The Secretary Who Became CEO
I've been going to Cape Cod since I was 3 months old. My mom was born in Cambridge and grew up in Natick and spent summers on the Cape which continued as a tradition throughout my life with my family.
When I was in college I had a friend who worked at Boston based agency, Hill Holliday so I knew about them and sort of followed along over the years. I remember keeping the business card and daydreaming about owning an agency like that one day...
I came across a story published by Forbes a few years back about a receptionist that became the CEO of Hill Holliday and was inspired.
Karen Kaplan walked into Hill Holliday 32 years earlier looking for a job to pay the bills. She was hired as the receptionist.
16 positions later at the same company — she became the CEO.
Here’s a great quote from this Fortune article:
“One of the things the then-CEO said to me changed my life and my career ambitions. When I got the job, he looked at me and said, “Congratulations, you are now the face and the voice of Hill Holliday.” The face and the voice of the company should be the CEO, so I remember thinking in that moment that I was going to be the CEO of the reception desk. I was going to be the best damned receptionist in history and that’s how I approached the job. I took it really seriously. I didn’t just bide my time out there. I took it very seriously and I paid attention. It was the perfect perch to study people and get to know everybody and figure things out.”
I've always told my team to treat Richter like they own it, like it's theirs in order to make the best decisions and be a custodian for our brand.
And looking at each role the way Karen has, to be the CEO for each role is a great way to be the best you can at your role.
We can drift at times and just simply go through the motions of our roles but it's vitally important that every person, be the owner and CEO of their role in order to drive the company to the vision, mission and outcomes.
It's good for you, the company and the customer. Everyone wins.
If you're going to do anything at all -- do it at the best, highest level possible.
I've also noticed something else about many successful business people I've come across; they have been doing something for quite some time. It's hard to stay the course to continue to create your role and craft. But many of the most successful people I've met or known have been doing it for 20, 30 or 40 years. That always impresses me.
Be a professional. Be competent and be the CEO no matter what role you’re in. This is timeless advice that will always serve you well.
— Robert
About Robert Cornish: Robert Cornish founded Richter in early 2008 to build an agency focused on communication strategies that support sales growth for business to business technology-related companies. Bootstrapped with zero capital in the middle of the financial meltdown, Richter went on to make the Inc 5000 list comprised of the fastest-growing companies in America five times. Richter made the Silicon Valley Fast 50 four times and the Entrepreneur360 award two times. Robert has been featured in Bloomberg Businessweek, Selling Power Magazine, Inc Magazine and IDEA magazine. He's been a guest speaker for ACG Los Angeles, IASA Summit, West Point and been interviewed for 33Voices, EnTRUEpreneurship Podcast and IDEA Magazine by Northwood University. In 2012 Wiley & Sons published his book, What Works, about the lessons he's learned while growing his agency from start-up navigating his way to a multi-million dollar agency. Robert currently owns five companies.
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