My Team’s Solar Power

Today I attended a “PROFIT100/NEXT100” gathering because ICP was selected as one of the Top 200 growth companies in Canada by PROFIT magazine, given that we’ve almost quadrupled sales in five years. At that event,a presenter showed the following saying by Lao Tze, an ancient chinese philosopher of Tao:
The best leaders are scarcely known by their subjects;
The next best are loved and praised;
The next are feared;
The next despised:
They have no faith in their people,
And their people become unfaithful to them.
When the best leaders achieve their purpose
Their subjects claim the achievement as their own.
Here I was amongst a collection of some of the best CEO’s that had rocketed their companies from nothing to the sun. While our growth was impressive, 312% in 4 years, some achieved thousand percent growth in even less time. They tended to be software or internet related companies.
But one theme that struck me is how many of us faced the same issues in our companies. And it usually boiled down to the only distinction a company really has..its people. So the dilemna that was common was simply how to Get/Keep/Grow a loyal team. How to empower them so that they take the decisions which are facilitated by a CEO’s provision of environment, resources and vision. The guy who found hotmail for Microsoft was sitting on my left, a magician not far away teaching us that what we do is similar to magic at the next table, a guy who can’t make enough hot tubs to satisfy demand in Europe not far beyond (his companions were surely selected to help sell more tubs!). All of these people had the same challenge and we were there sharing our stories.
As I recalled the stages that ICP has been through, from a cowboy company where almost anything went to get the sale, to its transformation into an ethical, honest and integrity-based culture, I am truly thankful for having such wonderful people come into our company at this crucial stage. I am surrounded by leaders. My job is to make them CEO’s of their jobs. I need to listen not talk. The more I listen, the more I can understand their needs. They are smart people. I hired them after all. Its about keeping the spark alive in the toughest of times, some of which we have just lived and gotten through. The more invisible I become, the more they take credit, the better job I will have done.
My job is to show them the sun. Point to the path, not walk it for them. Ask them how we can become our partner’s sunshine, and get them the tools they need to succeed. Will I succeed? Time will tell. One thing for sure, I have evolved as a leader and so has ICP. Honesty, integrity, vision. That will be the brand we will build for our customers. That is what we will stand for. ICP. Integrity. Customer-centric. Performance.