Q. How do you handle a situation when expectations aren’t met when you delegate?
I go directly to the person that is handling the project and try to find out what some of the issues are. Why is it not happening? What roadblocks are you running into? If there is information or help you need from another source, is that not happening? Is it someone else’s plate is full and they cant get to it right now?
First off, we try to set some realistic timetables, and then, through regular, informal meetings, just touching base. [It] could just be stopping in their office every other day or so. ‘How’s it going? Let me know if there are any problems.’
If we are running into roadblocks or it’s being delayed, then I might pull the group together and say, ‘OK, what do we need to do to get moving here?’ I reassess things, and just emphasize from my perspective the urgency to get this done and marshal all the resources. Maybe we need to pull in more people to help out or someone’s got to work a little extra to get this done because they don’t quite see it with the same urgency.
Q. How do you get buy-in for your vision?
The buy-in comes from … ‘Here’s where we have to go, here’s where the industry is going, and here is where we need to go.’ We can’t totally change the culture. My analogy is, if we are Volkswagen, we can’t expect, without any changes, to go out and win the Indy 500.
We have to understand what our goal is. Maybe it’s not to win the Indy 500, but maybe it eventually is, and what do we have to do to get there? What things are a fit for us that fit our culture that we can handle without trying to bite off more than we can chew initially? Then constantly communicate that vision, have that passion and let people know that this is what we’re doing and why we’re doing it.
Everybody needs an understanding of where we’re going and why we are going there — from the guy who fixes our equipment or maintains our equipment to our head sales guy.
They have to understand, and we all have to be pointed in the same direction, and I think that’s critical for any company, large or small. Communication is important so people are all on the same page — constant communication, constant checking. Asking, ‘Do you understand what we are doing or why?’
Pretty soon, you see people [and] now they’re coming back to you with ideas. It’s not just following your vision. They’re coming back with ways they think they can make it happen either faster or better.
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