Nancy Ham, CEO
Darian Hong, CFO
Robert Rust, CTO
Michelle Micalizzi, Artist
(All Rights Reserved)
10% of the proceeds from the sale of this work benefits:
Conscious Capitalism, The Arizona Science Center Girls in STEAM, PT Day of Service, Support My Club,
Desert Labrador Retriever Rescue & United Blood Services of Arizona.
For the next two blogs and paintings we are focusing on WebPT’s core value:
Resource Efficiency: Do Mas with Menos
WebPT started lean – with three employees in the back of a coffee shop –
And we never want to lose touch with our bootstrapped roots.
Where else can one interview the C-Suite of a successful company whose boardroom has a single piece of art that simply reads in black and white, “Get Shit Done!”? Nowhere else but the same company that has a poster that exclaims, “Fuck Mediocrity” on the wall of the main staircase entering the building.
I really appreciated Nancy, Darian and Rob taking time out to speak to me in the middle of huge business event that has been years in the making. Them showing up for an interview with a little artist like me with this crazy idea in the midst of real time change really says something about who they are as people and who WebPT is as a company.
I expected that the leaders of WebPT would be good people because WebPT’s culture attracts a certain kind of person. They did not disappoint me in regard to their demeanor, character, and of course work ethic. However, one thing I did notice that was both expected and somehow unexpected was that these three human beings mean business. They are driven on point as most people would expect from any successful companies C-Suite. They really could work anywhere and they chose WebPT because their personal values resonate with the values of WebPT. But make no mistake, these three are in it to win and to do exceptionally great work. All three bring their best game every day.
FEARLESS INTERVIEW
WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM NANCY, DARIAN and ROB ABOUT BEING FEARLESS?
1. Empower People to be Great
Rob mentioned something that made him want to work at WebPT. He said he checked out their business page and was impressed that they have over 40K likes. He thought if a company can create that many fans there must be something great happening at Web PT. As of April 12th the WebPT Business Page has 41,248 fans.
As the CTO, Rob also noticed that WebPT had great financials. However, the thing that drew him to WebPT most was the transparency that permeated the culture and the mission.
Nancy was initially able to give a much more intellectual reason for her interest in WebPT all of which was valid. However, she said that once she met Heidi and the team it was a done deal.
All of them concluded with the same assessment of WebPT. The reason they accepted their position was because they saw that WebPT had a desire to empower all the people it touched to be great. When you empower others to be great you attract great talent because water seeks its own level.
2. Ask: Is it Necessary?
The value we are focusing on in this series “Do Mas with Menos” goes directly back to WebPT’s bootstrapped self-funded roots. They have never lost the desire to operate lean and to create more inspiring jobs by eliminating waste of every kind. This way of approaching finance is not being cheap just to be cheap either. Nancy says it best, we spend less on this so we can do more with that. On a deeper level, if we eliminate unnecessary effort, not just spending, we allow employees and members to “operate at the top of their skill set.”
3. Be Scrappy and Clever
I was pleased to see that the C-Suite knew so much about Support My Club, the charity their interview is lined up with. Support My Club is a charitable organization that helps support high school clubs by creating a cycle of reciprocity where the receiver becomes the giver. WebPT practices the spirit of reciprocity every day in the work they do for their members, the community, their employees, and all stake holders they touch. Both organizations are scrappy and cleaver because they found a way to do a lot with a little and never lose track of their purpose to give back.
4. Stop Being Prescriptive
Nancy said something notable about the benefits of being a social responsible company. She explained that when you are the example of what it looks like; you do not have to be “prescriptive” with your employees they just know what the right thing to do is. I knew what the word prescriptive meant but I looked it up any way: “relating to the imposition or enforcement of a rule or method.” When you are the example you want to see in the world you do not have to create rules. Group think in this way is a good thing. As a culture, WebPT believes in creating good on all levels and operating true to their core values. When a company behaves in this manner there is no need for a copy to make sure employees stay on task. The culture pushes benevolence forward.
5. Fling Your Self Forward
Each of the leaders has a spin on fearlessness that I found refreshing. Darion said he tells the people he mentors that it is their job to work themselves out of a job which made me laugh. Indeed! Rob said that one has to manage risk by understanding their assumptions and then manage the hell out of them. However, Nancy once again said something that I think they all meant in their own way – She said, you just have to “Fling yourself forward.” Now isn’t that the truth? One can make a plan as both Darian and Rob clarified but at some point one just has to “fling yourself forward” or jump and see what happens.
Thank you so much Nancy, Darian and Rob for bringing your best game, for all that you do for the community and for taking time out for this interview!
ILLUSTRATIONS STORY
From the start of this series I knew eventually there would be a pair of boots with roots simply signifying WebPT commitment to stay true to their humble boot strapped roots. Here they are!
Work was shown at the The Art of Fearlessly Giving Back I – Web PT opening on May 18, 2018 at The Arizona Science Center.
Thank you to the 2018 Fearless Partners:
11Eleven Consulting|Peg Quinn| The AZ Consortium for the Arts|Charity Charms|Bob Diercksmeier of RJD Creative
Entrepreneurs and inspiring stories of all kinds are Fearlessly Deliver’s muse and focus. As an artist, a business woman and a visual journalist Michelle Micalizzi paints with a purpose. The Fearless Art Projects are collaborative social practice art engagements that connect art + business + community.
The ART OF FEARLESSLY GIVING BACK (AoFGB) is a community awareness series that focuses on the mission of select charitable organizations and the social responsible companies and philanthropic individuals that support them.