Leading From The C-Suite: Atlas CEO Jim McCoy's Interview on Leadership and Global Workforce Management with Authority Magazine
Atlas CEO Jim McCoy, a seasoned leader with over 20 years of experience in financial services and human capital management, met with Authority Magazine’s Doug Noll. Here are some of the key takeaways from his interview about being a highly effectve C-suite executive:
1. You don’t need to invent everything
As a continual learner, McCoy likes to study other industries and understand what makes them successful. While primarily working in B2B, he studies B2C techniques and borrows liberally from them.
2. Client satisfaction is directly correlated to employee satisfaction
He has found almost a 1:1 relationship between employee net promoter scores and client net promoter scores. The more you do as a leader to engage people through talent planning and development, the more your clients will feel the positive outcomes.
3. You must provide psychological safety
There is no reward without taking some risk, so as CEO you must provide a safe space for employees to take risks. This means providing an environment where you celebrate wins together, and learn quickly but also move on quickly from things that don’t work.
4. Share as much as you can
While there is some information that you can’t share, McCoy likes to err on the side of sharing as much as possible with his team and with his clients. He’s regularly amazed by the ingenuity that comes from his team, and even more so by his clients, who will do anything to help Atlas' business succeed.
5. Your brand is “experienced,” not “told”
So many organizations get hung up on strategy work and brand building, when in reality, what your clients experience becomes your brand. In the case of Atlas, it is a sense of ownership over the total employment experience, deep subject matter expertise throughout the world and an advisory capability that rivals the biggest consultancies in breadth and wisdom.
What Does McCoy Love Most About Atlas?
For him, Atlas providing economic opportunites for people who otherwise might not have had access is the one thing he loves most. The democratization of work through virtual work models like Atlas’ has the power to change entire communities.