Seeing the Big Picture: Business Acumen to Build Your Credibility, Career, and Company

by Kevin Cope

Overview

The most successful business leaders are savvy businesspeople first and experts in their field second

An MBA in under 180 pages, Seeing the Big Picture simplifies the complexities of businesses large and small and shows you how a deep understanding of your company can help build the credibility and career you want. And it can make your work more fulfilling and purpose-driven by highlighting how you influence the success of your team, department, or organization.

All companies are driven to success or failure by the same five simple drivers: cash, profit, assets, growth, and people. Kevin Cope will help you appreciate how your day-to-day decisions can balance these drivers and contribute to the big picture of your organization’s success. You’ll discover the acumen you need to bring real value and passion to your work.

Whether you’re on the manufacturing floor or sitting in the corner office, you can learn how to follow the drivers through to measurable results—conquering your fear of numbers. Using Kevin’s simple explanations of the most important metrics presented in the income statement, the balance sheet, and the statement of cash flows, you’ll be able to quickly review financial reports for signs of success or impending doom.

Convincingly communicate your ideas to leaders, improve your team’s performance, even launch a successful business of your own. No matter your goal, give yourself the foundational knowledge every businessperson needs, and discover new strategies for proving your value.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781608322466
Publisher:	Greenleaf Book Group Press
Publication date:	03/06/2012
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Kevin Cope is not only a successful executive, he is also a trusted resource and confidant to top business leaders from around the world. For over 25 years, Kevin has promoted the idea that the brightest minds in business see the big picture without losing sight of the details, thrive despite uncertainties and complexities, and consistently make game-changing decisions that deliver results. In short, Kevin has promoted the idea that business acumen is an essential characteristic of a business leader. In 2002, Kevin Cope founded Acumen Learning, a boutique training company that has introduced their 5 Drivers business model to sixteen of the FORTUNE 50, helping them develop employees that drive and are driven by the business. Kevin is a sought after keynote speaker and author of Seeing the Big Picture, which has been praised by business leaders as a smart, insightful, and straightforward approach to understanding the business of business. Please visit www.seeingthebigpicture.com to learn more about Kevin and his ideas.

Interviews

Salt Lake City, UT

Editorial Reviews

Cope, founder of the training firm Acumen Learning, wants to help readers better understand their business, gain an edge, and move up the ranks. In clear terms, he introduces the five drivers of all companies—cash, profit, assets, growth, and people—with the book’s first half devoted to showing how each driver works and plays off of the others. Throughout, Cope provides context using both fictitious scenarios (a bicycle shop) and actual examples (General Mills, Apple, Google, and others). However, the book reads like little more than an introduction to financial analysis, though Cope offers concepts such as two types of customers (employees as “internal customers” and consumers as “external customers”) and answers to questions such as why good employees leave. Employees (or lower-level management) looking to understand the general contours of a company’s dynamic, the parts that make it up, and the role each plays in the bigger picture, should find this book helpful. However, those looking for more than a watered-down view of the principal drivers and financial workings of a company will have to look elsewhere. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

Consultant and first-time author Cope explains how entrepreneurs and employees should refocus their attention from daily tasks to the key drivers that influence all parts of a company. He uses real-world examples gleaned from two decades in consulting to show how the success of any company can be measured through five drivers: cash, profit, assets, growth, and people. The book is divided into two parts: the first defines the five drivers, and the second outlines how employees can use those drivers to interpret annual reports and balance sheets to gauge the viability of their organization. VERDICT This book will be too introductory for MBA students or executives versed in the teachings of Steven Covey, Jim Collins, and Peter Drucker. However, it may find an audience in lower-level managers who have begun to think about how they fit in a larger organization. Overall, this short, accessible introduction to reading business reports offers a way to gain insight into the health of an organization. Recommended.—John Rodzvilla, Emerson Coll., Boston

Library Journal