Tweet

Lesson #3: The Essential Lies in the Execution

Article Overview: When Huizenga was asked what he thought was more important in creating a successful company – the idea or the execution – he did not hesitate for a second to respond: “The execution, because there are many great ideas, but you must be able to execute to succeed.”

Lesson #3: The Essential Lies in the Execution

When Huizenga was asked what he thought was more important in creating a successful company – the idea or the execution – he did not hesitate for a second to respond: “The execution, because there are many great ideas, but you must be able to execute to succeed.”

Huizenga started off with a good idea, but what made it a great idea time and time again was how he implemented it, how he got it off the ground and running. “It’s like being the quarterback on the team or the head coach,” he says. “You pick your players, develop the game plan and together, you must execute.”

That, according to Huizenga, was the best part about being the boss. It was not the fact that he could tell others what to do. It was not the fact that he made the most money. For Huizenga, being a good boss meant working together with his staff – his team – to take his ideas from paper to practice. No one person was more important in that process than the other. What mattered was how they worked together. That was both the most enjoyable part of the process for Huizenga, and the most important for the success of his company.

That process began by finding a niche. Huizenga searched for what interested him and, when he found it, he did his homework. He looked for opportunities big and small, local and global, and set out to make them happen. And, he did not stop until it was done, until he had accomplished all he wanted to before moving on.

To that end, Huizenga became known for his fondness for using the word “we” around the office as much as possible. He understood that it was only with the support of others that success could be achieved.

So, too, did Huizenga want to develop a friendly and personal relationship with all of his clients and business partners. “I don't want to be just a voice on the phone,” he says. “I have to get to know these guys face-to-face and develop a sincere relationship. That way, if we run into problems in a deal, it doesn't get adversarial. We trust each other and have the confidence we can work things out.”

Huizenga was also known for using the word “next”. As determined and ambitious as he was, he was never so arrogant as to think he could not fail. Huizenga’s strength was precisely in knowing where his strengths lied. Where he was not seeing the success he wanted, and where he did not see a chance of that success, he was not afraid to drop the project and move on – on to the next one.
“Our philosophy has been to be fiscally conservative, so we can be operationally aggressive,” he says. “We're not using borrowed money to grow. So we'll put up a store just to get there before the competition. If it doesn't work, we'll close it and lose a little equity. It won't kill us.”

It was both his ability to lead a strong team, his knack for picking the right businesses for his skills, and his willingness to do whatever it took, that allowed Huizenga to become an entrepreneurial legend. It was why Huizenga was willing to venture out of the boardroom and onto the street, driving garbage trucks when the need arose. It was how his company of only 40 trucks acquired more than 150 local garbage companies and become the largest waste disposal company in the U.S.

Huizenga made a point of focusing on the process and the means rather than the end result. And, it paid off.

Related Articles
  Execution - The Power of Getting Things Done.
  12 Steps to Implementing Anything in Your Business: Overview
  Live a Life of Discovery
  False Dichotomy! (If Anything, Backwards!)
  If You're So Good, Stop Thinking So Damn Much

Article Tags: being a good boss, business partners, execution, fondness, game plan, head coach, homework, huizenga, money, niche, one person, personal relationship, successful company, using the word



Related Forum Posts
Different Hats - CEO Sales & Marketing & Leadership Development Company Strategic Vision 10 Alliances & Growth Strategies 10 Hiring & Managing People 8 Mentoring 8-9 Strategic Planning for Clients 10 Execution of Marketing Campaigns 9-10 (i have great people who do the nitty gritty) Financial Management 9 Bookkeeping 3 (outsourced as I really hate the fine details like GST0 Administrative Follow Up 6-7 (again have great staff) Writing & Publishing 9 (getting better all the time!) Speaking 10 (so I have been told) Self Promotion 9-10 Web development & Promotion 6-7 (learning more and have brought on players who are 10+) Babysitting Employees (1 - wont do it, that's why I work so hard to hire and motivate the people I have) Great topic Kevin!! Jude
Dan Kennedy Marketing Methods - We haven't sent out the physical letter yet as the person owning the list wanted to make modifications to the letter that we knew would work well but the List owner had a point - it didn't reflect her personality so her clients would know it didn't come from her. Lesson learned for me. We're back to the drawing board with the list owner more involved in the development of the letter and emails. I should have known better being a Business Analyst in my day job that you never leave the end-user out. So Evan we haven't had the opportunity to test any of it yet but it's been a fun process for me to stand back and look at.
9 Lies that are holding you back - I've picked up this book to assist me with my conversations when coaching business clients and I've found it to be quite enlightening as distinctions are made. The book is titled "9 Lies That are Holding Your Business Back..." by Steve Chandler and Sam Beckford (aka Small Business Millionaire). I'll use this post in two ways: 1. To highlight A Lie 2. To help me internalize the concepts by writing about it in my own terms/understanding so that I can use it in future conversations (yes, I'm feeling a lil selfish and want to take you guys along with the journey) first post to arrive shortly on the First chapter: Lie#1: I Just Need to Know [i:23sag391]How[/i:23sag391] to Do This"
Business plans are a waste of time - I really like what Shri said in a previous post about how the usefulness of a business plan depends on the individual. However, after reading some of Martin Lindstrom's "Buyology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy"... I'm beginning to think that all business plans and traditional market research (i.e. using focus groups, surveys, etc.) are a total waste of time. No joke, I'm serious. Lindstrom says "That's because, just like market research, economic modeling is based on the premise that people behave in a predictably rational way", but "Most of the brain is dominated by automatic processes, rather than deliberate thinking. A lot of what happens in the brain is emotional, not cognitive." ("Buyology" pg 28). Basically, consumers will tell you one thing, and do simply do another with their unconscious minds.
Re: My Favourite 7 Boldest Entrepreneur Moves of All Time - Hi Evan, I have a new suggestion for "Boldest Entrepreneur Moves of All Time" and a suggestion for your Learning from the Masters series: 1. Boldest Entrepreneur Moves of All Time = Christopher Columbus: "... he saw the possibility of treasure and commerce where others saw only danger. He committed so wholeheartedly to that vision that not even dozens of rejections and ongoing penury could dissuade him from pursuing a journey to Asia via the West. He built on his technical strengths as a seaman to plan a viable journey and eventually marshal an expedition." - Christopher Hoenig, 6 Essential Secrets for Thinking on a New Level I bought Hoenig's book about 10 years ago but couldn't make head or tail of it then... reading it now and finding it inspirational... 2. Nomination for Learning from the Masters video: Dee Hock, founder of VISA. (Source = Hoenig.)


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

20 MORE Must-Have Search Engine Marketing Tools

10 Golden rules to survive the Global Crisis

Too Many Sales Reps Are Wimps

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.