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The Fellowship FactorFounded 25 years ago, PEI's 10-Groups continue a strong tradition.By Howard UptonOn May 13, 1951, owners of 38 petroleum marketing equipment distributorships, from 21 states, met at the Brown Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky. Over the next three days, this group formally created the trade association that today is known as the Petroleum Equipment Institute. Prior to the Louisville meeting, few of these 38 equipment company owners had ever met. They didn't even know the names of other oil equipment distributors located in nearby states. By the time the three-day meeting ended, however, friendships had been made that would endure for decades. Thereafter, when one of these new friends encountered a puzzling management problem in his own company, it was often his practice to pick up the phone and call one or more of his recently acquired cronies for a candid talk. This was an early manifestation of the Fellowship Factor in PEI. The factor revealed itself at the very first meeting of the new organization and continues to flourish today, more than half a century later. Emergence of the 10-Groups Even with all these opportunities for managerial fellowship, however, many PEI members still felt the need for closer, ongoing relationships with other company owners who managed firms similar to their own. The result was the creation, in 1982, of the PEI 10-Groups. The 10-Groups are loosely structured organizations composed of the owners of around ten PEI distributor or affiliate member companies. None of the companies in a 10-Group compete with the others; the members of a particular group are often located thousands of miles apart. All, however, experience basically the same management dilemmas from time to time. By getting together once or twice a year and talking candidly about these problems, the company owners often discover a way of dealing with a mutual issue. In PEI's formation of the 10-Groups, three basic precepts were followed. The first, of course, was never to assign competitors to the same group. The second was to set up each group so it was composed of companies with the same general mix of operations and that were doing essentially the same volume of business. The third precept was this: Once a group has been organized, it must be allowed to elect its own officers and establish its own agenda. Even though, over the years, the PEI staff has provided some guidance and assisted with 10-Group meetings and paperwork details, each group has been allowed to run its own show. Group members decide how often they want to meet, where they will meet, and what problems will be the focus of their discussions. Most of the original PEI distributor 10-Groups that were created 25 years ago remain in operation today. All have served as potent advisory boards for the presidents of companies that are members of the groups. The PEI 10-Groups have been particularly useful for family-owned businesses. The reason: They provide counseling support during generational transitions. For example, E.G. Hubbard, who is now chairman of Oil Equipment Sales & Service Co. (Chesapeake, VA), was an active member of one of the first PEI 10-Groups. When his son Charles Hubbard, current president and CEO, was preparing to take over daily management of the firm, Charles also became active in the 10-Group and benefited from counseling with his father's peers. Special Qualities of PEI 10-Groups Understanding — All the companies in any of the 10-Groups are about the same size and are engaged in essentially the same type of operations. As a result, when a member raises a question on almost any subject, ranging from repair of dispensers to sales compensation, there is immediate understanding of the ramifications of the question by other members of the group. Many participants in 10-Group meetings have said that when members are engaged in the exchange of comments, everyone present knows exactly what is being talked about. Trust — Members of the original PEI 10-Groups have been meeting with each other, usually about twice a year, for more than 25 years. Between times, they communicate frequently by telephone and e-mail. From this experience they have developed a sense of confidence in the group's collective integrity. Ed Ettl, president of Badger Oil Equipment Co. (Milwaukee, WI), has been a continuing member of one of the original 10-Groups. He once commented, “In discussing our company operations, we hold nothing back.” Continuity — Members of 10-Groups have revealed that it is a rare week when they do not find themselves on the telephone, at least once, discussing business with one or more other members. For example, during the period near the end of the last century, when vapor recovery regulations were spreading to more and more cities, members in the Midwest and East frequently conferred with fellow members in California, where vapor recovery had long been required. PEI, as an organization, provides the environment and structure for its 10-Groups. In this respect, it serves a basic purpose that the founders had in mind when they took the initial steps to bring PEI into existence. |
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