Growing up in poverty in his native Greece and later on moving to Sweden at the age of 18, Panos Papadopoulos created an extremely successful swimwear design label from scratch in his new country. The company, named Panos Emporio after its founder, is today represented in more than 30 countries and has a loyal following by royalties, pop stars, and celebrities from all over the world.
Ethics and morale are two important issues in the work for Panos. Panos Emporio has very high standards regarding these matters, and Panos is well-known for doing his part to help society in difficult matters.
Panos is not only a successful fashion designer. He has large amounts of skills in many different areas for he is also a CEO, a leading trendsetter, a celebrity, and a pioneer in marketing and PR.
This episode will enlighten you on the power of communication—an open and honest one—in creating relationships that are anchored in trust and loyalty, so make sure you have your pens and pads ready.
Why you have to check out this episode
⦁ Learn from a brave life adventurer how he’s able to grow organically through hard work and establishing relationships and/or connections;
⦁ Understand the importance of being honest, open, and true to your customers and/or clients in relation to building a good and two-way beneficial partnership with them;
⦁ Find out how important passion, love, and respect are in your journey towards big success
“Talk to them, be honest, show them the reality, and they will help.”
– Panos Papadopoulos
Topics Covered
00:27 – A reflection of the past: How Panos’ childhood influenced his attitude and his business success
06:42 – The reason why I’m here today: Panos shares the story behind his book entitled “My Life, My Odyssey”
09:29 – Tip on how to create good business partnerships in a new country when you’re totally alone: Be as normal and as natural as possible
11:17 – It’s about trust: On having the feeling that he’s creating partnerships with the right people
16:50 – The importance of open and honest communication: Panos shares how he gets his customers to help him spread the word about his business
19:06 – Good quality of good fitting: When people buy something and it makes them feel very confident and great, they will never leave that brand
23:07 – Passion + Love + Respect = Big Success: Three words from Panos’ values that highly influenced his business attitude
Key Takeaways
“Being good people is to take care of yourself, but also to the simple things that maybe is not so easy today—to give respect to other people around you.”
“To start a business from zero and be in a new country alone, totally alone, it's not so easy. But my business plan, my idea, was to be as normal, as natural as possible, because that's what I think is best.”
“A partnership is very important, like a friendship. Because sometimes, you have to argue, you have to fight, you have different opinions. We have production, some issues. But I used to say, friendship, to be honest, we have a common goal. You have to make money when we work together, and I have to make money, so let's try to solve the problems together. It's not my problem; it's our problem. So, always communicate.”
“If not good connection, not good understanding, go away; don’t stay.”
People/Resources Mentioned
⦁ My Life, My Odyssey – https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1911687123/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_HZMH7MAX5KX7K8K9WCH8
Connect with Panos Papadopoulos
⦁ Website:⦁ http://www.houseofpanos.se/
⦁ LinkedIn:⦁ https://www.linkedin.com/in/panos-papadopoulos-66953720/
⦁ Instagram:⦁ https://www.instagram.com/panosofficial/
Connect with Dr. Katrina Burrus
Mike Manazir is the author of the Amazon best-seller, “Learn How to Lead to Win”, released in January 2023. He is a retired Rear Admiral who served 36 years in the U.S. Navy. He qualified to fly F-14 Tomcats and F-18 Super Hornets, is a Top Gun Graduate, and commanded a fighter squadron, two ships including command of the aircraft carrier, USS NIMITZ. Mike had five tours in the Pentagon and is now an executive with a Fortune 100 Aerospace and Defense Company.
In this episode, Mike talks to us about the importance of communication and human connection in leaders, as he stresses how we can get better results if we “lead with our hearts and not with our titles”.
Why you have to check out today’s podcast:
Learn how you can make connections with up to thousands of crew as a leader
Find out why it is essential that you keep your tone, energy, and passion lively in order to boost the morale of your team
Understand the importance of “looking at the other side of the coin”, and why you should delegate and not micromanage
“If you lead with your title, you're going to get less results from your team. If you lead from your heart and you're inclusive with each member of the team…you will get more high-powered results.”
– Mike Manazir
Topics Covered:
00:26 – Lead with your heart, not with your titles: What inspired Mike to write his book, “Learn how to Lead to Win”
03:45 – It’s about communication and connection: How leading 300 people differs from leading 10,000 people
09:12 – You can create connection even through a speaker: How Mike learned that his tone and energy on the 1MC had impacts on his crew
11:16 – Whatever the mission is, just put “mission”: How Mike relates leadership in the military to leadership in the corporate world
15:33 – It’s all about connecting with human beings: The key learnings in Mike’s career as a leader that he communicates in his book
22:28 – Look at the other side of the coin: How Mike addresses people who are not doing what they’re expected to do
27:46 – Delegate, and not micromanage: What leadership advice Mike would give to his younger self
Key Takeaways:
“You over communicate whenever you go out. You connect with people. You bring people together.”
“Everybody wants to be recognized. Everybody wants to feel valued for what they do. Everybody wants to feel a purpose. Everybody on that ship joined the Navy to serve something bigger than themselves.”
“You can create a connection, a human connection, even through only a speaker.”
“If you get to a point where you don't want to disappoint them and they don't want to disappoint you, you can do anything. Anything.”
“Leadership is about plagiarism. You plagiarize all of the good habits that great leaders do.”
People / Resources Mentioned:
Connect with Mike Manazir:
Connect with Dr. Katrina Burrus
Klaus Wehage is the CEO of 10X Innovation Lab, author of Global Class, and Silicon Valley ambassador who serves as a conduit, connecting the world to the startup community elite.
He previously served as the Head of International Relations at Silicon Valley Forum, where he started dedicating his career to building and cultivating high-value, sustainable partnerships with international organizations.
Klaus has a track record of mentoring over 2000+ founders and corporate executives, working with 50+ countries, and advising governments on ecosystem building. He is known as the secret weapon for companies seeking to implement innovative programs and strengthen their ties to the Silicon Valley ecosystem. Klaus has an MBA from Hult University and a Bachelor's in Business and Culture from Copenhagen Business School and has lived and worked on four continents.
Are you ready to take your business global? In this episode, we have Klaus Wehage sitting with us in a lengthy exchange about his expert insights on international business. From assessing your company's readiness to go global to key factors to consider when transitioning from local to international markets. Klaus offers concrete examples and valuable advice on the challenges and costs of international expansion that you have to anticipate and address. Lastly, Klaus highlights the advantages of international expansion beyond the monetary gains.
Don't miss Klaus' wisdom on these critical topics, plus his frameworks, tools and strategies you can utilize in your business toward global acceleration and growth.
Why you have to check out today’s episode
Discover battle-tested strategies to establishing your business for global success and cultivate its competencies from the very start
Find out both the advantages and challenges of expanding globally and the ways to anticipate and address them.
Learn how to assess your business's global readiness based on factors such as business operations, mindset, and the characteristics you need to have that qualify for international expansion
“You need to have eyes and ears into the world. Being able to see patterns and trends that can feed into how you build your products well.” —Klaus Wehagu
Topics Covered:
00:30 Why thinking globally on Day 1 determines success in the international arena
02:40 Klaus explains concrete examples to assess your company's readiness to go global
04:00 The process of hiring the perfect candidate for an international market
08:42 Certain traits that you should look for when building an international-literate team
10:49 Key business aspects to evaluate in transitioning from local to international
13:19 Globalization versus Localization
18:12 What key factors do companies often fail with in their international business model?
20:37 What are the costs associated with going international: localization and market entry cost
23:45 The challenges of international expansion that you have to anticipate and address
26:32 Klaus' expert advice for successful American businesses seeking international
experience
30:52 Huge advantage of going international besides making more money
34:34 Klaus’ insights on the present decline in globalization
37:23 How does the virtuality of business today affect the international business arena?
Key Takeaways
"If you seek to learn and understand nothing will be foreign.” —Klaus Wehage
“Be open and be willing to relearn and listen to local teams to discover how to best find product market fit in new markets.” —Klaus Wehage
"Think about partnerships instead of disruption when you go into new markets. Take a more collaborative approach in enabling support and growth in the industry" —Klaus Wehage
“Localization is about creating a strong business model and then identifying key questions that will challenge it.” —Klaus Wehage
"One of the most important things, when you go international, is also the ability to say no. Cause you have a tendency when you engage with customers in new markets to say yes, we want to do it, we want to secure a customer" —Klaus Wehage
"The biggest mistake that we see with companies is that the leadership team are not exposed to the local reality" —Klaus Wehage
"If you don't understand how they react to certain tastes in a specific market, you're not going to be successful because you can't just change a person's palate, the taste buttons. It sounds very simple but there is a tendency to standardize, that's the bias." —Klaus Wehage
"Make your product/company more resilient to competition.” —Klaus Wehage
People/Resources Mentioned
Global Class: How the World's Fastest-Growing Companies Scale Globally by Focusing Locally: https://www.amazon.com/Global-Class-Fastest-Growing-Companies-Globally-ebook/dp/B09RMFNNZ4?ref_=ast_author_mpb
10x Innovation Lab: https://www.10xinnovationlab.com/
Silicon Valley: https://www.siliconvalley.com/
Connect with Klaus Wehage
Website: www.globalclassbook.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mr10x/
Email: klaus@10xinnovationlab.com
Connect with Dr. Katrina Burrus
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katrinaburrus/
Website: https://mkbconseil.ch/contact/
Jim Schleckser, CEO of The CEO Project Jim helps leaders grow companies. Before he started the CEO Project, a firm that mentors fast-growth CEOs, he ran a technology business valued at $1.6 Billion.
He has done business in 41 countries. He has a regular column on entrepreneurial growth issues on Inc.com.
He has spent over 10,000 hours speaking with and interviewing CEOs. He has published two best-selling books, “Great CEOs are Lazy” and "Professional Drinking"
This episode promises to challenge your perspective on business and offer a fresh, game-changing approach toward growth and efficacy.
Why you have to check out today’s episode
"The caliber of the people you have around yourself that you attract is critical as a CEO.” - Jim Schleckser
Topics Covered:
01:13 What distinguishes exceptional CEOs from the worst
03:49 Jim discloses the three critical areas to find the kinks in your system
06:47 All about hiring: what does Jim prioritize in hiring talents and team members
07:49 How to attract high-caliber people to your team
08:25 What does Jim have to say about working with "Brilliant jerks"
10:12 Jim shares the intellectual framework on which businesses should operate
11:50 The secret sauce of Breakthrough thinking
13:48 Two ways to Fixing the kink in your system
16:57 Jim’s insight on the classic constraint faced by CEOs who can’t let go of their functional
roles
19:19 Expert advice for CEOs seeking to thrive in the international business field
23:22 The key strategy to identifying and hiring top performers
25:39 Everything you need to know about delegation and how to get comfortable with it.
Key Takeaways
"Think about that CEO working 80 hours a week. I can almost automatically tell you they have a poor-quality team around them."
"The caliber of the people you have around yourself that you attract is critical as a CEO"
"Companies don't grow, people do. So if the business is growing and the people are not, the business is not going to grow"
"Learning as a competency is one of the prime importance both for the CEO and their team because they have to demonstrate this; they have to model being a learner."
"You can't take your own lens and stick to it. You have to be willing to say, okay, if that's the way the ball game is played here, we're going to play differently."
"As a leader, you have an obligation to the team to move out low performers. Everybody's looking at you to do that."
"We define our business by our organization's culture---not only by what we do but also what we are not willing to tolerate.”
"It's when there are 32 shades of gray and you've gotta pick the best shade of gray for your particular organization, that's when we and your CEO peer group come into play"
People/Resources Mentioned
Connect with Jim Schleckser
Connect with Dr. Katrina Burrus