Some Goodness

In this episode of Some Goodness, host Richard engages with David Wolf, a seasoned recruiting expert with over 24 years of experience placing professionals in top sales leadership roles. They discuss David's seven-step framework for intentional career growth, covering vision, desire, acceptance, intention, action, and allowance. David shares valuable tips on how professionals can take control of their career paths, emphasizing the importance of having a personal vision, nurturing positive emotions, and maintaining an optimistic attitude. The conversation provides actionable insights for current and aspiring C-level leaders to maximize their impact and advance their careers.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction: Taking Control of Your Career Growth

00:33 Meet David Wolf: Career Progression Expert

02:24 The Importance of Vision in Career Growth

06:46 Harnessing Desire for Career Advancement

07:42 Acceptance: Embracing Strengths and Weaknesses

11:38 Intention and Action: Key Drivers of Success

16:27 Allowance: Letting Go of Anxiety and Guilt

18:01 Conclusion and Personal Insights

Keywords

career growth, executive recruiter, sales leadership, unstoppable career, vision, desire, acceptance, intention, action, allowance, mindset, self-awareness, optimism, resilience, motivation, leadership development, career progression, CRO, director to VP, personal vision, following leaders, big goals, breaking barriers, positivity, letting go of guilt, adaptability, relationships, clients, recruiting process, perseverance, networking, family, legacy, pickleball, grandchildren, integrity, technology industry

Soundbites 

• “Your vision can be 10 times better than what you think is because we hold ourselves back oftentimes.” 
• “Acceptance is accepting who I am, and I think very highly of myself. I didn’t before, but I’ve learned that if I don’t do it, nobody else is gonna do it for me.” 
• “Obstacles are actually doors and pathways to success. Count them. They’re your blessings.” 
• “When I have an assignment from a client, I own it. I think of them when I start the day off, I think of the CEO or the VP of sales, whoever I’m recruiting for, and I’m thinking of his vision and what it’s gonna take to get there.” 
• “I don’t hide behind emails or text or stuff like that as much as I possibly can.” 

In this episode, Richard engages with Dr. Jim Karrh to delve into the significance of B2B success stories and their impact on purchasing decisions. They discuss the crucial components of effective storytelling and how it can build trust, drive conversations, and distinguish leading brands. From articulating the hero's journey to integrating emotional elements, they uncover the principles behind compelling customer stories. They also explore practical strategies for assembling 'story banks' and effectively deploying these narratives across different business functions, including sales, marketing, product, and customer success teams. Jim shares actionable advice for making stories resonate deeply with varied personas and industry roles, ultimately maximizing impact. The conversation concludes with recommendations on leveraging success stories internally to foster alignment and better customer understanding within teams. Additionally, Jim offers insights from Robert Cialdini's influential book, 'Influence,' as a valuable resource for mastering the psychology of decision-making.

Chapters

00:00 The Power of B2B Success Stories

01:02 Introduction to Dr. Jim Karrh

01:55 Essential Components of a Good Success Story

04:42 The Importance of Emotion in Storytelling

06:09 Crafting Relatable and Engaging Stories

11:18 Building and Utilizing a Story Bank

12:58 Cross-Industry Storytelling and Its Benefits

17:43 Deploying Success Stories Effectively

20:47 Broader Applications of Success Stories

23:42 Final Thoughts and Recommendations

26:10 Closing Remarks and Personal Reflections

Keywords

storytelling, customer success stories, case studies, B2B marketing, trust building, emotional hook, hero’s journey, sales conversations, customer experience, fear and anxiety, story bank, buyer personas, use cases, industry relevance, cross-industry insights, business problems, expert seller, knowledge, skill, team support, sales enablement, messaging, marketing, product teams, customer success teams, internal alignment, outcomes, compliance, stress reduction, teamwork, pipeline, forecasting, Robert Cialdini, Influence, social proof

Sound Bites

• “The challenge for a lot of customer success stories is to bring that human element in, because behind every business decision there’s fear, anxiety, or a gnawing problem driving it.”
• “I’m a big fan of what we might call story banks. It’s a collection, almost like a box of chocolates, so you’ve always got the right story to match the buyer, the role, or the use case.”
• “The three key inputs for good storytelling are knowledge, skill, and team support. Confidence is not an input. It’s a byproduct.”
• “Never tell a buyer, ‘I know a situation exactly like yours.’ People recoil from being told they’re exactly like somebody else. Instead, say, ‘This reminds me of…’ or ‘I see some similarities.’”
• “When you frame outcomes in your success stories, don’t stop at revenue or cost savings. Think broadly...less frustration, more compliance, reduced stress, and smoother teamwork can be just as powerful.”

In this episode of Some Goodness, host Richard Ellis interviews Dr. Jim Karrh, a renowned professor, author, and consultant specializing in marketing and customer communication. They discuss the critical importance of understanding and improving customer health as businesses face significant attrition challenges. The conversation explores how traditional methods like Net Promoter Score (NPS) are becoming outdated, and introduces a more holistic, data-driven approach to evaluating customer health. Jim highlights a three-dimensional framework comprising customer relationship quality, product usage, and value realization, offering practical guidance on how to implement these metrics. The episode also delves into the role of different business teams in influencing customer health and shares best practices for conducting effective Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs).

Here is a link to the resesarch Jim mentions: https://hbr.org/2024/07/toward-healthier-b2b-relationships

Keywords
 customer health, customer relationship quality, product usage, value realization, retention, churn prediction, net promoter score, NPS, Harvard Business Review, Toward Healthier B2B Relationships, customer success, account expansion, data-driven strategies, subjective vs. objective data, QBR, quarterly business review, strategic collaboration, value creation, BigCommerce, Revenue Innovations, customer success team, sales team alignment, customer retention, predictive metrics, customer experience, multi-dimensional framework, account team, product team, financial team, customer insights, client engagement

Sound Bites 

•  "Sometimes it's hard to get customers to tell us what's going on."
•  "We really need to engage a lot of different teams inside the company to get a good gauge of customer health."
•  "Map out contributions by function to customer health. Just start there."
•  "Treat QBR as a precious opportunity."
•  "No one expects your stuff to work perfectly all the time."
•  "Be as objective as you can in terms of the inputs to gauge customer health and rely on your best people across teams to say, what are the implications for us?"
•  "Start somewhere. You probably have a lot of good inputs that can get you going."

In this episode of 'Some Goodness,' host Richard Ellis welcomes Drea Armstrong, a seasoned VP of Marketing at Kubit, to explore the challenges and opportunities in building an executive-level marketing career. They discuss the increasing competitiveness of marketing roles, with less than 5% of marketers reaching VP positions, and the need to adapt to constant change. Drea shares her insights on the importance of leveraging new tools, the shift from activity metrics to outcome-based measures, and the critical role of empathy and technical leadership. They also delve into the significance of experimentation, the practical use of AI to increase efficiency, and the evolving landscape of marketing leadership. The conversation is packed with practical tips and strategies for aspiring marketing leaders.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction: The Competitive Landscape of Marketing Careers

00:42 Meet Drea Armstrong: A Dynamic Marketing Executive

01:28 Navigating Change and Innovation in Marketing

03:30 Proving Marketing's Impact: From Activity to Outcomes

05:38 The Importance of Empathy and Strategic Leadership

08:15 Embracing Experimentation and Learning from Failure

12:55 Leveraging AI in Modern Marketing

20:23 Path to Leadership: Overcoming Imposter Syndrome

22:02 Closing Thoughts and Sharing Goodness

Keywords

Marketing leadership, B2B SaaS, innovation, change management, marketing technology, automation, outcomes over activity, data-driven marketing, voice of the customer, empathy in leadership, experimentation, best practices, AI in marketing, efficiency, workflow integration, career advancement, imposter syndrome, authenticity, collaboration, organizational success, audience insights

Sountbites

"For me, change has always been the constant."

"Fortune favors the brave; it’s those who are not afraid of the change who end up leading organizations."

"You need to be an authentic member of your market, not just someone asking questions from the outside."

"Failure is so important, not just as a department or company, but as an individual."

"Experimentation is where the money’s made; best practices are just a starting point, not gospel."

"AI isn’t replacing anything; it’s giving you the time to complete the stuff you never had time to do."

"It’s about weaving AI into your day, not adding it as one more thing on your to-do list."

"Imposter syndrome is very real, but those who feel it are often the most fit to lead."

"As a leader, you’re responsible not just for your function but for the success of the entire organization."

In this episode, host Richard Ellis interviews marketing executive Dreya Armstrong. They discuss the underutilization of MarTech stacks, currently at just one-third of capacity according to Gartner. Dreya, the VP of Marketing at Kubit, shares insights on simplifying marketing operations and driving impactful business transformations. She emphasizes the importance of aligning tech adoption with real needs, reducing operational friction, and cultivating a culture of continuous learning and collaboration. The conversation covers key strategies for achieving operational excellence, the significance of questioning the status quo, and the value of building strong, trust-based relationships across technical and non-technical teams.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction: Underutilization of MarTech Stacks

00:42 Meet Drea Armstrong: Simplifying Marketing Complexity

01:40 The Persistent Issue of Underutilized Tech

05:29 Operational Excellence vs. Business Impact

13:07 Bridging the Gap: Technical and Non-Technical Stakeholders

16:27 Practical Tips for Simplification and Efficiency

21:11 Conclusion and Personal Insights

Keywords

MarTech stacks, simplification, strategic transformation, marketing ops, impact, operational excellence, automation, ROI, business impact, enabler, status quo, tech silos, bridging the gap, goals, effort audit.

Soundbites

•  Automation without understanding is like painting a dirty room if you don't know where stuff is supposed to go, layering automation over the top of it makes it a bigger mess that you just have to end up digging everything out.
•  If the answers are fuzzy, the tool's probably not worth the investment.
•  If you have an ops person that people are flagging to say, let's get them in this room and be part of the conversation, that's a really good sign that you're functioning with operational excellence on the counterpart.
•  I think the concept of, that's how we've always done it, is a red flag for it probably needs to be redone.
•  I'll take a look at my team's work and I'll say, ‘let's go through this with our goals in mind and mark whether or not the work you're doing on a, you know, it's a one week audit. This week, I just want you to write down everything you did in the week, and then I want you to say whether true or false, this activity contributed directly to one of the goals that we have for the court.

In this special episode of Some Goodness, host Richard revisits a popular conversation with executive leadership expert Jack Galloway. Jack shares invaluable insights on handling conflict, creating clarity, and leading with both courage and kindness. This episode addresses why it's crucial to tackle difficult conversations promptly and how clarity equates to kindness in leadership. Galloway offers practical advice on managing difficult interactions and building stronger teams, making this episode essential listening for current and aspiring leaders. The episode also includes statistics highlighting the prevalence of toxic coworkers and ineffective managers in the workplace, underscoring the need for adept leadership. 

Clear here to download a free cheat sheet to go wtih this episode..

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Episode Overview

01:22 Statistics on Difficult People at Work

02:01 Introducing Jack Galloway

03:00 Jack's Perspective on Avoiding Conflict

05:05 Practical Tips for Handling Conflict

06:33 The Importance of Clarity in Leadership

12:26 Balancing Candor and Kindness

18:38 Prioritizing Tasks and Managing Workload

28:10 Creating a Positive Work Culture

32:27 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Keywords

difficult conversations, conflict, clarity, kindness, leadership, team, tough conversations, boundaries, trust, radical candor, curiosity, empathy, feedback, culture, priorities, effectiveness, toxic people, workplace, honesty, vision, goals, roles, performance, administrative burden, coaching, communication, trust, influence, feedback, change, personal growth, professional development, strategy, family, teams, success, priorities, stress, busyness, management, sales, trust, toxic culture, role clarity, transitions, career, kindness, constructive criticism

Soundbites

• To be unclear is to be unkind. To be clear is to be kind. And that just resonated with me, especially with my Enneagram nine peacemaker style. I sometimes was being so kind that I wasn't delivering any clarity.
• The majority of the population simply just does not deal well with conflict in any part of their life—including in the workplace. There's fear that it's gonna go horribly wrong. They don't know how to do it the right way. So there's fear that it's gonna go wrong, and there's a lack of just skill and experience on the right way to do it, to have a positive outcome.
• The things that I always try to do when I'm having a, what I call a difficult conversation, is to be curious and curious to me means I'm not predetermining what's going on. I don't know what's going on. All I know is what I observed.
• If I have difficult conversations with 10 people on a regular consistent basis, with nine of them, if I will have it early, ask questions, be non-judgmental, be clear, point out what I'm seeing, have the courage to tell 'em what's working and what's not working—even the toughest character out there wants to engage with a leader that does that.
• We feel like we have cast a clear vision, we've cast a clear plan, a clear strategy, some clear goals. We feel like everybody knows exactly what we know and what we're thinking. And then when I sit down with their teams, very few of them have those things and they go, you know what? I don't know those things. I've heard bits and pieces, but I don't know where we're going or why we're going there.
• If we'll do the things we're talking about while we're in that level of influence in that role, it impacts those people beyond just their jobs. It impacts them in their family lives. It makes fathers better fathers. It makes mothers better mothers. It makes people better spouses and it helps 'em in different areas of their life.”

In this special birthday episode of 'Some Goodness,' host Richard revisits the most downloaded episode of the year featuring Mike Fouts, an experienced Chief Business Officer. They discuss the unique challenges and valuable lessons learned when leading a high-growth business unit within a larger legacy software company. Key insights include retraining muscle memory from traditional business practices, the importance of prioritizing what matters, and the distinct differences in marketing and client acquisition. The episode also offers practical advice for leaders contemplating career moves into high-growth or legacy companies. 

Birthday Gift!

Enjoy this free download to go with this episode: 

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Special Announcement

00:14 Replay of the Most Downloaded Episode

02:12 Introduction to Mike Fouts

03:00 Challenges of Leading a Growth Company

05:11 Adapting to High-Growth Dynamics

07:10 Differences in Business Reviews

10:59 Customer Acquisition and Marketing Strategies

12:45 Fundamentals and Practical Tips

15:28 Career Advice for Leaders

17:29 Personal Anecdotes and Conclusion

Keywords

growth company, legacy company, muscle memory, agility, flexibility, delegation, collaboration, acceptance, prioritization, customer acquisition, marketing, top of funnel, sales methodology, pipeline, velocity, scale, profitability, structure, leadership, career move, self-awareness, business review, fundamentals, expansion, renewals, governance, transformation, operational systems, mindset shift, hiring, change management, RPM, culture fit, headcount, efficiency, business unit

Soundbites

• “Growth companies are much less rigid and more flexible... You have to be much more aware of delegating, of being accepting of certain things, and encouraging people to test the limits of rules and the box you live in.”
• “Know who you are, and be honest about what you want... Our time on this marble is pretty short, so don’t be miserable in that time.” 
• “You’re going to introduce process where you don’t need process... Accept it and go and let it run because it’s in a growth mode.” 
• “The biggest thing we do differently is customer acquisition and marketing… Your two primary plays in a legacy company are expand and renew. But in a growth company, the lifeblood is the land component.” 
• “Prioritize what matters... and just accept the rest and put it on your list and address it as time and the business evolve and permit.” 
• “You can’t change everything.” (A mantra that recurs throughout Mike’s commentary and reinforces his approach to leadership transitions)

In this special anniversary episode, Richard Ellis is joined by Heather Easterday to celebrate one year of 'Some Goodness' by reflecting on the show's origins, discussing the importance of structured reflection in organizations, and sharing insights from interviews with business leaders. Topics include effective leadership, the power of storytelling, the importance of sales and marketing alignment, and practical tips for new C-level leaders. The episode emphasizes the value of mentorship and consistent messaging within organizations, while providing actionable advice for navigating career moves between high-growth startups and established companies.

Chapters

00:00 Reflecting on a Year of Success

00:49 The Origin Story of the Podcast

03:51 The Power of Difficult Conversations

07:22 The Art of Storytelling in Leadership

11:23 Aligning Sales and Marketing for Success

15:10 The Importance of Consistent Messaging

17:58 Mentoring and Leading Different Teams

23:41 Making Career Moves: Advice for Leaders

25:40 Looking Ahead: Exciting Future Plans   

Keywords

In this special anniversary episode, the hosts celebrate one year of 'Some Goodness' by reflecting on the show's origins, discussing the importance of structured reflection in organizations, and sharing insights from interviews with business leaders. Topics include effective leadership, the power of storytelling, the importance of sales and marketing alignment, and practical tips for new C-level leaders. The episode emphasizes the value of mentorship and consistent messaging within organizations, while providing actionable advice for navigating career moves between high-growth startups and established companies.

Soundbites

• “Sometimes the body part you like to train least is the one you really need to train most.” – Chris Strammiello
• “Clarity is kindness. But if I’m kind without the clarity, I haven’t done you any favors.” – Jack Galloway
• “It’s not your pitch, it’s our pitch.” – Chris Strammiello
• “People won’t remember all 20 slides, but they’ll remember how you made them feel.” – Larry Sweeney
• “Consistency isn’t about finding the perfect words — it’s about making sure everyone uses the same words.”– Stacy Leidwinger
• “If sales isn’t successful, we’re not successful.” – from Tracey Mustacchio’s story about a pivotal wake-up call
• “You have to create a tribe of mentors around your team.” – Chris Strammiello
• “Know who you are. Know what you want.” – Mike Fouts
• “Avoiding difficult conversations almost always makes the problem worse.” – Jack Galloway
• “Own the morning. It’s the only time that feels like it’s fully yours.” – Chris Strammiello

In this episode, we discuss the challenges and necessities of translating bold strategies into actionable growth with Chris Strammiello, Chief Revenue Officer at Lean Solutions Group. With over 25 years of experience in sales, marketing, and strategic operations, Chris highlights the critical role of leadership, different approaches to growth depending on industry and business needs, and the importance of owning and shaping strategies. Key takeaways include understanding product-market fit, navigating dependencies, the value of broad market insights, and aligning teams and board members around shared goals. Chris also shares personal insights on maintaining balance and productivity in a demanding executive career.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction: The Challenge of Turning Strategy into Action

00:49 Guest Introduction: Meet Chris Strammiello

01:17 Growth Mindset: Adapting to Business Needs

05:06 Executing vs. Developing Strategy

11:01 Aligning with the Board: Key Elements for Success

15:07 Team Alignment: Engaging and Involving Your Team

18:23 Executing a Given Strategy: Ownership and Accountability

20:23 Conclusion: Extra Goodness and Personal Insights

Keywords

strategy, execution, growth, leadership, sales, CRO, McKinsey, revenue, mindset, transformation, alignment, scaling, adjacency, board, metrics, ownership, accountability, communication, team, product-market fit, Lean Solutions, market opportunity, repeatable, scalable, dependencies, change management, collaboration, transparency, innovation, talent, planning, risk, numbers, feedback, buy-in, stakeholders, culture, morning routine, Miracle Morning

Soundbites

• "Sometimes the body part you like to train least is the one you really need to train most." 
• "When you get to the top of the sales stack, what you've done is not good enough anymore." 
• "It's all about the numbers... You can have great ideas, you can have great structural concepts, but show me the numbers." 
• "Show me why it's repeatable. You gotta show me why it's scalable." 
• "It's not your pitch, it's our pitch. And that's more powerful." 
• "A culture of accountability is so essential in sales, and if your leaders or your sellers view any light between you and your CRO, you and your CEO, you and the plan itself, well that's gonna really dramatically lower their accountability." 
• "The approach  you take is almost as important as the deliverables." 

In this episode of 'Some Goodness,' Richard hosts Stacy Leidinger, a seasoned product and marketing leader, to discuss the critical importance of consistent messaging across all organizational functions. Highlighting research from Forrester B2B that shows aligned sales and marketing teams achieve 24% faster revenue growth over three years, Stacy explains how clarity and consistency in messaging can differentiate a company and enhance its brand power. The conversation delves into practical steps for creating effective messaging by incorporating customer feedback, testing through various channels, and consistently updating internal playbooks. The episode also touches on the application of AI tools to optimize and scale messaging efforts. Stacy shares insights on leveraging a master messaging playbook across marketing, sales, and customer success teams, as well as the importance of enabling channel partners with simple, effective communication tools. The discussion concludes with a balanced view on whether CROs should oversee both sales and marketing to ensure alignment.

Chapters

00:00 The Power of Consistent Messaging

00:42 Introduction to Stacy Leidinger

01:20 The Importance of Consistency Over Perfection

03:14 Crafting the Perfect Message: Steps and Strategies

04:23 Testing and Validating Your Message

06:41 Leveraging Analysts and Events for Messaging

08:33 Creating and Using a Messaging Playbook

14:55 The Role of AI in Messaging

22:01 Aligning Sales and Marketing: The CRO Debate

25:05 Final Thoughts and AI Tools for Productivity

Keywords

aligned teams, consistent messaging, revenue growth, sales, marketing, customer success, message consistency, brand power, voice of the customer, value proposition, message testing, cross-functional collaboration, product, positioning, stats, customer stories, playbooks, RFPs, executive alignment, partner enablement, analyst feedback, Gartner, message format, sales enablement, SDRs, SEs, messaging playbook, content reuse, storytelling, AI tools, generative AI, persona targeting, industry messaging, message optimization, website content, social posts, PR, proof points, sales conversations, discovery, industry case studies, partner messaging, trigger words, product differentiation, revenue impact, marketing alignment, CRO, CMO, demand generation, brand awareness, strategic alignment, SEO, Notebook LM, Google AI, productivity tools, content summarization.

Soundbites

• “It doesn’t matter having the perfect words. It matters being consistent.”
• “When an organization all uses the same words, that’s when you get power of brand, power of message.”
• “Messaging is so critical to everything the organization does.”
• “You don’t have to share everything day one, day two, or even day 50. Just pull the right piece at the right time.”
• “Customers pick up on inconsistencies.”
• “You can only grow as fast as everyone recognizes your name.”
• “You need to make your messaging so simple that when they hear those words, they think of you.”
• “If your product helps them sell more, it will get moved up in that line.”
• “SEO in five years is going to be gone.”
• “The partner’s not going to say your acronym. They’re going to talk about the pain they have.”
• “You need to make your messaging so simple that when they hear those words, they think of you.”