August 24th, Steve Heroux is speaking with Jay Holstine's CEO peer group

Steve Heroux will be speaking with our CEO peer group in an engaging workshop that will provide actionable items, solid takeaways, and effective strategies to start implementing in their business right away. They’ll learn: Three specific motivation styles that inspire salespeople to achieve excellence. Why having quotas is antiquated and will decrease sales results. Compensation & incentive plans to drive higher performance. How detaching from outcomes will lead to massive amounts of success. The four factors inside our Sales DNA responsible for our success or failure in sales. How to consistently find, recruit, hire, and retain top-level sales talent. Exactly how to get people to change by revealing the true cost of inaction. Experienced CEO, Coach, and Mentor, Jay Holstine An accomplished business leader, Jay Holstine serves as a Vistage Chair and CEO Peer Group advisor in Dallas, Texas. As a growth-oriented CEO, Jay brings pragmatic methods and incisive analysis to help CEOs improve their work-life balance, and transition from working-in-the business ,to working-on-the-business more effectively. A deep experience in operations, along with a foundation in consulting, and years of growing companies, is what enables Jay to coach management teams on successful business scaling. Jay wanted to build a Legacy of amazing people that can positively Impact our communities. An executive peer group is high performing, not an empty seat in the room, high trust in the room, where everyone pulls together with pooled perspectives and shared wisdom to help each other become better leaders, and more successful!

Michael Allosso brings improve to Jay Holstine's CEO peer group

Rather than offering a "band-aid" checklist for making an individual speak better, Allosso offers concrete suggestions and exercises designed to modify behavior and help the participant always be "you on your best day." Key issues include: appropriateness and method for demonstrating passion and energy generating enthusiasm, clarity, and persuasiveness while staying true to self charisma - can it be learned? team-leading and building the power of the spoken word and when not to speak tone of voice and body movement relaxation and concentration speed, agility, risk-taking, thinking "outside the box" Participants will be on their feet speaking and doing various exercises including those done by actors, re-structured to maximize relevance in the business world. All will receive immediate feedback so, by the end of the presentation, they will have a new set of tools to make each meeting, planned or spontaneous, with a group or one-on-one, more successful. Morale-boosting and team-building for heightened productivity will be emphasized. Participants will give each other feedback and, in turn, will receive feedback from Allosso regarding their style/delivery/tone. VISTAGE WORLDWIDE CHAIR, CEO PEER GROUP ADVISOR JAY HOLSTINE Building and empowering a high-achieving CEO Peer group that produces more effective leaders is Jay Holstine’s passion. Jay manages the CEO Peer group issue resolution sessions that surface root causes, pooled perspectives and shared wisdom. Jay Holstine currently serves as chair and CEO peer group advisor at Vistage Worldwide in Dallas, Texas. The CEO Peer group contains approximately 18 members from non-competing businesses that support each other to become better leaders. In addition to chairing the group’s monthly meetings, Jay provides each member with one-to-one sessions to discuss issues, opportunities and business strategy.

Jay Holstine asks Melanie Shaffer to speak with his CEO peer group

The need to be a step ahead of the pack with a compelling talent strategy has never been more essential. The talent game has changed, and new tools and strategies must be developed and deployed to inspire teams and individuals to execute on their most important work. Melanie Shaffer, President of Talent Suite, provides talent strategy and retention practices that are practical, low-cost, and immediately actionable to make a positive impact on the bottom line. Practical takeaways using your organization's behavioral data: Why people are capable of far more than we think. How your leaders can identify and hire talent based on fit to current role and future potential. What is needed to build and develop agile, high performing teams. How to develop your people and teams so they can flex and adapt to change. VISTAGE WORLDWIDE CEO PEER GROUP ADVISOR, JAY HOLSTINE Jay Holstine is a CEO Peer Group advisor in Dallas, Texas. His passion is building businesses. After growing a software company for 12 years, uncovering new markets, and ultimately selling it, Jay Holstine wanted to develop leaders, enable them make better decisions, and grow their companies. Jay wanted to build a legacy of high-performing leaders who are improving their communities. In an executive peer group, there is a shared wisdom (from successes, as well as mis-steps,) that helps you re-think accepted practices and habits, in order to forge new paths of success. Jay likes working with people who are also on a mission to create and build the best company, environment, and mindset that they can…. To make a difference in our community. In addition to this work, he functions as a managing director of Compass Advisory Consultants. In this position, he provides analytically-driven, profit-focused business advisory services to early-stage companies.

Michael Allosso will be speaking with Jay Holstine's CEO group on March 23rd

Interesting Michael Allosso videos: https://www.michaelallosso.com/35secretweapons.html In a presentation that highlights active, hands-on participation, Michael Allosso compares the preparation, performance, and role of an actor with that of the corporate executive. Through their participation, business people reach a more vital and dynamic awareness of the excellence needed not only for presentations, but also in the communications in every moment of every day. Rather than offering a "band-aid" checklist for making an individual speak better, Allosso offers concrete suggestions and exercises designed to modify behavior and help the participant always be "you on your best day." Key issues include: appropriateness and method for demonstrating passion and energy generating enthusiasm, clarity, and persuasiveness while staying true to self charisma - can it be learned? team-leading and building the power of the spoken word and when not to speak tone of voice and body movement relaxation and concentration speed, agility, risk-taking, thinking "outside the box" Participants will be on their feet speaking and doing various exercises including those done by actors, re-structured to maximize relevance in the business world. All will receive immediate feedback so, by the end of the presentation, they will have a new set of tools to make each meeting, planned or spontaneous, with a group or one-on-one, more successful. Morale-boosting and team-building for heightened productivity will be emphasized. Participants will give each other feedback and, in turn, will receive feedback from Allosso regarding their style/delivery/tone. EXPERIENCED CEO, COACH, AND MENTOR, JAY HOLSTINE An accomplished business leader, Jay Holstine serves as a Vistage Chair and CEO Peer Group advisor in Dallas, Texas. As a growth-oriented CEO, Jay brings pragmatic methods and incisive analysis to help CEOs improve their work-life balance, and transition from working-in-the business ,to working-on-the-business more effectively. A deep experience in operations, along with a foundation in consulting, and years of growing companies, is what enables Jay to coach management teams on successful business scaling. Jay wanted to build a Legacy of amazing people that can positively Impact our communities. An executive peer group is high performing, not an empty seat in the room, high trust in the room, where everyone pulls together with pooled perspectives and shared wisdom to help each other become better leaders, and more successful!

Successful Business Teams: Jay Holstine workshop

“What does it take to build a great team? Our discussion is enriched by 16 different leadership perspectives,” Jay Holstine said, as he moderates a CEO peer group dedicated to raising their businesses to new levels of productivity and efficiency. “Whether it’s: more defined rules of engagement, the attributes of a great teammate, or new strategies to build accountability… the interplay of ideas is crucial to finding solutions that fit each CEO’s company,” Holstine added. “I realized that having a team that working well together was as crucial as an excellent product, when I was running my process improvement software company, and employing experts in several countries,” Holstine said. Today’s group of CEOs are sharing research, practical experience, and ideas in identifying ways to help teams and companies work more effectively and successfully. Accountability and Clarity: “One of our leaders shared an experience in which employees in a satellite office perceived that others had not followed through on the plan; yet the expectations had not been clearly articulated, were not mutually understood, and were not measurable. This drove home the importance of clearly articulated measures of accountability, to make sure that everyone’s expectations are in line,” Holstine shared. “Another CEO relayed the importance of credibility and respect. The bottom line is that you need to have consistent application of fair standards in order to build an environment where the project team trusts that everyone is supporting each other and working for the same goal,” Holstine noted. “Critical conclusions included: Teams should have a support structure to enable frank discussion of solution options. Innovation comes from teams that are able to share different perspectives on problem-solving. With some guidelines and guardrails, a healthy disagreement can bring new levels of solutions. Structured Interaction, at a team event outside of work, helps team members see the less obvious strengths and authenticity of their team members. Understanding each other’s growth goals, or hurdles they’ve overcome, builds empathy. This shared experience helps build each other’s trust, respect and loyalty. Help your team understand each other. Build in a group meal, and personal sharing exercises, to highlight team members’ personal strengths and communication styles. The DiSC assessment test helps a team learn about their own disposition, and their colleagues’ preferences. By discussing motivators, work styles and communication habits, you can bridge misunderstandings and build trust. - The Finish Line: An inspiring and compelling goal focuses a team on success. Behavior is most likely to adapt when changes are a matter of survival. Necessity of project success is one of the most effective ways to build trust and involvement. A successful team is focused on a purpose, with an organized timeline and set of responsibilities, deliverables and rewards. This emphasizes the value of the team’s success and its importance to the company. “People are motivated by being a strong part of an important team. After a lot of shared strategies based on experience and research, the group agreed that these points are critical in keeping a team on the same page and working smart,” Holstine noted. “These types of concerns are one of the areas of leadership that this group regularly confers on,” Holstine said. "The Vistage CEO peer group enables a shared wisdom based on experience so that trusted leaders, from non-competing industries, can continue to grow their teams’ skills and capabilities.”

How to maximize Team Cohesion with Dispersed Workforce

Running a software company internationally, and employing experts in various countries, Jay Holstine became very familiar with scheduling conferences in coordination with various time zones. “Our learning curve was gradual, as our team grew steadily over 12 years, but we realized it was critical to communicate effectively and work well together,” he said. Today Jay Holstine is moderating a Dallas CEO peer group discussion on how best to keep their internationally dispersed teams on the same page, and working together successfully. “While our geographically flexible work environment enables teams to span continents, and deliver faster results, it requires even more effective collaboration and better communication to keep a team working together really well. Here are some of the concerns and strategies we discussed,” Holstine shared. 1. CLEAR OBJECTIVES: The project should have a compelling purpose, with an organized timeline and set of roles, responsibilities, and deliverables. There should be clear rewards, as well as an understanding of how the potential lack of this team’s success could affect the company. This emphasizes the value of the team’s success and its importance to the company. In today’s geographically diverse locations, team members from dissimilar backgrounds could have different understandings of the group’s goals. If they are too vague, one location could interpret the priority as: High quality, regardless of cost,’ while another location could interpret speed of delivery over quality and cost. 2. CLEAR LINES: “Eyes on the Prize” Along with defined guidelines and processes, teams need a focus that is kept on the objective, and rules that promote positive collaboration, and reduce destructive tendencies. A balanced mixture of technical skills and cultural understanding is in the diversity in knowledge, languages, and perspectives, that help teams succeed in various markets, and countries with different infrastructures and economies from the home headquarters. You can guard against the potential downside of a large, diverse team becoming fragmented by carefully considering the necessity when adding members and assignments. Reinforce the communication of the team’s goals, and closely monitor performance feedback to maintain alignment. Remember what really motivates people, inclusion in something important, engagement. For example, overseas teams that only receive feedback when something doesn’t work, are not going to feel as involved in a well-functioning team. If you can organize the work to integrate this part of the team more fully in the overall work, it can increase their sense of involvement and the quality of their efforts. Leadership that sets clear expectations – such as, being at meetings on time, actively listening to feedback, and basic rules for respect and fairness, are critical when team members operate across different national, or organizational cultures. In teams whose membership changes, it’s even more important to emphasize these expectations. 3. PART OF AN IMPORTANT TEAM Variations in culture and time-zone can be reduced if team members get to know each other and appreciate the things they have in common with their distantly-located team members. Without being in the same room, some of the non-verbal communication and contextual cues are lost, making it even harder for team members to feel understood. If teams are not able to meet together for a shared meal or meeting, they can organize meetings that enable them to understand each other better. For example, highlighting several things about each team member that the group can relate to, on a positive, human basis. Emphasizing commonalities, (shared sports, types of pets, background skills, similar places visited,) can bridge enormous distances. What makes us human is more important than the cultural idiosyncrasies or current events that can divide us. Being part of a team that needs a successful outcome is an important step in fostering a supportive team culture. Ensure that each group of the team feels known and valued for its contributions toward the goals. 4. GOOD SUPPORT – In addition to a fair and attainable reward system that reinforces good performance, team members need the data to support their work, as well as training, and technical assistance. For teams that are geographically distributed, it is even more important to ensure resources that enable success. 5. TEAM SUCCESS Measure and monitor your team’s effectiveness based on: Results, output, the quality and timeliness of your team’s results, and on your team’s success in working well together. Ask your team members to help identify opportunities for improvement. Help ensure that, regardless of distance, individual team members are able to grow their skills and abilities. Across the distance, always ensure that your project maintains emphasis on its clear goals and rewards. Maintain the strength of accountability, professional conduct and clear expectations. Reinforce the availability of reliable Support and Training. Emphasize the shared Team mindset and common goals of success. “After a lot of shared lessons-learned, the group agreed that these strategies are critical in keeping a team on the same page and working smart,” Holstine noted. “This kinds of concerns are one of the areas of leadership that this group regularly confers on,” Holstine said. The Vistage CEO peer group enables a shared wisdom based on experience so that trusted leaders, from non-competing industries, can continue to grow their teams’ skills and capabilities,” Holstine said.

How to inspire effective change management: Jay Holstine workshop

You can devote time and budgets to changing strategy and processes, but in order to sustain the new plan, how do you get leaders, employees, and customers to actually change behaviors? Strategies for inspiring effective, lasting change were discussed in Jay Holstine’s Dallas CEO peer group, and the discussion delivered some strong solutions. “Our group of trusted leaders, from non-competing industries, bring perspectives from various industries, while sharing the common experience from years in organizational leadership. We tackle a lot of compelling challenges, and arrive at solutions that come from hard experiences, and are often incisive and new,” Holstine said. 1. Concentrate the effort, Don’t Dilute it. -- One company posted 7 core competencies and 9 objectives for employees to practice. The result: Nothing changed. When you have too many priorities, nothing is an actual priority. Multi-tasking fragments the focus. Concentrate the efforts on one behavior to change at a time. Then build a logical Sequence of more modifications. 2. Clarify Effective goals are concrete and measurable. Telling a team to “work faster” is vague and not measurable. Asking them to increase production by 10%, by 4pm, is concrete and measurable. "Listen actively" is vague and not measurable. Asking them to "listen and restate what was said to confirm understanding" is concrete and measurable. 3. A picture’s worth a thousand words. - A plant manager wanted to drive home the need for changes in the manufacturing process. When scrap and returned goods reports didn’t inspire senior management to approve the changes, the plant manager decided to save and display one week’s worth defect product. Once senior management recognized the mountain of defective product, the process changes were immediately approved. 4. Peer Influence. People are social animals. Evidence abounds that we keenly feel the influence of our colleagues’ expectations and behavior. Our incentives are boosted by the opinion and actions of those in our circle. Peer behavior can inspire us to catch up, or to refrain from counter-productive behavior. When a group’s success depends on all of its members working together in the same direction, peers will help each other accomplish the goals. 5. Reward the Early-Adopters and Influencers. – Those with the most connections are the ones who instigate group change. Embracing a new behavior follows a diffusion curve — early adopters, followers, late-comers. Key influencers are those to whom others listen, and look to for direction, the "bridges" in a company network. If your early adopters and influencers support the change, it has the best chance of succeeding. 6. Make it Convenient. - You could try to educate your workforce about safety or healthy food. Or you could alter the physical flow to make the right way the easier way. In a company lunchroom, people tend to choose what they see first. Relocate the healthier food to make it more convenient, or cheaper. Nudging people, by making it more appealing and convenient is more successful in encouraging change. 7. Re-frame, Re-order your problem-solving. Identify what the most critical part of a process is, trim off the outdated habits, the relics. Work the problem backward – with the important objective as the priority, and you will have a more effective, simplified process. You have removed the parts that didn’t work, without asking for an actual change. 8. Train for change, and support your workforce. Needed change often involves new skills. Many may not feel confident, despite being motivated. Leaders must enable success through opportunities to learn and practice the new behavior, with support. 9. Compose the right team that wants the new status. Hire and fire based on behaviors. Choose people who embody the desired behaviors and help those who do not help the team effort, find a better fit elsewhere. Match strengths to what the job requires. “By sharpening the goals, activating social forces, and modifying the situation, we can accomplish more effective change,” Holstine said.

Ann Sebert discusses one-to-one meetings with Jay Holstine

Jay Holstine chairs a Vistage CEO peer group in Dallas As a chair with Vistage Worldwide in the Dallas, Jay Holstine meets with his members once a month providing a one-to-one session to discuss issues, opportunities, and business strategy. The one-to-one drives the purpose and focus of the overall Vistage experience. As a Vistage Chair, Jay coordinates and engages with chief executive officers on various matters of corporate leadership and corporate growth, with an overriding goal of delivering long-term results through personalized executive coaching sessions and facilitating the group’s shared wisdom. Jay Holstine is particularly skilled when it comes to strategy and operations consulting, active listening, and issue facilitation. His work at Compass Advisory Consultants involved coaching business leaders on everything from effective startup processes to successful exit strategies.

How to successfully lead your organization through change: Jay Holstine workshop

CEOs at Jay Holstine’s Dallas executive peer group are coming together to discuss the more challenging organizational issues and opportunities they face each month. Sharing experiences in leading change: “This group of trusted leaders, from non-competing companies, bring perspectives from various industries, while sharing the common experience from years in organizational leadership,” Holstine said. “How do you implement changes through an organizational resistance to change?” was the question. One member shared that, often, the work of learning new techniques can lead some to sabotage important progress. “Ultimately, the group identified key factors in resistance to change, and offered their most effective strategies to moving forward to success,” Holstine said. 1. Clarity. If the new changes feel like walking into the dark, many people prefer to remain in the less-optimal scenario that the Know. So, clearly outline the benefits of the change, and inspire a sense of safety by sharing timetables, and clear steps to a better plan. 2. Emphasize the Upside. It’s not just change-for-the-sake-of-change. Highlight the new advantages of the change, and encourage and reward involvement. 3. Maintain what you can. Too many differences at one time is confusing and unsettling. If you can minimize the number of unrelated differences of a corporate-wide change, and retain some of the familiar, people will adapt better to the necessary and important changes. 4. Enable competence. If people doubt their ability to perform well in a changed workplace, they have more reasons to resist it. So, educate, train and support your workforce, provide overlap between the old and new versions, and establish a mentor system to help make the transition successful. 5. Involvement. Change disrupts one’s sense of control over their environment. Successful change involves enabling those affected to make choices in the planning process. Give them a sense of ownership and they’ll help lead the change. 6. “It’s not you, it’s just time.” Defensiveness is natural among those who built the current status. Those who pioneered the previous directives don’t want to be seen as having steered ‘Wrong.’ Help those people maintain dignity by clarifying that the business landscape is what changed. Highlight the strongest aspects of the previous plans, or emphasize the parts that are staying and evolving, to assure those who might feel threatened, that it’s smart, and safe, to move onward and upward. 7. Change is never easy. It’s work. Unanticipated snags can make change appear unsuccessful in the midst of progress. Acknowledge the extra work and the temporary disruptions. Reward those who forged through a tough transition to an important change. 8. Be open and honest. When new technologies displace old ones, positions can change, departments and investments can be cut. The best way to lead is to be honest, fast, and fair. For example, one big layoff, with strong transition assistance, is better than successive waves of cuts. “Everyone agreed that, while leaders can't make change ‘easy,’ there are a lot ways to help the workforce see the upside, acclimate more successfully, and invest in the organization’s future,” Holstine summarized.

Jason Williford will be speaking with Jay Holstine's CEO peer group on November 17th

In this highly interactive presentation, Jason Williford utilizes information taken from each member and key employees to will provide practical feedback and rigorous analytics connecting people to performance. Key issues covered include: What, and who, is holding you back from hitting your top and bottom line goals Gloves-off truth on your top performers, the people currently struggling and what to do about it Maximize impact, leverage and engagement with the people on your team Members will leave with an overview of their entire executive team, the knowledge of who is in the right seat and who is not, and the ability to move forward with data to identify how to make more objective human decisions. Members are also given a list of key points that can be used as a daily reference of the techniques covered during the presentation. Each CE also has the opportunity for a complimentary, one-hour one-on-one review of the results after the presentation. VISTAGE WORLDWIDE CHAIR, CEO PEER GROUP ADVISOR JAY HOLSTINE Building and empowering a high-achieving CEO Peer group that produces more effective leaders is Jay Holstine’s passion. Jay manages the CEO Peer group issue resolution sessions that surface root causes, pooled perspectives and shared wisdom. Jay Holstine currently serves as chair and CEO peer group advisor at Vistage Worldwide in Dallas, Texas. The CEO Peer group contains approximately 18 members from non-competing businesses that support each other to become better leaders. In addition to chairing the group’s monthly meetings, Jay provides each member with one-to-one sessions to discuss issues, opportunities and business strategy.

How to build effective teams in a disparate workplace: Jay Holstine workshop

Running a software company internationally, and employing experts in various countries, Jay Holstine became very familiar with scheduling conferences in coordination with various time zones. “Our learning curve was gradual, as our team grew steadily over 12 years, but we realized it was critical to communicate effectively and work well together,” he said. Today Jay Holstine is moderating a Dallas CEO peer group discussion on how best to keep their internationally dispersed teams on the same page, and working together successfully. “While our geographically flexible work environment enables teams to span continents, and deliver faster results, it requires even more effective collaboration and better communication to keep a team working together really well. Here are some of the concerns and strategies we discussed,” Holstine shared. 1. CLEAR OBJECTIVES: The project should have a compelling purpose, with an organized timeline and set of roles, responsibilities, and deliverables. There should be clear rewards, as well as an understanding of how the potential lack of this team’s success could affect the company. This emphasizes the value of the team’s success and its importance to the company. In today’s geographically diverse locations, team members from dissimilar backgrounds could have different understandings of the group’s goals. If they are too vague, one location could interpret the priority as: High quality, regardless of cost,’ while another location could interpret speed of delivery over quality and cost. 2. CLEAR LINES: “Eyes on the Prize” Along with defined guidelines and processes, teams need a focus that is kept on the objective, and rules that promote positive collaboration, and reduce destructive tendencies. A balanced mixture of technical skills and cultural understanding is in the diversity in knowledge, languages, and perspectives, that help teams succeed in various markets, and countries with different infrastructures and economies from the home headquarters. You can guard against the potential downside of a large, diverse team becoming fragmented by carefully considering the necessity when adding members and assignments. Reinforce the communication of the team’s goals, and closely monitor performance feedback to maintain alignment. Remember what really motivates people, inclusion in something important, engagement. For example, overseas teams that only receive feedback when something doesn’t work, are not going to feel as involved in a well-functioning team. If you can organize the work to integrate this part of the team more fully in the overall work, it can increase their sense of involvement and the quality of their efforts. Leadership that sets clear expectations – such as, being at meetings on time, actively listening to feedback, and basic rules for respect and fairness, are critical when team members operate across different national, or organizational cultures. In teams whose membership changes, it’s even more important to emphasize these expectations. 3. PART OF AN IMPORTANT TEAM Variations in culture and time-zone can be reduced if team members get to know each other and appreciate the things they have in common with their distantly-located team members. Without being in the same room, some of the non-verbal communication and contextual cues are lost, making it even harder for team members to feel understood. If teams are not able to meet together for a shared meal or meeting, they can organize meetings that enable them to understand each other better. For example, highlighting several things about each team member that the group can relate to, on a positive, human basis. Emphasizing commonalities, (shared sports, types of pets, background skills, similar places visited,) can bridge enormous distances. What makes us human is more important than the cultural idiosyncrasies or current events that can divide us. Being part of a team that needs a successful outcome is an important step in fostering a supportive team culture. Ensure that each group of the team feels known and valued for its contributions toward the goals. 4. GOOD SUPPORT – In addition to a fair and attainable reward system that reinforces good performance, team members need the data to support their work, as well as training, and technical assistance. For teams that are geographically distributed, it is even more important to ensure resources that enable success. 5. TEAM SUCCESS Measure and monitor your team’s effectiveness based on: Results, output, the quality and timeliness of your team’s results, and on your team’s success in working well together. Ask your team members to help identify opportunities for improvement. Help ensure that, regardless of distance, individual team members are able to grow their skills and abilities. Across the distance, always ensure that your project maintains emphasis on its clear goals and rewards. Maintain the strength of accountability, professional conduct and clear expectations. Reinforce the availability of reliable Support and Training. Emphasize the shared Team mindset and common goals of success. “After a lot of shared lessons-learned, the group agreed that these strategies are critical in keeping a team on the same page and working smart,” Holstine noted. “This kinds of concerns are one of the areas of leadership that this group regularly confers on,” Holstine said. The Vistage CEO peer group enables a shared wisdom based on experience so that trusted leaders, from non-competing industries, can continue to grow their teams’ skills and capabilities,” Holstine said.

Jay Holstine CEO peer group workshop focused on growing revenues

Jay Holstine CEO workshop focused on growing revenues

 Which new efficiencies are you incorporating to grow revenues?

CEOs at Jay Holstine’s executive advisory board discussed new technologies in operations as well as in communications, with the focus on growing revenues, by enhancing customer experience and increasing efficiency. Holstine chairs a Dallas, TX group of CEOs committed to leading their organizations to new levels of productivity.

“From tracking warehouse inventory with robots, and using cameras on drones, to communicating more effectively, there are important new ways to optimize productivity. These executives are analyzing the return-on-investment, and comparing their experiences,” Holstine said.

“Drones are also improving operations by enabling delivery drivers to deliver packages. The reduction in driving and emissions can reduce the overall cost of deliveries, as it delivers packages more quickly.

“Amidst the proliferation of technology in touch-screen kiosks, from self-check-in (at the airport, for example,) and self-check-out (at stores,) the goal is to help customers buy more, and then make that transaction process quicker and easier,” Holstine shared.

“Some of our members are looking at Artificial Intelligence’s ‘real-time’ understanding of the product pipeline. By combining data like registration numbers, factory statuses, and statistics from sales, AI can enhance large production-assembly processes. The more data that is fed into it, the more effective it becomes, helping your departments to be more profitable.” Holstine added.

“In a changing workplace, leaders are also optimizing communications, de-cluttering email, and honing their team’s focus. Our group shared new technologies and work trends and discussed the extent to which they were boosting efficiency,” Jay Holstine said.

“A lot of leaders are using Calendy to control email traffic, to schedule meetings without the repeated emails to narrow in common availability. Some are using Streak to manage multiple email threads. Most feel that changes in workplace location, and expectations require new techniques to manage the increasing onslaught of communications, more use of apps, and new practices.” Holstine offered.

“Another app translates language like “Monday at 1:30, manufacturing meeting,” to add calendar events without needing to toggle between windows. And several CEOs are finding that the Slack app helps reduce excess email, via an ‘instant message’ form of communication, which also unifies the distant team members.

“Some ideas and efforts work better than others. That’s why sharing experiences, and asking questions is important. This group of trusted members from non-competing industries enables breakthrough progress, and ultimately, these CEOs are increasing operational efficiencies, and optimizing company communications, to increase revenues,” Holstine shared.