The fourteenth Annual Bigelow Forum focused on the theme Entrepreneur-Owner Managers proactively being called to, and planning for the next chapter of their lives.
On Thursday, Rob MacLeod welcomed our guests the 2023 Bigelow Forum and shared the three pillars that define the Forum: Shared Learnings, Relationship Building among EOMs, and outside Thought Leaders to provide fresh ideas and have a shared experience.
We then heard from our keynote speaker, Dr. Benjamin Hardy, an Organizational Psychologist and the world’s leading expert on the psychology of entrepreneurial leadership and exponential growth. His PhD research is focused on entrepreneurial courage and transformational leadership. His keynote focused on themes from his recent works, Be Your Future Self Now and 10X Is Easier Than 2X, all centered around Entrepreneur-Owner Managers and proactively being called to, and planning for the next chapter of their lives. Participants were given the assignment to envision their future selves 5 years from now and write a letter giving advice from their future self in May 2028 to their your current self in May 2023 explaining what their lives are like, what they are focused on, and the key decisions/changes they made between 2023 and 2028.
On Friday, Stephen McGee kicked off the day with a “T+10” Panel of 3 EOMs who had all completed a capital gain transaction within the the past 10 years. He co-moderated the session with Dr. Hardy and had a lively discussion asking the panel about their own experiences of considering future self versus current self and when they brought about the changes they did in their enterprises, their families, and their communities.
Panelists included:
- George Mock (Nye Lubricants)
- Janet Farris (Total Label USA)
- Ken Johnson (MAS Medical Staffing)
Pete Worrell and Dr. Ben Hardy then concluded the Forum by facilitating a discussion with the participants on their insights and thinking processes as they pondered and wrote the letter from their future self to their current self. Many participants read their letters and shared the insights they garnered from the letter writing exercise. A true Shared Learnings experience.
