John Anthony Radosta is the founder & chief executive officer of Advanced Sports Technology. Among his accomplishments are inventing, prototyping, producing, trademarking, and patenting the AquaArm Hands-Free Hydration System.
What’s most exciting to you at this point in your career?
The most exciting part of my career is and always has been the growth of our product portfolio, from the genesis of new idea to the roll-out and market launch of the final design, its a constant process of finding creative solutions. You always learn something new about your own capabilities and gain so many insights into every area of the development process. I believe ultimately that all knowledge is inevitably self-knowledge, and the joy is always in the journey rather than just in the end product.
Give me an example of when you inspired people with a vision.
When we started the National Association of Bubble Soccer, one of my responsibilities in growing the organization was to give people a grander picture of what the sport could be on the national level. The hardest thing in any new endeavor is gaining mass acceptance, the only way you even have a chance of that is to surround yourself with people that share your vision and can see it as clearly as you can. I’m proud to say that both the organization and our shared vision has grown and continues to grow exponentially, as we approach 50 affiliate franchisees across North America this year.
How do you build “culture” within your organization design?
I feel that organizational culture is somewhat reflexive, in that while you can certainly intentionally build some parts, ultimately organizational culture will build itself. The culture within an organization to me is just the net effect of all the people who comprise it…its the inter-flow of their unique personalities, abilities, and habits. If you focus on building an organization with hard-working, goal-oriented, and creative people one person at a time, eventually you will have a hard-working, goal-oriented, and creative culture. At that point, its just a matter of giving your people the right resources so that the culture can bloom naturally.
How would you describe your leadership philosophy?
Lead by example, not just by words. People want to work for people they admire and can learn from.
What’s the greatest compliment you’ve ever been given in your time as a leader?
I’d say the greatest accomplishment is when our franchisees tell me how much their life has changed for the better by coming on board with our organization. Nothing makes me prouder to know that we’ve affected peoples lives for the better. It makes me feel like I’ve done my job as a leader.
Tell me about how you’ve scaled your organization. What was a defining moment or decision you made that put you on that path?
I would probably say the defining moment for us to scale was when customer orders started to exceed available inventory, we knew we needed to shorten our production times and delegate responsibility within the supply chain. Scaling an organization comes down to the delegation of responsibilities. Eventually there comes a point where you have to delegate or your going to be missing out on a lot of opportunities. I’ve always believed that giving talented people more opportunities to grow and challenge themselves in different directions is the best way to scale. It keeps people involved and engaged in what they’re doing and leaves no room for stagnation to ever set in.
Share with me one of your greatest accomplishments while being incredibly resource disadvantaged.
When I first started the company, the term “boot-strapping it” was an understatement. One of our company’s greatest accomplishments has to be how much we’ve developed our back-end web infrastructure that would rival much larger companies. To me, it shows that we were capable of developing some very intricate systems without having to expend an exorbitant amount of capital to do it.
How do you invest in yourself to increase your impact?
I am constantly reading and constantly doing online classes. I use a great platform called Udemy that allows you to pick up skill-specific courses that allow you to go at whatever pace you’d like. MOOC’s are also another great option. Like I said before, people want to work for people they admire, and people admire those they can learn from. I always want to be considered a top resource for our talent, its very true that the business is the shadow of the person running it, and if that person is developing themselves every day, then there’s a good chance that their organization is developing too.
How does consistent learning and curiosity show up in your organization?
To be honest, it shows up in many forms. It can show up in the form of a great opportunity or product direction that we’d like to explore, or it can show up in the form of an unsatisfied customer. There’s a lesson in everything, you have to find that lesson and implement it fast.
What’s one piece of advice you have for entrepreneurs who are just starting to hire C-Level talent?
Hire people who are strong in your areas of weaknesses. Its not about hiring who you like or who thinks like you do all the time, you want to hire executive talent that approach things from a different angle. It keeps you grounded and forces you to justify your ideas to yourself too. If everybody always agrees on everything, then you’re going to be going into every endeavor with blinders on and may get hit with a tough dose of reality which could have been avoided if someone on board is already predisposed to think in that direction first.
How do you attract the best and brightest?
Its going to sound somewhat counter-intuitive, but you attract the best and the brightest by already having some of the best and the brightest. People want to work with other smart people, there’s no better feeling than being part of an incredible team of which everyone is at the top of their game, I can personally attest to that.
If you could go back to when you were just starting out at your organization and give yourself one piece of advice, what would you tell yourself?
If something feels wrong from the get-go, take that as an immediate indicator. Its not in your interest to expend energy fixing something that seems dysfunctional from day one. Save yourself the wasted time and find another way immediately.
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.