Strategic Momentum

Lee Sommers is the owner of Purpose Personal Fitness, a leading athletic training and consulting services company. He’s been involved in the fitness industry for almost 20 years and has worked with athletes of all levels, including Olympic champion Katie Ledecky. He has seen the industry evolve over that time with a primary focus on profit over people, which Lee believes is a mistake, in the long term.

In the fitness industry, Lee believes that you need to be customer-service oriented to deliver an optimal experience; in other words, be customer-centric. And he’s not the only one: as we discussed with Mike Renner back in Episode 8, customers have more influence than ever in today’s digitally focused environment.

So it’s critical to keep a pulse on what your customers need because, obviously, you can't stay in business if you're not turning a profit – and “a service mentality is what really feeds profit.”

Resources:

• Connect with Lee: Instagram | LeeSommersPT (at) gmail (dot) com
• “How Much Does Employee Turnover Really Cost?”

Production & Development for Strategic Momentum by Podcast Masters

Jason Hunter is the Data Science business lead for CapTech consulting and, for 15 years, he has been using data to help businesses drive impact. Now, with the advent of machine learning, he sees the world of businesses analysis changing forever as organizations gain the ability to truly look at their data.

We discuss what exactly machine learning is, and what it will take to effectively apply machine learning to break through the inertia to drive impact in your organization.

Resources:

• Learn more at CapTechConsulting.com
• Connect with Jason on LinkedIn

Production & Development for Strategic Momentum by Podcast Masters

Returning guest Dr. Mary Lamia is a psychologist who has spent her career studying and encouraging emotional awareness. She is the author of numerous books for kids, teenagers, and adults, including What Motivates Getting Things Done and the upcoming The Upside of Shame (releasing 2/6/18).

We explore the different motivational styles of successful people – task-driven and deadline-driven – and why understanding your own natural style of getting things done, while embracing those of others, will help you build and maintain strategic momentum in your business environment.

Resources:

• Learn more at MaryLamia.com

• Read: What Motivates Getting Things Done: Procrastination, Emotions, and Success
• Pre-order: The Upside of Shame: Therapeutic Interventions Using the Positive Aspects of a "Negative" Emotion (release date: 2/6/18)

Production & Development for Strategic Momentum by Podcast Masters

Many companies develop what they believe will be an effective marketing strategy, and then the execution falls short of expectations – but, with proper planning in addition to an awareness of how one’s own emotions and pretense can impact the outcome, this can be avoided.

Greg Johnston, SVP and Creative Director of AgencyQ, returns to the Strategic Momentum podcast to share his perspective on what organizations need to consider in aligning strategy to execution in order to lay the groundwork for future success.

Resources:

• Learn more about AgencyQ
• Connect with Greg on LinkedIn

Production & Development for Strategic Momentum by Podcast Masters

Mark DeVito has been in the business of creating compelling content for much of his career, starting with television and music videos. Now, as President of Bates Creative, he delivers digital strategy, branding, campaign, and collateral solutions that start with their clients’ mission and build into customized experiences.

We discuss what’s needed to create compelling content in today’s digital environment: doing your audience research, deeply understanding your client’s brand, and being agile.

Resources:

• Learn more about Bates Creative: BatesCreative.com | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
• Connect with Mark on LinkedIn

Production & Development for Strategic Momentum by Podcast Masters

Dr. Mary Lamia is a psychologist who has spent her career studying and encouraging emotional awareness. She is the author of numerous books for kids, teenagers, and adults, including What Motivates Getting Things Done and the upcoming The Upside of Shame.

We discuss how both positive and negative emotions motivate us, and the importance of our emotions, which can help us in business.

Resources:

• Learn more at MaryLamia.com
• Read: What Motivates Getting Things Done: Procrastination, Emotions, and Success
• Pre-order: The Upside of Shame: Therapeutic Interventions Using the Positive Aspects of a "Negative" Emotion

The Digital Revolution has brought about fundamental changes in the way businesses operate inside and out much like the Industrial Revolution. As a result, organizations have to undertake a ‘digital transformation,’ which often requires rethinking the business itself.

Mike Renner has over 20 years of executive management experience leading technology services and consulting companies that focus on aligning everything within a business to create exceptional value around technology. As CEO of MPRE Digital, a digital transformation consultancy, he focuses on bringing Digital Products, Customer Experience, and Data/Analytics to the core of his clients’ businesses.

Resources:

• Connect with Mike on LinkedIn

Jim Gregoire is the Chief Product Officer at Openbay, an award-winning online marketplace for auto repair and provider of SaaS-based offerings for the auto care industry. Unlike most product leaders, Jim started in marketing and shifted to his current role.

We discuss what an effective product strategy entails (it needs to be truly customer-centric vs. taking an inside-out point of view), how a product leader creates the momentum that garners stakeholder buy-in and enables them to get the resources they need – and, ultimately, why establishing a product experience that delivers intrinsic value requires you to empathize with your internal and external customers.

Resources:

• Connect with Jim on LinkedIn
• Learn more about Openbay

Today we explore how fear affects us in business through the eyes of the incredible industry experts who have shared their wisdom on the show, as well as a subject matter expert who offers a lot of insight into the psychology of fear and motivation:

• Kareen Walsh, Founder and Solutions Strategist at Revampologist
• Andy Musliner, Founder and CEO of InRoad Toys
• Greg Johnston, SVP and Creative Director at AgencyQ
• Will Choi, President and CEO of Vertical Apps
• Dr. Mary Lamia, a psychologist who has spent her career studying and encouraging emotional awareness. She is the author of numerous books for kids, teenagers, and adults, including What Motivates Getting Things Done, as well as the upcoming The Upside of Shame.

Resources:

• Dr. Mary Lamia:
  • MaryLamia.com
  
  
• What Motivates Getting Things Done: Procrastination, Emotions, and Success
• The Upside of Shame: Therapeutic Interventions Using the Positive Aspects of a "Negative" Emotion
• Will Choi:
  • VerticalApps.com
  
  
• Greg Johnston:
  • AgencyQ
  
  
• Andy Musliner:
  • InRoadToys.com
  
  
• Kareen Walsh:
  • Revampologist.com
  
  

Will Choi is the President and CEO of VerticalApps, an IT consulting company focused on facilitating the agile transformation of the federal government… which is quite a daunting task. 

We discuss strategies and advice for creating momentum in product development. This forward movement requires breaking down the norms, not just in the way they work but down to their fundamental culture

Resources:

• Learn more about VerticalApps
• Connect with Greg on LinkedIn