Jim Weber Presents “The Three Pillars of Success “to the August Atlanta BENG Chapter Meeting
Jim Weber, Managing Partner ITB Partners, founder of New Century Dynamics Executive Search and the author of “Fighting Alligators: Job Search Strategy For The New Normal” presented “The Three Pillars For Success” to The BENG Atlanta Chapter in August.
This discussion is meant for career-minded professionals who are gainfully employed, or between situations, and independent business owners looking to become more successful.
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Jim Weber, Managing Partner
ITB PARTNERS
Convergence occurred when I remembered a conversation the prior week with another consultant, Faith. She had told me about an adverse situation created when a patient received a new heart, but the system hadn’t been updated to reflect the candidate’s eligibility for a transplant. That breakdown in the process created a question as to who’s responsible for the $1.4 million approximate costs of the procedure. Faith explained that this glitch was an administrative error as the candidate still needed the heart and was qualified to receive the transplant, however, an updated authorization wasn’t secured. I can only imagine how bad the situation could have been if the patient had died, prevented from receiving the transplant due to an administrative mistake. It occurred to me that the system has a fundamental flaw that can be mitigated with a technical solution. Faith continued by providing an overview of additional risk and complexity created by Federal Agencies and Laws regulating the Health Care Industry.
Last week, one of my clients filed for Chapter 11 Reorganization. Now, two of my clients are in Chapter 11, working to find a path back to solvency. In April, I was engaged by a new client to help them find a way out of Chapter 11. In the case of the two former clients, I can honestly say that I wasn’t responsible for the circumstances leading to their demise. In other words, I didn’t place any executives who caused these problems, and I haven’t been involved in consulting projects that resulted in adverse consequences. To the contrary, I placed an executive to help one client navigate through Chapter 11. Regarding the other client, I placed an executive to help them avoid business failure. Regrettably, Senior Executives sometimes fail to heed sound advice. In each of these situations, failure was predictable. Management failed to adequately penetrate their home markets before moving into new territory.
I’ve witnessed the results of many crazy decisions during my career. Some noteworthy situations include an ice cream brand selling franchises beyond their distribution capabilities. Or a California-based brand that tried to move into the Southeast with a single location. I’ve seen Southeastern brands sell franchises on the West Coast, thousands of miles beyond their management reach and distribution network. A Northern barbecue chain leap-frogged into Georgia with a few restaurants placed across the state. That decision was funny, in a sad way, as barbecue has a distinct regional appeal. Another brand added drive-throughs to dogs with the hope of turning them into profitable restaurants. Sadly, they created dogs with a drive-through. From my perspective, the most egregious yet consistent mistake is the urge for start-ups to enter new markets before adequately penetrating their home base. To be sure, many of those mistakes were made by rookies, entrepreneurs lacking experience or solid advice. However, these mistakes continue to be made by experienced leaders who should know better.
I can speak with authority on this subject as I spent most of my career working on retail expansion. I began my career as a financial analyst assigned to the new store development group. In this role, I performed analytical work on capital expenditures for new stores and other investments. I learned how to evaluate the prospects for a new store, and the penetration required to optimize the return from a larger market, i.e. city, SMSA, or region. I became a strategic analyst and planner shaping retail store development strategy for several national brands. Finally, I held general management positions where I was accountable for return on investment. In fact, one of my first assignments as a senior executive was to identify and prioritize markets for focused development. As a result, I am confident in my ability to build a retail brand, especially, food-service brands. I appreciate the value of achieving significant market share before developing new markets. Believe me, engaging in the development of a new market, before adequately developing a home market can be fatal to a business, especially so for a start-up.
So, if significant penetration of a home market is fundamental for success, why does management continue to violate this well-established rule? Over the years, I have asked this question of countless CEOs, CFOs, and Chief Development Officers. The only consistent response is “sometimes, management becomes so enamored of expansion that sound business practices are ignored.” Imagine, human emotions getting the better of Senior Executives. Who knew? The only solution is to hire accomplished retail development executives, among others, who won’t hesitate to tell the “Emperor that he has no clothes.”
As the primary business reason for our meeting was to discuss his presentation, we got right into that topic. Paul wanted to know how to position his talk as the audience wouldn’t be his typical prospects. I told him that there were two main points to consider. First, the members want to learn about him. They want to know his background and how he came to be involved in his current situation. Secondly, they want to know about his employer and the product he’s selling. I said, “keep the discussion at 40,000 feet.” They don’t need to get into the details, they just need enough information to make good referrals. Also, I told him that I had adopted the 
Having heard of Paul’s recent successes, I reminded him that we are prepared to leverage his efforts through our social media and public relations platform. He said he had forgotten about those benefits. So, I spent the next few minutes reminding him about our capabilities. He was sold. My thoughts moved to other possible referrals. By the end of our conversation, I had a long list of connections to make on his behalf.
While engaged in recent networking activities I became acquainted with a Senior Consultant assigned to the Atlanta office for a National Outplacement Company. He had heard about ITB Partners and wanted to learn more about our program. During our discussion, I asked about their activity level, given that the economy has improved, and unemployment had reached a historic low. I was somewhat surprised to learn that their business was still strong. He said that, notwithstanding the strength of the economy, many companies are reorganizing their workforces to better serve their customers and achieve a competitive advantage. I found this interesting and made a mental note to explore the issue further as I thought it would be a good topic for an article. Two weeks ago, my health-care-consultant-friend and colleague, Faith told me that she had just finished an engagement to help a client through a major reorganization. That triggered the memory of my conversation with the Outplacement Consultant so I asked her if she would like to collaborate on a blog post. I find it interesting to learn how large companies endeavor to maintain a competitive advantage as we transition further into the Digital Age.