According to Jane Mason, the founder, president and CEO of software provider eMason Inc., being the leader of a fast-growth company means always having to re-evaluate your strengths and weaknesses, both in your business and in yourself.
“You have to leverage every ounce of leadership and management skills that you have to grow the company — from where we were to here, and from here to the next level,” Mason says.
As a pioneer in offering Web-based business automation services, eMason has achieved 1,702 percent growth over the past three years as well as doubled its work force to 100 employees in just 12 months.
Smart Business spoke with Mason about her strategy for adapting her leadership style to manage her company’s rapid growth and expand the $10.2 million business.
Lead though behavior. My leadership style is very hands on, but I also lead through motivation and by setting an example. From a good leadership perspective, having a clear vision that can be communicated regularly is very important, and I think the most important part is your behavior; leading by example. Our vision includes the words kindness and respect, and that permeates my leadership style. My style is more motivation than it is autocratic. The things that I’ve seen that don’t work are the aggressive, autocratic behaviors and not living up to what you say. I’m very clear and I’m very tuned into following up on what I’ve said I’m going to do, corporate strategywise and with people.
Set your priorities. As we’re growing, I’m modifying my behavior in how I interact with people. I’ve had to step back, and I can’t be involved in all of the day-to-day operational things, because that’s not healthy. That’s not good for our company. I have to keep my eye on the market, on the strategy and on the client delivery. Because there are so many things coming at us personally and through the business, I’ve learned to chunk it down into three pieces and try and accomplish those things each day.
Delegate tasks. Personally, instead of making something happen — I need to make this business development report — I go to the person whose job or role that is to create a business development report. I’ve moved myself away from the day-to-day operations through the hiring of consultants and other high-level, skilled people. I’m letting them do what they do best. It’s a personal struggle in some areas because it’s hard to let go, but through good hiring practices and motivating through kindness, I think we create a level of trust where people are holding themselves accountable and delivering.
