Franchise Update Magazine Issue IV, 2013 | Page 9

Describe your leadership style. I set the vision, goals, and standards and then work through my team to achieve them. I refrain from micromanaging, except in those rare situations when I have a team member who is underperforming. In those cases, in addition to giving specific feedback and coaching on how to improve, I will be micromanaging for a time to ensure the business unit attains its goals. Thankfully, I rarely have to partake in micromanaging. I do, however, have a solid grasp of the important details of the business. I don’t see understanding the details as a negative in any way. What has inspired your leadership style? I do believe, to some extent, that most successful leaders possess a similar behavioral or personality profile. Therefore, to some degree, I would say that I was born with leadership characteristics or that it developed during my childhood. My behavioral profile is more dominant than accepting, more independent than compliant, more driving than relaxed, and more analytical than sociable. With that as the backdrop, it has been my practice, since first getting into business, to seek out successful leaders and learn from them. Sometimes it is in a mentee role. Other times in listening to them speak or reading their books. One of the most significant mentors in my career has been Don Lowe, CEO of the multibrand franchising company Franchise Services, Inc. What is your biggest leadership challenge? Learning to focus on the most important three or four drivers of the business, saying “no” or “not right now” to many other good ideas or initiatives, and keeping my team focused on implementing or effecting those same three or four key drivers. Concentrating resources, essentially my people’s time and money, on the few most-significant drivers of the business is important to maximizing the success of the company, while at the same time remaining open to new opportunities. In short, there are always a thousand competing ideas, but if you spread yourself too thin, you’re not going to achieve as much as you would if you remain focused on the important few key drivers of the business. How do you transmit your culture from your office to front-line employees? Once the vision is set and the company’s key strategic objectives are determined and the desired resultsoriented culture is defined, my job is to reinforce, focus, and cheerlead the team. I begin every meeting, whether with my team members or franchise partners and their employees, with a review or discussion of FastSigns’ four key strategic objectives, which outline our mission. By my personal example and reinforcing their importance, the entire team comes to understand that this is what FastSigns International is all about. These four key strategic objectives are: 1) to increase franchise partner profitability; 2) to increase average unit volume; 3) to increase the value of the FastSigns brand; and 4) to further improve franchise partner satisfaction. We have specific metrics for each of these strategic objectives and ensure that every team member understands their role in fulfilling them. I also believe that language is critically important. A simple change, such as using the term “franchise partner,” rather than “franchisee,” has resulted in subtle improvements in our culture. Where is the best place to prepare for leadership: an MBA school or OTJ? Since I don’t have an MBA, I would have to say on-the-job training. An MBA teaches you principles and educates you about business and finance. You cannot develop your leadership skills unless you’re leading people. Of course, it is also essential to be confident in regard to your business. Therefore, having an MBA—which would increase your confidence in regard to