Servant Leader
Mom later got certified as an education specialist and served her students with a “servant’s heart,” something that Wylie says he tries to emulate as a corporate leader. “At heart, I’m a servant leader who likes to lead by example. I never ask somebody to do what I’m not willing to do. To truly lead by example, I’ve got to get out front and try something first before I ask others to follow me,” he says. When managing a large organization, he acknowledges that it is not always possible to do everything himself first. “At this level, it’s important to set a transformational vision for everyone to see,” he says. In the past two years, AEM had tremendous growth and increased revenue by 70%, so communicating transformational goals and visions can really work.
Ask Away
One other attribute that Wylie has cultivated for himself is curiosity. He believes it’s foundational for his success. “I love to ask a lot of questions. Asking questions is how we learn new things. One of the greatest skill sets I’ve learned is how to ask appropriate questions at the right time. At first, I learn how things have always been done, but then I love to question why is it done that way,” he says. “I respect the time and energy that people before me spent to develop the current way we do something, but then I want to see if we can incorporate what they did into a new, different way.” He concedes that sometimes the new way will be worse. “But sometimes it will be better,” he adds. “The key is to question every step along the way.”
The Three Virtues
In hiring the team that achieved such growth, Wylie refers to lessons he learned from a recommended book: The Ideal Team Player: How to Recognize and Cultivate the Three Essential Virtues by Patrick Lencioni. Those three virtues come down to hiring people who are humble, hungry, and smart. Wylie says, “Smart doesn’t necessarily mean hiring people who are intellectually smart, but also hiring people who are emotionally intelligent: people who understand how their actions and words can affect others.” He explains, “If someone has those three attributes, but lacks a needed skill set, I ask: Can we teach that person those skills? If the answer is yes and if we believe they will fit into our company culture, then that’s a person who’s a strong candidate.”
AEM team at HAI Heli-Expo 2023
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