Dot Connector Blog

Note from Regis: This is the first post in Dot Connector’s Leadership Skills series. My goal is to bring you people who exemplify leadership styles and leadership skills needed for success.

Today’s interview is with Todd Albery, Creator of Webolutions at Quicken Loans. Todd is the guy who gets the huge, impossible projects — the ones that make you simply go “no way.” And, through his amazing perseverance, he finds a way to get them done.

In this interview, you’ll hear Todd’s thoughts on perseverance, and how you can use this essential leadership skill to launch memorable projects.

Regis: Can you give an example of a time when you had to exert a lot of perseverance?

Todd: For the past two years I’ve led a project at Quicken Loans called Quizzle. It has been an extremely exciting project – built to be a game-changer in our industry and on the web! However, like any good project, it had its share of challenges.

In the course of development…

• We lost important pieces of our development team;
• We changed the technology platform on which Quizzle was built;
• We wrote way-too-extensive “specification documents”;
• We tinkered with marketing stuff too much (Yep, I’m the marketing guy);
• We encountered some ‘late-game’ business obstacles.

With this project, we were continuously breaking new ground. We were taking a road less traveled. Sometimes there was no road. Sometimes it was dirt. Rarely were the signs clearly marked. And more than a few times, the destination changed. The project took longer than we hoped. But in the end we persevered. We ended up in a great place. And we got there because we all laced up our boots and took the journey TOGETHER, AS A TEAM!

Regis: As a leader, how do you stay motivated when a project is taking a long time (i.e. when you personally have to really persevere)?

Todd: In a long-term project it’s important to break the project up into smaller pieces so you can focus on the “Little WINS.” It’s tough sometimes when there’s no immediate end in sight, but that’s why you’ve got to take the time to IDENTIFY milestones and CELEBRATE with the team each step of the way.

Personally and professionally, my motivation and energy come from relationships. I stay motivated by building a strong tight-knit TEAM aligned with a BELIEF in a VISION and armed with a POSITIVE (can-do) ATTITUDE. Truly aligned team member will motivate each other daily.

Regis: As a leader, how do you keep others around you motivated when a project is taking a long time (i.e. when your team really has to persevere)?

Todd: There are a few things that I believe are essential to keeping a team together and motivated during a long project:

1. Build relationships: You’ve got to get to know your project team like a family.

• Get out of the office together and do things that are 100% NOT work-related. Get to know your teammates in a fun pressure-free environment. Build real relationships and memories that have nothing to do with your work project.
• Once you develop those critical personal relationships, you’ll begin to understand what makes your team members tick. You’ll learn a person’s inner passion. Then you’ll know when and where to let someone take the ball and run and they’ll create things you never dreamed possible.
• Relationships develop TRUST. Team trust is something that is critical throughout a long project. Then when tough and controversial decisions are made, you will benefit greatly from a team that trusts you and each other.

2. Create a true team: You need to create a team environment to persevere.

• Create a team that works TOGETHER towards a common goal. Create a team that is focused on doing what’s best for the business. Create a team that believes in doing the right thing and making decisions becomes much easier.
• Keep an eye out for team members who are “me focused.” If you’ve got a cancer in the “locker room,” you’ve got to deal with it. It’s best to confront a problem head-on and sooner is better than later.
• Speaking “The TRUTH in love”: be honest and kind; most people appreciate honesty when it’s delivered in a constructive manner (“in love” – for the betterment of the team). Don’t fall into the trap of believing that confrontation is bad, because it’s not. Confrontation is not only critical to moving a project forward, but it will often lead to breakthrough moments for a team.

Note from Regis: I agree that confrontation is critical to resolving issues. To be blunt, I often tell my team that if you’re not pissing people off, you’re not doing work that matters.

3. Involve your team in the vision: You must COMMUNICATE the vision with your team on a regular basis. And it’s even more important (if you can do it) to INVOLVE your team in the creation of that vision.

• Don’t be afraid to discuss business dilemmas, decisions, hurdles and challenges with your team.
• First of all, it’s always good to get out of your own shoes and get other people’s thoughts and ideas; and secondly, you’ll begin creating team ownership in the project. A project should never be just one person’s project – it should be a team project.
• Secondly, by involving the team, you automatically break down the natural blame barriers that too often plague a project and instead, you develop a truly SHARED VISION.

4. Laugh a lot: You’ve got to bring a sense of humor with you to work everyday.

• The day you lose the laughter is the day you’ll lose the ability to motivate a team long-term.
• Take your work seriously, but never take yourself too seriously.
• The trick is to keep the team focused on the task at hand, but have fun while you do it! You’ll be surprised how far daily laughter will go in keeping spirits high and the team motivated. There’s a time to strap on the helmet and get stuff done, but it can’t be all day everyday. Life’s too short to be serious all the time.

Honest disclaimer: We had a couple of added motivational benefits on the Quizzle project.

• We had the luxury of working closely with Dan Gilbert, a genius-minded business entrepreneur, who shared his vision with us throughout the project and allowed us to go BLUE SKY and DREAM BIG on this project.
• We had a group of folks on the team who believed strongly that Quizzle had the potential to be a real game-changer someday on the Internet!

Unfortunately, we don’t get these benefits on every project, but a great leader can instill belief in a vision, tap into inner passions and allow a team to dream big.

Regis: How does someone learn to persevere?

Todd: For me perseverance was ingrained since I was a kid. My parents instilled the value of never quitting, and giving things my very best shot. I was taught to look on the positive side; find the good in situations rather than dwell on the bad. I was taught to view problems as challenges. I was taught to recognize challenges as opportunities. And opportunities will often times lead to success.

When challenges are the hardest, don’t be afraid. Instead, get excited, because you have the opportunity to find creative, game-changing solutions. There’s a quote from a marketing book called “Juicing the Orange” that went something like this: “Creativity is the most economical form of competitive advantage.” Creativity can be cheap; it can also pull you out of a commodity box and can differentiate you from the rest.

Personally, I love sports. I love playing games. So when a day at work provides a good challenge, it’s like a game, a competition, and my juices start flowing. And at the end of this challenge (just like a game) you either win or lose, right? That’s exciting. So go ahead, play games at work. Embrace your challenges. Play to WIN. And with this approach, more often than not, you will… persevere.

Regis: Do you have any great quotes, books, etc. about perseverance you’d recommend?

Todd: Read any book about a company that made it big and you’ll find that there were many roadblocks along the way, challenges to overcome, and days when the future looked bleak.

A couple of my favorites are “The Google Story” and “Pour Your Heart Into it: How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time.” It wasn’t always easy, but in the end it was worth it. “The Experience Economy” is another one of my favorites. In this book you’ll also learn about the importance of creating a great experience for your clients. You’ll learn to be bold and try new things. You can’t be afraid to fail. Through failing and overcoming challenges you gain experience and wisdom.

I love A&E biographies. Listen to or read the biography of any great man or woman and you will find stories of hardship and perseverance that not only shaped their character but made them stronger.

I think a hero is an ordinary individual who finds strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.
-Christopher Reeve

Note from Regis: We can all learn a lot from Todd, and the ideas he talks about in this interview. Stay tuned for more in our Leadership Training Boot Camp series!