Prep Network’s Post

In June of 1998, during our senior year of high school, my parents went to Puerto Vallarta, leaving me to hold down the fort in Chicago. Around that time, my friend Jerry faced some serious issues at home and needed a place to stay. Without hesitation, I welcomed him in. We spent a few weeks sharing my home, navigating the challenges of teenage life together. Fast forward to Ozzfest that year – a weekend we had all been eagerly anticipating. Jerry had promised to drive me to meet the rest of our friends. I put my faith in him, trusting that he would come through. However, on the weekend of the event, he never showed up, leaving me stranded and deeply disappointed. This not only ruined my plans for the weekend but also damaged our friendship. Trust is a fragile thing, and being let down by someone I considered a close friend was a harsh lesson in the importance of reliability and commitment. This experience taught me a few valuable lessons that have resonated throughout my career: Trust but Verify: While it’s essential to trust your colleagues and partners, having a backup plan is crucial. In business, just like in life, contingencies ensure continuity and success. Resilience in the Face of Disappointment: Being let down by Jerry was a tough pill to swallow, but it reinforced the importance of resilience. In the professional world, setbacks are inevitable. What matters is how we bounce back and learn from them. Support Systems Matter: Offering Jerry a place to stay was my way of supporting a friend in need. In business, fostering a supportive and collaborative environment can make a significant difference in team morale and productivity. Commitment to Follow-Through: Jerry’s failure to follow through on his promise highlighted the importance of reliability. In our professional lives, being dependable and honoring commitments builds trust and strengthens relationships. This story from my past serves as a reminder of the importance of trust, resilience, support, and commitment in both personal and professional contexts. Let’s strive to embody these values in our work, ensuring we build strong, reliable, and supportive teams. #LifeLessons #BusinessValues #TrustAndResilience #CommitmentToExcellence

🌟A Personal Journey with Groove Management: 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐎𝐜𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝-𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐄𝐱𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 & 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬 As we look forward to celebrating Groove Management's 10th anniversary in 2024, I'm reminded of my own journey that began with Brian Formato and the Groove team back in the fall of 2016. It all started when Brian attended my workshop on negotiations at Advent Coworking, leading to several fruitful collaborations, and both of us joining a mastermind group organized by Calvin Stovall, one of Groove's clients at the time (and wonderful Monica R. Allen, PhD). Our work in this group paved the way for a closer partnership. In 2021, I embarked on my first executive coaching engagement through Groove Management. It's been an incredible journey, working with world-class leaders and teams. This experience has been challenging, humbling, and rewarding at the same time. 💎 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐞𝐱𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝-𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬 requires a different tone and pace. There's a need for more directness and a quicker approach – something that surprisingly aligns well with my Belarusian roots! 💎 Simon Sinek recently said that 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩 𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐮𝐬. My time with Groove has shown me that investing in your team is crucial. It's not just about saving the team or the numbers; it's about elevating both: 👉 $10𝘬 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘴. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘛𝘪𝘮𝘦-𝘖𝘶𝘵 with your 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦. So, as we begin our 2024 journey, I encourage you to think about how you can do more with your team. And if you're looking for a partner who understands how investing in your team helps you get the numbers you want, look no further than Groove Management. #leadershipdevelopment #executivecoaching

#TBLtheClient On Friday posts, I'm going to dig into WHY we hired our own team to plot a more sustainable path to growth and HOW we're moving it to action. So, let's start with the WHY? The Big Lil is 4.5 years old, which means we're heading into a 5th year of double digit growth. In some ways, that growth has felt really good: ▪ We've been able to deliver on full-time work, with minimal "famine" periods inherent to consulting, for a team of 8. ▪ The quality of our customer base has grown right along with us! ▪ And, as an owner, I do find satisfaction in experiencing the reward of product market fit: the growth is organic and the business model works. But, it has also felt overwhelming: ▪ We've outgrown the systems and processes that got us here and I haven't had time to rebuild them, because of the demands of prospecting and onboarding ▪ The team (rightly so) is asking for more clarity and structure as they lean into this as a career - not just a side hustle ▪ We have learned a lot about who are customer is (and isn't) and what it takes to deliver more strongly for them, which required us to continue adapting the business ▪ And, as an owner, I was beginning to struggle under the weight of it all One of our core values is: "We focus on better not (necessarily) bigger: We believe that quality is more important than quantity, when it comes to building sustainable businesses and nonprofits. We are committed to doing the best work we can, even if it means saying no to projects that are not a good fit for us." And, we all began to realize that it was time for us to take that commitment seriously, for our own work. Many thanks to the incredible TBL team, who continues to lean in this work: Jacqueline Gjurgevich Anne Morgan Béné B. Layla Al-Jamal Judkins, MPA Natalie Place Natalie Walker Sarah Will

🌟 My Midweek Reflections As the week hits its mid-stride, it's a perfect time to pause and reflect on the meaningful connections and financial progress I’m making. So Here's what's keeping me inspired at the moment: 🔍 Engaging with clients, 🌱 Nurturing enduring relationships built on trust and expertise, 📈 Collaborating with my exceptional team to stay ahead and ensure our clients enjoy the best service, and 🤔 Taking a moment to re-evaluate and fine-tune my sales approach In the midst of the week's hustle, i feel spot-on with my tasks. Looking forward to the rest of the week and the opportunities yet to uncover! #MidweekReflections #ClientFocused

Three years ago, Joshua O'Riordan wrote about #creativeteams and the most poignant lessons that have stuck with us at Brightec. Including: ⚖ Finding the middle ground between being utterly passionate and utterly considerate; knowing the right time to learn from others and when to put forward your case. 🌱 Knowing where inspiration comes from to ensure we can deliver new solutions and products for our clients. 😀 Nurturing a culture that encourages security, mutual respect and understanding so that critique can be given, and received well to create great results together. https://lnkd.in/d23YKe2J Here's a recent example of how this looks in our (now much bigger) team... 🤓 Back in June, we had 2 team away days. The first day was led by the brilliant Strengths House, guiding us to look at, review, discuss and learn more about #strengthsfinders and how we work as individuals and as a team. The second day was a more subtle team building day spent lighting fires, building shelters, bbq'ing and participating in 'woodland work'🌳 🌻 Continuing the conversations from that Strengths Day, Nick Holcombe and Bianca have been meeting each week to further their understanding of their personal strengths. This has led them to see where our strengths lie as a team, which strengths we are collectively lower in, and, thus, where we can grow. 👀 Specifically, Nick and Bianca noticed where the 'gap' in strengths might not be supporting our current format of Research and Development days. So they have created a survey for the team to complete, checking their suspicions, gathering ideas and getting a bigger picture of what is and isn't working. 💪 They weren't afraid to say, 'We think we can be doing this better.' I'm really excited to see what comes out of this investigation of our Research and Development Days 🌈

A few words of caution for senior leaders now that summer is here. Employees might take it easy, but your business will not. Metrics still need to be tracked, goals still need to be hit, and questions still need to be answered. Your data and finance teams will be the ones doing this work, so they need to stay sharp. When others take it easy, things get sloppy... - Warning signs of underperforming metrics get missed - Decisions and changes to the business are made without enough data to back them up - Confusion around what the correct values of metrics are And these teams are the ones who suffer. They deal with some fire drills and late nights. Although these things happen year round, they're more deflating in the summer. By the time the fall arrives, they don't feel refreshed like they should. Or worse...they're thinking about quitting. So now that summer is here, check in with those teams. It's important to make sure they're feeling valued and supported.

🌟✈️ Exciting news from 214 Consulting! We’re gearing up for our Summer conference in Arlington, TX, on August 5th and 6th. Check out our latest video for a glimpse of what’s to come. - #businesstravel #irvingtx #214consulting

"A skills-based organization is an organization that moves from a view of static, linear jobs and careers to one that looks at dynamic skills and dynamic work as the nature of both careers and the way that work is organized and managed.” Everyone’s talking about skills-based organizations. But what does the term actually mean? Our own Jeff Schwartz joined LACE Partners and Chris Howard to answer that very question. Check out the link in the comments to catch their full conversation👇

Summer celebrations are here! As an expression of our gratitude for all their hard work and commitment, those at Slice can enjoy Flexible Fridays and longer weekends, all while keeping our offices open for business (‘cuz everything is 100% digital and online). 😉 Happy summer! #summercelebration #4thofJuly #digitalinsurance #insuranceinnovation #insuranceagents #insuranceagent #smallbizinsurance #generalliability

Thrilled to share insights with our incredible COO, Matt Ruport, reflecting on an inspiring journey spanning over two decades at Premier. From humble beginnings as an Operations Assistant to a pivotal role in shaping the company's success, Matt shares a glimpse into his remarkable career. The Journey: Started in 2001 during a period of growth, Matt initially focused on streamlining operations, providing vital support to different departments and learning the ropes of Premier's services. Motivation and Commitment: What kept Matt dedicated for over two decades? It's a dynamic blend of family legacy, admiration for founder and sister Sara's fearless leadership, and an unwavering passion for helping people find meaningful employment. Key Milestones: From Operations to Recruiting in 2001, expanding his impact, and later returning to Operations in 2006 to amplify support—each shift marked a significant chapter in Matt's impressive career. Evolution: Matt's role evolved over the years, contributing to significant growth, navigating change, and gaining invaluable perspectives on success, integrity, and gratitude. Proudest Accomplishments: The most cherished accomplishment? Changing lives. From internal team members to candidates facing challenges, Matt takes pride in every life touched during his tenure. Company Evolution: Premier has constantly adapted to industry changes, evolving strategies, brands, and policies, ensuring a dynamic and challenging work environment. Guiding Principles: "Care and Connection" stand out as Matt's favorite Premier values, emphasizing the importance of genuine concern and meaningful connections in the world of staffing. Memorable Journey: Cold calls turning into success stories, collaborating on strategies that worked, and maintaining excellence in the face of challenges—Matt reflects on a journey filled with memorable milestones. The Future: Eagerly anticipating a future where Premier regains its momentum, Matt envisions continued success through the shared goal of helping others. Life Lessons: Through resilience, adaptability, and personal growth, Matt emphasizes the importance of cherishing the present and embracing the ever-changing nature of life. Join us in celebrating Matt's incredible journey at Premier! #25YearAnniversary #JourneyOfExcellence #PremierTalentPartners