Go beyond formal meetings. I’m not a huge believer in formal meetings. We’re a high-growth company, and high growth requires you to constantly change and reinvent yourself and expand your business in ways that are efficient. To do that requires conversation and discussion.
My challenge on a day-to-day basis is to have a good inventory of where the business is and what the key projects are and that I reach out and spend time stimulating progress with the different department heads and also employees. That requires front-line communication.
As I said before, being there and shaking somebody’s hand … there is no substitute for that. It energizes people, it gets people more on the same page, and it keeps people working together, which is, and should be, a common thread throughout an organization.
Unite people. If you can paint a picture when you’re pioneering technology, education programs and distribution channels that allow people to make a contribution across society, that’s a very inspiring thing. People understand what the mission and vision of the company is in terms of the work you’re doing toward those aims, and you have a common thread that pulls people together.
We live in a world today that constantly reminds us how we’re different. … When you come to work at a company like ours, we strive to show people what makes them the same, what their common purpose is. That unites people, and that unity creates pride in ownership, and it inspires people to do extraordinary things.
HOW TO REACH: AtriCure Inc., (513) 755-4100 or www.atricure.com
