A true friend and mentor of mine, Harish, taught me more than I ever wanted to know about planning and preparation. I had always been a “planner”. Although I don’t carry one around, I’ve always been on time and prepared in the way that I thought was sufficient.
I’ve read a lot about being prepared for meetings and so forth but he elevated my level of preparation to a new degree. Being prepared takes a lot of planning. A meeting with venture capitalists that are going to fund your company for example might take 2 months of strategic planning, role playing, in depth analysis, question and answer, and even minute details such as time of day, location, what to wear and more. See most entrepreneurs that I meet seem to be somewhat prepared, but often have so much going on that it is easy to fly by the seat of one’s pants.
At the same time the planning takes preparation. In that same meeting with venture capitalists, prior to the role playing and Q &A, you need to be prepared with facts, figures, financial models, projects, what-if scenarios, and more. The more I learn to plan, prior to the preparation for something, the more the situaiton goes into my favor.
I say this because I used to have a “quick on the draw” style of leadership and management. I know spend a lot more time analyzing situations, playing out the scenarios, and identifying the best way to respond. Consider this as you venture into the challenges that 2009 is sure to bring you.
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