7a. Time spent exercising. 8. Time spent closing deals. 8a. Time spent trying to save deals. 9. Time spent in bed. 9a. Time spent having sex. 10. Time spent with family. 10a. Time spent alone 11. Time dreaming. 11a. Time doing the same crap After doing this exercise take all 3 tests on my site: site :http://www.danpena.com/docs/success.php The results of my 3 tests and the above will tell you where you have been in the last year and how you think vies-a-vie, success, pessimism and being an optimist like virtually all high performance people are. Do this exercise at you own peril! This QLA seminar will be my first to address other traits of high performance people, including health. As a part of getting older I am more concerned with my health, notwithstanding my family seem to live into there late 80’s and 90’s. I had lunch with my almost 90 Dad! I am pleased to say we will have a section on the health of high performance people.This 2 hour block will be headed by Dr Allen Peters. He is a doctor with 40 years experience. He is teamed with his nutritionist wife with 25 years experience to form our "first executive health section" in a QLA seminar. seminar. I have just joined their program myself. m yself. This isn’t a MLM or anything like it. Though they have not had adequate time with me, only 2 months, I believe very strongly in what they have already accomplished with me. I already feel better! To read more click here: " http://www.nourishingwellness.com/ http://www.nourishingwellness.com/"" or “ www.healthyagingdoc.com”. www.healthyagingdoc.com ”. Click here for “ more information on Dr. Allen and his wife .” In addition a QLA mentee and former business partner will be present to talk about his experiences.Tony experiences.Tony Ward Ward is a Chartered Accountant in Dublin and a great guy. guy. He has overcome his blindness and in resent years has participated in Para Olympic events. He is a physical and mental phenomenon. He started his athletic career when he was 35. He now represents Ireland. He is a QLA devotee dating back to 1997. And if his schedule doesn’t change I will have a mystery QLA business business partner attending the entire seminar, because he never tires from learning more QLA. This will be his 5th time! He is top in his field world wide. He heard me speak first at a Ron LeGrand (another QLA devotee and former partner) seminar in the mid 90’s. He kept trying (swinging at the plate) till he hit it for 6 (a grand slam home run)!
THE MARKET
I have written and said in my seminars since 2000 the world would have to pay the piper vies-a-vie the massive debt we had been building since WW2. Late last summer we saw the tip of the ice berg. Now 6 months later many companies have gone into forced mergers, or simple buy outs, or gone under. Many CEO’s CEO’s are now gone from there extremely extremel y high paid jobs. There are government panels looking into - what the f happened? And there are fingers being pointed back and forth. Having been through a few cycles it never ceases to amaze me how no one ever seems to learn from the last cycle and that greed seems to eventually kill them off! I write this with some amazement! Why? Because I am not the only person that has been saying the end would come to the easy money. money. And it would cause a tremendous tragedy to business but more importantly to the common man. The big difference is all who were predicting the collapse were not collecting fees and commissions selling various and sundry debt products. Notwithstanding my prediction coming true I am sad to see how badly our government and financial institutions can get it so very wrong. And as of the last few days the markets around the world are going down at an incredible rate. It is fairly clear we are most assuredly in a recession. Not saying we are in a recession does not keep us from being in one. I am not going to claim the real estate bust brought on the recession, but it certainly didn’t help. This real estate bust will take a few years to iron out, just as the tech bubble took 6/7 years to make its come back. Most people get aggressive with their investment plans just at the incorrect time. It’s called greed and stupidity! You You see others profiting and your not. It’s human nature and a lack of experience. As I have said for many years HEALTH HEALTH CARE AND TELECOMS(INTERNET) are the wave of the future vies-a-vie opportunities to change your life! RISKS NOT TAKEN
There was an interesting closing of a movie I saw on a plane recently. It was interesting to me because I have been saying this for many years. The star of the movie said to his partner about jumping into the worm hole to the future - what will you tell your grand kids 50 years from now you didn’t want to take the risk! As I have said for many years it’s the risks you didn’t take that you regret when your time comes to meet you maker. I have buried a few people in recent years and the story is always the same! It’s the things you didn’t do that you regret! Not the things you did! JUST DO IT! To Your Your Quantum Q uantum Leap, Dan Peña
ISSUE #72 8th March 2008 From Dan Peña – Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer. Dear High Performance Person and Visionary, Castle Seminar just completed!
Well the last castle event was better than any that came before! And I know that is hard to believe considering the seminars that have been given at Guthrie Castle since the mid 90’s! We had a particularly partic ularly diverse group with attendees a ttendees coming from; Panama, Romania, England, USA, India, Wales, Wales, Ireland, and Venezuela. Venezuela. The industries represented were also very diverse; internet marketing, escort services (no joke), financial services, property/real estate, health care, athletics, a dietician and medical doctor, and medical phone answering services; and some who were looking for a new deal in their lives. They ranged in age from 22 to 66. s always, I spent time looking at their deals and if appropriate discussed alternatives. It was especially gratifying to meet a very successful woman, Doris, who had heard me at a 3 Day QLA Seminar in Orlando in 1995. She actually followed what I said and is wealthy wea lthy now, now, but wants to go to the next level, even though she already has a multinational company. God bless her! We also had a guy who had heard me speak in 1994 and never gave up and now is on his 2nd successful venture. We also had a young woman that literally came back from a near death debilitating disease against all odds and all doctor’s prognostications and is now looking for a financial quantum leap having already made a physical one! To see some of the graduation night testimonials - "Click Here." Yes the guys are a re wearing kilts and no I don’t know if they were wearing anything under them. I went to sleep at 1am but some stayed up in the newly decorated snooker room and played video games and snooker till 5am. I had such a great time beating the attendees in our new $1.5 million pavilion facility, I am having another Castle Extravaganza 16th – 22nd November this year. We We already have attendees signed up and at least 1 of the recent attendees will return for a 6th time. The section on “A Healthy Life Style for the High Performance Person” was very well received. Dr Peters and his lovely dietician wife Jeanne did a terrific job and dished out some amazing information. Of course they are the team that has done some great work on me in the last 3 months: weight down 22 pounds; blood pressure down; cholesterol down; and other vitals headed where they should be for f or a 30 year old! You You read correctly corre ctly a 30 year old. Awesome! Awesome! More later as we get closer to the next event in November. To Your Your Quantum Q uantum Leap, Dan Peña P.S. I have decided to write another book, or should I say update “Your “Your First Hundred Million.” P.P.S. .P.S. As I said at the Castle Seminar low interest rates and a collapsing real estate market make for massive opportunities.
ISSUE #74 QUANTUM LEAP ADVANTAGE® INTERNET NEWSLETTER ISSUE # 74 26th September 2008 From Dan Peña – Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer. Dear High Performance Person and Visionary: Capitalism on the way up! Socialism on the way down! You only get hurt on a roller coaster
when you get off in the middle of the ride! Yes I know it feels like we have gone off the rails, but we haven’t! Stay on! We can avert a Depression if we act intelligently! Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition! It is financial WAR with out the guns, for now!
I never knew how much good my training as an infantry officer at Fort Benning, Georgia, USA would be for me! Dodging live bullets keeps you focused! And believe me this financial crisis is not a drill! This is for real. AIG gets $85 billion from U.S. Government, Lehman Brothers goes BK, Merrill Lynch Lynch gets taken over by Bank of America, Bear Stearns bailed out by JP Morgan, and Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae taken over by the U.S. Government! And as if this wasn’t enough, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley take refuge under the Fed banking laws by becoming commercial banks and are no longer the venerable power house investment banks they once were. Plus the recent darling of the Nuevo Rich, hedge funds, are now unwinding! And it wasn’t just greedy America! The Bank of Scotland, founded in 1695, and others are now gone! I assure you many more will follow! If you are not having fun yet, wait there will be much more to come! I guarantee it! I take no solace in saying, I told you so!
It could take a generation to fix this mess! WHAT’S NEXT?
A $700 billion bail out from the FED, which will easily go over a trillion and more. I would like to be optimistic, but when was the last time one of these estimates was even close to being accurate or truthful? NEVER! My seminar in November will address in detail how to take advantage of this crisis in your individual business, as I did to build a $445 million empire in the worse energy market decline in 50 years. It is unbelievable to live as long as I have, because if you live long enough you see it all! I have been saying for several years; the giant debt we had world wide would bite us sooner than later; Real Estate would eventually bring us down because the fantasy of “God” isn’t making anymore land; the kids now managing most of the money in the world would cause us great hardship; and the U.S. Government would have to bail us out or go out of business as we know it! As many of you know I watch CNN, CNBC and other financial news shows all day long, as I answer emails and talk on the phone, when I am not in meetings. The financial roller coaster I witnessed recently was remarkable. In two days more than $700 billion (each day) was wiped off the USA markets. I really don’t know how much other markets declined world wide but India, Brazil, and China to name a few all have suffered and the Russian stock exchanges were shut down completely after a 45% decline - and short selling was banned in the USA markets.
Now the U.S. Government will bail out the financial system to the tune of $700 billion that is estimated to run easily well over a trillion dollars. What a absolute catastrophic total meltdown! These are unprecedented actions to say the least! It makes the 1987 crash and dot com fiasco look mild! As I have said for many years cash is a better alternative for most people, because they don’t understand what risk they are taking. For example, money market funds are not insured, contrary to what people may have thought. This is only one small example of how how risk assessment is not understood. Most people outside the financial centers of the world just don’t appreciate how close the U.S. financial model came to total collapse and mayhem! For many years I have told people nothing goes in one direction forever! Many of you made, on paper, tons of money in real estate and the stock market, continuing to leverage up getting bigger and more expense properties and larger stock portfolios. But leverage goes both ways and is a vicious two edge knife. What has exacerbated the situation even more are the countless hedge funds that use all kinds of financial instruments, including shorting the markets to enhance their yields. People that should not be involved in such dealings are up to their eyes in a big way. These These hedge funds are not regulated and virtually anyone with the minimum investment is allowed in the game. This is a recipe for disaster! The week before the financial debacle I was privileged to be a key note speaker at a large world wide real estate exposition: www.aireec.com . I was the opening speaker to get them jacked up. I also spoke 60 minutes on how I dealt with building my own empire in a collapsing market, but I had no idea what would follow the very next week. I was scheduled to speak another 60 minutes in the grave yard slot the last day. My presentation went 125 minutes, they listened with baited breathe an extra 65 minutes, before I shut the convention down. It was all filmed and to say I was terrific is an understatement. I really enjoyed my self. It had been a long time since I spoke in the USA. I was honored in receiving rec eiving two awards at the expo: “2008 AIREEC Man of the Year” Year” and “2008 AIREEC Inspirational Leadership Award”. Award”. I was humbled to say the least. I believe my humble beginnings from an East LA barrio, only a few miles from the expo, boded well for my being chosen as an example of rag to riches. Interestingly I was initially invited before the financial meltdown to pump up the expo attendees, because I had made quantum leaps in a collapsing market. Of course I was prepared to do this easily. What I didn’t know or appreciate was the very next week the financial world would be in such trouble it would be beyond comprehension! Hence, my timing was almost perfect! Hence, my message was even more germane the very next week to those that attended. Of course those that have read my book and or attended my seminars know that attaining significant success is easier by modeling those who have done it before. Finding a mentor who is where you want to be. This is even more important in these treacherous markets. There are still countless ways to get screwed trying to attain and fulfill your dreams. So having a mentor is even more important now
$1000 have grown to earn $445,000,000 in eight years. To offer sound Investment advice, conventional wisdom does not score and the down market environment requires special skills. In fact, spending habits will be reduced with exceptions on alcohol and movies. Banks will toughen out and manipulate ratios as there would be a sizeable drop their valuation of top companies. E-Commerce will perish and companies with revenue will be the only ones financed. Financial institutions will cash in and make up for lost time. As an Investment Advise, think through the concept, the financial model and current economic circumstances and work around it. Postponement and procrastination for the economy to stabilize is perilous. Financial institutions will require people with down market experience while partnership and JV clients will be elevated to a superior position as they have been there and done that. IRA’s - 401K’s - HIGH TECHS - BEWARE
Having just put my "Litigation as a s a Business Tool" Tool" Newsletter to bed, I find it incumbent upon myself to put pen in hand (yes, I write these) and issue a bit of extremely important - in some cases, financial life and death - information. The stock market, as we know (yes, all you pundits) is a leading economic indicator, i.e., the 1929 Crash was followed by a severe depression (and I don’t mean the kind of depression you get when you gain 10 lbs.). I could give other examples going back to Tulip Bulbs in the 1630’s 1630’s in Holland, so suffice it to say sa y, what happened Friday Frida y (04/14/00) in the Dow and NASDAQ indicates we could be in Big F—— Trouble in the days, da ys, weeks and months to come! Monday’s activity doesn’t mean much unless the market has a huge day - up or down or big volume. I’m not a stock market guy (anymore), remembering I left Wall Street three decades ago. But I did build a formidable dynasty in the greatest depression in the energy industry known in the last century, i.e., when oil went from $41 per barrel to less than $8 per barrel. I grew a company from $820 to $445,000,000 in eight years. Making money in a down market and/or down economy takes special skills. Conventional wisdom is your biggest enemy. I will write from time-to-time on this prevailing, prevail ing, awesome subject assuming the market continues to go south for the beginning of this New Millennium. I will jot a few pearls of wisdom for you to ponder as you calculate the depressed value of your hopefully not too depressed portfolios: 1. Spending habits will be reduced almost across the board. Exceptions Exceptions will be (like in the Depression) alcohol and movies (which would include video and cable). 2. Banks will will tighten tighten their grips grips and adjust adjust ratios 3. Valuations for new high-tech/dot-coms high-tech/dot-coms will be reduced. The existing ones, ones, as seen in the NASDAQ market, have already been disseminated. For example, dot-coms with real trailing revenue, EBITDA and even earnings will rebound first. 4. E-Commerce plays will perish and be be extremely difficult to finance. Real companies companies with revenue, etc. will be the only ones that get financed. Of course, some of you know my own dot-com has $10 million in trailing 1999 revenue - last month (March 2000) we did $950,000. Expecting a drastic valuation change, in January we acquired a real B-to-B company with revenue and a track record. 5. Financial institutions which missed missed the bubble by not investing investing or lending will be hungry to make up for lost time and initially perceived missed opportunities. 6. If you still still want to play the E-commerce/dot-com E-commerce/dot-com game, look for real trailing revenues revenues with big B-to-B companies. If there’s time, you can build your financial story around your intuitive knowledge you had vis-a-vis the market and over-evaluations - and now is the time to, yada, yada, yada! 7. Think through through your idea, financial model, etc. and adjust your presentation to the current economic circumstances.
than ever! At the expo I had a large private office to listen to the many attendees from all over the world. Outside I was screaming screa ming on a huge screen showing me doing a seminar. For those brave enough to make an appointment I spent spent time with each and every one that wanted time with me. I heard some very sad stories and people that were looking for some direction. I heard a few success stories, but they were in the minority. I also heard one potential suicide story. story. Some stories were shocking how they lost their money, for the second or third time doing the exact same thing as they did the time(s) before. I enjoyed talking to many people, but it never ceases to amaze me how people never understand it is not their genius that made money in a raging bull market! They always give little or no recognition to the market conditions. And And they NEVER understand markets move in two directions and nothing goes up for ever! NOTHING! NOTHING! As I discussed their individual situations, virtually all knew they were in a mess, but few of them emotionally could make the tough decisions going for ward. You You have heard me say we have two bank accounts in life: emotional and financial. And we almost always run out on our emotional side of the personal ledger – not the financial. We all use our positions as a parent, son/daughter, son/daughter, mortgage holder, etc, to say we can’t do what ever is necessary. necessary. We We use these as excuses for not doing the correct thing to fulfill our goals and dreams. We We fall prey pre y to conventional wisdom and common consensus. If I have done one thing consistently all my adult life it was to go against the grain. Most of the time it stood me in good stead. My detractors would point out the times I was wrong, but I would not trade my life with anyone who ever has attended any of my seminars since May 1993! We are in a classic “suck up your panty hose” time for the entire world! Who prevails will depend on emotional bank accounts going for word. Will you be one of the few that prospers from the new financial parameters? DAN PENA PERSONAL
I spent my birthday last month enjoying the sun and playing golf with friends! Yes I did work as well, but not as hard as usual. It was very nice and I want to thank all of you that acknowledged my birthday. birthday. I appreciated apprecia ted the many nice gestures. More importantly I was with my dad to celebrate his 90th early this month. He appears to be on his way to many more such days. I certainly hope so! I will post some photos on my site soon. My new book, the 2nd edition of “Your “Your First Hundred Million” will be out around Christmas. It will be updated to 2008 with new examples and insights. And since it was originally written for a down market scenario it is absolutely on key for present market conditions! Its cost will be $477 per copy. This insures me you will read it, but more importantly it has the critical information to change your lives now! If you want a signed copy notify my office through,
[email protected] .
I have said for many years you only need three books to read to achieve your dreams! Think and grow Rich; Release Your Your Brakes, by my mentor Jim Newman who invented the “comfort zone;” and my own “Your “Your First Hundred Million!” My kids are doing well. Derrick my youngest son is a second year MBA candidate and was relating how his fellow candidates were in shock vis-à-vis the recent financial collapse. He told me offers made to the students were being cut dramatically and of course kids that were going to Lehman were out of luck. Of course Merrill Lynch Lynch being absorbed by Bank of America, amongst many other situations, means countless jobs will be lost. And our mortgage business is being socialized by the FED. The world has changed forever! Again, I guarantee it! Are you ready? To Your Quantum Leap Daniel S Peña, Sr.
P.S. Agreeing, by not saying what what you really think or feel, is a massive disservice to whom whom you are dealing with! All too often we are in a position listening to a colleague, friend or loved one, and that’s all we do – listen! (And I understand how we are supposed to give support to loved ones, but that is not the point here.) We have our own thoughts but we keep quite! We often know what they are saying makes no sense based on our own experience, age, wisdom, etc., but we still say nothing! Why? Well, Well, conventional wisdom tells us to keep our own opinions to ourselves, least we affront the other person, etc. Or we don’t want to say anything that may give the other person reason not to like us, etc. This is extremely common with kids. They keep their mouths closed and this is how peer pressure can have a very detrimental effect on the less vocal. How many times in life do you dutifully listen to someone and say little or nothing? Countless! Well I am here to tell you, you do a geometric disservice by allowing them to believe you are supporting their goofy idea. And by being silent you give them your tacit tac it approval! This only reinforces foggy thinking and does them no good whatsoever. whatsoever. In fact in most cases it is harmful! Jack Welsh, Welsh, arguably, arguably, the best CEO of the last 50 years says the biggest biggest draw back and challenge in business today is the lack of candor! He contends, and I agree, this is our main challenge to be better managers, leaders and businesses. He, nor I, and many other high performance people could never be accused of lack of candor! How about you? PPS I had the great pleasure of being at dinner two nights with a billionaire “true” venture capitalist who made his money before dot com, hedge funds and fancy financial instruments. When I told him I was considering not working as hard in a few years – he went nuts! He told me he still works seven days a week; gets up early; has no real hobbies other than his work; is involved in many charities; and has not figured out how to retire! He is 10 years my senior! PPS As this news letter goes out: Washington Washington Mutual goes down and is absorbed by JP Morgan; there is total chaos in Washington DC in terms of little agreement in the $700 billion bail out in the US; the two presidential candidates are trying to act Presidential; the congressional meeting at the White House turned into a screaming match. Obviously this doesn’t add much confidence to anyone, let alone Wall Street and other financial centers. I know based on my m y own 37 years experience through some extremely bad and difficult times when there was no light at the end of the tunnel, the US financial system will survive, albeit in a different form with apparently more
government controls. As I have preached prea ched for many man y many years, TOUGH TIMES DON’T LASTLASTTOUGH PEOPLE DO! HANG TOUGH AND PRAISE THE LORD AND PASS THE AMMUNITION!
ISSUE #75 Your First 100 Million Guthrie Castle, Scotland Today Daniel S Pena, SR, has released his second addition of his outstanding definitive step by step guideline “how to with no money” fulfill your dream in building a business worth many millions in a “down market!” www.danpena.com Leap into “Your First 100 Million” with Dan Pena
Get first-hand info on how to get rich from the expert who did it from scratch!
Tired of your crappy, crappy, low-paying, 72-hour week job and having to deal with demanding, demeaning bosses? Do you want to keep your own hours, be your own boss and love making a living? Putting up a business you can love and call your own is an ideal way to break out of the redundancy of being part of the working class and is easy enough to do with the right tools, but, making your venture a success is another matter. Owning a business and hitting gold doesn’t necessarily come hand-in-hand, unless, you do things the Dan Peña way wa y. Business tycoon Daniel S. Peña, Chairman and a nd Founder of The Guthrie Group and Great Grea t Western Western Resources, Inc. (GWRI), has lead global and regional companies and institutions down the path of success. He notably grew GWRI to a whopping whopping $450,000,000 with a capital of only $820 at the height of the collapse of the energy industry in the mere period of eight short years. With an interminable list of credentials tucked under his belt, there’s nobody like Peña to show inexperienced entrepreneurs the ropes and give new insight to already successful businessmen. In 1999, the performance coach, upon demand de mand from his clients, published “Your First 100 Million” illustrating the step by step QLA Strategies and Methodologies as a supplement to the innumerable noteworthy workshops and seminars– that thousands of entrepreneurs have benefited benefited from. In April 2009, Guthrie Castle Ltd., published Peña’s second edition of “ Your First 100 Million” , an updated version of the original that helped launch the careers of millionaires all over the world. Perceived as a mentor to many, the book is Peña’s Peña’s way of nurturing start-up start- up entrepreneurs in their quest to pursuit their dream of making it big. It is a path for anyone with no money, but real desire to achieve a dream to accomplish the impossible! Peña’s popular seminars and is “Your First 100 Million-Second Edition” is also an extension of Peña’s revised to fit the changes that have happened in the economic and business communities since the first edition came out. Straightforward and candid, Peña gives readers an inside look into the real dealings of corporate businesses and how a start-up entrepreneur needs to think, feel, train and prepare in order to make the first “Quantum Leap,” in life and business. Peña’s opening sentence immediately promises wealth – in quantities quantiti es so large that “you can’t count it – you’ve got to weigh it” and veers away from the typical “get rich” schemes offered by typical entrepreneurial self-help books. His work doesn’t sensationalize, and instead, focuses on the not-sosimple, sometimes harsh, truth. His anecdotes on getting rich, and most importantly i mportantly,, losing money awaken his readers to the realities of making it big and staying big. It is the perfect guide to serious players – from aspiring businessmen, small to medium-scale entrepreneurs and seasoned veterans. Get rich the real way! Grab your copy of “Your First 100 Million-Second Edition” , now available
in bookstores nationwide. It is the definitive “how to” book written for the person who only requires real desire!
Focusing and working on the right problem is essential but can be associated with the pain and fear of error in judgment. In formulating a Personal Development plan, chances of both good and bad decisions, the fear of failure and willingness to get experienced through mistakes helps in getting closer to self-actualization. The tendency to ask questions repeatedly may be annoying but it is a sure shot method of getting comfortable with the process of proper decision-making. On the way to success, there are no short cuts and it starts with getting comfortable with failures. While creating a proper personal development growth plan thickening the emotional skin and getting comfortable with failures on the way brings dreams to fruition. These form the absolute basic tenets for high-performance and fulfillment. As I’ve written, while travelling I get caught up on my reading. One of the articles I recently read was about Dr. Abraham H. Maslow. The The journals he wrote in 1962 were recently recentl y re-released. As a freshman in university in 1963, I studied Maslow - before I flunked out. His "Hierarchy of Needs" is now legendary in the world of psychology. psychology. Maslow’s work has its own website, and I recommend you look at it (EYPsychain Management). He is highly recommended by b y many, many, including myself. The reason I’ve always like Maslow has become more clear to me since I entered the world of coaching in 1993. His 1962 book Toward Toward the Psychology of Being describes the theory that human beings progress through a hierarchy of needs until they reach a point of self-actualization. In other words, trust, recognition, motivation and the importance of continuous improvement in life. It’s very much like the emotional bank account you’ve heard me talk and write about ad nauseam. He makes it sound more scientific. People I’ve been in business with over the years have gone a long way toward their own selfactualization. I did myself more than 20 years ago when I decided to get my head screwed on straight in 1976. Another article I read was on "The Perfect Decision" by an entrepreneur. Or more basically, there IS NO perfect decision, but neither are decisions made by the seat of your pants. Part of selfactualization and building emotional bank accounts is the act of decision-making. What does the average person (you) do wrong in making difficult decisions? You You start to solve the wrong problems. You You jump at the first (easiest) characterizations charac terizations of your decision, so your objectives are too narrow and you consider too few alternatives. Now, by this I certainly don’t mean to Lotus 1-2-3 a question to death. What is meant is, because of inexperience, we look at a narrow scope of outcomes. Of course the answer to this is an experienced Board with a well-respected and battle-hardened (and in my case, extremely charming, affable and saintly!) Chairman and Mentor. (Some of you will think I’m kidding.) Bad decisions are made because inexperienced people don’t look at situations in a broader context, because it makes them uncomfortable. For example, you make decisions from childhood (2 or 3years-old) with no training. We get into bad habits, we learn lear n to accept the ways problems are given. So you are choosing solutions from decisions given to you by others. After 20 to 40 years, we’re pretty much in that habit rather than asking ourselves what decisions we should be addressing. I’ve said it’s not easy thinking about making hard decisions. The easy way out is just to do what comes naturally and not trying to question the issues more broadly broadl y. This is another way of saying you make the emotionally-easier decision. The first thing you need to do is define the "decision problem" you are really facing, i.e., what it is you have to decide. A good solution to a well-posed problem is usually far superior to an outstanding solution to a poorly posed problem. Now the real question is, how do we know we are posing the problem correctly? One - our mentor! Two - perhaps, after a lifetime of messing things up, through bad decisions. Or three - by asking yourself, "is this what I really need to decide? Is this the right problem?" As you well know, know, after a while you are in the course of deciding the situation changes and the problem becomes a new
problem. And sometimes the situation doesn’t change, but your insights into the situation do. As you all know, being a minority shareholder in a private company is like kissing your sister. For most of you, I’ve had little to do with your decision-making process. For a few of you, I’ve had considerable input. I’ve in no certain terms probed your objectives, goals, interests, fears, aspirations and at times, helped you psychoanalyze yourself, asking what you really want and understanding your basic desire and continually probed, probed, probed. Now, Now, if you don’t know if you are a re working on the right problem and you don’t listen to the experience of your mentor and/or board, what happens? Very Very few people focus on whether you are working on the right problem. Why? Because to focus on the right problem normally is associated with the pain and fear of error in your judgements —- a big mistake! There are good and bad decisions and no more than fear of failure and being willing to become experienced through making a lot of mistakes. The more you get closer to self-actualization the better your choices. At this juncture, I could write volumes about inner peace and the fulfilment of life’s meaning, but I won’t! Some of you (alumni of other programs) could also write these volumes. In fact, some of you have - in your emails to me! A colleague just called for some assistance. a ssistance. The advisor for the seller with whom he’s been negotiating has just been fired. What now, now, Dan? What Would Dan Do? WWDD? It’s funny what I think of when I get calls and emails from you. I remember how this particular person was difficult to be sold on QLA. He purported had a partner who couldn’t take action. Being British, he kept trying to convince him. He came to the Guthrie Castle Seminar and still tried, for a while, to get his partner to commit. Finally he said he’d go forward without this partner! Don’t get me wrong. This person had a million questions himself about attending the Castle and moving forward. At Guthrie he had another million questions - he’s he’s an engineer and must understand! As far as I can remember, we’ve had one Board meeting at Guthrie. I’ve helped interview one or two of our Board members and we have four or five Board members. There have been two or three changes on the Board. I think we’ve changed accountants at least once and we’ve had the same lawyers (I think)! He now asks less and less because he is more comfortable with what?…..himself! In recent years, various colleagues have taken me to dinner or for coffee from time-to-time when I’m available. They also listen to me. Sometimes I give very specific instructions and other times I give general guidelines. Sometimes my sage input is difficult to follow, follow, as many will attest to. But as someone who has had any success using QLA, you already know you have to get used to failure and rejection. This is not to say you become comfortable with not completing your goals. What I mean is you must get comfortable with failures on the way to bringing your dream to fruition. You You must thicken your emotional skin. You You must become more comfortable with the failures you experience on the way to success. Hopefully all of you understand this absolute basic precept to being a high-performance and fulfilled person. You’ve You’ve heard me say, get successful and you’ll feel good about yourself! Do you think Richard Branson, Donald Trump or Ross Perot care the same way you do about what people think and failures? I don’t think so! Every day of the rest of your life is a new test! How will you score? You’ll score great if you live it like it’s the last two minutes of your last World World Cup / Super Bowl. To a prosperous and emotionally fulfilling fulf illing life, Dan P.S. To To quote Jerry Jerr y Springer, no matter what your age (pass adolescence) you are a re responsible for your own actions, irrespective of the actions or inactions of someone else. Pass the age of legal
reason (18 in the U.S.), you and only you are accountable for what you do or don’t do. Remember: in the words of a great, all-knowing soothsayer, "All people are self made, only successful people talk about it!" P.P.S. .P.S. Ross Perot - "Success is on the razor’s razor ’s edge of failure." P.P.S. I did ultimately
ISSUE #7 The essentials for a personal development growth growth and defining a personal development plan
Defining a personal development plan would mean altering the career path life cycle. Further, the main ingredient for a personal development growth schedule is to handle every assignment with the same vigor and enthusiasm like it was the very first one. The success route is taking the high road and aspiring for a better life and being aware of the difference between right and wrong. Living life in quiet desperation and pursuing a dream only leads to a self-proclaimed revenue stream and a distinct lifestyle, which paves way to enter a comfort zone in life. Part of the personal development plan is to have resolute determination. This is vividly exhibited in the movies "Search For The North Pole", "The Alamo", and "Saving Private Ryan". These are cinematic expressions of resolute determination portrayed through conquering the frigid peaks of the North Pole, a bloody civil war to win back a state and a mother’s personal mission to find her lost son fighting in the army after losing three of her sons in WWWII. Essentially for personal development growth, a few secrets from a super high performer helps. It isn’t just brains or education, though they certainly make success achievable. The act of doing it and constant perseverance that it should be done are clear winners. History has stalwarts who have achieved unflinching success in this area. But along with their honor and consternation, is the fear f ear of losing lives, suffering from poverty, poverty, humiliation and imprisonment. Ultimately, Ultimately, the choice is personal and without guts there is no glory. For a proper personal development plan there are no short cuts. The truth is plain and simple and the benefit perceived is clear. A resolute decision will be easier and help in personal development growth if there is a dream and passion and also the ability to stretch beyond the comfort zone. Not going beyond can lead to stagnation even years of resolute determination. Remember, fear is False Expectation Appearing Real! RESOLUTE DETERMINATION AND RESOLVE As I approach my 55th birthday, birthday, having finished my 7th year in coaching/mentoring, I reflect on the life I’ve chosen for myself and family famil y, which is now winding down. When I started my fourth career as mentor/coach in 1993, I clearly said I would embark on this endeavour with the same robust nature I’ve attacked virtually everything since my first career as a U.S. Army Officer; followed by the training ground at Bear Stearns (a prominent Wall Wall Street firm); followed by an entrepreneurial stage laced with many mergers, acquisitions and divestitures. The above life cycle has spanned five decades, two centuries and two millenniums. My conclusions are: I have found most people are good; most people would rather take the high road; most people want a better life; most understand the difference between right and wrong; and most people (but not as many as you think), when faced with greed and avarice, will do the right thing. Ergo, there should be no reason why most people aren’t successful at whatever they choose - WRONG! Most people lead lives of quiet desperation. Most people aren’t engaged in the perseverance of a
dream. They are engaged in something which produces a revenue stream, creating a lifestyle which they get used to by default. They get comfortable and more or less stay in that comfort zone their entire life. Over this past weekend, while at my home at Guthrie Castle, in between playing golf on my own private golf course, I worked [as usual] and watched CNN. In between I watched three different films on the satellite satell ite TV in my office: "Search For The North Pole", "The Alamo", and "Saving Private Ryan". To To relax at night, I smoke a Monte Christo ‘A’ ‘A’ Cigar and have a few drinks whilst doing my light work and watching a film. I felt I should write a newsletter, so I’ve been thinking about a subject matter. I was looking out my office window onto the golf course, wondering why I’m here and others, not as fortunate, are other places. It’s light past 11:00 p.m. now. You can actually play golf for about 20 hours a day. People often ask me, "what was the turning point in your life ?" I often say I never really looked at it this way but usually say, say, my volunteering for military mili tary service at the height of the Vietnam War War as a private and ending my military career as an officer (without a college degree) was the turning point. Of course, I went on to graduate from college, which is a story by itself. More than getting battered as a private and learning to be neat and clean, I learned what was emphasized as "resolute determination" deter mination" - no matter what. The military is different now. now. There is no battering, etc. to speak of. I believe we, in the free world, are fortunate communism failed. In the three movies I watched this weekend, this resolute determination was exhibited over and over again. If you will indulge me, briefly, [it's my letter and it's free !] I will illustrate what I mean. Search For The North Pole: Admiral Perry, after a number of attempts, finds the North Pole. He had dreamed of this since he was six years old. He had planned his US Naval career around this end. He learned how to raise money for the trips and promote others into joining him for no money or pay for the privilege of freezing to death for 2 - 3 years at a time - Sound familiar ? Whilst his co-discoverer, Mr Henderson, (his black valet by title but much, much more in reality) was breaking eight of his toes off due to frost bite, Perry said, "It’s a small price to find the top of the world !" He was 52 when he made his final, successful trip to the top of the world. He was a hero! Of course, now his conquests are being questioned. Every failure taught him something different. His wife, children and others, whether they wanted to or not, became part of the sacrifice - as have mine. The Alamo: For my American American readers this is an old story stor y. The young country was fighting Mexico for Texas. Texas. A few hundred "lads" take on about 8,000 well-trained Mexican infantry and artillery. The Americans knew they couldn’t win. Their dream of freeing themselves from Mexico could only be helped by their resolute determination to merely slow the Army down and send a powerful message to the oppressors. Texas would would not give up, no matter what the cost. All but women and children perished, gladly, as the story goes. This particular battle (and each country that has fought for freedom has their own) is special in US history due to some of the men that perished there: Colonel Jim Bowie, Colonel Travis and General Houston, amongst many others - all extremely high-profile heros! In the U.K., it would be analogous to Lord Nelson and Lord Wellington Wellington dying in hand-in-hand combat. Saving Private Ryan: This movie was full of resolute determination to not give up no matter what. From landing on Omaha Beach on D-Day to the actual act of trying to find the only surviving son of Mrs Ryan (like a needle in haystack). She had already lost three sons defending the U.S. in WWII. In all instances, resolute determination was a given. The other factor, more easily understood with Admiral Perry then the Texans and finally saving a young private, is the great passion for fulfilling a dream. With Private Ryan, as depicted in the movie, it was asked "What if, Captain (Tom Hanks),
we find the kid and with all the bad going on, we can say this kid changed the world for the better?" For more than 30 years I have dealt with life as I do business! All-out or nothing. As the Navy Seals say, say, "Go hard or go home" and "The only easy eas y day was yesterday". It had been difficult for me to understand, after seven years of trying to coach people what I can do naturally, why people still have great difficulty. difficulty. Now I know the single biggest difference between a super high performance person isn’t brains or education - though these certainly can make it easier to succeed. It’s the resolute, undying belief in what you’re doing. The constant perseverance that it will get done - no matter what. The above is virtually impossible unless your endeavour is wrapped around your dream and your passion for it. I could list countless success stories from the marine sergeant (who attended my Castle Experience who willed his severed spine to heal) to Helen He len Keller, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Richard Branson, Golda Mayer, Margaret Thatcher, Anwar Sadat, Nelson Mandela, Christ, Gandhi and Mohammed, amongst others. Now don’t misunderstand me. Resolute commitment, no matter what, has caused me, along with the honor roll above, great consternation, heart-ache and more, i.e., it cost a few their lives, a few suffered poverty, poverty, humiliation and imprisonment during their careers. It’s not an easy trip! There is a "pay price to action", as I call it. It’s your choice! But the old adage, "No Guts - No Glory", is pretty much what my 54 years have taught me. Big Risk, Big Rewards and Big Problems. Ross Perot put it another way - "Success is always on the razor’s edge of failure". Henry Ford said, "You "You can’t make a reputation on something you haven’t done". Roy Disney (Walt Disney’ Disney’ss older brother) said, "When values are clear, decisions are easy". If the benefit perceived by you is clear, your decision to be resolute will be easy(ier). If it’s your dream and passion, you will not question stretching way outside your comfort zone. Without going beyond, you’ll be where you are now - years from now. I guarantee it! Remember, fear is False Expectation Appearing Real! I’m looking forward to seeing you outside your comfort zone - Soon! Come join me, or as the US Marine Corp motto says, "Come join the few, the proud!" To Your Your Quantum Q uantum Leap, Dan Peña PS People have asked what my criteria is for a transaction. Of course, I have tapes etc. I have two separate criteria: 1. Individual Individual vis-a-v vis-a-vis is a deal (in (in this order) order) a) the energy of the person b) the deal - legal, ethical, simplicity. Does it work? c) experience - work. Have they failed? d) education - information/formal 2. Deals a) first or different b) large market size c) large gross margins d) scalability and employment market e) barrier to entry PPS As promised in 1993, my 2000 schedule is limited to a fraction of my previous years. I have no scheduled QLA 1-day seminars for 2000. I have two 4-Day Castle Experiences scheduled for 2000 -
one in August and the other in November. I have no "Deal Making / Mergers and Acquisitions" seminars scheduled. I have no "Raising Capital" seminars scheduled, though I’d like to give one because it’s my favorite! Speaking of money, last Friday I met with the reigning king of Europe venture capitalist and one of the top in the world. He wrote, "Please besiege us with deals, Dan." PPPS I will still use the Castle Experience as a filter for future transactions I might be involved with. At the Castle I can easily determine the above 1 and 2. PPPPS I will continue using The Guthrie Castle Group (see website) as my conduit for various transactions outside direct QLA involvement.
ISSUE #9 Dear Friend and Subscriber, As I sat, watching Pete Sampras win his seventh Wimbledon Wimbledon Championship (his thirteenth Grand Slam Championship - a new all time record), I thought of what I wrote a few days ago. I also thought of one of my devotees response which I forwarded to you. Pete Sampras is a genuinely nice guy. Even a little shy. He’s He’s 28 years old and says he owed today’s success to his parents, fiancée and God. He was losing at the beginning of the match and came back, after thinking he might lose, to win strongly. Notwithstanding my devotee might believe Pete Sampras is an anomaly, I don’t ! The key is, he was led by a role model - in this case his parents. I’ve written, ad nauseam, how Socrates wrote (even before I came on the scene) the easiest way to success was modeling someone who had already achieved success - been there and done it. Obviously, Obviously, Pete Sampras Sa mpras modeled other great tennis te nnis players to become arguably the greatest of all time. But, dealing with the ramifications of super success, he got the solid grounding he received from his parents. Speaking of grounding - a couple of years ago a business partner of mine sent me the attached poem. It’s not that I had never seen it before - because I had - as many of you may have as well. It wasn’t because it was an especially difficult transaction we were working on together. It wasn’t because he was contemplating quitting. He sent it to me to give to some of my other business partners who were having a tough time of it. He wanted them to gain some inspiration from the words. What the other partners did take inspiration from was who sent it to me. It came from f rom a 32-year-old young man from Dublin. He was a Chartered Accountant (CPA) (CPA) formerly from a ‘Big Five’ firm. He was no longer in the accounting business. He was trying to consolidate pubs, but, in his case, it i t was a bit more tricky. You see [no pun intended] he is almost totally blind. He sees, at most, dark shadows. He has gone to the wrong office building; he has sat in the wrong reception room; he has fallen in open construction pits, yet he doesn’t feel sorry for himself. He wants to be part of the solution instead of part of the problem. He wanted to try and help me help others. He is a giver not a taker. People often ask me why I ever started coaching in 1993. Fortunately I have met a number of such outstanding human beings. Being a high performance person doesn’t only relate to money and riches: ie; the Pope, Nelson Mandela. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve taken the riches route and I’ve been fortunate enough to have experienced notoriety and publicity along with that success, but, for those that have followed my career ca reer closely, you know I’ve also experienced the agony of defeat. Today was a day for the good guys like Pete Sampras. But the real truth is the guys/gals like my blind partner - TONY WARD - are the real heroes we should model ourselves after.
To Our QL, Daniel S Peña, Sr. P.S. TONY has been training the last year to represent his country in the Olympics. He’s a 800 and a 1500 meter [Real] MAN.
ISSUE #12 From Dan Peña - "The Money Messiah" and Mentor/Coach for The New Millennium Dear Friend and Subscriber: Well, my first book signing is now part of history. In this case, a number of bad analogies come to mind for reasons that will become obvious when I explain (briefly) what happened. Rain! Rain! Rain! And no books! Yes, Yes, they couldn’t find "Your First 100 Million" anywhere. Shit happens! The book signing was designed to be an outdoor event with a band, etc. About the time it was to begin, it poured down buckets! Shirley McClain’s part was indoors (seating for about 20), while the other authors were relegated to suffer from an outburst of nature. It was strange to be on the other end of the celebrity continuum. It’s been a long time! That will change! Anyway, I write not for sympathy - I assure you! I write this non-interim newsletter edition to illustrate a couple of interesting points while still fresh in my mind. At the event I received via FedEx, personally delivered by the Borders Manager just before the rain started, the following letter. lette r. The The timing was perfect. perfec t. The letter is self-explanatory. self-explanatory. October 23, 2000 Dear Mr. Pena, ….I am a newsletter subscriber of yours. I was hoping to be able to come out to Los Angeles and meet you personally at Border’s. Unfortunately, Unfortunately, I was not able to, so I figured the next best thing would be to write you a letter. I want to thank you personally for providing your newsletter. I look forward to receiving r eceiving it and find your no "BS"/no hype approach to business very refreshing. You You tell it like it is without sugarcoating anything. Your Your commitment to your subscribers/customers regarding getting the truth out is second to none and for that I have tremendous respect and admiration for you….. Do you have any advice you could pass along to me regarding re garding this? Are there any types of business opportunities that I should avoid such as MLM? Mr. Pena, any advice you could pass along would be greatly appreciated. Again, I am sorry I couldn’t be out there in Los Angeles. I hope to get the chance to meet you personally in the near future. Are you going to be in New York York anytime in the near future? Mr. Pena, thank you for your time, help and for sharing your 30+ years of business wisdom with me. Thank you for not allowing yourself to be a part of the "Big Lie" that exists in the business/success development seminar industry. industry. I look forward to hearing from you. Sincerely CK In addition a newsletter subscriber from Cleveland, OH, was there along with another subscriber from LA. The guy from LA was a social service investigator and uses QLA for non-business
reasons. He is looking for peace of mind. With the job he has, I’m sure he deserves peace of mind! The gentleman from Cleveland is attempting to use his 25 years experience in real estate to establish a new service to create a B to B internet giant. Subscribers for 3 weeks and 5 months respectively. respectively. It was interesting to talk and a nd spend time with them. Too bad the weather probably precluded more from attending. On the other hand, if rain and thunder keeps people from something they want, QLA probably isn’t for them! While I appreciate the opportunity to interface with subscribers, it emphasized the point to me how you can never underestimate how screwed up external events can make your plans, i.e., I had specifically reorganized my calendar to make this event. I have naively thought cutting back on my schedule would preclude such occurrences. I’m sure there will be other occurrences as an author/cyberman! To our Quantum Leap, Dan Peña P.S. When I got home, I had this email. Dear Dan, I’m sorry that I did not know that you were going to have a book signing today (10/27) in LA……I was just in Scottsdale, AZ until the 24th….. Would you be good enough to kindly sign a book for me…..and charge the cost of the book and mailing expense…… I’m enjoying your newsletter very much…and I am always reminded of your great talk at the Ron "X" ?? Seminar in San Diego a couple of years ago. I thought at that time, and still do, that Ron was extremely fortunate to have had you and Rich Powelson speak at that seminar. You may not recall understandably, understandably, since you meet so many people at those gatherings all over the world, but I went up to you after your talk and told you how much I enjoyed your talk and how well I felt I could relate to you….with your "down to earth, straight talking, to the point and no holes barred" style. Unfortunately, Unfortunately, we only had a very short time to chat…there were others waiting to talk to you. Yes, Yes, I’m that tall gray-haired senior citizen….. May I send you my very ver y best regards and also wish you and your family God’s choicest blessings for good health, happiness and love always. a lways. Sincerely, A It had rained so hard I couldn’t (or didn’t want to) get to my car. I thought more about ruining my Saville Row (British hand-made suit) than leaving in a timely manner. So I ate/drank in a crowded Mexican restaurant in the same complex as Borders. It was funny as I strolled through the mall. I looked, or at least I was starred at, like I was from another planet. I was the only three-piece suit, pin-striped, gold pocket-watched guy in the mall. The point: when you follow the QLA precepts I write about, you will be looked at as if you just landed. It’s not easy to go in the face of conventional wisdom. In fact, many times you will find it almost impossible, vis-a-vis what others think of you and/or say about you. That’s merely part of the price you pay! PPS Remember, your life may be in the land of milk and honey - just flowing smoothly! (This is what others say about life. lif e. Yea! Yea! Sure!) But for most of us, we need a hydrolic or even an atomic pump to get the milk mil k and honey to us. QLA is that pump! PPPS Why Businesses Fail - I recently added a Free Report to my website. New subscribers to my internet newsletters receive it as an auto-responder. If you’re a current subscriber and would like a copy of the Free Report, please email me at
[email protected] and I’ll have it emailed to you.
ISSUE #13 From Dan Peña - "The Money Messiah" and Mentor/Coach for The New Millennium Dear Friends and Subscribers, It’s 4:00am at Guthrie and I’m watching CNN’s and BBC’s BBC’s coverage of the US Presidential Election - and it’s i t’s quite a cultural difference! I don’t need to tell you what happened. Too Too close to call, etc., etc. The night and morning have been filled with a number of statements and predictions based on what was considered good information. Later this "good information" was called bad, based on a number of factors. (This letter is not going to comment on the election process.) Sound familiar! It should! This is how life and business are every day, day, i.e., information - discussions - recriminations - new information - new decisions and actions! Hopefully better ones! As I continue to listen, think and try to write this letter (at this hour), I’m reminded of my business career. More importantly, importantly, it verifies what I’ve told countless seminar attendees since May 1993 and have told business colleagues since 1970 and in the sixties as a young Army Officer, Officer, "Never underestimate how wrong you can be," and "Shit happens!" This US election portrayed a number of pieces of conventional wisdom - again, I won’t specify or elaborate other than to say voter turn out is usually around 40 - 45%. This ranks the US about 140 out of 165 in the world. This US election appears to have about 50% voter turn out this time - not much of a different percentage, but a much different result. People don’t vote because, among other things, they the y don’t believe their vote means anything. In fact, the people who live in the western US have said for years their votes don’t count because the westerners see the results as the polls close on the East Coast. This keeps many westerners away from the polls. I believe it did again vis-à-vis all the misinformation. The bottom line is many man y, if not most, in the US believe in the Year Year 2000 - one vote, one single action, one act, one belief in a proposition can’t change anything and certainly can’t make a difference - politically! Unfortunately this thought process also prevails with most in business. Irrespective of what happens, that notion may [and should] change forever - at least in political terms. One vote did count this time. In fact, it also counts in your business life! Remember one bold action always counts! The reasons I feel like writing now - and, surprisingly, I’m not tired - are varied. This election result has been like almost ever person I’ve been involved with in business and life in general - not in Military life-and-death situations because there, giving up has dire consequences If it were only that way in business! Success would increase quantumly! I guarantee it!! In most instances, people take the easy way out (normally a less risky scenario) and/or give up too easily. easily. The election results have gone back and forth all night, i.e., headlines: "Gore wins Florida"; "Florida now too close to call"; "Gore concedes"; "Bush wins Presidency - Not yet" and on and on! And now "Florida must Recount Votes!" Votes!" I’m sure voter fraud will be next! This week alone I’ve seen several situations where people gave up and/or took the easy way out. The problem in business, normally, is when an individual concedes defeat (as did Gore at one point) they can’t, or wont, go back and reverse their decision as Gore did. Just think if Gore does win! Here’s an example of ‘Shit Happens’ even at the highest levels: One of the senior executives I work closely with at an international multibillion-dollar power house had his life changed in the past few days. I had two late night conversations with him. I walked him through the various scenarios. I helped outline a game plan that would still benefit him, etc. He made decisions based on what was perceived to be as good information - after all it came from the CEO of Worldwide Worldwide Operations. Unfortunately, it turned out not to be true! Shit happens! You You see, friends, it’s not just you that suffer from the inconsistencies of business and life. This guy is very
highly regarded and is being groomed to be the CEO! One of the words constantly used to describe this election is "CLIFFHANGER". Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, let me give you some BIG news: "ALL THINGS THINGS IN BUSINESS ARE CLIFFHANGERS if you are going for the moon and play for big stakes," as I’ve often said. Ross Perot used to have a sign on his desk "Success is on the Razor’s Edge of Failure!" If it were easy to be a high performance, successful person, everyone would be one. Politicians seem to understand this better than most. Perhaps this is a bad commentary on life - I’m not here to address that subject. Most of you should already know how I feel about life anyway. anyway. Winning in life isn’t easy but can become habit! I don’t know how many times I’ve said this and will continue to say this ad nauseam. There are a number of analogies and sayings that come to mind. I particularly like one of Nietzsche - "Life always gets harder toward the summit - the cold increases, responsibility increases." This could be compared to a lot of business situations that are obvious. A couple more from Churchill are also applicable: "Never give up except to convictions of honour," honour," and "We shall not fail or falter; we shall not weaken or tire . . . give us the tools and we’ll finish the job." In case you hadn’t heard, you have been given the tools - QLA! And, for a few of you, me personally through our business relationship. In recent years I’ve been described as "The Secret Weapon". To Your Your Quantum Q uantum Leap Dan P.S. A "US Today" Today" poll taken a few weeks ago said 25% polled, 18 - 24-years-old, didn’t know the US presidential candidate; and a nd 70% polled, 18 - 24-years-old, didn’t know the Vice President candidate. I wonder what the poll would say now? P.P.S. .P.S. It’s early in the morning, UK time. I stayed awake to 6:00am then went to sleep a little. I knew I was seeing history histor y. I’m now up and the popular vote separates Gore - Bush by a total of less than 250,000 votes and Florida (the apparent swing state) now only separated separate d by some 1,700 votes with about 2,000 absentee votes still to be counted. Too close to call! Remember your dreams are within reach - but not assured, let alone guaranteed. Or as a wise Chinese Philosopher (unnamed) once said, "We have no divine right to survive; today’s today’s rooster tomorrow’s tomorrow’s feather duster". Feather dusters needn’t reply to QLA!
ISSUE #14 Understanding Leadership Development through high performers The first canon for leadership development is being honest with one’s one’s self. Unfortunately being honest with one’s self and loved ones is not the same as being honest with others. The complicating issue is that it is a lot easier to be honest with others than one’s self. While delving on leadership development, there is a premise that the world is filled with different personalities who possess integrity and honesty along with liars, cheats and thieves. V Very ery often being honest with one’s self means doing what makes one most uncomfortable. The truth isn’t always what’s necessary because most people don’t really want the truth! The uniqueness of most super high performers is being genuine, resolute, unswerving as trendsetters and going against conventional wisdom. High performers have set the ideals of
leadership development and understand the nuance that not having is no excuse for not getting. The difference is they know and walk the talk fully comprehending the decisions taken and reason for making them. The simple axiom - a pay price to action is understood by very few but sums up the whole issue. Known facts are no one is drafted into opportunity. One of the traits of leadership development is the willingness to volunteer! For ultimate accountability, volunteering means to be a high performer perf ormer knowing what to volunteer for. This is not the details but the sacrifices in macro terms. Proper leadership development can achieve success but success is subjective and means different things to different people. Much like war, a super high performance is a series of battles that are not won but the essence is either to hunt or be hunted. HAPPY HOLIDAYS! As I sit here, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day (December 26th) at Guthrie, watching the snow fall while sending thanking [and some not so thanking] faxes and E-mails around the world, I reflect upon the difference between the grand successes and failures I’ve witnessed. Since entering the professional world of Executive Coaching over seven years ago, I’ve had thousands go through my various programs. I’ve worked with hundreds personally and dozens individually and a few as if I were their father or big brother. As many of you know, I coached and mentored for twenty years before devoting my full time to it. I’ve been privileged to make a few great friends like the Verdiers Verdiers and Whipples, in recent years, year s, and to work with some of the great minds and spirits on this planet: a founder of a Fortune 50 Company that built a $30 billion empire, in 8 years; the heir apparent to one of the top 25 companies in the world; a man that ran for the US Presidency; the CEO of Onassis Shipping Lines and confidant of Onassis; Board Directors of Footsie 100 and Fortune 100 Companies; U S governors; members of the US President’s cabinets; world class athletes including the National Baseball Association and their coach and All American collegiate golfers; mayors; ma yors; chiefs of police; geniuses; individuals of low I.Q.; brave; cowards; engineers; members of the British House of Commons and House of Lords; former ministers of European Governments; Knights of the Round Table; Table; Counts; Princes; Priests; Rabbis; Doctors; Shaman; Lawyers; Judges; Movie Stars; Authors; IT/Internet gurus; Psychiatrists; Teachers; Teachers; Professors; Nurses; Chiropractors; Success Coaches; a member of the French Foreign Legion; Professional Soldiers - including soldiers of fortune (mercenaries); Accountants; Children of Dictators and a couple of Dictators (before they were so labeled); the Vatican - including the head of the Vatican Vatican Bank; numerous governments; the first Female Fortune 500 CEO; Policemen; Firemen; the extremely well educated and the uneducated; extremely super wealthy and the abject poor; men, women and children of all religious and political persuasions from all parts of the planet from age 14 to 82. Dealing with all the above I encountered individuals of integrity and honesty along with liars, cheats and thieves. Mostly people lie, cheat and steal from themselves. Unfortunately being honest with yourself is not the same as being honest with others. It can be a lot easier to be honest with others than yourself. Frankly, for most people it’s very, very, very difficult to be hard on ourselves and the ones we love. Very Very often being honest with yourself means doing what makes us most uncomfortable. For me, I’ve learned the truth isn’t always what’s necessary. necessary. As I’ve aged, or mellowed [which I don't think I have], I realized, as Jack Nicholson says in a famous film –"You –"You can’t take the truth" — and LORD knows he is mostly correct, because most people don’t really want the truth! The uniqueness of the very best of the super high performance individuals listed above is genuine and resolute — almost always unswerving! Being trend setters! Going against conventional wisdom! These very unusual people understood ‘not having’ is no excuse for ‘not getting’. They understood
the difference between knowing the path and walking the path — they "Walk their Talk!" Talk!" Most importantly they understood what "signing-up" and "knowing what your signing-up for" re ally means. For those of you that have heard me speak or read my book "Your "Your First 100 Million" [now available on Amazon.com] know I speak ad nauseam about a price that must be paid — "a pay price to action." All too few men and women understand this simple axiom. No one is drafted into this opportunity. opportunity. You You must volunteer! Jack Welch Welch (GE), Fighter Pilots, Richard Branson (Virgin), Astronauts, Lou Gestner (I (IBM), BM), Seal Team or SAS Members all volunteer! For ultimate accountability a ccountability,, you must volunteer to be a high performance individual knowing what you are volunteering for! Certainly not the details, but the sacrifices in macro terms! Virtually all mentioned above had mentors and/or executive coaches — as did I for more than twenty years, and as I still act for a few now. Coincidentally, as I further reflected upon whom has been more successful than others I received the attached two letters. Ironically they are both from the Netherlands. I receive many "Thank You’s" ou’s" in a year! In fact, another Dutch partner, upon successfully completing his first acquisition on 11th December, by ‘phone, said; "Thank you for putting up with me Dan . . . " Of course now he has to run the business — the always underestimated difficult part. Both letters reflect similar sentiments vis-à-vis accomplishing goals. As this new year begins, I wish you the same level of success as they have already achieved — and more ! This will mean different things to each of you. More importantly I wish and pray for you to assume their same level of commitment to pay the price! Some of you reading this have already really given up! Start again — it’s a New Year! Year! Some are on the fence — suck up your pantihose and charge! Much like war, a super high performance life is a series of battles, as illustrated by the following: All battles are not won, but in the words of the current CEO of Vodafone Vodafone (Gent), you are either in a "Hunt or be Hunted" mode. Ironically Mr. Gent is a proponent of the use of Executive Coaches — he uses one himself. The Chairman / CEO of Vodafone Vodafone is not a University graduate, nor was he a member of the privileged. Through hard work he became a distinguished alumni and a Chairman Emeritus of the new global high performance elite and was the successful leader in the recent Vodafone-Mannesman hostile takeover battle in Europe — one of the planets biggest of all time ! It seems to me he is a great model for 2001! To Our Quantum Leap, Dan Peña. P.S. 2001 will only onl y have two three-day Executive Castle Seminars (covering QLA Methodology, Methodology, Raising Capital and Deals/Acquisitions) — one in March and one in August. August. There are NO 1-Day QLA, Raising Capital, Deals/Acquisitions Seminars, Workshops Workshops or speaking engagements scheduled at this time. This is not likely to change as noted in earlier Newsletters. I am now an Executive Coach to the Corporate World World (or as one of my favorite elites e lites calls me — his ’secret weapon’) and the entrepreneur that has a project intriguing enough to entice me and which can still suck me into the vortex of an early phase deal! Of course, my award winning QLA product, including "Your "Your First 100 Million", is still available to all interested in achieving their own Quantum Leap. Our QLA "Chat Room" will be operational in due course. P.P.S. .P.S. As promised, as part of the new QLA Millennium Internet Format, a ‘Free Consultation Program’ will be initiated — 01.01.01. Once a quarter, the subscriber who introduces the most new subscribers to the newsletter, will receive rece ive one hour’s FREE consultation. The new subscriber must mention your name. This one hour consultation [worth $3,000.00], can be used in parts, or, all at once over a given year. Alternatively it can be used to reduce the cost of any QLA seminar. Monthly winners of the introduction program will receive my best-selling book "Build Your Your Own Guthrie" FREE –a £175.00 value.
Yearly winners will receive a FREE three-day "Executive Castle Seminar" at Guthrie Castle — a $9,000.00 value. In addition for every ever y "Your "Your First 100 Million" purchased, on my website, a 10% discount on the "Executive Castle Seminar" will be given. All the above incentives are exclusively for the benefit of QLA Internet Newsletter subscribers ONLY ONLY. Specifics on the new QLA Millennium Internet Newsletter program will be posted on my website SOON, but the race begins 01.01.01. Questions can be forwarded to:
[email protected] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dan Peña Guthrie Castle By Forfar Angus Scotland DD8 2TP UK Dear Dan, Thank you for another year of changing, learning, experiencing, struggling, falling and growing. Thank you for your support, understanding and guidance. This year was the most difficult year of all I can remember, a year where so many things have happened A year of making decisions that were we re not always alwa ys easy, easy, but as you always say sa y, nothing in live is easy. I am lucky that I learned at a young age to be alone, but not being lonely. Because in the end I have to do it my self, not you ore anybody else. I wish you a nice Christmas with Linda and the children. Kindest Regards, P. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dear Dan, Throughout the years I learned a lot from you and your seminars. Now that I reached my first goal in selling a company for the first time seriously, I want to thank you personally for your mentoring and coaching. I hope we can see and meet each other in the future as friends. Furthermore I hope that I can call or meet you if I need some kind of advice or coaching. If you or any one of your Dutch partners needs help or advice in Holland you can always call me if you think I can be of any help. I wish you, Linda and the children a merry Christmas, a happy new year, good health and all the best for the future. Kindest Regards F.
ISSUE #15 From Dan Peña - Executive Coach and Mentor for The New Millennium Dear Friend and Subscriber: Again, happy New Year! I’ve received a number of requests in recent days vis-a-vis what I thought of the coming year. Interest rates? The stock market? Recession? The economy? For those of you who read the
Economist, you know all these types of things refer to the same thing, more or less. These questions were only exacerbated by Chairman (Federal Reserve) Greenspan’s recent 1/2% cut in interest rates in the U.S. The markets in general took a real battering (as they say here in the UK) in 2000. Some markets dropped more than 50%. The dot.coms turned from explosive euphoria to calamity and are now dot.deaths! Last January I told those who would listen I used an old Wall Wall Street adage about the market which I learned in the early ’70’s. What the market does in January, the rest of the year will follow. Though I’m not conversant with those numbers anymore, in the last few years, it used to be over 90% of the time the markets followed the trends set in January. Last January 2000 was down and the market followed. This trend goes back to the 1800’s in the US, and I would suspect it follows in other markets, since virtually all markets followed the US in the 1900’s. Based on last January, I stated on more than one occasion, 2000 was likely to be a bad year. Unfortunately for me, I had already started on a dot.com in September 1999. As you all know, the market imploded in the high tech sector in March/April 2000 and took much of the market with it. So wait and see what happens this month. Deals will be done no matter what happens, but your individual portfolios are always subject to the vagaries of the market. Of course, many of you know this first-hand vis-a-vis your own portfolio. Again, I’m not a money/fund manager, but it’s it’s easier to create your own destiny than be subject to the market described above! Therefore, I’ve been out of the buying share market since I became the CEO of a public company co mpany in August August 1984. Of course, all markets go in and out of favor. The only difference is the length of their cycles. As the year progresses, I will comment on subjects germane to the various markets. marke ts. I say, tongue in cheek, falling interest rates are almost always good for markets for obvious reasons, and rising interest rates are BAD! Good fortune with your investments! And for those who are conversant with QLA Methodology Methodology,, your biggest investment should be in yourself and your dream! drea m! To Your Your Quantum Q uantum Leap Dan Peña P.S. Below is an email e mail I received from a subscriber who heard me speak in October 1999 and purchased (apparently) my first book which has now been superceded by "Your First 100 Million." His method to use my coaching coa ching and QLA Methodology is the "long distance" method most use, sans the photos perhaps. P.P.S. .P.S. Again as promised, as part of the new QLA Millennium Internet Format, a ‘Free Consultation Program’ was was initiated — 01/01/01. Once a quarter, the subscriber who introduces the most new subscribers to the newsletter, will receive rece ive one hour’s FREE consultation. The new subscriber must mention your name. This one hour consultation [worth $3,000.00], can be used in parts, or all at once over a given year. Alternatively, Alternatively, it can be used to reduce the cost of any QLA seminar. Monthly winners of the introduction program will receive my best-selling book "Your "Your First 100 Million" FREE –a $400.00 value. Yearly winners will receive a FREE three-day "Executive Castle Seminar" at Guthrie Castle — a $9,000.00 value. In addition, for every "Your "Your First 100 Million" purchased via my website, a 10% discount on the "Executive Castle Seminar" will be given. All the above incentives are exclusively for the benefit of QLA Internet Newsletter subscribers ONLY ONLY. Specifics on the new QLA Millennium Internet Newsletter program will be posted on my website SOON, but the race began 01/01/01. Questions can be forwarded to:
[email protected]
EMAIL: last year in October, when you told us "we were poor!" I will never forget this phrase!). I have a big picture of you, on my desk, just in front of me (the picture on page 255 of your "Building Your Your Own Guthrie", "Dan " Dan giving one of his Quantum Leap seminars"). And I have put giant affirmations near this picture, such as: "dedicate yourself," "stay laser-beam focused," "you can do it," "pay the price of your goals," "plan, implement and execute." With this strategy, strategy, I can assure you it’s difficult to forget you, your commitment and your strength! And it works! Best regards, L.M.
ISSUE #16 The tactics of survival backed by a sound Personality Development Plan
A proper personality development plan backed with a sizeable amount of experience a lot can be achieved. Most often there is a tendency to take the easy way out as it justifies any self-serving agenda. To gain that extra edge, as part of a personality development plan there has to be an uninhibited nature to be mentored by experienced personnel. Mentoring offers advice continuously as high performance people understand the tactics of survival. But sometimes being prepared for the unexpected makes perfect sense as things can get unpredictable in business. Despite having a personality development plan a lot depends on the significance of the problem. Realizing what is right and wrong and going beyond the actual dispute makes the big difference. This is recognized by people with high performance careers irrespective of economic circumstances. Today litigation has been accepted a ccepted as a business tool and with exorbitant court costs most opt out of this approach not because of financial weakness but because the emotional bank account runs out way before the financial one. Acceptance is difficult on this issue and can be outside the comfort zone. Everyday worldwide many deals are struck. Most of them are cleared for various reasons but they are no longer expeditious or convenient. Further, accomplishments are always perceived differently and life is fairly simple. Overall, it reflects on the personality development plan where honoring the promised word makes a difference though it can be difficult. "Duty - Honour - Integrity" As I sit here in Amersfoort, Holland, watching the snow fall, answering E-mails and faxes during a break, I reflect on why I’m here, and more important, how I got here and what my readers could learn from this experience. Recently, Recently, Dec. 11th 2000, my young and inexperienced partner and I closed on an acquisition here in Holland. Due to the VC, the assets of this 120-year-old company were purchased in a way that wasn’t envisioned and necessarily good for all directors except the founder. founder. Fortunately, they believed in him because he had dealt in confidence! (I wonder why?) I presume they felt since they hadn’t met any of the directors (through a quirk of fate) or me, it was easier to deal with the young founder only. only. They had only met our accountants and lawyers who, probably, took the easy way out since they hadn’t been paid in more than two years. As you know, most people will almost always take the easy way out and can justify any self-serving agenda.
The original corporate set-up [never memorialized] had to be abandoned. The new entity was set up in a hurry and couldn’t be documented since it was agreed 48 hours before the close; i.e.: proper ownership was not recorded in the way previously agreed. So, potentially two years of work could be taken away from the other Board Members because the VC didn’t see any use for them in the deal, especially since nothing was in writing. In fact, they didn’t want me in the deal either for the same reason. Now that they have met me, they don’t love me, but they do see and understand why my young Dutch partner wouldn’t let the deal go forward without me! He introduces me as "my Mentor and Chairman"! I actually like that title! My partner strongly said "Dan’s in the deal at 35%". The deal closed with considerable change at the holding company level. The other Board Members got their shares, and my ownership was upheld and only now is being documented after the fact. The moral to this story is my 29-year-old partner upheld his original agreement as had I for more than two years. There were no changes to our deal, even under great pressure to him, i.e., imagine the entire deal collapsing because you kept your word! Notwithstanding it took him 26 months to close his first deal I continued to advise him because he continued to listen to me. A deal is a deal is a deal - as you’ve heard me say ad nauseam! Whether written or a handshake. High performance people don’t change deals in good or bad times. Though people will advise, quietly, to do so. High performance people fight for what is theirs even if it costs them dearly. Unfortunately all business experiences don’t always alwa ys turn out this way. In recent days two business relationships I am in have turned, potentially, in the wrong direction. One is significantly more important and therefore could present a large problem. One is extremely well documented and one is much less well documented. One has permutations beyond the actual current dispute. One is based on greed and one is based just on naivete - in fact, one is based on plain stupidity! Deals are made countless times in a career. Some will be well documented and some not at all. High performance individuals don’t change deals, irrespective of economic circumstances. I’ve stuck by and honoured deals that have cost me many, many millions! I’ve had to keep people honest in court while making sure I, nor my partners, didn’t get the bad end of the deal on many occasions! You know I’ve said "Litigation is a Business Tool" Tool" and I’ve taught that concept at universities on both sides of the Atlantic. Most of the time you will not have to go to court, but you must be willing to do so. Today Today,, with court costs high, most opt to not take this approach, notwithstanding it is best. You can say sa y most people are weak, financially speaking. That’s That’s incorrect! As you’ve heard me say, "People’s emotional bank account runs out way before the financial one". Most people don’t have the stomach! It’s out of their comfort zone. My experience vis-a-vis comfort zones is women are willing to stand on moral issues more than men. Women Women fight harder! Women are tougher! If men had to give birth, there would be a lot fewer people - I can assure you! I can just imagine some of the men I know carrying ca rrying a baby! Forget About It! Deals are made every minute of every day - Worldwide. Not all are upheld for various reasons - but a common thread is they become no longer expeditious or convenient. It’s like your Significant Other getting fat, wrinkled and/or infirmed, or a little daft in the head! People come up with all kinds of reasons why they no longer have to, let alone should, honour the agreement/deal, i.e., he/she really didn’t accomplish what we agreed upon, etc., etc. Accomplishments are always perceived to be much less in hindsight! Life is fairly simple if you always honour your word and I can assure you - it will not be easy! To Your Your Quantum Q uantum Leap, Dan. P.S. While dealing with the Onassis Group, I never had a written agreement! Countless transactions were completed. And, as those of you that know the story, story, I was only financially f inancially hurt when the Vatican was our partner and didn’t pay. pay. The CEO of the Group - Constantine Gratsos (my mentor) had warned me to get paid all the money up front. I didn’t listen and it was a $250,000 bad
experience I couldn’t afford! When a mentee doesn’t listen to me, I always think of that expense. P.P.S. .P.S. I’ve just j ust entered into, potentially, potentially, a $500 million transaction with a partner par tner I’ve been involved with for seven years. We have never had a written agreement. It’s not likely we’ll get one in time for this deal either, but, as he said, he "trusts me and I’ve always been fair!" That wouldn’t be a bad thing to have on my tombstone. to mbstone. P.P.P .P.P.S. .S. I’ve just been informed my litigation record went to (and ( and I’ve really rea lly lost count) about 280 wins and 0 losses. A case the partner in the above P.S. P.S. and I have fought for f or almost two years was adjudicated in our favour today. today. I stand to get, probably, probably, no money out of the th e deal. As indicated, over two-thirds of my litigations have been over principal not money! This fight has been for the "others" involved in the multimillion dollar transaction. As usual, the bank and the other wealthy individuals in the deal were the only ones to show interest. Of course, they were fighting for their own interests! P.P.P.P.S. Remember as promised, as part of the new QLA Millennium Internet Format, a ‘Free Consultation Program’ was initiated — 01/01/01. Once a quarter, the subscriber who introduces the most new subscribers to the newsletter, newslette r, will receive one hour’s hour ’s FREE consultation. THE THE NEW SUBSCRIBER MUST MENTION YOUR NAME AND SUBSCRIBE VIA
[email protected]. This one hour consultation [worth $3,000.00], $3,000.00], can be used in parts, or all at once over a given year. Alternatively, Alternatively, it can ca n be used to reduce the cost of any an y QLA seminar. seminar. Monthly winners of the introduction program will receive my best-selling book "Your "Your First 100 Million" FREE –a $400.00 value. Yearly winners will receive a FREE three-day "Executive Castle Seminar" at Guthrie Castle — a $9,000.00 value. In addition, for every "Your "Your First 100 Million" purchased via my website, a 10% discount on the "Executive Castle Seminar" will be given. All the above incentives are exclusively for the benefit of QLA Internet Newsletter subscribers ONLY ONLY. Specifics on the new QLA Millennium Internet Newsletter program will be posted on my website SOON, but the race began 01/01/01. Questions can be forwarded to:
[email protected]
ISSUE #17 From Dan Peña - "The Money Messiah" and Mentor/Coach for The New Millennium
Dear Friend and Subscriber: I think this response to my recent newsletter and my reply is worthy of a newsletter in and of itself.: Dear Mr. Pena, As per your comments; **You **You should check with a lawyer law yer,, but what you did may be illegal! I went to my lawyer today and he said the position I am in stinks but is not illegal. He will check into it further with a securities lawyer to be sure. If it is illegal then I will follow his prudent advice and do damage control, which I hope and pray is not too costly to my good name or my pocket book. ** You You are changing the deal if it was 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 before ! ** If you said it would be evenly split you are changing the deal. You are right, I changed the deal. QLA demands that I keep my m y word in a deal even if it is a bad one. No excuses, end of story. I went back to them and unchanged it - to the original deal. I said I would not be a part of anything illegal though. I still will not handle any of their funds. My financial
situation is precarious and they are better served by the liaison person. **It’s not about betrayal. It’s naivete and or greed even at a t the subconscious level. It’s also natural. Don’t be hard on yourself ! You You can always go back to the original deal dea l ! I like the way you put that. Gulp. I hate like hell to say it but I did three deals last year and none bore any real wealth. The first, a dot.com went dot.death. I owned 10%. Then the one we are talking about now which needs no further introduction. The third is supposedly delayed until the second quarter of 2001? I hope to buy a Castle seminar with those profits. The year before in 1999 I started a general contracting company which is now going broke. I had better get it together or I will be bankrupt in three months. No honor in that. With that said I have a company to save and I have to go. Thank you for your sage advice. Have a super weekend. Sincerely, Sincerely, J As I said in my last letter, many deals will be made in a lifetime of business. People will judge you over a lifetime. I received this response from a QLA follower I This man got involved with an opportunity and involved some other people, as happens more often than not. Others get involved because you need money and/or other assistance. In this particular case, one of the individuals involved was a con man - a dishonest person! Eventually, Eventually, the dishonest person was found out. The business opportunity involved a public company. company. Remember, public companies have specific rules and regulations. When the writer discovered the con man, he attempted to make the wrong right by exposing the con man. The public company (apparently out of gratitude) gave the writer compensation for what he did. He then shared the compensation equally with his two partners - a husband and wife. Later he discussed with his partners what if he was to receive more compensation from the grateful public company as promised. The writer suggested they split whatever was received 50/50 as opposed to equal thirds. The rationale was the wife really didn’t do anything. Of course there is always a reason why the deal should change. And normally it’s some form of "they didn’t reall y earn it", etc. etc . Obviously, Obviously, the husband/wife were outraged. The writer then said he would allow the public company to determine who would get what, and he apologized for changing the deal. Of course, the damage had been done. I advised the writer that what he did may not be legal vis-a-vis the public company, and he was changing the deal. He went to his lawyer and admitted he had changed the deal. He also said the deal would be the original one which was agreed. The writer is financially in bad shape, so he probably needs money. money. This is one of the biggest reasons for changing a deal dea l : money / greed! gree d! I go on to say sa y "It’s not about betrayal. It’s naivete and/or greed at the subconscious level. It’s also natural. Don’t be hard on yourself! You You can always go back to the original deal!" Unfortunately, Unfortunately, people box themselves in - then trap themselves the mselves by listening to people who agree with them for various reasons, i.e., the same greed, etc. I often say ask your spouse, priest, rabbi, mother or another financially/emotionally disinterested person. While your spouse is emotionally/financially involved, their head is normally screwed on straighter than yours. It’s not easy to admit you’re wrong. You’ve You’ve taken the harsh position and now have nowhere to go. At least that’s what you think. I wrote with pride in my last newsletter about my young Dutch partner. He has grit (balls) and will do well in life. The other two deals I alluded to have progressed. One has been solved by the partner, as I hoped and believed would happen. The second potential problem can still be rectified, by hasn’t yet. I sincerely believe all the people described are good and honest. We We often get misled in life! We
don’t think through all the permutations! We, more often than not, don’t factor in the absolute downside because we convince ourselves the other side will take less than agreed rather than blow the deal up - leaving nothing for everybody. everybody. That’s a bad gamble with a high performance person! Integrity has no value! To Your Your Quantum Q uantum Leap, Dan Peña PS. All mentioned in my last letter subscribe to my internet newsletter. Of course, you all a ll probably knew that. PPS. Another Another response from my last newsletter came from fro m a former Dutch partner. He is doing well and I posted his email to my website under Testimonials. The funny thing is I miss him and his outrageous actions too! RESPONSE SLOW TO FREE ADVICE PPPS. Remember as promised, as part of the new QLA Millennium Internet Format, a ‘Free Consultation Program’ was initiated — 01/01/01. Once a quarter, the subscriber who introduces the most new subscribers to the newsletter, newslette r, will receive one hour’s hour ’s FREE consultation. THE THE NEW SUBSCRIBER MUST MENTION YOUR NAME AND SUBSCRIBE VIA
[email protected]. This one hour consultation [worth $3,000.00], $3,000.00], can be used in parts, or all at once over a given year. Alternatively, Alternatively, it can ca n be used to reduce the cost of any an y QLA seminar. seminar. Monthly winners of the introduction program will receive my best-selling book "Your "Your First 100 Million" FREE –a $400.00 value. The January winner will be announced soon! Yearly Yearly winners will receive a FREE three-day "Executive Castle Seminar" at Guthrie Castle — a $9,000.00 value. In addition, for every "Your "Your First 100 Million" purchased via my website, a 10% discount on the "Executive Castle Seminar" will be given. All the above incentives are exclusively for the benefit of QLA Internet Newsletter subscribers ONLY ONLY. Specifics on the new QLA Millennium Internet Newsletter program will be posted on my website SOON, but the race began 01/01/01. Questions can be forwarded to:
[email protected]
ISSUE #18 Discovering Investment services and Investment strategy from the famed conglomerates
Investment Strategy is an individual process and with investment services reaching new realms, there is always room for innovation. A proper investment strategy is from GE’s outgoing CEO. The investment strategy adapted was Fix-close-or Sell and when GE expands business the position without compromise should be No.1 or No.2 in the market. marke t. This investment service ideology actually tests one’s strength. Founders and entrepreneurs have personal attachment to products and Fix-Close-or Sell investment strategy is the hardest to swallow. Facts are, it is impossible to close or sell unless more value is attached than imagined. The misconception is to assume that selling a business is easy. Overestimating the product’s worth, racing to turn rich overnight in a single transaction leads to high pricing and becoming a long-term owner or investor. In the process, the market is lost and time spent fixing it which arises only when things go wrong but never when good. This is where being No.1 or No.2 comes into play. Eliminating guesswork and fixing helps achieve top positions. An investment investment service is not an overnight occurrence. It takes sometime before shaping up with competitive positioning. Any dream mixed with passionate obsession and backed with grit advocates the Gates’ theory theory Think it, Do it, Fix it - a basic interface with GE’s Fix it, Close it, Sell it.
Drawing the correlation from baseball, opportunities are plenty for home runs and strike-outs. A proper investment service teaches scoring home runs - get out of the dug out, walk to the plate and swing away. away. Chances of missing are high and that’s reason for people to stay in the dugout of life and don’t participate! FIX - CLOSE - OR SELL! BE #1 OR #2! It’s been a few weeks longer than expected since my last newsletter. I had an unexpected serious illness within my immediate family which kept me occupied. He’s 82 years old and looks like me, so you can guess who it is. Thankfully, all is moving toward a better scenario. During this ordeal, I had time to reflect on the successful transactions I’d been involved in during recent years vis-a-vis the real tragedies. I then thought about them individually in relationship to GE’s GE’s great outgoing CEO, Jack Welch. He has run GE extremely successfully for twenty years using two major benchmarks, (1) Fix-Close-or Sell and (2) whatever business GE was in had to be either #1 or #2 in its market. Of course, the former requires extremely painful decisions which test a person’s person’s strength. Fix-Close-or Sell is the hardest for the normal entrepreneur to deal with because it’s normally its baby, baby, i.e., the founder f ounder would find it difficult, if not almost impossible, to close it and/or sell it (unless it was for a lot more than you ever imagined.) I don’t need to explain the closing issue. It should be self-explanatory. self-explanatory. Turning the key on any business is extremely difficult! I speak from experience. Selling a business should be easier, but often is not. Why? Well, Well, we all think our baby is worth more than it is, and we normally are trying to get rich off one transaction so we price it too high and become a long-term owner/investor. owner/investor. We We may even miss the market completely. I have done this myself a few times! Therefore, we wind up continuously c ontinuously trying to fix it. And we normally fix it when things go wrong not when things are good, trying to improve whatever we are doing. Many times I have heard, "If it’s not broken, don’t fix it." This is wrong! This is where being #1 or #2 in a particular endeavor comes into play. If you can fix whatever you are doing to achieve the #1 or #2 position, like GE, the guesswork is taken out of the equation. It’s pure numbers at this point. Few do it! When you look at GE’s formula, and it was derived before Welch Welch took the helm, it becomes somewhat easier to understand GE’s tremendous success. And don’t don’t forget GE has had a stream of great CEO’s long before Welch. Welch. It’s hard for the normal person to imagine striving for the #1 or #2 position in marketing, or getting out. Especially having to, perhaps, just close your operation down. Well, dear friends, the men and women who run these organizations aren’t "normal." I saw a movie recently on TV call "Pirates "Pirat es of Silicon Valley Valley." ." It told the storey of Bill Gates and Steve Job and their partners in the early days, circa 1975, and into the late 1980’s. I ended up buying the video from Amazon.com. It’s It’s an incredible story of dreaming mixed with passionate obsession laced with a good deal of "true grit." It was very telling how they outmaneuvered IBM and others. I highly recommend it. i t. Though not mentioned in the film, Gates supposedly has a theory or precept that says Think it, Do it, Fix it! It basically interfaces with GE’s Fix it, Close it, Sell it in an obtuse way. Gates knows his stuff doesn’t always work! In retrospect, over the years, like others, I’ve allowed myself to hang on too long with several entities. In hindsight, I, like many others, haven’t been able to close as many entities down as I should have. Therefore, I, too, have relegated myself to trying to fix stuff when it might not have been fixable. The main difference is I’ve been involved in dozens and dozens of opportunities, therefore giving myself and my colleagues opportunities for home runs, which were few and far between but still more than if I hadn’t! Remember with home runs come strike outs. For decades Babe Ruth, the
former American baseball home run king, was also the leader in strike outs. In fact, though his total home run record was broken by Hank Aaron many years ago, Ruth still holds the strike out records. The Gateses, Welches, Welches, Jobs and Ruths understand you can’t hit a home run unless you get out of the dug out, walk to the plate and swing away. You You can’t hit it out of the park unless you swing and swing and swing! Knowing very well you will miss most of the time. ti me. This, of course, is why people stay in the dugout of life and don’t really participate…and part icipate…and that’s too bad! To Your Your Quantum Q uantum Leap, Dan Peña PS Our January internet newsletter winner was Nick Galtos of Switzerland. He will receive FREE my book, Your Your First 100 Million. Congratulations Nick! If my memory is correct, corre ct, he was an Olympian in ice hockey! He doesn’t need a free anything. Nick has followed QLA precepts since 1996. He has been very successful. He’s one of my successes! PPS For those of you who haven’t checked, there are now three (instead of one) Tests Tests for Success on my website. The best scores will be eligible for free QLA prizes as well. PPPS. Remember as promised, as part of the new QLA Millennium Internet Format, a ‘Free Consultation Program’ was initiated — 01/01/01. Once a quarter, the subscriber who introduces the most new subscribers to the newsletter, newslette r, will receive one hour’s hour ’s FREE consultation. THE THE NEW SUBSCRIBER MUST MENTION YOUR NAME AND SUBSCRIBE VIA
[email protected]. This one hour consultation [worth $3,000.00], $3,000.00], can be used in parts, or all at once over a given year. Alternatively, Alternatively, it can ca n be used to reduce the cost of any an y QLA seminar. seminar. Monthly winners of the introduction program will receive my best-selling book "Your "Your First 100 Million" FREE –a $400.00 value. Yearly winners will receive a FREE three-day "Executive Castle Seminar" at Guthrie Castle — a $9,000.00 value. In addition, for every "Your First 100 Million" purchased via my website, a 10% discount on the "Executive Castle Seminar" will be given .All the above incentives are exclusively for the benefit of QLA Internet Newsletter subscribers ONLY ONLY. Specifics on the new QLA Millennium Internet Newsletter program will be posted on my website SOON, but the race began 01/01/01. Questions can be forwarded to:
[email protected] ma
[email protected]
ISSUE #19 From Dan Peña - "The Money Messiah" and Mentor/Coach for The New Millennium Dear Friend and Subscriber: As most of you know, because of a server glitch, thousands of extra Issue #18 Newsletters were sent out. I apologize!! Notwithstanding this big screw up, I received some funny responses and heard some great success stories. The following email has been cleaned up a bit for those of you who allow your children to read my sage advise. The interesting point about this testimonial is it is written by a woman in business which is dominated by men - and she operates in the heart of the South! She’s a remarkable person, as you can tell from her cryptic writing. I haven’t seen her in a few years, but have kept in touch through emails and calls. I miss her candor in a world filled with people talking crap! What really struck me while reading her email in the middle of a great rain storm in LA, was my lack of distribution of my m y QLA products. products. As some of you who read my website know, know, many of my products have won national awards - the coveted Telly Award for Excellence. I thank J. C. Arner for producing/directing them! MM’s Testimonial:
I had studied marketing techniques and my business was growing quite rapidly, but what I lacked was the clear understanding of what it takes to actually run a multi-million dollar business and that’s where Dan Pena came in. I went to one of his three day - blow your hair back - boot camp wake…up seminars, and I was never the same. Dan was able to blow away the bullshit and let me see clearly what was required in order to really succeed and hang on to a fast growing company. His hard core approach, even though I wasn’t sure I could take the three days of shock, drilled a reality home that has been priceless. The bottom line is you. No one else to blame for anything, just YOU. His separation of the dufus mentality and the high performance individual made my life much easier to deal with. The reality is I am surrounded by dufus people and the challenge is to get them to work as efficiently as possible for a high performance person. I have utilized Dan’s techniques and style many times. I transformed myself into a hard core business person that continues to demand excellence. My decisions are now quick and my success has been staggering. In a time when businesses are going broke by the hundreds, mine is growing at a 200% increase over last year. Dan taught me you had better be a tough son-of-a-bitch if you want to play the game. Dan also taught me that there are going to be problems, yes, problems and when you get one solved you have bigger ones. Once I understood that, I know longer got upset with problems and just worked fast to handle them. No other teacher, seminar or tape series had the balls to tell me I had to be tough, I’m going to have problems, big ones, and THAT is what I MUST understand and be prepared to deal with if I am going to thrive in business. Thanks Dan for the backbone. If you are serious about making your business a success and learning what YOU have to change in YOURSELF to make your business soar, then Dan Pena’s the man for you. Get yourself a Dose Of Dan!
In a recent inventory count at Guthrie Castle, I was told many dozens of large crates of QLA product had been uncovered. Apparently, Apparently, when I closed my LA office in 1998, it was shipped from the US to the UK. The bottom line is when the inventory is complete, I will offer all of it to newsletter subscribers first and to my website in general next. Some of the gems I had forgotten about are: the week-long Castle Experience in text manual form and even a few audio tapes, my first book "Building Your Your Own Guthrie," audio tapes specially done for associates and partners on unique aspects of following QLA precepts such as building your dream team, various editions of the 3-Day and 1-Day QLA Seminar tapes, and a lot more. Another thing that came to mind is the "33 Secrets" book can now be downloaded in total for Free from the website. Of course, we still offer the hard copy for those wanting it ($4.95 for Shipping and Handling). The original tapes recorded live produced many, if not all, of the most successful devotees of QLA Methodology, Methodology, e.g., the Verdiers, Verdiers, Whipple, Crump, Burke, McCain, LeGrand, Reecher, Alvarez, Hague, Slangen, Scott, Stephenson, Vargas, Vargas, Schaeffer, Dhillon, Baade, Chapman, Badloe, Maynard, Connolly, Connolly, and many others. Don’t get me wrong, many mentioned on the tapes started off like rockets . . . and then crashed! The QLA precepts can show you how, how, but can’t keep you motivated or from engaging in self-sabotaging activities. Most people who hear or read any coaching material never even get started. In fact, most people who buy motivational/coaching product never even open it. The people mentioned above all a ll got great starts, mostly due to QLA Methodology. Methodology. Not many stayed the course. People like the Verdiers, and a few others, are the exception. Lack of self-esteem and greed tops the list of reasons why people fall off the QLA track. It’s like the adage about bringing a horse to water. wate r. You may be able to get him to drink some but not stay at the QLA trough. trough. Building great habits is not easy. easy. It requires belief system changes which come hard. Being a change agent is even more difficult now as our world continues to change. The precepts recorded over the last few years are extremely wellfounded and still work well if practiced diligently. diligently. To Your (Our) Quantum Leap, Dan Peña
ISSUE #20 From Dan Peña - "The Money Messiah" and Mentor/Coach for The New Millennium Dear Friend and Subscriber: "FLASH : MARKET CRASH" As some of you may remember, re member, I wrote in January 2001 my thoughts on the market in stock response to a subscriber’s question. I don’t like being correct when billions of all currencies are lost. These statistics were true prior to yesterday according to, amongst others, CNBC and CNN: 40% dot.com employees gone 240 dot.coms gone $3.7 trillion in market capitalization (market value) gone 55% of NASDAQ value gone 70% of new enterprises don’t make it in any endeavor and go out of business $475 billion lost in Oracle and Microsoft market value from highs VC’s still putting 20% of their money in high tech - pick and axes (or hard assets) I had already written another newsletter on a different subject, which will be broadcasted in due course. The reason for me changing my topic is obvious: In a down market there are opportunities that are not obvious to the inexperienced. This is the time to get the most experienced sage advice possible. Now is the time for people who have been there and done it! Upmarket advice is any industry is easy! Even many of you made money in the bull market! Acquisitions during this kind of environment are an excellent way wa y to grow your business. Most people will be afraid to step up to the plate. Financial institutions will be looking for a way out, especially if the management team has a plan based on a down-to-flat market. Stop what you are doing. Think what you could do - now - vis-a-vis the existing market environment. If you don’t know, know, find someone that does NOW! This market mark et environment won’t last forever. Take Take advantage of it now. Times Times like this don’t happen that often. Back in the late la te nineties I used to say, say, based on my research, r esearch, while speaking on both sides of the Pacific and the Atlantic, the following: (1) More than 60% of all money worldwide is managed by people under 30 and about 60% of that money is managed by people under 26 - ergo, they don’t remember the crash of 1987. (2) The average bull market, since they have been keeping records, lasts about 30 months. Arguably there has been an up market since August 1982. If you don’t believe me, look at a long-term chart of the major stock averages. What does that tell you? Remember, I was saying this in the late 90’s! What about now? (3) I had other salient remarks reference the cash flow, price earning ratios, and other benchmarks. All indices were selling well above historical averages. Just like early 2000 and even early 2001! The recent correction occurred after a major correction of last year. When I made remarks such as the above, I was told by the pundits it was a new era. I even read worldwide economies were so sophisticated, i.e., instant communication, etc., bear markets weren’t possible or even necessary anymore! Of course, I laughed and said, let’s wait and see! Well, here we are on 13 March Marc h 2001. (13 is my favorite and lucky number) How do you feel? fee l? Smart? Unlucky? Stupid? Uninformed? Anxious? Confident? Or just plain scared? Irrespective of your feelings, there are tremendous opportunities to grow your business and dreams.
Those that take action ac tion will look back upon these times favorably. favorably. Those that don’t take action ac tion will kick yourselves! The pundits are saying stay in cash! Financial institutions will be looking for experience - not the next young Bill Gates. Remember, this will not last forever. Nothing does! To your Quantum Leap Dan Peña PS Notwithstanding my current position on speaking, I’m considering doing a "Market Crash Mega Opportunities" workshop based on the current needs of newsletter subscribers. Perhaps one in the US and one in the UK. PPS The Guthrie Group has accomplished some spectacular things already in this new year. And as soon as I can (due to confidentiality, etc.), I’ll write what can be done in a short time frame when absolutely laser beam focused.
ISSUE #21 From Dan Peña - Executive Coach and Mentor for The New Millennium Dear Friend and Subscriber: Earlier this month before the stock market crash of 2001, I had, for the first time in a while, an opportunity to meet with a few old friends I’ve known for more than twenty years each. Though the day started with a meeting with one of my US bankers, the rest of the day was filled with friendly, yet substantive discourse. I had lunch with one of the long time Trustees of my trust, a former partner with one of the largest law firms in the US and now a senior officer with a huge international asset management firm in LA, Being a lawyer/accountant, very bright and trusted, he was a natural choice to be a Trustee. I was proud he accepted many years ago. We We have known each other since about 1974. Over the years I have considered his advice extraordinary yet very practical. If reasonably large sums of money need management and estate planning, I’d recommend him and his firm f irm in a heart hear t beat. We We discussed my trust and some things I had in mind and life in general. My next meeting was in Century City (LA) with a former protégé at Bear Stearns, who handles money on an individual and corporate basis, I remember helping bring him to The Bear in the 1970’s 1970’s as a young recruit. He is now closing in on 50. While having a cup of coffee and talking about old times, he reminded re minded me of some of the things I did as a younger man which, candidly, I had blocked out of my mind. More importantly, he gave me a yearly accounting of a partnership we have been part of for more than twenty years. He handed me the check and I was duly impressed for two reasons: (1) its size, since I had forgotten about it even being owed, and (2) we have never had a written agreement in all these years. The only argument we’ve had is he believed our partnership began twenty-one years ago and I know it’s been at least twenty-two. I would also recommend him without hesitation. We We discussed a potential new business partnership he would like to open in the UK, an exclusive retail store that’s worked in LA. The last meeting was also in Century City with a lawyer and partner I’ve also known for twenty years. He, like the above two men, is very successful and has been with me through thick and thin. In fact, he has seen more of the thin side of my life because he has represented me in countless transactions, including many lawsuits. I’m not really sure if we have ever had a real written agreement in our nonlegal business endeavors. And And again, I’d recommend him for sage legal advice including litigation. All this comes to mind, and as I write this letter - now that my family member is getting better when I try and count the disputes I’ve had and currently have with various individuals. I ask why
have these three relationships stood the test of time? What did I do differently? In reality I don’t know, know, though I didn’t always agree with them, I always alwa ys liked them as individuals, had fun with them, respected r espected them, and, more importantly importantl y, trusted them completely! completel y! It’s funny what you think about when you have some extra time on your hands, as I have had in recent weeks. I, along with my family, have made some fairly dramatic decisions which directly affect the remaining years of our lives. No, I’m not becoming a priest or a vegetarian! Nor am I going to stop writing newsletters . . . though, based on the recent screw up in the transmission of Issue #18, a few of you might consider that a good thing! I’ll write about the changes in the weeks and months to come - but it revolves around one of my favorite precepts: high performance perf ormance people focus on the few, few, not the many! Until the next newsletter, I bid you a good fortune and good luck, especially if you are invested heavily in the stock market! I’ll write about the current economic condition in the near future, but the New York York Times headline for Sunday, March 18, alludes the bull market marke t that began August of 1962 is over. They must have read my last newsletter! To your Quantum Leap, Dan Peña P.S. Don’t misunderstand this letter. lette r. I have many undocumented business relationships re lationships with men and women all over the world. These are merely three of the oldest. And speaking of old, I have one dating back to 1962 with an MBA - a curmudgeon friend whom I recently saw for golf and dinner with my son Derrick. This guy makes me look like Mr. friendly Personality. Personality. He makes me seem like I have no opinions! And I’d recommend him for MBA-type MBA-t ype management consulting with no hesitation. He enjoys telling people what they don’t want to hear and I’d trust him with my life! What I’m trying to say is when picking business associates/partners, I believe a good criterion is "Would you be happy to share- a foxhole in war with them - male or female?" I believe it’s a great testament I can recommend all people I’ve mentioned. Even using this benchmark, you’ll have problems, as with any relationship.
ISSUE #22 From Dan Peña - Executive Coach and Mentor/Coach for the New Millennium. Dear Friend and Subscriber: CRASH AFTERMA A FTERMATH TH We have now witnessed two weeks of stock market action a ction not many of you have ever seen. Not that it hasn’t happened before, but because you have to be old enough to have lived it. All who read this letter have probably heard of the Great Crash of 1929. I personally lived through the 1973-74 crash while on Wall Street. That market episode began with the Dow peaking at just over 1000 in January 1973 with President Nixon’s Nixon’s inauguration. It ended in late 1974 with the Dow breaking below 600 in October and a nd again in December. I personally agonized through both breaks brea ks below 600. The markets collapsed again in October 1987, dropping more than 500 points. I was fortunate enough to be a CEO of a public company at the time. I say "fortunate" because, like men that have broken the sound barrier, there aren’t many of us and I look upon that experience with great pride. There have been other market breaks, but these were grand daddies and are the ones I relate back to. I’m told by mental health professionals there are four stages of mourning - and you better believe tens, if not hundred, of millions of people worldwide are in a state of mourning after the last two
weeks. These four stages are 1. 2. 3. 4.
Den Denial ial Anger Depre Depress ssio ionn Acce Accept ptan ance ce
My best guess is those millions of people are between denial and anger. Of course, most are either angry at whoever advises them for not getting out of the market. The ones who take responsibility are kicking themselves - no one else! Therefore, most market players have experienced neither depression nor the finality of acceptance. For those who watch television, listen to the radio or can read, you know the tremendous coverage the recent market activities have received. I’ll try and put a slightly more realistic spin on the data, remembering virtually no one in advisory role saw this crash coming, notwithstanding all the B.S. now stated. On March 20, Richard Russell, a Dow theorist, claimed after the 238-point decline of the Dow the end of the 19-year (really 223 months) bull market. More importantly (if true), he claimed the bear market recovery would take one-quarter to one-third the length of the bull market. You You do the match: ¼ or 223 or 1/3 of 223! Other headlines accompanied gloomy prognostications all week: Caution is the Watchword as Markets Gyrate; Motorola, Proctor and Gamble, and Compaq Announce Large Cuts; McDonald, Northwest Airlines, Oracle Issue Profit Warning; How did they Value Value Stocks? Count the Absurd Ways; Bear Market Becomes a Reality; The Future Won’t be as Good as it Was; Was; Those Lofty "New Economy" Measures Fizzle; Two Prophets of Disaster See Trouble Once Again; Overwhelmed Entrepreneurs Find a Holistic Cure; Therapy for Dot-Com survivors; Website Website Traffic was not Better Than Profits After ALL; ALL; and last but not least, Experts Say Focus on Profit. Now it’s profit we should look for …what a joke! Another interesting headline, American See First Drop in Their Net Worth in 55 Years. Years. For the first time since 1945 (the year of my birth), the net worth of the average US household dropped 25 AT December 2000. This was preceded by a gain of 12.6% - 1997, 10% - 1998, and 14.1% in 1999. U.S. net worth dropped from $41.4 trillion by $841.5 billion. Most of this change came from the booming then declining stock market. My observation is, unlike other lesser market declines, people are remaining silent about their losses because they are so massive. Their anguish is severe. Since last year, indicators like consumer confidence and purchasing of consumer goods and capital goods have declined. People are internalising the pain, but it is being reflected in the economy - they are sitting on their hands and wallets. The stock market has been a leading economic indicator for more than 100 years. Last year the market told us we’d have a slow down, i.e., profit warnings, job cutbacks etc. Now, if the market is still a leading indicator, the economy will get a lot worse before it gets better. If you buy off the notion we are part of a new economy, we could have a soft economic landing in a recession. If we are part of the old fashion value for money economy, we all will suffer a hard landing. Here are some interesting stats from the end of last week, before the market continued its decline. If prices of these companies co mpanies grew at 15% from now, now, here’s how long it would take to reach rea ch their peak prices of last year: IBM - 3 years Microsoft - 6 years Intel - 7 years
AT&T - 7 years Oracle - 9 Years Sun Microsystems - 9 years Cisco - 10 years Lucent - 14 years Yahoo - 20 years The market psychology of the 1990’s won’t likely return anytime soon. We We saw it in the 16th Century with tulips in Holland, in the late 1920’s 1920’s and for most of the 1990’s! As investors (if you can call them that), we are learning, to our chagrin, the 1990’s game is over. If especially like, as Bloget, Merrill Lynch’s Lynch’s celebrity internet analyst said of the new economy on January 10 2000,"Valuation 2000,"Valuation is often not a helpful tool in determining when to sell hhyper yper growth stocks." He was referring to a fund of web companies selling at $173 per share, now at about $3 per share. The pundits NOW say the returns of the 1990’s were magical but in many instances were a train wreck waiting to happen. A Nobel Prize winner for academic research on the relationship between risk and reward says there ther e are three groups of people: those who should buy, buy, those who should sell, and those who should stay put. It’s all about your willingness to bear risk. (Da! I hope you already knew that.) Others say I’d differentiate between technology and internet stocks (which I agree with); we are in an era of diminished expectations; the productivity miracle never was and the NASDAQ was based on that; PE’s are still too high (which I agree with); bear markets are cyclical and they do end (Da! Why didn’t anyone say bull markets are cyclical, etc.?) As I see it, one of the biggest problems is a generation has grown up not (really) understanding intellectually that a market crash of this magnitude was possible. That’s truly unfortunate. It’s difficult for me to put blame on anyone but the ones that invested or played! At least you think anyone is not susceptible to the now ended market mania, I had my own dot-com mishap which cost me a potentially potentia lly huge payday. payday. I spent ten months on both sides of the Atlantic to see the entrepreneur’s dream die like a "road kill". We had an experienced team, a requisite track record and had raised $7 million with $35 million mezzanine committed going toward a European IPO. Oh well, next deal, please!! As an aside, I found out the deal imploded while on a cell phone driving to my home at Guthrie. While I’m no one to give up, I knew it was dead instantly. instantly. My colleagues took longer to assimilate the large loss. I relate this story for two reasons: (1) bad stuff happens to even the most experienced and (2) more experienced individuals emotionally cut loose more readily because it’s happened to them many times before. Of course, that is how you get experience - making bad decisions that turn into mistakes. All bad decisions don’t turn to mistakes. Sometimes Mother Luck overrides stupidity! As I’ve said many times before, it’s better to be lucky than smart. Of course, the ideal scenario is to be both. When school teachers are trading stocks during lunch and firemen during breaks are doing the same, you know the massive correction is past due! Well, it has happened and we MUST get on with our lives. To Your Your Quantum Q uantum Leap, Dan Peña P.S. Guess who has made money during the great bull market and after the crash? The brokerage industry! P.P.S. .P.S. The purpose of this market/economic update is to tell you it’s a new game now - not really! It’s the same old game, i.e., cash ca sh flow, flow, profit, little or no debt and a business model that works from day one with an experienced
ISSUE #23 Helping in setting business goals by initiating personal goal setting
While setting business goals, personal goal setting also plays an important role. One cannot afford to miss the fine print and the various decisive factors influencing a business process or during setting personal goals. When the 1989 the Japanese Stock Market peaked there was a bearish market trend that followed. The Japanese restructured the entire economy and the country got revamped by setting business goals with a difference. Due to economic slowdown London was gripped with fear and this brought back the traditional dress codes. Through personal goal setting, banks announced dress-down and the focus was on creating an impression with clients. Setting personal goals in terms of dressing down has gone over the peak in US and UK but had no influence on the rest of Europe. The most important assets of new economy companies are people. They need good incentives to be part of a company. company. On setting business goals it should be assumed every employee has the power to re-price their options package. Whether it is setting personal goals or business goals this newsletter has words of wisdom that offer clarity of vision and impact. They delve on the lives of personalities like Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter with relevance to management. Packed with illustrations there is a vivid propaganda on various management techniques. It also throws light on customer service, deals with time and money. money. In fact revolutionary thinking in terms of Return on Minutes (ROM) rather than Return on Investment (ROI) is also discussed. There is information on taking care of change, competition, people management and planning. While setting business goals, there is a lot to learn. For the new economy companies human capital is the new currency. Statements like multiple revolutions will create evolution are elucidated and it talks of technology as a simple accelerator of momentum, not a creator. Despite personal goal setting not all great leaders come out to tell who they trust to convey them the truth. With the amalgamation of personal goal setting sett ing and business goals, most private companies have greatly discounted in value because of the perceived poor economic conditions. It’s been a while since my last la st words of wisdom. I’m back in Europe for an extended e xtended period. This letter will address a number of subjects including recent contest winners and to the literary scholar may seem a bit disjointed. Firstly the stock market as a whole has made a huge rebound. For those of you who have been helped I am happy for you and your net worths. My only comment is a quote from one of the financial newsletters I receive and I have some respect for - "Unless you are 35 you probably don’t recall the Japanese Stock Market peaking in 1989 and as we all know, it has been nearly downhill all the way ever since". Only now in 2001 does there seem to be light at the end of the tunnel (an 11 year Bear Market) as Japan restructures it’s entire financial economy, economy, including brokerage houses, banking, major corporations and the country itself. I hope this was the shortest bear market in history. history. Only time will tell. I’m also happy for my friends still in the financial business who need to make payments on their large multiple homes and all the toys they accumulated over the years. I also find it funny that "dressing down" is starting to go out of favour in the City of London. Apparently there are signs that fears over job security and the economic slowdown are causing a return to traditional dress codes. 18 months ago, bank after bank was announcing extensions of dress-down, today the focus is on giving a professional impression to clients. The consensus seems to be that lax dress codes lead to lax attitudes (Da!). Dress down may have passed its peak in the US/UK, but in the rest of Europe it has barely made an appearance. I guess when people think they might lose their job concerns of appearance take hold. Of course I’ve always said "you only get one
chance to make a first impression". And for those of you that have attended at tended dress down meetings with me - the dress downs spend the first few minutes apologising though I know a senior European with a very large company I do work with I’d like to see run a meeting in a T-shirt and jeans! An interesting insight made by an Amazon.com spokesman spokesman "every employee has the power to re price their options package - it’s called "I Quit" This was made apparent when confronted with an options plan that was several hundred feet under water with no prospect for ever having value any time soon. Another way to look at the tens of thousands employee option plans not worth anything an ything today is - RISK IS THE PRICE YOU PAY FOR OPPORTUNITY. Early last year options schemes were the talk of the masses. That was the top of the market! Speaking of last year about the time I formally cut back on my coaching efforts on the road I found some notes of a meeting. These notes contained some extremely sage and timely advice for a person who wants to make life as a human being the best he can be or as Joe Batten, a former partner of mine and the mentor of Ross Perot, made famous, Be All You You Can Be! I can’t tell you who was at the meeting by name, confidentially you know. I can tell you the head of one of the largest consulting companies in the world was present along with the founder CEO of one of the most dynamic growth companys of the last 10-15 years amongst a couple of others of super, super status. It was a focus group of sorts, exploring ideas and change. Here’s what they said in short form: WORDS OF WISDOM…FOR BUSINESS & LIFE
Teams with the clearest sense of vision & impact WIN! Talent base - people…are the most important assets of new economy companies. Best question to ask a CEO…why would great people want to be part of your company? Customers will constantly raise "the bar of expectation" for companies. The internet is a giant "lab experiment" for corporate America and those companies that recognise this and play well within the rules of ambiguity & fluidity will survive and win. NOTHING IS CAST IN CONCRETE… The best form of customer service is SELF service. Constantly empower customers to get their the ir own answers themselves…this is a huge differentiator. "CLOCK SPEED" OF BUSINESS IS CONSTANTLY ACCELERATING…TIME REALLY MATTERS MORE THAN MONEY (MONEY YOU CAN SOMETIMES GET BACK, TIME YOU CAN’T) MOST EVEN BRIGHT UNDERESTIMATE THE VALUE OF TIME…THINK MORE IN TERMS OF "RETURN ON MINUTES"(ROM) THAN "RETURN ON INVESTMENT" (ROI). Get in the digital game fast, no matter how small…"launch, listen, learn, then re-launch! SIZE IS THE ENEMY OF SPEED! SPEED TO REACT MATTERS MORE THAN SIZE OF COMPANY… COMPANY… Good leaders make sense of change in the world…then imparts that insight to the team. SHIFTING THINGS (CHANGE) WHEN LIFE IS GOOD IS TOUGHER THAN WHEN THINGS ARE BAD, BUT YOU SHOULD CONSTANTLY BE SHIFTING…MORPHING. People WANT to be led by strong leaders and good leaders are constant students. THE JOB OF CEO’S IS NOT TO BE THE SMARTEST GUY IN THE ROOM, BUT TO ATTRACT OTHER SMART GUYS TO WORK FOR HIM. THE "GROUP BRAIN" IS FAR MORE POWERFUL THAN INDIVIDUAL BRAINPOWER. BRAINPOWER. Current accounting and measurement systems and metrics are outdated for new economy companies. Human capital is the new currency of the digital economy. economy. Technical change is a sub-set of greater change - cultural change. GOOD IS THE ENEMY OF GREAT!! When we get good, we usually quit. GREAT DNA ENCODING OF PEOPLE AND VALUES (NOT ( NOT IDEAS) IDEA S) IN I N YOUNG COMPANIES COMPANIES EARLY EARLY ON WILL CREA C REATE TE THE TRUL T RULY Y GREAT GREAT AND LASTING LASTIN G COMPANIES LATER. IT IS NOT IMPORT IMP ORTANT ANT WHAT WHAT WE DO, BUT WHOM WE DO IT WITH…GREAT W ITH…GREAT COMPANIES COMPANIES DIDN’T START START WITH WHAT WHAT THEY PLANNED ON DOING, BUT THEY STARTED OUT GREAT BY WHO THEY PICKED TO DO IT WITH! People should get on your "bus" not for f or where you are going but BECAUSE THEY
LIKE WHO IS RIDING ON THE BUS WITH THEM. The "bus" will also change c hange directions, but the bonds of good people won’t. ALWAYS PUT YOUR BEST PEOPLE ON THE BEST OPPORTUNITIES, OPPORTUNITIES, not biggest problems. "STOCKDALE PARADOX"… PARADOX"… Admiral Stockdale survived 7 years of torture in Vietnam Vietnam not by being overly "optimistic" " optimistic" of being rescued within weeks, but by being realistic of knowing it could be years. The other "optimistic" American POW’s around him died from broken expectations and hearts…of hoping to be rescued within weeks. REALISTS ARE AR E BRUT BR UTALL ALLY Y HONEST WITH THEMSELVES…YET TH EMSELVES…YET THEY STILL STI LL HAVE HAVE AN UNWA UNWAVERING BELIEF THAT THAT THEY WILL PREVAIL…"FAILURE PREVAIL…"FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION, OPTI ON, EVEN IN THE FACE OF GREAT ADVERSITY…JUST KNOW WHAT YOUR ADVERSITY REALLY REALLY IS"! The Hedgehog Vs Fox…the fox is smart & cunning but gets caught up in lots of details, becoming misdirected and chasing his own tail…hedgehogs do only 1 thing and do it well and nothing else…eat. else…e at. THE BEST CEO’S OF ALL TIME ARE HEDGEHOGS!! Example: Jimmy Carter was smart, wordly, wordly, tackled many issues…and got lost l ost in detail. Ronald Reagan had only 1 thing on his mind for 8 years…Russia…remove the "evil empire", remove the "evil empire" and remove the "evil empire"! Reagan was a hedgehog… All great Hedgehogs have 3 common traits: 1. Passionate Passionate about about what what they believe believe in.. in.. 2. Recognise that they are genetically encoded for their chosen field of endeavour…they endeavour…they really LOVE what they do! 3. and somebody somebody WILL pay them for for what they love love to do! CEO’S MOST IMPORTANT TASK…NEVER STOP BECOMING QUALIFIED FOR THE JOB. FLYWHEEL FLYWHEEL EFFECT…when EFFECT…when you start pushing a 10 ton metal flywheel, it takes lots of effort to make a single revolution, but less for the next 3…momentum will start to carry the wheel forward itself…same is true in business. It’s tough and slow to build momentum and inertia, but before long, it starts spinning under it’s own force. f orce. After a while, MULTIPLE MULTIPLE REVOLUTIONS WILL CREATE CREATE EVOLUTION! Use technology only after you have momentum, not to create it. Technology Technology is simply an accelerator of momentum, not a creator of it Building a great company means your building something WORTHY WORTHY of lasting…QUESTION: HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOUR COMPANY IS WORTHY OF LASTING??? ANSWER: DOES IT STAND FOR SOMETHING GREAT TO SOMEONE? Dream now and then, they will come true! GREAT COMPANIES DO 2 things well: 1. Preserves: Preserves: core core values values and purpose. purpose. 2. Changes: Changes: operating operating practices, practices, technologies technologies and culture culture as needed. Closing comments to live by: b y: Human talent is the currency of the new economy. economy. Good is the ENEMY of great! Time is more important than money ("ROM") Be a hedgehog!!! Unwavering single mindedness… Know WHO you want on your "bus" in work & life… Build something that is WORTHY and STANDS for something to someone… Take time to dream… Since I’ve cut back on my new coaching schedule (not my workload) I’ve been able to devote time to a few, instead of many, of the brightest and most persevering. These range fr om, individuals still trying to put their first deal together to senior executives at major international corporations. It’s been an interesting experience for me. I’m sure in time all will be super-successful with or without
me - all I do is shorten the timecycle and keep them lazer beam focused . But one especially has shown a lot of signs of maturity, maturity, insight, character and single-mindedness I haven’t seen in a long, long time. I can’t use his name for confidentiality confidentiali ty reasons. This person has used QLA in a very large company even before he met me. And now he has fine tuned what his instincts had already taught him. With my assistance and guidance he has learned to trust his instincts more. Of course I believe I’ve been extremely gentle with him though he might not agree! Sometimes I’m sure it has felt like hard pushing! No, not all of QLA can be used in a company with great masses of employees when it’s first appropriate for obvious reasons, i.e. unions, seniority rules, bands on firing etc. Decades of history , and human belief systems take more time to change than optimal, but I have written and talked about men like Welsh Welsh (GE), Gestner (IBM) and Gent (Vodaphone) (Vodaphone) who certainly have used QLA methodology methodology for many, many years. In fact their extremely super successful careers have been based on the same precepts I coach. Remember not all of the great leaders come out to tell who their Rasputins are! But believe me, they all have at least one person they can trust to tell them the truth - no matter what! And in case you’re interested I thought Rasputin was a good guy! Wasn’t Wasn’t he? On a different subject as I’ve said ad nausem before (notwithstanding the current market upturn) most private companies have been greatly discounted in value, because of the perceived poor economic conditions. When Wall Wall Street and a nd Main Street both lay off tens of thousands it effects effec ts all businesses but a few, i.e. cutting back and outsourcing or just cutting back becomes vogue instead of building and adding on to infrastructure infr astructure to add or extend value. CEO’s realise shareholders don’t care about economic cycles so they do what’s easiest almost all the time. I’ve recently outlined a cost cutting outsourcing program, i.e. property taxes, utilities, phone, waste disposal etc to a large company in the U.S. Hopefully they will at least test it soon. I personally was involved with a QLA devotee saving many millions in such a program for Fortune 500 companies several years ago. We ultimately were stopped or almost totally entangled because it embarrassed senior management, especially the CFO/FD. Such a program needs strong support from the CEO. Ultimately, when successful, the board will say it’s their idea anyway! Such radical shareholder enhancing policies are more prevalent in the U.S. When it’s only you it’s much easier to implement i mplement such policies. To Your Your Quantum Q uantum Leap Daniel S Peña Sr P.S. When last in the U.S. I received a GSM cell phone as a gift. This phone allows me to call and receive calls all over the world with one number. The good friend that gave it to me knew my functionality vis-à-vis such tools of the 21st Century. Century. I’m still learning all the things you (or should I say someone) can do with it. My wife who knows him (the giver) thinks they will come up with another generation of GSM cell before I understand it fully. P.P.S. .P.S. Congratulations to the following for their achievements: Nick Galtos Most Newsletter Referrals: February & March Won a "Your First 100 Million" Book Nick Galtos Most Newsletter Referrals in 1st Qtr Won 1 hours worth of consultation Jerry Rukavina Success Test Winner - February Won a "Build Your Own Guthrie" book Francis Farrell Success Test Winner - March Won a "Build Your Own Guthrie" book Galtos and Rukavina are QLA devotees devotees for several years! P.P.P.S There is a Castle Seminar planned for August this year. It will be the only one for 2001. For those of you that have asked about the various product shipped to Guthrie, it is almost inventoried. A list will be provided soon. There will be no special seminar for a taking advantage of a down
trend in the economy e conomy.. Apparently you all think the good times are already back and there is no need! P.P.P.P.S. I recently sold my first thing on e-Bay for many thousands of dollars. Although not totally efficient it was an interesting experience. It operates on the premise people are honest even though there is no absolute way to hold them accountable. I’ll tell you why I did it in a later letter and my thoughts on e-Bays honesty / accountability theory.
ISSUE #24 From Dan Peña - Executive Coach and Mentor for the New Millennium Dear Subscriber and friend, Eight years ago next Tuesday I said I would coach till I was 55. I will be 56 in August. I gave my first seminar in LA on May 22nd 1993. As I told you last year starting in 1998 I initiated a phase down (not out) in my coaching responsibilities. I began by closing down my LA office office (1998), cutting back my speaking schedule and reducing the more than 60 companies, entrepreneurs and executives I was involved with worldwide. When I accelerated that process last August 2000 it was a planned action. I enjoyed the years I was involved coaching around the world day to day. I learned a lot about human nature and teaching success precepts to all kinds. Now as a final logistical consolidation I am closing my Houston operations this Summer and selling my scenic Californian estate and almost all that goes with it, except my wine cellar. Lee Anne my able assistant, colleague and partner of seventeen years has the daunting task of doing this. She will be finished by the end of Summer at the latest. She will then be totally available for other personal endeavours though still a shareholder and partner in various entities of mine. She has been my benchmark for excellence almost since the day she came to my employ, 1 April 1984. I already alread y miss her greatly! Over the next few months all my business and personal entities will ultimately be run out of the U.K. and Amsterdam. I have a new personal assistant. He is Paul Morris and is poised to take on all the responsibilities Lee Anne did so well for seventeen years. I’ll write more about him. Suffice to say, he is a retired Royal Marine and more than qualified. He has already made a major impact at Guthrie and in my European business interests. My family is due to join me in the U.K. in due course. My youngest son starts university in the U.S. in Sept, 2001 and my eldest son left the nest in Sept 1999. My soon to be 15 year old (Scottish born) daughter will be starting High School in Sept 2001. As you have heard me say and write countless times, life isn’t stable so why should we think business is? This big change will have no effect on any business relationships I have other than I might be flying in from another direction and my massive travel schedule will be reduced. I tell you now so you hear it from me. I look forward to operating out of the U.K. and Europe as was envisaged in 1984 when I moved there ostensibly to retire! - Of course that only lasted 29 months! I will maintain my business interests or and relationships wherever they are now. I currently have strong relationships and businesses in the U.S., U.K., Netherlands and Germany. Germany. In recent years I’ve reduced my U.S. businesses with this move in mind. I thought this change would be completed last Summer - Man plans and God laughs! As I’ve said during this planned change I am going to focus on a few projects and continue to build The Guthrie Group (www.theguthriegroup.co.uk), (www.theguthriegroup.co.uk), the M+A Boutique I founded a few years ago. It currently has principals in the US, Ireland, U.K. and the Netherlands and I am currently recruiting to expand our expertise in key areas of the 21st Century economy. I will also continue a few advisory roll positions. I will get directly involved when necessary as always.
I will continue to spread QLA Methodology through through my website, Newsletters, QLA products products and my book and most importantly through the many man y QLA protégés, devotees and followers of these precepts for quantum success I’ve helped to groom over the years. (The product clearance inventory is coming soon). I’m looking forward to the t he change in my domicile. As some of you know Guthrie Castle is a magnificent work and play environment and I will be able to spend more time ti me there. Yet Yet I can still get anywhere in the world quickly enough, but it’s out of the main stream for total peace and tranquillity when I want it. To Your Your Quantum Q uantum Leap, Daniel S Peña Sr P.S. Of course I’m asked how well I did as a coach? I don’t relate to my own success, because, in candour getting horses to water and getting them to drink is different. And in almost all cases I could have done it quicker by myself as I discussed over a quiet couple of days with the Verdiers Verdiers recently on their Patamac, Maryland, estate I helped inspire them to desire. But the following recent (April/May, (April/May, 2001) correspondence (names removed to protect the guilty) illustrate, illustrat e, as do many letter testimonials on my website, what kind of success devotees of QLA have had. In all modesty I don’t believe any coach dead or alive, can show better results! Tom (who wrote the Letter One below) previously worked for the QLA team in the U.K., U.S. and Germany from 1996 - 1998 and failed twice in projects he started and was cheated once by a partner before his recent success. Jenny (who wrote Letter Two) has followed the QLA precepts about the same length of time. The important point is both never gave up - no matter what! It takes both tremendous persistence and balls to succeed against the odds! LETTER ONE: "Dan, I wanted to send you a quick update on our progress. Had idea: Late November 2000 Started research Early December 2000 Started seeking capital Mid December 2000 First Angel Money Late January 2001 Moved into 50 5000sqft Of Office 1st Fe Feb, 2001 Raised well over 1 million without business plan (8 angels) - to date (more to come - we never stop looking) Have given away less than 15% of the company - to date Created unique product & unique selling proposition - Feb, 2001 Created infrastructure for company - Jan / Feb 2001 (will continue to permeate until we arrive at final destination) Hired 9 full time employees - by Mid March Initiated process for intranet web presence and brought to full functionality - March, 2001 Opened doors for business - 12th March, 2001 Business self funding - Late April, 2001 Hired 83 sales executives - To To date Other significant events include: Hired former executive who grew from 32 locations to over 1800 in 4½ years, took market cap from $35 million to over $1.2 billion, he is paid on performance, success oriented salary and stock options.
Hired former executive from same team on same compensation package. Completing strategic alliance/relationship with the biggest icon in sports and sports nutrition in 27 countries. In final stages of completion of a strategic alliance/relationship between our venture and multiBillionaire who will be as a private angel investor and assist in exponential growth of our product through personal involvement (advisory board) opening vast channels for mass distribution through own companies as well as others. He will also assist in the exit strategy with 6 - 12 months (most likely sell out to larger Biotech conglomerate). First major billionaire enhancement - we signed strategic deals with 7 of the biggest internetmarketing companies in the world. Dan, we are having the time of our life, working day and night, it was all worth it. Your Your methodology works 100% of the time WHEN PROPERLY PROPERLY IMPLEMENTED OVER AND OVER. (I added the uppercase)
. I look forward to harvest time and it’s right around the corner. corne r. I could have saved $50,000 (BROUGHT SIGNIFICANT OTHER) OTHER) by not attending The Castle Seminar but I would have lost what’s about to come and it will be tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions. Thanks Dan Tom" LETTER TWO: "Mr. Dan Peña, I want to tell te ll you about my recent QLA success. Using my construction company as my stick, I have secured a $200K commercial commercia l contract (yes ( yes the deposit money is in the bank). To To get it I used the basics from your book and tapes, i.e. dress up, growth mode talk, sold my team’s ability, ability, was enthusiastic (sorry not curmudgeon style) and did presentations. This is a nice little contract which I "puff up like a show dog" to get bigger contracts. Hopefully I can land another $600K new construction contract right away awa y. I know this is not big stuff but it is sweet, a stepping stone to greater things to come. Many thanks. I am focusing on the few, few, the QLA few. few. It will take some time for me to be able to spend 95% of my time looking for deals and money but it is my as-soon-as-humanly-possible goal. My big lesson learned to date is to remain focused. I am pathetically unorganised and get lost in details. As general contractor/project manager on this upcoming construction project I can not afford to screw up. Therefore, right now, I am implementing a KISS organisational system. Like you said, our business forefathers figured this end of things out a long time ago and use what works. This will spare me a lot of here-to-fore grief and wheel spinning. With a sharper operational focus I can free up time for macro things like revenue, finance, deals and the dream team. When I get all dufus like and start listening to morons I will put in a tape or open your book. I see greatness on the horizon and I want to say thanks. I have deliberately approached you these past months because the "pay price" for success is so high and I just needed some help to step
ahead. I have written you some God awful "dufusee" letters, some of which I am now embarrassed about and do apologise for, I am grateful and delighted that you cared enough to write me back with your sage advice. You You have proven to me that you are indeed committed to your purpose and a man of your word. Thank you. Sincerely, Jerry. P.P.S. QLA hasn’t just been about money as Tom alludes to in Letter One. It’s (or I’ve) assisted in bringing people to positions of great power and influence in multinational corporations (including a $30 billion market cap NYSE industry giant started from scratch), worldwide law and accountancy partnerships, government, professional and amateur sport, investment banking and almost every aspect of life including nutrition, health and religion. QLA is about gaining freedom to do what you want when you want based on high performance and excellence by the use of laser beam focus!! P.P.P.S. As you have probably noticed in many of the stock markets, losses (at least on the indices) have recovered. If the pundits are correct we have just witnessed the shortest bear market in history. Instead of waiting years (apparently) we only had to wait a few weeks. Perhaps since communications on the world wide web are all encompassing and instantaneous even this has changed - certainly certainl y almost everything else has gone through this time metamorphous. You You be the judge!
ISSUE #25 From Dan Peña - Executive Coach and Mentor for The New Millennium Dear Friend and Subscriber: It’s been sometime since I wrote my last newsletter. This is no place to explain other than to say Shit Happens. At almost 56, I’ve had friends and family get sick and die. Children graduate from high school and people move house. In America, it’s called "downsizing" your life, both people and places. In my case, all the above has or is taking place. It has been harder than planned. Of course, I should know leaving thirty years of career and friends/colleagues frie nds/colleagues behind in the U.S. wouldn’t be easy eas y. Man Plans and God Laughs. In recent weeks I gave the eulogy for one of my good friends. He was a world-class finance man, but more than that, he was a man of true integrity integrit y. He had strong, unswerving moral standards. And And many years ago, when the world seemed to turn on me, he stood tall and was by my side. As most people would say later, John always knew when to play a long shot. I say, say, he always knew what was right. And he always followed that road. John Earnest was a unique man. He was his own man even up until passing. A CPA by training at Price Waterhouse, he certainly knew his odds when diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in December 1999: 3 to 6 months! But John decided it wasn’t time to go until May 2001. For those of you who have heard me speak, you know I always have something to say. For John Earnest’s eulogy, eulogy, I found it difficult to think how to describe a man who for almost fifty years had balanced debits and credits for companies, c ompanies, some as large as Fortune 50. As I thought what to say in the few minutes I had, words like honesty, honesty, moral values, and integrity passed through my mind. In the end, I used them all, but the one which came through most clearly was integrity. I believe it’s a very good thing if the main trait one had in life and career could be described by one
word - INTEGRITY! Early on in our relationship, I remember fending off a hostile takeover. During a meeting I personally was offered a middle-eight-figure check for part of my shareholdings at a 50% premium to their value. I said no! John said to reconsider. I said no! John said the shareholders in a few months will not remember I was looking out for their interests above mine. I said I didn’t care. He said I would. He was right. A few years later, the same sa me shareholders threw me out and John Earnest resigned. He was the only Director who did. He was 71 when he died. I learned much from him. My favorite proverb which he spoke countless times was "There are no secrets. There are only mysteries." The world is a lesser place for him leaving. He did leave on his own terms, though not exactly how he would have wished. To Your Your Quantum Q uantum Leap, DAN PEÑA P.S. LAST CASTLE EVENT: EVENT: I’ve just arrived ar rived in the UK and was reminded four weeks from today I start my last la st Castle Seminar on 24 August August 2001. I have not mentioned me ntioned it here, though. Nothing but pure oversight on my part. As I have said now, now, ad nauseam, I will wil l continue to speak from f rom time-totime but will use the internet, QLA product, and my book to spread the QLA word. Of course, my QLA devotees do that best! Because this is my last planned Castle event, I’ve added one additional day as a bonus to the 3-Day schedule. So my finale will be four days and five nights. I am looking forward to spending time with the attendees. P.S.S. The QLA product has been catalogued cata logued and will be forthcoming in a special offer letter.
ISSUE #27 From Dan Peña - Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer Dear Subscriber and Friend, It has been a long time since my last newsletter. I have been busy moving house, closing my Houston office and getting my son and daughter ready for the next phase of the educational life. I am firmly placed in Europe (though the Brits don’t consider themselves part of it) now and working very hard at what I enjoy and do best. My new (really old) life which is "deal orientated" has taken off with a bang. Some of the transactions The Guthrie Castle Group is working on are impressive. They range from Public to Private buyouts, to divestitures of small or large divisions from large companies. Our new website is quite different - www.guthriecastlegroup.com. www.guthriecastlegroup.com. We We are generalists and work in virtually all al l areas. We have added some very ver y senior expertise and will discuss them in due course. Being able to spend more time at Guthrie, London and the Netherlands, and soon Germany, seems as if it were the ’80s again for me vis-à-vis my lifestyle. I was young and had just moved to the UK in 1984 with my wife and two baby sons. My daughter was born two years later. My youngest son started university and my daughter began High School last month. They have both moved into their new environments. My oldest son left the nest two years ago. How time goes! MASSIVE CAT CATASTROPHY I have hesitated to write about the tragedy of 11 Sep. Not because I don’t have an opinion - for those that know me personally I have opinions on almost all subjects. I have not written earlier merely out of respect. I took the first plane possible from London (Sep 15th) to LA after the massive destruction in NYC
and the Pentagon. Opinion varies on what happened to NYC and America depending on where you are. Taking Taking four countries like The Netherlands, Nether lands, Germany, Germany, Great Britain Brit ain and the U.S., which I am closest to, the latter three are changed beyond belief. The Netherlands, which I just returned from, doesn’t show any change whatsoever. Holland is still Heaven in their mind! Of course they feel f eel badly for all that were affected directly and the USA and the world generally. Great Britain and Germany have bellied up to the bar along with Australia and others in very special ways. It is too bad such a tragedy has to bring all these countries together. I’ve been asked why I look at what happened in NYC and Washington Washington DC in a different way wa y than most. Notwithstanding it was a travesty of biblical proportions, I have seen the results of massive carnage before, at a very young age. The images are still with me. I walked through the streets of Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Rotterdam in 1951/52 as a young boy. The cities were still flattened from WWII. I saw my first dead person frozen to a log at the age of seven outside a small village in France. My father was a CID American Army officer during the Korean War, War, in Europe and I happened to be with him when he was called in an emergency. emergency. I still remember the great shock I had and my father trying to explain how so many cities could be in rubble and the dead man I saw. He later explained the man was an American Army officer who died serving his country and was killed by communist spies. I asked on all occasions, "why Dad?" During this same time frame I lived in Verdun, Verdun, France with my parents. As all children, I wondered away from home and found myself playing in the trenches, bunkers and fields around the city cit y. For those of you familiar with history, history, 85 years ago the battle of Verdun Verdun was fought for some ten months. During that battle of the "war to end all wars" some 400,000 men, alone, came away wounded and maimed. There is no accurate count of the dead - but it was big! As it turned out there were no winners at Verdun. Verdun. I didn’t comprehend that then. I do still remember re member the horrid things I found digging whilst going from trench to trench almost 50 years ago. I hope and pray that this war on terrorism will be decisive. In no way am I trying to diminish what happened. I am merely saying these events shaped my attitudes etc. as current events will shape others attitudes. I could go through other events that shaped my life, but what I am attempting to relate is the U.S. and especially the New Yorkers Yorkers (as they are called) and the world are changed forever. It is common knowledge that NYC is where it is happening in business and world government with the United Nations. Part of that reality is, like the song says, "if you can make it there you can make it anywhere". I believe this tragic event will only make these adages more true. I was trained on Wall Street, and by the Onassis Group, in NYC. For those of you that haven’t heard I am considered by almost all, as a tough, no nonsense, straight talking (occasionally crass) steel willed businessman possessing unwavering dedication and loyalty. loyalty. I learned much of this working in NYC in conjunction to what I was exposed to over my lifetime. All I described make me who I am. Just as your own social and economic milieu have made you who you are. At the end of the day we can either thank, or blame mostly our parents for our genes and, or training, or lack there of - plus our life experiences! A GREAT ONE STEPS DOWN Jack Welch Welch the famed f amed former GE CEO has recently published his biography. biography. A good good friend, very ver y senior himself in a multinational company, said it was a good read - I trust his judgement. Other reviews are mixed, but include words like autocratic, brilliant, fearless and heartless. Mr. Welch Welch is a product of his environment and has clearly been the "CEO of the past two decades". He has been the benchmark for excellence exce llence for a generation. You You might ask why? He was at GE for 40 years. DEALS STILL BEING DONE Speaking of environment, I have made the rounds since 11 Sep on both sides of the Atlantic and there is still plenty of money for GOOD DEALS. I have meetings next week with VCs and banks on 5 deals.
The numbers have to stack up as always! Professional managers are weeding out the weak deals from their portfolios and putting money in their stronger deals. Remember, 80% of all financial transactions are done with people deals have already been done with. It’s the reverse of the 80 - 20 rule. The end game for many of you is to do your first transaction - you then have a track record! The Dream Team I write and talk about, ad nauseaum, is even more true now! My entire methodology was developed in a collapsing market. Many industries are in trouble - ergo many opportunities with lower and falling prices. As I have written before no one knows when the market will bottom. Therefore purchases on the way down and on the way up the economic trough will give you (what I call) the blended price. It has worked for me in four decades. Some of the UK pundits say if it has telecom in it, or is in North America - FORGET ABOUT IT! Of course that also means huge opportunities. I am currently working in various areas: telecoms, construction, manufacturing, retail, automotive, power and tool rental. I still enjoy, very much, One of which is a "real super star" and much will be written about him in the future. In all the above cases I have found the VC’s, VC’s, insurance companies and financial institutions receptive with good experienced management teams (Dream Team) and financial numbers that work. Again, it is how you approach them. Practise. Practise. Prac tise. Practise. And remember you get to be a good presenter by making, first, bad presentations! Presentation skills are extremely important! You only have one time to make a first f irst impression! I get a number of deals to review and various questions from QLA devotees. The bad deals invariably have economic models that are based on erroneous err oneous assumptions. Remember, Remember, you get to understand good deals by looking at and attempting a ttempting bad deals and having experience e xperience around you! I know it is hard, but "just do it" as the Nike advert says! Our "Chat Room" will facilitate quick response from me. It will also be conducive to "your comfort zone", because it will be faceless. How it will work will be discussed soon. The bottom line is, this is an economic era most of us will not live long enough to see again. Instead of hiding we should be out turning over rocks. Most people are better off staying in areas they know best, but that is not mandatory. Surround yourself with SMART people and never stop swinging the bat, and magic will happen. This will not be easy unless you change! Just think if you were judged by who you hang out with - are they SMART? Are they where you want to be? High performance people don’t "hang out". They stopped doing that, if they the y ever did, when they left lef t school. Remember lone eagles sore! (I just got off the phone with a young German (26) who brought me a bad deal some months ago who is now on the right track. I still remember meeting him in the Churchill Hotel in London. As he was over 40 minutes late, I could only spend 20 minutes with him. He was dripping with sweat, but had a dream. His vision is now clearer) MOST FUN DEALS OVER FOUR DECADES When I look back at a t my career and look at the 95 (now much more) times I was told "Dan, You You Can’t Do That", listed in my book and on my new website, a few stick out boldly as my favourites (and all were done in awful economic times - just like now): a. Starting the first financial planning department on Wall Street in 1973 during the bear market of 73/74. The pundits said what? b. Taking Taking the first option (an agreement to buy something in the future) public on the London Stock Exchange in 1984 in 3½ months. During that same time-frame the dollar collapsed to almost parity (1 to 1) to the British Pound. The shares traded in Sterling! The assets were US and valued in dollars. The advisors choked! c. Listing a company on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange (Dec) in only seven weeks from initial introduction in Nov ‘85 when I could not get it done in London, or the US because of falling oil
prices and needed money to close acquisitions. The advisors choked! d. Raising the first money on the London Stock Exchange post Oct ‘87 Stock Market crash in Nov ‘87. The advisors double choked! e. Raising the first money on the London Stock Exchange post Aug ‘90 Iraq invasion of Kuwait with Kuwait as my 30% partner in Sep ‘90. The advisors choked and stopped breathing! f. Building an, almost, half a billion dollar energy company through 22 acquisitions as oil went in a free fall from $40 to $8 per barrel. Every deal got tougher and the advisors always said I was crazy! g. Initiating and completing from "idea to a focused exit" of a "public to private" $305 million healthcare company on the London Stock Exchange that had collapsed twice under my leadership with DLJ and CSFB. The deal was considered not doable in the UK mid 1999, having started it in mid 1997 with an "apprentice plumber" as my partner. All these were accomplished when the markets and odds were against my teams. It sounds like bragging, but I want to make a vivid point. WE ARE IN A SIMILAR ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT. ENVIRONMENT. Fortunes are going to be made. MBO’s and MBI’s are being planned by the thousands all over the world. Management M anagement teams are looking at their own companies to buy. buy. Teams Teams from other companies are looking at companies in their own industry to buy into. Large companies are spinning off assets to raise cash and, or pay down debt. And the game goes on. All of the above are being accomplished at cheaper prices than Sep 11. Some are being done at wholesale prices because companies can’t carry debt service. Some will go out of business if they don’t sell assets on the cheap NOW! The experienced wait for times like this. In my career 1973/74, 1987, 1990, 2000 and 2001 stand out as huge opportunities. Of course, in each industry there were other down periods. The energy business suffered from 1982 - 1990. Of course, I, nor the teams I LED didn’t buy into these scenarios and some of my best years for deals where during these periods. The operative word is "LED". THEN A COACH I would argue that getting some of the people who read this letter across the goal line from 1993 2000 as a coach were wer e MUCH BIGGER SUCCESSES than any I ever e ver had personally. The "plumber" mentioned above and I did a $305 million transaction. He has since built a career on that transaction not knowing a debit from a credit. A "pre med student" and I did a $10 million real estate securitisation not knowing how to do a spreadsheet. A "carnival barker" (qassi circus clown) and I did an IPO valued at $60 million. And an "airplane mechanic" and I did a merger valued at $120 million with the carnival barker. Neither knew anything about finance. How about a "staircase salesman" buying a 10 million-guilder construction company last Dec who still can’t read a balance sheet and financed it at 110%. Or a "refinery worker" and "playboy" building a financial services company borrowing 8½ million guilders and making six acquisitions from 1998 - 2000. Don’t misunderstand me. There were plenty of failures to fill up additional pages, along with many other small successes to go with the above. Whilst they were able to raise money and buy companies this doesn’t necessarily mean they can run them properly. Many have had hard times since. At some juncture, with their newfound success, they believe somehow they have been transformed into Warren Buffet. In my next life I will try 8 years of coaching operating systems and financial management instead of raising money and acquisitions. Again, all the above was accomplished a ccomplished in great times of chaos, confusion and uncertainty and in most cases with financially unsophisticated individuals. I could go on for pages giving you more examples of success in the face of bad, to extremely bad news. Remember from chaos comes order! Choordic! REAL LIFE
Speaking of chaos, two partners that own a UK based £20 million turnover company just walked out of my office here at Guthrie. One had attended a castle seminar. They have a very large share of a worldwide market. The company is in high-tech manufacturing. The market has deteriorated greatly and may continue declining for some time. They have some 20 years invested in the business. Both smart engineers with 85 - 90% of their sales made through outside sources not in their control - manufactures reps! The reps will sell whatever is in their own portfolio of products easiest to get through the recession, with the highest margins for themselves. Hence there is no reason for the reps to increase their efforts to assist the company. company. The company is worth significantly less today than 2 - 4 years ago. There are more details but they only get worse. Having a big market share of a small market with slim margins is tough at best. They are near my age and have been looking for an alternative for a year or two. I had previously told the primary founder I told them today to sell to their employees, because they would value it higher, are emotionally tied to the business and banks / VCs would finance it waiting for an upturn in the market 4 to 7 years hence when they can exit. In the meantime the founders have an exit. Too bad most people wait too long - usually during bad times - to start thinking about an exit. I wish them luck! What should they do? The Chat Room would have the answer! DIDN’T LIKE BEING RIGHT FYI - From 1900 - 2000 there have been 22 recessions averaging 15 months each. Stock markets are leading economic indicators. I wrote and said at the beginning of this year I believed the market would go south - BIG TIME. I said I didn’t know exactly why, but some pundits would tell us why - after the fact - I said the market was overvalued! We then had the March / April collapse, led by high tech/telecoms - then some recovery. Now Sep 11 has changed the world and how we think for ever. Many of the industries that were out of vogue are now in and high rise view offices are looked upon differently. The Physical Security Industry is "in", and telecoms telec oms are supposedly "out". Open your mind and eyes. Look at business differently. Life certainly is not the same - if the "war on terrorism" is on going, various industries will prosper. Their Their prices have already gone up. Just as prices of airlines, insurance companies and others have gone down. How we insure assets will change! You You can fly fl y and stay in Las Vegas Vegas for almost nothing. Dinner shows are free in some hotels there. I could go on and on! Get out of the caves! Pull your head out! Keep your eyes open! If you aren’t thinking differently, notwithstanding this horrific loss of life, you will be exactly exactl y where you are now, if not worse off, 3, 5 or 10 years from now. Re-read my book - re-listen to my tapes! Out of respect for f or what happened I didn’t write sooner. sooner. I EVEN TOOK SOME TIME OFF! Time waits for no one. Look at poor Polaroid! PERSONAL CONVICTIONS For those of you that know me well (hell not even well) you know what I think should be done to this psychotic faction of people who did this shameful and heinous act to innocent people. My politics have not changed. If anything they have been reinforced by these recent actions. For every pound of concrete made to rubble and lost in NYC and Washington Washington DC, my and the good guys resolve has been strengthened. I am proud to be an American. I am proud to be a Veteran and a former U.S. Army Officer. Officer. And I am even more proud to say it! As my father says at 83, "if you live long enough you will probably see everything in life twice". Depending on which end of my 56 year life span you look from I sincerely hope and pray I don’t see this kind of carnage, or the carnage I saw as a child again!
To the Worlds Quantum Leap and God Bless America and All Her Loyal Friends and Allies. Daniel S Peña Sr. P.S. As you have read the recent QLA Product "Clear Out Sale" Sale " went well and Paul, my retired British Royal Marines assistant will be having another traunch out soon. I’ve attached two of the recent emails received from recent happy product purchasers as a postscript - I am not surprised. P.P.S. NEW WEBSITE: My new QLA Dan Peña website will be completed 1 Nov and our QLA Chat Room should be done shortly thereafter. thereafte r. I call it a Chat Room, but the ONLY ONLY one you will be able to chat to is me at designated times for quantumly less than attending a seminar. Lucky you! P.P.P.S. Examples of emails received regarding product sale: #1 "Hi Dan, Please send me more details of the remaining product sale items. I have just finished watching the videos from the 3 day seminar - THE BEST INFORMATION INFORMATION I’VE HEARD IN I N ONE PLACE. With thanks. Keith" #2 "Hi Dan, It’s about 4.30am Sunday morning. Having gone through the "Finance Your Your Dream" video, I am having trouble sleeping!!! I have just got up to reset my goals. I have been aiming way too low. I always tell people that the one thing that most "screws" with the mind is lack of direction. Advice that I have personally ignored over the past year or so! Thank you Dan for delivering the "kick up the arse" that I needed. I will keep you updated with my progress. I have been passing the web address to some people that I know will enjoy your style. Hopefully they will benefit as much as I am. All the best. Mark QLIP (Quantum Leap In Progress)"
ISSUE #28 From Dan Peña - Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer. Dear Subscriber and Friend, It is Christmas Eve and I am reflecting on how all of you are preparing for a festive holiday season. It is 11am and I worked with a UK colleague until 1am their time on an engagement letter I had promised would get out today from The Guthrie Group (TGG) (www.theguthriegroup.co.uk). (www.theguthriegroup.co.uk). Whilst I do not think anything unusual about this, I am sure many of you might - and I am positive most in the business world think I was extraordinarily odd! Well I’ve been odd a long, a ver y long time. In this vain I, and the same colleague had an appointment at 3pm in London with one of the largest banks providing private equity in Europe on Friday not realizing the bank had been shut down for the holidays since 12pm. The Director was there and we had a productive meeting. In fact I had a "world class" idea that could possibly help our largest corporate client while sitting there waiting for the meeting to start. This year has been an unusual year notwithstanding the terrible tragedy of 11 Sept. It makes this holiday season more special indeed. I have closed out my last office in the USA and will focus on a handful of projects going forward
for 2002. I will also continue with a very few mentees on a very special basis. One especially has made such giant strides it is hard to believe. I am proud of all of them, but especially he and the one who runs our corporate finance consortium, The Guthrie Group (TGG)who has also made great strides. My websites have been changed dramatically to reflect my new positioning as The Head of The Guthrie Group (TGG). I encourage you to look at them again. (www.danpena.com (www.danpena.com www.theguthriegroup.co.uk). www.theguthriegroup.co.uk). They have been updated yet again and will be changed often. My Dan Peña web site reflects my QLA methodology and how it is still available through the purchase of product and my book. We We have also liquidated a lot of old product in recent weeks. The product is still good because it is timeless. The new product merely uses different, updated, examples. There is still some available and Paul, my assistant, will let you know how to get it. Seminars will only be given to corporate clients clie nts of TGG going forward. These bespoke events will happen infrequently infre quently by design. The new chat room was initiated last month and was a great success. The faceless element worked better than anticipated. I was surprised at the questions asked and the ability to answer in simple terms. The next chat possible with me will be in late January. I am looking forward to it. The beginning of the year is a good time to plan for the future. I have used this time frame for 30 years to look at what I have done and what I could have done better. I also look at what I can do for the upcoming New Year. For those of you that have been in business with me, you know this is a similar format to that I require as a one page weekly report with three sections: Weekly accomplishments; Next weeks goals; Problems in the week just j ust ended. This is a very simple method to measure if you are making real progress vis-à-vis your plan and goals. As one of my favourite people would say "what gets measured gets done." For myself most of my goals were accomplished in 2001. The ones that weren’t had other participants who had a part to play. If my leadership skills had been better all my goals could have been accomplished. I take full responsibility. Man plan and god laughs! As a leader of some experience, it has taken me almost 20 years to understand how much communication and leadership effects this process. Remember communication means: message sent; message received; and message acted upon. Of course leadership is having others do what you want them to do, when you want them to do it, not when they want to do it consistent with the plan. Without these two intellectually simple processes QLA methodology is not possible. They both require great withdrawals from our emotional bank accounts. ac counts. As some some of you know I am blessed by being able to make these very difficult withdrawals with seemingly little effort. I have made such difficult decisions so many times it appears as if it does not have an effect on me. I am not letting a secret out of the bag - it does have an effect! Proceeding, in spite of fear, is a primary difference between a high performance person and a non-believer low expectation person. As I have said countless times "I may be wrong, but I am never in doubt". Remember to act as if you had no limits to your abilities. Act in a robust and enthusiastic manner and you will attract people that will allow you to accomplish your goals. But be cognizant that all people do not share your goals and aspirations. That’s That’s OK! Find people that share high expectations and you will, by definition, start accomplishing more. I have said for many years, "Get a mentor that has been there and done it"! Modelling on someone that has been successful will help immensely. That is a big part of the Quantum Leap Advantage. I have decided to add, as post scripts, to this year-end newsletter emails from two of you without your names. These emails illustrate some important points about what keeps people from making their own Quantum Leap. In almost all cases it is the lack of taking action and in some cases it is the fear of what will happen when failure is a result. But surprisingly, in some cases if someone takes action, but the wrong action it is the further fear of the consequences of yet another action that
keeps them in the status quo. It then becomes a self fulfilling prophecy of non-action due to fear of failure. Remember you will act mostly based on whom you surround yourself with and what they might think until you are trained to act following QLA precepts. If you surround yourself with low expectation, low self esteem dummies it is next to impossible to go against the trend of conventional wisdom, with strongly opposed actions. As one of the emails writes back, almost immediately, they know part of their problem is they care what other people think of them too much. Most people care about what other people think. That is a simple fact of life. As long as it is moral, honest, ethical and not against the law in my judgment it is OK! "Don’t go out of your way to be horrible", as one of my partners says. Being all you can be is not meant to hurt anyone. QLA teaches you to be the very best you can be. I have said ad-nauseum, "You "You can’t be a good son/daughter, father/mother, brother/sister, partner in business, or anything without feeling good about yourself - you are not being selfish thinking of yourself". I am not trying to get religious, but all religions talk about loving yourself and others!! Why not you? Have a great holiday season. I prey for the men in the "War "War on Terrorism". I spent the holidays of 1967 and 1968 away during a different kind of war and remember re member them vividly. It was a very different world then, but the experience helped make me who I am over three decades ago. I look forward to 2002 like few years before. I have said there are opportunities for all that may never come again in our lifetimes. Take action and do something different. Take Take a risk! - and do it again! and again! and again! Remember it is the things we did not do we are repentant and sorry for when our end comes. Live life to the fullest each and every day. Live life on purpose. Just think about 11 September and the tragic massive loss of life. When those men, women and children got up that fateful morning they did not know it would be their last. What if it was your last? How would you have been measured? Would you have been proud of your efforts? To your Quantum Leap in whatever you want and God bless you! Happy holidays and may ma y you have the most promising year ever! Respectfully, Respectfully, Dan Peña P.S. Letters: Letter 1: "Dear Mr Peña, I have two questions which maybe you can touch on in your next Newsletter: The first problem I am having with growing……is dealing with personal relationships. I call this particular problem the…"I’m damned if I do and damned if I don’t". I have a long time friend who was raised in a disciplined manner and it’s very hard for him to pay a genuine compliment - or ask for help for that matter……and yet when I try to grow or change it’s instantly noticeable……he doesn’t have to say anything……he sends the message in so many unspoken words that I am a m being deceitful somehow by not telling him everything I am up to……and when I do share the things I am up to……he becomes judge, jury and a nd executioner……he’ll usually find something wrong or negative to say, or if he likes it…… he’ll just take the idea/knowledge etc I’ve laboured for……and not say a damn word of "thank you" or praise or anything!!! I value the friendship but I am having problems keeping it on the same plane it was formed! As for the second question - well I’ll just make the tough and right decision. Thank you again Sir" Letter 1(b) - from the same writer as Letter 1 (above) "Dear Mr. Peña, Never mind about that question……at least for me……I realized after I sent it that I still care too
much what other people think of me or will think of me." Letter 2 "Dear Dan, I’m an Entrepreneur. Entrepreneur. I am 35 and have not achieved anywhere near the financial goals I set for myself at a young age. If I were to stand trial, accused ac cused of the following, I would be found GUILTY GUILTY on all accounts: 1. Failing to set BIGGER goals than I could achieve in my lifetime; 2. Spending thousands of pounds buying tapes, books and attending (some) useless seminars over 15 years; 3. Lotus 1-2-3ing too much and getting paral paralysis ysis via perfection; 4. Writing detailed business plans; 5. Picking the "wrong" idea or vehicle or business too many times; 6. Thinking that getting significant financing was something I could do only when I already had money; 7. Thinking I could "catch two rabbits" at once (not focussing); 8. Failing to find a REAL mentor; 9. Taking Taking too long to make decisions. Of course I could go on, but 9 counts of GUILTY should see me put away for f or life. HOWEVER I would have been found NOT GUILTY on ALL of the following counts: 1. Lacking integrity, being unreliable or unable to make appointments; 2. Having a negative or pessimistic attitude; 3. Working 9-5 everyday and watching 40 hours of TV a week; 4. Living l ife according to the daily tabloids; 5. Drowning my life in misery after I’ve been beat down; 6. Being small minded or stagnating my personal growth; 7. Failing to buy a personal fax machine or returning messages and other correspondence within 24 hours; 8. Not willing to do whatever it takes or failing to act when I needed to even if it was uncomfortable or inconvenient; 9. Dressing inappropriately for success. I have bought everything I could, that you have written or recorded for training purposes since I first came across a cross your path and now I am doing 10 hours a day on the QL methodology until I achieve a QL. I place you on a pedestal as far as "high performance people" go, or I would not be writing this tonight - and this is a "spur of the moment decision". You truly are a unique individual - congratulations on stepping where others fear to. Recently I decided I would pick a vehicle that could handle QL, instead of all the "Mickey Mouse" ones I have been playing with in the past. Therefore, unless I find something better, I decided I would focus on PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT. Although I have a small advertising company with a partner (we have a contract with a major TV company for selling text advertising space), I wanted to start building a "big dream" and so I hunted out some "winners" from the Property Field. I found a company and a gentleman who was MD of a 1.1Bil property company in the 1980’s. I said I would work for free in return for learning what I could etc. I have implemented many positive changes and assisted them diligently, however I can see now after a few months, that QL is certainly not in their blood (anymore) - well if it is, it has taken a large sleeping pill! As you were offering it on your web site, my plan was to sign up as many people interested in your QL Newsletter as I needed in order to win a one hour consultation with you, but whilst I am still planning to do this (yes it is a written goal), I was thinking: "why should I work for NON-QL people for free, when I could possibly be working under the same terms, but for / with PRO-QL people?" On this very thought, I have written this email, knowing that the "everyone wants to work with Dan and his associates" cliché exits, but trusting at the same time that maybe you might recognise I do
not categorize myself as, "everybody". BOTTOM LINE: I am willing to work for free for / with yourself (pending a meeting in person) or with some other PRO-QL individuals you might put me in contact with. Say "No" if you will, but I dare you to test my commitment and integrity. I am well "pissed off" (with myself) for not having made it yet and therefore hungry and willing to do deals. I’ll meet you at four in the morning or on a Saturday night if that’s necessary. necessary. My details are below, so, will you set aside 5 - 10 minutes, let me buy you a coffee and assess the possibility of initiating my offer? Kind regards"
ISSUE #29 From Dan Peña - Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer. Dear Subscriber and Friend, Well the year has started off with a bang! My home in California sold; the prospects for deals are better than I anticipated; one of my mentees has ascended to the lofty position of "Top Gun" in a large organisation; and another mentee is closing their first deal. As I sit on a train from Derby Der by,, England to London, Sunday night (after an important client meeting), mee ting), I have decided notwithstanding the above to write about a line from a movie just released in the US. "I am Sam" is a movie about a mentally disadvantaged father, played by Sean Penn, trying to keep and raise his 7/8 year old daughter. He says in a very poignant moment to his aggressive female lawyer, "You "You don’t know what it’s like to try, try, and try and try tr y and you don’t get there". When I heard this unmistakeable cry for help and understanding I, perhaps for the first time, understood the challenge most people have in exploiting new avenues in the business world I have existed in for more than 30 years. Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, the entire QLA methodology is based indirectly on this idea. The "Dream Team", advisors, et al are there to preclude you from experiencing what Sam did. At the end of the day following QLA helps you in all facets of your life, because it is basically a program that helps you lift your self esteem and self worth by practise and surrounding yourself with high performance people. Virtually all my adult life, or at least since I was about 21, I have sought the people who could assist me in getting the job done. I have come to realize, time and time again, that modelling success is the method that eliminates much of the pain associated with failure or the fear of failure. Of course personalities differ greatly, but finding and ultimately choosing someone to guide you is of paramount importance. In the movie Sam found a strong female fe male lawyer. As I said in my m y recent newsletter the economic environment is wrought with opportunity. opportunity. I thought it germane to describe/define, using current vernacular and descriptions, what and how deal/transactions are described. The following is what The Guthrie Group(TGG) is involved with. In addition to our transactional practice we have a strong consulting practice as our website (www.theguthriegroup.com www.theguthriegroup.com)) illustrates. MBO - The term "Management Buy-Out" (MBO) has come into common parlance as a generic expression representing the acquisition of a company from it’s owners by the existing management team. Such an opportunity is most likely to arise out of a proposed sale or retirement situation in a
private company, the sale of a non-core subsidiary by a public quoted company or as a result of an insolvency. insolvency. The necessary finance will normally come from f rom a blend of the management team, banks and institutional investors together with, in appropriate circumstances, the current owner. LBO - Increasing, "buy-outs" are being used in public companies and other larger situations often as a defensive move, such as restructuring the activities of a group or even returning it to private ownership. This has spawned the term "Leveraged Buy-Out" (LBO) as a variation on the MBO theme, whereby a large part of the funding to make the acquisition is debt financed - primarily by institutions providing what is known as "MEZZANINE DEBT". Mezzanine debt sits between equity capital and secured debt when the cash flows of a business can support a higher level of borrowing than the asset base alone can secure. EBO - A further further MBO variation is i s the "Employee Buy-Out" (EBO) whereby managers are joined in full equity participation by a sizeable number of the employees of the business. SSO - Another variation is the "Sponsored Spin-Out" (SSO) where a large company may recognise r ecognise that the development of a project may be better suited to a more entrepreneurial environment, but does not wish to forego all of the upside if it is successful. In such a situation the business could be "spun out" into a new company, company, owned jointly by the original company, company, the management team, and an independent institutional backer - often with an option for the original company to buy it back on a price formula. It is, therefore, in the best interest of all parties for the management team to make a success of the venture as an independent business; at the same time, the presence of the institutional investor should give it the credibility to withstand any undue influence. BOMB - Yet Yet another phenomenon is "Bring the Old Management Back" (BOMB), where an entrepreneurial business has been sold to a large professionally managed organisation under whose direction it has lost it’s way - and profitability. Provided the vendors are not in breach of warranty, and cannot be held to be so, there could be an opportunity for them to buy-back the business on favourable terms. MWO - Where a MBO is unsuccessful or impractical, and taking into account the potential legal ramifications of so doing, a management team may consider a "Management Walk-Out" Walk-Out" (MWO) as an alternative. This is, in fact, a form of start-up - perhaps a "running start-up" - but the complications and possible legal implications implica tions should not be underestimated. MBI - Where an external management team targets a business as a "Management Buy-In" (MBI) it is usually because it believes it can do a better job than the existing management. The opportunity may therefore be for a stagnant business, a turnaround situation or even an outright rescue - an can apply to both private and public companies. All of the funding and leveraging techniques tec hniques (financial and psychological) that are used in MBO’s are equally applicable to MBIs. BIMBO - About half of all acquisitions by management teams result in the involvement of a combination of existing and outside managers, either by design or at the insistence of financial backers if a strengthening of the team is a condition of their investment. Such a transaction is called a "Buy-In/Management Buy-Out" (BIMBO). IBO - With the increasing size of deals, and the weight of capital needed, larger MBOs and MBIs are becoming known as "Institutional Buy-Outs (IBOs) since the actual management teams are initially only able to afford a relatively small stake in the overall company. However, it can still turn out to be a substantially more lucrative deal for the management team than going with the trade sale. There is money available, almost on any front, for a strong management team with an economic model that works. Start-up capital is hardest to come by. This finance is most easily obtained from F - F - F, or friends, family famil y and fools! I’ve enclosed two recent emails from QLA devotees as post scripts. They are written from different directions, but both are important. One is a Quantum Leap In Progress (QLIP) and the other is a
very successful entrepreneur. Until my next newsletter I wish you good health and fortune, f ortune, and may the QLA force be with you. To Your Your Quantum Q uantum Leap Dan Peña P.S. "Dan, It’s about 4.30am Sunday morning. Having gone through your Finance Your Your Dream video, I am having a hard time sleeping!!! I have just got up to re-set my goals. I have been aiming ai ming way too low. I always tell people that the one thing that "screws" with the mind, is "lack of direction", advice that I personally ignored over the past year or so! Thank you Dan for delivering the "Kick Up The Ass" that I needed. I will keep you updated with my progress. I have been passing the web address to some people that I know will enjoy your style. Hopefully they will benefit as much as I am. All the best. MB (QLIP - Quantum Leap In Progress)" P.P.S. "Dan, Hi! - I would like to wish you a great holiday and thank you for being part of an interesting and challenging year. I’m sure you and I have both done our best this year with varying results on varying fronts…That’s Life! Let’s Let’s go home, enjoy our friends and families and reflect refl ect on how we can be…………… Better Leaders Better Friends Better Team Members Better Supporters of our Teams Teams Better Husbands and Wives, Lovers and Inspirers Better at Making a Difference Better at Being More Human Better at Balancing our Fears and Desires Better at Being a source of positive change in every situation Better at Smiling and Encouraging Better at Looking for Good. I promise I’ll do my best too! That’s all any of us can do, so have a great Christmas. NG" (As Dan Peña and QLA would say the only caveat to the above is to add, as Churchill said, "Do what’s necessary - not merely your best!")
ISSUE #30 8-Feb-02 From Dan Peña - Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer. Dear Subscriber and Friend, "FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN AND, OR, I DON’T KNOW WHAT I DON’T KNOW"
As I sit here at 35,000 feet on the way to somewhere coming from nowhere, I sip on a beverage wondering why?, why?, why? The guy next to me is reading some book and on the cover jacket it says "There are only two emotions: Love - our natural inheritance, and Fear - an invention of our minds." It goes on to say ……each instant of the day we choose between these two, and our choice determines the kind of day we will have and how we will perceive the world…… Assuming this is true I can better speak to the later of this proverb - "and fear an invention of our minds", after-all this is not an astrological newsletter and I am no expert on love, or matters of the heart! For those of you that read my materials, listen to my tapes, or have heard me in person you know one of my favourite proverbs is "FEAR - False Expectations Expectat ions Appearing Appearing Real" I’m in my 32nd year of business and I can count on two hands (without my thumbs) the times I was really afraid of something. In reality I can count on one hand when I felt real fear - and I can say I have been gripped by fear that kept me from acting only once. I was 11, or 12 years old and was so fearful it affected my breathing and I believe my rational thought. A big, older, older, kid chased me down and was about to do something - I DID NOT KNOW WHAT! WHAT! Of course at that age it’s questionable how much rational thought is possible, but I can assure you I was "shit scared". The above scenario is quite different than the time I acted out of anger or rage - as a younger man. Notwithstanding the aforementioned I have for all of my professional business career been an extreme optimist! In hindsight sometimes too long! (But I can assure you an optimist will do better in life than a pessimist). I’ve said various things, over the years some of which are listed on my website (which has been updated, yet, again): "Bad times don’t last, but tough people do!" or "I may be wrong, but I am never in doubt!" And other Peñaisms/proverbs, either down playing negative thought, or even belittling it. The reality of life is bad things do happen - even to good people! Even to people that "never give up or never surrender!" Such a real story will follow. I’ve received permission to relate it in detail. Many people believe firmly I am a man who can throw caution to the wind and follows the war-like standards of "full speed ahead and take no prisoners." Such a perceived persona has served me well over the years but probably has left a false impression for my "other" skill sets. For those of you that have seen me in "the eye of the tiger" you know I can’t be intimidated. I act as if "there are no limits to my abilities", abil ities", knowing ALL PEOPLE DO HAVE HAVE LIMITS. I coach the same precepts - and it works! My experience is these limits are mainly perceived limits that become real. "Perception is reality" - another of my favourites. (I am not referring to physical/strength limits, etc. where limits are more defind). In one of my favourite Newsletters, favourite Newsletters, # 23, 23 , (which I recommend you read often) I quote the meeting results and outcome, of some very bright people that are responsible for various extraordinary accomplishments. These men had founded and grown large public companies; were heads of huge consultancy firms; all still were extremely well we ll THOUGHT OF AND STILL WERE ON THE QUEST TO BE BETTER! In that Newsletter the "Stockdale Paradox" is referenced. (Admiral Stockdale is a true American hero receiving rece iving The Congressional Medal of Honor, America’s highest award for bravery! I strongly recommend his book. Go to "Google" and find out more). "Admiral Stockdale survived 7 years of torture in Vietnam not by being overly "optimistic" of being rescued within weeks, but by being realistic of knowing it could be years. The other "optimistic" American POWs around him died from broken expectations and hearts…of hope to be rescued within weeks. REALISTS ARE BRUTALLY HONEST WITH THEMSELVES…YET THEY STILL HAVE AN UNWAVING BELIEF THAT THEY WILL PREVAIL. FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION, EVEN IN THE FACE OF GREAT ADVERSITY…JUST KNOW WHAT YOUR ADVERSITY REALLY IS!"
As an aside the U.S. space program at NASA is based on "failure is not an option." Most of us don’t understand what "Your "Your adversity really is!" People fabricate and delude themselves! I act as a permanent reality check for the people I work with! Even though I have grown older, and ostensibly more mature, I have adhered to this principle subconsciously almost all my adult life. I believe my military background is the main cause for this attitude. I am a realist that is not only brutally honest with myself (though my wife and children would disagree), but others as well. I have tempered my actions with others in recent years. No good comes from over emphasising the negatives that are obvious to even the casual observer! No good comes from beating the less gifted! No good comes from kicking mental cripples! But I believe with all my heart hear t GREATNESS GREATNESS DOES COME FROM PRESSING HARD THE GIFTED AND PRESSING EVEN HARDER THE SUPER GIFTED! LIFE DOESN’T ALWAYS STICK TO THE GAME PLAN! I write as an afterthought to a very recent The Guthrie Group (TGG) consulting experience with various unique personalities (I have changed the circumstances, but not the outcome, to protect the innocent and guilty even though my clients concurred with me telling the story so others might benefit. The bulk of the story remains very accurate. If the shareholder result had not been good I would not have written anything). Unique because of their varied backgrounds and ages. Interestingly there were two women involved, one on each side. The ages of all spanned 32 to 67! At times over a 22 hour period there were some 14 - 15 people involved in a share purchase and compensation negotiation. The reality was one public company was taking it’s third step towards an unwanted takeover. It was unwanted by the three founders who TGG represented. It involved the heads of three public companies and many professional advisors, lawyers, accountants, investment bankers and others. The balance between what is best in man and worst in man came into play. I found it extremely interesting what people would do in representing their own self interests, claiming it was benefiting others. It was almost child-like. In fact my youngest son could have been more persuasive in some instances. After all he just completed Freshman Philosophy and Public Speaking at university. It was a roller coaster of emotions and at the end of 22 hours most involved managed to support sub rosa what was best for themselves whilst crying they were protecting others. It’s not often you see a top-notch lawyer with his head in his hands - crying! Of course he might have gone down as a culprit! Shareholder’s rights was the cry! And by God there were tears! It was a confusing situation that developed over a two year period - AND PROFESSIONALS AND DIRECTORS MAY HAVE SUPPORTED QUESTIONABLE ACTIONS IN THE PAST! - SOUND FAMILIAR? It was a mini Enron! It was saveable at the cost of three heads - the founders - and a great deal of money. I am sure the Enron shareholders and advisors would settle for that outcome this minute. At the end of a very long day most concerned were acting in a manner consistent with self preservation and only coincidentally the shareholders benefited! I was saddened, but hardly surprised. Massive fear, matched with greed and avarice, won the day once more! The fear of being exposed (in a real sense) to a situation not known can be terrifying and throw most completely out of their "comfort zone". The few people I still work with closely are consistently pushed, or gently prodded depending on their personality b y me beyond those boundaries. Sometimes I push too hard! Better too hard than too soft! For that which does not kill me makes me stronger - another favourite. It takes time to understand how far or close to the precipice you can go! In the above transaction I was brought in late, passed the eleventh hour. The clients had used my services over the years very effectively, yet really only superficially. I say superficially, because if they had followed the precepts diligently they could have avoided this outcome. They took the easy way, way, or should I say sa y more conventional way, on many occasions - as most often do! They came ca me to
me in the past when they needed me and only when there was a problem and always waiting too long. Never to really reall y plan - always to react! And as with most, never giving ALL the important information. At times it felt like being spoon fed as if I couldn’t take the whole truth, OR THEY WERE TOO EMBARRASSED TO SAY WHAT THEY HAD DONE. At no time did I meet the personalities they referred to over those years. As I came to know they believed because of MY PERCEIVED STRONG AND AND TOUGH personality, personality, I would so disenfranchise the other parties over the action/dispute in question no long term good would come from it. Or worse they would not be able to deal with the individuals ever again. In hindsight losing a few of these personalities would have been a good thing! Of course THEIR actions got them in trouble in the first place - NOT MINE! It appears they were so sure I couldn’t deal with sensitive situations in an acceptable manner they called me very infrequently. Of course they had become rich and famous - and in that lofty position you tend to listen less and begin to believe your press clippings and, or forget who helped you get there. Me being involved, at all, only came about after we accidentally bumped into each other 14 days before at an airport in the USA. Due to that chance meeting, whilst only getting part of the information, I sent them 48 hours later a long email outlining what was about to occur and how I could help. I said their advisors, board and mentor would find reason to protect themselves at their expense - crying shareholder value and corporate governance! Of course this is their job! (But it doesn’t have to be always at the expense of the founders.) Twelve days later they called in a panic saying everything I wrote had occurred, or was happening to them now! Could I help NOW - this very minute! I said yes! I immediately engaged the best gutter fighting NYC transaction lawyer I knew and I jumped on a plane, calling from the air to arrange for my TGG accountant partner to meet me there, prepared for battle. They called when the stakes were high - my favourite position! This last episode came when their corporate life was about to end with dishonour! Their fellow board of directors and Chairman/mentor had turned their backs on them as often happens when fear enters the decision making process. (I am not writing to justify anybody’s actions taken before I got involved. There obviously were many mistakes and ill informed actions taken by all concerned. Much of the professional advise was biased and self-serving self -serving and some was wrong). The false expectations of my, off again on again, clients and former part-time mentees was fearful enough to keep them from calling me earlier for assistance. Giving them the benefit of the doubt they may not have even thought of me, until they luckily saw me. And as I’ve said, "I’d rather be lucky than smart!" Yet another favourite. When "emotional flooding" comes - that’s when perceived and real problems come faster than we can deal with or process, and after the obvious choice, or solutions go unnoticed or even thought of, no matter how fundamental or rudimentary - even a well balanced and trained individual can have trouble making sense of what’s happening or what to do. At best they usually say or do nothing at this point. No action is taken because they are literally paralysed with fear! I must say in all candour I have not suffered from this malady since 1966 when I entered the military where you are taught to make quick decisions no matter what! Not making decisions isn’t an anomaly. More people don’t take the decision to request assistance (not just from me) sooner because: They just don’t want to hear; hear ; They know they should have called earlier; They are embarrassed for the action they took, or for the non-action; They believe emotionally, emotionally, or financially financiall y they can’t afford advice; They don’t understand how bad things really r eally are; AND, OR THEY FOOLISHLY THINK THEY COULD DO IT THEMSELVES! I can’t recall how many times professionals, especially lawyers, are, brought into situations too late. The expectations of being put through an uncomfortable situation keeps people from taking action. This discomfort could be raised by what friends, family, and colleagues will think or more
importantly say. say. People don’t want to embarrass themselves! One of my favourite Peñaisms comes to mind here "It doesn’t matter what the morons say". Of course in most cultures and large organisations this is very difficult (but not impossible) to implement unless you are Chairman / CEO! Jack Welch Welch (GE), Lou Gestner (IBM), and Bill Gates (Microsoft) (Micr osoft) are such men! Steve Jobs (Apple) is such a man, but got thrown out and returned again triumphantly! The above scenario is life for most. Perception is reality and individuals most often fear due to circumstances they don’t understand and don’t know how to ask about, or can’t control - or as I was told during the marathon 22 hour negotiation ordeal "you don’t know what you don’t know". This was said by a man who had made 35 million dollars by age 30 and now at 32 was up against it - big time! At a post-mortem after the conclusion of the above, the clients I represented told me they were extremely tired and pleasantly surprised at the outcome I got for them. Of course they were experiencing post seller’s seller ’s syndrome syndrome (PSS), or seller’s selle r’s remorse. They received the best result possible, especially, especially, given the time. ti me. They were at least four time deadlines whilst I was involved. The last one I remember was 2am, or the buyer would leave! We returned to the meeting at 4am and went through to 1pm. We We had been across town in our lawyer’s lawyer ’s office negotiating by phone and email. Of course he and his team stayed. The Chairman/mentor left three times in the beginning saying he was quitting and couldn’t deal with his former mentees. I followed him out and brought him back time after time! He was obviously concerned about his reputation as were the other directors and advisors - it’s called "self interest!" If this public company didn’t take immediate action more than a few reputations would be severely tainted, including advisors - and a couple possibly ruined. Their primary battle scare was it would take many people down and this th is was the ONLY ONLY alternative. There was not much mention of shareholder value at this point! Of course with additional time there could have been other alternatives, but it’s important to note in the end the shareholders did get a good deal! The founders were stunned how so many personalities were professionally managed and guided with me not raising my voice even once. Their expectations were proven wrong! Basically I used divide and conquer - even using separate locations - me shuttling back and forth - not separate rooms which is normal. The only time I almost raised my voice was when the three related this fact to me. I had been told by a partner/colleague (who was very familiar with the founders and helped console exposed nerves), though they had become wealthy following my advice and precepts they were afraid I couldn’t save them now! They perceived Dan and QLA only got acquisitions done and Dream Teams Teams organised, etc! The partner/colleague had told them their concerns were false. After all, how could Dan have dealt with The Vatican, Vatican, the Israeli government, et al, and the countless situations over 30 years, if he didn’t know what to say and how to say it at the appropriate time? As some of you know even the Devil can be charming! The founders were scared! Emotional flooding was at work! Though young men they looked old beyond be yond their time and haggard. Notwithstanding the aforementioned an extremely professional outcome was the result as far as the founders were concerned. Even the buyers were happy. happy. And as I said the shareholders did well. The buyers were there to make a deal - not fool around! It was merely a matter of price, terms and conditions as it always is in a deal! I can’t call the outcome fair to the founders. Nor can I say I would have accepted the outcome myself. In fact I told the buyer I would not have accepted myself, but I wasn’t there to make a deal I liked! I was there for my clients. It was the best they ALL could get given the dicey circumstances and I knew it! And they knew it! DREAMS DON’T COME WITH EXPIRATION DATES. The above clients were founders of a company they took public. A darling of the stock market. One of the founders was elected CEO of the year in 2000. All three became wealthy as a result of founding and growing their baby dramatically. One founder was literally married to the company no wife or prospects. They were first and biggest in their industry, and all this in less than ten years
- they had it all! It was a true rags to riches scenario. They all attributed their spectacular growth to my teachings and methodology. I met them early in my coaching career. They adopted QLA regimen to go public. They joined the Clubs I suggested and reorganised their advisors and Board of Directors at my suggestion in 1999/2000 after going public. Those board members (including their mentor) and advisors ultimately helped them out the door when the company ran into troubles. I did not pick the board or advisors, I said they needed higher profile individuals to go to the next level. After that there were no other requests from them since 2000. They felt they could do it on their own! I am not saying there were small problems! They were big problems! Remember another Peñaism; Big Success-Big Rewards = Big Problems! All problems could have been dealt with if faced headon much earlier! Even if they had those extra twelve days I could have obtained a better result for them and they may have still been in charge! Several times during the 22 hours they all commentated they had gone through the entire QLA cycle - from inception of an idea to a focused exit, but not the kind of exit they expected, or wanted! They said "Dan you write and speak about getting thrown out, you are right, this is exactly what can happen". I said, "What do you mean can? It is happening!" I tell all that will listen, very few know when to exit on their own - I speak from experience! Founding a company and staying the course are two different skill sets. Dell and Gates are rare exceptions! It is much easier to pick the more correct course of action when you have lived it yourself - or been there! Done that! Most haven’t! This letter is focussed on two main themes: 1. Fear and your comfort zone dictates much, if not all, of our lives, and 2. Never underestimate how wrong you can be. (Another favourite). The thought of the unknown keeps people from fr om taking action most of their lives. Think of your own situation. Some people use "I must gather facts and do more research" as an excuse for no action! Others will say what will happen to me if I am wrong? Others will say "what will people think?" And still others use simple denial! As Bill Gates says, "Think it! Do it! Fix it!" How often have we all underestimated the consequences? How often have we all over estimated the outcome? This is the dilemma and why battle experience is needed if you want to lessen the pain and agony through the journey and increase the probabilities of success. The above scenario illustrates how people picked to strengthen and consolidate a position ultimately used their power and influence to their own end and safety first, WHILST THE SHAREHOLDERS WERE PULLED ALONG FOR THE RIDE, MOSTLY BECAUSE THEY WERE ON THE SAME WAGON! And, ironically, ironically, the one individual that could help was brought in almost too late because of a FEAR F EAR THAT WAS WAS A FALSE FALSE EXPECTATION EXPECTATION APPEARING APPEA RING REAL! The founders surely deserved better, but by THEIR OWN INDECISION, lack of experience and fear got a lesser result. Don’t let it happen to you! Take early, early, experienced, action! a ction! To Your Your Quantum Q uantum Leap Dan Peña P.S. In case you are wondering - the founders are less wealthy! And my new task is how can I help early in the decision making process - and what next? P.P.S. .P.S. Man is differentiated by the ability to chase down a dream - no other animal, or thing can do that! They did! P.P.P .P.P.S. .S. The cemetery is filled with so many people who died not realising their potential. They have potential still to fulfill.
P.P.P.P.S. You may have received a newsletter from "Noble Manhatten" - unsubscribe if you wish They may have managed to get hold of our mailing list due to an error made by our internet server.
ISSUE #31 19-Mar-02 From Dan Peña - Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer. Dear Subscriber and Friend, "Glory is Fleeting but Obscurity is Forever" Who said this? - Read on…… In recent weeks I have focused on perfecting our model at The Guthrie Group (TGG), which is based upon how do we render the best service adding the most value. Part of that process has been interviewing individuals that may join us at some point this year. This process has been interesting. Though the last several years coaching have had an enormous effect on me vis-à-vis my ability to understand various personalities and to motivate them, it still gets back to people and their perceptions of themselves and how you can advance that positive perception. As I have written on many occasions change is difficult. To illustrate this point I have recently been drawn to Germany due to the massive tax relief change effective 1 Jan 02. In simple terms corporations can now sell off none-core assets for zero capital gain, and smaller companies can receive a relief of 50% from the old rate. The pundits, myself included, thought there would be an onslaught of activity at both levels. For the corporations it was thought of as a real windfall. Corporate finance teams and lawyers got ready for the selling frenzy and the fees. WRONG! In the corporations case unrealistic selling valuations put a halt to any avalanche of selling fees. Now the private sector had the same result for a very different reason - it was cultural! The cultural outlook of business ownership being handed down from generation to generation KEPT CHANGE FROM OCCURRING. One would have thought, again myself included, having to pay 50% less tax would have driven German business owners towards sale. The belief system set up over hundreds of years was (at least for now) too great. Culture plus the mistrust based on the high-tech/dotcom implosion and a general lack of confidence in BIG CITY financial people has actually, actually, by some benchmarks, reduced the sale of businesses based on 1996 figures. I should feel fortunate TGG was late in opening it’s i t’s German office. As I’ve said countless times, "it is better to be lucky than smart - or MAN PLANS, GOD LAUGHS!" (The German thought process is mentioned again later in this letter). I am enclosing two different compositions, again to illustrate change and the lack of it. One is part of a letter I sent out in late 1999. The other is an email I received a couple of days ago. The 1999 letter was written to a prestigious group of CEOs that meet regularly through a common membership that I have spoken to many times. The email is from a person who I just started a business relationship with after many months of talking and due diligence. I believe you will see the difference clearly. Letter 1 (slightly edited) illustrating the theme of no change: (Remember - being around high performance people that are comfortable does not help you grow past their comfort zones!)
Dear Club Members, BACK IN TIME It was a lot of fun for me to return to the scene of the crime, almost six years to the day from first speaking at your Clubs various chapters in 1993. I saw a lot of familiar faces - even familiar clothes! Sam (my host) is not the only one who hasn’t changed much - yes he’s lost weight, etc. I’m writing to say, say, notwithstanding I appreciate the opportunity to spread my message I would be remiss if I didn’t say my mind one more time in writing as I fade out of this stage of my life. Let me start by saying I love Sam. It’s hard not to love Sam. Since 1993, every so often, Sam drops me a note asking if I’d speak again. I’ve historically said "no", but, this time it coincided with my phasing out of certain aspects of my coaching as stated back in 1993. This change will take place in August 2000 – my 55th birthday (it turned out to be August 2001). Anyway, Anyway, I was shocked to see so many people almost al most exactly where they were in 1993. Except for a very few virtually nothing had changed. A little greyer, heavier and in some cases MUCH POORER! Members are complaining about the same crap they had before, but, now they are older and RUNNING OUT OF RUNWA RUNWAY! Many of the participants agreed a greed with my assessment, during my candid talks across the USA, yet still do the same old thing and still expect different results, than their quiet lives of desperation. INSANITY - NO CHANGE Many of you have heard me say, "insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results." You’ve You’ve also heard me say sa y "high performance people don’t waste time on things they can’t change." Therefore I realize, as I sit here in my London apartment writing this, I may get through to no one, with this letter. But, I’ve decided to endeavour one last time. The problem with clubs like this one and others, is simple - no accountability. Ultimately they turn into (if not start as) a "social happening". I’ve had this discussion, years ago, with many club officials. In fact, during part of my East Coast trip I stayed with friends at their estate in Patomac, Maryland. An estate they would point out my friendship and business precepts help them acquire. Too bad more didn’t listen. I can’t be happier for them! (I have also had the privilege of counselling their extremely bright son who is now at UBS Warburgs Warburgs - NYC). The main difference between these friends and virtually every executive type at the club is simple they take action and understand they will err and will make the appropriate corrections. They fail themselves to success after success like a rocket to the moon - correction after correction. (That was before the modern equipment). To build their net worths they expand the ir emotional bank accounts. Quite simple in words - very difficult in practice! Another primary fault of the various clubs are the speakers trying to sell their various goods and services. Therefore they would rather tell you the easy stuff so you’ll like them and buy. buy. During my seven days of speaking, across the USA, I told true stories of three members of two Club chapters, I could have told more but chose not to. Two Two paid me significant amounts of money to assist them in pursuing what they said was their dream. They brought several people to my week long "Castle Experience" and paid me as a consultant! Another one tried, unsuccessfully, to breach a contract with me. He was ordered by the Court to pay me. The two who paid suffered financially and didn’t have to. As I’ve said before I take responsibility for not getting them to follow my advice, (at the end of the day I still believe it is the coach/mentor’s responsibility). They paid and didn’t, or couldn’t emotionally act upon the advice I
gave them. Advice they paid a lot for, and now they are significantly worse off. In fact, one lost almost all he had. The bottom line is they both couldn’t take the actions to change. One of the businesses was becoming obsolete - yet couldn’t c ouldn’t change even to save himself. The two, who shall remain nameless, are very much like the memberships of all the various CEO clubs throughout the U.S. and the world. They pay pa y to be members for, perhaps, some emotional security and they listen, ad nauseam, and take virtually no action towards change. I’ve never been able to understand! Perhaps in my next life I will! Though going back to being a transaction junkie I’ll be dealing with different emotional bank accounts. In this arena death comes much more quickly if you don’t adapt through change. To Your Your Quantum Q uantum Leap Daniel S Peña Sr. Letter 2: Hi Dan, Today, oday, the 15th, March, I said I would give a summary of how exactly I would proceed, (with change were necessary). Well that was done yesterday really reall y. Instead today, I thought I’d do another type of summary, as it’s it’s nearly two weeks since I "officially" came c ame on board on my mind was doing a re-cap. POINTS TAUGHT TO ME / LEARNED FROM YOU TO DATE: 3 things about Dan: 1.You’re 1.You’re tough – there is no "soft under belly". 2.You 2.You eat people like me for lunch, but you protect protec t YOUR flock. 3.You 3.You don’t want me to say sa y or do anything to compromise or risk your name or business relationships or clients/mentees (i.e. Alternative topics to 3rd parties) - this I did know well, but I understand you needed to STATE IT VERY CLEARLY! 3 Things about life: 1.Shit happens! 2.Shit rolls downhill! 3.Get your shit together! 3 Bad things about me: 1.I had a tendency to "bullshit" - definition since established = "I talk about things that I had only read about, not done." (Like virtually all other coaches). 2.I had a tendency to justify or defend my position - understood to have been driven by the fact that I felt inadequate about my life and "success" to this point, in comparison to the high performance goals I had set for myself (i.e. low self-worth). 3.Networking and some of the other "Micky Mouse" businesses I have been involved with or worked at early in my life, will not cut it in the city big games or QL and should be left behind, not spoken about in public. 3 Good things about me: 1.You have a degree of respect for some of the character traits I have developed (discipline, persistence, follow-up, personal growth, punctuality). 2.You 2.You have decided that I DO have what it takes to QL with your guidance (well I was convinced, but I’m glad you agreed). 3.You 3.You recognize by now that I DO understand the definition of the words "integrity" and "honesty" and I live by them.
3 Things to Succeed: 1.Accept correction without retort and only talk about what I have done, or now what are my new goals. 2.Continue to absorb and apply the knowledge and information required to play and win in the land of QL. 3.Retain a consistent amount of New Deal Presentations (Deal Flow) and subsequent in person meetings. Thanks for all of the above. I believe I have grasped things so far, no doubt there will be a lot more to come and I am looking forward to it. I am grateful that you did give me the chance. Talk soon Regards XX As you can see change is possible, I believe someone who is ready wrote the second letter. My first letter was written to hundreds where I was looking for maybe one that would write me an email similar to the above letter #2. As it turned out I got a couple out of the CEO Group across the USA. To me it was wa s worth the week it took me to go to all the cities. ERGO PERHAPS I DO HAVE HAVE A SEMBLANCE OF A "SOFT UNDER BELLY" To Your Your Quantum Q uantum Leap Daniel S Peña Sr P.S. Congratulations to the following: Ian Bruce and Michael Micha el Muzyak for each winning a copy of "Build Your Your Own Guthrie" as a result of achieving the best scores in the "Are You You Afraid Of Success" series of tests for the months of January and February, February, 2002 respectively. respectively. P.P.S. .P.S. Speaking of change - next month is my 1st anniversary anniversar y of being on the Internet as an individual. I have taken the following action in the last 11 months: Fired our web-server replacing them with a more responsive UK based one; had both my (our) websites reduced in size and redesigned producing significant results; now send my own emails which some may say is not such a good thing! P.P.P.S. For you social scientists trying to be a high performance person in the business world I add these definitions for a little humour. (No offence is meant towards any an y of the groups mentioned): SOCIAL SCIENCE 101 - THE "TWO COW EXPLAINATION" OF WHAT MAKES… A CHRISTIAN DEMOCRAT:You have two cows. You keep one and give one to your neighbour. A SOCIALIST:You have two cows. The government takes one and you give one to your neighbour. A REPUBLICAN:You have two cows. Your neighbour has none. So what? A DEMOCRAT:You have two cows. Your neighbour has none. You feel guilty for being successful. You vote people into office who tax your cows, forcing you to sell sel l one to raise money to pay the tax. The people you voted for then take the tax money and buy a cow and a nd give it to your neighbour. neighbour. You feel self-righteous. A COMMUNIST:Y COMMUNIST:You ou have two cows. The government seizes both and provides you with milk. A FASCIST:You have two cows: The government seizes both and sells you the milk. You join the underground and start a campaign of sabotage. AMERICAN DEMOCRACY:Y DEMOCRACY:You ou have two cows: The government taxes you to the point you have to sell them both to support a man in a foreign country who only has one cow, which is a gift from
your government. CAPITALISM, AMERICAN STYLE: You have two cows. You sell one, buy a bull, and build a herd of cows. BUREAUCRACY, BUREAUCRACY, AMERICAN STYLE: You You have two cows. The government takes them both, shoots one, milks the other, pays you for the milk, and pours the milk down the drain. AN AMERICAN CORPORATION: You have two cows. You sell one and force the other to produce the milk of four cows. You You are surprised when the cow drops dead. A FRENCH CORPORATION: You have two cows. You go on strike because you want three cows. A JAPANESE CORPORATION: You have two cows. You design them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce 20 times the milk. A GERMAN CORPORATION: You have two cows. You re-engineer them so they live for 100 years, eat once a month, and milk themselves. AN ITALIAN CORPORATION: You have two cows but don’t know where they are. You break for lunch. A RUSSIAN CORPORATION: You have two cows. You count them and learn you have 5 cows. You count them again and learn lea rn you have 17 cows. You You count them again a gain and learn lear n you have 12 cows. You You stop counting cows and open another bottle of vodka. A MEXICAN CORPORATION:You think you have two cows but you have never actually seen them. You take a nap. A SWISS CORPORATION:You have 5,000 cows, none of which belong to you. You charge for storing them for others. A BRAZILIAN CORPORATION: You have two cows. You enter into a partnership, with an American corporation. Soon you have 1,000 cows and the American corporation declares bankruptcy. AN INDIAN CORPORATION:You have two cows. You worship them. P.P.P.S. "GLORY IS FLEETING, BUT OBSCURITY IS FOREVER" Napoleon Bonaparte (1769 - 1821)
ISSUE #32 A leadership article that helps get a better understanding understanding of interpersonal skills
In this newsletter a major portion deals with interpersonal skills and this is brought out through a leadership article featured here. Dan claims in this leadership article that there is more than one way to do things correctly and these can be separated by common language and methods towards business. He accepts that both are professional and show respect in different ways. There is a lot of emphasis in this leadership article with regards to human relationships. He says there is only one chance to make a first impression. Dan talks of teamwork among other things and a clear understanding of the goals that need to be achieved which can’t be done alone. His idea of a team is not one of getting along well or liking one another. To To emphasize this he has been blunt enough to mention if a friend is needed - buy a dog. Dan uses an article from Financial Times to illustrate what it means to be liked by people. It clearly states that craving respect is fine but wanting to be liked is a serious flaw. In this leadership article Dan looks at respect from colleagues rather than them liking him. He supports it by saying he is a product of social and economic milieu, intense practice, training with
the will and desire to be successful. Dan brings out uses various illustrations where despite being liked by people and respected many a times he has ended in litigation. He also uses incidents from the movie Patton to illustrate various levels of perception. Drawing examples from his professional life which spreads across 30 years, he talks about the distinct privilege he had working with some of the greatest minds and personalities along with their influence on his life. Dan mentions in this leadership article that he always doesn’t appreciate being correct but it is experience that counts because of those hundreds of transactions, tens of thousands of business decisions and countless interpersonal business relationships. He also delves on the various interpersonal aspects related to boss-employer relationships and clearly brings out the various nuances involved. But he also looks at the leadership article with cynicism cause for him at the end of the day respect is far more important! If "like" can be added that’s great. And And there are many questions posed which may or may not have answers. LIKE, RESPECT - STUFF Recently I have initiated a couple of new business relationships. This fact alone is not unusual. What I thought strange was how one of the individuals has approached the relationship, not saying either is better. After 30 years of business I’ve learned there are more than one way to do things correctly! Both are from different parts of the English speaking (non USA) world, they are separated by a common language and method towards business. Both are professional and both show respect in different ways. You have heard me say countless times you only get one chance to make a first impression. In the same vain I have said to work successfully as a team, amongst other things, clear understandable goals are mandatory for super success. I have also said you can’t do it alone. In that vain I have said whilst it is better if ALL members of a team get along it is not mandatory to like one-another or be slap-happy. slap-happy. To To emphasize this I have said and have written writt en such things as "if you want a friend - buy a dog". I enclose part of an article from the Financial Times dated 18th March, 2002 to illustrate what some pundits believe vis-à-vis being liked - I couldn’t agree more! FROM FINANCIAL TIMES - 18TH MARCH, 2002 Do you like me? Craving respect is all very well. But wanting to be liked is a serious flaw in a boss. The other day I was asked to fill in an appraisal form for a friend who is a manager in a big company. company. What are her strengths, it asked. This was easy. Creative, I wrote. Brilliant communicator. communicator. Charismatic. Energetic. Ambitious. Liked by everyone. Charming. Good at coaching others. Before you contact me for her details, wait. You You haven’t heard about her weaknesses. Filling in this section was harder, as it always is. Even if the person isn’t a friend, you aren’t exactly going to admit to their being an egomaniac with a cruel streak. In her case it was harder still as I genuinely couldn’t think of any weaknesses. However, I knew there must be something - given the extent of her talents it seemed odd that she wasn’t running the country. And then I realised. Her problem is that she wants people to like her. At first it is not obvious why this should be such a flaw. Surely now that management is meant to be about coaching, motivating and so on, wanting to be liked is an advantage? But in fact this flaw is almost as bad as being a crazed autocrat. If you actively want people to like you, you are never going to get anywhere. This is not to say that you have to be an arrogant, insensitive bully to get ahead. It is a good sign if a
manager is, on the whole, liked. What is bad is if he cares whether he is liked or not. At the extreme, wanting to be liked too much will ensure that you are not liked at all. These managers fail to take tough decisions. They are not honest in those cases ca ses where honesty is called call ed for. They avoid conflict and spend far too much time on charm initiatives. I have just asked a senior colleague whether he cares whether people like him. Not at all, he said. What he does care about - passionately - is that he is respected and deemed to be doing a good job. Then he asked me the same question. I admitted that I did actually care a lot whether people liked me. He laughed, assuming I was having him on. This was very bad news for me. To care desperately that people like you and yet to give the impression of not giving a damn - that is some weakness indeed. WHAT HAPPENED TO LEADERSHIP? The column is written, I believe, for individuals who aspire to gain positions in the managerial world. It’s title is: "Do You You Like Me?" Craving respect r espect is all very well but wanting to be liked is a serious flaw in a boss. I have, for more than thirty years, said I would rather have colleagues respect than love! Of course it sounds more dramatic using love instead of like, but this is what I mean. I am even less interested in their love! Not many people in my business career have had overwhelming love/like for me. The few who did/do have been other high performance people who I became very close to over time. Those that will talk freely tell me I am feared by most, but still respected. (At 56 I wish it wasn’t fear. At 36 fear was fine!) I do not do this on purpose NOW - it is merely me. I am a product of my social and economic milieu, intense practice, training and the will and desire to be all that I can be since 1976! I can say with no hesitation even people that I have had a business relationship with, which ended in litigation, all respected my abilities as a businessperson and as Ross Perot says "Dan Peenna (with a Texas drawl) is a beedy eyed biz-nezz (Texan (Texan slur) man". Translated to the mere mortals: "Dan is a focused, tough (but fair), businessman". I have always considered that one of my greatest compliments along with some by Constantine Gratsos, Bob Dyke (Father of the North Sea) and Jerry Ormand (a mentor). There are a few things said about me that have touched my (stone) heart or at least that is the perception. Someday I will write more about that perception of me vis-à-vis me! A great line in the movie "Patton" illustrates this perception perce ption point. After an extremely explosive outburst by Gen. Patton one of his aides says, "Sir, that scared the men, because they don’t know if you were acting or serious!" Patton barks back, "That’s the point. They don’t need to know if it is an act or if I am angry. All they need to do is take action!" I have learned the hard way barking doesn’t work with all people, but is extremely effective with many if and when used judiciously. judiciously. A simple infliction in my voice works fine for me now. As many of you know I have had the distinct privilege of working with some of the great minds and personalities in the last 30 years. Fortunately most of these relationships came early in my career, whilst I was learning and growing most. Constantine Gratsos (mentioned above - a mentor to me), former CEO of The Onassis Group and right hand man for Aristotle Onassis for over 50 years, probably had the biggest influence on me. I still remember sitting in Olympic Towers Towers (NYC) as a young man. I used Christine Onassis’s office - she was never there. I had my feet on the credenza gazing down 5th Ave Ave looking at St Patrick’s Cathedral. I used to play with the direct line phone to the White House and The Vatican. Vatican. It was a dream come true! t rue! I mention this because I had an endless respect for the man. I started our relationship calling him Mr Gratsos, it moved to Constantine and ended with Costa. He always called me Mr. Peña from the beginning to the very end. He was very fond of me, but more importantly he had great respect for my judgement and me though I was relatively young - Hell I was 40 years his junior! Whenever I
was on or near the East coast I went through NYC to see him. Our relationship though friendly was always a little stiff. I better understand this after doing business in Europe and Asia over the last twenty years. I never even thought about liking him, though in hindsight I now know I must have done so very much. I respected his judgements so much I did things, which I look back upon, that were not possible. I did them because Costa asked me to and didn’t even question the result. I respected his wisdom and experience in business and as a person. One of the things I say more often than I like to is - "I don’t like always being right (correct)!" It is not like I am so bright (which I am), but because of those hundreds of transactions, tens of thousands of business decisions and countless interpersonal business relationships. There is virtually nothing that I haven’t experienced in business! Ergo when faced with a set of facts and circumstances, almost always, I have been there before. This is the reason for having a mentor and the basis of QLA. Most people that want to be liked as a boss (forget personal innate insecurity), fear their business acumen doesn’t deserve much respect, so they feel it will make for an easier relationship with colleagues et al. I’ve even seen bosses believe if they are liked, their subordinates will cover for them if they make a mistake, etc. There are too many that would consider such actions as loyalty. Unswerving support is loyalty. Cover-up is not! At the end of the day respect is far more important! If "like" can be added that’s great, but not necessary for many of the reasons mentioned in the F.T. .T. article and by me in my writings. In some rare cases senior executives/leaders are even loved. Ross Perot, General Patton (Blood & Guts), General Rommel (Desert Fox) and General Montgomery (Monty) are examples that come to mind. These are men that others followed at all costs with virtually no questions. You You can’t find a person that has been part of a Ross Perot organisation that wouldn’t walk through fire for him. There was a book published in the late 60’s 60’s named "I’m "I’ m OK! You’re You’re OK!" It author, Dr. Stein, a noted psychiatrist of that time, put forth the premise virtually anything (short of a heinous act or crime) was OK in a personal relationship. It reminded me of the famous line from the movie "Love Story", when the young man says, "Being in i n love means never having to say you’re sorry." This This remark doesn’t require a response from me though I have wondered how that relates to marriage? Whilst "I’m OK - You’re You’re OK!" was a tremendous literary success it has been proven, like many theories, as Bull! I believe a better book and much more representative was "I’m dysfunctional, You’re dysfunctional", written in the ’90s by Wendy Wendy Kaminer which depicts how we are all strange at best and some are merely more screwed up! It was written with Dr Stein’s book in mind. If today was a contest - how did you do? Did you measure-up? Did you win? Did you accomplish something taking you closer to your goals? If not - why not? Did you live life on purpose? Remember, as I’ve said and written, my experience is when our life ends it is the things you don’t do that you will regret - not the things you did! Carpe diem! To Your Your Quantum Q uantum Leap P.S. We We have made a couple of additions to The Guthrie Group (new name after dropping "Castle") though worldwide business has slowed. We We have done this to take advantage of the massive amounts of money for deals with good management teams that exists. We We are looking to add more! In fact my oldest son, Dan Jr (20) is our Summer intern for The Group at Guthrie. He arrived a few days ago. P.P.S. .P.S. I have had recent requests for another personal chat room appearance. I will do it in Mid May. If you have an interest in participating in this "paid-for experience", please notify Paul at
[email protected]
ISSUE #33 21-May-02 From Dan Peña - Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer. Dear Friend and Subscriber,
My last newsletter got more long emotional responses than I have ever received. I hit upon a subject virtually all could relate to - wanting to be liked! Thanks for your response! I have decided to ask you, the readers, what you want me to write about in the months to come. I will spread your requests around my own ideas. OK what? New Bulletin Board
Shortly I will add a Bulletin Board to my website. You, You, the readers, probably understand how they work better than I. I . It should be up by b y 1 June. This is a request from you the subscriber. The Chat Room has had mixed results. I believe this is based on peoples dislike for hearing the truth in my responses! In the past a number of QLA devotees have joined together in business relationships. These relationships range from getting simple advice to getting capital for investment. As you can imagine we have some extraordinarily extraordinaril y bright and gifted readers. We also have very wealthy, very sophisticated subscribers. To To round out the continuum we also a lso have high school and college students as readers, along with beginners in business. As we used to say "we have a potpourri of readers and talent". The Bulletin Board will assist you in interfacing with other QLA devotees and practioners. Getting Value for Money (VFM)
I was going to write this letter on "Deals that Create Value". One of my colleagues, Sally Hall, who heads up TGG as Managing Principal sent me a newsletter she thought I would like to read. The irony was I am already a subscriber to this quarterly report. It was even stranger that it was from Quarter 1, 2001, or more than a year ago. When I first saw it in my reading file I glanced at the name of the world renowned name (brand) of the consulting group that published it. Scrolling down, now I scroll past the title "Deals that Create Value", Value", past the schematic showing a pile of value, through the first few paragraphs to the phrase "acquisitions create the most market value overall, despite the well-known "winners - curse" in which buyers pay too high a premium". As I read the last couple of words of that paragraph my eyes scanned upwards to the by line. Unbelievably I recognised one of the three authors names. Actually this is an understatement of Biblical proportions. The name in the middle was a name I knew for almost 20 years. In fact it was a quasi mentee of mine. I had helped shaped his career through his MBA at the London School of Economics and beyond. We We had worked together off and on for many years. We We have probably done £250 million in deals. I’ve known him since he was 23! I then read the entire seven pages - twice to make sure I understood. Of course the article was merely saying something I had preached for more than 20 years. "It is easier and more effective, when done correctly, to add value through acquisition!" Now, what I just wrote is infinitely more simple than the explanation that accompanied the short report which I later found out had hundreds of pages as back up material. It was a work of art based on "multivariate regression to access the correlations between excess returns created by each deal and various characteristics of that deal …… deal size-weighted -least squares - multivariate regression model, in which all dependent and independent variables for each transaction were weighted by size of that transaction relative to the size of the company undertaking it… the dependent variable was defined as excess returns relative to the local stock market, corrected for the risk - adjusted cost of capital…The R2 of the regression
was 57%". Well! As I continued to read I knew this study was based on 479 deals between 1994 - 98. This was the core sample for their multivariate regression analysis. Hell, I said to myself! I wonder how long it took to do this study? I reasoned (wrong word as you will see) three guys working on 479 deals - plugging in the results only, etc - say 2 weeks each or 6 weeks in man hours for one person. After all the team didn’t have to work through every deal. They only needed to plug in the various sums for their analysis! I couldn’t wait! I called my good friend of 20 years. Being British his mobile number was turned off "at the weekend". Of course I still work over weekends because I like - no really love - what I am doing! (Remember like vs love from the last newsletter) It took my assistant a week to catch up with him. A dinner was arranged for two weeks hence to meet at a favourite restaurant of his - he is an owner. It actually took a lot longer because he literally forgot to put it in his diary. He is an "absent minded professional" now! He is truly a genius in the real sense. In all his years of education he has never received anything less than a perfect 100% grade! I could write an entire newsletter on him. We met and the first question out of my mouth was about the Quarterly Quarterl y report. I asked why was it written? And doesn’t everybody in the finance world know what was written? The reason it was written was unbelievable to me! He said, it was not commonly known by the readers of and devotees of his most prestigious consulting firm. He told me the analysis took four months. I swallowed hard on my beverage and quickly ordered another - a double this time! I immediately thought, what if a big client had asked for such an analysis. Perhaps a major investment bank might have instructed such an analysis be done with the consulting firm’s name on it. I wondered how much would it have cost? And more importantly would the group pa ying for it have received value for money? The following is my regression (of sorts) analysis that I spent many sleepless nights labouring over: The three involved in the analysis were, two consultants (as they are called) and one a principal with the consulting firm. A principal is kind of like a partner. The assumptions I made were simple. If it took three financial professionals four months to do this work they should all be fired and the firm should be closed down in the interest of bettering the financial community in particular parti cular and world in general. gener al. Though I knew, knew, or should I say hoped, this was not a full time endeavour for the three chaps I decided to start with 100% case (as they say). In my days on Wall Wall Street it was called "the old 100% case trick". tr ick". As of the first quarter of 2001 principals of the major consulting firm charged / billed at a rate of £10,000 per day for a seven hour day, day, knowing they work more than seven hours a day. Consultants were charged / billed out £5 - 7,000 per day for the same seven hour day. I decided to use a very sophisticated methodology to ascertain the cost of the two consultants. I used a VC (Venture (Venture Capitalist private equity provider model) spreadsheet to average £5,000 and £7,000. After conferring with a MBA/Chartered Accountant colleague (which would be a billable event of course) over a two week period I decided £6,000 per day was a good number to help build my base model on. I was a little apprehensive. I knew I might be taken to task for such an aggressive hypothesis but I decided to live dangerously - to live on the edge! I assumed after 31 years, 700 deals, 65,000 business decisions, thousands of high level meetings - it was time to get outside the box! Consulting firms receive these hourly rates, plus expenses and travel time. During most of 2001 such firms added 20% of the daily rate as expenses to their bill! I had a PHD/MBA colleague (more billable time) write an appropriate program to determine what this did to our economic model vis-àvis our billing methodology. methodology. The result was astonishingly £12,000 per day for a principal and £7,200 for (our model) consultant. I felt very good about this and would have told a client (if there was one) what "value added" had been produced! It was truly another win-win situation. As my analysis got more involved I enlisted the assistance of another colleague, Herr Professor
Doctor was kind enough to do the sums for me. He said the preliminary analysis revealed the rate was £26,400 per day. He said it was a good enough # to move forward with. He reminded me travel time needed to be considered as well. I was grateful for his insight and thanked him for the gentle reminder. After considerable time and effort I took a very difficult decision. I decided on my own, without any further consultation and at great risk to my personal and firms reputation that no travel time was (probably) necessary, or envisaged. I further speculated if anybody travelled to gather data for such an analysis he should be driven out of the financial community on a burning rail! Or conversely be made "sales manager ementus" at his local caravan (mobile home) sales centre. Based on my extensive scientific research I have ascertained a maximum of 240 billable days are possible. The fee can be no more than 240 days of time, at a yet to be decided rate. The 240 days is based on a 5 day da y week maximum for 4 weeks a year. A 48 work week per year is used. Though 4 weeks holiday is a very low # for a consulting participant I decided, again, to go outside the box and be aggressive. In reality 6 - 8 weeks are lost to holiday time. Though the permutations seem endless, please follow the rational r ational closely. closely. MONTHLY / DAILY ANALYSIS (At 20 days per month) Month Principal Consultant 1 Consultant 2 Total
1 20 20 20 60
2 20 20 20 60
3 20 20 20 60
4 20 20 20 60
Total 80 80 80 240 Main Days
It is interesting that the horizontal and vertical axis equal in total, though the individual months and participant sums don’t. This needs further investigation, but gives a clear enough (though obtuse) picture. DAILY RATE /MONTHLY ANALYSIS Month Principal Consultant 1 Consultant 2 Total
1 £240,000 £144,000 £144,000 £528,000
2 £240,000 £144,000 £144,000 £528,000
3 £240,000 £144,000 £144,000 £528,000
4 £240,000 £144,000 £144,000 £528,000
Total £960,000 £576,000 £576,000 £2,112,000
Same horizontal / vertical phenomenon. Following this revelation I enlisted my colleague (another) Herr Professor Doctor #2 to assist me with the difficult calculations. After working around the clock for several days (as a personal favour to me and in the name of the firm) he gave me the results of (£12,000 + £7,200 + £7,200) x 20 x 4 = £2,112,000, £2,112,000, our 100%, or high case! This would be the best case scenario scenar io - meaning it would be the most we could be paid! (If you want to have some fun ask any firm of consultants, lawyers or
accountants if the bill/charge is based on a matrix system. The details of this system are TOP SECRET!) Now I was left to my own devises to determine the 75% (medium) case and 50% (low) case. Whilst my education was math orientated I had to use my mere 14 years of maths including three years of advanced calculus, two years of advanced statistics and five years of astro physics to determine the answer. I knew I was not qualified but I pushed forward bravely! In due course and many man y permutations later, I found the medium (75% case) c ase) to be: .75 x 2,112,000 2,112,000 = £1,584, and the low (50%) case to be: .50 x 2,112,000 = £1,056,000. Thank God this very time consuming (all billable) exercise exerc ise was finally over. I took a well deserved two week holiday, holiday, already knowing it would not be enough. (It was an expense to the client). FORGET ABOUT IT. IT.
Whilst you may think I have lost my mind for writing this dribble I can assure you I have read countless reports by professional consultancies that didn’t do much more than I did writing this Bull! What’s worse it wouldn’t be a mere few pages like this, it would have been hundreds of pages in a leather bound book - and it would be at your expense! For those of you that know, know, and or have worked with me you realize I am short on written analysis and long on experience and don’t need a 200 page report to give you the answer! In fact this letter is the most verbose thing I write - except for a few "not so nice" letters to people I feel incumbent on taking to task. I am glad I didn’t compose a serious newsletter about a report. Moral to Story
The overall point to this story: If the people who advise you and, or are part of your Dream Team go through any semblance of the aforementioned, get new people ASAP! And run, don’t don’t walk the other way! To Your Your Quantum Q uantum Leap Daniel S. Peña, Sr P.S. I have decided not to write a comprehensive newsletter on the adoption of FAS FAS 142 and the great goodwill write-off ploy, in my next newsletter! I had planned four, or five such letters in the future. After a great deal of billable thought I decided I would list four of my favourites quotes now and forget about such dribble! Here is a question for you: Who said, "Grief is the price we pay for love?" QUOTES:
"Only those who risk going far can possibly find out how far one can go" (TS Eliot 1888 - 1965) "You "You cannot teach a man anything, you can only help him to find it within himself" (Galileo 1564 - 1642) "All knowledge is but remembrance" (Plato 428 - 348 BC) "What is coaching? This is Gerard Ge rard O’Donovan’s O’Donovan’s definition…… - "Coaching is about performing at your best through the individual and private assistance of someone who will challenge, stimulate and guide you to keep growing" Answer to question - Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, vis-à-vis September 11th.
ISSUE #34 From Dan Peña - Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer. Dear Friend and Subscriber,
I just returned from fro m NYC where I had an important meeting over Memorial Day weekend. Yes, Yes, I went on a business trip over an extended holiday weekend. Admittedly it was to see one of my favourites in a place I like! NYC looks great and you can really feel people are trying to make a difference. Notwithstanding the various "news scares" it is still the place to be vis-à-vis pure energy and things to do. I have always believed as the famous song says "if you can make it there you can make it anywhere" is very true. I am fortunate my very earliest days after the military and university were spent there. I would recommend at least a couple of years in "the meat grinder" to anyone who wants to cross intellectual and emotional swords with more than worthy opponents! MAN PLANS - GOD LAUGHS! I am sure you are surprised I am following up so soon with another newsletter. In candour I was surprised at response on my last letter. Someone even commented how my analysis of "valuing a deal" was so fascinating. God! It was all consultancy gibberish! For those of you that read THE ENTIRE LETTER you know it was a spoof on consulting c onsulting and what my experience has been over 30 years with high priced merchants of gloom, doom and occasional happiness! Almost all producing mountains of useless information! You You would not have known this unless you read re ad almost to the end. It was like sex! It was all at the end! Though you should have realised it in the first few paragraphs I was "making fun." I could make an analogy about only getting "part of the info" and making decisions, but I won’t. Analogies vis-à-vis the Internet and succinct bites of info (which the letter clearly wasn’t) could be made in exactly the opposite way. So be it!
Suffice it to say I was greatly amused during the writing process of that long newsletter. I wondered how many would read it to the end? I guessed correctly. And as my wife and some that know me longest have said countless times, what makes me laugh isn’t necessarily funny to anyone else! My own 15 year old daughter asked me not to send her the newsletter anymore! Well, man plans and God laughs! I told her she would continue to receive it! I also asked at the end of that newsletter for suggestions on what you would like to read in future newsletters. (This offer is still open). I got two subscribers giving suggestions, so far. Perhaps they were the only ones who read the entire newsletter! As you can imagine my feelings ARE NOT HURT! THREE APPROACHES During this time of perceived tough economic times I thought I would attach three short stories from a newsletter I read regularly (and recommend) about men in the business of finance and how they deal with motivation, teaching and the task of keeping people focused. They clearly state there is more to doing deals than the numbers themselves. To Your Your Quantum Q uantum Leap Daniel S Peña, Sr. P.S. I’ve attached a recent photo taken by my son Dan Jr. who is working as TGG intern for the Summer. Summer. Whilst taking many photos of Guthrie and the environs he captured what some believe to be the "Nannie Ghost of Guthrie" holding a baby. She is friendly as is the "Lady Ghost of Guthrie". The following stories where in a recent newsletter distributed by The Deal.com. If you wish to receive their daily newsletters you simply go to www.thedeal.com www.thedeal.com and sign up. LETTER #1 - THE ALL AMERICAN It only seems appropriate to describe Paul Rossetti, 53, a managing director o American Securities Capital Partners LP, LP, as All-American. To say otherwise about the former U.S. Air Force Major, who is a baseball fanatic, seems almost unpatriotic. Most recently, Rossetti has been helping the firm’s younger staffers stay enthusiastic about private equity as the industry endures a difficult period reminiscent of the early 1990s. "Our challenge is to keep our young people motivated in the face of not a lot of interesting deal work," he says. "That gets back to our discipline of only buying good companies - the hardest part of our business is having the discipline to wait." Rossetti knows discipline well. That aspect of his personality helped bring him all the way to American Securities Capital Partners, a firm that has done 12 investments with a total transaction value of $1.3 billion. The firm is the merchant banking arm of Sears, Roebuck and Co. heir William Rosenwald’s American Securities LP. LP. Rossetti’s path to the American dream took him through the socially sociall y volatile 1960s. While millions of Americans were rebelling against the establishment, Rossetti was busy plugging into it. An honor roll student from a small town in upstate New York, York, Rossetti had been accepted at all of the top Ivy League schools, but chose the U.S. Air Force Academy Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo. The U.S. Senator who recommended him? Bobby Kennedy. Kennedy. In 1973 the Air Force shipped Rossetti to Thailand and a nd he began flying combat missions over Cambodian jungles in an A-7 Corsair. He spent the next 11 years in the Air Force, becoming a te st pilot and rising to major."As a professional pilot, it was a very rewarding experience to do what you are trained to do, and do it well. At the same time, it’s combat, and that part of it was not pleasant, but we believed in what we were doing," Rossetti says sa ys of his experience. No question, Rossetti’s
military experience served as a cornerstone for his private equity career, friends say. say. As conformist as Rossetti seemed, he marched to his own beat, setting his own objectives and achieving them. If there was one lesson the military had taught him, it was that failure was not an option. Take Rossetti’s Rossetti’s stint at Harvard’s Graduate School of Business Administration Administration in the 1980s. He didn’t just ace his exams; he graduated with an M.B.A. in 1983 with distinction as a Baker Scholar - an honor reserved for students in the top 5% of their class."The thing you learn from military experience is to have a great simple strategy or business plan, and execute it well," Rossetti says, making it sound as simple as that. Rossetti’s plan, post-Harvard, was to work for Bain & Co. and then move into private equity two years later. He really cut his teeth in private equity dealmaking by joining Dyson-Kissner-Moran Corp. in 1986, overseeing operating companies and acquisitions such as the firm’s purchase of U.S. Leather Holdings. In that deal, the firm bought a leather-processing company, doubled its size and sold it two years later for twice the value of its purchase price. In 1997, after stretches at Greenwich Street Capital Capita l Partners and Patricof & Co. Ventures, Ventures, Rossetti joined American Securities Capital Partners where he has worked on such transactions as the firm’ fir m’ss purchase in April 2000 of Vutek Vutek Inc., a deal dea l in which the firm raised its bid three times to consummate its acquisition of the inkjet printer maker."We maker."We found out this was a terrific company and paid a lot more than we would have ever dreamed when we started the process. But the company checked out, and we said we would pay whatever it took," Rossetti says."Our mission is to identify where we are the best buyer and our strategy is to create value for our portfolio companies. You You can’t just be along for the ride." LETTER #2 - THE CHAIRMAN "The biggest challenge of the past five years is the pace at which we’re required to practice law," says Barry M. Abelson, chairman of the executive committee of Philadelphia’s Pepper Hamilton llp, a firm with 400 lawyers. Abelson, 55, has been at it for 30 years, and he still describes his day as "a maelstrom of activity." He has a client base in three distinct areas: privately held businesses for whom Pepper is general counsel, which require financings and acquisition work; midmarket public companies, which have the same needs, along with disclosure and Securities and Exchange Commission work; and a venture capital and private equity fund practice, which represents the funds in their formation, governance and financing activities. The firm’s chairman since February 1995, he says much of his job is to train younger lawyers to be "reflective rather than responsive" a challenge in the age of instant e-mail. But he sees his lawyerly responsibility - and that of the firm, which dates back to 1890 - as providing deliberativeness, whether or not the clients realize they need it. "Too many clients assume speed of responsiveness fulfills our professional responsibility," responsibility," Abelson says. "But many of these companies don’t have in-house counsel. Our clients rely on us." That dependence may grow even greater in the wake of Enron. "For middlemarket companies, I think there will be a severe impact on the ability to get qualified independent directors willing to serve, and it’s the group of companies who would benefit the most from having independent and qualified directors," Abelson says. The first person in his fa mily to have gone to college - in this case Dartmouth, lured by a strong financial-aid package - Abelson trained for a law career by being the sports editor of the college paper. "It was a four-to-six hour grind a day, day, on top of a full-time course load," Abelson remembers. "It was good training working under pressure." Which, despite the current slowdown, still exists. Abelson notes that Pepper is working on three major transactions on the buyout side and six on the venture side. "We’re "We’re seeing funds being more proactive creating opportunities; they’re looking for management teams to do carveouts. The number of transactions may be down," he says. "but the creativity from the clients is up." LETTER #3 - THE COUNSELOR
Mark Vidergauz Vidergauz gains clients in fashion f ashion by not following it. As the founder and chief executive officer of The Sage Group llc, a Los Angeles merchant bank specializing in middle-market transactions, he works with small businesses, entrepreneurs, even fashionistas. In this dynamic environment, his background as a lawyer - and his conservative temperament - are his biggest assets."A lot of what we do is building trust," tr ust," says Vidergauz, Vidergauz, who agrees that trendy, celebconscious entrepreneurs can be somewhat skittish of bankers. "We "We say, ‘We ‘We can help you as we’ve helped others,’ but but you make sure that throughout the process they make the decision. We’re We’re in this for the long run; if a deal doesn’t close this year, it’ll close next year." The big score for Sage, which was founded at the end of 2000, was brokering the $86 million sale of Earl Jean to Nautica Enterprises Inc. The husband-and-wife team who founded the jeans company by investing $2,000 were happy with their payout in the April 2001 transaction, which found J.P. J.P. Morgan Chase across the table."Our approach is to treat every $100 million deal as if it was a $5 billion deal," Vidergauz says. "Often what we will do is identify a fine company and get to know the business - they’ll say we’re thinking of selling this th is biz in the next two to three years. A large firm would say, ‘Call us when you’re ready read y.’ We’ll We’ll show them where they can ca n put investments in their business that Wall Street will value." Born in Krugersdorp, a small town in South Africa near Johannesburg, Vidergauz Vidergauz trained as an attorney. attorney. A decision to go into banking - to experience the dealmaking side rather than technical side - brought him to Barclays Merchant Bank, one of the four leading investment banks in South Africa, where he became a director. After his daughter was born, a mid-career move to the United States caused him to switch back to law. law. Vidergauz Vidergauz made the decision with typical deliberation, noting that it meant "going backwards quite a lot.""We’d lot.""We’d just completed the largest IPO [Southern Life] in South African history," he says. "[But] banking to banking didn’t feel comfortable. Maybe it was insecurity, but I felt I had spent a lot of time becoming an attorney and I should validate that credential." He certainly did, at top firms Morrison & Foerster LLP and O’Melveny & Myers M yers LLP. LLP. Finally, the frustrated banker went to work for Wedbush Wedbush Morgan Securities, a mid-market L.A. firm, and was hired in 1996 by ING Barings to build a middle-market M&A effort."They wanted a headquarters in L.A. because the companies in L.A. were small-cap and entrepreneurial," Vidergauz remembers. Over the next five and a half years, the shop did $8 billion of total transaction value - much of that $150 million and $200 million deals. Then Vidergauz Vidergauz left to form f orm Sage, which was backed by Rockwell Schnabel, founder of Trident Capital, Bradford Freeman, founder of Freeman Spogli & Co., and a trust affiliated with Robert Day, Day, founder of TCW Group."Most of the major firms have had a middle-market presence in L.A. at one point, but can’t make the numbers work," Vidergauz Vidergauz says. "We "We felt we should reach, and since ING didn’t have a recognizable name na me on the West West Coast, in some ways wa ys we’d already done it once." The bank, which opened its doors at the end of 2000, was certainly founded in a challenging environment. But Vidergauz Vidergauz says the middle market has its own dynamic. "Partners fall out, there can be shareholder disputes; you don’t see that when GE is selling a division," he says. Now the firm, which does industrial as well as consumer products work, is a middleman between trendy left coast startups and more mature East Coast businesses. "Large New York York Stock Exchange consumer products companies call and say, ‘Do you have anything in accessories?’ Vidergauz Vidergauz says. As for PE funds, "We "We probably have an East Coast fund in our office every day or every ever y second day," day," Vidergauz Vidergauz says. "They’re clearly clearl y under pressure to put money out. PE funds will tell you quietly quietl y they are willing to accept lower returns." He expects the real uptick in closings to be the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, he’ll continue to hold clients’ hands."Starting out, there are two or three people they trust, maybe a spouse, maybe an attorney," Vidergauz Vidergauz says. "But once you enter that circle of trust, they confide everything. I have one guy who called - we closed the deal eight months ago. I said, ‘Michael, why are you calling?’ and he said, ’separation anxiety.’" anxiety.’"
ISSUE #35 27-June-02 From Dan Peña - Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer. Dear Friend and Subscriber,
THIS STUFF WORKS AND WE HAVE BUILT A 13 MILLION COMPANY BULLETIN BOARD OPEN Firstly I am glad to announce a "Bulletin Board" has been added to my website "www.danpena.com". "www.danpena.com". It is quite simple si mple to use. Visitors can post questions, which can then be answered by myself or indeed others who may be able to help. Both questions and answers will be on view to all, so you may find that the answer to a query you have is already available to you on the site. COMMENTS ON VIDEO / AUDIO TAPES & BOOKS "The Pena seminars and tapes ta pes have taken us from zero to a 13.5 million a year company. company. The stuff works." (DSP: "Of course I know this and couldn’t agree more!") Rod The statement above was recently received from a subscriber who in the past purchased a lot of "product" as a re-affirmation re- affirmation of his belief in the QLA Methodology. Methodology. He followed the QLA Methodology with a great result! The same product is still available. New versions can be found on my website - there are a few copies of the original material which is currently being sold at reduced prices. For more information contact
[email protected] READER COMMENTS ON NEWSLETTERS DSP: This letter is almost as I would write it. You You have to live, breath, brea th, eat, sleep and dream it to succeed quantumly. Dear Mr Peña I read your last newsletter (#33) to the end, (DSP: "Thank God - and in the USA I’m taking a risk in saying this now vis-à-vis a recent court decision.") had a great laugh throughout, and appreciated your sense of humour. It’s It’s much like that of my own father, a successful businessman and quite unlike my own hiccups of success. Hearing that you had only two responses to requests for topics surprised me. (DSP: "There have been more since then.") I assumed you would have many, and that my suggestion would be one of many. many. So much for stupid assumptions! I broke my own rule (never make assumptions) by making that assumption. Here is my suggestion. How about the topic of working at what you love? When younger, it was one of my assumptions that people would love their work or, at the very least, make the absolute best of it. Only after reading Ayn Ayn Rand many years ago (DSP: "I recommend this book. The best CFO/FD I ever had considered it his personal bible for life.") did I understand what the Monday and Friday syndromes were about. After all, I loved my work, and when I didn’t, I deliberately took on extra responsibility to make the work became fun. What’s work without responsibility? That was another early assumption that proved false: I thought that people wanted responsibility for their own lives and progress. Hah! Last year, I worked hard at moving out of my current career, ca reer, because that’s all it was - a career. A career that had responsibility for important stuff, sure, but it wasn’t MY important stuff. (DSP: "When it’s not yours it’s it’s always less important! Think of life and death - yours!") And I realised that I no longer LOVED my work any more, probably because I saw the writing on the wall.
So, I worked for a year, working weekends, early mornings and late evenings, to break out of what I was doing. Goodness, did my wife complain! Tough, I had to do what I had to do. Or so I thought. But, I didn’t manage to break out, even a little. I figured that if I could at least make a tiny profit, I could work on that and grow, grow, slowly at first but exponentially later. Well, Well, I didn’t even make a tiny profit. At least, not worth talking about. This year I had a serendipitous insight that completely changed my direction. I realised what I did wrong. I hadn’t evaluated what I loved to do. Instead, I had evaluated what I could do. (DSP: "Common fault that leads to being sucked in to the WRONG vortex.") That was a limiting assumption! So I had done what I knew I could. This year, everything has changed. I evaluated what I loved to do. And I took action. I am now officially unemployed, obviously very short of money, but working and learning like crazy and loving EVERY EVERY MOMENT of my packed week (yes, seven days da ys a week, early morning ’til bedtime). And I’m doing work I thought I couldn’t, but of course have now proven I can do well. (DSP: "It’s how to maintain this Every Moment feeling over a career that can be difficult.") Therein lies the difference. I am now doing what I love. Ability comes automatically. Soon, I shall be making a small profit. Then I can work on the moneymaking ideas and grow exponentially. I am even moving towards a vision that I’ve had for years, but didn’t know how to go about getting it going. So what’s my point? It’s that when you work at what you know you’re good at, but don’t love, your heart isn’t in it. My brain didn’t bring to bear its full awesome power to bear on the problems, so my solutions were, well, ordinary and commonplace. Now that I work at what I love, I find I breathe, dream and live my new life with an extraordinary passion. My brain works on this all the time, and it’s fun. Although Although my energy levels are no higher than last year (albeit always high indeed), my brainpower is fired up. My solutions are creative, unusual, unexpected and effective. (DSP: "Random and effective.") Hence my suggestion about working for love - that is, love at what you do. You You once mentioned that if an existing business is not expandable, you might as well close c lose the door. You You could add that if you replace it with a similar (but expandable) business for which you lack the passion, you might as well not open the door. If you want to break out of what you do, ask yourself three questions. What do I love doing (even if I believe I’m no good at it)? (E.g. Dan Peña loves to do deals.) 1. When in the past have have I done well at that? (If you love it, you you must have done done it well at least once in your life.) (DSP: "Or you wouldn’t know you loved it.") 2. What opportunities are there for me to take advantage of of that love and passion? passion? (You (You have to be creative here!) Then, of course, take action. Thank you for your newsletters. Best regards Pat DSP: Thanks for this letter and all your comments. To Your Your Quantum Q uantum Leap
Daniel S. Peña, Sr. P.S. Remember what I have said so many times before, "When you really love what you do - it’s not really work! When was the last time you needed a vocation from fun and play?" P.P.S. "FEAR IS NEVER SO FRIGHTENING AS LIFE LONG REGRET."
ISSUE #36 06-Aug-02 From Dan Peña - Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer. Dear Friend and Subscriber,
EXPAND IN A DOWN MARKET I hope this newsletter finds all subscribers doing well by b y using QLA Methodology Methodology to achieve their dreams. In recent months my incoming correspondence and calls have declined vis-�-vis new deals, etc. from the readers and others. Having just answered a Dan Peña Bulletin Board question it prompts me to write this letter. Yes Yes there is a QLA Bulletin Board - since late June. Thus far the dialogue is good, I have answered a couple of the questions myself, though it was designed for the users of the site and readers of this newsletter. My secret code is DSP! As I have written and said more times than I can remember, much if not most of my successes were accomplished in down markets and, or against major trends. In early 2000 and 2001 I wrote, I perceived the market as measured by the stock markets worldwide would take a beating. I said I didn’t know what the reason would be, but the pundits would come up with some rational. Of course we all know in 2000 the dot-com market collapsed followed by the high-tech in 2001, then telecoms, bla-bla-bla and then the Enrons and Worldcoms Worldcoms of this world in 2002, in conjunction with Anderson. The The entire profession of keeping correct numbers fell in to an abyss! All these are pretty good reasons. Together Together they are formidably overpowering! Of course now the pundits are talking ta lking about the "double dip" phenomenon. To To the non-professional this merely means the economy will go down again after looking better. In the 60’s "double "double dip" meant something else to teenagers! You have also heard me say I don’t like when I am right (all the time) - especially when the countless toll on humanity is so catastrophic. More importantly, I am not an economic forecaster, or anything like it. All my prognostications are based on the simplest of fundamentals and leading economic indicators and over 30 years watching the various markets marke ts and indicies. And more importantly know "conventional wisdom" is almost always alwa ys wrong! You have heard or read, r ead, my most famous, or infamous deed is turning $820 into $445,000,000 in 8 years whilst oil went from $41 to $8 per barrel. I always liked turning a $60,000 option in to $50,000,000 in 3� months a lot more! Both events were in the same very bad market - the worst in 50 years! In fact a few choice individuals that had grit, when I wasn’t present, called me "Down Market Dan". Categorically the best time to expand by QLA Methodology is when the others aren’t! are n’t! LONDON, BIG BEN, PARLIAMENT AND BRAVEHEART! Last week I attended 5 financial institution interviews, in London. I joined two colleagues from The Guthrie Group (TGG). I am going to describe the salient points of the meetings and whom they were with, only generically to protect the guilty, and why they were picked. The two colleagues attend about 7 to 10 meetings
more than I do, per week on average. They have about that many meetings every week, whether they need, it or not - sometimes more! These are with NEW financial institutions, or different parts of the same institutions, or NEW potential CEOs to head a buyout. Why will come later. About a year and a half ago when I wrote the second "bad news, newsletter" I decided we needed a "deal generation" person at TGG in preparation for when the market turned. Since I am always approached by young (relative term) and enthusiastic people that are willing to work for a piece of the pie whilst learning, I didn’t believe it would be too difficult to find. I also decided it was time to expand the group, after a couple of years of no expansion, during the high tech craze. I had learned long ago to expand during times of crisis! Getting financially mature individuals who still wanted new challenges would be more difficult. Since then I have interviewed 10 and offered and retained 4. These 4 joined us in the last 6 months. When I say interviewed, I mean usually many meetings over a 4 - 6 month period. I want to observe them in as many different situations as possible; i.e. in a deal situation, travelling, drinking, with families etc. Of course this takes time, which I now know after 30 years is the only reasonable method of acquiring personnel and potential partners. I could write an entire book about headhunters, which on the whole I don’t like! It is also the reason I have used various professionals who represented me that I was impressed with in my projects. Three of the 4 additions are in "deal generation". FIVE MEETINGS In down markets the competition is less difficult in seeing people about new deals, because the market place is perceived to be too tough so everybody just sits tight. I believe in being proactive. And being active means lifting the phone up to cold call and attending meetings with new people as much as you can. Even CEOs of big companies should have a goal of seeing as many new faces as they can. Four or 5 a month is a good goal for even the most heavily scheduled executive. As a side bar comment, private equity providers are different from venture capitalists (VCs). VCs are smaller funds and usually take more risks with less mature businesses, even start-ups. Private equity providers are very large (normally) and want mature businesses that are not loss making. Obviously these definitions are not cut in store. #1 I attended the first meeting, not just because a large insurance company owned it. I attended because I wanted to know and understand why they had apparently turned down an idea suggested to them by someone, they and a specific industry as a whole, hold in very high regard. Not that my colleagues couldn’t do it, I decided to attend to ascertain the why. Hard questions are just better asked from more experienced people. The challenge is to ask in a non-obvious, or abusive way so as not to let the idea out of the bag. The way not to do it would be - Hey, Hey, why didn’t you do the billion pound, so and so deal that Prof Do Good suggested, six months ago? I know this because people that knew me, said I did so in the early 70’s! This is why QLA uses a Dream Team who have attended such meetings and asked questions like this many times before in their long careers. I had done business with this firm before, though I choose not to disclose it. In fact they were a major shareholder of mine at one point. Organisations that large normally can’t keep track of some of what they do, let alone all of it! It wasn’t germane they had invested with me and made money. Most would have used this historical fact to add credibility. They They inadvertently gave me my answer. I was happy I went along! #2 The next meeting was with a huge international bank I had also done many deals with over a long period of time. In this case I wasn’t looking for money, but I was looking to recruit. I met with two senior Managing Directors. I knew morale was low at this bank, so I was there talking over lunch about another low morale bank. I knew due to market conditions, virtually all the large investment
houses were cutting back and great opportunities for very experienced people were available. It was an interesting lunch. It was the fourth meeting for one and the first with the other, TGG model was clearly not right for the one, but there would be a fifth meeting with the other. #3 The third meeting was with one of the largest and oldest private equity firms in Europe. Again I had done business with them long before and this time I did mention it. Again, I wanted to understand why they had not moved on an idea brought to them by the same very senior, well-respected guy. As it turned out the way our model works at TGG fits almost perfectly with how they run their business, so a lot was accomplished acco mplished on different fronts. The idea, both large private equity providers didn’t follow through on was due to "no follow throughitiss". This normally prevails at large firms. If the idea doesn’t have a strong and committed champion pushing it, probabilities are it won’t get started, let alone get done! New controversial ideas easily get lost in the "research process" that can take years. The idea our well-regarded man gave us was very good and we have followed up accordingly. If it happens, it will be a �2 billion deal. #4 The fourth financial institution was a large foreign bank that just, in the last months, set up a new profit centre in London. I was interested because my intuition was they were in need of good new deals now to justify their existence. Suffice to say, it is our task now to find them the appropriate deal - to help them in their quest! It was a pleasant experience. As expected they couldn’t do enough for us. Unlike the normal aggression the investment community is famous for these days and, I continue to hear about all went well! When you are merely one of 100 you don’t mean much to them unless you are GM. If you are first they never forget. It’s much like the first love of your life. As I said in my book and on my tapes I used to look for new banks opening up. Why? They had no business! No customers! And lots of money! A perfect scenario for a new idea. I used to show up in my limo. I’d get there very early so I was first through the doors - no appointment! No call! I still remember the young (MBA) bank manager. I was the banks very first customer c ustomer.. What a deal I had! Needless to say I followed him to his next bank! #5 The fifth meeting I went to was at 5pm on Thursday with a boutique financial institution. It specialised in particular kind of finance. I was happily surprised one of the founders chaired the meeting. He was senior to me and that doesn’t happen often. They provide a special product for the likes of KKR and all the major investment houses. Why was the founder there up till 6:15pm? When business is tough - the tough get going! But attending meetings made by someone else (as he did) isn’t the same as instigating meetings cold to fulfill your own agenda and needs. I attended because this boutique is considered the best in Europe at what they do. It was a plus the founder was in attendance. In fact he was the only one representing them at the meeting. There were three of us, which was actually one too many. I wanted to know and understand why a certain type of secondary form of finance wasn’t used more often in transactions. As per my usual analysis, it was through no fault of the product, but rather because it wasn’t considered a real competitor yet at that time. Everybody will jump on the bandwagon like sheep! What this meant was that there is probably a market that needs to be filled. What next you might ask? Well in QLA, it means it is worthy of a test - no more research. Of course others had been asked the same questions, but the best boutique was the last to be queried! The founder closed by saying with a great smile, I hope it doesn’t change anytime soon! What he was really saying was I hope the market doesn’t wake up anytime soon! I just talked to a senior colleague and asked how many new meetings they had last week - 12. And next week - 14! I wanted to check to make sure! Of course deals take precedent over meetings to
meet new people! For those of you looking for money and, or a Dream Team - how many meetings with new institutions, or people do you have this week - next week? These are only new meetings - no follow-ups! For those of you that aren’t with Goldman Sachs, or Merrill Me rrill Lynch, no one will call you. You You must be the proactive initiator! Though the big guys should as well! They don’t! It is easier to get to see these institutions and people during hard times. Their calendars are not full! They are hungry for business. Help them, so they can help you achieve your dreams! If today was a test, how did you do? What grade would you give yourself? Did you pass? To Your Your Quantum Q uantum Leap Daniel S. Peña, Sr P.S. The next newsletter will be about a QLA devotee that waited and suffered for six years to reach his goal of his first deal. It was a good one - $3.5 million! I hope that now that he participates in our QLA Bulletin Board by sharing his knowledge. There are very few I have met in my entire professional life that have been more committed to success! P.P.S. .P.S. Here is an article from the WSJ titled "The past is the prologue" I recommend re commend Kindleberger’s book Manias, Panics and Crashes: A History of Financial Crisis. He is 91 years old. He taught for MIT for years. He is considered one of the best on the planet. A 91-Year-Old Who Foresaw Selloff Is ‘Dubious’ of Stock-Market Rally
By JON E. HILSENRATH Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL LEXINGTON, Mass. — In a well-manicured Boston retirement community co mmunity,, Charles P. Kindleberger has watched the stock-market turmoil unfold during the past two years with a sense that he has seen it all before. Mr. Kindleberger , a retired economist, wrote the 1978 economics classic "Manias, Panics, and Crashes: A History of Financial Crises." The book, required reading for many Wall Wall Street trainees and students of economic history, documents four centuries of boom-and-bust financial cycles. It ranges from a fleeting bubble in the market for Dutch tulips in 1636, to rampant speculation and subsequent collapses in railroad shares in 1847 and 1857, to the Depression in the 1930s, to the rise and fall of Japan’s property market in the late 1980s and early ear ly 1990s. At the age of 91, Mr. Kindleberger , who taught economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for 33 years, is one of the few retirees unshaken by the current market turbulence — with the Dow Jones Industrial Average Average down 18% from the start star t of the year, despite Wednesday’ Wednesday’ss big rally. "I’m ashamed to say I enjoy the decline in the stock market," he says. "It is what we call schadenfreude, a joy in the troubles of others." Mr. Kindleberger is gloating because he warned readers in the foreword of the third edition of "Manias, Panics, and Crashes," released in 1996, of what looked "suspiciously like a bubble in technology stocks." Paul Samuelson, a colleague and Nobel prize-winning economist, admonished readers on the book’s book’s cover, "Sometime in the next five years you may kick yourself for not reading and re-reading Kindleberger’s [book]." "It is one of the most important books for people on Wall Wall Street to read," says Richard Sylla, who teaches a course on financial history at New York York University’s Stern School of Business and has his students spend two weeks examining the book. Just knowing that he was right is reassuring, says Mr. Kindleberger . "You get to sleep easier. easie r."" Mr. Kindleberger said he was "very dubious" that Wednesday’s ednesday’s rally signaled much of anything. Investors might rush in to a market in the midst of a downturn, he says, but it takes a more sustained rally to signal a real bottom.
Mr. Kindleberger’s Kindleberger’s own savings are in certificates ce rtificates of deposit, money-market funds and bonds. His fortunes are also helped by a recent uptick in sales of his book, according to John Wiley & Sons, the book’s book’s publisher. A fourth edition was released in late 2000, in the wake of Asia’s Asia’s financial meltdown in 1997 and 1998. Mr. Kindleberger says he would love to write a fifth edition full of details from the latest corporate scandals, or a book about a housing-price bubble he sees developing, but he doesn’t feel up to it. Still, he hasn’t stopped working. In November, he wrote an essay on how to invest when you’re 90 and contemplating death. As you get older, he says, it makes sense to become more risk-averse because there is less time to ride out market volatility. His advice: "subtract your age from 100, and that is the percentage you should have in equities. " A widower with four children, he still drives a 1989 Ford Escort, which he uses to visit the barber and friends such as 94-year-old former Harvard University professor John Kenneth Galbraith, another giant among economic historians and author of "The Great Crash of 1929." A few weeks ago, he met with Mr. Galbraith. "I said, ‘What should we talk ta lk about?’ and he said, ‘Enron! Enron!’ " Mr. Kindleberger says, adding: "I love that. We We all love talking about Enron." Mr. Kindleberger says that history offers little consolation for victims of swindles such as Enron because the victims rarely get their money back. "Lawyers get most of it," he says. Manias, Panics, and Crashes" lays out the familiar pattern of boom-bust cycles. They start with a fundamental change in the real world, such as a war or new technology, which creates new profit opportunities in some sectors. Investment expands, often fed by easy bank credit. Before long, however, investment becomes speculation, then becomes totally detached from reality and turns into mania, sometimes spreading internationally internationall y. Ultimately, he says, it ends in a crash and "revulsion" in which investors flee falling markets. Authorities are left to wrestle with how to stabilize and then fix the financial system. Mr. Kindleberger’s Kindleberger’s stories of financial crises feature legendary legendar y swindlers such as Robert Knight, who helped cook the books of the South Sea Company. Company. The 1720 British equivalent of an Internet stock, it had no profits but big plans for trade in slaves to Latin America. Its shares soared more than fivefold in four months’ time and then flamed out as copycat companies multiplied and insiders started selling shares. Knight fled f led England, ended up in an Antwerp jail and a nd then broke out. The Dutch tulip bubble offers another example of how these cycles have played out. It started with the development of exotic new breeds of tulips and a nd was fueled by a booming Dutch economy. economy. At its height, investors traded land, houses, farm animals, paintings and gold for colorful tulips. One Viceroy tulip bulb, writes Mr. Kindleberger , commanded a down payment of eight pigs, a dozen sheep, two oxheads of wine, four tons of butter, a thousand pounds of cheese, a bed, clothing, some wheat and rye, and a silver beaker. Some great crashes of history, history, such as the one during the time of the railroad boom, did set off recessions. The severity and depth of the downturn, Mr. Mr. Kindleberger says, depends a lot on how aggressively authorities fight it. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan has done a masterful job fighting off previous crises, including the 1987 market crash and the 1998 collapse of hedge fund Long Term Term Capital Management, Mr. Kindleberger says. Today Today,, he’s not convinced the Fed is up to the job because the bubble was so big and consumers are heavily indebted after bingeing on loans tied to equity in their homes. "I think we’re going to bounce along the bottom for a while," he says. The object of his greatest fascination today is the real-estate market. For weeks, Mr. Kindleberger has been cutting out newspaper clippings that hint at a bubble in the housing market, most notably on the West West Coast. Nationwide, median home prices are up about a bout 7% from a year ago, even though the stock market has tanked and the economy has floundered. Over the long term, economists agree,
housing prices can’t continue to outpace growth in household incomes. Mr. Kindleberger says he isn’t certain there is a housing bubble yet, "but I suspect it is." The trick with spotting real-estate bubbles, he says, is that they don’t always spread. In 1925, for instance, real-estate prices in Florida soared and crashed, but that didn’t spread to the rest of the country. country. Yet Yet he notes that something is distinctly distinctl y different about the nation’s housing market today, when compared with 1925. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two large government-sponsored enterprises, own or guarantee nearly $3 trillion in mortgages, helping to keep the mortgage market liquid with cash. That is a boon to homeowners, but Mr. Kindleberger says he fears that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s deep nationwide presence in the market is fueling a speculative fire. "Banks will make a mortgage and sell it to them. It means that the banks are ready to mortgage more and more and more and more. It’s dangerous, I think," he says. A Fannie Mae spokeswoman describes the argument as "preposterous," and notes Mr. Greenspan dismissed the chances of a housing bubble in testimony to Congress last week. Robert Van Order, Order, chief international economist for Freddie Mac, says home prices might decelerate in the months ahead, but they’re unlikely to crash because interest rates are so low, the inventory of unsold homes is also low and the economy has proven surprisingly resilient. Yet Mr. Kindleberger isn’t convinced. "If I was 30 years younger," younger," he says, "I’d write a small book on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac." P.P.P.S. Here follows a recent letter from another QLA devotee. As you will read in my next newsletter there is a common thread to the people who succeed with QLA: To Dan Peña: Remembering a quote by Walt Disney. "You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you" Dan, I wish to say "Thank you" for the following "kicks" you have given me to date. I recorded them in this note, lest I dare forget! First and foremost - The Opportunity - you opened the door! 1. Tolerance Tolerance (I am a m was an emotional risk!) r isk!) 2. Not to talk about alternative topics to third parties. 3. Not to mention my Networking Ne tworking Background. 4. No bullshitting (Exaggerated talk). 5. "Get it done" means "Get it done" period! 6. Do not justify (in return), valid corrective advice. 7. Leave "micro" behind, move to "MACRO" now! 8. "Danny" - NO - It’s Dan. 9. Lose any inferiority. inferiority. 10. I don’t need to know all the answers to get rich. 11. Don’t Don’t "pick fights" with people. 12. No negatives re progress, to TGG team members. 13. Inform of any "unavailable" times in advance. 14. "ASAP" is only to be used for emergencies. 15. Eating scabs (a metaphor) if OK if it gets the big deal done!!! I’m sure there will be more. I look forward to further growth, change and the QL to come! Thanks Dan.
ISSUE #37 22-Aug-02 From Dan Peña - Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer. Dear Friend and Subscriber,
I have enclosed an email received from one of my QLA devotees. I used the actual email as the format for my reply (in dark bold). Now that I am an internet man I can do such things! It may be hurtful to some! Whilst others will chant "Braveheart, Braveheart!" - That’s what makes the world different and exciting. I hope you enjoy reading about a long term struggle that ended in success. I have seen this young man through a lot of tough times! I have replaced the various names with letters and initials to protect the innocent and guilty. IT FINALL FIN ALLY Y CLOSED M, I AM VERY PROUD OF YOU! I AM GOING TO USE THIS EXPERIENCE IN A NEWS LETTER W/O YOUR NAME. Dan, After a very ver y intense week, with many "sink or swim" moments……we closed yesterday. CONGRATULATIONS!! R&M & I signed loan documents and real estate closing documents in one of our lawyers conference rooms….Friday morning at 9am. JM came by to congratulate us, while the attorney he assigned to us actually facilitated the paperwork with the title company and lender out of Chicago. GIVE HIM MY VERY BEST AND SAY MANY THANKS! THANK GOD THEY HAVE BEEN ON SUCCESS FEE ALL THESE YEARS! IT’S GREAT TO GET THEM FINALLY PAID!
Our deal closed with an assigned value of $3.5M. Our lender, Investment & Loan, loaned A Apartment Company, Company, LLC $2.2M. M Management is the Managing Member of the LLC owning 55%, with B owning 25% initially initiall y and having a "call option" on Steve’s 20%….for an eventual ownership position of 45% within 12 to 24 months. JM had another "specialist" attorney attorne y within the firm write an amended operating agreement that gives us the ability to "call" or take over Steve’s 20% …..without interfering with the lender documents. The lender set aside a side $200K of the loan proceeds as capital improvement funds f unds for the property. As we make the capital improvements and improve the cash flow…..our lender is willing to convert our bridge loan into a 4 year "mini-perm" and is willing to lend additional funds depending on the performance of the property. property. We’re We’re predicting to be able to make the conversion within 6 to 12 months. And And within another 6 to 12 months…..refinance into a permanent loan with a large equity equit y payout. SOUNDS GOOD! Our investment bankers said it this was one of the "wackiest" deals they’ve ever done and the lender had similar comments! However, we now have our first deal done!!! And M Management owns 55% of a $3.5M property….with us effectively effectivel y set up to own 45%….having put in no money! I KNEW YOU WOULD DO IT! I will begin collecting a salary and housing allowance as of Monday from the property.. THANK GOD!.. and as the property’s property’s cash flow improves we will begin collecting an asset management fee. My wife has been out of town in Wyoming at a family wedding….so I closed this th is deal alone basically. I KNEW YOU COULD! (I’ve been drinking red wine out of one of my "Guthrie Castle Wine Glasses" that I rec’d from you while at the "Castle Experience in August August ‘97"…I WILL TOAST YOU WHEN I SEE YOU!.. I’d been saving them to drink out of until our first deal closing) I KNOW YOU HAVE MADE HUGE SACRIFICES! Now….as I sit here this weekend alone at the age of 30…..I supposed I’ve arrived….but it isn’t all what I expected from when I first started! IT NEVER IS! However, as our investment bankers advise me…..you are now legit!!!…YES YOU ARE!…we’ve
proved all the "na-sayers wrong!".. I NEVER HAD A DOUBT! AND TO YOUR IMMENSE CREDIT YOU NEVER EVER QUIT!.. we’re back in good standing with our lawyers.. GOOD! ….we’ve executed a deal on my model and now have credibility… AND IT IS A GOOD FEELING, ISN’T IT?…as well as……. we all no how it works through to a closing! FINALL FINA LLY YA REAL LIVE CLOSING! They’re advising they can now get more forms of structured finance for us.. AS WE ALWAYS SAID , JUST GET ONE DONE OUR QLA WAY AND THE REST WILL BE HISTORY!….now that we’re for real, have a track record and have done a real deal with a real lender! YA! I will be temporarily relocating to Indiana to help oversee the property and the capital improvements. OK. IS THERE AN EXTRA ROOM FOR ME WHEN I COME.BY TO SEE OUR PROPERTY?…and I’m looking forward to pushing ahead again and getting even more focused. AMEN! We already have our next deal in the works. GREAT! (with the same Int’l broker that helped us get this deal put together… GOOD!.. "the guy you talked to"). I REMEMBER awa y from A. I’ve WELL! AND I AM SURE SO DOES HE!….this property is about 45 minutes away packed all my QLA tapes & books.. AMEN!…property management books….etc…for my flight out tomorrow I AM GLAD YOU CAN FLY NOW. Perhaps this is the city or the "region" of the country that is ripe for our deals!.. REMEMBER LET THE MARKET TELL US!…Therefore I’m there for as long as we’re able to close deals! PRAISE THE LORD AND PASS AMMUNITION! LOCK AND LOAD!
To Future Quantum Leaps! AGAIN MANY CONGRATULATIONS! IT IS TIMES LIKE THIS THAT MAKE MY COACHING ENDEAVOURS WORTH WHILE! YOU NOW UNDERSTAND HOW PAINFUL SUCCESS CAN BE! YOU HAVE PAID A HUGE PRICE. IT WAS YOUR CHOICE - AS YOU KNOW MOST WOULDN’T! TO YOUR (OUR)CONTINUED QL,
P.S. Thank you for sticking with this project.. THERE WAS NEVER A DOUBT…and me as a "mentee".. I ALW ALWAYS KNEW KN EW YOU WOULD WOUL D SUCCEED, SUC CEED, OR DIE D IE FALLING FORWARD!!.. FORWARD!!.. WHILST YOU CAME CLOSE TO YOUR MAKER, BEING A PARA MEDIC AT DISNEYWORLD AND A EAGLE SCOUT I KNEW YOU WOULD PREVAIL! . and for "slapping me around a little" OK, BUT CONTRARY TO WHAT SOME PEOPLE THINK I REALLY DON’T LIKE TO DO THAT "ANYMORE" or getting a little tougher I WAS MORE THAN A LITTLE TOUGHER, BUT "SUCCESS AND A DEAL" HAVE ALREADY SOFTENED THE MEMORIES! HOW SWEET A FIRST DEAL MAKES EVERYONE FEEL! on me at the beginning of this deal!
P.P.S. .P.S. If they only knew the true problems that had to be overcome to get this deal done and closed….and how it came so close to not closing at the last minute!!! THAT IS HISTORY! YOU ARE NOW A DEAL DOER! ASYOU ALREADY KNOW, QLA IS NOT FOR EVERYBODY NOT EVEN MOST - BUT FOR THOSE IT IS - WHAT A RIDE! To Your Quantum Leap Daniel S. Peña, Sr
ISSUE #38 26-Aug-02 From Dan Peña - Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer. Dear Friend and Subscriber,
From time to time I see something in the news that really moves me! Sometimes the news is
positive and often it is negative. Below is such an article from the Financial Times - arguably the best financial newspaper in the world. I am not suggesting you follow its precepts. You You may not even be aware such programs exist. When people ask me "when did I get motivated?", I tell them "When I decided not to stay in the military and went back to university". I can assure you where I was raised and went to school, as a child, what is described in the article wasn’t even a dream. My summers weren’t spent "at the shore" - they were spent in the streets! It is a long article but in my opinion worth it. For those of you that have young children it’s not too late! To Your Quantum Leap Dan Peña, Sr
P.S. I said I would give you short letters in the future - not short attachments. I apologise! Little earners By Jonathan Green Financial Times
Devon Green, the slim, glamorous CEO of a Florida recycling rec ycling company, company, waits for her morning conference call. She sighs, pushing her palms down her body and smoothing any crinkles from her blue-hooped dress as she pops open her compact to apply Max Factor Legendary Lavender lipstick. The speakerphone crackles into life with the voice of David A. Henwood, chief investment officer for investment consultants Raymond James, for 30 years year s one of the East Coast’s foremost equity analysts. The call over, Devon strides purposefully from one of the conference rooms in the bowels of the $400-a-night, five-star Ritz Carlton hotel. As she passes the W Wall all Street Journals, arrayed arr ayed on cabinet tops in the corridor, they only confirm what she already knows - her unit trusts have dropped drastically in value. With expensively scented air conditioning in her nostrils, she heads for the lobby up the broad stairs, past prints of English country scenes and her brow begins to furrow. This may be Florida, and one of the richest sections of beach in the world, home to America’s old money and a playground for the super-rich, but Devon has business in mind. She reaches the lobby and her business partner Jesse, comfortably ensconced in a high-backed armchair. Devon grabs Jesse’s Jesse’s wrists and swings her round, Jesse’s feet leaving the floor and her body revolving in a blur - turning five, six, seven times. "You’ve crossed the line once too often," she says indignantly to Jesse, who has gone porcelain-white and is so giddy that her eyes are still revolving. Devon then turns to me. "See, I’m a regular kid when I’m with my friends or my sister and then I turn the switch and I’m a businesswoman." She flashes a winning grin at an astonished waiter, who thought Jesse’s Jesse’s whirling feet were about to send his trolleyful of chocolate cakes flying. Devon Green, founder and CEO of recycling company Devon’s Heal the World, World, is 11 years old. Her business partner and sister Jesse is five. And today Devon has just taken one of her first classes in investing in today’s bear market. Both she and her sister are here in the sumptuous grounds of the Palm Beach Ritz Carlton, with its moneydrenched atmosphere, for the Kids Money Camp 2002. Parents from all over the US have stumped up about $950 (�620) for the camp, and the chintz splendour of the hotel’s rooms, for their kids so they can learn about stock market indices, the "power of compounding - rule of 72", money mergers, stocks, bonds and unit trusts. And while other parents send their kids to toast marshmallows over campfires, sing songs and make origami donkeys by Lake Michigan, the parents sending their offspring here are millionaires - billionaires, even - and they expect their children to behave in a way commensurable with the fortunes they have accrued.
Leading the happy campers is Susan Bradley, a self-styled financial guru with a lacquered hairstyle and a glossy manner to match. A redoubtable woman, she is well known around ar ound the palm-fronded mansions of Palm Beach for her Sudden Money Institute, dedicated to coping with the pressures of wealth. She has been running the camps for five years in a town obsessed with money. money. Because, aside from the cavernous mansions in the area owned by Don King, Jim Clark of Netscape and Si Newhouse of Cond� Nast, Florida has no state income tax and it is also legal to file for bankruptcy and still keep your property propert y. Thus, the local paper in Palm Beach often reports cases of sequestered wealth, insider trading deals and migrants in their droves scurrying for sanctuary from the fastcollapsing world of corporate America. So much so that the population around Palm Beach has doubled recently. recently. Bradley’s motivation for her summer camp is clear: "Money is the most powerful force on the planet," she says with her slight lisp, before adding warily, "aside from religion." This year there are 13 kids at the camp, ranging in age from 11 to 19 (Jesse is still too young to join her sister). Swishing into the hotel’s driveway in a Mercedes C230 and pushing his Mont Blanc pen into his top pocket, is 16-year-old Paul Lambert. "This is the most exciting thing I have done all summer," he says breathlessly. "I want to be a CEO when I get older. older. Yes, Yes, the money and power are the draw," he nods, handing the keys to the valet. But what about Enron, WorldCom WorldCom and the tawdry scandals which have robbed people of their life’s savings? "Bad accounting," he says. On his third money camp since the age of 12, is the aptly named Cash. "I was not named after money," money," he says, somewhat irritably irr itably.. "My dad’s an entrepreneur and named me after the James Garner character Cash McCall in the film [of the same name] who was an entrepreneur, always looking for the next business opportunity - my dad said if he ever had a kid, that’s what he’d call him." But ask Cash about the speakers at the camp and he is almost breathless with excitement at the prospect of talks from stripy-shirted, braces-wearing brokers, investment managers and heads of corporate departments. "Where else could you get to speak to the top people from the biggest capitalist economy in the world?" he says excitedly. "It’s "It’s like going to basketball camp and Michael Jordan is there." Cash, who goes to the English public school Stonyhurst and has homes in Ascot and Palm Beach, is wary of the press, though. "When I was younger I used to love to tell a story about a friend of my dad’s dad’s who built up a company, company, put it in his girlfriend’s name and then bankrupted it," says the 16year-old. "I was interviewed and they jumped on that, which I thought was unfair. I just wanted to be like my dad." Susan Bradley opens the three-day three-da y camp with a fiery f iery introduction on the importance of money. money. Each child is given her book, Sudden Money - Managing a Financial Windfall and a neat little mound of baseball hats, T-shirts, T-shirts, teddy bears and golf nick-nacks, all emblazoned with corporate sponsors. "These people want their logo in front of you because you’re the future," she intones. "But why is money important? When you speak with your friends about it are there some people who think, y’know, you’re you’re a better bette r person if you don’t have any?" Some of the kids nod, in memory me mory of those who don’t place such a reliance on fiscal success. Bradley continues: "But is there anything that doesn’t have anything to do with money?" The kids shake their heads. "Noooooo, that’s right!" says Bradley with a whoop. Over the next few days they are taken through conference calls and lectures and put through various exercises while being cajoled caj oled into answering questions from Bradley Bradle y, who throws out more complimentary corporate merchandise for the correct answer. The star of the camp is undoubtedly Devon, who even gives a talk to the rest of the kids as part of the syllabus. She started her can-recycling business at the age of seven, when her neighbour gave her some cans to take to the dump after a party. Since then Devon has expanded it into a thriving concern - while coyly remaining silent about its size - donating 30 per cent of her profits to charity and 20 per cent as gifts to friends and relatives. The remaining 50 per cent is fed into her bank
account and a nice mutual fund she has had going for a few years. She’s She’s a star in Florida, winning a litany lita ny of charitable awards - such as the Miss Pre-Teen Pre-Teen America Scholarship and the Humane Society of the Treasure Coast’s Coast’s Chocolate Festival top fundraiser and volunteer - through to being, incredibly, a member of the Palm City Chamber of Commerce along with bankers, lawyers and local businessmen. Local businessmen talk about her with awe and at local fundraising dinners love to recount the story of how Devon was at one of the Chambers business functions and was talking to a possible contact but ran out of her business cards. She asked him to wait, telling him that she wanted to give him her card, left and, thinking she was out of his eyeline, hopped, skipped and jumped - missing all the cracks in the flagstones on the floor - to a table where her cards were. She then calmly picked up her cards, jumped round and gracefully walked back, handing over a card with a flawless, corporate grin. Her speech may be rehearsed to a T, but it’s engaging. And when there aren’t any an y volunteers from the entire room of kids, stockbrokers in black braces and other adults, to come to the front and hold a magnet against various metallic objects to demonstrate that anything magnetic cannot be recycled, Devon taps her feet, examines her finger nails and says baldly: "I wanna see a show of hands next time." And when she ends with: "I may be one person, but I am a m one person who can make a difference", the other campers swallow hard while clapping. Balancing Jesse on his knee and holding a camcorder to his eye throughout the entire event is Devon’s Devon’s dad, Michael, undoubtedly her �minence grise. One feels he was largely responsible for her website and business name, Devon’s Devon’s Heal the World. He smiles fondly at her as she gives him a proprietorial wink while doing her speech. "She learnt how to make money at an early age," he says, grinning. "But I’ve seen her turn that switch - one minute she’s the young ambassador, ambassador, the young businesswoman and then she’s she’s back to being a kid. "If she ends up as a leader of a large business, well . . . " And he’s lost in reverie, dreaming of the future. But snapping out of it, and keen to emphasise his daughter’s charitable streak as well as her money-making potential, he adds hurriedly: "But if she had to close a plant or something because it was unprofitable, she would find jobs for everyone there." That said, Devon seems rather taken with a speech by Sharon MacDonald, former director of mergers and acquisitions manager at Renaissance World World Wide, a leading provider of information technology services. As the kids sit wide-eyed, MacDonald details her meteoric and ruthless ascent of the corporate tree in New York, York, talking about the Pac-man Pac- man theory, theory, and how when she goes into companies to position for resale she "cuts out all the dead wood". Devon listens intently intentl y. Afterwards the kids are told to form groups and draw up a list of a short-term goal and a long-term goal and how both can be achieved financially. One group comes up with buying a Gucci handbag, the next two buying cars and Devon wants to buy a little dog for $500, which everyone oohs and aahs about. Yet Yet her long-term goal, it transpires, inspired by MacDonald’ Ma cDonald’ss talk, is to go one stage further. She intends to buy out and own the pet shop within five years of buying her little dog. What happens if the owner loves his shop and doesn’t want to sell? "Then there would be a hostile takeover," she says rather brusquely, brusquely, while working on the figures. Bradley is keen to play down this sort of attitude and there is a large part of the course devoted to philanthropy. Many of the kids here are so rich that they will give millions away for tax breaks, and, they claim, to help those less fortunate than themselves. There is a talk by Phil Flynn, of Philanthropic Focus, an organisation that specialises in setting up family foundations to help wealthy families give in the right way wa y. The kids are asked to read USA Today Today and say what charity they would give money to and why. why. Devon decides on setting up a charity for victims of West West Bank violence. "We’d give money to families who have lost loved ones," she says, with a warm grin, but then thinks again. "But we’d probably give more if the y lost a father, y’know, y’know, someone who was bringing in a decent income, than if they lost a sister or something." She thinks a little further. "Not that they are not important
family members but, well, they don’t earn as much." With corporate America busy cleaning up its image, many of the kids from wealthy backgrounds are already fluent in the emollient language of charity. Dave and Becky Serwitz, 16 and 19, from California, are accompanied throughout the entire camp by their parents Marshall and BJ. As the family wrestles, japes and shows how loving they are, holding forth at every Money Camp event, the other kids can only look on and feel slightly dysfunctional that their families aren’t the same. The Serwitzes are a huge extended family and have four other siblings, all away on other camps. "When people ask why we have such a large family they say we must either be Catholic, Mormon or stupid," says dad. The children all grin, as does mom. "Well, we’re not Catholic or Mormon." Mor mon." And with that the whole family breaks into raucous laughter. Marshall is a financial adviser, dealing with Californians who have a minimum of $3m to invest. He sits at the back of all the talks at the money camp either nodding his head in agreement or contradicting what the speakers say. Every year he gives his children $300 to donate and each year the family will call in representatives from notable charities who have to give a talk in front of his kids to prove why they should get the money - then the family all decide who is given the money. Last year it was Dave’s college wrestling team. "Well, "Well, that’s a worthy cause isn’t it?" he says with a grin. "They really gave me something." Like other parents, Marshall has sent his kids here to acquire one of life’s most important skills. "If you are just a little bit financially literate and start from an early age, that can make a huge difference over a lifetime," he says, sa ys, proudly. proudly. Although in quieter moments the kids are not quite so enamoured. "There’s no way I would tell my friends I had been here," says Becky. "I’d never hear the end of it." As the camp draws to a close, Susan Bradley is upbeat. She plans to market the camp - in only its fifth year - worldwide, seeing herself as a fiscal messiah, the Pied Piper of Lucre. "I am ready to expand this as a global business," she says. And And mergers and acquisitions supremo Sharon Macdonald is eager to be involved: "Yes, "Yes, Sharon has shown great interest." inter est." But isn’t there a caveat here? Shouldn’t children just be children and only have to suffer the horrors of money management when they are older? "That’s an attitude we get from the British press all the time," says Bradley. "Money is not a good or bad thing - it’s a fact of life. I mean, where else are these kids gonna get this type of knowledge? It’s a crucial life skill." But Devon Green - her glossy PR faltering slightly and a nd the needs of an 11-year-old 11-year-old taking over seems somewhat pleased it has ended. "Dad, can we go to the beach now?" she implores. No, he says, it’s a long drive back up state to where they live. It seems even those who have to heal the world can’t get time off these days. To Your Quantum Leap Dan Peña, Sr
ISSUE #39 23-Oct-02 From Dan Peña - Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer. Dear Friend and Subscriber,
In recent weeks I have been globetrotting selling an investment idea. It is not a new idea, but it is different vis-�-vis the current sentiment in the financial world. Of course what better time to evoke change than during a time of financial chaos? I could relate countless stories when I have
counselled ad nauseum to go against the conventional wisdom, but I won’t! I made a quasi guarantee / promise to someone, I respect a great deal, to keep these letters short. Instead I will use two of my favourite quotes by men I have great respect for, who have put their mark on the investment business and financial world. One was one of the great investment gurus of the past and the other is currently, the greatest investor of the last 40 years and perhaps of all time. In fact I am going to make these quotes the topics of my keynote speeches for the coming year! Of course I might not get as many invitations when they, "The Corporate World", World", hear what my topic will be for 2003! Sir Siegmund Warburg, Warburg, founder of what is now called call ed UBS Warburg Warburg was a living financial legend in the 1940’s, 50’s, 50’s, 60’s and into the 70’s. 70’s. Warren Warren Buffet, the "Sage of Omaha" O maha" as he is called has been the benchmark for investment excellence exce llence through the 70’s, 70’s, 80’s and 90’s 90’s till now. now. Together Together they cover the spectrum of the last 60 plus years. Strangely enough they both said about the same thing, in very different ways. They both had some very direct words to describe, what is referred to as the "herd mentality" mentali ty" of the financial financia l community. community. A mentality that is alive and extremely extremel y well all over the corporate and financial world! SIR SIEGMUND WARBURG
"The primary point seems to me always to be the quality of the service and the courage to persist in giving well-considered advice, no matter how unpopular that might be at times." WARREN BUFFET
"Most managers have very little incentive to make the intelligent-but-with-some-chance-of-lookinglike-an-idiot decision. Their personal gain/loss ratio is all too obvious. Failing conventionally is the route to go; as a group, lemmings may have a rotten image, but no individual lemming has ever received bad press." All my 32 year career I have fought conventional wisdom vigorously! I have also been a very strong proponent of extreme discipline! Whilst there are cultural reasons around the world justifying different ways don’t work everywhere, this is a very small %. France is different than California - True! Germany is different than tha n Australia - True! True! And the UK is different than Italy True! The real issue is "high performance people" around the world are 98% the same. My extensive experience shows different cultures, or should I say mediocre people in different cultures, use the "culture card" as an excuse to under perform. Or in many cases, they haven’t been exposed to enough of the world to understand there aren’t that many differences. As I have often said, "Playing not to lose, isn’t playing to win." An extreme example of this culture card would be if you worked and lived only on a small island (not the UK) in the middle of nowhere, all your business life, you would have a very different view of the world. In my world wide recent search many, in fact almost all very senior execs, admitted under pressure, what I’ve written above is true beyond any reasonable argument! Yet, Yet, in most cases they the y still couldn’t take the brave move. Playing not to lose (personally) is still their "comfort zone." I stopped asking myself why long ago! I have not allowed it to deter me, though I have mellowed a little in recent years. Doing things successfully outside the box is a rush! r ush! Doing things when told I can’t, still is a great rush! My book "Your "Your First 100 Million" lists my "You "You Can’t Do That’s" - as do my web site www.danpena.com. Start your own list NOW! During this globetrotting I have also had the pleasure of visiting with three friends. One is a former working colleague. The other two are people I have on going business relationships with now. now. All three have one thing in common. A trait I have written about for a very long time! One is in his mid sixties, one mid forties and one is thirty. Even with this great age disparity they share the desire to accomplish their dreams. They have goals and things that still get them up in the morning with a jump in their step. At thirty you would expect that to be the case anyway. anyway. But the thirty year old has endured more adversity than you can imagine. Most would have chosen another endeavour and
given up on their goals way before thirty. The mid-sixty year old has accomplished a great deal, plus looking the big "D" in the eye. Death blinked! In addition to his dreams he has gone on to help others stare down the big "D". The mid-forty year old, an accomplished world-class senior executive leader has succeeded way ahead of the curve and could easily sit back on his accomplishments. That would certainly be the "safe corporate CYA" CYA" thing to do! He hasn’t! All three are fighting the fight everyday! All have benchmarks for excellence! All are benchmarks of excellence! If today were a test, how would you grade yourself? Remember what gets measured gets done! Measure yourself each day! Live every day as if it were your last! The greatest risk is not taking one! Play to win! To Your Quantum Leap Daniel S. Peña, Sr
ISSUE #40 06-Nov-02 From Dan Peña - Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer. Dear Friend and Subscriber, The Hunt for The "Perfect" Deal
(and a vital lesson not to be forgotten) That one must "Hunt", for a deal opportunity is the only thing in the above title that would even come close to being "perfect" or even any where near the truth in the actual episode I am about to relate to you. Why?
Of course, there is no "perfect" deal! In reality, ANY deal requires "hunting down". The only variable is the time it takes until the target has been found and ultimately acquired! Does The Big Dog Hunt?
They will run, they will hide, they will double-back and evade capture at all costs, but there is no substitute for bloodhound persistence and "laser beam bea m focus" then success must follow. In the course of The Guthrie Group’s Group’s (TGG) ongoing deal generation, this very game of "deal hunting" is a continuous activity - in the good times and the bad. The Principals of TGG are far from "fair weather" hunters - as hopefully are you, my QLA readers! As has always been said, "one of the best times to expand is in a down cycle" hence you double your work effort when times are tough. Ancient Chinese Proverb
"Man who stand on side of mountain waiting for roast duck to fly into mouth, got loooooong wait!" "Doing the numbers", "turning rocks", "kissing frogs" - we are all familiar with the variety of (true) clich�s that abound in the QLA philosophy philosophy.. Interestingly, you can do the same thing over and over and get results that are as different as poverty and wealth. The difference between those two results is just one more phone call, just one more meeting. Same Actions - Different Results
Here’s the story as related to me of a recent meeting TGG partook in: As part of a campaign to review previous Leveraged Buy-Out transactions, TGG decided to write to and follow-up (by phone) the CEOs of over 250 companies. In each case the letters were posted and
within 7-10 days the CEOs were personally called and then e-mailed as a follow-up by a QLA devotee / TGG colleague. (Remember: No follow-up - forget it! - you may as well not send the letter in the first place). Whilst a few of the CEOs approached, actually called TGG back (the best result possible - and an example that we were using numbers to our benefit), the opposite end of the results spectrum also occurred! There were: "won’t take the calls", "hang up in your ears" and "ring you back to abuse you" responses. The focus of this story however, is one CEO in particular, particul ar, who seemed interested in doing a deal after the letter and subsequent 15-minute phone presentation and then agreed to meet in person (the next step to discuss a possible deal opportunity). (It was a profitable company with a turnover of approximately �60M or $90M) On the phone this CEO was "quite friendly", asked a number of good questions and upon conclusion looked forward to the F-2-F meeting that was set up. There was one point that stuck out on the call. as I was told. Intuition / Gut Feeling - The Mother of all Decision Making
In the conversation, this CEO made an unnecessary and somewhat crude, derogatory comment about his PA/Secretary PA/Secretary (actually (actuall y in her presence) which was noted by my colleague. Against a gut instinct to "flush him" right then, arrangements were made to meet anyway. anyway. Two of my colleagues met and something unexpected occurred. Firstly Firstl y, for some "unknown reason" one colleague did not hand their business card over (when this task is usually carried out immediately). Secondly, it became apparent that after a five-minute introduction, things were not going well. There was a pan-faced expression by the CEO throughout the introduction, a resistance to joining them for a coffee and criticisms about the surroundings they were in after he wanted to meet somewhere he would blend in. Ironically they were in a club just voted the best private members club in London. Very Very soon, they all openly shared their true feelings fee lings and this CEO proceeded to fire out a few competitive and confusing comments. Within the next few minutes, further verbal exchanges, explaining what one could do with their various lives had breached the speech barrier by my youngest colleague and they parted parte d company. company. Both colleagues tried to save the meeting, but the CEO wouldn’t have it. After the meeting was over (which lasted about 7 minutes when normally these meetings would be about 90-120 minutes) they reflected after me joining them over a coffee. He had received the same treatment as everyone else, the same information, the same approach, the same e-mail and they met at the same meeting venue and yet they had not "hit it off". Why not? Who knows? I’ve told my colleagues learn from the experience. Since it is the first time this has occurred this year - not to worry! He is just one of the 250+ people approached. In that amount of numbers you are going to get all potentials and all variables - expect it! Conclusion
The important point of this story is, if the little voice inside "intuition" had been listened to, they would not have bothered meeting in the first place and it all would have been avoided. In other words, do not doubt yourself - GO WITH THE GUT FEEL - EVERY EVERY TIME - a fundamental QLA philosophy! My colleague who made the appointment now understands this crucial point! The learning never stops and it’s all in a day’s work for the QLA devotee. To Your Quantum Leap Daniel S. Peña, Sr
P.S. Another short letter! I think I like it! P.P.S. .P.S. Remember if Moses had used consensus management or had taken a poll - he would never have discovered Egypt!
ISSUE #41 A few tips from Dan Pena on setting and achieving goals
As is for most people around this part of the year, Dan Pena takes a closer look at setting and achieving goals. As a custom Dan looks at setting goals in this newsletter that are related to him, his family and his business. While at the end what gets measured gets done, Dan brings his experience of over 30 years to give a few tips on setting and achieving goals. He says while setting goals, they should be written, reviewed, changed and affirmed. Moving away from conventional thinking, Dan believes there are no time limits in setting and achieving goals. Getting a little unrealistic while setting goals helps. At least there is a tendency to move away from the comfort zone and stretch out to achieve it. Using these tenets for setting goals, Dan gives indications through illustrations from his life on how to set personal goals and a nd family goals. Through his personal experiences in the military, stint in Vietnam and life as a mentor he talks about risk taking and moving away from the comfort zone. In the process of setting and achieving goals it worked perfectly for Dan Pena. While trying to help subscribers in setting and achieving goals, Dan talks of people who while setting goals tend to use average benchmarks. This is due to lack of self-esteem and not wanting to get out of the comfort zone. Dan claims that this newsletter is meant to be a wake wa ke up call to take action for the New Year. Year. This is a great time to dream it, think it and do it, as Bill Gates says. Take action to evoke positive change in life, go ahead and read on to find out about setting and achieving goals. GOAL SETTING FOR NEW YEAR As is my custom for many years I will sit down between Christmas and New Year Year to go over my my schedule of goals.These include my personal, family and business goals. I too remember what gets measured gets done! Here are a few guidelines for goal setting. As usual conventional wisdom is wrong on many points! WRITTEN, REVIEWED, CHANGED and AFFIRMED! Goals should be written and reviewed often. Early in my career I read my goals twice daily, along with all my various positive affirmations. Now I read them monthly and check off the ones accomplished. I also change or adjust goals monthly. monthly. This is not a new technique and athletes of all descriptions have been following this procedure forever! NO TIME LIMITS! Conventional Wisdom Wisdom says "set time limits". l imits". I put no time limits on goal setting. I have found time limits act as deterrents rather than benchmarks. Similarly in school you were given so much time to get something done - by God it took you that much time! I also found time limits allow you to agree with conventional wisdom much too easily. I was told countless times, don’t be in such a hurry, you are way a head of schedule now! I didn’t listen much to that - thank God! NOT REALISTIC! Another conventional precept is the notion of setting realistic goals. Of course this is advised so you don’t feel badly and discouraged when you don’t accomplish your goals. Guess what! If you are ar e not risking anything you don’t have sufficient incentive to do "what ever it takes" to get the job completed. If the goal and the actions to achieve them aren’t taking you out of your comfort zone -
they aren’t making you really stretch! PERSONAL GOALS! I have had two sets of personal goals dating back to 1976 1. Goals that I talk about and may have some other participants and 2. What Jim Newman used to call "under the skin goals". The later goals are very private and are shared with only your significant other and mentor. These "under the skin goals" are of a very personal nature that are only shared with those that will provide encouragement and support. At times they may seem of an embarrassing nature, but are of extreme importance to your over all well being and success. And yes my friends if your partner is not part of your goal scheme, it has little chance of succeeding. My experience is most relationships, both personal and business, bust up because goals are different. FAMILY GOALS! My family goals have varied over the years based on where my children were in their own life cycles vis-à-vis their mother’s mother ’s and mine. Many of these goals should be jointly set. And children’s children’s goals (for themselves) will vary a great deal, but if you get them in the habit of setting goals they will by default get in the habit of achieving goals. As your family grows so do your goals. I learned my ideas of what my children should do varied greatly greatl y, from what they the y thought they should do. With any kind of goal setting positive reinforcement reinforce ment is a must! As Plato said, "as long as progress is being made, no matter how slowly, slowly, never discourage". I would differ with the great master on the slowness. Peña Personal Goal! As many of you know my fathers only goal for me was to keep me alive until I reached the age of reason. For me this came later than most. My military experience changed my life. Though I knew what discipline and integrity meant intellectually from childhood I didn’t really understand the emotional commitment necessary to succeed. When I was deemed "an officer and a gentleman" by an act of the United States Congress it meant a massive turning point in my life. It still means a great deal to me even now! This was an "under the skin goal" (though I didn’t call it that back then) that I shared with no one. In those days I had no mentor, or significant other. At that time I knew my life would have little or no meaning the way I was headed. I had no focus! So I took a big risk! I stretched way outside my existing comfort zone. I volunteered for an additional stint in the US Army by going for officer training. tra ining. Actually it was the second step of my "under the skin goal" of making something of myself. I had already volunteered to go into the army at the height of the Vietnam Vietnam war. My father had told me the military militar y has straightened out countless young men before me. And, he added, "if you can make it, i t, son, be an officer". I didn’t share with anyone I had volunteered till I was out of the army. army. The bottom line is it worked!! The rest is history as they say. BUSINESS GOALS! These are no different than the family and personal goals. You You follow the same pattern. pat tern. The only difference is you will undoubtedly find more wrong advice than you can ever imagine. Most people will have something to say about things they know a little about, like having kids and raising them, etc. The same is true of your personal goals. After all everyone has lived a little, and learned something about life. But when it comes to business, every dog on the street has some crap to say. say. From the guy in the post office, to the high school football coach, they all have some comment. And the problem is we listen to them, because we don’t know much about business ourselves. Therefore if you get nothing more from this letter, unless the person giving business advice has been there and done what you aspire to do, don’t listen! Remember even the average accountant and lawyer only makes less than 100,000Kpa. So if you want more than that, don’t ask! The same goes for parents, in-laws, brothers, sisters, kids and colleagues. Unless your name is Buffet, Branson, Perot, Rockerfellow or Gates forget about listening to them! Of course you can read this letter or other QLA material! What I have written is meant to be a few succinct points on goal setting. I have written and talked much about this topic over the years. My overall experience is that people who set goals use only
average benchmarks. Yes, Yes, almost all people set goals too low! They do this due to their lack of self esteem and not wanting to get out of their comfort zone. It is also due to listening to people that have set unfulfilling goals themselves! And Group goal setting is an art not a science. WAKE UP CALL! More than anything this letter lette r is meant as a wake up call for you to take action for the New Year. Year. This is a great time to "dream it" - "think it" and "do it", as Bill Gates would say! Take action to evoke positive change in your life! lif e! So in the words of my mentor, Jim Newman - "Release "Relea se Your Your Breaks!" He believed, and I concur, most people go through life, due to lack of self esteem, filled with self doubt, with their emergency brake on. Hence, not fulfilling anywhere near their full human potential. Let me wish you and yours the happiest of holiday seasons and the most meaningful and prosperous New Year possible. To Your Quantum Leap Daniel S. Peña, Sr
P.S. Whilst looking at the bulletin board on the QLA web site, I have noticed there are frequently questions asked that are already answered in one of the 40 previous newsletters. Though some of you have read them many times, since they aren’t titled on the site, only the most diligent would be able to ascertain the various subject matter. Soon they will be listed by subject matter. P.P.S. .P.S. As I said in January 2001 and repeated re peated in 2002, I don’t expect the stock market to make up your portfolio losses. I say the same for 2003. I also see both commercial and residential real estate (property) markets weighing heavy. Of course, this information is free, so you can take it for what you paid for it. It’s your choice! In the corporate buy out markets we have seen another year of contraction and transformation, The recent Burger King sale for about 1.5 billion was 1/3 less than the expected 2.2 billion is a sign of the vendors price coming in line with reality. Therefore I see light at the end of the tunnel. As you can see by b y The Guthrie Group website (www.theguthriegroup.co.uk) (www.theguthriegroup.co.uk) we had a record year!
ISSUE #42 Dan Pena recommendations for a personal life coach and personal success coach
As another New Year Year sets in Dan Pena gives you his views on a personal life coach and a nd personal success coach. It’s also a right time to check what works and what doesn’t. This year too Dan as a personal success coach recommends not wasting time on things that can’t change. In this newsletter Dan Pena gives away the secrets of a personal life coach by revealing 15 Keys for Super Success. Ideally while choosing a personal life coach there are some guidelines that need to be taken care of which Dan Pena talks about. This newsletter clearly talks of each of these characteristics while choosing a personal success coach. He also talks of fear, practice, perception, reality, credos to success and a massive positive action. act ion. To find out more read on and also be part of this personal success coach agenda where each key is dealt in depth. While reviewing the main headlines helps to re-focus thoughts and more importantly actions, Dan also gives methods of becoming successful along with their pros and cons. In the New Year Year it is a great time to review what works and a nd what doesn’t. As I have said countless times, "Don’t waste time on things you can’t change" and "Insanity is doing things over and over and expecting different results." In that vain I have re-listed the 15 Keys for Super Success below. The One Day QLA Seminar (given at Heathrow) goes into each Key in depth. But reviewing the main headlines will help to re-
focus your thoughts and more importantly your actions. ac tions. Preparing for Your Your Quantum Leap (15 Keys to Super Success) KEY 1: Super Success is not for everyone! ever yone! KEY 2: You You cannot become a high-performance person part-time! KEY 3: You You cannot have it all - there is a "Pay Price in Action for Reward" KEY 4: You You must change - do it badly NOW if you have to because perfection = paralysis! KEY 5: Do not listen to Morons! Conventional wisdom is almost a lmost always wrong! KEY 6: You You are who you associate with - model success! KEY 7: Use Modelling to become Successful: THREE METHODS OF BECOMING SUCCESSFUL: 1. Trial and Error (takes too long) 2. Over time (Takes too long) 3. Modelling / Copying is only real choice. KEY 8: Get a Mentor CHARACTERISTICS OF A MENTOR: 1. Significantly More wealthy than you. 2. Significantly More experienced than you. 3. Older than you. 4. Other common interests besides just j ust business. 5. Geographically desirable - or make yourself available. KEY 9: You You must overcome F.E.A.R. F.E.A.R. - particularly particularl y Fear of Failure and also anxiety - fear’s little brother. FEAR REDUCTION TECHNIQUES: 1. Talk to your Mentor. 2. Know that: "What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger". 3. Deliberately place yourself in risky or uncomfortable situations. Replace FEAR with PASSION KEY 10: Practice being Super Successful even when you are not - get out of your comfort zone. KEY 11: 11: Perception is Reality Realit y - think and dress for success. KEY 12: Play to win, do not play "not to lose" - you cannot leap a chasm in 2 bounds! KEY 13: You You must have a dream - think big (Big dreams, big problems, big rewards) THE FIVE CREDOS FOR SUCCESS: 1. Yesterday’s Dreams are Today’s Realities. 2. See yours Dreams ahead of time - now! 3. Simulation - practice within when you’re without. 4. Act as if you have no limits to your abilities. 5. Do everything with Enthusiasm - (Greek (Gr eek "God within"). KEY 14: You must have PASSION
- Most people do not achieve the success they desire and deserve because they are labouring in a field of endeavour about which they are not passionate. - FIRST find something you are passionate about, SECOND, start or buy a business based around that. KEY 15: You You must be laser-beam focused on success and take MASSIVE POSITIVE ACTION! - Another word for "focus" is DISCIPLINE! - Motivation gets you started, discipline keeps you going. Review these often, along with your goals. As of 2003 I review my goals daily along with various parts of QLA philosophy I want to place additional emphasis on for myself. If today was a test - how would you grade yourself, zero to one hundred? Ask Ask yourself this question when you go to bed each and every day. Keep a monthly score. What is your monthly average including weekends? I would like forthright feedback in 30 days time. I will relate the #s back (with no names) and my thoughts. You can use the QLA bulletin board for your feedback for annomunity. annomunity. To Your Your Quantum Q uantum Leap Daniel S. Peña, Sr P.S. As promised the past QLA Newsletters now have titles for easier reference. A few have been removed for lack of timelines and redundancy.
ISSUE #43 19-May-2003 From Dan Peña - Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer. Dear Friend and Subscriber,
It has been some time since my last newsletter. It still amazes me that many of the questions I get are either answered on the bulletin board, on my web sites, or in previous newsletters. Of course QLA product answers them all! I check the bulletin board often, but rarely write. The board is for your use, amongst your selves. I am impressed by some of the disclosure and answers. I read my past newsletters, to refresh my memory. I also look at my web sites to gather my thoughts from time to time. I even listen to my various tapes. If I do this, I ask myself, why can’t my readers and other devotees? If you are serious about what you want to do going forward, I would think it would be the very least you do! The real answer is not all are serious! Eight years of coaching has proven without a doubt true personal development is rare! And belief system change is even more rare! I have attached a paragraph from an email I received today that illustrates true change! I receive requests often, not just for sage advice, but also often for money. money. The requests come in different forms but at the end of the day they want an easier way forward. They want a short cut, and there
are no short cuts to success or being a high performance individual. For most of these requests I have a polite answer a nswer.. No! For a few I give a lengthier retort. As you can read below, below, this young man was given my usual answer. Now sometime later he realised what I did for him was the best thing I could do. Like a good parent, coach or mentor should, I made him ultimately decide for himself. Sometimes because of pressure constraints you need to push the process faster and give the correct answer now, now, so they don’t drown. But a few gulps of water never hurt anyone! All I did was push (shove) him in the right direction. I didn’t use my 33 years experience, or 65,000 previous decisions. It was an easy task on my part. I assure you it wasn’t easy for him – in fact it was gut wrenching. And as it turned out he responded positively. positively. Remembering, “that which does not kill me makes me stronger.” What isn’t easy is giving this advice when you personally care, and in this instance I liked the kid a lot! Your Your emotional bank account can always interfere. I can still remember re member my dad hitting me as a youth for misbehaving and saying, “this hurts me more than you!” I would like to think it was true, though I struggle to believe it even now. Excerpt from young entrepreneur (European): “Dear Dan If you just helped me out several months ago with a cheque, I would not have experienced what I have over these months. You You helped me getting the best out of myself. You You made me think about a lot of topics I would never have if not confronted in the way I was and you helped me find myself, the person I want to be.” Another email I received today came from a devotee that changed more slowly. He asked if I changed the QLA methodology. methodology. He had recommended a guy to QLA the sister company to TGG. He used QLA successfully and told a friend. He was wondering if the basis of QLA methodology, methodology, success fees, had changed. Of course the precepts have been the same for over 20 years, since I formulated the QLA thought process. I told him no. Nothing had changed and it was still being used around the world. Professionals all over were still doing success stuff. But not unless you ask! I added that my organizations hadn’t dealt on a total success fee basis for some time now. All he had to do was "read my various web sites" and he would be informed. I said, no longer a day-to-day coach, neither I, nor my colleagues had time for total success fees. It was now mandatory for the individual to show commitment and only part of the fee came on success. Though usually this was the biggest portion. He has been a devotee of QLA for some time. As you can see he has followed the daily QLA measurement idea I gave you months ago. Anyone Anyone that can maintain mainta in an 80% average for two months running must succeed! (His email follows). ”Dear Dan, Have you changed your QLA methodology away from the success-fee model as outlined in your published materials and more towards fee for service? I kept going with your measurement test and have 2 more months of 80% +.” I could go on ad nauseum with examples, but I won’t. One of my European friends and mentees has nicely suggested keeping these and other correspondence short. Although Although I must say I like to err writing "war and peace" verbose lengths! I was going to write this newsletter on a book, written in the mid ‘90s called “Quantum Companies”, which showed 100 companies that would change your life and the world. Of course many are gone from the planet. A few are huge successes. That letter will have to wait till another time. My oldest son did the research last summer when he was TGG intern. Speaking of interns, I had a coffee with one of my past interns a few weeks ago in NYC. I have
mentioned him before, Bob Verdier. Verdier. He is now with one of the big Wall Wall Street giants. It was great to see him. I have had input into his short life since 1993. As many religions say, say, if you can get hold of them young enough you can make a difference. No I am not a religion, though I have been accused of being a cult leader. Cult, according to the Webster’s Webster’s Dictionary: devoted attachment to a person, or a principle. To Your Your Quantum Q uantum Leap Daniel S. Peña, Sr P.S. Some special news will be coming out on my site in the next few weeks!
ISSUE #44 Rules for all ages to help choose a personal success coach
In this newsletter that is highly recommended for people looking for a personal success coach, Dan Pena breaks away from convention and publishes a list of things to remember which can be used on a daily basis. Also included is another list that has been published earlier which is done by Bill Gates. It is from a high school grad speech - a must-read for anybody over 30 and lived a sheltered life. Dan says that a personal success coach is one who after attaining success does not get heady about it. Facts are, if individuals who think the world revolves around them disappeared from the earth, the world would still be spinning. In the things to remember list there are some very encouraging thoughts that talk of happiness, bettering one’s self-esteem, success, life’s best moments, deadlines, opportunities and time. Each of these statements in this newsletter forms the essentials to make an enterprising personal success coach. While Bill Gates rules are in the face, there are no mincing words on deciding who makes a personal success coach. As a signing off note, Dan Pena sets a reminder no matter where one is in life - it is someone else’s dream! 29-May-2003 From Dan Peña - Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer. Dear Friend and Subscriber,
I don’t normally forward verbatim things I receive from my various sources. This letter is an exception to that norm. "The " The Things To To Remember" is priceless. pricele ss. Many of the things listed you have heard before, but perhaps not all together. Carry them with you and read them often. Give them to your kids. Pass them on to people you deal with on a day to day basis. The second list is one I have used before. It is credited to Bill Gates. It is from a high school grad speech made by him. We all have or know children graduating form school now. It is amusing to read if you are over 30 and lived even a sheltered life. If you have lived a tough life as many of us have, it is funny enough to make you get cramps from laughter! I have sent it to my three children. Two are in college and one is in high school. Thus far only my 16 year old has responded, saying it sounds like stuff I have told them. We all, especially especiall y, if we have attained any success, take t ake our selves too seriously! Of course if you have achieved no success you don’t take yourself serious at all. In fact you probably don’t rate yourself at all – and you should rate yourself! That’s how self esteem is built, one step at a time! We all know individuals that think the world (or their biz, or their department) revolves around themselves. Guess what! If they disappeared from the earth, the world would still be spinning. Mr Gratsos, my mentor at Onassis Shipping 20 years ago once told me how important anyone is in
the cosmos of time! Put your hand in a pail of water. Pull it out. What happens? How long does it take to fill the void? How long does the water ripple? I think you get the picture! Stay focused, but remember the above. Have some fun! I am blessed, because I truly love what I do! I have for 33 years. But it doesn’t mean you will be doing the same thing all your life! I have had four stages so far in my business life cycle. If you don’t love what you do, think hard about what you are doing! If you don’t love what you do, it will only get tougher as you get older, and the older you get the harder to change. As I have said many man y times, find something you are passionate about and wrap a career around it-now! * THINGS TO REMEMBER *
1. No one can ruin r uin your day without YOUR permission. 2. Most people will be about as happy, happy, as they decide to be. 3. Others can stop you temporarily te mporarily,, but only you can do it permanently. 4. Whatever you are willing to put up with, is exactly what you will have. 5. Success stops when you do. 6. When your ship comes in… make sure you are willing to unload it. 7. You You will never "have it all together." 8. Life is a journey…not a destination. Enjoy the trip! 9. The biggest lie on the planet: "When I get what I want, I will be happy." 10. The best way to escape your problem is to solve it. 11. I’ve learned that ultimately, ultimately, ‘takers’ lose and ‘givers’ win. 12. Life’s precious moments don’t have value, unless they are shared. 13. If you don’t start, it’s certain you won’t arrive. 14. We We often fear the thing we want the most. 15. He or she who laughs……lasts. 16. Yesterday Yesterday was the deadline for all complaints. 17. Look for opportunities…not guarantees. 18. Life is what’s coming….not what was. 19. Success is getting up one more time. 20. Now is the most interesting time of all. 21. When things go wrong…..don’t go with them. Summer is upon us. Stay focused, but have some fun! Live each day, day, as it was your last, because it could be! ”Bill Gate’s Rules”
Rule 1: Life is not fair — get used to it Rule 2: The world won’t care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself. Rule 3: You You will NOT make 40 thousand dollars a year right You won’t be a vice-president with a car phone, until you earn both. Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you have tenure.
Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your had a different word for burger flipping — they called it opportunity. opportunity. Rule 6: If you mess up, it’s not your parents’ fault, so mistakes, learn from them. Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren’t as boring They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you are. So before you save the rain forest from the th e parasites of your parents’ generation, try delousing the closet in your own room. Rule 8: Your Your school may have done away awa y with winners and losers, In some schools they have abolished failing grades and they’ll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. This doesn’t doesn’t bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life. Rule 9: Life Lif e is not divided into semesters. You You don’t get few employers are interested in helping you find yourself. Do that on your own time. Rule 10: Television Television is NOT real life. lif e. In real life people the coffee shop and go to jobs. Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you’ll end up working for one. And remember no matter where you are in life – your life is someone else’s dream! To Your Your Quantum Q uantum Leap Daniel S. Peña, Sr P.S. No I haven’t gone nuts! I am spending more time at Guthrie and doing things I wouldn’t have done earlier in my life! Remember real change is rare! And belief system change is even more rare! P.P.S. I hope you are testing yourself everyday. Are you passing? Would you hire yourself? Would you fire yourself? Would you come to work for yourself? Would Would you go to work ’t have to? Answer truthfully.
ISSUE #45 29-May-2003 From Dan Peña - Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer. Dear Friend and Subscriber,
As I have written since 1993 and said ad nauseam for over 30 years there is never a good (or easy) time to make a difficult decision. A friend of mine recently hired the legendary Jack Welch, Welch, the former CEO of GE to perk up the employees e mployees at a large company. company. Mr Welch spends a good deal of time in retirement retir ement speaking on his successful methods of business. Actually the precepts have been around a very long time. There is nothing new about great leadership. My friend worked on this endeavour over a year. To To make this happen he went through several very tense moments. Firms that represent re present guys like Welch Welch are hard to get along with and know they are in a seller’s market. During the long process I predicted most of the hurdles and my friend dealt with them admirably, though it aged him considerably. The event was originally scheduled for March 2002. During the 60-minute session Welch Welch covered some of his basic precepts of business. I have attached his salient points. Most of the points are things I and many others have said and written. It is a very good short outline to follow. follow. What inspired me to write about Mr Welch’s Welch’s 60-minute talk was based on two emails I received
back to back from two very different individuals. One, a friend I have worked with for several years and I know very well. He is CEO of a multi billion dollar organisation. I had forwarded it to him FYI. He came back with, it was "good stuff". Most FYI’s to him I receive no response. After all they are FYI’s. But the mere fact that he responded positively, positively, and I respect re spect his opinion a lot, made me look at the list again notwithstanding there was nothing new on the list for me. When I did I saw how good it was! Lesson learned: Always take a second look! The other came from one of the many QLA devotees. He was writing to tell me of a recent success. He has followed the QLA methodology methodology and has a lot of my QLA products. He also participates on the QLA bulletin board and writes me from time to time. I will address his email in a further newsletter in detail. He and his partner also took some 12 months to make a deal (an acquisition) and have been working that long on two other deals. There were many tough decisions along the way. For example there is never a good, or convenient time to tell someone, especially an individual owner, their company isn’t worth what they need. Especially Especiall y when you are buying it with the seller’s own money in an earn out! I emphasise the word need, because most small to medium sized companies are sold on a basis of what they need to retire, etc. Their valuation, if you can call it that, isn’t based on any criteria learned at any an y business school. Another possible tough scenario is when you have to tell someone vis-�-vis their business that their son, or daughter are as worthless as breasts on a wild boar! Remember all sales of this size are full of emotions. During this 12 month period, as if they needed more problems, their operations director, a former main board director of a big company, stole a good size chunk of money from fr om them on the way wa y just to make things more interesting. But they stayed focused and put the ball in the net. Least we let big companies off the hook when talking about selling assets, many times the sales price has no relationship to value: i.e. they need a certain price so they won’t take a loss on the books; or the CEO or CFO supported the purchase and now it must be sold at a premium; or the same guys are in love with the deal and they really don’t want to sell. Good leadership habits help you make the tough calls. Jim Ryan the great miler told me over 30 years ago, inspiration gets you going and good habits keeps you going. I have never forgotten that credo and it is one reason I work some every day, even if I don’t have to or want to. Yes Yes there are some days, even I, would rather not work. Of course the second reason is I love what I do, so there are very few days I would rather not work, in fact I don’t even consider what I do as work! The first and third individual both took over a year to accomplish their goal. Both used various leadership styles, to get to the goal line. Both had and have a vision and practice many of precepts listed below. Both have strategies, whilst they aren’t as large as the second individual’s they need planning and execution. "DO IMPORTANT THINGS AND LEAVE THE REST UNDONE". Where there is a quantum difference between #’s 1& 3 and #2 is their allocation of time on small things that in reality don’t ever have to get completed. When you are starting from a small platform or from scratch you are predisposed to doing little stuff. You You have no choice, or at least you don’t think you do. It is hard for you to distinguish since you did everything ever ything in the beginning. It is difficult to form good habits of delegation, because you have no one to delegate to, but you should never forget everything shouldn’t be delegated because everything doesn’t have to get done! It is you in the leadership capacity that must make that call. It is a difficult call and some never make the transition. Whether you are at the beginning of your growth cycle, or near the top of your cycle (and you should be selling) the attached list of winning ideas can be of great use. As with all useful ideas merely reading, and or writing them down alone doesn’t get the ball in the net. That is why there are countless poor and emotionally e motionally unfulfilled PHD’s. You You must take positive action to invoke permanent lasting change! If you merely followed the last five items on Welch’s Welch’s list - "Planning Your Future" - you would be far ahead of 95% of the competitors!
To Your Your Quantum Q uantum Leap Daniel S. Peña, Sr
ISSUE #46 Dan Pena is an ideal personal success coach. Learn to choose one from his life and events through this newsletter
Everybody needs a personal success coach who can be looked upon as mentors and role models. There is always a sense of reverence and respect attached to a personal success coach. Most famed personalities have a crafted similarity and there are moments one sees an emerging reflection of their personal success coach among themselves. This means aligning the thought process with these individuals and then taking a slight variation depending on circumstances and situations. Though a personal success coach works and trains it is the belief in one’ self that that matters. Proper mentoring leads to confidence which is developed to handle situations. There are plenty of triggers that can help in judging the flamboyance of an individual and their principles held dear in their lives. A personal success coach would have extraordinary traits and would be in perfect sync with everything. The meticulous nature and experience over the years drives them forward and after a certain level, the sense of achievement is so high that even relationships r elationships become discretionary. The The whole exercise of rediscovering one’s self in the same existing environment makes the difference. Fun is also the cerebral make-up of the ideal personal success coach and reaching the pinnacle of achievement, it is well worth enjoying life and living it king size and doing what’s important and forget the rest!. Follow the simple principle yesterday’s yesterday’s dreams are today’s today’s realities and most importantly enjoy the fruits of labour now! Dan Pena is the ideal personal success coach and through his life and events described in this newsletter the ideals for success are learnt. Whilst roaming around my grounds on my golf cart c art the other day, day, I came across a man outside my west gate that is adjacent to Guthrie village. He was elderly and in a wheel chair. He moved towards me and introduced himself. I have lived here for 19 years and I had never seen him, let alone met him. We chatted for a few minutes about a bout how nice and peaceful Guthrie was and how fabulous the weather had been. (In case you didn’t hear Europe had a major heat wave that even spread to Scotland). I made one of my favourite observations that nothing had changed in 19 years. I said, the only difference was, upper Guthrie (up the hill) had a new phone booth and lower Guthrie just outside my gate had a new post (mail) box. There are no stores, pubs or shops. A church and a cemetery are the only additions to the landscape. He said nothing had changed in the 42 years he had lived in his cottage. He went on to tell me stories about Colonel Ivan Guthrie, the last patriarch of the Guthrie clan. He shared stories how Ivan had served in Queen Victoria’s Victoria’s time. And how Ivan was an eccentric, eccentr ic, though he didn’t call him that. He said, he used to gallop around the estate on his horse. He talked in a kind of reverence about this man. He obviously had some respect for him. He also said, Ivan had photos in an exhibition fashion in the castle telling the story of his life. It appeared as if he thought Ivan had had a wonderful life and apparently enjoyed it to the fullest. In a very surreal manner I thought he might also be referring to me and the life I have had to date. Of course I don’t ride on a horse around the grounds. I ride a golf cart and walk the perimeter almost every day. I know my neighbour I had never met, me t, hadn’t been in my home, but I too have
many photos and articles throughout what we call the "Great "Gre at Western Western Wing" where I spent much of my time working and coaching. We had such a nice talk, me sitting in my cart and he in his wheel chair basking in the warm sun. He said he soon would join the others in the Guthrie cemetery c emetery,, 100 meters away awa y. He seemed extremely content with no worries and free of all stress. I believe he might actually look forward to it. I shook his hand saying I was happy to meet him. He shook my hand very firmly. It was the kind of handshake you get from someone who read a book, or had attended a class on power of presence. I slowly turned to go back. He said, with a great smile on his face, "Yesterday’s "Yesterday’s Dreams Are Today’ Today’ss Realities!". I said, "Yes", "Yes", with even a bigger smile on my face! I mumbled under my breath, how very true as I drove over my property line to what was my dream many years ago and still one of my greatest passions, "Guthrie Castle". I have pondered why he said what he did? I have thought perhaps it was a dream, or it was like a twilight zone experience. e xperience. Could this man have read my book? Website? Website? Not likely lik ely.. According to British Telecom, Telecom, only 32 out of 85,000 population have requested DSL in all of Angus County. County. So how many even have computers? I know many don’t. I drove directly back to Guthrie Loch in the centre of my property, where there is a monument (with a time capsule inside) that was given to me by my wife for my 50th birthday. Inscribed on the Italian marble is: Daniel S. Peña, Sr. August 10, 1995 "Yesterday’s Dreams are Today’s Realities" Many people on the property that don’t know me often think I am buried there. Actually it might be a great place to put me. The view is spectacular! Now, let me share with you some exciting news: I recently announced, I have decided to reduce greatly my busy schedule even more and have moved back to Guthrie Castle full time. A castle home was my dream since 1983. I moved here with my family in 1984. I stepped down as CEO of The Guthrie Group 23 May Ma y, 2003. As I have written here before, I have extracted extrac ted myself as part of a long-term plan from all executive positions in recent years. I remain Chairman of The Guthrie Group and will maintain my relationships with select clients and friends. I will also keep working with a few mentees that are "Quantum Leaps In Progress". Recently I told the BBC in a TV interview, "After 33 years in "the eye of the tiger" all over the world, I have decided to do fun stuff like, www.guthriecastle.com. I want to enjoy more fully what started my quest, Guthrie Castle. My dream was to live in a castle on an island since 1983, though Britain isn’t what I had in mind as an island, Guthrie Castle is exactly what I dreamt". On a recent visit from my daughter, I saw sites I had never seen though I have lived near them for 19 years. I plan on doing much more of this in the future. I also am taking advantage of having my own 18-hole golf course. I recently hired a Carnoustie Golf Links (site of the 1999 British Open Championship) trained greenskeeper to refurbish my m y course. He has made many great changes. And I have learned how to drive the various large machines used to maintain the course - I cut a mean fairway! Having recently had my 58th birthday, I am going to enjoy life even more than I have in the past. I have written many times QLA methodology is all about living everyday as it was your last. In that vain, my longest standing friend of 40 years emailed me a few months ago to say a friend of his had passed away suddenly. suddenly. He and my friend were going to come to Guthrie to play golf this month. He was our age. My M y friend said, do what’s important and forget the rest! There are two messages in this letter: "Yesterday’ "Yesterday’ss Dreams Are Today’s Today’s Realities"; and most importantly "enjoy the fruits of your labour now!" I merely plan on enjoying myself even more in the next 40 - 50 years!
To Your Your Quantum Q uantum Leap Daniel S. Peña, Sr P.S. For those that think my writing strange, don’t worry! I am a m in great health heal th and intend to be around for a very long time - to see my children’s grandchildren!
ISSUE #47 The inside story of a personal life coach
A high performer can comfortably be considered as a personal life coach. A personal life coach breaks away, soaring high in the sky and maybe there all alone. The basic truth is today there are countless reasons given by people for not fulfilling their goals and this leads them to uninspired lives as it hinders their choice of a personal life coach. The reasons could be right from blaming spouses to not having the stomach to handle it. Or as a defense claiming money isn’t everything or money can’t buy happiness! Aligning one’s self to think - money alone buys freedom to make infinite amount a mount of choices is acceptable. Not all goals are financial and over a period of time with more choices developed a situation arises which can be envious to others. This leads on to reasoning why many don’t achieve their goals. Without a personal life coach, the influence of the belief system, a socio and economic influence is required to fulfill dreams. Added to this is a major influence of people in the immediate circle. This could mean like minded people meeting together and relating rel ating with one another. But on the contrary, when a personal life coach is a high performer there is a tendency to soar high in sky all alone because they are loners. The truth is whether alone or not - soar! This newsletter is an abstract of a high performer’s e-mail which is a major source of inspiration and can be the ideal personal life coach. It talks of the fears people have even though they have money. It clearly brings out the truth that perception is reality and absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. All what a personal life coach recommends. I get letters from people often. Occasionally I share them with my readers. I protect their real identity, identity, so they maintain their privacy. privacy. "little people", along with the big guys, I fondly remind myself of such terrific examples. I still get chills when I read a story like the one below. Notwithstanding it took him (coincidentally) 8 years he never gave up hope. "giving up, or in to outside pressure" to soon. I have heard countless reasons: my mortgage, my kids education, my wife (and this is most often the case), my job doesn’t allow me the time, I don’t have the will, I don’t have the stomach, and the biggest one of them all-money isn’t everything! Or money can’t buy you happiness! "buys" you freedom to make infinitely more choices. The individual who writes below now has a continuum of choices he couldn’t have envisioned 8 years ago! That’s a great new problem virtually virtuall y all of you would like to have! So why do so many not achieve their goals? As the writer so appropriately appropriatel y states - it’s "your belief system" that keeps you from fulfilling f ulfilling your dreams. We We are all products of our socio and economic milieu’s. We We are whom we hang out with, or as the kids used to say, say, chill out with. (I am a little unclear what that really means.) I have written, I never met a part time high performance person. And like people congregate together in like surroundings - with people they relate to. That is not to say high performance people don’t fly alone. On the contrary they soar often alone like an eagle. Many high performance people are perceived to be loners. Whether you’re a loner or not - soar!
Now read what this high performance person has to say. say. Mentally put yourself in his place. Visualise Visualise where he is and what he is thinking. $100,000 a week isn’t all the money in the world, but it isn’t bad! Considering he has come from $15 an hour. A "working stiff" as he refers refe rs to himself. Not bad at all! It makes me proud to forward you this email! To Your Your Quantum Q uantum Leap Daniel S. Peña, Sr P.S. It is pleasing to read, as I often do, there are people who would still like to hear me speak. You You can still hear me as often as a s you like through QLA product. … if you could tell te ll Dan ‘Thanks’ for me, I’d appreciate it - he’s responsible for my new lifestyle. I won’t bore you with all of the details, but I was fortunate enough to hear Dan in 1994, when he spoke in Los Angeles … His style and thought process captured my attention completely. I recorded his short speech, and listened to those tapes every few months while driving my 1994 Honda Civic to and from work. I knew one day I would break into the hi-performance world that was waiting for me. My thinking was completely different than anybody I knew…I had a hard time communicating with anyone because my thought process was so different. Here I am thinking Macro, and everyone is thinking Micro. At that time, I had a ‘good job’ (i.e.: working stiff) and was working nights for a grocery company earning about $15.00 /hr. (US). In a nutshell, I simply made up my mind 16 months ago to make a million dollars within the next year. I determined what it would take and set out to do. On June 16, 2002 I went live with my first online business. I built what many man y consider the most popular … membership website online today. I become one of Google’s and Overture’s top advertisers…regularly spending over $5,000 (US) daily in advertising. I believe I’m one of the few individuals who was generating $100,000 (US) weekly, weekly, while STILL working a full-time job! It almost cost me my marriage, as I was working 16 hours a day (and more) EVERYDA EVERYDAY… Y… including weekends…no vacation, no holidays. I left lef t my job 5 months ago and have not looked back. Leaving my job was the biggest challenge. I was scared to death! I mean REALLY REALLY scared…even though I had more money than ever, I was still terrified. terr ified. So I now work for myself, live in a million-dollar home with a million dollar view of Los Angeles and the valley. I am slowly building my dream-team dream-tea m (attorneys, cpa, employees, etc.), and working hard to break free from doing mundane work (programming) myself … as I’ve seen first hand that my employees can do it better (Dan was right about that). I’m currently looking into new projects and expanding my empire. The biggest obstacle has been overcome: my belief system. … you probably hear these stories all the time. I just thought I’d share mine with you. … He has some great sayings that I have never forgotten: "Perception is Reality" & "Absence of Evidence is not Evidence of Absence"…great, great sayings. I enjoy Dan’s newsletters and bulletin board. I had hoped that Dan was still putting on Seminars, but it seems he no longer does this? I would very much like to hear him speak again. I’m a VERY busy busy guy, guy, but I would drop everything to hear him speak or spend time with him. Thanks … Sincerely, BILL
ISSUE #48 UK Life Coach and Personal Success Coach Dan Pena’s Seminar on QLA Methodology,
Raising Capital and Deals and Acquisitions
A personal success coach is a necessity in life. Dan Pena is a leading personal success coach with a belief that the only constant in life is change and the sooner one learns to cope and exceed in a changing environment the sooner success hits. This newsletter distinguishes what people enjoy and also determine the driving force. Opinions are plenty, plenty, but helping people get across the goal line is what’s important. With With simple illustrations that are easily understood, this newsletter talks of the seminar and how special it is for people listening to QLA Methodology at Guthrie Castle. The 3 Day QLA event was held in the summer of 2001 and was for people who couldn’t make it earlier! Positioned as UK Life Coach, Dan Pena’s seminar covered QLA Methodology, Methodology, Raising Capital and Deals and a nd Acquisitions. Acquisitions. Whether it is big or small deals, the conventional truth spoken by a personal success coach is even blind hogs will be finding big acorns! Happy New Year! PERSISTENCE PERSISTEN CE PAYS PAYS OFF After 2½ years of requests I have decided to give the readers what they want – another QLA Seminar. I have just completed reviewing 2003 as has been my practice for many years. Part of my regimen is looking at what I did that I don’t want to do anymore and what I wish I did more of, but didn’t for whatever reason. The only constant in life is change and the sooner we all learn to cope and exceed in a changing environment the sooner we will succeed geometrically! (Whilst writing this newsletter I received a call from a long lost student. I attach the essence of the call as a P.P.S.) This process became more acute because of a request made to me in late 2003. A friend and client of The Guthrie Group and QLA devotee asked if I would consider doing a seminar in February 2004. You You may remember I stopped seminars in 2001. He suggested "Raising Capital" as the topic most people are interested in. I said I would and started my preparations. As life would have it this seminar won’t take place - no fault of mine - but it got me thinking what it was like doing what I enjoy - helping people making their Quantum Leap by speaking on subject matter I know as well as anyone! I decided, as I do about most things in my life, since I was looking forward to it - I should do it! Ergo, I have decided to give a seminar this spring here at Guthrie. I have received a number of requests since I gave my last seminar here in August 2001. I must admit I miss the interaction with the attendees, but I don’t miss the travel. As I have said countless times, speaking in front of people helps keep you sharp! Some former attendees think I merely enjoyed yelling at the attendees. Though that was part of the ambiance, I took great pleasure in helping attendees get across the goal line. I still enjoy receiving emails and letters of attendees and users of my product that tell me their many successes. I have published several of these over the years in this newsletter. As you might remember some of their stories are quite remarkable. The one thing the stories all have in common is it was a rough road and they never gave up dreaming! The seminar will be 4 nights and 3 days, like the one in 2001. At this juncture it is envisaged I will ask a couple of my current partners to attend to mingle with the attendees. I attach a reduced version of a recent email from one of my partners who I asked about a bout giving another seminar. It’s It’s worth reading! Michael is a winner! I have written about him before. People have told me, being here and listening to QLA Methodology Methodology is something special since Guthrie was my dream. Therefore I will open the universe to more so they can share in the Guthrie Castle experience, so I will charge accordingly. The cost will be only 50% of the cost of my "final" seminar held in the summer of 2001 - perhaps the people that couldn’t make it before can now make
it. Though it is at the reduced price it will be the same 3 Day QLA info as the 2001 event! One of my current mentees feels strongly I should charge a lot more to make it exclusive. That is the conventional wisdom from whom I queried. Of course I decided to go against conventional wisdom and you are the beneficiaries! The seminar will be held in early April and will cover c over QLA Methodology, Methodology, "Raising Capital" and "Deals and Acquisitions" - one day each. All attendees will receive the 1999 One Day QLA Audio and Video as a free gift (a value of US$385) for allowing me to stay home and continue to teach! You may have noticed the market for big deals turned in the second half of last year. Therefore the market for small deals should follow in 2004. I expect, short of all out war, small deals will flourish. Small deals are defined: 0 - 10 million. And like always - Even blind hogs will be finding big acorns! It will be the "Year "Year of the Blind Hog!" Those interested in seminar details should email Paul Morris at:
[email protected] To Your Your Quantum Q uantum Leap Daniel S. Peña, Sr P.S. Dan: I’ve given this response quite some thought, while I believe there are a million and one comments I could make here … these are some of my thoughts. First off, I believe the individual must understand that QLA is a very deep, internalization-change internaliz ation-change process that is only possible for people that have an extreme desire and un-wavering commitment…I believe the individual has to have the desire and capacity to be able to focus exclusively on truly absorbing the information. For me, I find myself consistently recalling information from our business emails, phone calls and in person meetings over the years, BUT MOSTLY FROM CONTINUALLY LISTENING TO YOUR BUSINESS TAPES TAPES AND FROM RE-READING YOUR BOOK…using it as more of a reference book, which institutes a different way of thinking and goes against how I was raised … what I learned from my family, from grades K-12 and in college. And for me and my deal, while I do not believe that I’m a genius…I do have what amounts to a "bull-dog" determination and a willingness to do absolutely whatever I think it may take to do a deal. And to do deals in the large scale multi-family housing industry using QLA, I’ve had to learn how to navigate deeply embedded rules that govern how deals are traditionally done. Conventionally, Conventionally, deals in this industry require big "up-front" earnest ear nest money deposits and equity money, money, they are slow moving and it usually takes several generations to build up real net worth, liquidity and wealth. However, through perseverance and continued belief beli ef in you/QLA, I’ve been able to adapt QLA methodologies to being able to do large scale multi-family multi- family housing deals and building net worth, liquidity and wealth now at the age of just turning 32! And if myself as an individual, would have had more financial acumen, business skills, etc. and perhaps most of all… would have had the ability to erase all my preconditioning and instantly inject my brain with the information from you, your business programs and the information the book provided me over 5 years ago, I would have been able to adapt and change quicker and would have achieved success quicker…much quicker. quicker. These are some of my initial thoughts. Quantum Leaps in progress!-Michael P.P.S. .P.S. Whilst writing this newsletter I got a call ca ll from a former f ormer student who had put his family f amily through the 3 day seminars. In fact he put his four sons (3 lawyers) and a daughter in law (a lawyer) through QLA training. He had built a successful business. Unbeknownst to me he had been in a near fatal car accident with his youngest son. He had lost his memory for 4 years and recently got it back to find much of his business had disappeared and he wanted to make a come back. This kind of "pick yourself up" story isn’t unusual. But at age 65 they are truly rare! I told him about my upcoming Guthrie Seminar and he said he would come. As an aside he stated what I have said on
my Bulletin Board on my site; he felt uncomfortable leaving his story in a message asking for help. He said in many different ways I was doing the right thing in giving a seminar again. He said I have too much to offer not to use it. He read me what I had written him in the 1st page of my book almost 5 years ago. It was scary how accurate I had been. I don’t need reinforcement when I make a decision, as most do, as I have written and said countless times. If it looks and feels hot - it’s hot. I am looking forward to seeing a group of you here soon! It will be an experience you will never forget. I look upon each and every Castle Experience fondly!
ISSUE #49 21st January 2004 From Dan Peña - Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer. Dear Friend and Subscriber,
I rarely write news letters so close together, but I have good reasons to do so now. One, I received this thought provoking message (below) on my (our) bulletin board at www.danpena.com and two, I am happy to write the seminar I announced in my Newsletter of 9 Jan is over subscribed, so I have decided to have another seminar this summer. As you will tell from my writing here the momentum has become infectious. If it feels right, smells right and tastes right - it must be right! It also seems you appreciate the greatly reduced prices! Remember it’s hot - or it’s not! 1. As I have written and said countless times we should live every day as if it were our last. I have even begged seminar participants to live life on purpose. My Pe�aisms and other writings are filled with quotes about taking account of your lives. I have demanded you take responsibility for your lives and actions. Many of you have heard me ask, "what will be your legacy?", "What would you want put on your tombstone?" But I never thought about what I would put on mine! So when this message appeared on my (our) site I was moved. I was especially moved by the two questions below, because of the very recent loss of my Mother who I had just moved to be with me at Guthrie. She was a very special person, though I really didn’t appreciate what she had done for me till late in her life, since I started coaching in 1993. My Mom was always supportive of everything ever ything I did. As I have said many times, she read in Readers Digest (or somewhere) in about 1946, you should never use the word "no" when dealing with your child. Therefore, I was raised in an environment that had no negatives associated with it from my Mom. We We now all understand how extremely important that was to establishing a basis for my self esteem. Until I had started coaching I had always taken self esteem for granted. Of course I worked on it, but I never gave it any conscious thought till I started trying to build a model for others to follow. I have said more times than I can remember; "self esteem is the basis for excellence in all high performance individuals." All that have heard me speak or listened to my tapes have heard me bellow, "I may be wrong, but I am never in doubt!" In that vain when questioned how I would view my life’s legacy and what would I put on my own tombstone, I was truly moved. It made me ponder what words should I write on my mothers? The message below was left a few days ago. Hi Dan ! First of all I’m deeply impressed about your career in business and private life. I’ve watched your video seminar over and over and was overwhelmed by your energy. Dan, what will be the legacy from you to all of us in one sentence?? What is this key message on your tombstone?? I’m eager to read the answer…. Keep on going! B I won’t try and relate my thoughts in one sentence vis-�-vis my legacy, but I can tell you what I tell
the ones I love: "wrap your life around what you’re passionate about and leave this life with no regrets for the things you didn’t do - but could have done!" And though I haven’t planned my tombstone yet, "To "To Your Your Quantum Leap" would be appropriate as as my good friend and colleague Bruce Whipple suggested. The time capsule near the Guthrie loch and 4th tee of Guthrie Castle Golf Course has inscribed on its marble top, "Yesterday’s "Yesterday’s Dreams are Today’s oday’s Realities." Perhaps I will have both phrases inscribed. The real point of this message in response to the Bulletin Board query is to consciously think every day of what we are attempting to achieve in our short lives and did we get any closer today? Normally we think about our lives when we are at the end. My entire QLA Methodology Methodology is based on doing now - not later! Taking positive action now! Living life to its fullest! Being all we can be! Ask yourself how you would answer the questions put to me? - Hopefully some of you will use the Bulletin Board to answer. As an aside, the Bulletin Board, along with other parts of the site, will have changes soon to make it more "user friendly and interactive", including DVD, CD video and sound bites. 2. I was pleasantly surprised to see the seminar I announced in my last news letter was over subscribed in a few days. I purposely didn’t give a date, or price. I only said it would cost 50% of my last Castle Experience in August August of 2001. Those that enquired were told, it would be 2-6 April at Guthrie. Virtually all were pleasantly surprised at the cost. A few didn’t understand the cost also included room and board at Guthrie. I am having a lot of fun with the idea of giving a seminar again and have already started tinkering with a few content details making it current, though the concepts are timeless. Therefore, because of your positive response, and a new enthusiasm fired up in me, I am announcing another 3 day, 4 night seminar 18-22 June at Guthrie for the same cost. c ost. Or as the seminar gurus say, "Not cost but - Investment". Details can be obtained from Paul Morris at
[email protected]. I am looking forward to interfacing interf acing with attendees in April and June. The last night will be a "black tie event" as is customary for a Castle Experience. Understandably, a few have requested stretching their time for local travel and golf. All reasonable requests will be considered. The material covered will be QLA day 1, Raising Capital day 2, and Deals and Acquisitions day 3. Days 2 and 3 will be structured around the participants own needs after the QLA basics are covered. All questions will be addressed. My time is your time whilst you are here. I look forward to sharing what I have learned over my 34 year career at my home. As you will see and feel Guthrie Castle and its environs are an extraordinary venue to learn and share dreams! If today was a test - how did you do? For those of you that decide to take positive action and attend a castle experience - I GUARANTEE you will answer this question much differently subsequent to your attendance! And to answer a few queries - I have no plans on giving QLA Seminars anyplace other than Guthrie. To Your Your Quantum Q uantum Leap, Dan P.S. Yesterday Yesterday the British Brit ish Broadcasting Company (BBC) filmed part of a documentary here at Guthrie. When talking about dreams and our two friendly ghosts, I shared true stories about others dreams being initiated here at Guthrie. Whilst Guthrie was my dream, it has been at the core of many seminar attendees dreams coming true dating back to 1994. I have written and talked about the "Verdiers" "Verdiers" who came to Guthrie 10 years ago. Their lives were changed, as have many others. They have now lived on a rural estate in a large mansion near Washington DC for 7 / 8 years and are the proud owners of a thriving business that continues to expand greatly. Before they came to Guthrie they were already successful. They had already found a model that worked, but they wanted more and were willing to change. The experience had a major effect on their entire family, as they
have readily written and said many times. They remain my friends.
ISSUE #50 Personality development seminars and a personal development program from Dan Pena
In this newsletter, there is write-up of a host of personality development seminars and a personal development program. The details are carried out in this newsletter and will also be seen on the Dan Pena website as well. The upcoming two Castle Events will be featured here and it will also talk of the various QLA devotees and partner scheduled to be there. After a two and a half year layoff Dan Pena has decided to start the 3-day Quantum Leap Advantage Castle Experience seminars again. After making a leadership speech across the world and taking part in seminars and workshops, Dan’s Dan’s favourite is the Castle Experience. In fact, fa ct, Dan urges readers to work toward their dream and passion which is a storybook ambience. Most of the material developed for this personality development seminars and personal development program is timeless and these are available for sale. The format would for the June 3 day and 4 night seminars will be devoted to, 1 day basic QLA, 1 day Raising Capital and 1 day Deal Making and a nd Acquisitions. Acquisitions. Dan thanks followers for their perseverance to hold these seminars at Guthrie which otherwise would not have happened! He is also very happy and satisfied to hear from many who have encouraged him to back a comeback to the seminar pulpit! This newsletter deals with the personality development seminars where attendees can build a personal model for success. There are various illustrations that clearly describe how some of the attendees have benefited! NEW SEMINAR PAGE / PRODUCT SALE Soon there will be a new "Seminar" page on the Dan Peña website. It will feature seminar schedules, topics and the salient points covered. It will also have words, phrases and comments for the day, week or month as I think of them. I am sure you will be able to benefit. The upcoming two Castle Events will be featured. It will also relate which QLA devotee and partner is scheduled to be there. As I have written in recent issues of my newsletter, I decided after a 21/2 year layoff to give the 3day Quantum Leap Advantage Castle Experience seminars again. As many of you know I gave seminars, workshops and keynote speeches spreading the QLA word, all around the world from 1993 to 2001. But my favourite has always been the Castle Experience. For those of you that have been here - you know why! I start these seminars by saying; Guthrie Castle is the perfect metaphor for "Yesterdays’ "Yesterdays’ Dreams are Today’s oday’s Realities". This was my dream! Whatever your dream and passion there is no better place to launch, or re-launch your dream than Guthrie Castle. Countless Castle attendees have initiated their search for personal success here. As the photos on my web sites www.danpena.com, www.guthriecastle.com www.guthriecastle.com and www.theguthriegroup.co.uk www.theguthriegroup.co.uk show, show, the storybook ambiance is unparalleled. Whilst listening to the QLA, Raising Capital and Deal Making and Acquisitions tapes to prepare for the upcoming seminar, I was struck by how the product material is so timeless. In fact I have decided to sell (to my newsletter subscribers only) the "Raising Capital" and "Deal Making and Acquisitions" tapes for �195 instead of �357. You You really need to have these so you can listen to them regularly! If I still get benefit, just imagine what good they will do you! (email
[email protected] for details)
The April and June 3 day and 4 night seminars will be devoted to, 1 day basic QLA, 1 day da y Raising Capital and 1 day da y Deal Making and Acquisitions. This associated product is outstanding. I had forgotten how great it truly is! The only way to get a better emersion is to hear me in person. Though virtually all successful QLA devotees say, say, you also need the product to get additional a dditional doses of Dan to continue to replicate the QLA methodology methodology till it’s part of you. And as I have written some have actually worn the tapes out - which we replace free of charge. There is a direct relationship to those that live QLA and their personal success. I had thought my message could continue to help people without me personally giving seminars. I WAS WRONG! And And I am very ver y happy for those of you that continued to ask, "When is Dan giving another seminar?" Without your perseverance me returning, to give seminars at Guthrie would not have happened! It is very gratifying to hear from many of you thanking me for coming back to the seminar pulpit! Interfacing with seminar attendees gives me great satisfaction. Helping them build their own personal model for success is extremely fulfilling. I have shared a number of e-mails with you over the years. Sometimes I have to drag them across the goal line and sometimes all they need is a gentle shove. As hard as many seminar attendees believe I am - often whilst reading e-mails from you brings goose bumps, a lump in my throat and a tear in my eye. The short story that follows did all three! I am reminded of a student mentee who stuttered badly when he came to one of my seminars in the mid 90’s. That That same young man 2 years later won a US Kodak-University competition by giving a speech and power point presentation to an audience of 2,000 without a hitch. That day, truly, truly, my cup runnith over! He later went into the priesthood. He said learning to be articulate made him realize his real talent was being an "excellent listener". I helped him learn that the basis of all high performance people is self-esteem and self-concept! This is just one of the countless stories I count as my track record as a "Personal Development Success Coach". Though most of the accolades I have received have been as a business coach and creating wealth, I have always known many benefit from QLA in countless other ways. I believe I have had success in this arena as well, because I have had 10’s of thousands of meetings and conversations, all over the world in 5 separate decades. These countless encounters have allowed me to understand what people wanted for themselves. Whether it is conscious or not we all want to be - ALL WE WE CAN BE! And to be all you can ca n be you must "LIVE LIFE ON PURPOSE". It sounds corny, but positive self-esteem was meant for everyone! Some use it to create monetary wealth and some use it to create c reate emotional wealth, wea lth, i.e. Priesthood, Teachers, Teachers, Social Workers Workers to name a few. few. A number number of you have asked what the 3-day, Guthrie Castle Experience includes other than sumptuous food, drink and accommodation! Here are the salient points we will cover in April and June: QLA Overview . Who am I? Redefine goals . Your Your doubts are not products of accurate thinking, but habitual thinking . What it means to be super successful. Laser beam focus . Preparing for your Quantum Leap (15 keys) . Achieving your Quantum Leap (8 power strategies) . Cashing in on your success DEAL MAKING AND ACQUISITIONS? . How to find an industry? . How to find targets within your industry? . How the internet has made the process easier and harder? . How to make a first impression? . How to expand your Dream Team? . How to set up a system to get paid?
. How to structure professional fees? . How to set up and conduct the first meeting? Second? . How to proceed to reviewing financials? . How to create deal flow? . How to determine if the deal is hot? . How to conduct due diligence? . How to make an offer? . How to tie up the deal? . How to finance the deal? . How to do the next deal? . Role play using attendees own deals. RAISING CAPITAL . Dispelling myths . Rules of the Game - there aren’t any! . How the internet has made the process easier and harder. . Role playing . Forms of Finance . Fundamentals of finance . How to locate successful financing? . How to interview financial institutions? . Business Plans - Do’s and Don’ts . How to create/project the right perception? . How to create an instant track record? . How to present to the financial institutions? . How to always alwa ys position to go public - even if you don’t? . How to leverage banks against each other? . How to choose between IPO’s IPO’s and Private Placements? . When to use Investment Banks, Venture Venture Capitalists, brokers, private equity providers, and others? . How to understand the various tools of finance? . Unsecured vs. secured debt . How to see the red flags early? . Advanced role playing . Evaluation of business plans of attendees . How to avoid subsequent litigation by positioning yourself for it? . Analytical model for calculating debt required . Most common financial follies . How not to take rejection from bankers, investors too seriously? . Financial misconceptions To Your Your Quantum Q uantum Leap, Dan P.S. Remember, "Dreams come true with Low Interest Rates!" P.P.S. .P.S. Some of the topics that have been suggested for f or further seminars are: 1. Doing international business 2. How making money in a down-market differs from an up-market? 3. Interpreting the strategic vector 4. Trials and Tribulations of the Venture Venture Capital world: interviewing VC’s - do’s do’s and don’ts 5. How to find deals? Setting up your model. 6. What deals are hot and what are not? 7. Litigation - the sword and the shield of a high performer! 8. QLA to build self esteem and self concept and overcoming fear of failure; that which does not
kill me makes me stronger 9. QLA - Leadership and motivation of others I am reviewing all of these and a few others, but 2 or 3 of them certainly look, feel and sound hotter than others. Of course as you will read a number of the topics suggested are covered in the 3-day castle experience. I would be interested in further input.
ISSUE #51 25th March 2004 From Dan Peña - Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer. Dear Friend and Subscriber,
QLA DEVOTEE / MENTEE HONOURED I am pleased to announce one of our own QLA devotees devotees and my mentee was featured on 17th March by Forbes. I couldn’t be more proud! As I have written before, Michael Pierce has been through a lot! Please take the time to read the article. To many of you, it will sound very familiar! www.forbes.com/reuters/newswire/2004/03/17/rtr1302287.htm ANOTHER QLA CASTLE EXPERIENCE I would like to take this opportunity to tell you I will give another 3 day 4 night castle experience in 15 - 18 August. I am sure it will be fully subscribed. This seminar will combine QLA Methodology Methodology,, Raising Capital and Deal Making and Acquisitions Acquisitions as the April and June seminars. It will also be at the reduced price of April and June. In addition I have taken some of the suggestions you sent me, including new blocks on leadership, selling your dream, overcoming obstacles and the conventional wisdom that will plague you. In addition Michael Pierce will be the invited QLA devotee. As I told the Reuters journalist, many know QLA Methodology Methodology,, but few are as totally committed and articulate a rticulate it as well, as Michael. M ichael. He should be an inspiration and extra bonus to the castle experience. He will say in his own words how he had to continue to sell and resell his dream and overcome many obstacles time after time! I know he will share how he felt, because I never gave up on him, though his success was a long time coming. As I have said countless times, I never give up on anyone as long as they don’t give up on themselves! For more information on the August seminar contact Michelle Mic helle at
[email protected]. The outline of the seminar is exactly what is on my site for April / June slightly condensed, but also includes the above new blocks. As always each attendees deal / dream will be worked into the programme, by submitting detailed questionnaires before the event. As before we will try and accommodate extended stays where possible. There will still be time for those of you that play golf, etc, since it is daylight from 4am till 11pm and the seminar hours are 9am till 6pm, or until all questions are answered. I look forward to seeing you in August, or before! To Your Your Quantum Q uantum Leap, Dan P.S. To To answer whether I will be giving seminars in the USA or anywhere else in Europe - NONE ARE PLANNED.
ISSUE #52 Personal Development Program, Leadership Training Seminar
The Dan Pena Personal Development Program and Leadership Training Seminar was a grand success. All attendees had a great time and going by some of the comments registered here the experience was outstanding. In fact a number of registrations were already signed for the next event. This newsletter gives an insight into the various experiences of people during this 3-Day and 4-Night Personal Development Program Pr ogram and Leadership Training Seminar. The attendees ranged from fr om the ages 27 to 68 and came from the USA, England, Germany, Canada and Netherlands with varied backgrounds from real estate, construction; commercial cleaning, internet; software and financial services, amongst others. Through this Personal Development Program and Leadership Training Seminar many people benefited and achieved the "stretch" they were looking for. It was a congregation of people who aimed at achieving similar goals and with a strong belief in the QLA. Overall it helped people identify and realise one’s potential and releasing it from the shackles. In fact this Personal Development Program and Leadership Training Seminar brought out the best in many people where they could laugh at one’s elf without becoming tense or upset - an easy way of improving self-esteem. Overall, the attendees found Dan coming out stronger each day at this Personal Development Program and Leadership Training Seminar. Seminar. In fact there was also an overlap of subjects which were wer e not part of the seminar. Find out how Dan plans to go about the next seminar along with an array of topics that would take care of various aspects in leadership. "Nothing is as real as a dream. The world can change around you, but your dream will not. Responsibilities need not erase it, duties need not obscure it. Because the dream is within you, no one can take it away." - Unknown CASTLE EXPERIENCE Well another Castle Experience is history! All attendees had a great grea t time. The comments below clearly indicate the experience was outstanding and all would come back again and recommend it! In fact a number of them have already signed up for the different format in August and even seminars not yet scheduled that we discussed I might, or should give. More about that later. la ter. I had forgotten how much fun the 3 day and 4 nights were. The attendees ranged in age from 27 to 68 and came from fr om the USA, England, Germany, Canada (by way of Pakistan) and the Netherlands. The group was varied in their backgrounds: various forms of real estate; construction; commercial cleaning; internet; software and financial services, amongst others. HERE’S WHAT SOME HAD TO SAY: I really enjoyed these 3 days, hope to be back soon, together with other people from other organisations. - Gerard (previous Castle attendee) I achieved the "stretch" I was hunting for…It is highly unlikely in life that I will meet anybody with your (DSP’s) presence. - John (Signed up for Aug) I have found the whole experience very enjoyable. Nice to interact with others that are trying to achieve similar goals. I will be back in August and we will by that time have tripled in size. Michael (Signed up for Aug) QLA is something I really believe in. - Henk Thanks a lot Dan, you have brought out the best in me. I have learned to laugh at myself, without becoming tense or upset - that means my self esteem has improved. I shall attend another of your seminars in October - Habib
Things I’ve learned: Do not share doubts - I’ve been doing that for a long time. Dealing with you Dan, someone I view as one of the biggest hard-asses on earth makes dealing with anyone else (i.e. bankers and other business people) much easier. easi er. I can do it, I can be an assassin - it’s not magic. Bill (signed up for Aug) The seminar, in my view, is about identifying and realising our potential. I t has released me from my own shackles…which now seems completely obvious. Crystallisation of future "Plan of Action"…Freedom from a substantial amount of dross I had carried, i.e. "Like the removal of a heavy coat." Certain precepts have been totally dispelled…Self esteem has certainly been boosted… A reality check I would recommend - I will definitely return. - Martin I can recommend anybody an ybody to visit the seminar and see Dan in action. An experience for an eternity. I would come back and do the seminar again anytime. - Ricardo LETTERS… As I have written countless times I get many letters and emails relating great experiences. I knew as soon as I read it I had to share this letter from John. It is especially remarkable because he is 59! I get great gratification when I see people win against conventional wisdom. Please read it and feel his success! Dear Dan, I took your advice after reading your book and decided to buy a business. I had little money to play with so I went for "perception is reality" and took it from there. I did my homework (very thoroughly) and discovered that the sellers liked a drink and a bet on the horses. They were also deep in debt. My kind of people, if you see what I mean! Next I paid the outstanding tax liens on the property propert y. " Now let’s talk about buying your business." Raising the finance was not easy. I went from bank to bank and lender to lender until I was finally accepted. I will always remember this doofus banker looking over his horn-rimmed spectacles and telling me in all seriousness, "Do you realise that this loan is 3% over LIBOR?" Stupid idiot! I am now the proud owner of a large, thriving guesthouse. Not bad for a 59 year old guy with lousy credit ratings. I would also add: 1. It was not easy, several times I almost filed the whole shebang under "nightmares I have avoided" because it was an 18 months long, real-life nightmare. 2. It helps to have a slush fund. 3. It helps to have grim determination. 4. It helps to be slightly crazy. 5. My people no longer ask me where I am going when I see them don my shirt and tie. They know I am going to the bank. Thanks Dan, I would never have attempted anything like this until I met you. Thanks a million, and here’s to my first million. John Dear John, Congratulations! Keep pushing!
To Your Your Quantum Q uantum Leap, Dan QLA DEVOTEE / MENTEE HONOURED In my last email I sent an incorrect address to the Forbes article on Michael Pierce’s success feature. Here is the correct link: http://www.forbes.com/reuters/newswire/2004/03/17/rtr1302287.html AUGUST CASTLE EXPERIENCE After giving my first Castle Experience in over 2½ years I was interested in the comments from the attendees. As all the attendees would say I ended each day stronger than I started - because I am doing something I am passionate about! It was also made clear to me there was interest in additional topic areas. Therefore, I will now expand the new material to a full day in my next August Castle Experience. QLA, Raising Capital and Deal Making & Acquisitions will make up 2 days. The third day will focus on leadership, selling your dream, sales training, overcoming objections and focused follow through. This is a great mix of information and Michael Pierce will join us in August! To Your Your Quantum Q uantum Leap, Dan P.S. Financing Your Your Dream: To assist in cash flow management my team will allow Castle Experience attendees to pay for their tuition in instalments. If you need more information contact Paul at
[email protected]. P.P.S. .P.S. Going forward the following seminars will be given at Guthrie Castle:# Castl e:# June: 3 Day QLA, Raising Capital, Deal Making and Acquisitions (as scheduled). August: 3 Day QLA, Raising Capital, Deal Making and Acquisitions, Leadership, Sales & Marketing. BASED ON INTEREST I NTEREST RECEIVED THESE ARE ARE THE PROPOSED SUBJECTS FOR THE REST OF 2004: 1 Day QLA; 1 Day Leadership, Sales, Marketing; 1 Day Raising Capital Deals and the art of Close. 2 Day Finance, Capital, Deals and the Art of Close. 3 Day QLA, Finance, Capital, Deals and the Art of Close. P.P.P .P.P.S. .S. Details of Guthrie Castle Seminars planned for 2005 will be published later this year along with details of the increased price structure.
ISSUE #53 Join Dan is the search for a personal success coach and UK life coach.
In continuing the search for a personal success coach and UK life coach, Dan takes a trip into the world of entertainment. In specific he talks about the reality shows on television which have turned out to be blockbusters on small screen simply because success sells the best and everybody deep inside wants to be all they can be. The premise is very clear - it’s all about taking the right decision changes everything rather than just wishing for it. Bringing out the spirit of a personal success coach, Dan goes through the selection process in meticulous detail where out of 215,000 applicants only 2 were short-listed. While it all seems fun, the final 16 get to do some rudimentary to simple acts and Dan takes a dig wondering how they would survive in real life situations.
Dan also brings out how being intense and devoted makes a winner. That was the stuff that the winner - an intense entrepreneur who successfully sold cigars on the Internet was made of. The facts are a personal success coach needs to also be a good leader and that was lacking among the teams that were participating. It is always that the best man wins but being able to digest someone else being the winner can be hard. Dan talks in detail of a few personalities who suit a personal success coach role. Trump is one of them and he talks about how he handles stress. Another personality is Mark Burnett who pioneered "Reality TV" and his struggle to become one of America’s popular entertainer, a personal success coach and of course a UK life coach. Dan discusses about Castle Experience graduates who are different and each of them being mentored to become either a personal success coach or a UK life coach. 23rd April 2004 From Dan Peña - Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer. Dear High Performance Person and Visionary,
"A WISH CHANGES NOTHING! A DECISION CHANGES EVERYTHING!" Over the Easter break I spent a couple of weeks in the USA with my family. family. After spending a few days in NYC with my daughter looking as schools she might go to next year, I went back to California. It was a lot of fun, but one of the high lights was seeing "The Apprentice" finale, which is produced by Mark Burnett, the "King of Reality Realit y Shows." (More about Burnett later.) I had received a number of emails telling me Donald Trump’s Trump’s new hit show was very much in line with QLA methodology. methodology. I got to see the penultimate and a nd final shows. The Apprentice was voted #1 in American TV. TV. That’s a staggering fact! Just think about all al l the competition! What does this mean? Of all the regular shows and reality shows, business and personal, success ranks way ahead of all the others! Why? Success sells the best! Down deep inside we all want to be, as Joe Baton (mentor of Ross Perot) said – ALL WE CAN BE! Of course, because it’s American TV, TV, all the 16 finalists were reasonably attractive and some, so I’m told, were better than reasonably attractive. I really didn’t notice! The country (USA) got completely caught up with the process. Out of 215,000 applicants it came down to 16 and then 2. It has been announced that the second season’s season’s show already has 1.3 million mi llion applicants. I personally thought the tasks given to the final 16 were rudimentary to simple. In fact it has already been announced the second season will have potential partners like Dupont and GE. I joked whilst watching the programme with my kids - I could give them some real life problems that would stump them all! Trump said, "The finalists all had intensity intensit y, drive and were super smart". The 215,000 ranged from drop out to medical doctor. doctor. The two finalists pitted a laid back Harvard MBA (who quit a great job at Goldman Sachs to participate) against a very intense entrepreneur who successfully sold cigars on the internet, with a degree in criminology from the University of Loyolla Chicago. The intense candidate won! As Trump’s Trump’s lawyer, who was part of the programme and had been with him 30 years, said, "When the team needed him most, the laid back guy wasn’t there for them". The best input of the finalist performance came from Trump’s Trump’s own senior staff, all people who had been there and done it! When the two finalists own teams were pushed for comments both criticized their leaders. Whilst reviewing the 2 final tests, Trump would say, say, "where is she? If it goes wrong - you’re fired! Time is money!" And he liked using the word - pathetic! When Trump told Rick (the ultimate winner) he was hired, he said to report to work in 15 minutes.
Perhaps it was a joke! Trump told the winner he had 3 minutes to decide on which massive project he could choose from to manage the next year. No research! No time to ponder the choices! He said, "It was an easy choice!" Over the course of the last 2 episodes, the winner said business and life are tough and so am I! One of the 16 finalists paid $250,000 cash to Trump to work for him for one year, (more about that later!) Trump said, "She (a team member of the laid back MBA) hurt him badly twice and he did nothing. And to be successful you must be able to deal with bad - NOW!" And Trump didn’t like the MBA not dealing with it. He said, "When deceived, don’t move them aside - fire them now!" Trump asked of the winner, "Why are you sitting with all of the people I fired? Sit over here! Don’t make excuses – I just fired them!" Trump - "You "You were too happy when you lost!" he said to the final loser. I know real life’s not that theatrical, but the outcome is the same. Based on watching the show and deciding to do seminars at Guthrie again after a long layoff, I am now considering doing a new mentee programme. I have had many since 1993 offer to work for me, with me for no pay, pay, or for only fees generated, or out of the start up when it made money. I have also had (like on The Apprentice Show) young, middle aged and old offer to pay me to work along with me. I will consider all options in my new mentee programme! At the end of the show, show, all were "lovey dovey" with hugs and kisses! This is not my experience. The MBA said, "The best man won!" This wasn’t him! As has been said many times before, "You "You show me a good loser and I will show you a good loser! How can you be happy for someone else to win and you lose?" Personally I am suprised Trump would pick an apprentice from two people who organised a golf tournament and a charity pop concert. I am sure marketing had something to do with it! I was not surprised to see in the final Board Room scene of all 16 finalists to see the 2 finalists get their throats cut by their own teams. I was not surprised to hear Trump say, say, "When I am a m in the Board Room I am the Boss!" Trump, when asked how he deals with stress answered, "I " I say it doesn’t matter! When I see thousands die in India or wherever - and I look at me, I know it doesn’t matter!" Having seen and enjoyed the programme I am more convinced than ever there is a need for more QLA. As I am writing this I took a call from an investment banker from Geneva asking after he read "Your "Your First 100 Million" about the Castle Experience in August. People continue to send me deals. Whilst I read them I won’t seriously consider them unless they are Castle Experience graduates. My experience shows me without the actual QLA background experience gained at a seminar there is too much gap between QLA knowledge and working with me. It also shows me there is a real commitment to their dream and if I can get on with them. And again the deal that I describe in my book is no longer valid. Now I look at each potential deal individually. There is no set model. I now do what feels correct to me at the time vis-à-vis the project. To Your Your Quantum Q uantum Leap, Dan P.S. In the months to come I will develop other ways to spread QLA Methodology! P.P.S. .P.S. Mark Burnett pioneered "Reality TV". He now lives in Malibu, California with the rich and famous of the entertainment world. He is a Brit who went to the USA after serving in the Falklands War in 1982. He sold T-Shirts on Venus Beach. A California lawyer who was skating by stopped and gave him a book - "The Art Of The Deal", by Donald Trump. Ever since then his dream was to meet Trump and be his partner. They are now 50-50 partners in their new venture. The Apprentice is now being syndicated in many other countries!
ISSUE #54 3rd May 2004 From Dan Peña - Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer. Dear High Performance Person and Visionary,
It is with much regret that I announce the passing of my mentor Jerry Ormand. He was one of a kind! He was of a generation gone by. I am extremely grateful for his guidance and the friendship he gave me for more than 25 years. He and his late wife were like second parents to me. I often said, sitting in his lovely lovel y home on the ninth hole of Bel Air Country Club, Bel Air, Air, California, "When I grow up I want to be just like you!" In later years he would say, whilst in my Californian home and at Guthrie Castle, "When I grow up I want to be just like you!" He was always positive and supportive and I have talked about him on many occasions. When I first started my QLA Seminars he attended almost everyone. The first year there were about 30 of them all over the USA. I often thought he came in the beginning because he thought no-one would come and he didn’t want me to be alone to face an empty room. As he used to tell audiences during breaks he got to live life twice through me! The last time we had lunch in Houston, Texas, he reminded me of many of the fun and tough times we shared. He down played pla yed the tough times and focused on the great times. That’s the kind of man he was. I never heard him raise his voice or use a swear word, he didn’t drink or smoke and was deeply religious. He always got up when a lady left or entered the room, or got up from the table, or came to sit. He always held the door open for a woman, or the elderly. His business and personal ethics were perfect. I rarely saw him without at least a coat, unless we were playing golf. I will always remember some 20 years ago flying in a "Gulf Stream" to Dallas. This is a proper jet where you can stand up and walk around. It was my partners plane. All Jerry wanted to know - "Is it paid for?" Jerry Jerr y didn’t believe in lease payments. pa yments. I said, "Yes!" "Yes!" Later that day whilst shooting pool in my partner’s 25,000sq ft "guest house," I commented, "This is also paid for along with their own private country club which surrounded this compound." He retorted back, as he often did, "They must have quite a bit of production" (pronounced "puurrductionn!") - meaning barrels a day of oil. I will miss him a lot, not that I saw him that often in recent years - I always knew I could call him. And as one of my senior mentees told me a couple of weeks ago, "Sometimes that’s tha t’s all I need! - To know I can call you 24/7!" My dear friend, Jerry Ormand leaves me, his wonderful family and the whole world a much richer and decent place than before he came to us in 1919. He was born in Electra, Texas and he landed on the beaches of Normandy in June 1944. He rose to lofty heights in finance and commerce in the US, UK and Middle East. As you have seen me write, I often check myself by asking what I would write on my own tombstone. For Jerry Ormand it could say: "A gentleman, world class Dad, Grandfather, and friend to all!" Goodbye old friend! You You left the world a much better place than you found it!! What more can anyone ask? Respectfully, Dan P.S. I will write very soon about an idea his passing gave me. He would love it. He used to say, say, "Every thunder cloud and heartache has a silver lining - only if we think about it and look hard enough."
ISSUE #55 Join Dan as he unravels the secrets of a personal success coach and UK life coach.
Ever wondered what does a mentor like Dan teach to become a personal success coach or a successful UK life coach. It all starts with action and deeds that actually define a person. In fact, there are a few people who have attended his seminars regularly and their observations are brought to light here. One of them claims that Dan offers extremely valuable information on subjects that can only be learned through hard knocks in life. All the information can be used to set one self on a path to becoming a high level performer. In this newsletter, Dan clearly lists out the various schedules of the upcoming seminars and also gives a sneak preview into the topics that would be spoken on. Check out what this mentor and high performer Dan has to offer as a personal success coach and UK Life Coach. These seminars promise to help aspiring personnel to coach others how to do it right! WHY DO MOST PEOPLE SPEND MORE TIME PLANNING THEIR HOLIDAYS THAN THEIR LIVES? OUR ACTIONS AND DEEDS DEFINE US! As I mentioned in my recent Newsletter, Jerry Ormand attended almost every seminar I gave when I first started my coaching career. He said, "You "You are giving extremely extremel y valuable information on subjects that can only be learned through hard knocks in life. If you could only relate to them how extremely valuable your information was you would always have the seminar seats full no matter how big the venue and you’d be doing a tremendous service to all." Based on this thought I will give more seminars here at Guthrie Castle this year and donate a portion to the Alzheimer Foundation. His family’s choice. I will give one, two and three day seminars. The new seminar costs will be approximately pro rata of the recent 3 day Castle Experience. The subjects will cover what I wrote in recent newsletters: NEW QLA SEMINAR TOPICS: Leadership, Motivation of Others, Selling Your Your Dream, Overcoming Objections, Sales Training, Focused Follow Through, The Art of the Close, Litigation the sword and shield of a high performer, Self Esteem and Self Concept, and Overcoming the Fear of Failure and how you relate these to fulfilling your Dream! All new seminars will begin with a brief overview of QLA precepts, along with appropriate QLA references throughout the sessions. Of course all topics will be based on QLA real world examples! AUGUST 1 and 2 DAY SEMINARS: ONE DAY DAY AND TWO NIGHTS: - Self Concept, Self Esteem, Overcoming the Fear of Failure, and Litigation – the sword and shield of the high performer. NEW! August 8th/9th/10th - arrive late afternoon 8th, leave am on 10th. Two DAY AND THREE NIGHTS: - Leadership, Motivation of Others, Sales Training, Selling Your Dream, Focused Follow Through and The Art of the Close. NEW! August 10th/11th/12th/13th 10th/11th/12th/13th - arrive late afternoon 10th, leave am on 13th. (Can be attended in conjunction with preceding One Day event) ONE DAY DAY AND TWO NIGHTS: - Self Concept, Self Esteem, Overcoming the Fear of Failure, and Litigation - the sword and shield of the high performer. NEW! August 23rd/24th/25th - arrive late afternoon 23rd, leave am on 25th. All the Castle Experiences will be small groups from 10 - 15 attendees. The shorter seminars will allow for easier access. For additional information contact Paul at
[email protected]. Room allocation will be on a first come (paid) first served. Summer Seminars allow for more recreational activities due to long daylight hours. Extended stays
(before or after) will be accommodated where possible. I look forward to spreading QLA Methodology Methodology in a new format and with new subject matter ASAHP (As Soon As Humanly Possible). In fact if there is enough interest I could give the 1 and 2 day seminars in July, but most couldn’t rearrange schedules so quickly - I could! I now feel fe el compelled to broach new QLA vistas! Jerry Ormand always thought it was the best thing I did COACH OTHERS HOW TO DO IT! I am sure all attendees will find it extremely rewarding, as have all in the past! To Your Your Quantum Q uantum Leap, Dan P.S. ANNOUNCEMENT ANNOUNCEMENT - The next 3 day / 4 night Castle Experience will be 3rd - 7th October. The June and August August 3 day / 4 night seminars will proceed as scheduled.
ISSUE #56 A review review the old and preview of the forthcoming forthcoming leadership seminars with individual leadership program
Many eventful things have happened in Dan’s life ever since the last newsletter and in this one he chalks out a whole list of leadership seminars that are in the pipeline. Overall this newsletter outlines the old and upcoming leadership seminars, website additions and the quantum leap advantage product offer. offer. Every Leadership program has been a great success and there are many testimonials featured in this newsletter to justify it. The Leadership seminar keeps getting even better and one of the attendees was Dan’s 21-year old son who has been taken on as a summer intern this year. In the upcoming Day Castle Experiences these leadership seminars will talk about the additional blocks on leadership and selling dreams. Sally Hall, the CEO of The Guthrie Group who will be part of the August leadership program will deliver part of the leadership speech. Further, this newsletter clearly outlines the costs, subjects and availability for these leadership seminars. Also included is the Leadership program for each eac h of these with schedules. There is also a mention of the changes carried out in Dan’s website along with additions, site-map changes, new interactive bulletin board and audio interviews. To see and evaluate visit http://www.danpena.com/docs/products.php on the new updated website. Also included are how Dan involves himself in deals and looks at each deal individually, individually, though all deals don’t need him as Chairman. NEW SEMINARS, WEBSITE ADDITIONS AND QUANTUM LEAP ADVANTAGE PRODUCT OFFER A lot has happened since my last Newsletter; a former US President has died; Greece has won the European Football (Soccer) Cup; John Kerry picked a running mate for the US Presidential campaign; one of my favourite mentees fulfilled his long term goal we worked on for 7 years; I tore the carteledge in my right knee getting off one of my tractors; more website updates have been completed and yet another person extremely close to me has passed away! As you know I have started giving seminars again at Guthrie Castle. The second seminar in June was a great success as a sample of the testimonials at the end of this newsletter show. show. We We had a varied group who all contributed. c ontributed. The June seminar was even better because my youngest son, almost 21, was an attendee. He is my summer intern this year between his 3rd and 4th year at university.
The up-coming August August 3 Day Castle Experience looks to be another outstanding group and will have additional blocks on leadership and selling your dream. For the t he August August seminar, Sally Hall, the CEO of The Guthrie Group and long time mentee will join us. This seminar still has an open spot due to a recent drop out for personal reasons. 1 DAY CASTLE SEMINARS The main reason for the new Castle Seminars is simple; first and foremost change is constant and not all interested parties want all three topics and, or can take the time necessary to attend the full 3 Day event. It is also obvious that the 50% reduction in cost of the previous rates from 2001 has allowed additional individuals the opportunity to attend. And in truth some dose of Dan is better be tter than none! The new dates and subjects for the new One Day/One Night Seminars are: Sept 17th and 24th :QLA / Leadership - NEW! Sept 18th and 25th :Raising Capital – NEW! Sept 19th and 26th :Acquisitions / Deal Making – NEW! An outline of the seminars are listed on the my website (www.danpena.com) - Product and Seminar Specials. All the seminars are new and have been updated. The scheduling has been set up sequentially so that they can c an be taken as a group producing the 3 day, 2 day or 1 day Castle Experience. The cost for all 3 One Days as a 3 Day is £3,000, plus VAT; 2 Day £2,000 plus VAT and 1 Day £1,000 plus VAT. For further details contact Paul Morris via:
[email protected]. At the April and June Seminars there were attendees that had participated in the former 3 Day and 7 Day formats. They all felt fel t the shorter, condensed Powerpoint, "21st Century" Seminar was much better. Candidly it’s it’s hard for me to tell, though 3 days da ys is infinitely easier on me and my staff. The bottom line is we did take on suggestions and changed where appropriate. NEW WEBSITE ADDITIONS In the spirit of moving farther in to the 21st Century my website has many changes and additions; site-map; new interactive bulletin board as of a few of days ago; audio interview of me by a marketing guru I like a lot; sound-bites lifted from all my product to come shortly; new descriptions and format of QLA products. Along with the new product descriptions I am offering a "90 DAY DAY 100%" NO QUESTIONS ASKED, ASKED, MONEY BACK GUARANTEE for the first time on my product and A SPECIAL OFFER ON ALL QLA PRODUCTS FOR THE ULTIMATE QLA EXPERIENCE! To see and a nd evaluate for f or yourself go to http://www.danpena.com/docs/products.php http://www.danpena.com/docs/products.php on the new updated website. Needless to say I am enjoying giving the Castle Experience again! I am pleasantly surprised by the robust feeling I have about coaching again. I guess after 8 years (1993 - 2001) I needed a break. Of course now I have a lot more time to spend doing things I really enjoy. Quoting the hired killer in Tom Hanks movie - Road to Prediction, "TO BE PAID FOR WHAT YOU LOVE - AIN’T THAT THE DREAM!" NEW DEALS I have seen some interesting deals come through the recent seminars. I look forward to seeing more. And to answer an ongoing question - yes I still get involved in deals, but look at each deal individually. individually. All deals don’t need me as Chairman, Chair man, but most deals would benefit from my input! To Your Your Quantum Q uantum Leap, Dan P.S. Some comments from fr om the June Castle Experience: I am ecstatic to have shared in the Castle Experience. Today is the first day of the rest of my life!
JB - South Carolina, USA The Most powerful speaker I have ever heard in person. Dan told it how it is. This has not been a comfortable 3 days, but life will not be the same since meeting this incredible man. Guthrie Castle is superb. The grounds, facilities and service have all been excellent - a living, breathing Castle Experience! MS, England Three words on Day 3 are ar e worth the price of the seminar. You You leave with all a ll the tools you need to succeed. PH, USA Thank you for enabling me to go on another 25 years. Dr. BS, USA The seminar is about intent, purpose and action. The knowledge is realistic and straight to the point. TC, USA I expected a foul-mouthed, raging lunatic that had enough valuable information from hands on experience that could get me and my company to jump 3 or 4 layers. You You did not disappoint Dan. DL, England A lot of material compacted in to a short time frame with a lot of interaction. DC, USA A truly engrossing, rewarding and amazing experience. Anyone wishing to "hyperdrive" themselves to join the ranks of the high performing, high achieving and high earning elite MUST attend. DA, England P.P.S. .P.S. Just a brief note about my uncle Larry who left this world recently recen tly at 93. He awoke from along sleep not recognising anyone. His wife of over 65 years kissed him as she always did each morning and said she loved him. He opened his eyes, giving her the recognition he hadn’t been able to in recent months. He said he loved her and closed his eyes forever! My uncle Larry, my 86 year old Dad’s oldest brother, brother, had confidence in me being a success before virtually everyone except my mother. mother. From 1957 - 1963 he interceded allowing me to stay in school. Fortunately for f or me Dr. Peña was on the Board of Directors for the LA City School District where I was forever challenging authority. authority. Thanks uncle Larry!
ISSUE #57 22nd September 2004 From Dan Peña - Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer. Dear High Performance Person and Visionary,
As I watched the tribute to the people who died on 9/11/2001 I felt for all that suffered and are still suffering. In no way am I making light of what happened in this newsletter. I still choke up when I see the tapes of that fateful day. I still remember very vividly watching CNN from London with the sound muted, thinking I was watching a movie about some psycho who was blowing up NYC. As life is stranger than fiction, I was correct. Today the only way suffering can change is for people to take positive actions. World World wide there is suffering. We We see starvation all a ll over the globe and most people starving can’t take the actions to reverse the cycle. Vis-à-vis these tragedies the only way any good is done is for others to take positive action. And for the rest of us without our own positive action we can’t help ourselves. Since I began my coaching career in 1993 I have said, "Most people lead quite lives of
desperation." We We continue to do the same thing over and over again and are expecting different results. You You know this is merely my definition for insanity. Most people in life would like to be somewhere else, doing something else, but they the y become disillusioned and eventually submit to the norm and conventional wisdom. For the most part we copy our parents and the norms of where we grew up. It’s tough to break that cycle c ycle - Just as it’s tough to break the cycle of poverty and starvation. NOT IMPOSSIBLE Reflecting on my self, I remember back to 1976 when I redefined my own life. I then, like many of you, was suffering, but I didn’t know from what. Of course now I know I wanted to "be all I could be." Ross Perot’s mentor Joe Batton coined the phrase for the US Army many years ago - "Be All You Can Be" Join the US Army! Army! Whilst you may not agree with the Army - you have to take seriously "Be All You Can Be!" I have said, there is a "pay price to action" - meaning for everything in life there is a specific price. Much of the time we don’t even notice. I use my body weight as an example. For every martini I have I pay a price and the older I get the bigger (literally) I pay! For example, a few weeks ago, I flew in for a dinner meeting with a good friend and mentee. We had intellectual discourse, ate, and drank for 6 hours. His driver carted us around. As an aside, the person I met is perhaps the brightest person I work with. It’s questionable whether he is as bright as he thinks he is, but is certainly anybody’s intellectual match because I knew he is a match for me! He has become super successful and takes life very seriously with little time for himself. I may be the only person on earth that can get him to break out of his mould other than his wife and kids. Hopefully he will have more time to be not so structured. I will continue to suggest he takes more time for himself. I mention this by product of success (no real time for yourself) to illustrate there are other challenges and constraints when you are super successful! Now back to my weight - the bottom line, I had to diet a few days after our extended meeting, but wouldn’t have traded the experience and friendship. There are some things all of us aren’t are n’t very disciplined about! And that is a good thing! SUFFERING IN QUIET DESPIRATION At the recent August Castle Experience, as I will describe more fully later, a young European who had experienced success sat quiet during most of the seminar. Only at the end of the third day did he become more vocal. He had built up a very successful business only to have it ripped from his hands. And And to add insult to great injury the government regulatory authorities slapped him with massive fines and sanctions. His life was nearly destroyed. What little money he had left he spent fighting the government to exonerate himself. As important as this process was to heel himself what he does next is the most important step in the rest of his life! He was merely one of those living a life of quiet desperation till he decided to take action. Whilst he had achieved success it was taken from him. As successful as he had been he came to the realization he had to do something different if he wanted different results and taste success again - even greater success! What he had accomplished meant little going forward, other than to himself. I am proud to say I will be part of his future! He has decided, in a major way, to break out of his recent desperation which means there will be major changes in his life. WE MUST ALWAYS REMEMBER LIFE DOESN’T HAVE TO BE FAIR FOR US TO SUCCEED, IF WE TAKE CHARGE AND BECOME MASTERS AND CREATORS OF OUR OWN DESTINY! - NEW PEÑA-ISM! A little more about this exceptional guy: A few months ago whilst sitting in my office Paul (my right hand man - a retired Royal Ro yal Marine) came in to say, say, "A European investment banker has questions about "Your "Your First Hundred Million" - do you have a minute to talk to him?" I took the phone and spent time answering questions. (In hindsight I wish I had taped it!) Because he was an investment professional, I am sure he was wondering if the material was beneath his intellectual level. This happens quite often. As I told him, and countless c ountless others, no matter what his level of financial acumen he would be satisfied. A few hours later he called back and ordered YFHM. Shortly after completing the book he purchased all QLA product listed on my site. A few weeks
later he registered for the August Seminar and has requested a place for a seminar in early 2005. When he came for the event he was one of the most prepared individuals who ever attended a Castle Event. As he says (see his testimonial) the event was a life changing experience! I mention all this because as well prepared as he was, i.e. successful entrepreneur, financial background; sales background (I forgot to mention); well educated; and having immersed himself in QLA before arriving - he still found f ound it an extraordinary experience! He says now, "I have been looking for this kind of coaching guidance and a framework to put to use for over 10 years." He is in his mid 30s and plans to spend the rest of his life using what he has learned and continues to learn. QLA, like life, is a work in progress! I will keep you appraised! - I have never done this before, but for those who are on the fence about QLA, the Castle Experience or taking a Quantum Leap, I can put you in touch with individuals like the one described above by contacting
[email protected] Whilst updating for the recent August event I thought about what I have done as a coach for many years. Since I restarted my coaching career earlier this year, I have refined how to articulate the QLA Methodology better than I ever did. The 2½ year layoff from seminars helped me crystallize my thoughts about improving QLA! I now know one major task for me is: To get you (the reader or attendee) to do what you don’t want or like to do, so you can have what you do really want! I have always known there was a real dichotomy between what we are willing to do, and not do, to get what we want in life. There is no easy answer, because all of us have a different "comfort zone" in relation to your "pay price to action." Last month saw my 3rd Castle Experience completed this year. The new block on Leadership and Overcoming obstacles went very well. As I have said countless times, "Leadership skills are extraordinarily important to success in business and life." (Just think if your leadership skill were better with your kids or spouse!) As the attached comments indicate the very diverse group had an awesome experience. The group included individuals that came from the US, Canada, Netherlands, Dubai, India, England, Australia Australia and Switzerland. As diverse as the geographic distribution was the individual backgrounds were even more diverse. Among the group represented were: a senior sales executive from a Global Top 25 company, company, a mortgage broker / real estate entrepreneur, a hairdresser owner / entrepreneur, financial service owners, a team building / training entrepreneur, an international tax expert chartered accountant, ac countant, and a leading MLM founder. founder. Some seminar comments … "This is by far the best seminar I have ever attended. Dan totally walks his talk. I’ll recommend his seminar to anyone who wants to make a real financial and personal difference in their lives." OSCAR R (Switzerland) "Dan is an outstanding individual who tells it how it is - no bullshit. I look forward to working with him in the very near future." SHEZ K (Dubai) "I was extremely impressed, my high expectations were exceeded! I’m re-ignited to create bigger and better, be less compromising and make a bigger world for myself!" ANDREW R (Canada) "23 years in business and I have had a unique experience with you, Dan. You You get straight to the point - as straight as it comes." TAN C (England) Our October Castle Experience looks to be just as interesting. Based on the success of the other Castle Events in 2004 I have decided to give seminars in 2005, beginning with Feb 6th - 10th. Again the seminars will be limited to 12 and follow the same format as August: QLA, Raising Capital, Deal Making and Acquisitions, Acquisitions, and Leadership. Of course all the attendee’s deals will be covered and all questions answered. The seminar content is described on my website: www.danpena.com/docs/nextSeminar www.danpena.com/docs/nextSeminar.htm. .htm.
RECENT QLA BUSINESS REVELATIONS As I have said before, the world is flush with cash looking for good deals. In recent months I have reviewed three great deals from you. On a recent trip to the US it was brought home to me once more! The sage advice I give in this letter and in my QLA products, seminar and as a coach is still extremely unusual. How do I know? Because the people I meet and coach tell me so. They say they are paying others great sums for guidance that is less than! I asked myself why it is so unusual. There are countless people that have had more success than I, but they don’t coach or teach! I could write a series of books why more don’t coach or teach! The bottom line is they just don’t and I am one of the extremely few that does from entrepreneurs to top global executives! Of course this begs the question why do they continue to pay others? Part of the answer is simple - conventional wisdom is hard to break away! DAN’S EPIPHANY Almost like an epiphany whilst attending a series of meetings on another recent trip it became clear to me, words that were wer e uttered to me a couple of years ago, "You "You don’t know what you don’t know" resonated in my brain over and over again! I was sitting in an investment bank board room at 4am, a CEO after being scolded by me said, "Dan, you don’t know what you don’t know!" (This same CEO had led his company through several rounds of fund raising and a very successful IPO (making him wealthy) and the company had been voted "Mid Market Company of the Year" Year" in the UK. But on this recent trip what this CEO / mentee had said years before became even more obvious to me listening to another group of successful, yet inexperienced entrepreneurs. entre preneurs. "You "You don’t know - what you don’t know!" Their focus was wrong! They were intellectually smart, but naïve to the hard facts of life! They just didn’t understand. They are now back on the bumpy road of success! And yet on another recent occasion I was sitting with young entrepreneurs, again ostensibly successful, who weren’t asking the right questions and didn’t appear to have been able to prioritise what was really important. For example, I thought it would be standard practice and matter of fact that you would attempt to be careful whilst dealing with government regulatory authorities. One would think that anything that could close your business completely would get your attention - even if you weren’t experienced. I was wrong! Of course they were bright enough and took some action. They came to the Castle and asked me to visit them to consider being their Chairman. (Or perhaps it was merely their survival instinct ‘ either way they are not dead and also back on the road of success!). In similar circumstances many aren’t this smart! Many will perish without giving themselves a real opportunity to make their own Quantum Leap! Too Too bad! At the August Castle Experience one of the attendees who came from Australia, said, "Dan, you are really giving back by giving seminars again for a lot less money than you charged in the past?" I hadn’t really thought about it in that way. When I came back it merely seemed like the right thing to do. And I don’t want to give myself too much credit or blow smoke up my arse! It’s an interesting thought, but the bottom line is I am continuing my coaching career and enjoying it more than I thought I would. And never forget your coach, mentor or teacher is only as good as the information and feed back you give them! Bad, or incomplete information will only get you bad output. Garbage in - garbage out as they used to say in the ’60s. I have sat in countless meetings knowing I would have done things differently. differently. I have sat with very Senior Executives giving advice they perhaps hadn’t thought of or perhaps didn’t think important. So it’s universal - you don’t know what you don’t know! So how do you know what you don’t know? You You make a million mistakes - or find f ind someone that knows! If you don’t have a mentor / coach - just get one! SENIOR Vs JUNIOR The biggest difference between a senior executive / entrepreneur and a young entrepreneur is simple. The senior person usually knows what he doesn’t know and a young entrepreneur just
doesn’t. The senior guy may merely be arrogant or too busy and decide not to ask, even if he doesn’t know. know. An inexperienced person (senior or junior), though he may also be arrogant, usually doesn’t ask what he doesn’t know because he just j ust doesn’t know, know, and, or may be trying not to act stupid. Speaking of stupid, how many times have you heard, "I know this is a stupid question?" Or, "I know I must be slow, slow, but…" or "My "M y partner / spouse is the real smart one…" Don’t do this! Nothing good comes from alluding to slowness or stupidity! I don’t remember saying anything like this my entire life - Perhaps when I was a little boy. Remember your self esteem is pretty much in line by the time you are seven or eight. Recently I have had a very senior corporate executive mentee have one of his life time goals come to fruition. I have worked with him for several years. He called me and I immediately began with my assistance for the next phase of his life and new goals and aspirations. I also had a young mentee fulfil one of his long term goals. Subsequently I didn’t hear from him about his business for sometime. I heard from him about changes in his life (cars, houses etc) when I bumped in to him, but virtually nothing about the business. Though I was extremely extre mely proud of both, I saw the undoing of one on the horizon. The younger success story lost focus and forgot how he achieved his goal. Though both were grateful, the older mentee was mature enough to know what helped him get to fulfil his long term goal and continued what worked! He also understood it is harder to stay on the tape than it is to get to the top! As a mentor (and minority shareholder in many cases) you can’t force people to do things they don’t want to do even though that’s my remit. Therefore it’s my task to somehow put the difficult choice on their road to success just outside their comfort zone, causing them to stretch. It is extremely easy to forget how you got to where you are, when you’ve achieved success and you have accomplished goals, especially monetary ones! Over my long career I have assisted, helped, coached and mentored many to achieve their goals. I have witnessed many successes for others in my life. I have seen the sacrifices required for success at all levels of personal pursuit. And it’s never easy! In fact the only thing that’s easy is to forget who and what got you there! Some say this is now Tiger Wood’ Wood’ss problem. Since he has sacked his long term mentor / coach in 2002 he hasn’t won a major and has been struggling! It’s strange but I hear through various sources different reasons why he dropped his mentor / coach, but they all revolve around - the coach made too much money! Another obvious difference from being young and older, and (seemingly) mature, is not really understanding RISK. When we are young and successful we are either oblivious to the elements to measure risk: cause; effect; and impact. (I will write more about this in my next newsletter). Or how will this act ultimately affect me and my business? The other side of this coin - when your young you don’t know or understand the wall of China can’t be built - so you proceed to build it! It’s a fine balance! Mature sage advice coupled with youth can make a formidable team! Remember the only place success comes before work is in the dictionary! To Your Your Quantum Q uantum Leap Daniel S Peña Sr. P.S. In recent months I have updated my website and will continue to do so for some time. I have tried to simplify my m y QLA message. I have stated my USP and what differentiates Dan Peña QLA from the heard! "I have created more wealth from scratch than any other seminar guru coach in the trenches of real business - not by putting butts on seats or writing books!" I have looked for a middle ground to teach QLA. This hasn’t been easy for one simple reason! Where do you set the standard? For the geniuses who are reading you may find it intellectually boring. For average intellects reading this or buying QLA product may find me just right. In truth it works no matter what end of the continuum you are. I have often said when you are too smart you tend to dissect what works! My advice to those intellectuals reading this - just do it!
I have installed a new interactive message board (which just went down) and audio interviews. More audio and visual aids will come shortly. To To answer many questions, though I would like to track who uses the message board, etc, you don’t need to answer all the questions to log on. Just log on and get involved - take action! More neat stuff will follow soon! P.P.S. A reminder to all. These Peña - isms are listed on my website: 1. Don’t waste time on things you can’t change! 2. Tough Tough times don’t last – tough people do! 3. The best way to predict the future is to create it yourself! 4. Dream Big, Think Big, Be Big! 5. Man Plans - God Laughs! 6. Don’t under any circumstances, ever, second guess yourself. 7. Even when one thoughtfully and judiciously plans, more often than not, such plans are overcome by external events. Therefore, never underestimate how wrong you can be! 8. Any problem solved will be replaced immediately by a larger more complicated one! 9. Don’t focus on mistakes; focus on the positive "next time"! 10. Progress often masquerades as trouble. 11. The more you investigate, the less you have to invest. 12. Cash only prolongs death, it doesn’t avoid it. 13. I’ve never seen a "part-time" super successful, high performance person. 14. A deal has to sound good before it is good. 15. Hunger makes beasts of men, and demons of beasts. 16. If you want things to change, first you have to change. 17. The only difference between a Champ and a Chump is "U". 18. Quantum Leap success means fishing with nets, not just with lines. 19. Conventional wisdom is almost always wrong. 20. A deal is either hot - or it’s it ’s not.
ISSUE #58 The October Seminar was another great success and it reinforces (not that I need it) I am doing the right thing for QLA and you by continuing to give live seminars. In fact the four 3 day / 4 night Castle Experiences this year have produced a number of excellent business opportunities and ideas about promoting QLA and I will now share what some of the results are: New 7 Day QLA Castle Event Due to popular request I am reinstating the 7 day / 8 night original Castle Extravaganza. It will be up dated to the 21st Century – but as they say, “It will bring back the fire and brimstone I became famous (or infamous) for whilst giving seminars from 1993 to 2000 and is only partially exhibited in all my product. To refresh QLA devotees memories this seminar produced the likes of Beryl Crump, Deann and George Verdier, Verdier, Bruce Whipple, Bodo Schaeffer, Michael Pierce, Lucinda Burke, Casey Stephenson, Frank Slangen, Winneke Liefbroer, Errol Maynard, Tony Tony Ward, Ward, Colin Chapman and countless others. See P.S. P.S. for seminar outline. These classic events ended in 2000 costing up to $28,000 per person (or over £15,000 in today’s currency). This last October group for the Castle Experience pleaded a very convincing case that I should give them again. I had many other requests over the last couple of years, but I wasn’t giving seminars at the time. Only one is planned for next year 2005, at a reduced cost of £8,000, plus VA VAT, which is about 50% of the old rate! It will run from 24th – 30th April. A few places have already been reserved by the October attendees, pending this announcement, but now it’s open to all! FREE included in the cost will be a set of the audio tapes (yet to be priced individually), which will be recorded live and the Powerpoint presentation and all my current QLA products (a £1,500 value). In
addition all week long attendees will be able to join in three FREE tele – conferences 30, 60 and 90 days after the seminar ends. This will allow all attendees a platform to voice and hear successes and any problem areas they have encountered since the seminar ended! And if that wasn’t enough incentive all attendees will get the opportunity to join the NEW Mentor Programme (described later in this letter) at a reduced cost for a year. Why am I offering all these extra benefits? Well since I came back to coaching I am determined to not only spread the QLA methodology to as many as I can, but also increase the probability of success to all who attend. Immersion in the product allows another Dose of Dan when ever necessary. The seminar format will be the same as the shorter version with a welcome reception, a couple of nights out on your own and a graduation black tie gala dinner. Attendees will be limited limit ed to 12. For those that attended those great week long events you remember, though very intensive, how much fun as a group you had, whilst I was pounding on QLA precepts! Many recent and former attendees have requested the old week long format which had a more time to enjoy the Castle ambiance more fully: recreation game room, spa, gym and golf (by late April the sun will be out later). A week gives you more time to interface with your fellow attendees and get through all the various nuances of QLA methodology in greater detail to understand how they the y affect YOU. All attendees will have what was called “special time” with me to discuss your specific situation privately. As you can tell by the description it will be a very special experience! And now it will happen again in late April 2005. I am really looking forward to it. Another unique idea has been put forth by an Englishman attending the October event. He thought since the space is limited the seminar spaces should be auctioned. Whilst I like that idea I am going to allow the first ten spots sold at £8,000, plus VAT, on a first come first serve basis, starting now. The last two seats will be auctioned as a test. Since I expect the auctioned seats to fetch a big premium I don’t want this to be purely an exercise to illustrate who has the deepest pockets. But what it will show is the true value of the week long QLA Castle Experience and the savings the early action takers will get! Remember QLA is based on taking actions now! For those that cost isn’t a factor wait for the auction! I will give a portion of the auction proceeds to charity. This week long extravaganza is dedicated to the QLA devotee who is a true purist and knows what an event with the exposure to me really can do in your QLA life cycle! More Seminar News For those who require a regular Dose of Dan, as my website states the first 2005 three day four night Castle Experience will take place 6th – 10th February. It will follow the same format and outline shown on my site which I followed in August and October. October. The 2005 costs will remain at £3,000, plus VAT, till December 15th, 2004. (Rather than push till 31 December and try and get stuff done through Christmas I picked a date prior to the heavy holiday season.) After that final date the 2005 costs will increase to £4,000 plus VAT. Again I am promoting taking action which is one of the most important QLA precepts! Castle Grads of all 3 day castle programmes, no matter when attended, will continue to enjoy the £3,000 cost. Yes Yes Castle Grads get special speci al dispensation; they will get an ongoing discount! In addition the February Castle attendees will get one FREE tele – conference 30 days after the seminar ends with their fellow attendees, the Powerpoint presentation and a lower discount on a yearly membership to the New Mentor Programme discussed below. As regular readers will attest to my previous 57 newsletters, dating back to 1993, have never been totally marketing information orientated – this is a first! So let me give you some additional news: In a recent speech I said, I had never been in four businesses: sex (legal), drugs (legal), MLM and franchising. As of Oct 1st I assumed Chairmanship of the fastest growing ????? business in the UK. I’ll keep you guessing but “Quantum” is in their name! Could it be “Quantum Sex”? “Quantum Drugs”? Or what? I’ll write some more about it in the near future. I am extremely excited , to the extent I still can get that way. It’s founder is a two time Castle Experience attendee and former
partner. Mentor Programme Another October attendee (and he wasn’t the first) had another great idea! (Though I characteristically alluded to their fatherless upbringing they were a pretty bright group with a lot of interesting thoughts!) He suggested a Mentoring Programme – where I am not directly affiliated with their company as Chairman where I work regularly with mentees and their staffs. This programme would include, amongst other things, access to me via phone, email, and teleconferencing on a regular basis. It has already started. Since it is a new endeavour, I will assess how many I can take into the programme in the short term. Costs of the Mentor Programme will be published shortly on my web site. Or if you are interested and have questions now contact Paul at:
[email protected]. In conjunction with this idea I have initiated a message link on each page of my site, www.danpena.com. www.danpena.com. The previous interactive message board proved too difficult and, or bothersome for most of the individuals who frequent my site. On each page on the right hand side you will see the interactive link – LIVE CHAT CHAT. For those of you that did use the interactive in teractive board, I apologize for shutting it down, but only a fraction of you actually signed on and used it. Soon the new bulletin board message centre will be online. In the meantime you can get your questions answered directly. I am also reviewing sending a link to my news letter subscribers, rather than the news letter itself in the future. I will keep you apprised. That’s it for now. You You have a decision to make! Take action or not! But as always the person who takes action has the highest probability of achieving your dreams drea ms now as opposed to later! We are coming to a new year. Start it with a Quantum Leap! To Your Your Quantum Q uantum Leap Daniel S Peña Sr. P.S. Seven Day Seminar Outline – 7 Steps to Super Success: 1. Creating your Personal Foundation: Get comfortable Passion Beyond Common Sense New Rules Focus on Ends not Means 2. Clarify your Vision Vision 3. Building the Perception 4. Creating Your Dream Team 5. Your Quantum Leap Action Plan: Growth Working Capital (Raising Capital) Financing – Internal Growth (Raising Capital) Acquisitions – External Growth (Deals and Acquisitions) 6. Pay Yourself Yourself (Directors, employees) first 7. Creating Your Your Exit Strategy (Selling or Going Public)
P.P.S .P.S Again I offer those who need a bit more information the opportunity to speak and, or email past Castle attendees to hear it from the horses mouth the benefits of the Castle Experience!
ISSUE #59 19th November 2004 From Dan Peña - Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer. Dear High Performance Person and Visionary,
It’s been a hell of a month for me - and it’s not over. over. In two weeks we eks I travelled from fr om Guthrie to Birmingham, (Alabama not England), London, Dubai, New Deli, Sydney, Sydney, Singapore, London and back to Guthrie. Some of you may think it was a holiday, but it wasn’t (in fact it got interesting when we had to avoid Northern Iraq airspace on the flight from London to Dubai.) It was all business except for a few workouts in the gym! And before the month is over I will go to Birmingham (England this time), Amsterdam, Munich, Guthrie, London and back again. Some of you may wonder why I still can or want to travel so much. The answer is simple. I still love what I do - and I am enjoying coaching and mentoring far and wide more than I did when I started. On my country entry travel documents I list myself as Chairman, because that’s what I am in most of the business deals I am involved in. This recent trip was dedicated to new protégés and mentees. Of course not all of my mentees require me to travel so extensively and of course I am not Chairman of all entities I mentor and coach. Most of my mentee/mentor work is done on a continuing basis on the phone, email and group conference calls and in person. In fact I just got off the phone with a group of 25 business consultants from around the world that want to increase their effectiveness. I spent about an hour discussing "positioning" yourself for success. I have another call later today with a group of aspiring property magnets from the USA and earlier today I talked with an aspiring healthcare mentee. In the last few hours I got a call and an email from two mentees/protégés from the past. Frank Slagen and Beryl Crump. I hadn’t heard from either in a couple of years, or so. It was good to hear they were both doing very well. Frank is still in The Netherlands and Beryl is in Canada. I plan on seeing them both soon in the New Year. Year. They They are both at a new level in their lives and careers and as Beryl said, "Need another Dose of Dan." As those of you that frequent www.danpena.com www.danpena.com will see the new user friendly message board is finally up, along with sound bites of the QLA product. (People walk in to my office and hear me listening to myself from time to time. After all these years I still marvel at some of the stuff I say! If you haven’t heard them, take a minute for a short Dose of Dan). In addition a ddition www.qlablog.com www.qlablog.com was recently launched with one of my mentees, Heiko Faass. He currently runs our German and NYC practice for The Guthrie Group. Other neat stuff will follow on my site. Opportunities Abroad Whilst I was travelling half way around the world and back I was struck by the immense business opportunities that were available avail able whether you were in Birmingham, Ala, or Sydney, Sydney, Australia. Focused people with real commitment can find opportunities anywhere. At the same time I also noticed whilst sitting in a number of airports most people read novels. I asked myself why? In New Deli I saw the three people sitting around me all reading different books, by the same author. Though I saw a few people working on lap tops and shuffling papers I only saw one person reading a book on business - me! The same is true of magazines and news papers. I saw a couple of people reading the Economist, and saw many more reading the Financial Times. Though Though I feel it’s i t’s not a good benchmark for financial reading anymore because so many read it as a regular newspaper now! I thought to myself, perhaps everybody is on holiday and wants to relax, etc. I then thought more realistically most people were probably just doing what they do most of the time and that’s escape from the realities of their lives. I have said countless times, "Most people live quiet lives of
desperation." This may sound a harsh opinion! Perhaps, but I never understood since most people aren’t happy with their financial position in life why don’t they do something about it? People that travel have many hours on planes and in airports. What a perfect place to take on new or replicate old information to assist yourself in attaining your goals and enhancing your position down the road to success. In the vain of what people read and a nd don’t read, I have attached a ttached (see P.P P.P.S.) .S.) a reading list of books I like, along with magazines and news papers I read. I have been asked for this list many times. It’s by no means comprehensive, but it does reflect what I have read and liked vis-à-vis business and success, since I started coaching in 1993. Of course some of the authors like, Peter Drucker, I started reading in the mid ’60s. There were countless books recommended to me, I never picked up or only read a few chapters or even pages. Before I take the time to read something I seriously consider the source. And I would recommend a similar procedure for yourselves! Like seminars most books on self help and business and success are crap! They are crap because virtually all of them tell you it’s easy to be successful and are written by authors that have not achieved any success themselves! Well Well you know the rest. Just read "The Big Lie" on my site. Interestingly I just read rea d Charles Haanel’s, The Master Key System. Oddly enough though a number of people have said, I should read it and a few have even given me copies I only just did so. Haanel was responsible for much of Napoleon Hill’s (Think and Grow Rich) ideas. And Hill even said so. Though I agree with what Haanel said, I found the book hard reading in the beginning. It’s written in the way of the early part of the 20th. But I can say there are QLA precepts page after page and I would recommend it! One of it’s basic precepts is you are what you think. Obviously a much easier read is "Your "Your First Hundred Million." Mentor programme update A number of you have written to request more info and try to better understand the new programme. The new page on the web site should be done shortly. It will include amongst other things statements from current mentees; detailed yearly programmes and agendas; including special mentee meetings and forums at Guthrie and elsewhere and guidelines for individual action plans. In the mean time here is some of the work in progress: 1. Before we even start, first and foremost, do you qualify? Are you serious and committed? Can and will you pay the price for action? This programme is restricted to the few not the many! 2. The very first thing I will ask what the mentees wants? What exactly would you like to see in the program? Each programme will be a one-off and designed for the individual. 3. In terms of support I will provide repetition of QLA methodology through through conference calls once a month, twice a month, or whenever necessary depending on the individual. I will answer your questions and provide real world solutions to your day to day problems. You You will send in the questions they have before each conference call. 4. You You will get more support by receiving the ultimate QLA package, including all product, (a £1,500 value) so you can have additional a dditional doses of Dan when needed. 5. You You will have email and fax access to me. 6. You You will have access to superstar mentees and protégés on conference calls and to answer other personal questions. This has been extremely beneficial to the new mentees. 7. You You will have access to other professionals, bankers, lawyers, and accountants on the calls to share their perspectives of QLA. 8. You You will receive rece ive a step-by-step individual action plan. You’ll You’ll be given individual homework after each call - stuff they must do and be held accountable for.
This is what the mentees are currently engaged in, though each programme is different. I hope this clarifies what we are currently doing and what you can expect. The mentor programme page will be up shortly. shortly. For more information contact
[email protected] To Your Your Quantum Q uantum Leap, Daniel S Peña Sr P.S. Zen Buddhist Text: "The Master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, body, his education and his recreation, his love and a nd his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence in whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To To him he is always alwa ys doing both." You have often heard me say play and work are no different to the high performance person! P.P.S. Recommended Reading List: BOOKS:
TITLE
AUTHOR
Your First 100 Million Pe�a Build Your Own Pe�a Guthrie The Master Key Charles Haanel System I’m Dysfunctional, Kaminer You’re Dysfunctional Weirdos in the John Putzier Workplace Troubleshooter John Harvey Jones Returns Be My Guest Conrad Hilton The Max Strategy Dale Daughton Looking Out For #1 Rober J Ringer Vedanta In Action Swami Chinmananda The Wisdom of Lance Kurke Alexander The Great Tough Minded Joe D Batten Leadership My Life and the Ross Perot Principals for Success The Price of Arnold M Ludwig Greatness Think and Grow Rich Hill Napoleon Hill’s Keys to Success The Warren Buffet Way Emotional Intelligence The Art of War
PUBLISHER Medina Great Western Publishing Various Vintage Books FT Prentice Hall Penguin Hilton Morrow Fawcett Crest Mananam American Management Ass Amacom Summit Guildford
Robert G Hagstorm Jr
Napoleon Hill Foundation Napoleon Hill Foundation Wiley
Daniel Goleman
Bantam
Sun Tzu
Oxford
Hill
Adversity Quotient Stolte Release Your Brakes Newman Price Prichett You2
Wiley Pace Prichett Publishing
The Quantum Leap Strategy Merchants of Debts The Lombardi Pules The Spirit to Serve Marriotts Way Any book by Peter Drucker
Price Prichett
Prichett Publishing
George Anders Vince Lombardi Jr J W Marriott Jr
Basic Books McGran Hill Harper Collins
Other authors I like in general; Gary Hamel, Bill Gates, Jack Welsh, Richard Branson, Donald Trump, Michael Dell MAGAZINES: The Robb Report Forbes Fortune Economist Harvard Business Review Fast Company NEWSPAPERS: Financial Times Wall Street Journal New York Times
ISSUE #60 NEWS FLASH!
All video and audio QLA product now on DVD / CD. New QLA Investment Newsletter Time Management - Laser Beam Focus: 7 dos and don’ts QLA Product - Holiday Sale As part of my new regimen vis-à-vis further developing my coaching I will be writing more frequent newsletters and adding more types of letters. The subject of this letter will be time management and focus. Or more specifically laser beam focus or the lack there of. But before launching into the main area of focus (pun intended), let me address a few important new issues. Investment Newsletter As suggested by devotees of QLA I will launch a new letter Jan of next year concerning where to put your hard earned pennies! I have called the last 3 out of 4 major turns in the broad stock market (the recent trading tr ading ban I missed), recommended gold in the mid to high $200’s, suggested the USA would allow the dollar to weaken against other currencies amongst other things. It therefore has been suggested I put my investment thoughts in a more deliberate, yet succinct format. Starting in 2005, I will issue periodic statements on my view of the world and where the opportunities in relation to QLA methodology exist. I am also looking into starting an investment fund and a hedge fund based on QLA precepts next year.
Since I have lived abroad and travelled worldwide a long time my perspective about the world is much different than my American readers. It’s also much different than my British and European readers. I differentiate my Brit friends from the rest of Europe mainly because they do! In fact it’s very different than almost all of my readers reade rs worldwide. It’s different because, amongst other things, I have been fortunate in that I am well travelled and I have a financial and marketing background that virtually covers the entire globe! In addition, I have been in business and advised some of the world’s world’s great individual and corporate icons including: several governments; the Vatican; Vatican; Hindus; Jews; Christians; Muslims; Agnostics, Americans; South Americans; Americans; Canadians; the English; Scots; French; Germans; Aussies; Asians of all descriptions; South Africans; Mexicans; native Americans; Dutch; Italians; Scandinavians; Russians; Austrians; Middle Easterners; and Texans. I did this spanning 5 separate decades! I have left out other religions, races and places on the globe because they are too many to list. I mean no disrespect if your group wasn’t listed! What helped solidify my thoughts was my recent trip from the UK to the USA and back eastward through the Middle East, India and Australia and back again to the UK. Needless to say Birmingham, Alabama is a far cry from New Deli, India. Whilst there are many opportunities in both areas and everywhere in between unless you take them individually and compare them both objectively and subjectively (with local ears on the ground) you can very easily miss the point. In fact unless you take a real focused (pardon the pun) hard look you probably miss the entire opportunity. opportunity. So how does a person from Bama (as its called) ca lled) know what’s going on in India? Well for starters - does he care? Most of us are only caught up (if that’s the proper phrase) with what we are confronted with on a daily basis. Therefore, we are all myopic to a certain extent. And as you know we are myopic about almost everything outside our comfort zone (cz). Fortunately QLA has devotees all over the world and I am now going to link their collective knowledge and expertise filtered by my vast experience. My new letter will cover many areas and point out the opportunities as I see them - where I see them. Some opportunities will be time sensitive, but not so much that if you miss reading your emails you miss the opportunity. For example, the property (real estate) opportunities in Dubai are extraordinary at the moment. Exceptional returns are available for the quick and nimble. For those of you that remember the land boom that existed between Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas Texas in the 80’s you will recall the returns that existed were out of this world. Of course as with the Tulip Bulb phase (1634 - 1637) in the Netherlands it came to a screeching halt after a few years of crazy results. (In case you didn’t know the first stock market or bourse was established in The Netherlands for trading in Tulip bulbs!) Returns in Dubai have risen to as much as 20 - 30 % per month, before flat (apartment) construction has even started. I am not suggesting any of you take on such an investment, but relating "what if a Birmingham, Alabama person had such an interest and also had such an appetite?" Perhaps this is a far fetched example for most of you, but I currently have devotees participating in this market. More normal emphasis will be the main direction of the stock market, the price of commodities, including the price of oil and interest rates. Specific markets (bourses) and stock picks will also be included where I find exceptional value vis-à-vis their QLA position in the market place. The first picks may include shares listed in the USA, London, Korea, Germany, Germany, Sweden or The Netherlands. All picks will be intermediate and long-term long-ter m orientated. This will not be a trader’s guide, but more a disciplined and structured methodology looking for QLA opportunities. Back in 1984 whilst in London being interviewed by one of the best financial papers, I forecasted the dollar and pound would see parity soon. My rationale was sound, but too long to explain here. As I recall it was early spring and the exchange rate was about $1.50 to £1. By early 1985 the exchange rate was about $1.10 to £1 and had dropped intra day to $1.05. Ever since that happened I have been asked what my thoughts about the economy and the various financial markets were. I am now going to give my opinions reference various markets in a regular format on a regular monthly basis, though special interim announcements will be made if and when appropriate. This newsletter will have an investment cost of $119 per month to start. star t. Three months in advance,
by credit card. Current free newsletter recipients that sign up before 31st Dec 04 will have an initial and on going reduction of $20 per month or an initial investment of 3 x $99 = $297 - a savings of $60! The $20 a month saving will last la st as long as you subscribe. Subsequent to the initial 3 month subscription credit cards will be debited monthly $99 (£52). My initial investigation of high end quality focused research and QLA devotee suggestions suggestions have indicated a monthly investment cost between $197 and $995 per month would be the current expected range. Neither I nor any of my companies will take positions in any of the public shares I might recommend. Investment newsletter subscribers will have various opportunities to invest in both public and private companies that follow QLA precepts and methodologies. For sign up information email Steven Daniels at
[email protected]. This new financial newsletter will not be regulated r egulated by any financial authority, authority, including the FSA or the SEC! It is a newsletter not a fund! TIME MANAGEMENT AND LASER BEAM FOCUS In recent months I have had the privilege of reviewing a number of very good opportunities. Each deal has been different and very unique. Some of the deals have been good to great! The people have been great to outstanding. As you you know I would rather have a good deal with an outstanding management team than the opposite. A few of the individuals have been truly gifted. And under normal circumstances (and nothing in my life is very normal) I would have picked all the deal/opportunities brought me by the gifted with even a good deal. In these circumstances my greatest challenge is dividing up my precious time. But that hasn’t been the case! c ase! You You might ask why Dan? What could be your reasoning? Aren’t Aren’t gifted people with great deals like hen’s hen’s teeth? Can’t you make changes to make it work? Well my friends, devotees of QLA and everyone else that reads this newsletter - the answer is no! I can’t change personal habits very easily! By the time someone comes to me their beliefs systems are pretty final. Set in concrete! Not moveable! Comfortable! Unless the individual really wants change no change is forth coming. In fact even if change is desired by the person, change is only possible if desired at the expense of almost anything else! There has to be a pay price to action! Remember people make real change due to inspiration or desperation! And most change comes from desperation. A gifted person has a higher chance of being inspired. But as smart as I am, I was desperate not inspired when I formulated QLA! 7 Dos and Don’ts Here are some examples of what I mean by poor time management. And by definition showing a lack of laser beam focus! This list is not all encompassing, though it is very representative. 1) Time management is a difficult discipline to acquire. But let’s look at mere quantitative time itself. If you don’t work over the weekends you are losing about 104 days, not counting holidays per year. How does someone that works 104/365 (28%) less expect to compete with those that tha t do? Even a gifted person struggles giving away such an advantage. If you even worked Saturdays and not Sundays look at the difference! 2) When I first came c ame to the UK very few in business gave you their home number. And few took calls after normal work hours and work hours varied from 6 - 8 hours a day. day. Like Wall Wall Street the financial people worked longer hours over weekends, etc, as they the y do now. now. The UK worked longer hours than most Europeans as they do now. But I am shocked to tell you there are a re Neanderthals (or should I call them balanced) that still confine their business to 40 hours or less per week and yet cry and complain about not having enough of the good life. 3) Now most professionals put their cell #’s on their business cards. But surprisingly many still don’t give their home #’s. And And many still turn their cell phones off in the evenings and over weekends and never turn them on whilst on holidays.
4) People rarely want to work over "special days" and that means something different to all. For yet another surgery on my body I picked my m y last birthday. It was available and I didn’t want a down day! 5) When I travel on long hauls I rarely go direct, which would be infinitely easier on my body if I did. I usually have stops and, or layovers at different airports for meetings. When I go to the West West Coast of the USA from the UK I normally have 2/3 stops. I do try and link all my USA trips to see my children who all live near L.A. 6) I normally try to travel over long holiday weekends, or even holidays if I can find people that will meet. (I have travelled on all the holidays.) This is often a first meeting "dufus test" for the individual I want to meet. I will describe an ultimate "dufus test" that Michael Milken used later. 7) Many who read this newsletter haven’t made their Quantum Leap. Yet Yet I find many of you taking extended vacations and holidays spending valuable time and money you need elsewhere to make your dream come to fruition! Why? Are your goals and desires real? You You argue you and or your family need a break, etc. Virtually all high performance people I know spend only part of the time their families take for various holidays. It’s not the money you spend. QLA shows you how to do it with OPM. But what will you say when your major earning years are behind you? And by earning years, I mean the most productive years of your QLA life? Not everyone can keep working in to their late 60s as Berni Schindler does! He’s a very special case and he is due to attend the special 7 day QLA Seminar in April. As I have written writt en time is money. Your Your most valuable commodity is your time - ergo the management of your time is money. money. As the above 7 points show (and I could have listed many more) we are all engaged in stuff that doesn’t bring us closer to our goals and dreams. In fact if you follow any of the above we are at direct cross purposes to what we are trying to achieve. It goes without saying if your job is also your passion the above list is much easier to live with! It also goes without saying if you are breaking any of these seven your chances are dramatically less to achieve your goals / dreams. MICHAEL MILKEN TIME MANAGEMENT DUFUS STORY Many years ago I heard this story about Mr Milken: He was being interviewed by a journalist shortly after he was paid about $500,000,000 for a years work, around ar ound 1987. For those of you that don’t know he was the father of junk bonds and arguably saved many of corporate America (world) when debt money wasn’t available for growth. He was asked why he was so smart or why he had been so super successful at such a young age, 43. He said he wasn’t so smart, but he merely worked longer and perhaps harder than his contemporaries. He said he works about 20 hours day, day, needing only a few hours sleep, and worked 364 days a year taking only the most holy Jewish holiday off. He said if you take roughly 20 years that he had been out of school x 364 days a year x 20 hours you get 20 x 364 x 20 = 145,600 hours divided by an 8 hour work day da y = 18,200 days divided by 364 days less weekends 104 days and 10 days regular holidays or 250 days = 72.8 normal work years. Therefore instead of being 43 with only 20 years experience, he was 23 plus 72.8 years experience or over 95. Needless to say I have a similar chronology, chronology, but I require more sleep! Another interesting story is Mr. Milken scheduled his first business meeting with an individual at either 12 am or 4 am. This "dufus test" eliminated most of the weak or lacking in focus and determination! How many of you would have made a first appointment with the king of junk bonds? Most people on this globe don’t even have the chronological years they have as experience because of their personal work habits, or lack there of! This is especially true of the younger generation. Perhaps you can better appreciate when you meet someone in a business situation that appears to be in his mid thirties and has acumen of a kid! He is probably a 9 - 5 person that takes a lot of holidays
and considers himself to have a balanced life. If today was a test - did you pass? To change results you must change behaviour! Success requires sacrifice! And the more success the more sacrifice! To Your Your Quantum Q uantum Leap, Daniel S Peña Sr. P.S. Life is only difficult for those that pick and chose! Dali Lama. And speaking of choosing - all QLA video and audio products are now available on DVD and CDs. In the spirit of the holidays all free newsletter subscribers can have 1/3rd (33%) off all individual QLA product purchased by Dec 18th, 2004. Order through:
[email protected] P.P.S. .P.S. The new April 7 day QLA Seminar is filling up with some interesting int eresting people. Some of the best people to come through in recent years have signed up. P.P.P.S. Another Focus Time Management Experience! List every call, email and meeting you have Sunday - Saturday. Saturday. Now list all your personal, financial and other goals. Go down the list of weekly contacts and see how many correspond with one of your goals. If you fall below 50%, as most do you now know why your goals have eluded you and also know what to address to achieve better results.
ISSUE #61 30th December 2004 From Dan Peña - Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer. Dear High Performance Person and Visionary,
As the year comes to a close I wish you all a happy holiday season and an extremely prosperous New Year! Year! 2004 has been a remarkable year for change. 2005 will be the same as long as you continue to search for opportunities. You You must keep your mind open to change c hange and a few of the things you see will have QLA written on them. But you must keep an open mind and be willing to change! Without change you can’t move on in your life! In fact, I am doing projects now I would have never ever envisaged being involved in before. I needed to get way outside my own comfort zone to get involved! And believe you me, there isn’t very much outside my comfort zone! I have passed on to my readers many stories over the years. I have been surprised on the mix of success stories tied to great stories of struggle. In fact almost all success comes after great struggle and turmoil. I get success stories attesting to the merits of QLA often. And infrequently, infrequently, I get stories about people not allowing QLA to work for themselves. Not many write about their failures! Having faith in your self isn’t always easy. easy. In fact it is very difficult if you haven’t surrounded yourself with the right people. You You need people that give you constant positive input and honest feedback. But even with this positive reinforcement and candid feedback, at some point you need to face the "eye of the tiger" by yourself! Only you know when this time occurs. As I have said, "It’s a time to suck up your panty hose!" These are times when the men are separated from the boys and the women are separated from the girls and you either make your Quantum Leap, or you don’t!! (One missed QL doesn’t mean you will never get another chance!) No matter where we are in our lives we have all experienced such occurrences. In fact, many of these times are the things we have regrets about later in life, because you didn’t do what was necessary when you had the opportunity. opportunity. Just think about your own life. Or what about your parents? Next month I will have been in the real business world 34 years! As I write this it seems like a very long time, but in truth of fact the years have passed very quickly. During that time I have been involved in many struggles: some life threatening; some financially threatening; and some
emotionally threatening. I have been on the "razors edge" of failure (as Ross Perot would say), countless times. With the various business endeavors I have been involved with, almost every single one that didn’t come to fruition didn’t because the initiator or founder gave up too soon, due to their lack of focus and belief in themselves. They merely gave up on themselves too soon. They listened to conventional wisdom too often. Of course they had "reasons." People always alwa ys have reasons. Such reasons can very easily be found and in many cases fabricated and invented. Our families and friends conveniently help us initiate and or support these reasons not to continue the struggle. Family and friends have been taught to "be there" for friends and loved ones, etc, at their time of need. We We have all been instructed and taught to say the appropriate thing such as, "we understand" and stuff like that. (I have never said, "I understand" when someone is giving up on themselves because things got too tough! In fact f act I say sa y just the opposite.) We We do things like that especially around holidays. For those of you that have worked with me you know, "there is never a good time to make a difficult decision!" Candor and honesty are rare commodities when dealing with emotions. With one or two exceptions during my times of crisis I have had very little of this kind of support. Not because I didn’t necessarily need it (especially when I was much younger), but I just didn’t get it. For those of you that know me, you also know why. Most people just don’t feel I require such words and, or actions. With the exception of my mom passing one year ago Christmas Eve, I can’t remember ever getting such input. As I have almost always been left to fend for myself and "struggle" through the situation, challenge and problem. (For those that know the difference between a Peña problem and a challenge you can laugh now!) I firmly believe the milieu I have been exposed to have made me the person I am. Ergo, when the devil is at your door, who do you call? Or when do you say, say, "What would Dan do?" Now the main reason for this year end news letter: Whilst searching "Google" for a name for a new venture I will launch next year with attendees from a recent Castle Seminar, I came across the Indian word "Vedanta". "Vedanta". Back in the mid-nineties, an Indian couple gave me a book on the subject whilst attending a seminar here at Guthrie. Apparently "Vedanta" "Vedanta" was the QLA type of life style and religion of India thousands of years ago. Whilst reading I came across the short story below. I had heard similar tales, but never had seen it written down. For those of you that have been in business with me, you know I almost never bail a deal, or individual out of a problem, other than helping with positive understanding, encouragement and different ideas. I rarely ra rely thought of why. I had merely thought my experience told me no good comes from allowing someone off the hook of dealing with life, unless it’s truly life and death. I knew the action of dealing with the struggles of life was infinitely better than being sheltered from them! (I have struggled with this idea whilst seeing my children grow up!) I have often said, "As long as the hit (bullet) we were going to take was above the water line I would allow it to occur." Where hits below the water line, that could sink us, I would assist to insure we were there to fight another day. Read and ponder the short story that follows. Whether you’re a parent, a business owner, or a high level exec, think before you move to help someone along the road of life. Whilst you may have the best intentions at heart you may ultimately be crippling the person you are trying to help! The road to hell is paved with best intentions! And I can assure you continuing to assist someone out of challenges and problems will insure that the individual will not reach their full potential! I wish all of you a great holiday season and an incredibly joyous jo yous and prosperous New Year!!! Year!!! I want all of you to approach 2005 as if you had "no limits to your abilities." abilitie s." You You will surprise yourself. Success is infectious! So let us go and get infected with what it feels like to be all you can be!! To Your Your Quantum Q uantum Leap,
Daniel S Peña Sr. P.S. I am giving two 90 minute QLA talks in Manchester, England, 25 January, for The Quantum Organization, PLC, WWW.QUANTUMORGANIZATION.COM WWW.QUANTUMORGANIZATION.COM.. I was appointed Chairman 1 October this year. It’s a terrific opportunity for those interested inter ested in the SME consultancy market in the UK, India, Australia, New Zealand and soon to be the USA. Its founder CEO, David Abingdon is a successful QLA devotee and Mentee. For information on times and place contact
[email protected]..
[email protected] P.P.S. .P.S. For those of you that have asked, at this time I have no intention of giving another 7 day QLA Castle Seminar in 2005. There are a couple of places still available for 22 -30 April. "Struggles makes you strong"
A man found a cocoon of a butterfly butterfl y. One day he saw a small opening in the cocoon. He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and could go no further… so, the man decided to help the butterfly. butterfly. He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily. easily. But, it had a swollen body, body, and small shrivelled wings. He continued to watch the butterfly, butterfly, because he expected that, at any an y moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around ar ound with a swollen body and shrivelled wings. It was never able a ble to fly. What he had done in his well intentioned kindness and haste, he did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required to get through the tiny opening were God’s way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon. Sometimes, struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If God allowed us to go through our life without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We We would not be as strong as we could have been…… and we could never fly……. have a great day, a great life, and struggle a little… remember… God wants you to fly!
ISSUE #62 29th March 2005 From Dan Peña - Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer. Dear High Performance Person and Visionary,
In recent weeks, I have been very busy with clients, deals and partners. In fact I have been to the USA 3 times for 10 days each trip in 2005. On my last trip one of my partners told me he had paid his 16 year old granddaughter $5 for every tape she listened to of me teaching QLA. He wanted to set the tone with her early! In turn she said, I was cool and a "hot tamale!" No she’s not Latin/Hispanic! I sent her an autographed YFHM.
Whilst updating for the upcoming New QLA April Seven Day Seminar , I came across great "Words of Wisdom . For Business and Life " I wrote about, back in early 2001. I was so struck with it I decided to republish it in this newsletter. You You will see it below. below. It’s very germane to all my readers, no matter where you are in your QLA life cycle. Read it and grade yourself. How do you measure up? I started reading it weekly myself as a benchmark for excellence. The New 7 Day Extravaganza here at Guthrie is rapidly approaching. 23 rd April will be here soon. I had forgotten how many additional things I talk about in the "7 Day Seminar". To see the special
offer for the "New 7 Day Seminar" and what a great value at 50% discount to the old cost, please "click here". here". We We have had a couple of drop outs due to "life." Man plans and God laughs! As part of the update, since I haven’t given the seminar since 98/9 I have looked at all the requests, not only for the seminar itself, but what my readers and devotees wanted me to do vis-�-vis different seminars. I was surprised to read I had many requests to do the 1999 One Day QLA Seminar again. This is the seminar I gave at London Heathrow Airport twice during 1999 and never repeated them, due to time constraints. For those of you that attended you will recall how successful they were. As you know, know, I didn’t till last l ast year give seminars se minars for 2� years. But now that I am back in the swing of seminars again and seeing what tremendous value they bring and enjoying it, I have decided to give a 1 Day QLA Seminar again. Of course there will be fairly significant differences to the 1999 version; 1. it will be updated and lengthened by a couple of hours, and 2. it will be here at Guthrie! Yes Yes you are reading correctly. How will I do this? Well Well I am building a large pavilion here to accommodate other new business interests I have. I broke ground early in the New Year Year and it will be completed in June. I thought a lot about this and the more I thought about it the more I liked it. One of the reasons I stopped giving "1 Days" was the constant c onstant travel to a location for just 1 day da y. For those of you that remember from May 22, 1993 to mid Nov 1993 I gave 22 One Day Seminars across the USA. Over the following years I gave countless 1 Day Seminars and they finally took their toll and I stopped! Subsequent to that I gave 3 Day QLA Seminars and "Castle Events" that were very easy on me. I have been asked to do 1 Day QLA Seminars many times, but didn’t. But late last year I was approached to do three 1 Day QLA seminars in London, Dubai and Australia. I liked the deal and liked the venues so I agreed to do them. As it turned out the promoter became ill and the project didn’t go through, but it did get me thinking about it again. Then I had an epiphany whilst walking around Guthrie with my dogs. Since I was already going to build a large pavilion why couldn’t I do the 1 Day Seminars here, where it would be in the ambiance of Guthrie Castle and its environs? What better place to demonstrate the perfect perfe ct metaphor for "Yesterday’s "Yesterday’s Dreams are Today’s Today’s Realities?" After all Guthrie Castle was my dream over 20 years ago. Ergo, I decided that’s what I am going to do this July 25 th.I will add a page to my site, along with a separate dedicated web site soon. But I did want to tell my readers now, now, so you could have an early start , so they don’t miss out. I wanted to tell, especially for those that live in other parts of the world and would want to attend. And just to let you know I have no 3 Day Seminars planned for 2005. The seminar will be at an investment of only �497, or about $950, plus vat, for the first 100 that register by April 10th. Thereafter it will be �597 or about $1,150. So those of you that take action will save �100, or about $200! It will start an hour earlier at 8am and go till 6pm, an hour later than normal. The Q+A will go on as long as there are questions. We We will recommend hotels who give a special rate (which will not be at London prices) to stay in nearby Dundee and Carnoustie. Great room rates with dinner have been pre arranged. arra nged. We We will provide buses to and from the event at our cost. We We will provide a box lunch and refreshments during the day. day. As part of the investment attendees will receive rec eive the 1 Day Da y QLA Seminar Power-Point Power-Point presentation. And for those that come early and, or stay after the event you will get an opportunity to play at the Guthrie Castle Golf Club, my own course, at no charge, as much as you want. And for a few that want to stay at Guthrie Castle the night before and, or after they will be my guests for dinner and drinks for an additional cost. I am not sure what the response will be, but since like events at London Heathrow Airport in 1999 were sold out, I suspect the " Castle New 1 Day QLA Event " will be heavily attended. After all, many of you have requested a more affordable QLA event to attend, to get a "Dose of Dan," for many years. And now I can provide an event that makes sense for you and a venue that works for me. So here is what you asked for and it’s at my home - Guthrie Castle - my 537 year old 15 th
Century Fairytale home. As the photos on my sites show Guthrie is a very special place. It certainly won’t be like going to a hotel for just another seminar or course! All the details will be published on my web site shortly. But if you are seriously ser iously interested you should take action NOW! Contact
[email protected],, NOW! In addition, the first 25 to sign up will get an autographed copy
[email protected] of my first book, Build Your Your Own Guthrie! The seminar will be limited to 200. And for those that are interested in being entertained by me at my home before and, or after the event you must contact Steven ASAP! There There are only a few rooms available. avail able. Here is a brief description of Salient Points Covered in the 1 Day QLA Seminar: "What is QLA?"
Your Quantum Leap Advantage Building Perception to become a Reality Creating Your Dream Team for Success 11 Steps that make a Deal The Plan with no Escape "Who am I?"
Pay Price to Action No free lunch, but super success can be accomplished at a discount Quantum Leap Advantage Action War Plan The business investment "RED FLAG" Check List Redefine goals and vision Building Self Esteem, Self Confidence and Self Worth Emotional Bank Accounts Accounts and how you build up a Reservoir Getting comfortable with high performance Leadership and its importance in QLA Your doubts are not products of accurate thinking, but habitual thinking Super success - not for everyone Conventional wisdom - the losers crutch What it means to be super successful Laser Beam Focus VS Ferocious Focus Five Credos for Success Preparing for your Quantum Leap (15 keys) Achieving your Quantum Leap (8 power strategies) Cashing in on your success. Doing it again. Take Action NOW or Never! I am as excited as I can get at my age about the 1 Day QLA Seminar here at Guthrie! It’s hard for me to believe I didn’t think of it much sooner! Oh well! Better late than never! WORDS OF WISDOM.FOR BUSINESS & LIFE
* Teams with the clearest clea rest sense of vision & impact WIN! * Talent base - people.are the most important assets of new economy companies. * Best question to ask a CEO.why would great people want to be part of your company? * Customers will constantly raise "the bar of expectation" for companies. * The internet is a giant "lab experiment" for corporate America and those companies that
recognize this and play well within the rules of ambiguity & fluidity will survive and win.
Nothing is cast in concrete. * The best form of customer service is SELF service. Constantly empower customers to get their
own answers themselves.this is a huge differentiator. * "Clock Speed" of business is constantly accelerating.time really matters more than money
(money you can sometimes get back, time you can’t) most even bright underestimate the value of time.think more in terms of "return on minutes"(ROM) than "return on investment" (ROI). * Get in the digital game fast, no matter how small."launch, listen, learn, then re-launch! * size is the enemy of speed! speed to react matters more than size of company. * Good leaders make sense of change in the world.then impart that insight to the team. * Shifting things (change) when life is good is tougher than when things are ar e bad, but you should
constantly be shifting.morphing. * People WANT WANT to be led by b y strong leaders and good leaders are ar e constant students. * The job of CEOs is not to be the smartest guy in the room, but to attract other smart guys to
work for him. the "group brain" is far more powerful than individual brainpower. * Current accounting and measurement systems and metrics are outdated for new economy
companies. economy. * Human capital is the new currency of the digital economy. * Technical change is a sub-set of greater change - cultural change. * Good is the enemy of Great!! When we get good, we usually quit. * Great DNA encoding of people and values (not ideas) in young companies early on will create
the truly great and lasting companies later. * It is not important what we do, but whom we do it with.great companies didn’t start with what
they planned on doing, but they started out great by who they picked to do it with! People should get on your "bus" not for where you are going but because they like who is riding on the bus with them. The "bus" will also a lso change directions, but the bonds of good people won’t. * Always put your best people on the best opportunities, not biggest problems. * "STOCKDALE PARADOX". PARADOX". Admiral Admiral Stockdale survived 7 years of torture in Vietnam not by
being overly "optimistic" of being rescued within weeks, but by being realistic of knowing it could be years. The other "optimistic" American POW’s around him died from broken expectations and hearts.of hoping to be rescued within weeks. Realists are brutally honest with themselves.yet they still have an unwavering belief that they will prevail."failure is not an option; even in the face of great adversity.just know what your adversity really is"! * The Hedgehog Vs Fox.the fox is smart & cunning but gets caught up in lots of details,
becoming misdirected and chasing his own tail…hedgehogs do only 1 thing and do it well and
nothing else…eat. THE BEST CEO’S OF ALL TIME ARE HEDGEHOGS!! Example: Jimmy Carter was smart, worldly, tackled many issues.and got lost in detail. Ronald Reagan had only 1 thing on his mind for 8 years.Russia.remove years.Russia.remove the "evil empire", remove the "evil empire" and remove the "evil empire"! Reagan was a hedgehog.
* All great Hedgehogs have 3 common traits: 1.
Pass Passio iona nate te abou aboutt wha whatt the theyy belie believe ve in. in.
2.
Recognize Recognize that that they they are genetical genetically ly encoded encoded for their their chosen chosen field field of of endeavou endeavourr.they really LOVE what they do!
3.
And somebo somebody dy WILL WILL pay them for what what they they love love to do! do!
* CEO’S most important task.never stop becoming qualified for the job. * FLYWHEEL EFFECT.when you start pushing a 10 ton metal flywheel, it takes lots of effort to make a single revolution, but less for the next 3.momentum will start to carry the wheel forward itself.same is true in business. It’s tough and slow to build momentum and inertia, but before long, it starts spinning under it’s own force. After a while, MULTIPLE REVOLUTIONS WILL CREATE EVOLUTION!
* Use technology only after you have momentum, not to create it. Technology is simply an accelerator of momentum, not a creator of it
* Building a great company means your building something WORTHY of lasting.Question: how do you know if your company is worthy of lasting??? Answer: does it stand for something great to someone?
* Dream now and then, they will come true! * Great companies do 2 things well: 1.
Pres Preser erve ves: s: core core valu values es and and pur purpo pose se..
2.
Change Changes: s: operat operating ing pract practice ices, s, techn technolo ologies gies and cult culture ure as as needed needed..
* Closing comments to live by: *Human talent is the currency of the new economy. economy. *Good is the ENEMY of great! *Time is more important than money ("ROM")
*Be a hedgehog!!! Unwavering single mindedness. *Know WHO you want on your "bus" in work & life. lif e. *Build something that is WORTHY and STANDS for something to someone. *Take *Take time to dream.
To Your Quantum Leap, Daniel S. Peña Sr.
P.S. My new "Mentor" web page is near completion and should be up shortly. It will be a tremendous opportunity for those of you that are willing to work hard and understand "pay price to action!" P.P.S. One of my current mentees and partners, Damion Lupo, just published his first book "Maverick Mistakes in Real Estate Investing", www.maverickmistakes.com - I wrote the forward for him. As he states, the book is written by a graduate of "The University of Getting the Crap Kicked Out of Me." Needless to say, his mistakes were made before I met Damion! P.P.P.S. Whilst trying to write my first financial newsletter , since my recent announcement, I decided not to go forward with it. It was too time consuming to write a quality letter and I wouldn’t write anything I wouldn’t be proud to put my name on. We have not debited anyone’s credit card. I apologize for the false start! Also visit our websites:
http://www.danpena.com or http://www.qlablog.com
ISSUE #63 7th May 2005 From Dan Peña - Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer. Dear High Performance Person and Visionary,
The first 7 Day Da y Castle Seminar in more than 5 years is now history. history. And what an event it was! In In attendance were 11 strong QLA devotees dating back over 10 years. (The seminar is limited to 10, but I squeezed in a QLA devotee’s devotee’s wife at the last minute.) The individual extended role playing was especially helpful in driving home many QLA precepts. The participants asked for additional time to simulate many different situations. I enjoyed the final night graduation black tie Scottish kilt dinner. Seeing all the male participants in kilts was quite a show and we will make it tradition going forward. I will have photos on my site soon. And you probably have already guessed, it was such a success I have decided to do another 7 Day Extravaganza 17th - 25th September 2005. Two Two of the recent rece nt attendees have already a lready booked for September. Attendance will again be limited. For more information see: http://www.danpena.com/docs/new7dayqla.html Also since my last Newsletter the new QLA One Day Castle Seminar site has been completed (www.qlaonedaycastleseminar.com www.qlaonedaycastleseminar.com). ). It describes in detail what the offer is. And I changed the offer dramatically to create extraordinary value for money. Instead of £597 (about $1,200) for each
attendee I am allowing each attendee to bring one guest - FREE! Two for the price of One ! www.qlaonedaycastleseminar.com After thinking about it I decided I want as many to attend as I could. So I essentially halved the price, when I was informed that almost twice the number of attendees could be seated in the new pavilion, as I first thought. As I have told you I still make mistakes from time to time! In this instance I assumed something. And you know what happens when you ass u me! Now virtually all that read this Newsletter can afford a QLA Castle Experience! www.qlaonedaycastleseminar.com 150% Money Back Guarantee ! To make it even better value for money, money, for those that perhaps still question QLA, I was convinced by a young mentee, Dan Lok, to give a money-back guarantee on the seminar as I do on all my product now. But to make it as strong a guarantee as the seminar is great - I decided to give 150% of your money back. That’s 50% more than you paid - no questions asked. All you have to do is come to the back of the room at anytime before the end and you will get a cheque (check) made out to you. Again no questions asked. Don’t miss this opportunity to get QLA, from the horse’s mouth so to speak, at my home. Of course if you ask after the drinks party at the end someone on my staff might question the veracity of your demand! FREE Powerpoint Presentation ! And if you are a Newsletter subscriber, you will receive the entire Powerpoint presentation free along with another gift! Hope to see many of you there (here)! www.qlaonedaycastleseminar.com To Your Quantum Leap, Daniel S. Peña Sr.
P.S. During the week long seminar, just ended, I often spoke about a new book I was just given by one of my mentees, "Jump In" by Mark Burnett. I had scanned it prior to the seminar, but now I have read it! I strongly recommend it. It follows the life of a kid from the Eastend, London, who went through the Falklands Conflict, who had a dream of success. He went to Hollywood to find his fortune. Of course c ourse he is now famous for producing "Survivor, The Contender, Contender, and The Apprentice" in the UK and US. It is for all who have a dream and haven’t taken the first step! I plan on meeting Mr. Burnett soon! My life, and the lives of many high performance people can relate to his story and methodology. methodology. Just go out and buy it, you won’t be disappointed. Once you have read the first chapter you’ll better understand me, QLA and what YOU must do! P.P.S. .P.S. Part of the tuition for the QLA One Day Castle Seminar will be donated to the on going relief of the victims of the Tsunami tragedy.
ISSUE #64 6th June 2005 From Dan Peña - Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer. Dear High Performance Person and Visionary,
It’s been a few weeks and this news letter. As As they say in Texas I am feel like a one legged man in a three legged ass kicking contest! This very short letter is purely an informational. I didn’t want to wait till my next regular letter to make the announcements below: My mentor site is finally complete, or should I say posted. www.mentorprogramme.com www.mentorprogramme.com It will be
changed from time to time as I adapt it to the users. It is attached to my Dan Pena site. The site is self explanatory. Those Those interested merely merel y fill in the application questionnaire and submit it. I would suggest you all read the application. It is extremely revealing! And as you will read, if you don’t fulfill your goals during the first 12 months of the mentor programme you will receive a no questions asked 150% money back guarantee!! I am especially excited, or as excited as a man my age can be, to get the programme launched. Whilst I have had many mentees over the years, I never had a formalized programme. Each programme will be bespoke or hand made, but there will be a number of centralized benchmarks based on my many years of working as a mentor and as a mentee of Constantine Gratsos, Jim Newman, and Jerri Ormand. If I learned anything it is to model things that are already successful! And that is what this mentor programme is based on. Or to put it in modern parlance – this programme is the best of best practices! Another point of information, I changed the date of the 1 day QLA Seminar at Guthrie Castle to Sep 9 from 25 July. www.qlaonedaycastleseminar www.qlaonedaycastleseminar.com/. .com/. A business business commitment has come up unexpectedly and I can’t make the July date now. I apologize for any inconvenience. For those of you that purchased tickets in advance, etc, please notify my office for restitution. All other term and conditions apply, apply, including the no questions asked 150% money back guarantee!! I want to take ta ke this opportunity to thank those of you that asked me since August August of 2001 to start giving seminars again. It has been a conduit of people with interesting ideas and dreams that are attainable through the QLA methodology methodology.. As many of you know I truly enjoy e njoy assisting people fulfill their dreams so they can be all they can be. Thanks again! To Your Quantum Leap, Daniel S. Peña Sr.
P. S. All I would say is I “strongly suggest” and you know what I mean when I say suggest – you all take a close look at the mentor application.
ISSUE #65 14th August 2005 From Dan Peña – Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer. Dear High Performance Person and Visionary,
Thanks for all your birthday wishes! I greatly appreciate the kind thoughts! I am on the road, but I didn’t want an opportunity to go by for you whilst I am travelling putting my new mentor program in to place. Due to a recent company group cancellation there are a few spots now open at my upcoming 7-day QLA Castle seminar beginning the 18th September. Their misfortune can be someone’s someone’s great benefit! Man Plans! God Laughs! What makes the opportunity even more unique is we are having a pro-am golf tournament to kick off the weeklong event to celebrate my recent re cent 60th Birthday. Hence the seminar attendees can attend from the 17th September in order that they may participate in the tournament the18th. Interested parties should contact Paul Morris at
[email protected] I look forward to seeing you. To Your Quantum Leap,
Daniel S. Peña Sr.
ISSUE #66 4th October 2005 From Dan Peña – Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer. Dear High Performance Person and Visionary,
It’s been a few months months since my last newsletter. newsletter. I will use this letter to catch you up and pass on some thoughts and changes in my life; to share with you an email from a mentee who I have written about before; and make a few general comments about change and how difficult it can be even for someone like me! As you know I had had a big birthday a few weeks ago. Arriving at my 60th gave me pause for thought, especially since it coincided with my daughter going away to university university in Texas. Texas. She was my last child to leave the nest. Hence, I took time and the opportunity to reset some of my own goals and habits: 1. I gave up salt, sugar, mayonnaise, candy/cookies and all sweets, and all red meat. Yes I still drink! So far with no effect that I can notice other than I have lost some weight. 2. I decided to change my work schedule to mirror my work habits during my 40s, i.e. increase my work time at least 25% to over 100 hrs per per week. To exhibit and launch this new work work ethic I embarked on a well planned and coordinated trip that began 22 22 Aug and ended 17 Sept. This trip took me from a 6am flight from Aberdeen through London, NYC, LA, Cleveland, NYC, London, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Meppen Germany, Antwerp, Amsterdam, London, NYC, Houston, Honolulu, Guam, Manila, Guam, Honolulu, LA, Palm Springs (to have brunch with my dad and a nd oldest son on his 87 th), LA, Phoenix, Santa Fe NM, Houston, Chicago, Cleveland, London, to Guthrie (to play in a Pro/Am golf tournament to celebrate my 60 th). And to cap it off the next day I started a week long castle seminar. seminar. For those that were at the seminar they can tell you I finished stronger than I started! How did I do it? Just relating the trip tires most. It’s simple! I am still doing what I love and now I am going to do even more of it! Of course being in very good shape, except for the 20 pounds I should lose, helps enormously. enormously. And with the diet change perhaps that will cut pounds off me. 3. I fired my personal trainer who I started with in Jan because she was too easy in my 90 minute 3 times a week sessions. She trains 1 of the local football teams. Her sessions are called “beastins” and she is called the “beast!” So much for nick names. I train myself now and want to be as strong as I was when I was 45! 4. I changed my eating habits further having 5 – 6 small meals a day when ever I can. Though I won’t carry food with me as has been suggested. I also take probiotic stuff and use use probiotic yogurt regularly. regularly. And I do feel the difference though I was a big sceptic at first. 5. I will not stay at a hotel whilst travelling unless it has cardio equipment equipment and weights. This has precluded me from staying at some of my favourite small hotels. 6. I am pushing myself, myself, my staff and the deals I am involved in harder. harder. Always remembering “what gets measured gets done!” I have adopted a new saying, “you’re “you’re looking at you’re calendar/diary and I am looking at my f _ _ _ _ _ _ watch!” 7. Restructured how and why I get get involved in deals. And am re-examining the deals I am in. 8. I have eliminated most most of the fluff in my life! Though I still see see my family/kids every 4 – 6 weeks. My daughter being in a small town in Texas will be more of a challenge than my sons who who
are both in the LA area. 9. To get all the deals I am currently involved in to their respective IPOs or Exits as soon as humanly possible. 10. And to focus and drive my various future teams so we don’t leave any talent wasted, even at the beginning whilst we are getting used to one another. You might ask why I would do any and especially all the above? Well my friends, we all get sloppy! Especially as you get older. older. Over the last summer I looked at what was the difference difference between my 50s and 40s? 40s? I didn’t go back to my 30s, but I was more like my 40s 40s than 50s. In summary it was focus and the driving follow through I became famous, or infamous, for during the big money creation years I had. It’s the same focus I teach at my seminars. Remember the whip at the old seminars? But when I looked at myself in absolute candour, I saw I was not performing as well as I know I can, though it was way more than enough for anything I was involved in the last 10 years.. I had fallen into the the trap - what do I have to prove to anyone? I even think subconsciously subconsciously I started to measure myself against the best seminar attendees and a few partners and what I conveniently remembered of my past. Whilst I have very successful partners and mentees, and I have coached some super stars, all could be much more successful if they held themselves more accountable and were much harder harder on their partners, employees employees and themselves! But very few want, or like being tough. Almost all people want to be liked. And though I hold them them accountable, I am with them only a short period of time per per month. And even though they give give me a weekly report that isn’t the same as being there to instil and create what they should be doing on a daily basis. I know the most most successful ones say, say, “What would Dan do in this situation?” And that seems to work, but my foot up t! heir ass is better for most, because I am not a person who is easily let down. I still remember my dearly departed partner, Charlie, saying “Y “You are the most difficult person to let down I have ever met. I would rather crawl over broken glass!” And he had very few glass cuts! Even people I am in business with have periodic doubts, as we all have from time to time, even with our “Dream Teams” Teams” and professionals! Though I can’t really reall y say that I have these feelings very often, it can happen. After all, my task for QLA devotees is, “to get them to do what they don’t want to do (the hard stuff), to be what they want to be!” Hence, thinking all this through over a period of nights sipping some splendid beverage, I had an epiphany. epiphany. I knew I had changed a number of things things about my daily life and how I transacted transacted business! In short a got a lot easier! But I had deluded myself in to believing I had grown more efficient over time. Whilst this was partially true, I was not admitting to my self I had grown soft! Ergo, I knew over many years, I got too relaxed. For For those of you that have been to Guthrie, Guthrie, you know it’s it’s a place you can get used to very easily! easily! In fact one of the recent seminar attendees stated he didn’t want to go home, except for the fact he wanted to get started on his new QLA action plan. Most people don’t want to leave! And I know I was one of them! I hadn’t made a tough trip like the one one described above in a very long time. In fact the only comparable trip (and it was not anywhere as tough) was from the UK to India and Australia and back about a year ago. And that trip only had a couple stops. As we all know it’s it’s hard to push ourselves past our comfort zone unless we are constantly pushing the edges of of the envelope. Or if we have someone pushing the edges with us. We must make a concerted and constant effort or we will not be able to do it. I am fully committed to that effort once again! I had allowed myself to get way to comfortable! And I am positive if I had grand kids, kids, I would be bouncing them on my knee! Hell the summer of 2004 I spent on my big machines cutting fairways, etc, because I enjoyed it! I should count myself lucky my kids are not at that stage of life yet to give me grand kids and I found a great greens keeper! Now I am doing what it takes to get myself myself out and about as I once did. Even for someone like me deals aren’t just dropped in your lap. You You must keep kissing those lovely frogs till you find a princess! Of course this has afforded me a great
opportunity to expand my investment horizons and what I spend my valuable time doing. In fact one of the companies I am Chairman of, www.quantumorganization.com www.quantumorganization.com,, will be going public in the New Year Year and part of my mandate will be to grow the business in the USA. This should put me me on the road a great deal. Our plan is to be in all 50 states over time. In fact many of you may be interested and I will write more about the tremendous tremendous opportunity in due course. We are presently in the UK, Ireland, India, Australia, and New Zealand. Suffice it to say, say, it’s not a coincidence that the name is “Quantum!” Now just ponder the thought. thought. If Dan says he can fall victim to the “getting to comfortable” syndrome – what about you? you? Admittedly my work ethic, even slowed down, down, is significantly higher than most that read this letter – but it’s it’s all relative. At my peak I worked 120 hours hours per week and more. Now I probably work 80, plus now being pushed pushed to 100. In conjunction with this new altered action plan I am in the process of opening an office in India and will be travelling to it regularly and I am still looking at China. As you all have read the opportunities there are spectacular and I could probably spend my 60s there alone. I will keep you updated on my progress progress vis-à-vis my new quantum quantum action plan! After all “what gets measured get accomplished!” And I sincerely hope this jogs some of you to look at yourself! As I have often written, “if today was a test would you have passed?” My Hero!
My mentee said I could share this email with the last seminar attendees, which I did, but I knew it had a much larger potential market. Again, because QLA though designed and memorialised memorialised for business purposes, purposes, it has a much greater life fulfilling application. As I have written, people in all walks of life have used these precepts. Tony Ward, Ward, a good Irish lad started in business with me, but switched his focus away from business business to athletics. Many others have used the QLA precepts in religion and for losing 150 pounds, etc. I have written before Tony Tony is my hero. Whilst blind before turning to running he accomplished much more than most that follow the QLA methodology methodology with full sight in business. As a trained chartered account he is perhaps the brightest person I have ever coached and that takes in a lot of super brain power! power! And as those that know me, me, I am not for too many compliments! Because I have always believed those that feel good about themselves with high self esteem don’t need all the “TLC.” “TLC.” Trump, Branson, Branson, Gates, Dell, Onassis, et al, didn’t didn’t and don’t need it, but that’s the basis for another newsletter! But remember: when you are successful, it’s much easier to get your head screwed on straight! Here’s Tony’s short email: “Hi Dan I’m pretty sure you have a castle event on this week and are probably probably up to your eyes in it. I told you about the challenge I was doing around Ireland – well as always when I achieve something nowadays I often reflect with some emotion on how I happen to do the things I do and inevitably my friendship and association with you comes to the fore. Log on (and have your castle attendees log on to) http://www.challenge32.com http://www.challenge32.com.. It’s slightly different than success in a business sense but it will aptly demonstrate what can be done if you put your mind to something and pursue it with enthusiasm. It started off as a dream a year ago, the plans changed hundreds of times, but now it’s it ’s a reality. reality. I better stop now or I will be accused of plagiarism!! Please use my recent success as testimony to your beliefs, methodologies and success coaching. Hope all is going well and look forward to catching up soon. To your Quantum Leap Tony.”
I get a number of emails a month and am always honoured and never surprised to hear what people with dreams can and do accomplish. I still get a lump in my throat when I think of the success Tony and others have had, once they began to believe in themselves more. Tony proposed to his his fiancée here at Guthrie earlier this year. year. She’s She’s a wonderful woman, woman, notwithstanding she’s a lawyer. The good news is she is a lady Irish lawyer and that makes her quite different! Next 10 Years Years
My overall goal is to accomplish more in my 60s 60s than I did in my 30s, 40s 40s and 50s! I have the guts, knowledge, expertise and acumen and now reinforced by my new determination, focus and desire I will go in to my 60’s on a new search and destroy mission to implement and execute! My only challenge is to find the correct opportunities for me! I’ll make mistakes, but I understand that’s that’s the game. And knowing you you can’t hit another grand slam without swinging swinging at the plate! To Your Quantum Leap, Daniel S. Peña Sr.
P.S. As was announced by my office recently, recently, the week long seminars have been so successful I am having another. another. It will run 30th Nov to 7th Dec. We already have a few current mentee/partners coming. It seems that the current working partners partners are very much desired at these events. Of course, to be able to interface with people that are living the QLA dream is a real benefit. Of course, it isn’t lost on new attendees that something must be very special for the partners who keep coming back as a paying attendee! P.P.S. .P.S. At a recent dinner with my youngest son, Derrick, I was told he wanted to go head to head with me in business! I told him I would wait with baited breath. He went on to say when people say the name “Peña,” he wanted them to mean “Derrick “Derrick Peña!” He turned 22, 6 August and is a senior in university! At the same dinner, I told him of a 26 year old that had made $15 million by selling his business. Derrick said, I better get going Dad! From his lips to the Lords ears! P.P.P.S I just came across a young man named Kyle Maynard. He has written a new book “No Excuses.” This is an incredible story that makes Rudy, Rudy, which I often make mandatory viewing at seminars, look like a nursery tale. It’s a story about a young man who has transcended hardships since childbirth, beyond your wildest imagination and succeeded against all odds! You You can’t read the book and ever again, think or say you have an excuse not to be whatever you want to be!
ISSUE #67 7th December 2005 From Dan Peña – Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer. Dear High Performance Person and Visionary,
I just finished another week long castle extravaganza! What a great week! You You will be able to see video testimonials on my site very soon. Recently I added to the front page a sample of the video mentor section of the seminar. seminar. I have been asked when the next weeklong castle seminar will be and I don’t know at this juncture. Please email Paul of your interest:
[email protected] interest:
[email protected] Whilst going through final preparations for the seminar just completed I came across the fax I sent partners in 1998. It is an extremely effective and powerful message, so I decided to send it out again! It is as germane now as it was when I wrote it. I wish you all Happy Holidays and an awesome 2006!
To Your Quantum Leap, Daniel S. Peña Sr.
WE WILL ALL BE MEASURED WHEN WE’RE GONE! HOW WILL YOU STAND UP? Today I received terrible news! My only living mentor’s wife will not live out the month. They have just moved back to Houston to be near their children and grandchildren. This couple were like a second set of parents to my wife and I. They were the role models we never had. Happily married for decades with a large family and extremely successful! Linda and I would sit in their Bel Air, California home in the middle of the seventies and say, “When we grow up we ant to be just like you.” We We even wanted to buy their lovely home on the 9 th fairway of Bel Air Country Club. It was worth millions and we had just bought our first home. During the 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s (and even now) he has been a working dynamo with his wife always being supportive. He traveled all the time and did many deals. At one point during the 70s he averaged one acquisition a month, for three years! As most of you know, know, he grew a great conglomerate by buying revenue then operating profitably. profitably. (Sound familiar?) He currently sits on several Boards with me and actively participates – at almost 80 years of age. When I talked to him about his beloved wife and my role model, surrogate mother, I was stunned at what he had to say: i.e. as a family I want to thank you for your friendship and love; thanks that all you’ve done for our family over the years; thanks for the support and allowing us to participate with your family and in business. He went on and on with compliments! I was shocked because I felt I had done next to nothing. He and his wife had done almost all the giving! I had mostly taken, or so I thought. What he didn’t say, as some of you have heard him say, say, many times, he knew what I would accomplish the first time he ever met me. He says he knew I would surpass his success many times and never look back. Some of you have heard me say the same. As life (and a lot of hard work and many difficult times) would have it he was correct. I modeled what he and others did correctly. But mostly I did what he said, when he said – not always getting the result I wanted, but still always learning. Listening and always learning as Constentine Gratsos (another mentor) used to tell me often. At the end of our conversation I vividly remembered that countless times the only thing that kept me going was merely that fact that he told me I would be more successful than he, in a major league way! The only thing I had was the memory of his confident words! His expectations for me were higher than mine. (Sound familiar?) Recently I was given the attached poem to reflect upon. AS I read it I was reminded by the various phases of my life, my m y parents lives and my second parents lives (Mr. & Mrs. Ormond). I slso reflected on Jim Newman’s Newman’s life, (another mentor) that passed away on 4 th July 1997. AS you read it you will probably do the same. Think ahead, to see if what you will see will make you happy. happy. Perhaps it will make others happy – but will it you happy? You You are the important one! BE truthful with yourself. We all engage, or have engaged in activities ac tivities that we wished we didn’t – or are not proud of! Yet Yet we repeat these actions! Why? Why is it easier to do non-productive stuff? Why is it easier to do things that are bad for us? Usually it’s because we don’t believe we deserve any better – low self esteem! We all make excuses why it’s OK at the time i.e.: so and so did it, why not me? In many of my faxes and in my talks I discuss this (to many of you) ad nauseam. But it doesn’t mater unless we learn and grow by this process, so I keep saying it! We all learn at different rates, some of us take a lifetime and then it’s too late. Some of us don’t really believe we deserve better so we do the same and continue to self sabotage ourselves.
Life is a series of mistakes! Don’t stop making them! I know I still make a lot of them! I’ve made some rather large ones recently r ecently,, but I don’t stop trying. tr ying. In fact it’s easier to admit mistakes now at 53. Many of you think I’m hard. I was much less forgiving 20 years ago, yet I still push the hardest on the ones with the most unqualified potential. To Our QL Dan . P.S. I’ve just got off the phone from I guy I have known since September 1956. We We talked about our 35 th High School re-union in two weeks. We We talked about our successes, sick parents and friends that had died. He waited til 50 to marry and is in great shape and said he regretted not going to OCS ( Officers Candidate School) with me during the Vietnam War War in 1966, we had joined the Army with another friend on the “buddy (pal) plan.” He said we were lucky not to get hurt during that tragic period. I agreed! With all his success he focused on health hea lth and what he didn’t do in 1966. Our backgrounds are similar, except OCS. He said he loved me and would see me at the re-union if his Dad’s health stayed ok. HE probably won’t go! Why? When he said he loved me and remembered 10 th August was my 53 rd birthday, birthday, he called me an “old fart”. We We were (are) ( are) like brothers, yet I haven’t seen him since his wedding 2½ years ago. When he said the word “love” I had flashes of the few times I wanted, or should, have said it (love) and didn’t. I cried when he hung up because I didn’t say it back. I rationalized to myself that, at least I did call him – B.S.!! I will always regret these emotional shortfalls. It’s my shortest suit! I am a product of my socio and economic milieu. We all are! A few days ago I told my eldest son, Dan Jr. that I was proud of him and that I loved him and would die for him! He said, “I know Dad! I know!” I hope h does, because I would! These regrets I’ve described, for me, are emotional in nature, but all take some sort of physical action – opening the mouth and talking etc! Sounds easy. NO! If it were only easy! You You all “know what I mean!” The regrets you have when your time comes (now and later) will be emotional as well, but manifested by lack of action. No different! The difficulty in the QLA program is it always takes some sort of pro-active action! QLA can’t work on being re-active. The most successful call as many as 10 or 20 times to get a response – any response! They practice until they get results – not until it’s perfect! As I’ve outlined briefly, I too have regrets just like you. My emotional risks are just as hard to cope with as yours. Many of you may find this difficult to believe. I share this with you to illustrate we all have emotional bank accounts, and all are short in some respect or another. I am more aware of this than most. Especially since I became a coach. The high performance person learns to cope and e proactive, the rest don’t! They blame it on someone or something else and never take responsibility. responsibility. P.P.S. .P.S. For me it’s easier to take “No” from financial financia l institutions than say “I care”, care ”, or how I feel. To some this is a tremendous strength. To me it has been a regret I have only recently have diligently worked on! I will continue to be hard on you and myself for more empathy. empathy. Crabbit Old Woman
What do you see, nurses, what do you see? What are you thinking when you look at me? A crabbit old woman, not very wise. Uncertain of habit with faraway eyes.
Who dribbles her food and makes no reply When you say in a loud voice, I do wish you’d try! tr y! Who seems not to notice the things that you do And forever is losing stock or shoe, Who, unresisting or not, lets you do as a s you will, With bathing and feeding the long day to fill. Is that what you’re thinking? Is that what you see? Then open your eyes. e yes. You’re You’re looking at me. I’ll tell you who I am, as I sit so still, As I move at your bidding, as I eat at your will. I’m a small child of ten with a father and a mother, Brothers and sisters who love one another, A young young girl of sixteen with wings on her feet, Dreaming soon a lover she’ll meet. A bride soon at twenty, twenty, my heart gives a leap, Remembering the vows I promise to keep. At twenty five I have a young son of my own, Who needs me to build a secure and happy home. A woman of thirty, my young now grow fast, Bound to each other with ties that should last, At forty my young will now soon be gone, But my man stays beside me to see I don’t mourn, At fifty, once more babies play around my knee, Again we know children, my loved ones and me, Dark days are upon me, my husband is dead, I look to the future, I shudder with dread, For my young are all busy with young of their own, And I think of the years and love I have known, I’m an old woman and nature is cruel ‘Tis her jest to make old age look like a fool. The body it crumbles, grace and vigor do depart, And now there is a stone where I once had a heart, But inside this old carcass, a young girl still dwells, And now and again my battered heart swells. I remember the joys, I remember the pain. And I’m loving and living life over again, I think of the years, all too few, gone too fast,
I accept the stark fact that nothing can last, Do open your eyes nurse, open and see, Not a crabbit old woman…LOOK CLOSER…SEE ME. Found amoung the possessions of an old Irish Lady after she had died in a Geriatric Hospital and reprinted with thanks to John O’Dea of Goatacre House. A lesson to us all.
ISSUE #68 14thApril 2006 From Dan Peña – Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer. Dear High Performance Person and Visionary,
It’s been some months since my last newsletter. I have been busy working on my new goals I set on my last birthday. I am spending about 70% of the time ti me on the road on both sides of the globe. I have taken on 1 additional mentee and 2 have gone the way of the buggy whip for various reasons. The mentee program is still working well and that with the Guthrie Group’s Group’s business I have more than a full plate. Whilst on my recent trip to Europe and the USA I realized I had been limiting my own growth by my own biases! Yes Yes it can even happen to me. My M y own experiences can and have been a limiting factor on my filtering opportunities. I asked myself, just because it didn’t work in 1998 how can I know it won’t work now. Ergo Ergo I am now looking at deals I would have normally passed on based on my previous experience. Now don’t get me wrong. I still use my gut instincts all the time. But the difference is when I see something I would say no to, purely because it didn’t work before I am having another look and am doing more due diligence. Now if this can happen to me, what prey tell can happen to most of the people that read this newsletter? Yes Yes you got it! And it happens more than you think. You You become trapped by your previous failures and mistakes and you don’t even realize it most of the time. Hence, you are by definition limiting your possibilities on a daily basis. In the past due to my previous experiences I have steered away from 3rd world countries. My experiences in those areas with one or two exceptions were bad! But the irony is those areas are now some of the best areas for future growth on the planet. The obvious choices are China and India. Now both are where the action is happening. Now there are layers beneath these including South America, the old Eastern Block, the Pacific Rim, and the less developed South African countries. Recently, for the first time in over 25 years I am looking in for opportunities in selective areas. As you all have been reading commodity prices are going through the roof and some are at 25 year highs. For instance gold is at $600 per ounce. For those of you that remember I suggested a hard asset play back in early 2001. Some are calling it a commodity super cycle! Now even orange juice futures have doubled in price. And virtually no one is saying that these prices price s will come down anytime soon. If you look at inflation adjusted gold and silver prices from 25 years ago they are under valued if you believe the pundits by 90 and 70% respectfully respectfull y. Should you own paper gold or real gold? There is 70 times more paper gold gold than hard gold bullion. What does all this mean?
On the housing front starts are slowing down. House inventories are increasing to over load status. Interest rates continue to rise. Mortgage levels are at all time highs. The ratios of personal income to housing mortgages are severely higher than they have been in the last 20 years. The dot com bust is over and the stock markets are booming almost everywhere. Multiples are at 5 year highs. (And remember I also said in early 2001, “What if the markets had a 60% correction?”). Mergers and acquisition activity is at record levels. Private equity and venture capital are raising more money than anytime before. Hedge funds, according to many, have replaced venture capital ca pital money as the leading force for shaping the future of big cap public companies. Bricks and mortar companies are back in vogue. The old stogy steel companies are making money hand over fist. I could go on and on! I can only guess what your stock brokers and property agents are telling you! Most are probably saying you better jump on before you miss the entire bull move. Enough on the state of the world! My second edition of Your Your First Hundred Million (really 3rd edition counting Build Your Your Own Guthrie) will come out later this year with up many dates and a special chapter by mentees. My next castle seminar will be from 15th – 22nd July 2006. Email Paul at,
[email protected] for more information or go to http://www.danpena.com/docs/new7dayqla.html to see the schedule of events. The last castle event was terrific as indicated by video clips from several attendees that can be found at: http://www.danpena.com/docs/Seminar%20clips.htm.. http://www.danpena.com/docs/Seminar%20clips.htm As I said in my birthday newsletters I would would keep you apprised of my new new health regimen: With in a few weeks of me starting I benched pressed 300 pounds again; and now I have lost 20 pounds. Where it only took me a few weeks to do the 300 it took 8 months to lose 20. The bottom line is I eat much more healthy and less at night than I did for 30 years. My family is all doing very well! And my father continues to amaze people at almost 88 though he has slowed down considerably. considerably. To Your Your Quantum Q uantum Leap, Dan Peña P.S. If you’re wondering what the economic impact of what I have written above above is you’re in the majority. Bottom line is, follow those that have lived through several cycles and be careful. Nothing last forever and never under estimate how wrong you can be!
ISSUE #69 9th August 2006 From Dan Peña – Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer. Dear High Performance Person and Visionary,
I haven’t written since last April, when I talked about the stock market and commodity prices. I hope some of you took note! All the pundits have come up with great reasons to describe what happened. I hope you benefited from f rom my thoughts. Well here we are and I am 1 year into my new goals for my 60’s! And in the spirit of candor I can say I have made a great start on the 10 year plan; or as soon soon as humanly possible possible plan! There have been many changes in my life and almost all of them have been good with some exceptionally great and I am proud to say a couple have been tremendously extraordinary! I can only wish you have had a terrific year yourselves.
Holiday vs World Crisis!
As I sit here in an Asian country I think about the last head lines I read before leaving the UK. They all related to Tony Tony Blair making the gut wrenching decision to postpone his 3 week holiday in the Caribbean. I was so amused by hearing and reading this I almost soiled myself myself from laughter! After the first day of hearing this crap cr ap I thought it would be over, but oh no! It lasted 3 days. You You would have thought it would have been a fairly simple decision. The world is at crisis with the fighting in the Middle East, yet it took some bullying from the House of Commons to bring him to the decision. And what’s what’s even stranger is that most (not all) commentators felt he was so brave to postpone his holiday for for a measly 3 days. What kind of world do we live in? And for those of you you that have heard me speak before know, know, I often say, say, most people spend far more time on planning holidays than they do planning their lives!! Now before I get a bunch of emails from my Brit fans, I like like Blair. I think he has had to take a lot of heat for supporting what he believes in when when in is in line with USA interests! I take my hat off to him for that. And there is no no doubt he is a hi-performance guy. guy. But the hoopla made over his holiday was a bit too much! And some of the people on the street interviewed actually thought he should not have to give his his holiday time up, even for a couple of days. days. Now ask yourself where are people’s priorities? Notwithstanding he probably didn’t have to pay for the holiday! 88 Year Old Fathers Son!
Now here is a story that should have received more coverage than postponing a holiday for 3 days! This story was on the front page of the paper today here in India - 88 year old guy fathered a son. As great as the story is, it gets better. better. This dude (and I can only imagine imagine he is also a stud) had tried for over 60 years to have a son. His first wife was baron and she arranged for him to marry his second wife. The second wife gave him a daughter and died at 45. The first wife arranged yet for a third wife 45 years his junior and after many years years of trying produced him a son. Actually it was twin sons but one was still born. This man walks 10 – 35 kilometers a day as a herder. He drinks up to 3 litres of raw goat’s milk each day he can remember since a child. He doesn’t smoke or drink (it would have been better if he had), and till his son’s son’s birth had no desire to live to 100. But now he wants to continue to have children. He says it is God’s God’s will! And since he has sex every night he preys he will have have more. And he says 2 – 4 am is his favorite time for this natural by product of life! My only thought is he may have to get yet a 4th wife since she current one is 33. Now this true story is wrought with several QLA precepts, but I will only onl y mention the obvious and fun ones: Can’t hit a home run unless you are up to bat; Can’t score (pun intended) unless you are swinging away; Can’t ever give up and must doggedly preserver no matter what; Common consensus is almost always wrong; wrong; And last but not least, even your your first wife can be your real friend! To Your Your Quantum Q uantum Leap, Dan Peña PS My Web Site
As many of you have noticed my site has been not functioning for many weeks. The stories of why are not important, but I now have my own web master who is highly qualified and extremely attentive to the needs of my sites. The message board is functional again and hopefully will be used by those who frequent my site. It has been redesigned and cleared of old data, but your personal info has been kept. It is now also easier to sign on. If you have any suggestions send them to
[email protected]..
[email protected] PPS Castle Seminar
Do to my schedule I will give the only castle seminar seminar of 2006, 3rd – 9th December. December. It will be the
same material in a more compact time frame. Hence, it will be GBP £7,950 £7,950 instead of GBP £10,000, plus vat of 17.5% (recoverable to most). A couple of my partners have already shown interest in coming again, so it should be another extraordinary group! You can click here to hear testimonials of the last attendees http://www.danpena.com/docs/Seminar%20clips.htm http://www.danpena.com/docs/Seminar%20clips.htm..
ISSUE #70 12th October 2006 From Dan Peña – Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer. Dear High Performance Person and Visionary,
I hope you have all been well! I am working hard and accomplishing a lot. And I sincerely wish you are doing the same! Boom - Bust
In April 2001 I wrote in my news letter: “On March 20, Richard Russell, a Dow theorist, claimed after the 238-point decline of the Dow the end of the 19-year (really 223 months) bull market”. More importantly (if true), he claimed the bear market recovery would take one-quarter to one-third the length of the bull market. You You do the match: 1/4 or 223 or 1/3 of 223! I also wrote during this time of crisis there would be great opportunities! Who took advantage of them in the last 6 plus years? More about that further on… If you do the calculations c alculations 1/4 of 223 is 55.75 months and 1/3 of 223 is 73.6 months. And 73.6 months is a little over 6 yrs since the market collapse that saw most indices drop 40 – 60%. Is Russell a genius? Maybe, but that’s not really the point. Here we sit a little over 6 years later and we read in the Wall Street Journal last week: Boom!
MARKET ALERT from The Wall Wall Street Journal. Oct. 3, 2006 The Dow Jones Industrial Average set a record closing high, finishing at 11,727.34, 11,727.34, eclipsing a mark set back in January of 2000 during the height of the technology boom. Bust
Even in these times of great stock market boom there are times of great bust! As you read the links below you will see notwithstanding the new market highs the internet gambling stocks have collapsed due to intervention by the U.S. Government. It will always be something and it is not necessary to ask why? What smart people are doing now is looking for the opportunities. When one door closes another opens. We We must look for them! News results for internet gambling - View today’s top stories Congress approves Internet gambling ban bill - Reuters.uk - 2 hours ago GOP aims to crack down on Web gamblinggambling - USA Today - 30 Sep 2006 888 to freeze US business after gambling bill - FT – Reuters India – 9 hours ago Chaos
Whilst in a hotel room I started reading my files and a recent October Fortune magazine issue. The cover is titled CHAOS @ GOOGLE! It has a number of excellent articles on “Managing on the Edge”.
Like the article, as I have said since 1993 when I embarked on coaching the biggest opportunities come from where the most chaos exists. In conjunction with this notion, always put your best people on the biggest opportunity – not the biggest problems. This Fortune issue could have been written by me! I highly recommend it for all of you. Keep it in your permanent reading file along with other QLA reading material. Here is the link to the feature article: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/10/02/83 http://money .cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/10/02/8387489/index.htm 87489/index.htm The Next Bust ?
NEWS ALERT from The Wall Wall Street Journal Oct. 10, 2006 The Department of Justice has begun an informal inquiry into potentially anticompetitive behavior among some of the world’s leading private-equity funds. Information and documents r elated to deals and business practices have been requested. That’s it for now. now. I have to get back to work. To Your Your Quantum Q uantum Leap, Dan Peña P.S. If today was a test how would you grade yourself? What about the last 6 years? P.P.S. .P.S. Due to inconsiderate misuse and spammers I have ceased my message board infinitely. I am very chagrinned to have to take this action. Many thanks for your previous support!
ISSUE #71 28th January 2008 From Dan Peña – Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer. Dear High Performance Person and Visionary, HAPPY NEW YEAR!
It is not where you start, it is where and how you finish! It’s another year gone by and where are we as individuals? For the weak of heart and stomach you should stop reading now! DID YOU PASS? OR FAIL?
If you were to grade yourself what would you give yourself for the year just ended? What would I give you as a grade? What would your best friend give as a grade, if you asked them to be candidly honest with you, no bars held? Are you in the top 25%? 10%? 2%? Or are you living a life of quiet desperation? Are you alive or really dead? Being in a rut is being in a coffin with the ends knocked out! How many of you spent last year doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results? You You wasted all last year; if you learned nothing from spending that time, if you didn’t learn anything! Why?
ARE YOU A PLAYER? PLAYER?
Do you consider yourself a high performance perf ormance individual? Why? Why not? Write down your answer in detail. Keep it through the coming year and refer back to it weekly! I ASK MY SELF these types of questions EVERY January. AND MOST YEARS I rank myself pretty damn high, but not all years, because I don’t compare myself against just anybody. anybody. I benchmark myself against other high performance individuals. If I listened to the standards of others I would have stopped many years ago. I have often been asked what continues to drive me? What drives you? What gets you going each eac h day? Or do you get going? As I have grown older I have reduced my expectations of others based on over 35 years of experience. It’s not that I have given up on humanity, humanity, but I now appreciate more than ever you must pick your choices very carefully and super success is certainly not for everyone! When I started coaching in 1993 and till 1997/8 I was involved with more than 50 companies at a time. Now I am involved with a mere handful. Why? Because you need to be focused f ocused and you can’t focus on the many. many. High performance people focus on the few, not the many! If you have 5, 6, 9, 10 businesses you are involved with, you’re probably, if not failing, certainly cert ainly not accomplishing what you could if you were more focused. As I have said in my seminars and all published material, it is even more apparent to me now than it ever was in my very long career, super success is not for the lame of heart, or weak! And now after 35 years, I know it is very difficult for most to achieve the success often talked about in my seminars, no matter how hard people try. Why? Why? Lack of focus! Lack of commitment! Oh there are always reasons; my mortgage (a real laugh now), kids, in laws, no time, my job and I could go on and on! In most cases it is you are not hungry enough or you’re in your comfort zone! But the good news is we ALL can make our life better if only part of the QLA precepts are focused upon. For example, what if we only followed things we were really passionate about and let the others go? By definition you would be more focused. Ergo, you would be committed to only onl y things you really like doing and will get geometrically more done over a career! What if you didn’t spend time on things you can’t change? What if you didn’t procrastinate? And this is a very BIG one! In line with this one, what if we made the tough decisions first and not last, if at all? And what if you only followed your dream? In the years gone by I have diligently kept my standards higher than almost everyone I know. And in recent years, since I started coaching, it has been especially hard to get business partners to apply tougher standards to themselves, let alone their employees and their partners. Why? We We all want to be liked and thought well of and we mistakenly confuse being liked with respect and follow through in business. I have personally had the same difficulty applying these precepts to my own children. It is hard to believe I have children of 21, 24, and 26 now. One appears to want a life in business and is pursuing his MBA. The others have different ideas about life and are pursuing much different interests than I. Of course I want the very best for each one and try and support their efforts. As a parent this is not always easy! Of course for those of you that are parents you understand exactly
what I mean. LAST NEWS LETTER
A lot has transpired since my last news letter. I have not written because there was not news worthy stuff! I have not written because I am merely too damn busy to write! It’s hard to believe at age 62 I can be as busy as I am. I have been on the road living in hotels and rental houses almost all 2007. As I begin writing this letter I am in Manila ostensibly fighting off dengue fever, I apparently caught in Macao, China. (My USA DOC says I was merely very sick with a viral infection!) I would like to tell you I caught it crawling through some jungle in Asia, but it appears I got it somewhere in civilized China, where I spent Christmas and New Years. Years. Hence, I have spent a couple weeks in my hotel room with doctors and nurses in and out taking blood, etc. I checked my self in and out of a hospital in 3 hours. It’s a long story, story, but not all medical advice is good! A better tale, also happening to me in China was getting yanked out of my hotel room in a 5 star hotel by 5 policeman, 2 security guards and a night manager at 12:30 am on 2 January. Two Two colleagues and I were going over the events of the day when there was a big knock at the door. I opened it to this squad of guys and a cab driver demanding I pay a bill for him taking my group to dinner earlier that evening. I had told him and the hotel manager I would not succumb to them attempting to rip me off for services not rendered; a hotel Mercedes car taking us to dinner and back. Instead they took us in a Chinese made car that was a cab. I told them to f off and they could take me to jail and I wanted to speak to someone that could speak English. The cab driver had already attempted to take us to another restaurant and showed us his brother’s police badge. I told him to f off as well! It was a classic shake down! What made it even better, the cab driver had grabbed my colleague and I pulled him off, whilst I was on my crutches (oh ya I ripped my meniscus in my left knee whilst pumping leg presses of 400 pounds. The docs say my heavy leg lifts are a thing of the past!) The story is much longer, but I mention it here to make a point. Most people would have paid the cab so the problem would go away. away. It wasn’t a lot of money. I can tell you Jack Welsh, Donald Trump, nor Ross Perot would not have paid. I know Perot is older than most that read this letter, but he may have been willing to do even more than go to jail, as I was. The point is simple: at 62 with a torn meniscus in my left knee and on crutches - I was not willing to do what was conventional wisdom! I had trained my comfort zone to be ready for extra stress a very long time ago. I had trained my mind to believe with all my heart - with no sacrifice there is no victory! Needless to say I was pretty irritated at the time and I was ready to do what was needed. In candor, at 62 with a bum leg, I might have gotten hurt since the 5 cops had guns and clubs. But I was ready to do what ever was required! Some who witnessed the event in the hall in front of my room said I was raising my voice. Frankly I don”t remember that. All I remember was putting my hands in front of me and saying - take me to f’ing jail, but I am not paying this extortion! I said, put it on my bill like all the other cars I have rented whilst here. Why won’t you want to put it on my bill? Why? Because you are trying to extort me! The next morning there was no related car bill on my final account. I am writing you this tale to illustrate a very simple point;I have trained myself to do things others find difficult. Many of you that have known me over a long time know I am not like most people and there is not much I fear, but as I kid I was a mamas boy and was afraid of my own shadow! As I grew I knew I didn’t want to be afraid and I began to stretch my comfort zone, though I didn’t
know it then. But if you want to change you need to start NOW! You don’t have to be willing to confront Chinese cops to be successful, if you follow QLA precepts. I am sure the cops were not part of the attempted extortion, as I am sure the hotel employees and taxi driver were. The guy at the concierge desk and doorman that put us in the car all knew what was going on. WHY NO NEWS LETTERS?
I have been so busy the last couple of years that I haven’t even given any seminars since Dec ‘05. If you remember and read my news letters in 2005 I set up new goals for my self to abide by in my 60’s. 60’s. The best read you can have lies in my old news letters! And they are all still FREE! As much as I enjoy seminars I have been forced to cancel the last couple and return all money, due to my schedule. As has been written I have been spending a lot of time in Asia since late 2004. In fact, as I wrote above, I just ended a prolonged trip to China over Christmas and New Year Year visiting Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Macao. The "Forbidden City" and the "Great Wall" Wall" were great but, call me old fashioned, I enjoyed Hong Kong and Macao more. This trip was tacked onto to an extended trip through Zimbabwe, South Africa, Mauritius, India, Bangladesh, Monaco, France, Pana ma, Brazil, Canada and the USA. China is full of business opportunities for those with patience and a great joint venture partner. In the weeks I was there I ate enough Chinese food to last a life time! NEW 2008 QLA CASTLE SEMINER!
As you probably know, I am giving a seminar after a long lay off. It will follow the old 7 day format that I made infamous starting back to 1993. I am looking forward to this seminar and showing all the updated information. Change is even more important than it was a few years ago. Change agents have become common place in the 21 st century c entury.. Adapting to those changes and understanding how it affects you and your dream is absolutely critical! Speaking of change, as I work on this letter Obama and Huckabee have won the Iowa caucus. Then Clinton and McCain won New Hampshire and the results are now in on Nevada and South Carolina. The voters there are plainly saying they want something very different than they have received in the past. How many would have ever thought a black junior senator and a Baptist minister ex governor would be at the head of the democrats de mocrats and republicans, respectfully, a few months ago? (Of course that has changed since I started writing this letter.) And then on the back of this mandate the voters more or less reversed themselves going back to more of the norm with McCain and Clinton. I personally like McCain a lot! He is a real American hero in a world of false and shallow people. He certainly is a QLA man if there ever has been. How many of us (me included) would have gone through 5.5 years in a prison camp being beaten and tortured, when they could have been released. Senator McCain, then a navy pilot, was also son of an admiral in charge of naval operations for the Pacific during the Vietnam War. War. On many occasions he was offered release and refused till all men
were released, who were captured before him. This was and still is the honorable thing to do under the Military Code of Justice. Hence, he was one of the last to be released at the end of the Vietnam conflict in 1973. Now don’t get me wrong! McCain has made plenty of mistakes like we all have. After all he is human. But he has been in the eye of the tiger and I find it remarkable at 71 he has the energy and commitment to want to lead the USA. How many of us would of stayed a POW when we could have been released? Of course if I was a democrat (I am neither a republican nor democratic) I would probably fall into the Obama camp, partially part ially due to him being out of the box and against conventional wisdom. Time will tell if he is real. THE BUSINESS WORLD IS NO DIFFERENT!
We need people more now than ever to lead us all over the world. Change agents are not new. new. Yet Yet every time I read about the new wave I am surprised. I have studied the lives of many change agents over the years. Their names are too numerous to list here. But what they all had in common was they wanted something, some out side the status quo; out side the box; outside the conventional comfort zone; and they followed their dream with passion and laser beam focus! As you measure yourself and your efforts, ask what did you do outside your comfort zone last year? What did you do that was criticized and made fun of last year? And I am not talking about hitting a 2 iron over the water, instead of going with a 5 wood you hit more comfortably! High performance exercise that should make you uncomfortable. What did you do in 2007? 1. Risks taken. 1a. Risks not taken. 2. Relationships started. 2a. Relationships ended. 3. Successes, personal and business. 3a. Failures, personal and business. 4. Goals. 4a. 2007 Goals accomplished. 5. Fun time. 5a. Crap time. 6. Time spent daily on phone 6a. Time spent on PC. 7. Time spent in meetings.
You see, all super high performance people go against conventional wisdom. Turner, Turner, Iacocca, Ford, Dell, Edison, Gates, Jobs, Tom Tom Watson, Watson, Perot, Fred Smith, Knight, Bezoes, and probably any superstar you know all subscribe to do what others felt was wrong. And in every case, probably something that was not considered achievable. In other words, the very opposite of conventional wisdom. That same conventional wisdom that is preached preache d in our schools. And we wonder why we’re not more successful! Why our children are not high achievers! We We wonder why kids are so ill-prepared for life! We wonder why there are so many dufuses! (I’ll write a great deal about dufuses in future issues). Wouldn’t Wouldn’t you like to have some chances back again? The things you didn’t do. And you say you can’t. Why? Because of your responsibilities, family, family, kids, etc. etc . Because others say so? Because time has passed you by? Because you are too old now? Because you don’t have the energy any more, or even because you’re too young? Because! Because! Because! Conventional wisdom says you can’t, that’s why! Colonel Sanders was 65 years old when he decided to sell fried chicken in a cardboard box. Grandma Moses was in her 80’s 80’s when she decided to paint. How old are you? Is your idea any more funky than Sanders? Grandma Moses’? Is your idea any stranger than Ross Perot’s Perot’s idea to build a company that could outsell IBM at what they did better than anyone in the world? Cheaper? Starting with $1,000? Or what about a teenage Bill Gates wanting a computer in every U.S. home! I don’t think so! Who’s kidding who? What about the proliferation of dot.com companies, my own included - 3Clix.com! (Click here and see) There are literally thousands of dot.coms founded by 20-year-old kids to senior citizens. Think about the following: In 1994 there were virtually no dot.coms. In 1999 over 300 dot.coms had IPO’s for a market capitalization of a trillion dollars; and it’s estimated in 2000/2001 over 900 dot.coms will come to market. The 294 companies doing the most business on the internet have an average market cap of $18 billion. That’s That’s 30 times the average NASDAQ non-dot.com company’s company’s market cap! It’s a changed world! Are you changing? If you never read another "Money Messiah" Quantum Leap Advantage Internet Newsletter or never attend one of my seminars then only follow this simple precept for super success: Conventional Wisdom is Almost Almost Always Wrong. Wrong. You You will leave lea ve your progeny and/or family a much larger estate (if that’s important to you). Forget leaving money. You’ll You’ll have a much fuller life because money allows you choices. If you think money doesn’t buy happiness, you don’t know where to shop. (Linda Peñ a) As an aside, at one time in my life, I was going to leave all my money to The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. But I let conventional wisdom change my mind. We We are all a ll susceptible. And remember, I said conventional wisdom was almost always wrong! Needless to say sa y, my kids support conventional wisdom here! To Your Your Quantum Q uantum Leap, Daniel S. Peñ a, Sr. P.S. People often ask me to reveal the "Secrets" of what really r eally makes a super successful, high performance person. There are no secrets that I know. On these pages I will give you the truths (albeit brutal sometimes) about making a lot of money. money. Not the half truths, misinformation, and B.S. you’ve already heard ad nauseam. I want to save you from making a lot of mistakes. Mistakes I’ve personally made. P.P.S. .P.S. Before you buy any self-help book, audio or video tape, or put your butt into a seminar seat, ask yourself "Is this person where I want to be? Has he ‘been there, done that’ in a major league way? Would Would I want him as my mentor? Do I really respect his business acumen? Does he have world-class credentials? Or did he make his money selling as a seminar guru?"
ISSUE #2 From Dan Peña - "The Money Messiah" and Mentor/Coach for The New Millennium Dear Friend and Subscriber: NEARING 55 As I said in May 1993 when I was beginning my coaching career, I would cut back my seminars, etc. in 2000 to coincide with my 55th birthday, which I have done! Now as I sit here by the pool gazing out at the Gulf of Mexico (no, I haven’t moved to Florida yet), I contemplate my family f amily.. My wife and 13-year-old daughter are in New York York City for Spring Break going to shows and museums and, of course, shopping. My 16-year-old son just spent 10 days with me here boating and golfing. It was the first golfing since my serious accident last year and subsequent "fix-it" surgery in January 2000. Suffice it to say, say, the 5" titanium tit anium plate holding my right shoulder together and the bone graft taken from my 54-year-old hip aren’t conducive to a good golf swing yet! My game was quite ugly. ugly. When I was deciding what I would write for f or my second QLA Internet Newsletter, it didn’t take me long to decide my topic. One of the most misunderstood topics in business: LITIGATION AS A BUSINESS TOOL From Bill Gates at the end of the last century to John D. Rockefeller at the end of the previous century; from Rick Scott, founder of Columbia Health Care, to AT&T AT&T:: from Richard Branson and British Airlines to Dan Peña and The Financial Times; from government, banking, insurance and every other facet of world commerce - to grow geometrically and stay around, litigation must be (prudently) used and mastered. I will, as briefly as I can, memorialize the salient points of using litigation as a business tool. Now before I start, I want it on the record, some 50% of my 30-year track record of litigation has had nothing to do with winning money, i.e., many lawsuits have been over principle, some were to right a heinous wrong such as slanderous remarks made about me; and some were because an entity just needed a good comeuppance and nobody else would carry the flag into battle. I, like Don Quixote, have fought many a windmill. As you’ve heard me speak and write about, when building your "Dream "Drea m Team," Team," you want Big Five accountants and a large national or international firm of lawyers - the best representation you can’t afford! Unlike the success-oriented fees I coach you to use when facilitating transactions, no law firm will litigate initially on this basis. Perhaps if your case is especially strong, they will do it on a contingency basis. Unfortunately, Unfortunately, you will be using, from time-to-time, litigation as a positioning tool and your case may not be something you can seriously leverage. A year or two ago, being left with a pig-in-a-poke, I had to litigate a case having specious facts at best to support my desired outcome. Fortunately, Fortunately, our (my) apparent a pparent lust for litigation was stronger than their desire to fight a hard fight, so a reasonably good settlement was finally arrived at. Of course, during this process my good lawyers counseled us, advising our case needed to be much stronger, etc. Even with great lawyers, law yers, it is their job to tell you the downside risks. Again, Again, what happens is you are often scared from pursuing your case. Good lawyers win so-so lawsuits. Great lawyers can win lawsuits in which you have little or no chance to win. Three of my favorite litigators over the years are Steve Susman and Cyrus Marter IV of Susman Godfrey in Houston, Dallas, Los Angeles and Seattle and Tim Harris of Charleston Revich & Williams in Los Angeles. All three have dug me out of some pretty pre tty big black holes. I’ve dealt with them 10 and 20 years respectively respectivel y. They are worth every ever y penny they charge! Our judicial system works, but we grow up being afraid of it. It’s way out of our comfort zone so
we preclude ourselves from benefitting from it. Normally the cost associated with it keeps us from using it. In fact, I’m currently embroiled in litigation where the ancillary players to the litigation have rights which are being severely violated. A large large group of people could bring great pressure to bear, but they’re afraid because of previous bad experiences. They could get what they deserve but aren’t pursuing their best interests. There are lawyers who take on cases for humanitarian reasons, if the case warrants, in business as well, i.e., big major corporations taking advantage of the system because of their size alone. Why do you want to initiate the lawsuit so you are the plaintiff? As the plaintiff, you pick where and when the lawsuit is fought and probably ultimately adjudicated. This can be a huge advantage. And secondly, secondly, the plaintiff is allowed two closing arguments, meaning you (your lawyer) gets to address the judge and/or jury once and then again after the defendants’ closing argument. argument. This can also be very important. RULES OF LITIGATION #1 #2 #3 #4 #5
CHOS CHOSE E YOU YOUR R BAT BATTLES LES CHOSE THE VENUE BE THE PL PLAINTIFF HAVE HAVE THE BEST BEST REPRE REPRESEN SENT TATION TION LIST LISTEN EN TO YOUR YOUR HEAR HEART T DON’T LISTEN TO YOUR SICK STOMACH WHEN YOU’RE OUT OF YOUR #6 COMFORT ZONE #7 DON’T DON’T LIST LISTEN EN TO TO RELA RELATIVES, TIVES, FRIE FRIENDS NDS,, ET AL #8 LISTEN LISTEN TO EXPERI EXPERIENC ENCED ED LITIG LITIGANT ANTS S - LIKE LIKE ME! #9 GENERALL GENERALLY Y SPEAKING, SPEAKING, DON’T DON’T WORR WORRY Y ABOUT THE COST (THIS (THIS IS VER VERY HARD!) HARD!) #10 BIG LAWSUIT LAWSUITS S ARE ARE BETTER BETTER THAN SMALL SMALL ONES ONES #11 ELECT JURY JURY TRIALS, TRIALS, AS OPPOSED OPPOSED TO A JUDGE JUDGE ONLY ONLY #12 PREPARA PREPARATION TION (YOURS) IS EVERYTHING EVERYTHING - KNOW THE FACTS FACTS #13 PRACTICE PRACTICE DEPOSIT DEPOSITIONS IONS AND TRIALS TRIALS IF YOU ARE THINKING TH INKING OF A BETTER STRATEGY, STRATEGY, GET A NEW LAWYER (NOT #14 TRUE IN MY CASE) #15 #15 NEVE NEVER R GIV GIVE E UP UP #16 DON’T BE BE INTIMIDATED INTIMIDATED BY THE PROCESS PROCESS #17 USE MOCK TRIALS TRIALS (PRETEND TRIALS TRIALS YOU DO IN FRONT OF A HIRED HIRED JURY) JURY) DRESS SIMPLE AND CONSERVA CONSERVATIVELY TIVELY IN COURT - NO JEWELRY EXCEPT A #18 WEDDING BAND; WHITE SHIRT, PLAIN TIE AND DARK SUIT FOR MEN AND THE EQUIVALENT FOR WOMEN; SHORT GROOMED HAIR FOR MEN #19 DON’T LOSE YOUR TEMPER IN COURT COURT - IT’S OKAY OKAY TO TO CRY IF IT’S REAL HAVE HAVE YOUR SPOUSE IN THE FRONT ROW EVERY DAY DAY. CHILDREN CHI LDREN ALSO IF IF #20 POSSIBLE. OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS IN SECOND ROW IS OKAY NO QUOTES TO THE PRESS OTHER THAN "WE BELIEVE IN OUR CASE AND THAT THAT #21 IS WHY WE WENT TO COURT". YOUR WORDS CAN EASILY BE TURNED AROUND. WHEN YOU BREAK FOR LUNCH OR A RECESS, REMEMBER NEVER TALK IN #22 PUBLIC ABOUT THE CASE - YOU NEVER KNOW WHO MIGHT OVERHEAR #23 WHEN YOU FIND A LEGAL TEAM THAT THAT WINS, STA STAY WITH THEM ALWAYS TELL THE TRUTH, NO MATTER WHAT. THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU #24 FREE.
DURING VIDEOTAPED DEPOSITIONS AND IN COURT, LOOK AT THE CAMERA AND THE JURY. MAKE EYE CONTACT. WHEN TESTIFYING IN A DEPOSITION/TRIAL, IF YOU DON’T KNOW THE ANSWER, #26 SAY YOU DON’T KNOW THE ANSWER #25
It’s a closed world of top litigators. Virtually all big law firms have good to super-good lawyers. All big law firms don’t have great litigators. You You don’t always need a great lawyer, but sometime if you grow geometrically, you will. Like any other project management, litigation must be managed. Unfortunately, Unfortunately, like speech-giving, you become a great litigant by going through a learning curve. I don’t mean you have to get involved in losing efforts (like making bad speeches so after some time you make good speeches) to get in a position to win in court. Large law firms will allow you to get ahead of the learning curve. The Quantum Leap methodology talks ad nauseam about following your dreams. Life without dreams is like a bird with a broken wing - it can’t fly. I wrote this newsletter because sometimes you’ll need litigation to follow your dream. Go out and kick some butt, and don’t let conventional wisdom keep you from f rom achieving your dream. Conventional wisdom says Don’t Litigate. All high-performance people and the great organizations of the last one hundred years did and do litigate as I write this letter. Don’t litigate frivolously - but don’t be afraid to either. eithe r. To Your Your Quantum Q uantum Leap, Daniel S. Peña, Sr. P.S. You’ve You’ve all heard hear d me say sa y, get financial institutions to compete for your business. Make it a beauty contest. In that vain, a recent dot-com ad says it like it is: "When banks compete, you win." (LendingTree.com - not to be confused with my dot-com company, 3Clix.com). P.P.S. .P.S. I’m sure I’ll be chastised for writing this letter next time I’m on the witness stand. I’m sure the opposing, smart-ass trial lawyer will conjure up some B.S. reason why me being experienced is bad. Who would you rather have on your team? A neophyte or me? P.P.S. .P.S. As a matter of clarification, clarifi cation, I will do three or four Guthrie Castle Experiences a year and perhaps one or two 1-Day Seminars. Of course, I will continue to give keynotes whenever it suits me and my overall business schedule, and I’ll continue to render sage counsel and take on projects that excite me.
ISSUE #3 An effective Investment Strategy and sound Investment advise is a priority
For an effective Investment Strategy sound Investment advise plays an important role. There have been various incidents, which shook the financial f inancial world which include the Tulip Bulbs in the 1630’s 1630’s in Holland, the famous stock market marke t crash in 1929 and April14, 2000 crash at Dow and a nd NASDAQ are indicators to device a foolproof investment strategy stra tegy.. Facts are Monday’s activity does not mean much unless the market has dramatically risen or fallen. With these uncertainties a watertight investment strategy needs to be established. In the last century, there was unrest when oil prices dipped 5 times lower. Beating it all are classic cases in the energy industry where powerful dynasties were built. Companies started with less then
8. Move quickly! Don’t procrastinate! procrastinate! Don’t wait for the economic economic conditions to stabilize! He/she who hesitates is lost! 9. Whatever you do, you still must be passionate about it - especially now. now. 10. 10. Fina Financ ncia iall ins insti titu tuti tion onss wil willl wan wantt peo peopl plee who who hav havee suc succe ceed eded ed in a down down mark market et.. Partner or J.V. J.V. with experience that has been there and done that in a bad market. To Your Your Quantum Q uantum Leap, Daniel S. Peña, Sr. P.S. As this is being written, the markets are ar e attempting to rally ra lly.. If the rally isn’t sustained, I may do a "Raising Capital in a Down Market" Seminar later this year.
ISSUE #4 Getting to know the top CEO’s through their Leadership Quotes
This is an abstract of Leadership Quotes from Worth Magazine’s Magazine’s May issue which lists the Top 50 CEOs. Some of the most notable facts are mentioned here and the article in general gives an interesting perspective on how CEOs think. There were simple queries that probed into their luncheon habits to their beliefs on the existence of intelligent life beyond the earth. Some of these Leadership Quotes are thought provoking and some are smart expressions laced with humor. The CEOs featured here are from Applied Materials, Best Buy Bu y , Broadcom, Continental, Ebay, El Paso, EMC, Enron, Honeywell, Intel, JDS Uniphase, Merck, Mer ck, New York York Times, Novell, Staples, Texas Instruments, Tyco, United Technologies, VA Linux, Wells Fargo, Wellpoint and Yahoo. These Leadership quotes are a rarity. When When asked about lunch, Nicholas from f rom Broadcom reacted by wanting to eat competition. Interestingly, when Engibous from Texas Texas Instruments was asked about the number of hours spent on the net it was a meager 60 minutes a week. At the other end of the spectrum James Bond was the popular choice among the CEOs when asked about fictional characters. Surprisingly, Surprisingly, these leadership quotes are spruced up with brands. Along Along with the Hummer and Lamborghini Diablo there was room for Davidoff cigars, electric screwdrivers along with brands like Rolex, Patek Philippe, Rado and Zeiter. Added to these, each CEO has their own distinct idiosyncrasies with their own distinct dislikes about themselves. When asked about a vacation in the last 12 months, one CEO managed to holiday for a month. Given an extra hour one CEO claimed spending time talking to employees. When asked about the Dow both optimistic and pessimistic views were noticed. When asked about intelligent life beyond Earth a majority of propounded its existence. Added to this there were two extremes when it came to casual clothing. One CEO asserts casual clothing is not process efficient while some of them live in their jeans. I don’t normally quote directly from an article verbatim. And I certainly won’t quote as much as I do in this letter. WORTH WORTH Magazine’s May issue lists the Top 50 CEO’s. CEO’s. I’ve quoted some of the more notable facts fac ts (in my opinion) listed. The facts listed and the article in general gives you an interesting perspective on how the best US CEO’s (according to WORTH) think. For those of you familiar with QLA Methodology, Methodology, much of what you read "according to WORTH" is QLA. TOP 50
Clear Choice: Cisco’s John Chambers has already created creat ed more wealth than Buffett or Welch. Welch. This year, he’ll likely surpass Gates. "WHAT’S "WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH?" Schmidt (Novell): French Fries. Lewis (New York Times): Times): Tuna. Morgan (Applied Materials): Sandwich at my desk. Barrett (Intel): A Walk. Walk. Kozlowski (Tyco): Rare tune on greens. Stemberg (Staples): Pasta. Koogle (Yahoo): (Yahoo): Stuffed taco at Taco Taco Bell. Nicholas (Broadcom): The competition. "WHAT’S YOUR MOST MARKED CHARACTERISTIC?" Stemberg (Staples): Sense of humor. Barrett (Intel): Competitive nature. Ruettgers (EMC): Militaristic style. Lay (Enron): Positive attitude. Nicholas (Broadcom): Sheer determination. Koogle (Yahoo): (Yahoo): Intuition. David (United ( United Technologies): Technologies): Intellect. Gilmartin (Merck): Candid, forthright approach. "HOW MANY HOURS A WEEK ARE YOU ON THE NET?" Engibous (Texas (Texas Instruments): Less than 1. David (United Technologies): 2. Lewis (New York York Times): 5 to 7. Wise (El Paso): 5 to 8. Schulze (Best Buy): 8 to 10. Nicholas (Broadcom): 10 to 15. Schmidt (Novell): 10 to 15. Stemberg (Staples): 15. Augustin (VA Linux): 20. Koogle (Yahoo): 30. "WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE FICTIONAL CHARACTER?" Stemberg (Staples): Tom Sawyer. Sawyer. Schmidt (Novell): Hamlet. Nicholas (Broadcom): Lazarus Long. Bonsignore (Honeywell): Jason of "Jason and the Argonauts". Bethune (Continental): James Bond. Lay (Enron): James Bond. Kozlowski (Tyco): (Tyco): "Dave Barry" [Laughs]. Koogle (Yahoo): (Yahoo): Lovejoy. Lovejoy. Schulze (Best Buy): James Bond. "WHAT’S YOUR GREATEST EXTRAVAGANCE?" Stemberg (Staples): Davidoff cigars. Augustin (VA Linux): A California vanity plate that says VA Linux. Barrett (Intel): A Hummer. Hummer. Nicholas (Broadcom): A Lamborghini Lamborghini Diablo. Morgan (Applied Materials): Helicopter skiing. Bonsignore (Honeywell): Porsche Boxter. Schmidt (Novell): An electric screwdriver. "WHAT "WHAT KIND OF WA WATCH ARE YOU WEARING?" WEARING? " David (United Technologies): A Rolex. Barrett (Intel): A ten-year’s service watch from Intel. Bonsignore (Honeywell): A Patek Philippe. Purcell (Morgan Stanley and Dean Witter): A watch commemorating the merger. merger. Lewis (New York York Times): A Rolex Submariner. Submariner. Schulze (Best Buy): A Rado. Koogle (Yahoo): A Zeitner. "WHAT DO YOU DISLIKE MOST ABOUT YOURSELF?" Kalkhoven (JDS Uniphase): Lack of patience. Whitman (Ebay): Try to do too much at once. Schaeffer (Wellpoint): Never satisfied. Kozlowski (Tyco): Too Too compulsive. David (United Technologies): Can’t relax. r elax. Lewis (New York York Times): Wish I were smarter. Schmidt (Novell): Getting older. "HOW MANY VACATION DAYS IN PAST 12 MONTHS?" Enginbous (Texas (Texas Instruments): "No clue". Lay (Enron): 21. Lewis (New York York Times): 15. Koogle (Yahoo): (Yahoo): 3. Nicholas (Broadcom): 1.5. Bethune (Continental): 1 or 2. Schulze (Best Buy): 30. David (United Technologies): 25. Kovacevich (Wells Fargo): Fewer than 7. Stemberg (Staples): 20. Augustin (VA Linux): none. "HOW WOULD YOU USE AN EXTRA HOUR?" Morgan (Applied Materials): I’d use it for advance a dvance planning. Koogle (Yahoo): (Yahoo): To To catch up with my correspondence. Bethune (Continental): To talk to employees. Blank (Home Depot): For rea ding. Augustin (VA (VA Linux): To To talk to customers. Stemberg Ste mberg (Staples): For thinking.
"WHERE WILL THE DOW END THE YEAR?" Bethune (Continental): I am a m praying it will be up. David (United Technologies): Technologies): 12,000. Koogle (Yahoo): 14,000. Lewis (New York Times): 11,000. Kalkhoven (JDS Uniphase): Up modestly. Schulze (Best Buy): Bu y): Up less than 1,000 points. Kovacevich (W ( Wells Fargo): Below 10,000. That’s That’s what Greenspan wants. "IS THERE INTELLIGENT LIFE BEYOND EARTH?" EARTH?" Schulze (Best Buy): Bu y): No. Barrett (Intel): The odds favor fa vor it. David (United Technologies): Technologies): Yes. Yes. Stemberg (Staples): Yes. Blank (Home Depot): Yes. Kozlowski (Tyco): Yes. Koogle (Yahoo): Yes. Augustin (VA Linux): Yes. Morgan (Applied Materials): Yes. Bonsignore (Honeywell): Yes. Bethune (Continental): Yes, Yes, do the math. "CASUAL CLOTHES: A GOOD THING IN THE OFFICE?" David (United Technologies): Technologies): It’s not process efficient. Ruettgers (EMC): I own 87 ties. Koogle (Yahoo): (Yahoo): Are you kidding? Bonsignore (Honeywell): We still need the jeans police. Whitman (Ebay): I wear jeans twice a week. Truchard (National Instruments): I’ve got jeans on right now. now. It doesn’t matter what you call it, the important thing is to model high-performance habits. It will allow you a clear path to greater success. To Your Your Quantum Q uantum Leap Dan Peña P.S. Thanks to everyone that has responded so well to the Internet Newsletter. Ne wsletter. I will answer questions in future newsletters.
ISSUE #5 From Dan Peña - "The Money Messiah" and Mentor/Coach for the New Millennium. Dear Friend and Subscriber: The following 11 rules by Bill Gates are pretty good. QLA Methodology is a lot more aggressive than this, but for those of you who didn’t see them, I’m forwarding them on. I strongly believe we’d do our youth an injustice if we are too easy on them. As we all realize, life will not be easy on them. RULE1 (QLA) Life is not fair; get used to it. RULE 2 (QLA) The world won’t care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself. RULE 3 You will NOT make 40 thousand dollars a year right out of high school. You You won’t be a vice president with a car phone, until you earn it. RULE 4 (QLA) If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss. He doesn’t have tenure. RULE 5 (QLA) Flipping burgers is not beneath benea th your dignity. Your Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping; they called ca lled it opportunity.
RULE 6 (QLA) If you mess up, it’s not your parents’ fault, so don’t whine about mistakes, learn from th em. RULE 7 (QLA) Before you were born, your parents weren’t as boring as they the y are now. They They got that way wa y from paying bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you are. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parents’ generation, try "delousing" the closet in your own room. RULE 8 (QLA) Your school may have done away awa y with winners and losers, but life lif e has not. In some schools they have abolished failing grades; they’ll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. This doesn’t bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING ANYTHING in real life. RULE 9 Life is not divided into semesters. You You don’t get summers off and very few employees are interested in helping you find yourself. Do that in your own time. RULE 10 Television is not real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs. RULE 11 Be nice to nerds. Chances are you’ll end up working for one. To Your Your Quantum Q uantum Leap, Dan Peña
ISSUE #6 The basics in personal development plan and the process process of a continuous personal development growth.
In a personal development plan trust, recognition, motivation and the importance of continuous personal development growth is essential. This is supported by b y Maslow’s Maslow’s theory that human beings progress through a hierarchy of needs until self-actualization is reached. The simile drawn for this process is to build an emotional bank account as defined def ined by Maslow. Maslow. To To build these emotional bank accounts decision-making and self-actualization are the main components. With a proper personal development plan people have gone a long way achieving self-actualization. The flipside of this personal development growth is that there is no perfect decision nor can decisions be made lazing around. When difficult decisions need to be taken the average person goes wrong by solving the wrong problems. The hazards are characterizations of decision where objectives become narrow and only a few alternatives are taken into consideration. Bad decisions are made because situations are not considered in a broader context. This leads to developing tolerance and accepting acce pting problems. Choosing solutions from decisions is more a habit than figuring what decisions should be addressed. The easy way out is to do what comes naturally and not question the issues as this becomes an emotionally-easier decision. First define the "decision problem". A good solution to a well-posed problem is superior than an outstanding solution to a poorly-posed problem. Addressing the problem correctly is essential and in the course of arriving at a solution the situation may change and the problem becomes a new problem while the situation doesn’t change.
Focusing and working on the right problem is essential but can be associated with the pain and fear of error in judgment. In formulating a Personal Development plan, chances of both good and bad decisions, the fear of failure and willingness to get experienced through mistakes helps in getting closer to self-actualization. The tendency to ask questions repeatedly may be annoying but it is a sure shot method of getting comfortable with the process of proper decision-making. On the way to success, there are no short cuts and it starts with getting comfortable with failures. While creating a proper personal development growth plan thickening the emotional skin and getting comfortable with failures on the way brings dreams to fruition. These form the absolute basic tenets for high-performance and fulfillment. As I’ve written, while travelling I get caught up on my reading. One of the articles I recently read was about Dr. Abraham H. Maslow. The The journals he wrote in 1962 were recently recentl y re-released. As a freshman in university in 1963, I studied Maslow - before I flunked out. His "Hierarchy of Needs" is now legendary in the world of psychology. psychology. Maslow’s work has its own website, and I recommend you look at it (EYPsychain Management). He is highly recommended by b y many, many, including myself. The reason I’ve always like Maslow has become more clear to me since I entered the world of coaching in 1993. His 1962 book Toward Toward the Psychology of Being describes the theory that human beings progress through a hierarchy of needs until they reach a point of self-actualization. In other words, trust, recognition, motivation and the importance of continuous improvement in life. It’s very much like the emotional bank account you’ve heard me talk and write about ad nauseam. He makes it sound more scientific. People I’ve been in business with over the years have gone a long way toward their own selfactualization. I did myself more than 20 years ago when I decided to get my head screwed on straight in 1976. Another article I read was on "The Perfect Decision" by an entrepreneur. Or more basically, there IS NO perfect decision, but neither are decisions made by the seat of your pants. Part of selfactualization and building emotional bank accounts is the act of decision-making. What does the average person (you) do wrong in making difficult decisions? You You start to solve the wrong problems. You You jump at the first (easiest) characterizations charac terizations of your decision, so your objectives are too narrow and you consider too few alternatives. Now, by this I certainly don’t mean to Lotus 1-2-3 a question to death. What is meant is, because of inexperience, we look at a narrow scope of outcomes. Of course the answer to this is an experienced Board with a well-respected and battle-hardened (and in my case, extremely charming, affable and saintly!) Chairman and Mentor. (Some of you will think I’m kidding.) Bad decisions are made because inexperienced people don’t look at situations in a broader context, because it makes them uncomfortable. For example, you make decisions from childhood (2 or 3years-old) with no training. We get into bad habits, we learn lear n to accept the ways problems are given. So you are choosing solutions from decisions given to you by others. After 20 to 40 years, we’re pretty much in that habit rather than asking ourselves what decisions we should be addressing. I’ve said it’s not easy thinking about making hard decisions. The easy way out is just to do what comes naturally and not trying to question the issues more broadly broadl y. This is another way of saying you make the emotionally-easier decision. The first thing you need to do is define the "decision problem" you are really facing, i.e., what it is you have to decide. A good solution to a well-posed problem is usually far superior to an outstanding solution to a poorly posed problem. Now the real question is, how do we know we are posing the problem correctly? One - our mentor! Two - perhaps, after a lifetime of messing things up, through bad decisions. Or three - by asking yourself, "is this what I really need to decide? Is this the right problem?" As you well know, know, after a while you are in the course of deciding the situation changes and the problem becomes a new
