The Agile Scaleup

5 Critical Questions; Top 10 Masterminds; Giving to Grow; Would You Hire This Guy?

"...insights for scaleups"

HEADLINES:

Free e-Book -- Next week, October 2 - 6, is National Customer Service Week. To celebrate, Shep Hyken, customer service guru, is releasing his sixth book, Be Amazing or Go Home. And he's giving away the eBook for the entire week (this week it's just $.99). Here's the link - please take advantage of it and enjoy.

Caring Challenge by ZogSports -- Mike Mortellaro, COO of ZogSports wrote a blog challenging every leader to ask themselves five questions about their team:

1. Have I asked about their dreams and career aspirations?
2. Do I know what they want to learn professionally and outside of work?
3. What do they do for fun and am I challenging them to make space for those activities?
4. Would I be comfortable chatting with their parents about the work environment I've created?
5. Would I want my own child's manager to care for my kid the same way I care for my team?

Mike was inspired by Bob Chapman's presentation at our last ScaleUp Summit. CEO of Barry-Wehmiller and author Everybody Matters, Chapman shared what we all call his "wedding story." Notes Mike:

Bob Chapman's epiphany was realizing that every member of his team is someone else's precious son or daughter. Therefore, like a parent "giving" his child to their future spouse, it is his responsibility as a leader within his organization to care for his team like family.

Please take 1 minute to read Mike's excellent blog post. FYI, Bob Chapman is going to make another presentation at our upcoming ScaleUp Summit in St. Louis, the home of his firm Barry-Wehmiller.

Give to Grow (Gazelles case study) -- to continue the caring/giving theme, my latest Huffington Post piece features founder and CEO Alex Yastrebenetsky and his Cincinnati-based digital analytics firm InfoTrust. One annual tradition is their Thanksgiving Basket Brigade which has expanded to supporting 140 families in their local community and another 20 on the west coast. Besides bringing all the employees together around a common cause, it's a reason to reach out and cleverly thank customers. As I note in the article:

The experience is so meaningful to Yastrebenetsky that during the holidays, he wrote a letter to his customers. "I explained how much we appreciate their giving us an opportunity to contribute," he says.

And it's garnered them important recognition, useful to attracting additional talent. Specifically:

InfoTrust's focus on giving has contributed to an outstanding culture that is winning considerable third-party recognition. The company made it onto Inc.'s Best Places to Work for 2017 and made the Best Employers in Ohio list issued by Best Employers in Ohio. InfoTrust is one of only a handful of companies in its state certified as a Great Place to Work by the Great Place to Work Institute.

Congratulations to Alex and his team for understanding the power of giving. Please take 2 minutes to scan the article for more details.

Would You Hire This Guy? -- and this fun 1 minute video highlights one man's approach to getting hired at Zappos - by performing its core values. Thanks to Gazelles coaching partner Jim Jubelirer for sharing.

Top 10 Mastermind Event - our 3-day CEO Boot Camp was just named one of the Top 10 Mastermind Events in Entrepreneur magazine. Limited to 10 CEOs each session, the boot camp is an opportunity for me (since I don't personally coach anymore), along with entrepreneur John Ratliff, to share our combined 60 years of experience, knowledge, and contacts in helping these CEOs scale. And it's in a fun and engaging environment. For more information and dates in 2018.

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.

Most Powerful Women; The Master Coach; Coach w/o Speaking; Sept 28 Hotel Cutoff

"...insights for scaleups"

HEADLINES:

Planning to Hire? -- Topgrading's 7 most critical interviewing techniques assures you hire the right person 90%+ of the time - and more importantly, avoid hiring the wrong person. Check out the video below, in our education section, but first....

Hotel Room Cutoff Sept 28 -- the fall ScaleUp Summit Hotel room deadline is extended to next Thursday, 28 September. Still time to register for the Fall Summit and book your room with the special group rate -- see you in St. Louis Oct 17 - 18.

Most Powerful Women -- Fortune's 20th annual list is out today. 26 are CEOs running firms with a combined $1.1 trillion in revenue including Pepsi, IBM, Fidelity, and Lockheed Martin. #1 is Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors. There are insightful writeups and videos for each of the 51 women on the list - enjoy and learn from these outstanding leaders.

Gazelles' Newest Most Powerful Woman -- Anne Keehn has joined as Interim President through Dec 31, transitioning to CEO if all goes well (date before getting married). On the founding team of Blackboard, the most successful EdTech firm in the dot com era, she was more recently with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for four years. Here's a link to her background where she's helped several firms scale -- . Anne and I have known each other for over two decades and have been trying to figure out a way to do something together. Now is the time with our new global ScaleUpU city initiative that requires a robust EdTech component and a leader with global connections.

The Master Coach -- this is the title of Gregg Thompson's latest 2017 book. It's one of the three most important books addressing this critical skill leaders must master in the 21st Century. SPro and book club members will receive a copy next week. Go right to Chapter 3 titled "Coaching is Everyone's Business" - I couldn't agree more with this sentiment. Coaching is something we should learn to do properly with our team, children, non-profits, etc. Gregg is keynoting our upcoming ScaleUp Summit where he'll walk us through his powerful coaching model.

Coach Without Speaking -- yesterday HBR posted an interesting article about the benefits of coaching via instant messaging, texting, and email (might be best with your children!). What if you couldn't speak, which is what happened to the author. He goes on to detail how he's continued his successful coaching practice and the positive impact coaching through writing has had. The big benefits - people feel safer to share sooner and it's easier to "listen!" Please take 2 minutes to scan through for more insights into this powerful way to coach.

Noria Corporation Does NOT Focus on Employee Engagement (Gazelles case study) -- I received a note from Mike Ramsey, President of Noria Corporation, the leader in industrial lubrication education (what a niche!) how he's integrated the tools from Scaling Up and the information from a workshop led by one of our over 230 coaching partners "into what we do and how we've built our company and culture." This article highlights how their meeting rhythm creates employee engagement so they don't need to focus on it. Notes the article:

More amazing is the culture they've created within their company. Two buildings, housing roughly 50 employees is an oasis of camaraderie and togetherness. Using their Core Values as building blocks they've designed an "atmosphere where intelligence is multiplied". It's gossip-free. It's collaborative. It's creative. It's fun. It's productive.

There is also a 12-minute interview where Mike details how they've created this amazing environment. It's worth the watch.

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.

Weird but Effective; Amazon Pricing Strategy; 9x Inc. 5000; LIVE Streaming Summit

"...insights for scaleups"

HEADLINES:

LIVE Streaming ScaleUp Summit -- for a price 1/10th the keynote fee of just one of our world class biz thought leaders your entire team can tune into the Summit from the comfort of their home or office. More info below, but first...

Amazon's Pricing Experiments -- the godfather of pricing, Hermann Simon, has a new HBR article highlighting Amazon's pricing strategy post the takeover of Whole Foods. Note's Simon:

In the first week alone, the way in which Amazon announced its price changes at the shelf showed the sophistication it brings to such challenges. For many of their key value items, shoppers saw large, co-branded posters which announced the price change. The posters prominently featured the product name, the former (higher) price, the new (lower) price, and the message "more to come" at the bottom. Including both prices, as opposed to an "X% off" approach, reinforced the fact that many of the changes crossed key "whole dollar" thresholds. Avocados went from $2.50 to $1.99. Almond milk dropped from $3.99 to $2.99. Vine-ripe tomatoes were reduced from $2.99 to $1.99. While price research is not universally clear on the subject, the presumed power of undercutting these psychological thresholds is high.

This helps change the perception -- and the "more to come" is very clever (Simon explains in the article), but across Amazon they might be the lowest priced on the top items, but much more expensive on the rest - equally smart. Simon goes on to explain how Amazon will use pricing strategy to increase the healthy food segment of the market. The point - pricing is a strategic weapon used poorly by most companies. Read Simon's article then read his book Confessions of the Pricing Man. Then become a student of pricing!

Weird but Effective -- the research is clear - vivid visualizations, great inspiration, profound creativity, exceptional insight as well as your mind's most deep-seated programs occur for a moment between falling asleep and waking up - the brief Theta brainwave state of the mind. To tap into this powerful state of the mind, both Thomas Edison and artist Dali had a simple technique. After focusing on a particular idea/challenge, they would relax and allow themselves to fall asleep holding something in their hand (Dali a dangling keychain; Edison some ball bearings). As they entered Theta state their hand would release the item, making a noise that would wake them so they could capture those great inspirations. This short video shares the full story. I'm trying it! Thank you to Sebastian Ross for sharing.

Power of Board Games -- could it be that playing board games makes you a nicer person with better relationships? Note this Quartz article, "As film and media studies professor Mary Flanagan tells The Atlantic, board games prompt us to reflect on 'turn-taking and rules and fairness.'" It goes on to explain:

Another significant feature of board games is that they require several people to sit down in the same room together and concentrate on a shared experience in real time. That is becoming increasingly rare in a world in which we often see our friends and loved ones more on social media than in real life. A recent Atlantic story outlined the sharp rise in teen isolation as an entire generation sits in their rooms, glued to their smartphones, interacting via app. They report higher levels of depression and anxiety than earlier generations, too.

Our family isn't sure Monopoly has been a positive influence ☺, but point well made - and great to see that board game sales high risen considerably.

9x Inc. 5000 (Gazelles case study) -- only 1% of firms that qualify for the Inc. 5000 list make it 9 times. SPro member and longstanding Rockefeller Habits fan, Rajeev Agarwal and his wife Arpita, co-founders of MAQ Software are one of the few. Notes this Inc. article, when asked the keys to their sustained growth:

First, our management team takes a long-term view of our progress-as in looking ahead 25 years. Although being No.1 on any list would be an honor, it is more gratifying for me to appear on the Inc. 5000 list repeatedly since it demonstrates the durability of our business model. Second, our management team is committed to developing an organization with a learning culture. We lead by example to stay technically current. Finally, we stay focused on the success of our customers. Eventually, customers recognize the contributions of key suppliers and come back to buy more.

BHAG, learning, and getting the job done for customers - a pretty simple, but difficult to sustain, formula. Congratulations to Rajeev and Arpata, whom you'll meet at the upcoming ScaleUp Summit Oct 17 - 18 in St. Louis - I think their 9th year of participating!

What I Did Not Learn in B-School -- this is the title of Rajeev's second book - a prolific writer and CEO. Here's a mini-site for the book. It's especially applicable to firms doing business in India - it addresses the execution challenges of doing business in that country.

The Potential Principal -- last week I highlighted Mark Sanborn's new book The Potential Principal. Steve Hall, founder of DriversSelect.com (largest single location auto dealer in US) noted, after appreciating how Mark reframed the idea of potential:

I began to journal about the following questions

• How good of a father could I be to our boys versus how good a father I am?
• How good of a husband could I be to Joy versus how good I am?
• How good a leader in driversselect could I be versus how good am I doing leading our company?
• How much better could I serve God versus how much I am serving Him?
• How good could my health be versus how good is my health?
• How balanced could my life be versus how balanced is my life?

Seems like the right questions - worth pondering this weekend.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Benefits of Streaming the Summit LIVE (Oct 17 - 18):

• One price for your entire team - you can view all main stage speakers and content from an unlimited number of devices.
• All 2-day live streaming registrations will receive a one year subscription for The Scaling Up Club ($1,000 value). The Scaling Up Club is a library of 90+ video courses and monthly live webinars with our featured thought leaders. You pick the time, topic, place and location! Up to five user licenses included!

Register for livestreaming here

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.

Jobs to Be Done; Your Main Job; Job of a Parent; Biz Leader Job; Mexico City Sept 26

"... insights for scaleups"

HEADLINES:

Wealth, notoriety, place and power are no measure of success whatever. The only true measure of success is the ratio between what we might have done and what we might have been on the one hand, and the thing we have made of ourselves on the other.
	H.G. Wells

Mexico City Sept 26 -- I'll be leading a Scaling Up workshop, more below, but first...

Jobs to Be Done -- what is the main job your product/service does for your customer? I consider this one of the most important strategy questions ever conceived. And when you truly understand the answer for each customer segment (buyer persona) then you can know how to improve/innovate what you do much better. For instance, a parent with three children in various after school activities needs nutritious meals fast. Looking at microwaves, rather than trying to upsell them on an oven, suggesting better options for preparing meals quickly while locking in the nutrition would be better. But you need to understand the job that specific customer needs done.

Job Drivers -- Jessica Wattman is one of the authors of the book Jobs to Be Done - SPro and book club members will get a copy next week. Skip right to chapter 2 titled "Job Drivers" and figure out what are the specific jobs and job drivers - driven by attritudes, background, and circumstances -- for your various customer segments. Jessica is keynoting our upcoming ScaleUp Summit Oct 17 - 18, St. Louis and will guide us through this process.

Job of a Parent -- Prof. Anupam Sibal's latest video addresses "How to communicate with young people in an era of constant noise" (includes teens and college students). It's based on his excellent book titled Is Your Child Ready to Face the World? His presentation is 19 minutes with the balance Q&A. At a minimum, go to 18:43 for a minute and hear a powerful Thomas Edison story I had never heard before - and if you have another 40 seconds, start at 18:06 for an equally moving and heart wrenching story. However, the essence of his message is earlier in the video - the power of using situations "in the moment" to share stories that reinforce important values - this is a key job of being a parent and leader. The first 15 minutes are worth the watch.

And Your Job? -- according to Mark Sanborn, we all have a fundamental job to close the gap between how good we are and how good we could be. Mark, a dear friend and author of the highly acclaimed book The Fred Factor, has a new book out this week titled The Potential Principle (the quote above came from that book). Right away he addresses the key question in bridging our potential - so "better at what?" Notes Mark:

Better at what? Better at being someone whom others respect, emulate, and trust. Better at being someone who continues to improve and achieve. A person who motivates, challenges, and inspires others through his or her example. You may not have considered it, but these qualities and others define leadership.

This is a gem of a book - clearly written and quick to read. It will provide a great start to the last four months of the year as we continue to get better.

Biz Leader's Job? -- According to Howard Shore, it's to stop the leakage! I had the pleasure of writing the Foreword for a new book written by Howard, one of our most tenured Gazelles coaching partners. Your Business Is a Leaky Bucket: Learn How to Avoid Losing Millions in Revenue and Profit Annually was released yesterday as the #1 New Release by Amazon. With 20+ years of running and advising significant firms, Howard addresses the 15 most common issues in the areas of people, strategy, and execution that drain energy, direction, and profitability from every business. What I like most is that it's a very practical and actionable book for the entire exec team - with ideas that will start making and saving you money immediately. Congrats, Howard, on writing such an insightful book.

Mexico City Sept 26 -- Join me in Mexico City for a live Scaling Up workshop. I will be joined by several other coaching partners all focused on helping you take your business to the next level. The event will be in Spanish but my segment will be in English. Click Here to learn more and 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]

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.