Mads Singers Management Podcast: Recent Episodes
Mads Singers
People Management and People Innovation are dynamic concepts in today's dynamic space. Joining with me in this show are successful business leaders and entrepreneurs, sharing their key ingredients in their business success. We’re here to share the real stories of today’s business boots trappers!
Episode Summary
Yet again, we have a very interesting discussion in today's podcast episode! Lucas Root, a podcast himself, shares the importance of having a solid business community and 5 business success factors!
Whether leading business or projects for his clients or mentoring his clients to become empowered leaders, Lucas is a heart-centered expert in business. Business is not just about money. How you relate to the people in the business and the people around the business affect your business's bottom line greatly!
Lucas believes that the way to influence that is by engaging your business as "your community" instead of thinking that they are your employees. For Lucas, a business leader, effectively helps people discover the unique language of their business and help them get into the rhythm by using the language of growth across the board. Discover this and more business success factors in today's episode! Make sure you tune in all the way to the end!
Listen to this week's show and learn:
- What does a great business community look like?;
- 5 Powerful elements of a successful business community;
- How does the language of growth influence your business community's success
Episode Resources:
- Lucas Root
- Elements of Community
- Mads Singers Free Management Training
- Join Mads Singers Management Group
Enjoyed Mads Singers’ podcast? Check out these:
82: Martin Ebongue on Building a Team
117: Michelle A. Mercier on Facing Adversity and Building Resilient Teams and Unlocking The Power of Habits and The Right Mindset
140: Todd Kuckkahn on Focusing on Your Purpose and Revolutionising Corporate Leadership
Have comments about the show?
Hey, do you have ideas for topics you’d like Mads Singers on future episodes? He’d love to hear from you at mads@madssingers.com!
Episode Summary
Our guests for today’s episode started scaling businesses very interestingly. Harrison Baron founded his business today from podcasts! And look, here we are discussing management tips and tricks on my podcast!
There is a lot of debate about how to manage your employees and create a good workplace culture. It's no longer just about getting the work done. Today you have to manage people, which is significantly more complex than managing labor.
Harrison and I discussed our thoughts on what a good workplace culture looks like. Harrison believes that workplace culture is not what you say, but it’s how you do it, to which I absolutely agree! We also discussed how the best leaders thrive when things get tough from a business perspective.
We both subscribed to the view that an effective leader needs to be able to give someone a clear trajectory of what exactly it is that they should be doing, how best to do it, and how much you can expect them to achieve in the role if you expect that person to perform at their best.
Want to learn more? Tune in until the very end to learn how your workplace culture indicates your kind of leadership to your team, business network, and profit!
Listen to this week's show and learn:
- How do you craft a space where your employees succeed in what they are doing;
- How can you create a good workplace culture;
- Brand and Value: Shaped by a good company culture
Episode Resources:
- Harrison Baron
- Growth Generators
- Mads Singers Free Management Training
- Join Mads Singers Management Group
Enjoyed Mads Singers’ podcast? Check out these:
6: Julio Monzon on Culture-Driven Leadership
33: Adam Sinkus on Creating Culture-Driven Relationship
62: Andy Allaway on Managing Teams
Have comments about the show?
Hey, do you have ideas for topics you’d like Mads Singers on future episodes? He’d love to hear from you at mads@madssingers.com!
Episode Summary
Let’s talk about the elephant in the room: Leadership Gap. While I have been very passionate about leadership and management, this episode is a first!
Josh Melton of Athens Cleaning joins us today as we discuss the downstream damage of leadership gap and what it means for you and for your business. What’s more important is - how do you identify that there is indeed a leadership gap? And how this blindly affects your business bottom line?
Josh loves connecting people to other people, ideas, and opportunities that help them take their businesses to the next level, and it fueled him to close the gap that greatly affected his business first. Make sure you tune in until the very end to know how you can identify and quickly fix the leadership gap that you may not know, until this point, exists in your business!
Listen to this week’s show and learn:
- How can self-responsibility & self-management improve your leadership style;
- How culture shift can create a significant difference in the way your people engage;
- How can you identify and quickly fix the leadership gap;
- Bridging the leadership gap: How can bridging be more cost-effective
Episode Resources:
- Athens Cleaning
- Mads Singers Free Management Training
- Join Mads Singers Management Group
Enjoyed Mads Singers’ podcast? Check out these:
7: Maj Wismann on Personal Management
33: Adam Sinkus on Creating Culture-Driven Relationship
83: Matt Diggity on Better Management
Have comments about the show?
Hey, do you have ideas for topics you’d like Mads Singers on future episodes? He’d love to hear from you at mads@madssingers.com!
Episode Summary
We are entering a new era of warfare that is more complex than ever before. It requires mission-driven leadership to unify teams on a singular mission, no matter how diverse or dispersed they are.
Jon Rennie, a business owner, author, and former naval officer joins us in today's episode. Jon's former submariner experience brings in unheard-of leadership principles and found the basic underlying principles for success at sea can lead to high-performing teams on land.
Jon's mission-driven leadership leads others to accomplish the mission by relying entirely on the actions of his fellow employees. He fundamentally believes mission-driven leadership means that there is shared responsibility as well as shared vulnerability. Hence, regardless of rank or experience, every employee is vitally important.
Tune in 'til the very end and learn how you can create an environment where all of your team members can build on the strengths of each member and how you can get your team working toward the same goal!
Listen to this week's show and learn:
- How can you successfully lead and unify your team on a singular mission;
- Why leaders are not special in any form of management;
- Learn how to transform your team into a cohesive group; and
- BONUS TRICK: How you can bridge the gap between your departments
Episode Resources:Book: You Have the Watch: A Guided Journal to Become a Leader Worth Following
Author: Jon Rennie
Book: All in the Same Boat: Lead Your Organization Like a Nuclear Submariner
Author: Jon Rennie
Book: I Have the Watch: Becoming a Leader Worth Following
Author: Jon Rennie
- Peak Demand
- Mads Singers Free Management Training
- Join Mads Singers Management Group
Enjoyed Mads Singers’ podcast? Check out these:
6: Julio Monzon on Culture-Driven Leadership
92: Isaac Smith on Team Dynamics
108: Ryan Shekell on Building and Cultivating Relationships
Have comments about the show?
Hey, do you have ideas for topics you’d like Mads Singers on future episodes? He’d love to hear from you at mads@madssingers.com!
Episode Summary
This week, I am speaking to Patrick Kilner, who has advocated lead generation through the right network and influence. What’s interesting about Patrick is that he built his success from the global recession over 10 years ago. And relied heavily on networking and having the right relationships, which helped him thrive above the global crisis!
Since then, and after seeing the impact it made on him and his business, he realized how lead generation, as we know it today, became very superficial and lacked depth. He’s always believed that the only way to make your business “disruption” proof is through using influencer pyramid. He also shared a very practical way of networking for small business owners.
I know we’ve covered some exciting episodes about networking for small business owners BUT today’s episode is one thing you would not want to miss! I never thought lead generation as we know it today has a weak point no one talks about!
BONUS
Tune in until the very end and learn how you can get a free chapter of his book, Find Your Six!
Listen to this week’s show and learn:
- 3 overlooked obstacles in the way you do networking;
- Why lead generation has become a losing proposition today;
- Who should your networking be focused when you are a small business owner;
- What true influence is and how to win and develop it systematically
Episode Resources:
Book: FIND YOUR SIX: Stop Lead Generating & Start Building Influence
Author: Patrick Kilner
- FindYourSix
- Mads Singers Free Management Training
- Join Mads Singers Management Group
Enjoyed Mads Singers’ podcast? Check out these:
164: Learn How To Build A Huge Network For Your Small Business
159: Stop Making This Networking Connection Mistake Today
49: Byron Morrison on Mindset and High-Performance Consulting
Have comments about the show?
Hey, do you have ideas for topics you’d like Mads Singers on future episodes? He’d love to hear from you at mads@madssingers.com!
Episode Summary
We all have 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. But, why does it seem that others can get the most out of every minute of the day? Believe it or not, like you, they don’t have any superpower to slow down time. However, they applied the time management tips they learned, which worked for them!
In this week’s episode, John and I share a topic a lot of you have been very familiar with: time management. As an entrepreneur and leader, you may not realize it, but how you manage your time reflects your priorities in your business. It greatly reflects how you decide on matters involved in your business, be it the slightest concern or the biggest impact it can have on your business.
Today’s labor shortage and remote flexibility setup clearly revealed how we handle our priorities as business owners and leaders. Do we control our time and priorities or otherwise? Don’t miss out on John’s expert tips that can make a huge difference in managing your time and everything else that goes after it!
Listen to this week’s show and learn:
- How your time management affects your business decisions;
- 2 critical time management tips to get you out of the productivity trap;
- How the way you manage your time can gear your business to grow
Episode Resources:
- W5 Coaching
- John Nieuwenburg
- Mads Singers Free Management Training
- Join Mads Singers Management Group
Enjoyed Mads Singers’ podcast? Check out these:
16: Kris Reid on Management: Focus and Consistency
29: Melinda Byerley on Priorities and Management
48: Austin Bollinger on Goal Setting and Making Every Day A Massive Success
Have comments about the show?Hey, do you have ideas for topics you’d like Mads Singers on future episodes? He’d love to hear from you at mads@madssingers.com!
Episode Summary
Like myself, Michelle Johnston is passionate about leadership and management! I thought you’d figure that out! Michelle joins us today to talk about the book she authored and her 25 years of experience in leadership and management.
Michelle is a firm believer in the importance of how to improve connection in the workplace and has seen its positive impact! Many people are probably wondering how to make employees feel connected with all the pressure in the workplace. But for Michelle, while results are important, when employees feel they are heard and valued, results become better through effective employees connection.
You don’t want to sit this episode out! As early as now, learn how to improve connection in the workplace, and you could avoid today’s labor shortage!
Listen to this week’s show and learn:
- The number one secret to why leaders become successful in leading and managing;
- How communication and connection are different & how knowing the difference can benefit the way you approach your employees;
- How can you achieve your desired business result without being authoritarian
Episode Resources:
The Seismic Shift In Leadership: How To Thrive In A New Era Of Connection
Author: Michelle K. Johnston
- Michelle Johnston
- Mads Singers Free Management Training
- Join Mads Singers Management Group
Enjoyed Mads Singers’ podcast? Check out these:
6: Julio Monzon on Culture-Driven Leadership
152: How Do I Increase Employee Retention? Learn How Your Work Culture Affects!
158: Save So Much Money By Following 3 Steps To Better Your Employee Engagement & Retention
Have comments about the show?
Hey, do you have ideas for topics you’d like Mads Singers on future episodes? He’d love to hear from you at mads@madssingers.com!
Episode Summary
In the past episodes, I’ve talked about ways on how to build your network! And this week’s guest and episode is slightly different from what we used to have on the pod. Today, Louis and I will discuss how to build your network, narrow your niche, and how the mentioned actions made a huge network for Louis’ small business!
Are you struggling to grow your network in your small business, too? As with other episodes about networking, Louis and I shared what worked best for us and our businesses which you might gain some insights on! Tune in and discover how your small business can build a huge network!
Listen to this week’s show and learn:
- Why doubling down on what you are good at matters;
- The power of delivering value and showing up in building your network;
- Are the basic ways of getting clients no longer working?
Episode Resources:
- Louis Goodman
- Love Thy Lawyer Podcast
- Mads Singers Free Management Training
- Join Mads Singers Management Group
Enjoyed this podcast? Check out these:
36: Frank Agin on Scaling Networking Connections
101: Pablo Gonzalez on Networking and Discovering Positive Black Swans
Have comments about the show?
Hey, do you have ideas for topics you’d like Mads Singers on future episodes? He’d love to hear from you at mads@madssingers.com!
Episode Summary
I’m blasting with Scott McCarthy as he joins us in today’s episode! Scott and I share the same passion around performance leadership. But what’s interesting about Scott is that he is a Senior Army Officer in the day and a business leader at night!
Scott, like myself, loves learning! Being an Army leader and a leadership coach at the same time, he developed the 3 pillars of leadership traits which will not only help you achieve your peak performance in the business that you are leading but also will help you avoid leadership failure.
Tune in all the way to the end and make sure you do not miss knowing what you don’t know when it comes to performance leadership!
What do we cover in this episode?
- Will the difference between Army Leadership and Business Leadership benefit your leadership performance?;
- How you can avoid leadership failure; and
- 3 pillars of leadership traits that will help you achieve your peak performance
Episode Resources:
- Peak Performance Leadership
- MFL Podcast
- Mads Singers Free Management Training
- Join Mads Singers Management Group
- 4 Stages of Psychological Safety by Timothy Clark
- Never Split The Difference by Christopher Vozz and Tahl Raz
- It’s Your Ship by Dr. Michael Abrashoff
Episode Summary
I’m thrilled to be joined by Doug Cornfield today! Before Doug tapped into his entrepreneurial roots, he previously became a top sales representative for a fast-growing company. To back his sales success, the company sales grew from $500,000 per year to a cash flow of $500,000 per week in just three years! Doug then tapped into his sales, and networking strengths, grew his business, and gave back to the community.
Doug’s always believed that strengthening your strengths is the way for you to thrive at whatever you are doing instead of working on your weakness as you may have been taught. For Doug, networking at whatever level is what many entrepreneurs have been missing out on lately! Tune in until the end to learn the tactics he learned in sales, communication, and networking!
What do we cover in this episode?
- How can you do business and networking while being a philanthropist;
- In people management, how do you help people realize what their strengths are;
- How can you not miss out on any networking opportunities as an entrepreneur
Episode Resources:
- Pulling Each Other Along
- Disability Dream and Do
- Mads Singers Free Management Training
- Join Mads Singers Management Group
Episode Summary
Taylor Proctor joins us in today's newest episode! I've interviewed a lot of amazing business-impacting life coaches on my channel, but Taylor's expertise in content marketing strategies clearly resonates with today's reality! Definitely, in your business reality too!
Taylor's confidence in helping business owners with content marketing strategies and examples stems from her wealth of experience with big-known brands you've heard of until today! Like you, she also had her marketing challenges but managed to overcome them through her confidence!
Taylor shares the 2 most important content marketing strategies and solid examples you may not have yet explored in today's SEO Marketing world! Make sure you listen all the way to the end, so you'll not miss the nuggets we've talked about around confidence in today's content marketing!
What do we cover in this episode?
- How do you develop your confidence when you’re struggling as a business owner;
- Difference between content marketing and energetic marketing;
- What are the 2 marketing baselines that are working but you are not doing
- Why are you missing your target audience in your content marketing campaigns
Episode Resources:
- Taylor Proctor
- Mads Singers Free Management Training
- Join Mads Singers Management Group
Episode Summary
Thrilled to be joined by Seth Teagle in our podcast episode today! Like myself, I also have a fair share of real estate investments, and Seth shares his expertise in successfully delegating his real estate business with us to the growth it today. Seth talked about his specific challenges, especially in managing people when his real estate business was growing.
Seth also shared how important it is to have the right real estate and business partner to delegate accountabilities successfully. He shared the experiences he learned from being a firefighter to owning a successful real estate and investment company. You’d love to listen to this episode and save it on your phone!
What do we cover in this episode?
- How can managing your span of control ensure an optimal real estate business;
- How can you eliminate real estate unpredictability by bettering your business management;
- Successfully transitioning from a task-oriented mindset to a system-based mindset;
- How can you better turn networking uniquely beneficial you;
- How can you not make a mistake in finding your business partner.
Episode Resources:
- The Stream Group
- Multifamily Real Estate Investing
- Mads Singers Free Management Training
- Join Mads Singers Management Group
Episode Summary
We’re jumping into one topic I love discussing: networking! Clayton and I chatted about the pitfalls and importance of communication (especially in challenging circumstances), networking wonders, and making connections better!
Communication as we know it has always been very important in business and management. But Clayton shared how communications can be leveraged better to create better networking connections! Listen ‘til the very end to know what he learned about hiring sooner to network better and faster!
What do we cover in this episode?
- Communication pitfalls and how to better manage it
- What points can you be missing when you talk to business people
- What are the benefits of hiring sooner and networking faster
- In what ways can you leverage your best tools in Affiliate Marketing
Episode Resources:
- E-mail: clayton@carbon6.io
- Mads Singers Free Management Training
- Join Mads Singers Management Group
Episode Summary
Dr. Catherine Wiberg joins us in today’s episode! Dr. Catherine and I chatted about a topic I have not covered for you yet. And that is employee retention and engagement. As leaders, we all know how the dynamics of employee engagement plays a key role in employee retention. But how do we exactly do it perfectly?
A sense of belongingness is important to regard when we work with other people. But there’s so much into it that leaders must dig deep to understand their people. The way employees are engaged relies heavily upon their leader’s leadership. When a leader knows his people, he easily knows what affects their motivation. And when this is executed, people feel heard, and when people feel heard, people feel they are relevant. Dr. Catherine shared her 3Rs framework, making it easier for you to do and follow! Tune in ‘til the very end to know what it is! You’d love to listen to this episode and save it on your phone!
What do we cover in this episode?
- How do you not lose money on resignation and recruitment by improving your employee engagement
- How can you capitalize on your onboarding process for a better revenue turnout
- How can a leader’s leadership tolerance better organizational culture
- What are you missing out in your ways of increasing your employee retention
Episode Resources:
- Profitable Alignment
- 12 Week Year by Brian Moran & Michael Lennington
- Strengths Finder by Tom Rath
- Leadership & Self-Deception by Arbinger Institute
- Mads Singers Free Management Training
- Join Mads Singers Management Group
Episode SummaryJoining us again today is Lincoln Kokaram! Lincoln shares in our podcast episode today his humble experience and how he used this to be where he is today! Lincoln's story is unique amongst others because he empowers his employees as he's starting to have opportunities for himself too! This leadership strategy not only benefited his business but, at the same time, benefited his employees too!
Like me, Lincoln believes that people are always an important asset. And that the way you manage your people reflects on the % you allocate to develop and grow them. Whether it be that means your time or resources to hone and empower your employees. Make sure that you don't sell yourself short today! Tune in now, learn today, run your business, and be the great leader you are!
What do we cover in this episode?
- How to correctly empower your employees and have your attrition reduced
- Why investing in your people is always a better choice
- How can you listen better to your employees and still be a leader
Episode Resources:
- His Business Partners
- E-mail: lincoln@hisbusinesspartners.com
- Mads Singers Free Management Training
- Join Mads Singers Management Group
Episode Summary
Today’s episode tackles every business owner’s fear: hiring younger and qualified but inexperienced employees. Ron Nussbaum is our guest today! Ron’s management experience dealing with younger and less experienced employees assures business owner’s that: it can be done. So as long as the communication lines are open. This aspect has been Ron’s nugget in managing, developing, and creating lifelong retention of his younger employees. Learn more about the benefits and how to turn things around when dealing with them by tuning in today! This is an episode you will surely love!
What do we cover in this episode?
- How do you deal with the complexity of hiring and having younger and less experienced employees
- What management style is best suited when hiring younger employees
- How expected results can be delivered despite hiring less experienced employees
Episode Resources:
- Email: ron@nuttnest.com
- Mads Singers Free Management Training
- Join Mads Singers Management Group
We have an exciting topic today! Like many others, every episode has always been unique. Johanna Renoth joins us today! Johanna is not a believer in social media marketing. Yes, you read that right! She is a believer in e-mail marketing. For Johanna, e-mail marketing shifts an entrepreneur's focus to highly-impacting business drivers.
Johanna believes too much usage of social media marketing can have a pressing effect on entrepreneurs like you. These effects are described in two aspects: reactive decisions and distractions from the pressures of the social media should-be's. And both of these take away the deep focus entrepreneurs need to create new ideas for income-generating actions and managing business risks. Learn more about the challenges and opportunities you can explore in digital marketing without social media! I told you, this is going to be an exciting episode!
What do we cover in this episode?
- How usage and too much exposure to social media as a marketing medium affects entrepreneurs negatively
- What is the influence of social media technology and marketing on an entrepreneur’s mental health
- How does social media affect entrepreneurial leadership
Episode Resources:
- logofflivemore.com
- byesocialmedia.com
- Mads Singers Free Management Training
- Join Mads Singers Management Group
Episode Summary
Patrice Bisiot joins us in today’s episode! Patrice’s appreciation of authentic leadership comes from his very unique experience with self-awareness and self development. He navigated his fashion business into a leadership and self-development niche. Patrice believes that authenticity is important when translating leadership into actions. This concept of authenticity works for both him, as the business owner, and his staff. For Patrice, the necessary why in leading brings accountability. Discover more of how Patrice overcame himself, became the leader he has, and has grown as a person and his business from there! Tune in ‘til the end and know the two most important leadership aspects which launched his pad!
What do we cover in this episode?
- How insecurity can affect your leadership;
- What is communication philosophy; and
- How can leadership evolve after self-improvement
Episode Resources:
- ImageImpactIndex.com
- Abraham Hicks Podcast
- info@talktopatrice.com
- Mads Singers Free Management Training
- Join Mads Singers Management Group
In today’s episode, we are joined by Tom Hunt who once was working as Head of marketing for B2B SaaS business to owning his very own agency. Tom and I shared a lot of similar things. We do not only run our own podcast channels but we also love talking about recruitment and management.
Tom and I covered topics around how one-to-one meetings create an impact on your employees’ performance. Speaking of performance, we also talked about when is a performance bonus necessary for your organization and how it is important to look at it in the context of your organization’s goals and financial standing.
And since we were talking about our businesses, we were also talking about how do we identify the right person. Most of the time in recruitment, you’re able to identify a great bunch of people for a business need but it’s not always that you’re able to identify the right person for the right seat. There are so many interesting points for you. Tune in, learn and take notes for yourself. Surely, you’ll not be empty-handed after listening!
What do we cover in this episode?
- How one-to-one meetings make people management better;
- How effective recruitment helps businesses financially;
- How you can teach your performers the most important management skill; and
- Why performance bonuses are not always a good external motivator for employees
Episode Resources:
- Fame
- bCast
- Mads Singers Free Management Training
We all know how badly the pandemic has hit the hospitality industry. It’s one of the many industries which struggled to keep the business going, considering the implementation of several lockdowns. Lydia, the owner of multiple restaurant businesses, joins us in today’s episode! In her business industry, recruitment is considered reactive, and she learned this a hard way. She realized the relevance of shared beliefs in the people she hires and how the values and work culture she wants to cultivate significantly helped her increase her retention rate in her industry. This allowed her retention rate to increase, and the very people who are with helped her to keep the business going because of the shared beliefs lived. Lydia knows that while she can outsource people, she cannot outsource values and work culture. Discover more about how Lydia managed to increase her retention rate by upholding values and work culture as she reveals her management secrets. This episode will be an exciting one!
What else do we cover in this episode?
-How management dynamic is different around the hospitality entity
-Emphasis on shared beliefs about values and work culture as a business owner and among her business partners and employee
-Lydia’s retention percentage in upholding shared beliefs
-Lydia’s unique hiring process for her hospitality businesses
Resources Mentioned:
The Culture Code
Author: Daniel Coyle
Restaurant Unstoppable Podcast
Connect With Lydia:
lydia@saintkitchen.com
lydia@warwickstreetkitchen.com
Every entrepreneur makes this mistake: Ineffective Delegation. AsrorJon joins us in our podcast episode today to share how he has been an active player in the cleaning service business industry. Unlike others, AsrorJon immediately became resourceful when he realized how technology and effective delegation skills could potentially increase his business's revenue and leads. AsrorJon's humble beginnings in establishing his cleaning service business led him to become skillful in management. We share the same take on management and delegation, making this episode exciting and exciting! A fact about our guest today is that he is my first Uzbekistan podcast guest, so it's refreshing to hear new ideas and stories!
If you want to know how to turn one business venture into multiple ones, then this is for you! Learn more about an expert's secret by tuning in!
What else do we cover in this episode?
-Management lessons learned from his corporate experience which he has been practicing in all of his businesses
-Hiring lessons learned from his past mistakes
-How he learned effective delegation and how it helped him exponentially
Resources Mentioned:
The Immigrant’s Companion: Making Your American Dream a Reality
Author: Asrorjon Shukurov
Connect with Asrorjon Shukurov:
Personal Website
Green Cleaning Association
Fix Contractors
Interworld Cleaning
Pruz Investments
When we speak of Tech Industry, we immediately think about having a linear approach to leadership and its attrition rate in effect. We rarely hear about the human-centered approach to leadership, where a safe space is created for humans to thrive instead of merely to survive. Alexandria Scobee is joining us in today’s episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast. Her expertise in Human-Centered Leadership brings a lot of value to a level that we rarely see. This paradigm shift has been proven to reduce the attrition rate. Alexandria and I shared the same belief about investing in the people themselves as the core of having a healthy team, which is a strong indicator of engagement and success. In the same vein, we both have the same insights regarding feedback! Find out more and learn about how to reduce your attrition in tech leadership!
What else do we cover in this episode?
- 3:48 - Identified Business Triggers
- 5:16 - What is Human-Centered Leadership Approach?
- 6:28 - How Can Human-Centered Leadership Be Evident in Tech Industry?
- 13:55 - Human-Centered Approach in Communication
- 19:14 - Factors Affecting Human-Centered Approach in Leadership
Resources:
- Digital Body Language
Author: Erica Dhawan - The One Minute Manager
Author: Ken Blanchard - Nonviolent Communication
Author: Marshall Rosenberg
Connect with Alexandria Scobee:
- Living Audaciously
- Mads Singers Free Management Training
- Free Community Group For Managers & Leaders
I am pumped up to be joined by Tim Redmond in today’s episode of the Mads Singers Management Podcast! Tim, whose expertise is in business growth, loves taking people’s businesses and making those businesses into a wealth empire powerhouse. Tim’s business tip for beginners in ensuring business growth is for the business core to be built around the business reputation. This reputation is founded on the efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery.
All these business and profit strategies involve innovative business coaching. This business coaching includes people management. Tim builts his business and profit growth strategy through a growth plan wherein the business strengths and weaknesses are taken, and concrete steps are made for the business and profit goal to be achieved.
Tim believes that to put one’s growth strategy to the test, its cadence of regular accountability should allow the business to run with its momentum.
Are you still figuring out how to take your business to the level where it should be? Avail of Tim’s free growth plan today! Tune in ‘til the end and learn HOW!
What else do we cover in this episode?
- 5:35 - Business Growth Pit Falls
- 11:51 - Client Service Delivery Lifecycle
- 23:28 - Tim Redmond’s Costly Management Mistake
Connect with Tim Redmond:
- Redmond Growth Consulting
- E-mail: tim@redmondgrowth.com
- Mads Singers Free Management Training
- Free Community Group For Managers & Leaders
Joining me in today's episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast is an entrepreneur and author, Simon Severino! Simon and I shared our thoughts on accelerating business growth and revenue increase through his 90-day strategy sprint. Simon shares that for revenue increase to be met, business entrepreneurs must transition from working IN the business to working ON the business. Simon has been working in coaching entrepreneurs in getting product launches done for business growth and revenue increase.
Simon's 90-day sprint program offers shifts entrepreneurs' focus to scaling business to ensure an increase in revenue and then improve sales and marketing. Find out more in this episode about having repeatable sales, better marketing, and revenue increase!
What else do we cover in this episode?
- 3:18 - Simon’s 90- Day Strategy Sprint
- 4.15 - Business Acupuncture Points To Increase Revenue
- 8.55 - 90-Day Strategy Sprint Business Coverage
- 15.13 - The Kind Of Businesses Which Will Benefit From The Program
- 17.16 - Simon’s Mindset About Hiring and Delegating
Resources:
Strategy Sprints: 12 Ways to Accelerate Growth for an Agile Business
Author: Simon Severino
Connect with Simon Severino:
- Strategy sprints
- Mads Singers Free Management Training
- Free Community Group For Managers & Leaders
Joining me in today’s episode of the Mads Singers Management Podcast is Deanna Figurito! Deanna and I discussed how she helps businesses reduce attrition rates through value-based impact in the form of leadership development. Deanna emphasizes the importance of intentional one-on-ones and coaching to help people realize their shared beliefs with the company they are working with. Discover more on how to values-based leadership development can reduce your attrition rate!
What else do we cover in this episode?
- 3:23 - Values-Based Approach in Leadership Development
- 15:36 -Values-Based One-on-Ones and Coaching
- 17:42 - 3 Principles of Coaching (Fulfillment, Balance, and Process)
- 20:18 - Bridging the Generational Gap through Values-Based Leadership Development (to reduce attrition rate and costs further)
Connect with Deanna Figurito:
- D-FIGconnects
- Mads Singers Free Management Training
- Free Community Group For Managers & Leaders
Andrew Venture is joining me in today’s episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast! Andrew considers Operational Consulting the foundation of what he does and is now looking to help small-medium businesses scale up using systems and techniques around financial delegation and staff delegation. Andrew believes that financial delegation must be practiced with a staged approach for a company to scale up. It retains accountability while giving away a certain level of autonomy. This approach is where his effective staff delegation comes in concerning operational needs. Find out more in this episode and learn more about the importance of financial delegation and staff delegation!
What else do we cover in this episode?
- 2:57 - Financial Delegation Concept
- 7:58 - Financial Delegation and Staff Delegation Risks
- 15:34 - Structured Staff Responsibility and Financial Accountability
- 16.27 - Operations Manager Hiring Competency Indicator
- 18:16 - Financial Considerations in Staff Delegation/Promotion
- 25:49 - Operations Manager Skill Model
Episode Resources:Traction
Author: Gino Wickman
Connect with Andrew Venture:
- andrewventure.com
- Taitua.com
- Mads Singers Free Management Training
- Free Community Group For Managers & Leaders
Today's guest for the Mads Singers Management Podcast is Julia Starzyk! Julia runs a Project Management and Construction Consultancy specializing in refurbishments ranging from £3-6M.
Julia initially worked in central London's high-end residential market for the past decade, delivering some of the finest, perfectly tailored homes.
Julia started as a junior project manager for a construction company, or as we call it today, as an assistant to the site manager. She was in charge of the people management, order taking, and ensuring everything around them was working, whatever it may be.
Unlike most roles, being a manager usually puts a person in a tight spot because they rarely receive guidance or training, which sets most for failure. However, regardless of what type of management you will be doing or where the best way to be, a good manager communicates effectively. Communication, though, can mean two other things sometimes. There will be a battle of personas and even ego; some may not even care if the project will go well or not.
To overcome this, you need to understand who's who, how they think, and how you approach them to get the results you want; in fact, you will be surprised how communication effectively and clearly can help that employee perform better and deliver excellent results.
Key Learning Points:
- Despite their differences, Julia shares that she has learned a lot from the tradespeople while working as a site manager in the construction firm. - 03:24
- Despite the misconception that management in the construction world is easy, Julia says it's the opposite. There are many things to consider to make things run smoothly, just like in a corporate setting. - 04:32
- Julia says that effective communication helped get things done during her time as a site manager. - 05:13
- Julia says that when people know that they can come to you, no matter small or irrelevant their problem may be, they will never forget that. - 05:33
- Mads agrees that communication is essential, not only in management but also in life itself. - 09:11
- Julia says to be a good manager in terms of people skills. You have to be able to see the best in people and pull that out of them.- 11:41
- Mads says that management is also about lifting other people. He adds that most people become positively surprised most of the time when they are given the responsibility and ownership.- 12:18
- Mads says that people will support you when they see your value and willingness to do the right thing. - 14:37
- Mads says that it's okay to make mistakes because we learn more from failures than we do in success- 18:56
- Mads says that when you build a good relationship with your staff, they will most likely go the extra mile. - 22:45
Connect with Julia Starzyk:
Joining me on today’s episode of the Mads Singers Management Podcast is none other than Skye Barbour. Growing up with entrepreneurial parents, Skye knew she wanted her own business. Still, unlike her parents, she didn’t want to follow in their footsteps where she had to give up something to pursue her dreams. Skye wanted the best of both worlds. Skye wanted to earn great money and be a present and great mother to her children. Because of her experiences, Skye was able to see what real-life leadership was like, complete with challenges in handling people and operations. She even got to make all the mistakes under the sun, but Skye could grow a long-term sustainable business despite all these. Skye knew she had to leap after experiencing burnout and being pregnant with her first child.
While the allure of being a freelancer or being able to work on your terms will never stop, to balance those things and live the life you want, you’ll need to have discipline and roll up your sleeves from time to time to get things done. But to reach your goals, you’ll need to get some people on board as well because you can’t be the only one doing everything as this will only hinder the growth of your business.
As Skye pointed out, people can be so frightened of what might be the future that we stay stuck in the doing, and although you can automate and delegate a bunch of things in your business, it takes time and needs development.
While everybody is replaceable, as it should be, because businesses need fresh brains and hands from time to time, having a throwaway culture in outsourcing can cause problems for your business. Hiring a VA can help solve many things for you, but if you don’t have systems or SOPs in place, they will struggle too; sometimes, the problem doesn’t lie with the VAs you hire but within yourself.
Management doesn’t necessarily need to take an extended period. However, you will need to have the right person or the right people to get things done for this to be successful. Once implemented, your business will be smooth sailing in a month or two!
Understanding your core strengths and having a growth mindset will help you become a great leader.
To make sure your business is successful, you’ll need to be able to write down your recipe and pass it on to people so they know how to run your business. This is especially true when your business is your brand. Hire experts that can lighten your burden so that your business can grow and flourish, and ultimately it’s about moving you from doing the tasks in the business.
Key Learning Points:
- Skye says that to grow a long-term sustainable business, this is what she calls the missing link who want to - 01:58
- Skye says she is an advocate of applying herself and doing the work. This means that you’ll need to roll your sleeves up and work 03:32
- Mads shares that he has been living remotely since 2014, and while it has its perks, he says that to work from the beach or to live the life you want will require discipline. - 06:16
- Mads says he asks people if they want to build a business or build themselves a very glorified, well-paid full-time job because the difference between those two is vast. - 08:08
- Mads says that once business leaders and managers get the mindset right, they realize that they shouldn’t be doing unnecessary work- 11:50
- Mads says that when it comes to hiring people when you treat your staff as a cheap resource, they will also treat your work as an affordable resource. - 18:54
- Skye says that regardless of who you bring into your business, you should invest time and resources in them if you want to get the best out of them. - 20:54
- Mads says that anyone can be a good leader as long as they understand their core strengths- 26:36
- Skye agrees that there isn’t a silver bullet solution. If you don’t understand your people and what resonates with them, then they will not be able to do a good job- 30:16
- Skye shares her analogy where business is like a car where people parts of a vehicle and to get to the destination, many leaders and business owners expect and assume that their staff don’t need to know, she asks how people will do their best when they don’t know what’s going on or what the whole things for - 32:31
Resources Mentioned:
Full Freedom for Entrepreneurs with Skye Barbour
Connect with Skye Barbour:
Website
YouTube
LinkTree
Joining me in today's episode of the Mads Singers Management Podcast is none other than Louise Ledbrook. Louise is a Productivity Specialist, High-Performance Executive Coach, Innovator, Speaker, and Author. She loves helping people transform their lives to achieve their goals in life or their business by fulfilling their dreams.
As pointed out by Louise, distractions are the number one cause of stunted growth in businesses. Still, it is not always the fault of the business leaders and managers, but rather it is because most of them are not equipped with the knowledge and skills to manage or know the tips and tricks. This often sets many business leaders and managers to fail. And with how society is made up today, where many of us are constantly on our phones, we are constantly bombarded with beeping notifications. We tend to lose our way from important work that needs to be done.
The illusion of being available makes us unproductive, causing us to get fatigued over time. Not everything needs to end up on your to-do list, but rather learn to set rules and boundaries to be more productive in both your personal and work life. While we all have our tasks to work on, we need to remind ourselves if it will actually be moving the needle to help us accomplish the goals we set for ourselves, or are we simply making ourselves look busy? To do this, we need to constantly remind our brain subconsciously to work on the critical tasks we need to achieve our goal; learn to delegate the small and mundane tasks you have on your plate to someone else and be amazed at how much more you can accomplish!
Organizing doesn't need to be complicated by doing the small things because it makes you do something intentionally. This helps you become more productive, feel refreshed, and think more clearly about the next day and your upcoming tasks. We must constantly choose ourselves for it to happen and have boundaries to be more intentionally productive.
Key Learning Points:
- Louise's goal is to help business owners get their shit together without sacrificing their lifestyles- 02:30
- Louise says that many businesses don't scale because leaders and managers don't have adequate time management. - 03:32
- Mads shares that he likes to keep his phone on silent so that he won't get distracted and will get work done. - 04:54
- Mads says that it's not about the hours we work but rather the output. - 06:57
- Mads says, If you're sitting doing things that could be done by someone getting paid, half of what you are born, you are significantly wasting company resources and, more importantly, actually hindering company growth.- 10:34
- Louise shares her simple system where she organizes her day the day before to make her more productive. It can take her as little as 10 minutes to plan out her day. - 15:18
- Louise says it's essential to have blocks of time to do purposeful and uninterrupted work rather than stretch it for eight or ten hours and not get anything done. - 21:18
- Doing little things such as preparing your workout clothes at night or preparing food the day before will help you become more productive by getting more things done. Removing those small decisions by being organized is a big one. - 22:53
- Louise says it's vital that we learn to say no to things that are not related to our goals- 24:00
- Louise adds that it's essential that we choose ourselves and have these rules and boundaries. - 27:16
Resources Mentioned:
The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth About Extraordinary Results by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan
Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport
Connect with Louise Ledbrook:
Main Website
ProSmart Website
Company Twitter
Personal Twitter
Company Instagram
Today’s guest on the Mads Singers Management Podcast is Jessica Eastman Stewart. Jessica is a coach, consultant, and the founder of Joyfully Managed Family. This community helps make the day-to-day management of home and family life a little easier and more joyful. A former co-founder for a non-profit organization for ten years and coached leaders, Jessica now creates content where she helps anyone in the world manage their home and family. An intentional manager, Jessica first became a manager back in 2009, and since then, she has loved talking about it, coaching others, and even writing blogs about it.
Contrary to popular belief, management doesn’t have to be complicated. Management doesn’t need several steps and processes to make things work. Having simple techniques that work well is much more effective than having several complicated functions. It can be as simple as declaring email bankruptcy, where an email from a month ago is rendered useless and archived immediately because anything important will find its way to you or back to you. However, for this to happen, leaders and business managers should make space for their team and staff to be productive. One of the ways you can do that is by incorporating fun and even a bit of game with your staff. This can also work if you have a remote team, schedule a Zoom meeting, pop in some music while everyone works on their tasks. Also, rather than setting up a calendar block for meetings or 1-on-1s, it’s essential to check in with your staff so you can have a hearty and meaningful conversation rather than a one-sided conversation. Something simple as a Word document or a spreadsheet where you can put all the information and tidbits of your employee can help a lot!
Being a manager or leader isn’t about the power to boss around people and pass your job to them. At the same time, you rest your feet on your table or go somewhere to relax and unwind; instead, it’s about building relationships with people in your company or organization. Having a good relationship with your staff and employees can help you in the long run, especially if they decide to leave to pursue better opportunities or when they land their dream job. This gives you ample time to prepare and train for their replacement and focus on your business.
Key Learning Points:
- Mads says he is a firm believer in having a few processes that work well compared to having complicated ones to manage your team effectively. - 02:25
- Jessica and her team have what they call a ‘’Polish Week’’ where they take time twice a year and pause what they are doing to polish up their systems. Jessica says they do this during the slower times of the year, usually the last week of December or the first week of July. - 03:14
- Jessica admits that taking some time off may seem daunting. However, it is worth doing it because it pays dividends every single day when you take some time to clean up things that are slowing you down - 04:40
- Jessica says we have things we are good at and not so good at. For example, a person can organize their desk but is not good at managing their digital files. She recommends that we incentivize it and have something to look forward to, such as eating your favorite lunch - 09:48
- Jessica says that it’s essential for leaders and managers to make space for their staff or teams to be productive. - 13:00
- Jessica shares her tip on using reminders, whether it’s on your phone or computer, so you can be reminded of your team’s starting dates and birthdays and appreciate them. This can also work for setting reminders for yourself on things you want to improve on.- 15:08
- Mads says that the best way to give feedback is to look for critical thinking and connect it to behavior. - 22:06
- Mads admits that he still finds it challenging when a good employee resigns to pursue their dream job. However, he says that managers and leaders should still appreciate their time and contributions to your company and be happy on their behalf. - 26:10
- Mads adds that when employees leave you, especially great employees, it means you are doing a great job as their manager because you have developed and grown your staff. - 27:08
- Mads says that if you don’t know until the last possible day of resignation, then it means that your relationship with your staff isn’t that strong. - 29:56
Resources Mentioned:
Polish Week Checklist
Connect with Jessica Eastman Stewart:
Website
Links
Facebook Page
Joining me on today's episode on the Mads Singers Management Podcast is none other than mompreneur TaJuanna Taylor, and we're going to talk about my favorite topic - management. TaJuanna is the D.O.N.E. Lady who loves helping you get things done using the D.O.N.E. Formula™ to equip business leaders & entrepreneurs with a more straightforward, more approachable way to adapt project management. She is also very passionate about leadership and helping small businesses flourish.
Contrary to popular belief, starting a business is more than just earning some extra income to fill your pockets; instead, it is about investing in human beings, people like you and me, who have their hopes and dreams. It is through proper management that one's business can succeed. Coming from this context, the importance of listening comes to play because most performance issues come from the home or internally rather than from the workplace. Once you listen to your employees, they feel valued and cared for, thus making them your greatest ally.
When employees are heard, you will see a change in their momentum and energy because we human beings will always strive to be good, heard, and seen as an essential asset. However, to do that, one needs to listen - now, this may be hard for some people, especially if listening isn't their strength, but listening can be worked on like all skills. However, you'll need to learn to be quiet and take time to pause no matter how excited you are.
We all come with our wavelengths. Some may be easily excitable, while some may need extra motivation; however, regardless of what wavelength they belong to, learn to gauge your employees and see things from their perspective.
Take care of what you own, take care of what tasks have been assigned to you or what you have assigned to otters - nurture it so that there is quality. A plan is a roadmap, not a guarantee, and if one path doesn't work out, there are many other ways to get there.
Key Learning Points:
- TaJuanna says that management, leadership, project management is not just for big companies or big, big teams - it's for anybody who wants to move something forward; their extraordinary ideas, turning it from nothing into - 01:43
- By reminding yourself that you're not in it by yourself, TaJuanna says when we permit ourselves to allow other people to come in, seek out what you know you do not have. - 03:03
- TaJuanna stresses the importance of listening - 03:41
- TaJuanna shares how you can be a good listener or learn to be a listener, especially if it is not your strength: To be quiet and pause no matter how excited we may be in a room with one or more people.- 06:38
- Mads shares his two golden rules as a manager:
- 1.) Speak last, 2.) Speak the least. He adds that you can become a practical (or more effective) leader if you follow these two things. - 09:00
- TaJuanna says that regardless of whether you're an entrepreneur or solopreneur, everyone has a role to play so that you can free yourself to bring in other people. - 12:51
- TaJuanna says many people and even things can become your bosses if you don't manage yourself or something you are doing well. - 15:28
- Mads shares his trick: try and cut every day down to just 4 hours and ask yourself:
- What are the most important things? What are the things that move the company forward the most? What are the things that only I can do? - 16:39
- TaJuanna says that she had to learn quickly to minimize her enthusiasm because not everyone is on the same wavelength as you are. However, this doesn't mean they have less value. - 19:52
- TaJuanna says that project management is about delegating tasks to people, giving them autonomy and the freedom to do jobs at their pace. - 24:00
Resources Mentioned:
D.O.N.E. Formula™
Connect with TaJuanna Taylor:
Website
LinkTree
Today's guest for the Mads Singers Management Podcast is Todd Kuckkahn, a keynote speaker, executive coach, and fellow DiSC practitioner.
Although Todd has had several experiences under his belt, it wasn't until a couple of months ago that he decided to take the leap of faith and become a full-time entrepreneur. Much of Todd's work involves aiding, developing, and creating businesses; he was also a high school basketball coach, where he also taught in high school and even in colleges. Although entrepreneurship can be quite a challenge, it has its highs when you seal the deal with a client and its lows when you question yourself if you can eat next month. The rewards that you can reap are worth it! It's not always set in stone because some may become an entrepreneur early on while others may have it later in life, but regardless of when you will be taking that leap of faith, it's essential to keep in mind the lessons you pick up learning along the way.
While there are apparent differences between big corporate companies to small and medium businesses and startups, regardless of where you belong, it's essential to stay focused on your purpose and why: What's the reason behind it? Why are you doing it?
I cannot stress enough how important communication is because often, when high-performing managers or anyone on your staff starts performing poorly, it could be they have problems at home. Instead of waiting around for things to worsen, it's essential to approach them and help them get them back on track.
One of the easiest ways to do this is with the use of DiSC in your workplace or organization; this allows you to discover a person's communication style and meet them halfway rather than dragging them through the mud.
We are all bound to make mistakes. However, because we have self-awareness, we now know what to do in the future to avoid repeating that mistake. But to know oneself, one must practice what they absorb from reading books or listening to podcasts, and these don't happen overnight! These habits take time, so allow yourself lots of room for improvement.
Be mindful of what you are feeding yourself, regardless of its platform; rather than binge-watch a show, you can spend that time exercising or reading.
Key Learning Points:
- Mads says that he has observed that most teachers make good managers. - 01:32
- Todd says that being an entrepreneur doesn't need to have a timeline. To some, it may happen when they are as young as 22, while others may achieve it later in life. - 03:36
- Drama and conflict will always be part of the business, your family, and even your relationships. Still, Todd says that conflicts can be a good thing when you know how to handle them, and that's why he says that you must have your base value and continue to build on that and develop your communication skills.- 05:39
- Todd adds once you develop your communication and people see that you're an honorable person because you live up to your values, then the trust grows, and by trusting each other, you can have constructive conversations around that conflict because the faith is there.. - 06:04
- Mads says that people don't understand people who are different from them. That is why he advocates the importance of learning about DiSC and applying it in life or your workplace. - 10:36
- In building your company culture, Todd shares his 3-prong mantra: Dream Big, Know How to Have Fun in the Work Place, and Get Stuff/Work Done.- 15:13
- Todd recommends reading as a tool for personal development, whether by yourself or within a company, that you can then use and relate with people by having conversations. - 17:50
- Taking a cue from Simon Sinek, Todd shares how exercise and love are similar because you don't instantly fall in love with somebody, but rather it's a process when taking on a partner. - 21:59
- Todd says that we all make mistakes, but we must have self-awareness so that we won't repeat that mistake in the future. - 23:22
- Todd says that it's vital for business owners and leaders to detach themselves from their business and nurture relationships with people, regardless of whether it's done over a Zoom meeting or in person if they are nearby. Have an inner circle where you can discuss your challenges so they can help you solve them- 27:08
Resources Mentioned:
FISH! philosophy
I Have a Dream by Martin Luther King
The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You (10th Anniversary Edition by John C. Maxwell
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable by Patrick Lencioni
Connect with Todd:
Website
Schedule a Meeting
YouTube
Facebook Page
Today's guest on the Mads Singers Management Podcast is Dr. Erika Michalski, also known as The Consultant Barbie. She is the founder and Chief Encouragement Officer of Strategically Authentic, which loves helping people bring their vision and goals to life. With her unwavering passion for authenticity, she empowers people to show up as they are, see what they can do, what they are capable of, and leverage their skills so that they can move up to their next big thing. Dr. Erika will surely liven up your party as she loves strategic planning and is excited to share it with the world.
Strategic planning - a fun party trick that Dr. Erika loves to death, is often put on the backburner by companies and business owners until the very end or when their problems start popping up because they have been ignored for too long.
Although it's become a buzzword, being authentic will allow you to impact the people around you and the things you do, while chasing the same carrot as everyone else may seem ideal and more accessible. However, many will not feel satisfied when they reach their end game and feel like they wasted time and effort on something unworthy.
Rather than giving in to what society dictates as a measure of success, we should focus on our direction. Often, we look up to other people we admire and try to emulate them, and while there isn't anything wrong with that, we would make much more impact when we show up as ourselves rather than imitating someone else.
To be authentic, one needs to show up as they are, don't let others define your success, and while it's not wrong to grind for your goals, ask yourself these questions:
- Are you pushing because you want to?
- Are you moving because you're supposed to?
Investing in your people is a must because they are the ones who will drive your business or even sink it. Regardless of whether they decide to stay or leave, it's essential to make people feel valued.
Don't fall for trendy and generic professional development that you see being paraded around. Instead, spend time with your staff and see where you can take them from there. But before promoting someone, make sure that you will be able to communicate why you are doing that to provide them value and an opportunity to grow. Even the least interested leader will take up the mantle when given clarity on why they are granted that role. The same goes with delegation. Being given clarity and acknowledged will allow people to flourish more.
Key Learning Points:
- Although it's not new, despite becoming a buzzword today, Dr. Erika says that your contributions will be most effective, and your existence will be most impactful when you show up as yourself, not as a deluded version of someone else. - 03:31
- Dr. Erika says that authenticity invites you to be more reflective and intentional about your choices in your personal and professional life. - 04:09
- Dr. Erika says that you are the owner of the direction you are going. - 05:21
- Dr. Erika adds that authenticity is the decision to learn from other people but not necessarily emulate them. - 05:41
- Dr. Erika says we have become weirdly obsessed with the idea of not being content with the things we have. - 09:43
- Dr. Erika shares that if you cannot train your brain to the here and now, to be present, you will only be pursuing and not be content with what you have. - 13:32
- Dr. Erika says that unhappiness comes when you no longer know who you are because you rely on other people's success metrics rather than your own- 19:34
- Dr. Erika says that if your identity is tied to a singular point (being an entrepreneur or being someone's significant other), then it is not sustainable- 27:40
- Mads highly recommends that businesses and entrepreneurs invest in their people, especially managers because most people don't develop their managers because they are not provided with the proper training and guidance. - 28:06
- Contrary to the famous saying that the best salesman won't make the best sales manager or the best engineer won't make the best engineering manager, Mads believes that if someone has the skills and the personality to learn how to be the best engineer or salesperson, then they can also learn how to become the best manager with the proper training, tools, and support.. - 34:44
Resources Mentioned:
First, Break All the Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Boffman
The Molecule of More: How a Single Chemical in Your Brain Drives Love, Sex, and Creativity―and Will Determine the Fate of the Human Race by Daniel Z. Lieberman and Michael E. Long
Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know by Adam Grant
Connect with Dr. Erika
Website
Today, my guest today in the Mads Singers Management Podcast is none other than Melissa Maulini. Melissa is the CEO and founder of Maulini Creative, a small boutique marketing agency, starting as a freelancer specializing in social media management and influencer marketing until she eventually settled down with personal brand marketing. Initially working alone, Melissa grew a team that she calls her marketers; and what journey it has been, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic where many brick-and-mortar businesses had to switch up their marketing to keep their business afloat during those challenging times.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, many traditional ways of doing things were turned upside down, from digital marketing, social media marketing, social media management, and even operations had to be delegated. Despite these new challenges, the pandemic has brought on new opportunities for everyone, whether a restaurant in an old city or a small store set up in the middle of the town. Although there are many things to consider when hiring employees, especially when you're starting, such as taxes, laws, and other benefits in the country you are planning to set up your business. It would be best to skip hiring the right people because having the right staff will help you grow your business in no time.
With our interconnected world, it's easier than ever to find the right people to do the job for you. However, one of the common mistakes new entrepreneurs and business leaders make is not making enough connections because many tend to set aside the networking aspect of their businesses. Rather than wait for a miracle, it's best for business owners and managers to take advantage of the tools they have at their fingertips, such as Facebook groups, LinkedIn, forums, and other social media platforms. Make connections along the way because you'll never know where your next adventure will be if you don't make connections with the people you meet along the way.
Like Melissa, I highly encourage exploring new tools and software once released because it allows you and your team to learn new things. However, while exploring is fun, it's essential to stick with those that work well for you. Often, it's not the number of tools, apps, or software that ruin productivity in a company or business but instead failing to implement it all over your staff or company, so it's essential to consult everyone before jumping ship. Being an entrepreneur is not an easy journey; there will be bumps and even roadblocks along the way. However, having a mentor who you can turn to for advice, gain feedback, or help solve problems will benefit you.
Don't be afraid to cast your net and let your voice be heard, especially during challenging and difficult times. Also, ask for feedback from your clients or anyone you work with. This gives you a fresh perspective on things, so you can also learn how to pivot according to their needs.
Key Learning Points:
- Melissa shares that she started with interns. However, she then realized that she needed to bring in people with specialties in their respective fields rather than a person who knows a bit of everything. - 04:33
- Melissa realized that hiring people who don't necessarily have the skills to do the job could be costly and time-consuming because you'll need to take a chunk of your time to train and teach them. - 06:01
- Mads says that most companies and managers struggle with hiring the right people because they don't know what they need until the problem becomes more apparent. - 06:46
- Mads continues that many business owners and managers are reluctant to pay their employees the proper salary, especially those specializing in a specific niche. - 07:00
- Melissa says she learned to hire people who know what they are doing rather than bringing on someone that you have to teach, and promote from within as much as possible because they are the ones who can fill the spot as they already know you and your business. - 08:53
- Mads stresses that rather than hiring people who resemble you, business owners and managers should look at the most critical piece needed in their business and how they should be finding someone who is excellent at that work/role. - 11:45
- Melissa's goal is to grow her team in the industries that she likes while also learning new things and taking the best practices.. - 18:17
- Melissa stresses the importance of having a clear structure for your business to be easy onboarding, training, production, and even offboarding. Having a system will also allow you to improve or change things quickly if you face difficulties. - 20:57
- Melissa shares that she and her team have tried several project management tools and software but have settled on what works well for them. She encourages you to try new tools and software once released to help you and your team learn new skills and knowledge to attract more clients and build your portfolio. - 22:42
- Melissa stresses the importance of having a mentor and guiding you in your entrepreneurial journey while also learning, gaining feedback, and even seeking insights into problems you may have. - 25:05
Resources Mentioned:
Asana
AirTablefor content calendar and paid advertising
Slack
Connect with Melissa:
Company Email
Personal Email
Company Instagram
Website
LinkTree
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Today's guest for the Mads Singers Management Podcast is none other than Dana Kaplan, all the way from New York City. Dana is an emotional intelligence and education consultant, coach, and the pioneer of DEIAB in ACTION from the womb to 12th grade (*Diversity Equity Inclusion Access and Belonging- IN ACTION). She is an educator who believes that learning is more than the four walls. Following her dream and passion for teaching at-risk children, Dana realized that more should be done in teaching emotional intelligence and bringing diversity, equity, inclusion, access, and belonging into action. Because of this process, Dana discovered that it doesn't matter what the curriculum is or the assignments are if we don't have a strong sense of self. Believing who we are as individuals like our own personal hero led her to develop Empathetic Education with Dana.
Despite being at the top of their game, many leaders, business owners, and managers often struggle with emotional intelligence and understanding themselves and the emotional state of the people around them. As Dana pointed out, we are aware of our emotions most of the time. However, we don't know where we create meaning with our emotions most of the time. This is where Dana brings up our childhood experiences, where we associate them with negative experiences, but rather than blame and shame our negative experiences, Dana says we should use those negative emotions as reference points on why we are feeling that way. Having a rich self-awareness allows you to become this rich leader, an even richer participant, and an active listener that will enable us to be engaged in a community.
The more you are aware of yourself, the more you understand about yourself, the more you can take action and utilize it for your day-to-day activities. Through playing, one can discover more about ourselves, and when we are willing to play, we are not so focused on the outcome or process but rather on what we can do to play the game; this is something most of us forget once we become adults.
While we may all come in and bring different things to the arena, each of us has something to share with others and a role to play, and in a world of diversity, we should always have spaces where people are not afraid to speak up or share their stories.
The most challenging conversations we will have will often be with ourselves, and what may be hard for you won't be hard for another person. The raising of voices, the passive-aggressiveness, hiding from feedback, and pointing the finger at other people can be prevented when we allow ourselves to open up what other people have to share with us and take the opportunity to sit and absorb it.
Key Learning Points:
- Dana aims to create cultures filled with compassion, curiosity, and courage because, ultimately, we all want our voices to be heard, listen to learn, and build a space where we feel a strong sense of belonging. - 02:16
- Dana says that while we are aware of our emotions, we often don't know where we create meaning with our feelings- 03:31
- Remembering negative emotions from bad experiences doesn't mean we need to relieve them but rather use them as a reference point for what upsets us. - 04:40
- Dana says that emotional intelligence can be summed up as knowing who you are as a human and then knowing who you are in an ample space. - 05:41
- Mads says that he has always been keen on understanding one's himself because, for him, that is the most effective way to get the most out of yourself and live your best life.. - 06:13
- Dana says that when we create a space that invites curiosity, we create opportunities for ourselves, whether in management, leadership, or even just life in general. - 11:28
- When asked about what play looks like for adults or people in the corporate world, Dana says it's all about perception; what we do with your object (toy) will be different from what another person will do to their object (toy)- 13:36
- While there may be people who don't want to play with you, things can change when they see their leaders roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty and play. - 16:23
- Dana says the most challenging conversations we will have will often be with ourselves. - 21:13
- Dana says that we should be more open by focusing on the good things that happened around us rather than focusing on that one bad thing and dwelling on negativity to create a culture that propels the people around us and allows them to use their voice again. - 27:52
Resources Mentioned:
Adam Grant
Brené Brown
Connect with Dana Kaplan:
Website
Facebook Page
Linktree
Work with Dana Kaplan
Today's guest on the Mads Singers Management Podcast is Tarush Aggarwal. Tarush was a software engineer who quickly realized that ranking high on Google was not just for him because no one talked about data. Tarush saw this opportunity and was able to work with a manager who showed him the ropes. This led him to Salesforce and put data engineering on the map. He also led a team for WeWork that supported 1500 employees. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Tarush found himself on a 10-day vacation in Bali, Indonesia, and while the world was going on lockdown, Tarush founded 5x.
According to Tarush, data is on the rise, and it is not a trend that will fade away and shape the future of the world. But what makes data exciting is its many uses, from Facebook ads, digital marketing, affiliate marketing, Google ads, and even compiling data on your customers and employees to automate business processes and make things easier for everyone. Once we focus on the data gathered, we can ask better questions to improve our current operations, implement better ones, or even replace them with something much better to help make our business better.
Data can be both intuitive and data-driven; some may be more inclined with their intuition. At the same time, some may be inclined to see the technical side of data. Still, regardless of where you belong in the spectrum, it's important to note that you shouldn't go to the extremes, especially when your vision, goals, and even niche do not have firm foundations.
Data is here to stay for the long run, although we may not see and feel it immediately, and data will continue to evolve to serve both businesses, companies, and the people.
Although there are tools out there, and more new tools and software will emerge in the coming months or years, data will always be a people-focused business.
Key Learning Points:
- Tarush says that spending time in the weeds and being in different levels allowed him to see how the sauce was being made, allowing him to stress-test everything, which allowed 5x to do it today. - 04:33
- Tarush says that data application is helpful for Facebook ads, affiliate marketing, digital marketing, and even for customers. - 07:22
- Understanding your customer lifetime value, how it's made up, and even why it's critical because this is one of the most significant issues Mads sees in small businesses, especially when they start investing in ads or marketing.- 09:26
- Tarush says that while everyone uses data in different ways they like, once we give it our full attention, it is only then that we can ask better questions and improve our processes.- 10:46
- Mads says it's essential to break down data when investing in different segments, so you are not simply focusing on one number or platform.- 12:40
- Mads continues that while most companies have a lot of data, they must look at the correct data at the right time. - 16:00
- Tarush says that data can be both intuitive and data-driven. However, depending on where you fall on that spectrum, we must keep in mind and be aware not to go to the extremes but instead use the data we have as our guide to making decisions rather than using it blindly.. - 20:03
- Mads stresses that businesses should review their vision, concept, and niche, especially when it's not very good - 21:03
- When asked about his 80/20, Tarush answers that 80% will always be your most challenging client.- 23:02
- With the rise and popularity of data, Tarush says that businesses and companies will need to eventually treat data differently and learn how to use it effectively.- 26:00
Connect with Tarush Aggarwal:
Website
Company Twitter
Company LinkedIn
Data Engineering Podcast
10 Million Journey Podcast
Data Science Conversations Podcast
Chris Templeton is joining me on today's Mads Singers Management Podcast episode. Chris has been an entrepreneur since the late '90s. Since 2003 he has opened an online marketing firm and shares how his stepmother gave him the Power of Nowby Eckhart Tolle. Because of Chris' exposure to the book, he formulated 3 (three) questions and a model that allowed him to help people become more self-aware of themselves quickly. Because it is universal, it enabled Chris to understand why people behave the way they are and act in a manner that serves everybody.
Unlike most roles, management can be tricky because nobody knows what bad management is. After all, we are not aware of what we are doing and why most of the time. Although not a therapist or psychologist, Chris has made it easy to understand. That makes it easy for everyone to know where you are and where other people are and how to move forward that serves everybody.
Our first management gig is usually our first failure because of our pre-mature perspectives. Business leaders and managers should be able to communicate with everybody effectively because this can influence the behavior of our staff and the people around us.
Communication is critical in many aspects, whether in relationships, business, school, or even your family and friends. However, if you want to work with others and manage other people, you will need to communicate effectively. However, communicating effectively isn't being taught in most schools.
Although it may seem daunting at first, management is a skill just like anything else. Once you understand what you are doing and how to do it, you will appreciate it much more. When you get to know how to do the basics right, you will enjoy doing it more. This becomes more fulfilling when you have a team that will help you every step of the way.
As managers and business owners, we have the power to create passion in the lives of our staff. However, we must look at how we use our language and what we are saying so that our message is delivered and executed correctly. The answers you are looking for are correct in front of you, but to receive that answer, you will need to be ready to choose what feels suitable for you and what's authentic for you.
Key Learning Points:
- Chris shares how his stepmother described a conceptin The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle. He discovered that we are often driving ourselves crazy in certain parts of our lives rather than external forces. - 01:19
- Because of our skewed experiences about management, usually from our parents, Chris says that many potential and future managers struggle with managing their business or staff properly. - 06:23
- Mads says that when you want to work with other people or manage other people, it's all about communicating well. - 07:19
- Chris says that when we start to communicate authentically, we behave differently. - 09:22
- Mads says that if something isn't going in the way you want to, rather than put the blame on others, you should work on yourself to make it better..- 10:20
- Before going off at an employee or giving feedback, Chris says managers should use his model and ask themselves if their story is serving them at that very moment. - 12:14
- Chris shares a quote from Viktor Frankl, "Between stimulus and response, there is a space, and in that space is our power to choose our response, and in our response lies our growth and freedom."- 17:06
- Mads says that when you set up an excellent management system or when you first build something that is super solid, management education, for the most part, happens naturally. - 22:21
- Mads continues that people or companies that don't develop and promote their staff internally tend to hire more people from the outside, making a wrong impression on your existing staff because they no longer see a future in your business. - 24:34
- Chris says that when you realize that you can create passion in people's lives by being authentic, you will see a great magnitude of indifference, but to do this, you need to look at how your language with what you are saying and how you are saying your message.- 30:15
Resources Mentioned:
The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle
Man's Search for Meaningby Viktor Frankl
The Work of Byron Katie
The Honesty Project Playlist
Connect with Chris Templeton:
Website
YouTube Channel
Podcast
If you need a hand or two (or more!) for your Amazon business, today's guest on the Mads Singers Management Podcast is Tomer David, owner of the Sourcing Monster with 14+ years of e-commerce experience under his belt. Although Tomer is not a stranger to online businesses and gigs, he has also dipped his hands into brick-and-mortar businesses; however, this has made him experience a lot of hardships and stress that made the business suffer. This made Tomar realize that that kind of life was not for him and pursue a career in the online world that allowed him to work from anywhere where he wasn't tied to any timezones or could delegate to his team quickly.
Starting or growing a business will involve a lot of experimenting on your side, whether it's on customer service, management, or whatever area needs working on. Still, whatever it is, you will need to make a 360 approach to your business. However, experimenting has its risks, and what worked for others may not always work for you, but this doesn't mean you should stop working on your business. Seeing data from your experiments gives you confidence that you may not have before because you didn't trust the process. Although we may need to perform several experiments using several tools and get varying results, we shouldn't be discouraged by the results. Instead, we need to understand how to use the information to our advantage.
This also applies to how we approach people; some may be dominant. At the same time, some may be reserved, but regardless of what type of person you may encounter, it's essential to know how we approach them, and this is where the magic of DiSC comes in. Unlike other tests or behavioral frameworks, DiSC doesn't involve complicated steps; you can look at a person's behavior and, from there, understand how to deal with them.
Experimenting may not be everyone's cup of tea but doing so, whether you use automation or in your field of expertise, allows us to see what works and what doesn't work. Experimenting also allows us to find new ways and better ways to deal with people or other aspects of life and even business.
We human beings spend most of our time communicating with each other regardless of what platform or method we use. Investing in learning how to communicate better will allow us to influence others and the things we do and reap better results.
Key Learning Points:
- Tomar says that experiments can apply to anything you do in life, and the more you get into the habit of experimenting and measuring the right way. You can improve yourself fast because it allows you to find things you didn't know about yourself and even change how you think. - 03:15
- Tomar says that it's essential that we test and measure our experiments because it allows you to see what's working, what's not working, what needs to be fixed, or what needs to be changed. - 04:44
- Mads shares his experience with Oura rings and how they impacted his life. Observing patterns and analyzing data allowed him to see what needed to be changed or improved. - 07:07
- Mads says that if you know how to talk to certain people, you will get the result or outcome you are looking for. - 12:09
- Although Tomar finds it hard to shift in talking with different people, he says the more we practice, the easier it will become. - 13:42
- Tomar says that even if our automation always break or only work for 80% to 90% most of the time, it is still worth it because it's an automated process, and we get predictable results - 16:45
- Tomar adds that whenever you feel stuck, you shouldn't worry because someone out there has already thought of a solution because they had that issue before. Tomar says this is the right time to create something new if you can't find a solution. - 18:50
- Tomar says that we should always try new things to discover new sides of our personalities or new hobbies we may love. - 21:53
- Tomar says that if we improve our skills in communicating better with other people and ourselves, it can influence everything we do, and we will get much better results. - 23:55
- Mads says that success in life doesn't come from you alone but from the people around you and the things you learn from them. - 29:45
Resources Mentioned:
The Alchemistby Paolo Coelho
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
The Power of Your Subconscious Mindby Joseph Murphy
Connect with Tomer David:
Facebook Group Page
YouTube Channel
Website
My guest for today's Mads Singers Management Podcast episode is none other than Kison Patel. Kison is the CEO and founder of M&A Science and the DealRoom, where he spent ten years as an M&A advisor. Wanting to improve the flow in the M&A world, Kison ventured into creating software to do just that; however, this led him to a difficult path where he experienced several setbacks. Convinced by a friend, Kison started a podcast that became successful and launched Kison to greater heights which became a full-blown media company.
Although it may seem easy to understand people now that we are more connected than ever, sometimes essential details on a person can easily get lost in the noise and the digital clutter that surrounds us. Hence, business leaders must be sensitive.
Being a business owner or manager doesn't make it all about you but rather your team, and it's high time that this mindset should change. Spend time growing your team by communicating and building relationships with them because they are the ones who will help your business grow. Giving responsibilities and ownership to your staff means you don't necessarily know the exact outcome of a task or project. However, they will deliver and even amaze you with the results because you trust them.
While not all people have motivated drivers, especially personalities who are not as quickly as motivated as others, doing little things every day will help you be disciplined, whether by reading books or learning about DiSC or other items and skills. Whatever you set your mind on, you can accomplish it.
Key Learning Points:
- Kison shares that he struggled with his leadership and management approach and learned, leading to reading books. - 04:40
- Kison likens building software to building your team where people are free to express themselves- 05:20
- Kison adds that when he thinks about creating the ideal workplace or culture, it's striving for an environment where people feel that their voice will be heard. they're comfortable communicating their ideas, pointing out things when there are issues, and acknowledging achievements when people hit their goals, whether big or small. (Refer toEpisode 132 on how you can recognize your teams). - 05:25
- Mads says he loves asking managers what percentage they spend talking when they hold team meetings. - 07:53
- Mads adds that, besides making essential decisions for their company or business, a manager's role is to build their team, grow their team, communicate with their team, and build relationships with their teams. - 09:42
- Kison says that influence is a significant component of your success, but it should start by listening to what others have to say because the more you understand, the better your influence will be on that person. - 10:03
- Kison shares his approach when working with organizations. He says that we need to understand their initiatives and problems and then align ourselves on how we can help solve them. - 11:58
- Mads shares that when you master something, you need to pick up something else that you can learn or improve on so that you're regularly learning new things. - 15:31
- Kison says that you will almost always get results when you put in the effort. - 24:05
- Mads says that when you understand yourself and what drives you, you understand the most effective way to get the best results. - 29:13
Resources Mentioned:
Just Listen: Discover the Secret to Getting Through to Absolutely Anyone by Mark Goulston
The 48 Laws of Powerby Robert Greene
Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It by Tahl Raz
Connect with Kison Patel:
Website
Podcast
Amazon Store
Today’s guest on the Mads Singers Management Podcast is Jennifer Braganza. Jennifer is an engineer by profession, a strategic problem solver, and a process innovator, speaker, and coach. She is also the Head of iBusiness Process Management for Pontoon Solutions, where she leads a team that supports the organization with its projects. Jennifer has also been an entrepreneur since 2007, where she coaches engineers and teaches corporate professionals how to be innovators in a corporate environment and culture.
We spend most of our time at work, some with multiple jobs or business ventures, and we tend to get caught up on so many things and forget to acknowledge and recognize those who help us run our businesses. However, many business managers and leaders tend to wait until the last minute before giving their employees feedback; and this is why Jennifer advocates for workplace recognition, one-to-ones, team huddles, and team meetings. Doing all these makes them feel valued, boosts their confidence, and increases productivity.
While there is nothing wrong with hiring externally for leadership roles, it can increase the risk of mistakes and problems for your business; however, we can minimize that risk by investing and developing the employees we currently have.
Encourage your team by measuring things that matter to them, don’t be afraid to try out new things with your team, and if they don’t like it, you can always stop. Allow your team to help you build the company culture. Instead of doing everything yourself, make sure you get input from your team on how they want things to be done or create a workplace and culture that allows them to grow and develop.
Key Learning Points:
- Jennifer says she is a massive advocate for recognition. She has weekly meetings with her staff to recognize good things during the week. It doesn’t have to be that big as well. - 03:31
- Jennifer adds that she noticed an improvement with her employees when they received recognition from their peers. She continues that leaders and managers should practice recognizing their employees and giving them enough positive feedback - 05:33
- Jennifer says that while she enables a positive team culture, she says it is not her alone who acts out a positive team culture because her employees help make this team culture felt. - 07:30
- Mads says that business owners should prepare their employees for the next job because they are better as your next manager than hiring someone outside. - 12:15
- Mads observed that many business owners complain that they cannot find the right fit for their following managers. However, he says that if you invest and develop your employees, you can easily find someone who will fit that role. - 12:17
- In hiring, Jennifer says that she often looks for a candidate that will be the glue of the team rather than an individual player- 18:08
- She recommends using DiSC to help you find good team players. - 19:09
- While it may seem ideal to have a team that thinks, talk, and act like you, Jennifer says it’s essential to have different kinds of people in your team to help you see things differently. However, you can have one person who is like you and have them act as your translator to the group so your instructions or tasks will be understood easily. - 21:32
- Mads shares when he hired people where no one was like him and how he struggled with doing most analytical tasks and found it hard to delegate.- 22:33
- Jennifer says that you should allow your team to help you build the company culture. -27:29
Resources Mentioned
Mentoring for Employees
Books on Gratitude
Connect with Jennifer Braganza:
Facebook Page
Exponential Success Website
Center for Entrepreneurship Website
My guest for this episode of the Mads Singers Management Podcast is the ambitious introvert Tasneem Ali. Tasneem is an authentic leadership coach at Fervent Living and the Client Director for Online Audience Measurement at IPSOS. As an ambitious introvert herself, Tasneem loves helping her fellow introverts grow in their way while growing in their career by creating an authentic leadership presence.
Most of the time, new business owners will hire people in their likeness or those who resemble their personalities and traits in one way or another. While this may seem like an excellent way to get the ball rolling, it can create problems later on, mainly if a conflict arises in the company or workplace; this can lead to severe issues with your staff and even investors if not checked. However, to win at having the right team, one has to hire right, and in doing that, one has to understand what they are as a person, what kind of people you work well with, and who you are looking for.
While there are tons of ways to look for people, whether it's using a recruitment agency to look for potential employees or looking for them by yourself, but regardless of what method you will be using, winning at hiring the right people is by making sure you get your write down your job description clearly and what kind of people you want for the job.
And since we are dealing with people, we should also treat our employees as human beings.
Business owners tend to have a rather unhealthy obsession with themselves and only care about their business, thus neglecting their people because they can be easily replaced. While investing in your team members can be time-consuming, the rewards you will reap will be great.
Spend time to identify your employees' strengths by either a.) taking strength-finder tests, b.) asking them because people generally know what they are good at or what they are interested in, and lastly c.) observing working closely with them.
Key Learning Points:
- Tasneem says that an essential step in winning or getting things right is by hiring the right people - 01:30
- Tasneem says that when hiring right, one should understand who they are, what kind of people we work well with, and who you are looking for. - 02:08
- While experience is an essential requirement, Tasneem adds that business owners and managers should look beyond the CV of potential employees and look at their characteristics and see if they can work well with you and who you are looking for. - 02:16
- Mads says it's not just about hiring someone good but also understanding what fits you as an individual and understanding the role. - 03:50
- Tasneem says that when building your network, business owners should join associations and trade bodies that are relevant to your business because not only will you be updated with the latest trends and information in your niche but because you will quickly get recommendations of people who you can work with - 09:05
- Mads shares how he uses LinkedIn to his advantage when traveling. He reaches out to people by opening his LinkedIn and messaging random people in the area he is visiting. He adds that this has allowed him to meet great friends and allies who he will likely never meet if he didn't reach out at all. - 10:17
- Tasneem says that business owners should foster an environment where employees are committed to working where they feel that they belong and contribute to the success of their organization. - 16:08
- Tasneem talks about how people are not giving feedback well; she builds a strong team because she is very open and forward. But how we deliver feedback should also matter to allow a shift in people's mindset. - 19:35
- Mads says that the value of a company is in its people, and the more you increase the skillset of your people, the more valuable your company has, the more your company's worth increases, the more you will have happier clients. - 22:33
- Tasneem says that business owners should put people first because when you put people first, they put your business first. - 22:42
Resources Mentioned:
Blog
Connect with Tasneem Ali:
Today’s guest for this episode of the Mads Singers Management Podcast is Eric Spencer.
Eric is the COO for SkyeTeam, a boutique leadership development consultancy based in Denver, Colorado. Although the company has been around since 2007, it wasn’t until 2011 when Eric came on board. He has worked for several companies, including technology, hardware and software, startups, and even Fortune 50 companies.
Eric’s passion is helping companies, organizations, teams, groups, and individuals improve as leaders, managers, coaches, mentors, and human beings.
Many business owners tend to come up with many ideas from time to time, whether it’s a new business venture, a new investment, a new invention, or even a new way of doing things. However, while these may sound good, it won’t be successful if business owners and entrepreneurs won’t develop their staff.
Eric shares his Two-Five-Fifteen (2-5-15) system where: 2 is about face-to-face meetings on Zoom, five is for five reach-outs using either phone calls, LinkedIn messaging, and emails or whatever may seem convenient for you and your potential client, and lastly, 15 where your goal is to get 15 reach outs sent for the day.
In the spirit of Zig Ziglar, you will get more of the things you want by helping other people get the things they wish to. This also allows you to reciprocate things and favors quickly and is a surefire way to fill your karma bucket in an instant.
Many managers and business owners tend to fix broken things. They need to realize that that’s not their job. Instead, they should focus on those who want feedback as their interest is higher and on a much faster scale than those who are contented with their current state.
While it may seem awkward for the first time, business owners and leaders should invest time with their staff because it’s the people stuff that will bring success to your business or whatever venture you may have in your cards.
Allow your staff to set the frequency on when they want to talk with you. These relationship pulse checks can help you know your team better and have them perform better.
Key Learning Points:
- Eric says that you can have the best widgets in your workspace, but if you don’t get the people stuff right, it won’t get you where you need to be. - 03:16
- Mads says that the critical thing when building relationships is to have an open mind. - 06:34
- Mads says that from his experience, the best way to sell is not by handing someone your business card but rather by building solid relationships. - 07:22
- Eric says that the initial volley when reaching out to someone is not about selling your products but rather opening a channel on that person’s radar. Once you have established a connection, you can then share to that person that you are looking for a gig, a new client, or whatever your objective. - 10:56
- Mads says it’s about providing value to people, helping people, and connecting people to the right person or venue. - 11:55
- Mads says that when you are on a mission to help others, it’s usually not about the present moment but the future. - 15:03
- Eric says that it’s okay to be vulnerable and that it shouldn’t be seen as a sign of weakness, especially in the American or Western setting - 20:33
- Mads says that it’s essential to have strong relationships with your team. He shares about his one-to-one framework - 26:36
- Mads says that if you want the most out of yourself, you should focus on what you are good at instead of what you are not good at. - 29:30
- Eric says it’s essential to invest in relationships, have one-on-one’s, let your employee choose the frequency on how they want to have their one-on-one’s. Have a relationship pulse check with your employees. - 47:41
Resources Mentioned:
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable by Patrick M. Lencioni
Cultivate: The Power of Winning Relationships by Morag Barett
Brene Brown on the Power of Vulnerability(TED Talk)
Better Work Together (Coming this October 2022)
Connect with Eric Spencer:
Website
SkyeTeam Twitter
The Corporate Bartender
SkyeTeam YouTube Channel
My guest for today's episode of the Mads Singers Management Podcast is Tony Jalan; Tony has been in sales and sales management for 24 years & has also worked with John C. Maxwell, where he has learned tons of lessons. As an executive leader, he helps develop sales leaders in all businesses by connecting them to the right tools, resources, and people to help them live out their best lives.
Like management, many business owners tend to expect a lot when they hire their first salesperson or employee. However, this is when many new managers and leaders fail because, in most cases, new managers and leaders do not get the support they need and want, compared to entry-level roles and positions. Now, rather than getting upset or angry, business owners and leaders should take a step back and create a list that has everything necessary to them, no matter how small or insignificant they may seem. Even if you don't precisely know those things, it's essential to set some boundaries and your goals.
You may also consider soft skills when onboarding your first employee. Add a little challenge like Tony, where he likes to give assignments during the onboarding process to know if the person is the right fit for the job. It's also essential to make potential employees feel welcomed; because, like you, your employees have their own goals. Schedule them in for some one-on-one's to get to know them better.
Eighty percent (80%) of your thoughts today will repeat themselves tomorrow. You can try journaling (this is a reminder to try my hand at journaling) to vent or be thankful for the small accomplishments you have made during the day. This way, you can look back at your entries and see what things you can improve when you have a rough patch, whether in your business or personal life. And always remember, WAIT - Why Am I Talking? When we talk, we talk of what we know, but when we listen, we are learning.
Key Learning Points:
- Tony says that business owners and managers should be able to layout specific expectations of their own when hiring their first employee. - 05:19
- Tony adds that even if you don't know what things are important to you, you should consider relatability and other aspects when you hire your first employee so that things will work smoothly. - 05:38
- Mads says that business owners should make potential employees welcomed- 08:44
- Tony says that business owners and leaders should also understand what's important to their employees, like what their goals are- 10:02
- Tony mentions Nick Saban, the coach of the Alabama Football Team, and shares that when the coach recruits new players, he asks them what they want and what their goals are. He then adds that once you get the answer, you get their heart, allowing you to coach their minds. - 11:09
- Tony shares a quote: The average players want to be left alone, the good players want to be coached, the great players want to be told the truth. - 12:55
- Tony says that we should be mindful of our language because what we say matters a lot - 15:10
- When asked by Mads if there are ways to salvage a relationship, Tony says it's best to own it and accept the fact that it's happening rather than be defensive about it, and while it may be a tough pill to swallow, but it creates a culture where people will own up their mistakes. - 17:40
- Tony shares a quote: Delegation without direction leads to disappointment. - 20:22
- Tony recommends journaling because it allows you to practice gratitude. He says it's the best self-help book you will pick up. - 25:08
Resources Mentioned:
The Ultimate Sales Machine: Turbocharge Your Business with Relentless Focus on 12 Key Strategies by Chet Holmes
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
Connect with Tony:
Blog
Today's guest for the Mads Singers Management Podcast is Lincoln Kokaram. Lincoln is a keynote speaker and the former director and vice president of Jaycee International. Although he was already living the good life, Lincoln says that divine intervention plucked him out of paradise and set him on course for more incredible things. Because of these experiences, Lincoln found his true calling in leadership development and management development. Also a coach, Lincoln specializes in passion because he believes that people who have the passion for what they do will excel in life.
While we can do almost everything, those who have passion are much more productive than their peers who go through life. They excel in life as they work smarter and are not a slave to their business. Although keeping tabs on your employees' progress may be a decisive move to some, Lincoln says that this is not the way to go, but instead, business owners should trust their employees and let them do their work at their own pace and use their techniques. Focusing on the results allows your employees to grow and prove you wrong. Micromanaging isn't going to help you, your employees, and your business to grow and flourish.
Delegate as much as possible to your employees so you can focus on essential things. People will only become successful if they take ownership and responsibility for their works and actions. Knowledge only becomes power when we apply it constructively and positively instead of simply storing information in our brains (although this may come in handy during game night with the boys). Just like learning, growing as a person isn't a one-time thing, and it doesn't have to be rushed either because we have our techniques and ways that are unique to us.
Key Learning Points:
- After mentioning the I'm OK, You're OK book by Thomas Harris, Lincoln says that we are not OK and shouldn't settle for that because we are meant to be great. - 02:25
- Lincoln says that people who have passion for what they do will excel in what they do. - 02:46
- Lincoln adds that business owners should focus on the results rather than the process or techniques because we all have different approaches - 06:13
- When it comes to delegation, Lincoln says that business owners should give their employees the authority to do things their way and let them know that you are there to support them, not when you think you need the support. - 06:33
- Mads says that when you give people ownership of their work, they will develop better ways to do things. - 07:55
- Mads challenges business owners: How much of your time do you spend on your people? - 15:20
- Even as a coach, Mads believes that teaching is the best way to learn because you also get to know many things from different people and industries. - 20:31
- Mads says that the best way to learn is having ownership and taking responsibility - 26:16
- Lincoln says that the "Knowledge is Power" quote is bullshit because knowledge only becomes power when applied positively and constructively. - 28:57
- Instead of being the expert, Mads says that business owners should let their staff grow up and mature their mindset. - 33:33
Resources Mentioned:
I'm OK, You're OKby Thomas A. Harris
Verse for the Day: More Than Just Another Daily Devotional!By Lincoln S. Kokaram
Peopledemics (Writing in Progress) by Lincoln S. Kokaram
"You are the star in the movie of your life; make every day an Oscar-winning performance."
- Lincoln S. Kokaram
Connect with Lincoln Kokaram:
Website
Thriftbooks
YouTube
Today, my guest for the Mads Singers Management Podcast is Paul Rodney Turner, social entrepreneur, author, and food yogi.
Paul is the CEO of the Kindly Ecosystem (also known as the Kindly Coin), intended to be the world's first social-impact cryptocurrency simultaneously sold on the Ethereum (ETH) and Binance Smart Chain (BSC) Blockchains. He is also the founder and president of feedOM. His mission is to help socially- responsible and conscious companies and consumers participate in a mutually profitable, output measurable humanitarian effort to end child hunger, animal abuse, and deforestation. He is also the president and founder of Food for Life Global and a caretaker for his wife's animal sanctuary.
Unlike traditional entrepreneurship, where people focus on earning a profit, social entrepreneurship focuses on creating social impact in a community, society, and even companies. The money a social entrepreneur makes will usually be used for their projects or programs before themselves because they are purpose-driven instead of money-driven.
While it may seem new, Paul believes that more companies and even entrepreneurs will adopt this mindset because Paul believes that more people are concerned about others and would instead care about causes.
And with new technologies popping up, such as the blockchains, this will allow better transactions between the customers and companies. Despite being in an interconnected world, many of us have not been connected with our own selves because we are bombarded with information. However, once we recognize what energies are at play in our lives, we can control them and harness the fuel to work for us instead of against us. While many think of confidence as a quick burst of energy where it can be easily acquired, Paul says that we should change our mindset about it where it's seen as a physical productivity hack, but rather see it from a spiritual perspective and see ourselves like that of gods but in a smaller capacity.
While many people tend to use material or physical things as markers of wealth, one cannot have a fulfilling life if one does not get in tune with their spiritual side. We don't need to go to the most significant churches or temples. Simply pausing from time to time or helping others can get us in touch with our spiritual side.
Key Learning Points:
- Because of his experience with India's hospitality culture, Paul says that we should accept that we are more than just bodies, and we have spiritual energies that we need to pay attention to. - 02:14
- Paul says that if you put your heart into something passionate about, the money will come to you. - 06:41
- Paul says that our mind can either be our worse enemy or our best friend. - 17:53
- Paul shares an excerpt from the Bhagavad Gita where he relates it on how the mind can be challenging to control, but with discipline, one can take control of their mind and make their mind your best friend. - 18:41
- Mads says that confidence is showing ourselves what we're capable of doing. - 26:33
- Mads adds that confidence is not about showing what you can do to other people but rather showing yourself that you are capable. - 27:00
- Paul says that confidence is a quality that needs to be cultivated. - 29:41
- Paul says that the more pure your thoughts are, the more focused you become gives you a better chance to tap into the higher spiritual frequencies and get a better understanding of your true self and self-realization. - 36:33
- Paul says that every successful company today has a clearly defined mission, vision, and story. - 39:09
- Paul says that if you are not purpose-driven, you will not leave a positive legacy in the world, and you won't be happy. - 40:13
Resources Mentioned:
Bhagavad Gita(Shrimad Bhagavad Gita)
Soul Power: 5 Noble Truths for a Successful Life by Paul Rodney Turner
The YOGA of POOL: Secrets to Becoming a Champion in Billiards and in Life. The book that teaches you how to play pool like a boss! by Paul Rodney Turner
StoryBrand by Donald Miller
Connect with Paul:
Website
Personal Consulting and Workshops
Social Entrepreneuship
YouTube Channel
Charity
Joining me today from Dublin, Ireland, for this episode of the Mads Singers Management Podcast is the owner of Arlo Blue, Sinead Kearns.
Initially, a teacher who worked in a school for the disadvantaged, Sinead loved her job. However, being an ambitious person made her seek better opportunities.
Remembering her father's advice on being your boss, Sinead went back to her roots and thought of what path to take. Naturally passionate about sports and fashion, Sinead took the plunge because she wanted to provide high-quality clothing at reasonable prices.
Often, many business owners believe that they need to know everything to start a business. While this may be true initially, you don't need to continue on this path, especially if it takes up most of your time. Learn to delegate small tasks to your staff even if you are starting to focus your energy on building and developing your business. Later down the road, you can bring in experts who lighten the burden and help your business grow.
(Refer to Episode 97 where Nicolene Elhadad talked about having a super team) No matter how small or stupid, asking questions may help you see clearer and set you on the right path or give you the best lessons.
Starting a business is all about taking risks. However, it can improve lives and even give you fame or fortune when done right. While those closest around you only want the best for you, they may not be necessarily equipped with the knowledge and experience of businesses. However, even if you fail a business venture, you can use this as a stepping stone in a future job search or take lessons from it to start again.
Sometimes, we may get rejected by others or make mistakes. However, this doesn't mean that it's the end of the world. It can allow us to take a step back and come back with a better strategy. We should also ask for help or share our problems because many people are willing to help even in the most simple ways.
Key Learning Points:
- Mads says that management is such a critical self-development journey- 07:18
- Sinead mentions Gwyneth Paltrow as an inspiration where there would be no stupid questions or where she would be ashamed to ask questions. - 07:36
- Sinead says that it's essential for business owners to be open to learning, that they are learning and want to learn all the time, even if she has to ask obvious questions. - 08:13
- Mads says that business owners who tend to pretend they know everything even if they don't are a great way to make many mistakes. - 08:48
- Sinead recommends approaching someone ahead of you and asking them to be your mentor. - 09:39
- Mads says that people shouldn't be discouraged, especially when receiving feedback from their friends or family. While people who love you and care about you want the best for you, they may not necessarily know anything about starting a business. - 12:11
- Sinead says that when you can (and if you can), start hiring experts to make your business run smoothly. - 20:08
- Sinead says that it's essential to be honest with your staff, especially if you make mistakes or if your business is facing challenges. - 23:42
- Mads says that we shouldn't be ashamed to ask for help or share our problems because we are more likely to get and receive support from people. - 25:40
- Mads says that when you have a good network, people love to help- 25:29
Resources Mentioned:
The Common Path to Uncommon Success: A Roadmap to Financial Freedom and Fulfillmentby John Lee Dumas
Entrepreneurs on Fire Podcastwith John Lee Dumas
The One Thing Podcast
Connect with Sinead:
Website
Joining me in today's episode for the Mads Singers Management Podcast is none other than entrepreneur-at-heart, super mom of 3 boys is Sheri Miter!
Before finding her calling, Sheri joined her husband in his chimney cleaning business for ten years. While she was helping her husband on his side gig, Sheri eventually got into network marketing, where she found that she enjoyed doing it. Despite succeeding in this field and achieving a lot, Sheri felt this angst inside her and looked for something she could call her own. Unlike most people during the COVID-19 pandemic, Sheri was prepared for the abrupt changes the pandemic brought along. She even had solutions to help her friends, and because of this, going back to finding the strengths of other people and getting certified, and combined with the support of her husband, Sheri discovered her true calling.
Contrary to the fact that we humans should be well-rounded, Sheri believes that we aren't meant to be well-rounded (and it's completely okay not to know everything!) because we are linear. However, instead of dwelling on our weaknesses, we can build a well-rounded team that will support us in reaching our goals. Doing so allows both you and your team members to show up as the best versions of themselves!
You can learn more about your strengths and weakness through DiSC and by taking the CliftonStrengths test by Gallup. This can also be used to assess your team.
While most see talents such as singing, dancing, or playing well in sports, many of us have innate talents buried deep within and are often unacknowledged. However, once we acknowledge them, we can bring out the best versions of ourselves, but only if we spend time and invest in those innate talents.
Despite the negative connotation that millennials get for the Great Resignation movement, they are the ones who are brave enough to pursue what has been going on for several generations before they could only dream of. And while some business owners may try to fight it because many still believe that the old way of doing things is the best, leaders should embrace this new change because we are headed for a much better future.
Key Learning Points:
- Mads says he is a massive believer in understanding your strengths and weaknesses because it shows you where you have more value and what tasks to delegate. - 04:43
- Sheri encourages taking the Gallup Strengths test because it tells you your strengths, showing how you naturally think, feel, and behave. - 05:46
- Sheri adds that we show up as our best selves once we know our strengths, especially our top 10. - 06:43
- Sheri says that we humans aren't meant to be well-rounded but relatively linear; we are made the way we are - 11:21
- Mads says that business owners shouldn't hire people who resemble them- 12:25
- Sheri says that assessments like DiSC and the CliftonStrenghts help us see ourselves differently because we don't acknowledge our innate talents.- 14:04
- Sheri adds that once we discover our talents, we should invest in them and spend time working on them, just like how athletes train themselves. - 15:16
- Mads shares that he likes giving feedback during his coaching sessions because it's often neglected, and giving feedback effectively can help make a person perform better. - 21:23
- Mads says that while the COVID-19 pandemic is a tragedy, it made many people reevaluate what to do with their lives and begin thinking differently. - 26:55
- Sheri agrees that COVID has changed the world. Rather than wearing the "busy badge," she and other people reflected on themselves and worked effectively. - 28:44
Resources Mentioned:
CliftonStrengths (Gallup Strengths Finder)
Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink
Connect with Sheri:
Website
Direct Message (Messenger)
Podcast Website: (Navigating Your Leadership)
- Also available on Spotify, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Podchaser
Today’s guest in the Mads Singers Management Podcast is none other than the sales evangelist, Donald C. Kelly! Donald runs an organization called The Sales Evangelist, where he and his team create a podcast and other business resources. He used to be a software sales rep who was very successful in his career. Donald shared what was working for him and enabled him to get coaching opportunities, speaking opportunities, and even consulting to companies where it grew. Now Donald has 14 individual teams where they do consult and sales training with their clients. He is also the host of The Sales Evangelist Podcast, where he and his team product podcasts for their clients.
Although it’s common for business owners to pass the torch to the next generation to focus on more critical business tasks, it cannot be successful if one does not delegate duties and responsibilities effectively. Effective delegation enables business owners, and managers must be able to plan efficiently.
While the pandemic has allowed more people and businesses to be flexible, it has also made more people become easily distracted because many people are working from their homes and can easily be pulled into rabbit holes. Donald shares his top 3 things on how people can manage their time better: (1.) Focus on the essential things on your list first (2.) Breaking down your time to 15 to 30 minutes to get things done, allowing room for error, and lastly (3.) Allowing yourself to have time for fun.
While the new normal may seem scary for most people, we can take small steps to improve our quality of life, whether at work or at home. While a schedule can help fast track a project or close a business deal, entrepreneurs shouldn’t focus on how much time is being spent on a particular task or project but rather on the output instead. Of course, you’ll need to communicate this clearly with your staff or team members.
Key Learning Points:
- Donald shares his top 3 tips on how business owners can manage their time efficiently:
- (1) Planning and categorizing your days, (2) Give yourself 15-30 minutes chunks of time and giving yourself room for error, and (3) Have time for yourself to have fun and plan your day before. - 06:31
- Mads agrees that many business owners and entrepreneurs tend to do too many things for their business, but it doesn’t help their business move or grow at all - 11:26
- Mads adds that people should know and focus on their core priorities and make sure that they work on things or tasks that help move them closer to their goals.- 12:06
- Donald says that business owners shouldn’t push something off to a person if they don’t know what’s supposed to be done. - 12:38
- Mads says that it’s better to delegate the things you don’t know to other people when growing a big business instead of figuring it out by yourself. - 13:59
- Mads says that too many people focus on the process instead of the outcome - 19:30
- Donald says that while we can fill up our calendars, it’s essential to use your time effectively and allow some room for error. - 24:12
- Donald adds that people should do a daily recap when their work ends to be ready for the next day. - 24:24
- Donald shares that it’s essential for business owners and managers to plan a fun time for themselves and their team, especially with the world dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and adjusting to a new normal in life. - 25:06
- Donald says that it’s essential for you to nurture this culture to your team or staff, especially with many working remotely, so that things will flow more smoothly. - 26:53
Resources Mentioned:
15 Secrets Successful People Know About Time Management: The Productivity Habits of 7 Billionaires, 13 Olympic Athletes, 29 Straight-A Students, and 239 Entrepreneurs by Kevin Kruse
The 12 Week Year: Get More Done in 12 Weeks than Others Do in 12 Monthsby Brian P. Moran
Donald’s planner template
Connect with Donald:
Facebook Group
The Sales Evangelist Podcast
Website
We’re doing something a little different for this week’s episode in the Mads Singers Management Podcast because this week’s guest is none other than Dr. Emil Goliath, a doctor, and entrepreneur. Dr. Emil worked for four years as a full-time doctor until he decided to call it quits and become an entrepreneur as he was fed up with the system of modern healthcare, and he didn’t have the freedom to live the life he wanted.
While entrepreneurs are undoubtedly the kings and queens of delayed gratification, Dr. Emil said that he witnessed countless times where entrepreneurs have neglected their health only to reach the peak and be in bad shape. Instead of doing extreme workouts and crash dieting, we can take baby steps that can help shift us to at least 1 degree towards being healthy because getting fit and staying in shape shouldn’t be a competition yourself or others.
It’s like building a new habit or replacing an old one with a good one where we slowly start until it eventually becomes a lifestyle. Although many attribute speed and taking on several things at once with entrepreneurship, it isn’t a practical way to succeed with your goals, especially in today’s world where we are constantly bombarded by faux practical advice easily shared through our social media platforms. Nowadays where it’s often paired with aggressive marketing to sell us products that promise to deliver instant results. And because such things bombard us, we tend to overeat the food and information we see around us.
We don’t need to do drastic things immediately, like going on a crash diet or going from 0 to 100 when exercising. Instead, we can do small and gradual stuff until we get used to them. And with things slowly opening up worldwide, we can try joining a class or going to the gym. It’s also essential to hire a personal trainer to know what you are doing and get the best results possible. With such busy schedules, we entrepreneurs must have flexible routines as much as possible. However, just because it’s flexible doesn’t mean we should allow other things to overlap, and we completely forget about it.
Key Learning Points:
- Dr. Emil says that health is a massive part of the hustle and our lives, that it is intrinsically connected. - 04:23
- Instead of doing extreme exercises or crash diets, Dr. Emil says that we should ask ourselves what small things we can do today can shift us to 1 degree towards being healthy. - 05:07
- Rather than doing all things at once, Mads says that entrepreneurs should take the slow and gradual way instead- 05:45
- Dr. Emil shares about the 80/20 rule, where although it sounds cliche, he says that we should do things that have more bang for our buck because when we start with things that make the most impact, even small changes can give us a positive effect. - 07:29
- Dr. Emil says that one of the best ways to intentionality, especially in eating, is being aware of your food and tracking your food. - 11:46
- While data is essential in making choices and changes in life, we shouldn’t overanalyze it. Instead, we can improve our relationship with the information we have. - 17:37
- Mads uses sugary food as an example and how it impacted him. He then says that once you realize how it affects you, it will be easier for you to be aware of its effects and become more conscious when presented with another opportunity. - 21:19
- Dr. Emil recommends building an easy exercise routine that you can do regardless of where you are and combining it with some resistance and strength training- 30:23
- Dr. Emil continues that doing optimal exercise is almost moot, especially if you don’t commit yourself to it. - 30:55
- While many struggles with being consistent in their workout routines, Dr. Emil suggests that it’s better to give 20% every day when working out rather than pushing for 75% or 100% for five years and achieving minimal results. - 35:14
Resources Mentioned:
The Four Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat-Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman by Timothy Ferris
Connect with Emil:
Website
Facebook Page
Dr. Emil Nutrition Website
My guest today for the Mads Singers Management Podcast, is Renata Porter, the Founder of Renata Porter Limited and a motivational speaker. Renata calls herself a "serial fixer" because she is the one people call when their teams or managers are not working how they intend to. She also helps small business owners and non-profit youth sports clubs accomplish their goals. Renata and her team's in-depth knowledge and experience with their "people focus" help clients take intentional and meaningful approaches to lead in their respective fields and organizations.
Contrary to popular belief, managers, business owners, or any person who manages people or has people report to them perform better when not in their area of expertise. When people are in their area of expertise, they tend to interfere with the natural flow of things and micromanage their staff or processes.
An essential aspect of being a manager or business leader is not about the perks, power, or money you take home. Still, it's about being able to communicate with your employees so you can get them motivated to work by putting their best performance forward. Take the time to get feedback from them. If they don't give you feedback, consider it a lesson learned, as it will quickly tell you which employee is having problems and needs helps or who has something to say. However, this doesn't mean you have to be their best friend but rather have a good enough relationship with them to be told if they need to render extra hours or pick up some slack if they are falling behind at work.
As a manager and business owner, you need to be aware of how you approach people because not everyone is on the same wavelength as you: some are naturally more inclined to start independently. In contrast, others may prefer to be given direction. While some fear that management styles may change or revert to their old ways, I don't believe that will happen because you will encounter fewer of those kinds of problems when you hire well. We cannot communicate enough. It's okay to share a lot because communicating effectively isn't just about talking but also listening, clarifying, understanding, and not jumping into decisions or conclusions hastily.
Key Learning Points:
- Mads says that one of his favorite things is when people work in an area/expertise that they don't know well because it allows them to work more efficiently than when working on their area of expertise. After all, they tend to interfere with the processes. - 03:18
- Renata says that many managers tend to get sucked in the "doing" part instead of focusing on the leadership roles - 03:45
- Renata says that she is the kind of person who will sit down and discover why someone feels a certain way with their tasks or projects. - 05:22
- Renata believes that business owners, managers, or anyone who handles and manages people should connect with them on some level. - 07:09
- Mads says that the most important thing a manager will do is build relationships with their staff. - 08:30
- Renata says that most companies don't spend time training someone to be a manager, but when they do, their employees' training is high, making it harder for employees to relate to. - 10:14
- Mads says that managers and business owners need to develop their staff as the people they will need for the future- 13:57
- Mads says that companies should have a more holistic approach when it comes to planning where the whole organization is involved - 15:37
- Renata says that the perception of people in management is often skewed. That's why it's essential to build a bridge between management and the staff. - 21:32
- Mads shares that networking is the best way to find the best people before you hire them - 37:19
Resources Mentioned:
Leadership and Self-Deception: Getting Out of the Box by the Arbinger Institute
Connect with Renata:
Website
Non-profit Sports Club Website
Joining me today on the Mads Singers Management Podcast is Itai Sadan, CEO, and Co-Founder of Duda, the leading white-label website builder for digital marketing agencies and SAAS platforms. Trusted by over 15,000 and counting agencies, SaaS platforms, freelancers, and even small businesses use Duda on a day-to-day basis to build their businesses and their digital presence. At 11 years old, Duda has over a million paying subscribers and 200 employees, and seven offices (and growing!)
Starting a business, regardless if it’s your first or your hundred, can be a struggle, especially during this COVID-19 pandemic where many of our norms were suddenly flipped overnight and where we had to quickly adapt to the many changes that unfolded with the flip of a switch.
Despite the challenges, COVID-19 has also allowed new ideas to take form and change the face of business.
You will have sleepless nights, working long nights, and anxiety when you are working towards your first million. However, this will eventually become easier down the road. This then allows you to cope much better when it comes to scaling up or reaching your next goal, whether it’s your first billion, another branch, or even a new business venture altogether. However, you can breeze through most challenges when you have the right partner, but in finding the right partner, you’ll need to set clear goals and expectations since you will be spending most of your time with them.
For a business venture to succeed, sometimes we need to bring in or hire chemistry with ourselves and our staff through conducting one-on-one’s with each of your staff or sending out a newsletter every month where highlights and updates are being made aware. Doing this allows you and your company to move as one to take on challenges together rather than having one person deal with something and shoot at it blindly.
Key Learning Points:
- Itai says that even though the COVID-19 pandemic has been challenging to some people, it allowed him and other businesses to flourish by creating new ways to connect. - 3:08
- Itai says it’s essential to have a good partner when starting a business. - 07:24
- Mads likens partnership to marriage because you will be spending most of your time with your business partner.- 08:34
- Mads stresses the importance of having a solid conversation with your partner- 11:23
- Itai adds that business leaders and owners should have clear roles and responsibilities for their staff. - 12:40
- Itai says that once you start taking money from investors, it becomes another relationship with your partner, staff, and others.- 21:22
- Itai says that the experience you are bringing on board is much more important than the actual money. - 25:43
- Itai shares how one employee told him that there was no transparency in the company, and it made him realize that he needed to put in the effort to keep everyone in the loop. - 28:02
- Mads says that when promoting someone internally, even if you don’t have much budget to get them the best courses or training, you need to go out and do something to invest in them somehow. While they can learn at their own pace, it may take them longer, and however, when you invest in them, you will be reaping great rewards. - 34:51
- Itai says that it doesn’t matter if you’re the squad leader and a great shooter because that is still one rifle shooting in one direction. You’ll need ten rifles shooting in the right direction, reminiscing about his army days in Israel before he started Duda. - 39:27
Connect with Itai:
Company LinkedIn
Company Website
Company Twitter
Facebook Page
YouTube
Today, my guest on the Mads Singers Management Podcast is none other than Mark A. Grainger, the co-founder and CMO of BigImpactHQ.
We begin this episode where Mark shares a story from his childhood where he was on a fishing trip with his family and witnessed a whale approach their boat. As the whale was coming, Mark felt fear. However, the whale went silent and retreated into the waters.
This experience amazed Mark when he was younger; however, looking back at it led Mark to realize that all living things desire to communicate.
Mark works together with his wife to help frustrated women leaders who love speaking where they show them how to overcome their self-doubt.
I’m a firm believer in working on one’s natural strengths because it allows you to perform and work better and be happier. With many people working in jobs that don’t like but fill their pockets, it can be easy to bring the negative energy they have in their workplace and influence the people around them to perform poorly. However, when negative habits or thoughts can no longer be controlled, they should seek help from a professional and work on it. When it comes to communication, our words are compelling as they can seduce, inspire, and even start wars; what we say can impact another person. The words we say to ourselves can often bring us down and even cast doubt on ourselves. However, we have the power to change that by changing what we say.
Our mind creates situations or an operating system that allows us to thrive or sets us up to fail; however, when we have mastered the art of fulfillment, no matter what happens to us, we will end up okay and see the world in a much better light. Still, we must be very discerning about what we allow in our minds because our operating system comes from a place of truth. Ideally, relationships are carefree. However, there will come a time when we will be pushing each other’s buttons or, better yet - polishing each other’s diamonds, and once we see what a relationship is for, we don’t get tied in with the thought of how things are supposed to happen.
Key Learning Points:
-
Mark says that entrepreneurs must always have something to work on because they start to see what gets in their way as leaders and entrepreneurs. - 04:15
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Mark says that having a business is like personal development on steroids. - 04:32
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Mads says that personal development is crucial, but he observes that many people constantly develop their weak areas instead of their stronger ones.- 05:12
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Mads says that you can work on if something is holding you back, such as poor communication skills. However, he says that most weaknesses aren’t holding you back because they can work around instead. - 05:44
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Mark says that words are powerful: they can seduce lovers, they can start wars. The words that we use are far more critical than any deployment channel. - 11:38
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Mark says that if you change what you say, you change your life- 12:02
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Mark says that the Persuasion Equation isn’t the influence, cast-a-spell-over-you-make-you-do-what-I-don’t want-you-to-do feeling. It’s a connection of inspiration where people are in spirit to do what they are called to do. - 16:25
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Mads shares his observation on why communication in a company sucks. He says that it’s because people communicate differently: some are keen on written communication, some are keen on verbal communication.- 17:39
-
Mark adds into Mads’ statement and says that leaders must know how to collide with others when communicating- 18:43
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Mads says that you can influence the world around you much more than you think- 30:39
Resources Mentioned:
What Got You Here, Won’t Get You Thereby Marshall Goldsmith
The Persuasion Equation: The Subtle Science of Getting Your Way by Mark Rodgers
No More Mr. Nice Guy: A Proven Plan for Getting What You Want in Love, Sex, and Life by Robert A. Glover
Find out what kind of speaker you are(quiz)
Connect with Mark:
Company Website
Company LinkedIn
Blog
YouTube
Today, joining me for this episode of the Mads Singers Management Podcast is Joseph Fung, the CEO, and Co-Founder of Uvaro, an online sales accelerator that helps sales professionals be more successful regardless of their specialty is. Based in Canada, Joseph is a lover of all things tech, software, and entrepreneurship.
We begin this episode where I admit that sales aren’t my thing and where I asked Joseph when it is the right time to hire your first sales rep for your company or business. Joseph agrees that sales can be complex because he has also struggled with his first companies. He shares how he tried to learn those skills quickly by going to ToastMasters and the BNI, where he learned how to make a pitch and do the proper handshake.
According to Joseph, unlike other careers where you can get accreditation, sales is different because you can’t just check the list. Instead of looking for someone who has all the credentials, Joseph says business owners should look for someone who knows their customers well.
While taking risks is part and parcel of starting a business, many entrepreneurs don’t tend to see its downside, especially when some of them have the privilege because they can have something to fall back on if their venture fails. Each of us has our interpretations when it comes to starting businesses. Some say we shouldn’t do business with our friends or families. Some will say that it isn’t wise to start a company with a stranger. Still, regardless if we have a good or bad experience, we should always take it as a learning experience.
Whether you choose to join BNI, ToastMasters, or whatever group is out there, you will reap more than what you have planted initially if you deliberately want to improve yourself. The sound energy you put out there will come back to you tenfold and even more! Although it may not be automatic, intentional improvements will significantly affect yourself and the people around you.
Key Learning Points:
- Joseph says that everyone looks for sales reps that have sold similar things before. While it can work, he says that it works better if you know your customer well. - 03:00
- In reply to Mads’ statement, Joseph says that even though top-level candidates or employees may produce good results, they may not necessarily have the same results for you. - 03:47
- Mads says that many business owners and entrepreneurs don’t tend to see the downside when taking a risk- 12:33
- Joseph shares that he has had both painful and sound experiences in business. However, both of them were all learning experiences - 18:36
- While being spontaneous is a good sign when starting a business, Mads cautions that business owners shouldn’t always change their ideas and products every week. - 21:37
- Joseph says that he is a firm believer in creating a workplace where one can thrive and have a healthy (work-life) balance - 22:24
- Joseph adds that it’s essential to have partners who have a similar level as you. - 22:43
- Mads says that the quality of people you surround yourself with matters. - 28:03
- Joseph says that when you put good energy out there, it comes back to you - 35:18
- Joseph says that if business owners and sales reps are deliberate about improving each step of the way, the effect will be compounding. - 39:39
Resources Mentioned:
Video Library of Uvaro
Connect with Joseph:
Website
Joining me today on the Mads Singers Management Podcast is none other than Allan Milham. Allan is the founder of Questage®, a leadership development company based in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. Allan has been working for the last 25 years with entrepreneurs and leaders with organizations worldwide.
He has helped people elevate their impact as a leader and understand the leadership brand that can help them get leverage in their careers.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us were affected and had to take a step back. However, to make an impact as a leader, Allan shares his tips on how business owners and leaders should be self-aware and observant with their pace during the day.
Allan believes we all have a different calling which can be tied with purpose so that a purpose title with a legacy then you got back at the end of the journey. We have challenges, and we need a leadership conversation to stay alive, focused, and it can happen during the conversation. Mads also adds that the more leaders, the better. The more people developed leaders, the better. Being a leader, you have to live your values, whatever they are.
A leader is not about leading but learning. We need to be humans who have a lot of curiosity over today's surroundings, join the team by encouraging discussions for better probabilities and take your time wherever you need time to contemplate. These are just simple motions with a significant effect on the environment and culture.
Key Learning Points:
- Allan shares how he was a late bloomer compared to his siblings where they had things figured out. - 01:27
- Allan shares how Questage allows leaders to find the pause they need and to be able to self-reflect - 03:31
- Allan continues that when leaders can pause and self-reflect, they can come up with better solutions and results. Team members are more excited to be around that team leader because they're slowing down, adjusting, and curious. - 03:44
- Mads shares that he dislikes the phrase "You should be working on your business, not in your business" because many people don't understand the word. - 04:30
- Allan says he holistically defines leadership: it's how you lead at home, how you lead with your family, and how you lead in your communities. - 05:34
- Allan shares that the new generation is demanding more of the Learner Leader type - 06:31
- Allan believes our calling is tied with purpose, journey, and legacy. - 18:25
- Mads says it's not easy to reverse roles, but you must be aware. - 22:40
- Allan says that our bodies are the messengers that let us know when we should take a break. - 23:59
- Mads is a fundamental believer where happiness is a choice but in also owning your destiny- 27:10
Resources Mentioned:
Enneagram
Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life by Richard Rohr
Connect with Allan:
Website
LinkedIn(Company Website)
Allan's LinkedIn
Today, joining me for this episode of the Mads Singers Management Podcast is none other than the resilient entrepreneur Michelle A. Mercier.
Michelle is a business coach, motivational speaker, and host of The Resilient Entrepreneur Podcast. Michelle is on a mission to bring back humanity in business because she believes that keeping things personal is suitable for businesses.
Michelle hopes to get rid of the "hustle and grind' and "badge of busy"' mindset because it has become a misguided norm in today's society where people fail to see how self-awareness and a healthy perspective can help them reach unlock their full potential.
We begin our talk where Michelle mentions a quote from Sheryl Sandberg on how being resilient is like a muscle where you can build it up and draw on it and become the person you're meant to be.
Although life is constant, it can throw us into some weird situations. With the universe notorious for throwing giant curve balls at us, Michelle aims to cultivate the right business mindset and soft skills to foster the resilience to succeed in a world with ever-changing circumstances. But being resilient isn't simply flicking a switch and things being okay instantly, and this is why we need to recognize that adversity and that it's okay not to be okay sometimes.
When learning new habits, people shouldn't underestimate the power of their old habits because they may relapse and go back to their old ways. However, a little progress can go a long way. One can practice bookending like Michelle does so that you won't be bombarded with so many thoughts to think of when you go to bed or be distracted while you work or spend time with your friends and family. These small things can change the way you show up to people, on stage, in front of your clients, friends, and even family. One can also challenge themselves by shaking up a few aspects of your life by learning a new skill or improving an existing one, but you shouldn't worry too much if you have missed a step in your routine or two, especially if things are out of your control.
Key Learning Points:
- Mads says that things only seem to be difficult because you haven't done it- 05:28
- Michelle says she isn't happy with the definition of "resilience" in the dictionary because the act itself requires some effort. She hopes that people will be more accepting of the mores of adversity to continue moving forward. - 06:42
- Michelle says that sometimes it's okay not to be okay. - 07:30
- Michelle adds that while some things may be out of your control, you will always choose your feelings or reactions. - 08:19
- Mads says that it's vital that we take full ownership of the things around us instead of blaming others. - 09:04
- Mads says that the only person who can turn your life around is yourself. - 09:36
- Michelle says that she believes that self-awareness should be the main criteria when running a company. - 12:39
- Michelle says that business owners should be in tune with their employees to know how to manage them properly. - 13:18
- Mads says that shooting down ideas from your staff is the worst thing a manager can do because it can make them less likely to share their thoughts and make them shut down. Even if it was a bad idea, acknowledge that they took the time to come up with an idea, and it is a benefit to your team. - 30:56
- When forming new habits, Michelle shares how she likes to bookend her days by journaling, exercising, or visualizing the day so that she won't be thinking of all the crap when she goes to bed. - 34:38
Resources Mentioned:
The Resilient Entrepreneur Podcast
Connect with Michelle:
Website
Joining me today on the Mads Singers Management Podcast is Jo Rawbone of Flourishing Introverts. Like myself, Jo is an introvert. However, she is the master of introverts and advocates for introverts in the workplace.
Jo is based in the United Kingdom and has been a management trainer and coach facilitator since 1987. Initially working for British Telecom, Jo left the company in 1994 to pursue her career. Although she has jokingly said that she is unemployable, Jo has focused and grown in her chosen niche. This has also made Jo mad enough because there were many negative connections in being an introvert. Many introverts were often shunned and excluded from meetings, team buildings, and even promotions compared to their extrovert peers.
Frequently, most extroverts will almost always be in a sales job or work as a salesperson. However, Jo believes that introverts can excel in being a salesperson because they tend to ask the right questions, which can pique a customer’s interest or immediately serve a customer what they need. But because of their shy and reserved nature, many employers tend to pass that opportunity to their more extroverted or outgoing peers even though they may not have enough experience or knowledge about the position.
While we need to get rid of our preconceived notions about what introverts and extroverts can have, I believe there are specific fields where introverts can excel. But rather than sorting out where people belong, let people find their comfort level to discover their strengths and weaknesses. Who knows, that person you’ve been putting in the back may be an undiscovered salesman.
As observed by Jo and me, most managers and business owners tend to hire people who share their likeness. It is also why at times, it fails to add variety to their team and adjust to the needs of their team accordingly.
While different people may want or seek other things, we must find what and where we are comfortable with to flourish in life. Although it may seem daunting at first, it’s essential that we take action rather than wait for the perfect conditions to set off our plans and goals.
Key Learning Points:
- Mads says it’s essential to get the right people in the right roles. - 03:36
- Jo believes that we should eliminate our preconceived notions about what jobs introverts and extroverts can have. - 04:32
- Mads believes that different teams need different styles of management- 07:53
- Jo shares that she likes to enable managers to flex and move elegantly between management and leadership styles so that they can fill what’s needed in that moment rather than bragging about who they are or what they are. - 08:47
- Mads says it’s crucial to utilize a person’s strengths as much as possible- 10:08
- Mads says that business owners should learn how to communicate with their staff even if they don’t seem the approachable type. - 11:05
- Jo says it’s essential to take note of where we get our energy from- 14:35
- Jo says that it’s not about getting out of our comfort zones but finding out what we are comfortable with, what’s on the outer edge, beyond that, and what’s way out there. - 17:20
- Jo adds that if we continue working on our outer edge, our comfort zone expands - 17:34
- Jo shares her mantra: Done is better than perfect. She adds that it’s vital that we take action first because we can continually refine our work and processes as we go along. 21:37
Resources Mentioned:
The Introverts Edge: How the Quiet and Shy Can Outsell Anyone: by Matthew Pollard with Derek Lewis
Connect with Jo:
Website
Facebook Group
Phone Number: +44 7860 194758
Joining me today on the Mads Singers Management Podcast is none other than David Gaines. David is the owner and CEO of La Terza Artisan Coffee Roasterie and the co-host of The Third Place Podcast.
Although La Terza has initially been from his friend, David bought the business, and it made him realize what a great cup of coffee was and how big of a difference it was to drink a well-made cup of coffee. While I'm not a fan of coffee, David believes that there is still room for me to change and have a cup of good coffee one day.
While people see coffee as a beverage, David sees it as a vehicle talks about being the third place and how coffee (and his coffee shop) became the third place where people from all walks of life can come together and hang out. This can also be where people can talk about uncomfortable topics or events they have in mind or witnessed personally.
A social enterprise or social business is defined as a business with specific social objectives that serve its primary purpose. These kinds of businesses usually maximize their profits and benefits to both society and the environment. Social enterprises generally use their profits to fund social programs such as feeding programs, free medical and dental checkups, skills and job training, or something as simple as offering free haircuts or food packages to help people in need. These kinds of businesses usually work together with their community to achieve their goals.
Whatever problem, no matter how small or big, an employee has at home, they will always carry it with them at work, and this reflects in their performance at work, which can affect the energy and flow of your business.
Although business owners don't necessarily need to provide everything for their employees, being aware of how your employee is doing and lending a hand can help steer them back in the right direction.
Spend time doing regular team buildings, Myers Briggs tests, and even DiSC assessments to find out how you and your employees can click together.
Although the COVID-19 pandemic has delayed some plans, David looks forward to seeing an employee-owned business in the next couple of years, where he and his teams can share the cake. Once you've established your ground rules, you will have a company culture where everyone has each other's backs no matter what comes their way.
Key Learning Points:
- David reminds us of the golden rule: treat other people how you want to be treated.- 04:35
- Mads says that business owners should love their competitors because the world is so big and it's much better to collaborate with the people around you instead of competing.- 09:06
- Mads says that when we focus on our competitors, we generate negative energy. - 09:27
- David says that the happier our employees are, the more productive they become.- 11:50
- David says that business owners should look at the whole person and how they can help and provide for that person to become more productive and build a company culture. - 14:20
- David says the more opportunity business owners offer to their employees and seeing them as a whole person, the more we can build a team culture in our business.- 15:08
- Mads says that when you don't have happy employees, your business has no value. - 16:01
- David says that business owners should live and embody the values that they created for their business.- 16:40
- David shares that business owners should hire for character first rather than skill set.- 26:56
- Mads adds that he looks at attitude, culture, and personality fit when hiring because skills can be taught. - 28:52
Resources Mentioned:
The Third Place Podcast
Social Enterprise Alliance
Connect with David:
Website
The Radical Business Podcast
Joining me today on the Mads Singers Management Podcast is Maya Middlemiss. Maya is the Creator and Founder of Happy Healthy Homeworking, and she has been working remotely for quite a long time, way before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Maya launched her business back in 2000, a year she clearly remembers because it coincided with her millennial baby. What was supposed to be a solo business grew into an agency where she employed people from three different countries. She then left that business to completely go freelance, where she also spends her time writing and consulting, specializing in the future of work, business, and how we collaborate online. While many loom the work future due to the pandemic, Maya is excited and sees it as an opportunity to evolve.
Renting pricey office buildings was the norm of many businesses. It was somewhat of a beacon that let others know that you have established yourself. While a good corner office with a view is excellent for the CEO or President, ordinary employees struggled to work because of long commute times and even accessibility to transport. Some employees opted to move closer to their workplace but struggled with balancing their paycheck because they would spend most of it for rent and not having enough for food and other necessities.
While working remotely is not a new concept, many of those who just began their remote working journey have struggled because the lines between work and personal life often get blurred. However, there are productivity hacks one can implement to improve your work-life balance.
I prefer working on a solid office desk and in complete silence. In contrast, others thrive in the buzz of their local cafe or restaurant. Take the time to find out what works best for you. Some people perform well during the day, while creatives like writers, graphic designers, and video editors may perform better at night in a world where there aren’t many distractions in their homes and surroundings.
Key Learning Points:
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Mads says that because of the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses have realized that they no longer need fancy and expensive offices to function. - 03:23
-
Maya adds that because of the pandemic, many businesses have also realized that remote work can be productive and possible. - 03:35
-
Mads says that remote working will have consequences for both businesses and employees. However, it’s better for everyone. - 05:30
-
Maya hopes to see a renaissance where people will be working in smaller towns where money will be pumped into the local economy and new jobs will be created. - 06:13
-
Maya says that businesses should adopt a remote-first course of action to continue no matter what comes their way.- 09:27
-
Maya says that once we liberate ourselves from the idea that we should constantly be working, we can start working more flexibly, and we can start to tune in to our rhythm. 14:28
-
Maya says that the more we know ourselves and our rhythms, the more productive and happy we can be - 15:08
-
Maya recommends that one have a dedicated space where they can do their work to dictate how you want things to be and surround yourself with things that make you productive.- 18:32
-
Mads shares that it’s essential to have a separate place for work and play. - 22:34
-
Maya adds that while not everyone may afford a separate home office or office space in their homes, they can look for creative ways to maximize their space and create boundaries to achieve work-life balance. - 24:11
Resources Mentioned:
Newsletter
Connect with Maya:
Facebook Page (Healthy Happy Homeworking)
Maya’s Facebook
Facebook Community
YouTube
Website
Julian Goldie is joining me from Bangkok for this episode of the Mads Singers Management Podcast.
Julian runs his link-building agency where he builds backlinks to help clients rank higher on Google, get more traffic, and be seen easily. Julian has clients worldwide and has worked with several freelancers and contractors alike. But Julian didn't get to where he is today without a bit of struggle. Like most beginners, Julian hired cheap VA's because he wanted to get things done efficiently. However, this proved to be more of a problem rather than a solution.
Freelancing is not a new concept; it's been around for quite some time now; however, because of the COVID-19 pandemic and many people working from home currently, freelancing has been put in the spotlight.
With many companies going remote for the first time during the pandemic, many have struggled to shift from the traditional work setting to a small workshop setting.
While many companies struggled going remote, many employees, especially those who work in corporate or in rigorous environments or career fields, found freedom. Many employees could spend more time with their families, learn a new skill, discover something new about themselves, pick up a new hobby, and many more. Many people would still prefer to work remotely even after the COVID-19 pandemic ends.
As a business owner, you want to be doing SOP's as little as you can.
Learn to delegate small, time-consuming, mundane tasks to your staff so that you can focus on more important things and grow your business or spend time on things or hobbies that matter to you. It's essential to have a solid framework to quickly onboard and train any new staff you hire or upskill the existing team you see fit for a promotion.
Although some may think that SOP's are a waste of time, these can save you time on training so you can quickly get a project started or work with a client but do keep in mind that you'll need to adjust to your staff's language and knowledge because not everyone is on the same page. If you have an outsourced team, you can have your project managers translate the SOP into your staff's language like Julian's team in the Philippines.
Key Learning Points:
-
Julian says that paying more for a VA or freelancer pays off more because they are proactive and quality is assured. - 03:08
-
Mads says it's essential to have a solid recruitment process so that you can hire the best talents and weed out the bad. - 04:10
-
Mads says that recruitment is about hiring the right people, having solid training, and having solid workflow processes.- 05:49
-
Julian adds, sharing from a book he has read recently, that managers and business owners should maximize their processes, not their people- 06:55
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Julian says that SOP's should be kept simple. Writing it down in Google Docs is enough. - 09:28
-
While going out of your way to deal with a problem can save you time and money, Julian says business owners should instead spend their resources on something more substantial.- 16:57
-
Julian says that business owners should be careful to incentivize when working with freelancers. You want to try to be one of the best clients to your freelancers - 18:12
-
Julian adds that you need to find the balance between managing freelancers properly and giving them the trust, the freedom, and the flexibility to do their jobs as well as they can. - 19:18
-
Julian says that it's essential to be very clear with your expectations when working with freelancers- 26:19
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Julian says that regardless of the metrics you use, it's essential to keep it simple so that they know exactly what is expected of them.- 28:48
Resources Mentioned:
Principles: Life and Work: by Ray Dalio
Connect with Julian:
Upwork
YouTube
TikTok
Website
Joining me for today’s episode in the Mads Singers Management Podcast is Julia Becker Collins. Julia Becker Collins is the COO of Vision Advertising, a 100% woman-owned, woman-run full-service marketing agency based outside of Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States of America. Like myself, Julia is crazy about people management and leadership (if you’re crazy about management and leadership like me, then you’ve come to the right place if you’ve stumbled upon this podcast!)
Despite being a small business, Julia and her team deal with different sizes and enterprises in their day-to-day operations. But before taking the plunge into entrepreneurship, Julia had to wear many hats, such as working in non-profit organizations making fundraising, donations, event planning, marketing, branding, and even grassroots work.
Julia’s experiences (the jobs she took outside of college) and her strong personality launched her into the world of people management. However, because of this, Julia also struggled with managing the people around her because they were decades older than her and much more experienced than her. This circumstance led Julia to seek out support and work on herself to work better and help those in need. And this is the sad part for many people who get promoted into leadership and management roles. They often get pushed off a cliff and expected to do magical things and miracles by their superiors, only to be laughed at or mocked when they fail.
Management isn’t about being a great individual contributor in a company or business or countless complex procedures. But instead, it’s all about mindset. While the best salesman in your team may seem like a good fit to become your next manager, not providing them the help and support they need to be a manager will set them to fail.
It’s a slow domino effect. If you don’t invest in your new managers, their performance will impact those who work for them and severely affect your business. Don’t wait for your business or company to be hit with financial ramifications that can send you falling into an abyss where recovery may not be possible. Encourage your staff, especially those in the lower levels, to seek help and assist them in making sure their needs are met and fulfilled because a leader should make sure that their staff is well taken care of.
Key Learning Points:
- Getting into the workforce made Julia realize that she needed support to figure out what she wanted to do next in life. - 03:17
- Julia shares that because of the tips and tricks that she learned along the way, she managed her team that blossomed in their way. - 04:20
- Although Julia was struggling and failing at her job, she used this to her advantage, acknowledged it as a problem, and pushed herself to do better. - 07:03
- Mads says that when an organization is ingrained in your company culture, you can see that a business or company runs well. - 09:50
- Mads stresses the importance of providing training and giving them help and support when they get promoted to a management role. 10:08
- Julia says that if you don’t invest in the new manager, it won’t be successful, and the people who work for them will be significantly affected. - 12:51
- Julia talks about her passion for servant leadership and how she makes sure her staff is provided first before her.- 13:27
- Julia says that people who are lower on the totem pole tend to be afraid to seek help, but instead of waiting for things to get worse, Julia will personally approach them.- 15:01
- Julia adds that leaders and managers should give their staff more than just a paycheck: make them feel that they are being seen and heard. - 16:33
- Mads says that business managers who don’t find the time to help their staff are the ones who are making themselves busy with unnecessary tasks.- 17:52
Resources Mentioned:
Adam Grant Podcast
Connect with Julia Collins:
Website
Joining me today in this episode of the Mads Singers Management Podcast is Stacy Owen Johnston, CEO of EnlightenUp.
Stacy is a personal development coach and trainer for individuals or groups and a conversational public speaker. Although she grew up and thrived as a dancer, Stacy took a pivot and worked for the state where she has served as a Family Services Specialist. She has been an entrepreneur for 40 years and has spent much time building businesses and helping people uncover their authentic selves.
Stacy shares that the energy you put out can significantly impact the people around you and your business. And while there are times where we put our customers first (especially if they are high-paying clients), managers should always put their employees first because this helps encourage and motivate them.
She continues that all of us have our beat that we dance to, and we should learn how to find it instead of following others, don’t live and work for the dreams of your parents or other people because only you should be able to live the life you want and deserve.
Stacy adds that we shouldn’t judge people quickly because we don’t know what trials or battles they face privately. People are doing their best to separate their private and public struggles, but there are times where people can get overwhelmed, and their performance takes a dive. Because people have different ways to handle scenarios, business owners should be cautious in approaching them if they notice they are not performing their best. Sometimes some people need a little push to get them going or to unlock their potential.
Our life is too short to be unhappy or hating our job every day; go after your dreams and goals rather than live the life others want you to.
Key Learning Points:
- Stacy says that people don’t leave bad jobs but leave because of bad management. - 08:06
- Mads says that it’s essential to give people ownership and let them try - 10:00
- Stacy says that the best leaders help develop a new bunch of leaders to take their place. - 10:57
- Stacy says that leadership is about influence - not power, a corner office, or a nameplate. - 11:10
- Stacy points out that a good leader or manager can easily recognize a person’s interest in a niche and help them pursue it. - 12:46
- Stacy stresses the importance of a person’s ability to influence people and bring out their best version. - 14:25
- Mads says that managers should always focus on their staff first - 15:44
- Stacy says that managers should encourage their staff and people around them to be quality human beings. - 16:50
- Stacy says that we should learn how to celebrate our failures because failure is still a movement towards our goals and allows us to learn from our mistakes. - 21:26
- Stacy says that life is too short to be unhappy every day or hating your job because happiness is a decision. - 31:22
Resources Mentioned
Extreme Ownership: How U.S Navy Seals Lead and Win: by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin
Becoming a Person of Influence: How to Positively Impact the Lives of Others: By John C. Maxwell
Connect with Stacy
Stacy’s Instagram
Hero Builder Podcast Instagram
Today's guest on the Mads Singers Management Podcast is Simon Kardynal, a Canadian Air Force veteran and the host of Trench Leadership: A Podcast from the Front. With his background in the military, Simon is no stranger to leadership; however, after 26 years of service, some people still get intimidated by his experience.
Simon also had a hard time communicating with people after leaving the military. He had to make many adjustments, especially when he had to share and reach out to people. But this challenge didn't stop Simon from achieving his goals. He used this challenge as leverage to start his podcast to help upcoming leaders learn to communicate effectively.
Simon and I subscribe to the view that great leaders are built, not made. Because every leader was once a beginner who also struggled to get where they are today, they were once clueless and confused. Some had to go through complex challenges to achieve their goals.
For Simon, it's okay not to know everything. We shouldn't be afraid to ask for help from others, especially if we aren't familiar with something. This also applies to reaching out to people whenever you are faced with difficulties in life. Let's face it, we humans thrive on interaction, but because we all have our unique way of dealing with things, we need to consider how we should approach another person.
Key Learning Points:
1.Simon shares about a program he was accepted into and how it taught him that leadership isn't about just leading with your brain but also with your heart. - 04:46
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Simon says that a leader should be a blend of both intelligence and empathy. - 05:08
-
Mads shares that he is more of a logical person than an emotional person and admits he struggles connecting with people emotionally. Still, he doesn't let this stop him from reaching out to people or offering his support in a time of need. - 07:28
-
Simon shares how mingling with others became difficult for him as a leader. - 08:08
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Mads says that you need different types of people in your company, you need people who can talk to other people, people who can make sales. Having people who are like you is ideal. However, it doesn't apply to every aspect. - 10:09
-
Simon shares that honesty will ensure that things will get done if you're honest and forthright with your people. - 12:17
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Mads says that it's essential to recognize the different kinds of people you have in your company. - 15:35
-
Simon says that it's easier to build connections than understand when to push someone and read their body language. - 17:31
-
Simon shares a recent experience a few months ago when he realized that different environments require different things. Because of this, Simon's relationship with the people around him drastically increased. - 20:24
-
Simon talks about the importance of reaching out to talk to someone you trust when you find yourself in a difficult situation or don't have all the answers (and it's okay not to have all the answers all the time). - 28:29
Connect with Simon:
Podcast: Trench Leadership: A Podcast from the Front
Joining me today on the Mads Singers Management Podcast is Andrea Overend, founder and owner of Globetrot Pro and Dream Vacations Cruise and Land Vacations travel agency.
Andrea had an early start on entrepreneurshipand has had many ventures since then, including her restaurant and travel agency.
Now, unlike most travel agency owners, Andrea thrived during the pandemic despite being caught up in confusion when the lockdowns all over the world started. Even though some travel plans were postponed, the experience made Andrea realize the importance of having her team around to help the business stay afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Andrea had an early start with team building. With her experience in the military, this became a natural thing for her because many teams surrounded her during her stay there; eventually, Andrea slowly branched out to other circles like her church group when she returned to civilian life.
Unlike many business owners who tend to hire directly, Andrea likes to build up her staff and even dip her hands into the nitty-gritty of business, such as learning about a specific niche, the logistics involved in setting up that business, or what permits need to be claimed or applied for. And while it's common for companies to go over their budgets or exert more effort, it shouldn't be because of something that's not essential.
Although it may not be evident initially, business owners should know what department or niche their staff should belong to, spend time with their team and get to know them. This dynamic also helps you understand your strengths and weaknesses; while you may enjoy crunching numbers, a staff member of yours doesn't. Another critical aspect in running and building a business is delegation. While being in control feels nice (and it has its perks!), holding on too tightly to power can cause problems in the long run.
Key Learning Points:
- Andrea shares that when she opens a business, she acts on what she knows.
- For the things she doesn't know, Andrea immediately hires an expert or finds a book for that topic. - 06:03
- Andrea shares her teambuilding philosophy: gathering and taking things off her plate. - 06:42
- Andrea says that there will be days where you will be working for 120 hours or spending more than your usual budget; however, it shouldn't be because you're beating ahead or trying to figure out something that you're not needed for. - 07:57
- Mads says that you'll need to make sure you can provide excellent customer service if you're selling an expensive brand or product. - 09:15
- Mads likens hiring experts to cheat codes in a game where you can gain instant access to a level or beat the final boss with ease. - 10:20
- Andrea says teambuilding with a consultancy is very important for your team. - 12:59
- Andrea says that the best hires you have in your staff still need leadership and direction - 13:54
- Mads says that when he hires people, he doesn't just look at what credentials a person has but also how that person can develop later on. - 15:58
- Andrea says that while staff should follow SOP's, they should also have freedom because not everything is black and white. - 23:04
- Andrea says that while we often hear information and that implementation is essential, it doesn't mean we have to take in everything. She adds that even one action step is enough to make a change in your life.- 41: 44
Connect with Andrea:
Website
Joining me today is Ryan Shekell from Every Breath Counts Podcast. Ryan had his humble start as a 5th-grade special education teacher in upstate New York, where he had several eye-opening experiences during his teaching days. However, Ryan felt missing and decided to change careers and ventured into the medical field as a sales agent, specifically in orthopedic surgical device sales.
Ryan enjoyed his days as a medical field sales agent and even made Atlanta, Georgia, his territory and paved the way for Ryan to where he is today: managing and educating other managers and leaders on how to grow their territories.
We begin our talk where Ryan proudly shares how his experience in education became the perfect segway into managing and selling. He then relates it to the unique education system in the United States, where he shares how teachers create an IEP or an individualized education plan for students who need special education services. He adds how this document translates well into sales and management because it considers the way you are teaching and managing your staff. After all, you look at an individual’s learning style, personality type, and everything they need to perform a task and be successful. This leads you to create an individual plan for that person to achieve the goals that are set out for it.
While it’s nice to receive praises and accolades for all your hard work and efforts, constantly stroking your ego as a manager or business leader can dampen your team’s morale and affect their performance. They may also end up not being that driven. Being a manager or a business leader doesn’t mean you need to be the one who’s always fixing problems. Ryan stresses the importance of walking the talk when it comes to our values for ourselves and our company, especially when we take on new employees because this empowers them to work better and more efficiently.
Key Learning Points:
- Ryan proudly shares how his experience in education became the perfect segway into managing and selling.- 04:20
- While others may see it as a joke, Ryan adds how an IEP or an individualized education plan becomes a great tool.- 05:23
- Mads shares how teaching is similar to management where you are constantly trying to lift your team and teaching them skills- 05:50
- Mads adds that many managers need to let go of the notion where they have to be the center of attention when in reality, they have the opposite goal in mind. - 06:47
- Ryan shares that his goal/job is not considered “done” unless he sees an employee or team is more competent than he is.- 07:32
- Ryan stresses the importance of exemplifying all the values you have (within yourself and your company) when you take someone under your wing so that they can hear and see you cultivating the relationships you have.- 16:26
- Ryan says that managers should allow their staff to succeed or fail because both are positive experiences.
- If a task is done successfully, it means your employee has learned how to do the job.
- If your employee fails, it means you’ve learned what it takes to be successful based on what didn’t work.- 17:06
- Mads discussed the failures he witnessed in training managers. - 21:37
- Mads shares that he uses DiSC and how it can be of great help in your business to manage your employees. - 22:30
- Mads and Ryan agree that it’s okay for business owners to be honest. - 28:35
Resources Mentioned:
Apple Podcasts/iTunes
Spotify
Connect with Ryan:
Every Breath Counts Podcast with Ryan Shekell
Google Podcasts
Joining me today on the Mads Singers Podcast from the comfort of his bus is none other than TheAlchemist, Richard Matthews of Pushbutton Podcast, and The Hero Show. Unlike most people today, Richard works from home and traveling around in his bus, together with his whole family and their pet dog. Like myself, Richard has his podcast called The Hero Show, where he brings to life his superhero persona called The Alchemist and uses his superpowers to help others get their business to the next level.
A superhuman on his own, Richard can easily see systems and learn things quicker than the average human being. Like myself, Richard loves building systems and has a Pushbutton Process course where he uses it to put businesses on autopilot. Richard then shares his course called the Pushbutton Process, where he teaches people how to build systems efficiently.
Richard shares that while it’s easy to automate everything nowadays, business owners should know where to draw the line on their creative capital and their robot capital. Both of them should co-exist together. But like most business owners, Richard also had a messy start when he began building systems; however, he was able to refine it along the way. It took a big jump when he started hiring new team members. While Richard has been working and managing his staff remotely before everyone else, he finds it hard to build a company culture with remote workers. He shares that business owners should be more intentional. He suggests doing weekly chat meetings, group communications, or simply keeping up with each other during their birthday.
While remote working is still a new concept to most people, I believe and look forward to a future where companies will no longer spend on big office spaces to set up a business and get work done.
Even though a colleague is far away and you’ll be meeting each other less frequently, distance shouldn’t be a hindrance to running a business, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Key Learning Points:
- Richard says that systems should be a blend between your human capital and robot capital (automation) - 03:41
- Mads points out that most businesses and owners tend to make complicated systems and say it won’t work.- 04:41
- Richard says that processes make up the workflow which gives you the defined outcome. - 07:10
- Richard adds that if you have a rock-solid language foundation on how a system is designed - 07:25
- Richard shares his love for Trello and how it can be a powerful tool to get things done and even train your new staff. - 10:00
- Richard and Mads both share a passion for an outcome-based work ethic rather than how many hours an employee renders. - 16:38
- Mads stresses the importance of building a company culture based on discipline so that things can get done. - 18:45
- While hiring remotely offers a vast pool of talent, Richard recommends that one look towards a country or race with no significant gap in culture. - 19:57
- Mads looks forward to the future of remote working where companies will no longer need big offices or an actual office to get work done. - 21:43
- Richard says that business owners should take the risk and shares how most of his successful endeavors came from events where he was afraid.- 28:08
Connect with Richard:
YouTube
Today, joining me is none other than Erin Young, the founder, and principal consultant for SlideUX. This family-run consultancy provides practical and measurable approaches to business rather than quick and fancy hacks to unlock a magical way to get rich and earn money. Erin is a user experience architect who shares the same passion as I do to simplify processes, especially in a business setting.
Erin and I began our talk on how many businesses nowadays tend to offer a lot of services. Although it may generally sound like a good idea, this paves the way for confusion because most business owners may lose their way and even stunt or stop the growth of their business because they have too much on their plate.
Many businesses tend to follow what's popular instead of providing value. When they are asked, they can't answer their ROI or if that service is helping the company. While most new businesses may struggle to simplify their process, they shouldn't hesitate to cut down their list early on because it might be the only thing stopping them from being successful. However, new business owners should ensure that whatever they are "niche-ing" into is a real need and not just a quick-rich scheme.
The devil is in the details when you have a business. While seeing the overview of your business can help you feel inspired to work, business owners need to look a little closer to know precisely what's going on in their business and what's being worked on. Sometimes, we even need to get involved and throw ourselves in, especially when dealing with a difficult client or a new task.
Key Learning Points:
- Erin shares how they used to offer many services to clients initially but had to get rid of them because it would take time for the client to get back to them. - 3:35
- Mads says that having many services to offer may sound good, but it isn't generally a nice thing to do. - 5:18
- Erin shares how cathartic she felt when her company simplified their list of services; she adds that they could cut down on 75% that cluttered their list. - 05: 55
- Erin says that you don't need to sell it if you don't have a standard for your service. - 7:00
- Erin shares how she wishes she could go back in time to simplify her business sooner. - 10:21
- Mads says that if you have an easy-to-replicate and standardize process, you should focus on that. - 11:21
- Erin says that she uses the standards in her company as somewhat of an entry pass, especially for clients who want a longer-lasting relationship. - 14:21
- Mads says that the devil is in the details when it comes to business.- 16:21
- Erin says that she sometimes gets involved with her staff to retrain them rather than seek a new client.- 17:09
- Mads says that if you have particular case studies, gaining new clients - even in the most "niched" areas becomes so much easier- 18:38
Connect with Erin:
Website
YouTube
Welcome to another episode of the Mads Singers Management Podcast! Today's guest is Karena Calhoun. Karena is a mindset, life, and purpose coach whose passion is to help people find their purpose in life and live out their dreams.
Like many people, Karena started in the corporate world, but she decided to take a different path later on and help people. I begin my talk with Karena by asking her how one finds their passion, what steps to find one's passion in life, and how they should see it.
Karena shares that one can take a look back into their childhood to rediscover what excites them; this is important for those who don't have the means to get a personal coach or have a support system at hand. She then adds that people shouldn't rely on one's passion while one's passion can be their purpose. Instead, people should look at things they are good at, things that make them excited, things in society or in the world that make you angry, things that make you want to make a change in the world - these are basic steps that will help you jumpstart the process in finding out your passion.
Karena then shares her experience discovering her passion while still working in the corporate world; however, she liked what she was doing. It wasn't impacting her and the people around her because she was hitting wall after wall.
This then led her to sit down and think about what she's good at and where she shines, and because of this, Karena eventually found her way to being a life and mindset coach.
When we find our authentic selves and help others along the way, there is no goal that we cannot achieve or dream that cannot be fulfilled.
Key Learning Points:
- Karena shares that one can take a look back into their childhood to find out and rediscover what they are passionate about.- 3:12
- Karena says you shouldn't depend on your passion alone- 3:44
- Mads shares what he calls his "excitement meter."- 6:52
- Karena shares what for her is the secret to life - 9:55
- Karena says that it doesn't take much to attain your goals as long as you have that line of sight and know what tasks you should do every day. -11:28
- Karena reveals that she doesn't let being an introvert gets in the way of her purpose.- 12:13
- Mads says that people are motivated differently. - 13:19
- Karena adds that business owners should be able to identify the trigger points of their staff. - 13:34
- Mads says that when you help your employees identify what motivates and satisfies them, even if it's not related to your business, your employees will present themselves in a much better way and be better employees - 14:55
- Karena says, "a leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don't necessarily want to go, but ought to be" - 17:13
Connect with Karena:
Website
LinkTree
Welcome to another episode of the Mads Singers Management Podcast. Joining us today is none other than the bubbly business psychic, Carrie Cardozo!
Like most of my guests, Carrie had her start in the corporate world until she decided to start her own business. Now unlike most people, Carrie is a psychic. While this may make some people uneasy, Carrie uses her gift to help businesses and business owners gain the clarity they need in their business to propel them forward, break boundaries, or understand their staff a little better.
Carrie and I share a trait where we allow flexibility once we give them a task or delegate something. Although at the same time, this may seem counterproductive to some, Carrie and I believe that it’s essential for business owners and managers to be open to their staff regardless of whether the company is doing good or bad.
Being open to your staff allows them to make better decisions, but business owners should be mindful of whom they share because some people are not very good when it comes to receiving negative news.
Carrie shares an anecdote where she implemented a project management system on a whim and caused her employees to question her if she was happy with what the employee was working on. While Carrie’s intentions were good, the lack of communication made her employee feel unappreciated. Because of this, Carrie stresses the importance of having an open stream of communication with your staff because it will benefit both sides.
I then asked Carrie to share how she reads people, and this is where Carrie’s gift comes into play. Carrie can read people’s energy even if they don’t talk too much or share what’s going on during their first meeting.
We both agree that many people don’t know themselves very well and sometimes project this logical persona to please others and deny their desires.
Key Learning Points:
- Carrie encourages business owners to communicate with their staff, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic - 3:45
- Mads says that most employees can sense and feel that something is not right in the company - 4:22
- Carrie says that respect has to go both ways.- 6:45
- Mads shares his concept in which he identifies the opinion makers in a team before making significant changes - 7:21
- Carrie shares her rule of thumb with her meeting dynamics - 10:58
- Mads says it’s essential to get to know your staff and their strengths and weaknesses - 12:50
- Carrie thinks we shouldn’t be quick to judge people because people have strengths and weaknesses that are often not displayed or talked about- 13:24
- Carrie says that although an employee may seem quiet, business owners and managers should allow their employees to show you what they can do. - 15:10
- Carrie teaches people to connect to their “heart space” when working with people - 18:45
- Mads says that people should go after what they want, which emphasizes their willpower.- 21:41
Connect with Carrie:
Website
Welcome to another episode of the Mads Singers Management Podcast!Joining us today is Ceri Hurford-Jones. Ceri has had humble beginnings by working on a farm but eventually made his way up and worked by being the managing director of Spire FM and finally starting his own business.
Ceri and I share the same passion for helping businesses develop, grow, and succeed. So today, Ceri and I sat down to talk about management and how to hire the right people.
Being open, honest, fair, fun, professional, and unconventional are Ceri's values; however, he shares that, while we can share or influence others to follow our values, these won't work or impact if we do not follow our values. And although change doesn't happen overnight, you will eventually see many positive changes (and close more deals) in yourself and your staff. However, simply writing down your values and making stuff up along the way to prop up a company or brand quickly won't help it survive in the long run.
Like most business owners, Ceri also had his share of difficulties in his career where another group tried to do their job, and although this led to the radio being bought, Ceri was able to bounce back.
Ceri stresses the importance of being open with your staff by sharing whatever profit or loss you've made because this allows your staff to help gain an insight into the business or company and make them steer the business in the right direction. An informed team is also good at making decisions that will help you and everyone else involved in the industry.
Key Learning Points:
- Ceri says that you can't share your values if you don't live or follow your values in life - 3:44
- Although it sounds cliche, Ceri shares how a staff that makes you (the business owner) look good can work wonders for your company and/or brand. - 5:38
- Mads shares how businesses, especially the small ones, are helping people by offering jobs because this allows people to have something to look up to. - 07:21
- Ceri says that good people (employees) stay longer because they take pride in their business. - 08:24
- Mads says that when it comes to hiring people, one should start with their staff because people like working with like-minded people.- 10:39
- Ceri encourages business owners and managers to be open with their team by sharing updates about its projects.- 12:44
- Ceri says that business owners should not be scared to make their staff "mini-owners" in their business or schemes. - 19:15
- Ceri shares that one shouldn't start something if they're not going to see it through seriously- 20:47
- Ceri adds that business owners should hire slowly and fire quickly - 21:18
- Mads says that managers shouldn't sit around and focus on the stats and numbers but instead focus on their team members well-being.- 27:00
Connect with Ceri:
Welcome to another episode of the Mads Singers Management Podcast! Today, we are joined by Navin Jaitly! Navin is an expert in a field where I don’t make well - sales!
Navin works with business owners, business executives, and even business leaders. A firm believer in seeing the good inside of people rather than the outside, Navin has a passion for changing the way business leaders and their teams think. Navin also believes in changing the relationship dynamics in a team to know that they are valued and appreciated. Like many of us, Navin also had his “dark days,” where he shares that he also struggled to work; however, Navin was able to turn it around and even start his own business.
Navin and I noted that many entrepreneurs suck at making sales or hate making sales with a passion, thus leaving many of them lagging or performing poorly, which causes them to miss out on clients and opportunities.
But all hope is not lost as Navin is on a mission to change and impact the lives of at least a million people globally.
Navin then adds that business owners and managers shouldn’t immediately judge a potential employee by looking at their CV. Instead, ask them important questions like goals and plans after five years.
An excellent way to approach this is by applying DiSC. DiSC theory was developed by Dr. William Martson and has become an essential tool in the workplace because it can help business owners gauge how their employees will perform.
Key Learning Points:
1. Mads says that most businesses don’t grow because business owners lack delegating or the skills but rather because they don’t have the right mindset. - 3:50
2. Mads points out that many companies and brands are doing many bad business practices. - 4:09
3. Navin says that business owners should find out the “why” of a potential employee, especially if you’re hiring salespeople - 6:53
4. Navin says that sales are the lifeblood of businesses; he then adds that the relationship with how business owners make sales and treat their sales team should change - 06:08
5. Navin talks about the Dilts Logical Level by the psychologist, Robert Dilts, and how can it be used to find your why and your purpose- 7:57
6. Navin likens sales to gaining weight. - 12:10
7. Navin believes that sales are like education because you get to educate your customers on what they need.- 15:30
8. Navin points out that while external skills are essential, finding out a person’s why can help you fix problems quickly... - 20:00
9. Mads shares the importance of DiSC and how it can be used to sell to your potential clients and/or customers immediately. - 26:14
10.Navin points out that managers should never forget the human aspect when managing their staff. - 32:29
Connect with Navin:
Navinjaitlycoaching.com
Welcome to another episode of the Mads Singers Management Podcast. Today, Pablo Gonzalez joins us.
Pablo is the host of the Chief Executive Connector Podcast, an expert and specialist in networking, and a good friend of mine. Pablo and I sat down together to discuss how many business owners and managers don’t utilize networking a lot which causes them to miss out on meeting incredible people. Today, Pablo and I will pave the way for business owners and managers to learn how to use networking to their advantage and make the right connections for their business or companies to flourish.
While entrepreneurship is hard, it can become easier along the way when you have the right people who share the same energy and vision as you. It’s not something where you can do certain things and wake up as a millionaire or billionaire (now that would be the dream!) because even if you have a plan in place, things don’t always go their way which can distract you from your goals if you get sidetracked or fail.
As we talked further, Pablo and I discussed some strategies on networking and how business owners can leverage. One of the essential aspects we discussed is the importance of living in the present - meaning that one should show interest when showing up in an event or meeting people; put your phone in silent or set it to Do Not Disturb and enjoy the moment. Then, go around and talk to people!
Another thing Pablo shared is, although meeting new people may seem daunting at first, especially if you are new to a particular place or country, it can be beneficial for you later on because that person can change your life. That person can call you up later on and still remember that you made them feel valued.
Key Learning Points:
1. Pablo shares that the best way to build relationships and networks is by adding value and being genuine to the people you meet. - 4:24
2. Pablo shares his secret when it comes to connecting with people. - 6:00
3. Pablo then adds that people will remember how you made them feel. - 9:05
4. Mads shares his tactic of approaching people in a crowded venue: Approach the person who is always looking at their phone. - 16:21
5. Mads shares that he keeps his phone on silent because he believes in living at present. - 17:35
6. Pablo says that it’s essential to ask questions whenever you’re having conversations with people. This gives you ammunition whenever you meet and talk to another person in that same field or career. This also allows you to know what motivates them. - 27:00
7. Pablo shares that the best way to recruit someone is when you hear them talk about something else or care about something else other than themselves. - 32:04
8. Pablo says that the most influential people in your town are usually board members of many non-profit organizations, which Pablo cheekily adds, can be used as a backdoor for influence, which allows you to have a direct line to them for events such as fundraisings or donation drives. - 32:27
9. Mads says that the advice you give should also be the advice that you are taking or following. - 36:24
10. Pablo says that one right introduction can forever change your life but you need to be open to it. - 41:05
Resources Mentioned:
The Black Swan:The Impact of the Highly Improbable by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Connect with Pablo:
The Chief Connector Podcast
Website
Welcome to the 100th episode of the Mads Singers Management Podcast! It’s been quite a journey, and I couldn’t have gotten here without your support!
Joining us today for our 100th episode is none other than Jeremy Lunnen. Jeremy is the global leadership development programs manager of Qualfon that runs contact centers around the world. Jeremy has been with Qualfon since 2006 and leads the efforts of Qualfon University by training and developing people who are moving up their first supervisory positions.
Jeremy and I had a fascinating discussion regarding management and how to train people in becoming leaders. With most job roles requiring some form of training, many people are promoted as managers get little to no movement and struggle in their new position to manage their team. Regardless if a person is a natural-born leader or has the potential to be a leader, they cannot unlock their full potential if they do not receive the proper guidance and training.
We then continued how some managers and business owners become cautious when working with other people from different cultures because there are differences in cultures and how some may get culture-shocked because they get exposed to something unpleasant. However, because of advances in technology and the COVID-19 pandemic, more and more companies are starting to adjust and get used to working with people from different backgrounds and cultures.
Key Learning Points:
- Mads points out that many capable people who get promoted as managers lack the essential training to be efficient.- 4:31
- Mads says that having a company culture is essential, and all successful business is built on solid culture..- 9:33
- Jeremy likens company culture to growing a garden: having a good place, removing rocks and weeds, tilling the soil, etc. Doing nothing or not taking action in creating your company culture allows negative things to grow and take their place. - 10:00
- Jeremy says that your company will have its culture, whether it’s the culture that you carefully cared for and cultivated or the culture that popped out of nowhere because you didn’t pay attention. - 11:00
- Jeremy says that being a manager isn’t all about numbers. Managers need to focus on their soft skills. He then adds that managers need to know their people and what motivates them.- 14:16
- Mads says, while a great salesperson can’t be a great manager, a person can be trained to be a great manager. However, it doesn’t happen automatically. - 16:28
- Jeremy stresses that managers shouldn’t focus on gaps or the things that people lack. - 19:22
- Jeremy quotes Marcus Buckingham: “Focus on strengths, manage around weaknesses.” - 19:48
- Mads shares that when people don’t see it coming and get fired, you have done a horrible job as a manager because if people aren’t performing well, they need to know. - 27:49
- Jeremy encourages people to travel to experience and learn about other cultures and meet different people. - 33:24
- While there are some negatives in working with other cultures, Jeremy and Mads point out that it’s crucial to unlearn some things to grow your staff or team. - 39:06
Connect with Jeremy:
Email: jlunnen@qualfon.com
Podcasts:
Mission Qualfon Podcast
Leading From The Basement Podcast
Today’s guest in the Mads Singers Management Podcast is none other than Lindsay (Hauptman) Sutherland!
Like myself, Lindsay had an early headstart in her career (she had her start in the automotive industry) but also had to learn many things the hard way, but because of this, Lindsay was able to have and live the life she wanted however, to achieve this, Lindsay had to make some drastic changes like relocating from another state (some people have commended her, while others called her crazy because relocating meant moving at a slower pace in life) and giving up a lovely house.
Lindsay also shared how her parents died at a much younger age and weren’t able to retire, and because of this, Lindsay didn’t see herself working all her life, thus prompting her to follow her desire in life.
Starting young in management, Lindsay shares how she struggled at first because she didn’t have a mentor to guide her; however, Lindsay was eventually able to find her niche and live the life she always wanted. We also touched on minimalism and how freeing it is not to own so many material things; you can simply pack your stuff in your backpack and be on your way to the beach or another country.
Lindsay and I shared some insights into how business owners can be friends, colleagues, and bosses with their staff while maintaining professionalism.
Key Learning Points:
- Lindsay says it’s important to follow your burning desire - 3:34
- Lindsay stresses the importance of being able to express yourself - 9:40
- Lindsay shares an anecdote where she was helping a colleague who unexpectedly got pregnant; while Lindsay gave her grace, her colleague filed for unemployment and said terrible things about her. This experience led Lindsay to put up boundaries. - 7:52
- As a manager, Lindsay saw herself more of a servant for the people rather than the “end-all, be-all” or the “big kahuna” - 10:32
- Mads says that it’s essential for business owners and managers to figure out who you are as a person and find out what works for you when dealing with people.. - 13-51
- Mads would instead take the risk of people, especially when making new connections, friends, or relationships, rather than avoiding getting hurt. - 19:53
- Mads says that people should let go of the fear of things not working out.- 22:05
- Lindsay likens the relationship between a manager and an employee to a one-sided relationship because managers need to be “on” all the time. You’re being watched all the time, and sometimes you don’t even feel human. After all, it would be best if you were positive most times because the people around you can feel a sudden shift in your energy. - 23:19
- Mads adds that managers should always put their best foot forward and be their best selves because their energy can affect their staff; however, it’s okay to take some time off to refresh yourself. - 25:35
- Lindsay says that it’s essential that we manage our expectations so that we wouldn’t end up disappointed or upset in the event things fail. - 30:11
Resources Mentioned:
- Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
- The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy
Connect with Lindsay Sutherland:
Website
Podcast
Today's guest on the Mads Singers Management Podcast is Dr. Heather Williamson, an executive coach and the owner of Transformation Group LLC.
Dr. Heather has been around the business for quite some time and, like myself, has helped many people establish businesses of their dreams.
Dr. Heather and I tackled many topics during our talk, and one of our core topics was about trusting your employees so that they can help you grow your business faster.
As discussed in our previous episode with Nicolene Elhadad, it’s not always about having a big brand, being in a prominent location, or having a massive team but instead having a supergroup that can lighten your workload so that you can focus on what’s important.
Many business owners tend to make themselves busy with mundane tasks that take up too much of their time because they believe that the only way to grow their business to take care of everything and work long hours, leaving them exhausted and burnt out. Doing this for too long can hamper your company’s growth and even cause a power imbalance among your company and your staff.
Key Learning Points:
- Trust is the foundation of any relationships - 4:14
- Managers and business owners should not be playing favorites with their staff because your staff - 4:25
- Mads points out the dangers of not developing your staff; if neglected for too long, it becomes harder to delegate, making your team unprepared to take on any task. - 8:05
- Dr. Heather mentions the importance of taking accountability and shares an anecdote where a client of hers had employees who were not doing any work, and the owner let them get away with it. - 12:34
- Dr. Heather advises that the best way to hold your staff accountable is to address issues immediately instead of beating around the bush and waiting for the problems to get worse. - 13:02
- Dr. Heather adds that it’s essential to do a follow up on your staff after having a one-on-one talk with them.- 14:20
- Business owners should not do it all; they cannot be the expert at everything. Trying to be busy with everything will hinder the growth of your business. - 18:10
- Dr. Heather talks about the importance of attitude when it comes to hiring; while skills are essential, especially in specific jobs, a person’s mood can impact your team and your business.- 21:53
- Dr. Heather says that businesses and companies should learn to be flexible, especially during the COVID pandemic, meaning they should know how to do business differently or think outside the box and open-minded to keep their business afloat.- 25:20
Resources Mentioned:
Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’tAuthor: Jim Collins
Connect with Heather:
Website
YouTube
Joining us from Cape Town, South Africa, today’s guest on the Mads Singers Management Podcast is none other than self-made millionaire, franchise business coach, and entrepreneur Nicolene Elhadad!
Nicolene and her husband started from their garage and have worked their way up to several franchises and businesses all over South Africa.
However, it’s not all about earning money. Nicolene and her husband believe in helping people and changing their lives; they even encourage their former employees to go beyond their abilities and never go backward in life.
Nicolene and I then talked about delegation and how important it is in a business. Many business owners are often afraid to let go of the reins and hand over tasks and responsibilities to their employees because of the fear of failure; however, many business owners struggle to grow their business and waste a lot of time and resources. Instead of feeling busy or looking busy, entrepreneurs and business owners should spend their energy elsewhere to grow their business. And while it’s essential to have the right kind of people in your business, a good mindset is also necessary so that you can move your business forward faster. Recruiting people is easy, especially if you’re a known brand or company, but getting them to work with you is difficult.
Key Learning Points:
- Nicole points out that once people figure out what your product is and how good it is, they don’t care how far or near you are located- 3:11
- Nicole says you don’t need to be making millions, have a massive team, or have a famous brand before you can start franchising; you need a system that works.
- It would help if you found people who are like you. - 5:20
- Mads says that if you want to develop fast, you want to get rid of everything you do in your business and have other people do it. - 8:02
- Mads points out the importance of developing and growing your staff to be able and capable of doing the work they should be doing. - 10:00
- Nicole says that business owners should try to have a coffee date with each of their staff once a month to understand them better. They may even have a hidden talent that can help you bring in more money or clients for the business. - 11:09
- Mads points out that having a business doesn’t mean you should be running the business but rather hiring the right people to make the business work. - 11:44
- People will buy from you in to your business because you’ve given them that safety net.
- You’ve done all the hard work for them; now they get to partner with someone they can look up to. - 18:17
- Nicole believes in having a super team, a better group than you that can take care of all the unnecessary and mundane tasks off your plate so that you can focus on growing the business. - 19:18
- Mads shares how he gets surprised by his staff when pushed because they deliver more than you expected. - 21:57
- Mads shares how people need to learn, and the only way to do that is by trying out things, failing, and making mistakes. 22:50
Connect with Nicolene:
Website
Facebook Group
The proliferation of podcasts in all spheres means that occasionally one of my guests also hosts a podcast. My guest for this episode of the Mads Singers Management Podcast, Justin Varuzzo, hosts the Marketing and Service podcast. Here he interviews guests who share, through different techniques and strategies, his focus on exceptional customer service.
Justin shared several stories that illustrated something we instinctively know but don’t often ponder: the bar for customer service is so low that even a minimal effort will impress people. Justin shared that when asked, most people can’t even come up with three exceptional customer service experiences. While that’s bad for our society as a whole, it’s a great opportunity for businesses to shine and to build strong long-term relationships with customers.
I really agreed with this and I shared the importance of adding 24-hour chat support to e-commerce websites in an increasingly globalized economy. While some people mistakenly consider such chat support to be a luxury, the reality is that it’s often the difference between someone placing an order and someone not placing an order and we have often seen for ourselves the jump in sales after chat support was added.
Justin also noted the people sometimes miss the basics when looking for some special hack to promote their businesses. One of those basics is making sure that you claim your Google My Business account and make sure that all of the information is correctly filled out. This can make a difference to your SEO in general and local SEO in particular.
One of the maintenance tasks in Google My Business is responding to reviews and Justin noted that he’s seen far too many solopreneurs, in particular, take negative reviews personally. As a result, they tend to respond inappropriately, for all the world to see. I agreed, and added that a negative review can sometimes turn out to be a positive thing! The whole world can see your response and if you do it right, people can and will still do business with you. In fact, some of the biggest brand advocates we’ve seen once left a bad review...which takes us back to how we kicked off the episode: talking about the lifetime value of customers and doing what is necessary to keep customers happy rather than take the chance of losing them.
Some customers deserve more attention than others...these are the “whales” that keep your business afloat. Justin advocates doing something nice for them on a regular basis. It’s just one more way to stand out in a global marketplace.
I really appreciate Justin’s customer-oriented approach, and I think you will too!
Key Learning Points:
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Justin explains his focus on the customer journey - 2:53
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Justin talks about his goals in building a relationship with clients - 4:10
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Justin shares a fascinating story about customer service experiences - 8:28
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Mads discusses the rising importance of 24-hour chat support - 13:30
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Justin notes the importance of warranty in a purchase decision - 18:30
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Justin warns against the danger of taking negative reviews personally - 24:20
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Mads explains what a great opportunity negative reviews can be - 25:10
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Justin advocates doing something nice for the “whales” in your business - 27:40
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Justin explains a mistake many make on employee evaluations - 30:33
Resources Mentioned:
Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink
Connect with Justin Varuzzo
Marketing and Service
My guest for this episode of the Mads Singers Management Podcast, Ravi Sharma, is currently based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, but this time last year, that wasn’t the plan. His digital agency, Webomaze, which does marketing, SEO, web design, and mobile apps, just to name a few things, was solely based in India at the time. He and some of his team had come to Australia to see what the market was like to consider doing some business there. But then, as you know, something happened in March of 2020, and Ravi and his team got stuck.
As time went on and the entire team switched to working from home (something he admits he would never have normally envisioned) they opened up a new office in Melbourne and now they are in India and Australia. That’s a way to make lemonades out of lemons for sure!
Ravi strongly believes in the delegation (and trusting when you do so) and he says that the system of delegation is what made the transition to remote work for his team that much easier. His staff handled it on their own, which allowed him to focus on what he thinks his main function in the company is as CEO: growth. I agreed, telling him I call this the “Don’t be the expert” rule. If you don’t hire experts, you’ll be stuck as the expert, which will create a bottleneck. Something else Ravi has as a rule: don’t give your employees solutions. Allow them to figure things out for themselves. This will create trust and show that you believe they can figure things out. I love that mentality.
Ravi clearly understands how to manage, but one of the first things I hear from people when we first start working together on improving their management skills is, “I’m not good at management.” But often what they really mean is, “I’m not comfortable with management, because I haven’t taken the time to learn about it.” Managing is like going to the gym: it gets better with practice, and it goes even faster when you have a trainer or coach.
We also share similar philosophies around recruitment. I believe that with internal hires you know what you are getting. Ravi agreed, saying that you know the person is already a cultural fit and can act as a replicator of their cultures and competencies as they rise. He really believes in the importance of showing career progression possibilities: that’s so important because when employees see fellow team members progressing they can see themselves progressing too.
Ravi has a clear focus for himself and a vision for his team and I think that will inspire listeners to make sure they have the same. Enjoy!
Key Learning Points:
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Ravi shares what he thinks the primary focus of entrepreneurs should always be - 2:55
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Mads talks about why people “struggle” with management - 4:45
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Ravi explains why he considers employees as “clients” as well - 9:36
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Mads shares the risks of external hires (and the benefits of internal ones) - 11:03
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Ravi stresses the importance of a path of career progression for your team - 14:20
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Ravi talks about how Covid shifted his thinking on working from home - 17:00
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Ravi explains the importance of trust in the delegation - 20:35
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Ravi talks about why he doesn’t give solutions to his team members - 22:40
Connect with Ravi Sharma
My guest for this episode of the Mads Singers Management Podcast is Alain Hunkins who has trained individuals and teams in 2000+ businesses in over 25 countries over the last two decades. He is originally from NYC but currently lives in the Netherlands. Fascinatingly, Alain’s curiosity about how people interact with each other is informed by an undergraduate degree in Literature with a minor in psychology and a graduate degree in...theater!
That fact kicked off our conversation, as Alain pointed out that no matter what industry you are in, you’re ultimately in the people business, so it’s less important to be subject matter experts in particular industries and more important to be asking the right questions. One of the first ones that Alain usually leads with is, “What’s the biggest challenge you are facing right now?”
One of the ways that you can keep track of the challenges your team is facing is by having consistent one-on-ones. By building relationships with people through these regular meetings, you will find out what makes them tick, what they are passionate about, and most importantly, how you can help them. Alain noted that empathy with your people and their situations can lead to performance increases as high as 40%! As I often say, as an individual, your work is judged by what you can achieve, but as a manager, you are judged by what you inspire and motivate in others.
Alain agreed, noting that developing people has a multiplier effect, whereas simply “fixing” things is just an additive effect: you get fewer results, slower.
Alain contends that another important activity for those in management is a specific time set aside for deep work. Those who are willing to shut out distractions and focus on the most important things consistently make the biggest strides. That habit won’t just matter for yourself: it will have positive ripple effects on your team.
We also discussed the importance of proactively asking for feedback and the proper (and only) answer to give when receiving it: “Thank you.”
There are so many other great points Alain shared during our conversation: check out the episode, you’ll learn a lot. I sure did!
Key Learning Points:
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Alain shares one of the first questions he usually poses to clients - 3:54
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Alain warns on the temptation of being “fixer-in-chief” - 7:54
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Mads discusses the key transition that newly promoted managers have to make - 10:30
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Mads and Alain note what message gets sent by the length of the notice you give - 13:53
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Alain discusses a key shortcoming of clients when they first start getting coached by him - 15:20
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Alain talks about why habits aren’t just for ourselves - 20:10
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Alain explains the first two categories he looks at when looking to improve the performance of managers - 21:15
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Alain shares why good leaders ask for feedback - 26:05
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Mads and Alain share the only correct answer when receiving feedback - 29:22
Resources Mentioned:
The Leadership Challenge by Kouzes and Posner
Connect with Alain Hunkins
Cracking the Leadership Code
LinkedIn continues to be an even more relevant part of networking and sales and it’s not often that you can speak with someone who’s been on the inside of that company, helping businesses use the platform to get outstanding results in recruiting and sales.
My guest for this episode of the Mads Singers Management Podcast, Jonathan Baldock, is one of those insiders. Based in Toronto, Jonathan spent a decade helping LI’s largest global customers with their recruitment goals as well as advising on social sharing and employee advocacy.
With 700+ million members, LinkedIn can be a loud place. But throughout our conversation, Jonathan kept noting that it wasn’t about reaching everyone: it was about the share of voice in your industry. Share of voice refers to conversations in your industry and what your footprint is within those conversations (and looking to increase them). Jonathan likened the share of voice to two car dealerships that are side-by-side. One has three cars and the other has 100. They can both sell you cars, but one definitely looks more attractive at first glance.
You don’t increase the share of voice by simply sharing content about how awesome your business is (and how you need to buy from us NOW). Here are two wonderful tips Jonathan shared:
- Get buy-in from your employees. If you take a company with 50 employees, they will have, on average, 800 followers. An average person may have 800 connections on LinkedIn. When one of your employees shares a job opportunity, or a thought leadership post, or an article from your company, they have the potential to reach many times the number of your company’s followers.
- Use a 3/2/1 ratio for every 6 pieces of content you are sharing:
- 3 pieces of thought leadership
- 2 industry-specific pieces
- 1 piece about your company
Jonathan stressed the importance of not worrying about winning a share of voice for all of LI, but again, just within the important scope of your clients and prospective clients. LI is, after all, primarily a B2B platform.
I shared with him my own pet peeve of seeing people tag dozens of people in posts. Jonathan agreed that this not only wasn’t effective but was likely to lead to your getting unfollowed (unsurprisingly!). Best practice? Tagging one, maybe two people, and using one, maybe two hashtags in your posts.
LinkedIn definitely feels like a black box to many of us, but after this episode, you’ll feel that it’s less mysterious! Enjoy.
Key Learning Points:
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Jonathan shares some tips for building your LinkedIn company page - 5:04
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Jonathan discusses the importance of posting and sharing content in driving interest - 7:00
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Jonathan offers some best practices for sharing on LinkedIn - 27:20
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Jonathan notes the importance of focusing on your clients and prospective clients (vs. the whole world) - 29:15
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Mads shares a pet peeve: tagging a bunch of people in a LinkedIn post - 31:07
Resources Mentioned:
LinkedIn Sales Blog
LinkedIn Marketing Blog
LinkedIn Talent Acquisition Blog
Connect with Jonathan Baldock
I recently had a chance to appear on the Next Level Ecommerce podcast and had such a great conversation with the host, Isaac Smith, that I invited him to come and share some of his wisdom on my very own Mads Singers Management Podcast.
Isaac has been in E-commerce since 2014 and worked through a number of different businesses and projects before finding success with one in particular that he sold last year. I was keen to hear his stories and lessons about how to build a successful team that can support an e-commerce business.
We discussed hiring and Isaac shared a quote from Grant Cardone that totally changed the way he approached hiring: “Even when I’m buying, I’m selling.” Isaac had simply been generally copying job descriptions and listing the things he wanted people to do for him. By turning his not-so-successful process on its head, understanding that he had a great opportunity to offer, he changed everything: the job descriptions, the interview process, etc. He now views these job descriptions as sales pages where he can pitch the opportunity to work doing something rewarding, something that many VAs in e-commerce businesses are searching for.
I noted that the best talent is rarely available in the job market and if you run across great talent you’ve got to sell your business and the opportunity to them. One of the ways I’ve learned to deal with the best being rarely available is to leverage LinkedIn to find people who are good matches (I use very specific keywords) and then asking them if they know anyone who would be a good fit. Often I get a referral and occasionally that person puts his/her hand up (which is what I was dreaming of in the first place).
We also talked about the importance of having systems and procedures in place, and Isaac noted the importance of not answering questions that are provided in the training, but rather referring people to the training. I would go one step further and task those people who are actually doing the tasks on a daily basis with making sure that those materials are updated. After all, they are becoming the subject matter experts in those tasks. Why not have them keep the materials up to date?
Isaac started the episode by saying that his best lessons have come from his biggest mistakes and that he has found that when he has been willing to be vulnerable and share those challenges with his team, there’s a greater bond of trust that is formed, which makes it easier to work together. It’s important to track the way your team members think and feel and get to know them better, especially through one-on-ones.
Enjoy this conversation with Isaac!
Key Learning Points:
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Isaac shares that all his best lessons have come from his biggest mistakes - 4:20
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Isaac gives us a Grant Cardone quote that completely changed the way he hired - 8:30
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Mads reminds us that the best people are rarely available to hire - 14:05
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Mads makes the case for management as manipulation (in a good way) - 18:50
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Isaac discusses the value of vulnerability when talking with your team - 22:07
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Mads gives some hacks for finding talent on LinkedIn - 30:30
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Isaac shares pitfalls of SOPs - 43:15
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Mads offers a technique to make sure SOPs are consistently updated - 46:41
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Isaac talks about developing a mentality of always being willing to update/improve processes - 50:30
Resources Mentioned:10x Rule by Grant Cardone
Connect with Isaac Smith
Next Level Ecommerce Podcast
While many people struggled to survive when the Covid-19 pandemic began (and continued), Lindsay Tjepkema and her team at Casted have had a very different problem: managing growth. The company is only two years old and half of that has been in the middle of a series of lockdowns and restrictions that no one ever planned for. But while Casted entered the pandemic in March 2020 with 10 team members, they now have 20.
Casted is an amplified marketing platform that helps enterprise B2B marketing teams harness the power of audio and video content as the centerpiece of their content strategy. Someone appearing on a podcast to discuss how her company helps other companies grow using, among other things, podcasts, made for a fun episode of the Mads Singers Management Podcast!
Lindsay, first and last, values people. Long before she started the company, she and her co-founders were planning and discussing what kind of team they wanted to build, what kind of opportunities they wanted to offer, what kind of culture they hoped to create. That sort of people-centric focus, pre-pandemic, led to a very tight team: they went to lunch with each other at least once a week, overheard meetings and sales pitches, and even knew each other’s coffee preferences. That’s obviously had to change as the in-person team added many new members who couldn’t be there with them. Something I’ve done with my own teams to adapt to the situation is to have walking meetings. Instead of walking together in-person, we both are walking in our own geographic locations and getting that energy and movement from a walk as part of our time together.
It’s also important to interconnect your people. Some personality types are going to naturally gravitate towards others, but some members of your team are going to need a bit of encouragement to interact with each other. It might be a bit manufactured and awkward at the beginning, Lindsay acknowledges, but the fruits of this outreach come fairly quickly.
This also means that Lindsay tries to make herself available to help others in whatever way she can. Whenever business owners tell me they “don’t have time for that kind of thing” it’s usually because they are “busy” doing the wrong things. It’s these one-on-one connections with people, team members, and strangers alike, that can take you to the next level of personal and professional performance. Lindsay gets that, and that’s why I think she and Casted have a bright future ahead of them. Enjoy our conversation!
Key Learning Points:
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Lindsay discusses how “people” have always been at the center of how she viewed and built Casted - 3:05
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Lindsay values “over-communication” in her team - 5:04
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Mads shares the “biggest own goal possible” in management - 9:15
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Lindsay offers different frames for presenting unwanted projects to your team - 10:35
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Lindsay discusses the power of in-person teams - 15:30
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Lindsay and Mads note the fallacy of the entrepreneur “going it alone” - 27:45
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Lindsay discusses the value of alone time - 31:30
Connect with Lindsay Tjepkema
Casted
Yellow Pages was a dominant advertising paradigm for many small businesses for so many years and it worked well for many of them. Put up an ad and the sales would roll in.
Today’s guest for the Mads Singers Management Podcast, John Vuong, lived in that universe for ten years before transitioning to the digital advertising world. John really enjoyed working with small business owners and watching their journeys to build successful businesses. He had a passion for helping them on that journey and hence when the paradigm began to shift away from Yellow Pages, he moved on to the then-unknown world of SEO.
He didn’t let that lack of knowledge scare him. He jumped in with both feet and made more than his fair share of mistakes. But he says that his sales background really helped him in this new SEO world. I noted that SEOs are not normally known for being social and gregarious and that a sales background could clearly be a differentiator in that space.
Something we both really agreed on was the importance of putting yourself in someone else’s shoes. This isn’t just important when dealing with clients you are trying to help, but also with employees, you are trying to delegate tasks to. Failure to delegate in the SEO world will mean the death of a small agency, which I see far too often with owners who also happen to be subject matter experts.
John noted that a lot of his clients aren’t interested in understanding the black box that is SEO: that’s what they pay him to do. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t explain some basics to them. “Consumer education in this space is key,” he noted.
We finished the episode by talking about the importance of company culture. I firmly believe you can build a company any way that you want to, as long as you are crystal clear on the culture that you are building that company on top of.
John’s humility and openness about his journey are encouraging for any of those who might be considering entrepreneurship. Enjoy!
Key Learning Points:
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John shares his motivation to get into SEO - 3:06
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Mads talks about the trap of the subject matter expert - 4:32
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John notes the necessary consumer education for SEO clients - 6:45
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John discusses his early mistakes - 8:08
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John talks about how public speaking and podcasting made him more resilient - 10:30
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Mads shares how his inherent ability to read people got supercharged by DISC - 12:00
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Mads notes that most SEOs lack EQ - 15:05
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Mads affirms that you can build a business however you want to, around a culture that matters to you - 22:30
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John talks about how his sales life prepared him for entrepreneurship - 30:30
Resources Mentioned:
- Principles by Ray Dalio
- Tribe of Mentors by Tim Ferriss
Connect with John Vuong
Local SEO Search
It’s always nice when our guest for the Mads Singers Management Podcast is familiar with hosting a podcast. In this episode, I’m chatting with Jesse Jackson (no, not that Jesse Jackson) about best practices when it comes to managing and communicating with teams. Jesse has spent most of his career in the call-center business, working in various divisions, be it sales, customer service, and tech support. He has managed teams from 25-50 people. When he’s not with his family he’s recording podcasts about Bruce Springsteen and Dr. Who.
Jesse moved to a new company last year and had dozens of new team members to meet. He met all of them in two weeks, asking some short simple questions:
- What do you like about working here?
- What do you not like?
- What can I do for you?
- What’s a song you have to have on a road trip?
Jesse’s fellow managers were stunned that Jesse had managed to meet with everyone so quickly, but Jesse couldn’t understand why this wasn’t a basic expectation: how could he be expected to understand his team if he couldn’t take a few minutes to meet with them? He created a Spotify playlist using everyone’s songs and shared it, as well as the two most important pieces of feedback that kept coming up in his meetings:
- Everyone enjoyed the family atmosphere of the company, but
- They didn’t feel as much in the loop as they wanted to be
I noted that not only is communication normally an issue between management and teams, but that some managers don’t have the self-awareness to realize that they are not communicating in the way that is best for all the members of the team, but in the way that the manager typically prefers. Jesse understood that instinctively and said that when he sends out communication he usually does it across multiple platforms, be it email, Loom, and messages on Teams/Slack so that everyone could get the info in the format he/she preferred.
Jesse also noted how far telling team members WHY goes. He shared multiple occasions in which sharing the why behind his decision led to buy-in and adoption. That sort of sharing also gives employees the confidence to come to you with ideas for improvement. He gives those employees the advice that he earned by his own lessons: come to management with facts instead of feelings, and have the confidence in yourself to advocate for your ideas. Don’t just back down at the first “No.” Management has natural resistance built-in.
I agreed, pointing out that whenever I’ve seen employees own an idea they work that much harder to get it implemented.
It was a pleasure to chat with Jesse. Enjoy the episode!
Key Learning Points:
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Jesse talks about why it’s so important to meet with each team member when you take over a team - 4:45
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Mads warns of bad tendency leaders have when communicating with their team members - 7:50
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Jesse shares why the “mushroom treatment” doesn’t work for team members - 12:30
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Mads notes the three pitfalls of failing to own unpopular decisions - 15:50
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Jesse encourages those who want to advocate for change with management to show up with facts, not feelings - 24:45
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Mads stresses that people will tend to fight to help bring one of their own ideas to life - 30:50
Resources Mentioned:
Three Signs of a Miserable Job by Patrick Lencioni
Connect with Jesse Jackson
Set Lusting Bruce
Today’s guest for the Mads Singers Management Podcast, Timothy Colson, has spent many years in leadership, first in a big box retailer for almost a decade, then for a nationwide insurance company. Today he runs his own insurance and financial services firm in New York, about an hour outside Manhattan.
Part of why Timothy runs his own firm today is his love of culture and the way that it can shape a team. “We sell commodities. There’s no need to take that so very seriously. I want a team that values creativity, honesty, and having fun.” Timothy noted that when he emphasized those core values, it wasn’t difficult to attract A-players to his team.
Timothy noted that great culture happens when people enjoy their work, feel trusted and empowered, and come to work every day feeling like they are part of something. I noted that that goes hand in hand with performance. People who are performing well tend to be happier. Those who are not performing well know they aren’t performing, and are a drag on themselves and the culture. If they can’t get with the program, they have to go (and it’s better for them too!).
We also discussed “situational leadership” as a topic that is getting more attention these days. Timothy sees that as assessing what is the most important issue in a given day or week, identifying the right person to deal with it, and then deploying that person to do so. This fosters trust and empowerment in a team, as opposed to micromanagement, which tends to discourage team members.
Timothy and I also enjoyed roasting the old and outdated chestnut that, in management, you should always “treat everyone the same.” The reality is that different people need different techniques and approaches. Timothy talked about one particular scenario in which one of his team was performing very well, but not using the methods that had been determined as the “right way” by the higher ups. After spending some time with her, he decided to ask for forgiveness instead of asking for permission from the higher-ups and leaned into the methods she was using to win. He then documented those and passed them up the chain for approval. Rather than insist that there was only one right way to do things, he took a gamble and helped coach his employee.
Timothy has a clear passion for the science of leadership and it was a pleasure to get to know him well. Enjoy this episode!
Key Learning Points:
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Timothy notes that it only takes one person to poison the culture of an entire company - 4:00
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Timothy shares what he thinks a great culture does - 5:15
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Mads reminds us that people who perform tend to be happy - 6:56
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Timothy gives us his definition of situational leadership - 16:50
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Mads warns that “treat everyone the same” as an idiom in management is outdated thinking - 19:00
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Mads stresses the importance of self-knowledge to complement knowledge of your team - 21:32
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Timothy shares how he found a way to help one of his team members grow in an unconventional way - 27:44
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Timothy talks about an “aha” moment in regards to micromanagement - 33:03
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Mads notes the biggest danger of micromanagement - 35:11
Connect with Timothy Colson
Tri-State Legacy Group
Believe it or not, there was a time when there was nothing like Google Ads on the Internet. All you could find were documents and PDFs floating around explaining how to “improve traffic” to your website, but there was nothing like the SEO industry that exists today.
One of those early pioneers (with one of those PDFs in hand) was Phil Drinkwater. He originally trained as a programmer and helped to design video games. He moved into project management and picked up SEO and UX/UI along the way. He’s my guest for today’s episode of the Mads Singers Management Podcast.
Phil now runs an agency focused on a few specific niches, and that was something we both see as a big problem in SEO: a lack of focus. Instead of doing something specific and doing it well over and over and over, many individuals and agencies claim to be all things to all people.
While a part of me understands that it’s a part of the entrepreneurial journey to say “yes” in the beginning so you can say “no” later, it seems that there are quite a few people who are still stuck in the “yes” mode (with no game plan for how to move into “no” mode). I have to say when I speak for small businesses or at conferences, this is a topic that comes up over and over and is probably the thing I speak about the most.
Part of serving a specific niche is networking appropriately. “If you want to work with lawyers, find out where they hang out and go there,” said Phil. Whatever you want to focus on, identify where the decision-makers are congregating and go there to add value, not just to throw your (virtual) business card at them.
Phil also clearly has a passion for building a team of A-players who trust each other and trust the process. Part of his interview process for any new employee involves that person sitting with the team, doing tasks, and also asking questions: nothing is off limits. Not only does this build friendship and camaraderie even before day one on the job, but it lets people know that they matter.
Phil had experience in fear-based cultures in some workplaces and he thinks it’s perhaps the easiest way to kill the creativity in your team. Fear-based cultures tend to micromanage and check everything and that’s a great way to watch creatives check out. Ultimately, you want people to be “free to fail” because mistakes and failures aren’t the end of the world. We learn from our mistakes. We should never be put in the position (or put our team members in such a position) as to feel that perfection is what we’re after. Trust and accountability matters much more.
Phil’s got a world of experience to share and I hope you tune in and harvest some of it!
Key Learning Points:
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Phil talks about the early days of SEO - 2:10
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Phil shares the hands-on interview process that helps him find the best candidates - 6:45
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Phil emphasizes the importance of giving people a voice - 8:45
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Phil explains the open structure of his company - 10:00
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Phil warns of the dangers of a “blame culture” - 11:30
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Phil stresses the need for creatives to feel relaxed in order to perform well - 15:00
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Phil discusses how delegation felt “unnatural” to him at first - 17:15
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Phil celebrates some big “mistakes” that have led to positive changes in his life - 20:15
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Phil recommends Alan Watts’ story of the Chinese farmer - 23:40
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Phil underlines the importance of doing a business you can enjoy and be successful at - 32:01
Connect with Phil Drinkwater
Website
We often complain about the fact that there’s so much that “they” don’t teach us in school that we need not just for our careers, but for life. Turns out that instead of just adding one more voice to that chorus, someone decided to address those challenges by writing a book.
Today’s guest for the Mads Singers Management Podcast, Mark Herschberg, is the author of the new book The Career Toolkit: Essential Skills for Success that No One Taught You. Mark has managed to pull off a rare trick: 20 years in academia, teaching at MIT, and 20 years as a CTO, working with garage startups and Fortune 500 companies alike.
One of the aspects of our conversation that I found funny was how both Mark and I had to intentionally overcome parts of our own personalities in order to live the lives we do now. For me, as a classic introvert, I chose to ride a bus to work early in my career. I started with “Hi”s to strangers and when that became easier, I graduated to “Hi, how are you?” Mark’s technique was more dramatic: he used ballroom dancing. “If I made mistakes, it wasn’t the end of the world,” he noted. He took what may have been “high stakes” for others and turned it into a practice ground for himself. Not only did he become better at networking, but dancing gave confidence to his public speaking.
I shared that Toastmasters had been part of my own journey to improve in public speaking, and we noted that activities and hobbies like dancing or Toastmasters serve as their own form of networking. Rather than having to subject ourselves to the sometimes cringey world of “networking events” we have both come to realize over time that when you pursue interesting things you will run into interesting people. And before too long, you’re “networking” without even knowing it.
We also spoke about the value of negotiation and how some managers are “afraid” to train their employees to negotiate: “What if they use that against me?” But Mark really noted that this isn’t a smart way to think. It’s always better to negotiate against a good negotiator than a bad one. A good one figures out how to get the best outcomes for everyone instead of playing a zero-sum game. Yes, they may use their new negotiation skills “against” you, but they will appreciate your investment in them as a person, not just as a numbered employee.
Mark is so full of fascinating stories and helpful lessons that this episode could have easily gone on longer. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Key Learning Points:
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Mads notes that the best salesperson doesn’t necessarily make the best sales manager, and certainly can’t become one without training - 3:43
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Mads shares that often when people say they “don’t like managing” it’s because they don’t know how - 5:20
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Mark stresses the importance of being incrementally better than your competition rather than focusing on being the “world’s greatest” - 7:07
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Mark used ballroom dancing to help with his fear of public speaking - 11:04
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Mark gives us a tactic to get networking results without attending “networking events” - 15:05
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Mark has been encouraging people to re-invest the time they have saved with Covid - 23:40
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Mark talks about the importance of learning how to learn - 30:00
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Mark goes back to memories of geometry in school to connect learning to life - 33:45
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Mark makes the case for training your team to negotiate better (even if it’s against you) - 37:45
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Mark points out that there’s no substitute for practicing what you learn in books, courses, and podcasts - 42:20
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Mads talks about the prestige and advantages that come from hosting groups - 47:30
Resources Mentioned:
The Career Toolkit
3D Negotiation
Bargaining for Advantage
Start with No
Getting to Yes by Roger Fisher
Never Split the Difference
Good for You Great for Me
Connect with Mark Herschberg:
The Career Toolkit
We hear a lot in the news these days about “diversity” and “inclusion” and it’s often best to speak to someone who is working on these issues each day to get a sense of the state of affairs. Today I welcome one of those people, Genesis Amaris Kemp, to the Mads Singers Management Podcast. Genesis is a self-proclaimed “enthusiast” for inclusivity and diversity and has a book that outlines her thoughts on the subject: Chocolate Drop in Corporate America.
Genesis and I started the episode talking about passion and I shared how fortunate I was to have stumbled across my passion via a great boss. She was such a great manager that I ditched my planned career path to study management so I could become as good as her. One of the problems I run into when I chat with people is they aren’t getting out there often enough to find their passions. Pro tip: you’re not going to find your passion sitting on your couch.
Part of being a great manager is being able to give feedback, but it’s also the hallmark of a great employee to be able to take feedback. I’d love to say that I was a natural, but it actually took me years to be able to just say “thank you” and thoughtfully consider what had been shared with me instead of just getting defensive and resentful, which of course led to total lack of productivity on my part.
Part of the “feedback” that the corporate world has been receiving is the need to be more inclusive and diverse in the workplace and in leadership roles. This has even led to a quota system in Norway that mandates that 40% of the seats of boards of publicly traded companies must be held by women. That’s actually been discouraging to friends of mine who earned their spots before these quotas. I also recently fielded complaints from those who looked at our speaker list for the SEO Mastery Summit: “Why aren’t there more women?” We simply didn’t have a lot of women apply. Genesis and I talked about the relevance of quotas, the importance of making sure there’s a wide range of individuals of different ethnicities and cultures in given businesses, and the need to ensure that those individuals can see a path for them to rise and spread their wings, to not just be seen, but be heard.
The trap of “checking the box” or “tokenizing” diversity is always lurking, even in our subconscious, so it’s worthwhile to challenge our assumptions and look to improve our workplaces for ourselves and our team members. Enjoy this episode with Genesis!
Key Learning Points:
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Genesis gives us her definition of passion - 1:45
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Mads relates how a great boss changed his career path and allowed him to stumble across a passion - 3:20
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Mads reminds us that hearing feedback isn’t always easy - 7:30
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Mads goes on to warn against the defensiveness that is almost a reflex when hearing negative feedback - 10:30
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Genesis defines diversity, inclusivity, equity, and equality - 12:40
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Mads underlines the high stakes of hiring in a small business - 17:35
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Mads shares his own challenges in finding female speakers for a conference he runs - 22:55
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Genesis warns of “check the box” syndrome - 28:45
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Genesis also warns of divided employee resource groups (ERGs) - 29:30
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Mads reminds us that mentors love to help those who are passionate - 37:30
Resources Mentioned:
Chocolate Drop in Corporate America
Connect with Genesis Amaris Kemp
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Facebook
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Email
Hiring is one of my favorite topics to discuss, and my guest for today’s episode of the Mads Singers Management Podcast, Mark Webster, had so much good information to share about that topic. Mark is Scottish but has spent enough time in the US that his accent is somewhere in the mid-Atlantic. He currently runs Authority Hacker, which he co-founded in 2014. Authority Hacker educates website owners about the ins and outs of SEO. In a previous life, he ran a digital marketing agency with 30 team members. He also holds a small portfolio of affiliate websites.
One of the first things Mark talked about was the importance of hiring superstars. “We want A+ people or nobody,” he said. I couldn’t agree more: the cost of a bad, or even a “not so good” hire is significant. Mark agreed, noting that one of his big mistakes in the past was not firing a bad hire quickly enough. He noted that in big companies they get a “performance improvement plan” and three warnings, etc. but those small businesses don’t have that kind of “luxury.” A business can be significantly damaged while you drag your feet on what should be a simple decision: letting a bad fit leave the organization.
Mark also shared some great tips to mentally frame the recruitment process. Firstly, he thinks about recruitment as a funnel. You want to get “leads” (applicants) and you can only do so by really compelling “copy” (job descriptions). He then shared that 10 out of every 50 applicants are people he really wants to pursue. He also gave his thoughts on various online assessments (I mentioned my love for DISC) and he also shared some questions he likes to ask:
- “How would your last three bosses/clients rate you on a 1-10 scale? We do check references.” He says this even though they might not have time to check references.
- “Are you more interested in the job or the company?” If they don’t mention the job at all in their answer Mark knows it’s not a good fit.
- “What sorts of books/podcasts/youtube channels do you read/listen to/follow?” If it’s mostly trashy fiction, we know these aren’t people who are dedicated to personal development.
I loved hearing these, so I added one of my own, “Do you do better working on your own or on a team?” I’m not so much interested in the answer than in the way the question is answered. If the person answers right away, I know that is the true answer. If they pause and answer more slowly, then I know they are telling me what I want to hear (or at least what they think I want to hear).
Mark and I talked for quite a while and could have gone on for even longer, but I wanted to be respectful of his time (and yours), so I had to wrap it up at some point. If you’re interested in thinking through your hiring process more thoroughly, this episode is for you.
Key Learning Points:
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Mads points out the costliness of a “not so good” hire - 4:54
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Mark argues that you can outsource many things in a startup, but not HR - 6:41
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Mark talks about a mistake regarding bad hires - 10:15
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Mark shares his conception of recruiting as a “funnel” - 14:50
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Mads talks about the concept of “recruitment as sales” - 24:11
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Mark agrees and talks about “pre-selling” the company during a final interview - 24:40
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Mads notes that the best hires love challenges - 25:25
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Mark offers a framing question that helps him weed out candidates - 27:32
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Mads adds on to that point, by noting the way that a particular question is answered gives a lot of information - 28:22
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Mark adds some additional unusual questions that help him gain information about candidates - 33:45
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Mads underlines the importance of having forums/opportunities to connect with staff - 45:41
Connect with Mark Webster
Authority Hacker Podcast
It’s often said that a business is a way for the founders and employees to bring their theories to life. Sometimes those founders have enough energy and vision to drive multiple businesses. Today’s guest for the Mads Singers Management Podcast is Matt Diggity and he is very much one of those types of founders. His businesses include (drum roll): Diggity Marketing (a blog about digital marketing), Leadspring (a firm that builds authority, monetizes, and eventually sells affiliate websites), Authority Builders (a backlink service), Search Initiative (a client-facing SEO agency), Affiliate Lab (a course that teaches the background of the services that Leadspring offers, for the DIY type), and Chiang Mai SEO (during times when gathering in numbers is permitted).
If you were paying any kind of attention to that impressive resume, you’ll see that Matt has a lot of SEO superpowers and is simply deploying them in multiple ways. In order for him to do that effectively, he’s got to have great management skills. That’s actually how our paths crossed originally. I came out to one of his team’s in-person events to give them some management training. I covered a lot of what I talk about in my management course, with a special emphasis on 1 to 1 meeting and recruitment. Those two activities, apart from the day-to-day management tasks, like strategic thinking and networking, comprise the very heart of great management.
Matt shared how much he loves assigning responsibilities, rather than tasks, when he delegates. I agreed, saying that if team members are clear on the expected outcome, they can feel free to tweak the process in order to get to that outcome. Delegation also assumes knowing where someone is coming from, and I think DISC can go a long way to helping people solve that problem. Matt noted that he liked DISC because unlike Meyers-Briggs, which gives you 16 possible variants, it only has four measurements to examine.
Part of how you can get to understanding the urgency of delegation is auditing your activity: seeing how you are spending your time and noting what kind of income those activities generate. When you see that laid out it becomes so much easier to let tasks go that you simply don’t have to do, not least of which because you are nowhere near the best person in your company to do those things.
Despite all that he’s got going on, Matt is mindful of parenting and he had a lovely thought for current and aspiring parents: “There is no amount of time that is ‘enough’ to spend with your child.”
Enjoy this conversation!
Key Learning Points:
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Matt notes the revelation of there only being two main functions of management once things get put in place - 3:08
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Mads reminds listeners that if you can’t take a month off, you don’t have a business, just a glorified job - 4:50
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Mads emphasizes the ineffectiveness of doing tasks that should be outsourced - 8:15
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Mads talks about the “boxes” that DISC helps create - 15:30
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Mark shares the helpfulness of assigning responsibilities rather than tasks - 20:15
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Mark underlines that delegation assumes A-players - 31:25
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Mads discusses an alternative way of framing a job search - 34:35
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Matt tells listeners a key lesson about parenthood - 39:15
Resources Mentioned:The Algebra of Happiness by Scott Galloway
Connect with Matt Diggity
Diggity Marketing
Seven years ago Martin Ebongue was living in France, working at a job that he enjoyed. But he wanted more freedom, and since he had already built some online businesses with good revenue streams, he was able to quit that job and go on a world tour for 18 months. He ended up settling down in Bali, which is where he was when he joined me as a guest for an episode of the Mads Singers Management Podcast.
One of the big themes of discussion for us on this episode was delegation. Martin stressed the need to let go of your ego: “I’m not always the best person to take care of a certain task,” he noted. But it’s not enough to just come to this realization. There also has to be a process for delegation. Martin’s process involves him going through the task once himself before handing it over to someone. That person then confirms that they understand exactly how to accomplish the task (and if they don’t they can ask). This seems to work well for Martin as he has only had one team member leave in the last seven years.
I shared that one of the biggest pain points that should lead people to delegate in the first place is the burden of being a subject matter expert (sometimes in multiple fields). That means that people are always coming to you for decisions, creating bottlenecks. Martin agreed, saying that while it may feel like a burden to create a process in the first place, that’s only a short time commitment which pays outsized dividends in giving you more of a personal life.
Martin also believes in having a team culture that looks for collaboration rather than competition. Given that his team is spread out across three continents (Europe, Africa, Asia) that’s a powerful mindset to keep the team collaborating. This collaboration extends to the hiring process. Martin’s first two employees were simply excellent freelancers that he ended up bringing on full-time. He began to realize that people who have achieved mastery in a certain field tend to know others who have also achieved mastery in different fields. This led him to start looking for potential candidates from his team’s recommendations. There are so many different components to a great team, and different candidates bring different skills and personalities to the table.
Along these same lines, I was recently chatting with a coaching client about a new hire he was very excited about. “If only I could get one more like him,” he said. “Well,” I said, “why not ask him?” Winners know winners.
Martin is one of those winners and I know you’ll enjoy this conversation as much as I did.
Key Learning Points:
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Martin shares the locations of his remote team - 2:43
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Martin discusses the importance of letting go of your ego in delegating better - 3:45
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Martin talks about how he empowers his employees once he has delegated tasks to them - 6:35
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Martin outlines his process of delegation - 8:02
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Martin states that he has only had one team member leave in seven years - 11:15
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Martin notes the progression of some freelancers to becoming his first hires - 16:05
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Martin emphasizes the importance of asking your people to help find new hires - 17:30
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Martin stresses the short-term pain that needs to be overcome in creating new processes - 20:20
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Mads talks about the hazards of being a subject matter expert - 25:18
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Martin opines about the time of team culture he wishes to foster - 29:08
Connect with Martin Ebongue
SaaS is such a key part of the business world in general so it’s always great to go behind the scenes with someone who is actually in the trenches, building and managing a SaaS. Jeroen Corthout, our guest for today’s episode of the Mads Singers Management Podcast, is building Salesflare, a B2B CRM servicing a few thousand companies.
While you might think of a SaaS as the company that would be most likely to be built by a distributed remote team, prior to March 2020 Salesflare was 100% in-person in Antwerp, Belgium. Jeroen had believed that everyone “being in the same room” was always going to be the best-case scenario. But what he noticed as the team was forced to go remote via governmental regulations and lockdowns, was that the “same room” philosophy was lazy. “It meant we were relying on accidentally overhearing something. There was no system in place.” That system was put firmly in place as 2020 continued, down to how the team would keep track of decisions in meetings (Google Docs visible to all) and how they could see people’s reactions when they weren’t all in the same room (having everyone tiled during a team call so that everyone could be seen).
This intentionality in communication had long been a hallmark of how Salesflare dealt with customers. Every developer periodically spends a week on the customer-facing side, to get a sense of what is going on there in terms of customer feedback and technical issues. Jeroen noted that AI will play a role in software development in the future, but for now it’s up to him and his team to try to anticipate what the customer is thinking using processes like developers listening in on calls or watching chats.
SaaS businesses face several dueling pressures. One is the question of profitability vs growth. I was glad to see that Jeroen wasn’t chasing profitability at any cost: he was clearly aware of his niche and stated that at the beginning of the episode. He also shared his desire to improve the hiring process as the company grows in the future. The other dueling pressure he has to deal with every day is building vs communicating. The development team has to build a great product and tries to extract from customers what they like, but more importantly, why they like it. This communication with the customer is key, and Jeroen encourages this early on by not only adding every potential customer on LinkedIn, letting them know there’s an open door should they wish to talk but also by adding more “free trial” time as those new users complete more tasks within the CRM.
If you, like me, find the SaaS trend fascinating, this episode will be a great chance for you to understand it more, from someone who is living it day-to-day. Enjoy!
Key Learning Points:
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Jeroen talks about the essence of what SaaS has to deliver to be competitive - 3:00
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Jeroen shares the two main jobs of any successful software company - 4:10
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Jeroen discusses systems he has in place to make sure his team understand how customers are thinking - 7:37
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Jeroen notes the need to stay in touch with his team and with clients (and how he does both) - 8:14
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Jeroen explains the process his team uses to improve the product - 9:40
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Jeroen opines on the game-changing nature of his team going remote due to Covid - 14:54
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Jeroen stresses the importance of morning standup meetings - 19:35
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Jeroen ruminates on the push/pull tensions of growth and profitability - 25:50
Connect with Jeroen Corthout:
- Salesflare
Sometimes entrepreneurs can be so focused on working for themselves that it’s considered shameful to ever go and work for someone else. But when you have such a limiting belief, you miss out on the opportunity to learn. Our guest for today’s episode of the Mads Singers Management Podcast, Effie Parnell-Hopkinson, is someone who didn’t limit herself and came away from a job experience with some lessons that helped her level up.
Effie has spent some of her careers as a bodybuilder and while studying for her undergraduate degree people started to ask her (unsurprisingly) about proper eating and exercise. After enough people were asking, she started a health coaching business while getting her Masters in nutrition. At some point along the journey she met Dr. Emil Goliath, who also had a health coaching business. They became business partners (and started dating) and that’s where she is today, handling operations for Health Evolved.
Knowing she had come from a business owner background, I was keen to find out what she had learned during her stint working as an employee in another business. “Nobody really knows what they are doing,” she said wryly. “Everyone is learning and making mistakes, and even though a business may look like it’s succeeding from the outside, there are real challenges on the inside.” I couldn’t have agreed more. So often in my business coaching experience, I’ve seen people who own jobs, not businesses, precisely because they haven’t taken the time to create systems or properly delegate.
They don’t teach those sorts of skills in school, and Effie and I agreed on the importance of apprenticing for someone successful. Don’t focus on the money but instead treasure the incredible knowledge and lessons you are going to get from someone who is further along in a journey than you are.
One of those key lessons you might glean is making sure that remote teams have proper expectations, especially given time zone differences. People need to know how and why they are doing something and should be given all the resources they need at the very beginning. Effie added on that part of proper delegation is getting to know the team member better during onboarding. If you know where they want to go personally and professionally, you’re more empowered as a manager to help them get there.
That also means hiring for cultural fit, which you can only do if you have taken the time to write a job description that properly spells out not just what the job entails but what kind of company you are. I noted that when dealing with hiring that no hire is always better than a bad hire.
This chat with Effie really flew by and I think you’ll appreciate and enjoy her perspectives.
Key Learning Points:
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Mads discusses the “shame” that is sometimes spread in the entrepreneurial community about working for someone else - 4:25
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Effie shares her struggles in working for someone else after having her own business for so long - 5:25
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Effie notes some insights she gained from having a job - 7:14
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Mads talks about the “free lessons” on offer when you apprentice for high-level entrepreneurs - 10:12
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Effie shares a “paint it done” strategy she uses for delegation - 13:20
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Effie opines on the importance of clear expectations when working across multiple time zones - 18:00
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Effie talks about the importance of hiring for cultural fit - 24:52
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Mads shares that “no hire is better than a bad hire” - 26:25
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Mads notes that the brand of team software you use is less important than the team being properly trained to use it - 28:15
Resources Mentioned:
Dare to Lead by Brene Brown
Connect with Effie Parnell-Hopkinson
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Facebook
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Health Evolved by Dr. Emil
It’s not often that we’re able to speak to someone who has managed in three different cultures, and that’s why I was so excited to welcome Alex Zuev of Ardor SEO onto the Mads Singers Management Podcast. Alex is a self-proclaimed IT geek and started his career developing payment systems in Russia similar to Paypal. After success in that field, he started his own business and as part of the bootstrapping process learned how to do his own SEO. Soon enough he was helping others with that, too. He has spent time working and living in China in a digital marketing position for Alibaba. He’s also lived and worked in the United States, specifically NY. Today, Alex and his wife make their home in Asia, Vietnam specifically.
With such a CV, I was keen to get into all the cultural differences in management he’s witnessed. One of the first points he discussed was the gap between a boss and an employee:
- In China there is an enormous gap between the two, with a pronounced dislike for foreigners in the management ranks
- In the West, particularly in the US, there’s more of a collaborative relationship, akin to colleagues
- In Russia there’s a mix of the previous two systems
What does that mean on the practical level? Well, during his time at Alibaba, he had to fight for three months so that his team could get direct access to developers so that problems could be addressed pre-emptively and directly instead of in the slow and plodding manner of large corporations. Once that connection (and correction) was made, Alex saw a 2X/3X improvement in the quality of work, but if he hadn’t known to be persistent, that improvement wouldn’t have ever happened.
That’s one of the reasons he prefers working at smaller companies: it’s easier to get your ideas implemented (or at least heard). It also means you can be thinking in the same ways by running things like a book club in your team. As new ideas from these books get bounced around from discussions, they can also be directly applied to processes and procedures.
Speaking of processes and delegation, Alex’s ultimate delegation trick is automation. He’s a big believer in using technologies to “set it and forget it” with processes whenever possible.
Alex has a wealth of information and experience and we could have spoken for much longer than we did. Enjoy!
Key Learning Points:
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Alex discusses the value of empathy in communication - 9:20
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Alex shares his experiences working with Filipinos - 11:41
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Alex notes the importance of personality testing in hiring - 14:06
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Alex talks about the differences between working in a small firm and a big one - 15:27
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Alex addresses the Chinese dislike for foreign managers in their ranks - 19:55
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Mads talks about the upside of challenges - 23:15
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Alex preaches automation as delegation - 27:45
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Alex opines on the value of a company book club - 31:13
Resources Mentioned:
Clockwork by Michaelowitz
Connect with Alex Zuev
It’s not often that you’ll hear a guitar strumming in the background of the Mads Singers Management Podcast, but that’s precisely what my guest Chris Wilson was doing at one point when we discussed the changing ways his team gave music lessons post-Covid. Chris graduated from the Berklee College of Music in the 1990s as a guitarist and started teaching in his apartment. Before long his practice grew and pre-Covid he and his team of 25 were servicing 650 clients at the Academy of Music and Art just outside Chicago, Illinois.
One of the challenges that Chris faces is that there are no long-term music instructors in his team. A lot of these people graduate from arts programs, as Chris did, and want to do something in that field. So they will go to auditions or try various options while teaching, whether that’s in music, dance, or theater (all of which Chris’ academy normally offers). Sometimes they teach for a few months, sometimes for a few years, but if they end up working in the arts, they will stop teaching, and if they don’t make it in the arts, they leave the field entirely.
While Chris can’t control the circumstances of his crew of creatives, he has found a way to keep them teaching with him as long as possible: offering flexibility...within reason. Understandably people in the arts will sometimes need to leave for an audition suddenly and will need to deal with their group of students. Chris and his team have found ways to accommodate that, but it all starts with that attitude that everyone is there to help everyone else. Options include:
- Getting a fellow teacher to substitute for you
- Making a video for your current students, asking if they would like to delay lessons for a week
Anything is possible...except just leaving without telling anyone.
While employee retention is key, so is employee training. It’s not that obvious, but being qualified as an artist doesn’t make you a great teacher. Chris realized this right away and put together a mentoring program making sure that the newest teachers had time and conversations with the most senior teachers.
We also talked a LOT about books that impacted each other (linked below) and Chris shared his passion for proper delegation, which for him means giving as much support as possible to someone when you delegate, not assume they know everything and abandon them. We also talked about the adjustments he and his team have had to make during Covid (music and dance lessons are fairly easily done online, theater productions cannot be done at all).
It was fun to have a musician on the show and I think you’ll enjoy our discussion.
Key Learning Points:
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Chris tells of the (accurate) warning he received that there were “no jobs waiting for students of the arts.” - 1:30
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Chris talks about being part of the gig economy - 2:53
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Chris shares his initial mistake in management, then how he rectified it - 5:20
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Chris notes that being qualified as an artist or musician doesn’t qualify you to teach - 10:04
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Mads chimes in, noting that often the best way to learn is to teach - 12:41
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Chris observes that many creatives are, indeed, shy - 13:43
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Chris points out that delegation should not be abandoned - 15:07
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Chris talks about the transitional nature of his workforce - 20:00
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Chris and Mads talk about the benefits of remote work post-Covid - 26:40
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Mads questions the point of being angry...ever. - 35:00
Resources Mentioned:
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The E-Myth by Michael Gerber
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The One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard
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Work the System by Sam Carpenter
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Success Principles by Jack Canfield
Connect with Chris Wilson
The Academy of Music and Art
Employee engagement is a secret weapon of fast-growing businesses, and today’s guest for the Mads Singers Management Podcast, Tonya Sowles, is someone deeply passionate about making sure team members are engaged, not just counting hours until they clock out. She’s a general business consultant specializing in HR. While she is a Senior Certified Professional for the Society of Human Resource Management, she’s also got an MBA and over 20 years of business experience. She loves helping owners maximize their people in order to maximize productivity and profitability.
That’s precisely where we started our conversation. Tonya shared the shocking statistic that worldwide only 15% of employees are engaged with their work. “Engaged” means:
- Proactively solving problems
- Championing ideas
- Cheerleading for the brand and helping to recruit
Tonya said that even the best companies sometimes only have a 20% engagement rate, which means in a company of 10, there are 8 employees who might not care.
In my experience part of how you get employees to care is to invest in them. A famous quote that guides me in this area is an exchange between two executives:
“What if we invest in them and they leave?”
“What if we don’t, and they stay?”
Tonya champions the idea of weekly time blocks to talk with the team in general, and agreed with my oft-repeated advice to meet 1-to-1 with your direct reports each week. She also had some harsh words for “employee evaluations” as they often are currently used. She prefers instead more frequent “check-ins” which are borne from the open communication she seeks in having weekly time with her team members. It’s in these check-ins that we can discover personal and professional goals and see how their work life is aligning with those goals.
In those check-ins you can get to know your team better (something that DISC can help accelerate in the beginning). The better you know your team and show them that you care about their advancement, the likelier they are to be engaged and not be part of that large percentage that are just clock-watchers.
Tonya’s passion for engagement comes through in this episode. You’ll enjoy it!
Key Learning Points:
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Tonya talks about the importance of employee engagement - 3:30
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Tonya, like Mads, encourages weekly time blocks to chat with staff - 7:05
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Tonya shares why she doesn’t care for “employee evaluations” - 8:57
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Mads discusses his single biggest management ROI - 11:18
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Tonya warns against the dangers of training your team to “wait for permission” - 16:07
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Mads emphasizes having a diverse set of skills (and personalities) among your team - 20:23
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Mads shares the joy of telling his team he’ll be gone for a while and will be unreachable - 24:05
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Tonya notes the problems with “shoebox accounting” - 27:33
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Tonya discusses employees who are left to fend for themselves - 28:10
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Tonya explains why having employees is much more than having enough money to pay employees - 38:35
Connect with Tonya Sowles
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Sowles Consulting (Facebook)
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Triple P Group for Small Businesses
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Tonya Sowles (LinkedIn)
While we frequently talk to entrepreneurs on the Mads Singers Management Podcast, we also enjoy speaking with top leaders at companies. Today’s guest, Esbe Van Heerden of OnFolio, is one of those leaders. She’s spent five years building and running online businesses, with a heavy focus on operations.
Esbe started our discussion by explaining the challenges of rapid growth. In her case they went from five team members to 25, and from 25 assets under management to 52. That meant that as systems were developed, they sometimes had to be abandoned because they didn’t work at the new scale. But she was also constantly reminded that any system is better than no system.
I readily agreed, noting that the number one challenge I see in my personal coaching clients is a lack of willingness to trust the process. So many business owners are just looking to replicate themselves instead of putting in the hard work necessary to build a business, which means creating processes, delegating tasks, and trusting people.
Part of delegation is setting expectations, and Esbe shared that one of the areas that she’s recently improved in is setting expectations and KPIs for her team. Not only does this make them easier to manage, but it also makes it easier to let them go when they aren’t meeting those expectations.
If your staff are properly managed by clear expectations, that means it costs you less to deliver services, which is one part of raising profits. The second is making sure that you laser-focus on your niche, the one thing that you do really well. When you are laser-focused you can charge your clients more because you are going to be delivering a better quality of service.
This is a major mindset shift for entrepreneurs who must come to focus on the “one thing” mentality as opposed to the “cash grab” mentality. In the latter case, distractions disguised as revenue drag you away from building a sustainable business.
Sustainable businesses are kept that way by making sure you have the right clients. Esbe recently did an audit which led them to drop ⅓ of the clients in their portfolio, which, in classic fashion, were roughly the 20% sucking up 80% of the time of the company. While some of those clients were legacy clients, people who first helped the company get up and running, being in business often means making the tough, not the easy, decisions.
Esbe will often pause to think about what she wants to say, and I wish more people had this thoughtfulness instead of just rushing to answer questions. I think you’ll appreciate her answers and her way of answering.
Key Learning Points:
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Esbe talks about the challenges of a rapidly growing company - 2:30
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Esbe recounts the creation and evolution of the company wiki - 5:33
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Esbe shares her perspectives on the difference between management and operations - 11:40
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Mads warns about the frequent problem of owners bottlenecking their own businesses - 14:20
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Mads parses the difference between owning a business and owning a job - 19:46
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Mads shares the importance of shifting your mindset as a business owner away from a “cash grab” mentality - 21:37
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Mads argues for narrowing the scope of what you do - 23:07
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Esbe talks about dropping the bottom ⅓ of their clients to focus on the top ⅓ - 24:15
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Mads talks about the benefits of laser-focusing on your niche - 27:14
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Esbe notes that it’s easier to let people go when there are KPIs and expectations in place - 31:45
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Mads reminds us that we don’t know the quality of a plan until we execute it - 40:20
Connect with Esbe Van Heerden
Esbe@onfolio.co
A common theme discussed on the Mads Singers Management Podcast is the question of hiring. Who to hire, when to hire them, and perhaps most importantly, where to find them. Our guest for today’s episode of the pod, Tim Brown, has had plenty of time to think about these questions in recent years as he’s grown his business, Hook Agency.
One of the first things I talked about with Tim was how challenging it can be to grow a business financially. As you go from 10+ employees up to 50, you’re not going to be seeing a lot of profit, as you’re likely to be reinvesting a lot of it into the company to help grow it. Tim agreed, noting that it could get “lonely” during that time and you have to persevere in order to keep the growth going.
Part of that growth is the people you bring on, of course, and we talked about the pros and cons of hiring younger and less experienced people. I pointed out that while it’s tempting to bring in an external hire who is a superstar in a particular area, it’s almost always significantly cheaper to develop an internal hire, who can also then be shaped and molded to your company culture.
You also want to do internal audits to find common traits that you can add to your hiring brief. When we looked at our top performers in one of my businesses 9 out of the top 10 had lived abroad at least six months. Not the first criteria one might think of, but on reflection, it speaks to a willingness to get outside of your comfort zone and a basic responsibility to legally exist elsewhere for an extended period of time.
Tim noted that as much as he and his colleagues might share memes in slack about how isolation is affecting people at work (“we know you’re wearing sweatpants with your shirt and tie”) he also knows that people are actually getting depressed and has recently added a small monthly benefit to offset therapy costs. This way he can show that he isn’t blind to this issue and that he believes that therapy does help.
Finally, as we continued the hiring thread that ran through this entire episode, I stressed that networking is one of the best things you can do not just for recruiting purposes, but to learn mistakes from others in your industry. You can make all the mistakes yourself, but why would you want to?
Tim’s honesty about the challenges he’s faced is refreshing and you’ll enjoy his perspectives and passion for building a business the right way.
Key Learning Points:
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Tim shares that he has sometimes had to let things “break” in order for everyone to learn (and implement systems) - 3:10
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Mads notes that the better you can show the client the ROI, the longer they will stick around - 6:05
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Tim laments the lack of professionalism he sometimes sees in small businesses - 8:50
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Tim parses the difference between lifestyle and growth businesses - 10:10
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Tim talks about a recent trend in his company of hiring younger and less experienced employees - 15:35
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Mads shares that it’s always significantly less expensive to internally develop someone in an area of expertise than to hire a high-priced external superstar - 20:05
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Mads gives a metric he sues when hiring people that relates to how long they’ve lived abroad - 21:45
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Tim notes the importance of empathy in regards to Covid-19 and isolation - 33:00
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Mads warns that the “I’m going to fix this” attitude isn’t just about poor delegation, but about an active ego - 37:17
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Mads stresses the importance of networking as a way to learn mistakes more quickly rather than having to figure them out yourself - 38:55
Resources Mentioned:1. Who by Geoff Smart
2. Traction by Gino Wickman
Connect with Tim Brown
Hook Agency
While technology is an important part of scaling any business, without the right people, that scaling will never be successful. This is a deeply held belief of my guest for today’s episode of the Mads Singers Management Podcast, Ryan Stewart. Ryan, like many entrepreneurs I know (myself included), doesn’t limit himself to one business. But he has smartly ensured that all three play in the same space: Webris, a digital marketing agency focused on SEO for B2B SaaS, The Blueprint Training, to train people to be better SEOs, as well as a software company that helps companies automate their marketing.
While Ryan has been in the marketing space for a decade now, he originally started as a consultant for Deloitte before discovering this thing called “internet marketing.” Soon enough he was building his own websites, wordpress plugins, and even a digital marketing agency, all of which he has sold at one time or another.
Right away I asked him how he managed to keep all these businesses running smoothly, and he quickly answered: people and processes. He firmly believes that the only thing that stops businesses from growing quickly is having the right people in place. I couldn’t really disagree with him. People are everything to a scaling business.
As for where to find those people, Ryan really likes using LinkedIn not only because he can learn a lot about a potential hire there, but also see what their activity level is like and learn more about them through what they are commenting and sharing. He has an interesting recruiting process in which he puts final candidates through a paid trial in order to assess them in a “real world” environment. Not everyone goes for it, but that’s one more part of the screening process that gets him to the right candidate.
As for what could differentiate an SEO agency from the competition, Ryan focused on customer service and EQ. “Customers have differing levels of what it is SEO ‘does’ exactly, so you need to know what level of knowledge you are working with and communicate appropriately.” I agreed and pointed out that that’s also related to how much you charge. The better you communicate with your client about what you’re able to do for them for what you’re charging them, the likelier they are to accept your (higher) prices.
Ryan’s an expert in his field and very comfortable chatting about the things that matter to him. I think you’ll enjoy our conversation as much as I did.
Key Learning Points:
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Ryan talks about his secret to maintaining multiple businesses successfully - 2:45
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Mads shares why you DON’T want to just hire a copy of yourself - 4:15
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Mads discusses the importance of case studies - 10:13
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Ryan agrees and notes that those case studies should be niche-specific for maximum impact - 10:13
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Mads notes the direct relationship between pricing and what you’re able to do for a client - 14:30
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Ryan talks about how Covid-19 has affected his business - 17:10
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Ryan sees the value in SEO is something that cannot yet be automated - 20:28
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Mads talks about the fading importance of physical office space as part of business “legitimacy” - 27:15
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Ryan talks up the value of LinkedIn as a place to hire - 30:45
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Ryan tells us why he pays people for a paid trial as part of the hiring process - 32:07
Connect with Ryan Stewart
When COVID-19 made remote work more mentally possible for many businesses, the tools necessary to maintain and sustain that remote work, like Zoom, thrived. Today’s guest for the Mads Singers Management Podcast, Liam Martin, co-founded Time Doctor, a SaaS that has also continued to do well during this strange global period. If running Time Doctor wasn’t enough, Liam also runs a conference called Running Remote, a business he started in part just to find out the answers he needed as he continued to grow and scale a remote company.
If you don’t know about Time Doctor, it’s a way for any business to not just track time for work, but also analytics for how long it takes to do a task and what was done. Among the fascinating facts that Liam and his team have discovered over the years?
- People who go onto Facebook during the workweek are more productive
- A 32-hour work week is optimal
We found out that Liam himself works pretty close to that 32-hour week, spending roughly 66% of his time on podcasts or speaking at conferences. I loved hearing that, as it’s such a far distance from the mentality that pervades some of my coaching clients who are newer in entrepreneurship, who tend to think of their productivity in relation to hours, ergo, more hours, means more productivity. Wrong. What really matters is doing a few things very, very well.
That attitude also matters for your subordinates. Liam shared a fascinating story about how he incentivized his team not just to chase any backlinks, but links with great authority. By no longer using sheer numbers of backlinks as a KPI, but rather the Domain Authority (DA) score of each particular backlink, the team was able to up the quality of what they were getting at a fraction of what they would get if they hired someone: on average the Time Doctor team was paying $32 per backlink for DA of 50 and higher, whereas agencies routinely charge $350 for DA of 60+. A 10X value, and keeping that value in house? That’s the sort of stuff that builds great businesses.
This discussion of time management also led us into a discussion of the unhealthy #hustle culture, and why working 100 hours a week (or more) doesn’t make you some productivity hero, but only more likely to burn out and take your team down with you.
Later in the pod Liam also shared a story about how he was able to narrow down his search for a COO type to exactly 87 people in the entire world that publicly had what he was looking for. It’s inspiring to see effective time management at every level of Liam’s thinking, especially in recruiting.
Speaking of time, that’s likely to fly by as you listen to this pod, one of my favorite discussions of this year. Enjoy!
Key Learning Points:
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Liam notes the importance of tracking how much time you’re spending with your clients - 2:50
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Mads shares the importance of KPIs, particularly as you scale - 9:30
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Liam talks about Dunbar’s Number and how technology can help us stay connected as a tribe - 10:15
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Liam shares how many hours a week he works, and a number of hours a week he knows will end in failure for everyone involved - 12:26
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Liam pushed back against #hustle culture - 14:10
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Mads notes that it’s not about hours you work, but about doing a few things really, really well - 16:45
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Liam gives a case study of how he and his team improved the quality of the backlinks they were getting - 20:30
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Liam shares his predictions for the near future of remote work - 25:30
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Liam shares a quote from Napoleon that guides how he gives out orders and assignments - 30:18
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Mads talks about process documentation and the fact that the faster this is created, the faster a company can grow - 31:45
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Liam shares another fascinating case study as to how he brought in an A player from Wordpress to level up his team - 36:22
Connect with Liam Martin
Running Remote’s YouTube Channel (pro tip - Liam personally manages this page, so it’s a great way to get a hold of him)
Sometimes the side project you are working on ends up dwarfing your day job and becomes the path you never expected. That’s what happened to my guest for this episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast, Slawek Czajkowski. In 2008 he was building a company out of a small village in Poland when his side project, Surfer SEO, offered such possibilities for scale and growth that he knew he had to give it his full attention. So he did.
Right away Slawek realized that he and his fellow managers had to go from being subject matter experts to managers of experts. They are entirely different skill sets and the latter requires people who are open-minded to personal development. When I asked him how management was similar to SEO, he responded that he considered them opposites: people who are skilled in SEO could be bad with people and introverted, whereas those skills would be disastrous in a manager. While I agreed with that framing, I also noted that if someone in SEO was always looking to just get a little better every day, so could a manager, and that’s an ideal to strive for.
Slawek agreed with this and we also started talking about goal-setting strategies, and how “small” goals are virtually worthless. Slawek said that he’s consistently thinking “10X” across various KPIs and encourages his team to think in the same tracks. This is such a great practice because when you let someone set “reasonable” or “small” goals, they will simply end up doing the same things, but maybe with slightly more effort. But when you ask people to do great, big, unreasonable, scary things, they will be forced to change their way of thinking and get creative. That’s when exciting things happen.
You won’t get anywhere with goals as a company if you don’t have the right team members, and Slawek and I both love hiring from within, though Slawek also does a lot of hiring by referral. While I think this is a good practice, there are also a couple dangers to be avoided:
- Sometimes “hire my friend” is more of a plea from someone who would like to work with a friend, not a reference to someone who is the best fit for a role
- When things go south with a referral, they can sometimes take the employee (or employees) who referred them in the first place, making for a double whammy
I still maintain that one of the best ways to find great candidates is to know a lot of people, which you can do by effective and smart networking.
The time with Slawek passed really quickly and I think you’ll find his straightforward work ethic and humility as encouraging as I do.
Key Learning Points:
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Slawek notes that wherever you have processes, you have opportunities to automate - 2:40
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Slawek talks about how Surfer SEO grew out of a side project - 3:26
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Mads warns that being a subject matter expert can sometimes lead to your getting “stuck” instead of growing - 6:20
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Slawek and Mads discuss how SEO and management are similar...and not similar - 6:55
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Slawek shares his goal-setting strategy - 10:50
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Mads talks about the “secret” of becoming good at something - 16:55
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Slawek explains why he prefers to hire almost exclusively via referrals - 20:00
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Mads shares a pro-tip when it comes to recruiting - 21:35
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Mads notes why “hire my friend” isn’t always a good idea - 25:10
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Slawek shares his “secret” to success - 28:05
Connect with Slawek Czajkowski:
Surfer SEO
One of the biggest mistakes people make when scaling their business beyond their first ten employees or beyond their first million in annual revenue is thinking that what got them here will get them to the next level. My guest for this episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast, Jan Cavelle, knows better. She’s experienced all levels of business and has learned many hard lessons about scaling, all of which will be going into her forthcoming book from Bloomsbury: Scale for Success.
One of the key points Jan made during our discussion was the need for entrepreneurs to personally develop in order to scale up: they should be putting just as much time and effort into personal development as they are into sales, marketing, and technology for their business. I agreed. One of the things I’ve observed in coaching entrepreneurs is a failure to be effective. I often say that if you’re consistently working 12-hour days, there’s something wrong, and then this becomes a snowballing problem: because you’re not rested, you’re not making good decisions, and then you have to stay at work longer to correct mistakes instead of being productive within a normal work day.
A key part of being more effective and productive is delegation. If you’ve had your business for under three years, everything that the business owner is doing now should be off his/her plate in twelve months. If you don’t take these sorts of serious actions, and quickly, you won’t be able to grow and scale your company.
One of those items to delegate should be key processes. The business owner isn’t equipped to be updating key processes of the company, simply because he/she isn’t in the trenches, working on those each and every day. Those processes need to be created and updated by empowered employees.
Part of empowering employees is giving them the impression that they can progress within the company. I’ve frequently stated my preference for hiring from within, and the reason is clear: if you bring in talent from outside while not developing the talent inside, you can demoralize your team, and the best people will leave.
Jan agreed, and noted that when she’s looking at the right skills or the right person, she’ll always pick the right person, because, “skills can be taught, but the wrong person is the wrong person forever.”
I enjoyed hearing about Jan’s lessons and I think you will too!
Key Learning Points:
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Jan talks about the biggest mistake people make when scaling - 2:50
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Jan mentions her obvious choice when picking between the right skills and the right person - 8:17
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Mads shares why developing from within is so important - 9:38
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Mads talks about the one thing all business owners who have had their business under three years need to do in the next 12 months - 14:20
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Mads hammers home that the business owner has absolutely no place updating processes of the company - 16:50
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Jan shares a blind spot many entrepreneurs have in scaling up businesses: personal development - 19:01
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Mads notes the problem of consistent 12-hour days - 20:50
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Mads opines about the problem of “normal” people’s opinions - 25:11
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Mads and Jan talk about the power of peer groups - 26:10
Connect with Jan Cavelle
Jan Cavelle
Jan’s forthcoming book
My guest for this episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast is Greg Gibas who, like me, also owns an outsourcing company based in the Philippines. Even though Greg was born in Poland, his family moved to the United States when he was young. He ended up doing a Masters in Marketing in Australia and built a business in the Philippines. He’s been living the digital nomad life long before it was cool.
One of the first things we talked about was how Covid may end up being the moment when remote work exploded into the mainstream. We chatted about the changing dynamics we are watching unfold right now. Even though Greg stands to benefit from this change, he has thought a lot about work philosophically and made some points that really rung true to me:
- Geoarbitrage isn’t just great for employees, it’s also great for employers. Employees can choose a place they truly want to live and use a lower cost of living to save game-changing amounts of money. Employers are no longer constrained by the labor pool in their limited local market.
- Small businesses will follow what their competitors do. As they see other companies move into remote work, paying significantly less for the same level of worker, they will follow suit, which also frees up more capital to grow.
- The wage gap may close, soon. If remote work becomes a “new normal” then the major wage gaps that currently exist will necessarily close, as remote workers find out just how valuable (or not) they are.
I’ve always wanted to create the biggest businesses possible and help the most people I can. I think there are many problems in the world, but I think a lot of them can be traced to a lack of employment. Give more jobs to more people in the world, and there will be fewer problems, I truly believe. Yes, I approve that message and No, I’m not running for political office!
Greg and I have worked with hundreds of people over the past few years and he said something about hiring that I also really agreed with. He said that the most important quality in any employee is attitude. That’s also something he hammers home with people who brag about being ignorant about technology. “If you don’t even know little aspects of technology, you can really get taken advantage of and/or be blind to possibilities,” he noted.
I think you’ll truly enjoy Greg’s perspective, experience, and optimistic outlook on the future of work in general, and remote work in particular.
Key Learning Points:
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Greg opines about remote work pre-Covid - 2:14
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Greg talks about geoarbitrage and its benefits for employees and employers - 6:58
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Greg observes that companies in expensive locations may try to cut their wage bill by going remote - 10:20
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Greg shares the most important quality he looks for after working with hundreds of employees - 11:30
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Greg anticipates the worldwide wage gap closing if remote work becomes more “normal” post Covid - 16:03
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Greg thinks just having a little bit of tech knowledge will save you a lot of time and money - 25:40
Connect with Greg Gibas
Gibas Associates
I live in the SEO world and so it’s always a pleasure to chat with someone about SEO, but even better when I can combine that discussion with another topic close to my heart: building and scaling companies.
That’s why my guest for this episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast, Nick Jordan, had so many interesting things to share about his journey. Originally a sales and product guy at early-stage startups he wanted to make a move into marketing instead. After a stint as a freelancer he saw some things he could leverage into making his own agency, and now, a few years later, he’s got a team of 25 at Content Distribution, helping clients rank on page 1 for tens of thousands of keywords.
Nick admitted that he already feels the pressure of managing a team of 25 and has a core of managers he has developed so that he does not have any direct management of his team of writers. I told him that at various inflection points on the way up to 100 he’s going to feel those same pressures, but that as long as he made sure his managers gained more people skills as they were promoted (instead of focusing on technical skills) those pressures will be manageable.
I often say that when I think about promotion, especially to management positions, I tend to hire internally. Then not only do I generally know what I am getting with an individual person, but there’s less risk that the person will fail, as I will have been grooming them via opportunities to take on more responsibility that I proactively give out over a period of working with them. I learned this lesson fairly early on in my outsourcing business. I got blinded by an amazing resume when I was looking for my second hire. It cost me a lot of time to admit my mistake and a lot of money to replace that bad hire.
Speaking of a lot of money, we also talked about how many SEO agencies undercharge and underdeliver. Instead of niching down into something specific and charging a premium for their expertise in that topic, these firms tend to take on all kinds of clients and use most of their retainer to deliver and hence aren’t really building a sustainable business. Nick agreed with me that it’s much better to charge more, which allows you to spend more on delivering world-class service to your clients.
It’s always fun to be able to say you chatted with someone early in his/her growth trajectory. Nick and his team seem to be doing a lot of things right, and he’s not afraid to admit when he’s gotten some things wrong and wants to improve. That’s always great to see and just one more reason I think you’ll enjoy this episode.
Key Learning Points:
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Nick shares some of the pressures of managing 25 people - 4:50
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Mads notes the importance of niching down in order to be able to charge more - 9:22
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Nick adds that higher prices also allow for case studies, which show dramatic changes and take a lot of time to track - 12:18
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Nick talks about the early days of his business and why he waited before taking on more clients - 22:10
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Nick and Mads give various reasons why they prefer to make internal hires - 23:30
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Mads pitches the importance of encouraging entrepreneurial thinking among employees - 27:50
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Mads shares an early big management mistake he made with his outsourcing business - 32:40
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Mads credits DISC with helping him learn about people much sooner than others can usually - 44:27
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Mads talks about the most important thing to help a manager with after you promote them - 49:23
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Mads talks about the crucial stage of the company: when it’s not about the owner anymore - 52:55
Connect with Nick Jordan
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Content Distribution
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Facebook
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Instagram
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Twitter
One of the ironies of discussing company culture is the fact that so often some of my coaching clients who are trying to grow as entrepreneurs describe their company’s culture as what they would like it to be, not as it actually is at the moment. Culture is the beating heart of any organization and when that’s muddled or off-track, everything suffers.
My guest for this episode Mads Singers Management Podcast is someone who knows that in her core. Jocelyn Kopac, like me, started her first business in her childhood. I sold strawberries; she sold farm fresh eggs to city-dwellers from Chicago who were enjoying the countryside. Jocelyn is a serial entrepreneur and business strategist who works specifically in the DEI field: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion. In this vein she helps entrepreneurs build and develop an inclusive company culture as well as have crucial conversations with those members of the team who may not understand the importance of DEI.
Jocelyn is passionate about DEI and helped me understand some things:
- Diversity is not just about skin color or race but can refer to people being in the military or not, being married or single, or having kids or not having guardianship of anyone
- Equity is about giving each other the tools to make sure we have equal opportunities to grow and mature as people and team members
- Inclusion is understanding that differences between us exist, nevertheless, we can and should introduce processes that allow us to cooperate and win together despite those differences (a smart tool I use in this process is DISC)
You can guess that this naturally led to a discussion of company culture, and I lamented the fact that so often people talk about the culture they want to have instead of analyzing the challenges with the culture they actually have. Jocelyn shared the story of a recent hire who lasted precisely one day (Jocelyn did note that she hired against her gut feeling, so she takes some of the blame) because the company culture “spit her (the new employee) out.” It simply wasn’t a good fit.
Part of their culture is making sure there’s no micromanagement going on and that everyone is bringing their “A” game every day. She also enjoys sharing the goals and perspectives of different departments of the company with everyone so that they can see the bigger picture, make better suggestions, and ultimately, better decisions. I couldn’t agree with that perspective more, and is definitely part and parcel of why I prefer to hire from within my organization.
Key Learning Points:
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Jocelyn talks about the first business she ever started...at the age of 7! - 2:47
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Jocelyn shares the 32-hour workweek she has in place for her team of creatives - 11:36
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Mads chimes in to share his agreement about outcome-based work instead of time-based work - 15:02
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Jocelyn talks about how and why she tracks the time of her team - 17:00
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Jocelyn explains her three strikes rule - 21:45
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Mads talks about how important it is for culture to be “what actually exists” as opposed to “what people want to have” - 24:25
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Mads shares the importance of communicating with people in the way that they will understand best - 29:20
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Mads warns about the bottlenecks that entrepreneurs can create - 34:22
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Mads shares a management lesson he learned the hard way - 39:45
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Jocelyn talks about cultivating her team across the different departments of the company - 43:58
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Mads notes why he prefers to hire internally - 48:45
Resources Mentioned:
Track to Success Facebook Group
Connect with Jocelyn Kopac
Jocelyn Kopac
Sometimes what sets us on a particular journey in life is not a particular aptitude or knowledge of a subject, but a traumatic failure. When you hit rock bottom you get a certain clarity of thought that can help you not only to avoid such mistakes in the future, but to share those lessons with others.
Zachary Pritchard, today’s guest for Mads Singers Management Podcast, is someone who dealt with two such failures and has made them strengths: communication and finance. While his undergraduate degree is in wildlife, in which he was in charge of water management, he ended up building a business and growing it from 3-12 employees. He now works as a financial coach, helping people with their budgets.
We started talking about communication right away and I shared how important DISC was for me to understand my employees and clients and how I can communicate with them. I firmly believe that it’s not what you say, but how people hear what you say. Zach agreed, adding that part of effective communication necessarily resides in honesty and vulnerability. “If you can’t be honest with yourself, you can’t be honest with your team,” he noted.
Zach also talked about the importance of developing enough of a relationship with his team (something that can grow out of consistent 1-to-1s) that they could feel comfortable disagreeing with him in a professional setting. I agreed, noting that it’s not enough to say you have an “open door” policy (which I hear so often), but to actually make your employees feel that that is really true. If people don’t trust you, they won’t open up. I also shared a technique to use to ensure that your employees will be comfortable sharing their ideas that might contradict your own.
Zach is a proponent of the Dave Ramsey method of financial freedom and I lamented that we spend all this time learning complicated math that we are unlikely to ever use, but aren’t taught even one bit of financial education in school. Zach’s financial coaching practice is one way to correct that!
I enjoyed chatting with Zach and I think you’ll find his perspective helpful.
Key Learning Points:
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Zach relates how poor communication cost him his job - 3:30
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Zach notes that the most important part of effective communication is total honesty - 6:07
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Zach wants that honesty to go both ways, so that his employees can overcome any hesitance to contradict him on a business strategy - 7:27
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Mads agrees, noting that a good relationship is at the core of good communication - 8:53
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Mads also shares an effective strategy to make sure your employees feel comfortable “disagreeing” with you - 10:21
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Zach discusses the importance of being vulnerable in work conversations - 20:05
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Mads points out the importance of learning your team’s communication styles - 21:35
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Zach shares that what happens at home necessarily spills over into work - 29:45
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Mads laments the lack of financial education in school - 34:15
Resources Mentioned: Webinars on Budgeting
Connect with Zachary Pritchard
All Around Financial Coaching
Reading The Four Hour Work Week is easy. Implementing the lifestyle it puts forth requires effort, discipline, and often a bit of help from others.
Zsofia Banyai happens to be one of those others. She helps busy entrepreneurs automate and systematize their lives and is today’s guest for Mads Singers Management Podcast. Zsofia didn’t initially opt for the 4HWW life herself. Her undergraduate studies started in history but her practical side kicked in and pushed her towards finance, where she spent some years in the corporate world before starting her own business.
Zsofia shared that clients tend to come to her for two reasons. They either:
- Want to proactively put systems into place and delegate better
- Aren’t excited about putting systems in place, but know that the only alternative is burnout
That led to an important conversation about setting expectations and Zsofia has a one-hour video to onboard new members of her team and I mentioned that kickoff calls are a key part of our onboarding process for virtual assistants as well.
We also discussed the importance of giving team members ownership and impressing on them early on that they can own processes that they develop for clients. Rather than heavy-handedly insist on doing it a particular way, one should really give the person responsible for actually executing the task the opportunity to document the process, but only after they’ve done it a few times and are comfortable with it. They should also set up time periods when the process should be reviewed, and if necessary, updated.
Zsofia also shared that sometimes total automation isn’t the answer for every problem, as in addition to the time spent necessary to get the automation up and running, these tools can frequently cost a fair amount of money as well.
It was a pleasure speaking with someone who is helping solopreneurs build their best lives and businesses and it’s clear that Zsofia has a passion for elimination, automation, and outsourcing.
Key Learning Points:
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Zsofia shares one of the biggest challenges she faced in starting her business - 2:10
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Zsofia talks about the first thing she focuses on when onboarding a new client - 4:25
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Zsofia emphasizes the importance of clients clearly stating their expectations - 6:08
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Mads notes the importance of onboarding calls as another way to set expectations at the beginning of any working relationship, whether with clients or team members - 16:45
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Zsofia underlines the importance of proactively asking questions of her clients and never assuming anything - 18:15
-
Mads gives listeners a tip about outsourcing and documentation - 22:32
Resources Mentioned:
The Four Hour Work
Automation freebies from Zsofia
Connect with Zsofia Banyai
- Zsofia Banyai
Management is ultimately about problem-solving. Oftentimes those answers aren’t readily apparent because humans are involved, and they are definitely more complex aspects of any problem!
Today’s guest for Mads Singers Management Podcast, Zuzana Dobro, is someone who, like me, likes solving these human problems. Zuzana helps entrepreneurs think transformationally. She’s spent over a decade consulting both in house and with agencies on customer and user experience. She’s worked with startups, Fortune 500 companies, and everything in between.
Early in the episode Zuzana and I talked about relationships. I noted that there are some people who are particularly talented in SEO but for some reason have absolutely no talent at building relationships. One of the most important things in management is to build relationships with the people who work for you. Not only does that make for a more cohesive work environment, it’ll also increase team productivity.
Relationship-building is what Zuzana does when she is working with teams that cannot come to a consensus. She relishes the chance to brainstorm, facilitate, and use the fact that she’s not a direct stakeholder to bring objectivity and a solution-oriented approach. I agreed with her and stress with my clients that it’s not about “winning” or “losing” when getting to a consensus for a decision, but finding a solution that presents the best outcome for everyone.
Zuzana asked me about how I screen for clients and I told her one of the very first things I look at is personality, particularly DISC. If I don’t think I’ll be able to coach someone based on their personality, I won’t take them. I also put all potential clients through my management course. The goal here is to try to pre-emptively address some issues so that when we do finally get to coaching, we share a common vocabulary and methodology. Zuzana noted that when she doesn’t feel comfortable with a potential client she’s very happy to refer that business out and keeps up relationships with colleagues in order to do just that.
Part of keeping up those relationships is keeping your word, and Zuzana talked about how small the business world can be, and how you can’t afford to develop a bad relationship as a management coach: don’t burn bridges as entrepreneurs are always sharing information...as well as the names of good, as well as bad, service providers with each other.
Key Learning Points:
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Mads shares a weakness of those who excel in SEO - 6:58
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Zuzana notes a key trait of good managers - 9:35
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Mads underlines the importance of setting expectations of communication with clients - 12:35
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Zuzana reminds us that reputation really does matter - 16:35
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Mads explains how he screens for clients - 20:35
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Mads discusses a strategy for shaping decisions prior to a meeting - 25:40
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Zuzana offers an alternative strategy when there isn’t consensus prior to a meeting - 30:13
-
Mads talks about the difference between outcomes and solutions - 41:10
-
Mads notes how communication has to change when chasing bigger clients - 43:00
Connect with Zuzana Dobro:
- Zuzana Dobro
While the Internet has created so many new opportunities for building business and creating revenues, the realities of the traditional business world have not disappeared. In fact, with legislation like FATCA and GDPR now in place, it’s more important than ever to have access to a legal mind who understands the digital world.
John Di Giacomo, today’s guest for Mads Singers Management Podcast, is precisely one of those legal minds. John has an internet law firm called Revision Legal which specifically serves those people who make money on the internet. He’s been in the “internet law” business for a decade now and has plenty of war stories to share.
One of those stories was about legal trolls: people who find laws that you might be “violating” and then try to make you pay for those “violations.” One such scam involves the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and website compliance with that act. These trolls will test a site to see if the website is accessible to those with disabilities and if not, send a demand for compensation or even file a lawsuit. John shared some tips on how to amend your website terms and conditions to avoid these trolls, but if you want to learn more, there’s plenty more ADA knowledge on his website.
He also noted that the COVID crisis has actually brought a fair amount of buying and selling in digital businesses and that he’s had a fair amount of work during this time. But that’s also reminded him of things people fail to do when operating their businesses with a future sale in mind. One of those things is locking down trademarks. He shared a case in which a company with dozens of restaurants in its portfolio had to go through an expensive and time-consuming renaming process simply because someone else had duly filed a copyright on the name and ordered a cease-and-desist.
He also warns against inexperienced buyers thinking they can just waltz in and operate a business. John notes, “it’s not enough to have ‘read all the books’ or ‘listened to all the podcasts.’” There is no substitute for experience.
John has also had a fair number of FBA clients, and as such, has had to deal a lot with Amazon on legal matters. While some of my friends and clients were involved in FBA businesses, some of what John had to share Amazon’s policies and legal stances were really interesting.
John was our first lawyer ever on the podcast and he’s set a great standard for future lawyers to appear. Enjoy!
Key Learning Points:
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John shares what kind of activity he’s seen a rise in during the COVID crisis - 2:25
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John discusses what the true worth of a business is - 6:00
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John warns about earnouts - 7:45
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John notes the challenges of working with Amazon - 11:47
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John talks about dealing with remote employees - 16:53
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John clarifies that digital assets can be difficult to protect (and value) - 20:12
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John relates a trolling technique and how we can counteract it - 22:03
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John gives us a strategy for developing business in the US - 26:53
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John discusses the costs of getting a trademark - 31:00
Connect with John Di Giacomo:
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Revision Legal
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Facebook
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Twitter
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LinkedIn
Believe it or not, even when you’ve grown a business to a level that allows you to step away, business owners struggle to do just that. It’s a good problem to have, but even better, it’s a problem you can deal with if you are willing to make some important changes.
Today’s guest for Mads Singers Management Podcast, Adam Anderson, is someone who has had to make those important changes multiple times. Adam has spent 22 years as a tech entrepreneur, specifically in the area of cybersecurity. He’s had almost two dozen companies and they represent wonderful successes, disappointing failures, and one great sale. That sale made him think he was special, but over time he’s learned that he was lucky, and that process of learning to grow beyond luck has given him what he calls a “Street MBA” in which you learn by doing.
Adam is particularly proud of the people who have come to work for him who were either young or inexperienced (or both!) and were transformed by working with him. One particular group of developers started with him from scratch in one particular business and within the space of a few years were making 6-figure incomes. This reminded me of a couple excellent employees that I’ve had the chance to develop over the years, both of whom were 18 years old with no education when they started with me and now manage 60 people each.
This influence and authority over your employees is very powerful and Adam shares at least one occasion in which he felt he did not use that power for good. In trying to encourage a playful and irreverent “anti-corporate” atmosphere, he created such a party environment that an employee got addicted to alcohol and ruined his life.
That influence needs to be particularly present when promoting staff into management. Adam made the mistake of thinking that everyone was entrepreneurially-minded (like himself) and hence used the “throw them in the deep end” strategy when he promoted people into management. He learned the hard way (and pretty quickly) that this was no strategy at all. I concurred, underlining an important theme in my coaching: people can learn and grow into management skills, but they have to be taught how to do so: they can’t just be expected to “learn it as they go.”
Once you do get those people properly trained you are free to step away from the business, and Andy confessed that he had a hard time doing that. He had to learn to trust the process and not interfere with his management team, otherwise, they were never going to grow. He’s learned how to add value to his company as a whole and gives us some great networking tips (I add one of my own!).
Key Learning Points:
-
Adam reflects on the things that make him smile the most - 2:50
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Mads adds satisfying similarities in his own journey as an employer - 4:35
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Adam warns about the dangers of promoting great performers into management - 11:00
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Adam also notes that “abandonment” is not a great strategy for new promotions - 13:00
-
Adam shares his surprise at how challenging it was to manage managers - 15:00
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Mads assures Adam that he sees this problem all the time - 18:45
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Adam tells us his new “most important job” once he was removed from day to day operations - 23:50
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Mads adds a tip for “getting lucky” - 24:30
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Mads gives some alternative strategies for networking when there don’t seem to be obvious opportunities - 27:50
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Adam gives us the reason why networking is not prospecting - 28:53
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Mads shares an organization that is great for networking but isn’t normally thought of as a networking organization - 29:40
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Adam tells us his four stages of business building - 31:36
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Mads reminds us that management can indeed be fun - 37:50
Connect with Adam Anderson:
- Adam Anderson CEO
It’s one thing to manage a team of 2-3 that grows to a team of 5-6. It’s entirely different to go from managing a team of 10 to a team of 30. My guest for this episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast, Andy Allaway, is someone who has done precisely that for the juggernaut known as Empire Flippers. Andy comes originally from a sales background in the IT industry before he made a switch almost four years ago to take on running operations for Empire Flippers. He runs his worldwide remote team of 30 from the center of Europe, in Prague.
Andy shared that one of the great strengths of Empire Flippers is documenting processes. This makes onboarding and cross-training (to help the team better understand their counterparts in different departments) much easier. When I asked what qualities Andy looked for in building out his team, he really stressed cultural fit, which is something I very much advocate for as well. When you hire someone who is “really great” but who isn’t a cultural fit, it ends up badly for everyone, not just the wrong hire.
Andy also shared the challenges of managing the human capital around seasonality in the business brokering business. It turns out that there’s a lot of activity in Q1 after people finish a great Q4 and year. That means he’s had to be smarter and more intentional about where and how he deploys his team so they aren’t just sitting around during quieter times. His operations staff are divided into:
- Vetting (are these quality businesses worth selling?)
- Customer service (challenges from both buyers and sellers)
- Migration (helping a buyer get rolling in his/her new business)
One of the advantages of growing his team, Andy noted, was that as the team got larger, he was able to build specialists instead of having “everybody do everything.” And that makes sense, the skill set for vetting -- detail orientation and digging through spreadsheets -- is entirely different from the friendly and calming orientation of those in customer service.
Andy also noted that as his team grew, he wanted to improve as a manager, and he would ask potential employees how they would like to be managed. I told him that a more helpful reframe might be to ask what their best and worst bosses were like. They would then not only tell me about their past experiences but also indicate what kind of management style they really preferred. If you have the opposite type of style, it won’t be a good fit.
Key Learning Points:
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Andy talks about starting with a team of 10 (that’s currently at 30) - 3:34
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Mads warns about the dangers of hiring Mini-Mes - 4:45
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Andy talks about the importance of hiring for cultural fit - 7:07
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Mads discusses the dangers of just hiring a “body” instead of hiring for cultural fit - 9:40
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Andy shares a favorite interview question - 12:25
-
Mads offers two variations on that question - 12:51
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Andy discusses his biggest management challenge in operations - 19:10
-
Andy discusses seasonality within Empire Flippers - 26:20
-
Mads share some tips for how remote teams can be more social with each other - 29:22
-
Mads cautions on “skip level” (below your direct reports) 1-to-1s - 34:00
Resources Mentioned:
Traction by Gino Wickman
Connect with Andy Allaway:
- Empire Flippers
Behind every successful entrepreneur is some kind of routine. It doesn’t mean that it has to be a very elaborate one or one that checks off every single box recommended by the gurus. It just means that you have an anchor that helps guide your day.
My guest for this episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast, Jade Green, is someone who practices what she preaches when it comes to routine. Jade describes herself as the type of entrepreneur who is usually flying in from Bali, where she may have been running a business accelerator, in high heels, carrying a giant surfboard bag that might have a whiteboard or two inside as well. She’s a presenter, coach, facilitator, and so much more.
We got right into it, talking about her notion of an “ideal week.” She pointed out two positives of a job that we often don’t think about:
- There’s some basic structure
- You know when the day is done and you can choose to switch off
If business owners don’t have some basic structure and don’t have a system for “turning off” and being done for the day, it can be difficult to get deep work done and get into flow state. If you don’t know where to start, Jade suggests simply looking at everything that needs to be done this week and next and organizing your days and to-do lists, taking care to batch things with similar energies (i.e. the energy necessary for networking and client calls is quite different from planning and composing emails). I like to organize my ideal week on Sunday nights.
She was also transparent enough to walk us through not just her morning routine, but here evening routine as well. I’ve observed this trait in successful entrepreneurs and it’s just another way of drawing appropriate boundaries. If you can indicate to your mind and body that the day is over, you are giving yourself the gift of switching off, which is a key part of regenerating and coming back to do it all over again the next day. Some people see being “always on” as a superpower, but Jade advocates for a rhythm that isn’t subordinated to hustle culture.
We also discussed a higher level strategy than the ideal week, which is her “90 Day Plan,” which breaks big projects and goals into 12 weeks. “You overestimate what you can in a year and underestimate what you can do in three months,” she noted. By being intentional with your goal setting you can get so much more done in quarterly chunks than you can in annual planning.
I loved Jade’s energy during the episode and I know you will too. Enjoy!
Key Learning Points:
-
Jade describes the value of an “ideal week” - 2:06
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Jade shares just how to get started planning an ideal week - 5:25
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Jade talks about the importance of matching tasks on your list to the type of energy required - 6:40
-
Mads discusses focusing on strengths - 8:30
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Jade walks us through her morning routine - 11:51
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Jade also offers an end-of-day routine - 14:25
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Mads reveals why he doesn’t watch much TV - 17:58
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Mads shares his “20% strategy” when it comes to coaching - 21:25
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Jade explains the “90 Day Plan” - 25:10
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Jade talks about the importance of “filling your cup” - 31:05
Resources Mentioned:Own the Day by Aubrey Marcus
Twelve Week Year by Brian P. Moran
Atomic Habits by James Clear
Connect with Jade Green:
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Jade Green
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LinkedIn
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Instagram
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Facebook
Some years ago you may have had to convince people that content marketing was useful, or even more importantly, that they might need it for their own businesses. That’s not the case anymore. Content truly is king in this era of the internet, and even the search engines have learned how to (mostly) parse the good content from the bad.
In this episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast, I welcome Sofie Couwenbergh of Let Me Write That Down For You, which, as you can guess from the name, is a content creation firm. Sofie has had that business for eight years now. Before that Sofie was the in-house copywriter for an international publisher. Not content to write for a living, Sofie also does it in a side business, her travel site Wonderful Wanderings.
In my different businesses, content creation is key and I wanted to hear Sofie’s take on whether this should be an in-house priority or something that is hired out. She immediately asked:
- How much content do you need?
- Do you need it consistently?
The answer to these questions will indicate whether you are looking at a one-shot project (outsource) or something that you’re going to need consistently (consider a dedicated contractor or a hire). “Google is always changing, your competitors are always updating their content: if you’re not giving content serious attention, you’re going to be left behind,” Sofie shared.
So what about hiring people and how to find great writers? Sofie gave some great tips on what to do if you do end up using a large marketplace like Upwork. But she also shared a little known place where you can find great writers without having to pay Upwork’s fees. We also agreed that the more you pay, the likelier you are to get “publish-ready” content that doesn’t require a lot of editing. You can save money by hiring someone cheaper, but you’ll spend that in the time you need to spend getting their work up to par.
Sofie also shared that when you do bring someone in the house, you don’t want to throw everything at them at once. Document all the steps (hopefully because you have modeled them yourself) via documents or videos, and make sure your hires have everything they need to succeed.
Sofie’s passion for getting her client’s messages right (she calls herself a “straightforward perfectionist”) is palpable and after listening to this episode you’ll have a better sense of some of what goes on behind the scenes in creating high-quality content and corresponding high rankings in search results.
Key Learning Points:
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Sofie talks about the choice between doing content in house vs outsourcing it - 2:45
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Sofie discusses the importance of content - 5:20
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Sofie shares the challenges of hiring in a large marketplace like Upwork - 7:45
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Sofie gives us a lesser-known place to find great writers - 8:44
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Mads discusses the advantage of using someone who consistently writes for a living - 12:49
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Sofie offers pointers about training someone for in house content - 19:13
Connect with Sofie Couwenbergh:
- Let Me Write That Down For You
It’s a golden age for podcasts. They deliver news, drive lead generation and marketing, and feature long-form conversations on every subject under the sun.
Our guest for this episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast is someone who lives and breathes in that podcast world, Harry Morton. Harry is the founder of Lower Street, a podcast production agency that helps people grow their brands and create great podcasts. They also help create internal podcasts for large organizations to share policies, information, and culture.
Podcasting is trendy right now and that means people are flocking to work in the industry. That can lead to “too many applicants,” which is a problem some business owners would like to have, but which was also a great lesson to Harry early on. He thought that experience in the industry was going to be the key piece of the puzzle for each applicant, but what he found (and what made sense in Lower Street company culture) was that creativity was the secret sauce. Harry noted that a creative can always learn the industry, but you can’t take someone with industry experience and make him/her creative and flexible.
That’s another part of the culture he’s created with his team at Lower Street: a small team. A small team working with a particular number of clients, as opposed to an enormous agency working with innumerable clients, has an appeal to just the sort of people that have thrived with him. These employees tend to be:
- Technically competent
- Caring
- All in on the culture and work ethic of the company
Small has been a strength for him when hiring.
One of the paths of discussion we took when Harry discussed managing creatives (and a topic that often comes up with my management coaching clients) was communication and motivation with members of your team depending on how they think. Developers, for example, tend to communicate in written form, at length, in great detail. That means that not only do you have to adapt to getting communication like that from them, you should also mirror that communication back (instead of your preferred method, which may be spoken instead of written). Developers may also be less money-motivated, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be motivated by things. If you give them a bigger screen or a more comfortable chair, things that make them more effective, you will see the appreciation and even better performance from them.
I enjoyed learning about how Harry runs his company and I think you will too!
Key Learning Points:
-
Harry discusses the pros and cons of managing creatives - 2:30
-
Mads notes how developers tend to communicate - 3:57
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Harry talks about the relationship creatives have with deadlines - 7:40
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Harry shares what he’s discovered about hiring - 9:10
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Mads compares attitude and mentality to skill set when hiring - 10:35
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Mads explores the myth of “money motivation” - 12:02
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Harry explains the “problem” of “too many applicants” - 18:15
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Harry shares the appeal of a small team to certain applicants - 24:40
Resources Mentioned:
Lower Street
Connect with Harry Morton:
A lot of people have read Tim Ferriss’ The Four Hour Work Week. Many of those have gone on to try to live, in some part, the lifestyle of the digital nomad that Tim champions in that book. Of those, few have persevered beyond their first failures to one or more successes. That lesson, the lesson of “failing forward,” isn’t really discussed in the book but is a key part of the life of successful digital nomads.
On this episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast I chat with Amar Ghose, who grew up in Silicon Valley and read The Four Hour Work Week when it first came out. That planted a seed that led Amar to try establishing several different businesses with varying degrees of success until in 2013 he co-founded Zenmaid, which is a scheduling software for maid services. He’s got a remote team of 20, distributed around the world, and has himself been living the nomad life since 2015.
One of the things that Amar learned during the lockdowns earlier this year was the value of 1-to-1s. He had a chance to ask his team what they were interested in learning about and doing during the rest of the year and found out some hidden desires and talents, for example that one of his team wanted to do some copywriting, even though they were in an entirely unrelated department. This opened up an avenue for me to stress (as I do in my management course) that 1-to-1s are always to be done with regular reports on a weekly basis, not just during a lockdown but even during “normal” times.
A trait Amar looks for when hiring that I really appreciated was the desire to develop personally and seek feedback (and receive it graciously). He talked about how far some of his team had come in the years they had been together because of this trait.
We also got to learn a bit about his motivations behind acquiring a SaaS business, Burnchurn.io, that is unrelated to ZenMaid but still benefits from the way Amar has been learning to grow and manage businesses. One of those ways is the strategy of “managing up,” which Amar looked into more closely when an employee sent him a Harvard Business Review article on the topic. In brief, this strategy allows Amar to work for his team in different departments, insofar as he often looks over solutions that the team has already come up with. By more trust and delegation, Amar has been able to apply himself where he is most needed and valuable, and that’s a game-changer for a small business.
Key Learning Points:
-
Amar shares his biggest management challenge - 2:54
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Amar discusses the importance of 1 on 1 meeting during the lockdown - 8:30
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Mads stresses the importance of regular 1 on 1s with direct reports - 11:45
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Amar shares a key trait he looks for when hiring - 13:01
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Amar shares (for the first time anywhere) his acquisition of burnchurn.io - 14:35
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Amar notes the challenges of being a non-technical founder - 18:55
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Amar talks about “managing up” is a game-changer - 22:35
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Amar discusses his annual MRR goals for ZenMaid - 28:30
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Amar tries to sell Mads on the value of using Twitter - 35:05
Connect with Amar Ghose:
One of the most important lessons I consistently preach in my courses and with my private coaching clients is having the right people in the right place for the right reason. Most of us lack the management skills to make a correction when necessary and end up costing themselves, their teams, and their companies a lot of time.
On this episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast I chat with Stewart about his 20+ years experience in IT and over 30 years experience in sales. Stewart was at Sun Microsystems and worked on Solaris and Java in those heady days before Sun was acquired by Oracle. He also joined Zendesk pre-IPO. With more than a decade in “corporate life” he has an understanding of how big organizations work, as well as a lot of background in persuading others to use the software that he is currently representing, which helps him in his current role, securing indirect partnerships for SaaS businesses.
One of our points of agreement during this discussion was the importance of trusting your gut as you build your team. Stewart noted that he doubted his gut feeling about letting someone go, and as a result that mistake compounded for months. This is something I see all the time, and I try to remind people that being a “good person” is not sufficient to stay employed, both practically and personally. When people are underperforming, they are unhappy, and the fear of firing such people is a lose/lose for everyone. Stewart noted that the corporate treatment exemplifies this cowardice in labeling someone as a “special project” and putting them somewhere they can’t mess anything up.
Stewart, like I do, also believes in really niching down. He notes, “Who is the person I am trying to sell to and what is the value I am willing to bring to them?” He lives this advice in offering himself as an expert on SaaS, in the B2B format, in Europe. Specific enough for you? That said, you also have to be careful about pivoting too much, as you can sometimes lose your existing customers by doing so.
Key Learning Points:
-
Stewart prefers to focus on the extra value/margin to be gained on existing customers rather than worrying about churn - 6:30
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Mads discusses the importance of niching down in regards to lead gen - 12:30
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Stewart discusses the velocity of firing (and trusting your gut) - 14:05
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Stewart warns about those who interview well but aren’t a good fit for the role/team/organization - 18:15
Connect with Stewart Townsend:
- Stewart Townsend
Change is hard in life in general, but particularly so when you’re moving to a new way of managing your company and executive team. Some will not buy into the changes and find their way to the exit, others may resist and not actively support the new system. That’s why it’s so important that the owner believes in the change and reinforces that change in his management team and all the way down to front line staff.
Neel Parekh of MaidThis went through this about a year ago and on this episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast he tells us about how he successfully implemented the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS). Neel shares some tactics that really helped his team to accept the new program and work through some of the awkwardness at the beginning of the implementation process. Neel and his team have been scaling and growing, and just recently franchised his successful MaidThis brand, which is a cleaning service dedicated to vacation rentals and Airbnbs. You might also enjoy, as I did, the fact that Neel is constantly turning the tables to ask me questions! I respect and enjoy his curiosity and I think you’ll find some great content, particularly on how to run better meetings.
While it was awkward for him and his team in the beginning (it felt unnatural), Neel persevered and used scorecards to track KPIs for his direct reports. I emphasized the importance of personal conversations during 1-to-1 meetings (including the fact that they should happen every week for direct reports). If you don’t get to know your team, you will have no greater context for what they do and why they do it.
We also talked about team meetings and how different they are from 1-to-1s. Neel asked how often a manager should be talking in the meeting and I said, “As little as possible.” I reminded him of my principle: a manager should talk last and least. If you have difficulty with this, consider designating someone as the meeting manager to keep things on track.
If you insist on talking in team meetings, you will often take away agency from your team. When you offer a “solution” you take away the oxygen from their journey to find a solution. When you’ve told them your preference how are they going to come up with their own? A team has to solve these challenges together, without you, otherwise, they can’t ever grow.
Key Learning Points:
-
Neel describes how his company implemented EOS - 2:47
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Mads insists on the importance of 1-to-1 meetings - 6:45
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Mads explains his philosophy regarding team meetings - 9:43
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Mads notes the importance of a meeting manager - 11:10
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Mads cautions us on what happens when departments don’t communicate - 16:20
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Mads chats about DISC - 24:57
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Neel shares how blue-collar workers respond to recognition and compensation - 29:50
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Neel discusses ideal candidates for a MaidThis franchise - 33:10
Connect with Neel Parekh:
-
Neel Parekh
-
MaidThis Franchise
There are many business books that share theories about how to manage companies. Unfortunately, many of them are heavy in theory and light on real-life experience, which is why I’m always keen to talk with those who don’t just have a set of experiences with one company, but many sets of experiences across multiple companies and industries.
Someone who fits that profile is Henry Daas, who joined us for this episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast. Henry is a serial entrepreneur, business coach, author of a book about money and finance and currently writing a book about the “seven silos” of a business, which he has arranged into an acronym spelled as “codfish.”
Henry used a website to find an English word that would match the first letters of each of the concepts that he found were vital for any successful and serious business:
- Customer Service
- Operations
- Development
- Finance
- Infrastructure and IT
- Sales and Marketing
- Human Resources
Henry has a great skill stack, one of which is in finance, so I really enjoyed our conversation about business finances. We agreed that a shocking number of business owners do “bank account financing,” meaning that they run their business and build their financial outlooks based on what is going on in the company bank account. This is just one of the many issues I talk about in my finance course for entrepreneurs.
Henry insists that business owners doing less than $1M in annual revenue should know the numbers from their balance sheet and profit and loss statements backward and forwards. He also noted how casual most business owners can be about securing credit during good times. “Otherwise,” he says, “You won’t be able to get it when you do need it.”
I really appreciate Henry’s humble and understated style and there’s a lot more to this interview that you’ll enjoy. Dive in!
Key Learning Points:
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Henry shares how he developed his Seven Silos concept - 1:57
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Henry gives his opinion about “writer communities” - 5:35
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Henry talks about the #1 finance issue most small business owners face - 7:30
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Henry talks about the importance of a credit line, even when you don’t need one - 10:27
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Henry cautions against “bank account” financial planning - 13:45
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Mads discusses two aspects businesses should consider when making investments - 20:31
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Henry discusses the one milestone that makes you a “real business” - 26:32
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Henry discusses “micro clients” and their relation to the 80/20 rule - 31:00
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Henry shares his biggest management mistake - 39:02
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Henry warns about the “equity trap” - 40:35
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Mads explains why he takes business partnerships more seriously than marriages - 42:00
Connect with Henry Daas:
- Henry Daas
While hiring is one of the most important parts of running any business, the truth is that many companies are not intentional about hiring. They don’t have calibrated questions that relate to company culture. They don’t use an assessment. They don’t have interviewing skills. I’ve written about these topics before, but it’s always great to learn more from others who spend a lot of time thinking about these subjects.
That’s why it’s my great pleasure to welcome Beth Miller to this episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast. Beth runs Executive Velocity, which is a talent management and leadership advisory management firm. Beth works with business owners and their leadership teams and helps identify future leaders in the organization.
Both Beth and I know how much money can be lost by bringing on the wrong team members. That’s why it’s so important to be intentional in the hiring process. Beth identifies the beginning of this process in having a “company story.” If you don’t know where you came from, it’s really hard to figure out where you are going, and the profiles of the people you need to help you along the way.
If companies have taken the time to write their story, they can then use that to put together a hiring process, another item that many companies don’t often possess. Key elements of that process that Beth and I discussed:
- Calibrated questions - not just the generic ones (“tell me your strengths and weaknesses”) but the ones that are related to how you company thinks, acts, and executes
- Assessments - using tests like DISC and Business DNA which not only shows inherent characteristics but opportunities for helpful adaptations
- Video - it’s never been easier to find out rapidly how many candidates should be dumped from the process early on (or to get excited about those who might be great fits)
- Interviewing skills - don’t assume everyone “knows how to interview.” Cultivate those skills in those who most frequently interview new team members
Key Learning Points:
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Beth discusses the importance of a hiring mindset - 1:57
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Mads shares the two most important skills of a manager - 3:41
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Beth warns about the dangers of a manager hiring a “Mini Me” - 4:40
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Beth notes that many businesses don’t know how to attract the best candidates - 8:10
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Beth shares the importance of having a “company story” - 9:45
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Mads notes how game-changing adding a video requirement to a job application can be - 12:55
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Beth encourages the types of questions that are tied to your company’s culture - 16:10
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Beth shares what “I” vs “we” language means when a candidate is recounting a failure - 19:17
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Beth stresses the power of assessments - 25:15
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Mads shares the usefulness of DISC - 28:49
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Beth talks about planting palm trees and how that’s related to training employees - 40:14
Resources Mentioned:
- How to be a Great Boss
Author: Gino Wickman
-
DISC profile
-
Business DNA
Connect with Beth Miller:
Many business owners get stuck in the hamster wheel of simply running their businesses day-to-day (working in the business) and hence never get to grow the company via strategic planning and deep work (working on the business). The best business owners, however, put systems into place to escape this hamster wheel and to help their team members become more effective too.
It’s the one year anniversary of the podcast and for this episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast I welcome Ronnie Teja of Branzio Watches to discuss how he leveled up his and his team’s performance by implementing the Entrepreneurial Operating System and hence moved from working in his business to working on his business.
Ronnie Teja is a Canadian e-commerce entrepreneur who manages a portfolio of websites with the help of a remote team of 24 based in almost a dozen countries. He recently implemented the Enterpreneurial Operating System (EOS) for his entire company, which essentially entailed getting the entire company on the same page regarding key principles and paperwork:
- The entire team understands and accepts company principles, to which even the owner is held accountable
- Each member of the team individually signs off on the company playbook
- These principles and accountability also apply to each team member individually, and with Ronnie’s company that meant principles of honesty and integrity particularly
- Observance of the EOS is enforced by a system everyone has agreed to and accepts
This was a challenging six month process, but results came in the first 30 days, as team members who were not on board with the new ways were let go and those who embraced them not only stayed but thrived and leveled up with new accountability and better delegation from Ronnie, creating a culture of improvement. As the system was implemented Ronnie went from working 60-70 hours a week to 20-25 hours a week. He realized how much he had made himself a single point of failure within the organization and these changes have made the business that much more valuable for any future acquirer. Now when he uses his time to do things like write handwritten notes to customers or employees it makes a strong impact because he’s using his time to do the things only he can do.
Key Learning Points:
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Ronnie and Mads discuss the timeline for implementing EOS - 4:11
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Ronnie shares how the system led people to come forward about times they had failed to be accountable - 7:55
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Ronnie realized that the Canadian team were not pulling their weight - 9:25
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Mads warns about the dangers of implementing a system from the top without buy-in from everyone - 15:35
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Ronnie describes his Bruce Lee approach to management - 17:16
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Ronnie shares the things he’s been freed up to work on now - 23:20
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Ronnie discusses the challenges ecommerce businesses face - 28:07
Resources Mentioned:
- Entrepreneurial Operating System
Author: Gino Wickman
- Traction
Author: Gino Wickman
- Get a Grip
Author: Gino Wickman and Mike Paton
Connect with Ronnie Teja:
Joining me in today’s episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast is Marquis Matson, from BookRetreats.
Marquis is a digital nomad and SEO Expert. She also specializes in comprehensive keyword analysis, making sense of organic traffic data, and topic clustering.
Marquis creates content plans with a focus on Search Engine Optimization, high-converting content creation, funnel strategies, and email marketing.
Marquis’s passion is to works with start-up companies, and her experience is mostly in the wellness and yoga industry. Currently, she manages the Marketing Team of a company called BookRetreats, which focuses on overall wellness.
Marquis has always subscribed to the view that becoming part of the growth is essential in management. From this perspective, she profoundly understands the relevance of being flexible, knowing that individual differences significantly affect her management style. This is, in effect, also reflects in the manner she relays her feedback. For Marquis, having the right method to communicate is crucial for improvement; hence, it must be specific, whether it be positive or negative feedback.
As she has grown within BookRetreats, being organized is the best advice she could impart. In this way, asking the right questions contributes to becoming relevant such as how she was able to grow with BookRetreats with her SEO and Digital Marketing expertise.
Key Learning Points:1. Marquis Matson’s General Insight on Management - 2:25, 4:04
2. Marquis Matson’s Take on Performance and Over All Wellness - 9:12, 11:39
3. Marquis Matson’s Management Tips - 17:00, 20:58
Connect with Marquis Matson on the following online handles:1. Linkedin
- E-mail: marquis@bookretreats.com
Many leaders in this time, especially new ones, fall into the trap of thinking that they have to be the ones doing everything, "running the show," dispensing good advice right and left. Because after all, why else are you in charge, right? Wrong. The best leaders are not those who try to do it themselves, but those who can guide, inspire, and motivate others to do their best, and even bring out things in others that they didn't think they were capable of.
A good leader shines. A great leader makes other people shine.
In this episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast, Ghilaine Chan from, Brilliant and Human joins me today to discuss how enabling strengths becomes an essential function to effective delegation.
Ghilaine Chan is the Co-Founder of Brilliant and Human. She works with small businesses and looks at how the customers, people, and technology work together. These elements are what Ghiliane considers when looking at the whole business interface regardless of the business size.
Ghilaine is mainly responsible for the inside of the businesses and how people work best with those teams.
Ghilaine subscribes to the view that managing people entails being able to build connections for effective delegation alongside the tools or technology in place.
Key Learning Points:1. Ghilaine Chan’s Insight on Management - 2:16, 8:24
2. Ghilaine Chan’s Tips on Team Management - 18:30
3. Ghilaine Chan’s Insight on Common Client Challenges - 27:52.
4. Ghilaine Chan’s Tips and Hints in General - 41:45
Resources Mentioned:1. Nine Lies About Work
Author: Marcus Buckingham
- The End of Average
Author: Todd Rose
Connect with Ghilaine Chan on the following online handles:1. Brilliant and Human
2. Linkedin
3. E-mail: ghilaine@ghilaine.co.uk
Coaches are like guides who help you unpeel and navigate what you know to help you come out with the best outcome.
Joining me in today’s episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast is no other than, Todd Palmer, the leader. He knows that we only learn by leaning into the uncomfortable and away from the comfortable.
Todd is a serial entrepreneur and has been a CEO for 25 years. Recently, Todd retired and is currently, a full-time coach and speaker helping entrepreneurs through his company Extraordinary Advisors to do inside out leadership training, to help them stick around their business, take their complicated business issues and make those complicated business issues simple so entrepreneurs can create a life designed to typically involve entrepreneurship and their personal life to help them enjoy a better life and a profitable experience versus trying to do all by themselves which for Todd is the real hidden trap of entrepreneurship.
Todd subscribes to the view that every entrepreneur should never stop learning and should always consider themselves as long life learners to be able to know better and figure things out accordingly for them.
Key Learning Points:1.Todd Palmer’s Biggest Management Challenge - 1:37
2. Todd Palmer’s Common Client Challenges - 14:41
3. Todd Palmer’s Insights and Tips - 31:49, 37:07
Connect with Todd Palmer on the following online handles:1. Extraordinary Advisors
- E-mail: todd@extraordinaryadvisors.com
What our mind believes in, it focuses on, and this, in turn, influences our reality.
Essentially, the world we experience is a reflection of our thoughts, which we clung on to believing in our minds. These are our unique filters of reality.
In this episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast, I am joined by no less than Byron Morrison. Byron is a Mindset and High-Performance Coach, Speaker, and Author.
Byron is a CEO and a High-Performance Coach. His ultimate goal is to help CEOs upgrade their brainpower so they can make better decisions, execute things properly, and handle different levels of stress effectively.
Byron profoundly understands the relevance of developing self-awareness in carrying out the right mindset for every starting entrepreneur and to every entrepreneur who is to embark on a new business journey, whether it be business growth, new team members, or carrying out customer satisfaction.
For Byron, “Bracing the right mindset and High-Performance Consulting can uplevel your brainpower to help you (entrepreneurs) deal with new levels of pressure—without crumbling, without losing your composure, and without needing any “willpower” or “productivity. In the end, overwhelming levers will be turned off breezing through old stress triggers, and executing without overthinking. All without any extra effort.”
Key Learning Points:
- Byron Morrison’s Common Encountered Challenges - 3:33, 8:27
- Byron Morrison’s Insight on Leadership - 17:37
- Byron Morrison’s Insight on The Importance of Self-Awareness - 19:20
Resources:
Book: Become a Better You: Stop Dieting, Start Living
Author: Byron Morrison
Connect with Byron Morrison on the following online handles:
- Byron Morrison
- E-mail: info@byronmorrison.co.uk
A lot of us wait for an extended period to be able to say to ourselves, “Aha! Goal achieved!”. For Austin, it works differently.
Austin Bollinger joins me in today’s episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast to talk about working to achieve massive success every day.
Austin is the Vice President of Strategic Development of a Digital Video Marketing Company and, at the same time, runs his podcast circulating around helping people achieve massive success in their lives every day.
Austin found love in helping team members discover personal growth journey. He also describes himself as a person whose passion revolves around servant leadership and mentoring.
Austin is a driven leader; he leads with a vision and goals. He knows that for the vision to come to life, clarity, and focus dramatically helps a leader lead others effectively, specializing in adding more value.
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Author: Austin Bollinger
Key Learning Points:1. Austin Bollinger’s Insight on Servant Leadership - 2:52
2. Austin Bollinger’s on his Current Focus - 14:28
3. Austin Bollinger’s on Setting Effective Goals - 32:57
Resources Mentioned:
Book: The ONE Thing
Authors: Gary Keller, Jay Papasan
Book: The Compound Effect
Authors: Darren Hardy
Connect with Austin Bollinger on the following online handles:1. Daily New Year’s
2. Linkedin
3. Twitter
4. E-mail: austin@dailynewyears.com
It is every leader’s responsibility to own and communicate a vision for those who desire to follow. It is every leader’s responsibility to map out a course on a larger scale and find good talent to become a significant partner in developing people to their fullest potential. These are just a few of the many responsibilities that are expected from a leader, but a leadership legacy focused on developing people is something more.
I discussed these insights today with Rocky Romanella in today’s episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast.
Rocky is known to be a respected business leader willing to take risks and new challenges. With more than 40 years of executive-level experience, Rocky navigates and guides business ventures to define, prioritize, and deliver strategic initiatives for maximum value and profitable results. He is also the Founder of 3sixtymanagementservices wherein, they work with clients to generate sustainable business results through its proven Balanced Leadership Model.
Rocky learned and realized that great leaders believed in their people until they were ready to believe in themselves. This insight was one of the leading anchors in all his business undertakings.
Rocky also believes that profound self-awareness is significant in learning, developing, and eventually growing whatever that maybe.
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A 5 STAR book
Key Learning Points:1. Rocky Romanella’s Take on Internal Growth - 4:48
2. Rocky Romanella’s on His Professional Success - 9:22
3. Rocky Romanella’s on Acquiring Talents - 23:17
4. Rocky Romanella’s Take on Delegation - 26:54
Resources Mentioned:
Book: Tighten The Lug Nuts: The Principles of Balanced LeadershipAuthor: Rocky Romanella
Connect with Rocky Romanella on the following online handles:1. 3sixtymanagementservices
2. Linkedin
3. Twitter
4. E-mail: rockyromanella@gmail.com
While many leaders have leadership challenges, there are particulars of leadership unique to each leader level—the transition from being an individual contributor to leading others, then leading other leaders require enhanced capabilities.
Michael Tanner joins me in today's episode of Mads singers Management Podcast to talk about his passion for Leadership Development.
Michael started his management and leadership career 23 years ago; his experience at the US Marine Core made him realize the true essence of leadership - that it is not about the rank or your direct reports, leadership, after all, is about the relationship.
Currently, Michael is not just a software developer but also a leader of other software developers. It is alongside his career that he is also engaged in what he calls his retirement business, which is focused on Leadership development in his earnest desire to see people win.
Michael subscribes to the view that leadership involves influencing others towards a shared goal.
Michael also believes that leadership development is essential for emerging leaders. The transformation of mindset from being an individual contributor to becoming a significant partner or leader is crucial in not just carrying out the responsibilities but transforming the organizational culture itself.
Key Learning Points:1.Michael Tanner’s Management Philosophy - 4:31, 5:23
2. Michael Tanner’s Leadership Inspiration - 7:58
3. Michael tanner’s Insight on how to get out of “Career Survival Race” - 11:23
4. Michael Tanner on Grooming Emerging Leaders - 19:45, 23:22
5. Michael Tanner’s Approach to Personality Tests - 29:30
Golden Nugget:
Golden Rule on Leadership - 37:41
Connect with Michael Tanner on the following online handles:1. Credible Leader
2. Twitter
3. Linkedin
4. E-mail: michael@credibleleaders.com
Whether you run a small business or heading multiple businesses, there would always be several activities going on every time, and there would always be numerous changes happening simultaneously. These realities pose a challenge to handle at once and not let work become chaotic.
This is why to stay on top of things, Matt Mower, a software builder, and developer advocates the use of an effective software tool designed for every business need.
Joining me on this episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast is no less than Matt himself to talk about how meaningful and useful software can be used in businesses regardless of the organizational size.
Matt’s background involved building software as he worked in software companies for years, including software building mostly in the world start-ups and SMEs.
Over the years, Matt gained a profound understanding of HOW software usage makes a significant business impact once tools are identified to focus on clarifying how an investment could then turn to a relevant output.
This approach involves enabling people to become agents of change complemented with the targeted tool or software to solve the problem instead of just presenting the software as it is.
Key Learning Points:
1. Matt Mower’s Least Liked Experience in Building Software - 1:42
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Matt Mower’s Challenges & Strategies in Software Building - 3:52, 6:05, 6:57
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Matt Mower’s Headstart Tip For Non-Tech People (Start-Up) - 17:40
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Matt Mower’s Approach for Large Business on Software Building - 21:46, 23:04
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Matt Mower’s Pro-Advice To Get Started in Software Building - 30:23
Resources Mentioned:1. Mullin’s Seven Domain Model
2. Assumption Mapping by David Bland
3. Impact Mapping by Gojko Azdic
4. Testing Ideas
Author: Author: David Bland
Connect with Matt Mower on the following online handles:
1. Website
2. Linkedin
3. Twitter
4. E-mail: matt@theartofnavigation.co.uk
To lead a team nowadays requires collective synergy among the people involved in the team - this is what Quentin de Pret is preaching as aa Transformation Advisor and Coach.
Joining me in today’s episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast is Coach and Advisor from Mango Chutney, Quentin.
Quentin had a chance to explore the field of collective intelligence and participatory management, which in essence helps to build peoples’ sense of community and belonging in a remote workspace so people will feel engaged despite the complex work dynamic.
He also built a company called Mango Chutney, which takes care of small and medium businesses in organizing daily life like how to be efficient yet stimulate engagements considering the modern workspace involved.
For Quentin, participatory leadership is essential for adapting to change and innovation. It uses available knowledge and involvement to achieve the common good on any issue as it allows them to deal with issues by using the collective intelligence of people concerned.
Key Learning Points:1. Quentin de Pret’s Management Philosophy - 4:26
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Quentin de Pret’s Management Model - 10:00, 17:18
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Quentin de Pret’s Insight on Culture Transformation in Organization and Peer Communities - 22:16, 32:47
Connect with Quentin de Pret on the following online handles:
1. Website
-
Linkedin
-
E-mail: quentindepret@gmail.com
Goal Alignment and People Management to be complimentary involves laying out the business goals and figuring out top-down what needs to be done on a team/individual level to get there. At the same time, this the same idea also involves complementing what each person’s personal goals are. This mix of insights separates good from great.
Joining me in today’s episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast is the CEO and Founder of Tangent Solutions, JH Media Group, BrainLeaf, and Sensible Surveys, Jason Long.
Jason Long is an entrepreneur with 20 years of experience in business building. His businesses include Tangent Solutions, which owns a portfolio of software services, product services, and outsourcing companies. Likewise, he also owns JH Media Group, which is a Saas Consulting Company.
In the course of his business growth, Jason has had ups and downs, but, he paved his way through it by learning through it. One of which made a significant impact on his views about recruitment.
On the same note, Jason also subscribes to the view that effective management from the top level is all about having the right people on board. Otherwise, disaster may most likely strike.
Jason does not put a person’s ability in a “box” but pushes the new hire around based on the potential he saw, which could eventually fire all cylinders.
Key Learning Points:
- Jason Long’s Management Philosophy - 4:19, 34:19
- Jason Long’s Insight on Goal Alignment - 5:00
- Jason Long’s Important Business Management Lesson - 13:40
- Jason Long’s Approach to Hiring - 22:37
Connect with Jason Long on the following online handles:
- Linkedin2. Twitter3. JH Media Group (SaaS Consulting, Planning, & Build)
- BrainLeaf (Scope of Work Process Optimization)
- Sensible Surveys (Complex surveys made sensible. Specializing in Wage and Benefits Surveys)
Sustainable Digital Entrepreneurship may vary from one entrepreneur to another, and that’s OKAY. In a world of possibilities presented by new media and internet technologies, its success may be measured through a lot of ways and methods.
Joining me in today’s episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast is an SEO Strategist and Founder of Flow SEO, Viola Eva.
Viola Eva runs a Digital Marketing Agency called Flow SEO, where they specialize in search engine optimization for digital businesses. She travels around the world to talk about SEO, including content management.
Digital entrepreneurship has been one of her passions and hobby on top of the digital agency she currently runs. In her body of work that circulates around SEO, she ensures that their approach is data-driven, transparent, and sustainable.
The main thing that Viola encourages with her team to succeed is being proactive, which she compliments with intensive feedback.
As dynamic and engaging as she is, she ensures that she gets everyone onboard effectively and efficiently.
Key Learning Points:1. Viola Eva’s Insight on People Management - 10:42
2. Viola Eva’s Take on Content Creation - 21:30
3. Viola Eva’s Pursuit of Overcoming Initial Obstacle in Digital Entrepreneurship - 30:34
4. Viola Eva’s thought in Data and Insight Difference - 36:24
5. Viola Eva’s Insights on E-commerce and SEO - 40:54
Resources Mentioned:1.Stealing Fire Author: Steven Kotler, Jamie Wheal
Connect with Viola Eva on the following online handles:1. Linkedin2. Flow SEO
- E-mail: viola@flow-seo.com
The effects of COVID-19 came as a shock to everyone. A lot of organizations have turned to new work-from-home policies to keep employees safe while at the same time following the rules rolled out by the government.
Fortunately, the impact for businesses wherein working-from-home became a norm is less vulnerable, but by “less vulnerable,” it does not mean that these businesses are not exempted. People Management just became a little even more creative.
Erick Rodriguez, the founder of Virtuous Imports, joins me in today’s episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast to talk about his successes at a young age and how efficiently he handles remote management, most importantly in today’s pandemic.
Erick Rodriguez is a 25-year-old Colombian-American who resides in Manila, Philippines. Erick’s expertise includes working with virtual assistants and e-commerce. He had over 40 Filipinos and 2 Americans working for him.
Erick shares how his views about People Management in effect impacts positively in today’s pandemic. Erick subscribes to the belief that for the set up to work positively, “effective communication” plays a considerable role in sustaining business continuity at the same time getting everyone on board.
For Erick, Remote Management requires a unique approach to every employee, considering that the business set up entails a lot of intricacies.
Key Learning Points:
- Erick Rodriguez’s General Insights about Remote Management in times of COVID-19 - 1:13
- Erick Rodriguez’s Critical Team Dynamics - 12:36, 16:08
- Erick Rodriguez’s Shares Unique Expertise on Remote Management - 19:59
- Erick Rodriguez’s on People Management - 24:11
Resources or Applications Mentioned:1. Slack
2. Hubstaff
Connect with Erick Rodriguez on the following online handle(s):1. Linkedin
2. E-mail: erick@virtuousimports.com
Passionate about building businesses that would exemplify his wealth, Dane Maxwell truly exemplifies how he can make great deals with the businesses that he has so far ventured in.
Joining us in today’s episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast is no less than, Dane Maxwell, owner of a low-multi million dollar SaaS business and an author himself.
Dane’s journey started when he started building software in service companies. He acknowledges the fact that although his businesses began with 16 different ideas, 11 of which failed while 5 of it succeeded. Dane attributed its success when he started to listen and embrace to his customers’ ideas.
Dane himself is spontaneous that he likes to build businesses with rapid speed, and he does it by finding a market, finding the first opportunity, and putting an expert in place to solve an issue.
Dane knows what he aims for and what his real goal s are. It is with those “end in mind” that he systematically plans and executes the by-products of what he aims for.
Key Learning Points:
- Dane Maxwell’s Entrepreneurial Mindset - 4:24
- Dane Maxwell’s Biggest Business Challenge - 22:50
- Dane Maxwell’s Golden Nugget - 45:00
Resources Mentioned:Book: Start from Zero: Build Your Own Business and Experience True Freedom
Author: Dane Maxwell
Resource: Wealth Dynamics
Author: Roger Hamilton
Connect with Dane Maxwell on the following online handles:
- Website
- E-mail: dane@danemaxwell.com
In essence, business is equivalent to generating revenue alongside with its all other essential components to succeed.
Damian Thompson, Founder and Chief Revenue Officer of Salesability joins me in today’s episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast to tell us how he redefines sales in this age and time.
Damian Thompson is the co-founder of the company called LeadFuze and, at the same time, the Founder and Chief Revenue Officer of Salesability, which helps start-up entrepreneurs and business owners scale-up their sales through team-driven sales techniques.
Damian’s journey started when he was selling software in the mid-90s and then worked for a company called Symantec and McAfee. He traveled around the globe to set up the sales team, which eventually led him to learn enterprise sales first.
As time went on and had his own business, his approach became specific and targeted. As a business owner himself, he emphasizes the relevance of hiring the right people for the right positions.
He knows the businesses he could help scale-up and the companies he couldn’t. With this, he acknowledges the fact that SALES itself is a process, and in one way or another, there are new and different ways of doing things.
Key Learning Points:
- Damian Thompson’s Tips for Starting Entrepreneurs - 13:52
- Damian Thompson’s Three (3) Essential Categories of Sales People - 15:06, 19:44
- Damian Thompson’s Interview Process - 22:42
- Damian Thompson’s Take on Onboarding - 26:48
Resources Mentioned:
Book: First Break All The RulesAuthor: Marcus Buckingham
Connect with Damian Thompson on the following online handles:1. Salesability2. Linkedin
3. Twitter 4. E-mail: damian@salesability.co
Nowadays, marketing is diversified. Diversified in the sense that Artificial Intelligence could make or break your marketing strategy and customer experience journey.
Joining me in today’s episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast is Jerry Abiog, Co-founder and CMO of a company called Standard Insights, an AI Growth Marketing Platform.
Jerry’s journey started 25 years ago when he first landed his steps in the corporate world. He then realized that he could do better on his own, which eventually led him to become the co-founder of Standard Insights, an AI Growth Marketing Platform.
Standard Insights help businesses execute the data-driven campaign, and omnichannel campaigns, which later enables them to monetize their data on Facebook, and what this does is, it helps them target the right person with the right product and service at the right time. Standard Insights enable companies to be more competitive in a data-driven world.
In the manner that Jerry manages his people, Jerry checks upon himself now and then that he is not micro-managing and instead empowers his people by proving them access or liberty to work on the output they all agreed on. Considering that Standard Insights is a start-up company, letting his people believe in the mission and vision that they do is the challenge that Jerry undertakes each day.
For Jerry, AI is never a static state as it is data-driven. As data changes and moves, so is data, but this is not an excuse for Jerry’s mission to help his clients prioritize and execute smartly.
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Key Learning Points:
- Jerry Abiog’s Co-Foundership Experience - 4:21
- Jerry Abiog’s Management Philosophy - 6:46
- Jerry Abiog’s Most Difficult Experience in People Management - 8:02
- Jerry Abiog’s Significant Mistake from a Business Perspective - 8:53
- Jerry Abiog’s AI (Artificial Intelligence) Platform - 10:28, 13:04, 16:10
Connect with Jerry Abiog through the following online handles:
- Website
- E-mail: jerry.abiog@gmail.com or jerry@standardinsights.io
The principle of business process management is that processes are critical to the success of an organization or of a business. How an organization or business repeatedly and sustainably transform its business processes from X to Z is the essence of the organization.
Joining me in today's episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast is Kieran Browning, Business Optimization Consultant. Kieran joins us today to impart to us how he is working with Agency Owners to streamline their processes so they can grow without the owner's constant involvement.
Kierran Browning works directly with agency owners to streamline their operations and scale their business without the stress.
Kieran's philosophy in process management is that problems must not repeat over and over again. Otherwise, the process does not work, or the process is not enforced.
For Kieran, the process and the people must work for the organization.
**Avail Free Strategy Session for One (1) Hour And Know How To Increase Your Organizational Efficiency
Click Here!*
Key Learning Points:
- Kieran Browning'sBrowning's Process in Streamlining Businesses - 1:08, 2:25
- Kieran Browning'sBrowning's Roadblocks in Business Process Management - 3:42
- Kieran Browning'sBrowning's Learnings from a Management Standpoint - 12:35
- Kieran Browning'sBrowning's Tips on Process and Task Management - 19:57
Connect with Kieran Browning on the following online handle(s):
- Website: www.KieranBrowning.com
- E-mail Address: kieran@kieranbrowning.com
By definition according to Small Business site, Business networking is defined as the process of establishing a mutually beneficial relationship with other business people and potential clients and/or customers. The primary purpose of business networking is to tell others about your business and hopefully turn them into customers.
This definition is probably the most common known knowledge to people who are new in the industry. Our guest in today’s podcast episode reshapes it.
Joining me in today’s episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast is, Frank Agin, a Professional Networking Expert to tell us more about how he scales networking connections.
Frank Agin is an Entrepreneur, Speaker, and Author who advocates networking out of its common notion.
He runs an organization in the United States called AmSpirit where it focuses on helping entrepreneurs and business owners to become successful through networking.
Frank has always believed that Networking is about giving to the world and finding something that a person is passionate about and eventually finding other people who happen to have the same interest as you.
Key Learning Points:1. Frank Agin’s Networking Model - 10:57
2. Frank Agin’s Tips on Entrepreneurs about Networking - 14:57, 15:24, 39:23
3. Frank Agin’s Technique about Structured Meetings on Networking - 27:56, 35:10
Resources Mentioned:Book: All You Have To Do Is Ask
Author: Wayne Baker
Connect with Frank Agin on the following online handle(s):1. AmSpirit
2. Linkedin
3. Twitter
4. E-mail: frankagin@amspirit.com
We are trained by society/peers/culture/human programming to go with norms. The truth is you can and be whatever you please to be at whatever age, whatever circumstances, whatever anything else - be it whether from being a neurologist to being a person who advocates online collaborative strategy.
This pathway is precisely what Dr. Mark Wade followed through.
Joining me in today’s episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast is Dr. Mark Wade, founder of Virtual Summit to share to us how he was able to build the company he owns now through online collaborative strategy.
Dr. Mark Wade is a Postural Neurologist who earned his doctorate and a couple of certifications concerning neuroscience and human functions. He currently runs a posture clinic for over ten years now.
In the same manner, he also owns Virtual Summit - an online institute, a sAAs company wherein every person involved is location dependent. He focuses on helping other entrepreneurs through collaborative strategies just as how he was able to build his online business by creating software(s) to allow him to create this company to run those summits.
Dr. Mark Wade’s turning point was when he was contemplating that he wanted to help a lot of people and wanted to give online business a try. After clarifying things about the online business, he now heads a company called Virtual Summit, an online institute creating software(s) to allow him to create this company to run those summits.
In running the online business, the transition was a challenge as he was used to having a brick and mortar business to completely location dependent. He finally found the rhythm when he profoundly understood that one of the takeaways which made him successful in the industry was to have people who are engaged and qualified.
Key Learning Points:
- Dr. Mark Wade’s Virtual Summit Business Journey - 2:17, 3:04, 13:37
- Dr. Mark Wade’s Insight on Branding Relevance in Virtual Summits - 8:22
- Lessons that Dr. Mark Wade learned in running Virtual Summits - 14:36, 17:04
- Dr. Mark Wade’s Management Mistake - 21:00
- Dr. Mark Wade’s Mission - 25:47
- Dr. Mark Wade’s Onboarding Process - 31:13
- Dr. Mark Wade’s Management Tips - 38:48
Resources Mentioned:1. Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't
Author: Jim Collins
Connect with Dr. Mark Wade on the following online handles:1. Website
2. Facebook Community
3. Instagram
Joining me in today's episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast is no other than, Ludovic Vuillier, Managing Director of Baer's Crest and Founder of The Good Life Manifesto.
Ludovic Vuillier had an exciting launching pad as he started his career in Sales, not as planned as versus like everyone else. From this starting point, he launched The Good Life Manifesto, wherein it aims to help people discern what will make them generally happy and help them achieve whatever that may be for them.
Garnering from this philosophy and experience, Ludovic profoundly understood the concept and reality of sales in a way that made him realize that the most difficult "Yes" in Sales was his "First Yes." From then, in the way he dealt with his clients and colleagues, he knew very well that each and everyone else is different, and what may work for one may not necessarily work for them either. Such that, in every dealings, putting circumstance in a context must be considered before moving forward.
Key Learning Points:
- Ludovic Vuillier’s Entrepreneurial Tips on Sales - 2:27
- Ludovic Vuillier’s Biggest Management Challenge - 3:48, 9:15
- Ludovic Vuillier’s Personal Weakness - 15:36
- Ludovic Vuillier’s Value Added Contribution - 19:13
- Ludovic Vuillier’s Take on A Good Sales Framework - 29:24, 31:57
Connect with Ludovic Vuillier on the following online handle(s):
- Website: baerscrest.com
- Thegoodlifemanifesto.com
Our culture defines us as people or groups with many mutual beliefs, opinions, traditions, and values that are taught and learned as we grow and evolve. It is a type of structure beyond our family, which gives us something to comfort or depend on knowing what is expected of us and what to expect.
Remove this, and some of our structure is removed too, which by the way, in every way. In the same token, culture also affects leadership in every way imaginable.
Talking about creating a culture driven relationship is Adam Sinkus, who is joining me in today’s episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast, to share how culture affects everything else that’s moving and measurable.
Adam Sinkus is a Leadership and Culture Consultant from Florida who subscribes to the view that businesses can maintain the same culture they had when they were still starting up with the right tools and mindset towards people management. For Adam, how a leader makes a cultural impact on the employees is relevant enough such that the intangible measure leads to tangible expected outcomes.
This foundation, on its relevance, paved the way for Adam to know the approach(es) with the kind of clients he had, and he has.
Adam is fully aware of cultural continuity, and for this to be possible, effective communication plays a huge role in affecting people and begins to build connections.
Key Learning Points:
- Adam Sinkus’ Insight on Culture and It’s Business Relevance - 1:25, 2:54, 3:19
- How his Interest on Management Started - 13:26
- The Biggest Management Challenge Adam Sinkus Faced Himself - 9:49
- Dealing and Overcoming Personal Relationships in Business Dealings - 16:30
- The Most Challenging Management Decision for Adam Sinkus - 21:39
- Adam Sinkus’ Weakness from a Management Standpoint - 23:38
- Adam Sinkus Take on Onboarding - 26:23
- Adam Sinkus Take on Delegation - 34:14
- Adam Sinkus’ Management Tips - 39:24
Resources:
- How to Build Aces in Your Organization(...coming out later this year)
-focused on Leadership and Culture
Connect with Adam Sinkus on the following online handle(s):
Competing against household brands these days might be one hell of a ride which stems from the belief that the precursor to success is a capital venture; however, not at all a pre-requisite.
Sometimes, entrepreneurs can prove out quite a bit with little to no capital by simply investing in learned interests.
Joining me today's episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast is Brent Zahradnik, owner of AMZ Path Finder to share with us today how his vision alongside with his team help brands effectively and profitably advertise on Amazon Marketplaces.
Brent Zahradnik is from Eastern United States and runs his Amazon Advertising for four to five years now. Together with his team, he works with businesses using it as a platform in both American and European Places.
In every success from setbacks, Brent always acknowledges the fact that he is not an expert on everything such that he values the work his team does. One of the things he enjoys the most about people management is its ability to surprise him in many ways rather than simply compartmentalizing him from the time team members get hired.
Brent subscribes to the view that by hiring self-motivated individuals, the business value needs not to be reinforced but instead becomes naturally nurtured.
Key Learning Points:
- Brent Zahradnik’s Business Growth and Dynamics - 1:20, 17:02
- Brent Zahradnik’s Biggest Management Challenge - 4:01
- Brent Zahradnik’s Take on Succession Planning - 9:30
- Brent Zahradnik’s Take in Onboarding - 20:52
- Brent Zahradnik’s Take on Delegation - 24:10
- Brent Zahradnik’s Mission in People Management - 26:46, 27:40
- Tips, Tricks Around Management - 32:31, 33:46
Tools Mentioned:
- Slack
- Dynamite Hiring
Connect with Brent Zahradnik on the following handles:
- AMZ Path Finder
- E-mail: hello@amzpathfinder.com
Effective leaders who sustain effective management accordingly are always on the prospect of hiring good people, and I think each of us carries a list of what kind of people we would like to take part in our organization. Believe it or not, whom we hire is not determined by what we want, but most of the time, it is determined by who we are in most circumstances.
Joining me in today's episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast is no less than, Carrie McKeegan, Co-founder and CEO of Greenback Expat Tax Services, a fast-growing, dynamic remote company that helps Americans who live abroad get compliant with their US expat tax returns.
Carrie joins us today to share her management philosophy and how it helped her business over the years.
Carrie runs a business that does taxes for Americans who live overseas, which comprises of 100% remote workers for (10) ten years now. Her team caters to every single country that they do taxes for Americans living in every only state across the world. Carrie started her business when she was living in London and grew then.
Carrie is fully aware of the fact that she cannot do things by herself, and this has been proven for having been on the line for ten (10) years now. Driven by her management philosophy, Carrie knows that bringing in the best and the brightest people she wants to work with does wonder and so she pairs this with how structured she is as a person, which allows everyone to operate independently with things reported in place.
Essentially, Carrie envisions having people grow with the business along the way holistically rather than approaching management through micro-managing tasks. As versus being tasks-focused, Carrie likes the notion of looking at the outcome(s) than focusing on the task(s) itself. For her, this allows creativity and ideas to be explored and improved.
Key Learning Points:
- Carrie McKeegan’s Management Philosophy - 2:41
- Carrie McKeegan’s Biggest Management Challenge in the Organization - 6:31
- Carrie McKeegan’s Biggest challenge in People Management - 9:07
- Carrie McKeegan’s Significant Hiring Decisions - 17:11
- Carrie McKeegan’s Take on Onboarding - 29:48
- Carrie McKeegan’s Take on Delegation - 36:28
Tools Mentioned:
- Podio
Resources Mentioned:
-
Traction
Author: Gino Wickman -
Break Down All The Rules
Author: Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman
Connect with Carrie McKeegan on the following online handle(s):
- Website
- E-mail: cmckeegan@greenbacktaxservices.com
Building Solutions and finding what works in leadership and doing more of it is one of the many perspectives Andrew Steven carries on in governing both his business and the team he has.
In today’s episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast, I am joined by Andrew Steven, Co-Founder of High Voltage SEO to tackle about how he becomes efficient in managing and transforming his business by creating processes and systems.
Andrew has been an SEO Consultant with ten years of experience in the digital world. He worked for hands-on in SEO, PPC, Display, Retargeting, CRO, and social media and now specializes in building and implementing search strategy using his knowledge and experience.
As a self-learner, Andrew managed to embrace the beauty of creating systems and processes which proved to be helpful to him with his SEO Firm. As he is fully aware of the business involved in SEO, he subscribes to the view that the absence of systems and processes would make one’s business an unmanageable mess.
For Andrew, the rule of synergy applies to his leadership style - he can create more together with the team he built that he can get ever by himself as Andrew acknowledges the fact that he does not know everything that may accompany this business to success. It’s always better for Andrew to invest his time in building new solutions rather than spending time on dwelling and not doing anything from past mistakes.
Andrew believes that people management is as close to nurturing - ensuring that their needs are met and finding out what those needs are. He has several different programs considering that most of the people who are part of his team do not work in the same place daily.
Key Learning Points:
- Andrew Steven’s Management Philosophy - 2:11
- Process and Systems Building Challenge(s) - 3:51
- Andrew Steven’s Roadblocks on Management - 8:10, 13:48
- Andrew Steven’s Take on Employee Retention - 18:06, 22:30
- Two Types of People in the SEO Industry according to Andrew Steven - 24:46
- Andrew Steven’s Calculated Challenge(s) & Take on Delegation - 33:00, 43:55, 48:34
- Andrew Steven’s Tips and Tricks around Management - 55:33
Golden Nugget(s):
Rule of Synergy - 11:37, 13:35
Andrew Steven’s on Six Business Elements - 49:23
Connect with Andrew Steven’s on the following online handles:
-
Internetmarketing.gold2. High Voltage SEO 3. Linkedin
-
Email – andy@hvseo.com
In leadership, priorities should be a matter of principle, not preference.
Leaders understand that activity is not necessarily accomplishment.
I am joined today by no less than Melinda Byerley, Founding Partner of Timesharing CMO, to share her practical and insightful thoughts on how focus and prioritization can do wonders.
Melinda used to work in the entertainment industry before owning her consultancy. Owning her consultancy for Melinda was both a sort of exercise and apologizing. She was able to see her entire self reflected at her. It’s a manifestation of who Melinda is, although literally, it’s something she could not hold. With this, Melinda acknowledges that it also reflects the mistakes made seen on a larger scale “literally.”
Melinda’s management philosophy is driven from the fact that she knows her mission profoundly in terms of business and people; from this profound understanding of her mission is the foundation of Melinda’s focus and priorities. Sharpened focus helped Melissa to expand her views, and so is her approach in management. She knows how to invest in products with the highest return.
One of the investments she is focusing on is on people. Melinda believes that skills can be taught, but not in the case of character and motivation. It's not aggressive for Melinda; it’s about taking pride in work. For if a person takes pride in what he does, it depicts two things: 1) Reliability and 2) Trustworthiness.
Melinda subscribes to the view that the greatest success comes only when the focus is aimed at on what matters.
Key Learning:
- Melinda Byerley’s Management Philosophy - 2:00
- How Working Remotely and Working in an Office Set-Up has Advantages and Disadvantages of its own - 3:42
- Melinda Byerley’s Amazing Consultancy Journey - 10:44
- Overcoming Management Predicaments - 25:19
Resources Mentioned:
- Challenger Sale Author: Brent Adamson and Matthew Dixon
2. This is Marketing: You Can’t Be Seen Until You Learn To See
Author: Seth Godin
Connect with Melinda Byerley on the following online handles:1. E-mail: melinda@timesharecmo.com
2. Timeshare CMO3. Stayinaliveintech.com4. Twitter
Many entrepreneurs face the challenge of starting up and creating momentum concerning their goals, whether it be business or purely for passion, just as every sailor knows that a ship can’t be steered once it is not moving forward.
Resilient entrepreneurs are fully aware that to change direction, forward progress has to be created in the first place.
Driven by momentum, Christine Gouchault, Entrepreneur, Business Consultant, Speaker, and Author joins me in today’s episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast to tell us a story about how creating momentum and moving forward became her best friend.
Christine Gouchault is an entrepreneur from Denmark. She started her first business in Paris, which was a Recruitment Agency for a couple of years and moved to Denmark in 2008. After moving to Denmark, she first worked as a consultant in Recruitment and HR and later expanded to Management and Sales as to how to build Sales Organizations.
Christine currently has her own business called Mors Business, wherein she helps female entrepreneurs align their business strategies so that they can succeed with their businesses and have time for their family too.
In January, Christine started a new company, which is an IT Consultancy in her vision of not just managing but running her business.
Christine approaches decisions with practicality and has come to master being an objective business partner. She knows her vision and does not waste energy when she realizes it is working against her.
She profoundly understands that in the absence of momentum, the simplest tasks can seem to be insurmountable problems. With this in mind, Christine ensures that she knows her end goal full well and partner with the right people to help her bring value on the table at the same time equally assisting those who are just starting.
For Christine, while a good entrepreneur may sustain momentum, a great one increases it by being fully aware and making things happen.
Key Learnings:
- Christine Gouchault Management Philosophy - 8:46
- Expert Insights to Jump Start Your Business - 11:27, 12:45, 17:15, 19:15
- Overcoming Management and Business Challenges - 26:50,
- Christine Gouchault Take on Personal Relationships turned to Business Partnerships - 29:50, 27:44
- Christine Gouchault’s Tips, and Hints - 35:17, 38:01
Connect with Christine Gouchault on the following online handles:
- Christine Gouchault's Webpage
- Mors Business
Active Management is a lot, like investing successfully in the stock market. If you hope to make a fortune in a day, you’re not going to be successful. What matters most is what you do day by day over a long period of time.
Just exactly as how my guest today, Ray Blakney paced his way through in building online businesses.
In today’s episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast, Ray Blakney joins me to share how listening to employees made his goal-driven Management a lot easier.
Ray Blakney had training for computer engineering but has been building online businesses over the last ten (10) years. He holds around 150 staff members around the globe from over five (5) different continents.
As his business grew over time, significant changes had to be made to keep things going. Ray runs his virtual company 100% and operates through Slack.
Driven by goals, he makes sure he invests in the right things to make it happen. For him, it’s always people first layered with management.
This mindset is the excellent news Ray wishes to impart - that managing people and business is not static. No matter where you are starting from, you can always get better.
Key Learning:
- Ray Blakney’s Management Philosophy - 1:52
- Ray Blakney’s Management Challenges and Ways of Overcoming - 6:52, 24:43
- Ray Blakney’s Take on Delegation - 18:30
- Management Tips from Ray Blakney - 29:30
Golden Nugget:
Ray Blakney’s Skip-Level Technique - 9:30, 12:00
Resources mentioned:
- Slack
Connect with Ray Blakney on the following online handle(s):
- Live Lingua
Many entrepreneurs or business owners right now take businesses so seriously that people management becomes second or third on their list without fully comprehending the amount of effective people management could generate.
More than just managing businesses, engaging as qualified, being another form of managing people poses relevant increases in people’s productivity as well as their level of energy, and output. All these are possible when viewed and done in a different light.
What I just shared is the reason why I am not missing out to be joined in today's episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast by Laura Roeder, Founder of MeetEdgar, to welcome 2020 with her new insights about people and business management.
Fascinating as she is, Laura has been working full time since she graduated and was supporting herself since then. She has been an entrepreneur for ten years now.
Laura has had different business models from consulting, online courses, SaaS - pretty much all in online marketing and social media marketing.
Laura leads MeetEdgar, a Social Media Automation Tool that helps content on social media channels automate to make it easy for everyone who avails.
Likely as how she leads her team, Laura swears, by making life as easy as possible for people to make their contribution. So whether that includes clearing roadblocks for people, making sure that the people can communicate with others easily, helping them have the information organized, supporting their thought process to be more effective at work - Laura seizes opportunities as such.
Laura has been guided by the fact that - in general, people are always doing their best, which reflects how she manages her people and business, makes critical decisions, and even in connecting with them.
Key Learning:
- Laura Roeder’s Management Philosophy - 2:12
- Laura Roeder’s Management Challenges, Strengths, and Weaknesses - 4:23, 11:22, 14:30, 16:10
- The Most Important Management Skill learned by Laura Roeder - 7:53, 8:18
- Laura Roeder’s take in Delegation - 18:19
- Identifying tomorrow’s Leaders - 23:21
- Managing Managers - 27:38
- Laura Roeder Business Risk - 29:02
- Management Tips from Laura Roeder - 32:09
Tools Mentioned:
- MeetEdgar
Connect with Laura Roeder on the following online handles:
- MeetEdgar
- Laura Roeder
Digital technologies, infrastructure, systems, and processes are as important as the people involved in digital alteration; it is also as crucial as people management.
Communication and empowerment play a considerable part in this business culture, considering the business dynamics it entails for digital maturity.
Joining me LIVE in today’s episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast is no other than Karl Kangur, Marketing Director of Smash Digital. Karl shares in this episode how he learned people management by experience and how it turned out to be a learning process for him too.
Karl is currently staying in Vietnam, whose doing Digital Marketing for eleven years now. He started as a person specializing in SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and affiliate websites and eventually making it to the Agency World.
Being a visionary leader as he is, he knows that by having a clear road map of what he aims to be, and where he seeks to be, operating business in digital marketing, in general, becomes more manageable.
For Karl, management to him came in as trial and error as he started at a very young age to which he learned management through the ropes. Karl believes that communicating clearly and effectively and empowering people by giving them the authority to make decisions spells out the difference. This became his backbone is people management.
Karl believes that by giving people chances, it surprises each one who gets to witness, knowing them differently.
Key Learning Points:
- Karl Kangur”s take on Management - 2:00
- Karl Kangur’s Management Roadblock - 4:36
- What Karl Kangur considers win - 5:52
- Karl Kangur’s Interesting Business Outlooks - 14:43
- Karl Kangur’s Takeaways - 18:17, 23:00, 25:42
Golden Nuggets:
Karl Kangur being Visionary - 8:07
Connect with Karl Kangur on the following online handle(s):
- Smash Digital
- Karl Kangur
- Email - karl@smashdigital.com
I have known Michael Bereslavsky as a Business Flipper who, at the same time runs a Private Equity Firm. Michael specializes in buying and selling of established websites and made a career out of it.
He is joining me LIVE in today’s episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast to further share his thoughts in navigating his business and what made it successful.
Michael specializes in M&A of content, affiliate, e-commerce, and SaaS businesses. He was featured in numerous industry publications and conferences and consults entrepreneurs on buying and selling web businesses, marketing, and growth strategy.
For Michael, he looks at three things in discerning whether or not a business is a good deal. He looks at the numbers, risks, and opportunities.
The above mentioned preliminary requirements are fostered from the framework Michael follows which involves one of his greatest assets - people.
With Michael’s intent to maximize and expand his business, he acknowledges that he needs to overcome the challenge of recruiting and hiring the right person with the right talent for the neede role. He mitigates this predicament by being upfront and clear to what his vision is and how he thought it to be successful.
Michael Bereslavsky is the man who makes things happen.
Key Learning Points:
- Michael Bereslavsky’s Requisites for Business Acquisition - 12:27, 30:50
- Michael Bereslavsky’s High-Level view in Getting the Best Out of his Team - 14:52
- Michael Bereslavsky’s Biggest Management Failure - 1:01:56
- Overcoming Business Predicaments - 39:52
Resources Mentioned:
- Winning by Jack Welch
- Principles by Ray Dalio
Connect with Michael Bereslavsky on the following online handle(s):
- Website
- E-mail - michael@domainmagnate.com
For some people, gaining knowledge about “doing” management and investing in management are one and the same. However, to some, there is a clear distinction between knowing and investing right.
I am joined in today’s episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast by no less than Mark Luckenbaugh, an entrepreneur, to share interesting facts about what governs him in navigating his philosophy about investing in management.
He emphasizes that by profoundly understanding what’s going to be yours and knowing what comes along with that entails embracing responsibility in full scale.
Mark Luckenbaugh’s goal for the next few years is to concentrate on funding software development and acquisition of companies or equities in the companies to further build businesses. Mark is fully aware that for this to be on the baseline, finding the right talent fit complementing product fit holds essential roles.
Mark is governed on the philosophy that empowering managers or leads and providing the needed management support or management training fuels them to act accordingly and beyond.
Key Learning Points:
- Mark Luckenbaugh Management Philosophy - 4:36, 6:46
- What Mark Luckenbaugh considers his biggest failures as an entrepreneur - 16:10, 45:22
Golden Nugget:
What that Comes Along Responsibility- 34:01
Connect with Mark Luckenbaugh on the following online handle(s):
I am amazed at how much more there is to learn about management and have always subscribed to the view that as a leader, personal growth is a lifelong journey. As each of us paces our way through it, personal transformation allows organizational transformation, and personal transformation allows management growth.
My good friend Anfernee Chansamooth joined me in today’s episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast to impart his management journey and how he has grown so much from being a Maker to now, Manager of his own business.
Anfernee Chansamooth is a content strategist, copywriter, and speaker. Anf is on a mission to help entrepreneurs launch, grow & optimize their location-independent businesses so that they can enjoy true freedom.
Anf loves to travel and explore the roads less traveled in life, relationships, business, and sustainable living with his amazing wife, Cindy. Together, they co-host the Founders Connect podcast and Remote Business Summit.
*Click here to get 20% discount for 6-months access to all Remote Business Summit content!!****
Anf upholds what he calls Triangle of Management, which involves three things: 1) People, 2) Understanding Self; and 3) Understanding Effective Communication.
Key Learning Points:
- Anfernee Chansamooth Management Philosophy - 2:46
- Leadership Transformation Impact - 14:30
- Management Journey and Growth - 30:45
Golden Nuggets:
- Resources Allocation - 24:45
- From Maker to Mentor - 33:48, 50:44
Resources Mentioned:
Wealth Dynamic Test
Connect with Anfernee Chansamooth on the following online handles:
- Founders Connect
- Remote Business
3.Linkedin
Are you thinking of wanting to grow your business? Discerning if you have the cashflow needed? Knowledgeable enough to discern where to invest, or is it even worth investing? What if... Investing is not the key to growth? Or your investment is not returning?
I get that. If it weren’t on your mind, you wouldn’t be here. While a systematic plan of action is there on the surface to help you increase your customer platform and boost revenue, which by the way, are both great things to mention - growth alone isn’t sufficient to sustain and run a business if the right conditions aren’t satisfied.
Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon for entrepreneurs or growing businesses that are excited about growth to accept willingly – or even create challenges that they’re not furnished to handle. Most of the time - it involves not getting their cashflows right to sustain their businesses.
Joining us LIVE in this episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast is no other than Rob Te Braake from ABEL Finance.
I recently worked with Rob Te Braake and we’re cooking an excellent Financial Course where every entrepreneur or business owner can learn from figuratively and practically!
Rob helps online businesses with Finance Strategy by assisting entrepreneurs to understand their numbers profoundly most notably from a high-level perspective to know and gain insight on the resources they decide to invest, helps them plan for the future - like what does that do to your overall budget or cashflow and how “financially prepared” your business would be when the odds aren’t in your favor.
Rob subscribes to the view that understanding every business’ numbers can add so much value. This profound understanding of business cashflow could help an entrepreneur make better decisions and allows room for risk awareness more transparently or accurate at least. From reviewing the past numbers to planning ahead and forecasting - all these entail the efficient manner of handling your business cashflow - knowing and understanding.
He acknowledges that the change in mindset is a longer process than it should most especially if the business is doing great. For Rob, being actively aware of your finances or business cashflow allows three things: 1) Growth, 2) Profit, and 3) Risk Awareness. In hindsight, SMART BUSINESS.
Key Learning Points:
- Rob Te Braake gets across on One Important Thing - 3:50
- Mindset Shift - 5:33, 7:02
- Business Variation Implications - 25:32, 28:21
Golden Nugget:
Financial Risk Awareness - 12:04, 16:42, 29:34
Connect with Rob Te Braake on the following Online Handles:
- E-mail - rob@abel-finance.com
We are all subject to our own biases, and this is the reason why effective workflows, policies, processes, and procedures exist for a reason. It allows everyone to look at facts and find equally unique challenges and unique opportunities.
No less than Vincent D’Eletto, founder of WordsAgent.com joins us in today’s episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast to share how having an effective workflow, and standard operational procedure unites everyone involved in the business to generate better results across the board.
Vincent D’Eletto owns and operates WordAgents.com which is a content creation agency that houses almost one hundred fifty writers and editors. He also maintains portfolios of SEO Affiliate Websites and a restaurant owner at the same time.
Vincent acknowledges the fact that by having an efficient system, it’s what separates where good fails and great prevails. By this, having effective workflows and procedures requires high-level thinking in looking at things toward the work that people do. Not only it is beneficial for the business from a management standpoint, but also drives people empowerment.
Key Learning:
-
Vincent D’Eletto on Workflow and Effective Operational Procedures – 1:54, 3:24, 9:50
-
Vincent D’Eletto insight in promoting a Team member – 20:08
-
Mission in People Management – 25:12
Connect with Vincent D’Eletto on the following online handles:1. Website
2. Linkedin
3. E-mail - vincent@wordagents.com
It takes a community to innovate. It takes a community to push the limits and accomplish the impossible. Innovation in today’s age and time drives us to do more, but to do it consistently is another key to factor in. This key involves mastery, which necessitates a process that allows a person to do tasks or actions repetitively irrespective of its outcome and results.
Live on today’s episode is no less than Terry Kyle, CEO of WPX Hosting, which fully funds an NGO he owns called Every Dog Matters to help homeless dogs and cats in Bulgaria where he is currently based.
Just like everyone else, Terry Kyle has a lot of experience to draw from in terms of management. What sets him apart is that his management philosophy always draws from what he loves to do and that is to innovate and create opportunity – consistently by practicing. Everything is practice is a philosophy that’s been circling his company daily.
His professional background includes being a teacher, which is why as an owner and entrepreneur, he feels delighted whenever he sees his people grow, blossom, and outgrow themselves in the process. Terry not only stops in seeing them outgrow themselves along the journey, as he is fully aware how innovation pushes a person beyond all cylinders, he gives his confidence in them, to the point that Terry, does not worry whenever there’s a unique circumstance which his business is confronted of as he could rely not just on their expertise, but also in their bodies of work.
Terry subscribes to the view that when we know what we are up against at and ready to take for it, freedom and momentum happens. All these viewpoints are all evident in the manner he manages his business, his team, and even his recruitment process.
Key Learning:
-
Management Consistency – 4:42, 9:58, 12:46
-
Terry Kyle’s Management Philosophy – 13:38, 15:13, 15:35
-
Mission in People Management – 16:28, 17:13, 17:58
-
Succumbing Predicaments – 18:47, 19:35
-
Terry Kyle’s take on Hiring Effectively – 23:00
-
Identifying Tomorrow’s Leaders – 26:48
-
Set-Up Monday, Review Friday Dynamic – 29:35
-
Personal Development – 33:40
Connect with Terry Kyle on the following Online Handles:
-
WPX Hosting
-
Every Dog Matters (An NGO Company fully funded by WPX Hosting)
-
Personal Website
-
Linkedin
Yellow color radiates both positivity and energy. Many people say it is also related to happiness, energy, performance, or optimization. This color is the reason why, in almost every company or social engagements, you won’t be seeing this color missing. Have you ever wondered how this color radiates positivity and energy at the same time keeps one grooving despite adversities be it in business or life simply as it is?
Joining us LIVE in this episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast is Monique Lindner, a High-Performance Optimization Specialist and Motivational Speaker.
Monique profoundly knows what’s necessary, what needs to be prioritized, and how all those identified can be done in a manner that allows a person to realize his or her full potential. Monique’s favorite color is Yellow, and this is how this color drives her to be the best in everything that she does and advocates.
As a High-Performance Optimization Specialist, she helps entrepreneurs and business owners to slow down and SPEED UP in matters which would allow them to be high performing and being able to optimize what’s currently available in their resources, be it in for business purposes or personal development.
Monique devised a framework throughout years of experience, which is now what she calls, TIME Method. T – Time Management, I – Impactful Leadership, M – Mind Hacking, and E – Energy Efficiency. All these, when factored individually, are related to what she firmly believes that people should work on holistically to help them perform higher: PRIORITY, FOCUS, and CLARITY.
Despite being an expert of what she does in helping people to gain the confidence that is theirs and within, she does not discount the fact that we each have different ways of coping up. She even then helps high achieving business leaders to accomplish the work-life bliss stage.
Key Learning:
- Monique Lindner’s TIME Method – 2:30
1.1 Time Management – 4:04
1.2 Impactful Leadership – 5:46
1.3 Mind Hacking – 6:57
1.4 Energy Efficiency – 8:15
-
Stories from People Monique Lindner work with – 9:34, 13:46
-
Monique Lindner’s Self Improvement – 16:40, 17:32, 19:55
-
Resources – 22:17
Resources Mentioned:
Book: The Laws of Human Nature
Author: Robert Greene
Connect with Monique Lindner on the following online handles:
-
Website
-
Facebook
While a lot of us may have different ways of looking between being a leader and a manager, between leadership and management, it all boils down to a person translating authenticity in all forms. Although this may sound relatively easy, it would take for a person to overcome oneself for leadership to be brought in this manner.
Joining us in today’s episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast is no other than, Chris Jankulovski, founder of Remotestaff who has employed over 8000 home-based professionals since Remotestaff started to service majority of his clients.
Chris Jankulovski once aspired to be a Digital Nomad who just wanted to learn everything about Internet Marketing who, until now, loves the idea of traveling and earning at the same time anywhere around the globe until he was hit by his crossroads.
It was with this experience that he managed to succumb to each predicament he was confronted of graciously through being able find his purpose in not just being able to help himself with his vision but also helping others by leading from the core. He firmly believes in leading with authenticity.
As such, Chris Jankulovski focuses on people, which for him, is fundamental irrespective of the industry a person is part of and looks at the situation to adapt his way of management. In this regard, Chris keeps an eye on ensuring that when he leads from the core, his leadership becomes more authentic, and focuses on what can be done for it to become a collective success.
For Chris, in the absence of self-awareness, successful leadership is just an idea of rolling like a ball.
Key Learning Points from with Chris Jankulovski:
- Chris Jankulovski's Management Philosophy - 5:46, 8:48
- Mission in managing People - 14:30, 15:26
- Overcoming Business Management Challenges - 18:04, 20:27
- Chris Jankulovski’s Manner of Identifying Tomorrow’s Leader - 21:09, 21:45
- Chris Jankulovski’s Unique Take on Delegation - 23:08
- Management Tips from Chris Jankulovski - 25:44, 26:52, 27:41
Golden Nuggets:
- Power of Perspective - 15:11
- How is Leadership different from Management - 11:19, 12:09
- Collective Success - 27:41
Resources Mentioned:
- Just Keep Going
Author: Chris Jankulovski
Connect with Chris Jankulovski on the following online handles:
- Website
Nothing in life can be achieved through a quick fix. Nobody gets it that easy which is why the long and difficult process is the only way through. A person cannot just be consistent accidentally. It’s a thoughtful choice you make every day.
Focusing on the actual work that needs to be done may seem cliché, but it works true and has shown proven results.
Kris Reid from Ardor SEO subscribes to this view.
In this episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast, Kris Reid from Ardor SEO joins us as he tells us more about how his management philosophy helped him to be successful now.
Kris Reid started as a Software Engineer and once worked in Finance until the global crisis. This event led him through to being in the SEO Industry of this digital age.
For Kris, having a purposeful - targeted vision and turning that vision into action can make that person holding the vision unstoppable.
Kris ensures that the people he works with also understands profoundly the vision that he has. This philosophy paves the way for guaranteed results and delivery.
For Kris, meaningful focus and consistency do not only rest on the services Ardor SEO provides but also in the manner he chooses the right people and the way he deals with the people he is working with by establishing the connection to each of them.
*Catch Kris Reid and Mads Singers on this Podcast episode!
Key Learning:
-
Kris Reid’s Management Philosophy – 2:28
-
Mission in People Management – 3:43, 7:34
-
Outgrowing Business Challenges – 5:55, 18:14
-
Kris Reid’s Approach on Delegation – 9:52
-
Kris Reid’s Unique Management Style – 13:14,
-
Tips, Tricks, Suggestions – 19:11
Resources Mentioned:
1. The E-myth
Author: Michael Gerber
-
Profit First
Author: Mike Michalowicz -
Clockwork
Author: Mike Michalowicz
Connect with Kris Reid on the following online handle(s): Website
The one constant factor in all of one’s endeavors is you; self-awareness or profoundly understanding oneself, is, therefore, essential in business leadership. This strength enables a person to become empowered as awareness allows one to make better choices in management and business operations whether it be to change, adapt, or grow.
Joining us in this 14th episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast is no other than Josh Patrick, founder of Cracking the Cash Flow Code!
Josh Patrick has been in the business arena for more than ten years now; being in the business for a long-time allowed Josh to gain knowledge on what he wanted, and what he stands for most especially in business leadership. With being grounded on his passion, the values he embodies as a person and as a leader transpires in the manner he helps other people find their purpose, which in turn empowers morale and productivity.
For Josh, the most effective way to be successful in the business is to work through others.
Key Learning:
-
Management Philosophy – 2:30
-
People Management Mission – 4:30
-
Outgrowing Business Challenges – 7:14
-
Identifying Tomorrow’s Leaders – 11:43, 12:49
- Hiring System and Screening Process – 13:41, 18:03
-
Trick in Sourcing Anchored from Values – 20:05
-
Management Accountability – 23:02
-
Onboarding New Hires – 25:25
-
Unique Management Style – 29:44
-
Management Tips, Tricks, or Suggestions – 43:34, 44:11
Golden Nuggets:
Hiring Trick (Activity) – 5:50
The truth about owning a business successfully – 6:39
Values-Based Management – 12:14
Walking the Talk: Vision – 36:04
Stage 2 Decision Process – 38:49
Right Tool for Appropriate Management – 41:22
Resources Mentioned:
- Big Rocks
Author: Stephen R. Covey
- Traction
Author: Gino Wickman
- E-myth
Author: Michael E. Gerber
- Book Yourself Solid
Author: Michael Port
- The Challenger Sale
Author: Brent Adamson, Matthew Dixon
- The Challenger Customer
Author: Brent Adamson, Matthew Dixon, Nick Torman, and Pat Spenner
- Sustainable Business
Author: Josh Patrick
- 80/20 Rule in Business
Author: Perry Marshall
Connect with Josh Patrick on the following online handles:
- E-mail: jpatrick@stage2planning.com
- Contact Number: 8028461264 ext 102
- Website
Management based on values is a critical factor in building a business even more than it’s demanding when leading a family-owned business, as it requires the same integrity and skill at leading as in any other type of organization.
None other than Chris Prefontaine joins us on this episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast to share his perspective in leading and growing family-owned business.
Chris Prefontaine banks on the principle that for the family-owned business to sustain, the system that operates it must be anchored on the values to act upon its mission. This way, shared beliefs are developed and in return, getting the buy-in is not compulsory as successful integration to its values, and its mission has been made.
Values-based management once clearly defined, must also be the guide in performance evaluation. Chris ensures that for this to be feasible, he consistently communicates those values at every opportunity possible.
He gets engaged to his team members by way of shared beliefs so that he could, in turn, grow along with them and lead others in the future.
For Chris, driven by values, alignment on the business’ mission is more likely and helps the details more readily fall into place.
Get Your Free E-Book**!
Key Learning:
-
Chris Prefontaine’s Management Philosophy – 2:11, 3:04
-
People Management Mission - 5:42
-
Outgrowing Business-related Challenges – 6:18, 16:53
-
Identifying Tomorrow’s Leaders – 8:28
-
Chris Prefontaine’s Take On Delegation – 13:09
-
Unique Management Style – 15:11
-
Business Risks – 17:42
-
Tips, Tricks, and Suggestions – 19:04
Resources Mentioned:
-
Multipliers
-
What Got You Here Won’t Get You There
-
The Hard Things About Hard Things
Connect with Chris Prefontaine on the following online handles:
1. smartrealestatecoach.com
- smartrealestatepodcast.com
Let's imagine first that you started from the bottom as a rank and file employee and then you rose to become now one of the leads for the company you are working for, and then the company grew and immediately got some great press. Prospective customers started to show up wanting to place orders and avail services. Let's imagine that within a few months, the company had hundreds of orders waiting to be filled and services waiting to be availed.
Your market is already active and it's getting bigger. There are plenty of potential customers. If you marked off one or a few of your buyers for some regrettable reason and they ceased buying from you, you could learn from the experience and quickly recoup.
But what if your employees were disinterested or displeased with their jobs? Their discontent could ruin the brand and the company; products and services quality would suffer. A company cannot grow meaningfully on the backs of unhappy employees.
In this episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast, Gregory Elfrink from Empire Flippers shares to us his management philosophy and what keeps him burning.
Gregory Elfrink started in an apprentice program to now becoming the Marketing Director for Empire Flippers. For Gregory, leadership embedded in trust and transformation works for him even though it may sound decades-old wisdom; this directs him to serve his employees first, growing together with them, and allotting liberty to outgrow oneself as the business grows too.
He subscribes to the view that by consistently facilitating one-to-one discussions, his moral responsibility as a leader is being displayed in the same manner as it is depicted to his leaders too.
Key Learning:
- Gregory Elfrink’s Management Philosophy – 2:11
- People Management Mission – 3:15
- Outgrowing Business-related Challenges – 4:40, 5:20, 15:32
- Identifying Tomorrow’s Leaders – 7:55
- Onboarding Process – 11:17
-
Unique Management Style – 13:37
-
Business Risks -18:40
- Tips, Tricks, and Suggestions – 21:27
Golden Nugget:Leadership Anchor – 14:15
Connect with Gregory Elfrink on the following online handles:
-
Facebook
-
E-mail: greg@empireflippers.com
The traits of a visionary leader and a leader who loves coaching exemplify in its form of management style. These type of methods move people by telling then not where to go but how to get there, and affecting people towards a common goal; thus motivating everyone else in the team. It is done by holding long conversations beyond the workplace and helping each and everyone else who is part of the loop to find strengths and weaknesses and tie those to career aspirations and actions.
Combining the two management styles allows individuals to build long-term capabilities with an overall strong climate impact.
Wayne Richard joins us from Bean Ninja in this episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast.
Wayne Richard is the Director for Global Operations of Bean Ninja wherein the organization he is part of specializes in cloud-based bookkeeping and financial training to online businesses. They also support a large number of SAS, e-commerce, and different coaching service-based, markets. They are spread all over Australia, Europe, United States, United Kingdom, Japan, and the Philippines.
These successes are not magic in a split of a second to Wayne. He ensures that he is able not just to spend time, but more so, Wayne can invest time to profoundly understand what is it that he wants them to do. Wayne as a leader also aids his team members to identify their best talents, and at the same time help them identify their gaps so he could be able to provide them the support they need and help them position themselves towards strengthening those areas.
As guided by his management philosophy, Wayne Richard subscribes to the view that modeling the behavior he wants his leaders to be living is the key to be able to let them understand the vision he readily has in his mind.
Key Learning:
-
Wayne Richard’s Management Philosophy – (2:50), (3:54), (4:33)
-
Unique Management Style – (11:06)
-
People Management Mission – (5:00)
-
Outgrowing Business and Management Related Challenges – (6:40), (7:05), (16:49)
-
Identifying Tomorrow’s Leaders – (8:15)
-
Managing Managers – (9:20)
-
Business Risks – (21:45), (22:30)
-
View on Delegation – (24:25)
-
Tips, Tricks, Suggestions – (25:50), (26:27)
Golden Nugget:
Management Assimilation – (26:27)
Leaders who Self- Identify – (8:15)
Resources Mentioned:
- Traction
Author: Gino Wickman
Applications Mentioned:
-
Slack (for internal communications)
-
Wrike (for Project Management)
Connect with Wayne Richard’s on the following online handles:
- Website
Employee engagement propelled by spending quality time with your employees irrespective of employee rank and roles makes magic. Innovating engagement can both be tricky and costly in the absence of creativity. Most of the time, the simplest ingredient is the most neglected.
The success of a business is highly dependent on how effective communication is across all ladders.
In this episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast, Noel Andrews joins us, who is an advocate of effective communication.
Noel Andrews is the CEO and owner of Jobrack, which is an online job board. He subscribes to the view that communication is two-way. Receiving the message is not enough, the manner the message was conveyed and received makes it work, and building connection is the key for this to happen. In the absence of connection, communication among employees will be one way which has proven itself to be ineffective and inefficient over time.
Noel is fully aware that his most significant strength is helping business owners scale up their business by finding them A-players his customers need. With this advantage in mind, Noel ensures that he is in touch of his management philosophy wherein Noel provides that he can figure out what he desires as output and later communicates it. He always finds time to do so. For Noel, the impact of his people-oriented action is crucial in the manner that the body of work is done.
Key Learning:
-
Noel Andrews’ Management Philosophy – (3:44)
-
Unique Management Style – (27:04); (28:57)
-
People Management Mission – (6:31), (6:46), (7:03)
-
Outgrowing Business Related Challenges – (14:38)
-
Identifying Tomorrow’s Leaders – (21:25), (21:56)
-
Onboarding Process – (8:16)
-
Business Risks – (35:54)
-
Tips, Tricks, Suggestions – (40:57), (44:50)
Golden Nugget:
Management Philosophy – (3:44), (15:52)
Implications of spending time in communicating – (4:53), (9:49)
Applications Mentioned:
- Slack
Connect with Noel Andrews' on the following online handle(s):
- Website
Empowering a team is not rocket science. Profound appreciation and understanding of shared responsibility are the primordial requirements along with trust will entail for productivity to work at a large extent. Not to mention of having a remote set up.
In this episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast, we are joined by Daniel Chabert, who shares to us his management philosophy and how he capitalizes on autonomy and camaraderie.
Daniel started a business in 2012; he started venturing in affiliate marketing and quickly expanded into building different sites related to affiliate marketing and e-commerce.
Much of Daniel’s business success is referred to his management style, wherein Daniel gives people autonomy, space, and authority to make decisions and embrace full responsibility. He advocates growth and connection among his team as he is fully aware that having a remote set up is challenging.
Daniel subscribes to the view that when each of his team members assumes responsibility on a specific project, ownership comes naturally considering that the affection this approach entails would result in collective thinking and goal. Also, interdependence or “trust” is crucial to employee empowerment as it promotes internal harmony, which in effect makes the work more efficient.
While employees may have the liberty and autonomy to decide on their own accord, the secret to empowering a team is that they unite towards achieving a common goal. While the components may be separate from each other, all these when combined are relevant with the end goal in mind.
Key Learning:
-
Daniel Chabert's’ Management Philosophy – (3:24)
-
Unique Management Style – (17:40); (18:22)
-
People Management Mission – (4:56)
-
Outgrowing Business Related Challenges – (6:30)
-
Transformation – (21:50)
-
Identifying Tomorrow’s Leaders – (9:21); (11:05)
-
On boarding Process – (15:07)
-
Business Risks – (23:14)
-
Tips, Tricks, Suggestions – (25:04)
Golden Nugget:
Empowering a Team – (3:24)
Employee and Management Connection – (11:05)
Applications Mentioned:1. Slack 2. Google Sheets
Resources Mentioned:1. Let my People Go Surfing
Author: Yvon Chouinard
Connect with Daniel Chabert's’ on the following online handles:1. Linkedin
2. E-mail - danielcpdk@gmail.com
Many leaders of today never want to be described as “micromanaging” but are consciously one. Delegating “responsibility” is different from just delegating a task, and this is what Dom Wells lives by.
In this episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast, the difference between Articulating and Deciding is being shared to us by no other than Dom Wells. He also discusses his management philosophy.
Dom Wells is fully aware of his weakness, so he invested in building a team in a way that supplements his weakness and the need required for business success and sustainability.
Empowerment for Dom is a win-win situation for him, as he could focus more on what he does best with the people who are engaged and strongly feels connected to their current roles and the value of their contribution.
For Dom, empowering your team and giving up control can both be a frightening experience but he is fully aware that by controlling his team, by not giving the freedom of choice over the responsibilities delegated to them, he is impeding their ability to grow and to do what they are supposed to do. Hence, Dom navigates on empowerment by trusting his team and giving them the space to be able to decide on what they do best; be leaders and become valuable contributors of the business success. This philosophy also applies to the tools Dom Wells provide for his team for them to learn and grow for empowerment to be a critical factor in engagement.
Key Learning:
-
Dom Wells’ Management Philosophy – (12:50), (14:19)
-
People Management Mission – (16:02)
-
Tips, Tricks, and Suggestions – (37:58)
Golden Nugget:
Difference between Articulating and Deciding – (11:38),
Applications Mentioned:
- Asana
- Basecamp
- Trello
- Google Sheets
Resources Mentioned:
1. Clockwork Author: Micke Michalowicz
- Traction
Author: Gino Wickman
Connect with Dom Wells on the following online handles:
1. Linkedin
- Website
3. E-mail: dom@onfolio.co
In any company, one of the most fundamental relationships is the connection between the leader and the follower, which highly depends on the leader’s management philosophy. A healthy bond by way of conducting one on one can produce efficiency and productivity, whereas a reliable connection can be detrimental to organizational success in the absence of any feedback.
Joining us in this episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast is Davide Rossi to share with us his insights on effective integration.
Davide subscribes to the view that making time for one on one makes a huge difference, and so its impact. He firmly believes that profoundly knowing your people is just as important as having them on your team. Davide sees its value, its power, the pattern to make the most out of it and its sustainability in the long run of eventually collaborating on a shared vision.
Davide sees the complexity of human relations as an opportunity to be leveraged in terms of ensuring that getting the buy=in is no longer imposed for short term approval purposes but is for long term purposes. Hence, doing it on a recurring schedule helps for him make feedback a habit and a shared routine. For Davide, it encourages a culture of continuous feedback.
This window at the same time allows Davide to gain an insight to how he manages his team or how his team thinks of his management style which led Davide Rossi to realize if whether he has heard them just as his team expects him to hear.
Davide understands that management may be unique or borrowed techniques; for him, it’s a beautiful concept in this vast world.
Key Learning:
-
Davide Rossi’s Management Philosophy – (2:37)
-
People Management Mission – (3:29), (4:08)
-
Davide Rossi’s Unique Management Style – (7:04)
-
Company Transformation – (9:11)
-
Personal and Company Improvement – (17:25), (19:12)
-
Management Tips, Tricks, and Techniques – (20:36)
Golden Nugget:Implications of One-on-One Meeting – (5:20)
Reference Mentioned:
- Asana
Connect with Davide Rossi on the following online handles:
-
E-mail - (davide@gogoworld.com)
-
Linkedin
Actions of the leader affect the way employees behave at work and management style. At the end of the day, we are all social beings; hence, we feel connected and impacted by our feelings manifested in the way we act towards others in one way or another.
In this podcast episode, we are joined by no other than Maj Wismann, a clinical sexologist and relationship therapist whose discussion will revolve around the implications of unsettling issues that, in effect, affect people management.
Living life each day affects us DAILY, whether it be positively or negatively. It can’t be denied how personal issues affect mainly our focus at work. It is challenging to focus on something most, primarily where a person’s attention is divided. Hence, Maj mission as a clinical sexologist and relationship therapist is to help people who are trying to help themselves and who desires to obtain guidance from a professional.
From an entrepreneur perspective, several clients just stop performing well because of issues at home, which may not be a lot but still affect them so much most especially at work.
Maj subscribes to the view that the underrated method is the most salient method that just clears out the lonely path – communication. She believes that communication as a skill has so much importance because now and then, every process and details require communication; it is not just able to deliver the message but also “the manner” the message was received and the received signal as well dramatically is affected by our own biases.
Key Learning:
-
Communication as a Skill – (5:20)
-
Key Things, Huge Impact – (9:04), (9:27), (9:43), (10:57), (10:30), (11:30), (12:55), (13:51), (15:15)
Tip(s), Trick(s,) and Suggestion(s):
- Cultivating Deeper Awareness – (27:41); (30:12)
Connect with Maj Wismann on the following online handles:
-
Facebook (English) 2. Facebook (Demark) 3. Linkedin
-
Website
Joining us in this episode of the Mads Singers Management Podcast is Julio Monzon, COO of Monetizemore. He describes himself as a holistic thinker who empowers other leaders by capitalizing on the organizational culture.
Building a unique and dynamic business today is a challenge and Julio banks on the trust of his employees and the culture established.
He knows, for one, the implications of having a vibrant culture that engages and energizes employees; and believes in almost every case, if the culture is established it no longer needs to be imposed but is lived mutually.
For Julio, social factors play a huge part in building a culture which cultivates leaders and empowers team members. He acknowledges the challenge at the beginning of every change process; hence, getting the buy-in for Julio is also a chance for the leaders and executives to gain an understanding regarding the concerns of the workforce.
In addition, having each employee live the company culture allows Julio to provide an avenue for other leaders to be creative in their own way by allowing them to navigate the space freely instead of taking instructions on “how to’s”.
Julio subscribes to the view that once the extended team is engaged and strategical performance feedback is established, the execution process is refreshed and then evolves.
Key Learning:
- Julio Monzon’s Management Philosophy - (4:54)
- Mission in People Management - (5:32)
- Julio Monzon’s Unique Management Style - (9:36), (10:00), (10:44)
- Going beyond Managing - (11:53), (15:09), (15:25)
- Julio Monzon’s take in Identifying Leaders - (20:04), (20:55)
- Business Transformation - (22:23), (23:19)
- Personal Transformation - (24:22)
- Management Tips, Tricks, or Techniques - (26:17), (28:45)
Golden Nuggets:1.Context’s Importance - (18:42)
2. Culture Driven Leadership - (11:53)
Connect with Julio Monzon online with the following handles:1.Linkedin
2. Website
3. E-mail - julio@monetizemore.com
Management style establishes the tone and affects the company work culture, which is the fuel to everything that a company does. In an ideal world, employees who become accountable, who are results focused, who self-identify, and collaborate with their team thrive. When exemplified, clients and businesses thrive as well.
In this episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast, Kurt Philip, CEO, and Founder of Convertica joins us to discuss how a visionary entrepreneur makes things happen.
Kurt Philips subscribes to the view that the power of a vision depends on its ability to capture the soul of employees by setting the vision forth to be feasible and uplifting. As such, when a shared idea is adapted to the visioning process of the organization or company and at the same time, an empowering one, it becomes a home run to drive results. For Kurt, the focus may be an initial matter, but a constant drumbeat of emphasis makes magic in management.
A vision will be mere words unless reinforced by action, and Kurt allows his leaders to navigate their liberty guided by the widely communicated vision and even quantifying it further to drive results.
Known to be a person who’s always willing to help and share his knowledge with others, Kurt Philip proved that his expertise drive results and transformation.
Key Learning:1. Kurt Philip’s Management Philosophy - (1:34)
2. Mission in People Management - (3:00)
3. Business Evolution - (4:07)
4. Kurt Philip’s take in Identifying Leaders - (6:12), (6:45)
5. Going beyond Managing - (8:35)
6. Kurt Philip’s Unique Management Style - (9:52)
7. Personal Transformation - (12:13)
8. Risk = Opportunity - (16:48)
9. Management Tips, Tricks, or Techniques - (19:10)
Golden Nuggets:Visionary Entrepreneur - (16:27)
Connect with Kurt Philip online with the following handles:1. Convertica
2. Linkedin
3. Facebook
Communication technology and advancement in information paved the way of different modes of organizing and doing work. The idea of working and coordinating with co-workers without meeting face to face is now a reality. Hence, diving deep, understanding the business needs, and applying a data-driven management style uniquely can become a vital recipe for success and equity to be sustainable.
In this episode ofMads Singers Management Podcast, we discuss the importance of communicating with clarity in all forms most especially that businesses operate in a continually changing environment with many factors influencing outcomes in different ways every day. This communication style magnifies the implications of being data-driven as a leader.
Joining us today is Remotivate’s Founder and Business Consultant, Anna Shcherbyna.
Anna Shcherbyna is currently running three businesses particularly her own recruitment business where she helps online entrepreneurs to bring in top talents for their business needs, and she also helps operate two other companies that are in the service industry that does operations management explicitly.
Anna acknowledges the fact that each business and industry is unique. Hence, gaining the data and being driven from it lunges people to trust the system and the tools supporting it to create space for equity. Also, this creates accountability for everyone involved in the process and refining the process to adapt to each business need uniquely.
Anna Shcherbyna’s management style emphasizes the benefits of being transparent in approaching business dealings and its direct impact, as echoed by her data-driven philosophy.
Key Learning:1.Anna Shcherbyna’s Management Philosophy - (1:24)
2. Mission in People Management - (5:17)
3. Anna Shcherbyna’s Management Style - (16:53), (17:42)
4. Overcoming Management Predicaments - (9:17), (11:08)
5. Transforming Managers of Tomorrow - (12:00), (14:45), (15:45)
6. Relevance of Business Risks in Scaling Up A Business - (21:09)
7. Anna Shcherbyna’s take on Process - (25:35), (29:00)
8. Anna Shcherbyna’s Management Tips, Tricks, And Techniques - (32:34), (33:05), (33:30)
Golden Nuggets:1. Why Trusting Your Team is Very Important - (24:03)
2. Managing Expectations and Following Through - (34:29)
3. Business Operations Reality - (29:54)
Reference Mentioned:
1.Book: The One Thing Book
Author: Gary W. Keller and Jay Papasan
- Book: Traction
Author: Gino Wickman
Apps Mentioned:App: Notion
Connect with Anna Shcherbyna online:1. Remotivate
2. E-mail: anna@remotivate.eu
Jonathan Kiekbusch was born and raised in Germany, and his early career revolved around business development in different industries.
From there, Jonathan joined a big American usability company. He began as an account executive and was eventually promoted to Director of Sales in Europe.
Jonathan’s first startup was in the security industry. He ran it for three years before eventually selling it. During this time, he met his co-founder and they started the digital marketing product business which is now SEO Butler.
A crucial part of Jonathan’s ’s mission is hiring the right people and providing mechanisms and goals for employee growth and development. He believes strongly that training and development is an integral part of managing the talents of his team.
Jonathan recognizes the challenges of hiring in today’s competitive marketplace. He firmly believes that communicating effectively is essential for employee growth and business development.
Key Learning:
-
Jonathan Kiekbusch’s Management Philosophy - (5:15), (8:40)
-
People Management Mission - (10:30)
-
Improving People and Business Innovation - (26:06), (27:08), (27:40)
-
Manager’s Transformation - (30:05), (31:22)
-
Jonathan Kiekbusch Tips, and Techniques - (18:26), (19:14)
Golden Nugget:
Capability Building - (12:54)
Connect with Jonathan Kiekbusch online with the following handles:
- Website
Reality tells us that it may be impossible to tailor fit all programs to meet the variety of styles in managing people.
In this episode of Mads Singers Management Podcast, we then reaffirm the importance of having a collaborative management approach to begin empowering the employees to take more responsibility for their development.
Joining us today is Julie Spearfrom Bobsled Marketing.
Julie Spear had an education background for sixteen years before joining Bobsled Marketing. She led a large school in Chicago to which she built the team, helped it grow and scaled school building programs. While in education, Julie pursued a degree in Psychology and earned her Masters in Psychology and Counseling.
Known to be very encouraging and helps her team realize their potential, Julie confessed that she is a lifelong learner, and this perspective enabled her to see opportunities as an exciting journey in employee development.
For Julie, People Management requires a robust and clear understanding of the individuals on her team, and she leverages her education background in translating it to the work that she does in Bobsled Marketing. By her education philosophy, she believes that targeting the individual learners and understanding the context in meeting them will eventually help them grow and develop professionally.
Key Learning:1. Julie Spear’s Unique Management Philosophy - (5:54)
-
The Mission in People Management - (9:28), (9:47)
-
Julie Spear’s Unique Leadership Style - (10:49)
-
Application of Individual Experience to Business Success - (12:47)
-
Cultivating Business and People Innovation - (14:27), (14:40)
-
Influencing Leaders - (16:21)
-
Management and Innovation Tips, Tricks, or Apps - (19:06)
Golden Nuggets:1. Importance of Having the Right People AND Empowerment - (10:03)
- Resiliency in Business Opportunities - (15:22)
Applications Mentioned:1. HeyTacos
- Harvest
Connect with Julie Spear online with the following handles:1. Website
Joining us is Lavinia Iosub from Livit, in about her journey towards expanding a unique set of services for startups and finding new ways to empower people.
Known to be a person who makes things happen and willing to take risks for a better direction, she places the relevance of having a shared belief in driving the course of a growing business, and that includes the right attitude, correct behavior, and shared values.
Currently, Livit is an international service provider for tech startups. LivIt have operations in Bali and also spanning four international services abroad. It offers coworking spaces, shared offices, business support services, and consultancy services.
Lavinia shares to us her management philosophy, how important it is to approach a “We” perspective in working rather than an “I” mindset, and what she enjoys in managing people.
Lavinia expresses how she looks forward to continuing to inspire people to take on more autonomy and how vital it is to trust your team.
She her advocacy in Training and Development most especially for those who are already leaders and for those who seek to become one considering the factors for a coworking space or virtual set up.e shares
Key Learning:
- Lavinia Iosub’s Management Philosophy - (3:58), (11:44)
- Routine Wednesday - (7:46)
- The Mission in Managing People - (8:19)
- Influencing Leaders - (21:12)
- Management Tips, Tricks, Tools, and System - (31:07)
Golden Nugget:How Globalization Irreversibly Affects the Workforce - (5:30)
Resource(s) Mentioned:
Author: Simon Sinek
Book: Start With Why
Connect with Lavinia Iosub online in the following spaces:
- Livit
- Project Getaway
- E-mail - lavinia@liv.it
