Credible and Relevant: Interview with Patrick Colletti, Founder of Net Health
I recently went one on one with Patrick Colletti. Patrick Colletti is the founder and president emeritus of Net Health and the author of Refounder: How Transformational Leaders Make Broken Things Better.
Adam: Thanks again for taking the time to share your advice. First things first, though, I am sure readers would love to learn more about you. How did you get here? What experiences, failures, setbacks or challenges have been most instrumental to your growth?
Patrick: I had a role model as a child that showed me you could create amazing things by starting or leading companies. At a young age, I was hooked.
I took a risk by joining a risky tech start-up early in my career. Within about a year, I was part of a sinking ship and everyone was laid off. I had just been married for 3 months. The board asked two of us if we would stick around for a few months at half pay to see if we could resuscitate it. What happened next was the formative experience of my career, learning how to take something that is broken and make it better. Today, we are referred to as a billion-dollar company with heart. My journey has been humbling, invigorating, and an absolute learning adventure.
Adam: How did you come up with your business idea and know it was worth pursuing? What advice do you have for others on how to come up with and test ideas?
Patrick: The early ideas for net health were dreamt up by people in healthcare. We had the opportunity to refocus the initial ideas based on customer discussions and some boots on the ground experience. Like many organizations, what you started out thinking doesn’t typically become the ultimate product. Talking directly with potential clients- the ones actually experiencing the problem or opportunity- is critical to learning. Listening is hard, but worth it.
Adam: What are the key steps you have taken to grow your business? What advice do you have for others on how to take their businesses to the next level?
Patrick: The first phase of growth through about 50 employees was getting really focused on solving a problem. For us it was understanding that caregivers in healthcare are often disconnected from the patients they love to heal via technology. They also lack critical information in real time. So, it was a process of becoming laser focused on solving that problem and attempting to improve human interaction, while assisting it with advanced technology.
The next phase of growth through about 300 employees included inorganic growth, charting out other areas and markets we knew were underserved and then finding companies we thought made sense to acquire. This is very different growth from that first phase, because you are learning how to incorporate and accommodate cultures, while setting a clear vision of the future.
As we near 1,000 employees it’s a combination of all of these skills. Growing organically is a key requirement and a symbol of health. In parallel, being wise about acquiring companies for technology, great teammates, and scale are important. These are very different intellectual muscles to flex, but all key as an organization scales.
I believe that most organizations need to refound themselves, shorthand for renew, refresh, or in some cases really reboot.
Adam: What do you hope readers take away from your new book?
Patrick: You probably have a refounding experience in your future. You may need one right now. Developing the skill set of refounders in your business is the next level of relevance. It’s very natural for things to grow a bit stale- so it's not just for organizations in crisis. And, I believe we are meant to be refounders in all areas of life, which is why I gave examples in business, education, healthcare, and even an example of a person, Paula Faris, who is willing to share her life.
Adam: In your experience, what are the defining qualities of an effective leader? How can leaders and aspiring leaders take their leadership skills to the next level?
Patrick: Extraordinary persistence coupled with confident humility. We are drawn to people who want to learn, and it takes bravery to be vulnerable enough to ask. Then, boldness to actually run with it.
Adam: What are your three best tips applicable to entrepreneurs, executives and civic leaders?
Patrick:
Get serious about identifying your Problem Zero- the problem that threatens survival and hinders growth
Take your responsibility to improve the places you live, work and play. Don’t just be a consumer or culture, be a culture creator as well
Find time for rest, recovery, and solitude.
Adam: What is your best advice on building, leading and managing teams?
Patrick: Start with a foundation of legitimacy- let people know what their jobs are and what is expected. Keep candid dialogue about the same and allow everyone to have a growth path…if I accomplish this, I can go to the next level.
Based on that foundation, define your greater purpose, why are you doing what you are doing? Who are you fighting for and why? Make that a rallying call.
Once that is in place, create experiences for your team to authentically engage- be vulnerable, and become known. Some of my favorite examples are the in-house TED talks we curate each year by volunteer employees. Being vulnerable at scale teaches more than any handbook can. We found for example that 30% of our employees were musicians. So, we created an open-mic night and had some amazing experiences learning about each other.
Adam: What are your best sales and marketing tips?
Patrick: Develop a culture of Crelevance; the practice of being Credible and Relevant. Credibility is great, but if delivered in a way that isn’t relevant. It won’t resonate. Conversely, if you are relevant and deliver information in a legitimate and translatable way, but lack credibility, you won’t hit.
Once that is in place, focus on creating beautiful things, whether that’s events, products, experiences. It goes without saying since it’s a sales and marketing tip, but I will share regardless, all organizations should be growth oriented, so these efforts, being crelevant and things of beauty are all in the pursuit of growth.
Adam: What is the single best piece of advice you have ever received?
Patrick: You didn’t come this far to come this far…
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.
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