A high-energy, fully-caffeinated presentation from a former Navy SEAL and current top CEO launched the second day of GRPAA 2018 Summit in sunny San Diego’s Hotel Del Coronado.
Punctuated with military and high-performance clichés like “get comfortable being uncomfortable” and “the only easy day was yesterday,” Brent Gleason, a combat veteran with multiple tours in Iraq, Africa and other theaters of war noted the exponential increase in the pace of change and how adaptability is key not only to survival but success.
While the message wasn’t necessarily new, the pictures, videos and anecdotes of his time in the elite fighting force drove home the importance of teamwork, leadership, trust and accountability in any endeavor.
“Two areas that trust (or a lack of) most impact an organization is performance and engagement,” Gleason said. “It’s estimated that disengagement cost companies $550 billion annually. These are not ‘feel goods’ and ‘nice to haves,’ that materially affect the bottom line and are critical to outperformance. They’re integral to the health, wealth and growth of any organization.”
One video of SEALs in action set to heavy metal music was then shown, with Gleason proclaiming, “Are you guys awake now? If that doesn’t scream America, I don’t know what does.”
Quoting Martin Luther King, he told advisors that, “If you can’t fly, then run. If you can’t run, then walk. If you can’t walk, then crawl. But whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward.”
Explaining that strong leaders understand that the good of the team always comes before their own, he said that after days without sleep, food or warmth, a return to base nonetheless first meant cleaning, storing and organizing gear and checking on personnel, and “then and only then was it ‘me’ time.”
“Leading thorough change involves three main points,” he added. “Building a change culture, which involves aligning culture and strategy and fostering trust and accountability; preparing for the change battle, which is a mindset and behavior shift and involves proper planning, communication and feedback; and, winning the change fight, which involves buy-in, participation and results in fatigue, but where discipline and resiliency are paramount.”
With more than 20 years serving financial markets, John Sullivan is the former editor-in-chief of Investment Advisor magazine and retirement editor of ThinkAdvisor.com. Sullivan is also the former editor of Boomer Market Advisor and Bank Advisor magazines, and has a background in the insurance and investment industries in addition to his journalism roots.
