Luke Carlson is a Vistage member and speaker, exercise physiologist, former NFL strength coach, competitive marathoner, and one of the most respected experts in evidence based resistance exercise. Luke recently met with my Vistage groups to help us dispel some fitness myths and design an intelligent exercise program that would require no more than two 30-minute exercise sessions a week.  I have worked with Luke to outline a few of the most dangerous myths below.

Myth 1.  “Cardio” is the key to weight loss.

Mythbuster 1.  If your goal is weight loss, the most effective approach is always a combination of improving your eating habits and then recharging your metabolism by increasing muscle mass via strength training.

Go to any health club and you will see scores of people laboring on treadmills, elliptical machines, and spin bikes.  Ask them what their goal or objective is and they will tell you that they are trying to burn calories or lose weight.  What they fail to understand is that while they are burning more calories during the one-hour that they are exercising, their body is actually burning fewer calories for the remaining 23 hours of the day following their workout.  The reason?  After we perform a bout of cardio or aerobic exercise, the number of calories we burn the remainder of the day, known as Energy Expenditure due to Physical Activity or simply “EEPA” decreases.  Stated otherwise, after we perform a bout of cardio, we find a way, both consciously and subconsciously to be less active and expend less calories the rest of the day.  In controlled experiments, subjects who exercise 60-minutes per day expend no more calories at the end of the day compared with subjects who perform no cardio whatsoever.

Don’t believe it?  Here is another factoid: People who train for and then run a marathon (often with a hidden intent to lose weight), despite hundreds of hours of running (and literally tens of thousands of calories expended), on average, end up weighing the same or more on the day of the marathon compared to before they started their training.  Additionally, they fail to improve their body fat percentage.  This is in no way denigrating cardio. Instead, we simply need to understand that cardio isn’t very effective for weight loss; the primary benefit of cardio is improving your cardiovascular system and health, as its name suggests.

Myth 2. The best way to increase muscle mass and muscle strength is by strength training several times a week.

Mythbuster 2  Doing resistance training more than twice a week will generally slow your results, and for most executives, you will get 85% of the benefit doing resistance training only once per week.

We reap the many benefits of strength training not during the training session itself, but during the recovery from the training session.  The training session should be viewed as the stimulus, and in order to respond to the stimulus, we need to make sure we provide adequate rest and recovery.  As Luke explained, building strength is similar to building a callus.  If you rub a spot on the back of your hand with a piece of sandpaper every few days, you will soon build up a callus (the callus is a response to a stimulus).  If you were to rub your hand too frequently, you will gain a blister rather than a callus.  It is often our fervor for producing better results that impedes our progress.  With strength training, less is more.

Myth 3. The best way to increase your strength is to perform three sets for each exercise.

Mythbuster 3. One properly performed set of each exercise will stimulate all of the health and muscle building benefits of strength training.

Muscles can’t count, so it doesn’t matter if you end up with 7 reps or 17 reps; instead, focus on continuing each set to the point of “momentary muscle failure”; the point where another perfect rep can’t be performed. The main focus should be to lift and lower the weight slowly, thus eliminating momentum.  This makes the exercise more effective as it maximizes the tension on your muscles while also making the exercise safe because the forces your joints are exposed to are minimized.

Luke Carlson’s exercise prescription for the busy executive:

• Strength train once or at most twice per week, with each workout consisting of one set of 8-12 exercises done to momentary mujscle failure and lasting approximately 30 minutes.
• Strength train once or at most twice per week, with each workout consisting of one set of 8-12 exercises done to momentary mujscle failure and lasting approximately 30 minutes.
• Perform one to two high intensity interval cardio training sessions per week, with each session lasting 30 minutes. You can walk/run or use an elliptical, bike or treadmill.  Warm up for 5 minutes and then do 10 two minute intervals where you exercise as hard as you can for 30 seconds and then rest for 90 seconds.  As your conditioning improves, exercise as hard as you can for 1 minute and then rest for 1 minute.  The key to improving over time is to keep increasing the intensity of your workouts by increasing your speed, the incline of your treadmill, or the resistance of your elliptical.   Finish off your workout with 5 minutes of light exercise or cool down
• Lead an active lifestyle and do activities you enjoy and consider leisure rather than “working out.” It can be biking, walking, golfing, or playing with the kids.  The key is that it shouldn’t feel like a chore.  If you love to run or jog, do it.
• This total time commitment of 1-2 hours of focused, intense exercise per week and an active lifestyle will maximize fitness, stimulate a myriad of health benefits, and bolster an executive’s performance.

Luke’s Mythbusters have inspired myself and eight of my Vistage members and several of their spouses to try out his methodology at the Discover Strength gym. We have been pleased with the results thus far and we are spending the extra time previously devoted to the treadmill with our families and friends.

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Minneapolis – St. Paul was one of only three major metro areas to be on two top 10 economic lists that recently came out. The first is a Trulia study that looked at homeowners’ monthly payments in each city relative to the areas median income. The second a Harvard-Berkeley study examining which cities have the highest intergenerational mobility.  Many metropolitan areas seem to have caused a trap for their younger residents in which they cannot afford housing and find a job that positions them well for the future. The Twin Cities seems to have realized both affordable housing and upward job mobility.

Other top ten lists that the Twin Cities makes such as the most bike friendly city, Money’s best place to live, and most fit city are just icing on the cake.  The fact that young families can come here for great careers and affordable housing is very compelling value proposition for millennials and this article is a great arrow in your quiver for attracting top talent.

How has the Twin Cities done this and continued to make its mark as a strong business friendly region? According to Thompson, “The Twin Cities’ housing and tax-sharing policies have resulted in lots of good neighborhoods with good schools that are affordable for young graduates and remain nice to live in even as their paychecks rise. This, in turn, has nurtured a deep bench of 30- and 40-something managers, who support the growth of large companies, and whose taxes flow to poorer neighborhoods, where families have relatively good odds of moving into the middle class.”

A fact often touted in the region is that the Twin Cities has more Fortune 500 companies per capita than any other metropolitan area. One strong reason for this is the deep blend of 30 and 40 something talented middle managers that help build and grow those companies.

As you recruit out of state talent for your business, let them know that the Twin Cities, along with your company, is a place that grows, fosters and retains talent like no place else.

The post New Ammunition in the Twin Cities War for Talent appeared first on Brian L. Davis, Ph.D | Vistage Chair.

Several experts maintain that the CEO is on a steep learning curve during the first couple of years but will really hit his or her stride in years 3-5.  After 5 years, however, the company’s results begin to decline.  According to Michael Jarret at INSEAD, “The team’s research found that when a CEO stays over five years, customer relationships, product safety and quality, and financial returns will all decline.”

One reason for the decline is that you are more likely to settle for the status quo.  “After the initial rush of enthusiasm and energy, established routines and networks can smother the drive for innovation,” Jarrett writes. A second reason for the decline is that you stop learning. “… as CEOs accumulate knowledge and become entrenched, they rely more on their internal networks for information, growing less attuned to market conditions,” the authors say.

One way to avoid this decline is suggested in the title of the article:  CEOs: Why you should quit while you’re ahead. In certain situations a CEO choosing to step down may very well be the wise or heroic thing to do. On the other hand, installing a new CEO every 5 years is not practical for many companies, especially small and medium size businesses. And why would someone who has persevered through many challenges and worked hard to rise to the top leadership role want to quit?

Quitting your job as CEO will certainly bring about change for your company (for better or worse). Another path forward is to join a CEO Peer Advisory Board of independent CEOs who will continually challenge your thinking, push you out of your comfort zone, and keep you externally focused and learning.

The post CEOs – Quit While You Are Ahead? appeared first on Brian L. Davis, Ph.D | Vistage Chair.

“… in one of the toughest economies in history, Vistage member companies averaged 5.8 % revenue growth, while nonmembers averaged a (9.2%) revenue decline.  In future posts, we will explore the factors that contribute to that sizeable performance difference.”

The purpose of today’s post is to make good on that promise.  Most of the CEOs who have been in the Vistage Peer Group that I chair have seen significant improvements in their business since they joined.  Our group currently has 18 members from a diverse set of industries and backgrounds and businesses that range in size from $5M to over $800M in annual revenues.  To better understand how belonging to Vistage increased their effectiveness and enhanced their lives, I took a little flip camera to one of our monthly executive coaching sessions and asked them.  (To see all 12 videos, click on the CEO VIDEOS tab at the top of the page.)

For purposes of this blog post, I selected the responses of 3 CEOs from varying company sizes, industries, and business models.  Some were struggling a year ago, and others were doing well.  All are doing better now  and point to their Vistage membership as a key factor in their successes.  Below is a brief outline of their situations and  links to their 2 minute YouTube videos where they share how Vistage made a difference.

Gene Earhart is the CEO of Wellington Security Systems, a small family business (< $5M) he owns and operates in partnership with his brother-in-law.  Gene is a lifelong entrepreneur, who decided to start this business with his family before finishing college.  His company designs, installs, and services electronic security systems for the commercial market, and they have 10 employees in a single location.  He credits Vistage with helping him turnaround his company to achieve the most profitable year in their 30-year history.

 Click here  to see a 2 minute YouTube video of Gene telling his story.

Mike Martin is the CEO and owner of Carlson & Stewart Refrigeration ($10 – $25M), which designs, installs, and services industrial and commercial refrigeration systems.  An engineer by training, he has worked most of his career at his company, and bought it and became CEO about 8 years ago.  Based in Marshall MN, he has about 50 employees in 3 locations in Minnesota and South Dakota.  He says that he would not have been able to double the size of his business last year without Vistage.  

See Mike’s 2 minute YouTube video by clicking here.

Jim Fisher is the CEO of Midwest Sign, a privately owned business ($100M+) that distributes sign making equipment and supplies.  They have about 200 employees in 9 locations throughout the western half of the U.S..  Jim is trained as an accountant, and has spent most of his Career with Midwest.  He was thrust into the CEO position about 5 years ago with the sudden and unexpected death of the beloved company owner and founder.  After being pounded by the recession, he and his team have hit the restart button on their growth engine, and last year they achieved double-digit growth and record profitability.   He points to Vistage as helping him become more strategic, getting him more on top of the business, and showing him how to get a lot more done in less time.

Click here to see more about how Vistage has helped Jim elevate his game as a CEO.

A key theme that cuts across all of these stories is that “None of us is as smart as all of us”.   Having an advisory board of fellow CEOs that have your back and challenge your thinking is a tremendous competitive advantage.

The post CEOs in my Vistage Peer Group candidly reveal the impact the group has had on their businesses appeared first on Brian L. Davis, Ph.D | Vistage Chair.

In a recent Vistage meeting, a theme that emerged was how to better hold others accountable. People often agree in meetings to things with “their fingers crossed”, and don’t deliver on commitments. While this is the subject of many books and training programs, one quick fix is to assure that you have a “Level 5” agreement.

James Newton, CEO of Newton Learning corporation and longtime Vistage Speaker, outlines 5 levels of agreement.  Below is a brief description of each agreement level, illustrated by a simple example of setting up a golf game.  As you read the scenarios, consider the level of agreement you have achieved in those instances where people have not delivered on commitments.

Level 1 Agreement:  No agreement at all.

Brian: “Hey Mike, what do you say we play golf after our next meeting.”

Mike: “There’s an idea.”

Level 2 Agreement:  Likes the idea, but no agreement.

Brian: “Hey Mike, let’s play golf after our next meeting.”

Mike: “Good idea!”

Level 3 Agreement: Reluctant agreement–but no commitment to do anything.

Brian: “Mike, Let’s play golf after our next meeting.”

Mike: “Man, I am really swamped, I better not.”

Brian: “Come on Mike, this will probably be our last chance before snowfall.”

Mike: “OK, I’m in.”

Level 4 Agreement:  Enthusiastic agreement–but no commitment to do anything.

Brian: “Mike, let’s play golf after our next meeting”

Mike: “Great idea! Count me in.”

Level 5 Agreement: Specific commitment of who is going to do what by when, stated by the accountable person.

Brian: “Mike, let’s play golf after our next meeting”

Mike: “Great idea!” I’m in.”

Brian: “Where do you want to play.”

Mike: “Let’s play at my club. I’ll make a tee time for after our meeting.”

Brian: “How about if we have our meeting at your club so we can tee off right after that.”

Mike: “Great, I’ll meet you at my club for our monthly one-to-one on Friday at 2:00 pm and make a tee time for 3:30 pm.”

 LEADERSHIP CATALYST TIP 

Accountability increases with the level of agreement.  If you are having trouble holding people accountable, push for a Level 5 Agreement, with a specific commitment to what is going to get done, by whom, and by when that is stated by the accountable person.  It may take a little longer, but it will increase accountability and execution–and will save you a lot of time in the long run.

The post How to Increase Accountability appeared first on Brian L. Davis, Ph.D | Vistage Chair.

In January 2011, HBR had a great article entitled “The CEO’s Role in Business Model Reinvention”.  The central point of the article is that: “For companies to endure, they must get the forces of preservation, destruction, and creation in the right balance.”  Unfortunately, CEOs are so busy working “in their business” rather than working “on their business”, they spend all of their time preserving their current model, and no time destroying or creating key components to reinvent their business model.  As a result, they may find themselves blindsided and put out of business by a new competitor with a new business model.

Ask yourself:

• Why did XEROX give the mouse and “windows” technology to APPLE?
• Why didn’t AT&T invent SKYPE?
• Why didn’t MICROSOFT invent GOOGLE?
• Why didn’t BLOCKBUSTER invent NETFLIX?

And, to bring it a little closer to home:

• What changes have you made to your business model in the last couple of years?
• If an employee came to you with a “game changing” idea that might threaten your core business in the short term, would you listen to them?
• Is your business model dying, how do you know?

These are the types of questions we tackle in our monthly Vistage CEO Advisory Peer Group meetings.  Last month (10/2011) Vistage speaker Nick Niemann presented  “Break it and Make it — How to successfully Transform Your Business Model”.  Nick provided our members with a very practical tool called the “Business Model Canvas” which enables you to examine your business in terms of 9 Business Model Building Blocks  (click here to view 2 minute video).  The development of this framework has been led by Alexander Osterwalder & Yves Pigneur with input from 470 practitioners from 45 countries.

A very current application of this framework is playing out in the book retail business.  Borders and Barnes & Noble (B & N) had created a “Big Box” model that was dominating the market, and had put most of the independent book stores out of business.  They were winning on selection, inventory, location and price.  Then Amazon came on the scene with a new business model which rivaled them in terms of selection and price, without the high cost of inventory and real estate.  Amazon then created  the kindle and electronic books as a new component of their business model, which is turning the “Big Box” bookstores into browsing libraries, where people shop for books that they later buy from Amazon, Costco, or Sam’s Club.  Borders was caught like a deer in the headlights and couldn’t adapt — They are now out of business.  B & N introduced the nook as their electronic reader two years ago, and is still in the game with 27% of the electronic reader market, and nook related sales generating 24% of their revenues.  A WSJ article this weekend (B&N Bulks Up Nook Boutiques for Holidays) reports that they are now doubling the size of their nook boutiques in their top performing stores and re-allocating shelf space from books to higher margin educational games and toys.  Clearly, if B & N had not reinvented their business model by introducing a new component that would cannibalize their core business, they would be in sharp decline.

The Business Model Canvas is a tremendously useful framework for helping CEOs “get the forces of preservation, destruction, and creation of business model components in the right balance” .  Indeed, Nick provided a “business model tool box” with pragmatic tools to help executives and their teams strengthen, defend, renovate, extend, and transform their business models.  This tool box is now available  as an iPad application.  For more information, go  to the business model generation website where you can download these tools,  order The Business Model Generation Handbook, download a tool box app for your iPad,  or take the business model fitness quiz.

To learn more about how fellow CEOs in our Vistage group can help you spend less time working “in your business” and more time working “on your business”, call me at 612.877.1234.

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Steve Jobs -- Americas Biggest Failure?

Numerous articles have been written about the resignation this past week of Steve Jobs as CEO of Apple (though he remains as chairman).  I could list a dozen that I find compelling and you can easily find them online or elsewhere.  It would be difficult to find one that does not celebrate his many successes.  Fortunately, I found one that focuses on his many failures…and how they were indispensible to his breathtaking successes.    Check out “Steve Jobs: America’s Greatest Failure” ; required reading for any entrepreneur….or those who manage one.

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Dejected Cutler Listens to iPod on Sidelines while Bears Lose to Packers in NFC Championship

Jay Cutler of the Chicago Bears created a lot of controversy last week when a knee injury prevented him from finishing the NFC conference championship game against the Green Bay Packers.  Many questioned his toughness, and believed he had “quit on his team” during their most important game of the year.

An MRI later showed the injury was indeed serious, and confirmed the decision for him not to play.  It did not, however, excuse the lack of leadership and poor attitude he displayed during the remainder of the game.  Instead of cheering on his teammates or supporting the backup quarterbacks, cameras repeatedly caught him sulking on the sidelines, listening to his iPod.  

The lesson for CEOs is that, like Jay Cutler, we are always “on camera” in our organizations.  We need to periodically check ourselves to make sure we haven’t succumbed to bad leadership habits and make sure that we aren’t displaying a poor attitude, which can be contagious for the rest of our organization. 

Mike Myatt makes a compelling case that attitude reflects leadership and is a decision.

“Show me a CEO with a bad attitude and I’ll show you a poor leader. While this sounds simple enough at face value, I have consistently found that one of the most often overlooked leadership attributes is that of a positive attitude. As a CEO, how can you expect to inspire, motivate, engender confidence, and to lead with a lousy attitude? The simple answer is that you can’t…it just won’t work. CEOs with bad attitudes will not only fail to engage their workforce, but they will quickly find themselves shown the door as their attitude’s impact on performance becomes visible to the board.” 

Do you need an attitude adjustment?  Click here for a 5 point checklist to check yourself, and some compelling statistics about why you may want to change.

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