Steve Meyer’s Philosophy on Leadership Pt. 1

When it comes to leadership, perception can be everything. As someone who stands at six-foot-five and weighs 270 pounds, I’ve always been aware that my physical presence influences how people perceive me, especially as a leader. In my early years as a manager, I always tried to project intellectual strength without showing my emotions, thinking it made me appear more resolute. But over time, as my responsibilities grew and I gained experience, I realized that true leadership requires more out of a leader than a large presence and a steely exterior.

Earlier this year, I had the chance to discuss this evolution on Episode 13 of the Clockwork CIO Podcast with James Williams, where we talked about how my approach to leadership has shifted over the years. The feedback from that conversation inspired this series of articles, where I’ll share my personal philosophy on what effective leadership looks like in today’s world.

Over the next six articles, I’ll dive into key aspects of leadership that I’ve found essential during my 35+ years in the field. These lessons come from both successes and mistakes, with the aim of helping you grow as a leader and make your teams stronger, more productive, and ultimately more successful. Throughout this journey, we’ll explore:

  • Persistence
  • Authenticity
  • Continuous improvement
  • Transparency
  • Failing fast
  • Daring to dream

Lesson #1: The Power of Persistence and Perseverance

I want to start this series by focusing on perseverance because I’ve learned that talent alone doesn’t guarantee success. The world is full of talented people who underperform, while others, with fewer obvious advantages, manage to succeed through sheer determination and resilience.

Calvin Coolidge, the 30th U.S. President, famously said: 

Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan ‘Press On!’ has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”

This quote has always resonated with me. When building teams, it’s not about finding the smartest person in the room; it’s about finding those who can handle adversity, stay committed, and press on when things get tough.

I graduated from La Salle University in Philadelphia with a degree in Accounting and Finance and trained as a Certified Public Accountant. After working at both Vanguard and Coopers & Lybrand, I spent the next three decades building SEI’s Investment Manager Services division. While having a terrific alumni network is valuable, the idea that people must attend a top-tier university to achieve their goals in life is, in my opinion, beginning to lose its lustre, especially when the cost of higher education is soaring. What truly matters isn’t the name on your diploma; it’s your grit and perseverance combined with your ability and willingness to evolve.

To echo President Coolidge, persistence isn’t something you learn in a classroom – it’s something you develop through experience, from childhood on. It’s a mindset of continually moving forward, learning from your mistakes, and refusing to give up, even when the path ahead is uncertain.

Nevertheless, sometimes you’ve got to move sideways to move a company forward, or even, in some cases, take a step back. There is no straight line to success. As a CEO, I set the compass bearing to the North Star and make sure the whole team understands the direction the company is heading.

That willingness to maintain forward momentum – no matter how hard things get – takes perseverance and persistence.

The Value of Failure and Sports as a Model

One of the best places to observe persistence is in sports. Whether it’s football, basketball, or baseball, athletes constantly face setbacks, but the great ones push through them. NBA legend Michael Jordan is a prime example of this:

I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” 

I first learned about persistence at a young age, before I could even play baseball, when I realized that even the best Major League Baseball players only got on base 30-40% of the time. The great Hall of Famer Ted Williams had a career .344 batting average.

That means 65% of the time he spent at the plate, he didn’t get a hit! Baseball is a game of failure, and yet, people succeed. 

Like many kids, I was determined to learn to ride a bike, but I wanted to do it on my own. After hours of falling and getting bruised, I finally figured it out because I refused to give up. That experience taught me the essence of persistence at a young age: keep going until you succeed.

Persistence + Learning = Perseverance

Persistence on its own can be stubbornness. But when you combine it with the ability to learn from mistakes, it becomes perseverance. In business, this means understanding when to push forward and when to step back, learn, and recalibrate.

For instance, those who climb Mount Everest or any oxygen-deprived mountain know that progress isn’t linear. You must descend to acclimate before making another push to the summit. Descent is critical for ascent. The same applies to leadership. Pushing forward blindly won’t get you to your goal—you must be adaptable, learn from your experiences, and plan your next move thoughtfully.

Leadership Requires Perspective

As a leader, one of the hardest lessons I’ve learned is knowing when to step back. It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day challenges, but leadership requires a broader perspective. You must trust your team, give them the autonomy to solve problems, and focus on the bigger picture.

Leadership requires you to pick your battles so you can focus on the long-term growth objectives of your company. There’s another quote I like by Jocko Willink, a former Navy SEAL, who served on the real battlefield, that I think applies here:

That is the job of a leader; to take a step back, detach from the situation, and see the entire picture of what is unfolding. If you are in the problem, you won’t see the solution.”

One of the hardest balances for any CEO – or anyone in a leadership role – is recognizing that sometimes, in the heat of the moment, you personally cannot be involved, and that battle requires expertise from your team. Whether you’re a civilian or in the military, sometime the best way to support your team is by trusting their training and experience, and let them get on with it.

All I ask that is that my team provides me as much information as possible so that we can make the best and most informed decision on how to move the company forward. This is not always easy. As a leader, sometimes you can’t help but throw yourself in to support the team and dig into the details. But a major part of leadership is trusting your team. As a leader, you hire smart, dynamic people not to tell them what to do, but to give them support and autonomy so they can learn, flourish, grow and lead.

Leadership vs. Management

There’s a clear distinction between leadership and management. As Peter Drucker once said, “Management is doing things right. Leadership is doing the right thing.” One of my favorite books on this topic is Good to Great by Jim Collins. It illustrates that great companies succeed because of disciplined people acting with purpose and clarity.

At PPR Capital Management, Good to Great is becoming required reading for our leadership team. The lessons in that book have profoundly influenced how I view long-term success and how I aim to lead my team.

Keep Your Eyes on the North Star

Ultimately, leadership is about vision. You need to know where your North Star is and ensure your team understands it too. During my career, I say “Client. Stakeholder. Company. Team. Self.” In business, that’s the order of priority. If you lead with that in mind, everything else falls into place.

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In addition to the above, for those who want to explore this topic further, I highly recommend Angela Duckworth’s book, Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance. Like I’ve discussed here, she explains why talent isn’t the key to success – it’s grit.

Stay tuned for the next article in this series, where we’ll dive into authenticity as a cornerstone of effective leadership.

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