Navigating Success and Leadership: Insights from a CEO's Journey

Building a Strong Company Culture

Creating a strong company culture is crucial for any growing business. It's not just about having a pleasant work environment - it's about establishing shared values and behavioral norms that will protect and propel the company forward as it scales.

One of the most effective ways to build culture is through the hiring process. As the CEO interviewed explains:

"It's a lot easier to hire for culture than it is to create it from scratch. If you think about values like honesty or kindness, those are much harder to teach than technical skills like how to clean floors or film a video."

With this in mind, they implemented a dedicated "culture interview" as part of their hiring process. This interview focuses solely on ensuring candidates align with the company's core values and behavioral expectations.

The benefits of this approach are twofold:

1. It allows the company to bring on team members who already embody the desired culture.
2. It clearly communicates to candidates how important culture is to the organization.

As the CEO notes, this can actually help attract the right people while repelling those who aren't a good fit:

"I want that intensity to scare people away. In a way, it attracts the right people and repels the wrong people, which is ideally what the interview process should do."

By being upfront and "potent" in how they represent the company culture, they allow candidates to self-select out if it's not the right environment for them.

Choosing Core Values

When it comes to selecting core values, the CEO emphasizes the importance of thinking long-term:

"It starts with where do we want to take this company? And then in order to take this company there, what kind of people do we have to have?"

They reflected on past experiences and companies to determine what type of people and values led to success. While there may be some carryover from previous ventures, it's important to tailor values to the specific goals and vision of the current company.

For example, one of their previous companies had a value of "grow or die" which evolved into "competitive greatness" for the current organization. The essence is similar, but the style and framing is different to match their current objectives.

Ultimately, they settled on three core values:

1. Unimpeachable character
2. Sincere candor
3. Competitive greatness

These values were carefully chosen to encompass the most critical traits needed to achieve their ambitious vision. As the CEO explains:

"I thought to myself, what are the three most important things that if this person had these things and nothing else, we could build upon those skills?"

By distilling it down to just three key values, it becomes much easier for everyone in the organization to remember and embody them on a daily basis.

Leading Through Challenges

Leadership isn't just about guiding a company through good times - it's about how you show up and make decisions during the most difficult moments. The CEO shared some powerful insights on navigating challenges and making tough calls as a leader.

Reframing Adversity as Opportunity

One of the most impactful mindsets a leader can adopt is viewing challenges as opportunities for growth rather than insurmountable obstacles. The CEO provided a great example of this when discussing how they handled the COVID-19 pandemic:

"When COVID hit our business, everyone was like 'You're so screwed' because all our businesses were in-person. It was our best month ever and then it just completely slowed down. But I said alright - I want to be in business, I want to be one of the best leaders that exists. This is where you get tested. You don't get tested when times are easy, you get tested when things are hard."

Rather than panicking or giving up, they reframed the situation:

"If I were the best in class, if I were the best leader ever, how would I handle this situation?"

By approaching it from this angle, they were able to:

• Learn how to turn around a company
• Pivot products quickly
• Rally company culture during a crisis
• Handle difficult decisions like layoffs

As challenging as it was, they now view that period as an invaluable learning experience that made them a stronger leader.

Making Difficult Decisions

One of the hardest aspects of leadership is having to make decisions that negatively impact some people for the greater good of the company. The CEO got emotional discussing recent situations where they've had to make such calls:

"One of the hardest things to do is make decisions that you know are right, that make someone's life worse but make 100 people's lives better."

They shared how doing layoffs during COVID was incredibly difficult emotionally:

"I felt terrible, but I knew it was the right decision and so I did it anyways. It took me a while to bounce back from because I judged myself a lot for it - could I have prevented it, could I have done things better?"

This internal struggle is why many founders end up stepping away from the CEO role as companies grow. It's painful to constantly be in a position of making these hard calls.

However, the CEO emphasized the importance of learning to forgive yourself:

"I can feel sad and I can feel upset, but I will forgive myself because I know at the end of the day that I'm doing what's right for this company and I'm doing what's right for these people. I also know that making hard decisions is my job."

They noted that it's critical to process these emotions relatively quickly so you can show up as your best self for the rest of the team:

"How you show up for your team sets the tone for everything in the entire company. Showing up well and being your best self is very important."

Maintaining Confidentiality

Another challenge leaders face is maintaining confidentiality even when it would be easier to share information. The CEO shared how there are often situations where they could easily explain their side of a story by disclosing private information, but they refuse to break that trust:

"I will never break confidentiality, I will never humiliate somebody else, I will never talk badly about somebody or something they did. So I will have to bear that and I'll have to deal with the fact that they think something negative about me."

While this can be frustrating in the moment, it's crucial for maintaining trust within the organization. As they explained:

"If somebody tells me something in confidence, I keep it to myself. I don't think people could come to me and talk to me if they felt like I was going to go tell everybody, even if it was to my advantage."

This commitment to confidentiality, even when it's difficult, is a hallmark of great leadership.

Authenticity in the Public Eye

As companies grow and gain more attention, leaders often find themselves thrust into the public eye. This can create unique challenges around privacy and authenticity.

Balancing Privacy and Impact

The CEO candidly shared how their life has changed dramatically over the past year as the company has grown:

"My privacy has gone from like, you know, four years ago my whole life was private and I didn't have people around much at all, to like I have very little privacy now."

This loss of privacy was actually something they were quite fearful of initially:

"That is something that I was scared of and I wasn't sure if I wanted to even go on social media simply because of that alone."

However, they ultimately decided to embrace a more public-facing role because of the potential for positive impact:

"Do you really want to help people? Most people that really help people, people know who they are. You can't really help people and get your message out unless you're public."

By reframing it as an opportunity to have a broader positive influence rather than just a loss of privacy, they were able to push through that initial fear.

Demonstrating Excellence Before Teaching It

One of the core philosophies that guides their approach to content creation and public presence is "demonstrate excellence before you teach it." As they explained:

"When I think about making content, I think about the amount of people that exist that tell people what to do without doing it themselves, and I've never wanted to be one of those people."

This is why much of their content focuses on giving people a real, behind-the-scenes look at how they operate their company:

"If I want to help people, I think I have a higher likelihood of helping people if they actually see how I operate in my company, they see the people in my company, they watch the culture."

By showing rather than just telling, it allows viewers to:

1. See what it's really like to build and run a successful company
2. Witness that leaders and teams aren't perfect - they make mistakes too
3. Get a more authentic view compared to scripted, polished content

This approach also helps with sustainability. As a busy CEO, it would be challenging to consistently produce highly scripted, pre-planned content. By capturing more "in the wild" footage as they go about their day-to-day work, it becomes more manageable to create regular content.

Bridging the Authenticity Gap

One of the biggest challenges with being in the public eye is maintaining authenticity. Many people end up presenting a curated, polished version of themselves online that doesn't match who they really are.

The CEO shared their goal of bridging that gap:

"My goal is to bridge that gap because I've just observed what I don't like about content - it's just that when you can tell when there's something off, when you watch their content. And what's off is they're probably just spending all this energy trying to be the version of themselves they think the internet wants to see."

By striving to show up authentically, even when it's uncomfortable, they hope to build deeper connections and have a more meaningful impact:

"People hate you either way, they might as well hate you for who you are. And you don't have to expend all that energy trying to fake it."

While it can be scary to be so open, especially as your audience grows, staying true to yourself is ultimately more sustainable and rewarding in the long run.

Advice for New Leaders

The interview concluded with some valuable advice for those stepping into new leadership roles, particularly when joining an existing team:

Be Patient and Observant

When you're eager to make an impact in a new role, it can be tempting to start making changes immediately. However, the CEO advises taking a more measured approach:

"The hardest thing, but the best thing to do, is to be patient and to form the relationships first and to watch everything."

They shared an example of a team member who handled this exceptionally well:

"He came in and I knew it was actually a hot mess in his department. He just watched everything and took notes for 30 days. Then he presented to me on day 50 his observations and suggestions of what to do based on it. It was very thoughtful, taking into consideration all the context of who built what, who did what, and why things were the way they were."

Look for Quick Wins

While you shouldn't rush to make major changes, it's still valuable to find ways to add value early on:

"I always look for quick wins where it's like, okay where can I just add value without completely redoing anything?"

This allows you to demonstrate your capabilities and build trust without disrupting existing processes too dramatically.

Ask Questions Before Suggesting Changes

Before proposing changes to how things are done, take time to understand the current approach:

"Whenever I have things that I think I want to do differently in a department, I go to a teammate and I'll ask them a million questions before I tell them what I think we should do differently. I want to understand why they do it the way they do right now."

This not only helps you gain valuable context, but it also shows respect for the existing team and the work they've done.

Document Your Observations

As you observe and learn about your new environment, keep detailed notes:

"Be taking notes the whole time and then put it all together in one proposal like, 'This is what I would like to do.'"

This allows you to present a comprehensive, well-thought-out plan when the time is right, rather than suggesting piecemeal changes.

By following these guidelines - being patient, looking for quick wins, asking questions, and documenting observations - new leaders can set themselves up for success and make a positive impact in their new roles.

Conclusion

Building a successful company and being an effective leader is no easy task. It requires careful attention to culture, the ability to make tough decisions, a commitment to authenticity, and the willingness to constantly learn and adapt.

By focusing on core values, reframing challenges as opportunities for growth, maintaining trust through confidentiality, and striving for authenticity even in the public eye, leaders can create thriving organizations that make a real difference.

Whether you're a seasoned CEO or just stepping into your first leadership role, there's always room to grow and improve. By embracing these principles and remaining open to learning, you can navigate the complexities of leadership and guide your team to new heights of success.

Article created from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkGXdWTl01o