Align and Thrive: The Importance of Organizational Alignment and Agility

Align and Thrive: The Importance of Organizational Alignment and Agility

Introduction: The Need for Alignment in Agile Growth Companies

During a recent conversation with a fellow professional, the topic of organizational alignment arose. For a company to grow and adapt, it must be aligned, with all activities reinforcing its objectives. Alignment begins with the CORE – Core Values, Core Purpose, Core Customer, Brand Promise, and Profit/X, and these elements form the foundation upon which everything else is built.

Building Strategy Around Your Core

Once the CORE is established, you can develop a strategy that includes your Flywheel, BHAG, 3HAG, and 13-Week Sprints. The strategy should be based on the CORE without contradicting any of its elements. With a solid strategy, execution then focuses on achieving the targets set out in the strategy.

The Pitfalls of Misaligned Goals

Many companies set Core Values, a five-year plan, and annual goals but fail to align these with their CORE. This misalignment can result in pursuing revenue at the expense of profitability or prioritizing profit to the detriment of essential investments in people, processes, and equipment. Such scenarios are common in Corporate America and often wrongly attributed to short-termism.

The Power of Alignment and Agility

Alignment and agility are crucial for sustainable growth. When a company is aligned, its activities reinforce its Flywheel, target Core Customers, meet customer needs, deliver products and services efficiently, fulfill the Brand Promise, and achieve the Profit/X goal.

Agility enables an organization to respond effectively to a changing world. In an ever-changing environment, decision-making must be pushed to where the information is. Proper decision-making can only happen when the decision-maker knows the organizational intent (Strategy) and the framework for making that decision (CORES).

Conclusion: Aligning Your Organization for Success

To achieve the growth and success you seek, identify your CORES and develop a strategy accordingly. Ensure that everything in your organization aligns with these CORES, and you will be well on your way to thriving in an ever-changing business landscape.

Copyright (c) Marc A. Borrelli 2023

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How to Achieve Smart Time Management: 10 Tips for Busy Professionals

How to Achieve Smart Time Management: 10 Tips for Busy Professionals

When you are a busy professional running your own business, it can often feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day to accomplish everything. Being strategic with your time is the best (and possibly the only) way to achieve all of your daily tasks. If you are struggling with time management, then coaching by a business coach in Atlanta, GA, will help you take control of your work life. Follow these ten tips to reap the benefits of time management for yourself and your business. 

Be Well Rested

The first tip for effective time management is to start your day well-rested. To function at a high level, you need to take care of your body by de-stressing and getting the recommended amount of sleep. You should also take short breaks throughout the day to keep your mind sharp.

Create a Distraction-Free Workzone

Optimize your workspace to ensure you are ready to focus when you start working. Clear out any clutter or distractions, then organize your desk. Avoid loud noises or stress that prevents you from concentrating intensely. 

Understand Your Productivity Levels

Everyone’s energy levels are different depending on the time of day. Take inventory of your productivity levels throughout the workday. Then schedule your tasks around those times, ensuring that tasks that require a lot of energy are planned in your peak productive hours.

Avoid Multitasking in Favor of Deep Focus

Try to work in organized blocks of time rather than jumping around between jobs. It takes time to refocus and readjust to new activities, so deeply focusing on a single task often saves time over multitasking.

Plan Your Time Management Ahead

Having a weekly schedule is essential when you run a business. Planning your week gives you a broader perspective of work goals and multi-day tasks. Investing in time management coaching can help you organize big-picture goals into smaller attainable tasks.

Organize Your Daily Tasks

Planning your day should be a priority in your time management strategy. Making a to-do list the night before can save you so much time in the morning. You can be ready with a list of top urgent tasks first thing in the morning. 

Prioritize Based on Urgency or Importance

Have a list of your most urgent and vital priorities and continue to scale down into unimportant and not urgent tasks. Time management coaches can help you prioritize these items and plan accordingly.

Have Measurable Time Management Goals

You should have long-term and short-term goals that your company is aiming to achieve. If you are having trouble setting or achieving your business goals, time management coaching will help you strategize. 

Delegate to Others Appropriately

When organizing your tasks, take note of the jobs that only you can do. Then delegate the remaining tasks appropriately to the members of your team that can handle them best. 

Automate Processes Where Possible

Try to find technology that will automate simple routine tasks to save time. Using helpful software can save you and your team time and energy.

Effective time management can seem like a faraway dream when you’re in the thick of a busy business. Working with time management coaches may be the boost you need to get the right strategy in place. Consider working with a business coach in Atlanta, Ga, to help you achieve the best time management strategy for your business. 

5 Ways to Use Email Automation to Boost Traffic

5 Ways to Use Email Automation to Boost Traffic

Every single business in the world wants to evolve and grow. This will happen using a variety of techniques and strategies. In 2022, digital marketing is more than a household name, and most companies will adopt at least a few ideas when long-term planning and coming up with new ways of evolving. If you need help with your small business and you aren’t sure how to evolve with the world, seek out an online business coach to guide you through.

Email automation is a common and useful technique in terms of bringing more eyes to the business and retaining clients or customers. The chances are that you have received automated emails and been a part of email campaigns over the past few years yourself. 

Hire a business coach to help guide you through the process and help you ultimately grow as a company. Here, we’re going to talk a little about how it all works and what it can result in with the help of an online business coach. 

What Specifically Is Email Automation? 

It’s a tool that allows anyone to set up groups of emails that are automatically sent out to recipients. Once a trigger has been pulled, the email automation will get to work. The trigger could be subscribing or buying a particular product. Emails are typically tactically sent out at a particular time – depending on what you want to achieve. All that’s necessary is one email, and they’ll be scattered around all subscribers at the same time. 

The Benefits Of Email Automation In Business 

There are many benefits of email automation in business, and that’s why so many small businesses, entrepreneurs, and corporations are all utilizing it. 

Firstly, the ROI tends to be significantly high for most who take part. Emails are received at the perfect time and, thus, quenches the thirst for people to input feedback or explore more. Automated emails tend to be opened more often than random emails out of the blue. This is because the recipient is comfortable with the company and knows the kind of thing they’re getting.

The relationship between recipient and sender tends to grow over the months of being linked via automated emails. This then helps when wanting to turn leads into sales. 

 With all of this, it’s a sure-fire way of growing and increasing revenue in the long run. Companies will invest little and receive a lot in return which can be streamlined if you hire a business coach online. 

Why Is Email Automation Used By Most Ambitious Businesses?

The most fundamental benefit of automated emails is that they’ll be able to collect feedback quickly and efficiently. They’ll get to learn about their audience, customers, and clients in a timely manner. 

It can be used to notify their subscribers about events or special situations that are upon us or to let them know about particular blog posts that have been published recently. Inviting someone via email to check out something online or in person is great for efficiency, convenience, and professionalism.  

Building up excitement and anticipation for the latest product or service certainly allows businesses to create a buzz about what they’re looking to bring out. 

5 Ways Businesses Are Growing And Boosting Traffic With Email Automation

  • Personalizing emails allows the bond between the two to grow. The business as a whole and reputation both flourish.
  • Longevity and a platform to work on both develop as customer retention becomes a more common theme.
  • It’s a comfortable and professional method of attracting even more subscriptions – once the trigger has been set off. 
  • Simple leads can go from being nothing to something through lead nurturing. Email marketing goes through the funnel of awareness, consideration, and decision-making. 
  • Businesses are able to upsell using email marketing.

While email marketing and email automation are commonly used, not every business owner will know how to get started with it all, which is why you should hire a business coach in Atlanta to help you navigate email automation and more. This is where we at Marc Borelli can come in. We can show anyone the ropes and provide a real strategy that will help your business grow. We’ve worked in this area for a while and have all the experience to see this kind of campaign through. 

6 Questions To Ask A Potential Business Coach Before Hiring Them

6 Questions To Ask A Potential Business Coach Before Hiring Them

Many entrepreneurs consider executive business coaching when they start struggling on their professional path. A small business coach is an experienced professional mentor who educates, supports, and motivates entrepreneurs. They will listen to your concerns, assess your weaknesses honestly, and help you capitalize on your strengths to maximize opportunities. Fortunately, we are one of the leading services many small business owners turn to when seeking to hire a business coach.

Why You May Need a Business Coach

There is no shortage of reasons why you may require a business coach’s assistance to boost your company’s chances of success. For instance, you may need one when you start a company and want support. You may also require their services when you lack clarity on your enterprise’s next steps or overall vision or are not seeing tangible results despite working hard towards your business goals. Furthermore, an online business coach is worth hiring if you are in the middle of a business transition, want to take your company to higher heights, or require support in specific aspects of your business like finances or marketing. Finally, you can simply hire a business coach if you are passionate about your professional development or want to identify any mental barriers preventing you from achieving success.

How is a Business Coach Helpful?

Your small business coach will eliminate mental roadblocks, provide unbiased viewpoints, and offer constructive criticism to address your specific business issues. They will also recommend new plans and may offer networking opportunities worth taking advantage of. Furthermore, your coach can:

  • Help you grow your business from the start
  • Analyze plans that have contributed to your enterprise’s success or failure
  • Assess your strengths and weakness and guide your development
  • Keep you accountable and motivated.

Who Should You Hire?

Generally, it is best to hire someone passionate about helping entrepreneurs and businesses unlock their true potential. In addition, their communication style and expertise must be a great fit for your company. Your business coach should be an empathetic and active listener. They should first seek to understand if they wish to be understood and must connect with you emotionally and cognitively. Furthermore, great business coaches like Kaizen Solution’s Marc Borelli aren’t afraid to ask powerful questions to get to the root cause of what is holding you back from achieving your goals.

Also, a good business coach should have admirable values of honesty and integrity, a commitment to constant learning, humility, accessibility, and trustworthiness. In addition, hire someone who provides the exact services you are seeking. For example, if you have a vision of what your business could be but require a solid plan to get there, we are worth hiring to help with strategic planning. We also offer financial improvement coaching, systems and operations optimization, and scaling assistance.

Finding a Great Business Coach

You will need to explore far and wide to find a great business coach, so keep this in mind. You can ask your network of fellow entrepreneurs to recommend someone they have worked with, for starters. Also, search trusted coaching directories and browse business-related Facebook groups. You can also find an online business coach by searching for relevant terms on Google.

Interviewing Your Small Business Coach

The best way to prepare for your interview with a business coach is to think about the question you will ask them ahead of time. Some of the key questions to ask a potential business coach include:

How can you help me?

This question is seemingly apparent but fundamental to hiring the best professional for executive business coaching. After all, several business coaches are out there, so it is difficult to differentiate between the good and bad. This simple question will help you understand their skills to determine if they are a good fit.

Have you worked with others in my industry?

Business coaching isn’t a one-size-fits-all endeavor since all companies are different. Therefore, this question is worth asking to ensure that the professional you hire has experience helping companies in your specific industry. This way, you can confirm that they have the relevant experience to help you succeed.

What are your credentials?

Many coaching programs certify coaches based on the International Coach Federation’s standards. Consequently, ask about your coach’s credentials to determine their type of training. This question will reveal whether they have the knowledge and expertise to assist entrepreneurs like you, so it is worth asking.

How do you work with clients?

Enterprise business coaching takes many forms, so it is best to find a coach who delivers their services in a way you are comfortable with. Some coaches offer group or individual programs which may or may not appeal to you. Similarly, an online coach might not be the best person to hire if you prefer an in-person approach. It is also prudent to ask whether you can take advantage of any resources due to your working relationship.

What are your values?

This question is one of the most popular ones we receive at Kaizen Solutions. Shared values facilitate a great working relationship, so our clients are naturally concerned about whether we see things the same way they do. Therefore, consider your values and what is important to you in a coaching relationship. Then, share this with your potential coach to see if you are on the same page.

How many companies have you helped create?

The business coaching industry is saturated with individuals with no actual background in building businesses besides their own. As such, ask this question to discover how successful your preferred business coach has been over the years.

How Executive Business Coaching Can Help You Reach the Next Level

As per the Institute of Coaching, more than 70% of coaching recipients report a tangible improvement in communication, relationships, and work performance. However, you need to work with us to enjoy the best results. We can help you:

  • Increase revenue and boost your bottom line.
  • Equip you to become tougher through resilience-building strategies like positive psychology and questioning negative assumptions.
  • Expand your leadership skills.
  • Build your executive leadership team.

Marc Borelli has the tools you need to grow and manage your business and the experience to back you up. Find out more on our website.

What is a Peer Group, and How Can it Improve Your Career?

What is a Peer Group, and How Can it Improve Your Career?

If you are a CEO or key executive who has come to a crossroads or crisis in your career, you’ll gain valuable insights and solutions from a peer group connection more than anywhere else. But what is a peer group, and how can that statement be made with so much conviction? 

Using the Vistage Model with Marc Borrelli as Chair, business leaders from all industries and backgrounds are immersed in an environment that genuinely fosters developmental growth in work and life. CEO peer groups and groups for key executives meet regularly to engage with one another on the issues that only those in the same positions can understand. Through critical thinking and shared expertise, all discover new ideas that allow them to grow and prosper – personally and professionally. 

What Is A Peer Group With Vistage? It’s A Support System For Those At The Top

There are benefits to forming a peer group connection not found anywhere else. CEO peer groups exist because there is no one to turn to for help without them. Subordinates, family, friends – all of these people have a reliance on you, as you may have on them. This complicates matters when you require the kind of stimulation for growth that comes only from hard, unbiased truths. 

You may wonder how anything can get done when you violate the “too many chiefs” proverb. Still, the Vistage Model of peer coaching groups involves an entirely different kind of rivalry. With a genuine peer group connection, we do indeed challenge each other’s assumptions, destroy one another’s hubris, and engage in confrontational conversations (or rather, ‘care’frontational), but it’s meaningful and without any agendas. Each individual is their own rival; the members are different versions of you with valuable advice designed to uplift.

The Value Of Peer Coaching Groups 

It may be difficult for some leaders to admit it, but being at the top by definition implies they can benefit the most from support – it’s a long drop if they fall. Besides, CEO peer groups with Vistage offer a lot of value. 

Not only do Vistage members on average outperform their non-Vistage peers by 2.2x revenue growth and have higher profit margins, but they are immediately exposed to a network of 23,000 executives worldwide. Add to that the proof of success in our program demonstrated by the average five years top executives stay with Vistage, and the overall value cannot be quantified.

It Doesn’t Have To Be Lonely At The Top

Explaining what a peer group is is easy; the challenge is experiencing one. However, additional growth in business and life (for those who have already reached the top) requires challenge and an environment for cultivation. Discover your full potential with help from Vistage Chair Marc Borrelli.

Resolutions, Here We Go Again.

Resolutions, Here We Go Again.

Reflecting on 2021 Resolutions: A Personal Scorecard and Adjustments for 2022

Last year, I shared my New Year’s resolutions and the process I used to create them in a blog post titled “New Year’s Resolutions, Once More Unto the Breach.” I divided my resolutions into three categories: Business, Personal, and Relationships. Upon reflecting on my progress, I scored myself on a scale of 0 to 10 in each area:

  • Business: 5.65
  • Personal: 4.60
  • Relationships: 8.20

While my performance was not perfect, I still made some progress. I realized my long-term goals, or 3HAG, remained mostly unchanged, which meant my resolutions were still relevant for 2022.

Enhancing Resolution Success in 2022

To improve my success rate in 2022, I decided to implement the advice of social psychologist Wendy Wood, who emphasized the importance of tapping into the unconscious mind to facilitate change. Wendy, an expert on habits and the author of “Good Habits, Bad Habits: The Science of Making Positive Changes That Stick,” suggests that resolution success is less about willpower and more about persistence. She advises minimizing friction that prevents achieving goals and increasing friction for actions that hinder success.

Addressing Friction in Failed Resolutions

To illustrate how I applied Wendy’s approach, let’s examine three resolutions I struggled with last year and discuss how I can modify friction to increase the likelihood of success.

Have five coaching clients on annual contracts.

I fell short of this goal, but I did have several clients on shorter-term contracts. I discovered that my mindset was focused on selling annual contracts rather than addressing clients’ immediate needs, which led to positive outcomes and repeat business.

  • Friction to reduce: Shift my mindset from selling annual contracts to addressing clients’ problems.
  • Friction to increase: Develop a questionnaire to identify prospects’ most significant issues before proposing a solution or relationship.

Practice yoga three times a week.

I only practiced yoga three times throughout the year, which I attributed to insufficient time allocation.

  • Friction to reduce: Schedule yoga sessions in my calendar every Sunday for the week ahead, allowing for an hour and twenty minutes for each session and a shower afterward.
  • Friction to increase: Share my commitment and calendar with a friend to hold me accountable.

Develop a monthly calling plan for “old” friends.

My performance in this area was mediocre. I often forgot to call friends, so I needed to address the friction points.

  • Friction to reduce: Schedule a weekly calendar appointment to call a friend, including their name and phone number.
  • Friction to increase: Reach out on social media to inform friends about my intention to call and leave messages when they don’t answer, inviting them to call back.

I look forward to updating you on my progress next year and encourage you to examine your 2022 goals by considering how adjusting friction can help you achieve them. Feel free to share your resolutions with me if you’d like someone to hold you accountable or reach out if you’d like to discuss this further.

Copyright (c) 2022, Marc A. Borrelli

 

 

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The Downfall of Boeing: A Lesson in Core Values

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Boeing’s 737 Max issues highlighted the company’s sacrifice of safety for financial performance, resulting in a tarnished reputation. The prioritization of profit over core values also damaged the FAA’s credibility and revealed a lack of accountability for top executives. This downfall serves as a reminder of the importance of maintaining core values and prioritizing them over short-term financial gains.

Resolutions, Here We Go Again.

Resolutions, Here We Go Again.

In reflecting on 2021 resolutions, the author scored themselves in three categories and sought to improve success in 2022 by addressing friction points. Drawing on advice from social psychologist Wendy Wood, the author identified areas to reduce or increase friction in their failed resolutions. By making these adjustments, the author aims to enhance their goal achievement and encourages others to consider friction when setting resolutions.

Understanding and Optimizing Your Cash Conversion Cycle

Understanding and Optimizing Your Cash Conversion Cycle

Understanding and optimizing the Cash Conversion Cycle is crucial for business growth, as it impacts cash flow and the ability to access external capital. This cycle consists of four components: Sales, Make/Production & Inventory, Delivery, and Billing and Payments. To improve the Cash Conversion Cycle, companies can eliminate mistakes, shorten cycle times, and revamp their business models.

Discovering Your Niche: Why You Need to Be Famous for Something

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As an entrepreneur, it’s crucial to specialize in a specific area and become famous for something, allowing you to generate referrals and build your brand. Understanding the “job” you’re hired for helps you stand out in the marketplace and communicate your value proposition effectively. By providing value to your clients, you can adopt a value-based pricing approach, ensuring your business remains competitive and maintains a strong market presence.

Rethinking Your Pricing Model: Maximizing Margins and Providing Value

Rethinking Your Pricing Model: Maximizing Margins and Providing Value

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Do you know your Profit per X to drive dramatic growth?

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