The CEO Project Podcast (Jim Schleckser)
Explore every episode of The CEO Project Podcast
| Pub. Date | Title | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 May 2024 | The Lazy CEO Podcast - Discover the Power of Delegation | 00:28:01 | |
In this episode of "The Lazy CEO Podcast," host Jim Schleckser delves into the critical topic of delegation within the context of executive leadership. He emphasizes the importance of mastering the basics to excel in any field, comparing it to essential skills in sports like soccer. Jim’s main focus is on how CEOs can effectively delegate tasks to manage their time efficiently and avoid overworking, aligning with the podcast's theme of promoting a 'lazy,' yet highly effective CEO lifestyle. Jim introduces the concept of the "not do list," a strategic tool that helps prioritize tasks based on their economic impact on the business. He explains how this list is used to identify tasks that should not consume a CEO's time, advocating for the delegation of these lower-priority items. He outlines a method to handle such tasks by deferring them, deleting them from the list, or delegating them to others. This approach not only frees up the CEO's time but also empowers other team members. He further discusses the "70% rule" for delegation, suggesting that if someone can do a task at least 70% as well as the CEO, it should be delegated. This rule aims to overcome the common hesitation among leaders to delegate due to high personal standards and self-reliance. By setting this threshold, CEOs can feel more comfortable passing responsibilities to others without feeling the need for tasks to be performed perfectly. | |||
| 05 Feb 2023 | Employee Feedback and Performance Reviews | 00:31:53 | |
This episode of The Lazy CEO Podcast is about both performance reviews and employee feedback. There is tension around performance reviews, did I achieve my goals? They have a lot of stress around them. People don't like to do them for that reason, both sides. We will talk about both performance reviews and feedback as the yin and yang of engagement with employees. If you think about feedback as a more continuous process and a performance review is a more periodic kind of engagement, annual or biannual or whatever your pace is, they kind of work together. At one level you'd say the feedback over time should aggregate into the performance review. And in fact, one of the rules around performance reviews is there should not be any surprises around performance reviews. Some organizations are eliminating the annual performance review. They're basically saying, if we're doing a good job of continually giving feedback, we don't really need to do a performance review. Some dispute that because there's a bit of a formality that's got value in a performance review. Two Extreme Cases Gen Zs want continuous feedback on how they're doing. If you told them every day -red, yellow, green, or on a scale of one to 10, they would like that. They are the generation that grew up with- how many likes did I get on my post? And how many friends do I have? How big is my network? And they're constantly measuring themselves for acceptance and how are they performing and where they fit in. You can not give Gen Z too much feedback. The opposite of that is when we get feedback from people that do not have good self-awareness and they do not appraise themselves accurately. When there was a complete mismatch in their view of their performance and the boss's view of their performance. This is when there is a ton of stress, so the boss is questioning, what am I doing wrong that I've not communicated to this person where they stand? And, part of the answer is it's them. Standard Performance Review Model An annual performance review is still important. Let’s reframe performance reviews as a coaching opportunity. An opportunity to talk about the good, the bad, and what we're going do to make them better. That's your standard good, above average, performing employee review. How did they perform against their objectives? As a leader, you must set clear objectives - specific, measurable, action-oriented, time-based, achievable, all that has to be true about the objectives. They are very observable, third-party observable. You know if you did them, your employees know, if they did them. So when we sit down and say, did you achieve the specific objectives that we had for you this year? That should be a relatively easy conversation if you did a good job of making them measurable. So we go through the achievements, 1, 2, 3. You got an A on this, a, B on this, and a C minus on this one. The second thing that a lot of people miss when they're doing a review is how you got the job done. So they're only focused on the achievement of the item and they miss how you did the job. How does your boss perceive you in this organization and how you got the job done? Are you effective in working with others to get the job done? Did you work and play well with others? When somebody does the job in a way that doesn't match your culture, they shouldn't be in your organization over time. How did you get the job done? What did you do well, and what did you do poorly on there? And then based on that, where do we need some development? And given where you want to go, so this is where the career conversation comes in. Do you want to be a vice president? Here are the three things that you don't have that you need to be a really good vice president. So let's figure out how to get you those things. We need to teach you some financial skills that you don't have, or you need to understand the product development process. Finally, what else can I do to help make you successful? And that's a bit of a servant leadership view of the universe. I'm here to serve you, I'm here to help make you successful. But it is a worthwhile question particularly if they know you're going to ask it. Let them know, I'm going to ask you that question. And they have a little time to think about it. And then ask, what can I do to help make you more successful? That is a really good question. Giving Feedback The key is to always be very specific in your feedback in the performance review. I'll give you an example of that. If I said you know, Sharon did a really great job on the CEO summit this year. That's one kind of feedback. Another kind of feedback would be- Sharon, the CEO Summit went awesome. I loved how you took full responsibility for it. I love how you solved problems and didn't bring them to me. You just dealt with it when it did become a big enough issue, we talked about it and you just solved it. There was never any drama. You organized everybody seamlessly. You did it with good spirits and everybody had a great time as a result. That is very specific feedback about the actions taken and why she's getting positive feedback. So, when you're giving feedback, be as specific as you possibly can. For the low performer. Did you hit your objectives? No. Did you get the job done? How did you get it done? People that are low performers don't generally cause a lot of problems because they want to keep their head below the radar. They know they are non-performers, most of them. And so, they're not going to make waves. It's the people that think they have earned the right to be a jerk that generally are, and they have developmental needs. You will need to spend time on what they need to do to become fully competent in the job they're in because they're not meeting standards. The need to be specific in feedback is particularly true when you've got somebody who has low self-awareness. For example, we have not made a single date commitment for delivery to a client in the last six months. Here's the scorecard. You were late by at least three weeks on every single commitment that you've made. There are 10 jobs that have been in there for six months. That affects our sales and our revenue if we can't do the application engineering. Now I've been very specific. It's quantifiable, it's observable. Performance Plan We're going to get into a performance improvement plan- these numbers are unacceptable. They need to all get green and on time within the next three months. If they don't, we're going to have a very short conversation and it's going to involve you exiting the organization. So now we're on a performance improvement plan which is more severe than a negative feedback kind of conversation. You're going to have them sign. Not that they agree, but that they have received. The reason why it's important is if you do end up terminating that person, you want a paper trail that says we had multiple conversations about this person's performance. Here are the documents. We were completely clear about what was going on and that's why they got terminated. And so the annual review forces that documentation discipline that if you ever end up in a litigious situation, you've got it as opposed to normal ongoing feedback. For more examples, and incites about feedback and performance reviews, listen to the complete episode of The Lazy CEO Podcast. | |||
| 02 Jul 2023 | Top 10 Mistakes That Leaders Make | 00:35:06 | |
In this episode of The Lazy CEO Podcast, host Jim Schleckser, founder of the CEO project, discusses common mistakes made by leaders and managers. With nearly 20 years of experience working with CEOs and running companies himself, Jim has encountered various patterns of errors throughout his career. He emphasizes that although individuals may believe they are making unique mistakes, there are often common pitfalls that many leaders fall into. Jim proceeds to share the top 10 mistakes, along with a bonus 11th mistake, that he has observed. While his focus is primarily on CEOs, he acknowledges that these mistakes can also apply to managers overseeing smaller groups or departments. He assures listeners that he will maintain confidentiality by anonymizing the stories he shares, as some may be embarrassing for those involved. However, he encourages listeners to reflect on their mistakes and see if any resonate with their own experiences. The first mistake Jim addresses is the failure to delegate. He acknowledges that delegation can be challenging and requires a high level of trust. Context is crucial in determining when and how to delegate tasks. High-risk situations or low-experienced teams may require caution, whereas low-risk and reversible tasks should be delegated whenever possible. Jim emphasizes the transformative effects of effective delegation on reducing stress, workload, and the ability to develop others. Overall, this podcast episode aims to shed light on common mistakes made by leaders and managers, providing valuable insights for improving decision-making and performance in the workplace. | |||
| 21 Apr 2024 | Communication Styles and Overcoming the Fear of Speaking Up | 00:34:45 | |
In this episode of "The Lazy CEO Podcast," host Jim Schleckser speaks with Allison Shapira, a former opera singer who now specializes in improving communication styles, particularly public speaking. Though not the founder, she has been involved with the nonprofit Vital Voices Global Partnership. The podcast delves into the universal fear of public speaking, its evolutionary roots, and how public speaking is an opportunity for collaborative leadership. Shapira emphasizes the importance of identifying one's purpose before speaking, whether it's in a meeting, a pitch, or a presentation. This sense of purpose will inform how leaders communicate with their team and other stakeholders. She advocates for consistent messaging that is authentic and inclusive, focusing on the outcome desired from the communication. | |||
| 08 Oct 2023 | Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion | 00:38:29 | |
In this episode of The Lazy CEO Podcast, host Jim Schleckser interviews Raven Solomon, an expert in the field of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Raven shares her journey into DEI, drawing from her experience managing diverse teams early in her career at PepsiCo. She highlights the importance of understanding generational differences and how leadership approaches can vary based on different age groups. Raven introduces the concept of "lead language," where each generation has a primary way they prefer to receive leadership. Raven discusses how Gen Z is the most racially and ethnically diverse generation, emphasizing their desire for transparency, authenticity, and accountability in organizations. She explains the significance of developing a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) strategy that encompasses the workforce, workplace, marketplace, supplier base, and community engagement. Raven emphasizes that DEI should be seen as a business imperative, not just a moral obligation and that educating leaders about its benefits is crucial. The episode touches on the challenges of getting buy-in for DEI initiatives, with some leaders viewing them as threats. Raven suggests that education, awareness, and a shift in perspective can help leaders see DEI as an opportunity rather than a challenge. The conversation also explores whether DEI training should be mandatory in organizations. Overall, the episode provides insights into the importance of DEI in today's workplace, how it can benefit businesses, and the strategies that organizations can adopt to attract, retain, and engage diverse talent effectively. | |||
| 03 Nov 2024 | The Secret Sauce to Scaling Your Business | 00:35:17 | |
Welcome to The CEO Project Podcast, where Jim Schleckser, author of Great CEOs Are Lazy, discusses ways top CEOs can optimize their businesses. Jim announces the rebranding of the podcast from "The Lazy CEO" to "The CEO Project Podcast," aligning with the project's broader mission. Today’s guest, Bradley Hamner, a business growth coach, shares his journey from struggling in his first business to developing a scalable process architecture that allowed him to work "on" rather than "in" his business. Now, he coaches entrepreneurs to build systems that drive sustainable growth, especially focusing on small to mid-sized businesses. Bradley highlights the challenges small businesses face with popular operating systems like EOS and 4DX, often needing custom approaches to suit smaller teams. His "SCALE" framework emphasizes sustainable revenue, profitability, time off, leverage through delegation, and efficient operations. Together, Jim and Bradley discuss the importance of community and peer support among CEOs to reduce ego barriers, foster vulnerability, and achieve personal and business growth. This episode underscores that scalable success requires structured processes and a supportive community for CEOs on their journey. | |||
| 29 Jun 2024 | Managing Growth in a Family Business | 00:34:46 | |
In this episode of The Lazy CEO Podcast, host Jim Schleckser welcomes Mark Cabrera, the CEO of Saddle Creek Logistics. Mark has been with Saddle Creek for over 20 years, starting as CFO and taking over as CEO a few years ago. He shares insights into managing a family business, the logistics industry's challenges, and the importance of innovation. Mark explains Saddle Creek’s operations, which span 33 million square feet across the US, employing about 6,000 associates and operating a fleet of 500 trucks. The conversation highlights the dynamic nature of the logistics industry, including labor shortages and the need for innovation driven by escalating labor costs and demographic changes. The discussion also delves into Saddle Creek's approach to employee development and succession planning, emphasizing the importance of internal promotions and training programs. Mark credits the company's strong culture to its founder's values and the intentional efforts to maintain these through storytelling and leadership behaviors. | |||
| 01 Jun 2024 | How to Grow Your Revenue Rapidly | 00:35:18 | |
In this episode of The Lazy CEO Podcast, host Jim Schleckser introduces Simone Severino, the founder and CEO of Strategy Sprints, to discuss revenue growth strategies. Jim highlights that revenue is a common constraint for many CEOs, with about 60% citing it as their primary challenge. Simone, joining from Austria, claims his techniques can double a company's revenue in 90 days. Simone emphasizes the importance of addressing evergreen bottlenecks, particularly pricing power, to achieve significant revenue growth. He explains that by improving positioning and messaging, businesses can increase their pricing power by 25% without losing clients. Simone's approach is particularly suited for businesses involved in transformation, such as coaches, marketing agencies, and design firms, which offer high-ticket services. Simone outlines his strategy, beginning with increasing pricing power by refining the value proposition and understanding the client's needs and outcomes. He suggests that for existing clients, companies can keep prices the same but deliver more value or seek referrals. For new clients, prices can be raised, focusing on building a strong sales pipeline. | |||
| 27 Aug 2023 | Leadership, Yourself, Your Team, and Your Company | 00:36:59 | |
In this episode of the Lazy CEO Podcast, host Jim Schleckser interviews Dave Mitchell, an expert in leadership and founder of Leadership Difference. The conversation revolves around leadership, understanding oneself, understanding others, and creating a positive organizational culture. Here's a summary of the key points discussed: 1. Defining Leadership and Self-awareness: Dave Mitchell emphasizes that leadership is contextual and situational. The ability to inspire diverse groups of people toward a shared goal is a defining characteristic of leadership. Self-awareness is crucial for leaders, but being aware of one's toxic behaviors without addressing them can still lead to ineffective leadership. 2. Adaptability and Flexibility: Leaders must be adaptable to different contexts and situations, as a leadership approach that works well in one scenario might not be effective in another. Effective leaders adjust their behaviors to meet the needs of their team and situation without sacrificing core integrity. 3. Understanding Others: Dave discusses the importance of understanding the attributes of different team members. He introduces his own assessment system that assigns individuals to different personality types inspired by iconic Hollywood movie characters. This system helps leaders better understand their team members and bridge differences. 4. Organizational Culture: Dave's recent book "CULTURE - Performance, Peak Performance, and Place" focuses on understanding and engaging with organizational culture. He discusses the five key metrics for evaluating and shaping organizational culture: Horizontal Alignment, Vertical Alignment, Employee Experience, Customer Experience, and Leadership Ideology. 5. Vertical Alignment: This involves ensuring that the organization's core ideology aligns with marketplace demands and success metrics. It ensures that the organization's values resonate with customers and employees. 6. Horizontal Alignment: This focuses on creating consistency between an organization's core ideology and its practices, policies, and processes. It's about embedding the organization's values in all aspects of its operations. 7. Employee Experience: A positive employee experience is crucial for delivering a great customer experience. Leaders need to create an environment where employees can thrive and contribute to the organization's success. 8. Customer Experience: A strong employee experience leads to a better customer experience. Organizations need to focus on aligning their culture with their customer's needs. 9. Leadership Ideology: Leaders need to bridge the gap between those at the top of the hierarchy and those on the front lines. Open channels of communication and feedback ensure that leadership decisions are grounded in real-world knowledge. Overall, the podcast discussion emphasizes the importance of self-awareness, adaptability, understanding others, and intentionally shaping organizational culture for successful leadership and organizational performance. | |||
| 03 Feb 2025 | Basic Litigation Insights Every CEO Must Understand | 00:34:41 | |
Why should CEOs approach litigation as a strategic tool rather than a reactive burden? In this episode of The CEO Project podcast, host Jim Schleckser sits down with Mo Lovett, founder of Mo Lovett Law and a Chambers-ranked Band 1 trial lawyer. Mo brings her extensive experience handling high-stakes litigation for global corporations. The conversation dives into practical insights for CEOs on navigating legal challenges, managing risk, and leveraging litigation as a business strategy. Mo also discusses her journey from large firms with thousands of lawyers to founding her own practice, emphasizing the importance of proactive legal planning, vigilance, and team alignment to mitigate threats and capitalize on opportunities. From counterclaims that turn the tables to lessons learned from mediation and arbitration, this episode offers indispensable advice for leaders looking to strengthen their legal toolkit. Key Takeaways: → Proactive legal planning minimizes surprises and helps CEOs stay ahead of potential threats. → Litigation can serve as a strategic business tool when approached with the right mindset. → Communication training for teams at all levels reduces risks from emails and casual messaging. → Mediation offers an opportunity to resolve disputes while appearing ready for trial, enhancing negotiation leverage. → Knowing when to bring in external legal expertise, whether for strategy or trial preparation—is critical for managing costs and outcomes effectively. More from Mo Levett Mo Lovett is a distinguished first-chair trial lawyer with over 30 years of experience, having tried more than 50 jury cases with over $100 billion collectively at stake. She specializes in complex legal matters, including patent and trademark infringement, trade secret theft, entertainment litigation, and high-stakes commercial disputes. Her client roster includes some of the world's largest corporations, and her notable cases range from defending a Fortune 10 software company in a $43 billion trademark dispute to representing Lady A in their naming rights battle. She has also served as lead counsel in over 75 patent cases and represented major players in industries like banking, oil, and manufacturing. Before founding Mo Lovett Law, she held senior roles at prestigious global firms, including King & Spalding and Greenberg Traurig, where she was the highest-ranking woman among 2,650 lawyers worldwide. Recognized by Chambers USA, The Best Lawyers in America, and Texas Super Lawyers, Mo has earned accolades such as being named a "Top 100 Lawyer in Texas" and a "Top Mentor" by Texas Lawyer magazine. Known for her strategic brilliance and dedication to diversity, she consistently fields inclusive teams to deliver exceptional results for her clients. Website: https://molovettlaw.com/ LinkedIn: @maryolgalovett Instagram: @maryolgalovett Twitter/X: @molovett Contact: mo@molovettlaw.com If you are an experienced CEO looking to grow your company, visit https://www.TheCEOProject.com You can also reach Jim by email: Jim@TheCEOProject.com LinkedIn: @theceoproject Instagram: @the_ceoproject Twitter/X: @the_CEO_Project Facebook: @IncCEOproject
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| 05 Aug 2022 | From CEO to CEO Advisor | 00:29:58 | |
Jim Schleckser is the Chief Executive Officer of The CEO Project, a business advisory group for accomplished CEOs to help them solve their most challenging issues, resolve constraints, drive growth, and improve outcomes. With 30 years of leadership experience in business strategy, organizational development, sales, marketing, and more, Jim leads global organizations across many functional areas in both public and private environments. He specializes in solving issues that fast-growing firms experience in their business models and processes as they reach high-performance levels. Jim has appeared in The New York Times, The Huffington Post, and National Public Radio. In this episode…Do you feel like you’ve hit a plateau in your entrepreneurial career? Is your organization not functioning as adequately as it should? How can you optimize your business processes to improve performance and maximize success? First, CEOs must identify the source of the problem in their business processes. According to keynote speaker and business advisor Jim Schleckser, this “kink” directly affects a company’s performance, so it’s essential to develop strategies to rectify it. The five hat framework allows CEOs to analyze their data to recognize flaws, enhance their business models to maximize revenue, and leverage talent to improve operations. In today’s episode of The Lazy CEO Podcast, Dr. Jeremy Weisz sits down with Jim Schleckser, CEO of The CEO Project, to discuss how CEOs can streamline and advance their careers. Jim shares the common mistakes CEOs make, advice for establishing organizational development, and how the five hat model helps CEOs identify the kinks in their business. | |||
| 29 Oct 2023 | CEO Stories- Ryan Dahnert, Plymold | 00:33:00 | |
In this episode of "The Lazy CEO Podcast," host Jim Schleckser welcomes Ryan Dahnert, the CEO of Plymold, a manufacturer of furniture and fixtures for commercial service. Ryan discusses the journey of his company and the challenges he faced as a first-time CEO. Here are the key points discussed in the podcast: 1. Plymold's Business: Plymold manufactures furniture and fixtures primarily for commercial service, focusing on fast-food restaurant chains, travel stops, and more. The company has been in business for 75 years and has been employee-owned since 1992. 2. Reorganization Process: Ryan describes the reorganization process he initiated after becoming CEO in 2019. At the time, the company had five different business divisions with varying customer bases and product offerings. They decided to focus on what they were truly great at, which was metal frame furniture fixtures combining steel, wood components, upholstery, and laminate materials. 3. Challenges During COVID-19: The podcast discusses how Plymold navigated the challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. Initially, their primary clients in the quick-service restaurant industry were severely impacted. However, they adapted by focusing on remodeling and adapting to changing market conditions. 4. Lease Negotiations: Ryan shares a successful negotiation experience regarding a lease for a facility they no longer needed, highlighting the importance of assessing the unique situation and being assertive in negotiations. 5. CEO Project Support: Ryan credits his involvement in the CEO Project, a peer group for CEOs, as a valuable source of support and guidance during challenging times. The group provided insights and helped him make critical decisions for the company's future. 6. Dealing with Tragedy: The episode also touches on the personal tragedy of losing a key team member, which was a difficult experience for Ryan and the company. They discuss how Plymold worked through the grieving process and supported their team during this challenging time. The podcast highlights the importance of focus, adaptability, and seeking support from peers and mentors in navigating the complexities of running a business and facing unexpected challenges. | |||
| 20 Aug 2023 | CEO Project Advisors Discuss Todays CEO Struggles | 00:39:10 | |
In this episode of The Lazy CEO Podcast, host Jim Schleckser discusses various topics related to leadership, growth, and challenges faced by CEOs. He is joined by his partners, Pam Singleton and Julie Walker, who are experts in advising CEOs and working with executive teams. They engage in a conversation about the obstacles CEOs commonly encounter and strategies to overcome them. The conversation touches on several key points: 1. CEO Succession Planning: Pam emphasizes the importance of CEO succession planning. Many CEOs fail to consider who would replace them in the event of unforeseen circumstances. The emotional attachment to the company and the fear of relinquishing power often hinder the planning process. However, grooming potential successors and having a strong bench strength is vital for long-term stability. 2. Middle Management Development: Julie discusses the significance of building strong middle management. This layer of leadership often gets overlooked, but it plays a crucial role in the organization. Investing in middle management development, coaching, and giving them opportunities to grow helps ensure a strong foundation for organizational success. 3. Navigating External Disruptors: The discussion also focuses on how CEOs need to adapt to external disruptions, especially those related to technology. Embracing technologies like AI can lead to enhanced productivity and efficiency. The conversation emphasizes the importance of CEOs leading this transition and fostering a culture of innovation. 4. Accountability and Hiring Decisions: The partners emphasize the challenges of holding executives accountable and making wise hiring decisions. They discuss how to identify individuals who are both skilled and culturally aligned with the company. They also highlight the pitfalls of hiring based solely on impressive resumes and titles, emphasizing the need to assess practical skills and alignment with the company's culture. 5. Hiring Process and Mistakes: The conversation delves into the hiring process and common mistakes made by CEOs. The partners suggest that CEOs need to understand the difference between skill and will—both technical competence and a genuine desire to perform the job effectively. The importance of an outcomes-based job description and the distinction between sales and marketing roles are also explored. 6. Handling Difficult Decisions: Addressing difficult decisions, such as terminating an underperforming executive, is another topic discussed. CEOs are encouraged to address these issues promptly rather than letting them fester. Learning from these experiences is crucial for growth and future decision-making. Throughout the podcast, the hosts provide insights and practical advice for CEOs seeking to overcome challenges, build strong leadership teams, and foster sustainable growth within their organizations. | |||
| 10 Sep 2023 | Culture- Measurement and Management | 00:34:26 | |
In this episode of The Lazy CEO Podcast, hosted by Jim Schleckser, the discussion revolves around the crucial yet often overlooked topic of corporate culture. Jim emphasizes the significance of company culture and its impact on various aspects of business, including mergers and acquisitions. Jim begins by defining culture as "how we do what we do" and explains that it encompasses how organizations think about their work. He highlights that culture plays a vital role in attracting talent, making partnerships, and determining the success or failure of mergers. He identifies several measurable factors that define a company's culture: 1. Formality: The level of formality within the organization, encompassing dress code, hierarchy, vocabulary, and communication styles. 2. Analytics: The extent to which data is used for decision-making, ranging from intuitive decision-making to data-driven approaches. 3. Transparency: How open the organization is with sharing data, including financial information, with its employees. 4. Team vs. Individual: Whether the company emphasizes teamwork or individual performance in its culture. 5. Performance Tracking: The rigor with which the organization tracks and measures individual and team performance. 6. Innovation and Curiosity: The organization's attitude toward seeking new solutions and continuous improvement. 7. Frugality: The company's approach to spending and resource allocation, from being cost-conscious to more liberal in spending. 8. Humor: The role of humor in the workplace, ranging from serious and formal to lighthearted and fun. 9. Conformity: The degree to which employees are expected to conform to established norms and practices. Jim concludes by emphasizing the importance of cultural alignment in mergers and acquisitions and how mismatches in these cultural factors can lead to the failure of such endeavors. Understanding and measuring these cultural aspects is vital for business leaders to make informed decisions about partnerships, acquisitions, and organizational development. | |||
| 18 Dec 2022 | The Great Reassessment | 00:39:55 | |
Today we are speaking with a renowned thinker about engagement and management and strategy and how you bring your whole team along on the journey in an engaging way. What is Reassessment? People are reassessing where they want to be, what they want to do, who they want to do it for, and who they want to do it with. People want to work, but they don't want to work where they feel they have to put up with things that inhibit or constrain what they have to offer. – 66% of people do not feel valued in what they do If you're doing something every day and you don't feel valued, you're probably looking for something else. And what is behind the sense of feeling valued? It had not a thing to do with engagement. It doesn't have anything to do with pulse scores. It has to do with do you believe that your people, stepping into co-thinking your business with you, will create a better outcome than you telling them what to think? When your team uncovers a better way forward, then there's a certain sense of value and nobility and dignity that comes. That's a big deal, this whole sense of value and value driven by leaders thinking that we're creating creatives, not just creating implementers. - Over 50% of the senior people interviewed believe they're contributing less than 50% of their capability to their organization. That suggests there's a whole lot more we have to offer that we're just not able to get out there. The successful leader in this great reassessment is asking, what other capabilities are you not contributing? What can we do to get those to come forth, get those to be released, unlock them, etc? The final piece on that whole conversation is, that I don't know anybody under 30 that will work for an organization that doesn't have a strong purpose or a cause and has a new expectation for what the experience at work is going to look like. What that means is that I am no longer going to be willing to compromise my experience at work and just invest in my personal experience. So, my expectations are the same things I have in my personal life for the fulfillment, and for achievement. And if I'm not getting that, I'm going to find a place where I get what I can get because I want to live my life fully across the board. Listen to this podcast for more about reassessment in today’s workplace: - If we want to create an extraordinary experience for our people, or experience for our guests and clients, then we must encourage variability. - Believe in people that they want to win, and they don't wake up every day saying, I can't wait to be average again today. But they rarely get a chance to get in the game to that full degree. And so to the extent, we can get them in the game, and their experience is one that is as personal as their best home life experiences, there's tremendous financial, benefit in that. - Values are the guidelines for which you make the decisions about the stuff that there are no rules. - The great reassessment leaders going to have to change how they behave in terms of how they handle the truth and some things they probably need to stop doing. How are leaders going to need to change in this reassessment environment? - Do we have a common mental model that ensures we all see things the same way? Are you drawing out the attitudes, opinions, and beliefs of different people and merging them into a common picture that means the same thing to all of us? - Determine what to say no to. Thanks to our Guest Jim Hauden is an expert on leadership alignment, strategy execution, employee engagement, business transformation, change management, and accelerated learning. He has spoken at TEDx BGSU, Tampa TEDx, and Conference Board events, and has given keynote speeches for many organizations throughout the world. He contributes regularly to business publications, including Inc. and Switch & Shift, where he was ranked on the Top 75 List of Human Business Champions. He lives in Sylvania, OH, with his wife, Michelle. They have three children, Brad, Brooke, and Blake, and five grandchildren. When he’s not traveling the globe visiting clients, he enjoys relaxing with his family at their lake cottage, golfing, fishing, sailing, photography, and attending Jimmy Buffett concerts. | |||
| 23 Dec 2024 | The Role of HR Leadership in Shaping Business Strategy | 00:31:55 | |
Why is strategic HR leadership essential for driving the success and growth of your business? In this episode of The CEO Project, Jim Schleckser speaks with Dethra U. Giles, founder and CEO of ExecuPrep, a premier talent and performance management consulting firm. Dethra shares insights from her extensive experience in conflict resolution and organizational development, advocating for intentional career mapping and coaching as essential tools for advancing from managerial to executive roles. Together, they discuss the evolving role of HR professionals, emphasizing the importance of adopting a business-oriented mindset to drive strategic decision-making and effective communication with top executives. Dethra offers practical advice on cultivating a culture of recognition, enabling leaders to delegate effectively, and aligning organizational goals to achieve sustainable growth. Key Takeaways: → How intentional career mapping and coaching help individuals transition from managerial to executive roles → Why HR professionals adopting a business-oriented mindset enhances strategic decision-making → How delegating responsibilities and creating systems drive organizational growth and scalability → Why praising specific behaviors motivates teams and improves performance, productivity, and profits → Why aligning HR strategies with organizational goals is critical for driving business success More from Dethra U. Giles ExecuPrep's Chief CEO and founder, Dethra’s mission is to architect frameworks that elevate businesses through strategic HR leadership. Her expertise in conflict resolution and organizational development is bolstered by a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) certification, enabling her to forge robust, high-performing teams. In her dual role as a transformative keynote speaker, she leverages years of experience to inspire change and drive company-wide growth. Harnessing adept problem-solving skills and a passion for training and development, she is committed to nurturing talent and optimizing employee engagement and retention. Contact: dugiles@execuprep.com Website: https://www.execuprep.com/ Listen To The: Happily Ever Employed Podcast LinkedIn: @dethragiles Instagram: @dethra_giles Facebook: @DethraGilesCEO If you are an experienced CEO looking to grow your company, visit https://www.TheCEOProject.com You can also reach Jim by email: Jim@TheCEOProject.com LinkedIn: @theceoproject Instagram: @the_ceoproject Twitter/X: @the_CEO_Project Facebook: @IncCEOproject | |||
| 16 Dec 2024 | Creating A Culture That Doesn't Burn Your People Out | 00:30:43 | |
Are you stressed, anxious and burning out at work and ready to put a stop to it? In this episode of The CEO Project, Jim Schleckser speaks with Michael D. Levitt, founder and Chief Burnout Officer of the Breakfast Leadership Network and host of the Breakfast Leadership Show podcast. Michael shares his personal experience with burnout and how he now helps, guides, and coaches others to overcome it in their own lives. Together, they explore strategies for overcoming burnout and recognizing its root causes. Michael offers practical advice for reducing worry and explains how organizations can create supportive workplace environments by communicating their core values effectively, helping to address and prevent burnout among employees.
Key Takeaways: → How recognizing what you can and can’t control helps reduce stress → Why unnecessary worrying leads to future burnout → How clear workplace expectations can minimize anxiety → Why understanding burnout prevention is crucial → How workplace well-being plays a key role in preventing burnout More from Michael D. Levitt Michael leads a multi-faceted media firm dedicated to tackling burnout and improving workplace culture. His expertise in these areas stems from his extensive background in HR leadership and executive coaching, which now informs the content produced by his company. As a Certified NLP and CBT Therapist, Michael brings a unique perspective to the media content produced by his firm. His approach combines psychological insights with practical business strategies, offering valuable resources for individuals and organizations looking to prevent burnout and enhance workplace culture. Contact: Michael@BreakfastLeadership.com Website: https://www.breakfastleadership.com/ Listen To The: Breakfast Leadership Show @Bfastledership on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X
If you are an experienced CEO looking to grow your company, visit https://www.TheCEOProject.com You can also reach Jim by email: Jim@TheCEOProject.com LinkedIn: @theceoproject Instagram: @the_ceoproject Twitter/X: @the_CEO_Project Facebook: @IncCEOproject | |||
| 15 Oct 2023 | What are the Implications of AI for your business | 00:37:35 | |
In this episode of The Lazy CEO Podcast, host Jim Schleckser, CEO of the CEO project, welcomes Richard Routh, an expert in the field of AI from Tri 7 Services. They discuss the impact of AI on business, regulations, technology, jobs, and more. Richard begins by explaining the concept of AI, dating back to the 1950s, where the goal was to make machines intelligent like humans artificially. He highlights early AI successes, such as chess-playing programs and the development of speech recognition like Siri and Alexa. Richard goes on to discuss how AI has become a part of our daily lives, from search engines like Google to self-driving cars. He also delves into the recent breakthrough in AI, which involves large language model solutions like GPT-3, where neural networks are trained on vast amounts of data to generate human-like text and responses. Richard emphasizes the enormous potential of generative AI, including advancements in healthcare, business analysis, political strategies, and military operations. Jim and Richard explore why generative AI gains a competitive advantage, thanks to its ability to access and integrate vast amounts of data at a scale beyond human capability. However, they also acknowledge the need for caution, as AI systems can produce hallucinations, requiring human oversight and careful deployment to avoid unintended consequences. They conclude by mentioning the concerns of experts like Elon Musk and the potential risks associated with advanced AI systems like Skynet, as portrayed in popular culture. | |||
| 08 Mar 2024 | Connecting With Your Audience Through Podcasting | 00:32:53 | |
This podcast features Jim Schleckser, host of The Lazy CEO Podcast, introducing Nicole Grinnel, founder of Mic'd Up Booking and Boseman Solutions, as a guest. Nicole shares her journey into podcasting, starting eight years ago, and discusses how podcasting can benefit various types of businesses. She explains Mic'd Up Booking's services, including assisting with hosting and guest appearances on podcasts, and highlights the importance of targeting the right audience for maximum impact. Nicole provides advice for podcast guests, emphasizing the importance of storytelling, authenticity, and preparation. She also discusses leveraging podcast appearances for networking, online presence, and content repurposing, making it a valuable tool for business owners. Finally, Nicole and Jim discuss the potential of podcasting as a marketing tool and the importance of promoting podcast appearances effectively. | |||
| 30 Mar 2024 | Maximizing Leadership By Understanding The Power of the Organization | 00:35:57 | |
In this episode of The Lazy CEO Podcast, host Jim Schleckser interviews Doug Conant, a seasoned leader with over 40 years of experience, including roles such as Former CEO of Campbell’s Soup, on the Power of People in Achieving Results. Conant shares insights on leadership and teamwork in large organizations. He emphasizes the importance of recognizing the power of the organization over individual contributions and discusses the pivotal role of community and engagement in achieving productivity and fulfillment. Conant reflects on being fired from a job, highlighting the transformative experience it was for him and the realization of the significance of working with others. He discusses the challenge of leaders who struggle to accept help from their teams due to a belief in their own talent, stressing the importance of cultivating a team-centric mindset. | |||
| 04 Jun 2023 | Organizational Talent Management | 00:31:42 | |
In this episode of the Lazy CEO Podcast, host Jim Schleckser, founder of the CEO Project, discusses talent management within organizations. He starts by highlighting the importance of focusing not only on individual talent but also on how the executive team should engage with talent at a broader level. Jim explains the concept of A's, B's, and C's to assess individual performance. A's consistently overperforms, provides innovative ideas, and drives the organization forward. B performs as required and meets expectations, while C's consistently underperforms and fails to meet the standard. Jim acknowledges the reluctance to rate individuals as C players due to the negative energy and conflict involved. He emphasizes the need for accurate assessment and avoiding a central tendency problem where everyone is rated above average. He shares examples of government employee evaluations that showed 82% of employees rated as above average, highlighting the issue with inflated ratings. The podcast delves into the consequences of the central tendency problem, particularly during challenging times or raising discussions. It becomes crucial to identify C players for potential exit during a recessionary environment. Additionally, Jim discusses the challenges of giving equal raises to all employees, which can demotivate high performers and lead them to seek opportunities elsewhere. To address these issues, Jim introduces several tools for talent management within the executive team. The first tool is stack ranking and normalization, where individual ratings are transparently discussed and analyzed collectively. This helps identify and address any disparities in ratings and promotes fair and appropriate compensation distribution. The podcast also introduces an annual evaluation one-pager, focusing on leadership competencies and the "Five E's" (Energy, Execution, Excitement, and Edge). This one-pager allows for a comprehensive assessment of individual strengths and weaknesses and helps determine the development plan for each employee. Succession planning is another crucial aspect discussed in the podcast. Jim suggests creating an org chart indicating individuals' current positions and rating their promotability and readiness to move up in the organization. This exercise helps identify potential successors and highlights the need to develop talent at all levels. Jim emphasizes that talent is owned by the organization and not individual managers, discouraging shielding behaviors that hinder talent development. He encourages executive teams to engage in open discussions and assessments to ensure organizational capacity building and avoid stagnation. Overall, this episode of the Lazy CEO Podcast provides practical insights and tools for executive teams to effectively manage and develop talent within their organizations, fostering growth and success. | |||
| 26 Mar 2023 | Conflict and Innovation in the Workplace | 00:34:05 | |
In this episode of The Lazy CEO Podcast, Jim Schleckser, host and CEO of The CEO Project, interviews Karin Hurt, CEO of Let’s Grow Leaders about innovation and conflict in the workplace. Jim Schleckser: Welcome Karin, share with us a little bit about your work with Verizon as well as what you do now with Let’s Grow Leaders. Karin Hurt: I learned so many things from Verizon and, in Courageous Cultures, we talk about having the need for clarity, real clarity in your culture, clarity about where you're headed, clarity around setting clear expectations all the way through, and curiosity showing up and being curious and innovative. I would say at Verizon, I learned all about the clarity thing. I learned a lot through the experimentation of leading large teams in times of uncertainty. I led a 2200-person sales team at the moment that AT&T gets exclusive rights to the iPhone, and I got this sales team that has nothing to sell. How do you keep people motivated during a time like that? How do you get results? How do you pivot and look for bright starts and bring a large team along with you? I also learned about what not to do. You can learn as much about leadership from following a bad boss as a good boss. And although I had a number of great bosses, I also had some doozies. I really paid a lot of attention to what is the impact that negative toxic leadership is having. What is the impact on results? What is the impact on relationships? What is the impact on growing future leaders? Overall fantastic experience learned so much from so many mentors and I also learned a little bit about what not to do too. Jim Schleckser: You talk about innovation coming from what I would consider a very high rule-density environment. Talk us through your model on innovation. Karin Hurt: You need to start where you aren't if you're looking for innovation. You can have high clarity, what you're calling rule dense environment. And when you have that, it's more difficult for people to innovate. But if you've got people, everyone is innovating and they don't know what they're innovating towards, then you will lack the right kind of innovation. You may have a lot of ideas, but you may not have the kind of ideas that you can use. And so we talk about, you need to be very clear about two things, 1) that you really want innovation, that you want people's ideas and 2) you are clear about where you're headed strategically so that people can get it. And then you need to show up curious. And after you've had that clarity, then that's when you're teaching people how to think critically, position their ideas, look around corners, and all of those innovative things. And if you have one without the other, you're going to have a challenge. We take people through a process where you begin with clarity, and then we teach them how to, “own the ugly”, look at things differently from different perspectives, show their ideas, and give away to pitch your ideas in very, very practical ways. Jim Schleckser: One of the things you talk about is the roles that people fulfill in this ecosystem - micro innovators, problem solvers, and customer advocates. Help me understand how those three roles work together. Karin Hurt: Micro innovators, one of the things that we talk about is there are a lot of great strategies but how do you create something that's going to completely change the game? And that's innovation with a capital I. Where we really focus is how do you get micro innovations, people coming to work every single day saying, how can we do this step differently? Do we really need this meeting? Is there an alternative way to get there? In our research, 67% said their manager operates around the notion of this is the way we've always done it. That's not encouraging micro innovation versus the leader who comes and asks a courageous question and said, what is one way we could change this process to be more impactful for our clients? Then when we talk about customer advocates, that's really empowering the people at the front. How do I advocate for the customer and their needs? And how can I innovate on behalf of the customer? Our favorite definition of culture is from Seth Godin. People like us do things like this. You're helping to amplify the voice of your customer. Problem solvers, that's equipping people with practical tools and techniques to solve problems. And there's just not a lot of training out there for problem-solving. We'll find that when we're doing discovery for our leadership development programs. And there's a huge appetite for that. Jim Schleckser: Interesting. You know there's another whole camp in this sort of innovation space. They call them weak signals. It's funny how you identified, customer advocates and problem solvers. Those would be the kind of people that would pick up weak signals - little things that aren't quite right. And, then they talk about catalyzing. There's a guy named Mintzberg who talks about catalyzing them into something bigger because that little weak signal if we blow on the spark, we can turn into a fire. Karin Hurt: It's interesting because we are neck deep in our next research for our book - World Workplace Conflict and Collaboration Survey. And one of the things that we are finding is there is an exact bell curve of people who are saying, Hey, you know what? There is less conflict than we had before. And some say, on the other extreme, there is way more conflict than we've had before. And as we peel underneath, this has so much to do with innovation because the people who are saying there's less conflict, are not talking to people very much, they are working from home in their own bubbles. And if you have that happening, there may be less conflict negative, but you are not also having the good kind of conflict where, hey, I have an idea and you have an idea and let's really talk about what's going to be best for our customer in this scenario. And, and having those constructive conversations. In our research so far, what's coming as the impact of conflict? 64% are saying more stress, 34% are saying more turnover. And 31% are saying less productivity. So that's the bad kind of conflict, right? If you have conflicts, that's creating that level of stress. And that's what people, a lot of people think of when they think of conflict, right? What they're talking about there is primarily interpersonal conflict, right? And when we ask people why- I left my toxic environment. So, they just ran away from the conflict. The reason we think this work is so important is particularly now, in an uncertain environment where everything is so turbulent and rapidly changing, you have to have all that innovation. And you are not going to do that if you are running away from important conversations. So, we talk about four areas starting with connection. For more of Jim and Karin’s conversation and to learn the 4 C’s of conflict management, listen to the full episode of The Lazy CEO Podcast. | |||
| 18 Jun 2023 | Transitioning a Family Business to the Next Generation | 00:36:08 | |
In this episode of the Lazy CEO Podcast, host Jim Schleckser interviews Trent Gardner, a member of the CEO Project and part of a family-owned business called GJ Gardner Homes. They discuss the dynamics of family-owned businesses, including succession and emotional issues that are unique to such enterprises. Trent provides insights into the evolution of GJ Gardner Homes, which started as a small operation in 1983 and grew into a franchise business with over 150 franchises operating internationally. Trent explains that the business was passed down from his grandfather, who also worked in the construction industry, to his father, who started GJ Gardner Homes with his mother. Trent and his younger brother are both involved in the business, with Trent primarily focusing on operations in the United States. He highlights the challenges and opportunities of running a family-owned business, emphasizing the importance of surrounding oneself with capable and smart individuals who complement one's own skills. They also discuss how GJ Gardner Homes differentiate itself in the market by making the homebuilding process fun and engaging for customers. Trent explains their customer-centric approach, which involves open communication, collaboration, and ensuring a positive experience throughout the entire construction process. They have implemented processes like pausing construction to get customer sign-off at key stages, providing transparency, and instilling confidence in the customers. The conversation touches on the topic of succession planning and future leadership in the company. Trent expresses his commitment to leading the business for the next 30 years but acknowledges that circumstances may change, and he remains open to adjustments in the future. He emphasizes the importance of attracting and retaining talent in a family-owned business, noting that growth and opportunity within the company are key incentives for employees, even if they may not have a direct path to the CEO position. Trent also mentions the family's commitment to maintaining the business as a family-owned entity, with no intention of selling to private equity or pursuing a liquidity event. He emphasizes the significance of the family legacy and the desire to continue building the brand's reputation and success. The interview concludes with a discussion about the challenges of family relationships in business and the need to make rational decisions while considering family dynamics. Trent mentions the importance of addressing nepotism and ensuring that family members earn their positions based on merit and competence. He highlights the need for professionalism and accountability within the family business. Overall, the podcast episode provides insights into the journey and dynamics of a successful family-owned business, offering lessons and perspectives on leadership, succession planning, and maintaining a positive customer experience. | |||
| 24 Nov 2024 | Strategy Deployment and Accountability | 00:38:01 | |
In this episode of The CEO Project Podcast, host Jim Schleckser and Sharon Maguire discuss the critical link between strategy development and execution, emphasizing the importance of treating them as an iterative, interconnected process. Using frameworks like Henry Mintzberg’s "Two Loops of Learning," they highlight how organizations must adapt strategies dynamically—refining tactical approaches while continuously reevaluating overarching goals to stay aligned with market changes and organizational needs. The hosts advocate for small, focused strategy teams composed of systems thinkers rather than relying on large, title-driven groups. This approach enables more effective problem-solving and holistic thinking, which are essential for creating and deploying successful strategies. The discussion also underscores the importance of prioritizing a single competitive focus—whether cost leadership, customer intimacy, or innovation—while avoiding the trap of trying to excel in conflicting areas. Effective strategies balance leveraging internal strengths with understanding external market dynamics, ensuring that objectives are both actionable and measurable. Leaders are encouraged to focus on three core areas: financial growth, operational improvement, and strategic extension, such as entering new markets or launching new products. By fostering alignment through techniques like the Japanese "catch ball" method and engaging the organization in execution, businesses can ensure their strategies drive meaningful, sustainable outcomes. | |||
| 02 Apr 2023 | Organizational Capacity | 00:27:53 | |
Organizational capacity is the capability of the people in your business to get stuff done. In this episode of The Lazy CEO Podcast, Jim, Schleckser, host and CEO of The CEO Project, talk about Organizational Capacity. Basically, if you have a pile of work, size of X, you have X capability to get that work done. The raw capacity to execute and the capability to execute are really two things. We will get into each of these in a little bit. One is just how many people you have in the company. More people means more work, mostly, although not always. The second is the capability of the people in your organization to take on work, their ability to do stuff for you and not get their heads all stressed out and crazy. So the capability to people is really important as well. So first, let's talk about is just as you're growing your business, people do go through a cycle of growth emotions. There are two researchers by the name of Kelly and Connor that came up with what's called this emotional cycle of change model. When you begin a change and, and growth is change, as you are growing your business, things are changing. How much work I have to do, the scope of my job, my title, and the way we do things are changing all the time. So the first stage that Kelly and Connor thought people went through, is uninformed optimism. Over time, as we begin to make the change, we begin to go down into the valley of despair. And the first stage of the valley of despair is uninformed, or informed pessimism. In other words, I've now begun to see this and it's ugly and it's messy and it's confusing and it's stressful and this is not working. That's informed pessimism because I've now gathered enough data to know it's not going to work. They can possibly check out mentally. They're no longer engaged, they're no longer participating, and they're no longer giving their best effort. And checking out privately then can lead to checking out publicly. And this is where your turnover happens. In other words, during informed pessimism is when people check out your organization, that's when your turnover happens. So you have to be really attentive to this and be giving people signals that things are going to work out. Then they move to what they call hopeful realism. We thought it was going to be perfect before when we were in uninformed optimism. We are now hopeful, hopeful realism, it's going to be okay. It's better than it was, it's not perfect, but that's okay. And then stage four informed optimism. It turned out it's as about as good as we thought it was going to be awesome. And then completion. So that cycle, everybody goes through and, a related rule called Cantor's Law, another researcher that says everything can look like a failure in the middle. As you're going through change, realize that in the middle, no matter how successful it is in the future, it looks like a failure in the middle. Country Club vs Stress City Two triangles basically stacked on top of each other. When you have more organizational capacity to execute than you do work, I call that country club. We're kind of chill, we're hanging out, and we have stuff to do, but plenty of time to have coffee and talk about the football pool. Now, to the other side, which is we've got more work to do than we do have the organizational capacity to execute. That's stress city. And as leaders, we're always wiggling around that middle line. Sometimes we're in country clubs, sometimes we're in stress city. And actually, I have to say most organizations are always in stress city. The only question is how close do they get to the line? Do we have the right amount of capacity, people, and talent versus the amount of work we've got. And the signals you'll hear are stress and work-life balance. Now you have to be careful who you're listening to because of that standard distribution. There will people be people that always chirp on that issue. Doesn't matter how much work there is, there will be others that never say a word. Buy, Build, or Borrow Let's say you've diagnosed your organization. We've got more work than we can handle. And you'll probably know when this exists. You have a couple of options. Buy or build or borrow. Those are your options. Borrow, I'll just talk about it quickly. That's finding a third-party staffing company that can help you or a partner that can help you. But fundamentally we've got to build or buy. I'm going to hire somebody in the organization to increase my organizational capacity. When you do this, you want to tick two boxes. One is particularly when you're growing, one is you need the person in the job, right as defined. So that's an increased organization, organizational capacity just because there's a human in position. But more than that, you need to hire ahead of your curve. If you're a growing organization, you're 20 million or 40 million or a hundred million or 200 million and you're underway to double that number. If I hire somebody that is just competent to do the job, no more just able to do the job, but fully competent as I double, they are going to go to incompetency potentially unless they develop, which I'll talk about in a minute. And so ideally you hire somebody who's over your current capability, over your current size. If you're 40, they've done it at a hundred. If you're a hundred, they've done it at 200. They already know what it looks like where you are going. For more about organizational capacity, listen to the full episode of The Lazy CEO Podcast. Resources mentioned in this episode:
Sponsor for this episode… This episode is brought to you by The CEO Project. The CEO Project is a business advisory group that brings high-caliber, accomplished CEOs together. Our team of skilled advisors is comprised of current and former CEOs who have run both public and private sector companies across multiple industries. With our experience and expertise, we guide hundreds of high-performing CEOs through a disciplined approach that resolves constraints and improves critical decisions. The CEO Project has helped high-performing, large enterprise CEOs with annual revenues ranging from $20M to over $2 billion to drive growth and achieve optimal outcomes. If you are an experienced CEO looking to grow your company, visit www.theCEOProject.com. | |||
| 10 Feb 2025 | Unveiling the Secret Success of CEO Peer Groups | 00:32:36 | |
How do peer groups contribute to continuous improvement and shared experiences over time? Leo Bottary is a distinguished authority on peer advisory groups, especially in the context of enhancing the experiences and performance of CEOs. He stresses the importance of selecting peer group members based on psychographic traits such as curiosity, arrogance, and a sense of humor, along with a diversity of industries and experiences, to promote comprehensive learning and growth. Bottary also underscores the need to cluster CEOs according to the size and complexity of their companies, as these factors often dictate the challenges they encounter. His approach highlights the creation of a robust cycle of learning and achievement within these groups, focusing on trust-building and addressing root causes to drive higher performance. Key Takeaways: → Peer groups can reach new levels of success and personal growth by creating a supportive environment where members push each other to excel and hold themselves accountable. → Selection criteria for CEO peer groups include avoiding arrogance, emphasizing curiosity and integrity, and ensuring a good cultural fit. → Utilizing peer groups within organizations can enhance problem-solving, teamwork, trust, and learning opportunities for individuals and teams. → Peer groups serve as a powerful tool for personal and professional growth among CEOs by fostering a learning and achieving cycle based on diversity and experiences. → Creating effective peer groups within corporations, such as those for plant managers, is crucial to combat isolation, facilitate learning, and promote mutual support. More from Leo Bottary Leo Bottary is the founder and managing partner of Peernovation, LLC, where he leverages over a decade of research and experience to transform how organizations approach teamwork and leadership. As an award-winning author of three books, including "Peernovation: What Peer Advisory Groups Can Teach Us About Building High-Performing Teams," Bottary has delivered more than 600 programs across four continents, helping companies build stronger, more collaborative teams. His work is grounded in the belief that effective communication and peer learning are fundamental to organizational success, particularly in an era where ineffective communication costs US companies $1.2 trillion annually. A respected thought leader in the field of group dynamics and strategic communication, Bottary brings a unique perspective shaped by his roles as an adjunct professor at Rutgers University, Opinion Columnist for CEOWORLD Magazine, and former C-Suite Radio host. His innovative approach combines the proven success of CEO peer advisory groups with practical workplace applications, helping organizations create intentional conversations that drive clarity and performance. Throughout his career, Bottary has worked with organizations of all sizes, from startups to Fortune 500 companies, earning recognition including the Vistage Speaker Top Performer Award for three consecutive years (2020-2022). His mission is encapsulated in the philosophy that "The Power of We Begins With You," emphasizing that building high-performing teams starts with individual commitment to collaborative excellence.
Website: https://leobottary.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leobottary/ Instagram: @leobottary
If you are an experienced CEO looking to grow your company, visit https://www.TheCEOProject.com
You can also reach Jim by email: Jim@TheCEOProject.com
LinkedIn: @theceoproject Instagram: @the_ceoproject Twitter/X: @the_CEO_Project Facebook: @IncCEOproject | |||
| 22 Oct 2023 | Executive Compensation and Contracts | 00:36:44 | |
In this episode of "The Lazy CEO Podcast" hosted by Jim Schleckser, CEO of the CEO Project, the focus is on the sensitive and vital topic of executive compensation and contracts. Jim discusses the intricacies of compensating CEOs and executive teams, touching on critical components such as base salary, bonuses, and long-term compensation. He emphasizes the importance of aligning compensation with market rates and strategic goals. The podcast also explores the concept of felt fair compensation and the need to ensure executives feel rewarded for their work. Additionally, Jim discusses the role of bonuses in aligning management and ownership interests, highlighting the significance of transparent and calculable bonus structures. He also touches on the use of discretionary bonuses for exceptional performance. Finally, Jim emphasizes the distinction between long-term compensation and equity, cautioning founder-owners about the complexities and considerations of equity distribution within a company. The episode provides valuable insights into executive compensation and contracts for CEOs and their teams. | |||
| 07 Sep 2024 | AI Business Use Cases And The Future | 00:34:37 | |
In this episode of The Lazy CEO Podcast, host Jim Schleckser talks with Ronak Patel, CEO of Sunflower Labs, about integrating AI and machine learning (ML) into business processes to augment human efforts. Patel explains AI's potential, common use cases, and ethical considerations, especially around AI as an assistant rather than a full replacement for human roles. They discuss AI's current applications, such as automating customer service, HR functions, and financial processes, emphasizing that AI is most effective when used to enhance human productivity rather than replace it. Patel highlights the growing trend of smaller, purpose-built AI models that are more cost-effective and targeted compared to massive, general-purpose models like ChatGPT. These models can be deployed even by smaller companies, democratizing access to advanced technology that was previously available only to large corporations with substantial budgets. They also touch on the challenges, such as data requirements for training AI, the high costs of large language models, and the risk of AI hallucinations—where AI generates incorrect or fabricated information. Patel suggests solutions, including adjusting the "temperature" setting in AI models to reduce creativity and ensure more reliable outputs, showing that the future of AI lies in controlled, specific applications rather than generalized, all-encompassing solutions. | |||
| 09 Sep 2022 | The Importance of a Strong Business Model | 00:42:11 | |
Jason Boyce is the Founder and CEO of Avenue7Media, a company that guides brands through the most successful and competitive marketplace in the world — Amazon. They provide tools such as design, research, product development and management, customer service, optimization, and more. Jason’s entrepreneurial journey began with dropshipping sports goods, and through this experience, he started Avenue7Media to help others navigate the cutthroat marketing industry. With nearly 20 years of e-commerce and Amazon Marketplace experience, he is the author of The Amazon Jungle. In this episode…In today’s dynamic marketplace, it’s increasingly difficult to start and grow a business, especially on one of the world’s leading sales platforms. Brands struggle to create a competitive sales strategy while providing excellent customer service. So, how can small businesses advance to success? Jason Boyce is optimistic about how brands can leverage the competitive market against large companies. With 20 years of experience in the marketing and sales industries, he understands the challenges of creating a valuable business model to sell exclusive products and generate recurring revenue. Jason advises entrepreneurs how to navigate the dynamic and volatile nature of building a competitive brand. In this episode of The Lazy CEO Podcast, Jim Schleckser sits down with Jason Boyce, Founder & CEO of Avenue7Media. They talk about how to competitively navigate the marketing world and achieve success. Jason emphasizes the importance of having a flexible business model, shares tips for adapting to a competitor’s strategy, and what to do when things don’t go according to plan. | |||
| 23 Mar 2024 | Tips To Help You Master Difficult Conversations | 00:41:37 | |
In this podcast episode, host Jim Schleckser speaks with guest, Sheila Heen, who is an expert in difficult conversations and feedback. Heen co-founded the Triad Consulting Group and has extensive experience in negotiation, including at Harvard Law School. She discusses her journey into this field and the importance of understanding emotions in communication. Heen emphasizes the need to go beyond surface conversations and delve into the underlying thoughts and feelings in difficult interactions. She introduces three internal conversations: the "what happened" conversation, focused on narratives about past, present, and future events; the emotional conversation, addressing how individuals deal with their feelings; and the identity conversation, concerning what the situation reflects about one's self-image. The discussion highlights the importance of shifting from blaming individuals to understanding contributions to problems within a system. Heen suggests focusing on learning from mistakes rather than assigning blame, fostering a culture where feedback is seen as an opportunity for growth. The episode underscores the significance of systems thinking in addressing organizational issues and promoting effective communication and accountability among team members. | |||
| 22 Jan 2023 | Building Purpose in Your Organization | 00:24:49 | |
In this Episode Today we're going to talk about some specific ways that you can become more purposeful in your organization. Let's just start with the audiences that care about this. Everybody does at some level, but there are three specific audiences that are highly attuned to purpose.
So, what should we do differently? And, why would we want to have significance?
It's about doing something amazing so you're going to see a different kind of retention if you can find people that are in the tribe that buys into your purpose. But it will also mean that some people aren't the right fit for you. The choice to be purposeful in a particular direction may exclude a large group of the population that doesn't buy into what you're trying to get done. And that's okay. The ones you do get are going to be way more loyal, way more retained, and way more committed to the purpose. How do you demonstrate purpose? Here are a couple of examples: At minimal levels of significance and purpose - donate money. Organizations have done this forever. Support junior achievement or Boys Club and Girls Club, support the United Way, whatever the organization is, and make donations to the community, or to the environment. That is a great way to add purpose but is often not aligned with the greater business purpose and where you're going and the tribe you're trying to build. Slightly better than that is a giving committee, and this is a case where the people in the organization decide where the money's going. Most of the monies that are going to be donated to whatever charities in the community are determined by the giving committee of employees. This is a great way to engage the organization in where the money goes. Employees that are donating time, donating money on top of that is a great combination. So time and money get extra time and treasure if you will give extra leverage in the giving committee's consideration. But more than that the giving committee is connected to the community so their ability to figure out what's important and give to need points in the community is better. An interesting way of having everybody in the organization on the giving committee is to say, if you give, we will match it. One simple move here is service days. If you want to go and give service to some organization, the company will give you time to do that. If they go spend half a day working in the soup kitchen or helping sort clothes or working with the Girl Scouts, they're going to come back with a whole different energy around work. Finally, there's a lot of power in your giving aligning with your business as well. This one takes a little more thought than stroking the check to United Way, but I think it's three or four notches more impactful and powerful in terms of building your culture and aligning what you do with your charitable giving. For examples and perspectives on B Corps and aligning your charitable business into your business model, list to The Lazy CEO Podcast. | |||
| 13 Aug 2023 | Navigating Change and Uncertainty In the Workplace | 00:36:15 | |
On an episode of "The Lazy CEO Podcast," host Jim Schleckser welcomes April Rinne, author of the book "Flux: 8 Superpowers for Thriving in Constant Change." Rinne is introduced as a globalist and futurist with a diverse background. She discusses her book and its focus on embracing and thriving in a world of continuous and unpredictable change. Rinne explains that change has always been present, but in the modern era, technology has increased our awareness of change, leading to heightened anxiety. She emphasizes the importance of developing a "Fluxx mindset," which views all change, even challenging change, as an opportunity for growth. Rinne contrasts this with a fixed mindset that resists change. The discussion turns to the role of culture in shaping attitudes toward change. Rinne points out that cultures differ in their approaches to change, whether individualistic or collectivist. She also discusses how trust is crucial in dealing with change and cites examples from her research on different cultural perspectives on trust. The conversation shifts to how leaders can foster a culture that embraces change. Rinne stresses the need for leaders to start with themselves, being open to change, and modeling the desired behavior. She introduces the concept of "cognitive trust" (reliability) and "emotional trust" (caring for one another), highlighting the importance of building both types of trust within an organization. The podcast hosts explore the idea of vulnerability as a key element in building trust and creating a safe space for dealing with change. Rinne emphasizes that leaders must be willing to admit mistakes and vulnerabilities, which can increase trust and foster a culture of open communication. The episode concludes with a discussion of the leadership qualities needed in a rapidly changing world. Rinne highlights the importance of comfort with ambiguity and a tolerance for uncertainty, stressing that acknowledging one's limitations and not having all the answers is an essential aspect of effective leadership in a world of constant change. | |||
| 04 May 2024 | Take Your Brand to New Heights with Strategic Marketing | 00:32:29 | |
In this episode of "The Lazy CEO Podcast," host Jim Schleckser interviews Nancie Ruder, an accomplished marketing strategist with over 25 years of experience working with major brands like Georgetown University, Nike, and Samsung. Nancie shares insights on the complexities of marketing, explaining it as both an art and a science that requires deep understanding and strategic implementation. Nancie discusses her background, including starting her career in a large ad agency, and her move to establish her own consultancy focused on internal brand development rather than external communications. She emphasizes the importance of internal clarity and authenticity in branding, highlighting that a brand must deliver on its promises and maintain logical consistency with its strategic vision. | |||
| 28 Sep 2024 | Working in the Cloud and Climbing to the Clouds | 00:35:20 | |
In this episode of The Lazy CEO Podcast, host Jim Schleckser interviews, Erwin Visser, a business development leader at Microsoft who has not only achieved success in tech but also in extreme sports, having summited Mount Everest. The conversation covers several key topics, starting with hiring top talent, focusing on exceptional personal achievements like mountain climbing. The guest shares insights on cloud migration trends and the role of AI in enhancing productivity and cybersecurity, discussing real-world examples of AI applications in sales, finance, and auditing. | |||
| 21 May 2023 | Organizational Design | 00:31:29 | |
In this episode of The Lazy CEO podcast, host Jim Schleckser discusses organizational design for mid to large-sized companies. He emphasizes that there is no perfect structure and that the key question is what inefficiencies or problems one is willing to tolerate in a particular structure. Reorganizing too frequently can be detrimental to organizational performance, as it disrupts stability and takes time for teams to readjust and perform. Jim suggests using reorganization as an occasional tool when the current structure no longer delivers value or desired results. He explains that structure should follow strategy, meaning the organization's structure should align with its strategic goals. Different strategies, such as cost focus, customer intimacy, or innovation, require different organizational structures. The organizational design should elevate critical processes that drive competitive advantage while less important processes can be minimized. The importance of roles should be based on their relevance to the company's success. Jim advises considering talent-driven approaches and ensuring that high-potential employees have room to develop and take on important positions. Middle management is crucial for organizations with around 50 to 400 employees to coordinate work and facilitate progress. Jim also discusses the impact of reorganization on social networks, power dynamics, and influence within an organization. Reorganization can disrupt these relationships, affecting leaders' effectiveness and performance. He advises being cautious about reorganizing and emphasizes that no structure is perfect, but occasional changes can provide different forms of optimization and improved outcomes. For more about Organizational Design, listen to the complete podcast wherever you get your podcasts. | |||
| 03 Aug 2024 | The Lazy CEO Podcast - Radical Candor and Respect | 00:40:57 | |
In this episode of The Lazy CEO Podcast, host Jim Schleckser, founder of the CEO Project, welcomes Kim Scott, author of "Radical Candor" and "Radical Respect." Kim shares her extensive experience as a CEO coach and faculty member at Apple University, along with her work with tech companies like Dropbox, Qualtrics, and Twitter. The conversation begins with an exploration of "Radical Candor," a framework that combines caring personally with challenging directly. Kim explains the four quadrants of the framework and highlights the common pitfalls of obnoxious aggression and manipulative insincerity, as well as the more prevalent issue of ruinous empathy. Kim recounts a personal story about a difficult employee situation, emphasizing the importance of direct and honest feedback to avoid harming both the individual and the team. The discussion touches on the impact of political behavior in the workplace and the detrimental effects of "brilliant jerks" on team performance. | |||
| 10 Aug 2024 | How to Build a Better Business Model | 00:35:20 | |
In this episode of The Lazy CEO Podcast, host Jim Schleckser dives into the concept of business models and how they impact the success of a company. He compares a good business model to a low-gravity environment, making it easier for a business to thrive, while a bad business model is like heavy gravity, where progress is slow and challenging. Jim emphasizes the importance of choosing the right business model, as it determines how a company competes, innovates, and serves its customers. He outlines three primary ways businesses can compete: through low-cost leadership, innovation, or customer intimacy. Jim also discusses the significance of having a compelling offer that makes it nearly impossible for potential clients to say no, highlighting examples of companies that have successfully implemented such offers. Finally, he touches on market positioning strategies, explaining how businesses can defend their position, attack competitors, or find a niche market to dominate. | |||
| 04 Oct 2022 | Effective Negotiations Part 1 | 00:45:34 | |
Jim Schleckser is the Chief Executive Officer of The CEO Project, a business advisory group for accomplished CEOs to help them solve their most challenging issues, resolve constraints, drive growth, and improve outcomes. With 30 years of leadership experience in business strategy, organizational development, sales, marketing, and more, Jim leads global organizations across many functional areas in both public and private environments. He specializes in solving issues that fast-growing firms experience in their business models and processes as they reach high-performance levels. Jim has appeared in The New York Times, The Huffington Post, and National Public Radio. In this episode…When negotiating a business deal, do you struggle to reach a viable solution? What are some effective strategies you can utilize to manage difficult negotiations? According to business leader Jim Schleckser, there are two main types of negotiations. A collaborative negotiation utilizes cooperation and understanding to identify your associate’s goals and generate a mutually beneficial solution. Conversely, an adversarial negotiation employs force to gain an advantage over your competitor. With this deal, it’s crucial to leverage counter techniques such as mirroring and reasoning to mediate your adversary’s combative tactics. In today’s episode of The Lazy CEO Podcast, Jim Schleckser talks about navigating collaborative and adversarial negotiations. He explains how to negotiate to reach common ground, how to identify and counter adversarial negotiation approaches, and how to leverage confrontational tactics to reach a solution. | |||
| 03 Mar 2025 | Maximize Your Business Growth Potential with Strategic Personal Branding | 00:30:09 | |
How should thought leadership content be tailored to stand out and solve real problems? Peter Winick, the founder and CEO of Thought Leadership Leverage, is a seasoned expert in guiding individuals and organizations to expand their influence through well-crafted thought leadership platforms. With over two decades of experience, Winick emphasizes the necessity of tailoring these platforms to various settings, whether it be personalized one-on-one interactions or broader broadcast environments, to effectively build brand distinction and avoid commoditization. He advocates for a strategic approach that focuses on leveraging thought leadership in sales and networking to achieve specific business outcomes, rather than relying on superficial metrics. By collaborating with notable figures like Keith Ferrazzi and guiding top CEOs and academics, Winick has consistently demonstrated that substantive and strategic thought leadership can significantly elevate visibility and impact in competitive markets. Key Takeaways: -Develop a strategic business model to leverage and scale ideas. -Differentiate between creating products based on expertise and using thought leadership to build a brand. -Address the audience's pain points and deliver value to stand out. -Connect thought leadership content to client pain points with high specificity. -Incorporate thought leadership in strategic one-on-one conversations for business results. -Thought leadership goes beyond appearances and requires valuable content and insights. -Personal branding is about institutionalizing content in the business world and achieving specific outcomes. More from Peter Winick Peter Winick is the founder and CEO of Thought Leadership Leverage, a company dedicated to helping thought leaders, authors, consultants, and speakers monetize and scale their content and products. With over 20 years of experience in the field, Peter has collaborated with a diverse clientele including New York Times bestselling business authors, Speakers' Hall of Fame members, and executives from both public and private companies. His expertise in strategy, marketing, and customer experience enables him to design growth-oriented thought leadership platforms that create lasting impact and value. A passionate entrepreneur and relationship builder, Peter leads business development initiatives that transform innovative ideas into practical solutions for business leaders and executives. Since founding Thought Leadership Leverage in 2008, he has established himself as an industry authority, hosting the Leveraging Thought Leadership podcast where he interviews leading experts and shares best practices with his audience. Prior to his current role, Peter served as Managing Director at Ferrazzi Greenlight and held leadership positions at Rogen International and Axxess Business Centers. He holds a BA in Economics from Hofstra University. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterwinick/ If you are an experienced CEO looking to grow your company, visit https://www.TheCEOProject.com You can also reach Jim by email: Jim@TheCEOProject.com LinkedIn: @theceoproject Instagram: @the_ceoproject Twitter/X: @the_CEO_Project Facebook: @IncCEOproject | |||
| 11 Jun 2023 | Measurement | 00:32:07 | |
In this episode of the Lazy CEO Podcast, host Jim Schleckser discusses the importance of measurement and different measurement methodologies. He introduces KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) as backward-looking measurements that inform how the business has performed in the past. Financial metrics are highlighted as an example of backward-looking measurements that provide a scorecard view of the business's financial performance. Jim explains the concept of the balanced scorecard, which incorporates financial, internal, customer, learning and growth metrics. He emphasizes the interconnectedness of these metrics and their alignment with the organization's strategy. The balanced scorecard provides a comprehensive view of the business's performance and helps identify areas for improvement. Another measurement approach discussed is the strategy map, which takes the balance scorecard one step further by linking strategic goals to specific objectives and key results. Strategy maps create visibility and accountability within the organization, ensuring that everyone understands how their efforts contribute to the overall strategy. Jim also introduces OKRs (Objectives and Key Results), a popular measurement system used in Silicon Valley. OKRs focus on short-term objectives and measurable results, typically within a quarter. They involve collaborative negotiation and a shared leadership model, encouraging commitment and accountability within teams. The episode emphasizes the importance of having a measurement system in place, regardless of the specific methodology used. Jim encourages organizations to start implementing a measurement system and iterate over time to refine and improve it. The goal is to have observable metrics that provide a clear indication of the business's performance and alignment with strategic objectives. | |||
| 13 Nov 2022 | Neen James - Idea Shaping | 00:31:33 | |
Neen James helps people think about how they focus their time, and how they maximize the impact, for not only themselves but also their organization. And she does a lot of very interesting coaching around systems thinking and communication techniques to improve executive effectiveness. Neen shares insights about paying attention, and how to focus your attention on the things that are your strengths and allow your team to focus on the rest. Neen discusses the importance of remembering that No is a complete sentence. As CEOs, we must have shortcuts. We must have language that is understood by our team. So, an elegant way to say no is that sounds like a great project to be involved in. I'm at capacity right now, I'm going to direct you to this person. So you are acknowledging the request or the person or whatever the ask is. Because that's how we make them feel important. That's how we make them feel like we're giving them attention. But we also must be, have the courage to say, that's not a use of our time right Now, what I never want any CEO to say is, I don't have time. And here's why. When you say to someone, I don't have time, what you're actually saying is, I don't have time for you. And that's how we make them feel less valuable. And that's not our job because we're creating a culture where we want to develop the talent. Neen leaves us with this challenge - have a 15-minute strategic appointment with yourself every day and identify your top three priorities that'll help move the business forward today. For more advice and insight, I hope you will enjoy this Episode of The Lazy CEO Podcast. | |||
| 16 Apr 2023 | Helping Leaders and Teams Do Their Best Work | 00:33:31 | |
Jim Schlecker, CEO of The CEO Project and host of The Lazy CEO Podcast has a conversation with Dr. David Burkus. David: I help leaders and teams do their best work ever. I think two things fundamentally. One is that work is central to our lives. Even if we had universal basic income and everybody was being paid, most people would still want to do something and make some contribution to the world. So work is central to our lives. And that work is teamwork. Your experience of work, whether or not you're engaged or motivated, whether or not you actually want to put your whole effort into something is shaped less so by broad company culture and more by the teams that you're on. And for a CEO, this is your job. Whether you are the CEO or a middle manager, no matter what team you lead, you are responsible for the culture of that team. That's what I focus on, is teaching teams and teaching team leaders how to have a culture that actually unlocks high performance, unlocks motivation, allows them to be more innovative et cetera. Jim: Let’s talk about culture and culture management. Your comment is culture is experienced locally. And so how do we as leaders of scaled organizations deal with the fact that culture is experienced locally, not globally, feels like we don't have the levers of control on that one. So how, how do you help people with that? David: So what do you do to scale culture? You teach leaders at all levels what a great team culture looks like, and you make them responsible for the one on their team. I look at it as sort of concentric circles. What do we as an organization want to be about? What are our values, mission, vision, et cetera? And then you have to teach every leader at every level to do the same thing in a smaller circle. Inside that larger circle, you run into problems when you let leaders do something that's against the corporate-wide values, the company-wide values, and culture, but as long as it's inside of it, every team is going to have a stronger culture that is still a little bit different from other teams inside the organization. Culture is everybody's job. It's not just that senior leader job and you teach them specifically. There are decades of research on corporate culture and effective culture, et cetera. But when you dive down into team culture, it is easier to focus on. It becomes a little bit easier to teach every team leader what they're responsible for. Jim: I'm a CEO. What are the factors that make a great team culture that I should be thinking about and teaching? David: I boil it down to three factors, which I call common understanding, psychological safety, and pro-social purpose. Psychological Safety What we're not talking about is a place where you'll never confront a dissenting opinion. We're actually talking about the opposite. We're talking about an environment where people feel safe to state their dissenting opinions, and where there's a climate of mutual trust and respect. When you have a high level of trust and respect, you can have task-focused conflict. You can have people speaking up when they disagree. And you get a team that's more willing to admit their failures. And I think that's probably the biggest element of psychological safety that has nothing to do with safe spaces and that sort of thing. I mean, by the way, there's no such thing as safe spaces. There are only safe people. But that's a whole other monologue. You learn from failure because you cultivate a team where people trust everyone else on the team is not going to leverage their mistakes and their screw-ups to try and step over that person into a promotion. Instead, we acknowledge we had a learning moment here. We failed. Failures happen from time to time. And as long as you're not grossly incompetent in failing all the time, as long as this isn't a performance issue, then the failure's really just a learning moment. Let's talk about it and let's learn from it. Common Understanding Common understanding is how well we have clarity of roles, clarity of responsibilities, how well we have dependability, and we can trust that other people on the team are going to do what they say they do, but also how well we understand the other teammates. How well we have clarity of their person, their personality differences, and their work preferences. You get so much frustration on a team just because people are fighting for people to follow their favorite process. You look at a tool as simple as email. It's been around for 50 years, and no one can agree on how long an email is supposed to be used, how many main points, and what the rules for replying are. And you're not going to convince everyone to treat this tool the same, but you can understand the different preferences on your team, and you can understand who keeps a different calendar. And so they send late-night emails and you don't feel threatened by that, et cetera. You get a lot more collaboration because when you understand the preferences of your team, you know how to speak to that person better, and you know how and what to expect from them. Pro Social Purpose Pro-social purpose is essentially meaning and impact. It's whether we feel like we're making a contribution to work that benefits others. We're motivated to do work because we know it will benefit others because it has this sort of pro-social element to it. And so I think the big question leaders need to answer, and this is why it's also important at a team level, is who's benefiting from the work that we not why do we do what we do, but who is served by the work that we're doing? And that varies by every single team. There are customers and stakeholders for a whole organization, but some teams serve the people who serve the customer. For more ideas about effective leaders and teams, listen to the entire conversation on this episode of The Lazy CEO Podcast - Helping Leaders and Teams Do Their Best Work. Thank You to Our Guest One of the world’s leading business thinkers, Dr. David Burkus’ forward-thinking ideas and bestselling books are helping leaders and teams do their best work ever. | |||
| 14 Sep 2024 | Building a Learning Culture | 00:34:52 | |
In this episode of The Lazy CEO Podcast, host Jim Schleckser discusses the importance of a relentless desire to learn, particularly for CEOs and leaders. Schleckser introduces his guest, Damon Lembi, a two-time bestselling author and learning platform host, who has helped over two million people enhance their skills. The conversation centers around the concept of learning as a key competitive advantage for companies and leaders. Lembi shares his personal journey, from his early career in baseball to becoming a leading figure in the learning and development space. He emphasizes the need for individuals to be open to learning, adaptable, and self-aware, highlighting that success often stems from continuous self-improvement. The discussion explores practical ways to assess a person's willingness to learn during hiring, including asking candidates to share recent books they've read and how they’ve applied that knowledge. | |||
| 16 Nov 2024 | The Balance Between Procrastination and Perfection | 00:39:01 | |
In this engaging episode of The CEO Project Podcast, host Jim Schleckser introduces a compelling discussion on productivity with a special guest, Penny Zenker. Penny, a productivity expert, bestselling author, and former C-suite executive, shares valuable insights on overcoming perfectionism, procrastination, and distractions to achieve hyper-focus and productivity. The episode emphasizes self-awareness, intentionality, and fostering a culture where teams feel empowered and accountable. CEOs can drive greater productivity, innovation, and overall success by optimizing their focus and leadership style. | |||
| 28 May 2023 | Executive Gravitas | 00:33:22 | |
In this episode of The Lazy CEO Podcast, host Jim Schleckser discusses the concept of executive gravitas. He explains executive gravitas is about exuding confidence, trust, and credibility professionally. It goes beyond just the content of what you say and encompasses how you present yourself. Jim highlights the importance of having confidence in oneself and belonging in the role or position. He suggests that poor reference groups often undermine confidence, and one should focus on their accomplishments and merits. The podcast also delves into gravitas's verbal, vocal, visual, and physical aspects. Verbal skills, including clean and positive language, eliminating verbal crutches, and using effective idioms, play a significant role. Vocal factors, such as tone, pace, and pauses, contribute to the impact of one's communication. In terms of visual elements, being well-groomed, dressing appropriately in neutral and powerful colors, and paying attention to personal hygiene are emphasized. Physical aspects cover the importance of a firm handshake, appropriate proximity to others, and understanding power positions in different settings. Lastly, Jim discusses the role of energy and emotional control in projecting gravitas. Effective leaders can calm others and maintain composure in stressful situations. Striking the right balance between managing stress and motivating the team is crucial. The podcast provides insights and practical tips for developing executive gravitas, enabling individuals to make a strong impression and establish credibility in professional environments. | |||
| 14 Apr 2024 | Expert Crisis Leadership Strategies | 00:37:55 | |
In this episode of The Lazy CEO Podcast, host Jim Schleckser introduces Eric McNulty, an expert on leadership in crisis situations. McNulty, who is the Associate Director of the National Preparedness Leadership Initiative at Harvard University, discusses the importance of understanding energy systems in the workplace and how decisions impact both employees and the broader environment. He emphasizes the power of empowering every level of an organization to create meaningful work experiences. McNulty shares his personal connection to crisis leadership, which began unexpectedly due to a near-miss experience during the 9/11 attacks and continued with a career shift during the economic downturn of 2008. His work focuses on preparing leaders for high-stakes environments where quick, effective decision-making is crucial. He contrasts average operational leadership with crisis leadership, describing the latter as requiring a higher level of performance, akin to competing in the Olympics. According to McNulty, successful crisis leaders maintain calm, gain perspective quickly, and guide their teams effectively through emergencies. | |||
| 25 Jun 2023 | Deal Terms You Need To Know Before Selling Your Company | 00:37:10 | |
In this episode of The Lazy CEO Podcast, host Jim Schleckser discusses the importance of deal terms in business transactions. He introduces the concept of "your price, my terms," emphasizing that the terms of a deal can outweigh the price in determining its quality. Jim compares two theoretical deals to illustrate this point: a $20 million deal paid over 10 years with potential deductions versus a $16 million cash deal with no backside risk. He highlights the significance of closure risk, timing, level of due diligence, time value of money, escrows, and representation and warranties in deal negotiations. Jim also discusses the impact of the buyer's fit and treatment of employees, as well as the distinction between asset sales and stock sales. He explains that the choice between the two can have significant tax implications and advises listeners to consult with their advisors to determine the most favorable option. Throughout the episode, Jim shares personal experiences and insights from his involvement in various deals. He concludes by emphasizing the importance of paying close attention to deal terms and seeking expert advice to ensure a successful transaction. | |||
| 24 Feb 2025 | Unlock Growth Potential by Streamlining Your Merger and Acquisition Processes | 00:35:31 | |
What is the significance of identifying synergies in Mergers & Acquisitions? In this episode, Jim is joined by Sharon McGuire for an insightful discussion on corporate acquisitions. Drawing from their combined experience, they explore how successful mergers require a strategic and structured approach, treating them as integral processes rather than isolated events. The conversation delves into the meticulous aspects of strategy development, target identification, and diligent execution needed to foster growth and yield substantial returns. Their discussion, enriched by McGuire's background in major industry mergers at a leading oil company, emphasizes how CEOs must proactively seek acquisition opportunities that align with corporate goals while avoiding hasty decisions that could jeopardize leadership and company future. Key Takeaways: →Acquisition is a strategic approach to augment growth rate and yield high returns. → CEOs need to have a clear vision and strategic direction for their acquisitions. → About 80% of acquisitions fail to deliver the intended results due to unrealistic financial projections. → Identifying synergies that justify the merger is crucial for long-term value creation. → Bidding strategy in mergers involves initially bidding high to clear the room and negotiating a lower price later. More from Sharon McGuire Prior to joining The CEO Project as a Member Specialist, Sharon worked for a decade for Chevron Corporation. She held positions in lubricant sales, research, alternate energy, and shareholder services. Sharon interfaces with our members at The CEO Project to support their member experience. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharon-mcguire-125bb595/ If you are an experienced CEO looking to grow your company, visit https://www.TheCEOProject.com
You can also reach Jim by email: Jim@TheCEOProject.com
LinkedIn: @theceoproject Instagram: @the_ceoproject Twitter/X: @the_CEO_Project Facebook: @IncCEOproject | |||
| 20 Nov 2022 | Middle Managers with Dave Fechtman | 00:57:59 | |
We have talked before about the criticality of management, as we talk about business model processes and leadership or talent, everybody's happy to spend on their executive team and get these A players. Everybody's happy to go hire people that are sort of billable, and customer-facing, but once you cross about a hundred people, the distance between those two spreads enough that you must have people in the middle. And as entrepreneurs, it is not an appealing place for us to spend time, effort, and money. And yet, it can put a nail in your tire and really screw you up. So this episode is focused on what it does it do to your company if you don't, and what are the implications? And then we will get into how to make it better. When organizations grow and that need arises, generally they'll do a few things. One is they'll ignore it and they'll just overburden the executive team. What we most commonly see is a spoke and hub where all decisions run back and forth between the CEO or the leaders directly involved in decision-making in one way or another. Or we see a flat organization, maybe some supervisors, the CEO's direct reports. With either one of those models, you start to see a lot of constraints. You start to see a lot of slow down, burnout and overwhelm. So, what organizations often do is they'll hire externally because they begin noticing that there's a need and you lose institutional knowledge or you promote somebody too soon or they haven't been fully developed, now you're having to backfill the best person in that department who now doesn't know how to lead effectively, and the whole thing becomes problematic. The best way to avoid this issue is to know your organization. Who is ready to move in the next 12 months, or in the next 3 to 5 years? So the real question is, how do you get someone ready? There are two ways to develop your talent – providing them with Professional Development. The first is technical expertise through certifications, conferences, and job training. The second is leadership development. There are a number of ways to go about providing leadership development. Nothing beats one on one interactions. CEOs should skip levels and spend time with people two levels below. Experience what someone is good or bad at yourself. Start giving them small bite-size challenges. This episode of the Lazy CEO Podcast will answer these questions and more.
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| 13 Sep 2022 | Raising Capital | 00:45:43 | |
There are two reasons to need capital: one reason is to fund growth and another reason to need capital is inventory. In this episode, Jim Schleckser explains why a business needs capital, where to get capital for the business, and why you need to bring capital into your business. He also shares his best tips for bringing capital into your business so make sure to tune in. | |||
| 29 Jan 2023 | Leading and Developing High Performing Teams | 00:33:47 | |
The Lazy CEO Podcast guest on this episode is Stephen Drum. Stephen is a 27-year, Navy Seal retired combat vet and he now speaks on leadership, some of the lessons that they learned and developed through his many years of leading people through dangerous, high-stress, mission-critical, environments, which we can all learn a lot from as we run our business. Here is a little bit of the conversation between Jim Schleckser, CEO of The CEO Project, and Stephen Drum. Jim: What is warrior toughness? How do you measure it? As CEOs we would really like to figure out when we hire somebody when the fire starts, are they going to run to the fire or away from the fire? What is toughness? Stephen: Well, to set the scene quickly, I'm sitting there, and we have what's called an all-hands call. That's where the whole entire command will sit and either the commander or somebody from outside will come in. So we're doing an all-hands call in the chapel, which is the biggest place where everybody can all sit. And the chief of naval operations, who is the head admiral of the Navy, comes in and starts talking about his initiatives. And one of them was toughness. I have the bright idea to stand up and say, sir, how do we define toughness? How are we going to measure it? And how are we actually going to train it? Little did I know that about six months later, I would be locked in a room with a clinical psychologist, and a chaplain and the three of us would be charged with figuring out how to get our sailors tough. There were some things in the fleet that hadn't really been going well. If you think of like the fighting sailors from World War ii, we kind of lost that. And now we have things going on, ships colliding, missiles being fired; we need tougher sailors. And so of course, the first thing was we had to define what it is. And so, we defined toughness in three areas.
Jim: Can everybody get there? I'll give you an example. I was on a board of a company and, and we had some tough times, like missing numbers, bank covenant violation. The bank was ready to take the keys to the building. It was interesting to watch the performance of the executive team. Some ran toward, like we call it, ran towards the fire, right? They said, how can I help? What can I do? Let me take something on, let me right others. Can everybody be brought to the point that they would run to the fire? Are they born or can they be made? And I always default to decide that yes, people are more predisposed to have certain traits, characteristics and attributes to make them more gregarious, whatever that is. But ultimately, I believe that we can build that even if you tend to be an introvert, you can still do things. For example, I refuse to believe that somebody who's introverted can't go out and be a good sales rep. Stephen: I also believe that you can always be tougher. There must be a level of commitment that says this is important, and I'm going to do everything possible for me to set the table for my success, and for my team's success. You can do your very best, but if you at the end of the day cannot be bought into that concept, then I'm going to have to exit you from my sphere. Jim: And that does happen. We talked about how this applies to the business environment. You could argue the stakes aren't quite as high, but the ideas certainly translate. How do you translate that line of thinking to a business environment and give an example or two of how you've seen it work? Stephen: The concept that I talk about is the X and I think it's important. My book is called Life on the X, but the X goes back to my time in the military. And it's a military doctrine term, but you can think of it as X marks the spot. So if you rope out of a helicopter onto the rooftop of a building, we call that landing on the X. I'm going to line up all my efforts and all my preparations to make sure that I show up, that I can handle curve balls, that I can pivot, that I can adjust, and that I can learn. Every engagement that you make, you must be intentional, whether it's internal to your organization, to your customer, or to your partner. I must make sure that I align the skills, I identify the gaps in my performance so that when I walk in there, I'm calm and composed, but I also have that level of, okay, I'm hovering above, I can make a decision. I'm not too close to the problem. So really it's about regulating your emotions. For more of the conversation between Jim and Steven, listen to the full Podcast. Thank you to our guest... Stephen Drum is a combat-tested retired Navy SEAL Master Chief who has 27 years of experience leading and developing high-performance teams. As an in-demand speaker and consultant, he helps individuals and organizations such as CDW, Horizon Pharma, and 9 Energy develop leadership and performance strategies, so they can plan, prepare, and execute at the highest levels when it matters most. Steve has trained and led U.S. and foreign partner special operations forces on high-risk and strategically vital missions across the globe, including combat operations in rag and Afghanistan. He recently co-developed and taught "Warrior Toughness" training for The U.S. Navy. This vital program fundamentally changed the culture of the Navy in how it trains and prepares young sailors and officers for the acute stress of intense combat operations. During his Navy career, Steve has personally trained thousands of elite military soldiers and Navy SEAL candidates, helping them succeed in severe training courses and overseas combat operations. | |||
| 04 Dec 2022 | Fair Compensation | 00:53:44 | |
Jim Schleckser, The CEO Project, and Kim Conklin, KC Consulting, debate the merits of compensation and incentive plans. Listen to this Podcast for entertaining bantering between Jim and Kim as they navigate this extremely important and relevant topic – fair compensation. What does Fair Compensation mean? It means when employees look internally, other people that do more or less the job I do are paid more or less what I'm paid. And when I look outside, people that do more or less what I do make more or less what I make. 90 something percent of the population feel they are paid fairly for their effort, for their skills, experience, background, knowledge, etc. Where that sometimes runs into trouble - people that are fully coin operated, meaning they are all about maximizing their personal income and they will pound you. It doesn't matter where they are relative to anybody else, they will just pound you on compensation always. The other place that I've seen problems in this is when they have what I would call poor referent groups. These mercenaries are going to change jobs every year or two, maximizing their income. One of the things that people do is go on salary.com and just plug in a job title and assume that their title matches the exact same job and then they wonder why it's 30 grand less. When you are looking at compensation, you need to look at the actual responsibilities of the person and the actual responsibilities of whatever job you're comparing it to. Sometimes a VP isn't a VP and a director isn't a director. Here are some important tips for any organization. For details, listen to the podcast.
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| 03 Dec 2023 | Harnessing The Benefits of Travel for CEOs and Founders | 00:33:28 | |
In this episode of the Lazy CEO Podcast, host Jim Schleckser welcomes a guest from Freedom Travel Systems to discuss strategies for gaining access to lounges, first-class treatment, and VIP travel experiences without breaking the bank. The conversation kicks off with a discussion on the challenges of modern travel, citing changes in airline cost structures, loyalty programs, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Eli emphasizes the need for travelers to adapt and find effective ways to enhance their travel experiences. The discussion then shifts to airline loyalty programs and the considerations for pursuing status. Eli suggests that not everyone may benefit from loyalty status and highlights the importance of evaluating one's travel habits and preferences. He advises listeners to assess the specific benefits offered by different airlines and choose loyalty programs accordingly. When it comes to achieving airline status, Eli recommends focusing on one airline if you meet certain criteria, such as flying 30 to 40 times a year with that specific carrier. He also emphasizes the significance of credit card spending in earning points and status. The conversation further delves into the top-tier status levels of airlines, such as Global Services with United and Concierge Key with American. Eli explains the exclusive benefits and experiences that come with these elite statuses, including priority boarding, first-class upgrades, and personalized services. Shifting to hotel status, Eli discusses the major hotel chains—Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, and IHG. He suggests that Hyatt offers the best value for points, while Marriott has the largest global footprint. For quick and easy top-tier status, Eli recommends the Hilton Aspire card, which grants Diamond status with Hilton. The episode concludes with a discussion of the benefits of hotel status, such as complimentary breakfast, room upgrades, and accelerated points accumulation. Eli shares personal experiences of receiving significant room upgrades, including a stay in a $30,000-per-night presidential suite. | |||
| 09 Apr 2023 | Leading with Courage | 00:33:36 | |
Today we have an amazing human being and an incredible leader. We have Kim (KC) she'll tell you what that means. Later Kim, who's a retired Air Force colonel, served in the Air Force for more than 24 years as a fighter pilot and a senior military leader, she's flown more than a hundred combat missions protecting troops on the ground both in both Iraq and Afghanistan. As a senior military leader, Kim has led hundreds of airmen at home and abroad in deployed locations around the world. Most recently, Kim served as a director of the Center of Character and Leadership Development at the Air Force Academy. Kim is now Managing Director of Victory Strategies, where she's the leadership coach and keynote speaker. She's also the author of Flying in the Face of Fear, Lessons on Leading with Courage. Jim: You've been everywhere. You've done everything that the Air Force had to offer. Why did you leave? You don't have to have to, right? So why did you say it was time to hang it up? Kim: I tried to leave three times, so I figured the third time was a charm. But one of my final jobs in the Air Force before I moved to the Air Force Academy, I was a group commander responsible for about a thousand people throughout Central America, South America the Caribbean, a lot of travel, a lot of time away from home. I absolutely loved connecting with my team, getting out and meeting them and walking around, getting to know them. But my husband was also an active duty Air Force officer at the time. He was responsible for the entire base down in Tucson. We also have two boys who happened to be now 10 and 14, but at the time were one and five. And it was a lot. We came to realize that our priorities were changing, the pressures were changing, the stress levels were changing, and we decided it was time to do something different where we were a little bit more in control of our schedules. I attempted to retire then and the Air Force asked if I would stay and become an instructor at the Air Force Academy. Which to me, coming back was home for me. That's where I started my career. And so, coming back there was a great opportunity to help influence the next generation of leaders. Then my husband and I retired at the same time, same ceremony, but it was really a family decision more than anything. And resetting our priorities and our boundaries as well. My passion and my purpose were really initially flying A10, supporting our troops on the ground. That changed over time as I got to lead teams. But then my passion and purpose, changed and I was able to put all my effort and energy and passion into leading the next generation of our airmen, of our leaders of our aviators. And that to me had value, and I was able to find my new way. Jim: We help people get better as leaders. Just for a minute, we must touch on the A10 though, it's too cool an aircraft not to talk about for a minute or two before we dive into the other stuff. So why A10s and what was your view on it? Kim: Jim: For those of you that don't know the A10, it's low-level. It's basically a gigantic cannon with wings, and it's designed to support the troops by clearing the way for them and suppressing other opposing forces. It is one of the most feared aircraft in the arsenal of the United States of America by any opposing force. But you didn't make it home one time. Kim: It happened on April 7th, 2003. So we're almost at the 20-year anniversary. That's part of the reason that I love the A10, why I'm passionate about the A10 was that it helped get me home safely. And I happened to be over Bagdad providing support to our troops on the ground when my airplane was hit with a surface tear missile. I remember that moment; it was such a loud boom and bright red-orange flash as this fireball envelops my aircraft. And then it just dumped over, and I could see Bagdad below. And I think it was just instinct. I pulled back on my control stick and absolutely nothing happened. It was not responding to any of my control inputs. And I remember thinking, I do not want to eject. I mean, that's the last thing I want to do is eject over Baghdad. And I really fell back on my training and all the preparation that I had done quickly trying to figure out what was going on in my aircraft. And I've got lights flashing everywhere. I've got a master caution panel that's lit up like a Christmas tree. I mean, it was slightly overwhelming, but I had to focus on what was most important. And that is, how do I get this airplane under control? I quickly realized that it has lost all hydraulics. They dumped out when the missile hit the airplane. And so at this point, I know I either eject or I try to get the airplane in our backup emergency system. And thankfully I flipped that switch. The airplane worked exactly as advertised, and I was able to slowly pull the aircraft and, and get away from Baghdad. And that was for me, the first moment I felt like I was going to make it out of there alive. I flew the airplane back for an hour. I was able to get it on the ground which was obviously a huge feeling of relief. And let's say there was a lot of adrenaline in that moment. And the next day, instead of being tasked with a normal mission, I was tasked with combat search and rescue alert, which is another mission we fly, where if an aviator is shot down, then we go and do everything we can to rescue them. Normally when we're on alert, we sleep, we rest, you know, it's, it's downtime because this, this doesn't happen often, but this was April 8th, the alarm sounded, it wasn't a drill. An A10 pilot had been shot down right in Baghdad, right. Where I had escaped my own shootdown. And for me, it was just that those guys were there for me the day before. I was going to do the same for this pilot. We raced out to the Jets, we were start gathering information, and we make an immediate takeoff. I just didn't have time to think about it. It was just, how do we get there as quickly as we can? And thankfully, he was very lucky he got picked up by friendly ground troops. So we only made it about 30 minutes into Iraq. But wow, you know, it was the whole idea that that's what we do for teammates. Unfortunately, that airplane never flew again. I was able to land it, but it was so badly damaged that they assessed that they couldn't repair it in the location that it was. So they decided that maintenance took every piece and part that they could out of it. But they also cut a piece of the back tail section for me that had the tail number on it. And it's been with me for 20 years. It's hung in every Air Force office I've had. But I recently retired and it held a place actually back behind me here. And this Smithsonian is doing a new exhibit on modern military aviation. They asked if I had anything, and I thought, what better way Yeah. To share the story than that tail flash. So I delivered it on Tuesday to the Smithsonian in Washington DC It will be there in a new exhibit. And now the story and the lessons learned, which are most important to me, can be told to the next generation. Jim: So let's move over to leadership. You move from sort of being an individual contributor in the form of a pilot to leading people. And now you've transitioned to teaching people how to lead people. So let's just roll all the way back and if you had to characterize your leadership approach, what would be the elements of your leadership approach, the teachable elements of your leadership approach? Kim: Well, I think part of the reason that I wrote my new book, I was trying to capture all of these experiences and lessons. And what I realized for me is that over the course of my career, I have experienced fear. I have experienced being nervous or stressed about flying airplanes, and about leading teams. And to me, all it came down to was those feelings, those things are normal. They happen. It is all about what you do in the moment. It is about leading with courage. And so for me, this whole idea of courageous leadership and leading with courage and how can you make those hard decisions? How can you make decisions when you don't have perfect information? How can you have the tough conversations that none of us like to have, but are essential and necessary? How do you hold yourself and other people accountable? How do you admit mistakes when it's really uncomfortable to do so? You know, how do you get out and connect with your team? It all comes down to me having the courage to do that, to do the hard things, to make those connections, and to build an environment of trust. So the short answer is, it's all about leading with courage. For lessons from Kim, and to learn what her call signal KC stands for, listen to the complete podcast on leading with courage. | |||
| 07 Nov 2022 | The Five Hats | 00:36:29 | |
This episode focuses on the secret to being a great and lazy CEO - knowing what to work on, only working on that, and getting rid of everything else. When I spread my effort across the whole organization, or we call it peanut buttering, your time across the business, it's not particularly useful because you haven't applied force in a significant way to one or two problems to really bust through them and get a great answer. You sort of neutralize all your effort by spreading it so thin. You can think of this simply like a garden hose. So, you go out in your water, in your garden, and everybody knows what happens when you pull on the hose, you get a kink in the hose, and the kink in the hose stops the water from flowing. And if you think about the purpose of a hose, it's to flow water, right? That's the only real job it's got. So, it can't do its job because there's a kink in the hose. So your job as the waterer is to go find the kink and open it up, and then you get your flow rate back. Now, the same thing's true in your business. That's a system. It's a simple one. It's a hose, but your business is a system too. But it's almost certain they're never going to open the kink and the hose if they just sort of work on the entire hose. A great CEO who's lazy, and doesn’t want to spend that much time working, says, I'm going to do this smart, I'm going to follow the hose, find the kink, and then I will get the performance I'm after. In other words, very specific and dedicated types of work to change the performance of the system. And that's what good CEOs do. And if you think about how a business grows, we've all seen these like scalloped curbs where it grows a while and then it gets flat, and then it grows a while, and then it gets flat. That little flat spot is the kink coming into play. And until you resolve the kink, you don't get to grow again. When you see companies grow, then flatten out, grow, flatten out, that is because they're not being proactive and fixing the point of constraint from the kink before it comes into play. So how do you do this? In my book, Great CEOs Are Lazy, I talk about this idea of five hats, and these are the five hats that you should be thinking about wearing as a CEO when you're focused on the point of constraint. The first two hats are “find the kink” hats and the other three hats are “fix the kink” hats. The hats are player, learner, architect, coach, and engineer. For details about each of the 5 hats, I hope you will enjoy this Episode of The Lazy CEO Podcast. | |||
| 01 Jan 2023 | Leading Leaders in Multi Unit Businesses | 00:38:33 | |
In this Episode… Jim Schlecker and Sam Watson, discuss the complexity of the multinational business and managing multiple presidents. Sam shares his story. Sam’s headquarters is here in the US but is spread around about 40 different countries. They have meaningful, 50 plus headcount in probably 10 or so countries around the world. Their geographic spread both in terms of customers as well as manufacturing and employees and quite vast. In terms of the nature of the products that they are selling - they are all sort of marine water oriented. One of the things Jim has talked about previously in terms of the goodness of a business is recurring revenue. Customers repeat a lot with them either through the course of the year or over like a five-year period. A race boat is a consumable product. If you look at their customer base, it's quite solid and approximately 80% of them are repeat buyers. Their mass-building business is more focused on the top end of the market, the big soup yachts and the race boats in particular. And they tend to be kind of repeat owners in the background. They might have different boats and sometimes cross between different parts of the business, but they are big capital projects. In general, pretty good predictability about what they are going to get next year. Customers repeat on whatever cycle, depending on the product. Sam is a leader leading leaders. They have their own P & L inside each of these businesses. He is in constant contact with them throughout the week. There are issues boiling up around the business that Sam gets in touch with them to solve. And that always gives him a touch point to just check in on how things are going. Sam focuses on tracking to the budget and the sales KPIs. Jim and Same also discuss budgeting, 5-year planning, strategy, and the importance of running a high-functioning organization virtually. To learn more about success in multi-unit businesses, download this week’s episode of The Lazy CEO Podcast. Resources mentioned in this episode:
Thank you to our GuestSam Watson, North Technology Group, CEO Sam is a leader with multinational experience and a track record leading large teams across multiple geographies and time zones at the most senior level. Sam is an expert at managing the challenges of global communication and demonstrated ability to drive change & develop buy-in to a global business direction. Sam has extensive experience in M&A, Integration, Strategy Development & Planning, Product Development, and Talent Acquisition and Retention. | |||
| 06 Jan 2025 | Communicating with the 86% of Your People who are Visual Learners? | 00:23:19 | |
Why is visual communication essential for leadership and driving business success?In this episode of The CEO Project, Jim Schleckser speaks with Olina Glindevi, the Visual Agile Coach and author of The Visual Agile Coach Playbook. Olina shares her unique approach to integrating visual communication techniques into Agile practices to foster better engagement, communication, and value delivery within teams. Drawing on her extensive experience in IT and Agile roles such as Scrum Master and Agile Coach, Olina showcases how visual tools can help leaders and teams streamline their processes, adapt Agile frameworks to their contexts, and align organizational goals effectively. She also provides insights into the cultural and practical applications of visual techniques, ensuring they remain accessible and impactful regardless of individual artistic skill. Key Takeaways: → Visual communication clarifies and enhances Agile practices, making them more engaging and effective. More from Olina Glindevi Olina Glindevi is a visual communicator, trainer, and project manager with extensive experience in leadership roles, including Agile Coach, Scrum Master, and Release Train Engineer (RTE). Driven by a passion for Agile methodologies and coaching leadership, Glindevi brings creativity, structure, and a focus on business value to every project. With a proven ability to inspire and motivate, Glindevi excels at bringing people together to achieve common goals. Her coaching-led approach emphasizes communication, visualization, and transparency, creating an environment where teams thrive and deliver high-quality outcomes. She has successfully supported teams and organizations at all levels, fostering alignment, collaboration, and engagement. Find her book Online: The Visual Agile Coach Playbook Website: https://thevisualagilecoach.com/ LinkedIn: @thevisualagilecoach Instagram: @the_visual_agile_coach Contact: olinasmail@gmail.com If you are an experienced CEO looking to grow your company, visit https://www.TheCEOProject.com You can also reach Jim by email: Jim@TheCEOProject.com LinkedIn: @theceoproject Instagram: @the_ceoproject Twitter/X: @the_CEO_Project Facebook: @IncCEOproject
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| 03 Sep 2023 | Do You Want To Be King or Do You Want To Build Wealth | 00:36:31 | |
In this episode of The Lazy CEO Podcast, host Jim Schleckser discusses the dynamics of running a business and the choice between being a "king" or being "rich" with his guest Julie. The central question is whether business owners prioritize holding onto control and maintaining their ego-driven leadership style (being a "king"), or if they focus on scaling the business and generating wealth (being "rich"). The conversation revolves around the challenges and decisions faced by founders as their businesses transition from lifestyle-oriented to growth-focused. Julie highlights that this dilemma is particularly relevant for founder-led businesses at the crossroads of scaling successfully or reverting to a lifestyle-oriented model. The tension between ego-driven leadership and the desire for financial success often influences decisions that can impact the business's direction. The "king" aspect involves maintaining a leadership persona, often tied to personal identity, recognition, and control. The "rich" aspect relates to building wealth and implementing systems for sustainable growth. The discussion also touches on the significance of a company's mission and values, and how these can reflect the owner's ego-driven tendencies or commitment to scaling for wealth. The podcast delves into the impact on hiring decisions, emphasizing how the types of salespeople and executives chosen can determine the success of the chosen path. The importance of hiring individuals who are motivated by scaling and wealth creation rather than personal recognition or hierarchy is highlighted. Julie provides examples of business owners who have successfully transformed their businesses by shifting their focus from ego-driven leadership to growth-oriented strategies. The conversation concludes with a discussion about the traits of individuals who are well-suited for a growth-focused environment, including their willingness to bet on themselves, their ability to lead by doing, and their desire to take on higher-stakes risks for the sake of business growth. The idea that building wealth benefits everyone involved in the business journey is also emphasized. | |||
| 14 Jan 2024 | Preparing For An IPO As An Exit Strategy | 00:35:39 | |
The Lazy CEO Podcast featured Jim Schleckser, the host and founder of the CEO Project, in a conversation with Peter Goldstein from Exchange Listing. They discussed the process of going public, specifically focusing on Initial Public Offerings (IPOs). Peter, with 35 years of entrepreneurial experience, highlighted the accessibility of IPOs for small and medium-sized companies, dispelling the myth that only unicorns can list on major exchanges. They delved into the advantages of going public, such as increased access to venture capital, liquidity, and a broader investor base. Peter emphasized that IPOs are not exclusive to high-profile companies and provided insights into the changing dynamics of the investment community, with retail investors playing a significant role in public offerings. Discussing the timeline for going public, Peter suggested a preparation period of 12 to 18 months, starting with a financial audit and the establishment of a well-regulated financial system. He emphasized the importance of having a strategic roadmap in place before embarking on the IPO journey.
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| 20 Sep 2022 | Entrepreneurship - Part 1 | 00:27:27 | |
Joel Trammell is the Founder of the Texas CEO Magazine and the Co-founder of American CEO, a company that provides educational resources for chief executive officers. He is a successful entrepreneur who has founded four businesses and served as CEO of seven others – from start-ups to public firms valued at $1 billion. As an author and educator, Joel has extensive experience teaching CEO Master Classes and Managerial Excellence Courses. He regularly speaks at conferences and nationwide events and has contributed to Entrepreneur, Forbes, and Inc.com. He has served on the boards of public, private, and nonprofit organizations and is now on a mission to teach aspiring and established CEOs how to effectively carry out their position. In this episode…CEOs face difficult situations and must make tough decisions. They are frequently caught between employees, shareholders, and clients who have very different interests, wants, and needs. Given the lens of these various parties, how does a CEO maintain balance and fairness in determining which one has supremacy? Joel Trammell says that a good CEO should be able to effectively identify and manage the two triangles of tension in every business. The first triangle is the external tension – the wants and needs of employees, customers, and shareholders. The second triangle represents the internal tension between the sales group, product group, and marketing group. The role of a CEO is managing the white space, communication, and coordination of those six fundamental areas simultaneously. In this episode of The Lazy CEO Podcast, Jim Schleckser sits down with Joel Trammell, the Founder of Texas CEO Magazine and the Co-founder of American CEO. They talk about the challenges CEOs face everyday when making crucial decisions for their businesses. Joel also talks about what being an executive means and why hiring should be a continuous process when building a successful company. | |||
| 17 Feb 2025 | Taking Action: The Key Steps for Executing Strategy Effectively | 00:34:02 | |
Why should companies focus on their uniqueness and meeting customer needs instead of competing directly with industry giants? Philippe Bouissou, a renowned business strategist and founder of Blue Dots Partners, has dedicated his career to understanding the factors that drive business growth. With extensive experience in entrepreneurship, CEO roles, and venture capitalism, Bouissou has significantly shaped the business landscape through his consulting projects and investments. He believes that alignment is crucial for creating and sustaining business value, emphasizing that businesses must focus on growth to remain competitive, particularly by attracting top talent and meeting customer needs. Bouissou's approach, rooted in a strong analytical foundation, advocates for understanding customer pain points and uniquely positioning businesses in the market to create value and foster enduring success. Key Takeaways: → Aligning a business with its target market is crucial for growth and value creation. → Understanding customer pain points and aligning them with business claims is essential for success. → Frictionless transactions enhance customer experience and drive brand preference. → Businesses should focus on being unique and meeting customer needs instead of competing directly with giants. → Setting proper expectations for customers is crucial for satisfaction and retention
More from Philippe Bouissou Dr. Philippe Bouissou is a distinguished Silicon Valley veteran with over three decades of experience as a best-selling author, TEDx speaker, growth expert, venture capitalist, CEO, and entrepreneur. As the CEO of Blue Dots Partners, LLC, a Palo Alto-based management consulting firm, he employs a universal, data-driven, and prescriptive methodology to accelerate business growth. Dr. Bouissou's career began with the founding of G2i, Inc., a Unix software company that was successfully acquired. He then served as Senior Vice President at Matra Hachette Multimedia, Inc., overseeing business development for electronic publishing within the $12 billion high-tech and diversified media conglomerate. At Apple, Dr. Bouissou founded and led the company's eCommerce business, scaling its revenue from zero to $350 million under Steve Jobs' leadership—a figure that surpassed $75 billion in 2023. Drawing inspiration from his tenure at Apple, he transitioned into venture capital, investing $43 million with double-digit cash-on-cash returns. Dr. Bouissou has served on 25 Boards of Directors, including three current positions, and has led over 210 management consulting projects. He is an alumnus of the prestigious École Normale Supérieure in Paris, holding a BS in Mathematics, an MS in Physics, and a Ph.D. in nonlinear physics with a focus on chaos theory. Website: https://bluedotspartners.com/author/admin/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phbouissou/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/phbouissou/
If you are an experienced CEO looking to grow your company, visit https://www.TheCEOProject.com
You can also reach Jim by email: Jim@TheCEOProject.com
LinkedIn: @theceoproject Instagram: @the_ceoproject Twitter/X: @the_CEO_Project Facebook: @IncCEOproject | |||
| 11 Dec 2022 | Inflationary Economics | 00:57:52 | |
Box out, and make room for the strategic moves needed to stay profitable in an inflationary environment. Today we're going to talk about dealing with unpredictable markets and specifically inflationary markets. Specifically, we are going to talk about two options, do nothing, or do something, and then what can you do. If you do nothing about this environment, you are assuming it's transitory, it's going to pass, no big deal. But both material costs as well as labor costs going up. And if you're not doing anything, your prices are remaining the same and you just are going to get caught in the squeeze, the margin is going to shrink, and profit is going to shrink. This is obviously a long-term problem for survivability. If inflation carries on at this rate or increases to the rates, we saw in the early eighties where it was double-digit inflation for extended periods of time. No model, no matter how good your model is, can withstand that without making moves. So there really is no choice but to make moves on both the cost side and the price side. Wages are going up on an ongoing basis. You must be increasing prices. Your cost increases are coming from both labor and materials, so whether labor-dominated or material dominated as a business costs are going up. A 10% price increase can double your organizational profit. Now, in this case, you're probably going to end up spending part of that increase on increased labor costs. It, you know, if you just match inflation for your employees, you're at seven. So your labor costs are going up 7% and you're not actually giving them any real money increase with a 7% raise. It's the same as they used to make. Your material costs are likely to go up by similar numbers, seven, eight, maybe more. There's some, there's sort of two effects going there. There's the underlying cost structure and then there's the scarcity problem that's occurring. You're going to see price increases probably between labor and materials of 7-8% because their labor's going up 7%. And it's a chain. So, if you're not thinking about seven, eight, or 10% price increases you're going to go backward. In other words, your costs are going to go up by more than your prices are going up and you're going to squeeze your margins. In an inflationary environment where everything's going up, a price increase doesn't change your position on the supply-demand curve, it's the same. The whole market shifted 7%, you moved up 7%, and there's no conversation about losing customers. Listen to the podcast for more on running your business in an inflationary market.
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| 17 Aug 2024 | Private Equity and You (for CEOs) | 00:38:45 | |
In this episode of The Lazy CEO Podcast, host Jim Schleckser interviews Adam Coffey, a seasoned CEO, board member, best-selling author, and speaker with extensive experience in private equity, particularly in the context of exits and ownership. Coffey, who has led the acquisition of 58 companies and generated over $2.5 billion in exits, shares insights from his career, which includes building three national companies under nine different private equity sponsors. The conversation delves into the workings of private equity from a CEO’s perspective, explaining how private equity firms operate, including their typical 10-year fund life, the 2% management fee, and the 20% profit share. Coffey explains the concept of arbitrage, where small companies are acquired at lower multiples and later sold as part of larger entities at higher multiples, generating significant returns. | |||
| 29 Jan 2024 | Entrepreneurship is an Endurance Sport | 00:33:43 | |
In this episode of The Lazy CEO Podcast, host Jim Schleckser interviews Steven Pivnik, former member of The CEO Project and founder of Binary Tree, a successful company he built over 26 years. Steven, also an elite endurance athlete, draws parallels between entrepreneurship and endurance sports, particularly Ironman competitions. He shares how he transitioned from consulting to developing migration products for email systems, which became a multimillion-dollar line of business. Steven emphasizes the importance of setting big goals and perseverance. Despite challenges, he achieved his goal of competing in the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii. Finally, Steven discusses the process of selling his company and highlights the years of hard work behind the scenes that led to its success. | |||
| 10 Mar 2025 | Maximizing Business Transformation Through Strategic Project Management | 00:34:49 | |
How does integrating strategy development and implementation as a double loop learning process benefit organizations? Laura Barnard is a distinguished leader in project management, celebrated as a world PMO Influencer of the Year by the PMO Global Alliance. As the founder of PMO Strategies Project Management Office and the developer of the Impact Engine system, Laura has dedicated nearly three decades to advancing the field by empowering organizations to maximize their strategic goals' return on investment with speed and measurable impact. She emphasizes the importance of project management in driving transformational outcomes aligned with organizational goals, highlighting that every strategic initiative, product launch, and marketing campaign is essentially a project. Through her innovative strategies and concepts such as integrating strategy development and execution via a double loop learning process, Laura aims to help organizations achieve higher returns on investment and create a real execution engine within their operations. Key Takeaways:
More from Laura Barnard Laura Barnard has dedicated nearly thirty years to forging a path where executive leaders can more rapidly and effectively deliver their organization’s strategic initiatives. As the Founder and Chief IMPACT Driver of PMO Strategies, Laura has been instrumental in helping businesses transform into high-performance engines. Her approach involves empowering organizations through training, coaching, and direct consulting to develop internal capabilities that ensure sustainable success and measurable outcomes. Her methodologies have been honed and shared widely, including in her best-selling book, "The IMPACT Engine," where she introduces the groundbreaking IMPACT Engine System that aligns organizational actions with their visions swiftly and with substantial business IMPACT. Beyond her role in PMO Strategies, Laura's influence extends to her position as Co-Founder and President of Project Management for Change, a nonprofit organization that elevates the project management profession while making a tangible difference globally. Her efforts were recognized when she was named the World PMO Influencer of the Year in 2021 by the PMO Global Alliance. Laura’s commitment to excellence is also evident through her popular PMO Strategies Podcast, where she shares insights and strategies to turn any PMO into a vital strategic asset. With a deep-rooted belief in the power of project management, Laura continues to drive change and foster environments where strategic goals are not just met but exceeded, making her a pivotal figure in the realm of organizational development and strategy execution. Website: https://pmostrategies.com/speaking/ If you are an experienced CEO looking to grow your company, visit https://www.TheCEOProject.com You can also reach Jim by email: Jim@TheCEOProject.com LinkedIn: @theceoproject Instagram: @the_ceoproject Twitter/X: @the_CEO_Project Facebook: @IncCEOproject | |||
| 11 Oct 2022 | Effective Negotiations Part 2 | 00:50:15 | |
Jim Schleckser is the Chief Executive Officer of The CEO Project, a business advisory group for accomplished CEOs to help them solve their most challenging issues, resolve constraints, drive growth, and improve outcomes. With 30 years of leadership experience in business strategy, organizational development, sales, marketing, and more, Jim leads global organizations across many functional areas in both public and private environments. He specializes in solving issues that fast-growing firms experience in their business models and processes as they reach high-performance levels. Jim has appeared in The New York Times, The Huffington Post, and National Public Radio. In this episode…Business negotiations are a lengthy and often arduous process with many characteristics and techniques to hone. So, how can you navigate these deals to reach an effective solution? According to Jim Schleckser, the fear of loss is greater than the desire for gain. When conducting a deal with another businessperson, it’s necessary to leverage their risk aversion to expedite the process. By identifying your adversary’s greatest fear and offering them a guaranteed solution, you can utilize time value of money to secure a favorable outcome. In today’s episode of The Lazy CEO Podcast, Jim Schleckser discusses techniques for effective negotiations. He explains how to identify an adversary’s needs, how to negotiate price to reach an advantageous solution, and the importance of expressing gratitude at the conclusion of a negotiation. | |||
| 26 Feb 2023 | Creating Customer Loyalty with Andrew Davis | 00:32:54 | |
Welcome to Andrew Davis, a super creative guy, he came out of media, spent time with the Muppets had a digital marketing agency that he sold. And now what he does is he is primarily a speaker, so he gets in front of audiences, inspires them and educates them, and entertains them. He's spoken to our CEO group before and a couple of our clients as well. Andrew Davis: My focus today is helping people challenge the conventional business and marketing wisdom by really rethinking some of the things that we've always been taught and traveling around the world and teaching those to people and writing books. I got my start in the media business. I worked in television right out of college I worked for the Jim Henson Company which is where I learned how marketing and business really work, because the truth is, at the Jim Henson company, they really don't make much money on selling media properties. Selling Sesame Street as a nonprofit doesn't make any money. What makes money is creating content that people fall in love with and characters that people can't get enough of so that they can license all of those characters. It was a real education in the power of media to inspire people to buy things they didn't know they needed. And after that, I worked at a series of startups in the startup boom of the late 1990s. I started my own agency with a journalist friend of mine named Jim Costco in the early two thousands. Then we sold that in 2012. And since then, I've just been traveling the world and writing books, and kind of challenging myself to find out how things really work in the new world we live in. Jim Schleckser: Share with the audience what it means from your perspective to differentiate. Andrew Davis: We live in a world where being different is something that's really important and we tell people to be different all the time. We've got to look different. We've got to get people to notice us and get more awareness in the marketplace. But the truth is, in the last six years, I've spent a lot of time looking at what really differentiates you in the marketplace today. And looking and sounding different is great, but actually being different is the real true differentiator. So if you can create an experience that feels different for your clients that's where you can win over an industry. What happens is if you create a good client or customer experience, most of the brands that are successful in doing that start marketing that experience as the differentiator. Many people spend all this time saying we need more leads; we need more customers. We need to raise awareness to get more people in the door or onto the website to buy the stuff. And the truth is, if you have a bad customer experience, you're just shoving people through a bad experience. I really truly believe the way, to start transforming your business is to start with the very next customer you get and really rethink the experience by differentiating it from everybody else in the marketplace. Jim Schleckser: I love the idea of becoming an attractive force versus pushing this big heavy rock up the hill all the time. How do you recommend we start? Andrew Davis: Let me give you two just quick concepts that you just have to embrace to understand how what I call the loyalty loop works. So you first need to understand the moment of inspiration. The moment of inspiration is an instant in time that sends you on a journey you never expected. For example - to buy anything, it could be a car. You get your lease-end notification. That lease end letter that Nissan sends you is an instant in time that's going to send you on a journey to buy a new vehicle. That's a moment of inspiration. A moment of commitment is the instant that you trade money, data, or time, for information to support a cause or to buy a product or a service. The big change in the moment of commitment today is that we need to understand that sale. The sale isn't the only moment of commitment. If you fill out an online form, if set up a calendar appointment with someone, if you ask for a quote from someone as a consumer, you are trading data for an experience, and that data is worth something. If you understand those two concepts, just the moment of inspiration and the moment of commitment, what you want to try to do is build a real experience. For more examples and valuable insights into creating customer loyalty, listen to the full podcast. | |||
| 05 Oct 2024 | Creating Great Customer Experience and Customer Delight | 00:35:19 | |
In this episode of The Lazy CEO Podcast, Jim Schleckser, founder of The CEO Project, discusses the growing field of customer experience engineering alongside Sharon McGuire. The episode explores how companies can design processes that delight customers, turning their experiences into key marketing tools. The hosts emphasize that understanding customers, including segmenting them based on their unique needs, is critical for crafting a successful customer journey. They touch on methods like surveys and qualitative focus groups to gain insights into customer desires, noting that exceptional experiences often come from delivering what customers didn’t explicitly request but would love. They highlight the importance of eliminating friction, such as through seamless technology or low-effort processes, like easy car rentals and fast online checkouts, drawing parallels between B2C experiences (like Amazon) and B2B environments. | |||
| 25 Oct 2022 | Gen Z in the Workforce | 00:48:45 | |
Jim Schleckser is the Chief Executive Officer of The CEO Project, a business advisory group for accomplished CEOs to help them solve their most challenging issues, resolve constraints, drive growth, and improve outcomes. With 30 years of leadership experience in business strategy, organizational development, sales, marketing, and more, Jim leads global organizations across many functional areas in both public and private environments. He specializes in solving issues that fast-growing firms experience in their business models and processes as they reach high-performance levels. Jim has appeared in The New York Times, The Huffington Post, and National Public Radio. In this episode…With the rise of Generation Z in the workforce, executives must adapt their leadership styles and culture to accommodate this group’s unique demands. So, how can you attract and retain Gen Z employees? Generation Z grew up during the digital age and in a culture of security and protection. As a result, they are professionally inexperienced, risk-averse, and have a fear of failure. Simultaneously, this group is achievement-oriented and values professional development. For this reason, Jim Schleckser advises clearly communicating position and company expectations and developing a mentorship with them. It’s also necessary to integrate feedback into professional development programs to encourage receptivity. By fostering a smooth transition into the workforce, you can promote Gen Z’s strengths. Tune in to this episode of The Lazy CEO Podcast as Jim Schleckser, Chief Executive Officer at The CEO Project, talks about coaching Gen Z employees to excel in the workforce. Jim shares Gen Z’s characteristics and workplace demands, how to attract and retain these employees, and this group’s strengths and weaknesses. | |||
| 06 Jan 2024 | The 4 Ps of Sales Performance | 00:37:58 | |
In this episode of the Lazy CEO podcast, host Jim Schleckser interviews Bill Bell, a partner at the CEO Project and an expert in sales, sales processes, and measurement. They discuss the challenges CEOs face in generating enough sales and the complexities of solving this problem. Bill shares his background, highlighting his experience as a vice president of sales for 15-20 years before moving into the CEO position. He emphasizes the importance of not giving up responsibility for sales, as growing the top line is crucial for overall business growth. Bill started his own consulting practice in 2019, focusing on business development and strategic growth. The conversation delves into the changes in how companies approach sales. Bill notes a shift from making top sales performers into sales managers to recognizing sales as a scientific process, akin to engineering. He discusses the challenges of balancing the roles of individual contributors and sales managers, acknowledging that the skillsets required for each differ. Bill outlines a four-step approach to sales: market positioning, sales process, sales personnel, and performance metrics. He emphasizes the need for a consistent sales process, including lead management, technical sales support, go-to-market strategy, and standardized tools. The discussion touches on the importance of hiring the right sales personnel, understanding their qualifications, partnerships, motivations, and cultural fit. Performance metrics are highlighted as a crucial aspect, ensuring measurement and clarity on expectations. They explore the concept of the ideal customer profile, cautioning against the tendency to see everyone as a potential client. Bill advises narrowing down the ideal client profile, developing a compelling value proposition, analyzing competitors, and establishing a pricing strategy. The conversation also touches on the importance of dominating a market segment before expanding into adjacent markets. Jim raises the question of applying the sales process to different types of sales, such as short-cycle transactions versus lengthy projects. Bill affirms that a process can be applied to both but may involve varying process steps. He shares insights into his experience in an industry with an 18-24 month sales cycle, emphasizing the importance of pipeline management and forecasting. The conversation concludes with discussions on early decision-making in pursuing opportunities, avoiding "chasing rabbits," and the significance of assessing whether a pursuit aligns with the ideal client profile early in the process. | |||
| 19 Feb 2023 | Creating Advocacy | 00:31:56 | |
This episode of The Lazy CEO Podcast is about creating advocacy. We have Heather Hansen, who is the CEO of Advocate to Win, and she is going to talk to us about advocating our positions and persuading people. Heather shares her background as a lawyer and how that has led to her expertise in persuasion and expertise. Heather defended doctors in medical malpractice cases. One of the things that made that job the hardest is that every single person in that courtroom was a patient. Everyone saw the case through a patient's eyes, and her job was to change their perspective and help them succeed in the case through the doctor's eyes. And that is the main job of an advocate. This led Heather to this practice of advocacy and teaching advocacy. What is Advocacy? Advocating is influencing, it's persuading, it's convincing, it’s changing minds, it's changing hearts. It's helping people believe what you want them to believe, and it's turning other people into your advocates. The first question to ask is who is your jury? And CEOs have many juries. Their board is a jury at a particular time. They're stakeholders, their clients, their customers, and their team. But we have to know who the jury is so we know how to speak to them. Compassion, Curiosity, and Credibility Credibility is where we focus - the belief triangle. You want your jury to believe you. When you make a promise, you keep it. When you set expectations, you meet them, you want them to believe in you, and that you have the experience, the talent, and the capacity to do the thing you promise to do. And the part that most people forget is to believe that you can help them, that you understand their problem, their perspective, their point of view, and that you can help it. There are times, especially for CEOs, when you must knock down someone else's credibility or question someone else's credibility. How do you do that effectively, how do you use due diligence and look for inconsistencies to make decisions that are going to serve the people that you want to serve? TIP: Questions are magic. A great question can mean the difference between winning and losing a case.
Empathy vs Perspective Empathy is feeling what others feel and perspective is seeing what they see. And you must not necessarily feel what they feel. For example, in the courtroom, defendants are frustrated, angry, scared, and confused. If their lawyer feels those feelings, they are not of service to them. So the empathy piece isn't always imperative depending on the situation, the perspective piece, which is what you're really talking about, is the cognitive part. Seeing what they see is imperative. Seeing it from their perspective and owning it is a credibility multiplier. Use your perspective to own where there are problems and boost your credibility. Advocating for Yourself Here is an example - a woman came to the CEO to advocate for a change in their policy with respect to working at home and taking care of children. She was a very strong advocate. She had stories, she had evidence, she had the energy of belief and he listened to her and he decided that she was right. And this is even though she was advocating. Then once he made the change to the policy because she had advocated so well, she became his strongest advocate. She told everybody in the business, she told everybody outside of the business, you need to come work for this company. There is no one who can advocate for you and your ideas and your potential better than you can because you have your stories and your evidence and your passion and your heart, and you know what your negotiables and your non-negotiables are. These tools will help you with your outer jury that we've talked about, but also with your inner jury, the part of you that decides what to believe and how to go out and then share that belief with others. How do you overcome the mental baggage around self advocation? I'm not supposed to brag. I'm supposed to be humble. You're not framing your stuff as, I'm awesome, I'm the best. Look at me, I deserve it. It's, you need me to do this. And this is why, if I had the cure for cancer, I wouldn't be bragging if I told people I had the cure for cancer, I would be serving them by making it available to them. Stop thinking about yourself and they start thinking about how your experience, training, talents, and passion can serve their jury, then you will stop feeling like they're bragging and will be able to step into that energy of passion and excitement that actually is extremely persuasive. Building Referrals into Our Business We all want more referrals for our business. We don’t just want a Net Promoter Score, we want them to be advocates. What's the difference? The difference is it's not just saying this is a great company, it's saying this is a great company and this is why. And so you turn people around you, into your advocates by advocating for them. So seeing things through their perspective builds credibility, which ultimately builds trust, compassion, and curiosity about their needs. You leave the people around you with stories, evidence, and energy to go out and advocate for you. Three Powerful Questions
For details about these three powerful questions as well as more examples and stories about advocacy, listen to the full podcast. Heather Hansen For over twenty years Heather was a trial attorney. Her job was to help diverse groups of people believe in her case so that her client could win. She honed the tools for her clients to build credibility quickly so they could persuade diverse juries to see things from their perspective. Now she is sharing the tools with you. Heather has worked with organizations like Berkshire Hathaway Home Services, Google, Sav A Tree, the American Medical Association, Call Miner, and LVMH to help them make the case for their services, products, ideas, and their teams. She’s also shared these tools at Harvard Business School, Stanford Law School, and The University of Pennsylvania, and with audiences across the world. Heather has combined her experience in the courtroom with her degree in psychology, her certification as a mediator, and her television work to develop her 5Cs of an Advocate. With these tools, you can overcome objections, banish doubt, build credibility, and change people’s perspectives. | |||
| 20 Jul 2024 | Learnings from a Government Contractor | 00:32:40 | |
In this episode of The Lazy CEO Podcast, host Jim Schleckser interviews Mike Melo, the CEO and co-founder of ITA International. Mike shares his journey from being a US Navy Surface Warfare Officer to founding ITA with his wife, Kathy, in 2005. ITA started with a single government contract and one employee, growing to over 300 employees across 20 states and six foreign countries. Mike discusses the challenges and triumphs of building ITA, including maintaining a strong company culture, handling the transition from small to large business, and executing successful acquisitions. He emphasizes the importance of communication, adaptability, and a commitment to company values. Mike also touches on future plans for ITA, including transitioning from owner-operators to a family-run board, and the potential challenges and strategies for exiting or scaling the business. | |||
| 16 Jul 2023 | You Want To Write a Book - Heres How | 00:37:03 | |
In this episode of The Lazy CEO Podcast, host Jim Schleckser discusses the process of publishing a book and its potential benefits. He shares his own experience as an author of two bestsellers on Amazon and provides insights into the various publishing models available. Jim emphasizes that publishing a book is a personal achievement and can serve as a calling card for businesses. It establishes credibility and can be used as a tool to attract clients or speaking engagements. While the financial gains from publishing a book are typically limited, the indirect benefits can be substantial. He explains three different publishing models: traditional publishing, hybrid publishing, and self-publishing. Traditional publishing involves selling intellectual property to a publisher, while hybrid publishing requires authors to pay for publishing services. Self-publishing gives authors full control over their work and allows them to retain intellectual property rights. Jim breaks down the steps involved in publishing a book, starting with writing the manuscript. He discusses the importance of finding a ghostwriter who can capture the author's voice and work closely with them. He advises hiring editors for bulk editing, fine editing, and proofreading to ensure the book's quality. Jim also highlights the significance of cover design and title selection, as they play a crucial role in attracting readers. Throughout the episode, Jim emphasizes the importance of investing time and effort into the publishing process and recommends seeking assistance from book wranglers or coaches who can help navigate the complexities of publishing. Overall, the episode provides valuable insights and guidance for individuals considering publishing a book, emphasizing the non-monetary benefits and the different publishing options available to them. | |||
| 27 Sep 2022 | Entrepreneurship - Part 2 | 00:26:07 | |
Joel Trammell is the Founder of the Texas CEO Magazine and the Co-founder of American CEO, a company that provides educational resources for chief executive officers. He is a successful entrepreneur who has founded four businesses and served as CEO of seven others — from startups to public firms valued at $1 billion. As an author and educator, Joel has extensive experience teaching CEO Master Classes and Managerial Excellence Courses. He regularly speaks at conferences and nationwide events and has contributed to Entrepreneur, Forbes, and Inc.com. He has served on the boards of public, private, and nonprofit organizations and is now on a mission to teach aspiring and established CEOs how to effectively carry out their position. In this episode…A CEO wears many hats. They communicate with management, the board, and the general public while serving as the company's face to internal and external stakeholders. They are in charge of implementing the organization's long-term plan and fostering brand values within the workforce. What does it take to be a successful CEO? Is it enough to be a strong leader with years of experience and expertise? What abilities and traits should you have to help you succeed under pressure? According to Joel Trammell, CEOs are in the people business as much as they are in the marketing and sales business. As a CEO, you should have a good people management system in place. You must also deeply understand how your product is made and why it’s bought. In this episode of The Lazy CEO Podcast, Jim Schleckser continues his conversation with Joel Trammell, the Founder of Texas CEO Magazine and the Co-founder of American CEO. They talk about what makes a good business and a bad business, the characteristics a CEO must have, and the most common issues CEOs usually face. Joel also talks about what he learned from his many businesses through the years and the secret to his most successful ventures. | |||
| 13 Jan 2025 | Strategies for Successful Talent Management and Seamless Succession | 00:33:47 | |
How can effective talent management secure your organization's future success? In this episode of The CEO Project, host Jim Schleckser is joined by co-host Sharon McGuire, Executive Membership and Marketing Manager at The CEO Project, for an insightful discussion on effective talent management strategies. Together, they explore essential frameworks like the 9-box analysis to evaluate and develop team members, ensuring organizations have the right talent to thrive today and in the future. From identifying high performers to fostering career growth opportunities, Jim and Sharon share practical advice for CEOs and executive teams. They also dive into common leadership challenges, such as succession planning, retaining top talent, and addressing underperformance. Key Takeaways: → The 9-box grid helps assess team members based on performance and potential, guiding strategic talent decisions. → High performers thrive when given opportunities to grow, learn, and face new challenges. → Succession planning ensures leadership continuity by preparing team members for future roles. → Effective talent management includes addressing underperformance with fairness and respect. → Organizations must foster transparency and collaboration to align talent development with business goals. If you are an experienced CEO looking to grow your company, visit https://www.TheCEOProject.com You can also reach Jim by email: Jim@TheCEOProject.com LinkedIn: @theceoproject Instagram: @the_ceoproject Twitter/X: @the_CEO_Project Facebook: @IncCEOproject | |||
| 05 Nov 2023 | Transform Your Organization into an Epic Workplace | 00:36:57 | |
In this episode of The Lazy CEO Podcast, host Jim Schleckser welcomes Cheryl Lynn Mobley, founder of reCalibrate. Cheryl shares her unique journey that led to the creation of her book, which blends her experiences on a safari with valuable leadership lessons. The conversation revolves around the challenges organizations face today. Cheryl highlights the issue of organizations heading in the wrong direction at a high velocity, often driven by the desire to please everyone. She observes that leaders can feel held hostage by various stakeholders, leading to exhaustion and a lack of clarity in organizational goals. To address this problem, Cheryl emphasizes the need for leaders to make a courageous decision to change the status quo. They should redefine their organization's purpose and be clear about what they exist to do. This clarity will help save time and energy by guiding decision-making. Cheryl also advises leaders to have frank conversations with their teams and commit to sticking with the chosen path, even in the face of resistance. Ultimately, the podcast discusses the importance of leaders being willing to make tough choices and stay focused on their organization's purpose, even if it means some individuals may opt-out. Cheryl's insights provide valuable guidance for leaders navigating the complexities of today's business landscape. | |||
| 18 Oct 2022 | Millennials in the Workforce | 01:01:51 | |
Robert Bell is a Tech Lead, Software Consultant, and Developer at Atomic Object, a software design and development consultancy. As an innovative software developer, he has the capacity to recognize client issues and generate solutions in a quick-paced, intricate, and dynamic setting. Before Atomic Object, Robert was a control and robotics engineer in the automotive industry, where he received the 2011 Heinz Dürr Innovation Award — a prize given by the Dürr AG with over 50 submissions from people in four different continents. In this episode…The workforce is facing a dynamic shift. With the decline of boomers and Generation X, millennials will soon take over leadership roles. As a CEO, how can you ensure that you have talented millennials occupying crucial roles in your company? Millennials are known for their ambition. They want to make a difference, but at the same time, they value autonomy and work-life balance. This group is socially conscious and would easily leave a job that does not align with their values. To attract these employees, Jim Schleckser and Robert Bell suggest establishing yourself as a reputable organization to positively impact employees. By aligning your company’s standards with millennials’ demands, you can retain millennial employees and bring value to your business. In this episode of The Lazy CEO Podcast, Jim Schleckser sits down with Robert Bell, the Tech Lead, Software Consultant, and Developer at Atomic Object. Together, they talk about the characteristics that make the millennial workforce unique and how to attract this group of employees. They also share the positive attributes of millennials in the workforce, the importance of people-first culture for millennials, and these employees’ biggest motivators. | |||
| 03 Mar 2024 | Recruiting, Attracting Talent, and Leadership Development | 00:33:59 | |
In this episode of The Lazy CEO Podcast, host Jim Schleckser welcomes Julian, an expert in recruiting and leadership development, to discuss the challenges and strategies for attracting top talent to organizations. Julian, a former head of recruiting at Bottle Rocket and a key leader at Reach Global, shares his insights based on over 15 years of experience in the field. The conversation begins with discussing the ongoing "war for talent" and the evolving recruiting landscape in today's market. Julian emphasizes the importance of understanding and embracing an organization's Employment Value Proposition (EVP) as a key element in attracting top talent. He provides examples of successful EVPs, such as a private ride-hailing service that emphasizes immediate impact for software engineers. | |||
| 27 Nov 2022 | Accountability | 00:32:26 | |
Today Jim Schleckser talks on a topic that we see a lot when we're dealing with CEOs – accountability. What is accountability? The word is literally the definition of what accountability is, which is an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or account for one's actions. In other words, transparently accept and explain what I've been doing and the outcome I got. When somebody says, I see a problem, I own a problem, I'm going to solve a problem, that's accountability, particularly when they do it transparently and share it with their team and their boss, that's accountability. On the negative side of non-accountable is, I wait and see. I finger point, it wasn't me, it was somebody else. I deny it. We see that all the time. Not my job. All of that is a lack of accountability, particularly as you grow the organization as an entrepreneur, we run into leaders that tell you I am trying to get the best out of my team and I struggled to hold them accountable to achieve the results. When you're trying to hold people accountable, the first thing you have to have is an identifiable outcome. In other words, this is your obligation. Whether you're managing one person or managing an organization, you need to be clear about where you're going. So what does it look like? When are we going to get there? How are we going to know we achieved it? The classic model for accountability is smart goals. So it's specific. We're going to achieve 12 million in revenue. It's measurable, we're going to measure it by the P & L. We'll know if we got there or not – it is achievable. That's the A in smart, right? Achievable - we did $10 million last year. We've been growing a million or 2 million a year. 12 is well within the capability of this organization. Revenue is one of the more relevant things in a business environment, but it might be generating a number of leads and that's relevant because it drives sales. In this episode, Jim shares the critical elements of accountability and how to achieve accountability in your organization.
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| 27 Oct 2024 | Client Acquisition and Sales Acceleration | 00:32:52 | |
In this 100th episode of The Lazy CEO Podcast, host Jim Schleckser marks the milestone by announcing the show's upcoming name change to The CEO Project Podcast, reflecting its focus. Beginning with episode 101, listeners will find all content under the new name. Jim’s guest is Jennifer Frye, the CEO of Appreciated Asset Business Solutions, which specializes in building robust sales pipelines for industry disruptors through a unique prospecting and appointment-setting service. Jennifer emphasizes that successful client acquisition hinges on a personalized, relationship-focused approach. She shares insights into how her firm distinguishes itself by using targeted psychographics and values alignment, going beyond typical demographic data to create meaningful client connections. | |||
| 30 Apr 2023 | Preferred Stock | 00:31:56 | |
Today we're going to talk about stock. As you know that there is common stock and preferred stock, but we are going to dig deep into preferred stock because it is a less understood instrument. It's particularly important for entrepreneurs because this is an investment vehicle used by private equity firms. So if you are ever considering either a partial sale, maybe bring in some cash or cash for growth, or maybe even a total sale. You need to understand the ins and outs of private equity because this is the way that the private equity firms use to gain control to gain preference to kind of get to the front of the line. Sometimes that can have tragically bad consequences for you as an entrepreneur. This is also relevant for anybody who's sort of in an early-stage company because preferred equity is used all the time in the early stage. It can have odd and complicated outcomes if you are not careful. You may not have a choice, but at least you know what you're signing up for. Common Stock If I buy common stock, I have a little piece of a company; I get a vote. We're in a season where we're all getting our request for voting for annual meetings - you get to vote for your board of directors who represent your interests in the company and so forth. And if there are dividends, meaning the company does well then you get a share of those dividends, right? Provided, of course, that the company does well. Some of these companies hesitate to drop their dividend rate because it can hurt their share price. But, you are at risk on your dividend. Preferred Stock We don't play any funny games with preferred stock. When you bring in your friends and family, your first round of money, your first half a million or million, and you got Uncle Bob and, your neighbor and a few other people coming in, normally you are selling them common stock when you do that. So that was common stock, and there was no preference, but preference is a thing, particularly if you get to slightly bigger numbers or involve professional money. This would be venture capitalists or private equity groups. The first sort of fundamental thing that you get with preferred is that you are in front of the line in terms of getting paid out. So, you're preferred. When there are dividends, you get first. If the dividends are enough to pay everybody something, then all is good. If the dividends are not enough to pay, everybody preferred gets paid, common doesn't get paid. There have been situations where preferred got their money and common got nothing. And that happens all the time in the case of dividends. And normally there is a dividend rate on preferred shares. Not always, but many times there are, particularly if you're a cash flow positive business, they might say, we're going to put the preferred shares in, and we're going to get an 8% dividend rate or 7% dividend rate. It won't look like bank debt. It will be more expensive than bank debt, but it is different than debt because you don't have all the covenants and you don't have to talk to the bank, but it does come with some other things you need to talk about. But dividends are one thing. And usually, that's in cash on an annual basis. Cumulative Preferred Stock You want to grow the business; we want you to have the cash to grow the business to make this thing more valuable for all of us. And so they'll do what's called cumulative preferred stock or pick and pick is called payment and kind. And what that means is there are two ways - A, don't pay me my 8% dividend; just throw it on top of the pile whenever there's a transaction. You owe me what I put in plus my 8% for whatever number of years you didn't pay me. So my 1 million turns into $1.2 million because you owe me some interest that you've never paid me, and I was okay with that, but I'll get paid when we sell the company. Or B - payment inkind or pick, when people talk about picking the interest, you may have heard that phrase before. That means putting it at the end, right? Payout at the end. The other way it's done is they go, look, we'll pick it, and you can pay me in more shares. But the idea of compounding interest and the impact on their value versus your value, particularly if you don't sell quickly, like, let's say 3, 4, 5 years, you're going be shocked at how much you owe your preferred shareholders when the time comes. Non-cumulative Preferred Stock There is also a bit rarer preferred, which is non-cumulative. Non-cumulative means if we can't pay you for one year of your dividend, then it just goes away, and we don't owe it to you. The other thing you get is in the case of preference, when there's a distribution of assets, meaning we sold the company or we got a big payout or something, debt goes first, but then second is the preferred shareholders, and then third are the common shareholders in terms of who gets paid. Cumulative Participating Preferred It accumulates interest if there is any; most of the time, they do what they call participating preferred; when you're not going to flow any cash, there aren't going to be any dividends. So there's no ongoing payment to them. So they are going to get it all on the backside. So it's going to be juicy for us if we do that. And what that means is they participate in the up. Not only do they all get all of their cash off the table, but they also participate in the upside that has been created while you use their cash participating preferred. For examples of preferred stock and more from Jim on this topic, listen to the complete episode of The Lazy CEO Project. | |||
| 23 Apr 2023 | Selling Results | 00:36:58 | |
We've got another phenomenal guest today, Ian Altman. As a business growth expert and bestselling author, Ian is recognized as one of the top 30 global gurus on sales. And his same side selling academy is ranked in the top five globally for sales development programs. Everybody's running a business, and when I talk about the secrets of a great business, a great margin is one of them. Ian has identified some areas that are what he calls margin vampires. Ian shared with us what he sees as the biggest margin vampire we should think about as CEOs and leaders. Margin Vampires the biggest margin vampire is that oftentimes as organizations, we believe that our client hasn't made a decision because of price. And our sellers often lead with price, and they don't even realize it. So they'll ask somebody in a competitive environment, well, you're working with so-and-so, well, what are you paying now? Maybe I can save you money. And we've just made it so the client has been taught that the most essential part of the conversation is the price when it isn't. So it ends up being we're a victim of our undoing. We caused the problem by how we package what we do, as opposed to if we think about it as a C E O; when's the last time you made a really important decision based on price? It's almost a selection process when you lead with price. If you sell to them because you were 5% less than somebody else, guess what? Six months from now, they're going to switch away from you. Why? Because somebody else gave up 5% of the margin, and now you're at a race to the bottom, and as Seth Godin says, unfortunately, you might win. Instead, we want to say that when people are looking for this type of solution, they're usually looking for a partner who operates at one of three levels—our industry's shaped like a pyramid. The base level is what we call the effective level. The next level up is enhanced. And the pinnacle is the engaging level. As long as you fit into one of those models while you can be successful at the highest level, you're dealing with an organization that's tailoring what they deliver to what you need. They measure the results and outcomes, ensuring you're moving market share. So which level are you looking for? And now the client says, I want that top level. Now what I've just done is if my marketing, my sales, and my messaging is aligned around presenting those three levels, then I will attract the people who want that engaged level. And those people generally don't care that much about price. You can't be 300 times what other people are; those selling results are 20% higher than their competitors. The Finish Line When I ask people, so what's the finish line? It's the sale, the contract, and getting paid. But when you're the customer, what do you care about? It's just the results. And then people say, well, I think it's delivery on our end. It's not delivery. If you deliver everything you said you would deliver and the client doesn't get the results they're looking for; they wouldn't blame you, would they? Of course, they will. Absolutely. So we need, we need to be focused on results. And when we do that, we get that pivot where people say the price doesn't matter. If you had two vendors, one asking you about the results and the other asking who needs to sign off on this, which vendor would you rather deal with? The one who's talking about results. Would you pay more for that one? How much more? How much less would you have to pay for it to be a good deal? So if you paid 20% less and didn't get the results, that would be a good deal. No, the answer is it doesn't matter what you pay. It wasn't a good deal if you didn't get the desired results. If we flip that around and say, how do we have that same conversation with our clients? How do we make sure our messaging from a marketing standpoint says, if you don't get results, we're not happy? What does that tell your client? Our results are more critical than their sale. And what's the net effect? You'll get more sales. They see value in getting better results. To listen to the entire conversation between Jim Schlecker and Ian Altman as they export the power of selling results, listen to the full podcast wherever you get your podcast. | |||
| 20 Oct 2024 | What We Can Learn from Tribal Leadership and Culture | 00:34:11 | |
In this episode of The Lazy CEO Podcast, host Jim Schleckser, founder of The CEO Project, announces the upcoming name change of the podcast from The Lazy CEO Podcast to The CEO Project Podcast. The current episode is number 99, and the switch will happen after the 100th episode, although all past episodes will remain accessible. The guest on this episode is Don Schmincke, a researcher with a background in MIT and Johns Hopkins. He shares insights from his research on the high failure rates of management theories, revealing that they often ignore primal human decision-making factors. Schmincke’s work spans across biological, physical, and business systems, blending disciplines to uncover ways to help companies grow faster than traditional methods. His research, which includes looking at human behavior and ancient training programs, has led to breakthroughs in management by focusing on altering human beliefs rather than just providing tactical tools. | |||
| 17 Dec 2023 | The Power of Being an Influencer | 00:28:37 | |
In this episode of "The Lazy CEO Podcast," host Jim Schleckser interviews a special guest, the CEO of Glow Tanning Center, who is known for his success in the tanning industry and his viral video that mentioned Schleckser. The CEO shares insights into his business philosophy and the influence he has built. Here's a summary of the key points discussed: 1. Introduction to Glow Tanning Center:
2. Origin of the Tanning Business:
3. Tanning Industry Dynamics:
4. Competition and Market Consolidation:
5. Managing Complexity and Leadership:
6. Social Media Presence:
7. Harnessing Social Media for Business:
8. Building Leadership Through Ownership:
9. Final Thoughts on Social Media:
Overall, the conversation touches on the CEO's journey in the tanning industry, his leadership philosophy, and the strategic use of social media for business success.
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| 01 Nov 2022 | 6 Types of Power | 00:25:45 | |
Jim Schleckser is the Chief Executive Officer of The CEO Project, a business advisory group for accomplished CEOs to help them solve their most challenging issues, resolve constraints, drive growth, and improve outcomes. With 30 years of leadership experience in business strategy, organizational development, sales, marketing, and more, Jim leads global organizations across many functional areas in both public and private environments. He specializes in solving issues that fast-growing firms experience in their business models and processes as they reach high-performance levels. Jim has appeared in The New York Times, The Huffington Post, and National Public Radio. In this episode…Every accomplished leader utilizes power to achieve business goals and maximize success. So, what are the different types of power, and how can you leverage them to maintain effective leadership? According to business advisor Jim Schleckser, there are two separate categories of power: formal and informal. Formal power includes coercion, reward, and positional power, whereas informal power includes expert, referent, network, influential, information, and moral authority. Formal power is less constructive and most commonly used in hierarchical organizations. Effective leaders employ multiple types of informal power to inspire, motivate, inform, and collaborate with their teams. In this episode of The Lazy CEO Podcast, Jim Schleckser, Chief Executive Officer at The CEO Project, talks about utilizing forms of power in leadership. He explains the three types of formal power and informal power and discusses how to use each power form in a business environment. | |||
| 25 May 2024 | The Power of Recurring Revenue and How to Grow Yours | 00:34:32 | |
Welcome to another episode of The Lazy CEO Podcast, hosted by Jim Schleckser, founder of the CEO Project. In this episode, Jim delves into one of his favorite topics: recurring revenue. He emphasizes that a high degree of recurring revenue is a hallmark of a great business, allowing for better sleep, planning, and overall business stability. Jim defines recurring revenue as contractually obliged revenue over time, distinguishing it from repeat revenue, which lacks contractual commitment. Examples of recurring revenue include cable bills, phone bills, utility bills, and software subscriptions like Salesforce and HubSpot. These services often involve contracts that are hard to exit, ensuring continuous revenue. Recurring revenue provides predictable income, making budgeting and planning easier. Businesses with recurring revenue find it easier to grow as they can rely on a steady income stream and need less aggressive sales and marketing efforts compared to project-based businesses. The concept of Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) is crucial here; companies are willing to invest significantly in acquiring customers, knowing they will generate long-term revenue. Recurring revenue models attract investors due to their stability and predictability, unlike project-based models which require constant new sales. Businesses with high recurring revenue often achieve higher valuations, sometimes trading at multiples of revenue rather than profit. | |||
| 26 Dec 2022 | Client Retention | 00:28:35 | |
We all know the math that the cost to retain a client is 20% of the cost to acquire a client. From a sales and marketing point of view, if you can retain the clients that you bring on board, you're way ahead of the game because you don't want to have to go out and spend literally five times as much money to go acquire new ones. It is one thing to get them, but you need to keep them. Keeping them is what's interesting for a good recurring revenue business. This Podcast will talk through the elements that were identified in a scholarly piece of research. This study validated, with large statistical studies, real data about businesses and the success or not success they've had based on a couple of factors. There are really three things you need to pay attention to if you want to retain clients. One is the tangible elements of your product and your relationship. The second is the intangible elements around the relationship. And the third is customer expectations. Tangible elements of your product and relationship Within tangible factors, there are really three tangible factors you need to focus on when you're thinking about trying to retain clients.
Intangible elements around your relationship An active relationship with the management, sitting down with them and talking to them on a regular basis. Communication builds trust. It allows you to demonstrate openness, and competency which builds trust. Managing custom expectations There are two elements to consider, one is customer selection and the other is expectation management. Customer selection means you shouldn't sell to marginal clients. Once in a while, we are all in a competitive scenario, we're trying to sell somebody, and we know it's a little marginal. Like the product isn't the perfect fit. Our price isn't just right for them. We get the client anyway. Odds are you've acquired a client that's not going to be retained because they're not profiled perfectly for your offer. The price isn't right. The product isn't right. One of the things to do early in the process is to set expectations for performance. Let's get clear about what the product does and what it doesn't. Let's get talk about, talk about our restock cycles. Let's talk about product availability. We're at 99.5. It won't be better than that. In some cases, you may want to embody that in a service-level agreement. | |||
| 10 Dec 2023 | Building Your Brand Around Talent | 00:37:04 | |
The Lazy CEO Podcast features host Jim Schleckser, founder of the CEO Project, discussing crucial topics for leaders, especially CEOs, in a challenging employment market. The focus is on attracting and retaining top talent, often referred to as A players, who can contribute significantly to a company's success. In this episode, Jim interviews Matt Walsh, the CEO and founder of Blue Signal Search, a recruiting firm in Phoenix, Arizona. They delve into the current state of the employment market, addressing the misalignment of expectations among leaders and the challenges in finding skilled talent. Matt emphasizes the importance of understanding the labor market dynamics, such as the lower birth rate, decreased immigration, and the impending retirement of baby boomers, leading to a shortage of qualified workers. The conversation explores strategies for attracting top talent, with an emphasis on showcasing a company's purpose and mission. Matt suggests that educating the workforce about the impact of their roles and emphasizing career growth can be key factors in attracting talent, especially in fields like skilled labor. Purposeful work, according to Matt, is a significant motivator for millennials, Gen X, and Gen Z. Jim and Matt discuss the issue of retention and the changing dynamics of employee loyalty. Matt shares his perspective on non-compete agreements, advocating for a focus on building a strong company culture and providing an environment where employees feel valued. The conversation also touches on the trend of shorter job tenures and the importance of ongoing communication, feedback, and exit interviews to understand and address employee concerns. Finally, they explore the role of employment contracts, especially at the executive level. Matt notes the variety in contract structures, ranging from flexible arrangements to international considerations. He highlights the importance of understanding what top talent truly wants and being prepared for counteroffers when dealing with A players. Overall, the podcast provides insights into the complexities of talent acquisition and retention in a competitive job market, with a particular emphasis on aligning organizational goals with employee expectations. | |||
| 12 Mar 2023 | Business Growth and Customer Experience | 00:36:07 | |
Jim Schleckser, CEO of The CEO Project and host of The Lazy CEO Podcast, sits down with a fun guest, a hall-of-fame speaker who has had multiple bestselling books, Jay Bearer. Jim Schleckser: What are the five things that we need to be smart about in engaging with marketing to ask the right questions as CEOs? Jay Baer: I think partially because it's obviously the fastest growing and all around us now, and so transformative, we tend to think that digital is good just because it's digital. As a CEO, I would question that assumption. So often the coin of the realm in digital is reach and awareness, and how many people saw your thing, or, and, and I guess my retort to that is to what end, right? Those are vanity metrics. We can't sell exposure, not at scale. And, so typically, what we try to advise CEOs to do is to say, okay, what desired action are we trying to create here? Is it net new customers? Is it an increase in customer purchase frequency? Is it average customer value on an annualized basis? Is it customer retention? Start with what we're trying to incentivize from a behavior standpoint and then, and then build upwards from there. Create a series of digital and many non-digital scenarios that allow that to happen. But the reality is that most digital strategists don't do that. They start with the caboose, not the engine. Then they try to gerrymander their way to the appropriate solution. And that's why so much digital strategy is inherently flawed. I've seen too many PowerPoint presentations from the marketing team about clicks and eyeballs, but how many dollars did this generate? And this is a great irony, from a CEO standpoint. Digital is so much more measurable incrementally than outdoor or print or television or radio. It's by far the easiest to understand the trajectory of success or lack thereof that you're experiencing. Yet, the crazy part is so many people don't take advantage of that. And obviously, it makes testing a lot easier as well, which as somebody who came up in the direct mail business, that's the holy grail. Jim Schleckser: What are the three metrics that you care about and why? Jay Baer: Depends on the project, depends on what kind of consumer behavior you're trying to incentivize. Ultimately it should helicopter back to whatever business success metric you're looking at. Could be sales, could be churn rate, could be new employee applications if you're trying to fix a staffing problem with digital. So when I ask that question of my marketers or my digital marketers, the good one will say, what's your business problem? And how are you going to measure, how are you going to know we're successful against that business problem? And then that's my metric right there. They are not going to tell you, you're going to tell them. Jim Schleckser: I saw you do a piece a while ago on and maybe you could talk about this on the customer journey and provide information at the point of need. Jay Baer: The reality is that we all come from an era where personal time and one-to-one or small group communication in person you know, over, over a video call et cetera, has been held up for many, many years, especially in B2B as the goal. So, if we can provide enough information to get them interested, we'll make sure a BDR or somebody qualifies this lead, and then we'll give them to a salesperson and then we'll have a sales conversation and eventually, they'll become customers that, that's sort of the historical process and it still works. But now what we find, especially amongst younger buyers millennials, and Gen Z, about half of them actually prefer a completely seller-free experience. They're like, just give me the stuff and I'll figure out what to buy and whether to buy it and which options to select. The exercise that I talk about a lot on stage is this. Grab a piece of paper and a pen, and I want you to write down the 25 questions that your customers have most often about your business, your products or services pre-purchase. Every CEO can do it. That's what they think about. Now, take a look at that list. How many of those questions can be answered by a prospect on your website within two clicks? And it's usually about four. We're making people work too hard to get the information they need. What if your customers could never talk to anybody at your company? What if you didn't have an email address? What if you didn't have a phone? What if you didn't have a chatbot? Could you still sell stuff? And if the answer is no, you should probably rethink that.
Jim Schleckser: Let’s talk about Word of Mouth as a strategy.
Jay Baer: Word of mouth has been a customer acquisition strategy since the first caveman sold an arrowhead to another caveman. But only 1% of businesses have a defined and documented word-of-mouth strategy. We just take it for granted. Throughout modern business history, we've sold ourselves a lie. And the lie is that competency will create conversations and that if you just run a good business, people will naturally tell other people about you. That seems to make sense on paper, but it doesn't hold water in terms of actual human behavior. For you to introduce the topic of a business, a product, or a service to your friends and colleagues, something unexpected must happen. We don't talk about good; we talk about different, and this is why you almost never see three-star reviews. All your reviews are five-star or one-star. And so word of mouth works the same way. In my book, Talk Triggers, that's what we call it, it's an operational choice that you make in your business that is designed to create conversations. And it's not your core product or service, it's something else that you do differently, then people say, I didn't think that was going to happen. And that becomes the story that they tell their friends and colleagues. You have to give people a story. And it literally is a strategic execution of a playbook to create word of mouth. Most people just say it'll take care of itself and it will not. For more of Jim and Jay’s conversation, examples of Talk Triggers, and how to create business growth through customer experience, listen to this episode of The Lazy CEO Podcast. | |||
| 15 Jan 2023 | Business Model, Capital Structure and Managing Investors | 00:39:27 | |
A conversation between Jim Schleckser and Dave Warren Jim: Today we going to talk about several important business topics for CEOs with a long-term member of The CEO project and a friend of mine, Dave Warren. Dave is a serial entrepreneur. He started and owned, a couple of different businesses, but he's kind of a student of business. Dave really appreciates business as much as I do. Tell us a little bit about that business and why you started that business versus any other business you might get into. Dave: From the time I graduated from college, I was looking for a business to buy. The day I graduated, I found a partner and tried to buy the bookstore I had been working at, but quickly realized that, even with the best of intentions, if you didn't have a little capital. Then, contrary to my dad's advice, who had a 40-year career in the oil industry. His advice was, whatever you do, don't get into this business. And of course, like every good son, I just ignored him and got into it. At the end of the day, it's what you've seen and what you grew up with. So I got into the oil field, started out in field service, then got into manufacturing, and then into distribution. And then in 1995, I was working for a company in steel distribution and went to them and said, I think there's a different way to structure this business. At the time it was very transactional. I said I think there's a different way to put supply chains in place other than this transactional model that everybody's been using. I went to the owners of that business and said, what do you think? And they said we like what we're doing. But I felt compelled to try this and so I started it with two partners. We just started doing what we did, servicing the heck out of the customers and providing solutions. And they knew they could come to us, with issues or problems or things that they were trying, to solve, and we would come up with an answer. We kept reinvesting in the business. We got up to about 70 million in revenue over about an eight- or nine-year period. At the time, there was a lot of talk about the oil industry not going to be a domestic industry anymore. So, we figured we needed to get into, either needed to be a good, small regional business or we needed to expand the business and go global. So over about a period of 24 months, we did two acquisitions, one in the US and one a UK subsidiary of a French conglomerate. We tripled the size of the business. Each one of those was doing about 70 million in revenue. We basically put together a global footprint and looked at kind of the geographies of the products on the customers, and we did a three-dimensional matrix on what we wanted the acquisitions to solve. By the time we finished that 24-month period, we had solved most of what we wanted as far as what our vision was on how to service the market. We put in supply chains, support for manufacturing and operations on a global basis for people globally building, equipment for drilling, and downhill tools. Jim: Interesting. Follow the customer, right? If I see the customer migrating, I go with them, or I don't. What was the competitive advantage compared to the transactional companies that could do exactly what you could do? They could buy and they could sell, but what made what you did differently? Was it, was there an engineering element? What were the pieces that made that business different? Dave: Back to the partnering idea. We convinced customers to let us behind the curtain, we would talk to them about their forecast, and their bill of materials, and then tried to rationalize because every part was designed kind of as a unique part. With its own unique raw material. What we tried to do was, was rationalize and consolidate their spending into a smaller number of raw material SKUs. Then we would consolidate that demand over multiple customers and try to drive everything to a consistent supply chain inventory. So, we were able to buy by doing that and with the scale that we had, we were able to look at various customer demand points by region and then work with the mills and the suppliers to bring in higher volume. Plus, we were able to give the customer value by lowering their individual transactional costs. Jim: Did that translate into loyalty because you're trying to move from transactional to relational? Did it work or did they say, thanks for all the help, now let's talk about your price Dave: It worked for a while. But competitors started catching up. The business as you see now, even the oil industry cycles dramatically. It goes from a period of oversupply to undersupply quickly. In times when they were having trouble getting material, there was a lot of loyalty in times when there was a business downturn. There was kind of a diminishing loyalty on both the supplier and the customer side, depending on where we were in the cycle. Jim: Let's go over the capital structure, this is expensive stuff and you're holding a lot of inventory for these people. So, talk and tell us how you financed all that inventory. Dave: We financed it primarily with debt with the idea after we got things kind of rationalized, we got the synergies out of the business. We would deal by bringing in a partner to take some of the debt out. Unfortunately, it happens quickly, and demand falls off quickly. There's a huge supply chain requirement in place, and it doesn't happen overnight. There's a lot of capital that must be deployed and people need to have a comfort level that it's safe to deploy it and the industry's going to continue to be supported over an investment time. Jim: So, you brought in partners, was that debt and then later equity, and obviously it's a cyclical business, so you hit a downturn. How did your equity partners or your debt partners react? And what did that look like? The reason why I want to go down this path, Dave, is there's some learning in here I think for people about what can happen good, what can happen bad in that, and maybe what you want to do before that to protect it. For more of this conversation about business models, capital structure, and managing investors, listen to this episode of The Lay CEO Podcast. Thank you to our guest, Dave Warren Helping companies position for growth and scale-ability, Dave has led diverse and multimillion-dollar revenue streams with businesses in Texas, Mexico, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Edmonton (Canada), the UK, Dubai, Singapore, and Korea. | |||
| 30 Jul 2023 | 5 Steps To Growing Your Leadership Empathy | 00:37:48 | |
In this episode of The Lazy CEO Podcast, host Jim Schleckser welcomes Rob Volpe, author of the book "Tell Me More About That." The discussion centers around empathy, a crucial trait for great leaders. The podcast explores how empathy is often misunderstood and considered a soft skill that leaders might struggle with. However, Rob highlights that empathy is about connecting with another person's perspective or feelings as they experience them to foster better understanding and relationships. The conversation revolves around the five elements of empathy that can help leaders develop this essential skill. The first element is dismantling judgment, which involves recognizing and overcoming biases and preconceived notions. Rob encourages self-awareness and practicing curiosity to understand where judgments originate. He suggests keeping a judgment journal to become more aware of biases and stereotypes. The second element is asking good questions. Leaders should employ open-ended, exploratory questions to gain deeper insights into people's perspectives and feelings. Rob advises reframing questions using "who, what, where, when, and how" instead of "why," as "why" can put people on the defensive. Next, the podcast explores the importance of active listening. Active listening involves giving someone undivided attention, understanding both the spoken and unspoken aspects of communication. Leaders should pay attention to body language and context to comprehend the complete message being conveyed. The fourth element is integrating into understanding. Rob clarifies that empathy does not require sacrificing one's own perspective but rather making room for others' viewpoints. He shares an exercise called the ice cream exercise, where individuals find common ground by discussing their favorite ice cream flavors. Lastly, Rob emphasizes the significance of empathy in leadership, enhancing employee loyalty, a sense of belonging, and fostering innovation. Leaders can incorporate empathy into their decision-making process as a valuable data point that strengthens their leadership skills. Overall, the episode highlights the importance of empathy in leadership and provides practical steps for developing this essential skill. By dismantling judgment, asking good questions, engaging in active listening, integrating into understanding, and applying empathy effectively, leaders can create a more empathetic and effective work environment. | |||
| 12 Feb 2023 | Time for a Professional CEO? | 00:38:43 | |
This episode of The Lazy CEO Podcast is about determining when it is time, as a Founder, to bring in an outside CEO to run the company. We have a gentleman named Nick Wilkinson. Nick was a CEO that was brought into a company called Binary Tree that one of our members Steven Pivnik had founded, and he was trying to position for sale and upgrade the talent. Nick was the guy he identified and ended up bringing into the company. Nick’s Background Originally from the UK. After graduation from university, Nick spent the first 10 years of his career in the British Royal Air Force. After the Air Force, he joined what was then a pretty small company in the UK called Computer Sciences Corporation, CSC, which Nick subsequently spent the next 20, almost 25 years rising through the ranks of CSC from a consultant all the way through for various account management roles to ending up as a direct report to the CEO in, at that time was like a hundred thousand people company with 16 billion in revenue. With a great career in the UK. he was lucky enough to do some interesting jobs, which brought him to the States. He also lived in Australia for a few years and really assimilated a huge amount of knowledge and expertise on how to run large-scale organizations. Back in the early 2010s he was the CEO of a private equity-backed company backed by Bear Capital which was also in the IT services area. And that company and Steven’s company oftentimes coexisted with clients. They didn't do the same thing, but they did, provided complimentary services. Here is more of the conversation between Jim Schleckser, CEO of The CEO Project, and Nick Wilkinson. What was the size of the company, the training company, and the IT space prior to coming to Binary Tree? The private equity company was mid-market. It was of comparable size to Binary Tree. I made a decision when I left the large corporate world that I didn't want to go and do the same thing again, I wanted a change. I wanted to have more direct visibility of what I was doing and how it affected the business. I wanted to be a CEO. And I decided that I wanted to try that in a different financial structure, a different capital structure. And that's what led me into the private equity world. An important component of being able to step in as a CEO for a Founder is rolling your sleeves up and not needing somebody to do everything for you. In the founder-owned company, there aren't a whole host of staffers and people to do things for you. A lot of entrepreneurs get dazzled by the resume. They see your big career and think, this guy's brilliant, but then they bring that individual in, and they can't do the big to small translation. You obviously made the transition successfully, but what would you characterize as the differences? Most people can't make that transition. You did. What were the differences and why were you able to do it where maybe others might not be able to? A big part of it is personality. And I'm trying to answer the question without blowing smoke in my own direction. You've got to be reasonably self-effacing and modest, the servant leadership things. I know what it felt like to be at this level, and then a mid-manager and the senior manager and management. I had walked a mile in other people's shoes, and I was always willing to empathize with them and try and see things from their perspective. I've always been someone who's espoused lifelong learning. In addition, the founder must have a certain willingness to change and to listen, but at the same time a clear sense of what it needed to be successful in his or her company. That chemistry is important. If I was trying to figure out if somebody had the right profile or didn't, what would you recommend as the two or three questions to figure out if they've got the profile with you? If you were faced with a new opportunity with a big customer because a CEO must be capable of going out and meeting with customers, what do you do? How do you approach that? Shortly after I arrived at Binary Tree, we traveled out to the middle of nowhere and gave the pitch. We didn't win the business, but the fact that I was willing to be the one who made the deck, I went to Kinkos to get it photocopied. I helped prepare the guy to give the pitch and everybody thought, if this guy isn't here just to tell us what to do, he's willing to do it himself. So, a question that gets a potential CEO to show that they would do it themselves, that they would be there in the trenches with people as opposed to telling them from back at HQ. That would be a good way to frame something How do you follow the legacy of the Founder and establish credibility? How do you establish a relationship with the team? Moving into a CEO role in a new company, not a company that you've been in for some time, promoted into, you must have a balance between the drive to implement the things that got you the job, with the need to really learn about the business, to respect the fact that your knowledge of it is superficial when you've been outside it. You must learn how it actually performs. Where's the value really created? Who are the heroes? Where are the tensions? Where are the hidden gems? How it really works. So, it's that balance between listening and doing, which is always the case for a CEO, but extremely important in those first 60, or 90 days. If you move too quickly, then the organizational will or the body will reject the organ transplant as one of my advisors once said to me but if you move too slowly, you've missed your opportunity, and your authority diminished. And people wonder, why did we make the change then? So, you must have a plan. And revisit the plan with the founder, hers, or his DNAs in the company, and who better person to give you feedback on whether well, that would work, but I wouldn't try that you need to keep that relationship going. It's really that balance between listening and doing that's essential. How much of your original plans survived? Most things that I expected that we would do, we did. Did we do them in six months? No. One of the things that you must learn in smaller companies is that you must take smaller steps. The organization is not robust enough to do dramatic change. There are capital constraints. You must temper your ambitions with the, with the resources that you can muster. For more about the board, sacred cows, the difference between working with PE firms and Founder owned companies, and other lessons learned, listen to the full episode of The Lazy CEO Podcast. About our Guest - Nick Wilkinson After my initial period of military service in the Royal Air Force, I have enjoyed a successful career across a wide spectrum of the IT software and services industry: a proven CEO in private equity and founder-owned companies and extensive, global multi-functional leadership experience in a publicly traded corporation. | |||
| 01 Oct 2023 | Ultra-High Performance Mindset | 00:37:49 | |
In this episode of The Lazy CEO Podcast, host Jim Schleckser interviews JV Crum, the founder of Conscious Millionaire, who is known for bringing elements of Tony Robbins' mental state and mindset teachings into the business world. Crum discusses how he helps entrepreneurs and professionals elevate their performance and achieve a sense of abundance. He describes his own journey, including a phase of achieving financial success but feeling empty, which led him to seek a deeper purpose. Crum introduces a model with seven levels of mindset and performance, starting with "Infinite Abundance," where most people operate from a scarcity mentality. He explains that his approach goes beyond conventional high performance and aims to help individuals tap into a higher level of consciousness to unlock their potential. He discusses the importance of shifting one's identity and embracing possibilities to achieve desired outcomes. Crum also touches on the concept of "flow" and the three distinctions of flow, offering listeners an opportunity to explore these ideas further. Overall, the episode explores how individuals can transcend limiting beliefs and tap into their full potential to achieve success and make a positive impact on the world. | |||
| 19 Sep 2024 | The Lazy CEO Podcast - How CEOs Can Grow Their Business with a Podcast | 00:32:45 | |
In this episode of The Lazy CEO Podcast, host Jim Schleckser dives into the world of podcasting as a business tool, exploring how it can drive growth and success. Jim welcomes Seth Greene, an expert in the field and co-host of The SharkPreneur Podcast. Seth shares his unique approach, highlighting that podcasting isn't about getting millions of downloads or sponsorship revenue. Instead, it's about building relationships with guests and leveraging those connections for business success. Seth explains that the key to podcasting for business growth lies in focusing on two types of guests: potential clients and joint-venture partners. By engaging these individuals in meaningful conversations, podcasts can convert them into clients or referral partners, creating long-term business opportunities. Seth emphasizes that the goal is to establish trust and build a rapport, making the podcast a tool for relationship-building rather than just content creation. | |||
| 06 Aug 2023 | Never Lose an Employee Again | 00:43:54 | |
In this episode of The Lazy CEO Podcast, host Jim Schleckser welcomes Joey Coleman, Chief Experience Composer of Design Symphony, as his guest. Joey is a renowned speaker and influencer in the areas of customer and employee experience. They discuss Joey's first book, "Never Lose a Customer Again," which emphasizes the importance of paying attention to customers after they become clients. He explains that 20 to 70% of new customers may leave before their 100-day anniversary, highlighting the need for a strong customer experience. Joey then introduces his latest book, focusing on employee experience. He believes that a great customer experience is only possible with a great employee experience, as employees are the ones delivering the service. The conversation delves into the challenges of employee disengagement, which Gallup's recent research reveals to be as high as 77%. The key focus of the discussion is on the first 100 days of an employee's journey in an organization. Joey emphasizes the importance of creating a positive and engaging experience during this period to improve retention rates. He outlines an eight-phase employee journey framework, starting with the "Assess" phase, where prospective employees decide whether to join an organization and the organization determines the fit. The subsequent "Accept" phase involves extending the job offer in a way that makes candidates feel excited about their future with the company. The conversation touches on the critical "Affirm" phase, addressing new hires' remorse and the doubts that can arise after accepting a job offer. Joey stresses the need for continuous communication and support during this stage to alleviate any uncertainty and make the employees feel valued. The remaining phases of the employee journey involve "Activate" (onboarding), "Adapt" (helping employees acclimate to the culture), "Accomplish" (setting employees up for success), "Advocate" (encouraging them to become advocates for the company), and finally, "Ambassador" (creating raving fan employees who spread positive word-of-mouth). Joey highlights that employee experience should be an ongoing focus, with leaders continuously striving to improve and engage their workforce. They discuss the importance of aligning employee and customer experiences and how embracing the true nature of the modern workforce, which is often temporary or short-term, can lead to better hiring decisions and stronger employee commitment. The episode concludes with insights into how emotions play a crucial role in interactions with customers, employees, and all relationships in general. They agree that prioritizing personal and emotional connection in all interactions is key to building successful and meaningful relationships. | |||
| 08 Jun 2024 | Establishing Trust In a Selling Relationship | 00:36:30 | |
In this episode of The Lazy CEO Podcast, host Jim Schleckser delves into the prevalent issue executives, CEOs, and entrepreneurs face in generating sufficient revenue and establishing trust with clients. He is joined by Todd Duncan, a multiple-time New York Times bestselling author and renowned sales leader, who shares his expertise on these topics. Duncan emphasizes the paramount importance of trust in the sales process, highlighting that tension and suspicion can severely hinder successful business relationships. He advocates for a referral-based approach to business, which eliminates call reluctance and fosters excitement, allowing salespeople to focus on nurturing relationships rather than merely closing deals. Duncan underscores the need for effective communication, advising sales professionals to talk less about themselves and their companies and more about addressing the client's needs. His research indicates that concise sales pitches can significantly boost conversion rates. Furthermore, he introduces the concept of emotional economics, where building an emotional connection with clients can lead to substantial increases in sales and gross margins. The principle of reciprocity, where providing value to clients encourages them to reciprocate with business, is also discussed. | |||
| 28 Apr 2024 | Strategic Planning and Execution | 00:32:36 | |
In this episode of "The Lazy CEO Podcast," host Jim Schleckser explores the complex and often misunderstood world of strategic thinking and execution. He begins by highlighting the sobering statistic that over 50% of strategies fail due to poor execution or deployment. Schleckser emphasizes that strategic planning and execution should not be viewed as separate processes but as a unified one, drawing on insights from thinker Henry Mintzberg. Schleckser argues for the effectiveness of small, strategic teams in organizational planning, suggesting that the ideal group size is around 5 to 9 people. He stresses the importance of including team members who are deeply connected to market conditions and internal capabilities rather than just those with high-ranking titles. He advocates for system thinkers who can understand complex interdependencies within the organization and the broader market. | |||
| 27 Aug 2024 | Succession Planning for CEOs and Their Organization | 00:29:49 | |
In this episode about Succession Planning for CEOs and Their Organization · Talent Assessment and Development: The episode emphasizes the importance of using the ABC rating system and the 9-box exercise to regularly assess and develop talent within the organization, focusing on both current performance and promotability. · Succession Planning Tools: Jim and Sharon discuss practical tools like depth charts to ensure a robust succession plan, highlighting the need to have a pipeline of talent at different levels of readiness within the company. · Managing Long-Tenured Leaders: The hosts address the challenges of dealing with long-serving leaders who may be hindering the growth of younger talent, offering solutions such as assigning special projects or encouraging retirement to create opportunities for others. | |||
| 12 Oct 2024 | End To End Supply Chain and Brand Management | 00:34:29 | |
In this episode of The Lazy CEO podcast, Jim Schleckser, host and founder of The CEO Project, introduces Ilias Simpson, the new President of Cart.com. Ilias talks about Cart.com's comprehensive supply chain solutions, emphasizing its omni-channel capabilities and how they manage everything from digital storefronts to order fulfillment. He explains the company’s end-to-end approach, handling fulfillment for big brands like PacSun and Toms. Cart.com’s ability to offer integrated marketing, order management, and warehouse services sets them apart in a highly competitive market. | |||
| 06 Apr 2024 | How to Hire and Work with a Fractional CXO | 00:32:51 | |
The podcast episode features an interview with Bill Simmons, the founder of Thrive Business Operations, discussing fractional CXO roles. The host introduces the concept of fractional CXOs, such as CFOs, CMOs, and Chief Revenue Officers, which are hired for specific needs or to fill critical positions temporarily. Bill Simmons explains how his company provides operational support for businesses through fractional CXOs, helping them navigate challenges and improve operational excellence. They discuss scenarios where businesses might consider hiring fractional executives, such as when a company's growth outpaces its operational capacity or when there's a need for strategic guidance and execution. Simmons emphasizes the value of fractional executives in bridging the gap between vision and execution and highlights the cost-effectiveness and expertise they bring compared to full-time hires. The interview explores the role of fractional executives in driving strategic outcomes and the importance of clear deliverables and accountability in their engagements. Overall, the conversation offers insights into the benefits and considerations of leveraging fractional CXOs for business growth and operational efficiency. | |||