Former Atlanta Falcons Exec Speaks at VMI
Former AMB Sports and Entertainment CEO, Steve Cannon, spoke at 麻豆女演员 Institute April 1 as part of the Center for Leadership and Ethics鈥 (CLE) Courageous Leadership speaker series, 鈥淧aradigm Shifts.鈥
After being introduced as the second speaker in this year鈥檚 series by Col. David Gray, executive director of the CLE, Cannon seated himself comfortably on a stool on the stage in Gillis Theater to have a relaxed conversation about leadership with his audience comprised of cadets, faculty, staff, and community members.
Cannon, who graduated from West Point and served as an Army airborne ranger, noted that he had been to VMI once before when he was still a cadet. He had attended a leadership conference in 1986, where he met Forrest Pogue, the official biographer of Gen. George C. Marshall Jr., VMI Class of 1901.
鈥淚 still have a signed three-volume set that sits in my library as a reminder of that trip.鈥
In the Army, he was stationed in Germany, as part of a border patrol unit during the fall of the Berlin Wall. After five years of service, he decided to leave the military and serve in a different way.
鈥淚鈥檝e changed uniforms, but I鈥檝e never stopped serving. Every place I鈥檝e gone, I鈥檝e found ways to use that platform to give back to the communities I serve, and to honor the military.鈥
His first job out of the Army was chief of staff for the president and CEO of Mercedes-Benz. Nearly 20 years later, Cannon assumed the job of president and CEO for Mercedes-Benz of North America.
The national headquarters was moved from New Jersey to Atlanta where Cannon met Arthur Blank, owner of the NFL team, the Falcons, who was looking for a CEO to run his portfolio company, AMB Sports and Entertainment. For 10 years, Cannon ran the portfolio which included the Falcons; the professional soccer club, Atlanta United FC; the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, home arena for both teams; and the PGA TOUR Superstore.
Cannon shared with his audience 15 leadership lessons that have guided him in his journey starting as a West Point cadet and throughout his military and civilian careers.
The first lesson he shared was, 鈥淐reate a Compelling Vision.鈥
鈥淚f you don鈥檛 have vision as a leader, how are you supposed to inspire those around you to do things that they don鈥檛 believe they can accomplish?鈥 he asked. His vision for the Mercedes-Benz Stadium was to build the greatest sports and entertainment venue in the world. 鈥淲e wanted it to be like the Ritz-Carlton, attractive and delivering a high level of hospitality and care to everyone who walks through the door. A compelling vision inspires people and gives them purpose. Whatever you are leading; a squad, platoon, department, or company, articulate your vision for the group.鈥
Lesson two was, 鈥淟isten More Than You Speak.鈥
鈥淭here鈥檚 a real reason why we鈥檝e got two of these and only one of these,鈥 he quipped as he pointed to his ears, then to his mouth. 鈥淭he only time you鈥檙e learning is when your mouth is closed, and your ears are open. Many leaders mistakenly believe they need to show how smart they are. But good leaders understand that their job is not to be the smartest person in the room, but to extract all the smarts from everyone else in the room.鈥
In correlation to the second lesson, the third lesson Cannon shared was, 鈥淎sk 1,000 Questions.鈥
鈥淲herever I go, I ask questions. I listen to people, and I hear their points of view. It鈥檚 helped me to understand organizations in ways I never would if I hadn鈥檛 asked those questions.鈥 He clarified the point with an example of when he first joined Mercedes-Benz and discovered a toxic culture there. 鈥淟eadership was disconnected. Employees didn鈥檛 trust their leadership, and they performed at an abysmal level.鈥
Cannon launched a companywide employee satisfaction survey. 鈥淲e got brutalized by our associates telling awful things about what leadership and their jobs meant to them.鈥 Cannon used that information, came up with a plan to transform the culture, shared the plan with the associates, and challenged them to hold leadership accountable. In a short time, the company was transformed to one of Fortune magazine鈥檚 most respected companies in the United States. 鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to build trust, and that鈥檚 what you are able to do by asking 1,000 questions.鈥
Lesson four 鈥 one VMI cadets are intimately familiar with 鈥 was, 鈥淪et Ridiculously High Standards.鈥 Cannon stated that whether you work in the military or as a civilian, your job as a leader is to set standards within your organization.
鈥淚 found that people want to be part of organizations that set ridiculously high standards. Associates will naturally gravitate to the standards leaders set. If you set low standards, don鈥檛 be surprised if you get a low performance. If I shoot for the stars and I land on the moon, that鈥檚 still a pretty good outcome. Setting high standards is a vote of confidence in your team. It tells them you trust and believe in them.鈥
Lesson five was, 鈥淏e Visible.鈥
“Nobody wants to follow a leader they never see or can鈥檛 interact with or relate to. In the military, it鈥檚 called 鈥榖attlefield circulation.鈥 In the civilian world, it is 鈥榤anagement by walking around.鈥欌 Cannon illustrated by sharing his habit of arriving three hours early to every event at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium for the first several years of its opening. 鈥淚 would get there when the ticket-takers, the hospitality providers, the guest service and relations folks arrived, which often totaled 4,000 people. My ritual was to start at the top and walk the stadium. I鈥檇 walk every single concourse along the way. I would greet and hug people, have conversations, and join team huddles. I would walk five miles per event, and that was my way of being a visible leader. People will go the extra mile when they know that their leaders are going the extra mile.鈥
One of Cannon鈥檚 favorite lessons, and one he credited to management consultant and author, Peter Drucker, was number six, 鈥淐ulture Eats Strategy for Breakfast.鈥 Cannon pulled his iPhone out of his pocket to use as an analogy to explain the meaning.
鈥淭his is our single most indispensable device. It鈥檚 easy to use, and with a couple of touches, you can answer any question. The operating system is what transforms this inanimate object made of metal and glass into a magical device. Think of culture as the operating system that governs how an organization functions, and the master coder for the operating system is the leadership. Leaders manage rituals and conversations. They can celebrate employees and recognize great performances. Culture is perhaps the most important thing, and if you pay attention to culture, the outcomes will follow. If you pay attention to the outcomes, bad things will happen.鈥
By example, Cannon reminded his listeners of the Volkswagen emissions scandal in 2015, when a software engineer rewrote a program for EPA testing that essentially told the engine to behave differently when it was being tested, and to give a false signal of efficiency. The company was caught cheating and it cost them billions of dollars in lost trust.
鈥淭hat is what happens when you chase an outcome. If you create a place where people love what they do, and feel connected to your vision, you will create a culture that will unleash power and propel your organization to new levels.鈥
鈥淏e Nice,鈥 was Cannon鈥檚 seventh lesson.
鈥淲hen I went around that stadium, I was nice to everybody. Does that mean I鈥檓 a pushover? No! I鈥檝e learned how to give hard feedback in a way that doesn鈥檛 blow a person up. I鈥檝e seen people get blown up publicly by their leaders. I don鈥檛 believe that humiliation and lack of respect will make anyone a better performer. You can lead well, challenge people, and set ridiculously high standards, all with human kindness that makes people say, 鈥業鈥檒l do anything for that person.鈥欌
For further insight, Cannon recommended the book, 鈥淟eading With Kindness鈥 by William Baker, Ph.D. and Michael O鈥橫alley, Ph.D.
The eighth lesson was, 鈥淢ake Sure Your Words and Actions Align.鈥 Cannon stated that leaders are constantly watched by their followers to ensure that what they do and say are in harmony.
鈥淭he minute you say something that differs from your behavior, you鈥檝e lost credibility. You鈥檙e never allowed to have a bad day as a leader. You are on stage and being observed, so if you must let off steam, go where you will not be noticed.鈥
鈥淭he Best Feedback is Fast Feedback,鈥 was Cannon鈥檚 ninth lesson. He referred to athletic coaches as examples.
鈥淭he coach鈥檚 only job is to bring the best out of the people they lead. Something coaches do better than everybody is providing immediate feedback. A coach will either pat a player on the back for a good play, or kick him in the butt if he performed poorly. As leaders, we have to be feedback machines. Unfortunately in the corporate world, we鈥檝e gotten lazy. We hide behind HR-related things like quarterly or annual performance reviews. If you鈥檙e only giving feedback on a quarterly basis, you鈥檙e failing as a leader. Good leaders give feedback all the time, so their people know how to improve.鈥
Number 10 was, 鈥淎ppreciation is Your Most Powerful Leadership Tool.鈥 Cannon recommended that leaders show their appreciation frequently and generously. As an example, he displayed a photo of the 60鈥 high 鈥淗eroes of Hospitality Wall鈥 placed prominently in the stadium.
鈥淲e even created a little ceremony recognizing the people being inducted. We invited their families, and the people who mattered most to them. There was so much pride and emotion. It cost us very little, but appreciation is like rocket fuel. The more fuel you put in an engine, the further it鈥檚 able to go. If you use your position to recognize people, that鈥檚 going to go a long way.鈥
Cannon warned of a red line never to cross in lesson 11, 鈥淣ever Undermine a Person鈥檚 Dignity.鈥
鈥淭here is no scenario by which you can humiliate someone either publicly or privately. I鈥檝e seen leaders humiliate people in public, and it made my skin crawl. I tell every one of my leaders that if I ever see them undermining someone鈥檚 dignity, I will walk them immediately to the door, take their key card and block them from our system. I can鈥檛 emphasize it enough. When you鈥檙e nice to people, you鈥檙e going to get more results.鈥
The 12th lesson which applies to all relationships was, 鈥淏e Present or Don鈥檛 Show Up.鈥
“Give your all to whatever it is you鈥檙e doing. If I鈥檓 at a meeting, I鈥檓 fully engaged at that meeting. I鈥檝e seen people in meetings texting or checking emails. My personal rule is I never bring my device into an important meeting, because, unfortunately, all of us have been conditioned to reach for our phone the minute we hear a buzz. That鈥檚 why I keep mine out of reach. I鈥檝e seen couples on dates at restaurants and they鈥檙e both on their phones. Leave your phone, and enjoy quality time with your friends, and family.鈥
鈥淐onnect The Dots,鈥 was the 13th lesson. 鈥淚n the absence of information, people will connect the dots in all the wrong ways, so it鈥檚 our job as leaders to connect the dots and provide context.鈥 To illustrate, Cannon showed a video of one of the most painful days of his entire career, Feb. 5, 2017. The Falcons were leading the Patriots 28 to 3 at Super Bowl LI. But the Patriots made one of the greatest comebacks in sports and won 34-28 in overtime.
鈥淚t was a painful loss to our fan base, our organization, and our players. Everybody was devastated. It was my job as the leader to provide context, both to our fans and our employees. So, we produced this video and shared its message that there鈥檚 going to be times your team wins, and times your team loses. But as upsetting as the loss was, we communicated that we would learn from it and apply the lessons to future endeavors.鈥
A lesson Cannon learned while traveling through Silicon Valley, was 14, 鈥淔ailure is Data.鈥 Cannon shared that many organizations view failure as the Boogeyman.
鈥淚f you do that, everyone will be so afraid of failure they will avoid it at all costs. They won鈥檛 stretch or innovate. But, if you view failure as data, and say, 鈥楾his doesn鈥檛 work, let鈥檚 go in a different direction,鈥 as an organization you鈥檒l be able to be flexible and pivot. No one will get it right 100% of the time.鈥
The last lesson was, 鈥淭he Glass is Always Half Full.鈥 Cannon said he is naturally optimistic.
鈥淥ur job as leaders is to bring the best out of people, and have them achieve things they may not believe they can. Recognize failure, learn the lesson, and move on to the next task.鈥
Cannon concluded his talk stating what he learned at West Point, 鈥淚t all comes down to servant- leadership. The most important aspect of leadership is my job is to humbly serve the organization. My only job when I walked those five miles every game was to fire up our team to serve them, and to help make them better.鈥
Marianne HauseCommunications & Marketing
VIRGINIA MILITARY INSTITUTE
