IAM715- Leader Supports Clients to Optimize Their Performance

With 40 years of business management and leadership experience, Bonnie Ortiz formed O2 Consulting Group in September of 2017 after spending almost a decade as the Chief Operating Officer for The Partnership Federal Credit Union. A recognized expert with a proven track record in operational strategic planning, process improvement, and project management and recovery, Bonnie supports clients on their journey to operational maturity and extraordinary performance.

Bonnie instills a culture of operational effectiveness in each engagement, leveraging a proven product and project management methodology to optimize performance and build a solid foundation for growth.

• CEO Hack: My ability to plan and organize, stay positive, motivated and look in the long-term
• CEO Nugget: Never stop examining where you are and where you want to go
• CEO Defined: An honor that allows me to serve incredible individuals and organizations

Website: https://o2consultinggroup.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/o2-consulting-group/

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[00:00:02.20] – Intro

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

[00:00:30.39] – Gresham Harkless

Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I Am CEO podcast, and I have a very, very special guest on the show today. I have Bonnie Ortiz of o two consulting groups. Bonnie, it's awesome to have you on the show.

[00:00:41.20] – Bonnie Ortiz

Thank you so much, Gresham.

[00:00:43.20] – Gresham Harkless

No problem. Super excited to have you back on the show. And before we jump in, I want to read a little bit more about Bonnie so you can hear about all the awesome things that she's doing. With forty years of business management and leadership experience, Bonnie formed two consulting groups in September of twenty seventeen after spending almost a decade as the chief operating officer for the Partnership Federal Credit Union. A recognized expert with a proven track record in operational strategic planning, process improvement, project management, and recovery, Bonnie supports clients on their journey to operational maturity and extraordinary performance.

Bonnie instills a culture of operational effectiveness in each engagement, leveraging a proven product and project management methodology to optimize performance and build a solid foundation for growth. And Bonnie has been a guest on the show. She's specifically episode I am zero twenty-four. So, Bonnie, it's great to have you on the show again. Are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

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[00:01:38.59] – Bonnie Ortiz

I sure am.

[00:01:39.70] – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Let's do it. So to kick everything off, I want to hear a little bit more on what I referenced in your bio. Could you take us through your story and what led you to start your business?

[00:01:49.50] – Bonnie Ortiz

I would love to. You know, my journey, has been a long one and an incredibly productive one. I have been in business development and operational settings with both large companies as large as AT and T and as small as my own, starting as a one-person organization and now with five consultants that surround me for various aspects of our service. I did spend ten years most recently in the financial industry as the chief operating officer of, a credit union in Arlington, Virginia. That experience allowed me to dig deeper into my project management and process improvement roots, and to help formulate a training package and platform for organizations that were trying to bring project management methodologies and disciplines,, to their, you know, kind of build-up or start-up organizations. Not all sized organizations are ready for that kind of discipline.

And so I formulated a playbook and a project management toolkit that I now use across all of my financial industry clients, and also recently got involved in business continuity, efforts, and disaster recovery efforts because, as you can expect, each of these financial industry, clients are essential businesses, and they provide services, to consumers that are looking for a relationship. You know, most, consumers go to a credit union because it is a grassroots, you know, movement and has always been focused on, the individual relationship and the financial well-being of each of their members. And I just love that. I love working with organizations that are mission-driven, and that really are interested in not just growing but developing a stable and sustainable, organization with the right people, the right processes, and the right tools.

[00:04:05.50] – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. Absolutely. And I think it's obviously, you know, integral to everything that you do because, you know, having those processes and those systems in place and be able to continue to, you know, serve your clients and customers to the best, you know, ability possible and making sure that you do have, that continuity of, you know, everything that you're doing, if I said that right, as well as absolutely huge. But I definitely think it's, you know, increasingly important as we talked about, you know, during this time, there's a pandemic especially, you know, where there is shifts and changes, I'm sure in the operations and way people are connecting and engaging to to still be able to serve clients. And it's great that you help people out in organizations out of doing that.

[00:04:44.10] – Bonnie Ortiz

Thank you.

[00:04:44.89] – Gresham Harkless

Absolutely. So I know you touched on, kind of how you serve your clients. Was there anything additional you do you did that, and you do that helps, you know, clients, how you help to serve your clients?

[00:04:56.80] – Bonnie Ortiz

Yes. I think I would start by saying that our strategic planning services are a bit unique. And I say that because, you know, over the years, businesses develop business plans and strategic operating plans with a rather rigorous but checklist-almost format. My approach to business planning has more to do with the alignment of the vision, and the mission, to the day-to-day operations. I feel strongly that if you do not have a solid operational plan, if people do not understand the vision, if they don't understand the value that they're bringing, then they have no idea how they're connected to the mission. I also believe that a standard set of policies, procedures, and protocols, you know, processes, guidelines, if you will, allow people to know where they're going. You know, they allow folks to feel comfortable that they are moving in the right direction, and quite candidly, I have worked in regulated industries almost my entire career, and when you do work in regulated industries, there's a fair amount of compliance, that has to be upheld.

And so policies and procedures help you to ensure that you are meeting and or exceeding those compliance requirements. And then lastly, the systems and tools, the resources that you use need to be available to staff, and they need to continuously expand, and, you need to continue your innovation in that way so that, you feel comfortable that your your business is moving forward, both at the growth or business development area and in the operational area. So my strategic planning services sort of start the conversation, with a client and often lead me then to the identification of areas within their business that can use improvement. So whether that's bringing a new product to market, and rerolling that out for, their constituency or whether it's adding a new system, converting from an old platform, perhaps for financial transactions to a new one.

But we support our clients in identifying, selecting, and then implementing all of those solutions so that they are in this evolution to, a higher level of operational maturity. And then, of course, you know, I mentioned project management. That's my true passion, and I've been a certified project manager for more years than I wanna, to remember. Okay. But it's given me an insight into how that has also evolved. It has to be tailored, and individuals who are going to operate in a successful matrixed way that project management demands need to find value in it. They need it to be simple, easy to navigate, and easy to understand so that they feel comfortable that they can not only manage a project along, you know, sort of strict lines of discipline but also that they see the value that that discipline brings.

So more efficient operations, the ability to be able to perform, more projects in a given year than they might have in the absence of that discipline. And all of a sudden, you know, their eyes widen to the possibilities. Not only possibilities for their own personal development but possibilities for where the organization can go and what they can achieve. So all three of those service areas are things that, I have done and continue to do for, clients in the Washington, metropolitan area, mostly, although I do have a few clients that are outside of that area.

[00:08:58.29] – Gresham Harkless

The says kinda like the processes and the systems will set you free. So I can definitely see how the client's eyes, you know, open up wide because when you have that kind of consistency, as you mentioned, of course, in those regulated industries. But I think, you know, overall, it gives you that opportunity to have people that are doing different things in an organization be able to make sure that everybody's on the same page. But I love how you mentioned as well too, it gives them the confidence and the strength to be able to scale and grow the business as well because they have those kinda, I guess, foundational, tasks or policies and procedures in place so that they're able to continue to kinda grow and expand as much as possible.

[00:09:36.60] – Bonnie Ortiz

Exactly. I, you know, I often draw the analogy to a house being built, and you're certainly not going to continue to place more and more stories on the top of your house from a growth perspective and know all the while that your basement is sitting, getting ready to crumble. Mhmm. And that's the way I look at the balance between, the growth strategy and the operational strategy and ensuring that you've got those always in constant balance so that when you, are successful and hit those growth goals, that you know that behind you, you have the right people, processes, and tools to support that growth and to allow you to go even further, you know, the following year.

[00:10:22.00] – Gresham Harkless

Absolutely. No. I love that, and I love that analogy, for sure. And so do you consider that to be, like, your secret sauce, the ability to kinda see that within an organization and be able to kinda help solve, probably those issues maybe even before they crop up and create that foundation so that those businesses can scale.

[00:10:38.79] – Bonnie Ortiz

I do. And I think that I would add to that question that, you know, every time you sit down and write a business plan, you always look to say, what is my differentiator? And, you know, I did the same thing when I was looking at, two consulting groups, you know, what is our differentiator? And I would say a couple of things. One, obviously, the knowledge, the experience, the expertise that years of being down in the trenches give you, the ability to be able to train and coach, in a way that makes folks see the value, realize it, and then adopt it because it's their idea to adopt it. But finally, I think it's because, my organization is poised and we insist on, maintaining a culture of we'll roll up our sleeves. So we don't just come in and provide an assessment and tell you where things need to be improved and then walk away, but rather we're prepared to roll up our sleeves and to really help, you know, to guide you.

[00:11:44.20] – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. Absolutely. So I wanted to switch gears a little bit, and I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So this could be like an app, a book, or a habit that you have, but what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?

[00:11:56.20] – Bonnie Ortiz

Well, as you can expect from, my conversation about project management, what makes me really effective is my ability to be able to plan and organize, my ability to be able to look at the long term and work towards that vision. But I would say that again, my sort of CEO hack is being motivated and positive.

[00:12:21.79] – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. And so now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget. So this could be a word of wisdom or piece of advice, or it might be something if you were to hop into a time machine you tell your younger business self.

[00:12:33.50] – Bonnie Ortiz

I think my nugget would never stop examining where you are and where you want to go. There's always room for improvement. There's always room for innovation. There's always room for introspection, keeping an open mind, to continuously improve.

[00:12:54.29] – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. Absolutely. And I think when you have that mentality, and, obviously, you can see it, in, you know, the services you provide is you always have that ability, as you just mentioned, to have that vision towards, you know, that growth that the organizations are looking for, but you still always are looking at, you know, that especially from an operational standpoint, what things, tweaks, or changes you can make to improve an organization so that they can see that and get to that level. I think it's huge to be able to call on that and have that within yourself. Agreed. Awesome. And so now I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. And we're hoping to have different quotes, unquote CEOs on the show. So, Bonnie, what does being a CEO mean to you?

[00:13:32.00] – Bonnie Ortiz

I think it is an honor that allows me to serve incredible organizations and individuals. It allows me the opportunity to lead a group of incredibly talented people. I really believe that when you surround yourself with folks who are smarter than you, have better ideas than you, and have an open, environment for communication, you don't just survive, you thrive. Mhmm. So to me, being a CEO means allowing myself the freedom and ability to surround myself with those folks and to build a to build and and sustain a team that then takes those principles and moves out in the community to help the people that, we wanna serve.

[00:14:25.39] – Gresham Harkless

Yes. I love that definition, that perspective. I think the quote is if you are the smartest person in the room, find a different room, and I think that speaks to exactly it speaks exactly to what you're saying. And I think under you know, underlying of that as well too is I always feel like when you start an organization, you have to have a certain amount of, kinda confidence in what it is that you're doing. But I think coupled with that humility to be able to bring on those talented people and to understand that it's, you know, not necessarily about, you know, the individuals, it's about the team and being able to serve clients. I think when that that's when you really, you know, take it to another level and you really get to thrive as you mentioned as well too.

[00:15:04.39] – Bonnie Ortiz

Absolutely.

[00:15:05.39] – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Well, Bonnie, truly appreciate your time and truly appreciate all the leadership and and awesome things that you're doing and that you shared with us today. What I wanted to do is pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional you can let our readers and listeners know, and, of course, how best they can get a hold of you and find out all the awesome things you and your team are working on.

[00:15:22.50] – Bonnie Ortiz

No. Gresham, it has been a pleasure being on the show again. I look forward to doing it down the road again. Hopefully, in better times when all of us can get out a bit more, and be able to enjoy the sunshine and the summer, months. But I would just say to everybody, you know, stay safe, stay healthy, and look towards o two consulting groups, for any of your operational needs, including business continuity and disaster planning as you start to return to work and plan and and create strategies for doing so.

[00:16:02.29] – Gresham Harkless

Absolutely. Well, definitely, the pleasure's all ours. Bonnie, truly appreciate your time and appreciate what you're doing to help out these organizations and corporations as well. We will have the links and information in the show notes as well too so that everybody can follow up with you even easier. But, again, please stay safe and sound, and I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

[00:16:20.50] – Bonnie Ortiz

Thanks so much, Gresham.

[00:16:22.39] – Outro

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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