Ernie Bray is the CEO and Co-founder of ACD, a technology and services firm to the insurance claims industry. Ernie has helped lead ACD to five rankings on Inc. Magazine’s, Inc. 5000 List of Fastest Growing Private Companies in America and four years on Deloitte’s Technology Fast-500 of North America. Ernie has also led ACD to various honors such as The San Diego Business Journal’s Fast 100, Red Herring 100 of Americas, the Tech 200 and was Awarded the “Insurance Executive Of The Year” at the 2012 American Business Awards.
What’s most exciting to you at this point in your career?
At this point in my career , I most excited about having built a company that is founded on a culture of teamwork, innovation and bringing real change to the auto insurance claims industry. I’m excited every day to work with a great team of people who truly care about our clients and are energized just as I am.
Give me an example of when you inspired people with a vision.
I am a believer that in whatever industry you are in, you can always find a way to motivate and inspire your team. Our vision at ACD is to fiercely work to be the innovators and leaders of change in an industry that is traditionally slow to adopt new ideas. Since day one, I’ve been a driving force to help rally our company around the vision of bringing top quality technology and services to our clients and at the same time, make it fun!
How would you describe your leadership philosophy?
My core philosophy is to find great smart people with positive attitudes. Train them well and then let them amaze you with their creativity and innovation. I also believe in leading by example in that I am willing to personally step in and do any job within the company. A leader cannot be insulated and properly lead. You have to lead from the front.
Tell me about how you’ve scaled. What was a defining moment or decision you made that put you that path to growth? In other words, how did you get your organization to where it’s at today, and what role have you played in that growth?
When you start a company, you often have to scramble and work to get any client you can. Often that means taking any client and usually the most difficult. I’d say the core moment where we began to scale was when we secured and gained the confidence of some very high level insurers who were amazed by our technology capabilities and service integration. By demonstrating that our solutions were superior to the legacy providers, we began to gain a strong following via word of mouth. I also led the drive with our sales and marketing to focus and lead with our technology solutions and dramatically increase our social media presence.
How do you invest in yourself to increase your relevance?
I come from a family of educators and understand the importance of non stop personal development. I take executive education classes on leadership and strategic management from Columbia University, earned a Six Sigma Black Belt and also became a Senior Claims Law Associate. If I’m not working on our company, I’m always reading and studying to make myself a more effective CEO and leader.
What’s one piece of advice you have for entrepreneurs who are just starting to hire C-Level talent?
If you’re an entrepreneur you need to a C-level team that will buy in to your vision. You need people with experience and expertise in their given area but most importantly you need them to be able to roll up their sleeves and do the work and lead by example. As CEO, If I’m willing to step in and do any job, my fellow C-level team must be willing to do the same. This serves as inspiration for all of their reporting staff and sets the tone for the entire company.
How do you attract the best and brightest?
ACD is a fun, vibrant company and through our social media and recruiting we seek out those who are positive, upbeat and driven. For example, our CTO has created a great place for developers who are excited to work in a free flowing creative environment. They try new technologies and push the edge of the latest trends whereas at a traditional company, many would never be allow such autonomy. At this point we find great people through our networks and through word of mouth within our industry. The buzz around ACD is pretty big.
If you could go back to when you were just starting ACD and give yourself one piece, what would you tell yourself?
I’d tell myself to not be afraid of firing a bad customer or a bad employee. Bad customers who don’t truly value a partnership drain time and focus causing you to divert your focus from what’s vital. Bad employees bring down morale and can damage relationships with clients. The advice is to act quick and fast when doing this. Waiting too long only prolongs the problem.
TruPath is an executive search firm that finds mid to senior level executives in mission critical roles at your organization. This interview is part of our executive interview series, where we ask CEO’s a series of questions about their leadership philosophies and practices. Contact us if you’d like to recommend a CEO to interview, or if you’re looking for a leader to join your team.