Annapolis graduate Dennis Haley served along a nuclear powered cruiser during his Navy service before growing his small HVAC company into one of the top outfits in the Delaware Valley. He sold it to a public utility after 25 years and stayed on to help with the transition, but quickly learned there was something lacking with the company’s leadership.
That gave him the idea for Academy Leadership, a Philadelphia-based company formed by Haley and other Service Academy graduates who have managed to harness the results-driven methods of the military and apply them to the business world.
“Most businesses effectively teach people technical things, but for some reason they haven’t seen the need to do leadership training within their organization,” says Haley.
Haley says poor leadership can lead to high turnover. He cites the No. 1 reason for people leaving their jobs–immediate supervisor is incompetent–as evidence.
Academy Leadership spent $500,000 in its first few years developing curriculum and materials. The rest of the company’s efforts were spent on getting the word out on leadership training’s value. Ninety percent of the clients Haley’s company works with haven’t had any leadersehip training. The company offers an intensive, three-day leadership boot camp on site or at the company’s location, as well as a more comprehensive, months-long program within a company’s headquarters.
Haley says leadership is about influence, not decisions, and building a style with character. He cites Proctor & Gamble CEO Robert McDonald as a perfect example of excellent leadership, as someone
who “writes their own roadmap.”
“People think the military is command and control, but it’s a volunteer force,” Haley says. “If you’re not a good leader today, you’re out of there.”
Source: Dennis Haley, Academy Leadership
Writer: Joe Petrucci