Déjà vu all over again?
How often have you heard that phrase banging against your skull … and how often was it telling you … “I’ve been here before” … “Didn’t we already solve this problem?” … “Why does this subject keep coming up all the time?”
Late last year, I embarked on a retrospective of my first 100 newspaper columns from the last four years. You may recall that I emphasized how often so many of those issues continue to be the same challenges year after year.
They’re constantly resurfacing, often in disguise as a different issue altogether … but really, the same ‘ol, same ‘ol.
I promised you then that we would attack the litany of reasons that these same issues keep popping up like whack-a-moles. I don’t think we’ve gotten “dumb and dumberer,” so what’s going on? Why are we tackling the same problems over and over again?
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For most of us, this is the time of the year when hope springs eternal. We’re revved up for an exciting new year, determined to change all of the things that didn’t work last year so we can pound the ball out of the park in 2012.
Nothing wrong with any of that. Commitment, momentum, focus … these are the energies that will fuel our engine and help us jumpstart 2012 with the vigor and rigor that we need to make this year the most successful ever.
Yet, like most New Year’s resolutions we’ve made, the “gum loses its flavor on the bedpost overnight”.
We soon discover that it’s much easier to start than to finish.
We struggle to keep the engine stoked with the same energy that propelled us into the New Year.
We begin to feel some of the air already coming out of the tires, and begin to wonder … “where did that new-found energy go”?
It comes back to that whimpering sound of “hope springs eternal.”
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To tell the truth, I really just wanted to cry.
That was my reaction as I scanned the dining room at the Assisted Living facility into which my 93-year-old mother just moved. Not because it isn’t a terrific facility. It’s one of the nicest I have ever seen, visited or heard about, with a wonderful and genuinely caring staff. No, it’s not that at all. It wasn’t weariness, either, although it did follow on the heels of a draining four-day transition, including a crushing array of painful and tedious sorting, organizing, shopping and hauling to massively downsize and, sadly, to discard even more memorabilia from a rich life of living.
Not all of it mind you. Two big boxes of family history are headed my way, as I’m the last stop for any chance to digitize and preserve almost a century of living so it can be shared throughout the widespread family. All of the forthcoming scanning and cataloging will be a dose of dullsville … invited and welcome, yes … but infinitely time-consuming nonetheless.
It includes hundreds … more likely, thousands … of photographs, yearbook pages, commencement programs, newspaper articles, announcements and the collective minutiae that memorialize a life, two lives really. My father, who passed away 10 years ago … as one who never let a piece of paper slip through his hands … successfully squirreled away records and magazines from as far back as the 1940s and 1950s that escaped our notice in the decade-earlier downsizing round.
You might figure that the tears are sentimental or nostalgic. I wish it were that simple.
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Every Tuesday, we’re sharing valuable and practical leadership tips and tools to help you BE a better leader so you can BECOME a better leader. Remember … you won’t BECOME a better leader until you start BEING a better leader … implementing NOW the changes necessary to adopt the proven strategies of successful leaders. You might start by building on the communication matrix and making sure you’re defending the castle to get done what only you can do. Make sure to take some time so you’re thinking past today. Don’t forget our 12 part Leadership series.
Do it quickly, don’t look back … and move onRemember how Mom used to say: “You know better than that?”
It wasn’t that we were ignorant or unaware of what was supposed to be done. Quite the contrary. We knew damn well what we were supposed to do but we just didn’t want to do it. Why not?
That’s the eternal conundrum, isn’t it my friends? Why don’t we do what we know we must do?
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New metrics to Define Financial Performance?
In the tumult surrounding the 3D maelstrom (Debt Ceiling, Downgrading and Deficit) of several weeks ago, you may have missed another chilling corporate finance update on the relentless pursuit of performance metrics that extol the sunshine while you’re in the heart of darkness. Yes, there may be some economic value for certain of these metrics, but they’re dangerous barometers of realizable value and highly misleading as to future achievements of tangible operating profits and free cash flow.
Most of us recall the “eyeball counting” that preceded the Dot-Com-Bomb and those certain “Signs of the Apocalypse”, as when your cab driver is telling you what stocks you should buy.
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Nothing in life travels in a neat formation accompanied by bugles and cavalry. A lot of it shows up filthy and unkempt, prominent in the mess we’ve made around our foxhole. These lessons are typically the offspring of hubris, naivete and ignorance … or from overlooking the land mines hidden beneath our feet.
Every Tuesday, we’ll share valuable and practical leadership tips and tools to help you BE a better leader so you can BECOME a better leader. Remember … you won’t BECOME a better leader until you start BEING a better leader … implementing NOW the changes necessary to adopt the proven strategies of successful leaders. You might start by building on the communication matrix and making sure you’re defending the castle to get done what only you can do. Make sure to take some time so you’re thinking past today.
Our new series on the building blocks of L.E.A.D.E.R.S.H.I.P. begins today. The introductory article, The Cornerstones of Effective Leadership, appeared last week so don’t miss it.
Isn’t there something almost magical about having a loyal friend? They know when we need help and even better, offer their help without our asking. They’re committed to a lasting relationship with us and they inspire us with their loyalty. They don’t judge us, they overlook our shortcomings, and they expect nothing in return. We have no trouble understanding that kind of loyalty.
But there are others we know as “fair weather friends,” good friends even. We enjoy their company, they’re responsive when their help is sought, but they wouldn’t be our first choice to join us in a foxhole.
What is loyalty and how important is it to successful leadership? Some philosophers think loyalty is only a sentiment; others argue that it’s more of a test of conduct than an intensity of feeling. Some argue that it’s a virtue; some claim that disloyalty is a greater vice than loyalty is a virtue.
Others argue that we must set aside good judgment to be loyal; I contend that while steadfast loyalty is a welcome quality, no individual or company should expect mindless fealty.
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Nothing in life travels in a neat formation accompanied by bugles and cavalry. A lot of it shows up filthy and unkempt, prominent in the mess we’ve made around our foxhole. These lessons are typically the offspring of hubris, naivete and ignorance … or from overlooking the land mines hidden beneath our feet.
Every Tuesday, we’ll share valuable and practical leadership tips and tools to help you BE a better leader so you can BECOME a better leader. Remember … you won’t BECOME a better leader until you start BEING a better leader … implementing NOW the changes necessary to adopt the proven strategies of successful leaders. You might start by building on the communication matrix and making sure you’re defending the castle to get done what only you can do. Make sure to take some time so you’re thinking past today.
As a business leader, how often have you paused to wonder, “Am I a very good leader?” “Is it possible that I’m really just a ‘legend in my own mind’ and that when I turn around and look closely, not many people are following?”
Leadership is the centerpiece of our business success. We start out with what God gave us, and stumble, fall, grow, learn and build from that foundation, emboldened by our success, nurtured by our failures.
Your business will not survive … let alone thrive … if you don’t
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Nothing in life travels in a neat formation accompanied by bugles and cavalry. A lot of it shows up filthy and unkempt, prominent in the mess we’ve made around our foxhole. These lessons are typically the offspring of hubris, naivete and ignorance … or from overlooking the land mines hidden beneath our feet.
Every Tuesday, we’ll share valuable and practical leadership tips and tools to help you BE a better leader so you can BECOME a better leader. Remember … you won’t BECOME a better leader until you start BEING a better leader … implementing NOW the changes necessary to adopt the proven strategies of successful leaders. You might start by building on the communication matrix and making sure you’re defending the castle to get done what only you can do. Make some time so you’re thinking past today.
Okay, I admit it, I’m cheating a little this week … but I’ve got a few good reasons. Well, I’m calling them reasons anyway.
For one, I’m working hard to get ready for our Cash Flow Workshop, “It’s Almost Midnight. Do You Know Where Your Cash Is?” scheduled for May 25th. If you live in the San Francisco bay area, are not a financial executive and want to advance your business finance knowledge, our workshop is tailored for you.
Every successful business executive needs a solid grounding in the principles of cash flow …
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“Financial Adrenaline” is a term we love around here because it reflects our commitment to help you turbocharge your business with practical tips and techniques to improve free cash flow, the lifeblood of business. As a further extension of our Financial Adrenaline program, we’re going to share a new Business Finance Tidbit every Wednesday specifically for those business executives who don’t have a finance background. Our current Big River series started with We’re Making Money. Why are we broke? … then No Cash? Can we borrow what we need? and What if our loan collateral doesn’t cut it? Last week, we talked about the need for outside investors.
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“All intelligent investing is value investing — acquiring more than you are paying for. You must value the business in order to value the stock.”
~ Charlie Munger
John Wilson, CEO of Ace Business Stuff, spent the last few weeks preparing for his meeting with Lary Blogger. He called a few days ago to follow up on his recent conversation with his attorney, Frank Lee Documents, when they spoke about investors, DilutionA reduction in earning per share of common stock that occurs through the issuance of additional shares or the conversion of convertible securities and ValuationThe process of determining the current worth of a company. An analyst valuing a company may look at the company's management, the composition of its capital structure, prospect of future earnings, and market value of assets. Judging the contributions of a company's management would be more subjective, while calculating intrinsic value based on future earnings would be an objective technique..
“Hi, Lary. I appreciate your coming by to meet in person to talk further about some of the issues we discussed a few weeks ago. Can we talk about valuation first, since that seems to be the foundation for conversations with prospective investors?
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Welcome to Exkalibur. I’m Lary Kirchenbauer, President of Exkalibur Advisors, Inc. Please take advantage of our resources to help you build your business ... and let me know what more we can do to serve you.
Read my latest column from the NY Times affiliate, the North Bay Business Journal.
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.
