Leadership (Series Kick-Off)

"People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care."  Bill had a number of bosses that trained him to be a great boss: Dance-with-who-brought-ya Charlie, Donnie Lucas, Drew Bierds, Lou Maspero, Bill Reed, Jim Ringler, and Mr. Wilson of WilsonArt.  Here are some bullet-point take-aways:

• Bill DiGaetano quit school and laid flooring to feed a starving family.
• A fortuitous resume forwarded from a job Bill missed landed him a career in laminates.
• Bill was willing to follow corporate redirections through Detroit, Philadephia, and Temple, Texas.
• The number one influencers in a persons life are their mother and father, who teach how to treat people - men and women - properly.
• Integrity is your top asset - look people in the eye and walk a path with them.
• Top management is most accountable.  Bark lower, bite upper.
• Use demonstrative, exaggerative and GRANDIOSE behavior to make a point.
• Make decisions with your head, heart, and gut.
• Value culture.  Trust your people.
• Leaders must give up the individual orchestra instrument and take up the conductor's wand.
• When making workforce reductions, be honest and communicate with soft touch - you're still going to see them at the grocery store.
• Inspire with empathy, humility, and kindness.  Have a strong ego, but not self-centered.
• Company projects fail primarily on communication.
• Insincerity does not command a price.
• Avoid complacency with tradition or positive profits. Guidelines were made to be broken.
• Everyone gets a nickname.

Today, Bill "Moochie" DiGaetano and his son operate a franchise of the Alamo Drafthouse in Dallas.