Former Iams owner Clay Mathile says loyalty can be nemesis
Business Courier of Cincinnati - by Jacob Dirr Courier Contributor
A week before turning 41, Clay Mathile became the sole owner of Iams Co. Although he would later sell it to Procter and Gamble Co. for $2.3 billion, Mathile, now 67, said that in 1982 he was "scared to death."
In his book, "Dream No Little Dreams," released this month, Mathile wrote, "I felt overwhelmed. Owning a company that was making $12.5 million in sales a year, yet was further in debt than I'd ever imagined possible, was daunting."
The book is the result of a six-year effort to trace Mathile's life from a young boy, to struggling business owner, to the richest person in the Dayton region.
The book incorporates pieces from another edition published previously for friends and family and not meant for public consumption. Mathile said he always planned to publish one for a broader audience.
Earlier this year, Mathile opened a $30 million center aimed at helping business owners lead and manage their companies, driving growth, innovation and jobs. The campus will house Aileron, which since its founding in 1996 as the Center for Entrepreneurial Education, has provided more than 1,000 executives with professional management tools and support.
Seek outside help
Mathile said he wants entrepreneurs to realize it is OK to be scared and it is also OK to ask for help.
"(Entrepreneurs) don't have to put on any front to me, to say, 'I am this hot-shot guy,' like they do when they go to the country club or church," Mathile said. "At the end of the day when they close their eyes at night, or they wake up in the middle of the night, they are scared."
Mathile said when he bought Iams, his children were going to college. He had mortgaged his house and was in debt.
"I would be crazy not to be scared," he said. "I can relate to business owners who come in to Aileron."
With the encouragement of his wife, Mary, Mathile said he went about learning how to run the company he didn't know how to run by asking for outside help.
Mathile said beyond not asking for help, the most common error he sees entrepreneurs make is loyalty to those who are bringing them down.
"I think the thing about entrepreneurs, the wonderful thing about them that becomes their nemesis, is their loyalty," Mathile said.
Mathile said at Aileron, one of the most common issues he sees is business owners who are struggling with having to fire underperforming employees. He said they feel loyalty to them. What spurs them to make tough calls is seeing other business owners have to do the same thing and then have the courage to do it, he said.
"When you start out with five people, we all have picks and shovels," Mathile said. "When you all pull together like that and things starts to break, you have to be loyal to those guys who were in the foxhole with you. But you can't be loyal to the point where you promote them to the vice president of sales."
Honest feedback
In his book, Mathile wrote about the importance of having an objective advisory board to assist the policy maker. Too often, people pad boards with family friends, golfing buddies or just plain untrustworthy folks who don't provide honest feedback or have ulterior motives in their advice.
Though it seems like such simple fundamentals, Mathile said it is a continuous issue in the business community.
"It isn't a matter of if you are going to have some (untrustworthy people) or if you are not; you are going to have some," Mathile said. "It is a matter of what you do about it: You eliminate it."
Mathile said leaders too often don't eliminate them because they're part of the owner's buddy system.
He said the best boards are ones made up of peers, who are in the same age range and same point in their company's life as the executive.
"The last thing you want is a 75-year-old on your board," Mathile said. "You want someone who is experiencing what you are experiencing."
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