Cyril Peupion shares his world-class expertise on managing the way you work and dives into how he thinks about business development, making an impact, and nurturing relationships that can change your life. Find out how to shift your mindset to make getting the most important work done the default instead of the exception, how to prioritize impact in everything you do, and the most important lesson Cyril wished he learned decades ago.

Mo asks Cyril Peupion: When was the moment you realized that growth was great?

Cyril started his own business with a partner after completing his MBA so he had an interest in business development right from the beginning.
With time, he realized how much he had to learn about sales and relationship building.
Impact is a keyword in how Cyril views the world. If he had only one principle piece of advice to give to people, it would be to prioritize your calendar according to impact.
Cyril tells the story of a client he was working with and the impact on their life the work had. As great as getting to inbox zero and having an organized and neat work environment, being able to sleep at night and actually turn off her mind was completely life-changing.
When you have something as powerful and impactful on people’s lives, business development becomes easy and natural. Cyril considers his business to be in service to his clients.
When you change your way of working it changes your life, which is why Cyril doesn’t view his work as business development. Instead, he sees it as bringing his service to the people that need it.
When it comes to prioritizing for impact, you have to start with a mind shift. High performers don’t look at when things are due, they look at the impact of the things they need to do first.
Think quarterly, plan weekly, and act daily. Thinking quarterly is one of the most effective time frames to think about work while incorporating your long-term vision. Planning each week is an important tempo for progressing your top two or three priorities. A crisis will arrive eventually, but you need to run your tasks through the four-word framework of What Impact Long-Term.

Mo asks Cyril Peupion: What is your personal definition of business development?

Cyril’s definition has evolved over the years. What began as selling became serving.
Cyril is very clear on who he helps and how he can do it, as well as the people that he’s not right for.
Cyril’s passion for what he does is derived from clarity on who can help. When it comes to first meetings, the goal is not to sell his services but to simply find out if they are a good match and to find the right solution for the prospect, even if that means referring them to someone else.
It’s vital to surround yourself with the right people and have an environment of accountability while keeping a mentality of continuous learning.
Masterminds and accountability partners are crucial for your personal and business growth. Find people who are playing at the same level as you and with the same giving mindset.
People typically allow their day to be filled up but all the little things that inevitably come up. One of the first exercises Cyril has leadership teams walk through is creating their ideal week, and then creating a calendar by working backward from the most important things you can do with your time.

Mo asks Cyril Peupion: What is your favorite science, step, or story from the GrowBIG Training or Snowball System?

The overall mindset of the Snowball Training is what stands out for Cyril. Going from selling to serving and being proud of the value that you are bringing to your clients is pivotal.
Cyril also appreciates the concept of nurturing raving fans and uses the strategy to make sure he’s always working on the most important relationships associated with his business.
There is a strong link between performance and joy.
People value what they help to create. Cyril noticed that the clients that contribute to the work in more of a partnership style relationship usually value the work more.
Without the mindset shift of going from selling to helping, you will never achieve your true potential in your career.
“The secret of living is giving.” -Winston Churchill
When you understand the giving mindset, it will change the way you look at business and life.
When planning your ideal work for business development, relationship building with your raving fans and developing yourself and your team, are the things that will have the most significant long-term impact. How much time each day do you need to protect to get those done each day?
The rule is that you can move this meeting time with yourself around, but you can’t delete it.
Business development is often composed of a lot of little tasks. Cyril uses the Outlook Task tool to categorize emails and tasks he needs to address during the time he’s set aside each day to focus on business development.
Your calendar should be filled with Meetings With Yourself and you should respect them as much as you do meetings with other people.
You say no all the time. When you say yes to something, you are saying no to everything else, whether you are conscious of that or not.
When someone asks you to do something, pause and run through the “Hell Ya/No” framework.

Mo asks Cyril Peupion: Tell me of a business development story that you are very proud of.

Years ago, Cyril got in touch with a partner at one of the largest consulting firms in the world. He was invited to present at one of their conferences in Barcelona about the Work Smarter, Live Better strategy and at the end of the presentation, Cyril got a 100% feedback rating from the 100+ people that attended his talk.
This was the beginning of a great business relationship that is now eight years strong with Cyril’s favorite client.
Cyril wasn’t a speaker, so the presentation was outside of his comfort zone. He prepared for the speech and took the opportunity very seriously.
Cyril values continuous improvement very highly, and that presentation was a validation of that core belief.
Every quarter, Cyril chooses a few things to accomplish that push him out of his comfort zone. He wasn’t always a skilled speaker, so he worked with a speaking coach to improve his skills. When the pandemic hit, he found an ex-director to help train him and his team to be better on camera. Every quarter choose one thing that will put you out of your comfort zone and will help you move the needle on your goals.

Mo asks Cyril Peupion: If you could record a video around business development and send it back to your younger self, what would it say?

Cyril describes a restaurant in Paris that is the best in the world in delivering a ribeye and has a queue lined up every single day no matter the weather conditions. Cyril would tell himself to become the master of one trade and become extraordinary at one thing.
Follow your heart and become the expert in that area.
Habits are what build expertise and world-class skills. There is a lot of joy in embracing the boring excellence that makes you great.
Cyril does one thing and does it very well. He’s more than happy to refer work that’s not in his wheelhouse to other experts he knows can take care of it.
If you can find something that you are passionate about, that the market will pay a premium rate for, and you are good at, you have found something worth pursuing.
Cyril would also recommend never stopping learning. “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” -Gandhi
Block time to read every day. Set aside time every quarter to attend new training. Surround yourself with great mentors and a supportive community.

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