The Strategy Tank: a Think Tank for small business CEOs, self-employed, and executives (updated)

"As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens the wits of another." Proverbs 27:17

Note: this update provides a description of one of my services.  To watch several video overviews instead - or to just go right to the bottom line - please go here!

Theodore Roosevelt's Tennis Cabinet

The above proverb was written almost 3000 years ago, which makes it pretty clear that Strategy Tank^TM concept is not a new idea.  Some classic examples of "think tanks" are Henry Ford's Vagabonds and Theodore Roosevelt's Tennis Cabinet (see image).  Throughout history, successful people knew that they were not infallible and that they didn’t have all the answers.  They knew that mediocrity was constantly trying to infiltrate their plans like a cancer, and that “finishing second” was really just finishing as the best of the losers.  Take a quick look at this video to see what I’m talking about.

Listen to and read testimonials here

To avoid finishing second – to avoid mediocrity – highly successful people seek out others who will challenge them to achieve greater things.  People who will give them an edge.  Sometimes that collaboration results in breakthrough ideas (like the US Constitution); other times it’s doing the impossible, like landing men on the moon.  Watch this short clip to just get a little taste of the enormous feat – both in engineering and operational terms – that landing men on the moon was.

Take a moment to think about the awesome things that have been done in this world through the coming together of great minds; things like splitting the atom, making computers ubiquitous, or rolling out electricity to the entire nation.  Consider, too, how each of these things came to being through intense competition: landing on the moon was spurred on by the cold war between the US and the Soviet Union.  Enormous effort was put into refining the nuclear fission process because of the need for the US to get the atomic bomb before the Nazis.  Getting personal computers in every desk was driven by the intense competition between Apple and Microsoft.  The roll out of electricity was fueled by competition between Edison and Tesla, JP Morgan and Westinghouse, and Rockefeller and all those guys.

We see it in sports, too.  Athletes rise to the occasion when their competition improves.  Think about how much more exciting playoff games are, simply because the best teams in that league are competing and the winner takes all.  This is also one of the reasons why the Olympics are great to watch, because the best athletes in the world are competing.  That often means that the competition will be so fierce that records are likely to fall.  Of course, we only see those elite competitions after the athletes and teams went through an arduous crucible of training and competition week in and week out.

Competition is ALWAYS gunning for you; there’s always someone looking to take your ticket and knock you out.  Being aware of that competition and then preparing yourself to win – and keep winning – is the key to long-term, recurring success and growth.  No great athlete has done this preparation without a coach, no great team has done this without a coach, and no great business leader – that I am aware of – has done it without great peer relationships and/or great advisers (board of advisers, board of directors, strategic adviser).

Nothing truly awesome is achieved by one person alone.  A myth that refuses to be dispelled in the United States is that of the self-made man or woman, and that myth dooms many businesses to relative mediocrity.  They can only reach the limit of the CEO’s leadership and intellectual capacity.  Without great peers to sharpen their wits, they’ll continue to default to the patterns of thinking and leading that brought them to their plateaus.

So choose now to reject those myths and reject second place.  Throughout my life, I hung around people who were more successful than I was.  I interview successful CEOs every month in my Strategic Business Forum, and I’ve interviewed leadership legends like GM’s Dan Akerson and Alabama Football’s Nick Saban for my Washington Business Journal column.  In my work with the Naval Academy Alumni Association, I have served alongside captains of industry, admirals, generals, Presidential advisers, astronauts, Heisman Trophy winners, and even America’s first man in space (Alan Shepherd).  I have gained a ton of wisdom just by walking alongside these giants.

What have you been doing to sharpen your wits?  I’m excited to announce the launch of my next Strategy Tank^TM , an exclusive Think Tank for CEOs of small businesses / small business owners, self-employed, and executives who have decided to become “world-class” leaders.  The Strategy Tank^TM is a re-crafting of the same Strategic Mindset® program I've been doing for years, the only difference being that this program will only include peers (determined through a 2-step screening process explained at the website).  I will hold several different Strategy Tanks^TM to accommodate different peer groups.

I’ve been in this business for seven years, and I’ve seen a number of excellent peer groups, some very well known.  Here are the ways The Strategy Tank^TM is different from the CEO peer groups you’ve seen:

1. Sustainability: The Strategy Tank^TM is professionally facilitated by me using The Growth Coach®’s Strategic Mindset® curriculum.  If I get hit by a bus, the program will continue under the facilitation on one of my fully qualified Growth Coach® colleagues.
2. Old-School and Tested: The Growth Coach®’s Strategic Mindset® curriculum ain't rocket science.  It's based on strategic business success principles that have been used for as long as there's been enterprise.  Moreover, we're on our third decade of doing this, and we've worked with tens of thousands of clients throughout the US.  No experiments, no guessing, no Kumbaya, no Group Hugs, no one-guy-trying-to-take-his-experience-and-pretend-that's-the-answer approach.  Our model is singularly focused on pulling the CEO out of the daily operation of the business, getting the business to be scalable (can handle any growth), sustainable (grows without the CEO being involved in transactions), and valuable (worth a lot of money someday when it’s sold).
3. Focus: The focus of The Strategy Tank^TM is on strategy development and execution, not problem solving.  There are lots of great CEO peer-groups out there that focus on solving each other’s problems, and members of these groups have been great clients of mine.  We also will do problem solving, but it's a secondary focus and arises from the Strategic Mindset® curriculum.  
4. Experience: I've worked with and have interviewed over 100 CEOs and successful executives (check out some of those interviews here).  I have been successful as a leader in both Fortune 500 and start-up businesses.  I've been trained on leadership at one of the best institutions in the world - the United States Naval Academy.  What that means to you is that you don't get one guy's opinion.  You get my training (from the feet of world-class leaders) and the wisdom gained from working with so many successful CEOs.  Don't fall for the guy who sold his business for a mint and says , "here's how you do it."  I interviewed and worked with more than a few of them, and trust me - the advice changes.

The major objectives of The Strategy Tank^TM process are:

1. Be More Focused, Effective, and Strategic
2. Make More Money
3. Work Less
4. Enjoy a Richer Life

Are you ready to have your game sharpened through a peer process facilitated by someone who spent his life learning from some of the best leaders in the world?  If so, I’d like to invite you to learn more and apply to join The Strategy Tank^TM that kicks off May 28th at the Tysons Corner Tower Club in Tysons Corner in Northern Virginia.  You MAY NOT join after the program starts and will need to wait until the next one if you miss this one (currently 4-6 months out).  Size is limited (really), so apply quickly!  All the details are on my website, and the frequently asked questions (FAQ) section should answer most of your questions.  When you’re ready to apply, take this this application survey!  Feel free to e-mail me with any other questions you have, and I look forward to working with you!