Leading with Genuine Care Episode 15: People First - Why Passion, People and Perseverance Lead to Unstoppable Success, with Ron Alvesteffer
Ron Alvesteffer, CEO and President of Service Express, believes that by putting people first, success is inevitable. He’s helped Service Express define its market and create a unique, performance-driven culture with the core value “to work with our employees to help them achieve their personal, professional and financial goals.”
Under his leadership, Service Express has been named by Forbes Magazine as one of the Top 25 Best Small Companies, and it was on the list of the Best & Brightest Companies to Work For in the Nation five years in a row. Service Express has also been named to the Inc. 5000 List of Fastest Growing Private Companies in America 10 of the past 11 years.
Ron authored the eBook The Service Express Way. In it, Ron shares his beliefs and philosophies, along with real-life stories from the field, that have driven these remarkable results.
On this week’s donothing podcast, we chat about his less-than-straightforward path to leadership, how he was inspired to put people first and why “things are always more clear looking back.”
What you'll learn about in this episode:-
- 1:00 — Ron talks about how he starts his day by “doing something” with CrossFit and discusses how exercise energizes him for the day ahead.
- 4:00 — Ron explains how and why he finds the worldwide CrossFit community so welcoming.
- 12:27 — What Ron appreciates about his home gym, 8th Day Gym, in Grand Rapids.
- 16:50 — Ron talks about his “normal childhood” growing up in Fenton, Michigan.
- 21:05 — Ron explains why his mom is such an inspiring role model. He also talks about his positive relationship with his dad.
- 26:10 — What triggered Ron to finally start searching for a more stable career and life path post-college.
- 31:00 — Since Ron’s grades were too low to get into a four-year university, he describes how going to community college—and some smart talking—finally got him into Central Michigan University.
- 35:45 — Why this life experience inspired him to teach his kids the importance of taking initiative when communicating with leadership.
- 37:00 — How he graduated college with a teaching degree despite being a less-than-stellar student.
- 45:15 — After the school board decided not to hire Ron as a teacher, he decided to re-think his career path and dove into the sales world.
- 49:55 — Why moving to Nashville for a much-needed change prepared him for a career at his current company, Service Express.
- 54:41 — How falling in love with his wife while visiting home brought him back to Michigan, and why she was instrumental in finding his job at Service Express.
- 55:42 — Ron discusses his most significant mentors in Nashville, including Beth Tanner at Tanner Corporate Services, and Mark Fortune and Tina Mayberry from Contract Sales Managers. He talks about why they impacted him so much in sales and beyond.
- 58:28 — Ron talks about his and his wife's long-distance relationship while he was still living in Nashville and how he popped the question.
- 1:08:45 — What happens when Ron sometimes get a little too passionate about things and how he knows when to “turn it down.”
- 1:11:00 — Why he loves the movie Rocky and how it relates to him personally.
- 1:13:10 — Ron describes his moments of self-doubt and how he pushed through them.
- 1:16:05 — Ron talks about his wife’s difficulty in becoming pregnant and how it taught him patience, perseverance and believing that everything happens at “the right time.”
- 1:20:00 — Why Ron believes in “leading with the person first” and talks about whom he looks up to in sales including Zig Ziglar, Brian Tracy and Tony Robbins.
- 1:21:50 — Why Ron announced that he was going to leave Service Express three years into the job and what convinced him to stay on and become a better leader.
- 1:28:20 — Ron explains the circumstances that led to him becoming the president of Service Express just a few years later.
- 1:35:00 — Ron describes how he runs his company with a people-centric culture focused on each employee’s entire well-being.
- 1:39:00 — Why he helps his employees reach their personal and professional visions, plus a few favorite examples of how Service Express assisted them in achieving their goals.
- 1:44:12 — Ron and Rob discuss why putting people first creates amazing company cultures, boosts productivity and builds deeper relationships with employees.
- 1:45:50 — Why is this Michigan native such a huge Pittsburgh Steelers fan?
- 1:47:00 — What inspired Ron to get a tattoo...and does he still like it?