Larry Parman is an attorney, author and founder of CEO Maestro. Using
the wealth of knowledge and experience he's gained over the years,
Larry created CEO Maestro to help his clients grow and improve their
results through legal, financial and high performance strategies.
The owner of Parman & Easterday - a law firm that concentrates in business, estate and tax planning services - Larry is also the co-author of two books, Estate Planning Basics: A Crash Course in Safeguarding Your Legacy and Guiding Those Left Behind: What You Need to Know to Settle Your Estate. He is also the author of Above the Fray: Leading Yourself, Your Business and Others During Turbulent Times, scheduled for publication in 2013.
A Note from Larry:
It’s appropriate to share some background so you can decide if I am the person you believe can deliver the outcomes that will satisfy your questions about participating in one of our programs.
I have been involved in coaching programs of one form or another for nearly 20 years. Most recently, I am coming off two years of public service as Secretary of State and Secretary of Commerce in Oklahoma. Here are the details.
Pre-Public Service
Prior to joining Governor Mary Fallin’s administration my business interests centered around a law firm, a financial services firm and a firm that offered professional and executive development programs for entrepreneurs, business owners, CEOs and their teams.
The legal and financial services firms continued to operate in my absence. That was not the case for my coaching and executive development programs. I was unable to continue those programs while working for the state. If you are wondering…Yes…I will re-engage with the legal and financial services firms, at least to some extent.
However, my passion is helping business leaders develop clarity about their business, overcome obstacles, build stronger teams, defeat their enemies in the marketplace and reach success points they never thought they could attain…in their business and personal life.
That’s why I am re-launching the coaching and executive development business and adding new programs to the portfolio of services…all designed to helping executives and their teams take their performance and results to higher levels.
This is a partnership grounded in the commitment I make to clients when helping them on their success journey and a unique background that only a handful (if that) of professionals in the business owner/CEO development field can offer.
One client said, “It’s like working with a one-man board of directors.”
What is that experience?
Current:
- Published author (January 2014) – Above the Fray: Leading Yourself, Others and Your Business During Turbulent Times.
- Largest shareholder in a law firm focused on helping business owners with their business and estate planning needs.
- A partner in Notch It Up Strategies, a marketing company.
- A partner in a full-service financial and investment management firm.
- Holder of a Series 7 General Securities license, and a Registered Investment Advisor.
- Secretary of State and Secretary of Commerce in Oklahoma.
- Partner – coaching/executive development program for attorneys.
- Nine years as certified instructor/coach in Dale Carnegie programs – The “Dale” Course in Human Relations, and Sales, Management and Strategic Presentations Workshop.
- Co-owner of three community banks. I have a firm grasp on helping clients on financial matters.
- Twelve years in the banking and investment banking field.
- President of The Hawthorn Group, a public affairs/public relations firm in the greater Washington, D.C. area (2001 – 2004). Because of 9/11 I spent considerable time helping the firm survive the economic downturn that followed. Those results set the stage for a full recovery a few short months following the attack. As John Ashford, a principal at Hawthorn said, “…without the crisis management skills of Larry Parman this firm would not have survived.”
How Did It Start?
The genesis of my passion for working with executives and business owners is that my father gave me three books when I was 16.
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie and Psycho-Cybernetics by Dr. Maxwell Maltz.
Those books ignited a fire within me to study the human condition and achievement. There was a burning desire to explore the question, “How is it that people of similar backgrounds, skills, talents and smarts end up with decidedly different outcomes in their lives?” Decades later, I still have the now dog-eared copies of all three books and they continue to inform and influence me.
Then, while serving in the U.S. Army I was privileged to work with an extraordinary group of Generals who were revising the Army’s Leadership Manual. They were exploring how elements of work on transactional analysis by Dr. Eric Berne (The Games People Play) and Dr. Thomas Harris (I’m OK, You’re OK) could help Army leaders be more effective. My contribution was a minor part of a larger effort. But, it kept the fire burning for me.
Along came 1984. The Oil Bust in the 80’s nearly depleted every financial asset I owned. It was embarrassing. It challenged my confidence. I was not in a good place. A partner in one of my business ventures was talking about the great experience he had in taking the Dale Carnegie course. As a favor to him, and to follow in the footsteps of my father and father-in-law, I came back to Oklahoma City and signed up for the program.
A friendship with the Carnegie franchise owner followed and over the next two years I earned my certifications to instruct four of the Carnegie programs. For the next eight years I was an avocational instructor of the Carnegie Management and Sales Courses, plus their Strategic Presentations Workshop. The fire to help people grow, find their True North, continued to burn.
1984 was also the year I set up my law firm. By 1993 I became so busy with the practice I reluctantly set aside my Carnegie instruction. What a great growth experience. I knew that at some point I would return to coaching people to achieve greater outcomes in their lives.
And return I did. In 2008 I collaborated with two long-time friends from California and created a year-long coaching program for attorneys. We called it our Peak Performers’ program and they came from all over the country.
While the Peak Performers’ program was being offered, I kept my other companies operating at a high level, climbed (and successfully summited) Mt. Kilimanjaro and wrote the Above the Fray book.
Then I received my appointment by Governor Fallin. My involvement in the Peak Performers’ program had to be shelved.
My duties at Commerce ended on December 31, 2014 and I have decided to re-launch my coaching and executive development programs.
I am excited to be back!