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Commanding Business

The challenge with growth is that the habits that got you here become the limitations that prevent you from getting there. Growth not only requires us to learn new habits. It requires that we unlearn old ones. I’m Tim Hamilton, CEO of Praxent and host of the Commanding Business podcast. Each week, I interview authors, experts and real world leaders about how they grew their teams, their organizations and ultimately themselves. From leadership to management and marketing to innovation, we’ll cover a variety of topics with an aim to uncover actionable takeaways you can implement in your own organization today.
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Now displaying: July, 2015
Jul 28, 2015

Salespeople are made not born. If you have the right people in your organization the best thing for your company is to support and develop existing talent. Sales managers should work together with their team members to identify what characteristics are needed to be a professional salesperson. And emphasize how important sales is to your company empowering them to have authentic conversations with clients as peers. As often younger salespeople will attempt to befriend the client instead of having an equal conversation out of a need to be liked.

 

Key Takeaways:

[1:53] Sandler addresses skill gaps in companies large and small

[3:35] Structures and strategies

[5:30] Negative perceptions of sales starts early i.e. Head trash

[8:47] Who is really in the position of power?

[10:34] Authentic conversations with your peers

[13:29] People buy emotionally, they make decisions intellectually

[17:25] The ideal salesperson has these characteristics

[22:00] Salespeople are made not born

[23:39] Understanding existing issues that need to be addressed

[26:52] The role of a sales manager is to develop their people

[29:20] Hold employees accountable to their own goals first

[30:58] Using a parenting book as a guidebook for sales managers

[33:04] A hallmark of good sales leaders

[33:46] An example of transformational leadership

[36:44] Adam Boyd on LinkedIn

 

Mentions:

Sandler

Marketsense

NurtureShock

Jul 21, 2015

If your company is not solving your customers hair on fire issue your competitor is. Your brand promise should be dictated by the clients needs and not a vague conglomeration of popular buzzwords. Inspiring employees to embrace a go with the market flow culture can help you to achieve operational excellence. And empowering those individuals to provide service beyond compare will help your company to obtain and transcend the necessary customer intimacy discipline. 

 

Key Takeaways:

[1:51] Rob’s extensive background

[2:46] The genius book of great thought leaders

[4:50] Strategy in terms of revenue growth

[5:36] You business strategy in a single phrase

[6:39] The brand promise - solving your clients issue differently

[9:48] The hair on fire issue

[12:18] An example of a small company that hit it big - Rackspace

[17:30] The customer intimacy strategy

[18:50] Obsessing over the metrics pays off

[23:18] 3 steps to grow your company

[24:38] The 20 year overnight success

[26:47] Create an inspirational culture

[28:02] The natural resource that is flow

[30:28] The central idea through a series of basecamps

[31:55] Changing your strategy as the market changes

[34:00] 3 different pathways or disciplines

[36:15] Embracing self organizing teams

[39:17] What does fanatical support look like to your company?

[39:50] Achieving operational excellence

[42:02] A market story of proper focus and discipline

[44:24] rob@burstgrowth.com

 

Mentions:

Gazelles

MasteringtheRockefellerHabits- Verne Harnish

ScalingUp - Verne Harnish

Rackspace

Flow - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

DisciplineofMarketLeaders - Michael Treacy & Fred Wiersema

BurstConsulting 

Jul 15, 2015

Kaity and Andrew recently graduated college with marketing and entrepreneurial degrees respectively. The pair had many positive influences in their lives including Kaity’s entrepreneurial father, a volunteer opportunity in Ecuador and Professor Vijay Govindaraja whom they saw speak on his concept of reverse innovation. The concept is the act of bringing technologies, services and innovations  from developing nations for use in the developed world. The goal of this adventure is to learn what it means to be an entrepreneur in South America and bring that information back to share in the United States.

 

Key Takeaways:

[1:22] It all started with a volunteer experience

[1:56] The concept of reverse innovation

[2:32] 7 countries in 7 months and 100 entrepreneurs

[3:19] Marketing and Entrepreneurship courses in college

[4:26] Starting the process and finding the opportunities

[5:55] Adversity is a leading indicator of success

[6:48] We bought the tickets and then decided to

[7:20] kaity606@gmail.com

 

Mentions:

Entrepreneurialtrek.com

 

TheEntrepreneurialTrekIndigogoCampaign

Jul 14, 2015

Legacy thinking may be taking over your business. Brainstorming sessions may not be a useful as playing strategic games that build upon constraints. Take a chance and be open to democratic solutions and flexible work environments to jump start a new idea. As long as you have hired like minded people your business will move past the old way of doing things and on to the new. Try looking at your business as if it belonged to somebody else. Use education as a way to gain loyalty with clients and when giving a presentation please be authentic. The audience will know if you are not.

 

Key Takeaways:

[1:32] Innovation doesn’t happen when you start doing something new

[2:33] AV is important but presentations are more important

[3:48] Solving presentation problems for today’s world

[4:46] Fall in love with problems

[6:05] There are opportunities in the things that frustrate you

[6:44] Constraints produce innovative results

[9:25] Make sure your cash cows are not a crutch for your business

[11:00] Controlling your burn through raising the bar of expectation

[12:44] Ask this of your business “Are we still adding value?”

[13:54] Become the experts by educating your clients

[15:32] People learn through interaction and metaphor

[16:44] Playing games to increase the understanding of business

[18:00] Look at your business as if it belonged to somebody else

[20:16] Annual strategic planning sessions for big deployments

[21:40] The Monday meeting created the fall of the Berlin wall

[24:50] Trying out a business democracy

[26:38] The team created their own manifesto through empowerment

[27:27] Exit interviews created autonomy in our office

[29:21] Caught in the act is a source of motivation

[31:35] Hire like minded people with similar values

[33:30] How much of an a**hole are you is a gauge of how not to behave in business 

[35:19] To be a good presenter you should always be authentic

[38:28] Download Star Realms and challenge Mulhulligan

 

Mentions:

21Tanks

Legacide

MissingLink

InnovatorsDilemma

Drive

OneMinuteManager

@richmullholland

rich@missinglink.co.za

Jul 7, 2015

As a leader you may have a hard time saying no because you are an abundant thinker. If you learn to say no to the four thieves of productivity you can focus on the most important, most profitable, most necessary part of your business. Saying no can be aspirin for the modern business person. True mastery comes with time, practice and experience. Make a concerted effort to define what it is that you can call your one thing and dedicate yourself to it. Let your heart lead your head to stop living a life of regret. Pick your moment of truth and start making a difference in your life.

 

Key Takeaways:

[1:34] The heart of the One thing book

[2:58] Proven methods for implementation

[3:20] Gary wrote a powerful essay that started it all

[5:16] Mission Statements should be focused on your one thing

[6:54] True mastery - 10,000 hour rule

[8:25] Entrepreneurs have a hard time saying no

[8:49] 4 thieves of productivity

[9:44] Who brings the highest contribution?

[10:58] I’m prouder of what we said no to.

[12:11] Some yeses are bigger than others

[13:59] Get clear about what’s important to you

[15:43] Different priorities than what they are living

[18:00] What you do isn’t who you are, we are looking for validation

[19:27] Saying ‘no’ builds our companies strength

[21:35] Line up your metaphorical dominoes

[23:14] The shape of success is a long flat line that ramps up at the end

[23:40] The latte factor

[24:36] The 100 Best Businesses Ever took 7-9 years to get there

[27:15] Let your heart lead your head

[28:55] Turning your to do list into a success list

[30:00] Clarity about the priority in your business and your life

[31:36] Two entrepreneurs sold their business after reading the book

[33:14] The 1 Thing website

 

Mentions:

The1Thing

Essentialism- Greg McKeown

TheAutomaticMillionaire - David L. Bach

KellerCapital

SouthwestAirlines 

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