Latest / It's Time for Success: The Business Insights Podcast / From Tough Calls to a Thriving Business: Leadership That Lasts with Luke Williamson
Transcript
- Sharon 00:16 Thank you everyone for joining us again today on the It's Time for Success Podcast. Today, I'm with Luke Williamson, who founded Accurate Network Systems after he lost his IT director position at a growing insurance company. Luke's company vision has evolved from simply generating income to becoming a vehicle for improving lives and supporting the growth and success of employees, which I really love—employees—and clients. More than simply IT support Luke believes in radical collaboration and authenticity. Luke's leadership has become recognized with the Leaders in Edmonton award and two Alberta Philanthropy Awards. In all Luke's spare time, he could be found running in Edmonton’s River Valley, training in his next long distance endurance run—good for you. Accurate networks now has over 50 staff with offices in Edmonton and Calgary, and continues to grow its service model. Today, we'll be diving into leadership and decision-making, business endurance and longevity, and some practical tips based on experience. This podcast is simply created to help other entrepreneurs or people dreaming about taking the leap into this world. So Luke, thank you for joining us today. I am personally excited to learn from you. So I did do a brief introduction there, Luke, is there anything you'd like to add to your story before we jump into these questions? Luke 01:30 I would say just yeah, we can dive right in, Sharon, and I appreciate you having me. And I think this platform that you've created is awesome. So keep up the good work. Thank you. Sharon 01:40 Thank you, Luke. Yeah, I'm very passionate about businesses as you, as you can tell. Okay, let's talk about leadership and decision making. What does good leadership mean to you, Luke? Luke 01:50 Yeah, thank you for asking that. So I was lucky enough to attend a Leadership Academy a number of years ago. That really changed my perspective on leadership. You can define it, I think, in three points. First of all is clarity of vision. So are you actually clear on what you're trying to do and the goalposts that you're moving towards? Can you articulate that so people know what your vision is for the future? The second piece is certainty of intention. So that's really the discipline muscle to make sure that when you're clear on that vision and you've worked backwards the steps that are required to make that happen, you're waking up even on the days you don't want to, and you're executing towards those things. The last piece would be around values, which is kind of your sift and sort filtration system, to say yes and no to things based on what your priorities are. And that could mean the type of people that you're hanging out with, you know, the activities that fill your day, really, you know, being driven by values and priorities, and really, take back control of your calendar and your time. This can apply personally. So that's kind of the second piece of leadership is this idea of personal leadership, where before you should be leading a company or a group of people, you really need to be able to lead your own life with those same principles. You know, I found myself a number of years ago, projecting a public success, but I was a private failure, and my life was not aligned with my priorities. My days were not filled with activities that, you know, were appropriate for me at that time. And so I really had to hit the reset button and reorient myself, personally and professionally around those three things. Sharon 03:32 So first off, the vision. And I think sometimes when you jump into business, in fact, I think I've been doing this 18 years as well, Luke. So thank you. Yes. So anyways, sometimes, as entrepreneurs, I can, I can attest to this, and I'm think I'm still doing it a little bit, is, you get so busy and work, you forget these other things that you just mentioned about. So can we just put those in point forms so people can write it down real quick? So we had vision. Clear vision. Discipline, I think, was one. Luke 04:00 Right. Certainty of intention, but that's really the discipline piece, and I would say recognizing the power of values, which ultimately is what is most important to you. And if you were to do an audit of your relationships and your time, does that line up with the things that you have stated are your priorities? Sharon 04:22 Yes, and I think that evolves with time, especially that, like I always say, I have to—maybe it's an age thing too, because I'm getting older—but my circle seems to be getting smaller. And I protect my… I protect my time, and I make sure it's to my values 100% . Luke 04:37 Incredible leadership principle. Shron 04:39 Perfect. Thank you for elaborating a bit more on that. It's awesome. How do you make tough decisions? This is a hard one, tough decisions. When you're running a business, there's always tough decisions to make. How do you implement? Luke 04:49 Yeah, so you make them to the best of your ability, and I think that starts with getting informed. So do you have the data, the right data, that you can rely on to make that decision. Have you talked to key stakeholders? Have you talked to your team? You know, have you zoomed in enough on the problem that you're trying to solve so that you are making that decision with the best information? And then, you know, we tend to get kind of wrapped up in the emotional aspect of these decisions. You really need to zoom out. You know, as your organization gets bigger, you know, not making decisions around one individual or maybe your own personal feelings, but what is the best possible solution for the collect… for the larger collective, right? Which is very difficult to do. I mean, you have maybe beloved teammates that may be affected by a business decision that you need to make, but you know, you also need to raise the tide for everybody else in your organization. And so it's always weighing, you know, what is, what is best for the number of people. Sharon 05:53 So you weigh in what's even like, best for the company, basically, and the other people in your in your things, that's, those are the options. So what's, what's leverage in there? Okay, all right, those are because. And again, I don't know if it's a female trait, but it's like, I don't know, I embrace everybody, and I want everybody to do good. So it's really hard. Actually, we just incorporated EOS in our system. Sharon 06:15 Oh, brilliant. Sharon 06:19 Yeah, it's good, and it just helps me focus on that kind of stuff, like I have, there's discipline things that I have to take because there's techniques implemented that I have to follow, awesome. So it helps me relieve my mind, relieve some of that emotional stuff, and I see the numbers in front of me. So it's a pretty good platform. So I think that for me, that helped a little bit. Absolutely. So decision making, one that you made that really shaped your company over 18 years. Luke 06:46 There's a little I would say, you know, probably the decision to bring on my business partner early on. So, you know, you mentioned EOS and so for your listeners, if they're not aware there's a book that you should be reading called Traction, by a guy named Wickman. In that book, they talk about, you know, the dynamic between a visionary and an integrator. The visionary, oftentimes founder is, you know, long term vision for the organization, finger on the pulse of culture. A lot of ideas, some of them are very, very bad ideas, but a few of them are really, really good that move the organization forward. You may be hearing yourself in that description, if you're listening. On the other side, there's the integrator, which is more narrowly focused on operation, structure, process, crossing T's, dotting I's. I very early, you know, had the awareness, I guess, to know that I am that visionary and I needed that integrator counterpart if we were going to actually scale and grow this organization in a responsible way. So, yeah, so finding the right business partner, of which, honestly, I believe I have the world's greatest business partner in terms of our working dynamic, of that visionary integrator, and that's really been the catalyst that's allowed us to grow and scale, despite all of my horrible ideas. You know, working with a couple good ones to actually operationalize them, to move them forward, that’s significant. Sharon 08:13 Absolutely. Do you guys use EOS, or you just follow the book? Luke 08:18 Yeah, we're maybe like 90% EOS. So we've augmented a few of the tools for our own purposes. But, yeah. Sharon 08:27 All right. One thing you talked about in the introduction and… is radical collaboration. Can you simplify this for our listeners and explain what it means in real life? Luke 08:38 Yeah, I would say, you know, if we're talking in the work context, tend to have, like, different personas. So we have Luke at home and then Luke at the office. People have these personas that they come with. I think the more we can do to kind of knock down those walls and just be honest and vulnerable, leave ego at the door, you know, the better we're going to be when we're collaborating with one another. So yeah, honesty and vulnerability. I would also say, you know, we tend to get stuck in this trap when there's an issue, it becomes a very me versus you, when really it should be us versus a problem. So that reframing again to kind of like let go of some of the ego and things when we're working together would be significant. I also heard the saying, which I'm probably going to mess up, but the general idea is a measure of intelligence is, can you hold two opposing ideas in your head at the same time and rationalize them without just falling apart? And so collaboration and to use, you know, my business partner as an example, we are so different. Marry an integrator, right? And you know, there are oftentimes two very opposing or very different views on something that we're collaborating on, and are we able to hold these ideas and actually rationalize and think about them without just, you know, kind of crumbling and falling apart, and just defending our position ruthlessly? So being open to other opinions and ideas and actually thoughtfully processing them and thinking about them in the context of the problem. Sharon 10:13 Right. Okay, so that's… thank you for that. That was the mouthful of radical collaboration. So that's great. Thank you. You've been in business we just talked about for 18 years. How did you manage to last so long in a competitive industry? Because this is a …it's a very competitive industry. Luke 10:28 Yeah, and I think I can't think of an industry that isn't competitive, so your listeners, can certainly relate. I mean, in its most simple form, I think it's doing what we say we're going to do consistently and even when it is inconvenient to do so. So simple as that is. It's that that discipline piece where we're going to all wake up as a team or as individuals and we are going to execute on the plan, the things that we say we're going to do for our customers and for each other, and that, you know, discipline and consistency is really what lends itself to longevity. Sharon 11:06 I also, you. I picked up twice now, you talk about your team just as important as your clients, Luke 11:09 Absolutely, yeah? Sharon 11:11 Like, that's, that's huge, and I think it's important. As an entrepreneur, you’ve got to recognize that, like, you can't do it without your team, and they have to have the same passion, right? Luke 11:22 Yeah, and partners, so, you know, it's the three legged stool, right? You need your team, you need your clients. And there's not many businesses where you don't have supply chain or some sort of partner network for us, like Microsoft and, you know, some of the vendors that we work with that are certainly partners of ours, make this whole thing work. Sharon 11:43 That's right, yeah, my suppliers are so important. I love having them on, yeah, you know, I would say speed dial, but that's not the word anymore on my contacts, on my iPhone. I'm dating myself. Okay, so you have to… 18 years. You had to have gone through some horrible times. So can you think back to some hard times you went through and what got you through it? Luke 12:04 Yeah, I mean, there's… there are always challenges. You know, maybe one of the more defining moments would be, actually, shortly after we—I—read this book, Traction, that we're referring to, again, for your listeners, it's basically a distillation of many, many business ideas and concepts into a very simple package of tools and things that you can use in your business. And you know, one of the principles there, Gino the author, talks about letting go of the vine as the owner, where you delegate and you build a leadership team so that you can kind of rise to your unique ability. And as a founder, that's more of visionary strategy, values, things like that. So I was very excited when I read all of this, and I hastily started building a leadership team and hiring folks that I thought were the right people in the right seat. And the reality is, is our production base, our revenue was insufficient for the burden of all this leadership team, and we were on a bit of a financial collision course with all of this overhead, with, you know, great people in leadership seats, but really not enough money to pay for it in a reliable, consistent way. And so that was part of it. There was also kind of an oil and water culture mismatch. So we brought in a leadership team when we were very small and nimble. And the bureaucracy and, you know, instant, kind of overnight processing of things was a lot of change really, really quick. It was… it felt very top down. It felt very different and foreign for our team and our culture. And the combination of all these problems led to me essentially having to let go of this entire leadership team that I had built about six months ago. So from a financial standpoint, we were kind of going over the figurative cliff. I could see the money just dissipating from our account, and, you know, wondering how long we could go to make payroll. I saw the, you know, just upset team and just the feeling of our culture change. And so, so we had to do this psychologically, you know, I had to step back into four different roles. So it was that feeling of taking, you know, five steps forward. We have a director of sales, we have an operations person. We have, you know, these people doing all these things that I didn't love to do, but did them anyways. And so, you know, when they all left, you know, I had put all of those hats back on. And it was a feeling of failure, of shame that we couldn't afford these people, and just from a personal quality of life standpoint, the feeling of receding back. And, you know, I'm doing sales again. I'm running the operations meeting. I'm back to where I was with less money than when I started in our account. So, yeah, so there's a lot of learning there, you know, around, you know, theory versus reality. Yeah. Sharon 15:16 Yeah, that's very humbling, isn't it? Luke 15:19 Absolutely, yeah Sharon 15:21 But it makes you put your hat on a little tighter, I think. Luke 15:22 Absolutely, and, you know, one step after the other. And this idea that these really challenging times, you know, obviously create so much value in terms of learning. Even though it was hard, I wouldn't, I wouldn't take back the way that we manage things, because I took so much out of it. Sharon 15:40 So much out of it. Yes, been there, done that, yep. And the same thing. You learn from it for sure. So as long as you’ve got that mindset right, you know, and determination, you’ve got to have that for sure. Okay. So to our listeners, you are going to go through that. What's the best business.. One that note, what's the best business advice you can give somebody that's just starting up? Luke 16:03 Hmmm… best business advice. Well, I mean, I would certainly be prepared again for that shift, like you may be getting into business right now because you love the thing that you're going to be doing, right? So if you're starting a bakery, you might be, you know, a wonderful baker. If you're like me, you are into IT, you love technology. You know looking at the road further down and understanding that entrepreneurial myth that might be luring you in, your role is going to change. And a lot of that isn't necessarily academic, it is, you know, imposter syndrome, when you look around and you're not the person baking muffins anymore, you're leading a team. You're running a business, looking at a P&L statement. So, you know, when you get into it, really thinking beyond maybe the craft or the or the technical thing that that gets you in, you know, aside from that, just spending time really thinking about the vision of where you're going. Sharon 17:03 Right? Go back to those three things. Luke 17:05 Well, if you don't know where you're going, all roads lead there. And, you know, it becomes a kind of a resourcing issue. What do you spend money on? What do you spend time on if you don't know what the objective is or where you're going? So it doesn't need to be a 20-page business plan or novel describing where you're going, but at the very least it should be maybe a bullet list describing over maybe a two to three year period. Like a three year picture for those on the EOS Traction train, with maybe 12 bullet points that describe, Are you in a physical location in a couple of years? How many employees do you envision having? What type of customers are you actually going to be working with? What products are you going to be offering? What's a realistic revenue target that you need in order to support that? You know, I think a lot of people romanticize a very abstract idea of what this thing is, but they don't put in the time and reps to really flesh that out and get clear on what that vision is, which creates a series of missteps and poor allocation of resources on their journey. So really spend time on vision. Sharon 18:14 Very good. Yes. What habits… Because, as a leader, we have to show up. We have to show up. We have to have big game on every day. And I don't know if you know this, but I'm actually introverted, and after the end of the day, I'm actually tired. Luke 18:30 I can relate. Sharon 18:32 Are you? Yeah, so because you're game-on all day, you're networking, you're the face, you're bringing other people up, you're trying, you know, you're doing all this stuff as a leadership but so we need to be grounded. What's one way that you keep grounded as a leader? Luke 18:43 Well, I mean, this is pretty obvious information, probably, but you know, I think the biggest needle mover you could possibly make is to protect sleep. Which is maybe somewhat contrary, because I think this is changing now, but certainly when I got into business, it was, you know, oh, you know, you go to bed at 1am and you wake up at 4am. You know, you hear these people saying that “sleep is for the weak,” and, you know, outwork your competitors, all this kind of stuff like, I mean, that that flies in the face of, like, basic biology and how the human body works. So I think, you know, I'm most productive in the morning. I really value and protect sleep. I have a whole procedure, you know, to make sure that you know I'm going to bed the same time, waking up the same time. You know, you owe it to your team. You're here leading an organization, and how do you show up your best? I mean, it just starts with, you know, getting proper rest and not being sick. I mean, if you're sick at home, because you run yourself down, you're really not any value to anybody. You're just languishing. So. Sharon 19:54 I think it's true. I think you’ve got to take care of yourself and it starts with sleep for sure, like you got to take care of yourself first, and it's hard. Hard because you're always looking after somebody else with family. It's got, it goes on and on, right? So, yeah, look after yourself first. Okay, experienced entrepreneurs, somebody like myself who's been in business for 18 years, or somebody who wants to go for 18 years or so, if they want to get to this level, what do you suggest to them? Luke 20:18 Well, your work needs to have purpose, and that purpose can't be just growing for the sake of growth, putting money on a pile, just for the sake of accumulating more money. I think there needs to be more meat on the bone. And you know, it's kind of like that hierarchy of needs, right? Once you have food and shelter taken care of, things that you think about and care about change. And I think meaning and purpose are the ultimate motivator. When you have a check in that box and you have reasonable financial stability, you know, you have an office, you're established, you have some momentum, you know, what's that thing that keeps you engaged? For me personally, it's really this idea of our company being a vehicle to improve the lives of the people that work here. And, you know, I mean, I was looking at an email just moments ago where we had a very new staff member that started in kind of an entry-level on-site role, and they're moving up now into a projects role, right? So, what is the impact, right? I mean, this person is going to be making more money. They're going to be exposed to new tools. You know, that, like, that's the beautiful thing about entrepreneurship and small business, I guess, business of all size, but it is that opportunity-creating vessel for people that want to take advantage of it to really move forward. So that's, you know, the inspiration for growth. And you know, when I come in and we think about exciting client opportunities, the motivation isn't, you know, “Boy, am I going to be able to take, you know, slightly, a slightly larger dividend?” It's right that this customer means we're going to have to hire two people, which means two people can move up. Sharon 21:58 That's huge. What a great insight. I always say that a business builds a community, and community builds a business. So if your team's doing good, it also contributes back into the community, because they're able to do more, they're able to give back a bit more, too. So, and even, I like your comment about the purpose and the meaning. I feel that, because there's a big thing about mental health right now, and I feel that if they're feeling… have a purpose at work, it helps them mentally. And I feel that this would help a little bit in that issue that we're having along the globe. Okay. We're gonna end this with some fire. I always end it with some fire quick questions, are you ready? Okay, what book or podcast has inspired you the most? Luke 22:41 Yeah, this is a hard one, I would say probably a book called The Big Leap by a fellow named Gay Hendrix. Sharon 22:47 I don't know that one, and I'm an avid reader. Luke 22:50 It is an absolute game-changer. And luckily, it's a very short book. I think it's less than 200 pages, and it reshaped, I guess, my own definitions of what's possible and success for myself. Sharon 23:04 Okay, Big Leap. And who was the author again? Luke 23:04 Gay Hendricks. Sharon 23:05 Oh, I think we already touched on this one. I had early bird or night owl? But you already said you're an early bird. Yeah, that's funny, because I'm an early bird and my husband's a night owl. Luke 23:06 Okay. Hopefully that'll work. Sharon 23:19 We share the same bed for about two hours. Yeah, it's… Yeah. It's just different personalities, for sure, but my brain's on fire in the morning, like all the times. Yeah. Okay. If you could describe your leadership style in one word, you only got one word, what would it be? Luke 23:35 Empathy. Sharon 23:37 Ooh, empathy. Can you elaborate now on that, now that you did one word, elaborate a little bit on that one? Luke 23:43 Sure. So, you know, putting yourself in other people's shoes, right? This idea that, Oh boy, if I was so and so, I would do it this way. No, if you were so and so, you would have grown up in that household, and, you know, been that person, and you would make the decision like that person would make. So, you know, again, being able to reconcile two opposing views, opposing ideas, perhaps, you know, without just having a mental meltdown, I think, is extremely important, and making decisions, of course, with data, but also, you know, with an understanding of the feelings behind that and the impact it might have on on, folks. I think it's very important. Sharon 24:23 Empathy. I like that. Sometimes your way is not always the right way, and as a leader like you have to be able to adjust that. You really have to analyze other people's opinions as well. Okay, what's the best advice you've ever been given? Luke 24:37 Oh, I've been given so much good advice. I don't know. I love this little interview that a reporter did with President Obama, and they asked him, boy, you know, how do you go to sleep at night knowing that you know the words out of your mouth change markets and could start wars or end wars, and just, you know, the pressure and stress of your job? And Obama kind of leans back and he goes, Well, you know, maybe it's the Hawaiian in me, but I never let myself get too high or too low, knowing that the headlines today fade. And then he listed a whole bunch of things there was, you know, like the Ebola outbreak and all of these things that were just captivating at the time. In hindsight, their response was the right response, and the headlines fade. So really getting some perspective, I think, on the worst thing in the world that may be happening, or the best thing in the world over a long enough timeline, a lot of these things you don't even remember. And you know, how do you kind of be that steady person at home, or whatever context, knowing that these headlines today, may… Sharon 25:42 They're gonna fade. Awesome. That's… I'm gonna track that down and find that for sure. So people out there, how can they find you. Luke? Luke 25:51 Yeah, so I'm on LinkedIn, like everybody. So just Luke Williamson, and then, if absolutely nothing business-related, but you can find me on Instagram, Luke running biz (B, I, Z) and really, it's just a whole bunch of long-distance running content which isn't really relevant to anything. Sharon 26:11 Do you do? This is off topic, of course, but do you do speeches? Like, what do you call that? Like? Do you actually speak to public besides podcasts? Luke 26:21 Yeah, I haven't really leaned into that too much. I mean, I'm a part of an entrepreneur group called EO, or the Entrepreneurs Organization, so I've done some speaking, kind of within the context of that. Also involved in a couple other organizations. Junior Achievement is one of them where there's been some speaking involved, but yes, it hasn't been something that I've leaned into. Sharon 26:47 Well, you're a very good speaker. That's why I was asking, because you're very good with your words and you're very quick. So I thought, maybe, no, you're very good at it. Okay, well, I want to thank you for joining us today, Luke. Is there anything you'd like to elaborate before we sign off? I know, I know you have some other topics that you're really passionate about as well. So I would like to have you back if we can on some other topics. Luke 27:06 Absolutely. Yeah, yeah. No. I mean, you know, if you haven't picked up, you know, one of the passions is really around this long-distance endurance running. So, you know, 100, hundreds of kilometers, 100 miles through the mountains, things like that. So we decided to actually create a non-profit called Climbing for Change, which… it's entirely, all proceeds go towards local charities. The idea is, as you pick your mountain. So the biggest mountain we have is Mount Everest, of course, 29,029 feet. And you can sign up solo or a team, and you go up and down a ski hill, so Rabbit Hill here in Edmonton, until you accrue the total elevation of your mountain, and you raise money for charity in the process. So last year, we had just under 100 people come out, raised about $50,000 for local charities. This year, we've really operationalized the whole event. We're going to have about 200 people, and our target is to raise over $100,000 for charity. And we have some phenomenal sponsorship behind us, RBC, some local businesses, Canadian Brewhouse, really supporting and making this a, truly a world-class event. So if anybody is interested in that climbingforchange.ca. Sharon 28:24 Wait, climbing for change.ca. Okay, our editors will put a link down at the bottom. Luke 28:29 Yeah, that's taking place September 27th and it runs 24 hours straight. Sharon 28:34 So somebody, if they wanted to put in… is it a team? You put in a team? Is that solo? Luke 28:38 Or you can form a team up to six. It works as a relay, so one person on the hill at a time, and then they pass their timing trip to the next person that they can go up. Sharon 28:47 Gotcha. Okay, all right. Well, thank you for that. That's very exciting. Okay, well, I'm sure you inspired our listeners, encouraged, maybe, and helped a couple of our listeners come in whether they're going to make a leap or in it right now. So thank you for joining us. For those listening right now, maybe I ask that you subscribe and like our channel, maybe share it, because there are people that could use some wise words, like Luke, just starting up, or maybe in a rough spot right now. So if you feel like you can help somebody, please share us and remember to listen to us on It's Time for Success: The Business Insight Podcast. Thank you, Luke, for joining us today. Luke 29:21 Thanks so much. Sharon, appreciate it.