Life Imitates Work (or Should)

At CFO Selections, we may work in numbers… but we’re in the business of people. Because behind every financial report is a person making hard decisions, and behind every engagement is a human-to-human connection. In this series, we’re shining a light on those stories — introducing the consultants who guide our clients forward and the leaders who bring those numbers to life.

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I recently completed a gravel ride with colleagues from CFO Selections and our investor Laird Norton Company. Fairer to say that I survived the ride.

As I reflected during and after the ride, I realized that I had experienced many firsts. Sometimes firsts are not a good thing. First time in a year that I had ridden my actual bike (weekly Peloton rides in the meantime). My first gravel ride. First time using a new pedal style. And it occurred me that I should share some takeaways.

We are often told that lessons from our personal life and upbringing can inform our work lives. I’d like to flip that and point out business practices that could have informed my personal life, in this case, the gravel ride. My work with business owners encompasses building long term value that can be passed on to the next generation or results in a business exit. The structure and discipline that define my work and where I am well versed would have been very useful on the ride.

Do your homework. Every client interaction and meeting requires planning. Anticipate potential obstacles and reactions that may occur in the meeting. Communicate whether this be a working meeting or a light meeting and set the proper tone. For the gravel ride, that meant I should have researched the route and known the amount of vertical gain (1500 feet) and the degrees for the steepest hill (-34). Yikes. The ride leader had provided this information, but I joined the ride at the last minute and did not review.

Practice. In business, this means perform a dry run of the Zoom presentation. Remember how to share a document and have it already opened. Decide which team member will lead the meeting and recite the key points. So in life, this meant I should have actually ridden a short gravel ride before the first time (yeah!) three hour ride. To a road biker like me, the ride felt more like a steep mountain bike ride with some short stretches of flat gravel. Crushing the Peloton stationary bike for 30 minutes is not adequate practice.

Bring the right equipment.  Put the best foot of your Company forward. For Ensemble Partners, my firm, that means identifying the best fit for the client, not just functional and industry expertise – that’s almost a given, but the right personality fit – temperament, demeanor and style. For the ride, that meant bringing the right equipment. I actually won the “award” for having the most narrow bike tires. And as I was slipping backwards trying to go up the steeper hills, it became clear that knobby, wide tires were required. And that using new style pedals for the first time (yeah, another first!) made getting out of the pedals difficult and helped to introduce me, head first, to the blackberry bushes along the trail.

I survived the ride and made many new friends at Laird Norton Company who were all supportive. I was the last rider to summit the hills, where everyone waited for me. It reminded me of an African proverb that applies to both our business and personal lives: If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.