The Agile Scaleup

Tattoos on the Heart; Tattoos on the Wrist; THE TEN SPOT; Culture Power

"... insights for scaleups"

HEADLINES:

Tattoos on the Heart -- this is the title of entrepreneur Father Greg Boyle's huge bestselling book. Subtitled "The Power of Boundless Compassion", his 11-minute 2017 Notre Dame Commencement speech is a humorous and moving address worth the time this weekend. And his story of building a multi-million business with only "homies" as workers from the worst neighborhoods in L.A. is inspirational.

Tattoos' Daily Huddle -- This 2-minute video shows Homeboy Industries daily huddle as Boyle explains the power of this important gathering. As one of the attendee's states "without the meeting the day wouldn't be right!" I agree. Thank you to Bob Shannon, Gazelles certified coaching partner, for sharing these moving links.

Tattoos on the Wrist -- Kristen Wood, founder of the Canada-based "anti-spa" beauty bar chain called THE TEN SPOT, sent me this note:

wanted to share this bit of craziness with you - so, four of my staff sent me this photo. They all went out and got an "x." (our symbol) tattooed on their wrists. (I got one for our 10-year anniversary). Looks like our CULTure building is working!

Here's the photo - and below it is the back story.

Context for the X . -- notes Kristen (she only uses CAPS for the company name!):

i got this tattoo for our 10th anniversary a year ago, and this weekend the team opening a new location in sault ste marie, as well as the franchisee, got matching tattoos and surprised me. the symbol, 'x.', is how we express the brand with X being the roman numeral for TEN and the period or 'dot' being the SPOT. We now use this is a de facto logo, incorporating it into our builds as part of very visible external signage, as well as all signing off our signatures with it, like the kiss represented by the 'x' in 'xo.'

Reminds me of the power of the Nike "swish" - what is your company's symbol?

What Makes Her Culture Strong -- she continues:

i think we've really do have a lot going for us in the CULTure department. THE TEN SPOT's always had a bit of a 'party bus' or work-hard-play-hard vibe. i know of myself i have a big personality and can shock with my odd humor, so our head office has really become a place where people can be and express themselves. a few years ago, starting as a bit of joke but evolving into something meaningful, we landed on our purpose of 'making everyone feel like a TEN' and that also seemed to really resonate on a couple of levels. for one, it meant our company is focused on making everyone feel good about themselves, whether that's a peer in head office or at a store, or the guest receiving a service. secondly it was a way to re-appropriate some misogynistic language that sees men giving women ratings out of 10, and our mainly female workforce seemed to get that right away as well.

She goes on to note the "working with Gazelles, and working through Scaling Up, we've refined our values even further to really make THE TEN SPOT an environment for excellence and self-actualization. the best i can guess is that it's all these factors together." Of course, she signed it "x.k". Thank you, Kristen, for sharing your story.

EXITING: Thinking about selling the business for $40 million or more? Want to get 25% to 200% more than you thought? Request the whitepaper from the Exit Strategies Summit at Harvard from Denise Richmond at (610) 299-6466 or email at [email protected]

COACHING:

Have you ever wondered if working with a coach might accelerate your company's growth, exponentially? Do you have what it takes to move the dial from good to great? Click here to watch Gazelles International President Keith Cupp describes the four most important attributes of successful clients. Contact us at [email protected] for more information.

And if you're interested in becoming a world-class certified Gazelles International coach, please go to gicoaches.com/becomeacoach for more information. If you determine that we're a fit and wish to join our premier organization, we invite you to contact our Dir. of Coach Engagement at [email protected] or 877.217.2253 ext.700.

TECHNOLOGY:

Create Accountability – Drive Execution
Click Here to Watch a video example.

Align is your cloud based business operating system designed to keep you on your path to executing your goals. See, in real time every person in your organization and how they are progressing on their priorities - alongside how they Align to the Company Priorities! Scale Up your Rockefeller Habits implementation with www.alignwithgazelles.com - on your computer, tablet or phone. $5.00 per month gets you started.

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.

Writing without BS; Future is Emotional; 4 Fave Rules; Congrats to Winners

"... insights for scaleups"

HEADLINES:

The Iron Imperative - Treat the reader's time as more valuable than your own.
	Josh Bernoff, author of Writing without BS

Writing without BS -- Start writing to stand out. That's an additional imperative in Josh Bernoff's well-written book titled Writing without Bullshit: Boost Your Career by Saying What You Mean. Emails, social media, proposals, press releases, books, etc. - much of our day is driven by writing or reading what others have written. It's worth getting good at - and some of the basics are simple if followed. Order the book (SPro and book club members will receive next week) and jump right to Chapt 21 on writing emails - have everyone on your team discuss and agree to follow his rules like just ONE topic per email with the right action/request in the Subject line - my biggest rule inside Gazelles.

Four Favorite Writing Rules -- For 10 great writing rules, check out Bernoff's Amazon page. Of the ten, here are my four of favorite:

3. Front-load your writing . Make your titles and subject lines descriptive. Tell the story in the first two sentences. You haven't got long to capture people's attention. 4. Purge passive voice . Passive sentences frustrate people. Don't tell us "the new system is estimated to cost $150,000." Tell us who's responsible: "The IT department estimates that the new system will cost $150,000. " 5. Replace jargon . Big words are more likely to confuse readers than impress them. Don't tell us that you've "become part of the vendor ecosystem" when you really mean "our product is now compatible with other companies' software." 6. Eliminate weasel words . Weasel words are vague, meaningless intensifiers. When you tell us you're "incredibly excited about the new hire's massive performance improvement and deep knowledge of the subject," we sense that you're bullshitting us. Replace the intensifiers and qualifiers with facts and statistics.

Josh is keynoting our upcoming ScaleUp Summit Oct 17 - 18, St. Louis. Join over 1000 leaders of ScaleUps coming together to outlearn their competition.

How Do You Want to Make Them Feel? -- Adam Grant (guru, author, and prof) was preparing for the biggest speech of his career. His coach asked him "what do you want the audience to feel?" Adam's August newsletter (I read them religiously) details his reaction to the question and ultimately what he decided - it's worth taking 1 minute to read. As you write and speak, keep this powerful question in mind - remembering that must always connect with people (and customers) via the heart and then help them justify in their brain whatever decision/idea/change your presenting.

The Future is Emotional -- and if you read further down in Grant's newsletter you'll see he points to an important article about the future of work. This Aeon article highlights the importance of workers, from police officers to doctors, needing social and emotional skills as much as technical skill. And maybe not a surprise, notes the author:

It is becoming clear to researchers that working-class people tend to have sharper emotional skills than their wealthier, more educated counterparts.

The article also notes that you can do lots of emotional skills training (like they are doing for doctors) but it's the environment that also has a huge impact on whether people can deliver on these emotional skills. That's why your company culture is so important, something I'll be highlighting next week with some "tattoo" examples!! Stay tuned and enjoy this article.

Three-Month Vacation - How Would that Feel? -- as I come to the end of another summer I lament that I was busier than I wanted to be. This Fortune article highlights how J.P Morgan, one of the most successful entrepreneurs, was disciplined in taking 3 month vacations. Notes the article:

...he firmly believed that he "could do a year's work in nine months-but not in twelve months." Without three months of rest, in other words, he wouldn't be able to do what he did during the rest of the year.

I truly believe him. As I look to 2018, I hope to do better! Can I get five days of work accomplished in four? That's 52 days back. Then a real month off?

Hidden Champions Meet Sept 14 Frankfurt -- Hermann Simon, my mentor, pricing guru, and keeper of the global "hidden champions" database (mid-market firms that dominate their unique niches globally), is hosting his annual summit at the Frankfurt airport Sept 14 from 12:30pm - 6:30pm. Hear from those CEOs who have built "hidden champion" companies along with a keynote from Hermann. Investment is €500 - for more info and to register.

Congratulations -- to the winners from last week's ScaleUp Summit drawing who win a hotel upgrade to a Suite!

Frank Loureiro All-tech Inc Brett Bean FE Moran Security Solutions Tony Schmid SpringHill

Register for the Summit by tomorrow, Friday, August 25th and be eligible to win a User Conference pass! All Summit registrants are eligible.

ScaleUp Summit October 17-19th | St. Louis, MO Click here to register

EXITING: Thinking about selling the business for $40 million or more? Want to get 25% to 200% more than you thought? Request the whitepaper from the Exit Strategies Summit at Harvard from Denise Richmond at (610) 299-6466 or email at [email protected]

TECHNOLOGY:

Create Accountability – Drive Execution
Click Here to Watch a video example.

Align is your cloud based business operating system designed to keep you on your path to executing your goals. See, in real time every person in your organization and how they are progressing on their priorities - alongside how they Align to the Company Priorities! Scale Up your Rockefeller Habits implementation with www.alignwithgazelles.com - on your computer, tablet or phone. $5.00 per month gets you started.

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.

COACHING:

Have you ever wondered if working with a coach might accelerate your company's growth, exponentially? Do you have what it takes to move the dial from good to great? Click here to watch Gazelles International President Keith Cupp describes the four most important attributes of successful clients. Contact us at [email protected] for more information.

And if you're interested in becoming a world-class certified Gazelles International coach, please go to gicoaches.com/becomeacoach for more information. If you determine that we're a fit and wish to join our premier organization, we invite you to contact our Dir. of Coach Engagement at [email protected] or 877.217.2253 ext.700.

What CEOs are Reading 2017; #1 Coursera Course; How to Learn; Webinar Aug 29

"... insights for scaleups"

HEADLINES:

If you don't invest in Learning & Development, your only tool for improving performance is to replace people.
	Didier Elzinga, CEO Culture Amp, Melbourne

What CEOs are Reading in 2017 -- link below, but first...

Verne's Quarterly Webinar Aug 29, noon ET -- Join me on a 2-way live broadcast as I share the newest trends, changes and challenges impacting Agile ScaleUps - I'm always coming across new ideas and this is my chance to share. Questions welcome. Click Here to Register Now .

Key Driver of Growth -- Melbourne, Australia-based Culture Amp helps Warby Parker and hundreds of other firms keep a finger on the pulse of employee engagement. And what their research finds is that the key driver of engagement, retention and productivity is learning and development (L&D). Notes co-founder and CEO Didier Elzinga:

Ultimately no company can grow or change at a rate faster than its people. This is the guiding principle for any successful approach to L&D. It is not about training for the sake of training. It is about growing people to ensure that you can compete and win.

Pays 50% to 90% -- notes this LinkedIn article written by Didier, any employee can put themselves through training without approval. And the company will pay 90% of the cost if work related; 50% if personal learning. Why the co-pay? Notes Didier:

The reason for the co-contribution is it changes how people think. Whilst for work-related learning this is only a small amount, you still have to invest your own money. This personal contribution reinforces the idea that training is inherently valuable - and not just a free perk of working at Culture Amp.

Please take 2 minutes to read Didier's LinkedIn piece. Then start your own learning culture/internal corporate university. Thanks to Sebastian Ross for pointing me to this scaleup company CEO's article.

Learning How to Learn -- the most popular Coursera course (free online), is a course taught by Dr. Barbara Oakley. Watched by over 1.8 million people from 200 countries, this course helps students and adults "learn how to learn." Highlighted in this NY Times article, scroll down in the article to a sample 4-minute clip that describes beautifully the two modes of learning - focused and diffuse - and how to put these to work for you. Most of the article is background on Dr. Oakley and her husband. Skip that and after watching the video go to the end of the article for three tips. I plan to watch this Coursera course with the family as the school year is getting started. Thank you to David Rich for sharing this important article.

How to Establish a Corporate U -- so how do you get started. The easiest and most immediate way to establish a corporate university to drive growth and engagement is to join the Scaling Up Club - it gives all your employees access to over 100 accredited online one-hour courses taught by some of the top biz thought leaders - think a cross between Netflix and TED talks. It's plug and play and just dollars per employee per month. If most of your employees simply choose to spend one hour/month learning from these gurus, it will put you ahead of most of your competition who is doing nothing to grow their people and stimulate minds within the organization.

What CEOs are Reading in 2017 -- this McKinsey article surveys the wide range of books CEOs are reading in 2017. I loved how Microsoft's CEO, Satya Nadella, is reading a couple books that have yet to be released - Walter Isaacson's new biography on Leonardo da Vinci and Dawn of the New Everything: Encounters with Reality and Virtual Reality by Jaron Lanier (I just pre-ordered both) - always good to get advance copies! Scan down through the list and find a book for August and beyond.

EXITING: Thinking about selling the business for $40 million or more? Want to get 25% to 200% more than you thought? Request the whitepaper from the Exit Strategies Summit at Harvard from Denise Richmond at (610) 299-6466 or email at [email protected]

TECHNOLOGY:

Create Accountability – Drive Execution
Click Here to Watch a video example .

Align is your cloud based business operating system designed to keep you on your path to executing your goals. See, in real time every person in your organization and how they are progressing on their priorities - alongside how they Align to the Company Priorities! Scale Up your Rockefeller Habits implementation with www.alignwithgazelles.com - on your computer, tablet or phone. $5.00 per month gets you started.

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.

COACHING:

Have you ever wondered if working with a coach might accelerate your company's growth, exponentially? Do you have what it takes to move the dial from good to great ? Click here to watch Gazelles International President Keith Cupp describes the four most important attributes of successful clients. Contact us at [email protected] for more information.

And if you're interested in becoming a world-class certified Gazelles International coach, please go to gicoaches.com/becomeacoach for more information. If you determine that we're a fit and wish to join our premier organization, we invite you to contact our Dir. of Coach Engagement at [email protected] or 877.217.2253 ext.700.

Branding is Sex; Who's the Hero; ScaleUp Rock Stars; Scaling Up Abstract

"...insights for scaleups"

HEADLINES:

Phone Addiction on Vacation? -- this timely (Northern Hemisphere) HBR article tackles this ever-increasing challenge - can you set your phone aside while on vacation, and if not, what to do.

Branding is Sex -- this is the title of Deb Gabor's excellent book on branding. You nail your brand and everything else is easier. And as the ever-popular marketing professor at NYU's Stern School of Business, Scott Galloway, has discovered, it's the brands that ultimately provide sex appeal win big. His 15-minute presentation titled "The Four Horseman" looks at Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google through this lens and predicts Apple to be the first trillion-dollar brand (they are now close at $819 billion yesterday). Watch the video - it's a classic on marketing/branding -- then get Deb's book (SPro and book club members will get it next week).

Who is the Hero? -- jump right to chapter 5 of Gabor's book titled "Who is the Hero?" and read it (then read the rest of the book - it's a quick read). The founder and brand dominatrix of Sol Marketing, Deb and her team have led brand strategy engagements for organizations ranging from international household names like Dell, Microsoft, and NBC Universal, to digital winners like Allrecipes, Cheezburger, HomeAway and RetailMeNot, and dozens of early-stage tech and digital media titans. In chapter 5 read how your main job is to make your customer feel like a hero, even an IT manager as she helped Dell figure out - or the person cooking dinner as she helped Allrecipes discover. Deb Gabor is keynoting our upcoming fall ScaleUp Summit in St. Louis Oct 17 - 18 - come learn directly from Deb and 9 other rock star biz gurus, then stay for the Scaling Up User Conference the next day, Oct 19.

Scaleup Rock Stars -- it was Deb's book that spurred our notion that our new initiative ScaleUpU is all about making the leaders of mid-market firms the heroes of their cities and countries. I think of Phil Miner, who I invited on stage in San Antonio at our last ScaleUp Summit. He scaled his firm, Miner Corporation, to over $500 million and created thousands of jobs, yet not a single local city leader had ever heard of Phil or his firm until he made the news when he sold the company, making him one of the wealthier citizens in San Antonio! We want to change this!! Get the media to take notice of these unsung heroes of our economies and give them the recognition and support they deserve.

Are You Happy? -- and is it a moral obligation to be happy? John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods, who just sold to Amazon, thinks so. When John learned that his close friend (and co-author of his book) Raj Sisodia's daughter was going through a difficult period, he recorded a brief 4-minute message on happiness for her. Notes Raj:

She and our whole family found it very moving and inspiring. I have since then shared it with many others, including my students. It has helped me personally, and stretched the way I think about happiness.

Raj convinced John to let him post the message, which he did on Monday. John's message is a good reminder for all of us - happiness is a choice. "Don't worry, be happy."

Scaling Up Abstract -- looking for a first class abstract of Scaling Up (Rockefeller Habits 2.0). Here is a quick summary blog piece I wrote for GetAbstracts - then grab the abstract of my book they wrote. All their abstracts are first class - and YPOers, you have a free subscription through your membership.

EXITING: Thinking about selling the business for $40 million or more? Want to get 25% to 200% more than you thought? Request the whitepaper from the Exit Strategies Summit at Harvard from Denise Richmond at (610) 299-6466 or email at [email protected]

TECHNOLOGY:

Create Accountability – Drive Execution
Click Here to Watch a video example.

Align is your cloud based business operating system designed to keep you on your path to executing your goals. See, in real time every person in your organization and how they are progressing on their priorities - alongside how they Align to the Company Priorities! Scale Up your Rockefeller Habits implementation with www.alignwithgazelles.com - on your computer, tablet or phone. $5.00 per month gets you started.

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.

COACHING:

Have you ever wondered if working with a coach might accelerate your company's growth, exponentially? Do you have what it takes to move the dial from good to great? Click here to watch Gazelles International President Keith Cupp describes the four most important attributes of successful clients. Contact us at [email protected] for more information.

And if you're interested in becoming a world-class certified Gazelles International coach, please go to gicoaches.com/becomeacoach for more information. If you determine that we're a fit and wish to join our premier organization, we invite you to contact our Dir. of Coach Engagement at [email protected] or 877.217.2253 ext.700.