49. Tim Whitmire, Founder at CXN Advisory

Show Notes: Will Bachman and Tim Whitmire talk about Whitmire's journey since graduating from Harvard. Whitmire started as a freelance journalist, then got a job at the Associated Press and covered Harvard Men's Basketball. He moved to the Providence Bureau of the Associated Press and eventually to New York City. He was transferred to Lexington, Kentucky to work as a sports writer and moved to Charlotte, North Carolina after that. He worked at the Charlotte Observer and then returned to the Associated Press to work as the head of the Charlotte Bureau until 2006.  Forming the Non-profit F3 Nation Tim Whitmire was working for the AAP when he decided to look for work in Charlotte, NC. He ended up getting hired in a marketing and business development role at a sell side and investment bank. He then co-founded a firm called Black Arch Partners, where he worked for a few years. After leaving the second bank, he found his way into his current work as an executive strategy consultant. Will then asked him about his nonprofit, F3 Nation. The Mission of F3 is to plant, grow and serve small workout groups for men for the invigoration of male community leadership.  Finding Groups to Form Friendships Will and Tim discussed the difficulties men face in forming friendships. Will suggests that people meet through parents of their kids' friends, their work colleagues, golf clubs, or religious institutions. Tim Whitmire suggests F3, a free workout group focused on fellowship and fitness. Tim explains the format of F3 workouts. F3 stands for Fitness, Fellowship, Faith.  The group usually meets at a local coffee shop where they can hang out and chat. F3 also encourages events such as distance running relays, mud runs, and, in Tim's words, "other completely stupid and utterly pointless activities" that foster friendship and bonding. F3's expansion process, called the Leap, involved creating a logo to sell gear from, with 10% of the proceeds going back to F3 for growth. Tim, a former member of the executive board of F3, explains that the group had to find innovative ways to get members out to cities in the Carolinas, and eventually beyond. In 2014, Tim took a trip to Richmond, Virginia, New Orleans, and Nashville, and others went to different cities. He would run workouts early in the morning and teach a class in the evening about the core principles of F3. This was called Gross School. He explains that the concept of shared leadership was developed and that each workout has a different attendee to lead it. The idea is to rotate the leadership of the organization to ensure that everyone is able to take on a leadership role. He also explains that F3 is now crossing international borders, with a Grow Rock event set to take place in England this fall. Team Alignment and Goal Setting Skills Tim Whitmire is an expert in team alignment and goal setting. He discusses the lessons of F3 and how they helped develop these skills. The main lesson is that not everyone has the same skill set or will lead in the same way, so it is important to leave space for people to express themselves and to lead. He also described the workouts themselves, which can be quite varied. His experiences with the group inspired him to  co-author a book called Free to Lead about the F3 experience. Harvard classes and professors Tim found inspiring include: Verlyn Klinkenborg's  creative writing classes, and George Dominguez' teachings on the Cuban Revolution. Timestamps 02:40 From Investment Banking to Executive Strategy Consulting and F3 Nation  12:49 The Story of F3: How a Small Workout Group Grew to Become a Global Phenomenon  13:09 Empowering Leadership and Building Community Through Fitness  17:36 Exploring the Benefits of Men's Fellowship 18:49 Exploring the Need for Male Bonding 23:09 Building Male Friendships in F3 Workouts  28:35 Exploring the Growth of F3: A Conversation with Tim Whitmire  32:37 F3: Exploring Shared Leadership and Expansion Beyond the Carolinas  35:00 F3 and the Benefits of Shared Leadership  41:18 The Benefits of Group Fitness and Fellowship Across Class Lines    Links: Cxnadvisory.com https://www.f3metro.com/ Freed to Lead   CONTACT INFO: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-whitmire-7955145/ Twitter: @trwhitmire_OBT