HOW I LEAD

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Every time a new employee comes in for orientation, I give the same speech each and every time. I discuss with them what my working philosophy is, how I manage the company, and what I expect from them in return. It has been highly successful explaining what I believe about the 4 P's in business, firstly how I apply them to my own life, and then I challenge each employee to do the same.

• I strive to improve myself every single day that I am alive. Ernest Hemingway once said, "There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self." I have taken this to heart, and I believe that by improving myself first will aid in seeing that those around me improve as well. 
• I strive to become a better person, not just a better worker. It is of my opinion that if I become a better person, I will by default become a better worker.
• No one is a cog in a machine. We are all unique contributors to the bigger picture, and if we fully understand that and take advantage of it, we can change the world.
• I want to encourage others by acknowledging their successes objectively, and giving any aid I can when they fail. After all, if we are all in it together, their failure is my failure, and their success is my success.

• I share the same "1%" mindset of Dave Brailsford, manager of the British Cycling Team. In reference to his success, Brailsford noted: "The whole principle came from the idea that if you broke down everything you could think of that goes into riding a bike, and then improved it by 1%, you will get a significant increase when you put them all together." When it comes to everything in business, this is how I view it all: improve every area we can, even if it seems insignificant. 
• Change will always come, so why not ride the wave of the cutting edge in our business. Businesses who get too comfortable die, so let's always be thinking of better and faster ways to do what we do. 
• Many people I've known in business seem to believe quality and quantity are mutually exclusive, but to me, that is a lazy assumption. Let's apply our creativity, problem solving skills, and work ethic to make sure that we can produce both quality and quantities of products. The companies who achieve this are the ones that change the world. 
• New ideas are always welcome. It doesn't mean I always implement them, but I always want to hear them. It means people are thinking beyond the basics of getting by in their roles, and every now and then, someone produces an idea that radically changes the complexion of the business.

• With every product we improve on or create, let's do everything we can to be innovative. products that are both beautiful and functional have the opportunity to change the world. 
• Build processes around what makes the best possible products. 
• Perhaps one of the most important points in my entire working philosophy is this: we must remember that not only the goods we produce are the only products we are making in our line of work. The relationships we build with coworkers, the rapport created with our customers, the enjoyment our customers get from using our products and services, the culture we have cultivated in the market as well as internally in the business, and ultimately the company itself are all products that we build together. 

• Businesses and everyone in them has to remember the bottom line: if we aren't making money, we aren't fulfilling our ultimate purpose in the workplace. We don't get to enjoy the other benefits of our job if there isn't one in the first place.
• When we make better profits, we can afford the best people. When we can have the best people, we can create the best processes. When we have the best processes, we can make the best products. When we have the best products, we can earn the best profits, and the cycle continues. It can easily snowball in the opposite direction, so actively working to make the people, process, product, and profit snowball move in the positive direction is what drives a business to be successful.