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Michael: So what you’re saying, Rodger, is that successful founders have to have a clear vision of their companies ……..what the companies will look like and act like when they’re finally done? Rodger: That is exactly right and easy to say…..however , when it comes to that kind of vision, I’ve discovered that there are very few founders who really walk their talk. They use the word, but they don’t put it into action. The breakdown comes when the people in the business, including the leader, become hopelessly immersed in the technical aspects of the business and ignore the business vision. That ’s when problems arise, confusion emerges, the business loses focus and what you call in your books, “the entrepreneurial seizure” occurs. Everybody gets caught up in the trivia of the business, rather than in the strategic outcome of the business. I believe strongly that i t’s the job of the leader to continue to evangelize the business purpose and pathway to the future, and to clearly articulate it every day, day in and day out, to his or her people. If not, the technicians and managers in the company become so immersed in problem solving – or, better put, survival strategies -- that the business loses focus. Michael, you refer to this breakdown as working IN the business as opposed to working ON -- the business, the way an entrepreneur needs to do. In my case, I saw my job as what I ’ve come to call “ The Good Leader ” , to be a coach for my people, working with them and their teams to drive the vision deep into the ranks. To encourage them to take care of the business at hand, while evolving the business systems and products. This is the hard part because otherwise everyone gets caught up in the transactions rather than developing the system to manage the transactions. A Good Leader is constantly challenging his people by driving the vision deeper, and testing and challenging their understanding of the business proposition and values, in s hort, the business’ Vision .
Michael: Then would you say that the first and most important step following developing a vision for the business is to design and produce a framework to work on the business?
Rodger: Yes, absolutely. And the first step for me is creating the business system. Before launching AlphaGraphics in 1970, I spent one full year writing and designing the SOPs, the standard operating procedures. I was raised in Downey California, the home of Taco Bell. A friend of mine provided me with the Taco Bell SOPs with the understanding that I would use them only for a pattern of SOP design for AlphaGraphics. So, long before you published the E- Myth, I worked on designing AlphaGraphics from the top down and bottom up as if I were going to build 1,000 stores ……. just like Taco Bell did, and we ended up building nearly 500.
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