Ron Price has worked in 10 different organizations in a variety of executive roles, including Chief Financial Officer, Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Operating Officer. Using his steep experience, he aims to help leaders discover and grow into their own potential.
Listen to the full interview of Ron Price with Adam Torres on the Mission Matters Business Podcast.
How did your leadership career begin?
Price was surrounded by entrepreneurs throughout childhood, he says: he joined his father in the family business and learned early on that entrepreneurship isn’t just about earning money, but also building strong relationships with clients and employees. Today, he explains, his primary motive is to help business leaders understand that money is best earned by embodying a set of values, being noble, and serving a purpose.
What advice would you like to give to those leaders whose priority is making money rather than serving others?
People who focus solely on their brand’s finances increase their risk of losing business, Price warns. Money is an outcome of the hard work you’ve done over the years, he explains. While money is essential, to earn it well requires paying attention to the needs of clients, maintaining a strong sense of community among employees, and staying true to the core purpose of your business.
What advice do you have for leaders that applies to entry-level employees, mid-career executives and entrepreneurs alike?
Price says leaders can influence others in positive or negative ways, and those who care about being a positive influence must first develop themselves internally.
This can occur on one of two development paths, he says: an organizational one, through which an emerging leader learns how to lead other people in an organization, helping them reach their full potential; and a technical expertise path, through which you specialize in something specific and create a new product or service that could perhaps even change the world.
Regardless of the path a leader takes, Price explains, some things remain constant: for example, the act of taking responsibility can help a person know themselves better, the act of accepting validation from others can help you recognize your own potential, and the way you invest in other people is directly proportional to the impact you leave in your wake. Reflection and celebration, he says, are two undervalued but deeply important activities to engage in along the way.
How can someone take the first step toward leadership?
Most people who want to be leaders won’t just be invited randomly by someone to step up to the plate unless they’ve made their potential known, Price says. Some people prefer to move quickly and will say yes to everything that crosses their path, while others are much more precise about each step of the path they choose. He stresses that not every single offer you receive will give you the opportunity to grow, and likewise, not every offer you decline will derail you.
You have to know yourself, he says, before you can respond to any sort of invitation with a full understanding of what it’s going to do for your career.
What minefields should leaders avoid?
With influence comes power, Price says, and power can corrupt a person quickly. He offers three key areas to focus on to avoid such a pitfall: working on your character continuously without getting too far ahead of yourself, helping other people and accepting their help as well in a circle of collaboration, and understanding what is outside of your control and refusing to let it take up too much of your attention or energy.
Tell us about Price Associates.
Price Associates was founded in 2004, and has since grown into a network of coaches, facilitators, and consultants spanning the globe.
“Our job is to help people and teams in the organizations to grow themselves,” Price says. “We provide executive coaching and events, assessments to help people know their potential and develop leadership skills... Price Associates also helps people create innovative values, products, services and create a whole new market.” Helping organizations develop and optimize strategies to weather tough times and come out ahead, he says, is a key offering of its challenge-solving services.
What types of companies do you work with?
Price Associates works with a broad range of organizations, from government and nonprofit to corporate clients in a variety of industries. The firm’s clientele ranges in size from small enterprises with ten employees to larger ones with teams of several thousand people.
What's next for Price Associates?
The Complete Leadership Community is an offering through which members gain access with an annual fee to all the content Price Associates has created since 2004. This can be helpful to people who want to develop their skills personally without fully engaging the consultancy. Membership perks include access to 700 resources, including videos, coaching, podcasts, articles, and more.
Price Associates also holds around 30 live events every year online, Price says, which members can access as well. This complete package is a refreshing departure from more traditional models, meeting the modern needs of emerging leaders who want to develop themselves and their careers in an accessible way that’s tailored specifically to their needs.
Tell us about your book coming out on Jan 4, 2022.
This is Price’s ninth book, he notes, with five published since founding Price Associates. This one focuses entirely on strategies he and his co-authors, Tim Mwololo Waema, PhD and Evans Baiya, PhD learned over the years, explained through a variety of stories and recounted experiences. It also features templates, worksheets, and exercises that help the reader build robust strategies of their own.
How can people get in touch with you?
Visit www.price-associates.com or email ron@price-associates.com. To enroll in Price Associates’ membership program, visit www.thecompleteleader.org.
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