Celebrating 10 Years at the Helm of Groove Management
I was a college sailor and while I spent some time at the helm, I was the crew in a two person competitive boat. I love competitive sailing because it combines strategy with execution and teamwork. We were an awesome pair winning the SAISA cup (South Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Association). The coolest part of my college sailing success story is that my skipper Brita, my then girlfriend has been my wife now for twenty seven years. I learned a lot about teamwork and servant leadership through my intercollegiate sailing experience. Most importantly I learned about myself and what it takes to build relationships and happiness. This story dovetails very nicely into my journey as founder and CEO of Groove Management.
The 10 Year Anniversary of My Full Time Job at Groove Management
April 25, 2024 marks my 10 year anniversary leading Groove Management. This has been the most rewarding job I have ever held for several reasons. I get to work with an amazing set of client organizations where Groove Management delivers high impact services that have been both company and life altering. Most importantly, this is a company that I conceptualized and brough to life.
The Journey Actually Started in 2001
While 2024 marks my 10th anniversary leading Groove Management as my full time job, the company was originally started in 2001 as a graduate school project while I was pursuing my Masters in Organization Development at American University. During the program I had an assignment to provide pro-bono consulting services to an organization. Most of my classmates chose to do this under their own names, I instead, chose to create a company. That company is Groove Management. We had learned about the concept of appreciative inquiry. Appreciative inquiry is a strengths-based, collaborative, and positive approach to organizational change and leadership development. It's a group process that uses questions and dialogue to help people identify strengths, advantages, and opportunities in their organizations, communities, or teams. The goal of AI is to create a better future by building on the successful experiences of its members. My interpretation of appreciative inquiry is to relate it to being “in the groove”. When you are in the groove you are at your best and in a state of flow. This led me to the name Groove Management and the tagline, “Helping individuals and organization to maximize their performance by focusing on their strengths.” That grad school consulting project was with the Motley Fool and it morphed into a full time job as their head of organization development.
The Courage To Go All In
Groove Management as a concept remained alive and it drove my approach to my roles in organization development, but full time employment working for organizations kept the company Groove Management on the back burner. There was a website and a few times over the years, I made changes to the site and considered making a run at it as a full time business. Finally in 2014 I mustered the courage to jump into the business full time. Working for large companies had burned me out. I was frustrated by their slow rate of change and their aversion to new and creative thinking. More importantly I had an itch. I had always wanted to lead my own company, but needed to find the right timing.
Like most entrepreneurial journeys, the start of Groove Management as my full time job was a challenge. I expected to hang out my shingle and have work just appear. That was far from the case. The first year was slow and it filled me with self doubt. Fortunately my wife Brita was my CEO (Chief encouragement officer). She was patient with me and helped me create a cadence and discipline to get the business moving. I needed time to find my groove which amounted to my product/market fit and my go to market strategy. The flywheel took longer than expected to set it in motion.
Ten years later reflecting back, I am extremely proud of what Groove Management has become. We have had the opportunity to work with iconic brands and world class leaders. We have received heartwarming testimonials and we have set a foundation that will allow the company to scale far into the future. I say we, because Groove Management has grown beyond me. The company is made up of a diverse group of very talented, thoughtful, caring and highly capable leaders who strive to make our clients better every day. Meet the team here
Thanks to my wife for believing in me and thanks to our clients who have enabled Groove Management to fulfill my dream as a successful entrepreneur.
Groove On!
