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Quarterly Planning: The Foundation of a Scalable Business

In order to scale your company beyond its current status, it’s imperative to transcend the day-to-day operations and focus on..

The Art of Raising Capital: Scaling Up Your Business the Smart Way

The journey of scaling up your business is an exhilarating yet challenging path that requires more than just a visionary..

Mastering the Four Decisions: The Key to Scaling Up Success

As you scale your business, you must make key decisions in four areas: People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash. Strategy is..

Fostering a Strong Company Culture

Unlocking Profitable Growth: Mastering the Scaling Up Methodology for Enhanced Cash Flow

In today’s dynamic business environment, achieving profitable growth is paramount for sustainability and success. Many companies, however, find themselves struggling..

What Created A High Powered Team

Boost Performance and Growth by Leveraging Agile & Waterfall

Incorporating Agile principles into a Waterfall methodology can offer the best of both worlds, allowing for predictability and flexibility in..

Conquer Fear and Unleash Your “No Fear” Leadership

Fear, often seen as an adversary, can be transformed into a guiding force in leadership, urging caution while offering invaluable..

Focus is the Key to Leadership

One of the most crucial traits a leader needs is effective focus, directing their time and energy towards strategic decision-making..

Belonging vs. Fitting

In a poignant moment, an executive team member revealed how fear of being an outcast led him to suppress his..

Is Accountability Alive and Well in Your Organization?

Is it clear who is accountable for tasks, processes, actions, etc. in your organization?  Is your executive team clear on..

David Chavez on The Jeff Crilley Show

Assured Strategy’s CEO/Founder, David Chavez, was invited to be a guest on The Jeff Crilley Show to discuss all things..

7 Ways Your Football Knowledge Can Increase Your Business Success: Part 7

Part 7 of 7 of this Blog Series by Warren Sager. Read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4,..

7 Ways Your Football Knowledge Can Increase Your Business Success: Part 6

Part 6 of 7 of this Blog Series by Warren Sager. Read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4,..

7 Ways Your Football Knowledge Can Increase Your Business Success: Part 5

Part 5 of 7 of this Blog Series by Warren Sager. Read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4,..

7 Ways Your Football Knowledge Can Increase Your Business Success: Part 4

Part 4 of 7 of this Blog Series by Warren Sager. Read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 5,..

7 Ways Your Football Knowledge Can Increase Your Business Success: Part 3

Part 3 of 7 of this Blog Series by Warren Sager. Read Part 1, Part 2, Part 4, Part 5,..

7 Ways Your Football Knowledge Can Increase Your Business Success: Part 2

Part 2 of 7 of this Blog Series by Warren Sager. Read Part 1, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5,..

By helping professionals make a memorable impression, he built a fast-growing company

Assured Strategy was featured in a ScalingUps.com article by Verne Harnish, the author of Scaling Up. Click the link below..

7 Ways Your Football Knowledge Can Increase Your Business Success: Part 1

Part 1 of 7 of this Blog Series by Warren Sager. Read Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part..

Recruiting is Marketing

If you’re not treating recruiting as one of the top priorities of your business, you’re probably missing out on a..

Executive Productivity: Stress Management

An executive’s ability to manage stress directly impacts their productivity. Executives experience stress and burnout higher than the average worker..

The Impact of Great Leadership on Employee Retention

Many of us have heard the popular saying “People leave managers, not companies… in the end, turnover is mostly a..

How to Get the Most Out of Your BHAG

For the purpose of this article, I’m assuming you already have a BHAG®, a 10-30 year goal. For review, BHAG..

Reward-based Leadership vs Responsibility-based Leadership

Recently I facilitated a leadership training class where we were reviewing Patrick Lencioni’s book, The Motive. The book breaks down..

The Importance of a Delegation Mindset

Often when we think about delegation, we think about technical aspects, like how to communicate clearly what’s expected, or when..

B2B Core Customers Are Individual People

If you have a B2B company, I’d like to challenge you to think differently. When we think “business to business,”..

Accidental Cash Management

How often do you think about cash? If you are like most CEOs and business owners I know, the answer..

Goals Done Right Will Help Growth

In today’s world goals are more important than ever and many leaders struggle with goals. In helping clients set and..

To Grow, You Gotta Know

Company growth does not need to be as complicated as we might think. But, to get the results we want..

The Principles of Operational Effectiveness

Most companies when looking to improve their operations typically seek to implement a tool – 5S, Standard Work, Pull Systems,..

Give Daily Wins

I’ve been noticing that everyone is experiencing more chronic stress right now than they were prior to 2020. Increased stressors..

Personal Accountability

If you want an accountable organization, there is only one place to start – with you – the leader!  Let’s..

Be Accountable By Being At Cause

Cause and effect sound obvious. There’s a cause, and then there’s an effect. Something happens and that causes something else..

Accountability vs Micro-Managing

Recently I had a conversation with a leader who challenged my perception on the difference between employee accountability and micro-managing...

Accountability Helps You Live Up to Your Potential

I think that one of the most important things we can do to help each other stay on track during..

Process Improvement Planning

When it comes to improving operations, companies often jump in with both feet before they have developed a strategic process..

Strategic Thinking Must Include the Brutal Facts

Everyone’s tired of talking about the pandemic, but the fact remains, we’re all still dealing with it. And, there’s a..

Applying Strategic Thinking Skills for Organizational Success

If you Google the term “Strategic Thinking” you get 455 million results in about .64 seconds! There is certainly no..

Core Values Can Hurt You

If you’re like most growth company executives, you know a lot about core values. You know that core values are..

Trust My Employees – What for?

My Boss: “You need to start trusting your employees!” Me: “What for?  They’re continually letting me down!” My Boss: “Unless..

Two Disruptive Patterns

Change them and make employee engagement the norm During a recent Operational GAP Assessment I discovered that our client, like..

Virtual Teams Zoom Through Their Workday

Many businesses are using Zoom to replace face to face meetings right now. We’ve been using Zoom for years and..

Extraordinary Impact from Scaling Up and Leadership Coaching

As a Certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, I have been applying lean operation methods to support companies by helping..

Breaking Patterns to Implement Change

Change is not easy inside of your company. Tools are great but they don’t solve everything. You need people with..

Are Your Paradigms Giving You the Results You Want?

I recently worked with an executive who struggled to feel like an included, equal member of the executive team. She..

Be Bold: Unstoppable Adonis

One of the ways to bring your company’s core values to life is to notice real-world examples of those core..

Know Your Core Customer Needs to Drive Growth Strategy

Defining your Core Customer is critical to your business success as it helps you to create a real growth strategy...

Do You Have the Right Business Partner?

Throughout my career I experienced and witnessed a few great business partnerships, often between a visionary leader and a leader..

Leadership Starts with You

The answer to any leadership challenge starts from within. The difference between a good leader and a great leader lies..

How to Build a Culture of Accountability in 3 Steps?

One of the most common complaints CEO’s have about their company is a “lack of accountability among staff”. Leaders need..

Process GAP: Building from the Bottom Up

As business coaches we are often asked by companies to help assess the process breakdowns in operations (GAP assessment) and..

Identify Strategic Priorities with a 2020 Plan

As a CEO, how does your plan look for 2020? “Pretty good”, many people say. “It’s a work in progress”,..

Have a 20/20 view in 2020

As we approach 2020 and begin to create a vision for the new year, we have to take a clean..

The Life of a “C” Player

As a leader most of us are always trying to live our core values and treat people the way they..

How to Improve Your Employee Retention and Engagement

Companies spend thousands of dollars each year hiring new employees because of voluntary turnover (learn how to prevent employee turnover)...

TRACK AND SCRATCH Activities to Be More Effective at Work

58% of the poll takers stated that they feel overwhelmed at work at least sometimes (The Huffington Post).  It’s easy..

7 Must-Dos to Optimize Your Executive Assistant Support

Whether you are an Executive Assistant or an Executive who has support from this role, leaders know that Executive Assistants..

Mindfully Deciding to Find Joy

I read an article recently that talked about a popular class at Yale called The Science of Well-Being, designed by..

How to Set a Scary but SMART BHAG®

In my last few blogs I have discussed Core Values and Purpose. Now it is time to discuss the third..

Dig Deep to Discover Your Core Purpose

Do you know your company’s “WHY”? If you think it’s about revenue you should dig deeper. Why did you start..

Brand Promise and How to Make a Deal with your Customers

Do you offer a guarantee like this one? They should pay me $5 just for having to read all this..

How to Know When a Team Member Goes Bad

As leaders we hate to quit. Just the thought of “giving up” makes us cringe. It might be the feeling..

Set Core Values for a Frustration-Free Workplace

Core Values are a handful of rules that remain constant over time and manage the behavior inside of your company...

How to Build Clarity Inside of Your Business?

David Chavez, the owner of Assured Strategy, highlights three things that build clarity inside your business. Core Values What are..

Leadership 101: Know Thyself

As a leader one of the foundational aspects of working with others is knowing yourself. Recently I was involved in..

An Executive Retreat Experience: Getting Up-close and Personal with Company Change

When I first joined Assured Strategy, as a new coach I had the opportunity to observe a client retreat.   This..

Workplace Conflict – How to Manage Employee Drama through a New Lense

Is your bottom line affected by workplace conflict and managing employee drama? Harvard Business Review published a RHR study that..

Transparent Processes: How to Hunt Down Systemic Flaws

If you were to map-out processes for your company, you may recognize what is referred to as a “systemic flaw”,..

Vulnerability in Leadership: Drop the Mask

I recently watched a presentation by Brene Brown (author/motivational speaker) where she discusses the myths of vulnerability in leadership. As..

How Decisions at the Top Don’t Always Translate to Line-staff

Time and time again as coaches we run into examples in business where leadership hasn’t communicated the “why” of a..

How do you do Customer Service? Are Your Employees Aware of It?

Although your customer service approach might be in place, all businesses experience failure points. All of them, manufacturing or service,..

The True Cost of Employee Burnout- Do You Have a Culture of Self-Care?

Symptoms of employee burnout costs over 300 Billion dollars per year in health care related expenses. Companies lose 15.4 Million..

QUALITY System – Asset or Expense?

Quality systems are one of the most important aspects of delivering a company’s brand promise to customers, but often it..

Maximize Productivity with the Use of an Executive Assistant

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone into an organization to teach time management skills to leaders and..

Serendipitous Learning: The Benefit of Unplanned and Unexpected

As leaders, we actively learn all the time. Sometimes we learn intentionally and at other times we learn serendipitously. I..

Giving and Receiving Constructive Feedback in the Workplace

As business leaders we often find ourselves in the position to give and receive constructive feedback. Rarely are we taught..

Why is Delegation So Hard?

How your DISC behavior profile may be a factor At a recent leadership training session, the management team brainstormed ways..

Six Fundamentals to Adopt a Coaching Mindset

Often young leaders who are transitioning from a manager mindset to a coaching mindset ask for support on how to..

How to #6 Monitor Change

At the last blog, How to #5 Implement Change, I covered the execution of the Change Management Plan.  Now we..

Five Signs You May Need an Alternative Course of Action

Recently I had a business leader ask me, “When should I listen to my gut instinct and decide on an..

How to #5 Implement Change

Hi I’m back to share my thoughts on Implementation & Training (building awareness) of the Change Management Plan. In my..

How to #4 Manage the Scope of the Change: Planning Organizational Change

Planning organizational change is often undervalued, but it is vital to the change management process.   Whether your improvement project is..

Change Management- How to Break Through Group Inertia

Inertia is the tendency of an object to resist change and stay in its current state of motion.  There are..

Four Tips for Leaders to Embrace the Creative Process

Leaders are often asked to create something new. The pressure we place on ourselves to do it “fast” and “right”..

How to #3 Minimize Resistance to Change at the Workplace

In this segment of my blog series, I have combined two areas that have a natural association. Convincing your team..

Leaders Explore Their Subconscious Mind to Find Hidden Truth

Someone once told me, “A fundamental truth is that life moves towards pleasure and away from pain.” When I see..

How to #2 Get Out of Your Own Way

In the first of my Change Management blog series, How to Deal with “Always Done It This Way”, I asked..

Right People, Right Seats, Doing the Right Things

Do you know what the right seats are for your bus? Do you have the right people in those seats?..

Building Effective Leaders and Teams in the Workplace

I recently re-read the book How Successful People Lead, by John C. Maxwell and The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team,..

How to Improve Employee Emotional Intelligence (EQ)

Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is a catch phrase that is thrown around in leadership circles and generally means you have the..

How to #1 Deal with “Always Done It This Way”

A consistent, persistent, and dangerous theme has resonated throughout my 43 years of directing quality systems and process improvements, it..

What is the difference between a coach, consultant, advisor or mentor?

According to Merriam Webster dictionary, a coach is a private tutor or one who instructs or trains. A consultant is..

Are You Leading a Transactional or a Transformational Leadership Team?

I find the word TEAM one of the most commonly used words in business, yet it is elusively defined. In..

Managing Strategic Change in a Continuously Evolving Landscape

More than 95% of businesses in the United States never grow to $1 million per year in revenue. Of those..

Prevent Turnover in Your Company by Mentoring in the Workplace

When I reflect upon the roles I’ve held in my career and the aspects that gave me the most satisfaction,..

Toxic Co-Workers and How to Handle Them

Have you ever worked with an individual who reminded you of Pigpen from the Charlie Brown series, except instead of..

Why Leaders with Outside Advisors CRUSH their Competition

One of the greatest myths in business is the possibility of succeeding alone. The old saying “No man is an..

There’s No Such Thing As Strategic Planning

As an entrepreneur, you know you should do strategic planning. What you may not know is that most CEO’s don’t..

Q4 Planning: Crush Your Competition in 2019

Q4 planning is one of the most critical processes in defining business strategy. Sometimes as we wind down the year,..

Does Your Business Strategy Separate You from Competitors?

If you’re like many business leaders right now, you’re in the heat of planning for the upcoming year. Hopefully, the..

Where do I start with business strategy?

I say you start with what you know. Don’t make this more complicated than it needs to be. I always..

What’s your Three-Year Highly Achievable Goal or a 3HAG?

As we’ve learned from Jim Collins, great companies have a Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG). This is a ten to..

The Mighty Middle Market Climbers

Middle Market Trends Overall company performance in the middle market has improved significantly according to 72% of middle market organizations..

Accountability Gaps from Process Exceptions

Accountability is not just a goal, but a mindset that every company strives to achieve. Leaders at all levels tend..

Change Management through the lense of DISC

As a leader, have you ever wondered why staff react to change so differently? Ever been curious about change management..

The Behavior Profile: How Understanding Human Behavior Generates Business Results

Few business owners today would question their conscious dedication to the organization they work for. Yet most of them remain..

Are You an Executive Leader or an Executive Assistant?

You recently discovered the effective team management strategies needed to recruit and manage a strong team. Sales expert, Jack Daly,..

Choosing the Right Employee Metrics to Measure Performance

Key performance indicators contribute to encouraging employees and tracking organizational success. Employee metrics result in changing behaviors and building accountability...

Use Your Key Performance Indicators to Help Your Business Strategy

https://youtu.be/WkKm9w6KJPk From a break-even analysis to balanced scorecards, many tools exist to measure company growth and success. Key performance indicators..

Great Leaders Don’t Have to Know All the Answers

True or false: A great leader should have all the answers. Many people believe the myth of the Super-CEO, one..

Best Practices for Developing Your Team’s Core Ideologies

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BuH8mWSWhA How well do you know your organization’s core values and purpose? Unfortunately, many people cannot recite the core ideologies,..

Talk to Their Heart Not to Their Wallet

What do you think motivates your employees to be more efficient and productive? Let me guess; you answered money. While..

Using Break-even Analysis to Improve Business Growth

It’s important not to lose sight of revenue and business spending through cash reserve management. In my experience, I have..

Be Smart about How You Spend Your Company’s Cash

What an amazing feeling to end a year with a great cash reserve, only to end the next in cash..

Your Guide to Recruit, Manage, and Motivate a Strong Team

Resources may be abundant, but when it comes to the right talent for your company, it becomes scarce. The equation..

Your Team’s KPIs Need These Characteristics to Be Effective

While developing key performance indicators for employees, it’s important to keep certain things in mind. You want to create KPIs..

Employee Key Performance Indicators: Identifying the Vital Signs of Your Business

When you stop and take a good look at your company, what are the key performance indicators for employees? When..

Understanding Your Business’s Cash Balance and Cash Flow

People often ignore the subject of cash balance and cash flow until they have to deal with it. There are..

6 Steps for Effective Team Leadership

At Assured Strategy, we believe in creating, implementing, and updating best practices to manage a team. For effective team leadership..

Business Systems Equal Success

Many organizations require business systems to run smoothly. One spring afternoon at Disneyland, I watched people enjoying the Davy Crockett..

Inspiring Your Team: Remind Them Why

You want to inspire your team? Get your leadership team revved up to break through walls? Remind them of why..