I had a friend’s son ping me…he wanted to get my thoughts on something he was wrestling with. He’s a talented kid: lots of interests, smart, and good at many things. He is also very disorganized, can be influenced by “friends” and consequently works himself in a tizzy about “what he should be doing”. We talked it out, and here’s what I learned about the conversation….

The story of what’s happened to Sears is interesting, perhaps not that unusual. The recent article in Fortune caught my eye because of Jim Collins, author of “From Good to Great”, and a lesser known “How the Mighty Fall” which applies here. Lately, it seems that these huge, untouchable brands….Kraft, Wells Fargo, GE are all examples of the once mighty. Most of the time what goes wrong is outside your pay grade…but some things are within your scope, no matter what your role is….

I believe in karma. I especially believe in corporate karma.

Unfortunately, I have heard more bad stories than good stories of how people leave companies. A big driver of this is one of my principles of Personal Profitability – you don’t control when you retire/leave. Conventional wisdom is that it happens at 65….as if that’s a rule. Whether you call it retirement, or spending more time with the family, or whatever….net net you are leaving. Sometimes the leaving is handled with respect and dignity….sometimes the leaving is as abrupt as finding the locks changed when you go home that night.

I think about my dad a lot When you really love your parent, it doesn’t matter if it was the right time for them to leave, it doesn’t matter if they lived a long and good life. You still want more. The one thing I always think about is a conversation I had with him while he was sick with Parkinson’s disease.

I had the responsibility of negotiating a really large contract once, even though I had no experience whatsover in negotiating a contract. While it was terrifying, it also was a really good experience and I learned a lot, especially as we started using third party vendors more and more. Surprisingly, it was also a lot of fun…..you feel like you’re part of a courtroom drama (being offsite, dealing with outside counsel, asking people to leave the room to have confidential conversations). Here’s some lessons learned:

I’ve been in a lot of meetings where a presentation falls flat. Why? Usually because there’s not enough context for the reader. When that happens, either people politely listen, get confused and slow down the presentation asking lots of questions, or start hijacking your meeting. How do you ensure you are providing the right context in your presentation to keep everyone aligned?

There are a number of concepts I’ve learned in my career which have to do with developing financial predictability. It’s a skill that has helped me both personally and professionally. Here’s the list:

I have now had some time to utilize various bank online capabilities. And I have come to the conclusion unfortunately, that not many employees at the firm are using the applications the way they want the clients to. For any financial firm who offers online capabilities, there are five things I wish they would do:

A friend was telling me about a meeting she was having with her financial advisor. She’s conservative, so she keeps a fair amount in cash, in another account at another institution. It’s not earning much, so the advisor pressured her to move the money under him to get a better return. She was inclined to do so “because I felt stupid.” Forget about the fact that he was going to earn a 1% management fee on the money, and at her tax rate, the interest she would earn would be tiny. So a few lessons learned about experts in general:

1. The one thing you will always be expert on is what you need and how you feel about it. It’s the job of a good advisor to help you get what you need and to care about how you feel. If it doesn’t feel right, it’s not.
2. Use “experts” for their knowledge to answer questions, but don’t assume they are more expert than you. I am always amazed at how simple questions take forever to answer. Recently, someone recommended a blood thinner…but it required weekly labs and food restrictions. My girlfriend told me to get a different med…so much better.
3. Don’t be afraid to ask questions…there really is no such thing as a dumb question. The only thing you’ll regret is not asking the question. Experts are there because they’re supposed to advise you…..so you’re supposed to be asking questions.
4. Never forget what motivates your “expert”. Advisors are often compensated on very clear metrics: e.g. net new money. If you think your needs override their need to take care of their families and make a good living, you’re mistaken. It doesn’t mean they’re bad, it just means you need to understand their motivation.
5. No matter what the situation, you are your own best advocate. Whether or not it’s financial, medical, tax related….no one will advocate for you like you. If you relinquish that to “an expert”, you’ve just given away your power, and your needs will be prioritized among a larger group that expert is responsible for. When you are your own advocate, you’ll always be number one.