December 5, 2023

Reflections After EY’s Strategic Growth Forum

Happy Tuesday, friends! Last month I had the pleasure of attending the EY Strategic Growth Forum (SGF) in Palm Springs. I was invited to attend by the Kauffman Foundation, and I’m really grateful for the opportunity to attend such an incredible event. The overarching theme was growth across all dimensions of life — business, personal, etc. I took some notes that I thought were really useful, and I wanted to share them with you. Off we go!

Jay Shetty’s Talk, Connected Thinking, was really interesting because he zeroed in on key attributes that help people become better leaders:

  • The number one skill required to be a successful leader is “associating”, that is, the ability to spot connections where others see anomalies.

  • Another way to say this is that pattern spotting where others see puzzles is a critical skill.

In a session with Greg Daco of EY and Gus Faucher of The PNC Financial Services Group about Futurecasting the Economy in uncertain times, we went super deep into the current macroeconomic environment, and they shared a lot of thoughts that I found useful. Here are a few:

  • Interest rates may increase if wars continue to disrupt global supply chains, so when thinking about how to plan future inputs for your business, scenario building is critical.

    • Be prepared for a variety of outcomes.

    • Think hard about what kind of credit you need in order to grow or survive, and get that lined up.

    • Input costs are going to continue to increase. Be prepared.

  • As long as the labor market remains strong, recession in the US remains unlikely.

  • Credit isn’t going to get cheaper soon. The Fed and other central banks are focused on getting inflation to 2%, so cost of capital isn’t going to come down in the near term.

  • Productivity gains can help offset the cost of capital.

  • What should we expect with interest rates?

    • Fed likely done with short term rates, but there might be a 25bps increase near EOY.

    • Term rates are likely past peak, mortgage rates will come down in 2024 so the economy may pick up later in 2024 and 2025.

  • Advice in this environment

    • Drive more output for given inputs — best way to combat increasing labor and capital cost.

    • Productivity productivity productivity!

    • This was an interesting comment: Hire people based on qualifications, not based on whether they are degreed or not.

Daniel Lubetzky, Founder of KIND and Camino Partners shared his experience in a talk called Kind vs Nice Cultures. Daniel built two hugely successful businesses and had a treasure trove of interesting perspective to share:

  • When things are going well, don’t rest on your laurels. Be courageous enough to criticize and evaluate yourself in an effort to continually get better across all dimensions of life.

  • Forgive yourself on bad days. There are times when you need to go easy on yourself.

  • Balancing the two bullets above is hard, but it is necessary.

  • Slow down the data coming at you, and the engagement on social media. Find time for self-reflection. Welcome the silence. Try not to always require entertainment and content. Silence and self-reflection are where you actually grow and get better.

One of my favorite talks was Leading Superheroes with Rich Diviney, a former Navy SEAL, bestselling author of The Attributes and Founder and CEO of The Attributes. Rich commanded SEAL platoons, led SEAL training and selection, and is an all-around incredible person. After retiring from the Navy he analyzed high-performing teams and began using his experience to help companies build better teams, train leadership teams, and hit their goals. His approach is super analytical and on-point, and he has developed a list of attributes to select for and nurture in an individual. A couple things I thought were interesting:

  • To succeed, you must become a master of uncertainty. That is, you have to be able to operate in highly fluid and unpredictable environments. In order to do that, you must figure out the attributes needed on your team.

  • Skills can be taught; attributes are ingrained or innate. We all have each attribute Rich identified, but to different degrees. Different attributes express in higher levels in different people, making them better suited for certain jobs and tasks.

  • You will see attributes expressed by team members in times of uncertainty and stress.

  • Cunning is an interesting attribute and involves asking three questions of the current situation before deciding how to act:

    • Are there rules or boundaries?

    • Are they real or imagined?

    • If real what are the consequences if you break the rules?

  • Narcissism is another interesting attribute (and it is actually an attribute!). It allows us / propels us to:

    • Decide to try to do something very few people can do (e.g., become a Navy SEAL, start a company, raise a fund).

    • We all have it in us. The question is how do we manage it to best effect and in a way that doesn’t harm people around us.

So there you have it. All in, there was a lot of timeless wisdom shared, and I came away inspired and energized to keep building for the future.