Phillip R. Cox is so insatiable when it comes to achieving goals, it makes his employees hungry to achieve more, too.
The president and CEO of Cox Financial Corp. has an unshakable desire to improve. He sets goals that constantly push his limits.
“Don’t get too comfortable with what you’ve already done,” he says. “With satisfaction comes complacency. We’re testing ourselves by setting goals to improve what we’re already doing.”
Besides stretching himself to grow in his role at the financial planning firm, Cox also has opportunities for improvement on several boards. He serves as chairman of the board for Cincinnati Bell Inc. and as a director for Duke Energy Inc., Diebold Inc., The Timken Co., Touchstone Mutual Funds and The Long-Stanton Group.
“I’m surrounded by the sense of accountability and the fact that continuous improvement is necessary,” he says. “It almost becomes a way of life.”
Cox’s multiple efforts to improve himself and his company inspire his employees to do the same. In 2008, they earned combined commission around $110 million.
Still, he keeps pushing them to do even better, keeping them accountable with multiple checkpoints.
“The person who says, ‘I don’t need improvement; I’m already there,’ is going to end up losing,” he says. “We’re not losers. We have to acknowledge that we can do better, that we want to.”
