Hi Reader,

Before we analyze how two radically different cultures can both be successful, I want you to understand just how dramatically different they really were.

The Miami Company

On Monday, I Introduced the Miami Company in Can You Build a Successful Company in a Toxic Environment?​

From the many movies about the Roman Empire, you probably recall a toga-clad, sweat-drenched galleon driver pounding out a cadence of “ramming speed” with a wooden mallet.

That's the cadence you lived in at the Miami Company.

The company showed no obeisance whatsoever to any concept of structure or chain-of-command organization.

The chairman slurped a workaholic tonic that abused everyone in sight, brooked little disagreement and intimidated employees, customers and vendors with equal disdain.

Typewriter broken? So What?

His miserly ways were never more visible than the occasion on which he lost his patience hearing about the infamous typewriter (remember those?) that wouldn’t stay fixed.

It's understandable if you're asking why the Chairman was involved in a simple replacement like that?

Answer: Every other executive was afraid to be anywhere near such an extravagant purchase.

On this occasion, I pointed out to the Chairman that among the symptoms of this possessed typing machine was that the letter "L" was irretrievably broken.

His response?

And he walked away. A small smile may have appeared on his face, but he was gone too quickly to be sure.

It sure brought a smile to my face! Was he kidding?

What to do about it?

My relationship with him had been getting stronger so I decided to take my shot and respond to a customer inquiry with a letter with words that did NOT include the letter "L".

I may have exaggerated a bit, picking awkward words that didn't require that letter because I thought I had a chance to elicit a more reasonable response in private.

I went into his office the next day and showed him the letter.

He read it and said he thought there were several words that didn't make sense.

When I explained it was because the typewriter didn't have the letter "L", he actually smiled.

I walked out of his office.

The next day we bought a new typewriter.

The Midwest Company — My Next Step

After I left the Miami Company – that's a story for another time – the lead banker for the Miami Company recommended me for a newly-established position at the Midwest Company where he was also the lead banker.

He explained that the Midwest Company's plan for rapid expansion was ambitious and that the company needed a financial leader without which the banks would not provide the required financing.

We had moved to California by then, so I traveled to meet each of the three owners who were then in different places — from California to — New York — St.Louis — Fort Lauderdale — and back.

Nicer guys you couldn't find.

Ultimately, the Midwest Company hired me for my first CFO gig following the Neanderthal regime I just described. (Did I know what I was doing in that role when I started? (Truth? Not really.)

When I joined the company, it employed maybe a dozen people, doing about $5 million in annual revenue.

Less than six years later, we had hundreds of employees on every continent and our revenues were approaching $150 million.

My Transformation from the Gulag

The Chairman of Midwest Company was the antithesis of the dictator that preceded him in my professional life.

He deftly used the strategy of MBWA - Management by Walking Around - without knowing there was such a school of thought.

He was an extraordinary leader who built a fast-growing company at a time when you could get a toehold and a lot of leverage with a $1,000 at risk.

He passed away in 2009 but he was a true friend, mentor and leader … and a polar opposite of the CEO aforementioned.

Thankfully, his genuine humanity rescued me.

I was not even 30 and had subconsciously adopted some sharp-edged habits from the survivalist camp known as the Miami Company.

Without trying, his natural demeanor helped me to smooth some of those edges.

Yeh, I know some of you will say "not enough" — but to you I say ....!

Find the need — and Fill It

If in his "walking around", he uncovered an employee with a personal problem of any type, they’d find themselves in his office almost immediately.

If it helped solve the problem, they would walk out of there with his personal check to remedy the situation — with no expectation of repayment, no connection to performance appraisals or promotion.

Just a simple, honest connection to people and their humanity.

He didn’t try to be liked, but he was beloved just the same.

He didn’t try to buy loyalty … but built a team that would knock down walls for him.

Nobody resented his lifelong desire to own a Rolls Royce because if you needed a car, he’d loan it to you no differently than if it was an old jalopy.

In almost six years of intense business building, I only saw him lose his temper once — and for good reason — and it was resolved before the sun set that very day.

What a contrast in my first 2 jobs in private industry

I had now worked in two highly successful companies that couldn't have been more different.

Few business executives have served under such markedly different leaders in back-to-back roles as I did — and there are powerful lessons to be taken from these radically different organizations.

One was driven largely by fear.

The other by respect.

Both produced extraordinary results.

But the similarities ended there.

Do these vastly different cultures have anything in common?

Over the years, I've learned that there are at least four common characteristics among cultures that support superior results.

More importantly, I've learned that outstanding results can be achieved in a respectful culture just as readily as in a hurried, fear-driven one—without sacrificing the performance shareholders expect.

That's where we'll focus our attention next week.

Question: What is the defining feature of the greatest culture you ever worked in? What about the worst?