“ Our leadership team are highly autonomous , entrepreneurial thinkers who love to go against the traditional norms of a corporate environment .”
ceoprofile
But I do when I see the team isn ’ t pointed in the direction of the vision . It ’ s usually a quick adjustment and I get out of the way after that . Since we ’ re a relatively flat and non-hierarchical company , I am also there if anyone on my team hits a roadblock or isn ’ t getting anywhere with their normal reporting structure . Those moments are almost always a culture issue and I can provide perspective to everyone involved to get to the real issue , which is rarely what is normally reported . I also like to walk around and ask questions . This allows me to understand what ’ s really going on so I can provide that clarity to my leadership team , who can sometimes miss some of these observations . I ’ ve found these misses happen when the leadership team is knee-deep in execution and managing issues they don ’ t feel comfortable pushing out . As a result , they are not always as close as they should be to the action / transaction . When that happens my job is to back them up with information and clarity .
What does your management team look like ? Our leadership team are highly autonomous , entrepreneurial thinkers who love to go against the traditional norms of a corporate environment . I have an outstanding COO , Gillian Harper , and everyone ultimately reports to her . She leads the team on finding and executing on the “ how ” of the vision . Throughout our leadership team , asking for help is not viewed as a sign of weakness , it ’ s encouraged . It ’ s how we build trust and get to the best thinking very quickly . I encourage my leadership team to share their failures with everyone so together they can address how to move forward .
How does your management team help you lead ? They ’ ve recently become very good at questioning success . They use that as a highly effective way to encourage people to embrace failure . They ’ ve found that many of our successes don ’ t often have as many of the positive elements that exist in embracing failure , learning from it , and adjusting . They also mentor me and provide me with feedback on my own leadership blind spots .
Favorite management gurus : Do you read management books ? I usually read 3 to 4 leadership books a month . The one that stands out is Traction by Gino Wickman . His book outlines his Entrepreneurial Operating System ( EOS ) that takes many of the great thought leadership pillars from people like Patrick Lencioni , Jim Collins , and Stephen Covey and puts them into a
“ Our leadership team are highly autonomous , entrepreneurial thinkers who love to go against the traditional norms of a corporate environment .”
Allan Young and COO Gillian Harper process that ’ s extremely helpful when running a fast-growing company of our size . I ’ ve found that Mindset : The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck is useful every day . The principles of having a growth mindset align with our values and culture perfectly . Whenever encountering a culture issue , it ’ s usually a result of a fixed mindset .
What makes you say , “ Yes , now that ’ s why I do what I do !”? Seeing our employees embrace disruption and get behind a shared vision and culture . It ’ s thrilling to watch them grow as we begin to launch several new brands outside of ShelfGenie and Outback GutterVac .
Operations
What trends are you seeing with consumer spending habits in your stores ? Everyone is now seeking out the best value , but not necessarily the best price . The latter is what ’ s often assumed . Since we provide a higher value proposition than anyone in our industries , and each company is driven by its own “ Noble Purpose ,” it keeps us out of the competitive commodity arena , where no one wins . We choose clients who are attracted to our Noble Purpose ( our “ why ”) and who appreciate our approach to delivering value that always exceeds what we charge . Those are the reasons many of our same store KPI metrics increased more than 20 percent in Q3 for our current brands .
How is the economy driving consumer behavior in your system ? Our brand has remained economy-neutral , so we don ’ t necessarily attribute any slowdown to economic factors . We never use the economy as a crutch because we want our franchisees to focus on delivering value that exceeds the expectations of our clients . Our measure of success in this area is best reflected in our Net Promoter Score ( NPS ), which averages above 80 when combining our current brands .
What are you expecting from your market in the next 12 months ? Shelf- Genie made the market for custom glide-out shelving . We have built the standard for our fragmented industry and view ourselves as our best competitor . After several years of successfully piloting Outback GutterVac in Atlanta and licensing to further test in several other markets , we ’ ve just begun franchising . In 2017 we plan to onboard more than 50 franchisees with more than 150 territories .
34 Franchiseupdate ISSUE I , 2017