The EO Blog

7 Tips for Success from a PR and Connection Superhero

9 December, 2022

Justin Breen self-describes as “a Dad who happens to be an entrepreneur.” His own father died when Justin was just 13, so spending time with his sons, ages 8 and 10, takes precedence over all else.

Five years ago, Justin started his public relations company, BrEpic Communications, with zero business experience. After being a journalist for 20 years, Justin created his company for two reasons:

1. To create stories that people will understand and that the media wants to cover.

2. To get those stories out into the world.

Justin joined EO Accelerator and leveraged his global network to achieve success. He quickly qualified to join EO Chicago. As a connecting superhero for visionary entrepreneurs with an abundance mindset, he partners with numerous EO members.

In a recent EO 360° podcast episode with host Dave Will (EO Boston), Justin shared seven significant takeaways that will benefit every entrepreneur who wants to grow and scale:

1. Know your skill set

Justin says he excels in exactly two areas: “I’m a great dad, and I’m great at connecting people on a global level. I don’t care about revenue, office space or employee count. I do what I do, and the rest takes care of itself. I provide value to the right people, and then great things happen.”

Justin’s greatest skill is seeing complexities, simplifying them into patterns, and then acting on it. “I don’t overthink it,” he says. “I activate, maximize and achieve.”

2. Know your brain

Justin is a fan of strengths finders, specifically the Kolbe Index. “Your Kolbe score describes how your brain works,” Justin explains.

The Kolbe Index identifies four instinctual styles that identify how people activate in every situation:

“Quick starters” who use trial and error to swing into action.
“Fact finders” who require information and research.
“Follow through-ers” who use a very methodical approach.
“Implementers” who figure things out via model-building or other tools.

Justin’s personal Kolbe number shows high quick-start, high follow-through and high fact-finder scores. He takes action and does things rapidly rather than talking things through at length. “I just say it, do it, don’t overthink it —and it just gets done.”

Justin notes that many visionary entrepreneurs are great at ideation but not follow-through. That helps Justin tailor what he offers to high-level entrepreneurs: “I simplify their story into an immediate message and then introduce them to the right people in my global network. It causes a chain reaction, and awareness grows from there.”

3. Know your audience

Justin shares a unique view of his work: “I don’t compete with anybody; I just collaborate with people at the highest level,” he says. “I have a four-step process. I only partner with the .1% of people who live in abundance and who are visionaries that look at PR and connection as investments. If someone asks how much my services cost or what the ROI is, we’re not going to work together.”

While some people may think that limits his audience, Justin points out: “There are 8 billion people on the planet — 0.1% of 8 billion is 8 million. Those 8 million are the people who create the ideas that change the world. That’s who I work with.”

4. Know the formula for success

Justin’s formula for creating a successful global company is simple: See a problem, create a solution, solve the problem—and you have a successful global company.

He did it with his first company, and he’s doing it again with BrEpic Network, which he describes as LinkedIn without all the fluff. It’s currently available by invitation only, and it’s a high price point, high-opportunity platform.

“I was annoyed by platforms that let everyone in because, at the highest level, you don’t have time for people trying to sell you things. People at that level just want the connections. That’s what we provide.”

5. Know where to get heard

While the Wall Street Journal and Forbes came up in the conversation as places entrepreneurs gain PR exposure, Justin says that podcasts such as EO 360° and EO Wonder and Maestros del Escalamiento are far better platforms to share entrepreneurial stories. Here’s why:

The host is an entrepreneur, not a journalist, so they’re coming from a place of abundance rather than scarcity.
You get a deep dive and get to know someone for a full 45 minutes, not three to five minutes like on tv or radio.
The audience may not be as large, but it’s a far more qualified audience who are interested in what high-level entrepreneurs have to share.

6. Know your value

While media opportunities are great, it’s how you leverage those connections that counts. For example, if you gain an introduction to a high-level entrepreneur who hosts their own podcast or has another platform, they may also become collaborators or potential investors.

Justin and Dave discussed that PR is not always about getting the word out to the masses. It’s about getting in front of the two or three influencers who are really significant to you and your product.

“The people I partner with understand the value of the connections with other high-level, visionary entrepreneurs. They see the long-term, long-game, building relationships approach, and know its value.”

7. There are no excuses

Though Justin didn’t have the benefit of a lot of years with his father, the eight or so years he remembers are significant. His dad taught Justin at least two lessons that he uses daily: The cream rises to the top, and there’s no tolerance for people who make excuses.

“As a result, I only partner with the cream that rises to the top—because they are the people who will do whatever it takes to make things happen,” Justin shares. “And just like my father, I have no tolerance for people who make excuses.”

“There are no excuses. Not at this level. If you have the right mindset, you’ll figure it out.”

For more insights and inspiration from today’s leading entrepreneurs, check out EO on Inc. and more articles from the EO blog.

Categories: BUSINESS GROWTH PR/MARKETING Public Relations

Tags: BrEpic Communications BrEpic Network Dave Will entrepreneurs' organization EO 360 EO 360 podcast EO Accelerator EO Chicago EO Wonder Justin Breen Kolbe Index Maestros del Escalamiento

3 Ways to Improve Engagement in Front-Line Employees

7 December, 2022

Employee burnout figures are on the rise, a fact that no company should ignore. According to Gallup research from 2021, nearly three-quarters of all employees report sometimes feeling burned out. And that’s not good for them or their organizations.

Yet burnout isn’t inevitable, including among frontline employees. Frontline workers tend to be especially susceptible to burnout. Often, they’re the ones who deal with immediate, customer-facing issues. Take healthcare workers in the US, for example. The problem of burnout among medical staff members has reached such a critical level that it’s being addressed by the Surgeon General.

Fortunately, there are steps you can take to prevent even your frontline teams from experiencing burnout. As Gallup also noted, employees who felt engaged and recognized were less likely to experience burnout. At the same time, they were more productive and not as quick to tender their resignations as their burned-out coworkers.

Here are three engagement strategies that could help your frontline workers avoid burnout:

1. Publicly acknowledge high performers.

Every company has high performers. You want yours to stick around. Show them they’re valued by publicly acknowledging them regularly. For instance, you might want to give out high-quality Employee of the Month plaques as rewards for outstanding efforts. A plaque represents your gratitude in a very tangible and displayable way. This helps frontline workers feel more connected to, and essential in, their roles.

In addition to giving plaques and awards, be sure to highlight Employee of the Month winners in your newsletter and on social media. You can’t say “thank you” enough to the frontline team members who make your organization thrive.

2. Give frontline workers more authority.

Working directly with consumers, customers, patients, and other end users can be challenging. It’s even more challenging when frontline employees can’t do anything without approval. It’s much easier to promote widespread engagement by giving your frontline team members the authority to make decisions within specified parameters.

Consider your customer service personnel. It might save time and money to give them the ability to spend up to a certain dollar amount on each unhappy customer. The dollar amount doesn’t matter — $10, $25, $100, or more — but the sentiment will indicate that you trust their judgment. Don’t be surprised if your frontline personnel start thinking strategically and using their authority in ways that improve your brand image and processes.

3. Hire from within.

Reporting from SHRM reveals that companies that promote from within tend to lose fewer people than those that primarily hire externally. This makes logical sense, given that employees can see that they will be rewarded for longevity. Additionally, they realize that they have the opportunity to embark on a true career—not just have a job—with their employer.

If you don’t already have career mapping and succession planning in place, consider making it happen. Whenever you have a job available above entry-level, be sure all your employees know about it. Frontline workers who are interested can apply. Even if you decide to hire someone else, you’ll know which workers would like to be upwardly mobile in your organization. Think about tapping into their enthusiasm by offering professional training. The next time a role opens up, they might be better suited for candidacy.

No business can afford to lose frontline team members because of disengagement and burnout. Remember: Your frontline people serve as the voices and faces of your company. You need them to succeed. And they’re ready to do their best as long as you treat them with the respect and appreciation they deserve.

Contributed to EO by Mike Szczesny, the owner and vice president of EDCO Awards & Specialties, a dedicated supplier of employee recognition products, branded merchandise, and athletic awards. Szczesny takes pride in EDCO’s ability to help companies go the extra mile in expressing gratitude and appreciation to their employees. He also shares great ideas around how to leverage awards in your company’s marketing efforts.

For more insights and inspiration from today’s leading entrepreneurs, check out EO on Inc. and more articles from the EO blog.

Categories: Company Culture PEOPLE/STAFF

Tags: EDCO Awards & Specialties employee engagement entrepreneurs' organization Mike Szczesny

What I Learned from Quitting a Stable Job to Start My Own Company

2 December, 2022

(And no, it didn’t start as a side hustle.)

After graduation, many job-seekers hunt down positions in established companies with a large pool of clients. That’s precisely what I did as a new lawyer. Working for a big firm provides financial stability, mentorship, exciting cases, and the potential for upward mobility.

But it’s not the best choice for everyone. Some lawyers find the grind of an established firm to be too much, often citing poor work-life balance, limited control, or long hours as reasons for branching out on their own.

In this case, opening a solo practice may be the best choice. However, it’s a challenge to get a law firm—or any newly established company—off the ground. It takes time and dedication to become profitable.

Looking to quit your stable position to venture out on your own? You can do it! And no, you don’t need to start with a side hustle.

Here are five lessons I learned from quitting my job to start my own firm, which apply to anyone looking to make the leap from employee to entrepreneur:

1. Plan your departure carefully

How you leave your current job can make or break your future. It’s important to leave on good terms with transparency to maintain a good relationship. You may be able to rely on your old firm to bring clients into your new one through referrals.

Your established firm may have difficulty fitting small clients into a busy schedule. Referring them to you benefits both of you, but that won’t happen if you leave on bad terms or try to steal clients before you go.

2. Create a client acquisition strategy

Lawyers used to rely on their reputations to bring in new clients. The market has gotten more competitive, however, and clients find lawyers in any number of ways. It takes more than a name and social network to attract new business.

Before you venture out on your own, you need a client acquisition plan to gain momentum for your new firm. A mix of marketing methods, including traditional radio or television ads combined with digital marketing through search or social media, is important.

However you choose to approach your client acquisition, it’s vital to have a strategy with client profiles, a well-functioning website, marketing objectives, and a well-rounded marketing mix. Without a plan, you won’t know what works and what doesn’t.

3. Do the math

Planning the financial aspects of starting a business is challenging. Most people struggle to anticipate all the costs and set an appropriate budget, but this is important for your success.

There’s no hard-and-fast number for what it costs to start a law firm or any new company. You can estimate your costs, however, and determine your budget.

Consider all your expenses, including technology, services, office space and supplies, and professional expenses like licensing and insurance. If you plan to staff or outsource, consider that in your budget.

Lawyers may benefit from a virtual firm. This is a good way to start with low overhead and helps you estimate your costs before you’re stuck with an office building lease. You can set a timeline to open a physical office in the future.

Remember to consider all your expenses. Some often overlooked expenses include office furniture and décor, office supplies like paper, staplers, and filing cabinets, and staff amenities like a coffee machine or a table and chairs for a breakroom.

Ideally, you’ll have enough money set aside to cover your professional and personal expenses for a year or so. If your firm performs well and you have unexpected expenses, you’ll have a cushion to get by until you can bring in more clients.

4. Nurture your network

If your former law firm can give you referrals, that’s a great start for your new firm. If not, you can rely on your personal and professional networks to get referrals. Don’t be shy about reaching out to people who may need your services.

For example, if you’re a family law attorney, you can speak to local therapists and counselors. If you’re in personal injury law, contact the local healthcare providers to see if they have referrals for you.

Start networking as soon as possible. If you’re planning to open your own firm, letting people know early is a good practice to get your name out there in advance. It’s not appropriate to speak to your current firm’s clients, however, unless you’ve already discussed your plan to open your own firm.

5. Venture out on your own

Going solo isn’t a small undertaking, but it’s well worth it! You’ll have control over your practice and your career, and there’s a sense of satisfaction when you tackle the obstacles to create your future success.

Contributed to EO by Maxwell Hills, the founder of Hills Law Group a premier Orange County divorce law firm. Max’s entrepreneurial career stretches back to his teenage days when he had his music used in Grey’s Anatomy and ESPN. Max leveraged that experience to build Hills Law Group from 0 customers and $0 in revenue into a respected firm in the industry.

For more insights and inspiration from today’s leading entrepreneurs, check out EO on Inc. and more articles from the EO blog

Categories: Entrepreneurial Journey Lessons Learned STARTUP

Tags: entrepreneurs' organization Hills Law Group Maxwell Hills Orange County

The Excuse Leaders Must Remove From Their Vocabulary

30 November, 2022

There’s a response to a commonly asked question that’s become a conversational crutch:

“How’s it going?”

“Good! Just busy.”

This exchange is ubiquitous in both our personal and professional lives. It’s as if busyness carries a certain status symbol. Yet, being “busy” doesn’t make us happier; and it doesn’t make us more productive. It just means we are filling all of our available time.

Years ago, in one of our quarterly offsite meetings, a leadership team member told our facilitator, “I just don’t have enough time!” The facilitator looked at her, then at all of us, and said, “As a leader, ‘not enough time’ is an excuse you all must take out of your vocabulary. If you are waiting for all this free time to come, it’s never going to happen. It’s about what you prioritize and how you use your time. Effective leaders know how to prioritize what’s most important.”

His words have stuck with me. Even though I still find the phrasing “I’ve been busy!” on the tip of my tongue when someone asks me how I’ve been, I make a conscious effort not to say it. I try and remind my team to do the same.

Instead of hopelessly waiting to be given the gift of more free time, consider what high-achievers do to stay focused and accomplish large, long-term goals. They:

Accept that time is a precious and fixed resource
Know how to separate urgent from important
Align their top priorities with their core purpose and or core values
Don’t book 100% of their time; they value rest and relaxation
Constantly look for things that they should stop doing
Are selective about the people they give their energy to

Management guru Peter Drucker has said that effective leaders record, manage and consolidate their time. If we were more accountable and honest with ourselves about our time and how we spend it, I think we’d all be far more effective and happier. Turns out, most people aren’t very accurate in recollecting how they spent their time in a given day or week.

When an important task isn’t getting done, it’s important to acknowledge and admit that you have chosen to spend your time on less important tasks (i,e., posting on Facebook and Instagram). Instead of saying. “I didn’t have enough time,” try saying, “I chose to do X today instead of Y,” or “I’m getting distracted,” or “I’m focusing on the wrong things.”

This honesty and accountability will help you use your time more wisely, accomplish more and be less “busy.”

“The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.”
– Henry David Thoreau

This post originally appeared on Robert Glazer’s Friday Forward newsletter and is reprinted here with permission.

Contributed by Robert Glazer, a former EO Boston member who is the founder and chairman of the board of Acceleration Partners, a global partner marketing agency and the recipient of numerous industry and company culture awards. He is the author of the inspirational newsletter Friday Forward and #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author of five books: Elevate, Friday Forward, How To Thrive In The Virtual Workplace, Moving To Outcomes and Performance Partnerships. He is also the host of The Elevate Podcast.

For more insights and inspiration from today’s leading entrepreneurs, check out EO on Inc. and more articles from the EO blog.

Categories: LEADERSHIP PEOPLE/STAFF WORK-LIFE INTEGRATION

Tags: acceleration partners entrepreneurs' organization eo boston Friday Forward Peter Drucker robert glazer

Why Productivity Paranoia is the Real Obstacle to Remote Work

23 November, 2022

Do bosses trust employees to be productive when working remotely?

A recent Microsoft study found that 49 percent of managers of hybrid workers “struggle to trust employees to do their best work.” This lack of trust in worker productivity has led to what Microsoft researchers termed productivity paranoia: “Where leaders fear that lost productivity is due to employees not working, even though hours worked, number of meetings, and other activity metrics have increased.”

That data aligns with a new report by Citrix based on a global survey of 900 business leaders and 1,800 knowledge workers—those who can do their job remotely. Half of all business leaders believe that when employees are working “out of sight,” they don’t work as hard.

That traditionalist perspective aligns with Elon Musk’s demand that all Tesla and SpaceX employees work full-time in the office—including knowledge workers. Musk has stated that remote workers only “pretend to work.”

Musk’s demand for improving productivity via full-time, in-office work for knowledge workers is something to which other traditionalist leaders aspire. A Microsoft survey shows that 50 percent of bosses intend to force knowledge workers into the office by Spring 2023. According to Future Forum, skepticism toward working from home tends to come from leaders over age 50. Leaders under age 50 are more accepting of hybrid and remote work and focus on how to do it well.

Is the belief of this traditionalist, older half of the business leadership that workers are more productive in the office based on facts? Not at all.

Even before Covid, peer-reviewed research demonstrated that remote work improved productivity. A NASDAQ-listed company randomly assigned call center employees to work from home or the office. Work from home resulted in a 13 percent performance increase and a 50 percent lower attrition rate. A more recent study from the Covid era with random assignment of programmers either to fully office-centric work or to some days worked remotely found that hybrid workers had 35 percent less attrition and wrote 8 percent more code.

Employee monitoring software confirmed that the shift to remote work during Covid improved productivity by 5 percent. And more recent research from Stanford University showed that remote work efficiency actually increased throughout the pandemic, from 5 percent better than in-person in May 2020 to 9 percent in May 2022. That’s because we learned how to be better at remote work.

And really, are workers all that productive in the office? Studies show that in-office employees actually work between 36 percent and 39 percent of the time, and spend the rest on non-work activities like surfing the web.

So why do half of all business leaders ignore the data? The key lies in how leaders evaluate performance: based on what they can see.

Unfortunately, leaders are trained to evaluate employees based on “facetime.” Those who come early and leave late are perceived and assessed as more productive.

Even before the pandemic, the focus on presence in the office undermined effective remote work arrangements. Thus, researchers found that remote employees who work just as hard and just as long as those in the office in similar jobs end up getting lower performance evaluations, decreased raises, and fewer promotions.

The problem here is the proximity bias. That term describes the unfair preference for and higher ratings of in-office employees, compared with remote workers, even when remote workers show higher productivity.

A related mental blindspot, confirmation bias, caused traditionalist leaders to ignore information that goes against the beliefs to which they’re anchored, and seek information that confirms their anchors. For example, they’ll seek evidence that in-office workers are more productive, even when there’s much stronger evidence that remote workers exhibit higher productivity. In other words, these leaders trust their own gut reactions, internal impressions, and intuitions over the facts, thus failing to develop self-awareness of how their mental processes might steer them to make bad decisions.

The consequence of this trust in false impressions around which type of work is more productive is leading to the unnecessary drama of forcing workers back to the office. And the traditionalist bosses who do so will continue to lose workers as part of the Great Resignation.

The Society for Human Resources found that 48 percent of respondents will “definitely” seek a full-time remote position for their next job. To get them to stay at a hybrid job with a 30-minute commute, employers would have to give a 10 percent pay raise, and for a full-time job with the same commute, a 20 percent pay raise. With a potential recession looming, which will limit pay raises and lead to a focus on actual productivity over false gut-based intuitions, we can expect a greater shift to more hybrid and remote work going forward.

To succeed in our increasingly hybrid and remote future will require retraining managers to address the proximity bias and evaluate performance based on productivity. Companies will have to teach them to trust the data over their own gut reactions.

Contributed to EO by Dr. Gleb Tsipursky, who helps EO members seize competitive advantage in hybrid work by driving employee retention, collaboration, and innovation through behavioral science as the CEO of the future-proofing consultancy Disaster Avoidance Experts, and authored the best-seller Leading Hybrid and Remote Teams: A Manual on Benchmarking to Best Practices for Competitive Advantage.

For more insights and inspiration from today’s leading entrepreneurs, check out EO on Inc. and more articles from the EO blog.

Categories: Best Practices PEOPLE/STAFF Productivity

Tags: best practices Disaster Avoidance Experts Dr. Gleb Tsipursky Elon Musk entrepreneurs' organization Gleb Tsipursky Society for Human Resources

4 Lessons Nature Can Teach You About Business

22 November, 2022

Are you struggling to find new ways to motivate your work team? Are you brainstorming a marketing strategy or quarterly plan and feeling fresh out of new ideas? If so, it may be time to take a step outside.

When people think about adventures in the great outdoors, they probably disassociate those activities from the daily grind of the corporate office. Many people don’t realize, however, that nature can teach the most essential life lessons, especially when it comes to business. That’s right—from an overnight white water rafting trip to a days-long hike up a steep mountain, nature is an underrated mentor when it comes to business.

If you are a business owner or leader who is looking for new ways to collaborate and innovate with your team, consider taking a trip to the Rocky Mountains or Yellowstone National Park. The fresh air may not only help you out of your creative rut, but it can also provide inspiration for better collaboration and communication.

From my experience, here are four lessons Mother Nature can teach you about business:

1. Learn how to adapt quickly.

Many industries are in the midst of major shakeups right now. Business professionals, especially leaders, need to know how to adapt to change as quickly as possible in order to stay on top of changing needs and trends. By its very essence, nature teaches all who enjoy it how to respond to unforeseen circumstances. For example, if a tree has fallen and obstructed the trail you’re following, you must find another route. Or, if it starts to rain, you may need to explore creative ways to seek shelter. Business, like nature, can be chaotic, so it’s important to be flexible and stay humble.

2. Put “waste not, want not” into action.

If you went camping or hiking with a limited food supply, you probably wouldn’t waste any food or materials. Like expert outdoorsmen, great business leaders avoid wasting resources at all costs. They know how to work within a budget, and if there is a surplus, they allocate those resources to another need or project. They can assess current resources and make them last, which is especially important in shaky economic times.

3. Gain a new perspective.

Have you ever hiked to the very top of a tall mountain and looked at the world below you? If so, you probably gained a new perspective. Enjoying these activities in nature can help you see things differently when you are stuck on a problem at work that seems difficult or impossible to solve. If you are facing some type of professional obstacle, perhaps it’s time to look at the problem from a different angle to find the right solution.

4. Appreciate small details.

When you take a sailing trip or venture out to see a waterfall, you may notice a stunning sunset or a rainbow where the light glistens in the cascading water. These seemingly simple things can enhance your time outdoors and cause you to pause in gratitude. In business, it’s easy to get so busy that you forget to say “thank you” for the smallest things. Taking the time to notice the simple details in nature can encourage you to pause at work and recognize the things your employees or colleagues do exceedingly well that make a huge difference professionally.

While it may seem difficult to draw parallels between the typical workday and an excursion outdoors, Mother Nature can teach you many valuable lessons. It doesn’t matter if you are outdoors for a few hours or a few days. All you need to do is take a step outside, look around, and listen.

Contributed to EO by Patrick Sipp, the owner of Flying Pig Adventures, who helps his clients get back outdoors, where the spray of the river, the warmth of the sunshine, and the immensity of the world around are clear and present. Patrick is a family man who has turned his passion for the outdoors into a gateway for his guests to experience an adventure unlike anything else.

For more insights and inspiration from today’s leading entrepreneurs, check out EO on Inc. and more articles from the EO blog.

Categories: Inspirational LEADERSHIP Lessons Learned

Tags: entrepreneurs' organization Flying Pig Adventures lessons learned Patrick Sipp

14 EO Members Share The Best Thing About Entrepreneurship

17 November, 2022

“Being an entrepreneur is not for the faint of heart. However, it allows you the freedom to explore all the spaces and crevices of your mind and abilities and work on your own terms,” said Natasha Miller, EO Los Angeles and EO US West Bridge member, and founder of Entire Productions. “I couldn’t imagine another way of life for myself. But understand it’s not for everyone.”

It can, however, change your perspective on life. As Julia Duran of EO European Bridge chapter explains, “I was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I was taught that if I wanted a comfortable and safe future, I had to work for someone else—ideally a large company. However, owning a business taught me that the opposite is also true: If I want a solid future, I’m the one who needs to make it happen.”

In recognition of Global Entrepreneurship Week, here’s how EO members from around the world responded when asked:

What is the best thing about being an entrepreneur?

Freedom to Live the Life we Dream

“In a word: Freedom. Freedom to create. Freedom to dream and execute. Freedom to make an impact in our community. Freedom to set my own goals, vision and mission. Freedom to invest in people and things that I feel are important. Freedom to succeed or fail on my own accord (though failure is just another opportunity). Entrepreneurship is Freedom to Live the Life we Dream.”

— Mike Bacile, EO Dallas, founder and CEO, The Daily Java

Contributing in a Positive Way

“Entrepreneurship means that we are creators and builders rather than destructive forces in the world. We can positively affect the lives of our team, clients and community. When we get it right it means that we are good citizens that contribute to our communities and the world.”

—Stephanie Clark, EO Nebraska, co-founder and CEO, GMP Pros

Changing Lives

“Being an entrepreneur is the most meaningful job I’ve ever done. I was born in a small village without electricity. Education changed my life. I came a long way to reach where I am now: a social entrepreneur who is founder and president of a foundation that supports girls whose dreams do not fit the life they live—like me in my youth. That is why I support university education of young women. I believe in the transformative power of education. With education, a woman changes, she changes generations, and then the world changes. For this aim, I will work until I die.”

— Meryem Salman, EO Turkey, partner and vice chairman +partner, Finance & Insurance and founder, Buldan Foundation

Facing Challenges Confidently

“Being an entrepreneur has pushed me to acquire new skills and face challenges actively. I never know what competencies I will need for my future ideas to materialize, but I will grow confidently in that direction. Entrepreneurs live between the uncertainty of risks and the excitement of upcoming adventures.”

— Julia Duran, EO European Bridge Chapter and EO Silicon Valley, co-founder and CEO, SouthGeeks

Creating Impact

“Entrepreneurship is the number one change agent in the world. I’m honored to work with partners and employees to create businesses that change the world. I was drawn to entrepreneurship for the freedom of lifestyle, and have learned that my most fulfilling moment is when we create products that help others impact the world!”

—Patrick Bryant, EO Charleston, founder and CEO, Go To Team

Opportunity to Fix What’s Broken

“Entrepreneurship provides opportunities: the opportunity to grow intentionally (I’m attending EO with Harvard Business School); the opportunity to live flexibly (my family and I spent September hiking the Pacific Northwest); and the opportunity to give back consistently (mentoring other founders, serving on boards, investing in employees, etc.). But the greatest is the opportunity to fix what’s broken. Entrepreneurship is an innately iterative process. Sometimes you fail, and it sucks. But the next day, you have the opportunity to get up and make it better. It’s all inside yourself and nobody can take that away from you.”

—Daniel Roberts, EO Atlanta, founder and CEO, Friendly Human and VidLoft

Improving Our World

“The best thing about being an entrepreneur is having the ability to make and build things that improve our world, our climate, and the lives of our customers and employees.”
—Kyle Ewing, EO Colorado, founder and CEO, TerraSlate

Freedom and Disruption

“The three best parts of being an entrepreneur:

Location Freedom: I can travel the world while growing my business—fulfilling my dream to live across the globe.
Position to Change Lives: I was able to grant location and schedule freedom to our 250+ team members, allowing each to engineer their ideal lifestyle.
Disruption: Market failures are the bane of my existence. It kills me seeing people or companies struggle when there is a better way out there! As an entrepreneur, I can turn industries on their head by disrupting them with innovative products.”

—Kean Graham, EO Vancouver, founder and CEO, Monetize More

Realizing Dreams

“You are constantly sharpening your skills by learning from failures and improving your personal self — every day. You start to accept that making mistakes becomes a part of your journey when your goal and vision is clear. Even if you started with a vision that was a bit selfish, over time your vision becomes about the people who work for you to make your dream a reality. When your people truly appreciate your empathy and understanding, they work really hard to achieve your dream.”

—Tony Raval, EO San Diego, founder and CEO, FrescoData

A Life of Free Will

“Entrepreneurship to me means living the best version of myself every waking moment because this is a life I crafted for myself. I am essentially living a life of free will, the capacity to make choices that fulfill my desires and dreams, and hold only myself accountable. “

—Alicia Chong, EO Philadelphia, founder and CEO, Blu Monaco

Freedom of Time

“The best part of being an entrepreneur is the freedom of time it can provide. Now in my 20^th year of my company, I spend my time working “on” bigger picture, visionary ideas vs. working “in” the business. This also gives me time to give back to my local community through several volunteer boards and EO. The EO Path of Leadership for both my local chapter and now region is both challenging and rewarding. The more I give, the more I receive. I feel lucky to spend an increasing amount of my time working with other outstanding entrepreneurs, learning, and growing into the best version of me. Freedom of time has been the best gift I could ever give myself.”

—Cameron Johnson, EO Edmonton, president, California Closets Alberta

Improving Lives Daily

“Improving lives daily: It’s both our company motto and the best part of being an entrepreneur. We employ 40-plus women—many are moms who work from home while juggling households and families. Watching how what we do every day improves the lives of our people and clients—it’s phenomenal!”

—Jim Jacobs, EO Philadelphia, founder and CEO, Focus Insite

Leading with Higher Purpose

“The best thing about being an entrepreneur is the ability to show people the innate potential of business to make the world a better place, and therefore change their perception of capitalism at large. As a conscious capitalist, I believe in leading with a higher purpose that integrates the interests of all stakeholders, including everyone the business touches and the planet we all share together. My mission is to inspire current and future leaders to look into what is truly important in the world, and choose a mission that both feeds their passion and does right by their community. As entrepreneurs, we have the unique ability to demonstrate that business can and should be guided by purpose, not just profit.”

—Kent Gregoire, US East Bridge Chapter, founder and CEO, Symphony Advantage and a Certified Conscious Capitalism Consultant

For more insights and inspiration from today’s leading entrepreneurs, check out EO on Inc. and more articles from the EO blog.

Categories: Entrepreneurial Journey Inspirational members

Tags: Alicia Chong Cameron Johnson Conscious Capitalism Daniel Roberts entrepreneurs' organization eo atlanta EO Charleston eo colorado eo dallas eo edmonton EO European Bridge eo los angeles EO Nebraska EO Philadelphia EO San Diego eo silicon valley EO Turkey eo vancouver Jim Jacobs Julia Duran Kean Graham Kent Gregoire Kyle Ewing Meryem Salman Mike Bacile Natasha Miller Patrick Bryant Stephanie Clark Tony Raval US East Bridge US West Bridge

3 Stories of Entrepreneurial Action in a Year of Great Challenge

17 November, 2022

By Marc Stöckli, Global Chair, Entrepreneurs’ Organization

The strength of entrepreneurs has always been their ingenuity in resilience – their ability to triumph through adversity, devise new ways to push the world forward in dire times and inspire their communities to come back stronger.

In recent years we’ve seen several situations where this quality has been desperately needed – turmoil, conflict and crises have become a constant undertone. But what we’ve also seen in these situations is how entrepreneurs have come together to help people, to lend the strength and tools to rebuild.

This is why I believe in the power of EO and our members – I’ve witnessed so many real-life stories that prove the extent of our efficacy when we come together; how we can move the world forward by unlocking our full potential as leaders. What I love about entrepreneurs is that they do not wait in the aftermath of disasters or crises. They roll up their sleeves and find solutions. They are the drivers of change and the ones who rebuild countries from within, carrying entire communities on their shoulders.

As we mark Global Entrepreneurship Week (14-20 November), I thought it would be an ideal opportunity to celebrate some of the many heroic business leaders across EO’s membership, and the gift of a community that brings us together to solve problems with the tools and enterprises that empower self-reliance.

I begin in Eastern Europe. We have all witnessed the destruction of the war in Ukraine – displacement and devastation have left an indelible mark on the nation, and spurred a damaging ripple effect on food supplies, energy security and global supply chains. As soon as the conflict began, EO members in Poland, Romania and all across the globe organized to offer vital life support.

What started as essential supplies for refugees fleeing Ukraine turned into a wider plan to support the long-term health of entrepreneurs that remained in the country – buying goods from them, supporting their businesses and ensuring they had the resources necessary to continue trading. So far, more than $700,000 in support has been directed by our members to local businesses. Bravo!

The help given to business owners is so incredibly valuable because it supports a country rebuilding from the ground up, while restoring a crucial part of a thriving community. It enables the ripple effect.

This year Pakistan was faced with devastation of a different kind: unprecedented floods that killed more than 1,700 people, including 600+ children, and injured another 12,000 more. Some 2.1 million people were displaced from their homes—many made homeless—and the country was forced to declare a state of emergency. The EO Lahore chapter came together quickly with EO Karachi and EO Islamabad in establishing three committees to support entrepreneurs and their communities in affected areas, helping them rebuild in the aftermath of the worst floods in Pakistan’s history.

These committees focused on directing ways to help deliver safe drinking water, lifesaving medical supplies, therapeutic food supplies and hygiene kits to heavily impacted families and children, but they also focused on empowering people to rebuild for themselves, to avoid creating dependence. One initiative in particular stands out: an entire group focused on equipping Pakistan’s enterprises with the tools to grow business right there in their country. Entrepreneurs established a bazaar with 70 shops, made it operational in less than two weeks and helped more than 100 families whose livelihoods were at risk. All of this was done by EO members, who both planned and strategized but also joined on the ground to help make it all possible.

Another amazing story of entrepreneurial progress comes from the southern tip of Africa, where a Canadian-based EO member from South Africa founded a company to help bridge the digital skills divide in the country. WeThinkCode recruits and trains young people to become software engineers, closing the skills gap and providing new career opportunities. Their user community is made up of 91% students who are from low-income households, 94% black students and 50% who are young women. The programme has proven revolutionary with 94% of students finding full-time employment after graduating, on average doubling their salary in the first two to three years and using those earnings to support their parents and families. Amazing.

Every day, EO members amaze me with their ability to inspire, pivot, rebuild and reimagine a better world for their communities and ours. This Global Entrepreneurship Week, I humbly celebrate and applaud our incredible network of business leaders who work tirelessly to support, not only their employees and customers, but each other and their extended communities in times of need. I would name you all here, but that would make this a much longer read. You know who you are and how much we admire you.

This is how we move the world forward and unlock our full potential. Together we grow.

For more insights and inspiration from today’s leading entrepreneurs, check out EO on Inc. and more articles from the EO blog.

Categories: Entrepreneurial Journey members

Tags: entrepreneurs' organization entrepreneurs' organisation EO Canada EO Islamabad eo karachi EO Lahore Global Entrepreneurship Week Marc Stockli WeThinkCode

Leading Leaders: 5 Insights from 5 Years with EO (that can help you, too)

14 November, 2022

By Dr. Carrie Santos, CEO of Entrepreneurs’ Organization

2017 feels like a very long time ago. The world has changed significantly. A global pandemic. A brutal war. A stressful squeeze on global supply chains. A surge in extreme weather disasters. The rise of ‘fake news’. It is a time that has tested many of us.

Yet, as I mark five years leading the Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) as its CEO, it’s a good time to reflect on five key insights gained from such a remarkable community of business founders. These are lessons I have learned, thanks to all of you.

EO’s members are builders, founders, owners and leaders in their own right. Each possesses the unique traits of entrepreneurship. When I took over as CEO, I quickly realized the challenges ahead: how to best serve, unite and lead other leaders. Which of my experiences could have the greatest impact on an already successful group of people? How can I help them grow as individuals, and help us grow as a community?

I have learned so much from EO in these last five years. Let me share five of my takeaways, gained by learning together with such extraordinary people. Some might be helpful for you, too.

1. Actively listen to find the gold

Learning is a full-time job: 24/7, 365 days a year. We must always be primed to learn, because we never know where or when someone might share something we didn’t know we needed to hear.

At EO, we are lucky to have such a wide range of experience and expertise across our membership that the moments of real insight are everywhere. We are offered in conversation with each other what I describe as little golden nuggets of wisdom. But we need to be present and listen, or we will miss them. In the moment, on the job, experiential learning can happen, so long as we are always open to insight. It can be how to handle a customer complaint, how to stay calm when your teenager is exasperating, or how to deal with a parent’s dementia. When you believe you can learn from each person’s wisdom, you will find it.

2. Look for the global context in local business conversations (and vice versa)

With members in more than 70 countries, EO is truly global, but that does not mean that our members around the world share the same culture, views or experiences. Local context is so important, and is vital for shaping a person’s worldview. We start to see the commonalities that connect us. Those shared concerns and dreams.

I have been privileged to travel extensively over the last five years and I have gained new perspectives on issues that I thought I well understood. Different countries have different mixes of industries, and within them, different challenges, but also unique successes. Entrepreneurs everywhere are wired similarly, even as they work in varying environments. Again and again, I get to watch members from different continents connect as they realize they appreciate the same business guru, fitness coach or author.

3. Know and practice our failure narrative

This should be second nature to a community of big-thinking and bold-acting founders who are well-versed in picking themselves up, dusting themselves off, and starting again when things did not work out the first, second, or even third time: know your failure narrative. It was new to me after arriving at EO to learn that I did not have to keep on my armor of perfection and infallibility, and there was much more to learn by being vulnerable about my weaknesses and disappointments.

Without being honest with ourselves about why our strategies went awry, we cannot improve. The most successful entrepreneurs do not get wrapped up in the blame game, and instead say, “hey, what can we learn from this?”

The same holds true in the stories we tell each other. We know when listening to someone who insists their life is one success after another, we tune out because they are not being honest with us or honest with themselves. But when we look inside to those tough lessons that shaped us, and we share our full narrative, others can also see themselves. That support we get when we show ourselves not at our best—and realize we are accepted even more—makes it possible to transform and to move forward. Stepping back and seeing a mishap as a learning opportunity is like entrepreneurial magic.

4. Thank people who challenge us

This is so simple once you realize it. If we do not thank people for challenging our thinking, for stress-testing our ideas, or for pushing back on our instructions, then they will never do it again.

Diversity of thought is so key to progress, and we must do everything in our power to encourage that. It starts with thanking those who stand up to us. Give yourself a moment if you need to, put down your defenses. Say thank you. And be sure you mean it.

5. Be ready to let go – even when trying to build a consensus

Even the smartest person in the room’s idea will be improved by a fresh point of view. I know plenty of people who pay lip service to generating consensus, but then dismiss new ideas because they are already set on what they want. Instead of listening for what is good in someone else’s idea, they are running through in their head how to win more people to their side and push harder.

If we took the energy we spend on defending our approaches and focused instead on putting the elements of different ideas together, we would get a much better outcome.

Creativity should not be an individual sport we try to win for having the best idea. It takes much deeper creativity to combine what is best from multiple points of view and design a shared outcome. Learning this is a team sport that is one of the most challenging leadership skills to master. Partnerships must be equal and genuine. If we are only focused on what we want when we enter a dialogue, then we have missed an opportunity to build a real relationship with our peers. The bonding and buy-in we get when everyone knows the outcome is truly a collective effort is unparalleled.

Truly, my most rewarding and memorable experiences at EO these past five years were spent in collective problem-solving. You start the day with your preferred solutions and approaches, and by the end of the day, the group’s accomplishments far surpass anything you might have imagined on your own. Imagine how constructive it would be if we all practiced this not just in our businesses, but in our countries, communities and families! Imagine how we could unlock our full potential to move the world forward.

Who knows what challenges and learnings the next five years ahead may hold? With these takeaways from my first five years at EO, and skills in listening, honesty and collaboration, it’s clear that the future is limited only by our imagination. Whatever may come, I feel a deep sense of gratitude and respect for the thousands of amazing entrepreneurs and business leaders across EO and our partner organizations who have helped shape and strengthen me and our team along the way. Leading EO is an honor and an education.

Happy Global Entrepreneurship Week!

For more insights and inspiration from today’s leading entrepreneurs, check out EO on Inc. and more articles from the EO blog.

Categories: Entrepreneurial Journey LEADERSHIP Lessons Learned WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS

Tags: Carrie Santos entrepreneurs' organization entrepreneurs' organisation failure narrative GEW GEW2022 Global Entrepreneurship Week lessons learned

3 Soulful Takeaways from EO’s 2022 Canadian Regional Leadership Summit

11 November, 2022

Contributed by Kate Holden, an entrepreneur, philanthropist and business leader who is currently president of EO Winnipeg and serves on the EO Canada Board as Canada’s Member Products Director. Kate is the founder of The Pourium, a fast-growing retail/e-commerce wine business.

In EO, we often talk about the Four Quadrants—business, family, community and self. We also talk about the Four Capacities—physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual.

After years of Forum, leadership training and learning events, I realized: Entrepreneurs tend to be the least comfortable in the “self” and “soul” areas (myself included).

You may relate to how I once felt about those areas.

I spent the majority of my life aligned with the classic entrepreneurial archetype. You know: The entrepreneur who believes “fast” is too slow and “tomorrow” might as well be next century. I’ve always prioritized growth and acceleration. So, thinking about “the soul” felt slow, intangible and far-removed from my business goals. It felt difficult to wrap my brain (and time) around.

I’m a dreamer, but I’m also pragmatic. I’m a do-er, a happen-maker. Working on my “soul” didn’t seem to fit.

When a fellow entrepreneur introduced me to a Spiritual Coach, I was hesitant—to say the least! But, after nine months of working with my Spiritual Coach, my perspective shifted—and I began to find value in spiritual growth in a way that didn’t feel too “out there.”

When it came time to design a theme for EO’s 2022 Canadian Regional Leadership Summit, I knew I wanted it to focus on the soul.

We spent four days in Toronto listening to presentations, engaging in workshops, and being guided by four women experts. Topics included tarot readings, manifestation and visualization, energy and chakra alignment.

Here are the three biggest learnings my brain (and my soul) took away from the Summit.

1. Spiritual Work = Showing Up As our Best Self

One of the biggest misconceptions about spiritual work is one I shared until recently: That it brings no tangible value or ROI to our companies.

What I learned is that the biggest ROI of spiritual work comes down to the way we show up as leaders.

I hadn’t thought of it as a practice of the soul. Yet, much of what the world’s top leadership thinkers talk about comes down to perspectives, soft skills, mindsets, emotional intelligence (EQ), values, intentionality—all things that are less connected to the brain and more connected to the heart (or soul).

We can learn habits and hacks to help us become better leaders, but we can’t “right-brain” our way into being empathetic, visionary, strategic and connected. The soul helps us fill the large gaps the brain can’t fill on its own.

2. Energy is Everything

I’ve known that energy management is important: Studies confirm that up to 63 percent of entrepreneurs are dealing with or have experienced burnout. It’s a real phenomenon. Leaders struggle to manage wellness in the face of long hours and escalating pressures.

During the Leadership Summit, I learned that energy is not just causally connected to our circumstances; the energy within us is often carried forward. The past is entrenched within today’s energy and affects us, whether we realize it or not.

I hadn’t thought of energy as something that gathers experiences and lives within us. But energy is dynamic—literally!—and our energy fields, or quantum fields, need to be “unblocked” on occasion to clear out that previous build-up of past energy.

Other people can also have a significant effect on our energy. It’s rarely malicious or toxic, but from employees to family members to friends, people tap into our energy because they need it. After interacting with them, you may feel exhausted. Those relationships feel depleting.

“Unblocking” or “resetting”— whatever you want to call it— is a practice which helps recalibrate our energy and ensure we’re accessing the best versions of ourselves.

3. Explore Your Belief Systems

Perhaps the most powerful outcome of spiritual work is the opening, dismantling and resetting of belief systems that underpin everything we do.

The four brilliant women at the Leadership Summit all spoke about belief systems (or “vortexes”) as thoughts and behaviors which keep us locked into certain patterns. Sometimes these are harmless, smaller belief systems we established as kids; sometimes these are fundamental, big-picture belief systems that affect who we are, how we run our companies, and how we engage with our communities.

This process can be an emotional one. I’ve learned, for example, that I have a tendency to source validation in my work output. As a result, I say “yes” way more than “no” when it comes to a new project, leadership role, or professional responsibility.

As a result, I end up taking on more than I can handle. I tie my identity to the things I accomplish, and I deplete my energy on projects that do not always bring me joy.

We rarely realize it consciously, but our belief systems govern everything from decision-making to our ability to dream to our leadership styles. We all have ingrained belief systems. They frame our lives—and sometimes they have lenses or tints to them. Shouldn’t we check in on them every so often?

Spending four days at the 2022 Canadian Regional Leadership Summit talking about the soul was enriching for me (yes, the person who wouldn’t have ever seen herself as a “soul person”).

It doesn’t matter whether you believe in past lives, energy shifts, souls, chakras and auras. I’ve learned that spiritual work is a little like reading a book from an entirely different part of the bookshelf. You may not align fully with the author’s perspective, but you unquestionably learn something new—and it can change you on a deep level.

Looking back, it amazes me: Our remarkable group of seasoned entrepreneurs showed up to such a foreign and, at times, uncomfortable topic with open hearts and open minds. It wasn’t about the specifics of the material; it was about exploring another angle to elevate their leadership capabilities, connect with others and understand themselves.

I left the Leadership Summit with my quantum energy fields bouncing with positive energy. Thank you to everyone who attended!

Categories: Entrepreneurial Journey LEADERSHIP WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS

Tags: Canadian Regional Leadership Summit entrepreneurs' organization EO Canada eo winnipeg Kate Holden The Pourium

INSIGHTS FROM

LEADING ENTREPRENEURS

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1. Know your skill set

2. Know your brain

3. Know your audience

4. Know the formula for success

5. Know where to get heard

6. Know your value

7. There are no excuses

1. Publicly acknowledge high performers.

2. Give frontline workers more authority.

3. Hire from within.

(And no, it didn’t start as a side hustle.)

1. Plan your departure carefully

2. Create a client acquisition strategy

3. Do the math

4. Nurture your network

5. Venture out on your own

1. Learn how to adapt quickly.

2. Put “waste not, want not” into action.

3. Gain a new perspective.

4. Appreciate small details.

What is the best thing about being an entrepreneur?

Freedom to Live the Life we Dream

Contributing in a Positive Way

Changing Lives

Facing Challenges Confidently

Creating Impact

Opportunity to Fix What’s Broken

Improving Our World

Freedom and Disruption

Realizing Dreams

A Life of Free Will

Freedom of Time

Improving Lives Daily

Leading with Higher Purpose

1. Actively listen to find the gold

2. Look for the global context in local business conversations (and vice versa)

3. Know and practice our failure narrative

4. Thank people who challenge us

5. Be ready to let go – even when trying to build a consensus

1. Spiritual Work = Showing Up As our Best Self

2. Energy is Everything

3. Explore Your Belief Systems