You've Built Success. What Will You Do With It? | Bob Smith

Bill Canady: Welcome everyone to the 1000-Day CEO. I'm Bill Canady. We spend a lot of time talking about how to build a successful business. Today we're asking what do you do with that success? How do you make it matter to your family, your organization, and your community? My guest is Bob Smith. He's partner and practice leader at Cerity Partners and the firm's Ohio market leader. He's a former chairman and CEO of Spero-Smith Investment Advisers and former chair of JobsOhio, a really great organization. In Ohio, I'm familiar with it. It makes a big difference. Bob and I recently talked about the power about a powerful idea. Great stewardship starts with listening, trust, and long-term thinking. Today we'll explore what that looks like in real decisions. Bob, welcome.

Robert C Smith: Thank you, Bill. Nice to see you again. Nice to be with you.

Bill Canady: Well, it's great to be with you as well. You know, I thought I would lead right into the first question. When we last spoke, you told me you often start by asking a client, what does this money mean to you and your family? Why is that your first question?

Robert C Smith: Yeah, I'm I'm anxious to get to know clients. So I'm very curious about their background and what's going on and and typically in the f in the investment role in the financial world, we kinda expect peop our clients to be very, very left brain, very logical, very you know, understanding what they're trying to accomplish from their goal standpoint. But the experience tells me that many times people aren't there yet. so I I wanna know the question, you know, What are your hopes and feels now that you have significant wealth? Oftentimes they've had significant wealth on their balance sheet, but it wasn't liquid. And when when they are motivated to come and work with us, it's often because of some liquidity event, sale of a business, inheritance, divorce. and now that they have a quick sense of, better than they ever thought they would be. But then there's an immediate sense of, boy, I don't want to screw this up. I want to be a good steward. So if I can get them into a a right brain approach of being creative and curious themselves about what this money means, it's a way for us to get acquainted much faster and for them to really understand themselves what's driving what they want to do with their money.

Bill Canady: Makes a lot of sense. What do successful owners struggle with when they made it and start asking what comes next?

Robert C Smith: Oftentimes it's it's about purpose. and many times we we let ourselves be defined by the careers we had, the titles we had, the organizations we were in charge of. And when that's taken away, then they feel like, you know, the emperor has no cloth. And so when we're advising clients, we've had towards the day when they were not working anymore per se or getting up every day with something they're accountable for, we really make sure they have good good plans around what they intend to do with their time and talents to to have meeting. And I know personally what what's been surprising when my wife and I have made, you know, the most s significant gifts we've made philanthropically, those were some of the most gratifying experiences we've had, decisions and and just a a sense of of gratitude, that we were able to do something for an organization that meant a lot to both of us.

Bill Canady: Makes a lot of sense. It's funny, I live in Florida, as you know. So there's a lot of folks here who are a little older, you know, so it's kind of demographic. And I was talking to this fellow the other day and he he was making a joke, but it really hit home. He goes, yeah, we're all pips. And I said, What do you mean? He goes, We're previously important people. And now we're trying to figure out what the heck we're gonna go do. So it's

Robert C Smith: Yeah.

Bill Canady: it it that really that really resonates with exactly what you're talking about there. You know,

Robert C Smith: Yeah, yeah.

Bill Canady: walk me through a time you thought you understood what someone needed, someone going through this. and listening, what listening, what changed your mind about what you heard?

Robert C Smith: You know, probably the example that comes to to mind, a very dear friend, a mentor, he was my former boss in the traditional sense of the word in in my corporate world. But what surprised me, When he retired, and he retired, there was an early buyout opportunity that occurred in his corporation, and it happens in a lot of organizations, especially those with pension plans. he wasn't ready for retirement. But he knew he needed my my advice now about how to what to do with his money and how to make sure his money didn't, you know, run out. I knew he knew the capital markets because he had been in the financial world. He was a treasurer of a major organization. and he my first, you know, indoctrination into securities analysis, I I learned from him. But the that the point of retirement, hi is as I said, his appetite for risk changed. And that that that surprised me. And I fortunately I just approached it out of curiosity and I realized what had changed that You know, when people who have careers, successful careers, they're good at putting cookies in the cookie jar and they often, know, will spend maybe you know a little bit more than they're actually making in terms of their monthly paychecks. But there's predictability and consistency. And when you take that away, there's a great sense of vulnerability. And on top of that, the reality of retirement itself often causes the issue of mortality to really become front and center. I often say that people come to us when they stopped saying if I die and begin saying when I die. And so

Bill Canady: When I die. Yeah.

Robert C Smith: when when he was on that journey, because we were so close and I w I knew him so well, I saw a change b change person, a change behavior. And it just gave me caution around, you know, when other people go through this, to be understanding of where they are, to be tolerant, to, you know, I believe strongly that you know, when clients hire us, they need they need to know we're gonna be truth tellers. We're gonna tell them what they need to hear, not what they want to hear. And I knew he needed to hear what I had to say. And and and we continued our great relationship and continued his role as an advisor and consultant to the business and and a dear friend. And so that that was a real kind of a inflection point for me and really gaining an understanding of what you know the brand new retiree experiences.

Bill Canady: Mm hmm. Well, you told me one of your best leadership classrooms was a boardroom outside your own business. So this it resonates.

Robert C Smith: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The the opportunity to serve on organizations that were important to me, including my alma mater, Ohio Northern University, which I served for twenty-four years and had the opportunity to serve as chair for six years. that was one of my first major board opportunities. And the relationships I I built, the lessons I learned from people who were, you know, ahead of me age wise and career wise. I and I just saw as you as the university, you know, took on the challenges that organizations of size have and universities have and private universities have, I saw problem solving skills that were r really made an impression on me. I also saw behaviors of of people that I made a note to myself, like I I don't wanna be that person. I don't want to get cynical. I found that, you know, the most influential board members to me were the ones that were obvious aggressive listeners that had the most curiosity and were the slowest to jump to a conclusion. And but often their comments would become more apparent later in our time together. And by the time they spoke up, you could just hear the depth of what they what they understood and what they were explaining as a potential solution that they wanted the group to react to and to take it on and perhaps, you know, make it better. then I went on to serve in many other organizations that I tried to make sure they were all really important to me. because you there's a lot of sacrifice involved in terms of time away from family, time away from work, time away from things that were al already important to me. And but I I The ones I stayed engaged with a long time, you know, met that criteria of really an important organization with board members who were people I wanted to learn from and from management that you know, I could respect and trust and and you know, join join arms with and solve problems with inappropriate roles.

Bill Canady: Hm. That really resonates. Take us back to joining the Ohio Northern Board. You said you watched who was influential, who had good judgment, and who could resolve conflict. What'd you see?

Robert C Smith: Well, you know, I I was asked to join I was ac a young person then, I think was forty one years old. And I first thing I saw around the room were a bunch of people who were thirty years older than me. but I I had saw people that had, you know, good careers in the in the corporate world. I knew their reputations. I saw a president that had t you know, joined university after I'd left. But I stayed in touch with many people and I knew the journey they had they had been on and I knew the kind of good things this president was doing. and I immediately had a sense of you know to get engaged, to to to learn the boundaries of an appropriate, you know, board role, appropriate board questions and conversations, board suggestions, and things that were inappropriate. I also saw board members who, you know, joined the board or you know, wanted to join the board for all their own reasons. they wanted it to enhance their career, they wanted to, you know, get more business for them their their organization that was sponsoring them. And had to have a few conversations when I was board chair, reminding people that that's out of bounds. And one of the board members said, Well, why else would I join the board? And how would I know that? And I said, Well, every board meeting we have a big binder. This was before the days of board portals. that's everything's online now. But I said every board packet you ever received had a one page document in there about the guiding principles of, you know, the roles of trustees that said, you know, you're not you're not to cross these lines about s doing solicitation for your business as a board member. so a lot of a lot of good lessons learned.

Bill Canady: what did an experienced board member do that maybe you hadn't learned yet?

Robert C Smith: I can remember one particular instance and I I want to be sensitive to not revealing too much, but we were wrestling with a challenge of of the organization and a former s bank CEO had n had retired. But this particular meeting, we're wrestling through, you know, one of the colleges, for instance, was underperforming and we were just wrestling and trying to, you know, share ideas about what our path forward could or should be. And when the meeting broke up, we were going to lunch. I happened to have the privilege of s just standing right behind him as he put his arm around the shoulder of the president. And he said, Calling by his first name, he says, You know what you need to do. Just do it. I remember telling Governor DeWine when he appointed me to chair of JobsOhio, as and we were talking about, you know, other board members to be added. He said, What do you want from a board member? And I said an understanding and appreciation that the work they do between meetings is more important than the work they do at meetings.

Bill Canady: Mm.

Robert C Smith: And and that resonated with with the Governor DeWine, and it just has held true to me that just to appreciate the role of influence and and not to confuse the authority of a board member and what you think it is or what you want it to be, but to any influence that you have and to share your advice. for the benefit of the organization and certainly for the benefit of the present especially

Bill Canady: That's really insightful. Let's move from one institution to the broader community and your your work at JobsOhio.

Robert C Smith: JobsOhio is is a fascinating entity. It's a fascinating business model. I had the good fortune of appreciating the the genesis of JobsOhio soon after it was rolled out by Governor Kasich. I had joined the board about nine years after Governor Kasich had started it. However, the work of JobsOhio and the the the blueprint, if you will, came from a work McKinsey had done. And they had done it for a group of organizations in Northeast Ohio. So we had an organization called Team NEO that they really had provided the framework of what a the what a they considered the best practice of an economic development regional organization should be. Too many times regional communities across the country, they have you know organizations, oftentimes it can be a chamber, for instance, that's trying to do a lot of things. And many times too many things. And and that comes at the lack of focus on really waking up every day thinking, what does the this community need to do to move the needle to grow the economy of this this community? And so McKinsey worked with us for about a year and shared their their analysis of, you know, identified 10 sectors that that here and they told us which which sectors they were that had the greatest growth potential. And they they their analysis said, let's look at the companies in this region that that are in those sectors. And and the other companies and other sectors are all important to a a region's economy, but they're just not as important. However, the ones in those those important growth industries, we call them target industries, sometimes we call them driver industries. those were companies that could drive the economic growth. And we knew that we needed to meet them where they were. I was struck in graduate school. I had a marketing course and there was a quote in beginning of one of the chapters that said, To be a bullfighter, you must first learn to think like a bull. And I often approached economic development from the standpoint of what does this business need and want? and what can we do to meet that? instead of feeling an entitlement if a business was already in Northeast Ohio that of course they'd want to expand here. I remember visiting the CEO of American Greetings one time at the before they built their new headquarters, but I I visited the old location and he and walking into his office, he had a series of pictures of their plants that were not Northeast Ohio. They were all in the this in the south. And I I said, so what why weren't these plants built here in in the Cleveland area? And he said, industrial revenue bonds that the the states in the south made available to them low cost financing that made it worth their while. And so we we lost out on those. I just had a real appreciation for the importance of making decisions around the resources that are available for economic development. To apply the business metric of, you know, what's the return on investment going to be if we do this? And in the political world, elected officials oftentimes, provide grants or subsidies to organizations, that's their currency, whether that's for the businesses that they they think are important to their political career, or whether it's in districts that are important to elected officials in those districts and are important to their career. And when I when JobsOhio you know saw the work McKinsey had done under the the vision of Governor Kasich and a guy named Mark Kvamme, they quickly you know latched on to that model around let's create a nonprofit organization, let's find a funding stream that will give them the resources they need, and they can

Bill Canady: Mm-hmm.

Robert C Smith: act independently, but certainly in alignment with the state around Helping the businesses we have in our community expand and then helping attract businesses who could be here given the resources and the fit for their needs.

Bill Canady: Hmm. Amazing. Pick one situation at JobsOhio where people wanted different things. What was at stake and how'd you help them move forward?

Robert C Smith: one situation there was a a project that was up for consideration in p a part of the state that was the least populated and it was really important to an elected official in that district that this project get approved. And I I was made aware of the of the situation because this particular person was very outspoken and he was making a lot of noise. But when You know, the management went through the criteria. They made a decision not to advance it to the board for approval. and then they briefed me on why. And I said, you know, I think the right thing for me to do as board chair is to have that conversation with this elected official privately. So any consternation he has, he can take it out on me. And I I I called him and I said, I need to share with you the news that management is not made to has recommended not to advance this project. Here's the rationale why they've applied the criteria we use. It's, you know, important that, you know, we do say no to things that don't meet our criteria. it's very easy to make exception, but you know, that's the beginning of the end, if you ask me, and you start making too many exceptions. And this one was really a risky proposition. I said, I know it's important to you and your district, and I know how important the district would benefit from the jobs that were planned with with this project. But it's not gonna happen. And you know, he was true to form. He li tried to light me up. And I remember saying, look, I I understand your frustration, but we need to honor our criteria.

Bill Canady: It's hard to handle those situations. it sounds like he handled it with grace and I'm sure he still wasn't happy at the he's

Robert C Smith: He wasn't happy, yeah. I remember hearing and I I should find out who coined this this phrase, but it was either Peter Drucker or Warren Buffett, one of the, you know, true great minds, one in investing, one in management. But his point was I can tell more about the future success of an organization by what they say no to. And once I heard that, it gave me a a sense of confidence about saying no. I'd also benefited in my early in my career to work for an organization where I saw management, you know, make courageous decisions and and do things that weren't necessarily the most popular things, but they were the right things.

Bill Canady: Mm-hmm.

Robert C Smith: And when I in my career I had an opportunity to be in management at a young age of 30 years old. and when I had decisions that, you know, I knew what the emotional drain was going to be. I just said that's that's a luxury you don't have to factor that into your decision. You gotta do right by the ninety nine percent of the people that are fitting the needs of this organization. And those this this project or the people involved that might be impacted by this, that it just doesn't fit the long term vision and the strategy of this organization.

Bill Canady: It's hard to do. We want to make everyone happy and a lot of times we make no one happy when we try that. And being able to navigate between the individual needs that they truly do have needs and the group needs, it's it's not easy and it's not always clear what comes

Robert C Smith: Yeah.

Bill Canady: next.

Robert C Smith: Right.

Bill Canady: Maybe we can transition now, as you know, many of our listeners are CEOs, owners, founders of businesses. And for those who say, look, I've done well, I want to contribute, but I don't know where to start, what would you tell them to do first?

Robert C Smith: Well, we've often do that with people in a in a scenario like that. we will begin a conversation with, you know, are are there organizations, nonprofit organizations, whose missions really, really appeal to you? and sometimes th they will immediately identify something. Other times they will just talk about an area of interest. it could be healthcare. You know, anytime somebody's had family or themselves go through a f you know significant life-threatening situation and come out in a good place. you know, they often have a real affinity to to give back. one of the things that often happens, you know, when a donor has significant resources, an organization knows they're interested, the organization will just say, You know, would you be interested if I put together a menu of some initiatives that but for some significant funding we we aren't able to do, but we think could be very, very meaningful and impactful to the ni to the mission we have. And oftentimes the donor would say, Yes, I'd like I would like that. And now you're beginning a journey of that's likely to come out the other side where you have a match between a donor and a an organization around initiative that really you know, it's gonna have impact. Donors do expect their money to have impact. And sometimes I think organizations don't keep that front center. they often that their needs, many nonprofits, their needs around just operating dollars. And and so the you know, the the what the donor ones is I w I know what your operations are, however, I wanna do something above and beyond. And I often caution them, as appealing as that is to come up with a one off situation, I can tell you that one off situations are the highest risk proposition. That it may be a good vision, it may be a good plan, but you're taking the organization out of their norm. and you know, you may be disappointed that with the outcome. You may be disappointed that They give it a go and use your resources and then they throw in the towel just about the time you think it's really gonna have the impact you were hoping for. so I just encourage them to make this a s a study that they're doing to don't rush into it, get to know organizations, see and talk to other donors who've had successful interactions. You know, here in Cleveland we have great, great community assets. The Orchestra, the the Cleveland Foundation,

Bill Canady: Truly amazing.

Robert C Smith: the Art Museum, The hospital systems, these organizations have a long history of meeting donor needs, which means they've learned a lot. They've learned how to do things the right way. They've learned to really understand donor needs and expectations. and and and there are many and many other organizations that aren't nearly at that level of sophistication. And so donors have to, you know, kind of gauge. What what kind of organization are they dealing with? Is it one that has a long history in philanthropy and donor development? Or is it one that just has, you know, desperate need for resources for, you know, their critical day to day needs?

Bill Canady: When faced with so many options, so many wonderful things, how do you help them choose between the one or two places where the contributions can matter the most as they as they determine?

Robert C Smith: the earlier comments I made were around organizations whose mission were important to them. So I want I wanna see where their emotions are around where they wanna be. And then once we know that, th now I wanna caution them about be strategic. You know, continue being a good decision maker. You know, the decisions

Bill Canady: Mm-hmm.

Robert C Smith: these people have made that led them to the point of significant wealth. I I want them to rely on that kind of experience. and decision and not just get into a situation where it's a new world they don't know what they're up against and they're just trusting the the people they're working with.

Bill Canady: Mm-hmm.

Robert C Smith: you know, the old phrase that you know if you're playing cards you can't figure out who the chump is, then there's a good chance it's you. So

Bill Canady: It's it's probably you.

Robert C Smith: if you're dealing with an organization and you're kinda wowed by them, I think it's our job to take take the while out and make sure it's it's it's as tangible as you you think it is. You know, I I often will use a phrase like, challenge your assumptions. Let's, you know, if I can get them to talk about the major assumptions that are leaning, causing them to be motivated to do this, to if they can articulate those assumptions, then I can say, now let's one at a time, let's challenge those assumptions. Is there enough evidence for you to make that conclusion? Or are you just seeing what you want to see? You can have some fatigue if you've, you know, studied a situation longer than you expected to. And when that happens, people will be inclined to jump to a conclusion. And I feel it's my job to and our my colleagues' job to of not don't let people jump to conclusions. I think Einstein said, if I had an hour to solve a major world crisis, I would spend fifty-eight minutes. really understanding the problem and defining the problem as as specifically as I could and two minutes on the solution. And instead in problem solving mode, and I know you've saw it your career, you know, five minutes into problem solving, people are jumping to conclusions.

Bill Canady: They already know the answer. They don't even know the problem yet.

Robert C Smith: They know the problem yet. Yeah. They're just and when I when I see that happening, I guess, okay, I guess we're ready to jump to a conclusion. And then people say, Well,

Bill Canady: Being the

Robert C Smith: no, no.

Bill Canady: being the voice of reason in a room is a extraordinarily underrated skill. And

Robert C Smith: Yeah.

Bill Canady: I think you can do that because as an advisor, you're not emotionally charged about what it is and you can see things maybe through a clearer lens off of that. Do you do you find they'll they they'll listen, that they will that they will take it into account?

Robert C Smith: Yes, yes, yeah. That's the one thing I've I've enjoyed immensely in my career as an investment advisor, wealth manager, is you know, the relationships we have when I know the seriousness that people approach, you know, their wealth and I know what they need from me is objectivity and insight and and and the gratification of knowing that my judgment is trusted. But the accountability that comes with that is immense. you know, I have learned over the years that I take very, very copious notes in conversations with clients. But I've learned that because I'm so earnest in listening what they're saying and understanding, and the fact that I'm writing it down means I've memorized it forever. so but it is very gratifying that when people really trust your judgment and want your judgment. at at critical times in their life. there the my career has been very, very gratifying on a number of levels, certainly financially, people development wise, but the the gratified grass the gratification that clients and their families have expressed to me is it's one of those great non taxable benefits.

Bill Canady: That's wonderful. If a CEO has a thousand days to become a better steward of their money, their organization, and community, where should they start this week?

Robert C Smith: Well, one of the things I I will ask people, whether it's an interview of a somebody that we're thinking about hiring or a new client, is are you successful? I guess it could be a trick question. It's a question designed to get at a root issue. and they will often spend too much time thinking about yes or no. They don't their ego will they want to say yes, but they say am I being too egotistical if I say yes. But and once they say the one or the other, I just say, Okay, why? And what they say next will be an articulation of their values. And the re the magic of the question is if I ask these same people, what are your core values? You know, I had a a a high school teacher who said, If you know core your your core values, Decision making is quite easy. But if I ask someone their core values, then they will be though it's a quandary. They will either be inclined to say what they want them to be, or they'll be inclined to say what they think I want them to be, especially in a hiring situation. And yet if you simply ask the question, are you successful and then explain why? That's kind of a backdoor way to get to a pure insight. to what people's values are. And I often say values aren't good or bad. They're not right or wrong. But they're really, they kind of drive you. They provide the north compass, you know, where where you want to be and how you want to live your life and under what terms. And if if they can understand those values and I and then I can understand them, then I can be more helpful to them. And I can remind them if they're about to do something that's out of line with their core values. I remember being advised in in the political world by a consultant who's a lobbyist, if you will, he said too many times people go to elected officials and you know pound the table on what they want done. And instead he's he suggested that you need to share with these elected officials why you want something done. Which kinda ties into the values of you or the organization that you're advancing. And I remember one time trying to advance something here in Cleveland and a local congressperson who had sponsored original legislation was now sending signals out that she was not gonna be supporting amending legislation. So I was asked to To approach another elected official who was in good graces with this congressperson. And I said, Would you talk to her about this amending legislation? And he said, no, no, I'm not gonna do that. He said, you you should talk to her. And I said, okay. He said, before you talk to her, ask her what her concerns are. Don't tell her what you want done. so I said, Here's a situation, you know, I'm told you're You have some concerns about this amending legislation and I just like to understand it. and she told me why. She said, I'm told by my staff, if I support this legislation, I can't support something that's more important. And I said, If you could do both, would you? And she said, yeah. I said, then I'll have somebody call you tomorrow and give you a path forward where you can do both. And she said, I would love that. No stress, but just the keen advice from somebody

Bill Canady: Right to the heart of it.

Robert C Smith: right to the heart of it. Like, what are your concerns? You know, too oftentimes you think about when you get to know somebody and you think about maybe even personally and you go back to your relationship with your wife. There's a moment early in your relationship where you have to expose your vulnerability, your ignorance, and you have to be willing to share your curiosity. And yet. Over time in our lives, in our relationships, in our careers, we tend to rely too much on our experiences. That comes at the expense of curiosity. For instance,

Bill Canady: Mm.

Robert C Smith: you're you're watching a situation, you're hearing a conversation, and in your mind you're saying, I've seen this movie before, I know how it ends, so let me jump to jump ahead here and save my save some time. Nothing will infuriate somebody more in a conflict resolution situation where you're making a judgment, and let's just say it's a it's prejudice, it's prejudging. a situation before you've really demonstrated you understand the current situation you're about to engage in. And so I've been challenging myself and challenging the colleagues I work with. Let's really hang on to curiosity a lot longer than we think we have to. I know that in management oftentimes the people who are the best observers of patterns are the ones that get advanced in their careers in terms of decision making. And yet I'd like to think that curiosity's played a big role in allowing them really get to root cause. I mean, if you're curious enough, you can

Bill Canady: Mm-hmm.

Robert C Smith: do a you know, a good root cause analysis that you can really define the problem. And then therefore, the solutions you come up with have a much better chance of having successful outcome.

Bill Canady: I agree very much. Very insightful. What do you hope is stronger because you are involved?

Robert C Smith: I think about my career and how unique it's been to be bifurcated between the corporate world and the civic engagement world. And People have said to me, Why is civic engagement important to you? And that was one of those aha moments for myself to reflect. And I said, Because public policy matters to business. It matters to business of of size, it matters to business small businesses. And therefore, you know, public policy comes out of you know the public arena. I not only enjoyed the journey, but I've appreciated the impact that I've had on situations that deserved, you know, engagement at a high level. I've I've had the privilege of being involved in several public entities, public boards, a public and poor retirement system in Ohio, one of the largest in the country, JobsOhio, as you referenced. We had, for instance, about the time, you know, Ohio, which was one of the earlier states to really shut down and get our arms around the safety protocols, the governor called and asked if I would help recruit a group of economic advisors. He knew the pushback was gonna be very intense around you know, why are businesses shutting down, why are people not able to work. He said and So we're gonna need to have really good analysis about what the conditions must be to open the doors again so people can go back in the workplace, customers can go back into the stores. So we recruited about 18 business leaders across the state, all different parts of the state, all different industries. and I would tell you, most of the people I think had that kind of their own hidden agenda, which was similar to how what can I say quickly? to persuade the governor and his team, the d you know, director of health, to you know, let people get back in. But through our analysis and through our conversations and problem solving dialogue, it became obvious that you didn't need to convince the governor. You needed to convince your employees and your customers and your clients that you had a safe workplace. So we had the great benefit of organizations like Swagelok, for instance, that you were a part of.

Bill Canady: Mm-hmm.

Robert C Smith: and others, RPM, Frank Sullivan actually chaired this Council of Economic Advisers, the CEO of Procter & Gamble was one of the members. They had locations in the in Asia where the COVID was six weeks ahead of us. So they had protocols that had been to tried and tested that when applied that the infection rates w went way down. So we quickly did a survey of as many businesses as we could that were Ohio-based. that had locations in Asia and got the data on that. So it wasn't just an idea. They had they had put protocols in place and they had results and data that was convincing. That really advanced, you know, our ability to come out much quicker than than other states because of that our willingness to really make make that analysis. but that was that was hard. I remember, you know, the the person on the the advisory group that was representing the restaurant industry. Our our suggestions were that if you limit the the number of pr patrons to half your capacity, you could have a safe, you know, eating environment and you could open your

Bill Canady: Mm-hmm.

Robert C Smith: doors again. And this person said, We don't make money. Our restaurants don't make money when operating in half capacity. And I said, This is not an end point. This is a beginning point. So work with us to Go down this journey, get get people back in your restaurants and so we can show the lowest lower incident rates that will lead to, you know, more people being allowed in. And he said, you make a good point.

Bill Canady: That's where we start. See, Northeast Ohio, extraordinarily generous companies. You mentioned Swagelok like the company, the family, just the amount they've given them to the community. I mean, it just resonates. one of the most wonderful places I've ever ever been blessed to be part of. where where could listeners find you, and how would you like for them to find you?

Robert C Smith: Well, I share my email address. it's B Smith B asimbab Bsmith at Cerity Partners. Cerity is C E R I T Y partners dot com. they can certainly email me and I'm rigorous in terms of my attentiveness to emails I receive and being responsive to to queries.

Bill Canady: I can attest to that. We'll include that in the show notes and you know links to the website and all that sorts of things. So I want to thank you so much. You've given us wonderful things to think about and some very useful questions, particularly around what does our success mean and what are we going to do with it? For everyone listening, choose one conversation you've been putting off with your family, your team, organization you care deeply about, and start by listening. I'm Bill Canady. Thanks for joining us on the 1000-Day CEO. Have a great day, everyone, and thanks Bob for joining.

Robert C Smith: My pleasure. Thanks, Bill.