Emerging Leader

Networking is a vague term that encompasses a broad topic. Ask five people to define networking, and you could very well end up with five different answers. Search online, and you can have 546 million results in front of you in 0.63 seconds. What would happen if you narrowed your search by including AICC? While you may be looking at a relatively slim 67,000 results now, it would be difficult to find one that dutifully explains how central networking is to AICC’s core.

“On multiple occasions I have witnessed or taken part in conversations about how one plant’s capabilities can create solutions to another’s hurdles.”

While my time as a member of AICC is merely a fraction compared to the majority of its members, it has become clear just how important AICC is to networking within our industry. It is a common theme that independents must work together. In order to compete with the major integrated players, partnerships form to complement each other’s strengths. Few stages give better introductions for this than both the regional and national meetings. On multiple occasions I have witnessed or taken part in conversations about how one plant’s capabilities can create solutions to another’s hurdles. are not limited to material. Opportunities come up for many perspectives to be played out on . Everything ranging from ways to grow teams to increasing production efficiency is discussed. Dealing with members at every stage of their careers provides unique insight into many of these . This is not your normal extra set of eyes helping out—it is a group of well-versed individuals willing to lend a hand. Many times what’s discovered is that in almost any situation, someone, somewhere has dealt with that challenge previously and has either addressed it or is in the process of doing so.

A shift in the generational winds is happening before our eyes. As of a few years ago, a group of upcoming leaders was introduced to this network of professionals. Young in age and diverse in backgrounds, the Emerging Leaders (EL) group—of which I am very gratefully a member—started under Mark Mathes’ watch. All at different places in our careers, with varied levels of leadership, we were invited to take a seat at the adult table. Having such a diverse mix of experience between the newly minted EL group and the existing members provides an amazing position from which to jump-start the future growth of this industry. We’ve been gifted the opportunity to observe where many projects begin and granted the ability to involve ourselves in those conversations. Not to mention, ELs are given the responsibility to see these plans through. These are the seeds that the industry needs to continue to plant in order to ensure its continued growth.

“Having the opportunity to learn from peers who have been in your situation before, building long-lasting personal and professional connections, understanding how high-level relationships address industry-specific —these are the invaluable pieces that are provided by AICC.”

Growth will take time. Names and faces will change. Technology will surpass our wildest dreams. Markets and customers’ needs will evolve as an effect. Processes and procedures will need to be tweaked, and sales and marketing plans all built or rebuilt around these changes. Many of these topics are covered in one of the most helpful resources that AICC has presented us with. Many of the conferences and regional meetings have different workshops that provide members with the opportunity to continue our search for knowledge. While some of these timeless pieces have been passed to us by those who have come before, many messages need to be tailored. Ranging from different accounting approaches to techniques on improving production results, these workshops can help bring many minds together on the same topics.

Even more importantly, many of these workshops explain the topics at multiple depth levels so all members of the EL group can grasp the curriculum. As workshop leaders talk about the subjects, attendees are always involved. Ideas are built up. Potential are addressed. Bar napkin scribbles are turned into real-time opportunities. Although it may not be a main takeaway, many of these workshops provide insight into peers who are interested in the same areas, again building up the network. As these continue and more ideas are worked through and brainstormed, not only are problems solved, but opportunities also appear.

All of this networking is for naught if nothing is done with the connections made. Over the last three years, the network that I’m a piece of inevitably has grown. Benefits are already beginning to manifest on all different levels. Learning which contact’s expertise helps in each scenario becomes easier, as we’ve all become more familiar with each other. Having someone to reach out to for ideas to help out in a sticky situation is always a good thing. As the small benefits grow, the larger, more visible benefits do as well. More direct partnerships start to emerge as needs arise and contacts fill the gap. Regardless of issue, or even if you cannot help directly, being able to turn to a source within your network shows the value of AICC.

As much as technology continues to change our industry, this is one aspect that I feel will never be fully replaced. Social media may change the way we engage on a personal or professional level, but nothing can replace face-to-face interaction. Having the opportunity to learn from peers who have been in your situation before, building long-lasting personal and professional connections, understanding how high-level relationships address industry-specific —these are the invaluable pieces that are provided by AICC.

Most importantly, these connections that are made are not just careerlong, but lifelong. Building these connections is not always a situation of instant gratification. Seeing some of these relationships that have grown from casual acquaintances to integrated business partnerships shows that this industry has a proven formula that AICC is an integral part of. After my first National Conference, an acquaintance asked me if I took anything away from the experience, their inflection showing their position on the matter. Without a doubt, I was able to say that not only did I take away more than I thought I could from an individual conference, but I saw the endless possible benefits of the network that AICC had so kindly laid out. That value, that ability to grow within the industry, to add to a network, is what makes me value my membership within AICC.

Bill Kurtz is a

be reached at wkurtz@independencecorr.com.