Article originally published in the Philadelphia Business Journal on June 7, 2016
Milestones are important in life. They mark points at which we can assess with perspective what we have accomplished. This is my 100th article since I started to write my weekly column for the Philadelphia Business Journal, so I thought this would be a good time to take such a perspective.
As a former CEO and director on numerous company and nonprofit boards, I have written on the principles of effective leadership, entrepreneurship and corporate governance, applying these principles to situations that I have experienced in my professional life and to events reported by the news media.
What led me to writing? Two years ago, I accompanied founding dean Donna De Carolis of Drexel University’s Close School of Entrepreneurship, six of her staff and 16 of her students on a trip to Silicon Valley to visit Apple and eBay, as well as numerous start-ups in San Francisco. I was energized by Drexel’s students and how they interacted with the entrepreneurs we visited.
After the trip, I felt I needed an additional challenge beyond serving on boards in my post-CEO life. I had a need to get outside my comfort zone and do something different. I chose writing, using my experiences to help people be better leaders, entrepreneurs and board members, which led to being invited to speak on leadership at various conferences. Throughout my career, I have been a student of leadership. I always try to connect with my readers by sharing my personal views and experiences, and by writing on topics on which they can personally relate.
I established credibility by writing 15 articles on leadership and posting them on LinkedIn. I shared the articles with Lyn Kremer, then publisher of the Philadelphia Business Journal, who I had previously met. After my articles were reviewed by Business Journal editor-in-chief Craig Ey, I landed a position as a guest columnist.
I hired two editors – Julia Casciato, then editor-in-chief of Drexel’s independent student newspaper The Triangle, and Alexa Josaphouitch, at the time a copy editor of The Triangle. Both of these English majors have been invaluable in helping me improve my writing style and better connect with millennials.
Over the past two years, I deepened my knowledge about the traits of successful people and successful organizations. For this 100th article, I would like to share six of these important traits.
Successful people have a great outlook on life, and are not afraid to take risks
There are two types of people in this world – those who have a positive attitude, see a world of opportunities and abundance and are not afraid to take risks; and those who have a negative attitude, only see a world of limitations and scarcity and stay within their comfort zone. The first type of individual builds something enduring and changes the world. The second type only sees obstacles and why things can’t be done.
Dean Mahmoud and Logan Levenson, 2014 graduates of Drexel’s LeBow College of Business and co-founders of the rapidly growing digital media company Argyle Interactive, are examples of those that see a world of opportunities and abundance. Argyle developed my website and manages the on-line presence of my company, Silverman Leadership. Jon Shettsline, my Argyle account manager, manages the email campaign for my articles each week. He graduates from Drexel on June 10. Mahmoud, Levenson and Shettsline exemplify the entrepreneurial spirit that is driving this millennial generation.
Effective leaders create a culture that encourages their employees to tell them the brutal facts of reality
Robert Ebeling was the Morton Thiokol engineer who warned NASA not to launch the space shuttle Challenger because the ambient temperature was below the design temperature for the O-ring seals on the solid fuel rocket boosters of the space shuttle. Ebeling was ignored. On January 28, 1986 the Challenger was launched and one of the O-rings failed, resulting in the catastrophic loss of the lives of seven astronauts.
In response to Ebeling’s warning, one NASA manager is quoted as saying, “I am appalled by your recommendation.” Another NASA manager said, “My God, Thiokol, when do you want me to launch – next April?” It’s obvious that NASA did not want to hear the brutal facts of reality, resulting in tragedy.
Leaders need to be open to hearing issues within their organizations, not only from direct reports, but also from all employees. They need to create an environment that welcomes this input. When speaking to employees who are not direct reports, a leader should listen and ask questions for understanding, and never tell the employee what to do, since that violates the chain of command.
Always differentiate
Creating a great customer experience differentiates you from your competition. The gold standard in the area of customer experience is Apple, which is able to obtain a price premium for the products they sell due in part to the experience they provide their customers.
Whether you are a student about to enter the workforce or are currently employed, always differentiate yourself by creating value for your company. You will stand out and be considered for additional responsibilities. When it comes time to move on to a new company, the hiring manager will ask what you did that was new and different within your previous organization to move that company forward.
Whether an individual or a company, always differentiate.
Listen to your customers – how they see your company is more important than how you see it
Too many organizations are focused on how they see themselves, rather than how their customers view them. The customers’ view is really the only one that matters – they are the ones that decide to buy from you or your competition.
All of us have heard a CEO claim that their company is great. I have never called my company great – I would state that we are constantly on a journey to become great, to be the best in the world at what we do. Once a CEO calls his or her company great, it has nowhere to go but down. Calling your company great is for others to do. As CEO, your response should always be that we are still on that journey.
You should act as if your competition is trying to eat your lunch
Why act this way? Because that’s what competitors will do. It may not be across the board, but in a business niche, where they feel they can exploit their competitive advantage. Andy Grove, former chairman of Intel Corporation was right when he said, “Only the paranoid survive.”
Many times a management team has presented a business plan to me with no analysis of their organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats – a SWOT analysis of their business. Leaders of a business should develop strategies to build on an organization’s strengths, overcome its weaknesses, exploit its opportunities and defend against its threats. A similar analysis should be done for your business’s major competitors, to enable you to better understand their strategies.
As the leader, what are you going to do about a competitive threat to your business? Don’t wait to take action to defend your market position. The longer you wait, the harder it is to defend.
Networking is one of the most important things that you can do
Last year, I conducted a Lunch and Learn for the students of the Pennoni Honors College at Drexel University. After the session, a student introduced herself and asked if I knew anyone with whom I could connect her in the area of marketing and communications in the San Francisco area. After going through my mental rolodex, I asked her to send me an email, which I forwarded to Richelle Parham, a 1986 Drexel graduate, who at the time was the chief marketing officer at eBay. Within a few hours after asking, this student was connected to this high-level eBay executive.
I had met Parham the prior year when I visited eBay with the Close School of Entrepreneurship. Had I not made the trip and met Parham, and had this student not taken the initiative to introduce herself to me, she would not have been able to connect with Parham. Take the opportunity whenever possible to network. As you move up in your career, use your network to help others.
So, what have I learned about myself over nearly two years of writing, as well as speaking at conferences on effective leadership? I learned that my purpose in life is to help others be better at what they do. Given what I do now compared to my prior professional life as a CEO, I also learned that one never knows where the future will take them. And finally, I have learned that I am here to make a difference in the lives of others, and that is what I try to do every day.
Stan Silverman is the founder and CEO of Silverman Leadership. He is a writer, speaker and advisor to C-suite executives on business issues and on cultivating a leadership culture within their organizations. Stan is Vice Chairman of the Board of Drexel University and a director of Friends Select School and Faith in the Future. He is the former President and CEO of PQ Corporation. Follow: @StanSilverman. Connect: Stan@SilvermanLeadership.com. Website: www.SilvermanLeadership.com
