When Tré Giller was about 10 or 11 years old and having trouble in school, his mother gave him some advice: When problems
arise, you have to learn to overcome them by yourself or it will be very difficult for you to succeed in life. Those words of wisdom
continue to resonate with Giller, who serves as CEO of Westerville-based Village Communities LLC. His company develops, builds
and sells condominiums, and based on last year’s sales of $59.5 million, Giller has found success in the often-unstable world of
real estate. Smart Business spoke with Giller about how he takes a hands-on approach to managing difficult situations.
Dive into problems. My first reaction to a
problem is to work shoulder-to-shoulder
with the individual who’s having trouble.
You can’t be a good manager unless you
understand the trials and tribulations of
your team. Offering your experience to
them helps them see the possibilities of a
different method or different path.
I learned at an early age that you have to
jump in and work hard to succeed. There’s
really no easy path or easy answer. I
learned by watching my parents and how
they worked hard to be successful. Hard
work, determination and dedication are
going to win out 99 percent of the time.
Maintain a lean team. We’re not upper-management heavy, and we run a pretty
lean ship. It comes down to the hands-on
approach. We don’t have a lot of layers of
management in between the person who
makes the decision at the top and the work
that’s being done in the field.
It allows us to have a more nimble company. When an issue arises, direction can
be given quickly rather than having to filter
its way through a couple of different layers.
Lead from the front. It’s a lot easier to pull a
wet rope than it is to push a wet rope.
That’s what I believe. You want to pull people along to follow you versus push them.
People are more willing to follow if
you’re leading from the front. That means
you’re the one who’s out at the sites. Your
employees see you working with them and
working through the problems rather than
leading from behind a closed door.
People who just dictate don’t have a feel
for what’s going on with their staff. They
aren’t in tune with what the employees are
trying to accomplish and what their problems are on a daily basis.
Make good hiring decisions. You’re only as
strong as your weakest person. It’s the
truth in business. You can be the strongest
leader, but if you’re not smart enough to
hire good, talented people underneath
you, you can dictate policies and procedures till the cows come home, but you
have no one capable of fulfilling those
orders down the line.
Interview and be interviewed. I personally
meet with the key people who are coming
to join our organization. That allows me to
get a sense of who they are and, more
importantly, allows them to get a sense of
who I am. Then, we can determine whether
we want to work together.
During the hard times, you have to band
together as a tight unit to work through
those issues. That’s more difficult if you’re
not seeing eye to eye with that person
when you bring them in, or the person’s
philosophies are completely different, or
the direction they want to take the company is different from the direction you want
to take the company.
Establish a good reputation. If you give your
word to someone that you’re going to do
something, you fulfill that responsibility.
Sometimes, it’s not the easiest thing to do
but it’s important.
Otherwise, your reputation will be sullied
because people won’t trust you. If people
don’t trust you, then it’s very difficult to get
them to respect you in the industry.
Whether it’s a real issue or a perceived
issue, you still have to take care of it and
treat the person with the respect that they
deserve. That’s how you develop respect in
the industry and trust among people you
work with.
Part of our mission statement is to offer
an outstanding customer experience, resulting in the recommendation of us to
the customer’s friends, family and colleagues. If you achieve that goal, then
you’ve developed that level of trust.
Create satisfied customers. Set the proper
expectations upfront, and then, throughout
the process, fulfill those expectations with
your acts and deeds. That’s going to make
a satisfied customer.
If customers are dissatisfied, you didn’t
set the proper expectations when you
began the process, and all along the way,
they believed they were getting something
different than what you were providing
for them.
The worst thing is to ignore dissatisfied
customers and think they’re going to go
away. Deal with the issue upfront when
there’s a problem. Meet with the customer, try to understand his or her problem, and then do what you can within the
structure of your business to take care of
that problem.
Hopefully, you’ll come out with a mutually agreeable outcome for both parties.
Find time to read. Reading is a great way to
get a different point of view on how to
operate identical businesses or different
businesses from yours. Take the knowledge that someone is willing to give you in
a book and adapt some of that information
into what you’re trying to accomplish to
make you better in business and life.
Most people are so busy working, they
don’t take a moment to step back and say,
‘How do other people do it?’ You can learn
from other people’s successes and failures.
I read a great book the other day, ‘Your
Management Sucks’ by Mark Stevens.
Based on the title, you would think that it’s
a negative book, but it’s not the case. It
helps you make sure you’re managing your
business the way you want it to be run.
Reading is a good thing to work into your
daily regimen, whether it’s late at night or
early in the morning. Put in an hour a day
— if that’s all you can get — and find that
time to grow yourself.
HOW TO REACH: Village Communities LLC, (614) 540-2410 or
www.villagecommunities.com