Put the lineup together
When he’s got his mind made up on a
company and his internal people ready,
Goldston puts the whole puzzle together
carefully. He gives the new team members
the personal attention they need and
reminds them that United isn’t there to swallow them up but instead to help them grow.
“Some people say, ‘This is the XYZ
Corporate way, and we’re going to mold you
no matter what you were before into that,’” he
says. “We don’t want to be the company that
comes in as the omniscient acquirer, because
if that’s the case, then you’re not buying anything of value; part of the value in what you’re
buying is how bright the people are.”
That doesn’t mean that United welcomes
the company in and then lets it run amok.
Goldston very clearly articulates some non-negotiable items revolving around respect,
integrity and ultimate controls.
“Making sure that the business has strong
internal controls so there are checks and balances is nonnegotiable, but beyond that I
really don’t care what your batting stance
looks like,” he says. “Ultimately, if you’re a
great hitter and you’ve got a great average,
then I’m going to figure out how we’re going
to use you in the lineup.”
That means that the onus is on Goldston to
meld the new company and United into one
team. To do that, he falls back to the three to
five goals he gave his internal people and
shares those goals with everybody — new
and old — for a common starting point.
“Once the deal is closed, the way you create
a winning culture is you then walk the walk,”
he says. “Common goals that are updated
regularly and monitored regularly and
progress reported regularly helps to sort of
instill a common spirit in the organization,
which leads to a shared sense of accomplishment at the end.”
By sharing goals you begin to create a
common thread of accountability across
the company.
“Basically what you’re doing is saying,
look if you’re part of the family, you’re part
of the family, and you don’t have separate
family rules for different children,” he says.
“It’s about the company’s agenda, and your
personal advancement and your personal
compensation should be predicated on
how well you accomplish those goals of
maximizing the benefit to the shareholders
of the company.”
To get that accountability started, Goldston
puts himself out in front of the company and
shows them the measurable goals that he is
sharing with the public and lets them know
specifically what he will be doing.
“If you’re going to ask somebody to do
100 push-ups, don’t do it in your motorized
cart eating bonbons,” he says. “Get down on
the field and do some push-ups with them;
even if you didn’t do all 100 with them, show
them that at the end of the practice the coach
is sweating, as well.”
Taking that tone from the top creates an
accountability level that every employee
can understand and melds the entire company together under one scorecard and set
of standards.
“The tone at the top of the company a lot
of times, most times, will dictate what people choose to emulate,” he says. “So if I
deal with my executive staff that way, then
they, in turn, will act with their people that
way, and it’s a ripple effect.”
In every step that Goldston takes along
the way, he puts the effort into making
sure people make the adjustment, noting
that the companies will come together if
you simply define what the merger
means for everyone involved and tie it to
reasonable and beneficial goals. When
they see that, you can start breeding
your own mink.
“I do not subscribe to the people are
fungible theory,” he says. “People are
critically important and who you hire
and what you give them to do and how
you measure them and how you interact
with them is what makes your company
a success or a failure, period. And, in
order to do that, you have got to create
mutual trust where people are willing to
go the extra mile for you because they
know that you’ve got their best interest
at heart.”
HOW TO REACH: United Online Inc., (818) 287-3000 or
www.untd.com
