Using Your Social Currency for Business Development with Dick Batchelor, Consultant & Founder

Join our host, Lee Murray in the latest episode of the CEO series as he sits down with Dick Batchelor, Consultant and Founder, as he shares insights on the power of networking and relationship-building. He discusses his journey from campus politics to the Florida House of Representatives, highlighting the importance of trust and personal connections in business success. Batchelor emphasizes the value of community involvement aligned with his passions and encourages corporate leaders to address societal issues. 

Thank you for watching. If you are enjoying what you hear, please consider sharing it with a colleague or a friend.

Dick's Book - Building Bridges in Toxic Political Times

http://www.buildingbridgesbook.com/


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Go here: https://www.harvardmurray.com/exploring-growth-podcast

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Lee - https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehmurray/

Dick - https://www.linkedin.com/in/dick-batchelor-1b350510/

#ExploringGrowthPodcast #BusinessInsights #EntrepreneurialJourney #BusinessExpansion #Embracinggrowth #MarketingTalk #CommunityLeadership #DickBatchelor

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So you can use other people's bondage

or stuff. You've got credibility.

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If I've got credibility with you,

then you're confident in our

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relationship and my knowledge

and my ability to introduce them

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to somebody else.

So you basically leverage leverage

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and leverage and leverage. Okay.

Welcome back to Exploring Growth

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and to our CEO series where I'm

interviewing interviewing CEOs

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around the Central Florida area, today I'm taking a small

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side step in this series to talk

with someone who has worked with

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and is connected with many CEOs, my guest today is Dick Batchelor,

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founder and president of Dick

Batchelor Management Group.

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Welcome to the show, Dick.

Thank you very much.

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Thank you for having me. Yeah.

So, you know, during my search for

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CEOs, I came across some of your

content and was super intrigued.

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00:00:48,200 --> 00:00:51,650, after a little digging,

I found that you're really well

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versed in business development

and also being connected.

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have you on to talk about

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building a network and all

things business development.

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So I thought maybe we could do

is start by,

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you just kind of giving us a

quick summary of your background.

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So we have a little context to

our conversation. Okay.

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Well, I grew up in Orlando since

I was ten years old, went away to

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Vietnam with the Marine Corps,

came back, went to Valencia

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Junior College at the time,

then F2, now UCF got involved in

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campus politics, actually.

So that's where I started building

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my database from thinking I

wanted to run for office one day.

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And when I was 26 years old,

I ran in and was elected as one

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of the youngest members of the

Florida House of Representatives.

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So that database was different

than the one I created later,

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which is really now want to go

into free enterprise and

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competition and business.

So I started building other

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databases.

So that's that's kind of a summary

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of the public sector and then the

private sector. Okay. That's great.

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00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:56,540, what made you think that you

wanted to go into office when

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you're so young?

Well, I got back from Vietnam.

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And the Vietnam War, of course, was

still going on, and I was changing

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my mind about that and decided I

would get involved in politics.

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And and it was a surprise to

everybody because I had not even

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thought about going to college.

Frankly, we grew up very poor,

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and it was never discussed in the

household, not because we were poor,

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but it was just never discussed

in the household.

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And when I got back and in college,

I started looking at different.

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The philosophies and thoughts and

patterns and and really I said,

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you know, I'd like to be in a

position to help people out.

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So I figured politics was a

political tool to get things done.

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today, but it was a way to get things

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done, so I really wanted to do it.

I lobbied for, I actually

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borrowed a car, went to Tallahassee

and lobbied for the 18 year old vote.

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I also volunteered to lobby for the, prisoner of war and missing

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in action of wives.

So that's that got me very

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excited about public policy.

So that's why I really got involved

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early and got elected early and

spent four terms in the legislature.

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So, I mean, you have no background

in the things that you mentioned

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that you did right out of the gate?

Not at all.

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What gave you the other than

just sheer gumption? Yeah.

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It gave you the direction to

know what you needed to do.

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So I mentioned I talked politics

was a tool.

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But, you know, the funny thing

about it is talk about databases

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and business development.

I'm going to put it in the

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political arena for a minute, back then, the only way you could

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communicate with somebody who was

write him a letter or call him on the

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phone long before even fax came out.

Fax weren't available till 1983,

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I don't think.

But I started meeting people and

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saying, well, if I ever decided

to run for something, would you

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support me? And they said, yeah.

So I'd write down her name and

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address and phone number,

and I had a little ten,

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three by five card box, and I would

collect names and telephone numbers

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and how to reach these people.

And now, if you leap forward in all

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these years in the private sector,

now, that database is about

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10,000 names of people have

accumulated over the years,

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some of the political sector.

But most in the business sector. Now.

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So this was just a natural kind of,

you know, part of who you were to to

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think in terms of having a database.

Because I know when I was that age,

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I did in terms of, hey,

I should be keeping track of the

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people that I know. Yeah.

Well, should we admit that maybe

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we were first collecting telephone

numbers of women and native shades

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into a database, right? Yeah.

Yeah, but but but back then. Yeah.

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Because again, the only way you had

to communicate was either in person,

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by phone or a letter.

So you needed you needed a database.

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Now it's not a leap forward.

You can't put that on LinkedIn

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or Facebook or Twitter.

You know, you didn't have any of

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those social media tools of course,

back then.

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So it was a way if you if you're

going to and back then,

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volunteers and campaigns were

more important than even

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campaign contributions.

And of course, there was no

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social media at the time.

A very few people could afford TV or

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radio commercials when they ran.

So we, we built a database.

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And from that database,

when I would ask people to help

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me walk precincts and knock on

doors going door to door and that

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campaign literature, I could turn

out 100 volunteers every day.

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So that that was really that

really obviously the database

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gave me the opportunity.

To build, to build on those contacts

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and political development rather than

business development, but sort of the

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purpose of having those volunteers, as, as important as

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having campaign contributions.

And I was known for getting

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people out.

In fact, before I ran for office,

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I actually worked in Hubert

Humphrey presidential campaign

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and was so well known for turning

out volunteers that I became the

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assistant campaign director for

the entire state of Florida,

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24 because I had this reputation

that really turning out a lot of

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young people to work on campaigns.

And later on I got somewhat of a

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reputation raising money.

But back then it was just

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raising volunteers. Sure. Yeah.

Well, I you know, I don't want it to

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I don't want to belabor it, but I

also don't want it to be missed.

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That it's such a critical component

to your success is just this way

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of thinking that I'm going to

retain these, you know,

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back then it wasn't emails,

but phone and and names and

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addresses of these people that

I've talked to and connected with.

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I think that's such a fundamental, piece of success in building

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a network.

And, and then later on business

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development and probably I'm asking

you, you know, you're, you start out

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with this, this kind of direction

of going in the political space,

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but you probably ran against and, you know, rub shoulders with

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lots of business leaders.

So that's probably is that is that

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where you started to build that.

Yeah. Private database. Yeah.

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And when I, got out of the

legislature, actually I ran for

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Congress at the age of 36,

I thought I was, really needed

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to do something with my life.

So I ran for Congress and lost that

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race, and then immediately went

to work in the private sector.

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And my very first job was business

development director for for a

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copier company, Delta Business

Systems in Orlando. Okay.

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And then, somebody I met,

during the campaign called me,

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and they were running this down

a resort, a very successful

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timeshare company that later sold

to Sara Wood for $600 million.

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And they said, look,

we know that you're well connected.

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We don't know exactly what we we

want you to do for us,

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but we want to hire you.

So I said, well,

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do you want to just pay me until you

figure out what you want me to do?

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That's fine too. But that's business.

What I did, it was all. It was all.

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That's when I lived off the Rolodex.

I still call it the Rolodex today.

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Yeah, and that's what they wanted, they wanted a relations firm.

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What I call my friends at

Crowley and Penn had them hired.

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So basically,

what I would do is I'd say, okay,

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you need a lobbyist in Tallahassee.

Let me go to my Rolodex.

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I know a number of them,

but the best person,

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I think for this job is this person.

I'd prequalify them,

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have him interview they would hire.

So basically, in the going right into

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the private sector, a lot of people,

frankly, should say a lot.

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A good number of people who lead

the legislature say they want to

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become lobbyists.

There's a two year hiatus where you

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can't lobby, but after the two years.

So I'm going to go back to the, quote

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lobby. I did a little bit of that.

I did not like.

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I did not want to do it,

did not want to go to Tallahassee,

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did not want to meet with

legislators, some of whom had

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absolutely no influence whatsoever.

I'm a time motion management.

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I'm at time motion management.

So everyone I got to drive up there,

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I got to meet with you.

The meeting might be worthwhile,

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not worthwhile.

So basically, I said the skill set

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that you had to be able to reach

out and coalesce around issues,

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convene people together, how can you apply that you

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not would not being a lobbyist

get out of that political arena?

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But it's the same skill set to

be able to have the Rolodex.

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I had the database be able to reach

out pre-qualified people in your

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database who can help you on A,

B, C, and D.

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So now it's, you know, now I have

firms like I have AdventHealth and

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Scott Colonial Life Insurance,

which is a large corporation.

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I've got all these clients that I

do business development for is an

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example. If I might use an example.

This morning I was on a conference

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call with Colonial Life Insurance

that provides supplemental benefits.

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So we were able to get them in

every agency.

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So every state employee would

have the option for these

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supplemental benefits.

And it's quite lucrative business.

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But this morning we had a phone call

to say, well, do you know anybody?

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And in the public school system in

Osceola County, I said, well, I just

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met at a luncheon the other day, the superintendent of schools.

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It was at a luncheon that I had

gone to.

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And so now I know the

superintendent of schools.

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I knew other people under him,

but I know the superintendent

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now I can reach out to him.

Also in the same panel was the

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superintendent for Orange County,

Lake County and Seminole County.

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Do we need to reach out to them?

Because I went up and introduced

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myself so I would know those people.

So now they're in my database.

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So now I can reach out on behalf

of a client and say, loan your

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life insurance in this case would

like to do business with you. My.

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I set up a meeting with yourself or

your HR director of benefits and

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administrative, whomever it might be.

But again, and I collect.

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In fact, I asked people, so may I

have your card? May I have your card?

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May I have your card?

For those that still carry cards or

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digitally, may I have your card.

And they go into the database.

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So you know, it sounds like with the

Osceola Superintendent connection,

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that's very serendipitous in

terms of timing.

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How do you think about what which

rooms to put yourself in and when?

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Because. Good question.

You know, I mean,

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it in timing is a big part of this.

But you have to be in the right

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rooms, I'm sure. Yeah.

And I want to go and I know

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we'll talk about it later.

The cultivation of personal

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relationships and everybody's

like on, you know, LinkedIn and

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Twitter and Facebook or whatever,

and people will sell you a list and

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you can reach out to these people.

But it's a kind of benign,

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clinical, outreach.

Then they don't really know you.

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It's a lot easier stating the

obvious.

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It's easier to reach out to somebody

who you do if you've just met them.

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So I was always involved in the

the Chamber of Commerce,

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because you do meet a lot of people

through the Chamber of Commerce.

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Hispanic Chamber of Commerce,

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which by, by, virtually is

the largest chamber of commerce

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in Central Florida today. Okay, I, was heavily involved

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in my politics and engaging with

the African American communities.

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I went on to become the chairman of

the Urban League chapter in Orlando.

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The Urban League is the second oldest

black organization in the country.

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So I was able to reach across a

lot of balls, right? That's right.

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So so having this kind of.

And now I just got a call from

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somebody yesterday I need to meet.

This is what I do.

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I met you when I was on the

board of the Hispanic Chamber.

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Conversely,

if somebody wants to market to the

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Hispanic communities, I always

say you need to go to their CEO.

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She's brilliant,

and she puts on a lot of programs for

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the Hispanic business communities.

And I say that in plural,

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intentionally. So those so be it.

But it's one thing to send a blind

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email, let's say, or LinkedIn,

to Gabby, the president of the

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Hispanic Chamber.

It's another thing for me to

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serve on the board and pick up

the phone and call her.

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Yes, and get the references

because you build credibility.

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Let me just focus on that for a

moment. It's just not the contact.

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What your credibility level.

You have political you have

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currency with this person that

you've talked to.

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Yes, I do remember maybe yes,

I remember the conversation. Yes.

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I thought that was very interesting

that you brought that up.

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You know, that gives you some

credibility rather than, hey,

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I saw you at a barbecue the other

night. Can I do business with you?

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Well, you've got to cultivate

that relationship, in my opinion.

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Still,

a lot of me know mass companies.

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You know, Apple and others do it

differently than that.

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But still,

I ran into a guy of the day,

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he says. I got a great job with IBM.

I said people were actually still

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out there representing IBM selling,

but you got to be able to open

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those doors.

And, so that's what I do on

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behalf of my clients, open doors

for my clients. Yeah. That's right.

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And, you know,

we're talking about credibility.

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The way I think about it is

levels of trust.

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And what I tell my clients is,

you know, you have to you have to

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open the door to building trust.

And and that can be a place

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where they learn about you and

you learn about them.

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And it could be in various different

platforms, various different mediums.

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It could be at a at an actual

in-person meeting.

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It could be on LinkedIn.

However, you make those first

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initial connections matters,

because what you want to do then

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is get them connected with you, but like you're both going

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in the same direction.

So you serving on a board is a

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good example of that.

You're taking that next step to say,

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hey, I'm committed, which takes

a lot of your time and energy.

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And, you know, you only have so

much time to, to hand out around.

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And, and then lastly would be

for them to be connected to you.

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So, you know, when you make a call

to someone and you involve them

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in a project or they call you and

involve you in something, now you're

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both actively working together on

something, in parallel. Yeah.

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And there's there's one thing I

want to add to that.

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And it's called you got the

credibility and it's what I call

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it earned credibility.

It's just not. Hi, how are you?

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Nice to see is earning credibility.

That's right.

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But then you have what I call

currency. Yes.

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You know, have you earned

currency with that person?

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00:15:06,910 --> 00:15:11,830, to, to engage beyond just a,

beyond just the benign conversation.

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Right. So what is your currency?

Let me give you an example.

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And, it's,

I'm going to give you two examples.

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I do some work in the mergers

and acquisitions space and,

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I not only.

So I went to work for an M&A company.

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They're client of mine, and I.

I've got a great relationship with

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them, which means they pay. Well.

But I also get a portion of any

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fee on any business they sell.

Well,

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I just wanted a business I had met.

Politically,

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we're like streams right,

left and right. Yeah, extremes.

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But we worked together on the opioid

crisis, and he made a contribution

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to our efforts on the fentanyl,

the overdose crisis.

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And we talked, one day,

and he goes, I might sell 1 to 1 of

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my businesses. Long story short.

Because of my credibility with him,

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I introduce them to a merger and

acquisition firm.

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They just sold one small piece

of the business for $12 million.

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So that relationship earned me.

Several thousand dollars. Yeah.

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00:16:18,160 --> 00:16:22,000, so it's this one time I'm in

a golf cart parade and win a

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garden and win a garden.

It's religious requirement.

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You have to own a golf cart,

and you have to be in the golf

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cart parade. It just.

You just have to do that. Yes.

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So I met a guy two years ago,

and his name was familiar,

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and I said, well, your family

owned car dealerships here. Yeah.

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We started engaging talk and he goes,

I know who you are.

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I've read about some of the things

you've done in the community,

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you know, so we just started talking

and, Sharon, what are you doing?

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And I got this company and he goes,

I'm thinking about selling the

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company.

I said, let me tell you about

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mergers and acquisitions.

We have his contract and we have is a

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company that would be in the contract

for $30 million, a lot of that.

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Just as an example, my fee will

be several thousand dollars.

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But the point I was trying to make,

I established a relationship.

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I established political currency

with him, not political currency,

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business currency,

let me call it that with him.

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And then he goes, yeah,

I'll hire your company to sell

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my company. That's right.

So I use those as examples.

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Another ones, I brought in an $80

million health care company in

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Tennessee through a friend of mine.

I use those examples because it

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could also be one step removed.

And the point I'll leave you

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with on this point, in a way,

is that it can also you can use

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somebody else borrows the interest.

For instance, I wanted to get

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into a healthcare company that's

probably worth $80 million.

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I called a friend of mine who was

acting CEO for a while, their

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consultant to grow their business.

He got us in there, Tennessee, that

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they hopefully close in the deal.

So you can use other people's

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borrowed interest.

So if you've got credibility, if

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I've got credibility with you, then

you're confident in our relationship

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and my knowledge and my ability to

introduce them to somebody else.

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So you basically leverage leverage,

leverage and leverage.

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That's what I call transferred

credibility, right? For sure.

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And that's that's really,

I think how a lot of people are

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able to stay in business is where

they get what you call referrals.

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00:18:18,040 --> 00:18:22,270, and it's, it's hey, you know,

I know you worked with so-and-so, so

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I trust that person, so I trust you.

And so that that trust gap is closed

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much quicker than it would be on

your own merit or earning it.

307

00:18:31,870 --> 00:18:34,750, typically, but, you know, you can't always

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get transferred every single time.

So that's where you have to put in

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the work to, to earn it over time, so, you know,

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I love that model. I'm sorry.

And I know that you consult,

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which is a great attribute because I,

I'm just surprised about how many

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almost not entirely young people,

but young people who they've got,

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they don't have a business plan.

I'm going to start this business.

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I'm going to have a website and the

world's going to come money to me.

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00:19:02,890 --> 00:19:06,850

Well, good luck and good luck.

You know, you might be back to

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the Henry Ford days we have,

you can have any color you want

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as long as it's black, right?

Definitely. That's all you can have.

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That's the color you can have.

Yeah, but it's just amazes me about

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how many people go out there and they

don't. You could create a company.

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00:19:22,840 --> 00:19:26,800

Let's say you're selling widgets that

you get, but you better if you don't

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know what your customer base is.

You don't know what they want.

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You better not be starting a

business, because the only reason

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00:19:32,140 --> 00:19:34,930

I know the start of business,

if you want to be somebody asking one

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00:19:34,930 --> 00:19:38,710

time I do a bunch of volunteer work

is they said, are you not for profit?

325

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I said, not intentionally.

I am not intentionally,

326

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not for profit.

But you know, I was just amazed how

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00:19:43,810 --> 00:19:47,980

many people want to start a business.

And because they think, they think

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there's something out there that they

have a widget that everybody wants.

329

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It's like watching Shark Tank.

And sometimes you go this brilliant

330

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idea and sometimes you go.

Where have you been?

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Who's going to? Who's going to buy?

Where have you been?

332

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That's right. Yeah.

Well, let's zoom back out for a

333

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minute talking about this,

building a network, topic.

334

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How if, you know, if you're talking

to a CEO specifically or business

335

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leader of some sort. Executive suite.

And they're thinking about,

336

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you know, growing their network

for various reasons, but one for

337

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business development, mainly, what kind of people should

338

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they be thinking about putting

in their network?

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Because that's going to determine

the rooms that they're in. Yeah.

340

00:20:29,720 --> 00:20:32,690, over the overarching word

would be leadership.

341

00:20:32,810 --> 00:20:37,610, for instance, I have a client, who wanted to be involved and

342

00:20:37,610 --> 00:20:42,920

really was willing to give the time,

energy and some money and so on.

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As an alumnus, I'm an alumnus of

Leadership Florida statewide or

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Leadership organization.

So I nominated her.

345

00:20:49,070 --> 00:20:52,190

She had accepted, and she just

loves she wouldn't believe the

346

00:20:52,190 --> 00:20:55,490

contacts it makes, in fact.

So I just happen to have on my

347

00:20:55,490 --> 00:20:58,340

desk here.

I'm not selling this at the

348

00:20:58,340 --> 00:21:00,500

membership directory of

Leadership Florida.

349

00:21:00,500 --> 00:21:05,360

I can go through this book and look

at every member of leadership,

350

00:21:05,360 --> 00:21:09,020

but everybody's ever gone through it.

Their name, address,

351

00:21:09,260 --> 00:21:13,160

the corporation that they worked for.

And there have been times one time

352

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I needed to get in in a Baptist

hospital in Fort Lauderdale.

353

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I could have bought a book.

And now here's the vice

354

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president of Baptist Hospital

and Fort Lauderdale pick up.

355

00:21:24,260 --> 00:21:27,770

Hey, we have something in common.

We're both alumni of Leadership

356

00:21:27,770 --> 00:21:32,510

Florida. I'm not done. Just do it.

So that's the credibility.

357

00:21:32,510 --> 00:21:36,050

That's the the enhanced credibility.

But it's kind of, you know,

358

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get back to the borrowed interest.

Can you use somebody else's

359

00:21:39,350 --> 00:21:42,860

credibility to get in?

So I always say get in leadership.

360

00:21:43,640 --> 00:21:47,690, whether it's a chamber of

commerce, Hispanic chamber, African

361

00:21:47,690 --> 00:21:52,670

American chamber, Asian chamber, but get involved where people

362

00:21:52,670 --> 00:21:56,240

gather and they're still actually,

believe it or not, active rotary

363

00:21:56,240 --> 00:22:00,260

clubs where have 100 or 200

members come to these Rotary Club

364

00:22:00,260 --> 00:22:03,860

meetings or service organization?

That's kind of the old model,

365

00:22:03,860 --> 00:22:05,450

but it works.

And there are a lot of very

366

00:22:05,450 --> 00:22:08,150

influential people who go to

this Rotary Club meetings.

367

00:22:08,300 --> 00:22:12,920

But sort of, you know, you've got

to go where the influence is.

368

00:22:12,920 --> 00:22:18,620

And that's really organizations, as another example,

369

00:22:18,620 --> 00:22:22,760

a client wanted to be involved in the

community, but just to give back,

370

00:22:23,990 --> 00:22:28,100

understanding that just giving

back sometimes it's oftentimes

371

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exposure to the people who you

might do business with.

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Well, she went on to become the

chairman of the Cardiovascular

373

00:22:34,070 --> 00:22:38,270

Board and had been health at

another when it went on.

374

00:22:38,270 --> 00:22:42,800

I chaired the foundation board there

16 years, and I was retired from that

375

00:22:43,010 --> 00:22:48,140

and recommended somebody else. So.

Being there on the

376

00:22:48,140 --> 00:22:51,200

cardiovascular board.

AdventHealth, as an example,

377

00:22:51,230 --> 00:22:54,200

could be Orlando Health.

It could be the children's hospital.

378

00:22:54,230 --> 00:22:57,110

Right.

But given be willing to give back.

379

00:22:57,620 --> 00:22:59,390

I will be.

I'm glad we got on the site.

380

00:22:59,390 --> 00:23:02,780

Be willing to give back to the

community, reciprocate.

381

00:23:03,260 --> 00:23:07,460

You know. You know, get on, you know, Boys and Girls Club,

382

00:23:07,610 --> 00:23:10,730

you know, board of directors,

and you give back.

383

00:23:10,730 --> 00:23:13,760

But by the same token,

if you ever go online and look at

384

00:23:13,760 --> 00:23:17,720

the board members or the Boys and

Girls Club, it's very influential.

385

00:23:18,290 --> 00:23:20,630

Junior achievements,

very influential.

386

00:23:20,630 --> 00:23:24,680

So there are ways to get involved in

the community that reciprocates you.

387

00:23:24,680 --> 00:23:27,500

Not it's not like an intentional

thing.

388

00:23:27,500 --> 00:23:31,280

You want to you want to be of service

to the community science center,

389

00:23:31,280 --> 00:23:34,370

board, whatever it might be.

But I would say business

390

00:23:34,370 --> 00:23:37,970

organizations,

specific chamber and get involved

391

00:23:37,970 --> 00:23:40,460

in a not for profit community.

But the last thing I would tell you,

392

00:23:40,460 --> 00:23:43,010

though, when people come to me

and say, I want to be involved

393

00:23:43,010 --> 00:23:46,070

in a not for profit,

I want to be involved in an issue.

394

00:23:46,700 --> 00:23:49,430

The first question I have is the

only one I have.

395

00:23:49,430 --> 00:23:55,220

What's your what's your passion.

Because if your passion is

396

00:23:55,220 --> 00:24:00,440

cardiovascular and I want to put

you on the children's board or the

397

00:24:00,440 --> 00:24:06,050

cancer board, you're not going to be

effective or an effective member.

398

00:24:06,050 --> 00:24:10,190

Quality quality member.

So whatever your your passion

399

00:24:10,190 --> 00:24:13,760

you come to me and say I have a

passion for almost a multitude

400

00:24:13,760 --> 00:24:16,610

of anything I can say, okay,

you need to join this organization.

401

00:24:16,610 --> 00:24:18,650

You need to join it.

And by the way, as part of the

402

00:24:18,650 --> 00:24:22,490

business development for Corporation,

you want your clients involved in

403

00:24:22,490 --> 00:24:26,180

the community because they want to

give back to the community, but they

404

00:24:26,180 --> 00:24:29,750

start building their reputation

as a giver in the community.

405

00:24:29,750 --> 00:24:36,170

So you definitely want that not

for profit, volunteer,

406

00:24:36,170 --> 00:24:38,990

element in your strategy for

business development.

407

00:24:39,770 --> 00:24:43,490

So how how, you know,

if you're a CEO, you, you know,

408

00:24:43,490 --> 00:24:46,220

obviously you only have so much time.

You're running a company,

409

00:24:46,340 --> 00:24:50,180

you're putting fires out every day.

How do you fit these activities?

410

00:24:50,180 --> 00:24:54,350

And this, you know,

taking your passion to boards and

411

00:24:54,350 --> 00:24:58,220

and organizations, how do you fit

that into your day and into the I

412

00:24:58,220 --> 00:25:01,460

assume it's more of a long term,

you know, type of thinking on a

413

00:25:01,460 --> 00:25:05,060

short term, you know, effect.

But how does the CEO fit it in?

414

00:25:05,240 --> 00:25:08,780

So the good the good news is a

lot of the big organizations,

415

00:25:09,260 --> 00:25:12,350

I think Junior Achievement might

be one example, which is a great

416

00:25:12,350 --> 00:25:16,460

organization of business people.

And, but they might only meet

417

00:25:16,460 --> 00:25:19,570

quarterly. And.

But one of the first questions I

418

00:25:19,570 --> 00:25:21,400

used to ask when you asked me to

be in your board, I said,

419

00:25:21,400 --> 00:25:25,420

if you meet monthly, I'm not coming.

If you meet at 8:00 in the morning,

420

00:25:25,420 --> 00:25:29,260

I'm still not coming. But.

But, you know, a major CEO of a

421

00:25:29,530 --> 00:25:32,380

CEO of a small company.

They're busy, busy,

422

00:25:32,380 --> 00:25:36,070

busy building the business.

If they could do another thing, if

423

00:25:36,070 --> 00:25:41,200

you're a major corporation sign fan,

a vice president or somebody at the

424

00:25:41,200 --> 00:25:44,680

senior management who has a passion

about Alzheimer's or whatever it

425

00:25:44,680 --> 00:25:47,920

might be, and let them go because

they'll have the passion for it.

426

00:25:47,920 --> 00:25:51,400

They'll represent your company as

well as you might in your absence.

427

00:25:51,400 --> 00:25:55,900

So you could always delegate

that as part, but find somebody

428

00:25:55,900 --> 00:25:58,270

who has a passion for it.

Don't just assign somebody

429

00:25:58,270 --> 00:26:02,080

because that's their job. Yeah.

Yeah, I like that idea of sort

430

00:26:02,080 --> 00:26:06,070

of deploying high value people

in your organization.

431

00:26:06,100 --> 00:26:08,740

You know,

that's another good way to build a

432

00:26:08,740 --> 00:26:12,310

robust culture internally as well,

because there's more to talk about.

433

00:26:12,310 --> 00:26:14,050

There's more things that are

happening, more connections

434

00:26:14,050 --> 00:26:16,660

being made, and people are doing

it based on their passion.

435

00:26:16,660 --> 00:26:20,950

So I really like that idea.

One of the groups locally with

436

00:26:20,950 --> 00:26:23,770

whom I've dealt a very impressed

with his called Go Sherm,

437

00:26:23,770 --> 00:26:27,040

I don't know if you know Sherm,

the society for Human Resource

438

00:26:27,040 --> 00:26:30,940

Management, and they're the HR

directors and the benefits

439

00:26:30,940 --> 00:26:33,790

administrator for corporations.

And they go, Sherman's chapter,

440

00:26:33,790 --> 00:26:37,720

which is the name of the local

chapter, has over 650 members.

441

00:26:38,260 --> 00:26:43,360

And so we brought them in on our

opioid fight because they can

442

00:26:43,360 --> 00:26:47,410

actually put together a program.

We can help them an educational

443

00:26:47,410 --> 00:26:51,700

component, they get it accredited.

So anybody from Sherm who comes

444

00:26:51,700 --> 00:26:58,930

to this opioid crisis of meeting

can get credits for the towards

445

00:26:58,930 --> 00:27:02,770

our required accreditation.

And they drive like 150 people.

446

00:27:02,770 --> 00:27:07,510

So it's a if you're in the air

sector, being a member of Sherm

447

00:27:07,510 --> 00:27:10,450

is a great organization too,

because they really are involved in

448

00:27:10,450 --> 00:27:15,430

the community and they represent

all the major corporations in town.

449

00:27:16,180 --> 00:27:18,850

Yeah, and I'm sure you can find

an organization like that.

450

00:27:19,390 --> 00:27:24,700

Discipline. Yeah.

So so earlier you mentioned this,

451

00:27:24,700 --> 00:27:27,940

this example of needing to get

in touch with someone at a

452

00:27:27,940 --> 00:27:31,390

certain organization.

You had a, you know, a database or a

453

00:27:31,390 --> 00:27:35,620

book that you went to and you're able

to find who you need and use that

454

00:27:35,620 --> 00:27:38,800

sort of social credibility that you

had as part of being an organization.

455

00:27:39,100 --> 00:27:43,510

That's a that's a good example of

kind of a surface level connect,

456

00:27:43,870 --> 00:27:48,040

and one that doesn't require a

lot of social equity or crap

457

00:27:48,040 --> 00:27:51,820

capital to to do it. Right.

There are I'm sure there's a lot

458

00:27:51,820 --> 00:27:55,420

like the M&A examples and some other

things that require more deep trust.

459

00:27:56,050 --> 00:27:59,320, how do you keep like do you

have a system that you use to keep

460

00:27:59,320 --> 00:28:02,380

in touch with people so that you

can keep some of those high level

461

00:28:02,380 --> 00:28:11,510

relationships fresh. No I don't.

Is kind of naturally I end up

462

00:28:12,410 --> 00:28:17,840

different events, where some of

the same people are on a regular

463

00:28:17,840 --> 00:28:21,410

basis. So I cultivated that way.

But I stay in touch.

464

00:28:21,410 --> 00:28:24,890

And a lot of these people are

really are friends in addition

465

00:28:24,890 --> 00:28:29,360

to being business acquaintances.

So I do see them socially, too.

466

00:28:29,750 --> 00:28:32,450, I just had lunch today.

I won't disclose his name,

467

00:28:32,450 --> 00:28:36,620

but a very, very,

very wealthy person in Orlando.

468

00:28:36,830 --> 00:28:40,400

We were happy to be personal friends,

but I brought him a deal.

469

00:28:41,180 --> 00:28:48,230, on a factoring contracting

financial, what?

470

00:28:48,230 --> 00:28:50,660

I call it exotic financing

opportunity.

471

00:28:50,690 --> 00:28:53,540

Yeah, but but we were just

catching up with each other.

472

00:28:53,540 --> 00:28:55,760

And. What's going on here?

You're involved in this not for

473

00:28:55,760 --> 00:28:57,770

profit and the big way and they're.

And what's going on.

474

00:28:57,770 --> 00:29:00,530

And so by the way,

I had this exotic finance

475

00:29:00,530 --> 00:29:05,720

request and come to me and,

my, my job is not to know a lot.

476

00:29:05,990 --> 00:29:09,590

My job is to know a lot of

people who know a lot. Yeah.

477

00:29:09,680 --> 00:29:12,590

And I think people had to be my

mind up. You don't have to be.

478

00:29:12,590 --> 00:29:15,680

You don't have to saturate

yourself with every element of

479

00:29:15,680 --> 00:29:20,990

the of the of knowledge.

But so in business development and in

480

00:29:20,990 --> 00:29:24,230

you and I'm sure in your consulting,

you know, you don't have to know

481

00:29:24,230 --> 00:29:27,860

everybody and you don't have to

know everything about everybody.

482

00:29:27,860 --> 00:29:30,980

That's right.

But if you had the currency to

483

00:29:30,980 --> 00:29:34,760

be able to approach that person

with some level of certainty,

484

00:29:35,030 --> 00:29:39,530

then it makes a big difference.

So, it just it just.

485

00:29:39,920 --> 00:29:43,640

No, I've been doing this for 45

years. So. Sure.

486

00:29:43,640 --> 00:29:46,370

That's another thing I like.

You know, a lot of young people

487

00:29:46,370 --> 00:29:49,490

today, the joke is,

and maybe it's not a joke,

488

00:29:49,490 --> 00:29:51,920

it's maybe it's the truth,

as they say, the first question they

489

00:29:51,920 --> 00:29:55,460

have when they do a job interviews.

When can I have your job?

490

00:29:56,450 --> 00:29:59,990

And my response is about 45

years from now.

491

00:29:59,990 --> 00:30:01,820

You could you could have my job.

Yeah.

492

00:30:01,820 --> 00:30:07,010

Can you just can you just start out

today and do business development

493

00:30:07,010 --> 00:30:13,430

with the with the clean slate.

Yeah. That's tough. Yeah.

494

00:30:14,030 --> 00:30:17,810

That's that's because again I think

the conversation comes back around.

495

00:30:18,650 --> 00:30:21,650

Creating relationships is not a

virtual exercise.

496

00:30:22,100 --> 00:30:25,370

It really is a personal exercise.

And I'm still old school enough to

497

00:30:25,370 --> 00:30:29,810

believe those personal connections

make a big difference I really do.

498

00:30:29,960 --> 00:30:35,360

Now I get social media,

you know, x Twitter, LinkedIn,

499

00:30:35,360 --> 00:30:39,620

I get all of that. I get all of that.

I get it for massive marketing.

500

00:30:39,620 --> 00:30:43,460

But as far as having a company where

you want to do business development,

501

00:30:43,760 --> 00:30:48,890

that requires you to introduce your

client to part A, B, C, and D,

502

00:30:50,480 --> 00:30:55,100

I still think old school about that.

Those relationships where they

503

00:30:55,100 --> 00:30:58,610

have you've got currency and

they've got confidence in your

504

00:30:58,610 --> 00:31:02,600

abilities to make a difference.

I agree 100%,

505

00:31:02,600 --> 00:31:06,770

and I'm of the schooling that,

you know, my personal experience

506

00:31:06,770 --> 00:31:11,450

is the 1 to 1 connections can

can can be scaled. Yeah.

507

00:31:11,570 --> 00:31:14,840

You know and it may not be,

exponential.

508

00:31:14,840 --> 00:31:16,760

It may take some time for it to

be exponential,

509

00:31:16,760 --> 00:31:20,420

but that that snowball starts to

roll downhill pretty quickly. Yeah.

510

00:31:20,420 --> 00:31:23,510

I think you've given us some

good examples of, deals that

511

00:31:23,510 --> 00:31:27,050

have come through for you that,

you know, they, they may not have

512

00:31:27,050 --> 00:31:31,130

come through unless it just took a

decade of knowing those people.

513

00:31:32,030 --> 00:31:36,140

The one thing I'd like to,

mention, if you don't mind,

514

00:31:36,140 --> 00:31:39,200

is I, I've just written a book.

Oh okay. Great. Yeah.

515

00:31:39,200 --> 00:31:43,130

And it's available on Amazon.

It's called Building Bridges and

516

00:31:43,130 --> 00:31:49,460

Toxic Political Times A roadmap for

Community leaders. Reason I named it.

517

00:31:49,460 --> 00:31:53,000

That is because it not only applies

to people in the political arena,

518

00:31:53,000 --> 00:31:55,610

but also people in the corporate

community.

519

00:31:56,090 --> 00:31:58,580

The thesis of the book is basically

set aside those differences,

520

00:31:58,580 --> 00:32:02,210

focus on something that the community

so the community can come together.

521

00:32:02,210 --> 00:32:06,320

But, specifically the corporate

community that wants to be involved

522

00:32:06,320 --> 00:32:11,720

in, you know, against Alzheimer's,

human trafficking, domestic violence,

523

00:32:11,720 --> 00:32:15,020

child abuse, opioid crisis,

whatever the issue is,

524

00:32:15,020 --> 00:32:17,240

we don't agree on that.

We're not talking about that.

525

00:32:17,240 --> 00:32:20,780

We're convening around things

that we can find a solution and

526

00:32:20,780 --> 00:32:22,790

come up with a plan.

It's just not to convene and

527

00:32:22,790 --> 00:32:26,540

talk about it, but actually come

up with a plan of action.

528

00:32:26,780 --> 00:32:31,700

And but the corporate leaders, they're they're a major part

529

00:32:31,700 --> 00:32:36,140

of anything that we do,

with the faith community, some some

530

00:32:36,140 --> 00:32:40,250

politicos, the sheriff, maybe.

But it really the corporate community

531

00:32:40,250 --> 00:32:42,980

is driving this conversation

around the opioid crisis.

532

00:32:42,980 --> 00:32:47,570

As an example, our first co-chairman

was the CEO of Red lobster.

533

00:32:48,380 --> 00:32:50,480

Again,

I don't know what his politics is.

534

00:32:50,480 --> 00:32:52,490

I do not want to care what his

politics is.

535

00:32:52,490 --> 00:32:54,260

He doesn't want to know mine.

He might figure it out,

536

00:32:54,260 --> 00:32:57,920

but he doesn't need to know.

But what we knew is that as a

537

00:32:57,920 --> 00:33:01,070

corporate leader, bringing together

corporate leaders, faith leaders,

538

00:33:01,070 --> 00:33:05,240

political leaders, we can convene

around an issue and find an action

539

00:33:05,240 --> 00:33:08,420

plan and a solution. So that's.

Why I really want corporate

540

00:33:08,420 --> 00:33:12,020

leaders to look at and say, what

role can I play in the community?

541

00:33:12,050 --> 00:33:14,840

Something from the heart,

but getting them involved.

542

00:33:14,840 --> 00:33:17,300

And it's a very it's a template

on how to do that.

543

00:33:17,920 --> 00:33:20,380

Yeah, well that's great.

We'll we'll definitely drop a

544

00:33:20,380 --> 00:33:24,400

link to that book, website, in the, in the description so

545

00:33:24,400 --> 00:33:27,430

people can check that out. Thank you, I think that's,

546

00:33:27,430 --> 00:33:30,340

that's that's great.

You know, another resource to to

547

00:33:30,340 --> 00:33:33,070

the conversation.

I like the term that you used

548

00:33:33,100 --> 00:33:36,190

apolitical.

And it makes me think of, you know,

549

00:33:36,190 --> 00:33:41,710

creating or being a part of this sort

of third party, place, you know,

550

00:33:41,830 --> 00:33:45,520

whether it's an organization,

a board of directors you're on or an

551

00:33:45,520 --> 00:33:48,700

issue that you're, you're about, what it does is it allows,

552

00:33:48,700 --> 00:33:51,970

like you said, people to come

together from across various aisles,

553

00:33:52,300 --> 00:33:56,320, and backgrounds and commit

to connecting in a way that they

554

00:33:56,320 --> 00:33:59,050

wouldn't have connected in

business or politics,

555

00:33:59,230 --> 00:34:02,260

faith or whatever it may be, so I think that's a really

556

00:34:02,260 --> 00:34:06,070

important point, to,

to building a network and business

557

00:34:06,070 --> 00:34:09,880

development is finding this

third party place that you can,

558

00:34:09,880 --> 00:34:14,110

you can arrive where everyone else is

and share, and again, passion.

559

00:34:14,110 --> 00:34:16,990

If everyone's kind of rolling in

the right direction,

560

00:34:16,990 --> 00:34:19,150

you're going to end up somewhere.

You know, in fact,

561

00:34:19,150 --> 00:34:22,810

if you take the best example I could

think of in Orlando is after pulse,

562

00:34:22,810 --> 00:34:27,640

after 49 young people were murdered,

all faiths came together.

563

00:34:27,640 --> 00:34:31,360

The political community,

the corporate community, the

564

00:34:31,360 --> 00:34:36,670

community at large all came together

to support survivors, but also to.

565

00:34:37,660 --> 00:34:40,720

Continue to recognize those

whose lives were lost.

566

00:34:41,080 --> 00:34:44,800

And even in the faith community,

the more conservative faith leaders

567

00:34:44,800 --> 00:34:50,380

set aside their differences on

sexuality, less called LGBT,

568

00:34:50,380 --> 00:34:54,070

and said, hey, murderers, murderer,

we lost human lives here.

569

00:34:54,070 --> 00:34:57,670

So that was the best example I've

ever seen of people coming together.

570

00:34:57,820 --> 00:34:59,860

And it didn't matter.

Democrat, independent.

571

00:35:00,610 --> 00:35:02,830

It did not matter.

The politics did not matter.

572

00:35:02,830 --> 00:35:06,370

We focus on something that was

we need a healing process.

573

00:35:06,370 --> 00:35:09,460

And we went through a healing

process after pulse. That's right.

574

00:35:09,460 --> 00:35:13,390

Yeah, I experienced that too and

saw that that happening with

575

00:35:13,390 --> 00:35:18,130

local business owners,

and faith leaders and you name it,

576

00:35:18,130 --> 00:35:20,470

everyone really came together.

Yeah, it was really cool.

577

00:35:21,850 --> 00:35:24,520

Well, hey, this has been a great

conversation as I knew it would.

578

00:35:24,760 --> 00:35:26,530

Thank you.

This is this is such a great

579

00:35:26,740 --> 00:35:31,180

topic to to dive into and to have

someone who's really done it really

580

00:35:31,180 --> 00:35:33,790

well over the years. Thank you, it's been really nice to have

581

00:35:33,790 --> 00:35:36,280

you on, so I appreciate that.

Well, thank you for the courtesy.

582

00:35:36,280 --> 00:35:40,510

I appreciate it, and I hope your

listeners get some value out of it.

583

00:35:40,510 --> 00:35:43,690

How's that? Oh, for sure they will.

This is packed full of value.

584

00:35:43,690 --> 00:35:45,910

If they don't get any value out

of this, you can stop listening.

585

00:35:46,240 --> 00:35:49,390

The charge of double.

That's right, but.

586

00:35:49,390 --> 00:35:52,330

So if people want to,

we'll put the link to the book.

587

00:35:52,330 --> 00:35:54,520

But if people want to come and

contact you personally,

588

00:35:54,520 --> 00:35:57,880

where should we send them?

Just Dick batchelor.com is easy.

589

00:35:58,120 --> 00:36:00,820

Okay okay. That's perfect.

Yeah thanks. Thank you.

590

00:36:00,940 --> 00:36:03,940

We'll have to get together

sometime and compare notes. Yes.

591

00:36:03,940 --> 00:36:06,730

Let's do it. Okay. Let's do it.

Thanks for your time. Yeah. Thank.