Help Great People Do Great Things

Last week at the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) Denver luncheon, the keynote speaker was Jerre Stead, President and CEO of IHS. IHS is closing in on $1 Billion in revenue. Since 2005 the company has made 33 acquisitions. Since completing its IPO in 2005, the company revenues have more than doubled and EBITDA has grown about fourfold. SUffice to say, their performance over the past few years is worth noting.

Jerre Stead's message to the audience was straightforward - The Role of the CEO is to "Help Great People do Great Things." He then described five principles that he uses to operate IHS.

1. People are the only sustainable competitive advantage
   Treat them all with equal dignity and respect. There are no "perks" for anyone at IHS.
   
   
2. 100% trust of every person in the company
   At one point, Stead ordered the detailed IHS policy manuals (with hundreds and hundreds of policies) be shredded. "Do we need guidelines? Absolutely! But, if you let people use their best judgment, you never know how great they can be."
   
   
3. Invest in training and development
   "If I had an extra dollar, I'd spend it on training and development." It's the best investment you can make and its the surest way to reduce involuntary turnover.
   
   
4. Facts are our friends
   
   • Not masses of information, but "actionable facts".
   • "Give me three important facts that will help me make a decision."
   • One of Steads comments was that all proposed decisions at IHS require the generation of a "one-pager." On the one-pager is the summary of the proposal, what decision you are looking for and "three facts that will help me make the decision."
   • You can always ask for more detail, but get the key facts and help me make the decision.
   • You never have enough facts, but if you wait to make the decision until you have all the facts, it typically is too late.
     
     
5. Have an intense internal and external intellectual curiosity about customers
   All senior meetings start with some interaction about customers.
   
   
6. Reward ... Reward ... Reward ...
   HE said there were five principles, but he added a sixth very important one. Remember to reward employees continually for company success.
   

Share your thoughts on Jerre Stead's key principles.