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Passion, Priorities, and Leadership

Carol Lavin Bernick, executive chairman of Alberto-Culver, described the keys to successful leadership in an address to the Center for Business and Economics Alumni Association Executive Forum.

Carol Lavin Bernick is executive chairman of Alberto-Culver Company, a $1.5 billion global manufacturer of consumer products. As president, Ms. Bernick reenergized the company's consumer businesses, which produced a profit growth rate of 22% during her last five years in this role. She also instituted a cultural overhaul of the company that was chronicled in the June 2001 Harvard Business Review.

What follows is an excerpt of a speech given by Ms. Bernick on February 3, 2009 at Elmhurst College for the Center for Business and Economics Alumni Association Executive Forum.

As I often speak to college audiences, I know there are three major groups represented in this room. There are those of you who have embarked on careers and are looking for additional knowledge, skills and advice to drive that career to the next level and beyond. You hopefully are working for a company you love and looking for a way to make a bigger contribution and have a bigger impact. There are those of you who are decidedly not working for a company you love and are looking for the skills and the route to move on to somewhere else. And there are those of you who have probably worked at jobs, but have not yet launched a career, which are looking for advice and insight. Whichever group you are in, I hope I can give you some nuggets of helpful advice.

Some of you no doubt have the goal of working, or may today work, for the biggest and the best—the most recognized companies in America. But many of you will choose not to. I hope to convince you today that whatever you choose to do…wherever you end up…if you are a teacher, an accountant, start a business out of your garage or end up as a major corporate executive, it is your passion and dedication that can take you to great places.

We, at Alberto Culver have to work hard day by day to find ways to stay a winner. We are entrepreneurs and the entrepreneurial fear of failure is built in, and perhaps that is a good thing. There is a lack of hubris in our organization; there is no sense that enough is ever enough…and it is important for us to know who we are and who we are not. Even when we post an impressive victory, we realize there is battles ahead and little opportunity to take the time to celebrate. 

A story: Flash back 1994. Within 2 months of taking over the USA consumer product business, I held a town hall meeting with every person on our team...groups of about 100 people in 15 different sessions. I spent 90 minutes with each group revealing the issues and, frankly, shocking all of us into action. When I first walked into the room I tossed hundreds of pennies on the floor and no one picked them up (maybe not the best message to our very diverse work force, but you’ll see where this is going.) My first question: what’s our biggest item? Everyone yells, “VO5 shampoo”. I told my team to pick up a penny, as many as they could find. Then I revealed that VO5 shampoo, the product that was running our factories round the clock, didn’t make much money—in fact we made literally less than one cent on each bottle—a little less than 1% pretax on VO5 shampoo. And the challenge was that within one year we needed to turn those pennies into nickels—5 times more profit. How were we going to do that? Well, we got close. We made 4.5 cents one year later.

Why tell you this? Because when you hear the stories of billion dollar brands and $100 million dollar advertising budgets, it’s easy to freak, easy to think we can’t compete, easy to lose track of the pennies. But believe me, pennies add up—and innovation can trump big bucks. You have to play to win.

Alberto Culver had to re-learn how to compete, how to innovate and, very importantly, how to create a culture for today that helps us to find, attract and keep great people. An important part of all that was learning how to listen. As we approached our VO5 profit issues we learned quickly that our factory workers had answers as to how to run the lines faster. Our engineers, scientists and packaging folks had answers—everyone had ideas—and everyone once they truly understood the seriousness of our issues. 

Once they understood they were in fact responsible for their own and the company’s future, the team came together, the walls came down and we started to rebuild. We had to have the courage as a management team to ask for help. We had to lay all the facts on the line—importantly, we showed our vulnerabilities as an organization—and we started to truly grow.  And as we have gone through that process, we have learned some important lessons about people and their careers and I want to share some of that with you.

Let me start with the obvious. I hope you make a billion dollars during your career, hopefully in the next 20 years. I hope one of you is the person who writes the program that helps the deaf to hear, helps the blind to see or develops, if you care to, the next I-Pod or the alternative to fossil fuels.

From new technologies to new music…from stem cells to gaming machines…there are people today making huge creative contributions and substantial bucks. And if any of those are your passion, go for it! 

Some of you may go to work, or already be working, for the world’s biggest companies here or in markets around the world.

For some of you, it may be more important to stay your home towns to start a company, to run the local hospital. And if any of those are your passion, go for it! 

But work is just a part of the picture. Whatever the career, there will be other—and often more important—life changing experiences.  Of course, there will be the career choices. How can you continue to prepare and what should you bring for a fun and rewarding job? (Yes, I said fun. I think fun is really important to success in a job.) But there will also be the choice of where to live and when to buy the new house or the next house. Children now or children later? And where do they go to school and how will I ever pay for it? And there will be personal losses of those that are close to you.

There will be days when it can’t get much better and days of deep sorrow when you know it just can’t get much worse.

To be ready for the good or the very difficult…I think there are two words that summarize what you need to succeed: Passion and Priorities. And this is true whether you are well launched on a career or just starting out. I want to speak from my personal experience as to how these have meaning for me, how we look for these ... in the people we hire and why I think its good advice to give you. 

Let me begin with priorities. I believe that everyone should have a personal mission statement and that this simple statement can be a vital key to your success.

Corporations have mission statements of what they stand for and what they hope to accomplish. I believe each of you needs that kind of focus a personal values statement, a personal mission, that lets you judge each decision, each action, each goal and next step. It needn't be elaborate, it doesn’t have to follow a format, it won’t be published, but it’s a guide that will make your decisions easier and your goals more clear.

This simple statement of goals in priority order will serve as a roadmap. When you reach the point where choices are hard and the roads diverge and you need a map and the map will make those tough choices more clear. Your personal set of goals and priorities can serve as a measuring rod and an anchor as you face the choices ahead. 

As simple as it sounds, my number one priority has always been to raise good, kind, caring kids who will grow into productive adults. 

It’s easy to say of course, but it took me a period of time to realize how central making that my top priority—was to every future decision I would make.

I live 4 miles from where I work. That meant my kids went to a good public high school, certainly not Chicago’s best. And that was a conscious decision...that spending another 90 minutes a day with my family was worth that choice.

That same 4-mile choice enabled me to be at a few more games and school plays…or to make it to the local hospital quickly...when one of my three children caught a baseball or a softball in their teeth or jaw or nose (how many times is it reasonable for that to happen?) 

My core goal determined when and where and I was willing to travel and what corporate boards I might consider. It has determined the areas where I give back to the community. My mission determined when I worked and that has meant everything from working at home two days a week for a couple of years to starting most work days at 4:30 a.m. reviewing e-mail and memos—because that leaves time for family later on.

But once I made that conscious choice that my kids had to come first…I knew I had to become even more passionate about my job...I had to make a significant difference...Where I became indispensable to those I worked with.

Your mission is a very personal statement. No one else needs to see it. It is something just for you and get gut-wrenchingly honest with yourself what do you really want, what is first: family, church, fun, money, power, recognition, giving back, the ability to be creative? Is geography key, must you maximize your income immediately? Where will you focus your energies? What series of skills do you want to hone? How can you become indispensable to your company and still have fun and feel rewarded? Those are the core issues of a personal mission statement. You may not know NOW exactly what you want to do with your life, but you do have values and thoughts. Let them guide you.

Remember what we're talking about a roadmap, not a straitjacket. There will be the unexpected, both the victories and the disappointments. There may be life changing experiences that cause you to draw up a new mission. This statement is simply a way for you to prioritize and address issues in your life, not to exclude and ignore.

A mission is where you want to focus, where you want to go, not what you're willing to give up.

What’s the lesson here? And it's not that all bosses are idiots.

First, I had found an area where I knew I could make a contribution. If you had asked me when I was graduating if new product development was a part of my mission statement, the answer would have been no. But ideas, and creativity were...and this was where that led.

Second, I had a tool. Our company culture allowed consumer market research to triumph over opinion.

Third, product ideas and business opportunities are literally all around you. What it takes is a willingness to see. It takes a willingness to try—and a willingness to take a risk. And it takes gumption to continue to press for what you believe in.

No one owns all the good ideas and there are many right ways to do things. From that time forward I made sure that anyone working with me had company funds to spend on ideas only they believed in...because no one knows who's got the next best idea!

Returning to your mission statement, once you've decided on your mission, pursue it with passion and commitment. Family, work, community, church, however you rank the values and rewards cannot be pursued with ambivalence. 

If you want to develop new products, marshal the resources, prepare for doubters and ramrod them to market.

If you believe as I do that the unchecked distribution of guns is putting our society at risk, find groups working for change and share your passion.

If you believe that we can be providing better health care to a broader spectrum of people, support with passion those working in that direction.

The passion behind your values has to be active. If your focus is family, you don’t need to proclaim it, you need to show it.  You need to set the moral and ethical standards that establish the foundation. If you want honesty in the family, you need to treat every issue regardless of how uncomfortable with openness and truth. This is not do what I say. This is even beyond do what I do. This is, here is what I passionately believe and want for you. Come share it with me. A mission without passion is a crutch. It's a rationalization, not a roadmap.

If my mission begins with family, I also have a great passion for business. Since that is more central—probably—to why I was asked to speak today, let me share with you the advice I give to people at our company for building their careers.  And this applies to the entry level job or the candidate for a very senior position.

• First, attitude is key. The person who is committed passionately to the success of our business who has an I-Can-Do-It attitude will succeed. One person can make a tremendous difference in a corporation and it’s up to you to demonstrate that you are one of those people.
• Second, fight for your ideas and do something big. The best idea can disappear without a strong advocate. Being an advocate for change involves taking risks. Don't be afraid to be visible, to stand out, in short take the lead in making a big difference.
• Third, nice guys don’t finish last: They win! Aggressive and passionate should not equate with unpleasant ever. The higher you rise the more pleasant, and the more understanding, you need to be. Never underestimate the value of thanks and the value of recognition. Build consensus direct groups the way you want them to go through reason, through courtesy, through team building. Ego has no place in business. If you have one, lose it! In today’s downsized, right-sized, resized companies, the ability to put together teams to drive the business is very important. When you have to force consensus, you'll feel like you're dragging a thousand pounds uphill and all alone.
• Fourth, my job is to do whatever it is that needs to be done. If someone needs you to cover so they can participate in a team building exercise do it. If it’s collating sales material help out. Be proactive…lend a hand always…people notice!
• Fifth, and probably most important—credibility is everything. Some of the most important, career-saving words I have ever heard are I don’t know. Never, never fake it. If you're wrong, admit it and correct it. If you've made a mistake, fix it and learn from it. If it’s going to take some time to find an answer, set a timetable and stick to it.

When you make a mistake admit it fast...“Memorize these words…I totally messed that up…here is what I'm doing to fix it”...The quickest way to see me boil is to have to listen to someone defend a stupid error. Just accept it...get on with it...and if you are not in a place that lets you fail and admit it... think hard about if that is the way you want to live your life.

• Sixth, if you never fail, you will not grow. If you are not in so deep you can barely swim, you won’t know how it feels to truly succeed. If it’s always comfortable and easy, you can’t know the big win, the heady feeling that comes from that incredible challenge overcome. You will learn best when you are being stretched. Don’t sit back...reach out... get involved, take a risk. The smartest folks I know are comfortable asking for help. The smartest executives I know seek out and succeed in hiring people smarter than they are. Both asking for help and hiring smart are signs of real strength, certainly not weakness.

When I interview an executive I always ask is there anything you wish you hadn't done, anywhere you failed at something you tried. The best talent has a ton to tell me: how they screwed up this assignment or made a real mess of that. Those individuals that have soft ball answers either never took the risk or don’t meet one of our key values...that of honesty. Life is too short...our competitors are too big. If I’m looking to hire top talent for our company, I’m looking for honesty and candor and for people who have the confidence to know we will always make mistakes, but hopefully not the same mistake twice.

• Seventh, never point your finger unless you're giving directions. A person that always lays blame is soon cut out of team activities. When you're furious with others, look inside and see if you're really dissatisfied with yourself.
• Eighth, if you don't love what you're doing, you probably won’t be successful. And even if you are successful, you'll be miserable, so what's the point?
• Ninth, find a company that matches your values and aspirations. You are not just looking for a place to work, you are looking for a home and everything I have said up until now should help you to know it when you see it.
• Finally, give back. Our communities are not perfect. They are the responsibility of business, government and each of us here today. I'm sure you've heard it before, if you're not part of the solution; you are part of the problem. If you tomorrow’s leaders don’t commit to making a difference, who will?

At Alberto Culver, we are proud that we know who we are…and we know who we are not. As we set out to energize and change our culture, we had to face the facts: we were not saving lives, we were not rebuilding the inner cities, we were not providing shelter to the homeless. We make shampoo, but how could we get people totally engaged in selling more shampoo and making more money.

One of the ways we succeeded was by touching the hearts of the people that worked for us.

Everything fun and warm and good about what we are as a company, we tied back to powerful growth. We have always supported hundreds of charities...now in our company-wide message each year we feature 3 or 4 of the groups we support. Every benefit we offer, every celebration we have is tied to powerful growth...Powerful growth yields the privilege to care.  

So now when we ask our ad agencies to help us find ways to reduce the cost of television commercial production they begin to see: maybe through our efforts we can house another 30 mentally challenged homeless kids. It all begins to mean something. It’s the feel good/touch the heart stuff that makes people enjoy the challenge of cutting costs and fueling growth. They take pride in our growth and how our growth helps us to help others.

So why am I telling you all this?

We are living through a difficult period now in terms of corporate governance and the gut wrenching tales of corporate acts of bad faith. 

Business people are now viewed with deep suspicion. The Harris Poll each year asks which professions and occupations have the most prestige. Doctors and firemen top the list and, interestingly, teachers and military officers are in the top ten along with nurses and police officers. But there is a bottom ten list of professions as well with less than 20% of the population perceiving bankers, lawyers and business executives as having prestige. 

The lousy values of a few crooks have denigrated American business.

The vast majority of business leaders and their teams are good people—values-based people. We the good guys have to be noisy and have to market American business to the American public. We need to publicize the good news.

Most companies take this seriously, and at Alberto Culver so do we. Throughout Alberto’s history, we have adhered to a very strong set of principles. These include the critical role of people/continuous improvement in the organization, an intense focus on innovation, the importance of pushback and the strength that comes from differing opinions and, of course—underpinning it all—the ethics and values the company stands for. One point I believe above all others: the companies that have served their shareholders best over the years and we believe the companies who have provided the most consistent rates of good return are those companies that have values, ethics, and sound business practices as a part of their makeup, their DNA.

The basic building block for corporate success—in our book—is the power of people. Companies don’t succeed, people do. We believe in a values-based leadership model that drives our success.

Values-based leadership helps to inspire passionate people and passionate people create powerful growth.

As you look for your next job, be selective, do the research.

If you are a woman…or a minority…if policies toward sexual orientation impact you…and you have high ambition…find a company that truly values diversity. I was lucky—my mother and her mother were working moms. I was raised in a home and in a business where women were treated as equals. But that is not the universal case.

Today, working moms are very much the rule, not the exception. The American workplace has changed dramatically from the workplace of your parents or your grandparents—the days of the classic television comedies, when dad went off to work and mom stayed home, wearing her pearls and preparing dinner. 

That means a lot of working moms are going to have to miss the occasional concert or game…and while working moms will never be at every field trip...perhaps they leave a greater legacy. 

A working mom teaches her daughter every day that being feminine is a good thing…but so is strength, independence and self-worth.

A working mom teaches her son day by day…that women are to be treated as equals… that a mom can be a great cook and a great business person…and is a respected partner in life and in work. 

It is my belief that working moms help to “make better dads”, forging a partnership where dads take a bigger role in the raising of their kids, and that too is a powerfully good thing. Working moms make America’s workplace better for all of us.  I believe it is a little kinder, a little more values based as we carry our family values into the work place. 

The smart companies realize…how these values build a better workplace for tomorrow while they give a powerful boost to the sales and profits of American industry today. And the path that we forge will make it easier for our daughters and granddaughters and build a place where our sons can be better men.    

I am a mentor to young people inside and outside our company and I know that companies vary dramatically in terms of their response to the equality of people in the workforce and in terms to their flexibility toward the needs of employees with families. Get the information on how companies care about what matters to you…it is out there.

Whatever your passion, whatever your values, find a value-based organization that aligns with your beliefs. The Internet is a powerful tool. Google the company…Google the leaders…read about the board. Make an informed first choice, even if that means your search takes a little longer.

All of these thoughts are aimed at making you indispensable to your organization. People with big ideas...people who are passionate in the advocacy people who are team players people who achieve results people who are honest up and honest down are in a better position to write their own ticket, to make everything in their personal mission possible.

One person can make a difference.

You can make a difference.

No one will tell you that it is possible to have everything in life. But I will tell you that you can have it all—if you are willing to define what the “it” means for you and pursue it with a passion.

I am honored that you have taken time to listen to me today. If you take with you just one thing I have said one small thought and you take that opportunity to find one thing from every speech you hear you will grow and be stronger for it.  Good luck to each of you.

Look about you. See the opportunities. Stand out and be heard. And remember the role of a mission and the importance of passion in everything you attempt. Thanks for listening!