Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 15, 2012

Mentors tell you what you need to hear. When the message is the same from both, you don’t need the mentor anymore. In that sense, you should think of a mentor more like your advisor who has done all he can. Also don’t confuse a business mentor with a business coach. Friends tell you what you want to hear.

Mentor 95

Mentor Coach Startup Ideas 95

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 24, 2017

We all know some peers in business who could use some coaching to unleash their potential and optimize performance, but would you know how to do the job if they asked you for help? In an effort to help myself, I read a new book on this topic, “ The Master Coach ,” by Gregg Thompson. Self-centered members need coaching.

Coach 54

Coach Satisfaction Organization Guide 54

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 19, 2022

As an advisor and mentor, I’m always looking for more ways to improve communication, get people more engaged , and get more done. Great communication inside the organization and outside is the key to value. Coach them that working hard, over long hours, is not enough. Find opportunities to innovate, change, and accelerate.

Coach 119

Coach Organization Technical Review Satisfaction 119

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 13, 2011

Mentors tell you what you need to hear. When the message is the same from both, you don’t need the mentor anymore. In that sense, you should think of a mentor more like your advisor who has done all he can. Also don’t confuse a business mentor with a business coach. Friends tell you what you want to hear.

Mentor 98

Mentor Coach Ideas Entrepreneur 98

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2023

They know these exceptional leaders seem to have a way of finding and enticing the best people into the organization, getting exceptional performance out of them, and fast-tracking their careers both inside and outside the organization. They mentor protégés on talent spotting, creativity, and motivation as well as strategy.

Oracle 94

Oracle Organization Examples Coach 94

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 27, 2020

It does require sensitivity and engagement with the people around you, as well as your customers. External customer loyalty and motivation used to be as simple as good customer service, but today’s customers expect more. Spend more time coaching and mentoring your team.

Coach 144

Coach Customer Custom Entrepreneur 144

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2022

The largest and most successful businesses of the past have been traditionally driven by autocratic and powerful leaders who managed a highly structured organization of subordinates. In this age of world-wide markets, you need all the help you can get to attract loyal customers. Simplify the feedback sharing process for you and them.

Organization 105

Organization Mentor Startup Training 105

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 19, 2018

In my role as a mentor to business professionals and entrepreneurs over the years, I have found that it’s important to take a hard look at the relationships around you on a regular basis. But, like most other skills, you can learn from these priorities: Everyone benefits from active mentoring. A good coach is not a critic.

Tips 95

Tips Mentor Coach Activity 95

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 4, 2022

If you aren’t yet adapting to the market and your customers, you are falling behind. I define business agility for my consulting clients as the ability to change your business rapidly to meet customer and environmental changes, with minimal organizational disruption and cost. Be proactive rather than reactive to market change.

Competition 148

Competition Metrics Demand Customer 148

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 14, 2023

When I heard a friend and business mentor say, “Your startup won’t fail if you don’t quit,” I realized that every entrepreneur should adopt “never give up” as their mantra. You probably realize that the leading edge is very near the bleeding edge, where only early adopter customers dare to tread.

Startup 135

Startup Entrepreneur Statistics Course 135

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 31, 2023

These haven’t changed much over the years, but still seem to be often overlooked by business professionals and leaders in their haste to keep up with peers, competitors, and customers in today’s volatile environment. Timely follow-up on customer and team member requests. Loners need not apply.

Startup 121

Startup Satisfaction Technical Review Ideas 121

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 9, 2020

Of course, as you work with contract players, explore the potential for a long-term relationship, and wait until your organization matures to pursue career positions. Focus on a very flat organization, with minimal hierarchy. By hiring contract experts, less oversight and coaching is needed.

Competition 168

Competition Startup Demand Training 168

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2019

In addition, today’s customers judge a company by perceived people relationships through social media, phone conversations, and sales experiences. That’s why I was pleased to see the balance on people versus process in a classic book on how to fix your organization, “ The Diamond Process ,” by Mike J Diamond and Christopher R Harding.

Coach 94

Coach Organization Mentor Startup 94

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 2, 2021

Perhaps you need to do more to be a role model for accountability , and provide more coaching on exactly what it means. I often think of the scope of this example in my role as mentor to a struggling entrepreneur who is quick to blame his problems on employee mistakes, or even changing customer expectations.

Training 173

Training Examples Startup Social Media 173

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 1, 2010

Mentors tell you what you need to hear. When the message is the same from both, you don’t need the mentor anymore. In that sense, you should think of a mentor more like your advisor who has done all he can. Also don’t confuse a business mentor with a business coach. Friends tell you what you want to hear.

Mentor 49

Mentor Coach Entrepreneur Ideas 49

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 4, 2020

They know these exceptional leaders seem to have a way of finding and enticing the best people into the organization, getting exceptional performance out of them, and fast-tracking their careers both inside and outside the organization. They mentor protégés on talent spotting, creativity, and motivation as well as strategy.

Oracle 124

Oracle Organization Examples Coach 124

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 20, 2022

Be sure to encompass all your constituents, especially including customers. Whole Foods , for example, has built their business with a commitment to natural and organic foods, and have a culture of loyal employees and customers, resulting in 500 stores worldwide. Commit to delivering a positive customer experience.

Product 109

Product Training Customer Custom 109

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 21, 2022

Great leaders strive to treat each person in their organization as a valued individual, rather than as a “human resource.” Ideally that feedback allows you to understand both absolute performance against goals, and your relative performance in the broader organization. The key here is to adopt a “ proactive personality.”

Framework 127

Framework Organization IBM IBM 127

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 11, 2019

Every entrepreneur and business leader believes that he or she has the full trust of their team and their customers, and in fact most do in the beginning. Unfortunately, many aspiring leaders I mentor are not aware of the signals people are looking for, or are not attuned to the subtleties of their own actions.

Mentor 98

Mentor News Summary Coach 98

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 30, 2022

I believe these same mindsets are equally applicable to the entrepreneurs I mentor, and all of you small business leaders, so I offer you my summary of the authors’ conclusions, paraphrased here, with my own insights: Be bold in vision, strategy, and resource allocation. Get organization alignment through culture and talent.

Template 109

Template Demand Social Media Summary 109

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 21, 2017

In addition, today’s customers judge a company by perceived people relationships through social media, phone conversations, and sales experiences. That’s why I was pleased to see the balance on people versus process in a new book on how to fix your organization, “ The Diamond Process ,” by Mike J Diamond and Christopher R Harding.

Entrepreneur 78

Entrepreneur Coach Organization Mentor 78

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 12, 2014

In that sense, you should think of an advisor more like your mentor who has done all he can. Also dont confuse a business advisor with a business coach. An advisors aim is to teach you what to do and how, in specific situations, unlike a coach who helps you develop your generic skills for deciding what to do and how.

Mentor 104

Mentor Coach Tips Entrepreneur 104

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 8, 2019

Among many other recommendations, they offer some practical tips on how any organization can make their work culture more meaningful and satisfying: Match people to work that stimulates and challenges them. I loved it when my boss gave me the additional responsibility of mentoring others in solving tough problems.

Tips 96

Tips Satisfaction Training Mentor 96

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 23, 2015

As a mentor to entrepreneurs, I often get asked what you can do to build the right culture. Customize your organizational structure based on individuals' strengths. Mentoring and training programs need to be put in place early. Technology can be used to facilitate customer support and sales, as well as enhance your product.

Entrepreneur 102

Entrepreneur Technical Review Mentor Training 102

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 15, 2020

For the business to prosper, every employee, and your customers, must know and relate to your core values, such as product excellence, care for the environment, and personal integrity. Thus you must constantly prepare for this stage by listening to customers, measuring customer value, and watching outside forces.

Metrics 140

Metrics Entrepreneur Coach Satisfaction 140

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 18, 2020

When I heard a friend and business mentor say, “Your startup won’t fail if you don’t quit,” I realized that every entrepreneur should adopt “never give up” as their mantra. You probably realize that the leading edge is very near the bleeding edge, where only early adopter customers dare to tread.

Entrepreneur 121

Entrepreneur Startup Statistics Course 121

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 2, 2019

In this era of rapid change, you can’t afford to stop learning, or you will find that your competitors, your customers, and your team, may soon be following someone else. Most people agree that leadership is primarily a set of behaviors that capitalize on relationships and a current market and customer understanding in a complex world.

Tips 97

Tips Mentor Coach Metrics 97

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 26, 2016

No matter how strong your business and technology insights are, you can benefit from input at all levels of the organization, as well as outside experts and customers. Use questions to coach and develop team members. The best leaders focus on coaching and mentoring people on decision making, rather than giving orders.

Coach 64

Coach Satisfaction Organization Activity 64

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 4, 2013

It extends directly to your customers through dependable products and services. It isn’t a value that only benefits the employer and customers. The best time to address expected norms is before hiring, and mentoring with one-on-one conversations must supplement rulebooks. Integrity and coach-ability.

Startup 106

Startup Guide Organization Mentor 106

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 16, 2018

Unfortunately, I often find team members who are not believers, or have a different view of the customer. Thus you need to understand how quickly anyone on your team can be the key to attracting a new set of customers, or the reason that critical partners, vendors, investors, or customers walk away. The result is no deal.

Marketing 71

Marketing Tips Technical Review Social Media 71

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 10, 2015

Does it mean the right thing from a customer perspective, societal impact, maximizing business returns or personal benefit? Another article indicates that 80 percent of customers continue to base some portion of their buying decisions on their perceptions of the company’s ethics. Be a coach, rather than a dictator.

Entrepreneur 102

Entrepreneur Training Demand Customer 102

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 18, 2017

I advocate his nine deliberate steps for bringing balance between purpose and execution to every organization, including new startups and mature businesses: Define a pragmatic organizational purpose first. If team members and customers can’t relate to your purpose, or don’t agree with it, your business will not thrive.

Satisfaction 56

Satisfaction Customer Custom Startup 56

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 10, 2014

You finally need to start planning your product roadmap a bit further than your 2-week sprints so that the rest of the organization has a chance to preplan for new features. The C-round CEO still gets her hand dirty but shouldn’t be a control freak or become a bottleneck in the organization. But you have him now.

Startup 381

Startup Resource Venture Capital Activity 381

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 12, 2018

As an advisor and mentor for many startups and small business founders, following my initial career in big business, I realize that the key strategies to achieve success in small businesses are often different from those that make larger businesses successful. Find a coach who has a holistic view of all elements.

Sales 69

Sales Organization Entrepreneur Examples 69

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 6, 2014

I admit that I haven’t yet read it but I’ve had numerous discussions with Brad over the years about board structure & conduct and consider him a mentor on the topic. how to build an initial sales organization. As we have invested millions in building out our sales organization efficiency really matters.

Startup 325

Startup Sales Technical Review Software Review 325

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 13, 2010

In billing we literally started thinking about all of the types of bills that would be generated for customers: full payment, partial payment, split payment, senior discount, student discount, level pay plan, etc. The wisest mentor I ever had was Ameet Shah , my partner on several projects. I started by doing billing systems.

Entrepreneur 372

Entrepreneur Startup Design Framework 372

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 2, 2012

It extends directly to your customers through dependable products and services. It isn’t a value that only benefits the employer and customers. The best time to address expected norms is before hiring, and mentoring with one-on-one conversations must supplement rulebooks. Integrity and coach-ability.

Company 93

Company Companies Guide Organization 93