Bridging Leadership Lessons from the Workplace and Those Experiences Shaping Today's Youth and Tomorrow's Leaders
![]() Over the last month and a half, I have introduced the concept of the Pillars of Impact and how they are 3 key principles that are critical to achieving success. I explained that when I look for future teammates, I try to make sure that these traits exist in them and before they are hired, I have a conversation about my expectations related to those Pillars. The three pillars are: As I mentioned above, when a person is hired into my group at whatever position, I try to have a quick phone call with them before the offer is made. I started this several years ago after a conversation with our Company's President and CEO. We were discussing how difficult it is to get new employees acclimated to a culture that has been building for so many years. New employees don’t remember the challenges we faced when employees were forced to wear many hats to make sure we could provide products to our customers. So much of what has made us who we are isn’t documented in processes and procedures but in the sweat, frustration, and excitement that we lived over those many years. I realized that there is no better way than sharing my own experiences and delivering, first-hand to the prospective employee, my expectations to be part of our team. During the conversations with the future employees, I never called out the Three Pillars of Impact. That idea had not occurred to me until I was sharing the concept of these conversations with someone and felt it would be a great topic for a blog post. But I would deliver the same talk, focusing on these three points, to every employee. I might use different examples based upon the person’s background or position they were seeking. But I always finished with this simple statement, “If you don’t think you can commit to these things, then please don’t accept the position. Wait for a job that is a better match. Because if you can’t do these three things, then you will not reach your potential in our group, and it will be a waste of time because you won’t be here for the long haul.” Courage to Challenge It’s extremely important to challenge the status quo. As a new employee or new to a process, it is your obligation to ask why and to understand not only the process, but the expected outcome and benefit of the process. Without the questions, how will there be any improvements? There is a fine line between challenging and creating negative conflict. This is a tough one for me and I struggle with many people on how I approach the challenge. There are two key ingredients to make the challenge a positive experience: 1) respectfully challenge the process not the person and 2) create an environment that is conducive to challenge. Insecure leaders try to squash the challenges or get defensive. I talked in a previous post about Trust in Vulnerability in which good leaders are confident and open to feedback. They look for opportunities to improve because the success of the organization is bigger than their ego. Expect Excellence When I talk about expecting excellence, it is both about the standards to which you hold yourself accountable as well as what you expect from your teammates. In my conversations with the potential new hires, I tell them that they need to have the courage to challenge me as well. If we are not living up to what I have talked to them about, if I’m not delivering the excellence I expect from others, then I need to know. I am not talking about perfection. I’m talking about the mindset or the culture of excellence. The pursuit of excellence can be more important than a goal or metric that you are chasing. This is easier to grasp when you are part of the shared vision, you understand where you are going, why it’s important and most importantly, what you and your teammates can do to travel that path. Empower Others Just get out of their way. Best set of advice for a new manager. Just like in sports, every new coach must realize that they cannot control every aspect of their team or call every play. Sometimes the best thing a coach can do is nothing. Now, it’s not really nothing but as a leader you are responsible for helping to build and reinforce the culture that moves the organization forward. You do that by the shared vision we talked about above and creating an environment of trust and vulnerability. Where they know that they can try, fail, and are expected to get up and try again. Not to be ridiculed or condemned, but to be rewarded for getting up and learning. We are now an ESOP, an employee-owned company. While it may have only become official in the last year or so, I have felt and acted like an employee-owner since I started in 1993. I can tell you by the commitment of their actions and the quality of work that my teammates feel the same way. Whether you are a new employee or like me, one who has been here for 28 years, I would ask you the same question. If you can’t commit to these Three Pillars of Impact, then maybe this isn’t the right place for you. Embracing and executing on these three key principles, these Pillars, is a sure way to maximize your Impact so that it stretches far Beyond Today.
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AuthorTom Brown - a husband and a father who is simply trying to make a difference. Using my experience as a Manufacturing Executive to connect leadership from the boardroom to the hardwood to help teams grow and develop to make a difference in the lives of others. Archives
February 2025
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