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Contrarian Leadership for a Culture of Success [Episode 27]

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How can a CEO turn contrarian convictions into business success?

Listen on-the-go to our conversation with Colin Day, Founder and CEO of iCIMS, a leader in the talent-acquisition software-as-a-service (SaaS) industry, who has used a “path less taken” approach to lead his company into the top tier of his industry.

Founded in 1999, iCIMS has been receiving numerous recognitions and top awards for customer service, innovation, and growth from prestigious global organizations. Colin Day himself has been twice rated one of the top-five forward-thinking innovators in Fast Company Magazine’s Fast Fifty Readers’ Challenge, and in 2007 was named Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year in the Information Technology Software category.

We discuss:

  • How well-considered contrarianism shaped iCIMS’ point of distinction in a crowded marketplace
  • The most important aspect of leading a culture that supports a successful contrarian business approach
  • Three fundamental keys to gaining commitment to a contrarian strategy and culture for success

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What Does It Take To Lead a Growth Company? [Episode 22]

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What does it take to lead a company to award-winning growth?

Read Growth Igniters Radio Episode 22 Transcript Listen to our conversation with Shari Spiro, CEO and Founder of Ad Magic and Breaking Games, one of the largest and most successful independent printers in the US of tabletop games, including the wildly popular Cards Against Humanity, and other customized playing cards and board games.

In May 2015, Ad Magic was honored by the Association for Corporate Growth NJ (ACG NJ)  with a Corporate Growth Award at the association’s 2015 Corporate Growth Conference and Awards event. Ad Magic was also recognized as #4 in the Women President’s Organization List of 50 Fastest Growing Women Owned or Led Businesses in 2015.

In this episode, we discuss:

  • Shari Spiro’s journey from new entrepreneur to building her company into a world leader in its segment
  • Three keys to building a winning growth strategy
  • Three ideas you can immediately use for supercharging your own company’s growth engine

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What Can You Do To Stay Entrepreneurial as Your Company Grows? [Episode 21]

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Are you wondering how to keep the “entrepreneurial fire” going as your company grows larger?

Successfully transforming from an entrepreneurial business to a middle market company, and on to a large company is a leadership challenge often filled with “growing pains.” How can you add people, processes, and systems that can keep you even more responsive and innovative than when your company was a smaller entrepreneurial business?

This week we’re sharing a few of the most critical lessons we’ve learned on this issue from our own consulting experiences and from CEOs who have successfully made this transformation.

We discuss:

  • The #1 secret for keeping your organization on the entrepreneurial track as you grow
  • The most often overlooked and/or underestimated aspects of culture that impact staying entrepreneurial
  • Three steps to overcome “growing pains” and stay responsive and innovative

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CEO Lessons Learned From a Successful Company Reinvention [Episode 18]

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How did one CEO dramatically reinvent a company, resulting in a multi-billion dollar deal?

Listen now to our conversation with Dr. Francois Nader, M.D., MBA, who was the CEO and President of NPS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from 2008 to 2015. He tells the remarkable story of his company’s reinvention, resulting in its acquisition by Shire Pharmaceuticals in January 2015 for $5.2 billion.

We discuss:

  • The anatomy of the crisis that resulted in the wholesale reinvention of NPS
  • How Dr. Nader and his leadership team won stakeholder support for the reinvention
  • Two actionable steps you can take to accelerate reinvention, big or small, in your own company

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The Secrets of Building Successful Niches [Episode 9]

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How can you find new ways to increase your company’s growth?

We discuss this evergreen challenge with Linda Hollander, “The Wealthy Bag Lady,” a highly successful serial entrepreneur (see bio below). In our conversation, we explore how Linda has identified and developed a succession of niche markets that have led her to increasing levels of business success.

We discuss:

  • Linda’s transition from “starving artist” to successful serial entrepreneur
  • How Linda identified a series of niche needs and developed successive business offerings to serve them
  • Tips on how business leaders of any size company can stay alert to emerging niche opportunities and profit from them.

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