Outside the box

Eddie Fadel
president, Ashworth Inc.

George Haligowski
CEO, Imperial Capital Bancorp Inc.

Joseph Ram
CEO, InfoSonics Corp.

Sometimes the best business advice
looks outside the corporate model and
draws on metaphors and analogies to
illustrate successful practices. Here are
some colorful examples from the past
year.

Fadel: Eddie Fadel, the president of
golf apparel provider Ashworth Inc., is
always looking to build on what he’s
already improved.

“Don’t stand still,” he says. “You have
to constantly elevate. Every season,
say, ‘What are we doing better than we
did six months or a year ago?’ I can tell
you there are a lot of things we’re doing
better today, but there’s still a lot of
room for improvement.

“You’re never done, and you’re always
trying to get better. It’s like a golfer —
if you shot in the 90s, once you shoot in
the 80s, then you try to shoot in the
70s. Once you shoot in the 70s, you try
shooting in the 60s. You’re always trying to get better.”

Haligowski: “To exploit a niche, you
survey the advancing army and look for
breaches in the line,” says George
Haligowski, the CEO of Imperial Capital
Bancorp Inc. “Then you test the market to
see if it’s receptive to your pricing and
service. When you see that it’s yielding,
you want to power into the market and
run as fast as you can. Timing is critical
when you have limited resources. We’re a
small commercial bank; our advantage is
that we can move quickly. We’re like a PT
boat: We can zig and zag because we are
nimble and we can turn on a dime, but
we’re not an aircraft carrier, so we can’t
survive the Battle of Midway.”

Ram: Joseph Ram lays out the steps
of a plan’s execution phase like dominos.
The president and CEO of InfoSonics
Corp. requires one department to achieve
its goals before another department can
execute the next step in the plan. The
sequential nature of the plan not only
allows Ram to track each group’s
progress, it helps him focus his attention.

“I monitor the tactical achievements of
each department once we move to that
stage in the process,” Ram says. “The
goals and timeline are laid out sequentially. For example, engineering has to complete their portion if we are offering a
new product or service before sales can
get the contracts signed, and I focus most
of my attention on the weak areas. I think
that most CEOs enjoy spending time with
the strong areas in the company, but in
reality, you need to dedicate your time
and efforts to those who need the help.”