Off and Running

There seems something somehow fitting that I write the first entry to the Benari Blog today.  It’s 102 degrees…described variously as record heat, hottest July ever, and even by one crazed amateur weatherperson as the hottest day ever in the history of the world.  I tend to discount that last.

And why is this fitting?  After years of working with senior executives around the world as both a personal business advisor and a consultant on improving their profitability, I am finally out in the open.  Out in the heat of visibility, the vagaries of the media, and the bizarre irrationality of the internet…witness that last weather report above.

For years I’ve been asked how it is that they can find all kinds of things about me via Google…Wharton, National University of Singapore, Conversation on Networking, and various articles, talks, board positions, books, random quotes here and there, and even my Conversation blog…but nothing on Benari, the consultancy I founded with my father many years ago.

The simple reason is that I’ve been busy and didn’t think I had anything to add to what’s out there that would be of interest to business owners and owners of family businesses, CEOs and Presidents, senior executive teams, and the random reader.  But lately something has changed. 

For some reason all that I’ve learned and thought about in my travels around the world, my interactions with leaders of companies multi-national or local, my thoughts and observations on how people work more…or less…effectively together, the issue of cultural difference …and misunderstanding, and even what I’ve learned in founding and running a number of companies, have all somehow jelled in my mind.  Most interesting about this to me is that others seem to have noticed and keep harassing me to do things and speak more and write more and help them out more.

Then I connected with Rick Simmons and Paul Fleming, co-founders of Dinkum Interactive.  They are dragging me kicking and screaming into the new era of the internet and have convinced me that with a little effort I might actually be able to make a difference in the way business operates.  And even better, they think if I manage to catch the interest of enough of you I might get invited to spend some time in interesting places like St Barth.

I’ll look for you there.