Practical Strategies to Help Leaders Get Real Results

For you graphics nerds – Starring the CPI!

In today’s New York Times, there is an eye-catching picture that will make the nerdiest graphmeister weep. It’s a very unique graphical depiction of the Consumer Price Index. You may not know that the Bureau of Labor Statistics gathers 84,000 prices on 200 products every month to calculate the Consumer Price Index. See it here…

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How to lead during a recession!

Jack Welch doesn’t need kudos from me, but I appreciate his recent column (with his wife, Suzy), Keeping Morale Up in a Downturn, in the recent issue of Business Week. It focuses on 2 key characteristics that I think good leaders possess: 1] Transparency, referring to a willingness to talk openly and honestly with members…

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Hiring Outside the Box

Forbes magazine ran a timeless article in their April 10 edition about critical errors made in the hiring process. In short – 1] ask well-considered questions to assess critical competences and 2] don’t be the only interviewer. Since the development of your leadership team is the most important step you can take to accelerate your…

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Cash Crunch: April 14 Column – Extended Version

For those of you who read the recent column in the April 14 edition of the North Bay Business Journal, entitled A cash crunch necessitates a trip to the bank for a loan, here is the extended version with a more complex borrowing calculation which takes into account the Minimum Cash Balance required. Please feel…

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Family Business Survey

For readers of my January 14th column entitled Small businesses lead economy, but often neglect their own needs, I promised to provide a copy of the 2007 Mass Mutual Family Business Survey.

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Exkalibur Advisors Launches!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Lary Kirchenbauer is pleased to announce the formation of Exkalibur Advisors, Inc., a firm that will provide financial and strategic advisory services to family businesses and other middle market companies in the San Francisco Bay area. Exkalibur will help companies enhance their success by focusing on the leadership, strategy and financial capabilities…

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North Bay Business Journal launches Lary’s regular column

On July 2, 2007, the North Bay Business Journal, a subsidiary of the New York Times, announced a new regular column by Lary Kirchenbauer entitled “Building a Business”. You can read the announcement here.

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Lary speaks to North Bay Innovation and Venture Forum

Recently, I had the privilege of joining a distinguished panel of North Bay executives to participate in the second annual North Bay Innovation and Venture Forum sponsored by the City of Santa Rosa, the Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce and Golden Capital Network. You can read about it in the North Bay Business Journal article…

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Get home right now!

BW reported this week on the accelerating trend toward home offices. Even such office-centric firms as BDO Seidman are finding ways to save money by encouraging home offices – and outfitting at company expense. Capital One – health care companies – and others are cited for recognizing the cost savings to the company, and the…

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ABOUT ME

I am a professional author and speaker as well as a leadership coach facilitating leadership groups among CEOs and senior business leaders in the SF Bay area.

I am the author or more than 125+ newspaper columns published by the SF Bay affiliate of the NY Times among the 550+ articles here. I have also written 3 ebooks about Leadership & Business Finance.

I have been married forever to a beautiful woman and have one spectacular daughter who has dedicated her life to helping children with life-threatening illnesses.

Testimonials

In my former position as a tax partner at KPMG, LLP, I worked closely with Lary on the tax aspects of the plethora of business issues that arise in the life cycle of a start up company. It was unusual to see a senior finance person demonstrate a seasoned business acumen in identifying issues and opportunities, grasping the technical issues, resolving obstacles and implementing change. ~ Jeffrey Bergmann, V.P. Worldwide Tax

I've known and worked with Lary for more than 15 years as a business partner, consulting colleague and adviser and have found that Lary's financial skills and creativity result in high quality results for his clients. I am certain that Lary's strong work ethic, client focus and successful track record bode well for future clients just as they have formed the foundation of a long-term and highly valued relationship for me. ~ Kevin J. Sharps, Director, Financial Services Consulting practice

Lary has been a tremendous asset to our company. His experience and knowledge provides our young company with the type of financial and business guidance needed to facilitate our continued growth. In addition to Lary's efforts in raising capital for our company, he has assisted Multimedia Live in both extensive business planning, as well as continual ongoing monthly financial and strategy analysis of our business. I have found this to be an invaluable service. ~ Ken Burke, CEO, Multimedia Live, Inc.

Lary brings to the table a wealth of real world wisdom and experience that is grounded in an impressive array of C-level and other executive leadership and operational management roles. Over the years I have found Lary's advise and counsel to be invaluable, I think in part because of his dedication and commitment to being of true value to his clients and colleagues. Lary has a well-honed ability to ask the right (and often difficult!) questions, to shed light on the most challenging aspects of your business, to share best practices and to guide you to valuable solutions to consider. I recommend Lary without hesitation. If you are a CEO or senior level executive, working with Lary will no doubt prove to be one of the smartest decisions you will make during your career.~ David Newlin, Managing Partner

Lary began advising our company when we were going through some difficult challenges, and now, two years later, we are in a completely different and significantly better place. His advice was specific, direct, and not always what we wanted to hear, and that was invaluable. Lary has been quick to cut through to the heart of an issue. His coaching, prodding, and tough questioning helped us to make changes that truly and measurably have helped both our top and bottom lines. ~ Paul Levitan, CEO

We have a great management team that has built a very successful company. At an important crossroads, we needed more expertise on an expanded list of financial issues than we could provide ourselves. Lary brought that expertise, providing the depth of knowledge and experience that helped us develop and implement a practical solution. ~ Gary Imm, CEO (retired)

Lary is one of the brightest and most energetic professionals with whom I have ever worked. His skills in dealing with privately held firms and the aggressive and creative solutions made him a valuable asset to any business. ~ F. Bart Smith, President (retired)

Within a three year period I had two different startups and one acquisition to deal with. Lary's involvement in the projects allowed me to raise substantial amounts of capital on all occasions. He makes even the most monumental task seem effortless. His tireless attention and focus on the project gets things done, done right, and under deadline. ~ Don Meahan, owner and operator of Alaska’s Naknek Anglers, LLC

Not only do you get honesty and integrity from Lary but you also get creativity, maturity and deep business acumen. Lary is the diamond in the rough for middle market companies in need of corporate advisory services and transaction services. ~ Kelly O. Kay, Partner, Center for Corporate Innovation

Lary was an important component in helping us raise our first (over-subscibed) fund at Harbour Group. His doggedness, professionalism, and friendly demeanor helped open doors for what, at the time, was an untested and reasonably new concept. He was a pleasure to work with and remains a friend to this day. ~ Ralph Lobdell, Chairman, Tripos, Inc.