Absolute Resolutions Corp | Laura Jensen Developing leaders | Receivables Roundtable Ep. 134

Adam:
Hello everybody, Adam Parks here with another episode of Receivables Roundtable. Today I'm here with recurring guest and my good friend, Mrs. Laura Jensen, who is the Chief Marketing Acquisitions Officer with Absolute Resolution Corporation and one of my fellow board members at RMAI. How you doing today, Laura?

Laura Jensen:
Good, Adams, how are you?

Adam:
I'm just realizing that your intro is like a whole mouthful. But for anyone who has not had the pleasure of getting to know you through the years at live events, could you tell everybody a little bit about yourself and how you got to the seat that you're in today?

Laura Jensen:
Sure, happy to. So I started out at Collect America about 20 years ago. They were then known as Square Two Financial, a big national debt buyer. I actually started out managing some of the legal networks and legal performance. After some time in that role, I eventually ended up doing debt sales for Collect America. So resale, which

Adam:
Mm-hmm.

Laura Jensen:
is... kind of a relic of the past. And then about 12 years ago, I joined Absolute Resolutions in acquisitions and have been here moving my way up since then. Got elected to the board of directors in 2020, right before COVID. So, hopefully I remember

Adam:
I'm out.

Laura Jensen:
that date. And I've been on the board since then too.

Adam:
Well, you know, it has been an absolute pleasure having the opportunity to work with you on the RMAI board. And that was kind of like I think we were at a board event when we started talking about leadership in general. And you and I have had so many interesting conversations about leadership through the years that I thought it was a great topic for us to try and tackle on some level here in a short period of time. Now, leadership means so many different things to different people, right? And so we become leaders within our own organizations. We become leaders on a larger stage or on an industry wide stage. But what does that really mean? So like from your perspective and your seat, like what does leadership mean to you?

Laura Jensen:
It's a really good question. It's hard, I think, to put into a short answer, but I will do my best. I think when I've seen the most leadership, either among my peers or when I was much more junior, it was making sure that your teams and everyone around you felt heard

Adam:
Mm-hmm.

Laura Jensen:
and that there was... a there was teamwork. It wasn't one person leading the charge in terms of making all the decisions, not hearing anybody else and just being more bossy than a leader. So I know that's, I could go on for a very long time on what I think leadership is, but I think at the end of the day, it's making sure people are other people are heard and putting all of those ideas together in the best way possible to lead. your organization or your, you know, your nonprofit or your local school group, just forward about moving forward.

Adam:
I agree with all of those things. For me, you know, leadership is about the navigation of an organization or an entity, right? It's about helping to establish the directional points or the vision of like where we're trying to go and then empowering those around us to get to that final location, right? Actually providing the opportunities for others to grow. And this became a very real. conversation for me recently with some people on my leadership team in one of my organizations where someone came to me with a problem. And they said, you know, here's the problem that we're facing. And here's the three options for you to choose from, which I appreciate, right? Like never come with a problem unless you've got some solutions. And

Laura Jensen:
Yes.

Adam:
but all of these solutions directly affected their department and not my day to day. So I kind of looked at them and said, So what decision are you going to make? Like I'm riveted, like what happens next in

Laura Jensen:
Hahaha

Adam:
this incredible story? And they're like, well, next, you make a decision. I said, No, next, you make a decision, right? You're the one that's gonna have to live with the results of this decision for the next five years. Like, I want to put that power in your hands to make that decision. Now, I still knew that all three of those options were headed in the strategic direction that we were looking for, but kind of took that one step back to empower them to make some decisions on how it is that we're going to go about getting to the navigational point that leadership is set. And I think it's a little weird, right? Like to find that balance, because I think as we were growing up, we talked about leadership is kind of like always leading the charge, but as we get a little older and more experienced, we realize it's about empowering other people to lead that charge.

Laura Jensen:
Absolutely, I couldn't agree more. building stakeholders

Adam:
Mm.

Laura Jensen:
in all of your decisions, that's how you really build leaders. It's not about me being leader or you being a leader, it's about those leaders that we don't yet have, right? Because

Adam:
Mm-hmm.

Laura Jensen:
there's no longevity to an organization if the leadership stops with you, you have to find those other people. And you know, there are natural born leaders and those are the people you have to identify, right? You're always going, you can always make people a stakeholder and always give them interest in their decisions,

Adam:
Mm-hmm.

Laura Jensen:
but they may not want or they may not ever be in that leadership position, but we have to do is offer ownership across the board because then you'll identify your leaders and those natural born leaders, they'll rise up. I believe that

Adam:
Mm-hmm.

Laura Jensen:
they will rise up. And if you don't offer, the skin in the game and decisions and like you said, putting it back on them in the sense that you're empowering them, they may leave before you get to really use them to their full potential. So I think it's really important to give those people that opportunity to make those decisions, feel empowered, really start to feel like they belong to whatever group you're working in

Adam:
Mm-hmm.

Laura Jensen:
so that they have longevity because you'll need them.

Adam:
I like what you said about everybody. feeling heard, right? And enabling everybody within that space or under that jurisdiction of leadership to provide their thoughts and to be heard, right? Not just to allow them to speak in the room, but to hear what they have to say to ask insightful questions based on the feedback that they're giving you because there's nobody who knows how to do those jobs like the people that are doing them day to day. And I've found through the years that although I've done every single job in my organizations, That doesn't mean that they're done the same way today that they were done five years ago when I

Laura Jensen:
Mm-hmm.

Adam:
was still managing those processes

Laura Jensen:
Yeah.

Adam:
because we hope that our organizations continue to evolve, right? And as our organizations evolve, we wanna make sure that we're learning those things as we go to and enabling those people that are in various positions throughout an organization to speak up, to be heard, to help drive. or at least to inform the leadership of what their opinions of the strategic vision are. Now

Laura Jensen:
Absolutely.

Adam:
we can't always change in a second, but I think if you empower that conversation, it can take you a long way.

Laura Jensen:
Yeah, I think I got some really good, I'll call it feedback now. At the time it hit home, but I had a manager who said, I know you're sitting here listening to what I'm saying, but are you hearing me? Right. And it's, that's a skill. Like hearing

Adam:
Mm-hmm.

Laura Jensen:
what people are saying is hard. I've listened to a lot of different workshops on communication and management. And one of the things that is a big challenge for me because like to talk is waiting until the person has made their point

Adam:
Mm-hmm.

Laura Jensen:
before you respond. So not thinking about what your response is preemptively, that's hard to do. I also think that, you know, you have with your, maybe your mid-level and junior level volunteers or employees, they're on the front lines. So you as executive management leadership, you can make all the decisions, policies, procedures. everything you want, but if you're not doing it every single day, you're just not going to have the knowledge, did what you put in place work. That's what's really important also

Adam:
Mm-hmm.

Laura Jensen:
to listen to those people is to get their feedback. And you know, maybe it doesn't work. Maybe their ideas are not compliant or not efficient, right? But at least get the feedback.

Adam:
Mm-hmm.

Laura Jensen:
And then work together to come up with solutions. I think that, you know, you said earlier, come up with a solution. That is my biggest pet peeve. You come to me and complain about something all day. I'm glad to let you vent or whatever, but also please come up with a solution. Let's not just worry about the problem. Let's find a solution. And I think, again, those are, I think you're going to be your natural leaders that you can identify or people that want, here's my problem. Here are my options. Here are my ideas to change it, right? I

Adam:
Mm-hmm.

Laura Jensen:
think that's a big leadership quality to look out for and a difference between leaders and maybe not leaders is they have solutions, they have ideas, they wanna make it better. So listen to those people. I don't think, you know, not listening, blowing them off will be to your death.

Adam:
I think it's important to have that say. I think it's incredibly important. It puts our organizations in a position to where we can succeed. I think it's for especially in the debt buying space, right? And as we look at receivables management, so many different people have come up through an organization or have been in a position to succeed. And I think

Laura Jensen:
Mm-hmm.

Adam:
that's a really important point. you know, left another organization and started their own. And now some of those organizations that were little startups back in 2010 are now the powerhouses of the receivables management space. And so I think that when we live in such a small world, a lot of examples are kind of drawn out in front of us. And it's not always the education or the standard criteria that I think people measure leadership. on outside of our space, but it really does come down to the actions that you choose to take and the way in which you interact with your teams and those people around you, because I think this conversation goes beyond just leading within our own organizations, right? Because we get to that point where we understand how our businesses function, we've brought in great people, we're leading that charge, but then we take one step out and we start participating with an association where leadership is quite different when you're dealing with a private organization versus an association. And I'll give one example to that point is, to me, leading my own organization is like driving a speed boat. I can turn left, I can turn right, I can do it in a split second, I can do donuts, I can do whatever I want, it's a private organization. But leadership on a grander scale or leadership within an association, right? We'll use RMAI as an example is a little bit different because you're not leading your own organization with your own decisions. You're leading an organization based on

Laura Jensen:
right?

Adam:
the needs of the many,

Laura Jensen:
Yeah.

Adam:
right? And that to me is a little bit more like driving a cruise ship, right? It's, we all remember space balls, right? But preparing to fast forward, fast forwarding, sir. That's how you feel when you're moving in a larger, association type environment, because there's a lot of feedback, there's a lot of things to consider, there's a lot to be called and analyzed prior to making those decisions. But I still think that the fundamentals remain the same, leadership set strategic vision and says, here's the navigator saying, we're trying to get to over here. And then you've got volunteers and staff and all of these other people involved to help you figure out how to get from point A to point B.

Laura Jensen:
Yeah, I think when you're talking about either internal leadership or more association leadership, it's about instilling, I think, ownership and pride in what you do so when you're not making selfish decisions and people understand that from time to time things will not go the way you want, but there's a broader, grander vision, just like you were saying. One thing that is sometimes challenging at the association level is on the board of directors is taking a step back and thinking about, you know, what's best here for everyone. Certainly, there are decisions we could all make that benefit our companies or a small group of companies, right? But that's not how that kind of leadership works. That kind of leadership is the whole industry, which is a challenging industry to be in. There's no secret there. We are often targeted from all angles. And so making decisions that maybe you just don't really like, I sit on state ledge, you know, and I know that a lot of times bills get passed that just, man, that was another one. But I think behind the scenes, you know, RMA works really hard. and trying to get the most egregious things out. So maybe you look at a bill that got passed and you think, man, what have RMAI done for me lately? Look at this, right? But I think that it's important to understand that as leaders, we tried to get the worst out and get the best possible deal we could. And that's not always easy as a national debt buyer to look at something where that would really hurt us. as a company,

Adam:
You.

Laura Jensen:
it's going to be really expensive to implement compliance with that aspect. We should just

Adam:
I

Laura Jensen:
fight these legislators

Adam:
will.

Laura Jensen:
because we're not going to win that fight. And then you could end up with something worse. So

Adam:
You.

Laura Jensen:
it is challenging when you are leading in your own organization. I'm at a level where I could make a decision and then that's that and that's final. You can't do that in association leadership. You make the wrong decision and you could... make things worse for everyone. So it's different. And you almost are, even though you're a leader, you almost have to take a step back and just understand you don't get to have the final call. So you're not necessarily gonna get your way. And that's tough. I think it's tough to advocate for others.

Adam:
Mm.

Laura Jensen:
That takes a lot of understanding and patience and conversations and understanding things. But yeah, that's a difficult part. doing that association leadership.

Adam:
Agreed, I think it's, you know, when you're dealing with leadership in your own organization, you tend to see the results and everybody sees the results of your work and all the work that you're putting in because

Laura Jensen:
Mm-hmm.

Adam:
it's a little bit more in-person and tight knit. Whereas when you're, these battles that are being fought by associations are not always as in the limelight, so to speak. And so I think it becomes this little bit of a, what have you done for me lately? which can be a personal challenge when you've got a lot of responsibilities on your back and when you're fighting with everything that you have, or you're putting all of your energy towards something, but it's not as visual of a result as you have in other aspects of your life. But let me ask you this, Laura, as someone who has... done all of the jobs in the organization and grown as an individual, you know, through the years, what advice would you have for someone in the industry that wants to be a leader in the future or develop their leadership skills?

Laura Jensen:
I think, and really what helped propel me forward was expressing that interest. I know,

Adam:
Mm-hmm.

Laura Jensen:
I think there's people out there who are intrigued by it and wanna do it. Don't be afraid to just reach, you could reach out to a board member, there's peer groups, there's the women's conference, I think is a great opportunity to network, from my perspective with other women that are in different. roles and learn

Adam:
Mm-hmm.

Laura Jensen:
and ask questions. How do they get there? What's their story? I think you will find there are so many unique stories in this industry of how people got to where they are. But I think that you'll see a few characteristics in common with everyone. I think people are, there's a lot of perseverance. There's a lot of hard times in this industry. You got to put up with a lot. Nobody that I personally know. has had an easy path, it's been a lot

Adam:
Yeah.

Laura Jensen:
of hard work. So talking with somebody and understanding some of the challenges that they've navigated,

Adam:
I love you.

Laura Jensen:
I think that's really helpful. And in terms of association management, you can always reach out, I mean, anyone can reach out to me, any former board members, current board members, I know that everyone that's done it would be happy to talk with anybody about how to get there. One of the... First thing to do if you're not doing it in any volunteer association is volunteer.

Adam:
Thank

Laura Jensen:
I mean,

Adam:
you.

Laura Jensen:
no matter what nonprofit you're talking about, they all have volunteer opportunities and they can start to get plugged into different committees and leadership opportunities and move your way up. It doesn't happen overnight, but it's also not hard to do. Anybody who wants to do it can find a way to do it.

Adam:
I think our industry is one of the most open industries that I've ever experienced, right? Everybody is so open, they're giving, they're willing to lend their assistance. I mean, I can't even count how many times I've called you and said, hey, I have a problem or I have a thought or I don't know how to address this. And there's everybody is is having these really open conversations. It's one of the few, if not the only industry I've ever seen where you have all of these different organizations that may be competing with each other, but then are sharing leadership stories and helping each other to improve and to take things to the next level, which I think is really just is a incredible environment by which to develop leadership skills, by which to improve on ourselves over time and to kind of attack things from that methodology. For me, I find this to be a very open industry. Like there's a lot of opportunity to reach out to people and have those discussions. We all started somewhere, right?

Laura Jensen:
Mm-hmm.

Adam:
And just like the first podcast that I did was a lot worse than the ones that we're doing today, right? Like you just have to roll up your sleeves, start doing the work and good things will happen over time. It's not a, there's no major barrier to entry when it comes to leadership in our space. I think

Laura Jensen:
I agree.

Adam:
there's an option.

Laura Jensen:
Yeah, I think, I've never, I'm just trying to think, I mean, in 20 years, I've had people be open with me to give advice or feedback or friendship. I'm just trying to think back. I mean, when I was very first starting out, I had some, a lot of women to look up to and talk to and I've... I can't recall a time I've ever reached out to talk to someone and ask questions that I got any sort of negative reaction. I agree with you. It's very open. It's pretty small, really.

Adam:
It's

Laura Jensen:
Everybody

Adam:
very

Laura Jensen:
kind of

Adam:
small.

Laura Jensen:
knows each other. But yeah, I really think it's, I agree with you. Everyone's always looking for and encouraging new leadership, right? So there's kind of these. like generations that have gone through the industry. And it'll be fun. I'm looking forward to seeing the next generation of leaders. I know they're out there. I talk to people all the time that I think are going to continue to, you know, build their brand in the space and be leaders, thought leaders. You know, there's so many opportunities to get

Adam:
Mm-hmm.

Laura Jensen:
exposure and become a leader. There's... All the conferences we have are a lot of them are very open to proposals for presentations

Adam:
Mm-hmm.

Laura Jensen:
for you to participate in and share your expertise. Right. We talked about earlier, the people on the front lines, like people have their areas of expertise

Adam:
Mm-hmm.

Laura Jensen:
and even though it may be very repetitive, if you're on the front lines, you know, a lot of stuff that a lot of other people don't. And

Adam:
Mm-hmm.

Laura Jensen:
I think sharing that information, sharing ideas, best practices. There's always opportunity to do that and build yourself out and then you get to know other people other opportunities, right? So just kind of build

Adam:
Well, being in that right place at that right time, right, is always such an important factor being at the live events like we'll be at the Army I summit here over the next few

Laura Jensen:
Yeah.

Adam:
weeks in Monterey, California, you know, that's an opportunity for everyone to kind of come together and have those discussions. There'll also be announcements about the baseball networking event in Denver, Colorado coming up in September, right, there's all these different live events and opportunities there. And I know you mentioned speaking engagements, people can also submit speaking opportunity or speaking proposals for the RMAI annual conference taking place in February 2024. I believe those are due the first week of August. So there is an opportunity right here, right now for people to get involved, to get themselves noticed, and to get out there on the industry-wide stage. But, Lauren, I really appreciate you coming on. I always enjoy these little conversations that we've been having on the sidelines for years. It's fun to do one on camera as well.

Laura Jensen:
Thanks for having me. I really enjoyed this one. It was a good one. Good stuff.

Adam:
I think this was fun. For those of you that are watching,

Laura Jensen:
Yeah.

Adam:
if you have additional questions that you'd like to ask Laura and myself, you can leave those in the comments on LinkedIn and YouTube and we'll be responding to those. If you have additional topics that you'd like to see us cover, you can leave those in the comments as well. And I'm sure I can get Laura to come back here at least one more time to help me creating great content for a great industry. But until next time, I look forward to seeing a lot of you at the RMAI Summit coming up here in the next few weeks. And Laura, I look forward to seeing you there as well.

Laura Jensen:
Me too. And don't forget to go ahead and bid on the legislative fundraising auction because we can always use support in our advocacy efforts. My

Adam:
Absolutely.

Laura Jensen:
pitch, there's my board pitch.

Adam:
Well, thank you so much. We really appreciate it. And thank you everybody for watching. We'll see you again soon.