Leadership

One of the tenets of leadership should be constant improvement as people tend to follow those who are always getting better. Thus, every situation has potential to teach you lessons that apply to leading other human beings if you are willing to learn from them. This is especially true in parenting. Here are examples of lessons I have recently learned from parenting, and how I will implement them into my own leadership. I am sharing them here to give you an example of how I do this in hopes that you begin to glean lessons from the situations you experience.

The first scenario I’ll share is applicable to all three of our kids, but I’ll share it from Will’s perspective because he is the “Energizer bunny.” “Dad, after dinner can we play ____ (insert golf, baseball, hockey, or some other high energy activity here)?” is a common question he asks. This summer, this has meant that I have had to choose to find energy when being jet-lagged, change clothes to something I can sweat in when it was hot outside, and often be okay with multiple showers per day —thank goodness I don’t have to do my hair! While this is hardly revolutionary —kids have wanted their parents’ time and attention since the dawn of time —the point is applicable to leadership. I don’t know about you, but I often have so many tasks to get completed in a certain day that I don’t feel like I have any extra time to spend with others, especially others who haven’t scheduled an appointment. So this summer, when someone has been standing at my door wanting “just a few minutes,” I have intentionally chosen to say yes more frequently. Often, people just need a few minutes and this validates their worth on the team.

The second scenario perhaps only applies to parenting as words do not mean that much to adults —I hope you read that statement with the sarcasm that it is intended! Our middle child, Ben, is changing a lot over the last few months. Baseball, Kindergarten, and other new abilities that he is discovering—it is all exciting. As with all change, however, it also comes with moments of frustration, difficulty, and even setbacks. There have been swings and misses, and even creative attempts to come home from school via suspect “stomach pains,” all because school was getting boring, or as he put it, “because he missed Mommy” (probably both true and a pretty good sales tactic, but I digress). There have also been moments where he has demonstrated that he is “getting it,” like when he was at Will’s birthday party and he never complained about not getting anything himself, and instead was genuinely happy for his brother’s happiness as he opened gifts from all his friends. Not only were Sarah and I humbled, even challenged by this demonstration of loving others, we were proud. So we told Ben this in front of his two siblings that night at dinner. We did this by naming exactly what he did, thanking him for it, and then added our emotion to it. “I am proud of you Ben.” The question I asked myself that night as I put Ben to bed was, when was the last time you caught someone doing something you were impressed by at Hoffer Plastics? Did you tell them you were proud of them? Did you name the behavior and share the insight? In a society constantly growing more at odds with one another, affirmation is becoming a rare commodity. To be someone worth following, you need to be someone that is loving. So I challenge you to ask these questions of yourself.

Finally, the lesson I have learned with our independently minded three-year-old named Sadie is to always ask questions. The question that I often ask Sadie —and not one I would recommend leaders to ask at the office! —is whether I can hug her? To my unbiased opinion, she is the cutest three year old on the planet. She is also my only little girl. I’ll blink twice and she will be 13, and probably will hate the rules I have about social media and whatever device is cool in ten years. So I have to milk this for all it’s worth right now! What I have learned is that asking her for permission shifts the power to her. Naturally, she says no to me a LOT —and I always encourage her to keep saying no to boys for the next three decades. But then I ask the follow up question, “how about in 30 minutes.” To Sadie, 30 minutes might as well be 2023 so she always says yes, but this allows Sadie to “hug” on her time and only when she is ready. The point here to leaders is that authority can sometimes be used to get what you want, but this isn’t the sort of thing people worth following do. Rather, they ask questions and solicit buy-in. After all, a big hug 30 minutes later is preferable to a forced hug now.

Lessons are all all around us if we just pay attention. So pay attention and learn this week.

I write these words shortly after completing my Bible reading for the day (James 1) where James challenges the readers of his short letter to be doers of the Word (James 1:22 being the oft cited example, “do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says”). This reading got me thinking about leadership. Why do leaders fail to act? What follows are two excuses that I have observed, and, regrettably, used myself. They aren’t the only excuses, but by identifying them, I hope you can avoid the pitfall (inaction) they produce.

The first excuse is the age old, “I don’t have time for that”—whatever “that” is. I have noticed that this usually applies to personnel issues that are not major, like someone not showing up to a meeting on time. When something like this comes up, I am tempted to say, at least internally, that “I don’t have time” because I have various responsibilities that are more important (product development, sales calls, operational issues, etc.). But, addressing these issues IS THE JOB OF LEADERSHIP (caps intended). Think about what happens when the leader does not address one small issue. For example, the often-late person does not get the feedback, most likely continues in the behavior, and thus gets viewed MORE negatively by their teammates. People begin to grumble, factions are created, perhaps other people also start to arrive late—after all, no one is going to do anything about it. None of this is good for the overall team, so how doesn’t the leader —in this case me!—have time for it? Or said differently, which problem will take more time to address: the minor late problem or the full-fledged team dynamic problem that results from someone always being late to meetings? Obviously, the latter.

Another example of inaction comes when the leader needs to process an issue for an extended period of time. “Let’s get all the facts,” may be a smart strategy, but it can easily lead to inaction when it morphs from fact finding to “I don’t want to make a decision.” Let’s call this what it is, a delay tactic, and no organization thrives using delay tactics. While I don’t struggle with this one as much as the example above —my struggle is often making a decision too quickly before all the facts get in —I have seen this play out in our organization. One of the root causes being the human desire of self-preservation, meaning waiting to act until one is absolutely sure of the decision’s success. While I can appreciate this to a certain extent, it slows down the forward momentum of the organization. Thus, when I see this going on, I need to make time (there “time” is again) to address it. I also have to make sure that the person realizes that making a “bad call” is not going to cost them their job. In fact, usually making a “bad call” is better than making “no call,” simply because the latter is more confusing. Making “no call” is akin to standing with a golf club in your hand and never swinging. It’s better to take the swing and miss, than miss the opportunity to take a shot.

The point of this post is to remind leaders that we need to be people of action. Using excuses like, “I don’t have time,” or “I need to process more,” can be detrimental to both the growth of us as leaders, and the organizations that we lead. Therefore, make a mental note this week to pay attention to if and when you use those two, or other, excuses to delay action. Delaying action can be the right call, just make sure it is, and not some lame excuse for inaction.

I write these words from a conference in Barcelona the day after learning that one of our team members passed away over the weekend. He left work Saturday morning, and from what I gather over here, had an event that led to his passing over the weekend. It was only a month ago that we celebrated his 25th anniversary with the company.

While my personal focus needs to be on the talk I am giving in less than twenty four hours, it is hard to focus during times like these. Loss always has a way of helping us prioritize what matters. Suddenly, all the things that felt so important last week seem less so. Of course, from a business perspective they are still important, but they aren’t life and death. Life and death are outside the scope of what we do.

And this is why I ache right now. As I prayed for this person’s family this morning, and imagined the grief they are currently going through, I ached. Scripture says to “mourn with those who mourn,” and as I process this loss, there is no other path forward. Mourning, of course, is not an isolated activity. And this is why, here in Europe, I long more strongly than usual to be back at Hoffer Plastics. I want to be there for, and with, our team members as we all deal with this loss.

It is also times like these where I am grateful. At the risk of making our company sound better than it is, here are some things I am grateful for:

I am grateful for Dave. He was the guy that always picked my mood up on my morning walk. He was completely reliable, completely positive, and always working hard. I can imagine walking through Plant 5 years from now, hopefully, and still thinking about Dave.

I am grateful for my sister, Charlotte, and Jim, our Director of Manufacturing. Upon hearing the news Sunday night, they both showed up at midnight to tell 3rd shift the news in person. As family, we treat others as we would like to be treated.

I am grateful for my sister Gretchen, who came in early Monday morning to meet with 3rd shift team members as they grieved.

I am grateful that my sisters had grief counseling on site by mid-morning. Sudden loss like this needs to be processed with the help of professionals.

I am grateful that we ache. Aching and hurting happen because there was genuine loss. It isn’t fun, but we lost someone worth aching over.

I am grateful that in a family business the tasks of leadership can be shared. With my dad on vacation, and myself in Europe on business, I am grateful for this. But leadership is more than the family, so I am grateful for how all our leaders (too many to mention here) moved yesterday as we, together, processed this loss.

Given the scheduled cadence of this blog, I won’t publish this post for about four weeks. By then, I am sure there will be the usual amount of business challenges. I am also sure that we still will only be at the beginning stages of processing this loss.

The next time your company goes through a loss like this, remember this post. Remember what you are grateful for. Remember to mourn with those who mourn, and remember to shoulder the load of grief with fellow leaders in the company.

Business loss is temporary. You can always start a new product or new company.

Human loss, however, is real.

I am feeling the realness of this loss as I close this post.

I chuckle when I ask others if they would like to work with their siblings because I usually get a sarcastic response in return. “We would kill each other,” I often hear. My sisters and I have chosen to do exactly this, and we haven’t killed each other yet! All kidding aside, this has made us all better leaders. While I could – and maybe someday will – write a book on this topic, what follows are three lessons that I have learned working with my sisters, lessons I believe that are helpful for all leaders.

The overarching lesson I have learned can be summed up this way: when in doubt, talk it out. There is nothing worse relationally than “assuming.” Assumptions can often lead one to think the other person has motives that, in reality, they do not. The closer the relationship, the more this is so as we often mistake proximity for knowledge. Thus, my sisters and I have made it a point to intentionally get together and talk through issues (NOT just when they come up). We have a quarterly meeting on the calendar, and another meeting set for every other week throughout the year. We do this so that we have a rhythm of meeting in our schedule. Otherwise, our natural tendency is to avoid difficult subject matters. A rhythm of meetings ensures that we have space to talk about everything. This takes a lot of intentionality, but it is what has helped us grow our relationships to where they are now.

The next lesson is to talk directly with each other, rather than processing an issue with another family member. We have come to call this “triangularization.” In other words, if I have an issue with one sister, I shouldn’t go process the issue with the other sister (creating a “triangle” and putting the other sibling in-between). Rather, I should go talk directly with the sister I have the issue with. The implications for leadership with this one are rather easy to see. For, a leader should never process an issue they have with someone they lead with another person on the same team. It is always best to talk directly with the person you have the issue with.

Finally, working with my sisters has taught me to give others the benefit of the doubt. The three of us made a covenant that we would “assume the best” in each other, and that we would give each other extra servings of grace. It is inevitable that when talking about key business initiatives, like succession planning, that we will say things that we wish, in retrospect, had come out a little different. But by living this virtue, I can record that we have never had a MAJOR relational conflict because we have given each other the benefit of the doubt. We even went on a Disney Cruise with our spouses and kids over Spring Break, something some non-working siblings even cringe at! The point is that we have given each other grace — work is important but life is more than work – and that has allowed our sibling, and business, relationships to grow the past decade.

To be 100% clear, I do not claim my sisters and I have a perfect working relationship –whatever that is–, or that we have figured it all out. We have not. If anything, we are at where we are at because of a TON of prayer, a TON of intentionality, and a TON of humility. I am proud that we have each laid our egos down, the best we can, and have found a way to work and lead together. This will continue to be a daily occurrence for us to succeed for the, hopefully, decades to come.

Business is hard, whether you work with siblings or not. These three principles will help you create more relational peace in the midst of the expected, even inevitable, business challenges.

Let’s say, hypothetically, that you have a child that is getting 2 A’s and 1 B and one C on their latest school report card. Which class would you have them focus on? This question has sort of become akin to the “are you a glass half empty or glass half full” question as it reveals a mindset that could make a significant difference between mediocre and excellent performance. At least that is what Marcus Buckingham has convinced me of after seeing him speak multiple times, and after finishing his latest book, which I now recommend, entitled, Nine Lies About Work.

Buckingham has become known as the “strengths” guy, and so he challenges parents to focus on the 2 A’s in the scenario above because this is where the child’s apparent strength lies. This assertion is one that, admittedly, I meet with clenched teeth because a “C” often feels unacceptable, especially if it is given because of a lack of effort. But Buckingham isn’t talking about effort; he’s talking about legitimate strengths and weaknesses. In other words, he is talking about trying your best and still getting a C vs. trying your best and getting an A.

I recently had experience with a change of mindset thanks to my golf coach John Esposito. I sought his teaching after having a miserable go with my wedge game in 2018. It had turned from mediocre, to downright lousy, and I had become a headcase in the process. Espo, as his players call him, advised me that I had three strengths with regards to my wedge game. My grip was perfect, my back swing modeled a tour pro (his words not mine), and I was talented enough to make this shot repeatedly. Next, Espo changed a few things with my stance and follow through, but then challenged me to simply use my eyes and imagine where I wanted the ball to land. In other words, he was telling me to stop focusing on my weaknesses (the results of the shot, whether I would hit it fat or thin, or fearing all the above), and focus rather on softly putting the ball where I wanted it. All this while believing I could because of the strengths Espo had outlined in his analysis of my game. While it is early in the season, and not every wedge shot I hit is perfect, the results are beginning to speak for themselves.

This experience, coupled with Buckingham’s research on strengths, has challenged my leadership. Why is it that I often want to work on people’s weaknesses, rather than work with their strengths? As I have learned in my golf game, a subtle refocus on what one does well can pay dividends in their performance. It is the leader’s job, therefore, to not only find the strengths in others, but voice affirmation behind them. We need to encourage followers to double-down on what they do well, trusting that our bench is deep enough with people of different strengths to fill in for any gaps or weaknesses. Unlike golf, business is a team game, and multiple people can hit different kinds of “shots.” Our job then is to build people up so that they can be as good as possible with their “shot” of specialty.

So let’s reconsider our mindset and focus on building people’s strengths, and not trying to correct their weaknesses.

Four years ago, our family moved into a newly constructed home that was built on an old farm property. In the early fall that year, we contracted someone to plant grass seed. As the spring approached, we waited in anticipation for our beautiful green grass to sprout, and some of it did. But more frequently, what rose out of the earth was quack grass. It turns out that quack grass doesn’t need fertilizer or water to grow. In fact, had we been okay with its presence, we could have allowed it to take over our yard at a much-reduced cost than conventional grass. It turns out that the best grass doesn’t naturally rise to the top of the soil.

I often hear leaders say that the best ideas rise to the top of their organizations and of course they think that. But how true is this in reality? While I cannot speak for other organizations, I am always concerned at Hoffer Plastics about whose ideas are not being heard because I have discovered that like Kentucky blue grass, these ideas are not going to naturally sprout to the top of the organization. Rather, we have to be intentional so that we do not miss them. To that end, here are three actions to keep in mind.

First, leaders need to over-communicate their willingness to hear new ideas. Hearing ideas means that the leader not only listens to the idea, but also considers its merit. If no action is ever taken on ideas coming from lower levels of the organization, don’t expect a lot of input! Earlier this year, for example, a few of our team members voiced concern about a perceived lack of training with regards to workplace violence. The tragedy in Aurora, Illinois, soon followed, and so did our Executive Team’s decision to engage our local fire and police departments to setup two Saturday training events in April and May, which we most likely would not have prioritized had our team members on the production floor not voiced their opinion. Their idea that we needed training was spot on.

Next, leaders need to be willing to listen to great ideas from anyone. What am I about to write may be a little controversial, but my experience indicates that it is true: Some team members have lost influence with their peers due to their personal behavior. Therefore, when they have a “good idea” it doesn’t go very far because people are not listening to them anymore. These people are most likely good at what they do –some are even great which can also be a hindrance to peers listening. Still, leaders need to create rhythms – one-on-one check-ins along with other communications –so that they ensure they are hearing from these people. Good ideas won’t naturally rise to the top, and good ideas can come from just about everywhere, so leaders need to be canvasing for them.

Finally, leaders need to filter those that have 20 good ideas before the first morning meeting. This has been an area of weakness for me in the past because I find new ideas, and the people that come up with them, energizing. I would much rather surround myself with these kinds of people than the “just so you know [all the bad stuff] that is happening around here” kind. (My comeback to this now is “and what are you doing about it?”) Still, the organization cannot go in multiple directions at once –another weakness we are personally resolving –with team members no longer having the mental stamina to focus on multiple initiatives. To this end, leaders need to carefully reign in idea creators, without putting a muzzle on them, and filter what makes sense given the direction the company is going. You simply cannot do everything, even if the ideas are “good.”

While the list above is not meant to be exhaustive, it will help leaders ensure that more of the good ideas rise to the top. And more importantly, these actions will help some of the good ideas to take root and sprout.

This post was written in real-time on site at the Entreleadership Summit (April 28 – May 1, 2019). The purpose of the post is to share how beneficial Summit was, share interesting nuggets of wisdom, and what my takeaways were from the experience.

April 28, 2019

I have arrived in San Diego, checked-in, worked out, and am about to depart for the opening reception. My goals this week are the following:

1. Grow my relationship with my sisters.

2. Connect with my sisters on pertinent succession related topics at HP.

3. John Felkins (my Executive Coach) would say “have fun.” Yes, have fun!

4. Strategy: I want to take away a strategy related nugget that I can apply to our upcoming commercial strategy sessions. My guess is this may come from Dave Ramsey, Dr. Henry Cloud, or Chris Hogan.

5. Corporate Culture – I also want to take away a culture related nugget to apply at HP. We have some awesome new team members on our team, and I want to continue leading in more positive energy. I know my sisters are on the same page here, yet we can always use another nugget or piece of advice.

April 29, 2019

5:10 p.m.

Day one is a wrap. Whew. My first inclination is to write that none of this is rocket-science, but it is all doing-science. Leadership is the art of doing something, or moving from here to there. Most of what was talked about today is to a level common sense, but it is talked about because it is not common doing. Leaders act.

To this end, Patrick Lencioni challenged me about addressing behavior problems within the organization. The leader doesn’t have time not to address these issues, and these are exactly the kind of issues that we (or I) don’t feel like I have time to address. But it is MY JOB to. Period.

Dr. Henry Cloud defined accountability as “answering to a trust,” with emphasis on a “future state” and getting to that desired outcome. My accountability partner John, for instance, hears my “accounting” of how I am living because he and I are committed to each other becoming more Christ-like. So, I am answering to a “trust” and not a “boss” because John is invested in my getting to that desired state. I share because I found this distinction helpful and believe focusing on the “desired future state” is helpful.

Overall, I end the first day encouraged to lead more passionately, positively, and intentionally. I felt 90% of the day was wrapped in culture pieces and found the “break time” discussions with my sisters on these pieces very beneficial. I’ll close with two reminders (and personal applications for me) from Carey Lohrenz, the first female F-14 Tomcat Pilot: “Leaders need to show up, put a smile on their face, and no chip on their shoulder. Everyone is watching.” And,”a negative attitude kills your ability to adapt.”

April 30, 2019

9:25 p.m.

Trying to capture all that happened on day 2 at this time of night is foolhardy. But as Dave has so unapologetically reminded us the last two days, leadership without courage is not leadership. So here goes…

Simon Sinek smacked me square across the forehead with his talk on the “Infinite Game” when he reminded us that the goal is to “stay in the game and become the best version of yourself.” That might not be the exact quote –Simon talks fast –but the gist of it struck me. My sisters and I are in the midst of succession planning and staying in the game is our mission. Period. We don’t stress about “beating the competition” (that’s playing the “finite” and not the “infinite” game). Rather, we desire Hoffer Plastics to become the best version of itself. And we want to be a company that lasts.

Chris Hogan reminded us that our team is the family that some of our team members have never had. Meanwhile, Marcus Buckingham convinced us that believing people have potential is a lie because it infers that others don’t (he also talked about 8 other powerful lies, including how awful we are at rating others, which is a blog post for later!). Finally, Ken Coleman talked about “The Power of Proximity.” As powerful as that talk was, he closed it challenging leaders to rest from inputs. Without rest, he said, our capacity to serve others gets diminished.

This brings me to my Executive Coach, John Felkins. He really challenged me on this end last January. Since then, I have followed a 24-hour weekend sabbath that has positively impacted me in ways that I cannot fully describe here. While his challenge was not prescriptive, and while I was only following God’s prescription, his challenge to rest played a role in me getting to where I am at today. Thank you, John.

May 1, 2019

4:09 p.m.

The closing session just wrapped up 12 minutes ago. Today featured more Dave Ramsey, Peyton (freaking!) Manning, Jesse Itzler (dude makes me want to run through a wall), and Sara Blakely (whose sweet smile hides a tenacity that is second to none). “I wasn’t going to let my success be determined by the work of others,” Sara said. She then told the story of how for 21 days she sold Spanx up and down the coastline of California, all after she had Neiman Marcus as an account.

That’s right, there are no accidental billionaires.

This post has gone on long enough, so here are my biggest takeaways from this week:

1. I need to lead boldly and passionately.

2. I need to ruthlessly PROTECT the Hoffer Plastics’ culture. And when issues arise – and they will always arise – I have to deal with them.

3. I need to REPEATEDLY tell everyone where we are going and why we are going there.

There are countless takeaways (and actions) from the last three days that fit into these areas.

My concluding thoughts are these:

This year has been hard. While we have a lot of success right now, there is also a lot of change. And frankly speaking, there is a lot more change that needs to happen. I can’t look to the left or right anymore. That ship sailed a few years ago. And while I am proud of where we have come already, we have a long road still to travel. None of this is going to be easy. I hear the doubters, the complainers, and the critics. Louder than them all is the self-critic inside my soul that I have to continue to get past.

RISE UP, Dave says, and he’s right.

Despite all this, maybe because of all this, I leave this conference surer of one thing:

I WANT TO DO THIS.

I want to lead, with my sisters, Hoffer Plastics. I don’t want to quit, sell, or cave in.

I don’t want to move.

I hear people advising all that. Look, I get it. Our state has a LOT of challenges. Seriously, it does. Its being run by people making some very questionable decisions and people advise that we should be running our business in other “more friendly states.”

Plastics are also under attack… maybe we should sell?

NO.

We might fail, but I want to do this.

So do my sisters!

We want to keep serving our customers. In fact, this conference challenged me to do it more uniquely in the future.

We want to keep serving our TEAM. I am still chewing on what Chris Hogan said yesterday – we are family to some of them.

We want to keep serving our community – in this town and even this state!

I want to spend my life using whatever leadership gifts I have in making a BETTER corporate culture.

NO, it isn’t going to get easy. And NO, it won’t ever be perfect.

But this is a manifesto that I want to STAY IN THE GAME AND WORK ON GETTING BETTER.

RISE UP?

LET’S GO.

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.