5 Keys to Build the Core; 5 Regrets of the Dying; Free-Range Parenting; Mastering Anything

"…keeping you great"

HEADLINES:

Get Featured in Your Trade Publication — consider partnering with our team to co-create an article which features you and your company in your trade publication, more below, but first…

Five Ways to Strengthen Middle Management — middle management is THE core to scaling up a business. With a role more of that of a coach (I wish we would eliminate the term "manager" and replace with "coach" e.g. sales coach), my latest FORTUNE Venture column outlines five ways to maintain a strong middle:

1. Draft your senior team — to educate the middle
2. Cross-Train — have them handle employee and customer suggestions
3. Increase flexibility — master the techniques of Situational Leadership
4. Keep them in the ring — have them make critical decisions
5. Invest early — identify the high potentials

Please take 2 minutes to scan the column for specific examples. Special thanks to Ray Downes, CEO of $30 million Kemp Technologies, who supplied a rich set of initiatives, highlighted in the column, for supporting a strong middle management team.

Keys to Coaching — "Repetition, timing, sequence and mechanics. Nothing magic." This is how Tom Brady's passing guru is getting Tim Tebow back in the game (possibly) – and how a coach (manager) prepares a world-class team. You don't have to appreciate anything about American football to absorb the coaching lessons in this article. The key is identifying one or two behaviors/activities impacting performance and then through repetition "fix it." Note's Tom House, Tebow's passing coach, "The difference now is that he has put in the reps. There have been 10,000-plus reps. If he gets a chance to play again and gets back to competition, it's hard-wired now. He doesn't have to think about it." It helps that House uses eight cameras to film Tebow so he can self-correct his own behaviors, something we need to bring to the workplace!!

Jack's Sales Coaching — Jack Daly, author of Hyper Sales Growth, uses a similar approach in showing sales managers how to coach sales people (their #1 job). Before a sales person goes out on a call, he puts them in a triad and has them practice their interaction with another sales person, with a third observing and acting as a coach. The key is to look for just one or two adjustments and provide feedback to the sales person. We all need some practice and coaching – whether pitching an idea, investor, or client. Do the work!!

Mastery — Further notes Tom House, when asked how often he's coaching Tebow, "We've been seeing him about three days every week, year-round. Now, he works besides his time with us, but the time he spends working with us on skills, routes and all of those things works out to about two or two-and-a-half hours per day." This seems to be the magic amount of time you must spend if you want to master anything of significance (develop a new product, write a book, become world class at anything) – the same amount of time John Grisham spends each day writing his legal thrillers. The key is "doing the work." Set aside 90 minutes three times per week (5am – 7am like Grisham; or 9:30pm – 11pm if necessary) to work on something significant — just 4.5 hours per week – then you have the rest of the 168 hours to do emails and play Candy Crush. Do the work!

Top 5 Regrets of Those Dying — looking for a list of behaviors/attitudes your peer coach (friend) might help you adjust, read through these top 5 regrets palliative care nurse Bronnie Ware lists in this Mirror article:

1. I wish I had let myself be happier
2. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends
3. I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings
4. I wish I hadn't worked so hard (busy work vs. what matters)
5. I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me

Take 2 minutes to read the paragraph describing each in Ware's article.

Free Range Parenting — EO Boston was in Barcelona this past week and the conversations were mainly around why Julie and I live overseas. One reason is explained in this NY Times article titled "Free Range Parenting." It discusses how parents in the US have become so fearful in letting their children roam freely, especially when the data doesn't support the fear. In Barcelona our children do roam freely around the city, including our 7 and 11 year olds – and it's why they love it here.

April Scaling Up (Rockefeller Habits 2.0) Workshops — Tulsa Apr 2; San Diego Apr 21; Edmonton Apr 23; Singapore Apr 27; San Antonio Apr 28; Vancouver Apr 28; Dallas Apr 29; Charlotte Apr 29. For more info, locations, and dates here's a link.

Trade publications — get featured — are you a member of a trade association? Does it have a trade publication? Might you like to get featured? Here's the idea. If you've grown your business using the Rockefeller Habits let's team up to write an article about your success and submit it to your trade publication – giving you exposure in your industry and providing us a way to promote Scaling Up (Rockefeller Habits 2.0). Send us a paragraph or two sharing your Rockefeller Habits story and the name of the trade publication and we'll take it from there – email me at [email protected]. Thank you.

TECHNOLOGY:

Better Book Club — What's your team reading? Increase your books read per team member. Easy, Proven, and in the Cloud at http://www.BetterBookClub.com.

Align Dashboard — Want to keep track of your plans and progress in the cloud? The complete Growth Tools and Rockefeller Habits disciplines in a SaaS offering.

COACHING:

What is the value of working with a Certified Gazelles International Coach? There are four key roles a coach plays in helping your company Scale Up…listen here to learn.