"...keeping you great"
HEADLINES:
Stories Needed for Next
Fortune
Column
-- see below for the five specific examples we're seeking - a chance to feature
you and your company. But first...
Free
Book Next 72 Hours
-- Dave Kerpen's new book
Likeable
Leadership is available for free right now at this
link - again, haven't read it, but Dave does good work.
Early
Bird Rate Ends Tomorrow -- March 13 - 14, Sydney, Australia, is our next National
Growth Summit. It will include delegate visits to Atlassian, RedBalloon, and
EzyPay.
Grab the early bird discount rate that ends Nov 1.
Big
Ass Fans
Hosts Weekly Employee Dinners with Management -- have you
noticed their humongous fans in airports and warehouses? This rapidly growing
Lexington, KY-based firm has rocketed from $34 million in 2009 to a projected
$125 million this year. More importantly, their employee retention is sitting at
93% vs. a national average of 63%. Key is a series of employee initiatives
driven by Founder and Chief Big Ass Carey Smith (now that's a title!). Besides
offering top-tier perks, including an on-site health clinic, subsidized catered
lunches and a game room (hey, this isn't Silicon Valley), Carey and his top
managers take a half-dozen workers to the area's best restaurants for dinner
each week. I LOVE this idea. Why not do this? What better way to tap into the
rumor mill, pick up ideas, and share a little bit of your own DNA with the team.
Marketing Function Critical to Hiring -- if you need to hire someone in the coming year, unless
you already know the perfect person for the job, you need at least 20 quality
applicants per open position in order to guarantee you find an outstanding
associate. This is why marketing is such an important function -- not only to
attract the right customers, but to recruit talent. My latest
Fortune
article highlights a couple ideas for drawing in talent and how to keep them
motivated once you have them on board (hint, keep the dumb stuff out of their
way).
Take 2 minutes to read...
Zappos CEO Focuses on Inspiration vs. Motivation -- Tony Hsieh, CEO
of Zappos, was a huge hit at the Growth Summit last week as he described his new
"Downtown Project" building a community around the new Zappos HQ (over 100
attendees received a special evening tour). One powerful idea among many was the
importance Hsieh places on inspiring employees vs. trying to motivate them.
Here's a 3 minute interview following his keynote where he outlines key ideas
for doing this and "delivering happiness" to his team.
To watch...
Stephen M.R. Covey Shares Three Big Ideas Around Building Trust
-- 3 minute summary interviews of all the keynote speakers from last week's
Summit will give you some powerful ideas for fueling the growth of your
business. Go to
www.gazelles.com and you'll see them listed on the homepage - watch one per
day or play one per week at your next several weekly meetings. My favorite quote
of the summit from Covey "You can't talk your way out of a problem you behaved
your way into!" Watch his entire 3 minute interview and the others.
To watch...
6
Habits of Highly Successful Companies -- Matt Heinz, President of Heinz Marketing,
wrote a quick-read piece for
Geek Wire on 6 habits Seattle's fastest growing companies employ. A
fan of the Rockefeller Habits, Heinz shares many that align with our disciplined
approach to driving growth, like the daily huddle. And he was kind enough to
highlight our upcoming
Rockefeller Habits workshop Nov 21 in Seattle. It's time to prepare your
2014 One-Page Strategic Plan. Below is a list of all the upcoming workshops.
Stories Needed for Next
Fortune
Column (Monday Deadline) -- I am looking ahead at key trends that affect growth
companies for 2014. I am looking for examples of companies that are making the
following trends work for them: hyperspecialization, using robots to work more
efficiently, sharing assets with other companies (in the way that airbnb
promotes sharing among consumers), launching a prize to spark innovation
(instead of investing heavily in internal R&D) and customer financing (through
crowdfunding or other creative methods). As always, please include your company
name, the city where it is based, its years in business, and annual revenue.
Please reply by Monday. Email me at
vharnish@gazelles.com.