I largely attribute Capital’s success to our culture of empowerment with responsibility. We have a unique business model that other companies struggle with: Everything is de-centralized and individual branches function as autonomous business units while the corporate office serves as a support center. A lot of companies want to centralize things so they have all the control. Or, they might claim to give you autonomy but then promptly tie your hands with red tape. That isn’t the case here at Capital. We hire our people for a reason and then we allow them the freedom to execute. Our leaders delegate and provide guidance, but in the end, it’s the employees who do the heavy lifting. Everyone here is passionate about what they do and my passion is for coaching and developing others.
Throughout my career, my clients and co-workers have called me a “coaching leader.” I enjoy being a mentor to people within my department and the company. It isn’t always easy and sometimes it’s tempting to revert back to, “I’ll just do it myself because I know how to do it in my way that’s comfortable.” However, when you instill responsibility in others, it’s rewarding to see people rise to the challenge and bring their own creativity to the table. I’m a true believer that any result my team generates is a reflection on me. So as things come up – right, wrong, or indifferent – I’m going to take it as, “That’s on me,” and then we’re going to talk about it as a team. I always want to be inclusive in my style. I love to have the voice of everybody and believe that more opinions are better in order to achieve a balanced and effective solution.
Our Human Resources department is a relatively small team that has accomplished a lot. When I first joined Capital, we weren’t viewed as a partner; in fact, we were actually avoided because people didn’t want to hear what we had to say. They assumed that all we would have to offer is a single black-and-white option, but instead we surprised them by saying something different. By listening to what they had to say and taking a consultative approach, we offered several different solutions and empowered them to make the right decision themselves. That’s when things started to shift. Now I’m proud to say that we are a respected business partner that delivers value-added, customized human resource solutions that help produce and sustain a competitive business advantage.