When business owners and professionals write or talk about their companies, several mistakes commonly weaken their story. Here are five critical errors to be aware of (and how to avoid or correct them):
Lack of Focus: Often, they are so enthusiastic they try to convey too many messages at once. This can overwhelm the reader or listener and dilute the core message.
Overuse of Jargon: Industry-specific terminology can alienate a broader audience who may not be familiar with the terms.
Ignoring the Audience: Business owners and professionals sometimes write and speak from their own perspectives without considering what their audience needs or wants to know.
Lack of Evidence: Claims made about the business or its products need to be substantiated. Failure to provide evidence or data to back up statements can erode credibility or show the lack of it.
Inconsistency: Whether it’s inconsistency in tone, message, or branding, mixed signals can confuse the audience and appear unprofessional.
Each of these mistakes has its own set of ramifications that can affect how a business or the professional is perceived. Understanding and eliminating them can aid in crafting a more effective, engaging, and credible narrative.
Here’s how to avoid or correct those issues:
Achieve Focus Through Planning: Before you write or speak, plan what you want to convey and to whom. Create an outline and identify the key message you want to communicate. Stick to this guide to maintain focus. Clear, focused communication is more effective.
Simplify Language and Explain Terms: While industry jargon may be second nature to you, it may not be for your audience. Use simple language and explain industry terms or acronyms the first time they appear. This will help engage a broader audience and make your content more inclusive.
Know Your Audience and Speak to Them: To avoid ignoring the needs or interests of your audience, research who they are and what they want to know. Craft your message to answer their questions or solve their problems. Use examples, case studies, or scenarios that would resonate with them to make your points clearer.
Back Claims with Evidence: To substantiate any claims or statements, include relevant data, statistics, or examples. Cite reputable sources wherever possible to lend credibility to your message. If you are discussing the success of your product or service, use testimonials or reviews from satisfied customers.
Maintain a Consistent Tone and Message: Before publishing or sharing any content or speaking… review to ensure it aligns with your brand voice and message. Consistency aids audience comprehension and strengthens brand identity. Create a style guide for all communication channels. It’s crucial to maintain a consistent narrative.
Incorporating these into your business writing and speaking can pay off in more effective communication, increased credibility, and a better connection with your audience.
From the depths of my life’s path of growing up with few resources and little hope; building success only to watch it almost all crumble; fully recovering from a brain tumor and a paralyzed arm; and surviving a private plane crash, I understand how life often presents people with two choices: stay stuck or find a way forward. My journey as an overcomer has given me a gift: the opportunity to lead others to live hopeful, expectant lives that realize their purposes. Reflecting on my journey and experiences, I realize there is no roadmap to success. No road signs in life tell you which route to take. Discover your own. The good news is you can learn how to do just that. Reading this book will help you find the path leading to your version of success. –Brett Oubre, THE 12 STEPS To Boundaryless Success.
“Success is an innate desire, yet it eludes many in life. My experience has taught me that life is 10% of what happens to you and 90% how you react to it. Brett K. Oubre has discovered valuable success principles through personal and professional hardships that will inspire everyday people who feel stuck in the middle to attain unimaginable success. 12 Steps to Boundaryless Success will provide real, relevant, and practical steps to achieving goals and obtaining success.” —John C. Maxwell
“Knowing Brett K. Oubre for several decades, I have witnessed his ability to move forward and his desire to lead others with him. Brett passionately believes success is a process, not just an event or a couple of attempts. Success requires a series of deliberate steps leading to goal accomplishments and well-being. 12 Steps to Boundaryless Success is a game changer. It is an exciting, highly engageable read outlining the execution you need to find your way forward! Now that you’ve taken the first step (by reading the book) make the commitment to follow these life-changing concepts.” —Bryan Flanagan, CEO, Flanagan Training Group, Former Director of Corporate Training, Zig Ziglar
PROFILES IN CHARACTER delves into individual character attributes that shaped and informed these sixteen Americans in their vital roles in history. What singular attribute gave each of them the strength to take monumental risks for a cause or a belief? Was it an early childhood experience? A family dynamic or role model? Their faith? Readers can glean the difficulty in the life paths these individuals chose—one that threatened high risk and promised high rewards, though not for themselves. That is a true measure of character.
These thirteen men and three women made or changed history. While they are widely revered and respected, none had a perfect life path, but each had strong character. They likely had outside influences that shaped them. Still, each could summon and rely on one unique character trait that guided them to make decisions and take actions that ultimately defined them and their legacies.
Chapter One – Thomas Jefferson:The Persuasive Pen of the American Revolution
Chapter Two – George Washington:Answering the Call of Duty
Chapter Three – Robert E. Lee:Abiding Loyalty to Virginia
Chapter Four – Abraham Lincoln: Empathetic Reconciler of the Painful Divide
Chapter Five – Harriet Tubman: Audacious Emancipator
Chapter Six – Frederick Douglass:Fearless in the Fight for Freedom
Chapter Seven – Susan B. Anthony:Unwavering Commitment to a Higher Calling
That’s certainly good advice in certain circumstances and in most walks–no pun intended–of life.
Did you know 12 Steps can help you remove limitations you place on yourself; that, if followed, can lead you to the levels of success you once only imagined?
Watch for more information about those steps in one of our upcoming nonfiction titles.
HARKEN–in part–is about the search for a lost trove of art. To complement the suspense thriller story, we’re creating the ‘undiscovered’ artwork. Each painting is found in a specific location and setting relevant to where the story takes the audience. The first was Amsterdam; the second for Barcelona, and the above for Cologne.
Here’s the root prompt I gave my graphics person to add to and create the second ‘piece of art.’
A professor in 1600s Cologne at the University of Cologne writes on a sheet of parchment under a lighted lamp in the style of Hendrick Terbrugghen.
The images are the examples received. We’ll select one to represent that ‘piece of art,’ and apply effects to give it a ‘cracked-oil-painting’ look to age it. The ‘art’ will then be incorporated into the story development and writing.
Our next nonfiction title (coffee-table-style 8.5×11) coming Autumn 2023.
Character is the unique set of moral and ethical qualities that define what you believe in, what you stand for, and what you expect of yourself and others. This book focuses on one dominant character trait that drove the success of these sixteen historic American figures and one unique attribute that influenced them above all others. These sixteen were famous for their decisions, accomplishments, or leadership. But that is not why they are included in this book.
Each made decisions at great personal risk or lived a life of selfless sacrifice. Some exhibited a consistent and enduring belief that informed their decision-making and commitment to that decision; the resulting action had worldwide and historical consequences. Some lived their entire lives serving others over themselves; in so doing, they influenced generations of people.
Chapter One – Thomas Jefferson: The Persuasive Pen of the American Revolution
Chapter Two – George Washington: Answering the Call of Duty
Chapter Three – Robert E. Lee: Abiding Loyalty to Virginia
Chapter Four – Abraham Lincoln: Empathetic Reconciler of the Painful Divide
Chapter Five – Harriet Tubman: Audacious Emancipator
Chapter Six – Frederick Douglass: Fearless in the Fight for Freedom
Chapter Seven – Susan B. Anthony: Unwavering Commitment to a Higher Calling
Chapter Eight – Theodore Roosevelt: The Eternal Optimist
Chapter Nine – Amelia Earhart: A Competitive Spirit
Chapter Ten – Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Confidence in Times of Crisis
Chapter Eleven – Dwight D. Eisenhower: Full Accountability
Chapter Twelve – Harry S. Truman: Courage Alone to Decide Mankind’s Future
Chapter Thirteen – Jonas Salk: Altruism for All Humanity
Chapter Fourteen – Martin Luther King Jr.: Lifting Others Through Love
Chapter Fifteen – Ronald Reagan: A Vision of Peace for Our Times
Chapter Sixteen – Billy Graham: Unifying People Around the World
My company Adducent celebrates its 23rd birthday on July 5, 2023, and what a journey it’s been. It started on a single path… then a fork in the road offered a choice between two. Had I not taken the one I chose, I would never have had the challenge of a project like the one mentioned in the client endorsement below and the joy and reward of its completion and the client’s satisfaction.
I have been a business owner since 1993 and worked in them full-time since January 2, 1996. I founded Adducent in 2000 as a management and consulting firm. Over the next 8+ years, I worked with M&A attorneys, investment bankers, and business owners on management, planning, and growth through acquisition. That led to business writing, which led to a book (to support my consulting) that led to my contacts asking for help to finish and publish their books. I did; others asked for similar support, and some asked me to ghostwrite their book. This unplanned sideline grew to supplant my consulting. That brought me to the fork in the road.
“Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same…”
“And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.”
I chose the one less traveled (writing and publishing were a new business to me) but one I knew I’d enjoy more. In 2009, writing and publishing became Adducent’s focus. Since then, we’ve assisted dozens of clients and helped publish 89 titles for a spectrum of people: generals, admirals, military veterans, senators, government officials, executives, entrepreneurs, Fortune 500 CEOs, chairmen of multi-billion-dollar companies, doctors, artists, lawyers, university professors, and retired agents and officers in the intelligence community.
Along the way, I’ve also written a lot of nonfiction and fiction. My own and for clients… approaching three million words worth: (37 books ghostwritten for clients: 14 nonfiction, 9 memoirs, and 14 fiction). Two projects for clients (creative nonfiction and a novel) have been optioned for screenplay development. A third (mentioned in the screen-captured client comment above) is in development with a screenwriter/producer team.
HARKEN–in part–is about the search for a lost trove of art. To complement the suspense thriller story, we’re creating the ‘undiscovered’ artwork. Each painting is found in a specific location and setting relevant to where the story takes the audience. The first was Amsterdam; the above images are for Barcelona.
Here’s the root prompt I gave my graphics person to add to and create the second ‘piece of art.’
A man in 1600s Barcelona standing on a pier in front of a sailing ship at sunset in the style of a Dutch Master.
The images are the examples received. We’ll select one to represent that ‘piece of art,’ and apply effects to give it a ‘cracked-oil-painting’ look to age it. The ‘art’ will then be incorporated into the story development and writing.
One of our fiction stories in work—HARKEN, a suspense thriller—involves, in part, the search for a lost trove of art from some of the Dutch Masters. So I thought it would be cool to develop the previously ‘undiscovered’ artwork to include in the story.
Here’s the root prompt I gave my graphics team to create the first ‘piece of art’ (for Amsterdam). [Note: the exact prompts developed and used are more detailed and precise.]
Woman with a lighted lantern on a canal at night in Amsterdam in the style of a Dutch Master.
The images above are the examples received. We’ll apply effects or a filter to give it a ‘cracked-oil-painting’ look to age it.
The cover for EVER VIGILANT is one of our favorites. John Howard Sanden’s portrait of Dr. J. Phillip ‘Jack’ London sets it apart and makes it distinct. We’re proud to have provided publishing services for this book.
About EVER VIGILANT
“Fresh out of the US Navy as a naval aviator, Jack London joins a small IT firm as one of 35 employees. In short order, he is CEO and spends 50 years growing one of America’s most dynamic, innovative, and successful Fortune 500 companies. EVER VIGILANT is quintessential London, written in the clear, direct, often blunt, always honest way that he spoke. This memoir, not surprisingly, is so much more than a life well led but a prescription on how to live a good life! Jack’s journey is the story of adventure, daring, extraordinary moral courage, love of country, family, and faith, an everyday example of character-driven leadership.” —General Jack Keane, USA (Ret.), National Security Analyst, Chairman, Institute for the Study of War
“This superlative book is a compelling narrative about winning and achieving. In reading this book you will see how Jack London, a patriot and former military officer, became a legend in the United States government contracting industry. Through his unique vision and leadership, he steadily grew CACI International over fifty years into a multinational information technology company to support some of America’s most important and critical work. As his friend and fellow Naval Academy alumnus, we shared many similar ideas about leading and growing organizations, from surrounding ourselves with the best people to knowing when to take risks to win big.” —Roger Staubach, Hall of Fame Dallas Cowboys quarterback, U.S. Naval Academy ‘65
“In this book, Dr. London describes his journey as an entrepreneurial leader, as he built CACI from a modest start into a Fortune 500 company. This book is essential for those who want to think big and achieve big accomplishments in their lives. Dr. London shows how vision, persistence, and determination lead to success. His inspirational leadership is why I joined the CACI Board of Directors. As a director, I watched Dr. London shape the future of CACI in a highly competitive industry, all the while building wealth for shareholders. Above all, Jack London was a patriotic American, who shows in this book how American business initiative and leadership are good for America. This book is a must-read for aspiring leaders and builders.” —Ambassador James S. Gilmore III, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) (2019 – 2021)
“I just finished reading the draft of Jack’s memoirs, and I enjoyed it so much that I wanted to reread it. I believe it will be an inspiration to anyone who aspires to success in the business world, the military, or in their life pursuits. The transitions from pure biographical events to lessons learned in building a business make the book quite readable and educational. Jack has blended together a biography, a history of CACI, a philosophy, and a love story that reads like a novel. I think this book will be of terrific value to its readers and perhaps even spawn another Jack London in the future.” —Admiral Robert H. Shumaker, USN (Ret.) Former Vietnam Prisoner of War
How do successful entrepreneurial leaders become legendary? Many characteristics lead to a legacy of exemplary leadership and enduring success. Entrepreneurial spirit, good character, risk-taking, commitment, initiative, confidence, independence, vision, determination, persistence, and endurance proved to be the winning combination for Dr. J. Phillip (Jack) London. These attributes are interwoven throughout his lifetime as narrated in this memoir that reveals his transformation from a kid living in rural Oklahoma to a midshipman at the US Naval Academy, as a Navy Aviator, followed by President and CEO of a government contracting company and culminating in his role as Executive Chairman and Chairman of the Board of CACI International, a Fortune 500 company employing over 23,000 people in 155 offices worldwide.
As a successful defense industry executive and expert on business ethics for almost 50 years, London tells us how he became a pioneer in the federal contracting industry and developed and built a successful business that continuously excelled and stayed strong for five decades through changes in the federal landscape. We see how his unique vision and strong leadership shaped CACI into a multinational information technology company to support some of the most important and critical national security priorities in America. Drawing upon his military experience, he set a high bar for business leaders across the industry in establishing the standard for leading with integrity.
Based on London’s personal, military, and corporate experiences and many real-life examples, this book presents time-tested lessons that are both relatable and impactful in defining an enduring legacy through exceptional leadership.
About the Author
Dr. J. Phillip ‘Jack’ London was Executive Chairman and Chairman of the Board of CACI International Inc (NYSE), a $5.7 billion technology solutions and services company with twenty-three thousand employees in 155 offices worldwide. During his twenty-three years as chief executive officer from 1984 to 2007, Dr. London built CACI into a leading information technology and network communications services company. His vision guided the company strategically, culturally, and ideologically for almost fifty years. Dr. London, who joined the company in 1972, was one of the pioneers of the government IT industry and also became known as the founder of the modern-era CACI.
He was a driving force in growing the company, largely through the highly successful M&A program he founded in 1992 which executed eighty acquisitions, expanding the company’s capabilities and adding customers across all of its markets, including Homeland Security, Intelligence, and National Defense. He was known as a visionary entrepreneur, a role model, a mentor, a patriot, and a thought leader. In recognition of his national reputation as an authority on organizational ethics, the Ethisphere Institute named him one of the Most Influential People in Business Ethics in 2014.
Dr. London was a graduate of the US Naval Academy and held a master’s degree in operations research from the US Naval Postgraduate School and a doctorate in business administration from George Washington University. He retired as a US Navy captain after serving twelve years as a US naval officer and aviator and another twelve years with the Navy Reserve. Dr. London received numerous industry awards and recognitions and was active in industry and community affairs. In 2019 he received the Distinguished Graduate Award from the US Naval Academy. Dr. London was the author of Our Good Name: A Company’s Fight to Defend Its Honor and Get the Truth Told about Abu Ghraib (2008); Character: The Ultimate Success Factor (2013); and Profiles in Character: Sixteen Americans and the Traits That Defined Them (2022).
CO-AUTHORS
Dr. Jennifer Londonholds a PhD in psychology from The Ohio State University and completed postdoctoral education in marketing from the University of Pittsburgh School of Business. As President of her own consulting firm, she has advised clients on strategic planning, business development, executive hiring, development, and outplacement, as well as marketing and community relations. Her work has included evaluating and developing potential customers nationwide for the development of new and expanded markets for companies ranging from private businesses to Fortune 100 corporations. Dr. London has also conducted mergers and acquisition search work for private clients and corporations.
As a consultant to CACI, she supported the company’s strategic mergers and acquisitions program, which resulted in the acquisitions by CACI of six companies totaling over $200 million in annual revenues. Dr. London’s analytic input, behavioral insights, and recommendations on corporate messaging were fundamental to CACI’s approach to the Abu Ghraib crisis. She was a member of the crisis management team and helped craft the conceptual framework for the highly effective hyper-crisis management strategy employed by CACI. Dr. London was also Strategic Advisor to the Executive Chairman and Chairman of the Board of CACI, Dr. J. Phillip London.
She maintains leadership roles in a number of boards and organizations and is the founder of the National American History and Founders Month Initiative. Dr. London has numerous professional publications to her credit, and was a co-author with Dr. J. Phillip London on his books Character: The Ultimate Success Factor (2013) and Profiles in Character: Sixteen Americans and the Traits That Defined Them (2022). She was also a contributor to Dr J. Phillip London’s book Our Good Name: A Company’s Fight to Defend Its Honor and Get the Truth Told about Abu Ghraib (2008).
Z. Selin Hur received an MBA degree from the Katz Graduate School of Business and a Master of Public and International Affairs degree from the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh. Ms. Hur worked with Dr. J. Phillip London as a Strategic Programs Principal at CACI International Inc. from 2004 to 2021. She supported Dr. London’s thought leadership in national security and information technology, as well as the company’s strategic growth initiatives. Ms. Hur also added to CACI’s leadership development and corporate culture programs by contributing to articles and speeches on defense, technology, and organizational development. She was also a member of CACI’s crisis management team engaged in the role of addressing and correcting media misinformation about the company during the Abu Ghraib crisis. Prior to joining CACI, Ms. Hur was a management consultant providing advisory services in strategic planning, communications, and business development to consulting and information technology firms worldwide. Her career has included work as an information technology project manager for government and financial sector clients at EDS. Ms. Hur also worked in the World Bank’s Private Sector Development group, where she developed corporate governance best practices and public policy assessments for private sector-led growth in developing countries. Ms. Hur was a contributor to Dr. J. Phillip London’s book Our Good Name; A Company’s Fight to Defend Its Honor and Get the Truth Told about Abu Ghraib (2008) and a co-author of Character: The Ultimate Success Factor (2013).
![HARKEN ‘Lost Art’ Cologne [Story Development]](https://adducentcreative.com/wp-content/uploads/Kanico_painting_renaissance_man_standing_university_professor_u_456276d6-bb83-4428-a430-a02ab0097881-COLLAGE-768x768.jpg "HARKEN ‘Lost Art’ Cologne [Story Development]")
![HARKEN ‘Lost Art’ Barcelona [Story Development]](https://adducentcreative.com/wp-content/uploads/HARKEN-LOST-ART-02-2-768x768.jpg "HARKEN ‘Lost Art’ Barcelona [Story Development]")
![HARKEN ‘Lost Art’ Amsterdam [Story Development]](https://adducentcreative.com/wp-content/uploads/HARKEN-LOST-ART-01-2-768x768.jpg "HARKEN ‘Lost Art’ Amsterdam [Story Development]")
