Scaling Up Business with Bill Gallagher

Hiring today seems 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 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 1 out of 3 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: 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.  

When you’re planning to scale your business in a way that’s never been done before, you have to follow Stephen Covey’s advice — begin with the end in mind. Start your planning from a future state where you can look back at how you got there.   Planning for the first moon landing began in the 1950s, long before those first steps were taken in 1969. No matter how extraordinary your vision of success is, it has to start with envisioning that mountaintop and how exactly you are going to get there.   Bill had an experience with a company that was only working toward the goal of selling their company. Once they looked beyond that to consider the long-term vision and success of those who bought the company, they were able to create a much more compelling story for investors and buyers. Not surprisingly, the company’s valuation increased as a result.   Even if you have an endgame that you’re attached to, try to look beyond that. Play through to create an even better long-term vision of where you want your company to go.   Resources: 20,000 Scaleups Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.) Bill on YouTube Recruiter.com Shortlist (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.  

Leaders love to hear yes, but they have to be comfortable hearing no. Even the expectation of hearing no can throw you off and result in more nos, so how can you get more yeses? Bill has a few ideas. Michael Jordan, Steve Jobs, Vincent Van Gogh, and countless other success stories are littered with multiple rejections, and yet they still succeeded, in part because they didn’t give up the first time they heard a no. Do you really need to get offended when you are rejected? Or take it personally? Or can you use it as an opportunity? If you’re expecting to hear no, create different scenarios in which you can expect to hear a yes, or even a maybe. Get to a place where you can play with the doors that open up from hearing no. When you’re in a place where you can be playful and engaging in the face of no, you will be more prepared when you finally hear yes.   Resources: 20,000 Scaleups Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.) Bill on YouTube Recruiter.com Shortlist (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.  

One of the single biggest frustrations and financial losses many companies face is selecting sales candidates who interviewed well, only to flame out when placed on the line. Today’s guest uses his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology to figure out who is most likely to win in sales.   Dr. Chris Croner is an entrepreneur, sales psychologist, and author. He has developed a system for identifying salespeople with the drive to succeed, helping businesses build better sales teams while avoiding underperformers.   Too many managers hire salespeople who are motivated by money when they should be looking for someone who is motivated by excellence. Much like an athlete looks at the score on the scoreboard as a reflection of how well they’ve done, the best salespeople consider the money they make nothing more than a byproduct of their achievements, not the achievement itself.   One of the most important human needs is fulfilling a purpose. That personal drive is a much more compelling reason to get out of bed in the morning than just meeting required sales numbers and then calling it good.   Optimism, resilience, passion, and purpose all add up to the kind of salesperson that you want on your team. Ask for stories in interviews that highlight these characteristics, and when you hear the stories, you’ll know you’ve found the right person for the job.   Interview Links: The Drive Test — Free Assessment   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.  

What is the number one thing that gets in the way of successful leaders? Surprise — the answer is you. Too often leaders are the reason that commitment and action just aren’t happening. If you want more action out of your people, partners, and customers, set your fears and doubts about yourself aside. Bill had a conversation with a CEO who was struggling to raise his rates but was also struggling with his perception of himself based on his childhood experiences. Bill’s suggestions for this man gave him the opportunity to see himself in a new light, which resulted in success all around. Too often our personal doubts and concerns get in the way of our success. When you’re focusing on yourself and not on the people you’re trying to do business with, you just can’t be nearly as effective. But when you are comfortable with yourself and focused on the other person, success is almost guaranteed. Increase your self-awareness. Deal with your insecurities, but set them aside whenever you are supposed to be focusing on the other person.   Resources: 20,000 Scaleups Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.) Bill on YouTube Recruiter.com Shortlist (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.  

Leaders need to hear YES. Yes to the proposals, the offers, the pitches, the suggestions, the hiring offers. But how can you get more of those yeses?   Bill has the answer. Whether you’re raising money or partnering with someone, the secret to hearing yes is knowing what the other person needs. Knowing what people needed (even before they did) was the key contributor to the success of Steve Jobs and Apple.   If you want to hear yes, show more interest in other people. Offer commitment and action. Set your pitch aside and consider what is really going on with the other person. What is their world like? How can you improve it? What advanced research can you do to get the information you need? And how can you give them what they want?   The key is rarely what we say but how well we listen to what the other person is saying. Become a good listener. Be curious about other people, and you are going to hear yes far more often.   Resources: 20,000 Scaleups Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.) Bill on YouTube Recruiter.com Shortlist (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.  

How can you get the most for your company and maximize the value of your company? The value of your business comes from how well the business can run without you. Nick Arellano is an award-winning M&A veteran who helps business owners get the most money from the sale of their companies.   Many business owners are surprised to learn that selling their company is much more complex than selling property. Unlike selling a house or a car, selling a business takes significant time and preparation to optimize value. Nick has experienced both the buying and selling side, as well as the risks associated with the deal.   By integrating your exit strategy with your overall business strategy, you can limit your risk and increase your company’s value. If you are working with a team to plan your exit now, you’re adding millions of dollars to the eventual sale of your business.   This conversation is filled with key moves that company owners need to consider when strategizing their sale, negotiation considerations, and what owners can realistically expect from the sale. Nick shares what has worked (and what hasn’t worked) for his clients, and highlights his top moves for getting ready to maximize and sell a company.   Interview Links: Your Legacy Partners   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.

There are two ways to double your business. One is really hard, and one is significantly easier, and the difference is boldness.   It can take a long time to double your revenue, but 10X thinking can change everything. When you think on a 10X level, it becomes easier to reimagine everything. Boldness brings with it an excited kind of terror, but are you ready to play a big, bold game? If so, you need a BHAG.   Your BHAG needs to challenge you to think bigger than ever before. Consider Kennedy committing the U.S. to winning the race to the moon or Daniel Burnham’s invitation to do something truly awesome that has the magic to stir men’s (or women’s) blood. That is the kind of inspiration that people can get behind.   There is power in declaring your vision boldly, but there is also a balance that has to be met. It has to be something that has never been done before, it has to be something worth doing, and it has to be aligned with your purposes. But it has to be declared within reason. Bill Galagher might not be the next man in space; Elon Musk is a more likely candidate. Be awesome, but don’t be absurd.   Resources: 20,000 Scaleups Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.) Bill on YouTube Recruiter.com Shortlist (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.  

In this week’s episode, Scaling Up has lined up eight fan-favorite episodes from 2022. In case you’ve missed any of these classics, we have compiled a quick recap of each of the episodes and the guests below. Thank you for listening to the Scaling Up show!   Michael Solomon has three businesses today, artist management, freelance software talent management, and compensation negotiation services. He is also the author of the book, Game Changer, which dives into how to get the most out of the talent economy. After an industry change, this business owner saw some interesting parallels that made him realize that people are really the cornerstone of your company’s success.   Chris Ronzio is the founder & CEO of Trainual, an online training resource manual for your company to help train employees, contractors, and more. He was also named EY Entrepreneur of the Year in 2021 and is the author of the new book, The Business Playbook. Chris takes his Business Playbook to a different level and shares how to streamline onboarding in an easy way where it doesn’t overwhelm you!   Dr. Alison Horstmeyer is a talent development consultant, executive coach, and humanistic thought leader. Her research focuses on curiosity and associated mental, emotional, and motivational attributes. Dr. Alison is considered to be one of the pioneering practitioners in workplace curiosity. This episode focuses on how curiosity impacts the world around us today, how to cultivate it, and how more of it within your team helps your business scale and grow.   Jason Forrest became established as a top 1% sales professional in his career and has gone on to train others in the field. Throughout his career, he’s found that the common sales techniques being taught out there put limitations on others. As a result of Jason’s hands-on sales experience, his coaching and consulting work has led sales teams to increase their effectiveness and drive more profit.   Marissa Levin has been an entrepreneur for over 25 years and is a globally-recognized growth strategist. In 1995, she launched her first business and grew it to $13 million in revenue. Her current venture, Successful Culture, is a leadership consulting organization that helps CEOs master the three most critical aspects of business growth: leadership development, strategy formulation and execution, and organizational culture assessment and improvement. In this episode, she answers the questions about fear or anxiety over the unknown future ahead, how you can navigate through something when you don’t know what you don’t know, and how you can scale if you’re not sure where you are in your growth stage.   Jack Daly is a leading Sales Speaker and Trainer and has spent over 30 years of his career helping salespeople and executives succeed. In 2022, Jack released his 10th book, Jack Daly’s Life By Design, which shares with the world his special recipe for life well lived. If you believe you have to burn yourself out or overextend yourself to “have it all,” then this episode is for you. Jack believes yes, you can have it all, but it has to start with an intentional and thoughtful plan, or else it will not be sustainable.   In a panel discussion of Scaling Up Insights, Bill is joined by panelists Neale Lewis, Stacy Eads, and Judy Guido to discuss the latest advancements in the world of Scaling Up. This discussion details the biggest takeaway from the pandemic is that being vulnerable is okay, how to stop “problem-solving” their team’s stress and instead take a step back and get real and vulnerable, and how you can get a job working for Warren Buffet.   Ron Price is the President and Founder of Price Associates, a global leadership performance firm. He is an internationally-recognized business advisor, executive coach, speaker, and author. He is also the author of the new book, Optimizing Strategy For Results, and this conversation is all about strategy! For some leaders, planning ahead can come seamlessly, for others, not so much. You might have run into a problem where you’ve planned a cohesive strategy, but when it comes to the execution, it doesn’t quite turn out the way you’ve envisioned. Ron shares how you can optimize your strategy for maximum impact.   Interview Links: “Getting Real with Michael Solomon — 10X Management” “Chris Ronzio — The Business Playbook” “Alison Horstmeyer — Why Your Curiosity Matters” “Jason Forrest — The Mindset of a Sales Warrior” “Marissa Levin — Build a Great Advisory Board” “Jack Daly — Have It All with Intentionality” “Scaling Up Insights — Coach Panel with Neale Lewis, Stacy Eads, and Judy Guido” “Ron Price — Strategic Execution”   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.

Are you willing to show a side of yourself that is anything but strong and in charge? How can you present yourself in a vulnerable way without appearing like a weak or unfit leader?   Over 20 years ago, Bill was faced with threats of bankruptcy in his business and losing his house. Once he realized he was facing his worst fears, he recognized that he was also faced with the opportunity to fight to the end.   When he opened up to his team in an honest and vulnerable way, Bill found himself surrounded by a team who was ready to fight with him. No one quit because he didn’t have a plan and no one accused him of being weak. Instead, within one year they had a major breakthrough and turned the company around.   How is it possible that vulnerability and uncertainty turned out to be powerful leadership? By committing to fight to the end and never quit, Bill inspired his team to stick with him. Vulnerability can be powerful, especially when it’s coupled with the conviction to find a solution that you can reach together.   Resources: 20,000 Scaleups Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.) Bill on YouTube Recruiter.com Shortlist (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.