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Here’s more of my conversation with long-time friend, Nido Qubein — successful businessman, speaker, consultant, author, educator, volunteer and philanthropist.

Jeff Blackman: What’s on the minds of the business leaders you meet?

Nido Qubein: Today’s biz leaders are focused on dealing with change. On competing in an ever-changing global marketplace, and surviving in turbulent economic times.

Preparing for an uncertain future loaded with expectations from stakeholders of all kinds and, most importantly, on the need to grow and nurture their leadership team.

JB: How do you help leaders wrestle with these challenges?

NQ: Over the years I’ve been the confidant and consultant to many CEOs and others in top management. I always ask them to dwell on the positive. To identify the strengths they and their companies possess. To master the art of positing and the science of branding and to manage their risks cautiously as they embark onto new ventures filled with both promise and fear!

JB: Why did you choose to become president of High Point University (in High Point, NC)?

NQ: It’s my undergrad alma mater. The board persuaded me to take over the leadership of this fine institution and transform it into an extraordinary academy of higher education. We’ve invested a quarter of a billion dollars in less than three years and doubled and tripled practically every meaningful measurement: academically, physically, and reputationally. We’re doing amazing things.

JB: After graduation, what do you want “your” students to take from the classroom and campus to the community and the business world?

NQ: Our students receive an extraordinary education, in a fun environment, with caring people. They enroll in my required class (President’s Seminar on Life Skills), where they’re exposed to skills on time management, fiscal literacy, communication and presentation skills, self esteem and entrepreneurship.

They receive a holistic education at HPU and graduate armed to compete in a demanding and competitive marketplace. Our grads go on to do amazing things.

JB: What’s the best business decision you have ever made?

NQ: To invest in and help start a community bank in 1985. Today, it’s part of the ninth largest financial institution in the U.S., with assets of $135 billion. It was my best decision because all the numbers worked and a meager investment turned into a fortune!

JB: What’s the biggest mistake you’ve ever made in business — what did you learn from it?

NQ: I invested in a real estate venture I didn’t understand and with people I didn’t fully know. The deal went sour and we were all sued for a lot!

Know your partners really well over a long time and don’t invest in stuff you don’t fully understand.

JB: How do you help others “think” differently about their future?

NQ: I invite others not to think outside the box, but rather to throw the box outside the window!

I like to look at challenging issues from a ground zero perspective. Discovery is the name of the game.

Ask a lot of questions:

-- Where are we?

-- Where do we want to go?

-- How do we get there?

-- What worked?

-- How can we do more of it?

-- What didn’t work and how can we avoid it?

There’s a difference between a person who learns and a person who learns how to learn. The latter is always growing.

JB: How does one create “transformational” business?

NQ: Transformational leaders are deeper thinkers with more lasting impact on their teams. Transactional leaders focus on tasks and short term results.

You encourage transformational leadership, in a real world, by allowing people to explore options, take risks, judge consequences.

You mentor and guide your team to focus on meaningful transformation in the way they believe, they behave, and they measure results.

It’s a process, not a program. It demands desire and determination. You reward people amply when they think and act transformationally.

To continue your transformation and gobble-up more of Nido’s knowledge, head to nidoqubein.com.

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Jeff Blackman is a speaker, author, success coach, broadcaster and lawyer who lives part-time on Marco Island. His clients call him a “business-growth specialist.” Send an e-mail to jeff@jeffblackman.com or go to www.jeffblackman.com to subscribe to his free e-letter.