Tom Richmond isn’t the type of person who can just dive into a book without knowing anything about it. Instead, he has to take a gander at the front cover and read the back cover before he decides to invest his time. He’s the same way when it comes to problem-solving in the business world as general manager of children’s toys manufacturer The Little Tikes Co., which posted more than $100 million in 2008 revenue.
“I’m a problem-solving-oriented person,” says Richmond, who is also executive vice president of MGA Entertainment Inc., Little Tikes’ parent company. “My natural tendency is to go in and try to fix the problem.”
Richmond has to explain to the person bringing him the problem that he isn’t trying to do that person’s job if he asks a lot of questions about the problem.
“It’s important for people to understand that so they know that when I am probing and asking questions, it’s because that’s how I think,” he says. “That’s how I process information. If you understand that, when I dive in and I’m asking questions … and I’m looking for a solution, it’s because that is how I think. That can be interpreted as a lack of confidence. It can be interpreted as, ‘I guess you don’t think I’m doing my job or I didn’t do my homework and that’s why you are asking me all those questions.’”
Richmond says explaining yourself to the people you work with will avoid those types of miscommunications.
“I tend to do that very casually because that’s the way I am,” he says. “But, whether it’s done formally or whether it’s done casually, helping people understand you helps them understand how to manage you because management goes both ways. You’re managing people; they are managing you, too.”
Here’s how Richmond manages by explaining himself and talking to people at Little Tikes.
