Relationships

A WORD ABOUT THESE LINKS

It is called: ‘VOUCHING.’

We are all capable of making introductions and I do it with the best of them, if I may say so. But introductions lack a standard of care. Often someone makes an introduction or simply says to call someone but does not do more. While good intentions are meritorious in their own way, I believe that we can have a higher standard, one that almost insures that this will be not only worthwhile from a time-spent perspective, but that the person to who you are being introduced has integrity and is like a boy scout, trustworthy.

To this pursuit I have coined the phrase: ‘Community of Vouchers.’ When I make an introduction I am vouching for the third party, much like I would if I invited someone to our home for dinner. Make no mistake about it; I am not merely linking you in to my trusted relationships, I am vouching for them. You are welcome to use the same terminology in your own world. Vouchers are worthwhile instruments, and so is a person for whom someone else has vouched!


JIN LAN

This is Jin Lan’s web site. Among the many pictures on the site is the one taken on the Great Wall in 2002. Jin along with Pres. and Mrs. George W. Bush attended an event in which I played a part. Earlier in the year I introduce Jin to Bill Kelly, the founder of Learning.com a Portland, OR company that wanted to partner with school systems in China. Within two months the company signed a contract with the Minister of Education to provide their learning systems to 30,000 schools for a period of ten years. The White House learned about this and contacted Jin to arrange a visit at the Wall when the President was in China. Jin made all the arrangements including having school children present. The flags were provided by the U.S. State Department.

Several of Jin’s college classmates from Beijing (he graduated from college in 1983) are heads of ministries or hold important high-level positions in the government.

Jin lives in Vancouver, Washington and travels back and forth to China monthly. He represents companies in the United States that seek to do business in China. His reputation and integrity are of the highest and I consider him my best friend.

In 2003, at the invitation of the government, I traveled to China and met up with Jin. He had made the arrangements for my trip and I was invited to speak about venture capital investing. During the trip I was a guest of honor at dinners with mayors of seven cities that were lager than New York City.

www.chinaselections.com

THE JAMES LAW GROUP
During a span of over 45 years I have come to know and work with legions of attorneys. How surprised I was to recently meet two lawyers from a Portland firm who spent an entire lunch talking about everything but how good their firm was. On further examination I learned that the firm has an unusually prerequisite, or at least it looks that way to me. The attorneys in the firm have experiences outside of the practice of law, and in some cases it is those experiences that give them such a deep understanding of the issues companies and clients face. Being a nuclear officer on a submarine, a compliance officer for a broker dealer, handling transactions in the Middle East or managing high rise building construction projects are but a few of their special skills and experiences.

You will see from the web site that their emphasis is on emerging business, real estate, transactions, litigation and family succession planning.

www.jameslawgroup.com

MARK EFFINGER
Mark is the consummate connector. He knows just about everyone. This is due in part to his boundless energy, enthusiasm and intelligence. I met Mark in 1993 and have enjoyed seeing how he connects and energizes so many people. He is like Jin, a great friend and resource. His web sites demonstrate his range of expertise. One conversation with Mark and your life, drive and appetite for excellence will be forever changed.

KATHLEEN SPIKE

Kathleen, my life partner, is a Certified Master Business Coach with the International Coach Federation. Living with a coach, and she living with someone who uses the moniker of ‘savvy, sage and wise,’ makes for quite a life experience. We truly enhance each others abilities, world vision and personal lives; and while we do not talk about our specific clients, we do gain insights into methodologies that are interchangeable within each other’s domain. If you are interested in achieving meaningful “and” big results from someone who coaches professionals throughout the US and Canada, then I recommend that you get to know Kathleen. Clients consider her coaching in many cases to be ‘personally life-saving’ as well as ‘business-empowering,

 

www.coachingworksinc.com