Jennifer Morehead of Flex HR: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Became a C-Suite Executive
Be true to yourself. It’s also not a long, straight path. Be sure to make decisions that fit you and your skill set and challenge yourself with the opportunities to do not what is popular or sounds good at a cocktail party, but what will benefit you in the long term.
As part of our series called “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Began Leading My Company” I had the pleasure of interviewing Jennifer Morehead.
Jennifer “Jenny” Morehead is the CEO of Flex HR. She is an entrepreneur, sales and marketing expert, independent board member, and author. She prides herself on building strong teams that exceed expectations for their clients.
Before Flex HR, Jenny successfully launched and ran a company that created marketing solutions for local businesses through the country. She created a high growth environment for the business and ran human resources in addition to her duties as CEO. Before her marketing solutions business she helped run a sales department at a media company that included roles in recruiting, hiring, and putting together new employee training sessions.
Jenny earned her bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University and her MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management. Jenny co-authored Make Your Business Social, which was published by New York-based Business Expert Press. She has also written CEO From Home, expected in September 2021 from John Hunt Publishing. CEO From Home details how people can start, acquire or maintain a virtual business and features important human resources advice throughout the book.
Jenny is married to her husband Brad and has three sons. She serves on numerous boards including the leadership council for the Field Museum, the regional council for Northwestern University, and the guild of the Chicago Botanic Garden.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive into our discussion, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory about what brought you to your specific career path?
My background is in sales and marketing. I worked for a media company and ran a sales department for them there, then launched a business in 2010, sold it in 2020 and bought an HR consulting business at the end of 2020.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?
One of the first people I hired as a salesperson into the conservative media company that I worked for had a side hustle as a porn star, something I didn’t find out until after she was on my team. Not that I’m against the side hustle but it was interesting to navigate through that situation.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Do you have a story about how that was relevant in your life?
My favorite Life Lesson Quote is the Abraham Lincoln quote, “Whatever you are, be a good one.” I think it implies both to not take yourself too seriously but also that in every pursuit that you choose, make sure to give it your best.
Is there a particular book that made a significant impact on your leadership style? Can you share a story or an example of that?
There are too many books to choose just one. If I had to pick, Blue Ocean Strategy, because I’ve really tried to choose the path that isn’t necessarily popular at the time and have challenged myself to be competitive on my terms for my own career.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
The people on our team at Flex HR try their best every day to help our clients and I really enjoy watching their passion.
The road to success is hard and requires tremendous dedication. This question is obviously a big one, but what advice would you give to a young person who aspires to follow in your footsteps and emulate your success?
Be true to yourself. It’s also not a long, straight path. Be sure to make decisions that fit you and your skill set and challenge yourself with the opportunities to do not what is popular or sounds good at a cocktail party, but what will benefit you in the long term.
Often leaders are asked to share the best advice they received. But let’s reverse the question. Can you share a story about advice you’ve received that you now wish you never followed?
I have tried to think of something and can’t think of a good answer. I have a mantra to “Take what you can and leave the rest,” and it just allows me to sift through advice and the personalities of different people I’ve been around in my career. I believe you can really take what you can from any situation or experience but you do need to be true to yourself in what you choose to follow.
You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
I think the most important character traits for my journey have been resilience, discipline, and time management. I
Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. Most of our readers — in fact, most people — think they have a pretty good idea of what a C-Suite executive does. But in just a few words can you explain what a C-Level executive does that is different from the responsibilities of other leaders?
A C-level executive is truly responsible for all the innerworkings of the entire organization. You need to move quickly and nimbly to make sure you avoid massive pitfalls.
What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a CEO or executive? Can you explain what you mean?
I think the major myth is that it’s somehow easy to be the boss and be in charge when in fact you are constantly working to make sure you bring out the best performance in everyone on your team.
What are the most common leadership mistakes you have seen C-Suite leaders make when they start leading a new team? What can be done to avoid those errors?
It’s easy to make knee-jerk decisions or reactions and then not take ownership. It’s important to say when you’re wrong.
In your experience, which aspect of running a company tends to be most underestimated? Can you explain or give an example?
When you are running a company you are truly selling all of the time. I’ve been in sales a long time and always find it entertaining when people from many walks of life look down on or diminish the sales side. Sales is the lifeblood of any money-making organization and once you’re at the top you are selling to everyone all the time.
Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Began Leading From the C-Suite”? Please share a story or an example for each.
- You are always selling. Every single day, whether I’m actually selling to a client or hearing from a vendor, I am actively selling my own brand and the brand of my company. Everyone is inter-related, and it is truly a small world.
- You are always recruiting. My facialist gave me a great lead on someone to hire. In every conversation you are always recruiting.
- Do a daily huddle. Make sure to bring your managers together in a daily huddle. While the extra meetings might seem excessive, it saves everyone time in the end and builds culture.
- Focus on the process and the systems and get them right. Your process and systems as a company are what sets you a part. Everyone has great ideas but not everyone can execute.
- Help everyone win at their job. Your job as the CEO is to get the best performance out of every single person on your team.
In your opinion, what are a few ways that executives can help to create a fantastic work culture? Can you share a story or an example?
Executives need to genuinely care and know about the people on their team. People don’t buy the cookie cutter executive anymore, it’s about being really authentic.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
Be kind. I think there is more and more coming out about this, but kindness is so important.
How can our readers further follow you online?
Come see what we have to offer at flexhr.com or on our LinkedIn page at https://www.linkedin.com/company/flex-hr/mycompany/.
Website link: https://flexhr.com/
Thank you for the time you spent sharing these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!
