Lessons Learned from “Coaching” Owners

And what that may mean for you…

2

Owner Defined….

C-suite…Boards…Stake-holders….Users…Facilities…Procurement

What we say to dogs…

What a good dog you are…Ginger

Want to go outside…Ginger

You want to chase your ball…Ginger

What dogs hear…

Blah Blah Blah…Ginger

Blah Blah Blah…Ginger

Blah Blah Blah…Blah Blah Blah…Ginger

We Coach Owner Leadership Teams

The Art of the Possible Keys to leveraging…not just hiring

service providers Keys to structuring…leading …

collaborative service provider teams

Don’t just hire the hands…

Hire intellectual understanding of your challenges…and the ability to “Think Bigger”

The Good News from our Practice…

Clients are investing more time and effort than ever before to explore service delivery improvement… in multi-dimensional ways

We do not get the same tired questions week in …week out…

The Bad News…

…there is consistent evidence that service and solution providers are not listening to the complexities of most client’s quest to…

Leverage…sophisticated services and technologies as tools…

Nothing happens until someone “Connects”

Why is “connecting” …in a respectful and authentic mannerSo important?

Houston Baptist University Art of the Possible 12December 15, 2010

Get “the meeting”

Avoid “the box”

“Build it and they will come”

“The art of the possible”

Chase work Create work

Connection starts with authentic questions…about the “issues behind the issues”

Connection takes hold…with a provocative authentic…solutions to the “issues behind the issues”

So What’s Typically Missing?

Why Doesn’t this occur naturally?

What’s in the way….

Owners(especially at leadership levels)don’t often know how to define ….and then ask for what they really need…

Service providers (especially complex high impact firms) don’t often know how to do more than “sell” their company…or their services

Emotions Owner Leadership Teams Express…

I am taking personal career risk How do I judge authentic interest? How do I judge authentic

solutions/teamwork/technology? How do I minimize real…and

perceived results risk?

Price…Politics…Brand… Narrowly Defined Experience

You understand our challenges…

You have creative solutions…

You want to work at it…

Owners will not understand 50% of what you say but will never admit it

Dignity protection is everything….particularly to the highly intelligent and powerful

The Owner’s team is usually the least experienced member of the project team

Ohio State University. South Campus Gateway

Capital Projects/Scopes are more about human behavior than “bricks and mortar”

Leveraging Retail…the Power of Best Buy and Star Bucks

•There is no “easy” button in the “connection” process

•The “real” decision-makers…

•Who “owns” the scope and it’s anticipated impact….

•Stakeholders are always evolving…

An Elephant in the Room

“The New Normal”

Cross leveraging CapEx/OpEx dollars

Leveraging Advisory Services

Leveraging IT

Leveraging Facilities

Liquidity…Not financing

Possible Sources:

•Public Private Partnerships

•Performance Contracting

•Revenue Cycle savings

•Operational Effectiveness

•Renewable Energy Monetized

Most Powerful when Aggregated…

To the Owner, your signature projects are only a tool to accomplish their

goals….

You have to specifically connect the “relevance dots” (the veterinarian

syndrome)

The Dog Whisperer…and Veterinarians

The Owner probably doesn’t understand your business...and

probably doesn’t care

Why?....they are overwhelmed and under-resourced

There are no “minor vendors”

The food service consultant may know more about the Client than you

do….

How can you leverage “downstream” firms?

One size does not fit all; There is no “one way” to solve most

scope delivery challenges

Owners hunger for “diverse collaboration”….

Mobile “Apps” in education Scheduling Library Holdings Class/Professor Evaluations Emergency Notification Buy anything the school

sells Podcasts Ask questions

http://www.prlog.org/10554748-macroview-labs-unveils-powerful-smartphone-app-for-colleges-and-universities.html

Source:

Your competition….is not your “real” competition

It’s a race to know and “connect” to the owner first

Good Market (positioning) Research is more about

“why”… than “what”

Moving Forward…

Look for ideas not prescriptions Mission and vision drive the effort Expertise without collaboration within

scope delivery teams can be detrimental

Engaging with the industry experts…takes work

Knowing what you want before you ask…is tough

There aren’t any “Silver Bullets”

The Bottom Line…

Strategic Visioning…is a pivotal precursor to leveraging service providers

Engage Expertise Early…and Often Conceptualizing…not just Planning Financial Engineering(Liquidity) Connecting Strategic Visioning to

Execution …is everything

“Connecting” is the key to playing rougher…

The Rich get Richer…

The Poor keep Submitting Proposals