When DATATRAK International Inc.
hit the Japanese market, Jeffrey A.
Green thought the company would instantly thrive there because of
Japan’s historically quick adoption of new
technology.
But what Green didn’t consider was that
software used in Japan must be written in
kanji, the Japanese system of writing, and
the company’s success in that market took
longer than expected. But working
through cultural challenges is nothing new for Green and DATATRAK,
which provides technology solutions for the global clinical trials
industry in 59 countries.
Smart Business spoke with
Green, chairman, president and
CEO of the $17.7 million company,
about the dangers of spin and why
you have to be honest — always —
about everything.
Q: How would you describe your
management style?
I try to find the best people for a
position and let them do their job.
Unless I vehemently disagree with
what route they’re taking, or I
don’t believe it’s what we should
be doing, I usually give them pretty free rein to get their jobs done.
Support them, and give them
what resources they need, and
let them go. The only alternative
other than that style is you closely micromanage what they do.
Either style has its liabilities. If
you pick the wrong person and
let them go, they do a certain amount of
damage before you figure it out. And if you
get a good person and micromanage them,
you strangle them.
So obviously, you try to find a happy
medium in between. But really, my personality is very hands-off.
Q: What are the critical components of
leadership?
The best way to lead is by example. So, as
much as I can, I try to lead people because
if they see Jeff doing certain things or taking certain stances, ‘That must be what he
wants the company to do.’
Being visible is key. My door is always
open. People can come in and speak to me
about anything they want.
Now, I have to be honest and say that has
created challenges. There are certain people who have a belief that you should only
go through certain channels. I am not of
that belief. I think anybody should be able
to bring up whatever they want, to anyone
they want, at any time.
At times, that has created issues because
maybe their supervisors don’t want them
doing that. My stance on it is very simple: If
everybody is honest about everything,
there is never a problem. The only time
there is ever a problem is when somebody
wants to either filter the message or conceal the message so they can put the proper spin on it — which I personally detest. I
promote direct honesty above everything.
Q: How can employee filtering create
problems?
The sales personality is one that likes to bring back the positive information;
they don’t like to bring back the negative
information. But the negative and the
positive information is critical to me if I
am to make a judgment on which pathway the company is to go. I have had
salespeople filter information to me
before, and that filter usually has very
detrimental consequences for them.
Imagine how much better a world it
would be if we just had one critical factor, and that factor was called
honesty. It would eliminate a significant percentage of the world’s
problems. Imagine if our politicians were honest a good percent
of the time.
Q: What are some other pitfalls to
avoid?
You make wrong choices. Everybody makes a wrong choice; the
issue is, do you correct it as soon as
you identify it? We have a saying
around the office: ‘Don’t throw
good money after bad.’ If you’ve
made a bad decision and it just isn’t
working out the way you think,
don’t continue to pour resources,
thinking you’re going to fix it.
Q: How do you deal with the challenges that come with growth?
The one we fear the most, and I
think most companies do, is if you’re
growing your sales, you have to be
able to deliver it. And you have to be
able to deliver quality. In our case, we
had one word for our business plan —
delivery.
It’s more important than price; it’s
more important than selling something
to somebody and having them be surprised later. The ability to deliver a good,
quality product is our No. 1 priority.
In the technology business, you have to
make sure you’re able to scale your systems. You need to make sure you’ve got
the personnel in place to monitor the
projects you have sold.
HOW TO REACH: DATATRAK International Inc., (440) 443-0082
or www.datatrak.net