The Agile Scaleup

Will Smiths 40 Year Goal;Three Questions for Frantic Families; First 250; Sales Summit Faculty Announced

"...keeping you great"

HEADLINES:


First 250 Receive Complimentary DVD series" -- $1250 value -- for first 250 firms that sign-up for the three part LIVE video webcast series with Pat Lencioni, Seth Godin, and Guy Parsons you can choose one of our six DVD learning series as a holiday gift -- Negotiation, Execution, Topgrading, Customer Service, Art of the Advantage, or Rockefeller Habits -- details below.

Will Smith's Marriage has 40 Year Plan -- though I'm not one to follow Hollywood stars, USA Today posted a fascinating interview with Will Smith this week, whose box office total is $2.45 billion in North America alone. The article outlines 7 keys to his success, including #1 -- Think Globally! #7 on his list is Leave Nothing to Chance, including his 11 year marriage to Jada Pinkett. "We did a business plan," Smith says. "Listen, everyone should do a marriage business plan. Why are you together? What's the point? Because he's cute? That's not going to hold up."

Greater Philanthropists Than Bill and Melinda Gates -- "Will Smith continues "Jada and I sat down and asked, 'Where do we see ourselves?' We went to 40 years from now. We see ourselves some place where there are seasons. That's a big thing for Jada. We think there's mountains. We think we live on a golf course. We don't have more children -- we have grandchildren. We are the greatest philanthropists that America has ever seen. We're going to try and get up there with Bill and Melinda Gates. We talked through all the elements of where we want to be so we can start, in this moment, designing our life toward that." Does your family have big goals?

Family "Rallying Cry" -- and does your family have a short term goal? Our family has set a goal each 90 days (learn Spanish this coming Jan - Mar) giving us a focus. Pat Lencioni's newest book The Three Big Questions for a Frantic Family advocates creating a "rallying cry" and values for the family -- here's a link to a short article featuring Pat's outstanding new book. Pat is going to include material from his latest book during his two-hour LIVE video webcast Jan 20.

Teaching Giving to 12 -- 16 year olds -- hey, maybe this could be your next rallying cry or long term goal -- Greg Altieri, COO MacNair Travel Management sent me a note last week apprising me of a new initiative called Grab the Torch which works with schools to teach 12 -- 16 year olds the Art of Philanthropy. I plan to share this with my children's schools.

BHAG and Quarterly Theme -- Family or business, the key is to have both a long term goal and a 90 day focus -- "where we plan to be and what we have to do next." Now's the time to draw up a plan for the family and business for 2009. Just two decisions -- keep it simple!

Grab Market Share NOW -- Sales and Marketing Summit Faculty Announced -- Keith Ferrazzi, Chet Holmes, David Meerman Scott, Mark Burton, Al Lautenslager, Greg Alexander, Jim Cecil, and Bryan Flanagan. Don't recognize these thought leaders in Sales and Marketing? Here's a link summarizing their contributions. Then learn what's working in sales and marketing, April 21 -- 22, New Orleans (or read their books)!

Book Offer Has Ended -- thank you for the over 3000 requests for books -- they are going out as we speak -- hope they make a difference -- Happy Holidays!

Prepay Expenses to SAVE Tax in 2008 -- hey, you can't fault me for asking, but you can register for the Sales and Marketing Summit (early registrants with a deposit get the best seats) and/or register for the three LIVE video webcasts in Jan, Feb, and March.

First 250 Offer -- just register your company for the $995 package of three two-hour LIVE video webcasts with business gurus Pat Lencioni (Five Dysfunctions of a Team) Jan 20; Seth Godin (#1 Marketing guru) Feb 10; and Guy Parsons (LEAN for Service/Manu firms) March 17 -- 11:58am -- 2pm EST (rebroadcast for Australia, Dubai, India) and then choose one of our six DVD learning series featured on www.gazelles.tv. These are complete workshops available online and on-demand 24/7 to train your team in Negotiations, Customer Service, Execution, Topgrading, Art of the Advantage, or Rockefeller Habits. This is a $1250 value so think of it as either getting the LIVE webcasts for no charge is you purchased a DVD series or visa versa.

Pat Lencioni LIVE Video Webcast -- Jan 20; Seth Godin Feb 10; Guy Parsons March 17

"...keeping you great"

HEADLINE: Gazelles' "Growth" Series - bringing leading executive education right to your office (saving you substantial time and money)

Pat Lencioni LIVE video webcast -- 11:58am -- 2pm EST, January 20, 2009

Seth Godin LIVE video webcast -- 11:58am -- 2pm EST, February 10, 2009

Guy Parsons LIVE video webcast -- 11:58am -- 2pm EST, March 17, 2009

NOTE: All three will be rebroadcasted for Australia (AEDT), Dubai, and India time zones -- 11:58am -- 2pm local time the following day

Aligned with a consistent theme -- People, Strategy, Execution -- and geared to save you the time and expense of travel (sleep in your own bed!), Gazelles is proud to host a series of monthly LIVE virtual workshops featuring three of the top business thought leaders of our time presenting their most up-to-date information. Integrate with a monthly rhythm of learning and growing and continue developing and motivating your team during these turbulent times.

Pricing/Registration

Individuals -- $199/live video webcast
Companies -- $495/live video webcast (unlimited users from same company)
Companies -- $995 for all three (unlimited users and locations from same company).

Share with your entire team, in a conference room or across various locations, all for the same low company price. You'll be sent a unique user name and password which you can share with each participant so they'll be able to log in and watch the series from wherever they are - again, no travel necessary!

PEOPLE -- Pat Lencioni

Author of eight books that have sold over 2.5 million copies, including his perennial best seller Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Pat is considered one of the top 5 business thought leaders of our time. His latest book, The Three Big Questions for a Frantic Family, brings his tools into the family as they struggle with the stresses of running a household. He'll be integrating material from all his books in a unique and timely two-hour presentation geared to growth firms, while allowing time for Q&A. Building Trust, allowing Conflict, gaining Clarity, driving Accountability, and most importantly, getting Results are ongoing challenges for all teams - and families.

For more on Pat http://www.tablegroup.com/pat/

STRATEGY -- Seth Godin

Author of a dozen top-selling books on marketing (including Permission Marketing, Purple Cow, All Marketers are Liars, Meatball Sundaes, and his latest Tribes), number one marketing blog in the world, and the number one speaker on the subject of marketing, Seth is THE thought leader on all things marketing -- and marketing couldn't be more essential than right now. Seth will be integrating material from all his books in a unique and timely two-hour presentation geared to growth firms, while allowing time for Q&A. He'll be covering the latest aspects of Web 2.0 and Enterprise 2.0 strategies and the most important marketing tool a company has -- leadership! Marketing is the function of everyone in the firm, so invite as many as possible to learn from Seth.

For more on Seth http://www.sethgodin.com/sg/bio.asp

EXECUTION -- Guy Parsons

Guy is the leader in implementing Toyota's LEAN Methodology in service and retail firms (as well as manufacturers). His two-hour presentation at our latest Growth Summit was rated the highest of all presenters.  His approach is practical, simple, and doable for growth firms. Now, more than ever, growth firms can't afford to waste a dollar or a second of time. The first company in any industry that fully adopts and implements the principles of LEAN will dominate their industry like Toyota is dominating the auto industry -- so don't be left behind.

For more on Guy http://www.leanvs.com/gparsons.html

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 PDA versions of my "Growth Guy" weekly insight are now available in easy-to-read blog form. Click this link to register at Viigo. Then select Business>Entrepreneurship. You will be able to add "The Growth Guy" blog to your mobile device. It's a great way to get the Weekly Insights wherever you are.

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Inconvenient Genius; Hostopia Doubles Valuation; Mumbai Update; Tom Peters Interview

"...keeping you great"

HEADLINES:

Tom Peters on "Growing in a Shrinking Market" -- take just over a minute (consider sharing at your weekly meeting) and watch FSB's short interview of business icon Tom Peters at our Growth Summit. Then discuss how you might apply his ideas to your business. Go to (www.CNNMoney.com/video). When you get there, scroll to the middle of the page and click on "BY SECTION" then click on the left "Fortune Small Business" - you will see Tom's interview on the second row. Short and sweet. And if you scroll down to the third row you'll see the founder of Staples, Tom Stemberg's advice as well. Worth another 2 minutes.

Colin Campbell Grows His Valuation in a Shrinking Market -- keep from being blindsided -- watch how Co-Founder and CEO of $50 million public company Hostopia successfully doubled the valuation of his company in July 2008, selling his company for $10.55 per share when he was trading at $4.50 on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Colin was one of the first to beta-test Rhythm, our new dashboarding software, which transformed his weekly meetings from mere status sessions to meetings focused on priorities and taking action. It's the disciplined, as both Tom Peters states and Colin exemplifies, that thrive in turbulent times.

An Inconvenient Genius -- "How often has one person affected humanity to such a degree that were the fruits of his labor withdrawn immediately from our day-to-day existence, the world as we know it ... would essentially stop?" This is the opening line of a fascinating piece on the real (and little-known) inventor of the radio, wireless power, remote controls, alternating current and hundreds of other technologies. Steve Kayser interviews Marc Seifer, the expert on this genius inventor but bad businessman -- lessons for all of us.

India (and Mumbai) Update -- thank you for all the notes I received concerning our well-being in India. Yes, we were in Mumbai last week and ended up hunkered down in a heavily guarded Marriott. Just the evening before the strikes, the family was sitting around in the Taj lobby and touring India Gate. Despite the craziness, I've grown to love India and its people. Why? -- read this Dec 2 piece from BusinessWeek's India bureau chief entitled "Why India is a Target."

Shiva's "Start, Stop, Keep" -- Shiva is the supreme God in the Shaiva tradition of Hinduism. While at Gateway of India in Mumbai, we took an hour's boat ride to visit the famous Elephanta Caves, hewn out of solid rock in 600 AD. The largest sculpture is that of the three faces of Shiva -- Creation, Destruction, and Preservation -- mirroring the Start, Stop, and Keep aspects of growing a business. East continues to meet West. I look forward to seeing those of you making the journey to my final Rockefeller Habits workshop in DC next week -- more stories to share and a great way to prepare for 2009!