EthoSolar’s Brutal Facts; Talking to Crazy; Top 40 Best Advice; Forbes 400 Youngest Billionaire

"…insights for scaleups"

HEADLINES:

Topgrading: 2 Day Workshop Dubai — making a wrong hiring decision is painful. The only interviewing method that delivers a 90%+ hiring success rate is being offered in the Middle East Oct 26-27 (3 seats left) and online, more info below, but first…

Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit — anyone have connections to this event and knows Jim Mellado? Please email me [email protected] – thanks.

Talking to Crazy — are there irrational and unreasonable people you have to deal with occasionally (or a lot!). Mark Goulston MD, top psychiatrist and best-selling author, has a new book just released this week titled Talking to Crazy: How to Deal with Irrational and Impossible People in Your Life. A recent keynote at our Summits for his previous book Just Listen and hostage negotiation trainer, Mark knows how to convey practical techniques that work. BTW, the book will help you better deal with anyone – crazy or not – partners, co-workers, customers, suppliers, investors, or teenagers! These are fundamental communication skills that will make you a better person no matter how irrational the other side gets.

Best Advice from Fortune's Top 40 Under 40 — Fortune announced their annual list last week, and WeWork co-founder and CEO Adam Neumann landed the #1 spot. What I found insightful was Fortune's piece on the "Best Advice" these winners had ever received. It is worth 3 minutes scanning down through their hard-earned lessons, mantras, and reminders of what it takes to scale. One of several themes – focus, focus, focus – and find quiet time to tap into your intuition.

Fun Facts Forbes 400 Wealthiest — Bill Gates was #1 again ($76 billion), 22nd year in a row, with Warren Buffett #2, Larry Ellison #3, and for the first time Jeff Bezos (Amazon) enters the top 10 at #4 ($47 billion). The combined net worth of the 400 is $2.34 trillion, up $50 billion from last year, though all those numbers will be dramatically down given the latest plunge in the stock market. FYI, the new youngest billionaire (in the world) to make the US list is 25 year old Evan Spiegel, co-founder of SnapChat. Also interesting, only 13% of Gates's wealth is tied to his stake in Microsoft! He's been investing and diversifying wisely. For more fun facts (I think biz leaders should know trivia stuff about biz), here's a link to a Forbes summary of the list – 1 minute to read.

…FYI, Mark Cuban Landed #211 on the List — with a net worth of $3 billion, we look forward to spending an hour with Mark at American Airlines Arena and then watching his Mavericks' team play the Phoenix Suns as part of the upcoming Growth Summit, Oct 20 – 21, Dallas.

EthoSolar Faces the Brutal Facts (Gazelles case study) — my Huffington Post article this week highlights how Worchester, MA-based EthoSolar (with three additional locations in Canada), a commercial and residential solar developer, had to pivot to new market segments after their team set aside their politeness – a real challenge for friendly senior teams – and let the debate rage. Among other things, it meant turning down a $60 million project! Take 3 minutes to read how the team, working with Gazelles coaching partner Les Rubenovitch, had to rebuild trust among the team and face the brutal facts in making some tough decisions that have ultimately helped the company over double in size in just one year.

Topgrading: 2 Day Workshop In Dubai and Online — starting with a Topgrading Scorecard, that is far superior to a job description, to four killer questions to ask in a screening interview, to a structure interview process that will get candidates to tell you things they wouldn't otherwise – plus a technique called TORC to get references to reveal the truth about the person your hiring – it's no time for amateur hour in hiring the right people. Hire the right person, your life is great; hire the wrong person and your life (and those they work with) is miserable. This is the one decision you absolutely must get right. For more info on this Oct 26 – 26 workshop in Dubai, register your interest here. And the course is also available online.

Align Software puts everyone on the Same Page – Literally! See, in real time every person in your organization and how they are progress on their priorities – alongside how these Align to the Company Priorities! Scale Up your Rockefeller Habits implementation with www.aligntoday.com– on your computer and on your phone.

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.

COACHING:

Have you ever wondered if your company would be a good candidate to work with an executive growth coach? Click here to watch Gazelles International President Keith Cupp describes the four most important attributes of successful clients.

Gazelles International Coaches: Through ongoing education, relevant business partnerships, best-practice tools, and our exceptional community, Gazelles International coaches are equipped to dramatically impact their clients' success. See why Sean Evans relies on Gazelles International to provide him with the backdrop for his business as a certified growth coach.

If you are a business coach, you're invited to attend our Dallas Coaches Summit on Monday, October 19 to experience our community for yourself. Contact: [email protected] for more information.