Today we’d like to introduce you to Tracy Techau.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I was very fortunate that the Boy Scout council in Saint Paul Minnesota took a chance on me as a fresh college graduate from Iowa State University.
There were no distinct factors that were special to distinguish me from others in my field, but I worked very hard and put in exceedingly long hours. That strong work ethic, combined with a natural curiosity and strong self-confidence, aided my performance in those early years. I am thankful to lots of really good people who took a chance to support my efforts, because they knew I was sincere, responsive and worked hard toward our mutual goals.
Every couple of years I was offered opportunities to take on more responsibilities. Many times, this required a geographic relocation. I have served my organization, the Boy Scouts of America, in six different metropolitan areas. These moves were sometimes personally challenging, but they were incredibly stimulating for professional growth.
A few years ago, I was offered the opportunity to lead Scouting in Atlanta, and it has been my favorite amongst all of the opportunities to serve.
In the early days, I was motivated to succeed for competitive reasons and to achieve recognition and status. Today, thankfully those needs have been met and my motivation is based on serving and supporting my large team and on helping Atlanta families meet their needs with their goals for their children.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Everyone struggles with something, but I feel blessed with many good opportunities that have been presented for my career. Locating multiple times can be challenging to family, and each time my wife, daughters and I came up stronger and we are grateful for those challenges.
One of the main challenges that any “Type A” personality executives, like myself, face is the recognition that situations are not focused on our needs but they are focused on the team’s needs.
As executives, we need to focus on the needs of others. It took me a while to get that point and once I understood that I need to serve my team rather than them serving my needs, I found greater success and much greater enjoyment with how I get to spend each day with the people in my organization.
Please tell us about Atlanta Area Council, Boy Scouts of America.
The Atlanta Area Council, Boy Scouts of America is the premier youth development agency in Atlanta in the arenas of leadership, the development of self-sufficiency and for the inspiration for young people to live their life to its fullest potential. That’s pretty awesome. Our team of executives and support staff get to work every day on these lofty objectives and we make real results.
Scouting is special for many reasons; first is our strength of nearly 10,000 incredible men and women who volunteer in the Atlanta Area Council. Our volunteers give freely of their time and are only compensated with “thank you” in the deep knowledge that they are doing good work for children.
If our volunteers were our employed, then we would be one of the largest employers in the state of Georgia. It’s important to appreciate the value of the contribution of our volunteers who give willingly to promote and plan programs for our 31,000 children in Metro-Atlanta.
Another factor that distinguishes our organization is our commitment to be inclusive and to reach the wonderfully diverse youth and families of Metro-Atlanta. I am pleased that our Cub Scout program, when compared to youth served, comes very close to the statistical population composition of Atlanta. If someone comes to our annual Eagle Court Recognition event they see that we have diverse participation of Scouts all the way up through reaching the rank of Eagle Scout.
While we are never satisfied, and we know there’s always room to improve our diversity, it is a core value of our council.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1800 Circle 75 Parkway, SE
Atlanta, GA 30339 - Website: atlantabsa.org
- Phone: 770-989-8820
- Email: ttechau@atlantabsa.org
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