Rich Panico began his career in business as an 8-year-old boy shining shoes in one of Chicago’s inner city neighborhoods now known as Little Italy.
“It started to teach me that I didn’t need to wait for things to happen to me,” Panico says. “I had a significant amount of control. As a child, you can’t go out and get a regular job. But I learned that if I went out and had the initiative, I could make some money. What happened was I grew beyond myself. I was the kind of person who always looked for ideas and things to get excited about.”
It’s a philosophy about life that remains firmly embedded in his personality today as founder, president and CEO at Integrated Project Management Co. Inc. The project management consulting firm employs more than 110 people and works with companies to develop sound execution strategies.
“The role of the leader more than anything else is to create and foster an environment that capitalizes on the potential of people and to give them a foundation from which to operate,” Panico says.
“Too often today, leaders try to influence people only through the analytical and the rational. In other words, they describe the reason why you should do something or the reason why you should go in this direction. They often forget that what is motivating to other human beings is to be inspired.
“To be inspired, I think you need to connect the heart and the mind. If you take an average performer and you’re able to gain access to their heart and inspire them, they will always win.”
Open their heart
One of the questions Panico asks when job candidates come to IPM for an interview is to explain to him what is in their heart.
“I’ll say, ‘Share something you consider a major heartbreak,’” Panico says. “They’ll ask me personal or professional and I’ll say whatever you want. It’s not knowing about the heartbreak. I want to know how they process it.”
Panico says he and his team are very honest with customers and potential employees about the ethics and values that serve as the foundation for IPM. The ability to put that on the table and find people who possess not just the right skills, but the right mindset to fit in at your business is vital to making smart personnel choices.
“Explain what it takes to exist in this organization,” Panico says. “Be able to describe the conduct that we expect. Explain that there is zero tolerance for lying and cheating so that they fully understand the rules of the land. Make it very clear in the interviewing process that if they believe they can fake it and get through the interview, they are going to have a very short life here.”
If you focus solely on the resume to determine someone’s ability to work for you, you’ll be taking a big risk.
“I already know about that,” Panico says. “Tell me who I’m sitting across from. Often, I’ll have to keep bringing them back to my question. By doing that and going through successive interviews to focus on what drives this person and see how this person’s heart and head are connected, we’re able to determine whether somebody is going to be a fit.”
Be true to yourself
IPM was founded in 1998 and ethics and values have been a top priority for Panico since day one. From 2001 to 2007, Panico held the position of chairman of DePaul University’s Institute for Business and Professional Ethics.
He continues to serve as a board member and his company received the Better Business Bureau’s International Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics in 2005.
He’s a big believer in accountability and being true to yourself and often shares those principles with his team.
“I’ve had individuals and organizations approach me who wanted to buy this company,” Panico says. “I could have walked away and made a lot of money. But I have promised my people for the last 25 years that it is not in the cards. The company will not be sold outside of the organization or outside of the people who helped me build it. To me, it’s a great source of energy and pride to be able to reject those kinds of offers.”
Panico doesn’t claim to be perfect. But in a world where ethical lapses occur on a regular basis, he finds it a lot easier to operate with integrity.
“I don’t know any other way of doing it,” Panico says. “You never have to remember your lies because there are no lies.” ●
