See what people are saying about Figuring It Out: A Memoir About Connolly, Inc.’s Journey To The Top
Figuring it Out by Libby Connolly Alexander provides guidance on how to succeed in business through personal persistence, determination, and appropriate risk-taking, combined with hiring and inspiring a talented executive team. Add to this Connolly’s formula for creating a winning culture and having a sixth-sense for recognizing and capitalizing on the ever-changing world of business, and the reader will have a blueprint for profitably growing a company. The lessons learned are as good as any found in a Harvard business school case study.
In days when “unicorn” companies rise to multi-billion-dollar valuations in a short period of time, only to eventually fall way short of their goals, Larry and Libby Connolly have shown us that the old-fashioned ways of building a multi-billion-dollar business sometimes work the best. Hard work, ingenuity, integrity, and persistence were the key ingredients to the formula that made Connolly such a success story. Libby’s story also shows us how a leader who puts the goals of the company ahead of her own personal ambitions will be able to lead a company for the long-haul and create outstanding results.
For those of us who had the chance to work with Libby, we got the opportunity to learn from a truly talented and high integrity leader. Those who read Figuring it Out will take away many invaluable lessons that will help improve the performance of any business.
I had the good fortune to be the chairman of Cotiviti for nearly four years. During this time, Libby was the vice chair. Knowing that Libby had grown up in the Connolly family business, I was consistently impressed with her ability take a step back from the business she knew so well and apply the virtues of welcoming change, to “just figure it out” in terms of what was right for the customers and the employees, always with a great deal of humility. Her father clearly was a great coach and role model!
While I worked for Target, I was a client of Libby’s, and I can attest to the fact that Connolly was a “premium brand” and received stellar survey scores from me and my staff. I was responsible for approving the decision to promote Connolly to our primary audit firm, and I made that decision because of their client service, honesty, integrity, and ability to adapt quickly to a rapidly changing environment. Many leaders strive to embed these traits in their company, but few make it happen in reality. Libby’s story is a great, real life example of why this is so important for success!
“First let’s describe Libby… demanding, seeking top performance along with a strong desire to win. This was accomplished in an environment of trust without fear. This was the key. Libby encouraged you to take risks. Startups, particularly, but even ongoing, successful businesses require calculated risk. Libby provided the environment and culture to make that happen. It was okay, to fail but even better to succeed. Oh, did we have fun!”
“Figuring It Out provides an interesting story of a personal and business journey. Libby provides tremendous personal insight on how to make the difficult decisions necessary to build and grow a business, as well as the steps required to achieve strong organizational performance. A great read!”
“I worked with Connolly and Associates for eight years. They were courteous, professional, and tenacious. During that time there were periods where I wouldn’t see Libby Alexander for almost a year. She would be that pregnant lady working the trade shows and interacting with clients and potential clients. The next year, pregnant again and on the frontlines. She charted her own course and was an inspiration to women that worked and had to raise a family at the same time. If I had this book back then, to see what was going on inside the company, I would have been even more astounded at her energy and drive!”
“As a customer of Libby Connolly Alexander and her company, I had a wonderful opportunity to be part of an industry-wide transformation in the audit world. As the post audit director of a major electronic retailer that was going through an explosion of electronic data, new innovative promotional strategies, acquisitions, and transformation into an omni channel sales strategy, we needed a business partner who could help transform our ability to audit beyond what was historically called a box audit. Connolly brought us an audit model, a highly talented group of diverse-background auditors, and the capability to leverage state of the art technology, resulting in some incredibly innovative ways to identify and recover lost revenue, pricing, and promotional funds.”
“As I reflect on my twenty-one year journey at Connolly, I cannot think of a more fitting title for this book than Figuring It Out. In my early years at Connolly, we were often the underdog, but we were scrappy! Larry and Libby recognized that we were all figuring it out, and wisely made personal and professional development a priority and an important part of our culture. At quarterly and annual leadership gatherings, there would always be time dedicated to professional development or training. We read a lot of books–some better than others–and heard from a lot of great speakers and authors. I never met Jim Connolly, but enjoyed learning more about his vision and values. They were embedded in the company’s DNA, and for twenty-one years I witnessed the lasting effect they had on our successful approach to serving clients. Figuring it Out is a fascinating read for anyone interested in entrepreneurship, and will certainly capture the attention of anyone familiar with the recovery audit industry.”
“As one of Connolly’s original principals, I first encountered paid bill auditing in 1957, and knew Jim Connolly since he came to Bloomingdale’s. I have known Larry and Libby Connolly since they first joined their father in the ‘80s. Libby was sent to me for training, where minimizing client disruption and client consulting were emphasized. The industry today is nothing like what I knew in 1980s and 1990s. It is remarkable how Larry and Libby anticipated and adapted to these changes and pioneered a whole new business in healthcare ,while remaking a loosely structured association between principals and auditors into a clearly defined and structured business. Theirs is a remarkable success story.”
“In late 2000, I took on the newly created role of vice president of vendor management for UnitedHealthcare. On my first day, I received a phone call from my new supervisor telling me that my vendors were “out of control,” and that I specifically needed to fire Connolly. Having been in management for many years, I knew I had to form my own impressions. I reached out to Connolly and had some “how are we going to figure this out” conversations with Mike Sick. This required my team and Connolly to develop much more of a “trust” relationship, one that would result in each of us meeting our respective goals. It soon became apparent that Connolly was one of the few vendors who listened. As the results came in and quality improved, we continued to work on building an interface with Connolly, which included Larry and Libby and Rob Alexander from IT. Their involvement was integral to making this process successful, as we knew we had “buy-in” from the top of the organization. Additionally, we knew we were dealing with a data and technology driven process, so Rob’s participating proved the Connolly commitment. We gradually gained confidence. Over a period of years, we continued to grow our relationship with Connolly.I get great satisfaction that the one relationship I was supposed to terminate has been the one that has been maintained the longest. The business values Libby describes in Figuring It Out are what made this relationship lasting.”
Amazon Reviews
Author Libby Connolly Alexander pens one of the more impressive journeys to success in this warmly readable memoir that not only shares a rather amazing advancing business career and enterprise, but also supplies the reader with down to earth advice about how to succeed in business using hard work, persistence, integrity, risk-taking, being determined, creating a top-notch executive team and thus ‘creating serious value – by figuring it out!’
Libby’s family payment integrity firm, Connolly, was created by her courageous father, and following her joining the firm in 1984, she and her brother and husband moved the company into the Healthcare payment integrity realm with enormous success. She served as CEO of the ‘new’ Connolly Healthcare division and ultimately became the CEO of the entire firm, creating through her mastering of analytics the portal for the expansion of adding Advent International and iHealth Technologies to the armamentarium, the expanded firm became the now famous Cotiviti! If anyone is a resource of how to achieve success in business (and in life) it most assuredly is Libby Connolly Alexander.
The manner in which Libby shares her knowledge and her qualities as an inspiring human being is evident in her writing style. Quite simply she introduces the family company’s history: “After years of following the traditional American dream, forging a path that allowed him to rise through the ranks of the retail world, my father came home one day with an announcement that would change the future of our family for generations. While we were gathered for dinner, he announced he would be leaving his position as the chief operating officer of Gimbels department store in New York City. No longer would he be leading one of the country’s largest and most respected department stores. The comfort and security of his corporate accomplishments would be left behind to follow a dream of a different sort. With eyes void of doubt, my father shared his plans to embark on a new venture, one that none of us understood…Fully aware his decision posed a fair amount of risk, my father chose a different path, one that would immerse my entire family in a nascent business filled with uncertainty…My father gave us a blueprint masterfully explaining the core values and principles that support any successful business, a blueprint I’ve mapped out in this book.”
That degree of courage and commitment, presented in a most accessible manner, submits a guideline that governs all the different nuances contributing to a rewarding voyage of accomplishment. Informative, wisely delivered with sound advice, this book will likely become a staple in business schools. Very highly recommended for both those beginning or expanding a business – and for those who thirst for healthy guidance in achieving life goals. Grady Harp, April 20.
Figuring It Out: A Memoir about Connolly, Inc’s Journey to the Top by Libby Connolly Alexander is a riveting first-hand account of how to make it in business. This book provides a personal glimpse into the meteoric rise of a prominent company, and how that came to be. With a helpful chart at the beginning of the book that provides a timeline, you can see exactly how Connolly, Inc. grew as a formidable force in the world of business. Libby herself joined the company after graduating from college and worked and learned her way up the ladder. This is a positive story, one filled with details of how the company managed to pivot at critical times, capturing the market and gaining business and customers. A motivational and powerful example of what hard work and dedication can do if you simply apply yourself and make sound business decisions. Highly recommend.
Figuring it Out by Libby Connolly Alexander provides guidance on how to succeed in business through personal persistence, determination, and appropriate risk-taking, combined with hiring and inspiring a talented executive team. Add to this Connolly’s formula for creating a winning culture and having a sixth-sense for recognizing and capitalizing on the ever-changing world of business, and the reader will have a blueprint for profitably growing a company. The lessons learned are as good as any found in a Harvard Business School case study.
This is a fascinating read. I did not know anything about Libby or the Connolly Healthcare company before reading this book. It is part memoir, part business strategy, part data analytics book.
It is not a business book per se but has a lot of interesting stories from Libby’s life and experiences that could guide one interested in taking lessons from this memoir. I was fascinated by how data analytics was used to pivot and start a whole new branch of a company and how that decision was made.
Overall, a really interesting book from a person who really knows business and has had an interesting life.
Figuring It Out is a self help book that doesn’t preach out lists of what you should do like other self help books. It simply gives you Connolly Inc’s story in a narrative format for the reader to pick and choose what actions they want to emulate on their own. It was a refreshing way to read a self help book and I think the successes Connolly had will work well for others. A good read.
Figuring It Out: A Memoir about Connolly, Inc’s Journey to the Top by Libby Connolly Alexander is the story of how Connolly, Inc became a hugely successful business and the work that the author, her husband, and her brother put in to create something new and amazing. The book begins with a timeline which shows when certain key events took place in the development of the company. From there, the memoir takes us through many of the major events and some of the day-to-day procedures and decisions which took this relatively small company to the top of the industry and a publicly traded entity.
This book is really two different things: it is the story of how a company grew and became prosperous, but it is also a map which shows how to take a company that has just started and turn it into something huge. I think that many people who are starting their own business or looking for what to do next will benefit from this read and what it has to offer. If also think it should be understood that this will not happen for everyone. The story here shows that four key ingredients all came together: hard work, dedication, opportunity, and innovation. All four of these were happening at all times which gave this company the edge to pull ahead and do what had not been done before. If any of these elements are missing, you will not see the success that is described on the pages. So, use the map provided by the author, work hard, and find the opportunity you need to make your idea into something great!
Figuring It Out: A Memoir about Connoly, Inc’s Journey to the Top is a book written by Libby Connolly Alexander, the CEO of the company. In it, Libby Connolly Alexander delivers the candid story about the company’s rise to the top, sharing many of advices and tales about what she, along with her brother and husband, did right but also wrong, when they took over the company from their father. It’s fascinating to listen to their story and realizing that sometimes it truly is about figuring it out on the go and using common sense and strategy in your partnerships. It’s very interesting how someone with a Bachelor’s degree in History has rise to the top and served as CEO of a company in the Healthcare business. I really appreciated that she was honest to include some of the decisions that backfired, showing that no road to success is made without risks.
Figuring it Out, appropriately subtitled A Memoir about Connolly, Incorporated’s Journey to the Top, is the autobiographical work of one of that company’s key players, Libby Connolly Alexander. This was an interesting look at a company powered by dynamic people that forged a path through an emerging tech industry and a specific niche. However, it’s also an interesting look at the family lives behind the corporate players, their world, and how business and personal life intersect. Written in a thoughtful, self-reflective style that has earned the accolades of many readers (you can see in the front pages of the book), I feel that Figuring it Out was an enjoyable weekend read about another person’s life story as it related to their family and their business.
I’ve read several memoirs about businesswomen and their rise to the top. Many of these are encouraging, some self-aggrandizing, some utterly devoid of any meaning. Figuring It Out, a book about Elizabeth “Libby” Connolly Alexander and her journey in taking her father’s company to the top and then some, falls in the rare category of a memoir I’d happily read again.
What especially separates this book from others is its dichotomous but synergistic format. On the one hand, Connolly tells readers about her life, from her beginnings in her father’s company to mergers and acquisitions all the way up to becoming CEO and ultimately selling. On the other hand, it’s a story about how a business can grow and prosper using the tried-and-true methods of running a business. These two approaches neatly go hand-in-hand.
So, what can you expect when you read this book? You will learn about Connolly herself, a remarkable, driven, intelligent, fierce, and at times intimidating woman. You will learn about how she placed her company’s goals ahead of her own personal ambition. You will learn about how she was able to follow in her father’s footsteps and grow her company. You will learn some of what it takes to succeed in an often competitive, cutthroat corporate environment. You will learn so much more. Written in a conversational but professional style, I cannot recommend this book enough.
Figuring It Out is a memoir written by Elizabeth “Libby” Connolly Alexander detailing role in her family’s journey on a company started from scratch by her father rose to incredible financial success.
What I like most about the book is how sincere and down-to-earth the author comes across in her writing. She doesn’t dish out advice in a top-down manner even though she has all the experience and credibility to do so. Instead, she shares her personal journey and growth in a way like a friend retells a story over a cup of coffee.
There’s so much wisdom in the actions that the author and her father had taken since he first embarked on the journey of entrepreneurship.
This is definitely a very inspiring and insightful book that I’d recommend to all aspiring entrepreneurs and business owners who are considering expanding their businesses.
Figuring It Out By Elizabeth Connolly Alexander is a good-quality memoir of a woman who has played a significant role in the frenetic rise of her father’s company, Connolly Inc; one which he had started from scratch but climbed up the ladder thanks to the help of the “three-legged stool”: Libby, her brother, Larry and her husband, Robert.
In the first person, “Libby” writes about her own story, one that portrays her journey from her graduation from University until she becomes the CEO of the entire company. This journey is a journey to success.
Apart from being a memoir, this book provides readers with realistic pieces of advice on how to succeed in business. It helps readers who have companies or who would like to set up one “figure out” ways to become successful or even get to the top of the industry.
It is a completely inspirational book since it is based on a true life story. I recommend it to any person who wants to move steps ahead in life.
Libby Connolly Alexander isn’t the golden child that had a business handed to her, but she is a passionate woman who saw change and opportunity and created an angle and foothold in a cutthroat world. She proved herself as a valuable and assertive businesswoman that her family and co-workers admired and respected. Her business values and the trust she instills in other executive leaders allowed her and her team to advance in new industries.
Figuring It Out: A Memoir About Connolly, Inc’s Journey To The Top depicts what a multitude of companies have to do; redefining themselves in an ever changing world. Though this book shows the workings of a larger company, they still had to make new connections, networking with unknown players, learning and improving a rapid commerce. This book would benefit anyone who wants to grow their business. Truthfully, I did not want to like this book because of the poor standing the healthcare trade is generating in the news during this pandemic, but I could not help but admire and appreciate the significance of the work this author generated. Her merit and value is more profitable than most of us realize.