Max Q

Apply the practices that separate the best from the rest

A masterclass for CEOs & Senior Teams

Apply now!What is Max Q?

Winter 2021 cohorts are forming now!

Even successful leaders are struggling

The signs are everywhere.
Leaders applying conventional strategies while others move to compete with 40% less operating expense.
Cloud. Digital Transformation. Artificial Intelligence. Remote Architecture.
COVID-19 has amplified these competitive opportunities, creating an entirely new playing field. 

Markets are changing faster than most organizations can adapt.
The quantity and speed of change a CEO’s biggest strategic concern.
Are our plans bold enough? Are my leaders skilled enough? Am I?
Now is the time to drop any illusions. 

Either you are exploiting new strategic opportunities, or you are not.
Either you are installing more powerful ways of leading, or you are not.
Either you are developing the skills to fulfill your intentions, or you are not.
Play offense is a choice – your choice.

You don’t have to play from behind.
You can be the disruptor.
You can lead.
Will You?

Without a roadmap, developing the skills required to act boldly in uncertainty will be frustrating, costly, and full of false starts.

Rising Above Requires Raising Your Standards

Module 4 | Outperform

Results rise as your skillfulness does.

Module 3 | Outmaneuver

Quality decisions require trustable execution.

Module 2 | Outthink

Success is tied to your ability to make great decisions.

Module 1 | Escape

Excellence requires upgrading your beliefs and habits.

Rising Above Requires Raising Your Standards

Module 1 | Escape

Excellence requires upgrading your beliefs and habits.

Module 2 | Outthink

Success is tied to your ability to make great decisions.

Module 3 | Outmaneuver

Quality decisions require trustable execution.

Module 4 | Outperform

Results rise as your skillfulness does.

Nothing Will Change Until You Do

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Current Approaches Fall Short

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Skillfulness is an Iterative Process

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Are You
Really Ready?

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Not just a guy with a theory

Scott is a four-time business leader and CEO whose teams have created nearly $1B in organic shareholder value. He’s helped CEOs across industries create breakthrough performances where others had failed.

This masterclass is an apprenticeship with someone who lives in the trenches and is gifted guiding implementation and change.

Employee NPS  +36 pts.

Customer NPS  +39 pts.

EBITDA($) increased 50%

EBITDA(%)  increased 54%

~$500M in Organic Value Creation

Industry Recognitions:

  • Most Improved Vendor Award
  • Most Trusted Vendor Award
  • Best in Class Award

What Leaders are Saying

“Having been a CEO in six markets, I’ve had the pleasure to engage with very smart board members, investors, and CEOs. In those years, only a handful of CEOs have I assessed are a 10 out of 10 on thirteen attributes. Amongst those, Scott may be the most strategic and operationally minded CEO. His grasp of big picture through the details of execution while simultaneously tending to relationships and culture is simply amazing. Now, he’s built a program to help CEOs better compete so they can deliver next-level results. I’m unaware of any program where I’d gain better practical insight on creating consistent success.”

Edwin – CEO

 

“Scott is an encyclopedia of knowledge on leadership, management, and behavioral tactics, techniques, and strategies. His adeptness in reading individuals, teams, and situations allows him to uncover the underlying dynamics and drivers with speed and certainty. For the uninitiated, who might have struggled for some time, the clarity he brings to diagnosing a dysfunction, surfacing new choices, and outlining critical actions for moving beyond the current challenge is surprising and impressive. I’ve found his style very direct, but always constructive, leaving me open and focused on improving a situation, or as a leader, rather than in denial.”

Jon – CEO

“In my continuing efforts to improve as a leader for nearly a decade, Scott’s knowledge and experience operating in complex environments have been indispensable. The combination of seeing what few people see, the depth/quality of thinking, the clarity he brings to implementing new ideas, and his deep care give us the confidence to lean into new choices. I’m excited that Scott is making his gifts available to more people, and we will continue to engage Scott in developing our group CEOs and presidents.”

Jeff – Chairman & CEO

“What distinguishes Scott’s is the quality of his listening and inquiries. He seems to hear what’s not being said just as easily as what is said. Until I experienced it, I didn’t realize how much was I missing – distinctions vital to seeing the source of our real problems as a team and organization. This ability to perceive what we couldn’t allowed him to get to the source of our problems more quickly, saving time and money. His authenticity and care opened us up, engendering a trust that left us eager to embark on new choices with more confidence and certainty.”

Todd – CEO, former leading Global PE Group Partner

 

“Scott brings a genuine care and sincere curiosity to every leadership and organizational challenge. Over the years, I’ve witnessed an uncommon ability to see and hear beneath a CEOs’ words and invite groups of leaders into perspectives previously out of their view. Not only does he help us to see what’s real and what’s possible, but he generously shares from his broad and deep toolbox to show us how to practically apply the new insight in our lives and organizations.”

Randall – CEO

The twelve month Masterclass

When I ask business leaders what they need help with, these are the words I hear:

Strategy. Direction. Guidance. Feedback. Support. Community.

Do those words resonate with you?

Max Q is a personalized, high-touch 12-month masterclass is designed specifically for busy executives. It includes the following support:

  • Launch Calls to clarify your ambitions, breakthrough project, and competing commitments for the year
  • Monthly Virtual Learning Modules to sequence new learning and apply practical principles in real-time with ambitious colleagues, so you depart ready to implement “the new”
  • Bi-Weekly Virtual “Office Hours” to learn from others’ ideas, questions, and obstacles. Sessions will be recorded for replay at your convenience
  • Bi-weekly Partner Accountability to provide support and challenge so you follow through. These check-ins also build your skill with more sophisticated accountability practices
  • Peer-to-Peer Learning accelerates your progress and fuels follow through as you make sense together and put the principles in motion in unique ways. The shared experience will create bonds that lasts a lifetime. 

The minimum monthly time commitment will be approximately three hours, but each month also includes an optional three hours of coaching support for implementing the principles (e.g., “Office Hour” sessions).

The Max Q masterclass is available for as little as $2.5K/month for the CEO-only cohort and as little as $10K/month for intact senior teams.

Unconditional 30-day Money-Back Guarantee. I’m so confident that the content and structure will help you resolve issues undermining your business results that if you aren’t convinced after the first month of the masterclass, I will give your money back. No hard feelings.

Winter 2021 Bonuses

For CEOs or senior teams who get started in the Winter of 2021, I will also include:

  • 1:1 Curriculum-Based Coaching (as needed) to personalize development and application of principles for individual executives ($12,000 value)
  • Weekly Leadership Practices outlining how you apply the new skills with quality in their daily work ($5,000 value)
  • Two-Day Intensives (x2) to deepen proficiency with sophisticated frameworks and tools* ($10,000 value)

Your results are a perfect reflection of your development and where you need to become more skilled.

Scott W Zimmerman

Playing Offense is a Choice

Let’s be honest.

If you don’t intentionally do something to become more skilled, can you really expect a breakthrough this year? Probably not.

You’ll still wish for better results, but if don’t raise your expectations and get the insight, guidance, accountability, and encouragement you need to stay focused amidst the day-to-day distractions, it’s probably not going to happen.

  • What would it mean to you to start achieving more will less wasted effort? 
  • How could new ways of working increase your team’s commitment to their work and to each other?
  • What would investing in their skills and success mean to them?

Where else can your team learn more powerful ways of working from a seasoned CEO? Skillfulness that is built-in service to a defined business outcome?

This approach is one-of-a-kind and the limited slots will fill quickly.

Your satisfaction is guaranteed, so let’s have a conversation to see if this is a fit.

Application Process

1.   Schedule a no-obligation call with Scott to explore your ambitions and desired business breakthrough.

2.   If we both agree the program is a fit, you will fill out an application and make a $1,000 deposit to reserve your seat.

3.   Once your deposit is received, we will schedule a third-party assessment to measure your current development and customize your learning experience.

Seats are confirmed once: 1) a candidate has completed the application process, 2) been deemed to have a genuine commitment, and 3) submitted a deposit.

Frequently Asked Questions

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How is this different than CEO coaching?

Coaching supports leaders for seeing themselves and others more clearly, so they can respond more effectively to today’s crisis. Coaches are a great sounding board, providing feedback and new ideas.

This program goes beyond ideas and quick fixes. It’s a highly-potentiated ecosystem for leaders with a serious commitment to become more skilled at their craft.

  • There is a sequenced development path with practical applications to produce new business outcomes
  • The group structure supports you for staying focused amidst distractions
  • The monthly “practice fields” give you a place to experiment with new ideas and gain real-time feedback, so you can make new connections and build skill
  • And because you’re sharing the journey, your learning is accelerated through their experiences, creativity, and feedback enacting the same powerful principles in their business

If you want a streamlined learning process that enables you to be a better autonomous learner, this is the community for you.

How is this different than a CEO discussion group?

Professional networking organizations offer access to educational resources as well as intimate spaces for discussion and advice. These groups are meaningful, but their value is limited if the goal is to advance one’s ability to operate more skillfully in the world.

This program IS NOT… This program IS…
A peer group that gives advice or shares experiences based on a pressing issue. A community for leaders with a specific and deliberate goal of executing with more skill.
A confidential environment where the advice today helps, but doesn’t build future-readiness. A space for evaluating familiar ways of thinking, feeling, and acting, and internalizing new, more effective choices.
An unsequenced series of speakers that expose you to new ideas but don’t support you for implementing them. A curriculum designed to build the core skills required to be higher-functioning and maximally adaptive.
A place without accountability and structure to support your growth between meetings. Designed for continuously applying practical strategies to your business, so you can realize strategic and operational breakthroughs.

 

How is this different than other leadership training?
This program IS NOT… This program IS…
Taught by non-operators/practitioners Led by a proven, skilled operator
Acquiring more knowledge as the answer Skillfully applying practical innovations to produce improved business outcomes.
Enacting static, pre-fabricated methods Training your adaptiveness (dynamic principles)

 

Is this program right for me?

No one can be taught unless they are ready and willing to learn. If you are looking for a few silver bullets on a particular problem area in your leadership or business, this community is not for you. Creating consistent results requires letting go of ingrained points of view, so you can better perceive and interpret what’s really going on.

This program is for leaders who are wise enough to:

  • Recognize their results are a perfect reflection of their development and where they need to become more skilled
  • Realize skillfulness can only be built through repeated real-world application
  • Want to fast track their skill building so they can save years of expensive trial and error

There is arguably no business investment more important or strategic than improving your ability to compete more successfully. If you are serious about training your mind to broaden your perspective and deepen your discernment, so you  better fulfill your intentions, then this is the community for you.

Schedule time with Scott to explore further.

What are the requirements for applying?

Sincerity is the most important attribute because effort is required to build and deepen new skills. You must be earnest in your desire to be a more powerful leader. And you must want it more than I want it for you.

Whole-hearted participation is essential not just for you, but the rest of your cohort. Becoming a better performer necessitates living into higher standards.

The prerequisite learning panel above can assist in determining if this community is a fit for you.

What if I get too busy to participate in sessions?

Your acceptance into the program assumes you are making this program a priority in your life.

To keep pace, you are expected to make a committed effort to be part of both group learning and regular 1:1 partner sessions.

Being trustworthy, in part, means making and keeping meaningful promises to yourself and others. Elite athletes don’t let their teammates or trainers down. They train even on days they don’t want to train. They do what they committed to do even when it’s not convenient. Doing so strengthens and deepens character.

If your attendance drops below 90%, we will have a conversation about your commitment and what support you may need to stay engaged. If your participation remains low, you may be asked to withdraw. Please carefully consider whether you can make this commitment.

Is there a lot of reading to do?

I’ve led enough organizations to know that your life has extensive demands and the last thing you need is the stress that comes with keeping up with a long reading list.

A major value of this course is getting away from flavor of the month business ideas, so you sustain focus on the enduring principles that support consistent business performance. We will separate the “signal from the noise,” helping you break the unconscious pattern of looking outside yourself for answers. Instead, we will put your attention where it belongs – logging time enacting and becoming skilled with more effective choices.

Throughout the year, you will get regular updates with suggested short readings, videos and other resources you might find useful and inspiring.

Do we have accountability partners?

Absolutely. Over the course of the year, you’ll be guided through a series of inquiries and applications that will refine your understanding and uplevel the power of your choices.

Fufilling your commitments and transparently sharing your experiences with your assigned partner each month will support you for embedding more powerful cognitive, emotional, and relational skills in your work.

Partners will meet two times per month to support and challenge one another to lean in, even when its initially awkward and uncomfortable. The most committed participants will do weekly standup calls to accelerate their development.

What is the purpose of the retreats?

Retreats have a specific theme and are heavily experiential. They are a profound way to improve your mental representations and build increasingly trustable skill. Retreats stoke motivation and reinforce your ability to see and act more powerfully in the world.

The relationships you develop through this year of single-minded focus will not be surface-level. Retreats deepen the connection and support you feel with your cohort, helping you develop eleven new lifelines you can activate any time you need them not only during the year, but for your lifetime.

The world needs a different kind of leader

The Elite Leadership Project aspires to build a lineage of ethical leaders capable of meeting the unique challenges of our time.

Max Q is the foundational inquiry in the Elite Leadership Fellowship. It’s for leaders deliberately pushing themselves to live into their potential.

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