Leadership Learned

What works in business?

Hard work, relentless effort, vision, and passion.

What doesn’t?

Shortcuts, carelessness, knee-jerk reactions, and selfishness.

We have all worked in situations where both versions of “what works” are evident. The shortcuts and selfishness usually leads to us finding a new job - a new set of the same problems at a different organization.

How do we build a business – a culture – the right way?

Can we expect our leaders to act in our best interests?

Don’t all humans eventually fall victim to their ego?

Over the past dozen years, I had made my way up the corporate ranks and by the fall of 2017 was now working as a CFO of a San Diego based marketing and production company. While I found the work interesting and my task of managing the business rewarding, I was quickly drawn into the endless charades of corporate mismanagement and greed.

I had become trapped in a cycle of toxicity, grinding through fifteen-hour days as I worked to finalize the sale of the business to a private equity group. The stress stemming from the acquisition had pushed me to my breaking point – not because of the workload but because of what I had been tasked to do. The owners of the company were determined to sell – at all costs.

They didn’t care what the numbers were saying. If the financials didn’t support their narrative, they simply wanted the numbers changed to meet their goals. As you can imagine, this put me in an impossible position – one that forced me to make equally impossible decisions.

It was a text book example of poor leadership when our morals erode.

How did I respond? This was a clear inflection point of my life.

I left.

I just got up and left. This seemingly knee-jerk reaction came from someone who had always been pragmatic with his decision-making. However, I felt myself being pulled toward a place I never intended. I would become them. I would lose my moral compass and lead by aggression and impulse versus best practices of virtue.

Easier said than done. Many people would love to just walk out on their abusive boss (or situation). Maybe you have had similar thoughts.

What made me different?

For as long as I can remember I have been driven by purpose. Purpose to discover who I am and to apply that to whatever task is before me. To use lessons learned to further hone my craft. To be useful. To be someone who was morally grounded with character and integrity. And in my most utopian dreams I have always thought humans had good intentions and I wanted to live that ethos regardless of all the naysayers telling me otherwise.  

In many cases my corporate experiences would be defined by lack of character and integrity. In each instance, I learned more about myself and built the tolerance through those lessons learned clearing the path for an unbreakable will to remain consistent and grounded.

Anyone can build a business. But can you grow it sustainably? Can you generate sales with honesty? Can you nurture employees with empathy? Can we lead others during times of crisis with steady hands?

Yes, you can. Those questions are much harder to answer when we fail to see the achievement of others as only a roadblock to our own goals.

It all starts with self-work that is not taught in business school.

Anyone can make a widget and sell it. But can you create a culture that captivates an audience?

Can you produce a vision that galvanizes a team to achieve more?

We must do that hard work. That hard work starts with us.

What are my strengths? What are my weaknesses?

How am I best using others around me – not to build my ego – but to plant the seeds of adaptability and courage?

We all want success. Even the most junior employees do. Success isn’t driven by the size of our salary but of our desire to grow!

As a leader, is it really that fun to say that “I did it!” Or is it more rewarding to say, “Look at all that we achieved!”

Let’s build a culture on rock.

Let’s get to the bottom of who we are by address what we excel at and other areas we need to leverage others for.

Let’s share in the challenges and times of trouble. Let’s motivate others to reach a potential that they never saw possible. Because, as business leaders, we are supposed to have the vision when others may not see their own potential!  

If we do this then the P&L management, order fulfillment and supply chain issues will be easier. We will work together solving problems. We will all march toward the same goal with our best intentions. It will all be easier because we have done the hard work and we built an organization together!

Business doesn’t fail because the work is hard.It fails when leaders stop doing the hard work on themselves.

If we build cultures on integrity, accountability, and shared purpose, the rest becomes manageable. Not easy – but manageable. We can share in the struggle and receive joy from our achievements.

That’s how real businesses are built. And it starts long before the numbers ever show it.

Leadership starts with us! Everyone can say they “own” it, but only we can act upon it!

Disclaimer: My blog is written in journal entry form. I write to improve my writing skills. There might be grammatical errors, but that is okay, because I am human. So please forgive me. It’s not perfect, but neither am I.