Brief background of your business: 

Visit Tri-Cities is one of the Tri-Cities’ most significant drivers of economic development. Formed in 1969, we are a local nonprofit that aggressively promotes tourism to create a diverse economy for our region.

Number of employees you oversee: 14

How did you land your current role?

I believe my past successes as a leader, strategist, and marketer, and civic involvement all played a major role in landing my current position. The other half of the equation is my ability and interest in building relationships and fostering collaboration. I am new to my current role. I started on April 9, 2018.

What’s your main goal for your organization this year? 

To develop a culture of innovation. My team at Visit Tri-Cities has the talent to be the industry thought leaders others look to in the Pacific Northwest. Innovation can be our competitive advantage. To achieve this, we need to make innovation a part of our everyday conversations and activities. This is the culture I am working to create and making this transition is my main goal for our organization this year.

Why should the Tri-Cities care about the tourism industry? 

Tourism is big business for our region, to the tune of $444 million in economic impact. It is the fourth largest industry in the Tri-Cities. Tourism supports 6,150 jobs locally and enriches the quality of life for all of us. The purpose of Visit Tri-Cities is to bring visitors to our region for overnight stays, whereby they infuse money into our local economy through the purchase of hotel room nights, food, gas, groceries, retail sales, attractions and more. We do this by attracting conventions, sports tournaments and leisure travelers. The money that is introduced into our local economy through tourism creates a healthy climate for local businesses and it attracts new businesses we all can enjoy. Tourism provides revenues to our cities for infrastructure improvements like new parks and open spaces, better facilities, improved roads and funding for many other much needed services that you and I enjoy daily. Tourism impacts all of us in profound and often unrecognized ways.

What advice would you give someone going into a leadership position? 

Find yourself a mentor or two and lean into their knowledge, perspectives and experiences. One of my mentors said the following when I asked if he would mentor me: “I’m happy to. You bring it to me, Michael. I’m not going to bring it to you.” This is what I tell new leaders regarding mentors: You bring the questions and drive the mentoring relationship. You bear the burden of making the relationship successful.

Who are your mentors? 

Many individuals have provided mentoring moments for me. There are two I would like to recognize. Dave Lemak, PhD, was a college professor of mine, who unfortunately lost his life to cancer several years ago. Dave had a significant interest in seeing his students succeed. Even though Dave set the bar very high, he was in your corner. His teaching style has become a part of my leadership style — motivate, encourage and inspire. That was Dave (miss this guy). Tom Corley was an interim CEO I served under for six months. I’ll never forget sitting down with him for the first time. He looked at everything I had just done and the successes that were achieved and said, “It’s year two, Michael. What are you gonna do?” My first thought was, it may be the second calendar year, but I have only been here six months! The message I took away was this: I must continually be innovating to provide value for my organization. This is something I apply to the strategic endeavors I create and lead — continual innovation.

What is one characteristic that you believe every leader should possess? 

The desire to serve others. As leaders, we must serve our investors and clients’ interests, or our organizations will cease to exist. The same holds true for staff. They can and will excel when we as leaders support and serve them by ensuring they have the resources they need and by developing a culture where they can thrive. I firmly believe success as a leader comes through service.

What is the biggest challenge facing business owners/managers today? 

Staying ahead of the curve. We must innovate, or we will stagnate and become obsolete and ineffective.

How do you keep your employees (or team members) motivated? 

It is a collaborative process I work on with the team, which involves identifying what is meaningful to them as individuals and collectively and then working to satisfy those needs. I am also working with my team to develop a culture of innovation. Our vision in part states, “To be an industry leader for destination marketing in the Pacific Northwest …” I am on a mission to achieve our vision and this will require significant innovation.

How do you measure success in the workplace? 

We are in the business of bringing visitors to our community and the number of rooms booked is a significant key performance indicator, or KPI. Other KPIs include but are not limited to: realizing financial targets, sales goals, managing expenses and stakeholder engagement. Qualitative measures I use include employee engagement and satisfaction. Team contributions, productivity and retention are all quantitative outcomes of these qualitative measures.

What do you consider your leadership style to be? 

Servant leadership, which begets transformational leadership. As I aspire to grow as a servant leader, my goal is to ensure the needs of those I am charged with leading are met. If a leader can provide for the needs of their team, they can motivate, inspire and achieve the unreasonable as they create positive change in their organization, which embodies transformational leadership.

How do you balance work and life? 

Even when my schedule is tight, I always make time for my wife. We exercise together in the morning. We meet up for a walk along the river several days a week during the noon hour. Work life balance is a conscious effort I engage in to be sure I have quality time with my wife and our two boxers, Marciano and Primo, whom we affectionately refer to as “the boys.”

What’s your best time management strategy? 

Avoid sideshow distractions. There is always a pressing concern, an issue or a challenge. The question I ask myself is, am I the best person to deal with the pressing concern, is the issue my issue or is the challenge one I need to address and even if I do, is it a priority when looking at the global picture of the organization’s needs? Empowering a team by building trust and accountability into culture can alleviate some sideshow distractions. Delegation is also helpful for mitigating sideshow distractions as it keeps a leader’s focus on priorities while providing leadership opportunities for others.

Best tip to relieve stress? 

Find something you are passionate about and take a deep dive into it to relieve stress. I play drums, which provides great stress relief and not just because it is physical. It’s mental, its creative, it provides a great escape and I’m passionate about music. Passionate pursuits breed positivity.