Scaling Up Business with Bill Gallagher

The United States is losing over 100,000 people and experiencing over half a trillion dollars of economic impact each year due to opioids, including fentanyl. That’s more than a 737 crash per day. This public health and national security issue is a supply-and-demand problem that, unlike previous epidemics, our nation is failing to resolve.   Admiral Winnefeld graduated from Georgia Tech with a degree in Aerospace Engineering and served for 37 years in the United States Navy. He flew the F-14 Tomcat and served as an instructor at TopGun and as senior aide-de-camp to General Colin L. Powell. He commanded a fighter squadron, the amphibious ship USS Cleveland, the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, a carrier strike group, two NATO commands, the United States Sixth Fleet, the United States Northern Command, and the North American Aerospace Defense Command. He retired after serving as the ninth Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.   Admiral Winnefeld is a frequently-published author and a director or advisor to companies operating in a broad spectrum of business sectors.   Growing up in a military family, Admiral Winnefeld’s younger son Jonathan developed anxiety and depression in middle school and eventually spent 15 months in a treatment center. HIPAA privacy laws kept his parents from knowing about his opioid addiction, and despite his successful graduation from treatment, Jonathan died from an overdose just five days after starting college.   Fentanyl is so deadly because it can take a life the first time someone uses it. This deep societal problem pays no heed to the rich or poor, black or white, educated or not, male or female. It can take the life of anyone, even if it's the first time they’ve ever used drugs.   Public stigma is public enemy number one in the fight against fentanyl, but Admiral Winnefeld isn’t letting that stop his mission. Shortly after his son’s death, he and his wife recognized that they had the opportunity to prevent this tragedy from affecting more lives. In the SAFE Project, he aims to increase public awareness, improve full-spectrum prevention and responsible medical prescribing, improve law enforcement and justice, increase treatment and recovery, and improve family outreach and support.   The goal of the SAFE Project is to save a life every single day. Admiral Winnefeld shares actionable items that can help reach that goal, from supporting and educating family members to having NARCAN® available to quickly treat an overdose. Companies have an obligation to face this crisis alongside individuals, families, and society at large. The responsibility of addressing the problem and finding solutions to the epidemic is the duty of every one of us.   Interview Links: James A. Winnefeld SAFE Project   Resources: 20,000 Scaleups Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.) Bill on YouTube Recruiter.com Short List (use code scaleup)   Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for Scaling Up Coaches (formerly Gazelles). We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail.   Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the show, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth.   We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash so that they can Scale Up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. Scaling Up is based on Verne’s original best-selling business book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits.   Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover the Scaling Up Business Podcast so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.

Do you ever wish people were more inspired by you? Bill has a simple formula for leaders who want to light others up. When you share the vision of your company the right way, it is guaranteed to get other people excited about it too.   The formula is simple. First, talk about the problem area that you deal with in the world. Then, share what the predictable future will look like without change. Finally, talk about why you’re involved in solving the problem and the vision that you have for a new future. Employ storytelling, using real names, details, and feelings. Practice this recipe and keep sharing it wherever you can. Employees, investors, partners, vendors, customers, and the media will all benefit from hearing your story, and when they do, they will catch your vision and be more inspired by you. Resources: 20,000 Scaleups Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.) Bill on YouTube Recruiter.com Short List (use code scaleup) Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for Scaling Up Coaches (formerly Gazelles). We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail. Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the show, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth. We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash so that they can Scale Up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. Scaling Up is based on Verne’s original best-selling business book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits. Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover the Scaling Up Business Podcast so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.

People are by far the most important, the most essential aspect of any business. People are also the hardest to find a perfect fit, but successful leaders know how to attract and focus on the right people in the right way.   Tali Rapaport is the co-founder of Puck, the people-first recruiting CRM. Puck helps businesses tell their team’s story and hire better, faster. Prior to Puck, she was the VP of Product at Lyft for nearly four years. During her tenure, Lyft grew 20x to become a big part of how people get around in North America. In 2017, Tali was named one of Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People. She graduated from Harvard College with an AB in Applied Math and a Master’s in Environmental Engineering. She was on the Dean’s Cabinet for Harvard’s Engineering School from 2018-2020. Tali worked with Lyft when they were in the middle of onboarding a million drivers. She witnessed the human side of employment and the reasons that people are motivated to take on this kind of work. Flexibility in scheduling and access to easier, reliable technology are still two of the major sticking points that are keeping people from getting hired and getting a job done. Getting inside the head of your prospective employee is essential to meeting people where they are and understanding what they need from their employer. A recruiter’s job today is to sell a brand and experience and to highlight what it means to be part of the tribe of a company. When hiring companies can highlight the motivation of their business with the motivation of the new employee, both are much better off. When scaling a business, it can be easy to focus on the things that are urgent and forget about the things that are important. Tali shares the experience she had with a Cambridge water study and the lessons she learned about finding new opportunities when they might be least expected. Interview Links: Tali Rapaport Resources: Scaling For Any Economy Scaling Coach Bill on YouTube Recruiter.com Short List (use code scaleup) Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for Scaling Up Coaches (formerly Gazelles). We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail. Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the show, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth. We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash so that they can Scale Up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. Scaling Up is based on Verne’s original best-selling business book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits. Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover the Scaling Up Business Podcast so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.

People don’t need managers, they need great coaching. No one really likes being managed — they like being led and supported by effective coaching.   Often people want to work out their own problems with the support of their leaders. Rarely do they want to hand over their problems and expect the leader to create the solution. When people come in with a problem, they should come out with a project. A coach cheerleads, encourages, listens, and appreciates. They remind their team why they’re excited about the work they’re doing, they coach their successors, and they delegate powerfully. As a result, you as a leader have to work less hard. When you work less hard, your team rises. Coaching people — not managing or dominating them — is the source of powerful leadership. Resources: 20,000 Scaleups Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.) Bill on YouTube Recruiter.com Short List (use code scaleup) Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for Scaling Up Coaches (formerly Gazelles). We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail. Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the show, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth. We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash so that they can Scale Up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. Scaling Up is based on Verne’s original best-selling business book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits. Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover the Scaling Up Business Podcast so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.

You’re always working to elevate your company, but how can you get your team to come along for the ride? Today’s episode focuses on the intersection of people, leadership, and execution, especially in remote companies.   Robert Glazer is the founder and Chairman of the Board of Acceleration Partners, the premier global partner marketing agency that has won over 30 awards for its world-class company culture. He leads a fully-remote team of over 270 people. Robert is the Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author of books on topics such as peak performance, personal growth, partner marketing, and excelling in the world of remote work. A lot of companies are playing defense in their team strategy right now. After the exhaustion of the pandemic, companies are struggling to focus on healthy, sustainable growth. How can you build your team up holistically in ways that benefit the individual as well as the company? Pandemic hangover is still very much present, so how can leaders get their teams back to a place of enthusiasm for growth? Robert’s new book highlights examples of leaders who have failed by going 100 miles an hour. The message that a leader sends out makes a huge difference in the actions and attitudes of the team. In addition to the physical aspect of leading a team by example, emotional leadership is key. Leaders who are willing to show vulnerability and authenticity create a safe space for their team to show up as their whole, emotional, and spiritual selves as well. As Robert says, the only way to be a Level 5 Leader is with exceptional self-awareness and authenticity about the ways that you lead by your values. Interview Links: Elevate Your Team: Empower Your Team To Reach Their Full Potential and Build A Business That Builds Leaders, by Robert Glazer Robert Glazer Resources: Scaling For Any Economy Scaling Coach Bill on YouTube Recruiter.com Short List (use code scaleup) Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for Scaling Up Coaches (formerly Gazelles). We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail. Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the show, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth. We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash so that they can Scale Up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. Scaling Up is based on Verne’s original best-selling business book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits. Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover the Scaling Up Business Podcast so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.

Stop trying to create a perfect plan. Bill doesn’t believe clients who tell them that they’ve thought of everything. There is no way to create a perfect plan, so just stop trying.   Things are going to happen tomorrow that you can’t even comprehend today. The act of planning is the most valuable tool, not the plan itself. A simple plan created today and acted on consistently in the future will make a real difference. Bill has seen it over and over again — a perfect plan is nothing more than a fantasy. Let go of the fantasy and get to work on creating a planning rhythm that creates a good plan that works today and in the future. Resources: 20,000 Scaleups Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.) Bill on YouTube Recruiter.com Short List (use code scaleup) Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for Scaling Up Coaches (formerly Gazelles). We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail. Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the show, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth. We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash so that they can Scale Up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. Scaling Up is based on Verne’s original best-selling business book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits. Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover the Scaling Up Business Podcast so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.

The hiring process continues to be more complicated than ever before, but finding the right fit for your position doesn’t have to be a long and cumbersome process. You just have to be willing to put the work in to find the top performers.   Dr. Brad Smart is widely regarded as a world expert on hiring and is a renowned consultant to many leading companies and SMBs. He is the creator of Topgrading and the author of Foolproof Hiring: Powerful, Fully Proven Keys to Hiring Mostly High Performers. Dr. Brad was shocked to learn in the early years of his career that only one out of three employees at his company were considered top performers. He knew there had to be a better way to identify and hire more top performers, and Topgrading was born. Employers save time and money by using the Topgrading approach. The robust and thorough process provides a prescreening snapshot that sifts out the best applicants and gets A players hired. The job scorecard is another critical piece of the effective hiring process. Break down what the job entails and make sure that you know what you need before you start hiring someone who may or may not be a good fit for the requirements. After the basic sort, ask three open-ended questions that candidates can answer before you have an in-person conversation. Each of these steps will help you identify and hire the high performers that you want on your team. Interview Links: Topgrading Prescreen Snapshot Resources: Scaling For Any Economy Scaling Coach Bill on YouTube Recruiter.com Short List (use code scaleup) Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for Scaling Up Coaches (formerly Gazelles). We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail. Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the show, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth. We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash so that they can Scale Up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. Scaling Up is based on Verne’s original best-selling business book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits. Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover the Scaling Up Business Podcast so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.

Do you wish you could get people more engaged? Bill has heard it time and time again. Effective leaders are always looking for ways to get their team more engaged.   Engagement is commitment. Someone has said yes to something and they are acting to make it happen. You know when people are engaged because they are putting their hearts and minds and all of their effort into their work. Engaged people don’t only say things, they are doing things. Easy engagement starts with leaders who see what matters to their team. When a leader knows what their team is great at, who they are, and what they want in life, engaging them in work they want to do is natural. But when a leader doesn’t know their team or have a connection with them, all of the work they put into getting that yes is nothing more than manipulation. Natural leaders pay special attention for ways that they can connect with their team, and as a result, their invitations are natural and they get an easy YES. Resources: 20,000 Scaleups Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.) Bill on YouTube Recruiter.com Short List (use code scaleup) Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for Scaling Up Coaches (formerly Gazelles). We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail. Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the show, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth. We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash so that they can Scale Up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. Scaling Up is based on Verne’s original best-selling business book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits. Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover the Scaling Up Business Podcast so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.

Whether you are leading only a handful of people or a team of thousands, challenges are an inevitable part of leadership. Today’s guest offers leadership advice from his time serving with the best of the best.   Admiral Winnefeld graduated from Georgia Tech with a degree in Aerospace Engineering and served for 37 years in the United States Navy. He flew the F-14 Tomcat and served as an instructor at TopGun and as senior aide-de-camp to General Colin L. Powell. He commanded a fighter squadron, the amphibious ship USS Cleveland, the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, a carrier strike group, two NATO commands, the United States Sixth Fleet, the United States Northern Command, and the North American Aerospace Defense Command. He retired after serving as the ninth Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.   Admiral Winnefeld is a frequently-published author and a director or advisor to companies operating in a broad spectrum of business sectors.   One of the greatest influences on Admiral Winnefeld’s time as an instructor at TopGun was positive peer pressure. He and his fellow instructors and pilots knew they were the best in the Navy and the community, so instead of constantly competing with each other, they held each other to a higher standard and helped each other reach it. Effective leaders not only support people where they currently are, but they also motivate them to become their best.   The first of the 5 Anchors of Leadership is Leading Yourself. Leaders must have a mission in mind and a desire to accomplish something, but that alone isn’t enough. The best leaders Admiral Winnefeld ever worked for exhibited integrity, courage, and genuine humility. Effective leaders never stop learning about their profession and refining their leadership skills.   Admiral Winnefeld highlights some of the challenges that are outlined in his new book Sailing Upward: Leadership and Risk from TopGun to the Situation Room. From difficult discussions to the changing demands of leadership style at various levels, he shares the experiences and evolution of his approach to leadership. He offers tactics for enhancing a company’s culture, the behavior of a leader that will elicit change, and how he could tell within the first 10 minutes whether a ship and its crew was a good one or not.   From the hardest leadership challenge he has faced to the best leaders he worked for and the advice from Colin Powell that shaped his entire approach to effective leadership, this conversation is filled with leadership advice from the best of the best.   Interview Links: James A. Winnefeld   Resources: 20,000 Scaleups Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.) Bill on YouTube Recruiter.com Short List (use code scaleup)   Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for Scaling Up Coaches (formerly Gazelles). We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail.   Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the show, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth.   We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash so that they can Scale Up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. Scaling Up is based on Verne’s original best-selling business book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits.   Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover the Scaling Up Business Podcast so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.  

Inspiration is all about breathing life into something. When people are excited about things, you don’t have to persuade them. Inspiring leaders are great at getting others to be excited about something, especially when it pertains to the future. They get people to a positive emotional state again and again by being intentional with their own emotional state, by sharing their vision for the company, and by engaging people by being bolder.   If you want people to be more inspired and work less hard, then you’ll get good at getting other people to feel good about the future. Be bold, share your vision, and use emotion to inspire others. When you have people in an inspired state, everything else comes easier. From pitches and proposals to action with teams, everything is easier when you start with inspiration. Resources: 20,000 Scaleups Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.) Bill on YouTube Recruiter.com Short List (use code scaleup) Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for Scaling Up Coaches (formerly Gazelles). We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail. Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the show, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth. We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash so that they can Scale Up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. Scaling Up is based on Verne’s original best-selling business book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits. Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover the Scaling Up Business Podcast so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.