Lead by example.
The people you have at the top have to talk the talk and walk the walk. I don’t ask anybody to do anything that I wouldn’t do myself and that I don’t believe in.
If you have leadership that does not have integrity, if you do not ask excellence of yourself as a leader, then you’re not going to be successful, because nobody else is going to ask that of themselves, either. It’s got to start at the top and go all the way down to wherever the bottom is.
It’s about integrity. It’s about excellence. It’s about accountability and quality and asking that of myself every day so that when I ask it of others, they understand it’s important and it makes the company strong.
Embrace new ideas.
Awards are fine, and it’s really nice to be recognized; however, they’re only as good as the plans you have right now for the future.
When you do your passion, it’s easy. When you’re really actively integrated into the meat, the body, the muscle, the bones and the skeleton of the company, you can’t help but always be coming up with great ideas. Your customers give them to you, and you’re active in that.
I have such a team of creativity here. They know that I want them to take a certain percentage of their day every day to think of fabulous ideas that are out of the box, that might even be a little crazy. We’re not afraid to tackle them.
Take calculated risks.
Don’t be afraid to take risks and make mistakes, but only if you can learn from the mistake and move forward in a better way and be better because of it. A leader has to also exhibit a sense of responsibility to the people you serve and care about them, and they have to understand that you do have that sense of responsibility.
That’s really important because then it trickles down not only to corporate employees, but it trickles right down to the customer, who is our whole basis for being.
Show you are part of the team.
I’m here as much of the day as I can be here working right with them. I make sure that they know that I’m in tune with whatever projects are going on, and I do the work.
If the warehouse has to be cleaned out, I’m not afraid of going down there and getting dirty and doing it. If we have to ship things, I’m down there collating stuff and making sure it all gets put in the right box. … I’m just part of the team, and that’s what I want them to know.
Balance your life.
Awareness is really important. There’ll be signs and cues that tell you, ‘Oh, not spending enough time with my personal life’ or ‘Uh oh, spending too much time there and not enough with the business.’
The little things will go wrong. It’s important to tune into those little signs that make you aware, ‘OK the scale has tipped here. I better work on getting it back to the middle.’ That’s what’s difficult. It’s about being aware and making time for each end of it.
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