As the Chapter President of EO Louisville, Kirk Hilbrecht knows how important it is for EOers to take advantage of member benefits. He knows this not only because he serves in a leadership position, but because he is a frequent user of these benefits. In fact, Kirk has already taken advantage of the Member Exchange (M2Mx) five times this year. Talk about leveraging your network!
M2Mx is a powerful peer-to-peer resource database that offers members the collective experience of more than 25,000 members of EO, the Young Presidents' Organization (YPO), the World Presidents' Organization (WPO) and the Chief Executives' Organization (CEO). When a member needs answers to pressing business and/or personal issues, M2Mx connects them with other business leaders who possess the most relevant experience to answer their question(s) in a secure, confidential and timely manner.
The query that prompted Kirk’s recurrent use of M2Mx was the difficulties he was experiencing with his new business partner, an individual with whom he had a precursory business relationship but little working relations. Unsure of where to seek advice after exploring the issue with his Forum, Kirk decided to try M2Mx for additional assistance.
“I was in a ‘pickle’ with my business partner,” he explained. “We weren’t compatible, and ultimately, I didn’t see the relationship working out. I was seeking counsel on how to dissolve a 50/50 partnership while not destroying the company in the process.”
Kirk, who serves as President of Videobred, a full-service multimedia production facility, was immediately impressed with the system. Within minutes, he was given supportive responses to help him assess the dilemma and make an educated decision.
“I got four responses back within 10 minutes! I couldn’t believe it; the response time was phenomenal,” he said. “I could just go on and on about the ease of the system. It’s absolutely intuitive, 100 percent user-friendly and very, very effective.”
Kirk’s experience with M2Mx worked out better than he had anticipated, because instead of finding out ways to terminate the partnership efficiently, the feedback he obtained demonstrated methods in which he could improve the relationship and make it successful.
By following up with M2Mx respondents who were willing to share their experiences with him, Kirk was able to learn through a Gestalt Language Protocol approach and adopt methods to turn his business relationship around. According to Kirk, things are currently better than ever with his partner.
“You don’t know how it makes a guy like me, who is out here in Louisville, feel when I’m getting a positive and effective response from someone who is hundreds and even thousands of miles away,” he said. “If I wasn’t an EO member, I would not have had instantaneous access to all the tools Global brings to the table, including M2Mx. This just proves that EO membership does have its privileges."