Beware of Leaders Who Overdo Words

This story portrays me in a positive light, so you’ll need to forgive my bragging.

A few years ago, we received an offer from a US company to acquire one of the firms in which I held a stake. The offer was very lucrative but was 80% scrip, 20% cash.

The US company’s CEO flew to Sydney to persuade us to accept the offer. He presented very eloquently on his company, his vision and his plans.

Afterwards, my partners were in favour of the deal, but I was decidedly against it.

Why?

Because the CEO presented for an hour on his business but hardly mentioned a single number. This was a big warning sign for me.

We didn’t end up doing that deal and the US business went bust 24-months later.

Be wary of leaders who overdose on words and lofty vision. Business is driven more by numbers than it is by words.