The Agile Scaleup

New SMART; Chief of Staff; Traction Fail; Vail, CO

Success doesn’t come from what you do occasionally. It comes from what you do consistently.
                   Marie Forleo

Invite people into your life that don't look or think like you.
                   Mellody Hobson

One Spot Left CEO Boot Camp Vail, CO – Sept 20 – 23
Join 7 other CEOs and their #2s for three intense and fun days/evenings (including a special guest CEO!) as we dig deep to remove the constraints to scaling – plus one-on-one time where I open up my database of contacts built over 40+ years to support your BHAG! www.ceo-bootcamp.com

Better Definition of SMART Goals
We’re updating the SMART acronym with different meanings for each letter: 

Specific – implying it’s measurable as well

Meaningful – assuring it aligns with the broader goals and BHAG of the organization

Ambitious – stretching people but not demoralizing them

Review Routinely – keeping the goal front and center in everyone’s minds

Transparent – posting visually to drive accountability and peer pressure

This brings SMART goals more in the line with the broader spirit of FAST goals, an acronym I’ve been touting. In either case, implementing the fundamentals of Scaling Up (Priorities, Data, and Meeting Rhythms) guarantees you have SMART/FAST goals throughout the organization.

Walr Scales from 30 to 70 Employees in 6 Months (Scaling Up Case Study) 
Recognized as a Great Place to Work®, Lewis Reeves, CEO of UK-based Walr, a fast-growing data creation company, has scaled from 30 to 70 employees in just 2022 with the help of the Scaling Up framework and coach Neale Lewis. This blog post by Reeves details how he’s gone from Startup to Scaleup using our tools so quickly. And note, he’s using this blog post as a recruiting tool to demonstrate they have a well-run company that keeps everyone in the loop and aligned! Use Scaling Up to win awards (it always impresses the judges) and attract talent.

Chief of Staff Position
|Chief of Staff is becoming a much more popular position in scaleups. Reeves notes in his blog:

When the business was in its infant stages, our 15^th hire was a non-revenue generating role, Chief of Staff, Emily Whiting. With extensive experience in senior leadership roles at high-growth start-ups and Fortune 150 corporations, Emily leverages deep experience in management consulting, program and change management, lead strategy and people operations.

Michael Dell made a similar hire when he had 50 employees – Barb Kreisman from Motorola University. She served as the shock absorber between Michael and his people as he scaled from 50 to 40,000 employees. Barb was invaluable!!   BTW, Reeve’s Chief of Staff wrote a great piece on how they’re “Living their Values” in the company – worth a minute to read some of the practical things they are doing.

Market Veep Scales 79% in 24 Months (Scaling Up Case Study)
This Scaleups.com article details how Jennelle McGrath’s marketing firm Market Veep failed to gain traction using a competitive operating system so she turned to the Scaling Up Performance platform and has seen revenues soar 79% in two years. She’ll finish 2022 north of $3 million (possibly $5 million).

Topgrading A-Players; Cash Flow Story; Align/Scoreboard SaaS
With Scaling Up coach Herb Cogliano’s support, McGrath used multiple Scaling Up Platform systems (it’s about having systems for everything) to make her CEO job 10x easier. She used Topgrading to bring on several A-Players (each doing the work of three B-Players!); implemented the Cash Flow Story tool, improving cash flow and profitability; and instituted the daily/weekly meeting rhythm, along with our Align/Scoreboard SaaS offering, which picked up the pace of the organization.

Scaling Up Summit – Oct 18 – 19, Denver, CO
Hosted at the beautiful Denver Center for Performing Arts, we’ll have first-class A/V to present four top celebrity CEOs and authors. And I’ll be on stage the balance of the time (with optional evening work sessions) presenting the latest in Scaling Up tools/techniques. And if you’re a CEO and attended in May, you get to attend for free if you bring along one additional person (new exec, team members, etc.). Register here.

Weekend Countdown – 1-Minute of Wisdom
Enjoy this kickoff to your weekend – some bits of wisdom from a fresh set of wise teachers, updated each weekend.
https://vimeo.com/showcase/weekendcountdown

Order a box of 20 Scaling Up books
Want to save 50% over the price on Amazon? Go to this link.

COACHING: 
Now is the time to start planning for a strong Q4 and 2023. Implementing Scaling Up is not an overnight process but you can see quick wins if you know where to start. Our Scaling Up Certified Coaches™ are masters at guiding you and your leadership team through the implementation of the Scaling Up Performance Program. Using our custom diagnostic approach from Day 1, we can match you with the right coach to help you scale faster.

We even have a team member dedicated to helping you find the perfect Scaling Up Certified Coach.™ Schedule a complimentary, personal follow-up. CLICK HERE! Or check out our FAQ’s. Additional questions can be sent to [email protected].

Planning to Exit?
It’s the most critical decision a business owner will make in their lifetime – and over my 40 years of helping firms, I’ve seen owners taken advantage of time and time again – leaving tens of millions on the table. You’re up against 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. Seeking help, owners find 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). They are not your friend in the process, just another transaction. Email me to get a white paper on what to avoid when exiting [email protected].

SCALING UP WORKSHOPS:
Engage your team with interactive workshops to optimize your company’s performance.
(list of workshops below)

Adelaide, Australia – July 26, 2022 (In-Person)
Melbourne, AUS – July 27, 2022 (In-Person Master Class)
Kathmandu, Nepal – July 30, 2022 (In-Person)
Sydney, Australia – Aug 3, 2022 (In-Person)
Fort Myers, Florida – Aug. 9, 2022 (In-Person)
Toronto, Canada - Aug 11, 2022 (Virtual)
Nashville, TN – Aug 25, 2022 (Virtual)
Dallas, TX – Aug 25, 2022 (In-Person)
Scottsdale, AZ – Sept 1, 2022 (In-Person)
Toronto, Canada - Sep 8, 2022 (Virtual)
Amsterdam, The Netherlands – Sept 9, 2022 (In-Person Master Class)
San Diego, CA – Sep 13, 2022 (In-Person)
Melbourne, Australia – Sep 13, 2022 (In-Person)
New Orleans, LA – Sept 22, 2022 (Virtual)
Columbus, OH – Sep 23, 2022 (In-Person)
Buffalo / Niagara Falls Region, New York – Sep 23, 2022 (In-Person)
Brisbane, Australia – Oct 5, 2022 (In-Person)
Rochester, NY-  Oct 6, 2022 (in-Person)
Toowoomba, Australia – Oct 6, 2022 (In-Person)
Toronto, Canada - Oct 13, 2022 (Virtual)
Singapore & Hong Kong, China – Oct 19, 2022 (Virtual)
Singapore & Hong Kong, China – Oct 26, 2022 (Virtual)
Sydney, Australia – Oct 19, 2022 (In-Person)
Annapolis, MD – Oct 25, 2022 (In-Person)
Amsterdam, The Netherlands – Sept 27, 2022
Phoenix, AZ-  Nov 3, 2022 (In-Person)
Toronto, Canada - Nov 10, 2022 (Virtual)
Salisbury, England – Nov 15, 2022 (In-Person)
Melbourne, Australia – Nov 29, 2022 (In-Person)
Toronto, Canada - Dec 1, 2022 (Virtual)
Dallas, TX – Dec 8, 2022 (In-Person)

EDUCATION: 
Growth Institute Online Executive Education:
Master of Business Dynamics
Scaling Up Master Business Course
Exponential Organizations Master Business Course
Topgrading Master Business Course

TECHNOLOGY:
ScalingUp 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.

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.

Write Your Own Book
Whether you want to make it to the bestseller lists or just sell a lot more of your goods or services, with a profound competitive edge over the competition, Book The Business: How to Make BIG Money With Your Book Without Selling a Single Copy is for you! Request your free copy of this ground-breaking book at advantagefamily.com/scalingup.

Did you miss previous insights? - read here

Read Verne's Insights on Kindle http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003SX13YI

Follow Verne on Instagram: @scalingup2.0

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5 Ways to Go Global; The Soap Queen; Ashiana Housing Video; Dan Pink Interview

"...keeping you great" 

HEADLINES:

Jim, you've done some stupid things before. This is about the dumbest.
	Jim Koch's dad when learning he wanted to start a brewery

The Soap Queen -- talk about owning a word, Anne-Marie Faiola, founder of Bramble Berry Soap Making Supplies, is THE Soap Queen. More below, but first...

Jim Koch's Samuel Adams -- take 3 minutes to read this inspiring Fortune article on Jim Koch who runs the largest craft brewery in the US, Boston Beer ($629 million in 2012). It's a great story of how he started, went public, and has thrived during the Great Recession against the big guys (had to get a cease and desist against Bud) and 2400 small competitors. His bottom line advice:

1. Know the market - must be better or cheaper or go home
2. Don't hire people unless they raise the average - takes selection seriously
3. Learn to fail quickly - they've pulled dozens of beers that didn't sell

5 Ways Smart Companies Go Global -- Pankaj Ghemawat, the youngest ever to be appointed full professor at Harvard Business School (now prof in Barcelona at IESE), outlines five practical keys for going global - applicable to mid-market firms as well as Fortune 500:

1. Chopping Deadwood - pull out of countries that don't make sense
2. Manning the Bridges - pick countries with cultural links - he outlines three questions
3. Fortifying Regions - OK to stay close to home
4. Riding the Big Shift - emerging markets makes up 38% of global GDP, and 79% of growth
5. Cherry picking - avoid "globaloney"

My take - best to follow your existing customers to other countries - that way you have revenue day one in a foreign country. Take three minutes to read his piece in Fortune.

Core Values Video -- Ankur Gupta, head of award-winning Ashiana Housing in India, sent me a link to their latest core values video. Notes Ankur "I really want to thank you for creating such systems that we are able to transfer the core values to many of our employees. One of the employees told me that this is the only company which he has seen practicing its core values, not just talking about them."

8 Ways to Align HR with Core Values -- the system Ankur is talking about, in aligning all your HR systems with your core values, is detailed in this short Growth Guy article - take 3 minutes to review the 8 ways - then share a copy with your head of HR.

Dan Pink Interview -- I meant to point you Tuesday to a 4 minute interview Sean Finter, CEO of Barmetrix did with Dan Pink - it's nicely produced and gives you a quick overview of Dan's thoughts on sales - including why most employees are better at sales than they might think and what the #1 thing all sales people must do in today's sales environment - what Jeff Thule calls Sales 3.0.

The Soap Queen -- seeing my latest LinkedIn Influencer article about the importance of owning a word or two, Anne-Marie sent me this kind note "I must give you credit for the Soap Queen name. You told us to call ourselves the King/Queen/Whatever of our domains and I started calling myself the 'Soap Queen' and now, I'm identified as that term so much that it even made the cover of my new book." Anne-Marie lives the notion that you "are what you publish" (thank you David Meerman Scott) and has a new book coming out in August; a Soap Queen blog; and even Soap Queen TV! Here's a link to all she's doing. She was also kind enough to give a shout out to her Gazelles coach of 7 years, Ron Huntington.

1 Word; #2 Biz Book; Being Decisive in 4 Steps; April 8 Cutoff

"...out-learning the competition" 

HEADLINES:

One of the richest learning experiences today (National Growth Summit Australia) and a killer close - good job. When we first met 4.5 years ago our market cap was 12 million; today it's 170+/ Gazelles has contributed to that.
	Charles Gregory, CEO Silver Chef Limited

Your Success Hinges on One Word -- both your business and career success hinge on one word - something Richard Branson, Donald Trump, and others have nailed -- and my latest LinkedIn Influencer blog post provides the details. Take 2 minutes to scan the post and "follow" me if you would like automatic updates.

#2 Biz Book -- speaking of owning a word, Dan and Chip Heath release their latest book today, debuting as the #2 biz book (hard to beat Sheryl Sandberg's book right now). Brilliantly entitled Decisive, they outline a four-step process for overcoming bad decision making - and humans are notoriously bad given some inherent psychological issues we face including overconfidence and short-term emotional attachment. The four steps they abbreviate as WRAP:

1. Widen your options.
2. Reality-test your assumptions.
3. Attain distance before deciding.
4. Prepare to be wrong.

Worst Decision-makers -- when it comes to forecasting, pundits and experts are the worst - particularly in the realms of investing and politics. Drawing on Daniel Kahneman's brilliant book Thinking, Fast and Slow, this March 22 NY Times Op-Ed piece outlines how a Penn/Berkeley team seems to be besting everyone when it comes to forecasting - a space where it looks like foxes beat hedgehogs (vs. Jim Collins' conclusion when it comes to driving biz strategy). If more accurate forecasting is critical to your business, this article is worth the 3 minutes to read (and study!).

#1 Biz Speaker Dan Pink -- right now the undisputed #1 biz speaker on the circuit, Dan Pink keynoted the National Growth Summit in Australia hosted by our partner Karen Beattie, founder of The Growth Faculty. The new material from his latest book To Sell is Human is outstanding. Hard to believe there hasn't been a new book on selling in the top 100 bestselling books for quite some time. Dan is the opening keynote for our upcoming Leadership Summit in Orlando, May 9 - 10 - he's not to be missed.

YPO International Workshops -- I'm leading three 2.5 day "Making the Rockefeller Habits Rock" workshops for YPO in Europe, US, and Asia (India 2014). The US session just opened for registration this week - limited to 15 YPO firms - Oct 24 - 26, Las Vegas.

April 8 Cutoff -- our cut-off date for the $169/night group rate for the Leadership Summit hosted by Fortune is April 8. And the rate is available three days before and three days after if you want to stay a few extra days and soak in the sun or bring the family down. Here's a link to reservation details.

April Rockefeller Habits Workshops -- 4 Jacksonville, 10 Boston, 17 Milwaukee, 17 Vancouver, 17 San Antonio, 23 Houston, 24 Denver, 25 Memphis, 26 Las Vegas.

Google Lessons; 10 Relationship Tips; Smart Thinking; Complimentary Book

"...out-learning the competition" 

HEADLINES: (book fest)

You can't outperform your knowledge.
	Bob Bonwell Carpet Cleaning Megastore

Free Book on Writing a Book -- more below, but first...

Smart Thinking -- University of Texas-Austin Professor Art Markman is a great teacher - and his 52 minute online seminar about Smart Thinking, based on his book by the same title, is about giving your team a knowledge edge over the competition. More below, but second...

Lessons from Google's Leadership Change -- Larry Page, CEO, recently reshuffled the senior team at Google - and it makes sense. The key is keeping the more entrepreneurial members of the team doing innovation - and turning over the more mature product lines to execs that love managing - it's all about the S curve (start-up, growth, maturity) and knowing who is great at which part of the curve and then knowing where a product is on that curve. So I think Page's move is right - to take the guy that created Android, pull him out of running it, and tell him to go create some more!! Study this article if rethinking your own organizational structure.

10 Relationship Tips -- Brad Feld, the famous venture capitalist and co-founder of the TechStar movement, produced an insightful online seminar for us based on his book Do More Faster. Most recently he and his wife Amy have written a book entitled Startup Life: Surviving and Thriving in a Relationship with an Entrepreneur. Here are their top 10 Quick Tips, knowledge useful for any busy executive of a growth firm:

1. Never Schedule High Priority Activities or Deadlines on Fridays: Doing so will likely create a scenario that drifts into Friday night, Saturday, and then Sunday. Always be realistic about the ebb and flow of the work cycle.
2. Don't Bring Up Charged Topics at Bedtime: Your bedroom should be a sanctuary and a safe haven from the demands of the world. Never start a conflict when you and your partner are in bed and dozing off to sleep.
3. Laugh and Laugh Often: We believe you can never hug each other enough, say you love each other too much, or laugh too often.
4. Apologize and Forgive: Practice apologizing when you hurt your partner's feelings. Offer forgiveness when your partner has been careless with your feelings. Know that you will try to be your best self but that you will often fail and will need to hone your apology skills.
5. Have a Life Dinner Once a Month: Make a reservation right now at one of your favorite restaurants. Go out--just the two of you. Buy your significant other a gift. Turn off your cell phones and hand them to the other person. Spend a long slow dinner enjoying each other's company.
6. Set Limits on Technology: You do not need to do just one more e-mail right before bedtime. You really don't. You need to sleep well and restore yourself and reset your brain chemistry during a nice night of rest. Those who need to take breaks from technology are often the least likely to do it.
7. Live Where You Want to Live: Pick the place where you want to live and build your life around it. Our contributors to the book, Mark and Pam Solon, say "We believe it's important for young people embarking on their lives to realize that geography matters in your happiness quotient and that it can even out-weigh the highest-paying job opportunities."
8. Life Is a Marathon, Not a Sprint: Another contributor to the book, Dave Jilk, says "If I could send my younger self a message from the future, it would tell me to treat my career more like a marathon than a sprint."
9. Commit to Each Other's Dreams: "Recognizing that one's partner is pursuing their dream, they are satisfied down to their soul and, in so being satisfied, are that much more alive. That level of aliveness is a gift few partners can ever give, and successful couples recognize this," say Tim Enwall and Hillary Hall.
10. Always Answer His or Her Calls! While it might seem like a small gesture, the cumulative impact of doing so on a regular basis shows your partner they matter to you.

To this last point, I watched an interview with Brad and during the interview his wife called and he took the call! People don't really care when it's your spouse.

Powerful Branding (and free book) -- Brad has cranked out 6 books with 2 more due this summer. If you want to build authority, credibility, and expertise in your market and generate more business, publishing your own book is one of the best, if not the best, ways to do it...and it is easier that you think. My friend Adam Witty has authored a new book entitled The Book Itch: Is There a Book in You? This book will quickly answer that question. Adam is giving away copies of the book to the first 250 insight readers that request them. Visit http://www.thebookitch.com/gazelles. Once they're gone they're gone, so request your free book now.

Smart Thinking -- Leading a team to achieve great things isn't always easy. In this Smart Thinking online seminar, Dr. Art Markman tells how to help your team outthink your competition and achieve your most important goals by building a workplace culture built around the application of cutting edge knowledge to get things done. In his online seminar you will learn:

• How to help your team identify critical gaps in their knowledge
• The best way to create working conditions that help your team excel
• Strategies for removing common workplace distractions
• How to foster the openness to try new ideas and collaboration
• The best way to spot the hidden connections among team members

Dr. Markman is the Annabel Irion Worsham Centennial Professor of Psychology and Marketing at the University of Texas at Austin and director of the Program in the Human Dimensions of Organizations. As always, money back guarantee.

All You Can Eat -- BTW, if you would like all your employees to have unlimited access to our 30+ online seminars, we have a flat fee of $5000/year. So if you have 50 employees, this works out to $100/year to access the top biz thinkers in the world and their knowledge - a built-in online corporate university for you - and we've done the hard work to pick the authors and topics that matter. Get all your employees in a rhythm of watching one per month and see their competence and confidence grow. Email Daniel Marcos if interested.

"You Can't Outperform Your Knowledge" -- I still marvel at the simplicity and power of this statement Bob so nonchalantly included in a note to me. Thinking it must have been spoken by some biz guru, I searched the internet and found nothing (OK, another cleaning company used it). I think we've found our new mantra - and the precise rationale for investing two days and attending our upcoming Leadership Summit in Orlando May 9 - 10. See you there.

#1 Book; Bossy Girls; God's Architect; Four Things Men Need to Do; Grand Rapids March 20

"...keeping you great" 

HEADLINES:
 

As men get more successful, they are better liked by men and women; as women get more successful, they are less liked by men and women.
	Sheryl Sandberg, COO Facebook

#1 Book This Week -- a book for both men and women, Sheryl Sandberg's book entitled Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead soared to #1 this week of all books. Here's a link to a quick interview of Sandberg by Fortune magazine where she highlights the likeability gap I quoted above. As COO of Facebook, she is probably the most powerful and influential woman biz leader in the world. Take 3 minutes to read and watch her interview where she also outlines 4 main messages for men in helping women (outlined below at the end).

Bossy Girls -- and this 11 minute interview of Sheryl Sandberg, on the highly-acclaimed news program 60 Minutes, is something I'm having my 9 year old daughter watch tonight with the rest of the family. I particularly love her observation that when a girl is called bossy, it's because she's a leader!! Sandberg points to all kinds of credible research on why women get held back resulting in a loss to themselves, our companies, and the world.

Top School Leadership -- one of the top women biz gurus and former VP of Oracle University, Liz Wiseman (author of Multipliers), has a new book out next Tuesday entitled The Multiplier Effect: Tapping the Genius Inside Our Schools. I've already gifted a book to the headmaster of our children's school. Co-authored with two educators, the book takes a deep dive with more than 100 of education's best leaders and explores the five disciplines that distinguish Multipliers from Diminishers and how these leaders attract and develop talent, as well as harness new ideas and energy to drive educational innovation.

Read the foreword by Clayton Christensen (Innovator's Dilemma guru) here: Get access to Chapter 1 of the book here:

Accidental Diminisher Quiz -- Is it possible that, despite good intentions, you've been accidentally diminishing the people on your team (like me over all these years - why Liz's first book was so painful for me to read)? Take this 5-minute quiz to find out.

Why The Multiplier Effect is an important Idea for both Business and Education

1. We face what might be the challenge of this decade: To rethink and revitalize education at a time when the life we are preparing students for is changing as fast as our budgets are shrinking. We need leaders who can mobilize all the energy and intelligence in their schools. And, we need to do this across all our schools.
2. In the current economic realities, we can't afford schools that operate on a fraction of the intelligence inside them.
3. Our businesses need an education system that delivers new graduates who enter the workforce with critical thinking skills and able to lead in a new era where a leaders job is to access and unleash the talent and intelligence of others.
4. The Multiplier Effect has a suite of extremely practical tools for any leader (in business or education) who want to begin practicing Multiplier Leadership. The ten, one-page "Multiplier Learning Experiments" and the "Accidental Diminisher Workarounds" are alone worth the price of this book.

Four Things Men Can Do - back to Sandberg's book, below is the short list she outlines in her short interview and elaborates in the book - and she tells a couple relevant stories in the interview that highlight what she means:

1. Help women sit at the table; help women reach opportunities
2. Push back on the success and likeability gap
3. Have the honest conversation about sponsorship and mentorship
4. Help women navigate through the child rearing years

And I like how she describes her brother's handling of the pregnancy question in the interview

God's Architect - Antoni Gaudi -- BTW, check out the short piece 60 Minutes produced on Gaudi's famous SagradaFamilia - another reason I love Barcelona. It aired during the same episode as Sandberg's interview.

Grand Rapids, MI -- first one-day workshop of the spring season - March 20. This is our 15th year of offering workshops - going strong because the tools/methodologies work. Below is list of full spring schedule - book a refresher course.

Buffett Wisdom; Daily Huddle Video; World-Class Team; IfByPhone Service

"...keeping you great" 

HEADLINES:

Berkshire's yearend employment totaled a record 288,462, up 17,604 from last year. Our headquarters crew, however, remained unchanged at 24. No sense going crazy.
	Warren Buffett, March 1 Letter to Shareholders

Daily Huddle Video -- Craig Zoberis, President, Fusion OEM, sent me this video of their Daily Huddle, more below including a calling system helpful for daily huddles, but first...

Warren Buffett's Letter -- his annual letter to shareholders is out and Australian-based SmartCompany's online newsletter (I'm here for our Growth Summit in Sydney) has the best summary - "10 Nuggets of Wisdom." Take 3 minutes to read through the list, including why he's buying up local newspapers; and here's a link to the full letter - always worth 10 minutes to scan through for great investment, economic, and business insights.

Heinz's Purchase -- some think Buffett overpaid for Heinz. However, Buffett notes, "More than 50 years ago, Charlie told me that it was far better to buy a wonderful business at a fair price than to buy a fair business at a wonderful price." Plus Buffett always negotiates plenty of cheap warrants as part of the deal that end up making him a lot of money down the road.

Horowitz on World-Class Teams -- "As CEO, you know that you cannot build a world-class company unless you maintain a world-class team. But how do you know if an executive is world-class? Beyond that, if she was world-class when you hired her, will she stay world-class? If she doesn't, will she become world-class again?" These are the opening questions of Ben Horowitz' latest blog entitled "Staying Great." This is one worth taking 3 minutes to read.

#1 Way Execs Fail -- Horowitz laments that CEOs have very little opportunity to develop their immediate team - they must come 99% ready to perform (not so for middle management, they must be developed). He goes on to note, "when the company doubles in size, (you have) a new job. This means that doing things that made you successful in your old job will not necessarily translate to success in the new job. In fact, the No. 1 way that executives fail is by continuing to do their old job rather than moving on to their new job...and failing to keep up with the changes in the business."

You Must Remove Them -- and the toughest situation is where an executive has helped grow the company 10x but is not able to run the new behemoth they created. Concludes Horowitz "your loyalty must go to your employees -- the people who report to your executives. Your engineers, marketing people, sales people, finance and HR people who are doing the work. You owe them a world-class management team. That's the priority."

Automated Daily Huddles -- Alan Rudy, President, MedBridge Home Medical, has 10 locations across the US and needs to have daily operational huddle calls in various groupings. Before deploying a new automated calling system called IfbyPhone, the normal challenges of someone being 4 minutes late would waste a dozen people's time (almost an hour of productivity).

IfByPhone -- Instead, at an appointed time each day, IfbyPhone calls everyone. No more remembering dial-in numbers or access codes. Alan has both his cell phone and desk phone programmed in and if away from both phones, he can simply call from another phone and punch in his cell phone number to be connected. Notes Rudy "Time and again I might have a conference call at 11:05am, look at my clock at 11:01am and think 'I have time to answer one more email' only to mentally wake up at 11:09am. Or I'm running through an airport and simply forget to call in."

Save Money with Attorneys -- Rudy also uses the service for ad hoc conference calls, especially with attorneys who bill by the minute. One avoided 10 minute delay on a conference call with an attorney and his 3 associates can pay for the service for a month!

CAVEAT -- Not 100% Reliable -- concludes Rudy, "About once a month, it does not launch a call. Not sure why. Cool thing is, my assistant can go on line and launch it again right then. It is all set up on line. And it is virtually impossible to ever talk to anyone at the ifbyphone company. One irritating item is calls can only happen at 5 minute increments, so we can't have a huddle at 11:07, for example, only at 11:05 or 11:10am. I have not found another service to provide this outbound call, but would love to hear of another. We have about 7 standing huddles every day (range 5-14 people) throughout the company that use this service (the others happen just in a single location, so they are standup huddles and no need for a call), along with ad hoc conference calls. Our cost is about $250/month. Well worth it."

Profiting from Employees; Only Way to Win; Committee of Sleep; Punctual Plumber

"...keeping you great" 

HEADLINES:

There are two things to aim at in life: First to get what you want, and after that to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind has achieved the second.
	Logan Pearsall Smith

Profiting From Employee Ideas -- this is the title of my March "Growth Guy" column, please take four minutes to read, more details below, but first...

The Only Way To Win -- one of my favorite peak performance gurus is Jim Loehr, co-author of the huge best-seller The Power of Full Engagement. His book was the first to suggest that managing energy, not time, was the real key to performance - and as a coach to some of the world's top athletes and CEOs, he brought a real science to understanding the need to cycle exertion and rest to maintain peak output - even tiny amounts. For instance, the top tennis players truly rested between each point vs. their lesser competitors.

Human Performance Institute -- Jim is the founder of the Human Performance Institute and author of a new book The Only Way to Win: How Building Character Drives Higher Achievement and Greater Fulfillment in Business and Life. The quote above by Logan Smith is from the book. Go right to chapter 10 and read the opening piece on Andre Agassi (Jim coached Andre early on), the legendary tennis player, and the mind shift Andre had to make to claw his way back from below 100 in the rankings to #1 again - unprecedented in sports history. Jim is keynoting the upcoming Leadership Summit in Orlando along with Dan Pink, Jack Stack, David Marquet, and Dave Kerpin. Book club members will receive Jim's new book next week.

New Work Routine -- speaking of energy management, this note from Ruud van Winden, founder of China-based P-SPACE, a leading provider of parking solutions, "At your workshop in Beijing you mentioned how you are using the 1.5 hours of brain activity to adjust your work schedule. After the workshop I divided my day routine into six to seven 1.5 hour work units (depending on early or normal start time). In between I take 15 minutes breaks and during lunch a bit longer."

Committee of Sleep -- Winden continues, "In my new daily routine I often do the 15 minute breaks on a couch I have in the office; either thinking about something totally non-work related or day-dreaming on work solutions. This is also referred to as the critical 'committee of sleep' in this Arianna Huffington article. Some interesting business ideas have come out of this already." FYI, take two minutes to read this excellent article by Arianna.

Brain Productivity -- concludes Winden, "If businesses want to be effective and productive, the topic of sleep/rest in the workplace deserves more attention. In the end, the brain is the main tool of most businesses these days, and the activities should be organized to make most efficient use of it. The 9-5 working day that currently dictates everyday life is a left-over of the industrial revolution. Instead of having work hours based on physical labor, our workday should be a routine organized in a way that best utilizes our mental capabilities (and limitations)." Nicely stated, Winden!

The Punctual Plumber -- Paul Dunn, co-founder of Buy1Give1, a micro-giving site where he's helped businesses donate over $22 million to charity (you should check out what he's doing with companies), responded to the Andreesen and Horowitz $10/min fine with another GREAT example - Benjamin Franklin Plumbing. Notes Dunn, "look at how they articulate not just their time promise (really superb) but how they articulate all their other brand promises -- it's awesome stuff." I couldn't agree more - and be sure to click on the "Our Guarantee" tab - was amazed that they warrant their repairs for two years!

25% Sales Increase -- Gabe Fasolino tapped into employee ideas and saw revenues increase 25% (on $10 million) in 9 months. Faced with a sensitive drug and alcohol policy, he turned over the situation to his employees. These and other examples are in my latest March Growth Guy column entitled "Profiting from Employee Ideas." I also share research that reports highly engaged employees help generate almost 3 times the operating margins of firms with low engagement. It's all about tapping into the most brains to out-think the competition.

Best Brand Promise Guarantee; Must STUDY Article; Hot Potato Chain Emails; Best VC

"...keeping you great" 

HEADLINES:

We want to make sure that everybody in this firm respects the entrepreneur and respects the fact that they're going to be the ones who are making us the money, not vice versa.
	Ben Horowitz Andreessen Horowitz

Venture Firm Pays If Late for Meeting -- to reinforce their respect for entrepreneurs, VC firm Andreessen Horowitz fines partners $10 for every minute they are late for a meeting with entrepreneurs!! This is EXACTLY the kind of simple brand promise guarantee and differentiating activity we've been emphasizing firms adopt as part of their overall strategy. And it's what has made their firm the hottest venture capitalists in Silicon Valley, having raised three funds worth $2.7 billion.

Must STUDY Article -- so the article for the week is Fortune's interview of Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz. Venture capitalists are businesses too, and need a differentiating strategy. For them, their simple one-phrase strategy is "founders make the best CEOs" which translates to a brand promise that they will support, nurture, and educate an entrepreneur to become a successful CEO rather than be quick to bring in a hired gun. Then everything they do reinforces this belief, including their $10/minute fine -- and thus every entrepreneur is flocking to them. In an industry where quality deal flow is everything, Andreessen Horowitz gets the first look. Take 8 minutes to STUDY this interview for more great ideas about strategy (better than the P&G book!) plus a couple neat video interviews - and read how the late fine impacts culture (end of interview).

"Hot Potato" Long Email Chains -- speaking of wasting people's time being late to meetings (or conference calls as highlighted a few weeks ago), nothing wastes more time than long email chains with twenty people copied on the email when a quick conference call would resolve the issues. And because I'm on vacation this week, to save me some time, I'm reproducing BGT Partners VP of Operation, Tony Morello's, email to the 400 employees in their rapidly growing interactive media agency on how he wants these handled - what he calls "Hot Potato Them". Here it is, complete with his hot potato graphics. WARNING: some graphic language as well!

From: Tony Morello - BGT Partners
Sent: Monday, February 04, 2013 10:29 PM
To: BGTP:Group
Subject: Hot Potato!

Long Email Chains Wasting Time? Hot Potato Them.
We're seeing a disturbing trend internally at BGT - emails are being used as a substitute for actual conversation. When used incorrectly, emails can be a tremendous time suck. And given the amount of work we have, time is clearly not something we can afford to lose. If you've been the victim of time-wasting bullsh*t emails, we're now giving you ammo to fight back. The next time you receive an email that has been treated by the sender as a hot potato, don't continue the chain. Don't ignore it. And don't delete it. Instead, "reply all" with the following horrible, horrible graphic (we are not kidding):

When an email has been called out as a hot potato, the sender of the original email is responsible for calling a 15 minute huddle within one hour to resolve the problem. And that's the key - hot potato issues MUST be resolved in that time frame. In the huddle, someone must stand up and say, "I own the potato" and be accountable for the resolution. Then, other people must take responsibility for taking action and supporting the person that owns the issue.
A hot potato email meets one or more of the following requirements:

1. Has caused an email chain of at least 5 emails with no clear resolution and no clear ownership
2. Has been sent in place of doing due diligence and collecting background information on an issue (i.e., an email sent to several people and begins, "I'm not sure who to send this to, so I'm sending this to all of you...")
3. Has been sent to a group to collect information that could be collected much faster in a meeting
4. Has asked you to do something that clearly has been thrown over the fence with no real thought. (AKA a CYA email)

Once the problem is resolved, the sender of the original email can "reply all" with the following:

Don't get sucked into long email chains. Hot Potato them, talk, and resolve the problem. You can copy the Hot Potato graphics right out of this email.
A special thanks to Elly Vila Dominicis for her prodigious potato artwork.

Don't Read This Book; What Strategy Isn't; Scorecard Sample; Crowdfunding for Dummies

"...out-learning the competition" 

HEADLINES:  

Reading the books you recommend is changing the way I think and work for the better.
	Jamie Johns, Managing Director Sky Accounting Solutions

Sample Topgrading Scorecard -- superior to a job description, constructing a scorecard for a position is the first step in the Topgrading hiring process. Toby Jenkins, CEO of Australia-based Bluewire Media, has written an excellent blog on how to construct a Scorecard along with a sample. And he explains why his team enjoyed doing the process for each of their jobs. REMEMBER: Certification as a Topgrading Practioner is available (every company should have one) - the online classes start this week with private coaching (go at your own pace) - and 50% discount for additional executives/managers from the same firm wanting to take the classes together.

What NOT to Read -- the biz world has been a buzz about the former CEO of P&G's new book Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works (love the title). So I grabbed a copy and dug in this past weekend. Wow, I couldn't have been more disappointed. It's definitely not a book for mid-market companies - too vague, too complicated - and it doesn't seem like P&G really had to make the kinds of tough choices the rest of us mere mortals have to make. Plus P&G isn't doing so great right now, so whatever they learned hasn't stuck. The measure of a great CEO is if their predecessor is able to succeed.

Five Questions -- in turn, I love these five key questions upon which the book is based (my interpretation in brackets), but I didn't get any real help figuring these out - there are much better resources, like Bob Bloom's book Inside Advantage (best strategy book I've ever read):

1. What is your winning aspiration? (BHAG)
2. Where will you play? (Sandbox and Core Customer)
3. How will you win? (Michael Porter's differentiated "activities")
4. What capabilities must be in place? (Key Thrusts/Capabilities)
5. What management systems are required? (this is new)

What Strategy Isn't -- and I thought Lafley did a great job of outlining what strategy is NOT - taken from Fortune's summary of the book:

• Strategy isn't a vision. A vision tells you nothing about how to achieve your goals.
• Strategy isn't a plan. That's just a set of tactics. A recent blog post by Martin called "Don't Let Strategy Become Planning" has gone viral in managerial circles.
• Strategy isn't optimizing the status quo. Getting more efficient is always good, but it's a far cry from a strategy.
• Strategy isn't following best practices. Some managers think getting really good at what the best players are already doing is a strategy. No, say Lafley and Martin: "It is a recipe for mediocrity."

OK, those were the two good parts. Now go re-read Bob Bloom's book Inside Advantage.

Crowdfund Investing For Dummies -- and a shout out to Sherwood "Woodie" Neiss and his partners who single handedly pushed through crowdfunding legislation in the US and just released a book, Crowdfund Investing for Dummies, helping entrepreneurs prepare for this funding opportunity to publicly raise up to $1 million without filing expensive IPO documents. WARNING: the SEC missed the Dec 31, 2012 deadline for setting the new rules. UGH! Here's a quick update on the situation.

You Already Know How to be Great -- Alan Fine, a top tennis, golf, and executive coach, has written an excellent book on how to get out of your own way. He's found the biggest obstacle to improved performance isn't NOT knowing what to do; it's not doing what you already know. Considered one of the fathers of modern executive-coaching, Alan has created a one-hour online course that outlines his GROW model for peak performance (something he's taught several PGA and Ryder Cup champs as well as top execs at IBM) plus how to have real faith in your own abilities!! Those that have watched the course are already raving about it. However, like all our online courses, there's a full money back guarantee. Watch at your next monthly management meeting or play in the background as you do email.

India and Australia Growth Summits -- I'll be in India next week and Australia the following week for our Growth Summits. Dates and locations below.

5 Big Ideas; Closing Big Sales; Covey's Take; Execute Faster; David Marquet

"...keeping you great" 

HEADLINES:  

Research has consistently shown that a company's investment in learning -- for their executives, managers and front-line employees -- is the most powerful predictor of their ability to outperform their competitors.
	Laurie Bassi, Author Good Company

How To Execute Fast -- Feb 15, 1pm ET Webcast - more below, but first...

Closing Big Deals -- entitled "5 Ways to Close Big Deals" my latest Venture Column in Fortune is online. Take 1 minute to scan down the list and see if any of the 5 practical ideas can move you from talk to contract more quickly.

5 Big Ideas -- ...5 huge trends that will impact all our businesses is the topic of my latest February "Growth Guy" syndicated column: Return on Luck; Big Data; Reverse Innovation; Newsjacking (Trump is the master!); and Robots/Capita. Take 3 minutes to scan through the article. Useful list for your next marketing meeting.

Sizeup.com -- in my column I highlight www.sizeup.com as a way to experience the power of Big Data. Within seconds, this free site will tell you how many competitors exist in a specific locale, how your revenues stack up against theirs, and where to hunt for new business. Give it a try.

Create Leaders At Every Level -- the only way for the senior team to free up themselves to work on the big ideas/deals is to turn over the day-to-day running of the company to the middle managers. David Marquet's book Turn the Ship Around!: How to Create Leadership at Every Level is a key - a VERY how-to execution book on how he took the worst sub in the nuclear navy and made it #1. I named it in my Fortune column one of the top 5 biz books of 2012.

Stephen Covey's Take -- when you get David's book, go immediately to Stephen Covey's Foreword (probably the last one he ever wrote) and take 4 minutes and read his insights into what it takes to create leaders at every level and why he felt David's sub had the most empowered team he had ever met. Then come hear David keynote the Leadership Summit May 9 - 10 Orlando. Book club members will get a copy of David's book next week.

Execute FastWebcast -- to executive with speed, your team must be able to make critical adjustments weekly - if you want to move faster you MUST pulse faster. Join our complimentary webcast with Patrick Thean, "How to Get Your Team to Execute Faster Than Your Competition." You will learn how to: Create the right baseline metrics; Set up a simple rhythm to get every member to share WHY they are off track; and a structure for weekly meetings so your team can execute with speed and make critical adjustments. February 15th @ 1:00pm EST Register Now.

Topgrading Certification Starts February 14 -- we're enrolling right now executives to participate in 6 webinars (recorded if you miss the live session), 3 hours of online video training watched at your own pace, a 90 minute private coaching session scheduled when you're available, access to specific Topgrading tools, and a personal coach - spread over three months -- a quick and easy way for someone in your firm to learn and become certified, in-depth, the Topgrading methodology. No time for amateur hour. Enroll someone in your company now. Hiring is one of the two most important executive skills. 100% Money Back Guarantee. For more info.