CEO Coaching International Podcast

Guest: Geoff Goldwater, a founding member of Odell Studner, which is a fast-growing risk management and consulting company. Geoff is also an entrepreneur coaching client of CEO Coaching International. Episode in a Tweet: Will a crisis break your business or open up a new path towards BIG? Quick Background: The scale of Covid-19’s disruption to global life and business is unprecedented. But if you think back ten years, the experts were saying the same thing about the Great Recession. Go back another ten and we were coping with the fallout from 9/11 and the tech bubble bursting. A previous generation of leaders had to struggle through Black Monday, just as their predecessors had to deal with stagflation in the 1970s. The pandemic environment may well be more daunting than these previous challenges. But good business is good business, no matter what the particulars are. Companies that are still struggling to regain their footing during Covid-19 can adapt strategies that helped CEOs win during previous crises to this difficult moment. On today’s show, Geoff Goldwater shares the three-step process he used to reinvent his company after the Great Recession and lead it back to a fast growth path.

Jeff Tennyson, CEO of Lima One Capital and expert in real estate lending, reveals his three-step framework for hired gun CEOs. He discusses the challenges of inheriting a founder's culture and aligning visions for growth. Key strategies include assessing team dynamics within the first 90 days and establishing clear expectations. Tennyson emphasizes humility and understanding company history to drive sustainable growth, along with the importance of meaningful employee recognition to strengthen workplace culture.

If you're in IT or supply chain management, you might have made a relatively smooth transition to WFH. High-touch businesses that depend on face-to-face client service and close-knit culture are having a tougher time adjusting to the pandemic environment. Keeping your team and customers safe while also safeguarding what's special about your company should be a priority item on your annual planning agenda. On today's show, Kevin Hamilton discusses the five key adjustments his high-touch company made to keep its culture and its business thriving.

CEOs who kept their foot on the gas during the pandemic are seeing a lot of distressed but valuable assets in their rear-view mirrors. There are bountiful opportunities to snag top talent that's tired of waiting for their current employers to turn a corner. And companies that haven't regained their footing might make attractive acquisition targets. But buying a company isn't as simple as writing a check. In a business environment that's still very unsettled, you need to make sure an acquisition is going to drive growth that makes investing your time and your resources worthwhile. On today's show, Luc Stang discusses a four-step process for bolt-on acquisitions that can make BIG happen with minimal risk and cash outlay.

Guest: Ryan Iwamoto, Co-Founder & President of 24 Hour Home Care, which has been on the Inc. 5,000 list of the fastest growing companies for eight consecutive years. Ryan is also an entrepreneur coaching client at CEO Coaching International. Episode in a Tweet: These four tips will help your business to stop merely surviving and start thriving again. Quick Background: Andy Grove, the former Chairman and CEO of Intel, famously said, "Bad companies are destroyed by crisis. Good companies survive them. Great companies are improved by them." Much like the 2008 recession, the pandemic is exposing structural inefficiencies and stagnant thinking that many businesses were blind to while the global economy was charging ahead. Companies that have merely survived Covid-19 so far need to turn a corner, start planning, and get back to growing before "holding steady" turns into flatlining. Today's guest, Ryan Iwamoto, has successfully navigated both the Great Recession and Covid-19. He co-founded 24 Hour Home Care in 2008--during the heart of the Great Recession--with a $160,000 investment. Thanks to his decisive leadership throughout 2020, the company is on track to do over $115 million in revenue this year, despite operating in an industry that's been hit hard by the pandemic.

Guest: Jamil Nizam is the CEO of Waldom Electronics and Chris Lauret is the COO. Jamil is also an entrepreneur coaching client at CEO Coaching International. Episode in a Tweet: A first-class onboarding process will make a BIG first impression on your new team member. Quick Background: Most companies have it backward. They celebrate when someone leaves the company instead of when they join. On today's show, Jamil Nizam explains how his first-class onboarding process eased new COO Chris Lauret into his responsibilities while also giving him a new perspective on just what kind of company he was working for. Chris and Jamil also discuss how they coordinate and execute key tasks remotely so that BIG keeps happening, even at a distance.

When he started out in the restaurant business, Chris Gannon's goal was to open one great restaurant at a time. His mix of incredible flavors, first-class hospitality, and high nutritional value was such a success that in only four years Bolay expanded to 15 locations. And then Covid-19 hit. With indoor dining suddenly off the menu, Chris and his team had to make a major pivot that would allow them to sustain the business through the pandemic while also laying the groundwork for a successful future. On today's show, Chris Gannon explains how transparent leadership, all-hands-on-deck teamwork, and a commitment to community building have kept Bolay on track to make BIG happen.

Guest: Fiona Kesby, the CEO of Go-VA, which is a company that provides outsourcing services to firms around the world. She’s also an entrepreneur coaching client at CEO Coaching International. Episode in a Tweet: Strong culture and a commitment to BIG values can keep your business growing through the pandemic. Quick Background: CEOs have discovered that the culture they created before Covid-19 is playing a BIG role in how well their companies are moving through the pandemic environment. Rearranging the nuts and bolts of what you do is a heck of a lot easier if you have a clear vision of why you’re doing it, as well as strong values supporting every person and process. On today’s show, Fiona Kesby discusses how her principles have guided her virtual assistant firm through not just a Covid-19 disruption, but a full military lockdown by the Philippine government that’s one of the longest quarantines in the whole world.

Guest: Kurt Wilkin, the Co-Founder and Chief Evangelist of HireBetter, a company that "harnesses the power of talent to solve business challenges." Kurt is also an active member and officer of YPO. Episode in a Tweet: Covid-19 disruption has created a richer than usual talent pool. Take advantage and upgrade your team where you need it the most. Quick Background: At the beginning of the year, CEOs were exploring every available option to find top talent during a very tight labor market. The workplace disruption that Covid-19 caused has changed that. If you need to fill an important leadership position in your company right now, the pool of available talent is deeper than it's been in quite some time. But don’t think that means making a key hire is going to be easier. On the contrary, CEOs have to be even more careful that they’re not letting sterling resumes and shiny smiles distract them from what’s most important: hiring someone who is going to buy into your vision, enhance your culture, and help your company make BIG happen. On today’s show, Kurt Wilkin discusses effective strategies for sourcing talent and the key considerations CEOs need to make when weighing short-term needs versus long-term goals.

Guest: CEO Coaching International’s Stephen Bebis. Stephen held a variety of senior merchandising roles at Home Depot before being named the VP General Merchandise Manager for the Mid-South Division. He also founded Aikenhead's Improvement Warehouse and built it to $1 billion in sales before selling it to Home Depot. After the acquisition, Stephen served as President and CEO of Home Depot Canada and chairman of the Aikenhead/Home Depot Partnership Board. Stephen also founded Golf Town, built it to 65 stores, and took the company public. Episode in a Tweet: There's always a crisis somewhere. The best leaders have a continuous planning process and the right people to execute it. Quick Background: When Stephen Bebis joined Home Depot in 1984 the company had just 14 stores. When he left in 1990, he was running a $20 billion division as a head merchant and was the VP of the southern part of the country. And while some might look back on the ’80s and early ‘90s as a booming time for business, think about everything that happened during the 6 years that Stephen helped Home Depot grow. Two presidential elections. Black Monday, 1987. Tumult in the Middle East, including Russia’s invasion of Afghanistan. Not to mention annual hurricane seasons and other unpredictable disasters. No, running a business isn’t easy during Covid-19. But as Stephen discusses on today’s show, CEOs always have to be prepared to adjust to unforeseen circumstances and refocus their efforts on how to satisfy and grow their customer base.