Leading the world’s preeminent corporate real estate (CRE) association might seem an Olympian task.
In fact, that’s how 1980 U.S. Olympic team member Andy Bessette (right) views his upcoming stint as president of the International Development Research Council (IDRC). “Team,” though, is the key word in the parallels between IDRC and the Olympics, where hammer thrower Bessette threw a 16-pound (7.2-kg.) ball on a four-foot (1.22-m.) wire more than 235 feet (72 m.) — farther than most folks can fling a baseball.
“A lot of people see hammer throwing as an individual sport, but it’s a team sport as much as anything else,” says Bessette, vice president of corporate real estate services for Travelers Property Casualty Corp. “I had a well-integrated team behind me: my coaches, people who helped me with sports psychology, my wife.
“And, yes, that’s equally true with being IDRC president. I’m really proud to do it, but I’m just a cog in the wheel. What makes IDRC great is our team, our membership — the most powerful thing we have. Our challenge as a team is to take IDRC and the profession to the next level.”
Extending IDRC’s Integration
“Only connect,” wrote E.M. Forster. And that echoes how IDRC’s incoming president operates. He’s seemingly always searching for connections in words like “team” and “integration.”
Integration, in fact, is a recurrent theme in how Bessette envisions his 2000-2001 IDRC presidency, which will begin after IDRC’s April 29-May 3 New York World Congress. That’s certainly apropos, since IDRC has become a leader in Corporate Infrastructure Resource ManagementTM (CIR).
Bessette, for example, wants to accelerate IDRC’s integration of research, education and CRE certification. “And the Discovery and Leadership Forums (see pg. 368) are such great tools, with leadership at all levels visualizing the future in real time,” he says.
Bessette also sees huge potential payoffs in integrating with other groups, including NACORE, with whom IDRC is discussing an integration of organizations.
“In the corporate world, we explore integration all the time in mergers and acquisitions,” he says. “We’ve done that year after year at the Travelers and now at Citigroup, and so many good things come out of it. And CIR integration occurs every day within our companies, adding value to the business process.
“Similarly, exploring integrating with associations like NACORE, becoming more broad and encompassing, is so healthy and important. It forces you to think about exactly what you want your organization to be, and it will do nothing but strengthen IDRC. Personally, I love the idea of integrating the two organizations, which are so strong separately, with such great memberships.”
Mills Remains Mentor
Talking to Andy Bessette inevitably evokes two other integrative words: Wayne Mills — who retired last year after a long, lauded career that included IDRC’s 1991-92 presidency.
Bessette spent his first four years at the Travelers in human relations and facilities. (Ironically, given today’s integration push, those two functions were integrated then.)
Then in 1984, Bessette joined Travelers’ CRE, headed by Mills.
“He became my mentor, and he still is,” Bessette says with obvious feeling. “I still see him all the time. I’ve never known anyone as passionate about the profession and yet so humble about all he’s accomplished. He was a major force in one of the big industry transitions I’ve seen: from being more focused on transactions — which are still very important — to becoming much more integral in corporate strategy.”
Mills, in fact, makes a Bessette dream team: “The three most important people who have had the most influence in my life have been my dad, my coach when I was trying to make the Olympics, and Wayne.”
Andy Bessette extends that lineage, finding the important connections in his work and life.
Right now, for example, he’s hurrying home for his daughter’s birthday. The next day, he leaves for IDRC’s Beijing World Congress.
The Olympian, it seems, is still going flat out.
