What can business leaders learn from the best sports teams that have had success for decades?

In this episode, Sam Walker joins host Bill Gallagher to discuss the leadership secrets of the world’s most successful sports teams. From the unassuming captains who drive dynasties to the cultural pillars that make teams legendary, Sam shares powerful insights for business leaders. 

Sam Walker is the guy who cracked the code on what makes great teams tick. As a former global sports editor at The Wall Street Journal and author of the bestselling book The Captain Class, Sam’s obsession with leadership and teamwork has taken him into locker rooms, boardrooms, and beyond.

Topics explored in this episode: 

- The surprising importance of unassuming captains in driving team success.

- Why Michael Jordan’s leadership wasn’t the key to the Chicago Bulls’ dynasty.

- How a culture of winning defines teams like the New Zealand All Blacks.

- Lessons from the 2004 Red Sox and their dramatic midseason turnaround.

- Why team success often depends on "invisible" leadership work behind the scenes.

- The value of dissent and conflict in building a strong team culture.

- How Ted Lasso humorously portrays key lessons about leadership and team dynamics.

- Why great leaders prioritize collective success over personal recognition.

- The Cuban women’s volleyball team’s dominance and their innovative approach to practice.

Chapters in this episode: 

(02:20) Meet Sam Walker

(05:10) The Role of Captains in Sustained Success

(09:50) Bill Cartwright and the Chicago Bulls

(15:00) The 2004 Red Sox Story

(19:45) The New Zealand All Blacks

(27:50) The Cuban Women’s Volleyball Team

(40:06) Leadership Lessons from Ted Lasso

Thanks to Sam Walker for being on the show! 

Sam will be the keynote speaker at our upcoming SCALING UP LIVE event on June 10-12, 2025 in Denver, Colorado: https://chiefexecutive.net/scaling-up/ 

Connect with Sam on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-walker-captain-class/ 

Learn more about Sam: https://www.bysamwalker.com/ 

Get Sam’s book, The Captain Class: The Hidden Force That Creates the World's Greatest Teams: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0812997190 

Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the Scaling Up Business podcast, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth. 

Join Bill in the Growth Navigator Coaching Program: https://ScalingCoach.com/workshop 

Bill on LinkedIn: https://www.LinkedIn.com/in/BillGall

Bill on YouTube: https://www.YouTube.com/@BillGallagherScalingCoach 

Visit https://ScalingUp.com to learn more about Verne Harnish, our team of Scaling Up Coaches, and the Scaling Up...

When processes fail, chaos follows. In this mini-episode, Bill recounts a high-stakes story from his own leadership journey and a public company's desperate cash-flow crisis.

Bill shares how simple yet powerful fixes—born from collaboration and hard truths—turned the tide. If broken workflows are holding your business back, this episode reveals how to rebuild for resilience and success.

Keep scaling.

How do you make your product or service something that people actually want or need? 

In this episode, Laurier Mandin shares insights on how to create products that move beyond "nice-to-have" into the realm of "must-have," breaking down his framework, the Coveted Condition. 

Laurier (pronounced "Lore-Yay") has a knack for uncovering the psychology behind buyer decisions. He  helps companies craft irresistible products that customers can’t live without and is the founder of Graphos, a product marketing agency. 

Topics explored in this episode: 

- Laurier’s book, I Need That, which is about creating and marketing products people are compelled to buy. 

- The importance of validating a product idea before going all-in.

- The “Coveted Condition” framework for understanding buyer psychology and creating must-have products.

- How the dog brain (limbic system) drives purchasing decisions and why logic often takes a back seat.

- Why innovators overvalue their products by three times.

- Why products need to be ten times better to break through the status quo.

- Case studies of product failures, including a noisy ultrasonic sanitizer and a rushed tech launch by Sprint.

- The tension between entrepreneurial ambition and personal serenity

Chapters in this episode: 

(02:30) Laurier’s Early Product Obsession

(10:01) How Buyers Decide What They "Need"

(17:31) Lessons from Product Successes and Failures

(24:06) The Critical Role of Validation in Product Development

(34:28) Multi-Million Dollar Mistakes

(43:56) The Neuroscience Behind Purchasing

Thanks to Laurier Mandin for being on the show! 

Learn more about Laurier: http://lmandin.com and https://www.linkedin.com/in/lmandin 

Get Laurier’s book, I Need That: Creating and Marketing Products People Are Compelled to Buy: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DHLDZWRR 

Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the Scaling Up Business podcast, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth. 

Join Bill in the Growth Navigator Coaching Program: https://ScalingCoach.com/workshop 

Bill on LinkedIn: https://www.LinkedIn.com/in/BillGall

Bill on YouTube: https://www.YouTube.com/@BillGallagherScalingCoach 

Visit https://ScalingUp.com to learn more about Verne Harnish, our team of Scaling Up Coaches, and the Scaling Up Performance Platform, which includes coaching, learning, software, and summit. We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail. We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around people, strategy, execution, and cash so that they can scale up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. 

Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover Scaling Up Business with Bill Gallagher so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.

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Alex Sanfilippo is an entrepreneur, SaaS Founder, and Podcast Host. He is the CEO of PodPros, a software company specifically focused on independent podcast hosts and their guests to elevate their voices through podcasting and be heard.

In his 15 years in the aerospace industry, Alex worked his way from taking out the trash up to the C-Suite. When he was told to stop the above-and-beyond initiative, he realized it was time for a major change. After an initial struggle, Alex identified a better equation for entrepreneurship and he was on his way to real success.

Alex’s equation is simple. Find an area of passion, get into the community of that area of passion, find a problem that they are struggling with, and then offer the fastest possible solution to that problem. When you focus on that problem, and your ability to solve it, you differentiate yourself in a way that allows you to stand out.

Potential customers will tell you what their pain points are, and when they are, and your job is to solve it. When you do, and they put their money where their pain is, you’ve got a standout business that is going to make things happen.

Interview Links:

PodPros

Resources:

Growth Navigator Coaching

Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.)

Bill on YouTube

Recruiter.com Short List (use code scaleup)

Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for Scaling Up Coaches (formerly Gazelles). We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail.

Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the show, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth.

We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash so that they can Scale Up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. Scaling Up is based on Verne’s original best-selling business book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits.

Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover the Scaling Up Business Podcast so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.

Brand promises are what your customers can expect from you. It’s what sets you apart from the competition. You want to have three key brand promises that make your offerings clear.

Your first brand promise should be your basic, core offering. The second brand promise should be a differentiator and highlight what makes you better than the other options. And for Bill, the third brand promise is all about fun. That may not be a fit for everyone, but it is perfect for the customers that Bill wants to do business with.

Once you have figured out your core customer, ask them what they consider different or better about you. Their answers will help you hone in on and avoid holding onto your anti-brand promises. Doing so can set you apart as a differentiated, profitable business.

If you’re having a hard time identifying your brand promises, write down what you know and ask AI to help you distill your offerings down to just a few keywords that will highlight what your brand promises are.

Resources:

Growth Navigator Coaching

Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.)

Bill on YouTube

Recruiter.com Short List (use code scaleup)

Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for Scaling Up Coaches (formerly Gazelles). We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail.

Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the show, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth.

We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash so that they can Scale Up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. Scaling Up is based on Verne’s original best-selling business book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits.

Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover the Scaling Up Business Podcast so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.

Nothing easy is ever handed out for free, but the challenge of working for what you want most is always worth the reward.

After playing for the Dallas Cowboys, Indianapolis Colts, and Denver Broncos, Chris Gronkowski ventured out to build a product with the aim to alleviate the challenges athletes experience with the standard protein shakers. Owner and inventor of the Ice Shaker, Chris has joined the Scaling Up podcast to share the highs and lows of his business growth.

One of five brothers, Chris was raised in a business-minded family. Always racing each other and always challenging each other to see who was faster and stronger, Chris learned how to compete — and win — at an early age. From his first paper route job, through college, and all the way to the NFL football field, Chris learned the lessons of hard work that he has used to build a successful business.

Time with the NFL doesn’t last forever, but Chris was able to carry over his passion for sports and fitness from the field into his business Ice Shaker. His big break in business came after being highlighted on ABC’s Shark Tank, where millions of viewers saw the product, investors including Mark Cuban were brought in, and their success skyrocketed.

On the flip side, Chris admits that the first three years of building his business kept him awake every night. Learning how to delegate and actually allow others to take over aspects of a business was a huge aspect of his eventual success. From sponsors and investors to what it was really like to compete on Shark Tank and QVC, Chris shares his insights into what it takes to build a successful business.

Interview Links:

Ice Shaker

Resources:

Growth Navigator Coaching

Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.)

Bill on YouTube

Recruiter.com Short List (use code scaleup)

Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for Scaling Up Coaches (formerly Gazelles). We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail.

Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the show, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth.

We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash so that they can Scale Up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. Scaling Up is based on Verne’s original best-selling business book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits.

Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover the Scaling Up Business Podcast so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.

Do you know who your core customer is? The core customer is the buyer that you want to focus on. Your core customer loves working with you, would heartily recommend you, and willingly pays your full price. Your core customer is the top 20% of your clientele.

Consider the essential qualities of your core customer and take time to learn more about what makes them who they are. The more qualitative factors you have about them, the more you will understand what you need to do to more effectively engage with them.

For Bill, the core customer is highly motivated, open to growth, and a good personality fit. Give your core customer a distinct name to set them apart from your average client. By identifying just two or three clear characteristics of your core customer, you will be able to increase your effectiveness and engagement all around.

Resources:

Growth Navigator Coaching

Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.)

Bill on YouTube

Recruiter.com Short List (use code scaleup)

Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for Scaling Up Coaches (formerly Gazelles). We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail.

Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the show, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth.

We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash so that they can Scale Up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. Scaling Up is based on Verne’s original best-selling business book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits.

Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover the Scaling Up Business Podcast so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.

In this week’s episode, Scaling Up has lined up eight fan-favorite episodes from 2023. In case you’ve missed any of these classics, we have compiled a quick recap of each of the episodes and the guests below. Thank you for listening to the Scaling Up show!

How can you get the most for your company and maximize the value of your company? The value of your business comes from how well the business can run without you. Nick Arellano is an award-winning M&A veteran who helps business owners get the most money from the sale of their companies. This conversation is filled with key moves that company owners need to consider when strategizing their sale, negotiation considerations, and what owners can realistically expect from the sale. 

Empathy is a leadership skill and an essential cultural practice that matters more today than ever before. Rob Volpe is an astute observer of life and a master storyteller who brings empathy and compassion to the human experience. As CEO of Ignite 360, he leads a team of insights, strategy, and creative professionals serving the world’s leading brands across a range of industries. He is the author of the Silver Benjamin Franklin award-winning book, Tell Me More About That: Solving the Empathy Crisis One Conversation at a Time. You don’t have to look very far to see that there is an empathy crisis in our world today. Rob’s focus is on the how-to of empathy. Once you see that there is a problem what can you actually do about it?

The United States is losing over 100,000 people and experiencing over half a trillion dollars of economic impact each year due to opioids, including fentanyl. That’s more than a 737 crash per day. This public health and national security issue is a supply-and-demand problem that, unlike previous epidemics, our nation is failing to resolve. Guest Admiral Winnefeld graduated from Georgia Tech with a degree in Aerospace Engineering and served for 37 years in the United States Navy. He flew the F-14 Tomcat and served as an instructor at TopGun and as senior aide-de-camp to General Colin L. Powell.

What can we learn from sports about making the right calls? Sally Jenkins has been a Washington Post columnist and feature writer for nearly 30 years. She was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2019 and the winner of the Associated Press Red Smith Award for Outstanding Contributions to Sports Journalism in 2021. For sports fans, business leaders, and anyone who wants to elevate their game — whatever that game may be — Sally joined the podcast to share what it takes for ordinary people to achieve extraordinary results.

Real connections win out over canned messages every single time, but how can you amplify your brand narrative through organic content that makes those meaningful connections? Morgan Ingram is the founder behind Ascencion Media Productions (AMP). He’s a sales educator and content creator and has been named one of the Top 50 Sales Leaders to Follow by LinkedIn, a Top 25 Sales Development Thought Leader by Inside Sales, and a Four-time LinkedIn Top Sales Voice. Technology has enabled people to be lazy at scale, which can have a massive negative impact on your potential audience.

Just as professional pilots, doctors, and golfers regularly return to the fundamentals, it is just as essential in the business world to continually return to the basics of the performance platform. This episode of the Scaling Up Podcast features Verne Harnish, a world-leading expert, speaker, author, and entrepreneur in the field of business growth. Together they offer insights into Altman’s Maxims, Jobs’s doers vs. dreamers, the power of asking, daily routines, remote work, and much more.

A sales playbook is designed to help deliver the kind of results you are aiming...

Great leaders inspire other people. There are a number of ways to inspire, but if all of your excitement and passion about your business only lives in your head, it’s not really doing much good at all. You want to light other people up about what your business can do and where it is heading.

Inspiring conversations start with sharing your purpose, your BHAG, your vivid vision, and the solutions you have to the problems that you see in the world. Talk about the moment that you committed to getting involved in the business and how you have been transformed as a result.

When you can share your vision with others, you will be better at hiring and retaining team members. You will be a better partner, a better salesperson, a better fundraiser, and eventually better at selling your company.

Map out your vision, share emotions out loud, and improve your storytelling skills. You don’t have to be perfect at it, but you do want to develop your inspiring storytelling skills so that you become the leader that people truly want to hear from.

Resources:

Growth Navigator Coaching

Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.)

Bill on YouTube

Recruiter.com Short List (use code scaleup)

Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for Scaling Up Coaches (formerly Gazelles). We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail.

Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the show, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth.

We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash so that they can Scale Up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. Scaling Up is based on Verne’s original best-selling business book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits.

Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover the Scaling Up Business Podcast so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.

Everyone likes to say they come from a place of abundance, but who really means it? And what happens when people are vulnerable enough to ask for their needs?

Today Bill is joined by Curt Bear, founder of LoCo Think Tank, a small-business peer advisory group founded in 2014 in Northern Colorado to help business owners be more confident leaders and grow their businesses faster through perspective, accountability, and support.

From small business banker to mobile food trailer owner, LoCo Think Tank was born out of Curt’s desire to facilitate peer advisory at an affordable price point. His group asks tough questions, addresses blind spots, and makes a positive impact on their community.

There are givers and takers around the world, in every business, and every community. Sharing your abundance is something that some people are wired for, and volunteering can have just as much meaning as consulting or working for pay. Curt’s group includes a dozen high-achieving small business veterans who are in a place of abundance and want to share what they have been given.

Asking for your needs is an essential step to success. Surrounding yourself with a support group or think tank that can help you identify your priorities will help you get what you need, even when you don’t recognize it yourself.

Curt highlights his own experience with wanting to operate a food truck while also recognizing via his mentors that he was not going to achieve the success he wanted in life by continuing down that path. Identify the appropriate people that you can share your needs with, and you just may find the solutions that you didn’t think of yourself.

Interview Links:

Curt Bear

Resources:

Growth Navigator Coaching

Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.)

Bill on YouTube

Recruiter.com Short List (use code scaleup)

Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for Scaling Up Coaches (formerly Gazelles). We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail.

Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the show, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth.

We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash so that they can Scale Up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. Scaling Up is based on Verne’s original best-selling business book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits.

Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover the Scaling Up Business Podcast so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.

Once you’ve established the purpose of your work and identified your BHAG, you need to create a vivid vision of your near future. Where do you want to be in 3‒5 years? What do your company, your team, your customers, and your product look like?

Set aside some time when you can be uninterrupted, calm down, and look at the vision of your future. What does the business you are working so hard to build look like? What does your day look like when you’ve reached that 3‒5-year mark?

Write down what will be said about your future company. Write your vision and identify specifics that will help you create this vivid vision of your future. Creating a rich picture in your mind is a powerful tool that walks you through your future success and motivates you to take the necessary steps to craft the business you are dreaming of.

Resources:

Growth Navigator Coaching

Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.)

Bill on YouTube

Recruiter.com Short List (use code scaleup)

Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for Scaling Up Coaches (formerly Gazelles). We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail.

Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the show, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth.

We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash so that they can Scale Up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. Scaling Up is based on Verne’s original best-selling business book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits.

Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover the Scaling Up Business Podcast so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.

In honor of Veteran’s Day, Bill has gathered an elite group of military veterans, including Jason Simas, Dustin Zroka, and Betsy Feaster, for a conversation about hiring veterans and why they make excellent team members and business owners.

From Air Force investigation to Exxon executive, Betsy Feaster now works as the CEO of Dog Training Elite. Her military experience trained her in problem-solving, work ethic, and teamwork, and gave her a great understanding of what is required to get a mission accomplished.

Retired Master Sergeant U.S. Air Force Jason Simas had over 20 years of service in culinary arts, acquisitions, and negotiations, all of which led him to become an oyster bar franchise owner. His military experience trained him in effective communication with leaders, taking orders at times, and at other times pushing back for better results.

Dustin Zroka is the current CEO of TruBlue Home Service Ally. He also served for four years of active duty in the Navy, did a two-year stint in the Army National Guard, and returned to the Navy Reserves in 2015. As a franchise operator, Dustin’s military experience has underscored his resiliency, and the majority of his technicians are veterans.

In the military, you make the best of whom you’re given to work with, whether it’s senior leadership who talk down to everyone under them or those who treat others with civility regardless of rank. In civilian life, veterans have the opportunity to choose who they work with as well as the work they are willing to do.

These veterans share the lessons they have learned and advice for their younger selves, including taking risks, navigating budgeting differences, flexibility in taking on new adventures, and recognizing and fulfilling your duty in whatever task you are faced with.

Interview Links:

Betsy Feaster

Jason Simas

Dustin Zroka

Resources:

Growth Navigator Coaching

Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.)

Bill on YouTube

Recruiter.com Short List (use code scaleup)

Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for Scaling Up Coaches (formerly Gazelles). We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail.

Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the show, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth.

We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash so that they can Scale Up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. Scaling Up is based on Verne’s original best-selling business book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits.

Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover the Scaling Up Business Podcast so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.

A BHAG — a Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal — can play to your strengths. It’s not meant to be reasonable in any way; instead, it’s designed to inspire you to transform into something interesting.

A BHAG also isn’t meant to be a financial goal. No one really cares that you want to be a billion-dollar company. But you can accomplish a compelling BHAG if you can translate that financial goal into something that is aligned with purpose. Take your financial goal, figure out what your impact will be on the world, and create a goal that pumps up your ego and ignites your passion.

Once Bill set — and started talking about — his BHAG goal of reaching 5 million leaders before retirement, he found opportunities through podcasting, public speaking, and engagements beyond what he ever could have originally imagined. Ten years later he is actually on track to reach his BHAG and is proof that pushing yourself far outside of your comfort zone is the key to reaching even your most outrageous goals and turning your dreams into reality.

Resources:

Growth Navigator Coaching

Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.)

Bill on YouTube

Recruiter.com Short List (use code scaleup)

Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for Scaling Up Coaches (formerly Gazelles). We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail.

Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the show, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth.

We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash so that they can Scale Up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. Scaling Up is based on Verne’s original best-selling business book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits.

Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover the Scaling Up Business Podcast so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.

In this episode, Bill shares an inspiring personal story about overcoming business failure and finding clarity through a profound realization about the power of "why."

The idea of jewelry can sometimes be wasted on men, right? But a chance encounter with a customer at his wife's business helped Bill reframe his perspective on business, family, and purpose by finding the why.

Inspiration can be found in unexpected places, and connecting your personal "why" to your business goals can drive success and sometimes, stepping back can be the most powerful move forward.

This story is packed with valuable lessons for entrepreneurs, leaders, and anyone seeking purpose in their work.

Keep scaling.

Contrary to popular belief, the American dream, as well as the classic statement wristwatch, are not a thing of the past. Today’s guest shares an incredible story of bringing both to life while legally battling an industry supergiant along the way.

R.T. Custer is a Colorado-based entrepreneur, speaker, and co-founder of Vortic Watch Company. He helps founders create a life of freedom through community, connection, and mentorship and is on a continual journey toward the American dream. Today he shares his "David vs. Goliath" story as he took on Swatch.

Watches are not currently made in the United States, but after learning that millions of pocket watches were created in the U.S. between 1850 and 1950, R.T. designed a way to create a 100% American wristwatch by upcycling an antique American-made pocket watch. The idea was crowdfunded and appeared to be a viable business model until Swatch served Vortic with cease and desist papers and a threat of copyright infringement.

A six-year legal battle ultimately resulted in victory, and R.T. learned a lot along the way about what it means to take on an industry giant and stand firm in what you believe in. The law is rarely as cut and dry as most of us assume it to be, and corporate bullying combined with navigating an unprecedented refurbishing business led to a landmark case that eventually won in court. This proved that the American-made dream is still alive and that fighting for something new and different just may be the key to finding the success you’ve been dreaming of.

Interview Links:

R.T. Custer

Resources:

Growth Navigator Coaching

Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.)

Bill on YouTube

Recruiter.com Short List (use code scaleup)

Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for Scaling Up Coaches (formerly Gazelles). We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail.

Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the show, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth.

We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash so that they can Scale Up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. Scaling Up is based on Verne’s original best-selling business book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits.

Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover the Scaling Up Business Podcast so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.

The purpose of your company is the why or the what. There is something that you care deeply about that is motivating you to keep working toward your goal.  At that motivational center you’ll find decision and action arise in the brain. 

What are you proud of?  That is where you will find the why of your work. Consider a person that matters a great deal to you – what you would tell them about the work that you do? That is the why behind your efforts. 

Too many people get stuck on getting their purpose just ‘right’ but, trust me, just good enough is a perfect place to get started. Don’t let perfectionism stop you from getting started in the first place. Just start working with a draft and let it evolve naturally as you continue along your path toward success. 

Resources:

Growth Navigator Coaching

Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.)

Bill on YouTube

Recruiter.com Short List (use code scaleup)

Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for Scaling Up Coaches (formerly Gazelles). We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail.

Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the show, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth.

We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash so that they can Scale Up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. Scaling Up is based on Verne’s original best-selling business book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits.

Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover the Scaling Up Business Podcast so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.

Good sales pitches aren’t about what you have to offer. An effective sales pitch is all about what you have to offer that the other guys don’t have. When you can identify that selling point, you’re headed in the right direction to close the deal.

April Dunford is an executive consultant, speaker, and author who helps technology companies make complicated products easy for customers to understand and love. She is a globally recognized expert in positioning and market strategy and has launched 16 products to market across her 25-year career as VP of marketing at a series of successful high-growth startups. April advises leadership, sales, and marketing teams through training, workshops, and keynote talks.

April offers invaluable insights from her latest book Sales Pitch: How to Craft a Story to Stand Out and Win. She goes deep into the art of effective pitching and selling and shares the specific framework she has used to successfully pitch products at companies like Google, IBM, Postman, and Epic Games.

Nobody likes buying insurance. Shopping for B-to-B software is nobody’s favorite pastime. And when it came time for April to buy a new toilet, she learned just how painful buying can be. Sorting through features is overwhelming, and the sheer number of decisions that have to be made around making one single purchase can be enough to make anyone give up and head in the opposite direction.

40 to 60% of B-to-B tech purchase processes end in no decision. When buyers are overwhelmed by their options and feel that they don’t have access to the information they need to make an informed decision, the easy answer is to prolong the decision altogether and not buy anything.

Overwhelmed buyers need a guide — not a pushy salesperson — to help them identify the most critical elements of their purchase and make a decision. Customers don’t really care about the features themselves, they care about what those features are going to do for their business.

There is always an alternative to solving a problem, and customers need to clearly see that their best option is to buy from you. The question you are trying to answer isn’t “why pick us,” it’s “why pick us over the other guys.” Identifying the key differentiators and highlighting that value to others is a critical first step to closing the sale.

Interview Links:

April Dunford

Resources:

Growth Navigator Coaching

Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.)

Bill on YouTube

Recruiter.com Short List (use code scaleup)

Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for Scaling Up Coaches (formerly Gazelles). We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail.

Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the show, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth.

We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash so that they can Scale Up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. Scaling Up is based on Verne’s original best-selling business book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits.

Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover the Scaling Up Business Podcast so they, too,...

When we become a master of something, it naturally flows through us. We feel powerful and effective. Flow state happens in peak moments of mastery, and these two are greatly interconnected.

The beginning of mastery is to give up the idea of ever finishing. Bill is still deeply at work in the areas of his life that he is mastering. When we say we are done with something, we want to put it behind us. Instead, consider what it means to never be done learning more about the things you want to master.

Leaders who are engaged and mastering leadership and applying those skills to all areas of their life will find themselves regularly in flow state, and that is a powerful place for a great leader to be.

Resources:

20,000 Scaleups

Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.)

Bill on YouTube

Recruiter.com Short List (use code scaleup)

Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for Scaling Up Coaches (formerly Gazelles). We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail.

Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the show, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth.

We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash so that they can Scale Up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. Scaling Up is based on Verne’s original best-selling business book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits.

Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover the Scaling Up Business Podcast so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.

Everything is a negotiation. From the boardroom to the lunchroom, finding common ground is critical to getting what you want.

Keld Jensen has more than 30 years of experience in international management, negotiation, and communication from his post as managing director of a listed Scandinavian company. He is the founder and former CEO of Centre for Negotiation, a consulting and training organization that has worked with private industry and governmental bodies in Europe, Asia, North America, and Africa.

Keld is also the author of the book, Negotiation Essentials: The Tools You Need to Find Common Ground and Walk Away a Winner, detailing common business interactions that you didn’t know were negotiations–and, how to approach them.

You might think that only CEOs are great at negotiations, but Keld will tell you that is wrong. Every single person has to navigate 8‒10,000 negotiations a year, and it’s not only in contracts. It's just as much about where to go for lunch as it is about how to move to the next step in striking a deal.

Keld shares a variety of experiences that he has had with negotiations. Too many people think that negotiations mean confrontation or conflict or that there can only be one winner. By changing your perception of what negotiation is all about, you can consider the possibilities of what everyone can gain from negotiation.

From pausing negotiations for a client who is dealing with cancer to the success of those who uphold the Golden Rule, Keld highlights the ways that effective negotiations can be the secret weapon that leads to success.

Interview Links:

Keld Jensen

Resources:

Growth Navigator Coaching

Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.)

Bill on YouTube

Recruiter.com Short List (use code scaleup)

Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for Scaling Up Coaches (formerly Gazelles). We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail.

Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the show, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth.

We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash so that they can Scale Up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. Scaling Up is based on Verne’s original best-selling business book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits.

Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover the Scaling Up Business Podcast so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.

If you insist on hanging onto your business for too long, you are keeping it weak. If you insist on hanging onto your team too tightly, you are keeping them weak.

Too many leaders hire helpers and then micromanage them, or stay at their jobs for too long each day and week. They don’t vacation often enough and they don’t retire soon enough.

Great leaders pass the baton firmly to their team. It’s a powerful function of leaders who create groups of leaders that they can trust. Give people opportunities to make mistakes before you are completely gone.

This creates powerful leaders who appreciate what you have done for them and builds not just one good thing in your business, but a lasting organization of a great team and a legacy and culture of leadership that is unstoppable.

Resources:

20,000 Scaleups

Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.)

Bill on YouTube

Recruiter.com Short List (use code scaleup)

Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for Scaling Up Coaches (formerly Gazelles). We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail.

Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the show, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth.

We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash so that they can Scale Up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. Scaling Up is based on Verne’s original best-selling business book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits.

Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover the Scaling Up Business Podcast so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.

Your slides aren’t working in your favor. The key to selling is the stories that you tell, and your pitch needs stories that engage people so that you can connect in ways that close the deals.

Nir Zavaro is an entrepreneur, author, and speaker. He regularly tours the world, on a mission to help as many people as possible become better storytellers. Using his experience, storytelling fundamentals, and methods, he brings a fresh perspective on how to implement these into businesses, working with founders and CEOs in over 30 countries.

Every person on the planet has a unique story to tell. Too many people lean on slides as a crutch to get through a presentation, but slides should be the bonus, not the basis of your pitch. YOU are the presentation and you need to connect with the audience and tell your stories — with or without slides.

How can you determine if a pitch or a session was a success if you aren’t able to recognize the emotions and feelings of those that you are interacting with? Storytelling isn’t the soft skill that so many say it is, it is an essential skill that needs to be continually practiced and honed.

Niv and Bill share a variety of situations that can create connection by tapping into the emotional aspect of storytelling, from skiing to handling crises in the emergency room and understanding the language of different cultures. The stories you tell have the power to draw people in and connect with them in a way that a slideshow never will.

Interview Links:

Nir Zavaro

Resources:

Growth Navigator Coaching

Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.)

Bill on YouTube

Recruiter.com Short List (use code scaleup)

Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for Scaling Up Coaches (formerly Gazelles). We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail.

Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the show, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth.

We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash so that they can Scale Up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. Scaling Up is based on Verne’s original best-selling business book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits.

Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover the Scaling Up Business Podcast so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.

Do you know how to do the kind of planning that makes a real difference? Most of us spend more time working on the less important things that happen in between planning and then push off the planning that really matters for a future day that never comes. This results in sloppy actions and random results.

Bill recommends scheduling out annual, quarterly, weekly, and even daily planning. Every scheduled planning event matters. Get consistent with your planning, and then let everything else fill in between.

The plan itself doesn’t matter as much as the act of regularly planning. When you get the rhythm right, you’ll be a great leader who is able to run things with ease.

Resources:

20,000 Scaleups

Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.)

Bill on YouTube

Recruiter.com Short List (use code scaleup)

Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for Scaling Up Coaches (formerly Gazelles). We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail.

Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the show, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth.

We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash so that they can Scale Up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. Scaling Up is based on Verne’s original best-selling business book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits.

Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover the Scaling Up Business Podcast so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.

The playbook for navigating the transition from manager to leader has only become more difficult in recent years. Today’s guest understands the challenges leaders face and what it takes to be an effective leader in today’s workplace.

Adam Bryant is the senior managing director of The ExCo Group, a leadership development and executive mentoring firm. He is a respected and noted expert on executive leadership who has interviewed more than 1,000 leaders for the “Corner Office” series he created at The New York Times and for his four current leadership series on LinkedIn — with CEOs, CHROs, board directors, and prominent Black leaders.

After years of interviewing CEOs about their business strategies, Adam pivoted toward what he found to be a much more interesting topic — how leaders get to where they are. The key distinctions between managers and leaders are highlighted in Adam’s new book, The Leap to Leader. Adam encourages anyone who is considering making the leap to write down three questions — what is the difference between management and leadership, do you really want to lead, and who are you as a leader? The answers to each of these questions will help identify your strengths and potential as an effective leader.

There are three key currencies of effective leadership. Insights, storytelling, and framework are the languages that leaders speak to connect with and inspire their teams. Leaders are the chief storytellers who provide a sense of alignment and shared narrative for the team. If your team can quote you or copy what you are always saying, you’re doing your job right.

Quiet quitting, return to office, and the great resignation have posed incredible new challenges for leaders. The human element of leadership requires leading from the front unless you are told to lead from the back. The contradictory advice that comes to leaders abounds, and Adam’s advice is to remain cautious and simplify — but not oversimplify — the challenges of leadership.

Interview Links:

Adam Bryant

Resources:

Growth Navigator Coaching

Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.)

Bill on YouTube

Recruiter.com Short List (use code scaleup)

Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for Scaling Up Coaches (formerly Gazelles). We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail.

Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the show, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth.

We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash so that they can Scale Up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. Scaling Up is based on Verne’s original best-selling business book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits.

Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover the Scaling Up Business Podcast so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.

How do you react when you hear “no”? People usually view no as a setback, take it personally, and get triggered or angry.

But if you can learn to be loose and playful with every no you hear, you will find that you aren’t so deeply affected by it. When you approach no with curiosity, you might find that you can turn it into a “yes” in the future.

Great leaders know how to be playful with a no. Whether they’re trying to hire someone, supply something, or pitch an idea, leaning into possibilities with curiosity and playfulness can get the answer they’re looking for. If not now or with this situation, then in the right situation and in the very near future.

Resources:

20,000 Scaleups

Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.)

Bill on YouTube

Recruiter.com Short List (use code scaleup)

Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for Scaling Up Coaches (formerly Gazelles). We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail.

Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the show, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth.

We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash so that they can Scale Up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. Scaling Up is based on Verne’s original best-selling business book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits.

Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover the Scaling Up Business Podcast so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.

How can entrepreneurs ensure their businesses are sellable in any market?

In this episode, Justin Goodbread shares his expertise on scaling businesses and maximizing their value. He discusses the importance of planning for an exit, avoiding owner dependence, and leveraging value drivers to create a sellable company. Through personal anecdotes and practical strategies, Justin offers a roadmap for entrepreneurs to achieve freedom and financial success.

Justin Goodbread is an entrepreneur, author, and business advisor. Having built and sold multiple companies, Justin brings a passionate, hands-on approach to helping other entrepreneurs grow their businesses profitably while creating sustainable value.

Key topics explored in this episode: 

- The difference between a profitable business and a valuable one.

- Why 80% of a business owner’s net worth is often tied up in their company.

- Why only a fraction of owners are satisfied with their exit price.

- The dangers of owner dependence and how to overcome it.

- Stories of entrepreneurs who successfully pivoted during crises.

- How to balance passion for business with personal priorities.

- Why you should sell your business when you don’t have to.

Chapters in this episode: 

(02:30) Justin Goodbread’s Entrepreneurial Journey

(08:15) The Shocking Truth About Business Value Statistics

(15:00) Why Most Businesses Aren’t Sellable

(21:45) How to Avoid Owner Dependence

(37:00) The Importance of Work-Life Balance for Entrepreneurs

Thanks to Justin Goodbread for being on the show! 

Learn about Justin’s Value Growth Academy: https://www.justingoodbread.com/academy 

Connect with Justin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justingoodbread/ 

Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the Scaling Up Business podcast, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth. 

Join Bill in the Growth Navigator Coaching Program: https://ScalingCoach.com/workshop 

Bill on LinkedIn: https://www.LinkedIn.com/in/BillGall

Bill on YouTube: https://www.YouTube.com/@BillGallagherScalingCoach 

Visit https://ScalingUp.com to learn more about Verne Harnish, our team of Scaling Up Coaches, and the Scaling Up Performance Platform, which includes coaching, learning, software, and summit. We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail. We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around people, strategy, execution, and cash so that they can scale up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. 

Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover Scaling Up Business with Bill Gallagher so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.

Subscribe via Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3PGhWPJ

Subscribe via Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3PKe00u

Bill on Facebook:

How can you learn to stay calm and deal with a VUCA — volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous — world? Perspective is the number one tactic, and today’s guest is a special operator and leader who has the developmental skills and methodologies that can assist anyone in dealing with a VUCA world.

Mark Divine is a former Navy SEAL Commander, best-selling author, and leadership expert. After a 20-year career in the Navy SEALs, he was tasked with creating a leadership program for the SEALs, which later extended to corporate, sports, and academic settings. Mark Divine is the author of five best-selling books, hosts a top-rated podcast, Mark Divine’s Unbeatable Mind, and has founded five successful companies. He believes in unlocking 20X performance through the right training and tools.

From terrorist attacks and global wars to the COVID-19 pandemic and technological advances, the capacity for great violence to happen quickly is prevalent in today’s VUCA world. The need to remain adaptable, flexible, and controlled under such stress is critical to survival.

Mark and Bill both share experiences of trauma from their lives and the lessons they have learned as a result. Having the tools needed to navigate the trauma of life is what sets a leader apart in moments of crisis. However, teams are not always looking for a calm and composed leader. Acknowledging apparent chaos can be the best first step in building trust and respect.

Everyone on a SEAL team is a leader, so egos get checked at the door. Each team member is prepared to step up when they are called on to lead. There is no hiding in an elite culture environment, there is only the expectation that you’re going to bring your “A” game every single day. Those who learn the techniques to do so are earning the respect and trust of their team, controlling their mind and emotions, and preparing for whatever chaos the VUCA world might throw their way.

Interview Links:

Mark Divine

Resources:

Growth Navigator Coaching

Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.)

Bill on YouTube

Recruiter.com Short List (use code scaleup)

Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for Scaling Up Coaches (formerly Gazelles). We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail.

Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the show, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth.

We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash so that they can Scale Up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. Scaling Up is based on Verne’s original best-selling business book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits.

Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover the Scaling Up Business Podcast so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.

Too many companies struggle to scale because they are stuck reinventing things that just don’t need to be reinvented. The companies that succeed are the ones that focus on and refine systems in a disciplined way that makes them better than they have ever been before.

JC Hite is the visionary Founder and CEO of Hite Digital, the fastest-growing digital agency in the U.S. With a deep-rooted passion for empowering small businesses, JC is dedicated to driving their growth through the realm of digital marketing.

There are times when building any business is just really difficult. Within six months of launching Hite Digital in Nicaragua, the company found itself in the middle of a civil war. As they have scaled, they have had to learn how to survive physically, financially, and mentally during the harder seasons of growth.

JC highlights some of the hurdles Hite Digital has faced, including political insecurity, addressing limited education in Nicaragua, the pandemic, and the recession. They have fine-tuned hiring the right fit for their agency, the range of services they provide, and the key to a successful franchising model.

This conversation is filled with insights into the lessons learned from JC’s mistakes, his luckiest breaks, and what happens when entrepreneurs and business builders are willing to position themselves in the right places and focus on the right things at the right time.

Interview Links:

The Hites

Resources:

Growth Navigator Coaching

Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.)

Bill on YouTube

Recruiter.com Short List (use code scaleup)

Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for Scaling Up Coaches (formerly Gazelles). We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail.

Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the show, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth.

We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash so that they can Scale Up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. Scaling Up is based on Verne’s original best-selling business book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits.

Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover the Scaling Up Business Podcast so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.

When people are really upset, there is a simple way to turn things around and bring them back into the game. Deeper listening is the key to understanding what is going on behind the complaint.

The complaint itself is rarely the problem. More often it’s the personal value that they care deeply about that has been attacked or triggered. When a leader can identify the value that is behind the upset, they can diffuse the situation. Call the value out and give it a name to create a reset that then allows the upset person to get back into the game.

This approach can make a powerful, immediate change that, often, people can’t even see or articulate themselves. But great leaders know how to highlight the values that mean so much and turn a complaint into an empowering conversation.

Resources:

20,000 Scaleups

Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.)

Bill on YouTube

Recruiter.com Short List (use code scaleup)

Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for Scaling Up Coaches (formerly Gazelles). We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail.

Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the show, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth.

We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash so that they can Scale Up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. Scaling Up is based on Verne’s original best-selling business book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits.

Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover the Scaling Up Business Podcast so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.

No matter how successful you are, at some point, you may encounter a career setback. Instead of being devastated, you can turn that setback into a growth experience. Doug Lennick, co-author of DON’T WAIT FOR SOMEONE ELSE TO FIX IT, is the founding CEO of think2perform, a high-performance leadership development firm serving small and large organizations in a variety of industries. He has been in leadership roles for nearly 40 years and is widely recognized as an expert in the science of human behavior.

Obstacles happen to all of us, but the person who actually makes it to where they want to go doesn’t consider obstacles “in the way” but “on the way.” The winners are the people who know how to handle whatever comes their way. The premium isn’t on knowing what will happen — because no one does — the premium is knowing how to deal with whatever happens and then not waiting for someone else to do something about it.

Doug shares his early career setback of being cut out of a publishing company, and the successes he experienced as a result. He shares the three value buckets that encompass people around the world, the top three values of people around the world, and the importance of reflecting on those values before making significant decisions. Whether the setbacks you face are political, global, personal, or professional, there is immense value in turning those challenges into growth experiences.

Interview Links:

Doug Lennick

Don’t Wait for Someone Else to Fix It: 8 Essentials to Enhance Your Leadership Impact at Work, Home, and Anywhere Else That Needs You, by Doug Lennick and Chuck Wachendorfer, with Kathy Jordan, PhD

Resources:

20,000 Scaleups

Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.)

Bill on YouTube

Recruiter.com Short List (use code scaleup)

Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for Scaling Up Coaches (formerly Gazelles). We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail.

Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the show is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth.

We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash so that they can Scale Up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. Scaling Up is based on Verne’s original best-selling business book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits.

Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover the Scaling Up Business Podcast so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.

Great leaders tend to be optimistic and positive, but that can come at a very real cost. When you don’t think about or listen to what could go wrong, you’re setting yourself up for guaranteed failure. There is value in giving a voice to the negative possibilities.

Bill once made a $2 million mistake by not considering what could go wrong. He quickly learned to balance his naturally positive approach with realistic and even negative possibilities. A great leader knows the value of empowering the voices on their team to play devil’s advocate once in a while.

No plan survives contact with the enemy, or, as Mike Tyson said, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.” Business has a way of punching us in the face on a regular basis. If you want your team and your business to be more successful, don’t shy away from conversations about the biggest things that could go wrong, and what you are going to do about it.

Resources:

20,000 Scaleups

Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.)

Bill on YouTube

Recruiter.com Short List (use code scaleup)

Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for Scaling Up Coaches (formerly Gazelles). We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail.

Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the show, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth.

We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash so that they can Scale Up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. Scaling Up is based on Verne’s original best-selling business book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits.

Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover the Scaling Up Business Podcast so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.

When you can determine what your clients, donors, or sponsors want, you can persuade them to help you get what you need.

Lori Zoss Kraska, MBA, CFRE is Growth Owl, LLC’s Founder and CEO. She possesses over 22 years of expertise in revenue generation management, corporate sponsorship support, corporate cause marketing, fundraising, corporate social responsibility, nonprofit consulting, executive sales management, training, and marketing strategy roles earning her a reputation for establishing pathways quickly to exceeding revenue/fundraising goals, building high-performance teams, developing relationships quickly, and outpacing expectations.

Lori’s company, Growth Owl, works with purpose-driven organizations to help with fundraising and sponsorship dollars. That is an effort that requires a lot of persuasion, but Lori’s previous 10 years with PBS and NPR gave her the experience that has made her an expert in persuasion. Lori’s goal in starting Growth Owl was to apply the principles that are utilized in public media to a wider variety of purpose-driven companies.

The art of persuasion is not a simple one to master, and in this conversation, Lori shares a host of tactics that work. First, understand that while emotions are used in decision-making, facts-based language will earn a greater response than feelings-based language. People are more likely to be persuaded when they hear supporting facts and numbers than when they hear how you feel about it.

Lori recommends connecting with people at the lowest level of Maslov’s Hierarchy of needs possible. By doing so, you will be able to connect with more people at a more basic level. Highlighting the fears of a company is another angle that can be used, as long as it is coupled with an action-based solution.

Bill recommends connecting with people who actually care about the things that you care about. It will be difficult to persuade someone who is not interested in feeding homeless dogs to donate funds that will be used to buy dog food. And it will be easiest to work with the people who do care when you are speaking in their language.

Lori suggests using the “5 not 50” approach to persuasion. Choose five highly qualified decision-makers, learn as much as you can about them, and approach them. By keeping a greater focus on a smaller number, your chances of effectively persuading them are much greater. Don’t spam everyone in your entire email list, instead connect with those who have engaged with you in relevant ways.

Identify your objective in reaching out before your first communication. Are you trying to sell something right off the bat? More likely you are just trying to get a conversation started. Asking for a five- or six-figure donation is not going to happen over one email with one attachment. Be succinct, be respectful of others’ time, and be ready to engage in ways that get the answers that you are seeking.

Interview Links:

Lori Zoss Kraska

Resources:

20,000 Scaleups

Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.)

Bill on YouTube

Recruiter.com Short List (use code scaleup)

Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and...

For most of us, when looking to hear “yes,” what gets in the way is us. Our thoughts and feelings get in the way of our ability to effectively communicate with other people. When we’re stuck inside our heads, we worry that we may be too much of something, or don’t have enough skills in a particular area, and we dread hearing “no.”

All of these things are happening internally, and they all keep us from talking to and connecting with the other person in a way that encourages the “yes” we’re seeking. If you can get out of your head and get over what you think the other person is thinking, the more naturally you will get your “yes.”

Instead of worrying about what might be going wrong in the conversation, focus on the other person. What about your conversation is of interest to them? Imagine the conversation going well. Get curious about what they want and ask more questions. When you do, you’ll find that you can hire, sell, fundraise, partner, and engage with greater ease.

Resources:

20,000 Scaleups

Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.)

Bill on YouTube

Recruiter.com Short List (use code scaleup)

Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for Scaling Up Coaches (formerly Gazelles). We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail.

Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the show, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth.

We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash so that they can Scale Up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. Scaling Up is based on Verne’s original best-selling business book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits.

Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover the Scaling Up Business Podcast so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.

Today’s conversation is all about being awesome, and there is no better teacher than John “Gucci” Foley, the legendary former solo pilot for The Blue Angels who flew in the original movie Top Gun,
who continues to inspire organizations to High Performance through a GLAD TO BE HERE mindset, operational excellence, team improvement, and high trust!

John is one of the Top 10 most sought-after keynote speakers and trainers on leadership, high performance, teamwork, trust, and a GLAD TO BE HERE mindset!

From the night he watched the first moon landing in 1969 and the visceral energy he felt at his first air show, John knew from an early age that he was meant to be in the sky. Over time his dreams turned from astronaut to lead solo pilot, with a stop in college football along the way. 

There is a huge difference between having a vision and executing it. Success happens when you are able to keep a dream alive, formulate a plan, and act on it consistently over time in a way that turns your dreams into success.

Obstacles are an inevitable part of every success story. Resilience is key, and success is much more likely to happen when you are able to get others to buy into your vision as well. Don’t just dream about your success, surround yourself with a team who also believes in your dream.

John’s life has been filled with failed attempts and pivoting plans and the lessons he has learned along the way. He shares his stories of flying for Top Gun, misfiring a missile, and the many points at which he had to advance fearlessly to reach his goals.

Too many leaders don’t perform at their full potential, they perform at their belief level. Leveling up is essential for fearless leaders, and that performance will either be enhanced or limited by the beliefs we have in ourselves. If you are willing to meet your obstacles head-on, fearless success is guaranteed to come your way.

Interview Links:

John “Gucci” Foley

Fearless Success: Beyond High Performance

Resources:

20,000 Scaleups

Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.)

Bill on YouTube

Recruiter.com Short List (use code scaleup)

Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for Scaling Up Coaches (formerly Gazelles). We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail.

Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the show, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth.

We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash so that they can Scale Up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. Scaling Up is based on Verne’s original best-selling business book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits.

Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover the Scaling Up Business Podcast so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.

Most of us have learned to control our emotions. We’re expected to look strong and be stoic. In the early years of his career, Bill was told to calm down and stop showing so many emotions when he was excited about possibilities at work.

So how is it possible that vulnerability can be powerful? Showing your vulnerabilities requires courage and strength. Whether people believe it or not, emotions are at the root of every decision we make. Even the rational, logical decisions we make also touch our feelings.

When leaders can get in touch with all of their feelings — good and bad — they have access to powerful vulnerability. Yes, it takes courage to get in touch with your feelings, but when you can share those feelings with other people in a way that results in greater connections, the results are always powerful.

Resources:

20,000 Scaleups

Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.)

Bill on YouTube

Recruiter.com Short List (use code scaleup)

Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for Scaling Up Coaches (formerly Gazelles). We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail.

Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the show, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth.

We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash so that they can Scale Up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. Scaling Up is based on Verne’s original best-selling business book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits.

Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover the Scaling Up Business Podcast so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.

In this mini episode, Bill tackles one of the biggest productivity killers in business: constant firefighting.

You’ve got big, bold strategic plans, but daily emergencies keep derailing your focus. Sound familiar?

We share two simple, game-changing tips to help your team stay on track with their big goals:

- Identify where your time and focus always go off course.

- Proactively design systems and routines to protect your priorities.

If you’ve ever felt like your week is shot by Monday afternoon, this episode is for you.

Keep scaling.

What does it take to be successful? The underlying structures of your business craft the foundation that will make or break your success.

Patrick Esposito is an entrepreneur, business executive, attorney, advisor, and board member. He has helped to found, lead, and advise small- and medium-sized businesses in technology, consulting, retail, banking, real estate, and other sectors, as well as U.S. government organizations, for more than two decades. During his career, Esposito has advised start-up executive teams, family business owners, large publicly traded company executive teams, and leaders in the U.S. Department of Defense. He recently launched Initiative Labs LLC to help small- and medium-sized business leaders apply the approaches, methodologies, and tools from his book, The Structure of Success, to create the conditions for success in their business ventures.

A self-proclaimed jack of all trades, Patrick learned early on that, when it came to scaling up, employing the wisdom of an independent who knew how to scale was one of the most beneficial aspects of his journey toward success.

While reflecting on his experiences with various companies, Patrick highlights two key categories of wisdom. First, the general business wisdom that is required for growing a company. The outside perspective from a general scaling expert is essential, but the second piece of wisdom is equally as critical — the industry-specific, specialized knowledge that promotes internal growth. Successful scaling up is not just about money and it’s not just about execution, it’s also about crafting an effective ecosystem structure.

From tech to financial service companies, tires to banks and environmental services, Patrick’s experiences have made him an expert in his work. When it comes to scaling, he has learned that making the right structural and scaling investments that benefit growth and underline profitability is the key to success.

Interview Links:

Patrick Esposito

The Structure of Success: A Framework to Help Build Your Business Better

Resources:

20,000 Scaleups

Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.)

Bill on YouTube

Recruiter.com Short List (use code scaleup)

Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for Scaling Up Coaches (formerly Gazelles). We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail.

Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the show, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth.

We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash so that they can Scale Up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. Scaling Up is based on Verne’s original best-selling business book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits.

Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover the Scaling Up Business Podcast so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.

There is one simple secret to helping your team get unstuck. Powerful listening is the key to showing your team that you are interested in where they’re coming from, who they are, and what they need to do to level up.

The best way to get stuck people re-engaged is to listen to what they are saying to you. Listening leaders don’t leap into solving problems. Great leaders have engaged teams and can listen for ways to bring to light new approaches, better solutions, and ideas on how team members can get themselves unstuck.

When a leader shows curiosity and a willingness to listen, they create a team that is filled with future leaders that they can someday pass the baton to. So listen longer, listen deeper, and take the time to show your team that you genuinely hear them and see them not only for who they are now, but who they have the potential to become.

Resources:

20,000 Scaleups

Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.)

Bill on YouTube

Recruiter.com Short List (use code scaleup)

Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for Scaling Up Coaches (formerly Gazelles). We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail.

Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the show, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth.

We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash so that they can Scale Up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. Scaling Up is based on Verne’s original best-selling business book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits.

Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover the Scaling Up Business Podcast so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.

Great customer service is something that we can expect from restaurants and hotels, but rarely do we expect it from hospitals or emergency rooms. Today’s guest is on a mission to change that.

Stowe Shoemaker has served as an advisor to numerous hospitality service providers over the course of his career including IGT, British Airways, Accor, Hilton, Landry’s, and Hyatt. He has published two marketing textbooks and his newest book, Hospitable Healthcare: Just What the Patient Ordered! introduces hospitality principles to the healthcare industry.

Hospitality matters in every industry. Consider the last time you needed medical care. Did the customer service enhance your experience, or did it only make a hard situation worse? Healthcare needs to be fixed in more ways than one. Stowe and his coauthor aim to address the changes that need to be made in their new book.

Hospitality customer service standards are currently much higher than in the healthcare industry. A survey Stowe conducted indicated that healthcare ranks last in the hospitality experience when compared to restaurants and hotels. What can be learned from the hospitality industry that could be used in healthcare?

There are five principles that create an exceptional customer experience and systems that can be implemented to make these principles an effortless part of the customer experience.

Prepare, anticipate, engage, evaluate, and reward.

When each of these principles is achieved, a patient begins to feel less like an inconvenience to the company and more like a loved family member. And loyal customers will become lifelong, repeat clients who spend more money and create positive word of mouth for the business.

Interview Links:

Stowe Shoemaker

Hospitable Healthcare: Just What the Patient Ordered!

Resources:

20,000 Scaleups

Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.)

Bill on YouTube

Recruiter.com Short List (use code scaleup)

Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for Scaling Up Coaches (formerly Gazelles). We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail.

Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the show, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth.

We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash so that they can Scale Up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. Scaling Up is based on Verne’s original best-selling business book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits.

Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover the Scaling Up Business Podcast so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.

If you were heading to the moon for the first time, or launching a brand-new product, you wouldn’t plan it in the same way routine events are planned. Achieving a brand new level of performance requires a different level of planning.

Stephen Covey called this beginning with the end in mind. Where do you want to be and what do you want to have accomplished? What would come just before that? And before that?

If you don’t consider how you want the end to look, you might end up tackling the wrong problems or working on things that are better left alone or dropped altogether. Planning with the end in mind frees you up to work on what matters most. And with the right plan in place, great leaders can let their teams get their work done.

Resources:

20,000 Scaleups

Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.)

Bill on YouTube

Recruiter.com Short List (use code scaleup)

Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for Scaling Up Coaches (formerly Gazelles). We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail.

Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the show, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth.

We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash so that they can Scale Up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. Scaling Up is based on Verne’s original best-selling business book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits.

Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover the Scaling Up Business Podcast so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.

Search engine optimization can make or break your business presence online, but getting it right isn’t always easy.

Jason Hennessey is an entrepreneur, internationally recognized SEO expert, author, speaker, podcast host, and business coach. Since 2001, Jason has been reverse-engineering the Google algorithm as a self-taught student and practitioner of SEO and search marketing.

Jason shares the three key steps to optimizing your SEO. First, make sure your website is technically sound so that Google can easily access it. Second, create content that people actually want to consume. Solid content satisfies the problem people are looking to solve. And third, utilize backlinking to help boost the popularity of your website.

Ultimately, SEO comes down to helping people find the thing they are searching for. There is also an ROI attached to it, but it serves as a connector for people who need specific services with the people who can service that need.

AI and ChatGPT play a role in optimizing SEO as well. While it’s not recommended to translate your website into Vietnamese if no one in your office can speak or write the language, AI can be used to summarize the main points of a call or email. Jason recommends avoiding using AI to write articles on behalf of your company that will poorly reflect on your business. Use AI to help you articulate your points, but not to replace the human element of your content.

Consider the assets that you have — whether it’s time or money — and put them to work to improve your SEO in ways that will benefit your company and your bottom line.

Interview Links:

Jason Hennessey

Honest SEO: Demystifying the Google Algorithm to Help Get You More Traffic and Revenue

Resources:

20,000 Scaleups

Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.)

Bill on YouTube

Recruiter.com Short List (use code scaleup)

Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for Scaling Up Coaches (formerly Gazelles). We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail.

Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the show, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth.

We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash so that they can Scale Up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. Scaling Up is based on Verne’s original best-selling business book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits.

Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover the Scaling Up Business Podcast so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.

You want things and you need things, but Bill knows that there is a much easier way to get what you want than employing trickery, manipulating, or coercing. When you look for ways to hear yes, simply listen for what other people want.

When you listen for and think about what other people want, your proposals will go effortlessly because you will naturally be able to offer them what they are looking for. You’ll spend less time stressing about what you want because you know it will come to you while you are helping people get what they want.

When Bill naturally connects what he wants with what other people want, everything works out. That’s the way to pass the baton and the way to be an inspiring, natural leader.

Resources:

20,000 Scaleups

Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.)

Bill on YouTube

Recruiter.com Short List (use code scaleup)

Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for Scaling Up Coaches (formerly Gazelles). We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail.

Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the show, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth.

We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash so that they can Scale Up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. Scaling Up is based on Verne’s original best-selling business book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits.

Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover the Scaling Up Business Podcast so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.

The United States is losing over 100,000 people and experiencing over half a trillion dollars of economic impact each year due to opioids, including fentanyl. That’s more than a 737 crash per day. This public health and national security issue is a supply-and-demand problem that, unlike previous epidemics, our nation is failing to resolve.

Admiral Winnefeld graduated from Georgia Tech with a degree in Aerospace Engineering and served for 37 years in the United States Navy. He flew the F-14 Tomcat and served as an instructor at TopGun and as senior aide-de-camp to General Colin L. Powell. He commanded a fighter squadron, the amphibious ship USS Cleveland, the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, a carrier strike group, two NATO commands, the United States Sixth Fleet, the United States Northern Command, and the North American Aerospace Defense Command. He retired after serving as the ninth Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Admiral Winnefeld is a frequently-published author and a director or advisor to companies operating in a broad spectrum of business sectors.

Growing up in a military family, Admiral Winnefeld’s younger son Jonathan developed anxiety and depression in middle school and eventually spent 15 months in a treatment center. HIPAA privacy laws kept his parents from knowing about his opioid addiction, and despite his successful graduation from treatment, Jonathan died from an overdose just five days after starting college.

Fentanyl is so deadly because it can take a life the first time someone uses it. This deep societal problem pays no heed to the rich or poor, black or white, educated or not, male or female. It can take the life of anyone, even if it's the first time they’ve ever used drugs.

Public stigma is public enemy number one in the fight against fentanyl, but Admiral Winnefeld isn’t letting that stop his mission. Shortly after his son’s death, he and his wife recognized that they had the opportunity to prevent this tragedy from affecting more lives. In the SAFE Project, he aims to increase public awareness, improve full-spectrum prevention and responsible medical prescribing, improve law enforcement and justice, increase treatment and recovery, and improve family outreach and support.

The goal of the SAFE Project is to save a life every single day. Admiral Winnefeld shares actionable items that can help reach that goal, from supporting and educating family members to having NARCAN® available to quickly treat an overdose. Companies have an obligation to face this crisis alongside individuals, families, and society at large. The responsibility of addressing the problem and finding solutions to the epidemic is the duty of every one of us.

Interview Links:

James A. Winnefeld

SAFE Project

Resources:

20,000 Scaleups

Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.)

Bill on YouTube

Recruiter.com Short List (use code scaleup)

Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for Scaling Up Coaches (formerly Gazelles). We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others...

Do you ever wish people were more inspired by you? Bill has a simple formula for leaders who want to light others up. When you share the vision of your company the right way, it is guaranteed to get other people excited about it too.

The formula is simple. First, talk about the problem area that you deal with in the world. Then, share what the predictable future will look like without change. Finally, talk about why you’re involved in solving the problem and the vision that you have for a new future.

Employ storytelling, using real names, details, and feelings. Practice this recipe and keep sharing it wherever you can. Employees, investors, partners, vendors, customers, and the media will all benefit from hearing your story, and when they do, they will catch your vision and be more inspired by you.

Resources:

20,000 Scaleups

Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.)

Bill on YouTube

Recruiter.com Short List (use code scaleup)

Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for Scaling Up Coaches (formerly Gazelles). We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail.

Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the show, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth.

We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash so that they can Scale Up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. Scaling Up is based on Verne’s original best-selling business book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits.

Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover the Scaling Up Business Podcast so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.

People are by far the most important, the most essential aspect of any business. People are also the hardest to find a perfect fit, but successful leaders know how to attract and focus on the right people in the right way.

Tali Rapaport is the co-founder of Puck, the people-first recruiting CRM. Puck helps businesses tell their team’s story and hire better, faster. Prior to Puck, she was the VP of Product at Lyft for nearly four years. During her tenure, Lyft grew 20x to become a big part of how people get around in North America. In 2017, Tali was named one of Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People. She graduated from Harvard College with an AB in Applied Math and a Master’s in Environmental Engineering. She was on the Dean’s Cabinet for Harvard’s Engineering School from 2018-2020.

Tali worked with Lyft when they were in the middle of onboarding a million drivers. She witnessed the human side of employment and the reasons that people are motivated to take on this kind of work. Flexibility in scheduling and access to easier, reliable technology are still two of the major sticking points that are keeping people from getting hired and getting a job done. Getting inside the head of your prospective employee is essential to meeting people where they are and understanding what they need from their employer.

A recruiter’s job today is to sell a brand and experience and to highlight what it means to be part of the tribe of a company. When hiring companies can highlight the motivation of their business with the motivation of the new employee, both are much better off.

When scaling a business, it can be easy to focus on the things that are urgent and forget about the things that are important. Tali shares the experience she had with a Cambridge water study and the lessons she learned about finding new opportunities when they might be least expected.

Interview Links:

Tali Rapaport

Resources:

Scaling For Any Economy

Scaling Coach

Bill on YouTube

Recruiter.com Short List (use code scaleup)

Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for Scaling Up Coaches (formerly Gazelles). We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail.

Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the show, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth.

We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash so that they can Scale Up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. Scaling Up is based on Verne’s original best-selling business book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits.

Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover the Scaling Up Business Podcast so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.

People don’t need managers, they need great coaching. No one really likes being managed — they like being led and supported by effective coaching.

Often people want to work out their own problems with the support of their leaders. Rarely do they want to hand over their problems and expect the leader to create the solution. When people come in with a problem, they should come out with a project.

A coach cheerleads, encourages, listens, and appreciates. They remind their team why they’re excited about the work they’re doing, they coach their successors, and they delegate powerfully.

As a result, you as a leader have to work less hard. When you work less hard, your team rises. Coaching people — not managing or dominating them — is the source of powerful leadership.

Resources:

20,000 Scaleups

Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.)

Bill on YouTube

Recruiter.com Short List (use code scaleup)

Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for Scaling Up Coaches (formerly Gazelles). We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail.

Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the show, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth.

We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash so that they can Scale Up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. Scaling Up is based on Verne’s original best-selling business book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits.

Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover the Scaling Up Business Podcast so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.

Why is creating memorable experiences more crucial than ever in today’s event industry?

In this episode, Bill speaks with Rennie Colelli about his inspiring journey from a teenage DJ to leading a top-tier AV production company. Rennie shares how he scaled his business twice, first in social events and later in corporate, emphasizing the importance of trust, innovation, and strategic reinvention. The discussion offers valuable insights for entrepreneurs looking to navigate growth, overcome challenges, and deliver world-class experiences.

Rennie Colelli is a dynamic entrepreneur who turned his passion for music and live entertainment into a thriving event production business, bb Blanc.

Key topics that Bill and Rennie explore in this episode: 

- The challenges of scaling a business.

- How delivering unforgettable experiences builds lasting client relationships.

- Why corporate events offer broader opportunities compared to social events.

- Insights on technical innovations transforming live and virtual event production.

- How bb Blanc turned a holiday party from a declining tradition to a sold-out phenomenon.

- The significance of clear vision and ambition in scaling a multi-million dollar business.

Chapters in this episode: 

(03:15) From Teenage DJ to Entrepreneur

(11:00) Scaling Rennie’s First Business

(15:22) The Decision to Start Fresh

(18:13) Breaking into the Corporate Market

(23:14) Navigating Growth

(34:10) The Future of Events

Thanks to Rennie Colelli for being on the show! 

Connect with Rennie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rennie-colelli/ 

Learn more about bb Blanc: https://www.bbblanc.com/ 

Follow bb Blanc on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bbblancevents/ 

Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the Scaling Up Business podcast, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth. 

Join Bill in the Growth Navigator Coaching Program: https://ScalingCoach.com/workshop 

Bill on LinkedIn: https://www.LinkedIn.com/in/BillGall

Bill on YouTube: https://www.YouTube.com/@BillGallagherScalingCoach 

Visit https://ScalingUp.com to learn more about Verne Harnish, our team of Scaling Up Coaches, and the Scaling Up Performance Platform, which includes coaching, learning, software, and summit. We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail. We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around people, strategy, execution, and cash so that they can scale up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. 

Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover Scaling Up Business with Bill Gallagher so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.

Subscribe via Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3PGhWPJ

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You’re always working to elevate your company, but how can you get your team to come along for the ride? Today’s episode focuses on the intersection of people, leadership, and execution, especially in remote companies.

Robert Glazer is the founder and Chairman of the Board of Acceleration Partners, the premier global partner marketing agency that has won over 30 awards for its world-class company culture. He leads a fully-remote team of over 270 people.

Robert is the Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author of books on topics such as peak performance, personal growth, partner marketing, and excelling in the world of remote work.

A lot of companies are playing defense in their team strategy right now. After the exhaustion of the pandemic, companies are struggling to focus on healthy, sustainable growth. How can you build your team up holistically in ways that benefit the individual as well as the company?

Pandemic hangover is still very much present, so how can leaders get their teams back to a place of enthusiasm for growth? Robert’s new book highlights examples of leaders who have failed by going 100 miles an hour. The message that a leader sends out makes a huge difference in the actions and attitudes of the team.

In addition to the physical aspect of leading a team by example, emotional leadership is key. Leaders who are willing to show vulnerability and authenticity create a safe space for their team to show up as their whole, emotional, and spiritual selves as well. As Robert says, the only way to be a Level 5 Leader is with exceptional self-awareness and authenticity about the ways that you lead by your values.

Interview Links:

Robert Glazer

Resources:

Scaling For Any Economy

Scaling Coach

Bill on YouTube

Recruiter.com Short List (use code scaleup)

Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for Scaling Up Coaches (formerly Gazelles). We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail.

Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the show, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth.

We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash so that they can Scale Up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. Scaling Up is based on Verne’s original best-selling business book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits.

Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover the Scaling Up Business Podcast so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.

Stop trying to create a perfect plan. Bill doesn’t believe clients who tell them that they’ve thought of everything. There is no way to create a perfect plan, so just stop trying.

Things are going to happen tomorrow that you can’t even comprehend today. The act of planning is the most valuable tool, not the plan itself. A simple plan created today and acted on consistently in the future will make a real difference.

Bill has seen it over and over again — a perfect plan is nothing more than a fantasy. Let go of the fantasy and get to work on creating a planning rhythm that creates a good plan that works today and in the future.

Resources:

20,000 Scaleups

Scaling Up Summits (Select Bill Gallagher as your coach during registration for a discount.)

Bill on YouTube

Recruiter.com Short List (use code scaleup)

Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for Scaling Up Coaches (formerly Gazelles). We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail.

Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the show, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth.

We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash so that they can Scale Up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. Scaling Up is based on Verne’s original best-selling business book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits.

Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover the Scaling Up Business Podcast so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.

The hiring process continues to be more complicated than ever before, but finding the right fit for your position doesn’t have to be a long and cumbersome process. You just have to be willing to put the work in to find the top performers.

Dr. Brad Smart is widely regarded as a world expert on hiring and is a renowned consultant to many leading companies and SMBs. He is the creator of Topgrading and the author of Foolproof Hiring: Powerful, Fully Proven Keys to Hiring Mostly High Performers.

Dr. Brad was shocked to learn in the early years of his career that only one out of three employees at his company were considered top performers. He knew there had to be a better way to identify and hire more top performers, and Topgrading was born.

Employers save time and money by using the Topgrading approach. The robust and thorough process provides a prescreening snapshot that sifts out the best applicants and gets A players hired.

The job scorecard is another critical piece of the effective hiring process. Break down what the job entails and make sure that you know what you need before you start hiring someone who may or may not be a good fit for the requirements.

After the basic sort, ask three open-ended questions that candidates can answer before you have an in-person conversation. Each of these steps will help you identify and hire the high performers that you want on your team.

Interview Links:

Topgrading Prescreen Snapshot

Resources:

Scaling For Any Economy

Scaling Coach

Bill on YouTube

Recruiter.com Short List (use code scaleup)

Scaling Up is the best-selling book by Verne Harnish and our team for Scaling Up Coaches (formerly Gazelles). We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail.

Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the show, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth.

We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash so that they can Scale Up successfully and beat the odds of business growth. Scaling Up is based on Verne’s original best-selling business book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits.

Did you enjoy today’s episode? If so, then please leave a review! Help other business leaders discover the Scaling Up Business Podcast so they, too, can benefit from the ideas shared in these podcasts.