Think Like an Owner

Joel Peterson, former CEO of Trammell Crow and Chairman of JetBlue Airways, discusses topics such as building trust, designing a fulfilling life, skills for growing CEOs, leadership transitions, lavish communication, and building value-focused organizations as a CEO.

Ep.197: Alex (@aebridgeman) is joined by Jason Anderson (@andersonjasone). My guest today is Jason Anderson, CEO of Arizona College of Nursing and former CEO of VRI. Jason brings an extensive range of experience as CEO to this episode and we dive into critical skills he’s developed to be effective at each step. One of my favorite parts of our discussion was on how he is constantly on the lookout for talent in everyday life, always in “recruiting mode” for his company. We also talk about hiring executive talent and using recruiters, tough situations like losing a large customer, leadership transitions, and connecting with your team. Please enjoy my conversation with Jason Anderson. Listen weekly and follow the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Breaker, and TuneIn.  Learn more about Alex and Think Like an Owner at https://tlaopodcast.com/ I want to tell you about our audience survey we are currently running. These surveys help us create the best content for listeners and better understand your needs and interests. Thank you in advance for sharing your feedback, we greatly appreciate it. After 30 days we are giving $250 cash to 4 survey responders, just add your email at the end of the survey. Take the survey here: https://bit.ly/3QLBB1N Links: Arizona College of Nursing Jason on LinkedIn Tru Recruitment Topics: (00:00:00) - Intro (00:03:45) - Jason’s previous career in Sales and it’s impact on his role as a CEO (00:07:02) - What skill have you improved upon since operating as a CEO? (00:11:16) - Involving families of team members in business events (00:13:18) - Talent recruitment (00:16:24) - Using recruiters and hiring executives (00:20:49) - Evaluating executives and leaders within the company (00:23:33) - Refining communication styles (00:29:09) - Improving your performance at work, outside of work (00:31:30) - Setting boundaries (00:32:45) - Challenging experiences as a CEO (00:39:59) - The unique experience of running a PE-backed company (00:45:00) - Building effective Sales teams (00:48:00) - Inorganic growth (00:51:34) - Being more aggressive in your career path

Shikhar Saxena, CEO of Milan Laser Therapy, shares his growth story, obsession with customer experience, and the market for med spa businesses. They discuss the origin story of Milan, pursuing verticals in the med spa space, improving customer experience, and studying companies like Chick-fil-A for consumer experience ideas. They also talk about private equity ownership in the medspa industry and reflect on lessons for becoming a strong leader.

Mahesh Rajasekharan, CEO of Cleo, talks about building a transformative software platform for supply chain system integrations. Topics include evolving the business, identifying customer needs, growing and coordinating a product team, building and scaling a sales organization, defining profitable growth, and advice for software CEOs on growing and scaling their businesses.

In this final Launch episode, Coley Andrews and Mitch Cohen discuss the spirit of search and the collaboration and mentorship within the search community. They also delve into what makes a good board member, the evolution of search as a model, and the challenges in the search fund industry. The conversation highlights the impact of mentors, creating a culture of mentorship, and the involvement of boards in hiring decisions.

Jehiel Oliver, founder and CEO of Hello Tractor, discusses how he influences behaviors in creating new markets, maintaining trust, and experimenting with incentives. He also explores the challenges of entering new markets, fostering speed amongst the team, and vulnerability in the CEO role.

Chris Powers, founder and chairman of Fort Capital, shares leadership tactics, scaling organizations, studying successful companies, the power of delegation, mentorship, and setting goals.

Sam Krieg, Co-CEO of Central Storage & Warehouse, and Chris Hendriksen, partner at Pacific Lake Partners, discuss the first 100 days as a CEO, including goal setting, making team changes, building trust, reversible and irreversible decisions, prioritizing problems, transitioning founders, and lessons for new CEOs.

Felix Brooks-Church, CEO of Sanku, discusses adapting his role, sustaining growth, and building discipline. They delve into fortifying flour as the core of the business, the Sanku business model, and takeaways from working in Nepal. Felix also shares insights on being a CEO, building an executive team, risk tolerance, and leaning on peers for support.

Dave Thrasher, a business owner of a foundation repair brand and Supportworks, discusses their family-owned businesses and their never-sell mentality. They talk about their acquisition strategy, mindset changes to fast track growth, and ongoing evolutions in Dave's role. They also explore self-evaluation strategies, effective CEO lessons, long-term thinking, and overcoming deal fatigue.