ISSUE #1

From Dan Pe a - "The Money Messiah" and Mentor/Coach for The New Millennium
Dear Friend and Subscriber
Id like to extend you a warm welcome to the first issue of my Quantum Leap Advantage? Internet
Newsletter. From time to time this newsletter, in addition to exposing you to well-tested and proven
precepts to make your business grow, will test your various traits and/or abilities to succeed in the
real world of trench warfare.
No one in the world teaches the methodologies and precepts you will get here. How do I know that?
Because every idea comes from my own experience. Including the thirty years and more than
65,000 business decisions. More than 500 financial presentations on five continents. Billions raised
when you couldnt raise any! Millions of miles in travel and thousands of nights in hotels!
Thousands and thousands of meetings! More than 250,000 business phone conversations! Countless
successes and many, many failures!!
"CONVENTIONAL WISDOM - WRONG" All our lives we are told by the pundits our goals are
not realistic. Our dreams are too far-fetched. Our expectations are too high. We are told you have to
remember who you are and where you came from. We are preached to that those "things" are for the
"other" people; you certainly cant expect that for yourself; whom are you kidding? Youll only
disappoint yourself. It will be a big letdown. You know how you are when you get disappointed. I
say Crap! CRAP!
POPULAR CONSENSUS RECIPE FOR FAILURE
The aforementioned rhetoric is what we and every other human being have been told since Guthrie
Man. Conventional wisdom has been holding people back for tens of centuries. Being in the
majority is a recipe for disaster. A famous man once said, "A sure formula for failure is to try and
please everyone." Some might say I built a career on doing just the opposite of pleasing everyone.
SETTING GOALS FOR SUCCESS
How many times in your business life have you been told your goals are unrealistic? And you
acquiesce to conventional wisdom and lower your goals? Our lives are a series of lowered
expectations year after year. We got pounded by everything around us. Just like our parents and
their parents. We are products of our social and economic milieu. And we ask ourselves why there
are barrios and ghettos? Remember, you will become whom you hang around with. What if you
were judged by the people you surround yourself with? By your advisors, associates, and close
friends. What would people think? Forget people! What do you think? How would you judge
someone like yourself? Pretty scary, huh?
What a distressing contrast there is between the radiant, intelligent child and the feeble mentality of
the average adult. (Freud)
ACHIEVABLE GOALS - NOT!
Conventional wisdom says you want to set achievable goals. My life was changed a number of
years ago when I heard Ted Turner of Time Warner/Turner Communications (now AOL/Time
Warner) fame say "set goals you cannot accomplish in your lifetime." Does that sound like an
achievable goal? Does that sound like a goal with a set time frame? Doesnt conventional wisdom
say "you must set a time limit for your goal?" B.S.! The pundits tell you that a set time frame will
act as a benchmark. Actually it acts as the opposite. Its really a ceiling. How many times have we
seen someone give seven days, a month, or sixty days to do something? What happens? It takes
exactly that long to accomplish the act. Doesnt it? Instead we should say - as fast as humanly
possible! What happens when youre told "I need it now?" It gets done now!
You see, all super high performance people go against conventional wisdom. Turner, Iacocca, Ford,
Dell, Edison, Gates, Jobs, Tom Watson, Perot, Fred Smith, Knight, Bezoes, and probably any
superstar you know all subscribe to do what others felt was wrong. And in every case, probably
something that was not considered achievable. In other words, the very opposite of conventional
wisdom. That same conventional wisdom that is preached in our schools. And we wonder why
were not more successful! Why our children are not high achievers! We wonder why kids are so
ill-prepared for life! We wonder why there are so many dufuses! (Ill write a great deal about
dufuses in future issues). Wouldnt you like to have some chances back again? The things you
didnt do. And you say you cant. Why? Because of your responsibilities, family, kids, etc. Because
others say so? Because time has passed you by? Because you are too old now? Because you dont
have the energy any more, or even because youre too young? Because! Because! Because!
Conventional wisdom says you cant, thats why!
Colonel Sanders was 65 years old when he decided to sell fried chicken in a cardboard box.
Grandma Moses was in her 80s when she decided to paint. How old are you? Is your idea any more
funky than Sanders? Grandma Moses? Is your idea any stranger than Ross Perots idea to build a
company that could outsell IBM at what they did better than anyone in the world? Cheaper?
Starting with $1,000? Or what about a teenage Bill Gates wanting a computer in every U.S. home! I
dont think so! Whos kidding who?
What about the proliferation of dot.com companies, my own included - 3Clix.com! (Click here and
see) There are literally thousands of dot.coms founded by 20-year-old kids to senior citizens. Think
about the following: In 1994 there were virtually no dot.coms. In 1999 over 300 dot.coms had IPOs
for a market capitalization of a trillion dollars; and its estimated in 2000/2001 over 900 dot.coms
will come to market. The 294 companies doing the most business on the internet have an average
market cap of $18 billion. Thats 30 times the average NASDAQ non-dot.com companys market
cap! Its a changed world! Are you changing?
If you never read another "Money Messiah" Quantum Leap Advantage Internet Newsletter or never
attend one of my seminars then only follow this simple precept for super success: Conventional
Wisdom is Almost Always Wrong. You will leave your progeny and/or family a much larger estate
(if thats important to you). Forget leaving money. Youll have a much fuller life because money
allows you choices.
If you think money doesnt buy happiness, you dont know where to shop. (Linda Pe a)
As an aside, at one time in my life, I was going to leave all my money to The Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. But I let conventional wisdom change my mind. We are all
susceptible. And remember, I said conventional wisdom was almost always wrong! Needless to say,
my kids support conventional wisdom here!
To Your Quantum Leap,
Daniel S. Pe a, Sr.

P.S. People often ask me to reveal the "Secrets" of what really makes a super successful, high
performance person. There are no secrets that I know. On these pages I will give you the truths
(albeit brutal sometimes) about making a lot of money. Not the half truths, misinformation, and B.S.
youve already heard ad nauseam. I want to save you from making a lot of mistakes. Mistakes Ive
personally made.
P.P.S. Before you buy any self-help book, audio or video tape, or put your butt into a seminar seat,
ask yourself "Is this person where I want to be? Has he been there, done that in a major league
way? Would I want him as my mentor? Do I really respect his business acumen? Does he have
world-class credentials? Or did he make his money selling as a seminar guru?"
ISSUE #2
From Dan Pea - "The Money Messiah" and Mentor/Coach for The New Millennium
Dear Friend and Subscriber:
NEARING 55
As I said in May 1993 when I was beginning my coaching career, I would cut back my seminars,
etc. in 2000 to coincide with my 55th birthday, which I have done!
Now as I sit here by the pool gazing out at the Gulf of Mexico (no, I havent moved to Florida yet),
I contemplate my family. My wife and 13-year-old daughter are in New York City for Spring Break
going to shows and museums and, of course, shopping. My 16-year-old son just spent 10 days with
me here boating and golfing. It was the first golfing since my serious accident last year and
subsequent "fix-it" surgery in January 2000. Suffice it to say, the 5" titanium plate holding my right
shoulder together and the bone graft taken from my 54-year-old hip arent conducive to a good golf
swing yet! My game was quite ugly.
When I was deciding what I would write for my second QLA Internet Newsletter, it didnt take me
long to decide my topic. One of the most misunderstood topics in business:
LITIGATION AS A BUSINESS TOOL
From Bill Gates at the end of the last century to John D. Rockefeller at the end of the previous
century; from Rick Scott, founder of Columbia Health Care, to AT&T: from Richard Branson and
British Airlines to Dan Pea and The Financial Times; from government, banking, insurance and
every other facet of world commerce - to grow geometrically and stay around, litigation must be
(prudently) used and mastered.
I will, as briefly as I can, memorialize the salient points of using litigation as a business tool. Now
before I start, I want it on the record, some 50% of my 30-year track record of litigation has had
nothing to do with winning money, i.e., many lawsuits have been over principle, some were to right
a heinous wrong such as slanderous remarks made about me; and some were because an entity just
needed a good comeuppance and nobody else would carry the flag into battle. I, like Don Quixote,
have fought many a windmill.
As youve heard me speak and write about, when building your "Dream Team," you want Big Five
accountants and a large national or international firm of lawyers - the best representation you cant
afford!
Unlike the success-oriented fees I coach you to use when facilitating transactions, no law firm will
litigate initially on this basis. Perhaps if your case is especially strong, they will do it on a
contingency basis. Unfortunately, you will be using, from time-to-time, litigation as a positioning
tool and your case may not be something you can seriously leverage.
A year or two ago, being left with a pig-in-a-poke, I had to litigate a case having specious facts at
best to support my desired outcome. Fortunately, our (my) apparent lust for litigation was stronger
than their desire to fight a hard fight, so a reasonably good settlement was finally arrived at. Of
course, during this process my good lawyers counseled us, advising our case needed to be much
stronger, etc. Even with great lawyers, it is their job to tell you the downside risks. Again, what
happens is you are often scared from pursuing your case.
Good lawyers win so-so lawsuits. Great lawyers can win lawsuits in which you have little or no
chance to win. Three of my favorite litigators over the years are Steve Susman and Cyrus Marter IV
of Susman Godfrey in Houston, Dallas, Los Angeles and Seattle and Tim Harris of Charleston
Revich & Williams in Los Angeles. All three have dug me out of some pretty big black holes. Ive
dealt with them 10 and 20 years respectively. They are worth every penny they charge!
Our judicial system works, but we grow up being afraid of it. Its way out of our comfort zone so
we preclude ourselves from benefitting from it. Normally the cost associated with it keeps us from
using it. In fact, Im currently embroiled in litigation where the ancillary players to the litigation
have rights which are being severely violated. A large group of people could bring great pressure to
bear, but theyre afraid because of previous bad experiences. They could get what they deserve but
arent pursuing their best interests.
There are lawyers who take on cases for humanitarian reasons, if the case warrants, in business as
well, i.e., big major corporations taking advantage of the system because of their size alone.
Why do you want to initiate the lawsuit so you are the plaintiff? As the plaintiff, you pick where and
when the lawsuit is fought and probably ultimately adjudicated. This can be a huge advantage. And
secondly, the plaintiff is allowed two closing arguments, meaning you (your lawyer) gets to address
the judge and/or jury once and then again after the defendants closing argument. This can also be
very important.
RULES OF LITIGATION
#1 CHOSE YOUR BATTLES
#2 CHOSE THE VENUE
#3 BE THE PLAINTIFF
#4 HAVE THE BEST REPRESENTATION
#5 LISTEN TO YOUR HEART
DONT LISTEN TO YOUR SICK STOMACH WHEN YOURE OUT OF YOUR
#6
COMFORT ZONE
#7 DONT LISTEN TO RELATIVES, FRIENDS, ET AL
#8 LISTEN TO EXPERIENCED LITIGANTS - LIKE ME!
#9 GENERALLY SPEAKING, DONT WORRY ABOUT THE COST (THIS IS VERY HARD!)
#10 BIG LAWSUITS ARE BETTER THAN SMALL ONES
#11 ELECT JURY TRIALS, AS OPPOSED TO A JUDGE ONLY
#12 PREPARATION (YOURS) IS EVERYTHING - KNOW THE FACTS
#13 PRACTICE DEPOSITIONS AND TRIALS
IF YOU ARE THINKING OF A BETTER STRATEGY, GET A NEW LAWYER (NOT
#14
TRUE IN MY CASE)
#15 NEVER GIVE UP
#16 DONT BE INTIMIDATED BY THE PROCESS
#17 USE MOCK TRIALS (PRETEND TRIALS YOU DO IN FRONT OF A HIRED JURY)
DRESS SIMPLE AND CONSERVATIVELY IN COURT - NO JEWELRY EXCEPT A
#18 WEDDING BAND; WHITE SHIRT, PLAIN TIE AND DARK SUIT FOR MEN AND THE
EQUIVALENT FOR WOMEN; SHORT GROOMED HAIR FOR MEN
#19 DONT LOSE YOUR TEMPER IN COURT - ITS OKAY TO CRY IF ITS REAL
HAVE YOUR SPOUSE IN THE FRONT ROW EVERY DAY. CHILDREN ALSO IF
#20
POSSIBLE. OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS IN SECOND ROW IS OKAY
NO QUOTES TO THE PRESS OTHER THAN "WE BELIEVE IN OUR CASE AND THAT
#21
IS WHY WE WENT TO COURT". YOUR WORDS CAN EASILY BE TURNED AROUND.
WHEN YOU BREAK FOR LUNCH OR A RECESS, REMEMBER NEVER TALK IN
#22
PUBLIC ABOUT THE CASE - YOU NEVER KNOW WHO MIGHT OVERHEAR
#23 WHEN YOU FIND A LEGAL TEAM THAT WINS, STAY WITH THEM
ALWAYS TELL THE TRUTH, NO MATTER WHAT. THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU
#24
FREE.
 DURING VIDEOTAPED DEPOSITIONS AND IN COURT, LOOK AT THE CAMERA
#25
AND THE JURY. MAKE EYE CONTACT.
WHEN TESTIFYING IN A DEPOSITION/TRIAL, IF YOU DONT KNOW THE ANSWER,
#26
SAY YOU DONT KNOW THE ANSWER

Its a closed world of top litigators. Virtually all big law firms have good to super-good lawyers. All
big law firms dont have great litigators. You dont always need a great lawyer, but sometime if you
grow geometrically, you will.
Like any other project management, litigation must be managed. Unfortunately, like speech-giving,
you become a great litigant by going through a learning curve. I dont mean you have to get
involved in losing efforts (like making bad speeches so after some time you make good speeches) to
get in a position to win in court. Large law firms will allow you to get ahead of the learning curve.
The Quantum Leap methodology talks ad nauseam about following your dreams. Life without
dreams is like a bird with a broken wing - it cant fly. I wrote this newsletter because sometimes
youll need litigation to follow your dream.
Go out and kick some butt, and dont let conventional wisdom keep you from achieving your
dream. Conventional wisdom says Dont Litigate. All high-performance people and the great
organizations of the last one hundred years did and do litigate as I write this letter.
Dont litigate frivolously - but dont be afraid to either.
To Your Quantum Leap,
Daniel S. Pea, Sr.

P.S. Youve all heard me say, get financial institutions to compete for your business. Make it a
beauty contest. In that vain, a recent dot-com ad says it like it is: "When banks compete, you win."
(LendingTree.com - not to be confused with my dot-com company, 3Clix.com).
P.P.S. Im sure Ill be chastised for writing this letter next time Im on the witness stand. Im sure
the opposing, smart-ass trial lawyer will conjure up some B.S. reason why me being experienced is
bad. Who would you rather have on your team? A neophyte or me?
P.P.S. As a matter of clarification, I will do three or four Guthrie Castle Experiences a year and
perhaps one or two 1-Day Seminars. Of course, I will continue to give keynotes whenever it suits
me and my overall business schedule, and Ill continue to render sage counsel and take on projects
that excite me.

ISSUE #3
An effective Investment Strategy and sound Investment advise is a priority
For an effective Investment Strategy sound Investment advise plays an important role. There have
been various incidents, which shook the financial world which include the Tulip Bulbs in the 1630s
in Holland, the famous stock market crash in 1929 and April14, 2000 crash at Dow and NASDAQ
are indicators to device a foolproof investment strategy.
Facts are Mondays activity does not mean much unless the market has dramatically risen or fallen.
With these uncertainties a watertight investment strategy needs to be established.
In the last century, there was unrest when oil prices dipped 5 times lower. Beating it all are classic
cases in the energy industry where powerful dynasties were built. Companies started with less then
$1000 have grown to earn $445,000,000 in eight years.
To offer sound Investment advice, conventional wisdom does not score and the down market
environment requires special skills. In fact, spending habits will be reduced with exceptions on
alcohol and movies. Banks will toughen out and manipulate ratios as there would be a sizeable drop
their valuation of top companies. E-Commerce will perish and companies with revenue will be the
only ones financed. Financial institutions will cash in and make up for lost time.
As an Investment Advise, think through the concept, the financial model and current economic
circumstances and work around it. Postponement and procrastination for the economy to stabilize is
perilous. Financial institutions will require people with down market experience while partnership
and JV clients will be elevated to a superior position as they have been there and done that.
IRAs - 401Ks - HIGH TECHS - BEWARE
Having just put my "Litigation as a Business Tool" Newsletter to bed, I find it incumbent upon
myself to put pen in hand (yes, I write these) and issue a bit of extremely important - in some cases,
financial life and death - information.
The stock market, as we know (yes, all you pundits) is a leading economic indicator, i.e., the 1929
Crash was followed by a severe depression (and I dont mean the kind of depression you get when
you gain 10 lbs.). I could give other examples going back to Tulip Bulbs in the 1630s in Holland,
so suffice it to say, what happened Friday (04/14/00) in the Dow and NASDAQ indicates we could
be in Big F Trouble in the days, weeks and months to come! Mondays activity doesnt mean
much unless the market has a huge day - up or down or big volume.
Im not a stock market guy (anymore), remembering I left Wall Street three decades ago. But I did
build a formidable dynasty in the greatest depression in the energy industry known in the last
century, i.e., when oil went from $41 per barrel to less than $8 per barrel. I grew a company from
$820 to $445,000,000 in eight years.
Making money in a down market and/or down economy takes special skills. Conventional wisdom
is your biggest enemy. I will write from time-to-time on this prevailing, awesome subject assuming
the market continues to go south for the beginning of this New Millennium.
I will jot a few pearls of wisdom for you to ponder as you calculate the depressed value of your
hopefully not too depressed portfolios:
1. Spending habits will be reduced almost across the board. Exceptions will be (like in the
Depression) alcohol and movies (which would include video and cable).
2. Banks will tighten their grips and adjust ratios
3. Valuations for new high-tech/dot-coms will be reduced. The existing ones, as seen in the
NASDAQ market, have already been disseminated. For example, dot-coms with real trailing
revenue, EBITDA and even earnings will rebound first.
4. E-Commerce plays will perish and be extremely difficult to finance. Real companies with
revenue, etc. will be the only ones that get financed. Of course, some of you know my own
dot-com has $10 million in trailing 1999 revenue - last month (March 2000) we did
$950,000. Expecting a drastic valuation change, in January we acquired a real B-to-B
company with revenue and a track record.
5. Financial institutions which missed the bubble by not investing or lending will be hungry to
make up for lost time and initially perceived missed opportunities.
6. If you still want to play the E-commerce/dot-com game, look for real trailing revenues with
big B-to-B companies. If theres time, you can build your financial story around your
intuitive knowledge you had vis-a-vis the market and over-evaluations - and now is the time
to, yada, yada, yada!
7. Think through your idea, financial model, etc. and adjust your presentation to the current
economic circumstances.
 8. Move quickly! Dont procrastinate! Dont wait for the economic conditions to stabilize!
He/she who hesitates is lost!
9. Whatever you do, you still must be passionate about it - especially now.
10. Financial institutions will want people who have succeeded in a down market.
Partner or J.V. with experience that has been there and done that in a bad market.
To Your Quantum Leap,
Daniel S. Pea, Sr.

P.S. As this is being written, the markets are attempting to rally. If the rally isnt sustained, I may do
a "Raising Capital in a Down Market" Seminar later this year.

ISSUE #4
Getting to know the top CEOs through their Leadership Quotes
This is an abstract of Leadership Quotes from Worth Magazines May issue which lists the Top 50
CEOs. Some of the most notable facts are mentioned here and the article in general gives an
interesting perspective on how CEOs think.
There were simple queries that probed into their luncheon habits to their beliefs on the existence of
intelligent life beyond the earth. Some of these Leadership Quotes are thought provoking and some
are smart expressions laced with humor.
The CEOs featured here are from Applied Materials, Best Buy , Broadcom, Continental, Ebay, El
Paso, EMC, Enron, Honeywell, Intel, JDS Uniphase, Merck, New York Times, Novell, Staples,
Texas Instruments, Tyco, United Technologies, VA Linux, Wells Fargo, Wellpoint and Yahoo.
These Leadership quotes are a rarity. When asked about lunch, Nicholas from Broadcom reacted by
wanting to eat competition. Interestingly, when Engibous from Texas Instruments was asked about
the number of hours spent on the net it was a meager 60 minutes a week. At the other end of the
spectrum James Bond was the popular choice among the CEOs when asked about fictional
characters. Surprisingly, these leadership quotes are spruced up with brands. Along with the
Hummer and Lamborghini Diablo there was room for Davidoff cigars, electric screwdrivers along
with brands like Rolex, Patek Philippe, Rado and Zeiter.
Added to these, each CEO has their own distinct idiosyncrasies with their own distinct dislikes
about themselves. When asked about a vacation in the last 12 months, one CEO managed to holiday
for a month. Given an extra hour one CEO claimed spending time talking to employees. When
asked about the Dow both optimistic and pessimistic views were noticed. When asked about
intelligent life beyond Earth a majority of propounded its existence. Added to this there were two
extremes when it came to casual clothing. One CEO asserts casual clothing is not process efficient
while some of them live in their jeans.
I dont normally quote directly from an article verbatim. And I certainly wont quote as much as I
do in this letter.
WORTH Magazines May issue lists the Top 50 CEOs. Ive quoted some of the more notable facts
(in my opinion) listed. The facts listed and the article in general gives you an interesting perspective
on how the best US CEOs (according to WORTH) think.
For those of you familiar with QLA Methodology, much of what you read "according to WORTH"
is QLA.
TOP 50
Clear Choice: Ciscos John Chambers has already created more wealth than Buffett or Welch. This
year, hell likely surpass Gates.
"WHATS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH?"
Schmidt (Novell): French Fries. Lewis (New York Times): Tuna. Morgan (Applied Materials):
Sandwich at my desk. Barrett (Intel): A Walk. Kozlowski (Tyco): Rare tune on greens. Stemberg
(Staples): Pasta. Koogle (Yahoo): Stuffed taco at Taco Bell. Nicholas (Broadcom): The competition.
"WHATS YOUR MOST MARKED CHARACTERISTIC?"
Stemberg (Staples): Sense of humor. Barrett (Intel): Competitive nature. Ruettgers (EMC):
Militaristic style. Lay (Enron): Positive attitude. Nicholas (Broadcom): Sheer determination.
Koogle (Yahoo): Intuition. David (United Technologies): Intellect. Gilmartin (Merck): Candid,
forthright approach.
"HOW MANY HOURS A WEEK ARE YOU ON THE NET?"
Engibous (Texas Instruments): Less than 1. David (United Technologies): 2. Lewis (New York
Times): 5 to 7. Wise (El Paso): 5 to 8. Schulze (Best Buy): 8 to 10. Nicholas (Broadcom): 10 to 15.
Schmidt (Novell): 10 to 15. Stemberg (Staples): 15. Augustin (VA Linux): 20. Koogle (Yahoo): 30.
"WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE FICTIONAL CHARACTER?"
Stemberg (Staples): Tom Sawyer. Schmidt (Novell): Hamlet. Nicholas (Broadcom): Lazarus Long.
Bonsignore (Honeywell): Jason of "Jason and the Argonauts". Bethune (Continental): James Bond.
Lay (Enron): James Bond. Kozlowski (Tyco): "Dave Barry" [Laughs]. Koogle (Yahoo): Lovejoy.
Schulze (Best Buy): James Bond.
"WHATS YOUR GREATEST EXTRAVAGANCE?"
Stemberg (Staples): Davidoff cigars. Augustin (VA Linux): A California vanity plate that says VA
Linux. Barrett (Intel): A Hummer. Nicholas (Broadcom): A Lamborghini Diablo. Morgan (Applied
Materials): Helicopter skiing. Bonsignore (Honeywell): Porsche Boxter. Schmidt (Novell): An
electric screwdriver.
"WHAT KIND OF WATCH ARE YOU WEARING?"
David (United Technologies): A Rolex. Barrett (Intel): A ten-years service watch from Intel.
Bonsignore (Honeywell): A Patek Philippe. Purcell (Morgan Stanley and Dean Witter): A watch
commemorating the merger. Lewis (New York Times): A Rolex Submariner. Schulze (Best Buy): A
Rado. Koogle (Yahoo): A Zeitner.
"WHAT DO YOU DISLIKE MOST ABOUT YOURSELF?"
Kalkhoven (JDS Uniphase): Lack of patience. Whitman (Ebay): Try to do too much at once.
Schaeffer (Wellpoint): Never satisfied. Kozlowski (Tyco): Too compulsive. David (United
Technologies): Cant relax. Lewis (New York Times): Wish I were smarter. Schmidt (Novell):
Getting older.
"HOW MANY VACATION DAYS IN PAST 12 MONTHS?"
Enginbous (Texas Instruments): "No clue". Lay (Enron): 21. Lewis (New York Times): 15. Koogle
(Yahoo): 3. Nicholas (Broadcom): 1.5. Bethune (Continental): 1 or 2. Schulze (Best Buy): 30.
David (United Technologies): 25. Kovacevich (Wells Fargo): Fewer than 7. Stemberg (Staples): 20.
Augustin (VA Linux): none.
"HOW WOULD YOU USE AN EXTRA HOUR?"
Morgan (Applied Materials): Id use it for advance planning. Koogle (Yahoo): To catch up with my
correspondence. Bethune (Continental): To talk to employees. Blank (Home Depot): For reading.
Augustin (VA Linux): To talk to customers. Stemberg (Staples): For thinking.
"WHERE WILL THE DOW END THE YEAR?"
Bethune (Continental): I am praying it will be up. David (United Technologies): 12,000. Koogle
(Yahoo): 14,000. Lewis (New York Times): 11,000. Kalkhoven (JDS Uniphase): Up modestly.
Schulze (Best Buy): Up less than 1,000 points. Kovacevich (Wells Fargo): Below 10,000. Thats
what Greenspan wants.
"IS THERE INTELLIGENT LIFE BEYOND EARTH?"
Schulze (Best Buy): No. Barrett (Intel): The odds favor it. David (United Technologies): Yes.
Stemberg (Staples): Yes. Blank (Home Depot): Yes. Kozlowski (Tyco): Yes. Koogle (Yahoo): Yes.
Augustin (VA Linux): Yes. Morgan (Applied Materials): Yes. Bonsignore (Honeywell): Yes.
Bethune (Continental): Yes, do the math.
"CASUAL CLOTHES: A GOOD THING IN THE OFFICE?"
David (United Technologies): Its not process efficient. Ruettgers (EMC): I own 87 ties. Koogle
(Yahoo): Are you kidding? Bonsignore (Honeywell): We still need the jeans police. Whitman
(Ebay): I wear jeans twice a week. Truchard (National Instruments): Ive got jeans on right now.
It doesnt matter what you call it, the important thing is to model high-performance habits. It will
allow you a clear path to greater success.
To Your Quantum Leap
Dan Pea

P.S. Thanks to everyone that has responded so well to the Internet Newsletter. I will answer
questions in future newsletters.

ISSUE #5
From Dan Pea - "The Money Messiah" and Mentor/Coach for the New Millennium.
Dear Friend and Subscriber:
The following 11 rules by Bill Gates are pretty good. QLA Methodology is a lot more aggressive
than this, but for those of you who didnt see them, Im forwarding them on. I strongly believe wed
do our youth an injustice if we are too easy on them. As we all realize, life will not be easy on them.
RULE1 (QLA)
Life is not fair; get used to it.
RULE 2 (QLA)
The world wont care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something
BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
RULE 3
You will NOT make 40 thousand dollars a year right out of high school. You wont be a vice
president with a car phone, until you earn it.
RULE 4 (QLA)
If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss. He doesnt have tenure.
RULE 5 (QLA)
Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger
flipping; they called it opportunity.
RULE 6 (QLA)
If you mess up, its not your parents fault, so dont whine about mistakes, learn from them.
RULE 7 (QLA)
Before you were born, your parents werent as boring as they are now. They got that way from
paying bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you are. So before you
save the rain forest from the parasites of your parents generation, try "delousing" the closet in your
own room.
RULE 8 (QLA)
Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life has not. In some schools they
have abolished failing grades; theyll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer.
This doesnt bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
RULE 9
Life is not divided into semesters. You dont get summers off and very few employees are interested
in helping you find yourself. Do that in your own time.
RULE 10
Television is not real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
RULE 11
Be nice to nerds. Chances are youll end up working for one.

To Your Quantum Leap,

Dan Pea

ISSUE #6
The basics in personal development plan and the process of a continuous personal
development growth.
In a personal development plan trust, recognition, motivation and the importance of continuous
personal development growth is essential. This is supported by Maslows theory that human beings
progress through a hierarchy of needs until self-actualization is reached. The simile drawn for this
process is to build an emotional bank account as defined by Maslow. To build these emotional bank
accounts decision-making and self-actualization are the main components.
With a proper personal development plan people have gone a long way achieving self-actualization.
The flipside of this personal development growth is that there is no perfect decision nor can
decisions be made lazing around.
When difficult decisions need to be taken the average person goes wrong by solving the wrong
problems. The hazards are characterizations of decision where objectives become narrow and only a
few alternatives are taken into consideration.
Bad decisions are made because situations are not considered in a broader context. This leads to
developing tolerance and accepting problems. Choosing solutions from decisions is more a habit
than figuring what decisions should be addressed. The easy way out is to do what comes naturally
and not question the issues as this becomes an emotionally-easier decision.
First define the "decision problem". A good solution to a well-posed problem is superior than an
outstanding solution to a poorly-posed problem. Addressing the problem correctly is essential and
in the course of arriving at a solution the situation may change and the problem becomes a new
problem while the situation doesnt change.
Focusing and working on the right problem is essential but can be associated with the pain and fear
of error in judgment. In formulating a Personal Development plan, chances of both good and bad
decisions, the fear of failure and willingness to get experienced through mistakes helps in getting
closer to self-actualization. The tendency to ask questions repeatedly may be annoying but it is a
sure shot method of getting comfortable with the process of proper decision-making.
On the way to success, there are no short cuts and it starts with getting comfortable with failures.
While creating a proper personal development growth plan thickening the emotional skin and
getting comfortable with failures on the way brings dreams to fruition. These form the absolute
basic tenets for high-performance and fulfillment.
As Ive written, while travelling I get caught up on my reading. One of the articles I recently read
was about Dr. Abraham H. Maslow. The journals he wrote in 1962 were recently re-released. As a
freshman in university in 1963, I studied Maslow - before I flunked out. His "Hierarchy of Needs"
is now legendary in the world of psychology. Maslows work has its own website, and I recommend
you look at it (EYPsychain Management). He is highly recommended by many, including myself.
The reason Ive always like Maslow has become more clear to me since I entered the world of
coaching in 1993. His 1962 book Toward the Psychology of Being describes the theory that human
beings progress through a hierarchy of needs until they reach a point of self-actualization. In other
words, trust, recognition, motivation and the importance of continuous improvement in life. Its
very much like the emotional bank account youve heard me talk and write about ad nauseam. He
makes it sound more scientific.
People Ive been in business with over the years have gone a long way toward their own self-
actualization. I did myself more than 20 years ago when I decided to get my head screwed on
straight in 1976.
Another article I read was on "The Perfect Decision" by an entrepreneur. Or more basically, there IS
NO perfect decision, but neither are decisions made by the seat of your pants. Part of self-
actualization and building emotional bank accounts is the act of decision-making.
What does the average person (you) do wrong in making difficult decisions? You start to solve the
wrong problems. You jump at the first (easiest) characterizations of your decision, so your
objectives are too narrow and you consider too few alternatives. Now, by this I certainly dont mean
to Lotus 1-2-3 a question to death. What is meant is, because of inexperience, we look at a narrow
scope of outcomes. Of course the answer to this is an experienced Board with a well-respected and
battle-hardened (and in my case, extremely charming, affable and saintly!) Chairman and Mentor.
(Some of you will think Im kidding.)
Bad decisions are made because inexperienced people dont look at situations in a broader context,
because it makes them uncomfortable. For example, you make decisions from childhood (2 or 3-
years-old) with no training. We get into bad habits, we learn to accept the ways problems are given.
So you are choosing solutions from decisions given to you by others. After 20 to 40 years, were
pretty much in that habit rather than asking ourselves what decisions we should be addressing.
Ive said its not easy thinking about making hard decisions. The easy way out is just to do what
comes naturally and not trying to question the issues more broadly. This is another way of saying
you make the emotionally-easier decision.
The first thing you need to do is define the "decision problem" you are really facing, i.e., what it is
you have to decide. A good solution to a well-posed problem is usually far superior to an
outstanding solution to a poorly posed problem.
Now the real question is, how do we know we are posing the problem correctly? One - our mentor!
Two - perhaps, after a lifetime of messing things up, through bad decisions. Or three - by asking
yourself, "is this what I really need to decide? Is this the right problem?" As you well know, after a
while you are in the course of deciding the situation changes and the problem becomes a new
problem. And sometimes the situation doesnt change, but your insights into the situation do.
As you all know, being a minority shareholder in a private company is like kissing your sister. For
most of you, Ive had little to do with your decision-making process. For a few of you, Ive had
considerable input. Ive in no certain terms probed your objectives, goals, interests, fears,
aspirations and at times, helped you psychoanalyze yourself, asking what you really want and
understanding your basic desire and continually probed, probed, probed.
Now, if you dont know if you are working on the right problem and you dont listen to the
experience of your mentor and/or board, what happens? Very few people focus on whether you are
working on the right problem. Why? Because to focus on the right problem normally is associated
with the pain and fear of error in your judgements - a big mistake! There are good and bad
decisions and no more than fear of failure and being willing to become experienced through making
a lot of mistakes. The more you get closer to self-actualization the better your choices.
At this juncture, I could write volumes about inner peace and the fulfilment of lifes meaning, but I
wont! Some of you (alumni of other programs) could also write these volumes. In fact, some of
you have - in your emails to me!
A colleague just called for some assistance. The advisor for the seller with whom hes been
negotiating has just been fired. What now, Dan? What Would Dan Do? WWDD?
Its funny what I think of when I get calls and emails from you. I remember how this particular
person was difficult to be sold on QLA. He purported had a partner who couldnt take action. Being
British, he kept trying to convince him. He came to the Guthrie Castle Seminar and still tried, for a
while, to get his partner to commit. Finally he said hed go forward without this partner!
Dont get me wrong. This person had a million questions himself about attending the Castle and
moving forward. At Guthrie he had another million questions - hes an engineer and must
understand! As far as I can remember, weve had one Board meeting at Guthrie. Ive helped
interview one or two of our Board members and we have four or five Board members. There have
been two or three changes on the Board. I think weve changed accountants at least once and weve
had the same lawyers (I think)! He now asks less and less because he is more comfortable with -
what?..himself!
In recent years, various colleagues have taken me to dinner or for coffee from time-to-time when
Im available. They also listen to me. Sometimes I give very specific instructions and other times I
give general guidelines. Sometimes my sage input is difficult to follow, as many will attest to. But
as someone who has had any success using QLA, you already know you have to get used to failure
and rejection. This is not to say you become comfortable with not completing your goals. What I
mean is you must get comfortable with failures on the way to bringing your dream to fruition. You
must thicken your emotional skin. You must become more comfortable with the failures you
experience on the way to success. Hopefully all of you understand this absolute basic precept to
being a high-performance and fulfilled person. Youve heard me say, get successful and youll feel
good about yourself!
Do you think Richard Branson, Donald Trump or Ross Perot care the same way you do about what
people think and failures? I dont think so!
Every day of the rest of your life is a new test! How will you score? Youll score great if you live it
like its the last two minutes of your last World Cup / Super Bowl.
To a prosperous and emotionally fulfilling life,
Dan

P.S. To quote Jerry Springer, no matter what your age (pass adolescence) you are responsible for
your own actions, irrespective of the actions or inactions of someone else. Pass the age of legal
reason (18 in the U.S.), you and only you are accountable for what you do or dont do. Remember:
in the words of a great, all-knowing soothsayer, "All people are self made, only successful people
talk about it!"
P.P.S. Ross Perot - "Success is on the razors edge of failure."
P.P.S. I did ultimately

ISSUE #7
The essentials for a personal development growth and defining a personal development plan
Defining a personal development plan would mean altering the career path life cycle. Further, the
main ingredient for a personal development growth schedule is to handle every assignment with the
same vigor and enthusiasm like it was the very first one.
The success route is taking the high road and aspiring for a better life and being aware of the
difference between right and wrong. Living life in quiet desperation and pursuing a dream only
leads to a self-proclaimed revenue stream and a distinct lifestyle, which paves way to enter a
comfort zone in life.
Part of the personal development plan is to have resolute determination. This is vividly exhibited in
the movies "Search For The North Pole", "The Alamo", and "Saving Private Ryan". These are
cinematic expressions of resolute determination portrayed through conquering the frigid peaks of
the North Pole, a bloody civil war to win back a state and a mothers personal mission to find her
lost son fighting in the army after losing three of her sons in WWWII.
Essentially for personal development growth, a few secrets from a super high performer helps. It
isnt just brains or education, though they certainly make success achievable. The act of doing it and
constant perseverance that it should be done are clear winners.
History has stalwarts who have achieved unflinching success in this area. But along with their
honor and consternation, is the fear of losing lives, suffering from poverty, humiliation and
imprisonment. Ultimately, the choice is personal and without guts there is no glory.
For a proper personal development plan there are no short cuts. The truth is plain and simple and
the benefit perceived is clear. A resolute decision will be easier and help in personal development
growth if there is a dream and passion and also the ability to stretch beyond the comfort zone. Not
going beyond can lead to stagnation even years of resolute determination. Remember, fear is False
Expectation Appearing Real!
RESOLUTE DETERMINATION AND RESOLVE
As I approach my 55th birthday, having finished my 7th year in coaching/mentoring, I reflect on the
life Ive chosen for myself and family, which is now winding down.
When I started my fourth career as mentor/coach in 1993, I clearly said I would embark on this
endeavour with the same robust nature Ive attacked virtually everything since my first career as a
U.S. Army Officer; followed by the training ground at Bear Stearns (a prominent Wall Street firm);
followed by an entrepreneurial stage laced with many mergers, acquisitions and divestitures.
The above life cycle has spanned five decades, two centuries and two millenniums. My conclusions
are: I have found most people are good; most people would rather take the high road; most people
want a better life; most understand the difference between right and wrong; and most people (but
not as many as you think), when faced with greed and avarice, will do the right thing. Ergo, there
should be no reason why most people arent successful at whatever they choose - WRONG!
Most people lead lives of quiet desperation. Most people arent engaged in the perseverance of a
dream. They are engaged in something which produces a revenue stream, creating a lifestyle which
they get used to by default. They get comfortable and more or less stay in that comfort zone their
entire life.
Over this past weekend, while at my home at Guthrie Castle, in between playing golf on my own
private golf course, I worked [as usual] and watched CNN. In between I watched three different
films on the satellite TV in my office: "Search For The North Pole", "The Alamo", and "Saving
Private Ryan". To relax at night, I smoke a Monte Christo A Cigar and have a few drinks whilst
doing my light work and watching a film.
I felt I should write a newsletter, so Ive been thinking about a subject matter. I was looking out my
office window onto the golf course, wondering why Im here and others, not as fortunate, are other
places. Its light past 11:00 p.m. now. You can actually play golf for about 20 hours a day.
People often ask me, "what was the turning point in your life ?" I often say I never really looked at
it this way but usually say, my volunteering for military service at the height of the Vietnam War as
a private and ending my military career as an officer (without a college degree) was the turning
point. Of course, I went on to graduate from college, which is a story by itself.
More than getting battered as a private and learning to be neat and clean, I learned what was
emphasized as "resolute determination" - no matter what. The military is different now. There is no
battering, etc. to speak of. I believe we, in the free world, are fortunate communism failed.
In the three movies I watched this weekend, this resolute determination was exhibited over and over
again. If you will indulge me, briefly, [it's my letter and it's free !] I will illustrate what I mean.
Search For The North Pole: Admiral Perry, after a number of attempts, finds the North Pole. He had
dreamed of this since he was six years old. He had planned his US Naval career around this end. He
learned how to raise money for the trips and promote others into joining him for no money or pay
for the privilege of freezing to death for 2 - 3 years at a time - Sound familiar ?
Whilst his co-discoverer, Mr Henderson, (his black valet by title but much, much more in reality)
was breaking eight of his toes off due to frost bite, Perry said, "Its a small price to find the top of
the world !" He was 52 when he made his final, successful trip to the top of the world. He was a
hero! Of course, now his conquests are being questioned.
Every failure taught him something different. His wife, children and others, whether they wanted to
or not, became part of the sacrifice - as have mine.
The Alamo: For my American readers this is an old story. The young country was fighting Mexico
for Texas. A few hundred "lads" take on about 8,000 well-trained Mexican infantry and artillery.
The Americans knew they couldnt win. Their dream of freeing themselves from Mexico could only
be helped by their resolute determination to merely slow the Army down and send a powerful
message to the oppressors. Texas would not give up, no matter what the cost. All but women and
children perished, gladly, as the story goes.
This particular battle (and each country that has fought for freedom has their own) is special in US
history due to some of the men that perished there: Colonel Jim Bowie, Colonel Travis and General
Houston, amongst many others - all extremely high-profile heros! In the U.K., it would be
analogous to Lord Nelson and Lord Wellington dying in hand-in-hand combat.
Saving Private Ryan: This movie was full of resolute determination to not give up no matter what.
From landing on Omaha Beach on D-Day to the actual act of trying to find the only surviving son
of Mrs Ryan (like a needle in haystack). She had already lost three sons defending the U.S. in
WWII.
In all instances, resolute determination was a given. The other factor, more easily understood with
Admiral Perry then the Texans and finally saving a young private, is the great passion for fulfilling
a dream. With Private Ryan, as depicted in the movie, it was asked "What if, Captain (Tom Hanks),
we find the kid and with all the bad going on, we can say this kid changed the world for the better?"
For more than 30 years I have dealt with life as I do business! All-out or nothing. As the Navy Seals
say, "Go hard or go home" and "The only easy day was yesterday". It had been difficult for me to
understand, after seven years of trying to coach people what I can do naturally, why people still
have great difficulty.
Now I know the single biggest difference between a super high performance person isnt brains or
education - though these certainly can make it easier to succeed. Its the resolute, undying belief in
what youre doing. The constant perseverance that it will get done - no matter what. The above is
virtually impossible unless your endeavour is wrapped around your dream and your passion for it.
I could list countless success stories from the marine sergeant (who attended my Castle Experience
who willed his severed spine to heal) to Helen Keller, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Richard
Branson, Golda Mayer, Margaret Thatcher, Anwar Sadat, Nelson Mandela, Christ, Gandhi and
Mohammed, amongst others.
Now dont misunderstand me. Resolute commitment, no matter what, has caused me, along with the
honor roll above, great consternation, heart-ache and more, i.e., it cost a few their lives, a few
suffered poverty, humiliation and imprisonment during their careers. Its not an easy trip! There is a
"pay price to action", as I call it.
Its your choice! But the old adage, "No Guts - No Glory", is pretty much what my 54 years have
taught me. Big Risk, Big Rewards and Big Problems.
Ross Perot put it another way - "Success is always on the razors edge of failure". Henry Ford said,
"You cant make a reputation on something you havent done". Roy Disney (Walt Disneys older
brother) said, "When values are clear, decisions are easy".
If the benefit perceived by you is clear, your decision to be resolute will be easy(ier). If its your
dream and passion, you will not question stretching way outside your comfort zone. Without going
beyond, youll be where you are now - years from now. I guarantee it! Remember, fear is False
Expectation Appearing Real!
Im looking forward to seeing you outside your comfort zone - Soon! Come join me, or as the US
Marine Corp motto says, "Come join the few, the proud!"
To Your Quantum Leap,
Dan Pea
PS People have asked what my criteria is for a transaction. Of course, I have tapes etc. I have two
separate criteria:
1. Individual vis-a-vis a deal (in this order)
a) the energy of the person
b) the deal - legal, ethical, simplicity. Does it work?
c) experience - work. Have they failed?
d) education - information/formal

2. Deals
a) first or different
b) large market size
c) large gross margins
d) scalability and employment market
e) barrier to entry

PPS As promised in 1993, my 2000 schedule is limited to a fraction of my previous years. I have no
scheduled QLA 1-day seminars for 2000. I have two 4-Day Castle Experiences scheduled for 2000 -
one in August and the other in November. I have no "Deal Making / Mergers and Acquisitions"
seminars scheduled. I have no "Raising Capital" seminars scheduled, though Id like to give one
because its my favorite! Speaking of money, last Friday I met with the reigning king of Europe
venture capitalist and one of the top in the world. He wrote, "Please besiege us with deals, Dan."
PPPS I will still use the Castle Experience as a filter for future transactions I might be involved
with. At the Castle I can easily determine the above 1 and 2.
PPPPS I will continue using The Guthrie Castle Group (see website) as my conduit for various
transactions outside direct QLA involvement.

ISSUE #9
Dear Friend and Subscriber,
As I sat, watching Pete Sampras win his seventh Wimbledon Championship (his thirteenth Grand
Slam Championship - a new all time record), I thought of what I wrote a few days ago. I also
thought of one of my devotees response which I forwarded to you.
Pete Sampras is a genuinely nice guy. Even a little shy. Hes 28 years old and says he owed todays
success to his parents, fiance and God. He was losing at the beginning of the match and came
back, after thinking he might lose, to win strongly.
Notwithstanding my devotee might believe Pete Sampras is an anomaly, I dont ! The key is, he was
led by a role model - in this case his parents.
Ive written, ad nauseam, how Socrates wrote (even before I came on the scene) the easiest way to
success was modeling someone who had already achieved success - been there and done it.
Obviously, Pete Sampras modeled other great tennis players to become arguably the greatest of all
time. But, dealing with the ramifications of super success, he got the solid grounding he received
from his parents.
Speaking of grounding - a couple of years ago a business partner of mine sent me the attached
poem. Its not that I had never seen it before - because I had - as many of you may have as well. It
wasnt because it was an especially difficult transaction we were working on together. It wasnt
because he was contemplating quitting. He sent it to me to give to some of my other business
partners who were having a tough time of it. He wanted them to gain some inspiration from the
words. What the other partners did take inspiration from was who sent it to me.
It came from a 32-year-old young man from Dublin. He was a Chartered Accountant (CPA)
formerly from a Big Five firm. He was no longer in the accounting business. He was trying to
consolidate pubs, but, in his case, it was a bit more tricky. You see [no pun intended] he is almost
totally blind. He sees, at most, dark shadows. He has gone to the wrong office building; he has sat
in the wrong reception room; he has fallen in open construction pits, yet he doesnt feel sorry for
himself. He wants to be part of the solution instead of part of the problem. He wanted to try and
help me help others. He is a giver not a taker.
People often ask me why I ever started coaching in 1993. Fortunately I have met a number of such
outstanding human beings. Being a high performance person doesnt only relate to money and
riches: ie; the Pope, Nelson Mandela.
Dont get me wrong, Ive taken the riches route and Ive been fortunate enough to have experienced
notoriety and publicity along with that success, but, for those that have followed my career closely,
you know Ive also experienced the agony of defeat.
Today was a day for the good guys like Pete Sampras. But the real truth is the guys/gals like my
blind partner - TONY WARD - are the real heroes we should model ourselves after.
To Our QL,
Daniel S Pea, Sr.

P.S. TONY has been training the last year to represent his country in the Olympics. Hes a 800 and a
1500 meter [Real] MAN.

ISSUE #12
From Dan Pea - "The Money Messiah" and Mentor/Coach for The New Millennium
Dear Friend and Subscriber:
Well, my first book signing is now part of history. In this case, a number of bad analogies come to
mind for reasons that will become obvious when I explain (briefly) what happened. Rain! Rain!
Rain! And no books! Yes, they couldnt find "Your First 100 Million" anywhere. Shit happens!
The book signing was designed to be an outdoor event with a band, etc. About the time it was to
begin, it poured down buckets!
Shirley McClains part was indoors (seating for about 20), while the other authors were relegated to
suffer from an outburst of nature. It was strange to be on the other end of the celebrity continuum.
Its been a long time! That will change!
Anyway, I write not for sympathy - I assure you! I write this non-interim newsletter edition to
illustrate a couple of interesting points while still fresh in my mind.
At the event I received via FedEx, personally delivered by the Borders Manager just before the rain
started, the following letter. The timing was perfect. The letter is self-explanatory.
October 23, 2000
Dear Mr. Pena,
.I am a newsletter subscriber of yours. I was hoping to be able to come out to Los Angeles and
meet you personally at Borders. Unfortunately, I was not able to, so I figured the next best thing
would be to write you a letter.
I want to thank you personally for providing your newsletter. I look forward to receiving it and find
your no "BS"/no hype approach to business very refreshing. You tell it like it is without
sugarcoating anything. Your commitment to your subscribers/customers regarding getting the truth
out is second to none and for that I have tremendous respect and admiration for you..
Do you have any advice you could pass along to me regarding this? Are there any types of business
opportunities that I should avoid such as MLM? Mr. Pena, any advice you could pass along would
be greatly appreciated.
Again, I am sorry I couldnt be out there in Los Angeles. I hope to get the chance to meet you
personally in the near future. Are you going to be in New York anytime in the near future?
Mr. Pena, thank you for your time, help and for sharing your 30+ years of business wisdom with
me. Thank you for not allowing yourself to be a part of the "Big Lie" that exists in the
business/success development seminar industry.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely
CK
In addition a newsletter subscriber from Cleveland, OH, was there along with another subscriber
from LA. The guy from LA was a social service investigator and uses QLA for non-business
reasons. He is looking for peace of mind. With the job he has, Im sure he deserves peace of mind!
The gentleman from Cleveland is attempting to use his 25 years experience in real estate to
establish a new service to create a B to B internet giant. Subscribers for 3 weeks and 5 months
respectively. It was interesting to talk and spend time with them. Too bad the weather probably
precluded more from attending. On the other hand, if rain and thunder keeps people from something
they want, QLA probably isnt for them!
While I appreciate the opportunity to interface with subscribers, it emphasized the point to me how
you can never underestimate how screwed up external events can make your plans, i.e., I had
specifically reorganized my calendar to make this event. I have naively thought cutting back on my
schedule would preclude such occurrences. Im sure there will be other occurrences as an
author/cyberman!
To our Quantum Leap,
Dan Pea
P.S. When I got home, I had this email.
Dear Dan,
Im sorry that I did not know that you were going to have a book signing today (10/27) in LAI
was just in Scottsdale, AZ until the 24th..
Would you be good enough to kindly sign a book for me..and charge the cost of the book and
mailing expense
Im enjoying your newsletter very muchand I am always reminded of your great talk at the Ron
"X" ?? Seminar in San Diego a couple of years ago. I thought at that time, and still do, that Ron was
extremely fortunate to have had you and Rich Powelson speak at that seminar. You may not recall
understandably, since you meet so many people at those gatherings all over the world, but I went up
to you after your talk and told you how much I enjoyed your talk and how well I felt I could relate
to you.with your "down to earth, straight talking, to the point and no holes barred" style.
Unfortunately, we only had a very short time to chatthere were others waiting to talk to you. Yes,
Im that tall gray-haired senior citizen..
May I send you my very best regards and also wish you and your family Gods choicest blessings
for good health, happiness and love always.
Sincerely,
A
It had rained so hard I couldnt (or didnt want to) get to my car. I thought more about ruining my
Saville Row (British hand-made suit) than leaving in a timely manner. So I ate/drank in a crowded
Mexican restaurant in the same complex as Borders. It was funny as I strolled through the mall. I
looked, or at least I was starred at, like I was from another planet. I was the only three-piece suit,
pin-striped, gold pocket-watched guy in the mall.
The point: when you follow the QLA precepts I write about, you will be looked at as if you just
landed. Its not easy to go in the face of conventional wisdom. In fact, many times you will find it
almost impossible, vis-a-vis what others think of you and/or say about you. Thats merely part of
the price you pay!
PPS Remember, your life may be in the land of milk and honey - just flowing smoothly! (This is
what others say about life. Yea! Sure!) But for most of us, we need a hydrolic or even an atomic
pump to get the milk and honey to us. QLA is that pump!
PPPS Why Businesses Fail - I recently added a Free Report to my website. New subscribers to my
internet newsletters receive it as an auto-responder. If youre a current subscriber and would like a
copy of the Free Report, please email me at mail@danpena.com and Ill have it emailed to you.
ISSUE #13
From Dan Pea - "The Money Messiah" and Mentor/Coach for The New Millennium
Dear Friends and Subscribers,
Its 4:00am at Guthrie and Im watching CNNs and BBCs coverage of the US Presidential
Election - and its quite a cultural difference! I dont need to tell you what happened. Too close to
call, etc., etc. The night and morning have been filled with a number of statements and predictions
based on what was considered good information. Later this "good information" was called bad,
based on a number of factors. (This letter is not going to comment on the election process.)
Sound familiar! It should! This is how life and business are every day, i.e., information - discussions
- recriminations - new information - new decisions and actions! Hopefully better ones!
As I continue to listen, think and try to write this letter (at this hour), Im reminded of my business
career. More importantly, it verifies what Ive told countless seminar attendees since May 1993 and
have told business colleagues since 1970 and in the sixties as a young Army Officer, "Never
underestimate how wrong you can be," and "Shit happens!"
This US election portrayed a number of pieces of conventional wisdom - again, I wont specify or
elaborate other than to say voter turn out is usually around 40 - 45%. This ranks the US about 140
out of 165 in the world. This US election appears to have about 50% voter turn out this time - not
much of a different percentage, but a much different result.
People dont vote because, among other things, they dont believe their vote means anything. In
fact, the people who live in the western US have said for years their votes dont count because the
westerners see the results as the polls close on the East Coast. This keeps many westerners away
from the polls. I believe it did again vis--vis all the misinformation.
The bottom line is many, if not most, in the US believe in the Year 2000 - one vote, one single
action, one act, one belief in a proposition cant change anything and certainly cant make a
difference - politically! Unfortunately this thought process also prevails with most in business.
Irrespective of what happens, that notion may [and should] change forever - at least in political
terms. One vote did count this time. In fact, it also counts in your business life! Remember one bold
action always counts!
The reasons I feel like writing now - and, surprisingly, Im not tired - are varied. This election result
has been like almost ever person Ive been involved with in business and life in general - not in
Military life-and-death situations because there, giving up has dire consequences
If it were only that way in business! Success would increase quantumly! I guarantee it!!
In most instances, people take the easy way out (normally a less risky scenario) and/or give up too
easily. The election results have gone back and forth all night, i.e., headlines: "Gore wins Florida";
"Florida now too close to call"; "Gore concedes"; "Bush wins Presidency - Not yet" and on and on!
And now "Florida must Recount Votes!" Im sure voter fraud will be next!
This week alone Ive seen several situations where people gave up and/or took the easy way out.
The problem in business, normally, is when an individual concedes defeat (as did Gore at one point)
they cant, or wont, go back and reverse their decision as Gore did. Just think if Gore does win!
Heres an example of Shit Happens even at the highest levels:
One of the senior executives I work closely with at an international multibillion-dollar power house
had his life changed in the past few days. I had two late night conversations with him. I walked him
through the various scenarios. I helped outline a game plan that would still benefit him, etc. He
made decisions based on what was perceived to be as good information - after all it came from the
CEO of Worldwide Operations. Unfortunately, it turned out not to be true! Shit happens! You see,
friends, its not just you that suffer from the inconsistencies of business and life. This guy is very
highly regarded and is being groomed to be the CEO!
One of the words constantly used to describe this election is "CLIFFHANGER". Ladies and
Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, let me give you some BIG news: "ALL THINGS IN BUSINESS ARE
CLIFFHANGERS if you are going for the moon and play for big stakes," as Ive often said. Ross
Perot used to have a sign on his desk "Success is on the Razors Edge of Failure!" If it were easy to
be a high performance, successful person, everyone would be one. Politicians seem to understand
this better than most. Perhaps this is a bad commentary on life - Im not here to address that subject.
Most of you should already know how I feel about life anyway.
Winning in life isnt easy but can become habit! I dont know how many times Ive said this and
will continue to say this ad nauseam.
There are a number of analogies and sayings that come to mind. I particularly like one of Nietzsche
- "Life always gets harder toward the summit - the cold increases, responsibility increases." This
could be compared to a lot of business situations that are obvious.
A couple more from Churchill are also applicable: "Never give up except to convictions of honour,"
and "We shall not fail or falter; we shall not weaken or tire . . . give us the tools and well finish the
job."
In case you hadnt heard, you have been given the tools - QLA! And, for a few of you, me
personally through our business relationship. In recent years Ive been described as "The Secret
Weapon".
To Your Quantum Leap
Dan
P.S. A "US Today" poll taken a few weeks ago said 25% polled, 18 - 24-years-old, didnt know the
US presidential candidate; and 70% polled, 18 - 24-years-old, didnt know the Vice President
candidate. I wonder what the poll would say now?
P.P.S. Its early in the morning, UK time. I stayed awake to 6:00am then went to sleep a little. I
knew I was seeing history. Im now up and the popular vote separates Gore - Bush by a total of less
than 250,000 votes and Florida (the apparent swing state) now only separated by some 1,700 votes
with about 2,000 absentee votes still to be counted. Too close to call!
Remember your dreams are within reach - but not assured, let alone guaranteed. Or as a wise
Chinese Philosopher (unnamed) once said, "We have no divine right to survive; todays rooster -
tomorrows feather duster".
Feather dusters neednt reply to QLA!

ISSUE #14
Understanding Leadership Development through high performers
The first canon for leadership development is being honest with ones self. Unfortunately being
honest with ones self and loved ones is not the same as being honest with others. The complicating
issue is that it is a lot easier to be honest with others than ones self.
While delving on leadership development, there is a premise that the world is filled with different
personalities who possess integrity and honesty along with liars, cheats and thieves. Very often
being honest with ones self means doing what makes one most uncomfortable. The truth isnt
always whats necessary because most people dont really want the truth!
The uniqueness of most super high performers is being genuine, resolute, unswerving as
trendsetters and going against conventional wisdom. High performers have set the ideals of
leadership development and understand the nuance that not having is no excuse for not getting. The
difference is they know and walk the talk fully comprehending the decisions taken and reason for
making them. The simple axiom - a pay price to action is understood by very few but sums up the
whole issue.
Known facts are no one is drafted into opportunity. One of the traits of leadership development is
the willingness to volunteer! For ultimate accountability, volunteering means to be a high performer
knowing what to volunteer for. This is not the details but the sacrifices in macro terms.
Proper leadership development can achieve success but success is subjective and means different
things to different people. Much like war, a super high performance is a series of battles that are not
won but the essence is either to hunt or be hunted.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
As I sit here, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day (December 26th) at Guthrie, watching
the snow fall while sending thanking [and some not so thanking] faxes and E-mails around the
world, I reflect upon the difference between the grand successes and failures Ive witnessed.
Since entering the professional world of Executive Coaching over seven years ago, Ive had
thousands go through my various programs. Ive worked with hundreds personally and dozens
individually and a few as if I were their father or big brother. As many of you know, I coached and
mentored for twenty years before devoting my full time to it.
Ive been privileged to make a few great friends like the Verdiers and Whipples, in recent years, and
to work with some of the great minds and spirits on this planet: a founder of a Fortune 50 Company
that built a $30 billion empire, in 8 years; the heir apparent to one of the top 25 companies in the
world; a man that ran for the US Presidency; the CEO of Onassis Shipping Lines and confidant of
Onassis; Board Directors of Footsie 100 and Fortune 100 Companies; U S governors; members of
the US Presidents cabinets; world class athletes including the National Baseball Association and
their coach and All American collegiate golfers; mayors; chiefs of police; geniuses; individuals of
low I.Q.; brave; cowards; engineers; members of the British House of Commons and House of
Lords; former ministers of European Governments; Knights of the Round Table; Counts; Princes;
Priests; Rabbis; Doctors; Shaman; Lawyers; Judges; Movie Stars; Authors; IT/Internet gurus;
Psychiatrists; Teachers; Professors; Nurses; Chiropractors; Success Coaches; a member of the
French Foreign Legion; Professional Soldiers - including soldiers of fortune (mercenaries);
Accountants; Children of Dictators and a couple of Dictators (before they were so labeled); the
Vatican - including the head of the Vatican Bank; numerous governments; the first Female Fortune
500 CEO; Policemen; Firemen; the extremely well educated and the uneducated; extremely super
wealthy and the abject poor; men, women and children of all religious and political persuasions
from all parts of the planet from age 14 to 82.
Dealing with all the above I encountered individuals of integrity and honesty along with liars,
cheats and thieves. Mostly people lie, cheat and steal from themselves. Unfortunately being honest
with yourself is not the same as being honest with others. It can be a lot easier to be honest with
others than yourself. Frankly, for most people its very, very difficult to be hard on ourselves and the
ones we love. Very often being honest with yourself means doing what makes us most
uncomfortable. For me, Ive learned the truth isnt always whats necessary. As Ive aged, or
mellowed [which I don't think I have], I realized, as Jack Nicholson says in a famous film "You
cant take the truth" and LORD knows he is mostly correct, because most people dont really
want the truth!
The uniqueness of the very best of the super high performance individuals listed above is genuine
and resolute almost always unswerving! Being trend setters! Going against conventional
wisdom!
These very unusual people understood not having is no excuse for not getting. They understood
the difference between knowing the path and walking the path they "Walk their Talk!" Most
importantly they understood what "signing-up" and "knowing what your signing-up for" really
means.
For those of you that have heard me speak or read my book "Your First 100 Million" [now available
on Amazon.com] know I speak ad nauseam about a price that must be paid "a pay price to
action." All too few men and women understand this simple axiom.
No one is drafted into this opportunity. You must volunteer! Jack Welch (GE), Fighter Pilots,
Richard Branson (Virgin), Astronauts, Lou Gestner (IBM), Seal Team or SAS Members all
volunteer! For ultimate accountability, you must volunteer to be a high performance individual
knowing what you are volunteering for! Certainly not the details, but the sacrifices in macro terms!
Virtually all mentioned above had mentors and/or executive coaches as did I for more than
twenty years, and as I still act for a few now.
Coincidentally, as I further reflected upon whom has been more successful than others I received
the attached two letters. Ironically they are both from the Netherlands. I receive many "Thank
Yous" in a year! In fact, another Dutch partner, upon successfully completing his first acquisition
on 11th December, by phone, said; "Thank you for putting up with me Dan . . . " Of course now he
has to run the business the always underestimated difficult part.
Both letters reflect similar sentiments vis--vis accomplishing goals. As this new year begins, I wish
you the same level of success as they have already achieved and more ! This will mean different
things to each of you. More importantly I wish and pray for you to assume their same level of
commitment to pay the price! Some of you reading this have already really given up! Start again
its a New Year! Some are on the fence suck up your pantihose and charge!
Much like war, a super high performance life is a series of battles, as illustrated by the following:
All battles are not won, but in the words of the current CEO of Vodafone (Gent), you are either in a
"Hunt or be Hunted" mode. Ironically Mr. Gent is a proponent of the use of Executive Coaches
he uses one himself. The Chairman / CEO of Vodafone is not a University graduate, nor was he a
member of the privileged. Through hard work he became a distinguished alumni and a Chairman
Emeritus of the new global high performance elite and was the successful leader in the recent
Vodafone-Mannesman hostile takeover battle in Europe one of the planets biggest of all time ! It
seems to me he is a great model for 2001!
To Our Quantum Leap,
Dan Pea.
P.S. 2001 will only have two three-day Executive Castle Seminars (covering QLA Methodology,
Raising Capital and Deals/Acquisitions) one in March and one in August. There are NO 1-Day
QLA, Raising Capital, Deals/Acquisitions Seminars, Workshops or speaking engagements
scheduled at this time. This is not likely to change as noted in earlier Newsletters. I am now an
Executive Coach to the Corporate World (or as one of my favorite elites calls me his secret
weapon) and the entrepreneur that has a project intriguing enough to entice me and which can still
suck me into the vortex of an early phase deal! Of course, my award winning QLA product,
including "Your First 100 Million", is still available to all interested in achieving their own
Quantum Leap. Our QLA "Chat Room" will be operational in due course.
P.P.S. As promised, as part of the new QLA Millennium Internet Format, a Free Consultation
Program will be initiated 01.01.01. Once a quarter, the subscriber who introduces the most new
subscribers to the newsletter, will receive one hours FREE consultation. The new subscriber must
mention your name. This one hour consultation [worth $3,000.00], can be used in parts, or, all at
once over a given year. Alternatively it can be used to reduce the cost of any QLA seminar.
Monthly winners of the introduction program will receive my best-selling book "Build Your Own
Guthrie" FREE a 175.00 value.
Yearly winners will receive a FREE three-day "Executive Castle Seminar" at Guthrie Castle a
$9,000.00 value.
In addition for every "Your First 100 Million" purchased, on my website, a 10% discount on the
"Executive Castle Seminar" will be given.
All the above incentives are exclusively for the benefit of QLA Internet Newsletter subscribers
ONLY. Specifics on the new QLA Millennium Internet Newsletter program will be posted on my
website SOON, but the race begins 01.01.01. Questions can be forwarded to: mail@danpena.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dan Pea
Guthrie Castle
By Forfar
Angus Scotland DD8 2TP
UK
Dear Dan,
Thank you for another year of changing, learning, experiencing, struggling, falling and growing.
Thank you for your support, understanding and guidance.
This year was the most difficult year of all I can remember, a year where so many things have
happened A year of making decisions that were not always easy, but as you always say, nothing in
live is easy. I am lucky that I learned at a young age to be alone, but not being lonely. Because in
the end I have to do it my self, not you ore anybody else.
I wish you a nice Christmas with Linda and the children.
Kindest Regards,
P.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Dan,
Throughout the years I learned a lot from you and your seminars.
Now that I reached my first goal in selling a company for the first time seriously, I want to thank
you personally for your mentoring and coaching. I hope we can see and meet each other in the
future as friends.
Furthermore I hope that I can call or meet you if I need some kind of advice or coaching.
If you or any one of your Dutch partners needs help or advice in Holland you can always call me if
you think I can be of any help.
I wish you, Linda and the children a merry Christmas, a happy new year, good health and all the
best for the future.
Kindest Regards
F.

ISSUE #15
From Dan Pea - Executive Coach and Mentor for The New Millennium
Dear Friend and Subscriber:
Again, happy New Year!
Ive received a number of requests in recent days vis-a-vis what I thought of the coming year.
Interest rates? The stock market? Recession? The economy? For those of you who read the
Economist, you know all these types of things refer to the same thing, more or less. These questions
were only exacerbated by Chairman (Federal Reserve) Greenspans recent 1/2% cut in interest rates
in the U.S.
The markets in general took a real battering (as they say here in the UK) in 2000. Some markets
dropped more than 50%. The dot.coms turned from explosive euphoria to calamity and are now
dot.deaths!
Last January I told those who would listen I used an old Wall Street adage about the market which I
learned in the early 70s. What the market does in January, the rest of the year will follow.
Though Im not conversant with those numbers anymore, in the last few years, it used to be over
90% of the time the markets followed the trends set in January. Last January 2000 was down and
the market followed. This trend goes back to the 1800s in the US, and I would suspect it follows in
other markets, since virtually all markets followed the US in the 1900s.
Based on last January, I stated on more than one occasion, 2000 was likely to be a bad year.
Unfortunately for me, I had already started on a dot.com in September 1999. As you all know, the
market imploded in the high tech sector in March/April 2000 and took much of the market with it.
So wait and see what happens this month. Deals will be done no matter what happens, but your
individual portfolios are always subject to the vagaries of the market. Of course, many of you know
this first-hand vis-a-vis your own portfolio.
Again, Im not a money/fund manager, but its easier to create your own destiny than be subject to
the market described above! Therefore, Ive been out of the buying share market since I became the
CEO of a public company in August 1984. Of course, all markets go in and out of favor. The only
difference is the length of their cycles.
As the year progresses, I will comment on subjects germane to the various markets. I say, tongue in
cheek, falling interest rates are almost always good for markets for obvious reasons, and rising
interest rates are BAD! Good fortune with your investments! And for those who are conversant with
QLA Methodology, your biggest investment should be in yourself and your dream!
To Your Quantum Leap
Dan Pea
P.S. Below is an email I received from a subscriber who heard me speak in October 1999 and
purchased (apparently) my first book which has now been superceded by "Your First 100 Million."
His method to use my coaching and QLA Methodology is the "long distance" method most use,
sans the photos perhaps.
P.P.S. Again as promised, as part of the new QLA Millennium Internet Format, a Free Consultation
Program was initiated 01/01/01. Once a quarter, the subscriber who introduces the most new
subscribers to the newsletter, will receive one hours FREE consultation. The new subscriber must
mention your name. This one hour consultation [worth $3,000.00], can be used in parts, or all at
once over a given year. Alternatively, it can be used to reduce the cost of any QLA seminar.
Monthly winners of the introduction program will receive my best-selling book "Your First 100
Million" FREE a $400.00 value.
Yearly winners will receive a FREE three-day "Executive Castle Seminar" at Guthrie Castle a
$9,000.00 value.
In addition, for every "Your First 100 Million" purchased via my website, a 10% discount on the
"Executive Castle Seminar" will be given.
All the above incentives are exclusively for the benefit of QLA Internet Newsletter subscribers
ONLY. Specifics on the new QLA Millennium Internet Newsletter program will be posted on my
website SOON, but the race began 01/01/01. Questions can be forwarded to: mail@danpena.com
EMAIL:
last year in October, when you told us "we were poor!" I will never forget this phrase!).
I have a big picture of you, on my desk, just in front of me (the picture on page 255 of your
"Building Your Own Guthrie", "Dan giving one of his Quantum
Leap seminars").
And I have put giant affirmations near this picture, such as: "dedicate yourself," "stay laser-beam
focused," "you can do it," "pay the price of your goals," "plan, implement and execute."
With this strategy, I can assure you its difficult to forget you, your commitment and your strength! -
And it works!
Best regards,
L.M.

ISSUE #16
The tactics of survival backed by a sound Personality Development Plan
A proper personality development plan backed with a sizeable amount of experience a lot can be
achieved. Most often there is a tendency to take the easy way out as it justifies any self-serving
agenda. To gain that extra edge, as part of a personality development plan there has to be an
uninhibited nature to be mentored by experienced personnel. Mentoring offers advice continuously
as high performance people understand the tactics of survival. But sometimes being prepared for the
unexpected makes perfect sense as things can get unpredictable in business.
Despite having a personality development plan a lot depends on the significance of the problem.
Realizing what is right and wrong and going beyond the actual dispute makes the big difference.
This is recognized by people with high performance careers irrespective of economic
circumstances.
Today litigation has been accepted as a business tool and with exorbitant court costs most opt out of
this approach not because of financial weakness but because the emotional bank account runs out
way before the financial one. Acceptance is difficult on this issue and can be outside the comfort
zone.
Everyday worldwide many deals are struck. Most of them are cleared for various reasons but they
are no longer expeditious or convenient. Further, accomplishments are always perceived differently
and life is fairly simple. Overall, it reflects on the personality development plan where honoring the
promised word makes a difference though it can be difficult.
"Duty - Honour - Integrity"
As I sit here in Amersfoort, Holland, watching the snow fall, answering E-mails and faxes during a
break, I reflect on why Im here, and more important, how I got here and what my readers could
learn from this experience.
Recently, Dec. 11th 2000, my young and inexperienced partner and I closed on an acquisition here
in Holland. Due to the VC, the assets of this 120-year-old company were purchased in a way that
wasnt envisioned and necessarily good for all directors except the founder. Fortunately, they
believed in him because he had dealt in confidence! (I wonder why?) I presume they felt since they
hadnt met any of the directors (through a quirk of fate) or me, it was easier to deal with the young
founder only. They had only met our accountants and lawyers who, probably, took the easy way out
since they hadnt been paid in more than two years. As you know, most people will almost always
take the easy way out and can justify any self-serving agenda.
The original corporate set-up [never memorialized] had to be abandoned. The new entity was set up
in a hurry and couldnt be documented since it was agreed 48 hours before the close; i.e.: proper
ownership was not recorded in the way previously agreed. So, potentially two years of work could
be taken away from the other Board Members because the VC didnt see any use for them in the
deal, especially since nothing was in writing. In fact, they didnt want me in the deal either for the
same reason. Now that they have met me, they dont love me, but they do see and understand why
my young Dutch partner wouldnt let the deal go forward without me! He introduces me as "my
Mentor and Chairman"! I actually like that title!
My partner strongly said "Dans in the deal at 35%". The deal closed with considerable change at
the holding company level. The other Board Members got their shares, and my ownership was
upheld and only now is being documented after the fact.
The moral to this story is my 29-year-old partner upheld his original agreement as had I for more
than two years. There were no changes to our deal, even under great pressure to him, i.e., imagine
the entire deal collapsing because you kept your word! Notwithstanding it took him 26 months to
close his first deal I continued to advise him because he continued to listen to me. A deal is a deal is
a deal - as youve heard me say ad nauseam! Whether written or a handshake. High performance
people dont change deals in good or bad times. Though people will advise, quietly, to do so. High
performance people fight for what is theirs even if it costs them dearly.
Unfortunately all business experiences dont always turn out this way. In recent days two business
relationships I am in have turned, potentially, in the wrong direction. One is significantly more
important and therefore could present a large problem. One is extremely well documented and one
is much less well documented. One has permutations beyond the actual current dispute. One is
based on greed and one is based just on naivete - in fact, one is based on plain stupidity!
Deals are made countless times in a career. Some will be well documented and some not at all. High
performance individuals dont change deals, irrespective of economic circumstances. Ive stuck by
and honoured deals that have cost me many, many millions! Ive had to keep people honest in court
while making sure I, nor my partners, didnt get the bad end of the deal on many occasions!
You know Ive said "Litigation is a Business Tool" and Ive taught that concept at universities on
both sides of the Atlantic. Most of the time you will not have to go to court, but you must be willing
to do so. Today, with court costs high, most opt to not take this approach, notwithstanding it is best.
You can say most people are weak, financially speaking. Thats incorrect! As youve heard me say,
"Peoples emotional bank account runs out way before the financial one". Most people dont have
the stomach! Its out of their comfort zone. My experience vis-a-vis comfort zones is women are
willing to stand on moral issues more than men. Women fight harder! Women are tougher! If men
had to give birth, there would be a lot fewer people - I can assure you! I can just imagine some of
the men I know carrying a baby! Forget About It!
Deals are made every minute of every day - Worldwide. Not all are upheld for various reasons - but
a common thread is they become no longer expeditious or convenient. Its like your Significant
Other getting fat, wrinkled and/or infirmed, or a little daft in the head! People come up with all
kinds of reasons why they no longer have to, let alone should, honour the agreement/deal, i.e.,
he/she really didnt accomplish what we agreed upon, etc., etc. Accomplishments are always
perceived to be much less in hindsight! Life is fairly simple if you always honour your word and I
can assure you - it will not be easy!
To Your Quantum Leap,
Dan.
P.S. While dealing with the Onassis Group, I never had a written agreement! Countless transactions
were completed. And, as those of you that know the story, I was only financially hurt when the
Vatican was our partner and didnt pay. The CEO of the Group - Constantine Gratsos (my mentor)
had warned me to get paid all the money up front. I didnt listen and it was a $250,000 bad
experience I couldnt afford! When a mentee doesnt listen to me, I always think of that expense.
P.P.S. Ive just entered into, potentially, a $500 million transaction with a partner Ive been involved
with for seven years. We have never had a written agreement. Its not likely well get one in time for
this deal either, but, as he said, he "trusts me and Ive always been fair!" That wouldnt be a bad
thing to have on my tombstone.
P.P.P.S. Ive just been informed my litigation record went to (and Ive really lost count) about 280
wins and 0 losses. A case the partner in the above P.S. and I have fought for almost two years was
adjudicated in our favour today. I stand to get, probably, no money out of the deal. As indicated,
over two-thirds of my litigations have been over principal not money! This fight has been for the
"others" involved in the multimillion dollar transaction. As usual, the bank and the other wealthy
individuals in the deal were the only ones to show interest. Of course, they were fighting for their
own interests!
P.P.P.P.S. Remember as promised, as part of the new QLA Millennium Internet Format, a Free
Consultation Program was initiated 01/01/01. Once a quarter, the subscriber who introduces the
most new subscribers to the newsletter, will receive one hours FREE consultation. THE NEW
SUBSCRIBER MUST MENTION YOUR NAME AND SUBSCRIBE VIA
MAIL@DANPENA.COM. This one hour consultation [worth $3,000.00], can be used in parts, or
all at once over a given year. Alternatively, it can be used to reduce the cost of any QLA seminar.
Monthly winners of the introduction program will receive my best-selling book "Your First 100
Million" FREE a $400.00 value.
Yearly winners will receive a FREE three-day "Executive Castle Seminar" at Guthrie Castle a
$9,000.00 value.
In addition, for every "Your First 100 Million" purchased via my website, a 10% discount on the
"Executive Castle Seminar" will be given.
All the above incentives are exclusively for the benefit of QLA Internet Newsletter subscribers
ONLY. Specifics on the new QLA Millennium Internet Newsletter program will be posted on my
website SOON, but the race began 01/01/01. Questions can be forwarded to: mail@danpena.com

ISSUE #17
From Dan Pea - "The Money Messiah" and Mentor/Coach for The New Millennium
Dear Friend and Subscriber:
I think this response to my recent newsletter and my reply is worthy of a newsletter in and of itself.:
Dear Mr. Pena,
As per your comments;
**You should check with a lawyer, but what you did may be illegal!
I went to my lawyer today and he said the position I am in stinks but is not illegal. He will check
into it further with a securities lawyer to be sure. If it is illegal then I will follow his prudent advice
and do damage control, which I hope and pray is not too costly to my good name or my pocket
book.
** You are changing the deal if it was 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 before ! ** If you said it would be evenly split -
you are changing the deal.
You are right, I changed the deal. QLA demands that I keep my word in a deal even if it is a bad
one. No excuses, end of story. I went back to them and unchanged it - to the original deal. I said I
would not be a part of anything illegal though. I still will not handle any of their funds. My financial
situation is precarious and they are better served by the liaison person.
**Its not about betrayal. Its naivete and or greed even at the subconscious level. Its also natural.
Dont be hard on yourself ! You can always go back to the original deal !
I like the way you put that.
Gulp. I hate like hell to say it but I did three deals last year and none bore any real wealth. The first,
a dot.com went dot.death. I owned 10%. Then the one we are talking about now which needs no
further introduction. The third is supposedly delayed until the second quarter of 2001? I hope to buy
a Castle seminar with those profits. The year before in 1999 I started a general contracting company
which is now going broke. I had better get it together or I will be bankrupt in three months. No
honor in that. With that said I have a company to save and I have to go.
Thank you for your sage advice. Have a super weekend.
Sincerely, J
As I said in my last letter, many deals will be made in a lifetime of business. People will judge you
over a lifetime. I received this response from a QLA follower I This man got involved with an
opportunity and involved some other people, as happens more often than not. Others get involved
because you need money and/or other assistance.
In this particular case, one of the individuals involved was a con man - a dishonest person!
Eventually, the dishonest person was found out. The business opportunity involved a public
company. Remember, public companies have specific rules and regulations.
When the writer discovered the con man, he attempted to make the wrong right by exposing the con
man. The public company (apparently out of gratitude) gave the writer compensation for what he
did. He then shared the compensation equally with his two partners - a husband and wife. Later he
discussed with his partners what if he was to receive more compensation from the grateful public
company as promised. The writer suggested they split whatever was received 50/50 as opposed to
equal thirds. The rationale was the wife really didnt do anything. Of course there is always a reason
why the deal should change. And normally its some form of "they didnt really earn it", etc.
Obviously, the husband/wife were outraged. The writer then said he would allow the public
company to determine who would get what, and he apologized for changing the deal. Of course, the
damage had been done.
I advised the writer that what he did may not be legal vis-a-vis the public company, and he was
changing the deal. He went to his lawyer and admitted he had changed the deal. He also said the
deal would be the original one which was agreed. The writer is financially in bad shape, so he
probably needs money. This is one of the biggest reasons for changing a deal : money / greed!
I go on to say "Its not about betrayal. Its naivete and/or greed at the subconscious level. Its also
natural. Dont be hard on yourself! You can always go back to the original deal!"
Unfortunately, people box themselves in - then trap themselves by listening to people who agree
with them for various reasons, i.e., the same greed, etc. I often say ask your spouse, priest, rabbi,
mother or another financially/emotionally disinterested person. While your spouse is
emotionally/financially involved, their head is normally screwed on straighter than yours.
Its not easy to admit youre wrong. Youve taken the harsh position and now have nowhere to go.
At least thats what you think.
I wrote with pride in my last newsletter about my young Dutch partner. He has grit (balls) and will
do well in life. The other two deals I alluded to have progressed. One has been solved by the
partner, as I hoped and believed would happen. The second potential problem can still be rectified,
by hasnt yet.
I sincerely believe all the people described are good and honest. We often get misled in life! We
dont think through all the permutations! We, more often than not, dont factor in the absolute
downside because we convince ourselves the other side will take less than agreed rather than blow
the deal up - leaving nothing for everybody. Thats a bad gamble with a high performance person!
Integrity has no value!
To Your Quantum Leap,
Dan Pea
PS. All mentioned in my last letter subscribe to my internet newsletter. Of course, you all probably
knew that.
PPS. Another response from my last newsletter came from a former Dutch partner. He is doing well
and I posted his email to my website under Testimonials. The funny thing is I miss him and his
outrageous actions too!
RESPONSE SLOW TO FREE ADVICE
PPPS. Remember as promised, as part of the new QLA Millennium Internet Format, a Free
Consultation Program was initiated 01/01/01. Once a quarter, the subscriber who introduces the
most new subscribers to the newsletter, will receive one hours FREE consultation. THE NEW
SUBSCRIBER MUST MENTION YOUR NAME AND SUBSCRIBE VIA
MAIL@DANPENA.COM. This one hour consultation [worth $3,000.00], can be used in parts, or
all at once over a given year. Alternatively, it can be used to reduce the cost of any QLA seminar.
Monthly winners of the introduction program will receive my best-selling book "Your First 100
Million" FREE a $400.00 value. The January winner will be announced soon! Yearly winners will
receive a FREE three-day "Executive Castle Seminar" at Guthrie Castle a $9,000.00 value. In
addition, for every "Your First 100 Million" purchased via my website, a 10% discount on the
"Executive Castle Seminar" will be given. All the above incentives are exclusively for the benefit of
QLA Internet Newsletter subscribers ONLY. Specifics on the new QLA Millennium Internet
Newsletter program will be posted on my website SOON, but the race began 01/01/01. Questions
can be forwarded to: mail@danpena.com

ISSUE #18
Discovering Investment services and Investment strategy from the famed conglomerates
Investment Strategy is an individual process and with investment services reaching new realms,
there is always room for innovation.
A proper investment strategy is from GEs outgoing CEO. The investment strategy adapted was
Fix-close-or Sell and when GE expands business the position without compromise should be No.1
or No.2 in the market. This investment service ideology actually tests ones strength. Founders and
entrepreneurs have personal attachment to products and Fix-Close-or Sell investment strategy is the
hardest to swallow. Facts are, it is impossible to close or sell unless more value is attached than
imagined.
The misconception is to assume that selling a business is easy. Overestimating the products worth,
racing to turn rich overnight in a single transaction leads to high pricing and becoming a long-term
owner or investor. In the process, the market is lost and time spent fixing it which arises only when
things go wrong but never when good.
This is where being No.1 or No.2 comes into play. Eliminating guesswork and fixing helps achieve
top positions. An investment service is not an overnight occurrence. It takes sometime before
shaping up with competitive positioning.
Any dream mixed with passionate obsession and backed with grit advocates the Gates theory -
Think it, Do it, Fix it - a basic interface with GEs Fix it, Close it, Sell it.
Drawing the correlation from baseball, opportunities are plenty for home runs and strike-outs. A
proper investment service teaches scoring home runs - get out of the dug out, walk to the plate and
swing away. Chances of missing are high and thats reason for people to stay in the dugout of life
and dont participate!
FIX - CLOSE - OR SELL!
BE #1 OR #2!
Its been a few weeks longer than expected since my last newsletter. I had an unexpected serious
illness within my immediate family which kept me occupied. Hes 82 years old and looks like me,
so you can guess who it is. Thankfully, all is moving toward a better scenario.
During this ordeal, I had time to reflect on the successful transactions Id been involved in during
recent years vis-a-vis the real tragedies. I then thought about them individually in relationship to
GEs great outgoing CEO, Jack Welch. He has run GE extremely successfully for twenty years
using two major benchmarks, (1) Fix-Close-or Sell and (2) whatever business GE was in had to be
either #1 or #2 in its market. Of course, the former requires extremely painful decisions which test a
persons strength.
Fix-Close-or Sell is the hardest for the normal entrepreneur to deal with because its normally its
baby, i.e., the founder would find it difficult, if not almost impossible, to close it and/or sell it
(unless it was for a lot more than you ever imagined.) I dont need to explain the closing issue. It
should be self-explanatory. Turning the key on any business is extremely difficult! I speak from
experience. Selling a business should be easier, but often is not. Why? Well, we all think our baby is
worth more than it is, and we normally are trying to get rich off one transaction so we price it too
high and become a long-term owner/investor. We may even miss the market completely. I have
done this myself a few times!
Therefore, we wind up continuously trying to fix it. And we normally fix it when things go wrong -
not when things are good, trying to improve whatever we are doing. Many times I have heard, "If
its not broken, dont fix it." This is wrong!
This is where being #1 or #2 in a particular endeavor comes into play. If you can fix whatever you
are doing to achieve the #1 or #2 position, like GE, the guesswork is taken out of the equation. Its
pure numbers at this point. Few do it!
When you look at GEs formula, and it was derived before Welch took the helm, it becomes
somewhat easier to understand GEs tremendous success. And dont forget GE has had a stream of
great CEOs long before Welch. Its hard for the normal person to imagine striving for the #1 or #2
position in marketing, or getting out. Especially having to, perhaps, just close your operation down.
Well, dear friends, the men and women who run these organizations arent "normal."
I saw a movie recently on TV call "Pirates of Silicon Valley." It told the storey of Bill Gates and
Steve Job and their partners in the early days, circa 1975, and into the late 1980s. I ended up
buying the video from Amazon.com. Its an incredible story of dreaming mixed with passionate
obsession laced with a good deal of "true grit." It was very telling how they outmaneuvered IBM
and others. I highly recommend it. Though not mentioned in the film, Gates supposedly has a
theory or precept that says Think it, Do it, Fix it! It basically interfaces with GEs Fix it, Close it,
Sell it in an obtuse way. Gates knows his stuff doesnt always work!
In retrospect, over the years, like others, Ive allowed myself to hang on too long with several
entities. In hindsight, I, like many others, havent been able to close as many entities down as I
should have. Therefore, I, too, have relegated myself to trying to fix stuff when it might not have
been fixable.
The main difference is Ive been involved in dozens and dozens of opportunities, therefore giving
myself and my colleagues opportunities for home runs, which were few and far between but still
more than if I hadnt! Remember with home runs come strike outs. For decades Babe Ruth, the
former American baseball home run king, was also the leader in strike outs. In fact, though his total
home run record was broken by Hank Aaron many years ago, Ruth still holds the strike out records.
The Gateses, Welches, Jobs and Ruths understand you cant hit a home run unless you get out of the
dug out, walk to the plate and swing away. You cant hit it out of the park unless you swing and
swing and swing! Knowing very well you will miss most of the time. This, of course, is why people
stay in the dugout of life and dont really participateand thats too bad!
To Your Quantum Leap,
Dan Pea
PS Our January internet newsletter winner was Nick Galtos of Switzerland. He will receive FREE
my book, Your First 100 Million. Congratulations Nick! If my memory is correct, he was an
Olympian in ice hockey! He doesnt need a free anything. Nick has followed QLA precepts since
1996. He has been very successful. Hes one of my successes!
PPS For those of you who havent checked, there are now three (instead of one) Tests for Success
on my website. The best scores will be eligible for free QLA prizes as well.
PPPS. Remember as promised, as part of the new QLA Millennium Internet Format, a Free
Consultation Program was initiated 01/01/01. Once a quarter, the subscriber who introduces the
most new subscribers to the newsletter, will receive one hours FREE consultation. THE NEW
SUBSCRIBER MUST MENTION YOUR NAME AND SUBSCRIBE VIA
MAIL@DANPENA.COM. This one hour consultation [worth $3,000.00], can be used in parts, or
all at once over a given year. Alternatively, it can be used to reduce the cost of any QLA seminar.
Monthly winners of the introduction program will receive my best-selling book "Your First 100
Million" FREE a $400.00 value.
Yearly winners will receive a FREE three-day "Executive Castle Seminar" at Guthrie Castle a
$9,000.00 value. In addition, for every "Your First 100 Million" purchased via my website, a 10%
discount on the "Executive Castle Seminar" will be given .All the above incentives are exclusively
for the benefit of QLA Internet Newsletter subscribers ONLY. Specifics on the new QLA
Millennium Internet Newsletter program will be posted on my website SOON, but the race began
01/01/01. Questions can be forwarded to: mail@danpena.com

ISSUE #19
From Dan Pea - "The Money Messiah" and Mentor/Coach for The New Millennium
Dear Friend and Subscriber:
As most of you know, because of a server glitch, thousands of extra Issue #18 Newsletters were sent
out. I apologize!! Notwithstanding this big screw up, I received some funny responses and heard
some great success stories.
The following email has been cleaned up a bit for those of you who allow your children to read my
sage advise. The interesting point about this testimonial is it is written by a woman in business
which is dominated by men - and she operates in the heart of the South! Shes a remarkable person,
as you can tell from her cryptic writing. I havent seen her in a few years, but have kept in touch
through emails and calls. I miss her candor in a world filled with people talking crap!
What really struck me while reading her email in the middle of a great rain storm in LA, was my
lack of distribution of my QLA products. As some of you who read my website know, many of my
products have won national awards - the coveted Telly Award for Excellence. I thank J. C. Arner for
producing/directing them!
MMs Testimonial:
I had studied marketing techniques and my business was growing quite rapidly, but what I lacked
was the clear understanding of what it takes to actually run a multi-million dollar business and
thats where Dan Pena came in. I went to one of his three day - blow your hair back - boot camp -
wakeup seminars, and I was never the same. Dan was able to blow away the bullshit and let me
see clearly what was required in order to really succeed and hang on to a fast growing company.
His hard core approach, even though I wasnt sure I could take the three days of shock, drilled a
reality home that has been priceless. The bottom line is you. No one else to blame for anything, just
YOU. His separation of the dufus mentality and the high performance individual made my life much
easier to deal with. The reality is I am surrounded by dufus people and the challenge is to get them
to work as efficiently as possible for a high performance person. I have utilized Dans techniques
and style many times. I transformed myself into a hard core business person that continues to
demand excellence. My decisions are now quick and my success has been staggering. In a time
when businesses are going broke by the hundreds, mine is growing at a 200% increase over last
year. Dan taught me you had better be a tough son-of-a-bitch if you want to play the game. Dan
also taught me that there are going to be problems, yes, problems and when you get one solved you
have bigger ones. Once I understood that, I know longer got upset with problems and just worked
fast to handle them. No other teacher, seminar or tape series had the balls to tell me I had to be
tough, Im going to have problems, big ones, and THAT is what I MUST understand and be
prepared to deal with if I am going to thrive in business. Thanks Dan for the backbone. If you are
serious about making your business a success and learning what YOU have to change in
YOURSELF to make your business soar, then Dan Penas the man for you. Get yourself a Dose Of
Dan!
In a recent inventory count at Guthrie Castle, I was told many dozens of large crates of QLA
product had been uncovered. Apparently, when I closed my LA office in 1998, it was shipped from
the US to the UK. The bottom line is when the inventory is complete, I will offer all of it to
newsletter subscribers first and to my website in general next.
Some of the gems I had forgotten about are: the week-long Castle Experience in text manual form
and even a few audio tapes, my first book "Building Your Own Guthrie," audio tapes specially done
for associates and partners on unique aspects of following QLA precepts such as building your
dream team, various editions of the 3-Day and 1-Day QLA Seminar tapes, and a lot more.
Another thing that came to mind is the "33 Secrets" book can now be downloaded in total for Free
from the website. Of course, we still offer the hard copy for those wanting it ($4.95 for Shipping
and Handling).
The original tapes recorded live produced many, if not all, of the most successful devotees of QLA
Methodology, e.g., the Verdiers, Whipple, Crump, Burke, McCain, LeGrand, Reecher, Alvarez,
Hague, Slangen, Scott, Stephenson, Vargas, Schaeffer, Dhillon, Baade, Chapman, Badloe, Maynard,
Connolly, and many others.
Dont get me wrong, many mentioned on the tapes started off like rockets . . . and then crashed! The
QLA precepts can show you how, but cant keep you motivated or from engaging in self-sabotaging
activities. Most people who hear or read any coaching material never even get started. In fact, most
people who buy motivational/coaching product never even open it. The people mentioned above all
got great starts, mostly due to QLA Methodology. Not many stayed the course. People like the
Verdiers, and a few others, are the exception. Lack of self-esteem and greed tops the list of reasons
why people fall off the QLA track. Its like the adage about bringing a horse to water. You may be
able to get him to drink some but not stay at the QLA trough. Building great habits is not easy. It
requires belief system changes which come hard. Being a change agent is even more difficult now
as our world continues to change. The precepts recorded over the last few years are extremely well-
founded and still work well if practiced diligently.
To Your (Our) Quantum Leap,
Dan Pea
ISSUE #20
From Dan Pea - "The Money Messiah" and Mentor/Coach for The New Millennium
Dear Friend and Subscriber:
"FLASH : MARKET CRASH"
As some of you may remember, I wrote in January 2001 my thoughts on the market in stock
response to a subscribers question. I dont like being correct when billions of all currencies are lost.
These statistics were true prior to yesterday according to, amongst others, CNBC and CNN:
40% dot.com employees gone
240 dot.coms gone
$3.7 trillion in market capitalization (market value) gone
55% of NASDAQ value gone
70% of new enterprises dont make it in any endeavor and go out of business
$475 billion lost in Oracle and Microsoft market value from highs
VCs still putting 20% of their money in high tech - pick and axes (or hard assets)
I had already written another newsletter on a different subject, which will be broadcasted in due
course. The reason for me changing my topic is obvious: In a down market there are opportunities
that are not obvious to the inexperienced. This is the time to get the most experienced sage advice
possible. Now is the time for people who have been there and done it! Upmarket advice is any
industry is easy! Even many of you made money in the bull market!
Acquisitions during this kind of environment are an excellent way to grow your business. Most
people will be afraid to step up to the plate. Financial institutions will be looking for a way out,
especially if the management team has a plan based on a down-to-flat market.
Stop what you are doing. Think what you could do - now - vis-a-vis the existing market
environment. If you dont know, find someone that does NOW! This market environment wont last
forever. Take advantage of it now. Times like this dont happen that often.
Back in the late nineties I used to say, based on my research, while speaking on both sides of the
Pacific and the Atlantic, the following:
(1) More than 60% of all money worldwide is managed by people under 30 and about 60% of that
money is managed by people under 26 - ergo, they dont remember the crash of 1987.
(2) The average bull market, since they have been keeping records, lasts about 30 months. Arguably
there has been an up market since August 1982. If you dont believe me, look at a long-term chart
of the major stock averages. What does that tell you? Remember, I was saying this in the late 90s!
What about now?
(3) I had other salient remarks reference the cash flow, price earning ratios, and other benchmarks.
All indices were selling well above historical averages. Just like early 2000 and even early 2001!
The recent correction occurred after a major correction of last year. When I made remarks such as
the above, I was told by the pundits it was a new era. I even read worldwide economies were so
sophisticated, i.e., instant communication, etc., bear markets werent possible or even necessary
anymore! Of course, I laughed and said, lets wait and see!
Well, here we are on 13 March 2001. (13 is my favorite and lucky number) How do you feel?
Smart? Unlucky? Stupid? Uninformed? Anxious? Confident? Or just plain scared?
Irrespective of your feelings, there are tremendous opportunities to grow your business and dreams.
Those that take action will look back upon these times favorably. Those that dont take action will
kick yourselves! The pundits are saying stay in cash!
Financial institutions will be looking for experience - not the next young Bill Gates. Remember, this
will not last forever. Nothing does!
To your Quantum Leap
Dan Pea
PS Notwithstanding my current position on speaking, Im considering doing a "Market Crash -
Mega Opportunities" workshop based on the current needs of newsletter subscribers. Perhaps one in
the US and one in the UK.
PPS The Guthrie Group has accomplished some spectacular things already in this new year. And as
soon as I can (due to confidentiality, etc.), Ill write what can be done in a short time frame when
absolutely laser beam focused.

ISSUE #21
From Dan Pea - Executive Coach and Mentor for The New Millennium
Dear Friend and Subscriber:
Earlier this month before the stock market crash of 2001, I had, for the first time in a while, an
opportunity to meet with a few old friends Ive known for more than twenty years each. Though the
day started with a meeting with one of my US bankers, the rest of the day was filled with friendly,
yet substantive discourse.
I had lunch with one of the long time Trustees of my trust, a former partner with one of the largest
law firms in the US and now a senior officer with a huge international asset management firm in
LA, Being a lawyer/accountant, very bright and trusted, he was a natural choice to be a Trustee. I
was proud he accepted many years ago. We have known each other since about 1974. Over the
years I have considered his advice extraordinary yet very practical. If reasonably large sums of
money need management and estate planning, Id recommend him and his firm in a heart beat. We
discussed my trust and some things I had in mind and life in general.
My next meeting was in Century City (LA) with a former protg at Bear Stearns, who handles
money on an individual and corporate basis, I remember helping bring him to The Bear in the
1970s as a young recruit. He is now closing in on 50. While having a cup of coffee and talking
about old times, he reminded me of some of the things I did as a younger man which, candidly, I
had blocked out of my mind. More importantly, he gave me a yearly accounting of a partnership we
have been part of for more than twenty years. He handed me the check and I was duly impressed for
two reasons: (1) its size, since I had forgotten about it even being owed, and (2) we have never had
a written agreement in all these years. The only argument weve had is he believed our partnership
began twenty-one years ago and I know its been at least twenty-two. I would also recommend him
without hesitation. We discussed a potential new business partnership he would like to open in the
UK, an exclusive retail store thats worked in LA.
The last meeting was also in Century City with a lawyer and partner Ive also known for twenty
years. He, like the above two men, is very successful and has been with me through thick and thin.
In fact, he has seen more of the thin side of my life because he has represented me in countless
transactions, including many lawsuits. Im not really sure if we have ever had a real written
agreement in our nonlegal business endeavors. And again, Id recommend him for sage legal advice
including litigation.
All this comes to mind, and as I write this letter - now that my family member is getting better -
when I try and count the disputes Ive had and currently have with various individuals. I ask why
have these three relationships stood the test of time? What did I do differently?
In reality I dont know, though I didnt always agree with them, I always liked them as individuals,
had fun with them, respected them, and, more importantly, trusted them completely!
Its funny what you think about when you have some extra time on your hands, as I have had in
recent weeks. I, along with my family, have made some fairly dramatic decisions which directly
affect the remaining years of our lives. No, Im not becoming a priest or a vegetarian! Nor am I
going to stop writing newsletters . . . though, based on the recent screw up in the transmission of
Issue #18, a few of you might consider that a good thing!
Ill write about the changes in the weeks and months to come - but it revolves around one of my
favorite precepts: high performance people focus on the few, not the many!
Until the next newsletter, I bid you a good fortune and good luck, especially if you are invested
heavily in the stock market! Ill write about the current economic condition in the near future, but
the New York Times headline for Sunday, March 18, alludes the bull market that began August of
1962 is over. They must have read my last newsletter!
To your Quantum Leap,
Dan Pea
P.S. Dont misunderstand this letter. I have many undocumented business relationships with men
and women all over the world. These are merely three of the oldest. And speaking of old, I have one
dating back to 1962 with an MBA - a curmudgeon friend whom I recently saw for golf and dinner
with my son Derrick. This guy makes me look like Mr. friendly Personality. He makes me seem like
I have no opinions! And Id recommend him for MBA-type management consulting with no
hesitation. He enjoys telling people what they dont want to hear and Id trust him with my life!
What Im trying to say is when picking business associates/partners, I believe a good criterion is
"Would you be happy to share- a foxhole in war with them - male or female?" I believe its a great
testament I can recommend all people Ive mentioned. Even using this benchmark, youll have
problems, as with any relationship.

ISSUE #22
From Dan Pea - Executive Coach and Mentor/Coach for the New Millennium.
Dear Friend and Subscriber:
CRASH AFTERMATH
We have now witnessed two weeks of stock market action not many of you have ever seen. Not that
it hasnt happened before, but because you have to be old enough to have lived it.
All who read this letter have probably heard of the Great Crash of 1929. I personally lived through
the 1973-74 crash while on Wall Street. That market episode began with the Dow peaking at just
over 1000 in January 1973 with President Nixons inauguration. It ended in late 1974 with the Dow
breaking below 600 in October and again in December. I personally agonized through both breaks
below 600.
The markets collapsed again in October 1987, dropping more than 500 points. I was fortunate
enough to be a CEO of a public company at the time. I say "fortunate" because, like men that have
broken the sound barrier, there arent many of us and I look upon that experience with great pride.
There have been other market breaks, but these were grand daddies and are the ones I relate back to.
Im told by mental health professionals there are four stages of mourning - and you better believe
tens, if not hundred, of millions of people worldwide are in a state of mourning after the last two
weeks.
These four stages are
1. Denial
2. Anger
3. Depression
4. Acceptance
My best guess is those millions of people are between denial and anger. Of course, most are either
angry at whoever advises them for not getting out of the market. The ones who take responsibility
are kicking themselves - no one else! Therefore, most market players have experienced neither
depression nor the finality of acceptance.
For those who watch television, listen to the radio or can read, you know the tremendous coverage
the recent market activities have received. Ill try and put a slightly more realistic spin on the data,
remembering virtually no one in advisory role saw this crash coming, notwithstanding all the B.S.
now stated.
On March 20, Richard Russell, a Dow theorist, claimed after the 238-point decline of the Dow the
end of the 19-year (really 223 months) bull market. More importantly (if true), he claimed the bear
market recovery would take one-quarter to one-third the length of the bull market. You do the
match: or 223 or 1/3 of 223!
Other headlines accompanied gloomy prognostications all week: Caution is the Watchword as
Markets Gyrate; Motorola, Proctor and Gamble, and Compaq Announce Large Cuts; McDonald,
Northwest Airlines, Oracle Issue Profit Warning; How did they Value Stocks? Count the Absurd
Ways; Bear Market Becomes a Reality; The Future Wont be as Good as it Was; Those Lofty "New
Economy" Measures Fizzle; Two Prophets of Disaster See Trouble Once Again; Overwhelmed
Entrepreneurs Find a Holistic Cure; Therapy for Dot-Com survivors; Website Traffic was not Better
Than Profits After ALL; and last but not least, Experts Say Focus on Profit.
Now its profit we should look for what a joke!
Another interesting headline, American See First Drop in Their Net Worth in 55 Years. For the first
time since 1945 (the year of my birth), the net worth of the average US household dropped 25 AT
December 2000. This was preceded by a gain of 12.6% - 1997, 10% - 1998, and 14.1% in 1999.
U.S. net worth dropped from $41.4 trillion by $841.5 billion. Most of this change came from the
booming then declining stock market.
My observation is, unlike other lesser market declines, people are remaining silent about their losses
because they are so massive. Their anguish is severe. Since last year, indicators like consumer
confidence and purchasing of consumer goods and capital goods have declined. People are
internalising the pain, but it is being reflected in the economy - they are sitting on their hands and
wallets.
The stock market has been a leading economic indicator for more than 100 years. Last year the
market told us wed have a slow down, i.e., profit warnings, job cutbacks etc. Now, if the market is
still a leading indicator, the economy will get a lot worse before it gets better. If you buy off the
notion we are part of a new economy, we could have a soft economic landing in a recession. If we
are part of the old fashion value for money economy, we all will suffer a hard landing.
Here are some interesting stats from the end of last week, before the market continued its decline. If
prices of these companies grew at 15% from now, heres how long it would take to reach their peak
prices of last year:
IBM - 3 years
Microsoft - 6 years
Intel - 7 years
AT&T - 7 years
Oracle - 9 Years
Sun Microsystems - 9 years
Cisco - 10 years
Lucent - 14 years
Yahoo - 20 years
The market psychology of the 1990s wont likely return anytime soon. We saw it in the 16th
Century with tulips in Holland, in the late 1920s and for most of the 1990s!
As investors (if you can call them that), we are learning, to our chagrin, the 1990s game is over. If
especially like, as Bloget, Merrill Lynchs celebrity internet analyst said of the new economy on
January 10 2000,"Valuation is often not a helpful tool in determining when to sell hyper growth
stocks." He was referring to a fund of web companies selling at $173 per share, now at about $3 per
share.
The pundits NOW say the returns of the 1990s were magical but in many instances were a train
wreck waiting to happen. A Nobel Prize winner for academic research on the relationship between
risk and reward says there are three groups of people: those who should buy, those who should sell,
and those who should stay put. Its all about your willingness to bear risk. (Da! I hope you already
knew that.) Others say Id differentiate between technology and internet stocks (which I agree
with); we are in an era of diminished expectations; the productivity miracle never was and the
NASDAQ was based on that; PEs are still too high (which I agree with); bear markets are cyclical
and they do end (Da! Why didnt anyone say bull markets are cyclical, etc.?)
As I see it, one of the biggest problems is a generation has grown up not (really) understanding
intellectually that a market crash of this magnitude was possible. Thats truly unfortunate. Its
difficult for me to put blame on anyone but the ones that invested or played! At least you think
anyone is not susceptible to the now ended market mania, I had my own dot-com mishap which
cost me a potentially huge payday. I spent ten months on both sides of the Atlantic to see the
entrepreneurs dream die like a "road kill". We had an experienced team, a requisite track record
and had raised $7 million with $35 million mezzanine committed going toward a European IPO. Oh
well, next deal, please!! As an aside, I found out the deal imploded while on a cell phone driving to
my home at Guthrie. While Im no one to give up, I knew it was dead instantly. My colleagues took
longer to assimilate the large loss.
I relate this story for two reasons: (1) bad stuff happens to even the most experienced and (2) more
experienced individuals emotionally cut loose more readily because its happened to them many
times before. Of course, that is how you get experience - making bad decisions that turn into
mistakes. All bad decisions dont turn to mistakes. Sometimes Mother Luck overrides stupidity! As
Ive said many times before, its better to be lucky than smart. Of course, the ideal scenario is to be
both.
When school teachers are trading stocks during lunch and firemen during breaks are doing the
same, you know the massive correction is past due!
Well, it has happened and we MUST get on with our lives.
To Your Quantum Leap,
Dan Pea
P.S. Guess who has made money during the great bull market and after the crash? The brokerage
industry!
P.P.S. The purpose of this market/economic update is to tell you its a new game now - not really!
Its the same old game, i.e., cash flow, profit, little or no debt and a business model that works from
day one with an experienced
ISSUE #23
Helping in setting business goals by initiating personal goal setting
While setting business goals, personal goal setting also plays an important role. One cannot afford
to miss the fine print and the various decisive factors influencing a business process or during
setting personal goals. When the 1989 the Japanese Stock Market peaked there was a bearish
market trend that followed. The Japanese restructured the entire economy and the country got
revamped by setting business goals with a difference.
Due to economic slowdown London was gripped with fear and this brought back the traditional
dress codes. Through personal goal setting, banks announced dress-down and the focus was on
creating an impression with clients. Setting personal goals in terms of dressing down has gone over
the peak in US and UK but had no influence on the rest of Europe.
The most important assets of new economy companies are people. They need good incentives to be
part of a company. On setting business goals it should be assumed every employee has the power to
re-price their options package.
Whether it is setting personal goals or business goals this newsletter has words of wisdom that offer
clarity of vision and impact. They delve on the lives of personalities like Ronald Reagan and Jimmy
Carter with relevance to management. Packed with illustrations there is a vivid propaganda on
various management techniques. It also throws light on customer service, deals with time and
money. In fact revolutionary thinking in terms of Return on Minutes (ROM) rather than Return on
Investment (ROI) is also discussed. There is information on taking care of change, competition,
people management and planning.
While setting business goals, there is a lot to learn. For the new economy companies human capital
is the new currency. Statements like multiple revolutions will create evolution are elucidated and it
talks of technology as a simple accelerator of momentum, not a creator.
Despite personal goal setting not all great leaders come out to tell who they trust to convey them the
truth. With the amalgamation of personal goal setting and business goals, most private companies
have greatly discounted in value because of the perceived poor economic conditions.
Its been a while since my last words of wisdom. Im back in Europe for an extended period. This
letter will address a number of subjects including recent contest winners and to the literary scholar
may seem a bit disjointed.
Firstly the stock market as a whole has made a huge rebound. For those of you who have been
helped I am happy for you and your net worths. My only comment is a quote from one of the
financial newsletters I receive and I have some respect for - "Unless you are 35 you probably dont
recall the Japanese Stock Market peaking in 1989 and as we all know, it has been nearly downhill
all the way ever since". Only now in 2001 does there seem to be light at the end of the tunnel (an 11
year Bear Market) as Japan restructures its entire financial economy, including brokerage houses,
banking, major corporations and the country itself. I hope this was the shortest bear market in
history. Only time will tell.
Im also happy for my friends still in the financial business who need to make payments on their
large multiple homes and all the toys they accumulated over the years.
I also find it funny that "dressing down" is starting to go out of favour in the City of London.
Apparently there are signs that fears over job security and the economic slowdown are causing a
return to traditional dress codes. 18 months ago, bank after bank was announcing extensions of
dress-down, today the focus is on giving a professional impression to clients. The consensus seems
to be that lax dress codes lead to lax attitudes (Da!). Dress down may have passed its peak in the
US/UK, but in the rest of Europe it has barely made an appearance. I guess when people think they
might lose their job concerns of appearance take hold. Of course Ive always said "you only get one
chance to make a first impression". And for those of you that have attended dress down meetings
with me - the dress downs spend the first few minutes apologising though I know a senior European
with a very large company I do work with Id like to see run a meeting in a T-shirt and jeans!
An interesting insight made by an Amazon.com spokesman "every employee has the power to re-
price their options package - its called "I Quit" This was made apparent when confronted with an
options plan that was several hundred feet under water with no prospect for ever having value any
time soon. Another way to look at the tens of thousands employee option plans not worth anything
today is - RISK IS THE PRICE YOU PAY FOR OPPORTUNITY. Early last year options schemes
were the talk of the masses. That was the top of the market!
Speaking of last year about the time I formally cut back on my coaching efforts on the road I found
some notes of a meeting.
These notes contained some extremely sage and timely advice for a person who wants to make life
as a human being the best he can be or as Joe Batten, a former partner of mine and the mentor of
Ross Perot, made famous, Be All You Can Be!
I cant tell you who was at the meeting by name, confidentially you know. I can tell you the head of
one of the largest consulting companies in the world was present along with the founder CEO of
one of the most dynamic growth companys of the last 10-15 years amongst a couple of others of
super, super status. It was a focus group of sorts, exploring ideas and change. Heres what they said
in short form:
WORDS OF WISDOMFOR BUSINESS & LIFE

Teams with the clearest sense of vision & impact WIN! Talent base - peopleare the most
important assets of new economy companies. Best question to ask a CEOwhy would great people
want to be part of your company? Customers will constantly raise "the bar of expectation" for
companies. The internet is a giant "lab experiment" for corporate America and those companies that
recognise this and play well within the rules of ambiguity & fluidity will survive and win.
NOTHING IS CAST IN CONCRETE The best form of customer service is SELF service.
Constantly empower customers to get their own answers themselvesthis is a huge differentiator.
"CLOCK SPEED" OF BUSINESS IS CONSTANTLY ACCELERATINGTIME REALLY
MATTERS MORE THAN MONEY (MONEY YOU CAN SOMETIMES GET BACK, TIME YOU
CANT) MOST EVEN BRIGHT UNDERESTIMATE THE VALUE OF TIMETHINK MORE
IN TERMS OF "RETURN ON MINUTES"(ROM) THAN "RETURN ON INVESTMENT" (ROI).
Get in the digital game fast, no matter how small"launch, listen, learn, then re-launch! SIZE IS
THE ENEMY OF SPEED! SPEED TO REACT MATTERS MORE THAN SIZE OF
COMPANY Good leaders make sense of change in the worldthen imparts that insight to the
team. SHIFTING THINGS (CHANGE) WHEN LIFE IS GOOD IS TOUGHER THAN WHEN
THINGS ARE BAD, BUT YOU SHOULD CONSTANTLY BE SHIFTINGMORPHING. People
WANT to be led by strong leaders and good leaders are constant students. THE JOB OF CEOS IS
NOT TO BE THE SMARTEST GUY IN THE ROOM, BUT TO ATTRACT OTHER SMART
GUYS TO WORK FOR HIM. THE "GROUP BRAIN" IS FAR MORE POWERFUL THAN
INDIVIDUAL BRAINPOWER. Current accounting and measurement systems and metrics are
outdated for new economy companies. Human capital is the new currency of the digital economy.
Technical change is a sub-set of greater change - cultural change. GOOD IS THE ENEMY OF
GREAT!! When we get good, we usually quit. GREAT DNA ENCODING OF PEOPLE AND
VALUES (NOT IDEAS) IN YOUNG COMPANIES EARLY ON WILL CREATE THE TRULY
GREAT AND LASTING COMPANIES LATER. IT IS NOT IMPORTANT WHAT WE DO, BUT
WHOM WE DO IT WITHGREAT COMPANIES DIDNT START WITH WHAT THEY
PLANNED ON DOING, BUT THEY STARTED OUT GREAT BY WHO THEY PICKED TO DO
IT WITH! People should get on your "bus" not for where you are going but BECAUSE THEY
LIKE WHO IS RIDING ON THE BUS WITH THEM. The "bus" will also change directions, but
the bonds of good people wont. ALWAYS PUT YOUR BEST PEOPLE ON THE BEST
OPPORTUNITIES, not biggest problems. "STOCKDALE PARADOX" Admiral Stockdale
survived 7 years of torture in Vietnam not by being overly "optimistic" of being rescued within
weeks, but by being realistic of knowing it could be years. The other "optimistic" American POWs
around him died from broken expectations and heartsof hoping to be rescued within weeks.
REALISTS ARE BRUTALLY HONEST WITH THEMSELVESYET THEY STILL HAVE AN
UNWAVERING BELIEF THAT THEY WILL PREVAIL"FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION,
EVEN IN THE FACE OF GREAT ADVERSITYJUST KNOW WHAT YOUR ADVERSITY
REALLY IS"! The Hedgehog Vs Foxthe fox is smart & cunning but gets caught up in lots of
details, becoming misdirected and chasing his own tailhedgehogs do only 1 thing and do it well
and nothing elseeat. THE BEST CEOS OF ALL TIME ARE HEDGEHOGS!!

Example: Jimmy Carter was smart, wordly, tackled many issuesand got lost in detail. Ronald
Reagan had only 1 thing on his mind for 8 yearsRussiaremove the "evil empire", remove the
"evil empire" and remove the "evil empire"!
Reagan was a hedgehog
All great Hedgehogs have 3 common traits:
1. Passionate about what they believe in..
2. Recognise that they are genetically encoded for their chosen field of endeavourthey really
LOVE what they do!
3. and somebody WILL pay them for what they love to do!
CEOS MOST IMPORTANT TASKNEVER STOP BECOMING QUALIFIED FOR THE JOB.
FLYWHEEL EFFECTwhen you start pushing a 10 ton metal flywheel, it takes lots of effort to
make a single revolution, but less for the next 3momentum will start to carry the wheel forward
itselfsame is true in business. Its tough and slow to build momentum and inertia, but before long,
it starts spinning under its own force. After a while, MULTIPLE REVOLUTIONS WILL CREATE
EVOLUTION!
Use technology only after you have momentum, not to create it. Technology is simply an
accelerator of momentum, not a creator of it
Building a great company means your building something WORTHY of lastingQUESTION:
HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOUR COMPANY IS WORTHY OF LASTING??? ANSWER: DOES
IT STAND FOR SOMETHING GREAT TO SOMEONE?
Dream now and then, they will come true!
GREAT COMPANIES DO 2 things well:
1. Preserves: core values and purpose.
2. Changes: operating practices, technologies and culture as needed.
Closing comments to live by:
Human talent is the currency of the new economy.
Good is the ENEMY of great!
Time is more important than money ("ROM")
Be a hedgehog!!! Unwavering single mindedness
Know WHO you want on your "bus" in work & life
Build something that is WORTHY and STANDS for something to someone
Take time to dream
Since Ive cut back on my new coaching schedule (not my workload) Ive been able to devote time
to a few, instead of many, of the brightest and most persevering. These range from, individuals still
trying to put their first deal together to senior executives at major international corporations. Its
been an interesting experience for me. Im sure in time all will be super-successful with or without
me - all I do is shorten the timecycle and keep them lazer beam focused . But one especially has
shown a lot of signs of maturity, insight, character and single-mindedness I havent seen in a long,
long time. I cant use his name for confidentiality reasons. This person has used QLA in a very large
company even before he met me. And now he has fine tuned what his instincts had already taught
him. With my assistance and guidance he has learned to trust his instincts more. Of course I believe
Ive been extremely gentle with him though he might not agree! Sometimes Im sure it has felt like
hard pushing! No, not all of QLA can be used in a company with great masses of employees when
its first appropriate for obvious reasons, i.e. unions, seniority rules, bands on firing etc. Decades of
history , and human belief systems take more time to change than optimal, but I have written and
talked about men like Welsh (GE), Gestner (IBM) and Gent (Vodaphone) who certainly have used
QLA methodology for many, many years. In fact their extremely super successful careers have been
based on the same precepts I coach.
Remember not all of the great leaders come out to tell who their Rasputins are! But believe me, they
all have at least one person they can trust to tell them the truth - no matter what! And in case youre
interested I thought Rasputin was a good guy! Wasnt he?
On a different subject as Ive said ad nausem before (notwithstanding the current market upturn)
most private companies have been greatly discounted in value, because of the perceived poor
economic conditions. When Wall Street and Main Street both lay off tens of thousands it effects all
businesses but a few, i.e. cutting back and outsourcing or just cutting back becomes vogue instead
of building and adding on to infrastructure to add or extend value. CEOs realise shareholders dont
care about economic cycles so they do whats easiest almost all the time.
Ive recently outlined a cost cutting outsourcing program, i.e. property taxes, utilities, phone, waste
disposal etc to a large company in the U.S. Hopefully they will at least test it soon. I personally was
involved with a QLA devotee saving many millions in such a program for Fortune 500 companies
several years ago. We ultimately were stopped or almost totally entangled because it embarrassed
senior management, especially the CFO/FD. Such a program needs strong support from the CEO.
Ultimately, when successful, the board will say its their idea anyway! Such radical shareholder
enhancing policies are more prevalent in the U.S. When its only you its much easier to implement
such policies.
To Your Quantum Leap
Daniel S Pea Sr
P.S. When last in the U.S. I received a GSM cell phone as a gift. This phone allows me to call and
receive calls all over the world with one number. The good friend that gave it to me knew my
functionality vis--vis such tools of the 21st Century. Im still learning all the things you (or should
I say someone) can do with it. My wife who knows him (the giver) thinks they will come up with
another generation of GSM cell before I understand it fully.
P.P.S. Congratulations to the following for their achievements:
Nick Galtos Most Newsletter Referrals: February & March
Won a "Your First 100 Million" Book
Nick Galtos Most Newsletter Referrals in 1st Qtr
Won 1 hours worth of consultation
Jerry Rukavina Success Test Winner - February
Won a "Build Your Own Guthrie" book
Francis Farrell Success Test Winner - March
Won a "Build Your Own Guthrie" book
Galtos and Rukavina are QLA devotees for several years!
P.P.P.S There is a Castle Seminar planned for August this year. It will be the only one for 2001. For
those of you that have asked about the various product shipped to Guthrie, it is almost inventoried.
A list will be provided soon. There will be no special seminar for a taking advantage of a down
trend in the economy. Apparently you all think the good times are already back and there is no
need!
P.P.P.P.S. I recently sold my first thing on e-Bay for many thousands of dollars. Although not totally
efficient it was an interesting experience. It operates on the premise people are honest even though
there is no absolute way to hold them accountable. Ill tell you why I did it in a later letter and my
thoughts on e-Bays honesty / accountability theory.

ISSUE #24
From Dan Pea - Executive Coach and Mentor for the New Millennium
Dear Subscriber and friend,
Eight years ago next Tuesday I said I would coach till I was 55. I will be 56 in August. I gave my
first seminar in LA on May 22nd 1993.
As I told you last year starting in 1998 I initiated a phase down (not out) in my coaching
responsibilities. I began by closing down my LA office (1998), cutting back my speaking schedule
and reducing the more than 60 companies, entrepreneurs and executives I was involved with
worldwide. When I accelerated that process last August 2000 it was a planned action. I enjoyed the
years I was involved coaching around the world day to day. I learned a lot about human nature and
teaching success precepts to all kinds. Now as a final logistical consolidation I am closing my
Houston operations this Summer and selling my scenic Californian estate and almost all that goes
with it, except my wine cellar. Lee Anne my able assistant, colleague and partner of seventeen years
has the daunting task of doing this. She will be finished by the end of Summer at the latest. She will
then be totally available for other personal endeavours though still a shareholder and partner in
various entities of mine. She has been my benchmark for excellence almost since the day she came
to my employ, 1 April 1984. I already miss her greatly!
Over the next few months all my business and personal entities will ultimately be run out of the
U.K. and Amsterdam. I have a new personal assistant. He is Paul Morris and is poised to take on all
the responsibilities Lee Anne did so well for seventeen years. Ill write more about him. Suffice to
say, he is a retired Royal Marine and more than qualified. He has already made a major impact at
Guthrie and in my European business interests.
My family is due to join me in the U.K. in due course. My youngest son starts university in the U.S.
in Sept, 2001 and my eldest son left the nest in Sept 1999. My soon to be 15 year old (Scottish
born) daughter will be starting High School in Sept 2001.
As you have heard me say and write countless times, life isnt stable so why should we think
business is? This big change will have no effect on any business relationships I have other than I
might be flying in from another direction and my massive travel schedule will be reduced. I tell you
now so you hear it from me. I look forward to operating out of the U.K. and Europe as was
envisaged in 1984 when I moved there ostensibly to retire! - Of course that only lasted 29 months! I
will maintain my business interests or and relationships wherever they are now. I currently have
strong relationships and businesses in the U.S., U.K., Netherlands and Germany. In recent years
Ive reduced my U.S. businesses with this move in mind. I thought this change would be completed
last Summer - Man plans and God laughs!
As Ive said during this planned change I am going to focus on a few projects and continue to build
The Guthrie Group (www.theguthriegroup.co.uk), the M+A Boutique I founded a few years ago. It
currently has principals in the US, Ireland, U.K. and the Netherlands and I am currently recruiting
to expand our expertise in key areas of the 21st Century economy. I will also continue a few
advisory roll positions. I will get directly involved when necessary as always.
I will continue to spread QLA Methodology through my website, Newsletters, QLA products and
my book and most importantly through the many QLA protgs, devotees and followers of these
precepts for quantum success Ive helped to groom over the years. (The product clearance inventory
is coming soon).
Im looking forward to the change in my domicile. As some of you know Guthrie Castle is a
magnificent work and play environment and I will be able to spend more time there. Yet I can still
get anywhere in the world quickly enough, but its out of the main stream for total peace and
tranquillity when I want it.
To Your Quantum Leap,
Daniel S Pea Sr
P.S. Of course Im asked how well I did as a coach? I dont relate to my own success, because, in
candour getting horses to water and getting them to drink is different. And in almost all cases I
could have done it quicker by myself as I discussed over a quiet couple of days with the Verdiers
recently on their Patamac, Maryland, estate I helped inspire them to desire. But the following recent
(April/May, 2001) correspondence (names removed to protect the guilty) illustrate, as do many
letter testimonials on my website, what kind of success devotees of QLA have had. In all modesty I
dont believe any coach dead or alive, can show better results! Tom (who wrote the Letter One
below) previously worked for the QLA team in the U.K., U.S. and Germany from 1996 - 1998 and
failed twice in projects he started and was cheated once by a partner before his recent success.
Jenny (who wrote Letter Two) has followed the QLA precepts about the same length of time. The
important point is both never gave up - no matter what! It takes both tremendous persistence and
balls to succeed against the odds!
LETTER ONE:
"Dan,
I wanted to send you a quick update on our progress.
Had idea: Late November 2000
Started research Early December 2000
Started seeking capital Mid December 2000
First Angel Money Late January 2001
Moved into 5000sqft Office 1st Feb, 2001
Raised well over 1 million without business plan (8 angels) - to date (more to come - we never stop
looking)
Have given away less than 15% of the company - to date
Created unique product & unique selling proposition - Feb, 2001
Created infrastructure for company - Jan / Feb 2001 (will continue to permeate until we arrive at
final destination)
Hired 9 full time employees - by Mid March
Initiated process for intranet web presence and brought to full functionality - March, 2001
Opened doors for business - 12th March, 2001
Business self funding - Late April, 2001
Hired 83 sales executives - To date

Other significant events include:

Hired former executive who grew from 32 locations to over 1800 in 4 years, took market cap
from $35 million to over $1.2 billion, he is paid on performance, success oriented salary and stock
options.
Hired former executive from same team on same compensation package.
Completing strategic alliance/relationship with the biggest icon in sports and sports nutrition in 27
countries.
In final stages of completion of a strategic alliance/relationship between our venture and multi-
Billionaire who will be as a private angel investor and assist in exponential growth of our product
through personal involvement (advisory board) opening vast channels for mass distribution through
own companies as well as others. He will also assist in the exit strategy with 6 - 12 months (most
likely sell out to larger Biotech conglomerate).

First major billionaire enhancement - we signed strategic deals with 7 of the biggest internet-
marketing companies in the world.

Dan, we are having the time of our life, working day and night, it was all worth it. Your
methodology works 100% of the time WHEN PROPERLY IMPLEMENTED OVER AND OVER.
(I added the uppercase)
.

I look forward to harvest time and its right around the corner. I could have saved $50,000
(BROUGHT SIGNIFICANT OTHER) by not attending The Castle Seminar but I would have lost
whats about to come and it will be tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions.

Thanks Dan

Tom"
LETTER TWO:
"Mr. Dan Pea,
I want to tell you about my recent QLA success. Using my construction company as my stick, I
have secured a $200K commercial contract (yes the deposit money is in the bank). To get it I used
the basics from your book and tapes, i.e. dress up, growth mode talk, sold my teams ability, was
enthusiastic (sorry not curmudgeon style) and did presentations. This is a nice little contract which I
"puff up like a show dog" to get bigger contracts. Hopefully I can land another $600K new
construction contract right away. I know this is not big stuff but it is sweet, a stepping stone to
greater things to come. Many thanks.
I am focusing on the few, the QLA few. It will take some time for me to be able to spend 95% of my
time looking for deals and money but it is my as-soon-as-humanly-possible goal. My big lesson
learned to date is to remain focused. I am pathetically unorganised and get lost in details. As general
contractor/project manager on this upcoming construction project I can not afford to screw up.
Therefore, right now, I am implementing a KISS organisational system. Like you said, our business
forefathers figured this end of things out a long time ago and use what works. This will spare me a
lot of here-to-fore grief and wheel spinning. With a sharper operational focus I can free up time for
macro things like revenue, finance, deals and the dream team. When I get all dufus like and start
listening to morons I will put in a tape or open your book.
I see greatness on the horizon and I want to say thanks. I have deliberately approached you these
past months because the "pay price" for success is so high and I just needed some help to step
ahead. I have written you some God awful "dufusee" letters, some of which I am now embarrassed
about and do apologise for, I am grateful and delighted that you cared enough to write me back with
your sage advice. You have proven to me that you are indeed committed to your purpose and a man
of your word.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Jerry.
P.P.S. QLA hasnt just been about money as Tom alludes to in Letter One. Its (or Ive) assisted in
bringing people to positions of great power and influence in multinational corporations (including a
$30 billion market cap NYSE industry giant started from scratch), worldwide law and accountancy
partnerships, government, professional and amateur sport, investment banking and almost every
aspect of life including nutrition, health and religion.
QLA is about gaining freedom to do what you want when you want based on high performance and
excellence by the use of laser beam focus!!
P.P.P.S. As you have probably noticed in many of the stock markets, losses (at least on the indices)
have recovered. If the pundits are correct we have just witnessed the shortest bear market in history.
Instead of waiting years (apparently) we only had to wait a few weeks. Perhaps since
communications on the world wide web are all encompassing and instantaneous even this has
changed - certainly almost everything else has gone through this time metamorphous. You be the
judge!

ISSUE #25
From Dan Pea - Executive Coach and Mentor for The New Millennium
Dear Friend and Subscriber:
Its been sometime since I wrote my last newsletter. This is no place to explain other than to say
Shit Happens.
At almost 56, Ive had friends and family get sick and die. Children graduate from high school and
people move house. In America, its called "downsizing" your life, both people and places. In my
case, all the above has or is taking place. It has been harder than planned. Of course, I should know
leaving thirty years of career and friends/colleagues behind in the U.S. wouldnt be easy. Man Plans
and God Laughs.
In recent weeks I gave the eulogy for one of my good friends. He was a world-class finance man,
but more than that, he was a man of true integrity. He had strong, unswerving moral standards. And
many years ago, when the world seemed to turn on me, he stood tall and was by my side. As most
people would say later, John always knew when to play a long shot. I say, he always knew what was
right. And he always followed that road. John Earnest was a unique man. He was his own man even
up until passing. A CPA by training at Price Waterhouse, he certainly knew his odds when
diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in December 1999: 3 to 6 months! But John decided it wasnt
time to go until May 2001. For those of you who have heard me speak, you know I always have
something to say.
For John Earnests eulogy, I found it difficult to think how to describe a man who for almost fifty
years had balanced debits and credits for companies, some as large as Fortune 50. As I thought what
to say in the few minutes I had, words like honesty, moral values, and integrity passed through my
mind. In the end, I used them all, but the one which came through most clearly was integrity.
I believe its a very good thing if the main trait one had in life and career could be described by one
word - INTEGRITY!
Early on in our relationship, I remember fending off a hostile takeover. During a meeting I
personally was offered a middle-eight-figure check for part of my shareholdings at a 50% premium
to their value. I said no! John said to reconsider. I said no! John said the shareholders in a few
months will not remember I was looking out for their interests above mine. I said I didnt care. He
said I would. He was right. A few years later, the same shareholders threw me out and John Earnest
resigned. He was the only Director who did. He was 71 when he died.
I learned much from him. My favorite proverb which he spoke countless times was "There are no
secrets. There are only mysteries." The world is a lesser place for him leaving. He did leave on his
own terms, though not exactly how he would have wished.
To Your Quantum Leap,
DAN PEA
P.S. LAST CASTLE EVENT: Ive just arrived in the UK and was reminded four weeks from today
I start my last Castle Seminar on 24 August 2001. I have not mentioned it here, though. Nothing but
pure oversight on my part. As I have said now, ad nauseam, I will continue to speak from time-to-
time but will use the internet, QLA product, and my book to spread the QLA word. Of course, my
QLA devotees do that best!
Because this is my last planned Castle event, Ive added one additional day as a bonus to the 3-Day
schedule. So my finale will be four days and five nights. I am looking forward to spending time
with the attendees.
P.S.S. The QLA product has been catalogued and will be forthcoming in a special offer letter.

ISSUE #27
From Dan Pea - Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer
Dear Subscriber and Friend,
It has been a long time since my last newsletter. I have been busy moving house, closing my
Houston office and getting my son and daughter ready for the next phase of the educational life.
I am firmly placed in Europe (though the Brits dont consider themselves part of it) now and
working very hard at what I enjoy and do best.
My new (really old) life which is "deal orientated" has taken off with a bang. Some of the
transactions The Guthrie Castle Group is working on are impressive. They range from Public to
Private buyouts, to divestitures of small or large divisions from large companies. Our new website
is quite different - www.guthriecastlegroup.com. We are generalists and work in virtually all areas.
We have added some very senior expertise and will discuss them in due course.
Being able to spend more time at Guthrie, London and the Netherlands, and soon Germany, seems
as if it were the 80s again for me vis--vis my lifestyle. I was young and had just moved to the UK
in 1984 with my wife and two baby sons. My daughter was born two years later.
My youngest son started university and my daughter began High School last month. They have both
moved into their new environments. My oldest son left the nest two years ago. How time goes!
MASSIVE CATASTROPHY
I have hesitated to write about the tragedy of 11 Sep. Not because I dont have an opinion - for
those that know me personally I have opinions on almost all subjects. I have not written earlier
merely out of respect.
I took the first plane possible from London (Sep 15th) to LA after the massive destruction in NYC
and the Pentagon. Opinion varies on what happened to NYC and America depending on where you
are. Taking four countries like The Netherlands, Germany, Great Britain and the U.S., which I am
closest to, the latter three are changed beyond belief. The Netherlands, which I just returned from,
doesnt show any change whatsoever. Holland is still Heaven in their mind! Of course they feel
badly for all that were affected directly and the USA and the world generally. Great Britain and
Germany have bellied up to the bar along with Australia and others in very special ways. It is too
bad such a tragedy has to bring all these countries together.
Ive been asked why I look at what happened in NYC and Washington DC in a different way than
most. Notwithstanding it was a travesty of biblical proportions, I have seen the results of massive
carnage before, at a very young age. The images are still with me.
I walked through the streets of Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Rotterdam in 1951/52 as a young
boy. The cities were still flattened from WWII. I saw my first dead person frozen to a log at the age
of seven outside a small village in France. My father was a CID American Army officer during the
Korean War, in Europe and I happened to be with him when he was called in an emergency. I still
remember the great shock I had and my father trying to explain how so many cities could be in
rubble and the dead man I saw. He later explained the man was an American Army officer who died
serving his country and was killed by communist spies. I asked on all occasions, "why Dad?"
During this same time frame I lived in Verdun, France with my parents. As all children, I wondered
away from home and found myself playing in the trenches, bunkers and fields around the city. For
those of you familiar with history, 85 years ago the battle of Verdun was fought for some ten
months. During that battle of the "war to end all wars" some 400,000 men, alone, came away
wounded and maimed. There is no accurate count of the dead - but it was big! As it turned out there
were no winners at Verdun. I didnt comprehend that then. I do still remember the horrid things I
found digging whilst going from trench to trench almost 50 years ago. I hope and pray that this war
on terrorism will be decisive. In no way am I trying to diminish what happened. I am merely saying
these events shaped my attitudes etc. as current events will shape others attitudes.
I could go through other events that shaped my life, but what I am attempting to relate is the U.S.
and especially the New Yorkers (as they are called) and the world are changed forever.
It is common knowledge that NYC is where it is happening in business and world government with
the United Nations. Part of that reality is, like the song says, "if you can make it there you can make
it anywhere". I believe this tragic event will only make these adages more true. I was trained on
Wall Street, and by the Onassis Group, in NYC. For those of you that havent heard I am considered
by almost all, as a tough, no nonsense, straight talking (occasionally crass) steel willed businessman
possessing unwavering dedication and loyalty. I learned much of this working in NYC in
conjunction to what I was exposed to over my lifetime.
All I described make me who I am. Just as your own social and economic milieu have made you
who you are. At the end of the day we can either thank, or blame mostly our parents for our genes
and, or training, or lack there of - plus our life experiences!
A GREAT ONE STEPS DOWN
Jack Welch the famed former GE CEO has recently published his biography. A good friend, very
senior himself in a multinational company, said it was a good read - I trust his judgement. Other
reviews are mixed, but include words like autocratic, brilliant, fearless and heartless. Mr. Welch is a
product of his environment and has clearly been the "CEO of the past two decades". He has been
the benchmark for excellence for a generation. You might ask why? He was at GE for 40 years.
DEALS STILL BEING DONE
Speaking of environment, I have made the rounds since 11 Sep on both sides of the Atlantic and
there is still plenty of money for GOOD DEALS. I have meetings next week with VCs and banks
on 5 deals.
The numbers have to stack up as always! Professional managers are weeding out the weak deals
from their portfolios and putting money in their stronger deals. Remember, 80% of all financial
transactions are done with people deals have already been done with. Its the reverse of the 80 - 20
rule.
The end game for many of you is to do your first transaction - you then have a track record! The
Dream Team I write and talk about, ad nauseaum, is even more true now! My entire methodology
was developed in a collapsing market. Many industries are in trouble - ergo many opportunities
with lower and falling prices. As I have written before no one knows when the market will bottom.
Therefore purchases on the way down and on the way up the economic trough will give you (what I
call) the blended price. It has worked for me in four decades.
Some of the UK pundits say if it has telecom in it, or is in North America - FORGET ABOUT IT!
Of course that also means huge opportunities. I am currently working in various areas: telecoms,
construction, manufacturing, retail, automotive, power and tool rental. I still enjoy, very much,
One of which is a "real super star" and much will be written about him in the future.
In all the above cases I have found the VCs, insurance companies and financial institutions
receptive with good experienced management teams (Dream Team) and financial numbers that
work. Again, it is how you approach them. Practise. Practise. Practise. And remember you get to be
a good presenter by making, first, bad presentations! Presentation skills are extremely important!
You only have one time to make a first impression!
I get a number of deals to review and various questions from QLA devotees. The bad deals
invariably have economic models that are based on erroneous assumptions. Remember, you get to
understand good deals by looking at and attempting bad deals and having experience around you! I
know it is hard, but "just do it" as the Nike advert says! Our "Chat Room" will facilitate quick
response from me. It will also be conducive to "your comfort zone", because it will be faceless.
How it will work will be discussed soon.
The bottom line is, this is an economic era most of us will not live long enough to see again. Instead
of hiding we should be out turning over rocks. Most people are better off staying in areas they know
best, but that is not mandatory. Surround yourself with SMART people and never stop swinging the
bat, and magic will happen. This will not be easy unless you change! Just think if you were judged
by who you hang out with - are they SMART? Are they where you want to be? High performance
people dont "hang out". They stopped doing that, if they ever did, when they left school.
Remember lone eagles sore!
(I just got off the phone with a young German (26) who brought me a bad deal some months ago
who is now on the right track. I still remember meeting him in the Churchill Hotel in London. As he
was over 40 minutes late, I could only spend 20 minutes with him. He was dripping with sweat, but
had a dream. His vision is now clearer)
MOST FUN DEALS OVER FOUR DECADES
When I look back at my career and look at the 95 (now much more) times I was told "Dan, You
Cant Do That", listed in my book and on my new website, a few stick out boldly as my favourites
(and all were done in awful economic times - just like now):
a. Starting the first financial planning department on Wall Street in 1973 during the bear market of
73/74. The pundits said what?
b. Taking the first option (an agreement to buy something in the future) public on the London Stock
Exchange in 1984 in 3 months. During that same time-frame the dollar collapsed to almost parity
(1 to 1) to the British Pound. The shares traded in Sterling! The assets were US and valued in
dollars. The advisors choked!
c. Listing a company on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange (Dec) in only seven weeks from initial
introduction in Nov 85 when I could not get it done in London, or the US because of falling oil
prices and needed money to close acquisitions. The advisors choked!
d. Raising the first money on the London Stock Exchange post Oct 87 Stock Market crash in Nov
87. The advisors double choked!
e. Raising the first money on the London Stock Exchange post Aug 90 Iraq invasion of Kuwait
with Kuwait as my 30% partner in Sep 90. The advisors choked and stopped breathing!
f. Building an, almost, half a billion dollar energy company through 22 acquisitions as oil went in a
free fall from $40 to $8 per barrel. Every deal got tougher and the advisors always said I was crazy!
g. Initiating and completing from "idea to a focused exit" of a "public to private" $305 million
healthcare company on the London Stock Exchange that had collapsed twice under my leadership
with DLJ and CSFB. The deal was considered not doable in the UK mid 1999, having started it in
mid 1997 with an "apprentice plumber" as my partner.
All these were accomplished when the markets and odds were against my teams. It sounds like
bragging, but I want to make a vivid point. WE ARE IN A SIMILAR ECONOMIC
ENVIRONMENT. Fortunes are going to be made. MBOs and MBIs are being planned by the
thousands all over the world. Management teams are looking at their own companies to buy. Teams
from other companies are looking at companies in their own industry to buy into. Large companies
are spinning off assets to raise cash and, or pay down debt. And the game goes on.
All of the above are being accomplished at cheaper prices than Sep 11. Some are being done at
wholesale prices because companies cant carry debt service. Some will go out of business if they
dont sell assets on the cheap NOW!
The experienced wait for times like this. In my career 1973/74, 1987, 1990, 2000 and 2001 stand
out as huge opportunities. Of course, in each industry there were other down periods. The energy
business suffered from 1982 - 1990. Of course, I, nor the teams I LED didnt buy into these
scenarios and some of my best years for deals where during these periods. The operative word is
"LED".
THEN A COACH
I would argue that getting some of the people who read this letter across the goal line from 1993 -
2000 as a coach were MUCH BIGGER SUCCESSES than any I ever had personally.
The "plumber" mentioned above and I did a $305 million transaction. He has since built a career on
that transaction not knowing a debit from a credit. A "pre med student" and I did a $10 million real
estate securitisation not knowing how to do a spreadsheet. A "carnival barker" (qassi circus clown)
and I did an IPO valued at $60 million. And an "airplane mechanic" and I did a merger valued at
$120 million with the carnival barker. Neither knew anything about finance. How about a "staircase
salesman" buying a 10 million-guilder construction company last Dec who still cant read a balance
sheet and financed it at 110%. Or a "refinery worker" and "playboy" building a financial services
company borrowing 8 million guilders and making six acquisitions from 1998 - 2000.
Dont misunderstand me. There were plenty of failures to fill up additional pages, along with many
other small successes to go with the above. Whilst they were able to raise money and buy
companies this doesnt necessarily mean they can run them properly. Many have had hard times
since. At some juncture, with their newfound success, they believe somehow they have been
transformed into Warren Buffet.
In my next life I will try 8 years of coaching operating systems and financial management instead of
raising money and acquisitions. Again, all the above was accomplished in great times of chaos,
confusion and uncertainty and in most cases with financially unsophisticated individuals. I could go
on for pages giving you more examples of success in the face of bad, to extremely bad news.
Remember from chaos comes order! Choordic!
REAL LIFE
Speaking of chaos, two partners that own a UK based 20 million turnover company just walked
out of my office here at Guthrie. One had attended a castle seminar.
They have a very large share of a worldwide market. The company is in high-tech manufacturing.
The market has deteriorated greatly and may continue declining for some time. They have some 20
years invested in the business. Both smart engineers with 85 - 90% of their sales made through
outside sources not in their control - manufactures reps!
The reps will sell whatever is in their own portfolio of products easiest to get through the recession,
with the highest margins for themselves. Hence there is no reason for the reps to increase their
efforts to assist the company.
The company is worth significantly less today than 2 - 4 years ago. There are more details but they
only get worse. Having a big market share of a small market with slim margins is tough at best.
They are near my age and have been looking for an alternative for a year or two.
I had previously told the primary founder
I told them today to sell to their employees, because they would value it higher, are emotionally tied
to the business and banks / VCs would finance it waiting for an upturn in the market 4 to 7 years
hence when they can exit. In the meantime the founders have an exit. Too bad most people wait too
long - usually during bad times - to start thinking about an exit. I wish them luck! What should they
do? The Chat Room would have the answer!
DIDNT LIKE BEING RIGHT
FYI - From 1900 - 2000 there have been 22 recessions averaging 15 months each. Stock markets
are leading economic indicators.
I wrote and said at the beginning of this year I believed the market would go south - BIG TIME. I
said I didnt know exactly why, but some pundits would tell us why - after the fact - I said the
market was overvalued! We then had the March / April collapse, led by high tech/telecoms - then
some recovery.
Now Sep 11 has changed the world and how we think for ever. Many of the industries that were out
of vogue are now in and high rise view offices are looked upon differently. The Physical Security
Industry is "in", and telecoms are supposedly "out".
Open your mind and eyes. Look at business differently. Life certainly is not the same - if the "war
on terrorism" is on going, various industries will prosper. Their prices have already gone up. Just as
prices of airlines, insurance companies and others have gone down. How we insure assets will
change! You can fly and stay in Las Vegas for almost nothing. Dinner shows are free in some hotels
there. I could go on and on! Get out of the caves! Pull your head out! Keep your eyes open!
If you arent thinking differently, notwithstanding this horrific loss of life, you will be exactly where
you are now, if not worse off, 3, 5 or 10 years from now. Re-read my book - re-listen to my tapes!
Out of respect for what happened I didnt write sooner. I EVEN TOOK SOME TIME OFF! Time
waits for no one. Look at poor Polaroid!
PERSONAL CONVICTIONS
For those of you that know me well (hell not even well) you know what I think should be done to
this psychotic faction of people who did this shameful and heinous act to innocent people. My
politics have not changed. If anything they have been reinforced by these recent actions. For every
pound of concrete made to rubble and lost in NYC and Washington DC, my and the good guys
resolve has been strengthened. I am proud to be an American. I am proud to be a Veteran and a
former U.S. Army Officer. And I am even more proud to say it!
As my father says at 83, "if you live long enough you will probably see everything in life twice".
Depending on which end of my 56 year life span you look from I sincerely hope and pray I dont
see this kind of carnage, or the carnage I saw as a child again!
To the Worlds Quantum Leap and God Bless America and All Her Loyal Friends and Allies.
Daniel S Pea Sr.
P.S. As you have read the recent QLA Product "Clear Out Sale" went well and Paul, my retired
British Royal Marines assistant will be having another traunch out soon. Ive attached two of the
recent emails received from recent happy product purchasers as a postscript - I am not surprised.
P.P.S. NEW WEBSITE: My new QLA Dan Pea website will be completed 1 Nov and our QLA
Chat Room should be done shortly thereafter. I call it a Chat Room, but the ONLY one you will be
able to chat to is me at designated times for quantumly less than attending a seminar. Lucky you!
P.P.P.S. Examples of emails received regarding product sale:
#1 "Hi Dan,
Please send me more details of the remaining product sale items. I have just finished watching the
videos from the 3 day seminar - THE BEST INFORMATION IVE HEARD IN ONE PLACE.
With thanks.
Keith"
#2 "Hi Dan,
Its about 4.30am Sunday morning. Having gone through the "Finance Your Dream" video, I am
having trouble sleeping!!! I have just got up to reset my goals. I have been aiming way too low. I
always tell people that the one thing that most "screws" with the mind is lack of direction. Advice
that I have personally ignored over the past year or so! Thank you Dan for delivering the "kick up
the arse" that I needed. I will keep you updated with my progress. I have been passing the web
address to some people that I know will enjoy your style. Hopefully they will benefit as much as I
am.
All the best.
Mark QLIP
(Quantum Leap In Progress)"

ISSUE #28
From Dan Pea - Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer.
Dear Subscriber and Friend,
It is Christmas Eve and I am reflecting on how all of you are preparing for a festive holiday season.
It is 11am and I worked with a UK colleague until 1am their time on an engagement letter I had
promised would get out today from The Guthrie Group (TGG) (www.theguthriegroup.co.uk).
Whilst I do not think anything unusual about this, I am sure many of you might - and I am positive
most in the business world think I was extraordinarily odd! Well Ive been odd a long, a very long
time.
In this vain I, and the same colleague had an appointment at 3pm in London with one of the largest
banks providing private equity in Europe on Friday not realizing the bank had been shut down for
the holidays since 12pm. The Director was there and we had a productive meeting. In fact I had a
"world class" idea that could possibly help our largest corporate client while sitting there waiting for
the meeting to start.
This year has been an unusual year notwithstanding the terrible tragedy of 11 Sept. It makes this
holiday season more special indeed.
I have closed out my last office in the USA and will focus on a handful of projects going forward
for 2002. I will also continue with a very few mentees on a very special basis. One especially has
made such giant strides it is hard to believe. I am proud of all of them, but especially he and the one
who runs our corporate finance consortium, The Guthrie Group (TGG)who has also made great
strides.
My websites have been changed dramatically to reflect my new positioning as The Head of The
Guthrie Group (TGG). I encourage you to look at them again. (www.danpena.com -
www.theguthriegroup.co.uk). They have been updated yet again and will be changed often. My Dan
Pea web site reflects my QLA methodology and how it is still available through the purchase of
product and my book. We have also liquidated a lot of old product in recent weeks. The product is
still good because it is timeless. The new product merely uses different, updated, examples. There is
still some available and Paul, my assistant, will let you know how to get it. Seminars will only be
given to corporate clients of TGG going forward. These bespoke events will happen infrequently by
design.
The new chat room was initiated last month and was a great success. The faceless element worked
better than anticipated. I was surprised at the questions asked and the ability to answer in simple
terms. The next chat possible with me will be in late January. I am looking forward to it.
The beginning of the year is a good time to plan for the future. I have used this time frame for 30
years to look at what I have done and what I could have done better. I also look at what I can do for
the upcoming New Year.
For those of you that have been in business with me, you know this is a similar format to that I
require as a one page weekly report with three sections:
Weekly accomplishments; Next weeks goals; Problems in the week just ended.
This is a very simple method to measure if you are making real progress vis--vis your plan and
goals. As one of my favourite people would say "what gets measured gets done." For myself most
of my goals were accomplished in 2001. The ones that werent had other participants who had a
part to play. If my leadership skills had been better all my goals could have been accomplished. I
take full responsibility. Man plan and god laughs!
As a leader of some experience, it has taken me almost 20 years to understand how much
communication and leadership effects this process. Remember communication means: message
sent; message received; and message acted upon. Of course leadership is having others do what you
want them to do, when you want them to do it, not when they want to do it consistent with the plan.
Without these two intellectually simple processes QLA methodology is not possible. They both
require great withdrawals from our emotional bank accounts. As some of you know I am blessed by
being able to make these very difficult withdrawals with seemingly little effort. I have made such
difficult decisions so many times it appears as if it does not have an effect on me. I am not letting a
secret out of the bag - it does have an effect! Proceeding, in spite of fear, is a primary difference
between a high performance person and a non-believer low expectation person. As I have said
countless times "I may be wrong, but I am never in doubt". Remember to act as if you had no limits
to your abilities. Act in a robust and enthusiastic manner and you will attract people that will allow
you to accomplish your goals. But be cognizant that all people do not share your goals and
aspirations. Thats OK! Find people that share high expectations and you will, by definition, start
accomplishing more. I have said for many years, "Get a mentor that has been there and done it"!
Modelling on someone that has been successful will help immensely. That is a big part of the
Quantum Leap Advantage.
I have decided to add, as post scripts, to this year-end newsletter emails from two of you without
your names. These emails illustrate some important points about what keeps people from making
their own Quantum Leap. In almost all cases it is the lack of taking action and in some cases it is the
fear of what will happen when failure is a result. But surprisingly, in some cases if someone takes
action, but the wrong action it is the further fear of the consequences of yet another action that
keeps them in the status quo. It then becomes a self fulfilling prophecy of non-action due to fear of
failure. Remember you will act mostly based on whom you surround yourself with and what they
might think until you are trained to act following QLA precepts. If you surround yourself with low
expectation, low self esteem dummies it is next to impossible to go against the trend of
conventional wisdom, with strongly opposed actions. As one of the emails writes back, almost
immediately, they know part of their problem is they care what other people think of them too
much. Most people care about what other people think. That is a simple fact of life. As long as it is
moral, honest, ethical and not against the law in my judgment it is OK! "Dont go out of your way
to be horrible", as one of my partners says. Being all you can be is not meant to hurt anyone. QLA
teaches you to be the very best you can be.
I have said ad-nauseum, "You cant be a good son/daughter, father/mother, brother/sister, partner in
business, or anything without feeling good about yourself - you are not being selfish thinking of
yourself". I am not trying to get religious, but all religions talk about loving yourself and others!!
Why not you?
Have a great holiday season. I prey for the men in the "War on Terrorism". I spent the holidays of
1967 and 1968 away during a different kind of war and remember them vividly. It was a very
different world then, but the experience helped make me who I am over three decades ago.
I look forward to 2002 like few years before. I have said there are opportunities for all that may
never come again in our lifetimes. Take action and do something different. Take a risk! - and do it
again! and again! and again! Remember it is the things we did not do we are repentant and sorry for
when our end comes. Live life to the fullest each and every day. Live life on purpose. Just think
about 11 September and the tragic massive loss of life. When those men, women and children got
up that fateful morning they did not know it would be their last. What if it was your last? How
would you have been measured? Would you have been proud of your efforts?
To your Quantum Leap in whatever you want and God bless you! Happy holidays and may you
have the most promising year ever!
Respectfully, Dan Pea
P.S. Letters:
Letter 1:
"Dear Mr Pea,
I have two questions which maybe you can touch on in your next Newsletter:
The first problem I am having with growingis dealing with personal relationships. I call this
particular problem the"Im damned if I do and damned if I dont". I have a long time friend who
was raised in a disciplined manner and its very hard for him to pay a genuine compliment - or ask
for help for that matterand yet when I try to grow or change its instantly noticeablehe
doesnt have to say anythinghe sends the message in so many unspoken words that I am being
deceitful somehow by not telling him everything I am up toand when I do share the things I am
up tohe becomes judge, jury and executionerhell usually find something wrong or
negative to say, or if he likes it hell just take the idea/knowledge etc Ive laboured forand
not say a damn word of "thank you" or praise or anything!!! I value the friendship but I am having
problems keeping it on the same plane it was formed!
As for the second question - well Ill just make the tough and right decision.
Thank you again Sir"
Letter 1(b) - from the same writer as Letter 1 (above)
"Dear Mr. Pea,
Never mind about that questionat least for meI realized after I sent it that I still care too
much what other people think of me or will think of me."
Letter 2
"Dear Dan,
Im an Entrepreneur.
I am 35 and have not achieved anywhere near the financial goals I set for myself at a young age.
If I were to stand trial, accused of the following, I would be found GUILTY on all accounts:
1. Failing to set BIGGER goals than I could achieve in my lifetime; 2. Spending thousands of
pounds buying tapes, books and attending (some) useless seminars over 15 years; 3. Lotus 1-2-3ing
too much and getting paralysis via perfection; 4. Writing detailed business plans; 5. Picking the
"wrong" idea or vehicle or business too many times; 6. Thinking that getting significant financing
was something I could do only when I already had money; 7. Thinking I could "catch two rabbits"
at once (not focussing); 8. Failing to find a REAL mentor; 9. Taking too long to make decisions.
Of course I could go on, but 9 counts of GUILTY should see me put away for life.
HOWEVER
I would have been found NOT GUILTY on ALL of the following counts:
1. Lacking integrity, being unreliable or unable to make appointments; 2. Having a negative or
pessimistic attitude; 3. Working 9-5 everyday and watching 40 hours of TV a week; 4. Living life
according to the daily tabloids; 5. Drowning my life in misery after Ive been beat down; 6. Being
small minded or stagnating my personal growth; 7. Failing to buy a personal fax machine or
returning messages and other correspondence within 24 hours; 8. Not willing to do whatever it
takes or failing to act when I needed to even if it was uncomfortable or inconvenient; 9. Dressing
inappropriately for success.
I have bought everything I could, that you have written or recorded for training purposes since I
first came across your path and now I am doing 10 hours a day on the QL methodology until I
achieve a QL.
I place you on a pedestal as far as "high performance people" go, or I would not be writing this
tonight - and this is a "spur of the moment decision".
You truly are a unique individual - congratulations on stepping where others fear to.
Recently I decided I would pick a vehicle that could handle QL, instead of all the "Mickey Mouse"
ones I have been playing with in the past. Therefore, unless I find something better, I decided I
would focus on PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT.
Although I have a small advertising company with a partner (we have a contract with a major TV
company for selling text advertising space), I wanted to start building a "big dream" and so I hunted
out some "winners" from the Property Field. I found a company and a gentleman who was MD of a
1.1Bil property company in the 1980s. I said I would work for free in return for learning what I
could etc. I have implemented many positive changes and assisted them diligently, however I can
see now after a few months, that QL is certainly not in their blood (anymore) - well if it is, it has
taken a large sleeping pill!
As you were offering it on your web site, my plan was to sign up as many people interested in your
QL Newsletter as I needed in order to win a one hour consultation with you, but whilst I am still
planning to do this (yes it is a written goal), I was thinking: "why should I work for NON-QL
people for free, when I could possibly be working under the same terms, but for / with PRO-QL
people?"
On this very thought, I have written this email, knowing that the "everyone wants to work with Dan
and his associates" clich exits, but trusting at the same time that maybe you might recognise I do
not categorize myself as, "everybody".
BOTTOM LINE:
I am willing to work for free for / with yourself (pending a meeting in person) or with some other
PRO-QL individuals you might put me in contact with.
Say "No" if you will, but I dare you to test my commitment and integrity. I am well "pissed off"
(with myself) for not having made it yet and therefore hungry and willing to do deals. Ill meet you
at four in the morning or on a Saturday night if thats necessary.
My details are below, so, will you set aside 5 - 10 minutes, let me buy you a coffee and assess the
possibility of initiating my offer?
Kind regards"

ISSUE #29
From Dan Pea - Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer.
Dear Subscriber and Friend,
Well the year has started off with a bang!
My home in California sold; the prospects for deals are better than I anticipated; one of my mentees
has ascended to the lofty position of "Top Gun" in a large organisation; and another mentee is
closing their first deal.
As I sit on a train from Derby, England to London, Sunday night (after an important client meeting),
I have decided notwithstanding the above to write about a line from a movie just released in the US.
"I am Sam" is a movie about a mentally disadvantaged father, played by Sean Penn, trying to keep
and raise his 7/8 year old daughter. He says in a very poignant moment to his aggressive female
lawyer, "You dont know what its like to try, and try and try and you dont get there".
When I heard this unmistakeable cry for help and understanding I, perhaps for the first time,
understood the challenge most people have in exploiting new avenues in the business world I have
existed in for more than 30 years.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, the entire QLA methodology is based indirectly on this
idea. The "Dream Team", advisors, et al are there to preclude you from experiencing what Sam did.
At the end of the day following QLA helps you in all facets of your life, because it is basically a
program that helps you lift your self esteem and self worth by practise and surrounding yourself
with high performance people.
Virtually all my adult life, or at least since I was about 21, I have sought the people who could assist
me in getting the job done. I have come to realize, time and time again, that modelling success is the
method that eliminates much of the pain associated with failure or the fear of failure. Of course
personalities differ greatly, but finding and ultimately choosing someone to guide you is of
paramount importance. In the movie Sam found a strong female lawyer. As I said in my recent
newsletter the economic environment is wrought with opportunity. I thought it germane to
describe/define, using current vernacular and descriptions, what and how deal/transactions are
described. The following is what The Guthrie Group(TGG) is involved with. In addition to our
transactional practice we have a strong consulting practice as our website
(www.theguthriegroup.com) illustrates.
MBO - The term "Management Buy-Out" (MBO) has come into common parlance as a generic
expression representing the acquisition of a company from its owners by the existing management
team. Such an opportunity is most likely to arise out of a proposed sale or retirement situation in a
private company, the sale of a non-core subsidiary by a public quoted company or as a result of an
insolvency. The necessary finance will normally come from a blend of the management team, banks
and institutional investors together with, in appropriate circumstances, the current owner.
LBO - Increasing, "buy-outs" are being used in public companies and other larger situations often
as a defensive move, such as restructuring the activities of a group or even returning it to private
ownership. This has spawned the term "Leveraged Buy-Out" (LBO) as a variation on the MBO
theme, whereby a large part of the funding to make the acquisition is debt financed - primarily by
institutions providing what is known as "MEZZANINE DEBT". Mezzanine debt sits between
equity capital and secured debt when the cash flows of a business can support a higher level of
borrowing than the asset base alone can secure.
EBO - A further MBO variation is the "Employee Buy-Out" (EBO) whereby managers are joined in
full equity participation by a sizeable number of the employees of the business.
SSO - Another variation is the "Sponsored Spin-Out" (SSO) where a large company may recognise
that the development of a project may be better suited to a more entrepreneurial environment, but
does not wish to forego all of the upside if it is successful. In such a situation the business could be
"spun out" into a new company, owned jointly by the original company, the management team, and
an independent institutional backer - often with an option for the original company to buy it back on
a price formula. It is, therefore, in the best interest of all parties for the management team to make a
success of the venture as an independent business; at the same time, the presence of the institutional
investor should give it the credibility to withstand any undue influence.
BOMB - Yet another phenomenon is "Bring the Old Management Back" (BOMB), where an
entrepreneurial business has been sold to a large professionally managed organisation under whose
direction it has lost its way - and profitability. Provided the vendors are not in breach of warranty,
and cannot be held to be so, there could be an opportunity for them to buy-back the business on
favourable terms.
MWO - Where a MBO is unsuccessful or impractical, and taking into account the potential legal
ramifications of so doing, a management team may consider a "Management Walk-Out" (MWO) as
an alternative. This is, in fact, a form of start-up - perhaps a "running start-up" - but the
complications and possible legal implications should not be underestimated.
MBI - Where an external management team targets a business as a "Management Buy-In" (MBI) it
is usually because it believes it can do a better job than the existing management. The opportunity
may therefore be for a stagnant business, a turnaround situation or even an outright rescue - an can
apply to both private and public companies. All of the funding and leveraging techniques (financial
and psychological) that are used in MBOs are equally applicable to MBIs.
BIMBO - About half of all acquisitions by management teams result in the involvement of a
combination of existing and outside managers, either by design or at the insistence of financial
backers if a strengthening of the team is a condition of their investment. Such a transaction is called
a "Buy-In/Management Buy-Out" (BIMBO).
IBO - With the increasing size of deals, and the weight of capital needed, larger MBOs and MBIs
are becoming known as "Institutional Buy-Outs (IBOs) since the actual management teams are
initially only able to afford a relatively small stake in the overall company. However, it can still turn
out to be a substantially more lucrative deal for the management team than going with the trade
sale.
There is money available, almost on any front, for a strong management team with an economic
model that works. Start-up capital is hardest to come by. This finance is most easily obtained from F
- F - F, or friends, family and fools!
Ive enclosed two recent emails from QLA devotees as post scripts. They are written from different
directions, but both are important. One is a Quantum Leap In Progress (QLIP) and the other is a
very successful entrepreneur.
Until my next newsletter I wish you good health and fortune, and may the QLA force be with you.
To Your Quantum Leap
Dan Pea
P.S.
"Dan,
Its about 4.30am Sunday morning.
Having gone through your Finance Your Dream video, I am having a hard time sleeping!!!
I have just got up to re-set my goals. I have been aiming way too low.
I always tell people that the one thing that "screws" with the mind, is "lack of direction", advice that
I personally ignored over the past year or so!
Thank you Dan for delivering the "Kick Up The Ass" that I needed.
I will keep you updated with my progress.
I have been passing the web address to some people that I know will enjoy your style.
Hopefully they will benefit as much as I am.
All the best.
MB (QLIP - Quantum Leap In Progress)"
P.P.S.
"Dan,
Hi! - I would like to wish you a great holiday and thank you for being part of an interesting and
challenging year. Im sure you and I have both done our best this year with varying results on
varying frontsThats Life! Lets go home, enjoy our friends and families and reflect on how we
can be
Better Leaders
Better Friends
Better Team Members
Better Supporters of our Teams
Better Husbands and Wives, Lovers and Inspirers
Better at Making a Difference
Better at Being More Human
Better at Balancing our Fears and Desires
Better at Being a source of positive change in every situation
Better at Smiling and Encouraging
Better at Looking for Good.
I promise Ill do my best too! Thats all any of us can do, so have a great Christmas.
NG"
(As Dan Pea and QLA would say the only caveat to the above is to add, as Churchill said, "Do
whats necessary - not merely your best!")

ISSUE #30
8-Feb-02
From Dan Pea - Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer.
Dear Subscriber and Friend,
"FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN AND, OR, I DONT KNOW WHAT I DONT KNOW"
As I sit here at 35,000 feet on the way to somewhere coming from nowhere, I sip on a beverage
wondering why?, why?, why?
The guy next to me is reading some book and on the cover jacket it says "There are only two
emotions: Love - our natural inheritance, and Fear - an invention of our minds." It goes on to say
each instant of the day we choose between these two, and our choice determines the kind of
day we will have and how we will perceive the world
Assuming this is true I can better speak to the later of this proverb - "and fear an invention of our
minds", after-all this is not an astrological newsletter and I am no expert on love, or matters of the
heart!
For those of you that read my materials, listen to my tapes, or have heard me in person you know
one of my favourite proverbs is "FEAR - False Expectations Appearing Real"
Im in my 32nd year of business and I can count on two hands (without my thumbs) the times I was
really afraid of something. In reality I can count on one hand when I felt real fear - and I can say I
have been gripped by fear that kept me from acting only once. I was 11, or 12 years old and was so
fearful it affected my breathing and I believe my rational thought. A big, older, kid chased me down
and was about to do something - I DID NOT KNOW WHAT! Of course at that age its questionable
how much rational thought is possible, but I can assure you I was "shit scared".
The above scenario is quite different than the time I acted out of anger or rage - as a younger man.
Notwithstanding the aforementioned I have for all of my professional business career been an
extreme optimist! In hindsight sometimes too long! (But I can assure you an optimist will do better
in life than a pessimist). Ive said various things, over the years some of which are listed on my
website (which has been updated, yet, again): "Bad times dont last, but tough people do!" or "I may
be wrong, but I am never in doubt!" And other Peaisms/proverbs, either down playing negative
thought, or even belittling it. The reality of life is bad things do happen - even to good people! Even
to people that "never give up or never surrender!" Such a real story will follow. Ive received
permission to relate it in detail.
Many people believe firmly I am a man who can throw caution to the wind and follows the war-like
standards of "full speed ahead and take no prisoners." Such a perceived persona has served me well
over the years but probably has left a false impression for my "other" skill sets.
For those of you that have seen me in "the eye of the tiger" you know I cant be intimidated. I act as
if "there are no limits to my abilities", knowing ALL PEOPLE DO HAVE LIMITS. I coach the
same precepts - and it works! My experience is these limits are mainly perceived limits that become
real. "Perception is reality" - another of my favourites. (I am not referring to physical/strength
limits, etc. where limits are more defind).
In one of my favourite Newsletters, # 23, (which I recommend you read often) I quote the meeting
results and outcome, of some very bright people that are responsible for various extraordinary
accomplishments. These men had founded and grown large public companies; were heads of huge
consultancy firms; all still were extremely well THOUGHT OF AND STILL WERE ON THE
QUEST TO BE BETTER! In that Newsletter the "Stockdale Paradox" is referenced. (Admiral
Stockdale is a true American hero receiving The Congressional Medal of Honor, Americas highest
award for bravery! I strongly recommend his book. Go to "Google" and find out more).
"Admiral Stockdale survived 7 years of torture in Vietnam not by being overly "optimistic" of being
rescued within weeks, but by being realistic of knowing it could be years. The other "optimistic"
American POWs around him died from broken expectations and heartsof hope to be rescued
within weeks. REALISTS ARE BRUTALLY HONEST WITH THEMSELVESYET THEY
STILL HAVE AN UNWAVING BELIEF THAT THEY WILL PREVAIL. FAILURE IS NOT AN
OPTION, EVEN IN THE FACE OF GREAT ADVERSITYJUST KNOW WHAT YOUR
ADVERSITY REALLY IS!"
As an aside the U.S. space program at NASA is based on "failure is not an option."
Most of us dont understand what "Your adversity really is!" People fabricate and delude
themselves! I act as a permanent reality check for the people I work with!
Even though I have grown older, and ostensibly more mature, I have adhered to this principle
subconsciously almost all my adult life. I believe my military background is the main cause for this
attitude. I am a realist that is not only brutally honest with myself (though my wife and children
would disagree), but others as well. I have tempered my actions with others in recent years. No
good comes from over emphasising the negatives that are obvious to even the casual observer! No
good comes from beating the less gifted! No good comes from kicking mental cripples! But I
believe with all my heart GREATNESS DOES COME FROM PRESSING HARD THE GIFTED
AND PRESSING EVEN HARDER THE SUPER GIFTED!
LIFE DOESNT ALWAYS STICK TO THE GAME PLAN!
I write as an afterthought to a very recent The Guthrie Group (TGG) consulting experience with
various unique personalities (I have changed the circumstances, but not the outcome, to protect the
innocent and guilty even though my clients concurred with me telling the story so others might
benefit. The bulk of the story remains very accurate. If the shareholder result had not been good I
would not have written anything). Unique because of their varied backgrounds and ages.
Interestingly there were two women involved, one on each side. The ages of all spanned 32 to 67!
At times over a 22 hour period there were some 14 - 15 people involved in a share purchase and
compensation negotiation. The reality was one public company was taking its third step towards an
unwanted takeover. It was unwanted by the three founders who TGG represented. It involved the
heads of three public companies and many professional advisors, lawyers, accountants, investment
bankers and others.
The balance between what is best in man and worst in man came into play. I found it extremely
interesting what people would do in representing their own self interests, claiming it was benefiting
others. It was almost child-like. In fact my youngest son could have been more persuasive in some
instances. After all he just completed Freshman Philosophy and Public Speaking at university.
It was a roller coaster of emotions and at the end of 22 hours most involved managed to support sub
rosa what was best for themselves whilst crying they were protecting others. Its not often you see a
top-notch lawyer with his head in his hands - crying! Of course he might have gone down as a
culprit! Shareholders rights was the cry! And by God there were tears! It was a confusing situation
that developed over a two year period - AND PROFESSIONALS AND DIRECTORS MAY HAVE
SUPPORTED QUESTIONABLE ACTIONS IN THE PAST! - SOUND FAMILIAR? It was a mini
Enron! It was saveable at the cost of three heads - the founders - and a great deal of money. I am
sure the Enron shareholders and advisors would settle for that outcome this minute.
At the end of a very long day most concerned were acting in a manner consistent with self
preservation and only coincidentally the shareholders benefited! I was saddened, but hardly
surprised. Massive fear, matched with greed and avarice, won the day once more!
The fear of being exposed (in a real sense) to a situation not known can be terrifying and throw
most completely out of their "comfort zone". The few people I still work with closely are
consistently pushed, or gently prodded depending on their personality by me beyond those
boundaries. Sometimes I push too hard! Better too hard than too soft! For that which does not kill
me makes me stronger - another favourite. It takes time to understand how far or close to the
precipice you can go!
In the above transaction I was brought in late, passed the eleventh hour. The clients had used my
services over the years very effectively, yet really only superficially. I say superficially, because if
they had followed the precepts diligently they could have avoided this outcome. They took the easy
way, or should I say more conventional way, on many occasions - as most often do! They came to
me in the past when they needed me and only when there was a problem and always waiting too
long. Never to really plan - always to react! And as with most, never giving ALL the important
information. At times it felt like being spoon fed as if I couldnt take the whole truth, OR THEY
WERE TOO EMBARRASSED TO SAY WHAT THEY HAD DONE.
At no time did I meet the personalities they referred to over those years. As I came to know they
believed because of MY PERCEIVED STRONG AND TOUGH personality, I would so
disenfranchise the other parties over the action/dispute in question no long term good would come
from it. Or worse they would not be able to deal with the individuals ever again. In hindsight losing
a few of these personalities would have been a good thing! Of course THEIR actions got them in
trouble in the first place - NOT MINE! It appears they were so sure I couldnt deal with sensitive
situations in an acceptable manner they called me very infrequently. Of course they had become
rich and famous - and in that lofty position you tend to listen less and begin to believe your press
clippings and, or forget who helped you get there.
Me being involved, at all, only came about after we accidentally bumped into each other 14 days
before at an airport in the USA. Due to that chance meeting, whilst only getting part of the
information, I sent them 48 hours later a long email outlining what was about to occur and how I
could help. I said their advisors, board and mentor would find reason to protect themselves at their
expense - crying shareholder value and corporate governance! Of course this is their job! (But it
doesnt have to be always at the expense of the founders.)
Twelve days later they called in a panic saying everything I wrote had occurred, or was happening
to them now! Could I help NOW - this very minute! I said yes! I immediately engaged the best
gutter fighting NYC transaction lawyer I knew and I jumped on a plane, calling from the air to
arrange for my TGG accountant partner to meet me there, prepared for battle.
They called when the stakes were high - my favourite position! This last episode came when their
corporate life was about to end with dishonour! Their fellow board of directors and
Chairman/mentor had turned their backs on them as often happens when fear enters the decision
making process. (I am not writing to justify anybodys actions taken before I got involved. There
obviously were many mistakes and ill informed actions taken by all concerned. Much of the
professional advise was biased and self-serving and some was wrong).
The false expectations of my, off again on again, clients and former part-time mentees was fearful
enough to keep them from calling me earlier for assistance. Giving them the benefit of the doubt
they may not have even thought of me, until they luckily saw me. And as Ive said, "Id rather be
lucky than smart!" Yet another favourite.
When "emotional flooding" comes - thats when perceived and real problems come faster than we
can deal with or process, and after the obvious choice, or solutions go unnoticed or even thought of,
no matter how fundamental or rudimentary - even a well balanced and trained individual can have
trouble making sense of whats happening or what to do. At best they usually say or do nothing at
this point. No action is taken because they are literally paralysed with fear!
I must say in all candour I have not suffered from this malady since 1966 when I entered the
military where you are taught to make quick decisions no matter what!
Not making decisions isnt an anomaly. More people dont take the decision to request assistance
(not just from me) sooner because: They just dont want to hear; They know they should have called
earlier; They are embarrassed for the action they took, or for the non-action; They believe
emotionally, or financially they cant afford advice; They dont understand how bad things really
are; AND, OR THEY FOOLISHLY THINK THEY COULD DO IT THEMSELVES!
I cant recall how many times professionals, especially lawyers, are, brought into situations too late.
The expectations of being put through an uncomfortable situation keeps people from taking action.
This discomfort could be raised by what friends, family, and colleagues will think or more
importantly say. People dont want to embarrass themselves! One of my favourite Peaisms comes
to mind here "It doesnt matter what the morons say". Of course in most cultures and large
organisations this is very difficult (but not impossible) to implement unless you are Chairman /
CEO! Jack Welch (GE), Lou Gestner (IBM), and Bill Gates (Microsoft) are such men! Steve Jobs
(Apple) is such a man, but got thrown out and returned again triumphantly!
The above scenario is life for most. Perception is reality and individuals most often fear due to
circumstances they dont understand and dont know how to ask about, or cant control - or as I was
told during the marathon 22 hour negotiation ordeal "you dont know what you dont know". This
was said by a man who had made 35 million dollars by age 30 and now at 32 was up against it - big
time!
At a post-mortem after the conclusion of the above, the clients I represented told me they were
extremely tired and pleasantly surprised at the outcome I got for them. Of course they were
experiencing post sellers syndrome (PSS), or sellers remorse. They received the best result
possible, especially, given the time. They were at least four time deadlines whilst I was involved.
The last one I remember was 2am, or the buyer would leave! We returned to the meeting at 4am and
went through to 1pm. We had been across town in our lawyers office negotiating by phone and
email. Of course he and his team stayed.
The Chairman/mentor left three times in the beginning saying he was quitting and couldnt deal
with his former mentees. I followed him out and brought him back time after time! He was
obviously concerned about his reputation as were the other directors and advisors - its called "self
interest!" If this public company didnt take immediate action more than a few reputations would be
severely tainted, including advisors - and a couple possibly ruined. Their primary battle scare was it
would take many people down and this was the ONLY alternative. There was not much mention of
shareholder value at this point! Of course with additional time there could have been other
alternatives, but its important to note in the end the shareholders did get a good deal!
The founders were stunned how so many personalities were professionally managed and guided
with me not raising my voice even once. Their expectations were proven wrong! Basically I used
divide and conquer - even using separate locations - me shuttling back and forth - not separate
rooms which is normal. The only time I almost raised my voice was when the three related this fact
to me. I had been told by a partner/colleague (who was very familiar with the founders and helped
console exposed nerves), though they had become wealthy following my advice and precepts they
were afraid I couldnt save them now! They perceived Dan and QLA only got acquisitions done and
Dream Teams organised, etc! The partner/colleague had told them their concerns were false. After
all, how could Dan have dealt with The Vatican, the Israeli government, et al, and the countless
situations over 30 years, if he didnt know what to say and how to say it at the appropriate time? As
some of you know even the Devil can be charming! The founders were scared! Emotional flooding
was at work! Though young men they looked old beyond their time and haggard.
Notwithstanding the aforementioned an extremely professional outcome was the result as far as the
founders were concerned. Even the buyers were happy. And as I said the shareholders did well. The
buyers were there to make a deal - not fool around! It was merely a matter of price, terms and
conditions as it always is in a deal! I cant call the outcome fair to the founders. Nor can I say I
would have accepted the outcome myself. In fact I told the buyer I would not have accepted myself,
but I wasnt there to make a deal I liked! I was there for my clients. It was the best they ALL could
get given the dicey circumstances and I knew it! And they knew it!
DREAMS DONT COME WITH EXPIRATION DATES.
The above clients were founders of a company they took public. A darling of the stock market. One
of the founders was elected CEO of the year in 2000. All three became wealthy as a result of
founding and growing their baby dramatically. One founder was literally married to the company -
no wife or prospects. They were first and biggest in their industry, and all this in less than ten years
- they had it all! It was a true rags to riches scenario.
They all attributed their spectacular growth to my teachings and methodology. I met them early in
my coaching career. They adopted QLA regimen to go public. They joined the Clubs I suggested
and reorganised their advisors and Board of Directors at my suggestion in 1999/2000 after going
public. Those board members (including their mentor) and advisors ultimately helped them out the
door when the company ran into troubles. I did not pick the board or advisors, I said they needed
higher profile individuals to go to the next level. After that there were no other requests from them
since 2000. They felt they could do it on their own!
I am not saying there were small problems! They were big problems! Remember another Peaism;
Big Success-Big Rewards = Big Problems! All problems could have been dealt with if faced head-
on much earlier! Even if they had those extra twelve days I could have obtained a better result for
them and they may have still been in charge!
Several times during the 22 hours they all commentated they had gone through the entire QLA
cycle - from inception of an idea to a focused exit, but not the kind of exit they expected, or wanted!
They said "Dan you write and speak about getting thrown out, you are right, this is exactly what can
happen". I said, "What do you mean can? It is happening!" I tell all that will listen, very few know
when to exit on their own - I speak from experience! Founding a company and staying the course
are two different skill sets. Dell and Gates are rare exceptions! It is much easier to pick the more
correct course of action when you have lived it yourself - or been there! Done that! Most havent!
This letter is focussed on two main themes:
1. Fear and your comfort zone dictates much, if not all, of our lives, and
2. Never underestimate how wrong you can be. (Another favourite).
The thought of the unknown keeps people from taking action most of their lives. Think of your own
situation. Some people use "I must gather facts and do more research" as an excuse for no action!
Others will say what will happen to me if I am wrong? Others will say "what will people think?"
And still others use simple denial!
As Bill Gates says, "Think it! Do it! Fix it!"
How often have we all underestimated the consequences? How often have we all over estimated the
outcome? This is the dilemma and why battle experience is needed if you want to lessen the pain
and agony through the journey and increase the probabilities of success.
The above scenario illustrates how people picked to strengthen and consolidate a position ultimately
used their power and influence to their own end and safety first, WHILST THE SHAREHOLDERS
WERE PULLED ALONG FOR THE RIDE, MOSTLY BECAUSE THEY WERE ON THE SAME
WAGON! And, ironically, the one individual that could help was brought in almost too late because
of a FEAR THAT WAS A FALSE EXPECTATION APPEARING REAL!
The founders surely deserved better, but by THEIR OWN INDECISION, lack of experience and
fear got a lesser result.
Dont let it happen to you! Take early, experienced, action!
To Your Quantum Leap
Dan Pea
P.S. In case you are wondering - the founders are less wealthy! And my new task is how can I help
early in the decision making process - and what next?
P.P.S. Man is differentiated by the ability to chase down a dream - no other animal, or thing can do
that! They did!
P.P.P.S. The cemetery is filled with so many people who died not realising their potential. They have
potential still to fulfill.
P.P.P.P.S. You may have received a newsletter from "Noble Manhatten" - unsubscribe if you wish -
They may have managed to get hold of our mailing list due to an error made by our internet server.

ISSUE #31
19-Mar-02
From Dan Pea - Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer.
Dear Subscriber and Friend,
"Glory is Fleeting but Obscurity is Forever"
Who said this? - Read on
In recent weeks I have focused on perfecting our model at The Guthrie Group (TGG), which is
based upon how do we render the best service adding the most value. Part of that process has been
interviewing individuals that may join us at some point this year.
This process has been interesting. Though the last several years coaching have had an enormous
effect on me vis--vis my ability to understand various personalities and to motivate them, it still
gets back to people and their perceptions of themselves and how you can advance that positive
perception.
As I have written on many occasions change is difficult.
To illustrate this point I have recently been drawn to Germany due to the massive tax relief change
effective 1 Jan 02. In simple terms corporations can now sell off none-core assets for zero capital
gain, and smaller companies can receive a relief of 50% from the old rate. The pundits, myself
included, thought there would be an onslaught of activity at both levels. For the corporations it was
thought of as a real windfall. Corporate finance teams and lawyers got ready for the selling frenzy
and the fees. WRONG! In the corporations case unrealistic selling valuations put a halt to any
avalanche of selling fees.
Now the private sector had the same result for a very different reason - it was cultural! The cultural
outlook of business ownership being handed down from generation to generation KEPT CHANGE
FROM OCCURRING. One would have thought, again myself included, having to pay 50% less tax
would have driven German business owners towards sale. The belief system set up over hundreds of
years was (at least for now) too great.
Culture plus the mistrust based on the high-tech/dotcom implosion and a general lack of confidence
in BIG CITY financial people has actually, by some benchmarks, reduced the sale of businesses
based on 1996 figures.
I should feel fortunate TGG was late in opening its German office. As Ive said countless times, "it
is better to be lucky than smart - or MAN PLANS, GOD LAUGHS!" (The German thought process
is mentioned again later in this letter).
I am enclosing two different compositions, again to illustrate change and the lack of it. One is part
of a letter I sent out in late 1999. The other is an email I received a couple of days ago. The 1999
letter was written to a prestigious group of CEOs that meet regularly through a common
membership that I have spoken to many times.
The email is from a person who I just started a business relationship with after many months of
talking and due diligence. I believe you will see the difference clearly.
Letter 1 (slightly edited) illustrating the theme of no change:
(Remember - being around high performance people that are comfortable does not help you grow
past their comfort zones!)
Dear Club Members,
BACK IN TIME
It was a lot of fun for me to return to the scene of the crime, almost six years to the day from first
speaking at your Clubs various chapters in 1993.
I saw a lot of familiar faces - even familiar clothes! Sam (my host) is not the only one who hasnt
changed much - yes hes lost weight, etc.
Im writing to say, notwithstanding I appreciate the opportunity to spread my message I would be
remiss if I didnt say my mind one more time in writing as I fade out of this stage of my life.
Let me start by saying I love Sam. Its hard not to love Sam.
Since 1993, every so often, Sam drops me a note asking if Id speak again. Ive historically said
"no", but, this time it coincided with my phasing out of certain aspects of my coaching as stated
back in 1993. This change will take place in August 2000 my 55th birthday (it turned out to be
August 2001).
Anyway, I was shocked to see so many people almost exactly where they were in 1993. Except for a
very few virtually nothing had changed. A little greyer, heavier and in some cases MUCH
POORER!
Members are complaining about the same crap they had before, but, now they are older and
RUNNING OUT OF RUNWAY! Many of the participants agreed with my assessment, during my
candid talks across the USA, yet still do the same old thing and still expect different results, than
their quiet lives of desperation.
INSANITY - NO CHANGE
Many of you have heard me say, "insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting
different results." Youve also heard me say "high performance people dont waste time on things
they cant change." Therefore I realize, as I sit here in my London apartment writing this, I may get
through to no one, with this letter. But, Ive decided to endeavour one last time.
The problem with clubs like this one and others, is simple - no accountability. Ultimately they turn
into (if not start as) a "social happening". Ive had this discussion, years ago, with many club
officials. In fact, during part of my East Coast trip I stayed with friends at their estate in Patomac,
Maryland. An estate they would point out my friendship and business precepts help them acquire.
Too bad more didnt listen. I cant be happier for them! (I have also had the privilege of counselling
their extremely bright son who is now at UBS Warburgs - NYC).
The main difference between these friends and virtually every executive type at the club is simple -
they take action and understand they will err and will make the appropriate corrections. They fail
themselves to success after success like a rocket to the moon - correction after correction. (That was
before the modern equipment). To build their net worths they expand their emotional bank accounts.
Quite simple in words - very difficult in practice!
Another primary fault of the various clubs are the speakers trying to sell their various goods and
services. Therefore they would rather tell you the easy stuff so youll like them and buy. During my
seven days of speaking, across the USA, I told true stories of three members of two Club chapters, I
could have told more but chose not to. Two paid me significant amounts of money to assist them in
pursuing what they said was their dream. They brought several people to my week long "Castle
Experience" and paid me as a consultant! Another one tried, unsuccessfully, to breach a contract
with me. He was ordered by the Court to pay me.
The two who paid suffered financially and didnt have to. As Ive said before I take responsibility
for not getting them to follow my advice, (at the end of the day I still believe it is the
coach/mentors responsibility). They paid and didnt, or couldnt emotionally act upon the advice I
gave them. Advice they paid a lot for, and now they are significantly worse off. In fact, one lost
almost all he had. The bottom line is they both couldnt take the actions to change. One of the
businesses was becoming obsolete - yet couldnt change even to save himself.
The two, who shall remain nameless, are very much like the memberships of all the various CEO
clubs throughout the U.S. and the world. They pay to be members for, perhaps, some emotional
security and they listen, ad nauseam, and take virtually no action towards change. Ive never been
able to understand!
Perhaps in my next life I will! Though going back to being a transaction junkie Ill be dealing with
different emotional bank accounts. In this arena death comes much more quickly if you dont adapt
through change.
To Your Quantum Leap
Daniel S Pea Sr.
Letter 2:
Hi Dan,
Today, the 15th, March, I said I would give a summary of how exactly I would proceed, (with
change were necessary). Well that was done yesterday really. Instead today, I thought Id do another
type of summary, as its nearly two weeks since I "officially" came on board on my mind was doing
a re-cap.
POINTS TAUGHT TO ME / LEARNED FROM YOU TO DATE:
3 things about Dan:
1.Youre tough there is no "soft under belly".
2.You eat people like me for lunch, but you protect YOUR flock.
3.You dont want me to say or do anything to compromise or risk your name or business
relationships or clients/mentees (i.e. Alternative topics to 3rd parties) - this I did know well, but I
understand you needed to STATE IT VERY CLEARLY!
3 Things about life:
1.Shit happens!
2.Shit rolls downhill!
3.Get your shit together!
3 Bad things about me:
1.I had a tendency to "bullshit" - definition since established = "I talk about things that I had only
read about, not done." (Like virtually all other coaches).
2.I had a tendency to justify or defend my position - understood to have been driven by the fact that
I felt inadequate about my life and "success" to this point, in comparison to the high performance
goals I had set for myself (i.e. low self-worth).
3.Networking and some of the other "Micky Mouse" businesses I have been involved with or
worked at early in my life, will not cut it in the city big games or QL and should be left behind, not
spoken about in public.
3 Good things about me:
1.You have a degree of respect for some of the character traits I have developed (discipline,
persistence, follow-up, personal growth, punctuality).
2.You have decided that I DO have what it takes to QL with your guidance (well I was convinced,
but Im glad you agreed).
3.You recognize by now that I DO understand the definition of the words "integrity" and "honesty"
and I live by them.
3 Things to Succeed:
1.Accept correction without retort and only talk about what I have done, or now what are my new
goals.
2.Continue to absorb and apply the knowledge and information required to play and win in the land
of QL.
3.Retain a consistent amount of New Deal Presentations (Deal Flow) and subsequent in person
meetings.
Thanks for all of the above. I believe I have grasped things so far, no doubt there will be a lot more
to come and I am looking forward to it.
I am grateful that you did give me the chance.
Talk soon
Regards
XX
As you can see change is possible, I believe someone who is ready wrote the second letter. My first
letter was written to hundreds where I was looking for maybe one that would write me an email
similar to the above letter #2. As it turned out I got a couple out of the CEO Group across the USA.
To me it was worth the week it took me to go to all the cities. ERGO PERHAPS I DO HAVE A
SEMBLANCE OF A "SOFT UNDER BELLY"
To Your Quantum Leap
Daniel S Pea Sr
P.S. Congratulations to the following:
Ian Bruce and Michael Muzyak for each winning a copy of "Build Your Own Guthrie" as a result of
achieving the best scores in the "Are You Afraid Of Success" series of tests for the months of
January and February, 2002 respectively.
P.P.S. Speaking of change - next month is my 1st anniversary of being on the Internet as an
individual. I have taken the following action in the last 11 months: Fired our web-server replacing
them with a more responsive UK based one; had both my (our) websites reduced in size and
redesigned producing significant results; now send my own emails which some may say is not such
a good thing!
P.P.P.S. For you social scientists trying to be a high performance person in the business world I add
these definitions for a little humour. (No offence is meant towards any of the groups mentioned):
SOCIAL SCIENCE 101 - THE "TWO COW EXPLAINATION" OF WHAT MAKES
A CHRISTIAN DEMOCRAT:You have two cows. You keep one and give one to your neighbour.
A SOCIALIST:You have two cows. The government takes one and you give one to your neighbour.
A REPUBLICAN:You have two cows. Your neighbour has none. So what?
A DEMOCRAT:You have two cows. Your neighbour has none. You feel guilty for being successful.
You vote people into office who tax your cows, forcing you to sell one to raise money to pay the
tax. The people you voted for then take the tax money and buy a cow and give it to your neighbour.
You feel self-righteous.
A COMMUNIST:You have two cows. The government seizes both and provides you with milk.
A FASCIST:You have two cows: The government seizes both and sells you the milk. You join the
underground and start a campaign of sabotage.
AMERICAN DEMOCRACY:You have two cows: The government taxes you to the point you have
to sell them both to support a man in a foreign country who only has one cow, which is a gift from
your government.
CAPITALISM, AMERICAN STYLE: You have two cows. You sell one, buy a bull, and build a
herd of cows.
BUREAUCRACY, AMERICAN STYLE: You have two cows. The government takes them both,
shoots one, milks the other, pays you for the milk, and pours the milk down the drain.
AN AMERICAN CORPORATION: You have two cows. You sell one and force the other to
produce the milk of four cows. You are surprised when the cow drops dead.
A FRENCH CORPORATION: You have two cows. You go on strike because you want three cows.
A JAPANESE CORPORATION: You have two cows. You design them so they are one-tenth the
size of an ordinary cow and produce 20 times the milk.
A GERMAN CORPORATION: You have two cows. You re-engineer them so they live for 100
years, eat once a month, and milk themselves.
AN ITALIAN CORPORATION: You have two cows but dont know where they are. You break for
lunch.
A RUSSIAN CORPORATION: You have two cows. You count them and learn you have 5 cows.
You count them again and learn you have 17 cows. You count them again and learn you have 12
cows. You stop counting cows and open another bottle of vodka.
A MEXICAN CORPORATION:You think you have two cows but you have never actually seen
them. You take a nap.
A SWISS CORPORATION:You have 5,000 cows, none of which belong to you. You charge for
storing them for others.
A BRAZILIAN CORPORATION: You have two cows. You enter into a partnership, with an
American corporation. Soon you have 1,000 cows and the American corporation declares
bankruptcy.
AN INDIAN CORPORATION:You have two cows. You worship them.
P.P.P.S. "GLORY IS FLEETING, BUT OBSCURITY IS FOREVER"
Napoleon Bonaparte (1769 - 1821)

ISSUE #32
A leadership article that helps get a better understanding of interpersonal skills
In this newsletter a major portion deals with interpersonal skills and this is brought out through a
leadership article featured here. Dan claims in this leadership article that there is more than one way
to do things correctly and these can be separated by common language and methods towards
business. He accepts that both are professional and show respect in different ways.
There is a lot of emphasis in this leadership article with regards to human relationships. He says
there is only one chance to make a first impression. Dan talks of teamwork among other things and
a clear understanding of the goals that need to be achieved which cant be done alone. His idea of a
team is not one of getting along well or liking one another. To emphasize this he has been blunt
enough to mention if a friend is needed - buy a dog. Dan uses an article from Financial Times to
illustrate what it means to be liked by people. It clearly states that craving respect is fine but
wanting to be liked is a serious flaw.
In this leadership article Dan looks at respect from colleagues rather than them liking him. He
supports it by saying he is a product of social and economic milieu, intense practice, training with
the will and desire to be successful. Dan brings out uses various illustrations where despite being
liked by people and respected many a times he has ended in litigation. He also uses incidents from
the movie Patton to illustrate various levels of perception.
Drawing examples from his professional life which spreads across 30 years, he talks about the
distinct privilege he had working with some of the greatest minds and personalities along with their
influence on his life.
Dan mentions in this leadership article that he always doesnt appreciate being correct but it is
experience that counts because of those hundreds of transactions, tens of thousands of business
decisions and countless interpersonal business relationships.
He also delves on the various interpersonal aspects related to boss-employer relationships and
clearly brings out the various nuances involved. But he also looks at the leadership article with
cynicism cause for him at the end of the day respect is far more important! If "like" can be added
thats great. And there are many questions posed which may or may not have answers.
LIKE, RESPECT - STUFF
Recently I have initiated a couple of new business relationships. This fact alone is not unusual.
What I thought strange was how one of the individuals has approached the relationship, not saying
either is better. After 30 years of business Ive learned there are more than one way to do things
correctly! Both are from different parts of the English speaking (non USA) world, they are
separated by a common language and method towards business. Both are professional and both
show respect in different ways.
You have heard me say countless times you only get one chance to make a first impression. In the
same vain I have said to work successfully as a team, amongst other things, clear understandable
goals are mandatory for super success. I have also said you cant do it alone.
In that vain I have said whilst it is better if ALL members of a team get along it is not mandatory to
like one-another or be slap-happy. To emphasize this I have said and have written such things as "if
you want a friend - buy a dog".
I enclose part of an article from the Financial Times dated 18th March, 2002 to illustrate what some
pundits believe vis--vis being liked - I couldnt agree more!
FROM FINANCIAL TIMES - 18TH MARCH, 2002
Do you like me?
Craving respect is all very well. But wanting to be liked is a serious flaw in a boss.
The other day I was asked to fill in an appraisal form for a friend who is a manager in a big
company. What are her strengths, it asked. This was easy. Creative, I wrote. Brilliant communicator.
Charismatic. Energetic. Ambitious. Liked by everyone. Charming. Good at coaching others.
Before you contact me for her details, wait. You havent heard about her weaknesses. Filling in this
section was harder, as it always is. Even if the person isnt a friend, you arent exactly going to
admit to their being an egomaniac with a cruel streak.
In her case it was harder still as I genuinely couldnt think of any weaknesses. However, I knew
there must be something - given the extent of her talents it seemed odd that she wasnt running the
country.
And then I realised. Her problem is that she wants people to like her. At first it is not obvious why
this should be such a flaw. Surely now that management is meant to be about coaching, motivating
and so on, wanting to be liked is an advantage?
But in fact this flaw is almost as bad as being a crazed autocrat. If you actively want people to like
you, you are never going to get anywhere.
This is not to say that you have to be an arrogant, insensitive bully to get ahead. It is a good sign if a
manager is, on the whole, liked. What is bad is if he cares whether he is liked or not. At the extreme,
wanting to be liked too much will ensure that you are not liked at all. These managers fail to take
tough decisions. They are not honest in those cases where honesty is called for. They avoid conflict
and spend far too much time on charm initiatives.
I have just asked a senior colleague whether he cares whether people like him. Not at all, he said.
What he does care about - passionately - is that he is respected and deemed to be doing a good job.
Then he asked me the same question. I admitted that I did actually care a lot whether people liked
me. He laughed, assuming I was having him on. This was very bad news for me. To care
desperately that people like you and yet to give the impression of not giving a damn - that is some
weakness indeed.
WHAT HAPPENED TO LEADERSHIP?
The column is written, I believe, for individuals who aspire to gain positions in the managerial
world. Its title is: "Do You Like Me?" Craving respect is all very well but wanting to be liked is a
serious flaw in a boss.
I have, for more than thirty years, said I would rather have colleagues respect than love! Of course it
sounds more dramatic using love instead of like, but this is what I mean. I am even less interested in
their love!
Not many people in my business career have had overwhelming love/like for me. The few who
did/do have been other high performance people who I became very close to over time. Those that
will talk freely tell me I am feared by most, but still respected. (At 56 I wish it wasnt fear. At 36
fear was fine!) I do not do this on purpose NOW - it is merely me. I am a product of my social and
economic milieu, intense practice, training and the will and desire to be all that I can be since 1976!
I can say with no hesitation even people that I have had a business relationship with, which ended in
litigation, all respected my abilities as a businessperson and as Ross Perot says "Dan Peenna (with a
Texas drawl) is a beedy eyed biz-nezz (Texan slur) man". Translated to the mere mortals: "Dan is a
focused, tough (but fair), businessman". I have always considered that one of my greatest
compliments along with some by Constantine Gratsos, Bob Dyke (Father of the North Sea) and
Jerry Ormand (a mentor). There are a few things said about me that have touched my (stone) heart -
or at least that is the perception. Someday I will write more about that perception of me vis--vis
me!
A great line in the movie "Patton" illustrates this perception point. After an extremely explosive
outburst by Gen. Patton one of his aides says, "Sir, that scared the men, because they dont know if
you were acting or serious!" Patton barks back, "Thats the point. They dont need to know if it is an
act or if I am angry. All they need to do is take action!" I have learned the hard way barking doesnt
work with all people, but is extremely effective with many if and when used judiciously. A simple
infliction in my voice works fine for me now.
As many of you know I have had the distinct privilege of working with some of the great minds and
personalities in the last 30 years. Fortunately most of these relationships came early in my career,
whilst I was learning and growing most. Constantine Gratsos (mentioned above - a mentor to me),
former CEO of The Onassis Group and right hand man for Aristotle Onassis for over 50 years,
probably had the biggest influence on me. I still remember sitting in Olympic Towers (NYC) as a
young man. I used Christine Onassiss office - she was never there. I had my feet on the credenza
gazing down 5th Ave looking at St Patricks Cathedral. I used to play with the direct line phone to
the White House and The Vatican. It was a dream come true!
I mention this because I had an endless respect for the man. I started our relationship calling him Mr
Gratsos, it moved to Constantine and ended with Costa. He always called me Mr. Pea from the
beginning to the very end. He was very fond of me, but more importantly he had great respect for
my judgement and me though I was relatively young - Hell I was 40 years his junior! Whenever I
was on or near the East coast I went through NYC to see him.
Our relationship though friendly was always a little stiff. I better understand this after doing
business in Europe and Asia over the last twenty years. I never even thought about liking him,
though in hindsight I now know I must have done so very much.
I respected his judgements so much I did things, which I look back upon, that were not possible. I
did them because Costa asked me to and didnt even question the result. I respected his wisdom and
experience in business and as a person.
One of the things I say more often than I like to is - "I dont like always being right (correct)!" It is
not like I am so bright (which I am), but because of those hundreds of transactions, tens of
thousands of business decisions and countless interpersonal business relationships. There is
virtually nothing that I havent experienced in business! Ergo when faced with a set of facts and
circumstances, almost always, I have been there before. This is the reason for having a mentor and
the basis of QLA.
Most people that want to be liked as a boss (forget personal innate insecurity), fear their business
acumen doesnt deserve much respect, so they feel it will make for an easier relationship with
colleagues et al. Ive even seen bosses believe if they are liked, their subordinates will cover for
them if they make a mistake, etc. There are too many that would consider such actions as loyalty.
Unswerving support is loyalty. Cover-up is not!
At the end of the day respect is far more important! If "like" can be added thats great, but not
necessary for many of the reasons mentioned in the F.T. article and by me in my writings. In some
rare cases senior executives/leaders are even loved. Ross Perot, General Patton (Blood & Guts),
General Rommel (Desert Fox) and General Montgomery (Monty) are examples that come to mind.
These are men that others followed at all costs with virtually no questions. You cant find a person
that has been part of a Ross Perot organisation that wouldnt walk through fire for him.
There was a book published in the late 60s named "Im OK! Youre OK!" It author, Dr. Stein, a
noted psychiatrist of that time, put forth the premise virtually anything (short of a heinous act or
crime) was OK in a personal relationship. It reminded me of the famous line from the movie "Love
Story", when the young man says, "Being in love means never having to say youre sorry." This
remark doesnt require a response from me though I have wondered how that relates to marriage?
Whilst "Im OK - Youre OK!" was a tremendous literary success it has been proven, like many
theories, as Bull! I believe a better book and much more representative was "Im dysfunctional,
Youre dysfunctional", written in the 90s by Wendy Kaminer which depicts how we are all strange
at best and some are merely more screwed up! It was written with Dr Steins book in mind.
If today was a contest - how did you do? Did you measure-up? Did you win? Did you accomplish
something taking you closer to your goals? If not - why not? Did you live life on purpose?
Remember, as Ive said and written, my experience is when our life ends it is the things you dont
do that you will regret - not the things you did!
Carpe diem!
To Your Quantum Leap
P.S. We have made a couple of additions to The Guthrie Group (new name after dropping "Castle")
though worldwide business has slowed. We have done this to take advantage of the massive
amounts of money for deals with good management teams that exists. We are looking to add more!
In fact my oldest son, Dan Jr (20) is our Summer intern for The Group at Guthrie. He arrived a few
days ago.
P.P.S. I have had recent requests for another personal chat room appearance. I will do it in Mid May.
If you have an interest in participating in this "paid-for experience", please notify Paul at
p.morris@theguthriegroup.co.uk
ISSUE #33
21-May-02
From Dan Pea - Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer.
Dear Friend and Subscriber,
My last newsletter got more long emotional responses than I have ever received. I hit upon a subject
virtually all could relate to - wanting to be liked! Thanks for your response!
I have decided to ask you, the readers, what you want me to write about in the months to come. I
will spread your requests around my own ideas. OK what?
New Bulletin Board
Shortly I will add a Bulletin Board to my website. You, the readers, probably understand how they
work better than I. It should be up by 1 June. This is a request from you the subscriber. The Chat
Room has had mixed results. I believe this is based on peoples dislike for hearing the truth in my
responses!
In the past a number of QLA devotees have joined together in business relationships. These
relationships range from getting simple advice to getting capital for investment. As you can imagine
we have some extraordinarily bright and gifted readers. We also have very wealthy, very
sophisticated subscribers. To round out the continuum we also have high school and college
students as readers, along with beginners in business. As we used to say "we have a potpourri of
readers and talent". The Bulletin Board will assist you in interfacing with other QLA devotees and
practioners.
Getting Value for Money (VFM)
I was going to write this letter on "Deals that Create Value". One of my colleagues, Sally Hall, who
heads up TGG as Managing Principal sent me a newsletter she thought I would like to read. The
irony was I am already a subscriber to this quarterly report. It was even stranger that it was from
Quarter 1, 2001, or more than a year ago. When I first saw it in my reading file I glanced at the
name of the world renowned name (brand) of the consulting group that published it. Scrolling
down, now I scroll past the title "Deals that Create Value", past the schematic showing a pile of
value, through the first few paragraphs to the phrase "acquisitions create the most market value
overall, despite the well-known "winners - curse" in which buyers pay too high a premium". As I
read the last couple of words of that paragraph my eyes scanned upwards to the by line.
Unbelievably I recognised one of the three authors names. Actually this is an understatement of
Biblical proportions. The name in the middle was a name I knew for almost 20 years. In fact it was
a quasi mentee of mine. I had helped shaped his career through his MBA at the London School of
Economics and beyond. We had worked together off and on for many years. We have probably done
250 million in deals. Ive known him since he was 23!
I then read the entire seven pages - twice to make sure I understood. Of course the article was
merely saying something I had preached for more than 20 years. "It is easier and more effective,
when done correctly, to add value through acquisition!" Now, what I just wrote is infinitely more
simple than the explanation that accompanied the short report which I later found out had hundreds
of pages as back up material. It was a work of art based on "multivariate regression to access the
correlations between excess returns created by each deal and various characteristics of that deal
deal size-weighted -least squares - multivariate regression model, in which all dependent and
independent variables for each transaction were weighted by size of that transaction relative to the
size of the company undertaking it the dependent variable was defined as excess returns relative
to the local stock market, corrected for the risk - adjusted cost of capitalThe R2 of the regression
was 57%".
Well! As I continued to read I knew this study was based on 479 deals between 1994 - 98. This was
the core sample for their multivariate regression analysis.
Hell, I said to myself! I wonder how long it took to do this study? I reasoned (wrong word as you
will see) three guys working on 479 deals - plugging in the results only, etc - say 2 weeks each or 6
weeks in man hours for one person. After all the team didnt have to work through every deal. They
only needed to plug in the various sums for their analysis! I couldnt wait! I called my good friend
of 20 years. Being British his mobile number was turned off "at the weekend". Of course I still
work over weekends because I like - no really love - what I am doing! (Remember like vs love from
the last newsletter) It took my assistant a week to catch up with him. A dinner was arranged for two
weeks hence to meet at a favourite restaurant of his - he is an owner. It actually took a lot longer
because he literally forgot to put it in his diary. He is an "absent minded professional" now! He is
truly a genius in the real sense. In all his years of education he has never received anything less than
a perfect 100% grade! I could write an entire newsletter on him.
We met and the first question out of my mouth was about the Quarterly report. I asked why was it
written? And doesnt everybody in the finance world know what was written?
The reason it was written was unbelievable to me! He said, it was not commonly known by the
readers of and devotees of his most prestigious consulting firm. He told me the analysis took four
months. I swallowed hard on my beverage and quickly ordered another - a double this time! I
immediately thought, what if a big client had asked for such an analysis. Perhaps a major
investment bank might have instructed such an analysis be done with the consulting firms name on
it. I wondered how much would it have cost? And more importantly would the group paying for it
have received value for money?
The following is my regression (of sorts) analysis that I spent many sleepless nights labouring over:
The three involved in the analysis were, two consultants (as they are called) and one a principal
with the consulting firm. A principal is kind of like a partner.
The assumptions I made were simple. If it took three financial professionals four months to do this
work they should all be fired and the firm should be closed down in the interest of bettering the
financial community in particular and world in general. Though I knew, or should I say hoped, this
was not a full time endeavour for the three chaps I decided to start with 100% case (as they say). In
my days on Wall Street it was called "the old 100% case trick".
As of the first quarter of 2001 principals of the major consulting firm charged / billed at a rate of
10,000 per day for a seven hour day, knowing they work more than seven hours a day. Consultants
were charged / billed out 5 - 7,000 per day for the same seven hour day. I decided to use a very
sophisticated methodology to ascertain the cost of the two consultants. I used a VC (Venture
Capitalist private equity provider model) spreadsheet to average 5,000 and 7,000. After
conferring with a MBA/Chartered Accountant colleague (which would be a billable event of course)
over a two week period I decided 6,000 per day was a good number to help build my base model
on. I was a little apprehensive. I knew I might be taken to task for such an aggressive hypothesis -
but I decided to live dangerously - to live on the edge! I assumed after 31 years, 700 deals, 65,000
business decisions, thousands of high level meetings - it was time to get outside the box!
Consulting firms receive these hourly rates, plus expenses and travel time. During most of 2001
such firms added 20% of the daily rate as expenses to their bill! I had a PHD/MBA colleague (more
billable time) write an appropriate program to determine what this did to our economic model vis--
vis our billing methodology. The result was astonishingly 12,000 per day for a principal and
7,200 for (our model) consultant. I felt very good about this and would have told a client (if there
was one) what "value added" had been produced! It was truly another win-win situation.
As my analysis got more involved I enlisted the assistance of another colleague, Herr Professor
Doctor was kind enough to do the sums for me. He said the preliminary analysis revealed the rate
was 26,400 per day. He said it was a good enough # to move forward with. He reminded me travel
time needed to be considered as well. I was grateful for his insight and thanked him for the gentle
reminder.
After considerable time and effort I took a very difficult decision. I decided on my own, without any
further consultation and at great risk to my personal and firms reputation that no travel time was
(probably) necessary, or envisaged. I further speculated if anybody travelled to gather data for such
an analysis he should be driven out of the financial community on a burning rail! Or conversely be
made "sales manager ementus" at his local caravan (mobile home) sales centre.
Based on my extensive scientific research I have ascertained a maximum of 240 billable days are
possible. The fee can be no more than 240 days of time, at a yet to be decided rate. The 240 days is
based on a 5 day week maximum for 4 weeks a year. A 48 work week per year is used. Though 4
weeks holiday is a very low # for a consulting participant I decided, again, to go outside the box and
be aggressive. In reality 6 - 8 weeks are lost to holiday time. Though the permutations seem endless,
please follow the rational closely.
MONTHLY / DAILY ANALYSIS (At 20 days per month)
Month 1 2 3 4 Total
Principal 20 20 20 20 80
Consultant 1 20 20 20 20 80
Consultant 2 20 20 20 20 80
Total 60 60 60 60 240
Main Days

It is interesting that the horizontal and vertical axis equal in total, though the individual months and
participant sums dont. This needs further investigation, but gives a clear enough (though obtuse)
picture.

DAILY RATE /MONTHLY ANALYSIS

Month 1 2 3 4 Total
Principal 240,000 240,000 240,000 240,000 960,000
Consultant 1 144,000 144,000 144,000 144,000 576,000
Consultant 2 144,000 144,000 144,000 144,000 576,000
Total 528,000 528,000 528,000 528,000 2,112,000

Same horizontal / vertical phenomenon.

Following this revelation I enlisted my colleague (another) Herr Professor Doctor #2 to assist me
with the difficult calculations. After working around the clock for several days (as a personal favour
to me and in the name of the firm) he gave me the results of (12,000 + 7,200 + 7,200) x 20 x 4 =
2,112,000, our 100%, or high case! This would be the best case scenario - meaning it would be the
most we could be paid! (If you want to have some fun ask any firm of consultants, lawyers or
accountants if the bill/charge is based on a matrix system. The details of this system are TOP
SECRET!)

Now I was left to my own devises to determine the 75% (medium) case and 50% (low) case. Whilst
my education was math orientated I had to use my mere 14 years of maths including three years of
advanced calculus, two years of advanced statistics and five years of astro physics to determine the
answer. I knew I was not qualified but I pushed forward bravely!

In due course and many permutations later, I found the medium (75% case) to be: .75 x 2,112,000 =
1,584, and the low (50%) case to be: .50 x 2,112,000 = 1,056,000. Thank God this very time
consuming (all billable) exercise was finally over. I took a well deserved two week holiday, already
knowing it would not be enough. (It was an expense to the client).
FORGET ABOUT IT.
Whilst you may think I have lost my mind for writing this dribble I can assure you I have read
countless reports by professional consultancies that didnt do much more than I did writing this
Bull! Whats worse it wouldnt be a mere few pages like this, it would have been hundreds of pages
in a leather bound book - and it would be at your expense!

For those of you that know, and or have worked with me you realize I am short on written analysis
and long on experience and dont need a 200 page report to give you the answer! In fact this letter is
the most verbose thing I write - except for a few "not so nice" letters to people I feel incumbent on
taking to task.

I am glad I didnt compose a serious newsletter about a report.

Moral to Story
The overall point to this story: If the people who advise you and, or are part of your Dream Team go
through any semblance of the aforementioned, get new people ASAP! And run, dont walk the other
way!

To Your Quantum Leap

Daniel S. Pea, Sr

P.S. I have decided not to write a comprehensive newsletter on the adoption of FAS 142 and the
great goodwill write-off ploy, in my next newsletter! I had planned four, or five such letters in the
future. After a great deal of billable thought I decided I would list four of my favourites quotes now
and forget about such dribble! Here is a question for you:

Who said, "Grief is the price we pay for love?"

QUOTES:
"Only those who risk going far can possibly find out how far one can go"

(TS Eliot 1888 - 1965)

"You cannot teach a man anything, you can only help him to find it within himself"

(Galileo 1564 - 1642)

"All knowledge is but remembrance"

(Plato 428 - 348 BC)

"What is coaching? This is Gerard ODonovans definition

- "Coaching is about performing at your best through the individual and private assistance of
someone who will challenge, stimulate and guide you to keep growing"

Answer to question - Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, vis--vis September 11th.

ISSUE #34
From Dan Pea - Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer.
Dear Friend and Subscriber,
I just returned from NYC where I had an important meeting over Memorial Day weekend. Yes, I
went on a business trip over an extended holiday weekend. Admittedly it was to see one of my
favourites in a place I like! NYC looks great and you can really feel people are trying to make a
difference. Notwithstanding the various "news scares" it is still the place to be vis--vis pure energy
and things to do. I have always believed as the famous song says "if you can make it there you can
make it anywhere" is very true. I am fortunate my very earliest days after the military and university
were spent there. I would recommend at least a couple of years in "the meat grinder" to anyone who
wants to cross intellectual and emotional swords with more than worthy opponents!
MAN PLANS - GOD LAUGHS!
I am sure you are surprised I am following up so soon with another newsletter. In candour I was
surprised at response on my last letter. Someone even commented how my analysis of "valuing a
deal" was so fascinating. God! It was all consultancy gibberish! For those of you that read THE
ENTIRE LETTER you know it was a spoof on consulting and what my experience has been over
30 years with high priced merchants of gloom, doom and occasional happiness! Almost all
producing mountains of useless information! You would not have known this unless you read
almost to the end. It was like sex! It was all at the end! Though you should have realised it in the
first few paragraphs I was "making fun." I could make an analogy about only getting "part of the
info" and making decisions, but I wont. Analogies vis--vis the Internet and succinct bites of info
(which the letter clearly wasnt) could be made in exactly the opposite way. So be it!
Suffice it to say I was greatly amused during the writing process of that long newsletter. I wondered
how many would read it to the end? I guessed correctly. And as my wife and some that know me
longest have said countless times, what makes me laugh isnt necessarily funny to anyone else! My
own 15 year old daughter asked me not to send her the newsletter anymore! Well, man plans and
God laughs! I told her she would continue to receive it!
I also asked at the end of that newsletter for suggestions on what you would like to read in future
newsletters. (This offer is still open). I got two subscribers giving suggestions, so far. Perhaps they
were the only ones who read the entire newsletter! As you can imagine my feelings ARE NOT
HURT!
THREE APPROACHES
During this time of perceived tough economic times I thought I would attach three short stories
from a newsletter I read regularly (and recommend) about men in the business of finance and how
they deal with motivation, teaching and the task of keeping people focused. They clearly state there
is more to doing deals than the numbers themselves.
To Your Quantum Leap
Daniel S Pea, Sr.

P.S. Ive attached a recent photo taken by my son Dan Jr. who is working as TGG intern for the
Summer. Whilst taking many photos of Guthrie and the environs he captured what some believe
to be the "Nannie Ghost of Guthrie" holding a baby. She is friendly as is the "Lady Ghost of
Guthrie".

The following stories where in a recent newsletter distributed by The Deal.com. If you wish to
receive their daily newsletters you simply go to www.thedeal.com and sign up.

LETTER #1 - THE ALL AMERICAN

It only seems appropriate to describe Paul Rossetti, 53, a managing director o American Securities
Capital Partners LP, as All-American. To say otherwise about the former U.S. Air Force Major, who
is a baseball fanatic, seems almost unpatriotic. Most recently, Rossetti has been helping the firms
younger staffers stay enthusiastic about private equity as the industry endures a difficult period
reminiscent of the early 1990s. "Our challenge is to keep our young people motivated in the face of
not a lot of interesting deal work," he says. "That gets back to our discipline of only buying good
companies - the hardest part of our business is having the discipline to wait." Rossetti knows
discipline well. That aspect of his personality helped bring him all the way to American Securities
Capital Partners, a firm that has done 12 investments with a total transaction value of $1.3 billion.
The firm is the merchant banking arm of Sears, Roebuck and Co. heir William Rosenwalds
American Securities LP. Rossettis path to the American dream took him through the socially
volatile 1960s. While millions of Americans were rebelling against the establishment, Rossetti was
busy plugging into it. An honor roll student from a small town in upstate New York, Rossetti had
been accepted at all of the top Ivy League schools, but chose the U.S. Air Force Academy in
Colorado Springs, Colo. The U.S. Senator who recommended him? Bobby Kennedy. In 1973 the
Air Force shipped Rossetti to Thailand and he began flying combat missions over Cambodian
jungles in an A-7 Corsair. He spent the next 11 years in the Air Force, becoming a test pilot and
rising to major."As a professional pilot, it was a very rewarding experience to do what you are
trained to do, and do it well. At the same time, its combat, and that part of it was not pleasant, but
we believed in what we were doing," Rossetti says of his experience. No question, Rossettis
military experience served as a cornerstone for his private equity career, friends say. As conformist
as Rossetti seemed, he marched to his own beat, setting his own objectives and achieving them. If
there was one lesson the military had taught him, it was that failure was not an option. Take
Rossettis stint at Harvards Graduate School of Business Administration in the 1980s. He didnt
just ace his exams; he graduated with an M.B.A. in 1983 with distinction as a Baker Scholar - an
honor reserved for students in the top 5% of their class."The thing you learn from military
experience is to have a great simple strategy or business plan, and execute it well," Rossetti says,
making it sound as simple as that. Rossettis plan, post-Harvard, was to work for Bain & Co. and
then move into private equity two years later. He really cut his teeth in private equity dealmaking by
joining Dyson-Kissner-Moran Corp. in 1986, overseeing operating companies and acquisitions such
as the firms purchase of U.S. Leather Holdings. In that deal, the firm bought a leather-processing
company, doubled its size and sold it two years later for twice the value of its purchase price. In
1997, after stretches at Greenwich Street Capital Partners and Patricof & Co. Ventures, Rossetti
joined American Securities Capital Partners where he has worked on such transactions as the firms
purchase in April 2000 of Vutek Inc., a deal in which the firm raised its bid three times to
consummate its acquisition of the inkjet printer maker."We found out this was a terrific company
and paid a lot more than we would have ever dreamed when we started the process. But the
company checked out, and we said we would pay whatever it took," Rossetti says."Our mission is
to identify where we are the best buyer and our strategy is to create value for our portfolio
companies. You cant just be along for the ride."

LETTER #2 - THE CHAIRMAN

"The biggest challenge of the past five years is the pace at which were required to practice law,"
says Barry M. Abelson, chairman of the executive committee of Philadelphias Pepper Hamilton llp,
a firm with 400 lawyers. Abelson, 55, has been at it for 30 years, and he still describes his day as "a
maelstrom of activity." He has a client base in three distinct areas: privately held businesses for
whom Pepper is general counsel, which require financings and acquisition work; midmarket public
companies, which have the same needs, along with disclosure and Securities and Exchange
Commission work; and a venture capital and private equity fund practice, which represents the
funds in their formation, governance and financing activities. The firms chairman since February
1995, he says much of his job is to train younger lawyers to be "reflective rather than responsive" -
a challenge in the age of instant e-mail. But he sees his lawyerly responsibility - and that of the
firm, which dates back to 1890 - as providing deliberativeness, whether or not the clients realize
they need it. "Too many clients assume speed of responsiveness fulfills our professional
responsibility," Abelson says. "But many of these companies dont have in-house counsel. Our
clients rely on us." That dependence may grow even greater in the wake of Enron. "For middle-
market companies, I think there will be a severe impact on the ability to get qualified independent
directors willing to serve, and its the group of companies who would benefit the most from having
independent and qualified directors," Abelson says. The first person in his family to have gone to
college - in this case Dartmouth, lured by a strong financial-aid package - Abelson trained for a law
career by being the sports editor of the college paper. "It was a four-to-six hour grind a day, on top
of a full-time course load," Abelson remembers. "It was good training working under pressure."
Which, despite the current slowdown, still exists. Abelson notes that Pepper is working on three
major transactions on the buyout side and six on the venture side. "Were seeing funds being more
proactive creating opportunities; theyre looking for management teams to do carveouts. The
number of transactions may be down," he says. "but the creativity from the clients is up."

LETTER #3 - THE COUNSELOR

Mark Vidergauz gains clients in fashion by not following it. As the founder and chief executive
officer of The Sage Group llc, a Los Angeles merchant bank specializing in middle-market
transactions, he works with small businesses, entrepreneurs, even fashionistas. In this dynamic
environment, his background as a lawyer - and his conservative temperament - are his biggest
assets."A lot of what we do is building trust," says Vidergauz, who agrees that trendy, celeb-
conscious entrepreneurs can be somewhat skittish of bankers. "We say, We can help you as weve
helped others, but you make sure that throughout the process they make the decision. Were in this
for the long run; if a deal doesnt close this year, itll close next year." The big score for Sage, which
was founded at the end of 2000, was brokering the $86 million sale of Earl Jean to Nautica
Enterprises Inc. The husband-and-wife team who founded the jeans company by investing $2,000
were happy with their payout in the April 2001 transaction, which found J.P. Morgan Chase across
the table."Our approach is to treat every $100 million deal as if it was a $5 billion deal," Vidergauz
says. "Often what we will do is identify a fine company and get to know the business - theyll say
were thinking of selling this biz in the next two to three years. A large firm would say, Call us
when youre ready. Well show them where they can put investments in their business that Wall
Street will value." Born in Krugersdorp, a small town in South Africa near Johannesburg, Vidergauz
trained as an attorney. A decision to go into banking - to experience the dealmaking side rather than
technical side - brought him to Barclays Merchant Bank, one of the four leading investment banks
in South Africa, where he became a director. After his daughter was born, a mid-career move to the
United States caused him to switch back to law. Vidergauz made the decision with typical
deliberation, noting that it meant "going backwards quite a lot.""Wed just completed the largest
IPO [Southern Life] in South African history," he says. "[But] banking to banking didnt feel
comfortable. Maybe it was insecurity, but I felt I had spent a lot of time becoming an attorney and I
should validate that credential." He certainly did, at top firms Morrison & Foerster LLP and
OMelveny & Myers LLP. Finally, the frustrated banker went to work for Wedbush Morgan
Securities, a mid-market L.A. firm, and was hired in 1996 by ING Barings to build a middle-market
M&A effort."They wanted a headquarters in L.A. because the companies in L.A. were small-cap
and entrepreneurial," Vidergauz remembers. Over the next five and a half years, the shop did $8
billion of total transaction value - much of that $150 million and $200 million deals. Then
Vidergauz left to form Sage, which was backed by Rockwell Schnabel, founder of Trident Capital,
Bradford Freeman, founder of Freeman Spogli & Co., and a trust affiliated with Robert Day,
founder of TCW Group."Most of the major firms have had a middle-market presence in L.A. at one
point, but cant make the numbers work," Vidergauz says. "We felt we should reach, and since ING
didnt have a recognizable name on the West Coast, in some ways wed already done it once." The
bank, which opened its doors at the end of 2000, was certainly founded in a challenging
environment. But Vidergauz says the middle market has its own dynamic. "Partners fall out, there
can be shareholder disputes; you dont see that when GE is selling a division," he says. Now the
firm, which does industrial as well as consumer products work, is a middleman between trendy left
coast startups and more mature East Coast businesses. "Large New York Stock Exchange consumer
products companies call and say, Do you have anything in accessories? Vidergauz says. As for PE
funds, "We probably have an East Coast fund in our office every day or every second day,"
Vidergauz says. "Theyre clearly under pressure to put money out. PE funds will tell you quietly
they are willing to accept lower returns." He expects the real uptick in closings to be the fourth
quarter. Meanwhile, hell continue to hold clients hands."Starting out, there are two or three people
they trust, maybe a spouse, maybe an attorney," Vidergauz says. "But once you enter that circle of
trust, they confide everything. I have one guy who called - we closed the deal eight months ago. I
said, Michael, why are you calling? and he said, separation anxiety."
ISSUE #35
27-June-02
From Dan Pea - Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer.
Dear Friend and Subscriber,
THIS STUFF WORKS AND WE HAVE BUILT A 13 MILLION COMPANY
BULLETIN BOARD OPEN
Firstly I am glad to announce a "Bulletin Board" has been added to my website
"www.danpena.com". It is quite simple to use. Visitors can post questions, which can then be
answered by myself or indeed others who may be able to help. Both questions and answers will be
on view to all, so you may find that the answer to a query you have is already available to you on
the site.
COMMENTS ON VIDEO / AUDIO TAPES & BOOKS
"The Pena seminars and tapes have taken us from zero to a 13.5 million a year company. The stuff
works." (DSP: "Of course I know this and couldnt agree more!")
Rod
The statement above was recently received from a subscriber who in the past purchased a lot of
"product" as a re-affirmation of his belief in the QLA Methodology. He followed the QLA
Methodology with a great result! The same product is still available. New versions can be found on
my website - there are a few copies of the original material which is currently being sold at reduced
prices. For more information contact p.morris@danpena.com
READER COMMENTS ON NEWSLETTERS
DSP: This letter is almost as I would write it. You have to live, breath, eat, sleep and dream it to
succeed quantumly.
Dear Mr Pea
I read your last newsletter (#33) to the end, (DSP: "Thank God - and in the USA Im taking a risk in
saying this now vis--vis a recent court decision.") had a great laugh throughout, and appreciated
your sense of humour. Its much like that of my own father, a successful businessman and quite
unlike my own hiccups of success.
Hearing that you had only two responses to requests for topics surprised me. (DSP: "There have
been more since then.") I assumed you would have many, and that my suggestion would be one of
many. So much for stupid assumptions! I broke my own rule (never make assumptions) by making
that assumption.
Here is my suggestion. How about the topic of working at what you love? When younger, it was
one of my assumptions that people would love their work or, at the very least, make the absolute
best of it. Only after reading Ayn Rand many years ago (DSP: "I recommend this book. The best
CFO/FD I ever had considered it his personal bible for life.") did I understand what the Monday and
Friday syndromes were about. After all, I loved my work, and when I didnt, I deliberately took on
extra responsibility to make the work became fun. Whats work without responsibility? That was
another early assumption that proved false: I thought that people wanted responsibility for their own
lives and progress. Hah!
Last year, I worked hard at moving out of my current career, because thats all it was - a career. A
career that had responsibility for important stuff, sure, but it wasnt MY important stuff. (DSP:
"When its not yours its always less important! Think of life and death - yours!") And I realised that
I no longer LOVED my work any more, probably because I saw the writing on the wall.
So, I worked for a year, working weekends, early mornings and late evenings, to break out of what I
was doing. Goodness, did my wife complain! Tough, I had to do what I had to do. Or so I thought.
But, I didnt manage to break out, even a little. I figured that if I could at least make a tiny profit, I
could work on that and grow, slowly at first but exponentially later. Well, I didnt even make a tiny
profit. At least, not worth talking about.
This year I had a serendipitous insight that completely changed my direction. I realised what I did
wrong. I hadnt evaluated what I loved to do. Instead, I had evaluated what I could do. (DSP:
"Common fault that leads to being sucked in to the WRONG vortex.") That was a limiting
assumption! So I had done what I knew I could.
This year, everything has changed. I evaluated what I loved to do. And I took action. I am now
officially unemployed, obviously very short of money, but working and learning like crazy and
loving EVERY MOMENT of my packed week (yes, seven days a week, early morning til
bedtime). And Im doing work I thought I couldnt, but of course have now proven I can do well.
(DSP: "Its how to maintain this Every Moment feeling over a career that can be difficult.")
Therein lies the difference. I am now doing what I love. Ability comes automatically. Soon, I shall
be making a small profit. Then I can work on the moneymaking ideas and grow exponentially.
I am even moving towards a vision that Ive had for years, but didnt know how to go about getting
it going.
So whats my point? Its that when you work at what you know youre good at, but dont love, your
heart isnt in it. My brain didnt bring to bear its full awesome power to bear on the problems, so
my solutions were, well, ordinary and commonplace. Now that I work at what I love, I find I
breathe, dream and live my new life with an extraordinary passion. My brain works on this all the
time, and its fun. Although my energy levels are no higher than last year (albeit always high
indeed), my brainpower is fired up. My solutions are creative, unusual, unexpected and effective.
(DSP: "Random and effective.")
Hence my suggestion about working for love - that is, love at what you do. You once mentioned that
if an existing business is not expandable, you might as well close the door. You could add that if
you replace it with a similar (but expandable) business for which you lack the passion, you might as
well not open the door.
If you want to break out of what you do, ask yourself three questions.
What do I love doing (even if I believe Im no good at it)? (E.g. Dan Pea loves to do deals.)
1. When in the past have I done well at that? (If you love it, you must have done it well at least
once in your life.) (DSP: "Or you wouldnt know you loved it.")
2. What opportunities are there for me to take advantage of that love and passion? (You have to
be creative here!)
Then, of course, take action.

Thank you for your newsletters.

Best regards

Pat DSP: Thanks for this letter and all your comments.

To Your Quantum Leap

Daniel S. Pea, Sr.

P.S. Remember what I have said so many times before, "When you really love what you do - its not
really work! When was the last time you needed a vocation from fun and play?"
P.P.S. "FEAR IS NEVER SO FRIGHTENING AS LIFE LONG REGRET."

ISSUE #36
06-Aug-02
From Dan Pea - Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer.
Dear Friend and Subscriber,
EXPAND IN A DOWN MARKET
I hope this newsletter finds all subscribers doing well by using QLA Methodology to achieve their
dreams.
In recent months my incoming correspondence and calls have declined vis--vis new deals, etc.
from the readers and others. Having just answered a Dan Pea Bulletin Board question it prompts
me to write this letter. Yes there is a QLA Bulletin Board - since late June. Thus far the dialogue is
good, I have answered a couple of the questions myself, though it was designed for the users of the
site and readers of this newsletter. My secret code is DSP!
As I have written and said more times than I can remember, much if not most of my successes were
accomplished in down markets and, or against major trends.
In early 2000 and 2001 I wrote, I perceived the market as measured by the stock markets worldwide
would take a beating. I said I didnt know what the reason would be, but the pundits would come up
with some rational. Of course we all know in 2000 the dot-com market collapsed followed by the
high-tech in 2001, then telecoms, bla-bla-bla and then the Enrons and Worldcoms of this world in
2002, in conjunction with Anderson. The entire profession of keeping correct numbers fell in to an
abyss! All these are pretty good reasons. Together they are formidably overpowering! Of course
now the pundits are talking about the "double dip" phenomenon. To the non-professional this
merely means the economy will go down again after looking better. In the 60s "double dip" meant
something else to teenagers!
You have also heard me say I dont like when I am right (all the time) - especially when the
countless toll on humanity is so catastrophic. More importantly, I am not an economic forecaster, or
anything like it. All my prognostications are based on the simplest of fundamentals and leading
economic indicators and over 30 years watching the various markets and indicies. And more
importantly know "conventional wisdom" is almost always wrong!
You have heard or read, my most famous, or infamous deed is turning $820 into $445,000,000 in 8
years whilst oil went from $41 to $8 per barrel. I always liked turning a $60,000 option in to
$50,000,000 in 3 months a lot more! Both events were in the same very bad market - the worst in
50 years! In fact a few choice individuals that had grit, when I wasnt present, called me "Down
Market Dan".
Categorically the best time to expand by QLA Methodology is when the others arent!
LONDON, BIG BEN, PARLIAMENT AND BRAVEHEART! Last week I attended 5 financial
institution interviews, in London. I joined two colleagues from The Guthrie Group (TGG). I am
going to describe the salient points of the meetings and whom they were with, only generically to
protect the guilty, and why they were picked. The two colleagues attend about 7 to 10 meetings
more than I do, per week on average. They have about that many meetings every week, whether
they need, it or not - sometimes more! These are with NEW financial institutions, or different parts
of the same institutions, or NEW potential CEOs to head a buyout. Why will come later.
About a year and a half ago when I wrote the second "bad news, newsletter" I decided we needed a
"deal generation" person at TGG in preparation for when the market turned. Since I am always
approached by young (relative term) and enthusiastic people that are willing to work for a piece of
the pie whilst learning, I didnt believe it would be too difficult to find.
I also decided it was time to expand the group, after a couple of years of no expansion, during the
high tech craze. I had learned long ago to expand during times of crisis! Getting financially mature
individuals who still wanted new challenges would be more difficult.
Since then I have interviewed 10 and offered and retained 4. These 4 joined us in the last 6 months.
When I say interviewed, I mean usually many meetings over a 4 - 6 month period. I want to observe
them in as many different situations as possible; i.e. in a deal situation, travelling, drinking, with
families etc. Of course this takes time, which I now know after 30 years is the only reasonable
method of acquiring personnel and potential partners. I could write an entire book about
headhunters, which on the whole I dont like! It is also the reason I have used various professionals
who represented me that I was impressed with in my projects. Three of the 4 additions are in "deal
generation".
FIVE MEETINGS
In down markets the competition is less difficult in seeing people about new deals, because the
market place is perceived to be too tough so everybody just sits tight. I believe in being proactive.
And being active means lifting the phone up to cold call and attending meetings with new people as
much as you can. Even CEOs of big companies should have a goal of seeing as many new faces as
they can. Four or 5 a month is a good goal for even the most heavily scheduled executive.
As a side bar comment, private equity providers are different from venture capitalists (VCs). VCs
are smaller funds and usually take more risks with less mature businesses, even start-ups. Private
equity providers are very large (normally) and want mature businesses that are not loss making.
Obviously these definitions are not cut in store.
#1
I attended the first meeting, not just because a large insurance company owned it. I attended
because I wanted to know and understand why they had apparently turned down an idea suggested
to them by someone, they and a specific industry as a whole, hold in very high regard. Not that my
colleagues couldnt do it, I decided to attend to ascertain the why. Hard questions are just better
asked from more experienced people. The challenge is to ask in a non-obvious, or abusive way so
as not to let the idea out of the bag. The way not to do it would be - Hey, why didnt you do the
billion pound, so and so deal that Prof Do Good suggested, six months ago? I know this because
people that knew me, said I did so in the early 70s!
This is why QLA uses a Dream Team who have attended such meetings and asked questions like
this many times before in their long careers. I had done business with this firm before, though I
choose not to disclose it. In fact they were a major shareholder of mine at one point. Organisations
that large normally cant keep track of some of what they do, let alone all of it! It wasnt germane
they had invested with me and made money. Most would have used this historical fact to add
credibility. They inadvertently gave me my answer. I was happy I went along!
#2
The next meeting was with a huge international bank I had also done many deals with over a long
period of time. In this case I wasnt looking for money, but I was looking to recruit. I met with two
senior Managing Directors. I knew morale was low at this bank, so I was there talking over lunch
about another low morale bank. I knew due to market conditions, virtually all the large investment
houses were cutting back and great opportunities for very experienced people were available.
It was an interesting lunch. It was the fourth meeting for one and the first with the other, TGG
model was clearly not right for the one, but there would be a fifth meeting with the other.
#3
The third meeting was with one of the largest and oldest private equity firms in Europe. Again I had
done business with them long before and this time I did mention it. Again, I wanted to understand
why they had not moved on an idea brought to them by the same very senior, well-respected guy.
As it turned out the way our model works at TGG fits almost perfectly with how they run their
business, so a lot was accomplished on different fronts.
The idea, both large private equity providers didnt follow through on was due to "no follow
throughitiss". This normally prevails at large firms. If the idea doesnt have a strong and committed
champion pushing it, probabilities are it wont get started, let alone get done! New controversial
ideas easily get lost in the "research process" that can take years. The idea our well-regarded man
gave us was very good and we have followed up accordingly. If it happens, it will be a 2 billion
deal.
#4
The fourth financial institution was a large foreign bank that just, in the last months, set up a new
profit centre in London. I was interested because my intuition was they were in need of good new
deals now to justify their existence. Suffice to say, it is our task now to find them the appropriate
deal - to help them in their quest! It was a pleasant experience. As expected they couldnt do enough
for us. Unlike the normal aggression the investment community is famous for these days and, I
continue to hear about all went well! When you are merely one of 100 you dont mean much to
them unless you are GM. If you are first they never forget. Its much like the first love of your life.
As I said in my book and on my tapes I used to look for new banks opening up. Why? They had no
business! No customers! And lots of money! A perfect scenario for a new idea. I used to show up in
my limo. Id get there very early so I was first through the doors - no appointment! No call! I still
remember the young (MBA) bank manager. I was the banks very first customer. What a deal I had!
Needless to say I followed him to his next bank!
#5
The fifth meeting I went to was at 5pm on Thursday with a boutique financial institution. It
specialised in particular kind of finance. I was happily surprised one of the founders chaired the
meeting. He was senior to me and that doesnt happen often. They provide a special product for the
likes of KKR and all the major investment houses. Why was the founder there up till 6:15pm?
When business is tough - the tough get going!
But attending meetings made by someone else (as he did) isnt the same as instigating meetings
cold to fulfill your own agenda and needs. I attended because this boutique is considered the best in
Europe at what they do. It was a plus the founder was in attendance. In fact he was the only one
representing them at the meeting. There were three of us, which was actually one too many.
I wanted to know and understand why a certain type of secondary form of finance wasnt used more
often in transactions. As per my usual analysis, it was through no fault of the product, but rather
because it wasnt considered a real competitor yet at that time. Everybody will jump on the
bandwagon like sheep! What this meant was that there is probably a market that needs to be filled.
What next you might ask? Well in QLA, it means it is worthy of a test - no more research. Of course
others had been asked the same questions, but the best boutique was the last to be queried! The
founder closed by saying with a great smile, I hope it doesnt change anytime soon! What he was
really saying was I hope the market doesnt wake up anytime soon!
I just talked to a senior colleague and asked how many new meetings they had last week - 12. And
next week - 14! I wanted to check to make sure! Of course deals take precedent over meetings to
meet new people!
For those of you looking for money and, or a Dream Team - how many meetings with new
institutions, or people do you have this week - next week? These are only new meetings - no
follow-ups!
For those of you that arent with Goldman Sachs, or Merrill Lynch, no one will call you. You must
be the proactive initiator! Though the big guys should as well! They dont! It is easier to get to see
these institutions and people during hard times. Their calendars are not full! They are hungry for
business. Help them, so they can help you achieve your dreams!
If today was a test, how did you do? What grade would you give yourself? Did you pass?
To Your Quantum Leap
Daniel S. Pea, Sr
P.S.
The next newsletter will be about a QLA devotee that waited and suffered for six years to reach his
goal of his first deal. It was a good one - $3.5 million! I hope that now that he participates in our
QLA Bulletin Board by sharing his knowledge. There are very few I have met in my entire
professional life that have been more committed to success!
P.P.S. Here is an article from the WSJ titled "The past is the prologue" I recommend Kindlebergers
book Manias, Panics and Crashes: A History of Financial Crisis. He is 91 years old. He taught for
MIT for years. He is considered one of the best on the planet.
A 91-Year-Old Who Foresaw Selloff Is Dubious of Stock-Market Rally
By JON E. HILSENRATH
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
LEXINGTON, Mass. In a well-manicured Boston retirement community, Charles P.
Kindleberger has watched the stock-market turmoil unfold during the past two years with a sense
that he has seen it all before.
Mr. Kindleberger , a retired economist, wrote the 1978 economics classic "Manias, Panics, and
Crashes: A History of Financial Crises." The book, required reading for many Wall Street trainees
and students of economic history, documents four centuries of boom-and-bust financial cycles. It
ranges from a fleeting bubble in the market for Dutch tulips in 1636, to rampant speculation and
subsequent collapses in railroad shares in 1847 and 1857, to the Depression in the 1930s, to the rise
and fall of Japans property market in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
At the age of 91, Mr. Kindleberger , who taught economics at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology for 33 years, is one of the few retirees unshaken by the current market turbulence
with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 18% from the start of the year, despite Wednesdays
big rally. "Im ashamed to say I enjoy the decline in the stock market," he says. "It is what we call
schadenfreude, a joy in the troubles of others." Mr. Kindleberger is gloating because he warned
readers in the foreword of the third edition of "Manias, Panics, and Crashes," released in 1996, of
what looked "suspiciously like a bubble in technology stocks." Paul Samuelson, a colleague and
Nobel prize-winning economist, admonished readers on the books cover, "Sometime in the next
five years you may kick yourself for not reading and re-reading Kindlebergers [book]."
"It is one of the most important books for people on Wall Street to read," says Richard Sylla, who
teaches a course on financial history at New York Universitys Stern School of Business and has his
students spend two weeks examining the book.
Just knowing that he was right is reassuring, says Mr. Kindleberger . "You get to sleep easier." Mr.
Kindleberger said he was "very dubious" that Wednesdays rally signaled much of anything.
Investors might rush in to a market in the midst of a downturn, he says, but it takes a more sustained
rally to signal a real bottom.
Mr. Kindlebergers own savings are in certificates of deposit, money-market funds and bonds. His
fortunes are also helped by a recent uptick in sales of his book, according to John Wiley & Sons, the
books publisher. A fourth edition was released in late 2000, in the wake of Asias financial
meltdown in 1997 and 1998.
Mr. Kindleberger says he would love to write a fifth edition full of details from the latest corporate
scandals, or a book about a housing-price bubble he sees developing, but he doesnt feel up to it.
Still, he hasnt stopped working. In November, he wrote an essay on how to invest when youre 90
and contemplating death. As you get older, he says, it makes sense to become more risk-averse
because there is less time to ride out market volatility. His advice: "subtract your age from 100, and
that is the percentage you should have in equities.
" A widower with four children, he still drives a 1989 Ford Escort, which he uses to visit the barber
and friends such as 94-year-old former Harvard University professor John Kenneth Galbraith,
another giant among economic historians and author of "The Great Crash of 1929." A few weeks
ago, he met with Mr. Galbraith. "I said, What should we talk about? and he said, Enron! Enron! "
Mr. Kindleberger says, adding: "I love that. We all love talking about Enron." Mr. Kindleberger says
that history offers little consolation for victims of swindles such as Enron because the victims rarely
get their money back. "Lawyers get most of it," he says.
Manias, Panics, and Crashes" lays out the familiar pattern of boom-bust cycles. They start with a
fundamental change in the real world, such as a war or new technology, which creates new profit
opportunities in some sectors. Investment expands, often fed by easy bank credit. Before long,
however, investment becomes speculation, then becomes totally detached from reality and turns
into mania, sometimes spreading internationally. Ultimately, he says, it ends in a crash and
"revulsion" in which investors flee falling markets. Authorities are left to wrestle with how to
stabilize and then fix the financial system.
Mr. Kindlebergers stories of financial crises feature legendary swindlers such as Robert Knight,
who helped cook the books of the South Sea Company. The 1720 British equivalent of an Internet
stock, it had no profits but big plans for trade in slaves to Latin America. Its shares soared more
than fivefold in four months time and then flamed out as copycat companies multiplied and
insiders started selling shares. Knight fled England, ended up in an Antwerp jail and then broke out.
The Dutch tulip bubble offers another example of how these cycles have played out. It started with
the development of exotic new breeds of tulips and was fueled by a booming Dutch economy. At its
height, investors traded land, houses, farm animals, paintings and gold for colorful tulips. One
Viceroy tulip bulb, writes Mr. Kindleberger , commanded a down payment of eight pigs, a dozen
sheep, two oxheads of wine, four tons of butter, a thousand pounds of cheese, a bed, clothing, some
wheat and rye, and a silver beaker.
Some great crashes of history, such as the one during the time of the railroad boom, did set off
recessions. The severity and depth of the downturn, Mr. Kindleberger says, depends a lot on how
aggressively authorities fight it.
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan has done a masterful job fighting off previous crises,
including the 1987 market crash and the 1998 collapse of hedge fund Long Term Capital
Management, Mr. Kindleberger says. Today, hes not convinced the Fed is up to the job because the
bubble was so big and consumers are heavily indebted after bingeing on loans tied to equity in their
homes.
"I think were going to bounce along the bottom for a while," he says.
The object of his greatest fascination today is the real-estate market. For weeks, Mr. Kindleberger
has been cutting out newspaper clippings that hint at a bubble in the housing market, most notably
on the West Coast. Nationwide, median home prices are up about 7% from a year ago, even though
the stock market has tanked and the economy has floundered. Over the long term, economists agree,
housing prices cant continue to outpace growth in household incomes. Mr. Kindleberger says he
isnt certain there is a housing bubble yet, "but I suspect it is."
The trick with spotting real-estate bubbles, he says, is that they dont always spread. In 1925, for
instance, real-estate prices in Florida soared and crashed, but that didnt spread to the rest of the
country. Yet he notes that something is distinctly different about the nations housing market today,
when compared with 1925. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two large government-sponsored
enterprises, own or guarantee nearly $3 trillion in mortgages, helping to keep the mortgage market
liquid with cash. That is a boon to homeowners, but Mr. Kindleberger says he fears that Fannie Mae
and Freddie Macs deep nationwide presence in the market is fueling a speculative fire.
"Banks will make a mortgage and sell it to them. It means that the banks are ready to mortgage
more and more and more and more. Its dangerous, I think," he says.
A Fannie Mae spokeswoman describes the argument as "preposterous," and notes Mr. Greenspan
dismissed the chances of a housing bubble in testimony to Congress last week. Robert Van Order,
chief international economist for Freddie Mac, says home prices might decelerate in the months
ahead, but theyre unlikely to crash because interest rates are so low, the inventory of unsold homes
is also low and the economy has proven surprisingly resilient.
Yet Mr. Kindleberger isnt convinced. "If I was 30 years younger," he says, "Id write a small book
on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac."
P.P.P.S. Here follows a recent letter from another QLA devotee.
As you will read in my next newsletter there is a common thread to the people who succeed with
QLA:
To Dan Pea: Remembering a quote by Walt Disney.
"You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world
for you"
Dan, I wish to say "Thank you" for the following "kicks" you have given me to date. I recorded
them in this note, lest I dare forget!
First and foremost - The Opportunity - you opened the door!
1. Tolerance (I am was an emotional risk!)
2. Not to talk about alternative topics to third parties.
3. Not to mention my Networking Background.
4. No bullshitting (Exaggerated talk).
5. "Get it done" means "Get it done" period!
6. Do not justify (in return), valid corrective advice.
7. Leave "micro" behind, move to "MACRO" now!
8. "Danny" - NO - Its Dan.
9. Lose any inferiority.
10. I dont need to know all the answers to get rich.
11. Dont "pick fights" with people.
12. No negatives re progress, to TGG team members.
13. Inform of any "unavailable" times in advance.
14. "ASAP" is only to be used for emergencies.
15. Eating scabs (a metaphor) if OK if it gets the big deal done!!!
Im sure there will be more. I look forward to further growth, change and the QL to come! Thanks
Dan.
ISSUE #37
22-Aug-02
From Dan Pea - Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer.
Dear Friend and Subscriber,
I have enclosed an email received from one of my QLA devotees. I used the actual email as the
format for my reply (in dark bold). Now that I am an internet man I can do such things! It may be
hurtful to some! Whilst others will chant "Braveheart, Braveheart!" - Thats what makes the world
different and exciting. I hope you enjoy reading about a long term struggle that ended in success. I
have seen this young man through a lot of tough times!
I have replaced the various names with letters and initials to protect the innocent and guilty.
IT FINALLY CLOSED
M, I AM VERY PROUD OF YOU! I AM GOING TO USE THIS EXPERIENCE IN A NEWS
LETTER W/O YOUR NAME. Dan,
After a very intense week, with many "sink or swim" momentswe closed yesterday.
CONGRATULATIONS!! R&M & I signed loan documents and real estate closing documents in
one of our lawyers conference rooms.Friday morning at 9am. JM came by to congratulate us,
while the attorney he assigned to us actually facilitated the paperwork with the title company and
lender out of Chicago. GIVE HIM MY VERY BEST AND SAY MANY THANKS! THANK
GOD THEY HAVE BEEN ON SUCCESS FEE ALL THESE YEARS! ITS GREAT TO GET
THEM FINALLY PAID!
Our deal closed with an assigned value of $3.5M. Our lender, Investment & Loan, loaned A
Apartment Company, LLC $2.2M. M Management is the Managing Member of the LLC owning
55%, with B owning 25% initially and having a "call option" on Steves 20%.for an eventual
ownership position of 45% within 12 to 24 months. JM had another "specialist" attorney within the
firm write an amended operating agreement that gives us the ability to "call" or take over Steves
20% ..without interfering with the lender documents.
The lender set aside $200K of the loan proceeds as capital improvement funds for the property. As
we make the capital improvements and improve the cash flow..our lender is willing to convert
our bridge loan into a 4 year "mini-perm" and is willing to lend additional funds depending on the
performance of the property. Were predicting to be able to make the conversion within 6 to 12
months. And within another 6 to 12 months..refinance into a permanent loan with a large equity
payout. SOUNDS GOOD!
Our investment bankers said it this was one of the "wackiest" deals theyve ever done and the
lender had similar comments! However, we now have our first deal done!!! And M Management
owns 55% of a $3.5M property.with us effectively set up to own 45%.having put in no money!
I KNEW YOU WOULD DO IT! I will begin collecting a salary and housing allowance as of
Monday from the property.. THANK GOD!.. and as the propertys cash flow improves we will
begin collecting an asset management fee.
My wife has been out of town in Wyoming at a family wedding.so I closed this deal alone
basically. I KNEW YOU COULD! (Ive been drinking red wine out of one of my "Guthrie Castle
Wine Glasses" that I recd from you while at the "Castle Experience in August 97"I WILL
TOAST YOU WHEN I SEE YOU!.. Id been saving them to drink out of until our first deal
closing) I KNOW YOU HAVE MADE HUGE SACRIFICES! Now.as I sit here this weekend
alone at the age of 30..I supposed Ive arrived.but it isnt all what I expected from when I first
started! IT NEVER IS!
However, as our investment bankers advise me..you are now legit!!!YES YOU ARE!weve
proved all the "na-sayers wrong!".. I NEVER HAD A DOUBT! AND TO YOUR IMMENSE
CREDIT YOU NEVER EVER QUIT!.. were back in good standing with our lawyers.. GOOD!
.weve executed a deal on my model and now have credibilityAND IT IS A GOOD
FEELING, ISNT IT?as well as. we all no how it works through to a closing! FINALLY A
REAL LIVE CLOSING! Theyre advising they can now get more forms of structured finance for
us.. AS WE ALWAYS SAID , JUST GET ONE DONE OUR QLA WAY AND THE REST
WILL BE HISTORY!.now that were for real, have a track record and have done a real deal
with a real lender! YA!
I will be temporarily relocating to Indiana to help oversee the property and the capital
improvements. OK. IS THERE AN EXTRA ROOM FOR ME WHEN I COME.BY TO SEE
OUR PROPERTY?and Im looking forward to pushing ahead again and getting even more
focused. AMEN! We already have our next deal in the works. GREAT! (with the same Intl broker
that helped us get this deal put togetherGOOD!.. "the guy you talked to"). I REMEMBER
WELL! AND I AM SURE SO DOES HE!.this property is about 45 minutes away from A. Ive
packed all my QLA tapes & books.. AMEN!property management books.etcfor my flight
out tomorrow I AM GLAD YOU CAN FLY NOW. Perhaps this is the city or the "region" of the
country that is ripe for our deals!.. REMEMBER LET THE MARKET TELL US!Therefore
Im there for as long as were able to close deals! PRAISE THE LORD AND PASS
AMMUNITION! LOCK AND LOAD!
To Future Quantum Leaps! AGAIN MANY CONGRATULATIONS! IT IS TIMES LIKE THIS
THAT MAKE MY COACHING ENDEAVOURS WORTH WHILE! YOU NOW
UNDERSTAND HOW PAINFUL SUCCESS CAN BE! YOU HAVE PAID A HUGE PRICE.
IT WAS YOUR CHOICE - AS YOU KNOW MOST WOULDNT!
TO YOUR (OUR)CONTINUED QL,
P.S. Thank you for sticking with this project.. THERE WAS NEVER A DOUBTand me as a
"mentee".. I ALWAYS KNEW YOU WOULD SUCCEED, OR DIE FALLING FORWARD!!..
WHILST YOU CAME CLOSE TO YOUR MAKER, BEING A PARA MEDIC AT
DISNEYWORLD AND A EAGLE SCOUT I KNEW YOU WOULD PREVAIL!. and for
"slapping me around a little" OK, BUT CONTRARY TO WHAT SOME PEOPLE THINK I
REALLY DONT LIKE TO DO THAT "ANYMORE" or getting a little tougher I WAS MORE
THAN A LITTLE TOUGHER, BUT "SUCCESS AND A DEAL" HAVE ALREADY
SOFTENED THE MEMORIES! HOW SWEET A FIRST DEAL MAKES EVERYONE
FEEL! on me at the beginning of this deal!
P.P.S. If they only knew the true problems that had to be overcome to get this deal done and
closed.and how it came so close to not closing at the last minute!!! THAT IS HISTORY! YOU
ARE NOW A DEAL DOER! ASYOU ALREADY KNOW, QLA IS NOT FOR EVERYBODY -
NOT EVEN MOST - BUT FOR THOSE IT IS - WHAT A RIDE!
To Your Quantum Leap

Daniel S. Pea, Sr

ISSUE #38
26-Aug-02
From Dan Pea - Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer.
Dear Friend and Subscriber,
From time to time I see something in the news that really moves me! Sometimes the news is
positive and often it is negative.
Below is such an article from the Financial Times - arguably the best financial newspaper in the
world. I am not suggesting you follow its precepts. You may not even be aware such programs exist.
When people ask me "when did I get motivated?", I tell them "When I decided not to stay in the
military and went back to university".
I can assure you where I was raised and went to school, as a child, what is described in the article
wasnt even a dream. My summers werent spent "at the shore" - they were spent in the streets!
It is a long article but in my opinion worth it. For those of you that have young children its not too
late!
To Your Quantum Leap
Dan Pea, Sr
P.S. I said I would give you short letters in the future - not short attachments. I apologise!
Little earners
By Jonathan Green
Financial Times

Devon Green, the slim, glamorous CEO of a Florida recycling company, waits for her morning
conference call. She sighs, pushing her palms down her body and smoothing any crinkles from her
blue-hooped dress as she pops open her compact to apply Max Factor Legendary Lavender lipstick.
The speakerphone crackles into life with the voice of David A. Henwood, chief investment officer
for investment consultants Raymond James, for 30 years one of the East Coasts foremost equity
analysts.
The call over, Devon strides purposefully from one of the conference rooms in the bowels of the
$400-a-night, five-star Ritz Carlton hotel. As she passes the Wall Street Journals, arrayed on cabinet
tops in the corridor, they only confirm what she already knows - her unit trusts have dropped
drastically in value. With expensively scented air conditioning in her nostrils, she heads for the
lobby up the broad stairs, past prints of English country scenes and her brow begins to furrow. This
may be Florida, and one of the richest sections of beach in the world, home to Americas old money
and a playground for the super-rich, but Devon has business in mind.
She reaches the lobby and her business partner Jesse, comfortably ensconced in a high-backed
armchair. Devon grabs Jesses wrists and swings her round, Jesses feet leaving the floor and her
body revolving in a blur - turning five, six, seven times. "Youve crossed the line once too often,"
she says indignantly to Jesse, who has gone porcelain-white and is so giddy that her eyes are still
revolving.
Devon then turns to me. "See, Im a regular kid when Im with my friends or my sister and then I
turn the switch and Im a businesswoman." She flashes a winning grin at an astonished waiter, who
thought Jesses whirling feet were about to send his trolleyful of chocolate cakes flying. Devon
Green, founder and CEO of recycling company Devons Heal the World, is 11 years old. Her
business partner and sister Jesse is five.
And today Devon has just taken one of her first classes in investing in todays bear market. Both she
and her sister are here in the sumptuous grounds of the Palm Beach Ritz Carlton, with its money-
drenched atmosphere, for the Kids Money Camp 2002. Parents from all over the US have stumped
up about $950 (620) for the camp, and the chintz splendour of the hotels rooms, for their kids so
they can learn about stock market indices, the "power of compounding - rule of 72", money
mergers, stocks, bonds and unit trusts. And while other parents send their kids to toast
marshmallows over campfires, sing songs and make origami donkeys by Lake Michigan, the
parents sending their offspring here are millionaires - billionaires, even - and they expect their
children to behave in a way commensurable with the fortunes they have accrued.
Leading the happy campers is Susan Bradley, a self-styled financial guru with a lacquered hairstyle
and a glossy manner to match. A redoubtable woman, she is well known around the palm-fronded
mansions of Palm Beach for her Sudden Money Institute, dedicated to coping with the pressures of
wealth. She has been running the camps for five years in a town obsessed with money. Because,
aside from the cavernous mansions in the area owned by Don King, Jim Clark of Netscape and Si
Newhouse of Cond Nast, Florida has no state income tax and it is also legal to file for bankruptcy
and still keep your property. Thus, the local paper in Palm Beach often reports cases of sequestered
wealth, insider trading deals and migrants in their droves scurrying for sanctuary from the fast-
collapsing world of corporate America. So much so that the population around Palm Beach has
doubled recently. Bradleys motivation for her summer camp is clear: "Money is the most powerful
force on the planet," she says with her slight lisp, before adding warily, "aside from religion."
This year there are 13 kids at the camp, ranging in age from 11 to 19 (Jesse is still too young to join
her sister). Swishing into the hotels driveway in a Mercedes C230 and pushing his Mont Blanc pen
into his top pocket, is 16-year-old Paul Lambert. "This is the most exciting thing I have done all
summer," he says breathlessly. "I want to be a CEO when I get older. Yes, the money and power are
the draw," he nods, handing the keys to the valet. But what about Enron, WorldCom and the tawdry
scandals which have robbed people of their lifes savings? "Bad accounting," he says.
On his third money camp since the age of 12, is the aptly named Cash. "I was not named after
money," he says, somewhat irritably. "My dads an entrepreneur and named me after the James
Garner character Cash McCall in the film [of the same name] who was an entrepreneur, always
looking for the next business opportunity - my dad said if he ever had a kid, thats what hed call
him."
But ask Cash about the speakers at the camp and he is almost breathless with excitement at the
prospect of talks from stripy-shirted, braces-wearing brokers, investment managers and heads of
corporate departments. "Where else could you get to speak to the top people from the biggest
capitalist economy in the world?" he says excitedly. "Its like going to basketball camp and Michael
Jordan is there."
Cash, who goes to the English public school Stonyhurst and has homes in Ascot and Palm Beach, is
wary of the press, though. "When I was younger I used to love to tell a story about a friend of my
dads who built up a company, put it in his girlfriends name and then bankrupted it," says the 16-
year-old. "I was interviewed and they jumped on that, which I thought was unfair. I just wanted to
be like my dad."
Susan Bradley opens the three-day camp with a fiery introduction on the importance of money.
Each child is given her book,
Sudden Money - Managing a Financial Windfall and a neat little mound of baseball hats, T-shirts,
teddy bears and golf nick-nacks, all emblazoned with corporate sponsors. "These people want their
logo in front of you because youre the future," she intones. "But why is money important? When
you speak with your friends about it are there some people who think, yknow, youre a better
person if you dont have any?" Some of the kids nod, in memory of those who dont place such a
reliance on fiscal success. Bradley continues: "But is there anything that doesnt have anything to
do with money?" The kids shake their heads. "Noooooo, thats right!" says Bradley with a whoop.
Over the next few days they are taken through conference calls and lectures and put through various
exercises while being cajoled into answering questions from Bradley, who throws out more
complimentary corporate merchandise for the correct answer.
The star of the camp is undoubtedly Devon, who even gives a talk to the rest of the kids as part of
the syllabus. She started her can-recycling business at the age of seven, when her neighbour gave
her some cans to take to the dump after a party. Since then Devon has expanded it into a thriving
concern - while coyly remaining silent about its size - donating 30 per cent of her profits to charity
and 20 per cent as gifts to friends and relatives. The remaining 50 per cent is fed into her bank
account and a nice mutual fund she has had going for a few years.
Shes a star in Florida, winning a litany of charitable awards - such as the Miss Pre-Teen America
Scholarship and the Humane Society of the Treasure Coasts Chocolate Festival top fundraiser and
volunteer - through to being, incredibly, a member of the Palm City Chamber of Commerce along
with bankers, lawyers and local businessmen. Local businessmen talk about her with awe and at
local fundraising dinners love to recount the story of how Devon was at one of the Chambers
business functions and was talking to a possible contact but ran out of her business cards. She asked
him to wait, telling him that she wanted to give him her card, left and, thinking she was out of his
eyeline, hopped, skipped and jumped - missing all the cracks in the flagstones on the floor - to a
table where her cards were. She then calmly picked up her cards, jumped round and gracefully
walked back, handing over a card with a flawless, corporate grin.
Her speech may be rehearsed to a T, but its engaging. And when there arent any volunteers from
the entire room of kids, stockbrokers in black braces and other adults, to come to the front and hold
a magnet against various metallic objects to demonstrate that anything magnetic cannot be recycled,
Devon taps her feet, examines her finger nails and says baldly: "I wanna see a show of hands next
time." And when she ends with: "I may be one person, but I am one person who can make a
difference", the other campers swallow hard while clapping.
Balancing Jesse on his knee and holding a camcorder to his eye throughout the entire event is
Devons dad, Michael, undoubtedly her minence grise. One feels he was largely responsible for
her website and business name, Devons Heal the World. He smiles fondly at her as she gives him a
proprietorial wink while doing her speech. "She learnt how to make money at an early age," he
says, grinning. "But Ive seen her turn that switch - one minute shes the young ambassador, the
young businesswoman and then shes back to being a kid.
"If she ends up as a leader of a large business, well . . . " And hes lost in reverie, dreaming of the
future. But snapping out of it, and keen to emphasise his daughters charitable streak as well as her
money-making potential, he adds hurriedly: "But if she had to close a plant or something because it
was unprofitable, she would find jobs for everyone there."
That said, Devon seems rather taken with a speech by Sharon MacDonald, former director of
mergers and acquisitions manager at Renaissance World Wide, a leading provider of information
technology services. As the kids sit wide-eyed, MacDonald details her meteoric and ruthless ascent
of the corporate tree in New York, talking about the Pac-man theory, and how when she goes into
companies to position for resale she "cuts out all the dead wood". Devon listens intently.
Afterwards the kids are told to form groups and draw up a list of a short-term goal and a long-term
goal and how both can be achieved financially. One group comes up with buying a Gucci handbag,
the next two buying cars and Devon wants to buy a little dog for $500, which everyone oohs and
aahs about. Yet her long-term goal, it transpires, inspired by MacDonalds talk, is to go one stage
further. She intends to buy out and own the pet shop within five years of buying her little dog. What
happens if the owner loves his shop and doesnt want to sell? "Then there would be a hostile
takeover," she says rather brusquely, while working on the figures.
Bradley is keen to play down this sort of attitude and there is a large part of the course devoted to
philanthropy. Many of the kids here are so rich that they will give millions away for tax breaks, and,
they claim, to help those less fortunate than themselves. There is a talk by Phil Flynn, of
Philanthropic Focus, an organisation that specialises in setting up family foundations to help
wealthy families give in the right way.
The kids are asked to read USA Today and say what charity they would give money to and why.
Devon decides on setting up a charity for victims of West Bank violence. "Wed give money to
families who have lost loved ones," she says, with a warm grin, but then thinks again. "But wed
probably give more if they lost a father, yknow, someone who was bringing in a decent income,
than if they lost a sister or something." She thinks a little further. "Not that they are not important
family members but, well, they dont earn as much."
With corporate America busy cleaning up its image, many of the kids from wealthy backgrounds
are already fluent in the emollient language of charity. Dave and Becky Serwitz, 16 and 19, from
California, are accompanied throughout the entire camp by their parents Marshall and BJ.
As the family wrestles, japes and shows how loving they are, holding forth at every Money Camp
event, the other kids can only look on and feel slightly dysfunctional that their families arent the
same.
The Serwitzes are a huge extended family and have four other siblings, all away on other camps.
"When people ask why we have such a large family they say we must either be Catholic, Mormon
or stupid," says dad. The children all grin, as does mom. "Well, were not Catholic or Mormon."
And with that the whole family breaks into raucous laughter. Marshall is a financial adviser, dealing
with Californians who have a minimum of $3m to invest. He sits at the back of all the talks at the
money camp either nodding his head in agreement or contradicting what the speakers say. Every
year he gives his children $300 to donate and each year the family will call in representatives from
notable charities who have to give a talk in front of his kids to prove why they should get the money
- then the family all decide who is given the money. Last year it was Daves college wrestling team.
"Well, thats a worthy cause isnt it?" he says with a grin. "They really gave me something."
Like other parents, Marshall has sent his kids here to acquire one of lifes most important skills. "If
you are just a little bit financially literate and start from an early age, that can make a huge
difference over a lifetime," he says, proudly. Although in quieter moments the kids are not quite so
enamoured. "Theres no way I would tell my friends I had been here," says Becky. "Id never hear
the end of it."
As the camp draws to a close, Susan Bradley is upbeat. She plans to market the camp - in only its
fifth year - worldwide, seeing herself as a fiscal messiah, the Pied Piper of Lucre. "I am ready to
expand this as a global business," she says. And mergers and acquisitions supremo Sharon
Macdonald is eager to be involved: "Yes, Sharon has shown great interest."
But isnt there a caveat here? Shouldnt children just be children and only have to suffer the horrors
of money management when they are older? "Thats an attitude we get from the British press all the
time," says Bradley. "Money is not a good or bad thing - its a fact of life. I mean, where else are
these kids gonna get this type of knowledge? Its a crucial life skill."
But Devon Green - her glossy PR faltering slightly and the needs of an 11-year-old taking over -
seems somewhat pleased it has ended. "Dad, can we go to the beach now?" she implores. No, he
says, its a long drive back up state to where they live. It seems even those who have to heal the
world cant get time off these days.
To Your Quantum Leap
Dan Pea, Sr

ISSUE #39
23-Oct-02
From Dan Pea - Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer.
Dear Friend and Subscriber,
In recent weeks I have been globetrotting selling an investment idea. It is not a new idea, but it is
different vis--vis the current sentiment in the financial world. Of course what better time to evoke
change than during a time of financial chaos? I could relate countless stories when I have
counselled ad nauseum to go against the conventional wisdom, but I wont! I made a quasi
guarantee / promise to someone, I respect a great deal, to keep these letters short.
Instead I will use two of my favourite quotes by men I have great respect for, who have put their
mark on the investment business and financial world. One was one of the great investment gurus of
the past and the other is currently, the greatest investor of the last 40 years and perhaps of all time.
In fact I am going to make these quotes the topics of my keynote speeches for the coming year! Of
course I might not get as many invitations when they, "The Corporate World", hear what my topic
will be for 2003!
Sir Siegmund Warburg, founder of what is now called UBS Warburg was a living financial legend
in the 1940s, 50s, 60s and into the 70s. Warren Buffet, the "Sage of Omaha" as he is called has
been the benchmark for investment excellence through the 70s, 80s and 90s till now. Together
they cover the spectrum of the last 60 plus years. Strangely enough they both said about the same
thing, in very different ways. They both had some very direct words to describe, what is referred to
as the "herd mentality" of the financial community. A mentality that is alive and extremely well all
over the corporate and financial world!
SIR SIEGMUND WARBURG
"The primary point seems to me always to be the quality of the service and the courage to persist in
giving well-considered advice, no matter how unpopular that might be at times."
WARREN BUFFET
"Most managers have very little incentive to make the intelligent-but-with-some-chance-of-looking-
like-an-idiot decision. Their personal gain/loss ratio is all too obvious. Failing conventionally is the
route to go; as a group, lemmings may have a rotten image, but no individual lemming has ever
received bad press."
All my 32 year career I have fought conventional wisdom vigorously! I have also been a very
strong proponent of extreme discipline! Whilst there are cultural reasons around the world
justifying different ways dont work everywhere, this is a very small %. France is different than
California - True! Germany is different than Australia - True! And the UK is different than Italy -
True! The real issue is "high performance people" around the world are 98% the same. My
extensive experience shows different cultures, or should I say mediocre people in different cultures,
use the "culture card" as an excuse to under perform. Or in many cases, they havent been exposed
to enough of the world to understand there arent that many differences. As I have often said,
"Playing not to lose, isnt playing to win."
An extreme example of this culture card would be if you worked and lived only on a small island
(not the UK) in the middle of nowhere, all your business life, you would have a very different view
of the world.
In my world wide recent search many, in fact almost all very senior execs, admitted under pressure,
what Ive written above is true beyond any reasonable argument! Yet, in most cases they still
couldnt take the brave move. Playing not to lose (personally) is still their "comfort zone." I stopped
asking myself why long ago! I have not allowed it to deter me, though I have mellowed a little in
recent years. Doing things successfully outside the box is a rush! Doing things when told I cant,
still is a great rush! My book "Your First 100 Million" lists my "You Cant Do Thats" - as do my
web site www.danpena.com. Start your own list NOW!
During this globetrotting I have also had the pleasure of visiting with three friends. One is a former
working colleague. The other two are people I have on going business relationships with now. All
three have one thing in common. A trait I have written about for a very long time! One is in his mid
sixties, one mid forties and one is thirty. Even with this great age disparity they share the desire to
accomplish their dreams. They have goals and things that still get them up in the morning with a
jump in their step. At thirty you would expect that to be the case anyway. But the thirty year old has
endured more adversity than you can imagine. Most would have chosen another endeavour and
given up on their goals way before thirty. The mid-sixty year old has accomplished a great deal,
plus looking the big "D" in the eye. Death blinked! In addition to his dreams he has gone on to help
others stare down the big "D". The mid-forty year old, an accomplished world-class senior
executive leader has succeeded way ahead of the curve and could easily sit back on his
accomplishments. That would certainly be the "safe corporate CYA" thing to do! He hasnt!
All three are fighting the fight everyday! All have benchmarks for excellence! All are benchmarks
of excellence!
If today were a test, how would you grade yourself? Remember what gets measured gets done!
Measure yourself each day! Live every day as if it were your last! The greatest risk is not taking
one! Play to win!
To Your Quantum Leap
Daniel S. Pea, Sr

ISSUE #40
06-Nov-02 From Dan Pea - Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer.
Dear Friend and Subscriber,
The Hunt for The "Perfect" Deal
(and a vital lesson not to be forgotten)
That one must "Hunt", for a deal opportunity is the only thing in the above title that would even
come close to being "perfect" or even any where near the truth in the actual episode I am about to
relate to you.
Why?
Of course, there is no "perfect" deal! In reality, ANY deal requires "hunting down". The only
variable is the time it takes until the target has been found and ultimately acquired!
Does The Big Dog Hunt?
They will run, they will hide, they will double-back and evade capture at all costs, but there is no
substitute for bloodhound persistence and "laser beam focus" then success must follow.
In the course of The Guthrie Groups (TGG) ongoing deal generation, this very game of "deal
hunting" is a continuous activity - in the good times and the bad. The Principals of TGG are far
from "fair weather" hunters - as hopefully are you, my QLA readers! As has always been said, "one
of the best times to expand is in a down cycle" hence you double your work effort when times are
tough.
Ancient Chinese Proverb
"Man who stand on side of mountain waiting for roast duck to fly into mouth, got loooooong wait!"
"Doing the numbers", "turning rocks", "kissing frogs" - we are all familiar with the variety of (true)
clichs that abound in the QLA philosophy. Interestingly, you can do the same thing over and over
and get results that are as different as poverty and wealth. The difference between those two results
is just one more phone call, just one more meeting.
Same Actions - Different Results
Heres the story as related to me of a recent meeting TGG partook in:
As part of a campaign to review previous Leveraged Buy-Out transactions, TGG decided to write to
and follow-up (by phone) the CEOs of over 250 companies. In each case the letters were posted and
within 7-10 days the CEOs were personally called and then e-mailed as a follow-up by a QLA
devotee / TGG colleague. (Remember: No follow-up - forget it! - you may as well not send the
letter in the first place).
Whilst a few of the CEOs approached, actually called TGG back (the best result possible - and an
example that we were using numbers to our benefit), the opposite end of the results spectrum also
occurred!
There were: "wont take the calls", "hang up in your ears" and "ring you back to abuse you"
responses. The focus of this story however, is one CEO in particular, who seemed interested in
doing a deal after the letter and subsequent 15-minute phone presentation and then agreed to meet in
person (the next step to discuss a possible deal opportunity). (It was a profitable company with a
turnover of approximately 60M or $90M)
On the phone this CEO was "quite friendly", asked a number of good questions and upon
conclusion looked forward to the F-2-F meeting that was set up. There was one point that stuck out
on the call. as I was told.
Intuition / Gut Feeling - The Mother of all Decision Making
In the conversation, this CEO made an unnecessary and somewhat crude, derogatory comment
about his PA/Secretary (actually in her presence) which was noted by my colleague. Against a gut
instinct to "flush him" right then, arrangements were made to meet anyway.
Two of my colleagues met and something unexpected occurred. Firstly, for some "unknown reason"
one colleague did not hand their business card over (when this task is usually carried out
immediately).
Secondly, it became apparent that after a five-minute introduction, things were not going well.
There was a pan-faced expression by the CEO throughout the introduction, a resistance to joining
them for a coffee and criticisms about the surroundings they were in after he wanted to meet
somewhere he would blend in. Ironically they were in a club just voted the best private members
club in London. Very soon, they all openly shared their true feelings and this CEO proceeded to fire
out a few competitive and confusing comments. Within the next few minutes, further verbal
exchanges, explaining what one could do with their various lives had breached the speech barrier by
my youngest colleague and they parted company. Both colleagues tried to save the meeting, but the
CEO wouldnt have it.
After the meeting was over (which lasted about 7 minutes when normally these meetings would be
about 90-120 minutes) they reflected after me joining them over a coffee.
He had received the same treatment as everyone else, the same information, the same approach, the
same e-mail and they met at the same meeting venue and yet they had not "hit it off". Why not?
Who knows? Ive told my colleagues learn from the experience. Since it is the first time this has
occurred this year - not to worry! He is just one of the 250+ people approached. In that amount of
numbers you are going to get all potentials and all variables - expect it!
Conclusion
The important point of this story is, if the little voice inside "intuition" had been listened to, they
would not have bothered meeting in the first place and it all would have been avoided. In other
words, do not doubt yourself - GO WITH THE GUT FEEL - EVERY TIME - a fundamental QLA
philosophy! My colleague who made the appointment now understands this crucial point!
The learning never stops and its all in a days work for the QLA devotee.
To Your Quantum Leap
Daniel S. Pea, Sr
P.S. Another short letter! I think I like it!
P.P.S. Remember if Moses had used consensus management or had taken a poll - he would never
have discovered Egypt!

ISSUE #41
A few tips from Dan Pena on setting and achieving goals
As is for most people around this part of the year, Dan Pena takes a closer look at setting and
achieving goals. As a custom Dan looks at setting goals in this newsletter that are related to him, his
family and his business. While at the end what gets measured gets done, Dan brings his experience
of over 30 years to give a few tips on setting and achieving goals.
He says while setting goals, they should be written, reviewed, changed and affirmed. Moving away
from conventional thinking, Dan believes there are no time limits in setting and achieving goals.
Getting a little unrealistic while setting goals helps. At least there is a tendency to move away from
the comfort zone and stretch out to achieve it.
Using these tenets for setting goals, Dan gives indications through illustrations from his life on how
to set personal goals and family goals. Through his personal experiences in the military, stint in
Vietnam and life as a mentor he talks about risk taking and moving away from the comfort zone. In
the process of setting and achieving goals it worked perfectly for Dan Pena.
While trying to help subscribers in setting and achieving goals, Dan talks of people who while
setting goals tend to use average benchmarks. This is due to lack of self-esteem and not wanting to
get out of the comfort zone.
Dan claims that this newsletter is meant to be a wake up call to take action for the New Year. This is
a great time to dream it, think it and do it, as Bill Gates says. Take action to evoke positive change
in life, go ahead and read on to find out about setting and achieving goals.
GOAL SETTING FOR NEW YEAR
As is my custom for many years I will sit down between Christmas and New Year to go over my
schedule of goals.These include my personal, family and business goals. I too remember what gets
measured gets done!
Here are a few guidelines for goal setting. As usual conventional wisdom is wrong on many points!
WRITTEN, REVIEWED, CHANGED and AFFIRMED!
Goals should be written and reviewed often. Early in my career I read my goals twice daily, along
with all my various positive affirmations. Now I read them monthly and check off the ones
accomplished. I also change or adjust goals monthly. This is not a new technique and athletes of all
descriptions have been following this procedure forever!
NO TIME LIMITS!
Conventional Wisdom says "set time limits". I put no time limits on goal setting. I have found time
limits act as deterrents rather than benchmarks. Similarly in school you were given so much time to
get something done - by God it took you that much time! I also found time limits allow you to agree
with conventional wisdom much too easily. I was told countless times, dont be in such a hurry, you
are way a head of schedule now! I didnt listen much to that - thank God!
NOT REALISTIC!
Another conventional precept is the notion of setting realistic goals. Of course this is advised so you
dont feel badly and discouraged when you dont accomplish your goals. Guess what! If you are not
risking anything you dont have sufficient incentive to do "what ever it takes" to get the job
completed. If the goal and the actions to achieve them arent taking you out of your comfort zone -
they arent making you really stretch!
PERSONAL GOALS!
I have had two sets of personal goals dating back to 1976 1. Goals that I talk about and may have
some other participants and 2. What Jim Newman used to call "under the skin goals". The later
goals are very private and are shared with only your significant other and mentor. These "under the
skin goals" are of a very personal nature that are only shared with those that will provide
encouragement and support. At times they may seem of an embarrassing nature, but are of extreme
importance to your over all well being and success. And yes my friends if your partner is not part of
your goal scheme, it has little chance of succeeding. My experience is most relationships, both
personal and business, bust up because goals are different.
FAMILY GOALS!
My family goals have varied over the years based on where my children were in their own life
cycles vis--vis their mothers and mine. Many of these goals should be jointly set. And childrens
goals (for themselves) will vary a great deal, but if you get them in the habit of setting goals they
will by default get in the habit of achieving goals. As your family grows so do your goals. I learned
my ideas of what my children should do varied greatly, from what they thought they should do.
With any kind of goal setting positive reinforcement is a must! As Plato said, "as long as progress is
being made, no matter how slowly, never discourage". I would differ with the great master on the
slowness.
Pea Personal Goal!
As many of you know my fathers only goal for me was to keep me alive until I reached the age of
reason. For me this came later than most. My military experience changed my life. Though I knew
what discipline and integrity meant intellectually from childhood I didnt really understand the
emotional commitment necessary to succeed. When I was deemed "an officer and a gentleman" by
an act of the United States Congress it meant a massive turning point in my life. It still means a
great deal to me even now! This was an "under the skin goal" (though I didnt call it that back then)
that I shared with no one. In those days I had no mentor, or significant other. At that time I knew my
life would have little or no meaning the way I was headed. I had no focus! So I took a big risk! I
stretched way outside my existing comfort zone. I volunteered for an additional stint in the US
Army by going for officer training. Actually it was the second step of my "under the skin goal" of
making something of myself. I had already volunteered to go into the army at the height of the
Vietnam war. My father had told me the military has straightened out countless young men before
me. And, he added, "if you can make it, son, be an officer". I didnt share with anyone I had
volunteered till I was out of the army. The bottom line is it worked!! The rest is history as they say.
BUSINESS GOALS!
These are no different than the family and personal goals. You follow the same pattern. The only
difference is you will undoubtedly find more wrong advice than you can ever imagine. Most people
will have something to say about things they know a little about, like having kids and raising them,
etc. The same is true of your personal goals. After all everyone has lived a little, and learned
something about life. But when it comes to business, every dog on the street has some crap to say.
From the guy in the post office, to the high school football coach, they all have some comment. And
the problem is we listen to them, because we dont know much about business ourselves. Therefore
if you get nothing more from this letter, unless the person giving business advice has been there and
done what you aspire to do, dont listen! Remember even the average accountant and lawyer only
makes less than 100,000Kpa. So if you want more than that, dont ask! The same goes for parents,
in-laws, brothers, sisters, kids and colleagues. Unless your name is Buffet, Branson, Perot,
Rockerfellow or Gates forget about listening to them! Of course you can read this letter or other
QLA material!
What I have written is meant to be a few succinct points on goal setting. I have written and talked
much about this topic over the years. My overall experience is that people who set goals use only
average benchmarks. Yes, almost all people set goals too low! They do this due to their lack of self
esteem and not wanting to get out of their comfort zone. It is also due to listening to people that
have set unfulfilling goals themselves! And Group goal setting is an art not a science.
WAKE UP CALL!
More than anything this letter is meant as a wake up call for you to take action for the New Year.
This is a great time to "dream it" - "think it" and "do it", as Bill Gates would say! Take action to
evoke positive change in your life! So in the words of my mentor, Jim Newman - "Release Your
Breaks!" He believed, and I concur, most people go through life, due to lack of self esteem, filled
with self doubt, with their emergency brake on. Hence, not fulfilling anywhere near their full human
potential.
Let me wish you and yours the happiest of holiday seasons and the most meaningful and prosperous
New Year possible.
To Your Quantum Leap
Daniel S. Pea, Sr
P.S. Whilst looking at the bulletin board on the QLA web site, I have noticed there are frequently
questions asked that are already answered in one of the 40 previous newsletters. Though some of
you have read them many times, since they arent titled on the site, only the most diligent would be
able to ascertain the various subject matter. Soon they will be listed by subject matter.
P.P.S. As I said in January 2001 and repeated in 2002, I dont expect the stock market to make up
your portfolio losses. I say the same for 2003. I also see both commercial and residential real estate
(property) markets weighing heavy. Of course, this information is free, so you can take it for what
you paid for it. Its your choice! In the corporate buy out markets we have seen another year of
contraction and transformation, The recent Burger King sale for about 1.5 billion was 1/3 less than
the expected 2.2 billion is a sign of the vendors price coming in line with reality. Therefore I see
light at the end of the tunnel. As you can see by The Guthrie Group website
(www.theguthriegroup.co.uk) we had a record year!

ISSUE #42
Dan Pena recommendations for a personal life coach and personal success coach
As another New Year sets in Dan Pena gives you his views on a personal life coach and personal
success coach. Its also a right time to check what works and what doesnt. This year too Dan as a
personal success coach recommends not wasting time on things that cant change.
In this newsletter Dan Pena gives away the secrets of a personal life coach by revealing 15 Keys for
Super Success. Ideally while choosing a personal life coach there are some guidelines that need to
be taken care of which Dan Pena talks about. This newsletter clearly talks of each of these
characteristics while choosing a personal success coach. He also talks of fear, practice, perception,
reality, credos to success and a massive positive action.
To find out more read on and also be part of this personal success coach agenda where each key is
dealt in depth. While reviewing the main headlines helps to re-focus thoughts and more importantly
actions, Dan also gives methods of becoming successful along with their pros and cons.
In the New Year it is a great time to review what works and what doesnt. As I have said countless
times, "Dont waste time on things you cant change" and "Insanity is doing things over and over
and expecting different results."
In that vain I have re-listed the 15 Keys for Super Success below. The One Day QLA Seminar
(given at Heathrow) goes into each Key in depth. But reviewing the main headlines will help to re-
focus your thoughts and more importantly your actions.
Preparing for Your Quantum Leap
(15 Keys to Super Success)
KEY 1: Super Success is not for everyone!
KEY 2: You cannot become a high-performance person part-time!
KEY 3: You cannot have it all - there is a "Pay Price in Action for Reward"
KEY 4: You must change - do it badly NOW if you have to because perfection = paralysis!
KEY 5: Do not listen to Morons! Conventional wisdom is almost always wrong!
KEY 6: You are who you associate with - model success!
KEY 7: Use Modelling to become Successful:
THREE METHODS OF BECOMING SUCCESSFUL:

1. Trial and Error (takes too long)

2. Over time (Takes too long)
3. Modelling / Copying is only real choice.
KEY 8: Get a Mentor
CHARACTERISTICS OF A MENTOR:

1. Significantly More wealthy than you.

2. Significantly More experienced than you.
3. Older than you.
4. Other common interests besides just business.
5. Geographically desirable - or make yourself available.
KEY 9: You must overcome F.E.A.R. - particularly Fear of Failure and also anxiety - fears little
brother.
FEAR REDUCTION TECHNIQUES:

1. Talk to your Mentor.

2. Know that: "What doesnt kill me makes me stronger".
3. Deliberately place yourself in risky or uncomfortable situations.
Replace FEAR with PASSION
KEY 10: Practice being Super Successful even when you are not - get out of your comfort zone.
KEY 11: Perception is Reality - think and dress for success.
KEY 12: Play to win, do not play "not to lose" - you cannot leap a chasm in 2 bounds!
KEY 13: You must have a dream - think big (Big dreams, big problems, big rewards)
THE FIVE CREDOS FOR SUCCESS:

1. Yesterdays Dreams are Todays Realities.

2. See yours Dreams ahead of time - now!
3. Simulation - practice within when youre without.
4. Act as if you have no limits to your abilities.
5. Do everything with Enthusiasm - (Greek "God within").
KEY 14: You must have PASSION
- Most people do not achieve the success they desire and deserve because they are labouring in a
field of endeavour about which they are not passionate.
- FIRST find something you are passionate about, SECOND, start or buy a business based around
that.
KEY 15: You must be laser-beam focused on success and take MASSIVE POSITIVE ACTION!
- Another word for "focus" is DISCIPLINE!
- Motivation gets you started, discipline keeps you going.
Review these often, along with your goals. As of 2003 I review my goals daily along with various
parts of QLA philosophy I want to place additional emphasis on for myself.

If today was a test - how would you grade yourself, zero to one hundred? Ask yourself this question
when you go to bed each and every day. Keep a monthly score. What is your monthly average -
including weekends? I would like forthright feedback in 30 days time. I will relate the #s back (with
no names) and my thoughts.

You can use the QLA bulletin board for your feedback for annomunity.

To Your Quantum Leap

Daniel S. Pea, Sr

P.S. As promised the past QLA Newsletters now have titles for easier reference. A few have been
removed for lack of timelines and redundancy.

ISSUE #43
19-May-2003
From Dan Pea - Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer.
Dear Friend and Subscriber,
It has been some time since my last newsletter.
It still amazes me that many of the questions I get are either answered on the bulletin board, on my
web sites, or in previous newsletters. Of course QLA product answers them all!
I check the bulletin board often, but rarely write. The board is for your use, amongst your selves. I
am impressed by some of the disclosure and answers. I read my past newsletters, to refresh my
memory. I also look at my web sites to gather my thoughts from time to time. I even listen to my
various tapes. If I do this, I ask myself, why cant my readers and other devotees? If you are serious
about what you want to do going forward, I would think it would be the very least you do! The real
answer is not all are serious! Eight years of coaching has proven without a doubt true personal
development is rare! And belief system change is even more rare!
I have attached a paragraph from an email I received today that illustrates true change! I receive
requests often, not just for sage advice, but also often for money. The requests come in different
forms but at the end of the day they want an easier way forward. They want a short cut, and there
are no short cuts to success or being a high performance individual. For most of these requests I
have a polite answer. No! For a few I give a lengthier retort. As you can read below, this young man
was given my usual answer. Now sometime later he realised what I did for him was the best thing I
could do.
Like a good parent, coach or mentor should, I made him ultimately decide for himself. Sometimes
because of pressure constraints you need to push the process faster and give the correct answer now,
so they dont drown. But a few gulps of water never hurt anyone! All I did was push (shove) him in
the right direction. I didnt use my 33 years experience, or 65,000 previous decisions. It was an easy
task on my part. I assure you it wasnt easy for him in fact it was gut wrenching. And as it turned
out he responded positively. Remembering, that which does not kill me makes me stronger.
What isnt easy is giving this advice when you personally care, and in this instance I liked the kid a
lot! Your emotional bank account can always interfere. I can still remember my dad hitting me as a
youth for misbehaving and saying, this hurts me more than you! I would like to think it was true,
though I struggle to believe it even now.
Excerpt from young entrepreneur (European):
Dear Dan

If you just helped me out several months ago with a cheque, I would not have
experienced what I have over these months. You helped me getting the best out of
myself. You made me think about a lot of topics I would never have if not confronted in
the way I was and you helped me find myself, the person I want to be.

Another email I received today came from a devotee that changed more slowly. He asked if I
changed the QLA methodology. He had recommended a guy to QLA the sister company to TGG.
He used QLA successfully and told a friend. He was wondering if the basis of QLA methodology,
success fees, had changed. Of course the precepts have been the same for over 20 years, since I
formulated the QLA thought process. I told him no. Nothing had changed and it was still being used
around the world. Professionals all over were still doing success stuff. But not unless you ask!
I added that my organizations hadnt dealt on a total success fee basis for some time now. All he had
to do was "read my various web sites" and he would be informed. I said, no longer a day-to-day
coach, neither I, nor my colleagues had time for total success fees. It was now mandatory for the
individual to show commitment and only part of the fee came on success. Though usually this was
the biggest portion. He has been a devotee of QLA for some time. As you can see he has followed
the daily QLA measurement idea I gave you months ago. Anyone that can maintain an 80% average
for two months running must succeed! (His email follows).
Dear Dan,

Have you changed your QLA methodology away from the success-fee model as
outlined in your published materials and more towards fee for service? I kept going with
your measurement test and have 2 more months of 80% +.

I could go on ad nauseum with examples, but I wont. One of my European friends and mentees has
nicely suggested keeping these and other correspondence short. Although I must say I like to err
writing "war and peace" verbose lengths!
I was going to write this newsletter on a book, written in the mid 90s called Quantum
Companies, which showed 100 companies that would change your life and the world. Of course
many are gone from the planet. A few are huge successes. That letter will have to wait till another
time. My oldest son did the research last summer when he was TGG intern.
Speaking of interns, I had a coffee with one of my past interns a few weeks ago in NYC. I have
mentioned him before, Bob Verdier. He is now with one of the big Wall Street giants. It was great to
see him. I have had input into his short life since 1993. As many religions say, if you can get hold of
them young enough you can make a difference. No I am not a religion, though I have been accused
of being a cult leader. Cult, according to the Websters Dictionary: devoted attachment to a person,
or a principle.
To Your Quantum Leap
Daniel S. Pea, Sr
P.S. Some special news will be coming out on my site in the next few weeks!

ISSUE #44
Rules for all ages to help choose a personal success coach
In this newsletter that is highly recommended for people looking for a personal success coach, Dan
Pena breaks away from convention and publishes a list of things to remember which can be used on
a daily basis.
Also included is another list that has been published earlier which is done by Bill Gates. It is from a
high school grad speech - a must-read for anybody over 30 and lived a sheltered life.
Dan says that a personal success coach is one who after attaining success does not get heady about
it. Facts are, if individuals who think the world revolves around them disappeared from the earth,
the world would still be spinning.
In the things to remember list there are some very encouraging thoughts that talk of happiness,
bettering ones self-esteem, success, lifes best moments, deadlines, opportunities and time. Each of
these statements in this newsletter forms the essentials to make an enterprising personal success
coach.
While Bill Gates rules are in the face, there are no mincing words on deciding who makes a
personal success coach. As a signing off note, Dan Pena sets a reminder no matter where one is in
life - it is someone elses dream!
29-May-2003
From Dan Pea - Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer.
Dear Friend and Subscriber,
I dont normally forward verbatim things I receive from my various sources. This letter is an
exception to that norm. "The Things To Remember" is priceless. Many of the things listed you have
heard before, but perhaps not all together. Carry them with you and read them often. Give them to
your kids. Pass them on to people you deal with on a day to day basis.
The second list is one I have used before. It is credited to Bill Gates. It is from a high school grad
speech made by him. We all have or know children graduating form school now. It is amusing to
read if you are over 30 and lived even a sheltered life. If you have lived a tough life as many of us
have, it is funny enough to make you get cramps from laughter! I have sent it to my three children.
Two are in college and one is in high school. Thus far only my 16 year old has responded, saying it
sounds like stuff I have told them.
We all, especially, if we have attained any success, take our selves too seriously! Of course if you
have achieved no success you dont take yourself serious at all. In fact you probably dont rate
yourself at all and you should rate yourself! Thats how self esteem is built, one step at a time! We
all know individuals that think the world (or their biz, or their department) revolves around
themselves. Guess what! If they disappeared from the earth, the world would still be spinning.
Mr Gratsos, my mentor at Onassis Shipping 20 years ago once told me how important anyone is in
the cosmos of time! Put your hand in a pail of water. Pull it out. What happens? How long does it
take to fill the void? How long does the water ripple? I think you get the picture!
Stay focused, but remember the above. Have some fun! I am blessed, because I truly love what I
do! I have for 33 years. But it doesnt mean you will be doing the same thing all your life! I have
had four stages so far in my business life cycle. If you dont love what you do, think hard about
what you are doing! If you dont love what you do, it will only get tougher as you get older, and the
older you get the harder to change. As I have said many times, find something you are passionate
about and wrap a career around it-now!
* THINGS TO REMEMBER *
1. No one can ruin your day without YOUR permission.
2. Most people will be about as happy, as they decide to be.
3. Others can stop you temporarily, but only you can do it permanently.
4. Whatever you are willing to put up with, is exactly what you will have.
5. Success stops when you do.
6. When your ship comes in make sure you are willing to unload it.
7. You will never "have it all together."
8. Life is a journeynot a destination. Enjoy the trip!
9. The biggest lie on the planet: "When I get what I want, I will be happy."
10. The best way to escape your problem is to solve it.
11. Ive learned that ultimately, takers lose and givers win.
12. Lifes precious moments dont have value, unless they are shared.
13. If you dont start, its certain you wont arrive.
14. We often fear the thing we want the most.
15. He or she who laughslasts.
16. Yesterday was the deadline for all complaints.
17. Look for opportunitiesnot guarantees.
18. Life is whats coming.not what was.
19. Success is getting up one more time.
20. Now is the most interesting time of all.
21. When things go wrong..dont go with them.
Summer is upon us. Stay focused, but have some fun! Live each day, as it was your last, because it
could be!
Bill Gates Rules
Rule 1: Life is not fair get used to it
Rule 2: The world wont care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to
accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
Rule 3: You will NOT make 40 thousand dollars a year right
You wont be a vice-president with a car phone, until you earn both.
Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you
have tenure.
Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your
had a different word for burger flipping they called it opportunity.
Rule 6: If you mess up, its not your parents fault, so
mistakes, learn from them.
Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents werent as boring
They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and
listening to you talk about how cool you are. So before you save the
rain forest from the parasites of your parents generation, try delousing
the closet in your own room.
Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers,
In some schools they have abolished failing grades and theyll give you
as many times as you want to get the right answer. This doesnt bear the
slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You dont get
few employers are interested in helping you find yourself. Do that on
your own time.
Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people
the coffee shop and go to jobs.
Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are youll end up working for one.
And remember no matter where you are in life your life is someone elses dream!
To Your Quantum Leap
Daniel S. Pea, Sr
P.S. No I havent gone nuts! I am spending more time at Guthrie and doing things I wouldnt have
done earlier in my life! Remember real change is rare! And belief system change is even more rare!
P.P.S. I hope you are testing yourself everyday. Are you passing? Would you hire yourself? Would
you fire yourself? Would you come to work for yourself? Would you go to work t have to? Answer
truthfully.

ISSUE #45
29-May-2003 From Dan Pea - Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer.
Dear Friend and Subscriber,
As I have written since 1993 and said ad nauseam for over 30 years there is never a good (or easy)
time to make a difficult decision. A friend of mine recently hired the legendary Jack Welch, the
former CEO of GE to perk up the employees at a large company. Mr Welch spends a good deal of
time in retirement speaking on his successful methods of business. Actually the precepts have been
around a very long time. There is nothing new about great leadership.
My friend worked on this endeavour over a year. To make this happen he went through several very
tense moments. Firms that represent guys like Welch are hard to get along with and know they are
in a sellers market. During the long process I predicted most of the hurdles and my friend dealt
with them admirably, though it aged him considerably. The event was originally scheduled for
March 2002.
During the 60-minute session Welch covered some of his basic precepts of business. I have attached
his salient points. Most of the points are things I and many others have said and written. It is a very
good short outline to follow.
What inspired me to write about Mr Welchs 60-minute talk was based on two emails I received
back to back from two very different individuals. One, a friend I have worked with for several years
and I know very well. He is CEO of a multi billion dollar organisation. I had forwarded it to him
FYI. He came back with, it was "good stuff". Most FYIs to him I receive no response. After all
they are FYIs. But the mere fact that he responded positively, and I respect his opinion a lot, made
me look at the list again notwithstanding there was nothing new on the list for me. When I did I saw
how good it was! Lesson learned: Always take a second look!
The other came from one of the many QLA devotees. He was writing to tell me of a recent success.
He has followed the QLA methodology and has a lot of my QLA products. He also participates on
the QLA bulletin board and writes me from time to time. I will address his email in a further
newsletter in detail. He and his partner also took some 12 months to make a deal (an acquisition)
and have been working that long on two other deals. There were many tough decisions along the
way. For example there is never a good, or convenient time to tell someone, especially an individual
owner, their company isnt worth what they need. Especially when you are buying it with the
sellers own money in an earn out! I emphasise the word need, because most small to medium sized
companies are sold on a basis of what they need to retire, etc. Their valuation, if you can call it that,
isnt based on any criteria learned at any business school. Another possible tough scenario is when
you have to tell someone vis--vis their business that their son, or daughter are as worthless as
breasts on a wild boar! Remember all sales of this size are full of emotions.
During this 12 month period, as if they needed more problems, their operations director, a former
main board director of a big company, stole a good size chunk of money from them on the way just
to make things more interesting. But they stayed focused and put the ball in the net.
Least we let big companies off the hook when talking about selling assets, many times the sales
price has no relationship to value: i.e. they need a certain price so they wont take a loss on the
books; or the CEO or CFO supported the purchase and now it must be sold at a premium; or the
same guys are in love with the deal and they really dont want to sell.
Good leadership habits help you make the tough calls. Jim Ryan the great miler told me over 30
years ago, inspiration gets you going and good habits keeps you going. I have never forgotten that
credo and it is one reason I work some every day, even if I dont have to or want to. Yes there are
some days, even I, would rather not work. Of course the second reason is I love what I do, so there
are very few days I would rather not work, in fact I dont even consider what I do as work!
The first and third individual both took over a year to accomplish their goal. Both used various
leadership styles, to get to the goal line. Both had and have a vision and practice many of precepts
listed below. Both have strategies, whilst they arent as large as the second individuals they need
planning and execution.
"DO IMPORTANT THINGS AND LEAVE THE REST UNDONE".
Where there is a quantum difference between #s 1& 3 and #2 is their allocation of time on small
things that in reality dont ever have to get completed. When you are starting from a small platform
or from scratch you are predisposed to doing little stuff. You have no choice, or at least you dont
think you do. It is hard for you to distinguish since you did everything in the beginning. It is
difficult to form good habits of delegation, because you have no one to delegate to, but you should
never forget everything shouldnt be delegated because everything doesnt have to get done! It is
you in the leadership capacity that must make that call. It is a difficult call and some never make the
transition.
Whether you are at the beginning of your growth cycle, or near the top of your cycle (and you
should be selling) the attached list of winning ideas can be of great use. As with all useful ideas
merely reading, and or writing them down alone doesnt get the ball in the net. That is why there are
countless poor and emotionally unfulfilled PHDs. You must take positive action to invoke
permanent lasting change! If you merely followed the last five items on Welchs list - "Planning
Your Future" - you would be far ahead of 95% of the competitors!
To Your Quantum Leap
Daniel S. Pea, Sr

ISSUE #46
Dan Pena is an ideal personal success coach. Learn to choose one from his life and events
through this newsletter
Everybody needs a personal success coach who can be looked upon as mentors and role models.
There is always a sense of reverence and respect attached to a personal success coach. Most famed
personalities have a crafted similarity and there are moments one sees an emerging reflection of
their personal success coach among themselves. This means aligning the thought process with these
individuals and then taking a slight variation depending on circumstances and situations. Though a
personal success coach works and trains it is the belief in one self that that matters.
Proper mentoring leads to confidence which is developed to handle situations. There are plenty of
triggers that can help in judging the flamboyance of an individual and their principles held dear in
their lives.
A personal success coach would have extraordinary traits and would be in perfect sync with
everything. The meticulous nature and experience over the years drives them forward and after a
certain level, the sense of achievement is so high that even relationships become discretionary. The
whole exercise of rediscovering ones self in the same existing environment makes the difference.
Fun is also the cerebral make-up of the ideal personal success coach and reaching the pinnacle of
achievement, it is well worth enjoying life and living it king size and doing whats important and
forget the rest!.
Follow the simple principle yesterdays dreams are todays realities and most importantly enjoy the
fruits of labour now! Dan Pena is the ideal personal success coach and through his life and events
described in this newsletter the ideals for success are learnt.
Whilst roaming around my grounds on my golf cart the other day, I came across a man outside my
west gate that is adjacent to Guthrie village. He was elderly and in a wheel chair. He moved towards
me and introduced himself. I have lived here for 19 years and I had never seen him, let alone met
him.
We chatted for a few minutes about how nice and peaceful Guthrie was and how fabulous the
weather had been. (In case you didnt hear Europe had a major heat wave that even spread to
Scotland). I made one of my favourite observations that nothing had changed in 19 years. I said, the
only difference was, upper Guthrie (up the hill) had a new phone booth and lower Guthrie just
outside my gate had a new post (mail) box. There are no stores, pubs or shops. A church and a
cemetery are the only additions to the landscape. He said nothing had changed in the 42 years he
had lived in his cottage.
He went on to tell me stories about Colonel Ivan Guthrie, the last patriarch of the Guthrie clan. He
shared stories how Ivan had served in Queen Victorias time. And how Ivan was an eccentric,
though he didnt call him that. He said, he used to gallop around the estate on his horse. He talked
in a kind of reverence about this man. He obviously had some respect for him. He also said, Ivan
had photos in an exhibition fashion in the castle telling the story of his life. It appeared as if he
thought Ivan had had a wonderful life and apparently enjoyed it to the fullest.
In a very surreal manner I thought he might also be referring to me and the life I have had to date.
Of course I dont ride on a horse around the grounds. I ride a golf cart and walk the perimeter
almost every day. I know my neighbour I had never met, hadnt been in my home, but I too have
many photos and articles throughout what we call the "Great Western Wing" where I spent much of
my time working and coaching.
We had such a nice talk, me sitting in my cart and he in his wheel chair basking in the warm sun. He
said he soon would join the others in the Guthrie cemetery, 100 meters away. He seemed extremely
content with no worries and free of all stress. I believe he might actually look forward to it.
I shook his hand saying I was happy to meet him. He shook my hand very firmly. It was the kind of
handshake you get from someone who read a book, or had attended a class on power of presence. I
slowly turned to go back. He said, with a great smile on his face, "Yesterdays Dreams Are Todays
Realities!". I said, "Yes", with even a bigger smile on my face! I mumbled under my breath, how
very true as I drove over my property line to what was my dream many years ago and still one of
my greatest passions, "Guthrie Castle".
I have pondered why he said what he did? I have thought perhaps it was a dream, or it was like a
twilight zone experience. Could this man have read my book? Website? Not likely. According to
British Telecom, only 32 out of 85,000 population have requested DSL in all of Angus County. So
how many even have computers? I know many dont.
I drove directly back to Guthrie Loch in the centre of my property, where there is a monument (with
a time capsule inside) that was given to me by my wife for my 50th birthday. Inscribed on the
Italian marble is:
Daniel S. Pea, Sr.
August 10, 1995
"Yesterdays Dreams are Todays Realities"
Many people on the property that dont know me often think I am buried there. Actually it might be
a great place to put me. The view is spectacular!
Now, let me share with you some exciting news: I recently announced, I have decided to reduce
greatly my busy schedule even more and have moved back to Guthrie Castle full time. A castle
home was my dream since 1983. I moved here with my family in 1984. I stepped down as CEO of
The Guthrie Group 23 May, 2003. As I have written here before, I have extracted myself as part of a
long-term plan from all executive positions in recent years. I remain Chairman of The Guthrie
Group and will maintain my relationships with select clients and friends. I will also keep working
with a few mentees that are "Quantum Leaps In Progress".
Recently I told the BBC in a TV interview, "After 33 years in "the eye of the tiger" all over the
world, I have decided to do fun stuff like, www.guthriecastle.com. I want to enjoy more fully what
started my quest, Guthrie Castle. My dream was to live in a castle on an island since 1983, though
Britain isnt what I had in mind as an island, Guthrie Castle is exactly what I dreamt".
On a recent visit from my daughter, I saw sites I had never seen though I have lived near them for
19 years. I plan on doing much more of this in the future. I also am taking advantage of having my
own 18-hole golf course. I recently hired a Carnoustie Golf Links (site of the 1999 British Open
Championship) trained greenskeeper to refurbish my course. He has made many great changes. And
I have learned how to drive the various large machines used to maintain the course - I cut a mean
fairway!
Having recently had my 58th birthday, I am going to enjoy life even more than I have in the past. I
have written many times QLA methodology is all about living everyday as it was your last. In that
vain, my longest standing friend of 40 years emailed me a few months ago to say a friend of his had
passed away suddenly. He and my friend were going to come to Guthrie to play golf this month. He
was our age. My friend said, do whats important and forget the rest!
There are two messages in this letter: "Yesterdays Dreams Are Todays Realities"; and most
importantly "enjoy the fruits of your labour now!" I merely plan on enjoying myself even more in
the next 40 - 50 years!
To Your Quantum Leap
Daniel S. Pea, Sr
P.S. For those that think my writing strange, dont worry! I am in great health and intend to be
around for a very long time - to see my childrens grandchildren!

ISSUE #47
The inside story of a personal life coach
A high performer can comfortably be considered as a personal life coach. A personal life coach
breaks away, soaring high in the sky and maybe there all alone. The basic truth is today there are
countless reasons given by people for not fulfilling their goals and this leads them to uninspired
lives as it hinders their choice of a personal life coach. The reasons could be right from blaming
spouses to not having the stomach to handle it. Or as a defense claiming money isnt everything or
money cant buy happiness!
Aligning ones self to think - money alone buys freedom to make infinite amount of choices is
acceptable. Not all goals are financial and over a period of time with more choices developed a
situation arises which can be envious to others.
This leads on to reasoning why many dont achieve their goals. Without a personal life coach, the
influence of the belief system, a socio and economic influence is required to fulfill dreams. Added
to this is a major influence of people in the immediate circle. This could mean like minded people
meeting together and relating with one another. But on the contrary, when a personal life coach is a
high performer there is a tendency to soar high in sky all alone because they are loners. The truth is
whether alone or not - soar!
This newsletter is an abstract of a high performers e-mail which is a major source of inspiration
and can be the ideal personal life coach. It talks of the fears people have even though they have
money. It clearly brings out the truth that perception is reality and absence of evidence is not
evidence of absence. All what a personal life coach recommends.
I get letters from people often. Occasionally I share them with my readers. I protect their real
identity, so they maintain their privacy.
"little people", along with the big guys, I fondly remind myself of such terrific examples. I still get
chills when I read a story like the one below. Notwithstanding it took him (coincidentally) 8 years
he never gave up hope.
"giving up, or in to outside pressure" to soon. I have heard countless reasons: my mortgage, my kids
education, my wife (and this is most often the case), my job doesnt allow me the time, I dont have
the will, I dont have the stomach, and the biggest one of them all-money isnt everything! Or
money cant buy you happiness!
"buys" you freedom to make infinitely more choices. The individual who writes below now has a
continuum of choices he couldnt have envisioned 8 years ago! Thats a great new problem virtually
all of you would like to have!
So why do so many not achieve their goals? As the writer so appropriately states - its "your belief
system" that keeps you from fulfilling your dreams. We are all products of our socio and economic
milieus. We are whom we hang out with, or as the kids used to say, chill out with. (I am a little
unclear what that really means.) I have written, I never met a part time high performance person.
And like people congregate together in like surroundings - with people they relate to. That is not to
say high performance people dont fly alone. On the contrary they soar often alone like an eagle.
Many high performance people are perceived to be loners. Whether youre a loner or not - soar!
Now read what this high performance person has to say. Mentally put yourself in his place.
Visualise where he is and what he is thinking. $100,000 a week isnt all the money in the world, but
it isnt bad! Considering he has come from $15 an hour. A "working stiff" as he refers to himself.
Not bad at all! It makes me proud to forward you this email!
To Your Quantum Leap
Daniel S. Pea, Sr
P.S. It is pleasing to read, as I often do, there are people who would still like to hear me speak. You
can still hear me as often as you like through QLA product.
if you could tell Dan Thanks for me, Id appreciate it - hes responsible for my new lifestyle.
I wont bore you with all of the details, but I was fortunate enough to hear Dan in 1994, when he
spoke in Los Angeles His style and thought process captured my attention completely. I recorded
his short speech, and listened to those tapes every few months while driving my 1994 Honda Civic
to and from work. I knew one day I would break into the hi-performance world that was waiting for
me.
My thinking was completely different than anybody I knewI had a hard time communicating with
anyone because my thought process was so different. Here I am thinking Macro, and everyone is
thinking Micro. At that time, I had a good job (i.e.: working stiff) and was working nights for a
grocery company earning about $15.00 /hr. (US).
In a nutshell, I simply made up my mind 16 months ago to make a million dollars within the next
year. I determined what it would take and set out to do. On June 16, 2002 I went live with my first
online business. I built what many consider the most popular membership website online today. I
become one of Googles and Overtures top advertisersregularly spending over $5,000 (US) daily
in advertising. I believe Im one of the few individuals who was generating $100,000 (US) weekly,
while STILL working a full-time job! It almost cost me my marriage, as I was working 16 hours a
day (and more) EVERYDAY including weekendsno vacation, no holidays. I left my job 5
months ago and have not looked back. Leaving my job was the biggest challenge. I was scared to
death! I mean REALLY scaredeven though I had more money than ever, I was still terrified.
So I now work for myself, live in a million-dollar home with a million dollar view of Los Angeles
and the valley. I am slowly building my dream-team (attorneys, cpa, employees, etc.), and working
hard to break free from doing mundane work (programming) myself as Ive seen first hand that
my employees can do it better (Dan was right about that). Im currently looking into new projects
and expanding my empire. The biggest obstacle has been overcome: my belief system.
you probably hear these stories all the time. I just thought Id share mine with you.
He has some great sayings that I have never forgotten: "Perception is Reality" & "Absence of
Evidence is not Evidence of Absence"great, great sayings.
I enjoy Dans newsletters and bulletin board. I had hoped that Dan was still putting on Seminars,
but it seems he no longer does this?
I would very much like to hear him speak again. Im a VERY busy guy, but I would drop everything
to hear him speak or spend time with him.
Thanks
Sincerely,
BILL

ISSUE #48
UK Life Coach and Personal Success Coach Dan Penas Seminar on QLA Methodology,
Raising Capital and Deals and Acquisitions
A personal success coach is a necessity in life. Dan Pena is a leading personal success coach with a
belief that the only constant in life is change and the sooner one learns to cope and exceed in a
changing environment the sooner success hits.
This newsletter distinguishes what people enjoy and also determine the driving force. Opinions are
plenty, but helping people get across the goal line is whats important. With simple illustrations that
are easily understood, this newsletter talks of the seminar and how special it is for people listening
to QLA Methodology at Guthrie Castle.
The 3 Day QLA event was held in the summer of 2001 and was for people who couldnt make it
earlier! Positioned as UK Life Coach, Dan Penas seminar covered QLA Methodology, Raising
Capital and Deals and Acquisitions. Whether it is big or small deals, the conventional truth spoken
by a personal success coach is even blind hogs will be finding big acorns!
Happy New Year!
PERSISTENCE PAYS OFF
After 2 years of requests I have decided to give the readers what they want another QLA
Seminar.
I have just completed reviewing 2003 as has been my practice for many years. Part of my regimen
is looking at what I did that I dont want to do anymore and what I wish I did more of, but didnt for
whatever reason. The only constant in life is change and the sooner we all learn to cope and exceed
in a changing environment the sooner we will succeed geometrically!
(Whilst writing this newsletter I received a call from a long lost student. I attach the essence of the
call as a P.P.S.)
This process became more acute because of a request made to me in late 2003. A friend and client
of The Guthrie Group and QLA devotee asked if I would consider doing a seminar in February
2004. You may remember I stopped seminars in 2001. He suggested "Raising Capital" as the topic
most people are interested in. I said I would and started my preparations. As life would have it this
seminar wont take place - no fault of mine - but it got me thinking what it was like doing what I
enjoy - helping people making their Quantum Leap by speaking on subject matter I know as well as
anyone! I decided, as I do about most things in my life, since I was looking forward to it - I should
do it!
Ergo, I have decided to give a seminar this spring here at Guthrie. I have received a number of
requests since I gave my last seminar here in August 2001. I must admit I miss the interaction with
the attendees, but I dont miss the travel. As I have said countless times, speaking in front of people
helps keep you sharp! Some former attendees think I merely enjoyed yelling at the attendees.
Though that was part of the ambiance, I took great pleasure in helping attendees get across the goal
line. I still enjoy receiving emails and letters of attendees and users of my product that tell me their
many successes. I have published several of these over the years in this newsletter. As you might
remember some of their stories are quite remarkable. The one thing the stories all have in common
is it was a rough road and they never gave up dreaming!
The seminar will be 4 nights and 3 days, like the one in 2001. At this juncture it is envisaged I will
ask a couple of my current partners to attend to mingle with the attendees. I attach a reduced version
of a recent email from one of my partners who I asked about giving another seminar. Its worth
reading! Michael is a winner! I have written about him before.
People have told me, being here and listening to QLA Methodology is something special since
Guthrie was my dream. Therefore I will open the universe to more so they can share in the Guthrie
Castle experience, so I will charge accordingly. The cost will be only 50% of the cost of my "final"
seminar held in the summer of 2001 - perhaps the people that couldnt make it before can now make
it. Though it is at the reduced price it will be the same 3 Day QLA info as the 2001 event! One of
my current mentees feels strongly I should charge a lot more to make it exclusive. That is the
conventional wisdom from whom I queried. Of course I decided to go against conventional wisdom
and you are the beneficiaries!
The seminar will be held in early April and will cover QLA Methodology, "Raising Capital" and
"Deals and Acquisitions" - one day each. All attendees will receive the 1999 One Day QLA Audio
and Video as a free gift (a value of US$385) for allowing me to stay home and continue to teach!
You may have noticed the market for big deals turned in the second half of last year. Therefore the
market for small deals should follow in 2004. I expect, short of all out war, small deals will flourish.
Small deals are defined: 0 - 10 million. And like always - Even blind hogs will be finding big
acorns! It will be the "Year of the Blind Hog!"
Those interested in seminar details should email Paul Morris at: p.morris@theguthriegroup.co.uk
To Your Quantum Leap
Daniel S. Pea, Sr
P.S.
Dan:
Ive given this response quite some thought, while I believe there are a million and one comments I
could make here these are some of my thoughts. First off, I believe the individual must
understand that QLA is a very deep, internalization-change process that is only possible for people
that have an extreme desire and un-wavering commitmentI believe the individual has to have the
desire and capacity to be able to focus exclusively on truly absorbing the information.
For me, I find myself consistently recalling information from our business emails, phone calls and
in person meetings over the years, BUT MOSTLY FROM CONTINUALLY LISTENING TO
YOUR BUSINESS TAPES AND FROM RE-READING YOUR BOOKusing it as more of a
reference book, which institutes a different way of thinking and goes against how I was raised
what I learned from my family, from grades K-12 and in college.
And for me and my deal, while I do not believe that Im a geniusI do have what amounts to a
"bull-dog" determination and a willingness to do absolutely whatever I think it may take to do a
deal. And to do deals in the large scale multi-family housing industry using QLA, Ive had to learn
how to navigate deeply embedded rules that govern how deals are traditionally done.
Conventionally, deals in this industry require big "up-front" earnest money deposits and equity
money, they are slow moving and it usually takes several generations to build up real net worth,
liquidity and wealth. However, through perseverance and continued belief in you/QLA, Ive been
able to adapt QLA methodologies to being able to do large scale multi-family housing deals and
building net worth, liquidity and wealth now at the age of just turning 32! And if myself as an
individual, would have had more financial acumen, business skills, etc. and perhaps most of all
would have had the ability to erase all my preconditioning and instantly inject my brain with the
information from you, your business programs and the information the book provided me over 5
years ago, I would have been able to adapt and change quicker and would have achieved success
quickermuch quicker.
These are some of my initial thoughts. Quantum Leaps in progress!-Michael
P.P.S. Whilst writing this newsletter I got a call from a former student who had put his family
through the 3 day seminars. In fact he put his four sons (3 lawyers) and a daughter in law (a lawyer)
through QLA training. He had built a successful business. Unbeknownst to me he had been in a near
fatal car accident with his youngest son. He had lost his memory for 4 years and recently got it back
to find much of his business had disappeared and he wanted to make a come back. This kind of
"pick yourself up" story isnt unusual. But at age 65 they are truly rare! I told him about my
upcoming Guthrie Seminar and he said he would come. As an aside he stated what I have said on
my Bulletin Board on my site; he felt uncomfortable leaving his story in a message asking for help.
He said in many different ways I was doing the right thing in giving a seminar again. He said I have
too much to offer not to use it. He read me what I had written him in the 1st page of my book
almost 5 years ago. It was scary how accurate I had been.
I dont need reinforcement when I make a decision, as most do, as I have written and said countless
times. If it looks and feels hot - its hot. I am looking forward to seeing a group of you here soon! It
will be an experience you will never forget. I look upon each and every Castle Experience fondly!

ISSUE #49
21st January 2004 From Dan Pea - Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer.
Dear Friend and Subscriber,
I rarely write news letters so close together, but I have good reasons to do so now. One, I received
this thought provoking message (below) on my (our) bulletin board at www.danpena.com and two, I
am happy to write the seminar I announced in my Newsletter of 9 Jan is over subscribed, so I have
decided to have another seminar this summer. As you will tell from my writing here the momentum
has become infectious. If it feels right, smells right and tastes right - it must be right! It also seems
you appreciate the greatly reduced prices! Remember its hot - or its not!
1. As I have written and said countless times we should live every day as if it were our last. I have
even begged seminar participants to live life on purpose. My Peaisms and other writings are filled
with quotes about taking account of your lives. I have demanded you take responsibility for your
lives and actions. Many of you have heard me ask, "what will be your legacy?", "What would you
want put on your tombstone?" But I never thought about what I would put on mine! So when this
message appeared on my (our) site I was moved. I was especially moved by the two questions
below, because of the very recent loss of my Mother who I had just moved to be with me at Guthrie.
She was a very special person, though I really didnt appreciate what she had done for me till late in
her life, since I started coaching in 1993. My Mom was always supportive of everything I did. As I
have said many times, she read in Readers Digest (or somewhere) in about 1946, you should never
use the word "no" when dealing with your child. Therefore, I was raised in an environment that had
no negatives associated with it from my Mom. We now all understand how extremely important that
was to establishing a basis for my self esteem. Until I had started coaching I had always taken self
esteem for granted. Of course I worked on it, but I never gave it any conscious thought till I started
trying to build a model for others to follow. I have said more times than I can remember; "self
esteem is the basis for excellence in all high performance individuals." All that have heard me speak
or listened to my tapes have heard me bellow, "I may be wrong, but I am never in doubt!" In that
vain when questioned how I would view my lifes legacy and what would I put on my own
tombstone, I was truly moved. It made me ponder what words should I write on my mothers?
The message below was left a few days ago.
Hi Dan !
First of all Im deeply impressed about your career in business and private life. Ive watched your
video seminar over and over and was overwhelmed by your energy.
Dan, what will be the legacy from you to all of us in one sentence??
What is this key message on your tombstone?? Im eager to read the answer.
Keep on going!
B
I wont try and relate my thoughts in one sentence vis--vis my legacy, but I can tell you what I tell
the ones I love: "wrap your life around what youre passionate about and leave this life with no
regrets for the things you didnt do - but could have done!"
And though I havent planned my tombstone yet, "To Your Quantum Leap" would be appropriate as
my good friend and colleague Bruce Whipple suggested. The time capsule near the Guthrie loch
and 4th tee of Guthrie Castle Golf Course has inscribed on its marble top, "Yesterdays Dreams are
Todays Realities." Perhaps I will have both phrases inscribed. The real point of this message in
response to the Bulletin Board query is to consciously think every day of what we are attempting to
achieve in our short lives and did we get any closer today? Normally we think about our lives when
we are at the end. My entire QLA Methodology is based on doing now - not later! Taking positive
action now! Living life to its fullest! Being all we can be!
Ask yourself how you would answer the questions put to me? - Hopefully some of you will use the
Bulletin Board to answer.
As an aside, the Bulletin Board, along with other parts of the site, will have changes soon to make it
more "user friendly and interactive", including DVD, CD video and sound bites.
2. I was pleasantly surprised to see the seminar I announced in my last news letter was over
subscribed in a few days. I purposely didnt give a date, or price. I only said it would cost 50% of
my last Castle Experience in August of 2001. Those that enquired were told, it would be 2-6 April at
Guthrie. Virtually all were pleasantly surprised at the cost. A few didnt understand the cost also
included room and board at Guthrie. I am having a lot of fun with the idea of giving a seminar again
and have already started tinkering with a few content details making it current, though the concepts
are timeless. Therefore, because of your positive response, and a new enthusiasm fired up in me, I
am announcing another 3 day, 4 night seminar 18-22 June at Guthrie for the same cost. Or as the
seminar gurus say, "Not cost but - Investment". Details can be obtained from Paul Morris at
p.morris@danpena.com. I am looking forward to interfacing with attendees in April and June. The
last night will be a "black tie event" as is customary for a Castle Experience. Understandably, a few
have requested stretching their time for local travel and golf. All reasonable requests will be
considered.
The material covered will be QLA day 1, Raising Capital day 2, and Deals and Acquisitions day 3.
Days 2 and 3 will be structured around the participants own needs after the QLA basics are covered.
All questions will be addressed. My time is your time whilst you are here. I look forward to sharing
what I have learned over my 34 year career at my home. As you will see and feel Guthrie Castle and
its environs are an extraordinary venue to learn and share dreams!
If today was a test - how did you do?
For those of you that decide to take positive action and attend a castle experience - I GUARANTEE
you will answer this question much differently subsequent to your attendance!
And to answer a few queries - I have no plans on giving QLA Seminars anyplace other than
Guthrie.
To Your Quantum Leap,
Dan
P.S. Yesterday the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) filmed part of a documentary here at
Guthrie. When talking about dreams and our two friendly ghosts, I shared true stories about others
dreams being initiated here at Guthrie. Whilst Guthrie was my dream, it has been at the core of
many seminar attendees dreams coming true dating back to 1994. I have written and talked about
the "Verdiers" who came to Guthrie 10 years ago. Their lives were changed, as have many others.
They have now lived on a rural estate in a large mansion near Washington DC for 7 / 8 years and
are the proud owners of a thriving business that continues to expand greatly. Before they came to
Guthrie they were already successful. They had already found a model that worked, but they wanted
more and were willing to change. The experience had a major effect on their entire family, as they
have readily written and said many times. They remain my friends.

ISSUE #50
Personality development seminars and a personal development program from Dan Pena
In this newsletter, there is write-up of a host of personality development seminars and a personal
development program. The details are carried out in this newsletter and will also be seen on the Dan
Pena website as well. The upcoming two Castle Events will be featured here and it will also talk of
the various QLA devotees and partner scheduled to be there.
After a two and a half year layoff Dan Pena has decided to start the 3-day Quantum Leap Advantage
Castle Experience seminars again. After making a leadership speech across the world and taking
part in seminars and workshops, Dans favourite is the Castle Experience. In fact, Dan urges readers
to work toward their dream and passion which is a storybook ambience.
Most of the material developed for this personality development seminars and personal
development program is timeless and these are available for sale. The format would for the June 3
day and 4 night seminars will be devoted to, 1 day basic QLA, 1 day Raising Capital and 1 day
Deal Making and Acquisitions.
Dan thanks followers for their perseverance to hold these seminars at Guthrie which otherwise
would not have happened! He is also very happy and satisfied to hear from many who have
encouraged him to back a comeback to the seminar pulpit!
This newsletter deals with the personality development seminars where attendees can build a
personal model for success. There are various illustrations that clearly describe how some of the
attendees have benefited!
NEW SEMINAR PAGE / PRODUCT SALE
Soon there will be a new "Seminar" page on the Dan Pea website. It will feature seminar
schedules, topics and the salient points covered. It will also have words, phrases and comments for
the day, week or month as I think of them. I am sure you will be able to benefit. The upcoming two
Castle Events will be featured. It will also relate which QLA devotee and partner is scheduled to be
there.
As I have written in recent issues of my newsletter, I decided after a 21/2 year layoff to give the 3-
day Quantum Leap Advantage Castle Experience seminars again. As many of you know I gave
seminars, workshops and keynote speeches spreading the QLA word, all around the world from
1993 to 2001. But my favourite has always been the Castle Experience. For those of you that have
been here - you know why!
I start these seminars by saying; Guthrie Castle is the perfect metaphor for "Yesterdays Dreams are
Todays Realities". This was my dream!
Whatever your dream and passion there is no better place to launch, or re-launch your dream than
Guthrie Castle. Countless Castle attendees have initiated their search for personal success here. As
the photos on my web sites www.danpena.com, www.guthriecastle.com and
www.theguthriegroup.co.uk show, the storybook ambiance is unparalleled.
Whilst listening to the QLA, Raising Capital and Deal Making and Acquisitions tapes to prepare for
the upcoming seminar, I was struck by how the product material is so timeless. In fact I have
decided to sell (to my newsletter subscribers only) the "Raising Capital" and "Deal Making and
Acquisitions" tapes for 195 instead of 357. You really need to have these so you can listen to
them regularly! If I still get benefit, just imagine what good they will do you! (email
p.morris@danpena.com for details)
The April and June 3 day and 4 night seminars will be devoted to, 1 day basic QLA, 1 day Raising
Capital and 1 day Deal Making and Acquisitions. This associated product is outstanding. I had
forgotten how great it truly is! The only way to get a better emersion is to hear me in person.
Though virtually all successful QLA devotees say, you also need the product to get additional doses
of Dan to continue to replicate the QLA methodology till its part of you. And as I have written
some have actually worn the tapes out - which we replace free of charge. There is a direct
relationship to those that live QLA and their personal success.
I had thought my message could continue to help people without me personally giving seminars. I
WAS WRONG! And I am very happy for those of you that continued to ask, "When is Dan giving
another seminar?" Without your perseverance me returning, to give seminars at Guthrie would not
have happened! It is very gratifying to hear from many of you thanking me for coming back to the
seminar pulpit!
Interfacing with seminar attendees gives me great satisfaction. Helping them build their own
personal model for success is extremely fulfilling. I have shared a number of e-mails with you over
the years. Sometimes I have to drag them across the goal line and sometimes all they need is a
gentle shove.
As hard as many seminar attendees believe I am - often whilst reading e-mails from you brings
goose bumps, a lump in my throat and a tear in my eye. The short story that follows did all three!
I am reminded of a student mentee who stuttered badly when he came to one of my seminars in the
mid 90s. That same young man 2 years later won a US Kodak-University competition by giving a
speech and power point presentation to an audience of 2,000 without a hitch. That day, truly, my
cup runnith over! He later went into the priesthood. He said learning to be articulate made him
realize his real talent was being an "excellent listener". I helped him learn that the basis of all high
performance people is self-esteem and self-concept!
This is just one of the countless stories I count as my track record as a "Personal Development
Success Coach". Though most of the accolades I have received have been as a business coach and
creating wealth, I have always known many benefit from QLA in countless other ways. I believe I
have had success in this arena as well, because I have had 10s of thousands of meetings and
conversations, all over the world in 5 separate decades. These countless encounters have allowed
me to understand what people wanted for themselves. Whether it is conscious or not we all want to
be - ALL WE CAN BE! And to be all you can be you must "LIVE LIFE ON PURPOSE". It sounds
corny, but positive self-esteem was meant for everyone! Some use it to create monetary wealth and
some use it to create emotional wealth, i.e. Priesthood, Teachers, Social Workers to name a few.
A number of you have asked what the 3-day, Guthrie Castle Experience includes other than
sumptuous food, drink and accommodation! Here are the salient points we will cover in April and
June:
QLA Overview
. Who am I? Redefine goals
. Your doubts are not products of accurate thinking, but habitual thinking
. What it means to be super successful. Laser beam focus
. Preparing for your Quantum Leap (15 keys)
. Achieving your Quantum Leap (8 power strategies)
. Cashing in on your success
DEAL MAKING AND ACQUISITIONS?
. How to find an industry?
. How to find targets within your industry?
. How the internet has made the process easier and harder?
. How to make a first impression?
. How to expand your Dream Team?
. How to set up a system to get paid?
. How to structure professional fees?
. How to set up and conduct the first meeting? Second?
. How to proceed to reviewing financials?
. How to create deal flow?
. How to determine if the deal is hot?
. How to conduct due diligence?
. How to make an offer?
. How to tie up the deal?
. How to finance the deal?
. How to do the next deal?
. Role play using attendees own deals.
RAISING CAPITAL
. Dispelling myths
. Rules of the Game - there arent any!
. How the internet has made the process easier and harder.
. Role playing
. Forms of Finance
. Fundamentals of finance
. How to locate successful financing?
. How to interview financial institutions?
. Business Plans - Dos and Donts
. How to create/project the right perception?
. How to create an instant track record?
. How to present to the financial institutions?
. How to always position to go public - even if you dont?
. How to leverage banks against each other?
. How to choose between IPOs and Private Placements?
. When to use Investment Banks, Venture Capitalists, brokers, private equity providers, and others?
. How to understand the various tools of finance?
. Unsecured vs. secured debt
. How to see the red flags early?
. Advanced role playing
. Evaluation of business plans of attendees
. How to avoid subsequent litigation by positioning yourself for it?
. Analytical model for calculating debt required
. Most common financial follies
. How not to take rejection from bankers, investors too seriously?
. Financial misconceptions
To Your Quantum Leap,
Dan
P.S. Remember, "Dreams come true with Low Interest Rates!"
P.P.S. Some of the topics that have been suggested for further seminars are:
1. Doing international business
2. How making money in a down-market differs from an up-market?
3. Interpreting the strategic vector
4. Trials and Tribulations of the Venture Capital world: interviewing VCs - dos and donts
5. How to find deals? Setting up your model.
6. What deals are hot and what are not?
7. Litigation - the sword and the shield of a high performer!
8. QLA to build self esteem and self concept and overcoming fear of failure; that which does not
kill me makes me stronger
9. QLA - Leadership and motivation of others
I am reviewing all of these and a few others, but 2 or 3 of them certainly look, feel and sound hotter
than others. Of course as you will read a number of the topics suggested are covered in the 3-day
castle experience. I would be interested in further input.

ISSUE #51
25th March 2004
From Dan Pea - Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer.
Dear Friend and Subscriber,
QLA DEVOTEE / MENTEE HONOURED
I am pleased to announce one of our own QLA devotees and my mentee was featured on 17th
March by Forbes. I couldnt be more proud! As I have written before, Michael Pierce has been
through a lot! Please take the time to read the article. To many of you, it will sound very familiar!
www.forbes.com/reuters/newswire/2004/03/17/rtr1302287.htm
ANOTHER QLA CASTLE EXPERIENCE
I would like to take this opportunity to tell you I will give another 3 day 4 night castle experience in
15 - 18 August. I am sure it will be fully subscribed. This seminar will combine QLA Methodology,
Raising Capital and Deal Making and Acquisitions as the April and June seminars. It will also be at
the reduced price of April and June. In addition I have taken some of the suggestions you sent me,
including new blocks on leadership, selling your dream, overcoming obstacles and the conventional
wisdom that will plague you.
In addition Michael Pierce will be the invited QLA devotee. As I told the Reuters journalist, many
know QLA Methodology, but few are as totally committed and articulate it as well, as Michael. He
should be an inspiration and extra bonus to the castle experience. He will say in his own words how
he had to continue to sell and resell his dream and overcome many obstacles time after time! I know
he will share how he felt, because I never gave up on him, though his success was a long time
coming. As I have said countless times, I never give up on anyone as long as they dont give up on
themselves!
For more information on the August seminar contact Michelle at m.kelly@guthriecastle.com. The
outline of the seminar is exactly what is on my site for April / June slightly condensed, but also
includes the above new blocks. As always each attendees deal / dream will be worked into the
programme, by submitting detailed questionnaires before the event. As before we will try and
accommodate extended stays where possible. There will still be time for those of you that play golf,
etc, since it is daylight from 4am till 11pm and the seminar hours are 9am till 6pm, or until all
questions are answered.
I look forward to seeing you in August, or before!
To Your Quantum Leap,
Dan
P.S. To answer whether I will be giving seminars in the USA or anywhere else in Europe - NONE
ARE PLANNED.
ISSUE #52
Personal Development Program, Leadership Training Seminar
The Dan Pena Personal Development Program and Leadership Training Seminar was a grand
success. All attendees had a great time and going by some of the comments registered here the
experience was outstanding. In fact a number of registrations were already signed for the next
event. This newsletter gives an insight into the various experiences of people during this 3-Day and
4-Night Personal Development Program and Leadership Training Seminar.
The attendees ranged from the ages 27 to 68 and came from the USA, England, Germany, Canada
and Netherlands with varied backgrounds from real estate, construction; commercial cleaning,
internet; software and financial services, amongst others.
Through this Personal Development Program and Leadership Training Seminar many people
benefited and achieved the "stretch" they were looking for. It was a congregation of people who
aimed at achieving similar goals and with a strong belief in the QLA. Overall it helped people
identify and realise ones potential and releasing it from the shackles.
In fact this Personal Development Program and Leadership Training Seminar brought out the best
in many people where they could laugh at ones elf without becoming tense or upset - an easy way
of improving self-esteem.
Overall, the attendees found Dan coming out stronger each day at this Personal Development
Program and Leadership Training Seminar. In fact there was also an overlap of subjects which were
not part of the seminar. Find out how Dan plans to go about the next seminar along with an array of
topics that would take care of various aspects in leadership.
"Nothing is as real as a dream. The world can change around you, but your dream will not.
Responsibilities need not erase it, duties need not obscure it. Because the dream is within you, no
one can take it away." - Unknown
CASTLE EXPERIENCE
Well another Castle Experience is history! All attendees had a great time. The comments below
clearly indicate the experience was outstanding and all would come back again and recommend it!
In fact a number of them have already signed up for the different format in August and even
seminars not yet scheduled that we discussed I might, or should give. More about that later.
I had forgotten how much fun the 3 day and 4 nights were. The attendees ranged in age from 27 to
68 and came from the USA, England, Germany, Canada (by way of Pakistan) and the Netherlands.
The group was varied in their backgrounds: various forms of real estate; construction; commercial
cleaning; internet; software and financial services, amongst others.
HERES WHAT SOME HAD TO SAY:
I really enjoyed these 3 days, hope to be back soon, together with other people from other
organisations. - Gerard (previous Castle attendee)
I achieved the "stretch" I was hunting forIt is highly unlikely in life that I will meet anybody with
your (DSPs) presence. - John (Signed up for Aug)
I have found the whole experience very enjoyable. Nice to interact with others that are trying to
achieve similar goals. I will be back in August and we will by that time have tripled in size. -
Michael (Signed up for Aug)
QLA is something I really believe in. - Henk
Thanks a lot Dan, you have brought out the best in me. I have learned to laugh at myself, without
becoming tense or upset - that means my self esteem has improved. I shall attend another of your
seminars in October - Habib
Things Ive learned: Do not share doubts - Ive been doing that for a long time. Dealing with you
Dan, someone I view as one of the biggest hard-asses on earth makes dealing with anyone else (i.e.
bankers and other business people) much easier. I can do it, I can be an assassin - its not magic. -
Bill (signed up for Aug)
The seminar, in my view, is about identifying and realising our potential. It has released me from
my own shackleswhich now seems completely obvious. Crystallisation of future "Plan of
Action"Freedom from a substantial amount of dross I had carried, i.e. "Like the removal of a
heavy coat." Certain precepts have been totally dispelledSelf esteem has certainly been boosted
A reality check I would recommend - I will definitely return. - Martin
I can recommend anybody to visit the seminar and see Dan in action. An experience for an eternity.
I would come back and do the seminar again anytime. - Ricardo
LETTERS
As I have written countless times I get many letters and emails relating great experiences. I knew as
soon as I read it I had to share this letter from John. It is especially remarkable because he is 59! I
get great gratification when I see people win against conventional wisdom. Please read it and feel
his success!
Dear Dan,
I took your advice after reading your book and decided to buy a business. I had little money to play
with so I went for "perception is reality" and took it from there.
I did my homework (very thoroughly) and discovered that the sellers liked a drink and a bet on the
horses. They were also deep in debt. My kind of people, if you see what I mean!
Next I paid the outstanding tax liens on the property.
" Now lets talk about buying your business."
Raising the finance was not easy. I went from bank to bank and lender to lender until I was finally
accepted. I will always remember this doofus banker looking over his horn-rimmed spectacles and
telling me in all seriousness, "Do you realise that this loan is 3% over LIBOR?"
Stupid idiot!
I am now the proud owner of a large, thriving guesthouse.
Not bad for a 59 year old guy with lousy credit ratings.
I would also add:
1. It was not easy, several times I almost filed the whole shebang under "nightmares I have avoided"
because it was an 18 months long, real-life nightmare.
2. It helps to have a slush fund.
3. It helps to have grim determination.
4. It helps to be slightly crazy.
5. My people no longer ask me where I am going when I see them don my shirt and tie. They know
I am going to the bank.
Thanks Dan, I would never have attempted anything like this until I met you.
Thanks a million, and heres to my first million.
John
Dear John,
Congratulations! Keep pushing!
To Your Quantum Leap,
Dan
QLA DEVOTEE / MENTEE HONOURED
In my last email I sent an incorrect address to the Forbes article on Michael Pierces success feature.
Here is the correct link:
http://www.forbes.com/reuters/newswire/2004/03/17/rtr1302287.html
AUGUST CASTLE EXPERIENCE
After giving my first Castle Experience in over 2 years I was interested in the comments from the
attendees. As all the attendees would say I ended each day stronger than I started - because I am
doing something I am passionate about! It was also made clear to me there was interest in additional
topic areas. Therefore, I will now expand the new material to a full day in my next August Castle
Experience. QLA, Raising Capital and Deal Making & Acquisitions will make up 2 days. The third
day will focus on leadership, selling your dream, sales training, overcoming objections and focused
follow through. This is a great mix of information and Michael Pierce will join us in August!
To Your Quantum Leap,
Dan
P.S. Financing Your Dream: To assist in cash flow management my team will allow Castle
Experience attendees to pay for their tuition in instalments. If you need more information contact
Paul at p.morris@guthriecastle.com.
P.P.S. Going forward the following seminars will be given at Guthrie Castle:#
June: 3 Day QLA, Raising Capital, Deal Making and Acquisitions (as scheduled).
August: 3 Day QLA, Raising Capital, Deal Making and Acquisitions, Leadership, Sales &
Marketing.
BASED ON INTEREST RECEIVED THESE ARE THE PROPOSED SUBJECTS FOR THE
REST OF 2004:
1 Day QLA; 1 Day Leadership, Sales, Marketing; 1 Day Raising Capital Deals and the art of Close.
2 Day Finance, Capital, Deals and the Art of Close.
3 Day QLA, Finance, Capital, Deals and the Art of Close.
P.P.P.S. Details of Guthrie Castle Seminars planned for 2005 will be published later this year along
with details of the increased price structure.

ISSUE #53
Join Dan is the search for a personal success coach and UK life coach.
In continuing the search for a personal success coach and UK life coach, Dan takes a trip into the
world of entertainment. In specific he talks about the reality shows on television which have turned
out to be blockbusters on small screen simply because success sells the best and everybody deep
inside wants to be all they can be. The premise is very clear - its all about taking the right decision
changes everything rather than just wishing for it.
Bringing out the spirit of a personal success coach, Dan goes through the selection process in
meticulous detail where out of 215,000 applicants only 2 were short-listed. While it all seems fun,
the final 16 get to do some rudimentary to simple acts and Dan takes a dig wondering how they
would survive in real life situations.
Dan also brings out how being intense and devoted makes a winner. That was the stuff that the
winner - an intense entrepreneur who successfully sold cigars on the Internet was made of. The
facts are a personal success coach needs to also be a good leader and that was lacking among the
teams that were participating. It is always that the best man wins but being able to digest someone
else being the winner can be hard.
Dan talks in detail of a few personalities who suit a personal success coach role. Trump is one of
them and he talks about how he handles stress. Another personality is Mark Burnett who pioneered
"Reality TV" and his struggle to become one of Americas popular entertainer, a personal success
coach and of course a UK life coach.
Dan discusses about Castle Experience graduates who are different and each of them being
mentored to become either a personal success coach or a UK life coach.
23rd April 2004
From Dan Pea - Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer.
Dear High Performance Person and Visionary,
"A WISH CHANGES NOTHING! A DECISION CHANGES EVERYTHING!"
Over the Easter break I spent a couple of weeks in the USA with my family. After spending a few
days in NYC with my daughter looking as schools she might go to next year, I went back to
California. It was a lot of fun, but one of the high lights was seeing "The Apprentice" finale, which
is produced by Mark Burnett, the "King of Reality Shows." (More about Burnett later.)
I had received a number of emails telling me Donald Trumps new hit show was very much in line
with QLA methodology. I got to see the penultimate and final shows. The Apprentice was voted #1
in American TV. Thats a staggering fact! Just think about all the competition! What does this
mean? Of all the regular shows and reality shows, business and personal, success ranks way ahead
of all the others! Why?
Success sells the best! Down deep inside we all want to be, as Joe Baton (mentor of Ross Perot)
said ALL WE CAN BE!
Of course, because its American TV, all the 16 finalists were reasonably attractive and some, so Im
told, were better than reasonably attractive. I really didnt notice! The country (USA) got
completely caught up with the process. Out of 215,000 applicants it came down to 16 and then 2. It
has been announced that the second seasons show already has 1.3 million applicants.
I personally thought the tasks given to the final 16 were rudimentary to simple. In fact it has already
been announced the second season will have potential partners like Dupont and GE. I joked whilst
watching the programme with my kids - I could give them some real life problems that would
stump them all!
Trump said, "The finalists all had intensity, drive and were super smart". The 215,000 ranged from
drop out to medical doctor. The two finalists pitted a laid back Harvard MBA (who quit a great job
at Goldman Sachs to participate) against a very intense entrepreneur who successfully sold cigars
on the internet, with a degree in criminology from the University of Loyolla Chicago. The intense
candidate won!
As Trumps lawyer, who was part of the programme and had been with him 30 years, said, "When
the team needed him most, the laid back guy wasnt there for them". The best input of the finalist
performance came from Trumps own senior staff, all people who had been there and done it! When
the two finalists own teams were pushed for comments both criticized their leaders.
Whilst reviewing the 2 final tests, Trump would say, "where is she? If it goes wrong - youre fired!
Time is money!" And he liked using the word - pathetic!
When Trump told Rick (the ultimate winner) he was hired, he said to report to work in 15 minutes.
Perhaps it was a joke! Trump told the winner he had 3 minutes to decide on which massive project
he could choose from to manage the next year. No research! No time to ponder the choices! He said,
"It was an easy choice!"
Over the course of the last 2 episodes, the winner said business and life are tough and so am I! One
of the 16 finalists paid $250,000 cash to Trump to work for him for one year, (more about that
later!)
Trump said, "She (a team member of the laid back MBA) hurt him badly twice and he did nothing.
And to be successful you must be able to deal with bad - NOW!" And Trump didnt like the MBA
not dealing with it. He said, "When deceived, dont move them aside - fire them now!" Trump
asked of the winner, "Why are you sitting with all of the people I fired? Sit over here! Dont make
excuses I just fired them!"
Trump - "You were too happy when you lost!" he said to the final loser. I know real lifes not that
theatrical, but the outcome is the same.
Based on watching the show and deciding to do seminars at Guthrie again after a long layoff, I am
now considering doing a new mentee programme. I have had many since 1993 offer to work for me,
with me for no pay, or for only fees generated, or out of the start up when it made money. I have
also had (like on The Apprentice Show) young, middle aged and old offer to pay me to work along
with me. I will consider all options in my new mentee programme!
At the end of the show, all were "lovey dovey" with hugs and kisses! This is not my experience. The
MBA said, "The best man won!" This wasnt him! As has been said many times before, "You show
me a good loser and I will show you a good loser! How can you be happy for someone else to win
and you lose?"
Personally I am suprised Trump would pick an apprentice from two people who organised a golf
tournament and a charity pop concert. I am sure marketing had something to do with it!
I was not surprised to see in the final Board Room scene of all 16 finalists to see the 2 finalists get
their throats cut by their own teams. I was not surprised to hear Trump say, "When I am in the
Board Room I am the Boss!"
Trump, when asked how he deals with stress answered, "I say it doesnt matter! When I see
thousands die in India or wherever - and I look at me, I know it doesnt matter!"
Having seen and enjoyed the programme I am more convinced than ever there is a need for more
QLA. As I am writing this I took a call from an investment banker from Geneva asking after he read
"Your First 100 Million" about the Castle Experience in August. People continue to send me deals.
Whilst I read them I wont seriously consider them unless they are Castle Experience graduates. My
experience shows me without the actual QLA background experience gained at a seminar there is
too much gap between QLA knowledge and working with me. It also shows me there is a real
commitment to their dream and if I can get on with them. And again the deal that I describe in my
book is no longer valid. Now I look at each potential deal individually. There is no set model. I now
do what feels correct to me at the time vis--vis the project.
To Your Quantum Leap,
Dan
P.S. In the months to come I will develop other ways to spread QLA Methodology!
P.P.S. Mark Burnett pioneered "Reality TV". He now lives in Malibu, California with the rich and
famous of the entertainment world. He is a Brit who went to the USA after serving in the Falklands
War in 1982. He sold T-Shirts on Venus Beach. A California lawyer who was skating by stopped
and gave him a book - "The Art Of The Deal", by Donald Trump. Ever since then his dream was to
meet Trump and be his partner. They are now 50-50 partners in their new venture. The Apprentice is
now being syndicated in many other countries!
ISSUE #54
3rd May 2004
From Dan Pea - Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer.
Dear High Performance Person and Visionary,
It is with much regret that I announce the passing of my mentor Jerry Ormand. He was one of a
kind! He was of a generation gone by. I am extremely grateful for his guidance and the friendship
he gave me for more than 25 years. He and his late wife were like second parents to me. I often
said, sitting in his lovely home on the ninth hole of Bel Air Country Club, Bel Air, California,
"When I grow up I want to be just like you!" In later years he would say, whilst in my Californian
home and at Guthrie Castle, "When I grow up I want to be just like you!" He was always positive
and supportive and I have talked about him on many occasions. When I first started my QLA
Seminars he attended almost everyone. The first year there were about 30 of them all over the USA.
I often thought he came in the beginning because he thought no-one would come and he didnt want
me to be alone to face an empty room. As he used to tell audiences during breaks he got to live life
twice through me!
The last time we had lunch in Houston, Texas, he reminded me of many of the fun and tough times
we shared. He down played the tough times and focused on the great times. Thats the kind of man
he was. I never heard him raise his voice or use a swear word, he didnt drink or smoke and was
deeply religious. He always got up when a lady left or entered the room, or got up from the table, or
came to sit. He always held the door open for a woman, or the elderly. His business and personal
ethics were perfect. I rarely saw him without at least a coat, unless we were playing golf.
I will always remember some 20 years ago flying in a "Gulf Stream" to Dallas. This is a proper jet
where you can stand up and walk around. It was my partners plane. All Jerry wanted to know - "Is it
paid for?" Jerry didnt believe in lease payments. I said, "Yes!" Later that day whilst shooting pool
in my partners 25,000sq ft "guest house," I commented, "This is also paid for along with their own
private country club which surrounded this compound." He retorted back, as he often did, "They
must have quite a bit of production" (pronounced "puurrductionn!") - meaning barrels a day of oil.
I will miss him a lot, not that I saw him that often in recent years - I always knew I could call him.
And as one of my senior mentees told me a couple of weeks ago, "Sometimes thats all I need! - To
know I can call you 24/7!"
My dear friend, Jerry Ormand leaves me, his wonderful family and the whole world a much richer
and decent place than before he came to us in 1919. He was born in Electra, Texas and he landed on
the beaches of Normandy in June 1944. He rose to lofty heights in finance and commerce in the US,
UK and Middle East. As you have seen me write, I often check myself by asking what I would write
on my own tombstone. For Jerry Ormand it could say: "A gentleman, world class Dad, Grandfather,
and friend to all!"
Goodbye old friend! You left the world a much better place than you found it!! What more can
anyone ask?
Respectfully,
Dan
P.S. I will write very soon about an idea his passing gave me. He would love it. He used to say,
"Every thunder cloud and heartache has a silver lining - only if we think about it and look hard
enough."
ISSUE #55
Join Dan as he unravels the secrets of a personal success coach and UK life coach.
Ever wondered what does a mentor like Dan teach to become a personal success coach or a
successful UK life coach. It all starts with action and deeds that actually define a person. In fact,
there are a few people who have attended his seminars regularly and their observations are brought
to light here. One of them claims that Dan offers extremely valuable information on subjects that
can only be learned through hard knocks in life. All the information can be used to set one self on a
path to becoming a high level performer.
In this newsletter, Dan clearly lists out the various schedules of the upcoming seminars and also
gives a sneak preview into the topics that would be spoken on. Check out what this mentor and high
performer Dan has to offer as a personal success coach and UK Life Coach. These seminars
promise to help aspiring personnel to coach others how to do it right!
WHY DO MOST PEOPLE SPEND MORE TIME PLANNING THEIR HOLIDAYS THAN
THEIR LIVES?
OUR ACTIONS AND DEEDS DEFINE US!
As I mentioned in my recent Newsletter, Jerry Ormand attended almost every seminar I gave when I
first started my coaching career. He said, "You are giving extremely valuable information on
subjects that can only be learned through hard knocks in life. If you could only relate to them how
extremely valuable your information was you would always have the seminar seats full no matter
how big the venue and youd be doing a tremendous service to all." Based on this thought I will
give more seminars here at Guthrie Castle this year and donate a portion to the Alzheimer
Foundation. His familys choice. I will give one, two and three day seminars. The new seminar
costs will be approximately pro rata of the recent 3 day Castle Experience. The subjects will cover
what I wrote in recent newsletters:
NEW QLA SEMINAR TOPICS: Leadership, Motivation of Others, Selling Your Dream,
Overcoming Objections, Sales Training, Focused Follow Through, The Art of the Close, Litigation -
the sword and shield of a high performer, Self Esteem and Self Concept, and Overcoming the Fear
of Failure and how you relate these to fulfilling your Dream!
All new seminars will begin with a brief overview of QLA precepts, along with appropriate QLA
references throughout the sessions. Of course all topics will be based on QLA real world examples!
AUGUST 1 and 2 DAY SEMINARS:
ONE DAY AND TWO NIGHTS: - Self Concept, Self Esteem, Overcoming the Fear of Failure, and
Litigation the sword and shield of the high performer. NEW!
August 8th/9th/10th - arrive late afternoon 8th, leave am on 10th.
Two DAY AND THREE NIGHTS: - Leadership, Motivation of Others, Sales Training, Selling Your
Dream, Focused Follow Through and The Art of the Close. NEW!
August 10th/11th/12th/13th - arrive late afternoon 10th, leave am on 13th.
(Can be attended in conjunction with preceding One Day event)
ONE DAY AND TWO NIGHTS: - Self Concept, Self Esteem, Overcoming the Fear of Failure, and
Litigation - the sword and shield of the high performer. NEW!
August 23rd/24th/25th - arrive late afternoon 23rd, leave am on 25th.
All the Castle Experiences will be small groups from 10 - 15 attendees. The shorter seminars will
allow for easier access. For additional information contact Paul at p.morris@guthriecastle.com.
Room allocation will be on a first come (paid) first served.
Summer Seminars allow for more recreational activities due to long daylight hours. Extended stays
(before or after) will be accommodated where possible.
I look forward to spreading QLA Methodology in a new format and with new subject matter
ASAHP (As Soon As Humanly Possible). In fact if there is enough interest I could give the 1 and 2
day seminars in July, but most couldnt rearrange schedules so quickly - I could! I now feel
compelled to broach new QLA vistas! Jerry Ormand always thought it was the best thing I did -
COACH OTHERS HOW TO DO IT! I am sure all attendees will find it extremely rewarding, as
have all in the past!
To Your Quantum Leap,
Dan
P.S. ANNOUNCEMENT - The next 3 day / 4 night Castle Experience will be 3rd - 7th October. The
June and August 3 day / 4 night seminars will proceed as scheduled.

ISSUE #56
A review the old and preview of the forthcoming leadership seminars with individual
leadership program
Many eventful things have happened in Dans life ever since the last newsletter and in this one he
chalks out a whole list of leadership seminars that are in the pipeline. Overall this newsletter
outlines the old and upcoming leadership seminars, website additions and the quantum leap
advantage product offer.
Every Leadership program has been a great success and there are many testimonials featured in this
newsletter to justify it. The Leadership seminar keeps getting even better and one of the attendees
was Dans 21-year old son who has been taken on as a summer intern this year. In the upcoming
Day Castle Experiences these leadership seminars will talk about the additional blocks on
leadership and selling dreams. Sally Hall, the CEO of The Guthrie Group who will be part of the
August leadership program will deliver part of the leadership speech.
Further, this newsletter clearly outlines the costs, subjects and availability for these leadership
seminars. Also included is the Leadership program for each of these with schedules.
There is also a mention of the changes carried out in Dans website along with additions, site-map
changes, new interactive bulletin board and audio interviews. To see and evaluate visit
http://www.danpena.com/docs/products.php on the new updated website. Also included are how
Dan involves himself in deals and looks at each deal individually, though all deals dont need him
as Chairman.
NEW SEMINARS, WEBSITE ADDITIONS AND QUANTUM LEAP ADVANTAGE PRODUCT
OFFER
A lot has happened since my last Newsletter; a former US President has died; Greece has won the
European Football (Soccer) Cup; John Kerry picked a running mate for the US Presidential
campaign; one of my favourite mentees fulfilled his long term goal we worked on for 7 years; I tore
the carteledge in my right knee getting off one of my tractors; more website updates have been
completed and yet another person extremely close to me has passed away!
As you know I have started giving seminars again at Guthrie Castle. The second seminar in June
was a great success as a sample of the testimonials at the end of this newsletter show. We had a
varied group who all contributed. The June seminar was even better because my youngest son,
almost 21, was an attendee. He is my summer intern this year between his 3rd and 4th year at
university.
The up-coming August 3 Day Castle Experience looks to be another outstanding group and will
have additional blocks on leadership and selling your dream. For the August seminar, Sally Hall, the
CEO of The Guthrie Group and long time mentee will join us. This seminar still has an open spot
due to a recent drop out for personal reasons.
1 DAY CASTLE SEMINARS
The main reason for the new Castle Seminars is simple; first and foremost change is constant and
not all interested parties want all three topics and, or can take the time necessary to attend the full 3
Day event. It is also obvious that the 50% reduction in cost of the previous rates from 2001 has
allowed additional individuals the opportunity to attend. And in truth some dose of Dan is better
than none!
The new dates and subjects for the new One Day/One Night Seminars are:
Sept 17th and 24th :QLA / Leadership - NEW!
Sept 18th and 25th :Raising Capital NEW!
Sept 19th and 26th :Acquisitions / Deal Making NEW!
An outline of the seminars are listed on the my website (www.danpena.com) - Product and Seminar
Specials. All the seminars are new and have been updated. The scheduling has been set up
sequentially so that they can be taken as a group producing the 3 day, 2 day or 1 day Castle
Experience. The cost for all 3 One Days as a 3 Day is 3,000, plus VAT; 2 Day 2,000 plus VAT
and 1 Day 1,000 plus VAT. For further details contact Paul Morris via:
p.morris@guthriecastle.com.
At the April and June Seminars there were attendees that had participated in the former 3 Day and 7
Day formats. They all felt the shorter, condensed Powerpoint, "21st Century" Seminar was much
better. Candidly its hard for me to tell, though 3 days is infinitely easier on me and my staff. The
bottom line is we did take on suggestions and changed where appropriate.
NEW WEBSITE ADDITIONS
In the spirit of moving farther in to the 21st Century my website has many changes and additions;
site-map; new interactive bulletin board as of a few of days ago; audio interview of me by a
marketing guru I like a lot; sound-bites lifted from all my product to come shortly; new descriptions
and format of QLA products. Along with the new product descriptions I am offering a "90 DAY
100%" NO QUESTIONS ASKED, MONEY BACK GUARANTEE for the first time on my product
and A SPECIAL OFFER ON ALL QLA PRODUCTS FOR THE ULTIMATE QLA EXPERIENCE!
To see and evaluate for yourself go to http://www.danpena.com/docs/products.php on the new
updated website.
Needless to say I am enjoying giving the Castle Experience again! I am pleasantly surprised by the
robust feeling I have about coaching again. I guess after 8 years (1993 - 2001) I needed a break. Of
course now I have a lot more time to spend doing things I really enjoy. Quoting the hired killer in
Tom Hanks movie - Road to Prediction, "TO BE PAID FOR WHAT YOU LOVE - AINT THAT
THE DREAM!"
NEW DEALS
I have seen some interesting deals come through the recent seminars. I look forward to seeing more.
And to answer an ongoing question - yes I still get involved in deals, but look at each deal
individually. All deals dont need me as Chairman, but most deals would benefit from my input!
To Your Quantum Leap,
Dan
P.S. Some comments from the June Castle Experience:
I am ecstatic to have shared in the Castle Experience. Today is the first day of the rest of my life!
JB - South Carolina, USA
The Most powerful speaker I have ever heard in person. Dan told it how it is. This has not been a
comfortable 3 days, but life will not be the same since meeting this incredible man. Guthrie Castle
is superb. The grounds, facilities and service have all been excellent - a living, breathing Castle
Experience!
MS, England
Three words on Day 3 are worth the price of the seminar. You leave with all the tools you need to
succeed.
PH, USA
Thank you for enabling me to go on another 25 years.
Dr. BS, USA
The seminar is about intent, purpose and action. The knowledge is realistic and straight to the point.
TC, USA
I expected a foul-mouthed, raging lunatic that had enough valuable information from hands on
experience that could get me and my company to jump 3 or 4 layers. You did not disappoint Dan.
DL, England
A lot of material compacted in to a short time frame with a lot of interaction.
DC, USA
A truly engrossing, rewarding and amazing experience. Anyone wishing to "hyperdrive" themselves
to join the ranks of the high performing, high achieving and high earning elite MUST attend.
DA, England
P.P.S. Just a brief note about my uncle Larry who left this world recently at 93. He awoke from
along sleep not recognising anyone. His wife of over 65 years kissed him as she always did each
morning and said she loved him. He opened his eyes, giving her the recognition he hadnt been able
to in recent months. He said he loved her and closed his eyes forever! My uncle Larry, my 86 year
old Dads oldest brother, had confidence in me being a success before virtually everyone except my
mother. From 1957 - 1963 he interceded allowing me to stay in school. Fortunately for me Dr. Pea
was on the Board of Directors for the LA City School District where I was forever challenging
authority. Thanks uncle Larry!

ISSUE #57
22nd September 2004
From Dan Pea - Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer.
Dear High Performance Person and Visionary,
As I watched the tribute to the people who died on 9/11/2001 I felt for all that suffered and are still
suffering. In no way am I making light of what happened in this newsletter. I still choke up when I
see the tapes of that fateful day. I still remember very vividly watching CNN from London with the
sound muted, thinking I was watching a movie about some psycho who was blowing up NYC. As
life is stranger than fiction, I was correct.
Today the only way suffering can change is for people to take positive actions. World wide there is
suffering. We see starvation all over the globe and most people starving cant take the actions to
reverse the cycle. Vis--vis these tragedies the only way any good is done is for others to take
positive action. And for the rest of us without our own positive action we cant help ourselves.
Since I began my coaching career in 1993 I have said, "Most people lead quite lives of
desperation." We continue to do the same thing over and over again and are expecting different
results. You know this is merely my definition for insanity. Most people in life would like to be
somewhere else, doing something else, but they become disillusioned and eventually submit to the
norm and conventional wisdom. For the most part we copy our parents and the norms of where we
grew up. Its tough to break that cycle - Just as its tough to break the cycle of poverty and
starvation.
NOT IMPOSSIBLE
Reflecting on my self, I remember back to 1976 when I redefined my own life. I then, like many of
you, was suffering, but I didnt know from what. Of course now I know I wanted to "be all I could
be." Ross Perots mentor Joe Batton coined the phrase for the US Army many years ago - "Be All
You Can Be" Join the US Army! Whilst you may not agree with the Army - you have to take
seriously "Be All You Can Be!"
I have said, there is a "pay price to action" - meaning for everything in life there is a specific price.
Much of the time we dont even notice. I use my body weight as an example. For every martini I
have I pay a price and the older I get the bigger (literally) I pay! For example, a few weeks ago, I
flew in for a dinner meeting with a good friend and mentee. We had intellectual discourse, ate, and
drank for 6 hours. His driver carted us around. As an aside, the person I met is perhaps the brightest
person I work with. Its questionable whether he is as bright as he thinks he is, but is certainly
anybodys intellectual match because I knew he is a match for me! He has become super successful
and takes life very seriously with little time for himself. I may be the only person on earth that can
get him to break out of his mould other than his wife and kids. Hopefully he will have more time to
be not so structured. I will continue to suggest he takes more time for himself. I mention this by
product of success (no real time for yourself) to illustrate there are other challenges and constraints
when you are super successful! Now back to my weight - the bottom line, I had to diet a few days
after our extended meeting, but wouldnt have traded the experience and friendship. There are some
things all of us arent very disciplined about! And that is a good thing!
SUFFERING IN QUIET DESPIRATION
At the recent August Castle Experience, as I will describe more fully later, a young European who
had experienced success sat quiet during most of the seminar. Only at the end of the third day did he
become more vocal. He had built up a very successful business only to have it ripped from his
hands. And to add insult to great injury the government regulatory authorities slapped him with
massive fines and sanctions. His life was nearly destroyed. What little money he had left he spent
fighting the government to exonerate himself. As important as this process was to heel himself -
what he does next is the most important step in the rest of his life! He was merely one of those
living a life of quiet desperation till he decided to take action. Whilst he had achieved success it was
taken from him. As successful as he had been he came to the realization he had to do something
different if he wanted different results and taste success again - even greater success! What he had
accomplished meant little going forward, other than to himself. I am proud to say I will be part of
his future! He has decided, in a major way, to break out of his recent desperation which means there
will be major changes in his life. WE MUST ALWAYS REMEMBER LIFE DOESNT HAVE TO
BE FAIR FOR US TO SUCCEED, IF WE TAKE CHARGE AND BECOME MASTERS AND
CREATORS OF OUR OWN DESTINY! - NEW PEA-ISM!
A little more about this exceptional guy: A few months ago whilst sitting in my office Paul (my
right hand man - a retired Royal Marine) came in to say, "A European investment banker has
questions about "Your First Hundred Million" - do you have a minute to talk to him?" I took the
phone and spent time answering questions. (In hindsight I wish I had taped it!) Because he was an
investment professional, I am sure he was wondering if the material was beneath his intellectual
level. This happens quite often. As I told him, and countless others, no matter what his level of
financial acumen he would be satisfied. A few hours later he called back and ordered YFHM.
Shortly after completing the book he purchased all QLA product listed on my site. A few weeks
later he registered for the August Seminar and has requested a place for a seminar in early 2005.
When he came for the event he was one of the most prepared individuals who ever attended a Castle
Event. As he says (see his testimonial) the event was a life changing experience!
I mention all this because as well prepared as he was, i.e. successful entrepreneur, financial
background; sales background (I forgot to mention); well educated; and having immersed himself in
QLA before arriving - he still found it an extraordinary experience! He says now, "I have been
looking for this kind of coaching guidance and a framework to put to use for over 10 years." He is
in his mid 30s and plans to spend the rest of his life using what he has learned and continues to
learn. QLA, like life, is a work in progress! I will keep you appraised!
- I have never done this before, but for those who are on the fence about QLA, the Castle
Experience or taking a Quantum Leap, I can put you in touch with individuals like the one
described above by contacting steven@guthriecastle.com
Whilst updating for the recent August event I thought about what I have done as a coach for many
years. Since I restarted my coaching career earlier this year, I have refined how to articulate the
QLA Methodology better than I ever did. The 2 year layoff from seminars helped me crystallize
my thoughts about improving QLA! I now know one major task for me is:
To get you (the reader or attendee) to do what you dont want or like to do, so you can have what
you do really want! I have always known there was a real dichotomy between what we are willing
to do, and not do, to get what we want in life. There is no easy answer, because all of us have a
different "comfort zone" in relation to your "pay price to action."
Last month saw my 3rd Castle Experience completed this year. The new block on Leadership and
Overcoming obstacles went very well. As I have said countless times, "Leadership skills are
extraordinarily important to success in business and life." (Just think if your leadership skill were
better with your kids or spouse!) As the attached comments indicate the very diverse group had an
awesome experience.
The group included individuals that came from the US, Canada, Netherlands, Dubai, India,
England, Australia and Switzerland. As diverse as the geographic distribution was the individual
backgrounds were even more diverse. Among the group represented were: a senior sales executive
from a Global Top 25 company, a mortgage broker / real estate entrepreneur, a hairdresser owner /
entrepreneur, financial service owners, a team building / training entrepreneur, an international tax
expert chartered accountant, and a leading MLM founder.
Some seminar comments
"This is by far the best seminar I have ever attended. Dan totally walks his talk. Ill recommend his
seminar to anyone who wants to make a real financial and personal difference in their lives."
OSCAR R (Switzerland)
"Dan is an outstanding individual who tells it how it is - no bullshit. I look forward to working with
him in the very near future." SHEZ K (Dubai)
"I was extremely impressed, my high expectations were exceeded! Im re-ignited to create bigger
and better, be less compromising and make a bigger world for myself!" ANDREW R (Canada)
"23 years in business and I have had a unique experience with you, Dan. You get straight to the
point - as straight as it comes." TAN C (England)
Our October Castle Experience looks to be just as interesting. Based on the success of the other
Castle Events in 2004 I have decided to give seminars in 2005, beginning with Feb 6th - 10th.
Again the seminars will be limited to 12 and follow the same format as August: QLA, Raising
Capital, Deal Making and Acquisitions, and Leadership. Of course all the attendees deals will be
covered and all questions answered. The seminar content is described on my website:
www.danpena.com/docs/nextSeminar.htm.
RECENT QLA BUSINESS REVELATIONS
As I have said before, the world is flush with cash looking for good deals. In recent months I have
reviewed three great deals from you. On a recent trip to the US it was brought home to me once
more! The sage advice I give in this letter and in my QLA products, seminar and as a coach is still
extremely unusual. How do I know? Because the people I meet and coach tell me so. They say they
are paying others great sums for guidance that is less than! I asked myself why it is so unusual.
There are countless people that have had more success than I, but they dont coach or teach! I could
write a series of books why more dont coach or teach! The bottom line is they just dont and I am
one of the extremely few that does from entrepreneurs to top global executives! Of course this begs
the question why do they continue to pay others? Part of the answer is simple - conventional
wisdom is hard to break away!
DANS EPIPHANY
Almost like an epiphany whilst attending a series of meetings on another recent trip it became clear
to me, words that were uttered to me a couple of years ago, "You dont know what you dont know"
resonated in my brain over and over again! I was sitting in an investment bank board room at 4am,
a CEO after being scolded by me said, "Dan, you dont know what you dont know!" (This same
CEO had led his company through several rounds of fund raising and a very successful IPO
(making him wealthy) and the company had been voted "Mid Market Company of the Year" in the
UK. But on this recent trip what this CEO / mentee had said years before became even more
obvious to me listening to another group of successful, yet inexperienced entrepreneurs. "You dont
know - what you dont know!" Their focus was wrong! They were intellectually smart, but nave to
the hard facts of life! They just didnt understand. They are now back on the bumpy road of
success!
And yet on another recent occasion I was sitting with young entrepreneurs, again ostensibly
successful, who werent asking the right questions and didnt appear to have been able to prioritise
what was really important. For example, I thought it would be standard practice and matter of fact
that you would attempt to be careful whilst dealing with government regulatory authorities. One
would think that anything that could close your business completely would get your attention - even
if you werent experienced. I was wrong! Of course they were bright enough and took some action.
They came to the Castle and asked me to visit them to consider being their Chairman. (Or perhaps it
was merely their survival instinct either way they are not dead and also back on the road of
success!). In similar circumstances many arent this smart! Many will perish without giving
themselves a real opportunity to make their own Quantum Leap! Too bad!
At the August Castle Experience one of the attendees who came from Australia, said, "Dan, you are
really giving back by giving seminars again for a lot less money than you charged in the past?" I
hadnt really thought about it in that way. When I came back it merely seemed like the right thing to
do. And I dont want to give myself too much credit or blow smoke up my arse! Its an interesting
thought, but the bottom line is I am continuing my coaching career and enjoying it more than I
thought I would. And never forget your coach, mentor or teacher is only as good as the information
and feed back you give them! Bad, or incomplete information will only get you bad output.
Garbage in - garbage out as they used to say in the 60s.
I have sat in countless meetings knowing I would have done things differently. I have sat with very
Senior Executives giving advice they perhaps hadnt thought of or perhaps didnt think important.
So its universal - you dont know what you dont know! So how do you know what you dont
know? You make a million mistakes - or find someone that knows! If you dont have a mentor /
coach - just get one!
SENIOR Vs JUNIOR
The biggest difference between a senior executive / entrepreneur and a young entrepreneur is
simple. The senior person usually knows what he doesnt know and a young entrepreneur just
doesnt. The senior guy may merely be arrogant or too busy and decide not to ask, even if he
doesnt know. An inexperienced person (senior or junior), though he may also be arrogant, usually
doesnt ask what he doesnt know because he just doesnt know, and, or may be trying not to act
stupid. Speaking of stupid, how many times have you heard, "I know this is a stupid question?" Or,
"I know I must be slow, but" or "My partner / spouse is the real smart one" Dont do this!
Nothing good comes from alluding to slowness or stupidity! I dont remember saying anything like
this my entire life - Perhaps when I was a little boy. Remember your self esteem is pretty much in
line by the time you are seven or eight.
Recently I have had a very senior corporate executive mentee have one of his life time goals come
to fruition. I have worked with him for several years. He called me and I immediately began with
my assistance for the next phase of his life and new goals and aspirations. I also had a young
mentee fulfil one of his long term goals. Subsequently I didnt hear from him about his business for
sometime. I heard from him about changes in his life (cars, houses etc) when I bumped in to him,
but virtually nothing about the business. Though I was extremely proud of both, I saw the undoing
of one on the horizon. The younger success story lost focus and forgot how he achieved his goal.
Though both were grateful, the older mentee was mature enough to know what helped him get to
fulfil his long term goal and continued what worked! He also understood it is harder to stay on the
tape than it is to get to the top!
As a mentor (and minority shareholder in many cases) you cant force people to do things they
dont want to do even though thats my remit. Therefore its my task to somehow put the difficult
choice on their road to success just outside their comfort zone, causing them to stretch. It is
extremely easy to forget how you got to where you are, when youve achieved success and you
have accomplished goals, especially monetary ones! Over my long career I have assisted, helped,
coached and mentored many to achieve their goals. I have witnessed many successes for others in
my life. I have seen the sacrifices required for success at all levels of personal pursuit. And its
never easy! In fact the only thing thats easy is to forget who and what got you there! Some say this
is now Tiger Woods problem. Since he has sacked his long term mentor / coach in 2002 he hasnt
won a major and has been struggling! Its strange but I hear through various sources different
reasons why he dropped his mentor / coach, but they all revolve around - the coach made too much
money!
Another obvious difference from being young and older, and (seemingly) mature, is not really
understanding RISK. When we are young and successful we are either oblivious to the elements to
measure risk: cause; effect; and impact. (I will write more about this in my next newsletter). Or how
will this act ultimately affect me and my business? The other side of this coin - when your young
you dont know or understand the wall of China cant be built - so you proceed to build it! Its a fine
balance! Mature sage advice coupled with youth can make a formidable team!
Remember the only place success comes before work is in the dictionary!
To Your Quantum Leap
Daniel S Pea Sr.
P.S. In recent months I have updated my website and will continue to do so for some time. I have
tried to simplify my QLA message. I have stated my USP and what differentiates Dan Pea QLA
from the heard! "I have created more wealth from scratch than any other seminar guru coach in the
trenches of real business - not by putting butts on seats or writing books!"
I have looked for a middle ground to teach QLA. This hasnt been easy for one simple reason!
Where do you set the standard? For the geniuses who are reading you may find it intellectually
boring. For average intellects reading this or buying QLA product may find me just right. In truth it
works no matter what end of the continuum you are. I have often said when you are too smart you
tend to dissect what works! My advice to those intellectuals reading this - just do it!
I have installed a new interactive message board (which just went down) and audio interviews.
More audio and visual aids will come shortly. To answer many questions, though I would like to
track who uses the message board, etc, you dont need to answer all the questions to log on. Just log
on and get involved - take action! More neat stuff will follow soon!
P.P.S. A reminder to all. These Pea - isms are listed on my website:
1. Dont waste time on things you cant change!
2. Tough times dont last tough people do!
3. The best way to predict the future is to create it yourself!
4. Dream Big, Think Big, Be Big!
5. Man Plans - God Laughs!
6. Dont under any circumstances, ever, second guess yourself.
7. Even when one thoughtfully and judiciously plans, more often than not, such plans are overcome
by external events. Therefore, never underestimate how wrong you can be!
8. Any problem solved will be replaced immediately by a larger more complicated one!
9. Dont focus on mistakes; focus on the positive "next time"!
10. Progress often masquerades as trouble.
11. The more you investigate, the less you have to invest.
12. Cash only prolongs death, it doesnt avoid it.
13. Ive never seen a "part-time" super successful, high performance person.
14. A deal has to sound good before it is good.
15. Hunger makes beasts of men, and demons of beasts.
16. If you want things to change, first you have to change.
17. The only difference between a Champ and a Chump is "U".
18. Quantum Leap success means fishing with nets, not just with lines.
19. Conventional wisdom is almost always wrong.
20. A deal is either hot - or its not.

ISSUE #58
The October Seminar was another great success and it reinforces (not that I need it) I am doing the
right thing for QLA and you by continuing to give live seminars. In fact the four 3 day / 4 night
Castle Experiences this year have produced a number of excellent business opportunities and ideas
about promoting QLA and I will now share what some of the results are:
New 7 Day QLA Castle Event
Due to popular request I am reinstating the 7 day / 8 night original Castle Extravaganza. It will be
up dated to the 21st Century but as they say, It will bring back the fire and brimstone I became
famous (or infamous) for whilst giving seminars from 1993 to 2000 and is only partially exhibited
in all my product. To refresh QLA devotees memories this seminar produced the likes of Beryl
Crump, Deann and George Verdier, Bruce Whipple, Bodo Schaeffer, Michael Pierce, Lucinda
Burke, Casey Stephenson, Frank Slangen, Winneke Liefbroer, Errol Maynard, Tony Ward, Colin
Chapman and countless others. See P.S. for seminar outline.
These classic events ended in 2000 costing up to $28,000 per person (or over 15,000 in todays
currency). This last October group for the Castle Experience pleaded a very convincing case that I
should give them again. I had many other requests over the last couple of years, but I wasnt giving
seminars at the time. Only one is planned for next year 2005, at a reduced cost of 8,000, plus VAT,
which is about 50% of the old rate! It will run from 24th 30th April. A few places have already
been reserved by the October attendees, pending this announcement, but now its open to all! FREE
included in the cost will be a set of the audio tapes (yet to be priced individually), which will be
recorded live and the Powerpoint presentation and all my current QLA products (a 1,500 value). In
addition all week long attendees will be able to join in three FREE tele conferences 30, 60 and 90
days after the seminar ends. This will allow all attendees a platform to voice and hear successes and
any problem areas they have encountered since the seminar ended! And if that wasnt enough
incentive all attendees will get the opportunity to join the NEW Mentor Programme (described later
in this letter) at a reduced cost for a year. Why am I offering all these extra benefits? Well since I
came back to coaching I am determined to not only spread the QLA methodology to as many as I
can, but also increase the probability of success to all who attend. Immersion in the product allows
another Dose of Dan when ever necessary. The seminar format will be the same as the shorter
version with a welcome reception, a couple of nights out on your own and a graduation black tie
gala dinner. Attendees will be limited to 12. For those that attended those great week long events
you remember, though very intensive, how much fun as a group you had, whilst I was pounding on
QLA precepts!
Many recent and former attendees have requested the old week long format which had a more time
to enjoy the Castle ambiance more fully: recreation game room, spa, gym and golf (by late April the
sun will be out later). A week gives you more time to interface with your fellow attendees and get
through all the various nuances of QLA methodology in greater detail to understand how they affect
YOU. All attendees will have what was called special time with me to discuss your specific
situation privately. As you can tell by the description it will be a very special experience! And now
it will happen again in late April 2005. I am really looking forward to it.
Another unique idea has been put forth by an Englishman attending the October event. He thought
since the space is limited the seminar spaces should be auctioned. Whilst I like that idea I am going
to allow the first ten spots sold at 8,000, plus VAT, on a first come first serve basis, starting now.
The last two seats will be auctioned as a test. Since I expect the auctioned seats to fetch a big
premium I dont want this to be purely an exercise to illustrate who has the deepest pockets. But
what it will show is the true value of the week long QLA Castle Experience and the savings the
early action takers will get! Remember QLA is based on taking actions now! For those that cost
isnt a factor wait for the auction! I will give a portion of the auction proceeds to charity. This week
long extravaganza is dedicated to the QLA devotee who is a true purist and knows what an event
with the exposure to me really can do in your QLA life cycle!
More Seminar News
For those who require a regular Dose of Dan, as my website states the first 2005 three day four
night Castle Experience will take place 6th 10th February. It will follow the same format and
outline shown on my site which I followed in August and October. The 2005 costs will remain at
3,000, plus VAT, till December 15th, 2004. (Rather than push till 31 December and try and get
stuff done through Christmas I picked a date prior to the heavy holiday season.) After that final date
the 2005 costs will increase to 4,000 plus VAT. Again I am promoting taking action which is one
of the most important QLA precepts! Castle Grads of all 3 day castle programmes, no matter when
attended, will continue to enjoy the 3,000 cost. Yes Castle Grads get special dispensation; they will
get an ongoing discount!
In addition the February Castle attendees will get one FREE tele conference 30 days after the
seminar ends with their fellow attendees, the Powerpoint presentation and a lower discount on a
yearly membership to the New Mentor Programme discussed below.
As regular readers will attest to my previous 57 newsletters, dating back to 1993, have never been
totally marketing information orientated this is a first! So let me give you some additional news:
In a recent speech I said, I had never been in four businesses: sex (legal), drugs (legal), MLM and
franchising. As of Oct 1st I assumed Chairmanship of the fastest growing ????? business in the UK.
Ill keep you guessing but Quantum is in their name! Could it be Quantum Sex? Quantum
Drugs? Or what? Ill write some more about it in the near future. I am extremely excited , to the
extent I still can get that way. Its founder is a two time Castle Experience attendee and former
partner.
Mentor Programme
Another October attendee (and he wasnt the first) had another great idea! (Though I
characteristically alluded to their fatherless upbringing they were a pretty bright group with a lot of
interesting thoughts!) He suggested a Mentoring Programme where I am not directly affiliated
with their company as Chairman where I work regularly with mentees and their staffs. This
programme would include, amongst other things, access to me via phone, email, and tele-
conferencing on a regular basis. It has already started. Since it is a new endeavour, I will assess how
many I can take into the programme in the short term. Costs of the Mentor Programme will be
published shortly on my web site. Or if you are interested and have questions now contact Paul at:
p.morris@guthriecastle.com.
In conjunction with this idea I have initiated a message link on each page of my site,
www.danpena.com. The previous interactive message board proved too difficult and, or bothersome
for most of the individuals who frequent my site. On each page on the right hand side you will see
the interactive link LIVE CHAT. For those of you that did use the interactive board, I apologize
for shutting it down, but only a fraction of you actually signed on and used it. Soon the new bulletin
board message centre will be online. In the meantime you can get your questions answered directly.
I am also reviewing sending a link to my news letter subscribers, rather than the news letter itself in
the future. I will keep you apprised.
Thats it for now. You have a decision to make! Take action or not! But as always the person who
takes action has the highest probability of achieving your dreams now as opposed to later! We are
coming to a new year. Start it with a Quantum Leap!
To Your Quantum Leap
Daniel S Pea Sr.
P.S. Seven Day Seminar Outline 7 Steps to Super Success:
1. Creating your Personal Foundation:
Get comfortable
Passion
Beyond Common Sense
New Rules
Focus on Ends not Means
2. Clarify your Vision
3. Building the Perception
4. Creating Your Dream Team
5. Your Quantum Leap Action Plan:
Growth
Working Capital (Raising Capital)
Financing Internal Growth (Raising Capital)
Acquisitions External Growth (Deals and Acquisitions)
6. Pay Yourself (Directors, employees) first
7. Creating Your Exit Strategy (Selling or Going Public)
P.P.S Again I offer those who need a bit more information the opportunity to speak and, or email
past Castle attendees to hear it from the horses mouth the benefits of the Castle Experience!

ISSUE #59
19th November 2004
From Dan Pea - Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer.
Dear High Performance Person and Visionary,
Its been a hell of a month for me - and its not over. In two weeks I travelled from Guthrie to
Birmingham, (Alabama not England), London, Dubai, New Deli, Sydney, Singapore, London and
back to Guthrie. Some of you may think it was a holiday, but it wasnt (in fact it got interesting
when we had to avoid Northern Iraq airspace on the flight from London to Dubai.) It was all
business except for a few workouts in the gym! And before the month is over I will go to
Birmingham (England this time), Amsterdam, Munich, Guthrie, London and back again.
Some of you may wonder why I still can or want to travel so much. The answer is simple. I still
love what I do - and I am enjoying coaching and mentoring far and wide more than I did when I
started. On my country entry travel documents I list myself as Chairman, because thats what I am
in most of the business deals I am involved in. This recent trip was dedicated to new protgs and
mentees. Of course not all of my mentees require me to travel so extensively and of course I am not
Chairman of all entities I mentor and coach. Most of my mentee/mentor work is done on a
continuing basis on the phone, email and group conference calls and in person. In fact I just got off
the phone with a group of 25 business consultants from around the world that want to increase their
effectiveness. I spent about an hour discussing "positioning" yourself for success. I have another
call later today with a group of aspiring property magnets from the USA and earlier today I talked
with an aspiring healthcare mentee. In the last few hours I got a call and an email from two
mentees/protgs from the past. Frank Slagen and Beryl Crump. I hadnt heard from either in a
couple of years, or so. It was good to hear they were both doing very well. Frank is still in The
Netherlands and Beryl is in Canada. I plan on seeing them both soon in the New Year. They are both
at a new level in their lives and careers and as Beryl said, "Need another Dose of Dan."
As those of you that frequent www.danpena.com will see the new user friendly message board is
finally up, along with sound bites of the QLA product. (People walk in to my office and hear me
listening to myself from time to time. After all these years I still marvel at some of the stuff I say! If
you havent heard them, take a minute for a short Dose of Dan). In addition www.qlablog.com was
recently launched with one of my mentees, Heiko Faass. He currently runs our German and NYC
practice for The Guthrie Group. Other neat stuff will follow on my site.
Opportunities Abroad
Whilst I was travelling half way around the world and back I was struck by the immense business
opportunities that were available whether you were in Birmingham, Ala, or Sydney, Australia.
Focused people with real commitment can find opportunities anywhere. At the same time I also
noticed whilst sitting in a number of airports most people read novels. I asked myself why? In New
Deli I saw the three people sitting around me all reading different books, by the same author.
Though I saw a few people working on lap tops and shuffling papers I only saw one person reading
a book on business - me! The same is true of magazines and news papers. I saw a couple of people
reading the Economist, and saw many more reading the Financial Times. Though I feel its not a
good benchmark for financial reading anymore because so many read it as a regular newspaper
now! I thought to myself, perhaps everybody is on holiday and wants to relax, etc. I then thought
more realistically most people were probably just doing what they do most of the time and thats
escape from the realities of their lives. I have said countless times, "Most people live quiet lives of
desperation." This may sound a harsh opinion! Perhaps, but I never understood since most people
arent happy with their financial position in life why dont they do something about it? People that
travel have many hours on planes and in airports. What a perfect place to take on new or replicate
old information to assist yourself in attaining your goals and enhancing your position down the road
to success.
In the vain of what people read and dont read, I have attached (see P.P.S.) a reading list of books I
like, along with magazines and news papers I read. I have been asked for this list many times. Its
by no means comprehensive, but it does reflect what I have read and liked vis--vis business and
success, since I started coaching in 1993.
Of course some of the authors like, Peter Drucker, I started reading in the mid 60s. There were
countless books recommended to me, I never picked up or only read a few chapters or even pages.
Before I take the time to read something I seriously consider the source. And I would recommend a
similar procedure for yourselves! Like seminars most books on self help and business and success
are crap! They are crap because virtually all of them tell you its easy to be successful and are
written by authors that have not achieved any success themselves! Well you know the rest. Just read
"The Big Lie" on my site.
Interestingly I just read Charles Haanels, The Master Key System. Oddly enough though a number
of people have said, I should read it and a few have even given me copies I only just did so. Haanel
was responsible for much of Napoleon Hills (Think and Grow Rich) ideas. And Hill even said so.
Though I agree with what Haanel said, I found the book hard reading in the beginning. Its written
in the way of the early part of the 20th. But I can say there are QLA precepts page after page and I
would recommend it! One of its basic precepts is you are what you think. Obviously a much easier
read is "Your First Hundred Million."
Mentor programme update
A number of you have written to request more info and try to better understand the new programme.
The new page on the web site should be done shortly. It will include amongst other things
statements from current mentees; detailed yearly programmes and agendas; including special
mentee meetings and forums at Guthrie and elsewhere and guidelines for individual action plans. In
the mean time here is some of the work in progress:
1. Before we even start, first and foremost, do you qualify? Are you serious and committed? Can
and will you pay the price for action? This programme is restricted to the few not the many!
2. The very first thing I will ask what the mentees wants? What exactly would you like to see in the
program? Each programme will be a one-off and designed for the individual.
3. In terms of support I will provide repetition of QLA methodology through conference calls once
a month, twice a month, or whenever necessary depending on the individual. I will answer your
questions and provide real world solutions to your day to day problems. You will send in the
questions they have before each conference call.
4. You will get more support by receiving the ultimate QLA package, including all product, (a
1,500 value) so you can have additional doses of Dan when needed.
5. You will have email and fax access to me.
6. You will have access to superstar mentees and protgs on conference calls and to answer other
personal questions. This has been extremely beneficial to the new mentees.
7. You will have access to other professionals, bankers, lawyers, and accountants on the calls to
share their perspectives of QLA.
8. You will receive a step-by-step individual action plan. Youll be given individual homework after
each call - stuff they must do and be held accountable for.
This is what the mentees are currently engaged in, though each programme is different. I hope this
clarifies what we are currently doing and what you can expect. The mentor programme page will be
up shortly. For more information contact Paul@danpena.com
To Your Quantum Leap,
Daniel S Pea Sr
P.S. Zen Buddhist Text:
"The Master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and
his leisure, his mind and his body, his education and his recreation, his love and his religion. He
hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence in whatever he does,
leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he is always doing both."
You have often heard me say play and work are no different to the high performance person!
P.P.S. Recommended Reading List:
BOOKS:

TITLE AUTHOR PUBLISHER

Your First 100 Million Pea Medina

Build Your Own Pea Great Western
Guthrie Publishing
The Master Key Charles Haanel Various
System
Im Dysfunctional, Kaminer Vintage Books
Youre Dysfunctional
Weirdos in the John Putzier FT Prentice Hall
Workplace
Troubleshooter John Harvey Jones Penguin
Returns
Be My Guest Conrad Hilton Hilton
The Max Strategy Dale Daughton Morrow
Looking Out For #1 Rober J Ringer Fawcett Crest
Vedanta In Action Swami Chinmananda Mananam
The Wisdom of Lance Kurke American
Alexander The Great Management Ass
Tough Minded Joe D Batten Amacom
Leadership
My Life and the Ross Perot Summit
Principals for
Success
The Price of Arnold M Ludwig Guildford
Greatness
Think and Grow Rich Hill Napoleon Hill
Foundation
Napoleon Hills Keys Hill Napoleon Hill
to Success Foundation
The Warren Buffet Robert G Hagstorm Jr Wiley
Way
Emotional Daniel Goleman Bantam
Intelligence
The Art of War Sun Tzu Oxford
Adversity Quotient Stolte Wiley
Release Your Brakes Newman Pace
You2 Price Prichett Prichett Publishing
The Quantum Leap Price Prichett Prichett Publishing
Strategy
Merchants of Debts George Anders Basic Books
The Lombardi Pules Vince Lombardi Jr McGran Hill
The Spirit to Serve J W Marriott Jr Harper Collins
Marriotts Way
Any book by Peter
Drucker

Other authors I like in general; Gary Hamel, Bill Gates, Jack Welsh,
Richard Branson, Donald Trump, Michael Dell

MAGAZINES:
The Robb Report
Forbes
Fortune
Economist
Harvard Business
Review
Fast Company

NEWSPAPERS:
Financial Times
Wall Street Journal
New York Times

ISSUE #60
NEWS FLASH!
All video and audio QLA product now on DVD / CD.
New QLA Investment Newsletter
Time Management - Laser Beam Focus: 7 dos and donts
QLA Product - Holiday Sale
As part of my new regimen vis--vis further developing my coaching I will be writing more
frequent newsletters and adding more types of letters. The subject of this letter will be time
management and focus. Or more specifically laser beam focus or the lack there of. But before
launching into the main area of focus (pun intended), let me address a few important new issues.
Investment Newsletter
As suggested by devotees of QLA I will launch a new letter Jan of next year concerning where to
put your hard earned pennies! I have called the last 3 out of 4 major turns in the broad stock market
(the recent trading ban I missed), recommended gold in the mid to high $200s, suggested the USA
would allow the dollar to weaken against other currencies amongst other things. It therefore has
been suggested I put my investment thoughts in a more deliberate, yet succinct format. Starting in
2005, I will issue periodic statements on my view of the world and where the opportunities in
relation to QLA methodology exist. I am also looking into starting an investment fund and a hedge
fund based on QLA precepts next year.
Since I have lived abroad and travelled worldwide a long time my perspective about the world is
much different than my American readers. Its also much different than my British and European
readers. I differentiate my Brit friends from the rest of Europe mainly because they do! In fact its
very different than almost all of my readers worldwide. Its different because, amongst other things,
I have been fortunate in that I am well travelled and I have a financial and marketing background
that virtually covers the entire globe! In addition, I have been in business and advised some of the
worlds great individual and corporate icons including: several governments; the Vatican; Hindus;
Jews; Christians; Muslims; Agnostics, Americans; South Americans; Canadians; the English; Scots;
French; Germans; Aussies; Asians of all descriptions; South Africans; Mexicans; native Americans;
Dutch; Italians; Scandinavians; Russians; Austrians; Middle Easterners; and Texans. I did this
spanning 5 separate decades! I have left out other religions, races and places on the globe because
they are too many to list. I mean no disrespect if your group wasnt listed!
What helped solidify my thoughts was my recent trip from the UK to the USA and back eastward
through the Middle East, India and Australia and back again to the UK. Needless to say
Birmingham, Alabama is a far cry from New Deli, India. Whilst there are many opportunities in
both areas and everywhere in between unless you take them individually and compare them both
objectively and subjectively (with local ears on the ground) you can very easily miss the point. In
fact unless you take a real focused (pardon the pun) hard look you probably miss the entire
opportunity. So how does a person from Bama (as its called) know whats going on in India? Well
for starters - does he care? Most of us are only caught up (if thats the proper phrase) with what we
are confronted with on a daily basis. Therefore, we are all myopic to a certain extent. And as you
know we are myopic about almost everything outside our comfort zone (cz). Fortunately QLA has
devotees all over the world and I am now going to link their collective knowledge and expertise
filtered by my vast experience.
My new letter will cover many areas and point out the opportunities as I see them - where I see
them. Some opportunities will be time sensitive, but not so much that if you miss reading your
emails you miss the opportunity. For example, the property (real estate) opportunities in Dubai are
extraordinary at the moment. Exceptional returns are available for the quick and nimble. For those
of you that remember the land boom that existed between Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas in the 80s
you will recall the returns that existed were out of this world. Of course as with the Tulip Bulb
phase (1634 - 1637) in the Netherlands it came to a screeching halt after a few years of crazy
results. (In case you didnt know the first stock market or bourse was established in The
Netherlands for trading in Tulip bulbs!) Returns in Dubai have risen to as much as 20 - 30 % per
month, before flat (apartment) construction has even started. I am not suggesting any of you take on
such an investment, but relating "what if a Birmingham, Alabama person had such an interest and
also had such an appetite?" Perhaps this is a far fetched example for most of you, but I currently
have devotees participating in this market. More normal emphasis will be the main direction of the
stock market, the price of commodities, including the price of oil and interest rates. Specific
markets (bourses) and stock picks will also be included where I find exceptional value vis--vis
their QLA position in the market place. The first picks may include shares listed in the USA,
London, Korea, Germany, Sweden or The Netherlands. All picks will be intermediate and long-term
orientated. This will not be a traders guide, but more a disciplined and structured methodology
looking for QLA opportunities.
Back in 1984 whilst in London being interviewed by one of the best financial papers, I forecasted
the dollar and pound would see parity soon. My rationale was sound, but too long to explain here.
As I recall it was early spring and the exchange rate was about $1.50 to 1. By early 1985 the
exchange rate was about $1.10 to 1 and had dropped intra day to $1.05. Ever since that happened I
have been asked what my thoughts about the economy and the various financial markets were. I am
now going to give my opinions reference various markets in a regular format on a regular monthly
basis, though special interim announcements will be made if and when appropriate.
This newsletter will have an investment cost of $119 per month to start. Three months in advance,
by credit card. Current free newsletter recipients that sign up before 31st Dec 04 will have an initial
and on going reduction of $20 per month or an initial investment of 3 x $99 = $297 - a savings of
$60! The $20 a month saving will last as long as you subscribe. Subsequent to the initial 3 month
subscription credit cards will be debited monthly $99 (52). My initial investigation of high end
quality focused research and QLA devotee suggestions have indicated a monthly investment cost
between $197 and $995 per month would be the current expected range.
Neither I nor any of my companies will take positions in any of the public shares I might
recommend. Investment newsletter subscribers will have various opportunities to invest in both
public and private companies that follow QLA precepts and methodologies. For sign up information
email Steven Daniels at steven@guthriecastle.com.
This new financial newsletter will not be regulated by any financial authority, including the FSA or
the SEC! It is a newsletter not a fund!
TIME MANAGEMENT AND LASER BEAM FOCUS
In recent months I have had the privilege of reviewing a number of very good opportunities. Each
deal has been different and very unique. Some of the deals have been good to great! The people
have been great to outstanding. As you know I would rather have a good deal with an outstanding
management team than the opposite. A few of the individuals have been truly gifted. And under
normal circumstances (and nothing in my life is very normal) I would have picked all the
deal/opportunities brought me by the gifted with even a good deal. In these circumstances my
greatest challenge is dividing up my precious time. But that hasnt been the case! You might ask
why Dan? What could be your reasoning? Arent gifted people with great deals like hens teeth?
Cant you make changes to make it work?
Well my friends, devotees of QLA and everyone else that reads this newsletter - the answer is no! I
cant change personal habits very easily! By the time someone comes to me their beliefs systems
are pretty final. Set in concrete! Not moveable! Comfortable!
Unless the individual really wants change no change is forth coming. In fact even if change is
desired by the person, change is only possible if desired at the expense of almost anything else!
There has to be a pay price to action! Remember people make real change due to inspiration or
desperation! And most change comes from desperation. A gifted person has a higher chance of
being inspired. But as smart as I am, I was desperate not inspired when I formulated QLA!
7 Dos and Donts
Here are some examples of what I mean by poor time management. And by definition showing a
lack of laser beam focus! This list is not all encompassing, though it is very representative.
1) Time management is a difficult discipline to acquire. But lets look at mere quantitative time
itself. If you dont work over the weekends you are losing about 104 days, not counting holidays
per year. How does someone that works 104/365 (28%) less expect to compete with those that do?
Even a gifted person struggles giving away such an advantage. If you even worked Saturdays and
not Sundays look at the difference!
2) When I first came to the UK very few in business gave you their home number. And few took
calls after normal work hours and work hours varied from 6 - 8 hours a day. Like Wall Street the
financial people worked longer hours over weekends, etc, as they do now. The UK worked longer
hours than most Europeans as they do now. But I am shocked to tell you there are Neanderthals (or
should I call them balanced) that still confine their business to 40 hours or less per week and yet cry
and complain about not having enough of the good life.
3) Now most professionals put their cell #s on their business cards. But surprisingly many still
dont give their home #s. And many still turn their cell phones off in the evenings and over
weekends and never turn them on whilst on holidays.
4) People rarely want to work over "special days" and that means something different to all. For yet
another surgery on my body I picked my last birthday. It was available and I didnt want a down
day!
5) When I travel on long hauls I rarely go direct, which would be infinitely easier on my body if I
did. I usually have stops and, or layovers at different airports for meetings. When I go to the West
Coast of the USA from the UK I normally have 2/3 stops. I do try and link all my USA trips to see
my children who all live near L.A.
6) I normally try to travel over long holiday weekends, or even holidays if I can find people that
will meet. (I have travelled on all the holidays.) This is often a first meeting "dufus test" for the
individual I want to meet. I will describe an ultimate "dufus test" that Michael Milken used later.
7) Many who read this newsletter havent made their Quantum Leap. Yet I find many of you taking
extended vacations and holidays spending valuable time and money you need elsewhere to make
your dream come to fruition! Why? Are your goals and desires real? You argue you and or your
family need a break, etc. Virtually all high performance people I know spend only part of the time
their families take for various holidays. Its not the money you spend. QLA shows you how to do it
with OPM. But what will you say when your major earning years are behind you? And by earning
years, I mean the most productive years of your QLA life? Not everyone can keep working in to
their late 60s as Berni Schindler does! Hes a very special case and he is due to attend the special 7
day QLA Seminar in April.
As I have written time is money. Your most valuable commodity is your time - ergo the
management of your time is money. As the above 7 points show (and I could have listed many
more) we are all engaged in stuff that doesnt bring us closer to our goals and dreams. In fact if you
follow any of the above we are at direct cross purposes to what we are trying to achieve. It goes
without saying if your job is also your passion the above list is much easier to live with! It also goes
without saying if you are breaking any of these seven your chances are dramatically less to achieve
your goals / dreams.
MICHAEL MILKEN TIME MANAGEMENT DUFUS STORY
Many years ago I heard this story about Mr Milken: He was being interviewed by a journalist
shortly after he was paid about $500,000,000 for a years work, around 1987. For those of you that
dont know he was the father of junk bonds and arguably saved many of corporate America (world)
when debt money wasnt available for growth.
He was asked why he was so smart or why he had been so super successful at such a young age, 43.
He said he wasnt so smart, but he merely worked longer and perhaps harder than his
contemporaries. He said he works about 20 hours day, needing only a few hours sleep, and worked
364 days a year taking only the most holy Jewish holiday off. He said if you take roughly 20 years
that he had been out of school x 364 days a year x 20 hours you get 20 x 364 x 20 = 145,600 hours
divided by an 8 hour work day = 18,200 days divided by 364 days less weekends 104 days and 10
days regular holidays or 250 days = 72.8 normal work years. Therefore instead of being 43 with
only 20 years experience, he was 23 plus 72.8 years experience or over 95. Needless to say I have a
similar chronology, but I require more sleep!
Another interesting story is Mr. Milken scheduled his first business meeting with an individual at
either 12 am or 4 am. This "dufus test" eliminated most of the weak or lacking in focus and
determination! How many of you would have made a first appointment with the king of junk
bonds?
Most people on this globe dont even have the chronological years they have as experience because
of their personal work habits, or lack there of! This is especially true of the younger generation.
Perhaps you can better appreciate when you meet someone in a business situation that appears to be
in his mid thirties and has acumen of a kid! He is probably a 9 - 5 person that takes a lot of holidays
and considers himself to have a balanced life.
If today was a test - did you pass? To change results you must change behaviour!
Success requires sacrifice! And the more success the more sacrifice!
To Your Quantum Leap,
Daniel S Pea Sr.
P.S. Life is only difficult for those that pick and chose! Dali Lama. And speaking of choosing - all
QLA video and audio products are now available on DVD and CDs. In the spirit of the holidays all
free newsletter subscribers can have 1/3rd (33%) off all individual QLA product purchased by Dec
18th, 2004. Order through: p.morris@guthriecastle.com
P.P.S. The new April 7 day QLA Seminar is filling up with some interesting people. Some of the
best people to come through in recent years have signed up.
P.P.P.S. Another Focus Time Management Experience! List every call, email and meeting you have
Sunday - Saturday. Now list all your personal, financial and other goals. Go down the list of weekly
contacts and see how many correspond with one of your goals. If you fall below 50%, as most do -
you now know why your goals have eluded you and also know what to address to achieve better
results.

ISSUE #61
30th December 2004
From Dan Pea - Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer.
Dear High Performance Person and Visionary,
As the year comes to a close I wish you all a happy holiday season and an extremely prosperous
New Year! 2004 has been a remarkable year for change. 2005 will be the same as long as you
continue to search for opportunities. You must keep your mind open to change and a few of the
things you see will have QLA written on them. But you must keep an open mind and be willing to
change! Without change you cant move on in your life! In fact, I am doing projects now I would
have never ever envisaged being involved in before. I needed to get way outside my own comfort
zone to get involved! And believe you me, there isnt very much outside my comfort zone!
I have passed on to my readers many stories over the years. I have been surprised on the mix of
success stories tied to great stories of struggle. In fact almost all success comes after great struggle
and turmoil. I get success stories attesting to the merits of QLA often. And infrequently, I get stories
about people not allowing QLA to work for themselves. Not many write about their failures!
Having faith in your self isnt always easy. In fact it is very difficult if you havent surrounded
yourself with the right people. You need people that give you constant positive input and honest
feedback. But even with this positive reinforcement and candid feedback, at some point you need to
face the "eye of the tiger" by yourself! Only you know when this time occurs. As I have said, "Its a
time to suck up your panty hose!" These are times when the men are separated from the boys and
the women are separated from the girls and you either make your Quantum Leap, or you dont!!
(One missed QL doesnt mean you will never get another chance!) No matter where we are in our
lives we have all experienced such occurrences. In fact, many of these times are the things we have
regrets about later in life, because you didnt do what was necessary when you had the opportunity.
Just think about your own life. Or what about your parents?
Next month I will have been in the real business world 34 years! As I write this it seems like a very
long time, but in truth of fact the years have passed very quickly. During that time I have been
involved in many struggles: some life threatening; some financially threatening; and some
emotionally threatening. I have been on the "razors edge" of failure (as Ross Perot would say),
countless times.
With the various business endeavors I have been involved with, almost every single one that didnt
come to fruition didnt because the initiator or founder gave up too soon, due to their lack of focus
and belief in themselves. They merely gave up on themselves too soon. They listened to
conventional wisdom too often. Of course they had "reasons." People always have reasons. Such
reasons can very easily be found and in many cases fabricated and invented. Our families and
friends conveniently help us initiate and or support these reasons not to continue the struggle.
Family and friends have been taught to "be there" for friends and loved ones, etc, at their time of
need. We have all been instructed and taught to say the appropriate thing such as, "we understand"
and stuff like that. (I have never said, "I understand" when someone is giving up on themselves
because things got too tough! In fact I say just the opposite.) We do things like that especially
around holidays. For those of you that have worked with me you know, "there is never a good time
to make a difficult decision!" Candor and honesty are rare commodities when dealing with
emotions.
With one or two exceptions during my times of crisis I have had very little of this kind of support.
Not because I didnt necessarily need it (especially when I was much younger), but I just didnt get
it. For those of you that know me, you also know why. Most people just dont feel I require such
words and, or actions. With the exception of my mom passing one year ago Christmas Eve, I cant
remember ever getting such input. As I have almost always been left to fend for myself and
"struggle" through the situation, challenge and problem. (For those that know the difference
between a Pea problem and a challenge you can laugh now!) I firmly believe the milieu I have
been exposed to have made me the person I am. Ergo, when the devil is at your door, who do you
call? Or when do you say, "What would Dan do?"
Now the main reason for this year end news letter:
Whilst searching "Google" for a name for a new venture I will launch next year with attendees from
a recent Castle Seminar, I came across the Indian word "Vedanta". Back in the mid-nineties, an
Indian couple gave me a book on the subject whilst attending a seminar here at Guthrie. Apparently
"Vedanta" was the QLA type of life style and religion of India thousands of years ago. Whilst
reading I came across the short story below. I had heard similar tales, but never had seen it written
down.
For those of you that have been in business with me, you know I almost never bail a deal, or
individual out of a problem, other than helping with positive understanding, encouragement and
different ideas. I rarely thought of why. I had merely thought my experience told me no good comes
from allowing someone off the hook of dealing with life, unless its truly life and death. I knew the
action of dealing with the struggles of life was infinitely better than being sheltered from them! (I
have struggled with this idea whilst seeing my children grow up!) I have often said, "As long as the
hit (bullet) we were going to take was above the water line I would allow it to occur." Where hits
below the water line, that could sink us, I would assist to insure we were there to fight another day.
Read and ponder the short story that follows. Whether youre a parent, a business owner, or a high
level exec, think before you move to help someone along the road of life. Whilst you may have the
best intentions at heart you may ultimately be crippling the person you are trying to help! The road
to hell is paved with best intentions! And I can assure you continuing to assist someone out of
challenges and problems will insure that the individual will not reach their full potential!
I wish all of you a great holiday season and an incredibly joyous and prosperous New Year!!! I want
all of you to approach 2005 as if you had "no limits to your abilities." You will surprise yourself.
Success is infectious! So let us go and get infected with what it feels like to be all you can be!!
To Your Quantum Leap,
Daniel S Pea Sr.
P.S. I am giving two 90 minute QLA talks in Manchester, England, 25 January, for The Quantum
Organization, PLC, WWW.QUANTUMORGANIZATION.COM. I was appointed Chairman 1
October this year. Its a terrific opportunity for those interested in the SME consultancy market in
the UK, India, Australia, New Zealand and soon to be the USA. Its founder CEO, David Abingdon
is a successful QLA devotee and Mentee. For information on times and place contact
steven@guthriecastle.com.
P.P.S. For those of you that have asked, at this time I have no intention of giving another 7 day QLA
Castle Seminar in 2005. There are a couple of places still available for 22 -30 April.
"Struggles makes you strong"
A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day he saw a small opening in the cocoon. He sat and
watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then
it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and could go
no further so, the man decided to help the butterfly.
He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then
emerged easily. But, it had a swollen body, and small shrivelled wings. He continued to watch the
butterfly, because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to support
the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its
life crawling around with a swollen body and shrivelled wings. It was never able to fly.
What he had done in his well intentioned kindness and haste, he did not understand was that the
restricting cocoon and the struggle required to get through the tiny opening were Gods way of
forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it
achieved its freedom from the cocoon.
Sometimes, struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If God allowed us to go through our life
without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as we could have been
and we could never fly. have a great day, a great life, and struggle a little remember God
wants you to fly!

ISSUE #62
29th March 2005
From Dan Pea - Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer.

Dear High Performance Person and Visionary,

In recent weeks, I have been very busy with clients, deals and partners. In fact I have been
to the USA 3 times for 10 days each trip in 2005. On my last trip one of my partners told
me he had paid his 16 year old granddaughter $5 for every tape she listened to of me
teaching QLA. He wanted to set the tone with her early! In turn she said, I was cool and a
"hot tamale!" No shes not Latin/Hispanic! I sent her an autographed YFHM.
Whilst updating for the upcoming New QLA April Seven Day Seminar, I came across great "Words
of Wisdom . For Business and Life" I wrote about, back in early 2001. I was so struck with it I
decided to republish it in this newsletter. You will see it below. Its very germane to all my readers,
no matter where you are in your QLA life cycle. Read it and grade yourself. How do you measure
up? I started reading it weekly myself as a benchmark for excellence.

The New 7 Day Extravaganza here at Guthrie is rapidly approaching. 23rd April will be here soon. I
had forgotten how many additional things I talk about in the "7 Day Seminar". To see the special
offer for the "New 7 Day Seminar" and what a great value at 50% discount to the old cost, please
"click here". We have had a couple of drop outs due to "life." Man plans and God laughs!
As part of the update, since I havent given the seminar since 98/9 I have looked at all the requests,
not only for the seminar itself, but what my readers and devotees wanted me to do vis--vis
different seminars. I was surprised to read I had many requests to do the 1999 One Day QLA
Seminar again. This is the seminar I gave at London Heathrow Airport twice during 1999 and never
repeated them, due to time constraints. For those of you that attended you will recall how successful
they were. As you know, I didnt till last year give seminars for 2 years. But now that I am back in
the swing of seminars again and seeing what tremendous value they bring and enjoying it, I have
decided to give a 1 Day QLA Seminar again. Of course there will be fairly significant differences to
the 1999 version;
1. it will be updated and lengthened by a couple of hours, and
2. it will be here at Guthrie! Yes you are reading correctly. How will I do this? Well I am building a
large pavilion here to accommodate other new business interests I have. I broke ground early in the
New Year and it will be completed in June.
I thought a lot about this and the more I thought about it the more I liked it. One of the reasons I
stopped giving "1 Days" was the constant travel to a location for just 1 day. For those of you that
remember from May 22, 1993 to mid Nov 1993 I gave 22 One Day Seminars across the USA. Over
the following years I gave countless 1 Day Seminars and they finally took their toll and I stopped!
Subsequent to that I gave 3 Day QLA Seminars and "Castle Events" that were very easy on me.
I have been asked to do 1 Day QLA Seminars many times, but didnt. But late last year I was
approached to do three 1 Day QLA seminars in London, Dubai and Australia. I liked the deal and
liked the venues so I agreed to do them. As it turned out the promoter became ill and the project
didnt go through, but it did get me thinking about it again. Then I had an epiphany whilst walking
around Guthrie with my dogs. Since I was already going to build a large pavilion why couldnt I do
the 1 Day Seminars here, where it would be in the ambiance of Guthrie Castle and its environs?
What better place to demonstrate the perfect metaphor for "Yesterdays Dreams are Todays
Realities?" After all Guthrie Castle was my dream over 20 years ago. Ergo, I decided thats what I
am going to do this July 25th.I will add a page to my site, along with a separate dedicated web site
soon. But I did want to tell my readers now, so you could have an early start , so they dont miss
out. I wanted to tell, especially for those that live in other parts of the world and would want to
attend. And just to let you know I have no 3 Day Seminars planned for 2005.
The seminar will be at an investment of only 497, or about $950, plus vat, for the first 100 that
register by April 10th. Thereafter it will be 597 or about $1,150. So those of you that take action
will save 100, or about $200! It will start an hour earlier at 8am and go till 6pm, an hour later than
normal. The Q+A will go on as long as there are questions. We will recommend hotels who give a
special rate (which will not be at London prices) to stay in nearby Dundee and Carnoustie. Great
room rates with dinner have been pre arranged. We will provide buses to and from the event at our
cost. We will provide a box lunch and refreshments during the day. As part of the investment
attendees will receive the 1 Day QLA Seminar Power-Point presentation. And for those that come
early and, or stay after the event you will get an opportunity to play at the Guthrie Castle Golf Club,
my own course, at no charge, as much as you want. And for a few that want to stay at Guthrie
Castle the night before and, or after they will be my guests for dinner and drinks for an additional
cost.
I am not sure what the response will be, but since like events at London Heathrow Airport in 1999
were sold out, I suspect the "Castle New 1 Day QLA Event" will be heavily attended. After all,
many of you have requested a more affordable QLA event to attend, to get a "Dose of Dan," for
many years. And now I can provide an event that makes sense for you and a venue that works for
me. So here is what you asked for and its at my home - Guthrie Castle - my 537 year old 15th
Century Fairytale home. As the photos on my sites show Guthrie is a very special place. It certainly
wont be like going to a hotel for just another seminar or course! All the details will be published on
my web site shortly. But if you are seriously interested you should take action NOW! Contact
steven@guthriecastle.com, NOW! In addition, the first 25 to sign up will get an autographed copy
of my first book, Build Your Own Guthrie! The seminar will be limited to 200. And for those that
are interested in being entertained by me at my home before and, or after the event you must contact
Steven ASAP! There are only a few rooms available.
Here is a brief description of Salient Points Covered in the 1 Day QLA Seminar:
"What is QLA?"
Your Quantum Leap Advantage
Building Perception to become a Reality
Creating Your Dream Team for Success
11 Steps that make a Deal
The Plan with no Escape
"Who am I?"
Pay Price to Action
No free lunch, but super success can be accomplished at a discount
Quantum Leap Advantage Action War Plan
The business investment "RED FLAG" Check List
Redefine goals and vision
Building Self Esteem, Self Confidence and Self Worth
Emotional Bank Accounts and how you build up a Reservoir
Getting comfortable with high performance
Leadership and its importance in QLA
Your doubts are not products of accurate thinking, but habitual thinking
Super success - not for everyone
Conventional wisdom - the losers crutch
What it means to be super successful
Laser Beam Focus VS Ferocious Focus
Five Credos for Success
Preparing for your Quantum Leap (15 keys)
Achieving your Quantum Leap (8 power strategies)
Cashing in on your success. Doing it again.
Take Action NOW or Never!
I am as excited as I can get at my age about the 1 Day QLA Seminar here at Guthrie! Its hard
for me to believe I didnt think of it much sooner! Oh well! Better late than never!
WORDS OF WISDOM.FOR BUSINESS & LIFE

* Teams with the clearest sense of vision & impact WIN!

* Talent base - people.are the most important assets of new economy companies.

* Best question to ask a CEO.why would great people want to be part of your company?

* Customers will constantly raise "the bar of expectation" for companies.

* The internet is a giant "lab experiment" for corporate America and those companies that
recognize this and play well within the rules of ambiguity & fluidity will survive and win.
 Nothing is cast in concrete.

* The best form of customer service is SELF service. Constantly empower customers to get their
own answers themselves.this is a huge differentiator.

* "Clock Speed" of business is constantly accelerating.time really matters more than money
(money you can sometimes get back, time you cant) most even bright underestimate the value
of time.think more in terms of "return on minutes"(ROM) than "return on investment" (ROI).

* Get in the digital game fast, no matter how small."launch, listen, learn, then re-launch!

* size is the enemy of speed! speed to react matters more than size of company.

* Good leaders make sense of change in the world.then impart that insight to the team.

* Shifting things (change) when life is good is tougher than when things are bad, but you should
constantly be shifting.morphing.

* People WANT to be led by strong leaders and good leaders are constant students.

* The job of CEOs is not to be the smartest guy in the room, but to attract other smart guys to
work for him. the "group brain" is far more powerful than individual brainpower.

* Current accounting and measurement systems and metrics are outdated for new economy
companies.

* Human capital is the new currency of the digital economy.

* Technical change is a sub-set of greater change - cultural change.

* Good is the enemy of Great!! When we get good, we usually quit.

* Great DNA encoding of people and values (not ideas) in young companies early on will create
the truly great and lasting companies later.

* It is not important what we do, but whom we do it with.great companies didnt start with what
they planned on doing, but they started out great by who they picked to do it with! People
should get on your "bus" not for where you are going but because they like who is riding on the
bus with them. The "bus" will also change directions, but the bonds of good people wont.

* Always put your best people on the best opportunities, not biggest problems.

* "STOCKDALE PARADOX". Admiral Stockdale survived 7 years of torture in Vietnam not by

being overly "optimistic" of being rescued within weeks, but by being realistic of knowing it
could be years. The other "optimistic" American POWs around him died from broken
expectations and hearts.of hoping to be rescued within weeks. Realists are brutally honest with
themselves.yet they still have an unwavering belief that they will prevail."failure is not an
option; even in the face of great adversity.just know what your adversity really is"!

* The Hedgehog Vs Fox.the fox is smart & cunning but gets caught up in lots of details,
becoming misdirected and chasing his own tailhedgehogs do only 1 thing and do it well and
 nothing elseeat. THE BEST CEOS OF ALL TIME ARE HEDGEHOGS!!

Example: Jimmy Carter was smart, worldly, tackled many issues.and got lost in detail.
Ronald Reagan had only 1 thing on his mind for 8 years.Russia.remove the "evil empire",
remove the "evil empire" and remove the "evil empire"!
Reagan was a hedgehog.
* All great Hedgehogs have 3 common traits:

1. Passionate about what they believe in.

2. Recognize that they are genetically encoded for their chosen field of endeavour.they
really LOVE what they do!

3. And somebody WILL pay them for what they love to do!

* CEOS most important task.never stop becoming qualified for the job.

* FLYWHEEL EFFECT.when you start pushing a 10 ton metal flywheel, it takes lots of
effort to make a single revolution, but less for the next 3.momentum will start to carry the
wheel forward itself.same is true in business. Its tough and slow to build momentum and
inertia, but before long, it starts spinning under its own force. After a while, MULTIPLE
REVOLUTIONS WILL CREATE EVOLUTION!

* Use technology only after you have momentum, not to create it. Technology is simply an
accelerator of momentum, not a creator of it

* Building a great company means your building something WORTHY of lasting.Question:

how do you know if your company is worthy of lasting??? Answer: does it stand for
something great to someone?

* Dream now and then, they will come true!

* Great companies do 2 things well:

1. Preserves: core values and purpose.

2. Changes: operating practices, technologies and culture as needed.

* Closing comments to live by:

*Human talent is the currency of the new economy.

*Good is the ENEMY of great!

*Time is more important than money ("ROM")

 *Be a hedgehog!!! Unwavering single mindedness.

*Know WHO you want on your "bus" in work & life.

*Build something that is WORTHY and STANDS for something to someone.

*Take time to dream.

To Your Quantum Leap,

Daniel S. Pea Sr.
P.S. My new "Mentor" web page is near completion and should be up shortly. It will be a
tremendous opportunity for those of you that are willing to work hard and understand "pay price to
action!"
P.P.S. One of my current mentees and partners, Damion Lupo, just published his first book -
"Maverick Mistakes in Real Estate Investing", www.maverickmistakes.com - I wrote the forward
for him. As he states, the book is written by a graduate of "The University of Getting the Crap
Kicked Out of Me." Needless to say, his mistakes were made before I met Damion!
P.P.P.S. Whilst trying to write my first financial newsletter, since my recent announcement, I
decided not to go forward with it. It was too time consuming to write a quality letter and I wouldnt
write anything I wouldnt be proud to put my name on. We have not debited anyones credit card. I
apologize for the false start!
Also visit our websites:
http://www.danpena.com or http://www.qlablog.com

ISSUE #63
7th May 2005
From Dan Pea - Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer.
Dear High Performance Person and Visionary,
The first 7 Day Castle Seminar in more than 5 years is now history. And what an event it was! In
attendance were 11 strong QLA devotees dating back over 10 years. (The seminar is limited to 10,
but I squeezed in a QLA devotees wife at the last minute.) The individual extended role playing
was especially helpful in driving home many QLA precepts. The participants asked for additional
time to simulate many different situations. I enjoyed the final night graduation black tie Scottish kilt
dinner. Seeing all the male participants in kilts was quite a show and we will make it tradition going
forward. I will have photos on my site soon.
And you probably have already guessed, it was such a success I have decided to do another 7 Day
Extravaganza 17th - 25th September 2005. Two of the recent attendees have already booked for
September. Attendance will again be limited. For more information see:
http://www.danpena.com/docs/new7dayqla.html
Also since my last Newsletter the new QLA One Day Castle Seminar site has been completed
(www.qlaonedaycastleseminar.com). It describes in detail what the offer is. And I changed the offer
dramatically to create extraordinary value for money. Instead of 597 (about $1,200) for each
attendee I am allowing each attendee to bring one guest - FREE!
Two for the price of One !
www.qlaonedaycastleseminar.com
After thinking about it I decided I want as many to attend as I could. So I essentially halved the
price, when I was informed that almost twice the number of attendees could be seated in the new
pavilion, as I first thought. As I have told you I still make mistakes from time to time! In this
instance I assumed something. And you know what happens when you ass u me! Now virtually all
that read this Newsletter can afford a QLA Castle Experience! www.qlaonedaycastleseminar.com
150% Money Back Guarantee !
To make it even better value for money, for those that perhaps still question QLA, I was convinced
by a young mentee, Dan Lok, to give a money-back guarantee on the seminar as I do on all my
product now. But to make it as strong a guarantee as the seminar is great - I decided to give 150% of
your money back. Thats 50% more than you paid - no questions asked. All you have to do is come
to the back of the room at anytime before the end and you will get a cheque (check) made out to
you. Again no questions asked. Dont miss this opportunity to get QLA, from the horses mouth so
to speak, at my home. Of course if you ask after the drinks party at the end someone on my staff
might question the veracity of your demand!
FREE Powerpoint Presentation !
And if you are a Newsletter subscriber, you will receive the entire Powerpoint presentation free
along with another gift!
Hope to see many of you there (here)! www.qlaonedaycastleseminar.com
To Your Quantum Leap,
Daniel S. Pea Sr.
P.S. During the week long seminar, just ended, I often spoke about a new book I was just given by
one of my mentees, "Jump In" by Mark Burnett. I had scanned it prior to the seminar, but now I
have read it! I strongly recommend it. It follows the life of a kid from the Eastend, London, who
went through the Falklands Conflict, who had a dream of success. He went to Hollywood to find his
fortune. Of course he is now famous for producing "Survivor, The Contender, and The Apprentice"
in the UK and US. It is for all who have a dream and havent taken the first step! I plan on meeting
Mr. Burnett soon! My life, and the lives of many high performance people can relate to his story
and methodology. Just go out and buy it, you wont be disappointed. Once you have read the first
chapter youll better understand me, QLA and what YOU must do!
P.P.S. Part of the tuition for the QLA One Day Castle Seminar will be donated to the on going relief
of the victims of the Tsunami tragedy.

ISSUE #64
6th June 2005
From Dan Pea - Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer.
Dear High Performance Person and Visionary,
Its been a few weeks and this news letter. As they say in Texas I am feel like a one legged man in a
three legged ass kicking contest! This very short letter is purely an informational. I didnt want to
wait till my next regular letter to make the announcements below:
My mentor site is finally complete, or should I say posted. www.mentorprogramme.com It will be
changed from time to time as I adapt it to the users. It is attached to my Dan Pena site. The site is
self explanatory. Those interested merely fill in the application questionnaire and submit it. I would
suggest you all read the application. It is extremely revealing! And as you will read, if you dont
fulfill your goals during the first 12 months of the mentor programme you will receive a no
questions asked 150% money back guarantee!! I am especially excited, or as excited as a man my
age can be, to get the programme launched. Whilst I have had many mentees over the years, I never
had a formalized programme. Each programme will be bespoke or hand made, but there will be a
number of centralized benchmarks based on my many years of working as a mentor and as a mentee
of Constantine Gratsos, Jim Newman, and Jerri Ormand. If I learned anything it is to model things
that are already successful! And that is what this mentor programme is based on. Or to put it in
modern parlance this programme is the best of best practices!
Another point of information, I changed the date of the 1 day QLA Seminar at Guthrie Castle to Sep
9 from 25 July. www.qlaonedaycastleseminar.com/. A business commitment has come up
unexpectedly and I cant make the July date now. I apologize for any inconvenience. For those of
you that purchased tickets in advance, etc, please notify my office for restitution. All other term and
conditions apply, including the no questions asked 150% money back guarantee!!
I want to take this opportunity to thank those of you that asked me since August of 2001 to start
giving seminars again. It has been a conduit of people with interesting ideas and dreams that are
attainable through the QLA methodology. As many of you know I truly enjoy assisting people fulfill
their dreams so they can be all they can be.
Thanks again!
To Your Quantum Leap,
Daniel S. Pea Sr.
P. S. All I would say is I strongly suggest and you know what I mean when I say suggest you all
take a close look at the mentor application.

ISSUE #65
14th August 2005
From Dan Pea Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer.
Dear High Performance Person and Visionary,
Thanks for all your birthday wishes! I greatly appreciate the kind thoughts!
I am on the road, but I didnt want an opportunity to go by for you whilst I am travelling putting my
new mentor program in to place.
Due to a recent company group cancellation there are a few spots now open at my upcoming 7-day
QLA Castle seminar beginning the 18th September. Their misfortune can be someones great
benefit! Man Plans! God Laughs!
What makes the opportunity even more unique is we are having a pro-am golf tournament to kick
off the weeklong event to celebrate my recent 60th Birthday.
Hence the seminar attendees can attend from the 17th September in order that they may participate
in the tournament the18th. Interested parties should contact Paul Morris at
p.morris@guthriecastle.com
I look forward to seeing you.
To Your Quantum Leap,
Daniel S. Pea Sr.

ISSUE #66
4th October 2005
From Dan Pea Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer.
Dear High Performance Person and Visionary,
Its been a few months since my last newsletter. I will use this letter to catch you up and pass on
some thoughts and changes in my life; to share with you an email from a mentee who I have written
about before; and make a few general comments about change and how difficult it can be even for
someone like me!
As you know I had a big birthday a few weeks ago. Arriving at my 60th gave me pause for thought,
especially since it coincided with my daughter going away to university in Texas. She was my last
child to leave the nest. Hence, I took time and the opportunity to reset some of my own goals and
habits:
1. I gave up salt, sugar, mayonnaise, candy/cookies and all sweets, and all red meat. Yes I still
drink! So far with no effect that I can notice other than I have lost some weight.
2. I decided to change my work schedule to mirror my work habits during my 40s, i.e. increase my
work time at least 25% to over 100 hrs per week. To exhibit and launch this new work ethic I
embarked on a well planned and coordinated trip that began 22 Aug and ended 17 Sept. This trip
took me from a 6am flight from Aberdeen through London, NYC, LA, Cleveland, NYC, London,
Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Meppen Germany, Antwerp, Amsterdam, London, NYC, Houston,
Honolulu, Guam, Manila, Guam, Honolulu, LA, Palm Springs (to have brunch with my dad and
oldest son on his 87th), LA, Phoenix, Santa Fe NM, Houston, Chicago, Cleveland, London, to
Guthrie (to play in a Pro/Am golf tournament to celebrate my 60th). And to cap it off the next day I
started a week long castle seminar. For those that were at the seminar they can tell you I finished
stronger than I started! How did I do it? Just relating the trip tires most. Its simple! I am still
doing what I love and now I am going to do even more of it! Of course being in very good shape,
except for the 20 pounds I should lose, helps enormously. And with the diet change perhaps that
will cut pounds off me.
3. I fired my personal trainer who I started with in Jan because she was too easy in my 90 minute 3
times a week sessions. She trains 1 of the local football teams. Her sessions are called beastins
and she is called the beast! So much for nick names. I train myself now and want to be as strong
as I was when I was 45!
4. I changed my eating habits further having 5 6 small meals a day when ever I can. Though I
wont carry food with me as has been suggested. I also take probiotic stuff and use probiotic yogurt
regularly. And I do feel the difference though I was a big sceptic at first.
5. I will not stay at a hotel whilst travelling unless it has cardio equipment and weights. This has
precluded me from staying at some of my favourite small hotels.
6. I am pushing myself, my staff and the deals I am involved in harder. Always remembering what
gets measured gets done! I have adopted a new saying, youre looking at youre calendar/diary
and I am looking at my f _ _ _ _ _ _ watch!
7. Restructured how and why I get involved in deals. And am re-examining the deals I am in.
8. I have eliminated most of the fluff in my life! Though I still see my family/kids every 4 6
weeks. My daughter being in a small town in Texas will be more of a challenge than my sons who
are both in the LA area.
9. To get all the deals I am currently involved in to their respective IPOs or Exits as soon as
humanly possible.
10. And to focus and drive my various future teams so we dont leave any talent wasted, even at the
beginning whilst we are getting used to one another.
You might ask why I would do any and especially all the above? Well my friends, we all get
sloppy! Especially as you get older. Over the last summer I looked at what was the difference
between my 50s and 40s? I didnt go back to my 30s, but I was more like my 40s than 50s.
In summary it was focus and the driving follow through I became famous, or infamous, for during
the big money creation years I had. Its the same focus I teach at my seminars. Remember the whip
at the old seminars? But when I looked at myself in absolute candour, I saw I was not performing as
well as I know I can, though it was way more than enough for anything I was involved in the last 10
years.. I had fallen into the trap - what do I have to prove to anyone? I even think subconsciously I
started to measure myself against the best seminar attendees and a few partners and what I
conveniently remembered of my past. Whilst I have very successful partners and mentees, and I
have coached some super stars, all could be much more successful if they held themselves more
accountable and were much harder on their partners, employees and themselves! But very few
want, or like being tough. Almost all people want to be liked. And though I hold them
accountable, I am with them only a short period of time per month. And even though they give me
a weekly report that isnt the same as being there to instil and create what they should be doing on a
daily basis. I know the most successful ones say, What would Dan do in this situation? And that
seems to work, but my foot up t! heir ass is better for most, because I am not a person who is easily
let down. I still remember my dearly departed partner, Charlie, saying You are the most difficult
person to let down I have ever met. I would rather crawl over broken glass! And he had very few
glass cuts!
Even people I am in business with have periodic doubts, as we all have from time to time, even with
our Dream Teams and professionals! Though I cant really say that I have these feelings very
often, it can happen. After all, my task for QLA devotees is, to get them to do what they dont
want to do (the hard stuff), to be what they want to be!
Hence, thinking all this through over a period of nights sipping some splendid beverage, I had an
epiphany. I knew I had changed a number of things about my daily life and how I transacted
business! In short a got a lot easier! But I had deluded myself in to believing I had grown more
efficient over time. Whilst this was partially true, I was not admitting to my self I had grown soft!
Ergo, I knew over many years, I got too relaxed. For those of you that have been to Guthrie, you
know its a place you can get used to very easily! In fact one of the recent seminar attendees stated
he didnt want to go home, except for the fact he wanted to get started on his new QLA action plan.
Most people dont want to leave! And I know I was one of them!
I hadnt made a tough trip like the one described above in a very long time. In fact the only
comparable trip (and it was not anywhere as tough) was from the UK to India and Australia and
back about a year ago. And that trip only had a couple stops. As we all know its hard to push
ourselves past our comfort zone unless we are constantly pushing the edges of the envelope. Or if
we have someone pushing the edges with us. We must make a concerted and constant effort or we
will not be able to do it. I am fully committed to that effort once again!
I had allowed myself to get way to comfortable! And I am positive if I had grand kids, I would be
bouncing them on my knee! Hell the summer of 2004 I spent on my big machines cutting fairways,
etc, because I enjoyed it! I should count myself lucky my kids are not at that stage of life yet to give
me grand kids and I found a great greens keeper! Now I am doing what it takes to get myself out
and about as I once did. Even for someone like me deals arent just dropped in your lap. You must
keep kissing those lovely frogs till you find a princess! Of course this has afforded me a great
opportunity to expand my investment horizons and what I spend my valuable time doing.
In fact one of the companies I am Chairman of, www.quantumorganization.com, will be going
public in the New Year and part of my mandate will be to grow the business in the USA. This
should put me on the road a great deal. Our plan is to be in all 50 states over time. In fact many of
you may be interested and I will write more about the tremendous opportunity in due course. We
are presently in the UK, Ireland, India, Australia, and New Zealand. Suffice it to say, its not a
coincidence that the name is Quantum!
Now just ponder the thought. If Dan says he can fall victim to the getting to comfortable
syndrome what about you? Admittedly my work ethic, even slowed down, is significantly higher
than most that read this letter but its all relative. At my peak I worked 120 hours per week and
more. Now I probably work 80, plus now being pushed to 100.
In conjunction with this new altered action plan I am in the process of opening an office in India
and will be travelling to it regularly and I am still looking at China. As you all have read the
opportunities there are spectacular and I could probably spend my 60s there alone.
I will keep you updated on my progress vis--vis my new quantum action plan! After all what gets
measured get accomplished! And I sincerely hope this jogs some of you to look at yourself! As I
have often written, if today was a test would you have passed?
My Hero!
My mentee said I could share this email with the last seminar attendees, which I did, but I knew it
had a much larger potential market. Again, because QLA though designed and memorialised for
business purposes, it has a much greater life fulfilling application. As I have written, people in all
walks of life have used these precepts. Tony Ward, a good Irish lad started in business with me, but
switched his focus away from business to athletics. Many others have used the QLA precepts in
religion and for losing 150 pounds, etc. I have written before Tony is my hero. Whilst blind before
turning to running he accomplished much more than most that follow the QLA methodology with
full sight in business. As a trained chartered account he is perhaps the brightest person I have ever
coached and that takes in a lot of super brain power! And as those that know me, I am not for too
many compliments! Because I have always believed those that feel good about themselves with
high self esteem dont need all the TLC. Trump, Branson, Gates, Dell, Onassis, et al, didnt and
dont need it, but thats the basis for another newsletter! But remember: when you are successful,
its much easier to get your head screwed on straight!
Heres Tonys short email:
Hi Dan
Im pretty sure you have a castle event on this week and are probably up to your eyes in it. I told
you about the challenge I was doing around Ireland well as always when I achieve something
nowadays I often reflect with some emotion on how I happen to do the things I do and inevitably
my friendship and association with you comes to the fore.
Log on (and have your castle attendees log on to) http://www.challenge32.com. Its slightly
different than success in a business sense but it will aptly demonstrate what can be done if you put
your mind to something and pursue it with enthusiasm. It started off as a dream a year ago, the
plans changed hundreds of times, but now its a reality. I better stop now or I will be accused of
plagiarism!!
Please use my recent success as testimony to your beliefs, methodologies and success coaching.
Hope all is going well and look forward to catching up soon.
To your Quantum Leap
Tony.
I get a number of emails a month and am always honoured and never surprised to hear what people
with dreams can and do accomplish. I still get a lump in my throat when I think of the success Tony
and others have had, once they began to believe in themselves more. Tony proposed to his fiance
here at Guthrie earlier this year. Shes a wonderful woman, notwithstanding shes a lawyer. The
good news is she is a lady Irish lawyer and that makes her quite different!
Next 10 Years
My overall goal is to accomplish more in my 60s than I did in my 30s, 40s and 50s! I have the guts,
knowledge, expertise and acumen and now reinforced by my new determination, focus and desire I
will go in to my 60s on a new search and destroy mission to implement and execute! My only
challenge is to find the correct opportunities for me! Ill make mistakes, but I understand thats the
game. And knowing you cant hit another grand slam without swinging at the plate!
To Your Quantum Leap,
Daniel S. Pea Sr.
P.S. As was announced by my office recently, the week long seminars have been so successful I am
having another. It will run 30th Nov to 7th Dec. We already have a few current mentee/partners
coming. It seems that the current working partners are very much desired at these events. Of
course, to be able to interface with people that are living the QLA dream is a real benefit. Of
course, it isnt lost on new attendees that something must be very special for the partners who keep
coming back as a paying attendee!
P.P.S. At a recent dinner with my youngest son, Derrick, I was told he wanted to go head to head
with me in business! I told him I would wait with baited breath. He went on to say when people say
the name Pea, he wanted them to mean Derrick Pea! He turned 22, 6 August and is a senior
in university! At the same dinner, I told him of a 26 year old that had made $15 million by selling
his business. Derrick said, I better get going Dad! From his lips to the Lords ears!
P.P.P.S I just came across a young man named Kyle Maynard. He has written a new book No
Excuses. This is an incredible story that makes Rudy, which I often make mandatory viewing at
seminars, look like a nursery tale. Its a story about a young man who has transcended hardships
since childbirth, beyond your wildest imagination and succeeded against all odds! You cant read
the book and ever again, think or say you have an excuse not to be whatever you want to be!

ISSUE #67
7th December 2005
From Dan Pea Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer.
Dear High Performance Person and Visionary,
I just finished another week long castle extravaganza! What a great week! You will be able to see
video testimonials on my site very soon. Recently I added to the front page a sample of the video
mentor section of the seminar.
I have been asked when the next weeklong castle seminar will be and I dont know at this juncture.
Please email Paul of your interest: p.morris@guthriecastle.com
Whilst going through final preparations for the seminar just completed I came across the fax I sent
partners in 1998. It is an extremely effective and powerful message, so I decided to send it out
again!
It is as germane now as it was when I wrote it.
I wish you all Happy Holidays and an awesome 2006!
To Your Quantum Leap,
Daniel S. Pea Sr.
WE WILL ALL BE MEASURED WHEN WERE GONE!
HOW WILL YOU STAND UP?
Today I received terrible news! My only living mentors wife will not live out the month. They have
just moved back to Houston to be near their children and grandchildren. This couple were like a
second set of parents to my wife and I. They were the role models we never had. Happily married
for decades with a large family and extremely successful! Linda and I would sit in their Bel Air,
California home in the middle of the seventies and say, When we grow up we ant to be just like
you. We even wanted to buy their lovely home on the 9 th fairway of Bel Air Country Club. It was
worth millions and we had just bought our first home.
During the 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s (and even now) he has been a working dynamo with his wife
always being supportive. He traveled all the time and did many deals. At one point during the 70s
he averaged one acquisition a month, for three years! As most of you know, he grew a great
conglomerate by buying revenue then operating profitably. (Sound familiar?)
He currently sits on several Boards with me and actively participates at almost 80 years of age.
When I talked to him about his beloved wife and my role model, surrogate mother, I was stunned at
what he had to say: i.e. as a family I want to thank you for your friendship and love; thanks that all
youve done for our family over the years; thanks for the support and allowing us to participate with
your family and in business. He went on and on with compliments! I was shocked because I felt I
had done next to nothing. He and his wife had done almost all the giving! I had mostly taken, or so I
thought.
What he didnt say, as some of you have heard him say, many times, he knew what I would
accomplish the first time he ever met me. He says he knew I would surpass his success many times
and never look back. Some of you have heard me say the same.
As life (and a lot of hard work and many difficult times) would have it he was correct. I modeled
what he and others did correctly. But mostly I did what he said, when he said not always getting
the result I wanted, but still always learning. Listening and always learning as Constentine Gratsos
(another mentor) used to tell me often.
At the end of our conversation I vividly remembered that countless times the only thing that kept
me going was merely that fact that he told me I would be more successful than he, in a major league
way! The only thing I had was the memory of his confident words! His expectations for me were
higher than mine. (Sound familiar?)
Recently I was given the attached poem to reflect upon. AS I read it I was reminded by the various
phases of my life, my parents lives and my second parents lives (Mr. & Mrs. Ormond). I slso
reflected on Jim Newmans life, (another mentor) that passed away on 4 th July 1997.
AS you read it you will probably do the same. Think ahead, to see if what you will see will make
you happy. Perhaps it will make others happy but will it you happy? You are the important one!
BE truthful with yourself.
We all engage, or have engaged in activities that we wished we didnt or are not proud of! Yet we
repeat these actions! Why? Why is it easier to do non-productive stuff? Why is it easier to do things
that are bad for us? Usually its because we dont believe we deserve any better low self esteem!
We all make excuses why its OK at the time i.e.: so and so did it, why not me?
In many of my faxes and in my talks I discuss this (to many of you) ad nauseam. But it doesnt
mater unless we learn and grow by this process, so I keep saying it! We all learn at different rates,
some of us take a lifetime and then its too late. Some of us dont really believe we deserve better so
we do the same and continue to self sabotage ourselves.
Life is a series of mistakes! Dont stop making them! I know I still make a lot of them! Ive made
some rather large ones recently, but I dont stop trying. In fact its easier to admit mistakes now at
53. Many of you think Im hard. I was much less forgiving 20 years ago, yet I still push the hardest
on the ones with the most unqualified potential.
To Our QL
Dan .
P.S. Ive just got off the phone from I guy I have known since September 1956. We talked about our
35 th High School re-union in two weeks. We talked about our successes, sick parents and friends
that had died. He waited til 50 to marry and is in great shape and said he regretted not going to OCS
( Officers Candidate School) with me during the Vietnam War in 1966, we had joined the Army
with another friend on the buddy (pal) plan. He said we were lucky not to get hurt during that
tragic period. I agreed!
With all his success he focused on health and what he didnt do in 1966. Our backgrounds are
similar, except OCS. He said he loved me and would see me at the re-union if his Dads health
stayed ok. HE probably wont go! Why?
When he said he loved me and remembered 10 th August was my 53 rd birthday, he called me an
old fart. We were (are) like brothers, yet I havent seen him since his wedding 2 years ago.
When he said the word love I had flashes of the few times I wanted, or should, have said it (love)
and didnt. I cried when he hung up because I didnt say it back. I rationalized to myself that, at
least I did call him B.S.!! I will always regret these emotional shortfalls. Its my shortest suit! I am
a product of my socio and economic milieu. We all are!
A few days ago I told my eldest son, Dan Jr. that I was proud of him and that I loved him and would
die for him! He said, I know Dad! I know! I hope h does, because I would!
These regrets Ive described, for me, are emotional in nature, but all take some sort of physical
action opening the mouth and talking etc! Sounds easy. NO! If it were only easy! You all know
what I mean!
The regrets you have when your time comes (now and later) will be emotional as well, but
manifested by lack of action. No different!
The difficulty in the QLA program is it always takes some sort of pro-active action! QLA cant
work on being re-active. The most successful call as many as 10 or 20 times to get a response any
response! They practice until they get results not until its perfect!
As Ive outlined briefly, I too have regrets just like you. My emotional risks are just as hard to cope
with as yours. Many of you may find this difficult to believe. I share this with you to illustrate we
all have emotional bank accounts, and all are short in some respect or another. I am more aware of
this than most. Especially since I became a coach.
The high performance person learns to cope and e proactive, the rest dont! They blame it on
someone or something else and never take responsibility.
P.P.S. For me its easier to take No from financial institutions than say I care, or how I feel. To
some this is a tremendous strength. To me it has been a regret I have only recently have diligently
worked on! I will continue to be hard on you and myself for more empathy.
Crabbit Old Woman
What do you see, nurses, what do you see?
What are you thinking when you look at me?
A crabbit old woman, not very wise.
Uncertain of habit with faraway eyes.
Who dribbles her food and makes no reply
When you say in a loud voice, I do wish youd try!
Who seems not to notice the things that you do
And forever is losing stock or shoe,
Who, unresisting or not, lets you do as you will,
With bathing and feeding the long day to fill.
Is that what youre thinking? Is that what you see?
Then open your eyes. Youre looking at me.
Ill tell you who I am, as I sit so still,
As I move at your bidding, as I eat at your will.
Im a small child of ten with a father and a mother,
Brothers and sisters who love one another,
A young girl of sixteen with wings on her feet,
Dreaming soon a lover shell meet.
A bride soon at twenty, my heart gives a leap,
Remembering the vows I promise to keep.
At twenty five I have a young son of my own,
Who needs me to build a secure and happy home.
A woman of thirty, my young now grow fast,
Bound to each other with ties that should last,
At forty my young will now soon be gone,
But my man stays beside me to see I dont mourn,
At fifty, once more babies play around my knee,
Again we know children, my loved ones and me,
Dark days are upon me, my husband is dead,
I look to the future, I shudder with dread,
For my young are all busy with young of their own,
And I think of the years and love I have known,
Im an old woman and nature is cruel
Tis her jest to make old age look like a fool.
The body it crumbles, grace and vigor do depart,
And now there is a stone where I once had a heart,
But inside this old carcass, a young girl still dwells,
And now and again my battered heart swells.
I remember the joys, I remember the pain.
And Im loving and living life over again,
I think of the years, all too few, gone too fast,
I accept the stark fact that nothing can last,
Do open your eyes nurse, open and see,
Not a crabbit old womanLOOK CLOSERSEE ME.

Found amoung the possessions of an old Irish Lady after she had died in a Geriatric Hospital and
reprinted with thanks to John ODea of Goatacre House.

A lesson to us all.

ISSUE #68
14thApril 2006
From Dan Pea Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer.
Dear High Performance Person and Visionary,
Its been some months since my last newsletter. I have been busy working on my new goals I set on
my last birthday. I am spending about 70% of the time on the road on both sides of the globe.
I have taken on 1 additional mentee and 2 have gone the way of the buggy whip for various reasons.
The mentee program is still working well and that with the Guthrie Groups business I have more
than a full plate.
Whilst on my recent trip to Europe and the USA I realized I had been limiting my own growth by
my own biases! Yes it can even happen to me. My own experiences can and have been a limiting
factor on my filtering opportunities. I asked myself, just because it didnt work in 1998 how can I
know it wont work now. Ergo I am now looking at deals I would have normally passed on based on
my previous experience. Now dont get me wrong. I still use my gut instincts all the time. But the
difference is when I see something I would say no to, purely because it didnt work before I am
having another look and am doing more due diligence.
Now if this can happen to me, what prey tell can happen to most of the people that read this
newsletter? Yes you got it! And it happens more than you think. You become trapped by your
previous failures and mistakes and you dont even realize it most of the time. Hence, you are by
definition limiting your possibilities on a daily basis.
In the past due to my previous experiences I have steered away from 3rd world countries. My
experiences in those areas with one or two exceptions were bad! But the irony is those areas are
now some of the best areas for future growth on the planet. The obvious choices are China and
India. Now both are where the action is happening. Now there are layers beneath these including
South America, the old Eastern Block, the Pacific Rim, and the less developed South African
countries.
Recently, for the first time in over 25 years I am looking in for opportunities in selective areas.
As you all have been reading commodity prices are going through the roof and some are at 25 year
highs. For instance gold is at $600 per ounce. For those of you that remember I suggested a hard
asset play back in early 2001. Some are calling it a commodity super cycle! Now even orange juice
futures have doubled in price. And virtually no one is saying that these prices will come down
anytime soon. If you look at inflation adjusted gold and silver prices from 25 years ago they are
under valued if you believe the pundits by 90 and 70% respectfully. Should you own paper gold or
real gold? There is 70 times more paper gold than hard gold bullion. What does all this mean?
On the housing front starts are slowing down. House inventories are increasing to over load status.
Interest rates continue to rise. Mortgage levels are at all time highs. The ratios of personal income to
housing mortgages are severely higher than they have been in the last 20 years.
The dot com bust is over and the stock markets are booming almost everywhere. Multiples are at 5
year highs. (And remember I also said in early 2001, What if the markets had a 60% correction?).
Mergers and acquisition activity is at record levels. Private equity and venture capital are raising
more money than anytime before. Hedge funds, according to many, have replaced venture capital
money as the leading force for shaping the future of big cap public companies. Bricks and mortar
companies are back in vogue. The old stogy steel companies are making money hand over fist.
I could go on and on! I can only guess what your stock brokers and property agents are telling you!
Most are probably saying you better jump on before you miss the entire bull move.
Enough on the state of the world!
My second edition of Your First Hundred Million (really 3rd edition counting Build Your Own
Guthrie) will come out later this year with up many dates and a special chapter by mentees.
My next castle seminar will be from 15th 22nd July 2006. Email Paul at,
p.morris@guthriecastle.com for more information or go to
http://www.danpena.com/docs/new7dayqla.html to see the schedule of events. The last castle event
was terrific as indicated by video clips from several attendees that can be found at:
http://www.danpena.com/docs/Seminar%20clips.htm.
As I said in my birthday newsletters I would keep you apprised of my new health regimen: With in
a few weeks of me starting I benched pressed 300 pounds again; and now I have lost 20 pounds.
Where it only took me a few weeks to do the 300 it took 8 months to lose 20. The bottom line is I
eat much more healthy and less at night than I did for 30 years.
My family is all doing very well! And my father continues to amaze people at almost 88 though he
has slowed down considerably.
To Your Quantum Leap,
Dan Pea
P.S. If youre wondering what the economic impact of what I have written above is youre in the
majority. Bottom line is, follow those that have lived through several cycles and be careful.
Nothing last forever and never under estimate how wrong you can be!

ISSUE #69
9th August 2006
From Dan Pea Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer.
Dear High Performance Person and Visionary,
I havent written since last April, when I talked about the stock market and commodity prices. I
hope some of you took note! All the pundits have come up with great reasons to describe what
happened. I hope you benefited from my thoughts.
Well here we are and I am 1 year into my new goals for my 60s! And in the spirit of candor I can
say I have made a great start on the 10 year plan; or as soon as humanly possible plan! There have
been many changes in my life and almost all of them have been good with some exceptionally great
and I am proud to say a couple have been tremendously extraordinary! I can only wish you have
had a terrific year yourselves.
Holiday vs World Crisis!
As I sit here in an Asian country I think about the last head lines I read before leaving the UK.
They all related to Tony Blair making the gut wrenching decision to postpone his 3 week holiday in
the Caribbean. I was so amused by hearing and reading this I almost soiled myself from laughter!
After the first day of hearing this crap I thought it would be over, but oh no! It lasted 3 days. You
would have thought it would have been a fairly simple decision. The world is at crisis with the
fighting in the Middle East, yet it took some bullying from the House of Commons to bring him to
the decision. And whats even stranger is that most (not all) commentators felt he was so brave to
postpone his holiday for a measly 3 days. What kind of world do we live in? And for those of you
that have heard me speak before know, I often say, most people spend far more time on planning
holidays than they do planning their lives!!
Now before I get a bunch of emails from my Brit fans, I like Blair. I think he has had to take a lot
of heat for supporting what he believes in when in is in line with USA interests! I take my hat off to
him for that. And there is no doubt he is a hi-performance guy. But the hoopla made over his
holiday was a bit too much! And some of the people on the street interviewed actually thought he
should not have to give his holiday time up, even for a couple of days. Now ask yourself where are
peoples priorities? Notwithstanding he probably didnt have to pay for the holiday!
88 Year Old Fathers Son!
Now here is a story that should have received more coverage than postponing a holiday for 3 days!
This story was on the front page of the paper today here in India - 88 year old guy fathered a son.
As great as the story is, it gets better. This dude (and I can only imagine he is also a stud) had tried
for over 60 years to have a son. His first wife was baron and she arranged for him to marry his
second wife. The second wife gave him a daughter and died at 45. The first wife arranged yet for a
third wife 45 years his junior and after many years of trying produced him a son. Actually it was
twin sons but one was still born.
This man walks 10 35 kilometers a day as a herder. He drinks up to 3 litres of raw goats milk
each day he can remember since a child. He doesnt smoke or drink (it would have been better if he
had), and till his sons birth had no desire to live to 100. But now he wants to continue to have
children. He says it is Gods will! And since he has sex every night he preys he will have more.
And he says 2 4 am is his favorite time for this natural by product of life!
My only thought is he may have to get yet a 4th wife since she current one is 33.
Now this true story is wrought with several QLA precepts, but I will only mention the obvious and
fun ones: Cant hit a home run unless you are up to bat; Cant score (pun intended) unless you are
swinging away; Cant ever give up and must doggedly preserver no matter what; Common
consensus is almost always wrong; And last but not least, even your first wife can be your real
friend!
To Your Quantum Leap,
Dan Pea
PS My Web Site
As many of you have noticed my site has been not functioning for many weeks. The stories of why
are not important, but I now have my own web master who is highly qualified and extremely
attentive to the needs of my sites. The message board is functional again and hopefully will be used
by those who frequent my site. It has been redesigned and cleared of old data, but your personal
info has been kept. It is now also easier to sign on. If you have any suggestions send them to
steven@guthriecastle.com.
PPS Castle Seminar
Do to my schedule I will give the only castle seminar of 2006, 3rd 9th December. It will be the
same material in a more compact time frame. Hence, it will be GBP 7,950 instead of GBP
10,000, plus vat of 17.5% (recoverable to most). A couple of my partners have already shown
interest in coming again, so it should be another extraordinary group! You can click here to hear
testimonials of the last attendees http://www.danpena.com/docs/Seminar%20clips.htm.

ISSUE #70
12th October 2006
From Dan Pea Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer.
Dear High Performance Person and Visionary,
I hope you have all been well! I am working hard and accomplishing a lot. And I sincerely wish you
are doing the same!
Boom - Bust
In April 2001 I wrote in my news letter: On March 20, Richard Russell, a Dow theorist, claimed
after the 238-point decline of the Dow the end of the 19-year (really 223 months) bull market.
More importantly (if true), he claimed the bear market recovery would take one-quarter to one-third
the length of the bull market. You do the match: 1/4 or 223 or 1/3 of 223!
I also wrote during this time of crisis there would be great opportunities!
Who took advantage of them in the last 6 plus years? More about that further on
If you do the calculations 1/4 of 223 is 55.75 months and 1/3 of 223 is 73.6 months. And 73.6
months is a little over 6 yrs since the market collapse that saw most indices drop 40 60%. Is
Russell a genius? Maybe, but thats not really the point. Here we sit a little over 6 years later and we
read in the Wall Street Journal last week:
Boom!
MARKET ALERT
from The Wall Street Journal.
Oct. 3, 2006
The Dow Jones Industrial Average set a record closing high, finishing at 11,727.34, eclipsing a
mark set back in January of 2000 during the height of the technology boom.
Bust
Even in these times of great stock market boom there are times of great bust! As you read the links
below you will see notwithstanding the new market highs the internet gambling stocks have
collapsed due to intervention by the U.S. Government. It will always be something and it is not
necessary to ask why? What smart people are doing now is looking for the opportunities. When one
door closes another opens. We must look for them!
News results for internet gambling - View todays top stories
Congress approves Internet gambling ban bill - Reuters.uk - 2 hours ago
GOP aims to crack down on Web gambling- USA Today - 30 Sep 2006
888 to freeze US business after gambling bill - FT Reuters India 9 hours ago
Chaos
Whilst in a hotel room I started reading my files and a recent October Fortune magazine issue. The
cover is titled CHAOS @ GOOGLE! It has a number of excellent articles on Managing on the
Edge.
Like the article, as I have said since 1993 when I embarked on coaching the biggest opportunities
come from where the most chaos exists. In conjunction with this notion, always put your best
people on the biggest opportunity not the biggest problems. This Fortune issue could have been
written by me! I highly recommend it for all of you. Keep it in your permanent reading file along
with other QLA reading material. Here is the link to the feature article:
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/10/02/8387489/index.htm
The Next Bust ?
NEWS ALERT
from The Wall Street Journal
Oct. 10, 2006
The Department of Justice has begun an informal inquiry into potentially anticompetitive behavior
among some of the worlds leading private-equity funds. Information and documents related to
deals and business practices have been requested.
Thats it for now. I have to get back to work.
To Your Quantum Leap,
Dan Pea
P.S. If today was a test how would you grade yourself? What about the last 6 years?
P.P.S. Due to inconsiderate misuse and spammers I have ceased my message board infinitely. I am
very chagrinned to have to take this action. Many thanks for your previous support!

ISSUE #71
28th January 2008
From Dan Pea Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer.
Dear High Performance Person and Visionary,
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
It is not where you start, it is where and how you finish!
Its another year gone by and where are we as individuals?
For the weak of heart and stomach you should stop reading now!

DID YOU PASS? OR FAIL?

If you were to grade yourself what would you give yourself for the year just ended? What would I
give you as a grade? What would your best friend give as a grade, if you asked them to be candidly
honest with you, no bars held? Are you in the top 25%? 10%? 2%? Or are you living a life of quiet
desperation?

Are you alive or really dead?

Being in a rut is being in a coffin with the ends knocked out!

How many of you spent last year doing the same things over and over again and expecting different
results? You wasted all last year; if you learned nothing from spending that time, if you didnt learn
anything! Why?
ARE YOU A PLAYER?

Do you consider yourself a high performance individual? Why? Why not? Write down your answer
in detail. Keep it through the coming year and refer back to it weekly!

I ASK MY SELF these types of questions EVERY January. AND MOST YEARS I rank myself
pretty damn high, but not all years, because I dont compare myself against just anybody. I
benchmark myself against other high performance individuals. If I listened to the standards of
others I would have stopped many years ago. I have often been asked what continues to drive me?
What drives you? What gets you going each day? Or do you get going?

As I have grown older I have reduced my expectations of others based on over 35 years of
experience. Its not that I have given up on humanity, but I now appreciate more than ever you must
pick your choices very carefully and super success is certainly not for everyone! When I started
coaching in 1993 and till 1997/8 I was involved with more than 50 companies at a time. Now I am
involved with a mere handful. Why? Because you need to be focused and you cant focus on the
many. High performance people focus on the few, not the many! If you have 5, 6, 9, 10 businesses
you are involved with, youre probably, if not failing, certainly not accomplishing what you could
if you were more focused.

As I have said in my seminars and all published material, it is even more apparent to me now than
it ever was in my very long career, super success is not for the lame of heart, or weak! And now
after 35 years, I know it is very difficult for most to achieve the success often talked about in my
seminars, no matter how hard people try. Why? Lack of focus! Lack of commitment! Oh there are
always reasons; my mortgage (a real laugh now), kids, in laws, no time, my job and I could go on
and on! In most cases it is you are not hungry enough or youre in your comfort zone!

But the good news is we ALL can make our life better if only part of the QLA precepts are focused
upon. For example, what if we only followed things we were really passionate about and let the
others go? By definition you would be more focused. Ergo, you would be committed to only things
you really like doing and will get geometrically more done over a career!

What if you didnt spend time on things you cant change?

What if you didnt procrastinate? And this is a very BIG one!

In line with this one, what if we made the tough decisions first and not last, if at all?

And what if you only followed your dream?

In the years gone by I have diligently kept my standards higher than almost everyone I know. And
in recent years, since I started coaching, it has been especially hard to get business partners to apply
tougher standards to themselves, let alone their employees and their partners. Why? We all want to
be liked and thought well of and we mistakenly confuse being liked with respect and follow
through in business.

I have personally had the same difficulty applying these precepts to my own children. It is hard to
believe I have children of 21, 24, and 26 now. One appears to want a life in business and is
pursuing his MBA. The others have different ideas about life and are pursuing much different
interests than I. Of course I want the very best for each one and try and support their efforts. As a
parent this is not always easy! Of course for those of you that are parents you understand exactly
what I mean.

LAST NEWS LETTER

A lot has transpired since my last news letter. I have not written because there was not news worthy
stuff! I have not written because I am merely too damn busy to write! Its hard to believe at age 62 I
can be as busy as I am. I have been on the road living in hotels and rental houses almost all 2007.
As I begin writing this letter I am in Manila ostensibly fighting off dengue fever, I apparently
caught in Macao, China. (My USA DOC says I was merely very sick with a viral infection!) I
would like to tell you I caught it crawling through some jungle in Asia, but it appears I got it
somewhere in civilized China, where I spent Christmas and New Years. Hence, I have spent a
couple weeks in my hotel room with doctors and nurses in and out taking blood, etc. I checked my
self in and out of a hospital in 3 hours. Its a long story, but not all medical advice is good!

A better tale, also happening to me in China was getting yanked out of my hotel room in a 5 star
hotel by 5 policeman, 2 security guards and a night manager at 12:30 am on 2 January. Two
colleagues and I were going over the events of the day when there was a big knock at the door. I
opened it to this squad of guys and a cab driver demanding I pay a bill for him taking my group to
dinner earlier that evening. I had told him and the hotel manager I would not succumb to them
attempting to rip me off for services not rendered; a hotel Mercedes car taking us to dinner and
back. Instead they took us in a Chinese made car that was a cab. I told them to f off and they could
take me to jail and I wanted to speak to someone that could speak English. The cab driver had
already attempted to take us to another restaurant and showed us his brothers police badge. I told
him to f off as well! It was a classic shake down! What made it even better, the cab driver had
grabbed my colleague and I pulled him off, whilst I was on my crutches (oh ya I ripped my
meniscus in my left knee whilst pumping leg presses of 400 pounds. The docs say my heavy leg
lifts are a thing of the past!)

The story is much longer, but I mention it here to make a point. Most people would have paid the
cab so the problem would go away. It wasnt a lot of money. I can tell you Jack Welsh, Donald
Trump, nor Ross Perot would not have paid. I know Perot is older than most that read this letter,
but he may have been willing to do even more than go to jail, as I was. The point is simple: at 62
with a torn meniscus in my left knee and on crutches - I was not willing to do what was
conventional wisdom! I had trained my comfort zone to be ready for extra stress a very long time
ago. I had trained my mind to believe with all my heart - with no sacrifice there is no victory!
Needless to say I was pretty irritated at the time and I was ready to do what was needed. In candor,
at 62 with a bum leg, I might have gotten hurt since the 5 cops had guns and clubs. But I was ready
to do what ever was required!

Some who witnessed the event in the hall in front of my room said I was raising my voice. Frankly
I dont remember that. All I remember was putting my hands in front of me and saying - take me to
fing jail, but I am not paying this extortion! I said, put it on my bill like all the other cars I have
rented whilst here. Why wont you want to put it on my bill? Why? Because you are trying to extort
me!

The next morning there was no related car bill on my final account.

I am writing you this tale to illustrate a very simple point;I have trained myself to do things others
find difficult. Many of you that have known me over a long time know I am not like most people
and there is not much I fear, but as I kid I was a mamas boy and was afraid of my own shadow! As
I grew I knew I didnt want to be afraid and I began to stretch my comfort zone, though I didnt
know it then. But if you want to change you need to start NOW!

You dont have to be willing to confront Chinese cops to be successful, if you follow QLA
precepts. I am sure the cops were not part of the attempted extortion, as I am sure the hotel
employees and taxi driver were. The guy at the concierge desk and doorman that put us in the car
all knew what was going on.

WHY NO NEWS LETTERS?

I have been so busy the last couple of years that I havent even given any seminars since Dec 05. If
you remember and read my news letters in 2005 I set up new goals for my self to abide by in my
60s. The best read you can have lies in my old news letters! And they are all still FREE!

As much as I enjoy seminars I have been forced to cancel the last couple and return all money, due
to my schedule.

As has been written I have been spending a lot of time in Asia since late 2004. In fact, as I wrote
above, I just ended a prolonged trip to China over Christmas and New Year visiting Beijing,
Shanghai, Hong Kong and Macao. The "Forbidden City" and the "Great Wall" were great but, call
me old fashioned, I enjoyed Hong Kong and Macao more. This trip was tacked onto to an extended
trip through Zimbabwe, South Africa, Mauritius, India, Bangladesh, Monaco, France, Panama,
Brazil, Canada and the USA.

China is full of business opportunities for those with patience and a great joint venture partner. In
the weeks I was there I ate enough Chinese food to last a life time!

NEW 2008 QLA CASTLE SEMINER!

As you probably know, I am giving a seminar after a long lay off. It will follow the old 7 day
format that I made infamous starting back to 1993. I am looking forward to this seminar and
showing all the updated information. Change is even more important than it was a few years ago.
Change agents have become common place in the 21 st century. Adapting to those changes and
understanding how it affects you and your dream is absolutely critical!

Speaking of change, as I work on this letter Obama and Huckabee have won the Iowa caucus. Then
Clinton and McCain won New Hampshire and the results are now in on Nevada and South
Carolina.

The voters there are plainly saying they want something very different than they have received in
the past. How many would have ever thought a black junior senator and a Baptist minister ex
governor would be at the head of the democrats and republicans, respectfully, a few months ago?
(Of course that has changed since I started writing this letter.) And then on the back of this mandate
the voters more or less reversed themselves going back to more of the norm with McCain and
Clinton.

I personally like McCain a lot! He is a real American hero in a world of false and shallow people.
He certainly is a QLA man if there ever has been. How many of us (me included) would have gone
through 5.5 years in a prison camp being beaten and tortured, when they could have been released.
Senator McCain, then a navy pilot, was also son of an admiral in charge of naval operations for the
Pacific during the Vietnam War. On many occasions he was offered release and refused till all men
were released, who were captured before him. This was and still is the honorable thing to do under
the Military Code of Justice. Hence, he was one of the last to be released at the end of the Vietnam
conflict in 1973. Now dont get me wrong! McCain has made plenty of mistakes like we all have.
After all he is human. But he has been in the eye of the tiger and I find it remarkable at 71 he has
the energy and commitment to want to lead the USA. How many of us would of stayed a POW
when we could have been released?

Of course if I was a democrat (I am neither a republican nor democratic) I would probably fall into
the Obama camp, partially due to him being out of the box and against conventional wisdom. Time
will tell if he is real.

THE BUSINESS WORLD IS NO DIFFERENT!

We need people more now than ever to lead us all over the world. Change agents are not new. Yet
every time I read about the new wave I am surprised. I have studied the lives of many change
agents over the years. Their names are too numerous to list here. But what they all had in common
was they wanted something, some out side the status quo; out side the box; outside the
conventional comfort zone; and they followed their dream with passion and laser beam focus!

As you measure yourself and your efforts, ask what did you do outside your comfort zone last
year? What did you do that was criticized and made fun of last year? And I am not talking about
hitting a 2 iron over the water, instead of going with a 5 wood you hit more comfortably!

High performance exercise that should make you uncomfortable. What did you do in 2007?

1.
Risks taken.
1a.
Risks not taken.
2.
Relationships started.
2a.
Relationships ended.
3.
Successes, personal and business.
3a.
Failures, personal and business.
4.
Goals.
4a.
2007 Goals accomplished.
5.
Fun time.
5a.
Crap time.
6.
Time spent daily on phone
6a.
Time spent on PC.
7.
Time spent in meetings.
7a.
Time spent exercising.
8.
Time spent closing deals.
8a.
Time spent trying to save deals.
9.
Time spent in bed.
9a.
Time spent having sex.
10.
Time spent with family.
10a.
Time spent alone
11.
Time dreaming.
11a.
Time doing the same crap

After doing this exercise take all 3 tests on my site:http://www.danpena.com/docs/success.php

The results of my 3 tests and the above will tell you where you have been in the last year and how
you think vies-a-vie, success, pessimism and being an optimist like virtually all high performance
people are. Do this exercise at you own peril!

This QLA seminar will be my first to address other traits of high performance people, including
health. As a part of getting older I am more concerned with my health, notwithstanding my family
seem to live into there late 80s and 90s. I had lunch with my almost 90 Dad!

I am pleased to say we will have a section on the health of high performance people.This 2 hour
block will be headed by Dr Allen Peters. He is a doctor with 40 years experience. He is teamed
with his nutritionist wife with 25 years experience to form our "first executive health section" in a
QLA seminar. I have just joined their program myself.

This isnt a MLM or anything like it. Though they have not had adequate time with me, only 2
months, I believe very strongly in what they have already accomplished with me. I already feel
better! To read more click here: " http://www.nourishingwellness.com/" or
www.healthyagingdoc.com. Click here for more information on Dr. Allen and his wife .

In addition a QLA mentee and former business partner will be present to talk about his
experiences.Tony Ward is a Chartered Accountant in Dublin and a great guy. He has overcome his
blindness and in resent years has participated in Para Olympic events. He is a physical and mental
phenomenon. He started his athletic career when he was 35. He now represents Ireland. He is a
QLA devotee dating back to 1997.

And if his schedule doesnt change I will have a mystery QLA business partner attending the entire
seminar, because he never tires from learning more QLA. This will be his 5th time! He is top in his
field world wide. He heard me speak first at a Ron LeGrand (another QLA devotee and former
partner) seminar in the mid 90s. He kept trying (swinging at the plate) till he hit it for 6 (a grand
slam home run)!
THE MARKET

I have written and said in my seminars since 2000 the world would have to pay the piper vies-a-vie
the massive debt we had been building since WW2. Late last summer we saw the tip of the ice
berg. Now 6 months later many companies have gone into forced mergers, or simple buy outs, or
gone under. Many CEOs are now gone from there extremely high paid jobs. There are government
panels looking into - what the f happened? And there are fingers being pointed back and forth.
Having been through a few cycles it never ceases to amaze me how no one ever seems to learn
from the last cycle and that greed seems to eventually kill them off!

I write this with some amazement! Why? Because I am not the only person that has been saying the
end would come to the easy money. And it would cause a tremendous tragedy to business but more
importantly to the common man. The big difference is all who were predicting the collapse were
not collecting fees and commissions selling various and sundry debt products.

Notwithstanding my prediction coming true I am sad to see how badly our government and
financial institutions can get it so very wrong. And as of the last few days the markets around the
world are going down at an incredible rate.

It is fairly clear we are most assuredly in a recession. Not saying we are in a recession does not
keep us from being in one. I am not going to claim the real estate bust brought on the recession, but
it certainly didnt help. This real estate bust will take a few years to iron out, just as the tech bubble
took 6/7 years to make its come back. Most people get aggressive with their investment plans just
at the incorrect time. Its called greed and stupidity! You see others profiting and your not. Its
human nature and a lack of experience. As I have said for many years HEALTH CARE AND
TELECOMS(INTERNET) are the wave of the future vies-a-vie opportunities to change your life!

RISKS NOT TAKEN

There was an interesting closing of a movie I saw on a plane recently. It was interesting to me
because I have been saying this for many years. The star of the movie said to his partner about
jumping into the worm hole to the future - what will you tell your grand kids 50 years from now -
you didnt want to take the risk!

As I have said for many years its the risks you didnt take that you regret when your time comes to
meet you maker. I have buried a few people in recent years and the story is always the same! Its
the things you didnt do that you regret! Not the things you did! JUST DO IT!

To Your Quantum Leap,

Dan Pea

ISSUE #72
8th March 2008
From Dan Pea Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer.
Dear High Performance Person and Visionary,
Castle Seminar just completed!
Well the last castle event was better than any that came before! And I know that is hard to believe
considering the seminars that have been given at Guthrie Castle since the mid 90s!
We had a particularly diverse group with attendees coming from; Panama, Romania, England, USA,
India, Wales, Ireland, and Venezuela. The industries represented were also very diverse; internet
marketing, escort services (no joke), financial services, property/real estate, health care, athletics, a
dietician and medical doctor, and medical phone answering services; and some who were looking
for a new deal in their lives. They ranged in age from 22 to 66.
s always, I spent time looking at their deals and if appropriate discussed alternatives. It was
especially gratifying to meet a very successful woman, Doris, who had heard me at a 3 Day QLA
Seminar in Orlando in 1995. She actually followed what I said and is wealthy now, but wants to go
to the next level, even though she already has a multinational company. God bless her!
We also had a guy who had heard me speak in 1994 and never gave up and now is on his 2nd
successful venture. We also had a young woman that literally came back from a near death
debilitating disease against all odds and all doctors prognostications and is now looking for a
financial quantum leap having already made a physical one!
To see some of the graduation night testimonials - "Click Here." Yes the guys are wearing kilts and
no I dont know if they were wearing anything under them. I went to sleep at 1am but some stayed
up in the newly decorated snooker room and played video games and snooker till 5am.
I had such a great time beating the attendees in our new $1.5 million pavilion facility, I am having
another Castle Extravaganza 16th 22nd November this year. We already have attendees signed up
and at least 1 of the recent attendees will return for a 6th time.
The section on A Healthy Life Style for the High Performance Person was very well received. Dr
Peters and his lovely dietician wife Jeanne did a terrific job and dished out some amazing
information. Of course they are the team that has done some great work on me in the last 3 months:
weight down 22 pounds; blood pressure down; cholesterol down; and other vitals headed where
they should be for a 30 year old! You read correctly a 30 year old. Awesome!
More later as we get closer to the next event in November.
To Your Quantum Leap,
Dan Pea
P.S. I have decided to write another book, or should I say update Your First Hundred Million.
P.P.S. As I said at the Castle Seminar low interest rates and a collapsing real estate market make for
massive opportunities.

ISSUE #74
QUANTUM LEAP ADVANTAGE
INTERNET NEWSLETTER
ISSUE # 74
26th September 2008
From Dan Pea Executive Coach and Mentor to the High Performer.
Dear High Performance Person and Visionary:
Capitalism on the way up!
Socialism on the way down!
You only get hurt on a roller coaster
 when you get off in the middle of the ride!
Yes I know it feels like we have gone off the rails,
but we havent!
Stay on!
We can avert a Depression if we act intelligently!
Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition!
It is financial WAR with out the guns,
for now!

I never knew how much good my training as an infantry officer at Fort Benning, Georgia, USA
would be for me! Dodging live bullets keeps you focused! And believe me this financial crisis is not
a drill! This is for real.

AIG gets $85 billion from U.S. Government, Lehman Brothers goes BK, Merrill Lynch gets taken
over by Bank of America, Bear Stearns bailed out by JP Morgan, and Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae
taken over by the U.S. Government! And as if this wasnt enough, Goldman Sachs and Morgan
Stanley take refuge under the Fed banking laws by becoming commercial banks and are no longer
the venerable power house investment banks they once were. Plus the recent darling of the Nuevo
Rich, hedge funds, are now unwinding! And it wasnt just greedy America! The Bank of Scotland,
founded in 1695, and others are now gone! I assure you many more will follow! If you are not
having fun yet, wait there will be much more to come! I guarantee it!
I take no solace in saying, I told you so!
It could take a generation to fix this mess!
WHATS NEXT?
A $700 billion bail out from the FED, which will easily go over a trillion and more. I would like to
be optimistic, but when was the last time one of these estimates was even close to being accurate or
truthful? NEVER!

My seminar in November will address in detail how to take advantage of this crisis in your
individual business, as I did to build a $445 million empire in the worse energy market decline in 50
years.

It is unbelievable to live as long as I have, because if you live long enough you see it all!

I have been saying for several years; the giant debt we had world wide would bite us sooner than
later; Real Estate would eventually bring us down because the fantasy of God isnt making
anymore land; the kids now managing most of the money in the world would cause us great
hardship; and the U.S. Government would have to bail us out or go out of business as we know it!

As many of you know I watch CNN, CNBC and other financial news shows all day long, as I
answer emails and talk on the phone, when I am not in meetings. The financial roller coaster I
witnessed recently was remarkable. In two days more than $700 billion (each day) was wiped off
the USA markets. I really dont know how much other markets declined world wide but India,
Brazil, and China to name a few all have suffered and the Russian stock exchanges were shut down
completely after a 45% decline - and short selling was banned in the USA markets.
Now the U.S. Government will bail out the financial system to the tune of $700 billion that is
estimated to run easily well over a trillion dollars. What a absolute catastrophic total meltdown!
These are unprecedented actions to say the least! It makes the 1987 crash and dot com fiasco look
mild!

As I have said for many years cash is a better alternative for most people, because they dont
understand what risk they are taking. For example, money market funds are not insured, contrary to
what people may have thought. This is only one small example of how risk assessment is not
understood. Most people outside the financial centers of the world just dont appreciate how close
the U.S. financial model came to total collapse and mayhem!

For many years I have told people nothing goes in one direction forever! Many of you made, on
paper, tons of money in real estate and the stock market, continuing to leverage up getting bigger
and more expense properties and larger stock portfolios. But leverage goes both ways and is a
vicious two edge knife. What has exacerbated the situation even more are the countless hedge funds
that use all kinds of financial instruments, including shorting the markets to enhance their yields.
People that should not be involved in such dealings are up to their eyes in a big way. These hedge
funds are not regulated and virtually anyone with the minimum investment is allowed in the game.
This is a recipe for disaster!

The week before the financial debacle I was privileged to be a key note speaker at a large world
wide real estate exposition:
www.aireec.com
. I was the opening speaker to get them jacked up. I also spoke 60 minutes on how I dealt with
building my own empire in a collapsing market, but I had no idea what would follow the very next
week. I was scheduled to speak another 60 minutes in the grave yard slot the last day. My
presentation went 125 minutes, they listened with baited breathe an extra 65 minutes, before I shut
the convention down. It was all filmed and to say I was terrific is an understatement. I really
enjoyed my self. It had been a long time since I spoke in the USA.

I was honored in receiving two awards at the expo: 2008 AIREEC Man of the Year and 2008
AIREEC Inspirational Leadership Award. I was humbled to say the least. I believe my humble
beginnings from an East LA barrio, only a few miles from the expo, boded well for my being
chosen as an example of rag to riches.

Interestingly I was initially invited before the financial meltdown to pump up the expo attendees,
because I had made quantum leaps in a collapsing market. Of course I was prepared to do this
easily. What I didnt know or appreciate was the very next week the financial world would be in
such trouble it would be beyond comprehension! Hence, my timing was almost perfect!

Hence, my message was even more germane the very next week to those that attended. Of course
those that have read my book and or attended my seminars know that attaining significant success is
easier by modeling those who have done it before. Finding a mentor who is where you want to be.
This is even more important in these treacherous markets. There are still countless ways to get
screwed trying to attain and fulfill your dreams. So having a mentor is even more important now
than ever!

At the expo I had a large private office to listen to the many attendees from all over the
world. Outside I was screaming on a huge screen showing me doing a seminar. For those brave
enough to make an appointment I spent time with each and every one that wanted time with me. I
heard some very sad stories and people that were looking for some direction. I heard a few success
stories, but they were in the minority. I also heard one potential suicide story. Some stories were
shocking how they lost their money, for the second or third time doing the exact same thing as they
did the time(s) before.

I enjoyed talking to many people, but it never ceases to amaze me how people never understand it is
not their genius that made money in a raging bull market! They always give little or no recognition
to the market conditions. And they NEVER understand markets move in two directions and nothing
goes up for ever! NOTHING! NOTHING!

As I discussed their individual situations, virtually all knew they were in a mess, but few of them
emotionally could make the tough decisions going for ward. You have heard me say we have two
bank accounts in life: emotional and financial. And we almost always run out on our emotional side
of the personal ledger not the financial. We all use our positions as a parent, son/daughter,
mortgage holder, etc, to say we cant do what ever is necessary. We use these as excuses for not
doing the correct thing to fulfill our goals and dreams. We fall prey to conventional wisdom and
common consensus.

If I have done one thing consistently all my adult life it was to go against the grain. Most of the
time it stood me in good stead. My detractors would point out the times I was wrong, but I would
not trade my life with anyone who ever has attended any of my seminars since May 1993! We are in
a classic suck up your panty hose time for the entire world! Who prevails will depend on
emotional bank accounts going for word.
Will you be one of the few that prospers from the new financial parameters?
DAN PENA PERSONAL
I spent my birthday last month enjoying the sun and playing golf with friends! Yes I did work as
well, but not as hard as usual. It was very nice and I want to thank all of you that acknowledged my
birthday. I appreciated the many nice gestures.

More importantly I was with my dad to celebrate his 90th early this month. He appears to be on his
way to many more such days. I certainly hope so! I will post some photos on my site soon.

My new book, the 2nd edition of Your First Hundred Million will be out around Christmas. It will
be updated to 2008 with new examples and insights. And since it was originally written for a down
market scenario it is absolutely on key for present market conditions! Its cost will be $477 per copy.
This insures me you will read it, but more importantly it has the critical information to change your
lives now! If you want a signed copy notify my office through,
steven@guthriecastle.com
.
I have said for many years you only need three books to read to achieve your dreams! Think and
grow Rich; Release Your Brakes, by my mentor Jim Newman who invented the comfort zone;
and my own Your First Hundred Million!

My kids are doing well. Derrick my youngest son is a second year MBA candidate and was relating
how his fellow candidates were in shock vis--vis the recent financial collapse. He told me offers
made to the students were being cut dramatically and of course kids that were going to Lehman
were out of luck. Of course Merrill Lynch being absorbed by Bank of America, amongst many
other situations, means countless jobs will be lost. And our mortgage business is being socialized by
the FED. The world has changed forever! Again, I guarantee it! Are you ready?
To Your Quantum Leap
Daniel S Pea, Sr.
P.S. Agreeing, by not saying what you really think or feel, is a massive disservice to whom you are
dealing with! All too often we are in a position listening to a colleague, friend or loved one, and
thats all we do listen! (And I understand how we are supposed to give support to loved ones, but
that is not the point here.) We have our own thoughts but we keep quite! We often know what they
are saying makes no sense based on our own experience, age, wisdom, etc., but we still say nothing!
Why? Well, conventional wisdom tells us to keep our own opinions to ourselves, least we affront
the other person, etc. Or we dont want to say anything that may give the other person reason not to
like us, etc. This is extremely common with kids. They keep their mouths closed and this is how
peer pressure can have a very detrimental effect on the less vocal.

How many times in life do you dutifully listen to someone and say little or nothing? Countless!
Well I am here to tell you, you do a geometric disservice by allowing them to believe you are
supporting their goofy idea. And by being silent you give them your tacit approval! This only
reinforces foggy thinking and does them no good whatsoever. In fact in most cases it is harmful!

Jack Welsh, arguably, the best CEO of the last 50 years says the biggest draw back and challenge
in business today is the lack of candor! He contends, and I agree, this is our main challenge to be
better managers, leaders and businesses. He, nor I, and many other high performance people could
never be accused of lack of candor! How about you?

PPS I had the great pleasure of being at dinner two nights with a billionaire true venture capitalist
who made his money before dot com, hedge funds and fancy financial instruments. When I told him
I was considering not working as hard in a few years he went nuts! He told me he still works
seven days a week; gets up early; has no real hobbies other than his work; is involved in many
charities; and has not figured out how to retire! He is 10 years my senior!

PPS As this news letter goes out: Washington Mutual goes down and is absorbed by JP Morgan;
there is total chaos in Washington DC in terms of little agreement in the $700 billion bail out in the
US; the two presidential candidates are trying to act Presidential; the congressional meeting at the
White House turned into a screaming match. Obviously this doesnt add much confidence to
anyone, let alone Wall Street and other financial centers. I know based on my own 37 years
experience through some extremely bad and difficult times when there was no light at the end of the
tunnel, the US financial system will survive, albeit in a different form with apparently more
government controls. As I have preached for many many years, TOUGH TIMES DONT LAST-
TOUGH PEOPLE DO! HANG TOUGH AND PRAISE THE LORD AND PASS THE
AMMUNITION!

ISSUE #75
Your First 100 Million
Guthrie Castle, Scotland
Today Daniel S Pena, SR, has released his second addition of his outstanding definitive step by
step guideline how to with no money fulfill your dream in building a business worth many
millions in a down market!
www.danpena.com
Leap into Your First 100 Million with Dan Pena
Get first-hand info on how to get rich from the expert who did it from scratch!
Tired of your crappy, low-paying, 72-hour week job and having to deal with demanding, demeaning
bosses? Do you want to keep your own hours, be your own boss and love making a living? Putting
up a business you can love and call your own is an ideal way to break out of the redundancy of
being part of the working class and is easy enough to do with the right tools, but, making your
venture a success is another matter. Owning a business and hitting gold doesnt necessarily come
hand-in-hand, unless, you do things the Dan Pea way.
Business tycoon Daniel S. Pea, Chairman and Founder of The Guthrie Group and Great Western
Resources, Inc. (GWRI), has lead global and regional companies and institutions down the path of
success. He notably grew GWRI to a whopping $450,000,000 with a capital of only $820 at the
height of the collapse of the energy industry in the mere period of eight short years. With an
interminable list of credentials tucked under his belt, theres nobody like Pea to show
inexperienced entrepreneurs the ropes and give new insight to already successful businessmen. In
1999, the performance coach, upon demand from his clients, published Your First 100 Million
illustrating the step by step QLA Strategies and Methodologies as a supplement to the innumerable
noteworthy workshops and seminars that thousands of entrepreneurs have benefited from.
In April 2009, Guthrie Castle Ltd., published Peas second edition of Your First 100 Million, an
updated version of the original that helped launch the careers of millionaires all over the world.
Perceived as a mentor to many, the book is Peas way of nurturing start-up entrepreneurs in their
quest to pursuit their dream of making it big. It is a path for anyone with no money, but real desire
to achieve a dream to accomplish the impossible!
Your First 100 Million-Second Edition is also an extension of Peas popular seminars and is
revised to fit the changes that have happened in the economic and business communities since the
first edition came out. Straightforward and candid, Pea gives readers an inside look into the real
dealings of corporate businesses and how a start-up entrepreneur needs to think, feel, train and
prepare in order to make the first Quantum Leap, in life and business.
Peas opening sentence immediately promises wealth in quantities so large that you cant count
it youve got to weigh it and veers away from the typical get rich schemes offered by typical
entrepreneurial self-help books. His work doesnt sensationalize, and instead, focuses on the not-so-
simple, sometimes harsh, truth. His anecdotes on getting rich, and most importantly, losing money
awaken his readers to the realities of making it big and staying big. It is the perfect guide to serious
players from aspiring businessmen, small to medium-scale entrepreneurs and seasoned veterans.
Get rich the real way! Grab your copy of Your First 100 Million-Second Edition, now available
in bookstores nationwide. It is the definitive how to book written for the person who only requires
real desire!