Chad Silverstein started a collection agency with a bigger vision: changing how people see collections. He talks about finding purpose in your work and how that shaped his business decisions and success.
Chapters
I started my first company out of my apartment when I went to Ohio State. It was a collection agency. And I can tell you firsthand, I didn't wake up one day and say, I want to start a collection agency. It was a summer job. I got close with the CEO. He offered me an opportunity while I was still in college, and next thing I know, I'm running a collection agency. And it was exciting. And, you know, I made the best of trying to build an incredible culture. But it wasn't until I Met Chet in 2010 and I was challenged to come up with my opus, my big vision, my I have a dream speech for what I was going to want to do with this business, my work, my labor of love. And I decided to aim at changing the perception of collections. And boy, oh boy, I had no clue what that was going to kick off. But here is me as a leader, as a builder, modeling the way to just share an example with you of how I was running a company, working in a job that I did not love. And I found love within what I was doing by authoring my opus, which is what you're now being challenged to do. And it is such a hard thing to do. And people just want to, like, get it down on paper. And it's so not about that because no one cares if you just put it on paper. And over the years and I've rinsed and rinsed and rinsed my opus, it's changed because the process is about growing as an individual and seeing things out on the horizon and then growing a little bit more and then being able to see a little further out and then you get kicked in the stomach and you have to adjust and pivot. And it doesn't matter if you're an entry level employee, if you're a middle manager, or if you're the CEO, an entrepreneur of a startup or a big corporation, the journey is the same for everyone. Because everybody struggles with something and you either have something that you're aiming at or you don't. And 99% of our world does not. And having an authentic opus, your I have a dream speech that will light you up, that you can share and talk about no matter where you are, no matter who you're with. It just kind of rolls off your tongue because you've poured yourself into authoring something so meaningful to you is very, very special opportunity that I've watched individuals go through the built to lead journey and just light up themselves and those around them. That's why we say we don't we don't need everybody in Built to lead. Whether it's in our company or whether it's in your family or your. Your community, you need a few. And a few people have a huge impact. They have a huge reach when they have an inspiring, authentic opus that they're pursuing. So you're being challenged to Author Version 1.0. It's your first taste of Opus, and it's going to probably suck. That's okay. It's probably going to suck for a long time. And as you pour yourself into figuring out, like, what is it that I want to aim at? What do I want to dream? You really have to get past the writer's block of, like, I just don't know. And you're struggling with it, and you'll. You'll hit a plateau and you'll stay there, and then you'll go back to it. And it's something that's an ongoing, organic process as part of your overall writing. But you gotta first write Opus 1.0 in your notebook, put the date, and I will tell you just firsthand, as I started to author my opus, which was change the perception of collections, which was part of my purpose statement as well, everything that I ended up doing in my company, you name it, everything aligned with my opus. And what that means is that all of a sudden, all my decisions, all my opportunities, if it wasn't aligned with that, if it didn't help me change the perception of collections, I didn't do it. So eventually, as I went down this path, everything I did, every detail of what I did with my employees, what people experienced when they walked in as a visitor in our office, when people called our office clients who used our services, my goal was that when they walked away from my company, they couldn't believe that it was a collection agency. And I will tell you that that paid big dividends for me personally, for my team, and for the success of my company that eventually led to me selling on my 25th anniversary in a very difficult industry. And I had my office wallpapered, literally peppered with love letters from consumers who told me that we changed their perception of collections, that they loved, you know, working with us, and if they ever ended up in collections again, they wanted to hear from us. And it was my scorecard. It was one of my reminders every day of why I was doing what I was doing as I was navigating through a very difficult business and industry. And, you know, always excited and lit up to go to work every day because of my opus. And that's the aim for you to find that we typically start with your work opus first, and eventually you can work on a life opus and then ultimately your magnum opus, where you can integrate them together. It's a journey. Go slow. Write version 1.0, let it lead to version.20, and then share it. Get some feedback. Get challenged. Nuance it. Every word should mean something. And the way to start the process is just to throw up all your narrative words on paper. And if you don't know what to write, then write about that question yourself. And as you build your core, things will start to bubble up and you'll start to move towards something that will feel good. And when it feels good, you stay on that momentum. And the next thing you know, you got something that just makes you go, yeah, that's it, that's it, I got it. And then you'll play with that and you'll change the words and it'll change. And who knows? I've seen people become built to leave. They left my office after they pursued their opus, after laboring and figuring out what it is, and who knows, that might happen for you, or you figure out what your opus is within what you're doing now. Either way, it's a win win. Just start 1.0 and let us know if we can help. And feel free to share it.
