Testimonials

  • Dave Lindahl, CEO, RE Mentor

    I have used Bob Norton as a CEO coach and consultant to implement his AirTight Management systems. Bob is one of the few people nationally I found who actually has "Been there and done that," growing multiple companies to over $100M in sales. In just six weeks, we were able to implement the first three systems of AirTight Management. They have moved our company to a new level of professionalism that will allow us to continue our rapid growth and succeed at a whole new level.

  • Craig Brenner, CEO, NEDS

    I was skeptical regarding the value I might get from attending. I went and was extremely happy with the higher-level strategy information and its application to my business. Following my "2nd" time attending, I became a coaching client too. I gained insights, perspectives and a ton of value. I recommend it highly and with confidence.

  • Paul T., CEO, iFive Alliances

    What I like the most is that it is real. There is no fluff. One example is using Competitive Landscape Maps. You explain the purpose and process of using the tools, and then you apply it, and people learn real things about their business.

  • John Edmond, President, Angel Data Networks

    I thought this seminar was appropriate for any senior-level executive who wants to get on the same page strategically with their team and boost their business. I feel I greatly underpaid for the value delivered.

 

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Management and Leadership Best Practices

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Dashboards, Metrics and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

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Strategic Budgeting and Projection For Innovation

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Process Management and Constant Improvement

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Human Capital Acquisition and Development - Performance Management

How We Implement AirTightTM Management 

The AirTight Six Systems incorporate ideas and best practices from over 1,000 books on management, business and entrepreneurship that our Founder, Bob Norton, read over his career. These were selected from three decades of experience building companies and products. AirTight structures the arts of management, leadership and running a business into a teachable framework with all the key management processes needed. These will distance average managers from the true "professional managers" and result in better companies and results.

The AirTight Management brand was created in 2009 by formalizing the framework and rolling together all his decades of experience and development of intellectual property into this single framework. It incorporates all the material from The CEO Boot Camp and several books on entrepreneurship, leadership and management of companies our founder wrote as well as ideas collected over thirty years of management experience. 

Our Six Systems approach is more comprehensive than anything else available today because it covers all aspects of the business across all disciplines including sales, marketing, finance, product development and operations (or customer service if you prefer). Each System can be implemented and used independently.

This is not to say AirTight Management is easy to learn or simple. Nothing worthwhile ever is really. It is complex and will take years to master. There are four levels of learning and certification in each of the six Systems for a total of 24 different certifications. This is why we recommend certified experts help install these Systems.

Models and Systems Break Down Highly Complex Problems to Manageable Pieces.

AirTight Management is a set of these models and systems that are fully integrated into a comprehensive framework to run companies. 

Having a framework, like any model, helps people learn, improve and use the thousands of ideas and best practices in the management and leadership arts and sciences. Models also allow these practices to be put into a trainable framework for people to learn in an structured way as they need each piece and develop in their own career.

Less than 1 in 100 companies will grow to $10,000,000 in sales or more. Most often this is the result of poor management and planning and the limits of the management team. The result is many founders will be replaced by professional management, companies will be sold or even shut down completely. It is impossible to "know what you don't know" and most senior managers have no one to learn from like a mentor or coach who has done it before. 

Everyone needs to learn from history, science and best practices, not reinvent the wheel. Management team members will often outgrow their experience level as a company grows. When this happens they need help to break through that plateau and enter new ground. This can be done with a good coach or mentor and by using proven Systems and practices. A combination of these is the ideal and fastest way.

 We have compiled and structured hundreds of best practices into the Six AirTight Management Systems to create world-class companies, so you won't have to!

The skills to run and grow a company once it reaches several million dollars are very different than the skills to start a company. AirTight Management provides a comprehensive framework to implement all the systems a company needs to break through to multi-millions in revenue, and then hundreds of millions or more.

These systems are designed for companies with at least ten employees to take them to 50, 100, 500 or even or more. All the Systems can also be applied to any department or division of a larger company. These best practices and skills are not easy to learn on the job and most are not even taught in graduate business programs. Why would you want to reinvent the wheel anyway? Learning this way would be very, very expensive and take a decade or more!

The AirTight Management Six Systems provide complete solutions to all the problems of strategy, people, management, and growth. We use a combination of training, coaching and consulting to integrate each System into your company. The implementation is designed based entirely on your staff's ability and experience for each client. Using only one or two of these methods is most often a recipe for failure as people learn different ways.

 How We Do It?

If we told you we would have to kill you.
Well not really because information does not equal experience and ability!
Try learning to flying an airplane after just reading books on this.  Would you fly with that person? 
Try painting a masterpiece after reading a book on art.
It is just not possible.

One Secret is deciding the exact right combination of
training, coaching and consulting that is needed for a given company and team! 
Each implementation is designed specifically for each client's business based on where they are today.
An assessment can be done in a single day to develop a plan.

Each engagement will include a combination of: 

1. Training -    Several methods can be used including: On-site, video and audio training. The main tool is our Video Training Library (VLT), which has over 100 videos on the Six Systems. The library has courses at all levels to train any number of individual contributors, managers and/or executives and has been developed to make implementation easier and far more cost efficient. 

2. Coaching - To facilitate each person to adopt and leverage the required practices and conventions (change management)  

3. Consulting - To diagnose and design a specific implementation program to adopt each System. This can take weeks or months, depending on many factors like the size and age of the company  

4. Licensed tools and intellectual property - To be used internally on an ongoing basis to keep your team aligned and always improving while focused on the vision. These are included with every engagement

Without this combination of strategies cultural change almost always fails, or is suboptimal. 

 Generally, we allow 4-8 weeks to implement each System, but we will generate a customized plan for every company, situation and budget.

It is always a priority no to disrupt existing work and revenue. And typically can be done with 2-hours per week for people involved. 

We will train and coach your management team to leverage each System, one at a time. This will increase their team and individual performance, and also reduce friction and stress. They will all transition over several months to a higher-performance professional management team. The Six Systems address all levels in an organization (vertically on the org chart) and across all departments (horizontally on the org chart). Each system can be used in any department or division and not in others. Whereas most standards address a narrow area of a business, like Six Sigma and ISO 9000 address quality, AirTight is a holistic and complete framework that encompasses all the needed management processes. AirTight Management is also a higher-level framework that can incorporate any other systems and procedures.

        

We guarantee that AirTight Management practices will greatly improve your company from both a strategic and operational (execution) perspective.

These Six Systems will both save money and drive additional sales in short order. You will begin seeing results within weeks and never be able to go back to the 'old way' of doing business and managing people.

 

Take Action Call (619) SCALE06 to get a free consultation to address your current issues.

This is a free diagnosis with an expert consultant, not a salesperson. 

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