CEO Coaching International Podcast

We all want our customers to be happy. But what happens when they’re not? No matter how delighted your customers are when your products and services deliver as advertised, at some point, a shipment will get buried in a blizzard, software will crash, a green employee will say the wrong thing at the worst time … or a global pandemic will disrupt your supply chain. According to customer service expert Matt Dixon, how your company addresses those bumps in the road is far more critical to generating customer loyalty than all those perfect, positive experiences the customer might be taking for granted. On today’s episode, Matt discusses some insights from his book “The Effortless Experience: Conquering the New Battleground for Customer Loyalty" that will help you refocus your customer service on what really creates lasting repeat business: quick problem solving and ease of use.

 If you really want to grow your business fast, you need to build a team that will disagree with you. Does that sound counter-intuitive? Well, it worked for Abraham Lincoln. Our greatest president famously assembled a “team of rivals” in his cabinet because he wanted to work with smart people who would challenge – and improve – his thinking. So what does your “cabinet” look like? Is your C-suite full of Yes Men and Yes Women? Have you created an atmosphere where your best people are afraid to challenge you with their best ideas? Either situation can be fatal to a company’s growth, especially in today’s uncertain and rapidly fluctuating economy. Right now, every business leader is being challenged to think outside the box and find innovative solutions to today’s unprecedented problems. In this podcast, Gerry Perkel describes how building a team that disagrees with you can help a CEO not only tackle the challenges that COVID-19 presents, but successfully grow their business to new heights.

If you want your company to stay successful, then maintaining a meaningful growth rate needs to be one of your BIG annual goals. But as we’ve seen recently at companies like WeWork and Uber, chasing growth for the sake of growth just pumps your business full of hot air. Once the hype bubble bursts you could find yourself overvalued, understaffed, and bleeding cash. On today’s show, CEO Coaching International’s Tracy Tolbert lays out a more practical managed growth strategy that will get your company BIG without sacrificing profitability.

Vision. Cash. People. Relationships. Learning. Only the CEO can tackle those key responsibilities. If those five things aren’t the focus of your day, then you’re wasting your time and hurting your company. Like cutting the ad budget when you have to reduce costs, CEOs often push learning to the back burner in favor of higher-profile things like casting a vision or visiting top clients. And while vision and meeting clients are critical, so too is taking the time to learn and stay on top of the latest changes sweeping the business world. Setting aside that time might feel indulgent when we know there are projects to monitor, books to balance, and teams to manage. On today’s show, CEO Coaching International’s David Sun explains why self-improvement isn't selfish – it’s essential to mastering your space, inspiring your team, and growing your business BIG.

A successful business is a marathon, not a sprint. And just like long-distance runners and Ironman competitors, good CEOs have to prepare for “hitting the wall”: that inevitable point in your company’s progress where you’re just not progressing anymore. Growth stagnates. Gears grind. The next BIG goal is one step in front of you, but you can’t find the energy to move your feet. In her career as an entrepreneur and executive, Ramona Capello earned a reputation for breathing life back into dying businesses. On today’s show, she explains why companies of all sizes hit the wall and how the best CEOs break through and start growing again.

Many ambitious companies learn too late that there’s a BIG difference between the size of your total market and the size of your addressable market. But focusing on your addressable market without limiting your growth potential can be tricky, especially if you don’t have a clear vision forward and a mastery of the key numbers driving your business. On today’s show, former Samsung NeuroLogica CEO Phil Sullivan discusses a three-step process he used at Samsung that will keep your company’s growth and the size of your addressable market in sync.

One of the biggest challenges companies face is how to hire great people at a reasonable price in one of the tightest labor markets on record. There's simply not enough qualified talent to fill everybody's needs, especially if your company is early in its growth journey and trying to catch the giants in your field. Smart companies are thinking more broadly and more globally about how to solve this pain point. But lingering misconceptions about offshoring can discourage CEOs from investigating what could be a talent gold mine. On today's episode, Chris Van Vladricken answers all your questions about offshoring including: service options, the hiring process, costs, and how the nuts-and-bolts infrastructure works to keep your local employees and remote workers in sync.

The battle for the best talent is as fierce right now as it’s ever been. The best performing companies spare no expense when it comes to recruiting top performers. And young companies just starting down the road to BIG need to make sure they’re not stuck settling for second-best. How? One: make sure your employee compensation package is stellar. Two: make sure you’re not so busy shopping in the same crowded talent pool that you’re overlooking other ways to hire the best performers for the jobs you need done. Mastering number two is a BIG reason Jim Bennett grew Unishippers from 0 to $120 million. In this conversation, recorded live at the 6th Annual CEO Coaching International Summit held in Santa Monica, CA, Jim and coach Don Schiavone discuss how Jim recruited unconventional employees and then trained them up into a major differentiator between his company and the competition.

One of the reasons that I started the annual CEO Coaching International Summit is that I wanted our clients and friends to have a forum where they could learn about what’s next. Our speakers have talked about new products, emerging markets, outside-the-box problem solving, and some really mind-blowing tech. Thanks to Cyrus Sigari, we can add flying cars to our list. And if you think that sounds far-fetched, think again. According to Cyrus, heavy hitters like Google, Uber, Boeing, and Airbus are all battling to be first to market with small, affordable aircraft that are as easy to drive as a car. This space is going to explode sooner rather than later, and the implications for all businesses could be huge. But I’m so proud that our Summit is also a place where CEOs can learn from leaders like Cyrus, whose personal story is maybe more amazing than the work he’s doing. His family fled the Iranian Revolution in 1979, and as he grew up in the States, Cyrus fell in love with aviation. He learned to fly while he was a teenager and started his company right out of college. Then, a series of personal challenges led Cyrus on a spiritual journey that’s helped him redefine everything he does in business and in life. In this presentation, recorded live at the 6th Annual CEO Coaching International Summit held in Santa Monica, CA, Cyrus Sigari talks about how he arrived at his Most Transformative Purposes, and how all CEOs have to step outside of their businesses if they truly want to make BIG happen.

Some CEOs were surprised when Business Roundtable redefined the purpose of a corporation to include promoting “An Economy That Serves All Americans.” But some of the most successful companies that we work with at CEO Coaching International are the ones that have a vision beyond profit. They’re the companies that are actively asking employees what’s important to them. They’re turning down huge cash infusions from celebrity investors because they believe their products can improve the environment. They’re finding innovative new ways to let employees earn ownership and grow their personal wealth. And they’re being intentional about how they build their legacies. On today’s show, we welcome back Kerry Siggins to discuss the grassroots efforts she’s undertaken to promote a global safety movement in her industry. Starting a movement definitely isn’t for every CEO. But it’s leaders like Kerry who are leading their employees and their businesses towards BIG things beyond the business.