IA-CEO Conference

This week, I had the pleasure of attending the IA-CEO Conference. I gained a scholarship to attend the event for free. Additionally, the scholarship provided me with a mentor, who guided me throughout the day, and answered each of my questions. This employee ownership conference fulfilled my day with professional speakers and their insight. I took away many valuable lessons concerning leadership.

Businesses and Homes

The biggest takeaway from this event, was the comparison of businesses and homes. Mike Mallaro, Executive Chairman of the Board at VGM Group, Inc., was the first to introduce this analogy. He explained how when you are getting ready to sell your home, you have people telling you that your carpet is dirty, you need to paint your walls, and overall, you need to fix aspects of your home to make it worth more. However, you like your carpet, and you do not think that your walls need painting. This thought process is the same as when you try to sell a business. You might think that everything is perfect, but the reality of the situation is that every area in life – whether it is a business or a home – has room to grow.

Diving further into this analogy, Nick Viner, Vice President at Prairie Capital, elaborates on how if you have a house and it is in a great neighborhood where they just built a new school, but your roof is falling apart on your house, you are placed in an unideal situation. However, while it is not an ideal situation, there is still appreciation there. Business professionals need to find the value in their organizations. Even when a company is going through hardships, there are still positive aspects that need to be appreciate. In an overall sense, look at the good your company brings and continue to enforce that.

All for One Mentality

Aside from the analogy, panelist Holly Adams, HR Director at Timberline MFG, and Emily Coates, Marketing Coordinator at Rayser Holdings, discussed having an all for one mentality. To elaborate, Adams communicated that no company should want employees who say “I don’t have to do that, because that’s not my job.” Rather, “Companies should be motivated to find employees who are going to pick up the shovel anyway.” Nadav Mer, Business Founder of Morning Bell Coffee Roasters, added to this, “How much further can we go outside of the job description.” What Mer means by this, is how can companies start to find individuals who are willing to go above and beyond their job description, and help partake in activities that they are not necessarily “required” to do. Those are the kind of employees organizations need to develop.

Implementing Value

While some managers are quick to fill positions, others take their time to ensure they are placing individuals, departments, and the business in a spot to achieve greatness. John Mallen, NE Region President at Woodruff Construction, elaborates on how important it is to, “get the right people in the door, because it’s going to impact the value of the company.” Hiring professionals should never place someone in a position where they are not sure success will follow. This takes us back to one of my previous blog posts, https://buzz.uni.edu/leadtochange/iowa-shrm-state-conference-2024-part-1/, where it discusses placing the right people in the right seats. Place employees in a position where they will add the most value.

Furthermore, Tom Pientok, President/CEO at Timberline MFG, said it best, “Education is never ending.” I have said it multiple times now, and I will continue to say it, there is always room to grow – in all areas of life. Some individuals take criticism as an insult, but we need to stop looking at it that way. Managers, supervisors, and even coworkers critique others for the sake of the business and for a chance to see improvement within others.

I am thankful for the group of individuals that I got to experience this conference with!

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