0:00 And [music] where are you going? What do you want? Hello and welcome to Business Lessons from the Military. I'm your host, Kevin Bemel, and I'm here every Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. Pacific time to talk about military history, doctrine, and leadership practices and then turn them into lessons that we can apply to our businesses and professional practices. So today is the third installment of uh
0:39 of the um uh group of sessions I'm doing on uh Alfred the man's uh book great book really um the uh influence of sea power upon history 1660 to 1783 uh it was written in 1890 it because it had um enormous uh influence on not just the United States but on countries throughout the world and and it was in fact
1:15 [clears throat] the go-to doctrine for developing naval power uh from the very late 19th and into the early and mid 20th century. So, and [clears throat] while uh I think Mayor Mayan is not as widely followed today as he was in the past, uh nonetheless, his his ideas, his doctrine remains relevant uh to to both navies and those of us who run businesses. So,
1:53 uh, I'm going to jump right into um the, uh, the ideas that I've, uh, put together for, uh, episode number three. [snorts] And if if you're interested in what came before this, so I invite you to go to my YouTube channel [snorts] and look up uh business lessons from the military for the last for the previous two weeks and you'll get a a longer introduction and biography of Alfred the Mayan first of all um in in the in episode one and then [snorts] each on
2:28 each episode I discuss uh five uh ideas uh from from his famous book. So [clears throat] for today uh idea number one or concept number one. So concentration beats dispersion. So when one is considering how to impact a situation using naval power. Okay. a concentration of ships, a concentration of force is much more
3:04 powerful than a dispersion of force. So if if if you've read any of the great uh naval fiction of the 19th century, whether it's the Horatio Horatio Hornblower novels or the um um the O'Brien uh Patrick O'Brien's novels about uh um Master and Commander um Steven Matan and I'm going up on the on the his famous sea captain character, but anyway, a lot of those books revolve around single frigot actions or
3:42 single ship actions makes them very exciting. Uh here's the thing [laughter] that was not how Great Britain came to dominate the seas. Okay? While there was a a a a great deal of incentive for the captain of a ship to engage in a in a single ship battle. U because if he won, it could uh dramatically increase his prospects for promotion. Uh not to
4:17 mention that uh the prize money that would come from defeating a ship, a larger share of it went to him. Most of the great English victories were fleet victories and it was the fact that Great Britain had such a powerful fleet that gave it dominance of of the seas. So um throughout the 19th century uh really England enjoyed almost unfettered
4:52 command of of the seaways and it was because of the the the number of ships it had its ability to have concentrated forces in several locations. the Caribbean in and around England uh into the Mediterranean. So the the the just this the size and ability to amass force is what made uh English sea power so dominant and and
5:29 likely um made it the decisive power uh in an engagement between between nations. So [clears throat] as we apply this to the business world, so the reality is focus outperforms diversification if that diversification isn't done at scale. Okay? So when you think about your own business, what is your core business? And until you become, if not an
6:07 absolutely dominant force, a very strong force within your core business, diversification isn't of any value. Okay? Because it's more likely to dilute your overall success than it is to enhance it. Okay? So if you look at my business u as an example. So my core business is uh administrating trusts and probates. Okay. Anything that I do that detracts from that will also diminish my
6:44 impact in the marketplace. So you might say, "Well, why do you do these shows?" Pardon me. Well, I do them in order to at least in part to develop relationships with other professionals that will make my business my core business stronger. So, if you watch my Monday show, Trust and Estates Weekly, you you you will notice that this year especially, I have a lot more guests. Okay? I've already
7:19 recorded episodes with I think four or five guests. The the year is only not even three weeks old and I have another I think five or six coming up. And so while I've always had guests on that show um this year because I I have more time to focus on developing that particular show. So, I'll have more guests on and that will help me build stronger relationships with these people who are both uh
7:56 sources of knowledge and information for me. They're potential sources of business as I am for them, right? and and and so we can get to know each other better, develop stronger relationships and and the undergirling of any kind of service business like mine is the strength of relationships. Okay. So, why do I continue to do this show and other shows? So, it's it's to um put my um my knowledge, my uh reputation out there so that people can see, hey, Kevin is a
8:33 credible professional. So, he understands business issues. He understands uh probate and trust issues, business issues for this show. uh my show on on Wednesdays uh people making money is a broad array of of business and wealthb buildinging uh topics and again all of those are important in the work that I do as a independent trustee and probate administrator. Okay. And so it helps establish my credibility. So that's that's why I do my shows. Now
9:08 Jiggers's place is different. It's because I like cocktails and smoozing. But we have to have a little enjoyment in our lives. Right? So the main the the key aspect of this is that if we're going to diversify into another business, okay, we need to be able to do so at scale without negatively impacting our existing core business. Okay? Because that dilution then uh it it it it brings down our overall the the overall quality uh of our business.
9:45 Okay, that's number one. Number two, decisive moments matter more than constant action. Okay, and this is this is I think a hard one for many of us, especially if we've worked for someone else. Okay. uh you know there was there's an incentive to make sure that our boss sees us doing stuff is really what it comes down to. Okay. But the reality is in our own businesses
10:21 activity isn't meaningful unless it's the right activity at the right moment. Okay. So we from a naval perspective. Okay. So waiting for the right engagement was often decisive. Okay. So if you look at um the battle of Trfalgar uh which um the the the great uh English victory over France um
10:58 um thinking Horatio Horn Horatio Nelson guy had Horatio Hornblower in my head from the book. Horatio Nelson, Admiral Nelson was looking for that decisive engagement where he could mass his forces and defeat the French. Now, tragically, um he was he was he was killed, but but England defeated the the Royal Navy defeated the British uh the French Navy soundly at the Battle of Trfalgar.
11:33 And that's what's that's what's important. uh from this from the standpoint of creating a just waiting andor creating a decisive moment for Nelson to have constantly been moving his ships around and you know here and there and we just making sure they're active. No, that's not that's not productive. In fact, he needed to be patient and watch how the French were responding to the probes [snorts] he would make along their northern coast and then look for that opportunity where he could
12:09 bring dis where he could bring the Royal Navy's power to bear and create a decisive victory. Okay, so premature battles would just have wasted the Navy's strength in terms of manpower first and foremost, but also in terms of material, cannonballs, and then damage to ships, spars, spare spars, spare sails, all that all that kind of thing. And and I I use the 19th century u Royal Navy be partly because I think most of us have a sense of about it. Uh but it was
12:46 no different in World War II in the in the Pacific for example, the Pacific theater of operations. So the US Navy uh uh fought in task forces, task groups, okay, there with the exception of submarines, there weren't any single ship engagements in World War II. Um they they would not be decisive. And and if you look at for example the battle of mid of of of Midway where uh the United States Navy sank four
13:21 Japanese aircraft carriers effectively um really I mean I I don't I don't want to say it destroyed the Japanese Navy because that was clearly not the case but [snorts] the Japanese Navy never recovered from Midway. The Japanese too thought that Midway would be decisive uh a decisive victory over the Americans after Pearl Harbor. Um but it it didn't turn out that way, right? And so after after Midway, it really wasn't a
13:58 matter of if the United States was going to prevail in the Pacific. It was really a matter of when and at what cost. Okay. So, moving back to the business to a business focus on this. So, timing in business matters more than activity. We can be running around. We can be putting an ad here or an ad there. Uh I know I was talking to my my older sister Mara on Sunday. We were talking about her business and how she can grow it. And she was talking about, you know,
14:33 different things. And the most important thing that she and she's a therapist by the way. So the most important thing that she can do is look for the places where she can be most effective. Okay. So so she specializes in therapy therapy for children. So where are there places where uh where adults are engaged with children in a way that allows them to
15:09 understand when a child needs psychological support. Okay. Having [snorts] identified those places and they may be they may be a large church, they may be a large uh child care uh company something like that. So having identified the places then she needs to time her engagements with them so that they have an opportunity so so that her her engagement is impactful and
15:45 they can see that this is someone who can have a positive impact on the well-being of the children under our care. Okay? as opposed to trying to get business from, you know, a hundred different sources, she'll be better off focusing on maybe five to 10 and really making an impact, being careful to properly time each of her contacts with them. And that's true not just for um my my sister who's a therapist or my business as as a professional fiduciary, but for every business, large and small.
16:23 how we time our interactions uh is is is is really what becomes decisive and then exercising patience. So patience is a competitive advantage right now. I don't know about you, patience is not my strong suit. I want it to happen and I want it to happen now. Right, [snorts] Daddy? I wanted Oompa Loompa and I want him now. Right? That's I think that's a pretty common human trait. But it's not one that uh that in which we can indulge. Um we we
16:59 have to be patient and look for the right opportunities. Okay. Number three, command of the environment provides precedes precedes victory. So control of the seas shapes all shaped all subsequent outcomes. Okay. And I'm going to go back to the example of the Royal Navy, okay? They had control of the seas and as a result, they became the most powerful empire really in history. Okay? I'm not saying they were the most powerful nation because the
17:36 United States today is is is undoubtedly more powerful than than Great Britain was in the 19th century. Okay? But the United States doesn't have anything like the global empire that Great Britain had uh through the 19th and into the early 20th century. And in fact, that that empire really didn't start unraveling until sort of post World War I and then on into the post World War II era. Okay. So the control of the seas shaped shaped
18:11 all the outcomes that came after it. So um by carefully timing its engagements, okay, the Royal Navy was able to become dominant. So, it wasn't just that it had the largest number of ships, the best trained sailors, the best logistically supplied navy. All of those were essentially true. Okay? But it's that it timed its its its engagements properly
18:48 so as to overwhelm the enemy and then create uh uh really take control of the seas. Okay, let's take a quick break and I'll be back to translate this one into uh business. America is a maritime nation. Our freedom and security depend on strong sea services. The Beverly Hills Council of the Navy League stands with our Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and Merchant Marine through community support, education,
19:25 and advocacy. For over 120 years, Americans of all walks of life have heeded our call. No prior military service is required to join our mission. The Beverly Hills Council of the Navy League of the United States. Help us support those who serve at sea. Visit navyleague.org. Okay. So, I was just talking about command of the environment uh precedes victory. So once once the Royal Navy had taken command of
20:02 the seas. So in a way victory was the natural outgrowth outgrowth of that. So on the business side of things we need to shape the market before competing in it. Okay. So what what is our market? Okay. Well I'll I'll use my business example. My business is uh the market is probates that need to be administrated. Meaning there's a whole variety of tasks that need to be completed so that then
20:38 whatever money was left by the deedent can be distributed to the heirs. Now, for a lot of the work that I or for of a lot of probates, I should say, they don't need me. They're simple. There's no dispute. And so, you know, the child of the deedent can h probably handle it maybe with a little nudging by, you know, the judge. Okay? [snorts] So, that's not my market. My market is not the sum total of probates going on. My
21:17 market and and and the way I explain it to I I I work I market primarily to attorneys. The way I explain it is I'm looking I want to be involved in probate situations where I can add value where it's worthwhile for the estate to bring in. What what is what are those situations? Well, number one, there's a dispute going on typically between the heirs and they're they're fighting over in essence who's going to control the estate and neither side wants to let the
21:53 other side do so because they're afraid they'll get cheated. Okay? So then I can come in as a neutral third party and administrate the estate without being beholdened to either side or there can even be three sides or more. Okay, that's number one. Number two, it has to be large enough so that it has uh complex enough complexity that a lay person is less likely to be effective. Okay. So most of the estates that I uh with which
22:29 I get involved have uh real estate involved where where I have a long uh background professionally. They may have a business involved where I have a long history of of dealing with businesses, running businesses, uh advising businesses, etc. [snorts] And they may have some other kinds of complex assets. So they may have intellectual property another asset class in which I have a lot of experience or they may have you know kind of weird other not weird but unusual personal property. So I'm handling an estate right now the the
23:05 estate must have something like I don't know 10,000 vinyl records or some crazy I you know there's so many I I couldn't possibly count them. Right. They have a a couple of juke boxes. They have musical an entire room filled with drums just with drums like you know beating on a drum, right? So there's this whole range of personal property and a lot of which I've um I've had experience handling, you know, at kind of a high level, right? So then I can bring in the
23:40 experts and I can I can oversee them properly for the benefit of the estate. Okay. Whereas a lay person who's never dealt with this type of thing, it it's it would be much more difficult even to just talk to the different vendors or consultants that need to be brought on board may may be difficult. Okay. So so there's there there's typically a level of complexity. Now, by the way, I'm handling one estate where it there's really just one asset in the estate. It's a house, okay? Um, but I was
24:16 brought in because there had been a tremendous amount of fraud perpetrated by the heirs on the creditors to the estate. Okay? and the creditors had to rest control of the estate from the heirs in order to have any chance at all of getting payment on any of the debts that the estate owned. And so because of the complex legal issues, I was asked to be involved in that estate. So when I think about command of the environment,
24:52 what I'm looking at is is shaping up the market for my services. And that's a market that has complexity. It has disputes. Okay? And it has um unusual I'll call it has unusual aspects to it. Okay. So those three qualities are how I shape my market. And and by by doing so, okay, when I go into a
25:28 situation, okay, I've already I've already created a market in which I'm a good fit. Okay? That's what each of us needs to do with our businesses. Okay? So whether you're a therapist like my sister, whether you have a plumbing business, whether you have some kind of technology business, okay, the the challenge is defining what you do. Sometimes we call it, you know, your value proposition or your, you know, your competitive position. So I just ended up doing this not ended up
26:03 I just did this for a business on in which I'm a partner and and figuring out what is our value proposition for each of the types of clients that that we need to target. Okay. And in this case we you know it's it's a brand new business. It's it's got a a pretty new idea behind it. And so we can't be sure at this early stage wh which category is the the ideal client. So we have actually six six [laughter]
26:40 potential client categories. Okay. And which of those six are going to end up being the right ones? We're going to see. And and I'm going to develop that over the next three months. That's one of my primary roles in in this company, right? Um it's it's it's called EmBody Systems. I'll put it out there. You can check out embodiesystem.com if you want to see what it's about. Okay. So we'll end up most likely narrowing down the six to two or maybe three on which
27:16 we'll then seek to more broadly shape the market as we then enter into it and and start actually looking for business. Okay. All right. So command of the environment precedes victory. Next, offense creates strategic freedom. So when one has command of the environment, when one has the patience to wait for decisive moments, so then one can go on the offense. Okay? And
27:55 that forces opponents to have to react where as opposed to respond. Okay, this is one of my favorite distinctions I ever learned in all of the business. You know, back back in the early days of my business, we didn't have podcasts. We listened to uh cassette tapes and and CDs. I believe it was Zigg Ziggler who who taught me this, but I'm not 100% positive. But when we think about those two
28:31 uh actions, if you will, react and respond, think of them in terms of when we go to the doctor and the doctor gives us he he diagnoses us and then he gives us some medicine to take, right? If the doctor says, "Oh, you're reacting to the medicine." Okay, that's not good. Okay, we don't want to be reacting because that mean react in that context means a negative reaction. Okay, if the doctor says, "Ah, you're responding to the the medicine that's good because responding
29:06 in this context means responding well." In other words, the medicine is positively dealing with the the problem, right? So in the same way uh when we're talking about a na a potential naval engagement if we force the enemy to react they have to do so quickly probably in a less organized or even a disorganized way and that makes it easier for the for the for the uh navy on the offensive to attain victory.
29:43 Okay. As oppono as opposed to if the enemy can respond at its leisure, right? And that's the idea of such things as fortifications where, you know, a a naval force may invade a harbor and there's fortifications. So, they're all they're set to respawn. They don't have to react. Okay? So, the same thing is true in the business world. So um we want to create a proactive strategy uh
30:18 one that in essence sets the industry norms. Okay. So I'll give you again I'm going to use my own business as an example of this. So, one of the things I recognized very early on in administrating trusts and probates was there wasn't a lot of communication flow between the different interested parties. And from my perspective, I thought that was bad because there's nothing like lack of communication or miscommunication
30:53 to cause people to misperceive what's going on, potentially get angry. Okay? And now my job is more difficult. So I very very early on in in my involvement in this area made it a practice of sending out a weekly report on what had ha on what is happening with each of the matters that I'm handling. Okay? And it goes out to all key parties and in some cases all interested parties. And that
31:28 way they know what I'm doing. Okay? They can read it. It's there. They can ask questions. and if they don't like something, they can let me know right away as opposed to finding out about it a month, two, 3 months later or finding out about it through some court filing or something like that. Okay, [snorts] so that is me going on the offensive if you will. Okay, for the betterment of all but also to set the industry norm. So when I talk to uh other uh you know
32:03 potential sources of clients again mostly lawyers, accountants, whatever, and I tell them about this, they're like, "You do what?" Like nobody does that, right? Well, I do. They say, "Well, now that I think about it, it makes a lot of sense, right?" So those are that's the kind of response we want to get from our clients and customers is that we're doing something that maybe that that that nobody else is doing, but when they think about it a little bit, they go, why isn't everybody else doing this, right? That that puts us on the offensive and it gives us
32:40 strategic freedom. So businesses that aren't doing those things now are on the defensive. Okay. So why aren't you like for my competitors, why aren't you doing uh weekly reports? And and they'll give various reason. It's too time consuming. Uh I I'm not obligated to to report to these people because I have sole authority. Okay. I mean I'm I'm busy. I assure you. Okay. And it's true. When I'm appointed when the court appoints me as the administrator of an estate, I'm
33:16 not beholden to these other parties. I'm responsible to the court, of course, and I have to discharge my fiduciary duty properly. Okay? But I'm I'm not obligated to seek the advice, let alone the consent of these other people. But so what [laughter] I mean, you know, if if it's an heir or an attorney representing an heir, in the end, they are the ones that are going to get the money. So if there's something going on that they don't understand, I'm better off knowing they
33:51 don't understand what it is and making sure they they get educated, right? because that will most that will be the way of avoiding a dispute the best way of avoiding a dispute down the road. Right? So again look for these opportunities in your business where you can in essence go on the offensive not with your clients per se but with kind of against your competitors so that you're setting the industry norms. you're raising the bar and other companies, other organizations, they've
34:26 got to run to catch up with you. Okay, that puts them on the defensive and that gives you the strategic advantage. Okay, finally, victory is psychological as well as material. So the fact of the matter is the Royal Navy in the 19th century was physically and materially dominant. However, or not, however, and everybody knew it, right? So psychologically
35:02 a lot the the the Royal Navy had a big advantage. And in fact, because Great Britain had a global empire, it was one of the reasons why the colonies that made up what then became the United States, a lot of the colonists and even entire colonies were reluctant to fight a war against Great Britain because they psychologically they just knew that there was no way to beat Great Britain. Okay? And so we want to create that sense that you
35:41 know we are it right. This is take a company like Nvidia which makes chips for among other things um uh the the sort of um uh data centers that power things like large language models and such. Well, Nvidia has it works hard to create an image that you cannot be doing cuttingedge AI technology without its chips. Now, there is some truth to that, okay? Because many of the chips they have are very advanced and if one if one
36:20 is working at the cutting edge of this new technology, you need the best chips in the world. This is why it's been so astonishing that uh Google has come up with uh well not Google uh Alphabet the parent company of Google has come up with some chips that maybe maybe this is the discussion going on are superior to Nvidia's best chips right because it it it pierces that psychological perception that in that Nvidia is necessary
36:55 to be playing at at the upper echelons of the AI game. Right now, of course, you have a country like China that does not want that to does not want that psychological perception to uh to endure it. China does not want the United States to be dominant in AI. And if you remember, I believe it was last year, there was this issue with I believe it was called deepseek, how it it it was much more efficient. Uh, you know, it it it cost far less to develop and it was,
37:33 you know, revolutionary beyond uh uh chat GPT and Perplexity and these other uh US-based uh AI uh models that were available. And it turned out that that was not really the case, right? But the idea, I think, with Deepseek was to try and pierce the psychological perception that the United States or United States-based companies more precisely are dominant in the development of large language models. Okay. So
38:08 we we want to um we want to create as great a brand strength as we possibly can. Now we oftentimes think of brands as being these large companies uh Nvidia um Chat GPT you know Coca-Cola to to use one from the non-technology world right but a global brand is important if a business is doing you know is is doing work globally but we can develop a local
38:44 brand that is in many ways is just as powerful so that we're known to be, you know, the local player in whatever our field is. Okay? We could be, you know, the dominant plumbing company, the dominant electrical company, the best chocolier, right? John Kelly here in in Los Angeles is the top, you know, local chocolier, at least to according to many. Okay? And so the where you know the the the power of our brand is in part defined by the size
39:23 of our market. Right? John Kelly in terms of a international brand is nothing. It's a small company. It doesn't have an international it doesn't even really have a national presence. It has kind of a strong regional presence and has a very strong presence here in Los Angeles. Okay. But it's working on growing. Maybe one day, you know, John Kelly will be a powerful national brand like, I don't know, Hershey's. Okay. Um Hershey's is a powerful international brand, right? So when we think about
40:00 creating that the the the the psychological victory okay over that that is almost that is more powerful than the material victory we need to consider in what realm is that relevant okay and that's a function of where we do business right so I have a pretty powerful um reputation in the sort of greater Los Angeles, moving out into Orange County, Inland Empire area. I'm working on building it throughout
40:35 California, but also extending it into other areas, Texas, the Southeast, etc., where I've where I've already done some work. Okay. Now, I don't want to, going back to point number one, I don't want to dilute my core business here in California by trying to reach out too far. Um, so I I do it judiciously and although when people ask me I say, "Well, I have a national practice because I do." The the reality is that most of my practice is centered in California and the Southeast. That's
41:10 that's where I've done the most work. And so that's that is my current focus. Okay? And and it you would be wise to shape up your business in in a likewise context. Okay? So that is uh this week's take on uh Alfred the Mayan's book the history of sea power um the influence of sea power upon history. Uh we have one more week to go next week we'll wrap it up. So I hope you'll join me next week Tuesday at
41:46 10:00 a.m. for that. Tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. Pacific time is my show People Making Money. And then of course we'll be back next week for the full slate of shows. If you have any questions, comments, criticisms, thoughts you want to share, links to my social media will be in the show notes when this episode posts on LinkedIn. Please feel do share them and I will be happy to first happy to hear your criticisms because I'm always looking for a way to make the show better, but I'd love to uh hear your your comments and engage with you on that as well. If you know someone you
42:23 think might be interested in in the show, uh I would really appreciate it if you maybe send them a link to the show. They can take a look at it and that would give me an opportunity to earn them as a subscriber. And by the way, if you're not a subscriber, please do uh uh consider subscribing to my YouTube channel. Just go to uh YouTube.comtheway and you'll see you can click on the subscribe button. So, thank you so much for joining me. Always a pleasure. And that just leaves me to sign off. Marie
42:58 Bell, Marie, darling, you are my bell. Courage at all times, my