Ken Hicks, President, Chairman & CEO of Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc.
We're all familiar with the larger-than-life CEO; their picture emblazoned on the cover of gushing biographies and business magazines. Much rarer is the CEO who measures their success not in paeans published but in careers advanced.
Ken Hicks, President, Chairman & CEO of Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc., is a good example of the near oxymoron that is the egoless CEO. Academy is one of the leading full-line sporting goods and outdoor recreation retailers in the United States. With 268 stores and roughly $6 billion in sales, Hicks would be forgiven for having a healthy ego, yet he's far more likely to give credit than take it.
Before becoming CEO of Academy, Hicks was the CEO of Foot Locker. At a meeting of store directors, his last as CEO, one of the directors asked him about his proudest achievement. Hicks paused, looked out at the audience, and asked them, "Over the time I've been here, how many of you have either been promoted or have more responsibility?" When around 80% of the people raised their hand, Hicks told them, "That's what I'm proudest of, your growth and development."
In a recent conversation, Hicks told me that "when you become a leader, it's not about you anymore; it's about the organization and your people. My job is to make my people better than me, and if I can do that, then I succeeded."
Not only does this admonition feel like the right thing to do, it's also borne out by the research. Across the one million leaders who've taken Leadership IQ's test, What's Your Leadership Style?, by far the most desired leader is one who wants to learn and grow and wants everyone else on the team to do the same.
The overarching theme of Hicks' leadership approach is that it's not about the leader; it's about the people. He shared, "I tell people all the time that I don't actually do anything. My job is to make sure we have the right people, with good direction, plans and resources, but it's the people who do it. They're the ones who drive our business. If I don't show up for a day, the company will still move along fine. Leaders need to understand that the people are the ones that really make things happen."
Admittedly, it can sometimes be difficult to figure out how, specifically, to emulate a leader like Hicks. So here are three specific lessons that any leader can implement today:
Lesson #1: Nudge People To Recognize Their Accomplishments
When he leaves at the end of the day, Hicks doesn't ask insipid questions like "How's it going?"
Instead, he tells me, he asks questions like, "What'd you do today? What'd you accomplish? And do you feel good about it?" Rather than the reflexive, "Everything's fine," Hicks' questions prompt reflection. "They think about it," Hicks tells me. "When they tell me that they processed a difficult account or whatever they did, I have the opportunity to let them know that I appreciate what they accomplished and why it's important." And the benefits extend well beyond Hicks' response. As he explains, "After they leave work, they go home and say to their spouse or their friends, 'You know what? I did have a good day.'"
Lesson #2: Let Others Take Credit
Hicks tells a lot of stories, but he credits others for a great many of them. "Our CFO says" or "Our manager of such-and-such says" are common refrains for him. It's a good thing to do, of course, but it also role models ideal leadership behavior. As he visits their hundreds of stores, Hicks notes that "People see that I give them credit for this idea, and they think, 'Maybe I should also be giving people credit, congratulating and thanking them.' If that's what their leader does, then that becomes a guide for them as well."
Lesson #3: Be Willing To Get Criticized
"A leader has to be willing to get criticized for something that their people did. Even if the leader might have been able to do it better, it was an opportunity to develop their employee." Of all the lessons that Hicks shared with me, that one practice might be the most difficult one for leaders to implement. But because it's difficult to do, and thus infrequently seen out in the wilds of modern business, it's also one of the essential practices for leaders.
A recent Leadership IQ study found that only 26% of employees say that their job always enables them to learn and develop new skills. But people in jobs that job always enable them to learn and develop new skills are 177% more engaged.
Hicks' approach fosters and forces growth and skills development. "Let them make decisions," he says, "You might have made a different decision, but they will own it, and they will make it work. If a leader mandates every little thing they do, however, that leader is eventually going to fail. At some point, I can't tell people everything they need to do; they need to be able to take the initiative."
As you might expect, asking questions is a key feature of Hicks' leadership approach. "You get more from asking a question and getting people to think about the issue than you do just telling them, 'Move this or say this.' Sure, they moved it or said it, but did they learn anything? They performed a task, but that's not learning."
Not every leader will become CEO of a multi-billion dollar enterprise. But everyone, at any level, can practice the Ken Hicks approach. And who knows, by growing everyone around you, management career success might be a bit easier to come by.
