Here is a brief excerpt from an article by Bracken Darrell, featured by LinkedIn Pulse. To read the complete article, check out others, and sign up to receive email alerts, please click here.
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I met Sami Sagol for breakfast a month before I joined Logitech. Sami runs and owns Keter Plastic. He is nonstop. With high energy and a demeanor like Michael Bloomberg (wise, quick, balanced), he is going strong… building his company and putting his money to work in charitable ways. He and his wife have become friends of mine and I really like and respect them. He agreed to take a look at Logitech before I started and give me his view of the business and my move. I had already decided to take the job, but sought his opinion anyway.
As I sat down at the breakfast, he started, “Well, Bracken, I spent last night studying the story…” He gave me his view of the company and its situation back in early 2012. We discussed the problems and challenges; how interesting the situation was; but how hard it would also likely be.
After forty-five minutes, I had gotten more than I expected (he really studied it) and I had a lot to think about. I thanked him and got up to leave. But the most important advice happened between the table and the restaurant door. And it only took ten seconds.
As I walked away he said to me from behind, “Oh, and one other thing ….” Now fifteen feet away, I turned around. He pointed a finger right at my chest (if not, it felt like he did) … and said, “You wash the windows and clean the floors.” He didn’t smile; in fact, he looked hard edged. He had been kind, thoughtful and engaging during the whole breakfast. This was a command or maybe even an ultimatum? There was nothing casual about the comment … this was serious business. Was this an afterthought for him? Or was it the most important message he intended to give me — dramatically?
“You wash the windows and clean the floors.” I had smiled as if I understood why he’d said it and replied, “Absolutely!” And I walked onto the door barely missing a step, but his words echoed and echoed like in a canyon as I continued out the door and down the stairs. They seemed to get louder with each echo and as I got farther from him.
They started to sink in.
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Maybe you don’t need this advice or even a reminder of it. But I really appreciate Sami giving it. “Own” everything. Stay in touch with the details. And literally clean the floor and wash the window if they need them. You own everything. Down to the floors and windows.
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Here is a direct link to the complete article.
Bracken Darrell is CEO at Logitech in the San Francisco Bay Area. Previously, he was a senior-level executive at Whirlpool Corporation and Procter & Gamble. He is a graduate of Harvard Business School.