BOOK ONE · CULTIVATE
4 Key C’s to Running an Outstanding Small Business
Average is common. Outstanding is a choice.
Drawing on decades as a CPA and small-business consultant, Steve McNeely shows owners how to cultivate the one asset that sets great companies apart: a positive, nourishing, high-performance culture.
Who This Book Is For
Small business owners who know there is untapped potential in their people, and want practical, proven steps that are simple to put in place. (Simple doesn’t mean easy. It means you can improve without starting over.)
You’re running full speed.
You’re wearing every hat — product, sales, survival. Assessment, training, and feedback keep landing on the “later” pile, and later never quite comes.
You’re tired of average.
Your team is fine. Your numbers are fine. But fine is the enemy of outstanding, and you can feel the gas left in the tank at the end of every day.
You’re the Chief Culture Creator.
Whether you planned it or not, your business already has a culture — and it reflects what you pay attention to, reward, and model every day.
You’re ready to cultivate on purpose.
You want an outstanding culture by design, not by accident, and a system that keeps working long after the seminar glow wears off.
What’s Inside
Four chapters. One outstanding culture.
Cultural Forces
What culture really is, how it sets like concrete, and why every owner is the Chief Culture Creator.
What to Cultivate
The Pygmalion effect, the passion meter, the Millworker, and the stewardship you owe every person on your team.
How to Cultivate
Leaven your business systematically through what you measure, reward, preach, and model every day.
A Compelling Vision
Write a vision statement that actually motivates — then evangelize it until it sticks.
“A cut above most books in its class.”
— Kirkus Reviews
What You’ll Walk Away With
Not just theory. Tools you can use with your team on Monday.
A clear read on your culture — average or outstanding, entitlement-based or high-performing.
The antidote to entitlement — the warning signs, and how to cultivate something better.
Lessons from the best — how Google, SAS, and Netflix cultivate culture on purpose.
Your People Values Statement — a written foundation for hiring, training, promoting, and rewarding.
A “think first” checklist — five questions to ask before you speak or act as a leader.
A vision people can see — a compelling statement, and a plan to keep preaching it.
The start of a Peak People System — goals, training, measurement, feedback, and rewards that reinforce each other.
Steve McNeely
CPA, M.B.A. · Author · Leadership Teacher
A CPA since 1984, Steve has spent his career helping small businesses become outstanding through strategic planning, leadership coaching, pay-for-performance plans, and management training.
4 Key C’s is the first book in his series on the four Cs that move a business from average to outstanding: Cultivate, Communicate, Coach, and Compensate.
Don’t Settle for Average.
Start cultivating an outstanding, peak-performance culture today. Available now for Kindle.