Archive for Entreprenuership
The Quickest Way to Enhance Any Communication You’re Having
Posted by: | CommentsIf you could find one idea or technique that could quickly and “almost miraculously” transform any communication you’re engaged in–from speaking at a community event to leading a team training or meeting to talking with a loved one to writing a letter or blog post–what would that be worth to you?
Or if you could avoid the pain of missed communication–from frustration and conflict to lost opportunities and sales. Or if you could avoid doing or saying something that might injure a key relationship–what would that be worth to you? I’m guessing a lot. Well, get ready because you’re about to get that one idea/technique–and it won’t cost you a thing.
I learned this idea/technique from a minister and author from England named John Stott. In his classic book on pastoral communication (also known as preaching :-), Stott introduced a concept he calls quadruple thinking–and it’s brilliant! The basic idea is this. It occurs in four parts (hence the phrase, quadruple thinking).
1. You think of what you want to say
2. You think of how the person you’re communicating to will hear what you have to say
3. You rethink what you have to say
4. So they will hear what you want them to hear.
Brilliant! In other words, if you or I want to be more effective communicators (and as a leader of a small or medium-sized business or organization you ought to want to be), then
We don’t have the luxury of ever just saying what we want to say.
Why? Because communication always involves two (or more) people. And that means that the other person must ALWAYS be factored into the equation.
For example: You’re in a rush and under a lot of pressure. You call in one of your employees and say, “Here’s an assignment, just make it happen.” You don’t have a lot of time to spell out what you want done–after all, they’re an adult, they can figure it out. And furthermore, you don’t want to be known as a micro-manager. So you just hand out an assignment. Unfortunately, the person you handed that assignment to is, in Myers-Briggs language, an SJ.
SJs are great workers. They make up roughly 40% of the population. They follow assignments. They get things done. BUT ONE THING that SJs don’t do well is create from scratch. SJs like to do things right. However, if they don’t know what right is, they get stumped–which is why SJs LOVE DIRECTIONS. They like their leaders to spell out details.
So while you may think you communicated clearly to your employee, the reality is you didn’t. If, on the other hand, you were employing quadruple thinking, you might have thought. “Let’s see, Barb is an SJ. As an SJ, Barb is going to want lots of direction on this assignment. So, I better clear out 15 minutes to talk with her about this assignment today.”
On the other hand, if Bob is an NT (in Myers Briggs language–and NTs don’t like lots of direction) then your quadruple thinking conversation might go like this. “Let’s see, Bob is an NT. NTs hate to be straight-jacketed with lots of direction and control so I better just walk by Bob’s desk and give him this assignment and a due date.”
Remember, the goal of communication isn’t simply to process sounds out of our minds into words on paper, screen or air. The goal of communication is to connect with another human being for a specific result or reason. Therefore, they must always be factored into the conversation.
Now, in one sense, this seems so blatantly obvious, that it shouldn’t have to be stated. But it’s not. Common sense is not common practice. Every day in every workplace (or home), miscommunication takes place. And while neither you nor I can’t completely eliminate it, we can greatly reduce it by practicing this one simple technique: Quadruple Thinking!
1. You think of what you want to say
2. You think of how the person you’re communicating to will hear what you have to say
3. You rethink what you have to say
4. So they will hear what you want them to hear.
Go ahead, give it a try! If you really get it, this should change every conversation and communication you ever have from this day forward–that is, if you want to be an effective leader and communicator.
To your accelerated success!
P.S. Let me know what you think of this idea in the comments section below!
What’s the Difference Between Mission, Vision, Initiatives and Goals?
Posted by: | CommentsI was talking with one of my clients earlier today and we ran into a common problem that most organizations have when they engage in strategic planning–that is, confusion (or agreement) about what individual terms mean. For example, what’s the difference between a mission and a vision? Or what’s the difference between an opportunity and an initiative? Or how is a goal different from a tactic? Different people have different definitions—which is why there’s so much confusion about what each terms means.
To help un-complicate the process of defining these terms, here are the definitions I use when working with clients (along with an example or two of each).
1. Mission: This is what a company does. It should be short and easy to memorize. However, it shouldn’t be so generic that you can’t tell what business it’s in. Note: similar businesses may have very similar mission statements. Why? Because they essentially do the same things.
- To promote and develop the growth of tennis (The United States Tennis Association)
- To organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful (Google)
2. Vision: This is what a company wants to become. Vision is a seeing term. Therefore a vision statement should be future-oriented. It’s an image of what a company wants to create. It isn’t what a company is, it’s what it wants to become. While mission statements may be similar, vision statements should be very different. They should be motivating and inspiring. And they should drive decision-making.
- Be the safest, most customer-focused and successful transportation company in the world (Norfolk Southern)
- To be the preeminent publisher and provider of self-improvement resources that inspires and empowers individuals to lead the lives they most desire (Nightingale Publishers)
3. Values – Values are the foundational beliefs about how you want your employees to act. They are the beliefs that create the culture of an organization. They don’t need to be exhaustive. Nor should the simply be the same from company to company. While integrity, trust, honesty, etc. are good core values, they don’t need to appear on your list unless you believe they must. In many cases, they’re givens. I recommend no more than five core values for a company. Once you get past five, very few people can remember them.
- Excellence – To do the best we can, with the resources we have, in the amount of time we have to do the tasks we’re assigned.
- Curiosity – To be insanely interested in knowing, yet never content with what we know. To be a life-long learner.
4. Growth Initiatives – From a strategic standpoint, what are the three to five most important things you can do to grow your organization? Note: a growth initiative differs from what I refer to as a strategic initiative because a growth initiative is usually related to one or two business units or people—and it can often be completed before the end of the year.
- To add five new joint venture partners by September 30th
- To open an office in Shanghai by July 31st
- To complete a merger or acquisition by December 31st
- To create a strategic partnership with Apple by May 30th
5. Strategic Initiatives – Strategic initiatives, if you want to keep your entire top team involved, should be initiatives that everyone can play a part in fulfilling. And they should be year-long initiatives. The main key thought of a strategic initiative is that it’s something everyone can contribute to, that will advance the organization. Also, strategic initiatives are usually designed to overcome constraints (whereas growth initiatives are often strength focused).
- To double the number of leaders who have completed our Level Three Leadership program and are ready to take on new assignments.
- To raise the level of execution excellence so that the number of errors rate falls to less than one per thousand.
- To train everyone in every department in effective customer service skills so that every customer has a more positive experience regardless of whom they’re interacting with from our company.
6. Goals – Goals are dreams with deadlines. They are quantifiable. You should clearly know if you hit them or not.
- To generate $5.7M by 12/31
- To raise our customer service rating to 4.75 by 9/30
- To raise our profit margin from 30% to 35%by 12/31
7. Tactics – Tactics are the individual activities an employee engages in to complete a goal/initiative/strategy/etc.
- To hire a merger specialist by 3/31
- To design a leadership development process by 6/30
- To recruit three college marketing interns by 3/31
- To renegotiate all vendor contracts by 6/30 to reduce our cost of goods sold by 40% (and saving us $1M)
Hopefully, those definitions and examples will help you get everyone on the same page as you work on (or refine) your strategic plan!
To your accelerated success!
P.S. For a clean pdf of the above definitions and examples, click here >>
New Free Report on Fast Growth Released Today!
Posted by: | CommentsWant to Know How You Can Immediately Begin to Grow Your Business Faster Than You Ever Have Before—While Increasing Your Ability to Lead It More Effectively?
If so, you’ll want to immediately get your hands on the new free report I just released today entitled, “The Seven Secrets of Fast Growth Companies.”
Inside it you’ll discover,
• The number one differentiator between slow and fast growth companies
• The two key elements you need to use to create a fast growth culture
• A simple practice that can radically reduce the time it takes to implement anything
• A lesson from a Harvard professor that can change the way you think forever about your products and services
• A top team practice that can change any meeting you run—and make it more effective.
• The one metric you need to use before choosing any growth idea if you want to be an accelerated growth company
• How you can create a business that’ll scale fast
• How to avoid letting your market think you’re just like “everyone else.”
• How you can create a business that works 24/7, especially when you’re not around.
• And the number one mistake that most CEOs of small and medium-sized make
To get your copy immediately, just fill in the form in the right hand column entitled, “Interested in the 7 Secrets of Fast Growth Companies?” and then click the submit button, “Send it to me now!”
Then after you read it, post your comments below!
Five Lessons from Steve Jobs, CEO of the Decade
Posted by: | CommentsIf you haven’t seen the article yet, Fortune Magazine has declared Steve Jobs, CEO of the Decade. In their own words,
How’s this for a gripping corporate story line: Youthful founder gets booted from his company in the 1980s, returns in the 1990s, and in the following decade survives two brushes with death, one securities-law scandal, an also-ran product lineup, and his own often unpleasant demeanor to become the dominant personality in four distinct industries, a billionaire many times over, and CEO of the most valuable company in Silicon Valley.
Not a bad story, is it? 
Furthermore, at the start of the decade, Apple had a market cap of “just” $5B. It now hovers around $170B (slightly larger than Google). What that means is that despite the market crashes of the dot.com boom and last year, if you had invested $1,000 in Apple in 2000, your investment would now be worth over $7500 (I think most of us would gladly accept that). And finally, Jobs has been instrumental in changing four completely different industries–computers, music, media and mobile phones—three of those in the past decade.
Any way you add it up, the past 33 years have been a pretty incredible run for Steve Jobs—and we’ve all benefitted—even if you’re a PC. But the question for you and me is, “What can we learn from him that can make a difference in our businesses?” Here are my top five lessons.
1. Improve on the next new thing. What’s fascinating about Jobs and Apple is that Apple has become the symbol for innovation. However, Apple rarely creates anything entirely new. In fact, one of Steve Jobs’ comments on this subject years ago was, “We look for the next new thing and then make it better.” In other words, Apple didn’t invent the mp3 player, they just made it better. They didn’t invent the cell phone, they just made it better. They look for trends they think are going to be big—and then figure out how to make that “new thing” infinitely better.
So, in your realm, what are the next new things or new trends you’re observing in your market space? How can you create a better product and/or service that can improve on the current offerings in that market space?
2. Change before you have to. As a long standing card carrying Mac Addict, one of my favorite sites is MacRumors. And one of my favorite parts of the site is the buyer’s guide which tracks the time between new iterations of a product (and let’s you know where they are in cycle). Even when Apple is making good money, they keep introducing new models or discontinuing old models so that none of their competitors can catch up (i.e. they change before they have to).
I’ll never forget the day Steve Jobs was talking about the iPod mini and how it was the most successful launch they had ever had up to that point in time. And then he said, “And that’s why today we’re killing the iPod mini … (dramatic pause) … and introducing the iPod nano!” Who else would have killed a cash cow right in the middle of a growth cycle? Only Steve and crew!
So, what products and/or services have you been riding for too long? Do you need to revamp or upgrade any of them? Do you need to discontinue any of them? And/or what new thing do you have in the pipeline?
3. Eliminate what ticks people off. The supposed story of the iPhone is that a bunch of Apple execs were at a meeting when they were all complaining, tangentially, about their cell phones. In the midst of that discussion someone said, “We’re all a bunch of bright people. We should be able to do this better.” Or if you had ever tried to download an app several years ago and load it on a Palm device, you know it was a major pain (it ticked people off). What Apple did with the App store was/is nothing short of remarkable. Or if you had ever tried to download music and put it on your mp3 player pre-iPod, you know it was a major pain. The iPod and iTunes store combo simply eliminated that piece of the puzzle that just ticked people off.
So, what are the issues that tick off the people in your market space? Find the key ones and design a simple solution to solve that problem.
4. Repurpose what you can. If you haven’t been in the Apple fold, you could easily miss this, but Apple is great about repurposing ideas and technology. For example, back in the 90’s, if you wanted to see a movie trailer on the internet, the best place was to go to the Apple site, which highlighted movie trailers and their product Quicktime. But that experience and built in infrastructure for movies made streaming music for the iTunes store infinitely easier. And the experience of the iTunes store made creating the App store for the iPhone infinitely easier. Or the Safari browser for the Mac, made it infinitely easier to create a great web experience on the iPhone (which was night and day ahead of Palm and Blackberry when it debuted). Or the experience with NeXT, led to Mac OS X. On and on you could go. The, “Apple Way,” is not just to create something new, but to repurpose what they already know into a different arena.
So what do you know or have or do that could be repurposed to create a new product or service for your market?
5. Think big and small at the same time. Some leaders are just big picture people. Others are just small picture people. However, what makes Steve so powerful is that he’s both. Steve gets it that executives need to make big picture, bold strategic moves (like canceling several product lines in ‘97 and focusing on just four products). However, he’s also famous for being nit picky and focused on the very intricate details of the business–especially when it comes to design issues and market messaging. As he said to Ken Segall (who used to be at Chiat/Day, the ad agency) on day, “The third word in the fourth paragraph isn’t right. You might like to think about that one.”
Looking back on your history, are you more of a big picture person? Or a small picture kind of person? Whichever one you are, how could you add the other to your wheelhouse and become more versatile ?
So, there you have it, “Five Lessons from Steve Jobs, CEO of the Decade.” The only question remaining is, “What are you going to do in the next few moments in response to it?”
To your accelerated success!
Want to Grow Your Business Faster?
Posted by: | CommentsHave you ever noticed that two companies can attempt to employ the same strategy or tactics and yet get different results? Or more importantly, have you ever been frustrated that you’ve tried the same strategy or tactics that someone else has–and yet haven’t seen the same kinds of results? Why is that?
My conclusion is that there are a series of drivers behind those strategies, tactics and procedures that determine whether or not one company is going to be successful at employing a specific strategy, tactic or procedure.
To give you a taste of the ten, here’s a video sample from a talk I did this past weekend in Phoenix for the Association of Information and Image Management (AIIM). Enjoy!
Get a Daily Cash Report
Posted by: | CommentsOne of the more common weaknesses for most owners and CEOs of SMBs is money management. It’s not that they don’t like money, it’s that they don’t feel confident managing it. So, instead of managing it, they focus on the things they like doing–like selling or marketing or creating products or solving problems or creating strategy etc.–hoping that the money thing will just take care of itself–which it won’t. So, what can you do?
Well, one simple practice you can engage in, that’ll keep you focused on managing the money, is to get a DAILY cash report. Not a once a week or worse, once a month cash report, but a once a day cash report. You can have your bookkeeper or CFO or accountant send you the amount or you can create a dashboard that automatically updates that number every day, but regardless of what system you use, you really ought to set one up.
A great example of the power of this practice can be found on Verne Harnish’s blog this week. He writes about John Ratliff, the founder of Appletree who for years had relied on a big line of credit that he would access two or three times a month to get his company through each month. For years he had heard Verne talk about getting a daily cash report, but hadn’t acted on it. Finally annoyed by his company’s practice, he decided to start receiving a daily cash report. He then wrote the following to Verne.
“I started getting cash reports daily (only took 15 years!) and wow what an insight that is. Today is September 30th, close of the 3rd quarter (hard to believe) and we just finished the best quarter in our history, and maybe more importantly our best cash position ever! No LOC use this month and a killer cash position. Thanks for finally getting the cash message through my thick head.”
So, if you’d rather not wait fifteen years or keep dipping into your LOC, why don’t you try this simple practice of receiving a daily cash report. It’ll force you to think about revenues, expenses and cash flow on a daily basis–and that will take you to a new place that not knowing won’t. Avoiding or not knowing is almost always a bad strategy. However, knowing and being able to act quickly are almost always winning strategies.
To your accelerated success!
Thinking Long Term Still Wins (Amazon)
Posted by: | CommentsWhile there’s always a tendency to think short-term, especially during an economic downturn, there are plenty of compelling reasons to not do so. Major test case: Amazon.
If you didn’t read the Business Week article (Sept. 28, 2009) on “At Amazon, Marketing is for Dummies,” you missed a compelling argument for thinking long-term, especially during a recession.
Over the past three years, Amazon’s stock price has doubled, while the S & P has gone down 20%. Over the past six months, Amazon revenue has been up 16%, while most retailers have been negative. And, as per the section in BW that the article ran (the 100 Best Global Brands), Amazon has moved up 13 spots this year to No. 43.
So, what’s behind this magic? Bezos’ commitment to invest in infrastructure and technology. In fact, I thought the best paragraph from the article was,
“The performance is something of a vindication for Chief Executive and founder Jeffrey Bezos. After the dot-com bubble burst, critics hammered him for investing so much in technology and physical distribution centers. Some investors called for Bezos to pull back and produce more short-term profits. Now, those heavy investments are paying off big time, helping the company sell an ever-widening range of products to more than 94 million customers.”
Did you catch that? During the last downturn, rather than give into short-term thinking, Bezos opted for the long-term approach–even though his critics and other investors were urging him to focus on short-term profits. It was that decision, during a market that was fixated on the short-term, that has allowed Amazon to do so well now–during this economic downturn.
So, as you look at the decisions you’re making this month, are you thinking short-term? Or long-term? Are you allowing the siren song of the recession to keep your eyes and investments off the long-term? And finally, do you need to make any adjustments to how you’re currently operating so that you can prosper, not just in the coming months, but for years to come?
To your accelerated success!
Originality and Commonality: A Powerful One-Two Punch!
Posted by: | CommentsHave you ever noticed that most people like to live life in an either/or world? Either we buy a sports car or a minivan. Either we go to the beach or the mountains for vacation this year. Either we locate in a busy location or an isolated one. Either we focus on one product or a slew of products. Either we focus on one niche or on everyone.
The problem, of course, with an either/or world is that it rarely reflects reality because life is rarely that clean. Rather it’s full of contradictions and surprises. One of which is that originality and commonality go hand in hand together.
In an either/or world that doesn’t make sense. Either you’re original or your common. But, in the real world, being completely original isn’t an easy road to success. Just ask the creator of the first fax machine (Bain, 1843) or first cell phone or first anything. It’s not that easy to create an entirely new market.
When people read books like, “Blue Ocean Strategy,” they tend to think that the key to success is to come up with an entirely new idea (a new blue ocean). But if you take a look at the examples in the book you’ll notice they weren’t entirely new at all.
Cirque du Soleil wasn’t the first circus. Southwest wasn’t the first airplane company. Curves wasn’t the first health fitness facility. Etc.
All three of those examples are part of huge industries. The entertainment industry is huge. It’s common. But Cirque du Soleil’s genius was to do something original in a big market (i.e. a circus for adults with one ring vs. three and no live animals).
Southwest’s genius was to do point-to-point (i.e. non-hub), fun, no frills flights to tier two cities. Curves’ genius was to do a women’s only club with minimal equipment in a circle (a low-cost, quick, gender specific workout).
In other words, rather than look where there wasn’t a lot of competition, they looked for a very competitive market (the common part) and then looked for an uncommon way/original way to meet the needs of that market.
So, if you’re in a town full of pizza joints, that doesn’t mean you can’t start another pizza joint. Maybe you should start a gourmet one (if there isn’t one yet). Or maybe the people in you town just love fast food. If that’s the case, you might want to start a different kind of fast food restaurant (maybe BBQ wings). Or maybe your market simply loves Italian food. In that case, you could start a northern or southern Italian or even a sicilian restaurant. Etc.
Ultimately, it comes down to buyers. And what do they want? In general, they usually want something similar to what they already like/have–just a little different. This is not to downplay new and disruptive technologies. Just an observation about what fast growth companies do.
As a twenty-five year fan of Apple, I’ve drunk the kool-aid. But most of Apple’s successes haven’t come from being the first at something. 
The iPod wasn’t the first mp3 player. And the iPhone certainly wasn’t the first cell phone. But Apple, usually referred to as, “the most innovative company on the planet,” usually has winners when it looks at what people already want and then makes something original in that field.
So, if you want to build a wildly successful company, you might want to look where there’s a lot of competition (the common part) and then come up with a unique solution to that market’s wants and needs (the original part). It’s not an either/or, but rather a both/and that usually wins in the real world. So do your best to eliminate either/or thinking in your company. Both/and thinking is a much better route to go! Originality and commonality are a powerful one-two punch when used correctly.
To your accelerated success!
Is Perfection Getting in Your Way?
Posted by: | CommentsI was at a conference this past week when one of the speakers, a copywriter by the name of Ray Edwards, nailed me–in a positive way.
The way he got to me was by asking two simple questions. Showing a picture of a MacDonald’s hamburger, he asked,
1. How would you describe the quality of a MacDonald’s hamburger?
2. Who sells the most hamburgers in the world?
Point made. Point received.
I don’t know about you, but I often get stuck by trying to make something “perfect.” I have three books, several new talks, and a couple of projects all stuck in varying states of completion–not because I can’t get them done–but because I want to make them PERFECT!
In the literary world, it’s the equivalent of wanting to write, “The Next Great American Novel.” It’s the desire to want to write something that “no one else has written.” Or to say something so compelling that newswires will want to pick it up, blogs will want to make it viral, TV reporters will want to call for interviews, and schools of business will want to make it required reading (of course, by this point, you’ve already figured out–this guy lacks reality–exactly!).
It’s this longing to do something perfect, to do something that causes people to take notice, that tends to hinder so many of us. When, in reality, we ought to set our sights a little lower. While I may want to write the “ultimate” guide to growing a business, there is no such ultimate book to be written.
In the mean time, while I’m waiting to create the perfect/ultimate book, others are publishing their books and making money–and the people I could be helping out are missing out.
Likewise, in your world, chances are (if you’ve been infected with the disease of perfectionism), you’re doing something similar. You have projects on hold, products that haven’t been launched, services that haven’t gone public, talks and letters that haven’t been written, and presentations that haven’t seen the light of day, etc. Not because you can’t get them done, but because you’re waiting until the thing you’re working on is … well, perfect.
But in a business environment, perfection is not the goal–it’s an impediment. In fact, when Ray was speaking I wrote in my notes, “Perfection > leads to procrastination > which leads to poverty.”
While you or I may want to create the perfect burger (metaphorically), the reality is that someone else (MacDonalds, in this case), is making a ton of money while we’re still in the design phase.
So, if your goal is making money, or influencing others, or meeting a critical need or want for your target market, then you’ll want to revisit this MacDonald’s hamburger metaphor again and again. Make sure you beat down the perfection monster. And whatever you do, make sure you get what you’re working on out in the world. As I’ve said for years,
“Excellence is not perfection. Excellence is doing the best you can with what you’ve got in the amount of time you’ve got to get it done.”
So what projects have you been holding off on or delaying because of perfectionism? And how much more money (or whatever metric your project works with) could you be making if you stopped waiting for perfection and just got that thing out in the marketplace?
To your accelerated success!
Star Trek and Leadership Development
Posted by: | CommentsForget whether you’re a “trekkie” or not, the series (from the original onward) has been a great vehicle for observing and evaluating both positive and negative leadership–and this latest edition is no slouch on that account.
I’ve never been a big trekkie fan (though I did think Jean luc Picard was a phenomenal leader) so I wasn’t in a hurry to see this latest Star Trek movie. However, the reviews have been so positive (Rotten Tomatoes has it at 95%, which is incredibly high for a major distribution film) that I finally caved in and went to see it this past Saturday, July 4th (and was amazed, like others, at how good it really was–even if you’re not a Star Trek fan).
And while there are a lot of great leadership lessons in it, the one I think you might find quite useful is found in the development of James T. Kirk’s character. If you haven’t seen the film, it’s basically a prequel to the series, starting with Kirk’s birth (and if you don’t know who Kirk is/was, he was William Shatner character back in the 1960’s).
When we first meet up with Kirk in this film (post birth), we see him as a young teen racing a car before he’s old enough to. Then we see him in a bar fight. Then we see him gaming the system. Then we see him in trouble–again and again and again. In other words, he’s a young, self-assured, rebellious, cocky, somewhat funny, anti-authoritan, and thrill-seeking kind of guy!
Now, if you were getting ready to hire a candidate for your business (let alone for a leadership position), how likely do you think it is that you would hire young Mr. Kirk? Probably between zero and nilch. And yet, by not hiring him, you’d miss out on hiring the very person you want, the next James T. Kirk, commander of the USS Enterprise, the leading ship of Star Fleet.
In other words, one of the great lessons you and I can glean from Star Trek is that we shouldn’t expect 40 year-old behavior from 22 year old “kids.” It’s the driving, wild, often reckless behavior of youth that creates the potential for real leadership. If we take that away, the people who don’t possess those kinds of pasts never seem to become great leaders.
When it’s all said and done, leadership requires taking risks, making bold decisions, trusting your gut (often against the data and others), being confident, having the strength to not be afraid when others are, being willing to charge ahead when others want to flee, etc. All of which are qualities that are often born out of “young, self-assured, rebellious, cocky, somewhat funny, anti-authoritan, and thrill-seeking kinds of guys (and gals).”
So, the next time you’re thinking about hiring someone (young, that is–by age 40 they should have these issues under control), you may want to add in some candidates you would normally toss out. The non-conformist you’re tempted to pass over just may be the very one who will help lead (or possibly save) your company–at least, that’s what the entire universe learned in this latest installment of Star Trek!
To your accelerated success!