SIMPLE brand With Matt Lyles

Do you ever wonder why some brands become the “top-of-mind” choice in an industry when their competitors may offer a better product at maybe even a better price?

These brands no longer have to do much work to draw in customers. They simply have fans who continuously come to them in drives.

These are the brands that really stand out. They’re the ones who’ve become irresistible.

But how can you do that in a crowded world when your customers are bombarded with competing and distracting messages and experiences every day?

Luckily, there’s an answer, and I discuss it this week with Gair Maxwell. 

Gair’s an international keynote speaker, author and brand strategist. He’s the host of the top-rated podcast: The Leadership Standard, produced with TEC Canada.

And he’s the author of Big Little Legends: How Everyday Leaders Build Irresistible Brands.

A rewarding career doesn’t just happen. It’s built, step by step, opportunity by opportunity, decision by decision. It takes a lot of intentionality to know the right steps to take, the right opportunities to pursue, and the right decisions to make.

And no matter where someone is in their career, it can leave them with a lot of questions on how they can really excel at each new level. It’s almost like you need a field manual to know exactly how to navigate these things in order to excel in your career.

And that’s why I’m happy to talk with Ken Coleman this week.

Ken holds the title as “America’s career coach.” He’s the #1 national bestselling author of The Proximity Principle. And he’s the the nationally syndicated radio host of The Ken Coleman Show that’s heard on over 70 stations, SiriusXM, and his podcast where he helps listeners discover what they were born to do and while providing practical steps to make their dream job a reality.

And Ken’s new book comes out this week! - From Paycheck to Purpose: The Clear Path to Doing Work You Love.

Not only does Ken show how intentional, focused work over time leads to career success, he also lays out the seven stages for discovering and doing the work you were born to do so you can have career significance.

Throughout the month of November, we’re shining the spotlight on a number of nonprofit organizations who are doing some really significant work in the world.

My guest this week in the November nonprofits series is Joe Pulizzi.

Joe was previously featured on the SIMPLE brand podcast episode 33. Joe’s the founder of Content Marketing Institute and The Tilt. He’s the co-host of the This Old Marketing podcast. And he’s the best-selling author of a number of books including Content Inc.

But we’re not here to talk about content today. We’re here to talk about the organization that Joe and his wife Pam founded in 2014: Orange Effect Foundation.

Orange Effect Foundation makes sure children with speech disorders receive the speech therapy and technology equipment they need...especially when the children's family doesn't have the financial means.

Not only that, they also create relationships with speech therapists to help them help families know about the financial opportunities, and they work with therapists and families to help simplify their understanding of the insurance around paying for therapy and equipment.

Throughout the month of November, we’re  shining the spotlight on a number of nonprofit organizations who are doing some really significant work in the world. 

My first guest in the November nonprofits series is Michael Solomon. 

Michael was previously featured on the SIMPLE brand podcast episode 46. He’s the co-founder of 10X Management, and he’s the co-author of Game Changer: How To Be 10x in the Talent Economy.

But we’re not here to talk about that. We’re here to talk about the organization Michael founded over 20 years ago: Musicians On Call.

Musicians On Call brings live and recorded and virtual music performances to the bedsides of patients in healthcare facilities all across the U.S. 

Think for a moment what music does in your life, and in your family members’ lives. Music can change and shape your day. It can help shape your mood and your energy and your outlook. It adds to your memories.

Because of those reasons, Musicians On Call knows they have no choice but to bring music to people that need it most.

RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE

• Musicians On Call Site
• Ways for you to help Musicians On Call 

I’m sure you’ve heard this before, and it’s absolutely true. Success - real sustainable success - takes time.

But not only does it take time, it also takes work - strategic, intentional and focused work. And it takes setting up the right decisions and boundaries so that you can ensure you’re always focused on the right work.

When you add all of those things together, it’s not that easy to do. We need help in understanding how to plan for and play that long game. We need a framework. We need guidance. We need a strategy.

And that’s why it was such a big help for me to talk with Dorie Clark this week. 

Dorie’s a leadership consultant, keynote speaker and professor at both Duke University’s {FEW-KWA} School of Business and Columbia Business School. She’s a contributor to Harvard Business Review and she’s been named as one of the Top 50 business thinkers in the world by Thinkers50! Dorie’s also the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of Entrepreneurial You, Reinventing You and Stand Out, which was named the #1 Leadership Book of the Year by Inc. magazine.

And Dorie’s recent book recently hit the Wall Street Journal bestseller list too - The Long Game: How to be a Long-Term Thinker in a Short-Term World.

If you think about where we are today, and what technology and customer experience has provided us, we’re pretty spoiled as it relates to instant gratification. While it’s great to be able to get our hands onto most anything we want either overnight or same-day, that expectation is spilling over into our lives and what we expect to achieve. But that’s not the case. Real significance, real milestones, real achievements take time. In The Long Game, Dorie shows us why it takes time, but she also gives us the strategies and frameworks to work towards those goals while it’s taking time so we don’t simply give up when realistic timelines and our own timelines don’t match up.

RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE

• Dorie's book: The Long Game: How to be a Long-term Thinker in a Short-term World 
• Dorie Clark's Site
• The Long Game Strategic Thinking Self-Assessment

In this week’s episode of the SIMPLE brand With Matt Lyles podcast I talk with Len Herstein, author of Be Vigilant: Strategies to Stop Complacency, Improve Performance, and Safeguard Success.

Over the past couple of decades, too many businesses have continued to operate the same way for decades because "that’s how we’ve always done things."

While there are so many thought leaders and authors who are providing some fantastic lessons on how to become successful, no one is talking nearly enough about how ensure you remain successful once you do make it.

And that’s why I’m happy to talk with Len Herstein this week.  Len’s had a long history developing, growing and managing some pretty well-known brands: Campbell’s Soup, Coca-Cola, Nabisco. Today, he’s the Founder, CEO & President of ManageCamp Inc., where he provides the strategic vision behind the annual Brand ManageCamp conferences, leads the planning on clients’ custom events, and is the day-to-day contact and project leader for ManageCamp’s brand consulting projects. And this is pretty cool - On the side, he’s a volunteer sheriff’s deputy in Colorado.

And Len is the author of Be Vigilant: Strategies to Stop Complacency, Improve Performance, and Safeguard Success. Your Business and Relationships Depend on It.

So many books and authors teach lessons on how to become successful. But Len’s lessons are a little different. They focus on what to do once you’re already successful. In Be Vigilant, Len teaches us how so many successful companies - and even successful leaders - can fail big time when they get complacent. And he teaches us how to best guard against complacency so we can remain successful. What’s really cool here is that - in his book - Len uses cautionary tales from both businesses that have fallen but also from some of the crime and police lessons he’s learned in his time as a volunteer sheriff’s deputy.

RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE

• Len's book: Be Vigilant: Strategies to Stop Complacency, Improve Performance, and Safeguard Success 
• Len Herstein's Site
• Brand ManageCamp 

In this week’s episode of the SIMPLE brand With Matt Lyles podcast I talk with Michael Solomon, author of Game Changer: How to be 10x in the Talent Economy! 

It’s no secret - highly skilled employees bring at least 10 times their value to your organization, maybe even more!

When you have highly skilled, 10x high performers in your organization your business is more agile, more innovative, more productive, more collaborative and much more effective. It’s like your team has, and continues to experience, transformational growth.

But how do you  create a culture and leadership behaviors and habits that recruit these high 10x performers? And once you do have them, how do you lead, manage and develop them? And here's the $50k dollar question - once you have them, how do you retain them?

It’s not easy, especially in 2021 as so many organizations are experiencing the GREAT RESIGNATION.

And that’s why I’m happy to talk with Michael Solomon this week.

Michael is the co-founder of 10X Management, where they help companies find the top tech experts. He’s been featured in Harvard Business Review, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, CNN, and much more. I was excited to find out that he’s got a pretty cool connection to the original 10x BOSS - Bruce Springsteen.

And he’s the co-author of Game Changer: How To Be 10x in the Talent Economy.

In Game Changer, Michael provides you with proven strategies on how your company can create the right environment for top talent and breakthrough success by upending traditional business practices - those practices that everyone assumes are the right ones because "WE’VE ALWAYS DONE IT THIS WAY."

He also reveals how professionals can evolve from good to great to 10x, and enjoy all the perks and rewards that this status brings.

RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE

• Michael's book: Game Changer: How to be 10x in the Talent Economy
• 10x Management site 

In this week’s episode of the SIMPLE brand With Matt Lyles podcast I talk with Mike Michalowicz, author ofGet Different: Marketing That Can't Be Ignored!

I’m sure you know this -  your customers are bombarded with distracting messages and experiences all day, every day. And it’s hard to cut through that clutter.

Too many business owners are left frustrated because they feel invisible in a crowded marketplace. They know they’re better than their competitors, but when they focus on that fact, their customers don’t pay attention - their customers don’t really care.

That's because, to customers, better is not actually better. Different is better.

And those who market differently are the ones who win.

And that’s why I’m happy to talk with Mike Michalowicz this week. Mike's top keynote speaker, a best-selling author, a former Wall Street Journal columnist, and business makeover specialist for MSNBC. And Simon Sinek calls him “the top contender for the patron saint of entrepreneurs.”

Mike and I talk about his new book that’s out this week: Get Different: Marketing That Can’t Be Ignored.  

Mike and I discuss the right ways to go about knowing how and where to be different. And we discuss how to grab - and keep - your customer’s attention. All based on the methods, tools and lessons from his book - Get Different.

RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE

• Mike's book: Get Different: Marketing That Can't Be Ignored!
• Mike's site 
• Mike's podcast: Mike Up In Your Business