C-Suite Network™

Menu

Month: December 2020

Categories
Investing Personal Development Sales

Business learnings from The Art of War by Sun Tzu (5th century BC)

This is what Wikipedia says about The Art of War:

The Art of War is an ancient Chinese military treatise dating from the Late Spring and Autumn Period (roughly 5th century BC). The work, which is attributed to the ancient Chinese military strategist, Sun Tzu, is composed of 13 chapters. Each one is devoted to an aspect of warfare and how it applies to military strategy and tactics.

Here is a link to the Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Art_of_War

It is one of those evergreen books that inspired Chinese military strategists and even philosophers ever since it was written as well as Western military strategist since it was translated, first into French at the end of the 18th century and into English in the early 20th century. Much of the book’s teaching can easily be applied to business because business and war, from a pure strategy point of view, are not all that different. In the end, war is about control of land and population; business is about attempting to control your market. In war, there is an opponent; in business, there is competition. Those who crush the opponent or competition wins. Simple? Not really.

Nevertheless, The Art of War is a short book, it takes an hour or so to read. An hour I would greatly encourage everybody to spend while thinking about how the teachings contained within the book apply to your business. Now, some of the chapters have a very different style than other chapters, so it is pretty clear that there is more than one author involved here, and some chapters lean more toward a commons sense angle than other chapters. But that really does not matter; it is still very worthwhile to read and engage with this book from a business perspective.

As I reread the book, I found this paragraph, number 18 in Chapter 3 of the book particularly profound:

“Hence the saying: ‘If you know yourself and know the enemy, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself, but not the enemy, for every victory gained, you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.'”  

Let’s decompose this paragraph and find out how it applies to business:

If you know yourself and know the enemy, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.

This sentence applies to the companies who are the market leaders in their market. The companies who know how to beat the competition and do it well; know better than the competition how potential buyers make their purchase decisions, how buyers perceive the product or service choices they have, how buyers perceive the various brands or competitors in the market and know the actual monetized value of their product or service. But they also know themselves; know their true strengths and weaknesses, they don’t believe their own press releases and they internalize the truth about their market, and they train their staff accordingly; product development and those who define services truly know what drives the sales and revenue, and sales and marketing know the profile of the customer that will generate the highest sales and revenue. They don’t believe in the corporate gut feeling generated from only listening to their customers but proactively research perceptions, preferences, and the ever-important monetized value that both customers and potential customers (the latter is where future growth will come from) associate with the company’s and competition’s products or services.

They know all of this better than the competition, they act on the knowledge, and because of that, they are in command of the market.

If you know yourself, but not the enemy, for every victory gained, you will also suffer a defeat.

Unfortunately, most companies fall into this category. They think they know themselves better (and to some extent, most companies do, just not as well as the market leaders), but they often miss important insights about their customer or market. They collect data from their customers by talking with them or communicating with them through other channels. There are a couple of issues with this type of approach. First, every company goes out to the market with a particular position and marketing message. Some portion of the market will accept that message, and a portion of those will become customers. What companies don’t get from communicating only with customers is what would make non-customers to become customers; maybe different features or different prioritization of features will drive more non-buyers to become buyers, perhaps if the company’s sales and marketing effort focused on a different market vertical, the conversion of non-buyers would increase, maybe if other marketing and sales messages were used, sales would increase, perhaps a different pricing structure would make the company’s product or services more appealing to a larger portion of the market and thus lead to increased sales and revenue?

Or to simply put it – communicating only with customers is like talking in an echo chamber! You don’t learn much from one of those, do you?

Surprisingly, this is what most companies do. When I speak to potential clients of my firm, most of them assume our work will be carried out for their customers only, and it always takes some effort to explain we work with a market, not only customers to our clients. Furthermore, when we show a client a gap analysis between “the market” and “what the client believes about the market,” there are always surprises contained within that data collected. Gaps reduce a company’s competitiveness and, many times, prevent the company from becoming the market leader.

And finally, the third sentence of the paragraph:

If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.

Pretty obvious what that means; if your company is a startup, the company will die when investors’ funds run out. If the company is well established, it means that a shift in the market, a shift in buying behavior, or the competitive landscape, or maybe when a new piece of technology will become available, any of these will kill the company outright.

So, in light of the learnings that you can glean from The Art of War, the choice is pretty straightforward. Gaining a better understanding of the market and ensuring that the entire company knows and acts on that real market understanding and not some corporate gut feeling is the key to market leadership! So are you ready to take up the challenge?

Per Sjöfors
Founder
Sjöfors & Partners
www.sjofors.com

 

Categories
Growth Personal Development

How the Membership Economy is Creating Customer Magic

Register, Sign Up, Password, Username, Welcome

 

It used to be you only subscribed to a few things in your life: the newspaper, a few magazines, and cable TV.

With the emergence of other business models and product offerings, the subscription economy is stronger than ever.

It seems you can get a subscription to just about anything these days. Look at your bank statement or credit card bill, and you’ll see how many products and services you subscribe to — from Netflix to laundry detergent, subscriptions are everywhere. Even Walmart is trying to capitalize on the momentum. Consumer membership companies such as Costco or Amazon are having a field day rewarding die-hard loyalty with special perks.

The subscription economy is hot right now, and nobody knows more about this trend than Robbie Kellman Baxter. Robbie is a subject matter expert having written two books on the subject: The Membership Economy and The Forever Transaction.

Robbie says we are in the ‘Wild West’ of subscriptions right now; however, it may take a while before there’s a thinning of the herd with so many out there.

With that in mind, I wondered what the difference between a subscription and a membership is. Should we be using those two terms interchangeably?

Robbie was able to clarify both terms for me during a recent interview on All Business with Jeffrey Hayzlett on C-Suite Radio. She said, “A subscription is a pricing decision. It’s asking the customer to pay you on a regular and automatic basis, in exchange for access to benefits services products. Membership is the mindset that’s required (for) how you treat those subscribers. That gives you permission to get their trust because of a subscription as a trusted relationship. That kind of pricing structure requires a trusted relationship. I believe you can have a membership economy business; you can have a member mindset without using subscription pricing.”

Robbie says memberships are all about creating magic with your customers. You have to offer them some community, a sense of belonging. She says there are plenty of subscription businesses out there, but if they’re not thinking about creating that community, they’re short-sighted.

Robbie also said the rise in subscription businesses has a lot to do with technology over the last decade. Now there is software and other systems that can handle the billing and other logistical issues that come with running a subscription business.

Even with new subscriptions popping up every day, Robbie says we could be heading towards subscription fatigue.

She explains this as, “Having everybody come into subscriptions and have products that don’t justify subscription pricing,” Robbie said. “You just take whatever you’ve got (and) say, ‘we’re going to force people to pay a subscription.’ Or (companies) hiding the ‘cancel’ button or giving people the wrong combination of benefits or that they’re paying (for) stuff they don’t need. That’s what’s driving subscription fatigue.”

So how do the good subscription companies stand out? Robbie says it’s simple.

“The really good ones are laser-focused on who they’re serving and what value they’re providing to them,” Robbie said. “When they design their offerings, they’re not just focused on the moment of transaction getting someone to sign up for the subscription, but on delivering value on an ongoing basis by anticipating where the customer is going to go next on their objective of achieving that goal.”

Robbie says an excellent example of providing constant value is Disney+. The streaming video service exceeded expectations in its first year and now boasts 86 million subscribers. Robbie said with a service like Disney+, you’re buying more than the chance to see the latest Disney movie from the comfort of your home.

“Disney needs to make sure that I can find my way to the other content that they offer because what I’m really signing up for is enjoying time with my family,” Robbie said. “They have to get me to the princesses, they have to get me to the adventure stories, and they have to get me to National Geographic documentaries.”

She adds, “It’s all about really understanding the customers’ goals, instead of just focusing on your own products.”

Robbie says another company that is doing it right is Peloton. The company behind the popular stationary bikes offer live online fitness classes and they’re thriving during the pandemic now that fewer people are going to the gym. Peloton has seen its stock surge over 400% over the past year, and it is even looking to buy up the competition.

“You can connect with other people that are working out and build community,” Robbie said. “I think it’s a really interesting business model.”

“There have been cases where people have been injured and Peloton sends them a get well soon gift, but then automatically canceled their subscription (saying) ‘Hey, let us know when you want to reengage with us.'”

While Disney and Peloton’s numbers show they are doing it right, Robbie says many companies are doing a lousy job in the emerging subscription economy. She points to a bit by stand-up comedian, Ryan Hamilton, on canceling his gym membership. While it’s played up for laughs, there’s a lot of truth in the story.

“A lot of what used to be called continuity programs where you get every month, your shampoo or your skincare products, (are) often very hard to cancel. Often (a) very inexpensive entry-level program and then before you know it, you’re paying ten times as much,” Robbie said.

Even the Federal Trade Commission is taking notice. Leslie Fair, a senior attorney for the government agency, has a blog where she tracks the companies accused of using deceptive practices like hiding pricing information and making it tough to cancel.

Subscription revenue is an attractive idea for businesses and professionals across many industries. During our conversation, Robbie and I talk about how subscriptions should work and how this model can create value for customers.

Listen to our full conversation here.

Categories
Best Practices Body Language Entrepreneurship Human Resources Marketing Negotiations Sales Skills Women In Business

“This Is How To Stop Bad Behavior With Pattern Interrupts And Body Language” – Negotiation Insight

“Pattern Interrupts, through body language, occurs instantaneously. The proof is in the new emotional state one finds one’s self in after it occurs.” -Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert (click to Tweet)  Click here to get the book!

 

“This Is How To Stop Bad Behavior With Pattern Interrupts And Body Language”

 

People don’t realize they’re always negotiating.

Have you considered how body language impacts the perception of someone’s actions? Most people don’t give it a second thought – but they should. Because body language can be the hidden source of the pattern interrupts that alters someone’s behavior. And someone that lacks the awareness of pattern interrupts may not realize how someone else is manipulating them. The following is how you can use and rebut bad behavior through body language pattern interruptions in your daily life.

Click here to discover how you can use can change someone’s behavior by using body language and pattern interruptions!

Remember, you’re always negotiating!

Listen to Greg’s podcast at https://c-suitenetwork.com/radio/shows/greg-williams-the-master-negotiator-and-body-language-expert-podcast/

After reading this article, what are you thinking? I’d like to know. Reach me at Greg@TheMasterNegotiator.com

To receive Greg’s free “Negotiation Tip of the Week” and the “Negotiation Insight,” click here https://themasternegotiator.com/greg-williams/

 

#PatternInterrupts #c-suitenetwork #thoughtcouncil #Negotiator #NegotiatingWithABully #Bodylanguage #readingbodylanguage #Negotiation #NegotiationStrategies #NegotiationProcess #NegotiationSkillsTraining #NegotiationExamples #NegotiationTypes #negotiationPsychology #HowToNegotiateBetter #ReadingBodyLanguage #BodyLanguage #Nonverbal #Negotiate #Business #SmallBusiness #Power #Perception #emotionalcontrol #relationships #BodyLanguageExpert #CSuite #TheMasterNegotiator #ControlEmotions #GregWilliams #success #Howtowinmore #self-improvement #howtodealwithdifficultpeople #Self-development #Control #Conversations #Howtocontrolanegotiation #howtobesuccessful #HowToImproveyourself

 

Categories
Best Practices Growth Personal Development

Your business and the 2d law of thermodynamics

The surprising relationship between the second law of thermodynamics and business excellence

Those who may remember their physics lessons back in school may recall the laws of thermodynamics. Simplified, the second law of thermodynamics says that heat will transfer from a hotter object to a colder object until both reach the same temperature. A similar thing happens in every business, the innovation and uniqueness of hot products or services transfer to colder, not as interesting, products or services of the competition. This transfer of interesting or valuable features does not mean that the competitions’ products or services become more valuable, it just means that it leads to commoditization – every company in a market vertical offering identical products or services. 

But the fact is that you have a choice; keep your company hot, or accept a cooling off and commoditization. 

So, from a pricing perspective, what is the difference between a hot product and a cold product (or service for that matter)? Well, a hot product or service or company has “pricing power.” Meaning that there is uniqueness or innovation that may be directly related to features, functions, go-to-market strategy, or even the brand. These differentiators are strong enough to generate a higher willingness to pay among at least a portion of buyers. A commoditized product or service can be one of two things: a product or service that has no differentiators compared to the competitions’ product or service. Zero. Nada. Nothing. This is extremely unusual. Almost every product or service has some aspects of it that are unique and that can be used to gain at least a little bit of pricing power. What is more common is that a company look at the main features or benefits of their product or service and find them to be identical to the competition, but are unaware that some lesser features or benefits may drive a substantially higher willingness to pay among a smaller portion of the marketplace. Then, because they believe they are completely commoditized, they price their product or service just like the competition. (This is under the assumption that competitors’ prices are published. If they are not, they set the price based on a guess of what their competitors charge.)  

But let’s go to an example where the product is a true commodity and the prices are published. Gas. Here is a link to a short article from the Harvard Business Review. 

https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/when-your-customers-don-t-care-what-you-charge-what-should-you-charge

This is an interesting article in which they conclude that the majority, albeit small majority, of gas buyers, do not look around for the cheapest gas but instead, follow habits, simple inertia or in their minds they consider the “switching cost” of going to a gas station they are not familiar with, as being off-putting (that would be a very low switching cost, by the way).

But in the article, the authors fail to make one important conclusion. They correctly assess those price-sensitive customers are the least loyal. This is valid not only for simple commodities like gas but for other products or services, too. Thus, companies chasing price-sensitive customers with low prices and rebates often end up being less profitable than peers who focus on delivering customer value, and therefore, earn the right to charge higher prices while maintaining customer loyalty. The reason is obvious; if they price low to attract those price-sensitive customers, the price will be low for all customers, including those who are actually willing to pay higher prices for the product or service and the result is that they leave money on the table. And in some cases, a lot of money! 

But how do you make sure that the heat of your product or service is not transferred to colder, competitive companies’ products or services? Well, the truth is that you cannot. It will happen. Even if you have patents for your products or services this process is slowed down, but it still happens—just a little slower than otherwise. 

The only way to protect the pricing power you may have with your product or service is to innovate. And this is really hard, but consider the following:

  • You cannot trust everything you hear from your customers, especially for a couple of very important reasons. First, they are your customers because they appreciate, and are willing to pay, for the features/functions and benefits your product or service has – not what it is missing. So, to ask them what they are missing is not going to be a very productive discourse. Your customers have already self-selected your current product or service buying it. They have accepted the bundle or feature and functions. They have accepted your marketing and accepted the price. Thus, asking your customers is not the same as asking the entire market.  The key is to understand what would make those who did not buy, to buy. 
  • Secondly, customers will lowball what they value. In some cases, even making things up and certainly withholding information that you would value knowing. They simply don’t want you to know how much they value your product or service – in the hope that you will lower prices further. They are after the best possible deal from you and price-sensitive customers always purchase on price, the lower the better. 
  • Thirdly, a market rarely knows what it wants in terms of features/functions and benefits. It knows the problems and frustrations it has with current products or services, but a market rarely knows how to solve these problems.

Let me give you some examples. I’m an Apple guy, so I like to use examples from the time when they were a true innovator:

  • Early MP3 players were hard to use and moving digital songs, from ripped CDs or illegal downloads (which were often distorted or abruptly cut off) from your computer to your MP3 player was a difficult and unreliable process. With the creation of iTunes and the integration to the iPod, Apple solved all these problems in one fell swoop. Few, if any, consumers would say they “were looking for a website to buy songs that sound good and magically appear on their MP3 players.” Apple identified the problem and came up with a solution.  
  • The iPhone was neither the first smartphone nor the first cellphone without buttons. Yet, its innovation disrupted an entire industry. That innovation was the App Store. Not the phone. At the time, cellphones were mainly used for calls and the occasional email, text or simple games. Being a user of some of the pre-iPhone smartphones, I certainly wished for a few very specific apps and maybe better games. I did not, nor did other consumers ask themselves: “I need to select games and applications from 10,000s of game and app developers, and I want to find those on a website and then they magically appear on my phone.” But Apple realized that if this service and product is offered, consumers will soon find ways to see the value of using such a service and product, driving both sales of the iPhone and the Apps.  

But Apple became complacent and stopped finding a better solution to consumers’ problems. They did not hear consumers saying, “I want access to more songs than I can afford, especially if I have to buy every song for 99 cents.” This opened up the market to Spotify to become the dominant streaming music player. Nor did they listen to consumers saying, “I want access to more movies than I can afford, especially if I have to rent every movie for $4.99.” This opened up the market to Netflix to become the dominant video streaming player in the market. The current Apple+ streaming service is, by the majority of analysts and commentators described as a joke. Too little too late. 

So, my point here is how important it is to understand the problems your market has, so you can come up with a solution to fix those problems. The key is to understand the difference between “the market” which include all possible buyer and “customers” that are self-selected to your existing products or service or company. Once you know “the market” you can come up with a solution, an innovation, that is better than that of your competitors. That is the only way to fend off commoditization. In order to do so, not only do you need to know what problems your market wants to have solved but more specifically, you also need to know what problems the market wants to pay for them to be solved. And how much. There is no use coming up with innovation “everybody wants” and “nobody wants to pay for it”!

But here is the big difference between business and the second law of thermodynamics: A hot body in thermodynamics has no choice but to lose heat. But a hot company or a company with a hot product or service has a choice. It can elect to retain or even increase the “heat,” or not. The choice is yours!

Per Sjöfors
Founder
Sjöfors & Partners
www.sjofors.com

Categories
Best Practices Entrepreneurship Human Resources Management Marketing Negotiations Sales Skills Women In Business

“Do You Ask ‘Why’ To Get The Best Negotiation Results” – Negotiation Tip of the Week

“Not until you know why, do you have the greatest understanding.” – Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert (click to Tweet)   Click here to get the book!

 

“Do You Ask ‘Why’ To Get The Best Negotiation Results”

People don’t realize they’re always negotiating.

Why should I? Why can’t I? Why is that? What value does that have for you, and why? Those are forms of questions using why that you can use to gather more information in a negotiation.

In a negotiation, a negotiator makes an offer, the other negotiator assesses it, reframes it, and the process continues. It does so until the negotiators conclude the negotiation. During that process, some negotiators don’t realize they can take shortcuts to reach their goal. They can do so by asking their counterpart what he wants and why he wants it. His answers reveal the crux of what he seeks from the negotiation. From that insight, you’ll have a better idea of what offers to make to reach your negotiation goals. Here’s how you can use ‘why’ to get the best outcomes in your negotiations.

Click here and discover how to use ‘why’ in a negotiation!

 

Remember, you’re always negotiating!

 

Listen to Greg’s podcast at https://c-suitenetwork.com/radio/shows/greg-williams-the-master-negotiator-and-body-language-expert-podcast/

 

After reading this article, what are you thinking? I’d like to know. Reach me at Greg@TheMasterNegotiator.com

 

To receive Greg’s free “Negotiation Tip of the Week” and the “Negotiation Insight,” click here https://themasternegotiator.com/greg-williams/

 

 

Categories
Growth Personal Development

(Pod)Fade to Black – Why Podcasting Is Hard Work, But Worth It

Close Up Photo of Gold-colored and Black Condenser Microphone

By some estimates, there are 850,000 active podcasts and over 34 million podcast episodes. With 32 million Americans listening to podcasts on a monthly basis, breaking through in the podcasting business can be daunting for me. However, once you start, you’re in for a great journey.

Recently, I had a great conversation about the podcasting industry with the great Tony DUrso. He is a podcaster, entrepreneur, author, and business coach who has one of the top shows on the VoiceAmerica Network.

Proud of his heritage, he is the hard-working son of Italian Immigrants, who came to the United States when he was only three years old. By the ripe old age of five, Tony was delivering newspapers in Chicago along Lake Michigan.

“We were a single-income family,” Tony remembers. “My dad made like at the time, maybe 50 bucks, 75 bucks a week. There (were) six boys. We had to chip in. Every week, I would get paid for delivering the papers, and it was just a couple bucks. And that just always went to the parents.”

During that time, Tony also learned the value of a dollar. His father would take the bus every day to his job as a sheet metal worker. Instead of paying the extra nickel for a transfer, Tony’s dad would walk the last two miles to work to help support the family.

“This is the kind of mindset that I’ve been ingrained with. I know the value of a dollar, and I don’t throw dollars away,” Tony said.

All that hard work paid off. In his teens, Tony got his first job in the corporate world as a typist, despite not knowing how to type. What did he do? Tony went to the library and figured it out! He worked his way up to 120 words a minute. Tony became so proficient that he says people would come to his desk just to watch him type.

From typing, Tony kept climbing the corporate ladder. He added titles like Vice President of Sales to his resume and pulled in a six-figure salary. That’s when he had an epiphany.

“I was making so much money for everyone,” Tony said. “After about 30 odd years in business, I broke away and became an entrepreneur. And as you all know, you go from 40 hours a week with a stable income to 80 to 100 hours a week, and who knows what your income is next week, but it was so much fun.”

Being an entrepreneur is in your blood; I know it’s in mine. Tony said he wanted something to start something he could control and he found that in podcasting.

“You can control the name. You can control the length. You can control the distribution,” Tony said. “I thought, ‘Hey, I’m Italian. I can talk, and I love promotion and marketing.’ I got this idea of bringing in high-profile, well-known, elite entrepreneurs… and bring that to the world because everyone in the audience cannot possibly listen to every webinar, read every book, listen to everybody’s podcast or lecture. It’s just impossible to get everything from everybody.”

Tony knew he was entering a crowded space, even though podcasting is still considered an industry in its infancy. I like to say podcasting is still in its teenage phase, still growing and starting to mature. Despite its exponential growth and possibilities, podcasting can take a toll if we don’t plan ahead. However, despite our best efforts, that well dries up.

One of the great things about having a podcast is what I learn from all my guests. I consider myself a pretty knowledgeable person when it comes to podcasting, but Tony introduced a term I’ve never heard of before: podfade.

Depending on where you look, many podcasts stop after less than ten episodes or less than six months of production. So why do so many people give up on their shows?

“(Podcasters) underestimate the work and it is work,” Tony said. “Whether you do it live or you record, which is even more work. The benefit is so small at first it’s like, ‘what am I doing here?'”

Perseverance is a key to success in the podcasting business, but it’s not immediate. Also, you have to learn to capitalize on every opportunity to promote and spread the word.

Tony said he uses social media to help amplify his podcast and uses key strategies to help his clients get downloads, but he also has this advice for future podcasters.

“Get a mentor,” Tony advised. “Get somebody that’s been there, done that, that you like what they’ve done. And they’ve done a podcast. They’ve grown a podcast, get that person to mentor and help you.”

Tony also says, do your research.

“I would go to the best podcasters, and I would go through their site, and I would go through their show and every time go ‘Oh, I like this. Oh, I like how that is done.’ I morphed, changed, and tweaked my show over the years to make it what it is,” Tony said.

A book called, “Beach Money” by Jordan Adler also influenced Tony’s podcast journey. He recommends listening to the book’s audio version; hearing the story from the author makes it more impactful. “Beach Money” didn’t just help Tony focus on his podcast; he said it benefited him in other ways as well. To hear how, listen to my full conversation with Tony.

Categories
Growth Personal Development

What I Learned – The Top 10 Shows of 2020

2020 is coming to a close.

For many, this year has been one to forget. We’ve faced unprecedented challenges, dealt with a worldwide pandemic, saw many people affected, businesses lost, and if that wasn’t enough, let’s add a contentious presidential election. Despite that, I believe that crisis creates opportunities. And as we say goodbye to 2020, we can’t forget all the doors that opened for many.

Podcasting has been a rewarding experience, profitable, too. We had one of our best years ever on my podcast, All Business with Jeffrey Hayzlett. We had some great guests, saw our downloads increase 541% (!), and began ‘livecasting’ on Facebook and LinkedIn daily, with two guests a day, back in March. With all this momentum, I had the team pull the numbers and take a look back at some of our top performing episodes of 2020. There are some recognizable names and some that may surprise you. The insights they offered were unparalleled and the business advice top-notch.

Here are some key lessons and our top 10 episodes for 2020:

  1. Julie Roehm– Chief Marketing and Experience Officer, Party City

I’ve known Julie for years and she was kind enough to join us for the C-Suite Network High Stakes Leadership Forum back in April. In the spirit of 2020, we were planning to host this event in Las Vegas. The pandemic forced us to hold it online, and it delivered!

While all business leaders saw our fair share of change this year, Party City was no exception. The company turned over most of its c-suite just before the pandemic hit. In fact, Julie had barely gotten her company computer when the corporate office shut down. Julie said that wasn’t a bad thing because they were all so new, there was no pride of ownership or office politics, they were all “in it to win it.”

Julie and I had a great conversation about company culture, how Party City pivoted early on in the pandemic, and the company’s response to Black Lives Matter.

 

  1. Carey Lohrenz– First U.S. Navy female F-14 Tomcat pilot



Carey spoke during our C-Suite Network Battleship Forum in June. She made history in the early 1990s as the first woman to fly a Navy F-14 Tomcat. During our talk, Carey shared key principles she learned in the cockpit that could be applied to the business world. She talked about why it’s OK to feel fear and why debriefs are important to every organization.

There’s something in this episode for everyone at every level of any company.

 

  1. Alyssa Rapp– CEO, Surgical Solutions and Author, Leadership & Life Hacks

Alyssa Rapp is a CEO, accomplished businesswoman, and best-selling author. While Alyssa and I spoke months before the pandemic hit, the overarching theme of our conversation involved pivoting. Alyssa is an expert in changing business models on the fly. She also offered a theory on who survives tough economic times and becoming lean carnivores. If you want to find out what she meant, listen to the episode.

  1. Mike Abrashoff– Retired Naval Commander, NY Times Best-Selling Author

Mike offered his expertise during our C-Suite Network Online Battleship Forum in June. He is best known for turning around the worst ship in the U.S. Navy to the best using the same crew. How did he do it? Not only does Mike tells us in this podcast, he also leaves us with what he believes are traits all great leaders should have.

 

  1. Gender Parity Gap Digital Discussion

In honor of the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment to the Constitution giving women the right to vote, the C-Suite Network hosted a special Digital Discussion on gender parity in the workplace, specifically in the upper echelons of business. We invited three highly accomplished leaders to speak about their experiences in the workplace and politics. The panel included:

  • Barbara Franklin– President & CEO, Barbara Franklin Enterprises, 29th U.S. Secretary of Commerce
  • Melyssa Barrett – Vice President, Visa, Vice President/General Manager Jali Enterprises, Co-Chair, C-Suite Network’s Diversity Council
  • Evelyn Sanguinetti – Executive Director, HOPE Fair Housing Center & Former Illinois Lieutenant Governor

 

  1. Pat Iyer– Ghostwriter, Editor, C-Suite Network Advisor

Pat is a nurse by trade, but has become a prolific ghostwriter and book writing coach. In fact, she’s credited with penning 49 books. Pat and I compare notes on our very different writing processes — she thinks mine is kind of crazy. Pat says many of us have a book trapped inside of us, but don’t know how to get started. If that’s you, don’t miss our conversation.

 

  1. Arianna Huffington– Founder, Thrive Global

Arianna Huffington almost needs no introduction. She’s a best-selling author, TV personality, namesake of The Huffington Post, and founder of Thrive Global. Arianna’s latest project is stressing the importance of sleep and for everyone to take care of themselves in the chaotic world we live in. While there wasn’t much “pillow talk” during our conversation, Arianna and I addressed the behaviors that are killing us and what silver linings will come out of the pandemic.

 

  1. Jim Rowley– CEO, Crunch Fitness

Jim was another guest from the C-Suite Network High Stakes Leadership Forum. He is the CEO of Crunch Fitness and a former U.S. Marine, who served during the Persian Gulf War, and a 27-year veteran of the fitness industry. Despite his Marine Corps demeanor, Jim assured me during our interview he’s “not a hard ass all the time” and left our audience with some inspiring leadership lessons during the pandemic and beyond.

 

  1. Andrew Zimmern– James Beard Award-Winning Personality, Chef, and Activist

 

We’ve all seen Andrew Zimmern on TV eating some truly strange foods, but there’s more to this TV chef than eating. Andrew is on a mission to bring to light the food insecurities many Americans face and the inequalities in our food supply chain. He says there are truly two food Americas and COVID-19 is making that more apparent than ever. My conversation with Andrew was enlightening and gave a different perspective about how we think about food. He also told me what he won’t eat – and, spoiler alert, it wasn’t all that bizarre.

 

 

  1. Anthony Scaramucci– Founder & Co-Managing Partner, SkyBridge Capital

Since 2020 was the most politically-charged year in recent memory, I wasn’t surprised that “The Mooch” was the most listened to All Business episode of the year. Most people remember Anthony Scaramucci as the one-time White House Communications Director under President Donald Trump. He may have only lasted 11 days in the job, but he continues to be a go-to for quotes on the Trump Administration. The Mooch didn’t pull any punches in this interview and it shows.

This show wouldn’t be possible without you – our listeners. There’s a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes to bring you quality content that’s engaging, timely, and relevant. I’d like to thank all of my loyal and new listeners for downloading All Business with Jeffrey Hayzlett this year. We’re seeing some of our best numbers to date and keep growing. Let’s keep the momentum in 2021!

Categories
Growth Personal Development

3 Ways to Create Successful Habits

“I should lose some weight.”

“I should spend time focusing on that project.”

“I should be able to speak and have others want to listen.”

How much time do you spend “should”-ing your way through life? It’s easy to internalize goals and dreams, but following through is often unattainable. Why? We want more from our lives, our careers, and our influence, but many fall short of our goals. It’s not that we don’t truly want to reach them, but rather that we aren’t willing to raise our standards enough to create real, lasting change.

When we commit to raising our standards, we begin to expect more from ourselves. We demand better outcomes and become willing to do the hard work. By raising our expectations, we form new habits. When we turn our “should” into “must,” and our “maybe” into “absolute,” real change occurs. Accountability requires persistent follow-through, ultimately creating new habits. It goes beyond talk and pushes us into action.

This change isn’t easy. Old habits die hard, and new habits are even harder to form. When we finally expect more from ourselves, we commit to hard work that leads to permanent habits. Those habits cut through the noise, become noticed, and command respect. Those habits generate influence and create credibility among those who surround you.

Any professional athlete will tell you that skill isn’t enough. There are plenty of athletes with incredible abilities, but without the dedication to creating new and improved habits through daily practice and accountability, skill isn’t enough. They will testify that success comes from the ongoing desire for better habits, coupled with daily practice and execution that create momentum.

I work with many leaders who believe the skills needed to achieve success and influence today are all that’s required to achieve success in the future. They reach out to me in confusion — desperation even — because they don’t have the credibility among peers, decision-makers, or even their team to rise higher. Their skills as good communicators are the very things holding them back from creating new habits necessary to become great communicators. The higher they rise, the higher everyone else’s expectations. The only difference is that they fail to raise their standards and get real with what needs to be changed.

Imagine what would change in your life if you held yourself to a higher standard, demanded more from your work, and remained accountable to the efforts needed to create new habits. Here are three ways to begin changing your momentum to create better success.

1. Adjust your attitude

Saying, “I should go to the gym” won’t get the weight off. Saying, “I must go to the gym” will. Saying, “I should figure out why no one acts on my work-related ideas” won’t get you that promotion. Saying, “I must discover what I lack in communication skills” will.

Changing your mindset begins with your attitude. Change occurs the moment you stop hoping for it and start taking steps to make it a reality. Take responsibility for where you are versus where you want to be. Decide what needs to change and stop blaming others for your lack of progress. Ownership is about attitude. Attitude changes action.

2. Own your mistakes

You may lack respect in the workplace because you are always late. Or perhaps it’s because you are always distracted. Maybe you lack influence because you don’t consistently follow through on commitments, or perhaps you lack the communication skills needed to inspire others to act.

It’s critical to identify and own your mistakes so you have a clear idea of what needs changing. Seek feedback from others you trust or get guidance from a coach or mentor. Either way, it’s essential to hear their input and own it. Only then will you be open to the changes necessary to create new habits.

3. It’s a marathon, not a sprint

We’ve long been led to believe that new habits form in 21 days. In reality, that inaccurate fact came from a medical study in which a plastic surgeon determined it takes a minimum of 21 days for patients to comprehend their physical changes after undergoing plastic surgery. Did you hear that? A minimum of 21 days. Over the years, we have heard the short and condensed version of this so many times that we believe 21 days is all that it takes. Wrong.

Realistically speaking, it takes 66 days for habits to become second nature, becoming hardwired into our behavior. Habits form from the consistent execution of the same action. Creating new habits requires a steadfast commitment to practice.

When you raise your standards and expect more from yourself, your attitude shifts. Blame becomes ownership, which motivates you to change. Influence and respect lead to pay raises and promotions. If you want more for yourself and your career, raise your bar. Change your attitude and recognize that skill alone isn’t enough. Own your current habits and understand where improvements are needed. Commit to change by showing up and doing the hard work each day. Only then will you earn the influence necessary to experience real success.

As a seasoned executive, your influence skills have gotten you this far.  Now the stakes are higher.  Whether you are preparing for a board meeting, a big sales event, a meeting with investors, a virtual conversation, or are simply ready to up your game, Stacey Hanke, Inc. provides tailored executive mentoring to get you to the next level. Learn More about one-on-one mentoring and set up an introductory call today.

Categories
Growth Leadership Personal Development

What is Your Poor LinkedIn Profile Costing You?

What is Your Poor LinkedIn Profile Costing You?


Dear Executives,

Perhaps you recognize that your LinkedIn profile is skeletal. Yes, your photo may be great, you’ve listed your job titles, degrees, and schools. But where are YOU? How will people know about your purpose, principles, and business passions? How will they learn of your superpowers – the areas in which you truly excel? How will they learn about the accomplishments upon which you’ve built your career? If your profile doesn’t showcase your personal brand, the real you isn’t online — you’re essentially hiding.

What’s the opportunity cost of hiding online?

You may believe that your skeletal profile is just fine. Sleek; minimalist; just the way you like it. As a matter of fact, your profile looks like the profile of most C-Suite executives. So, no problem, right?

Wrong. LinkedIn is first and foremost a search engine. People around the world are using it 24/7 to search for people with your superpowers, your talents, your experience. But in your minimalist profile, you haven’t used your keywords often enough for the search engine to rank you highly in the search results and put you near the top of the list returned to the user. Since those searching rarely look beyond the first two pages displayed to them, you will never be found. You’ll never know the opportunities you could have had, if you had been found, such as:

  • New customer accounts for your company
  • Business alliances or partnerships
  • Internal or external opportunities for career advancement and challenge
  • Opportunities for Board service
  • Opportunities to attract top talent who are seeking to align themselves with people who lead with passion

More and more, today’s executives have come to appreciate the importance of developing and curating their personal brand online. LinkedIn is a primary tool for communicating your personal brand to woo and wow your ideal audiences, including both internal and external customers and the talent you hope to attract to your company. Executives who have a stellar LinkedIn presence and who use the LinkedIn platform effectively find that it helps them leverage their personal, corporate, and product brands and improve their visibility.

 

to order click: https://carolk.yourfeaturedauthor.com/LinkedIn for the Savvy Executive - Second Edition
Promote Your Brand with Authenticity, Tact and Power

So, stop hiding online:

If you are a C-Suite executive or senior leader who would like to improve your LinkedIn profile and presence, I can make it easy for you. I have a track record of working effectively with C-Suite executives and senior leaders to create LinkedIn profiles and other executive-branded materials that help them show up as authentically and powerfully online as they do in person. I also mentor clients on LinkedIn etiquette and effective posting strategies to ensure their success. Contact me through my website: www.carolkaemmerer.com or profile: www.linkedin.com/in/carolkaemmerer.

Other resources for you and your team:

For a virtual or in-person presentation on personal branding via LinkedIn, contact me. I am a member of the National Speakers Association, a Certified Virtual Presenter, and an Advisor to the C-Suite Network.

My NEW book, Second Edition: LinkedIn for the Savvy Executive: Promote Your Brand with Authenticity, Tact and Power will be available through online booksellers in mid-December 2020. For bulk orders or signed copies, contact me directly.

To receive my monthly articles in your email inbox, sign up for my monthly emailing here.

.

Categories
Growth Personal Development

Making Strides to Achieve Equality & Parity in the C-Suite

Crop friends stacking hands together

 

Women and men are equal, but the real world doesn’t always see it that way. Whether it’s in business or life.

According to U.S. Census Bureau statistics, women make 82 cents for every dollar a man makes. That’s the average; if you break it down by ethnicity, the numbers are much more disparate.

While we talk a lot about equality, only six countries give women equal legal work rights as men. At our current pace, it will take more than a century to reach gender parity, according to the World Economic Forum.

Since 2020 marked the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment giving most women the constitutional right to vote, the C-Suite Network hosted a remarkable Digital Discussion, titled Gender Parity Gap: Why Do We Still Have a Gap in Boardrooms, Halls of Congress, and the C-Suite. We had a greatly informative panel discussion of accomplished leaders, such as:

  • Barbara Franklin – President, Barbara Franklin Enterprises & Former U.S. Secretary of Commerce
  • Melyssa Barrett –
Vice President Identity & Authentication Products, Visa
  • Evelyn Sanguinetti – Former, Illinois Lieutenant Governor & Executive Director, HOPE Fair Housing Center

I kicked things off with Barbara Franklin who, besides serving as Secretary of Commerce under President George H.W. Bush, also served in the Nixon, Ford, Carter, and Reagan administrations. Before that, she was one of the first women to graduate from Harvard Business School and served as a Vice President at Citibank. I asked Barbara simply what the world was like for women when she began climbing the proverbial ladder in the mid-1960s.

“There was not consensus in our society back then, when I got out of Harvard Business School, or even into the 70s about what the role of women should be,” Barbara said. “And there were not a lot of professional roles for women that were very acceptable (besides) teachers, nurses, and secretaries. You didn’t see very many lawyers, executives, or doctors.”

President Nixon tasked Barbara with overseeing his mandate to bring more women into all levels of the federal government, especially at the senior level. Since the president required his cabinet to add more women to the rosters and come up with an action plan, the number of women in top positions doubled within six months. Barbara believes that change wouldn’t have happened if President Nixon didn’t require the change.

“It was a lot of stereotypes about women. They’re not tough enough for the job. Women are emotional. You’ve heard it all,” Barbara said. “People didn’t want to risk putting women in a job they might not be able to do. Happily, all the women appointed performed beautifully.”

To some people, it might be surprising that Nixon was a champion of women, but Barbara says you shouldn’t be.

“(President Nixon) was a little ahead of his time,” Barbara said. “He had a mother who was college-educated, which is unusual back then. He had a self-made wife if you know anything about Pat Nixon, and they had two daughters.”

“I also think the women’s movement was out there. Making a lot of noise burning bras doing a lot to a lot of things to get attention and so there was starting to be a political piece to it. It was the right thing to do,” Barbara said.

Another panelist, Evelyn Sanguinetti, made state-level political history decades after Barbara did at the federal level. Evelyn was the nation’s first Latina woman to serve as Lieutenant Governor when she was sworn in Illinois in 2015. A distinction she wasn’t aware of until inauguration day.

“I was actually walking onto the stage for the swearing-in ceremony, and they announced it,” Evelyn said. “I was overcome with emotion, but I was like, don’t cry over this makeup. You got to get sworn in.”

She added, “To have the first Latina lieutenant governor in the entire nation what that felt to me was an incredible amount of pressure to do what was right.”

The right thing for Evelyn was hiring a staff that was as diverse as the people she represented.

While Evelyn and Barbara held top jobs in government, Melyssa Barrett worked her way up the corporate ladder. As a Vice President at Visa, Melyssa says one of the most important things women need at all levels are sponsors, allies, and coaches. According to her, it comes down to one thing: building a relationship, no matter how awkward it may be.

“Who do you have a relationship with? You have to be okay with being uncomfortable in conversation,” Melyssa said. “Your mentor is not always somebody that you know. Be okay with the fact that the first few sessions…you have to maybe be a little bit uncomfortable. You may not know what to ask. They may not know how to answer, but building that relationship creates the connection you need.”

Along those lines, all of our panelists agreed that successful women need to reach down and help up those women coming behind them. I think Evelyn summed it up best, and for her answer, she found inspiration from the current Lt. Governor of Illinois Julianna Stratton. Lt. Governor Stratton also made history being Illinois’ first African-American Lt. Governor.

“Julianna Stratton oftentimes says ‘How can they be you, if they can’t see you,’” “I thought that was a very good point on her part.” Evelyn recalls. “Number two, you need to show people your vulnerabilities. You need to share your personal story with people so that they will not be afraid to become leaders.”

These women were so impressive, and brought so much wisdom to our discussion that this post doesn’t begin to do them justice. To listen to this enlightening discussion on parity, listen to my podcast, All Business with Jeffrey Hayzlett on our C-Suite Radio platform.