It was hectic. Melbourne one week, Milwaukee the next. I was on the taxi way just before take-off talking to the COO of a specialty steel fabricating company in Southern California, that I would be addressing the following week. We had been trying to touch base for a couple of weeks. He wanted to give me a heads up on the negotiating program that I would be delivering. “One of our sister companies will be joining us.” he said. “Great!” I said. This would mean that all the office managers from around the U.S. and Canada would be at the program.
The following Tuesday morning I walked into the offices of the Seal Beach company. The COO immediately met me and pulled me aside. “Tom, I want to give you another heads up.” “Shoot,” I said. He went on to tell me that the CEO of the company would be joining us for the entire day. “Great!” I said. “Well, you need to understand who it is.” He told me the name. I knew the name. He had taken his private helicopter from Holmby Hills to attend the program. He was dressed in one of his company shirts. He participated in all the exercises. Asked poignant questions. I would much rather have listened to him speak on the acquisition of $50-$100m companies. I was humbled that he was there. He was humble enough to spend the day with his troops knowing that what they would learn would be well worth his time and theirs.
Classic. Leadership through example. Great companies master and relentlessly practice the fundamentals.
Simply put, his presence amplified the importance of the information and significantly increased the accountability of it being leveraged in practice.
