Mid Summer Resolutions
We’re in the 4th quarter of our business fiscal year now, and we’re in that final push to try and hit our numbers while finalizing our annual operating plans and budgets for this next business year. For many, this is the dog days of summer…for me, it may be the most exciting and definitely the most stimulating part of the year…at least it was in the operating companies…not necessarily as exciting at the staff level…but definitely still anxious for our companies and excited about my next chance to get back to the adrenaline rush of the end of year close.
As we push hard in this final quarter, I’ve come up with the following end of year resolutions:
(1) visit with each of our major business platforms to encourage them in this final push and see what if anything I can do to help them end the year strong; the last thing they need is someone distracting them though, so this really is a “show the flag” and also stress my empathy for what they are going through trying to hit or blow through their numbers
(2) create three new partnerships that will open up a myriad of possibilities for our companies in the coming year; it’s always great to look forward while you’re under the pressure of the current end of year close; but these relationships that are created can’t distract those focused on the end of year close – it’s a tough dance at times, but we need to open doors without requiring extensive time of our executing teams
(3) develop a leadership pipeline; in the coming months, we’ll need new senior executives in several of our companies; as we shift from growth to the first billion to accelerated growth to the next few billion, we’ll need a different type of executive, one who has “been there and done that” in taking companies from chasing contracts to creating wealth options for the parent; but we’ll also need executives who aren’t solely chasing personal compensation – it’s a special breed that wants to be part of a very different type of team
(4) stop my whining; being on staff sucks…that’s all there is to it, but it doesn’t do any good to whine; the staff of a billion dollar company has the same mission as the Pentagon does for the military – organize, train and equip our business units in the field and then get the heck out of the way so they can execute their business mission; staff members of big companies that came from operations in the field feel the same way that commanders in the military feel when they are assigned to the Pentagon or a major staff – it’s pergatory to them; ultimately, the operating companies take their forces into the field and win the business war…the staffs do not; but the operating companies can’t win if the staffs don’t support them right; if I focus on those in the field fighting the war, I’ll stop focusing on me and hopefully stop my whining
While getting these 4 done, I’ll need to do my part in organizational restructuring, subsidiary consolidation, strategic planning, and end of year assessment/evaluation. All of this makes the 4th quarter the most exciting quarter of the year. Tensions are high – not everyone will hit numbers – but everyone sure will kick into high gear to give it that final push in trying.