WEBVTT - Building Your Bench 0:00:01.080 --> 0:00:04.480 Everybody. It's Bill Courtney was shop Talk shop Talk number 0:00:04.519 --> 0:00:07.800 twenty seven, Vita Scott. I'd be ringing the bell that 0:00:07.840 --> 0:00:11.680 you sent, which we really appreciate it, but Alex left 0:00:11.680 --> 0:00:14.480 it at home, so I can't even ring your bell. 0:00:14.920 --> 0:00:17.919 So you know, we got a shop Talk, we got 0:00:17.920 --> 0:00:20.040 a bell. We should be ringing it now. We even 0:00:20.079 --> 0:00:21.720 had a listener sent us a bell to ring the 0:00:21.720 --> 0:00:25.680 bell to alert to shop Talk, and Alex couldn't remember 0:00:25.720 --> 0:00:29.080 to bring it. Nice shop Alex. The reason is actually 0:00:29.160 --> 0:00:31.400 I was cleaning my car for our guest I'm picking 0:00:31.440 --> 0:00:33.319 up tomorrow, so I took it out of my car 0:00:33.440 --> 0:00:35.440 to clean the car, and I forgot to put it 0:00:35.440 --> 0:00:37.920 back in. Was the bell going to upset the guest? 0:00:38.640 --> 0:00:41.199 I took everything out of the seats so that I 0:00:41.200 --> 0:00:44.280 could clean up the carbo hash Like you know, Shop 0:00:44.280 --> 0:00:47.000 Talk number twenty seven should be on forgetfulness, but it's not. 0:00:48.000 --> 0:00:51.920 Shop Talk number twenty seven today is on building your bench. 0:00:53.200 --> 0:00:57.040 We got to build a bench, everybody, so we'll do 0:00:57.120 --> 0:01:02.520 that right after these brief messages from our and our sponsors. 0:01:15.920 --> 0:01:20.800 Welcome back everybody's shop Talk number twenty seven novel Building 0:01:20.840 --> 0:01:27.880 your Bench. I was sent an email from Keith Balliquette. 0:01:27.959 --> 0:01:31.560 You think it's Valaquette or Baliquette Blaquette Blaquette. I think 0:01:31.600 --> 0:01:34.400 you just covered both options. That's right, Keith, thanks for 0:01:34.440 --> 0:01:35.959 sending it to us. You sent it to us on 0:01:36.000 --> 0:01:40.600 November two, and he said, Bill, I really love shop talk. 0:01:40.640 --> 0:01:44.240 As I've mentioned before, I have a few topics for consideration. 0:01:46.600 --> 0:01:50.920 Large companies are disappearing from our communities or are owned 0:01:51.040 --> 0:01:55.720 by out of state country firms. Out of state out 0:01:55.720 --> 0:02:00.000 of country firms, more and more are owned by private equity. 0:02:00.080 --> 0:02:03.160 Also seeing people so busy that they are inwardly focused 0:02:03.200 --> 0:02:06.560 or focused on getting kids here and there. Those situations 0:02:06.560 --> 0:02:09.480 are creating more and more challenges for nonprofits in terms 0:02:09.520 --> 0:02:13.520 of financial support, but also may be more importantly volunteer support. 0:02:14.400 --> 0:02:18.960 It's getting harder and harder to find volunteers, while more 0:02:19.000 --> 0:02:22.760 expensive to run our nonprofits. Take insurance as an example, 0:02:22.880 --> 0:02:26.440 our rage just doubled and may not want to take 0:02:26.440 --> 0:02:28.680 on the risk of children and drivers to pick come 0:02:28.800 --> 0:02:31.800 up so that we can maintain attendance above ninety percent, 0:02:32.000 --> 0:02:35.800 much better than the schools. We can control some costs 0:02:35.800 --> 0:02:39.040 by being leaner, but volunteers drive down the cost of staff, 0:02:39.080 --> 0:02:42.600 which is huge and hard to get funding for. So 0:02:43.720 --> 0:02:48.880 what do we do about getting more volunteers? And when 0:02:48.919 --> 0:02:51.480 do you know when it's time, when it's time to 0:02:51.560 --> 0:02:54.400 step aside and allow the next generation of leaders in 0:02:54.440 --> 0:02:57.760 our companies in nonprofits takeover. My brother in law once 0:02:57.800 --> 0:02:59.360 told me, you may be standing in the way of 0:02:59.360 --> 0:03:02.120 someone God is trying to develop, and bluss, I'd love 0:03:02.160 --> 0:03:05.000 to hear your thoughts. So I thought about that, and 0:03:05.000 --> 0:03:06.560 I'm like, I don't even know if I have much 0:03:06.600 --> 0:03:09.200 to offer there. And then I went to an ole 0:03:09.240 --> 0:03:12.680 Miss football game and it dawned on me, I do 0:03:12.800 --> 0:03:15.639 have something to offer on this. See here's the thing. 0:03:15.639 --> 0:03:19.239 I've been a lifeline ole Miss fan, which is, over 0:03:19.280 --> 0:03:26.519 the last four decades basically been an exercise in lost dreams, 0:03:26.639 --> 0:03:35.320 broken hopes, and sometimes futility. Frankly, and here's here's why. 0:03:36.640 --> 0:03:43.080 Ole Miss almost always had eleven starters that were just 0:03:43.160 --> 0:03:46.600 as good as Alabama's and Georgia's and the other teams. 0:03:46.640 --> 0:03:53.640 And likewise, we always played even with the national prominent 0:03:53.720 --> 0:03:57.000 programs in the first quarter and even maybe in the 0:03:57.040 --> 0:04:00.800 second quarter, and maybe even in the third quarter. But 0:04:01.400 --> 0:04:05.280 football is a game of attrition. Football is a game 0:04:06.600 --> 0:04:15.440 of exhaustion. And what really separates the top ten blue 0:04:15.520 --> 0:04:20.040 chip premium football teams every year from the other teams 0:04:20.040 --> 0:04:23.400 that are scraping and dragging and trying to get up 0:04:23.440 --> 0:04:28.760 to that level of competition is their bench. If you 0:04:28.839 --> 0:04:32.039 don't if you don't have to play your very best 0:04:32.080 --> 0:04:35.960 players on special teams, and if during the game you 0:04:36.000 --> 0:04:40.120 can take out your starters to get a quick breather 0:04:41.560 --> 0:04:44.120 at certain points in the first, second, third quarter, then 0:04:44.160 --> 0:04:47.520 by the fourth quarter, when you're really ready to win 0:04:47.560 --> 0:04:51.279 the game, your best players are fresh. Your best players 0:04:51.400 --> 0:04:55.640 don't get hurt as much because they're getting proper rest, 0:04:55.800 --> 0:04:59.200 they're not having to play special teams. And it's in 0:04:59.279 --> 0:05:02.880 the later in the games where the lack of having 0:05:03.520 --> 0:05:08.839 a deep bench actually wins the game. It's not that 0:05:08.920 --> 0:05:13.160 Ole Miss didn't have eleven great players to match up 0:05:13.200 --> 0:05:16.200 against the first team of eleven great players, But then 0:05:16.800 --> 0:05:20.120 as a game we're on Georgia and Alabama would roll 0:05:20.160 --> 0:05:22.719 in their second team players, and their second team players 0:05:22.800 --> 0:05:25.599 were almost as good as our first team players. And 0:05:25.640 --> 0:05:29.440 when Alabama did that and Ole Miss was rolling in 0:05:29.480 --> 0:05:32.000 their second team players and they were freshmen and not 0:05:32.320 --> 0:05:34.720 up to the standard of the second team, it's the 0:05:34.760 --> 0:05:40.080 bench that actually won the game. And this year, for 0:05:40.120 --> 0:05:43.920 the first time, the depth of the talent at Ole 0:05:44.040 --> 0:05:47.440 Miss allows when our first teamers need a break or 0:05:47.480 --> 0:05:51.160 to come out, that our second teamers are really very talented, 0:05:51.200 --> 0:05:54.200 almost and good. And here we are beaten teams like 0:05:54.240 --> 0:05:58.160 Georgia and raising up the ranks to possibly be in 0:05:58.200 --> 0:06:01.280 the college football Playoff. And I have a chance at 0:06:01.560 --> 0:06:07.600 really being among the blue chip programs in the country. 0:06:07.640 --> 0:06:10.920 And it's not because we have better coaches, and it's 0:06:10.960 --> 0:06:13.359 not because we have better first teams. It's because we 0:06:13.440 --> 0:06:20.240 got a better bench. In my business, ten years ago, 0:06:20.279 --> 0:06:22.520 I would have said our business was kind of a 0:06:22.560 --> 0:06:25.320 young company. I was in my mid forties, and all 0:06:25.360 --> 0:06:28.880 the key people around my company we're also in their 0:06:28.880 --> 0:06:30.840 mid forties. Well here we are ten years later, and 0:06:30.880 --> 0:06:33.640 I'm fifty six, and all my key people are in 0:06:33.680 --> 0:06:36.760 their fifties and some in their sixties. And all of 0:06:36.800 --> 0:06:39.400 a sudden, we've gone from a really young company to 0:06:39.480 --> 0:06:43.040 one that's looking at aging out over the next ten years. 0:06:43.080 --> 0:06:45.960 And it dawned on me. I got to start hiring 0:06:46.040 --> 0:06:48.520 some young talent. I got to start bringing in some 0:06:48.920 --> 0:06:52.080 recent college grides and some thirty somethings that have got 0:06:52.200 --> 0:06:55.920 just a little bit of experience somewhere to build my bench. 0:06:56.839 --> 0:06:59.599 Because as I get older and my key people start 0:06:59.680 --> 0:07:02.520 getting older, and we start nearing retirement and it's time 0:07:02.560 --> 0:07:07.160 to start evolving out of the business, we need those 0:07:07.240 --> 0:07:10.240 young guys to come in to have some time to 0:07:10.320 --> 0:07:13.000 tutor them and teach them so that when they get 0:07:13.000 --> 0:07:17.720 into their forties, they've got the requisite experience and knowledge 0:07:17.720 --> 0:07:19.600 that we've passed on to them, and then we get 0:07:19.640 --> 0:07:22.280 out of the way. Now the company has another two 0:07:22.360 --> 0:07:25.880 decade of quality people to run it, but we're not 0:07:25.920 --> 0:07:28.040 going to have those people if we don't hire them 0:07:28.080 --> 0:07:30.520 now and teach them and mentor them and foster them 0:07:30.560 --> 0:07:33.720 and bring them along. So what we're doing is we're 0:07:33.720 --> 0:07:37.280 building our bench. We're building the second team to become 0:07:37.360 --> 0:07:45.320 the first team. I think when I think about Keith's email, 0:07:46.120 --> 0:07:48.920 he asks, how do you know when it's time? When 0:07:48.960 --> 0:07:50.920 is it time to step aside and allow the next 0:07:50.960 --> 0:07:54.920 generation of leaders and companies and nonprofits take over. My 0:07:55.000 --> 0:07:56.880 brother in law once told me you may be staying 0:07:56.880 --> 0:07:58.760 in the way of someone God is trying to develop 0:07:58.760 --> 0:08:04.880 and bless. And before that, he also asks about what 0:08:04.920 --> 0:08:09.960 do we do about the increased expenses on nonprofits and 0:08:10.080 --> 0:08:12.880 increased expenses on these things we're trying to do among 0:08:12.920 --> 0:08:15.160 the army of normal folks all over our country to 0:08:15.560 --> 0:08:20.720 make life better. When we're having fewer and fewer volunteers 0:08:20.760 --> 0:08:25.600 come along and I think that's it. I think we 0:08:25.680 --> 0:08:30.960 got to build our bench. So building the bench is this, 0:08:32.240 --> 0:08:37.040 grow the army of normal folks. Find more people that 0:08:37.320 --> 0:08:41.280 care about what's going on society, Encourage them to volunteer, 0:08:42.440 --> 0:08:46.640 bring them in and teach them the ropes so that 0:08:46.760 --> 0:08:51.320 when it is time to step away, your nonprofit actually 0:08:51.360 --> 0:08:54.360 becomes better and stronger. We got to build our bench, 0:08:55.360 --> 0:08:59.360 and candidly, the army of normal folks is the bench. 0:09:00.160 --> 0:09:03.160 If you're listening to me today and you're not involved 0:09:03.200 --> 0:09:07.120 in a nonprofit, or you have time to involve yourself 0:09:07.120 --> 0:09:11.200 in another profit, or you have friends and family that 0:09:11.360 --> 0:09:15.439 have big hearts and have passions and have abilities but 0:09:15.640 --> 0:09:21.520 aren't employing them in areas of need, encourage them, recruit them, 0:09:22.320 --> 0:09:28.480 build the bench because candidly, we all have a shelf life. 0:09:28.040 --> 0:09:31.720 We all have a shelf life of effectiveness. We all 0:09:31.800 --> 0:09:34.080 are going to get older, we are all going to 0:09:34.480 --> 0:09:38.600 eventually rotate out, and if we haven't done a good 0:09:38.720 --> 0:09:43.719 enough job building our bench and mentoring and fostering and 0:09:43.760 --> 0:09:46.360 passing on our wisdom and our experience so that when 0:09:46.360 --> 0:09:50.440 we do rotate out, they're ready to rotate in, well, 0:09:50.480 --> 0:09:52.920 then whatever we're involved in is only going to be 0:09:53.280 --> 0:09:59.320 as good as we are able to work, and that's 0:09:59.360 --> 0:10:04.600 not leaving much of a legacy. Build your bench, because 0:10:05.360 --> 0:10:11.440 from one ole miss Fan who suffered three decades of 0:10:12.080 --> 0:10:15.480 broken hearts and letdowns and miseries, I am seeing the 0:10:15.600 --> 0:10:18.520 value of what a bench does. It brings you from 0:10:18.720 --> 0:10:23.880 anonymity to prominence, and I think that could happen in 0:10:23.920 --> 0:10:27.720 our businesses and our nonprofits and our lives. We have 0:10:27.840 --> 0:10:31.319 to encourage an army of normal folks across this country 0:10:31.360 --> 0:10:36.160 to continue to get involved. Build the bench, grow the numbers, 0:10:37.080 --> 0:10:39.360 and then imagine what kind of impact we can have. 0:10:40.160 --> 0:10:44.160 And we can go from toiling and frustration and constant 0:10:44.240 --> 0:10:48.080 letdowns to success across the face of our entire nation 0:10:48.880 --> 0:10:51.920 by building our bench of an army in normal folks, 0:10:52.160 --> 0:10:57.000 of volunteers, using their passions and their disciplines, and employing 0:10:57.000 --> 0:11:01.040 those disciplines where they see an area need the bench. 0:11:01.559 --> 0:11:05.560 The army of normal folks. That's shop talk to day. 0:11:06.160 --> 0:11:09.280 Build the bench thanks to our producer, Iron Night Labs. 0:11:09.679 --> 0:11:10.560 We'll see you next week.