A company or a person without a vision to a new future is navigating blindly. One of the challenges of leadership is getting others in the company to follow the vision of the leader. Will Seippel is the CEO of Worthpoint. This company is the largest resource for researching, valuing and buying/selling antiques, art, and vintage collectibles. Will shares how he has learned to enroll team members into the BIG vision of his company. Discover how you can do it too.
In this episode we’ll cover:
- Choosing the right people for your company
- Shifting from a CEO to a Startup mindset
- Why you want people who share your vision
- The importance of people skills
- Why a WE mindset is better than a ME mindset
Target Audience: Will’s target audience includes homeowners, businesses and banks. His website is the leading online resource for value information on art, antiques and collectibles
From STARTUP to CEO: What did you have to let go of?
Will admits that developing the right people skills was probably the hardest thing for him. In making that transition, he learned a lot about managing people in a startup environment versus. What did he learn? He learned how to help people make better decisions.
With as little as 10 full-time employees who get everything and more done, we’d say that’s a pretty sweet business plan Will’s got there!!
Hiring the right people
Yes, hiring the most suitable people is imperative. However, retaining them is just as important. Also don’t hurry and put in the wrong person. There’s a lot of what Will calls, We use “group thought” that goes into this. In other words, potential hires must interview with everyone on the team (not just the CEO).
What they really question in every interviewee is: “Are they committed to a startup environment and its rigors?” It is also about snagging people who want to work your vision.
Everyone is responsible for managing the revenue. That’s right: EVERYONE. Everyone shares the uniform focus that the objective of any action is to create a better customer experience. It is very much a statistical driven business.
Will’s 3 Principles:
- Put the customer first
- Always do the honest thing
- Respect the individual
Practical and Actionable:
Bi-weekly staff meetings (which was suggested by staff- not Will) seem to be working quite well and is something Will recommends for Startup companies!
