At one point in my life, I wanted to be in a punk band. I loved the music – driving, energetic and loud. I loved the lyrics — raw, authentic, and a little in-your-face.
Being an Eagle Scout raised in a mostly traditional, Midwest, Lutheran family, though, there was just enough in my upbringing to pull me back to a mostly traditional career.
But, I kept the spirit. And, the love of the music.
Music inspired the name ReVrb. In a rock band, reverb is the effect of sound echoing. It’s an easy effect to make, so an unskilled guitar player (which most true punk musicians are) can sound like a rock star (well, kinda). And, done right, it can be pleasing to the ear.
As we explored the peer group concept, we talked about how hard it is to change. Most of us try to change by talking ourselves into it. Depending on our personality, we admire, encourage, scold, tease, and berate in varying quantities to get us to stop doing something or start doing something different.
It’s an echo effect reverberating inside our heads. When we talk to ourselves, we can forgive, excuse, ignore, and hide. Accountability is hard, and the echoes die away.
A Leader Hub — a peer group of standout, high-performing talent who want to achieve higher levels of leadership and professional success — exists to provide a different kind of echo effect, one that lasts. It’s a social endeavor, designed to use interactions within a collective of similarly talented and motivated people to push the individual to new heights.
The echoes start with the executive coach, the interaction leading to a plan followed by a quarterly cadence of review, accountability, and adjustment. The echoes from this carry into the monthly Hub chamber, where interactions lead to insight, feedback, support, and — most importantly — accountability. New sounds echo through the group as the voices of outside experts or thought leaders are introduced and worked by the collective.
All of these sounds through group interaction are designed to do what a normal course or program can’t do. Create a framework through which thoughts and ideas can be turned into actions, the only way actual change can be realized.
We call the Hub a “no BS zone”. The group forms a sort of personal Board of Directors who will help the individual get out of her or his own head and push through the hard work of growth and development. Along the way to executing a development plan, they pick up some valuable executive skills from just being in the Hub. Coaching executive level or executive-potential talent. Collaborating through trusting, productive relationship. And, self-development skill and discipline.
The E in the ReVerb logo captures the essence of reverberation – what sound would look like if you could see it. The color comes straight out of the energy of rock and roll. And, finally, why did we leave off the second E?
Just a little act of rebellion and a message to future Hub members. This will be different.