Tip of the Spear Ventures

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The Leadership Challenge: Executive Vocabulary – 3 Tips

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The Point: At Tip of the Spear, we’re “lucky” to get exposure to a lot of leaders. Each of these leaders has their own unique way of speaking, and let’s face it, some speak better than others! With a wide-range of personalities, backgrounds, and goals, each executive seems to bring their own sometimes-unique vocabulary to the table. It is this executive vocabulary that sometimes (perhaps every time!), makes us not hear the message they are attempting to deliver. We started thinking, what role does executive vocabulary play in an organization’s success and is there anything a leader can do to enhance their opportunities? So in this post, we’ll explore the leadership challenge of executive vocabulary and provide 3 tips… Enjoy!

The Leadership Challenge Executive Vocabulary 3 Tips

I Can’t Believe What I Just Heard!

“Say what?” we heard a leader exclaim. Not the most outrageous statement we’ve ever heard, clear of vulgarity, and just intriguing enough to make us pay attention to what was to be said next. But it was exactly what was said next that had us scratching our Private Equity | Venture Capital heads! You see, the leader went on to use an executive vocabulary that would have been more appropriate on an MTV-episode instead of the boardroom where we were being pitched to invest in their company.

Just what about using slang/vulgarity is appropriate for executive vocabulary? While some would argue that there certainly is passion at work, is this passion in a desire for performance the most appropriate display of the effort/energy required to have to resort to gutter-speak (or the sewer)? So why do we do it (and we’re all guilty of it every once in a while, right?) The answer seems to lie in either laziness of lack of vocabulary!

3 Tips to offset the Leadership Challenge: Executive Vocabulary

So what follows is our attempt to help you, the leader, offset the leadership challenge of executive vocabulary (In other words, you might be lazy from here forward, but will not resort to inappropriate language due to lack of vocabulary or a strategy to employee that vocabulary!):

Executive Vocabulary Tip #3 – Learn the Right Words

There are over 150,000 words in the English Dictionary (and throw on top the 50,000+ words in the Urban Dictionary and you have a disaster brewing!) What do executives and master communicators do so as to offset the poor choices associated with the leadership challenge of executive vocabulary? They learn the right words that are powerful and practical in use so as to communicate better.

Executive Vocabulary Tip #2 – Learn the Right Way to use the Right Words

What’s at stake if you don’t improve your executive vocabulary? After all, it’s a choice you can make that will determine your career progression. Excellence can be had by ensuring that the right word is at the ready so that you can always communicate your ideas clearly and succinctly with impact. Also, sounding intelligent is important! So make certain you know how to use each word in the proper context.

Executive Vocabulary Tip #1 – Use the Right Words the Right Way in the Right Context

So how do you put executive vocabulary together for a winning strategy, so that you can start receiving those promotions you so rightly deserve and/or ensure that those you lead actually follow? Simple: Learn executive vocabulary constantly. There never is a bad moment to learn a new word for proper utilization!

SUMMARY

In this post we’ve explored the leadership challenge of executive vocabulary, along with 3 tips. Employing a much better vocabulary as an executive is not optional (it’s mandatory!) Empower yourself with an executive vocabulary so that you know the words that can propel your career trajectory onward/upward!

 

Sam Palazzolo

PS – I just published my 4th book, aptly titled “Leading at the Tip of the Spear: The Leader” which looks at the skills needed to successfully lead in today’s business climate. I hope you’ll purchase a few copies for yourself/the leaders you know. 100% of the net profits go towards supporting my 501(c)(3) charity at the Javelin Institute. Amazon’s editors had the following to say about the work:

“In these days when so many expect so much recognition for doing so little, leadership seems easy, when it’s really harder than ever. To be that person who truly takes a chance, makes a stand, and ventures out in front of the crowd requires courage, commitment, and conviction—qualities that more than ever seem to be in short supply. There’s no shortcut to the skills that mark a true leader, but there are definite strategies that can help you set your internal compass, find the right route, and steer others onto the right path.

Leading at the Tip of the Spear – The Leader focuses on the physical, mental, emotional, intuitional, and spiritual abilities that are found in leaders who are willing to lead. You will learn to develop your individual values and purpose, strengthen your foresight and failure-resistance, step up your self-control, plan for any contingencies, and always stay on the offense. It will take effort and energy to understand the proposed process and fully implement it in life and business, but leadership is all about doing hard things for the right reasons. Once you’ve mastered true leadership, nothing can stop you from having the career and the life you’ve worked for.”

 

Business For Sale?

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With the continued expansion of the economy, there’s no time like the present for would-be entrepreneurs to consider launching a business (Especially when you consider the recent tax and regulatory reform). Tip of the Spear Ventures’ Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) Business Advisory Service was established to (1) assist those desiring to purchase a business, as well as (2) those business owners looking to exit or sell their existing business.

Business for Sale_Mergers and Acquisitions

A recent UBS study titled Q1 Investor Watch Report, reports that nearly 60% (58%) of sampled wealthy investors would consider starting a business. The report also reflects 52% of existing business owners are looking to capitalize on the robust economy and sell within the next 5-years (20% would like to create a succession plan whereby heirs would take over the business responsibilities, while 18% say that they will opt to simply shut the business down). Why the large percentage of business owners looking to exit? The study found 2 succession reasons in particular:

  1. Succession plans whereby the business would be turned over to heirs reflect that these successors would rather have cash in the bank versus ownership in the business (82%).
  2. Millennials also reflect a propensity to hold back and not run a business, citing business ownership and entrepreneurship are simply too stressful (80%)

Tip of the Spear Ventures’ M&A Business Advisory Services seek to assist both those looking to purchase a business (Buy-side) as well as those looking to exit their business (Sell-side). Our services combine the best of counsel ranging from M&A expertise, Accountancy, and facts of Legal matters.

To find out more about Tip of the Spear Ventures’ M&A Business Advisory Services,please contact us by phone @ 855.97SPEAR (855 977 7327) or email: info@tipofthespearventures.com.

Avoiding Epic Failure With Your Leadership Strategy – 6 Tips!

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The Point: As a leader, you probably believe that your thoughts lead to good strategies which lead to great execution and ensuing results. So we started thinking here at Tip of the Spear Ventures, what happens in those foundational leadership strategy moments where your thoughts aren’t as good as you think they are? Will you be able to clearly share with your stakeholders the vision of where you’re going? Will you be able to achieve optimum desired results? In this post we explore the topic of avoiding epic failure with your leadership strategy and provide 6 tips to do so… Enjoy!

Avoiding Epic Failure With Your Leadership Strategy 6 Tips

Leadership Strategy

Take a look at last year, and zoom into last month (perhaps even last week!) What went well for you/your stakeholders/your organization from a leadership strategy perspective? When you analyze the key performance indicators (or metrics to manage with), you probably recognize superior results (Greater revenue, optimal efficiency, appropriate expense control structures in place, etc.) Conduct an autopsy of these results and you will inevitably explore the leadership strategy that went into making them happen. Plans were drafted, goals were set, communication efforts conducted, implementation/execution moments occurred, and performance metrics measured.

So if leadership strategy takes place within your organization, just like it does within organizations all over the globe, why then do some strategies work while others fail? After all, it would appear that the business landscape is simply littered with strategies that have failed… and the reasons for epic failure can be just as prolific in quantity!

Avoiding Epic Failure with Leadership Strategy – 6 Tips!

So what exactly causes all of these epic failures in leadership strategy? What follows are 6 tips to consider when developing/executing leadership strategy: 

Tip #6 – Market Research

What will the market bear? If there is no problem, there is no need for a solution. In other words, conducting market research into what exactly the problems are, the scope/scale of them will lead to indications (projections?) of approximately how big of a problem there is for you/your stakeholders/your organization to solve. Market research not only helps identify scope/scale of problem, but also the context in which applied solution can be applied.

Tip #5 – Stakeholder Alignment

What if you conduct market research for your leadership strategy, only to have no one fall in line to support the initiative through implementation/execution? Having a strategy in and of itself will not guarantee successful results. Stakeholders not only need to have alignment for the initiative, but need to actually buy-in to the leadership strategy. While not every strategy requires maximum “skin in the game” for stakeholders, there does need to be consensus support for the leadership strategy.

Tip #4 – Accountability

Time and again we see otherwise brilliant leadership strategy achieve epic failure when accountability to results is not maintained. Consider it your #1 priority as a leader! Without holding stakeholder’s feet to the fire there can be no optimum results returned (PERIOD!)

Tip #3 – Beliefs/Opinions

We worked with a leader that would begin just about every conversation with the mantra “I believe…” or “My opinion is…” and the leadership strategy that he attempted to employ more times than not was unsuccessful. Why? He simply held a set of beliefs and opinions that were not shared with those around him (or more to the point realistic). Less beliefs/opinions and more facts would have served him/his stakeholders better.

Tip #2 – EQ over IQ

I’ve been fortunate to serve many a talented leader, where the majority of that talent was in the form of brainpower. However, some of the most intelligent people that I worked with also wouldn’t come out of the rain in a downpour! These same leaders were so out of touch with their emotional intelligence that they simply couldn’t/wouldn’t be able to trust their instincts. If your head tells you to “go” but your gut tells you “no go” you should probably listen to your gut (That is assuming you can hear your gut in the first place!)

Tip #1 – A/B Test + Contingency Plan

Las Vegas is a town filled with successful casinos, not successful gamblers. The reason why the airport here has 10x the quantity of flights compared with most other airports domestically in the USA is that everyone wants to come here to try their luck, and sooner or later they need to go back home. Typically this return home occurs after a loss in the casinos! Leadership strategy should be looked at as a Marketing A/B Test, or at the least with contingency plans in place. No need to put all your eggs in one basket, let’s divide them into two baskets and for goodness sake let’s plan for what might happen along the way!

SUMMARY

I love reading/seeing success play itself out firsthand as a result of leadership strategy just as much as the next leader (Even when it comes from one of our competitors!) In my mind, success breeds success. In this post, we explored avoiding epic failure with your leadership strategy as well as 6 tips to assist you in your leadership journey. Once you’ve tried one (or all six out), please take a minute and drop me a line letting me know how you did… I’ll wait to hear from you/your success!

Sam Palazzolo

Leading at the Tip of the Spear Lunch Offer

What Are Your 2018 Sales Business Development Resolutions? – 6 Tips!

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The Point: Nothing happens in business until you sell something! If that’s the truth, as we start-off another year here at Tip of the Spear Ventures we asked ourselves “What are we going to see in terms of Sales + Business Development activity that is going to make our goals become reality?” So in this post, we’ll explore 6 tips that we believe will make the difference in your 2018 sales business development resolutions… Enjoy!

What Are Your 2018 Sales Business Development Resolutions 6 Tips

“And they’re off!” the horse track announcer calls across the public address (pa) system. Just like the horse race, so begins another year with all the hoopla/excitement that a new calendar deserves. “This year is going to be different” a leader tells me as we kick-off a new engagement. “How so?” I ask. “We’re going to do things different. Last year, especially as the year drew to a close, I found us as an organization in a ‘rut’ that we couldn’t get out of. We have goals of lead generation, sales acceleration, and next-level business development. So this year we’re going to avoid the ‘rut’ and drive towards accomplishing our sales business development goals.” What follows are the 6 Tips (or goals) that this leader sees as the success tasks for the New Year…

Tip #6 – Two Brains are Better!

You must have heard that two brains are better than one, and this can be a huge asset in Lead Generation. This is the theory that two leaders will provide enough perspective to align towards a better alternative than would have been achieved in/of their own. When a leader goes out in search of a business partner to have stronger and better plans for their small business, sharing information and deciding which way to go often works out for the better. Not only do the brains need to be compatible, but there is a lot more to it. I’m not advocating that leaders with similar brains should align, but often times leaders with differing thoughts can for even greater alignment/future direction. Out of everything else the two partners should be able to drive the business in the best manner together forward.

Tip #5 – Leveraging Technology (Artificial Intelligence – AI)

Can you ever have enough technology when it comes to lead generation, sales acceleration, and next-level business development? Another opportunity to consider in the coming year is adding Alexa (or a virtual assistant) to your workspace. Not only will your schedules be organized/optimized, but you can incorporate Alexa into almost everything you do. From scheduling meetings, managing clients and to-do lists and all those little tasks which you would rather not do because they take a little longer in doing. This type of technology is beneficial in uncountable ways for your sales and business development efforts.

Tip #4 – Cross-Functional Teams

No matter how much technology you have, it still comes down to people in business executing sales acceleration initiatives drafted. So why not adopt cross-functional teams to achieve your goals with less consumption of human energy and having more productive outcomes for your business. The cross-functional teams can prove to be a good support for the business plan when they are competent and collaborate and cooperating at the same time. These teams can handle a big part of your sales acceleration and lead generation.

Tip #3 – Communicate the Sales + Business Development Plan!

So far this year, I’ve had a few disturbing moments when it comes to business leaders and their sales business development plans. The disturbing sales and business development moments come primarily in the form of not wrapping up 2017 aggressively and not having a sales acceleration plan in place for 2018. Now you and I both know that business can be unpredictable, and that best laid plans can become unraveled in a matter of what appears to be moments (especially in sales business development for those leadership members!) But to not finish strong (it’s not a matter of wanting to finish stronger!), often times comes down to not communicating the sales + business development plan to those expected to execute (and don’t get me started on the topic of accountability – a topic for a future post!) Communicating your idea in the best way possible is the key to manage a leading business. Communication serves the longest and healthiest life of a business (As business communications are largely dependent upon the presentations that are delivered to the potential partners or clients). It is very important to have some highly interactive and well explained and professionally created and creative presentations, but the content isn’t enough. You should definitely know the depths of what you want to deliver to the senior partners or clients of your business.

Tip #2 – Learn How to Negotiate

Learning to negotiate in a more effective way for this year is a key to the lifelong learning that I often see as a key to success (Especially when it comes to success in lead generation, sales acceleration, and next-level business development!) There are several tactics that make negotiations easier and more interesting. Being persuasive and being able to deliver your idea more effectively shows the best of a businessman.

Tip #1 – Communicate Up

Keep your senior management team in a constant supply of information and reviews about your business lead generation, sales acceleration, and next-level business development. You should be able to communicate the progress and the hurdles of your business to them. The senior management is able to look and help better when your reviews are honest and accurate. While they might be able to see the details from a metrics perspective, provide the “reasons” why initiatives are on/off-track so that they get the full picture.

SUMMARY

Keep your lead generation, sales acceleration, and next-level business development mission statement in line with your business strategy. Try to incorporate new ideas and keep yourself open to new avenues of technology and management. Just like Alexa, there are so many more technology (Artificial Intelligence – AI) that can make business handling far more easily and manageable. Look into all those options available for you and choose those best according to your needs and requirements.

 

Sam Palazzolo

Leading at the Tip of the Spear Lunch Offer

Business Valuation Services: How Can You Get More Money for Your Business?

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The Point: If you don’t know where you’re going, any road can get you there. Likewise, if you don’t know what your business is worth through a proper business valuation service, establishing business objectives/goals can be a guessing game. Establish objectives/goals too low, and potential is barely reached. Set them too high, and you may never achieve them even in the best of circumstances. A business valuation service establishes the worth of your organization, and as a leader you’d better know what that value is in the event your exit strategy is to sell. In this post, we’ll look at business valuation services as a roadmap to identifying ways in which you can get more money for your business… Enjoy!

Business Valuation Services: How Can You Get More Money for Your Business?

We Have Financial Statements… That Should Be Good Enough

At Tip of the Spear, we recommend to clients who are approaching the conclusion of their business career a solid succession plan or exit strategy. As part of your exit strategy, you’ve decided that you’re going to weigh several options. You may sell the business through a business broker. You could consider providing it for sale to your employees as part of an Employee Stop Option Purchase (ESOP). You might consider handing it down to your heirs as part of a larger success planning moment.

Regardless of the exit strategy you choose, knowing the value of your business can help you get more money. However a fatal flaw that I see many owners falsely create is that their financial statements will suffice. In and of themselves, financial statements do provide a degree of perspective regarding the business and its inherent value. However the same financial statements often omit key organizational pieces that could raise the value. Items such as furnishings, building ownership, geographic location, customer records, intellectual property, etc. account for more business value than a profit/loss statement can reflect. As such, we see business valuation services as a best practice when it comes to selling a business.

Business Valuation Services

Business Valuation Services help you quantify all parts contributing to a company’s value. Identifying the value therein can greatly assist you in establishing both proper asking price for the company as well as accepting the right offer. Typically, we see buyers (External or Internal to the organization) requesting their own business valuation service to collect all pertinent information in an effort to protect them from paying too much for a company.

Purchasing an independent business valuation service can also be used to justify the buyer’s offer to the seller (i.e., Why the offer is coming in at $X instead of $Y as listed). We’ve seen episodes where a bid to purchase is accepted because the business valuation service provided such a thorough report to the seller.

SUMMARY

At Tip of the Spear, we believe that you can and should look to sell your business for as much as possible. Securing a business valuation service as the seller helps establish your selling price as well as acceptable bid to purchase levels. Requesting all potential buyer’s bids be considered serious if they in like kind provide their own is a great move in order to sell and get more money for your business.

 

Sam Palazzolo