In a previous business, one of Mark
Symonds’ partners had an ego that
needed constant stroking. But when Symonds took over Plexus Systems Inc.,
an on-demand information system for
manufacturing companies, he saw there
was another way.
At Plexus, the founder had no ego, laying
the groundwork for a culture in which the
credit is spread around.
“It has to start at the top, and then
not tolerate behaviors that go counter to that — starting at the top and
just reinforcing it every day, calling
out good behaviors and privately
talking to people who aren’t on
board with that,” says the president
and CEO of Plexus, which posted
2006 revenue of more than $20 million.
Smart Business spoke with
Symonds about how to put a positive spin on change.
Q: What are the keys to being a
good leader?
Willingness to be hands-on to
do what is needed. Not asking
somebody to do something you
wouldn’t do. I always found
that to be important. The other
things that go along with that
are … delegation and empowerment. Together, as a team, we
agree on a strategy and a message, and I may influence that
strategy and message, but I let
the team execute, carry the
message to their areas of the
company and really deliver that, and
it gives them credibility and strength
with their group.
Q: How do you know when to be hands-on
and when to back off?
When the job is getting done, I tend to
delegate more. As people show they can
take responsibility, I lay it on them and let
them have more. If there is remedial effort
to be done, that’s when I get more hands on
and show by doing, lead by example. ‘This
is what I’m thinking, what do you think
about this approach?’ — that kind of thing.
I try to stay out of micromanagement.
Q: How do you communicate change and
make sure employees are buying in to it?
That’s the biggest challenge, no question.
I’ve grown companies, and it’s always the
same. People lament that, ‘It used to be this
way,’ or, ‘I used to have direct access to so
and so, and now there is, God forbid, a
layer between us, or now we put a process
in place.’
I read something years ago that said,
‘Grab that, shine a light on it, and take
notice of it.’ We actually call out the
changes and mourn the past. We acknowledge that it used to be this way but look at
all the great things that are coming from
growth, higher bonuses, more fun work,
company awards, those kinds of things.
At the same time, we mourn the way it
used to be, but we celebrate the progress
we are making. It’s going to be there in
any organization. You’ve got to shine a
light on it and acknowledge it, or it just
festers.
As far as what form the change takes, I like that to come from individuals. At a
previous company, we started it without
any titles because we were good with that.
But our folks said, ‘I really want signposts
along the way of my career to see how I’m
doing.’ So we said, ‘You find two other
people who are interested, and put together recommended titles and review
processes and so on,’ and it was theirs.
Q: What is a pitfall to avoid in business?
From past experiences, it’s been
focus on today, don’t lose sight of
the fundamentals. Back in 1990, my
partners and I sold our first business
to a large public company. In the
run-up to that, we got so distracted
thinking about that deal that the
business suffered post acquisition
because we took our eye off the ball.
The most important thing is, don’t
lose track of the blocking and tackling. That’s got to happen every day.
Too many people get distracted planning for the future, thinking out
there, and they lose track of making
sure you are executing for today.
Q: How do you know a potential
employee is being honest in an interview?
We get a lot of candidates from referrals because we found that good people tend to know good people, and you
trust their judgment. But, we do, do
extensive reference checking. So, with
our new EVP of sales, he was pretty
well known in the industry, so we have
our own people we could draw on. But he
also gave us 13 references, people he
worked for, people who worked for him,
peers and that kind of thing.
I look for a follow-up. In management
positions, I don’t ask for it, I expect it.
With other positions, I’ll ask for a recap of
our meeting. I want to make sure the
interviewee heard the value proposition
and values what we feel we have here versus totally misperceiving what kind of
company this is.
HOW TO REACH: Plexus Systems Inc., (248) 391-8001 or
www.plex.com
