Turning
West for News
A Publication for Friends and Clients of M.
H. West & Co., Inc.
June 1996 |
Message from the President
M. H. West & Co., Inc. began its sixth year in
business on February 1, 1996. Initially, the firm focused on providing planning and
consulting services to medical care facilities in areas such as regulatory impact and
compliance, government relations, needs assessment, demographic and marketing studies and
strategic planning. Diversifying services by emphasizing areas such as
organizational performance and restructuring, education and training, leadership
development and governance expanded the customer base. Included now as customers are
corporations, governments, not-for-profit business and professional and trade
associations. With a broader focus using the firm's early beginnings in health care,
M. H. West & Co., Inc. now markets the firm using the slogan of "We
Enhance the Health of Your Business and You Watch Your Investment in Our Firm's Services
Pay Off"!
In several past issues of "Turning
West for News" (which is celebrating four years as a West publication), I
emphasized the importance of goal setting and how setting goals can lead to success.
Recently, my confidence in goal setting was renewed through the experience of the
West family's 15 year old Irish Setter, named Jessica. On the date of her 15th
birthday, she proudly displayed for my approval a rabbit that obviously fell prey to her
hunting skills that apparently remain more than adequate.
Although somewhat startled by the size and condition of the
catch, I was nevertheless amazed at her ability to achieve such a feat at her age. In
sharing the story with friends , one remarked that Jessica's bounty may not have been such
a big deal...She probably caught a 17 year old rabbit! Well, I've always considered
a win a win, if the undertaking was ethical and worthwhile. Consequently, Jessica
was successful and I feel assured that her confidence as a hunter was restored.
As was the case with Jessica, the strategies that M. H.
West & Co., Inc. uses in the future to transact its business may change from
those in the earlier years, but new strategies taking into account our past experiences
and track record will serve us well.
M. H. West & Co., Inc. intends to be present
in the marketplace in 15 years because I will expand our vision for tomorrow, refine our
mission for today and use our goals as the pathway to get us there. I firmly believe
as Steven R. Covey does that Quality Possibilities Can Come True - Executive
Excellence (1992). Also appropriate is the statement "Most
Companies Have Already Done The Obvious Things To Do Old Things Better, Now They Must Do
New Better Things." - Frederic D. Buggs of Strategic Visions International
The feature article for this issue called "Field of
Dreams" authored by Dr. John Ray Rothermel is filled with energy, enthusiasm
and innovativeness that we need to start and continue a business.
FEATURE ARTICLE
"FIELD OF DREAMS" by Dr. John Rothermel
Sometimes we need to stop a moment in the midst of our labors
and see if we can catch the character of the reality with which we are dealing. Recently,
I did just that while working on a health care planning project for the firm. A
result was the development of the following philosophical statement as guidance for new
and mature businesses:
A business will enter the marketplace and its
history is about to be written. It has the rare opportunity to define rules of its
game and what it proposes to be. The business will aim high and will adopt a
far-seeing perspective. What it wills to be, it can be.
There also will be a vision which will carry large
images of ideas to be attended, prospects to be plumbed, and opportunities to be taken up.
The mission, goals, objectives and strategies will provide the compass, map, and
plot plan for the work undertaken. A business owner must be able to
reconcile:
the expansion of choices and the decline of money
the sophistication of technology and the untutored
perceptions of many end-users
the spatial capacities of the past and the exciting facility
designs of the future
the coolness of high science and the warmth of customer
service
the intricate teamwork of staff and the aloneness of each
staff member
the rationality of planned services and the unpredictable
raggedness of competition.
In any given day, more may never be enough and less may be
too much. But planning must go on, and expectations must be averaged and
revised. Better ways of service must be found, tried, used, and replaced.
Rapid change is a constant, and a call to action.
WORDS OF WISDOM
There are four types of persons in this world!
Those that Make things happen;
Those that Watch things happen;
Those that Keep things happening;
Those that Wonder what the heck just happened.
-Dr. William Anthony, Forensic Psychiatrist
HOW TO STAND TALL
WITH 23 SHORT WORDS
You'll stand tall in your readers' eyes and your listeners' ears if
you replace long words with shorter ones whenever you can. Examples:
administer =give
peculiar = odd
aggregate = total
alternate = choice
possibility = chance
regulation = rule
articulate = explain
reiterate = repeat
association = group
requirement = need
characteristic = trait
similar = alike
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13. culmination = end
14. similarly = likewise
15. fundamental = basic
16. subsequent = later
17. indication = sign
18. systematic = orderly
19. ineffective = weak
20. utilities = use
21. majority = most
22. necessity = need
23. opportunity = chance
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(Source: Communication Briefings - May 1996)
A Principal Innovation - Don't wait for change to find you; Look for it
and use it to your advantage.
If you want to extend pleasure, shorten it!
-Charles Buxton
SERVICE IN THE
SPOTLIGHT...
Leadership Development for Governing/Advisory boards
Leadership at the governing board level is key to
successful performance. Assessing your board's performance and then
equipping members with needed skills to accomplish their role and responsibilities are
key. A major focus of West's training and education services for governance is to
help boards:
Manage for and lead change
Create and nurture the vision
Develop accountability
Communicate effectively
Select board members
Improve the "bottom line"
Balance diversity and conflict
Assess your board's performance today! Dr.
Edmond (Ned) Conway of M. H. West & Co., Inc. has developed the following report card.
Lead your board through the following exercise and return the results to the firm
for evaluation. Dr. Conway will share the results and recommendations with you in
about seven to ten days.
GOVERNING BOARD REPORT CARD
(Circle your rating on the scale of 5 to 1. The number five
is excellent and the number one is poor.)
Competence - each director is experienced,
trained, influential and well respected 5 4 3 2 1
Ethics - each director displays an exemplary code
of behavior 5 4 3 2 1
Independence - each director thinks and speaks
independently with confidence and courage 5 4 3 2 1
Committee Service - each director serves on at
least one committee and does it with enthusiasm and ideas 5 4 3 2 1
Corporate Development - each director helps win
support of outside organizations, customers and investors 5 4 3 2 1
Attendance - each director attends most meetings
5 4 3 2 1
Preparation - each director briefs himself or
herself well, is sincerely interested, stays up to date with the business, business in
general, and legislative and regulatory matters 5 4 3 2 1
Practices - each director asks probing questions
yet stays away from trying to manage 5 4 3 2 1
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