Is diversity a significant consideration in your hiring practices?

Only in the last 20 years have people started to think about the board as an actual team, not just a bunch of names offering independent advice. And they're getting value from that diversity we're all talking about by adding women to the board, for example. And whether you’re adding women to the board or adding someone with a different educational background, or a different culture, that brings different perspectives to bear, which allows for ingenuity and innovative answers to problems. 

One thing I would recommend to anyone is: don't ever negate the feedback from the one person in the room who's different from everyone else, because it's scientifically proven that we tend to follow each other in packs. And oftentimes it's the one person who has a different idea who actually has the right idea, and everyone else is following the other lemmings off the cliff.

I'm proud of the team and the culture that I've built at multiple companies. I don't know that it's absolutely required that everybody's best friends. I’ve found that as a leader you have to establish that culture in how you operate and your belief system. That's where it starts. You need to give people freedom, show them how you operate and really explain what you expect of them. When I join an organization brand new, I set the stage by saying, "I'm going to overshare and I trust that you won't share that with anybody else. I'll tell you things that you should know." And everywhere I've been, I've received thank yous and fewer questions.

It's the added context of why we are working on something that helps us share the company's goals. If we pivot, sometimes the conversations have been, “We have to pivot because I don't have the budget,” or, “We won’t get headcount,” or, “The business changed their mind.” That establishes a lot of trust. And that trust is what builds a bridge between age, ethnicity, culture, all of that stuff. You don't have to be best friends, but trust builds friendship inherently in the end.