Gregory Craig, Inupiat Energy

Greg Craig, CEO of Inupiat Energy company, was a very interesting guy. Full of energy. Very much an extrovert. Straightforward. Did not mince words at all when it came to opinions about certain political figures. Went to high school with Sarah Palin. He also served on President’s export council during the Clinton administration and he said the following about Bill Clinton, which I found fascinating: “One of the smartest guys I have ever met. Best listener. Totally engaged in every conversation.” What does this tell me about being a good leader? Ability to listen…really listen…and being truly engaged in conversations and making others feel listened to and engaged is…an ability that is a must-have for all leaders. Greg could not find a job he wanted out of UCLA Anderson because of ’88 crash but he started his own company and has done really well for himself since then. He became an entrepreneur since  and he gave us leadership points during his talk, especially from entrepreneurs perspective, and here they are.

A) Think BIG. Start BIG.

B) Put all your eggs in one basket, when you don’t have much. (Can’t do this when you have a lot. When you are a big company or have a lot to lose, diversify)

C) Oversimplify everything. (Every good entrepreneurs do this.)

D) Listen to everyone for data. But do your thing.

E) Take ACTION whenever you can. ACT Decisively.

F) Have an edge in business.

G) Do one thing really well at really low cost.

H) Every great leader: great listener.

I) Know who you are and be that and surround you with others who complement you.

J) Have fun. Try as hard as you can.

K) Treat everybody well.

L) Leader is a merchant of hope. (for all employees and for customers)

M) Arrogance kills everything. Arrogance is terrible. Just terrible.

N) If you succeed too much, someone will get pissed off. (referring to Enron’s hostile take-over attempt at his company.)

      

One common advice that I found from both Jim Morris and Greg Craig is that when you are a leader, you should surround yourself with people who have complementary skills to your skills. Greg said that his early company was successful because he found a business partner who complemented him. Greg’s partner was a Swedish man who was very conservative whereas he was not and this combination really kept them out of extremes and made them successful. Ability to find such people who complement you begins with self-awareness, knowing your strengths and weaknesses and finding ways or people to deal with weaknesses.