On Your Mark, Get Set, Grow!

Guest: Ryan Iwamoto, President and Co-Founder of 24 Hour Home Care. Ryan's company has been on the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing companies for nine consecutive years. In 2017, Ryan won EY Entrepreneur of the Year, Los Angeles. Overview: A scrappy entrepreneur who works hard and has a clear vision can take a company far. But he can only get the company to BIG if he learns how to scale his skills and the skills of key team members as the business continues to grow.  On today's show, Ryan Iwamoto explains how he and his business partner bootstrapped their company for 13 years, navigated a profitable sale, and remained President and CEO under the new owners.

Guest: Asha Saxena, a serial entrepreneur, Columbia University professor, CEO coach, international speaker, and the best-selling author of The AI Factor: How to Apply Artificial Intelligence and Use Big Data to Grow Your Business Exponentially. Overview: AI is poised to be the most disruptive business technology since the internet went mainstream. If your company doesn’t have a plan to harness the transformative power of AI, you risk falling far behind your competition. On today’s show, Asha Saxena provides a practical, four-point framework that will help CEOs develop an ethical AI strategy and gather the data they need to win BIG in the latest leg of the tech arms race.

Guest: Lionel Marumahoko, an action-oriented authority on emerging markets, global projects, and people management. Lionel developed his expertise over a 25-year career that included working as a senior executive for Coca-Cola in Africa. Overview: Delegation and communication are two essential skills that young leaders often struggle to master. Working with a seasoned CEO coach can open a new CEO's eyes to these blind spots sooner so that they can Make BIG Happen faster. On today's show, Lionel Marumahoko opens up about how coaching helped him grow from a cocky 25-year-old into an effective senior leader at one of the most respected brands in the world. 

Guest: Dan Smytka, a coach at CEO Coaching International. Dan has global expertise in growing and leading multibillion-dollar businesses with marque brands such as General Electric, Carrier, and Goodyear Tire and Rubber. Dan has also lead businesses in Asia and Europe where he cultivated a reputation for generating profitable growth, building high-performance collaborative executive teams, and executing strategies to expand your profit margins and deliver sustainable results.  Quick Background: Since the beginning of the 2023 annual planning season, we've been coaching CEOs to plan for a volatile economy. Recession or not, this is no time to get complacent. On today's show, Dan Smytka discusses specific strategies that will help you keep moving products, delivering services, and expanding your profit margins during challenging times.

On this special episode of the CEO Coaching International Podcast, coach Cynthia Cleveland leads a powerhouse panel of six women who are founders and CEOs. They discuss the unique challenges women face in executive roles, how they're trying to cultivate the next generation of women leaders, and the "super powers" that have helped each of them Make BIG Happen in a diverse group of industries. 

Guest: Alan Caslavka, a coach at CEO Coaching International. Alan spent his 35-year career in the global aerospace and defense markets, leading businesses within General Electric Aviation and Rockwell Collins Aerospace.  Quick Background: Running a successful company is never easy. But it's certainly a lot more fun when the going is good. The true test of a CEO's skill comes when adversity strikes. How will you lead your company through an inflationary environment where your key customers can't afford what you're selling? How are you going to handle a round of painful but necessary layoffs? How will you pivot through the next global crisis none of us sees coming so that your company stays on track to Make BIG Happen? On today's show, Alan Caslavka lays out his roadmap for responding to adversity, including lessons he learned from running an aeronautics firm while COVID had his entire industry grounded.

Guest: Jean-Louis Guillou, a coach at CEO Coaching International. Jean-Louis is a former professional tennis player and performance coach who became a global senior executive with over 20 years of experience scaling operations and future-proofing business models at Fortune 500 and startup companies. Jean-Louis is also an active member of YPO.  Quick Background: In business, as in sports, only extremely gifted high achievers make it to the BIG leagues. But in that rarified air, what separates the merely good from truly great? On today's show, Jean-Louis Guillou digs into the mental aspects that drive peak performance across all disciplines and explains how CEOs can quiet the noise that could be preventing them from Making BIG Happen.

Guest: Rick Kimball, a coach at CEO Coaching International. Rick's 35-year career included working as a top investment banker with Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, co-founding his own venture capital fund, and leading and advising fast-growth startups.  Quick Background: Fast-growing companies that maintain their growth aren't lucky. They're methodical. Their CEOs identify the metrics that drive long-term sustainable growth. They track, measure, and manage consistent progress toward targets. And they use inspiring storytelling to get key stakeholders invested in that march to BIG. On today's show, Rick Kimball explains how to zero in on the numbers that matter the most and best practices for keeping your vision, systems, and people in sync.

Guest: Evan Nierman, the Founder and CEO of Red Banyan, an international crisis management and public relations firm. Evan is also the co-author of The Cancel Culture Curse: From Rage to Redemption in a World Gone Mad. Overview: Crisis management isn't a question of If. It's a question of When. CEOs who haven't anticipated what could get in the way are especially vulnerable to one customer service slip-up, one tone deaf memo that leaks, one disgruntled ex-employee, or one resurfaced social media post that hasn't aged well. And in a world where cancel culture is running wild, forgiveness from key stakeholders can be hard to come by.  On today's show, Evan Nierman explains why every CEO needs to have a crisis management plan at the ready so that your next emergency is just a blip on the way to BIG. 

Guest: Max Hansen, CEO and Co-Founder of Y Scouts, the original purpose-based executive search firm.  Overview: You can turbocharge your hiring results when you combine top talent with corporate alignment--talent who align with your purpose, team culture, values, best practices, and long-term vision.  On today's show, Max Hansen explains how talent and purpose alignment can Make BIG Happen faster and help CEOs rekindle the passion that drives top performance. 

Guest: Tom Asacker, an artist, award-winning inventor, screenwriter, professional magician, and author of several best-selling books on belief, human behavior, and personal transformation. Overview: The story your company tells about itself can be an important part of your brand, your history, and your culture. But companies can also become so wrapped up in their stories that they lose sight of everything they're capable of accomplishing. On today's show, Tom Asacker discusses the power and limitations of your business' story and how CEOs can rewrite their narratives to Make BIG Happen. 

In this excerpt from a recent CEO Coaching International webinar, three of our coaches discuss the most important lessons they've learned as women who built, led, and grew BIG companies. 

Guest: Jarrod Johnson, the Chief Customer Officer at TaskUs, a publicly traded digital outsourcing company that serves high-growth technology companies to represent, protect, and grow their brands. TaskUs is also a client of CEO Coaching International. Overview: When Jarrod Johnson joined TaskUs in 2016, the firm had about $70 million in revenue. Today, TaskUs is nearing $1 billion in annual sales and counts world-class companies like Uber and Meta among its clients. On today's show, Jarrod explains the "systems building" approach he used to help drive such remarkable growth, including how he recruits and trains top talent, aligns his sales team to goals and best practices, and promotes a culture of positivity. 

Guest: Rick Weber, the President and CEO of CBC Federal Credit Union in Oxnard, CA. CBC ranks among the top credit unions in the country based on member survey net promoter scores. Overview: A friend calls, offering you a CFO position out in California. You move your family across the country, thinking this job will provide a relaxing glide path from your 50s to retirement. But then you find out the firm is losing money, the culture is "every man for himself," and when a health issue forces the CEO to retire, suddenly you're sitting in the BIG office ... just as a pandemic breaks out. On today's show, Rick Weber explains how working with a CEO coach helped him to engineer a major turnaround at his company and in his personal life that's put him on the path to BIG growth.

Guest: Brendan Neef, Founder and CEO of Victory Transportation Systems. Victory has been selected for the Inc 5,000 list of the Fastest Growing Private Companies in America three times. And Victory has been recognized twice by the Houston Business Journal as one of the best places to work. Overview: Your company can only grow as fast as you and your team are growing. If you hit a roadblock that you just can't clear, the third-party perspective of a mentor or CEO coach could be essential to helping you break through.  On today's show, Brendan Neef discusses how working with CEO Coaching International accelerated his growth into a leader who can make tough choices, establish better plans, build a stronger team, and Make BIG Happen.

Guest: Jennifer Wilson, founder and CEO of ARMSRx, a pharmacy benefit consultancy and a Strategic Partner of CEO Coaching International. Overview: In many cases, the most challenging step in a successful business sale is the first: deciding that now is the right time to sell. Once you've identified favorable market conditions or an optimal partner, the CEO has to clarify her objectives and build out the support team she needs to prepare herself and her company for its next BIG chapter. On today's show, Jennifer Wilson explains why, after turning down suitors for years, she finally decided to sell her company, as well as the nuts and bolts strategy that she implemented. Jennifer also shares a personal story of overcoming adversity that was formative to her entrepreneurial drive and determination.

Guest: Mark Moses, CEO and Founder of CEO Coaching International. Quick Background: Whether you’re trying to grow a business or lower your handicap, even the most driven and talented people eventually hit a wall. That’s where folks who are too proud or too blind to their own limitations often sputter and stall. But working with a coach can help you break through those walls, shore up your weaknesses, and identify the actionable, measurable steps that will lead to sustained personal and professional growth. On today’s show, Mark Moses shares what he’s learned about Making BIG Happen from both sides of a coaching relationship, as well as his most memorable moments from our 2022 Make BIG Happen Summit in Miami Beach.

Guest: Daniel Shemtob, a chef, restauranteur, and entrepreneur who has started multiple successful companies, including Snibbs work shoes. Overview: There's an old saying about entrepreneurs: They've never met an idea they didn't like. But an openness to what's exciting and new can also get between you and BIG. On today's show, serial entrepreneur Daniel Shemtob discusses the thought process that led him to pare down from five businesses to one so that he could focus on his most promising opportunity, grow as a leader, and Make BIG Happen.

Guest: Kelly Wade, a coach at CEO Coaching International. Kelly has amassed nearly 30 years of sales, marketing, and management experience focused on growing and leading people, cultivating unique cultures, and developing strategic long-term growth plans for a variety of industries.  Quick Background: Leading a business to BIG can sometimes feel like an all-consuming mission. But the best CEOs never forget that there is life outside of the c-suite. And they draw on lessons from their personal passions, relationships, and experiences to grow as leaders. On today's show, Kelly Wade walks us through her journey to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro and the connection between having an adventurous spirit and succeeding in business and life.

Guest: Marty Parker, the founder and CEO of Waterstone Human Capital. Waterstone is a high-performance culture and human capital search leadership advisory firm for entrepreneurial-minded, high-growth organizations across North America. Marty is also an active member of YPO and the author of two books on corporate culture. He's also a client of CEO Coaching International.  Waterstone Human Capital is a Strategic Partner of CEO Coaching International. Overview: A strong culture doesn't just create a happy workplace -- it can be a significant competitive advantage, especially in the battle for top talent and repeat customers.  On today's show, Marty Parker provides a deep dive on the specific, intentional ways that CEOs can transform culture and create a high-performing organization that attracts and retains the best people.