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I’m blessed to meet some amazing people throughout the year at various keynote speeches and below are just some of their recent comments which I thought may be of interest to you. Only changes in your (or your team’s) behavior will create the lasting impact you’re after in the manner in which you identify, build, and nurture quantifiable business relationships.

Here is to your success in 2007, David

David -
I just wanted to share that I always find your presentations to be
inspiring and enlightening. It is so refreshing to walk away from a
presentation feeling energized and inspired to make changes in my life.

Thank you for sharing your message.

Julie Brown
Group and Convention Marketing
Walt Disney World Resort

—–Original Message—–
David, thank you for the presentation. This is important information to
remember going into 2007 about the value of relationships. I can always
do better in letting people know how much they are valued & appreciated.
Have a safe & healthy New Year and wishing you the best year ever!

Deleise A. Lindsay, Vice President - F&H Solutions Group

—–Original Message—–

Hello David,Thank you so much for following through with this request from your
presentation to Ford & Harrison. It was quite interesting and I have already
adopted some of your suggestions with success.
Have a great new year!

Marion F. Walker
Senior Counsel
Ford Harrison LLP

As many of you know, I’m a strong proponent of social networking applications like LinkedIn, ZoomInfo and the like. I’ve written best practices about each in recent newsletters, and mention them often in various keynote speeches around the country. Unfortunately, in the past couple of weeks I’ve uncovered a good idea gone off the deep end, to the point of extreme frustration and even anger! Like many mistakes, it’s not as much the mistake itself, but the lack of any proactive response from the responsible organization.

Read the rest of this entry »

One of the best features of the social networking tool LinkedIn is the regular “Network Updates” when, as members of your portfolio of relationships update their profiles with new roles, realm of responsibilities or geographic locations.  Many who receive these updates, simply delete them, giving up the opportunity to proactively touch base with those individual relationships.

I found them to be great opportunities to ping for a more elaborate update or to simply stay in touch.  By the way, if you don’t know Ron Garmon or Dan Slarve and they’re both extremely interesting and certainly get the value of quantifiable relationships.

Happy holidays, David

LinkedIn Network Updates

Q - How would you describe an effective Board of Directors?

A - Strong, diverse people, solid business understanding, devoted to committee work, independent and consistent with disclosure practices and not media-hungry.  I recently heard Joel Koblentz of Morgan Howard Worldwide speak at the DBM ICEO (International Center for Executive Options), where I’ve been an advisor for a number of years, discuss this topic.  I thought as we head into the New Year, it would be a worthwhile interaction in this blog.  As Joel’s focus is on recruiting senior executives and Board members, I appreciated his insights.

We talked about strong boards - such as the one at GE – and not so strong ones, such as Home Depot and ChoicePoint.  The above characteristics clearly distinguish the two, so let’s go through each and you can decide how your board measures up:

1. Strong, diverse people – This has less to do with ethnic background or gender and more with professional background, perspective and experiences.  An ideal board is composed of functional expertise, independent perspective and unique experiences, all complementary to the governance process.  Select a group of good ol’ Georgia boy bankers and lawyers and expect to hear a “that dawg don’t hunt” now and then, but that’s about it!  Add international expertise, management consulting success and a serial entrepreneur and you’ll get more than “out of the box thinking” – you’ll have the box thrown out the window!
2. Solid understanding of the business they govern – Joel referred to a recent Big 3 strategy firm survey that found that less than 40% of public Boards truly understand the businesses they govern!  How can you possibly make decisions that impact thousands of lives if you don’t understand (or care enough to learn) the business at hand?
3. Devoted to committee work – We’re talking about 200-300 hours of work each and every year.  If that’s not your cup of tea, you need to be asked NOT to stand for reelection, or the Board’s leadership needs to spearhead an effort to shrink the number of Board seats.
4. Truly independent with a consistent element of disclosure – You’d think that your investment in a vendor company may be information your fellow Board members and the investment community would need to know!  There is a vast amount of conflict of interest (or time, or commitment) out there, and how often those go undisclosed is amazing!  For instance, the actual practice of backdating stock options (a hot topic in the news lately) isn’t illegal at all; what’s illegal is not disclosing it appropriately!
5. Not in the public eye – Can you even name a GE Board member?  Most people can’t – not because they’re “hanging out and collecting nice fees,” but because they get their work done and go away.  They stay off the front page of the WSJ and don’t like attracting attention to themselves.  Guess they’ve seen what a distraction a Terrell Owens can be to a team when he’s off the field!

Look at some of the above criteria and do a quick assessment on your Board.  Look for competency holes, eliminate what’s not helpful and enhance what is, re-charter to add another seat if you have to…but demand true value of the executives and the Board on behalf of the organization and its shareholders!

If you have specific good or bad Board examples or disagree with any of the above comments, here is your chance to share your thoughts…

The Nour Group, Inc.
Relationship Economics® Newsletter
December 2006

Dear Clients, Colleagues and Friends:

Wow – it’s hard to believe 2006 is coming to an end! I’m often reminded of a mentor’s comment many years ago to “throw away my stopwatch and get a compass!” What I didn’t understand the first time he said it was how precious the journey is – not just the destination we’re all trying to reach. As many of us are wrapping up key projects and embarking on planning efforts for the new year, I encourage you to slow down a bit and invest that much needed time and energy in some introspection.

Ask yourself, are you personally and professionally better off this December than you were last? Did you gain new knowledge, a new skill or a unique perspective? Did you go along with the “dumbing down” of our culture (less than 5% of Americans read more than one book per year!), or did you push yourself to improve who you are as an executive, as a manager or as a human being? Did you invest in your education for continued development, broaden your realm of responsibilities or take a step toward the ever- elusive aim for life-balance?

What does 2007 hold in store for you, your team or your organization? Will you be prepared for an economic downturn, the continued war for talent and the possibility of being one of the 9 out of 10 companies that fail to achieve their strategies? How will you convert the “Us & Them” to “We”? How will you achieve your goals and objectives with a brand new team who doesn’t yet know or trust each other? How will you be personally and professionally better off next December than you are now?

In over 100 keynote speeches this past year, I reiterated that our most valuable asset is our portfolio of relationships. Beyond our education and professional pedigree, our relationships transcend across time, geography and any particular job or industry. They help us overcome geographic, functional and project-based silos to truly collaborate, communicate and overcome barriers. Consider this – knowledgeable people know a lot of facts, figures and general information; successful people know a lot of people. In which of your most valuable relationships did you invest in 2006? Did you realize a return on those relationship investments? Which ones will you prioritize and invest in again in 2007?

As you embark on 2007, consider Strategic Relationship Planning and where its eight fundamental pillars of Strategic Focus, Revenue Growth, Process Optimization, Cost Performance, Competitive Differentiation, Matrix Efficiency, Talent Development and Corporate Reputation fit on your radar. We hope you will enjoy this month’s Relationship Economics® newsletter and will forward it to colleagues you deem of great value to your compass – in 2007 and beyond.

Happy Holidays!
David

David Nour, Managing Partner
The Nour Group, Inc. – Atlanta
404-419-2115 x9101
dnour@nourgroup.com