifying your business opportunities as quickly as possible
• Keeping focused and prioritize to achieve your sales goals
• Seeking out a mentor is critical to your success

• Website: www.trainingresourcegroup.sandler.com
• Twitter: @trgevan
• E-mail: [email protected]
• Book: Selling Professional Services the Sandler Way:: Or, "Nobody Ever Told Me I'd Have to Sell!"

Christine Comaford is a leadership and culture coach and New York Times bestselling author. For over 30 years, she has helped leaders navigate growth & change. Christine is sought after for providing proven strategies to shift executive behavior to create more positive outcomes, enroll and align teams in times of change, profoundly increase sales, product offerings, and company value. Her coaching, consulting and strategies have created hundreds of billions of dollars in new revenue and value for her clients.

• The story being Christine's newest book, "Power Your Tribe"
• How to align people around your values & create tribal agility as a team
• The recipe for emotional engagement
• The benefits of creating a cultural game plan & the key components
• Important questions to ask when recruiting to help you determine if someone is 'tribally' aligned with you
• The secret behind onboarding and keeping people at your company
• The power of asking more questions & not assuming
• Why emotional agility is so important
• Why you need to focus on the outcome that you want to create
• The importance of asking the question "what's working?"

• Website: poweryourtribe.com
• Website: smarttribesinstitute.com

Shawn Murphy serves as CEO of WorqIQ, formerly Switch and Shift, an organization that helps leaders transform the work experience to be positive, energizing & optimistic. His debut book, "The Optimistic Workplace: Creating an Environment that Energizes Everyone", is out now. Shawn was recently named a "Top 100 Leadership Speaker" in Inc.com and has over 25 years' experience as an organizational and culture change practitioner and workshop facilitator.

• Why change is a very emotional experience for people
• Where a lot of business owners lose sight when changing their business
• What happens when business owners don't account for emotional impact
• Why you need to be able to work with detractors who are resistant to change
• Working together to figure out what change means
• Why vulnerability is a key skill that's needed during times of change
• The valuable lesson that Shawn learned that helped him with sales
• Why you need to have a shared sense of purpose with your team
• How clarity gives people the comfort to act autonomously
• The importance of having mentors to be successful in business

• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/shawmu
• Twitter: @TheShawnMurphy
• Email: [email protected]

Elizabeth Crook has been the CEO of Orchard Advisors for the past 20+ years and in that role, has helped other CEOs and entrepreneurs think and act strategically to grow their companies & find greater personal satisfaction. She has shown countless individuals how to invent and reinvent themselves. Elizabeth knows how to inspire people to gain a fresh sense of what they can accomplish in their lives, think about themselves with compassion, develop a sense of humor about their challenges, and ultimately…take action.

• Embracing how big you really are, without diminishing yourself
• Using your talents, experiences, resources, and knowledge in an intentional way
• Understanding the connection between your wellness and success
• Working together with others to pursue the common good
• Time blocking strategies that will help you to accomplish your goals
• Putting your most vital priorities into order and finding clarity for you day
• Developing habit that can contribute to your success
• Finding the discipline to use writing to improve your life
• Cultivating self-awareness, the most important skill for entrepreneurs today

• Website: www.ElizabethBCrook.com
• Twitter: @elizabethcrook

Dr. Jeff Thompson is an executive advisor and chief executive officer emeritus at Gundersen Health System, pediatrician, author, and speaker. His experience in leadership is far-reaching, having led diverse teams, projects, and divisions, before holding multiple senior executive roles, including fourteen years as CEO of Gundersen Health System. Dr. Thompson is also the author of "Lead True: Live Your Values, Build Your People, Inspire Your Community."

• Unleashing the power of multiple people with the same set of values
• Jeff's involvement in developing an advanced care planning program for seniors that is the most widely used in the world today
• The benefits of building a culture that focuses on something bigger than yourself
• Having the discipline to live by the values that you develop
• Why there should be no exceptions to treating everyone with respect
• Why you shouldn't be afraid of high standards when you're building a business
• One of the key pieces to innovation
• Why CEO's & leaders need to get out where the work really is
• Jeff's new book "Lead True: Live Your Values, Build Your People, Inspire Your Community"
• The importance of reading as much as you can

• Website: jeffthompsonmd.com
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-thompson-33400a6b

David Fairley is the founder and president of Website Properties.com, a brokerage that specializes in selling established and profitable Internet-based businesses. David also personally developed, bought and sold Hammocks.com, Strollers.com, Drums.com, Unicorns.com and over 60 website businesses in multiple niches. He has represented more than 475 Internet-based business owners in the sale of their websites.

• Successfully navigating building and exiting from companies
• Lessons learned from working through sales and acquisitions
• How to be organized and energize yourself to work through the day
• New opportunities for those looking to sell or acquire businesses
• Taking advantage of opportunities that make the most profit
• Being driven to succeed no matter what your circumstances
• Preparation and diligence that are required to act on opportunity
• How to leverage multiple revenue streams in the online marketplace
• Crafting a business that matters and serves a higher purpose

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.websiteproperties.com
• Twitter: @websiteprop

Stephen Petith is an internationalization architect, working to create internationalized businesses and lifestyles for his clients. He has started, sold, and operates businesses around the world. Stephen uses his knowledge gained from past businesses and political roles to provide his clients with strategic advice on business and personal internationalization.

• Buying and selling businesses internationally
• Embracing the globalized economy and profiting from it
• Processes and practices that lead to growth internationally
• Using international hubs to be at the epicenter of the global economy
• Creating the right foundation for globalization
• Avoiding the money draining mistakes of taking your company international
• Having the right relationships to go take part in the worldwide economy
• Excellent time management strategies for personal growth
• Constantly seeking and finding new knowledge

• Website: www.StephenPetith.com

Sam Mallikarjunan is a Marketing Fellow at HubSpot and former Head of Growth at HubSpot Labs, the somewhat-secret experimental arm of the world's #1 Sales & Marketing platform. Sam teaches Advanced Digital Marketing at the Harvard Division of Continuing Education, and is the co-author of the book "How To Sell Better Than Amazon" (which, thanks to the publisher, is ironically available for purchase on Amazon)."

• Using online marketing in creative ways that cost nearly nothing
• Cutting down on your "cognitive calories" to focus on useful tasks
• Motivational techniques derived from evolutionary science
• What cognitive science researchers have learned about human needs
• Mitigating the toll taken by stress or pressure from work and life
• Consistently challenging yourself on your values
• The latest social research from Deloitte
• Customer obsession and methodical empathy for enhanced business development
• Why HubSpot became the number one marketing platform based on customer focus

• Twitter: @Mallikarjunan
• Website: www.mallikarjunan.com
• Email: [email protected]
• Book: How to Sell Better than Amazon

Kendall Lyman is the author of "CHANGE THE WAY YOU CHANGE!", a founding principal of The Highlands Group, a firm specializing in strategy, organizational change, and leadership development. He helps leaders around the world to navigate change, improve employee engagement, and transform culture. Kendall has consulted with a wide array of organizations ranging from Fortune 500 to small and midsize firms.

• Increasing your own capacity as a leader
• Tips and strategies for expanding your influence
• Developing the self-awareness needed to be a great leader
• Time blocking strategies that help you guard your calendar
• Focusing on strategy rather than tactics
• Why the effective vs. efficiency dichotomy is a sucker's choice
• Adopting a holistic view in order to be a successful leader
• Raising your standards and what you expect in order to live a better life
• Managing by wandering, looking at the journey and not the destination

• Website: www.ChangeTheWayYouChange.com