A million years ago I got my first job in association management. I was the assistant to Dick Reucker, the executive director of the Valley of the Sun (Phoenix) Electric League. He was a great guy and a terrific mentor.

We had many spirited discussions about what to do and how to do it. The debate was always about ideas, never about personalities. There was often a lot of heat in these conversations and the other people in the office, as well as outside consultants, were often alarmed we were about to come to blows.

When these debates went on for awhile, Dick would say, “Why do you keep arguing so much?” I would usually point to a sign on his wall, which read, “When two men in a business always agree, one of them is unnecessary!”

With a sigh of exasperation, he would then make a decision and we would move on. After all, as he often reminded me, he was the boss. This was an innovating and exciting part of the job and proved to be a great learning experience.

On one occasion, his college-age son was working for me making deliveries for a promotion we were about to run. Unfortunately, he wasn’t keeping to the agreed schedule and then I caught him being less than forthright about what he’d done. After several warnings, I fired him. His mother was upset with me, but Dick backed me up 100 percent.

At another point down the road, Dick did get somewhat upset with me. Someone who we both knew inquired as to whether I would be interested in changing jobs. I didn’t take the conversation all that seriously and I was fairly convinced I wouldn’t like working for that person, but Dick found out about it.

Dick told me in no uncertain terms that if anyone offered me a job or I sought out another job, he wanted to know about it directly from me, not from a third party. If I agreed to that, he said, as long as I stayed there, he would work my tail off, teach me everything he could and when the time came he would help me find a better job.

He lived up to his commitment and I lived up to mine. In fact, he recommended me for my next job at the local TV station and again a few years later when he was approached to take over a large association in Los Angeles. He told them he wasn’t interested, but that I was the right person for the job.

I was a bit reluctant to pursue either one of these new opportunities; I felt being Dick’s assistant was the best job in the world. Even though the compensation was limited, I wasn’t sure I could function as effectively on my own.

Looking back, I now realize that without the experience of working for Dick Reucker, I could never have made it on my own.

What do you think?

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