When Bob and Dan Wolfberg founded PLS Financial Services Inc. in 1997, they put aside their egos to share a title, responsibilities and power. But sibling rivalry isn’t easily outgrown.
“Brotherhood rivalry definitely shows its face every once in awhile,” says younger brother
Dan Wolfberg. “When we’re both working separately, that’s when we start going in different directions. So we talk about it. We’re able to refocus and get on the same page.”
By spending Monday lunches and many nonworking hours together, the co-presidents have aligned their vision for the company. They’ve expanded their brotherly bond to make room for 3,000 employees, bringing everyone together under the common priority of putting the company first. And 10 years after the founding of the company — which provides retail financial services, such as check cashing, loans and tax preparation — PLS posted 2007 revenue of $151.8 million.
Smart Business spoke with Wolfberg about how to stay humble and how to let others have a say in decisions.
Don’t be a know-it-all. My brother and I started this company together. As a smaller company in the beginning, we would trip over each other working on the same things. As the company’s grown, we’ve been able to separate responsibilities and work on our own strengths. We really put our egos aside.
Now we get along. We both want to make PLS something that’s not about Bob Wolfberg;
it’s not about Dan Wolfberg; it’s about PLS. We definitely don’t know everything, or hardly anything for that matter. But we surround ourselves with people that do.
I’ve been shocked over the years at what I’ve learned from other people. You realize that you don’t know everything. I’ve seen companies in our industry that have that issue,
where the top leaders make all the decisions and think they know everything, and they go
nowhere. If you make all the decisions and you think you know everything and you don’t, you may not be around tomorrow.
Put decisions up for discussion. You can’t be too full of yourself. I don’t know more than everybody else, and I don’t act like I know more than everybody else. You need to listen, discuss, debate and then make a decision.
Once the decision is made, it’s expected that everybody buys in to it and agrees. But before
that point, everybody discusses it. I don’t sit in my office and make decisions based on what I think is right. I want to talk to other people about it first. The worst decisions that I’ve ever made are the ones that I make without talking to anyone else.
As the company grows and I get further away from the customer, the more that we need to rely on people in stores at the lowest levels to provide information to make the right decisions.
