An American Thanksgiving

Last week while I was at the Schwab Impact conference in Chicago, the country I grew up in had a revolt that placed 92-year-old President Robert Mugabe into military confinement.

Until yesterday, he had led Zimbabwe since 1980, when I was a pimply faced 12-year-old student dreaming of coming to America. I lived through the civil war and the ensuing transition from white minority leadership to an emerging majority led democracy (or at least the African version of one).

As a first generation American, I can’t help but think about the differences between the country I grew up in and my adopted home and contrast why two countries, both with really good people who want the same things, can have such fundamentally different experiences. In those differences are principles that every one of us should seek to instill in our companies. So in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I’m going to highlight three unique traits that are the cornerstone of America’s special sauce.

1. We live and invest in the future, not in the past.

Tradition matters, but it can become a boat anchor to progress. The U.S. is not remotely the same country it was when I arrived in the late 1980s in almost every way other than our values and our respect for the rule of law. Our process of creative destruction means we are always reinventing ourselves.

Zimbabwe has never really moved on from the civil war that turned the country from white rule to majority rule. Whenever I return, I’m struck by how little has changed (other than the unpredictable currency situation). It’s been almost four decades and the majority of the population wasn’t even alive when the war was fought, yet it is still the lens through which the country sees itself. There is almost no investment in moving the country forward.

Great companies acknowledge their history but spend the vast majority of their time thinking about the future, moving beyond past victories and failures. They commit the majority of their time evolving into the next best version of themselves. How true is that at your firm? Would your clients say you have grown and evolved? Would your employees? How much are you investing in innovation?

2. We welcome open debate about our differences.​

The U.S. is one of the rare countries that welcomes disagreement and defends the right of everyone to have an alternate viewpoint. You won’t find that in most of the world where you have to watch what you say for fear of recrimination. Open debate is viewed as a liability in much of the world, but not here, where disagreement is relished.

Great companies follow the same frame; leadership encourages discussion and questions themselves, welcomes alternate views and recognizes employees that think differently about how to solve challenges (even if they are different than the CEO’s).

Concentrated power and singular perspectives in decision making limit creativity and progress. Do employees share their opinions when they’re different than yours? When was the last time you said you were wrong? How often do you follow the advice of others?

3. We are a meritocracy.

Even though the decks are definitely stacked against some more than others, any person can craft an incredible future for themselves in America. That’s not true in most of the world where, depending on where you are born and who you are born to, there’s a ceiling limiting what you can accomplish, no matter how hard you work.

I cannot imagine there is any other country in the world where a young Zimbabwean like me with $200 and no contacts could end up building two multibillion dollar wealth management firms in under two decades.

Great companies reward and create opportunity for everyone. They open doors for income and personal growth to the people that help lift the firm. Are you investing in your up and comers? Do your folks get rewarded because of their history or because of their contribution?

IN APPRECIATION

I have been to six continents and over 50 countries in my life. Every one of them has people that are remarkably similar if you get past the language, their culture and their heritage. They all want the same thing: to be happy, to avoid suffering and to provide for their loved ones. In my experience, there is no country in the world where that is more possible than America, regardless of all the bickering that tells you otherwise.

This Thanksgiving I will enjoy the turkey and the football with friends and family and send prayers of hope for the country that I grew up in and that shaped me. But I will mostly celebrate the country that is my home and has given me every good thing I have in my life. Thank you America, you really are the best.

Joe Duran is chief executive of United Capital. Follow him @DuranMoney.