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| Volume 6, Issue 10 - October, 2007 • Consultants see the Forest, Clients see the Trees. Over the course of my career, I have worked for a variety of companies in several different industries. The exposure to different corporate cultures, leadership styles, philosophies and marketing approaches has been invaluable. Each experience has built upon the previous to provide me with knowledge, standards and tactics that have allowed me to achieve positive results both in my corporate career and in my private consulting career. The difficult thing for me is when I am asked, “What do you do?” Some people give their title like; I am President of Cannon Advantage. That may be appropriate if someone just asked to be courteous, but it really doesn’t tell them anything. Some people respond with a function like consultant, speaker or author, but that really doesn’t tell anyone much of anything either. Some might respond with accomplishments like:
When you have over thirty-five years of experience, my response could be either so lengthy as to include my life history or it could be very focused and concise. My desire is to make it short and intriguing. To me, the best response is a combination of who I work with, what they get out of our relationship and maybe how it is accomplished. On my original website I used the following, “Bob.Cannon.org, LLC. is a holistic management consulting company dedicated to providing strategic and tactical business counsel to start-ups, small and mid-size companies.” Next I tried, “Enhancing performance and profitability by expanding perspective in individuals, teams and organizations.” Then I tried, “Helping visionary leaders and business decision-makers use a strength-based approach to gain a competitive advantage for their organization.” Later I switched to, “I help visionary leaders and business decision-makers enhance performance and profitability in their organization.” While these are fairly concise, they leave me feeling like something is missing. These explanations just aren’t congruent with who I am, what I do and what my clients get out of working with me. More recently I have come to the realization that in order to survive and prosper, every organization must do two things. First, the organization must satisfy a need or it has no reason to exist and will eventually perish. Second, the organization must be able to adapt to continuous change or it will be left behind. I help organizations survive and prosper by helping them address either or both of these issues. Part of what I do is related to marketing strategy. Part is related to aligning the organization to move in a strategic direction while increasing accountability behind the endeavor. This is neither concise nor especially intriguing. As a consultant, I frequently deal with clients who are so internally focused that they can’t see the forest for the trees. That was exactly my problem as well. Consultants can’t simply look in the mirror; they need a fresh outside perspective. Consequently, I hired a consultant and asked members of my Mastermind group to condense the essence of Bob Cannon into a couple of sentences. Here are their responses:
The pieces feel like they are coming together. My work with change, leadership, strategy, new products management, decision-making all fall nicely into this description. Even my research into the spiritual and quantum physics come into play. Looking at all of the tools that I have acquired or developed it is readily apparent that they all now fit under one umbrella. If you are interested in Turning Your Managers into Better Leaders who perform at their best on a daily basis, give me a call toll free at (866) 598-8450. • Planet’s Green Industry Conference If you have a subject that you would like to see covered in future issues of “Taking Aim,” please send me an email at aim@CannonAdvantage.com.
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Robert E. Cannon "Best Practice" Sales Force Development Change Management Customer Service Assessment for ISO Requirements Smart Thoughts from Smart People “Freedom is the right to be wrong; not the right to do wrong.” John Diefenbaker
“To be truly free is to clearly see the depths of life. This demands that you step to the edge of a slippery cliff. Few avoid falling over, and the bottom down below has no cushion.” Cornel West
“All good activities which encourage people to learn how to live with one another pleasantly and to develop a sense of humor improve living.” Leonard Carmichael
“It is never safe to look into the future with eyes of fear.” E. H. Harriman Taking Aim © 2007 Bob Cannon, The Cannon Advantage Newsletter. All Rights Reserved. The Cannon Advantage visual branding by Zarney Creative. For contact information, click “Resources.” |
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