Some consultants attract more business and prestige than others. They are able to earn higher fees and produce greater results for their clients. Here are 10 key traits of what makes a great consultant... Embed this infographic: Copy the code in the box below and paste it into your own website <a href="http://ift.tt/1XUT0B5"><img alt="10 Key […]
10 Key Traits of Great Consultants is a post from: Consulting Success
McKinsey & Company do great work. On this blog, I have written about their leader, culture, high-visibility assignments at the CIA, and Department of Corrections. Overall, have enormous respect for the work they do, and the way their build their practice. By any measure, they are pretty monolithic at what they do. So, now I would like to take a look a their presentation structure and format. Let’s dissect a McKinsey presentation.
What are some key elements of a McKinsey presentation worth following? I was curious how good their presentations are. I have physically seen a dozen or so from clients who had McKinsey-ites passing through their halls. Online, they are pretty easy to find. Some of them are from industry conferences and others are from client engagements that the companies (oddly) leave online.
I reviewed a 39 pg presentation from 5 years ago by McKinsey for the USPS here. Generally, this deck follows a simple, but strong logic. It addresses a HUGE problem facing the US Postal Service and provides a smart roadmap for the discussion.
Please find some of my observations. Please add your comments too.
1) Stay Organized. It’s common for consulting presentations to have table of content pages which show is re-introduced at the front of each section – telling the audience where in the flow of the presentation they are. These are road markers. In the example below, this introduces the base case section, part 2 of 4.
2) Parallel structure in titles. I remind my teams that the titles of the pages are the most valuable real estate – use them wisely. Its storytelling, so the titles should come together cohesively. The titles should read well – similar structure, tense, tone, format. Like an essay, the points should be clear with transitions between the arguments.
3) Credibility through data and documentation. Consultants are known for their left-brain, data-crunching rigor. McKinsey is no different. Unless it is a straight marketing or organizational design piece, there are numbers on the majority of pages. They will create data through surveys or other means, if necessary. Clear footnotes indicate where the data comes from . . even if it coyly says “McKinsey Research”.
4) Make sure each page has a point. Senior managers are trained to push consultants to answer the question “So What” for each page. Each page needs to say something clearly to the audience, or it needs to be taken out. In this page, you see there is a kicker box which says 55% of the reduction came from overtime and non-career cuts.
5) Create a simple framework for the problem. Consultants solve complex problems with lots of moving parts. As a result, it’s important that we bucket the ideas and details into an overarching structure which is easy to grasp and helps with the storytelling. Often this can be done with a simple income statement (Rev-Cost=Profits) or balance sheet (A = L+E). Here the reader sees from the color coding that there are several unfavorable revenue AND cost trends.
6) Find the right data. In professional services, it’s all about the client success – not ours. Therefore, you do what it takes to get the answers and (try to) bury your pride. In the following page, you see that McKinsey actually refers to BCG research on the topic; acknowledging their competitors’ work when appropriate.
7) Charts which are easy to understand. McKinsey slides tend to be busier than I prefer, but their charts are at least simple and easy to understand. You see that they are clearly labeled and the trend lines are obvious. Revenue is flat. Costs are going up. Profits are going down. Cumulative losses are going up. Unequivocal. Direct.
8) A clear case for change. Too many recommendations – including the strategic ones by McKisney – end up on the executives shelves collecting dust. It is almost a joke. As a result, it’s key to make it in-your-face clear why action is needed. McKisney shows that $18 billion can be saved if these actions are taken, or $123 billion total. Billion with a B.
9) High level recommendations have details. In true Minto Pyramid fashion, there are back-up pages for the recommendations with specific action steps. Here the $10 billion in savings is broken into 4 initiatives and a few action steps:
Question – not sure how the argument on the right hand side supports this $10 billion target. McKinsey notes that the USPS already automates 90%+ of its processing, thereby questioning the feasibility of really improving that much. As a reader – my question is. . .is it possible or not?
10) Go beyond the obvious. Here comes the creativity. Yes, consultants do a great job of capturing internal know-how, structuring it in a smart story, and marrying it with best practices. That puts a consultant’s performance at a B-/B. Good, but not great.
The real “juice” in consulting comes from thoughtful inquiry, rigorous intellectual curiosity, creativity, and something new. Let’s remember. . . our clients are smart too. They don’t need you to just regurgitate what everyone knows.
Here, you see McKinsey proposing 30 new revenue streams for the USPS to consider, and the methodology to filter out the ones which are not profitable, or not controllable.
For those interested, open up this pdf yourself. What other elements do you believe McKinsey did right or could improve?
Related posts:
The post Review of 39pg McKinsey Presentation appeared first on Consultant's Mind.
I travel a lot. Like most management consultants, I am a road warrior. According to Marriott.com, I have stayed 152 nights last year. Perhaps 10% of that is from my wife who also uses my rewards number, but needless to say, lots of hotel, plane, car.
Funny sidebar – a friend was NOT traveling one week, and his credit card flagged him for using his personal card CLOSE to his home during a work week. The credit card algorithm could not fathom him being HOME during the week. Yikes. Dysfunctional.
I am in the professional services business. My place is at the client site – whether in an office, conference room, or hotel concierge lounge. The tools of my craft are a computer, dry-ink marker, cell phone, wifi connection, my brain, my heart, and my mouth. Yes, traveling, thinking, typing, and talking. T – T – T – T
What kind of “stuff” do I keep in my bag? Here is an abbreviated list of things that I carry around, find helpful, and recommend. Not in any particular order
What do you carry in your consulting bag that makes life easier, more pleasant, or less drama-filled?
Related posts:
The post 16 Consulting travel essentials appeared first on Consultant's Mind.
Conventional wisdom says that globalisation has stalled. Measured by trade statistics, the flows of goods and money to pay for goods are slowing down and even reversing. But although the global goods trade has flattened and cross-border capital flows have declined sharply since 2008, globalisation is not heading into reverse. Instead, it is entering a new phase defined by soaring flows of data and information.
A new report my McKinsey Global Institute, Digital Globalization: The New Era of Global Flows documents this. I came across this report as I recently did some research on how disruption has hit the financial industry, and remarkably, digital flows, which were practically non-existent just 15 years ago, now have a larger impact on GDP growth than the centuries-old trade in goods.
Although this shift makes it possible for companies to reach international markets with less capital-intensive business models, it poses new risks and policy challenges as well. The world is more connected than ever, but the nature of its connections has changed in a fundamental way. The amount of cross-border bandwidth that is used has grown 45 times larger since 2005. It is projected to increase by an additional nine times over the next five years as flows of information, searches, communication, video, transactions, and intra-company traffic continue to surge.
In addition to transmitting valuable streams of information and ideas in their own right, data flows enable the movement of goods, services, finance, and people. Virtually every type of cross-border transaction now has a digital component.
Trade was once largely confined to advanced economies and their large multinational companies. Today, a more digital form of globalisation has opened the door to developing countries, to small companies and start-ups, and to billions of individuals. This opens up a huge business opportunity for developing disruptive fintech businesses. More about this in another blog article very soon.
Tens of millions of small and midsize enterprises worldwide have turned themselves into exporters by joining e-commerce marketplaces such as Alibaba, Amazon, eBay, Flipkart, and Rakuten. Approximately 12 percent of the global goods trade is conducted via international e-commerce. Even the smallest enterprises can be born global: 86 percent of tech-based start-ups surveyed by MGI report some type of cross-border activity. Today, even the smallest firms can compete with the largest multinationals. After all, on the internet any business is 13” inch across the screen.
The post The Explosion of Globalisation appeared first on Bearing Consulting.
Many of my friends were born around 1980. It was the same year I entered high school and also the same year I travelled around in Europe for the first time, the brave teenager I was. Back then I had to show my passport at all borders and I got proper passport stamps.
The world has changed immensely in the 36 years since then. The demise of the bipolar capitalist-communist world, economic liberalisation, globalisation and the rise of multinational corporations and the border less internet have played their part in the changing the face of the global economy since 1980.
Howmuch.net has put together a Voronoi diagram showing the change in GDP of the world’s largest countries from 1980 to 2015. Using data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the diagram shows how the economies of these countries have changed during this time period.The size of countries and regions are shown as relative to the size of their economies in terms of nominal GDP.
The post The Global Economy since 1980 in 20 seconds appeared first on Bearing Consulting.
McKinsey published a 120 page report on the digitization of America here (2.6Mb). Some critics might argue the two main arguments are a bit obvious: 1) digitization drives productivity and 2) those gains are shared uneven across industries, companies, and people. It is a story of the digital divide – the “haves” and the “have mores”.
On the surface this is not a surprising point, right? Moore’s law has been driving productivity for the last 30+ years. See a good summary of that point from the report below (page 33). There are waves of technology – honestly – starting WAY before the advent of the microprocessor – Archimedes, Ptolemy, Faraday, Marconi to name a few.
Digitization drives profits. Technology drives innovation, new products, fascinating applications, better allocation of fixed assets, and in many consultants’ cases. . . saving you time. McKinsey shows in the graph below that over a 20 year time frame, the profit margin of non-financial industries grew from 5.6% to 9.0%, and those gains were not shared evenly across industries. Michael Porter’s industry attractiveness exercise.
IT manufacturing, Media and IT services grew profits the most spectacularly as seen in the graph below. Just as fascinating, is the fall of Telecom growth as the “old” technology got cannibalized by newer cell phone, and VOIP “newer” technology. The gains are not shared. “Haves” and “Have mores”
What I think is more remarkable, is how management consultants – in this case McKinsey – can take an immeasurably broad and amorphous topic as digitization driving productivity and make something actually readable. It’s all story-telling.
Put things in buckets. For anything vast, chaotic, inter-related, complex or messy – one of the key tenets of consulting is bucketing. Yes, bucketing. It forces you to think about the problem – isolate the drivers, assumptions, trends, and outliers. McKinsey does exactly that by breaking down the data, building it back up again with hypotheses and testing those recommendations. Standard consulting fare.
Digital assets, usage, and people. The first thing McKinsey does is categorize digitization into three major buckets (assets, usage, and people), which of course can be broken down further (page 15). Then they put the sectors on the left, rating the level of digitization from high to low. The sectors with lots of green are highly digitized, while those in yellow and red are not. Judging from the % share of GDP and employment, a lot of the laggards toward the bottom (especially government, healthcare) have the most to gain marginally from digitization. Large parts of the economy are not productive.
Are in one of the industries shown in red color above?
If so, you really need to think:
Look below. Simply put, the less digital the industry, the less it pays.
Paraphrasing some of the key thoughts in this report:
Power shifting to platforms and consumers. In the old day, the manufacturer or the supplier had the asset and the power (think Marx). Not any more. Platforms – Facebook, Linkedin, AirBnB – create value from synthesis, comparison, and navigation of choice. In the US, everything is so abundant that the scarcity is time. Platforms and digital intermediaries save people time. . Yelp, Uber etc.
Platform economics combines low marginal costs with the growth from network effects. McKinsey notes that within 10 years, Facebook has more users than the population of China. BOOM. low cost + network = hyper growth.
Traditional intermediaries get disrupted. Insurance broker and travel agent are two examples of jobs that are fast disappearing. McKinsey notes that from 2000 to 2014, online travel booking increased 10x, but the # of agents dropped by half.
Digitization drove enormous growth in the 1990s, less in the 2000. McKinsey admits that productivity in the US slumped dramatically in the 2000, bringing up the question of peak-digitization.
But it took 15 months to restore lost jobs after the 1991 recession, 39 months after 2001, and 43 months after 2008.
Large companies in particular now respond to downturns with a push to improve productivity—not by increasing output and innovation but by cutting employment
The robots are (kind of) taking over. Some of the messaging is depressing, even to libertarians like me. Too frequently, companies are getting more productive – not by creating more output – but instead, by reducing the human inputs. The thinking goes. . .”well, since we are stuck with this market share, and these products/services, I guess we can at least just cut costs.” It’s generally uninspired thinking, and honestly, you cannot cut your way to prosperity.
More work for more people. One win is that more people can participate in the workforce – people in far off places, people with low marginal opportunity cost of time (read: poor), people who might traditionally not be able to contribute (e.g., physical disabilities). Technology helps to flatten the field – turn everything into a global field.
Better use of resources. The Internet of things (IOT) holds the promise that connected devices will make our lives better – by tracking data, getting smarter over time, and optimizing usage. While consumers are just now getting a taste of that now (Google’s Nest, Tesla cars), large industrial companies like GE, Siemens, Philips, Rolls Royce have been doing remote diagnostics and smart connected devices for decades.
Smart supply chain. Here is where McKinsey makes a bold prediction. They say that digitization can boost US GDP by 2.2 trillion. A good portion of this comes from a smarter supply chain. This makes sense because in the simple macroeconomic formula for GDP (C+I+G+NX), a lot of that is honestly supply chain.
Whenever you go to the store to buy something it has changed hands hundreds of times likely coming from China to boat to a train to a truck to a warehouse to a store. The low price of oil right now probably masks this latent inflationary ingredient. Once all prices go back up everything is going to get more expensive to get you.
It is all changing. In true Schumpeter style, the APPLICATION of technology continues to evolve. . .just with the late majority start to pick up on the use of technology BOOM – the technology chasm moves again. Like the gazelle and lion quote, technology is helping people and companies run faster- with or without you.
The “have-mores” continue to push the boundaries of digitization, particularly in terms of augmenting what their workers do, while everyone else scrambles to keep up with them.
Startups = technology farm teams. Perhaps this is why large, stodgy companies are buying start ups. Rather than merely throwing money at ideas and basic research, they can pick up promising technology AND the people once vetted by the market. These valuations are not cheap – very susceptible to hype and bubbles; just look at the unicorns – privately held companies purported to have valuations of $1billion here.
Where do you fall on the digital industry spectrum? Do you agree with these findings? What more would you add for your industry?
Related posts:
The post Review: McKinsey- Digital America’s Tale of the “Haves” and “Have Mores” appeared first on Consultant's Mind.
At present, in February 2016, financial markets the world over are increasingly chaotic. They are either retreating or plunging. The view of many observers is that there is a new gigantic market crash in the not too far future, one that has possibly started now. The main reason for expecting a market crash is simple: Historically, bubbles always burst.
Bubbles arise when asset prices inflate above what underlying incomes can sustain. In the classic case of Tulip mania centuries ago, some single tulip bulbs sold for more than 10 times the annual income of a skilled craftsman. Then in February 1637 the Dutch woke up one morning and discovered that tulips were simply just flowers after all.
The world has yet to wake up to the mathematical reality that over $200 trillion in global debt and perhaps another $500 trillion of un(der)funded liabilities really cannot ever be paid back with current incomes and low level of economic growth.
No major economy in the world has decreased its debt-to-GDP ratio since 2007. Instead, since the Great Recession, global debt has increased by $57 trillion, outpacing world GDP growth. However, this unpleasant fact is dawning within the minds of more and more people with each passing day.
To reduce debt, Central Banks have tried to modify the phrase “under current terms” through debasing the currency of government bonds by re-introducing inflation. Try as they have, though, across the indebted countries they have been unable to create the intended inflation that would slowly erode that massive pile of debt into something more manageable. On the contrary, in a bid of last resort to reinvigorate the economies. country by country the central banks have ended up experimenting with policies to implement negative interest rates for lending, meaning depositors will have to pay to make deposits. The negative rates punish banks that hoard cash instead of extending loans to businesses or to weaker lenders.
With inflation very low and commodity prices in free-fall, these policy experiments have been low risk and, importantly, successful. The global economy not only avoided the Great Depression scenarios which forecasted the global banking system ground to fail, but 2016 is set to be the eighth year since the crisis where global GDP growth has been above 3%.
However, the intended end-effect, wide-spread low inflation, has not happened. Why not? Because the current economic stagnation is driven by digital disruption, falling commodity prices and the quantitative easening post-crises does not lead to increased consumer consumption, given the already high levels of debt in most households.
The elites of the post-crises age are prioritised clients of the banks, so by their current monetary policy, the central banks have simply concentrated the inflation to the sorts of assets the wealthy of the world buys: private jets, apartments in London, Monaco and Manhattan, fine art, jewellery, etc. So yes, the central banks post-great-recession efforts produced price inflation, just of the wrong sort.
Monetary policy and tools do not work in the post great recession society when the middle classes are already in mortgage debt and cannot increase their spending. Today 1% of the population of the world owns 50% of all assets and 10% owns 90%. Overall less people are poor, 1 billion have been lifted to middle class in the emerging markets in the past 30 years, but in the west most people are in general off with less money than they used to have.
This is important, both for how financial markets now work, and for which products and services they require. In a society of hyper competition and with on average less affluent people than before 2007, but with a much larger middle class, then e-commerce with low prices and cash becomes king more than assets, and cash moved quickly by efficient payment systems are much sought after.
In today’s hyper-interconnected world of global banking, if one domino falls, it will topple any number of others. The points of connectivity are so numerous and tangled that literally no-one is able to predict with certainty what will happen. Which is why the action now occurring in the banking sector is beginning to feel like 2008 all over again.
The deflation fears which drives the central bank actions have some credence. Most importantly, there appears to be a huge amount of spare capacity in labour markets. This means that wages growth will remain subdued and the wage/price linkage will skew inflation risks squarely to the down side. This means people will increasingly look for low cost options, continuing the internet e-commerce revolution not only by convenience, but also by increasing price concerns.
And this is the nub of digital disruption and slower economic growth. Before Uber, clearly there was spare capacity in privately owned cars, which sat unused for many hours each day. So too with apartments that were empty and unable to be let out by the owners when they were not there. Uber and Airbnb, and others disrupting asset markets, have tapped this idle capacity without adding to investment, and as they take business away from taxi companies and hoteliers, the rate of economic growth will remain held back.
The post The State of the Financial Industry in 2016 appeared first on Bearing Consulting.
Canada has been engulfed by a whirl of publicity over the last few months as its Liberal party swept the boards in the national elections. The new leader, Justin Trudeau, is young and dynamic, the polar opposite of his predecessor Harper.
Trudeau has already made some bold statements. Just 24 hours after winning the elections, he informed Obama that Canada would no longer participate in bombing Isis. He also promised to bring in 25,000 Syrian refugees to start new lives in Canada.
Will Trudeau make Canada into the definition of a ‘good country’? What damage did the previous government do, and how can it be undone? Does Trudeau represent the true Canadian identity?
“We’ve become knuckle-draggers on the international scene, someone told me recently,” says Jeannette Hanna, founder of Trajectory and Toronto resident.
“People will be watching Canada carefully, especially at the upcoming climate change conference in Paris [COP21 in November/December]. If we offer something open and collaborative, it will say a lot for Canada’s willingness to reclaim strength by being a global citizen and a progressive society.”
“We [Canada] have a lot of ground to make up in international goodwill,” says Hanna. “We lost a lot of territory in our own self-image as well as global image.”
Canada has long been seen as a progressive and welcoming place. In the past it became a popular destination for those seeking to start a new life, many of them leaving behind difficult environments in countries such as Iran.
But the previous government began to erode Canada’s reputation for tolerance, in particular through its ‘control freak’ actions towards Syrian refugees. Harper admitted that his officials had been running ‘security audits’ on refugees’ files that had already been approved by the UN. As a result, the resettlement process for these people was slowed down, in a time of crisis.
Canada’s record on tolerance was severely tested once again by Harper’s stance on the hijab. Over recent years there have been just three incidents of women refusing to remove the hijab during their Canadian citizenship ceremony.
“The Harper government tried to make this into a big national and divisive issue. But everyone asked ‘why?’ Because it had very little to do with anything. He was playing to people’s worst fears, but it clearly didn’t work,” commented Hanna. “Canada was seen in the past as a ‘great multi-cultural success story’ – so to call into question our stance on refugees and tolerance, cuts pretty close to the bone.”
Jamie Black is a brand strategist and founder of Nouveau North, an online initiative to reclaim Brand Canada through media.
Black says: “It’s a fresh opportunity for a new government to address some of our biggest challenges – from climate change to indigenous rights and inclusion. Under Harper things were moving in a direction, which ultimately the majority wasn’t content with.”
“It was like a one-man vision to push us in a direction that was fundamentally against our nature. I’m glad it stopped in its tracks.”
Hanna added: “The [election] has been a pivot on the values that really define our sense of place and what we care about as a nation. That was really what the election was all about. It was more than just a rational discussion about the economy,”
“We’re going to be a different voice in the global conversation, an alternative voice – not US-lite.”
This article was first published on PlacesBrands
The post Brand Canada – A New Path appeared first on Bearing Consulting.
Hi. It’s Michael Zipursky from Consultingsuccess.com. Welcome to the Consulting Corner, where consultants learn how to consistently attract their ideal clients and significantly increase their fees. Now more than ever, and in the day and age that we are in, there’s a greater need for consultants to differentiate themselves. How are you doing at that […]
How to Differentiate Your Consulting Services and Get More Clients is a post from: Consulting Success
Dave Ramsey. This is a famous radio host from the United States who I listen to regularly. He only talks about financial planning and money management – but he can be just a polarizing and crazy as the other “shock-jock” radio personalities. He has been doing 2-3 hour radio shows since 1992, so it is almost 20,000 hours of evangelism on smart money matters. He is making an impact on people in the US, it is worth your time.
Like a smart uncle. If you are okay with listening to a straight-talking, Southern, not politically correct, but visionary financial coach, listen or watch Dave Ramsey’s podcast here. He has written several books, but I recommend his podcasts.
They are entertaining, informative, and a bit shocking. He is unafraid to describe your spending habits as crazy, your relationships as broken, or your investment strategies as stupid. It is not insulting, it’s just straight talk. He is loving and confrontational – like a smart uncle might be.
1) Common sense. He is the first to admit that his financial advice is basic. Afterall, the secret to money is to work hard, save, invest, and give. Simple. As one of his slogans say, “it’s the same advice your grandmother gives, but we keep our teeth in.”
2) Anti-debt. He is a vocal opponent to credit cards and any debt (besides a mortgage). He calls credit card companies evil and tells people to “cut up their credit cards.” He says that everyone should use debit cards or cash. He feels the same way with student loans. Everything should be in cash (with the small exception of a house mortgage); he calls car leases, car fleeces – because you are getting cheated out of money.
3) Anti-whole life insurance. This may be very US-centric, so for those not familiar with life insurance products, Ramsey likes #1 (basic, cheaper term-life insurance)
Ramsey advocates for term-life only because it is cheap and does it’s job – covers you against unexpected death during your earning years. He argues that by the time the “term” is over – you should be financially independent if you have done your job right. He argues that “Cash value life insurance is one of the worst financial products available.” here. Understandably, this is pretty controversial point since there are 400K insurance sales people in the US.
4) Live like no one else, so later, you can live like no one else. Dave is really big into sacrificing now for the future. He tells people to get 2nd and 3rd jobs. He is proud of people who are willing to save 50-60% of their income to get out of debt. He praises people who live on “beans and rice” to get by. If you are in debt – you should be willing to drive a car you are actually embarrassed to drive. There is no shame in making sacrifices to get out of debt.
5) Accountability – Grow Up. Ramsey rightly believes that we – as basic humans – act stupidly with money all the time. He calls this the “stupid tax” and tells the story of how he did lots of stupid money things earlier in his life. In many ways, he is a libertarian.
Budgeting. He is a big believer in planning with a budget so that every dollar has a job. Also, he advocates using CASH to really get a corporeal feel for the money leaving your hand. It is an envelope system where you put all the money you are going to spend into envelopes and stick to that budget.
Communicating with your spouse. Too often marital problems start with money issues – which starts with miscommunication. He is straightforward – and expects spouses to talk frankly about their money and get on the same page. Often you can hear him say things like:
6) Debt free scream. This is one of his signature segments. People drive to his offices in Nashville, TN or call in, and tell their story. Dave asks them some routine questions:
It is very raw and personal questions – but that is the point. You need to really OWN your situation. People who get MAD about their debt are the people who get things done. People who are willing to sell their cars, deliver pizza as a 2nd job, tell their children “no” to unnecessary expenses, are the ones who win. He says, “you have to live like no one else (poorly) to later live like no one else (debt free).
7) Straight talk. Honestly, he is a joy to listen to. He combines humor and humility, with real principles. He is an evangelical Christian – so he will quote the bible – but the core concepts of stewardship, family, and community transcend any specific religion. You won’t agree with everything he says -but he is self-aware – and does not expect you to. Make your own decisions. Get smart and think for yourself.
8) Americans need to save more. Fundamentally, Dave Ramsey’s disdain for debt makes sense. Look at the graphic to the right from the Economist in 2013, which shows the drop in American savings rate from poor (10-12% savings) to sloppy (2-5%) in recent years.
Americans are stupidly in debt. For people who only save 0-5% of their income, obviously any credit card charging you 15-22% annual is a death sentence. For good reason, Ramsey recommends 3-6 months of income in an emergency fund.
9) Financial Peace University (FPU). This is a course where you attend a series of 9 classes – most often taken at churches and community centers – watch videos of Dave Ramsey’s coaching and go through a financial planning workbook. While I have not been, I know it is about $100-$150 (cheap), and a lot of the power is in the group accountability you have with the other attendees. It clearly works as he has people calling into the radio show daily who attest to benefits. In fact, “the average family pays of $5,300 in debt and saves $2,700 in the first 90 days [of FPU].”
10) Huge brand. Dave Ramsey has a lot more than just radio show and books. He has expanded his brand to endorsing local providers (ELP) who “have the heart of teachers” and abide by Ramsey’s concepts of conservative financial planning. Ramsey has extended his influence and voice to entrepreneurship, leadership, and estate planning. Even his company has taken an inter-generational scope – his kids are involved in the business. They continue to grow and hire more people here.
Note: I am a huge fan of Dave Ramsey – for his principles, honest straight-talk, communication effectiveness, his ministry, and his humor. That said, I do believe that people who are mature enough to use debt (leverage) wisely, should do so. Basically, pay off my credit cards monthly, never carry a balance. Get rental properties where you put down 25%, borrow 75% from the bank at less than 4%. Rent properties with a ROE of more than 15%. Leverage is critical for smart people to get ahead.
For Dave Ramsey fans, I know this is antithetical to what Dave stands for. I know this sounds like I am being a hypocrite. Listen to 10-20 Dave Ramsey podcasts and make up your own mind. Most Americans are irresponsible with their finances and cannot handle debt. That said, wealth accumulation comes from massive savings, investing. Leverage helps as long as it is not speculation.
Happy to hear your opinions on the topic.
Related posts:
The post Profile of Success: Dave Ramsey appeared first on Consultant's Mind.
Hi. It’s Michael Zipursky from Consultingsuccess.com. Welcome back to the Consulting Corner, where consultants learn how to consistently attract their ideal clients and significantly increase their fees. I’d like you to ask yourself a question: Are you really a professional? Does it reflect in every aspect of your business? I have the pleasure and honor […]
3 Easy Steps to Create a Consulting Advantage Over Your Competitors is a post from: Consulting Success
Deloitte surveyed of 7,700 millennials globally here. The respondents were folks born after 1982 with college degrees, working in large organizations (100+) across 29 different countries. You work with millennials everyday – anyone under 33 years.
As I have lots of opinions (nice thing about having a blog), see my comments in green.
“Remarkable absence of loyalty” This is how Deloitte phrased the fact that in the survey 66% of people said they would likely leave their employer in the next 5 years. Basically, 1 in 4 millennial will likely leave their job each year. This is a challenge for US employers since millennials are the largest demographic segment of the workforce.
This does not surprise me – this is exactly the advice I give younger undergraduates and MBAs. Seek out skills, capabilities, relationships, and networks. Companies are amorphous brands, organizations, products, and distribution channels stitched together by ERP systems and history. Find good hard work and make yourself more valuable.
I believe firmly in loyalty to people (boss, customers, peers, yourself) and your work. Everything else is a secondary. Perhaps this is my bias as a consultant – but you have to seek out projects which will make you more valuable. To me, not controversial.
“Leadership skills not being fully developed” Apparently, one of the greatest points of dissatisfaction is the lack of leadership opportunities. This groups sees leadership as the skill or attribute that the market prizes (and pays) the most for, and they are not getting adequate opportunities to flex those muscles.
This I disagree with. Perhaps this is my Generation X nature, but my questions is how much “leadership” can you really show with such limited experience? I have seen newbies “experiment” on your teams, customers, and peers with misguided leadership.
Leadership is taking calculated risks – and honestly – is a privilege, not an assignment or specific role. Should you be given management opportunities? (of course), Should you be given undeserved leadership opportunities (it depends, probably not).
“Business has a positive impact on society” It was encouraging to read that 73% of respondents have a positive view on the role of business, in spite of all the market turmoil, occasional scandals, and fodder found in newspapers.
Bravo. Too many publicly-traded companies and managers (not leaders) are myopic and quickly sacrifice the environment, their people, and their customers for short-term gain. To me, the goal and beauty of capitalism done right is long-term greed.
“Put employees first” This is a dramatic departure from the shareholder view that I was (mis)taught in business school just 10 years ago, and perhaps shows a more global view than what you would hear from a typical free market-minded American.
I largely agree with this too. In a world where customer service is a core element of any product (e.g., automobile, healthcare etc), customers satisfaction will NEVER be higher than employee satisfaction. If your call center reps, schedulers, receptionists, analysts, and technicians are not happy then. . . your customers will feel that angst.
“Values guide where Millennials work, what assignments they will accept” This is a fascinating finding that millennials believe their values are shared by the organization they work for. Furthermore, 56% of them have identified companies they would never work because of value / moral reasons. Almost half (49%) have refused a task at work because moral or ethical reasons.
I have some cynicism with this one.
First of all, if they are so aligned with their current company, why are they going to leave? Second, I grew up in a conservative-minded household, and also worked overseas for 7 years so this is quite foreign to me. I cannot imagine what my Fortune 500 boss would ask me to do that would get to “refuse” to do it because of my ethics.
Finally, I understand this is a global survey. Yes, there are many countries where business practices are still rough; places where it is kind of Mad-Men – not friendly to women, minorities, or outsiders. Yes, I can imagine why some people would respond this way. My only pause is that this too often can be an excuse for not doing the work.
“Not employer focused” From this graphic, it’s clear that millennials are focused on their own situation – income, quality of work, morality/ethics, skills and career path.
Not surprising. I would argue that has always been the case. Capitalism = long-term greediness. No one WANTS to a company cog, or dying loyalty to a company.
What I think has changed is the patience level, grit, and willingness to endure. Millennials – as symbols of their time – simply understand that there are multiple career options, a talent shortage, ability to harness disruptive technology, and opportunity cost.
“Work/life balance comes before career progression” Millennials want to enjoy both their work and their life. . which is shown by the #1, #3, #4, #6, #7 responses.
As I have become mid-career I can empathize with this orientation. Work and life are two sides of the same thing. Also, as a consultant I am just as likely to work on a Saturday night, as I am to go to the dentist during a weekday when I am not traveling. It is a much more integrated view of life . . . and perhaps healthier.
What is different, and perhaps this is a sign of the abrupt maturity of the millennials. . . I certainly not have thought this way coming out of school. Ahead of their age?
I am a Gen-X and often complain about millennials. Too often, I described them as selfish, spoiled, or just self-involved. From this survey, I realize that they are confident in what they want in life and not willing to wait until they are 50-60 years old to craft the work/life they want. Yes, they are selfish. Yes, they are self-involved.
Yes, they are a lot more like everyone else. Believe that my generation of Gen X managers are just frustrated because they are often-times not good listeners and sometimes impatient. Call it fierce individualism, call it non-committal. It’s as if they would like to just SWIPE RIGHT, or UNLIKE things they don’t want to do.
This can be a fiery topic. Let me know what you think.
Related posts:
The post Review: The 2016 Deloitte Millennial Survey appeared first on Consultant's Mind.
Hi. It’s Michael Zipursky from Consultingsuccess.com. Welcome back to the Consulting Corner, where consultants learn how to consistently attract their ideal clients and significantly increase their fees. I received a question from a consultant who’s had tremendous success at building their business. They’ve been able to attract significantly more clients and now they want to figure […]
How to Retain Long Term Consulting Clients is a post from: Consulting Success
