The Secret Recipe Isn’t Ours to Keep

Why the Future of the Asset Recovery Industry Depends on What We Are Willing to Teach the Next Generation

GUEST EDITORIAL

When I was a kid, Arnold Schwarzenegger was larger than life to me. He wasn’t just a bodybuilder or an actor. He was a superhero. I read everything about him I could get my hands on.

I watched Pumping Iron religiously. Like a lot of kids from that generation, I was fascinated by his confidence, his drive, his discipline and his ability to seemingly will himself into becoming the best in the world.

But there is another side to Arnold’s bodybuilding story that has always stuck with me as I have gotten older.

Arnold has spoken over the years about the psychological games he played with his competitors. At times, that included intentionally giving competitors bad advice – knowing they respected him and might actually listen to what he told them.

As a competitor, you can understand the mentality. He wanted to win. But as a leader, there is a lesson there that goes far beyond bodybuilding.

What do we do with the knowledge we gain once other people begin looking to us for guidance?

Do we protect it because it gives us an advantage? Or do we use it to make the people around us better?

When Knowledge Was Guarded

I entered the asset recovery industry 12 years ago, and I can tell you that the industry I walked into was very different from the one I see today. Back then, it often felt like a closed book.

There were certainly people willing to help, but as an industry, information wasn’t shared the way it is today. Owners protected their processes. Agents learned through experience. Much of the knowledge necessary to succeed was gained through trial and error.

Sometimes it felt like everyone was guarding the KFC secret recipe.

You figured things out because you had to.

And unfortunately, in an industry where our people are working in unpredictable environments and making decisions that can affect their safety, their company and the public, learning everything through trial and error isn’t always the best teacher.

That is why what I see happening in our industry today is so important.

Our Industry Is Changing

I am genuinely in awe of the evolution I have watched take place.

We are talking about agent safety in ways we didn’t before. We are sharing information. We are developing better training. We are having conversations about professionalism, compliance and best practices.

Experienced owners are helping newer owners. Veteran agents are teaching younger agents. Associations are creating educational opportunities. Committees are bringing competitors into the same room to solve problems that affect all of us.

Most importantly, more people are beginning to understand that helping another recovery company become safer and more professional doesn’t hurt their own company; it strengthens the industry.

That is a major cultural change.

Leadership Is Not About Protecting Your Advantage

I have had the opportunity to meet and work with a lot of leaders throughout this industry, and I can honestly say that some of the most selfless people I have ever known are among them.

These are people running companies and dealing with the same pressures everyone else faces, yet they still give their time to the industry.

They answer the phone when another owner needs advice. They serve on committees. They participate in associations. They mentor. They teach. They share mistakes they have made so someone else doesn’t have to make the same ones.

And sometimes they are helping the very people they compete against.

That takes a different kind of leader.

Because there will always be a temptation to believe that knowledge is power and therefore knowledge should be protected.

I believe the opposite. Knowledge becomes more powerful when it is shared.

If I teach another owner something that makes one of their agents safer tonight, I haven’t weakened my company.

If an experienced agent teaches a new agent how to properly handle a difficult situation, that doesn’t create a stronger competitor. It creates a safer professional.

If one company develops a better practice and shares it with the industry, we all benefit.

Our clients benefit. Our employees benefit. The public benefits. And ultimately, the reputation of the asset recovery industry benefits.

We Owe Something to the Next Generation

Every generation inherits an industry from the people who came before them. Eventually, we will hand this industry to the next generation.

The question is: What kind of industry are we going to hand them?

Will they have to learn everything the hard way because we were unwilling to share what we knew? Or will they start their careers with the benefit of decades of experience behind them?

If you have been doing this for 20 or 30 years, think about how much knowledge you carry with you every day.

Think about the situations you’ve seen. The mistakes you’ve made. The lessons you’ve learned. The procedures you’ve developed. The things you know today that you wish someone had told you when you started.

That information has tremendous value.

Don’t let it disappear when you leave the industry. Pass it down.

Be Part of the Evolution

My challenge to everyone in asset recovery is simple:

Be part of this evolution.

You don’t need a title to mentor someone. You don’t need to sit on a board to be a leader. You don’t need to own the largest company in your market to have something worth teaching.

If you’ve learned something the hard way, teach someone else so they don’t have to.

If you’ve found a safer way of doing something, share it.

If a new owner calls asking for advice, take the call.

If a young agent genuinely wants to learn, take the time to teach them the right way before the wrong way becomes a habit.

And when someone looks up to you because of what you’ve accomplished, recognize the responsibility that comes with that.

Don’t give them the wrong recipe so you can stay ahead. Give them everything you can.

Because our goal shouldn’t simply be to protect what we’ve built. Our goal should be to build an industry capable of becoming better without us.

The asset recovery industry has made tremendous progress during the 12 years I have been fortunate enough to be part of it. We still have work to do, but I believe the culture is changing.

We are becoming more open. More safety-focused. More professional. More willing to teach. And more willing to help one another succeed.

Let’s keep pushing that evolution forward.

Teach the next generation. Coach them. Mentor them. Give them the knowledge we wish we had when we started.

If we do that, someday the people who come after us won’t simply inherit the asset recovery industry we built.

They’ll build one even better than the one we left them.