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One of my core beliefs is that leaders can learn from anyone. To that end, one of my most highly recommended leadership books is Extreme Ownership, specifically its chapter on “leading up and down the chain of command.” It has largely impacted my views and challenged me to handle a recent situation differently—and better—than I would have been naturally inclined to do.

I love the diverse team we have at Hoffer Plastics. I want to surround myself with people who feel like they have a say in the direction we are going. Sometimes, however, this passion can overboil, like it did recently when the team disagreed on the direction of a business strategy. Not being in the meeting when it happened, I was left to getting the facts from others present.

I talked about what happened with all the parties involved, but found myself gravitating to the input from the youngest person on the team. What they lack in experience is made up in their wisdom, and their ability to discern the intricacies of team dynamics. As a leader, I wanted to be intentional in processing the situation with this person as I considered what my next move should be.

So what exactly did it look like to “follow down the chain of command”?

The first action I took was to ask questions about the situation, and listen for themes and revelations within their responses. Before diving into any discussion, I was careful to ensure that any processing of the issue stayed with the issue and did not delve into the complex personalities of those involved in the situation. Sticking to the facts of what happened safeguarded us from gossip, which is both unproductive and unhealthy. Of course, the personalities of those involved come into play, and may need to be addressed, but this should be done one-on-one with the person, not a 3rd party.

Once the clarifying questions gave some scope about the issue, I moved on to the second step by asking this person what they would do if they were in my shoes. This question is powerful because it invites the person into the decision-making process of what action to take. Sitting in the recliner, or the “arm-chair quarterback,” is different than being invited into the decision-making process of what to do next. In fact, this team member stated that what to do next was a hard question to answer given the complexity of the situation at hand. But as they verbally processed the issue one more time, a theme around a lack of role clarity developed in their retelling of the situation. As the leader, I had allowed this lack of clarity to exist, so unbeknownst to this person, their verbal processing helped me clarify what action to take.

The last action I took in this process was not until a day or two later. Going back to this person’s office one more time, I reported back and affirmed that they were helpful. More importantly, I told them exactly the action I was taking based on their inputs. I also reiterated that their help allowed me to take a better action than I might have on my own. As the title of the post suggests, I was following their lead.

Leading people is a hard endeavor. Often leaders like myself look for inputs and help from more seasoned leaders, or through the advice of experts in books and podcasts. As I learned, however, we can also learn from those who are down the “chain of command.” And sometimes following their lead is the best path forward.

One of the most clarifying moments of 2019 was when I received criticism for leading the business with “family values.” The critic believed that running the business with a value of “family” weakened our position, and that caring for people first will eventually be our demise.

To this, they may be right. Most businesses eventually fail, and we are not exempt from that reality.

Core values have to do with how a company behaves, rather than what it does. Like the blood running through our veins, core values are the company’s DNA. While what we do matters immensely, I believe how we do things matters more. To that end, I am here to say that if Hoffer Plastics fails because of how we do things—treating each other as family members, treating suppliers and customers like we would treat extended family, and treating the environment and community we inhabit as best we can since we are stewards of it—I will rest well when it is all said and done.

If, on the other hand, business is all about gaining the next percentage of margin while disregarding human relationships and partnerships, telling half-truths to gain an upper hand, demeaning the competition and even rooting for their demise, blaming the “other” when things don’t go our way, or exhausting all natural and community resources while failing to ever give anything of value back in return, then I want no part of it.

Like any family, we are not perfect. Like any family, this is best seen internally inside our walls. We have our share of people problems because we are human beings after all. These conflicts can be frustrating, even infuriating at times, but we deal with them best we can by always giving the human being the benefit of the doubt. “Sorry” is a word that gets its fair use because we are family. And as a reminder to myself, saying “sorry” must first be modeled by me.

Of course, there is a downside to family. Consultants have told the Hoffer family that we have often allowed poor performers too much runway, that we have failed to confront those problems, and that we can be taken advantage of both internally and externally because of these values. While I think there is some truth to these warnings, I continue to believe for all the reasons listed above that “family” makes us who we are, and clinging to those values is worth the risk.

So yes, we run the business differently than others. If a prospective team member only wants to climb the next step on the ladder, and does not value those around them, we are not for them. If a prospective customer only wants the lowest price and does not value a long-term relationship built on mutual trust and shared growth, we probably are not a good fit. And of course, it is politically correct for everyone to say they prioritize these values, but we aim to be the kind of people that actually live it.

To be sure, this is not the only way to run a business, and to the critics’ point, it may not even be the best. I make no claims that it is.

I just claim that the family core value makes us who we are.

This is what makes us Hoffer Plastics.

Much has been written on meetings in the past several years. Are they good? Bad? Productive? Or just frustrating interruptions to the flow of the day?

My position is that meetings are becoming MORE essential than at any other time in corporate history. With digital technology at a premium, meetings serve to bring people together in the flesh, or at least in real time through the use of ZOOM, and other virtual meeting software. These are the places where leaders truly LEAD! It is the treasured battleground where your influence is put to the test. It is where direction is given, and the journey from moving here to there begins. It is where a team begins to “buy in” and starts to act.

But admittedly, meetings can also be the breeding grounds for waste: people’s time, their pay, and even their morale. Worse, people can leave a bad meeting feeling like they’re on the same page, but finding out later that they weren’t even in the same book!

Leaders, it is our job to improve this.

The number one thing a leader can do to improve meetings is demand that every current meeting’s length is cut in half. Every meeting. Increased time does not lead to increased efficiency. So, if we are not going to allow for “scrap” on the manufacturing floor, we shouldn’t be okay with it in our corporate meetings. Furthermore, decreasing the time in meetings creates a sense of urgency in the room. We don’t have fluff time to mess around, so when we are meeting, let’s get down to business. This can create urgency elsewhere as well.

To do this effectively, however, every meeting needs a leader. Ideally, this is THE leader, or a leader, in the organization. For the purposes of the meeting, they’re the boss. They’re the person that explains the issue, or issues at hand (never more than a few), and they keep the discussion tied to these issues alone. When people bring up problems outside these issues, they write them down so they can be addressed at a separate meeting. In other words, meetings cannot cook a “stew,” they should cook a single entree.

In addition to a meeting boss, a good scribe is also needed. While it is tempting to let the meeting boss to do this, they’re a bad choice because they need to be focused on the conversation going on, rather than writing it down. The boss should be asking clarifying questions, and paying attention to body-posture clues inside the room. The scribe, however, is free to keep their head down and type. Done well, they also can free some people from attending– those who really just need the information from the meeting. Like cutting the time of meetings in half, most meetings can also cut the amount of people attending in half. But this is only possible if a scribe is sharing in detail what happened at the meeting.

Finally, there needs to be clear action items from the meeting. Every organization does this. To make it effective, however, the meeting boss needs to go through each action item with the group to assess commitment level, understanding, and the plan going forward. If this does not happen prior to everyone leaving, the time spent was most likely a waste. As elementary at it sounds, there is power in a person saying, and owning, their action items. There is also value in finding out who is not committed, or said more politely, who would be more committed with one of the action items. Clarifying this here is vital, and keeps the organization moving forward.

Everything above could be done well and still no action be taken because individuals lose sight of the action needed to take. We all live with “information overload,” so unless we have a process for keeping up with our own action items, we are doomed from the start. As mentioned before, I use, and highly recommend, Michael Hyatt’s Fully Focused Planner. The act of physically writing down tasks, checking them off, and doing a weekly-review keeps me on track. Admittedly, Hyatt’s system isn’t the only one out there. But to me, it is the best. Whatever system you choose, find some way to keep your goals in mind, and keep your team accountable for the action items you agreed upon.

If successfully implemented, these ideas will save time, save resources, and enhance productivity. Meetings have gotten a bad rap, but done well, they are a leader’s best tool to create a motivated, productive organization. As Patrick Lencioni once said, “Meetings are where leaders lead!”

Lead well.

Emails were bouncing around despite it being a Friday night. One report, one response, the downward spiral had begun. Selfishly, I was both annoyed and angry. I was ready for the week to be over, and frankly speaking, I was ticked off that this couldn’t wait till Monday.

Instead of throwing gasoline on the fire, I decided to wait till Saturday morning to respond. So, the next morning I began crafting the ultimate email response as I sipped my morning coffee. At first the response was too stern, so I edited it until it sounded somewhat polite. I read it aloud. Would this be okay if everyone in the company saw it, I asked myself? I assured myself it would.

Then a quiet voice in my head reminded me that Abraham Lincoln often wrote letters that he never sent. I have even written about this practice before, but would I have the discipline to follow it?

Instead of sending the email, I sent it to myself and filed it away in a “do not send” outlook folder. If things were terrible Monday, I thought, I could send the email then. Or even better, I could call a face to face meeting.

The first primary benefactor of this decision was my family. Instead of being around a grumpy, stressed out husband/dad all weekend, Sarah and the kids got a better version of me. The process of writing down my thoughts and sending them to MYSELF (no one else has seen them still) had that strong of an impact on me. It was almost as if I had worked the stress out of my body.

Meanwhile, my teammates were oblivious to my frustration, and even my anger. They didn’t receive a weekend email, and were free to have a break, which allows them to refresh and be at their best for the work week.

By Monday, things had already calmed down. One of the sales people involved admitted that they had not only overreacted in the Friday email they sent, but they also now see the other individual’s point of view. By the middle of the day, it seemed like the “conflict” was over and done with. Everyone had moved on. Would that have been the case if I had thrown gasoline on the fire?

Several weeks later, no one is even talking about this situation anymore.

Do yourself a favor and create a “do not send” file today. As leaders, we are going to occasionally say or write the wrong things. This won’t resolve that. But it will be another safeguard against such occurrences.

We just have to form the discipline to use it.