Today Not Tomorrow: Interview with Jeff Beck, President and CEO of Leaf Home
I recently went one on one with Jeff Beck, President and CEO of Leaf Home.
Adam: In your experience, what are the key steps to growing and scaling your business?
Jeff: The one step that companies need to take (which, granted, has many steps of its own) is bringing as many tasks in-house as possible. Creating custom software allows it to cater directly to your business’ needs and grows as your needs evolve. Unfortunately, software as a service (SaaS) programs are usually one-size-fits-all and keep your businesses’ potential confined to its capabilities. Relying on another company’s technology to serve your needs runs the risk of stunting your growth.
Adam: What do you believe are the defining qualities of an effective leader?
Jeff: Trust is the foundation of all organizations. When you care about people and connect with them on an honest level, you establish credibility. When times get tough, you want to be able to lean back on the trust you’ve established, not try to build it reactively. Building trust from the ground up is the most genuine way to develop relationships. It shows that you’re a leader that not only trusts your employees, but a leader that your employees can trust, too.
Adam: How can leaders and aspiring leaders take their leadership skills to the next level?
Jeff: Be open to feedback and listen to the people whom your ideas directly impact. Strong leaders recognize that we don’t always have all the answers. New and existing leaders should rely on the people we hired for feedback: They’re the core of our businesses and can offer unique insights and different perspectives than our own.
Adam: What are your three best tips applicable to entrepreneurs, executives and civic leaders?
Jeff:
Aspire to finish your checklist every day: It’s easy to procrastinate, but good business people don’t take the easy way out. Work to complete every task on your to-do list instead of leaving it for the next day; this way, you start each day with a clean slate and have a clear mind to tackle tasks that arise throughout the day.
Embrace agility: When you allow yourself to move quickly, you can learn, improve, and succeed at a faster rate. Leaders who insist on following a regimented schedule, regardless of the outcome – and don’t embrace opportunities that come unexpectedly – miss out on learning from real-time trends and opportunities. This leaves them behind as other companies hop on board with trends and evolve because of it.
Rely on data: Many leaders are intimidated by data or don’t know where to start once they collect it. But data should be your best friend. Diving into data is the best way to uncover what is – or isn’t – working, inspire quick pivots, and understand which practices are worth investing in.
Adam: What is your best advice on building, leading and managing teams?
Jeff: Put everything into developing a close-knit and driven culture. At Leaf Home, our culture is based on a “today, not tomorrow” mentality, which is so ingrained in who we are that our team wears rubber bracelets with the quote on it. It’s more than just a saying or a bracelet; it’s the backbone of our culture. Because of that motto, our team supports each other every day to maximize our success through collaboration. We don’t put anything off for tomorrow that can be done today, which allows us to handle whatever the next day throws at us. We’re not worrying about playing catch-up or skimping on the quality of our work because of a time crunch.
Since you spend equal time at work as you do at home with your family, knowing your coworkers have your back helps morale and makes work more of a community and less of a job. Culture is the most important part of managing your team. Once you develop a level of trust and comradery across the board, your team will manage itself like a well-oiled machine.
Adam: What are your best tips on the topics of sales, marketing and branding?
Jeff: Bring as many parts of your business in-house as possible. This will allow you to act faster on trends based on real-time data and findings. Instead of waiting days for external systems to tell you an ad isn’t performing well, you can pivot the ad immediately once you see reporting and send out a freshly strategized ad the next day, saving you valuable money and time. Having that kind of data at your fingertips also allows you to close more leads.
Adam: What is the single best piece of advice you have ever received?
Jeff: Own your mistakes. The quicker you do so, the quicker you can learn from what happened and pivot to find a solution. While it isn’t always easy, owning your mistakes eliminates the time you waste pointing fingers, and instead, you can spend it correcting the situation.
When I first started at Leaf, I was a one-person team and accidentally deleted all our data. Instead of dwelling on the mistake, I quickly worked to resolve the issue and minimize panic. It later inspired me to create our existing software system. Mistakes aren’t always bad; sometimes, they lead to new ideas and solutions!
Adam: Is there anything else you would like to share?
Jeff: Good leaders constantly monitor business and leadership trends to make sure their practices are competitive. On social, I like to post about news and trends from respected publications and other leaders in the space to continue sharing knowledge and build new connections. Follow me on LinkedIn (Jeff Beck) and Twitter (JeffBeckLHS) to see these valuable resources and take your leadership skills to the next level.
Adam Mendler is the CEO of The Veloz Group, where he co-founded and oversees ventures across a wide variety of industries. Adam is also the creator and host of the business and leadership podcast Thirty Minute Mentors, where he goes one on one with America's most successful people - Fortune 500 CEOs, founders of household name companies, Hall of Fame and Olympic gold medal winning athletes, political and military leaders - for intimate half-hour conversations each week. Adam has written extensively on leadership, management, entrepreneurship, marketing and sales, having authored over 70 articles published in major media outlets including Forbes, Inc. and HuffPost, and has conducted more than 500 one on one interviews with America’s top leaders through his collective media projects. A top leadership speaker, Adam draws upon his insights building and leading businesses and interviewing hundreds of America's top leaders as a top keynote speaker to businesses, universities and non-profit organizations.
Follow Adam on Instagram and Twitter at @adammendler and listen and subscribe to Thirty Minute Mentors on your favorite podcasting app.