It used to be said that patriotism was the last refuge of scoundrels.  Now that patriotism is being viewed with more irony than honor among a certain portion of Americans, I think the “last refuge” has become the bashing of “fat cats.”  My evidence is a recent spate of articles on how President Obama, who is polling rather poorly these days, is once again going after Wall Street bonuses.  There is no surer way to get heads nodding again when you speak.  I nod, too, but for a different reason. Read More 

On June 11, our CT Chapter participated in a 90-minute interactive seminar on the science of Influential Negotiation. Four attendee volunteers had the opportunity to hone their business negotiation skills during a live mock negotiation session based upon a provided study/scenario. Following the negotiation simulation, presenters Jane Dolente and Jack DeBardeleben of The Skilled Negotiator facilitated an engaging group discussion regarding the 13 essential behaviors utilized by skilled negotiators. Each volunteer received a personalized, quantitative analysis of their use of these identified behaviors, along with qualitative feedback from fellow attendees.

CEO Trustee Mike Pellegrino, CIO of The Sun Products Corporation, participated in the mock negotiation and shared, “I liked the program - it was engaging, fun and thought-provoking. Jack and Jane were really good and did a very good job of working with everyone to experience negotiating via a simulation exercise. Everyone was engaged in the discussion due to the scenario-play type of presentation they did, and it fostered good conversation and feedback. Well done."

Attendee Llew Smith, CEO Trustee and Managing Partner of The Office Suites of Darien, added “Negotiating is a learned skill. The Skilled Negotiator system was helpful in that it added a way to measure the skill areas that make up most successful negotiations and relationships.”

 CEO Trust speaker Michael Useem recently co-authored a piece for the Harvard Business Review.  “How Boards Can Innovate” proposes that boards should be at the forefront of corporate transformations, not resistant to them, and gives examples of successful, innovative companies with equally innovative boards.

Michael Useem is Professor of Management and Director of the Center for Leadership and Change at Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He is also author of The Leader’s Checklist and co-author of Boards That Lead: When to Take Charge, When to Partner, and When to Stay Out of the Way. 

CEO Trust speaker, Harvard-trained researcher and author Shawn Achor was featured recently on a Super Soul Sunday episode with Oprah Winfrey.  In his appearance, he explains how sending one simple email a day, for 21 days, has been proven to increase happiness and may even extend your life.  "Write a two-minute email, or tweet, or Facebook message, or text message praising or thanking one person you know," Achor says. "It's so simple. Two minutes. It's usually two or three sentences, and you do a different person for 21 days."  Phone calls or face-to-face contact is even better.

Shawn researches and teaches about positive psychology. He's one of the world's leading experts on the connection between happiness & success, and his TED talk is one of the most popular all time with over 3.8 million views. 

In her exclusive presentations for CEO Trust's NYC & CT Chapters recently, Nora Simpson, CEO at Simpson Strategic Solutions, revealed the simple, tangible ingredients that have created catalytic results for companies in more than 15 industries.  Nora's proprietary methodology, more than a decade in development, combines neuroscience and business strategy to help companies significantly increase revenues in six to twelve months.

Following a review of the four processing modes of the central nervous system - including the pros, cons, pitfalls, and strategies for survival of each - Nora presented case studies demonstrating how her methodology has helped companies and individuals alike identify their core processing modes, transform issues, and propel their businesses toward explosive growth.

A dynamic and interactive presenter, Nora actively engaged the audience in considering which processing modes are at play in their own lives & businesses, challenged them to examine their primary road blocks to success, and make changes to increase personal & professional profitability. 

Having recently attended CEO Trust’s NYC Chapter event “Digital and Social Media Tips and Tricks” with Sree Sreenivasan, the first Chief Digital Officer for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, I came away from his presentation quite impressed with not only his enthusiasm and passion for technology and social media, but also his ability to captivate a room of executives, regardless of their technological knowledge. Sree's expertise was quite apparent, and I left his presentation with "homework" and tangible ideas to immediately implement to help propel my business forward. On both a macro and micro level, Sree's straightforward and engaging approach was refreshing, and his subject matters clearly resonated with nearly every attendee, as evidenced by the overwhelming number of questions and insights received throughout his presentation. Sree covered a wide array of topics, reinforcing the importance of social media, and the necessity for businesses to establish and maintain a focus on social media as an integral part of their marketing and branding efforts. With their interests piqued, at the conclusion of the presentation, you could merely look around and easily see other attendees yearning for more.  

-- Justin Melia, Founder and CEO, RMC Venture Group

The CEO Trust PA Chapter Roundtable on May 6th was one of the best yet. CEOs representing both public and private equity organizations were represented ranging from the chemical industry, manufacturing, pharmaceutical distribution, technology, to consumer automotive. The discussion, led by our own RJ Juliano,  prompted a series of relevant questions ranging from team development, identifying high potentials, vertical communication from and to senior leadership, employee demographics, an ever increasing diverse workforce, communication styles, social media, work life balance, and reverse mentoring. Increasingly, CEOs and business leaders crave robust dialogue and exchange of ideas which help propel their organizations toward excellence. This CEO Roundtable delivered! If you haven't yet attended such an event, we strongly encourage you to do so in the future. You won't be disappointed.

Mr. Steege is President of SFG Wealth Planning Services, Inc., SFG Investment Advisors, Inc. (SFG), a fee only financial planning firm. Founded 20 years ago, SFG is dedicated to assisting senior executives and their employees with their complex stock-based compensation and planning challenges. 

On Wednesday, April 16 Bob Lee passed away.  This is sad news and a significant loss.  He was a pioneer in coaching, a founder of Lee Hecht Harrison, author of multiple books, with a long list of accomplishments.  But he was also a compassionate, warm and engaging individual.  I appreciate that he was my colleague, mentor and a friend of the CEO Trust.  He left a legacy with each of us who knew him and particularly with those of us who benefited from his training or coaching.  For more information:  Bob Lee Obituary.  My condolences to Bob's family, friends and all who knew him. 

If you weren’t able to attend the recent CEO Trust Webinar: Outthink the Competition presented by Mr. Kaihan Krippendorff, you really must visit the CEO Trust website for its replay.

"Outthinkers" are entrepreneurs and corporate managers with a new playbook. Outthinkers see opportunities others ignore, challenge dogma others accept as truth, rally resources others cannot influence, and unleash new strategies that disrupt their markets. Business competition is undergoing a fundamental paradigm shift and you will want insight into that revolution. During the recent CEO Trust webinar, Mr. Kaihan Krippendorff (business strategist and popular Fast Company blogger) illustrated stories of businesses whose stunning performances defy traditional explanation and informed and inspired how to outthink the competition. Core concepts included: Discover the Eight Dimensions of Disruption, Play by the Outthinker Playbook, Adopt Five Habits of the Outthinker, Implement the Outthinker Process. 

Mr. Steege is President of SFG Wealth Planning Services, Inc., SFG Investment Advisors, Inc. (SFG), a fee only financial planning firm. Founded 20 years ago, SFG is dedicated to assisting senior executives and their employees with their complex stock-based compensation and planning challenges 

On March 19^th in Darien, CEO Trustees and guests were treated to an engaging & informative presentation by author and dynamic keynote speaker Todd Cohen of Sales Leader LLC.  “Everyone’s In Sales: Building a Successful Sales Culture” took place at the stately Darien Community Association and was chaired by CEO Trustee Joe Tait, CIO of Lydall, Inc., who made opening comments and introduced our speaker.  With colorful anecdotes and real-world examples, Todd highlighted how to create sales culture, develop a professional Value Proposition, define your Virtual Sales Team™, and leverage your Relationship Portability Index™. 

 Salient points from his Sales Culture Presentation included:

• Everyone is in sales and every single conversation is a selling moment. 
• Building a sales culture costs nothing.  You don’t need to do anything different, but you need to think differently about what you do.
• When someone asks “what do you do?” what they are really asking for is your “Value Proposition.”  In other words, “how does what you do impact your customer’s decision to say ‘yes’?” and “why should I engage with you?”  Important components of a quality Value Proposition include:
  • It should not contain your working title
  • It should be 6 words or less
  • It must be agnostic; in other words, it must be about you specifically, not your company
• Five Steps to Creating a Strong Sales Culture

1. Keep Sales TRANSPARENT – Every person in the organization should have a view into the customer, not just the sales team.
2. Know how YOU impact the customer – Understand how what YOU do makes your customer say “yes.”
3. Know how OTHERS in your organization impact the customer – Understand how what THEY do makes your customer say “yes.”
4. Show others how they impact the customer – Help demonstrate to all others in your organization that they are in sales also.  Help them see how what they do matters and helps the customer say “yes.”
5. Monetize “I don’t know what I don’t know” – Everyone in your organization has unique expertise.  Be willing to lean on others for their knowledge and experience. 

• Building your Virtual Sales Team is about moving your connections up through the ladder of Relationship Portability.  All of your connections are in one of these stages:

1. Reliable & available – contacts who know you and understand your Value Proposition.  This is where you want to move as many of your contacts as possible.
2. Available but not reliable – these contacts may or may not get back to you when you reach out
3. Neither reliable nor available – these are people who do not see you as part their business in any way
4. Non existent – these are the people you have not yet met, but can quickly move to reliable & available once you connect with them

 Throughout the evening, Todd shared information, ideas, and best practices for building sales culture drawing on his research, expertise, and experience with individuals, teams, and corporations.  All on hand came away with concrete strategies for best selling themselves and their organizations.