During the past four years the NGOs have spent grant money without consulting anyone. There was no legal government in existence.

If the international community wants to give its money to the Afghan government, first of all they should appoint honest and patriotic people to the government. The present administration is totally corrupt. If the money is handed over to them, they are the only ones who will ever see it.

If the money is given to the Afghan government, the conference will have no more positive effect than any of the previous ones. It will only serve to show that the international community did not forget Afghanistan.

Over the past couple of years, our consulting group was really targeted to increase revenue, but we really couldn't differentiate our service from a partner service. It was just very competitive. We've made the decision as a company to have the business model of our services business be a cost-recovery business and to have our primary targets not about increasing revenue or margin.

[Over the past five years, executive coaching has mushroomed from a sideline on the motivational and consulting circuits to an expected perk in virtually every executive suite. Most coaches are now called in to smooth a CEO's rough, my-way-or-the-highway edges that may be driving top talent to rivals.] Companies used to be able to function with autocratic bosses, ... We don't live in that world anymore.

CONSULTING: If you're not a part of the solution, there's good money to be made in prolonging the problem.