Inspirational phrases such as “Freedom to Learn” and “Choose your Attitude” are posted throughout the offices of Ohio State Waterproofing to help remind the employees of its culture. The words describe the environment CEO Nick DiCello has tried to create at the $70 million, 350-employee waterproofing contractor, an atmosphere where employees are encouraged to think outside the box and try something new, where you either get the job done or you learn from your mistakes and do it better the next time. Smart Business spoke with DiCello about how he empowers his employees and creates a culture of creativity.
Don’t be complacent.
The biggest pitfall that rears its head is something that I’ve tagged complacency.
Change happens daily in today’s world. Consumers as well as employees, their expectations grow and grow and grow. Consumers and employees want more and more; it changes almost daily
People in a leadership role accept that what they did last month, last year, would satisfy what people are going to want today or tomorrow and I just don’t believe that. To prevent yourself from falling into that trap, one of the thing we’ve done here is implemented the ‘learn, modify, grow’ culture. It really is designed to prevent us from falling into that complacency trap.
Innovate to stay competitive.
A very simple question that is asked around here is, ‘What if?’ You can help formulate people’s expectations or their wants before they even realize that it’s something they may want.
For example, people are satisfied that we can dry up their basement. We can do better than that. So we developed a ventilation system for the basement that makes the basement smell better, a healthier environment. We developed that and we threw that out there, and now consumers want it.
I know there’s change coming, and by thinking that way and not allowing complacency, we positioned ourselves in such a way that we formulated what people may want or expect. This type of mindset, this culture of, ‘How can we make it better for everybody?’ this takes place every day with everybody.
Everybody in this company realizes they’ve got a responsibility to themselves and their co-workers to be thinking that way.
Be a shining example.
Half the reason for my speeding tickets is I’m so excited to get to work in the morning, and I’m not the only guy who feels that way.
When people come in to the office, they often comment on the energy and attitude and enthusiasm. They just feel it; it’s almost like sticking a finger in an electric socket.
It’s genuine because people have taken ownership with it. When you’re in a positive, energized, enthusiastic environment, who doesn’t want to be a part of something like that?
Empower your workers, and the energy will follow.
Quality or extraordinary people are really inspired when they’re empowered. When people are positioned to make decisions for themselves, to develop business plans and to work in this ‘work, learn, modify’ culture, that type of environment really promotes a tremendous amount of commitment and longevity.
My leadership style is designed to help people in any way possible, most importantly in trying to give them some direction. Once we have an agreement on the direction we’re going to take, I then look to empower people to achieve whatever their goals are and accomplish the task.
When I work with people, they are expected to sit and meet with me and come prepared with solutions or plans or a path to accomplish their goals.
I will support them in giving my ideas, but ultimately, I look to empower people to be creative, to think outside the box and learn from the doing. When you position people like that, it brings out the best in those people who want to excel. It’s a lot easier to surround yourself with 10 people who are leading themselves and leading 10 other people than try to lead each and every individual every day. You’d never grow beyond a one or two staff type of company.
Know what you want it to look like.
One of the phrases we use a lot around here is, ‘What does it look like?’ If we have a challenge or a need for a solution, our first goal is to make sure we have an agreement on what does it look like so we’re all on the same page.
Decisions are easy when everybody’s looking in the same direction. However, decision-making is difficult when you don’t start off with some sort of agreement on what you’re looking to accomplish.
We spend as much time trying to make sure we are clear on what we envision as the task, and then all of our energy is pointed in the same direction. If you’ve got five people in a boat rowing in the same direction, it’s pretty easy to get where you want to go.
Have a can-do attitude.
I don’t think there’s anything that replaces hard work. Hard work with a real commitment to succeed is a key ingredient.
Always approach everything in life with a real can-do attitude. I approach almost every task with the belief that it will get done. If it doesn’t get done, I also have the belief that in the process there’s at least a ‘learn.’
You’re either going to come out with the success of getting something done, or you learn something in the process. I don’t believe there’s such a thing as failures. You either win, or you learn.
When we fall short of our goals, the question you hear asked a thousand times a day in this company is, ‘What did you learn?’ Based on those ‘learns,’ how can we modify the thinking and load it up and try those ideas? If you succeed, we acknowledge it, if you don’t, we back up again and ask, ‘What did we learn?’ We continue that until we succeed.
A lot of people work 9-to-5. Nine-to-5 is a job. Success takes a lot more time and effort and hours than 9-to-5. Success is priority No. 1, and you do what it takes to achieve it.
HOW TO REACH: Ohio State Waterproofing, (330) 467-1055 or www.ohiostatewaterproofing.com
