Videos

The Thriving Entrepreneur on LinkedIn Live

Rachelle Leerling and I broadcast every Thursday at 1630 CET / 1030 EST on topics that challenge founders.  No fortune cookie wisdom,  top lists, or things that everyone must do.

You can also listen to the audio on The Thriving Entrepreneur podcast.

Insights from Experience

These insights are taken from working with founders and entrepreneurs, and my work in small businesses.

Questions and ways to think about leading a business you started, while building a team and growing.

As the leader of your business, often people aren’t honest with you. Yes-nodding might be part of your everyday business life. Or, they are not completely open about how they feel. The people around you have their reasons for not speaking up. Their feedback on your leadership, or your ways of working, might be detrimental to their job. Yet, a business can only grow from learnings and new ways of thinking. The people on the job can sense things you cannot. And more views can lead to breakthroughs in processes, products, customer journeys, or simply the day-to-day company culture. So it’s time to open up to alternative views and see the benefits of more pairs of eyes on your business… On Thursday, the Thriving Entrepreneur’s 15 Minutes will be about “How entrepreneurs can encourage criticism and alternative views”. What we will discuss: - The difference between clear leadership and my-way-or-the-high-way - How to know if you are keeping criticism and alternative views under the rug - How to ask for feedback and criticism from your team - How to create a safe space and a culture of progressive feedback - What to change about your attitude and behavior in order to let feedback in - How your company can benefit from new views and new ways 🎙️ Want to check out our previous conversations? Go to “The Thriving Entrepreneur” by David Foster & Rachelle Leerling on any big podcast channel, like Apple Podcast and Spotify. More about us and how we support entrepreneurs & founders: David Foster | www.davidafoster.com | www.linkedin.com/in/-davidfoster Rachelle Leerling | www.growtribute.com | www.linkedin.com/in/rachelleleerling
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Behind every great entrepreneur stands a great partner. Yet, sometimes, the passion, the long days, and the intensity is misunderstood by him or her. Or, accidentally, we turn our intimate conversations into business talk… And in some cases, we lose our partner out of sight - as the business has become too important. Unfortunately, too often our partner’s influence on our success is taken for granted. So how do you include your partner in your ambitions? How do you make sure to keep investing in your relationship while being busy? And how do you make sure your partner understands and supports your entrepreneurial journey? What we will discuss: - how to have hard conversations with your partners about your ambitions - how to ask for support - how to make sure you are present with your partner after work - how to keep your relationship a relationship, not a business advisory - how to become a better entrepreneur thanks to your partner
YouTube Video UExZZEgyLUxmQXRxaUlwaWxVcHE2ZFQ0cVdKWGFiamZCWS4yODlGNEE0NkRGMEEzMEQy
Are the problems in your business rooted in being overwhelmed? How can you tell? What do you have to decide or how do you make sure that you’re not becoming overwhelmed and justifying it? We know the benefits of being on top of our game: if you are not continually overwhelmed, the work you do, the unexpected challenges and bumps in the road will be less of a challenge. You’ll make better decisions, more quickly and make better progress. But how do you get there? Or, maybe better put, how do you keep from getting overwhelmed every day? More about us and how we support entrepreneurs & founders: David Foster | www.davidafoster.com | www.linkedin.com/in/-davidfoster Rachelle Leerling | www.growtribute.com | www.linkedin.com/in/rachelleleerling
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What are the long-term effects of being overwhelmed as an entrepreneur? Is your to-do list really just a litany of the things that you should, but didn’t do? Do you approach or react to what your business needs from you with a sense of dread, fear, or anxiety? What happens over time when you spend your day shuttling between a series of urgent alarms and fires? This is a the first of a two-part topic on being overwhelmed as a founder or entrepreneur. This week, we discuss why overwhelm damages and limits your business (not to mention your health). We talk about the ideas around overwhelm and how to ask yourself questions that help you identify overwhelm and differentiate it from doing difficult things. More about us and how we support entrepreneurs & founders: David Foster | www.davidafoster.com | www.linkedin.com/in/-davidfoster Rachelle Leerling | www.growtribute.com | www.linkedin.com/in/rachelleleerling
YouTube Video UExZZEgyLUxmQXRxaUlwaWxVcHE2ZFQ0cVdKWGFiamZCWS41MjE1MkI0OTQ2QzJGNzNG
“A good plan executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week.” General Patton. As a founder/entrepreneur, you have more options than someone with a “regular job.” You can address your challenges in ways that aren’t limited by corporate structure. But that leads to having unlimited options (or feeling like it, anyway). And unlimited options can paralyze us. Sound familiar? We can get stuck: “Do I really have all the necessary information to make this decision? Will I find THE THING I need in the next webpage, in my next conversation, after my next walk? What about . . . . I think I need to know more before I act.“ The truth: sometimes we do need to know more. But sometimes we need to act. The trick is figuring out when. A bias towards action is helpful because delay can cost you dearly, but rash judgement and uninformed behavior is just as costly. Find your balance between the two, think clearly, critically, and swiftly. Make a habit of stepping back, breathing, and then making your best call - combined with ruthless self-honesty and finding sources of blunt feedback will help you find the balance you need. More about us and how we support entrepreneurs & founders: David Foster | www.davidafoster.com | www.linkedin.com/in/-davidfoster Rachelle Leerling | www.growtribute.com | www.linkedin.com/in/rachelleleerling
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How do you know where your business is headed? Does the day-to-day demand determine your path? How do you know where to head? Well, you have a mission statement. Right there on the website, with a bold headline and crafted prose. But really, what does a mission statement do? How important is it? Rachelle and David take on this very topic this Thursday (courtesy of Jack Bradley’s question). Last week we talked about how an entrepreneur can communicate vision in everyday actions, and in a bit of a backwards direction, this week we are talking about how important the mission statement really is. - Who is the mission statement for? - How can an entrepreneur craft and use a mission statement? - How does that mission statement inform your priorities and what your employees do? What is your experience with mission statements? Do you use one? Did you once? More about us and how we support entrepreneurs & founders: David Foster | www.davidafoster.com | www.linkedin.com/in/-davidfoster Rachelle Leerling | www.growtribute.com | www.linkedin.com/in/rachelleleerling
YouTube Video UExZZEgyLUxmQXRxaUlwaWxVcHE2ZFQ0cVdKWGFiamZCWS4xMkVGQjNCMUM1N0RFNEUx
Do you sometimes wonder whether the people you work with understand what you’ve laid out as a vision for the business you started? Does what you see and hear day to day reflect what your business is all about? Many founders and entrepreneurs have similar concerns and questions. People are working, but sometimes the direction of that work isn’t heading in the same direction. Fair questions to ask: Why would the people who work with you understand the vision you have for the business you started? Thursday Rachelle and I ask how a founder can communicate his or her vision through everyday actions, and why communicating that way is often much more important than a page on the website or what you say during onboarding a new employee. - What is the “experience of you”? - Is there a difference between what your vision is and what employees understand? - What can you look for in your own business to understand what’s happening with this? We stick to 15 minutes on LinkedIn so you can get valuable insights quickly. No fluff. No fortune cookie wisdom. What do you do in your business to communicate the vision you have? More about us and how we support entrepreneurs & founders: David Foster | www.davidafoster.com | www.linkedin.com/in/-davidfoster Rachelle Leerling | www.growtribute.com | www.linkedin.com/in/rachelleleerling
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To succeed as a new leader, you need to think more about the people around you, how they work, why they work, and how you can achieve more by thinking of those things. More free content for leaders of small businesses, especially those who started them: https://davidafoster.com #leadership, #business, #founder, #startup, #leadershipdevelopment, #executivecoaching, #startupfounders, #startupcommunity, #leadershipcoaching
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What is the best way to make a decision or how do we guide our behavior as leaders? Often we look for a rule, but if we always consider the consequences of what we do, we end up making more successful decisions in leadership. More free content available on my website: https://davidafoster.com #executivecoaching #startupfounders #startupcommunity #leadershipcoaching
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For most of us, the answer to this is "no" - we need to learn and acquire new skills to deal with future challenges in our businesses. Starting and leading a business are two different sets of skills, They are related, and build on each other, but we need to learn how to lead after we successfully launch. More free content for leaders of small businesses, especially those who started them: https://davidafoster.com #leadership, #business, #founder, #startup, #leadershipdevelopment, #executivecoaching, #startupfounders, #startupcommunity, #leadershipcoaching
YouTube Video UExZZEgyLUxmQXRxajY0c0VWZ0tzUU5iTU8tM052dE1rUi4yODlGNEE0NkRGMEEzMEQy
A lot of people ask how to get things done in business. Looking at your leadership in terms of having authority vs. merely having power can lead to some big improvements. More free content for leaders of small businesses, especially those who started them: https://davidafoster.com #leadership, #business, #founder, #startup, #leadershipdevelopment, #executivecoaching, #startupfounders, #startupcommunity, #leadershipcoaching
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What is is like for us to work together? What is Stewardship in coaching and why does it matter? More free content for leaders of small businesses, especially those who started them: https://davidafoster.com #leadership, #business, #founder, #startup, #leadershipdevelopment, #executivecoaching, #startupfounders, #startupcommunity, #leadershipcoaching
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Rest is a part of work, not the opposite.
YouTube Video UExZZEgyLUxmQXRxajY0c0VWZ0tzUU5iTU8tM052dE1rUi4xMkVGQjNCMUM1N0RFNEUx
YouTube Video UExZZEgyLUxmQXRxajY0c0VWZ0tzUU5iTU8tM052dE1rUi41MzJCQjBCNDIyRkJDN0VD
When a business grows from startup to established, the team grows, and communication often shifts from efficient and direct to more formal. Enter "corporate lingo" that pads presentations and so often obscures the message which your business and team needs. Resist the temptation of "corporate lingo" and be as simple and clear as possible. #leadership #leadershipcoaching #leadershipskills #smallbusinessowners #smallbusiness #startup #communication
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