Chris Powers - Focus on What You’re Good At - Ep.192

Think Like an Owner

Ep.192: Alex (@aebridgeman) is joined by Chris Powers (@fortworthchris).

My guest today is Chris Powers, founder and chairman of Fort Capital, an industrial real estate investor based in Fort Worth, TX. Chris is also the host of The Fort Podcast, which I was a guest on just last week and we’ll link to that episode in the show notes. Chris has built an amazing real estate firm and recently promoted his business partner Jason to CEO so he could step into a chairman role. We talk primarily today about his role as a leader in Fort, but we also recorded an episode together a few years ago with a focus on his investing strategy — episode 70 from June 2021.

This discussion centers around what he’s learned running Fort, both as CEO and Chairman, including tactics and strategies that have been effective, how organizations scale, looking up to peer businesses and modeling the path there, identifying what you’re good at, and mentorship.

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Learn more about Alex and Think Like an Owner at https://tlaopodcast.com/

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Links:

Chris on Twitter

The Fort Podcast

Alex's appearance on The Fort

Fort Capital

Chris' first appearance on TLAO

Topics:

(00:00:00) Intro

(00:05:11) Chris’ elevator pitch

(00:06:22) What drives your passion for thinking?

(00:07:45) Are there any companies or people you study and learn from?

(00:10:10) Are there any common mindsets at places like Berkshire and Blackstone?

(00:13:06) What feels risky to Fort Capital that wouldn’t feel risky to a Blackstone?

(00:14:47) Are there any dangers to studying people or companies who are 10-20 steps ahead of you?

(00:17:19) How do you identify “your way”?

(00:20:09) How did focusing only on industrial real estate lead to massive growth?

(00:27:09) What do you notice from folks who remain as the CEO as they get from 0 to 1?

(00:29:11) Fear of delegation

(00:35:20) How has the flywheel spun since you stepped out of the CEO role?

(00:39:03) What have you done to sideline your ego in decision-making

(00:42:58) Where have you drawn the line between your decisions and those of the CEO?

(00:46:50) What have you learned about healthy disagreement?

(00:48:43) How do you get people to understand that disagreements aren’t personal?

(00:51:43) What are some ways you’ve found to be an effective mentor?

(01:01:02) Chris’ experience with executive coaching

(01:04:30) What skill are you hoping to achieve over the next year?