Big Red Car here in the lovely ATX — wow, what a day, y’all! It is 72F, sunny and not a cloud in the sky. Tiny, little breeze but otherwise a slack kind of day which makes it all the more perfect.
So The Boss has been at his CEO coaching for going on the third year on a formal basis.
Clearly he enjoys it. It is a gratifying undertaking to see CEOs make something out of their businesses. This includes both raw startups and well established businesses. Gratification!
The Boss is highly accessible and enjoys the odd “hair on fire” inquiry but the most gratifying part of the business is the iterative progress that is made in long standing relationships in which progress is demonstrable and real. There have been quite a few such relationships.
1. In one instance, it has been very gratifying to see how the company has continued to grow over a protracted period of time while the leadership and management team grapples with the emergence of a real CEO — rather than a composite co-founder scrum — and the necessity to plan at a higher level of complexity driven by the sheer magnitude of their growth.
2. In another instance — multiple instances –, it has been very gratifying to see a leader re-invigorate his company by revisiting Vision, Mission, Strategy, Tactics, Objectives, Values and Culture and then providing a clear and authentic voice to this effort to align the work of a growing team of professionals. The ability to articulate these concepts is not enough, it has to be communicated and it has to be trained into the organization’s DNA. An offsite meeting to introduce the concepts in depth and spaced repetition training/communication results in a team which is aligned in pursuit of the entrepreneur’s vision. It is a beautiful thing to see.
3. In yet another instance, it has been gratifying to see a company evolve from a single product to a platform orientation in which the company has been able to harness technology to dramatically upgrade the company’s engagement with their market and stakeholders and to ultimately drive revenues. The embrace of technology has not only made the company better, it has strengthened the CEO’s confidence and has contributed to streamlining his time management as he lets the technology work for him.
4. Others have wrestled with perfecting their product and have sought out the validation and the acclaim of the market to vindicate their efforts. When this happens, they have then leveraged it into more progress using the market’s approval as the foundation for more aggressive development and growth.
While not gratifying as only success can be, it has been gratifying from the perspective of character development to see entrepreneurs wrestle with short term and long term failure. Often failure in life is simply tuition and it is neither final nor fatal. At the time, it is difficult to believe such blandishments but it is true. The Boss has appreciated the opportunity to assist entrepreneurs with confronting both triumph and disaster — two impostors just the same.
Money makes the world go round and it necessary to fund the transformation of a vision into a reality. The Boss has enjoyed assisting entrepreneurs in raising money for their companies. Many — most — have been successful once they embrace the hard work that fundraising always is. When they are successful, it is gratifying to see the lessons learned and the realization that success is often just one more frog to be kissed and one more pitch to make. It is not the chorus of the “no’s” that is important it is the sweet note of the “yes’s” which will ultimately be remembered.
If The Boss can assist you, call him at 512-656-1383 or email him at jminch2011@gmail.com. You have nothing to lose.
But, hey, what the Hell do I really know anyway? I’m just a Big Red Car! Be nice to someone who is hurting. Wash your hands often and say a quick prayer for Ebola victims everywhere.
