Suddenly, you remember meeting a man on a flight from Tokyo to Los Angeles last year. He was younger and immaculately dressed. With him he carried the air of a fellow many years and many experiences more aged than he. He was bright, confident, self assured, articulate and pleasing in his conversation. He was a likable man, one who you enjoyed speaking with, and one who would be very hard to forget. For a few hours you shared a sincere, and informative conversation about your business; You discussed such personal topics as the philosophies and operations you created and employed. He was avidly curious in your endeavors. He commended you on your success, inquired as to the methods and practices that earned you such accomplished reward in your industry. Of course you were proud and happy to explain your ingenuity, the grit and sandpaper you poured into the effort to forge your brand, stake your claim. He listened intently, analyzed and studied what you had to share, never interrupting or objecting. His curiosity was inspiring to you, and you found yourself genuinely enjoying this process of boasting and explaining how you had in essence "Did it!". After an hour, maybe more, you finally had exhausted your enthusiasm for yourself. Being polite, with a dash of curiosity yourself, you turned the conversation to himself and his interests.
The man explained that his profession could not be restricted to one title. He was a jack of all trades of sorts, particularly in the business variety. He found his passions within helping,or as he precluded "Coaching" others. He explained that he had recently been in Tokyo, working with a small technology services start up who is based in San Diego. This company had recently set up a satellite office in Tokyo to launch exploratory efforts into the burgeoning idea of expansion. His business he divulged was to act on a consultant level and coach the executive staff in a multitude of areas, from hiring, to company culture, organization and consumer marketing. He explained he primarily worked with small to medium sized business. He operated his own firm, extremely small and privatized within itself. When I inquired as to what his companies purpose was, he answered seriously, but in a pleasing tone "We specialize in optimizing YOUR great ideas." He re-affirmed this statement by indulging me with further explanation. He spoke of how his true passion in life, since his younger years, was entrepreneurship. He relished the idea of working for ones self, burning your own trail, creating and operating business for yourself, by yourself. Yet he said something he noticed about himself early was that it was not the ideas per se, not the particular products, or services companies created that intrigued him. He was not an inventor. Rather he was obsessed with the transfer of ideas, and eventual products to the market place in a successful manner. He lamented that few things were more frustrating for him to accept and observe, than a great idea wasted, allowed to drift afloat without direction in the stormy seas of the marketplace until eventually, lacking any lighthouse -- Someone or something to correct their course -- this said idea would wreck and die on the unforgiving, rocky, coast of the marketplace. If the product conception was the start, and world recognition and success was the finish, it was the proverbial board game in between that quenched his thirst. He wanted to be a shepherd, someone who had the experience and knowledge to be able to lend a guiding hand, through ideas, suggestion, implementation that could not only maintain a companies flocks health, but guide them to greener pastures.
Intrigued by him, you decided it possibly wise to use this individual as a sounding board for some thoughts and decisions you were currently debating over regarding your companies direction, and next move(s). He had much to say indeed. Beginning with your hiring philosophy he dissected and displayed your motifs, targets and expectations. He wanted to know exactly who, and why you hired the people you did. He was not vague, he pressed you for details, specifics of who YOUR people are, how they think, their interactions and cooperation. Next he asked about your goals. "Why?" He continually made it a point to stress. Why was it that you were doing what you do? Why did you go into this business? He wanted to believe what you believed and then deduce the processes that made you believe it. And he continued with this forensic worthy examination covering each aspect of your company. Thank goodness this wasn't a puddle jump from LA to SF. He wanted to know organizational structure, and why? He wanted core competencies, comparative advantage, intellectual property, and leadership. He wanted vision, mission, expectations and to all of these, more "Whys". Almost worrisome of what you had locked yourself into with this man you politely asked "Surely, I can not explain everything of what we do and how we do so on this flight alone." He sat back, smiled, took a brief sip of the finest in flight Cabernet, and answered "Of course I know this. But, you see, this is how I work. I learn your company, inside and out, I learn your values, your thinking, your motives and your philosophies. I see on what, how and with who your company is based. I appreciate all that has gone into its creation, the efforts, ideas and ethics that have shaped and forged it's pathways. For I consider it nothing short of bad practice, to advise on a matter which one does not fully comprehend, or understand. In business I have found this very true. For their are countless who may rush to lend an idea, or a suggestion, or a friendly "nudge", and you may find these in books, seminars or television. Yet there are so few who will truly invest themselves in connecting with the lifeblood of a firm, who will and can truly connect and understand what the desired results and end game is for a company and it's creators and employees. This is how I make my success. I become a part of your company, an employee of you. With me comes a very particular set of skills, skills that make me very valuable and informative to a company such as yours. I find my passion and calling in making you better as a leader and innovator. Making your people better as employees, in their commitment and belief in the goals of your business. Making your customers better, through loyalty and retention. I help conceive a myriad of solutions in as many areas, yet all in a very personal, very professional manner. To reference an earlier phrase, I truly aim to be a 'Jack of all trades' when it pertains to helping your great business, become greater." With that he once again relaxed in his seat, took another sip and awaited my response. As intrigued as you were, interested and enamored, you replied with a slightly humorous, light hearted "You seem like a good person to stay in touch with", "You as well" he replied, at the same time swiftly reaching into his wallet and producing a black business card. You in accordance did the same, followed by the complimentary handshake and with that, you both resumed on your way, thirty five thousand feet above the pacific.
For the remainder of the flight you kept the conversation light. You spoke of mutual interests. You recalled your days as a collegiate athlete, and he did the same. You spoke of unfulfilled aspirations to pursue sport professionally, he attempted to reconcile you with hilarious, albeit crude tales of the harder aspects of playing "Semi-pro", for coincidentally he had attempted the same for a short while following his undergraduate studies, both domestic and internationally. You shared a passion for golf, consequently you also agreed that the game had taken years off of your lives with its tedious demands and mental strains. You told of your travels, you said Europe, he said Latin America, you said China, he said New Zealand. Both agreed that traveling and seeing the world was an experience absolutely necessary to enjoying all the planet has to offer. You spoke of fine restaurants enjoyed, exquisite wines drank, vacation locales explored. You shared with him your recent decision to sell your beloved 2010 Audi A4 for a more luxurious, comfortable BMW, to which he replied "I don't know if I can ever sell my Porsche, it simply fits my lifestyle." And the conversation continued to roam, from your wives, to your children, him still debating the issue with his wife, as they had only been married two years and them "Having much left to do before that step". He asked where you live, and what kept you in the Bay Area for so long, with genuine curiosity. "I always have to be near the ocean" he exclaimed, "It reminds me of limits, gives me an escape" he professed. And with that the pilot came on the address system, advising seat belts be fastened, tray tables stowed, seat backs returned to their full upright position. At the gate you exchanged pleasantries, both of you vowing to keep in touch, and wishing one another luck, "Call me anytime!" he professed, and that was was that.
Back in your office, reclined in your chair, staring at the ceiling you continued to grind your mental gears, desperately trying to produce solutions to your companies recent queries. Your top people, scattered around the room, bounced ideas, yet with futile sincerity or promise. How and what had changed that landed your beloved business in such dire times? Was it the last marketing campaign that you overpaid for that simply failed to connect with the targeted "Early Adaptors" audience? Had you failed in harnessing the capabilities and creativity of your prized employee acquisitions? Had they become stale on the value and motivations of the company? The source of the problem(s) were proving more evasive than a White Bronco in Los Angeles in 1994. You had never needed fresh blood to break these stalemates before, your business model and product had always performed, and very well at that. Yet as in everything, with time comes change and at this given moment, exactly what, how or who to change to correct the situation, was proving very difficult, very exhausting. It was taking you away from your core competencies, what you did and do best, the innovating, the creation, the idea birthing. You realized that if it continued to do so, the health and future of your company would be far from sublime.
But then you remembered, you snapped your legs down from atop the desk, setting your scotch down upon a stack of papers, and briskly slid open the second drawer down. You pushed to the back, and after removing a few pens, a wristwatch and some car brochures, you found a desired stack of business cards, cards gained through acquaintance, from networking. And as you sifted, discarding vague white card after another you saw it, nestled neatly, almost confidently in the back. A solid black card, unmistakable and unlike any of the others, and as you gripped it, withdrawing it from the oak purgatory it had been sentenced too for so long, you wondered if on this card lay a solution, a reprieve and infusion of fresh air and thought your company so desperately desired at this moment. For neatly printed on one side was only a phone number, bright white and contrasting. As you picked up your phone, and began to punch in the number you flipped the card over, dropping it to the desk in front of you. And with the first ring you silently mouthed the name on the front, and then the title, which even of itself was more of a tag line, less about him as it was about you.
Ryan Lowe
You, Optimized.
What the heck you figured, the guy was worth a call.
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