The Author Your Brand Show

Business Writing and Communication with Jim Rowe

After 45+ years in senior marketing and agency ownership roles, Jim Rowe wrote a 2-book series to address a major issue in business: Are you a manager, CEO, or corporate trainer dealing with poor thinking and communication/writing skills of recent grads?

It's not just you. It's called THE SKILLS GAP.

Critical thinking to solve problems and Communication, especially writing are the 2 most important skills managers look for in all hires. They are also 2 of the top skills of the most effective leaders. However, studies over the past 10 years show manager frustrations with recent grads' aptitude in 2 key areas – WRITING & CRITICAL THINKING skills.

Both are addressed in his books:

Book 1 – Business Writing & Communication

Book 2 – A-D-A-P-T-E-R, Method of Problem Solving and Business Communication

You can buy individual copies on Amazon or for bulk copies for either executives or students at https://www.jimrowemarketing.com/shop-1

Afformations: The Miracle of Positive Self-Talk with Noah St. John

“Afformations" is what Noah St. John wants his clients to ingrain in their lives. This is different from the positive affirmations many psychologists would encourage people to do. The importance of asking oneself the "why questions" will lead to connecting his/her inner and outer game. Our inner game is how well we communicate with ourselves and the outer game is how well we share with the outside world. In this episode, John emphasizes the importance of both factors in being successful and truly happy.

 

Key Takeaways:

1. You cannot directly access the subconscious mind…[but] you can indirectly access it.
2. What I teach is the inner game and outer game. The inner game is everything that happens between your ears that you can't see directly, but it affects everything that you do.
3. Afformation is the foundation of everything I do with the inner game.

Check out Noah’s Book: Afformations: The Miracle of Positive Self-Talk

https://www.amazon.com/Afformations%C2%AE-Self-Talk-Noah-St-John/dp/1401943047

 

Storyteller with a Message with Lorrie Grant

Today’s guest is Lorrie Grant, a storyteller with a message. She’s always looking for an adventure and always has a story to tell. Lorrie decided to capture some of her life stories a few years ago, simply to save the lessons learned for her two daughters. This unexpectedly led to her creating a blog, which led to writing her first children’s book. Lorrie currently has three published children’s books with books four and five on the way. She also has recently started a Podcast titled “Storytellers with a Message”, a fun podcast where Storytellers can tell of their personal experiences and what they have learned from them. After twenty years of working in the world of Business Operations, Lorrie walked away from the corporate world to work for a non-profit organization. Her desire is to continue writing children's books and to continue telling her stories in hopes of conveying important core values to readers and listeners of all ages. Lorrie is most passionate about making a difference in the lives of others.

 

Learn more about Lorrie and her books by visiting her website https://www.lorriedgrant.com/

 

Lorrie Grant Key Takeaways

1. The most important thing about kids’ books is that you can relate a message to the reader (2:01)

2. I decided to start capturing these fun, weird things that happened to me and the lesson that I learned from them. (5:15)

3. The light of two fireflies is enough…it's about friendship (13:20)

The Discipline Of Now: 12 Practical Principles To Overcome Procrastination with Eric Twiggs

You start a project and are full of ideas of what to do next. You keep telling yourself you need more research and sources of inspiration because everything has to be flawless. You tell yourself not to worry, you have time. The next thing you know, your deadline is tomorrow and you're panicking cause you haven't even started yet. 

You've just fallen into the trap of perfection, one of procrastination's many symptoms.

Today's guest, Eric Twiggs, is the author of The Discipline of Now: 12 Practical Principles to Overcome Procrastination. Listen to our episode as he shares with us what causes procrastination and how it can be cured. He also discusses the many "justification for procrastination" traps and will recount the most unusual excuse he has heard. 

Eric is a founding partner and president of The What Now Movement. He has written two books, One Moment in Time and The Discipline of Now. His book, The Discipline of Now, has been recognized as a Global Top Ten Finalist for the 2020 Author Elite Awards in the category of Best Self Help Book. Eric has a weekly inspirational podcast titled "The 30 Minute Hour." 

 

Key takeaways:

1. You can't allow perfect to become the enemy of progress. ...sometimes you have to do what the military says and take action on imperfect information. (1:42)
2. The root of procrastination tends to be discomfort, there's usually something at the root you're not comfortable with. (8:40)
3. Make sure that you're focused on your wins. Like, if it's something that sounds like a cliche, just do it. (24:45)

If you are eager to maximize your time, minimize your stress, and break the procrastination habit so that you accomplish your goals and achieve your dream, grab a copy of his book at https://www.amazon.com/TheDisciplineofNow.

How to create a new habit in 21 seconds, not 21 days with Blaine Oelkers

We are often told that it takes 21 days to create a habit, but what if it was a lie? 

Habits are routine behaviors that we repeat regularly and oftentimes subconsciously. They say harnessing its power is a great way to pursue success since it frees up our brain's capacity to make better decisions. 

In today's episode, our guest Blaine Oelkers will share with us his 21 Second Habits, a process that allows us to create a habit in 21 seconds, not 21 days. He will also teach us how to compress time through his 30-minute hour which will help us get an hour's worth of stuff done in 30 minutes of compressed time.

Blaine is a TEDx Speaker and leading authority in personal implementation and consistency. He is America's only Chief Results Officer®. He's a habit master with documented streaks of 1516 days in a row and counting! As a top LinkedIn Connector, he has over 25,000 1st-level connections. Blaine graduated from Purdue University and Stanford University's Social Entrepreneurship Program. He is powered by Selfluence, a personal development, and training company. 

 

Key takeaways:

 

1. We’ll call it a little bit of a hack that has a few steps to it, where you can create habits instantly I say 21 seconds… You already have the power to influence yourself like, nothing new that you'd have to learn you already know how to do it, you just kind of forgot a little bit. (2:59)

2. The building of the new habits hasn't been that troublesome now the elimination of bad habits, that's more difficult for people but adding a new habit to something you already do has been fairly easy. (14:12)

3. Well, the latest research says it's about 60 days, for the neurons, to really wire in and be automatic, but when you link it to something that's already automatic, then then you're in good shape. You just need a cue a reminder, when you go to do the thing that's already been there for 60 days. (20:24)

 

For more on Blaine visit http://blainetedx.com/ you can also check out http://selfluence.com to get a copy of his 21-Second Habits Guidebook. 

Same Side Selling with Ian Altman

Some people love salesmen and some people shy away from them. When you walk inside a store and a hyper-ambitious salesperson approaches you, you either run to the nearest exit or detour to the next aisle. Love them or hate them, at the end of the day, they are necessary.

Our guest today, Ian Altman, will share with us how to be a nonstereotypical salesperson. Listen in as he teaches how to ask the right questions and how to position value versus price. For the business leaders and owners tuning in to our show, Ian will share the steps you can put in place to develop top-performing salespeople. 

Ian started, sold, and grew his prior companies while taking their value from $0 to over $1B. He's the co-author of the bestseller, Same Side Selling, and hosts a podcast called Same Side Selling. His Same Side Selling methodology has helped Fortune 500 companies including Allstate Financial, Advisors Excel, Thermofisher, Sodexo, Johnson & Johnson, The Standard, Teradata, Bell Canada, and SAP, quickly double or triple their growth. Ian has written for Forbes and Inc. and is also a popular keynote speaker. He is consistently recognized as one of the world's top 30 Experts on Sales, and his Same Side Selling Academy is rated one of the top 5 Sales Development Programs globally.

 

Key takeaways:

 

1. So the greatest number of top performers are not pushy salespeople. See, there are three personas in the world of sales, you have an order taker, you have a stereotypical salesperson, and you have a subject matter expert (3:22)
2. The second thing that top performers need is a playbook for dealing with common objections. We call it our objection clinic. The idea of the objection clinic is what are the things that come up all the time that you just, you wing it each time, even though it comes up all the time. (8:30)
3. How do we attract the right people? So for starters, you're going to recruit by saying things like, "Hey, are you working in a place right now where you feel underappreciated, you're being micromanaged, where you don't have autonomy, or don't have the right tools to achieve your full potential? Then we would love to talk to you about whether or not we might be a fit." (14:47)

 

To talk to Ian about his Same Side Selling methodology you can call +1 240.242.7460. You can also visit his website https://ianaltman.com/ for more information on his book and academy. 

 

Did you like today's episode? Don't forget to hit subscribe and leave a review. 

The Descent Is The Real Climb with Jeff Getty

You spent 20 or 30 years building your company then all of sudden, your phone rings and you've got an offer. Now you are wondering, what do I do? 

In today’s episode, Jeff Getty defines transitions and transactions and how to decide what is best for your company's future. Listen in as he discusses how to complete either transitions or transactions and how to equip yourself to get the most out of it. 

Jeff is a Merger and Acquisitions Attorney and is the Managing Director of Key's Family Wealth Consulting Team. He is a nationally recognized author and speaker with over 25 years of experience designing and implementing sophisticated, and innovative asset protection, tax reduction, and estate planning strategies. Jeff has more than $8 billion in transactional experience in private offerings of equity and debt, mergers and acquisitions, reorganizations, and spin-offs for closely-held and family-owned businesses. 

Key takeaways

 

1. Transitions to me, are generally talking about internal transfers. So it's either selling or gifting to children or transitioning management ownership and control to management or employee. Transactions are sales to third parties. (4:28)
2. About 50% of most deals in the privately held space, begin with an unsolicited approach or unsolicited offer around a business. And if you're a successful business owner, you see this every day. (11:04)
3. I would always tell someone unless they're sure they're ready to do something tomorrow, to go to work and do a particular strategy. You should look at your transition or transactional auctions over a series of time. (32:13)
4. First and foremost, you should always know what your business is worth inside the marketplace. You never want to be caught flat-footed when someone comes across and lobs you the proverbial fat offer, a stupid offer, and you don't really know in context, is it really that good? (33:20)

If you are a business owner and considering transitioning or transacting contact Jeff at 412-303-4521 or via LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jtgetty/ to get expert advice. 

The Courage of a Leader: How to Inspire, Engage and Get Extraordinary Results with Amy Riley

Leaders have big jobs and impressive leaders demonstrate true courage. Based on her experience consulting with companies, coaching executives, and developing leaders at all levels, our guest, Amy Riley, has seen that successful leaders consistently demonstrate courage in four distinct ways. 

In today's episode, Amy shares the ways leaders exhibit courage and lessons that can be gleaned from these examples. She also shares how, taking the courage to talk to employees about personal concerns, can positively impact employee performance in the workplace. 

Amy Riley is an internationally renowned speaker and the international best-selling author of "The Courage of a Leader: How to Inspire, Engage and Get Extraordinary Results. " She has more than two decades of experience consulting with Fortune-50 companies including Cisco Systems, Deloitte, and Barclays. Amy has a Master of Science in Training and Development (MSTD), with an emphasis in Organization Development (OD), from Loyola University in Chicago, Illinois. She is a Certified Professional Behavioral Analyst (CPBA), a certified Tiara International LLC Coach, and certified in the Meyers-Briggs Type Instrument.

 

Key takeaways:

1. Courage is not knowing all of the stuff that you could possibly know about the initiative or your goals or the results that you're going for. It can also involve that vulnerability to say I don't know all the answers here. (4:45)
2. Leadership development, how we're doing and being and thinking as a leader, is a work in progress for all of us. (9:02)
3. I am a believer in strengths-based leadership…Don't try to be who you are not instead, lean into your strengths. We're starting to learn that leaders look and feel and talk in different ways and effective leadership does have different kinds of faces and styles. (19:31)

 

For a free chapter from her book, send an email to amy@careerbuilder.com, and reference our show, The Author Your Brand Show. 

Getting On The Same Page with Brian Cain

Who hasn't dreamt of a workplace that has great teamwork? A place that has effortless communication, selfless collaboration, and a finished product that actually feels finished. If the result is so desirable, then why is it difficult to accomplish? 

Getting a team to work together is more critical than ever; according to Salesforce, 86 percent of workers and executives find their workplace failures stem from a lack of collaboration and a huge part of collaborating is ensuring that everyone is on the same page. 

Enter Brian Cain, Co-Founder of Work Excellence, a company that has developed a method that helps organizations see the most important issues in the workplace and make small changes that can result in massive gains in productivity, time, and cost savings. Brian is a proven change management leader that helps organizations achieve their goals and meet their expectations. His expertise is in strategic and operational planning, group facilitation, teaching and coaching teams, individuals, meeting management, and process optimization. 

In today's episode, Brian gives us a glimpse of their Work Excellence® Method, a simple method that helps organizations improve by getting them on the same page and staying on that same page as well.

 

Key takeaways:

1. We asked the question, where's the page? That's a simple question, right? And people really don't have a page; they just say we're not on the same page. We hear it more and more today, especially with diverse groups working in different parts. Some people are at home and some people are in the office. Maybe it's a hybrid where you're in and out and some people are away all the time. It makes it more difficult to get and stay on the same page (4:25)
2. A lot of times people just need small changes, and they can't see those simple small changes that they need to make to get there. (7:20)
3. You're 46% more likely to get your goal to reach your goal if you write it down…If you write down that goal, that future state of where you want to be, you believe that you can get there so you must take action (21:27)

To learn more about the Work Excellence® Method and take their organizational assessment visit https://workexcellence.com/organizational-assessment-tool/.

Built For Crisis with Brad Cousins

As we come out of the pandemic things can be over overwhelming. You might be emotionally overloaded and are afraid to decide on what to do next. 

Meet our guest, Brad Cousins who describes himself as someone "built for crisis". He is a specialist in transformational change with over 20 years of experience in private equity and distressed acquisitions. A turnaround global transformation executive, he has built his career on rapid, radical and change with breakthrough growth. 

In today's episode, Brad teaches us how to build ourselves better for crisis and live at the intersection of strategy, people, change management, transportation, transformation, and the biggest part - managing ourselves and our emotions. 

 

Key takeaways:

1. We tend to approach this crisis, and they're triggering our emotions. We're not recognizing that our judgment and our decision-making are impacted by emotional overload. (2:56)
2. So whatever crisis comes today is an opportunity and I think it's a really a mindset shift of looking at every crisis as an opportunity to do something different (4:26)
3. Some people run to the car wreck outside, and some people shy away from it. Some people run to help, and some people get scared. And so part of it is recognizing yourself and your triggers. (5:23)

For more on Brad Cousins visit http://bradcousins.com/about/.