Complete CEO Coaching International Summit 2019 Highlights

What happens when you bring together more than 250 CEOs, COOs, and top sales leaders for two days of presentations, meetings, networking, and fun? BIG magic!

At the sixth annual CEO Coaching International Summit, we raised the bar by bringing in a former President to kickoff the event with a fireside chat about his life, his time in the White House, and his advice for business leaders.

And the bar stayed high as each guest presenter delivered insightful and impactful stories that left us at times both speechless and inspired.

Founding Partner Mark Moses opened up our 2019 event with the latest BIG numbers from another successful year at CEO Coaching International. Our clients represent:

Mark Moses

$10.7 Billion In Revenue
$870 Million In EBITDA
70,000+ Employees
182 Companies
28 Countries
And a HUGE 66.4% Compounded Annual EBITDA Growth Rate for clients engaged for three years

To learn how you can become part of our community, click here.

Summit Takeaways

Sandra Joseph on “Pursuing Your Passion”

Sandra Joseph gave one of the most powerful presentations ever to grace the CEO Coaching Summit stage as she brought some audience members to tears.

Sandra Joseph in “Phantom of the Opera”

For almost a decade, Sandra played Christine in Phantom of the Opera, the longest running Broadway show in history. She told her story of fear and rejection and how it wasn’t until she was able to “drop the mask” and show up as she authentically was that she was finally able to win the role of a lifetime on Broadway.

Sandra said, “There’s a cost when we put ourselves out there, but there’s a greater cost to staying hidden.” For years, Sandra auditioned in a way that she thought would appeal to the casting directors. But it wasn’t until she finally had the inner courage to show up and be her real self, not some character she was impersonating, that she had her breakthrough.

She also said, “You can put a mask on and hide, or you can have the inner courage to drop the mask and show up as you authentically are.” Powerful stuff.

Near the end of her presentation, she mentioned that during her tenure as Christine, a new person came in to play the Phantom and it changed the chemistry of the play—both on and off the stage. She ended up marrying that Phantom and to the surprise of everyone in the audience at the Summit, Sandra started singing a song from the play. And then the Phantom, her husband, walked to the front of the stage and the two sang a stirring duet from the show that left the audience giving a rousing standing ovation.

What’s your mask? What are you hiding? What is it costing you to not show up as your true self?

Patty McCord on Building High Performance Teams

Patty McCord is the former Chief People Officer of Netflix and the co-author of the famous Netflix Culture Deck that has become mandatory reading for entrepreneurs. She’s also the author of Powerful: Building a Culture of Freedom and Responsibility.

Patty McCord

Patty said you should strive to “create a company that’s a great place to be from.” Meaning, when somebody has your company’s name on their Linkedin profile you know that they are a top caliber person. By extension, if you’re a great company to be from, it means you are also a great company to go to. So, you’ll end up attracting the top performers who are knocking down the door to work for your company.

At Neflix, Patty built a culture of transparency. She told a story about how a colleague was complaining to her about another employee and then Patty asked her, “What did they say when you told them what you just told me?” Boom. That will shut down the gossip and complaining very quickly.

She also highlighted the importance of recognizing great work. And as an exercise, she encouraged all of us to find three people in the next week and tell them what they’re doing well. Hey, we all get beat down enough so taking a moment to personally recognize your teammates who are doing something well goes a long way. Go ahead and do that this week and beyond. Make it a part of your leadership philosophy.

Matt Dixon on the Challenger Sale

Matt Dixon is the bestselling author of The Challenger Sale, a highly respected book that turns the sales process upside down. Most sales rep grew up learning the “relationship selling” model. And that works–sometimes. And relationship sellers often start with what Matt calls the worst question a salesperson can ask a prospective client–“What keeps you up at night?”

Instead, Matt says you should tell your prospective client what SHOULD keep them up at night. With this shift in perspective, you become a source of great insight to your prospective client, not someone just trying to hawk your products.

Challenger salespeople are teachers who bring great insight and unique–and often provocative–perspectives to the client’s business. In fact, there are times when the Challenger salesperson will tell the client that they’re wrong. And they can get away with this because they have the data and insights to back it up.

Relationship sellers are focused on reducing tension in the conversation, while Challenger sellers actually foster “constructive tension.” Challengers tailor their message on the customer’s value drivers and they are comfortable discussing money. The Challenger sales methodology is particularly effective in selling complex solutions.

Jaime Szulc on Learning from the Disruption of Kodak

Kodak was a highly profitable $14 billion company and the undisputed leader in the imaging business. And then it went bankrupt. What happened and how can you avoid a similar fate?

Jaime Szulc was a senior executive at Kodak for about 10 years and saw firsthand what worked and what didn’t work. He said one key mistake Kodak made was they did not really understand the business they were in. Kodak thought it was in the imaging business, when in reality it was in the storytelling business. To avoid Kodak’s fate, you have to truly understand what is the ultimate desire of your customer. And then make sure that you keep testing new ways of meeting that desire. By making continuous small bets and feeding those that are working, you significantly reduce the risk that your business will get blindsided by two 21-year olds working out of their spare bedroom.

Your “mindset” is also a critical ingredient in avoiding disruption. You have to leave your ego at the door and understand that what worked before—even if it was your baby—may not work going forward.

Patty McCord said build a company that is a great place to be from. In a similar way, Jaime said to avoid disruption, focus on creating dream jobs that will attract top talent. He would ask candidates, ‘What’s your dream?” and then he would make sure to align the job to the person’s dream. He said, “If you create the right boundaries for people and you incent them right, they will always bring you new ideas.” Having a constant flow of new ideas, coupled with the right “mindset” will help ensure you remain open to responding to your shifting business landscape.

Emma Cohen on Staring Down the Sharks on Shark Tank

A brilliant entrepreneur, a great idea that’s on trend by being environmentally friendly, a Kickstarter campaign that raised about $1.9 million, and a starring role on Shark Tank. That’s Emma Cohen!

Emma pitched the Sharks on her re-usable, collapsible straw that folds up in its own case and comes with a cleaning brush. She was seeking $625,000 for a five percent stake in the company.

Mark Cuban and Kevin O’Leary both made offers. So what did Emma do? She turned them down! Her key takeaway at the Summit was know your value, stick to your principles, and don’t get bullied into making a bad deal. And while she walked away empty-handed from Shark Tank, she left with even greater confidence in her product and her future.

Ron Carson on Going from Dorm Room to $10 Billion in Assets Under Management

Are you on an unconscious journey to arrive at death safely? Many people are according to top financial advisor Ron Carson. Ron started from $0 and built a business that’s valued well into 9 figures. One key to his success is he is purposely pushing the limits both mentally and physically to get the most out of every moment. And part of this mindset is to appreciate the present moment. In fact, he was on the road for about 300 days in the past year and said his favorite place was always, “right where I was.”

Ron is a big believer in the power of having a brain trust. He said to connect with bright minds inside and outside your industry to share ideas, challenges and successes. Ron has been part of YPO and a financial industry “brain trust” for many years and considers those two groups instrumental in the growth of his companies.

Ron also shared the quote, “Someone once told me not to bite off more than I could chew. I told them I would rather choke on greatness than nibble on mediocrity.” How about you? Are you striving for greatness?

Josh McCarter on Turning a Sinking Ship Into a 9-Figure Exit

Josh McCarter built and sold Booker Software for more than 9-figures but it was a roller-coaster ride to get there. He said sometimes you have to shrink to grow. During one particularly rough period, Josh had to cut staff by 35% but that clearing of the decks set the stage for a big comeback. And while some people had doubts, he said, “You’ve got to have faith that there’s an outcome you can drive toward.”

As Josh was going through the rough patch in his business, he drew strength from his family and his YPO Forum mates. Likewise, you don’t have to go through tough times alone. Find your community, your brain trust as Ron Carson said, and draw strength from it. In Josh’s case, he was able to weather the storm and cash out in a 9-figure exit.

Surrounding yourself with people who can make up for your weaknesses is another key point Josh drove home for the attendees. Unfortunately, he said many executives don’t have the self-awareness to recognize what their weaknesses are. To avoid that trap, Josh follows the advice he learned from one of his VC partners–be a learn it all, not a know it all.

Rick Sapio on the Habits of Billionaires

Rick is a highly successful entrepreneur at CEO Coaching International who enjoys conversing with billionaires. So far, he’s chatted with more than 40 of them. And at the Summit, he shared a few things he learned from people such as T. Boone Pickens, Warren Buffett, and Phil Romano.

Phil Romano, the billionaire restauranteur, told him, “The difference between a billionaire and a millionaire is a billionaire doesn’t do anything until they find the right person to run the business, while a millionaire starts building a website, and all kinds of other stuff.” As we say all the time at CEO Coaching, it’s all about having the absolute best people in every key role in your company.

Many billionaires also have a values-based decision-making framework that helps them align their life with their values. For example, Rick said he runs all his important decisions through a filter of “simplicity, probability, and leverage.” When he has a big decision to make, he asks, “Will this increase or decrease simplicity in my life? What’s the probability that it will be successful? And is this something I can leverage?” By creating your own filter or decision-making framework, you can be clearer and more consistent in how you approach major decisions.

John DiJulius on the Relationship Economy

John DiJulius is the founder of two thriving companies and an authority on world-class customer experience. His expertise comes not from reading books, but from writing them and from using his companies as living laboratories to test his findings and theories.

John’s highly rated interactive presentation focused on helping leaders understand the importance of “experience” in our relationship economy. He said, “If you know two or more things about anyone’s ‘FORD,’ you will own the relationship.’” And FORD stands for, Family, Occupation, Recreation, and Dreams. So anytime you or your team are talking to a client or potential client, make a point to learn one or more new things about that person’s FORD, and then add it to your CRM system. The more you can personalize your interactions, the deeper you can build the relationship.

He also challenged the audience by asking, “Are you zero risk to do business with?” To move toward zero risk means you have systems and protocols to minimize mistakes, but then when you do make a mistake (which we all do), you clean it up quickly and go beyond expectation.

Are you looking to rekindle a relationship with a client that has gone stale? John said it’s as easy as 3-2-1. Start by sending three emails, two handwritten cards, and one phone call to an existing client that you are not currently talking to. The personalized attention will grab their attention.

Learn more from John on his podcast with CEO Coaching International.

Sarah Dusek on Putting Values Ahead of a $7 Million Investment

Sarah Dusek is the co-founder of Under Canvas, America’s leading company in the luxury camping business. She and her husband bootstrapped the company and reached the point where they needed an outside investor to build a financial cushion and really start scaling the business. “After about a gazillion nos,” Sarah finally got a term sheet for a $7 million investment. There was only one problem. The VC investor was a bully. He basically told Sarah, “If you don’t do this deal with us, I will blacklist you and make sure nothing good ever happens to your company going forward.”

So here’s her dilemma–do a $7 million deal with the devil, or run the risk of going so far in the red that her firm would never recover and end up going bust. Many of you reading this may have faced a similar gut check moment.

Sarah said, “It really, really challenged our values and challenged what I believed in and what I was willing to do to grow our company.”

So what did she do? Like Emma Cohen earlier, Sarah said NO. “We refused to sacrifice our values on the altar of success.”

And when you take a strong stand like that, good things often result. Just six months later, Sarah received a significant investment from KSL Capital Partners, LLC, a private equity firm specializing in travel and leisure enterprises.

Jim Bennett on the Keys to Growing from $0 to More Than $100 Million in Revenue

Jim Bennett founded his own company as a franchisee of Worldwide Express and built it from $0 to over $120 million in revenue. He shared several keys to this great achievement including their unorthodox hiring strategy.

Once Jim’s firm hit $5 million in revenue, he knew he had a model that worked. Then the trick was to replicate it around the country. He did so by creating “playbooks” for each position within the company. In particular, he created a specific hiring process that lasted two weeks and placed an emphasis on finding Division III college athletes to fill his openings. He found these athletes by talking to Athletic Directors and coaches.

These newly hired sales reps were then plugged into a specific training program that was optimized over time to generate predictable results. By the third year, his reps were earning up to $200,000 a year. Being competitive athletes, it also helped that Jim ran competitive quarterly contests that ranked each sales rep by gross margin—not sales. As Jim said, “gross margin pays the bills, not revenue.”

Cyrus Sigari on Flying Cars and Thinking BIG

Cyrus Sigari is the co-founder of jetAVIVA, one of the country’s leading sellers of light jets. He took us on a journey with him as he shared the highs and lows of being a successful entrepreneur. One particular moment that captured the audience was when he talked about a certain day that he had just wrapped up talking to several billionaire clients and his business was riding high. Then he showed a picture of an empty glass on the screen and said, “That’s how I felt.”

You may have been there, too. You’re working hard, business is good, but something’s still missing. For Cyrus, this moment led him to take a multi-month sabbatical from his business, travel the world, seek out healers and mystics, and focus on becoming more self-aware about what would fill his cup.

How about you? Does your cup need to be filled with something more than just money?

And yes, Cyrus did talk about his latest passion, flying cars!

Learn more from Cyrus on his podcast with CEO Coaching International.

The 2019 CEO Coaching Summit would not have been such a BIG success without the passion and dedication of all our clients, speakers, sponsors, families, friends, and the entire CEO Coaching International team. Thank you so much to everyone involved, and we hope to see you all again at the next Summit in Miami, Florida on April 24 – 26, 2020.

About Mark Moses

Mark Moses is the Founding Partner of CEO Coaching International and the Amazon Bestselling author of Make Big Happen. His firm coaches over 185 of the world’s top high-growth entrepreneurs and CEO’s on how to dramatically grow their revenues and profits, implement the most effective strategies, becoming better leaders, grow their people, build accountability systems, and elevate their own performance. Mark has won Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year award and the Blue Chip Enterprise award for overcoming adversity. His last company ranked #1 Fastest-Growing Company in Los Angeles as well as #10 on the Inc. 500 of fastest growing private companies in the U.S. He has completed 12 full distance Ironman Triathlons including the Hawaii Ironman World Championship 5 times.

About CEO Coaching International

CEO Coaching International works with the world’s top entrepreneurs, CEOs, and companies to dramatically grow their business, develop their people, and elevate their overall performance. Known globally for its success in coaching growth-focused entrepreneurs to meaningful exits, CEO Coaching International has coached more than 500 CEOs and entrepreneurs in more than 20 different countries. Every coach at CEO Coaching International is a former CEO or President that has made big happen. The firm’s coaches have led double-digit sales and profit growth in businesses ranging in size from $10 million to over $1 billion, and many are founders that have led their companies through successful eight and nine figure exits. CEOs and entrepreneurs working with CEO Coaching International for three years or more have experienced an average EBITDA CAGR of 66.4% during their time as a client, more than five times the national average. For more information, please visit: https://www.ceocoachinginternational.com