The Pivotal Leader

"Your people deserve great managers."

- Mark C. Winters

On this episode of The Pivotal Leader, Gina Trimarco interviewed Mark C. Winters, co-author of the Rocket Fuel. Mark's passion is helping entrepreneurs get unstuck so they can pursue their freedom. Depending on the unique situation, Mark's talent for introducing just the right combination of perspective and process sparks teams to start moving, move faster, or begin moving in the proper direction - with clarity. As a teacher, coach, and facilitator, Mark spends most of his time directly engaged with entrepreneurial leadership teams as a Certified EOS Implementer—helping them implement EOS in their own companies. He's delivered over 500 full-day EOS workshops with companies from around the U.S.

Podcast Topics Include:

• A general overview of EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System)
• The visionary and integrator defined
• The phases of the visionary and integrator relationship
• Connecting visionaries with the right integrators
• How a small business can grow following a plateau
• The benefits of EOS and how does is impact a business
• How patience is so important when implementing EOS
• How to determine if you are a visionary or integrator using Mark's book: Rock Fuel.
• Company culture and who becomes responsible - visionary, integrator or both?
• Productivity vs. creativity, attention residue and intensity formula
• Time blocking to help with attention residue

Full Show Notes: https://pivot10results.com/podcast67_mark-winters

– Dave Mattson

In this episode of The Pivotal Leader, Gina Trimarco interviewed Dave Mattson, a best-selling author, sales and management visionary, and leader of the world's largest sales effectiveness organization. As CEO and President of Sandler Training, he oversees the corporate direction and strategy for the company's worldwide network of operations serving clients through

Podcast Topics Include:

• Dave and Gina's thoughts on Vistage's Confidence Index for 2018 and what he thinks we are missing
• What to do with the rising workforce of millennials as it relates to interpersonal skills
• Where most companies miss the boat on motivating team members
• Good and bad practices for salespeople and sales managers
• Being a doctor of sales
• What sales managers need to do for their salespeople
• What are the common trends that sales people contact Sandler for help and training
• How Sandler helps sales teams turn things around and how they help companies by creating a common sales language and sales approach
• Dave's dirty secret relating to sales teams and training
• The importance of turning down clients when you know management is not buying into what is being sold
• What makes one franchise stronger than another and what has made Sandler so strong
• Sandler's growth strategy, including why they limit the number of franchises they add each year and going international
• What the future of training looks like

Full show notes at: https://pivot10results.com/podcast66_dave-mattson

"We're going to have less sales people than ever before … 60% or more of the sale is already done by the time a sales person is contacted."

- Tom Niesen, CEO, Acuity Systems

On this episode of The Pivotal Leader, Gina Trimarco interviewed Tom Niesen, CEO of Acuity Systems, who spent 14 years in upper sales management and marketing positions with companies like Polaroid and Fuji Film before starting Acuity Systems, Inc. in 1990. At those companies he built sales teams and began to understand how and why sales teams failed, the difference between effective sales processes and what just sounded good, and what it really took to create a superstar sales force. Today, he blends his own experiences with nationally proven training and evaluation tools from The Sandler Sales Institute, Objective Management Group, and Extended DISC, to teach a unique brand of sales training and personal development. It's so unique - and so engaging - that Niesen closes his own prospects at a rate that would make most salespeople green with envy.

Podcast Topics Include:

• Tom shares how he closes his own prospects in a way that would make most sales people green with envy
• Sales should be looked at as a science and is better referred to as lean selling (similar to lean manufacturing)
• Building solid foundation for sales and having the right processes and behaviors in place to support your sales team
• What "going into the cooler" means
• Goodhart's Law: When one measurement becomes a goal, it's a bad goal
• Culture issues that affect sales and how to change those processes
• Creating a "sales map" without the sale person
• Effective vs non-effective sales training
• Tom's view on the 2017 Q4 Vistage CEO confidence report
• How to get better at interpersonal communication and rapport building with the rising workforce of a younger generation
• Using a pattern interrupt strategy in communications and sales
• Using improv in the sales approach
• Having an upfront contract about how you work
• How to have a superstar sales force
• Emerson's Law of Compensation

Full Show Notes

"I've gotta reward people for taking chances."

- Mark Donnolo, Founder, SalesGlobe

In this episode of The Pivotal Leader, Gina Trimarco interviewed Mark Donnolo, founder and managing partner of SalesGlobe and Michelle Seger, Global Sales Strategy and Change Management Leader with SalesGlobe.

Mark is the author of the books The Innovative Sale, What Your CEO Needs to Know About Sales Compensation, and Essential Account Planning. He has worked with Global 1000 companies around the world for the past twenty five years, focusing on sales innovation, sales strategy, sales coverage, account planning, sales compensation, and quota setting.

Michelle Seger with leadership teams to transform their sales organizations, improve sales productivity, and increase return on the organization's investment in sales from sales strategy to sales organization, to sales compensation. She has a concentration on global harmonization for multinational organizations and implementing change within diverse organizations.

Podcast Topics Include:

• The importance of company culture and handling big challenges facing companies
• What to do in a situation when a CEO is the problem with the company culture
• How to retain and attract top sales talent
• The differences between priorities in the flow of sales strategy and how to align talent to different roles in the company
• The use of talent assessment piece to prevent failure
• The Innovative Sales Book​, a left brainers approach to right brain thinking
• The importance of building creative muscle memory

Full Show Notes: https://pivot10results.com/podcast64_salesglobe

"No one can achieve any kind of greatness by themselves."

– Julia Landauer

In this episode of The Pivotal Leader, Gina Trimarco interviewed Julia Landauer, a two-time championship winning NASCAR racer from New York City. With dozens of wins across different series, Julia has set records since she was 10 years old. Away from the track, Julia is a graduate of Stanford University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Science, Technology 3and Society.

During college Julia was a contestant on season 26 of CBS' reality TV show SURVIVOR. It was also in college that Julia started her motivational speaking career, with a TEDx talk. Julia is now making her name synonymous with more than speed and grit; as she climbs the NASCAR ladder Julia uses her racing platform to continue advocating for STEM education and women's empowerment.

Podcast Topics Include:

• Early childhood development and its effects on women's mindset for success
• Becoming a female racer at the age of 10
• The challenges of a woman racer in a male-dominated industry
• Taking a communal approach to self-awareness
• Finding support and mentoring for self-improvement
• Why do women undervalue themselves?
• Some habits needed to succeed
• Understanding and being empathetic to those within your environment
• Nascar race teams and earning respect
• Advocating for women using STEM

Full Show Notes: https://pivot10results.com/podcast63_julia-landauer

"The more comfortable people are with themselves and the more clear they are about who they are, the more everyone respects them."

– Mark Fisher

In this episode of The Pivotal Leader, Gina Trimarco interviewed Mark Fisher, co-founder of Mark Fisher Fitness and Business For Unicorns, in addition to being an in-demand international speaker, consultant, and entrepreneur. His core expertise is helping business owners achieve financial success and personal freedom through community building, leadership development, and creating healthy organizational cultures. He's also excellent at playing with puppies. Mark and his "non-sexual life partner" Michael created Business for Unicorns in 2016 and have since worked with clients like Sony Music, Sylvan Learning, and the ACLU, as well as many of the leading fitness studios across the US and UK. They are also proud alumni speakers of TEDx Broadway. In addition to their consulting and teaching through Business for Unicorns, Mark and Michael also co-founded Mark Fisher Fitness, one of the most successful gyms in the history of the fitness industry. MFF has two physical locations in Manhattan and was recognized as #312 on the 2015 Inc. 500 fastest growing companies in America, as well as one of Men's Health's "Top 20 Gyms in America."

Podcast Topics Include:

• Creating a talent pipeline
• Giving the team veto power in the hiring process
• When clients become team members
• "Interning" new employees to test fit
• Irreverent and escalation marketing strategies
• How to be successful by being authentically kind and crass at the same time
• Combining artistry and fitness to create a business that becomes a marketing vehicle for other revenue streams
• Whether or not to franchise your business
• Becoming a "conscious business" as a force for social change
• Advice for speakers and why business owners need to be speakers
• The power of unicorns, rainbows, profanity and naked men with wings
• Lots of book recommendations!

Full Show Notes including book list: https://pivot10results.com/podcast62_mark-fisher

"The biggest leading indicator to any success are the people."

– Jason Williford

In this episode of The Pivotal Leader, Gina Trimarco interviewed Jason Williford, a professional business speaker and executive consultant focused on all human decisions, where he works with domestic and international organizations of all shapes and sizes. He also is a licensee and consultant for Culture Index.

Culture Index is a strategic advisory firm that works exclusively with visionary entrepreneurs, CEOs, business leaders, and management to scale and transform organizations using applied analytical traits. And if you've never taken the Culture Index profile assessment, it is like no other personality assessment you've ever taken.

Podcast Topics Include:

• The history, process and benefits of the Culture Index
• Studying, interpreting and mobilizing the 7 personality traits (Autonomy, Social Ability, Pace or Patience, Conformity, Energy Units or Mental Stamina, Logic, Ingenuity)
• Getting people on the right bus in the right seats, mathematically
• Keeping A players (harder to do than finding them)
• Psychometrics = Psychology + Math to acquire valid assessments
• Overcoming disengaged (70%) employees
• Analysis of Gina Trimarco's personality

Full Show Notes: https://pivot10results.com/podcast61_Jason-Williford

"I can teach you everything, but I can't teach you ambition"– Nezha Alaoui

In this episode of The Pivotal Leader, Gina Trimarco interviewed Nezha Alaoui, Founder and President of Mayshad Foundation. Nezha is a global advocate for change. She is an international entrepreneur working in sustainability, philanthropy, wellness, business, media and fashion. She backs her "Be Who You Want To Be" philosophy with action and tireless advocacy.

Nezha is also the Creative Director of her luxury handbag brand Maison Mayshad, where she designs limited collections of handbags using recognized processes of the art world, including serial numbers, limited production, and auction sales.

At age 29 she created an import/export business simultaneously with a foundation, when many discouraged her goals to create a company with a positive message that also has a philanthropic mission. She is an only child from aristocratic family in Morocco who, despite many opposing factors, proves you can "be who you want to be". Starting her career in the hotel industry, she traveled the world where she experienced different cultures and learned that we all have common values.

Podcast Topics Include:

• The challenge of making innovative choices
• Building a company with soul
• Attracting talent through purpose; starting employees at 20% less for first three months
• Hiring for ambition
• Creating customer experiences, using all five senses
• Story of the deaf frog and not letting people "should on you"
• Sexual harassment and the media

Full Show Notes: https://pivot10results.com/podcast60_Nezha-Alaoui

"I've tasted my own ignorance. It's horrible. It's bitter. And it's so expensive." [on the importance of learning]

– Carlos Vaz

In this episode of The Pivotal Leader, Gina Trimarco interviewed Carlos Vaz, CEO and co-founder of Texas-based Conti Organization, a thriving commercial and multifamily real estate investment company whose portfolio is valued at more than $400 million. Carlos' passion, discipline and creativity coupled with his extensive real estate experience have yielded a portfolio of over 1,400 units his first year in the multifamily business. He is passionate about building a solid vertically integrated company with strong core values, proven systems and an adept team. Carlos directs strategy, team building, investment sourcing and capital origination.

The second-youngest of nine children and one of six boys, Carlos came to the United States in 2000 from his home country of Brazil with just $300 in his pocket. He began working at the age of seven at the family farm and his father's butcher shop. He eventually entered a federally-funded law school in Brazil but became frustrated with professors routinely going on strike. This motivated him to secure an apprenticeship at a Boston law firm. As the internship was unpaid, Carlos worked multiple jobs while interning and taking classes through Harvard's extension program. After his internship ended, he started working in construction and ultimately built a construction company. He then started working in the mortgage industry, while maintaining his construction company and buying and flipping houses. By 2007 he purchased his first apartment complex and then formed Conti, named in honor of his mother Neusa Conti. Since its inception, Conti has closed deals involving more than 5,000 units and $400 million in value.

At the time of this interview Carlos had just completed Harvard Business School OPM Program.

Podcast Topics Include:

• Building a business based on core values
• The pursuit of knowledge and constant learning
• The importance of integrity, trust, commitment, family and respect
• Employee Retention – hiring people that fit the culture
• Strategies for scaling a business: Combining EOS with Culture Index (Combining an operating system with personality assessments) – Listen to future episode when Gina has her Culture Index report reviewed by Jason Williford
• Why it's okay to be as "boring" as "vanilla yogurt" in business
• Best conferences for CEOs to attend
• Advice for rising CEOs & COOs
• Recommended Books: Get A Grip, Profit From The Core, The Five Dysfunctions Of A Team

Full Show Notes: https://pivot10results.com/podcast59_CarlosVaz

"In order to manage your growth, you have to manage people."

– Chris Power

In this episode of The Pivotal Leader, Gina Trimarco interviewed Chris Power, founder and CEO of Power Consulting Group, Inc., a New York IT Managed Services firm with a focus on technology for financial, legal, non-profit and education sectors.

Chris is passionate about fostering customer trust through direct one-on-one communication. As CEO, he is responsible for driving Power Consulting's "Technology is for People" vision. He believes in hiring team members with strong personal values and great communications skills. He has created a company in which engineering talent and outstanding interpersonal abilities go hand-in-hand. His training in philosophy has informed his distinctive leadership style. Twenty-five years after founding Power Consulting, his core conviction about IT services remain the same: the purpose of technology is to help people and organizations achieve their goals.

Chris starts by sharing his 9/11 story, as a business owner and resident of Manhattan. He was there when it happened and recalls going to the hospital to see how he could help, waiting for ambulances that never arrived. It was a pivotal time in the country and in his business. It was the tipping point for what was a "lifestyle" business for him.

Podcast Topics Include:

• Moving out of a "lifestyle" business
• Attracting talent that are excellent customer service focused engineer show like people; asking customer service related questions in interviews
• Having the will power to not compromise in hiring
• Applying the Kaizen Method of "continuous improvement"
• Customer Service Commandments
• Email Policies – tips on when and how to use email effectively
• The Three Pillars: People, Process & Purpose
• EO vs BNI – going beyond sales and referrals to run a business with the best support

Full Show Notes: https://pivot10results.com/podcast58_chris-power