Manage Smarter

Doug Fletcher is the co-author of a new book titled, How Clients Buy: A Practical Guide to Business Development. Doug will be sharing with us today insights into winning client business based upon his 25 years of practical experience, and the research he has conducted over the past 4 years.   From 1999 to 2014, Doug was co-founder and CEO of North Star Consulting Group, a technology-enabled consulting firm specializing in employee and client feedback web survey projects. Doug led the growth of his firm from a startup into a global provider serving Fortune 500 companies in North America, Europe, Asia and Latin America. Doug successfully sold North Star in 2014 in a private equity transaction and began the next phase of his career as a business educator.  Doug currently splits his time between teaching others the craft of business development in professional services and serving as a professor of business strategy at Montana State University’s College of Business.  In this episode, Audrey, L

Brian Robinson is a sales and marketing expert, best-selling author, and coach. He has worked for some of the best-known companies in the world, including Coca-Cola USA and Johnson & Johnson. Upon leaving his corporate career, he helped launch a successful startup where he was the first person in the history of the industry to sell more than one million dollars in business in twelve months—entirely by phone. He has over two-decades of in-the-trenches, battle-tested, face-to-face and phone-presentation experience that can benefit virtually anyone, from Fortune 500 companies to entrepreneurial ventures. Brian is the author of the Amazon #1 Best-Seller, THE SELLING FORMULA: 5 Steps for Instant Sales Improvement. In this episode, Audrey, Lee and Brian discuss: ·           Top 10 Power Phrases all managers need to know to motivate internal teams and external clients to action·           His management strategy that resulted in selling one million doll

Edward Tenner began his career as a Ph.D. in history, became science editor and then an executive editor at Princeton University Press where he published a list from bird field guides to Richard Feynman's QED, and since 1991 has been an independent writer and speaker. His books include Why Things Bite Back: Technology and the Revenge of Unintended Consequences, Our Own Devices: HowTechnology Remakes Humanity, and most recently The Efficiency Paradox: What Big Data Can't Do.In this episode, Audrey, Lee and Edward discuss: ·           Definition of the efficiency paradox and why becoming more efficient can have unintended consequences·           Campbell’s Law: How measuring new efficiencies may make your staff change behavior to meet new incentives·           How Big Data affects you and your business and can cause “Competitor Neglect.”·           False Positives "Pursuing too much efficienc

Deborah Thomas-Nininger is the founder of DTN Productions International, a company that provides professional development training on all areas of international and domestic protocol specializing in "Reputation Management” and communication effectiveness. She brings to you over twenty years of business etiquette, communication and self-presentation expertise, rooted in behavioral science and successful human interaction.  In this episode, Audrey, Lee and Deborah discuss: ·           The definition of gravitas for leaders as one of the 4 pillars of character·           What managers need to do to become defined as “serious leaders” in their organization·           Why taking the time to up your effort at etiquette/manners will pay off with stakeholders·           Importance of email responses, tone of voice, body language etc. in the workplace "You should never be surprised by something

Tabitha Laser is an accomplished professional with an extensive background in organizational culture in companies such as BP, 3M, and CH2Mis and others. She's a speaker, author, and someone born without a "mute" button. Her upcoming book, Organization Culture Killers, addresses how to build a path that tomorrow’s leaders can follow in order to avoid the mistakes of their predecessors. In this episode, Audrey, Lee and Tabitha discuss: ·           How to build a path tomorrow’s leaders can use to avoid mistakes of predecessors·           How managers should analyze what happened prior to taking over·           Gap Assessments vs. Situational Audits  "A lot of times it’s because we do fail to learn from each other and we’re not very good at leading really, especially in the U.S.  We’re great at managing. Leading is inspiring and providing people with the tools to succeed so as new leaders come on and they want to

James Rores is a sales performance expert, CEO of Floriss Group, author of the Collecting WINS Sales Methodology, and Founder of the Growth Multiplier Movement. He's an expert on the servant leader approach to sales and how implementing it can grow and sustain sales growth. In this episode, Audrey, Lee and James discuss: ·           The definition of Servant Leadership ·           Show up and be in service while leading people we are with·           How serving shared goals and leading a buyer can boost your business·           Growth Multiplier Movement  & how to implement it "Servant Leader. Most of us are either a servant or a leader we either show up one of two ways. A common refrain in business is there is no “I” in team, Growth Multiplier speaks to the fact that when we build relationships based on servant leadership we really are building teams at their core by virtue of havi

Lee Caraheris the best-selling author of two books about how to create positive, sustainable business cultures - titled The Boomerang Principle--Inspire Lifetime Loyalty from Your Employeesand Millennials & Management: The Essential Guide to Making it Work at Work.  She's also the CEO of Double Forte, a national PR/Communications agency headquartered in San Francisco and New York.She believes that leadership is communication and that everything you do -- as a person, a manager, a brand - speaks for you. And she's on a mission to help people and companies lead through communication. In this episode, Audrey, Lee (our co-host) and Lee (our guest expert) discuss: ·           How your career can suffer from poor communication·           What % of companies undercommunicate·          Creating value in your communications·           Managing to hold teams accountable for information they r

Meg Manke, COO of Rose Group International and co-author of iX Leadership: Create High Five Cultures and Guide Transformation. Corporate success is hampered by the failure to create an Internal Experience (iX) that keeps the best people.  In this episode, Audrey, Lee and Meg discuss: ·           IX Leadership: Internal Experience transformations·           How internal culture can equal leadership failure·           The axis to assess culture types & work preferences·           Implementing clarity and accountability with the “Mad Hatter” Principle "Some industries are actually structured more with specific culture types, manufacturing for examples has a lot of stabilizers." – Meg Manke  Join hosts Audrey Strong and C. Lee Smith every week as they dive into the aspects and concepts of good business management. From debunking sales myths to learning how to manage with and withou

Anthony Iannarino is an international speaker, bestselling author, sales leader, and entrepreneur. Author of “Eat Their Lunch--Winning Customers Away From Your Competition,”  "The Lost Art of Closing,"  and "The Only Sales Guide You'll Ever Need." He blogs regularly at thesalesblog.com and hosts his own podcast called In the Arena. In this episode, Audrey, Lee and Anthony discuss: ·           Managing to win new business away from competitors·           4 Levels of Value Creation·           How discovery with team members can help them find new routes to closing sales·           Managing teams who love changing it up to create more accountability and driving strategic outcomes "You can’t allow yourself to have systemic failures that go on for long periods of time without being addressed. You have to show up as a partner. " – Anthony Iannarino   Join hosts Audrey Stro

Tina Greenbaum is a High-Performance Specialist, holistic psychotherapist, author, speaker and workshop leader. She is the creator of the program Mastery Under Pressure, an executive coaching program that teaches Olympic-level mindset skills for peak performance in high-stakes and high-stress environments. She is also part of the C-Suite Network as a network advisor. In this episode, Audrey, Lee and Tina discuss: ·           How to be aware of stress points in the moment without judgement·          Become a calmer manager to boost team performance·           Questions to ask about goal setting vs. stress levels·           Dealing with fear and negative self-talk "Okay so where am I feeling out of control? That’s my first line of defense so that’s my first question and second question I ask is where is this stress coming from? Am I putting it on myself? Or is it coming from the outside, from some

Scott Dikkers is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of "How To Write Funny" who founded theonion.com and The AV Club. He's also been named to TIME magazine's Top 50 "Cyber Elites" alongside Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and George Lucas. In this episode, Audrey, Lee and Scott discuss: ·         How workplace humor can be a danger area·         The 11 different kinds of jokes and literary devices ·         Consider difference between creatives and non-creatives spheres in the workplace·         How to inspire your team to big time engagement and loyalty "How do you know what’s going to be offensive to them? It IS a minefield." – Scott Dikkers   Join hosts Audrey Strong and C. Lee Smith every week as they dive into managers, leadership, business, sales, company culture, talent retention, hiring and more.  From debunking sales myths to learning how to manage with and without measurements, you'll lear

Gerhard Gschwandtner is founder and publisher of Selling Power magazine, he owns the Sales 3.0 conference and he is the creator of the Peak Performance Mindset training program. In this episode, Audrey, Lee and Gerhard discuss: How he got meetings with Malcom Forbes and Donald TrumpWhat's the #1 problem/mistake managers and leaders makeThe Top 2 things you need to be successful in sales and negotiations3 Levels of Sales Mindset you MUST have to reach your A-Game  "What talent do we need in order to become a world class company? I think that customers have something all in common, they hate to buy. They don’t like to buy and make the wrong decision, so we really need to look at four sets of skills. Are they good with transactions? Relationships? Creating value? Trusted Advisor?" – Gerhard Gschwandtner Join hosts Audrey Strong and C. Lee Smith every week as they dive into the aspects and concepts of good business management. From debunking sales myths to learning how to manage with and without measurements

Christina Unrein is Founder of Possibility Lab and she is a Clarity & Happiness Coach for Achievement-Driven Leaders, Business Owners & Teams creating personal and business solutions that focus on mindset, happiness, and resiliency. In this episode, Audrey, Lee and Christina discuss: ·           The definition of happiness·           What warning signs mean an employee will never be happy in your organization·           Specific steps to change your mindset to be more fulfilled in work   "I focus on what I can control. So many people focus outside themselves and they’re ticked off about everything else. And I look at “What can I control?” How can I make what’s happening serve me?" – Christina Unrein  Join hosts Audrey Strong and C. Lee Smith every week as they dive into the aspects and concepts of good business management. From debunking sales myths to learning how to manage with and without measur

52 Manage Smarter through Crisis/Turnarounds For more than 25 years, the last 15 with his own firm Broadway Advisors, Tom Paccioretti has been a turnaround consultant and crisis manager helping financially troubled companies and their stakeholders. His more than fifty clients included Barneys New York, CalFruit Eagle, Trend Technologies, Z Gallerie and EZ Lube. He recently started a new career as the professor of entrepreneurship at Santa Monica College.  In this episode, Audrey, Lee and Tom discuss: ·           Managing up and down in crisis and turnaround situations·           Managing cash conversion cycles during crisis/turnaround scenarios·           Making senior leadership walk the customer experience for turnaround discovery  "When I look at the top management aspect of it, that this stress levels is going on, number one, go back and talk to your customers. Why are you still our customers? Why are you s

Dr. Joey Faucette is the author of two #1 best-sellers, Faith Positive in a Negative World (with Mike Van Vranken) and Work Positive in a Negative World (Entrepreneur Press). He has written seven books and contributed to numerous others. He is the founder of Listen to Life, Too, a coaching company that develops leaders, engages employees, and transforms culture. In this episode, Audrey, Lee and Joey discuss: ·           Why positivity creates better productivity ·           Creating an environment where as you age, you can crave lifelong learning·           How changing work environments can lock workers into engagement and dream pursuit and fulfillment of goals·           Ideas for better worker appreciation/gratitude programs  "So if you're waiting for the perfect time to start your business, get a promotion to do whatever it is that is your inner dream that you're called to do, it's

Jeffrey Gitomer: Attitude is Everything!Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The New York Times best seller The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude - which has just been published a new edition. It has many new tips to help you find, build and keep a winning attitude. Jeffrey has also authored the NYT best sellers The Sales Bible, The Little Red Book of Selling and The Little Black Book of Connections. All of his books have been number one best sellers on Amazon.com and Jeffrey’s books have sold millions of copies worldwide. As a world-renowned expert and consultant on professional development, Jeffrey was elected by his peers to the National Speaker Association’s Speaker Hall of Fame in 2008. His clients include Coca-Cola, Caterpillar, BMW, Verizon, MacGregor Golf, Hilton, IBM, Time Warner, BlueCross BlueShield, and hundreds of others.   In this episode, Audrey, Lee, and Jeffrey discuss: Why attitude is critical to management and leadership Your attitude is viral Changing your attitude by changing what y

Michael Houlihan is the co-founder of Barefoot Wine, now, the world’s largest wine brand. He, along with Bonnie Harvey, are consultants, international Keynote Speakers and the New York Times Bestselling authors of The Barefoot Spirit, How hardship Hustle and Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand and The Entrepreneurial Culture, 23 Ways to Engage and Empower Your People. In this episode, Audrey, Lee and Michael discuss:·           The definition of The Money Map·           How to get employees to understand where their salaries come from·           How to identify and hire a “hustle” mentality ·           Hiring tips/exercises for rooting out good employees to represent your organization·           The unique concept of a Two-Division Company (Sales and Sales Support)“Then we had to pay our bills and with what was left, we used that to pay the salaries. All of

A self-proclaimed CEO and Janitor, Drew Rhodes became the cofounder of Aletheia Digital with his two partners in April of 2017. Prior to joining Aletheia Digital, Mr. Rhodes worked at Sagamore Hill Broadcasting as its Regional Director where he successfully directed the station group including two start up television stations in Lake Charles, LA and Watertown, NY. In this episode, Audrey, Lee and Drew discuss: ·           Ways to get higher engagement among managers and your team within the startup environment·           Managing startups to coach up a flat hierarchy·           Managing for a lean and mean work environment   "If you walk into a mature company, it already has its culture, its ways, it's everything else. You're going to be definitely conforming to it if you want to stay around. And the startup, you're helping to build the culture and you're not exactly conforming. Everybody's learning to conform

48 Suicide, Domestic Violence, Mental Health & Managers  Kristie Knights is a Psychotherapist in Private Practice and a Keynote Speaker in Suicide Prevention and Awareness. She provides assessment, education, and strategies to C-Level organizations, including C-Suite Executives in Psychological Health and Safety Management. Kristie is also the CEO of the iRise Leadership Institute and author of the book "Unsung Heroes: Deconstructing Suicide Through Stories of Triumph."In this episode, Audrey, Lee and Kristie discuss: ·           The huge jump in C-Suite suicide rates since 2010Domestic violence, PTSD and other strugglesSigns to look for to recognize a colleague is in distress·           Programs your company should have to react to an employee in crisis·           How to approach and talk to a colleague you think may be in crisis  “You know, there is an expectation with C-Suite in particular that they will

Mark Eaton is a 7'4" NBA All-Star, motivational speaker, entrepreneur, and author. He is passionate about sharing his teamwork message and has spoken to many world-class organizations. His book, The Four Commitments of a Winning Team, is a blend between his intriguing personal story and his principles for teambuilding. Even if you don’t follow professional basketball, we're certain you will enjoy it. In this episode, Audrey, Lee and Mark discuss: ·       What Wilt Chamberlin told him in five minutes that changed everythingWhat a winning team looks likeWhy teamwork is misunderstoodHow to build the trust and loyalty The secret to establishing an inspiring, energizing and harmonious work environment  "The book is a compilation of these four commitments and they’re things you can use as a manager and CEO to understand what teamwork is like from the inside out, really working from inside out and being there for your teammates." – Mark Eaton Join hosts Audrey Strong and