Press Release Peter is joined by Kevin Cope, President of Acumen Learning and Author of Seeing the Big Picture to talk about some of the reasons that small businesses fail due to a cash focus problems. Kevin talks about how the numbers can really speak to you and help you make better decisions when they are viewed properly. Also Peter and Kevin talk about the five key drivers that are necessary for growing your business and about the importance of building business acumen. About the Peter McClellan Show The Peter McClellan Show recorded in the 401k Latte Studio, is power packed with 10 to 15 minutes of insight about life and money. Peter invites his favorite specialists on to educate and entertain about things sure to better your life. With the conviction that financial change is coming, Peter desires to help as many people as possible to pursue, achieve and maintain financial stability.

Newsletter We've received Kevin Cope's "ASTD 2010 International Conference & Exposition Session Evaluation Summary Report" (that's a mouthful). The scores and feedback were once again outstanding - and we're going to prove it this year by posting the reports and all 101 comments (even the two comments that were not so positive) here on our blog. We've bolded some of our favorite comments and not-so-favorite comments. Keep in mind that these were hand written comments and ASTD converted them, so some of the comments might read a little funny. ​ P.S. If you're planning an executive retreat, a leadership summit, a sales conference… whatever… we'd love to be on your keynote shortlist. Give us a call today: 801-224-5444. ​ REPORTS… ​ Building Business Acumen Session 1 Building Business Acumen Session 2 ​ COMMENTS… ​ My favorite class so far. Moved at a good speed & included audience nice skill! Liked the voting buttons. Good videos! Excellent info, great presentation skills & interaction great presentation in tough subject! Excellent! 5 basic element were great loved the contracting content, and humor Outstanding Great session. Challenging concepts made easy! Interactive – great presenter. Loved the video clips to make a point polling was great will take some quotes back to the office & post them for everyone to see Best session I have attended so far. I have information to share with my business leaders that will help them see that value my team can add to the business...the impact of L & D!! I am now interested in knowing more about my company’s annual performance The content was to basic for me, but I did get a sense of how to approach teaching others who are at the beginner stage with business acumen. Great speaker – great info! B.A. was an area which “needed improvement” on my 360: l learned a lot from this presentation to take back w/ me. Presentation was invaluable!! Many take aways – knowing where my company stands and asking my boss the real questions! Thank you for sharing your knowledge. I learned more in your 1-hr session than a year with my boss. Great presenter. Great presenter. Awesome engaging Great session. Great presenter! Would have been better if we got the handout w/the slides I was taking dictation for most of the session. Entertaining, in formatting, challenging session. Encouraged to learn more on the topic This session was fairly disappointing. I think that Kevin knows some great information but presentation pace, etc. hampered the information. The pace is too fast in the number at slides, etc. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and for making the printouts useful and not just a copy of your slide deck. Appreciated the presenter taking conceptual info & making it applicable Outstanding – very effective in a short time Present / describe as more relevant for “for profit org” consider – integrating a not for profit approach Nice info. But was I in the correct session. Excellent model to teach learning profession I work for Fed gov’t. There isn’t competition in our market. I will have conversation w/ customers regarding gaps, Great suggestion. Great interactive used during session. Great speaker, engaging, valuable information that you can relate too. Used survey technology to re-in force learning Very practical & I learned some new ways I can have an impact at my company. Excellent session Really build the pace & enthusiasm good refined delivered in an interesting & relevant way. Thank you for the interactivity The give aways were unexpected but not really needed because the session content and delivery were excellent. Really liked the way examples were integrated throughout that we could relate to. This discussion was by for the best investment of my time so far relative to others attended at this conference. Great session!! At row your company Define. ### how an impact on helps employees understand how they fit into the big picture Was very engaging and covered a dry topic in an entertaining way. Business acumen – imperative to tie learning metrics to financials so learning can be seen as an investment, tangible & intangible, rather than as an experience – Kevin Cope nailed it – excellent content/ platform Very engaging presentation – informative, relatable & keep my interest Great interaction w/ audience. Put content into understandable terms great practical, usable information. Great videos Great presenter! Good topic to learn more about that we in L & D don’t always focus on, but need. Would be nice to have handout to make notes on Good facilitation skills. Compact but well – organized PT. Great presentation! Wow! Fun & interesting presentation! The best class I’ve been to this year! Best presenter and applicable content. Loved it! Nice to use clickers Really helped me to decide to quit my team on our business. Puts big picture perspective. I will get to know my company better – thanks for bringing light to this Phenomenal Great communication Excellent! Best thus far! Real time voting was a great activity. Helpful presentation – good info presented in engaging manner good pacing – great examples that brought principles to life. Excellent! Best session of the conference so far! Well done. Best session of conference so far! Will definitely follow-up after conference. This was great. Thanks! Realistic to today events High energy presenter. Excellent use of technology & facilitation methods to rein force concepts. Learned. Great session. Interactive, fun & informative. Well done! Best presenter I have seen at the conference so far. Thanks so much – guard task I expected this session to the buck to L & D more. However, I did learn ideas I can apply to work and personally. Good session Taught very systematically. Made it learnable..Taught there would be non about personal credibility – didn’t really feel like “gaining personal credibility” Excellent & very practiced & immediately can apply content. Excellent – best session this week Excellent speaker, format, learning aides. Fantastic! Great session! He really boiled down “business acumen” into understanding chunks. Learned a lot about, and refreshed my business acumen but difficult to align with ting & development. Very interactive session. Good use of a variety of presentation techniques that work. Great job – very valuable. Thank you. This session was phenomenal Excellent! Favorite/best ROI of all sessions so far! A lot of energy – excellent great audience participation Good This session alone was worth every penny I paid for the conference! It was so valuable I am going to completely change my approach to T & D. Great presentation! Great session! Excellent session! In my 40 years of owning business and working for a large corp, most still do not understand the importance of people. Repeat comments from audience so everyone can hear Excellent Good points except customer service – Nordstroms is not # 1 (Kohls is) and doesn’t have the highest profit margin Amazing session! Thank you Did not realize the focus was on sales. As a non-profit-did not apply. Thought it would be more introspective Better understanding in layman’s terms of the fine bush. Will pick up job aid in your booth asp, appreciated how the handled feedback from bear of room of when he acknowledge answers from audience. Kudo’s & well done! Excellent session – one of the best so far. Interesting interaction lively session – clear, concise delivery. Presentation talks to rather talks at audience. The “how do you impact” questions were very helpful in terms of connecting concepts with application I’ve attended several financial intel sessions before, first one that actually , “stuck” with me! Very good My husband is a stockbroker & I know you were right on with the companies! Very useful information that was well delivered. Great session The best presentation I have attended at the conference. My take away is I need to show my company the cost (vs) return for building my corporate university institute... this is what I have been missing! Knew more than I realized made a detailed topic plainer & understandable Great presentation style Excellent! Excellent clean presentation – not over the top; the applied it to all fields of business of life. Thanks! Learn more about my company’s financials!

Press Release Larry Olsen of the J.O.B. Show talks to Kevin Cope, President of Acumen Learning and Author of Seeing the Big Picture, about his new book and why it’s a must-read for any employee. Whether you work in the stock room or manage entire operations, business acumen is the key to building your credibility, career, and company.

Articles & Insights CONSIDER THIS​ ​ For the uninitiated, financial statements can seem overwhelming. But they don't have to be. The key is to understand that, unless you're a CFO or a financial analyst or a commercial loan manager, you don't have to understand everything in these statements to discover important clues about the health and sustainability of a company. Just like you don't have to be a certified electrician with a deep understanding of the wiring digram in your home to turn on a light switch. Similarly, you just need to know which primary switches turn on the right financial lights - and how you, in your individual role, can help keep the lights burning H2 by making smart decisions. ​ Watch this video from Kevin Cope, author of the bestselling book, Seeing the Big Picture: The Activity​ Watch the video as a group in your next meeting and discuss the following… Kevin gives 5 reasons for understanding financial statements (you may want to list those 5 reasons on the board or tell your team to note the reasons as they watch the video). Discuss how understanding financial statements can benefit your credibility, career, and company. What did the Russian say when introducing Kevin? Do you think he's right? Project your screen and navigate to your company's most recent financial statements (or if everyone on your team brings their laptop, see who can find the company's financials the fastest). The goal is for everyone to know where to find the financials. Bring a print out of your P&L, Balance Sheet, and Income Statement and 4 different colors of highlighters. In groups have your team highlight the connections between the three different financials. Discuss the path from Sales/Revenues to Shareholders. What part of the path seems to be the H2est? What part of the path gets the most attention from executives? What part of the path does your team have the most influence on? Bring a print out of your competitors 3 financial statements (or the financials of a company you admire) and highlight and discuss the path from Sales/Revenues to Shareholders. How does their path compare to your company? The Take Away Quarter after quarter, and year after year… you and your team should print out your financial statements and use your business acumen to follow the path from Sales to Shareholders. Pay particular attention to trends - how has the story changed from the last period or from the same period a year ago? If you work for a private company do this activity by choosing a public competitor or a company you admire. ​ If you and your team have the book Seeing the Big Picture (Greenleaf, 2012) read the first section of Chapter 7 starting on page 110: Deciphering Financial Statements and the Annual Report.