The Hidden Cost of Choices

“To choose is to renounce.” — André Gide Every time we decide to focus on something, we make a choice to ignore everything else. In management consulting, when you decide to get yourself onto a 3rd banking project that year, you know you are starting to go down the financial services specialization path. You effectively decided not to specialize in some other areas you really wanted to specialize in. As a senior manager at a major company, when you decide to move to another unit, leaving your mentor and team in trouble because they have to scramble to replace you, you choose to ignore your relationship with your mentor and your team in favor of focus on that new shiny role that seems like a step up. Even as a concert pianist, when I decided to play Rachmaninov Musical Moment No.4 in E minor, I knew I was committing to 5 hours a day, no weekends, no holidays, of practicing that piece. That was in addition to a few other pieces I was practicing. That was in addition to classes and work. Here are choices I did not realize at the time I was making. - This meant basically zero free…

Corporate Strategy for Asset/Wealth Management (Executive Update 1)

Over the weekend, we released the first part of Executive Update 1 for the Corporate Strategy for Asset/Wealth Management Study in the Strategy Control Room, Advanced Level. *** Every so often, we release a study that is so powerful, so fundamental, that if you take the time to read it multiple times and really understand what it was teaching and how it was teaching it, it will teach you a primary/core skill that will change your ability to operate as a seasoned professional with a deeply analytical mind. This is one of those studies. The study focuses on asset management within financial services, an area that is becoming increasingly important worldwide as income levels rise. In this study, we are going to analyze an asset manager that is growing at a slower rate than competitors in one of the most dynamic markets in the world. And because it is growing at a slower rate, it's ultimately losing market share. In this study, we will present a way to analyze the distribution of a financial services product, which, with a few tweaks and changes, could be applied to the distribution of any financial services product, even though our primary focus here is on investment products for wealth management.…

Team First. Mission First

The question is: Will You Rise to the Occasion? In this new Legacy program, we cover a critical mindset shift required to be considered CEO material within your organization. It's based on the work Michael and I have been doing with clients worldwide at a senior level, and even at not-so-senior levels, and across cultures. --- Imagine you're standing on the precipice of a mission that could alter the course of history. One so secret, so dangerous, that only a select few even know it exists. It's 1944, and the world is in the grip of a brutal war. On one side, the Allies are making a bold push into Normandy, a campaign that will become immortalized in history. But beneath the surface, in the shadows, a far more precarious and pivotal mission is unfolding. This isn't the story of D-Day or the dramatic storming of beaches. This is the untold tale of a desperate gamble—a race against time to stop the unimaginable. As the clock ticks towards dawn, a six-man British Special Operations team is preparing to undertake a mission that will test every ounce of their courage, skill, and loyalty. Their objective? Infiltrate a heavily guarded German facility where a…

[New Episodes] The MasterPlan Advanced

The MasterPlan Advanced New Episodes We just released new episodes of The MasterPlan Advanced, bringing the total to 24 episodes. Over the past seven years, we have introduced three transformative programs within The MasterPlan series. Core Programs The MasterPlan (available to Insiders and Legacy members) Implementing the MasterPlan (available to Insiders and Legacy members) A MidLife Strategy Update (exclusive to Legacy members) New Additions We are now introducing two significant new additions to the MasterPlan universe: The MasterPlan Advanced (for Insiders & Legacy members) The MasterPlan: Next Level (members-only book exclusive to the SCR (A) members) Disclaimer: Please note that we are not licensed financial planners or advisors. We share information based on our own experiences and the insights we've gained from working with clients all over the world. We strongly recommend consulting with qualified professionals before making any investment decisions or significant life choices. In the previous part of this program, we did one major exercise to look at your investment portfolio to show you: - A lot of the things that you think are your assets - And that your most important assets may not be as important as you think - And that we often leave out the things that can create the most value for us In this part of the program, we're going…

The MasterPlan. Next Level

We have released the first eight chapters of our new members-only book, "The MasterPlan. Next Level," available exclusively through the Strategy Control Room (Advanced Level). “Build an investment portfolio that supports your unique goals and purpose in life.” Our entire life is a race to put in place the financial foundation for our retirement. It may not seem this way at times, but if we think of the decisions we make from the time we are teenagers, for most of us, it's about wealth building and sustaining that wealth. We try to make that journey enjoyable with friends, family, and experiences, but we have a clear goal in mind to be financially secure. Some of us may not be as talented at achieving this goal. We often give up in frustration. We usually kick it to the future, hoping our children or grandchildren will handle it. However, someone at some time will need to confront this problem. I know how it feels. I had to take control of my wealth planning because, as you will likely discover for yourself, in my experience, the wealth management industry does not make you wealthy. It finds already wealthy people and charges them a fee.…

Sustainable competitive advantage you may be overlooking

Sustainable competitive advantage you may be overlooking I received a video from Sakti Mukherjee, who runs a consulting firm in India. The video is about my bio on FIRMSconsulting.com/kris and overall FIRMSconsulting's work. Here is what Sakti said in the video: "Something interesting that I want to share. I printed the story of Kris Safarova from the FIRMSconsulting site. And I read through it, and there wasn't a single page where I didn't highlight so much because there was tons of learning, and at many points, it brought me to tears. And being 62 and a practicing consultant I still would like to take this as a piece of reading every now and then. And I just want to share this with whoever is going to see this video, and I am going to really suggest that one goes through the site. Reads, learns, and practices what this powerful woman has done and achieved. God bless." Sakti also took the time to record a more elaborate video, which I posted on the Firmsconsulting YouTube channel. You can watch it here. Another message that stood out for me recently was from one of our amazing Insiders. The email refers to a webinar I hosted for our…

What makes you wealthy

What makes you wealthy Summer is the season that reminds many of us to come alive. The warm summer breeze, going for a walk in shorts, the day trips to the beach, the perfect ice cream cone, and the chance to spend time with family and friends. As a person who faints if I am exposed to the sun for too long (this has happened to me multiple times in life, including at the most inopportune times, such as while attending a McKinsey event), I can't partake in many summer activities. However, I still love summer and am looking forward to it all year—and so do many people. So, in the spirit of this summer season, which we all tend to love, I want to talk today about something you may feel resistant to talk about: passion. Passion towards your work. I was going through some feedback from our community. A lot of emails, comments, and LinkedIn messages accumulated, as I don’t have the capacity to see all of them. Yet, from time to time, I spot-check the communication we receive from our community, which our support team generally handles. And one obvious thing came out as a pattern: Many…

How to Create Value from Your Time

How can you get more things done in the same… 24 Hours You Have? In this new Legacy program, How to Create Value from Your Time, Michael shares how, as a leader within an organization, you can accomplish a lot more with the 24 hours per day you have. Some specific insights covered include: Setting up rules for how to work with unorganized people to get things moving and allow for some sanity (2:00) The process Michael follows to develop original thinking (3:00) How can you set up so that from every engagement, you can have a thought leadership piece and adopt those articles for internal and external publications (3:50) Working with clients to help you come up with new approaches in a way where everyone benefits (5:00) A key role you need to create on your team that will allow you to get a lot more done (7:42) A specific team structure that allows you to successfully manage multiple demanding projects in parallel. Michael explains why you give it a precise structure, use distinct terminology, track it, and give credit (9:00) How Michael worded and structured things when he would pull people in to work on proposals that resulted in elevating the work and making it much…

It holds you in a place like little chains

It holds you in a place like little chains A lot of people like to plant, but not many like weeding. When I was a child, I used to go with my grandmother to the dacha. Dacha was a little piece of land that was allocated to former Soviet Union families by the government to grow their own produce. Our dacha was about 2 hours from the edge of Samara city, by bus. The bus was full, often with no available place to seat. So we would be very tired by the time we arrive at our stop point. Once we would get off the bus at our bus stop, which was next to the field of sunflowers, my grandmother and I would walk for about 40 minutes, passing many other dachas to get to ours. We would carry with us boiled eggs, bread, cucumber, and water, which was our food for the day. One of my tasks at the dacha was picking up “koloratskii zhuk”, a little bug on potatoes. In English, it is called the Colorado potato beetle. There were many of them. I was very scared of them, but I soldiered on. I would put on big…