Being a good leader is not an easy task. Each of us has the basic abilities to lead. What we need to learn and develop is how to use those talents for the benefit of our businesses, those who work for and/or with us and of course ourselves. Organizations exist for a number of reasons; to make money, be productive, govern or enforce. All of these reasons have many things in common but the main factor is that they all require someone to lead. The leader must provide the vision, mission, values and strategies in order to define the core ideology and create the organizational boundaries. A good leader will also surround themselves with good support people and competent managerial leadership who also believe in their vision.

Providing a clear vision and mission for a business gives the employees a cause and gives the organization a purpose. Individuals want to contribute to something meaningful. People work hard for something they believe in and when they know that what they do makes a difference. It is up to the corporate leadership to ensure that the employees know that they are appreciated and that there is value in what they do, no matter how minor their contribution may seem in relation to the whole.

Values are very important, especially when there are so many uncertainties, as there are in the world today. The values drive and legitimize behavior, for the individuals as well as for the organization as a whole. Values flow down so it is important that the leaders of a business are clear as to their own values. They need to lead by example related to values and work ethic. It should be clear where they stand on the various issues related to the business and they should not be afraid to get their hands dirty when it comes to actually getting the job done. All leaders at some point were employees and they refined their leadership abilities due to the examples others set.

A good leader will also facilitate the creation of a strategy to accomplish the work of the mission and to achieve the goal of the vision. A good strategy will provide the guidelines or the road map that will assist in achieving the desired end results. A good leader will not micro manage to the extent of telling people how to do something, but will rather outline the basic strategy. George S. Patton once said “Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.”

As a leader, as part of the basic strategy, you must also know how to fail quickly. Don’t be afraid to abandon a failing strategy as it will not help you to achieve your goals. You must also be able to learn from your successes. Use what works and get rid of what doesn’t.

The leadership trait that ties all of the above together is communication. If a leader is unable to communicate then the ideas, vision, mission, etc. will get no further along than their own minds. They must be able to express themselves effectively and in a way that makes people want to listen and be a part of their vision. Jack Welch once defined a leader as “someone who stood out visibly and said ‘this is where we are going, what we are doing and how we’ll get there.’” Great leaders are also great communicators but great communicators are not always great leaders.

For a new business it is very important to establish a realistic budget and use it as the business grows. The establishing of a budget is not an easy task, especially if there is no history to base it on. A new business should use their financial professional to help them establish the initial budget. Use your business contacts, family and friends. They can all be an invaluable source of information related to their own business experiences. There are two basic aspects to any budget or financial plan, fixed costs and variable costs. Fixed costs are monthly expenses that do not change such as rent and insurance. Variable costs are monthly expenses that vary from month to month such as material purchases, utilities and repairs. The computation of what your fixed and variable costs are will help you determine how much in sales you need to do just to break even. Once the budget is established it should be adhered to as much as possible to avoid overspending and thus putting a financial burden on the business, which can cause it to fail. Managing a budget and revising it as the business grows and changes will enhance the operation of the business and help you grow the business into a successful entity.

The next logical step in money management is that once you have it, what do you do with it, money that is. How do you make it work for you? How do you make it grow? How do you keep it safe? You can try and do this yourself but there are so many varied options available that it is probably more than the average person would want to or should get involved with. If you want to be able to manage your own monetary assets so that you can get the best return on your dollar then you need to educate yourself as to the different options available and what the ramifications of those options are. It is advisable in most situations to enlist a professional money manager or investment advisor to monitor your assets. A qualified individual will spend the time with you to determine what your financial goals are, what level of risk you are comfortable with and they will put together a proposed financial portfolio to help you accomplish those goals.

Money management is not something that happens by accident, it takes work and dedication towards accomplishing set goals. Whether creating an accurate, realistic budget or managing your investments, in most instances you should enlist the help of a professional who is familiar with the intricacies of what you are trying to accomplish. You need to define your needs and goals and as difficult as it is sometimes, you need to stick to the game plan that is established. These steps will enable you to concentrate on growing your business; accumulating assets and having those assets work for you.

Jeffrey was very active in the Make-A-Wish Foundation from 1984 until 2000, serving for three years as the Treasurer and three years as the Chairman of the Audit and Investment Committee of the National Foundation. He also served on the Board of Directors of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Suffolk County where he served as Chairman of the Board for his final two years of his term.

Jeff concentrates in the area of tax planning and feels that it is essential to provide all of his clients with personalized service. He has extensive expertise in non-profit accounting with Make-A-Wish and numerous other not-for-profit organizations. He has also been published in The Real Estate Finance Journal, a national publication, where he co-authored an article on the redevelopment of contaminated land sites (brownfields). Jeff also guest lectures at seminars on various business and financial topics.

Over the last number of years there have been many instances where an organization received negative press, some justified and some unfounded. There are various reasons for these attacks ranging from mismanagement of operations and funds by executive staff members to incorrectly associating a legitimate charity with an illegitimate one. These reasons, as well as many others, all have one thing in common; they attack the image of the entity. I was associated with a major national non-profit organization for many years on its Board of Directors and we had to deal with the effect of poorly run copycat charities many times over my terms of service. There is nothing more devastating than having to deal with negative press because of something you had nothing to do with and have no control over. Most well run organizations will have disaster recovery plans ready to do damage control covering various circumstances ranging from negative publicity to loss of funding because of terrorist activities.

The image that a non-profit entity projects is directly related to the funding that it receives. There is such a glut of charities in the world today, covering all imaginable causes from animal rights to disaster assistance that it becomes very difficult to be able to decide what a worthy cause is. A charity needs to have a purpose and mission that tugs at the hearts of the general public and needs to present that image in a positive fashion to elicit the donations needed to continue to function.

How to do this is not always an easy thing. In the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11 many worthwhile charities suffered as everyone’s focus turned to the victims of the attacks and to rebuilding and fighting terrorism. It has taken a lot of time and effort for many charities to regain their foothold in obtaining a portion of the donated dollars. The building and enhancement of image is accomplished through the use of well constructed and managed web-sites, a good public relations team, positive press and all of the options which are regularly used by for-profit businesses. The big difference is that a non-profit may have a more saleable “product” based on what it is that the charity does. It is more of an emotional issue and there is a lot more that you can do to effect the emotions of the public.

What many people forget is that charities are businesses and for the most part should be run as a business. The “products” that are offered by a non-profit organization are better than those offered by for-profit companies. The image projected and the packaging of the “product” is all-important in the survival of the charitable organization. A non-profit entity needs to have the right people in place to assist in the creation and projection of that image. The image needs to be managed properly and not abused or the image of the entity and the purpose for which it exists will suffer and possibly not be able to recover.

Jeffrey was very active in the Make-A-Wish Foundation from 1984 until 2000, serving for three years as the Treasurer and three years as the Chairman of the Audit and Investment Committee of the National Foundation. He also served on the Board of Directors of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Suffolk County where he served as Chairman of the Board for his final two years of his term.

Jeff concentrates in the area of tax planning and feels that it is essential to provide all of his clients with personalized service. He has extensive expertise in non-profit accounting with Make-A-Wish and numerous other not-for-profit organizations. He has also been published in The Real Estate Finance Journal, a national publication, where he co-authored an article on the redevelopment of contaminated land sites (brownfields). Jeff also guest lectures at seminars on various business and financial topics.