I was talking with a woman who gets joy in being with people, specifically serving those with special needs. Kelly Hartman, CEO of Insights Consulting based in Indianapolis, IN is an authentic woman of great passion and purpose. Not only does she run Insights, but is also the founder of the non-profit organization Outside the Box which was founded in 2008. 
She has spent decades serving in multiple leadership roles before becoming the CEO of Insights Consulting. While talking she described herself as a social entrepreneur who became CEO by accident. This leader of a Top Ten Best place to work in Indianapolis has a few principles that guide her leadership.
Do Business for Good and the Money Follows
Kelly leads a mission driven organization with an experienced leadership team and realizes the need to be profitable, but does not allow profit and money to be her focus. She believes if you do the right thing the money will follow. I think of this as the Golden Rule idea. If we treat others the way we would want to be treated results will follow.
With that being said, Kelly finds that since money does not drive her decisions she takes more risks. The mission is central to the organization therefore they will innovate and attempt new strategies to keep the mission moving forward. What helps her keep her staff turnover low, innovation high, and still maintain a profitable organization? The next principle helps us understand.
Flip the Organizational Chart
Picture the hierarchical top-down business structure and flip it upside down. This is how Kelly leads. She maintains as few layers between her and the front line for a couple reasons. First, she enjoys connecting with her staff and clients . . . that is why she entered the industry. Second, with fewer layers communication is fast and clear. This environment creates the ability to maintain an innovative culture that can rapidly execute plans and address challenges.
Trust the Team
The structure she created is based on Don Miguel Ruiz’ book The Four Agreements. Each of her staff agree to the following behaviors with one another:
- Be impeccable with your word
- Don’t make assumptions
- Don’t take things personally
- Always do your best
As these four agreements are lived out by herself and her team, the trust among team members increases. These four agreements create the foundation of trust: credibility. Authors James Kouzes and Barry Posner in their book The Truth About Leadership state:
“If you are going to lead, you must have a relationship to others that is responsive to their expectations that you are someone they can believe in.”
As Kelly and each team member live up to these four expectations the members believe in one another and trust one another so the team functions at the highest level possible.
As we closed our time, I asked her for a major leadership lesson. She used a simple illustration:
“Turn the hallway light on to see the other opportunities.”
While leading we can get stuck in the darkness of the day to day and feel in a rut. Imagine walking down a dark hallway full of doors, but the darkness prevents you from seeing the doors. When you turn on the light you see the doors of opportunity and can explore them. Surround yourself with other people who challenge you to think differently and therefore open doors of opportunity.
What about you? How are you leading? Do you trust your team and truly listen to them? What is one action step you can take from these principles. Are you not sure how your team really is doing and want to create an environment to assess your team? Contact me about to discuss facilitating The Leadership Game to build and assess your team at the same time. Lead well.
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