Podcast
100: Take Control of Your Time with Chris Williams
Whether you're the business owner or in a leadership role, my guess is you don't have a lack of activities or responsibilities to devote your time to. But just "spending" time on the activities can lead to feeling overwhelmed and out of control.
I think a better model is captured by Stephen R. Covey when he says, "The key is in not spending time, but in investing it."
But as is the case with making a sound investment, tools and discipline are essential.
In this week's episode, we're back with a good friend, Chris Williams of Aginto, as he shares the tools and disciplines he uses to invest his time well. One secret about Chris is he's prudent with his time...some might even say robotic.
99: How to Build Phenomenal Employees (Lessons from Magic Kingdom)
A few weeks ago, I spent a long weekend at Disney World with my family. Say what you will about Disney corporate, but they still provide a remarkable theme park experience. And it is the Disney team members (aka Cast Members) that are primarily responsible for that experience.
How does Disney do it? How do they consistently employ individuals from every age demographic and turn them into phenomenal employees?
Here are the seven insights I gained after spending several days on property and a few late nights scouring the internet for what makes Disney so special. I talk about each of them in this week's episode.
98: Avoid the 5 Pitfalls of Effective Meetings
There are few things in business more frustrating than an ineffective meeting. Why? Because not only is the time spent by meeting participants costly, but the meeting may also diminish one's ability to work on revenue-generating activities in the business.
But knowing that a meeting is ineffective is different from knowing the pitfalls that led it there.
In this week's episode, Cameron and Devin cover just that; they discuss 5 pitfalls of effective meetings AND the foundational components to overcome them.
97: What To Do About The Coming Recession with Ben Sturgill
This week my good friend Ben Sturgill joins us to talk about economic indicators, recession, inflation, wages and what small business owners can do to stay on top of things in a rapidly changing economic environment.
96: Building Business Managers
What's the difference between a project manager and a business manager? Is it possible to build a great business manager?
In this episode, Joey and Cameron discuss the qualities and characteristics of a great business manager, and what we can do to train, coach, and empower them to take more "ownership" in their roles.
95: Signs of a Toxic Culture (ones in need of a 180)
We talk a lot about creating a great culture, but what if your company culture is toxic? What if you know there are drastic changes that need to happen in order for the company to move forward? What if you need to do a complete culture 180?
In this episode, Joey and Cameron discuss the signs of a toxic culture (ones in need of a 180) and give some practical steps to address toxicity and create a healthy foundation to build a culture upon.
94: Exit Interviews Part 2 of 2
Last week, Devin and Cameron began a 2-part series on exit interviews and discussed the why and how behind them. If you missed it, make sure to give it a listen first.
This week, in Part 2, Devin and Cameron share the top questions you should be asking in your exit interviews and also discuss what to do when you feel like the conversation isn't going anywhere.
93: Exit Interviews Part 1 of 2
Exit interviews can be intimidating. What questions should we ask? Who should do the interview? How do we make sure we're not wasting anyone's time?
In Part 1 of this 2-part series, Devin and Cameron lay the foundation for "why" and "how" to conduct exit interviews. Join us again next week as they jump into Part 2 and share the top questions you should be asking.
92: Leadership Opportunities Non-Profit Boards Provide
Michael Corley is a highly regarded advisor to non-profit organizations and their boards. He has also served in President, Vice President, COO, and CFO roles inside large for-profit businesses. His perspective on the relationship between the for-profit and not-for-profit world is unique.
This week, Michael joined the Axiom Podcast to talk about the leadership opportunities that non-profit boards provide and why every CEO (and quite a few key players) should serve on a non-profit board as part of their professional development.
91: Severance Packages
What's the state of your severance program? Is it a formal benefit or an informal gesture of goodwill offered on a case by case basis? Is it leading to a positive reputation in the market, or are you leveraging it to cover a multitude of sins?
In this episode, Joey and Devin discuss severance packages and ways you can leverage your current offerings to end employee relationships well.
90: Workforce Capacity
The challenge most businesses are facing in the current economy is the same: they can't find good people to do the work. But have you ever stopped to measure the actual capacity of your current labor force?
In this episode, Joey and Devin discuss the qualitative and quantitative measures of workforce capacity and how you may have more capacity with your current labor force than you realize.
89: Values Based Culture
David Sobelman is the CEO of publicly traded Generation Income Properties (NASDAQ: GIPR), and one of Axiom's all-time favorite clients. GIP maintains a commercial property portfolio and is a landlord for Starbucks, Best Buy, Kohl's, Sherwin-Williams, and other national brands. When we think of the GIP team, there are a couple of things that come to mind...
1. They are an incredibly smart group of people.
2. They have one of the most humble and genuine leaders we have ever worked with.
In this week's episode, we took a trip to GIP's headquarters in Tampa to interview David on what it looks like to build a values based culture.
His perspective is refreshing and energizing at the same time.
88: Preparation - Space
In this episode, we dive into the final element of skillful preparation and discuss the importance of space and how essential it is to be properly prepared.
You’ll learn what we mean by “space”, how space relates to ceiling fans(?!), and our take on tools to help you leverage your space for preparation.
Join the final piece of our discussion to end long nights before your big meeting!
87: Preparation - Place
You've had weeks -- dare I say months -- since this important date was put on the calendar! Yet there you are, worn thin with stress, trying to finalize the details of this important pitch. If only we prepared better. But what does that look like?
In this episode, we dive into the second element of skillful preparation and discuss the importance of place for being prepared.
Where should one prepare?
How should we set up a place so it's conducive to planning?
86: Helping Clients Achieve Their Vision
This week, join us as Joey is interviewed by Susan Tatum host of “Stop the Noise” podcast. Joey and Susan discuss how service organizations can only grow as much as their vision allows.
In this interview, we discuss strategy vs focus and how Axiom guides businesses to achieve their vision long term. Joey also shares the 5 layers of competency every service organization needs in order to succeed. The importance of knowing what you want to achieve and why strategy is more than just applying best practices.
85: Preparation - Time
You've had weeks -- dare I say months -- since this important date was put on the calendar! Yet there you are, worn thin with stress, and trying to finalize the details of this important pitch. If only we prepared better. But what does that look like?
In this episode, we dive into the first element of skillful preparation and discuss the relationship between time and being prepared.
How much time?
What to do with the time?
When is the best time to prepare?
Join the discussion about ending long nights before the big meeting!
84: Niching Your Product or Service
In this week's podcast, Joey Brannon and Cameron Earhart talk with Kyle Klement, a marketing and branding expert from Saint Petersburg, FL.
A large focus of the conversation is based on niching your product or service. Kyle helps answer questions such as, "When should you niche down?" "What's the process for creating a niche?" and "How do you create a niche offering as an additional revenue stream?"
Kyle, an entrepreneur to the core, explains how he balances staff, keeps from getting pigeon-holed and more in relation to his two firms Klemtek Media and The Vet Marketing Firm.
83: Building a Great Culture - Execution
Can you have a great culture where there are values that govern how people are treated, where there is a compelling over the horizon vision, where there are great servant leaders BUT NOTHING EVER GETS DONE? I don’t think so, and that means we have to talk about execution.
Deciding what gets done is often a matter of deciding what is not going to get done. Strategies (as few as possible) help us focus on what is most important. Goals make progress measurable and provide a feedback mechanism to help us adjust course. And priorities get down to who is doing what and by when.
This week we cover all three of these critical elements of execution, plus one more.
82: Building a Great Culture - Vision
This is the third episode in our four part series on building a great culture. Joey goes over the role vision plays in attracting and retaining great talent and the responsibility of the leader to cast an “over the horizon vision.”
81: Building a Great Culture -Leadership
In this second of four episodes on building a great culture Joey discusses the elements of great leadership and how to build a leadership team that will steward and carry on the culture seeded with clear values.