Lead by example
Taking a leadership role in a company doesn’t just mean you dictate and delegate. Hoffecker says that while those are important
aspects of leading, even more important is your ability to lead by
example.
Hoffecker does not shy away from chances to get out in the field
and engage AlixPartners’ clients. He wants to set the pace for his
employees by driving home the message that everyone in the company should be completely focused on delivering top results to
clients.
“I have more of an oversight role than anybody in the business
unit, but I know I need to lead by example,” he says. “Everybody
in the business needs to see that everything we do relates to being
exceptional when you are out with a client. If you are, the rest of
it will fall into place more easily. For me, that’s fun, that’s where I
want to spend my time.”
Hoffecker says you need to teach first and foremost by doing, not
saying, because that’s the most effective way to get employees on
board with your plans and future vision for the company. Achieving
buy-in from your work force is essential when it comes to positioning
your company to adapt on the fly.
“The buy-in at the individual level is, to me, the most critical thing there is,” he says. “In many ways, everyone needs to be involved in
creating the future vision for a company. With that in mind, we created our organizational model with the idea of everybody understanding where we are trying to go, then getting everyone to see
where they could have an impact on where we’re trying to go.
There is really no one in the business who is not tied to that.”
If you are willing to get out in the field and do some of the heavy
lifting with clients and customers, you will create employees who
want to do the same. If you sit back and order others around, you
will create that mentality, as well.
“You don’t want people in an organization who simply manage
and oversee things,” Hoffecker says. “If you’re like us, you want
people who learn how to fundamentally create change. We want
our people to learn how to create a major impact for the customers that we serve. They’re only going to do that if we’re out
with our clients, out with our teams on a day-to-day basis.”