Open leadership

Pamela Lockard never
gave a lot of thought to
whether her employees liked her. She had a business
to run, and she didn’t do it in
hopes of winning a popularity
contest.

But almost 10 years after
she started Direct Marketing
Network, now known as
DMN3, she realized that a little
personality might actually be a
plus for her company.

“You have to inspire your
employees,” says Lockard, the
company’s founder, owner,
president and CEO.

Lockard’s effort to be more
open and personable with
employees has produced
good results by getting her
41 employees to be more
open with her. Revenue at the
direct marketing agency rose
from $5 million in 2004 to
$11.5 million in 2007.

Smart Business spoke with
Lockard about how to make
yourself more human to your
employees and why no idea is
a bad idea.

Q. What is the key to
engaging your employees?

You have to inspire. Ask
people and show a personal
interest in them and their
families. I try to share a little
bit about myself.

My husband and I recently
took in a 10-year-old girl. I
try to talk to people about her
because I think it gives me
more of a human side than I’ve
had before.

Every once in awhile, I try to
do something really funny or
out of character.

It does help them feel that
you’re human and you’re a little more approachable. I was never concerned before about
being liked. But I do think if
people like you and if they feel
they can relate to you, it
makes coming to work a little
more enjoyable.

Q. How does that interaction
benefit the company?

There are some people here
that have better ideas about
certain things than I do. Even
if I say this is the best way to
do it, and they say, ‘What
about this?’ I’m looking for the
best way to do it.

It’s really whatever it
takes. Even though I’m
the head of this and I
make the final decision,
there is no bad idea to
throw out there.

I will listen, and if
somebody else has a
suggestion or a better
way of doing something, you’re open to
doing it that way. I’ve
always tried to communicate that to employees and not to ever fire
people for making mistakes here.

Show people there are
not repercussions for
coming in and expressing an opinion. I’ll say, ‘I
think that’s a good suggestion;
let me think about it.’