We have three coach panelists on the show to discuss how to create value for customers, stand out from the crowd and be unique, and some of their favorite books this year. Our guest panelists also share some really clever pivoting examples.

A bit about our expert coaches: Karie Kaufmann has successfully coached over 1,000 businesses and high-performance executives to achieve greater levels of growth. Judy Guido is a returning panel guest and has overseen at least 100 successful mergers and acquisitions throughout her career, and finally, Wade Wyant is a 20-plus-year entrepreneur, YPO member, and scaling up coach.

Verne Harnish recently released a list of the top five business books in 2020. The coaches discuss what they liked about these five books: Humanocracy by Gary Hamel and Michele Zanini, Fanocracy by David Meerman Scott and Reiko Scott, Leadership Is Language by L. David Marquet, No Rules Rules by Erin Meyer and Reed Hastings, and Breath by James Nestor.

Judy really liked “Good people don’t leave because of the company, they leave because of the people.” Don’t de-skill jobs, instead upskill people. Karie says one of the best questions you can ask is, “How can we get better at this?” As a leader, you don’t have to have all the answers. Rely on your team!

Wade agrees. When you change your thinking around people and what they’re capable of, the bureaucracy layer doesn’t need to be as necessary. Bill’s biggest takeaway from the Humanocracy book is, if you’re going to empower people, you need to lead more with questions. Stop telling people what to do, and being the last one to speak.

Judy explains why she hates the term, “best practices.” You’re creating a line in the sand for your staff and it stifles innovation and creativity. Twenty percent of people in an organization didn’t feel like their opinion mattered and 40% felt like they were never encouraged to innovate.

Interview Links:

Karie: Kariekaufmann .com

Judy: Guidoassoc .com

Wade: Redwagonadvisors .com

Books:

Humanocracy , by Gary Hamel and Michele Zanini

Fanocracy , by David Meerman Scott and Reiko Scott

Leadership Is Language , by

246: Scaling Up Insights — Coach Panel with Karie Kaufmann, Judy Guido, and Wade Wyant

Scaling Up Business with Bill Gallagher