Don Wenner: every issue in a company is a leadership issue
Richard C. Wilson spent two hours with Don Wenner, the founder of DLP Capital, and took notes. He shared them in his Billionaire Insights talk. The first one is blunt. Every problem in a company traces back to the leader.
It all rolls up
Richard's notes walk through the logic. The leader hired the person and built the training. The leader also set the KPIs and chose whether to follow up. Richard links it to a Gary Vaynerchuk idea, that the leader works for the team.
Where Wenner spends his week
Wenner told Richard his number one use of time each week is hiring new leaders and working with his top leaders. Richard says that is where Wenner gets most of his results.
A long, steady march
Richard asked what else made Wenner successful. Wenner pointed to a 20 mile march idea from Jim Collins. Richard reports nine straight years of about 60 percent growth a year. They never grew 100 percent in a year, and never grew less than 50 percent. Richard's takeaway is that the exact rate matters less than staying consistent in one niche for a long time. Wenner's niche is workforce housing.
In Richard's words
"one thing he said is that every issue in a company is a leadership issue." (Richard C. Wilson, Billionaire Insights talk)
"He says his number one investment of time every week is hiring new leaders and working with his top leaders." (Billionaire Insights talk)
"they've never grown by 100 % in a year, and they've never grown by less than 50 % in a year." (Billionaire Insights talk)
How to use this
- When something breaks, start with your own part. Look at who you hired, how they were trained and what you measured.
- Block time every week for recruiting and coaching leaders, and protect it.
- Pick a growth rate you can hit every year. A steady pace beats one big year followed by a bad one.
- Stay in one niche long enough for the compounding to show.
Questions and answers
What does Don Wenner mean by every issue is a leadership issue?
In Richard C. Wilson's notes, the leader hired the person, built the training, set the KPIs and chose whether to follow up. So any problem traces back to leadership.
How does Don Wenner spend his time?
He told Richard his top weekly time investment is hiring new leaders and working with his top leaders.
What is the 20 mile march?
It is a Jim Collins idea about steady, consistent progress. Richard says Wenner's version was about 60 percent growth a year for nine years, never above 100 percent and never below 50 percent.
Did Don Wenner write a book?
Yes. Richard mentions his book on building an elite organization and says he was reading it at the time of the talk.