The Agile Scaleup

Tips for PR; Most Admired; 2nd Rant - Healthcare;; Get Data on YOU!

"...keeping you great"

HEADLINES:

Ruckus/Rant #2 -- Healthcare!! I promise this will be the last rant for a while - just finishing out the week doing as Seth Godin, in honor of Steve Jobs, has asked us to do, more below but first...

Apple is World's Most Admired Company -- Fortune's annual list is out and in another nod to Steve's legacy this week and Tim Cook's brilliant leadership, Apple is again the World's Most Admired Company. Rounding out the top 10: Google, Berkshire Hathaway, Amazon, Starbucks, Walt Disney, Southwest Airlines, American Express (not for long?), GE, and Coca-Cola. I noted Amex because yet another large merchant has dropped the Amex card - Costco. ApplePay and other payment innovations will be driving even more positive changes in our banking systems.

5 Ways to Maximize PR -- my latest Venture column in Fortune is online (and unlocked). Here are 5 ways to get more from your PR efforts:

1. Skip the canned press releases -- and what to do instead - thanks Cameron Herald
2. Staff it -- thanks David Nui, CEO of TinyPulse (employee mood monitoring)
3. Own the relationship -- thanks John Ruhlin, Ruhlin Group (corporate gifts)
4. Don't blow it -- be available immediately
5. Give back in a unique way -- thanks Beautologie owner Dr. Darshan Shah

27-employee TinyPulse has garnered over 100 media mentions using many of these techniques. Take 1 minute to read through the five tips and specific examples. And number 6? Respond to requests for stories - thanks to all of you who do.

My Healthcare Rant -- ...it starts with this NY Times article I've been harboring for several months. In essence, a daughter's 91 year old father is dying and he just wants to go home to be with his music and art, however, notes the article:

"No matter what I do, they want you in a nursing home," Ms. Stefanides told him, promising the placement would be temporary. "I think they're making money off you."

For a year they transferred her father from one terrible institution to another, often without notifying family. Responds the father when his daughter asks why he's atrophying in one institution:

"They never move me," he answered. "I'm lucky if they come to change me."

The article continues, "On some days he went hungry, he told his daughter. Rushed workers left his food tray on the air-conditioner, where he could not reach it. Several times, he fell out of bed trying." After desperately fighting the system for a year, her father died a painful death in the hospital. Toward the end, the article notes:

The funeral home director told her the deep pressure ulcers on her father's body were the worst he had ever seen. The records she obtained showed that in the last year of his life, his care cost at least a million dollars. Was that the best, she wondered, that a million dollars could buy? "He didn't die in his bed, and that's what he wanted," she said. "I still feel that I let him down."

The VA hospital mess isn't an isolated case - and it's only going to get worse. It's a long article, but worth reading.

Death from Measles -- vaccines have been in the news again lately. When I was young, children received a handful of vaccines. Today, children receive 69 doses of 16 vaccines, in addition to all the flu vaccines (a $30 billion industry). Interestingly, in the case of measles, deaths had dropped in the US to almost zero by the time the vaccine was even introduced in 1963. Changes in sanitation and nutrition created the largest drop in almost all childhood deaths prior to the introduction of vaccines:

"Bought" the Documentary -- this week, until March 6, you can view this documentary I've supported (I'm actually helping fund a second in the making called "UnDoctored"). Notes the film producer:

What we've learned during the making of this film is very concerning. The bottom line is that we are all getting sicker as the healthcare industries get richer. These are not conspiracy theories they are statistical realities. How bad does it need to get before we stop putting profits before the health of our children and future generations? There is a problem and we hope our film is part of the solution. Our government has certainly been "Bought" by lobbyists, change needs to happen and it begins with concerned parents and citizens.

You can access a free viewing any time before March 6th - then there will be a nominal cost again.

Finally Going Mainstream -- The Riordan Clinic (I'm the Board Chair) is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. The Riordan Protocol for using IV Vitamin C as an adjunctive to cancer treatment is finally, after all these years, going main stream (I've been getting IV Vitamin C for almost 2 decades to stay healthy vs. the massive doses of antibiotics I used to take twice per year). It's taken a lot of work with researchers at NIH and the FDA to reach this point. Notes this press release about our next IVC Academy for physicians:

Thirty years ago, Dr. Hugh Riordan treated his first cancer patient with high doses of intravenous vitamin C. The patient was a 70 year-old gentleman with kidney cancer and metastasis to the liver and lungs. Dr. Riordan offered to treat this cancer patient "palliatively" with 30 grams of ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) intravenously twice a week. After 15 months of therapy, the cancer was gone.

It goes on to note, "Some 70,000 vitamin C infusions later, Dr. Riordan and his research team demonstrated scientific evidence to support the use of high dose ascorbate in the adjunctive care of cancer patients. Studies at the US National Institutes of Health have since replicated and advanced these findings." Making progress!

So My Rant -- I trust the crowd over the experts (and government) - to pick hotels and to decide what is best for my health. It's when a few, for the pure sake of profit, falsify data (Merck, J&J, etc. have all been exposed after valiant efforts by whistleblowers - detailed in "Bought") and lobby for legislation that forces me and my physicians-of-choice to follow protocols that our own research and personal experience suggests are wrong, that's when something needs to change.

A Solution? -- education and healthcare are a mess in the US - and busting our budgets - an average of $15k per student per year for education; an average of $10k per every person in the US. And as business leaders, having successful healthcare and education systems are critical to our global competitiveness, so it is something we should care about. So a suggestion -- give everyone healthcare and education vouchers (Sweden and The Netherlands have had education vouchers for decades and crush our outcomes). This still provides for universal education and healthcare, but lets the crowd choose how to allocate (I can spend on IVs vs. drugs) vs. some lobby-driven government officials and/or supposed experts. When we broke up the monopoly of AT&T, the industry has flourished since - with innovation driving down the costs and upping the quality by magnitudes. We can do the same in healthcare and education.

At a Minimum -- get data - and I mean health data about you. Each of us is unique, like our fingerprints - so "universals" just don't work universally. My data from last summer showed I'm low in Vitamin D, Zinc, and oleic acid - and I know precisely by how much. It might be different this year. And I know that I don't store Vitamin C as well as other people and given the amount I travel on airplanes (at altitude you precipitate out many key minerals) I need to adjust my intakes accordingly. And I've been proactively working to reverse the telomere-shortening process that produces aging the past six years - something that is becoming more main stream as well with this latest Salk Institute study. Remain informed and hope you have the resources to pursue your own path outside the system - so long as they let us!

TECHNOLOGY:

Better Book Club -- What's your team reading? Increase your books read per team member. Easy, Proven, and in the Cloud at http://www.BetterBookClub.com.

Align Dashboard -- Want to keep track of your plans and progress in the cloud? The complete Growth Tools and Rockefeller Habits disciplines in a SaaS offering.

COACHING:

Need help implementing the Rockefeller Habits?

Steve's 60th; My Ruckus/Rant; Advisor to Presidents; Summit Room Shortage - Book Now

"...out-learning the competition"

HEADLINES:

"First mover advantage doesn't go to the first company that launches; it goes to the first company that scales."
	Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn

Urgent, Hotel Rooms -- if you're planning to attend our upcoming gathering of scale-ups - our May 12 - 13 Leadership Summit co-hosted with Fortune -- book your hotel rooms now. The hotel is already running low on May 12 and we're expecting another record group of CEOs and executives - the best scale-ups just keep getting smarter! Links and additional info below, but first...

Ruckusmaker Day -- today would have been Steve Jobs' 60th birthday. In honor of Steve, marketing guru Seth Godin has declared it the first annual "Ruckusmaker Day." Seth announced this yesterday in his blog, encouraging people to have a point of view, the genius capacity he pins on Jobs. Take one minute to read Seth's inspirational blog and then speak up about something.

OK, so my Ruckus! -- or really a question. Given that Mark Cuban reads three hours per day; given that Warren Buffett reads 500 pages per day; given that Mark Zuckerberg has set his personal goal in 2015 to read a book every two weeks; given that the most successful are learners; and given that we work tirelessly to identify the best biz authors of the best dozen books (Lean, Sales, Tribes, Billionaires, etc.), from the thousands printed each year, and bring these authors (listed below) to an affordable resort setting where you can absorb their ideas in 48 hours! - my question - why are some of you missing this opportunity to learn and network with some of the best mid-market scale-ups around the world? Are you nuts (OK, maybe a little strong, but I'm passionate about the power of learning)? We see the same super successful teams each time - so wondering if you simply don't feel invited or welcome. Please email me at [email protected] - I would love to learn. And read on to see if I can make a case for dropping everything and getting you and your team to our Summits twice/year - four days out of 365!

But We Can't Implement Any More Stuff -- yes, we're all busy - and I imagine Zuckerberg and Buffett and Cuban have plenty on their plates. So why do they keep learning? It's about making sure you avoid the mistakes that come with NOT knowing. Nothing creative can come out of your brain that wasn't put in first. And learning isn't linear. It's about piling in as much as you can (Bill Gates' infamous Think Weeks) and then letting the magic happen. I never know when I'm going to need to access an idea - but I have to know about it in the first place.

We Don't Repeat Content -- miss a Summit; miss an entire body of knowledge. We don't invite a speaker back unless they have new and original content aka a new book (like David Meerman Scott's new book on sales). And the goal is to bring gurus that have gone deep in a narrow topic, like Adam Grant with givers and takers. We promise more practical ideas per minute to scale up your business and life than any other executive education program you can find in the world (and several CEOs have tested this and confirmed).

Village of Gurus -- Our belief is that it takes a "village of gurus" to scale-up a company. The Rockefeller Habits 2.0 doesn't have all the answers. Instead, it provides a framework upon which additional ideas can be layered. The Summits expose leaders to the authors of the most recent books, like The Self-Made Billionaire Effect, which just published a month ago. And it's much more powerful (and fun) to learn directly from the authors - and then read the book for additional details if warranted.

Most Important Two Days -- going into our 14th year of hosting these Summits, we've had hundreds of executives tell us that our Summits are two of the most important days to scaling up their businesses (and many are now bringing along clients - two days to talk biz). Most of the ideas that have powered the decisions I've made have come from the Summits. Below is the outstanding faculty for the next Summit. And if you don't recognize these authors or books, this is an additional reason why you might consider attending. They are all bestsellers (so I'll not repeat that line for each book):

• Nir Eyal -- author of Hooked: How to Build Habit Forming Products (the must-read book in Silicon Valley)
• Christine Comaford -- serial entrepreneur and author of SmartTribes: How Teams Become Brilliant Together (Bill Gates calls her "super high bandwidth" and she has advised two US Presidents)
• John Sviokla -- author of The Self-Made Billionaire Effect: How Extreme Producers Create Massive Value (John and his co-author have special access to these billionaires)
• David Meerman Scott -- author of The New Rules of Sales and Service: How to Use Agile Selling, Real-Time Customer Engagement, Big Data, Content and Storytelling to Grow Your Business (David has done for sales in this book what he did for marketing in his first book).
• Paul Akers -- author of 2 Second Lean: How to Grow People and Build a Fun Lean Culture at Work & at Home (this is some cool, simple, stuff - check him out on YouTube).
• Nick Nanton -- 3 time Emmy Award winner and author of Story Selling: Hollywood Secrets Revealed How To Sell Without Selling (with over 2200 clients in 33 countries, Nick's firm has produced large scale events and television shows with the likes of Steve Forbes, Brian Tracy, President George H.W. Bush, Jack Canfield (Creator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul Series), Michael E. Gerber, Tom Hopkins and many more.)
• John Warrillow -- author of what I consider will be the best biz book in 2015, The Automatic Customer: Creating a Subscription Business in Any Industry, and;
• Me -- author of Scaling Up (Rockefeller Habits 2.0): How a Few Companies Make It...and Why the Rest Don't

Plus Randy Nelson, author of The Second Decision, will be there to say a few words and sign books.

Please clear your (or someone on your team's) calendar and join 600+ CEOs and executives of leading scale-ups in Orlando, May 12 - 13 (8am - 5pm each day). And pencil in Oct 20 - 21, Dallas for the Growth Summit co-hosted with Fortune. Just $250/seat deposit to hold a spot - and seating based on first to register (and biggest teams).

Summit Hotel -- even though there's an April 17 cut-off, the hotel alerted us that they are running low on rooms May 12. If you're planning to attend, grab rooms now.

Orlando World Center Marriott Resort World Center Drive Orlando, FL 32821 (407) 239-4200 Group rate: $174/nt. + taxes Cut-off date: Friday, April 17, 2015

See you and your team in Orlando (and Dallas).

TECHNOLOGY:

Better Book Club -- What's your team reading? Increase your books read per team member. Easy, Proven, and in the Cloud at http://www.BetterBookClub.com.

Align Dashboard -- Want to keep track of your plans and progress in the cloud? The complete Growth Tools and Rockefeller Habits disciplines in a SaaS offering.

COACHING:

Need help implementing the Rockefeller Habits?

7 Best Markets; Chinese New Year Predictions; Automatic Customers; Mumbai Feb 27

"...keeping you great"

HEADLINES:

Ideas for Developing Middle Management? -- looking for examples of how you're developing/growing/supporting middle management for my next Fortune column, more details below, but first...

Happy Chinese New Year with Predictions -- Doris Ingber, an expert in feng shui and 4 Pillars Analysis (a branch of Chinese astrology), says 2015 will be a year dominated by the economy. She goes on to predict what industries will thrive based on it being a "Wood Sheep" year (great time to be selling books, for instance). She also predicts what you shouldn't do! Here's a link to Fortune's article detailing Ingber's predictions.

The Absolute Best Customers to Have? -- subscribers are better than customers, period. Amazon, Apple - and most companies worth a lot of money - have figured this out. Subscription-based businesses sell for 3 - 5 times revenue (yes, revenue, not EBIDTA) and they are more fun to operate once you get them going. Serial entrepreneur John Warrillow outlines how all companies in all industries can create this kind of recurring revenue stream business model using one or more of the nine approaches he's identified.

The Automatic Customer -- this is the title of Warrillow's new book. Subtitled "Creating a Subscription Business in Any Industry", grab a copy of the book and read the first page of Part One. Then go to the Table of Contents and scan down through "The Nine Subscription Business Models", pick one, and go right to that chapter. Typical of Warrillow, the book is easy and fun to read (he's such a great writer), and he doesn't waste a page. And his Introduction provides an excellent overview of the book. But you'll want to study this book. Then come meet Warrillow and hear him keynote our Leadership Summit in Orlando, May 12 - 13. My own prediction? This is the best - and most valuable -- biz book that will be released in 2015 - and it's only February. GPro and book club members will get a copy next week.

Speaking of Books/Authors -- Looking for a ghostwriter? One of the best just became available - he's top dollar but the right writer/editor if you want to create a first class book as a marketing/branding tool for your business. Email me at [email protected] and I'll make an introduction (no commission in the deal - just like to see great books written!).

7 Worthwhile Emerging Markets -- thinking of expanding internationally? For the last decade, all the rage was the BRIC countries - Brazil, Russia, India, and China - according to Goldman Sachs. And it's been a good run. But three of those four aren't doing so hot. So which countries look good the next five years? Notes Ian Bremmer in this Fortune article:

...that has everything to do with what they (strategic investors) should look for: stability and resilience. And for that we found seven smart bets. In short, these are markets where it would seem good governance and sustainable growth are likely to go hand in hand.

The seven: India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Colombia, Poland, and Kenya. Take four minutes to read the details and analysis behind this decision - one Fortune doesn't take lightly. For Gazelles, we're active in six of the seven and focused on substantially growing our business in five of them. If growth companies are leading indicators of economic vitality, we are seeing the same trends as Fortune.

For More on India -- this NY Times article from yesterday details more completely the growth opportunities (and continued infrastructure and regulatory challenges) in India. I remain bullish on India in the long, long run. The largest English speaking democracy with a young, wicked smart population, has the right components to be an economic juggernaut.

Most Promising Company -- speaking of India, congratulations to long-time client Ashiana Housing for being named "The Most Promising Company This Decade" by CNBC during the Good Governance Conference. This is a very prestigious award in India and is based on both their financial performance (24,000 percent return the last ten years) and their positive impact on providing housing for seniors. Notes Ankur Gupta, Joint Managing Director, "We could not have done this without all the processes and systems (Gazelles) has given our company -- and most importantly the discipline." Here's a link to a 2 minute video of the award presentation (in Hindi).

Mumbai Feb 27 -- FYI, I'll be leading a one-day "Winning Growth Strategies" workshop in Mumbai next Friday where I'll share the tools and techniques Ashiana Housing, Benetton India (#1 fashion brand), and other Gazelles clients are using to dominate their industries in India.

Stories for Next Fortune Column -- looking for ideas on how companies are strengthening their "core" -- talent at the middle rungs of your organization. What kinds of training, coaching, and routines are you using to support a strong mid-management team? How involved is your senior team in the process? Any specific assessments or recruiting approaches used in deciding who to promote or hire as a manager? What activities, like setting quarterly themes or handling employee/customer suggestions, are you delegating to middle management? And is anyone using the Hershey-Blanchard Situational Leadership model of coaching? How are you managing contingent workers who have become flexible members of your mid-level teams? Please include the name of your company, the city where it is located, and the number of employees. I can accept suggestions until next week - [email protected] - thanks.

TECHNOLOGY:

Better Book Club -- What's your team reading? Increase your books read per team member. Easy, Proven, and in the Cloud at http://www.BetterBookClub.com.

Align Dashboard -- Want to keep track of your plans and progress in the cloud? The complete Growth Tools and Rockefeller Habits disciplines in a SaaS offering.

COACHING:

Need help implementing the Rockefeller Habits?

Key to Happiness; The Second Decision; A Mother's Decision; Free Screening Hyper Sales Growth

"...keeping you happy"

HEADLINES:

The formula of materialism is: worship yourself, love things, and use people. The right formula for a happy life, a non-materialist life, is: worship God, love people, and use things.
	Arthur Brooks, author, Gross National Happiness

Jack Daly's New Sales Presentation -- register for a free screening of Jack Daly's "Hyper Sales Growth" one-hour video presentation on Feb 17 and 18 -- more details below, but first...

The Second Decision (by Randy Nelson) -- launching a business is an entrepreneurs' first decision; knowing what role to play as it scales is the second decision: Leader, Role-Player, or Creator. Randy Nelson, serial entrepreneur and former nuclear navy officer, has created The Entrepreneur Qual Card described in his just released book titled The Second Decision. Qualify yourself as a leader of a growing firm (applicable to all the leaders, not just the CEO), and then set about crafting a personal development process to fill in the gaps.

Secret to Happiness -- I'm just back from a lecture at IESE this morning by Arthur Brooks, author of The Road to Freedom, Gross National Happiness, and several other books. His topic was happiness, sharing research that indicates happiness is 48% tied to genetics (yes, you're like your relatives); 40% tied to circumstances (fleeting anyway); and 12% tied to your decisions. It's the last factor where you can exert your free will. In the end, happiness is tied to deciding to take time to enjoy little things (playing cards, watching FC Barcelona crush Athletico, etc.) with friends and family -- agreed.

Happiness Portfolio -- the research goes on to suggest there are four areas of your life where you can make decisions that impact your happiness: Faith, Family, Friends, and Work - aligns nicely with the 5F's of the One-Page Personal Plan (OPPP). Men, in particular, have the most difficult time maintaining close relationships with friends (you need at least six to carry your casket!). In fact, men in their 60s suffer mainly from loneliness and report that their best friend is their wife 60% of the time while women only see their husband as their best friend 30% of the time! In fact, women in all circumstances (single, married, young, old), except divorced with children, are happier than men. Even widowers, after a short grieving period, are happier!! Ouch. So men, go get some friends (or get a dog).

One Mother's Decision -- Daniel Kish lost his first eye at age 7 months; he lost his second eye at age 13 months. However, his mother chose not to treat him as blind, letting him climb trees, ride a bike, etc. Surprisingly, Daniel adapted to his (unfortunate?) circumstances and taught himself echolocation and can "see" in the same way bats can. Notes Chip Bartlett, Climax Metal Products, who alerted me to Daniel's story:

This story has stuck with me like a good movie you can't stop thinking about. It strikes me that the story of Daniel Kish is analogous to that of an entrepreneur. He has incredible determination, embraces failure as key to learning and disregards social expectations (as did his mother). Following his inner drive, he redefines the market - in his case what it means to be blind. Later the academics follow and confirm his intuition that humans can see without their eyes. So what's the lesson for the rest of us? For me I come back to Daniel's mother. How many mothers would give their blind son a bike and allow him to keep riding it after smashing into a bar and knocking out his front teeth? If my blind son had knocked out his front teeth riding his bike, I would have tossed the damn bike away and encouraged him to pursue other avenues where he could have more success. Firms are by their nature paternalistic, safe and protective which is probably why entrepreneurs tend to avoid them as Daniel did the care-for-the-blind establishment.

What limits are you placing on yourself and the people (children) around you? Are you allowing them to fail as a way to learn a better way and find their own happiness? Here's a link to a 4 minute piece on Daniel. If you want the entire rich and moving story, take 32 minutes to listen to this NPR Invisibilia podcast titled "How to Become Batman" - perfect while doing email - or enjoying a cup of tea with a friend or spouse!

Hyper Sales Growth -- save $99 and register for a free screening (three times on Feb 17-18) of Jack Daly's keynote presentation, based on his book Hyper Sales Growth, at our last Fortune Growth Summit. Warning, Jack uses some colorful language (a little too much, he admitted later). However, the lessons, including the 3 Major Sins of Sales Management, are worth it. Register here.

TECHNOLOGY:

Want to keep track of your plans and progress in the cloud? The complete Growth Tools and Rockefeller Habits disciplines in a SaaS offering.

COACHING:

Need help implementing the Rockefeller Habits?

Self-Made Billionaires Do This; Grit Camp for Students; Facebook's Surprise KPI; Where Should Leaders Sit

"...keeping you great"

HEADLINES:

The first billion is the hardest. I know from experience. If you are interested in giving it a shot, The Self-made Billionaire Effect is a good starting point. Great research. Great stories. Great opportunity.
	T. BOONE PICKENS, Chairman, BP Capital Management

Grit and Leadership Camp --  do your high schooler's have it too easy? Do they need to "rough it" a little this summer to develop more grit while participating in the #1 leadership curriculum for students? More info below, but first...

The Self-made Billionaire Effect -- subtitled How Extreme Producers Create Massive Value, this is a new book by John Sviokla and Mitch Cohen that outlines five things self-made billionaires like Mark Cuban, T. Boone Pickens, and others do different. They label these extreme value generators as "Producers" vs. the more typical "Performers" that often get more corporate attention.

Chapter 6 -- Named one of Business Insider's "15 of the Best Business Books Coming Out in 2015", jump to Chapter 6 - "The Duality of Greatness: A Producer-Performer Match up" -- to read how self-made billionaires always work in pairs as Producer/Performer. Then come to the Leadership Summit May 12 - 13, Orlando to hear John keynote. GPro and book club members will receive the book next week.

5 Seating Chart Changes -- there are additional important dualities. Where your leadership team physically sits is a critical decision -  especially which functional leaders should sit together. My latest Venture column in Fortune suggests which functions should pair-up, like HR and IT. Only Fortune subscribers are able to see this article - I'll let you know when this changes. Here are the physical pairings:

1. CEO-Marketing (marketing strategy = strategy)
2. Marketing - R&D (like 3M does at their Innovation Center)
3. Sales - Operations (oil and water must be made to mix)
4. HR - IT (same job - help everyone make quicker/better decisions)
5. ...and the two which should be separated the furthest? Treasury - Controller

Take 1 minute to read the article to see the rationale for each pairing (or separation!).

rbb's Offices -- I recently visited 4-time "PR agency of the year" rbb Public Relations in Miami, FL (they are helping promote Scaling Up). Known in their industry for having a very strong and effective culture, the firm recently remodeled their offices to feel more like a home. There's the living room, dining room, kitchen, den, etc. What particularly struck me was the leadership team's focus on putting key functions near each other and/or sharing offices. For instance, Christine Barney, CEO and Managing Partner, shares one large rectangular office with both Lisa Ross, President and Partner, and Tina Elmowitz, EVP and Partner (a powerful trifecta). This way they can literally overhear each other's calls and conversations and make quick decisions.

rbb's Whine Cellar -- and rbb's leadership team co-located HR and IT (and operations) in the same office which they've cleverly called, in keeping with the home theme, the Whine Cellar! This is a critical duality. Where people sit is an important decision and one often made too haphazardly. Do you have the right people and functions co-located together?

Happy Birthday Facebook -- speaking of self-made billionaires, Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook turned 11 yesterday. Of the 11 business facts Fortune shares in their article celebrating this milestone, the one that surprised me is that the number of video uploads to Facebook exceeded those to YouTube starting in November. Facebook also wants to help find missing children; is ramping up its virtual world activities; and in January released a workplace app like Yammer and Chatter to replace email and improve work flow (nothing, yet, replaces the power of the daily huddle). Take 2 minutes to scan through all 11 business facts about Facebook.

Growing Up on Easy Street -- in turn, it's the children of the wealthy that have been found to suffer more "clinically significant levels of depression, anxiety and physical ailments" than children of lower-income families. And these things began emerging as early as seventh grade. In this NY Times article detailing the trends, it's noted that the physical environment matters:

What they (research) found was that middle-class children who lived in middle-class neighborhoods had less depression and anxiety and fewer incidences of delinquency than middle-class children who lived in more affluent neighborhoods. The surroundings seemed to matter.

Take a few minutes to read this important article for more ideas and data.

Grit and Leadership Camp -- the highly acclaimed book How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character by Paul Tough (the right last name!) added a key word to our parenting vocabulary - grit! "Tough argues that they (children) would be better served by learning such skills as grit, conscientiousness, curiosity, and optimism" than a focus on grades and SAT scores. And the jungles of Panama (the most accessible jungle in North America) is the perfect setting to begin learning these skills. Earth Train (impeccable safety record) is hosting two 9-day Grit and Leadership Camps for high school students July 9 - 16 and July 20 - 29 this summer.

Student Leadership Challenge -- The program is based on the Wiley-distributed Student Leadership Challenge curriculum created by Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner, authors of The Leadership Challenge, the most researched and quoted leadership framework in the world (Jim Kouzes keynoted a recent Fortune Summit). FYI, my son Cameron, who many of you have met at the Summits, has been working in the Earth Train jungle retreat for several years and will be one of the camp counselors. It's his company, EarthED, that is co-hosting the camps along with the faculty of Earth Train. Pulling Cameron out of the comforts of urban living and having him operate in the jungle has been THE most important activity in which we've had him involved. Each camp is limited to 16 high school students in relatively good shape (lots of hiking and activities - and limited electronics!). To apply go to this link.

Talk About Grit -- if you have employees constantly arriving late at work, show them this article about a man who walks 21 miles to get to work. Since the story broke, over $30,000 has been raised to help get him a car, insurance, and fuel!

TECHNOLOGY:

Want to keep track of your plans and progress in the cloud? The complete Growth Tools and Rockefeller Habits disciplines in a SaaS offering.

COACHING:

Need help implementing the Rockefeller Habits?

Today Free Ari Meisel Screening; Feb 10 Webinar with Verne; Austin, Mumbai, Dubai events

"...out-learning the competition"

HEADLINES:

Free Screening Today and Tomorrow -- Efficiency expert Ari Meisel's presentation at our Fortune Summit last year (he was a huge hit!) is now available for a limited free screening today and tomorrow. Author of Less Doing, More Living: Make Everything in Life Easier, Ari recommends dozens of practical tools (many are inexpensive online apps or crowdsourcing sites) you can use to streamline and automate your busy life. Click here to register now for this 52 minute online course.

Scaling Up Your Business in 2015 -- Live Webinar with Verne Harnish -- Join me on February 10th at 3PM EST for a 60 minutes webinar to review key insights from the new book Scaling Up (Rockefeller Habits 2.0) on how to implement the Scaling Up Methodology in your business. We are also going to review the structure of the upcoming Scaling Up Master Practitioner Online Course. This 3-month program is based on a one-of-a-kind Hybrid Educational Model that allows you to learn, practice and implement the Scaling Up Methodology. To register click here.

Mumbai Feb 27 -- Join me for a one-day Scaling Up (Rockefeller Habits 2.0) workshop in Mumbai, 27th February. Click here for more information.

Dubai -- YPOers Only -- The next 2.5 day "Scaling Up: Making the Rockefeller Habits Rock" workshop for YPO teams is 21 - 23 April in Dubai. Consistently rated 9.7 and higher, it's one of the most popular executive education programs for YPOers and their leadership teams. Limited to 15 companies, YPOers can get information off their YPO International portal or email me at [email protected] and I'll put you in touch with Day Chair Thomas Lundgren.

Austin Feb 11 -- Gazelles Partner Daniel Marcos is leading a one day Rockefeller Habits 4 Decisions one-day workshop in Austin 11 Feb - the first workshop of the new season. For more info plus additional locations and dates for all the Rockefeller Habits workshop, click here.

Thank you...for taking the time to post reviews of Scaling Up on Amazon. We're at 97, so close to our 100 goal.

TECHNOLOGY:

Want to keep track of your plans and progress in the cloud? The complete Growth Tools and Rockefeller Habits disciplines in a SaaS offering.

COACHING:

Need help implementing the Rockefeller Habits?