Xtra Mile Resources

Efficiency, getting things done, solving problems, agility. We live in a world where Amazon ruined all patience and if we can’t get what we want now, we don’t want it at all. What happens when all we want is more time in the day? More time for family, hobbies, or our business. Amazon fails to […]

Do you remember when eBay was the hottest marketplace in the country in the 2000’s? Every seller and buyer had a community rating. Knowing who we were dealing with made us more confident with the transaction. What if there was a simple tool for knowing the humans on your SMB team? What if you could […]

Wait? What?? “Women manage in a less hierarchical, more interactive, more collaborative way.” – Julia Boorstin, When Women Lead. My first real leadership experience was in the US Army. You might imagine a prideful, positional authority, ego-driven leadership culture; the structure certainly created this potential. The best commanders I worked for and […]

Accountability Series part 4 of 4 So far in this series, we have covered Tangibles, Intangibles, and Mindsets that create effective delegation and accountability for results. In our final contribution, we want to share some of our experience with leadership evolution in a fast-growing SMB. During our small business’s startup and foundation building, we use a set of frontline […]

Part 3 of a four-part series on Accountability We were working with state executive leaders from a nationwide company this week. Wrestling with multiple challenges that are common in fast-growing businesses. Many on the executive team are new to the role of leading leaders. There is a new toolbox they must get trained and comfortable […]

Last week we set the first cornerstone of accountability, The Tangibles: Creating Clarity. Did you download the quarterly dashboard? Have you put anything in writing for the first time? Cornerstone #2: The INTANGIBLES: Creating Connectedness The tangibles are easy. CLARITY gets the hands and feet moving. Intangibles are about the heart (mind, will, emotions) and are […]

Accelerated growth in the SMB world frequently breaks down when the team can’t perform at the next level. Owners and leaders get frustrated, and they want to know how to delegate better, and how to hold people accountable. ‘Show me the ‘easy button’ for results, Ross!’ There is no easy button. Building a […]

Maximum engagement happens when the team knows their leader believes in them AND is looking after their dreams and aspirations as much as his/her own. The source of this belief is the building of Relationship Capital over time. This simple, but not obvious or easy, leadership work empowers teammates who own their ‘stuff’ and deliver […]

Our prospects often ask for help with delegation, accountability, improving team performance, and building a winning culture. The results they want all depend on one communication skill: FEEDBACK. If you have a vision for accelerated growth for your SMB, master-model-teach this leadership lever. XM Truth: Everyone wants feedback, but few know how to give it effectively. […]

Imagine if we only expressed our affection to our spouses or significant others annually on February 14th. That one encounter would have to set the tone for the next 364 days. The pressure to get that exchange right would be tremendous. One thing is for sure, we would need a lot more counselors and family law practices. The […]

“Communication Breakdown, it’s always the same. Having a nervous breakdown, you drive me insane.” – Jimmy Page We were onboarding a new client last year. We began with high-impact personality/motivator assessments for the 6 executive leaders, then scheduled 1-1 debriefs to teach them the tool. But mostly we did a lot of listening. Everyone on the team said […]

My grandfather traveled back and forth between San Francisco and China as a fireman on a steamship. He was on a team that stoked the fires that kept the steam engines running. Stokers also worked on steam locomotives. The rider on the back of a tandem bicycle is called the stoker. The sole focus of this role is to add power […]

Tension. It’s all about the money, AND It can’t be all about the money. Both are true simultaneously. A constant tension as we lead our small businesses. XM Truth: Profit grows the business, and hearts drive engagement. We have clients with large and small teams. Out of generosity and/or a personal drive for financial success, […]

I have always been a mediocre athlete, gritty, and hard-working, but not a natural in anything. The sport of choice as a younger man was wrestling. Every day I sparred against 2x and 3x state champions; getting my butt kicked in practice accelerated my progress. They won a lot, and soon, I won a lot […]

As part of our internal planning ritual, I asked our team to write down a vision for themselves and their families for 2023. We had a rich conversation as we shared. Using our best ‘practice-what-we-preach’ commitment we leveraged that conversation for building the 2023 vision and business plan for XM Performance (and a new venture…stay […]

The new year is full of new possibilities. How will you make the most of it? It’s a question some of you have already answered through resolutions and setting goals. America’s Top New Year’s Resolutions for 2023 are: To exercise more To eat healthier To lose weight To save more money To spend more time […]

Advent means ‘to come‘. In the Christian faith, there are two parts to this idea. Jesus was born, and we celebrate his coming at Christmas; He will return. Four weeks of Advent build up our anticipation of good things to come in the reality of this broken world. (Adapted from a message from Ross Sawyers, 121 Community […]

We worked with two high-potential businesses this week; reaching for their $5MM breakthroughs. Strong foundations are built and the potential for growth in their markets is very high in 2023. Their major obstacles for next-level performance are leadership capacity, leadership capability, and caring too deeply. Obstacle 1: Technical mastery ≠ Leadership ability. To get to the next level, these owners need leaders […]

I had an up close and personal look at a high-performing team last month. I observed them working together almost non-stop for 18 days, 24 hours a day. You see, a fluke crash on a mountain bike nearly took me out and I watched this all from my hospital bed. In spite of the painful […]

There is something unique about the business owners we serve at XM Performance. They see opportunity They have a growth mindset They seek positive solutions, often in the midst of chaos They look out for the whole human, not just the employee who shows up for work They are overcomers Where does this mindset come […]