Smarter Together
We had a pair of visitors to our Next Level III chapter last week, and the group extended invitations to both visitors to become a part of the chapter. One accepted before the weekend, and I’m optimistic both will join, and that both will be great contributors to the collective wisdom of the group.
The circumstances for each couldn’t be much more different. One, a first-time business owner as of last spring, escapee from complex multifamily construction and holder of numerous degrees and credentials - and the other literally grew up in the family business, has worked in the same industry most of his career, and purchased his company 15 years ago from his father.
Both were asked what they were looking for in joining a LoCo chapter, and despite the disparity of circumstance - their answers were nearly the same - perspective, collaboration, outside eyes, fresh ideas, accountability, learning from the mistakes of and celebrating the success of others.
The decider’s chair can be a lonely one, and whether it’s a recently-acquired role - or a well-worn captain’s chair - the value of perspective is hard to overstate. The owner must set the vision, and build the teams that build the systems, and help find the efficiencies that make his enterprise profitable. That’s what owners do - when they’re doing it well. But the how of doing it well is sometimes elusive - and it often changes!
My experience with peer advisory really began when I moved back to Fort Collins in 2007 to work for what was then known as Capital West National Bank - now the ANB Bank at Harmony and Timberline. Some years before, a group of local business people had invested in the First National Bank of Wyoming organization, with the purpose of opening a branch in Fort Collins, and many of those investors served as Advisory Board members for the location, and it was my pleasure to work with several of them on their business banking needs.
A few of these board members knew one another through membership in Vistage, which was dominant then and remains a major force in the peer advisory industry. If I recall correctly, one of those former Vistage members was Mike McCurdie - the majority owner of one of the fastest-scaling businesses I’ve seen during my career. Mike had purchased Colorado Inspection Agency some years before, soon after renamed it SafeBuilt - and built a building development and inspection agency that these days expands capacity and expertise for regulatory agencies all across the nation! The encouragement to “think bigger” is something I’ve seen time and again in peer advisory, and for Mike, the journey has resulted in a company that (I suspect) generates hundreds of millions of dollars annually, and employs thousands of Americans. (I’m working to get Mike on The LoCo Experience podcast to share the story - but he’s kinda shy - stay tuned!)
Another member of that board (and former podcast guest of Episode 122) - Rayno Seaser - Founder of The Egg & I - was not a member of a peer group that I’m aware of, but he did have a 20+ year tradition of having dinner once a month with 3 other local business owners and their spouses. Certainly they didn’t have the structure of a formal peer advisory group, and friendship was the first priority of these dinners - but I guarantee everyone in the room became smarter together. Ideas for projects, suggestions for staff challenges or professional services, accountability to do the things you say you’re going to do! They were smarter, because they were together.
During those early days at CWNB, I became more acquainted with Vistage by offering a local group our bank conference room for their meetings, in such circumstance as they would find useful - which over time became quite often, as it was a sweet room! Once or twice a year, I’d be allowed a brief mingle and a 5-minute talk about the bank, and I formed several lasting relationships within that room. Years later during the financial crisis, when my boss was departed and I was made the Interim President of the bank, I was invited to visit the group, and after visiting I was encouraged to join. The bank couldn’t afford it though, even with me doing both the President and Sr. VP jobs on the Sr. VP salary, and so my journey started later.
Ten months later, Doug Woods took over the President role (I really didn’t want it) and he agreed to budget for a Vistage Trusted Advisors chapter membership for me, and that was my first paid peer advisory experience. I was in a room once a month with some very impressive professionals - a CPA, a financial advisor, an attorney, insurance agent - you know - trusted advisors. Some were partners in firms, others were solo, and it was a good experience overall, but - not as useful as the CEO group would have been when I was interim president. But I did learn a lot about the art of facilitation, and group communication, and this season seeded ideas that would sprout not long after.
And so when I left the bank in pursuit of my restaurant dreams, LoCo became the vessel by which I would become smarter, faster, together in community with business peers. LoCo Think Tank survived the restaurant attempt that became a mobile food trailer, and has grown in size and scope in the 10+ years since that time. And we’ve stayed true to our charter all along the way by building chapters full of diverse business leaders from diverse industries - but all in similar chairs. Peer advisory is an amazing way to tear down the silos that tend to build up around and within any organization.
Speaking of silos - I’m often anxious during election seasons, because the narrative from each of the major parties is basically the same - and seems to increase every year - that your life will be ruined if the other side wins! But I know, in my heart and in my gut and with all my mental acuities - that we are stronger together, and that this divisiveness is not helpful.
I see the value in progressive thinking, it’s why women and blacks have the right to vote, and it’s why gay couples can come out of the shadows and live life together. And, I also see the value in conservative thinking. It's true that our nation functions best as a meritocracy, that two-parent households raise more-capable children, and that it’s often beneficial to be a part of a church or faith community. We’ve got a push-pull kind of political structure, that’s meant to encourage debate and idea sharing, innovation and liberty, and result in a more prosperous society - but it’s gotten gummed up and more corrupt than ever.
Jill and I took in an exchange student about 6 weeks ago - Lenni from Finland. He’s 18, and attending Poudre HS down the street. He wants a bright red Trump 2024 hat to bring home, and I suppose we’ll have to find him one - he thinks it’ll be funny in Europe. He’s not very political though, and asked why he should care about what happens in American politics, and why is it so divisive in our country right now?
It’s a big question, and the thoughts I shared with him are likely controversial - but this is my loco perspective blog and so I’ll share nonetheless. I told him that the war in Ukraine was something like a reassertion of the military industrial complex in the world, after a season of decline during the Trump Presidency. Trump spearheaded a drawdown in tensions in the Middle East through the Abraham Accords, had isolated Iran and crippled it economically, and demanded that Europe pay a more reasonable share for NATO funding - and America pay less - and all of those things were thorns in the side of the MIC. And so, the parasite turned its focus on the Democratic Party, instigated tensions with Moscow with a speech about Ukraine eventually becoming part of NATO, later killed a peace deal early during the active conflict, and has now been paid nearly $200 Billion dollars at the cost of 500,000 Russian and Ukrainian soldiers' lives - and the war is not over and could cause WWIII and the end of the world and that’s why it matters.
Now, for the record I’ve never voted for Trump, and I probably won’t this year. I’ll do my part to help RFK, Jr. plump the voter tallies in Colorado, as we’re a bright blue state anyway. But, I do hope Trump wins in November, and doesn’t get assassinated before the inauguration. I just don’t think Harris has the chops for it - and I fear she'll spark a wider war just to prove she’s not weak and that she’s not Joe Biden.
Sidenote: Can you believe how normal it already seems there have been two assassination attempts on a Presidential candidate? That’s just nutty-balls, and it’s like old news already!
I digress - it’s a crazy world, and a lot of people have been propagandized enough to believe Trump is the next Hitler, or at least that he will become that in his 2nd term! (If my saying that makes you angry - I’m sorry - for you - try some meditation and don’t respond to any “opportunities” from Iran or the Secret Service)
To the extent that I am a single issue kind of voter - it’s about peace. War is the destroyer of wealth, the ruiner of lives, the corrupter of institutions, the destroyer of empires. It is these things today and it always has been, and in the case of a WWIII - we might none of us survive. I want secure borders, and financial stewardship from my government, and acknowledgement of my freedom of speech and assembly and the rest, but more than anything - I want pursuit of peace. As RFK’s uncle John spoke of, I imagine a world where they know Americans not by our military uniforms, but by the work of our Peace Corps volunteers - and we can have that if we try!
So anyway, I got kinda rambly there, but you get where I’m coming from. We are stronger together, and so I hope that no matter who wins in November we can all hope and pray for wisdom and discernment for our next President as they navigate this turbulent world. May their cabinets be filled with smart and experienced leaders who are in it for the right reasons, and in pursuit of peace, and may the conflicts in Ukraine and in Israel and in other parts of the world be ceased on terms neither party likes, but both can accept.
Amen
Thanks for reading, and as a special bonus, I’d like to extend an invitation to anyone who made it all the way to the end of my blog!
We’ve got a big event coming up on October 17 - THINKERFEST 2024 - Smarter Together - and with the code LOCOBLOG you can get 50% off your ticket. Early bird tickets are only $197 but that ends at the end of TODAY - September 30 - and after that the price goes up to $297. But, that’s still less than $150 for a full-day event with breakfast and lunch and happy hour with appetizers and 6 of the best speakers in our LoCommunity sharing on topics that our small and medium size business owner members care the most about!
