Charlie Garcia, president of C Garcia and Associates, has learned that every project management problem really needs a people-focused solution. He grew up in the construction industry and learned early on to take responsibility for what's broken AND what's going right. In this episode, you'll hear Charlie describe a problem completely caused by other people but making him look bad. Like losing millions of dollars bad. He lost a lot of sleep fixing this hot mess, but didn't waste a second trying to blame others. He simply got to work. During this episode listen to Charlie tell how he solved an expensive problem by working with people, not against them. Plus many more insights like these:

• If you're growing and leading, hot messes are unavoidable
• If you can't figure out what's going on, go watch the problem in action
• A plan isn't the only thing you need to be successful
• Don't circumvent the process; running your ideas up the chain of command is essential
• Take responsibility for solving problems...not fixing people.
• Being stuck in emotion stops you solving problems
• The curse of the overachiever: you think you're failing; others think you're a rock star
• There is great wisdom in a multitude of experiences.
• You don't need others' permission to lead.
• Success comes from taking risks.
• Instead of saying, "What don't I have?" Ask, "What do I have?
• To be successful, be more selfish. Selfishness means taking the responsibility AND the rewards.
• Don't be Teflon Pete.
• What overachievers get wrong about outpacing other people
• If you have a hard time asking for help, at least seek counsel
• Simple solutions have big impact
• Powerful self coaching questions you can use to feel successful

About Charlie Garcia

Charlie J. Garcia is the owner and President of C Garcia Associates consulting firm and has won numerous awards including the 1994 Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst and Young, and Small Businessman of the Year in 2000 by the SBA.

He has proudly called Indianapolis his home since the late 1980s. Born in San Francisco, California, Garcia attended the College of San Mateo, and graduated from the Way College of Biblical Research. Garcia attended Butler University, and has also graduated from Dartmouth University, and University of California, Los Angeles Executive Programs.

Charlie has served the business and nonprofit community extensively on boards such as Butler University, Bank One (Indiana) Federal Reserve Bank, the Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, Eiteljorg Museum, Central Indiana Corporate Partnership, Indiana Progress Industry Committee, Crossroads of America Boy Scouts, and the Challenge School Academy Charter School.

Garcia’s greatest contributions in many ways are his efforts to mentor aspiring entrepreneurs. The mentoring program he developed has been adopted by the Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce to assist minority and women-owned businesses to grow at rates of 20 to 60 percent.

Lead Kick Ass Meetings: Complimentary Resource

Meetings are a really expensive use of your time. It only makes sense that they need to be more productive and valuable. Instead of running meetings that could have been an email, lead powerful meetings that have purpose, participation, and problem solving.