Posted on: September 6, 2022
Show Notes
Air Date: 9/02/2022
How can you change your leadership style for the better? Find out in this episode as Kevin Hancock, Chairman and CEO of Hancock Lumber shares how his condition has taught him a better leadership style that has led his company to success. Kevin explains how he learned of the power of listening to validate employees and making the right decisions. Despite his condition that affects his speaking, Kevin has actually taken on more speaking engagements and wrote multiple books to inspire others to think about their leadership, and the impacts it has on their business.
3:43 – Nancy and Kevin talk about their business’ successes, and how despite the length of a business’ life you always need to continue to change.
5:12 – Kevin talks about his career in the lumber industry and how he got into it in the first place.
6:30 – Kevin shares what happened to his voice in 2010, and how he has incorporated it into his leadership style and personal brand.
10:06 – Kevin talks about how despite his condition, he has been doing more public speaking than before.
14:24 – Kevin talks about how each employee is the face of your company, how to help employees prioritize their work and how Hancock Lumber is employee centric.
17:04 – Nancy shares how she treats employees at any business as an interesting person, and Kevin responds to talk about how Nancy is positively impacting the world.
19:22 – Kevin shares how impactful parenting is to children, and the meaning of human life on earth by sharing what he learned in South Dakota.
24:46 – Kevin explains a company’s mission and goals outside of profits.
27:45 – Kevin talks about his books, why he has written them and how people can find them.
32:01 – Kevin shares how his speaking, writing and involvement in Pine Ridge has played a role in the PR of Hancock Lumber.
38:30 – Kevin explains his strategy for each of his brands.
44:52 – Kevin shares what he thinks personal branding is.
47:41 – Kevin talks about how he is recovering from his condition.
50:39 – Kevin shares what in his life has impacted him and how people can get in touch.
Quote
“I think a company being profitable is very, very important, but it is not the highest mission. I’ve come to think about the profitability of our company as a really cool outcome of a higher calling. The higher calling is to honor everybody at work. When you honor everybody at work, it’s pretty much guaranteed they’re going to collectively produce exceptional results. What that really is about is the company is soaring on the wings of thriving humans at work, and the profit is the outcome. An outcome not the goal.” – Kevin Hancock, chairman and CEO of Hancock Lumber.
Links:
Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota
“Not For Sale: Finding Center in The Land of Crazy Horse” (book)
“The Seventh Power: One CEO’s Journey Into the Business of Shared Leadership” (book)
“48 Whispers: From Pine Ridge and the Northern Plains” (book)
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About the guest:
Kevin Hancock is the CEO of one of America’s oldest family businesses as well as an award-winning author and nationally recognized public speaker. Kevin is a frequent visitor to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota and an advocate of strengthening the voices of all individuals—within a company or a community —through listening, empowering and shared leadership. In addition, Kevin is the founder of a non-profit organization called The Seventh Power dedicated to advancing economic sovereignty for native communities across America. He is a graduate of Bowdoin College and lives in Maine with his wife Alison.
Established in 1848, Hancock Lumber Company is led by its 620 employees operating 12 lumberyards, three sawmills and a truss manufacturing facility in Maine and New Hampshire. The company also grows and harvests trees sustainably on 8,000 acres of timberland. Hancock Lumber is an eight-time consecutive recipient of the Maine State Council of the Society for Human Resource Management’s Best Places To Work in Maine award. The company is also a recipient of the Maine Family Business of the Year Award, the Governor’s Award for Business Excellence, and the ProSales National Dealer of the Year Award.
Looking to connect:
Email: khancock@hancocklumber.com
Websites:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-hancock-6bb0501a1/