Kyle Okimoto’s Post

I spent the weekend building a framework to help companies define their True North, and here’s what I think. In-person, I tell business leaders that your True North represents a grandiose, almost unreachable ideal that, in the state of being almost impossible to achieve, means you will always have an ambition to work towards. But the truth is, at least from the many CEOs I’ve spoken to, most companies don’t have one. Or they think they do, but it’s nothing more than a hollow set of values designed to look good on the website. Or worse, they mistake their North Star for their True North. The former for me is the practical translation of an abstraction into specific, bold goals that direct the company’s daily actions and long-term strategy. The North Star turns the lofty, aspirational ideals of the True North into a practical roadmap that steers the company toward meaningful, purpose-driven growth. One cannot exist without the other. *** Your True North should scare you just a little. If it doesn’t feel like something you’ll never fully achieve, then you’re doing it wrong. I say this because I’ve seen a lot of companies playing it safe with their True North, setting watered-down, easy-to-achieve goals disguised as purpose. They slap the word “innovation” or “integrity” or “AI” on their walls without ever asking the hard questions: What do we actually stand for? And more importantly, what do we refuse to compromise on — especially when no one’s watching? Your True North should never play by the rules. Rather, it breaks them when the status quo is dragging you down. It is about standing for something so incredibly audacious that it makes you insanely uncomfortable. You know deep down that this ideal will always push you further than any quarterly target or market share goal ever could — without ever reaching those parameters of success. *** Today, too many companies are navigating without a proper True North, running on autopilot, making decisions based on what’s easy, not what’s right. And then they wonder why their brands feel stale, why their teams are disengaged, why they face public backlash, why they’re forced to carry apologies on their website, and why their customers stop trusting the work they do. Manifesting your True North is your antidote to mediocrity and having the guts to set targets that you’ll never quite reach but will forever chase. Have a great rest of the week.

Few family businesses make it past the 2nd, let alone 3rd generation. I’ve had the pleasure of working with a private, family-held business in the 5th generation led by a humble leader. While there are many contributing factors to high growth and success, having a leader who to listens, learns, is vulnerable and leads with humility is a huge one. The leader was married to the founding family, which gave him a deep sense of stewardship for the business, the family’s legacy, and the families and communities the company supported. When I first started working with them, the business was on the chopping block. It was all hands on deck, a ‘bet your career’ situation. He’s just taken over from another family member, which created a very awkward situation, to say the least. Additionally, there was little trust between the employees and management. After engaging me to help create a radical strategic plan, he and his leadership team went to all company locations and factories, communicated the changed direction, the risks, and their willingness to take on those risks personally, and invited all employees to come to them with their comments, insights, and feedback, without fear of repercussions. They reinforced this message by walking the plant floors, talking to employees, asking them questions, asking for feedback, and iterating the open-door invitation. It didn’t take as long as we thought for trust to be rebuilt. The leadership team’s diligent attention to culture, trust, and the well-being and lives of employees was authentic and tangible. He defined success when he’d run into an employee at the grocery store who was excited to tell him about a new truck or addition to the house or he’d drive past a new school, park, or playground paid by tax dollars from the company and its employees. During my time working with them, they grew threefold, from a few hundred million to over $1 billion. This growth was both organic and acquisitive, which required even more diligence in the culture, and we know how hard that is. Despite the challenges of growth, the leader remained focused on their employees, communities, and the company’s legacy rather than personal recognition. By prioritizing these, and yes, a few other things, he demonstrated that sustainable and profitable growth is achievable when driven by values and a sense of stewardship and responsibility. He will always be my role model of humble stewardship.

Playing baseball without each position covered would be described as crazy. While this is possible to attempt within business, I would not recommend it. From playing baseball through college and working in wealth management, the most important lesson I've learned is focusing on playing one specific position and relying on teammates to do what is outside of it. It takes a team to accomplish greatness. It has been 6 months since my business went live at NewEdge Advisors and could not be happier. As I was deciding on where to move my business last year, I did due diligence on a dozen firms but ultimately chose NewEdge for multiple reasons. One of those was the ability to run an independent advisory practice but not have to do everything independently trying to play way too many positions. These pictures are from the National Partner Conference last month which brought together the advisory teams, home office staff and strategic partners whether that be asset managers, advisor tech solutions or otherwise. I wanted to recognize a few people who have helped make this transition a win because of their work behind the scenes to put me in the best position to drive success within my business. The NewEdge Advisors team led by Alex Goss, CFP®, Neil Turner and Jeff Cutler understand the importance of each player being in the right position. They have built out the infrastructure with different specialized support teams for our independent advisory firms so as advisors we can best utilize our time to work with clients. Thank you for your leadership! I can’t thank the entire home office staff enough. From marketing, to compliance, the investment team and operations, you have all played a critical role in such a substantial shift in my world as well as my clients. The spark to all of this was David Symecko who was the first person I spoke with at NewEdge last year. Instead of pitching why NewEdge was right for me, he asked what I was looking for and both quickly came to realize we shared common ground on what we believe a firm should look like. When values align, it makes partnership easy to form. I enjoyed the conversations over those two days with various strategic partners which led to more in depth conversations since then. A special thanks to Julian Lane, Sean O., Drew Kehnast, CFA, and Patrick McStay for your commitment to supporting my firm! If you are thinking about going independent while at a captive firm, I know there are many questions to ponder. Feel free to reach out as I am happy to share from my experience. #wealthmanagement #financialplanning

Ever feel like you’re juggling a dozen roles at once and no one gave you the playbook? That’s a daily reality for many of us in small business ownership. I had a chat recently with a fellow business owner who felt overwhelmed by the endless stream of decisions—healthcare options, investment strategies, raw material choices, paint colors, payroll processing, you name it. I totally understand where she’s coming from. Every day, we’re wearing multiple hats—CFO, CEO, CMO, CHRO and more—handling everything ourselves. Unlike larger companies with defined roles, we’re deep in the trenches, figuring things out as we go. Here’s what I’ve learned: there’s rarely a single “right” answer. It’s not like a high school math test with one solution if you study hard enough. So, how do we navigate this maze? For me, it starts with knowing yourself. Your core values, mission, and passions should guide your decisions. At Two Frays we have a clear mission of Something for Everyone that helped to guide us in our decision making and what to prioritize. We started by making great beer, then expanded to include something for everyone - cider and seltzer from local partners and most recently non-alcoholic options made in our brewery. This way, we stay true to our mission and support local vendors, all while growing sustainably. Here is how you can think about navigating your daily complexity: 1️⃣ Know Your Company Focus: Understand your core values, mission, and passions. Let these guide your decisions. 2️⃣ Understand Your Business: Assess what’s practical and affordable. Focus on sustainability. At Two Frays, we started with our core product—beer—and gradually expanded our offerings, including non-alcoholic options, while supporting local vendors. 3️⃣ Think Long-Term: Consider the impacts of your decisions on both the short and long term—financially, in terms of time commitment, and on your team. 4️⃣ Avoid Comparisons: Every business is unique. Focus on what’s right for your situation rather than comparing yourself to others. How do you manage the complexities of small business ownership? You can lift up other women by sharing your strategies and experiences below! 👇 #SmallBusiness #EntrepreneurLife #BusinessJourney #Leadership #TwoFrays #SustainableGrowth #WomenInBusiness #PittsburghBusiness #PittsburghWomen #WomenEntrepreneurs #PittsburghEntrepreneurs Join our Newsletter! https://lnkd.in/ef_PHf3f

How to make the big leap? I recently completed the Big Leap by Gay Hendricks as part of the book club I attend. The book revolves around overcoming personal hidden fears and elevating life to the next level. So, how can we apply Hendricks' thinking to business and to elevate it to the next level? Hendricks describes four different zones: 1️⃣ Zone of Incompetence: Activities you're not good at - things to avoid or delegate. 2️⃣ Zone of Competence: Tasks where you're competent, but others can do them just as well, and they aren't fulfilling. 3️⃣ Zone of Excellence: What you do extremely well. It's easy to get too comfortable here, not maximizing your potential. While reliable, staying here long-term can lead to stagnation. 4️⃣ Zone of Genius: Where you thrive and feel satisfied. It involves activities uniquely destined for you, utilizing your special gifts and strengths. Stepping out of the more comfortable zones offers an opportunity to realize your full potential. 💡In which zone is your business operating? Consider various business activities, working methods, processes, products, services, decision-making, etc., and reflect on these three questions: ❌ What should you stop doing that isn't fulfilling? ✅ What should you continue doing and even do more of? 🌟 What could you actually be doing, leveraging your special gifts and strengths? I believe innovation could be the key to making the leap and reaching your potential, but it requires the courage to embrace discomfort. However, the first step is to understand your business challenges and opportunities. If you'd like to explore or discuss these questions further, don't hesitate to reach out to me. ☕ #innovation #innovationstrategy #innovationconsultant #bigleap #isvakstockholm

I had an epiphany today... Early stage thinking = acting without thinking much first. Scaling stage thinking = thinking much more deeply before acting. What do I mean by this? In the early days of your brand when you wear every hat, the winning formula is action. Getting started and getting things done is the most important thing to optimize for. However, this can get you in trouble when you start scaling. Scaling is all about building systems and processes that get the work done without your involvement. So once you're in scaling mode, before taking action on completing a task, you should stop and think about whether or not you should. Should someone else in the company complete that task? Should the task be completed at all, or should it be eliminated? So if you're in the early stages of getting your brand off the ground, get working and cross to do's off your list! But if you're in the midst of scaling, stop and ask yourself: 1. Should I be doing this task? 1. If not, should it be delegated, eliminated or automated? --- If you found this post helpful, click on my name, Jon Blair, and give me a follow.   You can also follow my Fractional CFO firm - Free to Grow CFO   P.S. –   If you're a brand founder who is scaling or wants to scale, consider joining my Free to Grow CFO weekly newsletter.   I write an email to hundreds of growth-minded founders just like you every Tuesday that provides actionable tips for scaling your DTC brand alongside healthy profit, cash flow and personal confidence.   You can sign up by using the link in the comments below. #dtcbrands #scaleyourbusiness #founders

During our recent #Vistage meeting, Andy Gehman revealed his strategy for crafting a meaningful life, not just a successful business. As #CentralPA CEOs and business owners, we're adept at planning for our companies. But what about planning our lives, especially post-business? A 'good life' varies for each of us. It requires the same dedication and clarity we give to our businesses. Are we equally investing in designing our futures? What does your ideal life look like after exiting your business? #LeadershipDevelopment #BusinessStrategy #LifePlanning

Introducing the New Growth Lab. For many years, we have been developing new ways to create a better future for our clients. But the sea is constantly changing. Therefore, we know that we also need to evolve ourselves in order to continue being ourselves. It's a new world. So why not start something extraordinary? In 2024, our company will transform into a laboratory for new growth - a pioneering environment dedicated to entrepreneurial, technological, personal and social change, with an even greater focus on developing scenarios, creative ideas - and people. To this end, we have found a new approach for companies that helps businesses and people adapt to an ever-changing world. Our clients are agents of change who believe in strategy, empathy and creativity as tools to improve the future. And in this next phase, we will continue to work with our new, unique program to develop strategies, corporate visions, consumer and employer brands that enable new growth for these clients - while looking for new ways to share our work with our community. We are helping to build an economy that works for all by creating sustainable, highly resilient businesses around the world for a better shared future - through heart-winning brands, innovative products and services, and an effective, human-centred mindset. We nurture a culture that is passionate about people. We are different. We are the New Growth Lab. We hope you will join us on this exciting new journey.

Every family business will experience ups and downs. Great family leaders learn to identify the issues and get them resolved before it's too late. Here's how to identify the 4 stages of a family business and its employees to keep you on track for success: https://lnkd.in/gJGa-NS