March | 2012 | Robert Not Bob

Archive for March, 2012

Business Lesson from a Nurseryman: Change Can Come Up Roses

Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes
(Turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-Changes

You should know by now that I like music, and this time I have turned to David Bowie to lead us in to this installment.

I grew up in East Texas near Tyler, the self-proclaimed Rose Capital of the Nation. The rose is right up there with Earl Campbell (The Tyler Rose) and Sandy Duncan as the most famous things to come out of Tyler. Beyond just being from Tyler, I have a special connection to roses. My grandfather, Frank Goldwater, was a nurseryman. He like many others in Tyler, grew and sold roses as a living. His business, Lone Star Rose Nursery, is still in the family today.

Like most agriculture-based operations it was not a glamorous business. While I never officially worked in the fields or warehouse (my older brother did for a summer or two), I saw first-hand what was involved. I remember getting up at the crack of dawn and having an artery clogging breakfast before tagging along with my grandfather as he made the rounds to the numerous rose fields, checking out things at the warehouses where plants were processed or riding in his El Camino as he made some small delivery in the area. While it was cool to see, I knew early on that life in agriculture was not for me and that I was destined for a cushy office job.

As I mentioned, Lone Star Rose Nursery which was founded in 1951, is currently owned and operated by my uncle, Sam Goldwater. This past weekend there was a big article in the Tyler Morning Telegraph about the rose industry that focused in on Lone Star Rose Nursery. It was really cool to see the “family business” in the spotlight. Much like it is cool to walk into my local HEB store and buy a rose bush from Lone Star Rose Nursery.

Here’s some excerpts from the article from the Tyler paper and you can watch an accompanying video of the interview:

This (company) represents what the business in Tyler is now,” Goldwater said. “It’s a changing industry. I used to grow a million roses, but I don’t grow them anymore. The rose industry is alive and well — we’ve just transferred from growing to distributing.” Goldwater said his transition from grower to distributor did not unfold because roses are falling out of favor with customers. It’s mostly because East Texas weather can be wicked, creating challenges in growing consistency and quality. In the 1930s, Tyler was prime peach country, but after disease wiped out a sizeable number of fruit trees, many farmers switched to growing roses.

Eventually, many rose growers became frustrated with finicky weather conditions that prevail in East Texas and opted for change. “There used to be about 150 growers here (in Tyler), but there are less than 10 now who actually grow,” Goldwater said. In spite of the shift, the Tyler area retains a heavy presence in the industry, processing and shipping millions of plants annually, according to Texas A&M University. “About 75 percent of the garden roses in the U.S. find their way through Tyler and are distributed throughout the U.S.,” Goldwater said. Most of the nation’s roses are grown in Arizona and then shipped elsewhere, many to Tyler. Goldwater buys bare-rooted plants from suppliers in drier states, packages them and distributes them for sale in garden centers across the United States. In this mobile society, it’s not uncommon for Lone Star to receive bare-rooted roses from Arizona, package them and ship them back to Arizona, the nurseryman said with a grin.

“I thought I would grow roses my whole life,” he said. “Things just evolved.”

“Our business has been growing every year,” said Goldwater, who was educated at Texas A&M University. “I remember when I didn’t have a forklift — now we have five.”

I will admit that over the years, I have not kept close ties to what is going on in Tyler and more specifically with the rose business. As I read the article, I was actually surprised to read that my uncle’s business was no longer actually growing roses. How could this be? How could a rose business still be a rose business if they did not grow roses?

That business I remembered having hundreds of acres of rose bushes with workers planting, grafting, and digging bushes is no more. The business, in order to eliminate the risks of unpredictable weather causing damage to the plants and to open up new growth opportunities, has changed from being a farming operation to being a processing operation. An operation that now provides rose bushes to stores like HEB, Menards, and other large national and regional home & garden outlets around the country. Once I was over the shock, I was impressed that a country farmer (and an Aggie no less – those of you in Texas will get this) had the foresight to change the business model from what he really knew (growing roses) to what was needed (processing roses) to ensure the long-term growth and success of the business. By the sound of it, the decision has been a good one.

I think we can all learn from this story. Businesses must continually change. Change the mix of products and services offered to the market. Change the markets in which they sell. Change the technology used in creating and delivering products and services. Change is inevitable in business and also critical to long term survival of the company. Just ask former employees of Blockbuster or Kodak about the need for change. But change is not easy. I can only imagine the resistance my uncle faced, and perhaps even resistance from himself, in ceasing the “farming” part of the rose business.

Leaders at all levels of a business must constantly be on the look-out for new opportunities to improve the business and have the courage to recommend and implement those changes. If leaders are not thinking about better ways to manufacture products or deliver services, assessing what products to add or discontinue, evaluating new markets, and overall evolving their business, then they are failing to be good leaders. Note that I use the term “leaders” and not “executives” or “managers.” This is intentional. Leadership in business (and other parts of life) is not synonymous with management. Leaders can and are at all levels of an organization. It is not something that is reserved only for certain levels of a company hierarchy. Every person in a company is a leader through their daily tasks and activities. What we do and how we do it, impacts the people around us and even those not right next to us. As I attributed to Kip Tindell (Container Store CEO) in a recent entry : we must be aware of our “wake” and how far it extends beyond us.

So this week, I take my hat off to Uncle Sam and say “thank you.” Thank you for keeping the “family business” alive and well and thank you for showing all us in the business world that change can be a good thing.

More Reflections from the Course

Published March 19, 2012 Career Development , Golf , Life Leave a Comment

We did a first this past week in the Neill household – we had a family golf outing. I have to say that it was a very interesting foursome.

I am far from being a great golfer. I play 4-6 times a year, which means I am at best a hacker. My wife hadn’t played a round of golf in 20 years before this family outing. My older daughter had taken a few lessons over the past three years but is mildly and I mean very mildly interested in golf. And finally my younger daughter as you know from prior blogs is the avid golfer of the family.

I took an afternoon off from work, which I highly recommend people do from time to time, and we headed out to Harvey Penick Golf Campus. Harvey Penick is a 9-hole course geared toward the less advanced golfer; a great place for a round when you have a foursome like what I have described. This is also the home to First Tee of Austin (www.thefirstteeaustin.org/) which a great organization helping the youth of the Austin area. It is not luxury country-club experience but is an enjoyable track that also has a few challenges.

The round was fun. There were lost balls, numerous whiffs, a foot wedge here and there, and with the older daughter a few blatant violations of the rules of golf. There were also a few laughs in there and some smiles. The scores were nothing spectacular – one each in the 40s, 50s, 60s, and 70s. We will just leave it at that.

As usual when the time on the course was done, I reflected back on the round. I was playing with a brand new set of irons I received at Christmas – replacements for the ones I had used for 17 years. All I can say is “Wow.” Clubs make a difference. I was hitting shots I never hit before in my life. It made we wish I had asked (or just gone and bought) for new clubs years ago. It was also obvious that my wife (and she said it before I did) needs some lessons after a 20 year hiatus. I won’t say any more than that because I do not want to get in trouble. It was also very apparent that while the older child has potential and some basic skills, she lacks the desire and patience to be a golfer. Golf is just not her thing. And finally the young golfer of the family once again showed that she has a beautiful swing and a head for the game but lacks the consistency at this stage of her development as a golfer. She also reminded me that trying too hard to impress (say your mother who has never seen you on the course) can sometimes mess up your game.

So what I saw on the course on that fun filled afternoon, an afternoon that is sure to be talked about for years to come, is also something many of us also see in our professional lives on a regular basis. Each member of the foursome highlighted a critical factor for success in business. These four factors are:

Tools matter
Training matters
Passion or at least an interest in what you do is important
Consistent execution is a must

Many of us have either said or heard someone else say something like, “if I just had a new computer I could get more done or make more sales.” In my role, I certainly hear this all the time. There always seems to be a need for the latest laptop, iPhone/iPad, MS Office Version, cloud app, and on and on. I hear it so often that at time all I hear is the buzzing noise of people wanting things versus needing valuable business tools. Employees and line managers play an important role in making sure that they have the tools they need to be successful. They must take steps to make sure that requests for new tools convey the business value to be realized and not just be another “ask” to spend money. Just as important, decision makers must take steps to not fall into the trap of just hearing the static and actually listen to what front line employees are saying they need to be more productive.

As much as tools matter, so does training. Employees must have the knowledge required to execute daily tasks, use existing and new tools, and keep up with changes in the business’s environment. Many people think training is the sole responsibility of the company, not the employee. Many have the expectation that their company must foot the bill for all training and/or that the only training needed is that which is mandated by their employer. While companies certainly need to make an investment in providing task specific training, training on internal processes/procedures/policies, and training for tools that are used in the execution of tasks, employees must also make a personal investment in training. This personal investment can be something as informal as reading profession specific articles and white papers; or attending vendor or industry-group sponsored events; or something a little more formal like online training courses, or even very formal training such as obtaining a professional certification or a college degree. This personal investment can not only add value to your current company; it can also help propel your career to a higher level. In the end, whether company-supplied or employee provided, the best training is the training you want to receive and that you have vested interest in completing.

Be Passionate about your job. I have written about this one already (see Life is Short: Find Your Passion) but it is worth writing about again. Your level of passion (or at least some semblance of interest) for your job/career plays a huge part in the quality of your work performance. The more you like what you do, the more likely that you will give your all when executing your daily tasks, and thus to more value you will add to your company. Over time this will result in success for your company and for you personally.

You can have the tools. You can have the training. You can have the passion. But the real secret to success is putting those things together on a consistent basis. Put another way – in order to achieve long-term success you must flawlessly execute on a consistent basis. This is much easier said than done. We are after all humans, not machines. This means that none of us can be “on our game” all the time. There will be days or at perhaps parts of days where we fail to be firing on all cylinders. The key is to bring your skills, your tools and your passion together as best you can on a regular basis. Consistent execution is truly the key to long term success.

So once again, a round of golf has provided me with not only valuable time with members of my family but also a time to reflect about my own career and business in general. Fortunately for the Neill family our shortcomings on the course did not hinder what we were trying to achieve on that pretty Spring afternoon – we were spending time together and making memories. If only success in the business world could be so easy.

What’s Love Got to Do With It?

Published March 6, 2012 Career Development 2 Comments
Tags: Conscious Capitalism, Container Store, Jesuits, Kip Tindell, Love

“What’s love got to do, got to do with it?
What’s love but a second hand emotion?”

I don’t think that Tina “The Afterburner” Turner was posing a business question when she was belting out this hit in 1984, but I am asking that question now in 2012.

Over the past two weeks I have had the pleasure of listening to two interesting business leaders. The first being Kip Tindell, co-founder and CEO of the Container Store and a disciple of the Conscious Capitalism movement. The second speaker was Chris Lowney, a former Jesuit seminarian and former Managing Director at J.P. Morgan & Co. I had the opportunity to listen to Kip Tindell at a Austin Business Journal breakfast event in downtown Austin. Chris Lowney was the keynote speaker at a recent fund raising gala for St. Dominic Savio Catholic High School, which is by far my favorite Catholic high school in the entire world.

You are probably wondering already what these two speaking events have to do with each other. The answer is “Love.” More specifically “love in business”, not love in the sense that would send Human Resource directors screaming down the halls or have plaintiff attorneys salivating at a multi-million dollar lawsuit. Not even the type of love I found 19+ years ago when I met my wife at the office. But love in very different kind of way. As I sat at breakfast listening to Kip Tindell, my mind did a double take when he said “you can build a much better organization on love than on fear.” I was thinking “what in the hell is he talking about, there’s no place for love in business”, but the more I listened to his philosophy the more it sunk in that he was not talking about love in a romantic sense. It was somewhat interesting that two weeks later as I was sitting at a fundraiser dinner, I heard a former Wall Street banker say that in order to be successful businesses needed to “create an environment filled with greater love than fear.”

Those two “love” statements stuck in my head, and I started wondering if there was a deeper connection between these two seemingly unconnected individuals. So I did a little digging, and it did not take long to find the common thread. I already knew from his keynote address, that Chris Lowney was a former Jesuit seminarian and thus presumably well versed in their teachings. However, I knew very little of Kip’s background other than he attended my alma mater, THE University of Texas, and had been at the top of the Container Store since its founding 1978. So I wanted to know more, because I was pretty sure that he didn’t learn about “business love” at the UT, as I have two degrees from the UT Business School and never once recall the word “love” being uttered by a professor. A quick Google on Kip Tindell and I had my answer. It turns out that Kip attended Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas and that the Jesuit philosophy he learned there has served as a basis for how he runs the Container Store. So the common thread: Jesuits.

I do not have much exposure to the Jesuits. I attended public schools from kindergarten through graduate school and did not grow up in the Catholic Church. While I am now Catholic, I still have not spent much time learning much about the Jesuit teachings. I am not going to dive into the history of the Jesuits, but very briefly “the company” was created in 1540 by St. Ignatius Loyola. The Jesuits are probably best known in the US for the establishment of schools, including 28 colleges and universities. They also established leadership principles that have guided Jesuit leaders since the 1500s and are still taught to those attending Jesuit schools.

Based on the keynote from Chris Lowney and some brief research on my own, I have gained a basic understanding of the four principles of the Jesuit approach to leadership. These four core principles are:

Self-awareness: understanding one’s own strengths, weaknesses, values, and worldview.

Ingenuity: confidently innovating and adapting to a changing world

Love: engaging others with a positive attitude that unlocks their potential

Heroism: energizing yourself and others with heroic ambitions and a passion for excellence

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Like I said, I have a basic understanding of these four principles but each seems very complex and multi-faceted. As I was in a social setting when he spoke, I was not fully engaged in his every word and certainly was not taking notes or even making detailed mental notes on his insights. Fortunately Mr. Lowney wrote a book Heroic Leadership: Best Practices from a 450-Year-Old Company that Changed the World so that I can read it and gain a deeper understanding of each of these principles. Once I get that done, I am sure there will be another entry or two about it.

So I then thought back to Kip Tindell’s session. As I was in my professional mode for that one, I jotted down copious notes during his talk. Here are a few of the nuggets of wisdom from Kip during that breakfast presentation:

“You can build a much better organization on love than on fear.”

“Communication and leadership are the same thing.”

“Communication is act of compassion.”

“Mind your wake. Our wakes are bigger than we think, everything you do – and what you don’t do – impacts the people around you more than you think.”

“Find a place where you can be you.”

“We should all act like we are the CEO, Chairman and own 100% of the stock.”

“Always believe everything matters.”

“Kids are raised to think only logic applies to business. But some really wise person once said that intuition is merely the sum total of one’s life experience. If that’s the case, why would you leave that at home when you come to the office?”

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As I drove away from downtown Austin that morning, I thought “wow, this Kip guy is a revolutionary thinker that sees business in much different light than the traditional CEO. He is a cutting edge business leader.” And you cannot argue that his leadership philosophy doesn’t work, as the last I checked the Container Store has seen 15-20% year-over-year growth for twenty-five plus years and did not lay off a single employee during the recent bad years we have all experienced. I doubt many companies can match that track record. But as I piece things together and replay his talk in my mind against the keynote from Chris Lowney and the brief research I have done on the Jesuit leadership principles, I am thinking that Kip is not a revolutionary after all. Instead I am beginning to think he is an “old school company guy” – a 450 year old company known as the Jesuits.

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So does love have a place in business? If love is indeed “engaging others with a positive attitude that unlocks their potential”, then yes, love is a key to success in the world of business.

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Robert Not Bob

Archive for March, 2012

Business Lesson from a Nurseryman: Change Can Come Up Roses

More Reflections from the Course

What’s Love Got to Do With It?

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