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P R O F I L E
Conference call: Lorraine Green President of Pond & Company, Inc. (Best Firm Multi-discipline #19 for 2018), a 550-person firm based in Atlanta with 25 offices in the U.S., Canada, Japan, and Spain.
By LIISA ANDREASSEN Correspondent
“O ne of the most difficult things a leader has to do is separate themselves from personal feelings and do what’s right for the firm,” Green says. “I have indeed had to let go of dear friends who were just no longer in the right seat on the bus.” A CONVERSATION WITH LORRAINE GREEN. The Zweig Letter: How many years of experience – or large enough book of business – is enough to become a principal in your firm? Are you naming principals in their 20s or 30s? Lorraine Green: At Pond, principals are selected to partici- pate regardless of their age – we have new principals joining us in their late 20s as well as their late 50s. Pond’s princi- pal selection is based primarily on a selectee’s adherence to the guiding principles of our firm, which include teamwork, treating company dollars like your own, integrity, and vi- sion. It’s not just about dollars – or age – it’s about the cul- ture and vision. TZL: Engineers love being engineers, but what are you doing to instill a business culture in your firm?
LG: Yes, this is a business, isn’t it? They don’t teach much of this in engineering schools, so we do have to start with the basics. We involve engineers at every level with reve- nue and profit goals as well as client interaction training. All engineers are given a budget for their particular task on a project, and are expected to track their performance on that budget. As they develop, their responsibilities transi- tion from their own performance to that of the team. Just as importantly, we try to teach soft skills to our engineers to enable them to interact positively with our clients – these include training on professional email writing, and an inter- nal Toastmasters type group. TZL: Do you tie compensation to performance for your top leaders? LG: Absolutely! Most of our senior staff are principals and associates, so a significant portion of their compensation is directly related to performance. TZL: Do you share base salary or bonus amounts with your entire staff?
THE ZWEIG LETTER Dece
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