A SEAT at THE TABLE: Conversations with Today's Top Industry Leaders

Positioning Your Company for Success - Regardless of the Competition

December 10, 2022 Tim Redmond, CEO, Redmond Growth Consulting Season 10 Episode 3
A SEAT at THE TABLE: Conversations with Today's Top Industry Leaders
Positioning Your Company for Success - Regardless of the Competition
Show Notes Transcript Chapter Markers


Companies have always focused on growth, but now there’s increasing pressure to drive profitability. 

Typically this means cutting costs.  However in a highly competitive market that will no longer work. Businesses are going to have to ‘invest their way to success’. 

Winning companies will need to super charge their creativity and build high performing teams.

Now you’re probably thinking ‘That sounds good, but how exactly can organisations execute on this?’

I’m Jane Singer and thank you for joining me here on A Seat at The Table - and being part of our global community of industry leaders.

Today we have Tim Redmond joining us.  Tim is CEO of Redmond Growth Consulting, an organisation that helps companies growth their profits and their business.

By leveraging his previous experience with PriceWaterhouseCoopers and growing a software company from 2-400 employees and then selling it to Intuit, he’s able to pinpoint opportunities that companies might be overlooking, help find creative solutions to a wide range of business challenges, and coach leadership on building high performing teams.

In this podcast Tim talks about

- Some of the costly mistakes that businesses are making and what they should be doing instead.

- How to super charge creativity to find innovative solutions and ideas.

- What successful team leaders get right that mediocre ones overlook.


USEFUL LINKS

Asianet Consultants:  https://asianetconsultants.com

Connect with Tim Redmond:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/coachtimredmond/

Redmond Growth Consulting:   
redmondgrowth.com

Visit A Seat at The Table's website at https://seat.fm

Jane Singer  00:02

Companies have always focused on growth. But now there's increasing pressure to drive profitability. Typically, this means cost cutting. However, in a highly competitive market that will no longer work, businesses are going to have to invest their way to success. Winning companies will need to supercharge their creativity and build high performing teams. Now you're probably thinking that sounds good, but how exactly can organizations execute on this? I'm Jane singer, and thank you for joining me here on a seat at the table and being part of our global community of industry leaders. 


Jane Singer  00:35

Today we have Tim Redmond joining us. Tim is CEO of Redmond growth consulting, an organization that helps companies grow their profits and their business. By leveraging his previous experience with Price Waterhouse Coopers and growing a software company from two to 400 employees and then selling it to intuit, he's able to pinpoint opportunities that companies might be overlooking help find creative solutions to a wide range of business challenges, and Coach leadership on building high performing teams. In this podcast, Tim talks about some of the costly mistakes that businesses are making, and what they should be doing instead, how to supercharge creativity to find innovative solutions and ideas and what successful team leaders get right that mediocre ones overlook. 


Jane Singer  01:21

The foundation of building a winning team or an organization is having the right people in the right positions. This can be one of business's biggest challenges, especially in certain markets. That's why top corporations or even smaller enterprises rely on Asianet consultants to help them fill key positions. Since 1988. Asianet has been working in partnership with its global clients to help them make the right strategic hires, they have a well earned reputation for being able to fill even those difficult to fill positions. So if you need to recruit new talent, or you think you might be doing that soon, head on over to their website, that's Asiannetconsultants.com. Asia net consultants.com. I'll put a link in the show notes. 


Jane Singer  02:08

Now let's sit down with Tim and find out how we can position our companies for more profitable growth. 


Jane Singer  02:14

I'm really so happy that you're able to join us here on A Seat at The Table. I think that the topics that you address are important to just about everybody listening to this show. Most companies are looking for growth, preferably profitable growth, and many are struggling to achieve it. You've said that there are costly mistakes that you see even smart people making. What are they? What should business owners or senior leaders be doing differently?


Tim Redmond  02:45

One of the biggest challenges that we that I see is that we don't take time to really define our Purple Cow. What is the Purple Cow Seth Godin wrote this book 20 years ago, many people that are listening to this. I've already read that book. But yeah, he's in Paris on vacation with his wife and kids. He's driving out of Paris. And he starts passing these farms and his kids in the back of our like, wow, look at the cows look at the cows and there's these black and brown and white cows. And they pass about five farms and they're just oh, look at the cows and then they pass another farm and stuff goes kids looked at the cows. And they're like, yeah, we've already seen him. So he says something here and that is if you're not remarkable, you're invisible. Right and so what are the unique things that make you remarkable? 


Tim Redmond  03:42

I work with a lot of doctors and health care specialty Doc's pain management, EMTs chiropractors, all kinds of health care professionals. We also work with contractors and I remember this this plumber driving into our parking lot his local guy, and he had this this sign on the side of his truck it says we wear belts. Well why is that? Well, plumbers are notorious for showing their butt cracks. This is a very sophisticated let's hear so humor me I'm from Oklahoma. But anyway, you know and I just started laughing at that and as we began to define his Purple Cow, we offered a no but crack guarantee. I know that sounds crude, right? But you know if you see our butt crack during our service then the labor is free but people are laughing they're calling him up laughing saying is this the no butt crack during tea company it's you know, it's okay to use a little bit humor to and that but really taken some time to identify your Purple Cow. That's that's one of and I can go on for 40 hours on this.


Jane Singer  04:55

I think it's a very good point. And I think it's something that you A lot of companies like you said overlook. And I think even those that don't overlook it, it is very difficult, right? When you're looking at your own business, which you know so intimately to be able to see it from afar, and see what differentiates it because like you're saying, most of these businesses, from a distance seem quite similar, right? Whether you're in healthcare, or whether you're in plumbing, or whether you're a contractor, it does seem like it's pretty generic.


Tim Redmond  05:28

Well, I mean, you're wanting to catch the attention of your target audience, you want to create an ADA, you want to get their attention, develop interest, reach some kind of a desire, and then give them a specific course of action to take. Another another challenge game that I've seen is that we, we make the sales process too difficult. I had, I had a guy just a couple of weeks ago, give me a call. He says, Man, the cold calling. Well, we built the first 100 clients ever, we had about 150 160 clients, now pretty good size coaching firm, and our first 100 clients we obtained, we did it through cold calling. And so on his very first call, he's wanting to book a two hour meeting, that's like, going on a date and asking the ask them this, your date to marry you on the first in first 10 minutes. That's too much.  So to create a sales workflow, and to really take time coupled with it to really take time to identify your target, right. And I believe there are opportunities right under these people's nose right under this, the person watching this right now, right on your nose, staring at you waiting, just just say, Pick Me Pick Me, you know, it's just really taking time to go after those target markets. And, and don't be afraid of really narrowing that down. I like to say that you can widen your reach by narrowing your focus, right, it's a good choice really define that target market. And then you go after those various aspects of that target market.


Jane Singer  07:23

Right, I think that that's a very good point, we do tend to want to catch a very cast a very wide net, figuring that you'll get more fish when in fact, you oftentimes get nobody, right, because nobody understands who you are or what you bring.


Tim Redmond  07:40

Yeah, don't don't be afraid of getting really specific on the need, that you cater to, or the want you cater to, or the pain that you solve, or the the thing that they don't like you make that go away the thing that they really want, they just really want to stand out, when they're, when they're in certain type of attire, they really want to stand out, you make that happen for them, you you make it happen without breaking their head and having to think through it and, and just Yuja is almost like Color by Number, you know, you just make it super easy to do business. And to get them to that place of desire, or that place where the pain goes away, is really, really important to really define what that is.


Jane Singer  08:30

Yeah, I think that's a very good way to phrase it. Now, we're in an age that encourages people to be entrepreneurs. And yet, despite venture capital, a vast number of very affordable technologies, access to online marketplaces, there's so many different opportunities, and yet many entrepreneurs fail. From your experience. What do successful entrepreneurs do, right, that struggling entrepreneurs are ignoring or are getting wrong?


Tim Redmond  09:00

Yeah, I would say again, I want to emphasize, they really take time to define the problem they solve. And it's collect the three P's, they they build a sales process around the three P's, your marketing and sales, versus what problem are you solving? What problem are you making go away what you know, and that the positive side of that is what goal or what desire or what, what do they wish for? Right? So you really define that problem. You make a huge promise. Don't be afraid of making that promise huge. Because you've, you've zeroed in on really making that problem go away or really making that goal come around or that desire to be fulfilled. So you really make a big promise then thirdly, as you provide proof, so proof is the testimonials, happy faces, the people that are, you know, I believe in this thing called reputation, management, Reputation Marketing, where there's a, there's an old proverb here written 2500 years ago that says, Don't praise yourself, let others do it for you. And that is when you have videos or Google reviews or when you have real customers saying, This is why I love this company, this is what I had, and they made that pain go away, or this is my desire, and they fulfill that desire. You can't overdo that. That's just really something to lean into the


Jane Singer  10:40

back. I think that's very interesting. And it's a good point. Because sometimes people feel oh, that's simplistic, right? You need something more complicated, they must be getting something more, more difficult wrong dinner domain. And oftentimes, like you said, it is the simple things that you need to fix in order to get the train back on the tracks.


Tim Redmond  11:04

Genius is in simplicity. And there's a good good friend of mine, Albert Einstein, I started just named dropping here, credibility, that is really, I'll keep my day job here, and I'll let the comedians do their job. Anyway, Albert Einstein says make things geniuses making things as simple as they can be, but not more simple. So don't be afraid of really think and do do the hard thinking work to make what you offer as simple solution as you can.


Jane Singer  11:40

Yes, I agree. I think that we tend to overcomplicate things. And the success oftentimes is in the simplicity, as you're pointing out. Now, you talk about supercharging creativity to tackle challenges. What does that look like? How can companies apply this to their own businesses?


Tim Redmond  12:02

Okay, creativity. So I have a process that, you know, when I sit down, and I just says, well be creative, well is very important to define the problem that I need to be creative towards. So my dad who is a PhD in chemical engineering, he said, the biggest problem with with people trying to solve problems as they start in the middle of that problem, they don't take the time to accurately define what it is they're solving. So that's, that's one thing. And don't build a blast Castle, make sure that whatever you come up with here is just one idea. 


Tim Redmond  12:40

Then there's another process, I call it force creativity, Jane. And that is that I look at what I'm doing right now. And I x that out, and I push that out of the room, I push that out of the possibilities, I say, I've got to think of something completely brand new that I've never thought of before. I've never approached it this way before. And so I go through that force creativity and we've come up with all kinds of innovations within our marketing, our sales, even our product delivery and our coaching and getting the gist causing the red line to really go up to a huge level on the results were able to get because that forced creativity is very, very, very important just to disown what you have, at least temporarily and just begin to think about that. I like to look through magazines, I like to look through and not read the articles on creativity, I like to look at the advertisements, you know and I say well, what are they conveying? And what how would I rate this? How would I rate this advertisement? Is it intriguing? Does it pull me in Is it is it a does it follow that ADA does it get my attention? Does it does it generate interest is it is a generated desire here and and is there a clear point of action for me to take action on in that you know even looking at here I am in and coaching and helping business owners grow their business and getting huge profits while getting the business to a lot less reliant on the owner. 


Tim Redmond  14:25

And I may look at fashion ads I may look at computer ads I may look outdoor equipment ads, you know and I'm just looking at that to say well what are they what are they conveying what what problem are they solving and and sometimes even just even driving by reading billboards, boom an idea will come and so just open to other the fourth point is just being open to other sources. Looking at other advertisement says a way to inspire you and being creative and and your age. issue that you want to resolve.


Jane Singer  15:02

I think that's a very interesting way to look at it. Because we do tend to come to the table with a lot of assumptions, preconceived ideas about the way it has to be. And I think you're right. Sometimes you have to start with a clean slate, in order to be able to find solutions that might otherwise be overlooked. So I think it's, it's really important that you brought that up. 


Jane Singer  15:25

Now, they say the teamwork makes the dream work. And you know, you've talked about the importance of team building, from your experience, what is successful teams get right, that mediocre teams are either overlooking or maybe getting wrong.


15:43

Yeah. And in producing a high performance team. What I have heard a lot of business owners that we coach say is, there's nobody out there that's wants to work hard. There's nobody out there that wants to creatively solve problems. It's just, nobody can be as good as me. Another way of saying it, and I think a while that's not what I mean. But you know, nobody wants to work nowadays. And I always, you know, effective leadership always goes inward before it goes outward. 


Tim Redmond  16:15

It goes inward to take inventory goes inward to find out, am I contagiously, attracting those kinds of people that want to work for me. See, leaders don't attract what they want, they attract who they are. Good answer is really important to become that leader that you've got a compelling vision, you've got a work ethic that's inspirational. You set the way you don't just tell the way you show the way. And so really going inward first and saying what kind of leader? am I and who am I attract? And as a result of who I am? Why I want to hire people better than myself. I know, but you can't look like a bad investment. You can't you can't you get look like you don't have your act together, you know, people, inspiring people want to follow somebody that's inspiring. So do the work, have a morning ritual where you build yourself up? 


Tim Redmond  17:16

Another thing here is, what kind of team member are you you got to first of all, become the team member that you want your team to emulate? Is the absent one safe among you? Right? are you gossiping on other team members that aren't in the room? Are you making it unsafe? And people are thinking well, I wonder what he's saying when I'm not in the room. Right? And and then you you know you're willing to run into the fire, you're willing to, to show them things, how you get anybody to do anything and train anybody do anything. There's three simple, three simple rules, again, don't allow the simplicity to to rob you of the profundity of this, you know, the first step is you show them. Step number two is you do it together. And step number three is they show you and you take the time to do that. 


Tim Redmond  18:07

The last aspect of really building a high performance team and I can go on and on with this, but just in the short time is a missing ingredient that I think many teams, they know about this concept, but they don't define it in the right way. And that is the word respect and respect we look at respect is something that we demand from other people, right? We want to act a certain way we're at a certain position. And so we want respect from people. But an effective leader comes not from a place of scarcity in need, and effectively or comes from a place of abundance and contribution. Very, very important concept. 


Tim Redmond  18:53

So you look at respect, not as something you demand, respect as a gift that you give. Now, look, most people are messed up. Most people have had poor, you know, bad authority models. Most people have been knocked down and criticize and there's been very few words of genuine affirmation that isn't spoken. They're starving for that. Don't think that you become last by building other people up and making them stronger. So respect, I like to define respect as valuing the differences without having to agree, see, we value people who are like us. But when you think about it, Jane and the people that love being with you. What do they love about Jane? Well, she's sharp, she's creative. She's to the point. She's a driver. She's inspiration. You think of all those wonderful aspects of what makes up Jane. But really, it's a more selfish thing. thing that they like about you, they really like the way they feel about themselves when they're with you. 


Tim Redmond  20:07

So that's what respect is, is valuing those differences without having to agree we're, we're so politicized in the world today is we're either on that side or that side and the other person has been villainized. And there should be locked up in an insane asylum, there are lunatics that are, you know, we make absolute enemies out of other people. And it's kind of like the two islands that are away from, you know, separated from each other by a large body of water, you think, well, there's so much differences between these islands. But really, we forget that they're more connected below the surface, they're actually part of this land body. 


Tim Redmond  20:47

And so they're, you know, we have to focus on the snows, things that that are connecting towards us and valuing those differences. And giving those people even those people against themselves, they're down on themselves. And they're starving for somebody to affirm them. And it doesn't mean you have to agree with them. It's just, man, you know, from walking a mile in your shoes here, I see where you're coming from here's what I hear you saying. And that is super, super, super important in retaining high quality people, is not just the money, it's the recognition is the connection is the the feeling like they're part of something that they're winning, you know, is really important. Is all that makes sense?


Jane Singer  21:38

Yes, it does. And I think that it's an excellent point. And I like the way you framed it, because I think we forget that people, oftentimes, as you're pointing out, just want to be heard, and don't necessarily need you to agree with them or not, you don't necessarily need to be with them 100% on every point, but they want to be heard and they want to be respected for their opinion. So I think these are excellent points.


22:05

Yeah, it's, it's really, really amazing when you can come into your, your work, situation from a place of abundance and contribution. There was somebody that wrote  Dr. Daniel Goleman, he wrote this whole emotional quotient book from way back in 1995 or so. And he wrote another book after that is called Primal leadership. And one of the things he clarified in that book, you said, executives, CEOs, especially tend to under estimate the impact that they have on their workplace. You said that, you know, your, your attitude, your emotional state, your emotional state is how you feel about yourself and the world around you. 


Tim Redmond  22:58

Your emotional state management, they underestimate where they are, and that they come into the workplace down and discouraged or angry or miserable, is almost like a virus that affects that whole company. And conversely, when they come in there, and they're on top of the world are ready to climb the tallest waffle and conquer the the tallest and biggest mountain here, boom, that, that this radiates throughout their company, even if it's a company of two or three people or two or 3000 people. It's amazing how the impact that that CEO or that top leader has on their people. 


Tim Redmond  23:41

And so do the work. You know, don't don't come into your workplace, needy and angry and upset, calm. They're contagiously positive. So you can have that, that positive impact here. And yeah, I'd like to ask this question, Jane, on ask this question here is, if you had a friend that spoke to you the way you speak to yourself, would they still be your friend?


Jane Singer  24:13

Yes, it's interesting. 


Tim Redmond  24:15

One of the things I would want to get real personal here with people is stop putting yourself down for the sake of the people around you for the sake of your customers, for the sake of the supplier. Everybody interacts with you. Give yourself a break. No, be positive about yourself. It's it's really making sure you come in there ready to give and ready to be contagious.


Jane Singer  24:42

I think that's a really great point. I mean, it's something that's not easy to do. But it's part of the responsibility as you're pointing out of people who are in a leadership role, particularly in a senior leadership role.


24:56

Absolutely. I mean, I've had so many, so many Michael Lion's Den, when we get into this, we're like, Are you a life coach helped my business grow? Well, right now you're like a bad apple and your other apples here, right? I don't say that quite direct with some I do. But once they're aware that they do really have an impact on the productivity of their company, and they begin to write that or make corrections on that. And it's like they mysteriously see sales and profits begin to increase. Absentee and turnover tend to go down. And it's, it's not an exact science. 


Tim Redmond  25:41

It's what Peter's saying, he talks about being a complex problem, it's not a simple problem. A simple problem is like, I stayed up all night, partying instead of studying for my exam. And so the result is I flunked my exam. Well, okay, that's a simple, you know, cause and effect. But a complex problem is, there's a number of things that happen that that causes a fact down the road, and it's hard to track back. What what is that? Well, that whole attitude that you have, and the relationship that you have with yourself is very, very important. It's like the golden rule says Love your neighbor, how, as you love yourself, you know. And so, if you, if you have self hatred, somehow, that's going to come out to the other people, and it's not helping you. And you get to hang out with you all the time. Just for one. 


Tim Redmond  26:37

So one common denominator in all your transaction is you're there. And so you might as well begin to love your neighbor as you love yourself. Love. Love really is a currency that helps to grow your business.


Jane Singer  26:52

Well, Tim, you share so many interesting things. I know a lot of people would love to be able to connect with you. And to be able to learn more about what you're doing. Where can people find you? How can they reach out to you?


27:05

Well, we have a website, Redmondgrowth.com . Okay, they can come out there. And I will say this, and if you're a business owner, and you would like to experience what we call our growth plan is a it's a, it's like getting a whole new set of glasses. For your business that we take a look at your business, where you currently are the strengths and weaknesses, the opportunities you have in the market you have. And then we we actually create the whole new business model with you. And I call it the capacity model is powerful. And with this new capacity model, we take a look at your actual we compare. And from that, we create a new three year goal. And then we give you eight to 10 steps that have been proven we've coached over 2000 businesses, that will give you eight to 10 concrete steps to get there with or without us. 


Tim Redmond  28:07

Now we're a we're a do it for you coaching company. So we help you implement those things if you if you want us to help you out. But it's this growth plan is amazing. It usually adds $100,000 profits to a business if you're a relatively small business and millions if you're a larger business, we normally charge $2,500 for this process. And if they write down they talk about your podcasts are how much they love Jane will will waive that $2,500 free. I'd like to be able to give you that growth plan at no cost. 


Jane Singer  28:47

I think that sounds wonderful. And if they


28:50

want to email me directly, it's Tim at Redmond growth. And I'd be glad to answer any questions I've got.


Jane Singer  28:56

Well, that sounds great. And I'm going to put all of your links in the show notes so people will have an easier way to find them. And I just want to thank you again, Tim for joining us here on the seat at the table and for sharing so many valuable insights. 


Jane Singer  29:10

I'd also like to thank our sponsor, Asia net consultants, Asian that's a specialist in recruiting top talent in Asian markets. Since 1988. Asianet has been working in partnership with its global clients to help them make the right strategic hires. They have a well earned reputation for being able to fill even those difficult to fill positions. Learn about how they can help you find the best talent by heading over to their website Asianet consultants.com. That's Asianet consultants.com. I'll also leave a link in the show notes. 


Jane Singer  29:42

Thank you for joining me here on A  Seat at The Table. If you enjoyed this episode or learn something from it, I would love to hear about it. If you'd like to support the show, please hit the subscribe button. And if you can take a minute to leave a review on Apple podcasts or other channels. That would be fabulous. Don't forget to check out Our podcast website, seatpodcast.com. 


Jane Singer  30:07

 If there's something you'd like to share ideas, suggestions or comments, please feel free to reach out. I would love to hear from you. Thank you again for joining me and being part of our international community. I'm Jane singer, and I'll see you in the next podcast Episode.

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