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Five Questions Over Coffee with Jeff Standridge (ep. 112)
Thursday, October 24, 2024 • Duration 16:10
Who is Jeff?
Jeff Standridge is a seasoned business strategist and consultant with a strong focus on innovation and strategic growth. He is the founder of a company that serves two distinct customer segments - startups in the state of Arkansas, and larger companies worldwide. With sponsored funding from the federal and state government, he provides resources and support to startups in Arkansas. For larger companies, he helps them challenge the status quo through innovation exercises and assists in creating and implementing strategic growth plans. Standridge is dedicated to helping businesses of all sizes achieve their goals and drive success.
Key Takeaways
00:00 We serve startup and larger company markets.
03:42 Transformed insurance group achieved significant growth.
09:25 Team commitment, empowering communication, accountability, organizational agility.
13:26 Subscribe for podcast updates, transcripts, and resources.
Some free resources at https://jeffstandridge.com/free-resources
Here's how you can bring your business to THE next level:
If you are a business owner currently turning over £/$10K - £/$50K per month and want to grow to £/$100K - £/$500k per month download my free resource on everything you need to grow your business on a single page :
It's a detailed breakdown of how you can grow your business to 7-figures in a smart and sustainable way
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Transcript
Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast)
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Innovation Junkie, strategic growth, business operation, start up segment, larger companies, federal government, state government, revenue growth, profit growth, business growth, sustained growth, systematic approach, growth plan, strategic planning, cultural fit, accountability, leadership, organizational behavior, mergers and acquisitions, global operations, organizational success, corporate troubleshooting, organizational agility, business owners.
SPEAKERS
Jeff Standridge, Stuart Webb
Stuart Webb [00:00:22]:
Hi and welcome back to It's Not Rocket Science 5 questions of a coffee. Get my hand into the camera properly so you can see the 5 questions. I'm Stuart Webb, the the host, and I'm here today with Jeff Standridge. Jeff is an Innovation Junkie. He's founder of Innovation Junkie. He's helping his customers to to be more innovative and to help them to produce innovation in their businesses. I'm really looking forward to this conversation. Welcome to, It's Not Rocket Science 5 of question 5 Questions Over Coffee.
Stuart Webb [00:00:54]:
Jeff, I hope you're there with a drink in front of you.
Jeff Standridge [00:00:56]:
Yes. Thank you so much, Stuart. It's great to be here today. I appreciate it.
Stuart Webb [00:01:00]:
No problem. So, Jeff, tell me a little bit about, the sort of customers you help and how you help them to be more innovative, but how you also help them to sort of, you know, standardize that as part of their business operation?
Jeff Standridge [00:01:13]:
Sure. So we we actually serve 2 different segments of of, customers. 1 is the start up segment, and and we do that in a specific geography, the state of Arkansas, within the United States because we have sponsored funding to be able to provide that, that types of resource to them, funded for federal government and the state government, to be able to provide that kinds of work. We work with larger companies, call it 5,000,000 to 500,000,000 independent of location all around the world, and we help them challenge the status quo through some very focused innovation exercises, but also to help them build out a a, strategic growth plan and implement a system around the actual execution of that plan.
Stuart Webb [00:01:59]:
Mhmm. Mhmm. And and what are the things that some of your customers I mean, let's let's look at those those people that you have to to challenge the standard, the the status quo at the moment, Jeff. What is it they tried before which which maybe hasn't worked and that you bring as a different way of thinking to them and make them, look at things in a different way?
Jeff Standridge [00:02:21]:
Well, generally, you know, everyone says they want to grow, and they either wanna grow their revenue or they wanna grow their profit or they wanna grow their cash flow. But many times, they don't have a system to actually execute on that growth. And and so that's one of the challenges is is they wanna generate sustained growth, but they don't they don't really know where to start.
Stuart Webb [00:02:43]:
Yeah. It's often a problem, isn't it? I do a a lot of that sort of work with customers as well, and, not only do they not know where to where to start, but but some of them have this belief that somehow it's it's it's magic. It just happens when it happens, and and, actually, it it it doesn't just happen when it happens. You have to be systematic about it, don't you?
Jeff Standridge [00:03:02]:
You you absolutely do have to be systematic, and and, you know, if if we're not planning for that growth, the likelihood that we're gonna be successful in spite of ourselves is not very great.
Stuart Webb [00:03:13]:
Yeah. Deliberate deliberate strategic action is is really important, isn't it?
Jeff Standridge [00:03:18]:
For sure. For sure.
Stuart Webb [00:03:20]:
And and sometimes that deliberate deliberate action is is very often sort of founded on people sort of maybe not knowing where they're going, but deciding they're gonna go somewhere anyway.
Jeff Standridge [00:03:33]:
That's right. I completely agree with you.
Stuart Webb [00:03:35]:
Can you can you give us an example of somebody you've helped to, who's been in that situation and how you've how you've helped to move them forward?
Jeff Standridge [00:03:42]:
Sure. So, worked with an insurance group, an insurance agency, and, independent agency representing multiple insurance carriers. I actually became an investor in this group. And, you know, the the organization had been in existence for over a decade, when we first started working with them, and, but they really haven't hadn't hadn't grown. They were really just paying the bills, paying the people, and continuing to kinda trade sideways, so to speak. We implemented a strategic growth system with them, and, they now have 3 locations. They're growing at double digits. They own the real estate under all three of those locations, and they also just over the course of the last, oh, I don't know, probably 2 years, they have been able to transform their employment environment such that they've got, multiple top talent in the industry coming to them saying, I wanna go to work for you.
Stuart Webb [00:04:38]:
Yeah. And that's a really important part of anybody's growth strategy, isn't it? It's having access to those people that are gonna help you to grow. They've got the behaviors that have got the got the the the the attitude. And I often think that's one of the things that as business owners, we fail to do often. We we hire for skill, whereas we should be hiring for attitude and behavior
Jeff Standridge [00:04:59]:
That's right.
Stuart Webb [00:05:00]:
And training and for skill because skill can be taught, but behaviors, attitudes can't be taught that easily.
Jeff Standridge [00:05:06]:
You know, it's interesting. Jack Welch, who who headed up GE a number of years ago, said that if you've got someone who is a cultural fit for the organization, but they're struggling to be successful, then you probably have the wrong combination of skills and job role. But if you've got someone who is successful in their job, but they're a cultural mismatch, you never should have hired them in the 1st place, and you're gonna have to get rid of them because they'll go bad at point, and they'll take a lot of people with them.
Stuart Webb [00:05:34]:
Yeah. Yeah. You're absolutely and and he was a he was a great he was a great thinker in that way. So, Jeff, I I know and I'm hoping that I've got this right. You've got some you've got some great resources that we can pull up on. So so talk to us a little bit about some of that free resource that we can get. And I'm gonna put the link here at the moment, and it's it's just simply your name, Jeff standridge.com/freehyphenresources. To to tell us a little bit about what we can Yeah.
Jeff Standridge [00:06:00]:
So we've
Stuart Webb [00:06:00]:
got a
Jeff Standridge [00:06:00]:
get there and how
Stuart Webb [00:06:01]:
to use that.
Jeff Standridge [00:06:02]:
We've got a description of our strategic growth system there, and, and they can download the the the strategic growth system that we use with clients, that to really take them from where they are to where they ultimately wanna go. It's not just a planning document. It's an actual implementation of a system. It systematizes the execution against that strategic growth. Be glad for them to pick that up.
Stuart Webb [00:06:24]:
Terrific. Jeff, there there must have been something in terms of a a course, or or something which started you down this journey. What was that what was that that that course or that journey that actually sort of made you realize that you could help companies become more strategic about their innovation and about their growth?
Jeff Standridge [00:06:45]:
You know, years ago, I read a book by Jim Collins called Good to Great.
Stuart Webb [00:06:49]:
Oh, great book.
Jeff Standridge [00:06:51]:
That book, Good to Great, and the the rigor of the research behind that book, was really impactful to me. So I, you know, I have an, a a doctorate in in leadership and organizational behavior, and and, and so I kinda come at things a little bit academically or I used to, not so much anymore. But the the the science behind his research really, really impressed me, and, and so, I began implementing some of those things in the in the work that I do. And, over the years, it kind of evolved. You know, 25 years of doing mergers and acquisitions and running global operations, for a publicly traded US technology company in the UK, across Europe, and Asia, the Middle East, etcetera. And, you know, just I decided about 8 years ago that I'd spent the first half of my life making a living. I wanted to spend the second half making a difference, and so I stepped out on my 50th birthday to do what I do today and have it looked back one day.
Stuart Webb [00:07:50]:
That's brilliant. I love I love that. And it really takes me to what I think is probably the best and last question that I can ask you, and that is, what's the question I've currently failed to ask you to now that mess must be the burning one that you think I just need to get this out of? So what is the question that I should have asked you? And, obviously, once I've asked you that question, you really do need to answer it.
Jeff Standridge [00:08:14]:
Sure. So, you know, what are the patterns that you see in organizations that do achieve sustained strategic growth? So that's the question that that, I would say that that we should have asked. And we talked a little bit about culture a few moments ago. And one of the things I've had the privilege of doing is working with with hundreds of companies over the years. And my my colleagues and I have identified 6 specific components that organizations that do achieve sustained strategic growth demonstrate, and those components really we've organized those into a framework we call the culture of excellence. You wanna hear about them?
Stuart Webb [00:08:51]:
I certainly do. I was hoping that you were gonna say that.
Jeff Standridge [00:08:54]:
Very good. Very good. You know, it starts with strong leadership. Strong leaders, a team of strong leaders who are committed to the direction of the company, who are committed to systematizing the actual strategic growth plan that they have, and who are committed to surrounding themselves with people who are also bought into that direction. Yeah. Number 2, they ensure clarity and focus in the organization. Yeah. They know precisely where they're going, who they are, where they're going, how they're going to get there, and they make sure that their employees also understand how they contribute to that direction.
Jeff Standridge [00:09:25]:
They surround themselves with engaged and committed teammates, and and number 4 is they engage in empowering communication. Empowering communication is communication that helps people become the word empower stronger and more confident in dealing with the circumstances they're facing. So they may have to have tough conversations, but they don't stop just at tough. After they have the tough conversation, they then try to convert that conversation into helping someone feel stronger and more confident in dealing with how to move forward. The 5th element is 100% accountability. In other in other words, everyone knows what they're responsible for, and they are 100% held accountable and submit themselves to being held accountable to deliver it. And then finally, the last item, really comes from a a, comment by the great management philosopher, Mike Tyson, who said everybody has a plan until I punch him in the mouth. Organizational agility is the 6th element of a culture of excellence where an organization can be knocked down, but they can get up more times than they've been knocked to the mat.
Stuart Webb [00:10:29]:
Jeff, those are some really powerful messages there. I mean, the those six things are I absolutely identify with those. The the number of organizations that I've come across who, you know, the the leadership might wanna sort of embed a culture of of excellence, but when it comes to the accountability, they shrink away. It just destroys everything unless you have all of those 6, and I think you're absolutely right. Although, I must admit, I use a different planning, a a plan which is no no plan survives for his contact with the enemy, which I guess is what Mike Tyson is telling us.
Jeff Standridge [00:11:03]:
That's exactly right.
Stuart Webb [00:11:05]:
But, you know, it's that accountability and clarity and communication. And those are the things that I've always thought are absolutely critical to every organization. And unless you get accountability, clarity, and communication, no plan is ever gonna work and nobody's ever gonna be agile because nobody's gonna tell you something's gone wrong, and you're gonna carry on working as if everything was okay. That's the secret to organizational success, isn't it?
Jeff Standridge [00:11:29]:
It really is. And and, a lot of leaders make a mistake of assuming that clarity exists in the organization.
Stuart Webb [00:11:36]:
Yeah. They do. They do. I spent a lot of time, like you in sort of corporate troubleshooting, and nearly every organization I walked into to try and understand where things have gone wrong, somebody somewhere hadn't been clear. Somebody somewhere hadn't told somebody else what was wrong. And as a result, somebody was either not being held accountable for something or being held accountable for something where the planner drastically changed and nobody could work out what was going on. And in every single case, all that needed to start the process was for somebody to actually start the well, can we be clear about what we're trying to do? And it's those conversations which eventually lead to great growth and great innovation, isn't it?
Jeff Standridge [00:12:19]:
Yeah. I've, you know, I've seen so many times where someone came up with a great idea in an organization, and and they rallied throngs of people around that idea to try to implement it. And no one took the no one took the step to say, what's the problem we're trying to solve here, or what's the opportunity we're trying to seize? And and and if they did answer that, they didn't really try to quantify it to see if it was going to be worth the effort.
Stuart Webb [00:12:43]:
Yeah. Absolutely. Oh, I love that. Jeff, we could and probably should spend many, many hours talking about this, but I have a feeling that, business owners need to actually just go back and reflect upon some of this. And then, obviously, they can go back to jeffstandridge.comhyphen sorry, slash free hyphen resource, resources and pull that information down to start doing that. And, obviously, we'd we'd welcome further conversations from anybody who's watching at the moment that wants to actually sort of get in and understand how that, that their organization can take advantage of some of those resources to grow. Jeff, thank you so much for spending just a few minutes with us talking us through that stuff. It's been brilliant.
Stuart Webb [00:13:26]:
I just wanna just point us towards one thing. If if you want to get on to the, the mailing list, which allows us to tell you about when we have such brilliant guests like Jeff coming up and to, to make sure that you can get the transcript that's gonna be coming out of this podcast, in the future, please go to this link, which is httpscolonforward/forward/link.thecompleteapproach.co.ukforward/newsletter. Get on to that. You will then get notification of when this comes out as a transcript. You can read some of the great stuff that Jeff's just given us. You can find out once again where that resource is and go to that resource and pull it down and read some of the great ideas that Jeff has got. Jeff, thank you so much for spending a few minutes with us. Really appreciate you spending a few minutes today, and I sincerely hope that we've got a few people out there that have rethought what they're trying to do with their business because they haven't got clarity or they're not holding somebody accountable for something which has gone wrong in the organization.
Jeff Standridge [00:14:27]:
I appreciate it, Stuart. It's been a pleasure. And if any of them wanna reach out to me, I'm very active on LinkedIn as well. So thank you so much. It's been an honor.
Stuart Webb [00:14:35]:
I will make sure that we get that LinkedIn, that LinkedIn that the LinkedIn link. Yeah. I think that's a word. Yeah. That LinkedIn link in the in the show notes. Jeff, thank you very much.
Five Questions Over Coffee with Julie Guegan (ep. 111)
Thursday, September 26, 2024 • Duration 32:18
Who is Julie?
Julie Guegan has spent the last two decades dedicated to understanding and promoting sophisticated collaboration. She has observed the challenges and complexities that arise when genuine collaboration is required, and has worked to navigate and overcome them. With a deep understanding of human nature and culture, Julie has led the way in finding solutions for effective collaboration, drawing on her own experiences in marriage as an example of the difficulties that can arise when multiple individuals come together. Her expertise and dedication have made her a leading figure in the field of collaboration.
Key Takeaways
00:00 20 years consulting led to founding Global Collaboration Institute.
04:33 Embrace diversity for collaborative and impactful solutions.
09:35 Revelation of nature's strength prompts relearning behavior.
11:59 Encourage collaboration, step out of comfort zone.
14:54 Avoid doubts, pioneer, and create global collaboration.
20:02 Anna awakened me to societal inferiority complex.
22:20 Julie, pursuit of dream through listening, innovation.
28:06 Julie promotes positive cultural change and collaboration.
29:48 Follow Julie, subscribe to the newsletter. Exciting guests.Valuable Free Resource or Action
Some free resources at https://tinyurl.com/3p8pnpnz
Five Questions Over Coffee with Tracy Borreson (ep. 102)
Thursday, April 4, 2024 • Duration 32:42
Who is Tracy?
Tracy Borreson has a background in corporate marketing but found that the industry lacked authenticity. Determined to change that, she left the corporate world and started TLB Coaching, a business centered around having real conversations and helping companies find their unique DNA. Tracy believes that the standard approach of giving easy instructions and expecting success doesn't work, and instead focuses on helping people figure out what they would do in any given situation. Whether it's through in-person networking events or marketing advisory services, Tracy's mission is to bring authenticity back to the marketing industry.
Key Takeaways
00:00 Marketing professional seeks authenticity and unique approach.
06:49 Choosing convenience over joy can diminish experiences.
10:30 "Need for communication and understanding client problems."
13:16 Target niche markets efficiently to save money.
16:41 Personal brand campfire: audio meditation experience.
18:23 Book recommendation: "The One Thing" - Focus
22:37 Trade show success is about creating experience.
Subscribe to our newsletter and get details of when we are doing these interviews live at https://TCA.fyi/newsletter
Get full access to It's Not Rocket Science! at
Five Questions Over Coffee with Jill Maidment, Executive Coach (ep.12)
Wednesday, May 19, 2021 • Duration 17:47
Who is Jill?
Jill Maidment is the Founder and Director of Natural Talent Bristol and South Wales. She is a highly respected, sought-after and effective International Executive Business Coach and Mentor, Career Transition and Outplacement Coach, Resilience Coach, and British Psychological Society qualified Assessor. Jill also speaks at virtual events and delivers virtual Leadership and Management Training Modules.
Key Takeaways
What you will learn in this podcast :
how organisations are adapting to change since early 2020
how strategic management prepares your organisation for major change like a pandemic
understanding the Kubler-Ross curve will help you understand how change affects people.
Five Questions Over Coffee with Jacquie Hale (ep.11)
Wednesday, May 5, 2021 • Duration 18:30
Who is Jacquie?
When Jacquie left teaching to start a Tipi Hire business in 2010, tipi weddings were very new. Jacquie has used her marketing skills to grow that business to be a market leader. Now she's offering her expertise to other Business owners who want to grow their business by implementing her Marketing and Sales System to create a constant stream of new leads and customers. Jacquie works one to one with motivated and aspiring business owners and without exception, her clients increase their profits and improve their lifestyle!
Key Takeaways
What you will learn in this podcast :
Proactive marketing will bring new clients
Price for value not compete
Spend some time on your business every day
Valuable Free Resource or Action
Invest your time, don't spend your time, invest it.
Five Questions Over Coffee with Margaret Guillen (ep.10)
Wednesday, April 21, 2021 • Duration 19:26
Who is Margaret?
Margaret is a result-driven Business Coach for female entrepreneurs just like you. She uses business strategies, as well as NLP techniques and NLP coaching that work on your mindset and assist you with your personal development, to help you build and grow a business and a lifestyle that you can truly enjoy.
Key Takeaways
What you will learn in this podcast:
How having clarity with your target market allows your message to be heard
Why too many business owners try to solve their own problems
How to ensure you have a magnetic message to avoid selling
Five Questions Over Coffee with Sian Lannegan (ep. 9)
Wednesday, April 7, 2021 • Duration 12:23
Sian is based a Business Mentor, member of the Forbes Coaches Council and I help service-service-based business owners and agencies gain an unfair advantage and crack the growth code to getting and keeping more clients in order to build a business that loves you back.
In this recording you will learn that Sian has spent many thousands developing herself and her own knowledge and how that has helped her to focus her skills to develop her clients business and that the key to growing your business is to grow your email list.
Five Questions Over Coffee with Jannine Barron, eco-business mentor (ep. 8)
Wednesday, March 10, 2021 • Duration 18:22
In our latest episode of It's Not Rocket Science! Five Questions Over Coffee recorded on International Women's day, we talk to eco-business mentor Jannine Barron. Jannine is a business mentor with a special interest in brand activism and climate change who uses strategic marketing and communication skills to help sole traders and small companies simplify complex marketing ideas that allows her clients to create and scale their businesses with ease. She is on a mission to support ecopreneurs create brands and services that can change the world with zero harm products and solutions.
Find the right mentor or tribe to support your dream and move the business forward without 'playing small'
Make everything simple. Choose a couple of inspirational mentors, choose only a couple of marketing newsletters. Too much information stops you from working on your business because of information overload
Know the difference between doing and why you are doing it so you get to your objective.
Five Questions Over Coffee with Judith Rafferty, Fuition Ventures (ep. 7)
Wednesday, March 3, 2021 • Duration 24:12
Creative commercially astute Copywriter helping businesses get seen, known & booked!
Her copywriting track record is for value rich, income generating content creation that boosts awareness, engagement, sales, sign-ups, and visibility.
During the past ten years, She has significantly evolved my copywriting services, for one-off jobs and regular retainers, as a freelancer, or an agency sub-contractor.
Her key competencies are
- A proven ability to write persuasive copy designed to sell, grounded in years of frontline sales experience.
- Excellent writing skills.
- Accuracy and an eye for detail.
- Ability to write concise and engaging copy to tight deadlines.
- Experience in optimising copy to deliver maximum conversions.
1. two tools to help you be a better copywriter : answer the public and co-schedule
2. A great book on content DNA
3. A tool to help your content be more readable.
--- Send in a voice message: Get full access to It's Not Rocket Science! at
Five Questions Over Coffee with Robin Waite, The Fearless Coach (ep. 6)
Wednesday, February 24, 2021 • Duration 27:41
Robin is the Fearless Business Coach.
Fearless Business helps amazing business owners to FINALLY grow their business and shift away from a value-driven exchange of "time-for money" to charging based on "RESULTS" and RESULTS ALONE. As a direct result of being in the Fearless Business Accelerator many of our clients get a direct return on their investment within the first 4 weeks of the programme and go on to double or treble their turnover within 3-6 months of starting the programme. We've helped over 120 business owners to break out of selling their time-for-money over the last 12 months alone.
Here's how you can bring your business to THE next level:
If you are a business owner currently turning over £/$10K - £/$50K per month and want to grow to £/$100K - £/$500k per month download my free resource on everything you need to grow your business on a single page :
It's a detailed breakdown of how you can grow your business to 7-figures in a smart and sustainable way
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Transcript
Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast)
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
global collaboration, books, citizen empowerment, participatory democracy, systems dynamic theory, Global Collaboration Institute, diverse perspectives, collaboration framework, innovation, diversity, storytelling techniques, well-being, empathy, change, nature, European dream, humility, curiosity, Alfred Adler, human behavior, inferiority complex, youth, COVID-19 pandemic, meta collaboration framework, social needs, humanistic values
SPEAKERS
Julie Geugan, Stuart Webb
Stuart Webb [00:00:19]:
Hi, and welcome back to It's Not Rocket Science 5 questions over coffee. This is my coffee which I have in front of me. I know Julie has a drink with her as well, and I'd like to welcome Julie Gegan who is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a recipient of 2 European Commission Awards and she's really passionate about citizen empowerment and participatory democracy and collaboration, and she's got work, which has been enriched by systems dynamic theory to do that. We're gonna have a really fascinating discussion about how she's doing this and things she's written about it. And, Julia, I'm really delighted to welcome to it's not rocket science, 5 questions over coffee. Thank you for making the time.
Julie Guegan [00:01:02]:
Thank you so much, Strat. And I will warn you that maybe my my dog will sparkle, with with Bobby during the conversation, but, you know, it's my dog. It's fine. And my cats my cat also may appear, so you know.
Stuart Webb [00:01:15]:
Okay. We we have had dogs. We have had cats. We have had many interruptions during these and they're always delightful. I'm always pleased to see them come in and say hello, so that's really wonderful. Judy, tell us a little bit more about, you know, the people you help in terms of the the collaborative processes and the and the the methodologies you use to to enable that.
Julie Guegan [00:01:35]:
Mhmm. Thank you so much. So over the past 20 years, I, I led the journey, to, understand the conditions for collaboration, but sophisticated collaboration. When faced with the need to collaborate, things get tricky. And we could see that over the past years when we face complex issues that require genuine collaboration. It's like we forget everything about human nature, culture, and how to navigate the complexity of collaboration. You know, just being married is difficult with 2 people. So imagine when you have more people around the table.
Julie Guegan [00:02:23]:
And so over the past 20 years, I had the great chance to contribute to the European project as a consultant and to identify, to learn from all my experience, the critical ingredients, what was needed to apply collaboration when collaboration is must needed. As an outcome of, of this, 20 years adventure, I created the Global Collaboration Institute a year ago. For this, I gathered experts from all over the globe in different disciplines, different areas, but also, ways of loving and thinking. So real diverse diversity in practice, people that don't necessarily think the same as me. And we started to, work on the basis of my findings and to elaborate a framework that can be applied in any system, any project to amplify its potential and to, make sure that the system in itself would, would be in calm, in well-being. And so having the condition to catalyze innovation. So that's the result of this work and that's the reason why I'm here today with you to explain you a little bit, what is this main outcome. It is in a book, in a vision, and I'm happy to to answer your questions, Charles, about
Stuart Webb [00:03:58]:
this. Julie, I think you said one thing there which is really critical, and that's something that I think a lot of the the people you work with have tried to do. They've tried to find ways to collaborate but as you said, sometimes you need to gather people around you who are different, who don't think the same as you and that's a critical and key aspect of of ensuring collaboration actually succeeds. What what what can you share us in terms of insights into into how that helps if people have tried collaborations or they've tried ways of sort of getting diversity, but they failed because they haven't recognized that as one of their key problems.
Julie Guegan [00:04:33]:
You you you have so many examples, you know, in our history where we embarked into main initiatives without taking the cultural diversity into account. Actually, in collaboration, diversity unites us. You don't do collaboration if you already have the answers to your question, if you already have the a position, if you prefer. So when you enter collaboration and when, in this case, we are talking about big dreams in a way. We are talking about solving the most impossible problems of our times because when collaboration is actually needed, it means that you cannot solve the problem yourself alone. So it means that the problem is too big for you. And so the dream is also too big. And that's why you have to take into account this diversity within the room because this diversity is the key to your solutions.
Julie Guegan [00:05:32]:
And what you need to, to do to embark people in this collaboration journey, taking account their different ways of thinking but also loving. Because the starting point is we all have a positive intention toward this world. We all have it. And following all my experience and my empirical research where I went as far as I could into the periphery, I started to listen attentively to our stakeholders. If we prefer if we are serious about achieving global collaboration that is empowering people all over the world to, to to to if you prefer to embrace the complex issues we face such as climate change or mobility, general, economy, any topic. You have to, equip them. You have to prepare them to the shock and the agony that diversity will represent.
Stuart Webb [00:06:38]:
I think that's a really interesting sec thing you said. It is a shock. It is not it is not easy. It's not comfortable.
Julie Guegan [00:06:47]:
It's absolutely not comfortable. But to solve our issues, I said it at the beginning, you need well-being. You need calm. Because to lead to harmony, people will need to feel calm. They will need to feel that they master. And this is why it's so important our role at the Global Collaboration Institute to equip people for sophisticated collaboration. So that in this collaboration, you won't burn out. You will feel well along the journey and you will master, and this is how you will make impossible possible.
Stuart Webb [00:07:27]:
Brilliant. Brilliant.
Julie Guegan [00:07:28]:
Because he will be like, oh, sorry. I could I told you I could talk during hours.
Stuart Webb [00:07:33]:
No. Please carry on. Please carry on.
Julie Guegan [00:07:37]:
It's just as part of my journey, I developed a number of tools and storytelling techniques and things like this, and it's very, easy for people to forget about, this diversity aspect and to get stuck when they are shocked, Right? When they are shocked by others' view on the world, and and they wait to love. It's it's it's the basis. You know? It's NLP. I I don't know if you know a little bit about NLP. Everyone is okay. That's how you start a collaboration journey. Everyone. What you need to understand is in I mean, when you need to develop is empathy.
Julie Guegan [00:08:22]:
Your ability to listen to what feels wrong. Yeah. And well, it's it's just that as part of the the storytelling techniques, I, I I I, for instance, feed people with narratives, like the narrative of the eagle. You know? The eagle that takes distance on the dream, that takes distance on the project. Because if you put too much pressure on yourself, you increase the risk of being shocked. Because the more you want a project to succeed, the more you want something impossible to become possible, the more you increase the pressure on the show on your shoulder and the less competent you will be to address it. So it's very important that people, you know, visualize themselves as animal, and I use the laws of nature because we need to complete to contemplate nature when nature shows us that it's far more complex than we thought it was because, you know, women beings, we have this inferiority complex toward nature. We always need to find the ways to control it.
Julie Guegan [00:09:35]:
And now that we are faced with this, terrible, you know, revelation that nature is stronger than us, we seem even more lost and and and it's like people lose their everything they learned. You know? They panic and, it's like we have to to relearn everything, you know, about what is a good behavior, what is wrong about our beliefs. We we are like turtles. You know, I mentioned the eagle that needs to take distance and has strategies to make sure the dream at the end of the day will work because there's no other choice. Not the change is happening. Anyway, the question is, do we want this change to be like the way we want it? Do we let this change, you know, happen without us? And I think we all have in our world the tools, the competencies, you know, everything we need to, to make the right, benevolent change happen for this world. So let's do it. You know? And that's why also when I started with my new European dream for a caring culture and innovation and and hope and faith because we've never needed more hope than today.
Julie Guegan [00:11:07]:
And this, you know, knowing that, yes, we can. Of course, we can. You know? We have everything. And and and when I started, you know, the only reason I could wake up every day with this huge dream of on my shoulder, you know, the turtle with this huge burden of this huge dream that, yes, we can do it. The only reason why I could keep going is because I knew there were people in this world like you. People in this world that have fantastic expertise, they can bring to the table so that we make happen what we thought was impossible. And so I'm I'm naming this force, if you prefer, the force for good.
Stuart Webb [00:11:59]:
Yes. Yes. Is there a is there a particular thing that you would like people to is there, you know, one piece of advice that you could leave? And I I'm gonna put up at this stage, your LinkedIn profile, which I will I will include in the in the show notes for the episode because I think it's important that people can follow what you're doing with with with your collaboration institute. But but is there one piece of advice? You talked a little bit about sort of storytelling techniques. You've talked about some of the techniques you've used to help people sort of understand how collaboration can help them move their business, their personal life forward. Is there one piece of advice that you would leave them with to enable them to sort of, today, start taking that approach, move their collaboration forward in a way which, yes, will make them uncomfortable, will help them, to to move out of their comfort zone, but will enable them to sort of move forward, that they don't need a lot of time to learn?
Julie Guegan [00:12:57]:
Mhmm. There are you have to know, I wrote, probably one article per day in, 3 years on my blog, which is now closed because it was mainly for my experience, the empirical research, to understand, as I said, the conditions for global collaboration. From there, we have this framework, structural and behavioral framework. The pillars, if you prefer, of collaboration contain 11 ingredients, and there is this behavioral framework that is the process, to move from impossible to mission possible. As part of all these these resources that that we created, I'm thinking about one very simple thing that people can do when they have so many years. So I'm thinking about 1 in particular, but There are 3 mistakes that people do when they have a big dream. The first one is, lack of humility. No.
Julie Guegan [00:14:10]:
Yep. It's, the second one is, lack of curiosity. So you say, you know, the being ignorant. You have to be like an unborn. You, when you enter collaboration, you have to forget everything you know, basically. Because if you really want to have the power of collaboration on the table, you have to forget where you come from or your beliefs or your bias or your assumptions because you need to be at the disposal of the crowd because collaboration is 1 plus 1 equals an infinite number of possibilities. But for this, you need to forget all about yourself. You need to be unborn.
Julie Guegan [00:14:54]:
The third mistake is to be overwhelmed by doubts Because along the journey, you will be like a scoot. It's a friend, Stefan Baigi, who taught me about this, that when you are pioneer and, of course, Global Collaboration Institute is pioneering a new well, it's like we open the door to next generation because we saw that the system was becoming absurd and change needed to happen whether we want it or not. And so we opened the door to make it familiar for all generations that there is a possibility that one day global collaboration will happen with a maximum of people around the globe ready, equipped to solve all the complex issues we face in all the areas because we see there is crisis after crisis The or in all the domain, in all the areas, we need to change the rules of the game. So we opened this door and we invented these frameworks. So, really, one resource I would say is to face these 3 mistakes. So lack of curiosity, lack of humility, and the the the feeling of, you know, of being overwhelmed by doubts. Contemplation contemplation, looking for the signs that you are doing the right things, Being as much as you can unborn unborn, it's it's really like the second life. You know? You when you prepared your first life, and you spend your first life preparing the second life.
Julie Guegan [00:16:45]:
So it's we need this civilization to prepare its second life. So we need to look at it like this. So far we have been quite individualistic. We have been quite self centered. You say comfort, over our comfort. We need to accept the stretching. We need to accept that we need to unlearn everything we learned because now we have a mission all together and it is to prepare a better world for the next generation.
Stuart Webb [00:17:23]:
Yes. Yes.
Julie Guegan [00:17:25]:
Does it make sense to you?
Stuart Webb [00:17:27]:
It does. It does. And and you're right that that that that often these these big initiatives don't yield results for many years, but that shouldn't put us off from actually looking for how to make that I mean, we talk about the sustainability that the world needs to adopt at the moment and there's no point in pertaining that sustainability is to benefit the people who implement the change now. It's to it's to benefit generations to come, and we need to have that ability to look long term instead of in quarters years to look in terms of decades so that people can see the approach beginning to take through in 5, 10, 15 years from now. Is there is there one, it was there one type one thing or a a series of things which brought you a a course book or experience that brought you to your understanding that these things need to be addressed and started your your thinking about this, this this this big vision about collaboration?
Julie Guegan [00:18:35]:
Yeah. Thank you for for asking this question because I I did an academic research, followed by empirical research. I mean, everything in the same time, actually. I read tons of books, because it's it's a very serious journey. You know? You don't come unequipped to a dream like this. Right? The the the key to me to the main door has been Alfred Adler. Alfred Adler was an Austrian philosopher who lived at the same time, as But, he was far less notorious. Adler.
Julie Guegan [00:19:19]:
Do you know Adler, Stuart? No. Well, you see, it's not very notorious. But when I read it and I read all his books, I got this shock because you know what he says basically, but it's awful to summarize the thoughts of someone like him. What he says is that human beings have a very deep inferiority complex toward nature. Mhmm. And this is translated by behaviors of superiority complex. We need to control nature. We don't like the unpredictability of nature, the uncertainty.
Julie Guegan [00:20:02]:
Right? And so Anna actually wake woke me up to a reality which I knew already that we had a problem with our inferiority complex that were initiated in number of behaviors inside our society. But he equips me on how to solve that main huge hurdle. It's a bit like I mean, I will I will make a parallel resume. You know, it's also when you when he tells you that the first thing you need to master is your dark side, it means you human beings, you are a bunch of monsters. So when you wake up in the morning instead of thinking that you are god, do your best to calm down the monster within you because when times become complicated, it should be your first task right in the morning. Master the devil within you because it's big and it's gonna be very big as times will gonna be tougher and tougher in particular for the western world because I think and that that's it's part of all the things I learned because because as you mentioned when you started journey with a dream like this, like Global Collaborations 3 years ago, I could not expect learning so much. Can you imagine the number of people I met from my little office at home? The conversation I had with people from all over the globe, living very different lives as me, having different dreams, etcetera, it's incredible. When when I just want everybody to join this journey now.
Stuart Webb [00:21:56]:
Yes. Yes. The passion is important. And and that leads me to my final question for you, Julie, and that is there must be one question that you think I haven't yet asked and that I should ask in order to better understand how collaboration is gonna help us all move forward. So what's the question I should have asked? And, obviously, once you've asked that question, you're the best person to answer it. So what is that question?
Julie Guegan [00:22:20]:
It's your dream, Julie. How is your dream going? You know? I shared a dream 3 years ago for it was a script I wrote for the European Commission. It was full of wisdom from coming from all my, conversation I had with people from all over the globe during 2 years, during the COVID. And, and, basically, I had to pursue the script on my own. And this is how I understood that we cannot change we cannot make the right change if we don't listen to the peripheries because it's at the center, that we find the comfort in our current system, in the status quo. So I had to go, as I say, far as far as I could in the peripheries to listen to people, to, because it is them who have the solutions to the problems that they face. You know, it it's a bit like the water crisis. You solve it with people that suffer from the water crisis and have to be innovative to find solutions, you know, to find water every day.
Stuart Webb [00:23:32]:
Yes.
Julie Guegan [00:23:34]:
And we don't do that. We don't really have this culture of going it's our end. We were saying that the solution, they lie in the periphery. We don't have this culture. So I had to do it myself. I I had to take all the risks if you prefer alone. But so how is my dream after 3 years? It's very promising. Now we are asked from leaders, worldwide leaders, to make presentation about the meta collaboration behavior and structural framework.
Julie Guegan [00:24:04]:
It's unbelievable that experts from around the globe seem to validate the framework. I mean, we spent a year focusing on, making labs, making experiments, showing the benefits of our framework in domains like education, health, activism, economy, etcetera. The the the outcomes we get surpass really surpass our expectations. Because as I said, at first, we thought we will ensure the well-being of each amplified by the collective. So we will invest in your potential to art with the meta collaboration framework, we'll add it to you and instead of having a cap on your head that makes it impossible for you to achieve a new dream, we we instead of the cap, we give you, you know, all the things you needed. The we we fill it, you know, with all the ingredients that you need to fill well, find harmony, and at the end of the day, co create. Got it. And so from there, we understood that actually that one of the benefit is to catalyze any innovation when you make a tea bag.
Julie Guegan [00:25:25]:
But you you tell me when I have to stop. But meta collaboration is basically a tea bag, and you respect the ceremony of the tea because it's very important. But you you put a tea bag in a in a in a cup of water and you see what it will happen what what will happen. You just follow. You observe. You are a researcher. You observe. And and we saw how bubbling people become.
Julie Guegan [00:25:50]:
They're they have a wall in front of them. It's impossible. We'll never get there. You put the key bag and it becomes like, how we could do that? And, yes, we were not doing that, and and it's, like, incredible. It's incredible to see. It's it's magic. Because nowadays, I think people are overwhelmed with negativity. They don't they don't have hope.
Julie Guegan [00:26:17]:
I mean and and why did I start also? Because I realized during the COVID times that the first victims to a global pandemic was our youth because we forgot, completely forgot about the social needs of our youth during this COVID time. You know? Because they don't vote. Yes. Yes. They don't vote. They they don't have a voice. And so we we we set up I mean, it's it's not as as clear as that, but I think those would what have privilege. And, this was very clear for me, during these COVID times.
Julie Guegan [00:26:55]:
And so, yes, the reason why I just couldn't hold myself, you know, and I had to open the door to my sons because we have the promise of a world that is worse. I can't accept this even one second. When I when I meet people in, my conversation in Iran, etcetera, when they tell me Europe is dead, I wanna tell them it's the opposite because it's our humanistic values. It's our humanistic values and it's, I I remember it's Emmanuel Dweiss. In one of my conversations in together, Hansan, during the COVID tag, she reminded me of this humanistic values of Europe. And and and never forget the the common values we have in Europe and and and why I think the the the promising future will come from Europe.
Stuart Webb [00:28:06]:
Julie, I think disturbing culture. Julie, we've gotta draw it on that because that I think it's a brilliant way to end this on a note which is positive, remembering that as humans, we can address these issues if we want to. So often we don't want to, so we need to we need to find ways of working with each other, supporting each other, and thinking for the future, not just for today, rather than thinking just about what we get from getting out of and we have difficulties we need to get through today, but we definitely need to get through to the future. We definitely need to collaborate in order to bring that bright future. Julie, thank you for spending a few minutes with us talking about this. It's it's a fascinating subject. I I I'm gonna I'm gonna draw it and and really encourage people, please go follow Julie at linkedin, dot com. She's Julie Guegan at 189-5a21.
Stuart Webb [00:29:03]:
You'll find her if you look for her. There's not many people out there with quite such a profile as Julie. Please follow her. Please look at some of the stuff that she's doing. She's doing some really interesting things. She has she has that blog that she's talked about. She has written a book, which
Julie Guegan [00:29:19]:
is Yeah. The blog is closed, but yeah. Sorry, Scott. I can, I can invite people to to read my book, the following one, which is the vision? It's called Europe, the Next Chapter, a story of collective innovation, and the second book is about, to get released. It's it's about all the experience we led, all over the globe with the meta collaboration framework, during the past year and what we learned about the framework.
Stuart Webb [00:29:48]:
Julie has some brilliant thoughts. Please follow her and and and look out for those books. And and and, you know, also following her, please subscribe to the newsletter so that you can get notification of when we have such fantastic hosts coming up on the podcast. If you go to, link.thecompleteapproach.co.ukforward/newsletter, that's a link Dot the complete approach dotco.ukforward/newsletter. That will take you to a form you fill in, and you will get notified every couple of weeks with who's coming up on the podcast so that you can join in and ask questions and listen to some of the wisdom that you get from such a really interesting guest like Julie. Julie, thank you so much, for spending just a few minutes with us, and I really appreciate you giving us such such wisdom, so much, so much to pack in and I I really look forward to, catching up when that second book is out, and we'll talk more about what that book is telling us about global collaboration.
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Transcript
Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast)
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Personal branding, Authenticity, Marketing strategies, Customer engagement, Business development, Digital space, Authentic insights, Customer needs, Education-based marketing, Targeted approach, Sustainable marketing, Meaningful relationships, Sales, Customer experience, DNA and actions, Authentic marketing, TLB coaching, Sales strategies, Meaningful activities, Personal brand campfire, Authentic expression, The One Thing, The Art of Gathering, Human connection, Community building, Productive day, Mentor advice, Asking the right questions, Business growth, Mistakes in marketing
SPEAKERS
Tracy Borreson, Stuart Webb
Stuart Webb [00:00:20]:
Hi, and welcome back to It's Not Rocket Science, 5 questions over coffee. I'm here at the moment. I've actually just finished my drink, but I should be getting another one very soon. I'm here with Tracy, who is obviously well caffeined up. Hi, Tracy. Really good to see you. Tracy is a, is is is really into the authenticity, particularly in the digital space, and, runs, TLB coaching, which I'm sure we'll get to, in the in the future. And she's really, all about trying to make your, your, brand, your your personal brand to become the leading way in which you engage with others.
Stuart Webb [00:01:01]:
So, Tracy, welcome to It's Not Rocket Science 5 questions, have a coffee. Looking forward to this conversation enormously.
Tracy Borreson [00:01:08]:
Me too, Stewart. I've for since the 1st time we chatted, one, I love the whole concept of it's not rocket science. So, hopefully, we don't make it too complicated for people to say.
Stuart Webb [00:01:17]:
Well, look. It's it's it's I always say to people, business is is so easy. Why do we overcomplicate things? And and for me, marketing is is simple as well. People people worry so much about, you know, the the terms and things like that. So talk to me a little bit about what it is you try and do to help people. What is it that you're trying to do with TLB coaching?
Tracy Borreson [00:01:37]:
So my background is marketing, and I was in the corporate marketing arena for a long time. And one of the things that I didn't experience very much of there was authenticity, which as defined by me is people doing and saying what they would do or say, when they would would want to do and say it. And so I kinda meandered around the marketing industry for a long time trying to find my place of where I could have this conversation, and I didn't find it. So I left corporate, started TLB coaching, and it's all about being in the conversation about what would you do. So I believe that every business has a unique DNA, and while the current environment that we live in is very much about one of ease and simplicity and let me just tell you what to do and you can do it and you'll be fine, The problem is is that doesn't work. It doesn't work the majority of the time. Sometimes you get lucky, but the majority of the time, it doesn't work. And so in everything we do at TLP Coaching, whether that is an in person networking event to actually, like, be a marketing advisory services we provide, It's all about helping people figure out what would you do.
Tracy Borreson [00:02:57]:
What would your business do? I did this post on LinkedIn yesterday that I was super annoyed about, because people have started using the, like, service request form on LinkedIn to pitch. And I was like, for real? I got 2 in the same day. So, like, clearly, someone is telling people this is what they should do. Right? This is a way to hack the new LinkedIn so you don't have to have a paid membership or whatever. But just like, would you do that? Would you? Or would you not? Because if you wouldn't do that, then you don't have to do it. And just helping people get back to honestly, I think it's a personal confidence thing or a business confidence thing. Personal confidence creates business confidence. Would you do that? And if you wouldn't do that, honestly, it doesn't even matter if everybody else in your industry is doing it because if you wouldn't do it, you're either going to, a, do it in a completely undedicated way that's not gonna work for you, or 2, you're gonna do something else which makes you stand out from the industry, and that's really what we're trying to do in marketing anyway.
Tracy Borreson [00:04:04]:
So Yeah.
Stuart Webb [00:04:06]:
Yeah. I was, I was on a, a meeting with a a bunch of other company directors recently, and we were talking about the disconnect of marketing in organizations and talking about the fact that so often, you know, marketing is doing something which, you know, then can't be delivered by by by sales and can't be delivered by operations. And as a result, what you end up with is marketing fighting and saying to people, but we should be doing this. And the answer is, yeah, that might be what you want. But, unfortunately, the rest of the organization can't do it. You're just making yourselves look unauthentic as you say or end up in a situation where there's there's infighting, and it's not collaborative. And as a result, what do you end up with? You just you've somebody looks at the marketing and goes, great. I'd like that experience.
Stuart Webb [00:04:50]:
But when they get delivered that product or service, it doesn't match what they believed, and they will they will then just turn off. And that would that'll be that'll be the end of their their interaction with that that particular company. So being authentic is so important to the whole experience that you have, not only the marketing, but how it gets delivered, whether the salespeople can sort of live up to the promises. It has to be one thing that everybody can can can live to.
Tracy Borreson [00:05:13]:
Yeah. It's a it's a we exercise. And the we is marketing and sales and customer experience and operations and the delivery truck drivers and whoever else is involved in this company going to market. And it's also the we in the ideal customers and partners and vendors and, like, all of these things. This is a we exercise, and it's something that it's it's just very interesting. It it I'm not gonna say it's not complex because the more people you a thing, the more complex the interrelationships between humans become. But at the end of the day, this is about, okay, we are all here for one reason. There's a famous quote by a, janitor at NASA who was at like, what do you do here? And he is like, putting a man on the moon.
Tracy Borreson [00:06:10]:
Like, that's what we're doing here. And we all have our different roles in that, but when you have that kind of commitment from a we, then, like, it makes a huge difference and not that makes it huge difference internally, which then makes a huge difference externally.
Stuart Webb [00:06:27]:
And and we sort of strayed into it, Tracy, but, you know, at this stage, it's sort of you know, what is it you see people doing, which which, you know, we've sort of talked about it a little bit where where it is unauthentic, where people are not doing something which which is authentic to their to their marketing efforts and somehow makes it look as if they're liars?
Tracy Borreson [00:06:49]:
I mean, quite honestly, I think a lot of the times, it comes back to doing the easy thing. And if you're just listening, I used air quotes in there because it's sold to you as if it's the easy thing, as if you just do this. I have this ex like, personal example that I always reference, which is, like, I hand chop nuts almost every day to go in yogurt or granola or whatever. I I and I like to do it. It makes me feel like a top chef, and I am very far from a top chef. Let's put it that way. And my dad was at my house once, and he was observing me chopping these nuts, and he was like, you need a slap chop. And I was like, I mean, a slap chop would make this easier, and it would make it faster, but it would also take away all of the joy that I have in doing the activity.
Tracy Borreson [00:07:45]:
And so I have not got one. I told him not to buy me one because he's also the type of guy who would be helpful and just get you one. And it's like, no. I like to do I like to do this, and this is the thing where we're, like, so caught up in this ease of use conversation because we just everything want everything to be faster. We want everything to be more simple, and we miss that we're trading away what is meaningful for us to do those things, and then we have businesses who are in business using their marketing departments to just convince people that what you need is my easy thing. Right? You you don't have my easy thing. It fixes all your problems, except most people don't know enough why they have a problem to answer that question, to say, like, yeah. That actually fixes my problem because in my scenario, I don't have a problem.
Tracy Borreson [00:08:38]:
I don't have a problem with chopping nuts. Right? So now your slap chop is irrelevant to me because I don't have a problem with that activity and but the people in this scenario, the company, put yourself in my nut shopping shoes as a business, you don't know enough about what your problem is to say, I don't need your slap show. Right? Like, I don't need your website design services. I don't need your podcast production services. I don't need wherever. I I don't know what I need. So the answer is really in that, like, going back to basics and saying, like, what's the problem here? Because the problem is our problem isn't we'd need to chop nuts faster. That's not our problem.
Tracy Borreson [00:09:26]:
What's our problem? Okay. Let's go to market and see what's out there to fix that problem and let or from the flip side, if you're not looking at it from, like, marketing perspective, now you have really good clarity on the problem. You fix for people, and you tell the market it. Right? Yeah. No. I don't know how many slabchops have been sold. A lot of them. Right? There are lots of people out there who have problems chopping nuts.
Tracy Borreson [00:09:52]:
Sure. Get a Slack job. I don't have 1 though, so that's not the prob that's not a problem for me. There are problems I have, but it's not that problem.
Stuart Webb [00:10:02]:
Yeah. There are so many people that sort of you know, and I I come across this with people who are teaching lead generation. I'm I'm using air quotes as well now. So we're we're all into the lead generation, lead generation services on LinkedIn, which is, you know, the first thing you have to do is sort of, say hello. And then immediately, the message goes back where where you know, hello. And then do you want such and such? You know, I get I must get I don't know how many a day. I've sort of, you know we've seen your podcast. You must need podcast production services.
Stuart Webb [00:10:30]:
My answer is, hang on a minute. You haven't even asked me whether or not that's a problem. You don't know yet whether or not that's my problem. I have problems, but you haven't actually even bothered to reach out and find out whether or not. And I was talking to, you know, a client actually today who was who was actually sort of saying, you know, about their the the the they've they're trying to gen they're trying to write a course for a for a particular standard. And and I said said, well, you know, are are customers coming to you and asking for this course? And his answer was, well, they have they do once we've told them they need it. And I said, and why don't they need it? And he said, well, we're dealing with industrial places, and they're all using the domestic standard, and they don't know that there's an industrial standard. And so the first thing they come to us to say is, can you can you, can you implement this regulation? And they go, yeah.
Stuart Webb [00:11:23]:
We can, but, actually, you need this one. And they go, oh, why do we need that one? And then they start the education, and he said we it's only after they've we've engaged with them and started talking to them that they recognize that what they initially thought they wanted isn't what they want. And that some somehow and I sort of said, like, I love the way you're doing it, but the major problem you've got at the moment is that you haven't yet engaged with the number of people that actually have a problem and don't know they've got a problem. It's exactly what you were saying. Too many people are reaching out and sort of basically trying to thrust down the throat. You that'll solve your problem. You don't even know you got a problem yet, so they're trying to reeducate their educate their their market, which is proving to be the the the thing which is gonna cost them the most, but it's gonna be the most profitable in the end.
Tracy Borreson [00:12:08]:
Well and I think that's that is exactly the point. Right? And is that the thing that's gonna be all most profitable for everybody in the end? No. A lot of people go to market with this education component assuming that if I educate you, then you will buy what I need, but this is not then really education, right? This is persuasion, so let's call it what it is, and it's not that it, it's not that it can't work. Right? It can work. It has worked. It has worked on me, right, but is that what you can find yourself committed to doing for the long term? And these are the things about, like, like, the lead gen on LinkedIn is that, like, this strategy is based on I call spray and pray. And I spray my message everywhere, and I pray that it lands with somebody because there are people out there that have a problem, but I am not doing anything intentionally to find a person who has a problem. I'm just spraying the market with stuff.
Tracy Borreson [00:13:16]:
When you have a very small percentage of the market that has your problem, you're gonna spend a lot of money on that strategy before you find somebody, and if you're a business that doesn't have a lot of money, including the time you're paying somebody to do those activities to do that, then that's probably not the right strategy for you. Can it work? Sure. I'm more of a fan of the shoot the fish in the barrel analogy. You got all these fish in a barrel and, well, I'm not trying to shoot people, but, like, everything is sounds like I'm very into guns, and I'm Canadian, and I'm not, but it's like but these are the points. Right? Like, that's more of a me. I wanna, like, kinda wrap people in a community, and then I wanna see if there's something in there that is is is worth mining instead of, like, I wanna go out and, like, just and so the the secret there is in being able to say, I don't wanna do that. Somebody who tells you I had this guy once on LinkedIn, and I've, like, referenced him pretty much every conversation trying to convince me that if I don't do prerecorded video, I will never have a successful business. And I was like, I hate prerecorded video.
Tracy Borreson [00:14:32]:
I just don't believe what you're saying, and you should spend your energy somewhere else convincing someone else who is opening to listen to you because it's not gonna be me. You can try and peer pressure me all you want. I will never believe what you're saying and just move on, and, again, it's not that, like, video is bad. Right? It's just not something I'm ever gonna do because I'm totally uncomfortable with it. I waste a huge amount of time doing it. It's not for me. So being able to stand up for what's not for you, what is for you when someone else is telling you that that is bunk, and you're like, well, I've built an entire funnel based off them that works for me, and you have the confidence to say, this is my way of doing it, then we're into the realm where you can have a sustainable growth focused marketing program.
Stuart Webb [00:15:20]:
Brilliant. Tracy, there must be some stuff that you've got on, your websites and things like that. Is there a is there a one particular thing that you find that most people would be most interested in that that talk to them about, you know, some valuable advice that you could give. And I I put your LinkedIn profile on the screen, which is linkedin.com/in/brands that speak. Is it is it is it stuff that you you you we should know about that you give away and help people to understand how to do this sort of thing?
Tracy Borreson [00:15:52]:
So the first thing that I personally love is my LinkedIn live show, which is called the Crazy Stupid Marketing Show, which Stewart is gonna be on in the future. The show is based on helping people understand what they're doing from a marketing perspective that is crazy and stupid and not going to lead you in the direction you wanna go and opening the door to perhaps more empowering perspectives that can allow you to do things that are more meaningful and more sustainable for your business. So that is one of the things I love to do. It's on Tuesday afternoons, depending on where you are in the world. It's on. Actually, I have a guest from, Australia later today, and it's technically Wednesday morning for him. But, anyway, it's it's it's a show, and it's on LinkedIn. You can find it.
Tracy Borreson [00:16:41]:
You can also find it on YouTube. Crazy stupid marketing. The other thing that I really love to do, and I do this with, a lot of the workshops that I host, is something called I mean, I call it the personal brand campfire. You can do it equally from a business perspective too. It is an audio experience. It's available on my website, and what it does is it's it's kinda like a meditation that helps get you re centered on who you are and how you show up, and then using that as a foundation allows you to choose marketing strategies, sales strategies, narratives. What I mean, honestly, you could use it to start your day and have a productive conversation with your kids. It helps you get realigned to what would you do and what does it feel like to be in your most authentic expression of yourself and how can you start with that visualization and let it roll out into your day, into whatever you're going to do that day.
Tracy Borreson [00:17:46]:
It could be goal setting. It could be KPIs. It could be pretty much anything. It's about starting from you. So that is something that's available on my website. People can feel free to go and download that. I think it's like a 4 and a half minute thing, audio experience, and, yeah, give it a try. I have some clients who, like, do it every morning.
Stuart Webb [00:18:07]:
Brilliant. What was it that re initially got you, or or or or is there a valuable book or something that you recommend your clients read or that you read yourself that that sort of helps to to center people around authentic marketing?
Tracy Borreson [00:18:23]:
I have 2, and neither of them are actually marketing related books. So the first one is a book I recommend to pretty much everybody that I meet. Again, regardless of whether you are running your own business or you're just a human doing life, it's called The One Thing, and it's a book about focusing on what's important. So again, whether you're trying to do that from a business perspective or a life perspective, it's very empowering. The central question of the book is what is the one thing I can do right now that will make all other things easier or unnecessary? And as soon as I heard that, I was like, this is genius. This is going to be my life. Yeah. It's a great idea.
Tracy Borreson [00:19:06]:
And you will be surprised. Right? I'm like, you can look at what can you do in your, like, list of chores at home? What are the things that you can do with your kids? What are the things you can do in your business? What are the things you can do in your marketing? It is really, like, a very global question that is very, very empowering, allows you to get back to the simplicity of that. Secondly, a book called The Art of Gathering, and so
Stuart Webb [00:19:33]:
to me
Tracy Borreson [00:19:34]:
yeah. Okay. So I love it. I have it on repeat on my Audible. It is a book about people being together. And so for me, I believe that marketing is about creating a community of people, and so that is tied into the art of gathering. And whether you're hosting events or you're looking at this from a marketing perspective or you're having a birthday party or what have you, this book brings about so many interesting ideas of what it looks like for humans to connect with humans, and that is one of the things that I like the most about it.
Stuart Webb [00:20:12]:
I have made a note of the book of The Art of Gathering, and I love the idea behind that. That is one that we'll be getting, that will be getting into my, my bookshelves very soon. And on that one thing, you know, the what a mentor of mine said to me many years ago, they they they they sat me down, and they I'm you know? This was back in the days when I was, a a young young young, you know, research student.
Tracy Borreson [00:20:36]:
So yesterday?
Stuart Webb [00:20:37]:
Back yesterday. Yeah. And they turned around to me and they said, look. If you can get one thing done tomorrow morning before 11 o'clock, that means you've moved forward 1 step. The rest of the day, you can take off. And if you get 2 things done by doing it by 11 and then 1 after 11, you've almost brought yourself back a new day. And I sat there and I thought one thing by 11 o'clock, I can do that. I can do 1 thing by 11 o'clock, and it's become a habit.
Stuart Webb [00:21:08]:
You know, I sit down at the end of every evening. I sit down and I write the one thing that I'm gonna do tomorrow morning before I get onto my emails, before I do anything else, before I receive a telephone call or anything, I'm gonna do that one thing that moves the business forward. And then if I achieve it by 11 o'clock, the rest of the day is mine. I can take the rest of the day off if I like, or I can try and do a second thing. And it's such a simple idea, isn't it, to do one thing? Just one. But it's possible. Your brain can compute one thing.
Tracy Borreson [00:21:40]:
It's true. Although I will also say having be being a check a checklist person, there's a lot of things that we put on a list that we do that aren't meaningful.
Stuart Webb [00:21:54]:
Yeah.
Tracy Borreson [00:21:54]:
That aren't meaningful to the relationship we're building, that aren't meaningful to the businesses we're building. And I think that is probably the toughest arena to explore is that you could go from doing a 100 things that are not meaningful in one day to doing one meaningful thing.
Stuart Webb [00:22:14]:
Yeah. You're right. You're absolutely right. The seek one of the secrets I learned when I was doing 1 training course is I did a statistical thing, and I turned around and said, you mean the important thing is to ask the right question? And he went, yes. That's it. It's asked the right question. You can ask a 1000000 questions and get an answer. But unless you've asked the right question, every answer you've got is wrong.
Tracy Borreson [00:22:37]:
It's so true. I remember having this conversation with 1 of the ladies who is on my show, and she got this opportunity to, have a booth at a trade show, and so she had asked me. She's like, okay, I know you know about, like, what are what are the things someone would normally have at a trade show booth? And I was like, well, some of the things people would normally have at a trade show booth are a table and some chairs and some swag and a banner and a video with rotating video of your cup like, this is what people would typically have, but is that what you would have? And she was like, ugh. No. Okay. That's the point. Right? The the point is the question isn't what should I have. Right? Like, it's what what what would I create? Right? What experience do you want people to take away of you from this trade show? Do you want to just do what everybody else is doing, or do you want to look different? And, like, this is my people.
Tracy Borreson [00:23:37]:
We're talking about, so, obviously, she wants to look different, but, like, these are these are the things, and also this is why I believe it's so powerful to be surrounded by a community of people who are curious in that nature. What would you do? This is the thing I always think about. Even when it like I was young, I had nobody ask me that question. Right? I I went into the program. People told me what I should do. This is a good idea. I I did that for a very long time. Got to the point where I was like, well, that's not what I could do.
Tracy Borreson [00:24:07]:
Then had to figure out, what would I do? I'm still in the process of figuring out what I would do. I feel like this is a lifelong journey. But when you surround yourself with people asking you what you would do instead of surrounding yourself with people telling you what you should do, your experience from a personal and a business perspective changes, dress.
Stuart Webb [00:24:26]:
Yeah. Yeah. Brilliant. Look, Tracy, up until now, I've been doing all the work asking you all these questions, and there must be a question that you're thinking to yourself. Hey. He hasn't asked me about such and such. So what is that 1 question that I should be asking you? And, of course, once I've, you once you've asked that question, you're you're gonna need to answer it for
Tracy Borreson [00:24:46]:
us. You know, it's funny because I knew this question was coming, and then I feel like I kinda, like, answered my own questions the way along because that's how I do. But I think one of the most powerful things in this process is, like, how do you move? Like, how do you go from where you are today to having confidence in the way you would do things? So that's the question I will ask myself. My answer is practice. You have to practice. It's yeah. So I grew up playing competitive basketball. We're city champions when I was in high school, and so, I mean, it's cities.
Tracy Borreson [00:25:28]:
It's not like, woo, the biggest thing, but it was a championship basketball team And a lot of the times I look at what are the difference between a championship team and a not championship team? And almost always, it's because of practice. Mhmm. Yeah. And it's not also because of just, like, individual practice. A whole bunch of players can go out and practice alone and it doesn't mean that your team is going to jail. It was a we activity and we practiced. We practiced and we ran and we did stairs. We did sprints and we shot free throws and, like, I don't even know.
Tracy Borreson [00:26:02]:
I kinda wish I had counted how many free throws I have shot in my life so that I could get to the point where I can shoot 80% from a free throw line. Like, it doesn't happen the 1st time you shoot the ball. Right? It doesn't, and so many times in business and from a marketing perspective and from a personal development perspective, we think we get this idea. Right? Okay. I'm gonna be authentic. I'm gonna go and and and do it my way, and then we don't because we don't know how to do that.
Stuart Webb [00:26:32]:
Yeah.
Tracy Borreson [00:26:33]:
So you have to go idiot. To the basketball court and shoot. You have to shoot, and you have to miss. You have to get it wrong. There's no 100 percents here. So practice. You gotta practice.
Stuart Webb [00:26:46]:
And and fail. You know? Sometimes sometimes you have to allow yourself to fail because I I said this sorry. Once again, I said this to another client recently who turned around and said something along the lines of what happens if it doesn't work? And I said, do you know how a baby learns to walk? A baby learns to walk by getting up, falling on their backside, and thinking, well, I'm not gonna do that again. I'll do it different. And you don't learn and get it right by by just waiting and waiting and waiting until eventually it becomes right. You have to get out, do something, practice it, and if it goes wrong, well, okay. That's one way that you don't do it the next time. And even if it does go wrong, nobody died.
Tracy Borreson [00:27:28]:
Well and especially okay. I had a boss once working in marketing. He used to always say, we're not saving babies, which I 1, just resounded with me, 1, because my mom was a neonatal nurse, so it was actually her job to save babies. It has never been my job to save babies. Also, I can't handle the sight of blood, and my mom is a nurse. I don't know. Person. There's no problem, but, like, we're from a marketing perspective, folks, like, this is not if you are doing flyers and they don't go out till Tuesday when they were supposed to go out on Monday, doesn't matter.
Tracy Borreson [00:28:09]:
Right? Like, it just doesn't matter. And maybe maybe you learn like, okay. Yeah. They do need to go out on Monday to give people enough time to know because there's people like me who don't check their mailboxes for, like, 2 weeks, which is yeah. That's a thing I do. I have the worst checking my mail. Don't mail me something important, folks, unless you're gonna tell me it's coming. But, like, you learn from getting it wrong, and if you aren't, if you aren't, then you're just a baby who lies there.
Tracy Borreson [00:28:38]:
You're not even a baby who learned how to crawl. Right? Babies learned how to crawl. They learned how to walk. They learned how to ride a bike. They learned how to run. Right? Like, that's a that's a staged methodology, and if you don't experiment at the very first step, you are never going to get to running. So if you are hoping that there's some kind of magic that exists to take you from stage 0, lying there flat on your back like a baby in your marketing, all the way up to running and beating your competitors ahead of all your competitors in the market, it has to come from experimentation. You have to experiment and you have to get it wrong.
Tracy Borreson [00:29:15]:
You have to fall down. So if you also are looking for someone who's, like, going to promise you that this is going to work a 100% of the time and it's not a thing, guys, because you haven't done it before. That same that same methodology hasn't been tried on by your body type, so you don't know that it gets until you try it on, and then you're like, oh, no. This doesn't fit. Let's not do that. But I did kinda like that. Like, I like the color of that shirt, but I don't like the cut of that shirt. So I'm gonna look for more shirts that are that color, but not that same kind of This is how humans get learn how to walk.
Tracy Borreson [00:29:51]:
It's how we choose clothes. It's this is the same methodology for your marketing as well.
Stuart Webb [00:29:57]:
Tracy, yep. I I I love the ideas. I love that. We think we could go on for hours, but we better let you get back to doing something important, and meeting with your customers. Folks, I'm just gonna I'm just gonna wrap up. And and now if you wanna go to, this link, h t t p s, colon forward slash forward slash link .thecompleteapproach.co.ukforward/newsletter. That's link .thecompleteapproach.co.uk forward slash newsletter. Fill out the form there.
Stuart Webb [00:30:25]:
Get onto the newsletter list so that you can get an email from me with some of the brilliant people that we're gonna have on in the future, like Tracy. I'm gonna give you words of wisdom like this. You can't believe. Tracy, thank you so much for spending some time with us. You have such an infectious attitude and such an infectious spirit. I love what you're saying. I really believe if you can't get authentic with you, you can't get authentic with anybody. So thank you so much for spending a few minutes with us.
Stuart Webb [00:30:51]:
I look forward to hearing what people think about what you've said and, being authentic with it.
