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2011 Pacesetter Award Winner
Green Square Capital, LLC
Memphis, Tennessee
Any business can set aggressive goals for growth. But it takes a rare combination of strategy and execution to achieve them. Green Square Capital has left little to chance in pursuit of its bold goal of managing $10 billion in assets in 10 years. The firm is guided by a comprehensive framework that aligns its culture with innovative business practices.
"It's something I'm passionate about," says firm principal Steve Sansom. "I spend a lot of time learning and thinking about the way we run our business." Sansom and firm principal Darrell Horn have drawn from the work of experts—such as the book Mastering the Rockefeller Habits—to construct their plan for success.
"Darrell's passion for the institutional investment process has been key to our success," says Sansom, "as has our team's commitment to our firm and our clients."
In fact, the firm finds inspiration in the success of its clients. "We're a firm of entrepreneurs, serving entrepreneurs in the asset management business," says Sansom. "We've really learned a lot over the years by studying the way our clients run their businesses."
Setting Strategy and Driving Results
Green Square Capital's strategic plan outlines a rigorous set of incremental goals that work back from its 10-year, $10 billion target in 10-year, 3-year, annual, and quarterly priorities. These priorities are set by leadership and, in some cases, driven by designated task forces.
For example, one of the firm's current annual priorities is platform optimization. By streamlining workflows, Green Square Capital hopes to become 30 percent more efficient by the end of the year. To see this initiative through, the firm created an internal team responsible for implementing and measuring the technology changes that will make this possible.
And while such teams help drive important projects forward, the firm's strategic priorities are every employee's business. To keep everyone on track, the firm organizes each year's priorities around a theme. The firm's leadership brought this year's Super Bowl theme to life with "locker-room style" pep talks, team jerseys, and inspirational speakers.
"We try to create thematic experiences for our team so they can get excited about and embrace our objectives," says Sansom.
Total Alignment, Total Transparency
By investing deeply in internal communication, the firm draws its employees together and rallies them around a common vision. To foster that common vision, the company spells out its values—and each employee's role in realizing them.
"If you come into our office and walk the halls, you'll see our core values in a frame, and you'll see our scorecards in a frame at every employee's desk—with their missions and their outcomes," Sansom says.
The scorecards Sansom mentions mark each individual's progress toward his or her goals, which in turn clearly promote the company's goals. It's an environment of extreme transparency and accountability.
Green Square Capital further promotes transparent internal communication through a commitment to regular meetings. The firm holds daily 10-minute "huddles" to outline daily objectives, share metrics, and work together to resolve issues. To encourage efficiency and attention, the team stands (rather than sits) for these meetings.
Weekly meetings, monthly meetings, and quarterly after-action reviews also make up the firm's highly structured schedule and reinforce transparency throughout the firm. Key performance indicators are visible at each meeting, so every employee knows exactly where the company stands.
"The meeting rhythm is critical. It is a great testament to the team and its commitment to investing in communication. Transparency and open communication create an environment and a culture where people are really excited and enjoy what they do," says Sansom.
Building a Culture of Client Delight
Working with a consultant in 2009, the company zeroed in on the key to its service model: client delight. Sansom defines client delight as any action that goes above and beyond the level of traditional service—for example, the firm once helped a client's wife locate a unique new car for her husband's 50th birthday.
The firm's investment advisors log these opportunities to delight clients in its CRM, and they are reflected and shared in the scorecard system.
But client delight is just one of the firm's six core values. The others include integrity, hard work and perseverance, empathy and listening, respect and trust, and enthusiasm and passion—and they permeate every aspect of Green Square Capital.
"These values are forever. They are the fabric of our company," says Sansom. "We hire based on these values, and we use them to evaluate our people."
Looking Forward
Green Square Capital is making steady progress toward its big 10-year goal. The firm is thriving—hitting every target it sets and currently growing by an annual rate of 25 to 30 percent, much of that driven by referrals. As he looks to the future, Sansom says he's confident in Green Square Capital's strong institutional processes, culture, and core values.
"There's definitely a lot of economic uncertainty in the world today, but I think the trend for independent, institutional-quality investment advice is going to continue to grow," Sansom says. "And I'm very excited about the future of the company."
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