Mentor people
Cameron has four sons, and as a result, he has coached about 700 soccer games in his life.
“I’ve never played the game myself, but I’ve learned an awful lot about dealing with younger people and understanding and learning what’s important to them, and people need to be treated as an individual,” he says.
That learning has been put to good use. He’s been in management since he was 27 years old — so more than 30 years at this point — and his favorite part about the job is sitting down with his employees, learning what’s important to them, building rapport, helping them map out one- and five-year plans and then working with them to get there.
“I enjoy the mentoring process,” he says. “I look at what I am here. I’m the coach for the CDC team, if you will. I coach the board. I coach all the players around me. It’s a fulfilling job.”
Those goals vary by person, and it’s your job to find what makes people tick.
“Some people, it’s an earnings goal,” Cameron says. “Some people, it’s a promotion goal. You’d be surprised when you really pin a person down and say, ‘Tell me what do you want to accomplish in five years.’ A lot of people don’t think that way. They’re just trying to survive the day or the next quarter, and they’re not thinking out far enough.”
A strong leader will help them think further out and come up with goals and ways to get there.
One way to begin the mentoring process is to take some time for your people.
“The first thing is just getting to know the person and understanding enough of his personal life to see where he’s coming from, where he grew up, what his parental situation was like, what his family situation is like,” Cameron says. “All of those things add to the type of person he is and gives me enough of a background to kind of understand why he would set goals the way he’s setting them.”
He also suggests getting to know people outside of the office instead of inside.
“I’m a much bigger fan of let’s meet for dinner and get outside of the office and get to know people because they need to trust me, as well, and know that I can add value for this thought process for them,” he says.
Another way he gets to know people is through CDC’s annual club trip, where all of the company’s top performers bring their significant others to a remote place, such as Jamaica.
“That gives me a real special time to not only have some real good one-on-one time, but to understand who their significant other is, who their support system is, and things of that nature,” he says.
The more you do this, the more people will understand their role in the company and how they can contribute, which creates that consistency you’re looking for.
“What’s most important is everybody understands their role,” Cameron says. “It’s well-defined, and they understand what means success for them. I don’t care if it’s the lowest level in the company or the highest level in the company, everyone deserves to know what means success to them.”
