Graduate Stories – 2004

Martin Grohman, President, Correct Building Products, LLC., Saltwater Alumni 2005

“I was intrigued by the proposition of the course, which is, stand for your values and the consumers who share them will buy your products."

I'm an entrepreneur leading a successful start-up company, and I don't have a lot of formal management training. I was interested in taking The Seven Intentions® to explore where I stand personally and discover how that may translate to my business.

The job of CEO is very isolating. It's high pressure, and you are often out of touch with what the business is actually doing.When you're the top dog people perceive that they can't tell you the negatives. You often don't hear a lot of what you need to know. Nobody gives the CEO feedback, and you get real thirsty for it. It was nice to hear from other people in that same position. As classmates we developed a bluntness with each other that was positive for each of us. The class was especially good in that respect.

I was intrigued by the proposition of the course, which is, stand for your values and the consumers who share them will buy your products. We don't have a ready list of core company values, and through the mechanism of the class I did get a lot clearer on what they might be. For instance, we're big recyclers, and we've won the Governor's Waste Production Award twice, but from a publicity standpoint we don't talk about it much. It's also very important to me that we promote from within. I want the people who work here to feel like it's a long-term proposition and that the company will grow in the way that they want to grow. These values are hard to package. Discussions with my classmates helped me to better articulate some of those things, and The Seven Intentions® will help me hone these parts of our story.

Having a common vision for the company is very important to me. It's one of the reasons why we don't currently have a mission statement. I'm kind of jaded when it comes to missions because it seems like everybody has the same one. A major skill I learned in the course that will be useful in developing a mission is the journaling. It may sound trivial, but I really get a lot out of it. In fast forward companies like this it's very useful to go back two or three weeks and review because you forget things quickly.When we do create our mission, I want it to uniquely reflect who we are, and my journals will be key. The natural extension of the class will be to use The Seven Intentions® to develop our company values.

“If I want to promote success, it would be effective for our key executives to go through the course, more so than for them to hear about it from me.”

As the CEO of the company you are a role model whether you realize it or not. One of the toughest things is being on your best behavior all the time. So it was cool during the class to be able to let that burden down a little bit. And I picked up some things on how to best present the right impression. In fact, I had a good conversation with Tom Chappell, which was really helpful. I told him I don't like to be predictable, and I respond to situations in different ways. He said the way that you convey your values is primarily in the way you act, and you need to act in a predictable way. People need to know when you are going to push back and that you are always going to push back on certain issues. Sooner or later they will get it—there is a brick wall there.You need to be predictable on issues and in your personal interactions. That insight was a real positive one for me.

In retrospect, I really liked the exercises that pushed me.The ones I was especially dreading were always good. Going through the CEO program exercises in a diverse peer group pushes you and creates results. If you are wondering what it is you do in the world, and what you have to offer, you need to take the class. If I had to come up with a one word take away, it would be perspective.The course helped me to understand that my role as the boss is to make sure everybody is interacting honestly, and telling each other what they really think. I don't want meetings where everyone sits around and agrees. I'm encouraging people to not be so conflict averse because a voice of dissent is often a good thing.The last thing you want is people feeling like a big decision was made and they didn't get to say their piece. People need a chance to put their thoughts out there so the group knows where they stand.

Saltwater will definitely be a resource for Correct Building Products. Manufacturing and innovation go hand-in-hand, and the course is good at getting people out of their comfort zone and thinking differently. If I want to promote success, it would be effective for our key executives to go through the course, more so than for them to hear about it from me. I got quite a bit out of the class. I know a few key people who really need to sign up.