Gates Top 5; 2018 Predictions; Lessons from 40 Billionaires; Super Bowl CEO Boot Camp

"…insights for scaleups"

HEADLINES:

Super Bowl CEO Boot Camp — Feb 1 – 5 in Marathon, FL, more below, but first…

Strategic Planning Bonus Chapters — going into the planning season there is a free bonus chapter to Scaling Up (Rockefeller Habits 2.0) titled "Strategic Planning" – how to prepare and run a strategic planning session. It includes a sample One-Page Strategic Plan (OPSP). There is also a free download of the section of the book describing how to complete the One-Page Personal Plan (OPPP). Download both at www.scalingup.com

Fortune's Compiled Predictions for 2018 — notes Fortune:

Here is a link to their predictions compiled from various sources – took me about 3 minutes to scan down through since there were lots of interesting ideas that stopped me – like the sports predictions!

India Fastest Growing Major Economy 2018 — I'm back in India this week as Fortune reports the country will grow at a 7.4% rate in 2018 vs. 6.5% for China. And this is on the heels of a 6.7% growth rate in 2017 and 7.1% last year. However, it's all relative since China's economy is 4.5 times larger than India's (US GDP $19.1 trillion, China $11.2 trillion, India $2.45 trillion). For a further comparison of the two countries (fun facts for the holiday season!) take 30 seconds to scan down through these additional numbers.

Bill Gates Top 5 Books — averaging 50 books per year, Gates reveals his top 5 favorites for 2017:

1. Energy & Civilization by Vaclav Smil
2. The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen
3. Believe Me by Eddie Izzard
4. Evicted by Matthew Desmond
5. The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui

Take 1 minute to read why he chose each which I found quite insightful, convincing me to read #2, winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize, over the holidays.

What Rick Learned from Interviewing 40 Billionaires — Rick Sapio, founder of Mutual Capital Alliance and its CEO for 20 years, shares the lessons he gleaned from interviewing 40 billionaires in this 37-minute interview. Top lessons:

1. Move to CEO Island. Hire top c-suite talent to manage day-to-day activities so you're free to focus on the company's vision.
    
2. Point to a Huge, Outrageous Target. If your company isn't focused on hitting your HOT, then what is it doing?
    
3. "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." The less cluttered your desk and company offerings are, the better your probability of hitting BIG growth.

There is also a transcript if you prefer to read through it. This is your long weekend read/listen.

How to Get to Billionaires — what I found as interesting as the lessons was how Rick got to these billionaires. Go to the 2-minute mark in the interview and listen for 2 minutes. In essence, he accessed them through charity boards. And he also made sure he was the high bidder for "billionaire" lunch offers via these charities. Crazily, the average cost was just $1000 and several have become mentors and even one a partner. It takes the idea of "never eat alone" to an entirely new level!

Globalia Wins Prize for Quarterly Themes (Gazelles case study) — this fast-growing digital agency of 70 employees won a prize last Thursday at Quebec's largest management practices innovation salon. The award was for the "gamification to boost employee mobilization" which was based on the concept of Quarterly Themes. Noted General Manager Eric Collard:

Another theme was Globalia "Dashboardization." Eric asked the team to define at least 21 KPIs and 7 dashboards, one per department. And the celebration was a day of kart racing in line with the dashboard concept. Continued Eric "for our current Simpson 'Quality insurance' theme, we introduced it giving every employee a Duff beer and a donut. It was fun and appreciated :)"

Super Bowl CEO Boot Camp — Feb 1- 5, join serial entrepreneur and partner John Ratliff at his Florida Keys Retreat for his annual Super Bowl CEO Boot Camp. Network with seven other CEOs from a variety of backgrounds and enjoy the amenities of a luxurious private resort, while taking in the festivities leading up to the NFL championship. For more info reach out to Denise Richmond — [email protected].

EXITING: Thinking about selling the business for $40 million or more? Want to get 25% to 200% more than you thought? Request the whitepaper from the Exit Strategies Summit at Harvard from Denise Richmond at (610) 299-6466 or email at [email protected]

COACHING:

Have you ever wondered if working with a coach might accelerate your company's growth, exponentially? Do you have what it takes to move the dial from good to great? Click here to watch Gazelles International President Keith Cupp describes the four most important attributes of successful clients. Contact us at [email protected] for more information.
 
And if you're interested in becoming a world-class certified Gazelles International coach, please go to gicoaches.com/becomeacoach for more information. If you determine that we're a fit and wish to join our premier organization, we invite you to contact our Dir. of Coach Engagement at [email protected] or 877.217.2253 ext.700.

TECHNOLOGY:

Create Accountability – Drive Execution
Click Here to Watch a video example.

Align is your cloud based business operating system designed to keep you on your path to executing your goals. See, in real time every person in your organization and how they are progressing on their priorities – alongside how they Align to the Company Priorities! Scale Up your Rockefeller Habits implementation with www.aligntoday.com – on your computer, tablet or phone. $5.00 per month gets you started.

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.