In Business, the essence of strategy is sacrifice

I gave a presentation recently on business strategy. We have limited time, resources and money and have to decide each day how best to allocate them to achieve our goals.

In my talk, I focused on three things that are essential to success...both in business and in life: Motivation, Inspiration and Passion. We rarely talk about that in business...to our detriment:

Good morning. Thank you for the wonderful introduction. I will try to live up to the expectations in my talk today.

As I was preparing for this presentation I reflected on my life and many of the experiences that I have had that shaped me into the person I am today. From my early years growing up in Jamaica, through the first years in Canada after we immigrated and of course throughout my years of running. In the end I elected to tell you a story about sacrifice. I call it, 'The Essence of Strategy is Sacrifice”. Or, “What are you prepared to give up to achieve your goals”.

My name is Chris Morales. I currently operate Morales & Associates, a marketing consulting practice that helps small and mid/size business owners optimize their marketing by helping them to achieve breakthroughs in their business. We do that through a unique process we call M2OP that gets to the heart of the goals and objectives that the business owner really wants to achieve.

More importantly what they want tangible strategies and plans that will generate results. With my background of over 25 years in marketing in Canada working on some well known names such as Toyota, Dairy Queen, Burger King, Hudson's Bay and General Motors combined with my more recent experience in on-line marketing on the Internet, we deliver 'BIG' ideas without the big cost.

Today I am going to share 3 things from my world of running that are analogous to the world of business. First, Motivation. Second, Inspiration. Third, Passion. You may find, as I did that you really don't miss the things that you have to give up.

Motivation. We all know the importance of having goals and objectives. We know we need to motivate ourselves to move forward.

I've been running for over 27 years. My original motivation was to loose weight. I was over 240 lbs with a size 42 waist. Newly married at the time with twin sons, I was the quintessential couch potato with bad habits that I had picked up from university. I was on the verge of high blood pressure. And with my Dad's diabetes already well developed, I was at high risk to go down the same path. Enough you would think for me to take some action you would think.

But no, it was not until I saw another fat guy who had successfully lost weight that I was motivated to take action. I saw my best friend from university who weighed over 300 lbs during our school years after he had lost over 100 lbs. He weighed less than me!!!

I began running. Jogging at night in old sweats and a hoodie because I couldn't face anyone seeing me in the daylight. It took about 18 months for the running bug to firmly stick.

Goals and objectives are necessary. Motivation is essential. I had to sacrifice chips and pop. I had to reduce my alcohol. I had to get up early in the morning. I had to run in the rain. I sacrificed all my size 42 inch clothes.

In working with business people over the years we had this conversation many times. It was easy to define the objectives...to write them down. Developing the strategies to achieve them took much longer. There was often heated debate. All driven by the reality that we have to live with limited money, resources and time. We spent lots of time discussing things we would support and the things we would not.

A very specific example of this comes from working with a multi-national automotive company. Given the plethora of vehicles and models they had at the time, we had to decide which models to support and which we would not. In the end, we decided to spread the resources too thinly which resulted in less than optimal support for the important models. A cautionary tale of trying to be all things to all people all the time.

Second, Inspiration.

OK so now that I was off and running (bad pun I know), how did I stay motivated?

Running is a lonely sport and for those of you who have done or still do it. You know that you run in circles. Same path over familiar routes over and over.

For me, the inspiration to keep running, the breakthrough if you will, was to run for charity. I entered into countless 10 k running events over the next few years and had a blast improving my time. But I also ran to raise money for numerous causes. That was the inspiration that transcended the pain. My sacrifice of time and energy helped raise money for a good cause. I have never added it up but I am sure it is in the many thousands of dollars that I have raised by competing in events.

In my business dealings we NEVER talked about inspiration. We were cold-hearted business people after all. But I saw that when an individual got inspired to take on something personally, the success rate of the program increased significantly. That inspired me to make sure that every presentation, every proposal, every recommendation had some thing that got a person to take it personally. This works in big business, it works in mid size business, it works in small business.

Let me give you an example. While working with Dairy Queen and their Children's Miracle Network program, I visited the neo-natal intensive care ward at the hospital in London, Ontario. My twins had been born 6 weeks premature at 4 ½ lbs each so I knew what 'small' was. Or I thought I did. There were babies in that ward that were under 1 lb and were fighting for life. And one of the things that helped them was special equipment. IV needles actually. Their tiny arms and veins couldn't accept regular needles. CMN funds provided the essential equipment. That experience inspired me to dedicate my very next race to raising money for CMN. But what it really did was that it allowed me to inspire each and every Dairy Queen franchisee in Canada to over-deliver on our goal that year of raising $500,000 for CMN hospitals in Canada. Something that had never been done up to that time.

Third, and finally Passion. Passion is something you can only see in the eyes. In the fire that burns in every person who wants to leave a legacy.

My passion is running to raise money for a good cause. Cause marketing, an important element to operating in business today.

Since my Dad passed away of complications brought on by his years long battle with diabetes, I decided to dedicate my running to raising money for Diabetes Research in Canada. My goal in 2009 is to raise $10,000. And because of my Jamaican heritage, I am running in the heat of Jamaica on December 5 in the Reggae Marathon.

And yes, it will be HOT, HOT, HOT!

My wife Sally and I just got back from a week in Jamaica. We had gone for a family function, but really went to run in the heat. New respect for the heat!

With just over a month to go until the race in Negril, I have raised just over $2,000. I have a way to go and you can help me achieve my objective. http://mykalsreport.blogspot.com/2009/08/how-to-donate-to-reggae-marathon-run.html

An example of passion in business. A recent client who with her husband owns and operates a mid-size business lost their way. They had a dysfunctional business: 3 separate units operating virtually independently. They were at a loss for how to move forward.

We worked with them to develop a unified communication platform that unified their operating divisions under one umbrella. They are now running more efficiently and effectively. They have regained the passion for their business. How do I know that? They are now actively talking about how to successfully pass the business on to their sons. That is their legacy.

'The essence of strategy is sacrifice”. I started with a definition that talked about the things that you have to give up to achieve your objectives. My experience however is that I have gained more than I have given up.

I am motivated every day in my dream career in helping business owners achieve their goals. I am inspired to help them develop breakthrough strategies. I am passionate about raising money for my cause, the CDA through my running.

What is your passion? What fire burns inside you?