ScaleX™ Insider Podcast

In today's episode I'm delighted to introduce JT McCormick, President and CEO of Scribe Media (formerly Book in a Box), a publishing company that helps aspiring authors write, publish and market their books. Scribe has worked with more than 1,000 authors and Entrepreneur Magazine recently ranked it as having the Top Company Culture in America.

Previously, JT was the President of Headspring Software, which he helped grow to a multimillion-dollar, 100-plus person company that was repeatedly ranked as one of the best places to work in Texas.

JT is also the author of 'I Got There: How I Overcame Racism, Poverty, and Abuse to Achieve the American Dream.' His book tells the story of how he worked his way out of poverty, starting with his career cleaning toilets and eventually becoming the President of multiple companies.

In addition to his role at Scribe Media, JT has mentored at-risk youth in the juvenile justice system, as well as youth in low economic communities. JT's work has been featured on CNBC, Entrepreneur, Forbes, Inc, and many others. He lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife, Megan, and their four children.

In today's episode, JT talks about his unique life experience and how being the son of a pimp and an orphan made him the leader he is today. He also discusses how an organisation's culture is everyone's responsibility and more importantly how you should develop it as you scale, the importance of having belief coupled with core values and how he selects the very best people for his organisation by hiring for culture first. Finally, he provides his unique insight into the transparent world of Scribe Media and the importance of vision and execution

Listen out for: • Vision without execution is worthless. A vision without a plan or execution is a wish. • It doesn't matter what you do in your life – be the best at it. • I don't like the word 'unfair'. Nothing is fair. I don't look at fair, I look at possibility. • I can't change what happened in the past, but I figured out that I can change the next hour, the next week and year. • The one thing that is most important for me is that I am consistent. I was always consistent. I was always willing to do the things that the next person wasn't willing to do. I was always willing to go the extra mile and willing to be consistent with follow up and follow through. • At Scribe, we don't have direct reports, we have direct supports. If you are in a leadership position your role is to serve and support the people you work with. No one works for me, people work with me. • Our number one value is our people. The number two principle is to do right by people. I truly believe that if you have great people, you can build great processes, you can make great profits and as an added bonus you can do great things for the community you serve – but, it all starts with people. • The most unpredictable thing in the world is also the most important thing in business – people. • It is easier to get into an Ivy League school than it is to get into Scribe. Our hiring process, while not perfect has served us very well. It is a process of a series of video interviews, phone interviews, in-person interviews with multiple people from Scribe Media. We hire the very best people, the most qualified and people and those that will serve the culture as well. • For people to be successful at Scribe Media – perform in your role, drive results and uphold the principles and values. • We hire for culture first, skillset second. • We don't train people. We coach and mentor. We don't have job descriptions, we have career descriptions. • A note for HR – Stop using the word retain. Retain means possession. No one wants to be retained. • No one should be surprised that they are doing a great job. We have 30-day check-ins. We go through what is going great, we review what we need to stop and start doing. I always ask, if you were the CEO tomorrow morning, what would you do? • Ask questions. My whole career has been built on asking questions.

Timeless Takeaways: • Celebrate life • Don't grumble about work if you are not doing anything to change your circumstances • Don't live your life with 'comparisonitis' through the lens of social media • Be consistent • Replace, hope, wishing and luck with belief, goals, hard work and execution

About the Host Brendan brings 25 years' experience of scaling businesses. Most recently, Brendan spent 16 years as a global business leader with CDE, 12 of those as Group MD, steering the company through the global financial crisis to considerable strategic growth success with offices now in 6 continents employing almost 700 people across the world (from 15) and 25X revenue growth.

He currently acts as a Non-Executive Director to CDE Asia (part of the CDE Group), a company he co-promoted in 2006. In 2019, he co-led the successful private equity funding round which secured investment from IIFL, India's leading integrated financial services group to support the company's future growth ambitions throughout the Asia region.

In 2016, he was awarded the Institute of Directors UK Young Director of the Year and Overall Director of the Year. An avid sportsman and advocate of self-leadership through good well-being practices, Brendan is also training to become a Wim Hof Method instructor.

Today's episode features Niall O'Murchu, an official Wim Hof Method Instructor. Niall has had a huge impact on my own life and the lives of 1000's of others and strongly believes that you can transform how you feel and think by using your breath, nature and the Wim Hof Method.

In this episode we discuss, the Wim Hof Method, why it has risen to prominence in recent years, how the Wim Hof Method improves focus and the ability to maintain clarity and calmness amidst chaos, the application of the Wim Hof Method for leaders of scaling businesses, how to lock out fear and surrender, the importance of self-leadership and why exposure to the cold is one of life's great teachers

Listen out for: • How Wim Hof is a simple, highly effective, scientifically proven way of improving your health, strength and mood. • Wim Hof is centred around three pillars: learning how to breathe in a very specific way, combining breathing with a gradual exposure to the cold and using the cold and breathing to sharpen and strengthen the mind. • One of the deep lessons of the cold is that it teaches us how to surrender, it teaches us to let things unfold and to not try and control them. • The beauty of the breath is that it works both ways. We can simply change how we breathe and that changes how we feel and how we think. • The most effective way of dealing with stress, uncertainty and worry is changing how we breathe. • You can develop greater mental resilience by getting into the cold. • For any person who wants to improve their performance, whether that is in the boardroom or on the basketball court, being able to use your breath and cold together to sharpen the mind is like having an unfair advantage. • 'The limit is not the sky, the limit is the mind'. Wim Hof • The mind is the master of everything. The mind is the master of the breath. • For the business leader to scale up that mountain, the vision has to be there. The vision isn't muddled by tactics. So, we are either in the tactics or up in the vision. • The more we practice the breathing, the more we practice the cold, the more we realise the mind is an ally, rather than an enemy. • 'You never get your best ideas in the office' Brendan McGurgan, Simple Scaling

About the Host Brendan brings 25 years' experience of scaling businesses. Most recently, Brendan spent 16 years as a global business leader with CDE, 12 of those as Group MD, steering the company through the global financial crisis to considerable strategic growth success with offices now in 6 continents employing almost 700 people across the world (from 15) and 25X revenue growth.

He currently acts as a Non-Executive Director to CDE Asia (part of the CDE Group), a company he co-promoted in 2006. In 2019, he co-led the successful private equity funding round which secured investment from IIFL, India's leading integrated financial services group to support the company's future growth ambitions throughout the Asia region.

In 2016, he was awarded the Institute of Directors UK Young Director of the Year and Overall Director of the Year. An avid sportsman and advocate of self-leadership through good well-being practices, Brendan is also training to become a Wim Hof Method instructor.

To find out more head over to:

https://simplescaling.com/

I'm delighted to introduce Kingsley Aikins, CEO of The Networking Institute whose mission is to help individuals and organisations achieve their goals through Networking. He is a recognised expert on the topic and has written and spoken extensively on the benefits of Networking and how to get better at it. He has run workshops and developed online and offline training programmes in the areas of Networking, Public Speaking, Philanthropy and Diaspora Engagement. To date he has trained over 10,000 people in more than 100 organisations in 22 countries and has worked across industry from major accounting to law and from non-profit and government organisations. In his career he has worked for 10 years for the Irish Trade Board and IDA Ireland. He then led The Ireland Funds for 21 years mostly based in Boston. In his time with the Funds over a quarter of a billion dollars was raised for projects in Ireland. He was awarded a CBE for his work on British – Irish relations.

In today's episode, Kingsley discusses whether traditional networking still works, the importance of having diversity in your network, the benefit of cultivating and using network intelligence to scale your business, the PIE approach to networking.

Listen out for:

• Now is the time to shine online and to serve, not sell and to give, not take • People think that networking is about getting a job or a sale. It is about the opposite. It is about what you can give to other people and how you can put your network at the disposal of other people • We are the average of the people we hang around with • There are some characteristics that good networkers have in common: they work hard at it, they are humble, they don't brag and they don't keep score. They know that their network is a living, breathing thing that will grow and if you exercise it like a muscle, it will grow stronger, but if you ignore it, it will wither and die. • Great networkers are curious people. They ask great questions like who, what, when, where and how • They are two types of information – formal and informal. You can't compete with information that everyone knows. • Great networkers are bridges between different clusters of types of people. They work hard to spend time with unlike minded people, to seek out people who are different. • Introverts can be better networkers than extroverts • If you are looking for an opportunity, you are looking for a person • Companies should encourage their people to network • We live in a world where it's not who you know, it's not even what you know, it's about who knows you.

Timeless Takeaways:

• Life is a game of inches. The difference between success and failure, winning and losing is miniscule, but the implication can be gigantic. • You need every little competitive advantage you can get and your network gives you that competitive advantage • One introduction, one connection can change your life • Hard skills get you on the ladder. Soft skills get you up the ladder • Create funnels of serendipity • The number one skill in networking is being a good listener

About the Host

Brendan brings 25 years' experience of scaling businesses. Most recently, Brendan spent 16 years as a global business leader with CDE, 12 of those as Group MD, steering the company through the global financial crisis to considerable strategic growth success with offices now in 6 continents employing almost 700 people across the world (from 15) and 25X revenue growth.

He currently acts as a Non-Executive Director to CDE Asia (part of the CDE Group), a company he co-promoted in 2006. In 2019, he co-led the successful private equity funding round which secured investment from IIFL, India's leading integrated financial services group to support the company's future growth ambitions throughout the Asia region.

In 2016, he was awarded the Institute of Directors UK Young Director of the Year and Overall Director of the Year. An avid sportsman and advocate of self-leadership through good well-being practices, Brendan is also training to become a Wim Hof Method instructor.

David Marquet, a former Nuclear Submarine Commander is a student of leadership. Named as one of the Top 100 leadership Speakers by Inc. Magazine, David is the Author of the Amazon #1 Bestseller: Turn the Ship Around! A True Story of Turning Followers into Leaders and The Turn the Ship Around Workbook. Fortune magazine called the book the "best how-to manual anywhere for managers on delegating, training, and driving flawless execution."

David imagines a workplace where everyone engages and contributes their full intellectual capacity, a place where people are healthier and happier because they have control over their work – a place where everyone is a leader.

His Intent-Based Leadership model is turning around all types of organisations—from big manufacturers to start-ups and sports teams to government.

In today's episode, he discusses the importance of decision making as a leader, how a team can be an extension of your own brain and what you need to do to help them make better decisions, the challenges of the traditional leader / follower model, lean decision making and his own model, The Ladder of Leadership.

Listen out for:

• Self-control is the only control we have
• I was the greatest control freak, order giver known to humanity. That's why I rose rapidly to the role of Submarine Commander. I could see that there was a problem with that
• In poor performing cultures, we play follow the leader. In high performing cultures, we all follow the principles. Everyone at all levels feels that connection
• We have a scarcity of thinking and an over abundance of doing and compliance. What we need are people who can think, for an organisation to survive.
• We talk about lean in manufacturing, but what about lean decision making? Businesses need to map the decisions in their organisations and identify where there is waste and lag time.
• Organisations that pay less for decisions are going to get more out of their people
• The D2A2 Model – Once you detect a problem, then you describe it, then you assess it and then you act on it

Timeless Takeaway:

• Push authority for making the decision to where the information natively lies
• If you want to scale, think about scaling your decision-making capacity

Resource Links:

http://www.youtube.com/c/LeadershipNudges

And, If you like movies, you might get a kick out of this…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xv9aaTJVIxA

About the Host

Brendan brings 25 years' experience of scaling businesses. Most recently, Brendan spent 16 years as a global business leader with CDE, 12 of those as Group MD, steering the company through the global financial crisis to considerable strategic growth success with offices now in 6 continents employing almost 700 people across the world (from 15) and 25X revenue growth.

He currently acts as a Non-Executive Director to CDE Asia (part of the CDE Group), a company he co-promoted in 2006. In 2019, he co-led the successful private equity funding round which secured investment from IIFL, India's leading integrated financial services group to support the company's future growth ambitions throughout the Asia region.

In 2016, he was awarded the Institute of Directors UK Young Director of the Year and Overall Director of the Year. An avid sportsman and advocate of self-leadership through good well-being practices, Brendan is also training to become a Wim Hof Method instructor.

Today's episode features Emmie Faust, a Digital Growth Specialist and founder of Growth Co Lab which helps connect female service-based founders.

Emmie's clients include Mr & Mrs Smith, Groupon, Sky and Country & Townhouse as well as smaller start-ups. Her clients have a common thread - they are already doing great things and want to accelerate their digital growth and revenue.

She has many achievements ranging from launching an online business that secured £200K funding on Dragons' Den through to successfully scaling and selling a digital media agency and tech/digital agency to larger independent companies.

In this episode we discuss:

• The power of marketing and the importance of reviewing your customer's journey
• How to find the right marketing approach for scaling
• The components of digital marketing
• The marketing 'must haves' for a scaling business
• What a good marketing strategy and plan looks like
• How to hire a good marketing manager

You can listen to this podcast on Apple, Amazon Audible, Spotify and Google. New episodes on Wednesdays. You can also subscribe via the show's RSS feed. Please rate, review, subscribe and share the podcast if you enjoy it and have gained value from listening.

In the meantime, grab a pen, notepad and a cup of tea and make yourself at home for this insightful and engaging chat with Emmie.

Useful Links:

https://ultimategrowthaudit.com/ - Complete the Ultimate Growth Audit and uncover the areas to focus on and accelerate your business to the next level.

https://simplescaling.com/

Today's episode features David Jenyns, author of the wonderful book Systemology, a proven step-by-step business systemisation framework that even the busiest business owner can deploy. His mission, and motivation for writing this book, is "..to free business owners worldwide from the day-to-day operations of running their business."

In this episode we discuss:

• The 7 steps of the Systemology Model
• How business leaders can free themselves from the day-to-day operations of the business
• How to create time, reduce errors and scale your profits
• How systems allow you to create space
• What systems are required to scale
• How and why you extract knowledge from high performing people
• The importance of having a process and a systems focused culture

You can listen to this podcast on Apple, Amazon Audible, Spotify and Google. New episodes on Wednesdays. You can also subscribe via the show's RSS feed. Please rate, review, subscribe and share the podcast if you enjoy it and have gained value from listening.

In the meantime, grab a pen, notepad and a cup of tea and make yourself at home for this insightful and engaging chat with David.

To find out more head over to:

https://simplescaling.com/

Today's episode features Enda McNulty, best-selling author of Commit! and Founder and CEO of McNulty Performance which specialises in organisational performance, culture and wellbeing. Its vision is to inspire their clients to achieve their full potential whether that is in business, sport or in life.

Enda has worked with some of the world's biggest companies such as Amazon, Microsoft, Digicel and Intel.

In this episode we discuss:

• The importance of culture and surrounding yourself with the right people
• The key to be agile and getting things done
• The ability to bounce back and develop resilience
• How mastering the power of the mind and believing in yourself is essential for success
• How success leaves clues

You can listen to this podcast on Apple, Amazon Audible, Spotify and Google. New episodes on Wednesdays. You can also subscribe via the show's RSS feed. Please rate, review, subscribe and share the podcast if you enjoy it and have gained value from listening.

In the meantime, grab a pen, notepad and a cup of tea and make yourself at home for this insightful and engaging chat with Enda.

To find out more head over to:

https://simplescaling.com/

Today's episode features Sebastien Tondeur, CEO of MCI Group. In 1997, he joined the family-businexss, MCI based in Geneva, Switzerland. He brought with him his deep conviction into the company mantra: "When People Come Together Magic Happens". Since then the company has grown from 30 > 2,000 employees in more than 60 cities globally - making MCI one of the world's largest groups in the events sector. In this episode we discuss:

• The importance of purpose and sustainability
• Your personal brand as a business leader
• How setting and sharing a vision gets results
• Why it pays to be transparent and how that helps you scale
• How you can increase your recruitment effectiveness
• Sebastien's simple Diamond Model to measure performance

You can listen to this podcast on Apple, Amazon Audible, Spotify and Google. New episodes on Wednesdays. You can also subscribe via the show's RSS feed. Please rate, review, subscribe and share the podcast if you enjoy it and have gained value from listening.

In the meantime, grab a pen, notepad and a cup of tea and make yourself at home for this insightful and engaging chat with Sebastien.

To find out more head over to:

https://simplescaling.com/

When scaling a business, what does it mean to become a liquid thinker?

In this episode of the ScaleX™ Insider podcast, I'm speaking with international speaker and best-selling author, Damian Hughes.

In our chat, we discuss the fundamentals of great leadership, which behaviours are non-negotiable, and how exceptional cultures are characterised.

Damian shares how he has combined his practical and academic experience in development and change psychology; revealing how he supports leaders to create a high performing team culture in scaling organisations.

His innovative and exciting approach has been praised by Sir Richard Branson and Tiger Woods and he's one of the smartest and most humble people I know.

We cover many insights and topics in this episode including:

• What Damian has learned from working with elite sports professionals
• 5 different types of culture and what defines a high performing culture
• How success leaves clues
• Why not to leave the conversation at values
• What to do when fear and anxiety grips you

To learn more head on over to:

https://simplescaling.com/

Our debut episode features Adam Hale, Chair of The Board of Directors for the ScaleUp Institute and author of the online blog Lobster Tales who joined us for a fascinating discussion on:

• The Five Key Areas of focus for a scaling business
• How to discover the Why and the What of your company
• Why talking to customers is critical for success
• The important characteristics of scaleups
• The secrets to staying positive even in challenging times
• How to nurture the next generation of scaleups.

You can listen to this podcast on Apple, Amazon Audible, Spotify and Google. New episodes on Wednesdays. You can also subscribe via the show's RSS feed. Please rate, review, subscribe and share the podcast if you enjoy it and have gained value from listening.

In the meantime, grab a pen, notepad and a cup of tea and make yourself at home for this insightful and engaging chat with Adam.

To find out more head over to:

https://simplescaling.com/