Recently, over 100 attendees made their way past the regal façade to the gilded interior of midtown’s Haeir Building. Ian Macdonald, business consultant and founder of the firm Corporate Lifecycles, entertained and educated the guests and helped them to determine what it takes to get their business to its optimal level and prevent it from going downhill once it gets there.
Complete with his Scottish accent and amusing sense of humor, the event began with Ian’s statement of the evening’s educational objective: only businesses in their prime dominate the market and maintain positions of leadership. Why is it that so many businesses fail to reach that point—and when they do, fail to stay there?
Any company can be successful in the short-run or after a long-run—but to be successful for the duration, there are four imperative roles that the company must embody.
1. It Must Be Effective.
What makes a company effective? Most audience members piped in with a one-word answer, “Profit!” Ian shook his head.
“Does any customer come to you and say, ‘I am here to bring you profits?’ Producing profit is imporant, but not as important as being effective. An effective company understands its customer and satisfies his needs. An effective company might not be profitable, as evidenced by many start-ups who fail to reach the black until years after they’ve been serving their devotees.”
Being effective is number 1. Bening profitable is number 2.
2. It Must Be Profitable.
Profitability is what makes a company efficient. While an ‘effective’ leader might be concentrating on ‘more sales,’ the ‘efficient’ partner behind the scenes might be concentrating on improving the bottom line.
The efficient members of a company are very organized and are tied to administrative details, directly contrasting the entrepreneurial spirit of most company founders.
3. Keep an Entrepeneurial Spirit.
In order to stay fresh and young, there must be entrepreneurial blood in any organization. Entrepreneurs are ready to forge ahead, enter new markets, develop new partnerships and take a company to heights which wouldn’t be possible without leadership that’s willing to take some risks. An entrepreneurial company can fly if it has that efficient backbone behind it.
4. Don’t Forget About Teamwork.
The last element of a company in its prime is the team factor. Do people want to work for the company or are they out the door?
Do they say, “They are having problems with distribution,” blaming another department, or do they say, “We are having problems in distribution—let’s brainstorm and fix it!”
When employees have a sense of belonging to their company, all the efforts that fuel its day-to-day operations will enable it to thrive.
The Educational Experience
That’s just a tiny hint of the educational experiences available at each Executive Seminar Series. The goal of The Executive Seminar Series is to extend the reach of The Angel Fund through educational speakers who can help us improve our business skills. Last summer, The Executive Seminar Series hosted Jack Kaine, negotiation expert. This coming August 18th, they’ll host Nigel Rasner, author of The Impact Code, at a location that is to be determined.
Thank you to the following: Ian McDougall, Founder of Lifecycles our Keynote Speaker; The Executive Seminar Series Committee, Joe Shamie, Joe Sabbagh and Allan Levy; Michael Jemal and Allan Kurtz of the Haier Building; Mister Broadway, Manhattan; Victoria Dwek, Creative Outsourcing Services; Marissa Anteby, Volunteer; Michael Franco, Teen Volunteer; Rico Tusan; Ivy Schrieber, Designer; Irwin Gindi, Angel Fund President; and Angel Fund Staff: Irwin Dayan, Executive Director; Joanne Grazi, Director; Jamie Katz, Business Analyst; and Michele Terzi, Coordinator.
