Get real: ADS Convention keynote speaker challenges leadership status quo

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Updated Aug 5, 2019
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Harry S. Campbell speaking at the 2019 ADS International Convention and Tradeshow, Wednesday in Orlando.

Harry S. Campbell says one of the biggest misconceptions about leadership is the idea that there’s only one way to lead. Campbell says that’s clearly not true. Everyone is different and, as such, everyone’s skill sets can be used differently to convey leadership.

In a keynote presentation Wednesday at the 2019 Association of Diesel Specialists (ADS) International Convention and Trade Show in Orlando, Campbell told attendees the key to good leadership isn’t following a single blueprint — it’s about getting real.

He says the good news is anyone can lead. You don’t need a fancy title or corner office to be a leader. But you do need to understand yourself, your relationship and your business.

Understand yourself

Campbell describes this as understanding one’s personal brand. Don’t have a brand? Campbell says that’s impossible. Even if you’ve never thought about it, your coworkers have perceptions of you. That’s your brand. He says one key to good leadership is recognizing, owning and learning how to harness one’s brand.

“I don’t care what your personal brand is but you should know it,” Campbell says. “You need to know how you are viewed by people.”

The key here, Campbell adds, is consistency, Jack Welch, Steve Jobs and Sam Walton each had wildly different personal brands but were all incredibly successful leading their companies because the brands they presented to their employees were the same at all times. Jack Welch was quick to fire for poor performance, but Campbell says Welch made that management style clear to anyone who ever worked for him so they understood his standard of excellence.

“Welch was consistently a driver,” he says.

And Campbell adds leaders also shouldn’t attempt to define their personal brand on their own. They need to hear from their colleagues. He prefers to do so using “7 Words” method, in which leaders request their associates to anonymously describe their brand using just seven words. Campbell says in most cases “there’s a reasonable chance they’ll give you five words you will agree with and like, one you will agree with but not like and one you claim isn’t you at all, even though that’s what others think of you.”

He says those latter disconnects are important, because they show aspects of a leader’s personality they may be unintentionally projecting to their team.

Understand your staff

Campbell says attitude is a major factor here. He says good leaders don’t treat their employees like children or view them as inferior. They view them as equals and communicate with them as such.

Campbell says he’s a big supporter of the 98/2 Golden Rule in this area, which states when employees are treated like adults and given the tools required to complete their job, “98 percent of them will do solid to great work.”

On this note Campbell references a program he implemented earlier in his career when managing a business that operated 15 call centers nationwide. Campbell says when he came on board the call centers were tracking when employees arrived each morning and were punishing employees when they were more than five minutes late. Seeing the negative impact the program had on performance and morale, Campbell removed the tracking policy an introduced a one-hour arrival window. So long as employees arrived within that hour and worked eight hours after their arrival, they were no longer punished. He says the positive results were overwhelming.

Regarding communication, Campbell says he favors simplicity to corporate speak. He says employees tune out the latter because it doesn’t mean anything.

“Talk like a real person,” he says. “The way you’d want them to talk to you.”

Leaders also should answer questions and, most importantly, Campbell says, have the ability to accept failure and mistakes. When you don’t know, say so, he says. And when a decision you make doesn’t work out, own it.

Understand your business

This goes hand in hand with the communication note immediately above. Campbell says while employees appreciate a leader who will admit when they were wrong and/or made a bad decision, employees are exceptionally motivated by leaders who are flat-out good at their job.

Campbell says aptitude is “the single most important factor” in being a good leader because employees want to work for a leader or in a business where leadership is intelligent and high-functioning. Good, hardworking leaders can set an example that permeates through an entire business.

This is again where Campbell mentions anyone can lead. He says being a good employee “changes people’s perceptions of you immediately.” He says high-performing employees often motivate everyone around them and in some cases can even force their own employers to promote them to capitalize on their productivity.

“You want to be the person where when something comes up, people come to you even if you’re busy,” Campbell says, because that means colleagues understand you are the person with the traits necessary to properly complete the job.

 

ADS announces partnership with Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week

The Association of Diesel Specialists also announced during Wednesday’s opening general session that has partnered with Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week (HDAW) and will hold its next convention as part of HDAW’s upcoming January 2020 event.

ADS President Laura Rountree says the decision to partner with HDAW will enable ADS to broaden its association, taking advantage of HDAW’s ever expanding presence as the preeminent aftermarket event in the heavy-duty diesel industry.

“ADS, its board, and its members are thrilled at the prospect of an enhanced participation level at HDAW,” says Rountree, also president at Industrial Diesel. “HDAW provides our members with increased business and educational opportunities.  We look forward to full participation at the Gaylord Texan in January – the venue provides ADS with ample space to hold our membership meetings, including committee meetings, technical sessions, and a great HDAW program for our members to improve their businesses.”

“The owners of HDAW, CVSN, HDDA/AutoCare, and HDMA/MEMA see significant industry value from further engagement in the event, with ADS deciding to hold their annual membership meeting as part of HDAW, beginning with HDAW 2020 in Texas,” says Tim Kraus, HDMA president and COO.  “Our expanded space and flexibility offered with the new venue of the Gaylord Texan will greatly enhance everyone’s HDAW experience; ADS joining into the week is a positive thing for the independent aftermarket.”

HDAW 2020 is scheduled for Jan. 27-30, 2020, in Grapevine, Texas.

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