David E. Sessions encourages
his approximately 50 employees to be involved in the
community, so he often has
trouble turning down requests
when organizations approach
the company for help.
That’s why Willis A. Smith
Construction Inc. sticks predominately to helping not-for-profit organizations associated
with public education and arts
and culture. The president and
CEO says it’s important to stick
to your plan, not only in what
charities you help but also in
business.
And yet, he maintains some
flexibility and will make an
exception if an employee is passionate about a certain cause
because doing so, he says, creates loyalty and helps with
retention at the company, which
posted 2006 revenue of more
than $50 million.
While community involvement
is rewarding for the employee,
the company also sees a tangible benefit by helping the community.
It becomes a winning formula
for everyone, Sessions says.
Smart Business spoke with
Sessions about how to stick to
a plan and how to empower
employees.
Don’t get greedy. One of the
hardest things to do is potentially say no to an opportunity when it might not be, in
the long term, in the best
interest of your company.
Many years ago, I put together a strategic plan, which really defines all different aspects
of how we do business, and
one of those components is a
marketing plan.
With any prospect, you need
to have as part of that strategic plan — you need to step
back for a minute and not just
look at the excitement of a
single opportunity, but you’ve
got to ask yourself, ‘Does this
opportunity fit within the
parameters of that strategic
plan?’ Is it in your best interests as a component of that
plan when you look at where
you potentially want to be
one year, two years or five
years down the road?
That makes you look at that
opportunity maybe a little different. You’re looking at it
from a much longer-term perspective.
What we have learned is that
sometimes it’s best to say no
to those opportunities that
don’t fit within that plan, especially if those opportunities fall
outside of your comfort zone
or what you are good at.
Learn from your failures. I’ve
always been of the belief that
the only time you truly fail is
when you quit or just give up.
Maybe just perseverance is the
key factor.
We’re human, and we’re all
going to make mistakes, or
we’re all going to have failure,
some larger, some smaller,
from time to time. The trick is
really not to become discouraged but rather you made an
investment in a decision that perhaps led to something not
going perfectly.
You’ve got to learn exactly
why it happened, what contributed to it, and ultimately,
every failure is an opportunity.
If you can take that and convert that into an opportunity
by learning all the parameters
that led to that decision that
maybe you didn’t like then,
ultimately, you are turning that
failure or that error into a
strength going forward; learning from your mistakes.
We, with our managers, with
our people, one of the things
we always say in here is that,
‘If you make a bad decision or
if you make a mistake, you
are never going to put your
job at risk.’ The bottom line is, if there is a decision to be
made, make the decision in
your best judgment that you
think is the right decision.
Right or wrong, making that
decision is better than not
making one at all.
Empower your employees. You
get the best effort from others,
perhaps not by lighting a fire
under them but by building a
fire within them. That goes to
empowering them and encouraging them to excel, to be creative, to make their own mistakes and to make their own
decisions.
You have to lead by an example. Just because I own this
company doesn’t mean I can
sit back and go play golf and let others do the work. I’m in
here working as hard, if not
harder, than anybody in this
company, and I am establishing what those parameters are.
I’m leading by my own example. If they see the boss in
there working as hard or harder than everybody, that sets a
pretty good example.
When you work directly
with people, you get a better
response, better loyalty, better companionship. Overall, if
you work directly with people one on one, your beliefs,
your values tend to rub off on
people better than if you are
not here.
I’ve developed a certain way
that I like to do things, and I
want our managers and our people to share. I want them
to be creative enough to do
things on their own, but also
get some fundamental beliefs
and values entrenched into the
way that they do things. You
can’t do that remotely.
We really have a business
structure in here that defines
what roles are and how we do
things. That structure isn’t
what I would call a rigid structure that absolutely says, ‘This
happens. You do this, you do
this, you do this.’
But it provides enough of a
blueprint or a guideline for
people than to perhaps use
their own style. That is very,
very important when you can
put your own name or your
own spin on a task.
HOW TO REACH: Willis A. Smith Construction Inc., (941) 366-3116 or www.willissmith.com