“Consistently providing effective, visionary leadership in the midst of building an organization is a very demanding and exhilarating endeavor.”

Dennis Smith is the President and CEO of Dennis Smith and Associates LLC. Dennis understands how to build people-focused organizations and corporate culture. With a ‘taking care of folks’ focus Dennis uses effective communication skills and strategic planning programs that engage employees in achieving success. He helps organizations define and reach their goals with customers and clients.

He developed many of his principals for success first in executive management with the Travelers Insurance Company and then as owner and operator of an independent insurance agency for 24 years. Dennis then built Missouri Employers Mutual, a multi-million dollar insurance company that became the largest writer of workers compensation insurance in the state of Missouri. Employees, partners and customers alike found Dennis’ ‘taking care of folks’ business approach to be a highly successful, engaging, and dynamic endeavor.

MO:
Can you tell us more about your professional background and how it led you to the consulting company you now run?

Dennis:
Throughout my career I worked for a large corporation, as a small business owner and an entrepreneur and CEO of a multi-million dollar company.  One thing I’ve learned for sure, organizations are a challenge to build, manage and sustain.  I’ve been there and I understand.  The experience is both rewarding and daunting at the same time.

When I sign on with leaders and their organizations I bring the experience, skills, and resources to be an objective, external partner.  Working together in partnership I can help business owners and management teams think and plan more strategically.  I can also engage leaders to develop with their employees a more people-focused culture for serving their customers or clients.

MO:
We love the “taking care of folks” mentality you operate your business with.  Can you expand on what you mean by this philosophy?

Dennis:
‘Taking care of folks’ is more than a philosophy.  It’s beginning and ending your day with people rather than processes in mind.  That’s not to say that processes are unimportant.  But too often the processes can become the end in themselves.  For example, it’s truly amazing how different we relate to people in person than with an email. The same can be said for resorting to communication with customers through automated voice systems.  So many more understanding and superior-service opportunities arise through an individual live voice conversation instead.

Once you regard customers as just a commodity transaction, you’ve fallen prey to missing that all important relationship.  It’s when people, customers or employees, see you put their needs first that lasting value can be built.  And your personal attention to their needs keeps them coming back.  Taking care of folks is all about putting people first.  Value them as partners, not commodities.  Over the years of building organizations there are some key principles I’ve used. These principles have made a difference in building people-focused organizations and lasting value with customers.

MO:
On your blog you wrote a great article about the CEO of Starbucks.  What drew you to writing about him, and what do you want readers to understand from that blog post?

Dennis:
Starbuck’s owner and CEO Howard Schultz has enjoyed phenomenal success.  Yet his interview with Katie Couric reminded me that even a dynamic leader like Howard Schultz can take his eye off the ball by focusing too much on growth ahead of customers.

Consistently providing effective, visionary leadership in the midst of building an organization is a very demanding and exhilarating endeavor.  It’s really easy to be absorbed with service delivery, operations results and survival.  Your vision, planning and execution can become increasingly tunneled.  As a result you are hard pressed to obtain and benefit from the objective customer feedback necessary to chart the future.  But staying close to your customers, listening to their needs and putting them first will lead to lasting success.  The bottom line will then take care of itself.  As we used to say, ‘don’t forget to dance with the one that brung ya’!

MO:
What do you believe you did differently than other businesses at Missouri Employers Mutual that made the company successful?

Dennis:
From our company’s beginning we vowed to be more than just another insurance company for serving customers.  Our vision was to be a workplace safety company that also offered insurance in case of injury.  We not only provided insurance coverage but we partnered with our customers.  We worked together to help create the practice and lasting value of working safely.  This safety value extended not only to working in the workplace but also as a lifestyle in the home and community.

Before opening the doors we crafted a two-year start-up plan for bringing up each phase of the business operations that was executed daily.  Within three months of opening for business, the executive team and board of directors also held a retreat and established the company vision, mission and core values.  This was the foundation for developing the first annual and long-range strategic plan.  In succeeding years the goals-based strategic plan evolved into a year round, disciplined, company-wide planning and plan implementation process for building an organization that put people first—customers, business partners, agents and employees.

MO:
Who would be your ideal client to do some consulting work for and why?

Dennis:
It’s rewarding to work with organization leaders who are committed to building or improving organizations that last or stand the test of time.  There’s a disturbing trend in our nation toward short term gain and greed at the expense of sacrifice to attain a long-term, more secure future.  I like to work with leaders that are not afraid of the challenge and hard work of expanding horizons through long-range visioning, strategic planning and staying the course. There’s nothing wrong with making money and achieving financial security.  But it’s particularly gratifying to see leaders who earnestly focus on helping customers or clients attain lasting value and a better quality of life from a people-focused organization.

MO:
What one tip of advice can you give our readers, many of whom are small business owners, that you wish you would have known when you were starting out?

Dennis:
It’s often said that going into business for yourself means you are the boss, you make your own decisions and you set your own schedule.  Quickly you learn that you have many bosses…your accountant, your attorney, your banker, your supplier or provider and the list seems endless.  But less often said is, “You are the leader.   As you build your organization, you need talented, engaged and dedicated people who can share the leadership with you.”  Every person you hire becomes your leadership team and the extension of service to your customers or clients.  If you invest wisely and nurture your team, their combined, exponential efforts can help shape and build an organization that is people-focused, successful and lasting in value.  While I always thought that I understood leadership, in the trenches I learned that you must live it every day.