Three Questions Great Leaders Ask Themselves in the 21st Century

I recently designed and facilitated a two-day leadership training program for senior managers in the Air Force. The program objective was to educate them on the mindset and skillset required to lead effectively in the 21^st century. They work in an environment of heavy demands, limited resources, and severe time constraints, and are challenged to motivate a highly-pressured workforce.

My training included 7 interactive and introspective modules. In each module I included a TED Talk on leadership and a discussion worksheet to encourage transfer of concepts from the presenter to the student.

One of the TED Talks I shared was “What it Takes to be a Good Leader” by Roselinde Torres. In her talk, she shared her experiences of working with hundreds of organizations to uncover why leadership ability is declining, even though attention to leadership development is increasing.

She presented three questions that all leaders will need to constantly ask themselves as they hone their leadership skills in the 21^st century:

1. Where are you looking to anticipate change? To answer this question, she recommends looking in one place: your calendar. With whom are you spending your time, and on what topics? What are you reading? How are you distilling?  Great leaders see around corners and shape their future based on what they see. What you read, where you are, and who you are with will shape what you see.
2. What is the diversity metric of your personal and professional stakeholder network? To some extent, we all have a network of people that mirror us. This question addresses your capacity to develop relationships with people that are different than you. Those differences can be biological, physical, functional, political, cultural, socioeconomic. And yet, despite these differences, they connect with you and they trust you enough to cooperate with you in achieving a shared goal. Great leaders understand that having a more diverse network is a source of pattern identification at higher levels, and is an important component in solving problems, because you have people that think differently than you do.
3. Are you courageous enough to abandon a practice that has made you successful in the past? There is an expression: Go along to get along. But if you follow this advice, chances are as a leader, you’re going to keep doing what’s familiar and comfortable.

Great leaders dare to be different. They don’t just talk about risk-taking, they actually do it. The most impactful development comes when you are able to build the emotional stamina to withstand people telling you that your new idea is naïve, reckless or impractical.

When you step out with a new idea, the people who will join you are not your usual suspects in your network. They’re often people that think differently and therefore are willing to join you in taking a courageous leap. And it’s a leap, not a step.

Asking yourself these three questions will force you to have important conversations with yourself, and examine how you are showing up in the world & in your organizations. All great leadership begins with self-awareness. We can only lead others well when we know ourselves well.

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.”  ~Aristotle

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One Great Strategy to Work ON Your Business Instead of IN Your Business (With Awesome Results)

“Assigning dedicated swim lanes to the experts drives top performance.”

If you could commit to one game-changing action that could really drive business this year, and help you work ON your business instead of IN your business, what would it be?

For 2016, I’ve made what I think is a transformational resolution, which will ultimately help me to be a better entrepreneur. This year, I will outsource every business function that is not a personal strength or core competency. The idea doesn’t necessarily appear profound, but consider the implications.

One of my first big projects of 2016 is realizing a super aggressive integrated marketing strategy. Even though I created this strategy, many of the necessary steps to make this successful aren’t aligned with my skill sets or interests. In fact, many of the tasks required paralyze me. I can’t even make simple buying decisions because I’m overwhelmed with information, or I’m intimidated by technology. Since I refuse to allow my lack of knowledge or lack of enjoyment stall my progress, I need to expand my options – and embrace the reality that someone out there loves to do all these things that I don’t.

My first step in meeting these people was to join niche Facebook and LinkedIn groups focused on these specialties I’m not versed in. I’ve met some awesome professionals who would love to do those things I’d rather not, and by forming and nurturing these relationships, I’m building my own ecosystem of experts to accomplish my goals. What’s more, these connections I’ve made are with strategic thinkers in their area of expertise. They require very little handholding or management, so I can continue working at a macro-level, and at my speed of efficiency, instead of supervising interns or entry-level candidates.

Some of the areas I am outsourcing are:

• Financial management
• Social media implementation. I created the initial strategy and divided it between two resources who specialize in specific platforms
• Management of my newsletter & blog
• Management of my YouTube channel
• Management of my upcoming podcast

Granted, most entrepreneurs could do these tasks for themselves, but consider the downsides. First, these processes could get in the way of your ability to focus on your core competency. And your core competency is the engine driving your business.

Second, handling all these processes would ask you to be an expert in too many areas. I’m positive that no single entrepreneur is interested in completing EVERY task within a successful business. The student of all is the master of none, right? Life is too short, and time is too valuable, to focus on any aspect where you don’t shine.

So where can you begin? I’ve created a quadrant to use when I’m planning my day, and these four categories help me invest my time accordingly.

As an entrepreneur, where do your strengths lie? Could you be outsourcing those dreaded tasks to someone who not only is an expert, but loves to do what you don’t? Someone who is thrilled to be in a dedicated swim lane, and invests all of their time/resources perfecting a specific craft? Imagine the quality of service and expertise you will receive from someone who spends 100% of their time on something they love. Isn’t this what your business deserves?

It’s something to consider as we head into this new year – and I think it helps us further reach our goal of “work on our business, not in our business.

Sign up here to receive Successful Culture’s leadership blog every Friday. All posts contain actionable content to make you the best leader you can be, to help you develop your people to their greatest potential, and to help you build your best organization.

About Successful Culture
We work with business owners, CEOs, and leadership teams that want to achieve their greatest personal & organizational potential. Through coaching, strategic consulting, retreat facilitation, and workshops, we equip leaders & emerging leaders with the mindset, tools, strategies, and processes they need to excel.

Ready to move forward? Email us today at [email protected]

Connect with me on Instragram, Facebook, and Twitter. Engage with me during my morning Periscope sessions as well (@marissalevin).

Please check out my Inc. Magazine columns on my Author Page too.
– In my latest Inc, article, I share The Essential Guide to Avoiding Workplace Text, Email, & Social Media Disasters.
– Learn about the 9 Leadership Behaviors that Lose Employee Trust & Respect here.

~Marissa Levin
CEO, Successful Culture
“Taking Leaders from Triage to Transformation.”

My 8 Wishes For You as We Turn the Calendar

This is a re-print of one of my most popular blogs that I first published in December 2011.

Overwhelmed with Messages of Gratitude?

As we go into the Holiday season, be kind & compassionate with yourself.

Moving Up-Market? How to Transition Smoothly to Larger Customers

It happens in every growing business. We evolve beyond our initial customer base or our initial business model. When we launch, we have a small infrastructure, and are testing the waters. We don’t want to bite off more than we can chew. We take on smaller projects to create our processes, define our service offerings, and get our business moving.

If we’re successful, we develop momentum. We reach a state of “flow” in which we begin to start functioning like a well-oiled machine. We figure out what we don’t like. We know what we’re doing, we know how we’re doing it, and we know who we’re serving.

We get to a point where we realize our value. We’ve developed the confidence to reach for bigger opportunities. We know this will take more time, more money, more resources, more risk. But we’ve got a track record, and we’re ready.

Different Industries, Same Challenges

In the government contracting world, this often happens when an independent contractor moves to a subcontractor position, and then to a prime contractor position. In the private sector world, this happens when a company launches by serving other small companies, and then is ready to move upmarket to larger companies and compete with the bigger firms. In the nonprofit world, this happens when an organization is ready to evolve from perhaps a national focus to a global focus. In the world of real estate, agents or developers may evolve from small property representation (rental units or condos) to larger units. In all environments, the companies must be prepared to shift everything: people, processes, products/services, pricing, and culture.

Moving up can be daunting, even for the most confident business owner. We are emotionally and financially invested in our market, our models, and our customers. We’re comfortable. Like any other business change, moving up requires a strategy, and is a transitional process.

For one of my CEO coaching clients, we evaluated the sources of his revenue. 71% of his revenue was coming from a single large client. This is incredibly risky. The remaining 29% came from a split between mid-sized and small businesses. Often, small projects constitute the same level of effort. While they require additional manpower to deliver a solution, the level of effort is the same for the project management and client management. Further, the projects end much more quickly so we have to scramble to keep resources billable with new work.

My client created a growth goal to move from $8 million to $12 million. He wants the additional $4 million to come from mid-sized and large projects, rather than small projects. This will result in a smarter use of resources, greater stability, and greater growth opportunities. This additional revenue will also reduce the company’s dependency on a single project from 71% to about 50% – much less risky.

Deciding Which Small Projects Work

Currently my client has several small projects, and opportunities keep coming. We created a decision matrix to determine when it makes sense to pursue or accept smaller opportunities. It’s important to define this criteria because these choices will impact the marketing materials, and will provide direction for the business development/sales team.

Here are the criteria we identified:

• Profitability. My client can’t take on any “loss-leaders” as the company returns to profitability. All projects must have healthy margins at regular market rates and no discounts.
• High profile name that is good for the client list. Some small projects come with big names. If a company can leverage the name for a PR opportunity, it’s worth considering.
• Access to additional potential clients. Some companies are a gateway to additional clients.
• Strong likelihood of follow-on work/ability to evolve into a mid-sized client. Small companies that are healthy and rapidly growing are good prospects.
• Ability to showcase marketing efforts/results publicly. If you can publicly showcase your work, it may be worth pursuing.

Here are some deal-breakers regarding small projects for companies interested in moving up market:

• Conflict of interest with any other clients. Never take on work that is a conflict of interest with another client, unless you can create a complete firewall of assigned resources, and a technological firewall.
• Dilutes the mission/brand. Stick to your core competency. Protect your brand equity and reputation.
• Profitability compromised. Avoid low-margin projects.
• Little promise of growth. Stay away from slow-growing firms.

If you’re still comfortable with smaller projects, then simply file this column for future reading. Wherever you are in your growth, it’s important to have a strong/intentional client acquisition strategy, and also know your deal-breakers. I wrote a previous column on the six questions to identify your deal-breakers. You can find it here.

Your Call To Action

Do you need help identifying your decision criteria as you move up-market? Do you need assistance assessing your readiness for moving up-market? Successful Culture would love to help. Please reach out to me at [email protected] and we can schedule a 15-minute skype call to discuss it.

Keep growing!

Sign up here to receive Successful Culture’s leadership blog every Friday. All posts contain actionable content to make you the best leader you can be, to help you develop your people to their greatest potential, and to help you build your best organization.

About Successful Culture
We work with business owners, CEOs, and leadership teams that want to achieve their greatest personal & organizational potential. Through coaching, strategic consulting, retreat facilitation, and workshops, we equip leaders & emerging leaders with the mindset, tools, strategies, and processes they need to excel.

Ready to move forward? Email us today at [email protected]

Connect with me on Instragram, Facebook, and Twitter. Engage with me during my morning Periscope sessions as well (@marissalevin).

Please check out my Inc. Magazine columns on my Author Page too.
– In my latest Inc, article, I share The Essential Guide to Avoiding Workplace Text, Email, & Social Media Disasters.
– Learn about the 9 Leadership Behaviors that Lose Employee Trust & Respect here.

~Marissa Levin
CEO, Successful Culture
“Taking Leaders from Triage to Transformation.”

Four Barriers to Closing a Prospect or Organizational Stakeholder & How to Move Past Them

One of the greatest rewards I witness with my clients is to see their revenues grow, and to see them move forward with their missions. We work on so many aspects that directly impact business & personal growth:

• Time Management (increasing productivity and decreasing busy-ness)
• Mindset (seeing & believing in one’s own self-worth & value is essential for others to see & believe our value)
• Our Network (are we investing time with those that can help us move forward)
• Marketing & Communications Strategy (what is our messaging, does it accurately reflect our brand, and are we communicating it effectively – both online and offline)
• Sales Strategy (are we communicating with decision makers or influencers, and how are we communicating with them)
• Organization, Prioritization, & Accountability (are we moving forward as efficiently as possible, and achieving measurable results for the activities that are most important now)

In my experience and continuing education, I’ve learned that there are really only 4 barriers that block us from moving forward with a prospect. Anticipating these barriers, and knowing the strategies to apply when we face them, will directly impact our growth.

Note #1: These assume you are engaging with the decision maker. If you aren’t working with the decision maker, then you’re wasting your time.

Note #2: In my work with executive leaders who are trying to move up their organizational ladder, they also have “customers” to whom they are selling. These barriers also apply within organizations, when an executive is seeking support for key initiatives. Executives that want to move up require an intrapreneurial mindset. All of the bullets above, and barriers below, apply to executives inside an organization.

Barrier #1: We don’t have the money. Money is a priority. Every buyer has money. The question is, how are they allocating it? What is their priority? As the solutions provider, the burden lies upon you to fully understand their pain points, and link those pain points to your solution. It’s your job to explain why they need to invest in you. It’s your job to educate them on why they should move your services to the top of their priority list. This gets back to mindset which is one of the first, and most important aspects of my work with my clients. You must be 100% confident in your abilities to move your clients forward and to make their lives better. If you doubt this, then your client shouldn’t invest in you. It also links back to the messaging work we do, to ensure my clients are positioning themselves as effectively as possible.

Barrier #2: We don’t have the time. Time is a priority. We make time for those things that matter most. Similar to barrier #1, it is your responsibility to demonstrate to your client why you are worth their time. Again, you will require a thorough understanding of your client’s needs, pain points, and goals so that you can inform them on how you are a pivotal part of their solution. I have been working with a client that sells a robust set of engineering/IT products. For the last several months, I’ve been working to shift their mindset from “here are the products we sell” to “here are the problems we solve.” It’s not your client’s job to make the connection between what they need and what you provide. If you want your clients to invest their time (and money) in you, the burden lies on you to demonstrate why they must make you a priority.

Barrier #3: We don’t need you. If your client can’t see the need for your services, they are either not a good prospect, or you haven’t communicated why they need you. You job is to create need. They may not even be aware that they need you. So often, business owners wear blinders that obstruct their views from what’s really happening in their organizations. They think their problems are linked to one aspect of their business, when they are actually linked to something else. How do you get to the root of their real problems? You continuously ask why. “Why do you want this?” For every answer keep asking why, until they reach the real problem. Your value lies between what they want, and what they need. The closer you are to what they really need, the higher of a priority you will be for their time and money.

Or, perhaps you have not differentiated yourself well enough. The goal is not to be the best. The goal is to be the only. Again, this gets back to the need for a positive & confident mindset, supported by compelling messaging that moves your prospect to action.

Barrier #4: We don’t trust you. All business is relationship-based. We buy from people we trust, and it’s your job to build the trust. We buy from people that we believe can really help us, and that have our backs. How do we build trust? We establish ourselves as experts. We communicate our value to the public. We share our intellectual property. We communicate the impact we are making with others. We do what we say we are going to do. We create referral networks with other trusted advisors that can vouch for and refer our services. If you are working with a qualified prospect that you truly believe will benefit from your services, but they are skeptical or hesitant, invest some upfront time to earn their trust. I create many different online & offline strategies for my clients to build both public and client trust, which ultimately leads to more business, because every situation is unique. We work on establishing trust, maintaining trust, and rebuilding trust when it’s been compromised. What are you doing to establish and strengthen public and client trust?

These are the only 4 barriers to closing new business with a qualified prospect, or successfully selling your ideas to your internal stakeholders: money, time, need, and trust. Of course, all businesses must have the fundamental pieces in place before they even connect with prospects: a clear mission, a core value system, strong messaging, a strong revenue/business model that delivers transformational customer value AND generates a healthy profit, and processes to deliver on the promise. Similarly, executives that are moving up must have a full understanding of their organization’s mission, and how their programs will help the organization move the mission forward. Successful Culture works on all of these elements to set up our clients for success.

I would love to help you build your foundation for success, and put strategies in place to overcome these 4 barriers. Whether you are a business owner/CEO looking to move your business to the next level of growth, or an executive looking to propel your career to the next level, we can work together to enable you to reach your greatest leadership potential. You CAN accomplish greatness! Please reach out to me to schedule a 20-minute Skype chat to discuss the greatest barrier holding you back.

Keep growing!

Sign up here to receive Successful Culture’s leadership blog every Friday. All posts contain actionable content to make you the best leader you can be, to help you develop your people to their greatest potential, and to help you build your best organization.

About Successful Culture
We work with business owners, CEOs, and leadership teams that want to achieve their greatest personal & organizational potential. Through coaching, strategic consulting, retreat facilitation, and workshops, we equip leaders & emerging leaders with the mindset, tools, strategies, and processes they need to excel.

Ready to move forward? Email us today at [email protected]

Connect with me on Instragram, Facebook, and Twitter. Engage with me during my morning Periscope sessions as well (@marissalevin).

Please check out my Inc. Magazine columns on my Author Page too.
– In my latest Inc, article, I share The Essential Guide to Avoiding Workplace Text, Email, & Social Media Disasters.
– Learn about the 9 Leadership Behaviors that Lose Employee Trust & Respect here.

~Marissa Levin
CEO, Successful Culture
“Taking Leaders from Triage to Transformation.”

The Three Things Companies Need to Thrive

I’ve had a slew of podcast interviews over the last few weeks, and virtually all of the hosts have asked me what I think is the necessary ingredient for continued business growth. I speak from a place of making mistakes, and from getting things right over the last 20 years.

The three things I believe companies need to survive are a market niche, relevancy, and a mindset of greatness. I’ve named them in order of difficulty.

It’s Not Personal; It’s Our Values

Values dictate every major decision and action in an organization – from the clients that a company engages, to the people that a company hires, to seemingly simple behaviors such as leaving a door open or closed. Values determine our behavior when others are not around to watch us. They are the core of integrity – which manifests when values are integrated with our actions. Personally and professionally, they frame the most important aspects of who we are, and what matters to us.

Who Is the Best Sales Person in Your Company?

One of my coaching clients called me this week, asking for advice on where to find a great sales rep. She’s launching a start-up that has been in the works for months, and is obviously anxious to get her product to the market. My advice to her was to look in the mirror. That’s where she would find her best sales rep.

Increasing Productivity by Taming the Daily Calendar

When Sunday arrives and you take a peek at the work-week ahead, what physical reactions occur in your body? Does your heart race a bit faster from anxiety? Does your stomach tighten? Do you feel stress in your neck and shoulders? Have you ever thought about these reactions?