THIS LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIST BY “REMOVING THE NOISE FROM WHAT PEOPLE THINK AND APPLYING WHAT IS ACTUAL” IS HELPING PROFESSIONALS REDEFINE AND AMPLIFY SUCCESS

BY AMANDA McCOY • PHOTOS BY ROBERT NUZZIE

Nearly five years have passed since the Strategic Performance Group, a leadership consulting and business development firm, accepted its first clients in the New Jersey New York area, but David Findel has been steadily assembling the firm’s building blocks for more than two decades.
“Strategic Performance Group is actually 25 years in the making,” explained the leadership development strategist. During his years in the mortgage banking world, Findel established a track record of providing guidance and training to his sales team that enabled its members to excel in the business. Today, his client roster includes a wide range of prominent professionals, from CEOs of public and private companies and top level executives to physicians, attorneys, accountants, and entrepreneurs. He’s even coached a celebrity chef.

Final David Findel_005

“When I was in the mortgage banking world,” Findel said, “I was successful at not only growing the company, but at being unique in how I trained salespeople to be the best in the business.”
A Strategic Performance Group edict reads, “Every leader, athlete, entertainer, and anyone on top of their game needs a coach,” and so the firm’s services include one on one professional coaching and training in fundamentals that help businesses and their leaders reach tangible goals and hit targets. Or as Findel describes it, “Removing the noise from what you think and applying what is actual. Our programs help professionals with development, time management, operational fundamentals, and leadership skills so they can reach their own next level.”
First, Findel meets with clients to assess ambitions and business objectives, then crafts a customized plan for each. His team provides expertise in optimization, leadership development, sales structure and execution, motivational training, and, finally, optimum business strategies. After only two years in business, the firm announced that 93 percent of its clients had either met or exceeded the professional goals they had set. The goal is to make that number 100 percent.

“It’s one on one coaching that works through the hurdles that businesses experience every day and that divert people’s attentions,” he said, “[in order to] create a results oriented road map to make the firm’s vision a reality.”

The development strategist explained that he is discerning when it comes to recruiting new clients. The firm looks for “no nonsense” companies and individuals, professionals who are serious about making things happen rather than just talking about them.

Final David Findel_008
“One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned in the five years since Strategic Performance Group was formed is that I cannot want a client’s success more than they want it,” he explained. “Success is an end product. There are no shortcuts; just do the right things on a daily basis and be accountable to yourself. The end result is the pinnacle of personal and professional performance.”

VJ SPREAD

For Findel, the road to success wasn’t always without bumps. After attending Fairleigh Dickinson University, he immediately went to work in financial services, starting at Mass Mutual, then moving into mortgage banking. He ultimately launched his own mortgage company, Financial Resources, in 1988. Findel credits “insane focus and passion” for success in the highly competitive field, and said those qualities enabled him to grow his enterprise from a small startup to a widely recognized name.

When the housing market collapsed in the late aughts and the mortgage banking business was in the middle of one of the worst chain of events in modern economic history, the financier made what he calls a regrettable decision on how to handle the effects of the financial crisis, one he paid for, he said, in both time and resources, and then was committed to actions to help overcome them. Tapping into the leadership skills he acquired over the course of a multi decade career, the former banking CEO decided to dedicate his professional life to helping others, like himself, “to see beyond what is in front of them and focus on the global vision.”

Final David Findel_002

Findel admitted that “I did something stupid. But after, I knew I needed to redirect my efforts. Now I use those life lessons and experience to teach CEOs how to grow their companies.”

Those who have embraced Findel’s program back him up. Sam Spitz, a CPA, attorney, and managing director of the New Jesery based SKE Group, is a long standing Strategic Performance Group client. He has been quoted as saying, “I’ve been working with David for many years. He has helped shape the culture within our firm and has kept us on course, so we can achieve everything we set out to do. David’s insight and understanding of business is uncanny. He can see past the issues at hand and solve them, while maintaining focus on the big picture.”

“Findel has elevated the culture of my entire team,” offered another client, Steven M. Napolitano, of AmTrust Title Insurance Company. “With his guidance, my management team is making tremendous strides in removing obstacles and realizing sales goals, and my sales team is being transformed into one that knows how to make things happen.”

The former banking CEO is also often asked to share expertise at corporate events, and is also writing a book about his experience in the industry and how it’s changed over the years. He is currently on the board of directors of a number of companies, both in the United States and abroad, and is also the chairman of the Forever Forward Foundation, a New Jersey based nonprofit that fundraises for various charities (one of its most notable events last year was the Forever Forward Foundation Golf & Gala Charity Outing).

Final David Findel_006

When he’s asked about his goals for the next decade, Findel is clear about a primary objective.
“To continue to be known by industry pros as a fundamental driver in making their companies go from good to great,” he said. “Through the ups and downs of my life, I never lost focus of the vision I hold true to my heart. At the end of the day, it’s a matter of conveying the message to our client base. Success is contagious. Our reputation for excellence is earned through the achievements of no nonsense individuals who have been committed to changing their lives in a significant way.”

Strategic Performance Group
Five Professional Circle, Colts Neck
888.417.5950 / davidfindel.com