Served by CEOs inside the Beltway

“So saying, with dispatchful looks in haste
She turns, on hospitable thoughts intent.”

-- John Milton
Paradise Lost

As a management consultant, I’m often asked to assist CEOs in the most mundane ways. These people play a central role in the success of their organizations and accustomed to being waited on by others so that their time isn’t wasted. As a consultant, I’ve often carried bags, dropped off laundry, returned rental cars and done other routine tasks to help client CEOs. Never would it have occurred to me that CEOs would do the same for me. But, again, I was wrong.

After I co-authored my first book, The 2,000 Percent Solution (AMACOM Books, 1999) with Carol Coles and Robert Metz, Carol and I began accepting speaking engagements based on the book. Our good friend, Roger Fridholm, suggested that we add The Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) as a venue for our talks. He offered to introduce us to the members in Detroit, where he had been a member while he was president of The Stroh Companies, brewers and property developers. From that introduction came an invitation for Carol and me to present two workshops at a regional conference in Washington, D.C (which the locals call being “inside the Beltway”). YPO offered no compensation for the event, but would pick up all of our expenses. Since the occasion ran mostly over one weekend, we thought we could spare the time. Were we glad that we made that decision!

YPO prides itself on its hospitality, and I have never seen anyone else do it better. We were met at the airline gate by a CEO and his wife who had a luggage cart. They escorted us to the baggage area while pushing our carry-one luggage and helped us aboard a jitney bus to take us to the hotel. That kind of treatment continued over the weekend as we attended a costume ball with unique, handmade masks, dances and many wonderful meals. The highlight was a mystery dinner. We were loaded aboard buses and drove around in Georgetown until we arrived at . . . the Russian Embassy! There, we had every kind of vodka on ice and caviar you can imagine and were serenaded in the room the Russians use to entertain their guests. Wow! At the end of the weekend activities, everything was reversed and we were escorted back by another CEO and his wife to our plane. It was tough going home again.

While Carol and I were at YPO, we were struck that many of the educational sessions dealt with non-business subjects, like having a happy family life or picking out the colors of clothes that complement your natural coloring. The speakers were often people who had a compelling life story and offered a simple workshop to help others learn key lessons. You could develop something along those lines based on things you’ve learned that most people need to know . . . but don’t yet. I’m sure that YPO would be interested, as well as many other worthy organizations . . . some of whom would pay for you to speak to them. And naturally, each attending YPO couple contains at least one president who could ask you to repeat your efforts for his or her company.

Authors receive similar treatment at other kinds of events. As I will talk more about later, writing and publishing a book is a good way to help attract attention to your expertise in order to open up the door for more opportunities to live large and free. These days, it’s easier and less expensive than ever to accomplish this once-difficult feat. Some authors do so now for less than $100. So the cost isn’t the major barrier to becoming published that it once was. Not surprisingly, the number of books published in the United States each year has been growing rapidly.

Donald W. Mitchell, Your Dream Concierge

Copyright 2005 Donald W. Mitchell