Last post you met Le Herron (CEO of O.M. Scott & Sons from 1965-1983) and learned the foundational principle of his leadership style; putting other people’s interests first. This, he learned as a lieutenant in World War II while being admonished by an old sergeant.
A business leader putting other people’s interests first. “Naive? Not at all. In fact, study history and you’ll find that, whether in war, government, or business, those with that mind-set were the most successful.
His book, Making Your Company Human: Inspiring Others to Reach Their Potential is inspiring me greatly and I plan to start taking it to my live events and quote from it often. If many of today’s business leaders would embrace his principles, their companies would be a lot more functional…and a lot more profitable.
I was going to take one or two of his quotes and expound upon them. I then considered how very presumptuous that would be. Instead, I’d like to simply share a few of his thoughts with you. Today, we’ll focus on leadership itself; in the next post, how it ties into a successful marketing message.
“For a leader, getting results is more important than getting credit.”
“There is little value in defining what a company stands for unless its leaders live by similar principles.”
“Before people can decide whether to contribute their abilities wholeheartedly, they need to understand not just what you stand for, but what you believe the whole enterprise stands for.”
“An important personal benefit follows from discovering and documenting your company’s character: you are forced to reveal your true nature to yourself.”
“Managers often worry about over-informing. In my experience, that’s impossible. We all tend to underestimate what others can contribute when they understand a situation.”
“Only by expressing what you honestly believe will you give others in the company the courage to stand up for their own beliefs and ideals.”
“In communicating {a written message to employees, which he did throughout his tenure, sent to their homes in order to include their families} to make your company human, the most important rule is to send out a message only if you believe it, can defend it, and are willing to act consistently with your words.”
“Many times, workers are given too little information about what their company stands for. Without the opportunity to understand and be inspired by its values, they are cheated of a chance to discover the scope of their own abilities. They may still work hard, and if other conditions are favorable the business will prosper. But the loyalty will be missing, {as will} the resilience that keeps companies strong when the going is hard.”
“Trust can’t be bought. It can only be built, bit by bit, by all of us.”
“If we’re considering a shift in course to take advantage of more favorable conditions, it’s our values that should tell us how helpful that shift would be in terms of where we really want to go.”
“The nature of a good company – like that of a good person – is that it tries to keep becoming better.”
and, finally…
“Change when it’s necessary to protect your principles…but don’t change your principles.”
I head down south today for a speaking engagement tomorrow morning. So, while I won’t be able to quickly acknowledge your responses, I’d love to read them. What are your thoughts about any or all of the above quotes? What about the very last one? How and when might that occur in your business or personal life?
Next time we hear from Mr. Herron we’ll focus more on his marketing expertise and see how he was able to humanize that, with great profit as a result.
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Okay. That’s it. Must read this book!
Thanks Bob for the resource. It’s all about waking up to who we are and living from our authenticity. Bravo to you for sharing this…
Really sounds good. Thanks for sharing!
Love it, Bob. All great quotes, and you are absolutely correct, you have to communicate your core principles to your team. Why else would they want to follow you as a leader?
As great as that last quote is, I find myself really resonating with this one: “If we’re considering a shift in course to take advantage of more favorable conditions, it’s our values that should tell us how helpful that shift would be in terms of where we really want to go.”
That one really makes me feel assured for some reason! Is it something I admire or something I do?
Joe
Thank you, everyone. I thank that part of the brilliance of Mr. Herron’s quotes is that we all took different highlights from them. Joe, I loved that particular quote myself. And, knowing you as I do, it is definitely something you do!