Empowering Organizations to Unlock Their Greatness Through Scaling People, Process, & Technology

Accelerating organizational value creation and innovation with Human/AI/Tech harmony: solving business challenges to build better organizations

I have it figured out and it’s a relief in my mind, to be able to share the intersection of where everything rolls up into one clear cohesive alignment. It’s so much clearer than ever, my life’s work. Regardless of the role, the people, the company, or the distractions, what I gravitate towards, what do I enjoy, what has me thinking, day in and day out, and what really gets me excited. What value do I bring and where does my zone of genius lie? What do I do regardless of the circumstances, challenges, the work in front of me? This has taken a lot of iterations, thinking through other ideas, feedback, and looking at the work of others to understand myself.

Background on Perspective

Before I state it clearly, I’ll share how I look at everything, which may offer a little context. When I look at a sandwich shop, full service restaurant, tire shop, manufacturing facility, or room full of software designers, do I see meats, cocktails, mechanics, machines, and monitors? Well, yes, I do see those, but more importantly, I see what’s behind them. I look for what’s behind the curtain, who’s driving the bus, what’s making things tick, how much something costs, what the labor hours per hour, capital expenditures, and service delivery. Not sure if it’s operational awareness, or what?

Examples of what I see and consider in the environment I am in:

• Investments needed for operational efficiency, resource deficiencies

• Unnecessary costs

• Lack of leadership, or overflow of leadership

• Lack of labor, with opportunities for automation

• Costs of materials

• Labor costs

• Bandwidth for revenue generation

• Opportunities for value creation

That’s how I think, and that is just the beginning - I analyze it all and see what, who, where, and how it could be improved, with better service, and more profitable. I was trained this way from a young age growing up with my father who was in restaurant, turned light manufacturing operations, which spurred me on to start coming up with company names when I was around 11-12 years old.

My Life’s Work, Regardless of Role or Responsibility

Business is problems and I love problems. These challenges are what make work fun, and not just work. I may find a better way to articulate it, but this is my purpose:

My Life’s Work: Empowering Organizations to Unlock Greatness through Scaling People, Process, and Technology

Whether I am the company’s CEO, COO, CFO, in leadership or an individual contributor, in partnership or BD, talent acquisition or service delivery, or somewhere in between, it’s about solving business challenges to build better organizations.

I was sitting in a client meeting recently, and I was listening intently about their business, team, and aspirations to scale, ~2x in case you’re interested. I shared how we could help, and I got off topic for a bit. I realized how we can help with core offerings and also discovered how we can help them as they scale. It’s our path to solving business problems to allow them to scale. Yes, we can help bring them the best talent available, but I can also help beyond that one piece of the puzzle. I can offer strategic business partnership focused on 5 core areas:

1. Vision & Strategy Advisory

2. Leadership Development

3. Discovery of Organizational Energy feeding its Culture

4. Process Optimization

5. Scaling Playbook - People/Process/Technology

Clarity

Why is all this important? Because with clarity, you find the unlock to your journey to greatness.

It’s really taken me two years to understand the full hedgehog or Ikigai concept applied to myself, putting aside just what I want it to be, what others have said it should be, but really honing in on what it is and could be. Future is created by empowered clarity and action.

A few phrases I have started recording that remind me of these principles

Supporting Points

• Business is problems and I love problems, the more complex and feared, the better

• Success is paved by mistakes, well-handled

• Control what you can control

• Keep the main thing, the main thing

• Eliminate Ruthlessly

• You are what you do

• Think big, take small action

• Leadership is your opportunity to share your best and and help others achieve theirs

• Purpose, Culture, Passion, and Drive for Action fuel any mission worth doing

I try to give a lot of credit through my writing about various influences, but I have to say the three who helped me tie it together are two professionals who took the time, and showed me the patience and curiosity to listen, and when I shared about what truly lights me up, they leaned in and helped me get even more clear. And the third, showed me how to package it up to make it crystal clear.

Bring on the challenges.

Upcoming Speaking Engagements:

• Tippecanoe Area HR Association (TAHRA) Monthly Meeting (4/9)

• Podcast appearance (TBA)

• LinkedIn Live (TBA)

• Twitter Spaces (TBA)

Looking forward to talking with your team or audience soon.

Upcoming Events:

• IUPUI Career Fair (4/3)

• TAHRA - Lafayette Monthly Meeting (4/9)

• 2024 Business Alumni Conference - Purdue Daniels School of Business (4/18-4/19)

• Networking at the Haverstick (Indianapolis)

• Crane West Gate First Tuesday (5/7)

• Forbes HR Council Quarterly Meetup (6/11)

• Small Biz Show - Chicago (6/13)

• Main Street Summit (10/10-10/11)

What does this mean for your purpose? I’m here to share that it’s completely worth the effort of discovery and thought process to boil it down and understand yourself and what lights you up. This purpose gives energy to everything you do.

Hopefully, this added a little value to your business or your career. Thank you for reading. Please repost or share with someone who may benefit from this edition.

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