From Dan Peña – Executive Coach and Mentor for the New Millennium
Dear Subscriber and friend,
Eight years ago next Tuesday I said I would coach till I was 55. I will be 56 in August. I gave my first seminar in LA on May 22nd 1993.
As I told you last year starting in 1998 I initiated a phase down (not out) in my coaching responsibilities. I began by closing down my LA office (1998), cutting back my speaking schedule and reducing the more than 60 companies, entrepreneurs and executives I was involved with worldwide. When I accelerated that process last August 2000 it was a planned action. I enjoyed the years I was involved coaching around the world day to day. I learned a lot about human nature and teaching success precepts to all kinds. Now as a final logistical consolidation I am closing my Houston operations this Summer and selling my scenic Californian estate and almost all that goes with it, except my wine cellar. Lee Anne my able assistant, colleague and partner of seventeen years has the daunting task of doing this. She will be finished by the end of Summer at the latest. She will then be totally available for other personal endeavours though still a shareholder and partner in various entities of mine. She has been my benchmark for excellence almost since the day she came to my employ, 1 April 1984. I already miss her greatly!
Over the next few months all my business and personal entities will ultimately be run out of the U.K. and Amsterdam. I have a new personal assistant. He is Paul Morris and is poised to take on all the responsibilities Lee Anne did so well for seventeen years. I’ll write more about him. Suffice to say, he is a retired Royal Marine and more than qualified. He has already made a major impact at Guthrie and in my European business interests.
My family is due to join me in the U.K. in due course. My youngest son starts university in the U.S. in Sept, 2001 and my eldest son left the nest in Sept 1999. My soon to be 15 year old (Scottish born) daughter will be starting High School in Sept 2001.
As you have heard me say and write countless times, life isn’t stable so why should we think business is? This big change will have no effect on any business relationships I have other than I might be flying in from another direction and my massive travel schedule will be reduced. I tell you now so you hear it from me. I look forward to operating out of the U.K. and Europe as was envisaged in 1984 when I moved there ostensibly to retire! – Of course that only lasted 29 months! I will maintain my business interests or and relationships wherever they are now. I currently have strong relationships and businesses in the U.S., U.K., Netherlands and Germany. In recent years I’ve reduced my U.S. businesses with this move in mind. I thought this change would be completed last Summer – Man plans and God laughs!
As I’ve said during this planned change I am going to focus on a few projects and continue to build The Guthrie Group (www.theguthriegroup.co.uk), the M+A Boutique I founded a few years ago. It currently has principals in the US, Ireland, U.K. and the Netherlands and I am currently recruiting to expand our expertise in key areas of the 21st Century economy. I will also continue a few advisory roll positions. I will get directly involved when necessary as always.
I will continue to spread QLA Methodology through my website, Newsletters, QLA products and my book and most importantly through the many QLA protégés, devotees and followers of these precepts for quantum success I’ve helped to groom over the years. (The product clearance inventory is coming soon).
I’m looking forward to the change in my domicile. As some of you know Guthrie Castle is a magnificent work and play environment and I will be able to spend more time there. Yet I can still get anywhere in the world quickly enough, but it’s out of the main stream for total peace and tranquillity when I want it.
To Your Quantum Leap,
Daniel S Peña Sr
P.S. Of course I’m asked how well I did as a coach? I don’t relate to my own success, because, in candour getting horses to water and getting them to drink is different. And in almost all cases I could have done it quicker by myself as I discussed over a quiet couple of days with the Verdiers recently on their Patamac, Maryland, estate I helped inspire them to desire. But the following recent (April/May, 2001) correspondence (names removed to protect the guilty) illustrate, as do many letter testimonials on my website, what kind of success devotees of QLA have had. In all modesty I don’t believe any coach dead or alive, can show better results! Tom (who wrote the Letter One below) previously worked for the QLA team in the U.K., U.S. and Germany from 1996 – 1998 and failed twice in projects he started and was cheated once by a partner before his recent success. Jenny (who wrote Letter Two) has followed the QLA precepts about the same length of time. The important point is both never gave up – no matter what! It takes both tremendous persistence and balls to succeed against the odds!
LETTER ONE:
"Dan,
I wanted to send you a quick update on our progress.
| Had idea: | Late November 2000 |
| Started research | Early December 2000 |
| Started seeking capital | Mid December 2000 |
| First Angel Money | Late January 2001 |
| Moved into 5000sqft Office | 1st Feb, 2001 |
| Raised well over 1 million without business plan (8 angels) – to date (more to come – we never stop looking) | |
| Have given away less than 15% of the company – to date | |
| Created unique product & unique selling proposition – Feb, 2001 | |
| Created infrastructure for company – Jan / Feb 2001 (will continue to permeate until we arrive at final destination) | |
| Hired 9 full time employees – by Mid March | |
| Initiated process for intranet web presence and brought to full functionality – March, 2001 | |
| Opened doors for business – 12th March, 2001 | |
| Business self funding – Late April, 2001 | |
| Hired 83 sales executives – To date | |
| Other significant events include: | |
| Hired former executive who grew from 32 locations to over 1800 in 4½ years, took market cap from $35 million to over $1.2 billion, he is paid on performance, success oriented salary and stock options. | |
| Hired former executive from same team on same compensation package. | |
| Completing strategic alliance/relationship with the biggest icon in sports and sports nutrition in 27 countries. | |
In final stages of completion of a strategic alliance/relationship between our venture and multi-Billionaire who will be as a private angel investor and assist in exponential growth of our product through personal involvement (advisory board) opening vast channels for mass distribution through own companies as well as others. He will also assist in the exit strategy with 6 – 12 months (most likely sell out to larger Biotech conglomerate).
First major billionaire enhancement – we signed strategic deals with 7 of the biggest internet-marketing companies in the world.
Dan, we are having the time of our life, working day and night, it was all worth it. Your methodology works 100% of the time WHEN PROPERLY IMPLEMENTED OVER AND OVER.
(I added the uppercase)
.
I look forward to harvest time and it’s right around the corner. I could have saved $50,000 (BROUGHT SIGNIFICANT OTHER) by not attending The Castle Seminar but I would have lost what’s about to come and it will be tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions.
Thanks Dan
Tom"
LETTER TWO:
"Mr. Dan Peña,
I want to tell you about my recent QLA success. Using my construction company as my stick, I have secured a $200K commercial contract (yes the deposit money is in the bank). To get it I used the basics from your book and tapes, i.e. dress up, growth mode talk, sold my team’s ability, was enthusiastic (sorry not curmudgeon style) and did presentations. This is a nice little contract which I "puff up like a show dog" to get bigger contracts. Hopefully I can land another $600K new construction contract right away. I know this is not big stuff but it is sweet, a stepping stone to greater things to come. Many thanks.
I am focusing on the few, the QLA few. It will take some time for me to be able to spend 95% of my time looking for deals and money but it is my as-soon-as-humanly-possible goal. My big lesson learned to date is to remain focused. I am pathetically unorganised and get lost in details. As general contractor/project manager on this upcoming construction project I can not afford to screw up. Therefore, right now, I am implementing a KISS organisational system. Like you said, our business forefathers figured this end of things out a long time ago and use what works. This will spare me a lot of here-to-fore grief and wheel spinning. With a sharper operational focus I can free up time for macro things like revenue, finance, deals and the dream team. When I get all dufus like and start listening to morons I will put in a tape or open your book.
I see greatness on the horizon and I want to say thanks. I have deliberately approached you these past months because the "pay price" for success is so high and I just needed some help to step ahead. I have written you some God awful "dufusee" letters, some of which I am now embarrassed about and do apologise for, I am grateful and delighted that you cared enough to write me back with your sage advice. You have proven to me that you are indeed committed to your purpose and a man of your word.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Jerry.
P.P.S. QLA hasn’t just been about money as Tom alludes to in Letter One. It’s (or I’ve) assisted in bringing people to positions of great power and influence in multinational corporations (including a $30 billion market cap NYSE industry giant started from scratch), worldwide law and accountancy partnerships, government, professional and amateur sport, investment banking and almost every aspect of life including nutrition, health and religion.
QLA is about gaining freedom to do what you want when you want based on high performance and excellence by the use of laser beam focus!!
P.P.P.S. As you have probably noticed in many of the stock markets, losses (at least on the indices) have recovered. If the pundits are correct we have just witnessed the shortest bear market in history. Instead of waiting years (apparently) we only had to wait a few weeks. Perhaps since communications on the world wide web are all encompassing and instantaneous even this has changed – certainly almost everything else has gone through this time metamorphous. You be the judge!
