Secrets of Swagger; Making Things Cool; Cool Gifts; Best Seats and Lunch

"…insights for agile scaleups"

HEADLINES:

Secrets of Swagger — People with confidence are cool. And cool people have all the fun! Add some attitude to confidence and you have swagger! Randy Cohen,CEO (Chief Energizing Officer) of TicketCity, one of the largest private ticket marketplaces in the US, shares in Secrets of Swagger how ten superstars channeled their power of confidence to amazing success – something he's witnessed from the front row of some of the most incredible events in the world. A bold entrepreneur (how many entrepreneurs sponsor a college bowl game – TicketCity Bowl), Randy's entertaining and insightful book will impact your outlook on business and life – a great read over the holidays. FYI, Randy will give a 10-minute ScaleUpX talk at the upcoming ScaleUp Summit in San Antonio which he and his leadership team are attending as well.

What Makes Things Cool — designer of Air Force One's iconic blue nose, the Exxon logo, and considered the father of industrial design, the late Raymond Loewy racked the code on what it takes to sell anything new. Notes this important article in The Atlantic subtitled "The Four-Letter Code to Selling Just About Anything":

The Atlantic goes on to note:

In a similar vein, Jack DeBoer, creator of the extended stay category of hotels, taught me "if you want to innovate, hold everything else constant (what people know) and change just one thing" something he did when he created Residence Inns. Please take 4 minutes to read about iconic examples of MAYA (including B2B proposal writing) and absorb the psychology Loewy harnessed to make things fashionable and cool. Then discuss how to apply to your new products/services and sales process.

Where to Buy Cool Stuff — one of the things my wife and I miss most living in Barcelona is not having a Costco. With $116 billion in sales in 2016, this Fortune article details the magic behind Costco's "super-culture" – a culture that boasts a 94% retention rate for employees over a year at the company. Co-founded by Jim Sinegal, he was CEO from 1983 to 2012. The key driving philosophy: "Do the right thing" – a phrase Costco employees/managers hear repeatedly throughout a typical day. Please take 3 minutes to read how this retailer can pay the highest wages, offer the lowest prices, maintain a total overhead of just 10%, while providing high quality products.

Giving Cool Gifts — the author of Giftology, John Ruhlin, shares the keys to giving business gifts that cut through the noise and make a lasting impact. And for the holidays he shares some specific dos and don'ts in this 3-minute Fox News interview – hint, wait until January to give biz gifts! Many of you heard John's ScaleUpX talk at our last Growth Summit in collaboration with Fortune magazine.

Innovative Way to Boost Morale (Gazelles case study) — using 300 "Employee Recognition Coins" Ben Richter, founder of Bradford Airport Logistics, keeps the power of appreciation front and center inside his rapidly growing and global) firm which helps keep airports safe from terrorism. My latest Huffington Post piece detail show these coins are used to collect success stories each year and drive employee behaviors that have garnered Richter's firm multiple awards. Each coin is numbered and both leadership and customers give these coins to employees for "doing something incredibly right." Please take 2 minutes to scan the article for more details and see a picture of the coin. Then figure out more ways to create and give out trophies, ribbons, plagues, etc. as a way to honor the best in your people.

Best Seats and Lunch – register by Dec 31 with just a deposit of $250/seat for our annual spring ScaleUp Summit and you'll be guaranteed seating in the front-third of the room (equivalent of "orchestra" seating) – and you and your team will receive an invitation to join the "father of influence" Robert Cialdini for a private lunch at the event. Join over 1000 CEOs and leaders of growth firms (typically $5 million to $500 million in revenue) as they outlearn their competition. We have another lineup of the world's #1 biz authors on leadership, marketing, strategy, coaching, and influence – the equivalent of reading a dozen of the top biz books in 48 hours. May 23 – 24, San Antonio. Notes Steve Hall, founder of $170 million DriversSelect:

Join this annual gathering of scaleups and boost your confidence. For more information, click this link.

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 StrategiesSummit 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:

Align Software puts everyone on the Same Page – Literally! 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 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.