Jon Spiesman

One Percent Better Leader

Just like other skills, leadership is something that improves through willingness and consistent practice.  No one becomes a true leader overnight, but working at it consistently and targeting small improvements over time leads to great results!  Are you willing to put the effort in to get 1% better today?  OPBL is dedicated to helping leaders achieve their goals 1% at a time.

Founder and CEO

Tala Peak Leadership, LLC

"Culture eats strategy for breakfast" - Peter Drucker.  I help leaders intentionally build the culture of their organizations and exceed their goals.  Tala Peak Leadership works with leaders to analyze their situation and create a specific plan to shift the culture of the organization and create measurable results.

Managing Owner

Center for Executive Coaching

Certified Executive Coach 

Bayer

Business lead for Integration of Bayer and Monsanto entities, business processes, and ERP systems.  Set up enterprise project governance and project management systems for $200M integration effort.  Identified and recruited talented leadership team.  Drove collaborative teamwork across teams of Monsanto and Bayer experts, senior executive stakeholders, and complex business teams.  Maintained highly engaged teams throughout grueling and intense 2 year project schedule through visible and authentic leadership, fun and engaging team activities, and regular newsletters and town hall style communications.  Project stakeholder management and communications was considered best-in-class internally and was implemented on other enterprise critical projects.  Creatively addressed the challenges that COVID placed on a global project team to achieve an on-time implementation with fully remote teams.

VP, Business Lead US/CA Integration Project

Continuation of Monsanto role through transition to Bayer ownership.  Responsible for customer support and account management, logistics and delivery, and business process support for $8B revenue business.  Lead team of ~500 with $50M direct budget managing ~$200M of Logistics spend.  Leader of cross functional team, each leader with diverse and independent functions and sometimes diverging interests.  This role required a CEO mindset to elevate vision of team success and foster collaborative teamwork.  Consistently maintained highest levels of engagement scores within function/division/region by prioritizing communication, clear goals, employee trust, and celebrating wins.  Success required effective team building, stakeholder management, authentic leadership presence, and high personal accountability and credibility.
Notable Accomplishments in Team Performance and Innovation Leadership:
•	Defined and implemented new business model pilot for outcome-based pricing and direct to farm delivery
•	Implemented Monsanto’s first Digital Transformation of customer experience encompassing B2B strategy, customer portal strategy, digital finance tools, and market funding tools.
•	Implemented TMS system for transportation optimization and shipment visibility – project won global recognition from JDA for customer value creation, completed on-time, and achieved savings goals.
•	Implemented perfect order metric to drive improved customer experience and streamline processes
•	First implementation of Robotic Process Automation – automating ~10,000 process steps in first year.
•	Implemented hub support model across select support functions to enable standardization and efficiency gains of 20% in cost and resourcing

Director, North America Customer Care

Monsanto Company

Responsible for customer support and account management, logistics and delivery, and business process support for $8B revenue business.  Lead team of ~500 with $50M direct budget managing $200M of Logistics spend.  Responsible for customer support and account management, logistics and delivery, and business process support for $8B revenue business.  Lead team of ~500 with $50M direct budget managing ~$200M of Logistics spend.  Leader of cross functional team, each leader with diverse and independent functions and sometimes diverging interests.  This role required a CEO mindset to elevate vision of team success and foster collaborative teamwork.  Consistently maintained highest levels of engagement scores within function/division/region by prioritizing communication, clear goals, employee trust, and celebrating wins.  Success required effective team building, stakeholder management, authentic leadership presence, and high personal accountability and credibility.
Notable Accomplishments in Team Performance and Innovation Leadership:
•	Defined and implemented new business model pilot for outcome-based pricing and direct to farm delivery
•	Implemented Monsanto’s first Digital Transformation of customer experience encompassing B2B strategy, customer portal strategy, digital finance tools, and market funding tools.
•	Implemented TMS system for transportation optimization and shipment visibility – project won global recognition from JDA for customer value creation, completed on-time, and achieved savings goals.
•	Implemented perfect order metric to drive improved customer experience and streamline processes
•	First implementation of Robotic Process Automation – automating ~10,000 process steps in first year.
•	Implemented hub support model across select support functions to enable standardization and efficiency gains of 20% in cost and resourcing

Promoted to Lead cross functional team including Customer support and account management, logistics, demand and distribution planning, and business process support for $6.5B revenue business.  Success in this role required strong partnering and negotiation with sales and marketing functions and functional global leadership.
Notable Accomplishment Areas in Operational Excellence and Innovation Leadership:
•	Led first Monsanto implementation of SFDC – over 1M cases, 36% increased NPS, 49% reduction in resolution time, and 32% improvement in customer effort score.
•	Implemented Monsanto first mobile track and trace and delivery feedback process, enabling real-time feedback on 19,000 deliveries with a satisfaction rating of 99%.
•	Implemented new OTC system to enable movement of $800M brand to agency model.
•	Established dashboards, metrics, and governance processes to drive consistent operational excellence across business lines.  The improved target setting and harmonization between functions delivered $10M in logistics savings, improved OTD, and a 90% variance reduction against quarterly targets.

Director, US Supply Chain

Notable Accomplishments
•	Influenced key decisions makers to change the strategic plan for the 5 year soy crop LRP through creation of a model to help bring visibility to hidden costs and risk associated with the ramping up of new product volumes.
•	Created and implemented novel contingency plans to replace 20% of total supply plan impacted by historic 2012 drought conditions.

Director, North America Soybean Seed Mfg

Notable Accomplishments:
•	Led first Monsanto implementation of new SC model integrating Procurement, Planning, Logistics, and Customer operations into one organization.  
•	Post-centralization of Customer Service function led a full re-evaluation of the function and the OTC processes which led to several impactful initiatives including:  Implementation of a new distribution model in Italy reducing product returns by 50% with an increase in sales, implementation of a front/back office split in Customer Service enabling 50% improvement in efficiency and labor arbitrage of $2.5M USD to East Europe.
•	Designed and implemented a new Procurement model for EMEA, increasing staff H/C from 1 to 45 but reaching breakeven savings 7 months into first year and 2X committed financial contribution over 3 years ($70M USD).
•	Led definition and implementation of first measure of NPS and OTD in EMEA and drove a 10% improvement against baseline in the first year.
•	Oversight of hosted site shutdown and demolition in Antwerp, Belgium including negotiated settlement with asset owners, labor unions, and works councils.

EMEA Supply Chain Director

Manufacturing Business Unit Leader

Monsanto

Production Planning

Area Leader

Site Manager

Freeing Execs to work ON their business instead of IN their business.

You finally have time set for that romantic dinner date with your spouse.  Her favorite location, the smell of butter, garlic, and wine wafting from the kitchen as you imagine a plate of Veal Parmigiano.  The maitre’d seats you and you open the menu as you feel a familiar buzz from your jacket pocket….
Your phone ringing.  It's work…again.

You missed another of your son’s soccer games.  His dejected gaze at his shoes when you explain, it carves at your soul.  That look from your wife….all too familiar.  

You can see that your strategy is outdated, opportunities laying lonely on the table like those magazines articles you keep meaning to read.  

You just need time…you need to get ahead of a few things.  You need freedom to work on your business, not stuck feeling trapped in your business.

You sacrificed much to build your business.  You deserve success….you also deserve to live your life and enjoy what you have built, not be a slave to it.  You can regain your treasured personal time, you can pursue those business opportunities and catalyze the next level of growth.

If you recognize yourself here….there is hope.  You grew your business career one block at a time…the way out of this situation is the same….to grow out of it. 

I use proven coaching frameworks to target measurable improvement areas for your leadership.  True organizational change starts through courageous change with senior leaders like you.  I’m so confident in this process that I offer a results guarantee.  You will see measurable improvement or you don't pay.  What do you have to lose?

Want a leadership master-class? The Johari window is a pretty good candidate.

Leadership is relationship…when relationships and trust are strong, you have a good chance as a leader.

The Johari window is a framework to expand trust and achieve potential.

The “arena” is where you can openly lead….leveraging your strengths and those of others to achieve results.

In the arena - you build trust through competence and leading with humility.

You also build trust through vulnerability - sharing some of the hidden things in the ‘facade’.

What are the things that you lose sleep over? What are you working on to be a better leader?

Vulnerability requires a lot of courage but it brings humanity into the leadership equation.

When you have gained enough trust, you may start to learn about “blindspots”.

In my last post, we talked about blindspots….negative or positive, they represent opportunity.

A workplace with trusted relationships allows for exploration into the “unknown”.

When you are consistently expanding the arena by shrinking the other three quadrants….I would wager your results will be strong.

It may seem oversimplified to think about this with a 2x2 matrix.

But if you really think about it….does leadership need to be more complicated than this?

What is missing for you?

Have you seen or used the Johari window before?

💡Leadership Tips that make you think
🔔 Follow me or connect if you are cheeky

Best sketchnote by Tanmay Vora ✍️ — make sure to give him a follow!

#EncouragingLeaders #JohariWindow #Leadership #Trust #GreatPlaceToWork #LeadershipDevelopment

Chris James

Content To Clients Consulting

We help small business owners win more clients using organic content.

⬇️ Check out our client results below ⬇️

Founder

Social sales secrets for coaches + freelancers. My DM game is appalling 😬

FREE LinkedIn training in my featured section ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️

Remember that guy? You know the one...

He got caught cheating at the Coldplay concert...

No, me neither

I wouldn't be able to tell you his name.

I wouldn't recognise him if he walked past me.

We all overthink stuff to the point of paralysis...

But in actual fact, no-one will even care or remember in 5 mins time.

Do the thing.

No-one gives a sh!t.

K thx bye

📌 Ex-Loser (Doors close for C2C in 16 days)

My daughter asked if I'm famous.

"Well, 25,000 people follow me on LinkedIn."

(Smug)

She said "Mr Beast has 300 million."

Then asked if I'm poor 🤣

Last Monday I made about $50,000 in a single day.

That's more than I used to earn in a year 🤯

Except…

It took a year of talking about it.

Months of planning.
Weeks of building.

And 2.5 hours, a broken website + 2.5 nervous breakdowns to get there.

Alongside: 

I forgot to record it
I didn't promote it on Insta
I wasted time on too many landing pages

Luckily the C2C team helped regulate my nervous system + fill the event with about 300 people (thanks guys)

That £38k win is massive, but do not fking underestimate the work and blood, sweat + tears that go into things like this. 

Thank you to everyone that came along to the workshop.

I'm glad you got so much value from it.

So... if you want to join C2C at the lowest price it’ll ever ever be (we just slashed our prices in half) and get a LOAD of bonuses AND the rest of the year free, head to my profile here: Chris James 

or message me CLIENTS + we can have a chat.

📌 Ex-Loser (Doors close for C2C in 21 days)

There are 67 people in the Whatsapp group Jane 😡

You do not need to tell all 66 others that your daughter can't make it to kickboxing this evening.

Yours sincerely,

Chris

PS - My daughter's not going either.

I’ve rejoined the 5am club.

But no ice baths, howling naked at the moon 🐺

That’s an 11am activity...

But, when you're building something properly, you need hours the rest of the world isn’t asking anything from you.

We’ve just dropped the price of our programme. 

BUT just because the price is lower…

…doesn’t mean our standards are.

Every single part of our process + delivery is getting looked at, refined + improved.

And that means I’ll happily trade a lie-in if it means YOUR next client comes in faster, your messaging finally lands, and you stop spending your time doing the things that WON’T make you money.

We’re (re)building C2C for people who work school hours (but not just parents!)

But to build that model, I’m willing to start in the dark. 

And fcking hell it’s dark 🤣

Time’s running out on our bonuses + doors close soon. 

So if you wanna know what I’m making such a fuss about, have a look here: https://lnkd.in/ejV7_Wx4

I am 100000% more stressed now than when I had a job.

If anyone told you it's easy being your own boss - they lied.

I used to think my boss was a tw@t.
Turns out I'm a bigger tw@t to myself than he ever was.

At least he let me go home at 5pm 🤣

I still check Stripe at 5am like some kinda financial pervert.

The team sorts most things now. 
Most systems run without me too…

But my brain still thinks everything will collapse if I take a day off.

This. is. not. easy.

[Insert something witty about being a prisoner in your business that matches the quirky little holiday photo]

- - - - - - - 

📌 PS: LinkedIn content is dying.  I'm gonna show you what to do about it in 2026.  For free.
Come to my workshop on Monday 17th Nov.

📌 Ex-Loser. FREE ‘Death of Content’ Workshop on 17th Nov. See my featured section.

If McDonald's + Coca Cola are still advertising, despite most people on the planet knowing who they are…

…what makes you think you can rock up to LinkedIn once a week with a token post + hit your income goals?

Yeah, I know Ronald McDonald’s not in the DMs pitching you a Bacon Double Cheeseburger. (If he is, send him my way).

But the biggest corporations in the world know they have to stay visible to stay relevant.

So you probably need to do the same.

- - - - - -

💀 P.S. Over 300 people are registered for Monday’s Death of Content workshop. 

You’ll find out what’s no longer working in organic marketing in 2025 + what to do about it in 2026.  Come along.

- - - - - -

📌 P.P.S. McDonalds?  or Burger King? 

Which do you prefer?

No alternative text description for this image

Most creators dominating your feed are CHEATING.

Cuz most “top” creators are in engagement pods…

They’ve got a crew of friends commenting within 30 seconds of every post. 

They’re falsifying their numbers to seem like they're “crushing it”

And you’re sat there refreshing your own posts, wondering why they're not blowing up.

- - - - - - - - - -

But let me tell you something:

It’s not that your content isn’t good enough.
It’s that the game is rigged (and no one wants to admit it)

- - - - - - - - - -

PLEASE stop looking at these “top creators” like they’ve cracked some magical code.  Because most of them are just playing a game you don’t need to.

And ironically, THEY are the ones ruining this platform. 

- - - - - - - - - -

📌 This coming Monday, I’m teaching a few hundred people about content + how EVERYTHING is changing on LinkedIn.

You should come. It’s free.

And it’s not just gonna be a load of regurgitated stuff you can’t do anything with.

Plus, a massive announcement.  We're launching something new.
And it's the cheapest way to work with me directly.
And I'm chucking in LOADS of free shizzz too.

See you there?

This is the STUPIDEST thing I’ve ever done (on camera)

Every coach I know is gearing up to raise their prices for 2026. 

Charge more, make more money, right?

Right, but…

We ignored that + CUT OUR PRICE IN FCKING HALF.

Because when you’ve got something you know can help so many people why the hell wouldn’t you make it accessible to more people?

But we didn’t stop at cutting the price. 

We kept going + added a shitload of bonuses:

→ The rest of 2025 free (start in Dec rather than Jan)
→ Our secret Competitor Analysis tool
→ My full LinkedIn Blueprint course
→ A private Q1 roadmap session

Everyone else is making it harder for you to grow next year. 
We’ve just made it the easiest + cheapest it will ever be.

Why the hell would we do that?

Because the landscape has changed. 

The platforms have gone pay-to-play. 
Organic reach is falling off a cliff. 
AI content is the fcking worst.

And most people are still trying to grow their business with strategies that stopped working 18 months ago. 

If you want 2026 to look different, you can’t keep using 2025 tactics.

So if you’re a coach, consultant or freelancer who wants to hit 2026 bigger + better, we’ll give you the system that’s helped people grow to 6 figures and beyond (over 200 people, in fact), this is for you.

If you want to see me completely lose my mind on camera, hit play below.

And if you want the offer, hit my profile → Chris James

Watch the video first though.

You’ll understand why this might genuinely be the most ridiculous decision I’ve ever made.

Just so you know...

If you comment on my post and I think you are using bots...

I will ask you "what do you mean?" 
Or if you just parrot my post back at me, I will just put "yep." 

If your business isn’t making money yet, you don’t need to use robots. 

You need to have conversations.

[Picture at me laughing at you losers who use AI for commenting]

📌 Ex-Loser (Doors close for C2C in 18 days)

🚨 LISTEN - LESS THAN A MONTH... 

We just cut our prices in half + stopped sales calls forever.

You're only seeing this because you've been checking out our stuff.

Go ahead + apply for C2C.
We'll show you how to get to £8k+ p/mo in school hours.

🎁 Get loads of bonuses (and it's HALF the price)

Doors shut on 19th December...

And after that we're putting it up by £1,000

📌 Click here + apply now → https://lnkd.in/etvZ4bBf

I got told off for using the words “WANNA” and “GONNA” in a post 🖕🏼 

If that was you, you’re gonna wanna scroll past this one too matey moo... 

The problem with posting content that follows some stranger off the internet’s guidelines on what you SHOULD do… 

…is that when people come to work with you, it’s not gonna feel like they’re working with the person they’ve seen online. 

Which is why I’m always gonna type like I fckin talk. 

Gonnas, wannas, swearing + not-quite-”correct” sentences all included. 

If you wanna build an offer that actually sells, you’re GONNA WANNA click this link → https://lnkd.in/eM7BF6mg 2025-12-02 

- - - - - - - 

📌 Our non-negotiables are willingness to do the work. 
And humour. Don’t apply unless you have both plz.

I paid Alex Hormozi $6,000 for some very thin books.

But, as I've said since being a teenager... size doesn't matter.

I've only read one of them so far... The Closing Playbook.

And because I'm so generous, I thought I'd break it down in a video. 

I've always said good sales is like coaching - coaching people to make the right decision.

Anyway... inside, he details his 6 top closes.

Here they are 👇🏻

You’re not doing yourself any favours on LinkedIn...

Especially if you’re doing this… ⬇️

Said with love, but… are you a nodding dog?

This platform's full of ‘em.

Yes men. Yes women.
Trumpet blowers. Copycats.

That’s why everyone’s content pretty much reads the same.

They’re scared.

→ Scared to stand out
→ Scared to be too different
→ Scared of their potential too

If building personal brand is high on your agenda…

Then your best friend is POLARITY.

Why are you different to the alternatives?
What false information are people giving out?

What do you do in your day to day that others don’t?

Focus on that. You’ll stand out more.

- - - - - - - 

🚨 This is your FINAL CALL for today’s FREE Death Of Content workshop.

If you REALLY wanna stand out, you need to know what’s dying + what’s replacing it in 2026 + beyond. 

Sign up here before it’s too late (it’s free but there’s NO replay)

Tickets on my profile ➡️ Chris James

Just broke the internet again - but in a bad way!

EDIT - WE'RE BACK ONLINE.  DEADLINE EXTENDED TIL 5PM. 

If you were on the Death of Content workshop just now...

You broke our website.

We can't let you sign up, OR even email you about it!

Will be back online soon.

Hand tattoos are called “job-stoppers”.

And this one is a big middle finger to an old boss…

I’ve wanted a hand tattoo of my daughter since she was born.
At my old, old job… I mentioned it to one of the directors.
I was the top performing sales rep + had made them a lot of money.

A couple of days later I was pulled into the MD’s office…

“There will be no future for you at this company if you get a hand tattoo”

WOW.

Turns out their was no future for me at the company anyway.

Turns out I’m pretty much umemployable.

Turns out that “old school” mindset is probably the reason that company doesn’t exist any more.

This year I finally got the tattoo.

And I love it 🖕🏼

- - - - - - - - 

Content as we know it is dying.

Only 24 hours left to register for my free workshop where I’ll show you what’s next + how it’ll affect your business.

Grab one of the final remaining spaces here: Chris James

Sorry in advance but… You’re to blame.

You’re responsible.

We’re not your mum (DNA test pending).

That’s why don’t offer guarantees + why it’s a red flag when someone asks.

It usually means:

🚩 They want a fake safety net
🚩 They looking for an easy way out or someone to blame if things go wrong
🚩 They’re not fully backing themselves
🚩 They want results without work

There are people that truly want to succeed.
And there are people that want things handed to ‘em.

And if you’re the latter, turns out I can offer a guarantee.
I guarantee that we aren’t for you.

It’s normal to crave a safety net.
But this isn’t the quarter finals of Gladiators.
You’re not going to die if you slip once.

But I don’t respond positively when people ask…
Because if you’re not all in, you’ll probably out before you’ve started.

There’s ALWAYS a positive ROI when you back yourself.

Commit.

- - - - - - - - 

📌 PS: If your content is underperforming, come to my free workshop on Monday 17th Nov.

Go sign up on the featured section on my profile.

I invested another 5 figures into myself yesterday.

No sales call 📵

Now don't get me wrong...

It's an absolute PRIVILEGE to be able to do this.

To not have to think, and just chuck out more than the deposit I put down on my first house to an absolute stranger.

But I think about it differently after a couple of years...

The person you become from investing in yourself is worth so much more than the money you spend.

I've invested in some ABSOLUTE BS 💩

But... I've made every penny back, in some form.

And I'm all about future-proofing myself for next year.

Because... 2026 starts in 5 weeks.
You can enter it as the same person you are today.
Or you can back yourself and become someone new.

The choice is yours...
But whatever you do... join C2C today!

I need the £10,000 back 🤣

I took 120 of our sales calls + ran ’em through ChatGPT.

VERY interesting...

Turns out pretty much everyone who booked calls with us this year had the same 5 problems popping up in their business...

And they all thought they were the only one dealing with it.

Check it out ⬇️

- - - - - - - 

📌 PS - Time is running out to join C2C at half the price.
Apply ASAP if you want in.

(No it's not a Black Friday offer 🤣)

Early to bed… early to rise… 
Makes a man healthy, wealthy + wise.

Unless of course, work consumes his head...
If so… he’ll wake up at 3 + then go back to bed 🤣

Anyone else wake up REALLLLY early…

Work for a bit…

Then go to bed for a bit more?

Okay, just me then.

———-

There’s a good reason for my early morning wakings.
I’m preparing the ‘Death Of Content’ workshop 💀

It’s free + happening in just under 2 weeks.

Sh-tloads pf people have registered so far + I think we’ll hit Zoom capacity soon.

So if you want to grab a space, now’s the time ⏳

taplio

The Battle

Jon Spiesman

Chris James

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The Battle

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Chris James

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Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Jon Spiesman's LinkedIn Performance

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Performance ScoreJon Spiesman's LinkedIn Performance