My grandmother was born in 1913 and grew up on a farm during the Depression. They didn’t have much — but they had enough. Enough food, enough work, enough responsibility to understand that effort mattered and consequences were real. She knew hard work early. Farm work wasn’t optional, and nothing came easily. She earned a … Continue reading The Best Lesson Is a Bought Lesson
Goodwill & Value Erosion
Humility, Ownership, and Organizational Risk
Boards are accustomed to evaluating performance through metrics, controls, and outcomes. But one of the most reliable indicators of long-term organizational risk appears earlier — in how leadership responds when things don’t go as planned. Accountability without humility often manifests as defensiveness, narrative control, or premature containment. Humility without accountability presents as ambiguity, deflection, or … Continue reading Humility, Ownership, and Organizational Risk
Ownership Without Ego
Every executive makes mistakes. That’s not the differentiator. What separates strong leaders from struggling ones is what happens after the mistake is recognized. Ownership without humility hardens into defensiveness.Humility without ownership dissolves into avoidance. The most effective leaders understand that accountability is not about self-protection or self-punishment. It’s about acknowledging impact, learning quickly, and adjusting … Continue reading Ownership Without Ego
Humility, Ownership, and Credit Risk
In lending, we often talk about risk in financial terms: cash flow coverage, collateral, guarantor strength, and leverage. But some of the most consequential risks don’t appear in the numbers — at least not at first. They appear in leadership behavior. One of the earliest indicators of post-close trouble is how leadership responds when something … Continue reading Humility, Ownership, and Credit Risk
Value Doesn’t Disappear Overnight
Over the past weeks, I’ve written a number of posts about leadership, risk management, due diligence, integration, and goodwill. Individually, these topics are often discussed in isolation. In practice, they are tightly connected. Leadership behavior determines how risk is identified or ignored.Risk discipline determines how diligence is performed.Diligence determines whether assumptions about people, continuity, and … Continue reading Value Doesn’t Disappear Overnight
It All Made Sense…On Paper
In SBA business acquisitions, I see the same issue surface again and again: deals that make sense on paper but unravel after closing. In many cases, the valuation wasn’t “wrong.” The assumptions embedded within it — particularly around people, continuity, and leadership — simply weren’t tested or protected. SBA valuations require more than financial normalization. … Continue reading It All Made Sense…On Paper
Value Erosion Is Rarely the Math
After working on thousands of SBA-related business valuations, certain patterns become hard to ignore. When post-close issues arise, the problem is rarely the math. It’s usually leadership behavior, untested assumptions, or overlooked human capital risk that eventually surfaces as value erosion. My recent posts have sought to connect those dots — leadership, risk, diligence, integration, … Continue reading Value Erosion Is Rarely the Math
When Value Doesn’t Transfer
Goodwill is often treated as something that transfers at closing. In practice, it only survives if the conditions that created it remain intact. Leadership behavior, human capital decisions, and due diligence failures connect directly to goodwill erosion and value destruction.
The Valuation Isn’t the Problem
I’ve shared a series of posts on leadership, risk, diligence, integration, and goodwill. They aren’t separate ideas. They’re stages of the same story. Leadership behavior sets the tone.That tone determines whether risk is addressed or rationalized.Risk discipline shapes diligence.Diligence shapes assumptions about people and continuity.Integration reveals whether those assumptions were earned or merely convenient. And … Continue reading The Valuation Isn’t the Problem
Value Isn’t Owned at Closing
Leadership, risk management, due diligence, integration, and goodwill are often treated as separate disciplines. In reality, they form a single system — and value depends on that system functioning coherently. Leadership decisions influence how risk is handled.Risk handling determines the rigor of diligence.Diligence determines whether assumptions about people and continuity are real.Integration determines whether trust … Continue reading Value Isn’t Owned at Closing
Highland Global Business Valuations 