New Economy, New Rules - TechPoint at Barnes & Thornberg

Spending this morning here on the 7th floor of one of our local law firms (Barnes & Thornburg, LLP) at a simulcast event that they do on the first Friday of every month (open to public). The event is called TechPoint, and B&T does it in conjunction with such players as Purdue, Indiana University, Ball State University, a variety of buisiness partners, and often other guests such as Notre Dame. I came to one of these a couple of months ago when the subject was Nanotechnology and the $51 million investment going in right here in South Bend (see my last post for greater explanation), but liked it so much, and was so impressed with B&T and their committment to be a clearing house of cutting edge information for anyone who would like to attend, that i decided to be a regular attendee. Plus, they have free coffee and danishes from Panera...so... you know... that's a plus too.

The topic for this morning is "New Economy, New Rules", and covered the following topics:

* Speakers included Mike Simmons (CEO of T2 Systems, a business that specializes in traffic and parking software), DJ Muller (President of Chamber Weblink, a company that builds software for social networks like Chambers of Commerce, etc.), and Ron Ernst (Leadership Horizons).

Mike Simmons' concepts to think about:

• You have to run with a team. If your business rests only on you as a leader/entrepreneur, then you can't and won't grow. He actually said, "I'm kind of a B or B+ kind of guy who has hired a lot of A's and A+ people... that's the way to run."
• In a new economy, staff seem to have a higher value for excitement and the ability to contribute meaningfully than "just the money".

DJ Muller's concepts to think about:

• Agreed with Mike in saying that one of the biggest keys to anything entrepreneurial or "new leadership" is to hire/partner with people who are "smarter than you".
• "There's no problem that you'll be confronted with that someone most likely hasn't already solved... so entrepreneurialism is just as much about knowing where to look for answers as it is knowing how to 'create' answers."

Ron Ernst's concepts to think about:

• There are 3 phases to business: start-up (you get a customer, get a check, cash it... you're happy), growth (you have a growth curve and repeat business), and conscious growth/success (your organization is thriving, and you're not necessarily the person who has to regulate, run or operate it).
  
• 10 Things you ought to let go of...

1. Let go of your dysfunctional sense of urgency. Not everything is now, now, now!!!
   
2. Let go of your ego. Too often, entrepreneurs view their business as an extension of "them".
3. Let go of your past. Too often, the "stopper" for entrepreneurs is "nothing to grow toward". Nothing beyond the business.
4. Let go of self-sufficiency. Build a team. Build a Board. Get outside advisers.
   
5. Let go of "doing". You may start a business by "doing", but you have to shift to "equipping" as you build staff, team and vision. Hold people accountable for results, not activities.
6. Let go of safety. You can't know "everything going on in your business".
7. Let go of your adrenaline addiction. Building your organization is a different "drug" than starting your organization.
8. Let go of some of your people. Some of the people who "got you where you are", can't take you to "where you want to go".
   
9. Let go of your role. You're going to shift roles often, and that's going to create a consistent sense of "disorientation" at your role as the leader of the organization, but you'll get used to it.
10. Let go of managing and start leading.
    

Funny how much of this stuff "sounds familiar", isn't it? We get so much exposure to Leadership Summits, staff education, etc. at GCC that while it was cool to hear other people say the things above, it was also comforting to think, "yup, heard that, seen that or get exposure to that on a regular basis."

In addition, Dan Blacketor and i will have the privilege of meeting with B&T associates later today as well to talk about what they are doing in the community here in South Bend, and whether there is potential overlap with what we're doing at GCC.