Don’s Thoughts

All growth organizations face growing pains, especially those that grow at speed. But the Quarterly Town Hall isn’t all about highlighting shortcomings. It’s an opportunity for us to realign as a company on our mission and vision, take stock of our progress toward our goals, and plan for the miles ahead on the Twenty-Mile March to achieve them.

Some of the top updates we shared:

• We saw an increase in our overall engagement and employee net promoter score, remaining above the industry average in both areas.
• Our 7-year checkpoints are directional in nature. Even still, we are on track to achieve five of our six checkpoints for 2031.
• Based on this year’s performance, DLP is on track to meet most of our 3-year aim figures set in January, including those for deals financed via DLP Capital’s sponsored funds, and on pace to outperform the 3-year aim for capital raise.
• DLP is on track to meet our one-year bullseye set in January for key numbers, including our goals for extraordinary people retention, interest collected, and lives impacted.

Building a Team for The Arena

Each Monday, DLP kicks off the week with our Company Huddle. Whether remote or in-office, working as an employee of DLP Capital, DLP Bank, or Dream Live Prosper Communities, everyone comes together for this early morning meeting to align for the week ahead and celebrate wins as a team. The meetings always end with a quote read by a team member, giving everyone some inspiration to take with them. This quote from Theodore Roosevelt closed one of our recent huddles and, since then, has found a spot framed in my office. It reminds me of the team we work tirelessly to build at DLP, made of individuals and leaders ready to take their place in the arena.

Make no mistake: being the man or woman in the arena isn’t easy. It’s not playing a passive role on the sidelines; it’s taking charge with two hands firmly placed on the wheel, steering the ship not just by making decisions but, more importantly, by owning the execution and results—whether things go right or wrong. These are the people who step up, bring forward new ideas, take charge, and take criticism, not those who sit comfortably in the shadows, criticizing others. These people represent the smallest percentage of our society but can make the most significant impact, which is why we are committed to developing these leaders here at DLP.

Our mantra, "Leaders Made Here," is a call to those who want to take their place in the arena. There are innate qualities within all leaders that can’t always be taught, especially discipline and drive. These are the people we seek out, whether they know they have leadership within them or not. From there, we pride ourselves on offering the resources and opportunities for those who wish to become the man or woman in the arena.

In addition to our ongoing emphasis on leadership, including our Driven 4 Greatness book club and our Accelerator Program (highlighted in our recent Quarterly Impact Report), DLP and the DLP Positive Returns Foundation are introducing two new leadership development programs to close the year.

• Beyond Success Roundtables: The DLP Positive Returns Foundation kicked off its first cohort of this leadership training program from John C. Maxwell’s non-profit, EQUIP. There was overwhelming interest in joining this first cohort, with 150 participants signed up across 20 roundtable groups, which will complete the program over 8 weeks.
• Leaders Thrive Here: Once made here, DLP wants leaders to thrive, as well. Over the last few months, we’ve doubled down in this area, starting with regular leadership training for everyone in a leadership seat. This month, we’ll roll out a three-month training program structured around the book It’s The Manager. Informed by Gallup’s largest study of the future of work, the lessons in the 52-chapter book will be broken down into six parts, with six senior leaders leading the training for each.

I look forward to sharing the successes and learnings from these programs with you in the coming months.

Doing Well is Not the Same as Leading Well: Lessons from Gapology

Gapology: How Winning Leaders Close Performance Gaps is one of the more recent reads from Driven 4 Greatness (D4G), DLP’s leadership-focused book club. What started as one book from authors Mark Thienes and Brian Brockhoff has grown into a movement, with the pair now offering a Gapology training program, multiple other installments in the Gapology book series, and a podcast that I highly recommend.

The authors spent over a decade analyzing the behaviors, tactics, and results of leaders to look for the secret sauce of a “winning” leader. What they discovered is that all performance gaps, whether it’s a team of 10 or a team of 500, fall into one of three categories (or some combination of the three): knowledge gaps, importance gaps, and action gaps. But that’s not the important part of the story: it’s how to close these gaps, a process they termed “Gapology,” that really matters.

The book details nine strategies for closing performance gaps within teams quickly and permanently. I encourage you to learn more about these strategies, but I want to share another part of Gapology with you today: EDGE. EDGE is an acronym for 4 key characteristics that Thienes and Brockoff have identified as universal to what they consider “winning” leaders. 

There’s a harsh but essential truth in mentoring future leaders: doing well is not the same as leading well. Your highest-performing, most dedicated contributor may not immediately become your highest-performing leader—but that doesn’t mean they can’t. An intentional and focused mindset from both an emerging leader and their mentor(s) in senior leadership seats is critical to setting the foundation for a successful future.

The transition between contributor and leader can simultaneously be exhilarating, challenging, and terrifying. Without the proper toolkit, it’s easy for new leaders to get frustrated and overwhelmed. When we’re faced with being the leader of leaders, it’s our responsibility to give them this toolkit, not just a title. Knowing, understanding, and striving to internalize EDGE qualities can change an emerging leader’s trajectory. Here’s how they are laid out in Gapology.

Energy: Winning leaders display a clearly recognizable level of energy in their leadership. This energy is powerful, infectious, and inspiring. They speak with passion and confidence that is empathetic and purposeful. They move quickly but with intent. They are seen as direct and caring in a way that brings others along with them. An infectious level of energy is a critical element of their personal and professional brand.

Decisive: Winning leaders make decisions quickly but purposefully. They are carefully aligned with their designed purpose, and that alignment is their compass that keeps them heading in a direction they believe in. Purpose and understanding the reasons for things give them clarity in times of conflict, confusion, or stress. Those volatile moments define a leader’s ability in the eyes of others, and having a clear and compelling purpose that is shared with the team makes correct decisions easier to see and choose.

Greatness: Winning leaders aspire for greatness. They set it as their expectation, as well as for their team, leadership, and overall organization. Greatness is the objective of every initiative, project, or result. When they fall short of that expectation, these leaders quickly analyze the behavioral elements and course-correct to minimize any negative impacts. No outcome but the very best is expected.

If you want to hear more, listen to this episode of the Gapology Radio podcast.

Mark Batterson and John C. Maxwell Join Our November Event Lineup

If you haven’t been able to make it to one of our events in 2024, this one is a true can’t-miss, with our annual Investor Day closing out the three-day event.

I’m especially excited to announce that for the first time, we’ll have best-selling author and pastor Mark Batterson as a speaker at the event. Batterson is the author of one of my all-time favorite books, Chase the Lion, which I re-read alongside the DLP team each year. Attendees will get an advance copy of his newest book, A Million Little Miracles.

Other speakers include leadership expert John C. Maxwell, best-selling author Jon Gordon, and Joby Martin, pastor at The Church of Eleven22.

Backpack Drive Success

On behalf of my wife Carla and the team at DLP, I want to extend my sincere gratitude to everyone who contributed to making our recent backpack drive for the Allentown school district an incredible success. Your donations made it possible for our Allentown office to fill 510 backpacks, which we delivered to grateful families as they kicked off the 2024-2025 school year.

Our St. Augustine office also held a backpack drive led by DLP Positive Returns Foundation Director Danny Sells, filling 200 backpacks for the local Boys and Girls Club.

DISCLOSURE

Statements are those of Don Wenner/DLP Capital only and are not guaranteed, nor should such statements be relied upon. Forward-looking statements are expressions and beliefs of DLP Capital and should not be relied upon. Past performance is not a guarantee of future performance. Nothing in this is a solicitation or offer of solicitation. All investments in any DLP Capital Sponsored Fund are to be made after review of the PPM, OA, and subscription agreement. DLP Capital is not providing tax advice. Consult your tax and legal professional before making any investment decisions.