Archives for 2021

How to Attract Top-Tier Talent

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A lot of leaders tend to complain that there is not enough top-tier talent in their metro area. That’s where they’re wrong. There is plenty of talent everywhere. If you can’t find any, that doesn’t mean that your city is lacking, it means that your company is lacking! You can’t find top-tier talent because the top-tier talent doesn’t want to work for you.

So how do you fix that?

Recruitment and Innovation

Google is arguably the best company to work for in the world. Their offices are renowned for their funky design and cutting edge amenities. The level of autonomy and focus on innovation is legendary. And, yes, their above-average compensation and stock options don’t hurt their chances of finding top-tier talent either. 

By creating an outstanding reputation, Google gets to pick and choose from the cream of the crop when recruiting. Then, as these innovative new hires inject new ideas and create new revenue streams, the company is able to sweeten their recruitment package even more. It’s a self-sustaining spiral of success.

But you likely don’t have $400 stocks or sushi bars to lure great employees, so what can you do instead?

Vision and Values

Begin with a solid foundation. Start by laying out a clear vision for your company. Build it on values that your ideal candidates will relate to.

Then, use everything in your arsenal to get word out. This means PR, networking, social media, everything. Fly a banner behind a plane if you have to! If you are building something new, innovative, and exciting, top-tier talent will seek you out.

Current Talent, New Talent

Top-tier talent attracts other top-tier talent. You have to be cognizant of each of your employees and every new hire you make. Compromise, settle, or scramble for someone who is simple “good enough” and soon you’ll have a team of employees with vastly different values, personalities, and work ethics. Good luck getting any top-tier talent to hop on board with that motley crew.

Don’t be afraid to go out and get the talent you want, either. Most, if not all of the great employees out there aren’t looking for work, they’re already working! So go out and poach them. It’s not immoral or bad business, it’s just the way that it’s done.

Not only that, but in any sort of time of cost-cutting, you’d be wise to keep your eyes and ears open for layoffs at companies you respect. If a profitable, fast-paced company that shakes a lot of your values had to carry out some job cuts, then say you’re hiring! Try to absorb their top-tier talent!

You need great employees to make your company great, but your company has to be great to attract employees. Sounds like an impossible paradox, but it’s not. Put the hard work in and make your company unique and innovative and the top-tier talent will follow.

How do you attract top-tier talent? Does your company do something unique to bring piles of candidates to you? Let us know in the comments!

If you have questions or would like more information, I’d be happy to help. Please send an email, and my team will get in touch with you!

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in April 2016 and has been edited for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

The Greatest Interview Question of All Time

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There are so many important interview questions to ask when you’re interviewing a potential candidate. You might ask them about their previous experience, about their values, about their ability to work in a team, and more. But out of all of that, what is the best and most useful question to ask? You might be shocked when you hear it.

Are you ready? Well, here it is, the greatest interview question of all time:

What is your favorite movie of all time?

What? Why?

It sounds like a strange question, right? Surely, this blog can’t be suggesting that you hire someone where they like Dumb & Dumber or not. I suppose you want an explanation. Here it is:

People come into interviews ready to answer the run of the mill interview questions. They’ve likely rehearsed their responses to all the standard scenarios or cliché questions. This means that you don’t learn much more from the interview than the fact that they’re good at preparing for interviews. That’s why you ask for their favorite movie.

Switching It Up

By tossing in an oddball, unexpected interview question like “What is your favorite movie of all time?” the applicant is forced to go off script and answer on the fly. The answer itself is almost inconsequential (unless they say that their favorite movie is Gigli and then you can send them straight out the door). What matters is the applicant’s reaction to the interview question. You want to observe their thought process and level of comfort in dealing with the unexpected.

Unconventional is one way you could describe this interview question. It’s about finding a balance between what information you need to know about the applicant and what you can learn through observation in scenarios you create.

How To Ask It

This interview question is already absurd enough, so how do you meld it into the interview without it seeming too crazy? Start by asking two or three “traditional” interview questions about the applicant’s job history. Then, hit them with the unexpected question.

Another question you could ask is, “Why have you always let people tell you what to do?”

Why That Question Now?

It sounds odd, but it’s a great question in two ways. One, you get to learn why this person has never sought a position in leadership before. Two, it’s admittedly a little harsh and unexpected. Because of that, the way the person answers will tell you so much. 

Do they get angry and defensive? Do they stay calm and explain the situation? Do they stammer and talk in circles? You want confident, level-headed employees that can capably deal with a crisis or unexpected situation. There is no better place to find out if they are that type of person than in the interview room.

Ask unexpected questions. Get your applicants to tell you about the time they disagreed with a customer and how they handled it. Ask them their top three workplace accomplishments. They’re all great, tried and true interview questions. You’ll be surprised by how much more you can learn with these!

Besides, do you really want to hire someone who thinks Twilight is the best movie of all time?

What odd interview questions do you like to ask? Better yet, what is your favorite movie? Let us know in the comments down below!

If you have questions or would like more information, I’d be happy to help. Please send an email, and my team will get in touch with you!

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in April 2016 and has been edited for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

Why You Should Conduct Group Interviews

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A lot of entrepreneurs possess a dazzling list of skills. They’re good at math, have an incredible vision for their company, and have boundless positive energy. Conducting job interviews, though, is not one of those skills. In fact, a lot of entrepreneurs are simply terrible at it.

Maybe it’s because, as self-made business people, they’ve been through so few interviews themselves. Maybe, without proper HR training, perhaps they’re afraid they’ll accidentally break one of the plethora of privacy laws that loom over them in the process.

Whatever the reason, most young entrepreneurs would have more luck picking an A-level candidate out of a police lineup then they would from an interview.

So what are they missing from the interview process that makes them so terrible at hiring? Here are two words for you: group interview.

What About Improving Your Interview Skills?

Before you sign up for HR night classes or contract an expensive recruiting firm, give the group interview a try. You find out just about anything you need to know about potential employees during a semi-formal group interview.

“Group interviews show you who performs well under stress. Is the position at hand a high-stressed, fast-paced one? If so, consider a group interview, which will help simulate the stress and pace of the job at hand.” – Smart Recruiters 

What Are the Benefits of a Group Interview?

The group interview holds a lot of powerful benefits. Obviously, it cuts back on the amount of time you have to spend on interviews. That’s great, but more importantly, group interviews give you instant insight into the leadership skills and culture fit of the candidates.

Who doesn’t want to save time and learn more about their candidates?

“In group interviews, interviewers can evaluate multiple candidates in the same time slot, thus saving the time needed that would otherwise be spent on scheduling and conducting many one-on-one interviews.” – Medium

How Do You Test These Leadership Skills?

Ask the group a question. It can be as simple as “What’s your favorite movie?” Then see who steps up to answer first. That’s usually a good indicator of leadership ability.

You can also use this opportunity to see who monopolizes the time when they answer, which is a massive, glowing, neon red flag.

You Can Weed Out the Duds

To get the best new hire possible, you want at least 200 resumes per position you’re looking to fill. That’s a lot of potential candidates and a lot of interviews to have one-on-one. That’s why you don’t start with one-on-one interviews.

The group interview helps you to weed out a lot of duds very quickly. Remember, in the group interview you aren’t necessarily trying to pinpoint the most suitable candidate, you’re just screening for cultural fit.

Don’t Put Too Much Focus on Only Cultural Fit, Though

Of course, just hiring based on how well a candidate fits into your company’s culture is a surefire way to give yourself migraines. In today’s speed-of-light-paced business world, the old adage “hire for attitude, train for skills” no longer applies.

Once you cull your list in the group interview, you’ll need to get down to some serious, gritty, old-fashioned one-on-one interviewing to really determine who can best fill your role.

Forget all the fluffy, HR-centric scenario questions. These almost always just result in the interviewee saying what they think needs to be said. Instead, focus on specific questions that relate to your company and the candidate’s potential role within it.

Remember, there’s a certain amount of… embellishment that goes on in any interview. Be sure to ask for proven past experience, and don’t be afraid to keep pressing if your gut tells you something is amiss.

Always remember, an interview is a two way street; you screen potential employees as much as they screen you as a prospective place to work. But keep it professional, organized and on point and you’ll undoubtedly find the perfect fit.

If you have questions or would like more information, I’d be happy to help. Please send an email, and my team will get in touch with you!

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in April 2016 and has been edited for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

How to Plan a Corporate Retreat: The Details

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Corporate retreats are often intended for the purposes of general relaxation, team-building, and brainstorming of new ideas. Members can relax, share experiences encountered throughout the work period, and get to know each other personally, all in a relaxed, tension-free atmosphere. This is also the place where the junior employees can find a chance to interact freely with their superiors.

In most cases, when planning a corporate retreat, a small group is allocated the task of coming up with topics, methods, ideas, and activities that could potentially lead to a successful organizational retreat. The activities that see the light of day are ones that your group agrees on. However, outside of the new ideas, there are some activities that appear on nearly every corporate retreat. These are the details that you need to plan for every retreat. So what are they?

Dinner Presentations

You didn’t think you were just going to have a regular dinner every night, did you? Dinner is a healthy time when the day is just coming to an end, everyone has had a series of experiences throughout the day, and is all set to relax. This is the perfect opportunity for people to use this quality time to share and talk in the form of short presentations.

The casual, no-rush atmosphere created by a good dinner makes for the perfect time for general and self-disclosure. Get to know the people that don’t tend to talk about themselves in conversation by making it into a presentation!

Games

You can’t plan a corporate retreat without games! Games are the perfect team-building tool. There are a whole lot of them that can be played at all different times and all different places during a company retreat.

You could plan for four or five different games to be played by different groups. Sometimes, you see games that people have invented that are no men/women games or men vs. women games. Don’t play these! Your corporate retreat is about everyone getting to know each other. Let people play together without isolating their built connections by gender.

Some dice and cards are great as both indoor and outdoor games. If you bring the game along, it will naturally get played. No need to push people to play. They will have the most fun if they start and continue playing naturally.

Simulations

Corporate retreats are often used to prepare people for the coming year or work period. Other than to relax their minds and cement relations between them, at corporate retreats your employees are normally trained on certain relational and essential skills.

In simulations, you’ll typically give lessons and ask participants to act them out. That’s how adults learn!

These learned skills could involve training people to get better in their time management, the delegation of duties, problem-solving, and situational leadership. Retreats are one of the best times to offer training in such skills as there is more space and time free from distraction than any other time of year. Without work to distract them, people can learn way better.

There are many more details and activities you can plan for a corporate retreat, but these are the ones that are always going to appear. Plan this out and make your next corporate retreat the best it can be! What do you want to do next time? Where do you want to go?

If you have questions or would like more information, I’d be happy to help. Please send an email, and my team will get in touch with you!

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in February 2016 and has been edited for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

How to Plan a Corporate Retreat: The Basics

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Why do you need a corporate retreat?

The quality of the relationships between employers and employees, as well as the relationships among the employees themselves, have a more of impact on employee morale and how well they deliver. A good company thrives on teamwork and innovativeness. Both of those things are highly impacted by the value of the relationships within the company.

Sometimes a company has to go out of its way to improve these relations for progress to be realized. Corporate retreats are one of the most essential tools used to cement relations. Most organizations have a retreat at the end of each business year. When you’re planning such a big event, there are a number of things you need to consider…

Location

The location of your corporate retreat is a prime factor to consider. The regular work environment of your employees is often characterized by the busy, urban life. This can get really exhausting. Therefore, the perfect getaway is one that gets your employees away from all that chaos. Pick a location away from town, Make sure there is enough room that everyone can stay at the same venue.

Chalets, cottages, or summer homes are good options. Places like that offer the peace of mind that is needed in a retreat. It allows people to share in a calm atmosphere which provides improved perspectives about each other and the tasks ahead.

Transportation

Your location in terms of accessibility will determine the means of transportation that will need to be used to get there. Remote places may necessitate the use of a jeep or another strong, 4-wheel-drive vehicle.

There should always be a balance between comfort and sturdiness in the means of transportation. Depending on your budget and location, you could have a ton of fun with this.

Accommodations

Many people from all over your company come together in a corporate retreat. All these may have different preferences in regards to a number of things such as accommodation facilities. Nonetheless, a little compromise is necessary, so long as it does not put too much strain on one’s preferences.

Make sure to keep in mind any specific needs some of your employees may have, such as physical restraints.

Meals

The destination of your corporate retreat may provide meals and, at times, the group might choose to bring their own meals or have them catered. Whichever the case, the choice of meals will be determined by what works best for your group as well as the length of time to be spent on the retreat. Make sure to keep any of your employee’s dietary restrictions in mind.

There is certainly more than that in planning a corporate retreat, but these are just the vital basics. How do you plan your corporate retreats? Which one has been the best you’ve had?

If you have questions or would like more information, I’d be happy to help. Please send an email, and my team will get in touch with you!

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in February 2016 and has been edited for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

How a Successful Company is like a Sports Team

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A successful company is achieved through a successful team of workers. When you really think about it, building a team for your company is a lot like building a sports team. You know what’s the most fun part? You get to be the General Manager!

Unless your business is like the New York Yankees and you can afford to throw money at the industry’s top performers, you’ll have to build your team methodically. That starts with letting go of the wrong people and hiring the right ones.

Turning a good team into a championship one, or a good company into a successful company isn’t an exact science. Even so, there are some fundamentals that nearly all successful companies use.

The Rookies as the Foundation of a Successful Company

To make your company successful you need a good mix of young, energetic talent alongside your established veterans. In sports, the rookies make the hustle plays and bring tons of enthusiasm to the locker room.

The same is true for a sports team as-is for an office. The young employees that you bring in will flood the environment with positivity and eagerness. They’ll also prove very useful in providing insight into youth markets and emerging technologies. Of course, rookies are a little cheaper too, but, as the saying goes, you get what you pay for.

New vs Experienced

Filling your metaphorical ‘roster’ with cheap, young talent will make for an environment that is high on fun but low on experience. That’s why teams sprinkle in a few established vets here and there. Of course, they do cost more, but their experience and proven skills often prove invaluable when needed most.

The veterans provide the guidance and a ‘been there, done that’ attitude that provides a kind of steadiness that is invaluable come crunch time.

The Tough Choices

Sometimes, to have a successful company, you have to make tough choices. Much like a losing team, when your company is struggling it’s time for management to take a good, hard look at the players’ who might not quite be holding their weight.

Many General Managers in sports have had to make the tough choice of getting rid of underperforming veterans or fan favorites past their prime. It’s never a popular decision, nor is it an easy one, but it’s almost always necessary.

At a fast-growing company, these legacy employees can quickly fall behind the curve and become obsolete. They then become a burden that weighs down on a successful company. Why are you keeping them around? Like rebuilding teams, adding new, young people provides you with a fresh perspective and new ideas!

What To Look for In Your New Players

Team managers and scouts always look for ‘team players’ when rebuilding their roster. This means that they look for selfless players that will do the little things and focus on winning rather than their own personal success—which is becoming increasingly rare these days.

To build a successful company you need to look for these same traits when you are hiring. Applicants that have changed companies multiple times in an unending quest for a better title will likely just use your company as another stepping stone. They’ll spend their time looking out for themselves rather than collaborating with their colleagues.

“A lack of community makes way for a cut-throat work environment which is very harmful to productivity over time. When there is a sense of community in the workplace it benefits everyone.” – Cameron Herold

Even once you do put your winning team together, for your company to be successful you’ll still need a bit of luck, a lot of courage, and a whole bunch of hard work. No one ever said winning was easy…

If you have questions or would like more information, I’d be happy to help. Please send an email, and my team will get in touch with you!

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in September 2014 and has been edited for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

How to Run One-on-One Coaching Meetings

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The purpose of one-on-one coaching meetings is to maintain focus on achieving a goal and to provide the necessary levels of direction, development, and support for people that report directly to you. When implemented, one-on-one coaching meetings will make each of your direct reports more focused and empowered to take on their individual tasks and goals. That’s why it’s very important for any leader in a business to understand how to run one of these meetings properly and effectively. This blog is here to help you with that.

Here is the most effective method for running a one-on-one coaching meeting.

Preparation by the Employee

To ensure a smooth one-on-one meeting with your employee, it’s important that they are prepared to give you the numbers and any other needed information before the meeting takes place.

It’s not unusual for employees to spend fifteen to thirty minutes preparing for this weekly coaching meeting by pulling all the information from the past week together in an organized fashion. They should also show up to the meeting with a list of their concerns, frustrations, questions, ideas, etc. Basically, they should bring anything they need to discuss with you.

Preparation by the Manager

One-on-One coaching meetings are almost always the highest impact event of the week for the manager. Because of this, excellent preparation is very important.

The first step is to analyze the metrics for the employee and their business areas so that you have questions to dig into with them.

Before the meeting, take a step back and ask yourself how the employee is feeling these days. How is their commitment level? How are their skill and commitment level related to each of the key projects they’re working on? What “situational leadership” style might you use on various projects you’ll be discussing?

“[Situational leadership] is when a leader adjusts their type of leadership to best suit a particular situation or task.” – Indeed

Creating and distributing a simple one-on-one coaching meeting preparation form can be very helpful for both the manager and the employee.

Opening Check-In

Right off the bat, you need to gauge the feelings of the employee. Coaching meetings go far better when you know how to read the mood of the employee and therefore are aware when to change the direction of the subject or tone to be more supportive. Often, if you miss this step, your meetings are going to go wrong or be far less productive than they can be.

Most likely, you will start this meeting by saying, “So, (employee’s name), how are you doing?” The next few words spoken by your employee, and the way they say them, will give you immediate information on how invested each of you is in this meeting.

Understanding the direction this meeting is going to take simply by the first few words of the employee is a skill that is especially important to master if you’re leading people who work remotely where you can’t read their body language.

If their response to “How are you doing?” is favorable, such as “great” or “good,” then proceed with the coaching meeting. In some cases, though, you might get an unfavorable response such as, “not so good” or “brutal.” At that moment, you have to immediately find out what the dilemma is and diffuse it. You’ll learn that there is a mix of maturity levels within your base of employees.

Review Actual Results vs. Goal Set

Following up on goals is important. As a leader, you want your employees to learn and hit the goals they promised. This builds commitment and discipline.

If they hit their goals, lots of praise is due. If they missed their goals, then delve deeper by asking as many probing questions as it takes to uncover the root cause. From there you can help move them and their project along. It’s important at first to put the brunt of the focus on getting results, not setting new goals. That comes at the end.

Problem Solve

You’ve discussed goals, now, when an employee misses their goals you have to ask why. This is what drives the analysis of the meeting, helps to generate options to fix things, and eventually results in making recommendations to overcome the restraints and maximize the forward-driving forces. This is where you both work to ensure that any future goals are achieved.

As a leader, it’s part of your job to develop and refine your employee’s problem-solving skills. You’re not responsible for solving these problems, but you are responsible for coaching them on how to solve their own problems.

Set Goals for the Next Period

In the middle of the coaching meeting, it’s crucial to emphasize the importance of results over new goals. Now that the meeting is coming to a close and you both already know the importance of results and problem solving, it’s finally time to dedicate a little time to make new goals. Your employees can use what they’ve learned from their previous goals and from your discussion on problem-solving to work to achieve these new ones.

One-on-One coaching meetings are very important to keep everyone focused on improving and achieving goals. Dedicating the time to have these meetings and putting the work in to learn how to do them right is never time wasted.

If you have questions or would like more information, I’d be happy to help. Please send an email, and my team will get in touch with you!

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in September 2014 and has been edited for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

How Business Leaders Should Handle Their Email

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Business leaders are expected to be professional, organized, and on top of things, so why do you have thousands of emails in your inbox? Keeping all your emails in your inbox is clutter. It’s like keeping all your physical mail in the mailbox. You have to dig through it all to find what is new.

As a business leader, you shouldn’t have to do that. Here’s how CEOs, COOs, and their employees should handle their email.

Delete

Prior to doing anything else with an email, ask yourself very quickly if you need to do anything with it. If not, delete it. If yes, do what you need to do, then delete it.

This is also important for any spam mail you’re getting. It’s easy to accidentally be added to a mailing list. Next thing you know, you’re getting two emails a day about a service that you don’t use. Take the time to remove yourself from the lists that you don’t need to be on. They just create more of a mess for you that a busy business leader does not have the time to be constantly dealing with.

Delegate

Not everything that needs to be dealt with needs to be dealt with by you. You’re a business leader, some things just aren’t worth your time. If you get an email about a task that someone other than you is perfectly capable of doing, then give it to them.

Get out of the habit of dealing with all the emails yourself. If someone else can deal with it, give it to them, then delete it from your own inbox. You don’t need it. Now it’s just clutter, no matter how much you tell yourself you might need it again. How many times have you told yourself you might need an email again? Now, how many times have you actually ended up needing it?

Do

If it’s something you can deal with right away, then do it. Answer the email, solve the problem, hit send, then delete that email from your inbox.

You’ll always have copies of those emails in your All Mail or Sent or Deleted, so don’t worry. You just don’t need it sitting in your main inbox forever. It’s just messy and distracting.

Drag

If you genuinely don’t have time to deal with it right away, then drag it into a folder. What folder, you may be asking. Well, create four new folders titled End of Day, End of Week, Follow Up, and Casual Reading.

Creating folders really helps you to stay organized. It’s really easy to lose track of tasks you have to do if they’re sitting in a cluttered inbox. That’s where folders come in!

  • End of Day: This a folder where the emails in it will get dealt with starting at 3 pm or later. These emails are ones you’ll have handled by the end of the day. Storing them here keeps them organized so that the thought of remembering to answer isn’t nagging at you all day.
  • End of Week: This is a folder where you’ll handle emails starting on Thursday or Friday and have them dealt with by the end of the week.
  • Follow Up: These are emails you can flag to follow up with the sender later on. No real immediate action is needed.
  • Casual Reading: This is just some informational stuff that you don’t need to read but you might want to at some point. Every few months, delete any that are older than three months. If you haven’t read them by then, it’s likely that you never will.

Now all that’s left is for you to try it! Dealing with your inbox like this makes life for a business leader a whole lot easier. Organization at it’s finest.

If you have questions or would like more information, I’d be happy to help. Please send an email, and my team will get in touch with you!

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in May 2013 and has been edited for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

What is Your Meeting Style?

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Do you know what your meeting style is? This is different from the type of meeting you’re hosting (though knowing that is equally important). Instead, the meeting style dictates what the tone of the meeting will be, rather than what is being shared or discussed.

“The type of meeting drives the agenda. Make it crystal clear what the objective of the meeting is, and what you need from the people you are asking time from.” – Medium

Your meeting style should be clear in advance of the meeting so that all participants are prepared before they walk into the room. So, what meeting styles do you have to choose from? There are three different ones; information share, creative discussion, and consensus decision. This blog is here to teach you about each so that you can be more prepared for your next meeting!

Meeting Style 1: Information Share

The ‘information share’ meeting style consists of information flowing in one direction only. This is either ‘up’ to leadership from employees or ‘down’ from leadership to employees. It’s a one way street of giving and receiving information.

“These meetings are all about (you guessed it!) informing attendees about a specific issue or sharing information. Depending on the setting, there are several goals that would lead you to choose an information-sharing meeting. Most of the time they are educational, such as with seminars, presentations, and lectures.” – Gaiku.

Requests for clarification can be entertained during this type of meeting, but there’s no real debate or discussion.

Meeting Style 2: Creative Discussion

‘Creative discussion’ meetings revolve around the process of brainstorming and getting ideas out on the table without making any solid decisions about the feasibility or validity of what’s produced.

“Innovation meetings and creative meetings often start with thinking outside the box, by brainstorming, associating, and sharing ideas in a broad scope.” – Meeting Sift

During this style of meeting, it’s critical that employees understand that at a later date key stakeholders will make decisions using the information collected.

Meeting Style 3: Consensus Decision

When decisions need to be made, the meeting style ‘consensus decision’ should be held. These styles of meetings tend to get pretty heated. Passionate feelings will almost certainly be expressed, hopefully in a respectful manner.

Despite any conflicts that may arise, all participants must reach a consensus. It’s in the name! Once you’ve concluded the meeting, all feelings and conflicts should be left in the meeting room. Never continue the discussion outside of the meeting. In meetings that are sure to create conflict, there need to be boundaries.

As a leader, you need to make the meeting style clear to everyone attending. It’s important that people know what they’re going into. If a decision needs to be made, people need to know it’s a ‘consensus decision’ and be prepared to make a decision and deal with the conflicts of that. If it’s a ‘creative discussion’ people need to know so that they come into the meeting with ideas. If it’s an ‘information share’ people need to know if they’re the ones listening or sharing. If they’re sharing, they need to know to be prepared.

If you’re hosting a meeting, you need to know what you’re doing. Make sure your meeting style is clear before every single meeting. It will save you time and increase productivity immensely!

If you have questions or would like more information, I’d be happy to help. Please send an email, and my team will get in touch with you!

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in September 2011 and has been edited for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

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Meetings Suck: Turning One Of The Most Loathed Elements Of Business Into One Of The Most Valuable

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We all know that meetings suck, right?

You hear it all the time. It’s the one thing that almost everyone in business can agree on.

Except it’s not actually true… 

Meetings don’t suck.

We just suck at running meetings.   

When done right, meetings not only work, they make people and companies better.

In Meetings Suck, world renowned business expert and growth guru Cameron Herold teaches you how to use focused, time effective meetings to help you and your company soar.

This book shows you immediately actionable, step-by-step systems that ensure that you and everyone in your organization improves your meetings, right away.

In the process, you’ll turn meetings that suck into meetings that work. 

In life, we always hear about people who’ve made huge decisions from their gut – without data.Today, I want you to make a decision, not only from your gut, but also from some data.  A decision that is only $12 per employee but will be priceless for your business.

Right now, your gut is telling you something is wrong with your company’s meetings.  You KNOW everyone complains about meetings.

People HATE going to them, they HATE running them, and they really have NO idea which meetings are truly necessary but they hold meetings simply because they think that is what they SHOULD do.

Even some of the smartest CEOs in the world complain about meetings – Elon Musk publicly told employees at Tesla & SpaceX to walk out of meetings if they weren’t being run properly.

I sent Elon a message saying that wasn’t going to fix anything – the key is to fix the root of the problem – NOT continue to ignore why meetings suck.

A Meeting is – Any phone call, video call or occasion where 2 or more people meet to discuss or work-through office topics.

Most employees on average spend 1-2 hours per day in meetings.

And likely, none of those employees – front-line staff or leaders – have had any training on how to attend meetings or participate in them, LET ALONE How to RUN THEM.

Consider this…

If the Average employee spends just 1 Hour per day in meetings – that’s 1/8th of their time.

If the Average employee earns $50,000 per year.

And they’re spending 1/8th of their time in meetings, that means you’re paying $6,250 dollars per year for just ONE employee to attend meetings.

The reality is, employees spend 1/8th of their time – and 1/8th of your company’s payroll – doing something they have literally NO idea how to do.

The Reality is…

95% of employees are booking & leading meetings – and they have NEVER been trained on how to run them.

95% of employees have had NO training on how to show up and participate in the meetings they attend daily.

And 95% of employees and companies have no idea what meetings are even necessary to hold.

Meetings CAN be hugely effective – IF you know how to run them

Meetings don’t SUCK, we just SUCK at running meetings. 

Investing $15 per employee – to help ensure the $50,000 a year you spend on them is an obvious and easy choice.

This could be the most impactful $15 you’ll ever spend and will save the company’s money, time and resources instantly.

Buying a copy of Meetings Suck for 100% of your employees and having them read it this month will have a huge impact on your company’s success.

book-5

Free PR: How To Get Chased By The Press Without Hiring A PR Firm

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Public relations has always been an essential part of doing business which is probably why you’re shelling out big money to an outside PR firm. But the truth is that you don’t need them. You already have all the necessary tools in-house to do as good a job as the so-called experts. 

Cameron Herold and Adrian Salamunovic have taught thousands of company execs how to exploit free media coverage and ditch these expensive, often ineffective outsiders. 

Cameron & Adrian have also built in-house PR teams, spent decades learning how to generate Free PR and how to leverage public relations to complement their sales and marketing strategy. 

In Free PR, you’ll learn how the media world operates while you gain invaluable insider knowledge and actionable advice on how to: 

  • Build your own in-house PR team
  • Provide effective interviews
  • Score great media coverage for free with just a few easy steps 

Landing public relations coverage for yourself and your company is a powerful tool to help elevate your personal brand. PR is easier to generate than marketing, PR is easier to leverage than marketing and PR is more cost effective than marketing. In other words, Public Relations is more critical than ever in growing your brand and your business. 

You’ve got more passion, commitment, a larger stake, and a deeper understanding of your business than any outside PR firm could ever have. So stop wasting money and take the reins yourself.  Learn the secrets to landing TONS of Free PR for your company.

What they’re saying:

“I think PR is the core for promoting any business. Public relations acquires customers! That’s what’s cool about this book.”

– Kevin O’Leary,  Shark on ABC’s Shark Tank

“The ultimate guidebook for those looking to get press, grow their brand, and get in front of the masses. Free PR is the roadmap you’ve been looking for.”

– Peter Shankman, Founder, Help a Reporter Out (HARO)

“Adrian and Cameron will show you the secrets of getting massive exposure for your business. This book is packed with actionable insights from two guys that actually know how to to do it.”

– Dan Martell,  Serial Entrepreneur & Investor (Intercom.io, Unbounce)

“I told Cameron to write the book on generating free PR. I’m excited to see that he’s finally sharing his secrets with the world. This is a must read for any entrepreneurial company and marketing team.”

– Verne Harnish, Founder of Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) and author of Scaling Up (Rockefeller Habits 2.0)

book-3-1

Vivid Vision: A Remarkable Tool For Aligning Your Business Around a Shared Vision of the Future

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Many corporations have slick, flashy mission statements that ultimately do little to motivate employees and less to impress customers, investors, and partners. 

But there is a way to share your excitement for the future of your company in a clear, compelling, and powerful way and entrepreneur and business growth expert Cameron Herold can show you how. 

Vivid Vision is a revolutionary tool that will help owners, CEOs, and senior managers create inspirational, detailed, and actionable three-year mission statements for their companies. In this easy-to-follow guide, Herold walks organization leaders through the simple steps to creating their own Vivid Vision, from brainstorming to sharing the ideas to using the document to drive progress in the years to come. 

By focusing on mapping out how you see your company looking and feeling in every category of business, without getting bogged down by data and numbers or how it will happen, Vivid Vision creates a holistic road map to success that will get all of your teammates passionate about the big picture. 

Your company is your dream, one that you want to share with your staff, clients, and stakeholders. Vivid Vision is the tool you need to make that dream a reality.

miracle-morning

The Miracle Morning for
Entrepreneurs: Elevate Your SELF to
Elevate Your BUSINESS

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READY FOR EXPLOSIVE GROWTH AS AN ENTREPRENEUR AND ACCELERATED SUCCESS IN THE REST OF YOUR LIFE?

A step-by-step guide to enjoying the roller-coaster ride of growth — while getting the most out of life as an entrepreneur. A growth-focused approach: The book is divided into three sections, which cover planning for fast growth, building a company for fast growth, and leading for fast growth. Each topic the author covers — from creating a vision for the company’s future to learning how to generate free PR for a developing company — is squarely focused on the end goal: doubling the size of the entrepreneur’s company in three years or less. A down-to-earth action plan: Herold’s experienced-based advice never gets bogged down in generalities or theory. Instead, he offers a wealth of practical tips, including: How to design meetings for maximum efficiency; How to hire top-quality talent; How to grow in particularly tough markets; How to put together a board of advisors — even for a smaller company; How even the busy entrepreneur can achieve a work/life balance.

READY FOR EXPLOSIVE GROWTH AS AN ENTREPRENEUR AND ACCELERATED SUCCESS IN THE REST OF YOUR LIFE?

Hal Elrod’sThe Miracle Morning has helped redefine the mornings and the lives of millions of readers since 2012. Since then, careers have been launched, goals have been met, and dreams have been realized, all through the power of the Miracle Morning’s six Life S.A.V.E.R.S.

THESE SIX DAILY PRACTICES WILL FUEL YOUR EFFORTS TO CREATE AND SUSTAIN POSITIVE CHANGE IN YOUR LIFE.

Now The Miracle Morning for Entrepreneurs brings you these principles in a whole new light—alongside the Entrepreneurial Elevation Principles and the Entrepreneur’s Elevation Skills. These are essential skills that you need to create a successful business and personal life. Cameron Herold— Bestselling Author and a widely-respected expert on entrepreneurial mindset—brings his wisdom and insight to you using Hal Elrod’s powerful Miracle Morning framework.

DEVELOP A VISION FOR YOUR BUSINESS, AND BECOME THE INFLUENTIAL AND INSPIRING LEADER YOU WERE ALWAYS MEANT TO BE.

The principles and skills you’ll find in this book will help you to channel your passion and achieve balance in a remarkable new way. – Learn why mornings matter more than you think – Learn how to master your own self-leadership and accelerate your personal development – Learn how to manage your energy—physical, mental, and emotional – Learn how to implement Hal Elrod’s invaluable Life S.A.V.E.R.S. in your daily routine – And much more… You’re already an entrepreneur. Now discover how to take your success to the next level by first taking yourself to the next level. The Miracle Morning for Entrepreneurs is your roadmap to masterfully building an empire with a powerful vision, utilizing your areas of personal genius, with the right team at your side.

Start giving your business and your life the very best opportunities for success, right now.

double-double

Double Double: How To Double Your Revenue And Profit In 3 Years Or Less​

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free chapter 1 pdf
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A step-by-step guide to enjoying the roller-coaster ride of growth — while getting the most out of life as an entrepreneur. A growth-focused approach: The book is divided into three sections, which cover planning for fast growth, building a company for fast growth, and leading for fast growth. Each topic the author covers — from creating a vision for the company’s future to learning how to generate free PR for a developing company — is squarely focused on the end goal: doubling the size of the entrepreneur’s company in three years or less. A down-to-earth action plan: Herold’s experienced-based advice never gets bogged down in generalities or theory. Instead, he offers a wealth of practical tips, including: How to design meetings for maximum efficiency; How to hire top-quality talent; How to grow in particularly tough markets; How to put together a board of advisors — even for a smaller company; How even the busy entrepreneur can achieve a work/life balance.