In the 1980s, Niles Bolton
Associates Inc. grew more
than 25 percent each year for five years straight, but
Niles Bolton says that growth
came with a cost.
“We outran our senior management and outran our talent
pool,” says the company’s
founder and CEO.
To resolve the issue, Bolton
became more selective when
taking on new contracts, which,
in turn, allowed him to be more
selective when hiring employees. Today, the 33-year-old
architectural firm’s controlled
growth plan has resulted in stability and success, posting 2007
revenue of $42 million.
Smart Business spoke with
Bolton about how to inspire
your employees and why they
should wear ties — but you
shouldn’t wear your concerns
on your sleeve.
Q. How do you inspire your
employees to be better
professionals?
I grew up in the Boy Scouts
and the Army and found what
it took for me to work and
gain the confidence of the people that I was leading.
I’m the chief cheerleader
around here. If I walk around
and something is bothering
me, the staff can read me like
a book. I’ve got to have a positive attitude and can’t let them
see me when I’m worried
about something or else they’ll
start questioning and wonder
what’s changing.
I have an MBWA — management by wandering around.
You get what you inspect, not
what you expect. It’s amazing
what you learn by walking
through every day and noticing how people work and
what they do.
I may go up to somebody
and say, ‘What are you messing up today?’ Well, if they
know me, then they know I’m
not being harsh. That’s my
way of joking with them and
getting with them. I’m looking
to see what project they’re
working on and trying to keep
it light and fun — the cheerleader side.
But there are times I’m going
to see things that will bother
me. Then I can pass those comments on to somebody. I
noticed this happen, what this
person is doing. But when I
walk around, then they tend to
feel that it’s easier to turn
around and ask a question.
Drop in and out of
conference rooms
where your staff has
meetings going on. It’s
amazing what you pick
up on and understand.
Then they know that
you are keeping up with
what’s going on. And
they believe in you
because you’re not sitting back, just in an
office and never around.
They know you’re
aware of things and
want to keep up.
