Throughout my career, I've had the wonderful opportunity to share the podium at many events with some of the world's most fascinating leaders and celebrities. The late Jack Welch of GE once shared his leadership insight directly after I spoke on stage about the need for speed; Roger Goodell of the NFL was the next speaker directly after my opening keynote at a sports conference; the late Carrie Fisher - Princess Leia of Star Wars - spoke about mental health issues after my opening talk at a healthcare conference; George W. Bush covered geopolitical issues after I opened up an event in Dallas with a focus on future megatrends. (The Secret Service had me wrap up my talk 15 minutes early so they could do a security sweep of the stage).
All of these instances - with both the pre-event preparation as well as my time at the event - have given me the opportunity to witness, in real-time, valuable leadership insight from some top world leaders. Much of what I have seen has become an incubator for my own insight; I try to take the time to learn from these world leaders and icons in order to continually enhance my own perspective.
And yet, I've also learned that you don't need to look only to those famous leaders, business icons, and global innovators for this type of valuable knowledge - you can simply look around you and discover it in the most unusual of places.
Such as right next door. Let me introduce you to Carter Florence, my 14-year-old neighbor, a high school student, and CEO of Yardex. You can best get an idea of his story on the latter by reading a recent newspaper about his initiative. A full PDF is here; the original article here.
And with that, 10 Leadership Lessons from a 14-Year-Old CEO.
Yardex? I dare you to take a look at the site, and then marvel at the fact that it was created by a fellow who is normally busy going through the paces of the average life of the average Grade 10 student. While it would seem most kids this age are worried about sports and high school get-togethers and social events, Carter is busy building out his business. He's CEO, after all, and has big goals, contracts to land, and customers to keep happy.
I first took notice of Carter when we moved to our new home in a new city just over a year and a half ago. Living directly next door, he often seemed busy up the street working on the yard of another neighbor. In asked his dad, Nathan, about this.
"Oh Carter?" he replied with a twinkle in his eye. "He's a capitalist."
Nathan proceeded to explain to me that when Carter wasn't working on a few neighborhood properties with his lawncare activities, he was busy minting some NFTs for resale, and was also busy managing his cryptocurrency portfolio. At the time, he was but 13.
Whoah. That was it.
That was my introduction to Carter. Nathan explained that he was somewhat driven to explore the ideas of business, earn some money, and make something of himself. Always eager to understand unique people, I found myself carefully observing how Carter went about his business, understanding that there was one of those young entrepreneurs that we often hear about. Right next door! And I caught him in the early stages of what will likely be a fascinating entrepreneurial career.
I found myself compiling in my mind a list of the unique leadership lessons I was witnessing in real-time with this young man, knowing that there would one day be valuable insight to share here in my Daily Inspiration post. And so this is what I came up with. This is what you can learn from Carter - my 10 Leadership Lessons from a 14-Year-Old CEO.
- Constantly explore new ideas and learn - relentlessly. The fact that my first introduction to this young fellow was at a time when. he was involved with NFTs and crypto and told me that we had here an inquisitive mind. That's the mindset of someone eager to learn and explore, staying out at the edge of trends to understand what they might mean. His efforts here in 2021 were before the great crypto-collapse, and I never have asked and have never heard from Carter as to how he made out with investments. But even if he took a loss, I know one thing - he learned a lot!
- Be professional right out of the gate. If you are going to try and pursue any type of business initiative, make 'professionalism' your middle name. The Yardex screams professionalism, as does the manner and attitude of Carter. When you talk with him, you come away thinking you aren't talking with a 14-year-old - you are talking with a young CEO. I think he figured out somewhere along the way that if you are going to try and do something, you've got to do it right. Simply browse the site. You'll know what I mean.
- Always listen - carefully - and soak in knowledge. One thing I've noticed is that he listens - carefully. One day I was talking with his dad about his own business and career situation, which is somewhat complex. Carter made one opening comment in our conversation - but then I noticed that he stood there, listening quietly, taking it all in. I've noticed this in other circumstances - he seems to have that unique characteristic of being a knowledge sponge through quiet listening.
- Be respectful always. Not a moment goes by that Carter doesn't remind you of his respect for the moment. Most 14-year-olds are still in that awkward stage of being trapped between childhood and manhood; the mannerisms are awkward, the conversation stilted; the demeanor skewing constantly. Not with this young fellow - he seems older than his years. Demeanor is a critical life skill - you always have to know how to master a moment, and I notice that he seems to have this unique trait.
- Never boast. As a young entrepreneur, one would think that you'd want to share your success wide and far. I understand that Carter has quite a busy summer lined up with his business this year, with contracts in place that go into five figures This is a 14-year-old - when I was that age, these types of goals were not a part of my mindset! Yet I've never seen him boast of his success; he keeps it to himself. This is a sign of the ability to internalize success; you only need to share what you need to share, when you need to share it.
- Work on your communication and presentation skills. As a 14-year-old, Carter seems to carry with him the disposition of someone older for his years - and I think he gets the importance of communication. One of the Grade 10 classes this year that drew a lot of his interest was acting class - which will be invaluable in developing the all-important skills of personal interaction. In addition, he participated in a local, and then provincial, public speaking and leadership competition. Although he didn't place at the top where he hoped to, I know he developed even more insight into the issues of communication and presentation.
- Have a plan. It's interesting to hear Carter talk about the plans for his company Web site. Right now, it's based on one of those straightforward Website-builder platforms and features the ubiquitous 'free website" banners. Yet he told me one day that his plan is to upgrade it to a fully paid version this July - I presume once he has his summer cash flow happening. This implies to me that he has in his mind a plan, a structure for moving forward. Always have a plan.
- Focus on your interaction. Carter has a blog, business cards, and a customer mailing list - all the accouterments of a significant business initiative. He has a presence on LinkedIn and other social media channels for his business; he's busy learning the modern ways of modern business. The nature of the interaction is changing, and he is busy embracing it.
- Learn to be a winner at customer service. Over the last year, Carter has done a bit of work for my wife and I. With that in mind, imagine our surprise when the doorbell rang one night last December - and there he was with a Yardex Christmas gift! It was a mug with a logo, a few wonderful chocolates, a candy cane - and a note of thanks for our business for the year. This absolutely blew my mind - where does he learn this stuff? The most important thing any business can do is to be relentlessly customer-centric - and I saw that at this very moment.
- Focus on work/life balance. Just the other day, an opportunity came up for part-time work at my golf club. They were looking for range attendants - work a few hours a day each week, and you get free golf, and I mentioned this to him. Carter explained that his plan this summer was to work four days a week - and then golf the rest of the time. Boom! He's 14 and understands the importance of work/life balance.
There's powerful stuff happening here, and valuable insight.
The thing is - leadership lessons like this are all around us. We can all take inspiration from global icons and business heroes - but often, simply by also looking at observing the successful people who surround us. Including the 14-year-old young man next door.
Oh, and one more thing.
He's a heck of a golfer.
He had a hole-in-one last year.
Magical!
Futurist Jim Carroll was too busy having fun at the age of 14 to think about building a business. He made up for it in his later years.
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