Hain Celestial Group
Communicate.
“Hain Celestial is the world’s largest natural food and organic product-company. We have literally gone from zero sales and zero employees, to approximately $700 million in annual sales with 2,000 employees,” says CEO Irwin Simon.
“My most powerful leadership strategy is to communicate. I have no hidden agendas. We have four clear messages in our company: build brands, stick to strategy, have good people, and achieve financial goals.
“In my opinion, too many people hide behind e-mail as a way to avoid personal, face-to-face communication. E-mail and voice mail are the easy way out when there’s something important to talk about. They hurt communication by eliminating the need to speak to the person directly.
“Once every quarter, I visit all of our locations in the U.S., Canada, and Europe to talk to all of our employees. I tell them the good and bad in the company. I also spend a lot of time in one-on-one meetings with my direct reports.
“You can’t lead by hiding behind a computer screen. When the leader is out there on the plant floor, people know that you care.
“Don’t be afraid to be open, honest, and frank. If there is a problem, say what you think about it. It is not important that you be liked, although that’s nice; it is important that the people in your organization respect you.
“When people communicate, good ideas are heard and acted upon. The people who have the best ideas are often those who work with customers or make the product, not the executives sitting at computers in the company headquarters.
“Once, when I was visiting one of our manufacturing plants, the floor people showed me that our machines could be used to package beverages other than teas. As a result, we branched out into lattes and ciders.
“In another plant, we were making organic baby food. The manufacturing people showed me that the same machines could bottle small jars of soup, and we got the idea of selling organic soups made in the same plant.
“A balanced life is important. People have two sides to them—work and their personal life. We try to help our people have fun at work for eight hours, and live good lives at home.”