Which business models are most likely to survive market changes? What leadership skills does a successful Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (I/DD) executive have? How does one plan for the unknown, and go beyond surviving to thriving? One of the major challenges today’s I/DD executives face is the changing way in which stakeholders across systems of care need to collaborate in this new arena. Earlier this month co-founder and CEO of GMM Nonstick Coatings, Ravin Gandhi, wrote a piece for the Chicago Tribune titled “11 Scary Truths About Entrepreneurship No One Talks About.” In it he hits on a few common truths that all entrepreneurs recognize from their own experiences such as the feeling of being alone whether you succeed or fail, how vital good luck is and the necessity of thick skin. What stood out to our team were the points he made about wearing multiple hats, hard work not being enough and nobody having all the answers.
“Can you be a chameleon?” he asks…
Besides wearing different hats, entrepreneurs have to occasionally transform their personas. You’re a timid person? Good luck chasing that rogue client to make payroll. Not detail-oriented? When you get served with a lawsuit, prepare to adjust. Don’t like conflict? Wait until your best employee is hired by your main competitor. This is why most businesses fail — dealing with unending problems while facing 24/7 financial uncertainty is a “responsibility tsunami” that overwhelms most people.
“Hard work isn’t enough…”
Working hard when you love something is a joy. Most hardworking investment bankers love M&A, and driven surgeons typically love medicine. But start a business, even in an industry you love, and you will inevitably work super hard at activities you may despise. A startup CEO will, at various stages, handle hiring, firing, sales, production, finance, customer service, operations, purchasing, even shipping clerk. It doesn’t matter what you enjoy, or are skilled at.
“No one has the answers,” he says…
Most of us have business heroes we look up to — brilliant/rich/famous people who we are certain have everything figured out. I’ve been fortunate enough to get to know some of these luminaries, and it definitely wasn’t what I expected. The sobering reality: these “legends” are normal, flawed, anxious humans, exactly like you and I. None of them has a magic bullet about anything. They made it by doing what you better quickly learn: to find answers from within yourself.
What’s clear to us is that there is a lot to be gained by sharing our successes and our failures so that we don’t always have to find answers from within ourselves. The 2017 OPEN MINDS I/DD Executive Summit is a place where all attendees can dig into key issues that can make or break an organization as change comes. When leaders are facing these critical points in their organization’s history, we want to make sure each attendee has the tools to address these situations appropriately. Since there isn’t one right way to get a job done, it is helpful to hear ideas from others in your shoes on how they are surviving through industry shifts.
To hear more on “Getting Ahead of the Curve: Entrepreneurial Approaches Employed by Leading I/DD Providers” join us in Long Beach, California for the 2017 I/DD Executive Summit! While there you’ll hear from:
- John Sheehan, CEO of Harbor Behavioral Health
- George Klauser, Executive Director of Altair ACO
- Josh Boynton, Co-Founder of The Boynton Group
- Tom Schramski, Founder of VERTESS