Archive for category Business Operations

An interview with Lauren Tanny, executive coach, Vistage Chair, and experienced “third opinion” to multiple CEOs. Lauren is President and CEO of TannyWood, whose corporate services include corporate visions and missions, strategic planning and implementation. She is a powerful facilitator, experienced brainstorming leader, and natural coach and mentor.  Most importantly, Lauren cares deeply about people and is passionately committed to their greater professional and personal success.

FS: First, let me say how happy I am to be interviewing you for JustGoodBusiness. You have been an invaluable mentor, coach, and “third opinion” to me for the past three years. For those who are not familiar with the term “third opinion”, can you explain what this means?

LT: Yes, thank you. As business owners and CEOs, we are often surrounded by lots of people, many of whom are all too eager to give their opinions. That’s great, yet, generally speaking each of those people have a vested interest in the outcome or are biased in some way. To whom do you go when you really need an truly impartial sounding board? My strong recommendation is to find a seasoned, impartial business professional to serve as an advisor. This is what I call your “third opinion.”  

FS: What  can this person do for a CEO that, for example, their direct reports are not able to do?  

LT: First and foremost, question your answers, challenge your assumptions, and play devil’s advocate. A good advisor or advisors will often come up with additional ideas and suggestions that might not otherwise survive your inner circle’s vetting process. As an impartial sounding board, they may suggest you go back to the drawing board. They can also help you think through the long-term ramifications of your decisions. This is especially important in today’s often short-term focused business environment. They can provide insight about best practices from other industries which can prove very useful in yours.  And they can often illuminate blind spots that can negatively impact the business.

FS: Can you give us some examples of when you, as a third opinion, were able to illuminate blind spots for CEOs? 

LT: A CEO told me he was concerned that the performance of his most senior accounting person had deteriorated, and he was thinking of replacing her. After asking whether her accounting skills were previously good (they were), I suggested that such a deterioration may be due to either substance abuse or guilt over embezzlement.  Short version: This comment led to uncovering a $250,000 embezzlement.

Due to loyalty and tradition, certain employees may get “cemented” to a certain spot in a company.  When one CEO was complaining about resistance to change at his company, I brought up these “sacred cows”. After several months of discussions, the CEO ended up hiring a COO to spearhead the changes needed, since his long-term relationships with certain employees made him reluctant to act.

One CEO complained often about cash flow.  When they felt they had solved one cash-flow-related problem, another issue would come up and they’d be tight on cash again.  By helping the company step back further from the problem, we changed the customer payment schedule (more up front, more progress payments), and totally revamped the sales projection methodology (which continually over-estimated the likelihood of closing deals, and the timing and size of payments). I also suggested a new bank and a larger line of credit, both of which they implemented.

FS: Those are great examples. If someone is interested in finding an independent advisor to provide that third opinion, where do you suggest they find one?

LT: There are a variety of organizations and independent professionals that do this work. One most businesses are familiar with is SCORE. SCORE counselors are unpaid volunteers with significant business experience. This free counseling is particularly useful for start-ups and small companies. Another organization is Vistage International. ”Vistage Chairs” are experienced business professionals who lead executive peer roundtables and who coach executives one-to-one. There are fees for the groups and coaching, which vary by company size. There are also Entrepreneur-In-Residence Programs. These organizations have entrepreneurs associated with them who are available to counsel CEOs and companies. Financial arrangements vary. One such organization is CONNECT in San Diego, CA.

You can also seek our referrals from other CEOs. They may have recommendations for you for people they have utilized. This is a good way to find independents who do this professionally. Another source may be speakers you hear at conferences or other events that may offer advisory services, also for a fee. Of course there are a variety of executive coaches. While I am also one of these, I would caution you to be careful here. Most coaches help you achieve specific goals. If you want them to serve as an independent sounding board, make sure you contract for that up front, and that their business background is sufficient to do so.

For more on this topic, I recommend The Third Opinion: How Successful Leaders Use Outside Insight to Create Superior Results, by Saj-nicole Joni. 

FS: Thank you for these resources and for enlightening us on the value of a third opinion to business owners and CEOs. Do you have anything else you would like to leave us with?

LT: If you want your business to be the best it can be, you owe it to your company (and yourself) to get rid of as many blind spots as you can!

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Lauren Tannyis a Vistage Chair, executive coach, and experienced “third opinion”.  She utilizes her vast executive experience in seven industries, broad functional expertise, inquiring mind and keen sense of humor to help executives see things in new and broader ways.  She can be reached at lauren.tanny@tannywood.com.