Prior to the major announcement last week that Campbell’s was purchasing Rao’s pasta sauce, the company generated about $580 in top-line revenue which means their revenue-to-value ratio (the relationship between revenue generation and market value was 4.66 which is extremely high for a consumer-packaged food product.

But then again, Rao’s is not just another pasta sauce. Please note that for the sake of this blog post, I call it a pasta sauce and not a “gravy” as that is a different post for another day. Rao’s is considered by the “experts” and consumers as one of the best products in the market and the story from a small restaurant to purchase by Campbell’s is an incredible success story.

In many of Advantexe’s Business Acumen learning journeys, we spend a significant amount of time teaching participants concepts related to the value proposition, the value equation, and the value dashboard and often it’s challenging to understand the concepts without context. Experiencing and learning by doing in a digital business simulation experience is great, but having a real-world case study like Rao’s can add even more insights into the concepts.

It was one of the most intriguing After-Action Reviews (AARs) that I have facilitated in several years. As part of a leadership business simulation workshop, the five teams of five high-potential leaders were given 30 minutes to fill out a team survey and discuss and give each other feedback prior to the next round of the simulation. The client organization is a big DiSC house, so all of the high-potential leaders were supposed to provide their feedback through the lens of their DiSC personality style.

As the facilitator, it was my role to keep the dialogues going and to offer coaching when appropriate. As it turns out, I provided a lot of coaching.

One of the most enjoyable parts of being in the training and development world is the opportunity to stay in touch with the past participants of our many Business Acumen, Business Leadership, and Strategic Business Selling programs.

I recently had an email from a past participant who asked the following questions:

I hope you are doing well. I have a few questions about a company’s business strategy of staying private instead of going public.

Based on your experience is this due to the CEO/founder keeping control of his/her business? Is it looking for the right opportunity? What would be the benefits of being private instead of public?

Thank you!

Part 1 of our Making Yourself Indispensable blog series focused on building an understanding of Business Acumen, while part 2 featured tips on becoming a stronger leader. The last part of the series will discuss the importance of understanding the role of the commercial side (marketing, sales, service) of the business. While this blog post is essentially written for people on the commercial side (Key Account Management, Account Managers, Marketing, Sales Professionals, etc.), in today’s newly evolved business environment everyone sells. The more you can support the sales process, the more indispensable you are to your company.

Strategic Business Selling is defined as the capability of leveraging business acumen into the sales process so that you are seen by your customer as more than “just a salesperson”; you are a trusted strategic advisor, and you are offering a full value proposition.

Part one of Advantexe's Making You Indispensable blog series focused on the importance of business acumen. In part two of the series, we will focus on Business Leadership. Business leadership is defined as understanding how to execute your business strategy through people. Important capabilities of business leadership include setting goals, coaching, leading change, creating an environment of psychological safety, and resolving conflicts in an effective and positive manner that leads to success.

1) Set specific and realistic goals and objectives for your teams and projects

Great business leadership starts with setting specific goals and objectives. The mistake that too many leaders make is that the goals and objectives they set – assuming they actually are doing that – aren’t related to the strategy of the business and the expectations of the business, department, and team.

Goals should be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-based.

You may already know this, but it is always a great thing to take a moment and review everything including the goals for your top and not-so-top performers. Too many times they are outdated or worse yet, perceived differently by both parties. Take 15 minutes to do this at your next 1:1 with a direct report, the results will surprise you.