Proactive Planning Techniques

For my first 16 years in tech sales, I averaged 240K/year W2 income. In my last 4 years, I averaged 720K/year. In order to triple my income, I had to change my sales approach entirely. Here's what I changed: I started using a new approach that I now call Yo-yo selling: 🪀 Yo-yo selling emphasizes starting at the executive level, conducting thorough discovery within the organization, and then returning to the executive with a tailored business case. Like holding a yo-yo, you are constantly in communication with the Executive Sponsor and updating them as you collect information and conduct deep discovery lower down in their organization. You are literally going up and down the organization, but always taking everything back to the Executive Sponsor to surface your findings along the way. Here's a breakdown of the framework: 🎯 𝐈𝐚𝐧 𝐊𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐤’𝐬 “𝐘𝐨-𝐘𝐨 𝐒𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠” 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 This strategy involves a three-step process: 1. Start at the Top (Executive Engagement) Initiate contact with a senior executive to understand their most pressing challenges, the reasons behind the need for change, and the consequences of inaction. If your solution aligns with their needs, secure their sponsorship for further discovery within their organization. To secure the Executive Meetings, it's essential to create a tailored POV (point of view) on where you think you may be able to help them based on your initial research of their highest level goals and priorities. Chat GPT has made this research a LOT faster now. 2. Conduct In-Depth Discovery (Middle Management) Engage with department heads and key stakeholders to uncover the day-to-day challenges they face. Focus on understanding their processes, pain points, and the implications of current inefficiencies. Gather direct quotes and insights to build a comprehensive view of the organization's needs. 3. Return to the Executive (Present Findings) Compile the insights gathered into an executive summary and business case. Present this to the executive sponsor, highlighting how your solution addresses the identified challenges. Tailor your demonstration to focus solely on relevant aspects that solve their specific problems. 🚀 Why It Works 1. Accelerates Sales Cycles: Engaging executives early ensures alignment and expedites decision-making. 2. Builds Credibility: Demonstrates a deep understanding of the organization's challenges and showcases a tailored solution. 3. Facilitates Internal Buy-In: By involving various stakeholders, you ensure that the solution meets the needs of all parties, increasing the likelihood of adoption. I'm pleased to share that that Yo-yo selling was recently awarded as a Top 15 Sales Tactic of All Time by 30 Minutes to President's Club, and I received a cool plaque for entering the 30MPC Hall of Fame. Since I have no chance of entering the Hall of Fame for my baseball or golf game, this is a nice consolation prize 😁

The selective focus on ESG Too often, the ESG discourse narrows to carbon, diversity, and board composition. While important, this selective focus delegitimizes ESG and impoverishes corporate action. ESG encompasses a far broader spectrum of strategic priorities, such as: • Environmental: Biodiversity, natural resources, water cycles, natural ecosystems, circular economy and land use; • Social: Human rights, Health & safety, stakeholder engagement, wellbeing, labor practices, supply chain responsibility, inclusion and community impact; • Governance: Risk management, cybersecurity, executive compensation, anti-corruption, transparency, internal controls and business ethics. When organizations cherry-pick convenient metrics, they miss the holistic integration that drives real value. Research shows that companies pursuing comprehensive ESG strategies outperform those with isolated initiatives. The other dimensions aren't secondary. They're equally, if not more, critical for long-term resilience and authentic sustainability. Let's elevate the conversation. ESG strategy demands depth, not shortcuts. #ESG #Sustainability #CorporateStrategy #ESGReporting #SustainabilityStrategy

Knowing there are over 1 million start-ups in Europe, looking for the right one might appear like looking for the needle in a haystack. This is why it is important to have a good team and a structured, well-thought-through approach. We defined some parameters that work as a filter for me and my team Companion-M - stage, certain sectors, and a geographic scope. 📶 Stages: I decided to focus on early stages, mainly Pre-Seed and Seed (selectively Series A) rounds. This means higher risk and higher reward, while having less data points. In later stages, there might be more to evaluate and higher funding as the business has already established itself and operated successfully in the market. This offers more security of the investment but often also means smaller growth opportunities. 🌍 Geos: In Europe, we have a flourishing startup economy including some major hubs in big cities like Berlin, Paris, London, Stockholm, Munich. Still, I have also invested in a few startups located in the U.S. as it is a very interesting market. And I strive to invest more in the U.S. in the future despite current tailwinds. Furthermore, a big percentage of VC money was raised and deployed in the U.S. 🎯Sectors: Similar to the geographics but even more important - because it does not make sense to look at every area. Defining certain key sectors helps to build specific knowledge and to identify industry experts to work with. I mainly focus on B2B SaaS, software infrastructure, health, bio and cyber (selectively gaming and the creator economy). For me, these combine my personal interests, emerging technologies and societal-relevant and sustainability-oriented solutions.

HR doesn’t need more dashboards. It needs better listening. Most people teams measure what’s easy…like engagement scores or turnover. But the best teams? They build feedback loops that help them predict problems, not just react to them. This post gives you 11 of the most useful, often-overlooked loops you can implement across the employee lifecycle: 🟢 Week 2 new hire check-ins (capture early impressions) 🟠 Post-interview surveys (from both sides) 🔵 Onboarding reviews (day 90 is your goldmine) 🟡 Skip-level 1:1s (cross-level truth-telling) 🟣 Quarterly team health check-ins (lightweight, manager-led) …and 7 more. 📌 Save this if: • You’re building a modern HR function • You want fewer “We should’ve seen this coming” moments • You believe listening is strategy Which feedback loop is missing in your company?

Novartis has recently announced over 2,000 job cuts in the U.S., including around 400 roles at its East Hanover, New Jersey site — the company’s U.S. headquarters. The plan signals a clear intent to shift parts of its operations and talent footprint back toward Europe. This comes even as the company reports strong results: net income up 24% to $4B, free cash flow up 37% to $6.3B, and a $10B share buyback planned through 2027. While the headlines focus on layoffs, what’s really happening is a strategic rebalancing — relocating capabilities closer to R&D, manufacturing, and decision-making centers in Europe. And since Novartis’ global headquarters are in Switzerland, the shift naturally draws attention to the country’s role within this broader transformation. But the signal extends far beyond one company. Across life sciences and other technical industries, global organisations are re-evaluating how their European operations are structured — and where their critical talent should sit to drive long-term competitiveness. We’re already seeing this play out in practice — particularly in and around Switzerland, where: • Global companies are expanding or consolidating European operations around established Swiss hubs for R&D, regulatory, and leadership roles. • The competition for technical, scientific, and manufacturing talent has intensified, driving new emphasis on retention and internal mobility. • Local workforce planning is evolving as Swiss-based teams increasingly support wider EMEA mandates, creating both opportunity and pressure to scale the right capabilities locally. As this reshaping continues, the focus now turns to how companies prepare — both from a Talent Acquisition and business strategy perspective. Are leadership teams forecasting the right skill needs in Europe? Are TA and HR functions building local pipelines fast enough to meet demand? How are organisations ensuring they can attract, relocate, and retain the best talent amid increasing competition? My view: Switzerland and Europe are entering a pivotal moment. The companies that plan proactively — aligning workforce strategies with global shifts — will not only secure critical talent but also strengthen their long-term competitiveness. This is where strategic talent planning becomes business strategy. 💬 I’d love to hear from my network — TA, HR, and business leaders across Switzerland and Europe: How do you see this global talent shift influencing the way companies build and retain teams in Europe? And what do you think it will take to stay competitive in this new landscape? #TalentPartner #Switzerland #EMEA #LifeSciences #Pharma #Biotech #TalentStrategy #FutureOfWork #Hiring

The best reflection habit I follow every month: The Monthly Audit. In the hustle of daily tasks and long-term goals, it's easy to lose sight of how far you've come and where you're truly heading. Here are 2 steps I follow in my monthly audit routine: 1. Review & Reflect: ↳ Gather your tools:  Grab your journal, planner, or any medium that resonates with you. ↳ Recap the month:  Briefly list your goals, intentions, and major events. ↳ Reflect on progress:  For each goal, honestly assess your progress. Did you achieve what you set out to do? What were the roadblocks? Celebrate your wins, no matter how small. ↳ Identify patterns:  Look for recurring themes, challenges, or areas where you consistently excel. 2. Analyze & Adjust: ↳ Evaluate effectiveness:  Were your goals realistic? Did your chosen strategies work? ↳ Acknowledge roadblocks:  What held you back? Were these external factors or areas within your control? ↳ Adapt and adjust:  Based on your reflections, refine your goals for the next month. Adjust your strategies or timelines if needed. Remember, flexibility is key! Now the next step is to plan and prepare based on these insights. This has helped me navigate life with intention and purpose! I hope this helps. #growthmindset #audit #linkedintips #personalbranding

At a time when geopolitical uncertainties are on the rise, finding a solution to Europe’s productivity gap has never been more crucial. AI provides a unique opportunity for Europe to reinvent its economy and significantly boost its competitiveness. European firms are making progress but need to further leverage cloud, modernize data architecture, and focus on skilling to scale AI faster and unleash its full potential.  A coordinated industrial strategy, including shared AI infrastructure and investments will also avoid dispersion of initiatives and help businesses across all European countries access powerful computing, R&D, and training. Europe has all it needs to take advantage of the AI revolution. Now is the time to execute on it.  Accenture’s just launched report, 'Europe's AI Reckoning: Reinventing Industries for a New Era’, highlights three key actions your company must take to seize the opportunity: 1. Develop a ‘cognitive digital brain’: an AI powered central nervous system for enterprise decision-making and continuous learning. 2. Secure the digital core: reduce the vulnerabilities, redundancy and technical debt that rise with continuous technological transformation'. 3. Strategically decouple respond to sovereignty risks via three-layered decoupling approach: architectural, jurisdictional, supply chain.  We must turn principles into action and position Europe as a global leader in AI. Read the full report: https://lnkd.in/da6_Dumx #AI #Europe #DigitalSovereignty #Innovation #EuropeanCompetitiveness

Most sales leaders run their calendars backwards. They review calls after they happen. They review pipelines after deals stall. They review activity after the week is over. Then they wonder why they're always playing catch-up. I want to challenge every VP, Director, and Manager reading this: Open your calendar right now. Find every meeting with "review" in the title. Now flip it. Call review → Call prep Pipeline review → Pipeline planning Activity review → Activity planning Forecast review → Forecast building And move them earlier in the week. This is what I call becoming a Proactive Leader. Most one-on-ones are backward-looking. "What happened last week?" "How did that deal go?" "Why didn't you hit activity?" That's all after the fact. You can't change what already happened. Proactive one-on-ones are forward-looking. "What's the plan this week?" "What do you need to win that deal?" "How are we going to hit activity?" Same amount of time. Completely different results. Think about it: You spend 30 minutes reviewing a call that already happened. What if you spent those same 30 minutes prepping for the call before it happened? Role playing. Practicing objections. Planning the flow. Which one actually moves the needle? Here's my challenge: Over the next 90 days, flip your calendar from reactive to proactive. Every review meeting becomes a prep meeting. Every backward-looking conversation becomes forward-looking. Watch what happens to your team's results. Proactive leaders don't just inspect what happened. They architect what's going to happen. That's the difference.

Treating AI like a chatbot, AKA you ask a question → it gives an answer is only scraching the surface. Underneath, modern AI agents are running continuous feedback loops - constantly perceiving, reasoning, acting, and learning to get smarter with every cycle. Here’s a simple way to visualize what’s really happening 👇 1. Perception Loop – The agent collects data from its environment, filters noise, and builds real-time situational awareness. 2. Reasoning Loop – It processes context, forms logical hypotheses, and decides what needs to be done. 3. Action Loop – It executes those plans using tools, APIs, or other agents, then validates outcomes. 4. Reflection Loop – After every action, it reviews what worked (and what didn’t) to improve future reasoning. 5. Learning Loop – This is where it gets powerful, the model retrains itself based on new knowledge, feedback, and data patterns. 6. Feedback Loop – It uses human and system feedback to refine outputs and improve alignment with goals. 7. Memory Loop – Stores and retrieves both short-term and long-term context to maintain continuity. 8. Collaboration Loop – Multiple agents coordinate, negotiate, and execute tasks together, almost like a digital team. These loops are what make AI agents more human-like while reasoning and self-improveming. Leveraging these loops moves AI systems from “prompt and reply” to “observe, reason, act, reflect, and learn.” #AIAgents

Competitiveness of industry depends on prioritising decarbonisation. The European Commission released an important 400-page overview of the strategy ahead to drive competitiveness and sustainability plays a critical part. Here are the 13 key points on how industries across Europe can increase competitiveness through sustainability: 1. Energy Cost Reduction: Decarbonising through #renewable energy sources, like #solar and #wind, can help lower Europe’s currently high energy prices, which are 2-3 times those in the U.S. 2. Regulatory Alignment: The EU has ambitious climate goals, including reducing greenhouse gases by 55% by 2030. Aligning with these #regulations will help businesses avoid #compliance risks. 3. Access to #Funding: Companies that prioritize decarbonization can benefit from EU incentives and funds dedicated to clean technologies and energy efficiency projects. 4. Global Competitiveness: Decarbonisation offers the opportunity to lead in clean technologies, allowing European businesses to stay competitive in global markets. 5. Mitigating Trade Risks: As Europe introduces mechanisms like the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (#CBAM), prioritizing decarbonisation will protect businesses from carbon-related tariffs and penalties. 6. Driving Innovation: Decarbonization incentivizes technological advancements, driving growth in sectors like #energy storage, #electricvehicles, and hydrogen. 7. Market Expansion: Prioritizing decarbonisation aligns companies with growing global demand for sustainable #products and solutions, offering new #market opportunities. 8. Enhanced Public Image: Decarbonising demonstrates a commitment to #sustainability, improving #brand reputation and #consumer trust, which is increasingly important in today’s #markets. 9. Talent Attraction: Companies that lead in decarbonisation and sustainability tend to attract top #talent, especially among younger, environmentally-conscious #professionals. 10. Boost to Exports: Clean technology and low-carbon products are in growing demand globally, and European businesses that decarbonise can capitalise on this #trend. 11. Support for Hard-to-Abate Industries: Decarbonisation solutions, such as #hydrogen and #carboncapture, will help reduce #costs and improve efficiency in sectors like aviation and maritime. 12. Circular Economy Synergies: By integrating decarbonization strategies with #circulareconomy models, businesses can create sustainable, long-term growth while reducing waste and emissions. 13. Resilience Against Future Regulations: As #decarbonisation becomes a central focus of future EU and global regulations, businesses that act early can build resilience against stricter environmental laws. Link to full document: https://lnkd.in/dTedDMEg