https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashseddeek/

Most AI initiatives don't fail because of the technology. They fail because of leadership.

If your AI projects are struggling with adoption, cultural resistance, or unclear ROI — you're not alone. And there's a reason it keeps happening.

🔴 Join us live on Tuesday, April 28th, 12:00pm EST for a fireside chat with guests from the C-Suite Tech seat who know this space well.

In this session, we'll talk with tech leaders who understand the challenges with AI adoption and hear from them about creating success within AI initiatives. All based on learnings from their own experience, in working with other organizations, and their lens from stakeholders across the AI landscape.

We hope you can join us!

ATLAS
✅ Why change management is the missing piece in most AI rollouts
✅ How to build genuine cultural buy-in — not just compliance

Whether you're mid-implementation, planning, or AI adoption is stalling in your org, we'd love for you to join and learn.

ATLAS — the AI Initiative Leadership Program designed to close the gap.

Host: https://grahampeelle.com

About our guest: Brian Samson

https://www.linkedin.com/in/briansamson/

http://www.plugg.tech/

The Nearshore Cafe

10+ years of nearshoring (LATAM), including living in Argentina and building multiple companies throughout Latin America which serve the U.S. market. Other key experiences include:

- Raised $2m as a founder, grew the company to 80 team members

- Dept Head at Lending Club during pre-ipo (IPO'd at $10 billion valuation)

- Exec team at Sosh (acquired by Postmates and eventually Uber)

- General Partner of Hang10X Capital (micro-PE) with dozens of investments

- UCLA Anderson MBA graduate

- 4X Head of Talent for VC funded tech companies

Outside of work:

My wife and I are licensed foster parents and have adopted a baby girl out of foster care. Today we have 2 toddlers that keep us busy and a Boston Terrier puppy. We have called Oahu home for several years and enjoy the beautiful weather and island life. Grew up in Chicago, big Cubs fan!

Since 2015 I've woken up each day with a burning purpose to connect the incredible talent pool across the Americas with hyper-growth companies in The U.S.  Contact me directly at: brian@plugg.tech

....

Brian Sampson shares his entrepreneurial journey, from talent acquisition to tech startups, and his ventures in Latin America-focused businesses. He discusses the importance of founder focus, the impact of broad exposure, and the lessons learned from successes and failures. Brian also emphasizes the significance of empathy and effective communication in leadership and shares his mission to share stories and experiences in Latin America through his podcast.

Takeaways

• Entrepreneurial journey through different quadrants
• Expansion into different business sectors
• Focus on remote work and client needs
• Lessons from Brian's own business experiences
• Lessons learned and changed perspectives over time
• The impact of empathy and effective communication
• Mission to share stories and experiences in Latin America

Chapters

• 00:00 The Journey to Entrepreneurship
• 06:34 Business Focus and Clientele
• 13:04 Successes and Failures in Entrepreneurship
• 22:22 Leadership and Inspiration
• 29:00 Empathy and Communication

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The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

Host: https://grahampeelle.com

About our guest: Javier Lozano, Bolder Media Co.

Founder, Fractional CMO + CRO

https://www.linkedin.com/in/javierlozanojr/

http://www.boldermediasolutions.com/

Predictable b2b growth

The conversation with Javier Lozano, Jr. covers the power of analysis, engaging with clients through audits, the journey to Boulder Media, challenges and opportunities in business, the impact of simplicity and predictability, the power of building in public, and looking ahead to 2026. Key takeaways include understanding the power of analysis, engaging with clients through audits, the importance of building in public, and the impact of simplicity and predictability in business growth.

Takeaways

• Understanding the power of analysis
• Engaging with clients through audits
• The importance of building in public
• The impact of simplicity and predictability in business growth

Chapters

• 00:00 The Power of Analysis
• 07:57 Journey to Boulder Media
• 16:04 The Impact of Simplicity and Predictability
• 22:53 Looking Ahead to 2026

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The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

Host: https://grahampeelle.com

About our guest: Logan Yonavjak

Co-Founder & CEO of Founder Readiness Institute

Founder Readiness Institute - https://founderready.io

LinkedIn - Founder Readiness Institute - https://www.linkedin.com/company/founder-readiness-institute/

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/loganyonavjak/

Speaker Bio

...

Logan Yonavjak discusses the intersection of leadership assessment, AI technology, and investment decision-making. Shee shares insights on how AI is transforming leadership evaluation, reducing costs, and improving outcomes in the investment industry.

Keywords

Leadership assessment, AI in investing, leadership development, founder readiness, people risk, AI analysis, investment decision-making, leadership growth, organizational impact, future of investing

Key topics

• AI's role in leadership assessment
• Impact of leadership on investment outcomes
• Developmental pathways for leaders
• AI analysis of transcript data
• Disruption of traditional assessment methods

Visit founderready.io for more information

Follow on LinkedIn for updates and insights

Revolutionizing Leadership Assessment with AI: Insights from Logan Yonavjak

How AI is Transforming Investment and Leadership Evaluation

sound bites

"AI is better at analyzing transcript data than humans."

"Material impact on self-awareness is a key goal."

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Logan Yonavjak's Journey

01:14 Leadership Challenges in Investment and the Birth of Founder Readiness Institute

02:47 The Intersection of People, Leadership, and Investment Risk

04:28 Market Factors and AI's Role in Leadership Analysis

07:21 AI's Capabilities in Analyzing Remote Interactions

08:53 Predictive Outcomes and Developmental Readiness

11:21 Driving Disruption in the Investment Industry

14:14 Assessment Tools and Developmental Roadmaps

16:10 AI-Enabled Coaching and Leadership Growth

18:39 Common Leadership Struggles and Coachability

20:31 Strategic Complexity and Multi-Perspective Thinking

22:06 Evolving Perspectives on System Change

24:38 Excitement and Future Plans for Founder Readiness Institute

27:36 The Power of Data and AI in Improving Organizational Outcomes

28:18 How to Follow the Mission and Final Thoughts

resources

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The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

Host: https://grahampeelle.com

About our guest: Adam Mizel, US United

https://www.instagram.com/US_United_Org/

https://www.facebook.com/USUnitedOrg

https://x.com/US_United_Org

https://www.linkedin.com/in/adammmizel/

https://www.us-united.org/

Adam Mizel has spent a remarkable career leading both public and private organizations and partnering in investment firms managing billions, but his most powerful venture has been US United, a movement he co-founded to ignite unity nationwide.

After a transformative moment in 2020, Adam shifted his focus to activating real change by fostering civil discourse, collaborative local chapters, and building iconic signals of unity. US United’s programs, including the 30 For US forums and the Summer Road Trip across America with the Sheriff Unity Network, not only inspire conversation, but spotlight unsung community heroes making unity tangible every day.

Adam’s journey from Wall Street to grassroots changemaker gives him a nuanced view on leadership, culture-building, and driving results through purpose. He knows how to translate big strategies into everyday action and develop practical tools that help organizations and communities mend and thrive.

US United is a movement for unity that builds bridges across issues, values and, most importantly, across people.  By activating media and culture and creating a brand symbolizing unity, US United is inspiring people to listen, to join the conversation and to engage in civil discourse.  Through local chapters in cities across the country and our 30 For US online and in-person group discussions, we are showing the power of unity in action.  US United was created by Sheriff Chris Swanson (Genesee County, MI / Flint), Ken Nwadike, Jr. (aka the Free Hugs Guy) and Adam Mizel with a vision to create a more united America in homes, communities and nationwide. 

-  Igniting Civil Discourse:  Every month, the 30 For Us forum unites people from across the country in small, online groups

Fostering Open, Inclusive Communities:  We’re creating a coalition of people who want to build and mend relationships within their communities, starting with our US United chapters in Flint, MI and Birmingham, AL.

Creating Iconic Signals of Unity:  We build partnerships with ambassadors across culturally influential industries and the media as well as work with artists and creators to share eye-catching designs and inspiring media that bring attention to moments for unity in culture.

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The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

Host: https://grahampeelle.com

About our guest: Josh Dorfman, Supercool / Plantd

https://getsuper.cool/

https://www.plantdmaterials.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dorfmanjosh/

Josh Dorfman is the creator and host of The Lazy Environmentalist, which ran as a primetime series on Sundance Channel, a daily radio show on SiriusXM, and spawned two books focused on practical sustainability. Most recently, he co-founded and served as CEO of Plantd, pioneering carbon negative building materials, a venture recognized by Fast Company as one of the World’s Most Innovative Companies and a winner of the Innovation By Design Award.

Josh now leads Supercool, a media platform and weekly podcast connecting real-world climate solutions with visionary business leaders, boasting a social reach of over seventy five thousand future forward executives and policy makers. He’s well versed in scaling sustainable companies, shaping culture, and aligns with transformative strategy and leadership.

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The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

Host: https://grahampeelle.com

Hiring is an investment in your company's future. Lead accordingly, as the organizations that master this won't just grow…they'll lead the way.

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The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

Host: https://grahampeelle.com

This is Founder Lag — the gap between who you are and who your company needs you to be.

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The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

Host: https://grahampeelle.com

About our guest: Larry Salazar, NestSTEPS

Subscribe to Larry's NestSTEPS newsletter

https://www.linkedin.com/in/larrysalazar/ 

https://www.neststepsbenefits.com/ 

Larry has helped companies directly connect employee financial wellness to retention and productivity by framing homeownership not as a distant benefit, but as a concrete tool for business leaders. As companies face increasing turnover and employees crave real-world support, Larry’s approach with NestSTEPS has made a measurable mark on organizations that are early adopters.

Besides his experience driving scaling efforts across HR benefits and financial technology, Larry can provide practical examples and data points from organizations like Fannie Mae and major healthcare systems that have seen turnover cut substantially after offering housing-support benefits. He is passionate about helping business leaders see how day-to-day financial pressures are closely tied to performance and organizational health. Employee surveys consistently find that about a quarter of workers would change jobs for access to an employer housing benefit, and nearly one in three would choose such a benefit over more pay, which seems especially pertinent as hiring heats up again.

• Workforce stability depends on attainable housing. When employees can buy locally, they're more likely to stay in their role.
• 1 in 4 employees would switch jobs for employer-sponsored housing benefits.
• Nearly 1 in 3 employees would prefer housing benefits over a pay raise.

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The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

Host: https://grahampeelle.com

About our guest: Sheldon Poon, Drive Marketing

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheldon-poon/

https://drivemarketing.ca/en/

Sheldon Poon has a rare ability to bridge the technical and operational worlds inside marketing, and it has made a practical difference for brands you’d recognize from Costco, Mark’s, and Winners. His expertise is rooted in over twenty years of development experience and more than a decade running digital campaigns at scale, which gives him a perspective grounded in both measurable results and real team empowerment.

What stands out is Sheldon’s focus on helping in-house teams fix broken tracking and attribution, rather than relying on temporary fixes or the latest tool. He is driven by ROI and clarity, coaching clients to understand their own systems so performance can actually compound.

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The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

Host: https://grahampeelle.com

About our guest: Mathew Jacobson, Kennedy University

https://ducere.education/

https://kennedy.education 

Mathew is innovating higher education, through the creation of the most industry integrated online university environment, Ducere. Together with Presidents, Prime Ministers, Nobel Prize Winners and business leaders, Mat is improving access globally to exceptional university degrees.
As a thought leader on innovation within education, Mat has hosted and spoken at numerous academic and business events including TedX, Harvard University, NPR, Fox News, Apple Leadership symposium amongst others.

As founder of the Ducere Foundation, fully funded by Ducere, Mat works in close partnerships with sovereign states, major universities, philanthropic leaders and major businesses to deliver educational programs across 26 African countries.

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The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

Host: https://grahampeelle.com

About our guest: Patti Schutte, Be Brilliant Presentation Group

https://www.linkedin.com/in/pattischutte/

https://bebrilliantpresentationgroup.com/

Patti is the founder and Chief Presentation Strategist at Be Brilliant Presentation Group, and she’s spent over 20 years training more than 2,000 professionals worldwide to turn forgettable talks into high-impact results. Her strategies aren’t just about slides and speeches; they center on her proven Resultations Method, which translates big nerves and vague messages into structured, persuasive presentations that leave leaders more confident and audiences more engaged. Her clients regularly report leaps in confidence, sharper communication, and measurable boosts to influence and outcomes.

Patti’s expertise fits well with Flywheel Leadership, especially for anyone seeking to sharpen executive presence or communicate vision in tough settings. She’s worked with everyone from entrepreneurs to Fortune 500 leaders and even helped develop fireside chats for industry icons. Plus, her blend of practical coaching and evidence-based methods means she’s got actionable stories and takeaways your audience can use the same day.

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The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

https://grahampeelle.com

How to Fine Tune Your Mind for Growth and Success: Scale Your Mindset, Scale Your Business The continued exploration for a mindset made of positive sum and abundance perspective Author Graham Peelle February 12, 2024 Join “Build 10x Scale” - Connecting managers, execs, & founders, creating the next level of Performance, Leadership, & Culture. Transform or turnaround your business today. Be the boss you wanted: Scale your business 10x. Open now at a low introductory price for the first 20 members ($19/mo, cancel anytime). Launching 3.4.24. How to Fine Tune Your Mind for Growth and Success: Scale Your Mindset, Scale Your Business The continued exploration for a mindset made of positive sum and abundance perspective As I have begun a journey building a business from zero in an untapped region for an established company, it has me consistently coming back to the principles, concepts, and ideas that support having an abundant growth mindset. Why is this important? As you train yourself to become more self-aware, you realize how much you shut yourself down. You say no, you limit, you lose before you start. I have found I do it all the time and I constantly battle the limiting beliefs that we naturally place on ours. But if you do recognize it, you can beat it more often than not, and live beyond the limitations of that comfort zone or safe space you like to create in your head. A few thoughts on allowing yourself room for success Thinking Big Various philosophy and research concepts make it clear, you will unconsciously limit yourself to the extent of your objectives and aspirations Think bigger, achieve better, grow, and become better Eliminate limits, think bigger, and at worst you have increased your odds of success at achieving what you see as your lowest level of success BHAG Finding and committing to your” Big Hairy Audacious Goal” Abundance There is a difference between wasting and spending vs. thinking beyond the smallest possible units, and believing there is enough for all of us Positive Sum Mentality = Positive Outcomes Possibilities are endless Consider this - is anyone directly limiting you? Are you really being held back? Who is in your way? Unless someone is directly holding you back, it’s you…You’re finding reasons (excuses) on why you don’t have time, it won’t work, you can’t Vision Have a view of what you want to do and where you want to go Execution delivering that vision Simplicity at macro view Simple scales, complex fails Big picture long term, strategic, with tactical execution mindset in short term Exponential growth will come through commitment to the work and presence with the right business opportunities are targeted Putting out signals The more you put out your work, building trust and reputation, the b

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

https://grahampeelle.com

Follow the Money: Take Action with Proactive & Purposeful Business Activity Don’t wait, make things happen: position yourself to increase your surface area for opportunity Author Graham Peelle March 25, 2024 Join “Build 10x Scale” - Connecting managers, execs, & founders, creating the next level of Performance, Leadership, & Culture. Join "Build 10x Scale", the community helping you scale your biz 10x. Scale through people/tech/AI harmony, reducing cost, optimizing, and growing. Open now at a low introductory price for the first 20 members ($19/mo, cancel anytime). Launching 4.29.24. Follow the Money: Take Action with Proactive & Purposeful Business Activity Don’t wait, make things happen: position yourself to increase your surface area for opportunity Build An Organic Sales Organization As my career has evolved, I learn, and continue to consider other ways to do things, I realize how much your willingness to be an ambassador for your own organization must feel like a positive approach. If you’re doing it to check the box, you’ll struggle to represent your company to your ability or you’ll feel guilty if you aren’t on board. When you see the value in your organization’s purpose, it allows for a sens

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

https://grahampeelle.com

The Power of Focus and Conviction, Harnessed for Growth Elimination of tasks is growing your ability to deliver on your main thing Author Graham Peelle March 18, 2024 Join “Build 10x Scale” - Connecting managers, execs, & founders, creating the next level of Performance, Leadership, & Culture. Join "Build 10x Scale", the community helping you scale your biz 10x. Scale through people/tech/AI harmony, reducing cost, optimizing, and growing. Open now at a low introductory price for the first 20 members ($19/mo, cancel anytime). Launching 4.29.24. The Power of Focus and Conviction, Harnessed for Growth Elimination of tasks is growing your ability to deliver on your main thing Distractions from your core revenue generating activity must be “ruthlessly” eliminated. Focus is a superpower and must be embraced. In a growth-oriented role, if you’re a thinker or have success under your belt, you need to align your purpose and passion to support your growth objectives. Why is this important? If you don’t, you’re like the entrepreneur or student who keeps switching because it’s hard or not always the most fun. You must embrace the suck which has been famously said again and again. Otherwise you are starting over each time, otherwise you focus on everything except your work, team, and clients. Focus Drives Growth How do you power your work through focus? Consider these concepts: Action grows confidence Doing makes you better Find focus through action If you’re going to do it, learn to love it Gravitate towards the hard and needle-moving work Cut out fluff and “fake work” (Cal Newport comments) Focus first, everything else next Warren Buffett prioritization Courtesy of Brooke LeBlanc sharing, created by Farnam Street Strategy, Planning, and Thinking As a leader, this is where so much of my ide

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

Endeavor Strategic (es10x)

https://grahampeelle.com

Developing a Performance Operations Culture Through People Alignment, Development & Commitment Each leader in operations may have a different application of operations fundamentals across industry, product, service, application, areas of focus, level of technical aptitude, etc. But the core of operations principles still hold true, supporting the science of delivering a product or service to an internal or external customer. There is a lot of nuance to operations because it is a common thread across business delivery which varies so widely, however there is so much commonality that allows us to breakdown the operations science and learn from all industries and specialties, versus demanding separation. Keeping an open mind into how we can take away concepts and fundamentals from others is key to developing greatness in your operation. Below are a few rudimentary fundamentals that transcend any differences in operations. Yes, some may very, but this is the start of a list of the basics. Learn to master these areas, start learning to be an operations leader, or step-up as an operations executive. Fundamentals for a Successful Operations Leader View the business from high level and low level at fundamental level until ELT (or next level down), is built out to own itself Break down the business in People • Process • Technology Hire great people Promote high performers and leaders Pay your people what they worth, and even better if you can, pay them a bit more to show your deep level of appreciation, and to take challenges with retention for compensation off the table Develop your people Let your team run and execute on what you hired them to do (don’t get in the way) Lead and manage your people with respect Mediocrity is the opposite of growth Clear expectations, accountability, & ownership Control what you can control Hit production numbers Trust but verify (inspect what you expect) Align key metrics to key outcomes and business process - measure what matters Hit financial numbers, not for revenue sake, but in order to create opportunities for your people - this concept alone will drive growth beyond your imagination if you can cultivate this Performance Operations Culture with genuine development of your people and their careers Add technology to build efficiency, save money, or make your associates’ job better, and not for the sake of tech Keep it simple. Complexity should be kept to technical aspects of product or service, not to impress, be fancy, or make you feel like you accomplished something of significance Progression over perfect, process over persnickety Competition is only competitive if you let it exploit your weaknesses- the market is big enough for both, if it was big enough to launch both companies in the first place - find and cultivate your differentiator, don't dwell on what others are doing, but be aware of it Build your teams, process, scalability, profitability, efficiency, culture, customer connectivity, and technology Keep the main thing, the main thing If you don’t get the people part right, the rest will never happen. Focus on your people.

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

https://grahampeelle.com

Establishing Organizational Rhythm: Finding Alignment with People and Work Planning your work, working your plan Organizational | Design, Structure, Discipline, Culture, Development, Effectiveness, Change….all things we do or follow as leaders and managers, and much of the time we don’t even actively think about them or label them. We’re on cruise control, at least those with more experience in leadership, and we tend to get things set-up, have some regular change, otherwise we have a lot of firefighting, customer attention aspects, and supporting internal/external priorities. Build the organization of the future, weaving culture as the underlying connective tissue that grows your leadership confidence and organizational intelligence regarding people, but also grows your business. Side Note If you’re interested in reading more about a legendary business mind that serves as an inspiration for some of the thoughts and business concepts I share in OpCo, and even Warren Buffett learns from and molds much of his mindset from, check out Henry Singleton. The Founders podcast covers it well.

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

https://grahampeelle.com

The Power of Leadership Confidence

• Voicing confidence in people

• Showing belief in people

• Sharing feedback

• Teaching and coaching

• Mentoring

• Taking a chance on people

• Bringing out the best in people

• Seeing the capability and potential in people

• Helping others finds their super power, or unique ability

• Showing others the value they bring

• Investing in people

• Not allowing the team to limit themselves

https://grahampeelle.com

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

https://grahampeelle.com

Authentic Leadership

The little things are the big things Going the “extra mile” as a leader to support your team can many times mean simply being a good person, listening to what they need, and showing your support for your team. It doesn’t make leadership easy, but leadership doesn’t have to be complex.

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

https://grahampeelle.com

Find your people. Find your Tribe. You may feel strongly about chasing those who have already "made" it, but consider seeking out your peer group to learn from, support you, and find friends in a similar spot looking to grow.

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

https://grahampeelle.com

Jay Clouse of "Creator Science" with Chase Jarvis, referenced in this show

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

https://grahampeelle.com

Close the gap - find the way to connect your business goals with your people's goals, which actually usually happens in reverse of that. 

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

Endeavor Strategic (es10x)

https://grahampeelle.com

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

https://grahampeelle.com

CHRO/I 

Pavithri Kilgore of KPSK Consulting joins us to talk about government compliance and how to manage and de-risk your SMB.

Pavithri shares some great insights into the world of government compliance, associate relations, and several areas related to people and organizational risk.

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

https://grahampeelle.com

 How Culture Can Shape an Intentional Life & Career

I have had a few ask about what the 1914 represents in the “GP” monogram. It is the year the Panama Canal construction was completed in Central America. It’s a tribute to my family’s heritage with my grandmother who is Panamanian who met my grandfather, an American, while working in the Panama Canal Zone in multiple jobs as part of the US presence there. After meeting my grandmother, my grandfather, a WWII veteran, started raising a family in Panama, including my mother who was born there and moved to the US when she was five. My grandmother traveled and moved permanently to the US, making her way over by plane. For more on her story, please see this college paper, outlining her story, based on an interview written thirteen years ago, when my grandmother was 82 - Victoria's Story - Immigration from Panama to the US.

I take a lot away from my grandmother's story. Victoria of course had a significant transition when moving to the US, leaving all her own family and friends, her entire life as she knew it, to move with Robert (my grandfather) to start their new life. The trust, resilience, and courage it must have taken had to be tremendous. The faith and love in that relationship and future, must have been powerful. How does that translate in life for me today? It reminds me to have faith in the future, curiosity with what’s in front of me, continue learning, and continue pushing forward with what’s important and be relentless to get there, while remembering, that journey on the boat is one step that matters along the way, not the end destination.

When I reflect on the takeaways from Victoria’s story, I consider multiple aspects of how this applies to my own growth and development, and becoming the person I want to be, which may bring some relevancy for you as well.

Consider the Parallel

• Value of putting yourself out there, breaking through your comfort zone
• Raising your perceived ceiling in life
• Going to get what you want
• Not settling for the status quo
• Intentionality with life, not allowing life to drive you, but you drive life

Why

• Family and friends
• Your own fulfillment and enjoyment
• Live your dreams
• Do something rewarding and worth your time
• Step up to match your full potential

If you have interest in living towards your potential, I have

"Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

- Mark Twain

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

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Professional Service Operations & Account Management: The Top 10 Principles for Customer Retention Your customer is a partner in your future - service them with that in mind Author Graham Peelle September 18, 2023 Professional Service Operations & Account Management: The Top 10 Principles for Customer Retention Your customer is a partner in your future - service them with that in mind Above all, take care of your employees. They are partners in your business. Your customer will never get truly next level optimum service without employees being a priority and getting the proper care and consideration. Happy employees create happy customers. I’ve heard Cameron Herold reference this. Once you have that set as a priority and moving in the right direction, keep reading. A customer 1st approach A customer 1st approach is paramount to service operations success. You may be thinking, wait, I thought he said the employer was first. Associates are first at an organizational and interpersonal level, as they are your first customers in a sense, and it becomes engrained in the organization, not requiring focused attention, because you have done the ground work to make it an expectation that goes beyond conscious thinking and action. You’ve made it a fundamental core value in your culture. But in day-to-day operations, everyone’s focus is your customer. This may be an internal customer or your external end customer. A customer-first operational mindset starts with mindset and culture. A belief in driving service and value for your customer, with everyone having the customer in mind at any level. There are a multitude of philosophies and approaches with customer service and account management, but in my experience, there are 10 principles to effective customer retention along the path to customer delight with professional service operations and account management. Protect the flag Below is an overview of my Top 10 Principles to Effective Customer Retention: Truly care - show your customer you actually have a vested interest in their success. This does not mean you’re required to be their best friend, although helpful, this means show them that you’ll actually be there in good times or in bad. Your customer is the star. Emotions drive decisions. Never make the client feel they are simply replaceable- companies want to invest and prioritize in new business, which is essential to growth and diversification. Unfortunately, far too many companies invest an underwhelming amount in their current customers. Why go get a new flag to wave and not protect your own flag that you already have in place. New business development is critical, and one of the key blood flows of business, but if you don’t have any of your current customers from this year, why is it helpful to have new customers next year. Account management, account retention, account strategy, account saturation, and customer intelligence are extremely underrated. Current customers are your best agents and an extension of your BD team. If you want new customers, take care of your

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

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Customer Obsession Drives Customer Retention How to focus on your client and provide exceptional service to wow clients and fuel growth: 7 steps to service and retain your client Author Graham Peelle October 23, 2023 Customer Obsession Drives Customer Retention How to focus on your client and provide exceptional service to wow clients and fuel growth: 7 steps to service and retain your client Originally written by Graham Peelle on Medium, July, 18, 2023 When was the last time you considered your customer priorities in front of your own priorities? I continue to see organizations and client-facing teams focus on their own advancement, while missing the realization that you advance with promotions, income, and growth, through advancing your client. In my experience, that is a major factor when looking at those who truly understand account management, and those who just don’t — do they prioritize their customer, or are they really truly prioritizing their own interests? Answering that question usually gives you your answer. What spurred my thinking about this is what really drives customer satisfaction, retention, and profitability. Some companies are better than others at prioritizing their clients and their clients’ business, but I still see a significant gap in understanding why putting customers first, must be an obsession. Jeff Bezos preached this tirelessly and would not lower his expectations, upholding this core belief. There is a key lesson we should take away from that Amazon mentality when it comes to customers. You must have that drive and fire to take care of your customer for a sustainable future, growth, and putting a product forward that really makes a difference. You need to have the right motivation that drives you in a positive manner to create successful outcomes and make yourself irreplaceable. You need to be willing to manage with your customer’s nuisances and go the extra mile enough to differentiate yourself from other providers. Learn when to give in and work to let them they’re wrong, in a productive manner and from a partnership lens. Remember, besides price, which most of us don’t want to win purely on price, you win on value because of the service you can deliver. Your customer can like you, but that only goes so far compared to your ability to build value. Value is why customers stick around in the long run — make customer obsession your organizational focus and your growth driver. You can win all the new business you want, but if you can’t retain clients, you aren’t growing. Companies want to ignore that fact continuously, but it’s not going away. I’m going to attempt to articulate how market leading companies drive customer experience and that wow factor we all look for in a partner. Here are a few core areas to focus on to drive real customer satisfaction: Communication & Commitment — Do what you say you are going to do, tell your client what you will do, and the timing you will complete it Operational Excellence Customer Service including response time, flexibility, and agility Trust & Consistency — be truthful, clear, and up front

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

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Organizations & Careers Fueled by Aligned Talent Development Mutual benefit stems from empowering your team’s personal growth to accelerate their career and your business The teams you lead, consisting of career professionals, have career goals and aspirations. They have goals and want to make progress, find fulfillment, and build wealth through career growth. You as a business or company leader, have company or group business objectives and growth aspirations. But do these priorities align with the work your team does and wants to do? Do your associates’ goals support your business objectives? Do they plan for their work supporting your company’s business as the backbone to build their career on, or is this a stepping stone for them, and they’re out in 1-2 years? These are important questions about leadership’s perception, awareness, and talent management approach, and I’d venture to guess that many of us as leaders, don’t know theses answers for many of our team members, or for our company. This alignment is critical to making long-term sustainable company and personal growth, to exist in harmony, and not working against each other. Aligning your teams growth with company growth, ensures mutual benefit The rise of personal growth and development has been remarkable over the last 50 years. Companies have supported the worker more and more with multiple avenues for development opportunities, including everything from online learning modules to conferences and many types of learning and development avenues in between. These trainings or learning and development opportunities can be great, but can be limited in effectiveness when real genuine alignment is missing for some companies. Organizations can easily miss fostering and promoting personal growth that aligns with company growth, which adds to the bottom line with gains in skills, confidence, and commitment, but also brings value to the associate. Providing development opportunities is great and it’s a big step in the right direction for companies that would have balked at it the further you go back in history, but the magic for companies to realize the full up side, is to link employee development to company growth and success. Mutual growth and success, in alignment, is the way for learning and development to support your organization of the future.

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

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It's about the people.

Cameron Herold's Show The Second in Command

 Mainly tied to Cameron's work founding the COO Alliance

grahampeelle.com

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

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Positioning is about intentionally crafting your leadership journey.

Your willingness to contribute makes you an expert at some level in the eyes of your audience.

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

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Advice or Reminders for Leaders:

• Understand your business
• Understand your people
• Understand your customer
• Understand your process
• Understand the challenges
• Understand the opportunities
• Understand the risks
• Understand necessary adjustments

Impact:

• Understand, evaluate, act, iterate, and repeat…continuous improvement, never settling for mediocrity.
• Timeless business principles In business operations
• Not growing or improving means your business is dying
• Leadership Get curious and ask questions

Prioritization

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The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

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What to consider when working on changing culture as a new leader

Turnaround Formula

Operations | People | Culture | Organizations

1. Observe and assess your people, process, and technology, understanding your culture and

relationship dynamics impacting your performance, results, clients, retention, profitability, and the

business overall

2. Determine what your critical goal is as a business - what is the one thing you will change in

30/60/90 days, or 6-12 months, and the top 3-4 additional items

3. Build your vision and organizational “why” or purpose, to support and grow your people to help

achieve your desired business results

4. Set activity, action and KPI Expectations

5. Act, review, iterate, communicate, and repeat

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

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Dive into leadership philosophies, many that look more like traits or principles. Sharing some thoughts on each before building core frameworks focused on this.

• Transformational

• Democratic (Participative)

• Coaching

• Transactional (Managerial)

• Strategic

• Servant

• Autocratic (Authoritarian)

• Laissez-faire (Delegation)

• Democratic

• Authentic

• Learning

• Solution-based

• Dynamic

• Empowerment

• Directive

• Core Elements of a Leadership

Philosophy

• Integrity

• Empathy

• Accountability

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

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Hello and welcome everyone, I’m Graham Peelle and this is Flywheel Leadership. This show is an expansive discovery into the world of work, leadership, culture, performance, and company operations, focused on empowering leaders and organizations to Unlock Greatness through Scaling People, Process, and Technology 

We’re reinventing how to build and scale business.

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

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Missionary Over Mercenary — Building an Intentional Culture Are you on a team of purpose and mission? Author Graham Peelle November 27, 2023 Missionary Over Mercenary — Building an Intentional Culture Are you on a team of purpose and mission? This article was originally published by Graham Peelle on Medium, August 22, 2023 Mission Driven Jeff Bezos and other business titans have been known for referencing hiring missionaries, instead of mercenaries. Missionaries are here to build something and partner with you to drive your business forward with the right intention, care, and purpose. Mercenaries are not — mercenaries are here to get their share, drive their own initiatives, and favor unhealthy selfish drive with an an unhealthy desire to get ahead at all costs. They want their money, they don’t want to give their allegiance or full commitment to the cause. Will everyone be a missionary or a mercenary, probably not. You likely have some that are really in neither bucket, or have a foot in each. You’re wondering how that works, well let’s consider this for a moment. How many associates do you find that are coasting along, just earning a paycheck, disengaged in most of the non-essential aspects of the business, and ultimately are here to get a paycheck, and nothing more. They aren’t overly selfish, but not overly committed. You’ll always have these middle to bottom players, that just work, and don’t really sway or have strong motivators besides that paycheck. The larger your business, the more you tend to have these types, and while it’s not the best, it’s bound to happen and the more you can foster a safe environment for team members to just work, be productive, and as long as they are producing positively above cost, and not a cultural drain, there is value in having them on your bus. Not everyone can be all in, get promoted, or be the teammate everyone wants. But many can still be solid performers or doers. You need those as well — not everyone can or wants to be the CEO or CFO. You need some solid performers with aspirations at being a good worker and teammate. What you don’t need is those poor performers, those with ill intentions, or those driving their own mission and mindset, contrary to the company’s. These low performers on one end and and mercenaries on the other, are a critical detriment to your culture and business. It is important to weed them out over time. It’s not a witch hunt, but it’s important to shed the dead weight dragging your business down. That drain is killing you slowly if you let it. Negativity, inefficiency, and unproductive are costing you in time, money, and culture. Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash Value in a People-Aligned

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

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Crafting Culture Beyond the Chaos What does a great company culture even mean? Author Graham Peelle January 08, 2024 Crafting Culture Beyond the Chaos What does a great company culture even mean? Organizational culture is everything you do, everything you promote, everything you say, the style in which you work. It’s your measures of quality, performance, and your attitude. Company culture is the momentum, feelings, and thoughts you create through business operations, activities, hiring, firing, etc. Company culture is made up by the customer interactions, what you prioritize by your action, your activity, what you actually do, not what you say. Ping-pong tables, free beer, great coffee that’s all great. Those are all nice perks. Those aren’t culture. Those things may help your culture become a fun place to work, but if things get tough, and you just end up scrapping everything when things get hard, or firing people when things get tight, or when you have a tough quarter, that’s your culture. Culture is who you are what you are, and what you do - culture is not a tagline. The tagline may sum up what you do, may sum up your culture, but it’s not you. You are what you do. Action frames your culture and perception as a company. “When disaster strikes, whatever you do, in your darkest hour, that becomes your culture.” Sounds like a Churchill quote, not a Fortune 500 CEO. Brian Chesky explains culture when things are at their worst, as he walks through the impact of the pandemic and how they managed through, and even went to IPO shortly thereafter. I recently listened to the podcast, Diary of a CEO, hosted by Steven Bartlett, speaking with guest, Brian Chesky, CEO & Co-Founder of Airbnb, and I was completely amazed at the depth and passion for people and organizational culture. Many CEOs talk about it, but you could feel it in his voice, and he went a level most Fortune 1000 CEOs wouldn’t dare breakdown about their people and culture. I am floored at Brian’s passion for creativity, business as an art form, and leadership style. Any founder, entrepreneur, business owner, or leader looking to do big things, would be well-served to listen to this episode. This is truly inspiring and one of the most impactful interviews I’ve ever heard. It’s really something. This one episode from Diary of a CEO was a crash course in leadership - navigating ups and down, treating your people...like people. For today’s edition, I will share a few one liners or quotes, and thoughts, a bit di

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

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About our guest:

Craig Taylor https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigmtaylor/

https://cyberhoot.com/

Founder, entrepreneur, thought leader, and cyber literacy visionary. - True passion and leadership for cyber security Free trial for individuals at cyberhoot.com hello@cyberhoot.com

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

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Book of Naval: Concise Authentic Wisdom Studying the shared expertise from one of the world’s foremost thought leaders Author Graham Peelle January 22, 2024 Book of Naval: Concise Authentic Wisdom Studying the shared expertise from one of the world’s foremost thought leaders The Almanack of Naval Ravikant should be prerequisite reading for any leader, MBA student, or self-development course. It shares so much valuable perspective, theory, and experience in a concise and easy to read format. Tweet storms refined into a wonderful collection of wisdom and written intelligence. Eric Jorgenson took the content from Naval’s blogs, tweets, and interviews, creating a centralized format for the wisdom Naval freely shares. I will attempt to boil down what I felt were the most impactful aspects and share any additional perspective that comes to mind. Broaden your perspective, challenge your mindset Jorgenson does a masterful job bucketing all of this wisdom to organize it in a useful manner for you to consume Naval’s experience and philosophy. If you have ever organized material like this, it’s often harder to start with all this content, and organize it, compared to actually creating it - it’s so time consuming and tedious work. Naval’s perspective spans broadly across philosophy, wealth, work, life, and relationships. When I look at this entire body of work, I think of five core areas to change my approach or focus more based on these concepts, integrating them into my life. Transformation Inspired by Naval Live with intention, doing everything for a reason, and with the most freedom possible Be you, be different - embrace your unique ability and zone of genius, and strive to be the best in the world, finding your life’s work Live to live, work to live, embrace living, and wealth and joy will come Learning is the fountain of youth, creativity, and life Only give energy where it’s deserved - don’t focus on negativity, anger, or people who drain your bucket https://www.mindjournals.com/ Photo by Nubelson Fernandes on Unsplash Top 10 Nuggets from Naval “You’re going to die one day, and none of this is going to matter. So enjoy yourself. Do something positive. Project some love. Make someone happy. Laugh a little bit. Appreciate the moment. And do your work.” “Become the

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

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About our guest:

Andrew Oxley 30 years of coaching CEOs and senior leaders on how to accelerate their progress by building winning, sustainable and scalable teams with strategic impact

Created the The LeaderShift Framework

“The trouble with the rat race is, even if you win, you're still a rat.”

Service the clients you have now- they will lead you to other clients www.transformingresults.com

Free 90-min workshop

Passion for work- Create a life, at the end of the day, more of them available for the people they truly love

Book on Amazon

https://a.co/d/bWPp2J8

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

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Community Empowers You, Providing Energy & Information to Keep You Going Along Your Career & Life Journey

What I learned from talking with a supportive professional learning community

Sometimes when you share ideas with others, you can learn so much about yourself and what really gets you excited, what gives you meaning, and what interests you. That feeling of fulfillment and energy. That’s what I experienced recently from talking with TNG (Team Networking Group). I took away so much perspective and clarity from speaking with this group. I was introduced to this group by a former colleague and met with the group’s leader ahead of being invited to speak. It was helpful to speak with him beforehand to see if it’s a good fit and understand how I can add value.

This is a career guidance networking group focused on job search, personal growth, and skill development. This group is a collection of members closer to mid-career level, or at least with some meaningful and valuable experience, knowledge, and perspective. This group is diverse including individuals from various countries, states, demographics, and career journeys.

The biggest surprise for me, was seeing how many were no longer actively seeking a new role, but have stayed engaged with the group, even after finding a new role, or are part of the group to be in the community, and not actively job seeking. That’s when you know you’re on to something. People stay involved even when they don’t necessarily “need” or must stay active, they want to be there and engaged with the group.

This is what I was impressed with and the feeling I had based on my brief time with this group:

• Energy
• Engagement
• Learning culture
• Curiosity
• Open to new ideas
• Care about peers
• The power of a supportive and informative community

Whether it’s your job search or if you’re looking for meaningful professional connection, it’s worth the effort and time to find a group that works for you. A community of like-minded professionals who have been there or are also going there will serve you well. This does not mean go join five groups, this means start with one solid group that fits your needs, and go from there.

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

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AI Will Cost You…If You Allow It Professional workers exploring AI/Human harmony First, along with the term “human capital”, let’s scrap “white collar” and “blue collar”. I’ll use them here for a moment to set up the explanation, but let’s push these aside. They’ve had their day and don’t reflect modern values of how we categorize people and their work. We wonder why we have such a gap in trades talent and university and student loan debates? We have devalued certain work in favor of other work and continue to refer to it that way - it’s just a different kind of work. It’s well overdue to change the moniker. —> Talent capital, not human capital —> Professional or thought-based work, not white collar —> Productivity or physical work, not blue-collar The verbiage needs some work, but with all the catch phrases out there about work, which I prefer not to use in many cases, phrases describing quitting, firing, working location, etc., we’ll think of something more modern and respectful. When Generative AI (artificial intelligence) first broke out in more of the common public domain for usage, testing, and understanding, ChatGTP, etc., many thought that blue-collar or physical productivity workers, would lose their jobs, but as AI has advanced many continue to see and speak up about the realization that AI is not taking blue-collar jobs, at least initially, it’s taking more professional jobs, knowledge work, or “office” jobs. AI taking office jobs? AI is targeting the low-hanging fruit with replacing the tasks, activities, and work with repeatable, easily readable, and recognizable for tech, in order to copy, learn, and utilize. AI is targeting work that can be done without that human touch, without the human judgment, without the feel for people or non-factual decisions or process. Work can be submitted for human review, and things of this nature. This does not mean the work these professionals has no value, it does not mean this work is done “better” by technology, but what it does mean is that some companies have decided to operationalize AI to take this work on for what they consider as comfortable for the initial steps for AI to produce. I am not here to say what’s right or wrong, rather, sharing perspective on how companies seem to be looking at it. Organizations will save money, find efficiencies, and become more productive where they can, and if AI acco

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

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Proving Value Positioning your business and execution are key to realizing value Author Graham Peelle April 08, 2024 Join “Build 10x Scale” - Connecting you, the founders and leaders, to equip you with the tools, community, and inspiration to scale your business. Join "Build 10x Scale", the community helping you scale your business to heights you didn’t think were possible. Together. Scale through a holistic approach: People/Process/Tech/AI Harmony Cost Reduction and Optimization Leadership Development, Strategy, and Growth Open now for limited membership at low introductory price for the first 20 members ($9/mo, cancel anytime). Launching 4.29.24. Proving Value Positioning your business and execution are key to realizing

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

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About our guest:

Tullio Siragusa, of Inventrica Advisory

https://tulliosiragusa.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/tulliosiragusa/

Tullio Siragusa is a fractional executive, leadership coach and transformation expert, who helps leaders, entrepreneurs, and professionals overcome roadblocks, align with their purpose, and create lasting success. Tullio is a seasoned business strategist, author, and speaker, founder of Inventrica Advisory, and the EmpathIQ Framework™. Tullio has helped organizations achieve billions in revenues, create purpose-driven cultures, and pioneer new standards for leadership and innovation.

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

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About our guest: Shane Tepper of Revelation          shane@revelationhq.com

www.Revelationhq.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/shanehtepper/ 

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

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About our guest:

Hugh Massie, of DNA Behavior Hugh Massie—His purpose is to empower people worldwide to optimize the alignment of their natural “hard-wired” talents and financial behaviors to make quantum leaps for creating Exponential Impact with reduced stress. DNA Behavior helps thousands of exceptional growth-minded leaders build a “category king” people-centric organization by optimizing their talents and financial behaviors so they can make quantum leaps for creating an exponential future. 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/hughmassie/

https://dnabehavior.com/start

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

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About our guest:

Sign up for free templates http://www.radicalproduct.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/radhika-dutt/

Radhika Dutt is the author of Radical Product Thinking: The New Mindset for Innovating Smarter.

Radhika is an entrepreneur and product leader who has participated in five acquisitions, two of which were companies that she founded. She advises organizations from high-tech startups to government agencies on building radical products that create a fundamental change. Radical Product Thinking (RPT) gives organizations a repeatable model for building world-changing products. The key? Being vision-driven instead of iteration-led. R. Dutt guides readers through the five elements of the methodology (vision, strategy, prioritization, execution and measurement, and culture) to develop a clear process for translating vision into reality, and turning RPT skills into muscle memory. 

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

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About our guest:

Steve Jaffe is the author of The Layoff Journey, From Dismissal to Discovery.

Amazon to pick up the book https://a.co/d/0qjoCv8

https://thestevejaffe.com/ - free chapter available

LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaffesteve

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/stevejaffethelayoffjourney/

Substack https://substack.com/@stevejaffe

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

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About our guest:

Steven Puri, The Sukha Company steven@thesukha.co

www.thesukha.co free for 7 days. Try it for 168 hours, no commitment.

Steven Puri is the Helping remote workers focus, finish faster & feel healthy. Founder, The Sukha Company

Steven has raised $21MM of venture across 3 tech start-ups (with 1 successful exit) and been a film executive on three studio lots, clearly Steven has seen a variety of work environments. He helps leaders stop the treadmill and start being more intentional with our time.

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

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About our guest:

Giuseppe Grammatico

Giuseppe can be reached at (908) 873-6134 or gg@ggthefranchiseguide.com

www.ggthefranchiseguide.com

"Hey, I'm Giuseppe Grammatico, your dedicated partner in turning entrepreneurial dreams into reality. With over two decades in franchising, I'm not just a consultant; I'm your personal Franchise Guide, helping you unlock the full potential of your passion, purpose, and profitability."

"𝙁𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙨𝙚 𝙁𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙤𝙢" 𝘼𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙃𝙤𝙨𝙩
📘 Franchise Freedom Book: Dive into the profound fulfillment that franchise ownership brings through my book. Discover the freedom, flexibility, impact, and income that could shape your entrepreneurial path. https://ggthefranchiseguide.com/book/

 
🎙️ Podcast Journey: Tune in to my podcast, where entrepreneurship meets freedom. Gain insights, success stories, and expert interviews, offering valuable guidance for your business journey. https://ggthefranchiseguide.com/podcast/

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

https://grahampeelle.com

About our guest: Chris Carter

www.approyo.com

We Build Meaningful Business Relationships for Better Outcomes Approyo provides full SAP service technology with extensive capabilities in hosting and managed services, upgrades, and migrations for our customers, running any SAP supported core functionality. With over a thousand SAP environments under management around the globe, we support businesses from production landscapes to migrations onto SAP S/4 HANA.   LinkedIn

Carter's Pub

@Ccarter1969 / @Approyo

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

https://grahampeelle.com

About our guest: Ash Seddeek

https://communicatewithclarity.co

https://executivegreatness.com/ash/

Ash Seddeek is the Founder & CEO of the Executive Greatness Institute.

Ash has coached leaders at Cisco, Uber, Google, HPE, and Sprinklr to deliver powerful strategic narratives and keynote talks that inspire teams, boards, and customers. His focus is simple: turn communication into a leadership advantage that drives execution and growth.

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

https://grahampeelle.com

Flywheel Leadership, Season 4, kicks off next week 

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

https://grahampeelle.com

About our guest: Skip Wilson, Draft Media

https://www.linkedin.com/in/skipwilson/

info@draftmedia.com

Skip Wilson's journey in advertising began at the age of 16 as a copywriter. He was trying to impress a girl and so he started looking for writing jobs. Over the years, he ventured into web design and entrepreneurship, ultimately founding his own web design business. His career took an exciting turn when he joined CNN Special Project while in college and worked on the iReport team, honing his prowess in digital media and building new platforms.

Skip's talents and vision led him to Clear Channel Radio, where he played a pivotal role in establishing and expanding the digital division. His dedication and expertise propelled him to the position of Vice President of Digital Media for iHeartMedia where he worked for over a decade.

Eventually, Skip decided to embark on a new venture, creating DRAFT Media Partners, an advertising execution company that now serves over a hundred clients across four locations. As a bestselling author and the host of "The Advertising Podcast," Skip Wilson continues to make his mark in the advertising world. In 2023 his company won "Most Intuitive Software Developer" at the Innovation in Business MarTech Awards, and this year they won the top spot as "Best Marketing Software Developer" at that same award show. 

Marketing and advertising professionals looking to get real, predictable results and improve their business operations will benefit from Skip's expertise and practical insights.

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The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

https://grahampeelle.com

About our guest: Hanna Bauer, HEARTnomics

https://heartnomics.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/bauerhanna/

At HEARTnomics™, we help you Cast Vision, Build Culture, and Lead Change so you can scale with clarity, sustain momentum, and create impact that lasts. Because the future success of your business depends on the leadership you build today.

Hanna D. Bauer specializes in transforming both people and processes so that organizations not only increase resilience but also realign their culture from the inside out. Hanna’s blend of Maxwell Leadership, DISC, Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, and Baldrige Framework experience gives her a unique lens on how growth and positive impact can be achieved without sacrificing human potential.

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The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

https://grahampeelle.com

About our guest: Tom Verboven, Mercer

https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-verboven-b85a691/https://www.thetalententerprise.com/://www.thetalententerprise.com/ 

Tom Verboven, a Human Capital Leader who advises global organizations on people and organizational strategies. Tom’s expertise is in building momentum for positive change. He helps leaders select the right executives and foster effective team dynamics, creating a continuous loop of improvement and growth.

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The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

https://grahampeelle.com

About our guest: Mark Osborne, Modern Revenue Strategies

Grab a free copy of Mark's book here

httpshttps://www.linkedin.com/in/remarkablemark///www.linkedin.com/in/remarkablemark/

https://modernrevenuestrategies.com/

mark@modernrevenuestrategies.com

Mark has a real talent for helping founders cut through the confusion and focus on the tactics that drive measurable business growth. His book, “Are Your Leads KILLING Your Business?,” continues to help CEOs rethink how they approach the sales-marketing loop, and the stories he shares from helping early-stage SaaS teams build pipelines that actually convert make the topic practical and energizing.

Mark’s sincere approach resonates with leaders who are tired of conflicting growth advice and need a proven framework from someone who’s delivered millions in revenue and seen multiple successful exits. 

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The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

https://grahampeelle.com

About our guest: Chef Franck https://www.cheffranck.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/franck-desplechin/

https://www.incrementumllc.net/

Chef Franck Desplechin, whose journey began in bustling French kitchens and led to establishing a consulting firm guiding hospitality teams nationwide. Franck’s new book, Relentless Growth: Cultivating a Chef’s Mindset for Professional Fulfillment (publishing October 14), gets at the heart of what truly drives people not just to survive a high-pressure field, but to thrive and transform through it.

Franck’s perspective stands apart because he doesn’t offer advice from a distance. He speaks directly to the grit it takes to show up every day, and the mindset shifts proven to turn setbacks into fuel for growth. His honest, unsugarcoated stories connect with any leader who wants more than incremental wins—they want meaningful professional fulfillment. He’s experienced the evolution from apprentice to hospitality leader firsthand, so his lessons on resilience and adaptability feel earned.

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The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

https://grahampeelle.com

About our guest: Channing Ferrer, Brevo

LinkedIn

brevo.com/

Instagram

Channing's world revolves around building Go-To-Market (GTM) strategies that create success stories. With a knack for nurturing global teams and a flair for finessing GTM strategies, helped businesses, from active startups to seasoned giants, scale to new heights.

At the heart of his approach is a simple philosophy:

- understand deeply

- act strategically

- and lead passionately.

Specializing in GTM leadership, I’m an entrepreneurial thinker and a global revenue architect. My expertise spans advisory services, sales strategy, partner strategy, and customer success. I’m all about empowering teams, driving product-led growth, and ensuring every customer journey echoes our shared success.

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The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

Endeavor Strategic (es10x)

https://grahampeelle.com

About our guest: Blair Huddy, Hudson Davis Communications

B6/Toxicity/Electrolytes: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/vitamin-b6-safe-electrolyte-drinks-supplements-what-to-know-rcna252639

hudsondaviscommunications.com/

LinkedIn

Blair in her own words: I left the rat race in the middle of the pandemic 🤦🏻‍♀️ After 15+ years as a corporate B2B marketer, I met the love of my life, quit my job, and started my own marketing company. Now I help mid and enterprise B2B organizations double, triple, and 5X+ their revenue - through marketing, PR, and branding. I... 💡 Develop visionary communications & marketing strategies 💪 Lead the teams who execute on tactical operations 🚗 Drive ROI with my marketing, PR, and social media expertise I'm a content junkie, proud millennial, and lover of all things pink and sparkly. Always open to the right people, timing, and opportunities.

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The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

https://grahampeelle.com

Leading Through Uncertainty with Confidence and Candor Your leadership capability and capacity continues to get tested by outside forces Author Graham Peelle October 16, 2023 Leading Through Uncertainty with Confidence and Candor Your leadership capability and capacity continues to get tested by outside forces Uncertainty is everywhere. If you dwell on it, it can be quite unsettling and paralyzing, actually. For you as an executive, manager, or founder, leading a team through turbulent times or times of uncertainty, must become a skill you master. Leading through uncertainty with the objective of achieving organizational focus and action, instead of your teams dwelling on the worst potential outcomes, has become one of the most critical skills we can hold as leaders. External Factors Recently with a recent global pandemic, climate crisis and events, social injustice, economic turbulence such as inflation to name one, recession (or pending recession) to name a second, or war, leaders must navigate a multitude of forks in the road where stockholders, stakeholders, customers, employees, partners, and suppliers, are watching, listening, and either judging or reacting to your communication and action, or lack thereof. When things get tough in your business, with your team, community, or generally in your country, or across the world, how you respond, matters. The manner in which many leaders or companies respond is a great start to review what the natural reactions are and give you some perspective to consider on a more appropriate approach to responding or reacting to external forces. Indonesia Stock Exchange Photo by Ruben Sukatendel on Unsplash Leadership Reaction Typical responses often set off patterns of nervousness and anxiety, leaving increased concern and distraction, not putting people at ease. The natural reaction aligns with fear. Fear drives reduced productivity, performance, and upheaval. Creating fear or trying to squash fear by communicating around the topic, instead of addressing it head-on, must be handled with care. Companies and leaders also tend to overreact in the short-term, under-reacting in the long run. While budgets, plans, and focus should already account for worst case scenarios to a point, they are often inflated with waste and overinflated numbers, including wasteful spending and wasteful time and effort, compounded by unrealistic expectations for margins and growth. This creates a perfect storm of over-hiring, underperforming, all exaggerated or misaligned by poor planning and a reactionary approach. What do companies often do when things get tough, they start managing their business differently. Natural reaction when business turns south or uncertainty increases, creates the following: Tightening up the budget cost reduction Reducing headcount Closing up in positions hiring freezes Closing locations Getting out the microscope on operations

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

https://grahampeelle.com

About our guest: Vance Morris, Deliver Service Now!

Grab your free copy of Vance's book here

https://vancemorris.com/

 LinkedIn

I spent a decade at Walt Disney World, working my way up from the opening team at the Yacht & Beach Club Resorts to designing and launching Chef Mickey’s at the Contemporary. It was a wild ride, and the lessons I learned there have shaped my approach to leadership, systems and service ever since. From training with Disney to advising groups like NASA and the Kennedy Center, I took those magical strategies and showed business owners how to deliver fantastic experiences that truly stick.

Now, I run Deliver Service Now!, where I help leaders implement Disney standards and real profit-driving marketing. For your audience of up-and-coming leaders, I can share straightforward stories and tools about creating “wow” moments and keeping teams moving together, even if the budgets aren’t Disney-sized. I reach about 7000 small business owners in my community, and I’m always looking to share what works – the real-life stuff that helps leaders thrive.

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The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

https://grahampeelle.com

About our guest: Dr. Bushra Khan, Leading with BK

https://leadingwithbk.com/ 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/leadingwithbk/

Instagram

Dr. Khan draws on 15 years of international experience and academic research to help leaders break out of outdated leadership models. Her evidence-based framework empowers teams to challenge myths, bridge the gap between “soft skills” and business strategy, and apply practical, emotionally intelligent approaches that move people and business ahead. Her work has transformed organizations like Google, where clarity and candor set her apart.

Bushra’s gift for storytelling brings complex concepts to life, making her sessions both energizing and actionable.

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The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

https://grahampeelle.com

About our guest: Nikki Barua, FlipWork

https://www.nikkibarua.com/

https://www.flipwork.ai/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikkibarua/

"As someone who's built businesses from the ground up and worked with leading global brands to create people-centric transformation, the theme of reinvention is the engine behind everything I do.

Over the past 25 years, I’ve led digital transformations focused on empowering teams through culture, strategy, and technology, now serving as CEO & Co-Founder of FlipWork. My own story of rising from humble beginnings has been told in outlets like CNBC, Bloomberg, Fortune, and Forbes. I’ve been recognized as Entrepreneur Magazine’s 100 Most Influential Women, Entrepreneur of the Year by ACE, EY North America Entrepreneurial Winning Woman, 21 Leaders for the 21st Century, LA Woman of Influence by The Business Journals, and Women of Entrepreneurship by the Lakers and Comerica Bank. My work is grounded in helping leaders and organizations unlock resilience and growth, especially amid rapid change like the AI era."

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The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

https://grahampeelle.com

About our guest: Renan Devillieres

https://www.oss.ventures/

LinkedIn

Renan Devillieres is a CEO who is passionate about making a positive impact on society and the environment, and who believes in using technology to drive change. With a diverse background that includes working as an economist at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), co-founding a start-up in Brazil, and founding OSS Ventures - a firm focused on creating start-ups for manufacturing, Renan has a wealth of experience in areas such as manufacturing operations, SaaS, and venture capital.

Renan's unique perspective on the challenges facing modern corporations, particularly with the increasing pace of technological change and the importance of sustainability. With his expertise, he can discuss critical issues such as navigating the changing landscape of digitization and building more sustainable and adaptable organizations to prepare for the future. 

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The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

https://grahampeelle.com

Grow and refine your culture, grow your business. This episode is the start of our thoughts around looking at Organizational Culture as one of your greatest assets, because it embodies who you are and what you do. Intentional and purposeful executing of your core values to enable a culture clients and people want to be a part of.

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

https://grahampeelle.com

Avoiding the Outcome Trap: Commit to Your Practice Viewing the Process as the Work...and the Goal Author Graham Peelle January 15, 2024 Avoiding the Outcome Trap: Commit to Your Practice Viewing the Process as the Work…and the Goal There are a few ways to look at how to elevate your work to that next level, set yourself apart, and leave anyone else behind that is hoping to compete. It also helps to consider why you do what you do? What will make it sustainable over time and not a temporary project? Whether it be your work, your hobby, or craft - are you doing it to make a quick buck, trying to get noticed, or do you love the process or activity for the long run? What’s the real reason for the craft or work you do? Doing the work Taking the journey Enjoying the process Embracing practice Climbing the mountain Building the house You can say it how you want, but it’s the process that’s important to love to take your business, work, or craft to the next level. You hear it from so many greats, and they continue to prove it’s true. Coach K, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Tom Cruise, Taylor Swift, Warren Buffett, the list of major figures in any field, with most explaining it’s not about an outcome, it’s about the process. The outcome will be there, when you do the work. Doing the work, whether that's natural love, or something you learn to love, a true passion, or innate skill, the work itself across the journey, and that “climb”, that is the thing, the goal. Want to be the best, do it, over and over again. Not doing great things for thirty days, six months, but great work for five, ten, fifteen, plus years. Nick Saban, now former Head Football Coach, University of Alabama, who just announced his retirement, has been an exceptional example of this. The process is what he did - to the point, I once heard a sport radio host call him “The Executioner”,

Seth's Blog Seth Godin's Blog on marketing, tribes and respect seths.blog The Practice: Shipping Creative Work Order your copy geni.us/kD6UWdp

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

https://grahampeelle.com

Producing Your Life’s Work, Leads to Great Work How you do meaningful great work Author Graham Peelle January 29, 2024 Join “Build 10x Scale” - Connecting managers, execs, & founders, creating the next level of Performance, Leadership, & Culture. Be the boss you wanted: Scale your biz 10x. Open now at a low introductory price for the first 20 members. Launching 3.4.24. Producing Your Life’s Work, Leads to Great Work How you do meaningful great work Reviewing PG’s Essay and What it Teaches Us After reading “The Practice” and “The Almanack of Naval Ravikant”, and prior to that, “Good to Great”, “100 Million Dollar Offers”, “Simple Scaling”, listening to numerous informative podcast episodes over the last two years, I have really fallen in love with the concept of finding your life’s work and learning how to achieve truly great work. Paul Graham lays out “How to Do Great Work” in his essay based off with experience and philosophical-based perspective that has so much value coming from someone like Paul and his reputation. Here are a few top takeaways from his essay that stood out to me: Work on your own projects Curiosity makes you a target for luck Make something you want to use or need Cumulative compounding of work is difficult to fight through the early slower stages: daily consistent work over long period of time yield quality and results Keep an eye out for what’s wrong or missing to find ideas on where to focus; these are often overlooked by others Clear out distractions to allow for room for great work New ideas required original thought and a different way of thinking than predecessors Comparing ideas, problems, and solutions from once industry to another can help yield powerful ideas Quality of colleagues and headcount often is significantly more powerful than quantity Morale level drives a correlating level of great work Audience compounds with consistency and quality, requires consistent, long-term mindset Spend time with those who give you energy, reducing time with those who reduce your energy Great work: scientific, “ability, interest, effort, and luck”. Luck can’t be influenced by definition, effort is assumed, leaving ability and interest where you can directly make an impact in your work Once you learn how to do great work, you will be on your path pursuing your “Life’s Work”. Christensen’s Perspective Clay Christensen, renowned author, business advisor, investor, and teacher, takes a different approach focused on the deep reflection of how you will measure your own life. “How Will You Measure Your Life” takes a view of what’s important. When you realize your time is limited, when you lose someone, or have a near-death experience on your own, how will that shape what matters. Typically, those events help you get closer to the root of your purpose and impact, and how you help and treat others along the way. Christensen takes what you work on and how you act, and pushes you to consider how it helps this world or people you love. Here are a few lessons that stood out to me: Learning Increased scope and importance of responsibilities Contributions to others Recognition for your results Keep purpose in mind with everything we do Short-term thinking often leads to short-term problems, frustrations, and

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

https://grahampeelle.com

Abundance: Big Picture & Long-Term Mindset Drives Success Scarcity kills your aptitude to increase surface area for success Author Graham Peelle February 05, 2024 Join “Build 10x Scale” - Connecting managers, execs, & founders, creating the next level of Performance, Leadership, & Culture. Be the boss you wanted: Scale your biz 10x. Open now at a low introductory price for the first 20 members ($19/mo, cancel anytime). Launching 3.4.24. Abundance: Big Picture & Long-Term Mindset Drives Success Scarcity kills your aptitude to increase surface area for success Zero to One: Think for yourself I’m enjoying reading some of the great business books, so thought I would listen to one this weekend as well. “Zero to One”, by Peter Thiel was as good as advertised. This book has so much perspective from what real business is actually like and what works to accomplish great things, and also has some great views back into the PayPal Mafia and great stories of monopolies, Microsoft, Google, etc. Great to hear some of the fundamentals from one of the greatest builders and investors of the modern era. Here are a few of the quotes and thoughts from “Zero to One”: “Bureaucratic hierarchies move slowly and entrenched interests shy away from risk. In the most dysfunctional organizations, signaling that work is being done, becomes a better strategy for career advancement then actually doing work. If this describes your company, you should quit now” “The first step to thinking clearly is to question what we think we know about the past” “The most contrarian thing of all is not to go against the crowd but to think for yourself” Losing sight of what you’re working towards is dangerous “The Challenge of the Future” “All Happy Companies are Different” “You are not a lottery ticket” “Follow the money” “Foundations” “No company has a culture, every company is a culture” “the future won’t happen on its own”, “it’s up to us” “find singular ways to create the new things that will make the future not just different, but better. To go from Zero

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

https://grahampeelle.com

The Cost of Just Hitting Numbers Is your organization truly invested in its people? Really!? Author Graham Peelle December 04, 2023 The Cost of Just Hitting Numbers Technology share chart Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash Is your organization truly invested in its people? Really!? This article was first published by Graham Peelle on Medium, on July 21, 2023 Driving revenue, activity supporting revenue, and key business activities are critical to maintain focus in moving your business forward. This focus promotes growth, performance, and builds the business. But it can’t come at a cost to your people. Your people, or talent, drive your future, your name in the market, and hold the keys to your future. As companies grow, and even those with some of the best reputations as employers from the Fortune 500, they can miss the opportunity to grow with their people, and struggle with making their people an afterthought, or maybe it’s that some organizations view people as a commodity. People are people, so when you lay thousands off, don’t expect people to come running when you hire again when work gets tough. It goes both ways and after what we saw from 2018–2022 and before, you would think some learning took place. But it’s business — terminate to reduce cost or raise stock prices, restructure cost, etc. and figure out your headcount needs later. Even when six months ago, adding talent was your priority. The hamster wheel is real. Hire like crazy, layoff, hire again, no true plan for doing anything differently, but this churn isn’t sustainable, nor good business. It’s about the people, stupid, if I dare to play off the infamous 90’s campaign slogan. People are the priority. Happy employees equals happy clients, high performance and a higher level of ownership and accountability. Some companies don’t get it, or maybe even scarier, is when they see it, yet choose to ignore it and prefer to invest in other areas at a cost to their people. Action shows your priorities, not talk. Organizations continue to talk about how people are their priority, but many show that people rank behind a whole slew of corporate priorities, including their customers. If you don’t make your people feel you care and want to advance them, in turn, they will deprioritize their work for you as well. Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash Companies can understand the bottom line figures, KPIs, OKRs, whatever your flavor, but when it comes to people, organizations can struggle because people change and sometimes numbers don’t tell the full story. Groups of people evolve over time, but more recently with the rapidly changing socially connected world, with a variety of events and movements, the rate of change is starting to rival tech at times. MeToo, social justice, COVID pandemic, climate crisis, inflation, school violence, and so on. Not to mention the individual rate of change with your leaders and teams- people change individually often, but the community change has shifted to a hyper speed. It’s about the people- I have seen organizations claim people were at the center of everything, but as the companies grip the bat and struggle to meet revenue and profit expectations, that mindset fades away over time. Some companies try, but stopped making the necessary sacrifices to live it, breathe it, and grow it. It is in danger to become just another tagline, not a real mantra to

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

https://grahampeelle.com

About our guest:

LeaderSkills http://www.leaderskills.training/

Holly Golebiowski https://www.linkedin.com/in/holly-golebiowski/

"As a Partner at LeaderSkills, I help companies improve their team’s leadership skills. While there are many facets to my position, I most enjoy leading the live discussions with each cohort after completing each module in the program. I am a resource to clients and their team members throughout the program, and beyond once they graduate. I most enjoy watching as each student grows through the program as they put the tools and concepts into action." Proven history of building successful teams and leaders through concentrated focus on team and individual development.

"Coaching isn't therapy. It's product development, with you as the product." - Fast Company

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

https://grahampeelle.com

About our guest: Rich Ellis

https://richellis.nz/

Rich’s approach to workplace wellbeing, centered on building endurance and energy among leaders and teams, is known with many business leaders searching for practical strategies that actually stick.

His experience helping staff achieve real, measurable health improvements and the recognition he received as NZ Exercise Industry PT of the Year shows what’s possible when energy and resilience become central to leadership development.

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The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

https://grahampeelle.com

New Year, Same You? What are you doing to execute on your New Year’s strategy? As January 1st arrives, that may provide a sense of refresh, excitement, new opportunities for some, or a sense of apprehension or nervousness, for others. You may love the idea of the fresh start, and some may dread it. Regardless, it is within your control of how to approach 2024 with a renewed vigor for life and your work. The key will be when those people, situations, opportunities, or thoughts come up, how will you handle them? Will you jump through the positive windows, and walk away from the negative traps? Or will you fall prey for the time suck or distractions of life? Will you ignore the signs and windows, and march on blindly without the big picture in mind? Do you have those new year goals set? No? Don’t know what to focus on at this stage? Regardless, it is within your control of how to approach 2024 with a renewed vigor for life and your work. The key will be when those people, situations, opportunities, or thoughts come up, how will you handle them? Will you jump through the positive windows, and walk away from the negative traps? Or will you fall prey for the time suck or distractions of life? Will you ignore the signs and windows, and march on blindly without the big picture in mind? Do you have those new year goals set? No? Don’t know what to focus on at this stage? BUILD. Build something, anything, anything that may serve a market, or not. Don’t sit and wait, build. Why you may ask? Because those who take action, go places, those who get in the arena and work on something, increase their odds of making things happen. Build as a creator, don’t just be a creator. Why? Because a lot of people are creating, but do they really build something? Building requires a different level of work, commitment, and vision. Building takes work towards something of significance in service to others. Principles As you build, consider a few principles to keep in mind for how you work with customers, candidates, or colleagues: Zone of genius - your unique ability Human first Response time Urgency Internal focused to deliver on external expectations Customer delivery is the number one priority for the people, with your people being number one for the firm overall Keep the main thing, the main thing Simple scales, complex fails Learning and curiosity Hire good people and treat them well Delivering excellence through service for others Hire and partner with those you want to work with Find your different Building with energy in 2024 How do you BUILD with energy in the New Year? You decide: What Why How Commit You build based on what y

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

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Reflecting on Lessons Learned, Pushes You Forward Understanding Your journey leads you to a more meaningful future Author Graham Peelle April 22, 2024 Join “Build 10x Scale” - Connecting you, the founders and leaders, to equip you with the tools, community, and inspiration to scale your business. Join "Build 10x Scale", the community helping you scale your business to heights you didn’t think were possible. Together. Scale through a holistic approach: People/Process/Tech/AI Harmony Cost Reduction and Optimization Leadership Development, Strategy, and Growth Open now for limited membership at low introductory price for the first 20 members ($9/mo, cancel anytime). Launching 4.29.24. Reflecting on Lessons Learned, Pushes You Forward Understanding Your journey leads you to a more meaningful future Below are a few things I shared with students in ECON 210 during Purdue’s 2024 Business Alumni Conference, with the Daniels School of Business. Am I an “Economist”, no, but few Econ grads are, so what is the value of the degree? It’s a quiet degree many are naive to, scared of, and it’s largely misunderstood. The panel discussed how Economics shaped our careers. Economics Official Definitions: My real world application of the definition: The study of how resources, organizations, governments, and people make decisions, act and solve problems across interconnecting markets. Decision making Problem solving Resource allocation Intersection of people, process, and technology, with facts, details, thoughts, feelings, and analysis all weaved in [Additional recommendations for early career in brackets] (Prompts for discussion from Purdue’s staff are numbered) 1. Can you share your educational journey in economics, including the reasons that led you to choose it as your major and your academic goals during that time? Started out in engineering and it wasn’t as interesting as expected, and much different than math and science from high school, and I didn't seem to have the natural aptitude for it as I had expected I realized I needed to do something aligned to what I am really interested in, business, which was something that gave me a broader perspective and taught me how to solve problems Wasn’t passionate about Management, Accounting, or Finance specialization so I thought economics would be a great degree focused on preparing me for business and leadership Wanted to start working, and that’s all I cared about What I have realized, is how much the technical experience has led me to have productive and collaborative work with technical professionals, how much I have learned by serving various industries, and the value you bring, in having even some experience with another discipline [ Evaluate your strengths and interests, not just going off what people say you should study.] 2. How did you start your career in economics? What were your first roles and how did they shape your path? I didn’t land a management consulting role, or an analyst role our of college, so I was pushed to use my people skills, hard work, and my drive for a career My first role was inside sales, selling print and digital marketing materials for customers, then moving to a small business where I was a GM for an early version of DoorDash or GrubHub, but way before their time I decided I needed to work for a large corporate environment for stability as I got closer to starting a f

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

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Are We Doing It Wrong?: Build Talent Capital in Your Organization that Costs Less AND Makes Sense Hiring as an Investment, Not a Cost Author Graham Peelle April 15, 2024 Join “Build 10x Scale” - Connecting you, the founders and leaders, to equip you with the tools, community, and inspiration to scale your business. Join "Build 10x Scale", the community helping you scale your business to heights you didn’t think were possible. Together. Scale through a holistic approach: People/Process/Tech/AI Harmony Cost Reduction and Optimization Leadership Development, Strategy, and Growth Open now for limited membership at low introductory price for the first 20 members ($9/mo, cancel anytime). Launching 4.29.24. Are We Doing It Wrong?: Build Talent Capital in Your Organization that Costs Less AND Makes Sense Hiring as an Investment, Not a Cost Scrap transactional talent patchwork and hire the best people. Easy enough, huh? Treat them and pay them better than anyone else. Do interesting work that people want to do. And your talent game will rise, along with your client satisfaction and margins. It actually is that easy, but few are willing to invest and put the time and effort in to make that happen. The methodology saves money in the long run, both in hard dollars and in perceived market value. Short-term thinking about hiring, results in short-term success and impact, and isn’t sustainable. Your hiring view should be months and years out, not hey we’re busy or need people to fill a need, let’s hire! People will cringe when you or others say, “We just need some bodies.” “They’re just labor.” Or “We need butts in seats.” But that’s real and that’s the culture you’re representing. These are still people and those who remember that and act as such, will make an impact well beyond the bottom line or stock price. Get It Right the First Time As I was thinking about this week’s OpCo, I realized I once flew to Minneapolis for three interviews for talent partner roles, essentially internal recruiters working on behalf of our client. I recommended we hire two of the three. And they were two of our best and have had

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

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The Value of Talent: Don’t Short Change Your Future Navigating the Talent Landscape Author Graham Peelle November 13, 2023 The Value of Talent: Don’t Short Change Your Future Navigating the Talent Landscape Originally published by Graham Peelle on Medium on July 22, 2023 Talent Strategy & Solutions — There are a multitude of ways to get work done. Talent Solutions is the larger segment made up of many of those options. It’s important to understand the various ways to get work done to position your work mix for your business model. Just some of those talent options include: Contingent Labor (contract, temp, etc.) Managed Services (bundled, staffing+, or BPO in some cases) Independent Contractors (1099) Gig Workers (Think Uber and DoorDash related concepts, work on demand, with a variety of big players in the on-demand digital flexible staffing models, like Swipejobs) Engineering Services (Also referred to as Professional Services, Technical Services, Managed Services, Project Work, etc.) Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) Talent Acquisition Your internal recruiting team with a dedicated individual, group, or entire department Drives your internal strategy and accountable for delivering on organization’s strategy Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash Talent Attraction & Cultivation Marketing — includes all aspects of marketing, with the biggest being digital Talent engagement through talent communities and social awareness This includes not only marketing to talent, but also keeping them warm and interested in hearing from or about your company as a way to drive future talent University, technology and trade school partnerships are a subset of this area This is the key to tapping into external talent Talent Management & Development Actively managing and developing your current internal talent pool Driving career pathing and skills development Closely aligned with Learning & Development (L&D), but more specific to the overall strategy of taking your organization’s talent to the next level This is your talent engine and what can build your next level leaders, managers and supervisors, but also brings value to the entire organization by providing your talent career guidance, motivation and tools to drive forward So what does this all mean? Talent matters. It is critical, and whether it be talent for your organization, division, team, or group, you can drive your talent forward with a holistic Talent Solutions approach. Only focusing on talent acquisition or talent management for example, will leave you with a major gap in your talent strategy, even if you still think your talent can be replaced, consider the last couple years, as we have learned there is a definite level of talent. It’s not unlimited and when you think of it as truly a resource, or human capital investment, your approach changes. Now, you may wonder, how can I succeed as a leader in the world of talent? Leverage your available expertise in-house, hire that expertise, or work with a consultant to help set-up your talent strategy and can provide specialization. Position your

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

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Client & Associate Retention: Slowing Down to Speed Up Build a thriving business at any scale with sustainable fundamentals, not chasing the squirrel Originally written by Graham Peelle on Medium, July 20, 2023 Founders, companies, and organizations see challenges and problems all of the time, but what do they do about them? Do they push them aside, ignore them, form a project team, special initiative, or make it a focus area? Companies sometimes ignore issues, and often take action to solve problems, but do they actually work towards understanding the root cause of the problem, and solving it, or simply patch an easier straightforward target that is the popular or a more “sellable” option to leadership? Companies are often not taking action or trying to solve the wrong problem, and it happens repeatedly, over and over, wasting time and money, and potentially harming the business. It’s time to stop this churn and burn. It’s time to not solely focus on your own priorities that focus on your acquisition. Acquisition is one piece of the puzzle, but not the only piece. Prioritize retention and unlock the key to long-term, sustainable and compounding growth. Not to mention, saving money, eliminating unnecessary headaches, and exhausting rework. Value your current business and talent, with talent retention or customer retention. Yes, the principles are quite similar and you can align your organizational mindset and culture at a high level. It’s time to form clear aligned strategies focused on your customer retention, and talent retention. Most companies understand and want to to have a plan and want to execute in both areas, but not all know how to build the customized plan for their needs. What drives customer and talent retention? Don’t over-complicate it, but you must dig below the surface. It’s about delivering on the wants and needs of each group, while most organizations tend to deliver a something, but don’t truly validate if it’s what our customers or talent truly want. Many of us make assumptions, which turn into investment decisions, sometimes costly decisions. Like giving a raise or retention bonus, and assuming that will improve retention, or adding a service and assuming that will hold on to your customer. Understand the challenges, and understand the solution and its impacts, never assume you understand the pattern and impacts. Photo by AbsolutVision on Unsplash We need to change the culture and listen to our audience to determine what our talent wants, and what our customers want. And not at face value, but taking the real feedback, reporting, and facts, to develop a strategy and planning the execution. Data driven retention strategy. Below are a few highlights on how to understand what your customer or talent want, in order build a true Retention Strategy: Collect Evidence from your current customers (or talent from that perspective). This can be direct feedback, market intel, surveys, reports, facts, data, etc. During this step, it’s important to remove your preconceived notions and judgments about what’s important to your own company, versus what your audience wants. Organize your findings into actionable analysis, and where possible validate your analysis with a sampling of your audience. Collaboration within your organization to educate and align on the path forward. Build Vision, including a

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

Endeavor Strategic (es10x)

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A Look at Servant Leadership: A Must Have Skill for New Leaders

Your team is your mission, not your self-advancement

Graham Peelle
October 30, 2023

A Look at Servant Leadership: A Must Have Skill for New Leaders

Photo by LinkedIn Sales Solutions on Unsplash

Your team is your mission, not your self-advancement

Originally written by Graham Peelle on Medium, July 18, 2023

Servant leadership is referenced often, but since it’s so common, the definition and what it really means isn’t always discussed. Servant leadership is about everyone else and not you as the leader, and it’s about truly embracing the concept of serving your team instead of having an authoritative mindset and serving your own selfish priorities.

How do you show up for your team? Do people fear you or respect you? Does your team act the same while you are there, as when you are not? Are you truly putting your team’s well being and trajectory ahead of your own? All of this while delivering on business objectives can be quite overwhelming when you list it out. John Maxwell is commonly known as the expert on the topic, but let’s dive in here on what you can do to serve your team.

Servant leadership sounds like it comes with a significant responsibility, and it does. Leadership, generally speaking, does come with an enormous level of responsibility. You have someone’s career in your hands. You can then continue to beat yourself about it, like considering what is your purpose? Are you serving you or serving the team? Are you building a team or controlling a group of people? How are you bringing others along for the journey?

Heavy questions for any leader, so how do you model this? Trust, empowerment and providing the tools to get the job done. Taking away pressures that are not suited for your team, and putting your team first. Putting your team first involves considering your team’s development, tools, and positioning before your own and also having their back to ensure they have the support needed to feel free from undue encumbrance from corporate or organizational pressures. I really like empowerment, as it breeds engagement, ownership and accountability within a business operation. Empower your team to own their world.

From the opposite side of empowerment, comes micromanagement, which breeds fear and lack of transparency. Micromanagement when utilized as a broad tool and mindset, is toxic, and should only be the path when an associate shows they need the oversight at that level during increased performance management, or possibly during an intense training program for a new hire. Micromanagement is where you limit an associate’s growth, empowerment and confidence and truly cuts professionals down, eating away at their self-worth and attitude. Micromanagement destroyed my work spirit in a past org

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

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The making of an exceptional team, and how to build What is a team? When I dug a little deeper on building teams, it quickly took me back to the fundamentals of what makes up a team. We throw around the term team, but what do we really mean in the world of work. It's similar to a sports team, but it is different. The goal is to compete and win, come together to achieve something, and work together to drive towards a common goal. The goal is to win, but together, and not at the cost of one another, but the advancement of the team. New Oxford American Dictionary Definition - collection of people working together towards a common goal What does good like? What does it take to have a great team? What communication is necessary? What leadership, what resources, what parameters? What rules? A great team has a basic purpose, mission, and common connectivity, but it’s really whatever you want it to be - the leader, and the team determine what good looks like. A team is set-up to achieve the team's goals and expectations. I think back to Good to Great, Jim Collins, where the connection of people and business advancement is so strong, proving you don't have one without the other. Here are a few core points centered from the people lens, adopted from concepts and quotes from Good to Great, by Jim Collins: Build a culture of discipline and commitment to business and people, not a hierarchy to manage poor or average performers Contagious culture and success Ambition for institution, not themselves, humility and intense professional will Team First (We not I) Talent builds the future, they know where to take company when you don’t Ability to get and keep great people- growth throttle Throughout, Jim Collins makes the logical individual points come together into a wider philosophy, which I refer to as building a Performance Operations Culture. Trust Trust is the fundamental groundwork for business and teams. Trust is a feeling, a path to connectivity, a mutual understanding, a currency. But how do you build trust and the team feeling, versus the instinctive urge for survival which ultimately

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

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Simple Scales, Complex Fails Scaling your business for personal, community, and client impact Do you believe in and see the benefits of your business for your current customers? Do you see many other customers who could benefit from the same? Do your team members, associates, and loved-ones deserve the opportunity to help grow this business to new heights or see the fruits of your labor? Do you have the desire and energy to scale to the next level? These are the questions many small and medium sized enterprises/businesses (SME/SMB) go through as they pass the checkpoints of viability, growth, sustainability, evolution, etc., through the lifetime of their business. And at some point they typically see an avenue to continue forward and scale to new heights, but there is a hesitation for many - do I have what it takes, do others want what I am offering, will my team be able to pull this off, do I have the financial wherewithal, will it be too much work, will it risk my current piece of the pie? The doubts continue forward… I was fortunate to discover Simple Scaling, a firm that specializes in helping companies with their scaling journey. Their methodology and mindset has helped build so much clarity for me in my personal career growth journey with understanding what it is important and helping articulate what I am passionate about, my value and unique ability, helping establish clarity for my own leadership, business, and professional goals. Brendan McGurgan and Claire Colvin have dedicated their business and profession to helping teach the ScaleX framework, which was codified in their book, Simple Scaling: 10 Proven Principles to 10x Your Business. This product, service, and concept is an organized symphony of business mastery. Delivering the fundamentals and best practices in one clean format, all included in their book. This written library of scaling business expertise and motivation is a must read for any business owner or leader looking to elevate their operation. When I enjoyed this book, it was astounding how much of my career learnings were outlined across disciplines including operations, talent, sales, and business. This book guided the creation of their business, Simple Scaling. Recently, I attended the ScaleX Summit in Belfast, Northern Ireland (UK), where the power of people, purpose, and innovation converged for a global networking and learning opportunity with valuable insights and actionable business and life-changing mindset and framework tools. Below are a few key takeaways from the ScaleX Summit: Jack Daly - Vision - Sales system with a playbook - Leverage - Value of practice - Always be recruiting - Prioritize what grows sales (HPAs = High Payoff Activities) Steven Bartlett The Diary Of A CEO - Everyone needs purpose within an organization - Incremental improvements over time - Importance of psychology with why people buy - Fail fast, testing/experimentation is key with online presence - “Who, not how”, to get things done - “You must make pressure your privilege” - Happiness is based off of your expectations Marga Hoek - Learn how doing business for good, is good for business - Business can be profitable,

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

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Building a Performance Operations Culture: Raise Your Culture Index Define & Craft Intentional Organizational Culture Define & Craft Intentional Organizational Culture Culture continues to be that mythical concept in much of the business world. Culture can be hard to comprehend when you’ve never experienced a clear and strong culture, appreciated an organization’s culture, or truly felt the energy and power of what culture really is. For some, they have seen a bland or negative culture for so long, it doesn't seem important, because they haven't that shining example. If your organization is trying to build something unique and capable of so much more, but you are still trying to crack the secret of culture, consider raising your culture index for your leadership style and your organization. The ROI from great culture driving business results can be substantial, yet it's so foggy on how to define, measure, and build it. Great culture can be felt, it's an energy that buzzes distinctly, and produces an amazing environment, and can produce incredible results. How do you build a strong culture as a leader? First, define why you need it and what a “great” or “strong” culture really means to you and your organization. If you can’t define it, it’s tough to communicate what it is and build it. You hear about unique cultures at places like Netflix, Google, or Tesla, for good or bad, depending on what your idea of culture is and what good looks like. Craft Your Culture: Articulate & Define It Why: Culture exists whether intentional or not Why not create and steer it, promoting your ideals, not allowing a culture to grow that is counter-productive to your core values and mission What: Culture Definition & Determination Company culture is a shared set of workplace beliefs, values, attitudes, standards, purposes and behaviors. It reflects both the written and unwritten rules that people in an organization follow. Your organization's culture is the sum of all that you and your colleagues think, say, and do as you work together. (Bamboo HR) Culture Determination Aligned Passion & Mission - Know Your Organizational Why Communication Focus Operational Ways of Working Mindset It’s about aligning the core company competency, community, and care, with how you work together and serve your customer. Yes, customers see your culture and often feel it through how you serve them, and associates living your culture, translates to customers feeling the culture. How: By creating strong alignment of what’s important with the right people who care. Aligning people with purpose. But going deeper, how do we achieve this? By breaking up the core areas to build a framework of successful culture. I saw a quote that said something like, “if you look at a teams leader you will see a snapshot of what the team will look like.” I didn’t record the source of that quote and haven't found it yet, but it made me think about being the example

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

https://grahampeelle.com

Reinvent Your Organizational Culture to Drive Transformative Results Through Your People

The key lies with empowering your people through ownership in their work

Graham Peelle

Reinvent Your Organizational Culture to Drive Transformative Results Through Your People

The key lies with empowering your people through ownership in their work

Empowering associate ownership drives everything else. With an empowered team, you have a team that cares beyond basic “employee” care for their work. There is another level that not every team or individual maintains. A notch up to a level of ownership and a strive for excellence where proactivity, accountability, deep care for outcomes, and an inherit responsibility are rooted in the associate's work. Here are a few benefits of an empowered team working with an ownership mentality:

• A team that cares, accomplishes more
• Retention increases with the level of ownership
• Care beyond compensation - missionary not mercenary
• Performance and productivity
• Innovation thrives

Empowered ownership leads, drives, and incentivizes not only the best fit behaviors for your business, but leads to outcomes through work aligned to the mission. In short, you have your employees working in the right way for your business, with the right mindset, all focused on driving the desired results. Sounds simple? It may be more rare than we would expect.

Hiring for Empowerment

If you want great empowered associate and team performance, consider looking for the characteristics in people you hire:

• Hold the desire and drive for success
• Looking for responsibility
• Ownership in what they say and what they do
• Proof of accountability in their life and career
• Ability to learn and apply
• Pride and care in their own education or previous work experience
• Genuine care and interest in the work and other people
• Provide signs of interest in being a teammate, not an individual
• Show up on time
• Self-awareness

Incentives

Incentives often drive ownership, yet don’t align with the culture that leadership is hoping to drive. Companies may offer an ESOP (employee stock ownership plan), preferred stock, performance bonuses, merit increases, etc., but then don’t link the work with their incentives for their people. There essentially is a work-incentive gap, where both exist, but they don’t coincide to actually support each other. They are siloed. Consider creating incentives aligned to what you will allow your people to impact - why provide a bonus, if an individual can truly not impact the metric or it doesn’t actually incentivize any tangible action? And if an overall company or group incentive bonus, exude transparency up

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

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Operations leaders are builders As I considered what additional operations topics I would cover over the next few weeks, I heard a comment that stuck with me. Operations leaders are builders. Building a team, building a business, building products, or building a service. This resonates with me because of the creation mode that relates to more of the artistic professions, product designers, movie makers, and similar roles, but also those building an operation or building a business. We are builders. Just a matter of what we build compared to others. It’s often assumed things just run. Some assume the work just gets done, but Operations is who makes it happen, many times behind the scenes, under the radar, and behind the curtain. Why is this important to remember? Because similar to artistic liberties someone in the arts may need to be creative and productive, operations needs the same kind of freedom to create, innovate, and build. The ability to build without having to stay between the lines. Ops having runway to work, allows for the organic improvements in all aspects of the operation by running business in an intentional manner. Ultimately, Operations encompasses this ability to deliver on the day-to-day, but also work on building the next best thing, or improving the process, experience, or service. Developing your team, helping your customer succeed, delivering on quality - all Operations. Sometimes we have those that want things to “just run”, rely on Operations, but allow the flexibility to deliver just that. The more barriers, hoops, or bureaucracy, the less likely Ops can have the necessary freedom to build. Want greatness, let Operations do its job. Think about the parallel with sales - yes there are policies and procedures focused on how orgs sell, but how often do we see sales professionals limited by too much restriction, process, rules, admin, reporting, and structure that is contrary to the sales craft itself, in turn, limiting your ability to grow, by limiting sales activity, incentives, or power. It’s similar for Ops, so as we look at different functions, maybe it’s as simple as allowing teams and individuals to do their jobs. Hire the best people and allow them to their jobs. How many companies spend so much time effort and money to find the best people, to handcuff them and tell them what to do? Steve Jobs said it well, “It doesn't make sense to hire smart people and then tell them what to do, we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.” Operations leaders are builders: builders of culture, builders of products, builders or service, and builders of business. If you’re leading an organization, let your builders, build. David Senra provided the inspiration from his comment about being a “Builder” …from the Founders episode regarding Henry Flagler, a founder of Standard Oil (with JD Rockefeller), who also built a bridge to the Florida Keys back when Key West was the largest city in FL, and what is now Miami was then called Ft. Dallas.

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

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Going the “extra mile” as a leader to support your team can many times mean simply being a good person, listening to what they need, and showing your support for your team. It doesn’t make leadership easy, but leadership doesn’t have to be complex.

Here are a few examples:

• Story telling: share the firm’s past or your own stories to help make a better future. Not dwelling, but learning from past experience, accelerating learning for others. Look how effective a story is to truly illustrate a point - stories create and grow culture.
• Give them some feedback about something no one else had the guts to share, but they need to hear it. This requires genuine trust and care to deliver it AND they have it received in a positive and impactful way.
• Checking-in to see if they need something, and really caring if they need help.
• Not redirecting endlessly, but actually helping connect them to resources and those who can help.
• Teaching to have them help themselves is great, but if they aren’t able to help themselves, sometimes it backfires. Take time to coach and teach them when it’s that time.
• If not a critical directive and the situation allows for some nuance, but they’re lost- have them to speak to a peer or an additional leader that excels in that area. Or give them two options that could work, but have them make and own the decision.
• Removing roadblocks that are preventing success, or frustrating for job satisfaction and not business critical.
• Be approachable and open to conversation. If you want your team to update you, share with you, be vulnerable with where they need help, you better make it comfortable for them to reach out.
• Have a coffee or meal…without them asking. And if remote, schedule an informal catch-up and not mention business at all. If you’re shaking from even the idea of not having an agenda, the agenda is to connect outside of business and have a relaxed and open environment. Put yourself out there to encourage them to do the same.
• Buy a team member a new jacket when they need one (one of the most meaningful gestures I have seen someone do for someone else), or whatever simple gesture that goes a long way and shows you actually care about them as a human.

Support, Care, Guide, Coach, Direct, Empower, but not isolating, leaving behind, or degrading. Sounds simple, but often times it’s not easy. In an effort to teach someone to fish, or to mature and learn, leaders often miss opportunities to develop their teams and leave them feeling lost for answers with no clear resource to help. Be the kind of leader that teaches someone to fish, but sticks around or is available if they lose their way and need leadership.

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

https://grahampeelle.com

Leadership concepts are often simple, common sense, and even logical, so why do so many struggle with leadership? It comes down to two different mindsets: Choosing to put people first, with empathy and actual care Putting other priorities first, and trying to make it look like people are first, prioritizing other priorities over people, forcing people into the equation Choose people-first, because people prove to be your most important resource in the long run for the majority of business models, people are your customers in many circumstances, and prioritizing people always shines through eventually, with the leaders and companies that are truly supportive of their people, vs. those that claim to focus on people. A People-First Approach ensures you prioritize your primary focus has the deserving attention, compared to an outcome-based focus, which prioritizes the result vs. the culture and inputs to get there. A culture and inputs focus will build a sustainable model for future growth, because it engrains the why and the how, not just the results, while outcomes-focus drives only caring about the end game. The outcome is important and is necessary to drive performance and results, but would you ever replace "People" in your Purpose, Mission, or Values statements, with Outcomes or Margin? People Performance, not Outcomes forcing people into the equation, builds a sustainable growth-oriented model bringing your team along with the mission. If you would like to be notified for future posts on operations leadership, culture, and talent related topics, make sure you click the 🔔 on my profile page. Or subscribe to the monthly newsletter and find it in your email or LinkedIn. For additional daily content, check out https://grahampeelle.com

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

https://grahampeelle.com

About our guest: Cary Sparrow, Founder/CEO at WageScape

https://www.wagescape.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/carysparrow/

A former US Navy officer who served on several nuclear submarines turned Entrepreneur. With 35+ years (combined) of engineering, military, consulting, technology, and operations leadership in achieving organizational growth makes him a guest of value to HR leaders and other decision-makers wanting to navigate the labor market, Cary is paving the way for HR professionals and consulting firms to predict the future of wage-pay.

The labor market is the largest component of our economy. By 2025, salaries and wages globally account for over $100 trillion in economic activity. Entire industries exist to collect and sell labor market data, and companies, governments, and communities spend billions of dollars each year trying to understand pay, hiring, and workforce dynamics. Yet despite all this investment, labor markets remain opaque and inefficient. Data is often fragmented, outdated, expensive, and difficult to apply in real-world decisions. As AI adoption accelerates, these weaknesses create an even greater risk: AI applications trained on faulty or incomplete labor market data can embed systemic errors, impair decision-making at scale, and undermine trust and credibility in the very tools designed to improve outcomes. Without reliable, real-time data, both human and AI-driven decisions fall short. WageScape was built to change that. We provide the data that AI learns from, delivering the largest source of global, real-time labor market and pay intelligence. Our datasets are continuously updated, structured, and enriched at scale to support modern analytics and AI-driven use cases, giving organizations a reliable foundation for building smarter models, tools, and insights. Founded by business leaders who have experienced firsthand how poor data creates confusion and waste, WageScape delivers next-generation labor market data to all audiences—from employers and policymakers to educators, researchers, and technology builders. By making high-quality labor market intelligence practical, timely, and comprehensive, and offering it at substantially lower cost, we’re bringing transparency to one of the most critical. See for yourself. ...............................................................................................................................................................................................

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

https://grahampeelle.com

About our guest: Cameron Bishop, Raincatcher

https://www.linkedin.com/in/cameron-bishop-19b6804/

cameron.bishop@raincatcher.com

https://raincatcher.com/

Cameron Bishop, thrives on turning challenges into opportunities. He's a seasoned business leader and CEO, and has built and transformed companies from the ground up. He led the growth of Intertec to $400M in revenue and scaled Ascend Media into a $120M business in just three years. With expertise in exit strategies, leadership development, and business transformation, Cameron’s insights help owners maximize value and navigate the complex process of selling their businesses.

Raincatcher is a national business brokerage and M&A firm specializing in small and mid-market companies. We believe selling your business isn’t just a transaction. It’s a life-changing transition. One that’s deeply personal, complex, and too important to trust to the wrong partner. We help business owners architect for sale, go to market with confidence, and protect the full value of what they’ve built. That includes shaping your story, sharpening the numbers, building competitive tension, and negotiating the right terms so your transaction doesn’t just close, it positions you for the next chapter on your terms. Our team brings deep expertise in exit planning, valuation, and deal strategy, backed by real-world experience as founders, operators, and financial experts. Many of us have sat in the owner’s seat ourselves. We know this is about more than numbers. It’s about finding the right fit through the transition, the legacy you leave behind, and the peace of mind you take with you. You’ve built something real. Not just a business, but a team, a reputation, a life’s work. We treat it that way with the utmost care and guidance. This is how we’re elevating M&A for the lower middle market.

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The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

https://grahampeelle.com

Empowering Organizations to Unlock Their Greatness Through Scaling People, Process, & Technology Accelerating organizational value creation and innovation with Human/AI/Tech harmony: solving business challenges to build better organizations Author Graham Peelle April 01, 2024 Join “Build 10x Scale” - Connecting managers, execs, & founders, creating the next level of Performance, Leadership, & Culture. Join "Build 10x Scale", the community helping you scale your biz 10x. Scale through people/tech/AI harmony, reducing cost, optimizing, and growing. Open now at a low introductory price for the first 20 members ($19/mo, cancel anytime). Launching 4.29.24. Empowering Organizations to Unlock Their Greatness Through Scaling People, Process, & Technology Accelerating organizational value creation and innovation with Human/AI/Tech harmony: solving business challenges to build better organizations I have it figured out and it’s a relief in my mind, to be able to share the intersection of where everything rolls up into one clear cohesive alignment. It’s so much clearer than ever, my life’s work. Regardless of the role, the people, the company, or the distractions, what I gravitate towards, what do I enjoy, what has me thinking, day in and day out, and what really gets me excited. What value do I bring and where does my zone of genius lie? What do I do regardless of the circumstances, challenges, the work in front of me? This has taken a lot of iterations, thinking through other ideas, feedback, and looking at the work of others to understand myself. Background on Perspective Before I state it clearly, I’ll share how I look at everything, which may offer a little context. When I look at a sandwich shop, full service restaurant, tire shop, manufacturing facility, or room full of software designers, do I see meats, cocktails, mechanics, machines, and monitors? Well, yes, I do see those, but more importantly, I see what’s behind them. I look for what’s behind the curtain, who’s driving the bus, what’s making things tick, how much something costs, what the labor hours per hour, capital expenditures, and service delivery. Not sure if it’s

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

https://grahampeelle.com

About our guest:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/alfredo-borodowski/

Text 'positive' to 33777, and Alfredo will send a chart with 24 strengths of positive psyhology

The Questions:
What if your leaders could turn uncertainty into clarity?
What if your teams could face disruption with resilience instead of fear?

Alfredo Borodowski—international keynote speaker, consultant, and expert in Peak Performance and Positive Psychology. He helps leaders and organizations turn disengagement and stagnation into energy, clarity, and results.

He’s advised CEOs and senior leaders at global firms and more than 50 nonprofit organizations. He unlocks engagement, innovation, and growth by aligning positivity with purpose.

He helps solve-

• Teams lacking trust, energy, or motivation

• Cultures resistant to change or innovation

• Leaders feeling reactive, unclear, or unsupported

To:

• Vision-driven leadership that inspires and sustains growth

• High-trust, accountable teams that deliver results

• Peak performance through purpose, clarity, and positive energy

Organizational and Leadership Transformation

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

https://grahampeelle.com

Workforce Revolution: It’s here, It’s Now, and It’s Changing Work Dramatically What If “The Way We’ve Always Done It” Didn’t Exist? Technology Doesn’t Care How We Like To Do Things We’ve been hearing about changes in the workforce and that a “workforce revolution” has been coming for a long time. Well, it’s here. It has been for awhile, but what does that mean? It means you won’t be able to do things the way you have always done them forever, at least for many jobs. Most things will change over time, tech will change so much, and this is nothing new. This has been going on since humans have existed and ramped up innovation during points like various civilizations building the seven wonders, times of war, and in the Industrial Revolution of course. This article below sums it up for me, it shows everything about concerns being shared about AI now, is similar to what we said about cars, electricity, home appliances, cell phones, personal computers, and so on. Advancement Trends Progress is part of the human condition, it’s what we do, and in some cases it seems how long you fight progress or ignore it, is how long you get behind the movement that is happening, whether you want it to happen or not. Technological advancements are what we do, and we pride ourselves on making the quality of our lives better, serving others, or providing opportunities for further learning and development as people. We strive for better, or more, and this tech movement allows for more free time and time spent in a meaningful manner, versus just work at work, and work at home. I won’t get into the various downsides of screen time, and social media, but yes, downsides occur with tech, and without tech, but that doesn’t make all tech good or bad. The New Workforce How does this apply to work, and what our workforce looks like? The shift has been dramatic recently and when you put the pieces together, you really start to see a significant change in our work-life, with the workforce changing so quickly, some may not grasp it, until their company or type of job is gone due to technology, or AI development. Workforce Leverage Work with increasing leverage is the result. This is knowledge and labor work supercharged by technology. Highly productive, more quality, with more knowledge and perspective, with

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

https://grahampeelle.com

Operations: Delivering

Business Results Through People, Process, & Technology

Finding Your Framework for Operations: OpCo

My passion for operations and delivering on customer needs started while in high school, spending summers and breaks, working at a small electrical controls business. This interest grew sharply as I worked in automotive, heavy truck, and industrial environments while servicing staffing and recruitment needs for clients I managed. My focus always started with the people or talent needs, and quickly gravitated towards a holistic program operations approach, and discovering how I could help deliver a full solution, not just people to fill a gap.

Growing up earlier in my career, so much of the organizational mindset was geared towards a high growth sales environment, and I felt there was a lack of formalization or context of what operations really was, or maybe it was my own inability to understand and align with what I excelled at, and for which I was unknowingly growing as a specialization. I found a niche without seeking it, but by giving the work my full attention and immersing myself in the business I led, or was involved with in some way, I learned the business at a deep level to understand the full story, not just where my role plugged into that story.

Getting out of the office and into the field, working with teams who are leading, staffing, recruiting, and the doing the physical work through staffing, managed, and engineering services, always brought a great deal of fulfillment for me. Seeing a team move the needle from barely surviving in some cases, or running on the hamster wheel, to seeing teams run with an organized, scalable, and profitable approach, brought a lot of satisfaction. Seeing teams come together to achieve tangible results that serve client deliverables is fun to be a part of.

I have been fortunate to work with teams responsible for some amazing results, delivering on expectations, driving internal and external results, or against significant odds. Below are a few to share as examples:

• Checking 1000+ assembled vehicles parked outside in 30 degree weather for a part underneath the vehicle, in the dark
• Taking on a fully outsourced maintenance department, delivering higher quality work at a quarter of the cost
• Hiring 50+ niche sales reps in less than 6 months across Europe, against all odds given by internal or external stakeholders
• Stabilized and accelerated a program with more than 10,000 hires per year
• Established customer satisfaction within Germany at a remote manufacturing plant by delivering on hourly manufacturing talent
• Upgraded and formalized a decentralized coast-to-coast multi-site SOW-centered set-up, transformed to a

LEARN: Learn | Explore | Ambition | Reform | No

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

Host: https://grahampeelle.com

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The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

https://grahampeelle.com

These lessons, some learned or realized throughout my career, with some from the last year, have helped me grow personally and professionally. Sharing perspective and experience can be a meaningful way to help others find encouragement, accelerate learning, and bolster their own personal or career progression, or simply help professionals find fulfillment.

By taking a moment to record a few thoughts and share realizations, it may help support a few on their journey with People, Operations, and Culture, or just life in general.

1. “None of this matters, at the end of the day we're all gonna die. Let's have fun along the journey” (CAMERON HEROLD). Everything is temporary, we’re all just making money to live, so don’t make everything an emergency or end of world event.
2. Character over competence…yes both are ideal, but character is #1 (Steve Bisciotti & Jim Davis, Warren Buffett).
3. Everything involves sales, and in Operations everything is tied to the People formula.
4. "The more you make it about others, the more you are fulfilled and opportunities find their way to you." (John C. Maxwell)
5. Leadership (not management) and Teaching is your path to fulfillment.
6. Developing others leaves a lasting impact, much more than giving something to others. (Alex Hormozi)
7. Operations delivers on the vision, while Sales leverages Ops' success to further monetize and grow. If they aren’t working in alignment, neither is your business.
8. Culture is more important in business than everything, except character: these two attributes drive everything else. Aligned Character and Culture drive value, profitability, and growth.
9. "Empower your people, don’t suppress them." (Simon Sinek)

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

https://grahampeelle.com

Integrated Talent | The Holistic Talent Leadership Framework Photo by Rendy Novantino on Unsplash Originally published on Medium by Graham Peelle on July 23, 2023 Rethinking the Talent & HR Dance It’s time for a refreshed view and it’s time we put our talent first. Let’s make it the priority, and leverage our talent to build the group, business, or venture into what is possible. Talent possibilities, transformed for a holistic view, Integrated Talent. Integrated Talent is the opportunity giving Talent a seat at the table, executive presence in the organization as appropriate, based on HR structure and alignment with Operations, Marketing, and other key departments. If HR has a completely separate people leadership agenda, Talent will always take a back seat. Talent should typically be one specialization within the overall HR organization, as long as TA gets its priority and voice, and should typically stand alone when Talent is prioritized for growth, focus, or a strategic purpose. Human Resources, Talent Acquisition, Talent Management, and People, all make up the Talent Landscape within an organization, but do they truly work together in most firms? If they are disconnected, not collaborating, working with separate priorities, your firm needs the great talent realization- prioritize now, otherwise fall further and further behind in the war for talent. Think about this- would you go outside for a hire if you can promote, move, or train someone? You may try do all three at once and spend more time and money if the right hand isn’t talking to the left. Even in recessionary periods, your focus must shift to preparation for the recovery. Successful talent strategy starts before the need is critical, not once volumes spike. With a proactive and responsible approach, similar to what you may read about investing capital, recruiting before or during a recovery is actually an advantageous market to develop your talent pipeline and talent community for when it’s needed. Integrated Talent is the full holistic approach bringing everything talent together, ensuring we lock arms between HR and all Talent related

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

https://grahampeelle.com

Go after the hard stuff After hearing about the story of James Cameron on the Founders podcast by David Senra, it has provoked a lot of thought about what it takes to be great. Not good, but actually great, meaning a level that is at the top of your profession, industry or specialization, top 1% great at what you do. The more I reflect, the more I realize that most don't actually want to be at that level. Many want to be good, and many say they want to be great and would certainly take it, if it weren't for the time, effort, and sacrifice, blood, sweat, and tears that it takes to get to the truly exceptional, great level. When you look at someone like James Cameron, Michael Jordan, Steve Jobs, or other true greats, you realize the level of sacrifice it requires, which most of us just aren't willing to make. It's a brutal reality that most of us want the positives, but don't want to take on the negatives that go along with it. We don't want to give up that time with family, friends, that time on the golf course, on the lake, or binging Netflix. We want to do great things, but also have that balance, harmony - we want both. And that's okay that many of us aren't willing to give up everything for that GOATlevel, and I would argue it's actually good that most of us aren't from that perspective - we're not all built like a robot, raised like Tiger Woods, or so cold, calculating, or with a touch of crazy, that we put all aside to achieve what we want or feel pulled to create. Not everyone can be the greatest at the same time. And we of course need those who have more of a caring side, have other community motives, or are willing to put aside careers for others. Sacrifice for the greater good, versus achievement in many cases, which has a different kind of power, and a whole lot of earned respect for those who can dedicate so much to others or a cause. Regardless if you are willing to go to the James Cameron level, or work like Kobe, you can still have the focus, intensity, and work ethic that can allow you to do exceptional work. You may not be a star or celebrity that everyone knows, but you can do great work, making a meaningful impact across an industry, supporting a significant mission. You're capable of delivering or creating work that is at a different level than others, and still have a life. How do you have both? This isn't a piece on work-life balance, it's about doing the difficult work. Getting into the real work of your specialization or profession. Finding your niche and not shying away from the level of work it takes to become one of the best in your field, and develop yourself. In order to get to that higher level, being bett

"Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

https://grahampeelle.com

Simplified - it’s about the location of the work I prefer to avoid the hot, trendy, or touchy subjects across business {enter catch slogan or phrase here on corporate work or business}. Trends aren’t really my thing. But after seeing so many individuals, organizations, articles, and posts focused on remote work as their focus, it pushed me to consider what are some of the other points of view on remote work. If that’s your passion and focus, more power to you, and certainly not passing judgment, but it makes me wonder more - why is this debate even a thing at this point? Remote, hybrid, virtual, work from home, etc. have been around a long time, but in 2020 it of course changed dramatically, with so many working from home, completely unplanned and with so much immediacy. But this concept isn’t new, it just became more mainstream and more impactful in the world of work, across less autonomous workers compared with the past. And for three years there has been so much talk about all of the benefits, and yes the in office stalwarts have been popping up, but overall a positive sentiment remained clear - remote work, works, generally speaking. Well, the battle continues, and I wonder why it’s still a conversation when so many other important topics need more attention. Over the last three years, preferences can certainly vary, and some environments and work styles work better for others, but the sentiment was quite positive. For mid to high performing workers, what are the concerns with allowing them to work where they can and want to work best as long as it doesn’t hold the business back directly? And for low performers, maybe it’s time we address those performance concerns head on, instead of allowing them to simmer. For intentional in person collaboration, there is certainly a time and a place for that in meetings, conferences, 1:1’s, group meetings, etc. For newer team members in certain groups, maybe there is an argument at times to start in office, with certain peers or leaders. 100% work from office, or even 50%+ really should be scrutinized on the value it brings based on the work and the role. Hearing stories of people required to sit in their company’s office space, only to spend all day on video meetings and calls- so what are they bringing in value by being in office, if most work is local, regional, national, global, anyway, and not in the office? Much of collaboration is remote now anyways, so even if you want people in office, leaders and workers must be great at remote collaboration and work. Who cares where people work, if work is getting done? If work isn’t getting done, what is the real gap - work location, how it’s being communicated, leadership, the organization, or the people, etc. I’d like to see a more logical approach to designing work, including work location. Let’s ma

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

https://grahampeelle.com

Critical Impact Work: Embrace It or Ignore It? It’s not core work, but it’s critical to your success Author Graham Peelle March 04, 2024 Join “Build 10x Scale” - Connecting managers, execs, & founders, creating the next level of Performance, Leadership, & Culture. Be the boss you wanted: Scale your biz 10x. Open now at a low introductory price for the first 20 members ($19/mo, cancel anytime). Launching 4.8.24. Critical Impact Work: Embrace It or Ignore It? It’s not core work, but it’s critical to your success I see a few consistent themes from some of the legends about core areas of business building: Recruiting Sales Leadership Technology is often assumed. Tech is a given in most industries, and differentiation, while extremely important, is often a byproduct of these first three areas above. For the best tech, talent, demand, and thriving associates are essential. Engaged people drive engaged and profitable business, and create great tech for great products. Priorities It’s interesting that with these three areas, especially the first two, they are often not valued by global business based on how they are prioritized. When the layoffs start happening and cost reduction is in full swing, the focus on recruiting, sales, and leadership typically doesn’t happen until the realization arrives: More sales are needed —> Increase sales —> Need for sales people increases —> Demand for people in the market increases —> Recruiting/Talent Acquisition (TA) and Leadership needed The cycle continues. When things get tight, margins dip, market uncertainty increases, TA is one of the first areas to see cuts, and for sales, when cuts are needed, sales comp can get crushed. So what can we do, here are a few thoughts to consider: Integrated Talent Incentive and Performance Based Compensation Leadership Structured Smartly Long-term Decision Making Recruiting and Sales continue to be stated as critical priorities for building an organization from some of the foremost legends, all the way down to the local business leader talking about the importance of their people. And we continue to hear that growing an organization and running an organization, it’s about the people, yet the general business landscap

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

https://grahampeelle.com

KPIs & Data - One core metric as new leader of organization, department, or team - Future state moving to 3 metrics can make sense, and then eventually 4-5 if you have core areas of focus, but pointless if you can’t drive change and improvement in #1 - Data as a tool for visibility, not the full story - Review you trends, correlations, performance, and risks - Your direct leaders may have 2-3 to start to drive that #1 overall metric

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

https://grahampeelle.com

Your Life’s Work: Harnessing Your Passion, Vision & Purpose Finding and committing to your life’s work

Author Graham Peelle

November 20, 2023

Your Life’s Work: Harnessing Your Passion, Vision & Purpose Finding and committing to your life’s work In October 2023, I attended an event called Founder Mentality, hosted by Patrick O’Shaughnessy (CEO of Positive Sum, and host of the podcast, Invest Like the Best) featuring David Senra, along with Jeremy Giffon. It was a one-off event as Patrick helps launch David Senra and gain exposure to grow his audience as part of the Colossus Podcast Network. The event dove into the craft, commitment, and passion of David Senra with the Founders podcast, touching on the motivations for David’s work, and brought in Jeremy to the conversation to add his insights

• Building an intentional life
• Find your one thing
• Live your life
• Design your career
• https://www.linkedin.com/posts/grahampeelle317_today-i-start-teaching-two-new-classes-for-activity-7100080904118702080-0y6E/?trk=public_profile_like_view&utm_source=executivesummary.beehiiv.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=your-life-s-work-harnessing-your-passion-vision-purpose

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

https://grahampeelle.com

Capitalist Enlightenment: Silicon Valley Style Takeaways and thoughts: Marc’s mind Author Graham Peelle February 19, 2024 Join “Build 10x Scale” - Connecting managers, execs, & founders, creating the next level of Performance, Leadership, & Culture. Join "Build 10x Scale", the community helping you scale your biz 10x. Scale through people/tech/AI harmony, reducing cost, optimizing, and growing. Open now at a low introductory price for the first 20 members ($19/mo, cancel anytime). Launching 3.4.24. Capitalist Enlightenment: Silicon Valley Style Takeaways and thoughts: Marc’s mind I have wanted to read this collection of Marc Andreessen blog posts for some time, but have prioritized other reading…and it was as good as advertised. Informative and entertaining for sure. Creative Insights about building a business, with sarcasm wrapped up for your reading pleasure. Marc Andreessen has a unique style, and with his experience, it just makes an even more worthwhile read. As I often like to do, I had to go through this and pull out the overly tech or investment speak and break down my top takeaways and concepts that stood out for me. Mark Andreessen’s blog was taken down awhile ago and it was so popular and requested, A16z brought it back on their site in a pdf/ebook form. Takeaways and thoughts: Marc’s Mind Management “First, manage your executives. It’s not that uncommon to see startup founders, especially first-timers, who hire executives and are then reluctant to manage them. You can see the thought process: I just hired this really great, really experienced VP of Engineering who has way more experience running development teams than I ever did — I should just let him go do his thing! That’s a bad idea. While respecting someone’s experience and skills, you should nevertheless manage every executive as if she were a normal employee. This means weekly 1:1’s, performance reviews, written objectives, career development plans, the whole nine yards. Skimp on this and it is very easy for both your relationship with her and her effectiveness in the company to skew sideways.” “Second, give your executives the latitude to run their organizations. This is the balancing act with the previous point, but it’s equally important. Don’t micromanage. The whole point of having an executive is to have someone who can figure out how to build and run an organization so that you don’t have to. Manage her, understand what she is doing, be very clear on the results you expect, but let her do the job. Here’s the key corollary to that: if you want to give an executive full latitude, but you’re reluctant to do so because you’re not sure she can make it happen, then it’s probably time to fire her.” - Marc Andreessen, Andreessen Horowitz Manage your executives, b

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.