Given that I had a pretty good, stable home life, with loving parents, roof over my head and food on the table, my academic and athletic accomplishments through the public school system were unremarkable. I did manage a somewhat successful social life with plenty of friends and fun.
At some point along the way, an interest in buildings (engineering) and business (accounting) crept into my consciousness. Not entirely sure how that happened. However, I did learn later my grandfather was a general contractor and other family members were pretty good carpenters. Maybe it was in my DNA.
After a rather unremarkable academic and athletic performance in the public school system, an interest in buildings (engineering) and business (accounting) crept into my consciousness. After graduating college with degrees in both engineering and business, the dilemma was picking a career, engineering, or business.
Fate would determine that choice as I was hired as a building design/construction manager for AT&T. Here both my technical and management skills were put to use. AT&T was an incredibly well-run operation and there was a lot to learn about managing a business. But this 100-year-old monopoly was destined for divestiture, so I divested as well.
The next stop was a small, poorly managed firm that was a complete trainwreck. I was hired to fix it. So I went to work. I hired some good people. With their help, I/we turned it around.
Quickly “graduating” from the smaller shop, I started my own firm with some good partners. Our clients were Fortune 500 companies. As we worked with each one, I had the opportunity to study and learn the best practices of each of these businesses. During this discovery process, I promised one day I would write a book documenting what I learned from these businesses, as well as from my personal experiences. I wanted to offer others the benefit of my (many) mistakes so they would not have to do the same. Enjoy and good luck!
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