Above The Business

On this week’s episode, Bradley sits down with Liz Kislik to discuss developing stronger leaders in your business.  If you want to transform the way you do business, Liz —Harvard Business Review and Forbes contributor, management consultant, executive coach—can help whether you’re part of a family-run business, national non-profit, or Fortune 500 company.They first discussed change initiatives and organizations.  This includes the importance of pre-mortum and after action review.  Liz defines a Pre-Mortum as thinking through what could go wrong, aka “secondhand consequences.”  Once you’ve done this, you can build a safety net around what could go wrong.  Then you can better allocate resources in order to make the changes.After this, they discussed developing other leaders.  Liz suggested that you stop trying to train your team in your areas of weakness.  We try to delegate things we don’t love or aren’t good at, but you have to hire someone to do this. That means you’re training your new employee in something you’re not good at.  Instead, you’re better off to find someone else, maybe a course or a coach, to develop that person.  This will give them an opportunity to succeed in that role.Finally, they chatted about aligning your goals, mission, and values.  It’s important to strategically connect the day to day business of your organization to these guiding principles.Ready to develop stronger leaders?

In today’s podcast, Amy Lynn Durham and Bradley discuss Emotional Intelligence (EQ) and Spiritual Intelligence (SQ).  They especially focused on the skills needed to grow your EQ, including self awareness, emotional Management strategies, and a recognize-repair-recover process. They also discuss how to engage your employees, and why it matters.  Finally, Amy emphasizes the importance of making wise and compassionate decisions.Amy has spent years in the corporate world successfully managing hundreds of employees for private and publicly traded companies. Her company, Create Magic At Work's intention is to offer Spiritual Intelligence (SQ) and Emotional Intelligence (EQ) tools to energize and transform the workplace.As an expert in building positive company cultures, Amy designed Create Magic At Work to bring a variety of services and strategies to aid in cultivating teamwork and harmony in order to improve profits and employee morale.Amy Lynn Durham is the CEO of "Create Magic At Work" and a U.C. Berkeley Certified Executive Coach. She is certified to coach in the 21 skills associated with Spiritual Intelligence (SQ) using the SQ21 Assessment and an Emotional Intelligence Practitioner (EQ). Learn more about her company when you visit https://createmagicatwork.net/.

Today on the leadership podcast, Bradley sits down with Scott Foster and Steve Cannon.  These experts are sharing advice on how to sell.  A native of Georgia, Scott graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Georgia with a degree in Risk Management & Insurance.  Along with his CLU designation, Scott is a life and qualifying member of the Million Dollar Round Table.  He has been in the top 10 State Farm life agents every year of his 40 plus year career with 24 years as the #1 life agent and 21 years as the #1 multiline agent.  He has qualified for State Farm President’s Club more than 80 times and State Farm Trophy 18 times, most recently in 2016.Steve, a native of South Carolina, graduated from The Citadel with a degree in Business Administration and worked in the medical sales field for seven years before joining the State Farm family.  On September 1, 1989, Steve opened a scratch agency and qualified for Ambassador Travel in just four months. Since that time, Steve has qualified over 30 more times for travel with 17 years as an Exotic Traveler, he has consistently been ranked as a top 50 State Farm Agent for 25 of the past 30 years, he is a 2 time President’s Club Trophy Qualifier, a Lifetime President’s Club Qualifier (qualifying over 38 times), a Lifetime MDRT Qualifier, a 17-time Chairman’s Circle Qualifier, and a Crystal Excellence Qualifier.

Does your existing business model work?  Today on the podcast, Bradley and Troy sit down to discuss some of the topics covered in his latest book, Inflection Point (find it at www.korsgaden.com/resources).  These include how to redefine your role when the existing model doesn’t work, how to build a team that can grow with the market, and having a flight plan for your business.  Troy Korsgaden is a highly sought-after insurance and financial services consultant. He is the principal of Korsgaden International, which specializes in global marketing, distribution, agency building and technology strategies for many of the world’s largest insurance carriers and financial services companies.As a consultant, speaker, and author of seven books, Korsgaden’s mission is to help the insurance industry and its representatives wake up to the radical transformation taking place in the insurance industry. He helps those in the industry learn how to better communicate with consumers, so that consumers develop a higher appreciation for the value of insurance products.They discussed recruiting practices, and specifically a recruiting mindset.  We’ve heard the term “The Great Resignation” frequently, but Troy poses that it’s always been difficult to recruit.  However, the ones who are actually getting it done have a constant recruiting process.  When you’re always looking for talent, you consider whether a lead is a new client or a good candidate for a new employee.Then, they considered how to develop a team that is able to keep up with changes in the industry.  We often use the term “growth to contribution.”  Technology is changing at a rapid pace, so your team has to have a mindset towards growing, learning, and improving.  You also need to think about whether your team member is contributing more to the bottom line or just contributing to your overhead costs.The best way to see whether or not your team members are helping your bottom line is to have a solid understanding of your financials.  You should have a process to review your numbers and look at your expenses on a monthly basis.Troy then pointed out the value of presentations over quotes.  Specifically in the insurance and financial industry, there is a volume method to sending quotes that works.  However, there is power in your words, and standing up new capabilities in the form of a presentation is very powerful.Finally, they discussed a flight plan.  You could think about it like an actual flight.  If you heard your pilot and copilot questioning what to do with all the controls on their panel, you wouldn’t feel very confident in boarding the plane.  As an owner, you need to know what buttons to push when things aren’t going according to plan.  In addition to a solid business plan, you need a flight plan that shows you what to do when things go wrong.Ready to find your Inflection Point?  Listen now!

Mike Smerklo is an experienced entrepreneur, investor and business leader driven by the desire to turn ideas into reality. Having bought and scaled a small business into a publicly traded company worth nearly a billion dollars in value, he has a deep understanding of the hard work, dedication and grit that truly powers successful entrepreneurship. Today, as the co-founder and managing director of Next Coast Ventures, Mike is a champion for a new generation of entrepreneurs building disruptive companies in big markets. His new book, Mr. Monkey and Me, is a “real talk” guide for entrepreneurs who want to cut through the noise to cultivate a mindset that supports greatness.Mike grew up in a blue-collar family in Ohio with dreams of achieving something more with his life. After working his way through college to earn an accounting degree and moving to Chicago to launch his CPA career, he eventually talked his way into a junior analyst gig with the Wall Street investment bank Lehman Brothers. He went on to earn an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and experienced the Silicon Valley dot-com boom as an investment banker at Morgan Stanley.Mike was recruited by legendary entrepreneurs Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz as one of the first employees of their new startup, Loudcloud. Here, he learned from the very best about what it takes to grow a company from an idea through an initial public offering. He began his own entrepreneurship journey in 2003, purchasing ServiceSource, a 30-person technology services startup in San Francisco. As CEO over the next 12 years, he grew the business into a successful 3,000-person publicly-traded company with close to $300M in revenue.He has developed a new perspective on entrepreneurship at the helm of the Austin-based firm Next Coast Ventures, which has backed more than 40 companies across two funds to help startup founders achieve their goals.

Today on the Leadership Podcast, Bradley sits down with AJ Vaden to discuss building your online and offline brand.  Over the last 15 years, AJ has helped create, launch and grow several multi-million dollar businesses from start up to 7 and 8 figures in annual revenue. She has played the role of Salesperson to CSO, recruiter to COO, spender to CFO and from just being bossy to CEO.Today, you’ll hear how to build your Know-Like-Trust factor, develop your leads system to bring leads from social media into your email list, getting testimonials, and the strategy behind building your brand.Her method for brand building is to PLAN: Communicate the problem you solve in one word, share your unique way of solving it, know for whom you solve this problem, and figure out how you make money solving it.Along with her company Brand Builders Group (https://brandbuildersgroup.com/study/), AJ has been featured in Inc, Success Magazine, Fast Company, Entrepreneur, and Good Morning America.  She is the Co-Host of The Influential Personal Brand Podcast which Forbes named as one of the top 10 podcasts to listen to in 2021.Ready to build your personal brand?  After you listen to this episode, get AJ’s free resources to get started: https://brandbuildersgroup.com/study/

Today on the podcast, Bradley is sharing the best of the best from 2021! You'll hear highlights from...Episode 42: Mark Blackburn:Mark was the recipient of the 2020 PGA Teacher and Coach of the Year. In that episode, we talked about: The importance of having a growth mindset , how humble beginnings are drivers for achievement, every player is like their own business, everyone has their own process and intervention only comes in two opportunities, why using critical thinking to work through everything is so crucial, how to customize solutions for each of your team membersEpisode 44: Jeremy Olson and Kristen Isaacson:Growing any business to over a million dollars is no small feat. Growing an insurance agency to over $40 million is something else entirely. Our guests today, Jeremy Olson and Kristin Isaacson of The Olson Agency, are no strangers to exceeding industry standards. The pair are known to value the importance of role play in their businesses and fully embracing a growth mindset. Their tenacity and commitment to investing in their team have allowed them to become a leader in the insurance agency business. Jeremy and Kristin drop some incredible insider’s knowledge in this episode that you won’t want to miss.Episodes 47 & 48 with Thomas Ntuk:If you have a difficult time explaining concepts and sales strategies to your team, give this week and next week’s episodes a listen. On today’s show, we have the pleasure of interviewing Thomas Ntuk, also known as the Sales Simplification Guru, in a special two part interview. Episode 49 with Future Legacy Partners:How are you solving problems with the members on your team? Whether you’re a leader or a team member, the willingness to address a problem and solve it together is key. On our show this week, we’re discussing how to develop your team members with Future Legacy partners Krista Hawkins and Wendy Smith.Episode 55 with Mike Michalowicz:What if you could guarantee that growth in your business would last? Mike Michalowicz has developed a strategy to do just that over the course of his time selling two multi-million dollar businesses and now leading two new multi-million dollar ventures.Episode 69 with David Peterson:Hear David break down intentionally developing your team including: His system of implementation for development, why he prefers specialization for each area of insurance sales, why he believes in “running of the plays” from his playbook for insurance sales, and the importance of spending 15-30 minutes daily to review applicants or court team members to find the best recruits possible. Episode 72 with Josh Fuller:Josh Fuller talks about growing your business through best practices borrowed from multiple sources. He has had the opportunity to work in multiple spheres as an entrepreneur throughout his career, and has gained a lot of great experiences and insights along the way. He specifically has been able to successfully jump on opportunities as they arose throughout his work to find new success.Episode 75 with Randy Thompson:Wondering how to recruit “first round draft picks” for your team?  On this podcast, Randy Thompson shares how to find, train, and compensate the best people for your team. He also shares the three intrinsic qualities he looks for in prospective team members. These include honesty, a kind heart, and a strong work ethic.Episode 78 with General Stanley McChrystal:Retired four-star general Stanley A. McChrystal has lived a life associated with the deadly risks of combat. He was once called “one of America’s greatest warriors” by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. From his first day at West Point, to his years in Afghanistan, to his efforts helping business leaders navigate a global pandemic, McChrystal has seen how individuals and organizations fail to mitigate risk. Why? Because they focus on the probability of something happening instead of the interface by which it can be managed.Episode 83 with Jim Huling:How is your strategy serving you? In this podcast episode, Jim Huling and Bradley discuss execution of strategy. You’ll learn The 4 Disciplines of Execution, why strategy doesn’t work on its own, and how to turn strategy into action.Ready to hear the best of the best?

Today on the podcast, Bradley sat down with Jeff Hogue.  He talks about the best practices surrounding your content.  He also gives some great tips on strategizing your internet leads. He shares where internet leads fit into your sales ecosystem, actual best practices for handling leads to get best conversion, and what your conversion rates should be.You’ll learn the importance of a solid referral system, SEO, and investing in SEM.  You’ll also hear his thoughts around the speed of contacting, utilizing all different avenues (phone, email, text, mail), and continuing to follow up.Jeff is a sales professional turned manager turned director who has helped thousands of insurance agents boost their marketing efforts and enable sales for themselves and their teams. He has worked closely with agents representing many of the top P&C, Health and Medicare Supplement carriers in the United States and has almost a decade of industry experience.Ready to put your internet leads strategy to work?  Listen now!

If increasing your margins 1 percent would increase your profit 15 percent, would you do it?Today on the Leadership Podcast, Bradley and Martin Holland discuss The Four Must-Haves In Business.  This includes… (1) Guiding - leadership, (2) Getting - the business/customers ie sales/marketing, (3) Doing - where most people are strong aka rainmaker’s dilemma, and (4) Administer - all the things you didn’t know you needed for good business, ie. bookkeeping.Martin is the author of The Profit Problem: They Say I Make Money, So Why Don't I Have Any?  (www.theprofitproblem.com) He asks the questions, “If you knew that increasing your margins 1% would increase your profit 15%, would you do it?” and  “If you knew that increasing your sales 17% would double your profit, would you do it?” and “If you knew why you are always short of cash, would you do something about it?”In his book, he shares how financial statements aren't just for banks and taxes. You can use them to reduce your stress by making better decisions and more money.Knowing your numbers and pulling them regularly is crucial for good business.  But it can feel overwhelming to even make the time to understand and examine them.  Right here at Club Capital, we provide complete bookkeeping and tax services for insurance agency owners.  Why not work with the team you trust to better understand your business?  Visit our website (www.club.capital) to learn more about how we can support you in growing your profits!Martin has been active in small business for 48 years. Prior to becoming a business coach in 2011, he helped start or reorganize eight small businesses. Two of them failed, he sold four of them, and still works closely with two. His experience has taught him that there are principles common to successful businesses and omissions common to struggling businesses. Every principle of success is available to every business through awareness and action.Ready to learn what you need to master your numbers?  Listen now!

Are you getting the results you want in business or in life?Today on the leadership podcast, Jane Atkinson joins us to discuss how to get the results you want, the connection between thoughts and actions, and how to pursue speaking as another stream of income.The first principle Jane discussed with Bradley was CTFAR.  This acronym stands for Circumstances, Thoughts, Feelings, Actions and Results.  Jane then went on to discuss her “Ready, Aim, Fire!” method for public speaking.  She shares how to prepare your speaking topic for the audience, market yourself, and ask people to book you.Jane then shared her framework for a good speaking presentation.  She emphasized the importance of having a service-based, servant leadership type mindset.  After all, you have something to offer that serves others through your message.Jane’s new book “Scaling Your Speaking Business: 10 Strategies for Earning More While Doing Less” is now available!  If your goal for your speaking business is to elevate your income, whether it be from $100K to $250K, or from $250K to a million, you cannot afford to miss out on the real-life advice, stories from Jane’s clients and inner circle, and expert strategies in this book. Visit www.speakerlauncher.com to learn more.