Sid E. Taylor realizes that, as a leader, people need to take you seriously. But he’s also found that it’s just as important that they know you’re being fair. The chairman, CEO and president of SET Enterprises Inc., a metal processing service, has found the balance between strict and sympathetic in his efforts to guide the company of about 300 employees to 2005 revenue of between $150 million and $200 million. Smart Business spoke with Taylor about the importance of community involvement, helping employees make the grade and leading by example.
Be part of the community.
You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Initially, find something you may have a passion for or another business colleague that is already involved in some community or charitable type of work.
You could piggyback off them initially until you feel confident that you’ve found your own niche. Then you can branch out. Sometimes it’s just a matter of taking the first step and finding somebody you know and trust and getting involved in something that they are already involved in.
If you’re going to be in business, you are a leader whether you want to be or not.
To be a leader, you need to be in touch with the community you send your employees back out to, to the extent that you understand their communities are going to shape who and what they are and what they bring to your company in terms of making you a better company.
All you are going to do is help ensure that you are getting employees that see you not just as a business leader but as a community leader who cares. If they see that you are a caring person, they will go to bat for you. They are a lot more apt to come in and be a good employee and see you in a good light.
You can’t just say, ‘I’m business leader’ and avoid the fact that, if you are a business leader, then you are also a community leader. I think they go hand in hand.
Don’t try to do it all yourself.
You have to have balance. You have to have people who believe in you and support you. You have to make sure you delegate responsibilities. With the community situation, you delegate some of that responsibility, as well.
Hopefully, you can get yourself set up where you have a board of directors. Then, you get other volunteers that, if you really believe in it and you do your job and go out and convince others you really believe it and have a passion for it — if they see the value, they will get behind you. And, by doing that, it energizes you and motivates you to continue what you are doing.
At the same time, you are making other people knowledgeable about how important it is for them to get involved and help, and they start feeling good about themselves, as well.
Find the right fit.
You want to match (employees) up with other motivated employees and try to put them into an area that I call best fit. You try to put them in a job where they are comfortable and motivated to perform.
That’s not always possible, but to the extent that you have the employee that’s really a keeper, then you want to work with that employee to try to find a way to find the best fit for that employee.
There are cases where an employee just won’t work. And you have to cut your losses. That’s the reality of business. If you’ve invested in an employee and the employee is just, for instance, not coming to work every day, being late, being insubordinate and those kinds of things, then there is a disciplinary process.
You give them a warning and you get their attention and balance the ship in a day or in two days.
Now, if an employee does something more severe, it could mean immediate termination. But the process is set up to give the employee (a grade), just like when you are in grade school or high school — you get graded. When you get a low grade, then that tells you that you need to do some work to get yourself up.
Take chances.
You have to take risks. There’s an old saying, ‘The greater the risk, the greater reward.’ With risks, that’s just what they are. They are risks, which means all things don’t work out.
By taking risks, there is a lot of benefit you can reap from it. That doesn’t mean you are always going to be successful. If you aren’t successful, from my own vantage point, I’m able to move on to the next step and realize that was just a temporary bump in the road and not let that impede me from going out and pursuing other things.
Lead by example.
After being a father and raising two sons, my whole life has been, ‘Walk like you talk’. It’s easy to say, ‘Do as I say, not as I do,’ and you may say that, but, if you want the real respect and the following you need from anybody you are leading, then you want to be leading by example. You want to show that you are not asking them to do things you are not capable of doing or not willing to do yourself.
This is something you have to strive to do. Because of human nature, this is not something you can say, think and you can walk away from it. There are constant upgrades to that to show you are continuing to be vigilant to ensure that they know you are being vigilant and you aren’t going to back off your requirement.
You do that by showing your examples and the ways that you run the business, and you show that you care and are being attentive. Those things will be the back-up to get them to realize that you are serious about it and it’s a way of life
HOW TO REACH: SET Enterprises Inc., (586) 573-3600 or www.setenterprises.com
