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   Decisions are not irrevocable. Choices do come back. I hope that you will consider making three very special choices.
1.  Believe in something larger than yourself. Get involved in some of the big ideas of of your time. I chose literacy because I honestly believe that if more people could read, write, and comprehend, we would be that much closer to solving so many of the problems plaguing our society.
2.  Life must have joy. Whether you are talking about education, career, or service, it's about life, and life must have joy. It's supposed to be fun.
3.   Cherish your human connections.  As important as your obligations as a doctor, lawyer, or business leader are, you are a human being first, and those human connections--with spouses, with children, with friends--are most important investments you will ever make.
       At the end of your life, you will never regret not having passed one more test, not having won one more verdict, or not having closed one more deal. You will regret time not spent with a spouse, a friend, a child, or a parent.  
    
      We are in a transitional period right now, fascinating and exhilarating times. We are learning  to adjust to the changes and choices and choices we, men and women, are facing. Maybe we should adjust faster, maybe slower, but whatever the era, whatever the times, one thing will never change: Fathers and mothers, if you have children, they must come first. Your success as a family depends on what happens inside your home.  v

Successful Alliances
In today’s business environment, alliances have become necessary for survival. An alliance offers companies the potential to do more together than they can do on their own.
However, only about 30 percent of alliances meet partner expectations. Therefore, today’s executives need to understand the keys for executing successful alliances.

Five-Step Model
Our model for creating an alliance has five steps. Since the model was initially presented in Japan, we named it SUSHI: Strategize, Understand needs, Search for partner, Handshake, and Implementation.
1. Strategize. The beginning of an effective alliance comes from a sound and strategic corporate goal, such as market expansion, positioning, industry presence, product differentiation, depth of competitiveness, or research and development. An alliance should not be based on merely supporting your tactical objectives, such as supporting an existing product or market. Alliances require the level of corporate support that can only be found for major strategic goals.
2. Understand. Your company should analyze its strengths and weakness to determine its needs — the gaps it must fill to achieve its strategic goals. An alliance strategy offers numerous benefits to fill the gaps required for the profitable development and rollout of initiatives that might have fallen by the wayside.
In addition to sharing potential risks, an alliance partner can fill gaps in human resources, material resources, knowledge and technology, access to markets, and speed of deployment. Successful alliances can only be achieved by bringing together companies with complementary strengths. Try to resolve core problems first before seeking an external partner.
 

3. Search. Create a partner profile that lists the required skills or needs and then identify and evaluate potential partners who possess the skills, markets, and product-knowledge you require. You also need to ask: What is the culture within this company? Do they keep to time lines? What is its success record in various projects? What other partners does the company have? Does it have the resources we need? Does the company have the right management team? Do they support the alliance? What is the financial condition of the company?
4. Handshake. Once a partner is located, establish a specific alliance architecture that presents in detail the responsibilities and key players. Agreeing to an implementation plan before signing any agreement assures both partners of the commitment to the shared goal and metrics for assessment — and helps resolve potential problems that may arise. The agreement should also provide a succession plan. Once these details are worked out, the agreements can be negotiated and signed with confidence.
5. Implementation. This phase begins the real work of building the alliance. Management teams need to be assigned and the workflow structure begun. Management and employees must be keenly aware of the purpose and goal and ensure that key people are motivated both in compensation and in respect to job goals to support the needs of the alliance.
Alliances fail for the same reasons as other business goals: misguided strategy, poor communication, lack of support, and no buy-in from key people. But alliances can also fail because of the problems that arise from the lack of support or communication between partners. The success of a partnership depends upon the will of its participants. This will is expressed by doing what it takes to build and support the alliance.
                   

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