I never thought my humble early life in a small community would set values that gave me the opportunities to manage offices, start businesses and work for State Farm for many years. The success in every experience revolves around the people, how they are respected, and recognized. I enjoy seeing success in others just as I experienced myself growing up.I’m a midwestern farm boy whose family worked long hours supporting the family farm. We didn’t have much money growing up, but I didn’t know any different as we always did things as a family like fishing, camping, and community events. The small community setting shaped my values at a young age where neighbor helped neighbor and you knew everyone in your community.My parents were very supportive and pushed me to do some challenging things. I became the first Eagle Scout in the community. I led 4-H groups while participating in team sporting events, which taught me to manage time and introduced me to leadership. This guided me to earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees as the first in my family to go to college. During my master’s studies, my wife burned the midnight oil as a nurse to put food on the table for our family (which included our first child at the time).Everything has come full circle. My family (4 children) have learned they can accomplish whatever they put their mind to do. Opening businesses, participating in the Boston Marathon, playing college softball, and becoming a top pharmaceutical representative all happened because of hard work and support.With State Farm, I’ve helped consolidate enterprise operations and achieve 4 successful enterprise transitions, managed 80+ people and created a positive culture emphasizing company values, collaboration, and inclusiveness.In the end, leadership is not about you as a person, but what others can accomplish through you. Trusting, coaching and caring about their success makes us all winners in the end.I’d love to hear about your organization’s most pressing challenges. Let’s connect and see what we can build together.