Stuart Earl on Investment and High-Performance Teams

On April 13, 1970, NASA’s Mission Control Center in Houston, Texas, heard the now-immortal words, “Houston, we have a problem.” 56 hours into Apollo 13’s flight, an oxygen tank explosion crippled the spacecraft, interrupting the mission. The phrase, attributed to astronaut Jim Lovell, marked the start of a life-or-death struggle to safely return Lovell, Fred Haise, and Jack Swigert to Earth.

The Apollo 13 mission would end with all astronauts landing safely back on terra firma on April 17, 1970. Without the high-performance teams of NASA engineers, mission controllers, and astronauts working in concert, the ending of the Apollo 13 story would have been very different.

The key success factors that allowed the team to deal with the challenge were clearheaded leadership, effective problem-solving, innovative thinking, collaboration, clear communication and unwavering focus. 

These are factors that will allow a hands-on investor to provide not only capital but also guidance to ensure that an organization has a competitive advantage. Investors may not be astronauts, but they certainly are high flyers, and they need the focus that experience brings to get the most out of their investments.  

Stuart Earl, investor, entrepreneur, innovation expert and Managing Director of Stuart Management Co. believes that success has three ingredients: focus, consistency and discipline – and being willing to go that extra mile. 

“Being an investor means that you are presented with complex challenges each day. Success lies in overcoming your doubts and consistently doing the work others won’t while remaining agile and learning from those that have gone before you.”

“As a sniper team leader in the Australian Army, I learned that high-performance teams can be the difference between success and failure. 

“The same applies to business. Two similar businesses can operate side by side, but if one has a high-performing team, strong culture, innovative and focused members, and solid leadership, it will outcompete the other. Investors need to focus on these issues, as well as the dollars and cents when they evaluate a company.”

Business as a Battleground

According to Stuart one of the advantages that military personnel have on the battlefield is that each member of a team has been through the same conditioning. Each individual is aware of a common mission and is clear on the strategy and tactics that will be employed to achieve that goal, as well as the part they have to play. Each member then commits with unwavering support to the mission – something organizations can often struggle with –  by playing their part to achieve the goal. 

“I’ve applied these lessons across every company I’ve advised, prioritizing team-building to enhance performance in competitive environments. Empowering teams drives significant results. In a recent acquisition, I partnered with a leadership team that had missed an earlier opportunity due to flaws in their sales process. We formed a new team to optimize the front end of the customer journey, improving interactions and cutting inefficiencies. This initiative generated $8 million in additional revenue over 18 months, illustrating how high-performing teams that resolve customer pain points and boost efficiency create a competitive advantage.”

“Leaders need to emphasize the mission, and it’s not a one-off exercise. It needs to be unwrapped and communicated regularly to team members in a way that makes sense to them in the context of their role. Each member of the team, regardless of position, has to know how their daily actions contribute to the mission and therefore how vital they are to the success of the organization. By being so focused on this element, individuals get the benefit or personal and professional growth by being pushed to achieve, above what they thought possible, and with that lies opportunity. Team members that excel in high performance environments become the future leaders of the organization.  If you’re an investor, you need to make sure that your management team is committed to building high-performance teams, and have a structured plan to make it happen.”

Stuart stresses that a clear goal is essential for any team to outperform the competition, and progress toward that goal needs to be measured.

“One of the most important quotes I’ve ever come across was by Peter Drucker; “You can’t manage what you can’t measure. The mission is important, but it’s also about measuring the results of initiatives and ensuring the right outputs. Leaders need to make sure that people understand their contribution to success and be able to track their contribution to successful business outcomes.”

The Talent Challenge

Measurement is essential for any organization to hone its success factors, and make adjustments to processes to ensure that success can be repeated. However, even the best formula, based on a clear and achievable set of objectives needs the right people to implement tactics that contribute to success.

Adding to the complexity of the team success equation is that a chain is only as good as its weakest link. Buy-in to a strategy from all levels of the organization is essential, and for that, you need to instill a set of shared values.

According to Stuart Earl that can depend on identifying the right talent.

“You can have a team where every member buys into the strategy and mission, but if they don’t share a corporate value system they’re going to do immeasurable harm to the corporate brand. Values are the foundation of any focused business and if the organization can’t agree on its value system, it’s going to struggle. I’ve seen it time and again. In essence, the corporate value system informs the ‘how’ we do what we do by highlighting the behaviors every member of the team should display. “

“A set of clear, concise and actionable values is part and parcel of getting the most out of any team. Investors need to look very closely at the value system of any organization. Without a clear value system as a framework, your team can’t deliver – and they certainly won’t be pulling in the same direction.”

The lessons about teamwork that Stuart has learned as a military leader,  avid investor and Managing Director include one that he is particularly passionate about, leadership.

“Even with the best leaders and top talent, if leadership doesn’t lead by example, there will be a disconnect. When team members buy into core values, but executives follow different ones, this disconnect almost always leads to poor team performance. Leaders need to know that the buck stops with them.”

Triage

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, triage is ‘the sorting of and allocation of treatment to patients, especially in battle.’ It’s an approach that saves lives, and according to Stuart, a similar approach to optimizing employee contributions will pay dividends for any organization.

Stuart says, “I follow Gary Vaynerchuk’s approach: ‘Hire fast. Fire faster. Promote fastest.’ He advocates for quick execution, disrupting the status quo, and eliminating what doesn’t work. This applies to all business aspects. Mistakes in hiring can be fixed, but ignoring the issue only makes it worse. If someone isn’t the right fit, for the role, the team or the organization, make changes quickly.”

Collaboration and Confidence

Teams work due to the varied experiences of their members bringing a diversity of thought and skills that are focused on problem solving and achieving outcomes. That experience includes their personal history and their professional experience. However, each employee will have strengths and weaknesses, and having the organizational capability to empower them to grow through coaching and development is vitally important.

Stuart believes that collaboration is at the heart of exceptional team performance, and it can also help in the search for uniquely creative solutions to business challenges.

“Leaders lead by example. If a CEO wants the best from their team, they must go the extra mile to ensure team members are heard. True collaboration involves more than an ‘open door’ policy; employees need to trust their leaders. Team members are usually a lot closer to the problems and customer experience than executives so getting feedback  to solve issues can prove highly valuable. This means listening carefully and empowering creativity, which can lead to some of the most disruptive and profitable ideas.”

Stuart Earl investor, entrepreneur and innovation expert has transformed a diverse portfolio of investments into a focused vehicle to deliver exceptional value. Learn more about his unique approach to driving business value and exceptional ROI on his website.