jews d

on the cover

in
the

Business
Whisperer

JOYCE WISWELL SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

Jon Dwoskin
teaches execs
to THINK BIG.

A

t first, Jon Dwoskin was not
happy with his father Marc’s
announcement.
“When I was 18, he signed me up
for a time management class, telling
me, ‘If you can master your time,
you can master your life,’” Dwoskin
said. “I said, ‘That is the most ridic-
ulous thing — I am not spending
a weekend doing that.’ Well, now I
have spent my life studying it.”
Marc also gave his son some
tapes by Brian Tracy and other
business gurus, promising, “You
will learn more from these types
of people than you will in college.”
Dwoskin dutifully popped them
into his Walkman “and the minute I
put it in my ears I knew this is what
I wanted.”
Some 25 years later, Dwoskin, 44,
is more confident than ever of the
path he has taken as an executive
adviser and business coach. After
establishing an internet company
and selling commercial real estate,
he launched the Jon Dwoskin
Experience in 2015.
“My sweet spot is really under-
standing how companies operate,”
he explained. “When a client is suc-
cessful but stuck, they work with
me to get to their next level — to
grow the bottom line, their culture
and their business, and get their
company to a place where they are
continually growing, healthy and
thriving.”
Dwoskin’s latest achievement
is a business book, The Think Big
Movement: Grow your business
big. Very big! which comes out in
August.
“It’s about a character who is suc-
cessful but stuck. Through a string
of coincidences and people he

meets, he rebuilds his company and
his soul,” Dwoskin said. “It’s told as
a fable so even if you’re not a busi-
ness person you can really connect
and relate.”
Last March, Dwoskin received a
phone call from Waldorf Publishing,
which liked his LinkedIn profile and
thought he’d be perfect to write a
business book.
“I’ve always wanted to write
books, and I have four backpacks
of my business writing under my
bed, but I knew I would need a co-
writer,” Dwoskin said. The publisher
introduced him to AJ Riley, a history
teacher in Dallas, and the men hit
it off during a six-hour dinner with
their wives. To create the book, the
men met via Skype and Google
Documents each Sunday at 9 p.m.
“We would talk for one or two
hours and then write all week,”
Dwoskin said. “The book took on a
life of its own — it evolved to almost
what the book was dictating to us.
We had to listen and follow the
instincts of where it was going.”
Fittingly, a key character is
named Marc, a fact Dwoskin got to
share with his father shortly before
he passed away last summer.

EXECUTIVE COACH
Meanwhile, Dwoskin continues
his business consulting for C-level
executives — those at the top of
an organization. Though they have
demonstrated success to get to that
level, many executives find it can be
lonely at the top, he said.
“They don’t have anyone to talk
to a lot of the time, and they get
very stuck in their business. I help
them clarify objectives, identify
where the gaps are and give them

continued on page 16

14

February 2 • 2017

jn

Words Of Wisdom

“As business owners and C-level
executives, it’s common for what once
was our passion to slowly become our
prison,” Jon Dwoskin notes. “Make a
conscious effort to break through daily
habits of complacency and re-examine
the fundamentals that got you to where
you are.”

FROM HIS “THINK BIG”
STRATEGIES:

• Make time for yourself: Have a
morning ritual; don’t just wake up and go
to work.
• Prepare. Prepare. Prepare: Always
end each day preparing for tomorrow.
• Have integrity: Always do what you
say you are going to do. You run the risk
of ruining your company when your team
sees you as wishy-washy.
• Be like McDonald’s: Have a system,
process and solid operations in every
aspect of your business. Be a well-oiled
machine.
• Leave them alone: Let others know
what your expectations are and let them
ﬂy. Nothing kills creativity faster than
micromanaging.
• In vs. on: Many executives are working
too much “in” their business and not
enough “on” their business. Delegate
authority and projects.
• Treat your clients like gold: Always
communicate how special they are to
you. Create raving fans and your biggest
cheerleaders out of these clients. If
not, they will become cheerleaders for
someone else.
• Keep an idea journal: They will begin
to morph together to create the ultimate
idea that will create a paradigm shift in
your organization. Have fun with this one!
• Please, be quiet: Make it a habit
to not interrupt people. Keep paper in
front of you and always write down your
thoughts and next questions and let
people have the ﬂoor.
• Get the scoop: Have an “undercover
spy” who is the secret eyes and ears of
the organization to give you the inside
scoop on all the drama, issues and real
feedback you need. This is a secret
weapon for keeping, reﬁning and
growing your company and culture.

