His company works with businesses and other organizations to help their top executives improve their performance.
“We don’t like the word ‘coaching’ because it’s an extremely uncredentialed industry,” Evans said. “A large percentage of people calling themselves coaches are either unemployable or they have never led a large organization.” Evans, 39, of Dallas, is co-founder of Dynamic Results LLC, a firm that works with CFOs, CEOs and COOs to help eliminate roadblocks that keep them from reach- ing peak performance, whatever line of work that might involve.
Evans saw success as president and CEO of a member company of National Advantage Group, which managed business in- vestments and assets for various entities, from 1992 to 2003. And he saw failure when the firm took a major downturn with the 9/11 terrorist attacks. But he didn’t let that failure stop him from taking the advice of a fellow executive who thought other firms could benefit from Evans’ philosophy about how to improve company and organizational operations.
Along with co-founder Bob Irish, now a senior associate with Dynamic Results, Evans opened the company in Dallas’ Deep Ellum. He later purchased Irish’s interest in the firm.
The initial investment was less than $50,000.
In its first year of operations, in 2003, the firm’s gross revenue was $300,000. Within six months of starting, Dynamic Results had a full client load, Evans said. This calendar year, projections are that revenue will be about $750,000. Next year, he hopes to see gross revenue of $1.1 million to $1.2 million. Currently, the firm has about 20 organizations as clients both in the United States and overseas.
The firm is relatively small, employing eight associates who work with companies and their executives and two employees who handle administrative matters.
But just because the firm is small, that doesn’t mean its clients are too. Among them are executives of U.S. national defense entities, Amgen Biotech (NASDAQ: AMGN) of Thousand Oaks, Calif., and Saladmaster Inc., a Dallas-based maker of healthy cookware.
Half of the associates at Dynamic Results are certified in assessing individuals’ emotional intelligence, measuring the way they relate to and are perceived by other people. Some argue that such measurements are a four-times-greater predictor of success than an individual’s intelligence quotient.
Not every company executive that calls Dynamic Results to become a client is accepted.
First, coaches at Dynamic Results screen potential clients to determine if they’re coachable. That is, if individuals:
Have the nerve to try something new.
Trust the observations the coach may give.
Give an honest description of the company’s situation, including the manager’s role.
Desire to improve their firm’s performance, without complacency due to prior success.
Are willing to hold themselves and others accountable.
“We do turn away a lot of potential clients and associates,” Evans said.
Evans also steers away from describing his associates as “advisers,” saying that advisers tell clients what the advisers think should be done to fix the problems. Instead, Evans and his associates at Dynamic Results, acting as impartial observers, ask pointed questions about how things are done, and allow executives to draw their own conclusions and ideas in terms of ways to improve.
Clients commit to contracts lasting one to two years. In that time, associates work with clients every week or every other week, and then engage in strategic planning with executive teams every 90 days.
Associates measure accomplishments against benchmarks set in planning, then the results are reviewed to determine if and why goals weren’t met.
by Dave Moore / Staff Writer
