Jay Milligan, President and CEO, CCi. Jay has over 30 years of operational leadership experience across various business sectors.
It has never been easy to do business. Across the decades, there have always been cost and supply chain pressures, political and environmental uncertainty—the list goes on. Despite all this, one thing has remained constant: the value of the person within and behind the business. However, in the relentless pursuit of success, our most vital asset is often overlooked.
In my 30-plus years of experience across revenue growth, operational efficiency and business optimization, I have grown comfortable in not having all the answers. Instead, I’ve seen firsthand the value of surrounding myself with a talented team where it is my role to ensure they have everything they need to excel and are empowered to do so.
Sure, an experienced technical team can continue to produce a product or service forever, but it is the healthy balance of IQ and EQ within leaders where we see agility, connection and growth of the team.
Supporting Business Transformation
In a recent conversation with a colleague, I found out she had a 2-year-old daughter. We discussed how, when holding hands on a walk, you can walk slightly faster than she would otherwise. And with your support, she can skip, perhaps even stumble, but never fall. However, let her hand go, but maintain that same pace, and you’ll find she is left behind or maybe even walking in another direction entirely.
The same goes for transforming a business and its processes in order to be more effective and successful. A bit of discomfort or healthy tension is often good—that’s where growth happens. But push too hard or not at all, and you will keep getting the same results.
Business transformation can be addictive, especially when you’re reporting immediate growth and acceleration, but the key is to ensure you are keeping the human element at the core of what you are doing and doing it in a consistent and sustainable way. I believe that if you focus too narrowly on the mechanics of operating an organization, you risk losing sight of the person, and while business isn’t personal, people have lives both inside and outside of work.
Taking that time to appreciate the people in your organization, genuinely valuing their work and connecting on a deeper and more trusting level, will always put you in a better position for creating a stronger team that will embrace the change and challenge themselves—and you as well—to deliver successful business outcomes.
Building A Successful Team
When you’re evaluating your business’s current state and where you want to move to in the future, look at who you have standing beside you, and be critical about what you have, don’t have and where the opportunities lie.
As Jim Collins, author of Good to Great would say, “Get the right people on the bus, the right people in the right seats, and the wrong people off the bus.” This doesn’t mean looking to immediately replace what you have, but instead complementing the talents you have and allowing everyone to play to their strengths. Create an environment that allows people to contribute; set your sights on maintaining that and the rest should follow.
Throughout my career, I have been shaped by the experiences gained and the lessons learned. In my role as chief executive, I see leadership as my opportunity to give others the chance to be shaped by their own opportunities and achieve what I could only dream of. While it’s easy to be critical or dismissive of the differences in ideals and values between generations, I’ve learned that finding out what makes your people tick and connecting with them on a genuine level will deliver far more motivational outcomes. Just get to know your people!
So, back to the current business landscape. Through pandemics, supply chain disruptions and an uncertain geopolitical climate—and the climate in general—the need for adaptable teams has never been greater. It is my goal in preparing my teams to always put the person first and encourage them to be resilient in the face of change, brave in their responses and critical in their evaluations.
Create an environment of psychological safety where your people feel comfortable in discomfort, and they will be able to meet future challenges head on, and you will gain a highly aligned group of talented individuals who want to be a part of your winning team in return.
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