CRAIG'S INTERVIEW WITH SmartCEO's Smart100
What was the big idea that caused you to launch your company?
People matter most. Whether they are your employees, customers, business alliances and/or stakeholders every decision and action must give consideration to “the people” if you hope to forge relationships that stand the test of time.

When ETA began in 2001, we saw a lot of evidence to the contrary in the region, some of which I experienced first-hand. Companies were merging or acquiring others, new management was rolling into town, and business was down in general. The focus of many executives was on driving EBITDA and profits and hardly at all on the people. Customers were dealing with faceless strangers over the phone, and felt that “no one seemed to know them anymore”. Employees were no longer on a familiar basis with the people they reported to and were being looked at as a tool instead of human beings. I spoke with many on either side of the fence who were not “feeling the love”. I knew we could change that. I knew that people mattered, that someone had to make that the focus. And we did just that. We knew that if we brought our considerable industry expertise and knowledge and coupled that with making “People Matter Most” our mantra that we could build long lasting relationships. Even though this was at the forefront of our thinking when we launched back then, our ideals have not changed today...people matter most.
 
Describe a major turning point for your company in terms of growth or the evolution of its mission.
Considering that at this point (being 2011) the years from 2008 - 2010 have been our best by far in financial terms, I would say a major turning point in our growth and evolution was when I proclaimed near the end of 2008 that “ETA will not participate in the Recession!!” Now I did not say that we were immune from the impact of the downturn in business everyone faced. What I was urging our people to understand was that this was no time for us to cower or hunker down. We were going to be courageous. We would press forward with our strategic and growth plans. And what happened was that we continued on our path, smartly...key new hires, a new office and NOC facility, some new complementary product and service offerings, more marketing & business development initiatives, more charitable involvement and giving, no wage freezes, no benefits cuts.

To my immense gratitude our people responded by making voluntary contributions of their own that were way outside the norm, while continuing to perform wonderfully. And the results...? We forged many new customer relationships, grew wider and deeper with existing customers and rather than just survive, we thrived...and that courageous mindset continues today.

What is your secret to attracting new customers and keeping your best clients satisfied?
Our biggest secret is to keep all clients satisfied, not just the “best ones”. If you want a recipe for attracting new clients then the main ingredient is really taking care of the ones you already have, small or large. We view taking care of our clients as being focused on producing results, not just giving effort. We focus on their total customer experience, delivering based on what it means to be in their shoes. And we focus on being our client’s advocate in this very complex and crowded world of voice and data communications. Clients want great guidance and support, they want to know that you will take the time to listen, understand them and that you will work diligently to make a real impact on what they are seeking to achieve for their business. If that’s a secret then please don’t tell our competitors.

Describe your company culture. What role do you, as the leader, play in creating and maintaining that culture?
Our culture is defined as a “Culture of Accomplishment”. It is a culture that is fueled by self-directed behavior. As the President, it is my ultimate responsibility to drive several key elements that builds and sustains a healthy culture.

First, create complete alignment throughout the company by clearly and consistently communicating the overall vision, strategic plans & initiatives, and top level goals. I want everyone to understand their relevance in terms of the bigger picture, and what values they must embody for us to be successful. This is a key to having people operate with self-directed behavior. Of course, you’d better select the right people; open-minded, committed to ongoing learning, willing to serve others and, most importantly, accountable for their performance. But it does not end there. A second component to driving our Culture of Accomplishment is the commitment to provide ongoing personal and professional development for everyone in the organization. Since the people are the company, it’s a no brainer to want to invest in furthering everyone’s growth.

When you are not at the office, what other pursuits are you passionate about (for example, charity work, hobbies, family life)?
When I am not focusing on business I enjoy many other interests. Relationships are important to me, personally and professionally. I value them and treat them so. I make sure to keep up with long time friends, while also taking advantage of opportunities to meet new people. I love to learn and certainly reading is one way I widen my horizons. But I find that I learn just as much, or more, by listening to others share their experiences, perspectives and life lessons. It is safe to say that I am a people person.

Besides being very dedicated to my family, music is my greatest passion. I am a musician, playing guitar for over 30 years. To me, playing music is another style of conversation, a conversation you have with other musicians, listeners, and sometimes just yourself. My love for music has led to me building a rather large recorded music collection which began at a very early age. I love to share my musical discoveries with others. It is yet another way to connect with people. I also find that music truly is the soundtrack of my life and as a byproduct it has served as a means for memorializing the events, places and stages in my life. Beyond that I love sports, playing and watching, though it is much more of the former these days.

What has been the most surprising or rewarding aspect of leadership for you?
The most rewarding aspect of leadership for me has been the mutual trust that has been established throughout the company. Our people clearly demonstrate that they are fully engaged in living our mission and willingly go above and beyond. Our people are collaborative, respectful, caring and open. Our people are willing to share their knowledge with fellow employees without fear of “lowering their own value” to the company.

I know all of this occurs because of a high level of trust, a trust in company leadership, management, and peers. The trust that has been built due to consistently doing what we say we’ll do, by treating all people fairly, by being transparent, and the fact that the plans and decisions we’ve made have largely led to success and prove our abilities. Trust is an easy nut to crack, you must give it first. After years of giving it we are definitely seeing it come back across the board. Everything seems to be easier to get done when you have a foundation of trust. This is not only the most rewarding aspect of leadership for me, but also the one element I am most grateful for.

What was your biggest “failure” and what did you learn from it?
My biggest failure was not some momentary thing that happened but rather something that I overlooked and did not make a focus. I feel that in our earlier days the company’s growth definitely was held back by not having a long term strategic plan or formal goals that we were setting out to achieve. Sure, we had a budget, and we did have a revenue plan for each coming year, but we were missing out on not looking far enough down the road. Time is the one thing that you never regain. Who knows how much farther along we would be today had we started out differently.

Now, today is a different story. We do have a strategic plan that details the results we will achieve. The current one takes us through the end of 2014 with a complete roadmap for how we plan to get there. The strategic plan has been communicated by me with all of our people, not just the managers. We communicate where we are going, the results we expect to achieve, how we are going to get there, and why we have confidence in making it happen. Also today, goals are set with a formal process and everyone in the company creates and commits to them. I feel so strongly about how important this is that I hired an outside facilitator to train everyone on the correct way to think about goals, understand the criteria necessary for setting them, the elements for measuring them, and how to work with a simple tool that guides them through it all. It unleashes the potential of our very talented and conscientious employees. It gives them the clarity they need in order to best utilize the skills and brainpower they bring to the table. It’s not enough to have people willing to work harder, they need the information to channel their efforts appropriately.

So there are two lessons I learned in all of this. One, make a specific and detailed plan for a bigger and brighter long term future to ensure you make all the right moves and are tracking your milestones along the way. The other, you must be focused on constant communication of your vision and plans, with clarity and consistency, if you expect your people to be all that they can be.