A Slice

It was one of those moments that seems small, fleeting and kind-of funny. In the long run it would impact the next 30+ years of my career. As I sat at the long, long table in the old Maritz Communications Company building in the back of the Fenton MO campus waiting for a corporate meeting. I took notice that someone I had wanted to meet from higher up the executive food chain was at the meeting. He was walking towards the only open seat, right across from me. I was a bit nervous, but excited at the chance to talk.

As Darryl Hutson, executive VP sat down he reached over to an open box of pizza and grabbed a slice. Darryl pulled the slice onto a paper plate, and as he pulled the slice toward himself, he put the slice into his mouth as he sat down. All in one smooth motion. Only thing was, all the cheese and sauce slid right off the pizza slice all onto his shirt and tie. In less than 30 seconds he went from senior executive to a guy with pizza goo all over his shirt and tie.

As Darryl looked over at me he said, “I’m one graceful chug-a-lug!” We both laughed.

I knew at that moment I wanted to work for him. I realized I would learn so much from Darryl Hutson, not just business, strategy, management but how to deal with anything and keep going. Within 60 days I was working on a few amazing projects directly for Darryl. My time at his side learning, helping, exploring and making mistakes, (and laughing) are to this day some of my greatest career memories.

Darryl had a few sayings that summed things up quickly and I can still hear him saying these to me, and are worth sharing:

“Work Smarter, Not Harder” – In business many times we can become lost in the doing, the process of cranking out the work. Less often do we stop and think “is there a better way to do this? An easier way to the end results?” Darryl had this quote framed and on the wall behind his desk. A constant reminder as we would sit and talk through whatever was in the moment a strategic focus is there a better way to do this – “Work Smarter, Not Harder.”

When we launched American Express Incentive Services my role was Chief Information Officer and VP of Marketing & Business Development. I think technology development and management can cause another type of distraction. Many times the attitude to “start the build” and taking action before we really thought it through. As a team of executives from various areas sat in Darryl’s office quickly shooting of ideas on how to get something build “fast” on the tech front I realized this was the wrong first step. Instead of building the system we needed to understand what we wanted to accomplish from a business focus. We needed the who, what, why and the requirements. A detailed scope of requirements. I had instant push back from a few of the executives, but Darryl jumped in “David is correct, more upfront input and requirements is working smarter, not harder.”

In the heat of the moment we can lose sight of this, it is always good to stop and think “are we thinking about this in the right way? Are we being smart about the effort.”

“Who Would ‘ve Thunk It?”  When we would be in meetings with others or he was giving a presentation Darryl would throw in a few “disarming” phrases. This was one of my favorite. It made people stop and think, even smile. It made him approachable and very human. It also made those listening stop and think about the question. Realizing that it was something worth thinking about and see that something special that was at play.

In many ways, who I am today comes from working closely with Darryl over the years. His amazing listening skills, his ability to keep his guard down and get people to open up. The ability to build trust with a person or a team all flowed from his character. If Darryl said he was going to do something he did it. He was willing to have the hard conversations, the talks that mattered.

“I Feel It In My Bones!” The first time I heard Darryl use this was in a planning meeting. We were trying to map out as a team the next 6 months, 15 months and 24 months of development. Lots of ideas, lots of directions. After a few hours of brainstorming what became clear – we needed a focus, a direction we could all see and understand. Darryl stood up and said “We have one clear focus, we need to be the best at individual awards. Whether travel or retail or experiences we need to focus on the individual award earner. I feel it in my bones that this is the direction we need to follow.” The message was clear, that in the end we needed his leadership and he provided. The team went on to change the whole rewards industry with this focus on the individual.

He trusted that as a team we were going to get done what needed to get done. No micro-management – instead the vision, the end desired result was shared. He was always the first to offer help and support.

Darryl lead his team to: 1. Know our numbers – costs, revenue, margin; 2. Understand the market not in a vacuum but via others, clients, users, competitors, the market in whole; 3. Watch for the tells – like in poker, everyone has a tell; 4. Action is important, 80% and go. 

To this day Darryl and I talk, and he is still my mentor, my friend and can make me laugh at myself!