Create an open environment
While having great employees and delegating to them will get you far, you still need to create an open environment where they feel free to express their ideas.
Shami finds that to be especially true when creating a vision. Though he was responsible for creating the company’s vision in the beginning, the process now involves everyone.
“At the beginning, it’s a one-man show,” he says. “After that, it becomes a team, a round-table team — what do you think, and what I think, and what we come out with and what we all agree with.
“A leader does not want everything to come out as, ‘This is my idea, and this is my vision. I, I, I.’ It’s ‘we’ and ‘us.’ That’s how I see it.”
Vision is just one example where involving others will help you succeed. The same can be said for trying to improve a specific part of your business. While you may feel you and your management team know everything there is to know by just observing, you will get more information by talking to the people that work in that area.
“In our company, if we are making a decision, say building a new machine, you need to involve the people who work on the line and the people who really run the machinery,” he says. “Those people understand it more than the leadership.”
It might be a challenge to get employees to be honest with you because they may be a little guarded when speaking to the boss. It’s up to you to be humble and to show them that you are no more vital than they are to the company.
“Everybody is important,” he says. “You need to let everybody know how important they are to the success of the team and to the company.”
Employees are also afraid to come forward with ideas to managers above them because they are worried they might say the wrong thing or present an idea that won’t work. You have to stress at every opportunity that mistakes are acceptable as long as the employee is trying to better the company.
“I tell (employees) I’ve made more mistakes than all of them,” he says. “That’s why I learned my job. It’s OK to make mistakes as long as we learn from these mistakes and as long as we make more right than wrong. The worst thing is to not make decisions or not to do anything. But, let’s make a decision and let’s see if it works. If not, we know that it’s not working and we have learned something from it. Mistakes are acceptable.”
Shami also achieves open communication by making his rounds weekly, shaking hands and talking to employees.
Since his job requires a lot of travel, he always makes rounds as soon as he returns from a trip. If you are on the road a lot, you have to take every opportunity to be seen by your employees. That could be scheduling a walk-through of a nearby plant or office right after a trip or scheduling face time with your employees on a weekly basis.
“Be visible,” Shami says. “Some CEOs, people don’t see and don’t know. It doesn’t work. You never get loyalty, and you never get support.
“When we have a good year, I’m not complimenting only the top management. You’ve got to meet with all the people in different departments and give them a special lunch for the great achievement or a bonus or extra pay. You reach those people, and you get to know them sooner or later.”
Once you are out in front of people, ideas will begin to work their way up the chain. Even if the idea falls short or needs to be delayed to a later date, look on the bright side of the situation.
“I look at the positive out of every idea,” he says. “If you’re going tell people it’s a bad idea, they’re not going to come to you, even with a good idea. You need to encourage ideas.”
How to reach: Farouk Systems Inc. (800) 237-9175 or www.farouk.com
