Transparency is the Only Option for Leadership If You Want Trust with Wayne Patrick

Apr 23, 2021 | Change Management, COVID-19 Blogs, Hot Mess Hotline Podcast, Resilience

Wayne Patrick is a serial tech entrepreneur whose Hot Mess Hotline conversation is about his lessons learned during the Great Recession in 2008.

His “world fell apart,” when he got a Monday morning call losing 10% of his sales. Sound familiar?

The firm was in hot water. 

At the time, Wayne’s company, PDD, was firmly entrenched in the automobile industry. 

Wayne’s world was falling apart and he knew he had few choices, and even fewer choices the longer he waited.

Wayne was dealing with multiple issues:

  1. What would he do about losing 10% of the company’s revenue? How would they recover from that? 
  2. What if anything, could they do, to not lose the other 15% of his existing business?
  3. What could he do to hold onto the other automotive prospect he had in his pipeline that would be an additional 15% of his business?

They had bet on the automobile industry and the house was winning.

His steps for creating a gameplan:

  1. Destress: Wayne went for a run so that his subconscious could work through the issue. 
  2. Define the issue: Next, Wayne defined the financial, staffing, legal and cultural implications of the issue and started mapping out solutions.
  3. Determine the timeline: Wayne met with his CFO to determine how much time they had before they ran out of cash flow and needed to do layoffs. 
  4. Communicate with transparency and hope: Wayne decided to trust the people in the company and he confronted them with the brutal truth of what they needed to do. He asked, “Are you with me? Here are the options we got. . . .” 
  5. Ask, “Who’s with me?”

As a leader, Wayne used a transparent process because he was willing to spill his guts and offer a solution. He was embarassed but had come to learn he could also rely on his people as he had relied on them.

When he went back to his staff they said, “We’re on board. Let’s do it.” And that was one of the most emotional moments he had ever had in business because his people believed in him and the company to make it happen.

While many companies took years to recovery, under Wayne’s leadership, PDD took months.

Wayne and his team were willing to do the really hard, difficult things that you have to do to make it and get through. It could have been easy to throw up their hands in overwhelm but they never quit.

Wayne defines this as willingness, grit, and perseverance which are critical attributes for anyone in business. Through this experience, Wayne learned that he was tougher and more resilient than he thought he was.

Lessons for Mid-Level Leaders:

  1. When you’re in the CEO’s big chair you have a lot of insight, awareness, and experience that mid-level leaders don’t have. As an individual we see the problem from the perspective of each silo. The owner is looking at it from the perspective of all silos.
  2. Do your job. Do it well. 
  3. Learn about other people’s jobs and the business. Try to understand everything from accounting to operations so that you can understand enough to support the mission, vision, and objectives of the organization. 

Wayne’s Problem-Solving Steps

  1. Work through all scenarios: what could go right what could go wrong?
  2. Brainstorm all the possible solutions that could solve the problem.
  3. Review all of your options.
  4. Turn to your people and trust them. You have to be willing to share some of the burdens for them to pick it up when times get tough. 
  5. Confront the situation with the brutal truth.
  6. Ask your team, “Are you with me?” Be transparent with them so that they can join in with you.
  7. Have the grit to keep going.

Additional resources:

Listen on Libysn
Listen on Libysn
Listen on Libysn
Listen on Libysn

Lead powerful meetings and create purpose, participation and problem solving for your most valuable time

Download this toolkit and you'll get resources to:

    • Easily manage task items from every meeting
    • Design agendas quickly and allow folks the right info to prepare
    • Hold your next effective staff meeting with focused content
    • Run a quick daily meeting so your team gets more shit done
    • Have your staff turn in meaningful updates so meetings are shorter
    • Start meetings in an engaging way. Get everyone to laugh, not roll their eyes.

About Wayne Patrick

Wayne Patrick is a mentor and investor in several startup and entrepreneurial companies. He has over forty years of experience in Information Technology including IT Director for a large fortune 500 Financial and Insurance Company.  He has extensive experience in the IT Consulting Industry having started and managed his own IT Consulting Company, Professional Data Dimensions to a successful exit. His experience in the Software industry includes having developed and led the consulting efforts for a large software firm and has been the COO of two entrepreneurial/start-up software firms that had successful exits.

About AIS

AIS is a proactive IT consulting, infrastructure and security company specializing in strategic solutions that help organizations leverage technology to drive positive outcomes. Based in Indianapolis, AIS was founded in 2012 and works with public, private, and government organizations across the Midwest. Through our service delivery platforms, and our talented professionals, they provide personalized, best-in-class digital solutions to organizations, users, and customers. They help our clients resolve their most critical technology challenges and adopt digital technology that improves productivity, efficiency, workflow, interoperability, profitability, and customer outcomes.

Related Posts

Rich Leaders Have Rich Relationships with Jack Gibson

Rich Leaders Have Rich Relationships with Jack Gibson

A little-discussed asset class known by rich leaders is to have rich relationships. Jack Gibson is a leader who values trust over money; friendship over revenue. Just a few short years ago, he was feeling hot, hot, hot about real estate investing with a business partner. He referred his friends to this person. Everything was great while everyone was making money together.

Until it wasn’t and they were all losing money. Big time. Jack put on his cape and saved the day. While he’s learned since then that “saving others” isn’t his job, he’ll never regret saving a relationship at the expense of virtually everything else. Listen in to our conversation where lifelong friends have stayed trusted partners because he knows the value of the best investment out there: relationship capital.

read more
Insights into Uncomfortable Race Conversations at Work with Danielle Meadows-Stinnett

Insights into Uncomfortable Race Conversations at Work with Danielle Meadows-Stinnett

Have you ever wanted insights into uncomfortable race conversations at work but didn’t know who to ask? Our guest, Danielle Meadows-Stinnett, is generous enough to share a hot mess she found herself in as the CEO of her marketing company. She describes what it felt like when a client said to her teammate, “Do you even speak English?”

For those of us in more privileged positions in our American culture, we need to learn what it’s like sitting in the chair across from us as a person of color, a non-native English speaker, someone without a college degree whose colleagues all have college degrees, etc. etc. Unfortunately we’ve created too many ways to outrank each other. This conversation is a great reminder that we all show up to work looking to make a difference as a fellow human. Not a fellow human with all the labels we put on each other and ourselves.

read more
How Small Tweaks Create Big Change with Nikki Evans

How Small Tweaks Create Big Change with Nikki Evans

Big change is created by small tweaks. One of our faculty members, Nikki Evans, reminds us that change happens in small steps. Our brains are wired for overwhelm when we try to prioritize, do, plan, think through too many steps. Coaching reminds us to use our human superpowers of focus, critical thinking, and taking one step at a time.

Nikki shares her coaching perspective, why you might want to work with her, and what to expect. After listening I hope you’ll find her as amazing as I do and see why she’s a natural fit here at Stefanie Krievins & Co.

read more