C-Suite Network™

Christine Comaford

Are You Scaring Your People into Mediocrity?

All leaders want to outperform, outsell, and outin­novate the competition. And most teams are fully capable of doing so. The problem: we consistently say and do things that spark unconscious fears and keep our people stuck in their Critter State. This primitive fight, flight, or freeze mode distills all decision mak­ing to one question: What will keep me safest?

Lying low, sucking up, procrastinating, and doing a good enough job may keep employees breathing, but it doesn’t make for vital organizations. Leaders have to get their people unstuck and fully engaged, replacing their old, limiting mental patterns with new patterns that foster optimal performance.

New York Times bestselling author and applied neuroscience expert Christine Comaford knows what it takes to move people from the Critter State into the Smart State, where they have full access to their own creativity, innovation, higher consciousness, and emotional engagement. When an entire culture maintains that state, it becomes what she calls a SmartTribe. Focused. Accountable. Collaborative. Imbued with the energy and passion to solve problems and do what needs doing, again and again and again.

Comaford brings to this book more than thirty years of company-building experience, combined with her expertise in behavioral modification and organizational development. She has helped hun­dreds of leaders navigate rapid growth, maximize performance, resolve internal conflicts, and execute turnarounds with the full support of their people.

Now she shares potent yet easy-to-learn neuro­science techniques that will help you do the same. You’ll learn how to move your team forward and reach your next revenue inflection point using the five key Accelerators of the Smart State—focus, clar­ity, accountability, influence, and sustainability. You’ll get better at anticipating and moving through your own stuck spots and those of your people.

Using her proven system, Comaford’s clients have already created hundreds of millions of dollars in new value. They’ve seen their revenues and profits increase by up to 210% annually; individuals become up to 50% more productive and 100% more account­able; marketing demand generation grow by up to 237%; new products and services created up to 48% faster; and sales close up to 50% faster. They spot changes in their markets more quickly, then pounce on them to create the future they want.

Ultimately, SmartTribes will help you and your team achieve optimal performance and engagement—brilliance—and leave competitors in the dust.

Shari Harley

We all know how it feels when our colleagues talk about us but not to us. It’s frustrating, and it creates tension. When candor is missing in the workplace, employees feel like they’re working in the dark. Leaders don’t know what employees really think; managers are frustrated when outcomes are not what they expect; and employees often don’t know where they stand performance-wise.

Many of us remain passive against broken, indirect communication habits, hoping that things will miraculously improve—but they won’t. Not without skills and effort.

The people you work with can work with you, around you, or against you. How people work with you depends on the relationships you cultivate. Do your colleagues trust you? Can they speak openly with you when projects and tasks go awry?

Take charge of your career by taking charge of your business relationships. Make your work environment less tense and more productive by practicing direct communication. Set relationship expectations, work with people how they like to be worked with, and give and receive regular feedback.

In How to Say Anything to Anyone, you’ll learn how to

  • – Ask for what you want at work
  • – Improve all types of working relationship
  • – Reduce the gossip and drama in your office
  • – Tell people when you’re frustrated in a way that resonates
  • – Take action on your ideas and feelings
  • – Get honest feedback on your performance

Shari Harley shares the real-life stories of people who have struggled to get what they want at work. With her clear and specific roadmap in hand, she enables you to create the career and business relationships you really want—and keep them.

 

 

Dirk Beveridge

We are living in disruptive times.  In fact 76% of distributors surveyed believe we are living in an environment we could call the age of disruption. Leaders throughout the industry are challenged by the constant pressures that come at them from all directions. The pressures could be competitive from the marketplace, or come as a result of new government regulations, shifting demographics, the accelerating pace of technology, and more.  Navigating these big shifts to create a sustainable and relevant business has become the new mandate for every leader and every employee in distribution. Innovation is at the core of this new mandate.  Innovative distributors will ensure those on their team relish the challenge – and feel prepared to be a part of change and transformation – that comes with innovation.  They will empower those individuals to think critically about how to improve their companies – and to take action on their ideas.  For innovation to take place, your employees – every one of them – must be prepared, willing, and excited to look at the business as if they have never seen it.  They must understand that the ability to transform for the future resides within them. And, here is the good news… 95% of leaders surveyed feel personally empowered to be a disruptive change agent within their business.  If this is you, INNOVATE! is for you. Throughout this indispensable book, Dirk Beveridge delivers a new voice, a new energy, and a new outlook for distributors.

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D. Keith Pigues

Do your customers make more money doing business with you? 

Knowing the answer can help you build measurable and valuable customer relationships, outperform the competition, and unlock profitable growth.

Companies are blind to opportunities for profitable customer relationships without a deep understanding of how they create customer value relative to competitors. With a rigorous and measurable understanding of how customers make more money today and in the future with you, combined with supporting plans and tools to align the entire organization for success, a company can win and win big. Winning with Customers offers a step-by-step playbook to help companies develop this capability for themselves, act on it, build a culture around it and sustain it over time. The playbook includes case studies, interviews, and tools from leading B2B companies who have demonstrated success. Written by recognized business thought leaders and practitioners, this book will guide you to profitable growth. The book also serves as a launch point into a community of like-minded executives. Learn more about the book and the author at http://www.dkeithpigues.com and view Keith speaking about the topic. View the endorsements for the book here, and learn more about Keen Strategy: http://www.keenstrategy.com/

bizcast

 

Steven Haines

Every day, thousands of new products and innovations are brought to market.   Amid much fanfare, they struggle for shelf-space, mind-share, and market share.   Most studies on the subject suggest that products fail more often than they should.   CEOs, CMOs, and other C-Suite executives expect more from their product leaders and marketers!

Whatever your business sells, Product Management is one of the most important functions in the firm’s pursuit of profits.   With globalization and fierce competition, the stakes are higher than ever, and the room for error narrower than ever!   Therefore, leaders need a reliable resource for their product managers, brand managers, and category managers so these people know what to do, when, and with whom.  This resource is The Product Manager’s Desk Reference (2nd edition) — the most comprehensive book in the world on the subject of Product Management.   Designed for product managers and the leaders who support them, the book clearly explains how:

  • 1)     To conduct the research that lead to valuable market insights
  • 2)     To create the strategies required to drive innovation
  • 3)     To select and justify which products to build
  • 4)     To plan for their profitable creation and development
  • 5)     To launch them to the right markets at the right time
  • 6)     To manage them like businesses across their life cycles
  • 7)     To gracefully retire them
  • 8)     To align people across the organization so everyone’s moving in the same direction

The Product Manager’s Desk Reference (2nd edition) embodies everything “Product.”  Written by Steven Haines, one of the world’s foremost experts on the topic, it’s a comprehensive, versatile, must-have resource for any business person who works in any company, in any industry, who seeks to successfully innovate, market, and manage products and services.

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Robert Cialdini

Influence: Science and Practice is an examination of the psychology of compliance (i.e. uncovering which factors cause a person to say “yes” to another’s request).

Written in a narrative style combined with scholarly research, Cialdini combines evidence from experimental work with the techniques and strategies he gathered while working as a salesperson, fundraiser, advertiser, and in other positions inside organizations that commonly use compliance tactics to get us to say “yes.” Widely used in classes, as well as sold to people operating successfully in the business world, the eagerly awaited revision of Influence reminds the reader of the power of persuasion.

Cialdini organizes compliance techniques into six categories based on psychological principles that direct human behavior: reciprocation, consistency, social proof, liking, authority, and scarcity.

John Brubaker

The Coach Approach: Success Strategies From The Locker Room To The Board Room is a book designed to help business leaders and their teams achieve peak performance. John Brubaker shares his coaching experience and knowledge by applying it to the sport of business. Additionally, he shares techniques and strategies from some of the nation’s elite coaches, executives and athletes.
The Coach Approach will help you focus on the process not the product. You will learn how to obtain better results in business with straightforward tools that turbocharge performance. Coaching in the workplace is even more important than on the athletic field, because in the sport of business every day is gameday!

This book will be your coach to guide you through all four quarters of the fiscal year. It incorporates a combination of motivation, accountability and practical leadership skills to help you lead your team to victory.

Dale Carnegie

For more than sixty years the rock-solid, time-tested advice in this book has carried thousands of now famous people up the ladder of success in their business and personal lives.

Now this previously revised and updated bestseller is available in trade paperback for the first time to help you achieve your maximum potential throughout the next century! Learn:

  • Three fundamental techniques in handling people
  • The six ways to make people like you
  • The twelve ways to win people to you way of thinking
  • The nine ways to change people without arousing resentment

Lee B. Salz

It’s the revolving door on sales teams. Executives hire who they believe to be great salespeople, but the results never come – and the salespeople are let go. This perpetual cycle eradicates profits, makes revenue targets pipe dreams, and has sales leaders pulling out their hair in frustration.

Despite these issues, executives continue to try to “hire great salespeople.” That three-word expression is exactly what “Hire Right, Higher Profits” is all about. Sales management strategist, Lee Salz shows you how to stop the vicious cycle by treating hiring decisions as you would any other investment.

He begins the book by challenging readers with the $25,000 Revenue Test which most executives fail. Then, he hits readers between the eyes with the statement “there are no great salespeople” and offers proof of it! He also cautions those executives – who view the competition as their primary sales talent source – of its risks.

But Salz doesn’t stop there! He challenges executives to shift their perspective from hiring salespeople to investing in revenue. Each salesperson represents a revenue investment made by the company with the core objective of receiving a fast, high return on it – no different than when companies invest in sales strategies, tactics, and ideas to grow revenue.

“Hire Right, Higher Profits” teaches executives how to determine what type of revenue investment is needed, evaluate revenue investment candidates and get a fast, high return on the investment made in their new salespeople. In this widely-acclaimed book, you learn how to:

  • Shift your executive team’s perspective from hiring salespeople to investing in revenue
  • Identify the factors that affect revenue investment performance – the causes of salesperson success and failure in the role
  • Scrutinize a salesperson’s resume to get to the truth
  • Assemble a screening program to adeptly evaluate investment candidates so you select the right ones
  • Avoid the common mistakes executives make when they recruit salespeople from the competition
  • Protect the revenue investment through structured sales onboarding and enablement
  • Design sales onboarding curriculum to get a fast, high return on the new revenue investments
  • Assess revenue investment performance both during and post-onboarding

 

“Hire Right, Higher Profits” is a step-by-step, practical guide teaching you how to implement the revenue investment concept in your company – impacting both the top and bottom lines. It’s a fun, educational read that is chock-full of stories as you learn how to build a world-class sales force. The methodology presented in the book can be implemented in any company, in any industry, of any size. The book is not based on scientific studies, but rather on real-world, field-tested sales management practices that Lee Salz has developed and used for over twenty years. Whether you are a seasoned executive or new sales manager, this book has everything you need to hire right.