Kris Safarova  00:47

Welcome to the strategy skills podcast. I’m your host, Kris Rova, and this episode is sponsored by strategytraining.com you will be able to get key insights and action items from this upcoming episode at firms consulting.com forward slash action, along with other recent episodes, this is a new thing that we are doing to make sure that you can make the most of each episode and to make sure that you don’t have to make a lot of notes. We can do it for you, and we also have some gifts for you. You can get access to Episode One of how to build a consulting practice at f, i, r, M, S, consulting.com forward slash build. You can also get the overall approach used in well managed strategy studies at firms consulting.com forward slash overall approach. You can get the McKinsey and BCG winning resume example, which is an actual resume that led to offers from both of those firms, at firms consulting.com forward slash resume PDF, and you can also get a copy of one of our books that we co authored with some of the listeners of this podcast, some of our clients at firms consulting.com forward slash gift. And that book went to number one bestseller in multiple categories on Amazon, and I think you will enjoy it. And today we have with us Adam McGraw, a fortune 100 VP turned entrepreneur and co founder of krill, a leadership community. Adam spent 12 years at American Express, where he rose to VP and earned recognition as a top 2% leader across the company. Adam, welcome,

Adam McGraw  02:22

yeah, thank you, Kris, great to be here.

Kris Safarova  02:24

So such a big shift for you working with executives now. So much to discuss. I would love to learn more about the format that you use for krill. How did you thought about it? Because there’s so many things you can do. You can do online, you can do community online, you can do live events. How do you guys thought about it, and what did you decide? And maybe also what changed over time as you tested different formats?

Adam McGraw  02:52

Yeah, I mean, at crew right now, which is a VP and above, leadership networking group or ecosystem. We’re an invitation based community. We try and really, you know, curate it for folks that are in the VP and above, through CEOs as well, founders, etc, so that they have this kind of safe white space atmosphere to really consistently plug in and build community right, not just transact network wise, in things that are typically narrow and niche, which is the way networking typically operates. It’s, it’s industry focused. It’s it’s company. Your company tells you to go to something. It’s right, vertical, focused, or maybe it’s in your city, or you know, you’re hanging out with folks that are in your same age range or gender, ethnicity. We really love the idea of a melting pot for leaders, when you think about, you know, all the things that you have to become cautious, conscious of, as well as you know, well read on and all of that, and to have this safe space where transferable knowledge really takes place, and it really kind of resembles, you know, if you think about it, the way most of us work in the real world. We’re working in very diverse companies. We’re working with diverse customer bases. You know, we’re typically operating around a lot of different types of leaders. So to have this non political, non bureaucratic place where you can tap into all these different types of, you know, leaders, roles, company sizes, etc, is kind of cool and unique for a lot of us, and something we’re very something we’re very passionate about. You know, we’re also very focused on a personal and professional blend, a place where, you know, some of our folks say this is where they come to take their jacket off. You know, as a leader, you often get into this rat race where you feel like you always have to have everything buttoned up. And, you know, you’re even in the networking. It’s kind of like always wanting to put your best foot forward. Foot forward, not to show too many kinks in the armor and crew allows you to kind of not worry about that stuff, you know. And so whether we’re talking in our virtual environment, which is about probably 70% of the way we gather right now, is through virtual cohorts and group chats and. Of course, we have our app platform that’s ring fenced for our group and and one to one matching all of that jazz, and then we do a lot of in person as well. In all of those settings, there’s always a blend of personal and professional. And the cool part of that is it’s how we kind of accelerate rapid trust and bonding and connection, given that we are coming from so many diverse places and backgrounds. You know, when we come in and we get to know each other on a personal level and talk about all the stuff we’re trying to balance better on that side, you know, within months, you feel like you’ve kind of known this person. And of course, all the networky stuff traditionally can still come through and happen and and then the other piece that you know that we’re very much continuously becoming even more focused on as we network together, as we support each other, as a peer to peer ecosystem, is we really want this to be a place that leaders say being being in crew keeps me grounded and conscious and aware around Hey, am I getting as much meaning and fulfillment and juice out of my career here, as I possibly can, we kind of joke. We’re all looking at a variation of the back nine of our career based on, we bring everybody in at a minimum, 12 to 15 years of experience, kind of in their career. So you’re looking at that back half, and the back half, it’s not, you know, you start thinking about things that go beyond typically, just titles and money and just climbing up the first mountain that showed up in your horizon when you were in your 20s and early 30s, getting up trying to get your your all your food safety and shelter, shelter accumulated, and it’s a really healthy space for folks To really get refreshed and re energized in lanes, maybe they’ve been in for a while with some fresh perspective, or think about that five and 10 year roadmap and horizon with a broader lens of confidence, creativity and vision, so that we really eliminate regrets, and we really feel very, very proud about that legacy we hope to leave when we’re eventually done with this career, right? So, but again, it’s a blend of virtual and in person to try and accomplish kind of what I’d laid out there, which is our core ethos of why, you know our why, as far as the uniqueness of coming together in this group,

Kris Safarova  07:17

when people come to you applying to join, what is the biggest reason they come is it different from what they actually get inside the group? And they feel, Oh, wow, I didn’t even expected that, but that was even more important.

Adam McGraw  07:30

That’s a really good question, and it probably it happens sometimes, you know, so many of our members are coming in through a referral method. You know, members in here have people outside of the group that they think of and that are reaching out to them to say, hey, what you know? What do you like about what you’re doing in crew and that? And that’s really how probably 85% of the folks are coming in, which actually is why we can continue to curate it pretty effectively and in a targeted way. Because once you’re in here, you know kind of what, what type of people will really bring value and also get a lot of connection to it, but I think that so that helps, I think, bridge the gap on what people are expecting. But that said, I think people are typically thinking about increasing their true, authentic network when there’s times of change and uncertainty and times of transition, which kind of happens to be all the time now, right? There’s no, there is no long term like stable and secure thing going on right now, ever since covid, ever since, obviously the introduction and overtaking here of AI related stuff, the macro stage that continues to have a lot of turbulence there. This is kind of the new normal, constant change, constant uncertainty, constant transition. And leaders are really in the middle of all that and and so I think that’s when people naturally pick their heads up and say, You know what I I need to like, I need to have a place, or I need to have a group. And I need to broaden my network. I need to deepen my network beyond this superficial stuff that we do on LinkedIn and, you know, all these other social platforms. I need to go deeper. I need to really make sure I’m entrenching myself with a broader group and and that’s a different that’s a definite reason. And then I think the thing that maybe surprises folks that we hear the most, even though they might, even though we try and say, Hey, you’ll get that in here is the level of authentic, prioritized and intentional connection leaders are giving each other in here that might have come in completely as strangers when they join and don’t know a lot of the people that they’re now interacting with all that deeply and then noticing how quickly people openly give and support and unconditionally try and be there for each other. And I’ve and especially once people go to one of our in person events. Events that we run. We run these three major flagship events a year across the country, one in the beginning, middle and one in the end. And when folks go to that’s a whole day function, and they really get immersed then, or, you know, and they come out, and many times they’ll pull me aside in a reflective moment at the end and say, I have to tell you, I’ve been to a million events and group things and all that. I’ve never experienced anything like this. It really is special. You all are, right? It’s hard to describe because I think we even still struggle to describe it to the outsider, but once you’re here, it’s just an entirely different level of open, authentic connection in that with a bunch of people that are like you, right, in very similar phases of life career,

Kris Safarova  10:45

and that is incredibly valuable, especially at that level. It’s very hard to find people who are at that level and who are as driven as you, as committed as you, to your career and getting together and getting your jacket off. That’s right, meaning that you feel comfortable to do that.

Adam McGraw  11:02

That’s right, it is. It is rare, unfortunately, unfortunately, and again, even that, I think we used to do it. We used to have some pockets, because if you people stayed in jobs and companies for longer periods of time, then they’re able to now or than they want to now even. And so you used to make shift this right. You’d have a group of three or four or five folks that all of you have been in the same company or right same group for a long time, and that kind of becomes your little crew. You know that you would, that you would have, but, but that’s less and less right because of the instability and the constant change. So what’s always been a little bit of a lonely at the top analogy for leaders, I think, is lonelier now

Kris Safarova  11:46

it is very lonely at the top. Yeah, definitely. I know a lot of leaders who feel that way, and communities like that make a huge difference. Could you elaborate more on how do you make sure that you provide everything that people need inside the community. And how do you decide what we’re going to provide, what we’re not going to provide? Do you, for example, also have different types of training on specific topics? They have one on one, they have group coaching.

Adam McGraw  12:15

Yeah, we do. We have all of that. And it’s a it’s a work in progress at all times, right? We’re constantly iterating and re envisioning what it is that we can do together. We I do believe that we are are accurately hitting the mark on a broad percentage of the population that joins the community. As far as needs, you know, tools and resources that helps them with, you know, navigating how they operate in times of stress and adversity. We’ve got really unique neuroscience, positive psychology based frameworks and group coaching models around that, that everyone needs that. And quite frankly, most of the group stuff, most of the stuff you’ve had in commercial settings, it’s, you know, has either been kind of vanilla or watered down, or maybe it’s been a long time and you didn’t do it in a safe setting like this. So you know that that’s some stuff that we know folks are very focused on. AI, of course, we know that that’s something that everyone can benefit from, having as much immersion and exposure from as many diverse angles as possible. So we’re hell bent on a lot of spaces where AI topics are being talked about and some thought leaders are being, you know, showcased to really, you know, help us stay ahead. Because I, you know, unfortunately, if you’re in a company, first of all, you’re you’re so heads down in tunnel vision through your day job, and then and then your company is deciding for you based on what your role and level and responsibilities are, what about AI they want you to know and think about, and that’s okay, right? Because they have to determine what’s prioritized and focused. But leaders want to be ahead, right? Like for me as a leader, I always wanted to know way beyond what my job scope was, because that’s the only way I know that I’m preparing myself for bigger jobs, different jobs, right? Growth, constant growth. And so we really want to hit non vanilla types of topics as well. So when we when we pick speakers, I mean, I personally am involved in hand picking every speaker topic and, you know, trying to think of, is this something that they’re always getting in their company settings? Is this a common thing, right? Or is this going to be a little bit outside the box, a little bit on the edges, a little bit on the fringes? We really like the stuff that’s more on the edges and on the fringes, and that stuff that we know, hey, this is interesting. I go to crew to get this non vanilla, non watered down, non politically right, over engineered kind of stuff that we can think about in a safe setting. So those are, those are some examples, I would say, you know, of things that we kind of know everyone needs. And then, you know, also, just a lot of melting pot atmospheres where we’re letting the leaders. In here, coming from so many diverse backgrounds and places, help guide different collective topics and different subject matters that we want to go deeper into so that they can tell us we don’t I always joke like I don’t want to over engineer leaders want to lead right. They don’t just want to be lectured to, right? So we’ve got to strike that balance as well,

Kris Safarova  15:23

of course. And one on one, how do you handle one on one? Because that can become very difficult to manage with a larger

Adam McGraw  15:30

group, right? And you know, so everyone that’s you know here from in a very deep, entrenched way, including those of us at the founding level of this, we we give of our time as freely and openly as we possibly can, things that we would have all, you know, maybe charge money for, right, and been paid for coaching or consulting or whatever, and we give of that time and expertise across the board in here. So organic, reaching out, you know, DMing somebody in the app and or putting a post up in our app and saying, Does there anyone here? And boom, you get, I mean, I remember there was this one post this I asked. Thought it was a dumb question, right? He said, I’m gonna throw out a dumb question, but I just kind of want some feedback. Got 21 responses within a couple of hours, including options to set up one to ones on that topic, for instance, that’s, that’s what’s, you know, so people are able to get it when they need it. And then we do matching as well, where we’re kind of trying to gently force the possibility of really synchronous synchronicity and serendipity and randomly meeting people throughout the community, so that you’re doing stuff, not just in group session, even though I think the group stuff’s awesome, but you’re also having that opportunity to touch base. One to One.

Kris Safarova  16:45

Makes a lot of sense. Can you take us inside one of those life events? What does it entail? What would someone experience?

Adam McGraw  16:53

Yeah, we have a lot of times. We have group coaching in the mornings. Some options. We’ve got some really cool, unique ethos aligned coaches that will give up some of their time and talent and so that that’s folks, the stuff folks will sign up for in the mornings. We have a we typically have, like a welcome reception for the new folks that have never been to an event now so that you kind of get this early access. And the founders are, there are some of our key advisors, some of our earliest members are there just to welcome them. You know, I mean, Kris, I’m very, I’m very conscious about making this a welcoming environment on the networking side for introverted leaders as much as extroverted. And there’s a lot, I mean, people are shocked. I don’t know what our percentage is, but I actually think it might veer close to 50% of our VP and above leadership audience would probably categorize themselves in this into an introvert or something in the middle, even though they are the leader, right? And that includes myself. I’m an I’m an introvert most the time, and I can have moments where I’d step into being extroverted. So we really, now that we’re getting bigger, we’re being very conscious and aware of creating other areas where that small, intimate atmosphere, which is how we started when we were first getting going, can happen. So that kind of a new Kilmer reception where, you know, 50 folks are in there, and you’re getting to get, you know, connected before the day really even gets rolling. Then we’ll have a nice lunch and, you know, and it’s fun, right? I mean, it’s a Saturday vibe. So we’re picking really cool, unique venues, places where people are normally getting either married or, you know, or holding their like, you know, 50th birthday party kind of thing. I mean, stuff that, again, I want to go to this. I don’t want to sit in another ballroom again. Honestly, in my life, if I don’t have to that’s like, kind of corporate and stale. I want to do stuff that’s fun and energizing, you know? I mean, you know, we want this to be like, I want folks by the end of the day to feel like, even though I dedicated and carved out time in my busy life and work week, I came out of here actually feeling juiced up and energized because I had some fun, and obviously I learned some stuff, and I got to be myself, all that kind of stuff. And then we’ll roll into a combo of some really cool, unique speaker topics, as well as intentional group networking facilitation, so that you know you’re you’re you’re getting to learn. You’re getting some brain food. We’re talking about some things that help keep you connected to our ethos, authentic connection, diverse experiences, meaning and fulfillment type stuff. But then you’re also having the opportunity to get circulated around the room a little bit more beyond the lunch that you’ve already done, or the group coaching you’ve done. And then we’ll always end our day with, you know, there’s music on really fun, high energy cocktail receptions and into fun dinners and even some after party stuff. So so it’s a it’s a good time, a good blend of, you know, focused, intentional learning and reflection, networking and really bridging that connection, even if you’re on. The introverted side. And then, of course, you know, energizing fun

Kris Safarova  20:04

sounds like a fun day. So it’s one day as of

Adam McGraw  20:07

right now, they’re kind of one day. We have a welcome reception The evening before. We’re about 80% of the attendees are already in town, and we’re getting that together. That’s also a fun kind of thing that we’re doing. So, you know, we’ll continue to iterate on this. This is our, you know, this was basically like our third year operating that we’ve kind of run on this one day model that seems to fit in for a lot of busy executives, you know. And it’s kind of like, I always like that thought of you kind of leaving wanting just a little more, you know, not overdoing it. And I think that we’re, we’re walking that balance, knowing how busy everyone is

Kris Safarova  20:45

100% can you take us back to early days three years ago, when you started? How did you put together this initial group, the founding members?

Adam McGraw  20:56

Yeah, yeah. Cuz that backstory, you know, was a 10 year journey for me. You know, I pick up a book in the airport when I’m a director at AmEx and called Positive Intelligence, which was a number one New York Times bestseller for about a year and a half back in 2012 and I thought it was amazing. I thought it spoke to me very accurately and uncomfortably about things I’ve struggled with my entire life. You know, it’s the neuroscience and positive psychology around how all of us get in our own way when there’s stress and adversity, which is kind of every day as you get older. And I felt I had the audacity to reach out to the author after I read the book, and we sparked up a great friendship. And I went through deep rooted, you know, training curriculums that he ran groups of executives through. It was transformational for me, it led to a relationship that we cultivated together for about seven years. And then I left AmEx and on a very difficult decision to go in this bootstrap setup with him and about 10 engineers, is what was going to be basically an app company for this kind of coaching model and stuff. And in the middle of that decision, six months in, covid hit. And the pivot I made then was I went off and I started doing this group coaching with the framework that we had now created credentials and an actual executive coaching certification around, because sherizad is the author of Positive Intelligence, was running the largest executive coach training company in the world, called CTI, so he knew firsthand how all this research he had done would fit into a real strong credential platform for coaches, and I is kind of an understudy of him, right? That had this unique exposure to someone I would have never been able to afford on an executive coaching level, was able to go out and speak from a practitioner’s angle on this. So I did that for four years, and I did this group coaching work with groups of 10 or 20 or so at a time, multi month experiences. And I did it with about 500 leaders across all different kinds of companies and role charters and industries so and then that’s where my idea for crew started to emerge, right? I was wanting to continue stuff that I was experiencing in these multi month group leadership experiences that were very authentic, very open, very vulnerable. And I and I was also, of course, networking my butt off as a as a solopreneur consulting coach. And I was like, There’s something here, right? And that’s when I kind of called in my dad, who’s my co founder. So we’ve got a father son, you know, co founding deal here he, you know, I pulled him into this. He was just about to relax because he had just sold his company as CEO, and he had a much more successful executive career than I did, and but he was very passionate about this. You know, he was my leadership role model on a lot of things that I believed in, and also felt kind of the gap here that he had in his career, of not having really a safe outlet and space once he started to get into bigger roles, bigger jobs, and keep trying new things. And so I do, you know, I know that that’s a little bit of a long winded answer, but when I first started, I called people that I knew would tell me the truth, honestly, Kris, right, when you’re when you’re vetting out something, it’s easy to just, like, talk to the person that you know is going to tell you you’re it’s going to be great. And I kind of chose a couple of people that I just really trusted, that I had great relationships with over a long time, commercially, that I knew would be very honest, maybe even brutally honest. And several of those folks that I reached out to just to kick the tires on this concept and this idea, were extremely excited about the possibility, and said, Hey, I’d love to be a part. I were willing to help, right and and that’s kind of what led to that first roundtable of founding member advisor folks,

Kris Safarova  24:45

very interesting. How did you figure out pricing during this early days?

Adam McGraw  24:50

That’s a good question. It’s hard on this, because this is, you know, I mean, unless people have been in networking community kind of groups, because there are others out there that are benchmark standards. But most of them are typically, like, geared towards the CEO levels, or they’re it’s an industry thing that mostly people’s companies are always putting them in there for, like, gbtas and these financial groups and all that. So this, this kind of, like, this whole holistic leadership. There really isn’t a lot of comparison models that are, that are, you know, apples to apples. There’s a lot of apples to oranges and stuff. But, you know, we kind of decided on a number that felt like to me, anything that is a little bit of a what you put in is what you’re going to get out model, which is a little bit of what networking and a community aspect is going to be. I mean, if everyone isn’t in your community is only worried about watering their own grass, right? And taking then you know that community isn’t going to thrive very long, right? Great communities thrive because people are thinking about how to water everyone’s grasses. How does everyone’s lawns and yards benefit here? Right? We come together, we give of our time and our talents, and that’s what creates real flourishing communities. So knowing you were we wanted to inspire that, and we wanted to really, honestly keep people away that are all about taking and transacting. We needed that skin in the game component. So we had to put a price that I think was high enough that took out the skimmers of life, the ones that just want to come in and just write, have, I’m joking a little bit, but, you know, suck up some free booze and, you know, see what they can get out of a couple hours, and then you’re never going to see them again. We didn’t want that in here. We’re intentional about every vetting conversation that we don’t we’re not interested in that. If that’s what you want, you’re not going to fit in. And you’re going to fill out a place. You know, and so just that balance of skin in the game. But also, you know, what? What can they afford realistically as well? You know, if some have this company sponsored, because more and more companies are realizing, hey, there’s a benefit to my leaders, especially having outlets that support them having places where they gain external perspective, so that we have a lot of fresh eyes and ideas coming into the organization. I mean, smart, advanced companies sponsor that crap all day long, right? And know that that’s a retention and a talent activation strategy. But then there was a lot of people that are doing this purely on their own, even if their company would sponsor it, they’re like, No, this is mine. I’m doing this for me, you know. I want to, I want to put the oxygen mask on myself. I want to invest in myself so that I’m not so dependent on my company, or my even my industry, dictating what’s going to happen to me for the next 10 years, you know. And so it was a fine line there of just kind of picking numbers that we thought were, honestly, I think, very competitive and even below, a lot of things that are at all comparable, but had that skin in the game element that attracted the right type of person for right reasons.

Kris Safarova  27:54

That makes a lot of sense. That kind of thinking, if you feel comfortable sharing, what number did you go with during those early days? Yeah.

Adam McGraw  28:01

I mean, we were we? Well, we’ve kind of been near the same since then, to be honest, they’ve they’ve adjusted slightly, but we kind of had the 2500 for VP level tier, because we have tiers so that we curate even internally, in certain group settings with the right peer group, peer to peer, elbow to elbow. So our traditional VP tier is 2500 and then our more senior or C level tier is 5000 and that’s where we started. And I think when in the beginning we were, you know, there were some discounting, you know, for early founding members that are grandfathered in, and all of that. And and there’s monthly payment plan options as well, kind of a thing, because people’s predicaments change on occasion. So, you know, we have, we have multiple options that seems to fit most of the folks in those tiers. And 2500

Kris Safarova  28:51

to 5000 per year is very affordable

Adam McGraw  28:55

if you do, quite frankly, if you do 40 to 50% of the things that are optionally laid out for you to participate in in the community. I think it’s more than an ROI. I mean, you come to one of our events, it’s a $1,500 a person value already. We are. We’re spending a lot of money on these events. So, you know, you just get to one. If you think about how much an event is when you randomly sign up for some, some of these things, a couple 1000 bucks, you know, and you know, we’re not really doing that here. You know, you’re getting coaching and you’re getting access to events. Most we’re doing is a small registration fee, just to streamline the RSVP process and, you know, and cover, you know, cancelation, attrition, whatever. But yeah, I think it’s, I want it to feel like an overwhelming I want the model we really preach, go giving in here, and I really want the model to feel like we’re giving as a community, that if you come in here and you take and you do 70% of it, you’re feeling like, Man, I’m I’m getting we’ve had people tell me we’re under charging. We have members saying we are severely under charging. Now those are members that are participating and getting their their laid out. Value, right? But, you know, that’s okay in the early foundational years, I hope that many people find that, yeah, I’m getting a lot of value out of this, and sometimes they’re getting a relationship or a job that how do you put a price on some of that too, by the way, the right connection at the right time that you would have had no idea how to get a hold of, how to get access to that is that’s quite hard to quantify, and quite frankly, on if it’s if it means a new job, if it means a new partner relationship, if it means some top talent that’s normally 10s of 1000s of dollars of value. And that happens all the time in here. If you just lean in and hang around a little

Kris Safarova  30:43

bit, that is very true. What are some of the most challenging parts right now in managing this organization?

Adam McGraw  30:51

Ooh, well, it is a startup, so, you know, it’s, it’s hard to, you know, we’re growing, and that’s good, and we want to, we want to maintain the foundation and the intimacy and the intentionality that we think makes this special and has made it special from the beginning. So how do you grow and maintain intimacy? Or you know, that tightness, that you know, you have, that uniqueness, that you have that is that’s we spend so much time thinking about that, talking about that, deliberately trying to make the right testing decisions on, you know, through the feedback loop that we get through the community. You know, just running a community like this, it a lot of times because of the way it’s run. And there’s such a giving atmosphere until, and it’s kind of B to C, right? Because you’re going straight to the consumer. Sometimes it kind of feels almost church like, I guess, you know. And so, you know, sometimes people have different opinions on what should be charged for, and how much and, and, you know, you’re, you know, you try to have some terms of service so that you can actually run a business and project how to operate the growth of a business. And everyone, you know, there’s a lot of exception thinking, as far as, can I do this? Can I do that? And, you know, it’s hard because, you know, sometimes people take this stuff personally, and I guess they’re not viewing us all the time as actually, like trying to be a company that, quite frankly, to this point, had not raised any money. We’ve intentionally bootstrapped it so that we didn’t have to have all these hands in the pot, making this thing not as unique and cool and different as we could and and that’s that’s sometimes hard for folks to get their heads around, I guess, and we don’t. We try not to take it personally, and we’re trying to just help them understand the business component behind this at this point, in order for us to keep doing this and running it at the level of expectations that are honestly continuing to grow with the group, we do have to have business guidelines and guardrails in place, or it all goes away. And that’s it’s hard, because we want every person to feel significant and valued, and we want people to know that we’re empathetic to everything that they have going on. But you know, you’re running a business, right?

Kris Safarova  33:21

So definitely, what have you noticed changed in terms of what people value the most, or what they’re looking for in the last three years that you have been running the business?

Adam McGraw  33:32

Well, the thing that, honestly, it’s kind of just the thing that initially, probably, I would say, shocked me, that continues to show me, whoa. This is people really want. This is the in person connection component. So knowing how much people are stretched on time and over busy and overbooked, my initial thought and the way that I honestly ran all of my coaching and consulting was it’s got to be almost all virtual, you know, because I’m just thinking, everyone is so busy. Everyone is just, you know, everything’s got to be on an app, virtual, all that, and we do all that. But what I didn’t realize is how much people are craving the in person component and willing to commit to it and spend time and resources and money around it, and so we are continuing to invest in, you know, how do we have more in person, touch points? You know, we’re going to get more and more creative with local markets now, so that even between these cool flagship events that we really encourage an all hands, you know, participation around and we get great attendance. But you know, we have these markets of New York and Atlanta and Texas cities and San Francisco that are naturally already growing, and so we’re really going to try and nurture that. It’s kind of the next phase that we’re in here of more and more local and regional touch points too, where maybe it’s not a full day, but you. Just have more of these authentic connection spots. And then that’s cool, because even if I’m not living in that market, a lot of people travel into these markets for work. And so this is all broadcast in our community, and folks will hit it because they had business travel, and so they’ll overlap it with a crew meetup, right? Or our new dinner series that we’re going to launch and and so that’s that’s stuff that I’ve realized as time’s going on. I think we’re gonna I think people are underlyingly craving that, maybe even more than they realize this place again, with the right audience, relatable audience, to have this real, safe, authentic connection zone, and to be able to do it in person where the most authentic level of connection can happen.

Kris Safarova  35:43

What do you think people are looking for when they thinking, I want in person?

Adam McGraw  35:49

You know, I think a part of what executives and leaders, honestly, sometimes probably feel like they struggle with. And I’m speaking from my own personal experience and people I’ve gotten to coach and very authentic atmosphere that were very vulnerable and open to me, like real, you know, I think deeper friend, friendship levels you spend so many hours a week working, and that’s a heads down tunnel vision atmosphere for many of us, oftentimes even Unfortunately, it’s a political, cutthroat atmosphere that we might be navigating right with a lot of change and disruption, new people coming in on out all the time. So and then you hit your weekends, and you got to get everything you possibly can into your weekend. You got to try and take care of yourself. You got to be right the parent and the spouse and the partner and have some fun and all that. And then the next thing you know, you’re doing it over and over again. And over again in a year just goes by in a blank, and a decade goes by in a couple blanks. So, you know, I think it’s harder right now, because of how busy everyone is and the amount of change that’s going on and everything, for folks to feel like I have a lot of friends, and I think that you start to realize as you get older that that relatability component, do people relate to me? Can they understand me? Can they understand what I’m going through at this phase of life and work? I think that starts to become a much more common denominator for deep authentic connection and friendship than it did in the earlier phases of life. In the earlier phases of life, your deep, authentic friends and connections, oftentimes, were just literally the people you could have the most fun with, that you just felt like you vibed with the best, and it was relaxing, and you could trust them, and you just and you all like to do the same things, generally for fun, you know, if you think about teens, 20s or even early 30s, but when you hit this back nine, and life’s just heavier and more complicated and busier. I think the relatability factor is a very powerful component to going man, I feel like these people really get me and understand me, because I even find that I’ve I love my family. I have an amazing extended family, and I love our friends and everything, but very few of them get very deep with me on anything that I’m actually dealing with. I very pew. In fact, if I think about the average dinner party I go to, thing I go to, like the level of questions that go below 30,000 feet, other than how you doing? How’s work, what do you do these days? Right? That’s it. Then it’s all this small talk, right? And that’s okay, because a lot of times we just weekends again, are about just clearing our head, having a good time being around. But I think having a place where we can weave in and out of here’s all the stuff that’s keeping me up at night, right? I’m dealing with this and that, and this and that, and then we’re also able to joke and have fun and just be open. And people can give you advice and feedback and say, Hey, I’ve been there. I’ve done that, or I totally know what you’re going through. People want people are needing that more than they maybe even recognizing

Kris Safarova  38:57

Yes, would you say that people are feeling lonely even though they surrounded by a lot of people.

Adam McGraw  39:03

I do think that. I do think a lot of leaders. Again, I think most leaders don’t feel confident enough to be that vulnerable and say that on a pedestal and post about it on LinkedIn, obviously, but knowing the behind the scenes conversations I’ve had with many of these types of leaders that have tremendous brands and followings and titles and money and all of that. Yes, I do. I do feel like and I think there’s a lot of news and stuff of in deep psychology research out there saying that that’s that this assumption I’m making is is quite possibly accurate. But being in this world where you know your day job is just about being showing that you’re buttoned up and as the leader, people are dependent on you just being able to confidently roll through everything and guide everyone else through everything. That is not how human beings operate, right? There is not human no human being is capable of just always being the buttoned up leader. Every human being needs a place where they. Can go and feel like they don’t have to be the leader, and people will help lead them, help inspire them. I always joke like you have permission here today to let yourself become re inspired, because I know your typical job is you’re supposed to be the one thinking about how to keep everyone else inspired. Guess what? Today you can sit back and if you’re not feeling inspired, if you’re feeling burnt out and all of that, that’s our job as your community to give you that juice. There’s a reason they tell us put oxygen masks on ourselves first in the airlines, because it works and we do not do it. We do not do it hard driving, high achieving kinds of leaders and executives stop doing it pretty soon, pretty early on in career and life and and they’ve and they end up with a lot of burnouts. They end up with burnouts either in their work productivity, in their relationship dynamics, in their own wellness and happiness levels. And we’re trying to help prevent those burnouts. We’re trying to help them plug those holes in those leaky buckets and and so it’s, it’s, a very inspiring and not not easy mission. But would they need it? Everyone, we all need it.

Kris Safarova  41:07

100% need it. Adam, and how do you decide how much to fit in into one month, one week, given how busy everyone is?

Adam McGraw  41:17

Yeah, you know Kris, it’s it’s test and learn, test and learn. And you know, most of these folks have pretty decent business maturity, and they know there is no one size fits all thing. You know, you ask a group of 100 leaders how much they want to get together, what they want to focus on, you’re going to get 100 answers. I mean, because leaders all think quite independently, right? So, I mean, there’s some general things of we know that people can only handle so much. So this is the good news about everybody that is at the foundational level of this, including myself and my co founder and all of our team members. We’ve all been in these kinds of jobs. So we know, you know, we know how busy everyone is. We know how stretched everyone is. So it’s just that right fine line where we think we’re providing enough consistency or reps, so to speak, like if you think about a workout analogy, where they’re going to get a benefit and enough touch points so that if I had a real busy season because I just got a new job or a new boss, and for the last couple months I haven’t been able to participate much. There’s enough stuff here that as soon as I’m ready to start leaning back in, boom, this stuff is here, and I can feel caught up. And I’m so glad I have this, this lifeline, so to speak, in this and this system, but, but it’s a lot of test and learn, and it’s a lot of realizing, you know, that’s why we record a lot of stuff, is it, look, if you can’t make it, you know, this is recorded. You can catch it in the app. I do think our app engagement is something that, you know, will probably grow over time as we grow as a community, because then you’ve got, instead of the noisy, you know, algorithm laden, atmosphere of a LinkedIn, you’ve got this safe, authentic, ring fenced atmosphere of our app platform that we talked to together. So, you know, all those kinds of things allow when people are in busy seasons to not feel burdened by this.

Kris Safarova  43:08

What is your vision for Kris? I

Adam McGraw  43:11

mean, it’s, it’s coming already through a place that, again, for leaders to say, being a part of this community was, I would love for a lot of leaders to say it was transformationally helpful. You know, not just like it helped me get a job or I got this I found this vendor in here, I found this business partner in here, whatever that happens all the time, but because of that whole person support and that true community intentionality, that people say that being a part of this group was, you know, transformationally helpful at a very pivotal time in my life and career, which is typically what the mid years point is, between mid 30s to mid 50s, that back nine kind of meat of the career. I think people need a different level of support and resource than they currently get in their political company atmospheres and honestly in their personal lives that, again, don’t have the relatability even if people do want to help them. And I think we fit right into that middle spot, kind of this indirectly, quite therapeutic zone that can be, you know, really transformational, if you just are able to lean in a decent amount

Kris Safarova  44:27

of cost. And the last question that we have time for, probably today is, you mentioned that about 85% of people coming in through referrals. How do other members find you generally,

Adam McGraw  44:41

well, we definitely socialize a lot on LinkedIn, you know. And a lot of our members, you know, are very active about and being engaged here and and we as just a scrappy, grassroots, you know, bootstrapped community are are posting stuff. And so I think that’s where we gain a lot of organic. Exposure. And then we have our website, which is crew exec.com and you know myself as a founder, is active on LinkedIn every day. It’s the only social media platform as an introvert that I’ve forced myself to get comfortable being visibly present and participating on every day. And so all of us that are actively engaged in the community are pretty much on there and communicating on there as well supporting each other on there. And then we have, of course, the website where we definitely give, I think there’s a good sense of the vibe in on crew, exec.com as well. So those are the simple but, you know, so far effective places where people can, kind of, you know, hear about us and check us out.

Kris Safarova  45:45

Adam, I really enjoyed our discussion. Thank you so much for being here, where can our listeners learn more about you. Anything you want to share?

Adam McGraw  45:52

Yeah, I mean, like I mentioned already, I’ll be, I mean, I’m always on LinkedIn, and, you know, I, I’m, I respond to every single message I ever get, and I love meeting new folks. It’s a part of how crew help happen for me, you know? I so I’m very interested in just the power of being open to new connections and and all of that. So I’m available there, and then our website has a explore component. We have conversations with every prospective member. We that we want to make sure it’s a good mutual fit, you know. So the first step, once you go on our website and, you know, say, click on Learn More, or join, or whatever is, we will set up a call with one of the founding members and senior members of the team to really talk through, you know, what this thing’s all about and and see if it’s something that sounds interesting and like it’s a good fit.

Kris Safarova  46:45

Sounds amazing. Yeah. Well, have six minutes. I will ask you one more question that I love asking, if there’s time over your entire career, so far, your life so far, what went to three aha moments, realizations that really changed the way you look at life, but the way you look at business.

Adam McGraw  47:03

Yeah, it’s actually funny. You get, you’re asking me three, and I it’s they’re right on the tip of my tongue. The first one was in college, and I was really trying to not come out of college and just do a regular job or do a corporate job that might my dad did corporate stuff. I followed him around. We moved all over the place. And as much as I loved what he did and was proud of him, I just didn’t want to do it. So I read this book called Magic of thinking big, by David Schwartz, which is a classic old right positive psychology focused book. And I was a, probably a junior in college at the University of Arizona, and boy, it just hit for me. And I just realized right then that power of, you know where our mind goes, and as far as being able to have any ability to tap into what we’re truly capable of and how the world starts to kind of unfold for you, if you really actually believe it doors open for you. And I was just like, enamored with that ideology, you know, that you don’t have to have it all figured out, that it literally starts as simple as that, which is simple, but extremely uncomfortable for most people to think, ooh, I can really think as big as I would like. And that might actually happen. That is not because we have very, very deep rooted, limiting, judgmental beliefs of our potential and all the stuff we’ve heard over our lives about all the things we’re not perfect or great at, that subconsciously get in the way of that. And I was like, boy, I want to do that. That that sounds it makes total sense. That was number one. The second one was when I was getting into sales, which I ended up surrendering to after five or six years of doing entrepreneurial stuff, I decided, well, now I want to make real money, and I don’t want to get left behind by all my friends that have now gotten into their 20s and are all starting to make good money and buy homes and cars. And so I jump into this Predictable Revenue lane, which was selling. And I start with Amex right before the recession happened in 2007 and I start getting into was a, it was a B to B sale. It was selling to mid market companies calling on CFOs, CEOs of these companies selling Amex Payment Platform products. And I very quickly realized the power that getting to the right person, which back then, was again a very old but still extremely effective Book of Selling DeVito, the very important top officer. It was absolutely essential to everything I wanted to do in sales and in selling myself for my own personal aspirations, even internally, like in networking and political atmospheres of the big company I was in, you know, being able to get to the right person and understand how to communicate with them at those senior levels and having that equal business stature when I was only 20. 728, years old, it was absolutely game changing for me. And I took I took every detail of that, plus my own learnings, and I focused on that for my entire 12 year tenure in every phase of leadership, about really how important it is for us in every role, to learn how to be really comfortable with that and and that has carried me well, and quite frankly, it’s the reason I felt so why I could reach out to sure Zai, right? So my thinking big thought, I’m allowed to reach out to this guy and he might want to take my call. And my veto thought process was, I’m going to, I know exactly how to communicate to this guy to get him to take my call, and so I emailed him. So these, these, these things compounded for me, and that led to a relationship that ultimately changed my life and my career trajectory, and gave me a lifeline into a lane that I would tell you. If I was about 1518, I would have told you this the lane I’m in now, coaching, working with others, helping them personally and professionally in inspirational ways. That would have been exactly what I would have told you I wanted to do when I was in my teens, and that people around me would have said that’s what he probably should do. I knew that about myself early on, but I had no idea how to get to this spot without going through the journey I went through and compounding these big moment takeaways. Right that happened. And then the third one, I think, is just enjoyment of a redefining success. You know that I’ve really learned through the coaching journey, through going out on my own, taking off the title, becoming a nobody, selling for a company nobody had heard for initially going out selling a coaching model nobody had heard of building from zero after having this very nice, cushy, you know, executive income for 12 years through the through the covid years, is when I was building my coaching business and then eventually having the audacity to try and launch this new community when there’s already tons of groups and communities that exist. And and I, and I, what I’ve learned now is, in the third aha moment that’s come through for me and crew, is you have to learn how to define your own success. And and I think it’s the hardest thing for people to do, everyone is letting other people’s versions of success run and dictate their lives and their vision and ultimately, their trajectory and until you start defining what it is that you feel will make you successful, which is, quite frankly, a heavily inside game and has very little to do with external validation, right? It’s about eliminating regrets. It’s about things that make you feel like you’re growing and inspired. It’s about things that help you feel like what you do actually is meaningful and purpose driven. When you figure that out, you feel like you’ve won and you’re not and you’re no longer at the mercy of hitting a top of a mountain, getting to a certain monetary or title level, waiting till I’m 60 and have a bunch of free time, you can start to rewire happiness and joy and fulfillment in your career and life in the middle years, which we call in our community, the golden years. The golden years are not a retirement phase. The golden years are the years your most healthy, most most that most active and can contribute most to society. These are them. They need to feel golden. And for many people, they feel like a burden, and they feel like I’m just getting through and I’m just surviving, and I’m doing it for some other time and for somebody else’s stamp of approval and all that stuff. And I think that defining your own form of success, you know, through doing your own things, trying your own things, is is a big part in the third part that’s been most pivotal in my career so far.

Kris Safarova  53:54

Adam, thank you again. So much. Such a great way to end our session today. Really enjoyed our discussion. Our guest today, again has been Adam McGraw, a fortune 100 VP turned entrepreneur and co founder of Kris, an executive community. And I hope you really enjoyed it as much as I did. And you can get insights and action items from this session today at firms consulting.com forward slash action. You can also get few gifts from us. You can access episode one of how to build a consulting practice at firms consulting.com forward slash build. You can get the overall approach used in well managed strategy studies at firms consulting.com forward slash overall approach. You can get McKinsey and BCG resume example, which is a resume that led to offers from both of those firms, and it is a great example at any level of seniority, you can get it at firms, consulting.com, forward slash resume. PDF. Thank you so much for tuning in, and I’m looking forward to connect with you all next time.