So far on our podcast, we’ve interviewed cleantech leaders that are in a later stage of their careers. We figured that wisdom comes from a combination of gray hair and track record.
Chad Farrell is different, and that’s a good thing. As the CEO of Encore Renewable Energy, Chad’s first company is his current company. Encore develops what it calls “community-scale” renewable energy projects, often on land reclaimed from past industrial uses. But Chad’s been driving Encore’s success for almost 15 years, which is plenty of time to gather a body of lessons learned we can pass to others in his position.
As a set of new sectors, most cleantech CEOs are younger, they’re company founders, and they are often in their first time as a CEO. That’s why we thought it was important to get lessons learned from someone with Chad’s background.
Here are the highlights from our conversation with Chad:
- 5:08 – Why leadership is more about guiding than pushing and the value of a CEO asking, “How can I help?”
- 8:09 – How to get the right people on the bus, and the right people in the right seats.
- 11:19 – Successful CEOs don’t just set the vision. They focus that vision on solving a big problem out in the world. Chad’s formula: “Get the right team together, make them feel safe, listen, raise capital, then get out of the way.”
- 13:33 – Why the keys to good hiring are a robust, well-designed job description and having whole-team participation in the interview process.
- 20:16 – The interview question he uses to assess a job candidate’s EQ.
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