Dr. Geoff Smart

Geoff Smart is the #1 thought leader on the #1 topic in business. He is the Chairman & Founder of ghSMART, a leadership consulting firm, and his purpose is to help leaders amplify their positive impact on the world.

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January 29, 2020 By Geoff Smart 2 Comments

Successfully Convince a CEO in 3 Steps

Here is your chance. You don’t want to blow it.

You have a meeting scheduled with a CEO. Your goal is to convince her…

to spend $1m on your product or service, or to make a large donation to your cause.
to hire you, to promote you, or to give you your dream job.
to invest in your idea.

What are ineffective ways to convince a CEO?

Many people “show up and throw up” and push a lot of information at the CEO—either verbally, or by PowerPoint. I’m not sure what the reason is why many unpersuasive people follow this approach. Maybe it’s to “show you know what you are talking about.” But it does not make a CEO say yes. I recall when my firm was interviewing law firms. Two partners from one firm came to a lunch meeting at a restaurant with a thick glossy marketing brochure. I remember the ominous “thud” the document made as it hit the table. By the end of the lunch, I understood a lot about their firm and their goals, but they did not know much about mine. We did not select that firm.

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Filed Under: Career Success, Leadership, Other Tagged With: CEOs, leaders, Success

August 21, 2019 By Geoff Smart Leave a Comment

Do You Know Someone Who Has What It Takes to Get Hired to the Consulting Firm Ranked #1 in Overall Satisfaction?

It was perhaps weird that I posted my last blog about a mentee who was trying to get hired to his dream job before knowing if my advice worked in his case! A few days after my post, he told me he followed the tips and he did end up getting hired to his dream job, as CEO of a hospitality company. And he is loving his job.

What a wonderful thing it is to have a job you love.

Speaking of having a job you love, please make someone’s day and give some thought to this question:

Do you know someone who has what it takes to get hired to the consulting firm ranked #1 in overall satisfaction?

To answer that question, you need to know what firm has the most satisfied people, and who gets hired.

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Filed Under: Hiring, Leadership, Other, Talented Teams Tagged With: hiring, Success, top talent

April 18, 2019 By Geoff Smart Leave a Comment

Do You Have a “Ninja” Executive Assistant?

You should want to have a ninja executive assistant (EA). Let’s talk about how.

Two things determine if you have a ninja executive assistant: who you hire, and how you work together.

This article reveals a non-scientific set of tips based on a quarter-century of observations of what it takes to have a ninja EA. Since I founded ghSMART 24 years ago, I have had the privilege of working with dozens of ninja EAs at our firm. And we have interacted with hundreds of great and not-so-great EAs across our client companies.
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Filed Under: Career Success, Leadership, Other, Talented Teams Tagged With: Executive Assistant, Success

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