As we look back at the last 10 years, we’ve learned many valuable lessons in our first decade in business that apply to any company regardless of industry — from the early days of 5 clients (who are all still with us) to growing to 100+ and being named #1 Best in KLAS: Overall IT Services Firm.
We are excited and thankful to celebrate a decade of growth, continued learning, success and “pivoting”—yes, 2020 is the year of the “pivot”!
1. Always think like an entrepreneur.
Whether a start-up or a business inside a larger organization, it is important to think like an entrepreneur. An entrepreneurial spirit contributes to a culture of open innovation, encourages creative, customer-centric thinking and allows you to be truly adaptive, both in terms of your culture and your processes. Having an entrepreneurial mindset has never been more important given the global disruption we’re seeing today. Healthcare, in particular, has been forced to re-imagine care so thinking like an entrepreneur is essential.
2. Everyone should be part of the conversation.
When Pivot Point was formed in 2011, there were not many female leaders or other underrepresented communities in the tech industry. That created an opportunity for unique perspective and a recognition of the value of having everyone be part of the conversation. It was important from day-1 for us to mentor women and provide them opportunities to tell their stories as leaders. Vaco launched the Be HER(d) series that hosts conversations with female leaders across industries.
3. IQ or EQ?
EQ (emotional intelligence) is 400% more powerful than IQ (intelligence quotient) when predicting success. 90% of exceptional leaders score high in EQ. In addition to ensuring our people have exceptional technical skills, we have always focused on strong EQ and use tools like the Predictive Index to align our people with our clients’ teams. EQ is the foundation for a successful, trusted relationship.
4. Define your “north star” and go for it.
Before we had our first client or employee at Pivot Point Consulting, we committed to being an industry leader and we made that our “north star”—meaning we never lost sight of that guiding principle. It might sound like a lofty goal for a start-up, but for us, it was about identifying industry leaders in healthcare IT and revenue cycle management and understanding what made them successful.Many entrepreneurs begin their start-up journey focused on KPIs to run their business, but it should be equally, if not more important, to focus on what industry leaders are doing. That can be your roadmap to get to where they are—and eventually beyond.
5. Know when to pivot.
Change is inevitable; therefore, adaptability is critical. To be, and stay, successful, we have to adapt, but with intention. We have literally built our business on pivoting—we work with healthcare organizations at a “pivot point” in their business when they need a trusted, experienced partner.
6. Inspiration gets things done.
Inspiration is what moves people into action. It’s critical to have a clear vision of your “why” as well as the “what” you want to inspire people to do. Then you have to communicate your “why” and your “what” with contagious enthusiasm and energy.It is also important to create a sense of velocity, or the speed of moving something in a particular direction. A leader needs to create that velocity around both idea generation and also putting those ideas into action.
7. Learn something new every day.
It’s important to create a culture that is focused on learning something new every day. When you’re getting a business started, learning is essential as you take new paths you haven’t taken before. But as you grow and the years pass, it’s important to maintain that focus on continued learning both as a leader and with your team. Build a culture that is open to learning new things, whether it is about understanding someone else’s perspective or learning new technologies. Being adaptive and open to learning has never been more important than it is today given all the change we’re experiencing. When was the last time you learned something new?
8. “No” is never the answer.
As entrepreneurs, we know firsthand that it is always important to push through the word “no” to find smart solutions to any challenge. “No” doesn’t have to be a door slammed in your face if you are willing to reach out, turn the knob and swing that door open again. We have found over the last 10 years that taking a “Yes” approach to life and business, we have been able to achieve goals we never could have imagined.
9. Focus on your “why” every day.
We have never lost sight of our mission to provide exceptional quality to healthcare organizations. This is rooted in our commitment to living our “why” every day—not just at our quarterly meetings where we reflect on our goals. Quality has always been foundation of every aspect of what we do and being a KLAS-ranked leader is the result of focusing on our “why” every day.
10. Celebrate your successes.
While we’re celebrating our 10-year milestone in 2021, at Pivot Point, we believe in celebrating successes every day—whether that’s celebrating a client’s go live, a consultant’s completion of a new certification or an employee who led a productive meeting.We even built an entire Happyology program around celebrating successes (and also providing support when team members and clients need it). The recognition of daily successes leads to the yearly success which, ultimately, led to 10 years of success and valuable lessons learned.
