I’d like to tell you a little bit about myself, my background in business and share some of my experiences. Originally from Greenville, South Carolina, I experienced my first successes at The Citadel. There, for the first time I excelled, where I became a highly ranked cadet, earned a position on the Summerall Guards, served on the Honor Court, and graduated eighth in my class. When I finished The Citadel, I was prepared, motivated and confident to begin accomplishing my goals in my business and personal life.
Continuing my education, I earned an MBA at Georgia Tech. I then left for two years on active duty as an Army Lieutenant, but not before meeting two men, while playing golf as a student at Tech who later would become my bosses. When I returned to Atlanta from the Army, I immediately went to work for the business owned by my “previous golfing partners.” On the first day they introduced me to their staff at Ellman’s Inc., a major catalog retailer, and by the end of the day they encouraged me to “learn the business.” I started unloading trucks on the receiving dock to understand the business from the bottom up, and later progressed through the ranks of mid-management. I eventually became president and chief operating officer of a company that grew to 1,800 employees and generated $250 million a year in revenue, in today’s dollars.
During my 20-plus years with Ellman’s, I sharpened my business skills, learned how to interact with people at all levels of the company, and dealt with the issues that most individuals and businesses face in today’s highly challenging environment. My job was to lead my team to increase the value of Ellman’s, then a publicly owned company, so the stakeholders could maximize the sale of the company. The sale was successful.
I transitioned these experiences into my own coaching business, The Next Level, and designed an innovative approach using my clients’ existing resources to achieve their business objectives and personal goals before spending unnecessary dollars.
What sets me apart from other business coaches is my wide range of experiences and the unique insights I bring to the table. Having worked with both individuals and businesses, I have accumulated a wealth of knowledge that enables me to share tailored solutions that truly fit each situation because I believe there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. Growing up in my own family-owned business gave me a deep understanding of the dynamics involved, so one of my goals is helping family-owned businesses thrive. I ensure that the strategies we develop are aligned with your values and vision, ultimately creating a path to success that feels authentic.
My approach is not the same, as the services I provide are unique and are customized for each of my clients. Each has their own desires and ambitions. However, a common thread connects all the people and businesses I have coached over the past three decades: I don’t tell them what they need to do to succeed. I work with them one-on-one to help them determine what actions they should take to reach their goals. I’m neither leading them nor pushing them along the path to success. I’m standing right beside them, serving as an experienced mentor, a receptive sounding board and a trusted confidant.
I look forward to the opportunity to assist you in finding the solutions that work for you and discussing how I can help you achieve your personal and business goals.
I want to help my clients understand that the business side of their business is not as difficult to manage as they think. It is the people side that creates the challenge for business owners and managers and drains their energy. With this in mind, the next step is to reduce what a client sees as “complex business matters” down to the real issues, not the symptoms, and address these with the basic fundamentals of business.
Who said business was not supposed to be fun? When you spend the majority of your time in a work environment and it is not fun, you are likely working in a crisis environment and putting out too many fires. Mixing business with pleasure should be essential in any well-managed business that wants to create a positive attitude for all stakeholders.
Often, our strengths can become our weaknesses. Entrepreneurs are “drivers who know what they want and want it yesterday.” In most cases, this is their genius, yet at the same time, it impedes their progress. “Ready-Fire-Aim” can describe the psychology of many entrepreneurs. Accepting challenges and wanting to be pioneers in accomplishing new goals “drives” the business and can “drive” the other employees up the wall. Managing the ability to make things happen with the counterbalance of letting things happen (being patient) is a mark of an effective entrepreneur.
While in graduate school at Georgia Tech, I was introduced to Peter Drucker, who was considered by many to be the “guru” of business management. If his first books were read today, the concepts would be just as valid. I believe that his modern-day counterparts would concede this point as well. Dealing with people is ageless. Treating individuals with dignity and respect is timeless.
Phil Hahn, a principal of one of the largest diamond companies in the world, was my personal business hero. He taught me to always be respectful to others and know and understand your business better than anyone else. When you sit down to transact business, be prepared to take the chair opposite and be equally pleased with the transaction when completed. In other words, both sides win!
Easy. I would be a professor in higher education, an author, and involved in any way that helps others. In truth, that is how I spend my time when I am not coaching businesses. I have the best of all worlds.
I don’t want to grow up. We all have a child within us to protect and nurture. That is how we maintain our innocence. Though the body matures, the mind should be playful to keep its creativity. The most creative and honest people I know are children. It’s all about mixing and matching our maturity with our inner child.
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I had the great fortune to find Al Katz, and my life has been on a more positive trajectory ever since. We meet once a week to discuss life and business, and he is available anytime I have an issue or something that I need help navigating. Al has had great success both professionally and personally and his vast experience can help you improve a current situation or resolve an issue. We have navigated some tough issues in my business life, and I am happily on the other side now! However, new issues come up every day in all our lives, and I count myself blessed to be able to continually lean on Al’s knowledge and judgement.
I appreciate Al’s style of coaching. Instead of telling you what you need to do, Al helps you work through the situation and find the best solution because you are the only person that knows the whole picture and can truly find the solutions to improve your life. He is gentle in his approach to coaching, but he can also push you in the right direction when you need it! I don’t want to think about how different my life would be if I had not found Al Katz those years ago, and I am quick to tell everyone how much he has done and continues to do for me. Do yourself a favor and call Al!
“Sincere appreciation goes out to Al Katz for being such a superb motivational coach. Understanding the customer in a new light and improvements in our inventory control system have greatly improved our bottom line. I would highly recommend Al and The Next Level to anyone wishing to improve their business.
Al Katz is a great leader and instructor. He has gained a tremendous amount of insight through his many years in the business world, and he is able to leverage that experience when coaching individuals. His one-on-one sessions are thought-provoking and focused, and he tailors each meeting with the goals of the individual in mind. His real-world stories add another level of context to really help in driving a message home. Al takes pride in his coaching and truly wants each person to succeed.
When I first met Al Katz, he was giving a presentation on “Succession Planning” at the Family Business Forum quarterly meeting. Ten minutes into his presentation, I realized everything he was saying was directly relevant to my business situation and future retirement. As I listened to Al’s presentation, the light came on and I realized I needed to do something if I expected my upcoming retirement to become a reality. I knew Al had the knowledge to help my business. Now I have a succession plan in place to ensure a successful transition of responsibilities and ownership of my company.
Al, you have been a huge help confirming many things that I have felt for a long time. I always believe that it is a positive thing to bring in a professional
to answer questions and give another prospective outside of the ‘family box.’ And you have done just that! I thank you for everything.
Al’s capability to provide a bird’s eye view of a business is a skill to be admired. I needed someone with Al’s sound advice and recommendations. He played a significant role in helping me make some tough decisions to move forward.
Our company met Al Katz after a Family Business Council meeting where he was the presenter. He brought up many points that we as business owners had never considered especially now that our children are grown and beginning families of their own. Al’s lifetime of business experience, firm yet easygoing and engaging style helped our family deal with a subject that was completely unknown to us. He is the first to say, “It’s a process that really never ends.” We found his involvement to be just what we needed to begin engaging in family discussions of when and how the business can successfully transition to the next generation. All businesses either are sold or transferred to another generation or come to an end. It is reassuring to have someone who understands the process to be part of that discussion and help keep it on track. Our family would enthusiastically recommend Al Katz.
We met Al weekly and step-by-gentle-step, he coached us to adopt new practices that are key to running a successful business. He was unfailingly upbeat. Perhaps his greatest gift in working with us was his ability to navigate that tension between encouragement and pressure; something important with young adults. He seemed genuinely delighted to learn more about the work we were doing and that was very affirming. He even did some networking for us with his other clients. He worked to make sure we had the discipline and tools we needed to maintain our progress.
Al Katz and the concepts that he has developed at The Next Level have deeply impacted our business. His business coaching style combined with his focus on planning, communication, and personal development have made our company a much more effective organization.
It has been my distinct pleasure to have been well acquainted with Al Katz for over ten years – first as a client of his when he worked with my former law firm, then as a friend as we worked together closely, then as a business colleague as we worked co-operatively to try to assist each other and to cross market our respective services. Al’s unique interpersonal skills enable him to be singularly effective in dealing both with groups and with individuals. He has a superb ability for listening and then rapidly discerning group dynamics, individual personality make ups, as well as individual and group resources, capabilities, and needs. He capably facilitates enhanced communications and fosters co-operative efforts. I have seen Al in action on numerous occasions and believe that he is the best at what he does, i.e. business coaching. I have spoken with a number of Al’s clients who share my admiration of his skills and have experienced the beneficial results of having utilized his services.
Al’s insight and business knowledge have proved invaluable to my growth, both personally and professionally. He’s really a personal coach who helps you discover the best within yourself, then helps you develop the tools to take your business to the next level.
I found Al at a critical point in my career as I was moving from my role as an individual contributor to becoming responsible for others as a leader and a mentor. Al gave me the guidance and the confidence to create my own path with this growth. Our business as a CPA firm is often so hyper-focused on client deadlines and the customer perspective, Al helps to contextualize this within the greater scope of business by focusing on our clients and staff. Al brings a fresh perspective having worked across various industries over his successful career.
Under the guidance of The Next Level and Al Katz, my partners and I were able to take our growing company and effectively apply our core values and business principles in a people centered environment. Al showed us how to lead our people and not just manage them during an important transitional time. All companies who experience growth have key associates who fear change. Al strategically showed us how to implement the necessary changes by working beyond our fears. As a result, we are able to have a strong balance of leading our company’s growth through its people while giving us the ability to meet our personal goals. Al showed us that it doesn’t have to be an all or nothing atmosphere. A balance in the workplace can be achieved and we did it!
The Next Level has honestly taken my business to ‘the next level.’ Al’s ability to quickly analyze my current business model, introduce sound business practices and develop new revenue sources has reinvented my business. Thank you Al Katz.”
Working with Al, we were able to take a step back and look at our business and our lives in a much different way. We have saved ourselves many hard years of learning what it takes to run a great business. The simplest solutions are the most apt and Al showed us that in all scenarios that approach should be the same.
Al Katz and his rock solid advice have served as the cornerstone for me and my business during these economic times. Having been in the commercial real estate business for over 17 years, I found myself at a critical crossroads. I needed someone to look at my business, understand my objectives, and coach me through the process. The results have been outstanding and certainly beyond my expectations. Al is a great coach, business mind, and I am proud to say, a great friend.