Podcast 606: Beyond the E-Myth with Michael Gerber

I think this is the fourth time I have interviewed Michael Gerber, and each time I set down to speak with Michael I am amazed as how vibrant and alive he conveys his compelling message about entrepreneurship.   In his newly released book entitled “Beyond The E-Myth”  Michael takes the reader beyond all previous iterations of his E-Myth message to a place that will transform the reader.

Michael states that we need to think of our small business as prodcuts that need to be packaged and sold.  We can no longer be the one man or woman operation expecting to break through the ceilings of complexity.  If we are to grow we need to think of growing our organizations into business with a 1,000 employees, it is not necessary that we accomplish this goal but we need to shift our thinking that we are going to be larger organizations.

Michael know that the best entrepreneurs have a dream, a mission and a vision.  Knowing what they are and remaining focused on your dream, mission and vision are key components in transforming your business and your own personal life.  Michael also believes in having a Great Story and being able to articulate your message is one of the key to success–a Great Story is always about going beyond the ordinary and achieving greatness.

If you have an interest in transforming your business into one that will as some point not need you and will run without you, then you need to listen to my interview with Michael Gerber about his new book “Beyond The E-Myth”  If you want to learn more please click here to be directed to Michael’s website where you can learn more about his workshops and events.

I hope you enjoy this interview with Michael Gerber.

 

Podcast 597: The Values Driven Organization-Unleashing Human Potential for Performance and Profit with Richard Barrett

I had the pleasure of being able to interview author Richard Barrett about his book entitled ” The Values Driven Organization“.  According to Richard values driven organizations are the most successful organizations on the planet.  So what are values-“they are the ideals and customs of a society toward which the people have an effective regard”.

So why should you care about making your company driven by its values.   The reason is that values driven organizations have employee engagement levels that are significantly higher, and this equates to an earning of 3.9 times the earning per share compared with organization where employees have low engagement. Gallup recently conducted a survey about employee engagement and found that 29% of US employees were actively engaged, 55% were not engaged and 16% were actively disengaged.  The cost to organization of this level of disengagement is about $17, 500 per employee.

So if you want do you have to do to improve the engagement of your employees : 1) make your baseline rewards sufficient and fair. 2) have a congenial working atmosphere 3) give your employees autonomy and freedom 4) give them opportunities to pursue mastery, learn and excel in their field of expertise. 5) allow them to work with purpose.

If you are interested in learning more about creating the best conditions in your organization to improve the performance and profitability of your company please listen to my interview with Richard Barrett one of the foremost experts on organizational and cultural transformation.

To learn more about Richard Barrett his company Values Centre please click here to be directed to his website.

 

Podcast 593: Embracing Change From the Inside Out with David Winkelman

My good friend David Winkelman has been working on his new book “Embracing Change from the Inside Out” for last year.  It is a pleasure for me to finally be announcing the book’s release.

In my interview with David we speak about about what he refers to as the “Game Changers” as it relates to “Embracing Change“.

Those game changers start with clarity.  This is the lens that you see the world from, your perspective.  You can either be positive or negative, but when is comes to change the more positive you are the easier it will be to embrace change.

The second of the game changers is connection. This is all about your relationships.  How you are supported by the people around to to embrace change can make a significant difference in your ability to change.

The next game changer are the conditions.  As David states this is a broad category.  This can mean the structure or system that is helping to support the change process, without a structure and system your efforts to change become very challenging at best.

The fourth game changer is motivation.  How motivated are you to change, and what truly motivates and drives you to make change?  Sometimes what we think motivates us to change is really not the motivator.  Identifying your motivators are important for if you can fulfill your internal psychological reason for change you have a better opportunity to succeed.  David speak with us about pattern recognition which is the process whereby we can more easily identify the reasons behind our motivations.

The last game changer is action.  What are the meaningful and effective actions that we can take to make the desired change in our lives.

Everyone reading and listening to this podcast has been faced with some type of change.  We uproot and move, we marry, we divorce, we start up and grow businesses and the list just goes on and on.  The key to all of the change we face is to understand the steps that we move through in the change process and learn how to embrace the process.

I hope you enjoy this wonderful interview with my good friend and author David Winkelman.  If you want more information about David please click here to be directed to his website.

 

Podcast 592: The Metrics of Human Consciousness with Richard Barrett

I recently had the pleasure of conducting another interview with Richard Barrett about his new book entitled “The Metrics of Human Consciousness“.   In our interview we discuss the seven levels model of human consciousness that Richard developed to assist his clients in better understanding their employees as well as helping to move the organizational consciousness in a positive direction.

Richards seven levels are 1 ) Surviving-Satisfying your physiological needs 2) Conforming-Satisfying your needs for love and belonging. 3) Differentiating-Satisfying your need for respect and recognition. 4) Individuating-Satisfying your need for freedom and autonomy.  5) Self-actualizing-Satisfying your need to find meaning and purpose in life 6) Integrating-Satisfying your need to make a difference in the world.7) Serving-Fulfilling your destiny by caring for the well-being of humanity and or the planet.

Richard states that our level of consciousness changes as our values change.  He provides a really cool website where you can take a 5 minute assessment to measure your level of consciousness.  After you complete the assessment his organization sends you a report so you can see where your values lie on the human metrics of consciousness.

I hope you enjoy another great interview with Richard Barrett.  If you want to access the free-assessment please click here to be directed to the assessment page.  If you want to learn more about Richard Barrett and Values Centre please click here to be directed to his website.

 

Podcast 591: Get A Grip with Mike Paton

I recently sat down to conduct an interview with author Mike Paton about his book entitled “Get A Grip” which is the companion to the bestselling book “Traction”  We discuss both books in this interview, because the content  of “Get A Grip compliments the content in “Traction”.

If you are like most entrepreneurs your daily life is filled with new challenges and opportunities.  It is not an easy job to juggle everything and keep your sanity.  I personally know because I am an entrepreneur and I have worked with hundreds of visionaries with similar challenges .  What I appreciate about “Get A Grip” is that the book provides the reader with tools and practices which if followed will make their life simpler and more efficient.

An important point that Mike Paton makes during our interview , is that many visionaries/entrepreneurs don’t have an integrator in their business.  So just what is an integrator?  This is someone who compliments the visionaries role by who’s role is to guide, direct the organization while seizing the opportunities.

The integrators role is to analyze the P&L, remove obstacles, work on legal and compliance issues and overall handle the daily operations of the business.  A visionary can not operate their business without an integrator.   Now while this may sound obvious to many of you reading this, believe me many businesses have not identified who the integrator is, or they don’t have one and this can lead to chaos.  The visionary is not the right person to be playing this kind of role, nor do they usually have the business acumen for the role of a integrator.

Mike spoke about the Six Key Components  and  the philosophy of EOS Worldwide the company behind both books.  Mike stated that “First is that there is a “Vision” shared by all in the organization, Second is that of “People” putting the right people in the right seats. Third, track the “Issues” keep an issues list. Forth, is Traction to keep momentum you need to have meetings that Mike refers to as “Rocks”, Fifth is Process that is the documentation followed by all.   Sixth and lastly is Data, keep a scorecard and measure the progress of the organization in the critical areas.”

If you are really interested in simplifying your business and being provided with great tools and techniques I highly recommend reading “Get A Grip” and “Traction” both great books on business growth and organization.

To learn more about the processes and tools discuss in “Get a Grip” please click here to be directed to the EOS Worldwide website.

I hope you enjoy this great interview with Mike Paton, author and EOS Worldwide Integrator.

 

Podcast 578: Rocket Fuel: The One Essential Combination That Will Get You More of What You Want From Your Business with Mark C. Winters

I really love business books that provide value to the reader, and this book “Rocket Fuel” is an easy to read book that is chalk full of value.

In my interview with author Mark C. Winter we explore one of the most important realizations by successful entrepreneurs and that if you want to develop a business it takes someone in the passenger seat, and that person is called an Integrator.  An “Integrator” compliments a “Visionary” and the right combination of these two people is imperative for the success of any business.

What you will learn by reading “Rocket Fuel” is that “Visionaries” have certain characteristics as do “Integrators”. When each person knows and plays their role in the organization you obtain “Rocket Fuel” as the book suggests.

Mark also discusses with me something he refers to as the “Accountability Chart”.  This is not just a normal organizational chart, the “Accountability Chart” helps you define the functions of the organization but to compliment that is defines the five (5) major roles of each of the people in the organization.  When you accomplish this task, it make everything much clearer and allows for leadership team to function with clear lines of communication.

What I appreciate most about “Rocket Fuel” and Mark C. Winters is the fact that all the techniques and tools outlined in the the book are tried and true tools.  Mark’s co-author Gino Wickman is the founder of EOS (Entrepreneur Operating System) out of Detroit Michigan.  EOS Worldwide provides the reader with amazing free resources as well as an opportunity to hire a business coach called an Implementer.

If you want to learn more about Rocket Fuel please click here to be directed to the book website, if you want to learn more about EOS Worldwide please click here to be directed to their website.  

I particularly enjoyed this animated YouTube Video titled “Why Entrepreneurial Companies Need a Visionary and an Integrator.”  I hope you enjoy my interview with Mark C. Winters.

 

Podcast 576: Almost: 12 Electric Months Chasing A Silicon Valley Dream with Hap Klopp

I don’t think that there is an entrepreneur on the face of the planet that doesn’t understand the challenges of starting-up a new company. Most startups are faced with a myriad of issues, not to mention one of the biggest issues of finding capital to drive the new venture forward.

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Hap Klopp the founder of North Face, about his new book entitled “Almost-12 Electric Months Chasing A Silicon Valley Dream“. Our interview is a must listen too for those who are in business, and especially if you might be seeking funding for your new venture. His book tells the story about the issues that a company by the name of “Ardica” in the Silicon Valley had in finding funds, and the dynamics of the personalities working in the business. Hap, was the marketing director and was on the board of directors of Ardica. It is a wonderfully told story about a group of very bright engineers attempting to revolutionize the energy business, and in the process finding obstacles at almost every intersection partially due to the disfunction of the organization and the other as a result of a cash burn rate that was exceeding income.

I hope you will take the time to listen to this great interview with Hap Klopp about his new book “Almost-12 Electric Months Chasing A Silicon Valley Dream.” If you want more information about Hap please click here to be linked to a great article from the Stanford Business School.  You can also learn more about Ardica by clicking here to visit their website.

 

Podcast 571: Grasp The Solution with Chris Griffiths

How many of you have ever experimented with mind mapping?  If you haven’t explored mind mapping, then you are in for a real treat in listening to this interview with Chris Griffiths the author of “GRASP the Solution“.

Chris is a thought leader and the person who alongside  Tony Buzan has accelerated the use of mind mapping into the business world, and continues to be a pioneer.  OpenGenius his organization based in England are the software developers of two amazing pieces of software called iMindMap 9 and Drop Task along with numerous training courses.

In my interview with Chris about his book “GRASP the Solution” we discuss what gets in the way of people tapping their creative genius.  Chris states that creativity can be learned, and it is not something that is foster in the business world, even though businesses always say they are looking for more creative and innovative people.  As a matter of fact it’s the people that are putting out the fires and jumping from one task to another that get the most attention, while the people that are thinkers, and are tapping their creative genius are frequently overlooked.

The acronym GRASP stand for the four types of thinking that are the foundation to how one approaches a particular task.  “Generative Thinking-is how we generate thoughts and ideas, Reactive Thinking-is how we react to existing influences and ideas, Analytical Thinking-is how we analyze ideas to reach a solution, Selective Thinking-is how we validate and implement a potential solution, Proactive Thinking-is the strategy of thinking that utilizes all of the previous types of thinking.

Mind Mapping is the technique invented by Tony Buzan for optimizing how we use our brains.  It is a visual format that is not linear that supports the creative problem solving skills, making is more intuitive and easy to capture our thoughts while mapping them visually.  This process can be completed on a big sheet of paper, or can be captured through software such as iMindMap 9 and or Drop Task.  Below is an image showing you an example of the iMind Map 9 and Drop Task screenshots.

imindmap_computer_screens

 

I hope you enjoy this wonderful interview with author and thought leader Chris Griffiths.  If you want to find more about OpenGenius and the software and trainings that are offered please click here to be directed to the website.  If you want to join the Facebook group for OpenGenius please click here.

 

Podcast 563: Enabling Collaboration with Martin Echavarria

Collaboration is something that is the buzzword in today’s business world.  Everyone is looking to collaborate and develop stronger strategic alliances that will result being greater innovation, profits and synergy.  Most executives would like to find out the magic ingredients on how collaboration and strategic alliances are developed, nurtured and successfully implemented.

Author Martin Echavarria has studied how collaboration and strategic alliances are successfully developed and result in a positive synergy for all parties involved.  In our interview together about his new book entitled ” Enabling Collaboration-Achieving Success Through Strategic Alliances and Partnership” he explains how any business can gain traction and better develop these all important relationships.

Martin states that certain key skills employed across the alliance development process are important regardless of alliance type.  These skills consist of emotional intelligence, relationship intelligence, perspective taking, systems thinking, cognitive intelligence and somatic intelligence.

To learn more about successful collaboration and alliance development please listen to my interview with Martin.  If you want to check out Martin’s website you can click here.

I hope you enjoy this great interview with Martin Echavarria the author of “Enabling Collaboration“