Friendship Advantage; Big Decision; Pricing Strategy; Sept 26 Webinar

"...insights for scaleups"

HEADLINES:

Webinar Sept 26 with Verne -- I'll be joining Daniel Marcos for a Sept 26 webinar to discuss the most important "big decision" Steve Jobs made to guarantee his baby would survive and thrive long after his passing - the true measure of a leader. More below, but first...

How to Make a Big Decision -- this is your more extensive reading assignment for the weekend. This NY Times article by best-selling author Steven Johnson (we hosted him at an earlier Summit) details the research behind making better BIG decisions. Quotes Johnson:

The ultimate limitation of the pros and cons list is that we are merely transcribing our existing understanding of the decision at hand and not seeing it with fresh eyes. "One thing a person cannot do, no matter how rigorous his analysis or heroic his imagination," the economist and Nobel laureate Thomas Schelling once observed, "is to draw up a list of things that would never occur to him."

So what do you do instead? This article details the approach and is worth the 5 minutes to read (and another 15 to study!). I like his opening story about Charles Darwin's big decision! Thank you, equally brilliant Adam Grant, for recommending this insightful article. It's a few big decisions that you have to get right, setting the course of your company and your life - make them wisely.

The Friendship Advantage -- Forum guru, trainer of over 20,00 leaders, and dear friend Mo Fathelbab just published a book titled The Friendship Advantage: 7 Keys to Building Relationships That Transform Corporate Culture and Drive Productivity. Notes Mo in the opening of Chapter 1:

...Just 30 percent of employees have a best friend at work. Those who do are seven times as likely to be engaged in their jobs, are better at engaging customers, produce higher quality work, have higher well-being, and are less likely to get injured on the job. In sharp contrast, those without a best friend in the workplace have just a 1 in 12 chance of being engaged.

SPro and book club members will receive a copy next week. Then come be inspired by Mo as he beautifully shares his ideas on our ScaleUp Summit stage in Denver Oct 16 - 17 along with eleven other top biz thought leaders - the equivalent of "reading" a dozen books, the fun way!

7 Keys to Friendship -- here are Mo's 7 Keys:

Judgement Free Mischievous Fun Vulnerability Kind Truth Reliability Generosity Shared Purpose

It's the perfect checklist for testing if you can be a true friend. I'm going through the list right now - seeing where I'm falling short in my friendships and having some insightful dialogues along the way And as he shares, "...at least one of these keys will prove to be very difficult for you or those with whom you want to develop real relationships." I recommend you choose which one it is for you and go right to that chapter of the book first, after reading Chapter 1. Mo has written a very heartful, insightful, and practical book everyone should absorb. Congratulations Mo!!!

Good, Better, Best Pricing -- are you giving your customers pricing options? Just like 3 brand promises (3 reasons to buy your product/service) are much better than 2 or 4 or 10; it's the same for pricing. This HBR article details several excellent examples. And remember, pricing is tricky because we're selling to people, not companies - and people are NOT rational, so you can't use logic to set price (re-read this last sentence again). It's also why we muck up our compensation plans. More thought and human understanding needs to go into pricing. Please take 2 minutes to read this article. Thank you, Sebastian Ross, for sharing.

ScaleUp Summit in Denver -- Limited seats are still available for the Fall ScaleUp Summit (October 16-17, 2018). Includes 12 best-selling authors and business thought leaders (see full list). This year is slated to be the largest Summit yet, with more than 800+ CEO and business leaders attending! Bring three or more of your leadership team and save $300 per person. Don't miss out. Register today

Sept 26 Webinar with Verne and Daniel -- Are you interested in scaling your company with the help of Salim Ismail, Jack Daly, David Meerman Scott, Dr. Brad Smart, Kaihan Krippendorff, and other great thought leaders? I'm joining Growth Institute's CEO, Daniel Marcos, on September 26th for a live information session about how - based on a key decision Steve Jobs made. We're going to be talking about why it's more important than ever to find your village of gurus and invest in a high caliber implementation environment to complement your Scaling Up strategy. Click here to register.

CEO-BOOTCAMP: spend 3.5 days with Verne, serial entrepreneur John Ratliff, and 6 other CEOs in a beautiful retreat setting, addressing the constraints holding back you, your business, and your industry. October 2 - 5; January 15 - 18, 2019.

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? Contact us at [email protected] for more information or visit https://coaches.scalingup.com/.

TECHNOLOGY:

Create Accountability - Drive Execution with Align, cloud-based software designed to scale up your Rockefeller Habits implementation. www.alignwithgazelles.com - on your computer, tablet or phone. Click here to watch an introductory video.

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.