Broken promises

“The best way to keep one’s word is not to give it.”  Napoleon Bonaparte

It’s too easy to make a promise.

We promise the customer that the product will work, solve their problem, and maybe change their lives.

We promise our coworkers that our part of the work will be delivered on time.

We promise our business partners and suppliers that we they can count on us.

We promise to follow up after the initial sales call, that we will always be there with customer service.

We promise that our priority is the customer and the customers satisfaction.

We promise to hit the sales goals and meet the budget.

All our promises are all full of good intentions, it’s what people want to hear, it’s what we want to deliver.

But, can we guarantee that we will deliver?

Never take a solemn oath.  People think you mean it.  Norman Douglas

The best way to ruin your reputation and lower your ability to lead and manage others is to promise something and not deliver.

We make a promise because it gives others confidence, it seems to make negotiations easier and it reflects our hope that all will go as planned.

“All promise outruns performance.”  Ralph Waldo Emerson

A common error of new managers and leaders is the perceived need to make promises to their organization and team.

Don’t promise it.

Promises are very powerful compromises, but extremely fragile and difficult to achieve.  Take care when offering them to others.  

In the place of promises, offer firm plans, describe actions and possible outcome, dedicate the time and resources required.

Do more than you say you will.

Perform, don’t promise.

“It is an immutable law in business that words are words, explanations are explanations, promises are promises but only performance is reality.”  Harold Geneen

Starting over

Ever get involved in a project that requires modifications, and then those modifications led to more modifications and more and more?

Before you know it, the project has lost sight of it’s objectives, and the team is working on solving problems unrelated to the original goals.

I’m reminded of Rube Goldberg and his famous machines. We don’t intentionally try to complicate our work, but if we step back and look at the objectives, and the current processes and procedure in order to reach those objectives, we can often find distortions and diversions of comical proportions.

There are two simple actions that will eliminate and control our spiral into complexity and error.

1. Step back and look at the problem, objectives and current procedures on a regular basis. What is working, what isn’t working, and why? What are you doing to modify or adjust the solution procedure or process instead of moving closer to a solution?
2. When you discover that something is not working, and have analyzed why, don’t be afraid to START OVER. Throw out the current plan, and begin again.

We tend to avoid re-doing and restarting a project or activity because we want to salvage the time, money and effort that has been invested.

This inability to “do over” and start from scratch often prevents us from implementing better and more efficient solutions.

Our initial attempts to solve the problem have educated us about the requirements and environment. There is nothing wrong with starting over, in fact it may be the best and most efficient way to solve the problem.

Related Links

12 reasons why we ask for business help

Analyze and plan using 7 simple questions

How to systematically analyze any situation for better decision making

9 steps to better decisions

Rube Goldberg Website

Are we killing team performance by over-communicating

Are we killing team performance by over-communicating?

That is the premise of Kevan Hall in Drowning in Co-operation and followed up with additional comments in the Slow Leadership blog The Truth about Communication.

The idea that we must communicate and include everyone in the team in every part of the project, all the time, is a classic example of a good idea that has gotten out of control.

Teams perform well when each team member:

• Has a specific job, not shared with others
• Is proficient at what they do, no learning curve required
• Has easy access to the resources, tools and information required in order to get the job done
• Clearly understands the group objectives and expected outcome
• Clearly understands how their input/output affects the other team members
• Is individually responsible and accountable for their performance and on-time results
• Is not smothered with controls and time wasting meetings
• Shares relevant information and communicates with those team members who need that information in order to do their job correctly

Analyze how a relay race squad works together. Each member has a specific and unique function, each member runs their part of the race alone, they expect their co-worker to hand them the baton at the right time in the right place, they all share the same goal and final outcome.

There is no stopping for meetings and communication between members during the race, there are no meetings with the coach halfway around the track to see how they are doing.

The runners do not stop to explain why they are passing the baton to only one member of the team.

The coach selects the qualified members of the squad and interacts with the team members before (preparation and focus) and after the event (evaluation of results), not during the race.

The focus of each team member is on doing their job efficiently and professionally, in order to reach the shared objective in the shortest time possible.

As a leader your mission is to identify the people with the best skills required for each part of the project, empower them by giving access to the right tools and training, build enthusiasm for the project and the other team members contributions, clearly identify the goal and the expected performance for their part of the project and let them do their jobs.

Encouraging communication between team members and leadership is only important and desired when it is focused and shared with those who really need the information to get the job done.

 

Related Links

Leadership, want the job or just the title and benefits

Leadership – who do you want to lead

13 tactics guaranteed to kill any project

Step by Step beginner’s guide to project management

Slow Leadership: The Truth About Communication

Management Issues: Drowning in Co-operation

Analyze and Plan using 7 simple questions

Who – What – When – Where – Why – How – How much

Project management, organizing a team, writing a business plan, creating strategies, planning meetings, running day to day operations, general analysis and problem solving can be facilitated and improved by using a simple application of 7 basic questions.

The application of the standard reporters’ questions of who, what, when, where, how and how much to a specific situation will help organize the process of analysis and planning.

In order for this system to work, all the questions and answers should be written down. You’ll be building a visual map while defining the objectives, tools, resources, bottlenecks, time limits and chronologies of the problem. It will become clear what the real goals are, what is required, what is missing, who should be involved and when the tasks should be accomplished.

Who – Who is or will be affected by the decision or process? Who are the participants? Who will be involved or affected in some way by the project?

What – What are the objectives and desired results? What is the problem or challenge? What are the options available? What tools are required?

When – When is this supposed to happen? Define the deadlines, time limits and chronologies.

Where – Where is it going to happen? The physical place or space should be defined and examined.

Why – Why are we doing this? Why are we doing it this way or by this procedure? Why is it occurring?

How – How are we going to do it? The mechanisms, requirements, and processes needed in order to achieve the goal.

How much – How much is it going to cost?

Example – You are asked to give a speech on the sales results in Mexico for the last quarter for the upcoming Board of Directors meeting on January 10.

Who – The audience is the Board of Directors. The sales department, marketing, logistics and finance departments have the numbers and explanations of the results. Who is responsible for the agenda, audiovisual set up, room reservations? Are any other members of the company required to attend the presentation? You are the project leader and responsible party for the presentation.

What – The presentation is directed at the Board of Directors, they want to hear about results, expectations and strategies of the sales in Mexico. What questions will they ask, what aspects of the business will be of interest or concern? What information is important?

When – The meeting is January 10. You’ll need all the pertinent sales information by what date? It has be polished into a concise presentation by what date?

Where – The meeting will be held where? How big is the room, what equipment will be required for the presentation.

Why – Why do they want to review this information, is there a problem, is it routine? Why me?

How – Will you give a visual media presentation along with documents? What graphics will you show? Will you be the only speaker? Will the presentation style be serious, upbeat, creative or different from other presentations?

How much – Do you have a budget for the presentation and required materials? Do you have to fly in the Mexican sales representative to be present at the meeting? Do you have to rent equipment, hire caterers or provide refreshments or coffee service?

Related Links

How to systematically analyze any situation for better decision making

9 steps to better decisions

Putting change into perspective

We all understand that change is a part of our life. We’re physically changing, our environment is changing, our relationships are changing, the whole universe in changing.

How can we successfully survive and prosper in an environment that is constantly evolving, moving and changing?

How do we reduce and eliminate stress and indecision from our lives?

Change does not have to take us by surprise. It does not, and should not be thought of as a negative force. We can plan, prepare, adjust and create strategies that allow us to feel comfortable, reduce stress and look forward to change.

Change Options

• Predict the change before it happens
• Control the changes, limit the velocity or magnitud, guide and channel the change to fit your objectives
• Create and provoke the changes
• Embrace the changes, go with the flow, adapt and enjoy
• Ignore change, the “head in the sand” treatment, pretend it doesn’t exist or isn’t happening.
• Observe and analyze change, identify the factors that caused the change and study the effects.

Life is all about change. Growth is optional. It all depends on you.

Intellectual wealth, sharing ideas and knowledge

There is a quote attributed to Carlos Slim, the richest man in Mexico, about wealth.

“Economic wealth is like an orchard, it must be protected and cultivated carefully so it can grow and expand. If you leave it unprotected, or try to divide it among all the people it will soon be destroyed and cease to exist.”

That might be true for economic wealth, but what about intellectual wealth, created by ideas and knowledge?

Ideas are valuable and important. They should spread and be disseminated to as many people as possible. Once these ideas are processed, filtered and modified they provide us, and society with richness.

Intellectual wealth (which benefits us all) can only increase if we share our ideas and knowledge.

Remember this the next time you’re in a meeting and have an idea but are afraid to mention it

Remember this when a new employee begins work in your company.

Remember this when speaking with children and young people.

Remember this when talking with customers or creating marketing campaigns.

Build your organization, don’t destroy it

Pragmatic business people know that strategies must be reviewed before, during and after implementation. Difficult questions must be asked and answered throughout the organization. Results analyzed and reviewed in order to identify flaws and errors.

Many times this exercise can push us into seeking and identifying problems instead of solutions. Too much time spent on what can go wrong and not enough focus on what can be created. Gridlock sets in, no solution is good enough, there is always a flaw.

All to often we find ourselves criticizing the work of others and the efforts that did not succeed as expected. We spend time taking things apart to find out what went wrong, and seeking to identify who was responsible for the “failure”. Our days are spent destroying the ideas of others.

Why not focus an equal amount of time on the positive aspects?

What did or will work, and why?

Creation is much more difficult than destruction. Support the creation of ideas and solutions in your organization, make your first analysis focus on the successful or positive aspects.

Ask yourself, “what am I creating today”.

13 Tactics Guaranteed to Kill any Project

How many of these tactics can you identify and how many are at work right now in your organization?

13 tactics guaranteed to kill any project

1. Assemble and invite a huge group of people to participate, most of whom have no stake in the outcome.

2. Do not assign or elect a leader, or better yet, assign leadership to several members.

3. Never make the goals and objectives of the project clear. Leave them as vague as possible.

4. Never assign responsibilities to specific members and never set firm dates for the completion of tasks.

5. Stifle and block all new and alternative ideas, never allow questioning of procedures or goals, eliminate all creativity and any dissension.

6. Plan lots of long, unplanned meetings without an agenda, where nothing is achieved, goals are not reviewed, and no new compromises are agree upon. Especially good are meetings very late in the day, on Fridays.

7. When asked for information and interaction with other members, take a long time to answer and do not give them what they are asking for. Never respond to emails from other members.

8. Never participate during a meeting, but outside the room complain to everyone that the project is doomed and that everything is wrong.

9. Allow meetings to be interrupted by phone calls and visitors, let everyone answer emails and do work on their laptops during the event.

10. Make sure there are no resources assigned to the project or members, this includes time and money.

11. Give all the decision-making power to one individual, and make sure they never make a decision. Good lines to use to delay decision-making include “this is an important decision, I think it should be reviewed and studied further”, “we don’t have all the facts yet”, “I’ll take it under advisement”. This person should also travel often and be difficult to contact.

12. Big decisions that affect the project should be shared with only a few of the participants.

13. Always blame other members for anything that might be wrong. Attack aggressively, loudly and in public if possible.

Related

Effective Business Meetings

Create a debate – find out who really wants the project to work

Step by step beginner’s guide to project management

9 steps to better decisions

Trying to pin the blame for a bad decision on an individual or group is fairly common corporate activity.  We believe that errors are not to be tolerated, and that anyone who commits an error should be identified and punished.  Too often this search limits and inhibits people from speaking up and making good, creative and bold choices in their organizations.  The fear of failure prevents action. 

We have to “blame” the process more and the people less. 

But who doesn’t make bad choices, mistakes, and accidents due to omission or over confidence? 

It’s part of life and learning.  The more I learn about chaos theory, and the butterfly effect, the more difficult it is to identify an individual who can be singled out as the responsible party for a “decision gone wrong”.  The trial and error decision-making process is still prevalent in the natural world, and will continue to be part of the corporate world.

What would happen in your organization if you stop seeking someone to blame, and focus on the decision-making process itself and the evaluation of results, independent of individuals? 

Where there is a failure, first take a look at the following list, answer the questions to determine if the decision-making system was at fault, or if it was an individual failure within the process. 

Run de-briefings and analysis of outcomes, good and bad, and find elements that were responsible.  Let your people know that mistakes can happen, and can be tolerated, but that a systemic process should be used in order to eliminate or reduce errors. 

9 steps to better decisions 

1. What are our objectives and expected outcomes?
2. What information should we accumulate in order to make a decision?
3. What information is not important for this decision?
4. Who is evaluating and processing the information?
5. What criteria are being used to evaluate and process the information?
6. What are the possible scenarios based upon the present information?
7. What is the most likely scenario or best decision for the company at this time?
8. Who are the decision-makers for this issue and why?
9. What elements are critical and essential for success?

Shift your focus from the person to the process itself, what is or was missing?  Why? 

Related Links

More access to information – more mistakes

How to set up a beginner’s “Business Intelligence” system 

Serendipity as part of business development

There is something missing from most business development project evaluations, serendipity.

Defined by Merriam-Webster dictionary as “the faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for”.

Seth Godin has outlined why companies fear business development (Link). It’s hard to justify the expense and risk on new ventures and projects. The control aspect asserted by legal and financial people reflects one reality inside the company, but don’t forget the other side reflected by the sales, marketing and business development people.

If it’s a good to great idea, and the cost is low, and the chance of success is moderate to good, and the possibility of adding knowledge to the organization is part of the project, then go ahead and try.

Can your organization consider and discuss “serendipity” as a factor in your next business development meeting?

Related Links

Seth Godin: Careful consideration and analysis

The business leadership crisis, are you part of the problem?

Rosa Say has given us some food for thought in a piece entitled Where’s the Boss at Lifehack.org. She identifies significant problems with executives today…..the inability to implement empowerment in the organization and the lack of executive involvement in the day-to-day operations. True leadership has disappeared from many organizations

A leader must understand what is happening at the day-to-day operations level if they wish to understand the business. The real action happens (or doesn’t happen) at this level, and not in the corporate boardroom.

The bosses job consists of two major activities: facilitating the work and efficiency of workers and creating strategies, goals and objective for the future. You can’t supervise efficiently, intervene or lead unless your people believe in you and your understanding of their jobs.

When was the last time you rolled up your sleeves and spent a full day at the operations level, listening, asking questions and observing?

Do you know what your people do and what is preventing them from doing it better?

Shouldn’t this be part of your daily routine?

Related Posts

Managing with Aloha (Link)

Corporate leaders and management still aren’t listening (Link)

More access to information – more mistakes

We have easy access to mountains of business information, we have computers, data bases, statistics, websites, blogs and 24 hour a day news channels.

Has this made our life and decision-making easier and more accurate? No. According to management-issues in an article entitled Paying the Price for Flawed Data (Link), we are making serious mistakes based on inaccurate or inappropriate data.

A quote from the article:

“A survey of workers in the U.S., Great Britain, France, and Germany carried out for business intelligence solutions provider, Business Objects, claims that the widespread use of faulty business data is a dirty little secret in today’s business world but is going largely unnoticed by businesses.

It found that almost three-quarters of information workers admitted to having made business decisions that later turned out to be wrong due to incorrect, incomplete, or contradictory business data or information.

Compounding this, only about one in 10 information workers said they always have all the information they need to confidently make business decisions.” (Link)

It’s not about collecting mountains of information, it’s about questioning what we wish to know, and then selecting and collecting the information that will help us find the answers.

What do you want to know?

Where can you get the correct information?

How do you know you have the correct data?

Related Links:

How much time do you spend with statistics (Link)

How to set up a beginner’s business intelligence system (Link)

Was Peter Drucker right? Is it all about attitude? (Link)

Another factor to consider before a meeting is called

An interesting idea to assist in evaluating the cost/benefit of having a meeting can be found at the Signal vs. Noise weblog.

There’s no such thing as the one-hour meeting (Link)

There is no such thing as a one hour meeting, unless you are alone for that hour (and then it’s not a meeting…is it?).  The moment there are 2,4, 6 people assembled, that hour is multiplied by the number of attendees…..making it a substantial investment in terms of total “participant-hours”.

What you have to ask yourself before calling a meeting is….will it be beneficial to assemble all these people? How can we maximize results and minimize wasted time while we are together?  Is the total time dedicated to this issue worth it?

Related Links

Effective Business Meetings (Link)

Leaders, weekly meetings, responsibility (Link)

Create a Debate (Link)

Downsizing can seriously disrupt your company’s networks

An article in ManagingTechnology@Wharton from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania has an excellent piece related to your employees and their value in the company in terms of their networks and networking abilities.

Mapping out the communication networks and social networks may be a very valuable tool for your organization. Yet another factor to consider before downsizing or when evaluating the contributions of the people in your organization.

Sometimes it’s not what you know….but who you know that makes you valuable.

Connecting the Corporate Dots: Social Networks Reveal How Employees and Companies Operate

Some quotes from the article:

“Hopefully, you have organized your company the best way to get the job done,” she says. “But mapping out a network will give you a sense of whether actual work flow and communication flow match what you hope to achieve. Maybe there are bottlenecks where one person is managing all interactions. If you expect two groups to work together closely, and you don’t see them doing this, you might want to create liaison roles or other relationships to make information flow better. On the other hand, you may see groups talking to each other too much. When managers see network diagrams, they often realize they need to reconfigure their organizational chart.”

“Network maps may also unearth what are known as “cosmopolitans” — the employees who are most critical to information flow in the company. “The formal organizational structure [in companies] does not necessarily describe who talks to whom,” says Valery Yakubovich, a University of Chicago professor “

“Often you find that people you might not even think of as very valuable turn out to be important links in the structure of the organization.”

“If a firm is contemplating downsizing, for example, it had better be prepared for serious disruption in the workplace if it lets such important people go. Indeed, maps of social networks often show that the people with the most impressive titles are not as vital to an organization as their position would indicate.”

ManagingTechnology@Wharton, Connecting the Corporate Dots: Social Networks Reveal How Employees and Companies Operate (Article)

Create a debate – find out who really wants the project to work

I’ve always been the “Devil’s Advocate”, and a contrary voice throughout my career/life. Not because I’m a negative person, but to question and create a discussion about a project or idea. Too often ideas are not questioned due to “group think”, peer pressure or fear, resulting in projects and plans that have not been embraced by the members, and will slowly fizzle away and fail.

Who really wants the idea to work? Without a bit of an argument or debate, I find it difficult to determine who is committed to the idea, and ultimately this is what matters. Commitment by group members does not insure success, but it facilitates communication and guarantees that everyone is shooting at the same target.
This is why I loved Cuculuains blog entry “Don’t fear the Devil’s Advocate” at Businesspundit

I believe his observations are important in that they ask you to create an attitude and environment in your company that actively seeks to promote debate and question the merits of an idea WITHOUT fear of losing their job or offending members of the group. Create the position of Devil’s Advocate at each meeting or presentation, and let the company know you are creating an environment that promotes and can reward ideas and debate.

The idea of implementing constructive criticism and encouraging your people to play the “devil’s advocate”can only result in more communication, better project presentations and more unity in final decision-making.

Related Entries:

Invite a Challenge from 2 Weeks 2 a Breakthrough

Weird Ideas that Work

Does your company like new ideas?

Leaders, weekly meetings, responsibility

In the June 19, 2006 issue of the  HBS Working Knowledge For Business Leaders newsletter, Marty Linsky has advice about how and why highly functioning leadership teams should have focused meetings every week. 

The Morning Meeting Ritual

Good common sense advice that creates the need for participants to arrive fully prepared and take responsibility for their actions, ideas and corporate performance. 

Isn't that what it's all about?

More about meetings:  Effective Business Meetings

Step-by-Step Beginners Guide to Project Management

In my experience, projects must; actively involve all the group members, have excellent communication and access to project information, have a shared desired outcome, have specific dates for completion of tasks, and have all the required tools (when needed) in order to finish.

If there is no enthusiasm in the group, your project is dead or doomed to be incredibly dull and tedious.

It’s all about very simple questions; what, where, who, how, when, how much, and fixing specific dates and commitments from the group members. The key to success is the leadership and maintaining the level of enthusiasm of the group members, mixed with the correct resources and tools available on time, and a shared sense of urgency in order to bring the project to completion.

Here is a simple outline that may help in organizing the project and the participants.

16 Steps to a Finished Project

1. Determine the objective and specific desired outcome. Write it down.

2. Identify and organize the people who might be interested or are required in order to bring the project to completion. Ask them to participate, and comment on their level of enthusiasm or belief that the project can or will be successful.

3. Identify a project leader and coordinator, this should be accepted by all involved in the project. No consensus, keep trying.

4. Begin “brainstorming” and create scenarios on how to achieve the desired outcome (this may have be broken down into sub-tasks). Make a date when all this creative thinking will be finished and a written draft can be printed and shared.

5. Identify factors that influence or limit the project that are beyond your control (global economic forces, natural disasters, competition, etc.) and factors that are in your control (capital invested, personnel, prices, etc.). Identify the risks or warning flags that might surface. Write this down.

6. Determine and identify the tools (capital, equipment, machinery), the people (administration, sales, suppliers, customers), and the time required to complete the objectives. Write this down.

7. Organize the people involved in the project. Review the proposed project, the factors of influence, the tools, people and time. Determine the best path, tools, time frame, and write it down.

8. Organize the tasks and sub-tasks in chronological order. Write it down.

9. Ask each participant if they are committed to participating in the project, completing their tasks on time and reaching the final outcome. If there is no commitment, find out why and resolve.

10. Develop a list of initial actions and outcomes that must be started and completed. Identify the responsible parties and dates. Write it down.

11. Request specific (realistic) dates for the completion of tasks, sub-tasks and objectives. Write it down.

12. The leader must follow-up on all dates and compromises. Make this information public to all others involved in the project. Communicate all deliveries of sub-tasks, or lack of delivery with the group.

13. Make certain that the group knows the status of the project at all times, everyone should either be waiting for information or the outcome of an ongoing activity, or actively working on obtaining information or finalizing an activity.

14. If a group member is unable or unwilling to finish tasks on time, discover why and take immediate action to support or replace the member.

15. For any major problems or setbacks, get the group together to work out new scenarios and dates of completion.

16. Celebrate the big milestones and victories.

Current Resume – Lee Iwan – March 2007

 

Lee Iwan

International Business Development

Sales & Management Executive

Accomplished bilingual and bi-cultural executive with broad based domestic and international experience in business discovery and development; sales, marketing and operations for start-ups, growth and mature organizations.

Results oriented, proven success in new market identification, strategic thinking, negotiations and pragmatic problem solving. Track record of “hands on” leadership increasing communication, sales, efficiency and profitability.

Thrive in dynamic and fluid environments requiring enthusiasm, creativity, communication skills and organization.

Core competencies include:

Relationships and Communication

Team Leadership

Cross Culture Liaison

Innovation and Change Management

Global Focus

Entrepreneurial Focus

Contingency Planning

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

QUIMICA CENTRAL DE MEXICO S.A. de C.V. Leon, Gto., México July 1998 – Present

Business Manager, Strategic Business Discovery & Development May 2005 – Present

Serve as independent executive working directly with CEO and Board of Directors. Fully responsible for the visualization, research, creation, communication, follow-through, analysis, planning and implementation of new business development and corporate strategic diversification projects.

Key Achievements:

• Project Leader, pharmaceutical joint venture (Swiss-México), manufacturing and commercial operations .
• Spearheading strategic alliance negotiations to increase long-term market share and global positioning.
• Ongoing negotiations with India and China for product representations, agencies and toll manufacturing.

Business Manager, International Business March 2000 – May 2005

Served as Business Manager, responsible for global sales and marketing, distribution and logistics, and all corporate international negotiations with clients and suppliers.

Directed export sales and market development, international supplier strategic alliances; leadership of export sales distribution and agency networks; cross-functional team participation; business intelligence; sales and marketing strategy and leadership for the Asia Pacific and Latin American regions; sales implementation and market development; logistics and supply chain management, cross cultural communications, “globalization” of company culture and corporate special projects.

Key Achievements:

• Created and implemented commercial entrance for Asia-Pacific market, first 3 years revenue $ 5 M (US), projected annual sales growth of 200%.
• Initiated and maintained strategic alliances with international suppliers, raw material cost savings of $ 2 M (US) fortified long term strategic positioning.
• Negotiated exclusive agency representations in Mexico for South African and US specialty chemical manufacturers.
• Increased company global competitiveness utilizing the export department to drive corporate cultural changes in strategic planning, production, time to market, supply chain and logistics, sales, marketing and administration.

Export Manager July 1998 – March 2000

Served as Export Manager, responsible for sales, distribution and marketing strategy and management for 20 countries including Latin America, US, Europe and Taiwan.

Key Achievements:

• Created new commission and base price structure for agents and distributors resulting in increased loyalty and increased revenue of 8%.
• Re-engineered department systems to increase revenue and customer loyalty through increased efficiency in communications, administrative processes and product shipping.
• Managed international sales force in Latin America and Asia Pacific regions (18 distributors / agents).
  

NUVIDA S.A. de C.V., León, Guanajuato, México January 1993 – July 1998

Owner–President–Entrepreneur

Served as President for start-up specialty service business, corporate and government clients.

Key Achievements:

• Alliance between private industry, State and Local government to create and maintain 100-acre interactive ecological area – Parque Explora.
• Managed workforce of 45.
• First workforce in the State to receive State Certification (training and operations procedures).

FLOWERS FLOWERS INC., Evanston, IL, USA March 1986 – August 1993 Owner–President-Entrepreneur

Served as President for start-up innovative luxury consumer goods and service business.

Responsibilities included: strategy and planning, management, sales and marketing, purchasing and operations.

EDUCATION

Bachelor of Science Agricultural Economics * University of Illinois – Urbana, IL 1980

PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS

Board Member, State Chemical Industry Export Committee, COFOCE, February 2007 – Present

Weblog: Business South of the Border August 2006 – Present

Weblog: Lee Iwan Accumulated Experience April 2006- Present

Business Development Mission, Chennai, India, February 2007

Chromium Industry Conference, Cape Town, South Africa, February 2006

Commercial Mission, New Delhi, Mumbai India, November 2005

Course: Finance for Non-Financial Managers, 2005

Business Development Mission: Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2004

Board Member, State Leather Industry Consulting Committee, COFOCE, 2000 – Present

ANPIC, Mexican Leather Industry Fair, Leon, Gto., Mexico, 1999 – Present

ISO 9001:2000, Certification Process, 2003 – 2006

Business Development Mission: Geneva, Switzerland & Moscow, Russia, 2004

Business Development Mission: Istanbul, Turkey, 2003

All China Leather Exhibition (ACLE), Shanghai, China 2002 – 2005

Guangzhou Leather Fair, Guangzhou, China, 2002 – 2005

Business Development: Geneva, Switzerland, 2002

Commercial Mission: Mexico – Central America, 2000 – 2002

Asia Pacific Leather Fair, Hong Kong, 1999 – 2005

Linneapelle, Bologna, Italy, 1999 – 2005

Commercial Mission: Mexico – China, 2000 – 2001

Business Development: Amsterdam, Holland, 2000

Business Development: Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, 2000

Miami Leather Fair, Miami, FL, USA 1999 –2001

Business Development: Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina, 1999

FENAC, Leather Fair, Novo Hamburgo, Brazil, 1999

Course: Mexican International Commerce Legislation, 2001 – 2004

Diploma: Modifications in the Mexican Customs Legislation, 2003

Diploma: International Commerce – Logistics, 2001

Diploma: International Commerce, 2000

Course: The Strategic Salesperson, 1999

Periodico AM, Newspaper Columnist. 1994 – 1996

Society of American Florists, Editorial Board, 1990 – 1992

Chicago-Dempster Merchants Association, Vice President, 1988 – 1990

Lee.iwan@gmail.com