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Lessons of Leadership from a Curmudgeon

Written by: Todd Vande Hei

Article Overview: Cur-mud-geon: a crusty, ill-tempered, and usually old man.

Lessons of Leadership from a Curmudgeon

Cur-mud-geon: a crusty, ill-tempered, and usually old man. Well, my favorite curmudgeon isn't what I'd call "old," but I'd be kidding all of you if I didn't admit to the opinion that he aspires to curmudgeonhood; many would say excels at it. His name is Royce Renfroe (this post wouldn't be as exciting to put "out there" without also disclosing the name of the subject).

I remember when we first met in the late '90's, he was the new President of the company, and I had just started. It was a scary time for me: just moved to California with my new wife, gave up a strong business in Chicago, and found out, shortly thereafter, that the company was now under someone else's control. In control by a big, scary Italian guy with a boisterous voice who speaks in "trucker" and would barely grunt at me when we first met. He's incredibly bright and has a memory aided by a stack of legal pads where he would seemingly be able to do a word search and pinpoint an old commitment made and not delivered by some unfortunate soul. "If I remember correctly you said you would. . . . ;" or "If my memory serves, you promised. . . . (blah, blah, blah, followed by sweaty palms for the receiving party)."

He's a very colorful personality with lots of "isms." In referring to my competing for a promotion, or a conflict with a peer, I remember him asking me, "What the f*** do you think this is, the Good Ship Lollipop? (I have to admit, I've used this one myself)." Or, "Is this a hill you want to die on?" Speaking his mind to his boss, the CEO of the parent company is an understatement. While enjoying an elegant dinner at one of the finest Orange County golf clubs, he told the unfortunate individual that ". . . . I don't give a gosh darn f*** what you think" while arguing the virtues of a new product or how we were planning on bringing it to market; or, "expressing" (I'm using that verb diplomatically) his differences in philosophy.

Enough with the character building. Let's move onto the topic at hand: leadership. There are many definitions I've read, and many opinions on what it means. To simplify it, we'll use the concept of merely pointing a group of people in a single direction toward a common goal. Rudimentary definition; difficult proposition. I've had many opportunities to exercise that skill set over the past nineteen years with varying levels of success. As Royce would put it, the financials are your report card; there was never a time where anything was attempted while he was in control where we didn't measure the results.

With all of his quirks and-to me, early on-his shocking behavior, Royce was a leader continually getting an "A" on his report card. And, that's what we're all here for ("legally and ethically" as he would put it), right? I was fortunate enough to enjoy his mentorship for many years and observe him at his best. Throughout those years, I hung on every word and made careful note of every commitment I made; most importantly, I developed from a sales person, and then moved through the corporation to the general management position he previously held; that development would have been impossible without his guidance. The following is a description of why he had the impact on me that he had-along with many others. These are the reasons we were willing to follow as we "charged the hill," no matter what the outcome. He somehow pulled out the best in those around him.

Integrity is one characteristic of his I most admire. "Everybody's born with it; some give it away." Whatever came out of his mouth he really believed; if he made a commitment, he kept it. Further, he lead the team with incredible consistency. There was never a question about where he stood; never an impact on his decision making by emotions, or a bad mood. As you are all aware, the tone of the organization is always set by the person at the top. His tone was one of focus on results which had a material impact on the company's culture and performance.

A characteristic I haven't often read about in good leadership is a certain degree of drama. Let me define that. While speaking about the company, or the people within the company, his emotions would well with pride; while explaining what made us unique, he would look off into the distance, or down at the table as if concentrating and describe what we were. The drama of his statements made people listen. More importantly, the passion for the organization and for what we stood was clearly meaningful to him and therefore become meaningful to us.

The most impactful qualities, and those that I admire most in him, those that really set him apart, are his courageousness and discipline to not waiver. These are characteristics to which many of us aspire. From that came the ability to be a contrarian. In a small business where you are all fighting to maintain a high degree of differentiation, you must have the courage and discipline to be a contrarian; the courage to be honest with oneself and other stakeholders. And, last and certainly not least, Royce had the desire and patience to teach those who showed interest. He spent countless hours with me teaching me whatever he thought I should know for my development, allowed me to make mistakes, challenged me to put thought and care into my decisions, supported me when I my decisions were bad ones and celebrated when successful. In summary, he and other great leaders inspire you to WANT to grow and become better than you otherwise would.

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Article Tags: colorful personality, cur, curmudgeon, differe, elegant dinner, geon, golf clubs, italian guy, new president, orange county golf, parent company, renfroe, scary time, ship lollipop, sweaty palms, trucker, understatement, unfortunate soul, virtues, word search



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