“Challenge your people to be better than they think they can be. People will produce more than they think they can if they’re challenged.”

In the following interview with CareerBuilder, Ray Titus, CEO of United Franchise Group, discusses how he ensures people get ‘the right seat on the bus,’ applies the Golden Rule to business and the evolving definition of ‘work hard, play hard.’

How do you engage with and relate to your employees?
We try to challenge our employees. I have 10 direct reports and they average over 20 years with the company; I’m really blessed with the people that have come along with our organization early on and stayed with our company over the years. We try to promote a fun, friendly working atmosphere but also one that accomplishes and is challenging at the same time.

What are the most import ant leadership lessons you’ve learned?
Lead by example would be the first one. If you’re going to ask people to work hard, you have to do it first. You have to be the hardest worker. Beyond that, you go with the Golden Rule of treating people the way you want to be treated. It’s all about, “What can we do together?” and creating a team atmosphere and a team among each one of the departments and brands. As a leader, I believe part of my job is to delegate to the leadership within each brand or each department. I want to give people the opportunity and the freedom to be leaders and the room to make decisions, right or wrong, and then help them make better decisions as we go along.

How do you define your company’s culture? As a leader, what role do you play and what is your impact on the culture?
Although I play a major part as the CEO and the founder of the organization, the people that we’ve brought in over the years are really what create the culture. Our company culture has always been: We work hard and we play hard. I started this business when I was 23 years old and have grown up in it. I’ve found that as one gets older, the ‘play hard’ part doesn’t necessarily lend itself to the culture of the business in the same way as it used to. For me, and for many employees, it’s now about balancing family values and family time with the business side of things, and finding ways to instill that in our organization. I think the more things we can do to get our employees in a good spot mentally, the better.

Some people believe HR to be the only department with the responsibility for the organization’s people. How do make your overall talent strategy a priority and what role do you play in driving it?
First of all, the people who think HR is the only department responsible are way off base. HR is a very important part of working with people, but everyone’s job organization-wide involves working with those people and getting them in the “right seat in the bus” as we say in strategic planning. HR actually helps in the initial hiring and they facilitate some of these moves, but these are business decisions that need to be made by individuals, departments, and brands as well as HR – they all work in conjunction.

How do you rally the team and reinforce your employment brand?
Getting everybody together is an important part — for people to be able to say, “Here’s what I’m doing” and show their work. With our employees, we accentuate their positives and are good-finders constantly. We’re not looking for the bad in any individual because you or I can always find the bad in somebody. To find the good and what makes them tick — that’s the key.

What would you consider the most important decision you’ve ever made as a leader?
From the business decision side of things, I believe it’s the lesson of not having to win every battle. It’s  understanding that parties in business are going to have conflicts, and learning to resolve those conflicts without taking a long-term approach or fighting to be a hundred percent right. I don’t think ‘compromise’ is a bad word.

What was the best hiring decision you ever made?
I would say it was to hire and to promote brand presence; to have brand leaders in charge of a company. Having people who eat, sleep and drink the brand is critical.

What other advice would you share with your executive peers through this piece?
Plan for success. You have to have one-year and three-year plans and keep them on your desk all the time and get back to them. Make your strategic plan a living, breathing document that you’re working with on an everyday basis. Challenge your people to be better than they think they can be. People will produce more than they think they can if they’re challenged.

RAY TITUS: Ray Titus is the CEO of United Franchise Group and its affiliated companies. Ray is a life-long entrepreneur who got his start with his father, franchising legend Roy Titus, and went on to develop a group of successful business-to-business brands and franchise development services. The company includes franchise industry giants SIGNARAMA, the world’s largest sign franchise; EmbroidMe, the world’s largest embroidery franchise; Plan Ahead Events, the world’s largest full-service event management company; Billboard Connection, the world’s largest out-of-home outdoor advertising franchise; and Transworld Business Advisors, a business brokerage and franchise consulting franchise. Ray Titus is an incredible leader and directly responsible for the continued success of the United Franchise Group as well as the many accomplishments yet to come..

ABOUT UNITED FRANCHISE GROUP: United Franchise Group (UFG) is the umbrella company to a successful group of the world’s largest franchise systems specializing in personalized business services including signage, embroidery, event management, business brokerage and outdoor advertising. The UFG corporate headquarters, located in West Palm Beach, Fla., controls operations for approximately 200 employees in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia and offers support to the remaining countries around the world. The experts at UFG have used their over 30 years of franchising experience to grow the industry giant into a $500 million dollar success story with more than 1400 locations in more than 50 countries. The company includes franchise industry giants SIGNARAMA, the world’s largest sign franchise; EmbroidMe, the world’s largest embroidery franchise; Billboard Connection, an incredibly successful out-of-home advertising franchise; Plan Ahead Events, a home-based corporate event planning franchise, and Transworld Business Advisors, which provides business brokerage and franchise consulting services.