Execute your plan
The new culture built by Leparulo and his management team has helped pull Novatel back from the brink. Novatel is now growing, and its culture is scaling along with it as the company continues to evolve to better serve its customers.
Novatel now employs about 300 people. The company’s revenue has grown from $28 million in 2003 to $321 million in 2008.
Leparulo’s experiences at Novatel have helped give him perspective when talking to other business leaders about performing turnarounds and implementing a new culture.
“When I talk to other CEOs, I asked what their biggest concern is,” Leparulo says. “Most of the time, they say it’s execution. I can’t underestimate the value of making sure the shared values within a company impact the million little decisions you have to make. No manager can be there shoulder to shoulder with every person in the company when those decisions are being made. But those million little decisions made on the lower levels impact how well you execute and do impact what your tangible results will be.”
At the end of the day, Leparulo says you need to remember four steps when it comes to implementing a new culture.
“First, create an environment where the individuals work toward a group effort,” he says. “Second, display top management’s commitment to the effort. Third, enable and empower people as much as you can. Fourth, terminate people or events that would prevent all of the above from happening.”
“I used to dismiss corporate statements and mission statements. I used to think those were sort of irrelevant. But fairly early in this process, I learned that to the people in an organization who have to go through the changes you are implementing, there are still these unspoken rules about change and how it gets done. Corporate culture shapes behavior when you can’t be there. As hands-on as you might want to be, you can’t be there for every decision made at the lowest level of the company.”
How to reach: Novatel Wireless Inc. (858) 812-3400 or www.nvtl.com