The People are the Point - Another Lesson from Rich

One of my earliest lessons in leadership came as I stepped into a management role at Intuit. Rich and I were talking about expectations and he said something that I will never forget:

"If you take care of the people, the rest will be easy."

Over the next 7 years at Intuit I watched haw deeply Rich internalized that value.

From going to bat for the people on the team to ensuring that we had the emotional safety to focus on family and our personal needs, Rich created an environment that allowed us to thrive and learn at a pace that was intense, but rarely felt overwhelming.

While, I can't say that the work life balance was always great in those years, Rich always found a way to celebrate the team and make sure we all knew we were appreciated. From cookouts and potlucks, Hawaiian Shirt days, team outings, catered lunches, the occasional hot sauce challenges, holiday party suites, lots of pictures and more team logo apparel than could fit in a closet. There were lots of opportunities to let people know that they weren't just a cog in a machine, but that they were a valuable part of a team and that not only did their work matter, but that they mattered and were seen as complete human being.

That focus on the people allowed something magical to happen in those early years. I would love to say it was all the design of some master plan we worked up on a whiteboard, but while the focus was intentional, the outcomes were far greater than any of us anticipated. We became the kind of high performing team that every leader hopes to have. Not only that our team's energy became infectious as we included other teams and leaders in our orbit.

Many of the folks in these photos have gone on to become CIOs, CISOs, VPs and Directors at other organizations in the time since. At dinner last week with one of them we talked a lot about how special that time was and how unique it was to get that kind of experience so early on in our careers.

Most of us have continued to try and replicate that magic with varying degrees of success ever since.

I would love to say that I have perfected that leadership magic in the teams I have been in since, but life everything I strive to continue to improve and embrace those tenants while I grow as a leader.

As Rich moved on to EMPLOYERS and later Everi he was purposeful in that intent to ensure people were the focus. As I stepped into a Director role at EMPLOYERS working for him we spoke again about expectations and talked about people again. Our most important job as a leader is to empower our people to do their best work with as little worry as possible about things like politics, pay, benefits and the like.

Even after I moved on from EMPLOYERS, he would share events and outing that he would have with the team, he was proud of them and the work they did, but most importantly he was always in awe of what these teams were able to accomplish.

There were many times at team events and offsites where after awards were given and speeches were made, I would watch him sneak off to a back corner of the room and just watch everyone filled with pride and on more than one occasion with a tear or two.

A few years back Rich sent me a link to an album of his latest offsite and there was a picture in that captured one of these moments.

These teams meant the world to him and the hardest part for him at the end of each of these journeys was saying goodbye to them. Many times he stayed far longer than he planned in these places because of a sense of loyalty and obligation to these teams he built.

I'd like to think that we had a few more years with him than we otherwise might have because of that,