Scott Wiley has some important advice for the next generation of business leaders: Be wary of advice.
“Seek an executive coach or a group of peers rather than an ‘expert’ that peddles unsolicited advice,” Wiley said. “An effective executive coach will listen to you carefully, then pose open-ended questions to help you explore and land on a solution to your problem or dilemma. A good peer group will do this, too.
“All that said, some fundamental advice has stood the test of time. Trust yourself and your hard-earned wisdom. … Learn to make decisions without complete information. If you wait, you’re late. Do not compromise your personal and professional standards, ever. Precisely understand what it is you desire. Use the emotion stirred by the desire to fuel and propel you into action. Otherwise, you are just a dreamer. Dreamers do not become Titans or much of anything, for that matter.”
Wiley is chief executive officer of Growcentia Inc., an agricultural biotechnology company founded in 2015. Over the last two years, Wiley has reorganized the company to set it up for new markets and growth.
The reorganization included new manufacturing and research and development facilities, creating new product portfolios and distribution channels, implementing new marketing messages and building talent, skill sets and capabilities, he said. “The reorganization impacted the company and its people in positive and negative ways,” Wiley said. “Our new facilities enabled the company to develop and manufacture more products more efficiently and reduce the time from product concept to launch. Gross margins improved to industry leading levels, and new product launches accelerated. New distribution channels to new markets positioned the company into larger, faster-growing markets. A refresh of existing brands and new brands drove the creation of new marketing messages, which better communicated our company’s edge and more clearly stated what it is known for in targeted markets.”
The changes helped foster a mixture of a professional and capable organization with an entrepreneurial spirit. It also required bringing on additional employees with the right talents and skill sets, Wiley said.
“I strive to value and foster independent thought, the pursuit of knowledge and doing the right thing,” Wiley said. “These principles and values drive us to innovate, overcome failures and grow, accumulate wisdom and act with courage and integrity.
“The next five years will bring enormous challenges and changes to Growcentia. From inception through the first seven years of its history, the company focused on one market and achieved tremendous success. Nonetheless, the ultimate aim and objectives of the business require something more than that one original market.
“Far larger and more stable markets wait for the company on the other side of the transition. As a result, the company’s prospects of creating much greater value for shareholders are undoubtedly superior. So, the fundamental answer to how we plan to maintain our leadership position is to renew and reinvent ourselves. And never be afraid to do it again when the time comes.”
