{"id":42099,"date":"2018-06-12T04:45:31","date_gmt":"2018-06-12T09:45:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michaelhyatt.com\/?p=42099"},"modified":"2018-06-12T04:45:31","modified_gmt":"2018-06-12T09:45:31","slug":"investigative-leadership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/investigative-leadership\/","title":{"rendered":"Investigative Leadership"},"content":{"rendered":"

Eight years ago, Craig Ross achieved a career milestone. He became the majority owner, CEO, and president of Verus Global<\/a>, a leadership development organization based in Littleton, Colorado. There was no time to celebrate because of declining profits and growth.\u00a0\u201cFor the first time in my career, I was asking questions I\u2019d never asked,\u201d Ross says. \u201c[I wondered], \u2018Am I capable of leading a successful company?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

In retrospect, Ross acknowledges that that question, along with similar ones (What am I doing wrong? Why isn\u2019t the plan working? What skills don\u2019t I have that our founder demonstrated?) weren\u2019t just unproductive\u2014they were also destructive, borne of feelings of inadequacy and rooted in Ross\u2019s tendency to compare himself and his personal leadership style with that of the company\u2019s founder.<\/p>\n

It was during a conversation with his mother that Ross\u2019s perspective changed. \u201cI began to ask, \u2018How can I get better at being true to myself and my leadership?\u2019\u201d Ross says. \u201cIt caused me to step back and more clearly identify my purpose, vision, and motivations. From this clarity, my leadership actions evolved.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not only did Ross\u2019s approach to leading Versus Global shift, so did the company\u2019s fate. Ross says that the company has \u201cgrown in ways that were unimaginable at that time.\u201d Ross is more prepared than ever to navigate challenges\u2014now that he knows the right questions to ask.<\/p>\n

Questionable success<\/h3>\n

Slowing sales isn\u2019t the only precursor to a paradigm shift. Gemma Bonham-Carter<\/a> had already achieved profitability as a blogger and blogging coach with a suite of successful products. But a reliance on launch-cycle revenue meant that when she wasn\u2019t actively selling to her audience, she wasn\u2019t making any money at all. \u201cI would either be doing an intense, high-stress launch of one of my products\u2014which was time-consuming even though it produced successful results,\u201d she says. \u201cBut I would then go into a lull where I would be list-building but not actively making sales.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The problem? When evaluating her income strategy, Bonham-Carter was asking the wrong question: \u201cWhat's the next product I can launch?\u201d<\/p>\n

The question that ultimately led to the breakthrough she needed was, “How can I automate the sales process so that I can make regular, consistent sales without having to constantly be actively launching?\u201d<\/p>\n

“After asking that question, I created video content and email sequences to use in a sales funnel that allowed me to build trust with my potential customer,\u201d Bonham-Carter explains. \u201cThis has meant I can be hands-off with the launch and can instead focus my energy on providing the most high-quality program for my students. I have been able to scale this automated sequence using Facebook and Instagram ads, and I now generate more revenue month-over-month than was ever possible with the live launch strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking for answers in all the wrong places<\/h3>\n

Sometimes even asking the right questions isn\u2019t enough to achieve leadership breakthroughs. According to Ally Compeau, founder of Woof Signs<\/a>, an online provider of customized signage. \u201cAs opposed to asking the wrong questions, I actually feel like I was asking the wrong people,\u201d she explains. \u201cI was doing competitor research, speaking to others in the industry, and trying to get a sense of what was popular in the market and how consumers were currently engaging in the market. I needed to ask the right questions to the right people\u2014who ultimately turned out to be the end customer.\u201d<\/p>\n

To differentiate her new business by succinctly addressing customer pain points, Compeau began to interview each of her potential customers. After asking questions like \u201cHave you purchased a sign before?\u201d; \u201cFor your ideal sign, what would you pay?\u201d; and \u201cHow would you like to be able to buy?\u201d, Compeau was able to distinguish important data that could then be integrated into the Woof Signs marketing strategy.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cThe breakthrough I achieved was identifying where customers were not satisfied with the industry and how I could capture that dissatisfaction and turn it into satisfaction with my approach,\u201d Compeau says. \u201cIt helped me to innovate within an industry based on the end customer rather than based on what is already out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ellie Thompson agrees on the importance of customer-focused questions. The Washington, DC-based money coach notes that, despite her extensive finance knowledge and past experience helping others achieve financial freedom, she still had many clients who weren\u2019t taking the necessary steps to improve their relationships with money.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was infuriating, feeling like you know the solution, yet for some reason, others aren't willing to make that solution possible,\u201d Thompson says. And simply turning to her clients to help her uncover the source of her business difficulties wasn\u2019t enough. She also had to ask the right questions of the right people.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is when I realized I was asking the wrong questions,\u201d Thompson says. \u201cInstead of asking, \u2018Why aren't you saving up for retirement?\u2019 I needed to be starting with the emotional side of things\u2014such as, \u2018How are you feeling about your money?\u2019, \u2018Are you overwhelmed?\u2019, \u2018Are you unsure?\u2019, \u2018Do you feel stuck?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Ultimately, that shift lead to a breakthrough in Thompson\u2019s business. \u201cI totally changed my process,\u201d she says. \u201cI asked the emotions up front and put the logical next. Now, I am receiving client after client who wants to feel free with their finances.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eight years ago, Craig Ross achieved a career milestone. He became the majority owner, CEO, and president of Verus Global, a leadership development organization based in Littleton, Colorado. There was no time to celebrate because of declining profits and growth.\u00a0\u201cFor the first time in my career, I was asking questions I\u2019d never asked,\u201d Ross says. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":42113,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[382,33,38,227,373,39,469],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nInvestigative Leadership | Full Focus<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/investigative-leadership\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Investigative Leadership | Full Focus\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Eight years ago, Craig Ross achieved a career milestone. He became the majority owner, CEO, and president of Verus Global, a leadership development organization based in Littleton, Colorado. There was no time to celebrate because of declining profits and growth.\u00a0\u201cFor the first time in my career, I was asking questions I\u2019d never asked,\u201d Ross says. 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