IAM1490 – CEO Builds a Community of Business Advisors and CEO’s

Mark is co-founder and CEO of AEG – the Association for Enterprise Growth. He is responsible for leading the expansion of AEG's national ecosystem of city-based communities of elite business advisors and successful mid-market CEOs. Formerly, as a management consultant, he advised executives and boards in strategy and operations, including biomedical research, social services, technology, education, and professional services. He's facilitated high-visibility sessions such as WWIV military strategy, response to nuclear terrorism, national health security strategy, STEM education, and CEO roundtables, is an international trainer with clients in Europe, Asia, and Africa, and is an ethics officer.

• CEO Story: Mark has been a management consultant for 40 years. The trend that he has seen that is unstoppable but unseen is the growth of complexity. This is the reason why he built AEG to address integrated solutions.
• Business Service: Membership organization. Build trust communities of different elite business advisors.
• Secret Sauce: The diversity of people. Having ethics and values.
• CEO Hack: Reading a lot. App mention; Blinkist – book summary. Read the books you read before because they are different books right now.
• CEO Nugget: Setting aside what your personal values are. Get them earlier rather than later.
• CEO Defined: Big responsibility. You work for everybody else. Encourage and manage people, and find the resources to fill the vision.

Website: enterprisegrowth.org

Facebook: AssociationforEnterpriseGrowth

LinkedIn: association-for-enterprise-growth

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00:26 – Intro

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harker values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO podcast.

00:53 – Gresham Harkless

Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast. I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Mark Haas of AEG. Mark, super excited to have you on the show.

01:02 – Mark Haas

Great. Thanks for being here, Gresh. Looking forward to it.

01:05 – Gresham Harkless

Yes, I'm looking forward to it as well, too. You're doing so many awesome things. And what I wanted to do before we jumped into the interview was read a little bit more about Mark so you could hear about some of those awesome things. And Mark is co-founder and CEO of AEG, the Association for Enterprise Growth. He's responsible for leading the expansion of AEG's national ecosystem of city-based communities of elite business advisors and successful mid-market CEOs. Formerly as a management consultant, he advises executives and boards in strategy and operations, including biomedical research, social services, technology, education, and professional services.

He's facilitated high visibility sessions such as World War 4 military strategy, response to nuclear terrorism, national health security training, STEM education, and CEO round tables, is an international trainer with clients in Europe, Asia, and Africa, and is an ethics officer as well. Mark, you're doing so many awesome things. Excited to have you here today. Are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

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02:06 – Mark Haas

I am certainly doing that.

02:08 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Well, let's get it started then. So to kind of kick everything off, I wanted to rewind the clock a little bit. Here is a little bit more on how you got started, what I call your CEO story. So as you said, I've been a management consultant for 40 years and looked at a lot of different organizations.

02:17 – Mark Haas

And 1 of the trends that I've seen, which is sort of unstoppable, but unseen, is the growth of complexity. I think IBM did a survey and 83% of CEOs said that complexity is by far their biggest challenge. And so I recognize that when we get into complex situations, we tend to hunker down into specialties. And that's what's happened to professional services providers. So there used to be a lawyer and now there are dozens of different kinds of lawyers each have their own lane. As I said, if you're solving a complex problem, you can't just take little pieces of it, you need to have a more integrated solution. So that's really what AEG is.

And it's designed to create an ecosystem of business advisors and CEOs who can work together to solve problems. And I get to use the term ecosystem because I'm also a recovering biologist. And I know what an ecosystem is, and it's not a network. Everybody's using the term ecosystem. It's a very distinct kind of thing. So that's what AEG is. And so my partner, John Yetman's co-founder, is a wealth manager. He takes care of money. I build businesses.

It was a natural partnership to see if we could help CEOs through that transition, whether they need help with technology or finance or law or benefits or HR or whatever through their business and personal journey. So I can tell you more about the structure of AHE if that's important to you or not.

03:52 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, that would be extremely, you know, important to kind of drill down and hear more about that structure. But I think 1 of the things I just want to kind of, you know, hammer home because I see Jobs has this quote that I read years and years ago around, you know, complexity and, you know, design, you know, but if you really think about a lot of the things that we do, it's all in some form, shape or fashion, some type of design, but he talked about getting to simple actually is something that you have to work hard at. It doesn't come naturally. So when you said that, it really resonated with me because there is so much complexity and we sometimes forget that it's not usually we have to work to get to simple because so many things are complex. So I love that you guys are working on that.

04:30 – Mark Haas

The parallel quote is about simplicity, but on the other side of complexity, figure out what the whole system is and then simplify it as much as possible. Don't just go with the simple, simple, easy answer off the bat.

04:42 – Gresham Harkless

Right. Absolutely. So yeah, I would love to hear more about, you know, the structure, how you work, and how you're structured and serving your clients.

04:49 – Mark Haas

Yeah. So we started some, it's a membership organization. We started as more of a lifestyle business between the 2 of us. And suddenly there was so much demand and interest, not only from other colleagues that we had but also from people in other cities. Actually, we had 5 people in 5 countries say, we'd love to have something similar here. So we turned it into a going concern and now we're growing, raising capital. We expanded to Baltimore, Now we're expanding to Tampa. We're probably going to be about 20 cities in a couple of years. So the idea is there are 2 communities. That's really what we do to build these trust communities because the ability to get a job done means who do I reach out to? Can I trust them? Can they connect me to other people?

So it's a community of elite business advisors in complementary disciplines. We have about 80 different disciplines, tax lawyers, governance, cyber, et cetera. And we put those people together. They really get to know each other incredibly well. A lot of work on values, ethics, community, collegiality, and getting to know each other personally and professionally. So it's not like I got a business card from somebody that I've seen 3 times in 3 years. We really accelerate the development of that trust. See, both are top of mind and if I'm going to refer you to 1 of my clients, I better trust you and know you well. I'm not giving up that relationship. That's the first community. The second 1 is successful mid-market CEOs of 20 million or more companies.

So there are networking groups out there. They're all good in their own way. So it's not like it's a new concept, but we do it a little differently. So we're both integrating all those different disciplines within a group. It's not category exclusive, and it's not just about referrals, it's about community and relationships and connecting the business community with the advisor community because they both need those. And we'll knit those together across the country. So if I need an M&A attorney in entertainment, I'm not going to find them here, but our LA chapter has it. So we'll make that connection. So that's the plan.

06:56 – Gresham Harkless

So people love it. Absolutely. So I want to ask you for what I call your secret sauce. You might have already touched on this, but this could be for yourself, the business, or a combination of both. But what do you feel kind of sets you apart and makes you unique?

07:08 – Mark Haas

Yeah, so the secret sauce is the diversity of people, both ethnically, gender, age, discipline, industry, et cetera, but also psychographic. We're looking at people who just have a different view of the world so that we don't get into any silos. So we have 2 things. 1 is, like I said, I'm an ethics officer, so that's really important that we create that trust and do that trust in all of our members. The second is we have 4 values that we use to make decisions internally to bring on members and we expect our members to behave in that way. And those are, and the sequence is important. First, look at people who are not just transactional, they're givers. They wanna support their community, they wanna support each other, and they're willing to put in the time and effort to create a better community. The second is to do great work.

So are you recognized by your peers for doing good work? You know, are you leading your professional association? Are you, you know, an author, a podcaster, or whatever? The third is to live passionately. Do you believe that what you do is important and not saying, oh, I hate this job, I just wanna get over with, I wanna retire? If you believe that what you do makes a difference in people's lives, their businesses, their assets, their growth, and their well-being, that's important.

And the last one, which not everybody passes is to have fun. So it's, yeah, give first, do great work, live passionately, and have fun. We found those that really create a community and we can take every 1 of our members and say they passed the test on all of us.

08:48 – Gresham Harkless

Nice, I absolutely love that. And I wanted to switch gears a little bit and I want to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So this could be like an app, a book, or a habit that you have, but what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?

09:01 – Mark Haas

So I read a lot and as all of us know who read business books, there are 250 pages in this book, and only 10 of which are really useful. I just don't know which 10 they are. So It's just read a lot. I use Blinkist, which is not an advertisement, but it's a good way of summarizing. It's like, you know what? This book isn't really exactly what I'm looking for. I can find out in 5 or 10 minutes, and then I'll go read it otherwise. The second thing is to read the books that you read before because they're different books now. The books I read as a management consultant gave me 1 set of perspectives.

You know, what I have now is entirely different. You know, I say that I've advised CEOs for 40 years and so tongue-in-cheek I was offended when they just didn't listen with rapt attention to my every word and implement everything I suggested right away. And now that I'm a CEO, I'm thinking, God, this is a hard job. Everybody's got an opinion and your job is to sort it out.

So having perspective, and that's from reading and that could be fiction or nonfiction. Don't, don't spend your time just looking at, business books, get as much perspective as you can, and ask others for recommendations of what they value.

10:19 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. So I want to ask you now for what I call a CEO nugget. So it's a little bit more word of wisdom or a piece of advice. I usually say it might be something you would tell your favorite client or if you hopped into a time machine, you might tell your younger business self.

10:32 – Mark Haas

Yeah, I would say, again, I'm big on values and ethics. And I would say if you don't already have them, spend some time setting aside what are your personal values. Yeah, mine happened to be service, courage, loyalty, and respect. And they're in the order for a particular reason. Sometimes those conflict with each other and kind of make your decisions based on those all the time. Get them earlier rather than later, Because as the CEOs, it's just wave after wave after wave of stuff. You can delegate so much away, but a lot of it stays in your head. And when you have to make a tough decision, there's gotta be some touchstone that you can rely on and not whoever has the loudest voice or the most testosterone.

11:20 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, that makes so much sense. It ends up being a lot of times like a filter. And you might have been alluding to this, but do you feel like that's something that So many times you can kind of jump into the business, jump into the position or whatever it might be and tackle all the problems and those things like that. Do you feel like that's maybe 1 of the exercises or things that you should get clarity on in the very beginning because that creates a foundation for yourself as well as the organization?

11:45 – Mark Haas

Yeah, and I think if you're gonna set the culture, set the tone for the culture of an organization, you have to have some grounding in a philosophy or a vision or whatever. I mean, so I've often, well, the company has a vision. Well, what's your vision? And is it aligned? Because I know a lot of clients have had their idea about where they want to go personally different from the company. And you guys either got on the same page or parted ways or something because you can't be an effective leader unless you share and can imbue that vision in all your customers as well as your employees.

12:20 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, absolutely. That makes so much sense. So I truly appreciate you sharing that. And now I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. We're hoping that different quote-unquote CEOs on the show. And I know you have loads and loads of knowledge and obviously experience as well. So Mark, what does being a CEO mean to you? Big responsibility. People think, oh, CEO, I finally arrived.

12:41 – Mark Haas

I can get a nice office and a nice chair. That's not it. I mean, I see being a CEO is you're a steward of the organization and you have a responsibility, and in effect, you work for everybody else, they don't work for you. So that means You have to encourage enthuse and manage people and find the resources to fill that vision that you have for the organization. So 2 of my values are service and loyalty. So the CEO role is 1 I think I can really thrive in. The CEO stands for chief executive officer. It's usually defined as a person with the authority or responsibility to execute and enforce things.

Sounds like kings or emperors. But that's really not how organizations should work. The CEO is a leader and his or her job is to get people to follow them. And that's inside and outside the organization. And I think things like people like Simon Sinek, their take on leading organizations, they have a purpose, why do we exist? And so that alignment between your personal goals and values and the organizations, they have to be visible, they have to be promoted and they have to be incentivized, I guess. That's really the longevity and the ultimate contribution of your company to the community is what's gonna come from that alignment.

14:16 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, absolutely. Too much who is given, much is respected as well too. Expected as well too. So you get to have you know that opportunity either Voltaire or Spider-Man, whoever you exactly wherever you're following. But either way, the message lands right. So Mark truly appreciates that definition. Of course, I appreciate your time even more. So what I want us to do now is pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional that you can let our readers and listeners know. And of course, how best people can get out of you, and find out about all the awesome things you and your team are working on?

14:46 – Mark Haas 

Well, just a couple of things. 1 is I think the idea of AEG is a good 1. I think we're really, to sort of wax philosophical, I think it's a way professional services can be transformed. It's very much the way healthcare has been. Used to be fee for service, and realized there's a lot of collateral damage going to the wrong doctor or being delayed. And I think the same thing is true if we can provide a more integrated perspective and service on professional service providers and try to get ourselves out of the silos. And we're being complexity pushes those into silos. And we have disciplines and certifications and licenses and so forth. To the extent, we can move out of that and work together and better understand each other.

That'd be great. I don't think we can wait for artificial intelligence to solve this problem. We have to do it ourselves. So I would say from the CEO's standpoint, cultivating different perspectives, certainly a diversity of opinion, diversity of experience, and diversity of history is really important. So for the CEO themselves, seek out a peer group. I know it's time, I know it's money but spend the time. I think you'll get some insights that'll make you a better leader and a better person. Yeah, they just email me at meals at enterprisegrowth.org. It's M-H-A-A-S at enterprisegrowth, all 1 word, dot org.

16:12 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome, awesome, awesome. And to make it even easier, we'll have the links and information again in the show notes so that everybody can follow up with you and find out about all those awesome things. Of course, appreciate your time today.

16:22 – Mark Haas

Right. Thanks very much, Greslin.

16:23 – Outro

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.