Andy Andrews has an incredible line up of talented guests on his podcast, In The Loop. Recently I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Andy Andrews and Andy Traub. Take a listen.

If you can’t view the player, click here to listen.

Some of the topics we discussed were:

• What am I passionate about?
• What’s the coolest thing going on in my life right now?
• What are the most impactful lessons I teach in EntreLeadership?

Question: What are your answers to the first two questions?

Here’s a leadership post by one of my favorite people on the planet. My former personal assistant Marybeth Fortner. Marybeth specializes in making people amazing! As a leaders, there is a lot we can learn from leading youth. You can guest post as well! Read how to here.

Over the years, I have made many changes to my piano studio and to how I teach. Some of those adjustments have come about because of lessons learned from EntreLeadership.

For example, I have started offering incentives. I have a chart for each of my piano students. On each chart are eight categories, ranging from tempo and fingering to practicing the required amount.

Each week, students can earn a sticker for each category that they have done well in or made noticeable improvement from the prior lesson. After 36 stickers, my younger students earn a prize from the dollar store. My older students with longer lessons have a different challenge. They have to earn 120 stickers. They then get to invite a friend to their next piano lesson, where they enjoy ice cream sundaes and give a mini recital.

So, besides giving me the reputation as the cool piano teacher, what does this chart actually DO?

It shows the student what he/she is good or bad at.

I have one particular piano student who plays everything at one volume. Week after week, her chart reflects it. Her fingering, notes and tempo are often perfect. Over several weeks, she can see a pattern emerge of exactly what she does well, poorly or inconsistently.

It shows correlation between effort and improvement.

Students soon learn if the “practiced required amount” box is empty, usually many of the other boxes will be empty, too. When they don’t practice, they don’t improve. When they don’t improve, they don’t get a sticker.

It gives the student a goal.

At first, my students just accepted the stickers as part of the “end of lesson” routine. But soon, most of them started asking, “How many do I have altogether?” or “How many more do I need before I get my prize?” We started a running tally on the side. What I found interesting is that the closer the student was to reaching their goal, the harder they worked for it.

It shows the student that every week is a new week. 

You did great this week? Awesome! But that won’t earn stickers for next week. You did poorly this week? Too bad. But next week is a fresh start.

It shows the student that no matter how badly a particular week went, there is still something that was done well.

No one has EVER left without a sticker. I had a 6-year-old who was so incredibly disappointed that she only earned three stickers. She normally earns seven or eight. But, she’s 6. I was able to say, “Look, you did some things well, right?” So, all is not lost. She  worked SO much harder the next week.

It allows me to know if the student really gets it.

I will often ask the student “Do you deserve a sticker for …?” Some students are too hard on themselves. If they aren’t perfect, they believe they are undeserving – even if they made immense progress. I try to guide these students to look at the chart in terms of progress, not perfection. Other students believe that they did everything to perfection. That tells me that I need to work with the student on actually listening to what they are playing as they play.

Whether a 6-year-old, an older student or even an adult, I’ve learned that everyone needs recognition. And you don’t have to spend a fortune to do it. By simply letting them know that they are doing a good job or giving them a goal to work towards, the sky’s the limit. You’ll be amazed at their progress and how much more you’ll love your job.

Question: How can you take this type of recognition and use it with your team? 

Today I will be speaking for Inc. Magazine here in Nashville with Dan Heath, author of Switch. My talk is going to be about the importance of changing your culture to one that attracts champions, changes the pool you hire from, and protects an atmosphere of no gossip, backstabbing, I any other junk that tares a business apart.

Culture will happen in your business. It’s just a matter of if you will be the one to create it, or will bad culture creep its way in. You must be intentional in the process of making your culture exactly what you want.

When you’re not intentional, and bad culture makes its way in, you spend most of your time trying to fix it. Start out on the right foot by YOU being the one to build the right culture.

Question: Have you ever worked in a bad culture?

Customer service is big to me. I am always telling leaders and owners to look at their company from the outside. The reason? It’s really easy to get used to how business is running and not know where your company is dropping the ball.

The other day I was going through the Dallas airport when I decided, when in Texas…eat brisket. So I found a Bar-B-Que place in my concourse. As I stepped up to the counter, a gentleman asked me what I would like. I told him brisket and sausage, and please don’t trim the brisket. He looked at me funny so I said it again. He then asked if I wanted the two or three meat plate.

I figured only mentioning two meats would explain that, but it’s cool. So I asked for the two meat plate and asked again to not trim the fat. At which point he pick up his knife…and trimmed the fat. Hmmmm. Oh well. He then handed it to a lady who asked if I wanted sauce on the brisket. I looked at her, shook my head no and said nooooo.

She took her ladle and spooned sauce onto my brisket. Uh…….ok. I thought to my self, my readers would find this funny. About fifteen minutes later I decided I wanted some coffee. So I went to the only place they had, you know the name, and ordered my usual. Decaf short vanilla latte 140 degrees. I paid and the lady behind me put in her order.

As I was waiting, the barista called off my drink, “decaf short skinny latte.” Really? I said, “Skinny?! Mine is not a skinny.” She looked at me like I was a total jerk. She poured out the coffee and threw it in the trash. That’s when the gal behind me said, “Mine is the skinny.” The barista was brilliantly upset. As if I had done something wrong that caused her to screw up.

Still haven’t figured out it was my fault. Still, I said, “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to mess anything up.” And I repeated my order. I then asked if she knew it was 140 degrees. She said, “I heard you.” Wow. Now I HAVE to share this with my readers!

At first I thought, why aren’t these folks listening? Then I thought, I wonder what the owner would think? I mean, do they even know how badly their team members are? How much they don’t care about their customers? That’s why I BEG people to experience their own businesses as a customer. Or have secret shoppers shop their business. Because really, wouldn’t you go ballistic if you knew someone was experiencing your company that way?

Question: How can owners and leaders prevent this from happening?

It’s time for me to leave The EntreLeadership Tucson event and head to St George, Florida. I can say that this has been an absolutely amazing week. The people, the stories, the beauty…all incredible.

One of the coolest parts was going on a cattle drive/rodeo/bar b que/live band/dancing excursion. It was an absolute blast! It made me miss Tahoe. Well, all but the cattle drive. Along the way I met some new friends.

One of my favorites was Isaac. His heart is the biggest thing about him! And he can dance in his chair like nobody’s business!!

As we rode on the bus from the ranch, every few minutes Isaac would look over at me and wait for me to look at him and wave. Melted my heart!

I’m gonna miss this group, this place, and I already miss the beauty.

Today, as I write this blog post, we are just wrapping up our first full day of EntreLeadership Master Series in Tucson, Arizona. And I feel awesome. If am really being truthful,  who wouldn’t? The weather is perfect. It’s about 80 something, not a cloud in the sky and a cool breeze.

The hotel is beyond awesome, and if I play my cards right, I might be able to squeeze in a couple hours by the pool. OK, maybe 10 minutes or so while I eat lunch. But that is not what’s making me feel so great.

Each time I come to one of these events, whether it is the EntreLeadership Performance Series I host in Nashville, a one day EntreLeadership class or any Master Series, I have the honor of seeing lives being changed right before me. While at these events, small business owners learn they are not alone. Other business people are walking in their shoes and are  facing the same kinds of frustrations as they are.

And even better, these problems, some that can just about wear a soul down, can be fixed. That’s why they’ve come to Tucson. And when you see them actually get it, I don’t care how tough you are, it moves your heart.

So here’s to our next class of EntreLeaders who will graduate this Friday night. May you go back to your world, making it a better place, and spread the message that business is anything but “as usual.” Go home and find your joy!

While I’m here I want to give a shout out to the commenters on this blog. Thank you guys for sharing your words of wisdom to change lives every day! It means a lot to all who visit!

Question: What are you doing to make your business a better place.

Last night kicked off our weeklong EntreLeadership event at the Westin La Paloma in Tucson, Arizona. I had the chance to meet incredible people not only from America, but from Canada, and even Belize. Yep. I rode in from the airport with a lady who is from the U.K., but has lived the last 23 years in Belize. She found us on the web.

And while the resort, the food, the pools, the golf, the sun, the spa, and the humming birds are all amazing, what’s really exciting is the anticipation each guest has for the upcoming week. There’s no doubt, not one single guest came just for the golf. Maybe one of our guys, but surely none of the guests.

The anticipation comes from something that we sell…hope! You see, I believe that it’s not the material that draws people to our events, instead the hope that we have the information that is going to revolutionize their business. And why shouldn’t they? We’ve been revolutionizing the way people do business for years. We know this because the testimonies are phenomenal!

While there are two hundred businesses represented here, there are hundreds of thousands who are not. Why does that matter? Quite often I come across companies who are suffering and not seeking help to fix the problems. It’s like the people who are heavily in debt, and refuse to go through a class that will point them in the right direction.

Getting education can be the difference between a turn around to recovery, or potentially closing the doors. All it takes is a few simple steps:

• Research! - Start by looking at every potential event or coach that actually has something of value to say about your current situation. That’s important because their are plenty out there who don’t have a clue, but they will be happy to take your money.

• Proof! - Don’t just take their word for their expertise. Find quality testimonials from people who have actually experienced it. Many of these you can find online away from the educators website. See what people are saying. If you search EntreLeadership on Google, Twitter, Facebook, etc. you’re going to find people sharing how much it has changed their lives. Will you find someone who only wants to complain? Always. But that’s what makes it real.

• Go! - Find the time in your schedule and make it happen. Yes, I know, you’re busy. But can I tell you about the multiple accountants that came to my event during tax season and loved it! There have been a few that on the first day had that, “What did I just do?” look in their eyes. But when it was over, every one of them told me that they couldn’t have afforded NOT to come. Folks, that speaks volumes.

Am I saying that you have to come to EntreLeadership? Yes! Specifically my event! Ok, of course not. But I am saying that you need to continue educating yourself. Not just if you’re having problems. But even if things are spectacular. Not continuing to grow will cause you to stop growing. So find something that will help your business and get after it.

Question: How has education continued to grow your leadership or your business? Or how has the lack of it not?

Here’s a great post on sales by Joel Fortner. Joel’s company BlueBridge Communication specializes in helping entrepreneurs effectively market their business. Follow Joel on Twitter. You can guest post as well! Read how to here.

With all of the talk nowadays about social media and new technologies, and people sounding off about “traditional” marketing being dead, it’s easy to become overwhelmed and confused about sales, or how you should market your business.

In short, sales and marketing have more to do with psychology than technology. People don’t buy because an offer was made on a Facebook page they accessed on their iPhone while on a jet hurdling hundreds of miles per hour through the sky! People buy because they trust you, and what you sell satisfies a want or need at the time.

But here’s the thing. Goods and services aren’t even the actual need. It goes deeper than that. We buy stuff to satisfy our basic needs first, like safety and hunger. And then, we buy to bring happiness, relieve stress, boost our confidence, showcase our status, and more.

The desire to satisfy these things is strong. But still, there’s one thing that often stands in the way of the sell—fear. No matter what kind of business you run, fear is part of the buying equation.  As a result, it needs to be part of the marketing equation.  From baked goods to custom jewelry to estate planning, fear comes into play at some point.

The more unfamiliar or expensive something is, the more prominent a role fear plays in the buying decision until something is done to reduce or eliminate it.  So how do you get customers over that hurdle to get them to buy?

One way is by minimizing or removing fear altogether by offering satisfaction guarantees and full refunds upfront in your sales and marketing. If just the thought of doing this makes you nervous, here are three reasons it shouldn’t.

1.  You should be confident enough in what you sell to stand behind it fully.

If you are that confident, you should do what I’m suggesting immediately. If you’re not, I believe your chances of staying in business are slim. There’s a reason you’re not confident in what you’re doing.  Either your confidence in yourself is low or what your selling is, let’s say, lacking.  Regardless, you need to address the problem.

2.  Your focus should be on lifetime customer relationships.

Getting new customers is difficult and expensive.  You need to sweeten the pot at times to increase people’s confidence to get them to buy initially.  Assuming you offer a great good or service, it’s much easier and cheaper to get them to buy again and again once they experience it.  You just have to get them over the fear hurdle.

3.  You’ll most likely never refund a single dollar.

Why?  Because assuming what you do or sell is really good and provides value, people will want to pay you for it.  It’s just how we’re wired.

Question: What are other effective ways to minimize or reduce customer fear?

Change. If you’re anything like me, you’re not a huge fan. Whether in business or life, change, for the most part, has a tendency to make me feel uncomfortable, insecure and sometimes just plain worried about what’s going to happen. Am I being too transparent here?

Now, there are some changes that I love and anticipate. The changing season bring the coming of winter and the hope for … snow. I miss you Tahoe! Spring brings the excitement of God’s paint palette being renewed with colors. Am I sounding like a Hallmark card?

And while change is inevitable, it’s not always acceptable—at least by those who resist its potential sting. I think that’s why so many of us struggle with it. We’ve experienced how painful change is and don’t want to feel it again. So when change is in the air, I think you should focus on these few things:

• How comfortable are you? - Comfort, while nice most of the time, can cause us to become complacent. The military has done a considerable amount of studies on muscle memory. Special Forces spend hours a day on a five-second drill of taking a knife away from someone. The moment they take it away, they give it back, and then do it over again. Eventually, the mind no longer needs to focus on the task because the muscles automatically take the knife without the brain needing to process what’s happening. How many things are similar to this in your life?

• How good are things? - When life is good, we hate change. The question is: Are things the best they can be? If not, maybe get a little uncomfortable. If things could be better, what would that look like? What are the steps to make it happen?

• How bad are things? – Sometimes, even when we are stressed to the max, we will stay right there in the middle of it. For some reason, we convince ourselves the pain and discomfort is less than the pain and discomfort of fixing the problem. If you’re here, take some time to sit down and run through the same questions asked above? Then, weigh those against not doing anything at all.

• What can you change for fun? - A friend of mine is actually quite comfortable with little non-fatal changes. I will find a salad I like for lunch, and then I’ll frequent that restaurant day-after-day. She is constantly looking for something new and exciting to try for lunch. Sometimes, you just gotta change it up. Don’t allow yourself to get in a rut. If you find yourself doing the same thing, even though it may not be boring to you, make yourself do something else just for the pure enjoyment of non-stressful conflict. (And the amiables said, “There’s no such thing!”)

Change doesn’t have to come only when you’re stressed, and it doesn’t have to always stress you out. The more you make yourself comfortable with change, the easier it is to do.

Speaking of change, Inc. Magazine asked me to speak on the subject along with Dan Heath, co-author of the best-selling book  Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard, on May 15th here in Nashville. Seating is limited, and I would love for my followers to fill it up! On top of the incredible speakers, it also includes:

• A complimentary breakfast
• An expert discussion geared towards small-business owners
• An extended question-and-answer session

Go to http://clocurto.us/HTcoGX for details and to sign up!

Question: What do you like or not like about change?

Here are my Top 10 April 2012 posts, according to your clicks and forwards. Each of the commenters below will receive a free copy of, Follow Me, by Jan David Hettinga.

Of the top posts, one is from March, and for the first time in months, the Zig Ziglar’s Wheel of Life missed the list by 1 spot! It was posted in May of last year. It has been in the top 10 most months. As does my About and Subscribe pages. Special thanks to Michael Hyatt for his continued support, and all of those who help spread the word!

1. The Power Of Walking Away
2. 4 Things You Should Never Do In A Job Interview
3. How To Hire Salespeople
4. The Power Of Walking Away
5. 4 Questions You Should Ask About Your Leadership
6. Why You Must Discover Your Strengths
7. The Power Of Pain
8. 4 Great Time Management Tips
9. Why I Believe In Evolution
10. Where Can I Find A Job?

Here are my top 10 commenters. And OHHHH, we have a new leader!!! As always, your wisdom and enthusiasm helps so many!!

1.  Skropp
2.  Joel Fortner
3.  Lily_Kreitinger
4.  Laura Johnson
5.  Aaron Nelson
6.  skottydog
7.  Louise Thaxton
8.  preferred stocks
9.  Uma Maheswaran
10.  rlawrencejr

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