I’m on the other side of a round table, leaning forward in my chair, trying to hear Jack Stack’s answer to my question.
It’s loud in the room. We’re in a hotel conference facility full of tables like this one, everyone seated and talking at once. It took me three days at the conference to find my way to the same table as Jack, and the topic of this particular session happened to be the one I most wanted to talk to him about: people development.
The Man Who Turned One Business Into 71
I was convinced Jack had wisdom to share about what it really takes to succeed as a business owner, because I’d seen his results. In 1983, Stack bought a struggling $10 million revenue business with 119 employees. Today that company has 12 operating businesses, more than 2,000 employees, and generates over $600 million in revenue.
On top of that, his company, SRC Holdings, has spun off 60 additional businesses that have been sold at some point over the last forty-three years. He turned one business into 71, primarily by launching new ideas rather than buying existing companies. That kind of growth isn’t possible unless you figure out how to develop people into successful business operators. Stack has essentially built a business leadership factory that doesn’t just churn out products like remanufactured engines. It churns out entrepreneurs.
The Competency Jack Left Off His List
Jack leaned forward in his chair and told me that he and his team spent years figuring out the critical components needed to develop people so they’d be ready to run a business. They drilled it down to four competencies and built their entire development plan around helping team members grow in each one: talent development, relationship building, adaptability, and strategic thinking.
My brilliant response to this share of wisdom: “That makes sense.”
Later, I’d wish I had asked about the one competency I think Jack left off his list. The way Jack built SRC, they taught everyone in the company financial literacy, whether you were an executive or the night janitor. It was the foundation of their training program and how they taught every employee to understand the business.
Jack Stack’s Five Competencies
So I’d propose a revised list. Call it Jack Stack’s five competencies of a successful business owner. You’re great at developing talent. Excellent at building relationships. Able to adapt and learn. A strong strategic thinker. And grounded in financial literacy.
If you’re considering business ownership, rate yourself on each of those competencies on a scale of one to five. If you land a four or five across the board, you’re probably ready now. If you have gaps, you at least know what to work on.
How to Close the Gaps
If you aren’t sure where to start, I asked Jack, before our table discussion ended, for his single best piece of advice for someone who wanted to build these leadership competencies. His answer was to join a nonprofit board.
That resonated with me. I’ve had some of my best learning experiences from being on nonprofit boards. One of my favorites was helping a nonprofit that worked with aspiring leaders in Kazakhstan. I helped them build an internship program where college students would come to the U.S., work inside American companies, and take Western business practices back home. That challenge forced me to build consensus, listen to what local businesses actually wanted, navigate the complexities of international work visas, and build a financial model that made the whole thing work.
A nonprofit board isn’t the only way to build these skills, though. If you need to get better at developing talent, seek out people to mentor. Read books on people development and coaching, then put those ideas to work helping someone else.
If financial literacy is your gap, choose a project that forces you to flex that muscle. You might find that inside your job, but there are plenty of ways to do it in your personal life too. I’ve had to expand my own financial literacy building a custom house, evaluating my first investment real estate purchase, and even creating my first personal budget.
If you think you want to be a business owner but don’t feel ready yet, you aren’t doing yourself any favors sitting on the sidelines. Pick the competency you rated yourself lowest on, and go find something in your life that will force you to build it.
Jack Stack named the business system he built at SRC The Great Game of Business. So if he were here, I know exactly what he’d tell you:
Get in the game.
