Lessons from Procter & Gamble – Clear, Concise Communication

Procter & Gamble has long been known for its “one page memo”. There are a number of important reasons why this idea has proven to be so successful for P&G and none of them have to do with saving paper. Actually, while the memo itself is one page there are generally additional pages of supporting documentation that provide additional information in support of the information included on the first page.

The primary purpose has been assumed to be sending forward the information required for a decision to be made by upper management on some business acceleration idea. Procter & Gamble generally operates in a "bottom up" mentality where the people closest to the business and with the most relevant facts are responsible for leading the management thinking and accelerating the business progress. They do that through recommendations, research summaries and competitive analysis that all follow the one page format.

While the first purpose is to lead management and secure approval, there are other important purposes as well. As a new Brand Assistant significant time is dedicated to your training. As it relates to the one page memo, it is training in being able to think. The brevity of the memo forces the writer to be crystal clear in deciding exactly what they are recommending to accelerate the business and the basis upon which that recommendation is made. The training in this area starts early in your career and is extensive. Forty years later, I still have my first P&G memo. It was rewritten 11 times, each time going forward at least one level of management and then coming back with “suggestions” to improve the conciseness, clarity or communication. As I review this memo, I marvel at the time invested in me and know that this was just average for the number of rewrites required. By the way, the recommendation went to the President of the company and received not only approval but a note saying “well written and very clear memo.”

The next purpose is to facilitate review by upper management. The format is identical for all recommendations and all excessive verbiage is eliminated. This may seem to be unimportant. However, in a company with tens of thousands of employees and many, many business acceleration memos being forwarded every day, the only way to insure proper understanding of the communication is to insist on standardization and brevity.

Finally, the clarity of the communication enables all of the departments who are involved to be clear on what is required in their role to execute the business acceleration idea. They are required to have signed off on the recommendation before it is forwarded to management so that when approved, co-ordinated action can commence immediately.

Frankly, the appreciation for the “one page memo” and all that it achieves increases with the time one is at Procter & Gamble. Its usefulness is proven over and over. Having moved on from P&G to run businesses and other companies, I have seen the value of the clear, concise communication and thinking training pay off in those companies too. Many clients have complimented our company on its ability to cut through the mire of information to clearly define the challenges and opportunities and the business acceleration ideas that can capitalize on those opportunities.

For examples of the one page memo format, send us an email. The contact information is below.

Thanks

John


Procter & Gamble prides itself on providing outstanding training for its people. Actually, it is a necessity, since the company has a strong “promote from within” policy. As a result, there are a number of significant lessons that have been learned over the course of a 23 year career at Procter & Gamble like I had. This is part of a series of articles which will share some of those lessons. If you would like the benefit of this expertise applied to the business acceleration opportunities in your business, contact us.


John Maver
President
Maver Management Group
(925) 648-7561
Maver Management

Core Values are the Basis for Organizational Effectiveness

As you know by now, I spent 23 years at Procter & Gamble, starting at the bottom of the advertising/marketing ladder and with the company’s policy of promoting from within, rose to an executive level. The advantage that I had, as do all P&G employees, is the fact that the core values are known and lived by not only a few in management, but almost everyone around you.

It was easy to see employees, who were dedicated, management who cared about the staff and who knew the business and customers who were loyal. The logic of why this organization worked so well was obvious. It was the solid foundations on which this corporate structure was built. Those foundations were the corporate values. However, they were not mentioned overtly. Nor were they written up on any brass plaques or signs hanging on the walls. But evident they were. How did this organization succeed in having “everyone singing from the same book”? The answer lies in the nature and extent of the training that all staff experienced and shown daily by all around who served as role models.

Some management writers have coined the phrase “walking the talk”. It is intended to mean that management, and particularly top management, must model the behavior they expect of others. But how often does it happen and more importantly, does it work? As Lebow points out “The only thing that really changes behavior is when the proclaimed values are practiced at every level, including at the top”. The inference can be drawn that not only must managers “do what they say”, but there also must be a collective understanding of “what precisely it is that we should all do”.

In today’s economic environment, spending 23 years with one company is rare. So is the promotion from within concept because it entails training and development investments and the knowledge that much of the benefit is going to go to other companies as employees move on. We have been scripted as consumers and business managers to want “instant” gratification. Hire someone who has the talent and experience based on previous work and companies and utilize them until either they no longer can provide the value or they are lured away by other companies.

I have also found that candidates when evaluating possible employment opportunities with another company seldom consider the values of that company and whether they match with their own value set. Certainly position, title, compensation, perks and expected work are all evaluated Yet the single greatest reason for people moving from one company to another is their lack of fit with company values in one way or another.

Having worked for Procter & Gamble and then Clorox from the time I came out of graduate school, I perhaps foolishly assumed that all companies had positive company values. I quickly found that this wasn’t the case when I moved to my first privately held company. The business results and internal chaos were a direct reflection of ill-defined and often negative company core values.

Most successful companies focus on their core competencies, not to be confused with core vales, at least to some extent and there is a desire to hone those competencies. This leads to the companies instituting MBOs, Quality Circles, TQM, ISO9000+, Benchmarking, Process Engineering, Six Sigma and many others. While all these strategies are based on sound theory, they do not reflect the very nature of why the organization has been successful that of corporate behavior that is based on shared values - the Core Values of the company

We are often asked as we lead the strategic business planning process for clients, why we start with the Core Purpose of the company and the Core Values. All organizations have values, whether they are publicly evident or not. These drive the success of the business plan that we are creating. That success is ultimately dependent on the people in the organization and how well they work and exhibit the Core Values.

By now, you should be convinced of the importance of Core Values and making them a living part of your organization.

BUT!

The questions for you as a leader of your organization, whether at the “C” level or down through manager are:
1 What are your personal Core Values?
2 How well are they known and lived?
3 How do they match up with the Company’s Core Values?

You don’t need a behavioral scientist or an organizational development expert to help you. You and other business people can identify them and then instill them. If you need help, contact us. Core Values provide strong foundations for organizational effectiveness.

Thanks

John

John Maver
President
Maver Management Group
(925) 648-7561
Maver Management

Are you a Leader?

Of course you are! If you are holding any management or executive position you must be a leader. Or at least have some leadership qualities. But what are the key leadership qualities. Much has been written about leadership and many, many great leaders have been studied in detail. Some actually become “icons” by virtue of their success and that may or may now have anything to do with their leadership style.

We are not suggesting that you exhibit all of the attributes listed below. If you did, we all would be following you as an “icon”. The key is to review them and understand which ones fit you now and which ones you believe you could adopt to make you more effective. Be selective and pick the few that will provide the greatest leverage to you and your organization.

Leaders (distilled from High Impact Leadership by Mark Sanborn):
1. Spend 50-75% of their day focusing on the top 3-4 items in their business.
2. Focus on how best to use their time and energy and the time and energy of others.
3. Not only do things right, they do the right things.
4. Use future focus, strategic anticipation.
5. Achieve excellence by investing additional time and energy if it makes the product, service, or outcome noticeably better for their business.
6. Determine how to get people & organizations to improve.
7. Recognize the importance of setting goals for employees that are not easy to achieve.
8. Recognize that change is an indisputable good condition and make change (improvement) a necessity.
9. Involve people in how change will take place.
10. Continually grow through study and introspection.
11. Dare to be different.
12. Constantly ask themselves and others what has been done to add value to the organization.
13. Make sure they are asking the right questions and search for all the right answers.
14. Learn to act on incomplete information.
15. Are willing to make more mistakes.
16. Follow the adage "if it isn't broken, make it better".
17. Create a sense of urgency - ask "What's next?"
18. Realize that performance is achieved through coaching, training and practice.
19. Lead with enthusiasm.
20. Leaders Create Leaders.

How did you do? Did you recognize qualities about yourself on this list? What should you be doing that you could be doing that would make you a more effective leader?

We have worked with many senior executives. If you would like some help or mentoring, contact us. We would love to help.

Thanks

John

John Maver
President
Maver Management Group
(925) 648-7561
Maver Management

Analyzing Your Business Needs - And a Free Offer

Many companies struggle under the weight of large amounts of data. They have been unable to effectively and efficiently turn it into useful information. Worse still, they have not been able to use it to successfully analyze the business and therefore take the steps necessary to either handle the challenges or take advantage of the opportunities.

We have developed a simple questionnaire that we use with our clients to provide a snap shot of the business and can lead to targeted effort on improvements. This may help you analyze your business as well.

Just respond to each statement below with a simple ranking.
1 Strongly Disagree
2 Disagree
3 Neither Agree nor Disagree
4 Agree
5 Strongly Agree

Maver Management Group Business Self Assessment
1. Our business goals are clear and have been communicated to all employees.

2. Our business progress is at or above forecast and is accelerating.

3. We have a written business plan and strategies that are known by all managers and guide their activities.

4. We understand our core competencies and our business plans are built on them.

5. We have identified the key issues facing the company and a specific plan is in place to address each issue.

6. Our company and our products have a clear positioning and it is promoted by Sales and Marketing.

7. There is a clear customer focus across the organization.

8. We are a preferred supplier to our customers.

9. Our revenue and profit is usually very close to forecast.

10. Our financial measures and results are known and understood by all managers.

11. We have clear metrics that measure the progress on each of our business plan strategies and the advancement toward our long term goals.

12. We understand the bottlenecks in our operations and have programs in place to address them.

13. We have a strong development and training program for our personnel.

14. We have alliances with other companies that extend our capabilities cost effectively.

15. New products make up a growing percent of our business and their market introductions are at or ahead of forecast.

If you have ranked any with 1 or 2, you have identified an area of concern. If you have more than two or three statements ranked this way, you may have a significant problem ahead of you. Very few executives have ranked their operations as all 4s or 5s. If you rank your company in this way, you might want to get a second opinion from within your company. Generally, when this happens the others see the business differently.

This should give you a start on identifying the issues that are holding you back and also the areas upon which you might build to accelerate your progress.

Special OfferSince we use this tool regularly, share your results with us and we will provide an analysis of your results free of charge.

We’ll even discount our regular business planning price if we can help you use the analysis to accelerate your business progress.

Try it out!

Thanks.

John


John Maver
President
Maver Management Group
(925) 648-7561
Maver Management

Business New Year’s Resolutions

It’s a new year. A new quarter. A new month. And you have enthusiastically thought about how you will make this new time so much better for your company and for you personally. You have a clean slate upon which to write. Well, as they said in that car rental commercial, “Not exactly”. There are a number of carryovers from last year, quarter and month, right?

In fact, it is the carryovers and habits set before that are the major causes of new resolutions and plans not being put in motion or carried out.

Unfortunately, the thoughts are just in your head and unless they are written down in the form of a plan and shared with your organization, the chance of them actually happening is virtually zero.

There must be a concrete change in order to alter the course of events. If you keep on doing the same things, you will keep on getting the same results. It’s not just the definition of insanity; it is what happens to most businesses.

The most effective change is the creation of an updated strategic plan. It can be a plan created from scratch or one that is updated and modified to take into account the current business and industry environment. The Institute for Strategic Planning has found that 73% of companies do not have a written plan that is known throughout the company. No wonder that business continues as it always has.

This is the moment to invest the resources and time to put those new thoughts down in a plan and capitalize on the opportunities in front of you. Many see this as tedious and unproductive effort. Yes, it can be if not done properly or the plan is not acted upon. It needs to have assigned responsibility with measures that cause accountability and retooling of the plans based on in market responses.

Have you done this with your company yet? If not, what is stopping you? You don’t have to be the CEO, although that clearly would help. You can put this into action at any level and your success will attract others to you.

If you need a format, we have a simple one that has proven to work effectively across a broad range of industries. If you need help using it or whatever other format you choose, please contact us. We are experts at this type of work.

Just get started before the slate fills up with old carryovers.

Thanks.

John

John Maver
President
Maver Management Group
(925) 648-7561
Maver Management

Putting Your Business Plan into Action

How is your business doing these days? Are you achieving the success with your plan that you had expected? You do have a plan right??

A number of companies are not achieving the expected results despite what they consider very good strategic business planning. Others don’t have a good plan and even with solid in-market activities are also struggling. Why is that? As we analyze these companies, it may seem obvious to us but certainly not to them. Otherwise they wouldn’t be doing it. Or would they?

Traditionally, strategy creation has been almost solely in the domain of the CEO and some of the senior executives. They huddle in conference rooms or even take it off site to a resort where they can also do some “team building” like golf. After the designated period, since most of these sessions have an end time set at the start no matter what unexpected issues arise during the sessions, a plan is “completed and agreed”. This is generally given to a designated implementer and the team returns to their regular responsibilities, pleased that the task has been completed. In many instances, little to no thought or resources have been given to the actual implementation. Hence, the results generally do not achieve the expectations.

Traditionally, the execution of business plans or daily activities are in the domain of the mid to lower levels of the organization. They are given a general idea of what they are expected to do and how to do it and then left to figure it out on their own. If there are additions of new programs or projects, usually they are added to the workload with resources to come from existing allocations. Not surprisingly, the results from this effort also do not meet expectations.

As you can see from the way the two scenarios are described, both are doomed to failure. Perhaps if you review the way that your company operates, you may be surprised to find that you are also falling into one or both of these traps.

Simply, you wouldn’t plan a trip without any idea of how you were actually going to get to your destination. And you would just get into the car without any idea of where you were headed and just drive. The same logic holds true in strategic business planning for success.

Clearly, strategy and execution have to be tied closely together. A recent issue of the Harvard Business Review had a lead article on this critical point. At Maver Management as we work with our clients we attempt to have at least a couple of “Implementers” on the strategic team just to insure that the team understands how the plan will be executed for success. Secondly, a significant element in the post strategic planning process is the cascading of the corporate plan down through the business units and functions. In this way, all will know exactly what is expected to be achieved and what their role in achieving it will be. It leads to coordinated business unit and functional strategic plans that directly tie to the corporate.

With a close tie together, it enables companies to make needed adjustments to the strategic plan quickly based on direct market place feed back. This keeps the plan current and on target. It is apparent that waiting for the next scheduled round of planning exercises a year off will not work in today’s fast moving economic climate.

The combining of strategy and execution may sound obvious. However, we have found that most companies do not do this and when they hire us to help them, are surprised that it is an important element of the planning process. Once they are underway, they see the merits and the results reinforce the wisdom of doing it.

The concept is basic. Are you tying your strategic planning directly to the execution?

Contact us if we can be of assistance. We have the experience and the successes.

Thanks

John

John MaverPresidentMaver Management Group(925) 648-7561Maver Management

The Cost Effective Way to Drive Business Success

How do you get the expertise required to drive to your business goals and still be able to keep costs under control?

The Problem
Companies both large and small have tried a variety of methods and models and have had limited success. Training and developing the expertise is expensive, resource consuming and takes a long time to germinate results. Hiring from the outside is risky since what you see on resumes and in interviews is not always what you get. Additionally, there is the added expense of recruiting and then once the hire is made, knowing that more than half will turn out to not fit well for very long.

The Solution
A better model for today’s economy is one that takes advantage of the services and talents that are readily available and does so in a cost effective manner. Our experience has been that the staffing model for today is a mixture of consultants and in-house talent. Having been personally involved with this model and its success with a number of companies, as well as participated with the other models, we know it works!

The Need
Expertise is required to quickly identify the opportunities and develop the plans required to reach the goals. It is also required to oversee the execution of those plans, since strategy and execution cannot be separated. Hiring this expertise as part of your company’s ongoing staffing can be cost prohibitive for small to medium sized companies and difficult to assimilate for larger companies. The requirement is for the brain power, not the administrative, paperwork and supervisory capabilities. Yet, for management employees, most of their days are spent on tasks other than creating.

Concurrently, there is also a need for the legwork and the administrative talent that will actually execute the plans and make certain that all the details are followed and completed in a timely manner. This is best achieved through in-house talent familiar with the organization with productive relationships to make it happen smoothly and quickly. This talent is not quite as specific as the expertise talent and from a cost standpoint can be quite reasonable.

How it works
The plan would be to put several high powered consultants, NOT consulting firms, but specific consultants on retainer, so that they can help you directly create and then oversee from a distance the strategies, plans, programs and execution. The actual labor of putting the plans into the market would be done by the in-house staffing.

In today’s marketplace, senior level expertise can be found in every function and is readily available. So, too, is the basic labor that is required.

The Benefits
A sample cost comparison might be:
Complete staffing in house
Senior executives (2) – Compensation, benefits, overhead, expenses etc –
annual cost $375K
Lower level management (2) - Compensation, benefits, overhead, expenses etc –
annual cost $125K
Total $500K

Recommended Model
Senior executives (2) - 2 days per month each –
annual cost $120K
Lower level management (2) - Compensation, benefits, overhead, expenses etc –
annual cost $125K
Total $245K

In addition to the significant cost savings, there are several other benefits. The consultants should bring fresh ideas with experience from multiple other companies. This can provide competitive advantage vs other companies in your industry. There is also no severance when projects are completed or alternative talents are required and flexibility in usage of time required.

An added benefit is that the company can get exactly the expertise and fit needed at any time and require existing management to take on tasks that are not squarely in their sweet spot. We all know how ineffective and expensive that can be.

Think about it. Doesn’t this model make more sense and not just because the Maver Management Group are consultants? Aren’t the benefits apparent for your company? Doesn’t this expand your capabilities and bandwidth most cost effectively?

Contact us if we can help get you started. We have the experience.

Thanks

John


John MaverPresidentMaver Management Group(925) 648-7561Maver Management

Turnaround or Business Acceleration?

Has the economy turned? The news continues to be full of stories that support both the need for continued turnaround work in companies as well as for business acceleration strategies in others. It’s true with the giant companies. GM pays back all the loans to the government and appears to be moving in the right direction. HP announces that it is cutting 9000 jobs and is still reorganizing and “getting right sized”. It’s true with the medium and smaller companies as well. We expect that you are either directly affected or someone close to you is.

How should businesses handle these economic times? Some businesses have pulled back and are still cost cutting and operating in a very defensive mode. Unfortunately, their life expectancy is going to be relatively short lived. Others are taking a more assertive stance. Assertive, not necessarily aggressive. They have created a solid business strategy and plan, built the right management team and are investing wisely in their future. They can have a bright future.

What is your company doing? Do you need turnaround or business acceleration work? How are you helping lead your company in these times?

We are finding that many companies are once again capitalizing on the skills and experience of strong consultants. They, once again, are viewing them as a wise investment rather than a cost choice. As a result, the companies are developing the right plans and doing so much faster than they would if they had to do it on their own. They are finding that the extra bandwidth for that short period of time is well worth the small expense and the ROI is significant.

The caution is to make certain that if you are hiring a turnaround consultant that they have the capability to go well beyond cost cutting and help build plans that will grow revenue. Without the right plan for the revenue growth, the company will stagnate and business will continue to be difficult.

On the business acceleration side, the plans need to be focused and as they look to the future, provide the right resources to handle the higher levels of business.

Is your company capitalizing on the experience of successful consultants? It doesn’t have to be the big name and big fee consultants. In fact, unless you are responsible for a VERY large company with extremely complex operations, you are probably better off with a company that can have its senior people work directly with you and your executive team throughout, rather than assigning junior people to do the analysis and assessment work.

Contact us if we can help. If your business needs help beyond our capabilities, we will tell you and probably have some recommendations for other companies that are exactly what you need.

Thanks

John


John MaverPresidentMaver Management Group(925) 648-7561Maver Management

Seven Significant Factors in Business Turnaround

The global economic crisis has many companies still feeling the pinch. The Maver Management Group has worked with a number of clients and helped them turn around their business situation. We have also seen and reviewed other companies that continue to struggle. There are some common factors that differentiate the successful from the non successful other than the fact that one set has worked with us.

Seven of the most important elements are:
1. Ability to prove business viability. Your business plan must outline clearly the expectations and how you will specifically deliver those expectations.
2. Ability to manage key stakeholders. Once you have the plan that proves viability, you must be able to communicate it clearly and persuasively to all stakeholders.
3. Management credibility. A key element of instilling confidence in the plans is the credibility of the management group. It all starts with the top group. If they can’t generate respect and confidence, the plans will never happen.
4. Business reputation. Positive branding not only brings higher margins, it also contributes to the selling of the company’s viability and the products to the clients and customers. And to the Board, the banks and the suppliers!
5. Maintaining supplier credit. As businesses restart their growth, they require inventory build and funding in advance of the revenue they generate. You need to utilize the credit and payment terms with suppliers to generate the float.
6. Securing internal and external funding. Companies must have the funding required to support the business building initiatives. Without the funding plans, progress will stall.
7. Quality of the people. All progress eventually traces back to the people. Companies with the best people tend to rise to the top. Assess your people and make sure that the top ones are in the most critical positions. They will make the turnaround happen.

Some businesses are unsure whether they need assistance in turnaround management. Others find their company’s problems too hard to face and leave it too late, which often ends in insolvency. So how do you know when to call for help? The key warning signs to call in a turnaround management specialist are:
• If you continue to experience a substantial decline in sales and/or margins or have lost a major customer
• If you are struggling to refinance, raise additional capital or are likely to breach your banking covenants
• If cash flow is becoming harder to manage and creditor pressure is building
• If you are experiencing an increase in turnover at the senior management level

If you have any of these elements, you need turnaround help. You are not going to be able to do it yourself. Generally, companies in this situation have neither the expertise nor the bandwidth to be successful in turning the business around.

Contact us. The Maver Management Group can help.

Thanks,

John
John MaverPresidentMaver Management Group(925) 648-7561Maver Management

Leading the Turnaround – 12 Traits of Leaders

The economy continues to have many companies in turnaround situations. Companies today, more than ever, need effective leaders.

Are you an effective leader? Not only do we ask this question of ourselves, but our organization is also asking it about us every day. And they are evaluating us. Here are the key traits that leaders must have and exhibit if they are going to be successful.

1. Mission setting ability. A mission defines the reason an organization exists. It sets the business apart. Have you created one for your company? Is this readily understood across the organization?

2. Visionary. This identifies where the company wants to go and what it wants to be when it gets there. Has the long term opportunity for the company been developed and provocatively communicated?

3. Smart. Leaders are analytical, creative and thoughtful. They have the brain power to understand situations and find the right path of action.

4. Competitive. Leaders want to win and they do. Leaders understand that competition is a good thing for personal and professional growth because it sharpens skills.

5. Positive Attitude. There are many quotes from famous people in all walks of life that support the importance of attitude. Success in life is based more on mental attitude than mental capacity. The leader's attitude always seeps through. Positive or negative.

6. Tenacity. There are going to be rough spots in any organization’s progress. In fact, the rough spots may be disasters that must be overcome. Leaders have the ability to not only stay the course despite the difficulties, but also to inspire others to do so as well.

7. Improvement orientation. Businesses must grow in terms of getting better and better or they will stagnate and die. A leader has to be in a state of continuous improvement and that comes from a combination of learning and executing.

8. Decisiveness. Leaders are action oriented. They gather the facts and they come to well reasoned, fact based decisions. They make the decision and do not delegate it or put it off.

9. Courageous. Leaders take risks – smart, educated risks. They choose a course of action and make it happen.

10. Motivating. Leaders find the good in opportunities and the good in people and cause people to find the means of capitalizing on opportunities and overcoming the hurdles.

11. Sense of humor. In order to survive, the leader has to have a good sense of humor, both for their own good and the good of the team and the organization.

12. Honest and ethical. This goes without saying. Leaders must have good values or their followers will leave them quickly.

How did you do on this check list? Contact us if we can help you with any of these.

Thanks,

John

John MaverPresidentMaver Management Group(925) 648-7561Maver Management

Business Tips for Successfully Coming out of the Recession

We are finally seeing signs that we are coming out of the recession. Consumer confidence is turning around and companies have generally reached the bottom of their layoffs and resizing. Too many are still in the cost cutting mode and will struggle for some time, if indeed they make it at all. Others are planning on what they should be doing to fully take advantage of the recovery.

Maver Management Group has been working with a number of companies to assist them in their survival and turnaround and they are now positioned for growth. Based on our experience and the lists we have reviewed from various sources, we offer the following to you for successfully coming out of the recession,

1. Review Your Strategic Plan. Make certain that it is relevant for today. Examine your objectives and goals and then insure that the strategies you will follow will deliver those desired results. Importantly, make certain that the resources you have will support the strategies and are focused so that you get maximum impact from each.

2. Identify and Maintain Your Strengths. Identify the strengths that have driven your success to date and those that will be important in the future. Which capabilities and skills are most critical? What distinguishes your ability to serve customers most effectively? Focus on these and invest in them heavily.

3. Identify Your Best Customers. This doesn’t mean your largest customers necessarily, but your best customers. Identify your highest-margin customers, and understand what you are "doing right" for them. Develop a game plan to protect and build on the strengths that have allowed you to be indispensable to these customers. Rather than cutting costs across the board, think about how you can shift resources to retain these high-margin customers, and attract more customers like them.

4. Capture Market Share. Recessions reshape industries faster than good times, creating opportunities for those with the vision and ability to seize them quickly. Studies have shown that companies have twice the opportunity to change their relative position in an industry during a recession, compared to growth times. Keep an eye on competitors, and stand ready to capture market share as other players allow cost cutting to damage their service and quality or fail outright.

5. Manage Cash Flow. Your company has been dealing not only with negative growth but also with liquidity constraints. During good times you may not have obtained sufficient lines of credit to sustain your company through economic adversity. Trying to maintain liquidity on a smaller revenue base can be crippling. Your cash flow has been positively affected by reduced Accounts Receivables and lower inventory from the lower volume of products being sold. Now you will need to plan for increases in both probably at a rate in advance of your revenue growth. Build on the new processes that you have put in place during the downturn so that you keep inventories tight and maintain faster collections of AR.

6. Keep Core Activities In-House, and Outsource Everything Else. Build and protect those "core" capabilities that differentiate you, while aggressively outsourcing anything non-core. Depending on your business, non-core activities may include IT maintenance, human resources administration, benefits and payroll, accounts receivable and payable, manufacturing, distribution or sales. You'll get the benefit of service provider expertise and economies of scale and will pay only for services you need. The biggest benefit of outsourcing, however, is that it shifts your focus, resources and capital toward serving your clients' higher value needs and building your competitive advantage.

7. Create New Metrics and Manage by Them. Tight economics put a premium on your ability to understand the relationships between revenues, costs and margins. Think about metrics that focus on the building blocks of revenue and sustaining market share, including sales pipeline, customer satisfaction, pricing and market penetration. Metrics should look beyond core financials to provide management with insight into market dynamics, such as market share trends.

8. Communicate and Reenergize. The recession has been a time of turmoil for all of the company stakeholders. You now need to begin the process of re-energizing your employees and creating new trust among all your constituencies. Frequent and honest communication will go a long way toward maintaining a calm and motivated workforce. Studies show that employees are motivated far more by a sense of shared purpose than by compensation. Create that shared purpose and reinforce it daily.

The changing economic climate has created many opportunities. It has also created many potential pitfalls. Contact us, if we can help guide you to success in capitalizing on the opportunities and avoiding the pitfalls.

Thanks

John

John Maver
President
Maver Management Group
(925) 648-7561
Maver Management

Company turnaround before it’s too late

Maver Management Group works with many companies and senior executives. As a result we see first hand how companies have responded to the recession and the early signs of recovery. Many companies have failed. Some were so poorly run that failure was inevitable despite the economy. However, a significant number could have been saved if they had sought the right help early enough.

As turnaround experts, we do not just work with businesses in trouble. Many clients seek our advice for general profit improvement. Companies must be willing to admit they need help. The earlier we get engaged, the more options we have to improve the business.

The key is to critically assess the troubled entity’s business plan and review profit and loss to determine the causes of underperformance, such as rising production costs, loss of customers or increased competition. In some cases, it is simply the lack of a business plan at all. The work focuses around improving cash flow, stabilizing operations, communicating with key stakeholders to re-build their support, exploring all strategic options and developing a comprehensive turnaround strategy.

While the ways companies can get into trouble are many, there are common themes:
•Not having a solid business plan
•Not having the right management team depth of skill
•Overly focusing on across the board cost cutting
•Attempting to grow revenue without considering the impact on margins and profit
•Not having the right systems and controls in place to manage their working capital
•Not having specific measurements that track key business results or reviewing financial and operational performance regularly

The following is a summary of the 6 essential elements required in our view to achieve a successful turnaround:
1. The ability to prove business viability by demonstrating the various initiatives that will restore earnings and cash flow. Cash flow is key.
2. The ability to manage “all” key stakeholders and keep them all moving in the right direction. This can’t be done without a strong strategic business plan.
3. Strong and credible management, which might mean making certain replacements.
4. An ability to maintain or enhance the reputation of the business. Branding is critical.
5. An ability to maintain supplier credit and terms. This drives quality and cash flow.
6. An ability to release internal working capital and secure external funding. Without the funding, there can be no growth initiatives.

Turnaround management requires expertise. If you need help with any of the above items, contact us. We can turn your business around and help it thrive.

Thanks

John

John Maver
President
Maver Management Group
(925) 648-7561
Maver Management

Turnaround Management - It’s time to stop watching and get into the game

The Bowl games are on for college football. There seem to be more each year. Perhaps this is indicative of our population becoming more and more watchers of the events rather than actually participating in them. We sit at home in our easy chairs with our favorite snacks and beverages and just watch. Similarly, watching the Rose Bowl Parade on TV is the only way to see it for most people but those that have been at the parade or better still actually in it, say that there is a world of difference in the experience.

Are you a watcher? Are you a watcher at your company? I don’t mean are you alert to all that is going on around you. I mean, are you just watching the company game or parade?

There is a big difference between watching the game and actually playing it. You have to get your hands dirty for one thing and you actually feel the intensity of the moment. You get the satisfaction of the contact with the world and not just the sound bites. You do it and learn from it and don’t have the replay to live it again and again with the armchair quarterbacks. You learn from doing.

Leadership is about not just getting involved but also setting the direction and getting the rest of the organization involved and playing. It is being the team leader on the field. It is standing shoulder to shoulder with your colleagues and putting all your energy, intelligence and talents into the game. You are a player not a spectator.

Here are some tips on how to get involved:

1 What the game plan?
Do you have a written business plan that you and the rest of the organization know and are following? Can you imagine playing a game without a game plan?

2 How good are your players?
Take a look at the executive team and the colleagues around you. Are they "A" players? You can’t win with sub par players. Evaluate them vs. the plan requirements and trade up in caliber.

3 How good are you?
When was the last time you took some refresher courses or honed your skills? Do you have a coach? All game players have at least one and all successful “C “level people do as well.

4 Have you focused on the right targets?
Do you have the right clients and customers? Have you identified their unmet needs and have you positioned your services or products to meet those unmet needs?

5 How are you using your resources?
Successful teams harness their resources to maximize the ROI on them. Resources are scarce and can’t be wasted if you expect to win. Cull through the project lists and prioritize. Eliminate the low potential or high resource constraints.

6 How are you measuring your progress?
Football teams always have the yard markers which tell them exactly where they are and how they are doing? What are your “yard markers”?

If you are finding that you have negative answers to the tips above as you reflect on your company, you need help. Contact us. We can help you and your company.

Don’t let the parade pass you by. Get in the game!!

Its time to stop watching and get actively involved.

Thanks.

John


John Maver
President
Maver Management Group
(925) 648-7561
Maver Management

Turnaround Management – Focus

CEOs and companies are charged and in fact forced to do more with less. That means greater results using fewer resources. The advent of our technological advances was meant to streamline our work processes and make us more productive. In fact, when the first desktop computers came out, there were predictions that most people would be working less than a one day work week. It hasn’t worked out quite that way. Life and business have become more complex and there are more and more demand on us, our resources and our time.

Focus has become more and more important. How do we target our activities and how do we use our scared resources?

As a simple case in point, the most common complaint in companies at all levels is about e-mail and the inbox. How to handle it is a good example of what successful executives must do to be able to survive in turnaround times. E-mail and the inbox seem to be controlling our lives.

Each day we have entries, sometimes many entries, into our inbox. They come from a wide variety of sources. Some are quite important. Others may be jokes or inspiration notes that are passed from person to person. Some are promotional messages trying to sell us something. Some are spam and get moved without our help to the discard file.

Which ones do you open first? Do you open the “special” ones from friends and family? Do you go for the ones which you know you can get rid of immediately? Do you start with the most important ones and use your best time on them? How do you choose?

Do you read the emails and handle them as you read them or do you read them all and then have to re-read them to decide how to handle them? Do you delete the emails once handled or do you leave them in your inbox to further clutter your life and cause you to make some decisions over and over?

Life is like an inbox. It constantly presents demands of one sort or another. If you have a predetermined way of sorting the demands and activities you can speed the review process. You can make yourself more productive.

The way in which we choose to handle e-mail demands is indicative of our focus. If you take all the fun ones first, you are left at the end of the day with the problem ones and that causes stress, since we generally are not at our best at that time of day. We may even be mentally and physically exhausted. If you take all the easy ones, you can increase the number completed, but that may not mean anything if you didn’t work through the important ones that will really impact the business.

Or alternatively, do you focus on the most important ones and make the tough decisions? Do you send them off to get the advice and council you need along with the facts that will help your decision making process? Do you do this while you and your support staff are fresh and therefore can be at your best for these decisions?

Of course, this is a simplistic example of a very complex job that you have. Running a company is not an easy task. Many executives will answer these questions with their egos in mind and choose “the right answer”. But they will miss the point of the lesson.

Think about it. How are you choosing? What is the impact on your business and your life from the process you use? Whatever your process make sure that it brings you satisfaction and success.

If you need help to identify the really key issues and focus the right resources on them for maximum effect, contact us. We can help.

Thanks

John



John Maver
President
Maver Management Group
(925) 648-7561
Maver Management

Veterans Day

Today is designated as Veterans Day in the United States and Remembrance Day in Canada. In other countries it is known as Armistice Day. It was originally set aside to mark the end of the Great War (World War I) on the eleventh minute of the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. This was to be the last great war. The fact that there is now a I behind the name and there has been a WWII as well as many other major conflicts, says that we are not very effective in learning from our past mistakes.

That isn’t surprising since for most people there is no memory of the war, let alone the reason for the designation of the day. Only a few mark the event or the time. While some have a holiday on this day, they don’t use it in memory but rather as a vacation day. As time has passed, we give less and less attention to the memories. When I was a youth in Canada, school stopped for an hour and all the students gathered around the flag pole, where the flag flew at half mast, for a ceremony to honor those who had fought and those who had died for us. There were hymns, songs, readings and poems and it was meaningful. We wore “poppies” that were sold by the Veterans and the bright red made a sharp contrast to the earth tones of the clothes. Remembrance Day was a time for remembering!

Today, it appears that a few veterans get together and remember. Families of the fallen remember and the rest of us just pass by. We just won’t learn and so we are destined to repeat and we do.

You may very well ask what has this got to do with business? The answer is simple. If businesses don’t stop and reflect on what has happened, learn from it and reformulate their plans, they too will be destined to repeat the failures.

As turnaround experts, we see this far too frequently. Executives continue blindly on, doing the same activities over and over and expecting better results. Insanity, right?

Let me encourage all of you to stop today and reflect. Have a moment of silence for the fallen and those who have fought for you and your freedom.

Have another moment of silence for you. Reflect on your life. Reflect on your business. Reflect on what you could be doing differently to get more success. Reflect on the successes and what can bring you more successes.

To the fallen, thank you!

John

John Maver
President
Maver Management Group
(925) 648-7561
Maver Management

Turnaround Consulting - Turning an Organization from Mediocre to Exceptional

How good is your company, organization or division?

The answer is very important because the companies that will come out of the recession and do well are going to be able to answer this in positive terms. Book stores and office shelves are full of books that chronicle the practices of high performing organizations. This list includes “Built to Last,” “The Breakthrough Company,” and “Good to Great.” The problem is that most companies don’t last, don’t breakthrough and don’t make the leap from “okay to fair” let alone “good to great” because these organizations maintain a focus and culture that insures mediocrity.

A colleague, Sandy McMahon who runs Renaissance Executive Forums of Silicon Valley, recently wrote an article about why organizations stay mediocre and never reach their full potential. What stands in the way is “a culture of status quo.” This is a very important concept and yet so simple. As a result of it, organizations do things that will guarantee they will remain mediocre. That may be happening, at least to some extent, in your company and you will want to turn that around.

However, there are some ways that can help you turn mediocre into exceptional. With proper guidance, most companies are capable of achieving vastly more than their current results. Here is my advice.

1 Create and share a single, simple strategic focus. As we have written often, many companies have no strategic plan and if you don’t know where you are going, no road will lead you there. Too many companies have a strategic focus to improve profits. There is no argument that profit is important - it is! In fact, mediocre companies focus too much on revenue and not enough on profit. But what the mediocre companies fail to do is to energize and rally employees, vendors and clients around a short and focused reason to support the company for the long haul. Work with your team and identify a simple basis that will cause all of your organization and stakeholders to work for a goal that is meaningful to them.

2 Provide the “Big Picture” to the organization and not only to the top. In mediocre companies, there is a belief that the rest of the organization are not capable of thinking independently but need to be told what and when to do something. Leaders practice the “mushroom theory of management”, keeping employees in the dark, under a layer of fertilizer. The slave ship scene from the movie “Ben Hur” says it all: “Row well and live.” Now it has been updated to “when we want you to know something we will tell you.” This undermines the initiative of the rest of the organization and does not take full advantage of their potential contribution. Share the plan with them and turn them loose within guidelines. They will dramatically add to the acceleration potential.

3 Expand from single minded top down management. Mediocre companies believe ideas for improvement come only from the top. Ideas from anyone else are dismissed because they come from people who don’t see the “big picture.” While many people in an organization can say no to initiatives, changes and improvements, there is only one person, the one at the top, who can say yes. With every decision resting on just one or perhaps two at the top, it is clear that no one else really has any authority. Both business and employee participation stagnate. Driving down decision making, once the plan is shared, enables all to participate. Progress and profit driving ideas are accelerated.

4 Hire “A”s not “B” and “C” players. Many hiring managers shun bringing in new people with more education, more experience and impressive backgrounds simply because new employees of this caliber are threatening to them. As a result, the organization misses out on the best people and it is always the people that make the difference in an organization. Go for the best and let them teach you too.

The caliber of the organization is also hindered by ignoring training and education. The mediocre company believes that it knows everything it needs to survive, and sees no need for continuing education for anyone. Our surveys of such companies show a consistent lack of development initiatives for employees. The only way to improve is to start with outstanding employees and feed them education and training so that they get even better. Check out the top companies and see their hiring and training principles.

5 Encourage people to step up to new responsibilities and initiatives. In a culture that fosters the status quo and believes “this is the way we have always done it,” those who step up are agents of change and systematically hindered and eventually forced out. If a company follows the sharing of the plan and the decision making with high quality employees, the result will be a dramatic change from the status quo and top management will be very pleased with the results.

There are two corollaries to the reluctance to step up. They are:
a) Nodding heads. In meetings, only a few say anything of substance. The rest simply nod their heads in compliance. There is fear about risking their job by saying anything that could be construed as being disloyal. There is no serious discussion on how to have a better business. Employees must be encouraged to participate and share their ideas. Effective managers operate as gatekeepers in leading their meetings so that all participate and feel comfortable doing so.

b) Resistance to change. This virus, manifested in meetings filled with people who simply nod their heads, moves to the department level once the meeting ends. Managers will take no risks and make no moves without written direction. This is never possible in any organization that hopes to compete in the current fast paced world. Managers must have clear objectives and guidelines within which they can use their own judgment and decision making for improvement. They must be supported and held accountable to make those changes.

6 Institute for pay-for-performance. Mediocre firms believe that if they offer a nice place to work with a steady paycheck and solid benefits, they are serving all the needs of those who work there. This simply is not true! The best people strive for increased responsibility and company and personal progress. They resent having lower performers reap any rewards from the contribution of the top performers. They will look elsewhere for employment and continue the circle that causes mediocre companies to stay mediocre. Set some targets that stretch your employees. Give them the training they need and the motivation to reach the targets. Then watch the acceleration.

The mediocre organizations are easy to spot as well. You won’t find anyone coming in early or staying late because there is no benefit to doing so - no reward for success or the effort that goes with it. Also most often these days, they have signs that say “Out of Business”.

You can turn your company from mediocre to exceptional with some help. Contact us. We have the experience and have helped turn around many companies. You will like working with us.

Thanks.

John

John Maver
President
Maver Management Group
(925) 648-7561
Maver Management

Company Turnaround – Not a Children’s Story

Many of us remember the fairy tale of the Little Red Hen. This story is known not only to our USA readers but many of you around the world, who are reading these articles. Little Red Hen lived on a farm with her five chicks. On this farm, there also lived a dog, a cat and a duck, along with a number of other animals. Red found some seeds and then asked for help in planting, harvesting, grinding and baking but got the response “Not I” from all. However, all were around to eat the bread when it came out of the oven. They didn’t want to do the work but to share in the rewards.

To some extent, that is the way it used to be in business too. Many employees were focused on their own department and responsibilities and built larger and larger organizations. Teamwork and extended productivity were only a subject for meetings and discussion and not actually practiced. However, the employees were there to share in the bonuses and promotions as the business grew.

NO LONGER. Turnaround for companies isn’t a children’s’ story but the basic idea still works.

Here is how the story could go today and why bringing in an expert on turnaround is such a smart idea before it is too late and you are out of business. It is told in the form of a children’s story to make the point without setting up defensiveness in the readers.

The financial pressures on the farm (this could be any business, but for purposes of this story it is a farm) were getting more and more severe. Prices of eggs, the output of the farm, had risen but were now at a level that further increases were not possible. Demand was falling. Profitability plunged. Much of the days’ activities in all departments centered on what the farm was going to do. There were going to be severe budget cutbacks. Some would have to lose their jobs and.

The farmer, who was the CEO of the farm, had pressures from all around him. He had a lot of ideas given by the Board of Directors, the news, the executives and even his wife. All the ideas involved slashing costs in one way or another. In an attempt to meet the profit targets, which hadn’t changed despite the worsening economy, since there were shareholders and the bank and the other creditors and etc, the CEO give direction to his executives to reduce spending by 15% across the board and start laying off employees.

While this quickly cut some costs, the result wasn’t what had been expected as other costs had to increase to compensate for some of the lost activities. It also caused chaos in the company since there was no overall plan. Almost every process was affected in some way and productivity slowed dramatically.

That led to the need for further cuts in order to make the now reduced targets. The analysts on Wall Street had pulled their investments so the farm’s stock price plunged. Not only were bonuses eliminated, pay cuts were initiated. The layoffs continued and many seasoned farm employees were let go. As you would expect, revenue fell again and again. Soon cash flow dried up. Does this sound familiar as a real life story?

Since this is a fairy tale and not real life, there is a happy ending to the story. In real life, most of these companies would be put out of business.

The Little Red Hen convinced the farmer to bring in a turnaround expert. Not one of those expensive large consulting firms but one that had the expertise and a track record of success. The turnaround expert quickly analyzed the situation, pulled the CEO and the executive team together and led them in creating a business plan that was based on their core competencies and focused the remaining resources on the greatest opportunities.

Unlike in the earlier story where no one would help, here everyone had a responsibility and accountability for the results in their section. The plans were greeted with enthusiasm and soon the business had turned around and like in the children’s stories, all lived happily ever after. Well, perhaps not happily ever after since even in children’s stories there is the realism. If you don’t keep executing the right plan, you can fall back into trouble

Please do not think that turnaround work and plan was that simple to define and execute. It never is but with the right guidance and expertise your company can be turned around and you too can deliver a happier ending. The key is to get the right plan and get some help to turn the business around now. If you wait it will be too late.

If you don’t already have a turnaround expert, contact us and let us help. We have saved a number of “farms” and businesses too.

Thanks.

John


John Maver
President
Maver Management Group
(925) 648-7561
Maver Management

Turnaround – Are going to get your share of the recovery?

The economy is beginning to turn upward and while there are still major obstacles to its health, there are positive signs and consumer confidence is starting to return.

The all important question for you is “will you be participating?”

Will your company be participating? Have you positioned yourself and your company to get a share of the upturn or will the potential business pass you by?

Here are some questions to ask yourself to see if you are ready:

1. Have we focused solely on cost cutting in order to survive and if so have we actually undermined the opportunity to recover? Many answer this question quickly with a no and then upon further review find they are incorrect and are in trouble.

2. Have we maintained the strength of our core competencies through this downturn? Do we actually know, outside of the executive team, what our core competencies are?

3. Do we have the cash availability to fund the inventory increases that are going to be needed as we start to ramp up production?

4. Do we have the cash reserves to cover the short term increase in accounts receivable that will happen with the new sales? This recognizes that even though some customers and clients will pay within terms, we still will have increased AR. It also recognizes that some clients are going to be cash strapped themselves until they get their cash flow flowing and will delay payment to us and other suppliers.

5. Do we have relevant business goals that make sense in today’s environment?

6. Have we kept the right talent in our human capital to succeed? What is missing and where and when will we get it?

7. Have we upgraded to take advantage of the large, very qualified talent pool that is available and their willingness to accept more modest compensation?

8. Do we have a business plan that is actionable and known throughout the organization?

9. Are our business goals clear and communicated to all employees so that they can participate in driving the business ahead/

10. Have we identified the key issues facing the company in order to participate in the economic upturn and do we have a specific plan in place to address each issue?

11. Is our business progress starting to trend up and can we see means of accelerating our progress?

12. Do we have a clear customer focus across the organization? Are we committed to customer satisfaction and possibly delight? Customers are far more choosy now.

If you can answer all of these questions in the affirmative and have the facts to back them up then you are ready to take advantage of the prospective upturn and will be in a position of strength. If you have answered some or all of the questions in the negative, you may be in a great deal of trouble and need help.

Contact us and let us help you. We have helped many others be ready to get more than their fair share of the business to come.

Thanks

John


John Maver
President
Maver Management Group
(925) 648-7561
Maver Management

Turnaround Plans - Mission and Vision Statements

Many companies undertake turnaround execution without an in-depth, thought-out plan. They start with the realization that they have to cut costs to survive and they do so either aggressively or worse, tentatively. Tentative cost cutting just prolongs the process and speeds the downhill slide to out of business. But both are detrimental to the company’s health.

We write often about having a plan. We also recommend that in the development of that plan, companies start with a review of their Mission and Vision Statements. This is forgotten by 91% of companies in their turnaround activities according to recent studies. Yet this is the guiding star for direction setting and use in creating the strategic business plan that will successfully direct the turnaround efforts, as well as the rise again, once the economy improves.

The Mission Statement is a brief statement of the purpose of an organization or company. It outlines the organization's broad reason for existing; what it does and for whom. It tells you what the company is today. A mission statement should say who you are, what you do, what you stand for and why you do it. It is not a slogan, goal, business plan or public relations piece.

Mission Statement examples:
• "Provide society with superior products and services by developing innovations and solutions that improve the quality of life and satisfy customer needs and to provide employees with meaningful work and advancement opportunities and investors with a superior rate of return." - Merck
• "To enable people and businesses throughout the world to realize their full potential." - Microsoft
• "Organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful." - Google

The Vision Statement outlines what a company wants to be, where the organization hopes to go and it provides clear decision-making criteria. It concentrates on the future. It is a source of inspiration; its dream. The best ones are direct and powerful. Try to relay somewhere in your statement that you understand the future of your business depends on delivering increasing value and quality to your customers, accounts and clients. This delivers a clear message of your priorities.

Vision Statement examples:
• “To experience the emotion of competition, winning and crushing competitors.” - Nike
• “To make people happy.” – Walt Disney
• “To give ordinary folk the chance to buy the same things as rich people.” – Wal-Mart
• “To solve unsolved problems innovatively.” – 3M

In today’s world, many ask about time frames for both of these statements particularly in turnaround situations. The answer is that the statements can hold true for many years and continue to provide guidance. Clearly, the plans that will flow from these statements have to be adjusted on a much shorter time frame to reflect current opportunities and challenges.

Why are these important?

First, they set the direction. If you don’t know where you are going, any path will take you there. Turnarounds are about focus, - focus on direction and focus on plan elements and resource utilization. These statements provide the guidance.

Second, despite the well publized loss of employee and company loyalty in the market today, people are not motivated by dollars alone. They want to work in organizations that inspire them and cause them to feel good about what they do at the end of the day. These statements should provide inspiration and motivation.

Third, it keeps the company grounded in values and not every day exigencies. It will make your life simpler and will help keep away the firefighting.

If you do not have Mission and Vision Statements for your company or are not using them in your turnaround efforts, let us know. We can help you.

Thanks

John


John Maver
President
Maver Management Group
(925) 648-7561
Maver Management

Turnaround Management – Where did all the heroes go?

Many companies, in fact most companies, are struggling in the economic turmoil to find a way to turn the business around. They have cut the costs. Now what is next? They are left with chaos, confusion and cost ineffectiveness in most cases. How to get out of it? Where will they find that hero to save them?

Historically they would look for examples of leadership in other companies, industries or even non business. We had baseball heroes that would pitch brilliantly, shaking off the troubled start. Or hitters that would follow several strike outs with a home run to win the game. Or quarterbacks who would get up from being sacked to throw several touchdown passes. Or music stars who would rise from troubled childhoods to sing platinum album songs. Or movie stars who finally land the breakthrough part. Or even commercial icons like The Pillsbury Doughboy or Mr. Clean who stood for goodness.

In business, there were the business leaders who stood tall among all the rest and took their companies to market leadership and great profitability that was shared with all shareholders. Or politicians who had good values and we followed them despite party lines.

These were the heroes to whom we looked and got inspiration and guidance.

Where are these people now? The news is full of athletes who are breaking the law, musicians and actors who are on drugs or can not sustain a marriage for more than a few months. Some business leaders are taking outrageous bonuses when they are laying off people at the same time. And the politicians are generally despicable. What week goes by without some problem from one of our elected representatives?

Who will lead our companies out of this mess?

The answer is YOU!

You have to step up and lead your company out of the financial problems. Who else is there to do it? If you are the CEO, COO or any C level executive, it is up to you.

You may very well ask “How am I going to do that – lead the company out of this mess. We have already cut all we can cut.”

The answer is look around and find some guidance. The many articles on this site can be a start to help you develop the right plan. Invest in some consulting help. It isn’t an expense because the right consulting will pay for itself. Find those heroes who can provide the motivation and direction. They are still there. You just have to look for them. Let them into your business life and let them help you win.

If you don’t have a “hero” consultant already in mind, contact me. I can help you to turn your business around. I have solutions that stick to get you profitable and keep you profitable.

There are heroes around and you can be one of them.

Thanks

John


John Maver
President
Maver Management Group
(925) 648-7561
Maver Management