Sales Wolf Blog

OCTOBER 1, 2024

The clock is ticking. Your company is growing fast, but let me ask you this: do you have the right leadership framework in place to sustain this growth, or are you relying on blind ambition alone? Scaling is not just about revenue, new hires, or expanded operations. It is about vision, commitment, and—most critically—leadership. Not just any leadership, but transformational leadership.

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Sales Wolf Blog

SEPTEMBER 26, 2024

The data does not lie. Fortune recently published Is 'founder mode' or 'manager mode' better? Here's what the 22 Fortune 500 companies still run by founders show The data screams. Fortune's analysis suggests the following: Cumulative total return during the founder CEO's tenures - a 20:1 return difference of founder CEOs relative to the rest of the 500.

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Sales Wolf Blog

SEPTEMBER 24, 2024

Show me a team that is unaware of one another's personality styles and I will show you a team with unnecessary friction and drama. There is a "personality storm" brewing in every team and organization. It builds quietly, often unseen, until it escalates into full-blown team drama that derails projects, sabotages productivity, and turns high-potential teams into toxic battlegrounds.

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Sales Wolf Blog

SEPTEMBER 20, 2024

Those who command the best talent dominate the market. The war for talent is relentless, and the stakes could not be higher. You cannot afford to simply have a team of A-Players—you must drain the market dry of them. The leaders who win are the ones who aggressively seek out and secure the top 20% of talent that drives 80% of the results. This is the principle of Pareto Optimality , and it is not just a rule—it is the law of success.

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Sales Wolf Blog

SEPTEMBER 14, 2024

Being a Founder is much, much more than just a job Being a founder is not just a job. It is a way of being, an unrelenting pursuit of a vision that others often cannot see—much less fully comprehend. As Paul Graham noted, founders frequently feel gaslit from all sides. On one hand, they are told to run their companies like seasoned managers; on the other, they are criticized when they do exactly that.

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Sales Wolf Blog

SEPTEMBER 12, 2024

Steve Jobs' leadership at Apple provides valuable lessons on idea meritocracy The concept of idea meritocracy is something I have encouraged my Scaling Up Coaching Clients to hardcode into their leadership culture for the past 20 plus years. Idea meritocracy is a concept that suggests decisions should be based on the quality of ideas rather than hierarchy or seniority.

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Sales Wolf Blog

SEPTEMBER 10, 2024

In the great game of business, where success is measured by the consistent achievement of goals, accountability is the cornerstone that literally holds everything together. Without accountability, even the most well-crafted strategies and the most talented teams are doomed to fail. The fourth Rockefeller Habit is unequivocal: every facet of your organization must have a person assigned with the responsibility and accountability for ensuring that goals are met.

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Sales Wolf Blog

SEPTEMBER 8, 2024

Founder Mode and Scaling Up a Business Successfully scaling a business requires much more than just hiring well, trusting processes and keeping employee team members happy. Successfully scaling a business demands that the founder remain deeply engaged and relentlessly sharing their vision while continuously adjusting the trajectory.

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Sales Wolf Blog

SEPTEMBER 7, 2024

A high-performance team is not built on ambition alone. Building a high-performing team is forged in the fires of intentionality, understanding, and constant effort. Too many leaders make the fatal mistake of assuming that throwing talented people together will naturally yield results. What they fail to recognize is that talent without alignment is chaos.

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Sales Wolf Blog

SEPTEMBER 5, 2024

Communication Rhythm Code - Those who pulse faster, grow faster. In the unforgiving world of business, where speed and precision often determine success or failure, the rhythm of communication within your team and organization is not just a matter of efficiency—it is a matter of survival. The third Rockefeller Habit demands that you establish a communication rhythm that ensures information flows accurately and quickly throughout your organization.

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Sales Wolf Blog

AUGUST 29, 2024

Teaming: The Non-Negotiable Imperative for Founders and Leaders “Not finance. Not strategy. Not technology. It is teamwork that remains the ultimate competitive advantage, both because it is so powerful and so rare.” – Patrick Lencioni. I am drawing the proverbial line in the sand. Teaming eats strategy and finance for lunch. In one fashion or another, every leader seemingly intends to be on their own respective journey - their own relentless pursuit of performance excellence.

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Sales Wolf Blog

AUGUST 27, 2024

Embrace diverse thought and idea meritocracy over validation and yes people to drive innovation, success, and avoid mediocrity.

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Sales Wolf Blog

AUGUST 22, 2024

Ask a leader / manager if they are playing to win or lose and you will get a look on their face of "Excuse me? Are you seriously asking me this question?

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Sales Wolf Blog

AUGUST 20, 2024

There is perhaps no better legal high than riding the trajectory of a rapidly scaling company. On its surface, it seems that one can do no wrong. Everything that gets touched seems to turn to gold. No decision seems to be a bad one. And the glory often goes to the charismatic leader. This is precisely the moment where brutal facts are essential. In the fast-paced world of rapidly scaling companies, success can be intoxicating.

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Sales Wolf Blog

AUGUST 15, 2024

The Case For Extreme Accountability In the contemporary business landscape, where competition is fierce and market dynamics evolve rapidly, one principle stands out as a fundamental pillar for success: Extreme Accountability. The concept, popularized by Jocko Willink, a former Navy SEAL officer, and Fred Voccola, CEO of Kaseya, has gained traction among business leaders who are committed to scaling their enterprises effectively.

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Sales Wolf Blog

AUGUST 12, 2024

Imagine building an airplane while it is already in flight. The airplane MUST remain in the air. EVERY component is essential, and EVERY adjustment must be precise, all while keeping the aircraft aloft. This is similar to the real life reality of scaling a business— Entrepreneurs / CEOs must simultaneously manage growth, innovation, AND execution, with no option to land and recalibrate.

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Sales Wolf Blog

AUGUST 6, 2024

A High Trust Culture is Simply Not Enough. In today’s hyper-accelerating world of AI-driven innovation and enhanced decision-making, trust is no longer enough. You and your team need every single competitive advantage possible. Telling the truth and doing the right thing, while basic and important is simply not enough. Trust is the expectation that people will act with integrity, follow through on commitments, and uphold ethical standards.

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Sales Wolf Blog

JULY 30, 2024

You and your team / organization are either riding and exploiting VUCA – or VUCA is riding you. Originating from the U.S. Army to describe the post-Cold War world, “VUCA” is an acronym for V olatility, U ncertainty, C omplexity and A mbiguity. This concept has been widely adopted in the business world to articulate the multifaceted challenges and dynamics that organizations face, particularly those in the throes of scaling.

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Sales Wolf Blog

APRIL 16, 2024

How a leader manifests their personality not only defines their leadership and has the potential to profoundly impact the organization's culture, performance and ultimately, its bottom line. This is because the way you "show up" to your employees and colleagues directly influences how they engage with one another and with Customers. Quite simply, most people are extremely reactive to the emotions of others.

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Sales Wolf Blog

FEBRUARY 11, 2024

In an era where business landscapes are more volatile and complex than ever, a simple ancient Greek parable (Archilochus) offers profound insights for today's entrepreneurs and business leaders: " The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing." This metaphor, which captures the essence of strategic focus versus broad knowledge, has been explored through Isaiah Berlin’s essay "The Hedgehog and the Fox ," and further applied to the business world by Jim Collins in his seminal wor

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Sales Wolf Blog

OCTOBER 24, 2023

The 'First Team' Concept is a simple yet powerful principle that your executive team must adopt in order to align and effectively scale the business.

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Sales Wolf Blog

OCTOBER 17, 2023

“If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” — Isaac Newton Truer words have never been spoken. One of my "pillar mentors" - the late Bill Bonnstetter - co-founder of TTI Success Insights used to say with enthusiasm mixed with conviction, "The best is yet to come." I can still hear Bill say it. " The best is yet to come." And Bill meant it.

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Sales Wolf Blog

OCTOBER 3, 2023

Think back to a time when an executive team you were a part of or worked for was not healthy and aligned. The greater the disease and misalignment in your executive team, the greater the friction and distraction. And I do not need to remind you that friction / distraction are absolute kryptonite to productivity and alignment. You and I have both experienced this.

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Sales Wolf Blog

SEPTEMBER 12, 2023

Prelude: Scaling Your Company Is NOT a Sideline Strategy If you are the Founder / CEO of a business venture and obsessed with scaling your Company, this is your zero hour. Forget the happy talkers and the jargon jugglers; let’s get real with an actionable game plan. Chances are you have heard of Jim Collins’ groundbreaking framework, ' A Culture of Discipline.

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Sales Wolf Blog

FEBRUARY 16, 2023

The two following forces have the greatest influence on the trajectory of your team and organization: Who you hire. How effectively your team works together. The team effectiveness framework shared in this article was first introduced in 2002 by Patrick Lencioni through his powerful book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team has been a bestseller for 21 years for good reason.

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Sales Wolf Blog

SEPTEMBER 13, 2022

I first learned about Scaling Up when I brought in a consultant to evaluate my business several years ago. My consultant introduced me to several strategy methodologies. One was Scaling Up by Verne Harnish, as outlined in his book. Scaling Up saved my business and helped me get aligned. My team and I completed the requested homework as part of my consultant’s discovery process.

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Sales Wolf Blog

SEPTEMBER 13, 2022

Sure, you may understand the difference between a blue and red ocean, but it may feel like a lost cause if you’re already operating in a red ocean. It’s not hopeless though. It is never too late to implement new growth strategies and put your business on a new trajectory. Here are some thoughts to get you started.

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Sales Wolf Blog

SEPTEMBER 13, 2022

I first learned about Scaling Up when I brought in a consultant to evaluate my business several years ago. My consultant introduced me to several strategy methodologies. One was Scaling Up by Verne Harnish, as outlined in his book. Scaling Up saved my business and helped me get aligned. My team and I completed the requested homework as part of my consultant’s discovery process.

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Consultative Review Strategy Process 130

Sales Wolf Blog

SEPTEMBER 13, 2022

As a management consultant, trusted advisor and coach to those I am privileged to serve, I help guide my Clients in designing their path to a better future. As an outsider specializing in helping companies build their People, Teams, Leaders, and Moats (sustainable competitive advantage), it seems obvious to me what an organization must do. An organization must hard-code into its very DNA—its culture—the mindset to continuously improve, to question everything, allow no sacred cows, be radically c

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Sales Wolf Blog

JULY 28, 2022

Why should you care about what Ray Dalio thinks…. I hate losing more than I love winning. In fact, I refuse to lose for the same reasons twice. If you are like me, you play-to-win. The recipe for winning is really quite simple. Playing to win requires getting the right people in the right seats on the bus aligned around a common mission with radical transparency.

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Sales Wolf Blog

JULY 28, 2022

Why should you care about what Ray Dalio thinks…. I hate losing more than I love winning. In fact, I refuse to lose for the same reasons twice. If you are like me, you play-to-win. The recipe for winning is really quite simple. Playing to win requires getting the right people in the right seats on the bus aligned around a common mission with radical transparency.

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Welch Collins Succession Drucker 130

Sales Wolf Blog

JUNE 28, 2022

The more measurable a plan is, the better it will be executed.

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Sales Wolf Blog

APRIL 20, 2022

Businesses fail. Often. Failure is obvious. What is less obvious is the degree businesses are not optimized to the level they could and should be. Businesses that are not optimized are at increased risk from competitors as well as economic forces. To make matters more complicated, there is a seemingly infinite number of self help, marketing, and business optimization books and gurus.

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Sales Wolf Blog

APRIL 14, 2022

If you and your team have recently completed The Five Dysfunctions of a Team Workshop with an experienced facilitator, your work has just begun.

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Sales Wolf Blog

FEBRUARY 24, 2022

How comfortable are you and your team members engaging in conflict? Chances are, the comfort level is mixed. And chances are, you and your team are not on the same page about how to engage in conflict. Whatever the comfort level, there is a better way to engage in conflict using systematic productive, ideological conflict. This takes commitment and work.

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Sales Wolf Blog

FEBRUARY 2, 2022

Trouble with Fran.

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Sales Wolf Blog

JANUARY 26, 2022

In Patrick Lencioni's powerful book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, he outlines the five core causes of dysfunction that can hold a team back from reaching its true potential. The ultimate objective of a team is to achieve results that align with its mission, vision, and values. Every time I facilitate a Five Dysfunctions of a Team Workshop, I am in awe as I witness a transformation that occurs literally before my eyes over a couple of days.

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