The Business Elevation Show With Chris Cooper - Be More. Achieve More

Markets are changing. It’s not just about price we have online sales, social media for attracting new customers, the challenge of finding innovative ways to build relationships and keep customers and prospects informed, not to mention the demands of complying with legislation, staff training or any of the other things you need to keep on top of in your business. No wonder growing your business can seem like an uphill struggle. According to my guests this is the reality for businesses in the insurance sector. Not much different to all businesses then? I am delighted to welcome Jonathan Davey (Managing Director) and Derek Findlayson (Commercial Strategy, & Proposition Director) for SSP Pure and Keychoice a leading provider of services to help small and medium businesses develop. If you want to know how to develop key performance indicators for your business, use a balanced scorecard and other such proven tools and listen to top tips for growing your business then this is a must listen.

Do you understand how to use Linkedin really effectively? Or are you one of the many people who just try to collect as many connections as possible? My guest on this show Will Kintish never changes his message “There is nothing to beat face-to face networking”. But when you use Linkedin in conjunction with traditional networking it is a powerful cocktail for developing your career and building your business. Strategy for success is visibility and in today’s world it is critical that all ‘serious’ players have an online presence. Of all the social networks Linkedin has to be the best for your career and business. If you own a business you will have a website but Linkedin offers you a company profile to add value to your online marketing and sales effort. Join me with one of the leading exponents and advisors on Linkedin to understand the very best way to use it to achieve exceptional personal and business connections and results.

In today’s fast changing competitive business climate it is the organisations who develop the winning qualities of their people that capture the opportunities created by change and turn them into sustainable success. The qualities of authentic leadership; self motivation, a positive mindset and personal responsibility, are the most highly prized yet least consciously developed aspects of a person’s character. My guest this week is Brian Mayne the creator of life mapping (and goal mapping as per the exceptionally received show in the September 2011 archive) who will help us understand how to determine the blueprint of our potential and those of our people to cultivate the qualities of authentic self-leadership that lead to great results. Brian is an international speaker, who empowers hundreds of thousands of people globally with his unique success systems. Author of four books, he is getting close to achieving his core goal of helping to lift seven million lives with his work.

Are you working to unleash the power of your team or teams? During this show we are will be discussing how to create Fully Integrated Teams (FIT)? Leaders are becoming more than figureheads and bosses, they are team players who spur organizations toward effective change. We will cover the importance of Purpose and the 5 Steps of FIT which can be applied to help individuals and teams transform and create highly successful outcomes and healthy organizational cultures. My guest is Jim Leighton the President of Perdue foods, the third largest poultry company in the United States and author of 'Getting FIT'. Jim draws upon 35 years of extensive business experience and is extremely passionate about sharing how a common purpose, guided by shared principles, and a future promise changes the world for companies and their teams. Do join us for what will be a very insightful listen for anyone interested in integrating teams, business and self development.

Would you like to develop your ability as a great business leader? During this show we will discuss areas such as what good leadership looks like, how to build your leadership style, techniques to lead others and how to build and execute your vision. Marianne Abib-Pech led a highly successful career in Finance and has worked for some of the most admired corporations of the last 20 years. She has been Global CFO for Shell Aviation and Head of Finance and Commercial for EMEA Operation of BHP Billiton Iron Ore division. She is the founder of Leaders!, a global leadership consultancy and think tank operating in Europe and Asia. Marianne was also recently entrusted to write the definitive Financial Times guide on Leadership. Listen in for what I am sure will be a business leadership masterclass to you take your leadership performance to a new level.

Are you finding business and growing it challenging right now? During this show we will be discussing how to overcome the common mistakes that businesses make during recession including the biggest profit robbers in any business and the easiest ways to increase your profits. My guest Mike Ogilvie is an experienced Chartered Accountant by training. He is the major shareholder of Chartered Accountants and Business Advisers OBC The Accountants, however most of his time is focused on his work as one of the UK's leading Profit Coaches, with his company The Profit Team. Not only this he is also an international motivational speaker talking at Conferences and Seminars around the world, typically about adopting a Profit Culture in your business. Do listen in as Mike has some extremely insightful wisdom to impart that has improved the performance of many businesses around the world.

Like to know how to 'Generate Your Wealth Like a Millionaire? During this show we will reveal the three principles of success that can make you very wealthy. However, don't think this is about accumulating wealth at the expense of others. More money can help you add more value to more people in more ways and some of the wealthiest people I know are also the most giving. On this show we have two such people. Dr Meryl Koslow a real estate investor and motivational speaker and co author of 'Self Made Millionaire'. Also, I am delighted to welcome back Dr Ivan Misner the Founder & Chairman of BNI, the world's largest business networking organization. He is a NY Times Bestselling author who has written 16 books and known worldwide as the 'Father of Modern Networking. Join us for what I am sure will be an incredible and potentially highly valuable show.

How can you release creativity and energy in your workplace? One way is through art and organizations such as Hilton Hotels, Mars, Ebay and Microsoft all book my guest to help them do just that. I met Louis Parsons several years ago and was fascinated by his artwork and we struck up an instant rapport. I booked him to run a workshop at one of my events and bought a series of his artworks called 'The Human Story'. The event was fabulous and I was delighted to hear when one of his artworks auctioned for £120,000 for charity! I bought my pictures at the right time! Louis devotes his life to understanding the human spirit in his artwork, writings, talks and the “Art Of SoulScaping” workshops. Collected worldwide he is Artist in Residence for The Four Seasons Kuda Huraa, and Four Seasons London and is on a quest to enable art to express the power and freedom that lives in all of us. Find out more by joining a show designed to unleash your creativity.

To be a great salesperson you must also provide great customer service and great customer service people must know how to bring value to the sales process. In this show, we will explore how to combine sales and service for exceptional business success. A must listen for any sales or service led business or professional. My guests are Joe Adams who is a highly experienced sales expert. Joe has been a top sales professional in the USA, Canada and UK. Including MD of UK and Eire operations for Encyclopedia Britannica for 20 years, a Regional Chairman of the Academy for Chief Executives for 10 years and a successful sales and management consultant and trainer. Derek Williams is one of the leading experts on employee engagement and customer service. Also, founder of The WOW Awards inspiring people to give great service by catching them doing things right. He is author of “WOW! That’s what I call service!” a collection of great customer service stories.

What’s the magic formula that makes some people and some businesses exceptional and others simply good? Simon Hartley, author of ‘How to Shine‘ is a top performance coach and will be joining me for a second time after a highly rated show with Double Commonwealth Champion swimmer Chris Cook. This time, Simon is accompanied by Andy McMenemy. Back in 2006 an incredible world record was set when American runner Dean Karnazes ran 50 marathons in 50 days in 50 cities. In 2011, Andy set off to raise the bar further. He ran 66 ultramarathons in 66 days in 66 cities! This show will cover the key principles outlined from Simon’s research and will be brought to life through the story of Andy’s amazing journey where he overcome great obstacles to achieve his dream. If you want to shine, then do join us to learn the secrets of world class performance while marveling at Andy's incredible journey.

So your working life is ticking along nicely and suddenly life throws you the unexpected. Maybe you lose a loved one, your main customer, get sick. The ability to take stock and bounce back quickly becomes critical for your business and your future. Also, how do you behave if this happens to one of your team? My guest Vinay Parmar tragically lost his Mom on his wedding day to a lethal strain of meningitis. It was the first in a series of curveballs that life was to throw him. Today, inspired by his challenges, Vinay is a sought after inspirational speaker who helps people deal with a sudden change in life and business more effectively so they quickly move forward and turnaround their performance - he calls it “BounceBackAbility”. Vinay published his inspiring and moving story in his book “A Passage To India” (50% of profits go to charity) and his story has been shared on both national TV and newspapers. Join us for a show that will help prepare you for the unexpected.

Is it possible for a person of average intelligence and modest means to ascend to the throne of world class? The answer according to Steve Siebold is YES! During this show we are going to discuss the thought processes, habits and philosophies of the world's greatest performers. Steve is someone I have greatly admired since he helped my speaking skills and have I since watched his career continue to ascend. A former professional athlete and national coach. Today he helps Fortune 500 companies increase sales through mental toughness training. His clients include Johnson & Johnson, Toyota, and Procter & Gamble. He’s written six books on mental toughness with over 200,000 copies in print and appeared on The Today Show, Good Morning America, ABC News and hundreds of other TV shows around the world. As a professional speaker, Steve ranks among the top 1% of income earners worldwide. Join us for what will be an exceptional show that could help you and your business accelerate to new levels.

Henry Ford once said, “Whether you believe you can or you can’t, you’re absolutely right!” As my guest on this show says this is a very simple statement, yet it’s impact is massive. This show is about the changes we all need to make to achieve more of what we want in business and life. My guest is one of the leading personalities in the world of personal development. David Shephard is a specialist and Master Trainer in NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming), Time Line Therapy® and Hypnosis. Having spent several weeks in his company when he certified me as a Master Practitioner of NLP, Time Line Therapy® and Hypnosis I know he is good! Having spent over 30,000 hours training NLP, few people are more qualified on our planet to help us make the changes we may need to make to change our future. Join us for what will be an incredible show with fascinating ideas and exercises to help you achieve more of what you want in 2013 and beyond.

Great leadership is a key ingredient for business and organizational success. However, what are its key constituents and how can you improve your own leadership skills? My guest Neil Laughton is the CEO and Founder of 'The Business Leadership Academy'. He served in the Royal Marines and Special Air Service Regiment (21 SAS) before founding a group of construction companies. He grew the organisation to £40m turnover and then sold it to Balfour Beatty Plc. A recipient of the Ness Award for “Inspirational leadership” from the Royal Geographical Society, Neil leads adventurous expeditions all over the world. He has climbed the highest mountain on each continent including Mt. Everest and skied to the Geographic North and South Poles. He has made twelve first ascents in Greenland, circumnavigated the UK on a jet-ski and piloted the world’s first road legal bio-fuelled flying car across the Sahara Desert. Join us and build your leadership skills by acting upon the wisdom from this show.

Do you want more media coverage for your business? Or want to know how to best get your message across through media? During this show we will be discussing how to attract media interest and the key do’s and don’ts of communicating via newspapers, magazines, websites, radio and on TV. My guest for this show is media and presentation coach, broadcast journalist and award winning international speaker Michael Dodd. Michael speaks and trains across six continents helping leaders and other professionals to get their message across - through the media and face to face. He runs master classes boosting communications skills for diplomats from UK Trade and Investment in British embassies, consulates and high commissions around the world. He also works with frontline United Nations officials to help them convey the right messages when being interviewed in the world’s trouble spots. Join us for a fascinating and content rich show that could make a world of difference to your business results.

Does this resonate with you? Work is such a critical part of our life and yet we often struggle with - and feel overwhelmed by - the numerous challenges it presents us. Whether it's job insecurity, making peace with or leaving an unfulfilling job, or dealing with office conflicts, we often experience fear and a sense of groundlessness just at a time when we want to be our most creative and resilient. This quote is from my guest Michael Carroll's fascinating book 'Fearless at Work' which I found excellent reading. Drawing on Buddhist philosophy Michael Carroll is a long time human resources executive, meditation teacher and executive coach. During this show we will discuss some really engaging and inspiring principles that can help us to be naturally more brave, resourceful and resilient at work. Do join us for what I know will be a very content rich and performance at work enhancing show.

Do you know what you must do to put on your own great event or conference? Get it right and you and your brand will shine out. Get it wrong and you can fail spectacularly in front of lots of people. Or perhaps, you do put on a great event, however, there were few people there to enjoy it!. Our guest Paul Cook is a leading International Strategic Advisor to the events industry. He also event on both UK and global events industry bodies. During this show we will share the do’s and do nots of putting on events and discuss a checklist of the key factors that you must consider to put on your own great event. Do join us if you have an interest in events or share this show with anyone who could benefit from its wisdom. It could save or make you a lot of revenue and remember reputations have been both made and lost at events.

What is culture and why is it so important to business performance? How do we create a great culture? So often when a business fails, has a PR disaster or gets into trouble during merger or acquisition it is put down to cultural failure. At worst, you see headlines such as 'the culture was rotten to the core!'. Great businesses build great cultures that deliver and attract great results. Fail to do so today and your failings can soon be plastered all over the internet and media. Not only this, to do business well we also need to understand and be sensitive to the cultures of different countries too. A number of years ago, I became certified to use a great set of cultural diagnostics tools created by the Values Centre. On this show, I am delighted to welcome two guests - Martin Palethorpe who is a leading business cultural consultant and Phil Clothier CEO of the Values Centre to discuss how you can understand and create an exceptional culture in your business.

Are you using social media effectively to connect to customers? With ever increasing bandwidth, audio and video has created richer ways to deepen the engagement with online customers. This show will explore how you can sell effectively to the new generation of online buyers and the importance of aligning your content and online technology to your sales and marketing strategy. My guest Frank Furness works across 52 countries motivating and engaging audiences around sales, technology, social media and goal setting. He has 72 websites marketing products, has clients that include the British Olympic team and a You Tube channel watched by millions. Join us for what will be an exceptionally informative show that will help you to improve your client connection with the help of the social media revolution.

Are you a thought leader? Would you like to stand out from the crowd and become a Thought Leader in your field? According to my guest 'In the past, it has been hard to identify the qualities that distinguish true innovators from the rest of the pack'. However, it is possible to break down the key components into a systematic approach. During this show we will discover the 4 key attributes of REAL Though Leaders, how to become a master of BOLD thought leadership in order to add greater value while seeing your profile and income skyrocket. Mindy Gibbins-Klein is an International Speaker & Executive Coach specializing in turning experts into thought leaders and published authors. She is Founder & CEO of The Book Midwife® and Anoma Press, a cooperative publishing house for business authors. Having authored and co-authored 6 books herself she has a list of over 500 published clients. Listen to this show and find out how you could also become a REAL Thought Leader in your field.