PLAYING TEAM BALL

I am a committed, life-long learner. It is one of the reasons I was so attracted to the opportunity to lead NAPEO – rolling my sleeves up and digging into a new and complex industry was an exciting proposition! There is plenty about our industry I am sure will continue to scratch the learning itch for a long time.

This love of learning is also why I love to travel and experience new cultures, and why I’m an avid reader of non-fiction, mostly biographies and fiction-like reporting on history. Admittedly, I had struggled to get into books on business and leadership until I read The Captain Class by Sam Walker. The book breaks down common traits of history’s best sports teams.

Walker undertakes a risky task of identifying the “top 10 percent of the top one percent” of all sports teams and what common threads make them all successful. He conned me into devouring a leadership book!

Without giving away too much, a lot of the traits Walker identifies make successful associations, too.

Unwavering Standards and Relentless Advocates

Walker emphasizes that exceptional teams are uncompromising about their identity.

NAPEO exists to protect and enhance enterprise value for our members, doing for the PEO industry what each company couldn’t do alone. When we’re successful, it is because we’ve put all the pieces together and leveraged the heft of our industry from all our members. We see this time and again in state government affairs initiatives.

The captains highlighted by Walker are relentless advocates for their teams who fiercely defend their interests and drive positive outcomes.

At NAPEO, we are our industry’s leading advocate. We defend against bad policy, proactively shape better policy and business environments for PEOs, and enhance an understanding of the value PEOs bring to small businesses.

Collaborative Excellence

Walker underscores the importance of collaboration and teamwork among leaders and their teams. At NAPEO, one of our core strengths is serving as a strong convener. We prioritize collaboration as a catalyst for industry advancement, harnessing our collective expertise to address challenges and capitalize on opportunities.

This collaborative approach not only strengthens our association but also propels the entire PEO industry forward.

Innovative Leadership

Innovation is a cornerstone of effective leadership. As the businesses we serve evolve and regulatory landscapes shift, PEOs must identify new ways of going to market. Our associate members also must identify new ways to serve PEOs, and NAPEO has to continue to consider how best to serve our maturing industry.

This is why we’ve emphasized the need to broaden the community of experts from within our membership. We are blessed with strong, established and committed professionals who dedicate a lot of time and expertise to NAPEO. Even more impressive is that each of them recognizes the need to diversify the contributions to our association by new leaders from their businesses and across the industry.

To remain successful, we must continue to embrace change by adopting innovative practices to stay ahead. Building relationships with policy influencers who support PEOs and their small business constituents is important, too, especially in this tumultuous political year and will be more important than ever heading into next year’s tax fight.

Communication and Influence

Walker’s list of captains are adept communicators who inspire their teams and rally support through clear and persuasive dialogue. Likewise, at NAPEO, we prioritize effective communication to connect with members, policymakers and the business community. Importantly, we leverage strategic communication to articulate our value proposition, effectively and efficiently engage stakeholders, and mobilize support for our shared imperatives.

The Captain Class is a great read with practical leadership lessons, but I’m not responsible if your favorite teams didn’t make the cut! Walker’s principles of what makes a great team align with what makes NAPEO most successful, too. When our industry comes together as a team, we’re tough to beat.