I was having one of my infamous conversations with a Wall Street elitist, renowned for their intelligence, ingenuity and financial acumen; in other words an investment banker. The meeting’s purpose was to elicit my writing expertise to draft a business plan to raise capital. Once we completed the rapport building small talk, which generally last 3-5 minutes, he began to describe his current deal flow.

 With vigor, I took mental note of every word spoken believing that each sentence contained valuable information needed to complete the project. However, the more he spoke the less disciplined my listening skills became. Right about the “deployment of capital through the Caymen Islands” comment, my ears ostensibly refused to put forth any effort and shut down completely.

In an attempt to summarize the conversation I would list the following key identifiers: each “deal” involved a few billionaires, that they personally knew, from whom they now have exclusive rights to pursue, some had an international play, and, of course, all had promises of a huge upside.

 The fast flowing deal conversation abruptly ended in an anticlimactic fashion as he turned to me and said, “So do you find these interesting and do you want in?” I then learned, of course, part in parcel with the deal, each said billionaire for individual reasons such as ego, need to trust, desire to share more on the upside and a slew of other similarly justifiable reasons was not paying anything upfront. For involvement, I would be awarded the golden opportunity to participate for a generous 10% on the back-end. At my protest, it was stated that they understood and respected my need for some upfront monetary value and agreed to award my 100 plus hours time investment with a check for $5000. To which I just sat motionless for a moment as if needing to swallow my stomach after having survived a massive storm at sea where the ship had violently rocked from side to side.  

Even if I temporarily suspended judgment regarding the ridiculous pittance, and decided to engage in writing a business plan, I would have no idea what I was to write about. My only surmise would be a comedy stint describing the interplay that I had just witnessed. However, given the fact that I do not proclaim to be an entertainment writer, I was at a total loss for words and not sure how to proceed.

My mind began to feverously strategize an exit strategy; my own.  The plan was to act interested, politely decline and exit out the back door. My need for an escape route suddenly became unnecessary, as the investment banker surprisingly looked at his watch noting his plane was to leave in 45 minutes. He then publicly announced the need for a ride to the airport to which I happily stated the limitations of my two-seater car unless he found comfort in riding on the roof. I left him to his cohort to fulfill his logistic requirements and proceeded to the closest Starbucks to replenish my lost energy and find some sanity.

As I sat there aggressively clinging to my non-fat latte, I reflected upon what had happened and unsuccessfully tried to make sense of it all. Recalling the other nonsensical conversations I had witnessed from decades long past, I wondered when bragging rights for known millionaires fell out of fashion. It now appeared that those who proclaim to be “in the know” must brag of relationships with billionaires instead. This thought led me to contemplate the exact number of billionaires that actually exist in the world. Does there need to be a 2-1 ratio given all the investment bankers who now claim allegiance with this elect group of individuals? More importantly, I questioned what had happened to the business models of the past, where by you sold a tangible product or value-added service, profiting a few bucks per transaction and through business prowess and acumen built an empire, which incidentally did not require deployment of capital through the Caymen Islands. Finally, I just remained amused and bewildered and wondered how two seemingly bright and talented men could sit there through such a discussion and not note how ridiculous it sounded.

I ended my reflection as I sipped the last few drops of my latte and congratulated myself on the ability to keep a straight face during it all. Although this experience has now left the forefront of my mind, I must admit that part of me is still waiting to hear the famous line, “Smile—you’re on candid camera”.

We all have been there before—sales says, “Just get the order we don’t want to upset the client and we need the work”. Later the finance department cringes as they review the terms of the already consummated deal.

In the past when times were good, cash was flowing and credit was cheap, sales could easily muscle the close of a deal while the finance department, whose voice was rendered silent, scrambled to tie lose ends together (which usually involved reallocating funds and viewing profits on a larger loss/gain scale to justify the added risk). However, today the repercussions of those choices are becoming more and more evident.

For example, I was reading an article published by Reuters regarding the lawsuit against Angelo R. Mozil, Countrywide’s chairman of the board and chief executive officer until July 1, 2008. The 55 page document detailed email correspondence that was sent by John P. McMurray the chief risk officer,  warning of increased risk exposure from a “we beat any other” marketing campaign.

Having a strong marketing background, I respect competitive offering campaigns where a few dollars are lost while creating consumer loyalty but such a bold offer when a loan risk portfolio is involved —what were they thinking? I can only imagine that such a scheme was developed behind closed doors by an aggressive sales/marketing team without any input from the finance department.

This type of behavior is especially prevalent among small and mid-sized companies. They are fearful of dropping sales and are willing to sell at any cost, which usually reeks havoc on the balance sheet as cost overrun profit, margins slide, cash flow is sacrificed and in the worse scenario loan covenants are questioned.

In the past finance has always been viewed as a “historical department”, working with events that have already occurred. Perhaps it is time to take a more proactive approach—before closing that great deal or launching the killer marketing campaign check in with the finance person and ask the all-important question—if we succeed at closing this deal how will it affect the bottom line?

Many years ago I read somewhere that we only use 3-4% of our brain. I know, since then my scientist friends have told me that is not true. However, this did spark a twenty plus year obsession with mind development. I reviewed every piece of literature I could find and attended classes ranging from practical application to the more obscure and metaphysical in nature.  Whether I actually increased brain abilities is questionable but I do believe my fascination had a positive impact.

 There is one simple concept that stands out from all the knowledge acquired during my search. Smart people do not memorize information—they memorize systems. They develop processes to store data and then they memorize how to locate that data. This led me to a lifelong pursuit of system development—both personally for my own goals and professionally for my clients.

What started as paper processes eventually moved to the computer; at the time Outlook was my best tool for organizing.  In fact, an article that I wrote titles “You’ve got mail but is your inbox lean?” was even published in SME. Today, with the ability to customize most technologies following this simple concept is easier than ever.

To this point--this morning as I was working with my current system—for business I use Week Cal, combined with Awesome Notes and Evernote. As an avid rock climber I am very committed to my training schedule. To track my data with Digit Trainer, Pushups, My Fitness Pal and OnTrac Cal. Please note-- I am not endorsing these specific apps or saying they are the best. Each person has to determine what works for them. For me, these apps form a system that I can work with effortlessly, which is the main point here.

With the aid of technology I literally have everything at my fingertips. However, unlike many who feel overwhelmed by the amount of information and technology available, I feel liberated. I believe the key difference goes back to the main concept I learned so long ago—develop systems. I have a few systems in place that structurally organize, schedule and store data. Then I walk planet earth free of information overload.

People often say to me, “How can you accomplish so much in a day.” To this I share my lifelong secret—free yourself of clutter and focus on only what really matters...and...get an app to help you determine and track what that is and keep everything else out of your way!

Last year I had the esteemed honor to participate on a panel with Ira Jackson, the Dean of Peter Drucker’s School of Business in Claremont. Mr. Jackson’s coauthored book “Profit with Principles” explores the social responsibility of corporations and was the impetus for the event.

During the interactive dialogue, I was struck by a recurring theme: Independent of the problem, world hunger, absence of clean drinking water or global warming, leadership (or lack of) appeared to play a significant role in every issue being discussed. Influenced by the event, I began to notice the words, “lack of leadership” cropping up in all my experiences. In an article published many years ago by the Newsweek Washington Post, William M. Gumede the Associate Editor at Africa Confidential writes, “Serious food shortages and inflation, which in some places have spawned unprecedented riots, protests and marches across Africa, are due in part to bad local leadership and lack of democracy.”

Professionally while working with middle market companies I have the rare opportunity to examine the inner-workings and become intimately involved with the owners, management and employees. Plagued by tough competition and eroding margins, these companies are often struggling to survive. With that said, the tough economic conditions could be overcome but the lack of leadership is what will ultimately hinder the companies’ growth.

Theoretically, the next logical question is, “What happened to all the leaders?” Is there a leadership void caused by the absence of a leadership incubator? This thought process led me to consider how a leader is formed and thereby the proverbial question of whether they are born or made.

Independent of a blessed genetic inheritance, I still believe a leader must learn through emulation, a mentor of some sort. Traditionally the process of mentoring began in the home with the parents, was furthered by teachers though the school system, advanced in college and then polished in the business setting as the employee moved “up ranks”. There were enough opportunities for exposure that even if one of the legs were missing, such as an lack of family structure or a misguided teacher, somewhere along the way an individual would gain exposure to a suitable mentor. Today however, parents are not always home, schools are lacking, and globalization has quicken the business pace to where the “GE” slow progression and grooming model no longer exist.

The word “crisis” has become a staple to our daily vocabulary: environmental crisis, economic crisis, banking crisis as well as a slew of others. Since serving on the panel I have given the topic of leadership much thought and I now believe we have overlooked the underlying cause of all issues; a leadership crisis.

• Ability to persevere in spite of all difficulty- more emotional than physical
• Understand the importance of core competencies-stay the course
  
• Sense trends-business acumen of when to stay in and when to get out
• Awareness of strength/weakness and available resources
• Recognizing trends and deciding which ones to become involved in
• Stay current on topics, read, watch the news follow politics
• Talk to people about what they are seeing-become a human reporter
• Become skilled at the art of communication
• Learn about human behavior
• Take a psychology course
• Read sales books and attend seminars
• Capitalize on strategic partnerships
• Build a team of people around you- supporting marketing/finance and operations
• Learn how to be a deal maker
• Learn to have a clear and defined presence- build excitement
• Become your biggest fan
• Understand those who offer best intention advice
• Recognize when people are coming from their own fears
• Make a conscious decision to differentiate between advice and instruction-get 3 quotes
• Know how to interact in the world- overcome age, gender biases-create your own reality-
  

Financial Considerations

Strategy without financial analysis is incomplete and subject to failure.  Continual growth under any economic condition requires a strong financial plan.  CEOs often find themselves in right-brain, left-brain quandary – how do you commingle visionary optimism with cost-conscious pessimism?  Executives often adopt strategies that do not consider the financial implications.  Ineffective strategic plans are void of comprehensive ROI analysis.  Smaller firms are particularly at risk, since they may lack a qualified CFO.  Controllers with only basic accounting procedures are missing the advanced analytical skills that are required for close financial examination of a strategic plan.

Industries are not created or destroyed equally.  Some companies are better positioned for economic uncertainty.  Executives who strive to become increasingly strategic in their financial decision-making and engage in vigilant oversight of the company’s financial condition have an edge over their competitors.  Financial vigilance includes evaluating the company’s fundamental economic position by analyzing the industry, customer profitability, financial performance, cost structure, availability of capital, debt leverage and retained earnings.

BUSINESS SIMPLY PUT Planning Your Company's Growth: A 10 Step Guide to the Strategic Planning Process             Price $4.99

To purchase http://businesssimplyput.com/SimplyPutSummaries.htm

A strategy-driven organization

• See business from a viewpoint of an researcher performing an experiment, change one variable at a time will keeping other areas of influence constant in order to determine what works and what does not
• A growing company needs the same biological cohesiveness and functionality as a living organism
• Constantly engage in strategic thinking- make everyone in the organization aware of its importance
• Be rooted in reality- don't ignore the obvious because it is painful to accept
• Choose strategic pathways based on available resources- financial, human and time frame
• Don’t build a competitive organization where innovation and creativity are kept in silence
• Use strategic alliance and partnerships to grow the organization

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Determine he origin of your existing clients

 Develop a conscious awareness of where your current client base is coming from:

• Review current client list for origin of sale- trace back to marketing efforts
• Compare results with desired client targets
• Define a profitable client: definition, industry, origin

 Be able to answer the question, "Who is my competitor?"

1. Watch trends –read business literature your clients are reading, attend their association trade shows
2. Be aware of substitutions--they may also be a competitor
   
3. Identify possible threats and/or opportunies
4. See the world from yours clients perspective
   

 Develop an effective marketing/selling mix

• Front of mind strategy for long buying cycles
• Direct and indirect contact- alternate personal contact with marketing communication tools
• Provide easy to access information and statistical facts
• Play on their concerns- suggest solutions

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