Former Xerox Exec Encourages CEOs to “Debate and Commit” to Stay Ahead of Change

06/09/20 • 30 min

If you really want to grow your business fast, you need to build a team that will disagree with you.

Does that sound counter-intuitive?

Well, it worked for Abraham Lincoln. Our greatest president famously assembled a “team of rivals” in his cabinet because he wanted to work with smart people who would challenge – and improve – his thinking.

So what does your “cabinet” look like? Is your C-suite full of Yes Men and Yes Women? Have you created an atmosphere where your best people are afraid to challenge you with their best ideas?

Either situation can be fatal to a company’s growth, especially in today’s uncertain and rapidly fluctuating economy. Right now, every business leader is being challenged to think outside the box and find innovative solutions to today’s unprecedented problems. In this podcast, Gerry Perkel describes how building a team that disagrees with you can help a CEO not only tackle the challenges that COVID-19 presents, but successfully grow their business to new heights.

If you really want to grow your business fast, you need to build a team that will disagree with you.

Does that sound counter-intuitive?

So what does your “cabinet” look like? Is your C-suite full of Yes Men and Yes Women? Have you created an atmosphere where your best people are afraid to challenge you with their best ideas?

Previous Episode

How this Former Xerox Exec Used “Managed Growth” to Hit $1.5 Billion in Sales

If you want your company to stay successful, then maintaining a meaningful growth rate needs to be one of your BIG annual goals. But as we’ve seen recently at companies like WeWork and Uber, chasing growth for the sake of growth just pumps your business full of hot air. Once the hype bubble bursts you could find yourself overvalued, understaffed, and bleeding cash.

On today’s show, CEO Coaching International’s Tracy Tolbert lays out a more practical managed growth strategy that will get your company BIG without sacrificing profitability.

Next Episode

The Four Pillars of an Effortless Experience that Grows Customer Loyalty

We all want our customers to be happy. But what happens when they’re not?

No matter how delighted your customers are when your products and services deliver as advertised, at some point, a shipment will get buried in a blizzard, software will crash, a green employee will say the wrong thing at the worst time ... or a global pandemic will disrupt your supply chain.

According to customer service expert Matt Dixon, how your company addresses those bumps in the road is far more critical to generating customer loyalty than all those perfect, positive experiences the customer might be taking for granted.

On today’s episode, Matt discusses some insights from his book “The Effortless Experience: Conquering the New Battleground for Customer Loyalty" that will help you refocus your customer service on what really creates lasting repeat business: quick problem solving and ease of use.