We recently connected with Mike Michalowicz and have shared our conversation below.

Mike, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What do you think Corporate America gets wrong in your industry? Any stories or anecdotes that illustrate why this matters?

Traditional Corporate America working models have stripped humanity from the workplace, treating people like a number, and worse yet, a machine. This creates unfulfilled, burnt out employees and increases the risk of decreased revenue as employees look for greener pastures. And, unmotivated team members aren’t going to grow your bottom line, resulting in business stagnation.

Overall, the workplace is in dire need of a revolution – one that has leaders leading humans like humans. After years of research and trials, I applied new leadership strategies to my own companies, truly supporting the well-being of my employees, and the results are astounding for us as a collective. It’s not rocket science, but when applied, supporting my team’s needs was the best thing I ever did for them, as well as my company.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

By the time I was 35, I had founded and sold two multi-million dollar companies.

Then I lost it all.

I was confident I knew the formula for success and started to invest as an angel investor, but I had lost my entire fortune.

So, I had to start from scratch again, but this time, I realized I could help others in my journey. Whatever I was learning that was going to help me create and run a profitable business, I could share it with others like me. Today I’m devoted to (my wife and family) and developing systems to grow healthy, sustainable businesses by creating innovative systems and impactful business strategies.

Along my journey, I created the Profit First system and wrote the book by the same name. I’ve also written eight other books and the latest, ALL IN, is what I hope is a catalyst for positive change in the workplace.

One of the best parts of all of this is I get to give keynote speeches around the world about how to build better businesses, and I never tire of it.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I have a love/hate relationship with social media, but it is a good free marketing tool if you use it correctly.

I think the best way to utilize social media effectively is to 1) know who your audience is so you can speak directly to them. Make it personal. Create an avatar of them. What is their pain point? What do they need from you that you can offer? When you do this, you’ll engage them more authentically. And 2) not every social media platform is the same. Facebook is for friends, Instagram is for images and engagement, and LinkedIn is where more serious business owners live. My point: it’s not one size fits all, so each post should reflect that. PS – NO selling on LinkedIn.

Have you ever had to pivot?

If you want to make it through life you have to be nimble. And as much as I hate to bring it up, there’s much to be learned through the results of the pandemic on businesses. I’d hate to see us not learn from history, not learn from those lessons.

For my company, we were able to work virtually until the dust settled. That was a big one for us. From there we began to offer a more flexible work schedule, as well as hybrid in-person and work-from-home models. As the owner of my organization, I had a wait-and-see mentality regarding whether that model would work and if things would run as efficiently as I’d like. I shouldn’t be surprised, but we rode out the storm and have continued to flourish. I give credit to two main components: we have systems in place that we can access from anywhere, and our employees are the most dedicated and loyal I have ever seen. That loyalty comes from how they are treated; the autonomy they have and the psychological ownership that goes along with that, as well as the fact that our leadership acknowledges the whole human. Being seen and accepted goes a million miles (and dollars).

Contact Info:

• Website: mikemichalowicz.com
• Instagram: @mikemichalowicz
• Facebook: Mike Michalowicz Author page
• Linkedin: Mike Michalowicz
• Youtube: @MikeMichalowiczOfficial