Innovation
Risky business
How Alec Gores dares his employees to make mistakes to drive growth at The Gores Group
By Mike Cottrill
Smart Business Los Angeles | January 2008
Page 1 of 4
You wouldn’t have hired Alec E. Gores when he got out of college — and he’s OK with that.
“I had a lot of things people didn’t see because they were worriedabout my grade point and all the other things,” Gores says.
Though Gores, the founder, chairman and CEO of The GoresGroup LLC, ended up getting a job at General Motors, even theexecutives there didn’t see what his strengths were right away.
“My strength was I was tenacious, aggressive, and I was willingto learn,” he says.
Today, Gores, a self-made billionaire, doesn’t want to forgetthat tenacity. He knows that passion is the lifeblood for TheGores Group, a private equity firm that focuses on acquiringcontrolling interests in mature and growing businesses, so herefuses to let himself get complacent.
“It starts at the top, so I’m open-minded, especially when hiring new people,” he says. “You also have to continue to be nimble, even though you’re big, you have to be willing to make mistakes and keep challenging your people because if it becomesabout running everything by committee, you’ve lost it.”
So Gores has made a career out of risks, hiring passionatepeople who may not have found a home elsewhere and buying companies that weren’t making it alone.
By keeping himself challenged, keeping employees challenged by letting them take risks and make mistakes, andbringing in young talent for a fresh perspective, Gores hasbeen able to shake the complacency out of The Gores Groupon a regular basis. As a result, it has continued to grow, acquiring 70 companies since its inception in 1987 while expandingto include offices in Colorado and London. Currently, it controls more than a dozen firms with billions in combined annual revenue.
