Strategy 4 Saturday (<4 minute read)
- PRT – US Naval Academy
- PRT for Business
- Reflecting Back on Your PRT
- Lost at CEO | Las Vegas
- Measure Success Podcast | Ben Gioia
- Coming up this week | Author and CEO | Scott White
PRT
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Pictured above: Hosting a strategic facilitation this past week with a client at McMenamins Edgefield in Troutdale, Oregon.
Currently, flying back from Annapolis, here’s the weekend edition.
US Naval Academy: Saturday, September 30th, 07:00.
The first wave of 400 Midshipmen receive instructions that the PRT will commence.
Down, One, Down, Two, Down, Three.
Over the next two minutes, men and women will strive to complete up to 60 push-ups (max).
After a four-minute break, they attempt to max the Plank test, up to four minutes and 15 seconds max.
Next, they must complete the 1.5 miles within 10:30.
PRT must be passed every semester, eight times, over their four-year enrollment.
PRT stands for Physical Readiness Test.
US Naval Academy
The PRT is not a surprise. If you walk around campus when class is not in schedule, you will observe Midshipmen in their exercise gear running. Everyone knows, you need to qualify, otherwise you are at risk of not graduating from the Academy. They learn if the exercise throughout the semester, the PRT is much easier to pass. If you don’t, it will be a struggle.
In fact, the Naval Academy is currently ranked as #1 Top Public Schools in the nation. The acceptance rate is 7%. The academics are rigorous. Everyone graduates with a Bachelor of Science. Everyone is a scholarship athlete/student here; in exchange for a minimum of 5 years of military service as an officer.
As a result, they expect the best. Discipline is consistent.
PPP
Positive Pressure with a Purpose.
Parents heard this term from the Superintendent on the first weekend at the Academy. Their goal is to produce extraordinary officers who are ready to lead in war. In fact, you cannot settle on average.
Look closer at the picture where the push-up count was near 50, some of the best of the best, are unable to complete the MAX 60 push-ups in cadence.
If you were in that picture, would you be exhausted and no longer able to go further? Or would you stop, satisfied that you met the MIN requirement? Or would you be trying; but not in cadence? Would you be in the correct form and confidently completing your MAX?
PRT for Business
Let’s bring this back to business. Likewise, every organization should have readiness measures.
For business, we call this:
P for Profits
R for Resources
T for Trends
Profits
Profits are a critical metric for any organization. The simple definition is Revenue (Sales) less Expenses = Profits. If you are not generating positive profits, it’s difficult to stay in business for the long run without raising additional capital. I would take it a step further, that you need to be generating positive cash flow to be a sustainable business.
While working with private equity companies, a common measure of success is EBITDA. Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization. The problem with this common metric is that it doesn’t necessarily mean you are generating positive cash flow. For example, if the company has significant debt, your principal payments plus interest may negatively impact your cash flow. But this is ignored in the EBITDA calculation. This is why I believe it is important for companies to measure profits and cash flows for company health. Furthermore, it is very difficult to raise additional capital or debt without solid profits.
Resources
Cash is still king when it comes to operating your business. I believe every organization should set a goal of having at least 2 months of cash to cover total operating expenses in the bank. After establishing that MIN, you will find that you can withstand most short-term impacts on your business. For example, you should be able to get through a government shutdown, a pandemic, recession, or supply chain hit. It will give you enough cash to make wise corrections; as opposed to forced decisions.
After establishing the MIN, I recommend that you move towards establishing six months and then a full year cash reserves. A larger cash reserve will enable you to take advantage of recession market conditions, buying depressed assets while they are cheap.
Trends
Most organizations tend to measure their success by looking at YTD financials. I believe this is an important metric. Yet, my favorite trend metric is Trailing Twelve Months or TTM. If you look at the TTM, this will be a leading indicator whether you are trending to be on track or behind to hit your current year goals. You can also see trends with gross margin, expenses, and profits. This will allow you to make changes during the year, before its too late.
Reflecting Back on Your PRT
Look back at the push-up picture.
Where do you stand?
Are you tracking your metrics with confidence? Are you generating true profits and positive cash flow? Resting on your laurels? Or are you pushing yourself to hit new records?
Where is your PPP on your PRT?
If you aren’t consistently using a PRT for your organization, email me, and we can get you on the right track.
Lost at CEO | Las Vegas
Thank you to Stephanie Moen for taking time on her vacation at the Four Seasons in Las Vegas to read Lost at CEO. Thanks for the pic! Continue to send me your pics, so we can include you in our blog.
We continue to receive amazing feedback.
If you are looking for a better way to lead your organization in 2024…
Order your copy on Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com, or Audible.com.
As a matter of fact, want to try the first chapter at no cost? Email me and we will send you a free link. |
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What happens if someone writes the best book on the planet… but no one ever finds out about it? There are lots of mistakes to be made, and it’s easy to lose a whole lot of money.
The Ben Gioia podcast released on Tuesday, September 26th on the Measure Success Podcast. He is a four-time best-selling author, podcast, and international radio show host whose teachings are used by more than 80,000 leaders & game-changers around the world. Ben helps folks write great books in as little as 5 weeks, enjoy 5-figure speaking fees, and attract 6-figure consulting. (That’s even BEFORE publishing!) Using his organization, Influence with a Heart, he’s trained hundreds of millionaires and helped a Fortune 100 create a mindfulness video game for 20,000 employees.
Listen to the full episode for more on the tools Ben teaches authors for writing and marketing their book, what to know about self-publishing vs traditional publishing, why a book can be the best tool for a business, and a whole lot more.
You can also join Ben Gioia on November 4th & 5th – The Podcast & Book Roadmap: The Simple Way to Create a Global thought Leadership Masterpiece.
As our podcast and blog are free for you, here is the link to share with someone else to sign up.
How often do you operate at the intersection of urgency and happiness to pursue what you want most out of life? And how much are you missing out on when you push yet another goal to “tomorrow”?
(This goes for both business AND your personal life, by the way…)
Figuring out how to take advantage of now, live life to the fullest, and use your time wisely: these are all strategies that my latest Measure Success guest, Scott White, has written and spoken about. And now he’s bringing them to this audience on Tuesday, October 3rd.
Scott White, The Life is Too Short Guy, is the happiest guy you will ever meet. After spending over a decade in investment banking on Wall Street, he took a chance and became an entrepreneur and business builder. Today, he is Chairman and CEO of a public real estate company. Now he’s on a mission to make the world happier, one smile at a time.
Tune into the full conversation for more on some of the core principles of Scott’s book, why what you think in the morning is so important, how to avoid the most common regret that people on their deathbed have, and a lot more.
As our podcast and blog are free for you, here is the link to share with someone else to sign up. |
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