Student Housing Business is the voice of the student housing industry.
Issue link: https://studenthousingbusiness.epubxp.com/i/616872
WHAT'S ON MY MIND NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015 STUDENT HOUSING BUSINESS .COM 102 DON'T BE A SELLOUT! Maintaining culture in a growing company is something many strive to do. Here are some tips. By Alex O'Brien, President, Cardinal Group Management O On the heels of winning a national Top Culture Award and being recognized as a Top 5 Best Places to Work in our hometown — Denver — I have been refecting on the benefts of creating a place that people love to work. Here are a few words about the importance of culture, above all else, at a growing company. Since launching Cardinal Group Management in 2009, the company has grown from fve people to over 450 people in six years and has operations in 25 states. As I look back over that time, it is highlighted by hard work, pas- sion, growth and change. Our processes have changed; our people have changed; our indus- try has changed; but amidst the sea of change, there has been one constant — our culture. Shortly after launching Cardinal Group, our CEO, Del de Windt, attended a conference which featured Tony Hsieh from Zappos. Hsieh spoke passionately about Zappos' culture and how it was the key ingredient to his company's success. So while the rest of Cardinal was try- ing to buy student housing and launch a man- agement company, Del went to work penciling our company culture. Looking back, it was that decision that put Cardinal on the path that has led us to where we are today. Even with only fve people at the company, we were talking culture! That habit is still alive today among our team. You can review our entire culture on our website, but I wanted to address a few of our core values and relate them to how each can impact your business. n Embrace change and new ideas. Ideas power a company. People have ideas. A company needs to have a culture where these ideas are shared, challenged and then implemented when they win. Change management is chal- lenging for companies, but being stagnant and stodgy can be a kiss of death in today's busi- ness climate. Everything can change…except your core values. They should be permanent. Otherwise, they are not really core. n Bring your best each day and create fun. Work can be boring. Growth can be painful. Feeling like you are working for nothing more than a paycheck really sucks. We all spend around 40 percent of our day at work (some- times more) so we ought to have fun during that time. Break out the high-fves, let the laughs and beverages fow and treat your team as the most important thing in your business — because they are. n Be passionate and determined. This is a hir- ing philosophy for Cardinal. Experience and resumé matter but attitude and passion win the day. We love what we do and you need to hire people that agree with this. We want to hire passionate people that put the team frst. In return, we promise to help them grow both personally and professionally. n Be humble. To me, the key to leadership is setting the example — Ductus Exemplo. Humility has to start at the top and that's only possible when leadership truly believes that it is the collective team that wins, not the execu- tives. Like America, we are not great because of our leaders, we are great because of our people. A well-known "champion of culture" in American business today is Herb Kelleher, founder of Southwest Airlines. The airline industry is a great analog to real estate manage- ment, in the sense that it is tough to establish competitive advantage amongst your competi- tors. However, like Southwest, your people can be the difference and that is why culture is the most important thing any business owns. In reference to questions about how to create culture from his competitors and other compa- nies, Kelleher said, "…they basically wanted to know how we hired, how we trained, and how we motivated. And so we would tell them. And many of them, I think, were looking for some formula, you know, that you could put on the blackboard. The concept is simple, but the execution takes a lot of work and a lot of atten- tion.... It's not formulaic. The way I describe it is this huge mosaic that you're always adding little pieces to, to make it work. And it's not a job that you do for six months and then you just say, 'Well, that's behind us.' It's something you do every day." For the next generation of businesses that are coming up in our industry — the young guys and girls out there hustling to build companies and earn market share — I applaud you. I am your biggest cheerleader. My advice to you is to be very deliberate on creating culture every day. You cannot go back in time once you are a successful business and "make up a new cul- ture or establish one for the frst time." Culture is born and grows and lives, just like your business, and you need to put it in place at the beginning. And as Herb Kelleher said, it's not a six month project — it is something you do every day. Believe in doing the right thing. Alex O'Brien is the President of Cardinal Group Management, based in Denver. Alex was a captain in the United States Marine Corps before helping to launch Cardinal. He is a graduate of the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business, where he was selected to teach Leadership Development in the MBA program. ALEX O'BRIEN President, Cardinal Group Management " Experience and resumé matter but attitude and passion win the day. We love what we do and you need to hire people that agree with this. We want to hire passionate people that put the team frst.