Charles Hammontree believes in following his leadership instincts and giving his employees what they need to succeed. His instincts have been leading Hammontree & Associates Ltd., a civil engineering firm, for many years now. Through his experiences and his success, Hammontree, president and CEO, has helped the 51-employee firm continue its steady growth.
“As I mature in this position, my instincts seem to be paying off,” Hammontree says. “Part of it was seeing some opportunities that competitors didn’t see and delivering a service and expertise on a level that’s hard to match.”
The combination of his leadership instincts and his company’s ability to follow his lead and back up his plans with results has proven successful and led the firm to their best year yet in 2010.
Smart Business spoke with Hammontree about how to successfully grow your company.
What can a leader do to differentiate their business?
Don’t follow the crowd; follow your own instincts. Find out what the crowd or your competitors are doing and do something different or sometimes do the opposite. If they’re going after one market sector and they’re all competing and the odds are low that you’re going to make an impact, go to a different area and find another source for your services. Go where the probability is better that you’ll succeed.
How can a leader of a company help its staff be successful at their jobs?
You have to lead by example; you can’t just talk. You can’t just tell people what to do. You have to go in when something’s hard to do, and [employees] have to see that you’re willing to do what’s hard for the benefit of the firm and the group. You’ve got to be responsive to your team, and if there’s something that they need to succeed, you have to see that they get it. I like to give all my people the tools to succeed rather than have any excuses not to. My staff comes to me with recommendations and my philosophy is to say yes and give them what they ask for more so than to say no. I trust them and put the onus on them to deliver with what they think they need to succeed, and more times than not, that pays off and we get a return on those investments.
