The Growth Whisperers podcast

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"Necessary Endings" is a self-help book written by Dr. Henry Cloud. It explores the concept of embracing and initiating endings in various aspects of life, such as relationships, careers, and personal growth, in order to create a positive and fulfilling future.

The book emphasises that endings are a natural part of life and are necessary for personal and professional growth.

While endings are a natural part of business and life, we often experience them with a sense of hesitation, sadness, resignation, or regret. But Dr. Henry Cloud sees endings differently. He argues that our personal and professional lives can only improve to the degree that we can see endings as a necessary and strategic step to something better. If we cannot see endings in a positive light and execute them well, he asserts, the "better" will never come either in business growth or our personal lives.

In this insightful and deeply empathetic book, Dr. Cloud demonstrates that, when executed well, "necessary endings" allow us to proactively correct the bad and the broken in our lives in order to make room for the professional and personal growth we seek. However, when endings are avoided or handled poorly—as is too often the case—good opportunities may be lost, and misery repeated. Drawing on years of experience as an executive coach and a psychologist, Dr. Cloud offers a mixture of advice and case studies to help readers

Know when to have realistic hope and when to execute a necessary ending in a business, or with an individual.
Identify which employees, projects, activities, and relationships are worth nurturing and which are not.
Overcome people's resistance to change and create change that works.
Create urgency and an action plan for what's important.
Stop wasting resources needed for the things that really matter.
Knowing when and how to let go when something, or someone, isn't working—a personal relationship, a job, or a business venture—is essential for happiness and success.

In this, the final episode of the Growth Whisperers podcast, we talk about the book necessary endings, our journey together, and why you should consider what endings are necessary in your life.

Thank you for listening, it's been an honour to help you. From Kevin and Brad.

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* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Is Twitter your thing? Follow @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 to learn more about building enduring great companies.

*Like LinkedIn? Follow https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradleygiles/ and https://www.linkedin.com/in/coachkevinlawrence/

---------

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

Newsletters

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/articles

*https://lawrenceandco.com/business-resources

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View Details

There is an entire industry and philosophy surrounding why you should sell your business, but it doesn’t need to be that way. There are many reasons why people choose to sell their businesses and really the reasons can be broken down into two different things.

Long Term Goal To Exit: A strategic decision because their plan all along was to sell their business and they have something else more desirable to do with their time (besides golf).
Looking for an Exit strategy after losing faith. They hit a point of frustration or desperation and are no longer either enjoying the business or don’t believe they can get it to the next level.

The first point is a goal to exit, the second allows you to think it isn't going to get any easier, it might be better to sell. And there are a lot of people who will want you to sell. This means you can feel forced to exit.

In this episode we discuss the top 5 reasons people regret selling, and how you can consider different perspectives and opportunities.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Is Twitter your thing? Follow @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 to learn more about building enduring great companies.

*Like LinkedIn? Follow https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradleygiles/ and https://www.linkedin.com/in/coachkevinlawrence/

---------

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

Newsletters

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/articles

*https://lawrenceandco.com/business-resources

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#96 The three main barriers to consistent growth

#90 Meeting Rhythm - The Annual Strategic Thinking meeting

#110 Five most common questions we get about Scaling Up

#89 The 4 different types of A players

View Details

Without effective discipline around decision making we can end up making decisions we later might call dumb. To avoid this one of the tools we use is the sandbox. Where we play.

Our sandbox is where we have proven that we can win and earn the right to be a viable option for our customers. And the principle helps us to keep sand in the box.

What we sell, Who we sell it to and where we sell it. Like any principle creates focus and guardrails for our thinking and decisions.

When going outside of these guardrails, we need to do it with extreme caution and this takes a lot of humility at times - especially when a business is doing really well.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Is Twitter your thing? Follow @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 to learn more about building enduring great companies.

*Like LinkedIn? Follow https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradleygiles/ and https://www.linkedin.com/in/coachkevinlawrence/

---------

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

Newsletters

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/articles

*https://lawrenceandco.com/business-resources

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#79 Eliminate your emotionally taxing issues - lick your toads

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#130 Jim Collins: Level 5 leaders

#104 The habits successful leaders use to prepare each week

#50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

#96 The three main barriers to consistent growth

#90 Meeting Rhythm - The Annual Strategic Thinking meeting

#110 Five most common questions we get about Scaling Up

#89 The 4 different types of A players

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Executives are often more driven than the average person. We run hard all the time, and it usually works. And then, it doesn't work.

We persist and push harder than the average person, and that's why we win. But it's also why we can crash harder and sometimes even put everything at risk.

This week we talk about executive burnout in the second of two episodes. What it means, what to look out for in both yourself and your team, and when it might be time to go get some help.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Is Twitter your thing? Follow @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 to learn more about building enduring great companies.

*Like LinkedIn? Follow https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradleygiles/ and https://www.linkedin.com/in/coachkevinlawrence/

---------

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

Newsletters

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/articles

*https://lawrenceandco.com/business-resources

-----

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#19 Mental health in business leadership during COVID19

#79 Eliminate your emotionally taxing issues - lick your toads

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#130 Jim Collins: Level 5 leaders

#104 The habits successful leaders use to prepare each week

#50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

#96 The three main barriers to consistent growth

#90 Meeting Rhythm - The Annual Strategic Thinking meeting

#110 Five most common questions we get about Scaling Up

#89 The 4 different types of A players

View Details

Executives are often more driven than the average person. We run hard all the time, and it usually works. And then, it doesn't work.

We persist and push harder than the average person, and that's why we win. But it's also why we can crash harder and sometimes even put everything at risk.

This week we talk about executive burnout. What it means, what to look out for in both yourself and your team, and when it might be time to go get some help.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Is Twitter your thing? Follow @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 to learn more about building enduring great companies.

*Like LinkedIn? Follow https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradleygiles/ and https://www.linkedin.com/in/coachkevinlawrence/

---------

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

Newsletters

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/articles

*https://lawrenceandco.com/business-resources

-----

Related episodes

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#79 Eliminate your emotionally taxing issues - lick your toads

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#130 Jim Collins: Level 5 leaders

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#96 The three main barriers to consistent growth

#90 Meeting Rhythm - The Annual Strategic Thinking meeting

#110 Five most common questions we get about Scaling Up

#89 The 4 different types of A players

View Details

Jim Collins book Good to Great is one of the all-time business classics due to the size and quality of the research that underpins the principles that he identified in the research about companies that endured and achieved great performance, relative to their peer companies who only achieved good performance.

In Good to Great, Jim Collins identified seven core principles that great companies excelled at.

In this part two of two episodes, we dig into the seven principles from Good to Great and ask you to rate your firm's performance on each of these.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Is Twitter your thing? Follow @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 to learn more about building enduring great companies.

*Like LinkedIn? Follow https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradleygiles/ and https://www.linkedin.com/in/coachkevinlawrence/

---------

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

Newsletters

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/articles

*https://lawrenceandco.com/business-resources

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#96 The three main barriers to consistent growth

#90 Meeting Rhythm - The Annual Strategic Thinking meeting

#110 Five most common questions we get about Scaling Up

#89 The 4 different types of A players

View Details

In Good to Great, Jim Collins identified seven core principles that great companies excelled at.

In this part one of two episodes, we dig into the seven principles from Good to Great and ask you to rate your firm's performance on each of these.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Is Twitter your thing? Follow @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 to learn more about building enduring great companies.

*Like LinkedIn? Follow https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradleygiles/ and https://www.linkedin.com/in/coachkevinlawrence/

---------

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

Newsletters

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/articles

*https://lawrenceandco.com/business-resources

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Related episodes

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#96 The three main barriers to consistent growth

#90 Meeting Rhythm - The Annual Strategic Thinking meeting

#110 Five most common questions we get about Scaling Up

#89 The 4 different types of A players

View Details

What if the most important number and predictor of long-term success was also a number that you didn't measure or even manage decisions based on it?

Unfortunately, it's a situation that is quite common today.

The accumulation of many seemingly small (and large) investment decisions that leaders make leads to the primary measure of a CEO - return on invested capital. How much capital has been invested in your business, and what's the return on that? Some of the most successful CEOs of all time have been primarily guided by this measure.

Ensuring that these decisions are well-considered and actually create high-impact results is where leaders should focus.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Is Twitter your thing? Follow @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 to learn more about building enduring great companies.

*Like LinkedIn? Follow https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradleygiles/ and https://www.linkedin.com/in/coachkevinlawrence/

---------

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

Newsletters

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/articles

*https://lawrenceandco.com/business-resources

-----

Related episodes

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#96 The three main barriers to consistent growth

#90 Meeting Rhythm - The Annual Strategic Thinking meeting

#110 Five most common questions we get about Scaling Up

#89 The 4 different types of A players

View Details

Some parts of your role give you energy, and some parts drain your energy. Often, the parts that drain your energy can be unsustainable. When you were younger, you probably had jobs that drained your energy, and you quit those jobs, getting better jobs over time. But that's often not possible if you're a business owner, CEO or executive.

Over time we want to give more time to things that give us energy and less time to those parts that drain energy. This way we're able to work hard and sustain our energy for the role. We would be tired at the end of the day, but our energy for the role would remain.

This week we talk about how to live and work in your Sustainable Sweet Spot as a leader.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Is Twitter your thing? Follow @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 to learn more about building enduring great companies.

*Like LinkedIn? Follow https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradleygiles/ and https://www.linkedin.com/in/coachkevinlawrence/

---------

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

Newsletters

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/articles

*https://lawrenceandco.com/business-resources

-----

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#96 The three main barriers to consistent growth

#90 Meeting Rhythm - The Annual Strategic Thinking meeting

#110 Five most common questions we get about Scaling Up

#89 The 4 different types of A players

View Details

How do you know if you have the right people in the right seats?

We’ve all heard of the phrase ‘get the right people in the right seats on the bus’. It talks about ensuring that team members are aligned and committed to success. However, Jim Collins has a very specific definition of the ‘right people’, and when you’re considering if you have the right people in the right seats, this includes six key characteristics that might help to understand what 'right' actually means.

This week we're going through Jim Collins' definition of the right people in the right seats.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Is Twitter your thing? Follow @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 to learn more about building enduring great companies.

*Like LinkedIn? Follow https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradleygiles/ and https://www.linkedin.com/in/coachkevinlawrence/

---------

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

Newsletters

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/articles

*https://lawrenceandco.com/business-resources

-----

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#130 Jim Collins: Level 5 leaders

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#96 The three main barriers to consistent growth

#90 Meeting Rhythm - The Annual Strategic Thinking meeting

#110 Five most common questions we get about Scaling Up

#89 The 4 different types of A players

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Hiring can be expensive.

It's expensive in terms of time for leaders to commit to an effective hiring process, it's expensive in terms of recruitment fees or costs, and it's expensive in terms of productivity. And that's when you get it right!

Sometimes we can make mistakes when hiring, and this can be even more expensive. Perhaps busy executives are skipping steps or they might not know what things to avoid.

This week we talk about five expensive hiring mistakes you should avoid.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Is Twitter your thing? Follow @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 to learn more about building enduring great companies.

*Like LinkedIn? Follow https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradleygiles/ and https://www.linkedin.com/in/coachkevinlawrence/

---------

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

Newsletters

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/articles

*https://lawrenceandco.com/business-resources

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Related episodes

#151 I’m thinking about appointing my first COO or President – what should I do?

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-----

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

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#130 Jim Collins: Level 5 leaders

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#50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

#96 The three main barriers to consistent growth

#90 Meeting Rhythm - The Annual Strategic Thinking meeting

#110 Five most common questions we get about Scaling Up

#89 The 4 different types of A players

View Details

Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers. - Harry S. Truman.

As leaders, we are avid learners and readers. And some of the best insights come from getting different perspectives whether it be from biographies of great leaders from the past or present or research that relates to our industries or completely divergent learning that enhance our perspectives of the world.

Aside from travel, reading is one of the most impactful things we can spend time on to enhance the quality of our thinking and leadership. We all have favourites, but these 9 books are constantly at the top of our lists and the lists of the CEO’s and Executives we work with. In this episode we discuss the 9 books that every CEO (and executive) must read.

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* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Is Twitter your thing? Follow @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 to learn more about building enduring great companies.

*Like LinkedIn? Follow https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradleygiles/ and https://www.linkedin.com/in/coachkevinlawrence/

---------

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

Newsletters

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/articles

*https://lawrenceandco.com/business-resources

-----

Related episodes

#151 I’m thinking about appointing my first COO or President – what should I do?

#49 Are you a genius with 1,000 helpers? If so, how do you become a level 5 leader?

#22 Bringing a new leader or executive into a leadership team

-----

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#84 The 7 common strategy mistakes from Michael Porter

#130 Jim Collins: Level 5 leaders

#104 The habits successful leaders use to prepare each week

#50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

#96 The three main barriers to consistent growth

#90 Meeting Rhythm - The Annual Strategic Thinking meeting

#110 Five most common questions we get about Scaling Up

#89 The 4 different types of A players

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Annual strategy meetings are a necessary part of every organisation. And they can be very expensive, with decisions made affecting the organisation for a year or more.

Ensuring you maximise the value from these meetings and avoid mistakes to set the company up to win next year and into the future.

This week we share seven mistakes we’ve found leaders make at annual strategy meetings, and what you can do to avoid these mistakes.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Is Twitter your thing? Follow @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 to learn more about building enduring great companies.

*Like LinkedIn? Follow https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradleygiles/ and https://www.linkedin.com/in/coachkevinlawrence/

---------

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

Newsletters

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/articles

*https://lawrenceandco.com/business-resources

-----

Related episodes

#151 I’m thinking about appointing my first COO or President – what should I do?

#49 Are you a genius with 1,000 helpers? If so, how do you become a level 5 leader?

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#130 Jim Collins: Level 5 leaders

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#50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

#96 The three main barriers to consistent growth

#90 Meeting Rhythm - The Annual Strategic Thinking meeting

#110 Five most common questions we get about Scaling Up

#89 The 4 different types of A players

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Liz Wiseman is an ex oracle executive who wrote an amazing book about how we all have moments as leaders where we accidentally diminish team members and 'shut down' their smarts, making our people less capable. What makes it worse, is that our intent is usually to be helpful and supportive, and yet it has the opposite impact.

She breaks out the difference between the behaviours we have that multiply the intelligence of our team (and potentially family members too) and those that diminish their capability and intelligence. You can understand the accidental diminisher traits, and where you can improve, and then, you can understand how to multiply the capability of your team members.

This week we're talking about the Multipliers concept from Liz Wiseman, and how it can apply to you as a leader.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Is Twitter your thing? Follow @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 to learn more about building enduring great companies.

*Like LinkedIn? Follow https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradleygiles/ and https://www.linkedin.com/in/coachkevinlawrence/

---------

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

Newsletters

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/articles

*https://lawrenceandco.com/business-resources

-----

Related episodes

#151 I’m thinking about appointing my first COO or President – what should I do?

#49 Are you a genius with 1,000 helpers? If so, how do you become a level 5 leader?

#22 Bringing a new leader or executive into a leadership team

-----

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

#84 The 7 common strategy mistakes from Michael Porter

#130 Jim Collins: Level 5 leaders

#104 The habits successful leaders use to prepare each week

#50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

#96 The three main barriers to consistent growth

#90 Meeting Rhythm - The Annual Strategic Thinking meeting

#110 Five most common questions we get about Scaling Up

#89 The 4 different types of A players

View Details

It's been said that people join companies and leave managers. Almost everyone can't stand a boss who is a micromanager. But what if you might be a micromanager?

You know you are a micromanager if the weight of responsibility along with the thinking and planning related to it, ultimately sits with you. You will know this is true if the problems, thinking and decisions come to you.

To avoid micromanagement and instead achieve leadership one must transfer the responsibility and coach the person. This leads to the clarity and tension that drives accountability and results.

This week we discuss what to do if you're concerned that you might be a micromanager.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Is Twitter your thing? Follow @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 to learn more about building enduring great companies.

*Like LinkedIn? Follow https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradleygiles/ and https://www.linkedin.com/in/coachkevinlawrence/

---------

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

Newsletters

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/articles

*https://lawrenceandco.com/business-resources

-----

Related episodes

#151 I’m thinking about appointing my first COO or President – what should I do?

#49 Are you a genius with 1,000 helpers? If so, how do you become a level 5 leader?

#22 Bringing a new leader or executive into a leadership team

-----

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

#84 The 7 common strategy mistakes from Michael Porter

#130 Jim Collins: Level 5 leaders

#104 The habits successful leaders use to prepare each week

#50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

#96 The three main barriers to consistent growth

#90 Meeting Rhythm - The Annual Strategic Thinking meeting

#110 Five most common questions we get about Scaling Up

#89 The 4 different types of A players

View Details

For many leaders hiring their first COO or President can be a big change. Perhaps they've been running the business for a long time with 6 or 7 direct reports, and need to move to the next level, or begin transitioning toward succession.

No matter how or why hiring your first COO or hiring your first president can be a big change, and comes with a set of unique challenges.

This week we talk about this unique issue, and what to do if you're hiring your first COO or President.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Is Twitter your thing? Follow @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 to learn more about building enduring great companies.

*Like LinkedIn? Follow https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradleygiles/ and https://www.linkedin.com/in/coachkevinlawrence/

---------

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

Newsletters

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/articles

*https://lawrenceandco.com/business-resources

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Related episodes

#132 Onboarded - What is onboarding and why does it matter (1 of 4)

#49 Are you a genius with 1,000 helpers? If so, how do you become a level 5 leader?

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#84 The 7 common strategy mistakes from Michael Porter

#130 Jim Collins: Level 5 leaders

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#50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

#96 The three main barriers to consistent growth

#90 Meeting Rhythm - The Annual Strategic Thinking meeting

#110 Five most common questions we get about Scaling Up

#89 The 4 different types of A players

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It can be quite common for leaders to be not satisfied with an executive or key employee.

However, it's important not to allow that frustration to remain, but to understand why you are feeling this way. This means becoming clear on the gaps between your expectations, and actual performance, and then having a conversation with them so they are aware and have an opportunity to recalibrate and meet your expectations.

The failure of many leaders is experiencing this frustration, but keeping it a secret, which isn't fair to either party.

If you're feeling that an executive might not be performing, in this episode we talk about why you should act on it, and we provide several tools on how to understand, assess, and act on it.

-----

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* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Is Twitter your thing? Follow @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 to learn more about building enduring great companies.

*Like LinkedIn? Follow https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradleygiles/ and https://www.linkedin.com/in/coachkevinlawrence/

-----

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

Newsletters

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/articles

*https://lawrenceandco.com/business-resources

-----

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#96 The three main barriers to consistent growth

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#110 Five most common questions we get about Scaling Up

#89 The 4 different types of A players

View Details

Gross margin is one of the most important numbers in your business. Gross Margin (percentage) is a good indicator that your business is healthy: Both on the selling/strategy end indicating your customer is willing to pay you well for what you offer, and on the operations end demonstrating that you can efficiently produce what the customer wants.

The trend of this number over time can tell quite the story. When it starts to fade, as it often can, it is a reason for concern.

This week we talk about Gross Margin erosion, why it happens and what you should do if you find yourself in this situation.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Is Twitter your thing? Follow @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 to learn more about building enduring great companies.

*Like LinkedIn? Follow https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradleygiles/ and https://www.linkedin.com/in/coachkevinlawrence/

-----

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

Newsletters

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/articles

*https://lawrenceandco.com/business-resources

-----

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#130 Jim Collins: Level 5 leaders

#104 The habits successful leaders use to prepare each week

#50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

#96 The three main barriers to consistent growth

#90 Meeting Rhythm - The Annual Strategic Thinking meeting

#110 Five most common questions we get about Scaling Up

#89 The 4 different types of A players

View Details

Price increases are a bit of a dirty word in business - and they have become a critical success factor for companies in 2023 with incredibly high price inflation affecting input costs;

Enduring companies that have been around for many decades have mastered this discipline, whereas newer companies have not necessarily had to learn this lesson yet, and it hurts.
Big, experienced companies were making price increases fast and early - and profiting from it;
Smaller, nicer companies waited, thought about it, and many paid a serious price with their margins shirking and tier bottom line fading too.

Practically many businesses must increase pricing at some point, and people don't necessarily like to do it - especially the sales team who deal with customers all the time.

In this episode, we talk about the method of price increases, why it matters and some of the best ways to do it in your business.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Is Twitter your thing? Follow @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 to learn more about building enduring great companies.

*Like LinkedIn? Follow https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradleygiles/ and https://www.linkedin.com/in/coachkevinlawrence/

-----

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

Newsletters

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/articles

*https://lawrenceandco.com/business-resources

-----

Related episodes

#74 The Power and Struggle of saying no

#120 The 20 Mile March concept By Jim Collins: Thrive in Uncertainty

-----

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#84 The 7 common strategy mistakes from Michael Porter

#130 Jim Collins: Level 5 leaders

#104 The habits successful leaders use to prepare each week

#50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

#96 The three main barriers to consistent growth

#90 Meeting Rhythm - The Annual Strategic Thinking meeting

#110 Five most common questions we get about Scaling Up

#89 The 4 different types of A players

View Details

In team meetings, leaders often need a simple code of conduct through which to operate. If you have the 'right people on the bus', they will be self-motivated and don’t require constant coercing toward a compelling vision. In order to effectively delegate responsibility and accountability and create a high-performing team, leaders should follow Jim Collin's three rules of engagement for healthy teams.

In this episode, we discuss Jim Collin's three rules, what they are and why each of them are so important to create the environment for a high-performing team to thrive.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Is Twitter your thing? Follow @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 to learn more about building enduring great companies.

*Like LinkedIn? Follow https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradleygiles/ and https://www.linkedin.com/in/coachkevinlawrence/

-----

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

Newsletters

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/articles

*https://lawrenceandco.com/business-resources

-----

Related episodes

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#124 Five things that make a bad strategic plan

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#104 The habits successful leaders use to prepare each week

#50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

#96 The three main barriers to consistent growth

#90 Meeting Rhythm - The Annual Strategic Thinking meeting

#110 Five most common questions we get about Scaling Up

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View Details

Are you looking to become a more effective leader?

In this episode of the "Growth Whisperers" podcast, we explore the importance of goal obsession in successful leadership. Discover why the greatest leaders are driven by a deep sense of purpose and relentless determination to achieve their goals, no matter the challenges that come their way.

Learn how to set and achieve ambitious goals that will set you apart and allow you to make a lasting impact.

It’s not enough to have big goals. Great leaders obsess over them. They never let them out of their mind -- OR their team's mind.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Follow us on Twitter @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 to learn more about building enduring great companies.

-----

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

-----

Related episodes

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#50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

#96 The three main barriers to consistent growth

#90 Meeting Rhythm - The Annual Strategic Thinking meeting

#110 Five most common questions we get about Scaling Up

View Details

Are you struggling to prioritize tasks and maximize your productivity?

The Time Management Matrix, created by Stephen Covey, could be the solution you've been looking for. In this podcast, we'll teach you how to effectively use the matrix to set goals and achieve success in both your personal and professional life. Through real-life examples, you'll learn how to manage your time in each of the matrix's four quadrants.

We all have limited time and exactly 24 hours in a day, and yet, some people accomplish more at work and can also have more of a life that they love…. While others may work just as many hours, want the same thing and come up short.

If you want to increase your productivity and better manage your time, this podcast is a must-listen. Don't miss out on these valuable time management tips and techniques.

Links quoted in the episode

https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/57338a0e2fe1312482379195/1485791609237-SRR2U6TPSZC25MSBR85Z/?content-type=image%2Fjpeg

https://www.statista.com/statistics/411775/average-daily-time-watching-tv-us-by-age/

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Follow us on Twitter @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 to learn more about building enduring great companies.

-----

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

-----

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What cash decisions do you need to make to win in 2023?

2023 looks to have major challenges that are slowly developing. And this is especially so when considering your cash and how it might be impacted by the changing environment. One of the most important questions to answer to best prepare for 2023 is how can I maintain consistent financial performance if my customer's needs or spending changes?

Notable quotes from the episode.

"Profit is an opinion, but cash is a fact"

"How can you have and generate more cash to grow and handle the bumps that might be in the road ahead?"

This week we discuss how to maintain consistency if your customers are impacted and how can you win in 2023 through the cash lens.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Follow us on Twitter @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 to learn more about building enduring great companies.

-----

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

-----

Related episodes

#97 What time period should your role be focussed on?

#124 Five things that make a bad strategic plan

#85 How to get the most from a strategic planning framework

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-----

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# 84 The 7 common strategy mistakes from Michael Porter

#104 The habits successful leaders use to prepare each week

#50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

#96 The three main barriers to consistent growth

#90 Meeting Rhythm - The Annual Strategic Thinking meeting

#110 Five most common questions we get about Scaling Up

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What execution decisions do you need to make to win in 2023?

2023 looks to have major challenges that are slowly developing. And this is especially so when considering your strategy and how it might be impacted by the changing environment. One of the most important questions to answer to best prepare for 2023 is how can I maintain consistent financial performance if my customer's needs or spending changes?

"People are always excited about the games in sports, but it is all the discipline and habits built in practice that drives winning"

This week we discuss how to maintain consistency through execution and how can you win in 2023 through the execution lens.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Follow us on Twitter @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 to learn more about building enduring great companies.

-----

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

-----

Related episodes

#97 What time period should your role be focussed on?

#124 Five things that make a bad strategic plan

#85 How to get the most from a strategic planning framework

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-----

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#104 The habits successful leaders use to prepare each week

#50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

#96 The three main barriers to consistent growth

#90 Meeting Rhythm - The Annual Strategic Thinking meeting

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What strategy decisions do you need to make to win in 2023?

Jim Collins said that

"The signature of mediocrity is not unwillingness change, the signature of mediocrity is chronic inconsistency"

This week we discuss how to maintain consistency if your customers are impacted and how can you win in 2023 through the strategy lens.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Follow us on Twitter @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 to learn more about building enduring great companies.

-----

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

-----

Related episodes

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#124 Five things that make a bad strategic plan

#85 How to get the most from a strategic planning framework

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-----

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#104 The habits successful leaders use to prepare each week

#50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

#96 The three main barriers to consistent growth

#90 Meeting Rhythm - The Annual Strategic Thinking meeting

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What people decisions do you need to make to win in 2023?

2023 looks to have major challenges that are slowly developing. And this is especially so when considering the people challenges we're all facing. One of the most important questions to answer in order to best prepare for 2023 is how do I get the right people in the right seats doing the right things the right way?

This week we're going through some important things to find the right people in 2023 and get your people system working.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Follow us on Twitter @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 to learn more about building enduring great companies.

-----

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

-----

Related episodes

#97 What time period should your role be focussed on?

#124 Five things that make a bad strategic plan

#85 How to get the most from a strategic planning framework

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#85 How to get the most from a strategic planning framework

-----

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

# 84 The 7 common strategy mistakes from Michael Porter

#104 The habits successful leaders use to prepare each week

#50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

#96 The three main barriers to consistent growth

#90 Meeting Rhythm - The Annual Strategic Thinking meeting

#110 Five most common questions we get about Scaling Up

View Details

2023 is looking like one of the most interesting years in our lives and careers. We didn't really see 2020, it just happened to us, and we all responded.

But 2023 looks to have major challenges that are slowly developing.

So what can we do in order to win in 2023?

In this first of five episodes, we look at what we know about 2023, and what we can do to manage the headwinds and challenges.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Follow us on Twitter @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 to learn more about building enduring great companies.

-----

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

-----

Related episodes

#97 What time period should your role be focussed on?

#124 Five things that make a bad strategic plan

#85 How to get the most from a strategic planning framework

#64 Why you need a Quarterly reset

#85 How to get the most from a strategic planning framework

-----

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

# 84 The 7 common strategy mistakes from Michael Porter

#104 The habits successful leaders use to prepare each week

#50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

#96 The three main barriers to consistent growth

#90 Meeting Rhythm - The Annual Strategic Thinking meeting

#110 Five most common questions we get about Scaling Up

View Details

What is more important, getting the right people or getting the right strategy?

Many people have opinions about what matters more. Strategy people think it's strategy, and you might have a great team, but they will spin their wheels without a great strategy.

Then others will think that culture is more important and that a great strategy will go nowhere without a high-performing team.

But there's also one other nuance to this debate and its execution. How effectively does the team execute the strategy?

Today we ask if we had to pick one, if we had to dedicate 80% of our energy to, which would it be and why?

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Follow us on Twitter @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 Learn more about building enduring great companies.

-----

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

-----

Related episodes

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#110 Five most common questions we get about Scaling Up

#85 How to get the most from a strategic planning framework

#64 Why you need a Quarterly reset

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

# 50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

# 16 Jim Collins

# 84 The 7 common strategy mistakes from Michael Porter

# 43 The top 7 best practices for weekly meetings

# 69 What is a Topgrading virtual bench and why you need one

# 88 The hidden cost of not having a team of all A-Players

# 96 The three main barriers to consistent growth

# 83 Why strategy should focus on producing more profit - not market share

View Details

Many companies might have a plan, but some plans work better than others. Focus matters; having an ideology, strategy, and execution goals in one plan enables leaders to focus and achieve results.

By bringing together the ideology (Core Values & Core Purpose), Strategy (How you're different) and execution together into a logical fit, you avoid just having a list of goals with different time horizons.

This week we discuss the One Page Plan, where it comes from, why it works and the principles that underly its success. Also, we discuss how people make mistakes with the one page plan.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Follow us on Twitter @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 Learn more about building enduring great companies.

-----

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

-----

Related episodes

#124 Five things that make a bad strategic plan

#110 Five most common questions we get about Scaling Up

#85 How to get the most from a strategic planning framework

#64 Why you need a Quarterly reset

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

# 50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

# 16 Jim Collins

# 84 The 7 common strategy mistakes from Michael Porter

# 43 The top 7 best practices for weekly meetings

# 69 What is a Topgrading virtual bench and why you need one

# 88 The hidden cost of not having a team of all A-Players

# 96 The three main barriers to consistent growth

# 83 Why strategy should focus on producing more profit - not market share

View Details

This week we're talking about a new book that Kevin is working on entitled The Four Forces of Growth. We talk about the four forces, why they matter and what you can do to focus on growth.

Here's an excerpt from Kevin's website outlining the four forces of growth.

The 4 Forces of Growth
We’re about a third of the way through this year, and it feels as if we’ve already burned a year’s worth of energy. Many people have slipped into troubleshooting, problem solving and pivoting within their businesses and I’ve seen some amazing ways that teams have rallied to change, improve and come out stronger and more unified. It’s incredibly impressive.

So, now that we’ve made it through this initial storm, the key is to make sure that we become masters of prioritizing and focusing on what matters most. Unfortunately, when things become more chaotic – as they likely will be for a while – and there are many different perspectives and opinions, people often put their energy where their logic tells them. And they won’t find out, until a few months down the road, that it might not have been the best choice. That’s when the difference between strategic thinkers and amazing executers start to show up.

Some people, for whatever reason, are better at figuring out the higher impact places to put their energy, and what to leave alone. Whether this is you, or not, the key is to have the right tools to help you and your team pick what matters the most – and to ensure you don’t get distracted and deluded by logical thought in an illogical time.

Defying Logic From the beginning of recorded history, there have been people who pursued ideas and actions that defied logic. Like Leonardo Da Vinci who conceived a flying machine well before the Wright brothers took to the sky, or scientists in the 1700s who began to think that disease was caused by micro-organisms rather than bad blood or bad air.

These unique people were drawn to hard, risky pursuits that contained very little instant gratification and, in many cases, sustained struggle and sacrifice. They were motivated and inspired by the impact of their pursuits and had the courage to push ahead – even when the logic of the day told them otherwise.

Last August, I started work on a new book about this topic and, little did I realize that it would become incredibly important six months later. The premise of the book is to find a simple way to help people to evaluate their decisions – to truly understand if their priorities really help or hinder their growth.

I’m fascinated by people who do the unthinkable and continue to defy logic, to persevere and succeed. After much research, I chose the analogy of flight and the pilots who defy gravity for extended periods of time. CEOs and pilots are very similar, both from a leadership perspective and they ways they make amazing things happen.

The 4 Forces of Growth In an airplane, pilots have to pay attention to the principles of flight – Lift, Thrust, Weight and Drag:

Lift is created by the wings and contrasted by the weight of the plane and gravity. When you get lift and thrust you get altitude
The thrust of the engines pushing the plane forward is fought by drag, the resistance of air.

Pilots – just like a CEO – must pay attention to these principles or they’ll quickly succumb to the forces of gravity.

Here’s how this relates to the world of a CEO and leader:

Lift happens when leaders lift their heads to look at opportunities – the future possibilities that help the business to get to a higher altitude of more revenue, more customers, more profit
Weight are the problems we get sucked into
Thrust is the courage to push ahead, make decisions and get into action
Drag is fear and doubt as we spend too much time contemplating, delay decisions and are less likely to act boldly.

Opportunities and Problems, Fear and Courage are the 4 Forces of Growth that shape and define four states we can find ourselves in, at any given time: Agony, Analysis, Growth and Improvement.

Growth is the result of courage and opportunity: increased revenue, new customers, new products, new services, new markets. It’s solving a problem for somebody new or solving a new problem for someone you already work with. It’s not about doing what you already do today – it’s about expanding in some way.

Growth is the accountability of CEOs who should be spending most of their thinking and action time in that box. And if the CEO is not, it’s very difficult for the company to grow.

Improvement is when you have the courage to move ahead but your energy is focused on solving problems. While improvement is good, it won’t grow a business on its own. It can make customers happier, improve margins and costs, and streamline operations. It’s wonderful and equally dangerous.

This box is normally owned by the COO who needs to be focused on making things better. The challenge here is understanding the problems that need to be solved and the problems that need to be ignored. Knowing how to make the decision on which problem to focus, or not, is the value of an amazing CEO or COO. (We’ll talk more about this, in future.)

You could stay in this box all day long and that’s the risk because problems never go away. In many companies we work with, that are really focused on growth, we leave a couple of percent in the expense structure of the business for problems that we continue to pay for, so that we can reallocate more energy into growth. These are strategic decisions that generally only a good CEO can make – to not solve problems and to not optimize all their costs so that they can grow healthily and quickly.

Analysis is on the other side of courage. This is where you look at opportunities but you’re fearful or hesitant to make a decision. This box is generally mastered by the CFO – the yin to the CEOs yang – who challenges and throws reality and practicality at some of the CEOs strategy thinking. That’s why the CEO or CFO pairing is so critical.

A certain amount of analysis is very good. We need it but, at a certain point, we also need to make a decision, a test or a move, so only being an analysis obviously isn’t good. The question is how much do we need?

Depending on the CEO, this can vary. If you have a very growth-oriented, visionary CEO more analysis is often needed for balance. And a fairly analytical CEO might not lead as much on the CFO for additional analysis.

Agony happens when you’re a fearful victim, stuck in problems, and indecisive. This is analysis paralysis – a very painful place where problems become overwhelming and you can’t find your way out. This is possibly the most dangerous state of all because it can degrade the mental health of individuals, of teams and, in a worst-case scenario, the entire company.

To move across the line into improvement, you need to find – or borrow or rent – the courage to do something.

Generally, audit/legal/compliance own this box, and they need to look at problems, in order to keep us from getting into trouble. While we need to be compliant, and aware of the problems that can really hurt us, we also need to make decisions and move ahead. You don’t grow a business here.

A Matter of Time As you look at this model, where is your time spent?

Some CEOs would say they want to be 80% growth, 9% analysis, 9% improvement and 2% agony. And others – depending on the state of their business and the strength of their team – might be 40% growth, 10% analysis, 40% improvement and 10% agony.

While there’s no right answer here, the key is being conscious of where you and your team actually spend your time, and to make sure your focus is in the right place.

The reality is that you just can’t expect to have a company that grows 30% per year, year on year, if the CEO spends 10% of their time in the growth box.

Red Flags When we do strategic planning sessions with companies, we always try to make sure there’s enough energy allocated to the Growth box for the company to reach its goals. And, obviously, we’re always analyzing and improving things, in the business, so that it gets stronger as it gets bigger.

A red flag is when the CEO of a growing company spends too much time administering or analyzing their business, versus doing the things that create growth.

Sometimes these are easy distractions that may create a lot of noise and seem important, but they aren’t the best use of your time.

From Kevin's blog https://lawrenceandco.com/resources/4-forces-of-growth

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Follow us on Twitter @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 Learn more about building enduring great companies.

-----

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

-----

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

# 50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

# 16 Jim Collins

# 84 The 7 common strategy mistakes from Michael Porter

# 43 The top 7 best practices for weekly meetings

# 69 What is a Topgrading virtual bench and why you need one

# 88 The hidden cost of not having a team of all A-Players

# 96 The three main barriers to consistent growth

# 83 Why strategy should focus on producing more profit - not market share

View Details

What would we do if we paid $44 USD Billion for a business that was losing 4 million dollars a day?

It's no different than buying any business, you're either going to let it run, or extract and create more value through a turnaround.

We talk about what we would do if we bought Twitter, and what you should consider if you're buying a business.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Follow us on Twitter @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 Learn more about building enduring great companies.

-----

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

-----

Related episodes

>> See Episode 132 Onboarded - What is onboarding and why does it matter?

>> See Episode 133 Onboarded - The problem with new hires who are a good fit

>> See Episode 134 Onboarded - What’s your Onboarding debt?

>> See Episode 53 What is a Topgrading Job Scorecard and how do you use it?

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

# 50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

# 16 Jim Collins

# 84 The 7 common strategy mistakes from Michael Porter

# 43 The top 7 best practices for weekly meetings

# 69 What is a Topgrading virtual bench and why you need one

# 88 The hidden cost of not having a team of all A-Players

# 96 The three main barriers to consistent growth

# 83 Why strategy should focus on producing more profit - not market share

View Details

What tools do you need to use for an effective onboarding process?

First, you must document what success looks like in the role after the onboarding. Second, you must build a plan to ensure the new hire understands how to succeed in the role.

The role scorecard should include the job purpose, responsibilities, measurable metrics and expectations of the new hire. The onboarding sprint plan should be a detailed weekly list of agenda items over perhaps 13 weeks which incorporates all the aspects of the role scorecard.

This week, in part 4 of 4, we talk about the two tools from Brad's new book Onboarded, the role scorecard and the onboarding sprint plan.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Follow us on Twitter @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 Learn more about building enduring great companies.

-----

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

-----

Related episodes

>> See Episode 132 Onboarded - What is onboarding and why does it matter?

>> See Episode 133 Onboarded - The problem with new hires who are a good fit

>> See Episode 134 Onboarded - What’s your Onboarding debt?

>> See Episode 53 What is a Topgrading Job Scorecard and how do you use it?

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

# 50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

# 16 Jim Collins

# 84 The 7 common strategy mistakes from Michael Porter

# 43 The top 7 best practices for weekly meetings

# 69 What is a Topgrading virtual bench and why you need one

# 88 The hidden cost of not having a team of all A-Players

# 96 The three main barriers to consistent growth

# 83 Why strategy should focus on producing more profit - not market share

View Details

What is onboarding debt, and how can you calculate your onboarding debt?

When people don’t understand how to succeed in a new role, they do what they think is right. But that might not be the right thing. They won't understand the culture, the technical and process expectations and your expectations as their manager.

Onboarding debt is the liability you carry with each new hire. More onboarding debt means a less successful team.

We talk about Brad's new book Onboarded and how every new hire you employ carries a liability from what they don't understand, known as onboarding debt.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Follow us on Twitter @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 Learn more about building enduring great companies.

-----

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

-----

Related episodes

>> See Episode 132 Onboarded - What is onboarding and why does it matter?

>> See Episode 133 Onboarded - The problem with new hires who are a good fit

>> See Episode 53 What is a Topgrading Job Scorecard and how do you use it?

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

# 50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

# 16 Jim Collins

# 84 The 7 common strategy mistakes from Michael Porter

# 43 The top 7 best practices for weekly meetings

# 69 What is a Topgrading virtual bench and why you need one

# 88 The hidden cost of not having a team of all A-Players

# 96 The three main barriers to consistent growth

# 83 Why strategy should focus on producing more profit - not market share

View Details

Many people refer to a person as a good fit (they are still here) or a bad fit (they left). This creates a mindset problem when we think about new hires. We can then think that new hires are pre-determined to be a good or bad fit, and it’s outside our control. And worse, any effort to make them fit is a wasted effort. Because this mindset tells us there’s no point in spending time if someone is a bad fit.

Hiring can be viewed as a “deal done”. We can consider that a good hiring process will produce a good fit, and if they are a good fit, and we spend minimal time with them, they will still be OK - because they’re a good fit. But fit is not binary, fit is a spectrum.

We talk about Brad's new book Onboarded and the problem with the phrase 'good fit' and why instead we should use the phrase 'successful fit'.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Follow us on Twitter @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 Learn more about building enduring great companies.

-----

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

-----

Related episodes

>> See Episode 132 Onboarded - What is onboarding and why does it matter?

>> See Episode 53 What is a Topgrading Job Scorecard and how do you use it?

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

# 50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

# 16 Jim Collins

# 84 The 7 common strategy mistakes from Michael Porter

# 43 The top 7 best practices for weekly meetings

# 69 What is a Topgrading virtual bench and why you need one

# 88 The hidden cost of not having a team of all A-Players

# 96 The three main barriers to consistent growth

# 83 Why strategy should focus on producing more profit - not market share

View Details

What is onboarding, and why does it matter?

In this first of four episodes, we're discussing Brad's new book Onboarded, how to bring new hires to the point where they are effective faster.

We discuss what onboarding is and what it isn't. We cover how 83% of organisations aren't realising the benefits of an effective onboarding process and why onboarding really matters to your team and your results.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Follow us on Twitter @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 Learn more about building enduring great companies.

-----

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

-----

Related episodes

>> See Episode 53 What is a Topgrading Job Scorecard and how do you use it?

>> See Episode 22 Bringing a new leader or executive into a leadership team

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

# 50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

# 16 Jim Collins

# 84 The 7 common strategy mistakes from Michael Porter

# 43 The top 7 best practices for weekly meetings

# 69 What is a Topgrading virtual bench and why you need one

# 88 The hidden cost of not having a team of all A-Players

# 96 The three main barriers to consistent growth

# 83 Why strategy should focus on producing more profit - not market share

View Details

How can you leverage the Stockdale Paradox in this economy?

During these turbulent times, with major events that are out of your control which could impact your company, how can you maintain composure and results?

The Stockdale Paradox from Jim Collins can be defined as - you must maintain unwavering faith that you can and will prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties, and at the same time, have the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.

This week we're talking about the Stockdale Padarox, how it applies to the current economic environment, and how you can use this principle to survive and thrive through these uncertain times.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Follow us on Twitter @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 Learn more about building enduring great companies.

-----

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

-----

Related episodes

>> See Episode 49 - 49 Are you a genius with 1,000 helpers? If so, how do you become a level 5 leader?

>> See Episode 77 The curse of being in a great leadership team

>> See Episode 24 How do you get a leadership team to think strategically?

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

# 50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

# 16 Jim Collins

# 84 The 7 common strategy mistakes from Michael Porter

# 43 The top 7 best practices for weekly meetings

# 69 What is a Topgrading virtual bench and why you need one

# 88 The hidden cost of not having a team of all A-Players

# 96 The three main barriers to consistent growth

# 83 Why strategy should focus on producing more profit - not market share

View Details

What are Jim Collins Level 5 leaders?

Level 5 leadership is a concept developed in the book Good to Great. Level 5 leaders display a powerful mixture of personal humility and indomitable will. They're incredibly ambitious, but their ambition is first and foremost for the cause, for the organization and its purpose, not themselves. While Level 5 leaders can come in many personality packages, they are often self-effacing, quiet, reserved, and even shy.

This week we discuss what makes a level 5 leader, why level 5 leadership matters, and the challenge that comes with being a level 4 leader. Also, we provide examples that we've seen where individuals and companies have successfully built level 5 leadership.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Follow us on Twitter @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 Learn more about building enduring great companies.

-----

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

-----

Related episodes

>> See Episode 49 - 49 Are you a genius with 1,000 helpers? If so, how do you become a level 5 leader?

>> See Episode 77 The curse of being in a great leadership team

>> See Episode 24 How do you get a leadership team to think strategically?

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

# 50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

# 16 Jim Collins

# 84 The 7 common strategy mistakes from Michael Porter

# 43 The top 7 best practices for weekly meetings

# 69 What is a Topgrading virtual bench and why you need one

# 88 The hidden cost of not having a team of all A-Players

# 96 The three main barriers to consistent growth

# 83 Why strategy should focus on producing more profit - not market share

View Details

How can you identify A players during an interview?

There is no substitute for a team of A players. The higher the percentage of A players that you have in your team for longer, the greater the chance of the team's success. How do you know when you’ve got an A player - or potential - on your hands?

This week we discuss the four things you must do to know how to identify A players during an interview and how to validate A players beyond that.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Follow us on Twitter @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 Learn more about building enduring great companies.

-----

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

-----

Related episodes

>> See Episode 92 Meeting Rhythm - The Monthly Leadership Team meeting

>> See Episode 77 The curse of being in a great leadership team

>> See Episode 24 How do you get a leadership team to think strategically?

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

# 50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

# 16 Jim Collins

# 84 The 7 common strategy mistakes from Michael Porter

# 43 The top 7 best practices for weekly meetings

# 69 What is a Topgrading virtual bench and why you need one

# 88 The hidden cost of not having a team of all A-Players

# 96 The three main barriers to consistent growth

# 83 Why strategy should focus on producing more profit - not market share

View Details

How can you identify A players during an interview?

This week we discuss the four things you must do to know how to identify A players during an interview and how to validate A players beyond that.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Follow us on Twitter @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 Learn more about building enduring great companies.

-----

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

-----

Related episodes

>> See Episode 92 Meeting Rhythm - The Monthly Leadership Team meeting

>> See Episode 77 The curse of being in a great leadership team

>> See Episode 24 How do you get a leadership team to think strategically?

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

# 50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

# 16 Jim Collins

# 84 The 7 common strategy mistakes from Michael Porter

# 43 The top 7 best practices for weekly meetings

# 69 What is a Topgrading virtual bench and why you need one

# 88 The hidden cost of not having a team of all A-Players

# 96 The three main barriers to consistent growth

# 83 Why strategy should focus on producing more profit - not market share

View Details

Is your leadership team too big?

There's a real challenge that comes with having too many people in a meeting or in a team. Some leaders want to be all-inclusive and can end up with too many people in the room, or others can end up with too few people.

Each of these can come with a set of second-order consequences that can negatively affect the effectiveness of the team. And then the performance of the business.

The challenge here is that the leadership team naturally expands in most companies for deeper insights into the business, more expertise, buy-in and their own development. Unfortunately, it is hard to un-invite and these larger teams can become ineffective.

In this episode, we discuss definitions of executive teams, and leadership teams, talking about the guides you should use for maximum effectiveness, and what you should watch out for.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Follow us on Twitter @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 Learn more about building enduring great companies.

-----

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

-----

Related episodes

>> See Episode 92 Meeting Rhythm - The Monthly Leadership Team meeting

>> See Episode 77 The curse of being in a great leadership team

>> See Episode 24 How do you get a leadership team to think strategically?

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

# 50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

# 16 Jim Collins

# 84 The 7 common strategy mistakes from Michael Porter

# 43 The top 7 best practices for weekly meetings

# 69 What is a Topgrading virtual bench and why you need one

# 88 The hidden cost of not having a team of all A-Players

# 96 The three main barriers to consistent growth

# 83 Why strategy should focus on producing more profit - not market share

View Details

Is your leadership team too big?

Each of these can come with a set of second-order consequences that can negatively affect the effectiveness of the team. And then the performance of the business.

In this episode, we discuss definitions of executive teams, and leadership teams, talking about the guides you should use for maximum effectiveness, and what you should watch out for.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Follow us on Twitter @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 Learn more about building enduring great companies.

-----

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

-----

Related episodes

>> See Episode 92 Meeting Rhythm - The Monthly Leadership Team meeting

>> See Episode 77 The curse of being in a great leadership team

>> See Episode 24 How do you get a leadership team to think strategically?

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

# 50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

# 16 Jim Collins

# 84 The 7 common strategy mistakes from Michael Porter

# 43 The top 7 best practices for weekly meetings

# 69 What is a Topgrading virtual bench and why you need one

# 88 The hidden cost of not having a team of all A-Players

# 96 The three main barriers to consistent growth

# 83 Why strategy should focus on producing more profit - not market share

View Details

How do you deal with an executive that is underperforming?

Executives are the most impactful and important roles in your company. Weak executives create weak teams, which start to rot the company from the inside out.

Sometimes we have good people who we trust, but they perform at a B level. They score high on the core values but score low on productivity. These people can be difficult to deal with, and exceptionally difficult to deal with if it's a CEO dealing with a B performer executive.

This week we talk about stories we've seen where leaders have dealt with a B player executive well and stories where they haven't dealt with it well. Also, we explain how to deal with this situation.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Follow us on Twitter @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 Learn more about building enduring great companies.

-----

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

-----

Related episodes

>> See Episode 71 How to use SMART goals with your team

>> See Episode 72 How the best leaders hold people accountable (part 1 of 2)

>> See Episode 73 How the best leaders hold people accountable (part 2 of 2)

>> See Episode 123 Seven important things to develop your mid managers

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

# 50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

# 16 Jim Collins

# 84 The 7 common strategy mistakes from Michael Porter

# 43 The top 7 best practices for weekly meetings

# 69 What is a Topgrading virtual bench and why you need one

# 88 The hidden cost of not having a team of all A-Players

# 96 The three main barriers to consistent growth

# 83 Why strategy should focus on producing more profit - not market share

View Details

How do you deal with an executive that is underperforming?

Executives are the most impactful and important roles in your company. Weak executives create weak teams, which start to rot the company from the inside out.

This week we talk about stories we've seen where leaders have dealt with a B player executive well and stories where they haven't dealt with it well. Also, we explain how to deal with this situation.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Follow us on Twitter @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 Learn more about building enduring great companies.

-----

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

-----

Related episodes

>> See Episode 71 How to use SMART goals with your team

>> See Episode 72 How the best leaders hold people accountable (part 1 of 2)

>> See Episode 73 How the best leaders hold people accountable (part 2 of 2)

>> See Episode 123 Seven important things to develop your mid managers

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

# 50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

# 16 Jim Collins

# 84 The 7 common strategy mistakes from Michael Porter

# 43 The top 7 best practices for weekly meetings

# 69 What is a Topgrading virtual bench and why you need one

# 88 The hidden cost of not having a team of all A-Players

# 96 The three main barriers to consistent growth

# 83 Why strategy should focus on producing more profit - not market share

View Details

What happens when managers tell you people are leaving for more money?

As a leader, your direct reports will tell you that a team member of theirs has left for more money. The problem is that it’s an easy excuse, that actually leads to never fixing attrition issues. Instead, what if you didn’t accept that answer and asked them for the real answer?

In this episode, we discuss the data about why people leave jobs, and you can use that data to develop a better operational culture.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Follow us on Twitter @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 Learn more about building enduring great companies.

-----

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

-----

Related episodes

>> See Episode 114 The CEO has only one tool

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

# 50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

# 16 Jim Collins

# 84 The 7 common strategy mistakes from Michael Porter

# 43 The top 7 best practices for weekly meetings

# 69 What is a Topgrading virtual bench and why you need one

# 88 The hidden cost of not having a team of all A-Players

# 96 The three main barriers to consistent growth

# 83 Why strategy should focus on producing more profit - not market share

View Details

Sometimes you're clear about a change that needs to happen, but team members might resist that change. It doesn't make sense. You understand why and how the change is required, but team members are resisting that change in perhaps an illogical or unreasonable way.

In this episode, Kevin and Brad discuss what to do when your team resists change, and we refer to Kotter's 8-Step Change Model, which is listed below.

1- Create Urgency. The first step is to create a sense of urgency about the need for change.
2- Put A Team Together.
3- Develop Vision and Strategies.
4- Communicate the Change Vision.
5- Remove Obstacles.
6- Set Short-Term Goals.
7- Keep the Momentum.
8- Make The Change Stick.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Follow us on Twitter @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 Learn more about building enduring great companies.

-----

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

-----

Related episodes

>> See Episode 114 The CEO has only one tool

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

# 50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

# 16 Jim Collins

# 84 The 7 common strategy mistakes from Michael Porter

# 43 The top 7 best practices for weekly meetings

# 69 What is a Topgrading virtual bench and why you need one

# 88 The hidden cost of not having a team of all A-Players

# 96 The three main barriers to consistent growth

# 83 Why strategy should focus on producing more profit - not market share

View Details

What makes a bad strategic plan?

According to Harvard Business School, 92% of business plans fail due to poor execution, and so getting a plan that succeeds, is difficult.

Your strategy should clearly explain your direction, and how you will be different from your competition. Then, your execution plan should detail specifically where to commit your resources of time and money to ensure you execute that strategy.

In this episode, Kevin and Brad discuss five things that make a bad strategic plan, and how you can avoid those, to build more effective strategic plans, that succeed more often.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Follow us on Twitter @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 Learn more about building enduring great companies.

-----

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

-----

Related episodes

>> See Episode 85 Getting the most from your strategic planning framework

>> See Episode 90 Annual Strategic thinking meeting

>> See Episode 117 The biggest problem with most Flywheels (part one of two)

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

# 50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

# 16 Jim Collins

# 84 The 7 common strategy mistakes from Michael Porter

# 43 The top 7 best practices for weekly meetings

# 69 What is a Topgrading virtual bench and why you need one

# 88 The hidden cost of not having a team of all A-Players

# 96 The three main barriers to consistent growth

# 83 Why strategy should focus on producing more profit - not market share

View Details

How do you develop your mid-managers? As companies grow, the gap tends to be in the middle management and, as they are so busy working, they rarely get the development time, resources and attention needed for the growth that is required to develop talent from within. As a result, we end up having to hire many external team members to strengthen the team - more than many companies would like.

And the existing team gets stagnant.

In the end, every team ends up with its own university. An internal learning centre to help people grow. But what do you do until you get to 1,000+ employees when that happens?

In this episode, Brad and Kevin talk about the seven important things you can do to develop your mid-managers.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Follow us on Twitter @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 Learn more about building enduring great companies.

-----

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

-----

Related episodes

>> See Episode 55 Building a people magnet machine

>> See Episode 67 Why should people want to work for your company?

>> See Episode 46 Jim Collins Seven questions for people decisions

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

# 50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

# 16 Jim Collins

# 84 The 7 common strategy mistakes from Michael Porter

# 43 The top 7 best practices for weekly meetings

# 69 What is a Topgrading virtual bench and why you need one

# 88 The hidden cost of not having a team of all A-Players

# 96 The three main barriers to consistent growth

# 83 Why strategy should focus on producing more profit - not market share

View Details

What does it mean to fire bullets before cannonballs? Often leaders are too bold or, alternatively, too conservative. Instead of taking too much or too little risk, the concept of firing bullets before cannonballs asks leaders to validate an idea with a series of small, low-risk experiments. Once you have validated your idea, then you can concentrate your resources on a big bet idea.

From Jim Collins -

“The ability to turn small proven ideas (bullets) into huge hits (cannonballs) counts more than the sheer amount of pure innovation.”

No one is smart enough or experienced enough to know what will or won’t work. Only the market can tell us that.

People intuitively say something will definitely succeed OR definitely fail. But we don’t know.

In this episode, Brad and Kevin talk about the fire bullets before cannonballs concept, why it matters and how you can use it in your business.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Follow us on Twitter @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 Learn more about building enduring great companies.

-----

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

-----

Related episodes

>> See Episode 86 Productive Paranoia and why it's a critical leadership tool

>> See Episode 9 Cheating vs Innovation, Entrepreneur to CEO

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

# 50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

# 16 Jim Collins

# 84 The 7 common strategy mistakes from Michael Porter

# 43 The top 7 best practices for weekly meetings

# 69 What is a Topgrading virtual bench and why you need one

# 88 The hidden cost of not having a team of all A-Players

# 96 The three main barriers to consistent growth

# 83 Why strategy should focus on producing more profit - not market share

View Details

Leaders often waste a lot of time on decisions because meeting delegates are not well prepared with the information needed or aren't well-disciplined with a process that can lead to an effective and quick decision. In order to be a more effective leader, effective decision-making in meetings is crucial. Also, the format of rules and engagement to discuss, debate and decide impacts the effectiveness of meetings.

In this episode, Brad and Kevin discuss how to achieve effective decision-making during presentations and meetings.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Follow us on Twitter @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 Learn more about building enduring great companies.

-----

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

-----

Related episodes

>> See Episode 58 Collective intelligence, the key to a successful weekly meeting

>> See Episode 92 Meeting Rhythm - The Monthly Leadership Team meeting

>> See Episode 114 The CEO has only one tool (Meetings)

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

# 50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

# 16 Jim Collins

# 84 The 7 common strategy mistakes from Michael Porter

# 43 The top 7 best practices for weekly meetings

# 69 What is a Topgrading virtual bench and why you need one

# 88 The hidden cost of not having a team of all A-Players

# 96 The three main barriers to consistent growth

# 83 Why strategy should focus on producing more profit - not market share

View Details

The 20 Mile March is a concept developed by Jim Collins in the book Great by Choice. Enterprises that prevail in turbulence self-impose a rigorous performance mark to hit with great consistency—like hiking across the United States by marching at least 20 miles a day, every day. The march imposes order amidst disorder, discipline amidst chaos, and consistency amidst uncertainty. The 20 Mile March works only if you actually hit your march year after year; if you set a 20 Mile March and then fail to achieve it, you may well get crushed by events.

Having a clear 20 Mile March focuses the mind; because everyone on the team knows the markers and their importance, they can stay on track. Financial markets are out of your control. Customers are out of your control. Earthquakes are out of your control. Global competition is out of your control. Technological change is out of your control. Most everything is ultimately out of your control. But when you 20 Mile March, you have a tangible point of focus that keeps you and your team moving forward, despite the confusion, uncertainty, and even chaos.

The 20 Mile March concept by Jim Collins is critically important right now because;

Inflationary prices are out of your control.

Supply chain issues are out of your control.

Pandemics are out of your control.

Global shipping rates are out of your control.

Interest rates are out of your control.

Everything is probably outside your control.

But when you have a 20 Mile March, you have a tangible point of focus that keeps you and your team moving forward, despite the confusion, uncertainty, and even chaos.

In this episode, we talk about The 20 Mile March concept By Jim Collins, and why you should consider it in your business. We list how to use it, and provide examples of businesses 20 mile metrics.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Follow us on Twitter @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 Learn more about building enduring great companies.

-----

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

-----

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

# 50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

# 16 Jim Collins

# 84 The 7 common strategy mistakes from Michael Porter

# 43 The top 7 best practices for weekly meetings

# 69 What is a Topgrading virtual bench and why you need one

# 88 The hidden cost of not having a team of all A-Players

# 96 The three main barriers to consistent growth

# 83 Why strategy should focus on producing more profit - not market share

View Details

SMaC Recipe is a concept developed in the book Great by Choice. A SMaC recipe is a set of durable operating practices that creates a replicable, consistent success formula. The word "SMaC" stands for Specific, Methodical, and Consistent. A solid SMaC recipe is the operating code for turning strategic concepts into reality, a set of practices more enduring than mere tactics.

It is like the U.S. Constitution, both durable and practical, yet also amendable. Great companies and social enterprises change their SMaC recipe no more than about 20 percent per decade, so a key SMaC question is, What is the right 20 percent to change?

In this episode, we discuss why SMaC recipes are important, and why they help companies maintain discipline. Also we provide several SMaC examples and outline how to build a SMaC recipe.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Follow us on Twitter @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 Learn more about building enduring great companies.

-----

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

-----

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

# 50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

# 16 Jim Collins

# 84 The 7 common strategy mistakes from Michael Porter

# 43 The top 7 best practices for weekly meetings

# 69 What is a Topgrading virtual bench and why you need one

# 88 The hidden cost of not having a team of all A-Players

# 96 The three main barriers to consistent growth

# 83 Why strategy should focus on producing more profit - not market share

View Details

There's a big problem with most flywheels, and it's the main reason they're destined to fail. The Flywheel Concept originated from Jim Collins' book Good to Great and outlines a series of actions that a business takes in order to build momentum in the business. The Flywheel Concept is designed to build ever-increasing momentum and growth in a business, thereby making the business more successful over time.

The successful flywheels that are provided as examples are built after a deep understanding of the business's fundamentals, and yet today we see many people showcasing flywheels that are never going to build momentum in a business.

In this episode two of two, we discuss five things to ensure that your flywheel will fire up and build momentum over time, and what to watch out for.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Follow us on Twitter @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 Learn more about building enduring great companies.

-----

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

-----

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

# 50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

# 16 Jim Collins

# 84 The 7 common strategy mistakes from Michael Porter

# 43 The top 7 best practices for weekly meetings

# 69 What is a Topgrading virtual bench and why you need one

# 88 The hidden cost of not having a team of all A-Players

# 96 The three main barriers to consistent growth

# 83 Why strategy should focus on producing more profit - not market share

View Details

In this episode one of two, we discuss five things to ensure that your flywheel will build momentum over time, and not end up a waste of time.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Follow us on Twitter @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 Learn more about building enduring great companies.

-----

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

-----

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

# 50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

# 16 Jim Collins

# 84 The 7 common strategy mistakes from Michael Porter

# 43 The top 7 best practices for weekly meetings

# 69 What is a Topgrading virtual bench and why you need one

# 88 The hidden cost of not having a team of all A-Players

# 96 The three main barriers to consistent growth

# 83 Why strategy should focus on producing more profit - not market share

View Details

Is your culture really aligned with your core values? Sometimes there can be a difference between what your core values state, and what is really happening in the culture. And this can make the leaders of a business look like they don't know, don't understand or worse are incompetent to team members.

Therefore the core values of the business must align with the culture that people observe and live every day. In this episode we talk about seven things you can do to ensure that your culture is aligned with your core values.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Follow us on Twitter @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 Learn more about building enduring great companies.

-----

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

-----

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

# 50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

# 16 Jim Collins

# 84 The 7 common strategy mistakes from Michael Porter

# 43 The top 7 best practices for weekly meetings

# 69 What is a Topgrading virtual bench and why you need one

# 88 The hidden cost of not having a team of all A-Players

# 96 The three main barriers to consistent growth

# 83 Why strategy should focus on producing more profit - not market share

View Details

What actions should you take to prepare for challenging economic times? It's been said that God invented Economists to make Astrologists look good. No one knows what will happen in the economy, but at the moment there are a number of signals that indicate challenging economic times might be ahead.

We discuss 7 actions you can take now to prepare for challenging economic times.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Follow us on Twitter @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 Learn more about building enduring great companies.

-----

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

-----

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

# 50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

# 16 Jim Collins

# 84 The 7 common strategy mistakes from Michael Porter

# 43 The top 7 best practices for weekly meetings

# 69 What is a Topgrading virtual bench and why you need one

# 88 The hidden cost of not having a team of all A-Players

# 96 The three main barriers to consistent growth

# 83 Why strategy should focus on producing more profit - not market share

View Details

We know that a carpenter or a nurse has many tools to use in their profession, but a CEO has only one tool. That one tool is meetings and is the only mechanism that CEOs can use to get things done. So, if you're a leader, it's essential that you master meetings, the only tool that's at your disposal.

We talk about how to become masterful at meetings, how to prepare, how to host and how to run meetings.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Follow us on Twitter @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 Learn more about building enduring great companies.

-----

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

-----

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

# 50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

# 16 Jim Collins

# 84 The 7 common strategy mistakes from Michael Porter

# 43 The top 7 best practices for weekly meetings

# 69 What is a Topgrading virtual bench and why you need one

# 88 The hidden cost of not having a team of all A-Players

# 96 The three main barriers to consistent growth

# 83 Why strategy should focus on producing more profit - not market share

View Details

In order to become more strategic and more effective, leaders should aim for more think time. But making it happen is hard. So we need to find more time for thinking, versus just tactically working.

Because if you don't have enough thinking time, you end up with your head in the day to day problems, which leads to short term, urgent issues being resolved, but the longer-term important things not getting any attention.

We discuss six things you should consider to ensure you can optimise your think time.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Follow us on Twitter @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 Learn more about building enduring great companies.

-----

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

-----

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

# 50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

# 16 Jim Collins

# 84 The 7 common strategy mistakes from Michael Porter

# 43 The top 7 best practices for weekly meetings

# 69 What is a Topgrading virtual bench and why you need one

# 88 The hidden cost of not having a team of all A-Players

# 96 The three main barriers to consistent growth

# 83 Why strategy should focus on producing more profit - not market share

View Details

Coach vs consultant, what is the difference and which one is right for you?

Coaches and consultants perform different roles in different situations for businesses, and it's important to understand when you should use a coach, and when you should use a consultant.

In this episode, we talk about the results and output you should expect from a coach or a consultant. We discuss the relationship and time you should expect from each, and then we discuss how accountability works in consulting, and how accountability works in coaching.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Follow us on Twitter @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 Learn more about building enduring great companies.

-----

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

-----

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

# 50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

# 16 Jim Collins

# 84 The 7 common strategy mistakes from Michael Porter

# 43 The top 7 best practices for weekly meetings

# 69 What is a Topgrading virtual bench and why you need one

# 88 The hidden cost of not having a team of all A-Players

View Details

What is NPS 3? Since its introduction, in 2003, the Net Promoter System, which measures how consistently brands turn customers into advocates, has become the predominant customer success framework. But as its popularity grew, NPS started to be gamed and misused in ways that hurt its credibility. Unaudited, self-reported Net Promoter Scores undermined the usefulness of NPS.

In order to address this problem, Fred Reichheld, the NPS founder has introduced a hard metric, drawn from accounting results, known as "earned growth rate" that captures the revenue growth generated by returning customers and their referrals.

In this episode we discuss;

The problem with NPS
How NPS3 works
How to calculate your earned growth rate

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Follow us on Twitter @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 Learn more about building enduring great companies.

-----

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

-----

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

# 50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

# 16 Jim Collins

# 84 The 7 common strategy mistakes from Michael Porter

# 43 The top 7 best practices for weekly meetings

# 69 What is a Topgrading virtual bench and why you need one

# 88 The hidden cost of not having a team of all A-Players

View Details

What are the most common questions about the Scaling Up framework? This week Kevin and Brad talk about the most questions that they see time and time again about the Scaling Up operating system.

The questions discussed are

How long does it take to complete the One-Page Strategic Plan (OPSP)? How often does it need updating?
How would you get your team to buy into the Scaling Up methods?
Who on my team should be involved in the Strategic Planning Meetings - my executive team - my whole leadership team?
What's the number one thing that blocks companies from Scaling Up?
Do I need a coach to implement Scaling Up?

Bonus number six

Which of the ten Rockefeller Habits do you think is most important?

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Follow us on Twitter @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 Learn more about building enduring great companies.

-----

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

-----

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

# 50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

# 16 Jim Collins

# 84 The 7 common strategy mistakes from Michael Porter

# 43 The top 7 best practices for weekly meetings

# 69 What is a Topgrading virtual bench and why you need one

# 88 The hidden cost of not having a team of all A-Players

View Details

Many scaling companies try to capture all their Standard Operating Procedures or SOPs in an effort to do things in a more consistent manner. Unfortunately, this often doesn't work and doesn't produce the intended effect.

Many end up with bulky SOPs and procedures that seem 'right' but aren't delivering what the company and the team really need, and the documents become unused, and simply clog up servers.

We discuss why building SOPs and procedure manuals can be a waste of time, then why this happens, and what you can do to achieve effective SOPs in your company.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Follow us on Twitter @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 Learn more about building enduring great companies.

-----

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

-----

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

# 50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

# 16 Jim Collins

# 84 The 7 common strategy mistakes from Michael Porter

# 43 The top 7 best practices for weekly meetings

# 69 What is a Topgrading virtual bench and why you need one

# 88 The hidden cost of not having a team of all A-Players

View Details

How do you get deep monthly reporting right for your business?

If you only skim financial and performance results on a monthly basis, you're missing an opportunity to course-correct, learn and improve on what you're doing.

Instead, teams should go line-by-line through financial statements, KPIs and Priorities monthly to deep dive into results and look for any trends or problems that may require action.

We discuss why it matters and how to do it.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Follow us on Twitter @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 Learn more about building enduring great companies.

-----

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

-----

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

# 50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

# 16 Jim Collins

# 84 The 7 common strategy mistakes from Michael Porter

# 43 The top 7 best practices for weekly meetings

# 69 What is a Topgrading virtual bench and why you need one

# 88 The hidden cost of not having a team of all A-Players

View Details

There's a trap that leaders can fall into, thinking that software can replace the important role to manage people.

There is no substitute for leaders managing and leading people. But, some software companies might advocate that their product will remove or reduce the need to manage and lead people. And this could come with a set of second-order consequences that affect employee engagement and retention.

Software is fantastic at automating processes, but cannot replace human to human interactions. Also, we discuss the line between automating menial tasks and managing people to be more effective.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Follow us on Twitter @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 Learn more about building enduring great companies.

-----

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

-----

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

# 50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

# 16 Jim Collins

# 84 The 7 common strategy mistakes from Michael Porter

# 43 The top 7 best practices for weekly meetings

# 69 What is a Topgrading virtual bench and why you need one

# 88 The hidden cost of not having a team of all A-Players

View Details

How much of a cash reserve should you have?

There will always be storms that come in, and you must be able to endure those storms. Most people don't build enough of a cash reserve in their business, or they always spend any spare cash, often running the business without an adequate cash buffer.

How much cash should you have in your business? What is a good or bad cash buffer? Why is it important to maintain a cash buffer in your business?

We answer these and more questions in this week's episode.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Follow us on Twitter @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 Learn more about building enduring great companies.

-----

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

-----

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

# 50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

# 16 Jim Collins

# 84 The 7 common strategy mistakes from Michael Porter

# 43 The top 7 best practices for weekly meetings

# 69 What is a Topgrading virtual bench and why you need one

# 88 The hidden cost of not having a team of all A-Players

View Details

Stretch targets are garbage.

People set stretch targets in the hope that they will motivate a team to achieve better results than they otherwise would. In most situations, however, they don't work and actually create a set of second-order consequences.

This week we talk about 6 reasons why stretch targets don't work, and what you should be doing instead.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Follow us on Twitter @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 Learn more about building enduring great companies.

-----

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

-----

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

# 50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

# 16 Jim Collins

# 84 The 7 common strategy mistakes from Michael Porter

# 43 The top 7 best practices for weekly meetings

# 69 What is a Topgrading virtual bench and why you need one

# 88 The hidden cost of not having a team of all A-Players

View Details

The most successful leaders we come across do the same things to prepare each week. It was a startling revelation we had, noticing that success was born in the preparation of each and every week.

This week we discuss six key points we've observed about leaders who are successful, as they prepare for each week.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Follow us on Twitter @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 Learn more about building enduring great companies.

-----

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

-----

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

# 50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

# 16 Jim Collins

# 84 The 7 common strategy mistakes from Michael Porter

# 43 The top 7 best practices for weekly meetings

# 69 What is a Topgrading virtual bench and why you need one

# 88 The hidden cost of not having a team of all A-Players

View Details

What should you do when you have low numbers of candidates applying for open job roles?

In this market, it could actually be good to have anyone apply for a job. And so we're talking about how to have more great people apply for roles that you have open at your company.

We talk about seven different tactics or tools you can use to bring in new candidates so that you can fill those roles.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Follow us on Twitter @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 Learn more about building enduring great companies.

-----

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

-----

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

# 50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

# 16 Jim Collins

# 84 The 7 common strategy mistakes from Michael Porter

# 43 The top 7 best practices for weekly meetings

# 69 What is a Topgrading virtual bench and why you need one

# 88 The hidden cost of not having a team of all A-Players

View Details

There's a problem with best practices. People often talk about needing to implement best practices and what they really mean is common practices.

And the problem is that common practices might not be best for your business, and in fact, common practices might weaken your business. In this episode, we talk about the problem with best practices and what you should do about it.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Follow us on Twitter @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 Learn more about building enduring great companies.

-----

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

-----

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

# 50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

# 16 Jim Collins

# 84 The 7 common strategy mistakes from Michael Porter

# 43 The top 7 best practices for weekly meetings

# 69 What is a Topgrading virtual bench and why you need one

# 88 The hidden cost of not having a team of all A-Players

View Details

Sometimes, it's mid-way through the quarter and you realise you are failing at your quarterly goals. As you look across at the goals the team set out to achieve, you get this horrible feeling in your gut that you aren't going to achieve many of your goals. And this sense of dread won't disappear if you ignore it!

In this episode, we provide 7 important things to do if you find yourself in this situation, to ensure you can reset and make the most of the quarter, with renewed confidence!

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Follow us on Twitter @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 Learn more about building enduring great companies.

-----

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

-----

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

# 50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

# 16 Jim Collins

# 84 The 7 common strategy mistakes from Michael Porter

# 43 The top 7 best practices for weekly meetings

# 69 What is a Topgrading virtual bench and why you need one

# 88 The hidden cost of not having a team of all A-Players

View Details

Topgrading is a hiring methodology from Brad Smart which is designed to provide you with a ninety per cent success rate when hiring and promoting people on your team.

The Topgrading process should provide you with A player candidates, those who are in the top ten per cent of all candidates at the pay level you provide. There are several tools within the Topgrading methodology and this week we explain the methodology and each of the tools.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our Youtube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Follow us on Twitter @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 Learn more about building enduring great companies.

-----

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

-----

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

# 50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

# 16 Jim Collins

# 84 The 7 common strategy mistakes from Michael Porter

# 43 The top 7 best practices for weekly meetings

# 69 What is a Topgrading virtual bench and why you need one

# 88 The hidden cost of not having a team of all A-Players

View Details

The brilliant jerk is a phrase that was made famous in the Netflix culture deck and is also known as a toxic A player. The brilliant jerk refers to people on your team who are highly productive in their role, but they don't fit. They don't align with the behaviours or core values and they come at a high cost to the team. We talk about methods to deal with brilliant jerks, and the tools that are available to prevent them being such a jerk, and how to handle it if your efforts to manage brilliant jerks fail.

-----

* Do you love The Growth Whisperers and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our Youtube channel.

* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!

* Follow us on twitter @Evolution_Perth and @lawrenceandco1 Learn more about building enduring great companies.

-----

Links:

*https://evolutionpartners.com.au/

*https://lawrenceandco.com/

-----

Additional episodes you might enjoy:

# 50 Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

# 16 Jim Collins

# 84 The 7 common strategy mistakes from Michael Porter

# 43 The top 7 best practices for weekly meetings

# 83 Why strategy should focus on producing more profit - not market share

View Details

Many leaders accidentally find themselves doing other peoples jobs. They try to help other people, but often that help creates more damage than they know. If you're doing other peoples jobs, then you are preventing the person from having full autonomy, and accountability for their job, plus, you're not doing your job.

This week we discuss a trap that many leaders fall into, unintentionally doing other people jobs.

View Details

Different roles in an organisation should be focused on different time periods. Each person in each role should know what time horizon they should be focussed on, and create priorities relevant to that time horizon. If you are focused on the wrong time horizon in your role, you will not be as effective as you could be.

This week we discuss the time horizon that each role should be focussed on, and why that really matters.

View Details

When scaling a business, there are three barriers to growth leaders must navigate. These three barriers to growth are;

Scalable Infrastructure - The lack of systems and structures to handle the complexities in communication and decisions that come with growth
Market Dynamics - The failure to address the increased competitive pressures that build (and erode margins) as you scale
Leadership - The inability to staff/grow enough leaders who have the capability to delegate and predict

This week on the podcast we discuss how and why each of these barriers affects a growing company.

View Details

The CEO Update is the missing piece in the meeting rhythm puzzle. It's the 'glue' that aligns the entire business around the meeting rhythm of daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual meetings.

This is a weekly update from the leader that can be via email or video, and in this episode, we explain why it's important, and provide a sample agenda, and some examples.

View Details

The daily huddle connects each day to the weekly meeting. When done correctly the daily huddle speeds up your business, aligns teams and heals relationships. Yet sometimes teams won't follow daily huddle best practices and they can end up with boring, or useless daily huddles. The daily stand up meeting must be energetic and valuable to all participants.

In this episode, Brad and Kevin discuss why you need a daily huddle, what a daily huddle agenda must include, and tips for a successful daily huddle.

View Details

The weekly meeting is the key to successful execution. The leadership team takes the strategy of a company developed at an annual meeting, which is then translated into a series of priorities at a quarterly meeting, and then the team executes the priorities through the weekly meeting accountability and updates.

Many teams feel that they already have too many meetings and that yet another meeting doesn't make sense. But the weekly meeting - within the meeting rhythm - is designed to significantly reduce the number of meetings leaders need to have.
In this episode, Brad and Kevin discuss why you need a weekly meeting, what a weekly meeting agenda must include, and tips for a successful weekly meeting.

View Details

The Monthly Leadership Team meeting provides an opportunity for a leadership team to dig deeper into issues and opportunities, and is a link between the weekly meeting, and the quarterly execution planning meeting. Also the monthly meeting answers the question are we on track for this quarters plan, and what must we do to course correct.

In this episode, Brad and Kevin discuss why you need a Monthly Leadership Team meeting, what a monthly meeting agenda must include, and tips for a successful monthly meeting.

View Details

The Quarterly Execution Planning meeting is one of the most important meetings in a quarter because it is where a leadership team decides the priorities for the company and the priorities for each department for the following quarter.

The quarterly meeting takes the strategy from the annual meeting and translates it into practical, executable goals for the team to focus on.
In this episode, Brad and Kevin discuss why you need a Quarterly Execution Planning meeting, what a quarterly meeting agenda must include, and tips for a successful quarterly meeting.

View Details

The Annual Strategic Thinking meeting is one of the most important meetings on the calendar, because it is where a leadership team decides the strategy for the company, and sets the goals for the following year, and three years.

Also when a leadership team sets a strategy, that strategy should clearly tell people in the business what to say no to throughout the year.
In this episode, Brad and Kevin discuss why you need an Annual Strategic Thinking meeting, what an annual meeting agenda must include, and tips for a successful annual meeting.

View Details

What does the term A-player mean? The term A player can apply to any role and is determined by an individuals behaviours and productivity. Also, it is measured by similar individuals in similar roles at the pay rate you provide.

Within the A player definition, there are four different types of A players and in this episode, we discuss each of the four different types of A-players and what can you do to understand them, categorise them and then what should you do about the different types of A-Players.

View Details

If you don't have a team of A players there is a hidden cost that many leaders don't consider. Many people consider the ability to get A players, or high performers to be elusive, or too expensive.

Instead, it's actually more expensive to not have A players, and in this episode we discuss the hidden cost, and the 5 key items that make up the hidden cost of not filling your team with A players.

View Details

What are the main BHAG mistakes that leadership teams make? If your Big Hairy Audacious Goal isn't alive, driving growth and inspiring the team, maybe you've made a BHAG mistake.

In this episode, you will learn the important considerations when setting a BHAG, the definition of a BHAG and why BHAG's matter. Then you will understand the main mistakes that leaders make when setting BHAG's.

View Details

What is productive paranoia and why is it so important in leadership? Many leaders think that optimists are the best people to lead companies, but in fact the data says that optimists have a much higher chance of failing. Instead, the leaders who always ask 'what if, what if, what if?' are the ones who build enduring great companies.

You can only learn if you survive your mistakes, and the only way to survive your mistakes is to be constantly on the lookout for things that can impact your plans.

In this episode, Brad and Kevin talk about the concept of productive paranoia, and why it's a critical leadership tool.

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How to get the most from a strategic planning framework

How do you know which framework you should use for your business? There are many frameworks and systems that claim to have the tools to help entrepreneurs get what they want from their business.

In this episode, Kevin and Brad discuss the six things to consider when evaluating which strategic planning framework is best for you.

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The 7 common strategy mistakes from Michael Porter

How do you know your strategy will be effective? This week Kevin and Brad discuss the Seven Strategy Mistakes from Michael Porter and how leadership teams regularly make these common strategy mistakes.

Michael Porter is one of the greatest strategy thinkers from the last century and developed a simple checklist we can all use to ensure our strategy won't be a mistake.

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Why strategy should focus on producing more profit - not market share

When setting your strategy there is a big trap that you can fall into. By focussing your strategy to build a bigger business, to chase market share, you may end up with the problem that the larger business isn't more profitable. In fact, you can chase yourself into the commodity business, with a bigger, larger, busier, and weaker business.

Instead, your business should focus on producing more profit - not market share. Because the job of a leadership team is to develop and execute a strategy that produces a higher return on capital. Or put another way the business produces a higher profit than the industry average. This week Kevin and Brad talk about the importance of a strategy being focused on profit, and not market share.

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Profit = Intelligence x Discipline

This week on The Growth Whisperers Brad and Kevin talk about the two critical variables that impact your profit. Intelligence and Discipline. If you have the intelligence to create a profitable strategy but don't have the discipline, it will negatively impact your profit. If you have the discipline to run an effective and efficient business but don't have the intelligence to build a strategy that grows your margin, it will negatively impact your profit.

The show helps listeners to zoom out and perhaps understand why they might not be making the profit that they want. Then discover ways to look at your discipline, your intelligence and your profit through a different perspective that could have a large impact on your profit, and the enjoyment you get from your business.

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The dangerous thing about focusing on your competition

Many leaders spend way too much time thinking about and talking about their competition. And sometimes this can lead to me-too type reactions, that can lead you to commoditization.

Instead of spending too much time thinking about the competition, instead, leaders should think about the customer, what the customer needs are, and how to meet those needs in a unique and valuable way.

Brad and Kevin talk about the problems with client focus, and why you should spend more time focussing on customers.

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How to retain your top talent

With a war for talent being experienced worldwide at the moment, employers are not only finding it hard to find new people, but it can be difficult to retain existing people.

This week Kevin and Brad discuss the 7 key things you can do to give you the best chance of retaining your A players.

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Eliminate your emotionally taxing issues - lick your toads

This week we're talking about all the small non-strategic things that weigh you down and create mental clutter.

If you aren't able to eliminate all these issues you can't do the best work possible and be clear in your thinking.

We discuss the rule of 5 D's - the five things to help you declutter and lick your toads.

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4Q The 4 questions leadership team members need to ask customers

Some of the best data for leadership team members comes from customers, and some of the best customer data becomes available when leaders talk with customers directly. In fact leaders could be missing out on 70% to 80% of the most valuable information that they could have.

This week we discuss the simple system of 4 questions that every leadership team should ask, we discuss why it's important, and how to implement it in your business.

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The curse of being in a great leadership team

This week we're talking about the curse of being on a great leadership team.

And the curse is that if you leave and you go back to a normal team it can be quite confronting to realise all the small things that added up to make the team great, simply aren't at the new team.

We discuss what you can do if you find yourself in this position, how you can be a positive catalyst, using your past experiences to help a not so great team most towards greatness.

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Why you can’t save your way to success

Sometimes either personally, or in your business, you can focus on saving money rather than making money. Also, sometimes this means that you can be so focused on being efficient, that you can lose the opportunity for growth.

Spending a few hours a week saving money might make you feel better about the waste reduction, but instead spending that time making money, could in fact produce ten or one-hundred times the impact.

This week Brad and Kevin talk about the true cost of people who try to save their way to success.

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Genius of the AND from Jim Collins

Many times we get stuck in what's called the "Tyranny of the OR". This means that we are stuck thinking that we can only solve a problem thinking binary. For example, we can't pursue profit and a purpose is an example of "Tyranny of the OR". Instead, we might think we can pursue a profit AND a purpose.

Another example might we someone saying we can't grow both customers and margins. It is the genius of the AND when applied to certain circumstances that can make a remarkable difference in your team.

We explain the Genius of the AND concept, we provide several examples, and explain how you can use the Genius of the AND concept with your team.

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The Power and Struggle of saying no

Saying yes comes at a cost. Understanding the cost of yes and the challenge to say no, along with the cost can help you become more effective.

The price of no includes time, money and busyness, leading to less effectiveness. Also, saying no the mediocre things, means you can keep room for greatness.

This week we talk about the price of yes and provide some tools and techniques to help you to say no.

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How the best leaders hold people accountable (part 2 of 2)

Many leaders want to know how to hold a team accountable. Often they will look at team members and wonder why they aren't accountable. In order to build accountability in a team, you need two things, the tools and the environment. In last weeks first episode we reviewed the tools required to build accountability in your team.

In this part two of two, we discuss the elements and the environment required to build accountability in your team.

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How the best leaders hold people accountable (part 1of 2)

In this part one of two, we discuss the tools required to build accountability in your team.

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How to use SMART goals with your team

SMART goals are used to help teams achieve better outcomes. They turn a vague intent into a direct, specific understanding of what needs to be achieved. This helps in both measuring progress and determining whether the goal has been achieved.

The problem with goals that aren’t SMART is that they don’t clearly state what needs to be achieved and when. This leads to poor execution and ultimately teams who regularly don't achieve their goals.

This week we discuss what SMART goals are and why you should use SMART goals in your strategic and business planning.

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What's the difference between an operational CEO and a strategic CEO? Operational CEOs focus on the short term horizon such as 1 week to 1 year and look at tactical items such as margin, sales and people performance.

Strategic CEOs focus on the long term horizon of 3 years plus and look at innovation, sales relationship health and people development.

In this episode, we talk about the difference between an operational and strategic CEO, and how to become a more strategic CEO.

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What is a Topgrading virtual bench, and why you need one

This week on The Growth Whisperers, we talk about the virtual bench, a recruiting tactic for executives who need a better way to find additional leaders or key team members.

The Topgrading virtual bench is important because it builds a list of vetted, pre-qualified candidates for a job opening that you can draw upon when you need to.

In the episode, we explain why it's important and provide a simple role-play on how you can cold call potential candidates to put them onto your virtual bench.

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How Profit per X uniquely drives profit

Profit per X is a concept from Jim Collins where companies gain a piercing insight into how to most effectively generate sustained and robust cash flow and profitability. In particular, they discover the single denominator—Profit per X—that has the greatest impact on their economics.

In this episode, we discuss why Profit per X is a strategic metric, and not an execution metric, what makes a good Profit per X, and how to align your Profit per X with your hedgehog, as well as providing Profit per X examples.

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Why should anyone come and work for you at the same salary as your competitors?

Employers often complain that it's difficult to find staff and yet pay the same amount as the competition. However, if you consider the situation from the employees perspective, you can appreciate that if the pay is approximately the same, then many things you might not consider are actually quite important to a candidate.

For example, the purpose of the organisation, the role flexibility, career growth opportunity, the manager or the organisation's prestige all become critical considerations if the pay rate is similar.

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Why CEOs and leaders need to perform an Ambassador role

One of the most important things leaders must do in order to build a high performing culture is to activate the pride within their employees. Pride for their team, their product, their manager and pride for their company. Within this, a key to activating pride is the leader's Ambassador role. For if the head of a company doesn't have a face, it is a faceless corporation. And faceless corporations are very difficult to trust.

This week we discuss the five parts of the leader's Ambassador role and why CEOs and leaders need to understand and perform the role of an Ambassador in their business.

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Do you have a stop list?

It's human nature to try and solve a problem by starting something new. But it's not intuitive to ask what should we stop doing to solve this problem?

This week we talk about the stop list from Jim Collins and how you should consider stopping doing something in order to free up resources or clear blockages in your business.

Also we talk about building a stop list rhythm, where each month, each quarter or each year you and your team consider all the things you should stop doing.

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Why you need a Quarterly reset

This week we talk about a simple tool that you can use to reset each quarter on three areas of work, self and life.

This worksheet helps you to unpack all of the stuff that's happening to be able to rank the most important priorities within your work, then your self and then your life.

The will help you to reflect on what has and hasn't worked, and then to help you figure out how much energy to allocate to each of the three areas for the next quarter.

Download the quarterly reset worksheet here

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Are you planning to sell or planning to keep your business? Or are you stuck in the mediocre middle? (Part 2 of 2)

This week on the Growth Whisperers, we're talking about your plan for your business?

What's your plan?

Are you planning to keep, or are you planning to sell?

Or, if you don't have a plan to keep or sell, are you stuck in what we call the mediocre middle?

That is, you're not planning to sell, and you're not planning to
keep, and you're suffering the consequences of inaction in the middle.

And it's not consciously that you're doing it.

You're busy running your business.

And that takes a lot of time.

But sometimes we don't even realize we need to decide what we're driving to actually and being committed to selling in three years, for example, or keeping it for 30.

And we ended up floating around.

And we really challenge you to make a decision. Sell and make the decision, march in that direction. Or plan on having it for 20, 30, 40 years, and probably make many different decisions versus just floating around.

This week in part 2 of 2 we discuss how to escape the mediocre middle and provide the tools to help you understand where you and on the time horizon and what you must do to your business in order to endure.

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Are you planning to sell or planning to keep your business? Or are you stuck in the mediocre middle? (Part 1 of 2)

This week on the Growth Whisperers, we're talking about your plan for your business?

What's your plan?

Are you planning to keep, or are you planning to sell?

Or, if you don't have a plan to keep or sell, are you stuck in what we call the mediocre middle?

That is, you're not planning to sell, and you're not planning to
keep, and you're suffering the consequences of inaction in the middle.

And it's not consciously that you're doing it.

You're busy running your business.

And that takes a lot of time.

But sometimes we don't even realize we need to decide what we're driving to actually and being committed to selling in three years, for example, or keeping it for 30.

And we ended up floating around.

This week in part 1 of 2 we discuss what it means to be stuck in the mediocre middle and the cost that you pay for not having a plan either way.

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How do you integrate cultures when companies merge or a company is acquired?

Many leaders will focus on the finances and processes when acquiring a company and don't often consider the culture. Yet the culture can actually create major problems and can even destroy a good merger. When two companies come together who each might previously have had good cultures, the result can be a toxic culture where the A players leave.

And ironically one of the reasons people buy a company is the top talent.

So when acquiring a company, having a plan for the cultures to merge is one of the most important things you must do.

This week on The Growth Whisperers we answer the question How do you integrate cultures when companies merge? Then we review the 7 most important things to consider when merging two company cultures.

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Why finding the best advisors will help you quadruple your IQ

Finding a competent advisor is easy, but if you want the best to really make a difference in any area, it is important to ask the question, who is the person that has been in your situation 14 times before. That's what we call a 14X advisor.

We also discuss the Billionaire mindset and consider if a Billionaire with no limits on money was in your situation, what adviser would they choose and why. Finally, we talk about the importance of getting the right fit with an adviser so you can become clearer, stronger and more inspired.

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Confront the Brutal Facts - Jim Collins method for team hygiene

One of the key concepts from Jim Collins is that teams must regularly confront the brutal facts. Not the opinions or the hopes or dreams, but the facts.

For many leaders, charisma can be as much a liability as an asset. Your strength of personality can sow the seeds of problems when people filter the brutal facts from you. You can overcome the liabilities of having charisma, but it does require conscious attention.

It's important to regularly discuss these brutal facts so we can catch problems early before they turn from small problems into large problems.

In this episode, we talk about how to manage brutal facts in your business and how they can be an incredible thing for you to focus on.

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Collective intelligence, the key to a successful weekly meeting

The collective intelligence agenda item inside the weekly meeting is one of the most valuable parts of the weekly meeting. This is where decision-makers learn all the data and facts, debate the merits of ideas and most importantly make decisions to help the business pulse faster.

But there are seven important aspects to making collective intelligence work well in your company. We discuss these and detail how you can make weekly meetings more effective using the power of collective intelligence.

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Stimulate progress and protect the core

This week Kevin and Brad talk about a concept from Jim Collins where leaders in business must simultaneously stimulate progress and protect the core. If you stop stimulating progress or you stop protecting the core, you risk sliding into mediocrity.

It's difficult because once you've had some success, it's easy to slip into a groove of doing things the same way, but if you don't stimulate progress, if you don't continually find ways to evolve your organisation, you might end up with really difficult problems to overcome.

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Who's in charge, you or your calendar?

Many people find themselves being busy and having a full calendar all the time. They fill their week with meetings that are not important at the expense of important things. Instead, it's better to start by populating your calendar with priorities that align with the company quarter, annual and 3 yearly goals. That way you are always working on the right things.

This week Brad and Kevin discuss the problem of full calendars where important strategic priorities aren't being worked on, and what you should do about it.

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One of the most important things necessary, if you want to build an enduring great company, is a process that draws people in like a magnet so that the best people really want to work for you.

We do this well in the marketing side of our businesses, bringing in customers, yet we don’t do the same when it comes to attracting the right people.

This second week talking about the People Magnet Machine, Kevin and Brad answer a range of questions about the People Magnet Machine and how to attract and retain the best people, like a magnet!

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The 7 Hidden Reasons Employees Leave

If you're going to build a People Magnet Machine, a culture in your business that attracts the right people like a magnet, you must understand the real reasons people leave their job.

Perhaps they tell you they leave for higher pay, but the data doesn't support that in most cases. Instead, according to Leigh Branham, there are seven real, hidden reasons people leave.

This week we discuss those seven reasons and what you must do to address each.

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What is a Topgrading Job Scorecard and how do you use it?

This week on The Growth Whisperers we talk about one of the most important parts of hiring a new employee. It's called the Job Scorecard from Brad Smart at Topgrading and it's is so important to successfully hire.

What we found over many years working with companies and seeing great hires and bad hires, is that often leaders are not clear enough upfront about what great looks like in a role.

The Job Scorecard determines what great looks like in a role and is a tool to use not only during hiring and onboarding but all the time people are employed in that role.

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Why you should build your business like you're never going to sell it

This week on The Growth Whispers we challenge the conventional wisdom about building your business to sell it. When you’re starting your business some people say you need to know your exit strategy, and that you should always know your exit and be planning to sell your business.

But there’s another view: when you start your business, you should expect to run it for 50 years, or 100 years, or generations. That’s the alternative we want you to consider, and building your business so you keep enjoying your business for many years into the future.

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Is there a pandemic of Mondayitis in your company - if so, what can you do about it?

This week on The Growth Whispers we're talking about a pandemic that's sweeping the globe and is toxic. It's called Mondayitis and it infects a lot of people and prevents people from building enduring great companies. The most challenging part is sometimes it affects us as the senior leaders in a company because we just get sick and tired of things within the business and unfortunately, we tolerate them for so long they become normal. We talk about 7 different causes of Mondayitis and what you can do to eliminate it or prevent it.

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Jim Collins Flywheel Concept: How to build unstoppable momentum in your company

The Flywheel effect is a concept developed in the book Good to Great. No matter how dramatic the end result, good-to-great transformations never happen in one fell swoop. In building a great company or social sector enterprise, there is no single defining action, no grand program, no one killer innovation, no solitary lucky break, no miracle moment. Rather, the process resembles relentlessly pushing a giant, heavy flywheel, turn upon turn, building momentum until a point of breakthrough, and beyond.

Kevin & Brad discuss The Flywheel concept and how to create your flywheel, how to validate your flywheel and how to speed up your flywheel.

Then they discuss how to leverage your flywheel, how to measure your flywheel and how to optimize your flywheel.

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Are you a genius with 1,000 helpers? If so, how do you become a level 5 leader?

Do you find yourself or a colleague surrounded by people who are helping, but not taking ownership? Do you notice that if you want to get a project done, then it's up to you to ensure that it gets done?

If this is the case, then perhaps you're an effective leader or a level 4 leader, but not a level 5 executive. In order to build a truly great, enduring company a level 5 leader is required which occurs through a paradoxical combination of personal humility and professional will.

The problem is that for most leaders the capabilities necessary to get to level 4 will actually prevent them from getting to level 5.

In this episode of The Growth Whisperers, Kevin and Brad discuss the key symptom of a level 4 leader, what Jim Collins calls 'the genius with 1,000 helpers'. They discuss the problems with being a genius with 1,000 helpers, how it prevents the best people from joining your team and those who do from achieving their best, and it damages your business. Finally, they talk about if you are a level 4 leader, how you can move to become a level 5 leader.

Jim Collins Level 5 Hierarchy.

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How teams fail when Scaling Up their business

This week Brad and Kevin discuss the top 9 ways that people fail when scaling their business, and what you should do to avoid the pitfalls of scaling your business.

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Are you willing to make any decision necessary to make your company great?

This week Kevin and Brad talk about the decisions that you must be willing to make in order to build a truly great company.

This isn't about being ruthless, it's about being prepared to confront the brutal fact that every leader is confronted with deeply challenging decisions that require action.

They provide 6 different strategies that might help you to think about and work through your tough decisions.

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Jim Collins 7 Questions For People Decisions

This week on The Growth Whispers we discuss how to decide what to do when you're unsure about a person on your team. When should you fire a person, when should you performance manage a person? Is the person right for the role?

We go through Jim Collins 7 people questions to decide what you should do with an employee you're worried about. We provide insights, stories and clarification about each of the 7 questions to ensure you are confident about what to do when an employee just doesn't feel right.

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Using business dashboards make better decisions

This week on The Growth Whisperers Kevin and Brad talk about business dashboards, and how you should use them to make better business decisions. They talk about digital dashboards, analog dashboards and how to implement dashboards into your business, as well as how dashboards can fail. Also, they discuss how to use the weekly meeting to roll out dashboards with your team.

Finally, they discuss the 7 important things to consider when using dashboards in your business.

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Red Yellow Green - Using traffic lights to make your culture of KPI management and goal execution stronger

This week on The Growth Whispers we're talking about the magic, and power, and simplicity of traffic lights. Red, Amber and Green as a simple tool to help drive focus for your team and manage, and improve performance. We discuss why the traffic light system works for teams, what’s the best practice for measuring using traffic lights and how can you use it to drive better execution in your team.

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The top 7 best practices for weekly meetings

This week on The Growth Whisperers Brad and Kevin are talking about the weekly meeting, one of the most important parts of execution and also ensuring you successfully complete your quarterly priorities. They provide the top 7 best practices to ensure your weekly meetings are engaging and valuable.

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Getting the right people on the bus

This week on The Growth Whisperers we're talking about the very first thing you've got to do in order to build a great business, to get the right people on the bus.

Jim Collins said first who, then what. Before you consider what to do with your business, you must first have the right people in place.

It sounds really simple, but there is a lot of thinking and work that goes into building an outstanding team of the right people that are going in the same direction as you, in your business. Kevin and Brad discuss the 6 important things you must do to get the right people on the bus.

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Finding the right person to run your business

This week on the Growth Whisperers Brad and Kevin talk about how to get someone to come in and run your business. This could mean appointing a CEO, COO, a President or General Manager, but where you are handing over responsibility to run the business day-to-day.

They discuss the best practice to appoint a new CEO if you have time and can be prepared, and 6 essential tips if you need to do it in more of a hurry.

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What you must do on your balance sheet, profits and growth and heading into 2021 (part 4 of 4) This week on The Growth Whisperers we continue the fourth of a four-part series where we discuss the important things you need to do heading into 2021. In this fourth part, we discuss two aspects. How to focus on achieving consistent profit generation and growth in 2021, and how to build your balance sheet to withstand the biggest storms.

How to focus on achieving consistent profit generation and growth in 2021. Brad and Kevin talk about the three critical things you must do now to ensure you can achieve consistent profits and growth heading into 2021.

How to build your balance sheet to withstand the biggest storms in 2021. Next, they talk about why you need to strengthen your balance sheet and the main things you must do in order to achieve that heading into 2021.

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What you must do on execution and data heading into 2021 (part 3 of 4)

This week on The Growth Whisperers we continue the third of a four-part series where we discuss the important things you need to do heading into 2021. In this third part, we discuss two aspects. Why you must improve your execution in 2021, and the importance of your data in 2021.

Why you must improve your execution heading into 2021. Brad and Kevin talk about the importance of focussing on effective execution in 2021, and why this is so valuable at the moment.

The importance of your data heading into 2021. Next, they talk about how you should be using data in 2021 and provide 3 specific action items and tools you should do to improve your use of data in 2021.

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What you must do on vision and strategy heading into 2021 (part 2 of 4)

This week on The Growth Whisperers we continue the second of a four-part series where we discuss the important things you need to do heading into 2021. In this second part, we discuss two aspects. What you must do on your vision, and what you must do on your strategy.

What you must do on your vision heading into 2021. Kevin and Brad talk about what you must do now in order to renew your vision in 2021, what you need to do for yourself, what you need to stop doing, and why, and what you must do with your team in 2021.

What you must do on your strategy heading into 2021. Next, they talk about what you must do to your strategy in 2021 and provide 3 specific action items and tools you should do to develop your strategy in 2021.

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How to build your culture and attract the right people heading into 2021 (part 1 of 4)

This week on The Growth Whispers we begin the first of a four-part series where we discuss the important things you need to do heading into 2021. In this first part, we discuss two aspects. How to build your culture and how to build your people.

How to build your culture heading into 2021.

Kevin and Brad talk about what you must do now in order to breathe new life into your Core Values and Core Purpose, how to consider whether your team are culturally prepared for 2021, and the action you must take in order to maintain, or improve your culture in 2021.

How to attract and develop your future leaders in 2021.

Next, they talk about what you must do to improve the quality of your team and build a people magnet machine, a business that attracts the best people in your market like a magnet so you can confidently grow.

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How to grow in a booming market while maintaining discipline.

At the moment many leaders are experiencing record profits, record revenues and in some cases shortages of products. The restrictions on travel along with the massive Government stimulus that's being provided is presenting a challenge for entrepreneurs - how to grow in a booming market while maintaining discipline.

Kevin and Brad talk about the challenges you need to understand at the moment if you're experiencing growth and they explain 7 important things you need to do if you're going to thrive.

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Core Purpose: Why Core Purpose matters and how to know if your Core Purpose is right.

This week on The Growth Whisperers Brad and Kevin talk about Core Purpose, why your company exists and why that is important. If you don't have one, they discuss why you need a Core Purpose, and the difference Core Purpose makes to a company.

Then, if you do have one, they talk about how to know if your Core Purpose is right, with 4 key elements to test your Core Purpose.

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The importance of working on your team's recovery right now in order to succeed in 2021.

This week on The Growth Whisperers Kevin and Brad discuss the effects that 2020 and the pandemic have had on leaders and their teams, and the important work that leaders must do now to reset and recharge both themselves and their teams, in order to succeed in 2021.

Successful teams know they need to take the time to rejuvenate as do successful athletes, but sometimes it's hard to make it happen. Brad and Kevin provide stories, examples and a simple process to help you and your team reset for 2021.

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When hiring experienced leaders from global brands might be a bad idea

This week on The Growth Whispers Brad & Kevin talk about the magic, and sometimes mayhem that comes from hiring someone from a much larger company that you believe can bring you competence and skills to help you to grow more successful like the company they came from.

They share stories of organisations that have hired from much larger exciting companies that turn sour. Finally, they discuss the five things that you need to do to ensure that you can be certain that you avoid those pitfalls.

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What to focus on to ensure you love your work

Often entrepreneurs will go from one 'exciting project' to another and not fully completing, or doing the best they can with previous businesses or projects. This can be very frustrating and often results from them not loving the work they are doing on a day-to-day basis.

Kevin and Brad talk about the 5 things you must do to build your business and build your job the way you want it to ensure you love your job and your business long into the future.

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What does it take to build an enduring great company?

In this cornerstone podcast Kevin and Brad talk about what it takes to build an enduring great company.

They begin by discussing the definition of an enduring great company, and why that matters to you, and why it matters to both of them.

They define an enduring great company as:

A purpose-led company that grows and thrives via a sustained, competitive advantage over many decades

Next they discuss the eight elements that are required to build an enduring great company.

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When entrepreneurs lose their vision and what to do about it

This week Kevin and Brad talk about what happens when entrepreneurs want to sell their business because they are tired and want a change. They talk about what the potential causes are for this and share stories about CEOs who have found their way through these obstacles that seemed insurmountable in their minds.
Also, they provide a 5 step process to understand what to do if you've had enough and want to sell your business, and how to re-engineer your business so you can once again be passionate about it.

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Start Stop Keep Top 5 Do's and Don't's

The Start Stop Keep is a simple tool to gather qualitative feedback and perspectives from a team that is both useful for employee engagement and useful to obtain different perspectives for leadership.

Brad and Kevin talk about why the Start Stop Keep is a simple and valuable tool for leaders to use, how to use it, and provide stories of Start Stop Keep best practices. Also, they provide the top 5 Start Stop Keep do's and don't's.

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The top 5 tips for Daily Huddle best practice

This week on The Growth Whisperers Kevin and Brad talk about how to make daily huddle meetings more effective and how to make your team engaged through daily huddle meetings.

The talk about the 5 most important things that CEOs should do to make daily huddles succeed, and how daily huddles fail.

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RACI: Accountability vs Responsibility

This week on The Growth Whisperers Kevin & Brad talk about the difference between accountability and responsibility, and how this simple concept is so powerful in driving better execution.

Also, they explore the RACI model which further adds in the concepts of who needs to be responsible, accountable, consulted and informed, ensuring the right people are involved in the decision and therefore the team is more effective at execution.

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How do you know your Core Values are right?

This week on The Growth Whisperers Brad and Kevin discuss how to gain confidence that your Core Values are correct. What are the Core Values tests you can use to ensure your Core Values are authentic, and not simply aspirational?
They talk about stories from companies where Core Values have failed and where Core Values have been successful and provide specific questions to help you validate whether your Core Values are correct.

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How do you find the right coach or advisor for your business?

On this episode of The Growth Whisperers Brad & Kevin talk about how to hire a coach and how to find the right coach for you. Firstly they discuss the difference between a coach, consultant and mentor. Then what you should expect from a coach, and do you really need a coach in the first place?

Also if you're trying to build a great company, what type of coach should you pick? How do find an A player-coach?

Finally, they talk about the qualities to look for when hiring a coach and how to get the most from your coach.

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How do you get a leadership team to think strategically?

This week on The Growth Whisperers Kevin and Brad discuss the challenge of getting leadership team members to think strategically. Perhaps it's because a team member has always been operational, or because they spend most of their time working in the business, but getting your leadership team to think strategically can be a real challenge for some leaders so that team members come together and don't talk about the operations of the business, but instead the strategy of the business.
They talk about the tools they use to get teams to think strategically, and provide examples of how they have helped leadership teams to build a strategy in the past.

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Why keeping it simple wins every time

One of the great traps leaders and leadership teams fall into is excessive complexity. Smart people particularly want to use their intellect and not let it go to waste. They don't want simple strategies, yet most of the time simple strategies or simple tools are the most effective, especially when they are built by people with a deep understanding. Brad and Kevin talk about the importance of keeping business strategy and business tools simple, and what happens when you don't.

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How do you successfully bring a new leader or executive into a leadership team?

Kevin and Brad discuss the challenge of bringing a new leader into an established leadership team and, if you believe you have an A player executive through Topgrading or an effective hiring process, how you can integrate that new team member into your leadership team in the quickest and most effective manner.

They discuss stories, tips and tools about best practices for leadership team onboarding.

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Gross Margin - Understanding the most important number in your business

This week on The Growth Whisperers Kevin and Brad talk about the most important number in business - Gross Margin, and why it's the output of a great strategy, how to understand your Gross Margin and what to do when you see a declining Gross Margin. Also they talk about how sales people affect Gross Margin, and what to do about it, as well as provide simple tools to analyze Gross Margin and one tool to bring discipline to, and turn around Gross Margin erosion.

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How to make weekly meetings more effective

Brad & Kevin discuss how leadership team weekly meetings erode and how to get them back on track. They also talk about tips to make weekly meetings work better.

The COVID Hammer and Dance
Kevin and Brad talk about the original model about the COVID pandemic and how the current situation aligns with the original model, and how to prepare your business for the next stage.

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Managing mental health in business leadership during COVID19

The Growth Whisperers talk about a recent survey stating that 54% of employees are afraid to talk to their boss about mental health issues, why that is and how it impacts your business.

Kevin and Brad also discuss a tool to help leaders to assess both themselves and their employees mental health, why trust is so important to help your people, and how to get support for your people.

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Are managers useless?
Kevin and Brad discuss an attempt by Google to remove all managers based on an early belief held by some of Google’s leaders and engineers that managers are, at best, a necessary evil, and at worst, a layer of bureaucracy.

Upon learning the importance of managers a research team subsequently proved that great managers produce happier and more productive teams. Brad and Kevin talk about the ten things that the research team identified great managers do, and provide examples from their own experiences.

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Emirates and Barbados

Kevin and Brad talk about how Emirates and the country Barbados are de-risking people from spending money during COVID-19 and how this concept might apply to your business.

Catalytic Mechanism

How can you de-risk the transaction so the company feels the burden or the onus to deliver, versus the customer feeling they are taking the risk - and use that to grow sales. Brad and Kevin provide examples of companies who are successfully using this concept.

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Jim Collins event and his concepts

This week The Growth Whispers discuss an event they both attended with Jim Collins, and how they use Jim's key concepts with CEOs and leadership teams.

Brad and Kevin discuss the Brutal facts, aligning to your flywheel and the Stop doing list.

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Confidence in 6 months
Kevin and Brad talk about a survey of 172 CEOs which stated that "Almost no one sees their businesses “significantly weakened” by the COVID-19 crisis looking out 6-months, and most CEOs expect to be “normal” or “stronger than before” in this timeframe". How is this so, what does it mean for you and importantly what should you do?

Toxic A players
Brad & Kevin discuss the concept of High Performers who are culturally toxic. The people who are great at making the numbers but cause damage within the organisation and why they are such a challenge, why we keep them and why we don't take action. Finally a specific playbook for how to deal with Toxic A players.

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Tesla overtaking Toyota to be the most valuable carmaker

Kevin & Brad discuss how Toyota, who sells 30 times more cars compared to Tesla can be less valuable than Tesla, and why it actually makes so much sense.

Where did all the profit go?
What happens when profit should be there, but isn't? Brad and Kevin talk about why companies fail to achieve the profit they should, how to recover the profit that should be there, and what are the key things they watch with growth companies.

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Apple Privacy
Last week Apple released iOS14 their new operating system which includes a new prominent privacy feature where users are asked whether they want to allow an app to track them across other apps and websites. Brad and Kevin discuss the Apple strategy around privacy and how this could disrupt the $80 Billion digital marketing industry by preventing mobile marketers attributing ad spend.

How Leaders Become Great
Many people want to become leaders and get the corner office, the title, the compensation and the power, Kevin and Brad talk about how the best leaders get there, how they think and how they build their teams.

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NBA leveraging technology to help get back to play.
Brad and Kevin discuss how the USA National Basketball Association are starting to play again using smart, wearable technology, and how you might be able to use this approach to safely restart your business.

Dealing with COVID safety policies
The Growth Whisperers discuss how COVID policies can be executed in ways that create dramatically good and bad customer experiences.

When A players don't grow with the business
Kevin and Brad talk about what to do when the business outgrows what once was an A player team member.

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Automation & the robot dog
Kevin & Brad talk about Spot, the $75,000 robot dog that has just gone on sale, how automation is impacting productivity today, and is important for all CEOs to understand.

Advisors and coaches
Why are advisors and coaches such a catalyst for success? Brad and Kevin talk about the landscape for advisors and coaches, the dynamic of that relationship which brings out the best in leaders, what makes a great coach and why some advisors or coaches are so successful with leaders.

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We're all human
In these tough times, some employees have been finding it more challenging than others, in normal times they were A players, but recently they have struggled. Kevin and Brad talk about the how to deal with these situations, and why it might be an idea to give out a free pass.

No employees
Some leaders say the ideal business has no employees and just makes money. The Growth Whisperers discuss how the real joy of leadership comes not from more deals, but helping people grow to become the best version of themselves.

Effective planning for leadership teams
Brad and Kevin talk about how to effectively plan in this environment, and how leadership teams should look for different perspectives and different ways to assess their strategy and situation.

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The Growth Whisperers podcast: Recent Episodes

Brad Giles & Kevin Lawrence