Episodios

  • Welcome back to the ProfitSchool podcast Business Unfiltered with Mercer and Jeff Sauer today's topic is: More stupid things we do as Entrepreneurs.

    Introduction & Defining "Stupid Mistakes": Jeff Sauer and Chris Mercer humorously dive into the concept of “stupid things” entrepreneurs do—decisions that, in hindsight, could have been handled differently. They emphasize the importance of learning from these mistakes to avoid repeating them.

    Strategies for Avoiding Repeat Mistakes: Jeff shares the importance of seeking second opinions and recognizing emerging patterns. At the same time, Mercer highlights the role that awareness and planning play in stopping mistakes from happening again.

    Tactical Strategies for Smarter Actions: Mercer stresses the need for solid plans with clear milestones to avoid pointless activities. Jeff and Mercer emphasize that forecasting and learning from patterns are key strategies to prevent wasted time and effort.

    Common Business Mistakes:- Pricing & Client Targeting: Jeff shares a classic blunder—creating low-priced courses without calculating how many sales are needed to break even. The hosts agree on the dangers of catering to cheap clients rather than respecting the true value of your services.

    Hiring & Firing Decisions: Hiring too fast and firing too slow is identified as a common mistake. Jeff and Mercer advocate for testing new hires on a contract basis and being proactive in trimming underperforming team members to avoid long-term financial issues.

    Delegation & Small Task Management: Mercer discusses the importance of delegating small tasks to prevent them from piling up, while Jeff emphasizes planning and delegation to avoid burnout and inefficiency in managing day-to-day tasks.

    The Importance of Customer Feedback: Talking to customers and seeking feedback is flagged as a crucial business practice. Successful entrepreneurs spend more time understanding customer needs, which can lead to smarter product decisions.

  • Welcome back to Business Unfiltered with Mercer and Jeff Sauer today's topic is Getting the Most Out of Meetings.

    Introduction & Personal Experiences with Meetings: Jeff and Mercer kick off the episode by sharing their mixed experiences with meetings. Jeff emphasizes the context-dependent nature of meetings and how team dynamics play a crucial role in their effectiveness.

    The Purpose of Meetings & Common Pitfalls: Mercer and Jeff discuss the misuse of meetings, such as scheduling sessions without a clear purpose. Mercer introduces the concept of "headline calls," short 15-minute meetings focused on updates and specific support to increase productivity.

    Efficient & Effective Meeting Practices: The hosts break down how pre-planning, clear agendas, and limiting large meetings can improve efficiency. They emphasize the need to ruthlessly "kill sacred cows" by reevaluating the necessity of repetitive or ineffective meetings.

    Balancing Internal & External Meetings: Jeff shares the importance of managing time effectively between internal and external meetings. The hosts advocate for using meetings strategically, whether for management, teaching, or reporting, rather than allowing meetings to consume the workday.

    Empowering Teams by Releasing Control: Mercer highlights the value of removing business owners from certain meetings to foster team autonomy. By giving team members ownership over problem-solving, teams can grow more creative and independent, which benefits the whole company.

    Best Practices & Final Meeting Tips: Key meeting guidelines include limiting meeting lengths to 15 minutes, setting clear agendas, and reevaluating the need for meetings regularly. Jeff and Mercer suggest adding fun incentives like "bonus points" for ending meetings early to inspire efficiency.

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  • Welcome back to Business Unfiltered with Mercer and Jeff Sauer today's topic is: The No Buy Survey

    Understanding No Buy Surveys: Mercer and Jeff introduce the concept of no buy surveys—a tool to gather insights from customers who showed interest but didn’t make a purchase. This method helps businesses understand buyer objections and adjust strategies accordingly.

    Key Benefits of No Buy Surveys: Mercer explains how asking simple questions, like why someone didn’t buy, provides valuable feedback directly from the market. He shares successful examples, noting that businesses often guess customer needs when they should be asking.

    Tactical Implementation: Jeff emphasizes the importance of conducting surveys after a customer sees the full offer, as it provides insight on pricing, format, and timing. Both agree this feedback can inform product improvements and strategy adjustments.

    Structured No Buy Surveys: Mercer introduces structured surveys—a sequence of guided questions designed to rekindle interest in the product or service. He shares examples of how these surveys have helped add 10% to revenue by building value and reopening sales opportunities.

    Personalized Approaches: Personalization is key to making the survey engaging, with Mercer suggesting tailored questions and even offering free trials to non-buyers. These touchpoints help potential customers see value, leading to conversions.

    Sales Skills in Marketing: Mercer highlights how no buy surveys employ fundamental sales skills, comparing it to techniques like the Columbo close, where the last question reveals critical objections. Both agree that blending sales skills with marketing strategies can significantly boost customer engagement.

  • Welcome back to Business Unfiltered with Mercer and Jeff Sauer today's topic is Use the system to improve the system

    Systems Are Evolving Tools, Not Static: Jeff highlights the breakthrough realization that systems aren't rigid but should always be open to feedback, improvement, and new ideas. Systems should evolve alongside new technologies for maximum efficiency.

    Day Zero Culture for Constant Improvement: Taking inspiration from Amazon's "Day Zero" approach, Jeff and Mercer stress that systems should never reach a state of stasis. Embracing a Day Zero mindset ensures that systems can continuously improve and support business growth.

    The Power of Feedback Loops & Problem-Solving: Mercer emphasizes solving real problems with systems in production instead of hypothetical ones. Continuous feedback allows for iterative improvement, ensuring that systems remain relevant and agile.

    90% Done is the Sweet Spot: Jeff believes that systems are never truly "finished"—they're always 90% done and evolving. Empowering users to take ownership of systems and utilize their expertise fosters a competitive edge.

    Systems as a Service (SaaS) Mentality: Jeff introduces the concept of "systems as a service," likening systems to software that can always be updated and improved. Businesses should embrace the iterative nature of systems to stay ahead of the curve.

    Constant Iteration Drives Business Growth: Both hosts stress the importance of starting with the systems you have and improving from there. Continuous iteration ensures that systems help businesses scale, organize processes, and boost efficiency. Everyone is a "systems person" once they realize the power of iteration.

  • Welcome back to Business Unfiltered with Mercer and Jeff Sauer today's topic is Developing Team Culture.

    Defining Team Culture: Jeff and Mercer define team culture as the company's character, emphasizing it's a living, breathing entity that evolves and can be influenced by individuals, especially leadership.

    Strategic Choices in Culture Development: Mercer discusses the importance of making strategic choices in shaping team culture, highlighting the "trust but verify" principle to encourage accountability and process improvement.

    Allowing Failure for Growth: Jeff shares his journey from perfectionism to allowing planned failures, emphasizing the importance of letting team members fail to build resilience and foster personal and organizational growth.

    Coaching vs. Teaching in Leadership: Jeff distinguishes between coaching and teaching, stressing the need for a coaching approach in business to help team members develop their solutions and leadership skills.

    Balancing Ambition and Contentment: Mercer emphasizes the importance of setting realistic goals and finding a balance between ambition and contentment, aiming for "more than enough" rather than unattainable levels of success.

    Nurturing a Prolific Culture: Mercer and Jeff contrast prolific culture with hustle culture, advocating for working smart, developing long-term strategies, and fostering a nurturing environment that allows for natural evolution of team culture over time.

  • Welcome back to Business Unfiltered with Mercer and Jeff Sauer today's topic is Behind the Scenes: Writing Our First Book:

    Initial Thoughts and Experiences: Jeff introduces the topic of writing their first book and the initial challenges faced, including rapid industry changes. Mercer recalls Jeff's earlier work on service stacking and is curious about the process.

    Strategies for Writing a Timeless Book: Mercer and Jeff agree on focusing on strategies and management principles rather than tool-specific content. Jeff highlights his experience with a book accelerator program and acknowledges the effectiveness of a framework-based book.

    Developing the Book Concept and Structure: Jeff explains the evolution of his broad "Profit Pillars" concept to a specific and focused framework on sales and service stacking. He shares the process of validating the concept through workshops and using the recordings as an outline for the book.

    Writing and Editing the Book: Jeff details the process of hiring a ghostwriter and navigating the initial drafting stage. He shares the time-consuming nature of editing and the decision to personally handle the final edits to maintain consistency.

    Marketing and Promoting the Book: Jeff discusses book marketing challenges and the necessity of having an effective book funnel. He shares his experiences with a book funnel service and the importance of having a pre-existing audience.

    Lessons Learned and Future Plans: Jeff reflects on the overall experience, rating it low for immediate results but high for valuable learning. The episode concludes with a recap of the key points and a look at the next steps for their book project.

  • Welcome back to Business Unfiltered with Mercer and Jeff Sauer today's topic is Creating RAD Products:

    Introduction to RAD Products: Jeff and Mercer introduce the concept of "RAD products," emphasizing the importance of focusing on results, actions, and delivery in product creation. They highlight Amazon's strategic approach to defining results before building products, using the Kindle as an example.

    Defining Results in Product Creation: The hosts discuss the strategic value of focusing on the result for users, which could include saving time or achieving a specific outcome. They stress the significance of benefits for both users and the company, particularly for service providers.

    Benefits vs. Features in Service Provision: Jeff explains how service providers should emphasize their benefits, such as reducing risk, rather than just features. Mercer and Jeff discuss aligning product benefits from the perspectives of the user, the company, and the team for market success.

    Confirming Benefits Through Actions: Mercer discusses the importance of validating product benefits through actions like surveys before investing resources. He emphasizes ensuring the team has the skills and capacity to deliver the confirmed benefits to various stakeholders.

    Delivery and Management of the Product: They discuss how crucial delivery is for meeting deadlines and budgets, and maintaining customer loyalty. Jeff shares examples from Microsoft's different delivery approaches and highlights the role of management in successful product delivery.

    Real-World Example Measure U: Mercer presents Measure U as a real-world example that consolidates multiple logins into one platform, improving user experience. They discuss the simplicity and continuous improvement of Measure U, underlining its benefits like ease of access and better delivery.

  • Welcome back to the ProfitSchool podcast with Mercer and Jeff Sauer today's topic is Management Mistakes.

    Topics Covered In This Episode

    Introduction to Management Mistakes: Jeff Sauer and Mercer introduce the topic of management mistakes on "Business Unfiltered," emphasizing the value of learning from errors to aid others in avoiding similar pitfalls.

    Early Management Experiences: Jeff highlights his journey from a small team to managing 50 people with no formal training, reflecting on the initial challenges of wanting to be the “cool boss” and the importance of providing structured feedback and coaching.

    Importance of Clear Communication and Expectations: Discussing the "wagon wheel mentality," Jeff and Mercer emphasize the need for managers to empower their teams by providing clear direction, enabling problem-solving skills, and avoiding taking over tasks themselves.

    Hiring and Firing Decisions: Jeff and Mercer discuss the perils of quick hiring without due diligence, the necessity of daily check-ins during onboarding, and the difficulty of firing employees who initially seemed promising but failed to meet expectations.

    Empowering the Team and Setting Clear Goals: They highlight the need to nurture team growth through constant communication about career development, warn against early introduction of incentive plans, and stress the importance of setting clear, attainable goals.

    Investing Smartly and Managing Performance: Jeff advises against hiring for multiple roles unless necessary, sharing insights on making smart investments with clear returns. They also cover avoiding quick bonuses, the pitfalls of profit-sharing incentive plans, and the importance of setting realistic expectations to maintain team motivation.

  • Welcome back to Business Unfiltered with Mercer and Jeff Sauer today's topic is Sales Discovery Calls and Qualifying Questions.

    Topics Covered In This Episode

    Introduction to Sales Discovery Calls and Qualifying Questions: Jeff Sauer and Mercer explore the distinct yet interconnected roles of sales discovery calls and qualifying questions, focusing on their importance in business-to-business and high-ticket sales.

    Understanding Sales Discovery Calls: Jeff elaborates on making sales calls conversational rather than interrogative, sharing strategies such as asking prospects about their business or problems.

    Utilizing Discovery Calls in Measurement Management: Discovery calls help understand a prospect's current situation, technology stack, and problems, ensuring that the provided solution aligns with their specific needs.

    Difference Between Discovery Calls and Pitches: Differentiating discovery calls from pitches, which aim to align solutions with identified needs. Mercer highlights building a bridge to aid prospects, even if it involves referring them elsewhere.

    Qualifying Questions for Identifying Bad Customers: Mercer and Jeff share how qualifying questions, such as past problem-solving attempts and investment mentality, help identify prospects' readiness and suitability for the service.

    Key Qualifying Questions: Budget, Timeline, Sophistication, and Participation: Jeff outlines the importance of determining a prospect’s budget, timeline, sophistication, and participation to ensure they are a good match, thereby protecting the service quality.

  • Welcome back to Business Unfiltered with Mercer and Jeff Sauer today's topic is Feeding Your Sales Pipeline.

    Topics Covered In This Episode

    Introduction to Pipeline Feeding: Mercer and Jeff delve into the fundamentals of feeding a sales pipeline, emphasizing the importance of nurturing leads across all funnel stages—top, middle, and bottom.

    Defining Sales Funnel Stages: Jeff introduces the concept of "small data" for small businesses and stresses optimizing the middle funnel. The duo underscores defining marketing qualified leads and the steps in between funnel stages.

    Nurturing the Pipeline: The conversation highlights the need for planning and a logical approach to nurturing leads from awareness to commitment, leveraging educated guesses and understanding customer behavior.

    Off-Site and On-Site Marketing Strategies: Balancing off-site and on-site marketing, Mercer and Jeff discuss driving traffic through retargeting ads and off-site offers, and the importance of personalizing communication using modern technology.

    Role of Discipline and Planning: Emphasizing the importance of discipline, the hosts talk about slowing down to think through the pipeline stages, using data and primary research for effective management, and embracing failure as part of growth.

    Final Thoughts and Actionable Steps: Mercer and Jeff wrap up by urging listeners to take action, even starting with basic plans. They highlight the use of data for pipeline improvement and encourage joining the Profit School community to apply the podcast insights.

  • Topics Covered In This Episode

    Distinguishing Sales and Marketing: Mercer and Jeff explore the roles of sales and marketing, highlighting how they intersect yet specialize in distinct functions as businesses evolve. Nuances of Sales and Marketing: The discussion covers the differences between one-to-many (marketing) and one-to-one (sales) approaches, with marketing setting the stage for sales activities. Bridging the Gap: Emphasizing the need for sales skills in marketing, Jeff and Mercer discuss how understanding customer objections and beliefs can enhance marketing effectiveness. Challenges in Integration: The hosts address common issues like marketing and sales silos, poor lead quality, and the importance of aligning efforts for better outcomes. Optimizing Marketing Strategies: It is important to comprehend the customer journey and integrate sales processes with marketing strategies to create effective campaigns. Streamlining Sales and Marketing: Jeff discusses integrating sales and marketing by managing offers as a unified process, leading to consistent growth and improved results. Have a question or feedback about Business Unfiltered. Record an audio message https://s.bcast.fm/business-unfiltered-with-chris-mercer-and-jeff-sauer?episode=v855lry8

  • Topics Covered In This Episode

    Five-Year Forecasting for Business Growth: Jeff and Mercer dive into the aspirational goals of a five-year business forecast, highlighting potential growth and challenges. They discuss the "paper billionaire effect" and the importance of a solid business model and market competition. Financial Projection Tools: Jeff introduces a spreadsheet tool for tracking revenue growth and explains how to project client gains/losses and retention rates over five years. He emphasizes the value of financial projections in making operational adjustments. Overcoming Fear with a Five-Year Vision: The hosts reflect on the importance of having a clear five-year vision to overcome impostor syndrome and make significant business decisions. Mercer shares personal experiences and the benefits of journaling to visualize future progress. Setting Big Hairy Audacious Goals (BHAGs): The discussion stresses the importance of pushing beyond comfort zones to achieve substantial growth. Maintaining Long-Term Goals with Vision Boards: Mercer practices regular reviews and updates his long-term goals through journaling. The hosts discuss balancing focused work with strategic planning and the significance of revisiting goals every six months. Aligning Teams and Systems for Goal Achievement: Jeff emphasizes the critical role of alignment and systems in scaling a business. The conversation includes the need for regular goal reviews and the courage to set long-term objectives, despite fears of falling short. Leadership and Long-Term Planning: The podcast wraps up with insights on the role of leadership in creating and sharing a five-year financial forecast. Both advocate for long-term thinking, involving the team in goal setting, and prioritizing revenue and profit goals for sustained success. Have a question or feedback about Business Unfiltered. Record an audio message https://s.bcast.fm/business-unfiltered-with-chris-mercer-and-jeff-sauer?episode=q80qx40n

  • Topics Covered In This Episode First Pricing Experiences: Mercer shares his initial approach to pricing his WordPress training video site, highlighting the pitfalls of undervaluing work by basing prices solely on creation time. Freelance Pricing Tips: Jeff emphasizes the importance of realistic pricing, advising freelancers to divide their annual income by 500 hours instead of 2000, suggesting a rate of $100/hour to reflect the true value of freelance work. Project-Based vs. Hourly Pricing: The hosts discuss the benefits of project-based or retainer models over hourly pricing. Jeff advocates for these models as they offer more sustainable revenue streams and better reflect the effort and value provided. Adjusting Rates for Consulting: The episode covers strategies for raising consulting rates based on market standards and the consultant’s experience. Jeff stresses the importance of justifying price increases with proven results. Understanding Client Segmentation: Jeff advises charging high prices to small businesses and emphasizes targeting larger clients who can afford and appreciate higher-value services. Understanding the demand and supply curves is crucial for effective pricing. Value-Based and Dynamic Pricing: The hosts explore value-based and dynamic pricing strategies, advocating for a balance between value and price. They also discuss the significance of maintaining consistency in revenue and profit margins for business stability and growth. Have a question or feedback about Business Unfiltered. Record an audio message https://s.bcast.fm/business-unfiltered-with-chris-mercer-and-jeff-sauer?episode=q80qz74n

  • Topics Covered In This Episode Jeff shares stories of business owners who had to reassess and retake control after stepping back when things didn’t go as planned. Mercer and Jeff discuss the pitfalls of delegating without proper planning, emphasizing the importance of implementing mature processes for new opportunities. They highlight the challenge of over-engineering early-stage issues and the value of letting teams learn from their mistakes to foster growth. Jeff addresses the risk of hitting growth ceilings due to the founder's involvement, suggesting strategies like reverse sabbaticals to gain fresh perspectives. Both emphasize the need to set teams up for success, learn from failures, and implement retention strategies to avoid losing key personnel. Finally, they discuss the importance of personalized attention for high-ticket customers, resolving issues quickly, and training teams to handle similar problems independently. Have a question or feedback about Business Unfiltered. Record an audio message https://s.bcast.fm/business-unfiltered-with-chris-mercer-and-jeff-sauer?episode=2nx0qlqn

  • Topics Covered In This Episode

    Mercer and Jeff examine business profits, discussing gross, net, and gross margin, and the implications of effectively managing these profits. They emphasize the importance of reinvesting profits for business growth and stability, highlighting the balance between investment and cash optimization. Next Jeff and Mercer explore strategies for building a strong business team, including effective hiring and the benefits of outsourcing to increase productivity. Managing and separating finances is crucial, they share insights on setting aside profits for personal use and separating personal and business accounts. The duo then discuss diversifying investments across various assets like stocks, small businesses, and real estate as a strategy for long-term growth. Finally, they stress becoming an owner rather than just an operator, with advice on investing in startups and prioritizing ownership for long-term success and wealth. Have a question or feedback about Business Unfiltered. Record an audio message https://s.bcast.fm/business-unfiltered-with-chris-mercer-and-jeff-sauer?episode=68rrvw58

  • Topics Covered In This Episode

    Physical and Digital Harmony: Mercer and Jeff discuss the balance between physical tools like calculators and notepads, and digital tools like AI and SAS software for optimal business efficiency. ClickUp's Versatility: ClickUp is a robust productivity management tool, replacing the need for Slack and Asana by streamlining various business processes. Entrepreneurial Essentials: The duo explores essential digital tools like Zapier for automation and Circle for building WordPress sites, emphasizing cost-effectiveness and efficiency. Community Building Tools: The hosts evaluate several tools for community management, with Circle standing out for its versatility in handling live streams, memberships, and integrations. Collaboration and Integration: Jeff and Mercer praise tools like Canva for collaborative graphic design, and Google Workspace for overall productivity, user-friendliness, and remote team collaboration capabilities. AI Innovations: Mercer and Jeff also mention AI tools like 11 Labs and Otter.ai for text-to-voice and voice-to-text functions, discussing their potential and limitations in improving productivity and meeting efficiency. Have a question or feedback about Business Unfiltered. Record an audio message https://s.bcast.fm/business-unfiltered-with-chris-mercer-and-jeff-sauer?episode=28x04528

  • Topics Covered In This Episode

    Understanding the Distinction: Mercer and Jeff clarify the difference between mentorship and coaching, highlighting the unique value each brings to business growth and personal development. Personal Insights and Experiences: Jeff and Mercer share their journeys with both mentors and coaches, discussing the benefits and challenges they've faced. They emphasize the importance of hiring external coaches to foster broader perspectives. Qualities of Effective Coaches: Good coaches provide accountability, support, and tailored advice, while unqualified coaches can mislead and fail to deliver value. Vetting coaching platforms and ensuring coaches' qualifications are crucial. Patterns of Self-Sabotage: Recognizing and breaking patterns of self-sabotage through coaching is invaluable, the duo share that programs like Strategic Coach have helped them grow and refocus their efforts. Transformation Over Information: Both hosts emphasize the need for transformational coaching that changes mindsets rather than simply providing information. Creating an environment conducive to transformation is the key to effective coaching. Risk vs. Reward: The partners highlight the importance of treating coaching as an investment, considering budget constraints, and assessing potential returns. They stress aligning coaching programs with individual business needs and goals. Have a question or feedback about Business Unfiltered. Record an audio message https://s.bcast.fm/business-unfiltered-with-chris-mercer-and-jeff-sauer?episode=l8q2rkkn

  • Topics Covered In This Episode

    2024 Predictions Check-In: Jeff and Mercer revisit their predictions from six months ago, reflecting on unexpected changes in business trends, especially in layoffs and partnerships. Economic Outlook: The hosts discuss predictions for a flat economy with improved revenues and profits, noting a growing wealth gap and consumer spending trends. AI Advancements: They highlight predictions about AI, including personal AI assistants, steady interest rates, and the increasing role of automation in the workplace. Job Market Impact: AI's integration into various sectors is expected to lead to a 20% reduction in staff, with layoffs influenced by company size and stock performance priorities. AI Consolidation: The duo discusses AI's ability to handle manual tasks, reducing the need for certain positions, and the absorption of smaller companies by larger platforms, like Microsoft's acquisition and integration of AI teams. Future Trends and Adaptation: Insights on the importance of data privacy, the resurgence of skilled trades due to AI, the rise of tiny homes as affordable housing, and the need for businesses to rapidly pivot and adapt to respond to market disruptions. Have a question or feedback about Business Unfiltered. Record an audio message https://s.bcast.fm/business-unfiltered-with-chris-mercer-and-jeff-sauer?episode=1npv2xkn

  • Topics Covered In This Episode Paid vs. Organic Strategies: Mercer and Jeff discuss the importance of balancing paid traffic and organic channels like LinkedIn and Facebook groups. They highlight the shift from organic to paid strategies, with Facebook being a prime example. LinkedIn's Professional Growth: The hosts praise LinkedIn for its focused conversations and engagement opportunities. The platform's growth is attributed to content engagement and organic posting, and note an increase in LinkedIn events and webinars. Comparing Social Platforms: LinkedIn is deemed more effective for professional networking and lead generation compared to Twitter and Instagram. They discuss LinkedIn's potential future shift to charging for visibility while currently rewarding creators for interaction. Primary Channel Strategy: While emphasizing the importance of choosing a primary social media platform, Jeff and Mercer discuss using LinkedIn as a testing ground and focusing efforts on one platform, like YouTube, before syndicating content across others using AI. Leveraging YouTube and Pinterest: They use the success of Mr. Beast on YouTube as an example of mastering one platform before expanding. Pinterest is noted for its unique user behavior and fewer trolls, though it may not suit all business models. Effective Social Media Marketing: Mercer and Jeff emphasize the importance of promoting business content on LinkedIn and other platforms. They advise varying social media content to avoid monotony and increase engagement, warn against the overuse of memes to prevent banner blindness, and suggest syndication through AI is suggested to enhance reach and volume. Have a question or feedback about Business Unfiltered. Record an audio message https://s.bcast.fm/business-unfiltered-with-chris-mercer-and-jeff-sauer?episode=xn140q68

  • Topics Covered In This Episode
    Debunking Visionary Leadership: Mercer and Jeff question the myth of visionary leadership, often epitomized by figures like Steve Jobs and Elon Musk. They argue that this concept may not be relevant for most companies, especially small teams. Overuse of the Term "Visionary": Mercer believes that the term "visionary leader" is overused and misused, potentially limiting the growth of small teams. He stresses that effective teamwork and shared goals are more crucial than the presence of a single visionary. Visionaries vs. Integrators: The hosts discuss the roles of visionaries and integrators in business. While visionaries are essential for defining team culture and strategy, they are not exempt from doing the actual work. Survivor bias in entrepreneurship contributes to the myth that successful visionaries are uniquely special. Collaboration and Dialogue: Jeff highlights the importance of collaboration and open dialogue in business. He believes that having a partner with different strengths and perspectives can enhance ideas and lead to better outcomes. Visionary-Integrator Model: Jeff and Mercer explore the effectiveness of the visionary-integrator model in business leadership. While visionaries often take on CEO roles and integrators as Presidents, they discuss how success can be achieved with these roles reversed and the limitations of this model. Defining Roles and Responsibilities: The duo emphasizes the importance of clearly defining roles within a business. Visionaries handle strategy, passing it on to managers, while integrators focus on systems and execution. Extreme accountability, rather than visionary status, is suggested as a better paradigm for business success. Have a question or feedback about Business Unfiltered. Record an audio message https://s.bcast.fm/business-unfiltered-with-chris-mercer-and-jeff-sauer?episode=v8551v68