Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/177159
We don't have the luxury of being in business for 70 years, so as much as we put the microscope on the customer to find out what we can do to improve their business, we're putting the microscope on our team." exec. "I met Shandel, our first coach, at one of the EO events held in San Francisco. I really felt we needed to establish a solid set of core values to help not only galvanize the organization,but also focus on people's personal and professional growth. Howard Schultz's book, Pour Your Heart Into It, really made me believe we had to provide our employees with the same level of care we lavish on our customers." That's what makes Avanti's head "authentic,"according to Shandel Slaten, the author of the book Clarity: Focusing on What Really Matters. In terms of leadership, the compliment is huge— considering Slaten, a Master Certified Coach and Summa Cum Laude, is stingy when it comes to dispensing it. As the founder of True Life Coaching, her firm has helped hundreds of professionals strengthen their leadership skills so she's become quite adept at screening for candidates who are coachable. Coachable candidates are real,open,and not afraid to admit they have blind spots—even though they may not know what they are, she says. Uncoachable leaders are close-minded,distrustful,and feel like they have to do everything themselves. Rossi has always been open about his shortcomings. "When Mark came to us, he said, 'I need help creating a world-class team," says Slaten, who has been working with Avanti for nearly seven years on a number of things—its culture, core values, never-ending tweaks to the way information is exchanged throughout the company. "That's what impresses me most about Mark," she says."He's always been willing to put in the hard work to build a good team and truly operate like a team vs. just running the business and doing the work himself. Next-generation leaders lead their teams and that requires training, since most entrepreneurs don't have that skill set." A Big Believer in Coaching From the excitable way Rossi talks about his appreciation for systems and organization to the pensiveness buried underneath his burly brows, it's obvious the wheels are in constant flux. It's what pushed him to leave the family business 10 years ago and continues to be the driving force behind Avanti's restlessness—as in always honing, refining, and fixed on process improvements. "All we do is ask questions," says Rossi. "Are our systems scalable enough? What more can we do to help the customer grow? Are we actually solving problems and not just putting Band-Aids on them? Are we truly thinking long term? We don't have the luxury of being in business for 70 years, so as much as we put the microscope on the customer to find out what we can do to improve their business, we're putting the microscope on our team." Avanti works with two coaches. One focuses on strategic planning and has been instrumental in helping the distributor develop an executive team. It meets monthly, quarterly and annually to prioritize current and future objectives, and also pays close attention to pivotals like scalability and efficiency. Doubling down on the numbers has had convincing results, notes Rossi. Avanti averages over $1 million dollars per employee in revenue, which more than doubles the industry average, according to the FEDA Profit Report, and it's on pace to end the year close to $22 million in sales, a twofold increase from 2011. Slaten, the distributor's other coach, helps it with the "softer" side of lean— organizational components, company culture and the mentality of the people behind the initiatives. Once a month she meets with Rossi and his top management for leadership coaching. "We talk about the profits, the processes, and the people," says Slaten. "It's like having a 360 every month, where you look all around you." The rest of the team is fed reinforcements four times a year—broken down into two two-day sessions. Both Rossi and Slaten are big believers in the power of effective communication, or lack thereof, so the topic tends to dominate. "I've done tons of company surveys, where the leader always notes that they're working really hard on communication," says Slaten."But when I speak to their teams, they always say, 'if he would only communicate.'"So the problem with communication is that most people define it in terms of what they're good at—not their blind spots. "We're always revisiting our communication styles, processes and procedures, how to effectively communicate as a group, the core values and what they mean to us." The Heart of the Matter Everything is measured against Avanti's five core values: connect and communicate, insist on integrity, think long term, see it through, and desire to grow. "I've helped hundreds of companies come up with their core values and I think I love Avanti's the most," says Slaten. "They're descriptive, real and sticky. Everyone uses them, everyone remembers them and everyone follows them." Inviting one of its large chain customers to explore efficiency options at the Food Service Technology Center in San Ramon is a great example of see it through. "It was incredibly powerful," continued on page 12 September/October 2013 11