Stop the Monkey Business: Eight WTFs That Can Make or Break You as a Leader and Manager

By David L. Cleveland

In Cleveland's Primer to become a great leader, he makes it clear that WTF doesn't stand for Win The future.

Compelling cases are made for why:

• Execution eats Strategy for Breakfast. There is a reason there are thousands of successful small businesses that can't even spell Strategy. They know how to execute the

• Language: English
• Publisher: Executive Partner, LLC
• Release date: Nov 10, 2022
• ISBN: 9781958405208

David L. Cleveland

Dave Cleveland, a lifelong Tulsan, pursued his first career in Human Resources after completing his MBA at the University of Tulsa. His early success as a 20-something Director of Personnel for two international companies led to his getting a chance to actually run a business before age 35, as President of Hilti's Latin America division. Over the next 30 years, he went on to lead several other family businesses in several different industries. He's a big believer in experience being the greatest teacher and likes to tell his clients, "Hell, if I can just teach you half the things I have screwed up over the course of my career, you have a decent chance of being successful." Having tried retirement over 7 years ago, where he "failed miserably," he is now the Managing Partner of Corporate Performance Group. His business focuses on working with business owners and presidents to develop strategies that can lead to achieving their personal long-term vision of success. Dave has a strong passion for the Not-for-Profit sector and has served as Board Chair for many of them in the Tulsa and Oklahoma area. His commitment continues today, with over one-third of his consulting time dedicated to helping their boards and leadership establish strong executable strategies.

Book preview

Dedication

I dedicate this book to all of the movers and shakers of the world, those who I have personally met and those who I hope to meet through this book. You have inspired me to write this book. You are the real change agents: driven entrepreneurs who have decided to not be a part of the status quo. Keep dreaming, creating, and leaving your mark on the world.

In this book, my goal is to equip you will the tools necessary to protect all the magic you are creating, building, and putting out into the universe so you can continue to make the world a better and more innovative place. Your work and your legacy matter, so let’s make sure it is not only profitable, but… legally protected!

Shevelle

Acknowledgements

Special thank you to my parents, bonus parents, siblings, son and close friends and family who support all my endeavors. Your unwavering faith in me is much appreciated. I love each and every one of you to infinity!

A special shout out to Sharif Butler for not only 40+ years of genuine love and friendship but for being my sounding board throughout the writing process. Your patience and generosity mean the world to me. Love you, Reef!

Preface

As a business attorney, I am constantly getting calls, tagged on social media posts, messaged in my DMs (direct messages on social media), and questioned at various networking events and seminars from entrepreneurs who are just starting out, as well as those who are growing and scaling. The common concern I find among these entrepreneurs, no matter what stage of business they are in, is that most are ignoring some key foundational Legal Pillars. This blind spot is putting their personal assets, business, brand, and profit at significant risk. What they don’t realize is that the legal side of their business, the side they are typically ignoring, is THE most important side. Without a solid legal foundation, everything they are building could collapse at any given moment.

This book in intended to get you Legally Bossed Up, educated and empowered on the five foundational Legal Pillars that are essential to growing and scaling a business that is both profitable AND protected so you are not building and operating your business blind to legal pitfalls. Understanding the key foundational Legal Pillars outlined in this book, no matter where you are in your business, will save you lots of wasted time, energy, and money and give you peace of mind. This will allow you to consistently grow and scale without the need to backtrack years later to fix costly mistakes that could have been easily avoided at the onset.

In this book, I share actual calls, messages, and DMs that I have received from concerned entrepreneurs just like you. All stories depicted in this book are based on true occurrences. The names of all persons mentioned have been altered to protect their privacy.

Ready to learn my five Legal Pillars so you can get Legally Bossed Up?

Let’s dive in!

The First Play

Your Property Shield

Legal Pillar #1

Protective Legal Structures

Can I pick your brain… the concerned Saturday night call

It was Saturday night, and I was getting ready for movie night with the family. I had my cell phone on silent. I just finished popping the popcorn. I was about to head downstairs to the family room with snacks in hand, ready to plop myself into my favorite reclining theater seat. At that moment, I looked over and saw my cell phone vibrating. I looked down to see who was calling and saw it was Tamie, someone I previously met in a coaching group. I thought, Hmmm it’s pretty odd of Tamie to be calling me on a Saturday night, so with growing curiosity, I answered the phone.

Tamie said, Hey Shevelle, I hate to bother you on a Saturday night, but I’m concerned about something that feels a little urgent, and I didn’t know who else to call. I have a quick question. Can I pick your brain?

I responded, Yes, I have a moment. What’s the problem?

Tamie went on to say, "As you know, I am a retired professor now operating a consulting company. What you don’t know is when I started my consulting business in 2011, to supplement my retirement income, my tax advisor said it would be easiest to set myself up as a sole proprietor, so that’s what I did. I’ve continued to operate my consultant business this way consistently since my retirement. I never set up a ‘formal’ business or got a separate federal tax number. I’ve just been running my business in my name using my social security number and depositing the payments I receive for my services into my personal account.

The good news is I’ve been very successful conducting workshops in various schools. The problem is my consulting business has evolved over the years, but my business set up has not. Now I am getting interest in licensing my online professional development packages to various school districts. In the last few weeks, requests have come in from across the country from large school districts proposing licensing contracts going for six figures each. I am awaiting the first official proposal to come in on Monday morning. I should be excited, but I’m actually scared to start signing these contracts in my name and without any formal business structure. I also don’t think these school districts know that I’m just a sole proprietor with no legal business entity. For some reason, I just don’t feel like I’m properly set up to scale my business to this next level, and I don’t know what to do. Are my concerns valid?

I responded by asking Tamie, Are you homeless?

She responded, What? Of course not! Why would you ask me that?

I replied, Before I answer that question, I want to know why you aren’t homeless?

Tamie said, That would be pretty dangerous, living on the street.

I then asked, Why would that be pretty dangerous? What would be your big concern?

She said, Big concern? That should be obvious—I could be an easy target for crime, I could freeze to death in a winter storm, I would be exposed to rain and all sorts of bad weather, I could get sick and have no safe place to recover, I’d have no safe place to store my valuable things like my clothes and jewelry … there would be so many concerns, and so many bad things could happen to me that I can’t even list them all. All I know is I need to protect myself with some type of shelter.

I said, EXACTLY! ALL your concerns for ‘shelter’ are valid! You need shelter to protect yourself from all the inherent danger you just described you would face if you were homeless.

I went on to