Episode 119: The Coaching Effect - Driving Discretionary Effort with Bill Eckstrom

Bill Eckstrom is the CEO and founder of the EcSell Institute. Bill has spent his entire career in the sales arena; the first 14 years in personal production and then 13 in various sales leadership roles. His management career began in 2000 as a District Manager for a medical equipment company and was promoted to the U.S. Director of Sales in 2003. In 2004, Bill was lured away to become Senior Vice President of Business Development for a publicly-traded healthcare organization. In 2008, he founded the EcSell Institute to fill a void he witnessed and personally experienced in the sales leadership profession. Bill presented a TEDx Talk to an audience of over 1,700 at the University of Nevada, Reno where he shared life-altering, personal and professional development ideas through the introduction of the "Growth Rings." Since the release of the Talk, it received 100,00 views in just one week and now has over 3,000,000 views. Most recently Bill helped co-author The Coaching Effect: What great leaders do to increase sales, enhance performance, and sustain growth which became an Amazon-Best Selling book in it's first week of launching. As a result of his experiences, his company's findings, and his public speaking skills, Bill's work as a keynote speaker is highly regarded throughout North America. While his audiences call him "profoundly authentic", "highly entertaining" and much more, Bill is most proud of the fact his material is based on EcSell's science and research—he does not present motivational fluff. He has presented to hundreds of groups ranging in size from 25-2,500 on topics found on his personal website, billeckstrom.com. Lincoln, Nebraska is home for Bill and his wife. Together they have three children, Will Jr, Claire and Maddie. Philanthropically, Bill prefers a very hands-on approach as evidenced by his current involvement and passion--working and training their Yellow Labrador, Aspen, for therapy dog work. Soon he and his four-legged companions will be visiting children in hospitals and senior citizens in nursing home settings. Bill also has a strong need to be in the outdoors and finds time each year to spend in the field and stream with his children and close friends. Hire Bill as a speaker for your next event here. What you'll learn about in this episode: Why being in a state of discomfort is the only way a person can grow How Bill became fascinated with figuring out the impact coaches had on the growth of their people How the performance of the team reflects how they are coached Why great leaders are the ones who can create a sense of discomfort How you explain, measure, and affect discomfort Why discretionary effort is so significant and how it is created How predictability can make us dangerously comfortable How a leader earns the right to create healthy tension Additional resources: https://www.ecsellinstitute.com/ TEDx Talk: Why Comfort will Ruin Your Life https://www.billeckstrom.com/ Personal site Book: The Coaching Effect