As announced by The Var Guy a week or two ago, this past week we hosted our inaugural vendor peer group. Seven of our HTG sponsor vendors answered the bell and we had a great couple days together in Denver. A special shout out for IBM, SonicWALL, CA ArcServe, Great America Leasing, ConnectWise, E-Folder and Xerox. Lisa Jenkins from Xerox won the best practice contest. Each company had two participants in the room, and we gave them as much of the HTG experience as possible. It was a very exciting couple of days.
As is always the case, everyone was a bit tentative leading up to the meeting. The first time a new group meets is like going on a first date. People start out with some tentative positioning and want to make sure it all comes across the way they want. After all, this is far from the way their day jobs have been – sitting in a room over two days with folks who at some level could be considered competitors. Not what most are accustomed to. But after we did introductions and people began to share a little about life – important facts like being on the hunt for a husband or having 13,000 emails in their inbox – the laughter broke down the walls and people moved past their fears and the ideas and sharing began to flow.
We tackled issues that were specific to their roles in working with partners. How do you engage and activate partners? How should they communicate effectively without overloading our inboxes? What does a good partner program look like? It was great learning as ideas were shared and best practices exchanged. Everyone came prepared and ready to share – homework was done – which already sets this group apart from their solution provider peers. We struggle to get HTG members to get that homework done and posted – so thanks to our vendor group members for keeping that bar high.
It was enlightening to me to be able to facilitate and be part of the idea exchange. I was able to interject the voice of the partner and offer some tips and ideas that will hopefully help share the landscape for these companies as they interact with the partner community. That is part of the value – we all learn from each other when we spend time together – and I certainly learned much from this group.
Some may be wondering why we would create a peer group for vendors. One of the things we find about our HTG peer groups is that unless you experience them, it is extremely difficult to understand the value of a close knit community that becomes invested in each other. So we decided to create this group to help deliver that experience for our vendor sponsors – to let them be part of what we do every quarter – and to create the same kind of close community that can share life together. We are using most of the same objectives and goals as we have for HTG – planning and goals and execution and accountability – it is all part of this program.
So what was the outcome of the two days? The feedback was extremely positive and everyone who attended is ready to proceed and meet in Q3. But the best way to share how things went is to hear from one of the attendees himself. Ted Hulsy from SonicWALL shared this: “Ever since my first ‘seat at the table’ with an HTG group, I realized that working with peers is one of the best ways to learn and change. Now that I am in HTG, I feel so fortunate to be working with peers who have passion for their work, are trusting, and are willing to share the secrets of their success.”
That is what it is all about. Becoming part of a community that you can share with and help one another achieve more than you can do on your own. We believe in our mission. Get involved in a community – be it in your industry, your church, your community – just find one and get involved. It will change your life if you let it!
Showing posts with label IBM. Show all posts
Showing posts with label IBM. Show all posts
Monday, June 14, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
The Next Three Years For HTG
I was blessed to spend a couple days this week with the HTG team and advisory council in a strategic planning session in Phoenix. Our mission was to step back and take another look at our course and make sure we were on track. It was a great exercise as we turned over every aspect of the HTG program and took a look at where we were, and more importantly, where we were going to be in 3 years.
After all, we continually press our members to do strategic planning. That has to drive every part of our businesses. It comes down to answering the "why" question. Why do we do what we do? What is the driving force - the end game - the desired outcome? Far too many businesses and organizations go through their lifecycle without ever really knowing why. They get up, go to work, take on risk, hire people, go through the motions day after day without ever really answering the question of "why". That is not the case for HTG.
HTG has a very clear answer to that question. It is the same answer we have had for a number of years: "HTG exists to help our members experience business and personal growth driven by execution". That is our mantra - our ONE GOAL - our castle on the hill. We will have succeeded if we are able to get ALL our members into a continual cycle of growth that aligns with their plans. That growth happens in many ways, at different speeds, across many different facets of our members. But the key is to identify where you want to go, to pursue it with passion, and to reach that goal only to set the next one that will define how you live and lead for the next period of time.
HTG identifies the need for that growth to happen in four areas: business, leadership, life and legacy. That is why our FOUR PLANS will continue to be central to helping us achieve our mission. We are not content to help members drive EBITDA alone. We want people to not only succeed in business, but to also have success in their relationships, in their personal lives, and in creating the future impact of their life driven by their legacy. This differentiates us from most other peer programs who focus on driving bottom line income. We don't ignore that need - it is primary in our mission - but to have a fantastic business without a balance - to lose the important relationships in life because of a single focus - well to us that does not define success and certainly will not produce happiness. Without life/work balance the money really is unfulfillng over time.
HTG will continue to drive our groups and members to leverage their peer relationships. The most important part of HTG is the peer group meetings each quarter. The QBR format (quarterly board review) with deep feedback from fellow peers is key to helping our members really grow. It is that accountability that keeps every member on course. We all face plateaus in our growth process. It is a lifecycle when running a successful business and to be able to lay it on the table and allow others to provide their guidance and share their wisdom is very valuable in driving growth. Benchmarking our financials through our partnership with Service Leadership, and building deep profiles and scorecards will take us to the next level in our reporting and feedback focus.
HTG will work more strategically with vendors and our distribution partner (Ingram Micro) to drive business and member success. We have had some great progress with a few of our vendor partners - notably ConnectWise, IBM, Microsoft, SonicWALL and HP - and we will be focusing on finding ways to work hand in hand to build methods to drive business for all. The good news about this environment is that it is very much a shared goal and in everyone's interest to drive more business. This becomes critical as we begin to deal with the transition that cloud computing will bring to our industry. We need deep partnerships and the ability to leverage the intelligence, data and direction of those who define what our industry becomes. Our partnership with Ingram Micro and CompTIA will be a key part of guiding us through the transition ahead.
There are many more details that will be shared in Dallas in April at our HTGALL lunch on Monday, and in the peer group meetings that will happen that week. But the reality is that our direction remains the same. We have more clarity about the details than ever before, and we will review those as we lay the plan out for our members in Dallas. HTG will remain focused on one thing: business and personal growth driven by execution. We are about helping our members go from good to great - to removing the roadblocks to their growth - and providing an environment through our program that allows us to build the premier set of business leaders in this industry. We are well on our way. Our pursuit of that goal will continue and our team is passionate about getting us there. As Edison said, "Vision without execution is hallucination". We are not hallucinating - we are on course and heading for the end zone. We are looking for a few good partners who want to join the journey. Only those with a passion to grow need apply. http://www.htgpeergroups.com/ for the application.
After all, we continually press our members to do strategic planning. That has to drive every part of our businesses. It comes down to answering the "why" question. Why do we do what we do? What is the driving force - the end game - the desired outcome? Far too many businesses and organizations go through their lifecycle without ever really knowing why. They get up, go to work, take on risk, hire people, go through the motions day after day without ever really answering the question of "why". That is not the case for HTG.
HTG has a very clear answer to that question. It is the same answer we have had for a number of years: "HTG exists to help our members experience business and personal growth driven by execution". That is our mantra - our ONE GOAL - our castle on the hill. We will have succeeded if we are able to get ALL our members into a continual cycle of growth that aligns with their plans. That growth happens in many ways, at different speeds, across many different facets of our members. But the key is to identify where you want to go, to pursue it with passion, and to reach that goal only to set the next one that will define how you live and lead for the next period of time.
HTG identifies the need for that growth to happen in four areas: business, leadership, life and legacy. That is why our FOUR PLANS will continue to be central to helping us achieve our mission. We are not content to help members drive EBITDA alone. We want people to not only succeed in business, but to also have success in their relationships, in their personal lives, and in creating the future impact of their life driven by their legacy. This differentiates us from most other peer programs who focus on driving bottom line income. We don't ignore that need - it is primary in our mission - but to have a fantastic business without a balance - to lose the important relationships in life because of a single focus - well to us that does not define success and certainly will not produce happiness. Without life/work balance the money really is unfulfillng over time.
HTG will continue to drive our groups and members to leverage their peer relationships. The most important part of HTG is the peer group meetings each quarter. The QBR format (quarterly board review) with deep feedback from fellow peers is key to helping our members really grow. It is that accountability that keeps every member on course. We all face plateaus in our growth process. It is a lifecycle when running a successful business and to be able to lay it on the table and allow others to provide their guidance and share their wisdom is very valuable in driving growth. Benchmarking our financials through our partnership with Service Leadership, and building deep profiles and scorecards will take us to the next level in our reporting and feedback focus.
HTG will work more strategically with vendors and our distribution partner (Ingram Micro) to drive business and member success. We have had some great progress with a few of our vendor partners - notably ConnectWise, IBM, Microsoft, SonicWALL and HP - and we will be focusing on finding ways to work hand in hand to build methods to drive business for all. The good news about this environment is that it is very much a shared goal and in everyone's interest to drive more business. This becomes critical as we begin to deal with the transition that cloud computing will bring to our industry. We need deep partnerships and the ability to leverage the intelligence, data and direction of those who define what our industry becomes. Our partnership with Ingram Micro and CompTIA will be a key part of guiding us through the transition ahead.
There are many more details that will be shared in Dallas in April at our HTGALL lunch on Monday, and in the peer group meetings that will happen that week. But the reality is that our direction remains the same. We have more clarity about the details than ever before, and we will review those as we lay the plan out for our members in Dallas. HTG will remain focused on one thing: business and personal growth driven by execution. We are about helping our members go from good to great - to removing the roadblocks to their growth - and providing an environment through our program that allows us to build the premier set of business leaders in this industry. We are well on our way. Our pursuit of that goal will continue and our team is passionate about getting us there. As Edison said, "Vision without execution is hallucination". We are not hallucinating - we are on course and heading for the end zone. We are looking for a few good partners who want to join the journey. Only those with a passion to grow need apply. http://www.htgpeergroups.com/ for the application.
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