Business Services
Going all in
How Roger Byford is putting $500 million worth of trust into the employees at Vocollect Inc.
By Brian Horn
Smart Business Pittsburgh | November 2008
Page 1 of 3
The more things change, the more theystay the same for Roger Byford.
He took over as CEO of Vocollect Inc. inDecember 2007, returning to the positionhe left in 2001. Byford, who is also chairman and a co-founder of the company,finds that while he is facing a new set ofchallenges, there are still some that haven’tchanged at the company when it comes toeffective leadership: He can’t do everythinghimself.
The company posted $100 million in revenue in 2006 and $111 million in 2007, but ifit’s going to reach Byford’s goal to hit $500million by 2015, he’s going to have to relyon those below him to help get the organization to that level.
“That’s the only way you get ... the leverage of having 400 people in the organization instead of one,” he says.
By delegating responsibilities, Byford canfocus on big-picture issues. But handing offpower is never easy and requires hisemployees to trust him to make the rightdecisions while he, in turn, trusts them toget their jobs done with minimal oversight.
“The only way you are going to engendertrust from others is by demonstrating trustyourself,” he says.
And for that to work, it means going alongwith one very important concept: “Beingwilling, under most circumstances at least,to go with the recommendation that you getfrom an individual or a group,” Byford says.
Here’s how Byford is using the power ofdelegation to move Vocollect toward its$500 million goal.
