Introduction:
Dr. James Woods joined UHY Advisors FLVS last summer and is a Managing Director in the IP Litigation group based in Houston. Jim has earned his Ph.D. in Finance from the Mays Business School at Texas A&M University, and his MBA, Finance and Banking and BSBA from the University of Missouri. He has also been an Adjunct Professor at the University of Houston-Victoria. He is a Certified Licensing Professional. Prior to joining UHY, Jim was the Practice Leader of the Economic Advisory Services practice group (the FLVS equivalent) for the Houston office of Grant Thornton.
Over the past fifteen years, Jim has had a broad general practice, assisting clients with fraud investigations, valuation projects, intellectual asset management, and litigation matters. He is concentrating he practice now on intellectual property matters.
About what are you deeply passionate?
I am passionate about understanding how things work. I am one of those people that like those strange cable television shows like “How Things Work” because they explain how all sorts of common everyday items are manufactured. As a financial economist, I am also interested in how people work, how they make decisions. These interests translate well to IP litigation since it is often about analyzing in detail how things work and then applying economic theories to determine their value.
How did you come to that realization?
Finding my passion was a long journey. When I finished my PhD in finance, I graduated into one of the worst markets for new Ph.D.s. In prior years, there were usually approximately 100 new Ph.D.s applying for 120 to 150 job openings. The market always cleared and most people got to choose which position they would accept. However, when I graduated there were over 200 Ph.D.s applying for fewer than 100 jobs. Getting a job became competitive and the chances of landing your desired position decreased dramatically. This situation forced me to consider options beyond an academic career. Through fortuity and perhaps a bit on purpose, I happened to run into a professional at Price Waterhouse. After we spoke for awhile and he listened to what I was interested in, he suggested that I look into the Dispute Analysis and Corporate Recovery Practice “DACR” at PW.
I did a hard analysis of my future. If I accepted an academic position, it was unlikely that I could be a consultant, but if I accepted the consulting position and it did not work out, it was likely that I could land an academic position if the market improved. Also, quite frankly, the consulting work seemed more appealing. So I decided to accept the DACR opportunity at Price Waterhouse with the possibility of going back into academics if this did not work out.
At the time I thought I wanted to go into the bankruptcy practice because it was hot at the time and seemed like a good match for my background. I soon realized I did not like that practice area at all. I did not like to develop the financial scenarios that then dictated that I had to fire people I was working with and had gotten to know.
One day while in the Houston office, I was walking past an office where a partner and a couple of associates were talking about a case. The case involved how pagers worked. As it turns out, I knew something about this and had the gumption to stick my head into the office. I mentioned that I knew a little about how pagers work. They invited me in and the next thing I knew I was talking to a Motorola engineer in charge of pager design and development about how pagers conserve battery power. And just like that I was involved in IP. My personal passion for how things work and my pursuit of understanding in that area, along with my willingness to stick my head in that door, opened me up to what I found was a place for my personal passion to be exploited in my professional life.
I worked on several IP matters, but did many non-IP engagements. Ultimately, I was recruited to join Grant Thornton to be the practice leader of the EAS practice, which is basically the same as FLVS here. I tried to personally find IP cases to work on, but as practice leader I was involved in and at least oversaw all sorts of other cases – FCPA, Fraud, and Commercial Litigation of all kinds. I found that I really was not very passionate about being responsible for all of these different types of matters. To me, they all came with a lot of baggage, administrative requirements and effort. They were outside my personal expertise and so I had to do a lot of research to catch up, largely in areas in which I was not terribly interested.
The opportunity to concentrate on IP and work with a team dedicated to litigation support was a strong appeal and had a great deal of influence in my decision to join UHY. Even though I am concentrating my efforts on IP matters, I will still accept litigation cases if they come along, but I am focusing all of my marketing efforts on IP cases.
Why IP cases?
I grew up in a time when computer technology was just reaching the public and over time, this technology has bled into everything. I have always been interested in technology and this interest allowed me to understand the history and the process of growth from early computers to current more complex systems we use today.
IP was the connection point between my personal passion, figuring out how things work, and my professional passions for analyzing and presenting the financial and economic value of things.
To reach the top of that profession you have to become a true expert in that area. What have you done to make yourself a true expert in the area of IP Litigation damages analysis?
I read. I read a lot. I read everything that has to do with IP. For example there has been a big push in the Congress to reform IP laws. Even though this reform is only partially related to IP damages, I have followed the entire reform process. To be a true expert, you have to have a real depth of understanding of both IP law and the application of lost profits, reasonable royalty, economics and valuation theories related to intellectual property. I work hard to develop a strong understanding of the financial and legal issues related to IP and am willing to dig into everything I can find on these topics.
You were leading the entire EAS group at Grant Thornton. Why would you leave that position to join UHY?
This was truly a very difficult decision. My post-doctoral decisions were similar. What are my options? Where is Grant Thornton going? What is my future here? What is most interesting to me?
I could have stayed at Grant Thornton. While I was there we tripled in size. The firm liked me and supported me, but as the practice and the firm evolved I realized I would never have been able to focus on what I really wanted to do.
As GT grew, the number of conflicts increased. Grant Thornton management decided they were no longer interested in the $150,000 litigation case. They wanted to push the practice toward the big, multimillion dollar investigations and away from commercial litigation. Commercial litigation created conflicts and issues for all of the other areas of the practice, including audit and tax. They instead pushed for a full-suite approach to corporations, including compliance and international investigations. That meant that there could be no litigation opposing either a current client or any client they might consider going after in the future.
Once I came to the understanding that I could remain practice leader and not do what I loved to do, or find an opportunity where I could go back to doing the work I loved, IP damages litigation, the decision was much easier.
Do clients hire firms or professionals?
In litigation, they hire the professional because they are looking for an expert to help with their case. They want someone who knows what he is doing, but also someone they can work with. Having the support of an organization is important, but when it comes to IP litigation, they hire passionate experts.
So now you are here and working to focus your practice in the area of IP Litigation Damages. How are you going about doing that?
It has been rather easy. With Ron Vollmar and Wayne Hoeberlein, both already recognized IP litigation damages experts with UHY Advisors, there is a strong emphasis in the area and a lot of passion in the practice group. All of the cases I have been hired on as an expert for at FLVS, but one, have been IP litigation cases. It is good to know that if cases outside my area of expertise come in I have very strong group of professionals I can refer the work to. That is an advantage of being with a firm that is focused on driving expertise like UHY Advisors FLVS.
When you meet with attorneys, how does that meeting usually go?
There are different types of people; some are all business and want to talk about the case at hand and nothing else and others want to become “friends” first. You have to roll with the conversation and be willing to carry the discussion whichever way the potential clients needs it to go. Most important, make sure that you “connect” with the person.
UHY Advisors has a strong Business Development team and they are great for setting up introductions and meetings. That is certainly a huge help, but networking, meeting people and securing opportunities is ultimately up to me and every professional and I take that seriously. I attend the HIPLA, LES and other organizational luncheons where attorneys I need to meet will be. I am not uncomfortable asking one person to introduce me to other people and I work hard to reciprocate. Again, the key is to establish and develop strong relationships. Be genuinely interested what people have to say. Asking them about their services and what they are looking for. Take a genuine interest in other people and figure out how you can help them.
Advice on Building a Practice.
This is a tremendous time to access knowledge. My daughter is 10. She was watching Seinfeld and asked if Julia Louis Dreyfuss was still alive. My wife and I were taken aback until we looked at the scene. No cell phones. Telephones on wires. Pay phones. No computers at all, much less lap tops. The technology is so dramatically different in just the last 15 years. It must have looked to her like something from the Dark Ages.
We, as professionals, need to adapt quickly. We have to take advantage of new technologies and access to information. At any moment you can read the most powerful experts in the world in your field of interest in just seconds. Just be curious and read everything you can find in the area of your passion.
How important is the past?
In most high tech areas, knowledge of the past is not that important. Things change too quickly.
But in the law, history can be important. If you are interested in an area of the law, you really should go back and look at the development of the law to uncover the underlying assumptions and the issues that arose over time to gain an understanding as to how the caselaw has evolved and why it is as it is today. Ron Vollmar and I recently published an article that required us to go back into the 1800s to trace the evolution of the Entire Market Value Theory. We uncovered some interesting aspects of its origin and the twists that occurred in the caselaw and legislation that led to the current interpretation. We were able to apply that to some recent cases and explain that maybe the justices were trying to return to previous definitions of the Entire Market Value Rule rather than develop new definitions. Incidentally, this article was published as the feature in two very prominent IP journals, IP Litigator and The Licensing Journal. It really helps to understand why the law is the way it is today and you can only do that by reading about the past.
Find your passion, which involves the tasks and concepts you love. Then find that vocation in which you can do those things. Finally, make the hard choices to focus your practice on what you love to do most. Because you love the work, you will become an expert, and that combined with passion and a genuine interest in helping people, leads to opportunities to do what you love.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
Following Your Passion to Become a World Class Expert - An Interview with Derivatives Expert Dr. Thomas Murphy
Being passionate about what you do is only part of the process of becoming a true rain maker. Once one finds their passion, he or she must become a true expert in that area. Tom Murphy is a Principal in the UHY Advisors FLVS New York office. He is a world renowned expert on derivatives. He holds a degree in chemical engineering, an MBA in accounting, a PhD in Finance, and a Juris Doctorate. He has spoken around the world on derivatives over the years in London, Amsterdam, Paris, Geneva, Copenhagen, and Hong Kong. But that is not what makes him an expert, nor is it how he got there.
Dr. Murphy, tell us how your career began.
I began my career as a chemical engineer with E. I. DuPont de Nemours, and my initial assignment was at a polymer products plant where I ran experiments to improve yield and quality. I really enjoyed both the technical aspects of the work and the interaction with the manufacturing division. As I worked hard at each assignment with DuPont, I was promoted through a series of positions in engineering, manufacturing, marketing, and research. This gave me a broad view of how businesses work. I became very interested in the capital investment process and finance. To get to the next level at DuPont, I needed an MBA degree, so I returned to graduate school where I majored in accounting. I discovered that accounting had many of the same concepts that I learned in engineering. I was also very intrigued with quantitative finance, especially option theory and its application to real assets and management decisions. My dissertation was inspired by Lenos Trigeorgis, who earned his doctorate at Harvard as I was starting my PhD program. This was an interdisciplinary area of finance where the “light bulb” came on for me, and I pursued my passion with a dual doctoral degree program: PhD in Finance; and JD in Law at Syracuse University.
After I secured my PhD I moved to Houston and worked for a large energy industrial gas company and began to analyze and understand the vast application of derivative theory in business decisions and in setting strategy. I decided I wanted to learn more, but rather than taking more classes, I decided to teach and do research. I became a professor of finance at Kansas State University. I used this time to become an even stronger expert on derivatives and the depth of their application. Teaching students about derivatives, how to recognize them, and how to use them to make complex decisions was a way to focus my knowledge and learn to convey it to those not completely immersed in the topic.
I helped some start-ups get going from the university and realized I needed to get back into the “real world.” I joined the Deloite & Touche Energy practice in Houston, working with clients to help them analyze the many derivatives involved in that business. Quite a few of these companies were dependant on Enron and when that failed, due largely to very poor use of and control over derivatives, many of them failed as well. I joined Ernst & Young’s Valuation practice where I applied option models to complex securities and structures. I then received the unique opportunity to join my mentor Lenos Trigeorgis in the Real Options Group where I met Michael Brennan, Myron Scholes, Robert Pindyck, Mark Rubinstein, Alexander Triantis, Tom Copeland, Vladimir Antikarov, and Valery Kholodnyi which was very exciting, then to Charles Rivers Associates and finally to UHY Advisors to run the Derivatives group here.
As briefly as possible, when we say you are an expert in derivatives, what do we mean? What is a “derivative” and what do you do with them?
In the simplest of terms, a derivative is anything that derives its value from something else, or a bundle of other things. Derivatives include options, futures, financial structures, equity, contracts having flexible terms and conditions, or tangible assets like oil refineries, electrical power generation, twin fuel boilers, etc. As inputs and outputs face risk and uncertainty, these assets have flexibility to switch. Occasionally, of course, extreme events such as 9/11 occur and even these have to be factored into derivatives.
Flexibility is the key to derivatives. Derivatives affect the valuation and optimal strategy of everything we do in virtually any industry, from the obvious such as the finance and insurance industries to the less obvious such as IP, energy, construction, industrial processes, markets and the like. I identify the derivatives, create models to quantify as many variables as possible, and then help clients understand how to work with them to create forward-looking strategies based on high quality information.
You have a passion in the area of derivatives. How did that happen?
I can identify a lot with what Jeffrey Harfenist said last week. Finding your passion is something that happens with both a bit of happenstance and from the dogged pursuit of those things about which we are extremely interested. As we explore, we become more exposed to the intricacies and opportunities within an area of interest, and eventually we may find that area that lights that light, and the rest is history.
That happened to me as I was trying to figure out what I would write my PhD dissertation on. I was searching through abstracts of other dissertations and ran across Lenos Trigeorgis’ abstract on real options. After I read this, I literally ran to my professor and exclaimed that this was the area I wanted to work in. My professor was stunned and perhaps a bit disappointed. He cut me off and suggested that I was crazy. “Real options?” he asked. “Why would you want to do this?” I told him that as an engineer I could see how this worked in real life situations. The concept tied all of my experiences together, from being an engineer with DuPont, through accounting, intellectual property, and the law. My dissertation was on the intellectual property portfolios and R&D projects in the pharmaceutical industry. This was when I found my true love of complex financial modeling and derivatives.
After that “Ah-hah” moment, how did you then go about becoming a World Class expert in derivatives?
First let me say that I appreciate you referring to me as a world class expert in derivatives, and I suppose I am, but it is critical to remain humble because one is never truly the Best in the World at anything and as soon as you believe you are, someone will pass you by like you are standing still.
I absolutely love complex financial models. Experts are those, like me, who are never satisfied with what they know and are focused on an area they love deeply and others need. I never give up. I pursue the field with dedication. The deeper I got into it the more I found it to be fascinating and ever-changing.
I obviously pursued my dreams through education and academia. I read extensively, purchasing and studying at least three hard texts on various relevant issues a month. I found those recognized as the best and listened to them at conferences. I have written on the concepts. I have developed first impression models of areas never before addressed. I speak whenever I can and have presented around the world from Hong Kong to London to Miami. My doctorate, my professorship, my presence as a speaker and writer, and I suppose my gumption, has allowed me to meet Nobel Prize winners and the creators of some of the tools used by experts. I took what I learned and applied it to a client’s problem and then extended beyond that. In consulting I was allowed to take all the best from academia and apply it and build upon it in real life projects. This is more than what a professor gets to see.
To me an “expert” is one who has found something about which he or she is deeply passionate and then relentlessly pursues its study and application. Under that definition, I am an expert.
Many experts are merely academics. What are your thoughts on business development? How did you build your business and grow it?
Business development and growing a practice is the essence of what I do. At DuPont I was exposed to exciting real life projects. When I moved into academia I loved the extended study of theory, but I truly missed the complex problems of the real world. It is only through working with clients in their complicated problems that I find new ways to use quantitative modeling.
When did you land your first client?
I was in graduate school when “SWORD” securities were developed. The Pharmaceutical company, Centocor, had several parts of their R&D portfolio that they knew would take years to go from Phase 1 research through Phase 3 testing and then through the rigors of FDA approval and ultimately the true test of commercial viability. Modeling that process was fascinating.
As I was finishing my Ph.D., the energy industry began to be de-regulated. This opened up huge area for analysis. As energy companies began to compete with each other, prices fluctuated based on myriad variables. I became quite involved in the derivatives in the energy industry. If derivatives are used in the right way, they can help companies make wise decisions about strategies that shape the company’s future. As a result, I tend to have clients for a very long period of time.
Complex models are a common theme throughout my career.
Most people are not passionate about derivatives. How would you advise young professionals on finding THEIR unique passions?
As a professor, students would talk to me about career decisions. I would tell them to think about all the things that they have done and which ones they enjoyed the most. A lot of leading edge work happens at the boundaries of disciplines. Passions are not based upon what’s popular at the moment, but rather on fundamental skills and abilities that can be applied to solve a variety of problems. In my case this is has spanned energy, financials, commodities, risk, and strategy.
Do not think in terms of a mono-line career. Instead relentlessly pursue what you love. Explore the edges. Follow divergent paths until you find, through a combination of intent and fortuity, that path you are passionate about.
Bottom line: find those things you love to do; and identify those things that you are naturally very good at. These combinations will lead you to the right path. Push it to its limits and explore all the edges.
The world changes. The things that stay the same are our ability to do what we do best, to answer certain types of questions, and analyze things in a certain way. Learn those skills you love and can be great at and apply them to every new scenario.
Be relentless in pursuit of your passion. You will discover the way to make money doing what you love most in the world and can be best in the world at. Practice, practice, and practice some more. Read, explore, try, do. Keep working at it. When you can feel it, go for it.
Dr. Murphy, tell us how your career began.
I began my career as a chemical engineer with E. I. DuPont de Nemours, and my initial assignment was at a polymer products plant where I ran experiments to improve yield and quality. I really enjoyed both the technical aspects of the work and the interaction with the manufacturing division. As I worked hard at each assignment with DuPont, I was promoted through a series of positions in engineering, manufacturing, marketing, and research. This gave me a broad view of how businesses work. I became very interested in the capital investment process and finance. To get to the next level at DuPont, I needed an MBA degree, so I returned to graduate school where I majored in accounting. I discovered that accounting had many of the same concepts that I learned in engineering. I was also very intrigued with quantitative finance, especially option theory and its application to real assets and management decisions. My dissertation was inspired by Lenos Trigeorgis, who earned his doctorate at Harvard as I was starting my PhD program. This was an interdisciplinary area of finance where the “light bulb” came on for me, and I pursued my passion with a dual doctoral degree program: PhD in Finance; and JD in Law at Syracuse University.
After I secured my PhD I moved to Houston and worked for a large energy industrial gas company and began to analyze and understand the vast application of derivative theory in business decisions and in setting strategy. I decided I wanted to learn more, but rather than taking more classes, I decided to teach and do research. I became a professor of finance at Kansas State University. I used this time to become an even stronger expert on derivatives and the depth of their application. Teaching students about derivatives, how to recognize them, and how to use them to make complex decisions was a way to focus my knowledge and learn to convey it to those not completely immersed in the topic.
I helped some start-ups get going from the university and realized I needed to get back into the “real world.” I joined the Deloite & Touche Energy practice in Houston, working with clients to help them analyze the many derivatives involved in that business. Quite a few of these companies were dependant on Enron and when that failed, due largely to very poor use of and control over derivatives, many of them failed as well. I joined Ernst & Young’s Valuation practice where I applied option models to complex securities and structures. I then received the unique opportunity to join my mentor Lenos Trigeorgis in the Real Options Group where I met Michael Brennan, Myron Scholes, Robert Pindyck, Mark Rubinstein, Alexander Triantis, Tom Copeland, Vladimir Antikarov, and Valery Kholodnyi which was very exciting, then to Charles Rivers Associates and finally to UHY Advisors to run the Derivatives group here.
As briefly as possible, when we say you are an expert in derivatives, what do we mean? What is a “derivative” and what do you do with them?
In the simplest of terms, a derivative is anything that derives its value from something else, or a bundle of other things. Derivatives include options, futures, financial structures, equity, contracts having flexible terms and conditions, or tangible assets like oil refineries, electrical power generation, twin fuel boilers, etc. As inputs and outputs face risk and uncertainty, these assets have flexibility to switch. Occasionally, of course, extreme events such as 9/11 occur and even these have to be factored into derivatives.
Flexibility is the key to derivatives. Derivatives affect the valuation and optimal strategy of everything we do in virtually any industry, from the obvious such as the finance and insurance industries to the less obvious such as IP, energy, construction, industrial processes, markets and the like. I identify the derivatives, create models to quantify as many variables as possible, and then help clients understand how to work with them to create forward-looking strategies based on high quality information.
You have a passion in the area of derivatives. How did that happen?
I can identify a lot with what Jeffrey Harfenist said last week. Finding your passion is something that happens with both a bit of happenstance and from the dogged pursuit of those things about which we are extremely interested. As we explore, we become more exposed to the intricacies and opportunities within an area of interest, and eventually we may find that area that lights that light, and the rest is history.
That happened to me as I was trying to figure out what I would write my PhD dissertation on. I was searching through abstracts of other dissertations and ran across Lenos Trigeorgis’ abstract on real options. After I read this, I literally ran to my professor and exclaimed that this was the area I wanted to work in. My professor was stunned and perhaps a bit disappointed. He cut me off and suggested that I was crazy. “Real options?” he asked. “Why would you want to do this?” I told him that as an engineer I could see how this worked in real life situations. The concept tied all of my experiences together, from being an engineer with DuPont, through accounting, intellectual property, and the law. My dissertation was on the intellectual property portfolios and R&D projects in the pharmaceutical industry. This was when I found my true love of complex financial modeling and derivatives.
After that “Ah-hah” moment, how did you then go about becoming a World Class expert in derivatives?
First let me say that I appreciate you referring to me as a world class expert in derivatives, and I suppose I am, but it is critical to remain humble because one is never truly the Best in the World at anything and as soon as you believe you are, someone will pass you by like you are standing still.
I absolutely love complex financial models. Experts are those, like me, who are never satisfied with what they know and are focused on an area they love deeply and others need. I never give up. I pursue the field with dedication. The deeper I got into it the more I found it to be fascinating and ever-changing.
I obviously pursued my dreams through education and academia. I read extensively, purchasing and studying at least three hard texts on various relevant issues a month. I found those recognized as the best and listened to them at conferences. I have written on the concepts. I have developed first impression models of areas never before addressed. I speak whenever I can and have presented around the world from Hong Kong to London to Miami. My doctorate, my professorship, my presence as a speaker and writer, and I suppose my gumption, has allowed me to meet Nobel Prize winners and the creators of some of the tools used by experts. I took what I learned and applied it to a client’s problem and then extended beyond that. In consulting I was allowed to take all the best from academia and apply it and build upon it in real life projects. This is more than what a professor gets to see.
To me an “expert” is one who has found something about which he or she is deeply passionate and then relentlessly pursues its study and application. Under that definition, I am an expert.
Many experts are merely academics. What are your thoughts on business development? How did you build your business and grow it?
Business development and growing a practice is the essence of what I do. At DuPont I was exposed to exciting real life projects. When I moved into academia I loved the extended study of theory, but I truly missed the complex problems of the real world. It is only through working with clients in their complicated problems that I find new ways to use quantitative modeling.
When did you land your first client?
I was in graduate school when “SWORD” securities were developed. The Pharmaceutical company, Centocor, had several parts of their R&D portfolio that they knew would take years to go from Phase 1 research through Phase 3 testing and then through the rigors of FDA approval and ultimately the true test of commercial viability. Modeling that process was fascinating.
As I was finishing my Ph.D., the energy industry began to be de-regulated. This opened up huge area for analysis. As energy companies began to compete with each other, prices fluctuated based on myriad variables. I became quite involved in the derivatives in the energy industry. If derivatives are used in the right way, they can help companies make wise decisions about strategies that shape the company’s future. As a result, I tend to have clients for a very long period of time.
Complex models are a common theme throughout my career.
Most people are not passionate about derivatives. How would you advise young professionals on finding THEIR unique passions?
As a professor, students would talk to me about career decisions. I would tell them to think about all the things that they have done and which ones they enjoyed the most. A lot of leading edge work happens at the boundaries of disciplines. Passions are not based upon what’s popular at the moment, but rather on fundamental skills and abilities that can be applied to solve a variety of problems. In my case this is has spanned energy, financials, commodities, risk, and strategy.
Do not think in terms of a mono-line career. Instead relentlessly pursue what you love. Explore the edges. Follow divergent paths until you find, through a combination of intent and fortuity, that path you are passionate about.
Bottom line: find those things you love to do; and identify those things that you are naturally very good at. These combinations will lead you to the right path. Push it to its limits and explore all the edges.
The world changes. The things that stay the same are our ability to do what we do best, to answer certain types of questions, and analyze things in a certain way. Learn those skills you love and can be great at and apply them to every new scenario.
Be relentless in pursuit of your passion. You will discover the way to make money doing what you love most in the world and can be best in the world at. Practice, practice, and practice some more. Read, explore, try, do. Keep working at it. When you can feel it, go for it.
Friday, March 12, 2010
First Tip of the Week: Minimums to Becoming a Partner in a Professional Services Firm
No guarantees, but to become an equity partner in a professional services firm, in my opinion, one needs to shoot for and accomplish ALL three of the following:
1. Strong Network: Have a strong network of contacts and relationships with literally Hundreds of people, out of which you have 10 – 20 champions:
a. with whom you have deep integrity;
b. who have integrity and some influence within their firms or industries; and
c. most important, who care about your success, at least as much as you have proven to them that you care deeply about their success (the “Golden Rule” adjusted slightly).
2. Expertise: You are a true expert in your field.
a. Learn, read, and listen to the best religiously; and
b. Write and speak as often as you can to anyone who will listen; and
c. perform flawlessly with phenomenal customer service.
3. Bring in Business: Show that you can bring in at least $1,000,000 per year in business, whether you do all the work or not.
a. Your relationships are as they seem above because you generate business from them.
b. Your expertise is developed to the extent that clients seek you out and you are hired for bigger cases that pay more.
c. You can lead an engagement successfully.
d. You have a dedicated team who will perform for you.
As Sam Walton said, every “overnight success” is “twenty years in the making.”
Start now in earnest.
Network, network, network with anyone and everyone – focusing as you grow.
Go out of your way to help other people.
It ALL starts with number 1 above.
You cannot get to 3 without both 1 and 2 handled.
If you do not get to 3, you will not become a partner.
1. Strong Network: Have a strong network of contacts and relationships with literally Hundreds of people, out of which you have 10 – 20 champions:
a. with whom you have deep integrity;
b. who have integrity and some influence within their firms or industries; and
c. most important, who care about your success, at least as much as you have proven to them that you care deeply about their success (the “Golden Rule” adjusted slightly).
2. Expertise: You are a true expert in your field.
a. Learn, read, and listen to the best religiously; and
b. Write and speak as often as you can to anyone who will listen; and
c. perform flawlessly with phenomenal customer service.
3. Bring in Business: Show that you can bring in at least $1,000,000 per year in business, whether you do all the work or not.
a. Your relationships are as they seem above because you generate business from them.
b. Your expertise is developed to the extent that clients seek you out and you are hired for bigger cases that pay more.
c. You can lead an engagement successfully.
d. You have a dedicated team who will perform for you.
As Sam Walton said, every “overnight success” is “twenty years in the making.”
Start now in earnest.
Network, network, network with anyone and everyone – focusing as you grow.
Go out of your way to help other people.
It ALL starts with number 1 above.
You cannot get to 3 without both 1 and 2 handled.
If you do not get to 3, you will not become a partner.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
How a True Expert Found His Passion - Interview with Jeffrey Harfenist
One of the most important and often most difficult steps in the process of becoming a true rain-maker is to find that area about which you are deeply passionate. One of the most prominent rain-makers in UHY Advisors FLVS, Inc. is Jeffrey Harfenist, the National Practice Leader for the Fraud & Forensics Practice and a extensively published expert on Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and international fraud investigations.
This is his story.
How did your practice begin?
When I started thirty years ago there was no such thing as litigation support in the practice of public accounting. I had my CPA and was an auditor. I knew that was not the challenge I was looking for in my career.
Early on an attorney I knew called me regarding a few cases he had. He wanted help with the financial side to them. We talked and I helped him. Eventually he needed an expert to testify in court on these issues and he hired me. When I landed that very first case I was hooked.
I immediately found that being a litigation damages expert and then working with attorneys on other financial issues involved in their cases or transactions was, and is, intellectually challenging and gives you a great deal of variety.
What characteristics must you have to work in this field?
You have to be fearless – you will be put into situations and asked to analyze things that you may at times not be comfortable with. You have to believe in yourself and do the hard work to get it right and then you must be able to present it in a way that the attorneys, their clients and most importantly, juries, can understand.
It is important, therefore, to know your weaknesses. We all like to do what we are good at, but it is perhaps more important to know what you are not good at. You then have to take the steps to correct that, do the research, practice, ask experts in the area, and whatever it takes to overcome that weakness.
You must be an excellent communicator – both in terms of the written and spoken word. When I was younger I took creative writing classes to help me write more effectively. As an accountant that was not part of the curriculum in college. My target clients, attorneys, are masters of the word so to play in their space I had to learn to write properly and write well.
Speaking. Peoples’ greatest fear is speaking in front of people. It is rated higher than death and cancer. If you are going to practice in this area you simply cannot fear this. You must speak in front of attorneys in depositions and in a courtroom and be able to handle harsh cross-examinations. If you cannot speak clearly in that venue and articulate your points in a way that the non-experts in the jury can understand, you cannot build this practice.
You also build your business by doing public speaking. The potential client in the audience is not only looking at the quality of the material you present, but also at how you are presenting it. Is your presentation knowledgeable and comprehensive yet understandable for the level of the audience? I recommend that young professionals speak as often as possible. I joined Toastmasters where I was forced to speak on rather random topics at a moments notice. This really helped me develop the ability to think clearly on my feet and then present in a cogent manner.
How did you build your business?
Networking, networking, networking.
Once I figured out what I wanted to do, I got out of the office and met a great many attorneys. I built relationships. I listened and cared and followed through for those I met. I used my connections to meet other attorneys. I attended Bar Assn events and secured as many opportunities to present in the CLEs they offered as I could land. I spoke on anything related to accounting and the law.
I believe you have to develop an advocate in each firm. A person who wants you to succeed and is willing to introduce you within the firm and more than that, promote you within the firm. Early in my career I found a person like that in an insurance defense firm. He introduced me around and I started getting small cases where there were lost profits in an auto accident case, for examples, because the injured person owned a business and because of his injuries could not operate it. Tremendous experience for me as a young expert.
My advocate introduced me to others in other firms. I developed more advocates in those firms who introduced me to others. This took many years. I now have several hundred contacts in my network, but I would count only around a dozen as true champions for me. They are all carefully-chosen, cultivated through reciprocity by me in any way I could. They have served me well and I hope I have done the same for them. Start with one person you trust, who trusts you and has at least some influence in his or her firm and build from there.
Your job as an expert witness is not to advocate for the client. That is the attorney’s job. Your job is to take complex financial issues based on the facts that you know, often inserted into economic models, and try to educate a jury as to what they actually mean in relation do this case, which is hard enough. Do not rely on representations from an attorney that you cannot verify are facts. I sat in on a deposition a while back of an expert who relied on representations that her attorneys had provided her. She obviously had not reviewed the facts and the documents. She was destroyed.
When I was just getting started I learned this and other things, the hard way. I was being deposed by a veteran attorney. I was filleted every way possible. I was not quite as prepared as I should have been. I talked too much. I tried to impress him with my brilliance. He spoke softly and guided me into trap after trap after trap. I learned a great deal that day.
As you choose who your clients will be, make very good decisions. Your advocates can be a great help in this regard. Make sure clients have integrity and do things the right way. Have a healthy skepticism. It takes a long time to develop a reputation and only an instance to destroy it.
How did you find that your passion was fraud and anti-corruption investigations?
My path into this profession was somewhat opportunistic and somewhat by design. I reached a point in my career where I no longer found the expert witness work to be stimulating. I wanted something new. Prior to joining UHY Advisors FLVS I had an opportunity to investigate a fraudulent insurance agent. It was a fairly simple but ingenious plot. During that experience, in the late 1980s, I discovered that this was incredibly fascinating. It was many years after that before I got the opportunity to do that again. Early in this decade, UHY Advisors was hired to perform the international investigation of TYCO. I was put in charge of a major portion of the work and that got me started and I have never looked back.
Fraud and corruption investigations are a marriage of everything we know as accountants combined with the study of human nature. What makes someone cross over that line? We are presented every day with opportunities to make bad decisions, but 99% of us never take that fateful step. What causes that 1% to make really bad decisions?
It was stunning in TYCO that someone making $40 million in legitimate annual pay decided to steal from the government and the company. The case began because the CEO refused to pay sales taxes on some paintings he purchased in a public auction. It then mushroomed into one of the largest international fraud investigations in history.
Fraud is solving a puzzle times twenty with human nature injected into the equation and I love it. I love to figure out the puzzle. The more complex the better. I love taking seemingly disparate bits of information and figuring it out so that it all coalesces into an “Ah-hah moment” where you realize “that’s how they did it.” Then you dig and dig until you uncover the entire trail.
You are a renowned expert in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act investigations. How did you get into that line of work?
Four years ago go, through networking connections and quality work for a firm I got my first shot at an FCPA case. I had done TYCO and other international fraud cases, so the FCPA investigation was a logical next step and that was just heating up at that time. International anti-corruption and fraud cases have all the challenges of the typical fraud or embezzlement case with an international flavor. I love to travel. Added to the traditional human component is local culture and tradition. Corruption has been the way business has been done in most countries for centuries. The puzzles were even more complex. Who are the people and how are they going to accomplish things under the environment they work in?
I have been doing this 30 years. When I look back I think about the experiences I had early on that I thought were a waste of my time. Every one ended up allowing me to develop a very beneficial skill set that I have reached back on. These early exercises build the arsenal of tools that you have in your toolbox to use as the next thing comes along.
How did you become an expert, world class practitioner?
As I mentioned, I spoke anywhere and everywhere on any topic to develop public speaking skills. I went down to the Houston Bar events and spoke as often as possible. Most do not listen, but the key is to speak. Speaking so often made me very comfortable in front of people. I love it now. I consider it a great challenge to convey complex concepts to “ordinary” people. I practiced for hours. I tried to anticipate the questions the audience would ask.
I am a voracious reader. I subscribe to every business publication there is. I read them in depth. This area changes constantly. You have to see the future and be able to re-invent yourself to be able to manage change. The basic skill sets do not change much – managing an investigation is the same no matter what investigation you are running – but you have to understand what needs to be investigated.
I write lots of articles and get them published in prominent Journals all around the world. You have to get your name out there as an expert and then once you get an opportunity, you have to prove that you really know what you are doing.
Provide world class service. You have to not only perform technically but you have to provide phenomenal customer service so that they come back to you and recommend you to their colleagues and peers. The client is going on faith when they hire you. Speaking a lot and writing a lot helps to give you the shot. Delivering the goods at 110% allows you to get future work.
How critical is it to be passionate about what you do?
There is no way I could be where I am without the passion I feel for the work. You can be good for a sprint, I suppose like I was in damages testimony. To win the marathon you have to be relentless and the only way you can be relentless is to truly love what you are doing.
A few years ago I spoke at a webinar with a prominent Washington DC anti-corruption attorney. I stayed after him for years. I never heard any response from him. Not one word. A couple of weeks ago an associate at the firm contacted me. I mentioned that I had spoken with the attorney several years prior, and the associate told me that it was that attorney who had instructed him to call me. Three years later an opportunity finally came of my effort.
Passion gives you the ability to stay persistent.
How Important are Credentials?
They are more important now than they were when I started, but they will not make you. You hope that having the right ones will help you avoid being disqualified before you even get a chance. If they have three options and the other two have all the” important” credentials and you do not, you may not even get in the game. Some credentials, of course, hold more weight than others.
I am a CPA and an MBA. I will never know, though, how many opportunities I did not get because I did not have some other credentials. Choose those credentials that have true gravitas.
What advice can you give younger professionals about Networking?
Find things you like and join an organization on that topic. If you like photography, join a photography club. There will be potential clients in that club and you will have something in common and can build relationships that way.
Our game is a numbers game. You have to meet a lot of people. The more people you know the higher the likelihood that someone will need you.
The Texas Bar is critical. Go to Bar events.
Join charities. Lawyers sit on charitable boards.
Call attorneys and go to lunch.
Practice your pitch. The more you practice it the more easily it will flow when you find yourself sitting on a plane next to a potential client.
Becoming a rain-maker is not rocket science. It is hard work and dedication. That being said, you simply cannot get there without first finding your passion. You will not do what is required of you long enough if you do not find your true and deep passions. Take your time. You will need it.
Thank you Jeffrey for your time.
This is his story.
How did your practice begin?
When I started thirty years ago there was no such thing as litigation support in the practice of public accounting. I had my CPA and was an auditor. I knew that was not the challenge I was looking for in my career.
Early on an attorney I knew called me regarding a few cases he had. He wanted help with the financial side to them. We talked and I helped him. Eventually he needed an expert to testify in court on these issues and he hired me. When I landed that very first case I was hooked.
I immediately found that being a litigation damages expert and then working with attorneys on other financial issues involved in their cases or transactions was, and is, intellectually challenging and gives you a great deal of variety.
What characteristics must you have to work in this field?
You have to be fearless – you will be put into situations and asked to analyze things that you may at times not be comfortable with. You have to believe in yourself and do the hard work to get it right and then you must be able to present it in a way that the attorneys, their clients and most importantly, juries, can understand.
It is important, therefore, to know your weaknesses. We all like to do what we are good at, but it is perhaps more important to know what you are not good at. You then have to take the steps to correct that, do the research, practice, ask experts in the area, and whatever it takes to overcome that weakness.
You must be an excellent communicator – both in terms of the written and spoken word. When I was younger I took creative writing classes to help me write more effectively. As an accountant that was not part of the curriculum in college. My target clients, attorneys, are masters of the word so to play in their space I had to learn to write properly and write well.
Speaking. Peoples’ greatest fear is speaking in front of people. It is rated higher than death and cancer. If you are going to practice in this area you simply cannot fear this. You must speak in front of attorneys in depositions and in a courtroom and be able to handle harsh cross-examinations. If you cannot speak clearly in that venue and articulate your points in a way that the non-experts in the jury can understand, you cannot build this practice.
You also build your business by doing public speaking. The potential client in the audience is not only looking at the quality of the material you present, but also at how you are presenting it. Is your presentation knowledgeable and comprehensive yet understandable for the level of the audience? I recommend that young professionals speak as often as possible. I joined Toastmasters where I was forced to speak on rather random topics at a moments notice. This really helped me develop the ability to think clearly on my feet and then present in a cogent manner.
How did you build your business?
Networking, networking, networking.
Once I figured out what I wanted to do, I got out of the office and met a great many attorneys. I built relationships. I listened and cared and followed through for those I met. I used my connections to meet other attorneys. I attended Bar Assn events and secured as many opportunities to present in the CLEs they offered as I could land. I spoke on anything related to accounting and the law.
I believe you have to develop an advocate in each firm. A person who wants you to succeed and is willing to introduce you within the firm and more than that, promote you within the firm. Early in my career I found a person like that in an insurance defense firm. He introduced me around and I started getting small cases where there were lost profits in an auto accident case, for examples, because the injured person owned a business and because of his injuries could not operate it. Tremendous experience for me as a young expert.
My advocate introduced me to others in other firms. I developed more advocates in those firms who introduced me to others. This took many years. I now have several hundred contacts in my network, but I would count only around a dozen as true champions for me. They are all carefully-chosen, cultivated through reciprocity by me in any way I could. They have served me well and I hope I have done the same for them. Start with one person you trust, who trusts you and has at least some influence in his or her firm and build from there.
Your job as an expert witness is not to advocate for the client. That is the attorney’s job. Your job is to take complex financial issues based on the facts that you know, often inserted into economic models, and try to educate a jury as to what they actually mean in relation do this case, which is hard enough. Do not rely on representations from an attorney that you cannot verify are facts. I sat in on a deposition a while back of an expert who relied on representations that her attorneys had provided her. She obviously had not reviewed the facts and the documents. She was destroyed.
When I was just getting started I learned this and other things, the hard way. I was being deposed by a veteran attorney. I was filleted every way possible. I was not quite as prepared as I should have been. I talked too much. I tried to impress him with my brilliance. He spoke softly and guided me into trap after trap after trap. I learned a great deal that day.
As you choose who your clients will be, make very good decisions. Your advocates can be a great help in this regard. Make sure clients have integrity and do things the right way. Have a healthy skepticism. It takes a long time to develop a reputation and only an instance to destroy it.
How did you find that your passion was fraud and anti-corruption investigations?
My path into this profession was somewhat opportunistic and somewhat by design. I reached a point in my career where I no longer found the expert witness work to be stimulating. I wanted something new. Prior to joining UHY Advisors FLVS I had an opportunity to investigate a fraudulent insurance agent. It was a fairly simple but ingenious plot. During that experience, in the late 1980s, I discovered that this was incredibly fascinating. It was many years after that before I got the opportunity to do that again. Early in this decade, UHY Advisors was hired to perform the international investigation of TYCO. I was put in charge of a major portion of the work and that got me started and I have never looked back.
Fraud and corruption investigations are a marriage of everything we know as accountants combined with the study of human nature. What makes someone cross over that line? We are presented every day with opportunities to make bad decisions, but 99% of us never take that fateful step. What causes that 1% to make really bad decisions?
It was stunning in TYCO that someone making $40 million in legitimate annual pay decided to steal from the government and the company. The case began because the CEO refused to pay sales taxes on some paintings he purchased in a public auction. It then mushroomed into one of the largest international fraud investigations in history.
Fraud is solving a puzzle times twenty with human nature injected into the equation and I love it. I love to figure out the puzzle. The more complex the better. I love taking seemingly disparate bits of information and figuring it out so that it all coalesces into an “Ah-hah moment” where you realize “that’s how they did it.” Then you dig and dig until you uncover the entire trail.
You are a renowned expert in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act investigations. How did you get into that line of work?
Four years ago go, through networking connections and quality work for a firm I got my first shot at an FCPA case. I had done TYCO and other international fraud cases, so the FCPA investigation was a logical next step and that was just heating up at that time. International anti-corruption and fraud cases have all the challenges of the typical fraud or embezzlement case with an international flavor. I love to travel. Added to the traditional human component is local culture and tradition. Corruption has been the way business has been done in most countries for centuries. The puzzles were even more complex. Who are the people and how are they going to accomplish things under the environment they work in?
I have been doing this 30 years. When I look back I think about the experiences I had early on that I thought were a waste of my time. Every one ended up allowing me to develop a very beneficial skill set that I have reached back on. These early exercises build the arsenal of tools that you have in your toolbox to use as the next thing comes along.
How did you become an expert, world class practitioner?
As I mentioned, I spoke anywhere and everywhere on any topic to develop public speaking skills. I went down to the Houston Bar events and spoke as often as possible. Most do not listen, but the key is to speak. Speaking so often made me very comfortable in front of people. I love it now. I consider it a great challenge to convey complex concepts to “ordinary” people. I practiced for hours. I tried to anticipate the questions the audience would ask.
I am a voracious reader. I subscribe to every business publication there is. I read them in depth. This area changes constantly. You have to see the future and be able to re-invent yourself to be able to manage change. The basic skill sets do not change much – managing an investigation is the same no matter what investigation you are running – but you have to understand what needs to be investigated.
I write lots of articles and get them published in prominent Journals all around the world. You have to get your name out there as an expert and then once you get an opportunity, you have to prove that you really know what you are doing.
Provide world class service. You have to not only perform technically but you have to provide phenomenal customer service so that they come back to you and recommend you to their colleagues and peers. The client is going on faith when they hire you. Speaking a lot and writing a lot helps to give you the shot. Delivering the goods at 110% allows you to get future work.
How critical is it to be passionate about what you do?
There is no way I could be where I am without the passion I feel for the work. You can be good for a sprint, I suppose like I was in damages testimony. To win the marathon you have to be relentless and the only way you can be relentless is to truly love what you are doing.
A few years ago I spoke at a webinar with a prominent Washington DC anti-corruption attorney. I stayed after him for years. I never heard any response from him. Not one word. A couple of weeks ago an associate at the firm contacted me. I mentioned that I had spoken with the attorney several years prior, and the associate told me that it was that attorney who had instructed him to call me. Three years later an opportunity finally came of my effort.
Passion gives you the ability to stay persistent.
How Important are Credentials?
They are more important now than they were when I started, but they will not make you. You hope that having the right ones will help you avoid being disqualified before you even get a chance. If they have three options and the other two have all the” important” credentials and you do not, you may not even get in the game. Some credentials, of course, hold more weight than others.
I am a CPA and an MBA. I will never know, though, how many opportunities I did not get because I did not have some other credentials. Choose those credentials that have true gravitas.
What advice can you give younger professionals about Networking?
Find things you like and join an organization on that topic. If you like photography, join a photography club. There will be potential clients in that club and you will have something in common and can build relationships that way.
Our game is a numbers game. You have to meet a lot of people. The more people you know the higher the likelihood that someone will need you.
The Texas Bar is critical. Go to Bar events.
Join charities. Lawyers sit on charitable boards.
Call attorneys and go to lunch.
Practice your pitch. The more you practice it the more easily it will flow when you find yourself sitting on a plane next to a potential client.
Becoming a rain-maker is not rocket science. It is hard work and dedication. That being said, you simply cannot get there without first finding your passion. You will not do what is required of you long enough if you do not find your true and deep passions. Take your time. You will need it.
Thank you Jeffrey for your time.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Step II: Finding Your Deep Passion
As discussed, to find your business' "Hedgehog" as described in Good to Great by Jim Collins you have to find the intersection of the answers to these three questions.
About what are you deeply passionate?
At what can you be best in the world?
What drives your economic engine?
The First of These is Passion:
The first step in creating your own Great rain-making business is to find what you are deeply passionate about. You cannot become a lasting expert in anything about which you are not deeply passionate. You just will never engage in the level of discipline necessary to get there unless you love what you are doing.
You can become good at things you do not like to do, but being good is the antithesis of being great. One of the most difficult steps to take in life is from good, which is safe and comfortable, to great. The only way to become a true rain-maker is to become GREAT at what you love to do. Become an expert.
Remember, clients hire experts to perform their most important, mission-critical projects. They will seek them out and pay them more. Therefore you have to become an expert to get those projects.
A recreational passion is good, but what you really have to work on is finding what in a business sense you are passionate about. Remember your true passion must overlap with an area where you can become best in the world and that which will drive your economic engine. Finding that intersection, of course, is the difficult part.
Passion is also not based on money. The question is not, "How can I get rich?" You cannot become great if you are not passionate. Your greatness and passion will drive your economic engine. That is where money comes in. One step at a time.
As you do what you do, see what others do and explore on your own, what absolutely turns you on? What would you do if you could only do one thing every day?
Most often these are tasks or functions. Things you like to do. Take all the jobs you like to do. Break them down into tasks and functions. Prioritize them in order based entirely on how much you love the task or function. Identify other tasks or functions you love. Look closely at your recreational tasks, the books you choose, the movies you watch, the discussions you enjoy, the places you like to visit, the types of vacations you choose, etc. What parts of those really light your fire.
Start with a premise. "I am passionate about . . . " List everything you are truly passionate about. Be honest. If you are not passionate about it, leave it off your list. This should be a pretty exclusive list.
Get deep into it. Sometimes finishing this list will lead to an Ah-hah moment and it will be suddenly obvious to you. Sometimes, not so much. Nonetheless, this is the beginning of the process.
The next step is to answer the other questions. Explore and seek out opportunities where you can do things you love. Find areas where you can become best in the world and begin to do the things required to get there. Look at how you can make money doing what you love. Over time you will be able to put meat on the bones of this skeleton. Define it more and find a path that will make you Great.
This is your future. Find your real passion. You have to become and "expert" at something to drive your economic engine in the professional services arena and you will never be best in the world at anything you are not passionate about.
Good luck.
About what are you deeply passionate?
At what can you be best in the world?
What drives your economic engine?
The First of These is Passion:
The first step in creating your own Great rain-making business is to find what you are deeply passionate about. You cannot become a lasting expert in anything about which you are not deeply passionate. You just will never engage in the level of discipline necessary to get there unless you love what you are doing.
You can become good at things you do not like to do, but being good is the antithesis of being great. One of the most difficult steps to take in life is from good, which is safe and comfortable, to great. The only way to become a true rain-maker is to become GREAT at what you love to do. Become an expert.
Remember, clients hire experts to perform their most important, mission-critical projects. They will seek them out and pay them more. Therefore you have to become an expert to get those projects.
A recreational passion is good, but what you really have to work on is finding what in a business sense you are passionate about. Remember your true passion must overlap with an area where you can become best in the world and that which will drive your economic engine. Finding that intersection, of course, is the difficult part.
Passion is also not based on money. The question is not, "How can I get rich?" You cannot become great if you are not passionate. Your greatness and passion will drive your economic engine. That is where money comes in. One step at a time.
As you do what you do, see what others do and explore on your own, what absolutely turns you on? What would you do if you could only do one thing every day?
Most often these are tasks or functions. Things you like to do. Take all the jobs you like to do. Break them down into tasks and functions. Prioritize them in order based entirely on how much you love the task or function. Identify other tasks or functions you love. Look closely at your recreational tasks, the books you choose, the movies you watch, the discussions you enjoy, the places you like to visit, the types of vacations you choose, etc. What parts of those really light your fire.
Start with a premise. "I am passionate about . . . " List everything you are truly passionate about. Be honest. If you are not passionate about it, leave it off your list. This should be a pretty exclusive list.
Get deep into it. Sometimes finishing this list will lead to an Ah-hah moment and it will be suddenly obvious to you. Sometimes, not so much. Nonetheless, this is the beginning of the process.
The next step is to answer the other questions. Explore and seek out opportunities where you can do things you love. Find areas where you can become best in the world and begin to do the things required to get there. Look at how you can make money doing what you love. Over time you will be able to put meat on the bones of this skeleton. Define it more and find a path that will make you Great.
This is your future. Find your real passion. You have to become and "expert" at something to drive your economic engine in the professional services arena and you will never be best in the world at anything you are not passionate about.
Good luck.
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