From President to CEO | Step One: The Self Survey
“Self-awareness is our capacity to stand apart from ourselves and examine our thinking, our motives, our history, our scripts, our actions, and our habits and tendencies.” ~ Stephen Covey
Self-awareness. It’s a common trait among successful leaders. Leaders who practice self-awareness engage in the active pursuit of a deeper understanding of themselves by:
Seeking out constructive feedback from a variety of trusted resources
Understanding and examining their strengths and weaknesses
Keeping an open mind by staying curious
Practicing mindfulness
Following their values
These are all key elements I would use to describe Jason DeFranco as a leader. People may not always see it, but as his professional confidant and sounding board, I know firsthand that he is constantly questioning himself. He habitually self-evaluates and consistently seeks out ways to improve and build on his leadership abilities.
In fact, he was in self-evaluation mode just this morning in my office.
I watched him as he paced the floor in front of me - thinking, bouncing ideas against the walls of my office, listening to my words and suggestions, agreeing, disagreeing, playing devil’s advocate with me, and asking for my input while also forcing me to think better and harder about what we were discussing.
To know Jason is to know his pacing. Jason is intentional about everything he does - including the pattern, speed, and intensity at which he paces. This morning’s pacing had a rhythm that told me something was in the works, and he was about to make it happen.
His words were like a controlled stream of consciousness housed in a plan he was actively crafting and fully intending to execute. He spoke about many things this morning, including the general lack of critical thinking in the world today. He wanted to solve the problem. But how? How was he going to fix it? How was he going to teach his army to think about things critically and differently so that he could take them to the next level? When he left my office, I smiled.
Something extraordinary was about to happen.
This is the Jason DeFranco I’ve come to know, and this is not a rare occurrence. It’s also not something that everyone gets to see- this mad scientist-like approach to problem-solving and brainstorming - but it’s something that happens frequently.
A glimpse into Jason DeFranco's strategic planning and thought-process.
When Jason asked me to put him on an Employee Development Plan to become Chief Executive Officer, I was anxious to review his Self Survey submission. The Self Survey is the first step in our Employee Development Plan. It provides the employee with a chance for self-reflection on their time with the organization. I have read countless self-surveys, and I truly enjoy reading them because they give me incredible insight into the individual as they begin to craft their own story here at Team Solutions. I learn something new with every survey I read. I gain an appreciation for the employee’s point of view, and I appreciate being reminded of what they’ve accomplished since starting with TSD. As a TSD leader, I also find it critical to examine the challenges my employees face along the way and conduct an analysis of why these challenges might exist and how best to address them collectively.
Self Surveys are always an interesting and enlightening read from the employee perspective. Jason’s submission was no different.
When it came to Jason identifying the 3-5 highest priorities of his job as he understood them, there were no real surprises:
Set the tone regarding culture, policies, and methods.
Guide the people when it comes to training, development, and the selection of specialty roles
Make the tough calls. This includes solving unsolvable problems, planning for unknown futures, and beginning and ending new initiatives and projects.
This was all consistent with what I had seen of Jason since starting with the company in July of 2020.
When asked about his greatest accomplishments, Jason mentioned quite a few. This is always a satisfying piece to read as an HR professional. It inspires me when people know what they bring to the table. There is a quiet confidence that comes with knowing exactly who you are, what your skill set is, what you do well, and where you still need to grow. That level of self-awareness is powerful and can change the world. And when it comes to leadership? That quality can leave a lasting impact on those around you - giving them the confidence to know, without a doubt, that they are in good hands. Among other accomplishments, Jason openly acknowledged that he “held the company together when all internal and external forces could have torn it apart.”
As I read that line, I couldn’t help but think that this was the mark of a true leader. It’s no secret that Team Solutions went through a difficult time over the past year. Jason has been transparently vocal about it - both in person and on social media. When others advised him to stay quiet about it - that the truth might scare his employees - he bet on his employees and opened up to them about everything.
Between external forces outside of our control and an onslaught of internal forces that blindsided us, the company was certainly put through its paces.
Jason led the company through it and, as a result, we find ourselves comfortably on the other side of it all - stronger and wiser because of it. Looking back, Jason’s insistence on staying the course and continuing to make tough decisions for the betterment of the organization truly paid off.
Employee morale is up. Profits are up. Workflow is more efficient than ever, and groundbreaking innovation is happening. In fact, TSD has rolled out two new, innovative, and progressive initiatives this year that once again prove that Team Solutions is both an industry leader and more than a lab.
And we won’t be stopping there.
2023 is the year of turning our vision into reality, and we are poised to execute these initiatives to our fullest potential.
One of Jason’s answers in the Self Survey really stood out to me because it was unexpected.
The question was, “What have you struggled with the most over the past year?” His words stopped me in my tracks:
“Whether I actually want to do this anymore.”
Wait. What?
I continued to read.
“I had a clear vision of what I wanted 3-5 years ago, and mathematically, all my goals were accomplished. But the essence of those things, the cost personally and professionally, the realization that I could never have the company I want because people cannot be counted on nearly crushed my spirit.”
There it was. That vulnerability I respect so much in leadership. Vulnerability is powerful. But vulnerability combined with strength and resilience is magical. Reading how Jason had felt defeated to the point where he questioned whether or not he wanted to continue was applause-worthy vulnerability by any standard. But witnessing the strength and resilience it took to stay focused and press on despite his personal struggle with his own damaged spirit, making the tough and sometimes unpopular decisions, all while continuing to move the organization forward, was magical.
He continued with his responses to additional questions along the same line, sharing other factors that had impacted his job in the past year:
“Covid, a collective diminished work ethic, being let down over and over and over by people I trusted. I have struggled with diminished energy, a weaker state of health, fatigue, and exhaustion, undeniably tied to the frustration and depression of having people unable or unwilling to execute my vision or outright sabotage our attempts to execute the vision”
Wow. As a Human Resources Director, I had felt all of this deeply. I, too, was fatigued, exhausted, and frustrated by the past 2-3 years. I had questioned whether or not I wanted to stay in Human Resources and had gone home many nights after tough days and cried from exhaustion and frustration. Between the added HR burden and stress that managing Covid had brought to the business world and the changing landscape in recruiting, I was questioning whether or not I was in the right line of work.
For the first time in a career that I loved, I was being verbally abused by applicants who didn’t get the job they wanted (I’ll spare you the details). Like so many others in my profession, I was also facing an unprecedented barrage of new social trends like “The Great Resignation,” “Quiet Quitting,” “Bare Minimum Mondays,” and other fancy phrases to describe what we used to call apathy and laziness. It was one thing to read about these trends. It was quite another to experience them firsthand. My days were often filled with frustration and feeling like giving up. It never occurred to me that Jason might be feeling the same way.
The survey then asked Jason to describe his greatest contribution to the organization, to which he responded, “Maintaining a focus on values and culture and, more recently, building the expectation of achievement from all members. Choosing a direction when others cannot and moving in the direction so that everyone sees it is real.”
As any business goes through challenges - both internal and external - staying true to its core values and culture is imperative. After all, it’s the business version of staying true to yourself. Over the past year, Jason was able to bring the focus back to the TSD Values and Culture - reminding the team of what makes us great. This meant it was time to recognize that the stressors and ripple effect of Covid had caused us to unintentionally lower our standards. Once we recognized this, we raised the bar back where it belonged. This meant removing those employees who would not or could not meet those standards. It also meant recognizing and quickly rewarding and/or promoting those employees who exceeded them.
And for those wishing to join our organization? It would not be easy. We worked diligently on strengthening our barrier to entry. We overhauled our recruiting methods. We dug our heels into our organizational principles and our depth of conviction. We refused to cater to a social climate that delivered qualities and characteristics that would weaken our organization. Applicants would have to show us they deserved to be here. And many have!
In one year’s time, Jason’s self-survey tells us that he would like to see himself as the first Chief Executive Officer of Team Solutions Dental with a three-person Executive Team as an extension of his role. In his responses, he gives fair warning: “I’m going to be louder, faster, more aggressive, and people need to be told that this is a good thing - for them!”
But becoming a CEO is no easy feat. Sure. Jason could just call himself a CEO and be done with it. No one here would dispute the decision because without understanding the distinction between President and CEO, many employees already view him as occupying this role. But, he isn’t about to allow himself to take the easy road while expecting hard work and excellence from his employees.
So…will he do it? If so, how? And when? And the question remains - who will he choose to sit at the table beside him as the company’s first-ever C-Suite Executives?
Stay with us as we continue this Team Solutions exclusive series following Jason DeFranco’s professional journey from President to Chief Executive Officer.
