If you happen to sit next to Sheldon Yellen on your next flight, chances are he’ll be writing birthday cards. Lots and lots of them.
“There is an inside joke with acquisitions that I ask prior to closing: ‘How many more people?'” he told Business Insider — meaning, How many more birthday cards do I have to write? — “since I am constantly calculating that in my mind, rather than ‘What is the EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization)?‘”
Yellen has found that taking the time to write out a card for each and every person in his billion dollar company has created a “culture of compassion” through the whole company.
Regardless of what you may have been told or your beliefs, it starts from the top. That person that sits at the top of the pyramid can change the course of any culture.
“A humble person is more concerned about what is right than being right, about acting on good ideas than having good ideas, about embracing new truth than outdated positions, about building a team than exalting self, about recognizing contribution, than being recognized for making it.” – – Stephen Covey
I once saw a statement on the career page site for WD-40 that said:
“Before Applying:
Please consider employment with WD-40 Company only if you feel as strongly about our values as we do; we live, breathe and play by our values every day.”
I would love to apply that to any person who ascribes to be in a leadership position. What are your values and are you convicted that this is your true north. Do you believe in the following?
If you can’t answer in the affirmative for those statements, stay in the lane of an individual contributor because, just maybe, you are not cut out for this demanding role.
Being a leader today requires a different set of competencies than in the past. It is a lot more that having the aura of leadership. So if you are striving for this role, be aware that more is needed today as leadership requires a more humble approach.
The single most important factor today in your success is your people — your partner, your advisors, your staff, your peers. All of these individuals will help you to become successful giving you a higher probability of success that you’ll achieve your objectives. That means you don’t have to do it alone, but you do have to find the right people, and empower them, so you can harness the power and potential of their talent, skill and drive.
So as we arrive at the end of 2017 and your thoughts are already into the next year, reflect on your activities of the past. Now, as you look ahead, take the time to think how you can act on those four statements of true leadership I listed above. Let that be the gap to close in the New Year.
In the end it is about the people in our lives that will determine our success. Connect with them and remember to be humble. Figure out your way to build a culture of compassion.
