About
In 1997, I started a company that helped organizations develop quality systems. We improved processes, reduced problems, and helped teams operate with more consistency. But I quickly learned something that became central to my work: a company can build a quality system and still struggle.
Often the deeper issue is not process. It’s clarity, alignment, and follow-through.
That led me to develop a framework I used repeatedly with businesses, nonprofits, and leaders:
Discovery — defining who you truly are and what you really provide. An insurance company, for example, doesn’t just sell a policy. It sells trust. When the foundation is clear, decisions stop being reactive and start becoming intentional.
Direction — building a workable framework for where you’re going and how you’ll get there. I used a simple structure: Purpose, Principles, Pathways, and Partners. When those are clear, priorities become obvious and progress becomes measurable.
Development — strengthening the areas where a company or a person is deficient so they have the capacity to execute. Direction without capability becomes frustration. Development is what turns intention into outcomes.
One day a business leader I was working with told me he was about to lose a vice president he depended on. The issue wasn’t competence. It was that the man’s personal life was falling apart. He asked if I could help.
That experience led to what became Living as a Champion, along with the spiritual series that followed. Those programs helped that executive rebuild his life and return to the value he carried, both for the organization and for himself. Much of what I offer today grew out of that arena: practical tools for personal direction, time mastery, and real follow-through.
Over the years I also helped turn around nonprofits and worked close to politics as a consultant to Congress and state legislatures. That exposure forced deeper questions about what is happening in our culture and why so many institutions feel unstable or untrustworthy. That’s where my YouTube material and writing at TTLToday.com comes from.
Throughout my life I’ve had many “but for” moments. But for someone who stepped in. But for someone who offered direction, encouragement, or a second chance. My hope is that this work can be a “but for” for others who are trying to build a more meaningful, steady, and positive life.
My goal has always been the same: to make a positive and sustainable difference in the lives of people and the success of organizations.
— Larry G. Patten