This Overlooked Fact Could Be Holding Your Business Back

So the first thing I do is I flip the org chart upside down. I put the CEO at the bottom of the org chart, almost like an inverted pyramid with the managers and directors above them and then all the frontline employees above them and the customers at the very top of this inverted pyramid. So our job is to grow people and to assist them and to help them to grow their confidence, to grow their skills and to support them, not to manage them and hold them accountable. I'd rather hire accountable people and then support them and let them do their job. So when employees are feeling that love, when they're feeling that support again, they're going to work harder.

Turning now to look at how you can get better at business as you enter the new year. Now, that's whether you're the owner of your own company or if you're leading a team. Because we're joined now in the studio by the COO whisperer, Cameron Harold. Now, he is the best selling author of six books including the Second in Command, Also the founder of the COO Alliance. He is much in demand as a public speaker, mentor and coach, having built several $100 million companies, a global consultancy with clients including a Big Four wireless carrier, and intriguingly, the Qatari monarchy. Good morning. Cameron, thank you so much for joining us in the Business Breakfast studio.

Hello, welcome. Thanks so much for having me. I did some work with the Qatari royal family about six and a half years ago and walking through that how to build a world class company culture inside of their businesses, that must have.

Been a fascinating time six years ago to be over there. But I mean, one of your sort of key elements to your business is advising companies, not just countries, but companies on, on how to launch themselves. Do you have a sort of set of keystones that you suggest when it comes to improving your business?

I do, and it's one that most companies kind of don't really understand until they really understand it. And it's that the number one thing to focus on is not revenue, it's not profit, and it's absolutely not your customer is to obsess about your employees. And if your employees are super happy, super engaged, super aligned, if the employees really feel loved, your employees will go through brick walls for you to build your company. So it's all about growing the employee net promoter score first, customer net promoter score second, and the revenue and profits all come from there.

You're different in that quite often when people focus on how to improve a business, they focus on the CEO. But you're like all about the second in command. And I know that lots of people suggest that, you know, success all comes down to staff. You know, that's sort of not necessarily as new as one would expect. But what are the practicalities? You know, you say you want to get more out of your employees, but how do you make them happy? How do you make them walk over hot coals for you?

So the first thing I do is I flip the org chart upside down. I put the CEO at the bottom of the org chart, almost like an inverted pyramid with the managers and directors above them and then all the frontline employees above them and the customers at the very top of this inverted pyramid. So our job is to grow people and to assist them and to help them to grow their confidence, to grow their skills and to support them, not to manage them and hold them accountable. I'd rather hire accountable people and then support them and let them do their job. So when employees are feeling that love, when they're feeling that support again, they're going to work harder.

What are the core skills they need in order to gain that confidence?

At the manager level is to understand situational leadership, which is the ability to adapt your leadership style on a project by project basis. The ability to handle coaching, one on one coaching, delegation, better time management, ability to manage conflict, and then communication styles. So it's how to actually understand the different person and how to adapt your communication and your leadership style.

And when you go into companies to encourage this sort of culture, how does it work? Do you do workshops? Do you. Does it take a long period of time? Do you work over many months with companies?

Most companies can't afford me on a daily rate to come in and do workshops. I have a course called Invest in your leaders that they put a lot of their employees through. Or they hire me to do speaking events, either in person or remote, to get in to their groups that way. A lot of them are also buying copies of my books for their teams. But I think the course is probably the number one way currently.

So with your C suite execs, say somebody you know is in the C suite now, they're having a listen, they're on that. They're usually on a commute, they're driving somewhere and they're thinking, oh my goodness, I'm just so fed up with my employees, which is how everyone feels at the end of the year. You know, we're all a bit sick of each other. You know, how can you step out of that slump and go, no, I'm going to galvanize these people.

Well, the CEO's job is to remember that their title is to be the chief energizing officer, not executive officer. So their job is to show up every day and infuse the organization with energy. So they have to walk in the front door and every single day think, what's one thing I'm going to do to drive energy into the group? And that can be praising people, showing gratitude, thanking people, celebrating successes, or growing them, growing their confidence. When they do that and they infuse that energy, that momentum creates momentum, does.

That translate to profits or does it just translate to a really nice company atmosphere which has its benefits?

Both. But in a huge way it translates to profits. Because when employees feel loved, they'll go through brick walls to build the company. They'll help the customers, they'll go the extra mile, they'll work harder so you get a higher return on that investment. But if all you're doing is holding them accountable and you're obsessing about the customer, employees always feel like they're number two. They don't feel as loved.

So I personally respond very well to praise, so that would probably work for me.

Your love language.

It's my love language. But the other thing that definitely work is money.

Well, and most people, leaders need to understand their employees love languages, right? Is it words of affirmation, is it physical touch, Is it praise? Is it quality time? What is it about the employee that they're going to respond to?

I love the, I love that. I've never heard of love language being used in a work context. A big marriage sort of conversation. You know, people learn before they get married when they do those courses.

We're all humans, right? We're all 16 year olds trapped in adult bodies. So when we can connect with the 16 year old employee and really they'll start to respond to us in the way that we're looking for.

How can you tell if you're getting it right? Will they just smile at you a lot?

No, it's that they're going to say, they're going to say yes before you ask the question. You're going to see them coming to the door and asking not permission to do things, but can I, can I show you my ideas? Because they're excited about their ideas. They're not going to feel like they're getting shut down or pushed away. They feel like they're being encouraged to continue to add.

Now you mentioned there that most companies can't afford to have you sort of in every day. You do the sort of Leadership style talks and then you know, people get the book. And I know that lots of people will receive business books as presents. We're talking, Tom and I were talking about it this morning. You know, for men it's a standard present. Socks, Maltesers and a decent book, you know, that's in the top 10 of the non fiction usually. Or people do, you know, we're all heading towards the holidays now. People might buy a book for themselves and from the business section in order to read over the season. I mean they won't actually read it, but they'll buy it. Do you? I'm always a bit circumspect about self help books, so to speak. That's probably because I'm a fiction reader. But do you think that these types of skills can actually be taught through the, through the forum of a book?

It depends. If you're a person there's auditory, visual and kinesthetic learners. So if you're an auditory learner you'll learn from reading, but if you're more visual, you'll learn from watching videos or speaking events or courses. But books can be a part of the learning cycle. But if you like fiction and you like learning, I'll give you one of my top business books of all time. It's called Endurance. It's by Albert Lansing, about Ernest Shackleton's voyage to Antarctica. And it's a true story. But the story and the leadership lessons that come out of that book are absolutely profound. It's one of the most gifted books I've ever given out.

The Endurance.

It's called Endurance.

Endurance. Well, that sorts out Tom's Christmas present for one.

There you go.

Absolute pleasure to have you join us in the studio. Thank you so much for your time. You've just been listening to the voice of Cameron Herald. He is the COO whisperer, author of six books including the Second in Command.

Stay Ahead of the Curve as a coo. This next video is packed with great leadership lessons for you. It'll really help you as you continue in your growth.