The Complex System: Story of an Entrepreneur

The Calm Sea Doesn’t Make a Skilled Sailor

The challenges that we all face are an opportunity to make us stronger. In the past year our company has faced more obstacles and contests that we can count. In the middle of this storm, battening down the hatches and bailing out water, we don’t realize the training that’s going on. Its only after the storm lifts do we see what we’ve accomplished; though I wouldn’t say the storm has lifted. For many of us it’s just coming to port. But at Leads360 we’ve been battling for a good 12 months now. When I look at what we’ve accomplished this year I’m amazed. I’m amazed at the individual achievements of the people here and they’re resilience and determination to see things through. I’ve seen people with the willingness to rise to a challenge and face it head-on knowing they’ve never seen anything like it.

Together even more has been done. We’ve had to reinvent every department in the organization. We continue to learn from mistakes and grow from them. And now I believe we are in the eye of the tornado. Things are worse, yes, but we have visibility. We can see what needs to be done and are pointed in the right direction. It is my fervent belief that our greatest opportunity to shine is now. The next 10 months will define this company and the people who make it work. This is not a calm sea and none of us should want it to be. The water is turbulent and our opportunity to become skilled sailors is now. Are you up for the challenge?

What to Learn from Southwest, Netflix and Honda?

How do these 3 companies achieve solid financial results amidst a pretty obvious economic crisis? It’s pretty amazing, especially considering 2 of the 3 these companies are in highly battered sectors (air travel and automotive). I’m sure these companies have great management, but more importantly they provide products that the “most” according to a great blog post by Bill Taylor (from my Alma Matter of blogs) about high-performance companies being more than “pretty good”, they are the “the most exclusive, the most affordable, the most responsive, the most friendly” as he puts it.

That’s what Southwest, Netflix and Honda have in common, so where does Leads360 fit into the puzzle? Do we provide something that our clients can’t live without? I think we do and I know many of our clients think that. How do we get all of our clients to realize this; and how do we get every other company that we talk to clamor for what we have to offer. I think it starts with culture. When we started we had very little to offer other than our passion. We were so very passionate about what we were doing and that passion was infectious. We hadn’t angered any clients or partners by making mistakes and our products addressed such a core need that it was hard to say it wasn’t valuable. But as we’ve grown it’s become harder to stay focused. We need to get back to basics.

It’s about understanding and building what’s really needed. It’s about being passionate about the value we provide. And most importantly it’s about the connection we make with our clients and partners. I know from experience; for Netflix, Southwest and Honda it’s burned into the culture and it makes all the difference.

I do not Shrink from this Responsibility, I Welcome it

I just love this quote from JFK’s inaugural address on January 20, 1961. Its part of the very famous speech we all know that includes “ask not what your country...” While there is certainly a lot to get inspired about from his talk, I think this particular quote speaks to me the most. JFK set out to make a big impact on our country and indeed he did that. But he was also challenged with adversity which in the end killed him. I have this speech in audio format and I regularly return to it for inspiration.

In the face of obstacles and uncertainty it’s not only about having the courage to push forward, it’s about the obsessive yearning to find a path.

Do Less, Get More

There is a great Stephen Covey saying, “things that matter most must never be at the mercy of things that matter least.” Dr. Covey is essentially telling us to put the most important things first. Similarly I proposed to someone today “don’t let the pursuit of more deny the achievement of less.” In the constant pursuit to do everything, and to do it quickly, we often forget to do what we really need to. This has been a challenge for me because built to do just that. I push to make things better and faster sometimes at the expense of what’s really important. I’m reminded of the whole idea “less is more” and how important it is to put first things first; get the core needs addressed and take any extra time to do a little more.

Product-Centric Leaders

I was forwarded a great article on Search Insider about how great product companies often have product-centric leaders, who are essentially customers themselves. By this I mean they understand what customers want because they are the same people. The article really resonated with me because I really am that guy. Just about everything creative I’ve ever come up with is a response to what I felt was not good enough. I’m constantly trying to “improve” products, services, systems, software, buildings, that I see. When I see something I like; when I’m in customer mode, my mind immediately goes to, ok, how can I improve this? What’s missing from this product or service? Most of the time I come up with good ideas.

At Leads360 I think we do this well. We have numerous people that behave like this and it’s enabled us to develop some pretty innovative products and services over the past 3.5 years. I wouldn’t say I know what our clients want 100%, but I get us in the ballpark for sure. The key is to add the customer input on top of baseline innovation.

I Love Progress

I love progress; I love it in the world as much as in my own life. Wiktionary defines progress as a moving or going forward; a proceeding onward; an advance toward ideal completeness or perfection in respect of quality or condition. Often I see it; sometimes I feel it. But right now, I'm deep in it.

This week marked ths biggest jump forward in the "building" of Leads360 2.0. I've been arranging the blocks, recruiting the talent, defining the strategy and taking the actions; and more importantly, so has everyone around me. By month end, we will have hired 10 new faces and have added more talent to our team than I could have imagined was possible. That must be progress.

I think progress is what happens when I’m not looking. It’s the spontaneous accomplishments of the people around me. I can hear it from my office; that instinctive hum of hard work and forward thinking. At Leads360 things just seem to be moving along without me. It’s not as if I’m making less of a contribution; maybe that the engine is running on its own more and more each day and the great people I’ve hired are doing what they do best; make progress.

I’ve been preaching the strategy forever, perhaps now it’s really proving to work.

How Does the Matrix Apply to Business?

Like any good tech entrepreneur, I was forever changed by The Matrix. There are many memorable quotes from that movie of course; but in particular, I love this one.

"No one’s ever done this before." "That’s why it’s going to work"

The reason I like this one so much is because it demonstrates the whole risk/reward principle. The more risk you take, the larger the reward. So, if you do something nobody has ever done, well that’s the ultimate risk; presumably, the ultimate reward awaits.

For me, when I think about the challenges ahead, this quote inspires me. The truth is that people have paved the road that I’m traveling before. Growing a business, raising venture financing, assembling a remarkable and getting a win; that’s been done. But to me, it’s brand new. To me, it’s never been done. And to me, that’s why it’s going to work.

Always a Product Guy

Sometimes I can’t shut off the product side of my mind. At AdTech this past week I found myself in some pretty heated conversations with some very interesting tech companies. In particular I spent a while at the BuzzLogic booth. I was intrigued by the technology and the concept, but of course I couldn’t help thinking about how I could improve the solution.

I think I may have irritated the rep that was showing me the product at first, but I’m a product guy and I like to take good things and make them great. I’m not sure if she took my ideas to the rest of the team, but we’ll see. I did have some great ideas…

Stepping Up My Game, Win or Lose, it Works

Of my core organizing principles, good and bad, the one that provides me with some of the best results is my inherent desire to step up my game. What I mean is that I look at every situation as an opportunity to become better. When I get wins, I’m ready for the next challenge. When I fail, I look to see what I can learn and how I can apply that to another situation. There is no finish line for me because not matter what I achieve, I’m on to the next best thing; I’m on to whatever is next that will help me step up my game.

I’ve found this to be the case in all areas of my life (professional, personal, family, etc.). In many cases, this is a great quality because I’m driven to be a better boss, a better husband, a better son, a better friend, etc. In other cases it can be a bit of a weight because I’m rarely satisfied, and often not for long. Plus I sometimes expect others to have the same quality and when they don’t push themselves to be better, I get frustrated. And a caveat to that point, God knows I’ve got a lot of “stepping up” to do, and I don’t always do it with grace. The key for me is that I’m willing to see the opportunity, not matter how painful it may be or how bad it makes me look. If there is an opportunity to step it up, I’m up for it.

Of course, not everyone has this. There are many strengths that others have that I don’t, and that’s great. But I think when it comes to business; this is a pretty valuable asset in terms of personality traits.

Lately, I've been focusing much time and energy on hiring and team building; I’ve been working hard to improve my interview and recruiting skills (believe me, there is a lot of room for improvement). I’ve started making progress and I’m pushing people to present their strengths rather than their experience; and I’m looking for people that have that organizing principle that drives them to be better.

Show Me You’re Strengths

I’m really tapping into the whole strengths revolution that Marcus Buckingham introduced me to. I just picked up his new book, but I also finished StrengthsFinder 2.0 which picks up where Marcus left off with Now, Discover Your Strengths. This book really digs into the 34 strength themes and added improvements to the online test. I recommend it.

I’m a believer in timing. I think that the timing for this work is right as I’m focusing nearly 80% of my time on team building. I’m approaching Leads360 2.0 pragmatically starting with an inventory of my assets, my team. We’ve got some great people here and before I start adding more bodies I want to make sure everyone is clear on these things:

1. What are the roles and responsibilities of existing staff and management?
2. What strengths are we working with among our current team?
3. Are the current employees focused on strength building or weakness fixing?
4. What are the roles we need to fill with new people?
5. How do new hires balance existing employees and promote mutual strength building?

Answering these questions is time consuming but I’m convinced it’s worth it.