The Dot-Com Boom & Bust
I was part of the booming dot com world in the late ’90s, working with a venture capital firm as an entrepreneur-in-residence. When the recession hit in the early 2000s, it hit the tech industry hard. There were no tech deals being made at that time, so I began to shift my focus to manufacturing. In 2003, I bought a company that manufactures office furniture — DeskMakers — from the retiring founder.
As a first-time CEO, I was making way too many decisions
When I bought DeskMakers, I was a first-time CEO moving from the sophisticated world of dot com and technology into the relatively unsophisticated world of manufacturing. It was an already-profitable company with decent product quality and a good customer list, yet there were several operational issues that needed to be addressed. The company did not have clear KPIs in place, the marketing was completely outdated and we were operating with a very high error rate. Additionally, I was learning to work with a vastly different labor force. I knew I would need to quickly put some policies and procedures into place and invest in order to take DeskMakers to the next level.
In the early years, there was a lot of stress and I wasn’t moving the company forward as quickly as I wanted. I was making way too many decisions and I found myself spending a lot of my time working “in the business” rather than “on the business.” I needed to focus on the bigger picture.
During my seven years as a Vistage member, I’ve made significant strides as a CEO.
I needed to view my business from a wider lens
I met Vistage Chair John Morris in the late ’90s through an angel investor group. We stayed in touch and when I became CEO of DeskMakers, he reached out to invite me to join his Vistage group. I was intrigued, yet for many years I declined, making the excuse that I didn’t have the time or money to make the required commitment. But after several years, I saw that I needed to take a step back and view my business (and my life) from a wider lens. I knew that I couldn’t do this on my own, so I decided to join John’s Vistage group in 2013.
Vistage helped me cultivate core values and a culture of decision-making
One of the first major initiatives that Vistage helped me with was establishing our company’s core values. We were experiencing recurring instances of poor behavior and we needed to create a foundational set of values by which everyone could live and operate. With the help of the entire Vistage ecosystem —John, Vistage speakers and my group —I created a process to identify, develop and enforce our company’s six core values: respect and empathy; honesty and forthrightness; teamwork; accountability; innovation; and laughter. We now proudly display a large sign on the wall with our core values as a constant reminder of what we stand for and what should guide our decision-making.
Another much-needed outcome of my Vistage membership was that I was able to cultivate a culture of decision-making throughout the organization. It was apparent that I was still making way too many decisions in the company, so with the help of my group and several one-to-ones with John, I’ve been able to develop key decision-making frameworks designed to guide, educate and evolve. These frameworks have greatly expedited decisions, removed bottlenecks and empowered the team at every level of the company.
As a Chair, John has this incredible energy that lifts, motivates and excites me— about business, about running my business and about getting stuff done.
John’s energy lifts, motivates and excites me as a business leader
John is extremely knowledgeable in finance and knows a lot about growth companies. Every member of our group is laser-focused on growing their business, so John challenges each member to work on their growth plans and address tough decisions head-on in order to move the business forward. He is also incredibly well-connected in the business community and does not hesitate to open and share his expansive network of resources when he, personally, does not have the answer.
Vistage has made me more confident in my abilities, and how I run the company
I’m much more confident in my abilities, and I’m much more confident about how I run the company. I’ve acquired skills and tools to help me deal with anger and stress management and I find that I lose my temper far less. I have worked hard to create valuable processes and frameworks that have helped me stay in my lane, focus on the big picture and set company priorities.
Vistage has taught me that as CEOs, we essentially face the same set of issues. When a fellow member in my group has an issue, I can relate to and learn from the way it is processed. Vistage forces me to take a step back and really examine what I’m doing. I am grateful to have a trusted group of peers challenge me in a way that, unfortunately, my employees often can’t. John and my Vistage group have been instrumental in helping me become a better leader who makes better decisions for better results.
