Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.
Dr. César A. Cruz per Tim Ferriss
I hope you continue to astonish a mean world with your acts of kindness. And I hope that gratitude will be the pillow on which you kneel every night.
Maya Angelou about Ophrah Winfrey
Please invest 2 to 8 minutes to keep current and review fundamentals. Thank you!
Well-Deserved Smithsonian Portrait 
Entrepreneur extraordinaire Oprah Winfrey attended the unveiling of her portrait at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery this week. This CNN article provides the details including some lines Oprah quoted from the poem Maya Angelou wrote for her 50th birthday 20 years ago (lines quoted above).
Shawn Michael Warren, The Artist
Equally touching is the story of how artist Shawn Michael Warren landed the commission to paint Oprah’s portrait – sometimes the market will beat a path to your door if you put out your best work to the world (targeting the right influencer!). Please set aside 2-minutes to relish in the success of two entrepreneurial spirits.
B2B Sales Mess – How to Fix for 2024
Sales are getting tougher – I’m hearing it from all parts of the globe! In 2023 the size of big sales dropped by 36% and close ratios dropped by 15% in the B2B selling world. Why? Old ways of selling in a new world of business don’t work. Hunt Big Sales’ (HBS) approach to landing big sales has helped their small and mid-size clients land over $20B in new sales. This is not just training, it’s a detailed process they help you design and implement to make big sales happen again and again – and it’s helped so many of my insight readers defy the odds, this is why I keep promoting their services. Book a free consultation and weather this revenue storm. CLICK HERE to contact them today.
Quality of Food – Why I Moved Back to Barcelona
Having the health and energy to lead a company is key – and the quality of your food is vital. So why is it that people in the US with gluten issues have no problem consuming the pastas and pizzas in Europe? This LifeCode article details food additives banned in Europe that are still in US foods. BTW, I’ve taken their Stem Cell 100 product for decades which has helped me stay healthy as I approach 65 in a few weeks. And the poor quality of food in the US is yet another reason I moved back to Barcelona (Sitges) last Friday – good to be back where the food is better!
Jennifer Garner’s Once Upon a Farm – $100 million
This Chief Executive magazine article details the success factors behind Once Upon a Farm, the natural baby food company. Innovative manufacturing; intense listening and interaction with customers; a world-class CEO and team; and the active involvement of superstar Jennifer Garner provide a roadmap you can use to scale your business. Please take 3-minutes to read about the details – then follow their list!!
AI Tutors Powering Khan Academy
This Fortune newsletter quotes Sal Khan, founder of Khan Academy, speaking about the Khanmigo virtual tutor:
It’s valuable for a teacher to do things like lesson planning, grading papers, reading progress reports. And the more we’ve worked on it, we realized it could do things that even transcend what a traditional tutor can do. We have simulations where you can talk to Eeyore the donkey or Jay Gatsby. Simulations where you can talk to Alexander Hamilton or Thomas Jefferson. We just launched last week an application where it won’t write your essay for you, but you can get feedback on your essays.
Lamborghini Switches to 4-Day Production Work Week
“Work less and work better” was the unions’ mantra in negotiating a 4-day workweek for some of the production workers at Lamborghini, without slashing pay. This Fortune article notes:
The idea of 32-hour weeks (instead of the traditional 40 hours) has been gaining a lot of traction following successful pilots of the program in the U.S. and U.K., pointing to big gains in productivity, health, and job retention among employees. As a result, an overwhelming majority of companies involved in the trial decided to stick with fewer hours at work.
Please invest 2-minutes to read the details of the total compensation package which includes significant increases in variable bonuses.
Critical to Align Compensation with Strategy
After a compensation consulting session this week, I realized I didn’t emphasize strongly enough, in Scaling Up Compensation, the importance of aligning your compensation strategy with the combined interests of ALL your stakeholders and the strategy of the business.
In the session, we started with the “Moneyball” stats for each stakeholder:
- Customers – what are their three measurable brand promises (Speed, Strategy, and Service – they have metrics for each)
- Shareholders – what are the value drivers of gross margin in their “unit of one economics.”
- Employees – what are the core values driving culture?
These metrics form the foundation for establishing promotions within a job, coupled with wide pay bands. This provides employees a defined “career path” to making more money without having to move into management! Employees progress by earning the right to serve higher gross margin customers (members). And the annual bonus is aligned with increasing the gross margin percentage and gross margin dollars per dollar of total compensation. Now all stakeholders are aligned to deliver on what customers want (jobs to be done) while maintaining great margins and employee productivity without violating core values.
“Because” a Robert Cialdini Insight
Several of you wrote to let me know the use of the word “because” following a request was a powerful insight from the godfather of influence, Dr. Robert Cialdini. Not surprising, the guru that shared this didn’t credit Bob – something ChatGPT needs to correct as well!! Bob’s two books Influence (updated in 2022) and Pre-suasion provide crucial insights for all biz leaders. Both are worth re-reading once a year.
Use “Because” to Reinforce Value Drivers and Core Values
Scaling Up Certified coach Rob Nankervis emailed me, noting:
I advise clients, when they're speaking with their team, to keep connecting ideas for their people i.e. 'We've invested in this because it’s a key plank of the strategy'. 'We love how Margaret did this for our customer because it’s such a great representation of our Can Do value.’
“Real Work” Moves the Flywheel
Rob also suggested, after I mentioned Spotify’s focus on eliminating those working on work instead of doing work, that he has his clients connect the work of each team member to its role in accelerating the flywheel of the business. A reminder, the starting point of Jim Collins’ flywheel is your #1 brand promise. All strategic and tactical decisions like compensation they align with this, rewarding work that ultimate delivers on what customers want.
Order a box of 20 Scaling Up and Mastering the Rockefeller Habits books
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SCALING UP WORKSHOPS:
Engage your team with interactive workshops to optimize your company’s performance.
(list of workshops below)
Barcelona, Spain – Jan 9, 2024 (Virtual)
Columbus, OH – Jan 19, 2024 (In-Person)
Guatemala, Mexico, Chile – January 25, 2024 (Virtual)
Sydney Australia – Feb 8, 2024 (Day 1, In-Person)
Sydney Australia – Feb 9, 2024 (Day 2, In-Person)
Sydney, Australia – Feb 28 & 29, 2024 (2 Days, In-Person)
Auckland, NZ – March 11, 2024 (In-Person)
Guatemala, Mexico, Chile – March 25, 2024 (Virtual)
Austin, TX – March 26, 2024 (In-Person)
Brisbane, Australia – May 1, 2024 (In-Person)
Portland, OR – May 8, 2024 (In-Person)
Christchurch, NZ – May 30, 2024 (In-Person)
San Diego, CA – June 25, 2024 (In-Person)
Denver, CO – Sep 17, 2024 (In-Person)
Fort Lauderdale, FL – Oct 15, 2024 (In-Person)
San Antonio, TX – Dec 10, 2024 (In-Person)
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: 
Does it feel as if your business has hit a wall? If you don't see a clear path forward, it's a good time to bring in a coach. All of our Scaling Up Certified Coaches™ are masters at guiding you and your leadership team through the implementation of the Scaling Up Performance. Our promise is a custom diagnostic approach from Day 1, including how we match you with a coach. We even have a team member dedicated to helping you find the perfect Scaling Up Certified Coach.™ Schedule a complimentary, personal follow-up. Or check out our FAQs. Additional questions can be sent to [email protected]
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Learn more about what it takes to certify and what being a coach is like. Pop into our Coach Office Hours to talk with our coach certification coordinator and a certified Scaling Up Coach. Learn More & Register for Office Hours here >
Planning to Exit – Critical Whitepaper
Selling your firm, for its maximum value, is the most important negotiation in which a business owner will participate. You are typically negotiating with sophisticated buyers who have done hundreds of acquisitions whereas this is often your first rodeo. And these buyers have a formula for ripping you off – and it works, stealing tens of millions from you. Seeking help, owners discover the big M&A firms, especially those specializing in your industry, are more beholden to the buyers than the sellers (they will tell you otherwise). Email me to get a whitepaper on how to maximize your valuation and avoid the psychological games buyers play [email protected].
TECHNOLOGY:
Scaling Up Scoreboard Integrated with Salesforce, Slack, and Zapier (allowing it to connect with 1000s of systems), use Scoreboard to provide your team (working remotely even more important!) a real-time visual dashboard of cascading priorities and metrics. Get a personalized tour of Scaling Up Scoreboard to see how you can use it to better implement Scaling Up in your business.
EDUCATION:
Growth Institute Online Executive Education:
Master of Business Dynamics
Scaling Up Master Business Course
Exponential Organizations Master Business Course
Topgrading Master Business Course
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