DID YOU BRING YOUR "A" GAME TODAY?

Friday marked the start of the 29th modern Olympic Games with a spectacular opening ceremony in Beijing. No doubt that over the next couple of weeks blogs around the world will reference the events, stories, victories and defeats of these games. Since I am an avid fan of the Olympics, my blog site will be no different.

One of the first events I sat down to watch was Men’s Beach Volleyball. Gold medal favorites Rogers/Dalhausser of Team USA were matched against bottom seeds Samoilovs/Plavins of Latvia. I would be cheering Team USA on to certain victory. Yet within in the first few points of the first game, I found myself drawn to rooting for the Latvians. There was something about the look in their eyes and the way they played together. And, as the game went on, there was the look on the face of the Latvian coach. Clearly he was satisfied that his team was playing the strategy that they spent countless hours practicing at the Baltic Sea. After two sets, my choice to root for the Latvians proved a good choice as the Latvians advanced from first round play undefeated. The game analysts described the Latvian victory as the biggest upset in Beach Volleyball history.

With results final, Team USA was interviewed as to the reasons for their unexpected loss. Rogers responded by saying that the team played its “D” game when their “B” game was all that was needed. Why would one ever consider bringing their “B” game as suggested by Rogers? Team USA had become complacent. They failed to develop a winning strategy. They failed to develop an attitude to bring their “A” game everyday no matter what the circumstance.

Jim Collins author of Good to Great sums up this with the Phrase: “Good is the enemy of great.” In other words, businesses become satisfied with being good that do not strive to go to the next level and achieve greatness. Does your business have a strategy (“A” game) to succeed? Do you and your team members show up everyday ready to play your “A” game?

Collins’ Good to Great found that businesses that ignited the transformation from “good to great” first got the right people “on the bus”. (see chapter 3) Small businesses find that once they get their team on the bus, that there are still several empty seats. One seat that can often get neglected by small businesses is the CFO. Usually these businesses are too small to require a full time CFO. Such companies now tap into the skills of top accounting and finance professionals through outsourcing arrangements.

A CPA who is a member of the Principa Alliance can help you with outsourced CFO services. In addition, such a CPA can assist you in developing your strategic plan (“A” game) and the fusion of strategy, operations and budgets. Principa CPAs also have a program (Towards Awesome Service) designed to inspire your team to come to work everyday with their “A” game.

Brenda Richter, CPA is a member of the Principa Alliance.