Leadership Training for Geeks by Geeks
Business and Leadership Training for Subject Matter Experts
You know so much about your area of expertise. Discover the missing ingredients that take your expertise to the next level. Explore what leadership training and business training, specifically designed for subject matter experts, can do for your company. Contact Us for a Free Conversation
“The question I ask myself like almost every day is, “Am I doing the most important thing I could be doing?” Unless I feel like I am working on the most important problem that I can help with, then I’m not going to feel good about how I am spending my time.”
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook
Many smart people do not know the answers to these questions:
- How can I utilize my talent, vision, and innovation to be more successful in business? How helpful can sites such as Niches Directory be in my business venture?
- How can I make an even bigger difference to others?
- How can my team thrive?
- How can I do all the above AND have balance in my life?
- How much will leadership programs, specifically designed for geeks, help me succeed?
Those of us who have followed our passions and chosen career paths that need both smarts and extensive education, training, and experience, tend to fall into a trap. One we didn’t see coming.
Why Leadership Training Specifically for Subject Matter Experts?
Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) have invested a lot of time, effort, heart and soul into acquiring in-depth knowledge and expertise in their field. Sometimes they are loving called “Geeks” (sometimes we call ourselves that). To us, being an expert or geek is cool, and it means the person has special talents.
Discover why leadership training and business coaching, designed specifically for “geeks”/SMEs by geeks, makes a huge difference to your company and your team. Find out why leadership training is a potent tool to get ahead, attract and retain your top talent team members and build a company culture you love. You Might Be a Geek if…
You Might Be a “Geek” if…
- You are immersed in a (technical) subject that you love.
- You know more about that subject than (most) anyone else, and, let’s face it, you are smart!
- You are an innovator, visionary, entrepreneur, executive or professional with a mission.
- You are driven and won’t give up until you achieve what you envisioned.
- You like to “geek” out with others.
- As a kid, you thought LEGO was the coolest toy ever (you still do?)
- You (torture) entertain your friends with clever puns or dry humor.
- You don’t take information sight unseen – you examine it.
- You always love to learn new things – and if it makes sense, you put it into action.
- You can figure out (just about) anything.
- When you do something new you can’t help talking about it nonstop.
- You think Roger (our talking frog) is pretty cool (if you haven’t met him yet, it is about time!
If any of this describes you or someone you care about, this page is for you! Think About This Story …
Think About This Story …
Two people are walking down a street. They don’t see a hole and fall in. Next day, one of them walks down the same street and falls in the same hole. And then does the same thing the next day and the next. You say, “I wouldn’t do that!”
… yet, how many times do we find ourselves doing things the same way — over and over — even when we know it doesn’t work?
The second person says “No need to keep falling into the same hole” and takes a different street. The point of the story is when you realize you’ve falling into a trap, pull yourself out and take a different approach.
There is the other possibility. The second person wasn’t even aware that they fell into a hole and his/her lack of awareness is why they keep doing what they’ve been doing. Tragically, more successful paths are never even imagined. Now is the Time to Take a Different Approach
Now is the Time to Take a Different Approach In Professional Development and Leadership Training for Geeks
Ok, so we are going to say it. It may be time to think outside the box or get out of the box.
Why now? Well, as we progress in our careers, it turns out that we need more than our “technical know-how” – no matter how smart, innovative or visionary we are in that area. We need leadership skills – and, yes, business skills, too – at an ever-increasing pace. We need to be good at things we might not have considered in college. Does this mean you have to go back to college? No, but it could mean you do need to learn some new skills.
The sad truth is that our educational system, including our graduate schools and postgraduate training, usually focus on helping us deepen our knowledge vs. supporting us in becoming more well-rounded. They don’t give much thought to anything else, especially skills and expertise you may not need until later in your career. Those new skills, like management and leadership, communication, negotiation, sales and more, become indispensable as you grow your career, your team., your organization.
By now you might wonder: What leadership programs could my organization (and myself personally) participate in that will lead to much-accelerated leadership development in my team and /or myself?
This is exactly what we offer: Program that are proven to work for developing leaders in “geeky” environments, where many team members are top subject experts.
What Happens as Top Experts Rise Through the Ranks?
What Happens as Top Experts Rise Through the Ranks?
As you, a top scientist or expert in just about any subject, rise through the ranks in a company, there is often a point when you have to (or get to?) manage people. Wait, is it manage or lead? What is the difference anyway? Here is a great way to tell the difference from Simon Sinek, “When we tell people to do their jobs, we get workers. When we trust people to get the job done, we get leaders.”
Your progression, whether it’s as an employee or a business owner, is often a result of your ambition, a good amount of trial-and-error and chance and the occasional leadership workshop. If you’re very fortunate, someone along the way took you under their wing and mentored your talents. The Trap Many Geeks Fall Into
And Herein Lies the Trap.
If you have not had the fortune to be carefully mentored or groomed for your new role, you many find yourself an example of the “Peter Principle” effect. You are a talented, skilled, highly competent person, getting promoted until you are no longer capable of handling the job. When that happens, progress stagnates and everyone around you only sees your shortcomings. Often, what we see is a tragic loss of talent, self-confidence, human potential, profit potential and, often, quality of life. HR Professionals and Veteran CEO’s See This Problem, Too
HR Professionals and Veteran CEO’s See This Problem, Too
They have to figure out how to solve this dilemma without losing their high-talent professionals, sidetracking critical projects, or losing revenue.
The point is, all too often, smart people like you get stalled in the quest to make a difference with their respective top talents. If you fail to get rewarded proportionate to your great talents, and you find it harder than it “should be” to create a life you love, it’s disappointing and often discouraging.
What if you, or an employee working with you, are a subject expert, driven by talent, vision and ambition? What if you, or that employee, are leading (or even creating) a department in an innovative company?
How well prepared are you, or your employee, for the leadership and business challenges that need to be met?
How much and what kind of leadership training and business training has accompanied the growth of your company and its expert staff? The Solution: Business and Leadership Training for Geeks by Geeks
Coming back to the trap we talked about above, you don’t have to fall into it. There is another way! It doesn’t have to take years or decades. It doesn’t have to take lots of money to acquire the missing pieces graduate school or life didn’t give you.
We have developed a practical, down-to-earth solution, designed for smart, educated people just like you. We are even a bit playful in our approach and when we say that we offer “leadership and business training for geeks by geeks”.
Those of you who are still reading this, you know who we mean. Being a geek is great. You know stuff – great stuff. You want to make a difference with it. And yes, you want to get a nice reward for it. The great news is: We got some awesome career accelerator fuel for you.
What if you are an entrepreneurial person, ready to step out and create your own company? Are you prepared for the dozen hats you’ll have to juggle?
Whatever your situation is, we can help make sure you navigate around the costly traps.
Leadership training programs are not all created equal
Our founder, Dr. Stephie Althouse, has worked and been around “geeks” (really smart people who are top experts in their respective field) all of her life. She knows what is required to maximize the success of leadership training for geeks (that is why we call it “Leadership Training for Geeks by Geeks”).
Here are ten important criteria that will help you choose the right leadership training program for your organization:
- Leadership training and business coaching for geeks work best when it is designed exactly for them.
- The coach/ trainer must understand their mindsets and working environment.
- He/she must be smart enough to follow and contribute to geeky conversations and thought processes.
- Programs must be to the point and intellectually stimulating.
- Even the coaches sense of humor and wit is important.
- The coach/trainer must be able to rapidly build rapport with people who don’t normally like to “coached”, and who need to feel respected and understood.
- The coach/trainer must have the right credentials to earn the respect of geeks in your organization.
- The coach/trainer must be able to work with introverted people as well as those who are quite outspoken.
- Leadership training and coaching programs must also be practical and produce a significant outcome – preferably quickly.
- Your organization must get a significant return-on-investment (ROI) from providing leadership programs to your top leaders and most promising emerging leaders.
Save Yourself a Lot of Time, Frustration & Money and Learn From People Who’ve Been There and Done That
Our founder, Dr. Stephie Althouse, started out her career as Ph.D. chemist, award-winning scientist, and innovator. She became a group leader heading up her own research area and then got intensely passionate about learning what it takes to successfully commercialize innovation.
MIT Technology Review Magazine recognized her as 1 of the 100 most promising young innovators under the age of 35. She won two coveted”Small Business InnoResearch Rearch” Awards as well.
Driving to succeed in her career and for her innovations to make a tangible difference in the world, she searched for courses on entrepreneurship, leadership, marketing and business. Despite piecing her business and leadership training together from these various courses over the years, she eventually had hit the ceiling of opportunity within the company whose business she had helped building.
To the shock of her colleagues, she quit her job and started her own company, consulting at the interface of technology development and business development.
Less than 3 years later, she found herself leading a client’s high-tech company – filled with very smart, tech-savvy professionals – out of serious trouble. She became the Visiting CEO™ and, through this work, built a reputation as a turnaround authority, of course with help from companies like Reputation Prime. You can check out the top online reputation management expert here. Working with her team, she raised revenues by 41% the first year.
Wealth, the way Dr. Stephie defines it, is like a three-legged stool
The three legs of the “wealth stool” are:
- Make money (profit),
- Make a difference with your talent,
- Create a great quality of life.
A few “miracle business turnarounds” later, Dr. Stephie Althouse (she goes by Dr. Stephie), was sought out to write and speak about her turnaround and business growth experiences.
In response, she wrote her first book “101 Quick Tips for High-Talent Companies.” Along with the book, she developed an innovative system called “Transforming Talent Into Wealth™” which is now the basis for her leadership training and business coaching with individuals and companies. The system is simple and fast to get started and proven to work.
Top-Notch CEO Offers a Number of Ways to Support You:
- Executive coaching for your top experts.
- Leadership Training and Business Coaching Circles for Geeks by Geeks – We have circles for executives and for emerging leaders.
- Customized workshops with specific leadership training subjects for your subject experts. These workshops are based on proven methods for accelerated learning (and that are actually fun to participate in).
- A Fresh Eyes Assessment™ of your high-talent company, department or team to gain a fresh perspective on opportunities and challenges that might have been in your blind spot, yet are likely to be critical to the sustainable growth and prosperous future of your company.
- Following the Fresh Eyes Assessment, we debrief you and co-create and action plan with you
- We also offer hands-on executive support for implementing such action plan.
- Executive support for business growth, turn around, and succession planning.
- Keynotes for your special events.
What Others are Saying About Us
“Dr. Stephie Althouse is an insightful and creative consultant and executive coach. Her Fresh Eyes Assessment has been integral to positioning the company for higher profits. She has displayed tireless dedication, tremendous skill and beyond-the-call-of-duty commitment in guiding us in our efforts to create our family legacy.” Eddie Moreno, Vice-President, Sales at The Arrowhead Leasing Company, Inc.
“My business had stopped growing at the rate I thought it could, and I knew that I needed some help. Dr. Stephie did an incredible job at identifying what makes my business special and helped me to maximize that uniqueness to help grow business. My business is running much smoother and more efficiently, and my stress level has dropped considerably.”Bill Walsh, District Manager, Farmers Insurance “Thank you for your strategic guidance and the “Fresh Eyes Assessment. Through your leadership, and in a short time, we exceeded our expectations in revenue and profitability, and Giroux Glass has emerged as a stronger, independent employee ownership managed company.” Anne-Merelie Murrell, CEO, Giroux Glass, Inc., Girouxglass.com
Come to our webinar and meet us. Meet Dr. Stephie there.
We call it the Top-Notch CEO Discovery Experience Webinar.
You might think “I’m not a CEO (yet)”. Well, that’s okay because consider this:
Think like a Top-Notch CEO and get rewarded like one.
Discover business and leadership training that is specifically designed for geeks (subject matter experts) by geeks. It works! Contact Us for A Free Conversation