It's been said that the rate of change will never be as slow as it is today. In the future, successful companies will be those that identify innovative opportunities, embrace change, and are adaptable.

Allan Koltin is the founder and CEO of Koltin Consulting Group, a professional consulting firm that specializes in strategic planning, mergers and acquisition, profit improvement, succession planning, and executive coaching.

Allan joins Jared Siegel on today's episode of Success That Lasts to discuss the key ingredients to effective change management in our personal and professional lives.

Tune in here, at delapcpa.com/podcast, or wherever you listen to podcasts:

Here are a few highlights from their insightful conversation:

• The harder you try, the luckier you get. Allan Koltin recounts many failures early in his short-lived career in public accounting and gives words of wisdom about the relationship between success and failure. If you’re not failing, you’re not growing professionally, he advises listeners.
• While there is some truth to the belief that leaders are born and not made, the reality is that many are made. Three characteristics of great leaders are trustworthiness, acquiring people’s respect, and great communication skills. The most important one, according to Jack Welch, is the ability to make tough decisions.
• Jared has observed that the most successful leaders have helpful mentors and peers that push them to constantly improve. They pace life with their peers, gain wisdom from their mentors, and generously invest into the lives of other people even early in their careers. This establishes a good equilibrium as a leader between pacing, taking, and giving.
• There are three kinds of performers, according to Allan. The first is the Content, who stops growing professionally and is satisfied with continuing to milk what he has been doing for years. The second is the Climber, who immerses herself in new skills and technologies every year because she is never satisfied. The third kind of performer is the Crazy, who will climb to the top of the proverbial tree and jump to another tree.
• What defines leaders is the school of tough love, Allan claims. Mentors who care for you personally but challenge you directly will elevate your skills as a leader, as they offer continuous support but never pull any punches. Jared shares his learning experience under his college football coach and how his mentorship prepared him to be a business leader.
• The three types of financial partners are: Customers who buy a few things from you, with whom there is no relationship so they hold no brand loyalty and eventually leave; Clients, who buy multiple things from you, refer others to you, and with whom there is a relationship; and Cheerleaders, who market in the community for you, and recruit talent and clients.
• Creating a healthy and wealthy business involves asset building instead of asset milking. Asset builders sow seeds today for a better tomorrow, whereas asset milkers eat those seeds. Asset builders invest the first cut of the year-end profit into improvement and development, whereas asset milkers take the profits for themselves.
• The first year of a merger acquisition is like the first year of marriage, Allan remarks. There is going to be a lot of conforming, compromising, and change that may be painful. It’s not about getting the better of the other, but, instead, it's about understanding each other’s wants and needs in order to make a fair and sustainable deal that will stand the test of time.