Today’s “Secrets to Success” is from Greg Giammittorio, Partner at Morrison & Foerster.
Giammittorio specializes in mergers and acquisitions, join ventures as well as public and private security offerings. Given this interesting time in government contracting, we can all learn something from Giammittorio.
Greg Giammittorio: Here are a few reflections on the top five lessons I have learned along the way in my 23 year career as a “business transfer transaction engineer” — a.k.a., a mergers and acquisitions attorney.
1. No Substitute for Hard Work. You sometimes hear people attribute someone’s success to good luck or being in the right place at the right time, but my experience has been there is no substitute for hard work. I see that in others I know in the business community who are successful. They work tirelessly to put themselves into a position to take advantage of opportunities that arise. In my own work I have experienced that too. The combination of having an opportunity and working hard to take advantage of it has led to the best successes for me over the years. But one of the most valuable lessons I learned was from a missed opportunity. After losing a big opportunity that I thought would be an easy win, I learned not to take anything for granted. There is no such thing as over-preparation. Half of what you prepare for may not come into play, but you often do not know in advance which half.
2. Keep Great People Close to You. Teamwork and cooperation are essential to accomplishing large tasks successfully. I am fortunate to be surrounded by other professionals who are nothing short of excellent. Clients rightfully expect both excellence and efficiency. You cannot achieve that on your own. Building the team with the best possible experience and fit for the particular project is critical to achieving the objective. The time and effort spent in thoughtful planning about the team members and resources required for and the strategic approach to a project will almost always produce a return on that investment — namely, exceeding a client’s expectations and helping your client achieve a successful result.
3. Stay True to Yourself. Do not try to be something you are not. Maybe there are people out there that can fake it, but not me. Ethics, integrity and doing what you think is right are great ways to bring peace to yourself. I would rather lose an opportunity than lose my sense of who I am. There are many times when being pragmatic and compromising makes sense, but when it comes to an integrity issue, channel your inner Bruce Spingsteen — “no retreat, no surrender.” You sometimes have to say unpopular things or provide advice that is not what people want to hear. But I have found that while the reaction may initially be negative, you get more respect eventually when cooler heads prevail. One specific lesson learned earlier in my career is to get used to the fact that not everyone you deal with is going to like you — and that is alright. My job in the final analysis is to get things accomplished, not win a popularity contest.
4. Do Not Expect Immediate Payoffs. Be a long term investor in relationships. Maybe I am just not very good at marketing and business development, but I have never experienced a situation where meeting someone results in a quick business relationship. Building a solid relationship requires time and attention over a long period of time — sometimes years. You often do not know where a good opportunity will come from, so my advice is to spend time building relationships with people you genuinely like and respect. Try to be helpful to those in your professional network, without thinking about what they can do in return. Once you have built a network of people you enjoy spending time with and have helped from time to time, good things will flow from that resource. I am a strong believer in “what goes around, comes around” — at least in the long run.
5. Do Not Take Yourself Too Seriously. I take my clients’ issues and concerns seriously, but try not to take myself too seriously. There will be times of intense stress, disappointment and even failure throughout one’s professional career. It is not the end of the world. A little humor often goes a long way to making a tense situation and grueling schedule more bearable. And what you learn from something that did not go well will make you stronger and a better advisor going forward. It is easy for people to behave well when things are going according to plan. I aspire to be the type of person others will want to have in their corner when things appear bleak.
