4.18.13 - 4DX Webinar

 

 

Most of us have formulated our important strategic initiatives for 2013.  Now comes the hard part where you ask yourself, “How exactly am I going to execute those strategies with excellence?”  

Lead author of the #1 National Best-selling book, The4 Disciplines of Execution, Chris McChesney will lead an inspiring webinar how this proven process can drive behavior change in your organization and help you achieve your Wildly Important Goals.  

The 4 Disciplines of Execution (4DX) is a simple, repeatable, and proven formula for executing on your most important strategic priorities in the midst of the whirlwind.  Click here to watch a short 4DX introductory video with Chris.

By installing our 4DXManager’s Certification Process, leaders can produce breakthroughresults, even when executing the strategy requires a significant change in behavior from their teams.  4DX is not theory.  It is a proven set of practices that have been tested and refined by hundreds of organizations and thousands of teams over many years.  When a company or an individual adheres to these disciplines, they achieve superb results--regardless of the goal.  4DX represents a new way of thinking and working that is essential to thriving in today's competitive climate.

 Title:     Overview of The 4 Disciplines of Execution

Date:     Thursday, April 18, 2013
Time:    12:00 PM - 1:00 PM EDT

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

System Requirements

PC-based attendees
Required: Windows® 7, Vista, XP or 2003 Server

Mac®-based attendees

Required: Mac OS® X 10.6 or newer

 

Mobile attendees
Required: iPhone®, iPad®, Android™ phone or Android tablet

Space is limited.

Reserve your Webinar seat now at: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/700475641

For more information, please contact us at 214-387-9960.

4DX Keynote 5.07.13

Back by popular demand, Chris McChesney, FranklinCovey’s Global Execution Practice Leader and best-selling author of The 4Disciplines of Execution, is coming to DFW (Embassy Suites - Frisco) for an Execution Keynote with area leaders on the morning of May 7^th.

Executing a strategy that requires a change in human behavior is probably THE biggest challenge a leader will face.  FranklinCovey has developed a proven leadership process known as 4DX, designed to help leaders execute behaviorchange strategy.  After 10 years of helping over a thousand intact teams execute key strategic goals, this process has now become a best-selling book and is the fastest growing practice at FranklinCovey today.

Make sure you don’t miss this keynote event as we expect it to sell out!  Click on the links below to learn more about The 4 Disciplines of Execution.

4DX Overview Videowith Chris McChesney

INTROTO THE BOOK

 

Clickhere to download your PDF invitation.

Call 214-387-9960 to register or inquire further.

Learn more about our results online: www.the4disciplinesofexecution.com

Creating a Culture of Execution 3.19.13 - Dallas

 

 

Click here to download a PDF invitation.

Contact us at 214-387-9960 to register now.  Limited seats available.

 

Creating a Culture of Execution 1.17.13 Tulsa

 

Click here to download a PDF invitation.  RSVP Required.

Click here to learn more about this proven leadership process.

Creating a Culture of Execution 1.16.13 Dallas

 

Click here to download a PDF invitation.  RSVP Required.

 

Click here to learn more about this proven leadership process

 

 

The Power of Small Wins

Last week I attended two sessions with approximately 240 leaders between DFW and OK on the topic of our newest best-seller, The 4 Disciplines of Execution.  Our global Execution Practice Leader and the main contributing author, Chris McChesney, delivered a great keynote.

One thing that stood out to me and many of our guests was the thought that increasing Employee Engagement can be accomplished by giving your front line contributors a “winnable game.”  Chris explained that the “day job” (aka: Whirlwind) will never be beaten.  You can give the whirlwind 40 hours, 50 hours or more and even your weekends, and it will take all you can give it and not really give you anything in return.

But, in addition to the whirlwind, if leaders will give employees ONE THING related to behavior change strategy to focus on each week, you can engage employees like never before.  Chris also quoted an  article from HBR in May 2011 titled, The Power of Small Wins by Teresa M. Amabile and Steven J. Kramer, “Of all the things that can boost emotions, motivation, and perceptions during a workday, the single most important is making progress in meaningful work.”  Read the fullarticle here.

“If you are a manager, the progress principle holds clear implications for where to focus your efforts. It suggests that you have more influence than you may realize over employees’ well-being, motivation, and creative output. Knowing what serves to catalyze and nourish progress—and what does the opposite—turns out to be the key to effectively managing people and their work.”

 

For more details on executing strategy, consider picking up a copy of The 4 Disciplines of Execution.  You’ll be glad you did!

Creating wins for organizations one team at a time,

John Vakidis

 

Let’s connect on LinkedIn!

 

Creating a Culture of Execution 11.29.12 Dallas

Click here to download a PDF invitation

RSVP Required

The 4 Disciplines of Execution Book Tour

 

Download your invitation for Frisco, TX on October 2nd

 

 

Download your invitation for Oklahoma City, OK on October 3rd.

As of today’s post, these events are almost full and only 2 weeks away!  Follow this link to download an introduction to our newest best seller, The 4 Disciplines of Execution, by Chris McChesney, Sean Covet and Jim Huling.

If you are a leader located in the DFW or Oklahoma, make sure you and your peers don’t miss this event.  This will be our biggest and best event of 2012!  Contact me to register today!

Let FranklinCovey become your competitive advantage in 2013 and beyond!

John Vakidis

A Time to Celebrate

 

Well, one year after creating this site, we have had over 13,000 page views.  I’d like to take a moment to thank our readers and some of our guest contributors: Mark Murphy, Haydn Shaw and ToddWangsgard.

Based on the activity by our audience, below are some of the more popular posts from the last 12 months:

• The 5 Stages of Performance Improvement
• FranklinCovey’s Next Best Seller - 4DX
• Networking and Trust
• Attitude is Everything

 Also, make sure to check out the Blog Archive on the right side of the page.  There were a few months that were dedicated to a particular subject like the month of Nov 2011: Sales Effectiveness 101, 102, 103 & 104 and June 2012: The 5 Choices to Extraordinary Productivity. 

 Over the last 12 months, we have posted every Friday without missing a week.  Over the next 12 months, expect to see a different format.  Posts will be a mix of articles with a variety of sources for our content and when we post will be a less frequent, but always relevant.  To make sure you don’t miss a post, sign up to become a follower or subscribe via email.

 If you see an article related to Leadership, Personal Effectiveness, or anything you think is relevant to FranklinCovey, and you would like us to elaborate on, send me an email for consideration.

 Lastly, I want to connect with YOU!  Connect with me on LinkedIn.  If you would like to learn more about partnering with FranklinCovey, let’s set up a 15-minute introductory call.  Fill out a request on our online appointment book on the right side of this page.

Once again, thanks for following our regional blog. 

 Sincerely,

John Vakidis

Solving the Execution Challenge

A little over a decade ago, our CEO, Bob Whitman, was meeting with his executive coach, Ram Charan.  They had a conversation that went something like this…

Bob: “Ram, what do you think is the next big thing for FranklinCovey?” 

Ram: “Bob, the biggest challenge of the 21^st century is no doubt going to be execution!  If FranklinCovey can boil execution down to a few basic principles like you did for 7 Habits with individual effectiveness, you’ll hit the mark.”

So after a ton of money and research, we confirmed what Ram had to say.  Over the last decade by working with nearly a thousand implementations, our Global Execution Practice Leader and his consultant team has perfected a management process for executing strategy, known as, The 4 Disciplines of Execution. 

Clickhere to watch a 16-minute introductory video narrated by Chris McChesney.

Chris not only leads our Execution Practice across the world, but he also is a best-selling author.  His new book, The 4 Disciplines of Execution is flying off shelves.  It has become a best-seller with the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and has received a ton of praise in the business community. 

Downloadan introduction to the book here.

If you have never heard Chris speak on the subject of Strategic Goal Execution, you’re missing out.  Chris is probably one of the most knowledgeable people on the planet on the subject and he is a funny and dynamic speaker.  You can go purchase Chris’s book at the book store for $28 or you can join other leaders in your area for one of his book tour-keynote events this year ($29 each for groups of 5 or more / $49 for individuals).

 

If you would be interested in letting FranklinCovey help you solve your execution challenge, let’s talk!  We are helping organizations achieve amazing results like these and I am 100% CONFIDENT we can enable your organization to execute bettwe and increase your employee engagement through the process.

Giving organizations the competitive advantage,

John Vakidis

Unleashing Talent

Employee engagement is one of the most common topics that I hear among leaders.  Getting employees engaged really depends on HOW you lead, build trust and execute as a company.  You can take a high performer and put them in an un-winnable environment and watch the engagement get sucked right out of them over a period of time.  Or, your top performer will quit and go somewhere else… like your competitor!

Unleashing Talent relies on leaders to be able to engage in meaningful conversations that enable their team members to contribute their talent to the organization’s needs.  Leaders need to create a clear picture of how team members will add value.  They need a process for consistent goal achievement.  Leaders and directs must be held accountable towards achieving individual and team goals.

Once a leader can unleash the talent of their workforce, they can achieve greatness and everyone will feel engaged on the team.  Just for fun, below is a video of a highly engaged employee.  I hope it makes your day.   

If you would like more information about partnering with FranklinCovey to help you increase employee engagement, contact me via email or request a meeting on the top right side of this page.  We have a variety of way we can impact your organizations productivity, execution and engagement.

In your corner,

John Vakidis

Execution 101

If Strategic Goal Execution was only as easy as the diagram above!  Michael Mink with Investors.com recently wrote an article titled, Execute Company Objectives By Nurturing Accountability.  The author quotes Sean Covey, Chris McChesney and Jim Huling from their new book The 4 Disciplines of Execution: Make Your Most Wildly Important Goals Happen.  Their book will be released in just a few short weeks!

Michael goes on to write about tips every leader should consider: Prioritize, Act, Fuel the Fire, Create Accountability, Evaluate, Enable, Energize.

At FranklinCovey, we have boiled down execution into 4 key steps that we like to call, The 4 Disciplines. 

They are:

·         Focus on the Wildly Important

·         Act on the Lead Measures

·         Keep a Compelling Scoreboard

·         Create a Cadence of Accountability

Once organizations “install” The 4 Disciplines of Execution through our Manager’s Certification Process, they typically outperform the initial goals set in place.  Goals that have never been achieved can be achieved in months.  This transformation happens, simply because organizations are now able to get their middle performers to behave like their top performers.  In many cases, it is a 4X improvement, which has a dramatic impact towards the bottom line!

Watch this video below and allow Chris McChesney, our Global Execution Practice Leader, to provide you with more information.

 

Be sure to follow me on Twitter so you’ll know when the book is released.  I am positive it will be one of the best-selling business books this year!

All the best!

John Vakidis

Sales Effectiveness 102 - Disciplined Work Style

In last week’s post we explored four key factors that determine a salesperson’s success and I elaborated on point number 1: intrinsic motivation.  This week we will dive into point #2: a disciplined work style.

The Greek philosopher, Plato, once said, “The first and best victory is to conquer self."  This quote is fairly profound.  Notice some of the words Plato carefully chose to use.  “First and best victory” implies that having discipline should be top-of-mind and doing so in itself is a great accomplishment.  He also mentions that we are “to conquer self.”  Receiving discipline is one thing.  Having it radiate from within as “self-discipline” is a unique characteristic.

In sales, we make lots of choices like which clients to call on, which activities to prioritize, how to handle a customer service issue and so on.  It takes a (self-) disciplined work style to be truly effective.  To be effective, it means that you were able to produce the expected result.  When a sales leader hires a new rep, they expect them to be effective … make their quota, etc.  If a sales person is not achieving expected results, then they are not effective and need to look inward to determine what it is they are lacking.  Is it motivation, self-discipline or something else?

Discipline in sales can be found in a variety of areas.  For example, it can be found in adhering to the sales methodology that the company believes in.  It can be found in the choices that we make to be productive.  It can be seen in adherence to company policies or even something as simple as turning in your expense reports on time.  Regardless of where it shows up, it is usually a consistent behavior of top performers.  Most people that choose to be disciplined are consistent with this habit in almost all areas of their lives.  And for those that choose not to be disciplined, it is usually evident to all.

To wrap it up, I’m going to quote business philosopher, Jim Rohn, “Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.”  Start building your bridge of discipline one brick (choice) at a time.  Before you know it, you’ll find it easier to get to your destination each and every time.

Until next week,

John Vakidis
Associate Client Partner | FranklinCovey
214.387.9960 | john.vakidis@franklincovey.com

Improving the Healthcare Industry

I recently posted a blog titled, “Moving the Middle.”  I spoke about how FranklinCovey’s 4 Disciplines of Execution Process can help your average performers behave and execute more like your top performers.  We have used this methodology to help organizations significantly improve their execution capabilities in almost every major industry. 

I am excited to announce that we have used this process to help organizations in HEALTHCARE.  Improving in this area has a dramatic impact on people… and their families. 



When we work with most healthcare organizations, we typically see leaders trying to improve in one of 3 specific areas:

·         Satisfaction (Patient Sat Scores, Employee Engagement, Employee Retention)

·         Financial (Top-line revenue,  Resource Allocation, Cost Savings)               

·         Operational (Efficiencies, Speed of Service)

Healthcare organizations around the country are using The 4 Disciplines of Execution to close gaps in each of these three areas.  Click here to download a PDF of actual client results.

If you would like to learn more, consider watching the 17-minute video to introduce our 4D process and a few client video case studies.  I think you will find that their results are quite impressive and impactful… for the organization itself and their patients.  Follow this link now.

Watch the video for improving guest satisfaction now.

For more information about institutionalizing our 4D process in your healthcare organization, please contact me today. 

Until next week,

John Vakidis

Moving the Middle

At FranklinCovey, we have worked with thousands of organizations in almost every major industry for over 20 years.  We’ve seen organizations struggle with a variety of challenges.  Executing strategic goals is probably THE biggest challenge we’ve seen leaders face over the last decade and I don’t anticipate that changing anytime soon.

Our Execution Practice has helped our clients obtain breakthrough results in a variety of industries including: manufacturing, healthcare, government, not-for-profit, pharmaceutical, hospitals and many more.  We have also utilized our Manager’s Certification Process to help multi-unit operators do what we call, "Move the Middle.”

Every organization, good and great, has pockets of great performance.  What typically sets these organizations apart is the degree of variability.  In an average organization, a typical bell curve might include data something like this:

·         20% of Great Performers (on the right)

·         20% of Low Performers (on the left)

·         60% of average performers (in the middle)

What if you could increase sales, improve operations, etc. for the average performers by 25%?  Take a moment to do the math for your organization.  For most companies, this change would have a HUGE financial impact on their bottom line. 

In order for leaders to have this type of dramatic shift on the bell curve (right and tight), it usually takes a substantial change in human behavior.  We all know that changing ourselves is difficult enough, but changing behavior for a huge pocket of your organization is even more difficult and for most leaders, it's perplexing.

With our 4 Disciplines of Execution Methodology, we can help multi-unit operators “move the middle” to achieve some pretty amazing results.  To learn more, take a moment to watch this video below, narrated by Chris McChesney, FranklinCovey’s 4 Disciplines Practice Leader.

 

Do you want to learn more about our 4D process?  Please contact me to set up a meeting with your FranklinCovey Client Partner or to attend one of our upcoming executive presentations on this topic.

Until next time,

John Vakidis