What Neal Taught Us About Excellence

PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 2023

This marks the 30th year since Ingram’s organized and showcased the merits of extraordinary women in leadership roles. Some may take for granted the recognition-oriented nature of this publication, but one must remember that excellence should be recognized—it stimulates personal, corporate and civic contribution. 

Cerner founder Neal Patterson was an acquaintance and a bit of a mentor, in an odd kind of way. Neal’s terrific wife, Jeanne, and I grew up together, which reinforced this friendship. I point out Neal and Cerner as they remain to this day the all-time appearance leader on the Corporate Report 100—our annual competition to determine the region’s fastest-growing companies. As a young adult, I focused on top-line growth and I know Neal and Cliff Illig did as well. The difference is they had several more zeros in their revenue column and their profits were far more impressive than everyone else’s. Each year prior to our release of Corporate Report 100 I’d get the call from Neal: “WELL?” 

One year I belly laughed when Neal called as we had just concluded the CR 100 ranking. “What the hell is so funny Sweeney?” Sorry to say, Neal but Cerner ranked No. 101 this year. “You got to be kidding me—are you certain everyone in the 100 is legit?” You see, Cerner had reached the billion-dollar club; doubling in growth in a given year was nearly impossible. But they honestly tried. What I love about that experience and story was how driven a man was to achieve in a competition and be included among organizations that earn recognition.

I read Dennis Boone’s column on Page 11 with interest and I’d like to make a comparison. The Kansas City Star for many decades absolutely bullied, walked over and bad-mouthed, with an agenda that was clear and dominating. For decades they could get away with it. I mention this to explain my interpretation of the mission of journalism: To present the facts and to allow readers to form their own opinions. My Dad was the last elected assessor of Jackson County, so our family was routinely victimized by the The Star over the years. So, yes, my opinion was tainted by those public attacks. He was an honest man and he couldn’t be bought. This was a good lesson for a young soon-to-be journalist to learn. Dad studied the assessed values of real estate owners and came to realize the The Star was enjoying Tom Pendergast-era assessed values and paying a small fraction of its fair obligation.

To be transparent, I should say the jokers at Jackson County today are far beyond establishing themselves as the biggest buffoons in modern property valuation and fair assessment practices. We saw in the ‘80s a massive migration out of Jackson County; hence, Johnson County flourished. This trend  continues today. Mark my words: It won’t be long before corporate citizens and prominent leaders abandon Jackson County because of this foolishness. Sadly, the citizens who continue to elect these loons have brought upon themselves these problems. 

I raced across state to vote this month—an American right I value above most others. The Jackson County ballot included precisely one item, asking for the authority to increase taxes. That was a hard “no.”

Leaders Step Forward, Please.

We recognize excellence for a number of reasons, not withstanding, it’s the right thing to do. We hope so doing that we encourage and stimulate further growth and confidence. Looking back, Ingram’s has recognized 1,000 young leaders with our 40 Under Forty awards. Many continue to run the biggest and most successful companies throughout our region; some have moved on to serve in Congress and in state, county and city governments. God bless those that serve our citizenry. Most are noble servants and we all should appreciate their service.

Along those same lines, a shout-out to this year’s WeKC honorees. We began this recognition program 22 years ago, and with this year’s class, we have named and honored 244 extraordinary leaders. Adele Hall was among the first class of WeKC honorees and one would never know she possessed a few more zeros associated with net worth. Adele was an extraordinary lady and a valued friend. My hope would be that each WeKC honoree would pursue a dream and act with Adele’s grace, spirit and unending support.

It’s not for the money that I occupy the publisher’s seat at Ingram’s, but I do believe in fair and balanced journalism and recognizing those that deserve such and calling it like I see it in this region I love. 

As we embark on celebrating Ingram’s 50th Anniversary in 2024, we hope your organization will step up and join our mission to celebrate business excellence throughout the greater KC and bi-state region. Throughout the year, we’ll honor iconic leaders, extraordinary companies and organizations, and take stock of the developments and transformative events that created the KC we know, love and enjoy today. We love our home and greatly appreciate the extraordinary people and companies that collectively build our culture. Thank you for allowing us this opportunity to have a say in half a century of growth and prosperity in this great city and for allowing this small publishing firm an opportunity to walk beside the giants who built it.

One last comment you might enjoy. In concluding a presentation this past summer in Detroit to hundreds of colleagues, the last question to the panel was channeled  to me: How can Ingram’s produce so many great special editions? “If you sons of bitches could field a team that could contend with our Kansas City Chiefs, you could produce a few of those Super Bowl special editions too!” This, as you’ll imagine, was the start of one of the greatest trash-talking dialogues of my career … and I believe Neal may have been the angel on my shoulder that bold afternoon in Detroit. I really love this place!