Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/1533364
"Best Ideas & Key Philosophies" from 2024 Business Leaders of the Year 10. Prioritize your employees, customers and community. At the heart of everything we do is a commitment to our employees, our customers and our communities. This dedication and focus is our most important mission and is essential to the success of every business. Business Leader of the Year (Small business) Ulysses Youngblood President, Major Bloom 10. Presence Over Presence: Embrace the moment— disconnect to connect. In meetings, shelve digital distractions to engage with your team genuinely. This applies even more so during video calls; focus on minimizing interruptions to foster a collaborative environment. 9. Seek Diverse Feedback: Cultivate openness by actively soliciting feedback through varied channels—one-on-one, group discussions, anonymous contributions, or online surveys. Your leadership position shouldn't be a barrier to honest insights. 8. Celebrate Success: Foster a culture of appreciation and constructive feedback. Lead with positivity, acknowledging the efforts of your team and customers alike. This approach not only builds morale but also encourages continuous excellence. 7. Transparency in Storytelling: In our information-rich era, people crave the backstory of what they consume. Share the journey of your products or services—highlighting the unseen depth beneath the surface—to connect on a deeper level with your audience. 6. Competitive Insight: Dedicate time to understand the ecosystem your business operates within. This means analyzing what your customers need and how your offerings stand out from the competition. 5. Blue Ocean Strategy: Remember, the market is vast. Focus on discovering your unique niche by continuously refining what keeps your customers returning. Innovation and improvement are essential. 4. Empathy as a Leadership Tool: Empathy drives connection. You inspire dedication by genuinely understanding and responding to the needs of those around you. This starts with self- awareness and extends to acknowledging the emotions of others. 3. Champion Community Impact: Make a positive mark on the world, starting with simple acts of kindness and respect within your community. The ripple effect of positive actions can inspire widespread change. 2. Authenticity in Purpose: Stand firm in your convictions and transparently navigate challenges. Authenticity in your mission transforms work from a duty to a passionate pursuit, establishing you as a genuine leader in your field. 1. Prioritize Self-care: Success demands resilience. Like the essential advice given during flight safety demonstrations, securing your well-being first enables you to assist others effectively. Balance in self-care ensures you can sustain your journey toward achieving your goals. Business Leader of the Year (Family business) Chris Coghlin, President, CEO, & chief culture officer, Coghlin Cos. At Coghlin Companies, our goal is to drive the most positive, fun, energetic, accountable, engaged, and empowered culture imaginable. We apply our collective talents in a unique and purposeful way to exceed client expectations and commercialize life-saving and life-changing medical devices and capital equipment products for some of the most innovative companies in the world. We ALWAYS prioritize kindness, collaboration and transparency, and consciously promote Caring Associate growth, development, and advancement, knowing retention is essential to the success of all growing companies, and never forgetting that "customers will never love a company until the employees love it first" (Simon Sinek). As a passionate leader focused on creating exceptional experiences for our customers and Caring Associates, I share below some of the key quotes and principles integrated into my being. I find each to be uniquely inspiring, motivational and core to the heart and soul of our culture and success. 1. Do your best every day to make somebody else's day! The little things are the BIG things...find a way to lift someone's spirits each day through a compliment or small act of kindness. 2. Surround yourself with people that push you to do better. NO DRAMA or NEGATIVITY. Just higher goals and higher motivation. - Warren Buffet 3. You never get a second chance to make a good first impression. - Will Rogers Do your homework, know your audience, and always be prepared. 4. Say it straight so it won't come out crooked. Always tell the truth, state the facts and be prepared to courageously deal with whatever may follow. 5. Do the thing you fear most, and the death of fear is certain. - Mark Twain Try new things and never delay courageous conversations. 6. Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted. - Randy Pausch Learn from your experiences and try not to make the same mistakes twice. 7. It doesn't make sense to hire smart people and then tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do. – Steve Jobs 8. Invest in next-generation talent and leadership and provide them with opportunities to try different things. 9. Always treat people the way you want to be treated. Do your best to put yourself in other people's shoes, never judging or making assumptions. 10. Always believe that THE BEST IS YET TO COME! 11. WORK HARD and PLAY HARD. Everything at Coghlin Companies is done with purpose, passion and intention. We do our best to be authentic in everything we do and take great pride in a present leadership style that applies to our home, workplace and community…always choosing to walk the walk.