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How to Break the Profitable Growth Ceiling
How to Increase Momentum to Grow How to Strengthen Your Competitive Strategy The 4 Levers for a Great Leadership Team How to Get Your Team Executing Efficiently How to Find Time to Work on Your Business How to Change Your Mindset to Grow and Thrive How a DIY Mindset Holds CEOs Back 8 Types of External Guidance Why Leadership Training Doesn't Work Are You Up For The Challenge? The 5 Criteria to Pick an Executive Team Coach Want to listen to the tip? Use the play button below. For other ways to navigate these challenging times with confidence, get the free complete Trade-War Success Guide for Small to Mid-Size Companies below. If you are a prairie CEO who wants to grow a thriving company through these turbulent times, more quickly, more easily and with less stress and headache, please contact me here.  How is your prairie-based small to mid-size company managing pricing and customer relationships through this trade war? Upward pressure on supply prices will ultimately mean needing to gauge carefully how much of those price increases can be passed on to customers in order to protect your bottom line. This will be trickier in some industries than in others depending on how price sensitive your customers are with your product or service, the level of competitiveness in the industry, how deep your competitors’ pockets are to weather potential losses, and what alternatives customers can turn to rather than accepting a higher price from your company or your competitors. A good tool to evaluate this is a Porter’s Five Forces analysis, which evaluates the competitive threats in the industry. Check your customer contracts and terms & conditions to ensure it’s clear that, if a customer purchases your product or service after tariffs are imposed in their country, the customer will have to pay them. Let customers know you are closely tracking supplier prices in order to give them some advance notice of any pricing increases they may see. If possible, don’t surprise your customers with sudden price increases. Aim to give them a certain amount of warning so they can plan accordingly in their business or family household. This shows you care about their cash flow, survival and wellbeing, and it will help maintain and even strengthen relationships with them, which will serve your business now and beyond the trade-war. In higher-ticket relationships, stay in touch with customers in order to understand how they are doing such that you can become aware of any risks to your receivables and/or sales volumes. For lower priced product or service relationships, monitor information about the balance sheet health of your customers on aggregate. You may want to check your customers’ creditworthiness to gauge their cash flow health. Continue to communicate the value and uniqueness of your product or services. While prices are important to customers of all kinds, the value of your offerings are just as important, if not more so. Reinforcing the difference you make for customers, and how your offerings are unique and valuable, addressing your core customers' key pain points, needs and wants, will increase your chances of retaining the business even if or when you have to increase prices. Continue marketing and selling aggressively to keep growing the business, and to replace customers who go elsewhere. Communicate regularly and frequently with customers. Clarity and consistency are critical. Empathy, caring and doing the right thing will go a long way to maintaining and strengthening these relationships through the trade war and beyond. For other ways to navigate these challenging times with confidence, get the free complete Trade-War Success Guide for Small to Mid-Size Companies below. If you are a prairie CEO who wants to grow a thriving company through these turbulent times, more quickly, more easily and with less stress and headache, please contact me here.
Want to listen to the tip? Use the play button below. For other ways to navigate these challenging times with confidence, get the free complete Trade-War Success Guide for Small to Mid-Size Companies below. If you are a prairie CEO who wants to grow a thriving company through these turbulent times, more quickly, more easily and with less stress and headache, please contact me here.  As a prairie CEO, how are you and your executive team proactively managing supply costs and supplier relationships during this trade war? Supply costs for resale or manufacturing are an obvious and significant issue for some companies (and we’ll get to that in a minute). But every Canadian company will experience increased overhead costs as a result of Canadian tariffs. So every company should be watching pricing on their overhead supplies. Office furniture, office equipment, printers, copies, computers, telephones, monitors, sign plates, white boards and other office items from the US are subject to Canadian tariffs. Ensure that all members of your executive team have their team members keep an eye on prices of any general office or business products they purchase and pick lower priced alternatives from their retailers, or switch suppliers as needed. For products, parts or materials you source from the US for resale or manufacturing have tariffs already imposed on them, find out what your suppliers are expecting in terms of price increases and when. And know what your contracts with suppliers say about price increases and which party will pay a tariff. In some cases, it may be possible to reduce or eliminate Canadian tariffs that have already been imposed or are imminent. You may be able to have a Canadian trade lawyer work with your US supplier to change the customs class the supplier’s product falls into so that it won’t be subject to tariffs. If the tariff on the US product is inevitable, looking for alternative suppliers, where possible, may be a wise strategy. While suppliers in other markets may be an option, consider alternative Canadian providers, given both the extra supply they may have while facing US tariffs on their products, as well the growing buy-Canadian sentiment. Manage changes in suppliers carefully to ensure as seamless an experience as possible for customers and to maintain good relationships should you want to go back to these suppliers in the future. If it’s not possible to change suppliers, and the supplier confirms a price increase, as usual, have them put it in writing. Negotiate a locked-in price even for a short period, so there is some level of certainty for a time, after which the situation can be re-evaluated. Stay in touch with suppliers to understand how their business is doing, and ideally their cash flow, such that you can be aware of any risks of them not being able to secure or produce the materials or you need. You may want to check your suppliers’ creditworthiness to gauge their cash flow health. If tariffs have yet to hit your suppliers’ products, know what countries your suppliers buy from in order to be aware of potential risks. Then ask suppliers to forewarn you of price increases as much as possible. Finally, research alternative suppliers to have as a back-up just in case things change with your suppliers. The key message here is: be proactive. Your bottom line, customers and employees will thank you for it. For other ways to navigate these challenging times with confidence, get the free complete Trade-War Success Guide for Small to Mid-Size Companies below. If you are a prairie CEO who wants to grow a thriving company through these turbulent times, more quickly, more easily and with less stress and headache, please contact me here.
Want to listen to the tip? Use the play button below. For other ways to navigate these challenging times with confidence, get the free complete Trade-War Success Guide for Small to Mid-Size Companies below. If you are a prairie CEO who wants to grow a thriving company through these turbulent times, more quickly, more easily and with less stress and headache, please contact me here.  Whether or not you buy products, parts or materials from the US, you may still face higher costs due to the ongoing trade war. There are four tariff drivers of higher costs. A couple of them are not so obvious:
Notice how these tariffs can stack up as these scenarios are combined. A US product can increase in price because it is produced with parts and materials from Canada or other countries that are subject to US tariffs, while that higher priced product can then also be subject to Canadian counter-tariffs, increasing its cost to companies and households here. The product’s price could be further increased by the US company bringing some part of its production back into the US. While these scenarios will be avoided in many cases by companies switching to suppliers in Canada or other countries, the simple fact remains that production costs and prices are likely to increase. Companies source products, parts and materials from companies in countries that can produce the quality of product they want at the lowest price, due to their lower production costs. As production is moved to other countries to avoid the high cost of tariffs, production costs and prices will increase, as long as those cost increases and capital investments are lower than the cost of the tariffs. As such, depending on the extent and amount of tariffs implemented, and how long they are in place, virtually every prairie-based company will face higher supply costs in some way, at some point or over time. Note that indirect price increases, as in points 2, 3 and 4 above, may take months, quarters or years to materialize. The Bank of Canada estimates it will take up to 3 years for the pricing effects of US tariffs and Canadian counter-tariffs to make their way through all parts of the Canadian economy. This could be further complicated and extended with US tariffs on other countries around the world. The bottom line is that, as long as this trade war continues, prices and costs for everyone are likely to increase, and significantly. And so, it’s important to be looking closely and proactively at your costs so you can make adjustments to your operations before they affect your bottom line. For other ways to navigate these challenging times with confidence, get the free complete Trade-War Success Guide for Small to Mid-Size Companies below. If you are a prairie CEO who wants to grow a thriving company through these turbulent times, more quickly, more easily and with less stress and headache, please contact me here. Want to listen to the tip? Use the play button below. Click here for our simplified list of the specific products subject to Canada’s March 4 and 13 counter-tariffs. For other ways to navigate these challenging times with confidence, get the free complete Trade-War Success Guide for Small to Mid-Size Companies below. If you are a prairie CEO who wants to grow a thriving company through these turbulent times, more quickly, more easily and with less stress and headache, please contact me here. The full CUSMA agreement can be found here:
https://ustr.gov/trade-agreements/free-trade-agreements/united-states-mexico-canada-agreement/agreement-between It includes a Rules of Origin document, which can be found here: https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/files/agreements/FTA/CUSMA/Text/04%20Rules%20of%20Origin.pdf For more detailed legal explanations of the US tariffs and Canada’s response, see this JDSupra article by Toronto law firm Stikeman Elliott LLP. https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/back-and-forth-levies-in-the-north-7197083/ *At this point, it is unclear whether US tariffs on steel and aluminum products are all encompassing or only on non-CUSMA-compliant products. The Stikeman Elliott LLP article indicates it only applies to non-CUSMA-compliant steel and aluminum products. While this March 12 Government of Canada announcements make no mention of that: https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/news/2025/03/canada-responds-to-unjustified-us-tariffs-on-canadian-steel-and-aluminum-products.html This April 8 government of Canada announcement also makes no mention of it in its summary of Quick Facts of the US’s tariffs and Canada’s counter-tariffs. https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/news/2025/04/canada-announces-entry-into-force-of-countermeasures-against-auto-imports-from-the-united-states.html As well, this Government of the United States FAQ page on steel and aluminum tariffs makes conflicting statements saying that “the duties are subject to a free trade agreement” AND that the “duties may not be waived due to a Free Trade Agreement”. https://www.cbp.gov/trade/programs-administration/entry-summary/232-tariffs-aluminum-and-steel/faqs  As a CEO of a prairie-based company, are you and your leadership team unclear as to what specific Canadian and US products are subject to tariffs? With the long list of US tariff announcements, delays and reprieves since January, and the multiple counter-tariffs announced by Canada, it’s easy to be confused about what Canadian and US products are actually subject to tariffs, and at what rates. As well, the US made all Canadian products that are compliant with the CUSMA (Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement) exempt from their tariffs, with the exception of Canadian automobiles. And so, what products are NOT CUSMA-compliant, and therefore subject to US tariffs? Most of Canada’s counter-tariffs target two specific government lists of products. Each list is hundreds of pages long. So we’ve summarized those lists here for easy reference. Let’s start with the US tariffs on Canadian products. Canadian CUSMA-compliant products:
Canadian non-CUSMA-compliant products:
Note that on April 9th, with Trump decreasing tariffs on most countries to 10% and putting a 90 day pause on the originally announced higher tariffs, it was thought that Canada may be subject to 10% tariffs, possibly across the board, rather than the 25% and 10% tariffs previously announced and implemented almost exclusively on non-CUSMA-compliant products. The US administration then changed, or clarified, their messaging, indicating that the US’s existing tariffs on Canada would not change with this announcement. Now, what Canadian products are non-CUSMA-compliant, and therefore subject to these US tariffs? It’s difficult, if not impossible, to come up with a definitive list. An internet search or AI query will come up dry. Whether a specific product is CUSMA-compliant depends on whether it meets the CUSMA Rules of Origin. As such, the same type of product made by different manufacturers may each have different CUSMA-compliant statuses depending on where they source their parts and materials. For example, an automobile must have 75% of its parts from the US, Canada or Mexico for it to be considered CUSMA-compliant, among other requirements. While a Honda compact sedan may fit these requirements, a Toyota compact sedan may not. Therefore, we were not able to find a “list of non-CUSMA compliant” products, or conversely a list of CUSMA-compliant products. That said, we would expect most prairie-based companies selling to US customers have already become acutely aware of their products being subject to the US’s new tariffs. How about Canadian counter-tariffs on US products? What specific US products are subject to these tariffs? Canada, for its part, has imposed three sets of counter-tariffs:
In terms of specific US products targeted by the March 4 and 13 tariffs, the government of Canada website has a webpage listing each set of products. However, these two webpages are hundreds of pages long and include painstakingly detailed definitions and descriptions of all the different variations of each product. So we’ve summarized them here for easy reference. The following categories of US products are subject to Canada’s 25% counter-tariffs imposed on March 4:
The following categories of US products are subject to Canada’s 25% counter-tariffs imposed on March 13:
See below for our simplified list of the specific products subject to Canada’s March 4 and 13 counter-tariffs. As we can see, Canada’s counter-tariffs on US products are broad. As such, many companies who resell products from the US, or who buy parts or materials from the US to manufacture their products, will see their supply costs increase, as long as these Canadian counter-tariffs are in place, and unless they find substitutes in Canada or elsewhere at similar prices. Even those companies who do not buy products, parts or materials from the US will likely see their costs increase, in the form of upward pressure on wages due to employees’ increasing cost of living. This will also likely put upward pressure on prices from companies’ Canadian suppliers and vendors, who will also experience these wage pressures. Over time, these tariffs, if they remain in place for some time, will likely affect the costs of nearly every company in every industry in Canada. Click here for our simplified list of the specific products subject to Canada’s March 4 and 13 counter-tariffs. For other ways to navigate these challenging times with confidence, get the free complete Trade-War Success Guide for Small to Mid-Size Companies below. If you are a prairie CEO who wants to grow a thriving company through these turbulent times, more quickly, more easily and with less stress and headache, please contact me here. The full CUSMA agreement can be found here:
https://ustr.gov/trade-agreements/free-trade-agreements/united-states-mexico-canada-agreement/agreement-between It includes a Rules of Origin document, which can be found here: https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/files/agreements/FTA/CUSMA/Text/04%20Rules%20of%20Origin.pdf For more detailed legal explanations of the US tariffs and Canada’s response, see this JDSupra article by Toronto law firm Stikeman Elliott LLP. https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/back-and-forth-levies-in-the-north-7197083/ *At this point, it is unclear whether US tariffs on steel and aluminum products are all encompassing or only on non-CUSMA-compliant products. The Stikeman Elliott LLP article indicates it only applies to non-CUSMA-compliant steel and aluminum products. While this March 12 Government of Canada announcements make no mention of that: https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/news/2025/03/canada-responds-to-unjustified-us-tariffs-on-canadian-steel-and-aluminum-products.html This April 8 government of Canada announcement also makes no mention of it in its summary of Quick Facts of the US’s tariffs and Canada’s counter-tariffs. https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/news/2025/04/canada-announces-entry-into-force-of-countermeasures-against-auto-imports-from-the-united-states.html As well, this Government of the United States FAQ page on steel and aluminum tariffs makes conflicting statements saying that “the duties are subject to a free trade agreement” AND that the “duties may not be waived due to a Free Trade Agreement”. https://www.cbp.gov/trade/programs-administration/entry-summary/232-tariffs-aluminum-and-steel/faqs  In terms of specific US products targeted by Canada’s March 4 and 13 counter-tariffs, the government of Canada website has a webpage listing each set of products. However, these two webpages are hundreds of pages long and include painstakingly detailed definitions and descriptions of all the different variations of each product. So we've created simplified lists of those products here for easy reference. Please note that we had an AI create these lists from the orginal Government of Canada webpages. While we had AI verify the accuracy of the lists, there may still be errors. For certainty on a product, search for and verify it on the webpage at the links provided below each list. The following US products are subject to Canada’s 25% counter-tariffs imposed on March 4, 2025: Honey: Natural honey. Tomatoes: Fresh or chilled tomatoes. Beans: Fresh or chilled beans. Nuts: Various other nuts. Citrus Fruit: Oranges, mandarins, clementines, grapefruit, pomelos, lemons, and limes. Melons: Watermelons. Peaches: Fresh peaches. Frozen Berries: Frozen raspberries, blackberries, mulberries, loganberries, currants, and gooseberries. Coffee: Roasted or unroasted coffee. Tea: Green, black, and partly fermented tea. Spices: Pepper, vanilla, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, mace, cardamoms, coriander, cumin, ginger, saffron, turmeric, thyme, bay leaves, and curry. Rye: Rye. Oats: Oats. Rice: Husked, semi-milled, or wholly milled rice. Rape Seeds: Low erucic acid rape or colza seeds. Vegetable Extracts: Various vegetable saps and extracts. Fish Oil: Fats and oils from fish. Ground-nut Oil: Crude ground-nut oil. Palm Oil: Palm oil and its fractions. Sunflower Oil: Sunflower-seed or safflower oil and fractions. Rape Oil: Rape, colza, or mustard oil and fractions. Crustaceans: Shrimps and prawns, not in airtight containers. Sugar: Cane or beet sugar and sucrose. Molasses: Molasses from sugar extraction or refining. Sugar Confectionery: Chewing gum, liquorice candy, toffee, and other sugar candies. Chocolate: Chocolate and food preparations containing cocoa. Food Preparations: Food preparations of flour, groats, meal, starch, malt extract, and milk products. Tobacco Products: Unmanufactured tobacco, cigarettes, cigars, and other manufactured tobacco substitutes. Sands: Silica and quartz sands. Perfumes: Perfumes and toilet waters. Cosmetics: Lip, eye, and manicure preparations, powders, and other beauty products. Hair Preparations: Shampoos, hair lacquers, and other hair care products. Oral Hygiene: Dentifrices and dental floss. Personal Care: Shaving preparations, deodorants, bath salts, and room deodorizers. Soaps: Soaps and surface-active products for washing. Casein: Casein, caseinates, and casein derivatives. Albumins: Egg and milk albumin and derivatives. Protein Substances: Peptones and milk protein substances. Plastic Coverings: Floor and wall/ceiling coverings of plastics. Plastic Sheets: Self-adhesive plates, sheets, film, foil, tape, and strip of plastics. Sanitary Ware: Baths, shower-baths, sinks, wash-basins, lavatory pans, seats, and covers of plastics. Plastic Containers: Sacks, bags, and other articles for the conveyance or packing of goods. Household Plastics: Tableware, kitchenware, and other household articles of plastics. Plastic Building Materials: Reservoirs, tanks, doors, windows, shutters, and other builders' ware of plastics. Rubber Tires: New and retreaded pneumatic tires for various vehicles. Rubber Articles: Floor coverings and mats of vulcanized rubber. Saddlery: Saddles and harnesses for animals. Luggage: Trunks, suitcases, handbags, wallets, and other similar containers. Leather Goods: Articles of apparel and accessories made of leather or composition leather, including gloves, mittens, mitts, belts, bandoliers, and other accessories. Gut Articles: Items made of gut, goldbeater's skin, bladders, or tendons, such as catgut and other related articles. Sawn Wood: Wood that has been sawn or chipped lengthwise, sliced, or peeled, exceeding 6mm in thickness, including coniferous and tropical wood varieties, as well as oak, beech, maple, cherry, ash, birch, and poplar. Veneer Sheets: Thin sheets of wood used for veneering, plywood, or similar laminated wood, not exceeding 6mm in thickness, including coniferous and tropical wood varieties. Shaped Wood: Wood that has been continuously shaped with features like tongues, grooves, rebates, or molding, including coniferous and non-coniferous types like bamboo and tropical wood. Wood Boards: Boards made of wood or other ligneous materials, such as particle board, oriented strand board (OSB), and fiberboard, including medium density fiberboard (MDF) and other types. Plywood: Plywood, veneered panels, and similar laminated wood, including those made of bamboo, tropical wood, and other wood varieties. Builders' Joinery: Wood products used in building construction, such as windows, doors, posts, beams, shuttering, shingles, flooring panels, and engineered structural timber. Wood Pulp: Mechanical and chemical wood pulp, including dissolving grades. Paper Products: Envelopes, toilet paper, handkerchiefs, tissues, towels, tablecloths, serviettes, cartons, boxes, bags, stationery items like notebooks and binders, and other paper articles. Printed Matter: Trade advertising material, commercial catalogs, pictures, designs, photographs, and other printed materials. Knotted Carpets: Carpets and other textile floor coverings that are knotted, whether made of wool, fine animal hair, or other textile materials. Woven Carpets: Carpets and other textile floor coverings that are woven, including hand-woven rugs, coconut fiber floor coverings, and pile construction carpets. Tufted Carpets: Carpets and other textile floor coverings that are tufted, including those made of wool, fine animal hair, nylon, and other man-made textile materials. Felt Carpets: Carpets and other textile floor coverings made of felt. Men's Outerwear: Overcoats, car-coats, capes, cloaks, anoraks, wind-cheaters, and wind-jackets for men or boys. Women's Outerwear: Overcoats, car-coats, capes, cloaks, anoraks, wind-cheaters, and wind-jackets for women or girls. Men's Suits: Suits, ensembles, jackets, blazers, trousers, bib and brace overalls, breeches, and shorts for men or boys. Women's Suits: Suits, ensembles, jackets, blazers, dresses, skirts, divided skirts, trousers, bib and brace overalls, breeches, and shorts for women or girls. Men's Shirts: Shirts for men or boys. Women's Blouses: Blouses, shirts, and shirt-blouses for women or girls. Men's Underwear: Underpants, briefs, nightshirts, pyjamas, bathrobes, and dressing gowns for men or boys. Women's Underwear: Slips, petticoats, briefs, panties, nightdresses, pyjamas, négligés, bathrobes, and dressing gowns for women or girls. T-shirts: T-shirts, singlets, and other vests. Knitwear: Jerseys, pullovers, cardigans, waistcoats, and similar knitted or crocheted articles. Blankets: Various types of blankets and traveling rugs. Linen: Bed, table, toilet, and kitchen linens. Curtains: Curtains, drapes, interior blinds, and valances. Furnishing Articles: Other furnishing articles, excluding those of heading 94.04. (This note is included in the document.) Sacks and Bags: Sacks and bags used for packing goods. Tarpaulins and Tents: Tarpaulins, awnings, sunblinds, tents, sails, and camping goods. Cleaning Cloths: Floor cloths, dish cloths, dusters, and similar cleaning cloths. Other Articles: Other made-up textile articles, specifically including life-jackets and belts for occupational use, excluding other items listed under 6307.90 that are specifically noted. Textile Sets: Sets of woven fabric and yarn for making textile articles. Worn Clothing: Worn clothing and other worn textile articles. Rags and Scrap: Used or new rags, scrap twine, cordage, rope, and cables. Waterproof Footwear: Waterproof footwear with rubber or plastic outer soles and uppers. Other Footwear: Various other footwear with rubber or plastic outer soles and uppers. Leather Footwear: Footwear with leather uppers and various types of outer soles. Textile Footwear: Footwear with textile uppers and various types of outer soles. Other Footwear: Other types of footwear. Hats and Headgear: Various types of hats and headgear, including safety headgear. Sanitary Fixtures: Ceramic sinks, wash basins, baths, toilets, and similar items. Glassware: Tableware, drinking glasses, and other decorative glassware. Precious Materials: Diamonds, silver, and platinum in various forms. Jewelry: Articles of jewelry and imitation jewelry. Stoves: Domestic cooking appliances made of iron or steel. Hand Tools: Saws, pliers, wrenches, screwdrivers, and various other tools. Cutlery: Knives, razors, scissors, and other cutlery items. Tableware: Spoons, forks, ladles, and other kitchen or tableware. Locks: Padlocks and other locks made of base metal. Fans: Table, floor, and other types of electric fans. Refrigeration: Refrigerators and freezers for household use. Kitchen Machinery: Equipment for cooking, washing dishes, and other kitchen tasks. Snow Removal: Snow-ploughs and snow-blowers. Lawn Mowers: Mowers for lawns, parks, and sports grounds. Washing Machines: Household or laundry-type washing machines. Textile Machinery: Machines for drying textiles. Power Tools: Pneumatic and electric hand tools. Vacuum Cleaners: Vacuum cleaners with electric motors. Domestic Appliances: Food grinders, mixers, juice extractors, and other appliances. Personal Care: Shavers, hair clippers, and hair-removing appliances. Hair Appliances: Hair dryers, curlers, and hand dryers. Irons: Electric smoothing irons. Ovens: Microwave ovens and other cooking ovens. Coffee Makers: Electric coffee and tea makers. Toasters: Electric toasters. Vaporizers: Electronic cigarettes and similar devices. Motorcycles: Various types of motorcycles and related vehicles, including those with different engine sizes and electric motors. Unmanned Aircraft: Different kinds of unmanned aircraft, including those designed for passenger transport and remote-controlled models with varying weights. Firearms: Revolvers, pistols, shotguns, rifles, and other related devices, including those used for sporting, hunting, and signaling. Air Guns: Spring, air, or gas guns and pistols. Ammunition: Various types of ammunition, including shotgun cartridges and other cartridges for different purposes. Seats: A range of seats, including swivel seats, convertible seats, and seats made from different materials like wood, metal, cane, or rattan. Furniture: Metal, wooden, and plastic furniture for offices, kitchens, bedrooms, and other uses, including items made from bamboo and rattan. Bedding: Mattress supports, mattresses, quilts, bedspreads, eiderdowns, duvets, pillows, and cushions. Lighting: Chandeliers, ceiling lights, table lamps, floor lamps, Christmas tree lights, and other electric and non-electric lighting fixtures. Games: Coin-operated games and playing cards. Lighters: Pocket lighters, both refillable and non-refillable. Paintings: Original paintings, drawings, and pastels by artists. The following products are subject to tariffs once their import volume has reached a certain quota. Live Poultry: Chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, and guinea fowl. Poultry Meat: Fresh, chilled, or frozen cuts and offal of chickens and turkeys. Poultry Fat: Fat from chickens and turkeys, not rendered or extracted. Processed Poultry: Salted, in brine, dried, or smoked meat and offal of chickens and turkeys. Dairy Products: Milk, cream, yogurt, buttermilk, whey, butter, cheese, and curd. Eggs: Fresh, preserved, or cooked birds' eggs, and egg yolks. Wheat: Durum and other types of wheat. Barley: Barley. Wheat Flour: Wheat or meslin flour. Margarine: Margarine and butter substitutes. Sausages: Sausages and similar products made from meat and poultry. Prepared Meat: Prepared or preserved meat and offal. Pasta: Uncooked pasta, including egg pasta. For the full 370-page list from the government of Canada, see: https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/news/2025/03/list-of-products-from-the-united-states-subject-to-25-per-cent-tariffs-effective-march-4-2025.html The following US products are subject to Canada’s 25% counter-tariffs imposed on March 13, 2025: Candles: Tapers and similar items. Adhesives: Glues and adhesive products for retail sale. Umbrellas: Garden umbrellas and other types of umbrellas, including those with telescopic shafts. Walking Sticks: Canes, including those for hospital use. Tableware: Porcelain, china, and ceramic tableware, kitchenware, and household articles. Ornamental Ceramics: Statuettes and other decorative ceramic items. Other Ceramic Articles: Various ceramic products not elsewhere specified. Gold: Unwrought and semi-manufactured gold, excluding monetary forms. Platinum: Unwrought, semi-manufactured platinum, and platinum powder. Precious Metal Scrap: Waste and scrap of gold, platinum, and other precious metals. Pearl Articles: Items made from natural or cultured pearls. Stone Articles: Items made from precious or semi-precious stones. Imitation Jewelry: Various types of imitation jewelry, including cuff-links, studs, and brass chains. Iron and Steel Ingots: Basic forms of iron and non-alloy steel. Semi-Finished Steel: Rectangular and other semi-finished steel products. Flat-Rolled Steel: Various forms of flat-rolled iron and non-alloy steel, including hot-rolled, cold-rolled, and coated types. Steel Bars and Rods: Hot-rolled, forged, and other bars and rods of iron and non-alloy steel. Steel Shapes and Sections: Angles, shapes, and sections of iron and non-alloy steel. Steel Wire: Wire of iron and non-alloy steel, both coated and uncoated. Stainless Steel: Ingots, semi-finished products, flat-rolled products, bars, rods, and wire of stainless steel. Alloy Steel: Ingots, semi-finished products, flat-rolled products, bars, rods, and wire of other alloy steel types. Steel Piling: Sheet piling and welded angles, shapes, and sections of iron or steel. Railway Materials: Track construction materials including rails, switches, and other parts for railways or tramways. Seamless Pipes: Tubes and pipes made of iron or steel without any seams, used for various purposes including oil and gas pipelines. Welded Pipes: Other tubes and pipes, welded or similarly closed, used in various applications such as oil and gas pipelines and casing. Pipe Fittings: Connectors and accessories for tubes and pipes, like couplings, elbows, and flanges, made of iron or steel. Structural Parts: Components used in building structures such as bridges, towers, doors, and scaffolding, made of iron or steel. Storage Containers: Tanks, reservoirs, and containers for various materials (excluding gases), of different sizes and capacities, made of iron or steel. Gas Containers: Containers specifically designed for compressed or liquefied gas, made of iron or steel. Wire and Cables: Stranded wire, ropes, cables, and similar items made of iron or steel, not electrically insulated. Barbed Wire: Barbed wire and twisted wire used for fencing, made of iron or steel. Wire Products: Cloth, grills, netting, fencing, and expanded metal made of iron or steel wire. Chain Products: Different types of iron or steel chains and their parts, including roller chain, skid chain, and stud-link chain. Anchors: Anchors and grapnels, along with their parts, made of iron or steel. Fasteners: Nails, tacks, drawing pins, corrugated nails, staples, screws, bolts, nuts, rivets, cotters, washers, and similar articles of iron or steel. Pins: Sewing needles, knitting needles, bodkins, crochet hooks, embroidery stilettos, safety pins, and other pins of iron or steel. Springs: Various types of iron or steel springs and leaves for springs. Stoves and Parts: Stoves, ranges, cookers, barbecues, braziers, gas-rings, plate warmers, and their parts made of iron or steel. Heating Equipment: Radiators for central heating, air heaters, and hot air distributors, and their parts made of iron or steel. Household Items: Table, kitchen, and other household articles, iron or steel wool, and pot scourers made of iron or steel. Sanitary Ware: Sinks, wash basins, baths, and other sanitary ware items and parts made of iron or steel. Cast Iron/Steel Articles: Other cast articles of iron or steel, excluding certain oil and gas well and potash/rock salt deposit equipment. Iron/Steel Articles: Other articles of iron or steel, forged, stamped, or wired, excluding specific wellhead tubing heads and casing head spools, and certain oilfield-related couplings and fishing tools. Unwrought Aluminum: Aluminum in its raw, unprocessed form. Aluminum Bars/Rods/Profiles: Aluminum shapes such as bars, rods, and profiles. Aluminum Wire: Aluminum wire of varying dimensions. Aluminum Plates/Sheets/Strip: Flat aluminum pieces exceeding 0.2 mm in thickness. Aluminum Foil: Aluminum foil, backed or not, less than 0.2 mm thick. Aluminum Tubes/Pipes: Tubes and pipes made of aluminum. Aluminum Fittings: Couplings, elbows, and sleeves for aluminum tubes or pipes. Aluminum Structures: Structures and structural parts made from aluminum, excluding prefabricated buildings of heading 94.06. Aluminum Cables: Aluminum stranded wire, cables, and plaited bands. Household Aluminum: Tableware, kitchenware, and sanitary ware made of aluminum. Other Aluminum Articles: Nails, tacks, screws, and various other aluminum items, excluding certain items for specific manufacturing processes or scientific uses. Hand Tools (Agriculture): Spades, shovels, mattocks, picks, hoes, forks, rakes, axes, bill hooks, secateurs, pruners, scythes, sickles, hay knives, hedge shears, and timber wedges, excluding certain heads for manufacturing and climbing equipment. Saw Blades: Blades for various types of saws, including band, circular, and chain saws. Hand Tools (General): Files, rasps, pliers, pincers, tweezers, metal cutting shears, pipe-cutters, bolt croppers, perforating punches, hammers, and sledge hammers, excluding certain climbing equipment and heads for manufacturing. Interchangeable Tools: Tools for pressing, stamping, punching, tapping, threading, drilling, boring, broaching, milling, turning, and rock drilling, excluding specific tools with cermet working parts and certain nozzles for vacuum cleaners. Machine Blades: Knives and cutting blades for machines and mechanical appliances. Cermet Tool Tips: Plates, sticks, and tips for tools, made of cermets. Hand-Operated Appliances: Mechanical appliances for food or drink preparation. Locks: Padlocks, key-operated locks, combination locks, and lock parts, specifically excluding locks of a kind used for furniture and certain locks for portfolios, luggage, tackle boxes, and window manufacture. Fittings for Furniture/Buildings: Hinges, castors, door exit devices, window operators, and other fittings for furniture and buildings, excluding certain specific items used in window manufacturing and railway coaches. Safes and Boxes: Armored safes, strong-boxes, and cash boxes. Office Equipment: Filing cabinets, card-index cabinets, paper trays, and other similar office equipment. Office Articles: Fittings for binders and files, letter clips, paper clips, and staples, excluding certain fittings for multiple ring binders. Bells and Ornaments: Bells, gongs, statuettes, frames, and mirrors, specifically excluding church bells. Flexible Tubing: Tubing made of iron, steel, or other base metals. Clothing Accessories: Hooks, eyes, eyelets, tubular rivets, and other parts. Packing Accessories: Stoppers, caps, lids, and other packing items. Sign Plates: Name-plates, address-plates, and similar plates. Welding Products: Electrodes, cored wire, and rods used for soldering, brazing, and welding. Water Heaters: Non-electric instantaneous or storage water heaters, including gas and solar types. Jacks and Hoists: Jacks and hoists used for raising vehicles, including hydraulic types. Printers and Copiers: Printers and copiers capable of connecting to a computer or network. Computers: Portable and other automatic data processing machines, including input/output units and storage units. Electric Lamps: Portable electric lamps, including flashlights and miners' safety lamps. Electric Heaters: Electric instantaneous or storage water heaters and electric space heating apparatus. Telephones: Line telephone sets with cordless handsets, smartphones, and other telephones for cellular or wireless networks, as well as network communication equipment. Audio Equipment: Microphones, loudspeakers, headphones, and audio-frequency electric amplifiers. Monitors and Televisions: Monitors not incorporating television reception apparatus, and color high-definition televisions with flat panel screens. Vehicle Windows: Front windscreens (windshields), rear windows, and other specified windows for motor vehicles. Watches: Wristwatches, electrically operated or with automatic winding. Seats: Chairs and related items, including parts of wood and other parts. Furniture: Other furniture items, including parts of wood and other parts. Bedding: Mattress supports, sleeping bags, and similar furnishings. Lighting: Luminaires, lighting fixtures, illuminated signs (including LED), and parts of glass, plastics, and other materials. Buildings: Prefabricated buildings, including modular units of steel, and silos. Toys: Wheeled toys for children, dolls' carriages, and other toys. Games: Video game consoles and machines, as well as other parlour games. Festive Articles: Items specifically for Christmas festivities and other festive articles. Sports Equipment: Skis, ski bindings, water-sport equipment (including sailboards), golf equipment (including balls), table-tennis equipment, rackets (including tennis and badminton), sports balls (including tennis and inflatable), and general exercise equipment. Fishing Tackle: Fishing rods, reels, lines (including retail packaged lines), and other fishing requisites. Amusement Rides: Roller coasters, carousels, swings, roundabouts, dodge'em cars, motion simulators, moving theaters, water rides and water park amusements. Fairground Amusements: Various items typically found at fairgrounds. Travelling Theatres: Mobile theatrical productions. Brooms & Brushes: Various types of brooms and brushes made from twigs or other materials. Toilet Brushes: Brushes for personal use, excluding electric toothbrushes. Artists' Brushes: Brushes used for painting and cosmetic application. Paint Applicators: Rollers and pads used for painting. Machine Brushes: Brushes that are parts of machines or vehicles. Other Cleaning Tools: Various other types of brooms, floor sweepers, and mops. Hand Sieves: Manual tools for sifting or straining. Travel Sets: Kits containing personal toilet items, sewing supplies, or shoe/clothes cleaning items. Writing Boards: Slates and boards with surfaces for writing or drawing. Hand Stamps: Date, sealing, or numbering stamps designed for hand operation. Lighters: Table lighters and other types of lighters. Smoking Pipes: Pipes and pipe bowls, specifically meerschaum pipes, excluding those composed in part of briar wood, and roughly shaped blocks of wood or root for pipes. Combs & Slides: Hair combs, hair-slides, and similar items. Toilet Sprays: Scent sprays and similar toilet sprays. Powder Puffs: Pads for applying cosmetics or toilet preparations. Tripods: Tripods for photographic cameras, monoculars, and other instruments. For the full 225 page list from the government of Canada, see: https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/news/2025/03/list-of-products-from-the-united-states-subject-to-25-per-cent-tariffs-effective-march-13-2025.html If you are a prairie CEO who wants to grow a thriving company through these turbulent times, more quickly, more easily and with less stress and headache, please contact me here. https://www.wellspring.co/contact-us.html Want to listen to the tip? Use the play button below. For other ways to navigate these challenging times with confidence, get the free complete Trade-War Success Guide for Small to Mid-Size Companies below: Want to listen to the tip? Use the play button below. For other ways to navigate these challenging times with confidence, get the free complete Trade-War Success Guide for Small to Mid-Size Companies below:  Does your business have a high proportion of US customers? Has your industry already been directly affected by US tariffs? Or are tariffs looming? If you rely on US customers, and they have other options, they will likely consider shifting to suppliers in the US or other countries, especially if those tariffs are made “permanent”. There is however a great deal of uncertainty about what US tariffs will go ahead, and if they do, for how long and at what levels. It’s unknown whether a trade deal will be worked out between Canada and the US. If so, this could bring back an almost entirely free trade arrangement. Or it could result in lower tariff rates on Canadian products than previously announced. US companies or households who purchase Canadian products with high switching costs may take pause before deciding to go to a US provider. Switching early may not be worth it in the end, and may be detrimental to those customers, if tariffs end up being lower or eliminated. That said, deciding whether to “wait and see” may not be clear-cut for many buyers. If they do switch early, only to find that tariffs don’t last or are lower than expected, they may not be willing to switch back. It may not be worth it for them by then. Therefore, you may want to consider helping them put off the switching decision by covering all or part of the new tariff through a temporary discounted price, until there is some clarity on tariff outcomes. This could allow you to keep those customers while working on alternate plans to reduce or eliminate the impact of potential tariffs. Whether a longer-term tariff on your product is ambiguous or not, you may have an advantage if your product has unique highly valued attributes relative to options in the US. This could be a sufficient reason for your US customers to continue doing business with you. However, you will likely have to work hard to make that case. One shouldn’t assume a customer will make that choice on their own. If not reminded, customers can easily forget the unique value of a product they now take for granted. If losing US customers is unavoidable, the other obvious solution is to find other markets for your product(s). Even the option of offering new products in the US, that are not currently facing tariffs, may be risky. The scope of US tariffs could potentially change at any time. Those alternate markets may include looking abroad. But the quicker win may be looking to Canadian markets. As Canada places its own retaliatory tariffs on US products, certain Canadian companies and consumers will face much higher prices for American products. In that context, your product may be a more price-competitive and appealing alternative. Even under the simple threat of tariffs, Canadians are choosing more and more to buy Canadian. The opportunity for your currently US-focused business is to connect with those Canadian buyers. If your industry is facing a continued threat of tariffs, say after a tariff implementation has been delayed, or through trade talks, it may also be in your interest to pursue new geographic markets to protect against potential tariffs. Even if tariffs are ultimately not imposed on your industry, you may still want to explore new markets. There seems to be a growing trend of protectionist sentiment in the US. Therefore, the risk of US tariffs on Canadian products by future US administrations may not go away, even if US tariffs are not ultimately imposed by this administration. Businesses in industries that have not been ear-marked for upcoming tariffs may also want to consider new markets. This could also help reduce the risk of future tariffs and increase their confidence in the growth potential for their business. Yet another option for Canadian companies reliant on US customers is to move their operations to the US. However, most small to mid-size companies in the prairies are privately-owned. These owners are often highly committed to their communities. Therefore, moving to the US may not be an option from a values perspective. If no other options are available, a wholescale business model shift may be required. If your product is facing US tariffs, and parts or materials you source from the US face retaliatory tariffs by Canada, the problem is even larger. US customers will be hard to keep AND you’ll face squeezing margins. More next week on managing supply cost increases due to Canadian retaliatory tariffs. For other ways to navigate these challenging times with confidence, get the free complete Trade-War Success Guide for Small to Mid-Size Companies below. Want to listen to the tip? Use the play button below. For other ways to navigate these challenging times with confidence, get the free complete Trade-War Success Guide for Small to Mid-Size Companies below:  Is your small to mid-size company feeling the pinch of the trade war? As a CEO in the prairies, you're not alone. I've created a FREE "Trade-War Success Guide" specifically for leaders like you. Learn how to navigate uncertainty, manage cashflow, keep your team engaged, and find opportunities amidst the challenges.  I’m always delighted when I read a Patrick Lencioni book. I enjoy both his clear take on things and his user-friendly writing style. His best-seller, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, is no exception. In the business fable style that Lencioni is famous for, he tells the story of the leadership team of a technology company. In it, he shows how leadership teams can use his simple model to deliberately improve their alignment, execution and results. Lencioni covers the five critical dysfunctions of a team, which each build on the other. They include: 1) absence of trust - not feeling comfortable being open, vulnerable and real - which leads to 2) fear of conflict - leaving things unsaid and avoiding sharing differing opinions - and therefore 3) lack of commitment - team members don't feel decisions are appropriate or feasible - which results in 4) avoidance of accountability - hiding performance, blaming or making excuses - and therefore 5) inattention to (team) results - not focusing on true progress and organizational impact. After the story, further details on the model follow with tips for working on each dysfunction. Out of all the team effectiveness frameworks I’ve studied and used, this one is the simplest. Yet, it’s still completely relevant and applicable. The Five Dysfunctions framework is also one of the tools in the Scaling Up system and the 7 Attributes of Agile Growth framework that we use with CEOs and leadership teams of mid-sized prairie-based companies. Book: 229 pgs, 3h45m audio. Soundview Summary: 8 pgs, 19m audio. Get-Abstract summary: 5 pgs, 10m audio. How can you strengthen your leadership team? To find out what you can improve in your leadership team to grow more easily, quickly and profitability, try our complimentary Agile Growth Checklist*. This self-service questionnaire takes 5 to 10 minutes to complete. You'll receive the checklist with your responses immediately. Within 24 hours, you'll receive a compiled report highlighting areas to improve. This report is complementary and involves no obligation. Complete section 1 and 4 to check your leadership team* and accountability processes*. Or complete all 7 sections to find out how your company is doing in each of the 7 areas needed to produce more rapid, profitable and sustainable growth. *All of Patrick Lencioni’s best practices are included in our Agile Growth Checklist, as well as many others developed by world-renowned business leaders, researchers and professionals.
 Making good decisions in this trade war relies on having good information. As a prairie CEO, where are you getting yours? Decisions are only ever as good as the information and assumptions on which they are based. Therefore, it’s important to consider the following: Know and face the key current facts about the trade war. Keep up to date on the latest decisions by governments, in the US, Canada, and abroad. Use multiple credible, trustworthy, factual, balanced news and information sources. With economic forecasts, check their assumptions. Keep in mind that most forecasts are based on recent economic data, how things are trending currently and what is currently known. That trend line and those conditions can change, which leads to several updated forecasts over time. To get a better sense of what could happen, look for forecasts with more than one potential scenario, rather than only one forecasted outcome. Avoid getting your news from social media. As we know, there is often false information or the information is biased. Recognize and work with the human tendency to initially overlook weak signals, then overreact to emerging issues before we eventually take a more calibrated view. We don’t notice things starting to flare up. Then, when we realize there’s a real issue, we may feel panic for being unprepared, and can overact and make poor decisions. Ultimately, we will come to a more balanced, measured view. This can happen even if we have been through similar situations in the past, notably the 2008-2009 financial crisis and the pandemic-induced downturn just five years ago, and the subsequent supply-chain shortages in the couple of years after. A great way to filter and make sense of information is for you and your leadership team to do a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) exercise. It helps bring clarity to what is happening inside and outside the business that is most relevant for decision-making. A good business growth executive team coach should be able to guide you through this exercise. For other ways to navigate these challenging times with confidence, get the free complete Trade-War Success Guide for Small to Mid-Size Companies below.  Navigating a trade war can feel like sailing through a storm. But remember, you're the captain of your ship. Small to mid-size companies face uncertainty every day. This trade war includes some of that kind of uncertainty. How much will supply costs rise? What will happen to inflation? What will happen to exchange rates, interest rates, etc.? What will happen to our customers and markets? However, there is an additional kind of uncertainty present in a trade war like this one: complete unpredictability. The US tariff decisions that triggered this trade war have been and are still being made by one person, the President of the United States. It’s very difficult, if not impossible, to tell what decision he will make next. There are no emerging trends to track and predict. This is not driven by economic data that can be modeled. Nor does much of it seem logical, rational, or informed. We may one moment think we know what will happen next, and then things go very differently. We may think we have some insight into the intentions and strategy of the US president. Then he makes a very different decision, and we realize we were wrong. The chaos, uncertainty and unpredictability can trigger feelings of stress and anxiety. And CEOs are not immune. This trade war can also trigger stronger feelings. Millions, if not billions, of peoples’ lives could be affected. And yet the President’s actions may seem to some to demonstrate little care for those people. And his approach to the situation can seem unethical and inhumane to many. If not mindful, we can find ourselves feeling frustrated, angry, disappointed, or bewildered. This does not bode well for our ability to deal with the situation for and with our employees, customers, suppliers, and business, let alone prepare for what could unfold. So, I invite you to ask yourself the following self-care questions in order to be your best, as you navigate this journey as a human being:
Never give these things up. There may be challenging days ahead. We need all our faculties to lead, make difficult decisions, and model what we expect from our team and employees. For other ways to navigate these challenging times with confidence, get the free complete Trade-War Success Guide for Small to Mid-Size Companies below: Want to listen to the tip? Use the play button below. How can a great business growth & executive team coach help you grow a thriving company? To find out what areas a qualified executive team coach can help you improve in to grow more easily, quickly and profitability, AND enjoy the ride, try our complimentary Agile Growth Checklist. This self-service questionnaire takes 5 to 10 minutes to complete. You'll receive the checklist with your responses immediately. Within 24 hours, you'll receive a compiled report highlighting areas to improve. Find out how your company is doing in each of the 7 areas needed to produce more rapid, profitable and sustainable growth. This report is complementary and involves no obligation.  When members of our leadership team aren’t performing, it’s easy to jump to blame. But that gets us nowhere. Instead, we can ask ourselves “how am I contributing to the situation?”. As the head of a company, our leadership has a huge impact on the people we lead. It can either support or stifle performance. So getting the most out of the leaders on our team requires us to first look in the mirror. Every CEO I’ve worked with has had to take this step at some point to see meaningful improvement in their team and company. In this Gravitas Impact Premium Coaches podcast, my colleague Graham Mitchell in Johannesburg, South Africa, shares two stories of CEOs who built A Player leadership teams by considering how their own leadership style was supporting or hindering their efforts. Subscribe to Gravitas Impact Podcast: Android
How can you develop more A-players on your leadership team? To find out how to develop more A-player leaders to grow more easily, quickly and profitability, AND enjoy the ride, try our complimentary Agile Growth Checklist. This self-service questionnaire takes 5 to 10 minutes to complete. You'll receive the checklist with your responses immediately. Within 24 hours, you'll receive a compiled report highlighting areas to improve. Complete section 2 to check your talent processes. Or complete all 7 sections to find out how your company is doing in each of the 7 areas needed to produce more rapid, profitable and sustainable growth. This report is complementary and involves no obligation.  If you think you’re a fit for business growth and executive team coaching, you may be ready to look for a coach who’s a fit for you.
In my experience working with executive teams over the last 20 years, I’ve found there are five key criteria to consider in an executive team coach:
Knowledge Whether you’re looking to more easily grow your company, get more profitable, or have more time or quality of life, you’ll want an executive team coach who knows the right best practices to help you and your team get there. The easiest and best way to figure this out is by looking at what methodologies they use and whether those align with what you want to achieve. There are several reputable, holistic methodologies developed for senior leadership teams of midsize companies. These include: Scaling Up, the 7 Attributes of Agile Growth, EOS (the Entrepreneurial Operating System), Metronomics, the 7 Stages of Growth, among others. A coach that uses a reputable methodology will help ensure your team learns and implements best practices that are tried, tested and true, not simply based on the latest business fad or one person’s opinion. Note that even the creators of these methodologies haven’t developed any fundamentally new best practices. They’ve only curated and compiled best practices that have already been researched and developed by the world’s best thought leaders and applied in the most successful companies. A holistic methodology will help ensure that all the critical aspects of a management team and company are addressed and supported. For example, not only is it important to develop a great competitive strategy, but also to develop an efficient plan to execute it. Great strategy and execution can only be enabled through great people. And great people will only contribute their best with great leadership and a highly cohesive leadership team. And all of this leads to bottom line results only by aligning them with a focus on optimizing profit and cashflow. A holistic methodology addresses all the legs of the stool so the business is built sturdy and strong. Note that some of the methodologies above are more holistic than others. Generally, the larger the company or the more you want to grow, the more holistic a methodology you will want your coach to know and use. While a simpler methodology like EOS is a great starting point for smaller companies (say 5 to 20 employees), a more holistic methodology like Scaling Up, and then the 7 Attributes of Agile Growth, will enable you and your executive team to learn and implement the same basic best practices, and then learn the others needed to get to the next level. Also, all of these methodologies have simplified the best practices to fit mid-sized companies. This is critical. A CEO and their senior team need to address a number of things, as discussed above. But your mid-size company only has so much capacity. You don’t have large departments to handle extra complexity. So, you and your team need to do just enough in each aspect to move the needle, while not doing so much in one of them that there’s no time to work on the others. This means the best practices need to be simple and easy to implement. One sign that a coach has the knowledge to help you and your leadership team achieve your goals is when they know and use more than one of these methodologies. This means they can pull in whatever best practice is needed for the situation. No methodology includes all the best practices needed for every type of decision a CEO and their top team will need to make. So, being able to pull in the right tool for the right situation is key. While it’s important to pick an executive team coach who does use one or more reputable, holistic methodologies of simplified best practices, which specific methodology, or methodologies, they use is less important. The coach themselves is more important: their experience, abilities, results and your chemistry with them. You can pick a coach who uses a methodology that resonates with you. But this doesn’t guarantee they’ll be great at teaching and facilitating those tools, or at guiding the process to help your team get results. You could also pick a coach who uses a methodology that’s not your first choice. But they may be an exceptional coach, teaching and facilitating best practices in very effective ways that truly move your business forward. Experience The most important experience you’ll want to look for in an executive team coach is how much they’ve worked with and supported both CEOs and executive teams. This will affect how much they understand the challenges CEOs and their teams face, the dynamics often at play on such teams, and how to address them successfully. Unfortunately, there are low barriers to entry in the coaching field, so you’re best to look for a coach who has lots of experience. Broad business experience working with many different kinds of companies is also important. Having experience leading or working in different functions of a business, such as marketing, sales, operations, HR, IT and finance can also be a great asset. All this will allow your coach to share experiences from different sectors and functions and relate them to all the members of your senior team. Now, you may be wondering if you should get someone who specializes in your industry. My guess is that industry experience is something that’s important to you when you’re hiring leaders and employees. So, you likely have a whole company full of industry experts. And yet, are you growing as fast, as profitably or as easily as you know you could? In my experience, having the right executive team coach is not so much about industry expertise. It’s about knowing how to consistently scale over time as a leadership team, and that’s where they bring their expertise. They’re never going to know as much as you will in your domain, and you’re never going to know as much as they do about getting management teams to scale companies. So, if you’re looking for a like-minded industry expert who’ll reinforce what you already know, and echo everything you say, then look for someone with lots of experience in your industry. But if you’re looking for someone to push, challenge and hold you and your executive team accountable, help clarify your goals and priorities, help clarify your thinking, an executive team coach with a broad base of experience will be a good fit. You may also be wondering if you should get a coach who has been a CEO. This is a valid question as it’s common to believe that someone who has done our job will be best able to coach us. But that’s not necessarily true. Consider Usain Boldt, widely considered to be the greatest sprinter of all time. He’s an eight-time Olympic gold medallist and eleven-time world champion. He’s the world-record holder of the 100 meter, 200 meter and four by 100 meter relay. His coach, Glen Mills, never ran in the Olympics. In fact, he dropped out of sprinting at the age of 14 because he wasn’t very fast. He then became an amazing coach to many olympians. Although Glen never ran the kind of races that Usain did, Usain would be the first to admit he wouldn’t run as fast if it weren’t for Glen’s great coaching. On the other hand, we’ve all heard stories of hockey or football greats who became mediocre coaches. While it’s possible for a great CEO to become a great coach. It’s not necessarily the case, nor is it a requirement. Ability Coaching and team facilitation are skills that take years to develop and hone. They are each combinations of technical, behavioural and relationship skills that are best developed alongside keen self-awareness and attention to self-improvement. This doesn’t happen overnight. One way to get a sense of someone’s coaching and facilitation skills is to look for how many years they’ve been practicing each of them, and how much. Another way is to notice their coaching skills in your initial conversations with them, and to ask them to do a brief facilitated trial session with your team. Someone with good coaching skills will cause you to think more deeply about your team, your business and your life. They will inspire you to a new level of openness. They will challenge you by asking tough questions. They may share some principles, but they will avoid trying to tell you what you should do. They will facilitate your thinking so that you have the realizations, you come to the conclusions, and you make the decisions that are right for you in that moment… because you came to them yourself (albeit with some support and guidance) and therefore you believe in those decisions. Yet, they will also teach, share experiences, observations and opinions when needed. A coach’s team facilitation skills are related to, but different from, their coaching skills. Great coaching skills enhance a coach’s facilitation skills. But group facilitation is also a skill in itself. To get a sense of these, ask the coach if they’d be willing to do a brief session with you and your team for you to see them in action. A coach with strong facilitation skills will help your team stay focused, explore the issues from all angles, and come to clear decisions with strong support and commitment from the whole team. Results At the end of the day, what you want from engaging a business growth & executive team coach are results. That said, the coach won’t produce those results themself. You and your team will. But the coach will help you and your team 1) set goals that are important to you, 2) determine how to get there, 3) solve problems along the way, and 4) achieve those results over time. Their support and guidance needs to be focused and purposeful. One good sign that a coach is results-focused is to notice what they ask you in your initial conversation. Do they try to understand what you want for your company, your work life and your personal life in the future? Do they get you thinking deeply about the biggest challenges to getting there? And do they demonstrate a clear understanding of the path to tackle those challenges and get to where you want to be. Another way to gain confidence that you’ll get results is by asking about the work they’ve done with other CEOs and executive teams. They should be able to share clear examples of challenges they’ve helped other companies overcome and the results they’ve helped them produce. In the end, the results a coach has helped produce with other companies won’t guarantee you’ll get great results with them yourself. But you’ll have some level of confidence that they can help you get there. The rest will depend on how well you work together. Chemistry Chemistry is important in an ongoing relationship like you will have with an executive team coach. You’ll work closely together and for some time, so you might as well also enjoy it. This largely comes down to being aligned on what drives each of you. What’s the coach’s Why, as Simon Sinek says, and does that connect with yours? Do they want to make a difference in the world that’s compatible with the difference you want to make? If so, you’re more likely to work well together. You’ll also want to look for clues that you have compatible values… that similar things are important to you in life and in business. Your coach will be more emotionally invested in your efforts when they believe in what you’re doing and how you’re doing it. And lastly, you just get along. There will be ease in interacting with the coach. You’ll feel comfortable and accepted, but also kindly challenged to do better. Picking a business growth & executive team coach that fits you, your team and company takes some thought… about their knowledge, experience, ability, results and your chemistry with them. But the experience you have and the results you are able to achieve will be well worth the effort invested, especially if you’re also a good fit for coaching. How can a great business growth & executive team coach help you grow a thriving company? To find out what areas a qualified executive team coach can help you improve in to grow more easily, quickly and profitability, AND enjoy the ride, try our complimentary Agile Growth Checklist. This self-service questionnaire takes 5 to 10 minutes to complete. You'll receive the checklist with your responses immediately. Within 24 hours, you'll receive a compiled report highlighting areas to improve. Find out how your company is doing in each of the 7 areas needed to produce more rapid, profitable and sustainable growth. This report is complementary and involves no obligation.  I believe we can all benefit from making self-care a higher priority in this new year.
In my work with CEOs and business owners, burn-out and lack of joy and fulfilment are common. Taking care of ourselves will not only benefit us, but also our leadership teams, companies and communities. One excellent resource is a book I use with CEOs that represents, what I believe, is the missing link for CEOs of mid-sized growth companies. Written by my colleague, senior Gravitas Impact coach, Kevin Lawrence in Vancouver BC, Your Oxygen Mask First is a breakthrough in the combined art of leadership, self-management AND self-care. We can find dozens of fantastic books and tools to learn the nuts and bolts of growing a successful company. And there are a few methodologies, like our Scaling Up method and 7 Attributes of Agile Growth, that bring many of those essential tools together to make them more accessible for mid-size companies. However, the missing link is the CEO factor: the leader themselves and their skills for taking care of themselves first, so they can take better care of their people and their business. Your Oxygen Mask First makes clear that it’s a myth that CEOs can build successful companies sustainably by putting everyone else first. In truth, this leads to burn-out and tragedy. It’s a dirty secret we need to talk about. Kevin wrote Your Oxygen Mask First based on the experiences and tools he gained over 20 years as a coach and advisor. The book covers the 17 habits Kevin has tried and tested for leaders to lead well AND take care of themselves, so they have a great company AND a great life. I highly recommend it to any CEO, president or executive leader. Book: 231 pgs, 3h46m audio. Find the book, ebook and audible book here. How can you manage your leadership team members more effectively? To find out how to manage your team members to grow more easily, quickly and profitability, AND enjoy the ride, try our complimentary Agile Growth Checklist. This self-service questionnaire takes 5 to 10 minutes to complete. You'll receive the checklist with your responses immediately. Within 24 hours, you'll receive a compiled report highlighting areas to improve. Complete section 2 to check your people management processes. Or complete all 7 sections to find out how your company is doing in each of the 7 areas needed to produce more rapid, profitable and sustainable growth. This report is complementary and involves no obligation. Want to listen to the tip? Use the play button below. How can you be successful growing a thriving company? To find out how to get things right to grow more easily, quickly and profitability, AND enjoy the ride, try our complimentary Agile Growth Checklist. This self-service questionnaire takes 5 to 10 minutes to complete. You'll receive the checklist with your responses immediately. Within 24 hours, you'll receive a compiled report highlighting areas to improve. Find out how your company is doing in each of the 7 areas needed to produce more rapid, profitable and sustainable growth. This report is complementary and involves no obligation.  As a valued member of the Wellspring Growth Systems community, we’re excited to bring you a unique opportunity to elevate your leadership team’s performance and organisational culture. In partnership with Growth Faculty, we are offering direct access to Patrick Lencioni’s highly anticipated live virtual Global Headliner session on "Building High-Performing Teams". Why attend? The foundation of every high-performing organisation is a cohesive, well-aligned team. Patrick Lencioni, a 13-time New York Times best-selling author and renowned expert on organisational health, will share proven strategies that leading organisations, including Microsoft, Google, and Gartner, have used to build trust, overcome dysfunctions, and drive results within their teams. This session is a fantastic opportunity for executives, senior leaders, and rising stars in your organisation to gain practical tools for enhancing team dynamics and creating a culture of accountability and collaboration. What You’ll Learn:
Tuesday, February 25, 2025 - 4pm - 6:30pm in MB and SK Ticket Price: $395* | Wellspring Discount Price: $295*  *Prices quoted in USD How can you strengthen your leadership team?
To find out what you can improve in your leadership team to grow more easily, quickly and profitability, try our complimentary Agile Growth Checklist. This self-service questionnaire takes 5 to 10 minutes to complete. You'll receive the checklist with your responses immediately. Within 24 hours, you'll receive a compiled report highlighting areas to improve. This report is complementary and involves no obligation. Complete section 1 and 4 to check your leadership team* and accountability processes*. Or complete all 7 sections to find out how your company is doing in each of the 7 areas needed to produce more rapid, profitable and sustainable growth.  Continuing with my article theme over the last few weeks of building a great leadership team, I’m pleased to share a Gravitas Impact podcast from my colleague Mike Goldman in New Jersey, on the topic of building a great leadership team. Based on his newly released book, Breakthrough Leadership Team, he shares his perspective, after thirty years consulting and coaching, that the biggest difference between a great company and mediocre company is the leadership team. It’s the growth “linchpin”, as I call it. In this 30 minute podcast, Mike shares more broadly how to build a great leadership team, and also dives deep into the one biggest challenge to that effort - ensuring the right leaders are on the team. Subscribe to Gravitas Impact podcast: Android
How can you strengthen your leadership team? To find out what you can improve in your leadership team to grow more easily, quickly and profitability, try our complimentary Agile Growth Checklist. This self-service questionnaire takes 5 to 10 minutes to complete. You'll receive the checklist with your responses immediately. Within 24 hours, you'll receive a compiled report highlighting areas to improve. This report is complementary and involves no obligation. Complete section 1, 2 and 4 to check your leadership team’s collaboration, talent and accountability processes. Or complete all 7 sections to find out how your company is doing in each of the 7 areas needed to produce more rapid, profitable and sustainable growth. |
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