Dear Reader,
On April 17, 2017 I typed out my first company memo, and today I typed up my last.
Anna King, now board leader, then senior leader, made it clear that this wasn’t the old days where I could act like the town crier and declare my vision to the team, all of whom would’ve been within arms reach in our tiny office. The team I was on three years ago had outgrown our processes and new systems needed to emerge. So I began writing.
I talked about how on May 30th, 2016 I presented to a small group of Frontier folk, a vision for “The Next Frontier”. I also expanded on the history of Frontier with the following passage:
“On September 18, 2014 I registered Frontier Marketing Co as a result of my bank telling me ever so gently that I need to have some documentation to support my use of the word Frontier, until then the ‘grandfathered in*’ trade name of my sole proprietor consulting business.
The shift from Frontier Consulting to Frontier Marketing Co was made after discussions with key people at the time that it’s time to burn our boats and pursue the path of an agency with a bunch of staff instead of a small group of consultants in a tiny office in Fernwood. We found several thousand square feet, turned contractors into employees and started firing bad clients.
Suddenly we were a dirty dozen forging a path for integrated marketing with a dozen clients and some big projects.
[…usual rambling]
You can support FMC by offering support and encouragement to all the staff. You can help us manage expectations during unexpected change and remind us from time to time what you think is so awesome about the team at Frontier, its mission to support charities, and its great work.”
The letter goes on to describe other people and organizations, some of which remain, but most that describe the beginning of a very wild three years for me. One that I did not particularly want, and one that stood in contrast to my original vision.
The purpose of these letters veered from their original purpose. I didn’t want to write company memos to communicate and clarify operational details. I wanted to share stories, talk authentically, and emulate my business-writing heroes in Warren Buffett and Phil Knight.
I wanted to publicly process ideas and guide an organizational vision to support leaders like Francis, Mariam, Steph, Sarah, Jon, Liz, Innes, and Heath. In my mind, it was my job to connect with these leaders, connect them to each other, and connect myself with the outside world.
Ultimately some of my favourite moments writing these letters were getting to do whatever the fuck I wanted, celebrating our team, and bidding them farewell. I enjoyed finding quotes, analogies, pop culture references - whatever it took to convey a concept or feeling.
While I’ve been so sad to see some of my best friends and colleagues leave the last few years, I’ve also enjoyed honouring their departure through these letters. I’m glad I got to say goodbye to Anna, Zach, or Mariam the way I was able.
It was so fun telling you all about our Rookie of the Year award and even more fun letting everyone know it was Katie! I enjoyed celebrating Nick, Sarah, and Sophie crossing the 4 year mark, which meant joining the rest of us on our 4 year plaque and getting an extra week of vacation per year.
I could go on, but here again, that’s not the point of a company memo. If I wanted to get to the point, I’d probably use some bullet points and say the following:
In recent months I communicated that “we are all now Frontier” and while that’s more significant for BKeeper than Charity Electric, it means that all of Benifactor’s employees now report to one General Manager.
That General Manager is Francis Quintal and not, Ben Johnson.
Frontier is run by management (senior leadership), not ownership.
Ownership will have limited powers, via the board of directors.
Ownership and management operate through healthy systems, not arbitrary goals.
Management’s job is to communicate, delegate, predict, and to lead with systems and structures.
When I left management of Frontier to Sarah and the “three wiser women” as they were known several years ago, it was a dirty dozen (an homage to both my baking roots and what I believed to be a super cool movie when I was in grade 9). Now, the company started by a 24 year old is a team of 24. It’s reached a maturity that requires mature leadership, which it now has.
There are a few things I want to get across to you as we close:
Our company memos are no longer my domain and so this is the end of getting eblasts from me and seeing posts on this website.
This upcoming era from Frontier, turning 10 and growing into its maturity is pretty cool
The other ideas and organizations were and are pretty cool but ultimately it’s up to management to see how to chart a course for the next ten years
My next ten years is focused on three things:
enjoying my final ten years with Matthew and Ellie in the home
Stabilizing my family’s financial life and preparing for retirement
Enjoying a career as a Marketing Strategist for Frontier
(And continuing my obsession with dodgeball)
What’s a letter from Ben if there’s no quote, right? How about an organizational one and a personal one. First, this great quote to ponder from Scaling up:
“To get to 10 employees, founders must delegate activities in which they are weak. To get to 50 employees, they have to delegate functions in which they are strong! In many cases, the strength of the top leader becomes the weakness of the organization. “
I’m sure in the years ahead you’ll see Frontier continue to mature as an organization and balance its strengths through efficient and effective leadership, systems and structure.
Personally, I’m enjoying the impracticality of my brain and heart. I’m embracing my desire to be a dad and to help others. I am tossing out tired personal and societal labels and enjoying letting my emotions show and guide me and not giving a shit if as many people like or understand me.
Alice in Wonderland is where I wanted to finish these letters to you, because I’ve always loved the absurdity and resistance to conventionality. I too think of six impossible things before breakfast. Alice’s wisdom led her to say, “It's no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then." That phrase alone has saved me from much negativity but it’s this one that will light my path ahead:
"‘Who in the world am I?' Ah, that's the great puzzle!"
Thank you to all of you who’ve helped me help others. Every one of you who’ve encouraged me to be my authentic self, to enjoy being a dad, to accept the shoes I need to walk in, and simply be a good marketer, you’ve had a tremendous impact on my life.
So long, but not farewell.
Ben,
Lead Strategist and Original Frontiero