Leading From The C-Suite: Michael Disney of Warrior On Five Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective C-Suite Executive

As part of our series called “Five Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective C-Suite Executive” we had the pleasure of interviewing Michael Disney.

Michael Disney began his journey in customer service and management in retail at a young age at a large sporting goods store in Baltimore, Maryland. He then moved his family to New Jersey and purchased his first business in automotive. Michael learned in these years every aspect of business ownership, the power of entrepreneurship, and the challenges it can provide.

Selling his automotive business provided him the opportunity to join Gold Medal Service as a retail manager. Michael quickly proved his skill at growing the business. He accelerated through the company to director of sales, where he managed the outside sales teams, the inside sales teams, the retail relationships as well as all the installation departments — fulfilling these sales team efforts.

Michael played a part in every function at the service company and had a key role in the sales success of the organization. After the company was sold to a private equity firm, he shortly joined the team at CEO Warrior as director and helped hundreds of companies grow and scale as an implementor and trainer.

Today, Michael leads a growing CEO Warrior team as the COO and co-owner.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive into our discussion, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory about what brought you to your specific career path?

I joined the team at Gold Medal Service in the lead generation and sales divisions and was there when our founders began this idea of coaching other companies to do what we were extremely talented at. CEO Warrior grew from that idea, and building an additional company inside of Gold Medal Service was incredibly fulfilling. We had a blast doing it. We worked tirelessly to deliver events and help people to start seeing what was possible with them and their businesses.

After Gold Medal was sold to a private equity firm, I was incredibly fortunate to continue to coach, train and manage for CEO Warrior and bring my everyday work to a company that has become my vocation. I had been director for CEO Warrior — supporting the staff and the founders to deliver the best industry content available. I was gifted some ownership from my founders and will be forever grateful for the opportunities I was provided.

Today, I sit as a shareholder and COO of CEO Warrior, and the one thing that has always kept me grounded here is the vision and values of what we do. I always knew that it was my vision and values, as well as our founders. During these times of transition, it is never more apparent to me that the vision is and will always be the driving force of CEO Warrior.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?

I have had many interesting things that run the gambit of emotion. I will tell you when I knew that my leadership was way more important to the growth and scale of a business rather than my business skills. At one point in time, I had an employee work with me as a lead generator and salesperson working in retail stores for me gathering leads (which he was exceptional at) and ultimately transitioning to sell HVAC equipment. He did well his first year and began to decline shortly thereafter.

As a manager and a savior manager as I had been called, I knew I could help him improve by working with him and doing what I did best. Unfortunately, he did not improve, and I had to run him through my process of removing him to his better future. I felt bad for him, but when I had to say goodbye, he said he was glad I was doing this. He didn’t want to let me down. That proved to me that even though I thought I knew my employees I really didn’t know and understand his “why” enough to help him get there. He left for a much better opportunity that he was passionate about, and one of my sales guys said to me “we were wondering how much patience you were going to have.” I was letting down so many by fighting hard for just one.

That day was defining to me based on the reactions and the result! The result for both him and me, to move in a greater direction to where we were headed all be it in different directions.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Do you have a story about how that was relevant in your life?

“Nobody ever wrote down a plan to be broke, fat, lazy or stupid. Those are the things that happen when you have no plan”- Larry Winget

When I started at Gold Medal Service, I became very consistent in planning the day, the week, the month, the quarter, and the year. I learned many things in my time with our founders. They taught me that there is nothing more important than the power of a plan. Today, we teach and train planning processes to everyone in our world. Implementation and execution are the challenges today, and we have a proven recipe to deliver those things to your life and business. The blueprint to success is planning the first step and every other one that leads to your target! If you can visualize it, it can happen!

Is there a particular book that made a significant impact on your leadership style? Can you share a story or an example of that?

The book, “Relentless,” by Tim Grover had an impact on me as I reflected on my trajectory in life and in my career. The biggest take away for me was “Pressure is a Privilege.” Anyone who has seen me speak or do a training knows that this is a powerful philosophy for me.

There are always moments of frustration and disconnect, at times, and you feel like you are always being handed problems. One day I snapped at one of my founders and asked in a moment of frustration “what do you want from me??” The simple reply was, “I want you to have my job one day!”

As I self-reflected with that conversation and the lessons from Tim Grover, I realized the responsibility and the privilege I had been gifted. I began to view everything different. I began to realize I needed to focus on where we were going and not the momentary challenges, we all face. The book speaks about the amazing athletes Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Dwayne Wade, and talks about the privilege they faced every day that led to their success. They embraced the pressure and that is what led to their greatest successes.

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

I think the thing that makes our company stand out is how we deliver events. We are very focused on detail and outcome.

Almost every one of our clients has come into our world through a Service Business Live event. These events transform you, but they are not motivational. That is the true difference. We look for transformation not only in our delivery but the content as well. People leave our events with ideas and strategies that for the most part are already implemented before they get home.

Our blueprint and process of planning is second to none. We teach people a way to become implementors and how to truly execute a plan with relentless focus and unstoppable passion. I have seen many clients have amazing transformations getting rid of bad habits and focusing on growth and abundance strategies at every single one of our events.

We have had in the past two years 30-plus clients exit to generational wealth running our process and building upon their foundation an operational approach to their success many never thought possible.

You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?

There are many characteristics needed to be a successful business leader, but these three examples are imperative and necessary to deliver the leadership your business needs today to be hyper successful:

1. First, and the most important, is to be visionary. People today are looking to be part of something bigger. They want a leader who articulates where we are going and has a clear investment in that vision, providing this will cause an ease of delivery. It is much easier to deliver a result when the team is aware of and knows the “why” behind the vision. Gold Medal Service had two founders that were visionary and spelled out where we were going every day and why. Their vision was delivered in hiring events, in onboarding and in everyday huddles ensuring everyone on staff knew the greater purpose and, ultimately, our brand promise to our clients and the market. Success easily follows a vision that is authentic and meaningful. There is no doubt we delivered safety and comfort to the market, and I am proud to have been a part of the vision and delivering it to a deserving marketplace.
2. Second is passion. The separator between good and great leaders and entrepreneurs is their passion about the industry and the goods and services that are provided to their clients and potential market. If you can assist in that passion by being energized in your team and in the culture, the true benefits of that passion are felt by the client and it will ensure an amazing client experience. This journey leads to a genuine attraction to your business. When I worked in a sporting goods store as a young kid, I met a ski mechanic who had a love affair with maintaining equipment, fixing equipment, and selling the perfect equipment to the customer. His passion was delivered in his craft every day. Not one set of skis ever left the shop that wasn’t perfect and could deliver on every promise made. His hard work and passion spilled over to everyone in the store. We should ensure that details are important and remember that the customer experience is only as good as what you have done today. I remember him having so much fun ensuring the work was impeccable and perfect. That made everyone take pride in us as a group and not just what we were selling. It became a mission to deliver the very best and that was never compromised by anyone. And it started with his passion and effort.
3. The third characteristic to be successful is to be a risk taker and to be a risk manager. As an entrepreneur, the one thing that separates us from our employees is the risk we are willing to take. There is no successful entrepreneur that has never failed at something. You must take risks to grow and scale in today’s market. Obviously, they should be calculated and well thought out, but they are necessary. With the speed of today’s technology, costs of product and labor, supply chain issues and all the complexities our world brings, you must take risks to stand out and present your brand in a position of power. Taking risks allows you to be ahead of the market and the competition through implementation of new ideas and technology. I saw many clients last year — when supply chain issues hit — get uncomfortable with purchasing equipment to stay out ahead of the supply chain issues. Those who took the risk of stocking equipment logically and thoughtfully saw increases in their revenue as well as profit. And those who did not saw efficiencies compromised and the costs of delivery added to each job just so they could chase equipment and serve the clients. Every day there is a level of risk management needed to be successful and those who manage it well will always succeed at a higher level.

Leadership often entails making difficult decisions or hard choices between two apparently good paths. Can you share a story with us about a hard decision or choice you had to make as a leader?

I will tell the story of a time when I made a decision that would put me in a position of leadership for the entire company and not just my staff. My founders had a handful of employees that were around for a long period of time. The OG’s if you will. Most of them had a great ability to deliver a high level to our clients.

After a few years of being at GMS, one of these employees’ performance began to fall off and, quite frankly, there were times it was just detrimental. I had given him some write-ups and had conversations with him, but the behavior did not change. I really liked this person and we had a real connection because both his wife and my daughter are deaf. But, as a leader, I knew our results mattered.

Now remember, this is one of the founders first employees and had been around for years. Everyone at the company either remembered or had been told about all the success and the ability this person brought to the table. One morning during our busy AC season, I knew today was the day to release him to his better future. I came out to the warehouse near the coffee machine and asked him to come to the office. He refused and demanded that I have a conversation in front of about 50 people. I told him I would rather do this in private but he defiantly said “no.”

So, I told him about my responsibility to everyone in the room and said that he was compromising everyone’s future with his behavior. I told him he was being asked to leave and today we would part ways. His response was I couldn’t fire him, and my response was that my integrity to my job and everyone in the company wouldn’t allow me to let him stay on the team.

The bottom line in making a what we might believe to be a difficult decision is usually exactly what you need to do for improvement on every level. From that day on, everyone treated me with a different type of respect and I could feel that I was truly viewed as the leader for the company and not just in my own departments.

Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. Most of our readers — in fact, most people — think they have a pretty good idea of what a C-Suite executive does. But in just a few words can you explain what a C-Level executive does that is different from the responsibilities of other leaders?

The main difference between C-suite and other leaders in a company is they typically are out of the day to day. They spend most of their time coordinating with management to maintain performance and most of their time is looking at strategic ways to improve and change the current process. They are always looking for true business evolution that will allow them to efficiently achieve their desired outcome and over deliver their targets to the company.

What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a C-Suite executive? Can you explain what you mean?

The first myth is that you need to be highly educated with an elevated degree. But not everyone in the C-Suite has a higher education under their belt. You can get to the C-Suite with deep institutional knowledge, understanding of the direction the business is headed and an ability to hire and cultivate quality people that do amazing work.

The second is the belief that the C-Suite is only “death by meetings.” Yes, there is opportunity to be in more meetings, but this is the executive’s opportunity to grow and scale through strategy. Having true collaboration takes meetings and time to coordinate the actions needed.

The third thing you should know is that hard work alone won’t get you there. You have to be strategic; you have to be valuable, you must be well-rounded in all aspects of the company and you have to allow and embrace change.

What are the most common leadership mistakes you have seen C-Suite leaders make when they start leading a new team? What can be done to avoid those errors?

This is a challenging question. I have seen executives try to create their culture when the one they joined is already dialed in and delivering and may just need some subtle changes. Watching someone come in and try to make a grand entrance to a company can be a distraction from the good work being done. Sometimes putting your stamp on things that are delivering is counterproductive. New teams need to be understood and you need to take the current staff and really dissect what they are doing and become a true part of the support staff to help them get to our vision easier.

In your experience, which aspect of running a company tends to be most underestimated? Can you explain or give an example?

I think optimization of the system and processes is the one thing every company should be focused on. If we could just do what we are doing better, the results can be easy. The worst thing I hear from clients is, “that is how we have always done it.” That usually means they are starving for a new way or new method. Not enough companies are utilizing time to improve the quality and efficiency of how they are delivering on our promises to their clients. Most companies are doing tasks that bring zero value to the company or the client because of routine and habit. The singular underestimated way to improve your company in every way is to optimize systems and processes and remove those that bring no value to anyone.

Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “Five Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective C-Suite Executive”? If you can, please share a story or an example for each.

1. Strategic Vision — I believe you must be able to develop and believe in the vision of the company and be the cheerleader for that vision at every turn. Ensuring everyone knows where the company is going and why allows you to serve the right employees and the right clients. This makes for an ease of operations, growth and scale. I believe this to be the most important.
2. Emotional Intelligence — Your ability to recognize your emotions is something that is an everyday focus. I come to this as a very emotional person, and ensuring that I control and leverage opportunities from a great place is super important. Being able to influence others’ emotions around you allow for a very deliberate work environment. Challenges will happen and things will seem catastrophic at times, but having emotional intelligence will allow you to navigate storms and people will follow your leadership through its control.
3. Communication — You must be articulate and able to communicate on every level. In today’s world of technology and with all the methods of communication, you need to be able to soundly communicate with your team. I am also a believer that communicating with a sense of urgency and purpose define the strength of the leader. Your team will deliver at a higher rate with effective communication.
4. Data Driven — In business, data is the currency of the future. You must bring data to every decision you make. As a leader in your company, understanding how to leverage and inject data into everything is so important. It really falls back on optimization and making things better. We all have desired outcomes in our business, and historical data shows what works or how effectively something works. It is imperative that we become saturated in the data of our business and use our skills to formulate action plans based off of data.
5. Flexibility — In this ever-changing world, we need to be able to move and groove. You have to be flexible today. You must embrace change and find perfect times to inject new ideas and change quickly and effectively. Technology will not allow us to be successful if we are not flexible. We need to be open to new ideas and willing to allow people to have a voice when it can improve our business. The speed of business today and the markets demand for information do not allow us to be in a world of forever consistency. We have to adapt to the environment we are dealt, and being a flexible leader for our employees complexities or for our clients demands will allow there to be a better culture and a more engaged client.

In your opinion, what are a few ways that executives can help to create a fantastic work culture? Can you share a story or an example?

I think the obvious things, such as compensating your people well, training them well and providing them with an opportunity that they would not have outside of your organization are important. Having everyone say “our” company when they talk about CEO Warrior is important because they believe they are part of something greater than the work and that they belong to a family of like-minded people delivering amazing work every day. This provides a greater connection and everything else becomes easier.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

I grew up in a family where my father was giving of his time especially with charities like Catholic Charities and a soup kitchen in Baltimore called Our Daily Bread. I spent some weekends with my father working in the kitchen and serving homeless people in Baltimore. Watching people do such hard work that means so much was impactful. These people deserve the world for their vocations. My father blessed my family with a foundation of serving, and I am incredibly proud of that.

I would want a movement that supports these amazing people who are doing work most of us would never do. Feeding people and making them comfortable is an amazing thing to do. There is such a great need for support for families and other individuals with food. Supporting these organizations with the donations and volunteers they need so they can help these people would stay true to my father’s charity work. That would be my movement.

How can our readers further follow you online?

People can always communicate with me via email at miked@ceowarrior.com Please also visit our website at https://ceowarrior.com/, where you can learn some amazing information or, follow me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/michael.disney.71. Finally, you can call me at 732–390–3755.

Thank you for the time you spent sharing these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!

About the Interviewer: Douglas E. Noll, JD, MA was born nearly blind, crippled with club feet, partially deaf, and left-handed. He overcame all of these obstacles to become a successful civil trial lawyer. In 2000, he abandoned his law practice to become a peacemaker. His calling is to serve humanity, and he executes his calling at many levels. He is an award-winning author, teacher, and trainer. He is a highly experienced mediator. Doug’s work carries him from international work to helping people resolve deep interpersonal and ideological conflicts. Doug teaches his innovative de-escalation skill that calms any angry person in 90 seconds or less. With Laurel Kaufer, Doug founded Prison of Peace in 2009. The Prison of Peace project trains life and long terms incarcerated people to be powerful peacemakers and mediators. He has been deeply moved by inmates who have learned and applied deep, empathic listening skills, leadership skills, and problem-solving skills to reduce violence in their prison communities. Their dedication to learning, improving, and serving their communities motivates him to expand the principles of Prison of Peace so that every human wanting to learn the skills of peace may do so. Doug’s awards include California Lawyer Magazine Lawyer of the Year, Best Lawyers in America Lawyer of the Year, Purpose Prize Fellow, International Academy of Mediators Syd Leezak Award of Excellence, National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals Neutral of the Year. His four books have won a number of awards and commendations. Doug’s podcast, Listen With Leaders, is now accepting guests. Click on this link to learn more and apply.