The Agile Scaleup

Courage; $2 - $20 billion; Dale Wolf; Rick Sapio; Please Help

You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor.
                     Aristotle

Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.
                     T.S. Elliott

An invitation to invest 2 to 22 minutes in your executive education this week.

Rick Sapio Needs Our Help – $20
See below my one personal request – thank you.

“Courage in the Boardroom” Award Winner
Our media partner Chief Executive magazine, in this article, honors their latest “Courage in the Boardroom” award winner, Dale Wolf.

Notes the magazine:

Like many family businesses, Molina Healthcare hit a wall under second-generation leadership, spurring its board to remove founding family members serving as CEO and CFO. Board Chair Dale Wolf was recognized with the 2024 Courage in the Boardroom Award for his role in navigating that difficult and contentious decision—and putting a flagging company back on a path to impressive growth.

Orchestrated over a week in 2017, Wolf installed an interim CEO and helped scale Molina Healthcare from $2 billion in market cap to over $20 billion in 2024.

Courage to Turnaround a Family Business
Please invest 3 minutes to read Chief Executive’s interview of Dale Wolf to read how he led this 10x increase in valuation. Notes Wolf, in leading the important changes at Molina Healthcare as a board member:

The first is trust your gut. We should have known that this was the right thing to do earlier than we did. The signs were all there. Replacing a family CEO, CFO, in a public company is no mean task. So, I don’t think anybody should take it lightly. But on the other hand, it’s like every employee matter I’ve ever dealt with, when it’s over, you say, “Geez, I should have done that earlier.” So, trust your gut and act. Don’t wait.

Don’t wait – trust your gut and act. What decisions are you delaying when your instincts tell you to act? Have the courage.

Help Someone Courageous – $20?
If these insights, and our body of work, have been helpful to you, please consider donating $20 to what I’m going to share next – and help Rick and our healthcare system reform. Please, please, please.

Rick Sapio’s Courage 
No one I know recently has shown more courage than fellow EOer, BOGer, GOTer, serial entrepreneur, and dear friend Rick Sapio. Bravely dealing with stage 4 inoperable pancreatic cancer, he’s alive over a year later because he’s challenged traditional healthcare which only wants to feed him chemo at $98k/month (which would have killed him by the 4^th month) with zero interest in learning how he’s “miraculously” remained alive 3x longer without it.

Experimental Treatments
A devoted father of four, each day is a race against time, and securing the critical care and experimental treatments he needs is essential for his survival. In a devastating twist, Rick’s wife, Melissa, has also been diagnosed with stage 4 colorectal cancer. Now, both parents are fighting for their lives, leaving their children, ages 10, 12, 14, and 16, facing an uncertain future.

Breaking the Bank – $20
Like most entrepreneurs, Rick’s wealth is tied up in his businesses – and he’s not able to put in a full day’s work. He’ll be OK financially in the long run, but the stress of the medical bills which insurance won’t cover, is breaking his back and bank in the short run. If each of you would please donate $20, we can provide a huge relief to Rick and his family.

Finding a Cure
The non-profit Riordan Clinic, of which I’m Vice Chair, has saved others from stage 4 pancreatic cancer. I’m helping pay for Rick’s treatments at our clinic – and he’s part of our “N-of-1” study finding more ways to survive these deadly cancers. We need your help to find a cure and to support Rick’s life-saving treatments. Your support can make all the difference, offering hope and a chance for the Sapio family to continue their journey together. Please share their story and help us ensure a future filled with love and laughter for this incredible family. Learn more, Please donate and Join Team Rick: https://rickneedsacure.com/

RickNeedsACure.com #TeamRick #BigAsk #FindACure #PancreaticCancer

Be Brave, Have Courage, Make Decisions, Love All

Order a box of 20 books
Save 50% over the price on Amazon for Scaling Up, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits, and 12 Habits of Valuable Employees books here for less! 

Additional Books 
Scaling Up Compensation, a quick read helping you get much greater impact and outcomes from one of your largest expenses; and The Greatest Business Decisions of All Time, which provides you with some great ideas to borrow/steal for your own business are available on Amazon.

COACHING: Unlock Explosive Growth with a Scaling Up Coach
Is your business hitting a growth ceiling? Break through with a Scaling Up Certified Coach™. Our elite coaches master the Scaling Up methodology to reignite growth, align your team, and chart a clear scalability path. From day one, we provide a custom-tailored approach - conducting a comprehensive diagnostic, hand-picking your perfect coach match, and providing dedicated support. Whether a $5M or $250M firm, invest in coaching to propel your business to extraordinary new heights.
Schedule a complimentary follow-up or check out our FAQs. Additional questions can be sent to [email protected].

Have you considered becoming a Certified Scaling Up Coach?
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 >

SCALING UP WORKSHOPS:
Engage your team with interactive Scaling Up workshops. Here's our list of workshops

Sydney, Australia –  Sep 5, 2024 (In-Person)
Chile – Sep 10, 2024 (Virtual)
Melbourne, Australia – Sep 10, 2024 (In-Person)
Ontario, Canada – Sep 12, 2024 (Virtual)
Denver, CO – Sep 17, 2024 (In-Person)
Adelaide, Australia – Sep 23 & 24, 2024 (2 Day, In-Person)
San Francisco, CA – Sep 24, 2024 (Virtual)
Nottingham, UK – Oct 1, 2024 (In-Person)
London, UK – Oct 2, 2024 (In-Person)
Brisbane, Australia – Oct 2, 2024 (In-Person)
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia – Oct 7, 2024 (In-Person)
Phoenix, AZ – Oct 10, 2024 (Virtual)
Ontario, Canada - Oct 10, 2024 (Virtual)
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – Oct 14, 2024 (In-Person)
Chile – Oct 15, 2024 (Virtual)
Fort Lauderdale, FL – Oct 15, 2024 (In-Person)
San Francisco, CA – Oct 16, 2024 (Virtual)
Columbus, OH – Oct 25, 2024 (In-Person)
Chile – Nov 12, 2024 (Virtual)
Melbourne, Australia – Nov 12, 2024 (In-Person)
Sydney, Australia – Nov 14, 2024 (In-Person)
Ontario, Canada - Nov 14, 2024 (Virtual)
San Francisco, CA – Nov 19, 2024 (Virtual)
Franklin, TN – Dec 5, 2024 (Virtual)
Chile – Dec 10, 2024 (Virtual)
San Antonio, TX – Dec 10, 2024 (In-Person)
Ontario, Canada - Dec 12, 2024 (Virtual)
San Francisco, CA – Dec 18, 2024 (Virtual)
Washington, DC – Jan 28, 2025 (In-Person)

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 is AI-enabled and 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!) with a real-time visual dashboard of cascading priorities and metrics. Get a personalized tour of the Scaling Up Scoreboard to see how you can use it to better implement Scaling Up in your business.

EDUCATION: 
Scaling Up Master Business Course
Scaling Up Free Mini Course

Sign up for Verne's Weekly Insights  

*This may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. If you choose to purchase after clicking a link, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Twitter Mistake; The ONE Innovation; Strange Tradeshow; Raptor 1 - 3

Possibly the most common error of a smart engineer is to optimize a thing that should not exist.
                     Elon Musk

We are intentionally building a culture around systems and processes from the top down, using Scaling Up and Topgrading.
                     Patrick Griffor, co-founder Heritage Hills Capital Partners

An invitation to invest 2 to 22 minutes in your executive education this week.

Workforce Housing Developer Accelerates Growth/Returns
Cincinnati-based Heritage Hills Capital Partners, a vertically integrated real estate and private equity firm, experienced stalled growth. This ScaleUps.com article details how CEO Sean Blythe, with the help of Columbus-based Scaling Up Coach Rick Crossland, increased the number of A-Players from 68% to 88% and saw revenue growth jump from $20 million to $27 million in the 24 months they’ve worked together, delivering returns far above industry standards. Please take 2-minutes to read how the FACe and PACe tools, Scaling Up Cash, meeting rhythms, productivity enhancements, and relentless focus on weekly execution using scrums have helped them drive the cost of the “doors” they manage down to almost half new construction and increased profit and cash flow.

Jack Dorsey’s Biggest Mistake at Twitter
This brief IG Reel features Square and Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey’s self-professed biggest mistake at Twitter and how he corrected it at Square. In short, he didn’t have a good system for seeing the numbers running Twitter, so he created an admin dashboard for Square. Do you have the real-time numbers/data you need, mobile ready, to have better visibility into the biz and make better predictions?

Only ONE Breakthrough Innovation Needed…
I keynoted Insper University’s Innovation Summit this week in Sao Paulo. My key message – you only need ONE stepwise innovation every two to five years (think Pixar). One that lets you leapfrog the competition and build a moat around the business. And it’s not necessarily a product/service offering. The innovation can be in the way you deliver, sell, or support the product or service. But you only need ONE.

Where to Start?
Start looking for this innovation at the intersection of your industry’s constraint and your business model constraint. For SpaceX, the key innovation was a reusable rocket. This 48-second video shows the first successful triple booster landing. Until SpaceX figured this out, nothing else mattered. For Rackspace, it was figuring out how to provide “Fanatical Support” (good to name your differentiation) that included having a Level 2 Tech answer the phone within 3 rings. Sounds easy but it was initially a staffing nightmare.

…Then It’s Continuous Improvement
To continue to drop the cost per pound of payload (the Moneyball stat of the space industry), it's next a process of continuous improvement requiring hundreds of incremental innovations. This photo of the evolution of the Raptor engine says it all – with a reduction in cost from $2 million to $250,000 (rumor has it).

Elon’s “Algorithm”
SpaceX’s version of Lean is based on what Elon calls the “algorithm.” This Inc. article provides a good summary of the five-step process. The key is eliminating as many steps/parts as possible BEFORE automating – otherwise, you’re just speeding up a mess. Below is a visual of the process:



Stay Focused on the Job to be Done
It’s easy to get distracted and innovate a bunch of stuff nobody wants. And be careful what customers do want – they might actually mess up your value proposition as I’m afraid is happening with IKEA (which has seen its profitability plummet) and now Southwest Airlines as it looks to provide advance reservation seating, putting at risk their key Moneyball stat – planes in the air 2 hours more per day than other airlines.

Please Attend a Random Tradeshow
Many of the breakthroughs in Elon’s firms came from the toy industry. Choose one industry tradeshow that seems as far from your industry as possible and walk the aisles, mining insights you can shamelessly borrow to innovate your industry.

What Is Your ONE Key Innovation for 2025?

Order a box of 20 books
Save 50% over the price on Amazon for Scaling Up, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits, and 12 Habits of Valuable Employees books here for less! 

Additional Books 
Scaling Up Compensation, a quick read helping you get much greater impact and outcomes from one of your largest expenses; and The Greatest Business Decisions of All Time, which provides you with some great ideas to borrow/steal for your own business are available on Amazon.

EDUCATION: 
Scaling Up Master Business Course
Scaling Up Free Mini Course

COACHING: Unlock Explosive Growth with a Scaling Up Coach
Is your business hitting a growth ceiling? Break through with a Scaling Up Certified Coach™. Our elite coaches master the Scaling Up methodology to reignite growth, align your team, and chart a clear scalability path. From day one, we provide a custom-tailored approach - conducting a comprehensive diagnostic, hand-picking your perfect coach match, and providing dedicated support. Whether a $5M or $250M firm, invest in coaching to propel your business to extraordinary new heights.
Schedule a complimentary follow-up or check out our FAQs. Additional questions can be sent to [email protected].

Have you considered becoming a Certified Scaling Up Coach?
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 >

SCALING UP WORKSHOPS:
Engage your team with interactive Scaling Up workshops. Here's our list of workshops

San Francisco, CA –  Aug 28, 2024 (Virtual)
Brussels, Belgium – Aug 29, 2024 (In-Person)
Sydney, Australia –  Sep 5, 2024 (In-Person)
Chile – Sep 10, 2024 (Virtual)
Melbourne, Australia – Sep 10, 2024 (In-Person)
Ontario, Canada – Sep 12, 2024 (Virtual)
Denver, CO – Sep 17, 2024 (In-Person)
Adelaide, Australia – Sep 23 & 24, 2024 (2 Day, In-Person)
San Francisco, CA – Sep 24, 2024 (Virtual)
Nottingham, UK – Oct 1, 2024 (In-Person)
London, UK – Oct 2, 2024 (In-Person)
Brisbane, Australia – Oct 2, 2024 (In-Person)
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia – Oct 7, 2024 (In-Person)
Phoenix, AZ – Oct 10, 2024 (Virtual)
Ontario, Canada - Oct 10, 2024 (Virtual)
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – Oct 14, 2024 (In-Person)
Chile – Oct 15, 2024 (Virtual)
Fort Lauderdale, FL – Oct 15, 2024 (In-Person)
San Francisco, CA – Oct 16, 2024 (Virtual)
Columbus, OH – Oct 25, 2024 (In-Person)
Chile – Nov 12, 2024 (Virtual)
Melbourne, Australia – Nov 12, 2024 (In-Person)
Sydney, Australia – Nov 14, 2024 (In-Person)
Ontario, Canada - Nov 14, 2024 (Virtual)
San Francisco, CA – Nov 19, 2024 (Virtual)
Franklin, TN – Dec 5, 2024 (Virtual)
Chile – Dec 10, 2024 (Virtual)
San Antonio, TX – Dec 10, 2024 (In-Person)
Ontario, Canada - Dec 12, 2024 (Virtual)
San Francisco, CA – Dec 18, 2024 (Virtual)
Washington, DC – Jan 28, 2025 (In-Person)

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 is AI-enabled and 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!) with a real-time visual dashboard of cascading priorities and metrics. Get a personalized tour of the Scaling Up Scoreboard to see how you can use it to better implement Scaling Up in your business.

Sign up for Verne's Weekly Insights  

*This may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. If you choose to purchase after clicking a link, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Brutal; Starbucks; Compounding; Sept 5 Jack Daly – All Proceeds Donated to Ruhlin

Our ceiling is your floor.
                     Dr. Kevin Fleming, parents for children

It blows my mind that we routinely screen for several health issues (mammograms, etc.) yet a proactive diagnostic for the leading cause of death in the US is rarely performed.
                     Lisa Ridley, Scaling Up Coach

An invitation to invest 2 to 22 minutes in your executive education this week.

All Proceeds to Ruhlin’s Family – Jack Daly’s 4-Hour Sales Course
Sales coach extraordinaire, Jack Daly’s, highly rated 4-hour Virtual Sales Workshop is scheduled for Thursday, September 5, 2024, and all proceeds will be gifted to Giftology guru John Ruhlin’s wife Lindsay and her four daughters after his sudden passing last week. The fee for the workshop is discounted to $300 per participant. If you have salespeople in your organization, get them "Jack'dUp!" Register here - John Ruhlin Memorial Sales Workshop - Jack Daly – thank you Jack.

Jack’s Hyper Sales Growth Self-Paced Course – Also Donating
Jack is also donating all his proceeds from his self-paced course featuring over 8 hours of video content. Jack shares the strategies and methodologies behind his book Hyper Sales Growth, empowering you to achieve consistent, predictable sales success. Get immediate access here: https://hubs.li/Q02LnHr40 -- now is the time to boost revenue.

The Zoom Stretch
This Seth Godin quick post suggests teams take regular “Zoom stretches” – a few seconds every dozen minutes to give people a mental break – and test if worth continuing the meeting.

AI + A-Player – The Future
My latest Chief Executive magazine column suggests the future belongs to firms that match the right A-Players with AI – otherwise you’re just automating a mess. It’s a warning for team members to step up their game and continue to reinvent themselves…and for companies to settle only for A-Players matched with AI. Please take 2-minutes to scan the article for details and resources – and then share with your team.

Leaving the Better Candidate Behind -- Compounding
You are probably hiring good people. However, without using Topgrading (book Foolproof Hiring), you’re likely leaving a better candidate behind – see my column for a real-world example. If each hire is 10% better, 1.1x1.1x1.1, etc. quickly means you have a team twice as effective as the competition. The Olympics remind us that the difference between gold and making the podium is hundredths of a second/mm.

Starbucks’ New A-Player CEO?
I have some egg on my face since highlighting Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan’s “Triple Shot Reinvention” strategy, emphasizing the importance of naming your strategy and having three priorities. Though I didn’t say they were right, clearly Howard Schultz wasn’t happy with revenues down 3%, letting Laxman go immediately (after a year on the job) and hiring Chipotle’s CEO Brian Niccol. Let’s see if a fifth successor to Schultz is the charm.

CEO Niccol’s Greatest Lesson
This Fortune article highlights Starbucks new CEO’s greatest lesson – staying curious. Notes Brian Niccol, emphasizing the importance of asking questions if you don’t really know the answer:

If you know the answer to the question, that’s probably not the question to ask. If you’re asking for clarity, you’re asking to learn, you’re asking because you’re curious, that’s fine. But if the questions aren’t thoughtful, then you’ve gone too far.

He also notes the worst piece of advice he’s ever received – to find someone to fire so you can demonstrate your leadership skills. Notes Niccol:

I think everybody comes to work wanting to succeed, and that’s just the wrong frame of reference.

Brutal Thought Experiment – Turnaround of Robinhood
Tripling the share price, Vlad Tenev turned around investing site Robinhood. This Fortune article details his strategy, noting:

In a move few other leaders would emulate, Tenev engaged in a brutal thought exercise: holding quarterly meetings that envisioned him being replaced by a veteran executive like former Snowflake CEO Frank Slootman, who excels at taking over companies in trouble.

Please take 2 minutes to pick up more hints from Tenev.

Leading Cause of Death – Pls Get Screened
Lisa Ridley (quote above) wants to alert all of us to the AI-driven Cleerly CCTA assessment. Given her family’s history of heart disease, she had her first baseline assessment last year and her cardiologist just ordered the follow-up.

Clarify – Earlobe Crease
Just because you DON’T have a crease, you should still get your heart checked with a Coronary Calcium Score (ten-minute, non-invasive scan) and/or the Cleerly CCTA assessment. Several of you emailed that you didn’t suspect any heart issues yet had a calcium scan done and it came back dangerously high. And there are natural ways to clean out your arteries without taking pharma drugs. Do your research.

Order a box of 20 books
Save 50% over the price on Amazon for Scaling Up, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits, and 12 Habits of Valuable Employees books here for less! 

Additional Books 
Scaling Up Compensation, a quick read helping you get much greater impact and outcomes from one of your largest expenses; and The Greatest Business Decisions of All Time, which provides you with some great ideas to borrow/steal for your own business are available on Amazon.

TECHNOLOGY:
Scaling Up Scoreboard is AI-enabled and 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!) with a real-time visual dashboard of cascading priorities and metrics. Get a personalized tour of the Scaling Up Scoreboard to see how you can use it to better implement Scaling Up in your business.

EDUCATION: 
Scaling Up Master Business Course
Scaling Up Free Mini Course

COACHING: Unlock Explosive Growth with a Scaling Up Coach
Is your business hitting a growth ceiling? Break through with a Scaling Up Certified Coach™. Our elite coaches master the Scaling Up methodology to reignite growth, align your team, and chart a clear scalability path. From day one, we provide a custom-tailored approach - conducting a comprehensive diagnostic, hand-picking your perfect coach match, and providing dedicated support. Whether a $5M or $250M firm, invest in coaching to propel your business to extraordinary new heights.
Schedule a complimentary follow-up or check out our FAQs. Additional questions can be sent to [email protected].

Have you considered becoming a Certified Scaling Up Coach?
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 >

SCALING UP WORKSHOPS:
Engage your team with interactive Scaling Up workshops. Here's our list of workshops

San Francisco, CA –  Aug 28, 2024 (Virtual)
Brussels, Belgium – Aug 29, 2024 (In-Person)
Sydney, Australia –  Sep 5, 2024 (In-Person)
Chile – Sep 10, 2024 (Virtual)
Melbourne, Australia – Sep 10, 2024 (In-Person)
Ontario, Canada – Sep 12, 2024 (Virtual)
Denver, CO – Sep 17, 2024 (In-Person)
Adelaide, Australia – Sep 23 & 24, 2024 (2 Day, In-Person)
San Francisco, CA – Sep 24, 2024 (Virtual)
Nottingham, UK – Oct 1, 2024 (In-Person)
London, UK – Oct 2, 2024 (In-Person)
Brisbane, Australia – Oct 2, 2024 (In-Person)
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia – Oct 7, 2024 (In-Person)
Phoenix, AZ – Oct 10, 2024 (Virtual)
Ontario, Canada - Oct 10, 2024 (Virtual)
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – Oct 14, 2024 (In-Person)
Chile – Oct 15, 2024 (Virtual)
Fort Lauderdale, FL – Oct 15, 2024 (In-Person)
San Francisco, CA – Oct 16, 2024 (Virtual)
Columbus, OH – Oct 25, 2024 (In-Person)
Chile – Nov 12, 2024 (Virtual)
Melbourne, Australia – Nov 12, 2024 (In-Person)
Sydney, Australia – Nov 14, 2024 (In-Person)
Ontario, Canada - Nov 14, 2024 (Virtual)
San Francisco, CA – Nov 19, 2024 (Virtual)
Franklin, TN – Dec 5, 2024 (Virtual)
Chile – Dec 10, 2024 (Virtual)
San Antonio, TX – Dec 10, 2024 (In-Person)
Ontario, Canada - Dec 12, 2024 (Virtual)
San Francisco, CA – Dec 18, 2024 (Virtual)
Washington, DC – Jan 28, 2025 (In-Person)

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].

Sign up for Verne's Weekly Insights  

*This may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. If you choose to purchase after clicking a link, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Earlobe Crease; Rough Week; Two Died – John and Gene Lessons

Whatever you have to say, say it with love.
                     The Universe (daily post)

If it’s not coming from a place of love, it’s probably about you.
                     Sebastian Ross

An invitation to invest 2 to 22 minutes in your executive education this week.

Coronary Calcium Test – Please Get One
Do you have a Diagonal Earlobe Crease (DELC)? More on that below, but I lost two friends – not sure why one collapsed Sunday, but it’s normally a heart condition. And the other died of heart disease. An early warning is a crease in your earlobe. And one of the least expensive, non-invasive tests you can get is a coronary calcium test – mine cost $150. It’s an early, early warning sign of potential heart issues. Please get one.

Rough Week
So many articles, videos, etc. I wanted to share with you this week – including the numbers from the Fortune Global 500 released this week– they averaged $581,560 rev/employee and $42,127 profit/employee as a benchmark. But I’m just heartbroken and unable to write further about anything but my two friends who passed…

…John Ruhlin Passed Away Sunday
Leaving behind his lovely wife Lindsay and 4 beautiful young daughters, Giftology author John Ruhlin was vacationing with his family when he collapsed on Sunday, unable to be revived. The EO, author, biz, and his friend community (and he had so many) are shocked. Many of you might remember the times we’ve had John keynote our Fortune Summits – and share his wisdom with our coaching community on the power of gifting and how to do it beautifully. This IG post provides details of his passing and sites to offer support for his family.

Memory of John – Sara Blakely Interview
…the first memory that immediately came to mind, when I heard the news, was of John’s sit-down interview of Sara Blakely and Jesse Itzler for EO’s GLC which was held virtually because of the pandemic. EO clearly chose the right guy to host this amazing interview of two of the most iconic entrepreneurs of our time. I remember tuning in LIVE to watch and being blown away by John’s interview.

Important Lesson – Take That Extra Leap
This LinkedIn post captures the post excitement for John’s interview and notes:

Sara mentioned on stage that she has never had anyone fly down the day before and grab a meal prior to an interview with her.

John goes on to note, and this is the lesson:

I say it all the time when it comes to gifting, but it also applies to life in general too. Most people settle for “what’s the least I can do” vs “what’s the most I could do” take that extra leap when it comes to your business and watch things change around you.

Best Gift Ever – Portrait Made of Spanx Packaging
John then precedes, post the interview, to present Sara and Jesse with the most special gift to thank them for giving back to our EO community during such a crazy time for most of us during the pandemic. It was a massive (must have been 6ft or 7ft tall) portrait of Sara, Jesse, and their children comprised of pieces of packaging from Spanx. It might sound strange, but it is stunningly beautiful and memorable and one-of-a-kind. So many people have been touched by the special gifts John has given and made happen, including a $1000 coffee mug I was gifted by coach Andy Bailey that captures the history of my life beautifully. It’s one of the few cherished items I packed up and brought to Spain after moving from Boulder.

…and Gene Kirila Passed Away – Youngest Hero of Manufacturing
Last Saturday I attended the memorial for my dear friend Gene Kirila (60). Named by Fortune the youngest hero of manufacturing for revolutionizing several industries and featured in Mastering the Rockefeller Habits and Scaling Up, Gene passed away from a long-standing heart ailment leaving behind his lovely wife Ginger and four grown children. A family friend as well, Gene a specialist coach for Scaling Up, was an EO/Birthing of Giants grad, and early Rockefeller Habits client. And I learned more from Gene than I’m sure Gene learned from me.

Monthly Meeting Master
He was a master at Lean and the first to show me the power of hosting his broader leadership team for a monthly meeting (4pm - ?) at his lake retreat. It was these longer meetings that helped bond the team over a fun dinner, dig in and resolve a key constraint or two, and give Gene a chance to pass along some of his wisdom as the team used their own company as a working case study from which to learn and grow.

Gene’s Personal Framework – Family, Self, Spirit, Work
In addition to Ginger, all four of his children spoke at his memorial, with each addressing one of the four pillars of Gene’s framework for setting goals – something he passed down to his children and all the people who worked closely with Gene. Literally expressed as a picture frame, he encouraged everyone to set goals that equally focused on Family, Self, Spirit, and Work.

Gene’s Obituary
Gene, I miss you dearly and thank you for the wisdom you’ve shared with so many, including myself. Here’s an image (click to view in full) of his obituary.



Coronary Calcium Test
This Stanford Medicine article discusses what is referred to as Frank’s sign, a Diagonal Earlobe Crease (DELC) – and it includes photos. It’s correlated to arterial disease. I recently noticed that I’ve developed this crease and showed it to my doctor at the Riordan Clinic. He had me get a Coronary Calcium test, and sure enough, mine is elevated. Not in the super danger zone, but high enough that I’m addressing it. Please get tested.

Be Well

Order a box of 20 books
Save 50% over the price on Amazon for Scaling Up, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits, and 12 Habits of Valuable Employees books here for less! 

Additional Books 
Scaling Up Compensation, a quick read helping you get much greater impact and outcomes from one of your largest expenses; and The Greatest Business Decisions of All Time, which provides you with some great ideas to borrow/steal for your own business are available on Amazon.

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 is AI-enabled and 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!) with a real-time visual dashboard of cascading priorities and metrics. Get a personalized tour of the Scaling Up Scoreboard to see how you can use it to better implement Scaling Up in your business.

EDUCATION: 
Scaling Up Master Business Course
Scaling Up Free Mini Course

COACHING: Unlock Explosive Growth with a Scaling Up Coach
Is your business hitting a growth ceiling? Break through with a Scaling Up Certified Coach™. Our elite coaches master the Scaling Up methodology to reignite growth, align your team, and chart a clear scalability path. From day one, we provide a custom-tailored approach - conducting a comprehensive diagnostic, hand-picking your perfect coach match, and providing dedicated support. Whether a $5M or $250M firm, invest in coaching to propel your business to extraordinary new heights.
Schedule a complimentary follow-up or check out our FAQs. Additional questions can be sent to [email protected].

Have you considered becoming a Certified Scaling Up Coach?
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 >

SCALING UP WORKSHOPS:
Engage your team with interactive Scaling Up workshops. Here's our list of workshops

Adelaide, Australia – Aug 13 & 14, 2024 (2 Day, In-Person)
Ontario, Canada - Aug 15, 2024 (Virtual)
San Francisco, CA –  Aug 28, 2024 (Virtual)
Brussels, Belgium – Aug 29, 2024 (In-Person)
Sydney, Australia –  Sep 5, 2024 (In-Person)
Chile – Sep 10, 2024 (Virtual)
Melbourne, Australia – Sep 10, 2024 (In-Person)
Ontario, Canada – Sep 12, 2024 (Virtual)
Denver, CO – Sep 17, 2024 (In-Person)
San Francisco, CA – Sep 24, 2024 (Virtual)
Nottingham, UK – Oct 1, 2024 (In-Person)
London, UK – Oct 2, 2024 (In-Person)
Brisbane, Australia – Oct 2, 2024 (In-Person)
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia – Oct 7, 2024 (In-Person)
Phoenix, AZ – Oct 10, 2024 (Virtual)
Ontario, Canada - Oct 10, 2024 (Virtual)
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – Oct 14, 2024 (In-Person)
Chile – Oct 15, 2024 (Virtual)
Fort Lauderdale, FL – Oct 15, 2024 (In-Person)
San Francisco, CA – Oct 16, 2024 (Virtual)
Columbus, OH – Oct 25, 2024 (In-Person)
Chile – Nov 12, 2024 (Virtual)
Melbourne, Australia – Nov 12, 2024 (In-Person)
Sydney, Australia – Nov 14, 2024 (In-Person)
Ontario, Canada - Nov 14, 2024 (Virtual)
San Francisco, CA – Nov 19, 2024 (Virtual)
Franklin, TN – Dec 5, 2024 (Virtual)
Chile – Dec 10, 2024 (Virtual)
San Antonio, TX – Dec 10, 2024 (In-Person)
Ontario, Canada - Dec 12, 2024 (Virtual)
San Francisco, CA – Dec 18, 2024 (Virtual)
Washington, DC – Jan 28, 2025 (In-Person)

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