I’m obsessed with the culture at United Wholesale Mortgage, there’s a magic there, a spark that fires up all the positive energy you can muster to be your best and to see your team succeed. You can feel it when you walk through the door and the hallways, I had to investigate further so I interviewed 2 of their key leaders and spent time just absorbing the culture there. Really understanding their 6 pillars, the foundation of their culture.
I have to tell you; it seems very real to me.
In the midst of all this their CEO published a book "Running the Corporate Offense
Lessons in effective leadership from the bench to the board room " I’m a little bit surprised at my level of interest in anything basketball related or any sports for that matter but I am VERY interested in the psychology behind premiere athletic performance and team coaching and how that relates to the business world
And before my automotive and non-banking related pals turn off and convince themselves that this is just the mortgage business and doesn’t apply to them – guess again and read on.
I loved every bit of this book (well almost) – here’s why: -
Tom Izzo, MI state basketball coach in the foreword starts out by saying that “Matt wasn’t born to be some sort of dominant athletic specimen, it wasn’t in his DNA “this is the story of the underdog and we all love that. Interesting to describe the CEO of the nation’s #1 Wholesale mortgage company as the underdog but there it is, a testament to his servant leadership style.
You don’t have to be a captain to be a leader – NO manager titles, no employees just team members and leaders. Daily “huddles” igniting the teams and providing focus for the day’s activities, talking about and removing barriers in a positive constructive way
Leading in the weeds – I didn’t like this when I first read it, it brought back feelings of past bosses insisting on leaders knowing every detail of every problem and micromanaging every move, disempowering the entire organization, then. I got over it and understood that Matt Ishbia has a genuine love for the details in his business , he will join a call , sit next to the underwriters and eat lunch in the cafeteria sitting next to someone new. He views the traditional communication process of filtering messages and issues through a hierarchy as time wasting and slowing down the process and I have to admit he’s right there. He holds a weekly meeting with sales leaders and over 500 account executives and he speaks directly to them, he doesn’t need a buffer.
What’s a shot clock ? I really don’t know but what I do know is that in leadership meetings at UWM each leader has 2 minutes to present their stuff (Priorities, teamwork, communications) no one is permitted to talk about past events unless it relates to improvement efforts for the future and there’s a packet of information distributed before the meeting that everyone is expected to read. I’ve wasted countless hours in my career listening to needless talk about positioning, egos, past history, blame and total bullshit, this approach cuts right through that. In addition to that type of meeting structure phones and laptops are banned in all meetings.
No meeting Thursdays – What ? this is the day to connect with people and keep a pulse on the company culture. Matt encourages all his leaders to do this and he is no exception.
This book is about the power of a positive mindset of being “on” , the is a no blame culture at UWM and a strong sense of support and family, a sense of enjoyment and pride. I think that in many corporate cultures we’ve gotten away from that.
There is no “one size fits all” it’s about providing an environment to promote growth and believe in your people. There is strong emphasis on coaching and support to do whatever it takes to allow you to succeed.
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