Jay Sachetti joined Jeff O’Brien, partner at Husch Blackwell and Dyanne Ross-Hanson, president of Exit Planning Strategies talked about the market for mergers and acquisitions, exit planning opportunities for companies that don’t end up for sale and how companies can maximize their eventual sale price during an early October panel at the first Upsize on Tap event at Summit Brewing Co. in St. Paul.
When the state Legislature passed a law requiring employers to provide paid leave and safe time for employees, Justin Bieganek started hearing differing details from friends, colleagues and peers.
1, You did not succeed alone. Give back to show gratitude to the community that helped you succeed.
2, Seeking feedback from colleagues and employees on what causes to support demonstrates that you trust, value and respect them and want to join in their endeavors.
3, Donating time puts you in touch with new people who can become clients or provide new ideas or viewpoints.
4, Giving back shows leadership and dedication to a stronger mission than simply providing profitable growth.
I grew up as a part of a large family, living in a small Minnesota town. Everyone knew everyone else. You knew what car they drove, when they bought it and from whom. I was pulled over for speeding one night and the officer said “Kirk, slow it down. You don’t want me telling your Dad about this. Now get home.” You knew everyone and you lent a hand whenever it was needed.
I am certain that I’m not the only one who has carried that ethos into adulthood and, then, into business. Not long after I started my first venture almost 40 years ago, I knew that I must weave giving-back into how I conducted myself and my businesses. Now, my companies pledge to donate 5 percent of net income every year and provide another 5 percent of equivalent value in pro bono services.
A bit over two years ago, I started my own non-profit venture. After 40 years, I wondered if my skills and experience would translate into new opportunities to help others. Signs are good. Stay tuned.
All because I dodged that speeding ticket in small-town Minnesota? That’s a part of it and does help keep the idea alive. But I think there are important, pragmatic reasons for business owners to consider formalizing a giving-back program. Here are three.
You and your venture grew up within a community. A community that brought you some key elements. If you are like me, your first accountant, attorney, insurance broker, landlord, and banker were introduced to you by your friends. Your first customer was a friend or even a prior employer. Before deciding to start up, you discussed your ideas with family and friends. Maybe enough for them to grow impatient and push you to get started.
Your community got you started and helped you keep going. Think back to some of the best advice you received and from whom. Who helped you get through mistakes or bad times? Who was there to celebrate your first big deal? You did not succeed alone.
Your people are already giving back. Of the current organizations that I work with through charitable giving, just two of seven arrived through my own connections. The other five were brought forward by others on my team. People who had personal connections into worthy organizations. Organizations they were already supporting through donations and volunteerism.
Showing that kind of respect and attention to people working for you says a lot about you and your company. There are few better ways to demonstrate that you trust, value and respect your people than to join them in their endeavors. You’ve already asked them to join you in yours. Isn’t it the right thing to do? After all, your people are already giving back.
As you grow, you’ll gradually stop doing the things that got you started. Smart, hard-working people are taking on that work. You worked your network and found just the right people. Now you are leading a team. How you do so is becoming a pivotal element of your continued success.
If you’ve read Daniel Pink’s “Drive” you may have been convinced, as I have, that he is right about what motivates people: autonomy, mastery, and purpose. As a leader, your duty is to ensure that everyone has opportunities to achieve and experience each of these elements. You will delegate to help them with autonomy. You will mentor to contribute to mastery. You must demonstrate the meaningful elements of a mission in order to deliver purpose.
Is “profitable growth” a meaningful purpose? Perhaps “profitable growth through stellar customer service” is better. The kind of smart person you want on your team will see through a hollow mission. You need to flesh out a compelling mission. Maybe “profitable growth through stellar customer and community service.” You are a leader, now.
Let me add just one more key reason: you will meet new and wonderful people. You’ll love working with them. You will find new ideas, new points of view and an antidote to the pessimism that leaks into business minds.
I’ve always found it difficult, or perhaps, unrewarding to use cash as a primary problem-solving tool. I enjoy digging in, with a good team, to find core problems and working on solutions. That helps the team know where to put cash — where it will do the most good. For me, charitable giving is the same.
One of my first forays into business-giving-back was with a group that needed a website for their fledgling foundation. The project was interesting, the people were great to work with and it was something that my company had all the skills to execute. Their story was inspiring and their cause was important. We took that on, adding other kinds of IT help as their foundation matured. Eventually we would donate several hundred thousand to their cause, volunteer at countless events and even serve on their board.
This year we are sponsoring their largest fund-raising event and we just finished a fourth remake of their website. This relationship is now more than 25 years old. It started with a simple website and a small investment.
If your skills and offerings don’t fit neatly into the organization you wish to support, ask about their silent auction fund raiser. Contribute a set of free services to their auction. The winning bidder might become a new client.
I’ve found a great deal of fulfilment through giving-back. It makes the kid who grew up in rural Minnesota feel proud to have carried what he learned, growing up, into the business world. I will be joining the 25th Annual Morton Cure Paralysis Fund Golf Tournament the week that I write this. It will be a great day of fun, companionship and volunteerism, all with people I otherwise would have never met. And it won’t even matter that I’m horrible at golf.
